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diff --git a/78968-0.txt b/78968-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d8fe31 --- /dev/null +++ b/78968-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25530 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78968 *** +Transcriber’s Note + +This book contains text in Greek (λεύκη), Coptic (ⲙⲁⲧ) and Egyptian +hieroglyphs (𓅐𓏏). You may need to install additional fonts to properly +render those languages. Noto Sans Egyptian Hieroglyphs is recommended. + +Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. The Hebrew, Arabic, +Coptic, and Greek text has been corrected by comparison with the German +edition from which this work was translated. + +Accents and diacritical marks have been standardised throughout, where +it was clear that the same word or name was intended; the original +typesetting appears not to have supported accented small capitals +consistently. + +Inconsistencies between index entries and the main text have been silently +corrected where the intended reference was unmistakable. + + + + +Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the peninsula of Sinai + + + + +[Illustration: MOUNT BARKAL. + +_Hinchliff._] + + + + + LETTERS + FROM + EGYPT, ETHIOPIA, AND THE + PENINSULA OF SINAI. + + BY + DR. RICHARD LEPSIUS. + + WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS + CHRONOLOGY OF THE EGYPTIANS, + WITH REFERENCE TO THE EXODUS OF THE ISRAELITES. + + REVISED BY THE AUTHOR. + + TRANSLATED BY + LEONORA AND JOANNA B. HORNER. + + [Illustration] + + LONDON: + HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. + MDCCCLIII. + + + + +TRANSLATORS’ PREFACE. + + +The first part of this volume consists of Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, +and the Peninsula of Sinai, published in 1852. In addition to the Map of +the Nile, published in the German edition, and the view of Mount Barkal, +we have been enabled, through the kindness of Dr. Lepsius, to give a +Map of the Peninsula of Sinai, from an unpublished pamphlet, printed at +Berlin in 1846 (_Reise des Prof. Lepsius von Theben nach der Halbinsel +des Sinai, vom 4 März bis zum 14 April, 1845_), which will be found to +contribute much to the elucidation of the interesting Letter on Mount +Sinai. + +In the Appendix we have inserted a geological paper, by Mr. Horner, from +the “Edinburgh Philosophical Journal” for July, 1850, in which some +doubts are thrown upon the theory of Dr. Lepsius concerning a supposed +excavation of the bed of the Nile within the historical period. We have +done this at the request of Dr. Lepsius, who is desirous to call more +particular attention to the subject. + +The Letters are succeeded by extracts (chiefly relating to the Hebrew +Chronology) from Dr. Lepsius’s larger work (of which only one volume has +yet been published), _Die Chronologie der Ægypter_, in which he states +his conclusions respecting the date of the Exodus. We have also obtained +permission from Chevalier Bunsen to add a note (p. 475), pointing out how +far he differs from Dr. Lepsius respecting the period when the Israelites +entered Egypt. It has been thought desirable to omit those sections +which enter into the subject more minutely than would interest the +general reader. + +The whole of this portion of the translation has been revised by the +author, and throughout the volume, whatever alterations or additions have +been suggested by him, are placed between brackets. + +A Table of the Egyptian Dynasties, drawn up by Mr. Horner, has been +added, and, at his request, revised by Dr. Lepsius, who has inserted +the results of his latest investigations concerning the dates of the +different Dynasties. + +Wherever measurements by feet are mentioned, French feet are to be +understood, unless it is otherwise specified. + + August, 1853. + + + + +AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE LETTERS. + + +The object of the Scientific Expedition which the KING OF PRUSSIA sent +to Egypt in the year 1842, was to investigate and collect, with an +historical and antiquarian view, the ancient Egyptian monuments in the +Nile valley, and upon the Peninsula of Sinai. It was fitted out and +maintained for more than three years by the munificence of the King, and +enjoyed uninterruptedly his gracious favour and sympathy, as well as the +most active and kind attention from ALEXANDER V. HUMBOLDT, and by a rare +union of fortunate circumstances, it attained the purposes they had in +view, as completely as could be expected. A “Preliminary Account of the +Expedition, its Results, and their Publication” (Berlin, 1849; 4to), was +issued at the same time with the first portion of the great work upon +the Monuments, which will be published by desire of his Majesty, in a +style corresponding with the magnificence of the treasures we brought +away with us, and which will contain a concise survey of the principal +results of the Expedition. + +In the work upon “the Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia,” here announced, +which will comprise more than 800 folio plates, half of which are already +completed, and 240 published, these results will be fully displayed, as +far as regards Sculpture, Topography, and Architecture, and they will be +considered more accurately in the accompanying text. + +Independently, however, of our strictly scientific labours, it appeared +right to offer a picture to a larger circle of interested readers of +the external features of the Expedition, the personal co-operation of +the different members belonging to it, the obstacles, or the fortunate +circumstances of the journey, the condition of the countries that we +traversed, and the influence they exercised on the immediate objects +of our undertaking; finally, a series of remarks on the individual +sites of the monuments in that most historical of all countries, +with all the meaning and completeness in which they appear to those +travellers who, by their study of that most ancient history, are +peculiarly prepared to understand them, but which may also excite an +increased sympathy in others who have acknowledged the great importance +of this newly-established science. If it should directly further a +correct criticism of the scientific labours which have resulted from +this journey, and which are being gradually published, to consult the +circumstances under which the materials were collected, I believe that no +farther justification is necessary for the publication of the following +Letters, however little pretension they may have on the one side to the +completeness and the literary charm of a regular account of travels, or, +on the other side, to the value of a strictly scientific work. + +The Letters have remained almost throughout in their original form; +some are respectfully addressed to his Majesty the King, some to his +Excellency Eichhorn, at that time Minister of Public Instruction, or to +other distinguished patrons and honoured men, such as A. v. Humboldt, +Bunsen, v. Olfers, Ehrenberg, and lastly, some to my father, who +constantly preserved the liveliest interest in all that concerned me. +Several letters, immediately upon their arrival in Europe, were printed +in the newspapers, especially in the Prussian Gazette, and from that were +received into other papers. The immaterial alterations in some of the +details are, for the most part, only made for publication. All additions +or expansions are put in the form of notes. To this class belong the +more detailed notes and the proofs given concerning the true position of +Sinai, which, I believe, is pointed out for the first time by me; this +has since been criticised from different quarters, and has been condemned +by some, while it has met with approbation from others. The subject of +the 36th Letter on the decoration of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin is +certainly very different from the rest; but as an exception it may be +justified, since the point there considered is not only of local interest +in Berlin, but is valuable in all cases of observation, where there are +similar requirements, and where the subject treated about is a method of +adjustment between ancient Egyptian and modern Art. + + Berlin, 2nd June, 1852. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION AND ITS RESULTS 12 + + LETTER I.—_On board the Oriental Steamer, 5th September, 1842_ 35 + + Voyage to Alexandria. + + LETTER II.—_Alexandria, 23rd September, 1842_ 38 + + Malta—Gobat—Isenberg—Krapf—Alexandria—Mohammed Ali. + + LETTER III.—_Cairo, 16th October, 1842_ 41 + + Alexandria—Pompey’s Pillar—Cleopatra’s Needle—Werne’s + Collection of Natural History—Departure from + Alexandria—Sais—Naharieh—Cairo—Heliopolis—The + Celebration of the King’s Birthday at the + Pyramids—Panoramic View from the Pyramid of Cheops. + + LETTER IV.—_At the foot of the largest Pyramid, 2nd January, 1843_ 51 + + Pyramids of Gizeh—Tombs of Private Individuals—Sphinx—A + Deluge of Rain—Celebration of Christmas—Life in the Camp. + + LETTER V.—_Pyramids of Gizeh, 17th January, 1843_ 56 + + The Hieroglyphic Memorial tablet on the Pyramid of Cheops—What + we gained in a Historical point of View. + + LETTER VI.—_Pyramids of Gizeh, 28th January, 1843_ 59 + + The most ancient Royal Dynasties—Tomb of Prince Merhet—Tombs + of Private Individuals—Ravages committed by the Arabs—Most + ancient Obelisk. + + LETTER VII.—_Saqâra, 18th March, 1843_ 64 + + Pyramids of Meidûm—The Structure of Pyramids—The Enigma of + the Sphinx—Locusts—Comet. + + LETTER VIII.—_Saqâra, 13th April, 1843_ 69 + + Prince Albert of Prussia—Festivities in Cairo—Entrance of + Pilgrims—Mulid e’ Nebbi—Doseh—Visit of the Prince to the + Pyramids—Most ancient Application of the Pointed Arch in + Cairo—The most ancient Round Arch in Egypt—Attack by Night + in Saqâra—Day of Trial. + + LETTER IX.—_Cairo, 22nd April, 1843_ 79 + + Plan of the Site of the Pyramid Fields—Cairo. + + LETTER X.—_Ruins of the Labyrinth, 31st May, 1843_ 81 + + Departure for the Faiûm—Camels and Dromedaries—Lischt— + Meidûm—Illahûn—Labyrinth—Arabic Song—Bedouins—Turkish + Kawass. + + LETTER XI.—_The Labyrinth, 25th June, 1843_ 89 + + The Ruins of the Labyrinth—Its First Builder—Its Pyramid—Lake + Mœris. + + LETTER XII.—_The Labyrinth, 18th July, 1843_ 94 + + Journey round the Faiûm—The Dams of Mœris—Birket-el-Qorn— + Diméh—Qasr Qerûn. + + LETTER XIII.—_Cairo, 14th August, 1843_ 98 + + Departure of Frey—Ethiopian Manuscripts. + + LETTER XIV.—_Thebes, 13th October, 1843_ 100 + + Voyage on the Nile to Upper Egypt—Rock-Grotto of Surarieh—Tombs + of the Sixth Dynasty, in Central Egypt; of the Twelfth, in + Benihassan, Siut, Berscheh—Arrival in Thebes—Climate—Journey + onwards. + + LETTER XV.—_Korusko, 20th November, 1843_ 105 + + Greek Inscriptions—Benihassan—Berscheh—Tombs of the Sixth + Dynasty—El Amarna—Siut—Alabaster Quarries of El + Bosra—Echmim (Chemmis)—Thebes—El Kab (Eileithyia)—Edfu— + Ombos—Egyptian Canon of Proportions—Assuan—Philæ— + Hieroglyphic-Demotic Inscriptions—Succession of the + Ptolemies—Entrance into Lower Nubia—Debôt—Gertassi— + Kalabscheh (Talmis)—Dendûr—Dakkeh (Pselchis)—Korte— + Hierasykaminos—Mehendi—Sebûa—Korusko—Nubian Language. + + LETTER XVI.—_Korusko, 5th January, 1844_ 130 + + Scarcity of Camels—Excursion to Wadi Haifa—Achmed Pascha + Menekle and the newly-named Pascha of the Sudan. + + LETTER XVII.—_E’ Dâmer, 24th January, 1844_ 133 + + Nubian Desert—Roft Mountain Range—Wadi E’ Sufr—Wadi + Murhad—Ababde Arabs—Abu Hammed—The Province of Berber—El + Mechêref—Mogrân or Atbara (Astaboras)—E’ Dâmer—Mandera. + + LETTER XVIII.—_On the Blue River, Province of Sennâr, 13° N. Lat., + 2nd March, 1844_ 148 + + The borders of a Tropical Climate—Kawass—Hagi Ibrahim—Meröe— + Begerauîeh—Pyramids—Ferlini—The Age of the Monuments— + Schendi—Ben Naga—Naga in the Desert—Mesaurât e’ Sofra— + Tamaniât—Chartûm—Bahr el Abiat (the White River)—Dinka + and Schilluk—Soba—Kamlîn—Bauer—Inscription on Marble— + Baobab—Abu Harras—Rahad—Character of the Country—Dender— + Dilêb Palms—Sennâr—Abdîn—Româli—Sero—Return towards the + North—Wed Médineh—Sorîba—Sultâna Nasr—Gabre Máriam—Rebâbi— + Funeral Ceremony—The Military—Emin Pascha—Tâiba—Messelemîeh— + Kamlîn—Soba—Vase with an Inscription. + + LETTER XIX.—_Chartûm, 21st March, 1844_ 190 + + Military Revolt at Wed Médineh—Insurrection of the Slaves. + + LETTER XX.—_The Pyramids of Meröe, 22nd April, 1844_ 193 + + Tamaniât—Qirre Mountain Range—Meröe—Return of the Turkish + Army from Taka—Osman Bey—Prisoners from Taka—Language of + the Bischâri from Taka—Customs in the South—Pyramids of + Meröe—Ethiopian Inscriptions—Name of Meröe. + + LETTER XXI.—_Keli, 29th April, 1844_ 210 + + Departure from Meröe—Groups of Tombs north of Meröe. + + LETTER XXII.—_Barkal, 9th May, 1844_ 213 + + The Desert of Gilif—Gôs Burri—Wadi Gaqedûl—Mágeqa—Trees of + the Desert—Wadi Abu Dôm—Wadi Gazâl—Coptic Churches—Greek + Inscriptions—Pyramids of Nuri—Arrival at Barkal. + + LETTER XXIII.—_Mount Barkal, 28th May, 1844_ 222 + + Ethiopian Kings—Temple of Ramses II.—Napata—Méraui—Climate. + + LETTER XXIV.—_Dongola, 15th June, 1844_ 225 + + Excursion into the Cataract Country—Bân—Departure from + Barkal—Pyramids of Tangassi, Kurru, and Zûma—Churches + and Fortifications of Bachît, Magal, Gebel Dêqa—Old + Dongola—Nubian Language. + + LETTER XXV.—_Dongola, 23rd June, 1844_ 233 + + Island of Argo—Kermân and Defûfa—Tombos—Inscriptions of + Tuthmosis I.—Languages of Darfur. + + LETTER XXVI.—_Korusko, 17th August, 1844_ 235 + + Fakir Fenti—Sêse—Soleb—Gebel Dosche—Sedeïnga—Amara—Island + of Sai—Sulphur Spring Of Okmeh—Semneh—Heights of the Nile + in the Reign of Amenemha-Mœris—Abu Simbel—Greek Inscription + in the Reign of Psammeticus I.—Ibrîm (Primis) Anîbe—Korusko. + + LETTER XXVII.—_Philæ, 1st September, 1844_ 241 + + Wadi Kenûs—Bega Language of the Bischâri—Talmis—Philæ— + Meroitic-Ethiopian Inscriptions. + + LETTER XXVIII.—_Thebes—Qurna, 24th November, 1844_ 243 + + Excavations in the Temple and in the Rock-Tombs of Ramses + II.—Languages of the Sudan—History and Civilisation of + Ethiopia. + + LETTER XXIX.—_Thebes—Qurna, 8th January, 1845_ 245 + + Monuments and Plaster Casts we took away with us. + + LETTER XXX.—_Thebes, 25th February, 1845_ 246 + + Description of Thebes—The Temple of Karnac, and its + History—Luqsor—El Asasif—Statue of Memnon—The + Memnonium—Temple of Ramses II.—Medînet Hâbu—The Royal + Tombs—Tombs of Private Individuals from the Time of + Psammeticus—Imperial Time—Coptic Convents and + Churches—Copts of the present Day—Revenge for bloodshed + among the Arabs—Our dwelling in Abd-el-Qurna—Visit from + Travellers. + + LETTER XXXI.—_On the Red Sea, 21st March, 1845_ 274 + + Change of abode from Qurna to Karnac—Departure to the + Peninsula of Sinai—Qenneh—Seïd Hussên—Stone-Quarries + and Inscriptions of Hamamât—Gebel Fatireh—Losing our + Way—Porphyry Quarries at Gebel Dochân—Gebel Zeït. + + LETTER XXXII.—_Convent of Sinai, 24th March, 1845_ 290 + + Landing at Tôr—Gebel Hammâm—Wadi Hebrân—Convent—Gebel + Mûsa—Gebel Sefsâf. + + LETTER XXXIII.—_On the Red Sea, 6th April, 1845_ 293 + + Departure from the Convent—Wadi e’ Scheikh—Ascent of + Serbâl—Wadi Firân—Wadi Mokatteb—Copper Mines of Wadi + Maghâra—Rock-Inscriptions of the Fourth Dynasty—Sarbut + el Châdem—Mounds of Dross—Wadi Nasb—Harbour of Abu + Zelîmeh—The true Position of Sinai—Tradition of the + Monks—Local and Historical Conditions—Elim at Abu + Zelîmeh—Mara in Wadi Gharandel—The Desert of Sin—Sinai, + the Mount of Sin—The Mount of God—Subsistence of the + Israelites—Raphidîm at Pharan—Sinai-Choreb at + Raphidîm—Review of the Question upon Sinai. + + LETTER XXXIV.—_Thebes—Karnac, 4th May, 1845_ 321 + + Return to Thebes—Revenge for bloodshed. + + LETTER XXXV.—_Cairo, 10th July, 1845_ 322 + + Dendera—El Amarna—Dr. Bethmann—Removal of the Sepulchral + Chambers at the Pyramids. + + LETTER XXXVI.—_Cairo, 11th July, 1845_ 323 + + The Egyptian Museum in Berlin—Pictures on the Walls. + + LETTER XXXVII.—_Jaffa, 7th October, 1845_ 332 + + Journey across the Delta—San (Tanis)—Arrival in Jaffa. + + LETTER XXXVIII.—_Nazareth, 9th November, 1845_ 333 + + Jerusalem—Nablus (Sichem)—Tabor—Nazareth—Lake of Tiberias. + + LETTER XXXIX.—_Smyrna, 7th December, 1845_ 336 + + Carmel—Libanon—Berut—Departure to Damascus—Zachleh—Tomb of + Noah—Bárada—Tomb of Abel—Inscriptions at Bárada—Tomb of + Seth—Bâlbeck—Ibrahim—Cedars of Libanon—Egyptian and + Assyrian Rock-Inscriptions at Nahr el Kelb. + + + + +PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION AND ITS RESULTS. + + +In the year 1842, in accordance with the proposal of Eichhorn, at that +time Minister of Instruction, and at the recommendation of MM. Alexander +v. Humboldt and Bunsen, his Majesty King Frederic William IV. of Prussia +determined to send a scientific expedition to investigate the remains of +ancient Egyptian and Ethiopian civilisation still in preservation in the +Nile valley and the adjacent countries. The direction of the undertaking +was entrusted to me, after the detailed plans of the proposed expedition +had been minutely examined by the _Royal Academy of Sciences_, and in all +points graciously approved by the King. + +The land-surveyor, G. Erbkam, from Berlin, and the draughtsmen and +painters, Ernest and Max Weidenbach, from Naumburg, and J. Frey, from +Basle, were appointed to make the drawings and coloured representations, +as well as those architectonic plans, which had to be executed on the +spot. When J. Frey was obliged to return to Europe from Lower Egypt, +on account of the injurious climate, he was replaced by the painter O. +Georgi, from Leipzig. Two English artists, also, J. Bonomi, who, from +the interest he took in the journey, became attached to our party while +we were in London, and the architect J. Wild, who joined us of his own +accord, took an active part in the expedition as long as it remained +in Lower Egypt. Lastly, during nearly the whole of the journey, we +enjoyed the society of the present Counsellor of Legation, H. Abeken, +who accompanied us voluntarily and on an independent footing, and who +in various ways promoted the antiquarian objects of the journey. We +were also provided with the means of obtaining plaster casts of those +representations that were best qualified for the purpose, by the addition +of Franke the moulder. + +The different members of the expedition arriving by various roads, met +in _Alexandria_, on the 18th September, 1842. On the 9th November we +encamped near the great Pyramids of _Gizeh_. What we obtained on that +spot, as well as from the adjoining Pyramid fields of _Abusir_, _Saqâra_, +and _Daschûr_, which are situated to the south, occupied us exclusively +and uninterruptedly for more than six months. The inexhaustible number +of important and instructive monuments and representations, which +we met with in these Necropoli, the most ancient that have existed +in any country, surpassed every expectation we had been entitled to +hold concerning them, and accounts for our long abode in this part +of the country, which is the first approached and visited, but has, +notwithstanding, been very little investigated. If we except the +celebrated and well-known examination of the Pyramids in the year 1837, +by Colonel Howard Vyse, assisted by the accomplished architect Perring, +little had been done to promote a more minute investigation of this +remarkable spot; the French-Tuscan expedition, in particular, did little +more than pass through it. Nevertheless, the innumerable tombs of private +individuals grouped about those royal Pyramids, partly constructed +of massive square blocks, partly hewn into the living rock, contain, +almost exclusively, representations belonging to the old Egyptian +Monarchy, which terminated between two and three thousand years before +Christ; indeed, most of them belong to the fourth and fifth Manethonic +Dynasties, therefore between three and four thousand years before Christ. +The wonderful age of those Pyramids, and of the surrounding tombs, is +no longer generally denied by intelligent inquirers, and in the first +volume of my “Egyptian Chronology,”[1] which has lately appeared, I have +endeavoured to furnish a critical proof of the certain foundations we +possess for a more special determination of time as far back as that +period. But were any one only to believe in the lowest acceptation of +modern scholars concerning the age of the first Egyptian Dynasties, he +would still be compelled to yield priority to those monuments before +any other Egyptian remains of art, and generally before all artistic +remains belonging to the whole race of man, to which we can historically +refer. It is only to this that we can attribute the wonderful growth +in the interest which we attach, partly to the monuments themselves, +as proofs of the earliest activity shown in art, partly to the various +representations of the manner of living in those primitive times. + +On the western border of the Desert, which stretches from the most +northerly groups of Pyramids at Abu Roasch, past the ruins of the old +capital of Memphis, to the Oasis-peninsula of the “Faiûm,” we discovered +the remains of sixty-seven Pyramids, which, with a few exceptions, were +only destined for kings, and in the neighbourhood of the principal groups +we investigated, still more minutely, 130 tombs of private individuals, +which deserved to be more particularly recorded. A great many of +these sepulchral chambers, richly adorned with representations and +inscriptions, could only be reached by excavations. Most of them belonged +to the highest functionaries of those flourishing Dynasties, among whom +there were also thirteen royal princes and seven princesses. + +After we had taken the most careful topographical plans of all the +fields of Pyramids, and had noted down the architectonic ground plans, +and sections of the most important tombs, and after we had, in the most +complete manner, drawn or taken paper impressions of their pictures and +inscriptions, as far as they were accessible to us, we had accomplished +more completely than we ever hoped to do, the first and most important +task of our journey, since we had acquired a basis for our knowledge +concerning the monuments of the oldest Egyptian monarchy. + +On the 19th May, 1843, we proceeded still farther, and encamped on the +23rd in the Faiûm, upon the ruins of the LABYRINTH. Its true position +was long ago conjectured; and our first view dissipated all our doubts +concerning it. The interesting discovery of the actual site of the +ancient Lake Mœris was made about the same time, by the distinguished +French architect Linant, which we had the opportunity of confirming +on the spot. This greatly facilitated the means of comprehending the +topographical and historical conditions of this province, so remarkable +in all its features. The magnificent schemes which converted this +originally desolate Oasis into one of the most productive parts of Egypt, +were intimately connected with each other, and must have belonged, if +not to a single king, still to one epoch of time. The most important +result we obtained by our investigations of the Labyrinth and of the +adjoining Pyramids, was the determination of the historical position of +the original founder; this we obtained by excavations, which occupied +a considerable time. We discovered that the king, who was erroneously +called Mœris by the Greeks, from Lake Mere—_i. e._ from the Lake of +the Nile inundation—lived at the end of the 12th Manethonic Dynasty, +shortly before the invasion of the Hyksos, and was called _Amenemhe_ by +Manetho Ἀμενέμης, the third of his name. His predecessors in the same +Dynasty had already founded the town of Crocodilopolis, in the centre +of the Faiûm, which is proved by some ruins that still exist belonging +to that period; and they probably conducted the Nile Canal, Bahr-Jusef, +which branches off from Derut-Scherif, into the basin of the Desert. +That part of the basin which is most advanced, and situated highest, +terminated in a lake formed by means of gigantic dams, many of which +still exist; and the connection of the canal was regulated by sluices +in such a manner, that in the dry season the reserved water could flow +back again into the valley of the Nile, and irrigate the country round +the capital long after the Nile had retreated within its banks. Amenemhe +built his Pyramid on the shore of the lake, and a splendid temple in +front of it. It afterwards formed the centre of the Labyrinth, whose many +hundred chambers, forming three regular masses of buildings, surrounded +the oldest portion, and, according to Herodotus, were destined by the +Dodecarchs for the general Diets. The ruins of the Labyrinth had never +yet been correctly represented, not even in their general arrangement. +An Arabian canal, which was carried through it at a later period, had +drawn away the attention of passing travellers from that portion of +the chambers which was in best preservation. We have made the most +exact ground plan, accompanied by sections and views. A journey round +the province, as far as Birqet-el-Qorn, and beyond it, to the ruins of +_Diméh_ and _Qasr Qerûn_, induced us to remain several months in this +neighbourhood. + +On the 23rd August we embarked at _Beni-suef_, visited a small +rock-temple of King _Sethôs I._ at _Surarieh_, on the eastern shore, +and farther on, the remains of later monuments in the neighbourhood of +_Tehneh_. At _Kûm-Ahmar_, a little to the south of Zauiet-el-meitîn, we +examined a series of nineteen rock-tombs belonging to the 6th Manethonic +Dynasty. The groups of tombs which are scattered about a few days’ +journey to the south, at _Schech-Said_, _El-Harib_, _Wadi-Selin_, and +still farther on, at _Qasr-e’-Saiât_, also belonged to this period, +which, in point of age, was immediately connected with the flourishing +time of the great builder of the Pyramids. If we judge by the remains +now extant, it appears that there were, at that early period especially, +in this portion of Central Egypt, a number of flourishing cities. Royal +kindred are frequently met with among the ancient possessors of the +tombs, but no sons or daughters of the king, because there was no royal +residence in that neighbourhood. But we found the last flourishing period +of the Old Monarchy—the 12th Manethonic Dynasty—represented in this +part of Egypt by the most beautiful and most considerable remains. The +rock-tombs of Beni Hassan, so remarkable for their architecture, as well +as for the various paintings on their walls, peculiarly belong to this +period. The town to which they appertained, the residence of a governor +of the eastern province of the country, has entirely disappeared, all +except the name, which is preserved in the inscriptions. It appears that +it only flourished a short time during this dynasty, and again declined +at the invasion of the Hyksos. In the neighbouring _Berscheh_ also, and +farther on, among the Lybian rocks, behind the town of _Siut_, which was +as important 4000 years ago as it is at present, we again found the same +plans of tombs on as magnificent a scale, whose period of erection might +be recognised even at a distance. + +It is a singular fact, that in point of age the greater proportion of +the remains of the Egyptian monuments become more modern the higher we +ascend the Nile valley, the reverse of what might have been expected from +a large view of the subject; according to which the Egyptian civilisation +of the Nile valley extended from south to north. While the Pyramids of +Lower Egypt, with the monuments around them, had displayed the oldest +civilisation of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Dynasties in such wonderful +abundance, we found the 6th Dynasty, and the most flourishing period of +the 12th, the last of the Old Monarchy, especially represented in Central +Egypt. Thebes was the brilliant capital of the New Monarchy, especially +of their first Dynasties, surpassing all other places in the number of +its wonderful monuments; and even now it offers us a reflection of the +splendour of Egypt in her greatest times. Art, which still created +magnificent things even in its decline, under the Ptolemies and the +Roman emperors, has left considerable monuments behind it, consisting +of a series of stately temples in _Dendera_, _Erment_, _Esneh_, _Edfu_, +_Kûm-Ombo_, _Debôd_, _Kalabscheh_, _Dendûr_, _Dakkeh_, which are all, +with the exception of Dendera, in the southern part of the Thebaid, or +in Lower Nubia. Lastly, those monuments of the Nile valley which are +situated most to the south, especially those of the “Island” of _Meröe_, +are the latest of all, and most of them belong to the centuries after the +Christian era. + +We hastened immediately from the monuments of the Old Monarchy in Central +Egypt to Thebes, and deferred till our return the examination of the +well-preserved, but modern temple of Dendera, the ruins of Abydos, and +several other places. But of Thebes, also, we took but a preliminary +survey, for we only remained there twelve days, from the 6th to the 18th +of October. + +We were impatient to commence immediately our second fresh task, which +consisted in the investigation of the Ethiopian countries, situated +higher up the river. The French-Tuscan expedition did not go beyond +Wadi Halfa; Wilkinson’s careful description of the Nile land and its +monuments, which contains so much information, only extends a little +higher up, as far as Semneh. The most various conjectures were still +entertained concerning the monuments of Gebel Barkal and Meröe, with +reference to their age and their signification. It was necessary to +obtain a general view of the true relation between the History and +Civilisation of Egypt and Ethiopia, founded upon a complete examination +of the remains which are still extant. + +Therefore, after a cursory visit to the temple ruins, as far up as Wadi +Halfa, we returned to Korusko, from which place we started on the 8th +of January, 1844, through the Great Desert to Abu-Hammed, and the Upper +Nile countries. On the 16th of January we arrived at Abu-Hammed, on the +other side of the desert; on the 28th, at _Beg´erauîeh_, near to which +the Pyramids of Meröe are situated. From _Schendi_, which lies more to +the south, we visited the temple ruins of _Naga_ and _Wadi e’ Sofra_, +far on in the interior of the eastern desert. On the 5th of February we +reached _Chartûm_, at the confluence of the White and the Blue Nile. From +this place, accompanied by Abeken, I descended the Blue River, passed the +ruins of _Soba_ and _Sennâr_, as far as the 13° of N. lat.; whilst the +other members of the expedition returned from Chartûm to the Pyramids of +Meröe. The tropical countries of the Nile, when contrasted with those +northern ones, devoid of rain, extending south as far as the 17°; and the +plants and animals now almost exclusively confined to South Ethiopia, +when compared with individual representations of the ancient Egyptian +monuments, were rendered still more interesting by the discovery of some +monuments, with inscriptions upon them, near Soba, by which we obtained +traces of the ancient vernacular language of those districts in a written +character resembling the Coptic. + +I also made use of our residence in these districts to be instructed by +the natives of the adjacent countries in the grammar and vocabulary of +their languages. + +On the 5th of April I returned with Abeken to the other members of the +expedition at _Beg´erauîeh_. After drawings had been made of all that +still existed which peculiarly represented the state of civilisation in +Ethiopia, and after we had taken the most exact plans of the localities, +we proceeded in six days, by the desert Gilif, to _Gebel Barkal_, where +we arrived on the 6th of May. Here was the more northern, the more +ancient, and, to judge by the remains, also the more important capital +of the State of Meröe. At the foot of this single mass of rock, which +rises in an imposing manner, and is called there, in the hieroglyphical +inscriptions, “The Sacred Mountains,” is situated _Napata_. The history +of this place, which we may still derive from its ruins, gives us at once +a key to the relations which subsisted in general between Ethiopia and +Egypt, as regards the history of their civilisation. We find that the +most ancient epoch of art in Ethiopia was purely Egyptian. It is as early +as the period of the great Ramses, who, of all the Pharaohs, extended his +power farthest, not only towards the north, but also towards the south, +and testified this by monuments. At an early period he built a great +temple here. The second epoch begins with King _Tahraka_, also known as +the ruler of Egypt, the _Thirhaka_ of the Bible. This spot was adorned +with several magnificent monuments by him and his immediate successors, +and though they were built in a style now employed by native kings, it +is, nevertheless, only a faithful copy of the Egyptian style. Lastly, +the third epoch is that of the kings of _Meröe_, whose dominion extended +as far as Philæ, and was manifested also at Gebel Barkal by numerous +monuments. On an intermediate journey into the Cataract country, situated +farther up the river, which we had cut off by the Desert journey, I found +only Middle-Age, but no ancient, Ethiopian remains of buildings. + +The fertile and extensive province of _Dongola_, on the northern +frontier, which we traversed on the 4th of June, after our departure +from Barkal, afforded us but few remarkable ancient remains; we may, +however, mention among these the island of _Argo_, with its monuments, +from the 13th Manethonic Dynasty. They became still more numerous in the +northern borders of Dongola, from which a nearly continuous Cataract +country extends as far as Wadi Halfa. Near _Tombos_ we found traces of +the Egyptian dominion under the Pharaohs of the 17th and 18th Dynasties, +rock-tablets with the shields of the two first Thutmosis and of the third +Amenophis. Farther on, at _Sesebi_, there were the remains of temples of +the first SETHÔS of the 19th Dynasty. The great Temple of _Soleb_, built +by Amenophis III. and IV., detained us five days. The ruins of the Temple +of _Sedeïnga_, and those upon the island of _Sai_, belonged to the 18th +and 19th Dynasties. Opposite this island stood the remarkable Temple of +_Amara_, which was built by the Kings of Meröe and Naga, and is still an +important proof of the extent of their dominion. + +_Semneh_ was the next point we reached. The Nile is here compressed +within a breadth of only about 1150 feet between high rocky shores. +On both sides there are ruins of old temples of the 18th Dynasty. But +these were not the earliest buildings which were erected here. We found +a considerable number of inscriptions from the 12th and 13th Manethonic +Dynasties, especially on the large foundations of the Temple of _Kummeh_, +situated lower down, opposite Semneh on the eastern bank, as well as on +the scattered rocks on both banks in the neighbourhood of that temple. +Many of them were intended to indicate the highest risings of the Nile +during a series of years, especially in the reigns of the Kings Amenemhe +III. and Sebekhotep I., and by comparing them, we obtained the remarkable +result, that about 4000 years ago the Nile used to rise at that point, +on an average, twenty-two feet higher than it does at present. This, +therefore, which we saw before us was the most ancient Nilometer; and +the earliest statements of the heights, and their greatest number, were +recorded during the reign of the same king, the Mœris of the Greeks, +with whom we had already become acquainted in the Faiûm, as the great +hydraulic architect. The strong fortifications on both banks of that +narrow part of the river convinced us at once that, during the early +times of the 12th Dynasty, this remarkable point served as the boundary +of the Egyptian dominion, against the Ethiopian nations who dwelt more to +the south. + +At _Wadi Halfa_, on the 30th of July, we again left the Cataract +country, remained from the 2nd to the 11th of August in _Abu Simbel_, +examined until the end of the month the ruins of _Ibrîm_, _Anîbe_, +_Derr_, _Amada_, _Sebûa_, _Dakkeh_, _Kubán_, _Gerf-Hussên_, _Sabagûra_, +_Dendûr_, _Kalabscheh_, _Debôt_, and spent the whole of the following +month in examining the monuments of the Island of _Philæ_, and the +islands of _Bigeh_, _Konosso_, _Sehêl_, and _Elephantine_, surrounding +it, and of the stone quarries between _Philæ_ and _Assuan_. October was +spent visiting _Ombos_, the two _Silsilis_, _Edfu_, the desert Temple of +_Redesíeh_, _El-Kâb_, _Esneh_, _Tôd_, and _Erment_. + +On the 2nd of November we again arrived on Theban ground, and first +visited the rock-tombs of _Qurnah_, on the west side, where we remained +nearly four months, till the 20th of February, 1845, when we encamped +for three more months at _Karnak_. The number of monuments of all +kinds, both above and below ground, at Thebes, is so great that they +may be truly called inexhaustible, even for a combined power like ours, +and for the limited portion of time which we were able to devote to +their investigation. But the age of the monuments at Thebes is almost +exclusively limited to the _New Monarchy_; and the most ancient we +discovered, such as one might generally expect to find, are not earlier +than the 11th Manethonic Dynasty, the last but one of the Old Monarchy; +for this simple reason, because it was in this Dynasty that Thebes first +became a royal residence, and hence the focus of Egyptian splendour. The +great break in the succession at the end of the 12th Dynasty, caused +by the invasion of the Hyksos, and their dominion, which lasted many +centuries, first drove the Egyptian power back into Ethiopia, and at +length entirely destroyed it, till the powerful Pharaohs of the 17th, +18th, and 19th Dynasties again advanced from the south, drove back +the Semitic intruders, and raised the power of the Egyptian empire to +its summit. The greater proportion of Theban monuments date also from +this period. As we may suppose they have been the principal object of +investigation to all travellers, therefore our work here had been for the +most part anticipated. + +Nevertheless it was necessary to re-examine the whole ground most +carefully, partly to complete the deficiencies left by our predecessors, +partly to make a proper selection of those monuments which were of +most importance for our particular purpose, and which we were anxious +to insert among our collections, either in the shape of a drawing, or +an impression upon paper, or even in the original itself. We directed +our principal attention during the whole journey, and especially here, +to taking the most exact architectonic plans of all the buildings and +other localities which appeared to us to be of any consequence; and for +this purpose we did not hesitate to make extensive excavations. By this +means we succeeded, amongst other things, in discovering, and recording +for the first time, a perfect plan of the most beautiful of all the +temple buildings, namely, the Ammon Temple, built by Ramses II., which +is described by Diodorus under the name of the sepulchre of Osymandyas. +We made several excavations also in the valleys of the royal tombs, and +opened, for instance, the rock-tomb of the same Ramses II., one of the +largest of those which have hitherto been accessible. Unfortunately, the +interior chambers were so much destroyed by the dirt and rubbish that had +fallen in, that we could make out little more from the representation +upon the walls than the proprietor of the tomb. + +Accompanied by the artist Max Weidenbach, I made an intermediate journey +from Karnak to the peninsula of Sinai. We went thither by the old road +from _Koptos_ to _Aennum_ (_Philotera_), now leading from _Qeneh_ to +_Kossêr_, which conducted us first to the remarkable stone quarries of +_Hammamât_, already worked out during the Old Monarchy. The numerous +rock-inscriptions, which date as far back as the 6th Dynasty, occupied +us here for five whole days. From this place we passed through the +Arabian chain of mountains to the north, as far as _Gebel Zeït_, where +we embarked for _Tôr_, situated opposite. We ascended through _Wadi +Hebrân_ to the convent, and from thence through _Wadi e’ Scheikh_, _Wadi +Firân_, _W. Mokatteb_, _W. Maghâra_, by _Sarbut el Châdem_, down again to +_Abu Zelîmeh_, where we got into our vessel, to return to _Kossêr_ and +_Thebes._ + +As early as the 4th Manethonic Dynasty, between three and four thousand +years before Christ, this Desert Peninsula was subject to Egypt, and was +principally colonised by the Egyptians on account of the Copper mines, +which are there met with on the limits of the primitive mountain range, +and the surrounding sandstone mountains. Upon several rock-tablets of +_Wadi Maghâra_, the kings of those oldest Dynasties were represented +fighting with the Semitic aborigines, and the inscriptions of _Sarbut el +Châdem_ were at least as early as the 12th Dynasty. We did not, also, +lose sight of the great interest which is attached to these localities +of the peninsula in connection with the Old Testament. More especially, +I believe, that I have succeeded for the first time (not excepting +Burckhardt) in determining the correct position of _Sinai_, since, +contrary to the tradition of the convent, hitherto accepted, I did not +recognise it in one of the southern mountains, but in _Serbâl_, which is +situated several days’ journey more to the north, at whose base lies the +only fertile oasis of the whole peninsula. This opinion which has been +already published in a preliminary account of the journey, addressed to +the King of Prussia, has met with frequent oppositions, but has also +latterly received much approbation, I believe, in a special treatise upon +the question, by W. Hogg, printed in the last half of the “Transactions +for the Royal Society of Literature” (1848). I have not hitherto been +able to discover any material counter-arguments in the discussions which +have been held upon the subject, but, on the other hand, much stronger +evidence that, contrary to the later Byzantine tradition, the more +ancient Christian, and probably the Egyptian tradition itself, considered +Serbâl, at whose foot the oldest convent was situated, to be the true +Sinai. + +On the 14th of April we returned to Thebes, and finally left it on the +16th of May. On our way back to Lower Egypt, we re-examined more minutely +the monuments of _Schenhur_, _Dendera_, _Hou_, _Abydos_, _Echmim_, _El +Bosra_, _Tel el Amarna_, and _El Hibe_, and on the 27th of June, our +party, which had been increased at the last stage by the addition of Dr. +Bethmann, again entered Cairo. + +I was detained there myself some months longer than the other members +of the expedition, in order to direct the transportation of several +sepulchral chambers in the neighbourhood of the Great Pyramids, and to +superintend the embarkation of the valuable blocks of stone, together +with the other monuments, which we brought with us from Upper Egypt and +Ethiopia, and which the Viceroy Mohammed Ali sent as a present to his +Majesty the King of Prussia. In this troublesome as well as important +affair, for the practical performance of which four experienced workmen +had been expressly sent from Berlin to Egypt, I had only the kind +assistance of Dr. Bethmann, who accompanied me on an independent footing +during the remainder of the journey back. + +After a final visit to Alexandria, we embarked on the 25th of September +at _Cairo_ for _Damietta_, but on the way visited the ruins of _Samanúd_, +_Behbét_, and the Ramses-Temple of _San_ (Tanis), and left Egypt on +the 1st of October, in a vessel which took us to Jaffa. After we had +traversed the whole length of Palestine, and from Jerusalem had visited +the Dead Sea, and from Beyrout, Damascus, and Baalbec, at the mouth of +the _Nahr el Kelb_, the ancient _Lykos_, we came upon the last Egyptian +monuments in the north, namely, those celebrated memorial-tablets, +which the great Ramses II. engraved beside the old military road, as +a recollection of his warlike and victorious Asiatic campaigns in the +fourteenth century before Christ. After a period of more than 3000 years, +neither the form, nor even the Name-Shield of the powerful Pharaoh, at +whose court Moses was educated, had been destroyed by the destructive +sea-air. On one tablet, indeed, I was able to distinguish the date of +the fourth, on another that of the second year of his reign. + +According to the testimony of Herodotus, similar monuments of Sesostris +are also found in Ionia, and some time ago, one which he describes as +being there, was re-discovered. But an excursion from Smyrna to that spot +soon convinced us that the rock-picture of _Karabel_ was produced by an +Asiatic and not by an Egyptian chisel. + +Lastly, we saw in the Hippodrome, at Constantinople, the obelisk of the +third Tuthmosis, but, like others, sought in vain for the second, which +earlier travellers would have us believe that they had seen. On the 24th +December, I left Constantinople, and landed on the 5th January, 1846, in +Trieste. + + * * * * * + +The whole journey, of which this is a very hasty sketch, was one of the +most fortunate expeditions which has ever been undertaken for a similar +purpose. None who participated in it suffered from the climate or the +accidental casualties of a journey. We travelled under the powerful and, +in every way efficient protection of the Viceroy. We had an explicit +and written permission to make excavations, wherever we should consider +it desirable, and we employed it, to acquire a number of interesting +monuments for the Royal Museum at Berlin, which would either have +remained in Egypt as rubbish under the sand-hills, or exposed, like so +many others, to be destroyed, for all kinds of material purposes. + +The scientific results of the expedition have, in almost all respects, +surpassed our own expectations. In confirmation of this it will be +sufficient briefly to survey these results, which I shall do in the +following pages, according to their principal objects, and by entering +into some of the details. + +The plan of the journey, as a whole, and in its individual parts, was +founded principally with a Historical purpose in view. The French-Tuscan +expedition, compared with ours was a _Journey of Discovery_, with all +the advantages, but also with all the disadvantages, connected with +such an undertaking. We were able from the commencement to aspire after +a certain completeness, within the wide limits that were assigned us, +not however failing in making new discoveries, which were as important +as they were unexpected. The investigation of the most ancient Egyptian +times, namely, the epoch of the first Pharaonic Monarchy, from about 3900 +to 1700 before Christ, extending the history of the world almost two +thousand years farther back, was left entirely unfathomed by Champollion. +He only ascended the Nile valley as far as the second Cataract, beyond +which there existed a great number of Egyptian monuments of all kinds, +wholly unexamined, in which we must seek for an explanation of all those +Ethiopian antiquities which are inseparable from the Egyptian. + +The most important results we obtained, therefore, were in Chronology +and History. The Pyramid-fields of Memphis gave us a notion of the +Civilisation of Egypt in those primitive times, which is pictorially +presented to us in 400 large drawings, and will be considered in future +as the first section in that portion of the history of man, capable of +investigation, and must be regarded with the greatest interest. Those +earliest Dynasties of Egyptian dominion, now afford us more than a barren +series of empty, lost, and doubtful names. They are not only free from +every real doubt and arranged in the Order and the Epochs of time, which +have been determined by a critical examination, but by showing us the +flourishing condition of the people in those times, both in the affairs +of the State, Civil affairs, and in the Arts, they have received an +intellectual and frequently a very individual historical reality. We +have already mentioned the discovery of five different burial-places of +the 6th Dynasty in Central Egypt, and what we obtained from them. The +prosperous times of the New Monarchy, namely, the period of splendour in +the Thebaid, as well as the Dynasties which followed, were necessarily +more or less completed and verified. Even the Ptolemies, with whom +we appeared to be perfectly acquainted in the clear narratives of +Grecian history, have come forward in a new light through the Egyptian +representations and inscriptions, and their deficiencies have been filled +up by persons who were hitherto considered doubtful, and were hardly +mentioned by the Greeks. Lastly, on the Egyptian monuments we beheld the +Roman emperors in still greater and almost unbroken series, in their +capacity of Egyptian governors, and they have been carried down since +Caracalla, who had hitherto been considered as the last name written in +hieroglyphics, through two additional later emperors, as far as Decius, +by which means the whole Egyptian monumental history has been extended +for a series of years in the other direction. + +Egyptian Philology has also made considerable progress by this journey. +The lexicon has been increased by our becoming acquainted with several +hundred signs, or groups, and the grammar has received a great many +corrections. Such copious materials have also been acquired for these +purposes, especially by the numerous paper impressions of the most +important inscriptions, that Egyptian Philology must be essentially +furthered by their being gradually adopted. For owing to the strict +accuracy of these impressions, they are almost as valuable, in many +investigations, as an equally large collection of original monuments. +In addition to this, the history of the Egyptian language, which by the +great age attributed to the earliest written monuments, embraces a period +of time between five or six thousand years, becomes now of much greater +importance in the universal history of the human language and writing. +Among the individual discoveries we made, the one which attracted most +attention, was that of the two decrees on the Island of Philæ, which +were bilingual, namely, written in hieroglyphics, and in the demotic +character,—one of which contains the decree belonging to the Rosetta +inscription, referring to the wife of Epiphanes. + +In spite of numerous writings upon Egyptian Mythology, it has +nevertheless been hitherto deficient in a fixed monumental basis. +In the Temple at Thebes we beheld a series of representations whose +meaning had not hitherto been recognised, and which seem to me to afford +entirely new conclusions for the correct comprehension and development +of Egyptian mythology. The series of the first arrangement of the gods +mentioned by Herodotus and Manetho, which in modern investigations has +been differently arranged in its details by all scholars, is at length +placed beyond all doubt, and certainly differs in all essential points +from what has been hitherto everywhere adopted. I will briefly allude +here to another fact, important both in the history of mythology as +well as in a purely historical point of view, and which was elicited by +an attentive investigation of the monuments. The direct succession of +the reigning royal family was interrupted, towards the end of the 18th +Dynasty. Through the monuments we became acquainted with several kings of +this period, who were not afterwards admitted in the legitimate lists, +but were regarded as unauthorised cotemporary or intermediate kings. +Among these Amenophis IV. is to be particularly noted, who, during a +very active reign of twelve years, endeavoured to accomplish a complete +reformation of all secular and spiritual institutions. He built a royal +capital for himself in Central Egypt, near the present Tel-el-Amarna, +introduced new offices and usages, and aimed at no less a thing than to +abolish the whole religious system of the Egyptians, which had hitherto +subsisted, and to place in its stead the single worship of the _Sun_. In +all the inscriptions composed during his reign, there is not one Egyptian +god mentioned except the Sun; even in other words the sacred symbols +were avoided, _e. g._ the word _mut_, mother, Coptic ⲙⲁⲧ, was no longer +written as usual with the hawk 𓅐𓏏, the symbol of the goddess _Mut_, but +𓐝𓏏, MT, with the universal phonetic signs. Indeed, the former gods and +their worship were persecuted to such an extent by this king, that he +erased all the gods’ names, with the single exception of the Sun-god +_Ra_, from every monument that was accessible throughout the country, +and because his own name, Amenophis, contained the name of Ammon, he +changed it into Bech-en-aten, “Worshipper of the Sun’s disk.” Therefore +the fact, which has often been previously remarked, that at one particular +period the name of Ammon was intentionally destroyed, forms only part of +an event which had a much wider influence, and which unexpectedly reveals +to us the religious movements of those times. + +The History of Art has never yet been considered in the point of view +from which Egypt, and all that concerns it, is now regarded. This +necessarily formed a particular object of our expedition, and most +directly gained by the increased chronological knowledge we obtained +concerning the monuments. For the first time we were able to pursue all +its branches during the old Egyptian Monarchy, previous to the invasion +of the Hyksos, and accordingly to extend both it and the history of Egypt +about sixteen centuries farther back, and some tens of years lower down +in time. The different epochs of Egyptian art now first appeared clear +and distinct, each marked by its peculiar character, intimately connected +with the general development of the people. They had so frequently been +misunderstood, that no one believed in their existence; they were lost +in the general uniformity. I must mention, as one of the most important +facts connected with this, that we found innumerable instances on +unfinished monuments of three different canons of proportions of the +human body; one belonging to the most ancient Pharaonic Monarchy, another +later than the 12th Dynasty, when Thebes first began to flourish; a +third, which appears at first in the time of the Psammetichi, with an +entire alteration in the Principle of the division, and which remained +unaltered till the time of the Roman emperors. The last is the same +which Diodorus expressly mentions in his first book. Among the separate +branches of Egyptian art, Architecture, which was almost unnoticed by +the French-Tuscan expedition, was with us peculiarly attended to, by +the extremely careful and circumspect labours of our architect Erbkam. +This was befitting the important position occupied by this particular +branch, in which grandeur, that element of art, peculiarly belonging to +the Egyptian beyond all other nations, was capable of being developed, +and has developed itself to the utmost. The study of the sculpture +and paintings devolved upon the other artists who accompanied us, and +the ability and fidelity with which they fulfilled their task must be +recognised by every one. The Egyptian style associated with the limited +views characteristic of the infancy of art, nevertheless possesses a +highly-cultivated ideal element, which must be acknowledged by every +one. The genius of Greece could never have bestowed on art such a marked +character, indicative of a period of prosperous liberty, if it had not +received it as a severe, chaste, and carefully nurtured child from the +Egyptians. The principal task of the history of Egyptian art is to point +out wherein consisted this cultivation of art, peculiar to the Egyptians, +above all the primitive nations of Asia. + +In the next place, Egyptian archæology, in the widest sense of the word, +claimed a large portion of our time and attention: an extensive field, +already examined, both successfully and diligently, by Wilkinson and +Rosellini, which they were enabled to do by means of the inexhaustible +number of separate objects belonging to every-day life, still in +preservation, and by the representations of them, which are found in all +directions, far surpassing any other ancient remains. + +On that account it was still more necessary to make a stricter +investigation, and to regard it from a higher point of view, rather than +accumulate a greater number of individual things, that notwithstanding +obtruded themselves on all sides, and which, besides, we collected in +large quantities, as material to work upon. + +Lastly, Geography and Chorography, which travellers are especially +expected to promote, required to be more peculiarly prosecuted. We must +particularly mention here, that besides the peculiar investigation of +the Pyramid fields at Memphis, and in the Faiûm, which have been already +alluded to, our records of the ruins of towns, and ancient monuments +in the Nile country, as far up as Sennâr, are more perfect and exact +than any hitherto made. With regard to the modern geographical names, +which must always be viewed in comparison with the ancient, I have been +most particular in obtaining the Arabic names—at least, throughout the +district we traversed—in order to counteract, as far as lay in my power, +the insufferable confusion in the names which are marked down. During +the journey, I made special maps for the individual portions of the +eastern mountains of Egypt and the peninsula of Sinai, and I collected +geographical accounts from travellers concerning some remote districts, +which we did not enter, and which are but little known; and I had +geographical drawings made of them. Our investigations of the historical +places in the peninsula of Sinai have been already alluded to. The +discovery, mentioned above, of the most ancient Nilometer at _Semneh_, +has added, in a remarkable degree, also to the history of the physical +condition of the Nile valley; since it is quite evident, from the water +just above the second Cataract, standing at that time twenty-two feet +higher than at present, and the height of the water in the Thebaid being +contemporaneously twelve to fifteen feet lower, that the fall of the Nile +in the intermediate country was thirty-five feet greater in those times +than it is now. But this gradual levelling of the bed of the river must +have had the most decided influence on the history of the cultivation +of the valley, and of the whole population; because the soil on the +banks of the river in the district of Nubia, more especially owing to +the considerable sinking of the water, being inaccessible to the natural +overflowings, was laid dry, and could only be irrigated with great +difficulty, and imperfectly, by means of artificial water-wheels. + +Considerable progress was made in the knowledge of the African languages, +by the investigation which I was principally enabled to make in the +southern part of our journey. I inquired into and noted down as much +of the grammar and vocabulary of three languages, as would enable me +to give a distinct idea of them. First, Kongára, spoken at Dar-Fûr and +the adjacent countries, a Central African-Negro language. Secondly, +the Nuba language, which is spoken in two chief dialects, in one part +of the Nubian-Nile valley and in the neighbouring countries situated +to the south-west, and also appears to be derived from the interior of +Africa. It had hitherto never been a written language, and I collected +together for the first time a piece of written Nubian literature, for +I made a Nubian Sheikh, who was perfectly familiar with the Arabic +language and writing, translate the Fables of Locman, a portion of the +Thousand and One Nights, and the Gospel of St. Mark, from the Arabian +into the Nubian tongue, and write down besides nineteen Nubian songs, +some of them in rhyme, some only rhythmical, and translate them into +Arabic. Unfortunately, these precious packets, all but the Nubian gospel, +were lost in Europe, with little hope of recovery. The third language +investigated by me was the Beg´a, which is spoken by the Bischâri +nation, who dwell between the Red Sea and the Nubian Nile. This language +occupies an important position with reference to philology, since it +seems to be a branch of the original Asiatic stock, of which the African +offsets may be comprehended under the name of the HAMITIC languages; and +is, besides, particularly interesting in our study of the monuments, +because, most probably, it was once the key to decipher the ancient +Ethiopian inscriptions, numbers of which were discovered by us upon the +Island of Meröe, and from that place, in the Nile valley, as far down as +Philæ. These inscriptions are written in simple characters, from right to +left, and derive their origin from the powerful nation of the Meröitic +Ethiopians, whose direct descendants we behold in the present Beg´a +nations. By comparing those languages with the other languages of Africa, +which are already better known, I think I shall be able to separate, +according to fixed principles, these “Hamitic languages” of north and +north-east Africa (which may still be referred to their native home in +Asia) from the numerous other languages of this enigmatical continent; +and I am now engaged in preparing these philological investigations for +special publication. + +I must finally mention, among the results of our journey, two collections +of inscriptions. In the first place, all the Greek inscriptions in the +countries we travelled through were carefully sought out, and impressions +of them were taken upon paper; by which Græco-Egyptian archæology, +and more particularly the learned collections of inscriptions which +have lately excited such lively interest, will probably be completed, +confirmed, or justified in a satisfactory manner. Secondly, in the +peninsula of Sinai we made as perfect a collection as was possible of +the so-called _Sinaitic Inscriptions_, which are found engraved on the +rocks in different districts of the peninsula, but principally in the +neighbourhood of the old town of Faran, at the foot of the mountain range +of Serbâl, and at a resting-place of the caravans in Wadi Mokatteb, +situated farther north, which is named after them. + +We were only able casually to turn our attention to objects of Natural +Science; nevertheless, I did not however neglect, especially during +remote mountainous journeys, to collect specimens of stone and earth +from the more remarkable localities. We not only visited the celebrated +stone quarries in the chalk mountains of Tura, in the sandstone range of +Selseleh, in the granite rocks of Assuan, and others situated in the Nile +valley, but also those alabaster quarries of El Bosra, opposite Siut, +which were discovered a few years ago by the Bedouins, in which last we +found a rock-inscription from the commencement of the 17th Dynasty. They +resemble those quarries of granite and brecciaverde at HAMMAMÂT, upon +the road leading from Qeneh to the Red Sea, which have been worked from +the earliest times, and also the porphyry and granite quarries at Gebel +Fatireh (Mons Claudianus), and at Gebel Dochân (Mons Porphyrites), in the +Arabian chain of mountains, celebrated in the Roman period. I also had +an opportunity of purchasing an interesting Ethnographical and Natural +History collection in Alexandria, obtained by H. Werne during Mohammed +Ali’s second expedition up the Nile, which penetrated as far as the 4° +N. lat., of which an account was published; and I received a valuable +collection of Egyptian fishes for the Anatomical Museum in Berlin, from +the celebrated French physician Clot Bey. + + + + +LETTERS FROM EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. + +DEDICATED, WITH THE PROFOUNDEST VENERATION AND GRATITUDE, TO ALEXANDER +VON HUMBOLDT. + + + + +LETTER I. + + + _On board the Oriental Steamer, the 5th of September, 1842._ + +All our efforts were taxed to enable us to depart on the 1st September; +the delay of one day would have cost us a whole month, so it was +necessary to be doubly active. A visit to Paris was indispensable, and I +reached it in thirty-one hours from London; but two days were all that +could be spared to procure what was requisite in the way of purchases, +letters, and notes. I returned richly laden from this city, ever rich +to me in interest, information, and various proofs of kindness. In +London, I acquired two additional excellent travelling companions—Bonomi +and Wild, who had lately determined to share in the expedition on an +independent footing. The former, already well known as a traveller in +Egypt and Ethiopia, not only has a thorough practical acquaintance with +the mode of life in those parts, but also possesses a critical knowledge +of Egyptian art, and is a master in Egyptian drawing; the latter, a young +architect, full of genius, seeks with enthusiasm in the East a new field +for the exercise of the rich and various gifts with which he is endowed. +At length, everything was purchased, provided, and packed, and we had +bid farewell to our friends. Bunsen alone, with his usual kindness, and +unwearied friendship, accompanied us as far as Southampton, the place of +our embarkation, where we spent the evening together. + +As at other times, when landing from a stormy sea after days of rough +tossing, we suddenly enjoy an almost inconceivable degree of repose in +the quiet harbour, although for a long time we still feel the ground +tottering beneath us, and fancy we hear the sound of the breakers, so +on this occasion I experienced the same, though the case was reversed; +when, after the whirl of the last days and weeks, and coming from the +immense metropolis of the world, I reached the harbour, and entered the +narrow, quickly traversed and surveyed, wooden house of the monotonous +wilderness of the ocean. All at once there was nothing more to provide +and to hasten; the long row of more than thirty chests of our baggage +had vanished piece by piece into the dark hold of the ship; our cabins +required no arrangement, for they could scarcely contain more than our +own persons. The absence of disturbance for some time caused a new and +undefined kind of disturbance: anxiety, without anything to be anxious +about. + +Among the passengers, I will only mention the missionary Lieder, a German +by birth, returning with his English wife to Cairo. Commissioned by the +English Missionary Society, he has founded and conducted a boys’ and +girls’ school there, which is now to be restricted exclusively to the +children of the Coptic Christians. Lieder has introduced instruction +in the Coptic language into this school, and has thus restored to an +honourable position that remarkable and most ancient language of the +country, which, for many centuries past, has been entirely supplanted +among the people by the Arabic tongue. It is true that the Holy +Scriptures still exist in the country in the Coptic tongue, and are even +used in public worship, but they are only chanted as psalms, and are no +longer understood. + +We started from Southampton on the 1st September, about ten o’clock in +the morning. The wind was against us, and therefore we did not reach +Falmouth till twenty-four hours afterwards, where our ship waited for the +London mail, to take in the letters. We remained several hours at anchor +there, in a charming bay; an old castle is situated at the entrance +on either side, while in the background the town forms an extremely +picturesque group. About three o’clock we again put to sea, and as there +was a side-wind, it caused much sea-sickness among our party. I consider +myself fortunate, that even on the most stormy voyages I have never been +in this disagreeable condition, which nevertheless has something comic +in it for those who are not suffering. It is a curious circumstance that +the same motion which rocks the child into a sweet slumber, or which +invites us to a pleasure-sail in the tossing boat, on shipboard owing +to the slower time of the wide-swinging pendulum, becomes intolerable +suffering, and prostrates the strongest heroes, without, however, being +accompanied by any serious danger. + +The following day we reached the Bay of Biscay, and with difficulty +cut through the long and deep waves, which rolled out from the distant +coast. On the morning of the 4th instant, Sunday, very few appeared at +breakfast. About eleven o’clock, in spite of the violent motion, we +assembled for divine service. The English flag, as the most sacred cloth +in the ship, was spread over the pulpit desk; Herr Lieder preached, +simply and well. About four o’clock we saw the Spanish coast for the +first time, in faint, misty outline. The nearer we approached it, the +waves gradually fell, for the wind blew off shore. Air, sky, and sea were +incomparably beautiful. Cape Finisterre, and the adjoining head-lands, +became more clear. We descried several small sailing-vessels along the +coast; and all kinds of sea-fowl swarmed round the ship. By degrees, the +whole company, even the ladies, collected on deck. The sea became as +smooth as the clearest mirror, and we kept the Spanish coast in sight +the whole afternoon. The sun descended magnificently into the sea; the +evening star was soon followed by the whole host of the heavenly stars, +and a glorious night wrapt around us. + +But now the most splendid spectacle presented itself that I have ever +seen at sea. The ocean began to lighten up, all the crests of the +breaking waves glowed with an emerald-green fire, and a brilliant +greenish-white waterfall fell from the paddle-wheels of the vessel, which +left in its long wake a broad, light streak in the dark sea. The sides of +the vessel, and our downward gazing faces, were lighted up as bright as +moonlight, and I was able to read print without any difficulty by this +water-fire. When the illuminating matter, which, according to Ehrenberg’s +researches, proceeds from infusorial animalculæ, was most intense, we saw +flames dancing over the sea, as far as the coast, so that it seemed as +if we were sailing through a more richly-starred sky than that which was +above us. I have frequently observed this illumination of the sea on the +Mediterranean also, but never with such extraordinary brilliancy as on +this occasion. The spectacle was quite like enchantment. + +Suddenly I observed between the waves new living streaks of fire, which +radiated from the vessel like two gigantic serpents, and, judging by the +proportions of the ship, were at least from sixty to eighty feet long; +they moved in a deceptive manner, in large windings beside the vessel, +crossed the waves, dipped into the foam of the paddle-wheels, reappeared, +retreated, hurried forward, and finally vanished in the distance. For +a long time I could not explain this phenomenon. I thought of the old +tales, so frequently repeated, of the huge sea-serpents which have been +seen from time to time. Nothing could more closely resemble what was +here before us. At length it occurred to me that it might however only +be fishes running a race with the vessel, and, by their rapid movements, +brushing the surface of the luminous sea, they might produce the long +streaks of light behind them. Nevertheless, the ocular demonstration +remained as deceptive as before; I could discover nothing of the dark +fishes, nor determine their size; but I at length consoled myself by my +own conjecture. + + + + +LETTER II. + + + _Alexandria, the 23rd of September, 1842._ + +I put my last letter into the post in Gibraltar, on the 7th September, +where we employed the few hours which were granted us in viewing the +citadel. The African continent lay before us, a light streak on the +horizon. Beneath me, apes were clambering on the rocks, the only ones +in Europe which live in a wild state, and on that account they are +left unmolested. In Malta, which we reached on the 11th September, we +found the painter Frey, from Basle, whom I had known at Rome. He told +me first, by word of mouth, that he desired to join in the expedition, +and had arrived some days before from Naples. We were compelled to wait +nearly three days for the post from Marseilles. This gave us at least +an opportunity to visit the wonders of the island; namely, the gigantic +buildings discovered, a few years back, near La Valetta, and to make +some purchases. Through Lieder, I became acquainted with Gobat, who has +hitherto managed the Maltese station of the English Missionary Society, +but is now waiting for a new destination, as pecuniary circumstances +compel the society to give up this station entirely. It gave me great +pleasure to make the acquaintance of this distinguished person.[2] + +From Malta we were accompanied by the missionary Isenberg, who, like +Gobat, had lived for a long time in Abyssinia, and is also well known to +linguists by his grammar of the Amharic language. A young girl from Basle +was under his protection—Rosina Dietrich, the bride of the missionary +Krapf, who has married her here, and is now going to return with her +and his colleagues, Isenberg and Mühleisen, to the English missionary +station in Schoa, by the next Indian steamer. He was married in the +English chapel, and I was present as a witness at the ceremony, which was +performed with simplicity and feeling. + +On our arrival, on the 18th September, we found Erbkam, Ernest +Weidenbach, and Franke, already here. They had been waiting for us +several days. + +Mohammed Ali had put to sea with the fleet, as he was impatiently +expecting the arrival of Sami Bey, who was to bring him intelligence of +the desired reduction of tribute; in place of which, he had received the +appointment of Grand Vizier. + +The Swedish Consul-General, d’Anastasi, who as the representative of our +Consul-General Von Wagner, still absent, manages the affairs of Prussia, +and who enters with zeal into all our interests, presented us to-day to +the Viceroy, and we have just returned from the audience. He expressed +himself much pleased with the vases, which I delivered to the Pascha in +the name of our Sovereign, and he felt himself still more honoured by the +King’s letter, of which he immediately ordered a written translation to +be made, and perused it with great attention in our presence, and desired +that I should be informed that he would give me the answer when we should +again leave the country. We were received, and dismissed standing; coffee +was handed to us, and he showed us other attentions, some of which were +afterwards carefully explained to me by d’Anastasi. Boghos Bey, his +confidential minister, was the only one present, and remained standing +all the time. Mohammed Ali appeared to be cheerful, and youthful in his +actions and conversation; no debility was visible in the features and +flashing eye of the old man of seventy-three. He spoke with interest of +his expeditions up the Nile, and assured us he intended to repeat them, +till he should have found the sources of the White River. On my inquiring +about his Museum in Cairo, he replied, that it certainly had not hitherto +been very successful, but that frequently, when rapid progress was +expected in his enterprises, unjust claims were made on him relative to +these matters in Europe; since he was compelled first to obtain a basis +and foundation, which, with us, had long been prepared. I only cursorily +alluded to our excavations; and in the course of conversation assumed +that he had granted us permission to make them; this I am soon to receive +in due form.[3] + +[Illustration: EGYPT, NUBIA AND THE UPPER NILE + +to illustrate the + +_LETTERS OF DR. LEPSIUS_.] + + + + +LETTER III. + + + _Cairo, the 16th October, 1842._ + +We were detained almost fourteen days in Alexandria. The whole time +was spent in preparations for our farther journey. I saw the Pascha +several times again, and found him always favourably inclined towards +our expedition. But we had gained little in a scientific point of view. +We visited Pompey’s Pillar, which has nevertheless no connection with +Pompey, but, as we learn by the Greek inscription on the base, was placed +there by the Prefect Publius, in honour of the Emperor Diocletian. The +blocks of the foundation are partly fragments of older buildings; the +Royal Ring of the second Psammeticus could still be recognised upon one +of them. + +The two obelisks, of which the one still standing is called Cleopatra’s +Needle, are very much destroyed on the sides which are exposed to the +weather, and in part have become totally illegible. They were erected +by THUTMOSIS III., in the sixteenth century before Christ; at a later +period RAMSES MIAMUN has inscribed his name, and still later, on the +outermost borders of the four sides, another king, who proved to be +hitherto wholly unknown, and was therefore gladly greeted by me. I must +also mention an interesting collection of objects of every sort connected +with ethnography and natural history, which was made by Werne, a native +of Prussia, during the second expedition of the Pascha up the Nile, as +far as the White River, in lands till then unknown, and which a few +months previously had been conveyed to Alexandria.[4] It appeared to me +of such value, and to be so unique in its kind, that I have purchased it +for our Museums. While we were still there, it was packed up, ready to be +despatched. I think it will be welcome in Berlin. + +At length the Bujurldis (Firman) of the Pascha was ready, and we hastened +to quit Alexandria. We embarked the same day that I received it (the +30th September), on the Mahmudieh canal. Darkness surprised us before +we had accomplished this first difficult departure. It was nine o’clock +before we drove off from our hotel, on the extensive and beautiful +Frank-square, in two carriages belonging to M. d’Anastasi, preceded by +the customary runners with torches. The gate was opened at the watchword +that had been given to us; our baggage had already been conveyed to the +boat some hours previously on camels, so that we were able to depart very +soon after our entrance into the roomy vessel, which I had hired in the +morning. The Nile, which we entered at Atfeh, had tolerably high waves, +as the wind was strong and unfavourable. The usual mode of navigation +here, is with two pointed sails, which rise upwards like the wings of a +bee; these are easily beaten down, by every violent gust of wind, not +without danger, especially in the dark. I therefore granted the sailors +permission to stop every stormy night. + +The following day, the 2nd of October, we landed at SA EL HAGER to +visit the ruins of ancient SAIS, the city of the Psammetici, famous by +its temple to Minerva. The circular walls of the town, built of bricks +of Nile earth, and the deserted ruins of the houses, are alone extant; +there are no remains of stone buildings with inscriptions. We paced the +circumference of the city, and made a simple plan of the locality. The +Acropolis was situated to the north-west of the town, which is even now +marked by tolerably high mounds of rubbish. We spent the night at NEKLEH. +I have got the great maps of the “Description de l’Egypte” beside me, on +which we were able to trace almost every step of our excursions. We have +hitherto found it almost everywhere to be depended upon. + +The 3rd of October we landed on the western bank, to inspect the remains +of the old Rosetta canal, and spent almost the whole afternoon till +sunset in examining the ruins of an old town near NAHARIEH. No walls +are now visible, only mounds of rubbish, yet we found in the houses of +the modern town several stones with inscriptions, chiefly built into +door-sills, which had originally belonged to a temple of King Psammeticus +I. and APRIES (Hophre). The next night we stopped on the western bank at +TEIRIEH, and landed there the following morning to search for some ruins, +an hour distant from the bank, but from which we obtained nothing. The +Libyan desert here for the first time advances quite close to the Nile, +and presented us with a new and deeply impressive sight. + +On the following morning, we first saw the Great Pyramids of Memphis, +rising above the horizon; I could not for a long time take my eyes off +them. We still continued to sail on the Rosetta arm; about mid-day we +reached the so-called Cowsbelly, where the Nile divides into its two +principal arms. Now for the first time we were able to survey the noble, +wonderful river in its whole magnitude, which with its fertilising and +sweet-tasting water, influences the life and manners of the inhabitants +on its banks like no other river in the world. It usually attains +its greatest height about the beginning of October. But this year an +inundation has occurred, such as has not been remembered for generations +past. A breach in the dams is dreaded, which after the great murrain, +that is said to have carried off up to the last week forty thousand head +of cattle, would cause Egypt to be afflicted a second time this year. + +About five o’clock in the evening we arrived at BULAQ, the harbour +of Cairo. We rode at once from the harbour to the town, and made +arrangements for a considerable stay. By-the-by, when we say CAIRO, and +the French LA CAIRE, it proceeds from a pure error in language. The town +is never called anything by the Arabs now, but MASR, and the country the +same; that is the old Semetic name, which is more easily pronounced by +us in the dual termination Mis’raim. It was only in the tenth century, +when the present city was founded, that the modern Masr, by the addition +EL QAHIREH, that is “the victorious,” was distinguished from the earlier +MASR EL ATIQEH, the present Old Cairo. The Italians then omitted the _h_, +which they could not pronounce, mistook the Arabic article EL for their +masculine IL, and thus by its termination also, stamped the whole word as +masculine. + +It was just the commencement of the Musulmans’ holy fasting month, the +Ramadan, during which they neither take food, nor “drink smoke or water” +the whole day, and receive no visits, but only begin the whole business +of life after sunset; thus completely changing day and night, which, on +account of our Arabian servants, causes us much inconvenience. Our Kawass +(the Pascha’s guard of honour that had been given us), which had missed +the time of our departure from Alexandria, established itself here. As +our Prussian vice-consul is out of health, I applied to the Austrian +consul, M. Champion, to whom I had been warmly recommended by Ehrenberg, +with respect to our being presented to the representatives of the Pascha +at this place. He received us with the greatest politeness and anxiety +to serve us, and has obtained for us everywhere a good reception. On +my official visits, which, on account of the Ramadan, were necessarily +made about eight o’clock in the evening, I was usually accompanied by +Erbkam and Bonomi. Our torch-bearers ran before us, then followed on +asses, first the Dragoman of the consul, and our Pascha’s Kawass, then we +ourselves, in stately procession. We rode almost across the whole town to +the Citadel, through the narrow streets, which were filled with Arabs, +and picturesquely illuminated by our torches, there we first paid a visit +to Abbas Pascha,[5] a grandson of Mehemet Ali. He is governor of Cairo, +but rarely there. From him we went to Scherif Pascha, his representative, +and then to the minister of war, Ahmet Pascha. We were everywhere +received with great courtesy. + +On the day after our arrival, I received a diploma as honorary member of +the older Egyptian Society, from which the younger one, which had already +forwarded to London the same invitation to me, has separated. Both held +meetings during the first days after our arrival, but I was only able +to attend one of them, in which an interesting paper was read by Krapf, +on certain nations in Central Africa. The accounts were given him by a +native of the country of Enarea, who had travelled into the country of +the Doko on mercantile business, and describes the people there very much +as Herodotus describes the Libyan dwarf nation, according to the account +of the Nasamonians, namely, as composed entirely of little people, about +the size of children from ten to twelve years old. We might almost +imagine that they were speaking of apes. As the geographical notices of +the hitherto wholly unknown land of the Doko are also interesting, I had +the whole paper copied, in order to send it along with the small map +which belongs to it, to our venerated Ritter.[6] + +On the 13th of October we made our first excursion from this place to +the ruins of HELIOPOLIS, the biblical _On_, whence Joseph took his wife +Asnath, the daughter of a priest. Nothing remains of this highly-praised +city, which prided itself in possessing, next to Thebes, the most learned +body of priests, but the walls, which now resemble great ramparts of +earth, and an obelisk still erect, and perhaps in its original site. +The peculiar interest of this obelisk is, that it was erected by King +SESURTESEN I. in the Old Monarchy, about B.C. 2300, and is by far the +most ancient of all known obelisks; for the broken one in the Fayoum +at Crocodilopolis, which bears the name of the same king, is rather a +lengthened _stele_, or tablet, in the form of an obelisk. Boghos Bey has +received a present of the ground on which the obelisk stands, and has +laid out a garden round it. The flowers of the garden have attracted a +multitude of bees, and they have been unable to find a more commodious +habitation than in the deep and sharply-cut hieroglyphics of the obelisk. +Within the space of a twelvemonth, they have covered the inscriptions of +the four sides to such a degree, that a great portion of them have now +become quite illegible. They had been, however, previously published, +and we had little difficulty in our examination, because three sides bear +the same inscription, and that on the fourth, also, differs but little. + +Yesterday, the 15th October, was our king’s birthday, and I had selected +this day for the first visit to the Great Pyramids. We would there, +with a few friends, commemorate our King and our Fatherland in a joyous +festival. We invited the Austrian consul, Champion; the Prussian consul, +Bokty; our learned countryman, Dr. Pruner, and Messrs. Lieder, Isenberg, +Mühleisen, and Krapf to join our party, some of whom however, were to our +regret, prevented from attending. + +The morning was beautiful beyond description, fresh and festive. We rode +in a long procession through the yet quiet city, and through the green +avenues and gardens which are now laid out before it. Wherever, almost, +that we met with new and well carried out works, Ibrahim Pascha was named +to us as their originator. He seems to be doing much in all parts of +Egypt for the embellishment and improvement of the country. + +It is impossible to describe the scene that met our view when we emerged +from the avenues of date-trees and acacias; the sun rose on the left +behind the Moqattam hills, and illuminated the summits of the Pyramids +in front, which lay before us in the plain like gigantic rock crystals. +All were overpowered, and felt the solemn influence of the splendour and +grandeur of this morning scene. At Old Cairo we were transported across +the Nile to the village of Gizeh, from which the largest Pyramids are +called HARAM EL GIZEH. From this spot, in the dry season, one may ride +over to the Pyramids, by a straight road, in an hour, or little more. But +as the inundation now stands at its highest point, we were compelled to +make a great circuit on long dams; we came nearly as far up as Saqâra, +and only reached the foot of the greatest Pyramid at the end of five +hours and a half. + +The unexpected length of the ride gave us an appetite for the simple +breakfast which, in order to strengthen us for the ascent of the +greatest Pyramid, we partook forthwith in one of the old sepulchral +chambers; these had been here hewn in the rock, somewhere about five +thousand years ago, and are now inhabited by some Bedouins. Meantime, +a spacious tent, with decorations of various colours, which I hired in +Cairo, had arrived. I had it pitched on the northern side of the Pyramid, +and the great Prussian royal standard, the black eagle with the golden +sceptre, the crown and the blue sword on a white ground, which our +artists had themselves, during the last few days, sketched, stitched, and +fastened to a high pole, was planted before the door of the tent. + +About thirty Bedouins had, in the meanwhile, gathered around us, and +waited for the moment when we should ascend the Pyramids, in order to +raise us, with their strong brown arms, up the steps, which are between +three and four feet high. Scarcely had the signal for departure been +given, than immediately each of us was surrounded by several Bedouins, +who dragged us up the rough, steep path to the summit, as in a whirlwind. +A few minutes later, and our flag was unfurled on the summit of the +oldest and highest of human works that is known, and we greeted the +Prussian eagle with three joyous cheers to our king. Flying towards the +south, the eagle turned his crowned head towards our home in the north, +from which a refreshing wind blew, and diverted the hot rays of the +mid-day sun from off us. We also looked homewards, and each one thought +aloud, or silently in his heart, of those who loving, and beloved, he had +left behind. + +The panoramic view of the landscape spread out at our feet next riveted +our attention. On the one side the Nile valley, a wide sea of overflowed +waters, intersected by long serpentine dams; here and there broken +by villages rising above its surface like islands, and by cultivated +promontories filling the whole plain of the valley that extended to the +opposite Moqattam hills, on whose most northerly point the citadel of +Cairo rises above the town stretched out at their base. On the other +side, the Libyan desert, a still more wonderful sea of sandy plains and +barren rocky hills, boundless, colourless, noiseless, enlivened by no +creature, no plants, no trace of the presence of man, not even by tombs; +and between both, the ruined _Necropolis_, whose general position and +simple outline lay spread out clearly and distinctly as on a map. + +What a spectacle, and what recollections did it call forth! When Abraham +came to Egypt for the first time, he saw these very Pyramids, which had +been already built many centuries before his coming. In the plain before +us lay ancient Memphis, the residence of the kings on whose tombs we +were then standing; there dwelt Joseph, and ruled the land under one of +the most powerful and wisest Pharaohs of the newly restored Monarchy. +Farther away, to the left of the Moqattam hills, where the fruitful +low ground extends on the eastern arm of the Nile, beyond Heliopolis, +distinguished by its Obelisk, begins the blest region of Goshen, out of +which Moses led his people to the Syrian desert. It would not, indeed, +be difficult from our position to recognise that ancient fig-tree on the +road to Heliopolis, at Matarîeh, under whose shade, according to the +tradition of the country, Mary rested with the infant Christ. How many +thousand pilgrims of all nations have since visited these wonders of +the world down to ourselves, who, the youngest in time, are yet but the +predecessors of many other thousands who will succeed us, ascend these +Pyramids, and contemplate them with astonishment. I will not describe +any further the thoughts and feelings which agitated me during these +moments. There, at the goal of the wishes of many years, and at the +same time at the commencement of our expedition; there, at the summit +of the Cheops-Pyramid, to which the first link of our whole monumental +historical inquiry—not merely for the history of Egypt, but for that of +the world—is immoveably attached; there, where I looked down upon the +wonderful field of tombs, from which the Moses’-wand of science now calls +forth the shadows of the ancient dead, and causes them to pass before the +mirror of history, in the order of their time and rank, with their names +and titles, and with all their peculiarities, customs, and surrounding +accompaniments. + +After I had taken an exact survey of the neighbouring tombs, with a view +to select some points for future excavations, we once more descended +to the entrance of the Pyramid, and, providing ourselves with lights, +entered, like miners, the steeply sloping shaft with some guides, and +reached the gallery, and so-called King’s Chamber, by paths already +familiar to me by drawings. We admired the infinitely fine seams of the +enormous blocks, and examined the quality of the stones of the passages +and chambers. In the spacious hall, whose floor, walls, and ceiling, are +entirely built of granite, and, therefore, return a metallic-sounding +echo, we sang our Prussian hymn, which sounded so powerful and so solemn +that our guides afterwards told the remaining Bedouins that we had +selected the innermost part of the Pyramid to perform divine service and +utter a loud general prayer. We now visited also the so-called Chamber +of the Queen, and then quitted the Pyramid, reserving the view of the +chambers which were more difficult of access for a future and longer +visit. + +Meantime, our orientally-ornamented tent had been arranged, and a dinner +was prepared within it, seasoned by the importance of the festival, of +which only Prussians partook, with the exception of our two English +companions. It need hardly be told that our first toast on this occasion, +also, was to the king and his household, and it required no great +eloquence to inspire all hearts. + +The remainder of the day passed in cheerful, festive, and tender +reminiscences and conversation, till the time for our departure had +arrived. We were still obliged to wait a quarter of an hour after sunset +to give our servants, our mule-drivers, and other Arabian attendants, +time to eat their frugal meal, as, on account of the Ramadan, in spite +of the heat and labours of the day, they had not yet tasted anything. +Then the clear, full moon guided us in the cool and silent night across +the sea of sand and waters, through villages and palm-groves back to the +city, which we did not reach before midnight. + + + + +LETTER IV. + + + _At the foot of the largest Pyramid, the 2nd Jan., 1843._ + +Still always here! in full activity since the 9th November, and perhaps +for several weeks longer in the new year. But yet, how could I suspect +from the accounts that have hitherto been given by travellers what a +harvest we had to gather on this spot; here, on the oldest scene of +all determinable chronological human history. It is strange how little +this spot has been examined, though it has been the most frequently +visited in Egypt. I will not, however, quarrel with our predecessors, +as we reap the fruits of their neglect. I have rather been compelled to +restrain our desire to see more of this land of wonders, as we shall +perhaps have to discharge half of our whole task on this spot. Two +tombs, besides the Pyramids, are conspicuously marked on the best of +the earlier maps. Rosellini has only accurately examined one tomb; and +Champollion says, in his letters: “Il y a peu à faire ici, et lorsqu’on +aura copié des scènes de la vie domestique, sculptées dans un tombeau, +je regagnerai nos embarcations.” We have given forty-five tombs on our +accurate topographical plan of the whole necropolis, whose occupants +have become known to me by their inscriptions, and altogether I have +recorded eighty-two, which seemed worthy of notice, by their inscriptions +or by other peculiarities.[7] Few of them belong to later times; almost +all of them were built during, or shortly after, the erection of the +great Pyramids, and therefore afford us an invaluable series of dates +for the knowledge of the oldest determinable civilisation of the human +race. The architecture of that period, about which I formerly could +only offer conjectures,[8] is now clearly developed before me. We have +thus early presented to us almost all the different component parts of +architecture; sculptures of entire figures, of all sizes, in alto-relievo +and basso-relievo, are presented in astonishing numbers. The style +is very marked, and beautifully executed, but it is evident that the +Egyptians of that time did not yet possess that canon of proportions +which we find prevailing at a later period.[9] + +The painting on a very fine coating of lime is often beautiful beyond +conception, and is sometimes preserved as fresh and perfect as if it had +been done yesterday. The representations on the walls chiefly contain +scenes from the life of the deceased, and appear especially intended +to place before the eyes of the spectator his wealth in cattle, fish, +game, boats, domestics, &c. We thus become familiar with all the details +of his private life. The numerous inscriptions describe or designate +these scenes, or they exhibit the often widely-branching family of the +deceased, and all his titles and offices, so that I could almost compose +a court and state calendar of King Cheops, or Chephren. The most splendid +tombs or rock-sepulchres belonged principally to the princes, their +relatives, or the highest official persons under the kings beside whose +Pyramids they are laid; and not unfrequently, I have found the tombs of +father, son, and grandson, even great grandson, so that whole pedigrees +of those distinguished families, who, above 5000 years ago, formed the +nobility of the land, are brought to light. The most beautiful of the +tombs, which, with many others, I myself discovered beneath the sand, +which here buries all things, belongs to a prince of the family of King +Cheops. + +I am now employing daily from forty to sixty people in excavations and +similar works. I have also made them dig in front of the great Sphinx, +to disclose the small temple which is situated between its paws, and to +expose the colossal stele of a single block of granite, eleven feet high +and seven feet broad, which forms the back wall of the little temple, +and which is still covered up with sand to nearly its entire height. It +is one of the few monuments here from the times of the great Pharaohs of +the New Monarchy, after the expulsion of the Hyksos; I have had a plaster +cast taken of it. + +The Egyptian winter is not always so spring-like as is sometimes imagined +in Europe. About sunrise, when all hasten to their work, we have already +had it +5° R. (43¼ Fahr.), so that the sketchers could hardly use their +fingers. + +The winter season began here with a scene which will always be vividly +remembered by me. I had ridden out to the excavations, when seeing a +large black cloud approaching, I sent a servant to the tents, to take +care of them, but as it began to rain slightly, I soon rode after him +myself. Shortly after my arrival a storm of wind began; I therefore +ordered the cords of the tents to be secured, but soon a violent shower +of rain came in addition, which alarmed all our Arabs, and drove them +into the rock-tomb, in which is our kitchen. Erbkam and Franke were the +only ones of our own party here. Suddenly the storm became a regular +hurricane, such as I had never witnessed in Europe, and a hailstorm came +down on us, which almost turned the day into night. I had the greatest +trouble to drive our Arabs out of the grotto, that they might bring our +things to the rock-tombs, where it was dry, as every moment we might +expect the overthrow of the tents. And it was not long before first our +common tent fell down, and when I had hastened from that into my own, in +order to hold it from the inside, this also broke down above me. After I +had crawled out, I found that my things were tolerably well covered by +the tent, so that for the present I might leave them alone, to prevent +a still greater danger. Our tents, protected from the worst winds, the +north and west, lay in a depression of the valley, towards which the +plateau of the Pyramids inclines. From that place I suddenly saw a rapid +mountain torrent precipitating, like a gigantic serpent on its certain +prey, upon our encampment, already half destroyed and beaten into the +sand. The principal stream first dashed towards the great tent; another +arm threatened mine, but did not however quite reach it. Everything, +however, which had been floated out of our tents by the heavy rain was +carried off by both streams, which united below the tents, and was borne +a hundred steps farther into a deep hollow behind the Sphinx, where a +great lake, which fortunately had no outlet, formed itself in a moment. + +Now picture to yourself this scene! Our tents shattered to the ground by +the storms of rain and hail, between two mountain torrents, which at once +dug out a channel for themselves in the sandy ground, in several places +six feet deep, and carried down with them into the muddy, foam-covered, +slimy lake, our books, drawings, sketches, linen, instruments of all +kinds, even our levers and iron crows, in short everything they laid hold +on. In addition to this, we ourselves, with dripping clothes, without +hats, securing the heavier articles, pursuing the lighter ones, wading +up to the waist in the stream or lake, to fish out what the sand had not +yet swallowed, and all this the work of a quarter of an hour, at whose +expiration the sun forthwith shone again, and proclaimed the end of this +deluge scene by a splendid and brilliant rainbow. + +It was difficult to see at once what we had lost, and where we had to +begin, to bring things again into some order. Both the Weidenbachs and +Frey had gazed, from the tombs where they were working, upon the whole +scene, as a magnificent natural spectacle, not suspecting what we had +experienced here, till I sent for them to assist us immediately in +preparing for the approaching night. For several days we continued to +fish and dig for our things. Many were lost, much had become useless; +the greater part of what was not enclosed in chests and trunks bore more +or less traces of this flood. After all, however, nothing essential +was destroyed. I had first placed in safety the great portfolios, with +my manuscripts and books; in short, a few days afterwards, the whole +affair only seemed to me a remarkable picture, which I should be sorry to +forget, without leaving any disagreeable consequences behind it. + +Since then, we have often had to suffer from violent winds, which +sometimes fill the air for several days together with sand, to such a +degree, as to be annoying to the lungs; it entirely prevents painting +with colours, and covers the drawing and writing-paper incessantly with +a most disagreeable and constantly renewed coat of dust. This fine sand +penetrates all our clothes, enters every box, even those which close most +perfectly, fills nose, ears, and hair, and is the unavoidable ingredient +of all food, solid and liquid. + +_5th January._—On the evening of the first Christmas holiday, I surprised +my companions by a great fire, which I had caused to be lighted on the +summit of the highest Pyramid. The flame illuminated both the other +Pyramids splendidly, as well as the whole field of tombs, and shone quite +across the valley as far as Cairo. That was indeed a Christmas Pyramid! +I only let Abeken into the secret, who, with his constantly cheerful +temper, and his intellectual and instructive conversation, had happily +joined us on the 10th December. With his assistance I then prepared a +special Christmas-tree for the following day, in the King’s Chamber of +the Great Pyramid. We planted a young palm-tree in the sarcophagus of +the ancient king, and adorned it with lights, and small presents, which +I had ordered from the town for us children of the desert. St. Sylvester +must have his share of honours also. At twelve o’clock on New-year’s +Eve immense flames rose simultaneously at midnight from the three great +Pyramids, and proclaimed the changes of the Christian year, far and wide, +to the Islamite provinces at their base. + +I consider it to be a useful mental regimen to our party that their +tedious and monotonous labours, more especially those of our artists, +should be relieved not by the weekly holiday of Sunday only, but also as +often as there are opportunities, by cheerful festivities and agreeable +diversions. Nor has the slightest discord hitherto disturbed the happy +disposition and the good-humour of our confederation, which daily +acquires fresh elasticity, both from the abundance of new impressions +that we receive, and from the mutual reciprocation of the different +natures and talents, as by overcoming the manifold difficulties and +hardships of this Bedouin life itself. + +You may judge of the variety of the elements of which our assembled +party is composed, by the Babel of languages in which we continually +move; the English language is competently represented by our companions, +Wild and Bonomi; French and Italian serve for our intercourse with +the authorities, with strangers and Levantine interpreters. We give +orders, eat, and travel, in Arabic, and we reflect, talk, sing, and +live, in good German. But during the day we usually all live separate, +and uninterruptedly each at his own work. We take our coffee before +sunrise, and our dinner after sunset; and breakfast during work. Thus our +draughtsmen have already been enabled to supply our swelling portfolios +with a hundred great folio sheets, cleanly executed, partly in pencil, +partly in colours. + + + + +LETTER V. + + + _The Pyramids of Gizeh, 17th January, 1843._ + +The inscription which was composed in celebration of the king’s birthday +has now become a stone monumental tablet, in the fashion of the old +steles and Proskynemata,[10] and its contents are as follows; the nearer, +indeed, it approaches the manner of the Egyptians, the less appropriate +is it in German: + +“Thus speak the servants of the King, whose name is the SUN AND ROCK +OF PRUSSIA, Lepsius the scribe, Erbkam the architect, the Brothers +Weidenbach the painters, Frey the painter, Franke the moulder, Bonomi +the sculptor, Wild the architect: All hail to the Eagle, THE PROTECTOR +OF THE CROSS, to the KING THE SUN AND ROCK OF PRUSSIA, to the Son of the +Sun,[11] who freed his Fatherland, Frederick William the Fourth, the +Philopator, the Father of his Country, the Gracious One, the Favourite +of Wisdom and History, the Guardian of the Rhine, whom Germany has +chosen, the Dispenser of Life. May the Most high God grant the King, and +his Consort, the Queen Elizabeth, the Rich in Life, the Philometor, the +Mother of her Country, the Gracious One, an ever new and long life on +Earth, and a blessed habitation in Heaven through all Eternity. In the +year of our Saviour, 1842, in the tenth month, on the fifteenth day, on +the forty-seventh Birthday of his Majesty, on the Pyramid of King Cheops; +in the third year, in the fifth month, on the ninth day of the reign of +his Majesty; in the year 3164 from the commencement of the Sothis period +under the King Menepthes.” + +We left behind us the hieroglyphic inscription engraved on stone and +painted with oil colour, occupying a space five feet broad and four feet +high. The stone, specially polished and prepared for the purpose, is +placed at a considerable height near the entrance into the Pyramid of +Cheops. + +It seemed to me fitting, that while the members of the Prussian +expedition dedicated this tablet to the much-honoured Prince by whom they +were sent hither, they should at the same time, for the sake of future +travellers, leave behind them some traces of their activity on this field +of Pyramids, where it was reserved for them to gather together the rich +materials for the first chapter of the Scientific History of Nations. + +Do not, however, believe that these are the important works which detain +us here so long. Our journey has this advantage over previous ones—that +spots like this are entitled to occupy us until they have been thoroughly +ransacked. We already know that even the gigantic and magnificent ruins +of the Theban plain can reveal nothing which can equal in interest the +Memphitic times of the Old Monarchy. + +We must, indeed, one day depart; but it will even then be with the +conviction that we leave an infinite amount of interesting materials +behind, which might still be obtained. I had already resolved on our +departure several days ago, when suddenly a series of tombs, different +in architecture, and in the style of the figures and hieroglyphics, with +other titles, and besides, as was to be expected, with other _kings’ +names_, again disclosed a new epoch. + +It is still by no means conclusive how much has been gained in an +historical point of view, or, at any rate, it is but dimly discerned, +I was, however, in the right when, even in Europe, I proposed to +reconstruct the 3rd Dynasty from the monuments. I have not yet found +a single Shield which could be safely placed before the 4th Dynasty. +It appears that the builders of the great Pyramids desired to assert +their rights, to having formed the commencement of monumental history, +although it is as clear as day that they were not the first to build and +to inscribe their monuments. We have even now found many kings’ names +hitherto unknown, and variations of other names; thus: + + 𓍹𓂓𓂓𓇋𓍺 KEKA. + + 𓍹𓅃𓇋𓂓𓅱𓍺 HERAKU. + + 𓍹𓅱𓄊𓋴𓂓𓆑𓍺 USESKEF. + + 𓍹𓆛𓈖𓇋𓍺 ANA. + +The name which I had hitherto read AMCHURA, in the detailed and painted +inscriptions, which throw no inconsiderable light on the figurative +meaning of the hieroglyphical images, exhibits a decidedly different sign +from the well-known group 𓇋𓌳𓄪𓐍𓅱 AMCHU, namely [Illustration] about the +pronunciation of which I am still in the dark. + +There is nothing to alter with respect to the assignment of the great +Pyramids. It cannot be doubted, after our researches, that the second +Pyramid really belongs to Schafra (more correctly Chafra, the Chephyren +of Herodotus), as the first does to Chufu (Cheops), and the third to +Menkera (Mykerinos, Mencherinos). I think I have now discovered the +pathway up from the valley to the second Pyramid; it led directly to +its temple, past the Sphinx, but it was probably destroyed at an early +period. The number also of the Pyramids continues to increase. I have +found three, in ABU ROASCH, in place of one hitherto known, and two +fields of tombs. Two Pyramids once stood also at ZAUIET EL ARRIAN, a +village which has now almost disappeared, and there is a great field of +ruins adjoining to it. The careful researches, measurements, and notes +of Perring, in his beautiful work on the Pyramids, save us much time and +trouble. We are thus the more able to direct our attention to the private +tombs, and their hieroglyphical representations, such as are wholly +wanting in the Pyramids. But nothing is yet determined, nothing is ripe +for definitive arrangement, though wide prospects open before us. Our +portfolios swell; many things have been cast in plaster, and among them +the great stele between the paws of the colossal Sphinx from the first +year of Tuthmosis IV. + + + + +LETTER VI. + + + _The Pyramids of Gizeh, 17th January, 1843._ + +I have ordered ten camels to be here to-morrow evening, that we may start +for Cairo the day after to-morrow, before sunrise, with the original +monuments and plaster casts, of which we have already collected a +considerable number, and we shall deposit them there, till our return +from the South. This will be the commencement of our departure for +Saqâra. A series of tombs, only recently discovered, belonging to the +Dynasties which immediately succeed that of Cheops, has already delayed +our departure once. The 5th Dynasty, which in Africanus appears as the +Elephantine Collateral Dynasty, and as such was not to be expected here, +now lies complete before us, and in substance such as I already had +constructed it in Europe. The gaps have been filled up with three kings, +whose names were hitherto unknown. At the same time, several kings, +who had hitherto been merely visionary, were added to the 7th and 8th +Dynasties, from which we had hitherto obtained no monumental names. The +reference to the 5th Dynasty as the immediate successor of the 4th, is +of invaluable importance, and would in itself alone richly repay us for +our residence of many months in this place. We are still always occupied +with buildings, sculptures, and inscriptions, which by the Royal Rings +being more exactly defined, will be placed in a flourishing epoch of +civilisation, between _three_ and _four thousand_ years before Christ. +These numbers, hitherto so incredible, cannot be too frequently called to +the remembrance of ourselves and others; the more criticism is thereby +challenged, and compelled to make earnest researches on the subject, so +much the better for the cause. Conviction will immediately follow in +the steps of stimulated criticism, and we shall then at length approach +the results which are connected with it in all branches of antiquarian +research. + +A roll of papers will be sent to you along with this letter, which +contains several drawings, that we have taken from the sepulchral +chambers in this place. They are excellent samples of the oldest +Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting which the history of art can +produce, and the most beautiful and best preserved that we have found +on the whole field of tombs. I hope that we shall one day see these +sepulchral chambers arranged in perfect order in the New Museum in +Berlin. That indeed would be the fairest trophy that we could carry +out of Egypt. Their transport will certainly be attended with some +difficulties, for you will easily see by their dimensions that ordinary +means would not in this case be sufficient. I have, therefore, as a +preliminary step, written a letter direct to his Majesty the King, +and inquired whether it would not be possible to send a vessel here +expressly for this purpose, either next year, or at the conclusion of +our expedition, with workmen and implements, to take these monuments to +pieces in a more skilful manner than we are capable of doing, and to +bring them, with the other collections, to Berlin. + +Six of the subjoined sheets contain drawings of a sepulchral chamber, +which I myself discovered beneath the sand, and whose colours are +preserved almost as fresh and perfect as you see them in the drawing.[12] +It belongs to a Prince Merhet, and as he was a priest of CHUFU (CHEOPS), +and as he had called one of his sons CHUFU-MER-NUTERU, and possessed +eight villages, the names of which are combined with that of Chufu, and +as the situation of the tomb is on the western side of the Pyramid of +Chufu, and the style of the representations are in perfect keeping with +it, it is more than probable that Merhet was a son of Chufu, from which +circumstance all the representations become still more interesting. This +prince was at the same time superintendent of all the royal buildings, +therefore he filled the office of “Chief of the Board of Works” +(Oberhofbaurath), a high and important position at that period of most +magnificent buildings, which we have frequently seen occupied by princes +and royal relatives. We may therefore conjecture, that he also himself +superintended the building of the largest Pyramid. Is not this alone +sufficient to justify the attempt to transfer the beautifully-constructed +sepulchral chamber of this princely architect to Berlin, which otherwise +will, sooner or later, be destroyed by the Arabs, and be used to build +their ovens, or be burnt in their lime-kilns? There, it would at least +be preserved, and be accessible to the admiration or the study of those +who are eager after knowledge, so long as European art and science teach +us to value such monuments. To reconstruct it, a space must be left +perfectly free of 6 m. 30, (19 feet 8 inches) in breadth, 4 m. 60, (15 +feet) in height, and 3 m. 80, (12 feet 5½ inches) in depth, and this +might surely be reserved for it in the New Museum.[13] + +I observe, that such chambers form only a small portion of the entire +structure of the tomb, and were not intended for the reception of the +mummy. The tomb of Prince Merhet is above 70 feet long, 45 broad, and 15 +high. It is solidly constructed of great square stones, with slanting +outer surfaces. The chamber is alone left vacant, and one, or, as in +this instance, two square shafts, leads from the flat roof through the +building down to the living rock; at the bottom of which, about 60 feet +deep, rock-chambers open at the side, in which the sarcophagi were +deposited. I have carefully preserved the venerable remains of the skull +of the ancient prince of the house of Cheops, which I found in his mummy +chamber. We found, alas! little more, as this tomb also, like most of the +others, had been long ago broken open. The entrance originally was closed +by a slab of stone. The chamber above ground alone remained accessible +at all times, and was therefore ornamented with representations and +inscriptions. Here the sacrifices offered to the dead were brought to the +occupant of the tomb. It was generally dedicated to the worship of the +deceased, and so far corresponded to the temple that was erected before +every pyramid belonging to a king, for his worship. Like those temples, +these chambers have also their entrance always from the east. The shafts, +like the Pyramids, lie behind, to the west, because the deceased was +believed to be in the west, whither he had gone with the setting sun, to +the Osiris of Amente. + +The seventh sheet finally, contains two pillars, and their architrave, +from the tomb of a royal relative, who was at the same time the prophet +of four kings, and whose name was Ptah-nefru-be-u. The tomb was +constructed later than that of Prince Merhet, in the fifth Manethonic +Dynasty. It belongs to an entire group of tombs, whose architectonic +plan and connection with one another is very remarkable, and which I +have, therefore, completely divested of sand, and brought to the light of +day, while previously neither the entrance, nor anything but the extreme +summit of the outermost encircling walls, were visible. + +I also send you the whole plan of this tomb, besides one of those +contiguous to it, but I think I shall only bring away with me the +architrave, and the beautifully painted pillars of the most southern +chamber, which can be easily removed. On the architrave appears the name +and titles of the deceased, who is also represented at full length on +the four lateral faces of the pillars. AMI, the father of the deceased, +appears on the front sides of the northern pillars; ASESKEF-ANCH, his +grandfather, on that of the southern. The pillars are twelve feet high, +slender, and as usual, without capitals, but with the abacus. + +I have entirely isolated the whole chamber at the tomb of Prince Merhet; +but for the present I have relinquished the idea of taking it to pieces, +as this is not the most favourable season for its removal. I have +therefore caused this tomb, as well as the other, to be refilled with +sand; and when I arrive at Cairo to-morrow, I shall obtain an order, to +prevent any of the tombs that have been opened by us, from being robbed +of their stones. It is really revolting to see how long lines of camels +from the neighbouring villages come here daily, and march off again, +loaded with building stones. Fortunately—for is not everything for the +best—the accommodating Fellahs are more attracted by the Psammetic tombs, +than by those belonging to the most ancient Dynasties, in which the great +blocks are not sufficiently manageable. I begin, however, to have more +serious fears for the tombs of the 5th and 7th Dynasties, which have been +built with stones of a more moderate size. Yesterday a beautiful standing +pillar, covered with inscriptions, which was just going to be sketched, +was overturned by the robbers behind our backs. They do not seem to have +succeeded in breaking it to pieces. The people here are so degenerate +that their strength is quite insufficient, with all their assiduity, to +destroy what their great predecessors have erected. + +A few days ago, we found a small obelisk erect, in its original position, +in a tomb from the commencement of the 7th Dynasty. It is only a few feet +high, but in good preservation, and with the name of the occupant of the +tomb inscribed upon it. This form of monument, which is first conspicuous +in the New Monarchy, is thus removed several Dynasties farther back in +the Old Monarchy, even than the Obelisk of Heliopolis. + + + + +LETTER VII. + + + _Saqâra, the 18th March, 1843._ + +A short time ago, I made an excursion with Abeken and Bonomi to the more +distant Pyramids of Lischt and Meidûm. The last especially interested +me extremely, as it has solved in a general manner some enigmas in the +structure of the Pyramids, which had long occupied my mind.[14] As an +exception to the general rule, it lies almost in the lower plain, in the +immediate neighbourhood of Bahr Jussuf, and is only just removed out of +reach of the inundation; but it rises up so high and stately from the +flat surface of the surrounding country, that it attracts notice even +from a great distance. Its square, sharp-angled tower-like centre, which +diminishes slightly at the summit, namely, at an angle of 74°, rises +from an envelopment of rubbish, which surrounds it almost half-way up, +to the height of 120 feet. Another hundred feet higher, there succeeds a +platform, from which rises a more slender tower of moderate height, in +the same angle, which again, in the centre of its flat upper surface, +bears the remains of a third elevation. The walls of the principal tower +are for the most part smoothly polished, but have stripes at intervals +that have been left rough, the cause of which are first appeared almost +inexplicable; but on more minute examination, I also found in the +interior of the half-destroyed building which surrounds the base, some +rising walls that were smooth, and having the same angle as the tower; in +front of these, again lay other walls, which followed one upon another +like scales. At length it occurred to me that the whole building had +proceeded from a small Pyramid, which had been erected in stages of about +forty feet high, and then first increased and heightened simultaneously +on all sides, by superimposed coverings of stone, from fifteen to twenty +feet in breadth, till at length the great steps were filled up so as to +form one common flat side, giving the usual pyramidal form to the whole. + +This gradual growth explains the enormous magnitude of particular +Pyramids, beside so many other smaller ones. Each king began the building +of his Pyramid as soon as he ascended the throne; he only designed a +small one, to ensure himself a complete tomb, even were he destined to +be but a few years upon the throne. But with the advancing years of his +reign, he increased it by successive layers, till he thought that he was +near the termination of his life. If he died during the erection, then +the external covering was alone completed, and the monument of death +finally remained proportionate to the duration of the life of the king. +If, in the course of centuries, all the other conditions which determine +our calculations had equally remained, then, as by the rings of a tree, +we might even now have been able to calculate the years in the reigns of +particular kings, by the coatings of the Pyramids. + +On the other hand, the great enigma of the bearded giant Sphinx still +remains unsolved! When, and by whom, was the colossal statue erected, and +what was its signification? We must leave the reply to more fortunate +successors. It is almost half-covered up with sand, and the granite +stele, above eleven feet high, which stands between the paws, and which +in itself forms the back wall of a small temple, which is here inserted, +was totally invisible. Even the immense excavations made by Caviglia, in +the year 1818, had long disappeared, so as not to leave a trace behind. +By means of between sixty to eighty persons labouring for whole days +together, we almost reached the base of the stele, a drawing of which I +caused immediately to be made, as well as an impression on paper, and +also a plaster cast, in order to set it up one day in Berlin. This stele, +on which the Sphinx is itself represented, was erected by TUTHMOSIS IV., +and dates from the first year of his reign. Thus, he must have found +the Colossus already there. We are accustomed to regard the Sphinx, in +Egypt, as a portrait of the king, and generally indeed, for that of a +particular king, whose features it is said to represent; therefore, with +the single exception, as far as I am aware, of one female sphinx, which +represents the wife of King Horus, they are always andro-sphinxes. In the +hieroglyphic written character, the Sphinx is called NEB (the Lord), and +forms _e. g._ the middle syllable in the name of the King NECTANEBUS. + +But what king does our Colossus represent? He stands in front of the +second Pyramid, that of Schafra (Chephren), not exactly in the axis, yet +parallel with the sides of the temple, which stands before it, and in +such a manner, as if the rock beside the Sphinx on the northern side was +intended as its counterpart. Sphinxes, rams, statues, and obelisks, used +besides always to stand in former times in pairs before the entrances +of the temples. But what a powerful impression would have been made on +the approaching worshipper by two such giant watchmen, between which the +ancient pathway led up to the Temple of Chephren. They would have been +worthy of that period of vast colossal monuments, and in due proportion +with the Pyramid which rises up behind. I cannot deny that this connexion +would be most satisfactory to me. What other motive would have induced +the Theban kings of the 18th Dynasty, who are alone to be thought of +in the New Monarchy, to adorn the Memphitic Field of Death with such a +wonder of the world, if entirely unconnected with what surrounds it. In +addition to this, upon the steles of Tuthmosis, the name of King CHEPHREN +is inscribed in a line, which farther on is almost entirely broken away; +a portion of his Name-Shield, unfortunately quite isolated, has been +still preserved, therefore undoubtedly it had some sort of reference to +the builder of the Pyramid which is situated behind it. + +On the other hand, indeed, the question arises: If King Chephren was +represented here, why does not the image bear his name? It is rather +designated as HAREM-CHU (Horus in the Horizon), that is, as the image of +the Sun-god, the emblem of all kings, and also HARMACHIS in one of the +Greek inscriptions which have been found in front of the Sphinx. It does +not appear to me altogether improbable that Pliny’s fable is founded on +this, who makes a King Amasis (Armasis) be buried in the Sphinx;[15] for +we surely cannot suppose it was a real sepulchre. Another consideration +to be borne in mind is that I have not in general met with the image of +the Sphinx in that oldest period of the builders of the Pyramids; yet too +much stress need not be laid on this; the form of the Sphinx is not often +found, even in inscriptions or representations, in the New Monarchy. In +short, the true Œdipus is still wanting for this king of all sphinxes. +He who can clear away the inexhaustible sand-flood which is again burying +that very field of tombs, and who can expose to view the base of the +Sphinx, the ancient pathway to the temple, and the surrounding hills, +might soon venture to decide this question. + +The enigmas of history are in this land associated with many enigmas and +wonders in nature, which I must not leave wholly unnoticed. I must at +least describe to you the most recent. + +I had descended into a mummy-pit with Abeken, that we might open some +sarcophagi we had discovered, and I was not a little astonished, on +stepping out, to find myself in an actual snow-storm of locusts, which +almost darkening the sky, moved above our heads in hundreds of thousands +from the desert in the south-west towards the valley. I fancied it was +a single flight, and in haste called the others out of the tombs, that +they might witness the Egyptian wonder before it had passed away. But +the flight continued, indeed the workmen said, it had even begun an hour +previously. We now observed for the first time, that the whole country, +far and wide, was covered with locusts. I sent a servant into the desert +to find out the breadth of the flight. He ran for about a quarter of an +hour, then returned, and said that still as far as he had been able to +see, he could discover no termination. I rode home, still in the midst +of the storm of locusts. They fell down in heaps on the border of the +fruitful plain; and so it lasted the whole day through, till evening, +and so on the next, from morning till night, to the third, indeed to +the sixth day, and even longer, but in less numerous flights. The day +before yesterday, a storm of rain seems for the first time to have beaten +down the rear-guard, and destroyed them in the desert. The Arabs make +great smoking fires in their fields, they rattle and scream all day +long to protect their crops from the unexpected invasion. But it will +avail them little. These millions of graminivorous winged insects cover +even the adjacent sandy plain like a new living vegetation, to such a +degree, that scarcely anything is to be seen of the ground; and when +they swarm up from any point, they fall down again on whatever is in +the immediate neighbourhood; exhausted by their long journey, in their +eagerness they fill their hollow stomachs, and, as if conscious of their +enormous numbers, they appear to have lost even all fear of their natural +enemies, man, animals, smoke, and noise. But what is most wonderful to +me, is their origin from the naked desert, and the instinct which has +led them from some oasis across the inhospitable sandy sea, to the rich +pastures of the Nile valley. The last time that this land-plague of +Egypt exhibited itself to a similar extent was above fourteen years ago. +The people say that it is sent by the comet which we have observed in +the south-west for the last twelve days, and which now, in the hours of +evening, since it is no longer outshone by the moon, again stretches its +magnificent tail of fire across the heavens. The zodiacal light, which is +so rarely seen in the north, has also been visible of late almost every +evening. + +I have only now been enabled completely to conclude my account with +Gizeh, and to combine the historical results. I have every reason to +rejoice over it; the 4th and 5th Dynasties are completed, with the +exception of one king. I have just received the somewhat illegible +drawing of a stone which has been built into a wall in the village of +Abusir, representing a series of kings of the 4th and 5th Dynasties upon +their thrones, and, as it appears, in chronological order. I intend to +ride there myself to see the original. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + + _Saqâra, the 13th April, 1843._ + +I hasten to communicate to you an event which I should not like you to +hear for the first time from other quarters, perhaps with alterations +and exaggerations. Our camp, a few days ago, was attacked and plundered +during the night by an armed band; yet none of our party were seriously +injured, and nothing that is irreparable was lost. The affair therefore, +is over, and the consequences may only prove a useful lesson to us. But I +must first go back several days in my journal. + +On the 3rd of April, his R.H. Prince Albert (of Prussia) returned to +Cairo from Upper Egypt. The following day I visited the city, and laid +before the prince a portion of our labours, in which he especially took +a lively interest as he had already seen more of this land of wonders +than we ourselves, and the field of Pyramids alone he had still left +unvisited. On his first arrival in Cairo, I was absent on an excursion of +several days to the Faiûm, with Abeken and Bonomi. The prince returned +at the very time of the celebration of some of the chief festivals of +the Mahometans, which, had he not been there, I should probably have +neglected to attend. On the 6th, the entrance of the returning caravan +of pilgrims from Mecca was welcomed by a solemn festival, and, some days +later, the birthday of the Prophet, “MULID E’ NEBBI,” was celebrated, +one of the most original feasts of the entire East. The principal actors +in it are dervishes, who spend the day in processions, and perform +their horribly extatic dances, called _sikrs_, in the evening, in tents +illuminated by coloured lamps, which are erected in the avenues of +the Ezbekîeh. Between thirty and forty of this religious sect place +themselves in a circle, and, keeping time, begin first slowly, then +gradually more vehemently, to throw the upper part of their bodies, which +are naked, backwards and forwards into the most violent distortions, like +people who are possessed. At the same time, they ejaculate in a rhythm, +with a loud screaming voice, their Prophet’s saying, LA ILAHA ILL’ ALLAH +(“There is no God but Allah”), which, gradually stammered out lower and +more feebly, is finally almost rattled in the throat, till at length, +their strength being entirely exhausted, some fall down, others withdraw +reeling, and the broken circle is, after a short pause, replaced by +another. + +What a fearful, barbarous worship, which the astonished multitude, +great and small, people of condition and those of inferior rank, +contemplate with seriousness or in stupid veneration, and in which they +themselves not unfrequently take an active part. The god who is appealed +to is evidently much less the object of adoration than the appealing, +raptured saints themselves; for the crazy and the simple, or men and +women who are physically disordered in other ways, are very generally +held sacred by the Mahometans, and are treated with great reverence. It +is the demoniacal force in nature, acting without being comprehended, +and therefore regarded with fear, which is worshipped by the natural +man wherever he perceives it, because he feels that it is connected +with, yet not under the control of his mental faculties; first, in the +mighty elements, then in the wonderful instincts of animals—to us dark, +yet subject to a law; finally, in the still more exciting, extatic, or +generally abnormal psychological conditions of his own race. We must +indeed, regard the Egyptian worship of animals—in as far as it was not +merely a symbolic embodiment of deeper and more refined ideas—as resting +on the same basis of a universal worship of nature; and the adoration +paid to men with disordered intellects, which appears occasionally in +other nations also, may be considered as a remarkable offset from that +tendency. Whether such conditions really exist at the present time, or +whether, as among the dervishes, it is produced artificially, and is +intentionally cherished, will not be detected by the multitude; and +besides, for the individual case, it is indifferent. An uncomfortable +feeling of fear creeps over us in such a neighbourhood, and we feel it +necessary to avoid uttering any expressions, or even to give a sign of +disgust, or to betray that we see through it, lest we should direct the +brutal outbursts on ourselves. + +The festival, which lasts nine days, closes with a peculiar ceremony +called DOSEH, the Trampling, but which I could not bear to look at. The +sheikh of the Saadîeh dervishes rides to the chief sheikh of all the +dervishes in Egypt, El Bekri. On the way thither, a great number of these +holy people, and others who do not consider themselves inferior to +them in piety, throw themselves flat on the ground, face downwards, and +in such a manner that the feet of one always lies close to the head of +another. The sheikh then rides over this living carpet of human bodies, +and his horse is obliged to be led on each side by a servant, to compel +it to make this march, unnatural even to the animal. Each body receives +two treads from the horse; the greater number spring up again unhurt, but +whoever comes away seriously, or, as sometimes occurs, mortally injured, +has, besides, this disgrace, that it is believed that on the previous day +he had either misunderstood or neglected to say the proper prayers and +charm-formularies, which were alone able to protect him. + +On the 7th April, Erbkam and I accompanied the prince to the Pyramids, +first of all to those of Gizeh. The Pyramid of Cheops was ascended, and +the interior was visited. In order to exhibit the beautiful tomb of +Prince Merhet, I caused it to be re-opened. We next proceeded to our camp +at Saqâra. + +Here we heard that during the previous night a daring robbery had been +committed in Abeken’s tent. He was sleeping in it, on his return from +Cairo, beside a burning light, when his full portmanteau, pistols, and +other objects lying near, were purloined. It was only while the thief +was making his retreat that a noise was heard by the slumbering guards, +composing the night-watch, immediately behind the tent; the darkness, +however, hindered all pursuit. + +After the prince had also seen the most beautiful tomb of Saqâra, we +rode across the plain to Mitrahinneh, to visit the mounds of ruins at +Memphis, and the half-buried colossal granite statue of Ramses Miamun +(Sesostris)[16], the face of which is still preserved almost without a +blemish. It was late in the evening before we again reached Cairo, after +a day’s journey of sixteen hours, hardly interrupted even by short +pauses for repose; but the unusual exertion seemed rather to heighten +than to depress the prince’s cheerful enjoyment in travelling. + +The following day we visited the mosques of the city, which are +remarkable, partly by their splendour, and in part, also, are peculiarly +interesting for the history of architecture in the middle ages, as +the earliest general application of the pointed arch is here visible. +The questions which relate to this most characteristic department of +architecture, the so-called gothic style, interested me so deeply a few +years ago, that even here I could not forbear following my old pursuit. +The pointed arch is found in the oldest mosques, even as far back as the +ninth century. Upon the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs, the new form +of arch was transported to that island, where, in the eleventh century, +it was found by the Normans, the next conquerors, and was still more +generally adopted. Without entering into further details, it seems to +me scarcely possible to indicate any historical connexion of the Norman +pointed arch of Palermo with our style of pointed arch of the twelfth +and thirteenth centuries. The acceptance of such a connexion would be +still more difficult for the explanation of the rows of pointed arches +to be found already much earlier in Germany, which are sporadic, but +still according to rule; those, for example, in the cathedral of Naumburg +as early as the eleventh century, and in Memleben even in the tenth. +Theorists do not indeed admit this yet, but I am still waiting for a +refutation of the argument I have brought forward.[17] + +The Nilometer on the island of Roda, which we visited after the mosques, +also contains a series of pointed arches, belonging to the original +building, which dates as far back as the ninth century, proved by the +Cufic inscriptions, which have been carefully examined by those who are +learned in these matters. + +Egypt, however, does not only lay claim to the oldest application, +therefore, perhaps to the invention, of the _pointed arch_, but also to +that of the _round arch_. Near the Pyramids there are a number of tombs +having stone vaulted roofs, whose single blocks exhibit the correct +concentric cut. These belong to the 26th Manethonic Dynasty of the +Psammetici, that is, to the seventh and sixth centuries before Christ, +and are therefore coeval with the _Cloaca Maxima_ and the _Carcer +Mamertinus_ in Rome. But we have also found tombs with vaulted roofs made +of Nile mud bricks, which go back as far as the time of the Pyramids. +Now, contrary to the opinion of others, I deny that the brick arch, whose +single bricks with their parallel surfaces, are only made concentric by +the wedge of cement, presupposes a more intimate acquaintance with the +actual principle of the arch, and more especially with its qualities of +support; and, as a proof of this, we never meet with a concentric joined +arch before the time of the Psammetici, but frequently an apparently real +arch, in like manner cut out of horizontal layers of stone. But wherever +the brick arch was very ancient, we may there most naturally place the +development of the concentric stone arch, which is met with at a later +period at that very place, contemporaneous at least with its appearance +in other countries. + +On the following morning I was intending to accompany the prince into the +interesting institute of M. Lieder, when Erbkam arrived unexpectedly from +our camp. He reported that during the previous night, between two and +three in the morning, a number of shots had been suddenly fired in the +immediate neighbourhood of our tents, and that at the same time a body of +more than twenty people had broken into the camp. Our encampment is on a +narrow flat space in front of the rock-tombs, which are excavated about +half-way up the precipitous sides of the Libyan valley, and the great +accumulation of rubbish has formed a broad terrace before them. It was +only accessible on one side, by a cleft, which passes our terrace from +above, downwards. It was from this point that the attack was made. They +first fell upon the tent in which we all take our meals, and which also +serves the purpose of a drawing-room, which soon fell down. Then followed +the other great tent, in which Erbkam, Frey, Ernest Weidenbach, and +Franke, were sleeping. This was also torn down, and covered its inmates, +who, in the general confusion, extricated themselves with difficulty +from the ropes and canvas. Besides all this, the arms had been taken the +day before into one tent, for the reception of the prince, and had been +arranged and secured to the central pole, so that no one had them at +hand. The watchmen—cowardly fellows—who knew that by the orders of the +police here, they would incur punishment, were anything of the sort to +befal us, even should they not be to blame, had immediately run off on +all sides, uttering loud cries, and have not yet returned. The robbers +now laid hold of the chests and boxes which stood nearest to them, rolled +whatever they could seize down the hill, and soon disappeared across the +plain. Their muskets were evidently not loaded with ball, for no one had +been wounded by them; they had, however, attained their object, which was +to increase the confusion. E. Weidenbach, and some of our servants, had +alone been wounded in the head and shoulders, though not dangerously, by +the butt-ends of their muskets, or by bludgeons. The purloined articles +must, however, have bitterly disappointed the expectation of the robbers, +for the great trunks scarcely contained anything but European clothes, +and other things, which no Arab can use. A number of coloured sketches +are most to be regretted—the Sunday studies, up to the present time, of +the very able artist Frey. + +We know besides, very well, from whence this attack has proceeded. We +dwell on the frontier of the territory of Abusir, an Arab village which +has been long under evil report, situated between Kafr el Batran, at the +foot of the Pyramids of Gizeh, and Saqâra. By ARABS (Arab. pl. ʾUrbân) +I mean, according to the custom of this country, those inhabitants who, +as we are informed, only settled at a later period in the Nile valley, +and having obtained certain privileges, founded some villages here. They +are distinguished by their free origin, and their more manly character, +from the FELLAHS (Fellahʿ, pl. Fellahʿîn), the original peasants of +the land, who, enervated by their centuries of bondage, have reached a +low point of degradation, and who were not, besides, able to withstand +the encroachment of Islam. The name of BEDOUIN (Bedaui, pl. Bedauîn) +belongs alone to the ever free son of the Desert, who only roves about +the borders of the inhabited country. In the vicinity of the Pyramids +there are now a number of Arab villages. To these, also, belong the three +places I have mentioned. Since our place of encampment was within the +territory of the Sheikh of Abusir, a young, handsome, and enterprising +man, he had a certain claim to supply us with the necessary number of +well-paid watchmen. I, however, preferred to place ourselves under the +protection of the more trustworthy, and more powerful Sheikh of Saqâra, +whom I had known before, and within whose district the principal field +of our labours is situated. This determination deprived the people of +Abusir of a reward, and us of their friendship, as I had already observed +for some time past, without vexing myself any further about it. They had +manifestly taken the opportunity at the present time, when I was absent +in Cairo with several servants, to execute this prank. The footmarks were +traced through the plain to Abusir, and a little clever boy probably +served as a spy, the grandson of an old Turk from the Mameluke times, the +only friend in Abusir, with whom we sometimes exchanged visits. It must +have been also by means of this boy, who often came to our camp, that +the first theft was committed in Abeken’s tent, with which he was well +acquainted. + +The attack was a serious affair, and its consequences might be important, +if it remained unpunished. I went immediately with M. von Wagner to +Scherif Pascha, the minister, whose business it was to find out the +offenders. + +A few days afterwards the plain beneath our camp became an animated +scene. The mudhir (governor) of the province arrived with a splendid +cavalcade, and a great troop of under officials, and servants, and +pitched his gay camp at the foot of the hill. We exchanged visits of +ceremony, and discussed what had happened. The mudhir told us beforehand +that the individual offenders would not be found out, at any rate they +would not be brought to confess, because each knew that his throat stood +a poor chance. However, on the second day, the Sheikhs of Saqâra and +of Abusir, and a number of suspected persons were brought forward, in +order to be put upon their trial. As was to be expected, no decision +was come to, neither by personal interviews, nor examinations. The +punishment was therefore summarily executed. One after the other they +were tied to a post, their faces towards the ground, and the soles of +their feet upwards. They were then unmercifully bastinadoed with a +long whip of hippopotamus hide, called _kurbatsch_, often till they +fainted. It was in vain that I urged that I saw no reason to punish +these particular persons, and I was still more astonished when our old +venerable friend, the Sheikh of Saqâra, for whose innocence I would have +accepted any surety, was also led up, and, like the others, was laid in +the dust. I expressed my surprise to the mudhir, and protested earnestly +against it, but received for answer that he could not be exempted from +the punishment, as though, indeed, we had not been on his ground and +territory, we had however received the watchmen from him, who had run +off, and had not then returned. With some difficulty I obtained, at +least, a mitigation of the punishment; but he had already become almost +insensible, and it was necessary to have him carried to the tent, where +his feet were bound up. The whole affair ended with a compensation in +money for the value of the stolen articles, which I purposely did not +estimate at too low a price, as every loss of money remains for years +in the remembrance of the Arab, while he forgets the bastinado, indeed +boasts of it, as soon as he no longer feels it. _Nezel min e’ semma e’ +nebút, bárakak min Allah_, say the Arabs, _i. e._ “The rod came from +Heaven, a blessing from God.” But also in the matter of the fine, the +sum that we demanded was so distributed, that the rich Sheikh of Saqâra +was compelled to pay a far greater share than the Sheikh of Abusir, a +partiality which was probably in some measure owing to the intercession +of the old distinguished Turk of Abusir with the Turkish mudhir. + +As soon as the money was paid down I went to our Sheikh of Saqâra, +whose unmerited adverse fate had seriously vexed me, and I publicly +gave him the half of his money back again, promising in confidence that +afterwards, when the mudhir should have departed, I would restore to him +also the other half. This was such an unexpected thing to the old sheikh, +that he looked at me for a long time incredulously, then kissed my hands +and feet, and called me his best friend on earth; I, who had just been, +at all events, the indirect occasion of his beautiful beard being soiled +with dust, and of his feet being so lacerated as to cause him weeks of +pain. His wondering joy, however, was not directed so much at me as at +the unhoped-for sight of the money, which never loses its charm with the +Arab. + +There is a curious mixture of noble pride and vulgar avarice to be found +in the Arab, which is at first quite incomprehensible to the European. +Their free noble bearing, and imperturbable repose, appear to express +nothing but a proud sense of honour; balanced, however, against the +smallest gain of money, it melts away like wax before the sun, and the +most contemptuous treatment is not taken into consideration, but is borne +with crouching servility where money is in question. We might at first +imagine one of these two natures to be hypocrisy, or dissimulation; but +the contradiction returns too often in all forms, both great and small, +not to lead to the conviction that it is characteristic of the Arab, if +not of the entire East. Even as early as in the days of the Romans, the +Egyptians had so far degenerated, that Ammianus Marcellinus could say of +them: _Erubescit apud eos, si quis non infitiando tributa plurimas in +corpore vibices ostendat_,[18] and in the same manner the fellah to-day +points with a contented smile to his scars as soon as the tax-gatherer +has withdrawn, who, in spite of his instruments of torture, has been +curtailed of a few piastres. + + + + +LETTER IX. + + + _Cairo, the 22nd April, 1843._ + +A violent cold, which for some time checked my usual activity, has led me +hither from our camp at Saqâra. The worst is, that we are still obliged +to postpone our further journey. Certainly all which such a spot affords +is of the utmost interest, but the abundance of material this time almost +causes us embarrassment. The most important, but most difficult works, +and those which occupy the longest time, are those of our architect +Erbkam. To him belongs the great task of making the most detailed plans +of the border of the desert, in nearly the central point of which we +lie encamped. This ground comprises the almost uninterrupted field of +tombs from the Pyramid of Rigah as far as that of Daschûr. The separate +plans of the northern fields of Abu Roasch, Gizeh, Zauiet el Arrian are +already completed. However meritorious the sketches of Perring, they +cannot be compared in exactitude with ours. Entire Necropoli, with the +Pyramids belonging to them, have been newly discovered, partly by myself, +partly by Erbkam. Some of the Pyramids, hitherto unknown, are even now +from eighty to a hundred feet high; others are indeed almost wholly +demolished, but were originally of considerable extent, as is manifested +by their base. My return to Saqâra will, it is to be hoped, give the +signal for our departure. + +We shall go by land to the Faiûm, the province which branches off +into the desert. The season is still incomparably beautiful, and the +desert-journey will undoubtedly be far more conducive to our health than +the voyage on the Nile, which we before contemplated. + +It is to be hoped that my state of health will not detain me long here, +for my impatience daily increases to return from the living city of +the Mamelukes into the solemn Death-city of the old Pharaohs. And yet +it would perhaps afford you more pleasure if I were able to paint in +colours, or in words, what I here see before my windows. + +I live in the extensive square of the Ezbekîeh, in the most beautiful and +most frequented part of the city. Formerly, there was a great lake in the +centre, which is now, however, converted into gardens. Broad streets run +round it, separated for riders, and foot passengers, and shaded by lofty +trees. There all the East pass by, with their gaily-coloured, various, +yet always picturesque costumes; the poorer classes with blue and white +tucked up blouses, and the richer with long garments of different +materials, with silk kaftans,[19] or fine cloth dresses of delicately +contrasted colours, with white, red, green, and black turbans, or with +the more refined, but less becoming, Turkish tarbusch;[20] amidst these +some Greeks, with their dandy tunics, or Arab Sheikhs, wrapped up in +their wide antique mantles, thrown around them; the children wholly or +half naked, also with shaven heads, on which now and then a single tuft +stands up from the crown, as if ready to be laid hold of; the women +with veiled faces, but whose eyes painted round with black, peer forth +ghost-like hither and thither through peep-holes in the veil. All these, +and a hundred other indescribable figures, walk, glide, and rush past, +on foot, on asses, mules, dromedaries, camels, horses, only not in +carriages; for these were more used even in the time of the Pharaohs than +they are at present. If I look up from the street, my view is bounded +on one side by splendid mosques, with cupolas, and slender-springing +minarets, together with long rows of houses, most of them built +carelessly, yet some of a more distinguished class, richly ornamented +with artistically carved grated windows, and elegant balconies; on the +other side, by the green domes of palm-trees, or by leafy sycamores and +acacias. Finally, in the distant background, beyond the flat roofs, and +green intervening masses, the far-shining sister-pair of the two largest +Pyramids stand out distinctly on the Libyan horizon in sharp lines +through the thin vapour. What a contrast from that mongrel Alexandria, +where innate Eastern habits and feelings still struggle for mastery with +the overpowering high-pressure civilisation of Europe. It seems to me as +if we had already here penetrated into the innermost heart of the East of +the present day. + + + + +LETTER X. + + + _On the Ruins of the Labyrinth, the 31st May, 1843._ + +After my return to the camp of Saqâra, I only required three more +days to finish our work there. I paid a last visit to the ruins of +ancient Memphis, the plan of which Erbkam had meanwhile completed; some +interesting discoveries terminated our researches. + +On the 19th of May we at length set out on our journey, with twenty +camels, two dromedaries, thirteen asses, and one horse. When I speak of +_camels_ and _dromedaries_, it is perhaps not superfluous to observe +what is here understood by these names, for in Europe an incorrect or +rather arbitrary distinction is made between them, which is unknown +here. We Germans call _camel_ what the French call _dromadaire_, and +_dromedary_ (_Trampelthier_, _Germ._ a corruption of dromedary), what +they call _chameau_. The first is said to have _one_ hump, the other +_two_. According to that, there can be no question of dromedaries or +_chameaux_ in Egypt, for here there are no two-humped creatures, although +now and then they appear in one-humped families. In Syria again, and the +central parts of Asia, there would be no camels or _dromadaires_; at +least the one-humped animals are very rare. In truth, however, it is a +very immaterial difference, and whether the one hump of fat on the back +be divided in two or not, in itself alone would perhaps scarcely justify +the distinction of a different species. The people of the East, at the +present day at least, make no distinction between them; neither did the +ancients also, for the one-humped creatures do not carry easier, nor +move quicker, than the others. Nor does the rider sit more conveniently +between two humps, for the saddle is equally raised over the two as +over the one hump. On the other hand a great distinction, although not +founded on natural history grounds, has been generally established +between the strong, dull _camel_, used as a beast of _burden_, commonly +called _gémel_, and the younger, more tractable, broken-in, riding camel, +which is called _heggîn_, because the pilgrims to Mecca (_hágg_, _pl._ +_heggâg_) set a great value on good riding animals. An Arab takes it as +much amiss if his slim favourite camel is called a _gémel_, as if with +us, a well-broken horse was to be described as a plough or draught-horse. +_Dromedarius_, or _camelus dromas_, κάμηλος δρομάς, does not appear to +have meant more among the ancients, as the name proves, than a courser of +a slight breed, suited for riding. + +As these last are far more expensive, it is often difficult to procure, +even a few of the better animals from the Arabs who furnish them; most of +us are obliged to be contented with ordinary beasts of burden. Mine was +this time endurable, and received, at least, the title of _heggîn_, from +the Arabs. + +I did not wait for the decampment of the general party, in which the +Sheikhs of Saqâra and Mitrahinneh were included, but rode on in front +with Erbkam, always beside the desert. On our way, the latter made +one more plan of a Pyramid, with the surrounding ground, which I had +observed on a former trip. We have now a list of, altogether, sixty-seven +Pyramids, almost twice as many as are to be found in Perring. The +topographical plans of Erbkam are most invaluable. + +Soon after sunset we arrived at the first Pyramid of _Lischt_, where we +found our tents already pitched. The following morning I made the caravan +depart early, and I remained behind with Erbkam, that we might employ +ourselves in examining and noting down the two Pyramids, which stand +rather widely apart in this isolated field of death. We did not follow +till two o’clock, and arrived about seven in the evening at our tents, +which were pitched on the south side of the stately Pyramid of Meidûm. +It was again a short day’s journey to the Pyramid of Illahûn, and thence +through the embouchure of the Faiûm to this spot, three hours more.[21] +It was late before we started. I left Erbkam and E. Weidenbach behind, to +put on paper the examination of the ground; and I rode off with only two +servants, half an hour in advance of the caravan, in order to reach the +Labyrinth by a more interesting route, along the Bahr Jussuf, and to fix +upon the place of encampment. + +Here we have been, on the southern side of the Pyramid of Mœris, since +the 23rd May, and are settled among the ruins of the _Labyrinth_; for I +was certain from the first, after we had made but a hasty survey of the +whole, that we are perfectly entitled to designate them under this name: +I did not, however, imagine that it would have been so easy for us to +become convinced of this. + +As soon as Erbkam had measured and noted down a small plan of what +is extant, I caused some excavators to be levied from the surrounding +villages, through the Mudhir of Medînet el Faiûm, the governor of the +province, and ordered them to make trenches through the ruins, and to +dig at four or five places at once. A hundred and eight people were thus +occupied to-day. With the exception of those belonging to the nearest +place, Howara, who return home every evening, I allow these people to +encamp on the northern side of the Pyramid, and to spend their nights +there. They have their overseers, and bread is brought to them; every +morning they are counted, and they are paid every evening; each man +receives a piastre—about two silver groschens;[22] each child, half a +piastre, sometimes, when they have been particularly diligent, as much +as thirty paras (there are forty of them in a piastre). Each of the men +brings with him a pickaxe, and a shallow, woven basket (_maktaf_). The +children, who form the greatest numbers, are only required to bring +baskets. The maktafs are filled by the men, and carried away by the +children on their heads. This is done in long processions, which are kept +in order and at work by special overseers. + +Their chief pleasure, and a material assistance in their daily work, is +singing. They have some simple melodies, which at a distance, owing to +their great monotony, make almost a melancholy impression. When near +them, however, the unmerciful persistence of the shrill voices, as they +often amuse themselves many hours together in the same manner, is hardly +to be borne. It is only the consideration that I am helping so many to +bear half their burden for the day, and that I materially further the +work, which has constantly prevented me interfering when it reaches this +point, till I sometimes at length leave my tent in despair, in order, +by employing myself at a greater distance, to obtain some repose for my +ears. The only variety in the execution of the stanza of two lines, is +that the first line is sung by one voice, the second by the whole chorus, +while the hands are clapped at every bar of common time. For example: + +[Music: + + 1. Om mi be-tá-kul má-ku-li U a-ná bagh-bágh-tét aʾ-léï (Dill) + 2. Dill as-sa—ri mál u mal Bun yál dill ebánne ú aʾ-léï (Yâ) + Yâ-min sa-báhʾ u le-bén U sámneh sâih ʾá-le-ʾï &c. + + _i. e._ 1. My mother eats my dates, + And I—anger overcomes me. + 2. The shade of Asser (vesper-time) lowers itself and lowers itself. + The wall (bunyân). + 3. (Oh) Happiness (when) the morning milk + And butter pour over me.] + +_Makûl_, in the first line, is really only “_food_,” but it has become a +general expression for _dates_, because, in the huts of the Fellah, this +is the chief, and, for many people, the only food. Another rather more +animated melody is this one: + +[Music] + +in which the chorus, in exception to the general rule, separates into +two parts. I hardly think, however, that these thirds are intentional, +they slip in of themselves; for it sometimes happens that single +voices join in singing the same cadence in a totally different strain +without paying any regard to whole hours of discord. The Arab—I might +almost say, the people of the East generally—are devoid of the sense +of making the simplest complications of several voices into a harmony. +The most artistic music of the best singers and performers, which often +inexpressibly delights the most civilised Musulman in Cairo, and collects +large masses of people as an audience, consists only in a melody a +hundred times repeated, flourishing, restless, and whirling, whose theme +cannot be retained, and can scarcely be detected by a European ear. Nor +are the different instruments, when played together, employed for any +harmonious united variety, beyond what is suggested by the rhythm. + +We have eight watchmen during the night, who really do watch, as I often +convince myself by making a nightly round. One of them walks constantly +up and down with his gun on the ramparts surrounding our camp, for if +any where, we have to fear another attack here, not from the Arabs, but +from the still more dangerous Bedouins, who inhabit the borders of the +desert in many single hordes, and are not under the control of great +sheikhs, who we might secure in our interests. From Illahûn to this +place, we passed through a Bedouin camp, whose sheikh must have known +of our arrival, as he rode out to meet me on horseback, and offered +his services, if we should require anything here. Farther on, we met +an old man and a girl in a distracted state, uttering loud cries of +despair. They threw dust into the air, and heaped it on their heads. As +we approached nearer to them, they complained to us with inconsolable +expressions that two Bedouins had just robbed them of their only buffalo. +We actually saw the robbers still in the distance, on horseback, driving +the buffalo before them into the desert. I was alone with my dragoman and +my little donkey-boy, Auad, a lively, dark-skinned Berber, and I could +be of no assistance to these poor people. Such thefts are not unfrequent +here. A short time ago, one tribe drove a hundred and twenty camels away +from another tribe, and none of them have yet come back. + +Nevertheless, we shall probably remain here unmolested; for the sentence +we passed at Saqâra is well known, and they are aware that we are +specially recommended to the authorities. They have also now become +convinced that we carry no gold or silver with us in our heavy chests, +which was formerly very generally believed among the Arabs. Added +to this, we are ourselves well armed against any new attack. I have +collected the most valuable chests in my own tent, and every night an +English double-barrelled gun and two pistols lie ready beside my bed. +Besides, I clear out my tent every evening, that we may be prepared for +anything, especially for storms, from which we have had to suffer much +latterly, and of a degree of violence unknown in Europe. Abeken’s tent +fell three times over his head in one day, and the last time roused him +in a very disagreeable manner out of his sleep. Thus we are often whole +days and nights in constant expectation that during the next gust of wind +our airy house may fall down upon our heads; under this apprehension, it +requires some habit to continue to work or to sleep quietly. + +It appears that we are to have a taste of all the plagues of Egypt. Our +experience began with the inundation at the Great Pyramids; then came the +locusts, whose young fry has now increased like sand upon the sea-shore, +and is again devouring the green fields and trees, which, combined with +the previous cattle disease, is indeed sufficient to cause a famine; then +occurred the hostile attack which was preceded by a daring robbery. Nor +has even a conflagration been wholly wanting. By an incautious salute, +Wild’s tent was set on fire and partly burnt in Saqâra, while we stood +around in bright sunshine, which prevented the fire being seen by us. +Now comes, in addition to this, the annoyance of mice, which we had not +hitherto experienced; they gnaw, play, and squeak away in my tent, as if +they had always been at home there, quite unconcerned whether I am within +it or not. During the night they run over my bed, and over my face; and +yesterday I started up frightened, out of my sleep, because I suddenly +felt the sharp little tooth of one of these audacious guests upon my +foot. I sprang up in a rage, struck a light, and knocked against all the +chests and pegs; but on lying down once more, I was soon driven out of +bed again. In spite of all these annoyances, however, we continue to keep +up a good and cheerful spirit, and God be thanked, they have hitherto +only threatened us, and made us heedful, not materially injured us. + +The superintendence over the servants, and the management of much extra +business, has now been considerably alleviated, by my having brought +a well-qualified Kawass with me from Cairo. These Kawass, who form a +peculiar band of sub-officers of the Pascha, are considered here, in +the country, a peculiar and important class of persons. Only Turks are +appointed, and they possess, through their nationality alone, an innate +superiority over every Arab. There are probably few nations who have +so much natural ability to rule as the Turks, who, nevertheless, we +are often accustomed to regard as rude, uncouth, and half barbarians. +On the contrary, as a nation, they have some degree of distinction. +Imperturbable repose, calmness, reserve, and energy of will, appear +to belong to every Turk, down to the common soldier, and do not fail +to make a certain impression upon the European on first acquaintance. +This external bearing with the appearance of deliberate firmness, this +reserved proud politeness easily passing into nice shades of ceremonial, +is met with in a still higher degree among the upper rank of Turks, +who have all, from childhood upwards, passed through a school of the +strictest etiquette in their own families. They have an innate contempt +for everything which does not belong to their own nation, and appear to +have no feeling for the natural superiority of higher mental culture and +civilisation which the ordinary European usually inspires among other +nations. + +Nothing is to be gained from the Turk by kindness, considerate attention, +demonstration, or even by anger; these he considers as proofs of +weakness. The greatest reserve alone, and the most careful distant +politeness towards the great, or the bearing of a person of some +consequence, and absolute commands to inferiors, answers the purpose +here. A Turkish Kawass drives a whole village of Fellahs, or Arabs, +before him, and makes a decided impression even on the still prouder +Bedouins. The Pascha employs the Kawass-corps as special messengers, +and on commissions, throughout the whole country. They are the chief +executive servants of the Pascha, and of the governors of the provinces. +Every foreign consul has also a similar Kawass, without whom he hardly +takes a single step, since he is his guard of honour, the sign, and the +right hand of his indisputable authority. When he rides out, the Kawass +rides before him with a great silver stick, and drives the people and +animals with words or blows out of his path; and woe to him who should +make a movement, or even a gesture of disobedience. The Pascha sometimes +also gives such a guard of honour, with similar authority, as an escort +to strangers who are specially recommended to him, and thus we also +received a Kawass at the commencement of our journey, who however, during +our long period of repose in Gizeh was only a burden, and at length, +on account of his making extravagant demands, was not very graciously +dismissed by me. On the occasion of the attack in Saqâra, I caused +another to be given me by Scherif Pascha; but he still is not the sort +of man that we want, so I have now brought a third with me from Cairo, +who hitherto has proved an excellent one. He relieves me from the entire +superintendence over the servants, and manages admirably all that I +have to transact with the people and authorities of the country. If I +were in Europe I should have supposed that I had more than sufficient +strength for the whole external guidance of the expedition, as well as +for its more immediate object, but in this climate one must measure by a +different scale. Patience and repose are here, just as necessary elements +of life, as meat and drink. + + + + +LETTER XI. + + + _The Labyrinth, the 25th June, 1843._ + +These lines are written to you from the distinctly recognised Labyrinth +of Mœris and the Dodecarchs, not from the doubtful spot whose identity +is still contested, of which I myself was unable to form any conception +from the hitherto more than deficient descriptions even of those who +have removed the Labyrinth hither. An immense cluster of chambers still +remains, and in the centre lies the great square, where the courts once +stood, covered with the remains of large monolithic granite columns, and +of others of white hard limestone, shining almost like marble. + +I approached the spot, fearing that we must only endeavour, as others +had done before us, to confirm the information of the ancients on the +geographical position of the place; that all form of the edifice itself +had disappeared, and that an unshapely heap of ruins might deter us from +making any examinations. Instead of this, at the first superficial survey +of the ground, a number of complicated spaces, of true labyrinthine +forms, immediately presented themselves, both above and below ground, and +the eye could easily detect the principal buildings, more than a stadium +(Strabo) in extent. Where the French expedition had vainly sought for +chambers, we literally at once find hundreds of them, both next to, and +above one another, small, often diminutive ones, beside greater ones, and +large ones, supported by small columns, with thresholds, and niches in +the walls, with remains of columns, and single casing-stones, connected +by corridors, without any regularity in the entrances and exits, so +that the descriptions of Herodotus and Strabo, in this respect, are +fully justified. But at the same time also, the opinion, which was never +adopted by me, and is irreconcileable with any architectonic view, that +there are _serpentine_, case-like windings, in place of square rooms, is +decidedly refuted. + +The whole is so arranged, that three immense masses of buildings, 300 +feet broad, enclose a square place, which is 600 feet long and 500 feet +wide. The fourth side, one of the narrow ones, is bounded by the Pyramid, +which lies behind it; it is 300 feet square, and therefore does not quite +reach the side wings of the above-mentioned masses of buildings. A canal +of rather modern date, passing obliquely through the ruins, and which one +can almost leap over, at least at the present season, cuts off exactly +the best preserved portion of the labyrinthian chambers, together with +part of the great central square, which at one time was divided into +courts. The travellers preferred not wetting their feet, and remained +on this side, where the continuation of the wings of the buildings is +certainly more concealed beneath the rubbish. But the chambers lying on +the farther side, especially their southern point, where the walls rise +nearly ten feet above the rubbish, and about twenty feet above the base +of the ruins, are to be seen very well even from this, the eastern side; +and viewed from the summit of the Pyramid, the regular plan of the +whole design lies before one as on a map. Erbkam has been occupied ever +since our arrival, in making the special plan, on which every chamber +or wall, however small, will be noted down. The farther portion of the +ruins is, therefore, by far the most difficult to record. On this side +it is an easier task, but so much the more difficult to understand. Here +the labyrinth of chambers passes on southwards. The courts were situated +between this and the Pyramid lying opposite on the northern side. But +almost all of these have disappeared. We have, therefore, nothing to +guide us but the dimensions of the square, which lead us to suppose that +it was divided into two halves, by a long wall, against which the twelve +courts (for we cannot, indeed, with any certainty, make out that there +were more) abutted on both sides, so that their entrances turned towards +opposite sides, and had immediately facing them the extensive mass of +innumerable chambers. + +But who was the Maros, Mendes, Imandes, who, by the account of the +Greeks, erected the Labyrinth, or rather the Pyramid belonging to it, for +his tomb? In the Manethonic list of Kings, we find the builder of the +Labyrinth introduced towards the end of the 12th Dynasty, the last of the +Old Monarchy, shortly before the invasion of the Hyksos. The fragments of +the mighty columns and architraves which we have dug up from the great +square of the halls, exhibit the name-shields of the sixth king of this +same 12th Dynasty, Amenemha III. Thus the important question of its place +in history is answered.[23] We have also made excavations on the north +side of the Pyramid, because it is here that we conjecture the entrance +must have been. But it has not been hitherto discovered. We have only +as yet penetrated into a chamber which lay in front of the Pyramid, and +which was covered by a great quantity of rubbish, and we have several +times found the name of Amenemha here also. The builder and occupier +of the Pyramid is therefore determined. But this does not refute the +statement of Herodotus, that the Dodecarchs, only 200 years before his +time, had undertaken the building of the Labyrinth. We have found no +inscriptions in the ruins of the great masses of chambers which surround +the central space. It may be easily proved by future excavations that +this whole building, and probably also the disposition of the twelve +courts, belong only, in fact, to the 26th Dynasty of Manetho, so that +the original temple of Amenemha formed merely part of this gigantic +architectural enclosure. + +So much for the Labyrinth and its Pyramid. The exact position which its +builder occupies in history is by far the most important result that +we could altogether hope to obtain here. I must now say a few words +respecting the other world’s wonder of this province, Lake Mœris. + +The obscurity which has hitherto hung over it seems at length to have +been dispersed, by a beautiful discovery, which was made a short time +ago by the excellent Linant, the director of the water-works of the +Pascha. Hitherto there was only one point of agreement, that the lake +was situated in the Faiûm. Now, as at the present day there is only +one single lake in this remarkable semi-oasis, the Birqet-el-Qorn, +which is situated in its most remote and lowest parts, this must be the +Lake Mœris; we have no other choice. Its celebrity, however, rested +principally upon this, that it was an artificially designed (Herodotus +says an excavated) and extremely profitable lake, which was filled by +the Nile when it was high, and when the water was low, flowed off again +by the connecting canal; and irrigating on the one side the grounds of +the Faiûm, on the other, during its reflux, the adjacent tracts of the +Memphitic district, at the same time yielded extremely rich fishing +near the double sluices at the mouth of the Faiûm. To the annoyance +of Antiquarians and Philologists, not one of all these peculiarities +belonged to the Birqet-el-Qorn. This is not an artificial, but a natural +lake, which is only in part fed by the water of the Jussuf canal. One of +its useful qualities can be hardly said to exist, since no fishing-boat +enlivens its surface, encircled by an arid desert, because the brackish +water contains scarcely any fish, and is in no degree favourable to the +vegetation on its shores. When the Nile is at its height, and there is +a more abundant supply of water, it certainly rises; but it is situated +at far too low a level to allow a drop of the water with which it has +been supplied, ever to flow back again. The whole province must be buried +beneath the flood before the waters could find their way back into +the valley, for the artificially lowered rocky channel through which +the Bahr Jussuf is brought hither, branching off from the Nile about +forty miles south, lies higher than the whole oasis. The surface of the +Birqet-el-Qorn is now about seventy feet below the point where the canal +flows in, and can never have risen to a much greater height,[24] which +is proved by some remains of a temple upon its shores. As little does it +agree with the statement, that the Labyrinth, and the capital Arsinoë, +the present Medînet-el-Faiûm, were situated on its shores. + +Linant has now discovered huge dams, miles in length, of the most +ancient solid construction, which separates the uppermost portion of +the shell-like, convex-formed basin of the Faiûm from those parts +which are situated lower and lie farther back, and, according to him, +could only have been intended to retain artificially a great lake, +which now, however, since the dams have been long broken through, +lies completely dry. This lake he holds to be that of Mœris. I must +confess that the whole thing, when he first communicated it to me by +word of mouth, impressed me with the idea that it was an extremely +happy discovery, which will also spare us in future many fruitless +researches. An inspection of the ground has now removed all my doubts as +to the correctness of this view. I hold it to be an insubvertible fact. +Linant’s treatise is now being printed, and I will send it to you as +soon as it is to be had.[25] + +But finally, if you ask me what the name of Mœris has to do with that of +Amenemha, I can only answer, nothing. The name Mœris neither appears on +the monuments, nor in Manetho. I rather think that here again we find one +of the numerous misunderstandings of the Greeks. The Egyptians called +the lake, Phiom en mere, the Lake of the Nile-inundation (Copt. ⲙⲏⲣⲉ, +_inundatio_). The Greeks made out of _mere_, the water which formed the +lake, a King Mœris who designed the lake, and then troubled themselves no +further about the true originator, Amenemha. At a later period the whole +province received the name ⲫⲓⲟⲙ, Phiom, the Lake, from which the present +name Faiûm has been derived. + + + + +LETTER XII. + + + _The Labyrinth, the 18th July, 1843._ + +We have accomplished our journey round that remarkable province, the +Faiûm, very rarely visited by Europeans, which, on account of its +fertility, may be named the Garden of Egypt; and precisely because these +parts are almost as unknown as the distant oases of Libya, you will, +perhaps, be glad to hear some more details about them from me. + +I started with Erbkam, E. Weidenbach, and Abeken, on the 3rd of July. We +went from the Labyrinth along the Bahr Wardâni, which skirts the eastern +border of the desert, and forms the boundary, to which the shore of +Lake Mœris at one time extended towards the East. The canal is now dry, +and is replaced by the still more recent Bahr Scherkîeh, which, as they +say, was made by the Sultan Barquq, and is conducted through the middle +of the Labyrinth; it at first crosses the Wardâni several times, but +afterwards keeps more inland. In three hours we reached the point where +the huge dam of Mœris projects from the middle of the Faiûm into the +desert. It runs out in this spot for about one and a half geographical +miles as far as El Elâm. In the middle of this tract it is intersected +by Bahr-bela-mâ, a deep bed of a stream, which now cuts through the old +lake-bottom, and is usually dry, but when there is a great supply of +water, it is used as an outlet for the superfluity towards Tamîeh, and +into the Birqet-el-Qorn. This enabled us to examine the dam itself from a +nearer point of view. The current, which at times is swollen and rapid, +has scooped out a passage for itself since the destruction of the lake, +not only through the alluvial soil that formed the bottom of the lake, +but also through several other layers of earth, and even through the +slightly indurated limestone lying undermost; so that the water, at this +season, reduced certainly to a minimum, flows about sixty feet lower than +the present dry bottom of the lake. I measured accurately the separate +layers of earth, and carried away with me a specimen of each. The breadth +of the dam cannot be determined with certainty, but may, perhaps, have +amounted to 150 feet. The height of the dam has probably become somewhat +lower with time. I found it to be 1 m. 90 (6 feet 3 inches English) above +the present bottom of the lake, and 5 m. 60 (18 feet 4 inches English) +above the opposite plain. If we suppose this last to be on a similar +level with the original bottom of the lake (which was, however, probably +lower, because the external ground was irrigated, and consequently became +elevated), then the dam, apart from its gradual levelling from above +downwards, must have been formerly as much as 5 m. 60, consequently 17 +feet high, and the ground in the inner part of the lake, during its +existence of more than two thousand years, must have risen by deposits +of earth about 11 feet. But if we admit that the black earth also, from +11 to 12 feet thick, which is still to be found outside of the dams, was +deposited within the historical times, then the above numbers would even +require to be doubled. Thus we have some idea how its utility must have +been much diminished with time; for the lake (if we assume that its +circumference is what Linant asserts), by the filling up of the 11 feet +of earth, must have lost 13,000 millions of square feet of the water, +which it might have formerly contained. An elevation of the dams could +in no possible manner have prevented this, because they had been already +placed in exact relation to the point of the influx of the Bahr Jussuf +into the Faiûm. This may have been one of the most substantial reasons +why Lake Mœris was allowed at a later period to fall into decay; and even +Linant’s bold project to restore the lake could not wholly repair this +loss, even if he were to make the Bahr Jussuf branch off from the Nile at +a much higher point than was thought necessary by the old Pharaohs. + +In two hours and a half from this intersection, following the dam to +El Elâm, where it ceases, we reached the remarkable remains of the two +monuments of Biahmu, which Linant considers to be the Pyramids of Mœris +and his consort, which were seen by Herodotus in the lake. They were +built out of great massive blocks; the nucleus of each of them is still +standing, but not in the centre of the almost square rectangle, which, by +their appearance, they seem to have originally occupied. They rose at an +angle of 64°, therefore, with a much steeper inclination than Pyramids +usually do. Their present height, which, however, seems to have been +originally the same as it is now, only amounts to twenty-three feet, to +which, nevertheless, must be added, a peculiar and somewhat projecting +base of seven feet. A small excavation convinced me that the lowest +layer of stone, which only reaches four feet beneath the present ground, +was founded neither on sand nor on rock, but upon Nile mud, which more +especially render the great antiquity of these buildings very doubtful. +At least it is to be inferred from this that they did not stand in the +lake, which, if it encircled them, must have had a remarkable curve +outwards to the north-west. + +We had been riding hitherto on the line of separation between the +ancient bottom of the lake and the adjacent district. The former is +bare and sterile, since the land, at the present day, lies so high that +it cannot be overflowed. On the other hand, the broad tract of land +enclosing the ancient lake, forms by far the most beautiful and most +fertile part of the Faiûm. We now traversed this district, while we left +the capital of the province, Medînet el Faiûm, with the mounds of the +ancient CROCODILOPOLIS on our left, and rode by Selajîn and Fidimîn, to +Agamîeh, where we spent the night. The next morning, near Bischeh, we +reached the limits of this continuous garden-land. Here we entered a +new region, forming a striking contrast to the former, by its sterility +and desolation, enriching it like a girdle, and separating it from the +crescent-shaped Birqet-el-Qorn, situated in the lowest and most distant +part. About mid-day we reached the lake. The only boat which was to be +had, far and wide, conveyed us in an hour and a half across the expanse +of water, encircled all around by the desert, to an island lying in the +centre of the lake, called Gezîret-el-Qorn. We, however, found nothing +on it worthy of notice, not even a trace of a building, so towards the +evening we returned. + +The next morning we re-crossed the lake in a more northerly direction, +and landed on a small peninsula of the opposite shore, which rises at +once 150 feet, to a plateau of the Libyan Desert, commanding the whole +Oasis. We then ascended, and about an hour distant from the shore, in +the midst of the inhospitable desert, devoid of water and vegetation, we +found the extensive ruins of an ancient town, which on earlier maps is +named Medînet Nimrud. They were utterly unacquainted with this name here; +the place was only known by the designation of DIMÉH. On the following +day, the 7th July, the regular plan of these ruins, with the remains of +its temple, was noted down by Erbkam, who had spent the night here with +Abeken. There are no inscriptions on the temple, and whatever sculptures +we found, were placed in this remarkable building at a late period. It +was probably intended only as a military station, against invasions from +Lybia into the rich country of the Faiûm. + +On the 8th July we went in our boat to QASR QERÛN, an old town on the +southern end of the lake, with a temple of late date, and in excellent +preservation, but with no inscriptions, the plan of which was taken on +the following day. From this place we followed the southern frontier +of the Oasis, by Neslet, as far as the ruins of Medînet Mâdi, on LAKE +GHARAQ, near which the ancient dams of Lake Mœris projected from the +north, and on the 11th July we again arrived at our camp on the ruins +of the Labyrinth. We found all well, including Frey, whom we had left +indisposed, and whose repeated attacks of illness, probably produced by +the climate, cause me some anxiety. + +To-morrow I am thinking of going to Cairo with Abeken and Bonomi, to hire +a boat for our journey south, and to prepare everything that is requisite +for our final departure from the neighbourhood of the capital. We shall +take four camels with us for the transport of the monuments which we have +collected in the Faiûm, and strike into the shortest road, namely, from +here by TAMÎEH, which we did not touch at, on our journey round, and +thence across the desert heights which separate this part of the Faiûm +from the Nile valley; we shall then descend into it by the Pyramids of +Daschûr, and thus hope to reach Cairo in two days and a half. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + + + _Cairo, the 14th August, 1843._ + +I regret to say that I received such uncomfortable accounts of the state +of Frey’s health, soon after our arrival in Cairo, that Abeken and Bonomi +at length determined to go to our camp, and to bring him in a litter +which they took with them, from the Labyrinth to Zani on the Nile, and +thence by water to this place. As soon as Dr. Pruner had seen him, he +pronounced that the only advisable course was to let him immediately +return to Europe. The liver complaint, under which he was found to be +suffering, is incurable in Egypt, and as it had already made great +progress, he left us yesterday at mid-day. May the climate of home soon +restore our friend’s strength, who is both amiable and full of talent, +and is a great loss to us all. + +A few days ago, I purchased some Ethiopian Manuscripts for the Library +at Berlin, from a Basque, Domingo Lorda, who has lived a long time in +Abyssinia, and accompanied D’Abadie on several journeys. He bought them, +probably, for a small sum, in a convent situated on the island of Thâna, +near Gorata, one day’s journey from the sources of the Blue Nile, whose +inhabitants were brought to a state of great distress by locusts. The one +contains the history of Abyssinia, from Solomon to Christ, and is said to +come from Axum, and to be between five and six hundred years old. This +first part of the Abyssinian history, called KEBRE NEGEST, “the Fame of +the Kings,” is said to be far more rare than the second, TARIK NEGEST, +“the History of the Kings;” but this manuscript also contains at the +end a list of the Ethiopian kings since the time of Christ. The largest +manuscript, adorned with many great pictures in the Byzantine style, and +by what I learn about it from Lieder, almost unique in its kind, contains +chiefly the histories of saints. The third contains the still valid +_Canones_ of the Church, complete. I hope that it will be an acceptable +purchase for our Library.[26] + +The purchases for our journey are also now completed; a convenient boat +is hired, which will save us from the great difficulties of a land +journey, since this, more especially during the impending season of +inundation, could scarcely be accomplished. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + + + _Thebes, the 13th October, 1843._ + +On the 16th August I went from Cairo to the Faiûm, from which our camp +broke up on the 21st. Two days later we sailed away from BENI-SUEF, and, +sending the camels back to Cairo, only took the asses with us in our +boat, as, on considering the matter more attentively, we found that the +land journey, originally contemplated by me along the range of the hills +some distance from the river on the western side, was quite impracticable +during the inundation, and on the eastern bank would have been partly +too fatiguing, and partly devoid of objects of interest to us on account +of the proximity of the desert frontier on that side, beyond which there +is nothing for us to explore. We have, therefore, only made excursions +from the boat, sometimes on foot, sometimes on asses, principally to the +eastern hills, which are easily reached; but on the western bank, also, +we have visited the most important points. + +The very day after our departure from Beni-suef we found a small +rock-temple in the neighbourhood of the village of SURARIEH, unnoticed by +earlier travellers, not even mentioned by Wilkinson, which, as early as +the 19th Dynasty, was dedicated by Menephthes, the son of Ramses Miamun, +to the Egyptian Venus (Hathor). Farther on are several groups of tombs, +which had also hitherto received scarcely any notice, although, from +their extreme antiquity, they are peculiarly interesting. The whole of +Middle Egypt, judging by the tombs which have been preserved, seems to +have principally flourished during the Old Monarchy, before the invasion +of the Hyksos, not only during the 12th Dynasty, to which the renowned +tombs of Benihassan, Siut, and Berscheh belong, but even as early as the +6th. We have found groups of tombs, of considerable size, from this early +period, which belonged to towns whose names even are no longer known in +the later Egyptian geography, because they had probably been destroyed by +the Hyksos. We remained the longest time in Benihassan, namely, sixteen +days. Hence the season has now arrived, which we must not lose for our +journey south. In the following places, therefore, notes alone were +taken, and paper impressions of a most important kind; for instance, in +El Amarna, in Siut, in the venerable Abydos, and in the more recent, but +not on that account less magnificent, Temple of Dendera, which is almost +in perfect preservation. In Siut we visited the Governor of Upper Egypt, +Selîm Pascha, who for several months past has been working an ancient +alabaster quarry, which had been re-discovered by the Bedouins, between +Berscheh and Gauâta. + +The town of SIUT is beautifully built and in a charming situation, +especially when viewed from the steep rock on the western bank of the +valley close behind it. The view of the overflowed Nile valley from these +heights is the most beautiful which we have yet seen, and, at the same +time, extremely characteristic of the inundation season, in which we are +now travelling. From the foot of the steep rock, a small dam overgrown +with sont-trees,[27] and a bridge, leads across to the town, which lies +like an island in the boundless sea of inundation. The gardens of Ibrahim +Pascha, extending on the left, form another island, green and fresh, +covered with trees and brushwood. The town, with its fifteen minarets, +rises high above the mounds of rubbish of the ancient Lycopolis. A still +larger dam leads from it to the Nile, and, towards the south, other long +dams may be seen, like floating threads drawn across the mass of waters. +On the other side the Arabian chain of mountains approach tolerably +near, by which the valley becomes closed in, forming a picture which can +be easily surveyed. + +We have been in the royal city of THEBES since the 6th October. Our boat +landed us first, under the walls of Luqsor, at the most southern point +of the Theban ruins. The strong current of the river has here encroached +to within such a short distance of the old temple that it is itself +even in considerable danger. I endeavoured to obtain a view over the +ruins of Thebes, from the summit of the temple, in order to compare it +with the image that I had formed of it from maps and descriptions. The +distances, however, are too great to make a good picture. You look upon +a wide landscape, in which the scattered groups of temples stand forth +as single points, and can only be recognised by one who has a previous +knowledge of the subject. Towards the north, at the distance of a short +hour, rise the mighty Pylones of KARNAK, which of itself formed a town +of temples altogether gigantic and astonishing. We spent the succeeding +days in taking a cursory survey of them. On the other side of the river, +at the foot of the Libyan range, are the MEMNONIA, once an uninterrupted +series of splendid buildings, unrivalled among the monuments of +antiquity. Even now the temples of MEDÎNET HÂBU, with their high mounds +of rubbish, are distinguishable in the distance, at the southern end +of this series, exactly opposite to Luqsor; and at the northern end, +an hour from that point down the river, the temple of QURNAH, which is +in good preservation; between them both stands the temple of Ramses +Miamun (Sesostris), already of great celebrity, from its description by +Diodorus. Thus the four Arabian places, Karnak, and Luqsor on the eastern +side of the river, Qurnah, and Medînet Hâbu on the western, form a great +square, which measures on every side about half a geographical mile, +and gives us some notion of the magnitude of the most splendid portion +of ancient Thebes. How far the remaining inhabited portion of the City +of a Hundred Gates extended towards the east, north, and south, it is +difficult to discover now, because all that in the lapse of time has not +maintained its original position, has gradually disappeared beneath the +annually increasing rise of the soil of the lower plain by the inundation. + +No one ever inquires here about the weather, for one day is exactly like +the other, serene, clear, and hitherto not too hot. We have no morning +or evening red, as there are neither clouds nor vapours; but the first +ray of the morning calls forth a world of colours in the bare and rugged +limestone mountains closing in around us, and in the brownish glittering +desert, contrasted with the black, or green-clothed lower plain, such as +is never seen in northern countries. There is scarcely any twilight, as +the sun sinks down at once. The separation of night and day is just as +sudden as that between meadow and desert; one step, one moment, divides +the one from the other. The sombre brilliancy of the moon and starlight +nights is so much the more refreshing to the eye which has been dazzled +by the ocean light of day. The air is so pure and dry, that except in the +immediate vicinity of the river, in spite of the sudden change at sunset, +there is no fall of dew. We have almost entirely forgotten what rain +is, for it is above six months since it last rained with us in Saqâra. +A few days ago we rejoiced, when, towards evening, we discovered some +light clouds in the sky to the south-west, which reminded us of Europe. +Nevertheless, we do not want coolness even in the daytime, for a light +wind is almost always blowing, which does not allow the heat to become +too oppressive. Added to this, the Nile water is pleasant to the taste, +and maybe enjoyed in great abundance without any detriment. + +The clay water-bottles (Qulleh) are invaluable to us; they are composed +of fine, porous Nile mud, which allows the water to ooze through them +continually; the evaporation of this, as soon as it appears on the warm +surface, as is well known, produces cold, and thus, by this simple +process, the bottles are constantly kept cool in the hottest period of +the day. The drinking-water, on that account, is usually cooler than it +is in Europe during the summer. We principally live upon poultry, and, +as a change, we occasionally kill a sheep. There are very few vegetables. +Every meal is concluded by a dish of rice. For dessert we have the most +beautiful yellow melons, or juicy red water-melons. The dates also are +excellent, but not to be had everywhere. I have at length, to the great +joy of my companions, learned to smoke a Turkish pipe, which keeps me a +quarter of an hour in perfect _kêf_: by this word the Arabs designate +their easy repose, their comfort; for as long as one “drinks” the blue +smoke of the long pipe from the shallow bowl, so easily overset, it is +impossible to leave one’s position, or to undertake anything else. We +have a convenient costume—loose trousers of light cotton stuff, and over +them a wide long tunic, with short wide sleeves. Besides this I wear a +broad, turned-up, grey felt hat, as a European badge, which keeps the +Arabs in proper respect. We eat, according to the custom of the country, +on a low round table, not a foot high, sitting on cushions, with our legs +folded under us. This position has become so convenient to me, that I +even write in it, sitting on my couch, the letter portfolio on my knees, +as a support. Above me is spread out a canopy of gauze to keep off the +flies—this most shameless plague of Egypt during the day—and the gnats +during the night. In other respects, we suffer far less from vermin here, +than in Italy. We have not yet been bit by scorpions and serpents, but in +return there are very malignant wasps, which have frequently stung us. + +We shall only remain here till the day after to-morrow, and shall then +travel towards the south without stopping. We shall wait for our return +to devote as much time and labour as the treasures in this spot demand. +At Assuan, on the frontiers of Egypt, we shall, for the first time, +change our mode of transport, and send back our great boat, in which we +already feel quite at home. On the other side of the cataracts we shall +take two smaller boats for our journey onwards. + + + + +LETTER XV. + + + _Korusko, the 20th November, 1843._[28] + +Our journey from the Faiûm, through Egypt, was necessarily very much +hastened owing to the advanced season. We have, therefore, rarely +remained longer at a place than was requisite for a hasty survey, and +have chiefly confined ourselves, during the past three months, to keeping +an exact register of what exists, and to increasing our important +collection of impressions upon paper of the most interesting inscriptions. + +On our rapid journey as far as Wadi Halfa, we have collected from three +to four hundred impressions, or exact copies, of Greek inscriptions +alone. They often confirm Letronne’s acute conjectures, but also not +unfrequently correct the unavoidable mistakes of such a difficult work +as his. In the inscription from which, without any foundation, it was +proposed to settle the position of the town of Akoris, his conjecture, +ΙΣΙΔΙ ΛΟΧΙΑΔΙ, is not verified: L’Hôte had read ΜΟΧΙΑΔΙ, but it is +ΜΩΧΙΑΔΙ, and before ΕΡΩΕΩΣ, not ΕΡΕΕΩΣ. + +The dedicatory inscription of the Temple of PSELCHIS (as it is given in +the inscription, in accordance with Strabo, instead of Pselcis) is almost +as long again as Letronne assumes it to be, and the first line does not +end with ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ, but with ΑΔΕΛΦΗΣ, so that we must probably restore +it thus: + + Ὑπὲρ βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου καὶ βασιλίσσης + Κλεοπάτρας τῆς ἀδελφῆς + Θεῶν Εὐεργετῶν.[29] ... [30] + +At the end of the second line ΤΩΙΚΑΙ, therefore, is confirmed. The +surname of Hermes, which follows in the third line, however, has been +ΠΑΟΤΠΝΟΥΦΙ (ΔΙ) differing from the writing in other later inscriptions, +where he is called ΠΑΥΤΝΟΥΦΙΣ. The same surname is also not unfrequently +found in hieroglyphics, and then sounds _Tut en Pnubs_, that is to +say, _Thoth_ of, or Lord of Πνούψ, a town, the site of which is still +uncertain. I have already met with this Thoth in temples of earlier +date, where he frequently appears beside the _Thoth_ of _Schmun_, i. e. +_Hermopolis Magna_. In the popular language it was called _Pet-Pnubs_; +from this, it became _Paot-Pnuphis_. + +The interesting problem about the owner of the name, Εὐπάτωρ, which +Letronne endeavours to solve in a new manner, by means of the +inscriptions on the obelisk of Philæ, appears to be decided by the +hieroglyphic inscriptions, where the same circumstances recur, but lead +to other conjectures.[31] I have found several very perfect series of the +Ptolemies, the longest down to Neos Dionysos, and his consort Cleopatra, +who, according to the hieroglyphic inscriptions, was surnamed, by the +Egyptians, TRYPHÆNA.[32] A fact worthy of consideration is connected +with this, namely, that in this _Egyptian_ list of the Ptolemies, the +first king is never Ptolemy Soter I., but PHILADELPHUS. In Qurna, where +Euergetes II. worships his predecessors, not alone Philometor, the +brother of Euergetes is wanting, which is easily explained, but also +Soter I., and Rosellini is mistaken when he regards the king who is +worshipped under the title of Philadelphus, about whom Champollion was +still doubtful, as Soter I. instead of Euergetes I. It appears that the +son of Lagus, although he assumed the title of _king_ from the year 305, +was yet not acknowledged as such by the Egyptians, as his shields do not +appear on a single monument which was erected by him. So much the more do +I rejoice that I have nevertheless found his name mentioned once, in an +inscription of Philadelphus, as the father of Arsinoë II. But here, we +must observe, Soter has, indeed, the royal ring round his name, and also +a peculiar Throne-shield name, but quite contrary to the usual Egyptian +custom, no king’s title stands before either of the shields, although his +daughter is called “royal daughter” and “royal lady.”[33] + +It is astonishing how little Champollion seems to have attended to the +monuments of the Old Monarchy. During his whole journey through Central +Egypt, as far as Dendera, he only found the rock-tombs of Benihassan +worthy of notice, and these also, he considered to be works of the 16th +and 17th Dynasties, therefore belonging to the New Monarchy. He also +mentions Zauiet el Meitîn and Siut, but hardly notices them. + +So little has been said by others, besides, on most of the monuments of +Central Egypt, that almost everything that we here found was new to me. +I, therefore, was not a little astonished when we discovered in ZAUIET EL +MEITÎN a series of nineteen rock-tombs, all of them bearing inscriptions, +which informed us who were their inhabitants, and belonging to the old +time of the 6th Dynasty, therefore extending almost to the period of +the great Pyramids. Five among them contain, more than once, the Shield +of Makrobioten Apappus Pepi, who is said to have lived to the age of a +hundred and six years, and to have reigned a hundred years; in another, +Cheops is mentioned. Apart from these there is also a single grave from +the period of Ramses. + +In BENIHASSAN, I have had a complete drawing made of an entire rock-tomb; +it is to give a specimen of the magnificent style of architecture +and artistic skill, from the second flourishing period of the Old +Monarchy, during the powerful 12th Dynasty.[34] I think it will excite +some attention among the Egyptologists, when they shortly learn from +Bunsen’s work, why I make a division in the tablet of Abydos, and why I +ventured to transfer SESURTESEN and AMENEMHA, these well-known Pharaohs +of Heliopolis, the Faiûm, Benihassan, Thebes, and as far as Wadi Halfa, +from the New, to the Old Monarchy. It must have been a brilliant period +in Egypt at that time, which these magnificent halls for the dead +alone testify. At the same time, among the rich representations on the +walls, which exhibit a high standard of the peaceful arts, as well as +the refined luxury of the great at that period, it is interesting even +then to meet with the prognostics of that great adverse destiny, which +brought Egypt for several centuries under the power of her northern +enemies. Gladiatorial games, which form a characteristic representation +of frequent recurrence, in many tombs occupy entire walls, by which +we may conclude they were extensively practised at that period, but +afterwards almost disappeared. Among these we frequently find amidst +the red or dark-brown people of the Egyptian race, and of those races +dwelling more to the south, a very light-coloured people, standing singly +or in small divisions, who have usually a different costume, and most of +them have the hair of the head and beard red, and have blue eyes. They +also sometimes appear among the domestics of persons of rank, and are +manifestly of northern, probably of Semetic, origin. We find victories +of the kings over the Ethiopians and Negroes mentioned on the monuments +of that period; therefore it is not surprising to see black slaves and +attendants. We learn nothing of wars against the northern neighbours, but +it appears that the migrations of people from the north-east had already +begun at that time, and that many emigrants sought a home in the fruitful +land of Egypt, in exchange for service, or other useful employments. + +I here allude particularly to the remarkable scene in the tomb of the +royal relative NEHERA-SI-NUMHOTEP, the second tomb approaching from the +north, which gives an animated idea of the entrance of Jacob with his +family, and which might tempt us really to connect these circumstances, +if Jacob had not come at a much later period, and if we were not +compelled to acknowledge that such immigrations of single families could +never have been a rare event. These, however, were the predecessors of +the Hyksos, and assuredly in many respects paved the way for them. As it +is only painted, and is still in very good preservation, I have traced +through the whole representation, which is about eight feet long, and +one and a half high. The royal scribe NEFRUHOTEP, who introduces the +company before the high official, to whom the tomb belongs, hands him a +sheet of papyrus. Upon this, the sixth year of King Sesurtesen II. is +mentioned, when that family of thirty-seven persons came to Egypt. Their +chief, and lord, was called ABSCHA, they themselves AAMU, a popular name, +which we meet with again associated with the same light-coloured race; +this, with three other races, is frequently represented in the royal +tombs of the 19th Dynasty, and formed one of the four principal families +of the human race known to the Egyptians. Champollion, when he was in +Benihassan, regarded them as Greeks; he was not then aware of the extreme +age of the monuments which were before him. Wilkinson considers them +to be prisoners; this is contradicted by their appearing with weapons +and lyres, with women, children, asses, and baggage. I view them as a +migrating Hyksos family, who pray to be received into the blessed land, +and whose descendants, perhaps, opened the gates of Egypt to the Semetic +conquerors, allied to them by race. + +The town, to which the rich rock-necropolis of Benihassan belonged, and +which is named in the hieroglyphic inscriptions NUS, must have been of +considerable size, and, doubtless, lay opposite, on the left bank of +the Nile, where ancient mounds exist even at the present time, and are +marked upon the French maps. That no more of this town of NUS was known +in the geography of the Greeks and Romans than of many other towns of the +Old Monarchy, ought not to surprise us, if we consider that the dominion +of the Hyksos intervened, which lasted five hundred years. It is thought +that the sudden fall of the Monarchy, and of this flourishing town, may +be traced, even now, to have happened at the end of the 12th Dynasty +by this circumstance—that only eleven of the numerous rock-tombs have +inscriptions, and that among these, three alone were quite completed. +Special roads of considerable width led to these last, ascending direct +from the bank of the river, which near the steep upper part ended in +steps cut out of the rock. + +Benihassan, however, is not the only place where we became acquainted +with the works of the 12th Dynasty. At BERSCHEH, a little to the south of +the great plain, where the Emperor Hadrian, in honour of his favourite, +who was there drowned, built the town of ANTINOE, with its splendid +streets, even now partly passable, and encompassed with hundreds of +columns, a narrow valley opens to the east, where we again found a +series of splendidly executed rock-tombs of the 12th Dynasty, most of +which, unfortunately, were mutilated by recent quarrying. In the tomb of +Ki-si-Tuthotep there is a representation of the transport of the great +Colossus, which has been already published by Rosellini, but without the +accompanying inscriptions; from these we perceive that it was formed +of _limestone_ (here, for the first time, I learned the hieroglyphic +term for this), and that it was 13 Egyptian ells high, which is about +21 feet.[35] A series of still older tombs are hewn into the face of +the rock on the southern side of the same valley, but with very few +inscriptions; to judge by the style of the hieroglyphics, and the titles +of the deceased, they belong to the 6th Dynasty. + +Some hours farther to the south there is another group of tombs, +which also belong to the 6th Dynasty; here, likewise, King Cheops is +occasionally mentioned, whose name we several times met with before, +in a hieratic inscription in Benihassan. We found tombs from the 6th +Dynasty, though with few inscriptions, in two other places situated, +between the valley EL AMARNA, which contains the very remarkable +tomb-grottoes of King Bech-en-Aten, and Siut. Perring, the measurer +of the Pyramids, a short time ago seriously endeavoured, in an essay, +to maintain the strange opinion, which, however, I also met with +while in Cairo, that the monuments of El Amarna were derived from the +Hyksos; others, on account of their striking, though not inexplicable +peculiarities, would even carry them back to the time before Menes. While +still in Europe I had recognised the builder of these monuments, and some +other allied kings, to be antagonistic kings of the 18th Dynasty. + +Rock-tombs of vast size open on the side of the valley behind SIUT, in +which, even from a distance, we recognised the imposing style of the 12th +Dynasty. Here also, unfortunately, many of these splendid remains have +been destroyed of late, as it was found more convenient to break away the +walls and columns of the grottoes, than to hew out building stones from +the rock itself. + +I learned from Selîm Pascha, the Governor of Upper Egypt, who received +us in a most friendly manner in Siut, that the Bedouins had a short +time ago discovered some alabaster quarries in the eastern range of +mountains, between two and three hours distant, the working of which had +been committed to him by Mohammed Ali; and I heard from his dragoman, +that in that place also there was an inscription on the rock. I +therefore determined to start the following day, accompanied by the two +Weidenbachs, our dragoman and Kawass, on this hot ride, on the Pascha’s +horses, which he had sent to El Bosra for the purpose. We found there a +little colony of eighteen labourers, thirty-one souls altogether, in the +lonely, sultry, rocky defile, occupied in working the quarries. On the +side of the rock, behind the tent of the overseer, the name and titles +of the wife, so highly venerated by the Egyptians of the first Amasis, +the head of the 18th Dynasty which expelled the Hyksos, were preserved +in distinct, sharp-cut hieroglyphics, the remains of an inscription that +had been formerly longer. These are the first alabaster quarries the +age of which is proved by an inscription. Not far from that place there +have been others also, which, however, had been worked out in ancient +times. Above three hundred blocks have been already obtained from the +one now re-opened during the last four months, the largest of which are +eight feet long and two feet thick. The Pascha informed me, through +his dragoman, that on our return I should find a slab, whose size and +form I might myself determine, of the best quality in the quarry, and +which I might accept, as a token of the pleasure he had derived from +our visit. The alabaster quarries which have hitherto been discovered +in this neighbourhood, are all between Berscheh and Gauâta; we might be +inclined, therefore, to view El Bosra as the ancient Alabastron, if the +passage in Ptolemy could be reconciled with it. At any rate, Alabastron +has certainly nothing to do with the ruins in the valley of El Amarna, +for which it has hitherto been taken, which does not either agree with +the statement of Ptolemy, and with which it appears to have a totally +different relation. The hieroglyphic name of these ruins frequently +appears in the inscriptions. + +In the rocky chain of GEBEL SELÎN there are some more very early tombs +belonging to the Old Monarchy, probably to the 6th Dynasty, but with few +inscriptions. + +Opposite to old PANOPOLIS, or CHEMMIS, we climbed up to the remarkable +rock-grotto of Pan (Chem). It was founded by another rival king of the +18th Dynasty, whose tomb we have since visited in Thebes. The holy name +of the city frequently appears in the inscriptions here—“The Habitation +of CHEM,” _i. e._ Panopolis. Whether the popular name Chemmis, now +Echmim, originated from this, is perhaps doubtful. I have always found +two different names for Siut, Dendera, Abydos, and other towns; the +holy and the popular name. The first is taken from the chief god of the +local temple; the second has nothing to do with this. My hieroglyphic +geography increases nearly with every new monumental locality. In +ABYDOS we came to the first of the larger temple structures. The last +interesting tombs of the Old Monarchy we found at QASR E’ SAIAT; they go +as far back as the 6th Dynasty. In DENDERA we visited the imposing Temple +of Hathor, perhaps the best preserved in all Egypt. + +We spent twelve overwhelming and astounding days in Thebes, which were +scarcely sufficient to enable us to thread our way among the palaces, +temples, and tombs, whose royal gigantic splendour fills this wide plain. +We celebrated the birthday of our beloved king with a _feu de joie_, +and waving of banners, with chorus songs and heartfelt toasts, which we +pledged in a glass of genuine German Rhine wine, in the jewel of all +the splendid buildings of Egypt—the palace of Ramses-Sesostris: it was +erected by this greatest of the Pharaohs to “Ammon-Ra, the King of the +Gods,” the tutelar patron of the royal city of Ammon, situated on a +terrace of gentle elevation, calculated to command the wide plain on both +sides of the majestic river, and was worthy of himself and of the god. I +need scarcely say that on such an occasion we also thought of you with a +full heart. When night came, we kindled a kettle of pitch above the outer +entrance between the Pylones, on both sides of which our banners were +planted, and then made a great fire flame up from the flat roof of the +Pronaos (or vestibule), which exhibited the beautiful proportions of the +hall of columns in splendid relief; for the first time since thousands +of years we again restored this to its original destination as a festive +hall—the saloon of “panegyrics.”[36] The two mighty Memnon Colossi, +calmly reposing on their thrones, were also magically lighted up in the +distance. + +We have reserved all great undertakings for our return; but it will be +difficult to select from the inexhaustible materials for our particular +object, and with reference to what has been already communicated in +other works. On the 10th of October we quitted Thebes. HERMONTHIS we saw +in passing. The great hall of ESNEH was several years ago excavated down +to the foundation by order of the Pascha, and afforded us a magnificent +spectacle. We remained three days in EL KAB, the ancient EILEITHYIA. +Still more wonderful than the different temples of this once mighty +place, are its rock-tombs, most of which date from the commencement of +the Egyptian War of Freedom against the Hyksos, and throw much light on +the relations between the Dynasties of that period. Several distinguished +persons, buried there, bear the strange title of Masculine Nurse of a +Royal Prince, by the well-known group _mena_, and the determinative of +the female breast, in the Coptic tongue expressed ⲙⲟⲡⲓ. The deceased is +represented with the prince upon his lap. + +The Temple of EDFU is also among those which are in best preservation; +it was dedicated to Horus and to Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, who is here +in one place called “The Queen of Men and Women.” Horus, as a child, +is represented naked, as are all children on the monuments, and with +his finger on his mouth. I had before explained the name of HARPOKRATES +from it, which now I have found represented and written here complete, +as HAR-PE-CHROTI, _i. e._ “Horus the child.” The Romans misunderstood +the Egyptian gesture of the finger, and out of the child who cannot +yet speak, they made the God of Silence who will not speak. The most +interesting inscription, hitherto neither noticed nor mentioned by +any one, is on the outer eastern wall of the temple built by Ptolemy +Alexander I. It contains several dates, of the kings Darius, Nectanebus, +and of the falsely so-called Amyrtæus, and refers to the landed estates +which belonged to the temple. The intense heat of the day we spent +there caused me to postpone, till our return, a closer examination, and +taking the paper impression of this wall.[37] GEBEL SILSILIS is one of +the places most abundant in historical inscriptions, which are chiefly +connected with the vast workings of the sandstone quarries. + +I was rejoiced to find a third _canon of the proportions_ of the human +body, in OMBOS, differing very distinctly from both the older Egyptian +canons which I had before met with in many examples. The second canon +is closely connected with the first, and oldest, of the time of the +Pyramids, from which it differs only in being brought to greater +perfection, and being differently applied. The foot, as the unit, is the +foundation of both, this taken six times, corresponded to the height of +the body when upright; but it must be observed, from the sole of the +foot, not as far as the crown of the head, but only to the top of the +forehead. That portion from where the hair begins to grow on the upper +part of the forehead, to the crown of the head, did not come into the +calculation at all, and occupies sometimes three-quarters, sometimes the +half, sometimes still less of a fresh square. The difference between the +first and the second canon chiefly rests on the position of the knee. +In the Ptolemaic canon, however, the division has itself been altered. +The body was no longer divided into 18 parts, as in the second canon, +but into 21¼ parts, to the top of the forehead, or into 23 parts, up to +the crown of the head. This is the division which DIODORUS gives, in +the last chapter of his first book. In the lower part of the body the +proportions of the second and third canon remain the same; on the other +hand, those of the upper part of the body are essentially altered, the +contours become altogether more extravagant, and the previous beautiful +simplicity and chasteness of the forms, in which consisted both its grand +and peculiarly Egyptian character, yielded to the imperfect imitation of +an uncomprehended foreign style of art. The proportion of the foot to the +length of the body remains the same, but the foot is no longer placed for +the basis as unit. + +At ASSUAN we were obliged to change our boat, on account of the +Cataracts, and for the first time for six months past, or longer, we +had the home enjoyment of heavy rain, and a violent thunderstorm, which +gathered on the farther side of the Cataracts, crossed with a mighty +force the granite girdle, and then, amidst the most violent explosions, +rolled down the valley as far as Cairo, and (as we have since heard) +covered it with floods of water, such as had been scarcely remembered +before. So we may say, with Strabo and Champollion, “In our time it +rained in Upper Egypt.” Rain is, indeed, so rare here, that our guards +never remembered to have beheld such a spectacle, and our Turkish Kawass, +who is in all respects perfectly acquainted with the country, continued +to leave his own things untouched; while we long before had been carrying +our chests into the tents, and having them better secured, he quietly +repeated _abaden moie_, “never rain,” a word which since then he has +often been compelled to hear, as he was thoroughly drenched, and caught +a violent, feverish cold, for which he was obliged to wait patiently in +Philæ. + +The situation of PHILÆ is as charming as it is interesting by its +monuments. Some of the most delightful recollections of our journey are +associated with our eight days’ residence on this holy island. We used +to assemble before dinner, after the scattered work of the day, on the +elevated temple terrace, which rises abruptly from the river, on the +eastern shore of the island; we there watched the shadow of the temple +(which is in good preservation, and built of sharply cut, deep-coloured +glowing blocks of sandstone) steal over the river, and mingle with the +black volcanic masses of rock, towering above each other, between which +the golden yellow sand pours into the valley like streams of fire. The +island appears only to have become holy to the Egyptians at a late +period, for the first time under the Ptolemies. Herodotus, who during +the rule of the Persians ascended as far as the Cataracts, does not +mention Philæ at all; it was at that time inhabited by the Ethiopians, +who were also in possession of half of the island of Elephantine. The +oldest buildings now to be found upon the island were erected on the +southern point by Nectanebus, the last king but two of Egyptian origin, +almost a hundred years after the journey of Herodotus. There are no +traces of earlier remains, not even of any that were destroyed or built +up into other buildings. Many older inscriptions are to be found upon +the large neighbouring island of Bigeh, named in hieroglyphics SENMUT. +As early as the Old Monarchy, it was adorned with Egyptian monuments; +for we have found a granite statue of King Sesurtesen III. from the 12th +Dynasty. The little rocky island KONOSSO, named in hieroglyphics KENES, +also contains very old inscriptions, engraved upon the rock, in which a +new and hitherto wholly unknown King of the Hyksos period is also named. +Hitherto the hieroglyphic name of the island of Philæ was read Manlak. I +have found the name undoubtedly more than once written Ilak; hence with +the article, PHILAK became in the mouth of the Greeks PHILAI. The sign +which Champollion read “man,” in other groups changes into _i_, thence +the expression I-lak, P-i-lak, Memphitic Ph-i-lak, is now established. + +We have made a valuable discovery in the court of the great Temple of +Isis, of two _bilingual_ decrees of the Egyptian priests, that is to +say, drawn up in the Hieroglyphic and Demotic characters; they are +tolerably rich in words, and one of them contains the same text as the +decree of the Rosetta stone. I have, at least, up to the present moment, +compared the last seven lines, which correspond with the inscription +of Rosetta, not only in their contents, but also in the length of each +single line; the inscription must be copied before I can say more +about it; at all events, it is no inconsiderable advantage to Egyptian +philology, if only a portion of the fragmentary decree of Rosetta can, +through this, be completed. The whole of the first portion of the +Rosetta inscription which precedes the decree, is here wanting. Instead +of this, there is a second decree beside it, which refers to the same +Ptolemy Epiphanes; in the introduction, the “Fortress of Alexander,” +_i. e._ the town of Alexandria, is mentioned for the first time, on the +monuments which have hitherto become known. Both decrees conclude, like +the Rosetta inscription, with the intention to set up the inscription in +Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek characters. Nevertheless, the Greek is +wanting here; unless, perhaps, it was written down in red, and rubbed out +when Ptolemy Lathyrus cut his hieroglyphic inscriptions over the earlier +ones.[38] + +The hieroglyphic succession of the Ptolemies, which appears here, begins +again with Philadelphus; whereas, in the Greek text of the Rosetta +inscription, it begins with Soter. Another very remarkable fact is, that +Epiphanes is here called, the son of Ptolemy Philopator and _Cleopatra_, +while, by the historical accounts, the only wife of Philopator was +Arsinoë, and she is besides so named in the Rosetta inscription, and on +other monuments. She is also certainly called Cleopatra in one passage of +Pliny, but this might have been considered a mistake of the author, or of +the manuscript, if a hieroglyphic, and, indeed, an official document did +not even now present the same change of names. There are now, therefore, +no longer any grounds to place the mission by the Roman Senate of Marcus +Atilius, and Marcus Acilius to Egypt, to negotiate a new alliance on +account of the Queen Cleopatra, who is mentioned by Livy, under Ptolemy +Epiphanes, as is done by Champollion Figeac, instead of under Ptolemy +Philopator as other authors relate. We must rather assume now, either +that the wife and sister of Philopator bore both names, which, indeed, +even then would not quite remove the difficulties; or that the project +mentioned by Appian, of a marriage between Philopator and the Syrian +Cleopatra, who afterwards became the wife of Epiphanes, was carried into +effect after the murder of Arsinoë, though the authors give us no account +of it. Here, naturally, I am without the means of making this point +perfectly clear.[39] + +The multitude of Greek inscriptions in Philæ is incalculable, and it will +interest Letronne to hear, that on the base of the second obelisk, which +still exists in its original place and position, of which only a portion +has travelled with the other obelisk to England, I have found the remains +of a Greek inscription, written in red, difficult indeed to decipher, +which, perhaps, was at one time also gilt, similar to the two last +discovered upon the base in England. I have already written to Letronne, +that the hieroglyphic inscriptions of the obelisk, which, together with +the Greek one of the base, I myself copied in Dorsetshire, and which I +afterwards published in my “Egyptian Atlas,” have nothing to do with the +Greek inscription, and were not even set up simultaneously; but it still +remains a question, whether the inscription of the second base was not in +connexion with that of the first; the correspondence of the three known +inscriptions certainly appears exclusively confined to themselves. + +The chief temple of the island was dedicated to Isis. She is called by +preference “The Lady of Philek.” Osiris was only θεὸς σύνναος, which +has its peculiar hieroglyphic expression, and he is only sometimes +exceptionally called “Lord of Philek;” on the other hand, he was “Lord +of Ph-i-uêb,” _i. e._ Abaton, and Isis, who was there σύνναος, is only +exceptionally called “The Lady of Ph-i-uêb.” Even from this, we may +infer, that the famous tomb of Osiris, on his own island of Phiuêb, +was not upon Philek. Both places were expressly designated by their +determinatives as _Islands_. There is, therefore, no question that the +Abaton of inscriptions and authors was not a particular place upon the +island of Philæ; it was itself an island. Diodorus and Plutarch both say +so, in distinct terms, as they place it πρὸς Φιλαις. Diodorus expressly +designates the island with the tomb of Osiris, as a peculiar island, +which, on account of this tomb, was called ἱερὸν πεδίον, “the sacred +plain.” This is a translation of PH-I-UEB, or PH-IH-UEB (for the _h_ +is also found in the hieroglyphics), in the Coptic tongue ⲫ-ⲓⲁϩ-ⲟⲩⲏⲃ, +PH-IAH-UEB, “the sacred field.” This sacred plain was an _Abaton_, +inaccessible except to the priests. + +On the 6th of November we left the enchanting island, and began our +_Ethiopian_ journey. Even in DEBÔD, the next temple we came to towards +the south, in hieroglyphics called _Tabet_ (in Coptic, perhaps, ⲧⲁ ⲁⲃⲏⲧ), +we found the sculptures of an Ethiopian king, ARKAMEN the ERGAMENES, +of the authors, who reigned at the same time as Ptolemy Philadelphus, +and probably was in very friendly relations with Egypt. There is great +confusion in the French work on Champollion’s expedition (I have not got +Rosellini at hand). Many sheets which belong to Dakkeh are attributed to +Debôd, and _vice versâ_: we collected nearly sixty Greek inscriptions +in GERTASSI. Letronne, who knew them, through Gau, has perhaps already +published them; I am eager to learn what he has made out of γόμοι, whose +priests play an important part in these inscriptions, as also out of the +new gods, Σρούπτιχις and Πουρσεπμοῦνις. + +The Inscriptions of TALMIS offer a new instance how incorrectly the +Egyptian names were often comprehended by the Greeks, who name the same +god MANDULIS, who in the hieroglyphic language was distinctly called +MERULI, and was the local god of Talmis. It is striking that the name +of Talmis, which is frequently found in this temple, never appears in +the rock-temple of Bet el Ualli, certainly of much older date, which +is situated in its immediate neighbourhood. DENDÛR also had a peculiar +protecting patron, the god PETISI, who never appears anywhere else, and +has also the surname of Peschir Tenthur; Champollion’s sheets are here, +also, in wonderful disorder, since the representations and inscriptions +are erroneously combined. + +The Temples of GERF HUSSÊN and SEBÛA are especially worthy of notice, +because Ramses Sesostris, by whom they were built, appears here both as +a contemplative divinity and worshipping himself as such, with Phtha and +Ammon, the two chief divinities of this temple. In the first, he is even +one time called “Ruler of the Gods.” + +Champollion has already remarked, with justice, that indeed all the +temples of the Ptolemies, and of the Roman emperors in Nubia, were only +restorations of former sanctuaries, which, in more ancient times, had +been erected by the Pharaohs of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, and had +been destroyed by the Persians. Thus also the Temple of PSELCHIS was +first built by Tuthmosis III. Besides the scattered fragments of stone +belonging to this first building, which, however, was not dedicated to +Thoth, as Champollion believes, but to Horus, and thus at a later period +altered its destination; we have found others, likewise, of Sethôs I. +and Menephthes. It also appears that the axis of the first plan was not +parallel with the river, like the later one, but similar to almost all +other temples, its entrance was towards the river. + +At the Temple of KORTE the entrance door alone is inscribed with +hieroglyphics, and those of the worst style. Yet even this small amount +was sufficient to inform us that the sanctuary was dedicated to Isis, who +is named “The Lady of Kerte.” Here also we discovered some blocks that +had been used in later buildings, which had escaped the notice of former +travellers; they belonged to an ancient temple, erected by Tuthmosis +III., and the foundation walls may still be recognised. + +In HIERASYKAMINOS we reaped the last harvest of Greek inscriptions. +As far as this place Greek and Roman travellers were protected by the +garrison of Pselchis, and by another strong position MEHENDI, which +is not given on the maps, but was situated some hours to the south of +Hierasykaminos. PRIMIS seems only to have had a temporary garrison +after the campaign of Petronius. MEHENDI, whose name, indeed, seems +only to designate in Arabic the buildings, the fortress, is the best +preserved Roman camp that I have ever seen. It lies upon a tolerably +steep eminence, and from that commands the river, and a small valley, +which passes upwards from the river, to the south side of the fortress; +the caravan road, also, here branches off into the desert, and does not +redescend to the river till near Medik. The wall of the town encloses a +square, which, towards the east, passes down the hill a short way, and +measures 175 paces from north to south, and 125 from east to west. Four +corner towers, and four central towers, spring up at regular intervals +from the walls; among the last, those lying to the north and south were +also the gates, which, for greater security, did not lead straight into +the town, but with a bend. The southern gate, and all the southern +portion of the fortress, which encompassed about 120 houses, are in +excellent preservation. Immediately behind the gate you enter a straight +street, sixty-seven paces long, which, with but little interruption, +is still completely arched over; several narrow side streets lead off +on both sides, and are also, as well as all the houses of that whole +portion of the town, covered over with arched roofs, made of Nile bricks. +The street leads to a somewhat large open place in the middle of the +town, near to which was situated, upon the highest point of the ridge +of the rock, the largest, and best built house, doubtless that of the +commander, with a semicircular niche at the eastern end. The walls of +the town are built out of unhewn stones; the gate alone, which supports +a well-constructed Roman arch, is built of sharply-cut square stones, +amongst which several built into it, have sculptures of the genuine +Egyptian style, although of late date; a proof that before the erection +of the fortress, there was an Egyptian or Ethiopian sanctuary, probably a +chapel to Isis. We discovered a head of Osiris, and two heads of Isis, in +one of which we could still recognise the red-marked proportion square of +the third canon. + +The last monument that we visited, before our arrival in Korusko, was +the Temple of Ammon in WADI SEBÛA (the Lion Valley), so called from the +row of Sphinxes, which are now scarcely visible above the sea of sand +which has buried nearly the whole temple, as far as it stood out alone. +Even the western portion of the temple, hewn in the rock, is filled up +high with sand, and we were compelled to summon the whole crew of our +boat to open an entrance into this part of it. We here encountered a new +and very peculiar combination of divine and human nature, in a group of +four divinities. The first of which was called “PHTHA OF RAMSES, in the +house of Ammon;” the second, PHTHA, with other customary surnames; the +third, RAMSES, in the house of Ammon; the fourth, HATHOR. In another +inscription, “AMMON OF RAMSES, in the house of Ammon,” was named. It is +difficult to explain this combination.[40] + +I was no less astonished to find a posterity of King Ramses-Miamun in +the outer court of this Temple of Ammon, consisting of a hundred and +sixty-two children, represented with their names and titles, most of +which, indeed, were scarcely legible, as they are very much destroyed; +others are covered with rubbish, and at present could only be estimated +by the distances of the spaces. Hitherto, only twenty-five sons and +ten daughters of this great king were known. He did not take the two +legitimate wives which appear upon the monuments simultaneously, but the +one after the death of the other. To-day we had a visit from the old, +blind, but powerful and rich Hassan Kaschef, of Derr, who formerly was +independent regent of Lower Nubia; he had no less than sixty-four wives, +of whom forty-two still remain; twenty-nine sons and seventeen daughters +are still living. He has, probably, never taken the trouble to reckon +how many of them he has lost, but by the usual proportion here, he must +have had about four times the number of those living, therefore about two +hundred children. + +KORUSKO is an Arabian place, in the centre of the land of the NUBIANS, or +Barâbra (plural of Bérberi), which includes the Nile valley from Assuan +to beyond Dongola. They are an intelligent and honest race; peaceful, but +of a disposition anything but slavish, with well-formed bodies, and a +skin of a light, reddish-brown colour. The occupation of Korusko by the +Arabs of the race of the Ababde, who inhabit the whole of the eastern +desert from Assuan as far as Abu Hammed, is explained by the important +situation of the place, being the commencement of the great caravan +road, which leads direct to the province of Berber, and cuts off the +great-western curvature of the Nile. + +The Arabic tongue—in which we have now learnt, at least to give orders +and to ask questions, indeed, also to carry on a little conversation +of civilities, or on the news of the day—had become so familiar to +our ears in Egypt, that the Nubian language attracted us, even by its +novelty. It is divided, as far as I have been hitherto able to learn, +into a northern and a southern dialect, which meet near Korusko.[41] +The language has a distinct character from the Arabic, even in its +first elements in the system of consonants and vowels. It is much more +euphonous, as it has hardly any accumulation of consonants, no hard +guttural sounds; it has little sibilance, and many simple vowels, +differing more distinctly from one another than in the Arabic, and +generally parted by a consonant, thus again avoiding an effeminate +accumulation of vowels. It has no accordance, either with the Semitic +languages or with the Egyptian, in any part of the grammatical forms, +or the radical words, much less with our own, and therefore surely +belongs to the original African tongue, without any immediate connexion +with the present language of the Ethiopian-Egyptian race, although the +people may have been often comprehended by the ancients under the name +of Ethiopians, and were, perhaps, less strangers to them by descent. +They are not a trading people, and therefore can only reckon up to +twenty in their own language; they borrow the higher decades from the +Arabic language, yet they use a peculiar word for one hundred—_imil_. +The grammatical distinction between the genders exists almost solely +throughout the language in the personal pronouns when they stand +alone; they make a distinction between “he” and “she,” but not between +“he gives” and “she gives.” They conjugate more by additional actual +flexions, as in our languages, than by alteration of accent, and change +of vowel, as in the Semitic. They form the ordinals by the addition of +_iti_; the plural, by _îgi_; they do not possess a dual. The connexion +of the pronouns with the verb is both prefix and affix, but it is simple +and natural; they distinguish between the present and the preterite; they +express the future by a particle; they have also a peculiar form for the +passive voice. The root of the negation is _m_, usually succeeded by an +_n_; perhaps the only agreement more than accidental with the roots of +most other languages. Their original wealth of ideas is very limited. +They have, indeed, peculiar words for the sun, the moon, and the stars; +but they borrow terms from the Arabic for time, year, month, day, and +hour; water, sea, and river, are all _essi_; but it is remarkable that +they designate the Nile by a particular word—_Tossi_. They have peculiar +words for all native animals, tame and wild; Arabic words for everything +connected with house-building, and even navigation; it is only the boat +they themselves call _kub_, which, most likely, has nothing to do with +the Arabic _mérkab_. They have only one word—_béti_ (fenti)—for the +date-fruit and the date-tree, which are expressed by different terms in +Arabic—_bellah_ and _nachele_. The sycamore-tree they call by an Arabic +name: but it is remarkable, that they designate the sont (acacia) tree by +the same word as tree generally—_g’ôui_. Spirit, God, slave, the ideas +of relationship, the different parts of the body, weapons, the produce +of the field, and all that belongs to the preparation of bread, have +Nubian names; on the other hand, servant, friend, enemy, temple, to pray, +believe, read, is Arabic. It is striking that they have special words for +writing, and book; but not for style, ink, paper, letter. They call all +the metals by Arabic names, with the exception of iron. They are _rich_, +in the Berber tongue; _poor_, in Arabic; and, in fact, they are all rich +in their miserable home, which they cling to like the Swiss, and, devoid +of wants, they despise the Arabic gold, which they might earn in Egypt, +where their services are much sought for, as house watchmen, and in all +confidential posts. + +We are now waiting for the arrival of the camels, to commence our desert +journey. Till we reach Abu Hammed, eight days hence, we shall only once +find water fit to drink. We shall travel four days longer on camels, as +far as Berber; there, by the arrangement of Achmed Pascha, we shall find +boats ready for us. We must go to Kartûm, to supply ourselves again with +provisions; if we may believe Linant, to go still higher up as far as +Abu Haras, and thence to Mandera, in the eastern desert, will scarcely +repay us; but Achmed Pascha has promised to send an officer to Mandera, +to test once more the statements of the natives. + +I shall send this report, with other letters, by an express messenger to +Qeneh. + + + + +LETTER XVI. + + + _Korusko, the 5th January, 1844._ + +It is with no small regret that I have to inform you that we shall, +perhaps, be compelled to give up our Ethiopian journey, the second +principal task of our expedition, and return to the north from this spot. +We have waited, in vain, since the 17th November for the camels, always +promised, but never appearing, that were to take us to Berber, and we +have still no more prospect of seeing them than at the beginning. I am +sorry to say that what we heard on our arrival is confirmed; the Arab +tribes, who alone manage the transport, are discontented with Mohammed +Ali’s reduction of the charge from eighty to sixty piastres for each +camel from hence to Berber; they have agreed among each other to send +no more camels here, and no Firman, no promises, no threats, are of any +avail. A great number of chests, with ammunition, destined for Chartûm, +have been lying here these ten months past, and they are unable to convey +them any farther. We had hoped for the assistance of Achmed Pascha +Menekle, the new governor of the Southern Provinces, as he had been most +friendly and unbounded in his promises. The officer, who remained behind +here with the ammunition, received a direct order from him to detain the +first camels that should arrive, for our use; nevertheless, we are not at +all nearer to our object. The Pascha himself had scarcely means to pursue +his journey onward, although he required but few camels. He had brought +some of them with him from the north, and he caused some to be forcibly +driven together here. Notwithstanding this, he was very ill-provided on +his departure, and it is said that half of his beasts either died, or +fell sick in the desert. + +On the 3rd December, as no camels had yet come, though the Pascha must +have passed the province of Berber, from whence he was to send us the +requisite number, I sent our own excellent and trustworthy Kawass, +Ibrahim Aga, with Mohammed Ali’s Firman, across the desert of nine days’ +journey, to Berber. Meanwhile, we went up as far as Wadi Halfa, to the +second Cataract, and visited the numerous monuments which are to be found +in this region, returning here, three weeks afterwards, with a rich +harvest. + +It is now thirty-one days since our Kawass set out on his journey, and +a few days ago I received a letter from the Mudhir of Berber, by which +I learn that he was still unable to furnish me with camels, although, +after the arrival of our Kawass, and the reception of the letter of the +Mudhir in this place, he had immediately despatched soldiers, in order to +collect the necessary number of sixty camels. Thus they are in the same +situation there, as we here; the authorities can do nothing in opposition +to the ill-will of the Arabs. + +Since the sudden death by poison, at Chartûm, of Achmed Pascha, who had +been placed at the head of the whole Sudan, and who, as it is asserted, +has for some time past been engaged in a conspiracy, in order to make +himself independent of Mohammed Ali, the Southern Kingdom has been +divided into five provinces, and placed under five Paschas, who are to +be installed in their several offices by Achmed Pascha Menekle. One of +their number, Emir Pascha, has been hitherto Bey at Chartûm, under Achmed +Pascha, who, it appears, he betrayed. Three others arrived at Korusko +soon after Achmed Pascha Menekle. The most powerful of them, Hassan +Pascha, went to his province of Dongola by water, as far as Wadi Halfa; +he had scarcely any attendants, and wanted but few camels to proceed on +his journey. The second, Mustaffa Pascha, who is destined for Kordofan, +has seized by force a mercantile caravan returning from Berber. However, +by the Arabs’ report, some of the wearied beasts became unserviceable +when they reached the well, which is situated about four days’ journey +in the desert; there he found some merchants, whom he robbed of eight +camels; the rest of this caravan did not make its appearance here, +fearing probably that it would be again detained, it has taken another +route to Egypt. The third Pascha, Ferhât, is still waiting here with us, +and uses all the means in his power to collect some camels from the north +or the south for himself. Hence our last hope has vanished with respect +to this province, as we are less capable than he to arouse the small +force of the authorities; and at this moment we have neither Firman nor +Kawass with us. Every one, and the Paschas more than all, endeavour to +console us in the most friendly manner from day to day; but meanwhile the +winter is passing away, the only season when we can work in the upper +country. In addition to this, the Mudhir, till now of Lower Nubia, with +whom we were on friendly terms, has been complained of by the Nubian +Sheikh of his province to Mohammed Ali, and has just been recalled by +him. This part of the country has, therefore, been temporarily placed +under the Mudhir of Esneh, whose deputy is a young, but otherwise +well-disposed man, not however yet acquainted with the province, so we +must expect still less from him. + +I have, therefore, at length made up my mind for the last course which +remains open to me. I shall, myself, go to Berber with Abeken, and a very +few camels, and leave Erbkam here, with the rest of our party, and all +the baggage. There I shall be better able to see the state of affairs on +the spot, and, by aid of the Firman and the Kawass, whose authority I +am much in want of here, I shall try what can be done. We were received +here, by Achmed Pascha Menekle, with the greatest courtesy, and are +already assured of his most efficient support, through the interposition +of his body-physician, our countryman and personal friend, Dr. Koch. +Perhaps money and threats, even though late in the day, may carry our +point. By mere chance I have myself been able to procure six camels. Two +more are still absolutely necessary for the completion of our little +caravan; but the deputy of the Mudhir, with the best will towards us, +cannot even procure these two camels. We have already been waiting three +days for them, and still do not know whether we shall receive them. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + + + _E’ Dâmer, the 24th January, 1844._ + +Our difficulties, though at a late hour, are terminated. I arrived +here yesterday with Abeken, still two days’ journey from the Pyramids +of Meröe, and probably the whole of our camp also arrived yesterday +at the southern extremity of the Great Desert at Abu Hammed. After my +last discouraging account from Berber, I set out on the 8th January, +about mid-day, with Abeken, the dragoman Jussuf Scherebîeh, a cook, and +our little Nubian boy Auad. We had eight camels, two of them, however, +scarcely in a fit state to make the journey, and two asses. As the +promised guide was not at hand, I compelled the Sheikh of the camels, +Achmed, to accompany us himself, as he might be of service to us, on +account of his reputation among the tribes of the Ababde Arabs dwelling +here. We had besides these, another guide, Adâr, who had been given us +instead of the promised one, and five camel-drivers; and soon after +our departure several other foot-passengers joined our party, besides +two people with asses, who availed themselves of this opportunity to +return to Berber. We took with us ten water-skins, some stores of rice, +macaroni, biscuit, and cold meat, besides a light tent, our coverlets on +which to ride and sleep, the requisite changes of linen, and a few books; +and, in addition, a proper supply of good courage, of which I scarcely +ever feel the want in starting on a journey. Our friends accompanied us +a short way into the rocky valley, which very soon entirely concealed the +neighbouring banks of the river, and its pleasant palm-trees. + +The valley was both wild and monotonous, nothing but sandstone rock, +the surface of which was burnt as black as coal, but in every quarry, +and every hollow, this changed into a brilliant golden yellow; from +these a multitude of streams of sand, like streams of fire out of black +dross, trickled down, and filled the valleys. We were preceded by the +guides; they had simple folds of drapery round their shoulders and hips; +in their hands were either one or two spears, made of firm, but light +wood, provided with iron points and shafts; a round, or lightly carved +shield, with a very prominent boss made of giraffe skin covered their +naked backs; their other shields were oblong in form, and usually made +of hippopotamus skin, or of the dorsal hide of the crocodile. During the +night, and often in the daytime also, they bound sandals under their +feet, the thongs of which, not unfrequently cut out of one piece with +the sole, are drawn between the great toe and the second toe, and then +surround the foot in the manner of a skate. + +Sheikh Achmed was a magnificent man, youthful, but tall and noble in +stature; he had extremely supple limbs, of a brilliant brown-black +colour, his features were very expressive of emotion, a brilliant dark +eye, which had both a gentle and sly look, and his mode of speech was +so incomparably beautiful, with such harmonious expression, that I +liked to have him constantly beside me, although we had a continual +contest with him in Korusko, as he was bound to furnish the camels and +all appurtenances, and on account of circumstances he neither would nor +could procure them. He gave us a proof in the desert of his agility and +the elasticity of his limbs, for taking a long run on the sandy ground, +peculiarly unfavourable for leaping, he made a bound of 14½ feet in +width; I measured the distance between the footmarks with his lance, +which was rather more than two metres long (6 feet 7 inches English). +Adâr, our second guide, alone ventured to make the leap after him, but he +did not nearly reach the same distance. + +The first day we had started early, about eleven o’clock in the morning, +and we rode on till about five; we then stopped for an hour and a +half, and went on again till about half-past twelve. We then pitched +our tents on the hard ground, and laid down to sleep, after a march of +twelve hours. The most refreshing thing, after these hot and fatiguing +days’ journeys, was our tea in the evening; we were, however, obliged +to habituate ourselves to the leathery taste of the water, which we +perceived even through the tea and coffee. The second day we were +fourteen hours on our camels; starting about eight in the morning, we +halted about four o’clock in the afternoon to eat something, proceeded on +our journey about half-past five, and about half-past twelve we struck +our encampment for the night, having left the hills, and about ten +o’clock, with the rising moon, descended into a vast plain. Hitherto we +had not seen a tree, nor a blade of grass, not even a creature, except +some white eagles and ravens, who fed upon the carrion of the camels +which had fallen. On the third day, after setting off early in the +morning, we met a troop of one hundred and fifty camels, which had been +purchased by the Government, to be sent into Egypt. The Pascha is anxious +to import several thousand camels from Berber, that he may thereby, in +some measure, repair the consequences of the cattle-disease of last year. +A great number had already passed through Korusko, without our venturing +to make use of them, as they are the private property of the Pascha; we +could not have mounted them besides, as they had no saddles. + +The guide of the troop, whom we met to-day, brought us at last the long +desired intelligence that our Kawass, Ibrahim Aga, had left Berber with +sixty camels, and was already marching quite close to us, but on another +route, which led across the desert a little more to the west. Sheikh +Achmed was sent after him, that he might bring us three good camels, in +place of our feeble ones; and also to gain some further intelligence +about him. He said that he should overtake us the following night, or +at latest the second. I sent a couple of lines to Erbkam, by the Chabîr +(guide) of the troop. We halted about half-past five, and remained all +night, hoping to see Sheikh Achmed arrive sooner. Towards evening we saw +the first scanty vegetation of the desert; the yellowish-grey dry blades +of grass, which were hardly visible when near, in the distance gave a +pale greenish-yellowish colour to the ground, which alone called my +attention to it. + +We ought to have arrived the fourth day at the well of brackish water, +fit however for the camels to drink; but that we might not hasten on +too quickly before Sheikh Achmed, we terminated our day’s journey as +early as four o’clock, about four hours distant from the well. At +length, about mid-day, we left the great plain BAHR BELA MA (the River +without Water), which unites with the mountain chain of EL BAB, two +days’ journey in length, and which we had entered coming out of Korusko, +and we now approached other chains. Hitherto we had seen nothing but +sandstone rocks, both beneath and around us; it was therefore really +a joyful event, when looking down from my tall camel upon the sand, I +saw the first Plutonic Rock. I immediately glided down from my saddle, +and broke off a fragment; it was a greyish green stone of very fine +grain, and undoubtedly of the nature of granite. The preceding chains of +mountains were also chiefly composed of species of porphyry and granite +of different colours, not unfrequently associated with broad veins of +red syenite, such as appears so abundantly on the surface at Assuan, and +which was so extensively worked by the ancient Egyptians. Farther in the +mountains, quartz was sometimes very prevalent, and the appearance was +very singular when, here and there at different heights, the snow-white +silicious veins appeared on the surface of the black mountains issuing +like a spring from a point in the mountain, and flowing into the valley, +where its white rolled fragments spread out like a lake. I carried away +with me some small specimens of the different kinds of rocks. After we +had passed behind a low mountain defile and a small valley, BAHR ʾHATAB +(the Wood River, on account of the wood, which is said to grow somewhat +farther away on some neighbouring mountains), and another valley, WADI +DELAH, inclining to the northern side of the principal mountain which +succeeds it, we reached the rocky hollow, E’ SUFR, where we expected to +find rain water, and to re-fill our shrunken water-skins (_girbe_, _pl._ +_geràb_). During one month of the year, about May, there is usually some +rain in this high mountain of primitive rock. The huge granite basins +in the hollow valleys are then filled, and retain the water throughout +the entire year. Some vegetation was to be seen on this Plutonic Rock, +resulting from the rain, and because the granite itself seems to contain +more fertilising matter than the barren loose sand, almost wholly +composed of small grains of quartz. In WADI DELAH, which evidently has +water in the rainy season, we came to a long continuous row of Doum +Palms; the circular form of their leaves, and their bushy growth, has a +less bare appearance than the long slender-leaved date palm; the latter +cannot stand the rain, and therefore cannot live in Berber, while the +Doum Palm appears in Upper Egypt for the first time, quite isolated, and +the farther we travel south, we see them in greater numbers, larger in +size, and of more luxuriant growth. If their fruit drop off when unripe +and dry, the small portion of pulp round the stony kernel tastes like a +coating of sugar; if they ripen, the yellowish woody pulp may be chewed; +it has a good taste, and some of their fruit had an aroma almost similar +to the pine-apple. They are sometimes as large as the largest apples. + +About four o’clock we pitched our camp, the camels were sent into the +hollow, situated behind, to the rain water, and Abeken and I got upon +our asses, to accompany them to these natural reservoirs. Riding over +coarse gravel and sharp stones we penetrated deeper and deeper into the +ascending defile; the first large basins were empty, we left our asses +and camels behind, clambered up the smooth granite sides of the rock, +and stepped from one basin to another amidst these huge masses of rock. +All were empty; the guide said there must be water in the fissure which +lay farthest back, that there it was never exhausted; but even in that +spot not a drop was to be found, so we were obliged to return without any +success, as dry as we came. The numerous herds of cattle, which during +the past year had been driven out of the Sudan into Egypt, had consumed +it all. Only three skins of water had remained over for our party, and +we were therefore compelled to find out some means to procure more. +Other cisterns were said to exist higher up in the mountains behind +this defile. I was anxious to climb up the rocks with the guide, but he +considered it too dangerous an undertaking. We turned round, rode back to +the encampment, and with the setting sun, the camels were forced to start +once more in search of water among the hills lying to the north, about +an hour distant from this spot. They returned at a late hour with four +skins full; the water was good, and pleasant to the taste. Sheikh Achmed, +however, did not either return this night, and we now hoped to find him +at the well, whither he might have preceded us by the southern road. + +We started soon after sunrise, on the fifth day, and penetrated deeper +into the great mountain chain of ROFT, which always exhibited the same +rock, at first slaty in texture, then more in the form of blocks, +afterwards abounding in quartz. The heat of the day was more oppressive +in the mountains than in the plains, where the north wind blowing almost +continuously, produces greater coolness. With the exception of the +different kinds of rock, there was little around to attract our notice. +I met with a great ant-hill in the middle of the barren desert, and +I looked at it for a long time; there were smaller and larger bright +black ants, who were carrying all the small pieces of earth which they +were able to lift out of their building, so that the coarser little +stones alone remained, and formed solid walls; the larger ants were +distinguished by their heads being in proportion to their size, twice +as thick as the others, and they did not themselves work, but led the +regiment, and gave a push to each of the smaller ants, who were carrying +nothing, drove them forwards, and kept them more diligently at work. + +The difficulty to converse when riding on the hard-pacing camel is so +much the greater because it is not easy to make them keep the step +beside each other, as with the horse or ass. When upon a good dromedary +(Heggîn), and travelling without, or with but very little baggage, +the creature keeps in a trot. This is an easy pace, and is not very +fatiguing, but it is difficult to get accustomed to the long step of +the ordinary baggage-camel, which throws the high load backwards and +forwards. Yet even this was alleviated by our being sometimes able to +dismount from our camels and get upon our asses, and we often went on +foot for a considerable distance both early in the morning and in the +evening. + +I now return to the fifth day of our desert journey. We started about +eight o’clock in the morning from the little valley of E’ Sufr, where we +had encamped under some gum, or sont-trees, and about half-past twelve, +after turning to our left into a flat valley for the distance of about +half an hour from our road among the hills, we reached the brackish well +in WADI MURHAD. Here we had accomplished about half our desert journey. +We saw some huts built of small stones and reeds, and near them a couple +of starved goats were fruitlessly searching for some pasture; our black +host led us into a reed arbour, where we made ourselves as comfortable as +we could in the shade. + +In this rocky valley we had been struck for some time by the snow-white +crust of Natron, frequently appearing above the sand which makes the +water of the well brackish. Towards the end of the valley, where it +divides into two branches, the water is to be found between five and six +feet beneath the surface, and has been discovered by digging eight wells. +The water in the wells which lie farthest back, is greenish, rather salt, +and has a bad taste, which, however, satisfies the camels; the three in +front, on the contrary, yield clear water, which might very well have +been drank by us in a case of necessity. There is a government station +here, usually inhabited by six persons, but at the present moment four +of them had been sent out on an excursion, and only two remained behind. +From this spot there are two roads to Korusko, a western and an eastern +one. Ibrahim Aga had chosen the former road, we the latter, and we had, +therefore, unfortunately missed each other. Sheikh Achmed was also not to +be found here; probably he had not overtaken our camels before the second +day, and we were compelled to proceed on our journey without him. + +The ABABDE ARABS, with whom we have now everywhere to deal, are an +honest and trustworthy people, from whom we have less to fear than from +the crafty and thievish Fellahs in Egypt. To the north-east of their +territory, the races of the BISCHÂRI are spread over the country, who +have a peculiar language, and are now in bitter enmity with the Ababde +Arabs, because more than two years ago when they had attacked and +murdered some Turkish soldiers in the little valley where we had spent +the night, Hassan Chalif, the superior Sheikh of the Ababdes, to whose +protection the road of communication between Berber and Korusko had been +confided, caused forty of the Bischâris to be put to death. Besides, by +aid of the Ababdes, more than four-and-twenty years ago, Ismael Pascha +succeeded in bringing his army across the desert, and taking possession +of the Sudan. It is only upon the road that we are now pursuing that +guides are maintained by government; there are none on the longer +road, from Berber to Assuan, which is, however, better supplied with +water, though now but little used. About half-past four we rode away +from the well, after we had inspected some _hagr mektub_ (stones with +inscriptions) for which we inquire everywhere, viz., some rocks in the +neighbourhood, on which, in somewhat modern times, a number of horses, +camels, and other creatures have been roughly scratched, similar to what +we had already often seen in Nubia. About half-past nine we halted for +the night, after having quitted the high chain of mountains an hour and +a half previously. On the morning of the sixth day, we crossed the wide +plain MUNDERA, to which another lofty chain, ABU SIHHA, is attached, at +the farther side; the southern frontier of this plain, where it inclines +towards that chain, is called ABDEBAB; the southern portion of the large +chain of Roft laying behind us is called ABU SENEJAT. + +About three o’clock we left the plain behind us, and again entered the +mountain range, which, like the others, is composed of granite. Half an +hour afterwards, we halted for our mid-day’s repose. In a couple of hours +we rode on farther, and encamped towards midnight, after we had traversed +another small plain, and from the stony range ADAR AUÎB which succeeds +it, entered a new plain, comprehended under the same appellation, which +extends as far as the last chain of mountains belonging to this desert of +GEBEL GRAIBÂT. + +On the following day, the seventh of our journey, we started about +half-past seven in the morning, and at length, beyond Gebel Graibât, we +reached the great boundless plain of ADERERÂT, which we did not quit +again till we arrived at ABU HAMMED. To the south-west we now kept in +view the small hill EL FARÛT and the larger range of MOGRAD; to the east, +far distant, another mountain chain, ABU NUGARA, joins that of Adar Auîb. +Then to the south-east there were other Bischâri chains of mountains, +whose names were unknown to our Ababde guides. The commencement of +the great plain of Adererât was covered for whole hours together with +beautiful, pure quartz, sometimes rising up out of the sand in the form +of solid rock, although the predominant kind of rock continued to be +black granite, which towards the south was traversed by a broad vein of +red granite. Early in the day a small caravan of merchants passed us at +some little distance. + +At a very early hour in the day we saw the most beautiful mirages, both +near us and at a distance, exhibiting a very deceptive resemblance +to lakes and rivers, in which the mountains, blocks of stone, and +everything around is reflected, as if in clear water. They form a strange +contrast with the hard arid desert, and, as it is related, must have +often bitterly deceived many a poor wanderer. When we are not aware that +no water can be there, it is often totally impossible to distinguish the +semblance from the reality. Only a few days ago, in the neighbourhood of +EL MECHÊREF, I felt perfectly certain that I saw either Nile water which +had overflowed, or a branch of the river, and I rode up, but only found +BAHR SCHEITAN, “The water of Satan,” as it is called by the Arabs. + +Even though the sand may have obliterated all traces of the caravan road, +it cannot easily be missed during the day, as it is sufficiently marked +by innumerable skeletons of camels, several of which are always in view; +yesterday I counted forty-one, which we passed during the last half hour +before sunset. We did not lose one of our own camels, although they had +not rested long in Korusko, and had had scarcely anything to eat or drink +on the road. My own camel, into whose mouth I had sometimes put a piece +of biscuit, used to look round in the middle of the march when it heard +me biting, or twist round its long neck, till it laid its head, with its +soft large eyes on my lap, to get something more. + +About four o’clock in the afternoon we stopped for about two hours, and +then went on again till about eleven o’clock, when we went in search of +a place for our night’s encampment in the great plain. The wind however +blew so violently that it was impossible to secure our tent. In spite of +the ten iron pegs which fasten it all the way round, it was three times +overthrown, before it was completely pitched; we allowed it therefore to +remain as it was, and laid ourselves down behind a little wall, which the +guide had made out of the saddles of the camels, to protect us from the +wind, and we slept _à la belle étoile_. + +On the eighth day we might have arrived at Abu Hammed late that evening, +but determined to halt for the night, one hour sooner, that we might +reach the Nile by daylight. The birds of prey increased in number as +we approached the river; we frightened away about thirty vultures from +the fresh carcase of a camel, and only the day before I had shot a white +eagle in the desert, as well as some desert partridges, that were in +search of stray grains of Durra[42] on the caravan road. We only saw the +footsteps of beasts of prey, round the skeletons of the camels; they did +not disturb us in the night, as they did in the camp at Korusko, where we +killed a hyæna, besides several jackals. Towards mid-day we met a caravan +of slaves. The last encampment for the night before we reached Abu Hammed +was in a less windy position, yet our supply of charcoal was exhausted, +and our people had forgotten to collect camels’ dung on the road for +fuel; therefore, to appease our thirst, we were obliged to be contented +to drink the last brown water of the skins unboiled. We could give no +more to the asses. + +On the 16th January we mounted our camels about half-past seven in the +morning, and looked forth from our high thrones towards the Nile. It was, +however, only visible a very short time before we reached it. The river +does not cut through any broad valley at this spot, but flows in a bare, +rocky channel, passing almost unperceived through the slightly elevated +and wide rocky plain. On the farther side of the river the ground had +more the character of a plain, and some Doum Palms grew upon an island +that had formed there. Shortly before we reached the bank, we met a troop +of 150 camels, which had just started from Abu Hammed. A great circular +embankment of earth then became visible with some towers upon it like a +fortress, which had been erected by the great Arab Sheikh Hassan Chalif, +for the government stores. A small hollow contains five huts, one made +of stones and earth, another of trunks of trees, two of mats, one of +bus, or durra-straw; a more open space then spread before us surrounded +by several wretched houses, one of which was prepared for our reception. +A brother of Hassan Chalif who lives here came out to meet us; he led +us into the house, and proffered his services. Some anqarebs (reed +bedsteads), which on account of the creeping vermin are much in use here, +were brought within doors, and we settled ourselves for the day, and the +following night, for we were obliged to allow the camels at least so much +time for repose. + +We were surrounded by a great square space, thirty feet wide on every +side, the walls were made of stone and earth, two thick trunks of trees, +branching like a fork, supported a large architrave, above which the +other joists were placed, which were covered and joined together by mats +and wickerwork. It strongly reminded me of some very ancient architecture +which we had seen represented in the rock-grottoes of Benihassan; the +columns, the network of the ceiling, through which as in that instance +the only light except what was admitted by the door entered by a square +opening in the centre, there was no window. The door was composed of +four short trunks of trees, of which the uppermost one was exactly like +the ornamented door-posts in the tombs of the time of the Pyramids. We +hung a canvas curtain before the door to protect us from the wind and +dust; another door led at the opposite corner into a side-room, which +was arranged for the kitchen. It was a windy day, and the wind was +disagreeably charged with sand, so that we went very little out of doors. +But we refreshed ourselves with some pure and fresh Nile water, and a +meal of well-dressed mutton. The Great Desert lay behind us; and we were +only four days’ journey from El Mechêref, the capital of Berber, during +which time we should follow the course of the river. We learned that +Achmed Pascha Menekle was in our neighbourhood, or that he would soon +arrive, in order to lead a military expedition from Dâmer, a short day’s +journey beyond El Mechêref, up the Atbara to the province of TAKA, where +some of the tribes of the Bischâris had revolted. + +When we stepped out of doors the following morning, our Arabs had all +anointed themselves most beautifully, and had put on clean clothes; but +what most astonished us, was the appearance of their magnificent white +powdered wigs, which gave quite a venerable appearance to their faces. +To make their toilet complete, they are in the habit of combing up their +great heads of hair into a high toupie, which is sprinkled over with +fine, flaky, shining, white butter, like powder, expressly prepared for +this purpose. But in a short time, when the sun rises higher, this greasy +snow melts, and the hair seems then as if it was covered with innumerable +pearls of dew, till even these gradually disappear, and dripping over the +neck and shoulders, spread a gloss over the pliant dark brown skin, which +gives their well-built figures the appearance of antique bronze statues. + +We started the next morning, about eight o’clock, with a fresh camel, +which we had had an opportunity of obtaining in exchange for a tired +one. The nearer we approach the island of Meröe, the valley becomes so +much the wider, and more fertile, and the desert even becomes more like +a steppe. The first station was GEG, where we passed the night in an +open space of ground; the air is very warm; about half-past five in the +afternoon it was still 25° R. (87° Fahr.). The second night we halted +beyond ABU HASCHIN, close to a village, which in fact is not really a +station, as we were anxious to get through the five ordinary stations in +the space of four days; the third night we halted in the open air, near +a cataract of the Nile. On the fourth day from Abu Hammed we removed +somewhat farther from the river into the desert, yet we always remained +on the soil of the ancient valley, if I may so designate a yellowish +earth which is now no longer overflowed by the river, but which was +turned up by the inhabitants of the village directly from beneath the +sand; that they might improve their fields with it. We stopped in the +evening at the village of EL CHÔR, one hour distant from El Mechêref, and +the fifth day we arrived at an early hour at the capital of the province +of Berber. + +I sent the dragoman forward to announce our arrival, and to ask for +a house, which was given up to us, and we took possession of it +immediately. The Mudhir of Berber was in Dâmer, but his Wakil, or +representative, visited us, and soon after Hassan Chalif, the principal +Arab Sheikh, who promised us better camels to take us to Dâmer; he was +rejoiced to hear some tidings of his and our friends, Linant and Bonomi, +and was much pleased in looking over our picture books, among which he +found likenesses of some of his own relations and ancestors. We had +scarcely arrived, before we received news that Hassan Pascha had arrived +at the same time as ourselves, from a different quarter. He had travelled +from Korusko to his province of Dongola, and now came from Edabbe, on the +southern frontier of Dongola, right across the desert to El Mechêref, +whither Emin, the new Pascha of Chartûm, had gone to meet him. This +meeting caused us some inconvenience with respect to the arrangements of +our journey; nevertheless, we so far advanced our object, that on the +following morning, the 22nd of January, soon after Hassan Pascha had +again set out on his journey, we were also enabled to depart for the +south, leaving two camels behind, which we did not require any longer as +water-carriers, and exchanging three others for better ones. + +We rode away about mid-day, and stopped in the evening at the last +village before reaching the river Mogrân, the ancient ASTABORAS, which we +had to cross before getting to DÂMER. It is called on the maps ATBARA, +which is evidently derived from Astaboras; yet this name does not appear +now to be used for the lower, but for the upper river, beginning from +the place of the same name. On the following morning we crossed the +river close to its mouth. Even at this point it was now very narrow +in its great bed, which in the rainy season is entirely filled, and +two months hence it is only prevented from being wholly dried up by a +little stagnant water. On the farther side of the river we entered the +(Strabonic) island of MERÖE, by which appellation the land between the +Nile and the Astaboras was designated. Two hours more and we arrived at +Dâmer. + +The houses were too wretched to receive us. I despatched Jussuf to Emin +Pascha, in whose province we now are, and who has encamped in tents with +Hassan Pascha on the bank of the river. He sent a Kawass to meet us, and +invited us to dismount and to dine with them. I however preferred to have +our tent pitched at some little distance, and first of all to change our +travelling costume. The Mudhir of Berber immediately visited us to ask +what we might require, and soon after Emin Pascha sent a sumptuous dinner +for us to our tent: four well cooked dishes, and, besides, a whole sheep +stuffed with rice and roasted on the spit, with a flat cake of puff paste +stuffed with meat. + +About three o’clock in the afternoon, about the time of Asser, we +announced that we were going to pay our visit; just as we were making +our arrangements to set out we heard some sailors’ songs, and saw two +boats with red flags, and the crescent, floating down the river; it was +Achmed Pascha Menekle, who was returning from Chartûm. The Paschas and +the Mudhir immediately repaired to his boat, and it was late before +they separated; our friend, Dr. Koch, unfortunately, was not expected +to arrive from Chartûm for two days later. I had received a letter from +Erbkam very soon after our arrival, in which he announced to me, through +a passing Kawass, that he had left Korusko on the 15th January with +Ibrahim Aga; he wrote from their first night’s encampment. The Kawass +had ridden with incredible speed in fourteen days from Cairo to Berber, +and he brought Achmed Pascha the permission which had been earnestly +requested, to raise the government charge for the camels between Korusko +and Berber from sixty to ninety piastres above what it was before. + +_26th January._—The day before yesterday we paid an early visit to Achmed +Pascha, which he returned yesterday. He will do all in his power to +accelerate our journey onwards. He communicated to us that, as he had +before promised, he had sent an officer from Abu Haras to Mandera, three +days into the desert, and had heard it reported by him that some great +ruins were still extant on that spot. A letter from Chartûm, which we +received yesterday from Dr. Koch, mentioned the same thing, and it was +verbally confirmed by himself this morning. After dinner he is going to +introduce us to Mûsa Bey, who has been on the spot. At the same time he +informed us that he had received some letters addressed to us, and that +they were left in Chartûm; also that the draughtsman who had been engaged +from Rome had arrived in Cairo. + +A boat is ready in El Mechêref for our travelling companions. I myself, +however, intend to ride on before with Abeken. Achmed Pascha has sent me +word that in an hour’s time a courier departs for Cairo, who will take +this letter with him. + +_Postscript._—The glowing accounts about Mandera, upon closer inquiry, +seem to want confirmation. It will hardly be worth our while to go there. + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + + + _On the Blue River, Province of Sennâr, Lat. 13°, 2nd March, 1844._ + +To-day we reach the most southern limit of our African journey. To-morrow +we again turn towards the north and homewards. We shall go as far as +the neighbourhood of SERO—a place on the boundary between the provinces +of Sennâr and Fasokl, for our time will not allow us to do more. From +Chartûm I have ascended the river as far as this spot, with Abeken alone. +We relinquished the desert journey to Mandera, the rather as the eastern +territories are at present insecure from the war in Taka; and we now +employ the time, in travelling several days farther across Sennâr, to +gain some information about the character of the river and the adjacent +country. This journey is worth the trouble, for, from Abu Haras, situated +at the influx of the Rahad, between Chartûm and Sennâr, the character of +the whole country is completely altered in its soil, vegetation, and +animals. I then thought I should like to obtain a view of the Nile valley +itself, as far up the river as possible, as the character of this narrow +strip of country has had a greater influence on the course of history +than any other spot in the whole world. + +It is impossible, without incurring danger, or making peculiar +preparations, to travel up the White River beyond a few days’ journey, +as far as the boundaries of Mohamed Ali’s conquests. After this, there +are the SCHILLUKS on the western bank, the DINKAS on the eastern, both +native negro nations, who are not very friendly to Northern guests. +The Blue River is navigable still farther up, and in historical times, +as well as at the present day, was of much greater importance than the +White River, as it was the means of communication between the North, and +Abyssinia. I should have liked to have penetrated as far as the province +of Fasokl, the last under Egyptian rule; but it cannot be combined with +the calculation of our time. This evening, therefore, we shall terminate +our southern journey. + +But I must go back in my reports to Dâmer, where, on the 27th January, +I embarked with Abeken upon a boat belonging to Mûsa Bey, the first +adjutant of Achmed Pascha, who politely placed it at our disposal. About +eight o’clock in the evening we halted for the night at the island of +DAL HAUI. We had received a Kawass from Emin Pascha, who came here with +Ismael Pascha at the time of the conquest of the country, went with +Defterdar Bey to Kordofan (or, as he expresses it, Kordifal), then +accompanied him on his avenging march to Schendi, in consequence of the +murder of Ismael, and since that time has, for three-and-twenty years, +roamed over the whole of the Sudan in all directions. He carries in his +head the most complete map of these countries, and has a marvellous +memory for names, directions, and distances; so that I have drawn two +maps according to his statements, particular parts of which may not be +without geographical interest. He has also been in Mecca, and therefore +likes to be called Haggi Ibrahim (The Pilgrim Ibrahim). He has great +experience in other matters also, and will be extremely useful to us from +his long and extensive knowledge of the country. + +On the 28th January we halted about mid-day at an island called GOMRA, +as we heard that there were some ruins in the vicinity which we were +anxious to see. We were obliged to go through a shallow arm of the Nile, +and to ride back an hour northwards on the eastern bank. At length, after +passing the villages of Motmar and El Akarid, between a third village, +SAGADI, and a fourth, GENNA, we found the insignificant ruins of an +ancient place, constructed of bricks and strewed over with potsherds. + +We returned in the mid-day heat, not in the very best humour, and did not +reach BEG´ERAUÎEH in our boat before sunset, near which the Pyramids of +Meröe are situated. It is singular that Cailliaud does not mention this +spot; he only speaks of the Pyramids of ASSUR, _i. e._ SÛR, or E’ SÛR. +This is the name of the whole plain in which the ruins of the town and +Pyramids are situated, and also a single portion of Beg´erauîeh, which +last, by wrong spelling, is called, in Hoskins, BEGROMI. + +Although it was already dark, I nevertheless rode to the Pyramids with +Abeken. They are situated a short hour inland, on the first elevation +of the low hills which run along in an easterly direction. The moon, +which was in its first quarter, feebly illuminated the plain, covered +with stones, low bushes, and clumps of reeds. After a rapid ride, we at +length reached the foot of a row of Pyramids, closely crowded together, +which rose before us in a crescent, as the form of the narrow elevation +rendered necessary. To the right, a little behind, another group of +Pyramids joined these; a third lies more to the south, and rather more +forward in the plain, but too distant to be seen by half moonlight. I +fastened the bridle of my donkey-steed to a block of stone, and clambered +up the first mound of ruins. + +Although the individual Pyramids are not accurately placed according to +the quarters of the heavens, as they are in Egypt, nevertheless all the +ante-chambers here attached to the Pyramids themselves are turned away +from the river, towards the east, doubtless on the same religious grounds +which induced the Egyptians to place the unattached temples standing in +front of their Pyramids also towards the east; therefore, in Gizeh and +Sagâra, towards the river, while their sepulchral chambers are towards +the west. + +Half looking, half feeling, I found some sculptures on the outer +walls of the small sepulchral temple, and I also felt figures and +writing on the inner walls. It occurred to me that I had the end of a +candle in my saddle-pocket; I lighted this, and then examined several +ante-chambers. There I immediately encountered the Egyptian gods, Osiris, +Isis, Nephthys, Atmu, &c., with their names in the known hieroglyphic +character. I also found the name of a king in the first chamber. One +of the two Rings contained the emblems of a great Pharaoh of the Old +Monarchy, Sesurtesen I., the same which had been adopted by two later +Egyptian monarchs, and I here found them, for the fourth time, as the +Throne-Name of an Ethiopian king. The sculptures on the remaining +sides were not completed. I found some Royal Shields this evening also +in another ante-chamber, but not very legible. The inscriptions and +representations had altogether been much damaged. The Pyramids have also +all of them lost their summits, as in Egypt, and many have been destroyed +down to the ground. + +Our new Kawass, who did not like to leave us alone in the night time, had +immediately followed us. He had a perfect knowledge of the locality, as +he had been here a long time with FERLINI, and had assisted him in his +researches among the Pyramids. He showed us the spot in which Ferlini, in +1834, had found immured the rich treasure of gold and silver rings. + +I also discovered, the same evening, a cased Pyramid, according to the +principle of the Egyptian Pyramids, which were afterwards enlarged +by superimposed layers of stone. According to the inscriptions and +representations of the ante-chambers, these Pyramids were most of them +built solely for kings, some of them, perhaps, for their wives and +children. Therefore, their great number indicates a tolerably long +succession of kings, and a well-established Monarchy, which probably must +have remained in a state of tranquillity for a series of centuries. + +The event of most importance in this moon and torchlight survey, was not, +however, exactly the most cheering. I was unavoidably convinced that on +this most renowned spot of ancient Ethiopia, I had nothing before me but +the remains, proportionately speaking, of a very late period of art. +Even earlier than this, the drawings of Ferlini’s monuments, which I saw +for the first time in Rome, and the monuments themselves, which I had +just seen in London, impressed me with the opinion that they had been, +indeed, sculptured in Ethiopia, but certainly not previous to the first +century before the birth of Christ, therefore about the same period to +which certain genuine Greek and Roman works belong, which were discovered +simultaneously with the Ethiopian treasure. I must now make the same +remark upon the monuments in general, which are found not only here but +throughout the whole island of Meröe, as well as of all the Pyramids at +Beg´erauîeh, and of the temples of Ben Naga, of Naga, and in the Wadi e’ +Sofra (the Mesaurât of Cailliaud), which we have since then seen. The +representations and inscriptions do not leave the smallest doubt of this, +and it will in future be a fruitless task to endeavour to support the +favourite supposition of an ancient, brilliant, and renowned Meröe, whose +inhabitants were at one time the predecessors and the instructors of the +Egyptians in civilisation, by the demonstration of monumental remains +from that old period. + +This conviction is besides of no small scientific value, and seems even +now to throw some light on the historical connection between Egypt and +Ethiopia, the importance of which can be only thoroughly demonstrated by +the monuments of Barkal. There, I have no doubt, will be found the oldest +Ethiopian monuments, although, perhaps, not earlier than the period +of Tahraka, who reigned simultaneously over Egypt and Ethiopia in the +seventh century before Christ. + +The next morning at sunrise we rode back to the Pyramids, and discovered +fifteen different kings’ names, some of them, however, in very bad +preservation. + +We had just completed our survey of the two groups of Pyramids lying +to the north-east, and were riding on to the third, which is situated +in the plain, not far from the ruins of the town, and is, perhaps, the +oldest Necropolis, when we heard shots from the bank, and saw white sails +fluttering over the river. Soon afterwards Erbkam, the two Weidenbachs, +and Franke, came walking across the plain, and hailed us from a great +distance. We had not expected them to arrive so soon, and, therefore, +rejoiced still more to see them again. We could now pursue our journey to +Chartûm together. + +We sailed away about two in the afternoon, and the next morning about +ten o’clock reached SCHENDI. We proceeded in the afternoon, spent the +night on the island of HOBI, and the following morning arrived at BEN +NAGA. Here, we first visited the ruins of two small temples; the one +lying towards the west, had Typhonic pillars, instead of columns, but no +inscription was to be found on the few remains; in the other temple to +the east, some sculptures were preserved on the low remains of the walls +of the temple; and also some writing on several circular fragments of +columns, but too little to take away any connected ideas from them. Had +we made some excavations, we might probably have discovered some kings’ +names, but it was impossible to make such an experiment till our return. + +We procured some camels for the following day, and about nine o’clock in +the morning I started with Abeken, Erbkam, and Max Weidenbach, for NAGA. +Such is the name given to the ruins of a town and several temples, which +are situated in the eastern desert, between seven and eight hours distant +from the Nile. From our landing-place in the vicinity of the only group +of palm-trees in the surrounding country, it was only one half hour to +the village of BEN NAGA, which is in WADI TERESIB. One hour eastward +down the river (for it here flows in a direction from west to east) are +the above-mentioned ruins, in WADI EL KIRBEGÂN, near to which we had +disembarked the previous day; we left them now on our left hand, and rode +in a south-easterly direction into the desert, having here and there some +parched bushes; we traversed the valley of El Kirbegân, which, as far as +this point, runs outwards from the river, in which we found an encampment +of the Ababde Arabs. + +Four hours and a half from Ben Naga we came to a single hill in the +desert called BUÊRIB. It was on the water-shed between the smaller +south-western Wadis (so even the flattest depressions of the ground are +called, in which the water runs off, and which we should scarcely call +valleys) and the great, broad WADI AUATÊB, which we were now descending, +after having left Buêrib at a short distance on our left. In three hours +and three-quarters from Buêrib we arrived at the ruins of NAGA. + +It was not till we approached the temple that I solved the enigma, +which I had hitherto sought in vain to interpret, and on which neither +Cailliaud nor Hoskins could offer any explanation; namely, how had it +been possible to found and to maintain a large city in the midst of the +desert, so far removed from the river. The whole valley of Auatêb is even +now cultivated land. We found it far and wide covered with the stubble +of Durra. The inhabitants of Schendi, Ben Naga, Fadniê, Selama, Metamme, +consequently of both banks of the Nile, come as far as this to cultivate +the land and to gather in the Durra. The water of the tropical rains +suffices to fertilise this flat but extensive tract of low ground, and +in ancient times, when more care was bestowed upon it, a still greater +profit must have been derived from this region. During the dry season of +the year they must undoubtedly have had large artificial reservoirs, such +as we found even now, though without water, near the more remote ruins to +the north-west of Naga. + +The ruins stand on a projection of a mountain range several hours long, +which from them has taken the name of GEBEL E’ NAGA, and stretches out +from the south, northwards. WADI AUATÊB passes along its western side +towards the river. We arrived about half-past five o’clock, after an +uninterrupted ride. On the road we saw the path covered with the marks of +gazelles, wild asses, foxes, jackals, ostriches. Lions are also met with +here, but we did not see any of their tracks. + +I visited the three principal temples before nightfall, all of which +belong to a very late period, and do not suggest the ideas of very +ancient art, as Cailliaud and Hoskins thought they could recognise. There +is, besides, a fourth temple by the side of the three principal temples, +of Egyptian architecture, whose well-joined arches, not unpleasantly +combined with Egyptian ornaments, not only presupposes them to have been +erected when the Roman dominion extended over the world, but even that +Roman architects were on the spot. This last temple has no inscriptions. +With respect to the three others, the two lying to the south were built +by one and the same king; in the representations in both temples he is +accompanied by the same queen. But a third royal personage appears behind +them having a different name in the two temples. The Throne-Shield of +Sesurtesen I. is again attached to the name of the king, although he does +not appear to be the same as the King of the Pyramids of Sûr. Besides, +both those other personages have assumed old Egyptian Throne-Shields, +which might easily mislead us. + +The third most northern temple has sustained much injury, and very little +writing remains upon it, yet a king is mentioned on the door-posts who +differs from the builder of both the other temples. + +The figures of the gods are almost wholly Egyptian, but on the southern +temple there is a figure unknown in Egypt, with three lions’ heads (a +fourth may perhaps be supposed behind) and four arms. This may be the +barbaric god specially mentioned by Strabo, whom the Meröites worshipped +besides Hercules, Pan, and Isis. + +The next morning, the 2nd of February, we again visited the three +temples, took some impressions on paper, and then started for the third +group of monuments, named by Cailliaud MESAURÂT. This, however, is a term +which is here employed to designate all the three groups of ruins, and +which only means _pictures_, or walls furnished with pictures. The ruins +of Ben Naga are called MESAURÂT EL KIRBEGÂN, because they are situated in +WADI EL KIRBEGÂN; it appears that the second group only has retained its +old name of NAGA, or MESAURÂT E’ NAGA; the third group situated towards +Schendi is called MESAURÂT E’ SOFRA from the mountain basin in which it +lies, which is called E’ SOFRA, the table. + +We first pursued, for the space of two hours, in a northerly direction +the mountain chain of Gebel e’ Naga, in the valley of Auatêb. Then, about +half-past twelve, we ascended through the first defile which opens to +the right, into a valley situated somewhat higher, E’ SELEHA; it becomes +broader behind the first low fore-range, and is luxuriantly overgrown +with grass and shrubs; after extending for an hour and a quarter in the +direction of S.S.W. to N.N.E., it opens on the left hand into the valley +of Auatêb, and straight on into another smaller valley, from which it +is separated by Gebel Lagâr. It is this small valley, which from its +circular form is called E’ SOFRA; here are the ruins which were also seen +by Hoskins, who did not, however, advance as far as Naga. We arrived +about a quarter past two, and had not, therefore, been quite four hours +coming from Naga to this spot. As we only wished to take a passing hasty +survey, we walked through the widely-scattered ruins of the principal +building, which Cailliaud held to be a great school, and Hoskins an +hospital; and we saw in the few sculptures, which are unaccompanied by +inscriptions, that here also we had before us monuments of a late period, +probably still more recent than those in Sûr and Naga. We then went to a +small temple in the neighbourhood, with pillars on which are represented +riders upon elephants, lions, and other strange barbarous scenes. We +looked at the huge artificial cisterns, now called Wot Mahemût, which in +the dry season must have compensated the inhabitants for the want of the +river; and about four o’clock we returned to Ben Naga. + +As we emerged from the hills, we met great troops of wild asses, which +always kept at a little distance from us, as if they would invite us to +hunt them. They are of a grey or greyish-red colour, with white bellies; +they all have a black stripe drawn distinctly across the back, and the +tip of the tail is also generally black. Many of them are caught when +young, but they cannot then even be used for riding or carrying burdens. +It is only the next generation which can be employed in that manner. +Almost all the tame asses in the south, which come from the Ass Cataract +(Schellâl homâr) in Berber, are got from this wild breed, and have the +same colour and similar marks. + +We encamped soon after sunset in a plain, overgrown with bushes. The +camel-drivers and our Kawass were in great terror of lions in this desert +till a large fire was kindled, which they kept most carefully alive +throughout the night. If a lion only lets his voice be heard near a +caravan, which really does sound deep and awful across the wide desert, +all the camels run away on every side as if they were mad, and it is +difficult to catch them again, frequently not before they have sustained +and done much injury. Human beings are not, however, easily attacked. A +few days ago a camel was strangled by a lion in our neighbourhood, but on +the farther side of the river. A man who was present saved himself on the +nearest tree. + +On the 3rd of February we again set out about seven in the morning; +we left the two Buêribs, the great “blue” and the little “red,” at a +considerable distance on our left hand, and shortly before nine o’clock +arrived in the valley of El Kirbegân, which we followed for half an hour +in the direction of the river. We saw the Mesaurât el Kirbegân in its +whole extent on our right, but kept upon the hills till a little after +eleven, when we arrived at Ben Naga, and half an hour afterwards once +more at our landing-place. + +Two hours afterwards we continued our journey in our boat. We made, +however, little progress with a strong adverse wind, and saw nothing new, +except for the first time a hippopotamus swimming in the water. The next +morning we disembarked on the western bank, opposite the village of GÔS +BASABIR, to see the ruins of the walls of an old fortress, with towers of +defence, which surrounded the summit of a hill. The space enclosed was +about 300 paces in diameter. In the afternoon we approached the Schellâl +(the Cataract) of GERASCHAB, the higher mountain ranges lying before +us, closed in upon each other, and at length formed a mountain hollow, +seemingly without any outlet; this was, however, to our surprise, near at +hand, for we turned to our left into a narrow defile, which widened into +a high and wild rocky valley; we followed it for nearly an hour before +again emerging on the other side into another plain. The eruptive granite +ranges of QIRRE pass on the eastern side of the river into RAUIÂN, “the +thirsty quenched;” while to the west, some distance from the river, there +is ATSCHAN “the thirsty,” also rising up in a detached form. + +The 5th February we landed about eleven in the morning at TAMANIÂT. +Mohammed Saïd, the former treasurer of the late Achmed Pascha, whose +acquaintance we had made in Dâmer, had given us a letter to one of the +sub-officials there, which contained instructions to him to deliver +to us the fragment of an inscription which had been found in Soba. It +belonged to the centre of a marble table, which was inscribed on both +sides with Greek or Coptic letters of a late period. The signs, which +were not difficult to read, neither contained Greek nor Coptic words; +only the name ⲅⲉⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟ.. could be deciphered. The same evening we arrived +in CHARTÛM. This name signifies an elephant’s trunk, and probably was +derived from the form of the narrow tongue of land on which the town is +situated, between the two Nile rivers which unite at this spot. + +My first visit with Abeken was to Emin Pascha, who had reached Chartûm +before us. He received us in a very friendly manner, and would not allow +us to leave him the whole morning. + +A magnificent breakfast, consisting of thirty dishes, which we partook +of at his house, gave us a most curious insight into the secrets of +the Turkish culinary art; as I learned from our highly-fed Pascha, it +resembles the most accomplished systems of the latest French kitchens, in +obeying the refined regulations of a fastidious taste in the preparation +and arrangement of food. Soon after the first dishes, mutton, roasted on +the spit, is brought in, which cannot be dispensed with at any Turkish +meal. Then follow various courses of dishes of meats and vegetables, +solid and liquid, sour and sweet, and a certain repetition of changes is +observed in the successive dishes, in order to keep up the keenness of +the appetite. Pillau, boiled rice, always forms the conclusion. + +The external preparations for such an entertainment are somewhat as +follows. A great, round, metal tray, with a flat border, about three +feet in diameter, is placed on a low frame, and serves as a table, round +which five or six persons seat themselves on cushions or coverlets; the +legs vanish beneath the body, in the ample folds of the dress; as to the +hands, the left must be invisible, it would be quite improper to let it +ever be seen during meals. The right hand must alone be active. No such +thing as a plate is to be seen, no more than knives and forks. The table +is covered with deeper or shallower, covered or uncovered dishes, which +are constantly changed, so that but a very few morsels can be taken from +each. Particular dishes, however, such as roast meat, cold milk with +cucumbers, &c., remain longer on the table, and one returns to them more +frequently. Both before and after dinner, the hands are of course washed. +A servant, or slave, kneeling, holds in one hand a metal basin, in the +middle of which lies a piece of soap, in a little projecting saucer, +expressly used for the purpose; with the other he pours water from a +metal pitcher over the hands, and a fine, ornamentally embroidered towel +hangs over his arm for drying them. + +After dinner the pipe is immediately presented, coffee handed round, +and then one may retire. The Turks are in the habit of making this the +period of their mid-day repose, till Asser. But before we parted from our +host, a number of weapons were brought, belonging to the savage nations +living farther up the country, lances, bows, arrows, clubs, and a king’s +sceptre, which he sent to the boat for me, as a present to his guest. + +We afterwards visited our countryman, NEUBAUER, the apothecary of +the province, who has been very unfortunate: a short time since, he +was removed from his post by the late Achmed Pascha; but he has now +been again appointed apothecary by Achmed Pascha Menekle, through +the intercession of Dr. Koch. We then went to a Pole who has settled +here—Hermanovich, the head-physician of the province, who, in consequence +of an order from the Pascha, offered us his house, to which we went the +following day; it had lately been newly fitted up; there was a garden +beside it, and a great court-yard, which was very useful for unpacking +and repairing our chests and tents. + +The next day the Pascha returned our visit. He came on horseback. We +handed him coffee, pipes, sherbet, and showed him some drawings and +pictures from Egypt, in which he was interested merely from curiosity. +He is a large, corpulent man, a Circassian by birth, and therefore, like +most of his countrymen, better informed than the Turks in general. I saw +a rich collection of all kinds of birds of the Sudan, at the house of a +Syrian, IBRAHIM CHÊR; there were about 300 different species, and between +twenty and thirty choice specimens of each. + +On one of the following days, I took a walk with Abeken and Erbkam to +the opposite bank of our tongue of land on the WHITE RIVER, which we +then followed up to its junction with the Blue; its waters are in fact +whiter, and have a less pleasant taste than those of the Blue, because at +a higher point it flows slowly through several lakes, the standing water +of which imparts an earthy and less pure taste to it. I have filled some +bottles with the water of the Blue, and White Rivers, which I shall take +away with me sealed up. + +On the occasion of a more recent and friendly visit of the Pascha, we met +the brother of the former Sultan of Kordofan (who was himself also called +Mak or Melek) and the Vizier of the Sultan NIMR (Tiger) of Schendi. The +latter still lives in Abyssinia, whither he fled, after having, in the +year 1822, burned the conqueror of his country, ISMAEL PASCHA, a son of +Mohammed Ali, and all his officers, after a nocturnal banquet which he +had prepared for him in a somewhat lonely house. + +On the 14th, we made an excursion up the WHITE RIVER, but were soon +obliged to turn back, because it has so little current, that, on account +of the north wind which of late has constantly been blowing, our return +threatened to be tedious. The banks of the White River are barren, and +the few trees which formerly stood in the neighbourhood of Chartûm are +now cut down, and have been used for building or fuel. There is a larger +mass of water in the White River than in the Blue, and even after its +junction it preserves its course, so that the Blue River must be viewed +as the secondary river, but the White as the true Nile. Their different +waters can be distinguished beside each other for a long time after their +junction. + +On the 16th February, I sent for some DINKA slaves, to interrogate them +about their language. They were, however, so dull of apprehension, that I +could only with difficulty get out of them the words for numbers up to a +hundred, and a few separate pronouns. The languages of the Dinkas and the +Schilluks, who dwell several days’ journey distant up the White River, +the former on the eastern bank, the latter on the western, are as little +known grammatically as most of the other languages of Central Africa; I +therefore requested the Pascha to procure me some intelligent persons who +were well acquainted with those languages. This was impossible for the +present, but we shall attend to it on our return. + +Meanwhile our purchases and repairs being completed, I hurried on the +departure as much as possible. The house of Hermanovich will also be +at our disposal on our return; it is built in a convenient manner, and +is very airy. I had a prospect of the oldest house in the town from my +window, whose pointed straw roof peeped over our wall. These pointed +straw huts, called TUKELE, are the characteristic buildings of this +country, and are found almost exclusively in the south. But as Chartûm +is a new town, the small number of old huts have disappeared, with the +exception of this one, and all the houses are built of unburnt bricks. + +About mid-day, on the 17th February, we embarked on board our boats. +I sailed to the south with Abeken up the Blue River, partly to become +acquainted with its natural character, partly to view the ruins of Soba +and Mandera; our other travelling companions, who had nothing to occupy +them farther up, sailed northwards back to Meröe, in order to sketch the +monuments there. + +The following day we landed on the eastern bank, where great heaps of red +bricks, destined for exportation, proclaimed the vicinity of the ruins +of SOBA. At the present day, unburnt bricks alone are made throughout +the country, therefore all the ruins of burnt stones must have belonged +to an earlier period. This material for building is transported in great +quantities from Soba as far as Chartûm, and beyond it. + +We disembarked, and had scarcely got beyond the thorny bushes nearest to +the bank, when we perceived the overturned mounds of bricks, covering a +large plain, possibly an hour in circumference. Some larger heaps might +be the remains of the Christian churches which are described by Selîm of +Assuan (in Macrizi), in the tenth century, as magnificently decorated +with gold, when Soba was still the capital of the kingdom of ALOA. We +were shown the spot where some time ago a stone lion is said to have been +discovered, which is now in the possession of Churshid Pascha, in Cairo. +Nowhere could walls, nor the form of buildings, be recognised; it was +only on the mound to the south, at a little distance off, that we found +some hewn yellow blocks of sandstone, and a low wall; on another heap lay +several rough slabs of a black slaty stone. + +The country round Soba, like this, is flat both far and wide to the base +of the hills in front of the Abyssinian range, and the ground, especially +at this season, is arid and black; the denser vegetation is confined to +the bank of the river; farther off there are nothing but single trees, +now in greater, now in fewer numbers. + +I promised the sailors a sheep, on condition that we should reach +KAMLÎN betimes, for there was a strong wind, which made us very slow +in our progress; our boat, besides, is not a fast one, the sailors are +inexperienced, and from the low state of the water, the boat easily +sticks fast in the sand; we sailed on almost the whole night through, and +reached Kamlîn about eight in the morning. + +The ancient place of the same name lies one half-hour farther up the +river, and is composed of a few huts. The houses near which we landed +belong to a number of factories, which Nureddin Effendi, a Coptic +Catholic Egyptian, who went over to Islam, established, in common with +the late Achmed Pascha, more than four years ago, and which yield a +rich profit. A simple, homely German, who has never given way to the +bad customs of the East, born in the neighbourhood of Würzburg, by name +Bauer, has established a Soap and Brandy Manufactory, of which he takes +the management himself. A Sugar and Indigo Factory is conducted by an +Arab. Bauer has settled farther to the south than any European we have +ever met with in Mohammed Ali’s dominions, and we were rejoiced to find +such a good termination to the long but not very agreeable chain of +Europeans, most of them degenerated in civilisation, who have preferred +the Turkish government to that of their Fatherland.[43] + +He has an old German housekeeper with him, Ursula, a comical, +good-natured soul, to whom it was no less a holiday to receive German +guests again, than it was to himself. With joyful alacrity she rummaged +out some European utensils, and the only fork that was still in +preservation, and served up fried chickens, saurkraut, and some small +sausages, with excellent wheaten bread; at last actually a cherry cake, +of baked European cherries (for our fruits do not grow in Egypt), in +short, a home repast such as we never expected to see in this Ultima +Thule. + +On a pedestal in front of Bauer’s house we found the most southern +Egyptian sculpture which we have met with: a sitting statue of OSIRIS, +with the usual attributes, carved out of black granite; a portion of it +is mutilated, and it is of a late style, about 2½ feet high; it had been +found in SOBA, and is not devoid of interest, being the only monument of +Egyptian art from this town. + +The European arrangement of Bauer’s rooms made a strange impression +on us, here in the midst of the black population in the south. A +wooden Black Forest house-clock, with weights, beat in regular time; +some half-broken European chairs stood round the fixed table, a small +book-shelf was placed behind it, with a selection of the German classics +and historical works; in the corner the Turkish divan, which could not be +dispensed with even here. Above the great table, and beside the canopied +bed in the opposite corner, hung bell-pulls, which communicated with +the kitchen. An inquisitive Nesnas ape looked in at the grated window +next the door; and across the little court-yard we saw the busy Ursula, +in a crimson-flowered gown, tripping hither and thither among little +naked black slave-boys and girls, ordering them to do this and that with +a somewhat scolding voice, and peeping into the steaming-pots in the +adjoining kitchen. We saw nothing of her the whole morning; not even +during the excellent and savoury repast which she had prepared for us; +it was only after dinner that she presented herself, with many curtseys, +to receive our commendations. She lamented over the insufficiency of her +cooking apparatus, and vehemently reproached Herr Bauer because he had +no intentions of leaving this detestable, dirty, hot country, although +he had promised her to do so from one year to the other. She came hither +with Bauer, and has been eleven years in the country, and four years +in Kamlîn. He intends to return to Germany in another year, to settle +in Styria or Thuringia with his savings, and, like his father, to be a +peasant again. + +After rising from table, the son of Nureddin Effendi also sent us a +Turkish dinner, ready cooked, of twelve to fifteen dishes, which however, +after our European repast, we left to the servants. We had also seen +the factories that morning, and had tasted the fine brandy (called +Marienbad), which Bauer prepares chiefly from sugar-cane and dates. The +business seemed to be in the best order, and even the cleanliness, so +unusual in this country, of the rooms, the vessels, and utensils, were +proofs of the solid basis upon which this factory, worked by slaves +alone, is conducted. The pleasant impression made upon us by this visit +was also considerably increased by discovering that Bauer possessed a +second piece of the above-mentioned marble inscription, which had been +discovered in the ruins of Soba. He presented me with the fragment, which +was easily joined with the other piece, though we had still not got the +complete inscription. The fragment shows the traces of twelve lines on +the one side, and of nine on the other. The characters can be distinctly +read here also; but the name ⲓⲁⲕⲱⲃ is alone intelligible. It is either +very barbarous Greek, or a peculiar language formerly spoken in Soba. +In fact, we know, through Selîm, that the inhabitants of Soba had their +sacred books in the Greek language, but translated them also into their +own. + +After we had also paid a visit to the son of Nureddin Effendi, we +started with the promise to call upon him again on our return. + +From Kamlîn the banks continue at an equal elevation. The character of a +river valley is lost. There is no longer a deposit of black earth; the +precipitous and high banks consist of a primitive soil, and a calcareous +conglomerate, which, by Bauer’s account, can be easily burnt into plaster. + +On the morning of the 21st we came to a considerable bend of the river +towards the east; the wind became, on that account, so unfavourable, +that our Kawass disembarked, to press into our service people from the +neighbourhood to draw our boat along. I walked for several hours along +the western bank, as far as ARBAGI, a deserted village, built of black +bricks, but on the remains of a still older place, as I discovered from +the walls of burnt bricks. This place was formerly the chief centre of +the commerce of the Sudan, which, at a later period, was transferred +to Messelemîeh. Soon after this we saw the two most northerly growing +BAOBABS, which here are called HÓMARA. These giant trees of the creation +(Adansonia digitata) become more and more frequent, south of this spot, +and at Sero they are among the common trees of the country. One of the +stems which I paced round, measured above 60 feet in circumference, and +was certainly not one of the largest of its kind, as they are still +not numerous here. At this season they were leafless, and stretched +out their bare branches far above the surrounding green trees, which +looked like low bushes beside them. I found their fruit, which is called +GUNGULES,[44] here and there among the Arabs; they resemble small +gourds, in the form of pears, and have a light hairy surface. If the +hard, tough shell is broken, a number of kernels are found inside, which +are surrounded by a dry, sweetish, sourish pulp, which is nevertheless +pleasant to the taste. The leaves are digitate. + +On the 22nd of February we arrived on the western bank, at a small +village, whose inhabitants, men, women, and children, fled with terror +at our approach across the sandy plain to the wood, probably because +they were afraid of being pressed to draw the boat on farther. On the +opposite bank there was another village, and from it we saw a magnificent +procession of men, dressed out in the Arabian and Turkish costume, +march down to the river with some beautifully bridled horses. It was +the Kaschef, and the principal Sheikh of ABU HARAS, who had heard about +us from Achmed Pascha, as we had intended to go from this spot into the +desert to Mandera with camels and guides. The horses were intended for +us, and we therefore rode to the house of the Kaschef, to make some more +inquiries about the antiquities of Mandera and Qala. As the desert road +to the shore of the Red Sea leads from here by that place, we found +several people who had passed near it. However, by what I gathered from +all the accounts, there seem to be only some hills in the form of a kind +of fortress at both these places, or, at the most, some roughly-built +walls, intended to protect the caravans, but no ancient buildings or +hieroglyphic inscriptions. In Qala there might be some camels and horses, +also, scratched into the rock by Arabs or other people, such as we have +frequently seen in the Great Desert near the well of Murhad, and in other +places. + +We therefore determined to relinquish this desert journey, and to go +farther up the river instead, that we might become acquainted, as far as +our time permitted, with the natural character of the Nile river, its +banks, and neighbouring inhabitants. + +After a short quarter of an hour from Abu Haras, we came to the mouth +of the RAHAD, which, in the rainy season, conveys a considerable mass +of water into the Nile, but was now nearly dry, and had only a little +stagnant water, which next month may perhaps also disappear. + +I left the boat as often as possible, to get acquainted with the banks. +To go farther inland was of itself interdicted chiefly by the wood, +which clothes both sides of the river, and is nearly impenetrable. There, +in luxuriant splendour, grow the shady, high-domed tamarind-tree, the +tower-like hómara (Baobab), the many-branched gemús (sycamore-tree), +and the various kinds of the brittle, gum-yielding sont-trees. Creeping +plants, often the thickness of a man’s body, climb up their branches +like gigantic serpents, in innumerable windings, to their very summits, +and down again to the ground, where, along with the low shrubs, they +fill up every gap between the huge stems. In addition to this, scarcely +one of ten among the trees or shrubs has not thorns, which renders +any attempt to penetrate the close thicket not only dangerous, but +impossible. Several among them—for instance, the sittere-tree—have thorns +placed together in pairs, and in such a manner, that one thorn bends +forwards, the other back; if any one, therefore, approaches the branches +carelessly, he may be sure that his clothes will carry away with them +some unavoidable signs, not to be obliterated here without difficulty, +and then imperfectly. Some other thorny trees look extremely ornamental, +and growing in more open situations, they rise like slender young +birches. We distinguished two species which are usually joined together, +and can only be known from one another because the bark of the one stem +is of a brilliant red colour up to the outermost little branches, like +a growth of blood-vessels, while that of the other is of a dark black +colour. Both of them have glistening long white thorns, which, with the +little green leaves, rise up with a sharp outline, as if they had been +painted with the brush. + +Scarcely one of the birds, which frequently hovered around us in large +numbers, were known to me, even in Egypt. I shot many of them, and +had them stuffed by our cook, Siriân. Among them were some beautiful +silver-grey falcons (suqr schikl), guinea-fowls (gedâd el wadi), with +knobs of horn on the nose, and blue lappets on both sides of the head; +black and white rhinoceros birds (abu tuko) with huge beaks; some birds +quite black, with a bright crimson breast (abu labba); large brown and +white eagles (abu tôk), one of which, with outspread wings, measured +six feet; smaller brown eagles, the _hedâja_, and black and white ones, +which are called _ráchama_. These last, which are much more numerous +towards Egypt, are the same which we are in the habit of seeing among +the hieroglyphics. On the bank there are also great numbers of black and +white plovers, furnished with black curved spines on their wing-joints, +and the long-legged, completely white, _abu baqr_ (cow-birds), who are in +the habit of grazing on the backs of the buffaloes and cows. + +We saw great bats frequently flying about in broad daylight; their long +golden-brown wings look bright through the branches, and suddenly they +hang head downwards on the branches like great yellow pears, and can then +easily be shot. They have long ears, and a strange trumpet-like nose. + +We also hunted the MONKEYS, but from their agility they were very +difficult to reach. One day we found an immense tree, quite full of +monkeys; some of them hastily came down on our approach, and fled to a +distant thicket; others hid themselves among the foliage, quite at the +top; but some of them who considered both methods of escape dangerous, +sprang with inconceivably bold leaps from the uppermost branches of the +tall tree, which might have been about 100 feet high, to the smaller +trees standing near, whose thorny branches bent down beneath their weight +without letting them fall; they thus gained their end, and escaped my gun. + +The CROCODILES become more numerous the farther south we go. The tongues +of the sandy islands are often covered with them. They generally lie in +the sun, close to the edge of the water, open their mouths, and seem to +sleep, but do not allow any one to approach them; but even if they are +hit by the shot they immediately dive into the river. It is therefore +very difficult to obtain one. Our Kawass only once made such a good shot +at a young crocodile, about three feet long, that it was unable to get +back to the water. It was brought to the boat, where it lived for several +days afterwards, to the terror of our little Nesnas monkey, Bachît. + +It is no less difficult to approach the HIPPOPOTAMI, which we have +sometimes seen in great numbers, but with their heads alone above the +water. Once only a young hippopotamus stood quite clear out of the water +on a sandy island; it allowed us to come unusually near. The Kawass +shot, and hit it, naturally without the ball penetrating the thick hide, +whereupon the clumsy creature, with its unshapely head, its fat belly, +and short elephant legs, galloped off in a most comical manner to reach +the water close beside him, and immediately disappeared. They generally +are in the habit of coming on land only in the night, and they do much +injury in the fields of Durra and other plantations, by treading down and +devouring. It is not known that a hippopotamus was ever caught alive here. + +We saw no lions, but we heard their roaring in the distance throughout +the starlight night; there is something very solemn in the deep and +sonorous voice of this royal beast. + +The 24th of February we came to a second tributary river of the Nile, +the DENDER, which is larger than the Rahad. I went up part of it to see +(which was impossible at its mouth) whether the water was still flowing, +and farther up I discovered that, where the still water had collected +into small canals, certainly a very feeble current yet existed; in the +rainy season the Dender must rise more than twenty feet, as may be seen +by its bed; I found its banks were cultivated with cotton bushes, gourds, +and other useful plants. + +The heat is not excessive, in the morning about eight o’clock it is +usually 23° R.; about mid-day till about five o’clock, 29°; and about +eleven o’clock at night it is 22° (83¾°, 97¼°, 81½° Fahr.). + +We spend our evenings in our boat; here I make our Kawass, Hagi Ibrahim, +inform us about the geography; or I take some Nubian sailors into my +cabin to learn their language. I have already made a long vocabulary +in the Nubian language; comparing it with other lists in Rüppell and +Cailliaud, I found many words in the Koldági language spoken in the +southern territories of Kordofan which agree with them; this proves +there is an intimate connection between the two languages. The Arabs +are in the habit of calling the Nubian language _lisân rotâna_, which +I at first supposed to be its actual name; but it only means a foreign +tongue different from the Arabic. They do not, therefore, only speak of +a _Rotâna Kenûs_, _Mahass_, _Donqolaui_, when they mean to designate the +three Nubian dialects, but also of a _Rotâna Dinkaui_, _Schilluk_—even +of a Rotâna _turki_ and _franki_, thus likewise of Turkish and French; +_i. e._ of European gibberish. The same error is the cause of the now +received designation of the Nubian as the Berber, and of their language +as the Berber language; for this is not the name of the people, nor of +their language, as is generally thought, but originally means only the +people speaking a foreign tongue, the _Barbaros_. + +On the 25th of February we disembarked at SABA DOLEB; I searched for +ruins, but only found high domes in the form of bee-hives, built well and +solidly of bricks, about 20 feet high, and closely resembling the Greek +Thesauri, constructed of horizontal layers, lapping over inwardly. They +are tombs of holy Arab Sheikhs of a late period; the inhabitants of the +village could not tell us the date of their erection. Beneath the cupola, +and in the centre of the building, which is between 15 and 18 feet wide, +there is the long narrow tomb of the saint, surrounded with larger +stones, and covered with a number of small stones, which, according to a +superstition, must necessarily amount to a thousand; I found six domes +similar to these, most of them half, some wholly fallen to pieces; two, +however, in very good preservation, which are even still visited; a +seventh, probably the most recent, was built of unburnt bricks. + +At WAD NEGUDI, a village situated to the west of the Nile, we found the +first DILÊB PALMS, with slender naked stems and small bushy crowns, +resembling, at a distance, the Date Palm, but when near, from their +leaves, like the Doum Palm. Their fruit is round, like that of the Doum +Palm, but of a larger size. These trees are said to be very abundant +on the tributary rivers towards the east; but here, on the Nile, they +are only to be found within a very small tract of land. The leaves are +regularly divided like a fan into a great number of connected folds, and +the leaf-stalk has strong serrated notches. The Rais of our boat, who +was with me, sawed off another leaf with one of these leaf-stalks; I +had it brought to the boat, to take it away with us. It is divided into +sixty-nine points, and is five feet and a quarter long, from that part of +the stalk where the fan begins, although it is still young, and therefore +its fan is still completely closed. Another larger one, which had just +unfolded itself, we set up in the boat as an umbrella, and sat beneath +its shade. We were obliged to make a path to those palm-trees through +gigantic woods of grass, which shoot up stiff and thick like corn-fields, +and cover large plains. The points of the blades towered up five or six +feet above our heads, and even the tall camels, which are bred here, +could hardly look over it. + +On the 26th February we arrived at the village of ABU EL ABAS, on the +eastern bank. It is a chief town of this district, and the Kaschef who +lives here is placed over 112 villages. I there purchased a dog-ape +from a Turkish Kawass for a few piastres. This is the holy ape of the +ancient Egyptians, the Cynocephalus, which was dedicated to Thoth and +the Moon, and appears as the second among the four Gods of Death. It +is interesting to me to have a creature about me for some little time, +which I have seen innumerable times upon the monuments, and thereby to +observe the faithful apprehension and representation of its essential +and characteristic appearances in the ancient Egyptian sculpture. It is +remarkable that this ape, so peculiar to Egypt in ancient times, is now +only found in the south, and even there, it is not very common. How many +species of animals and plants, even manners and customs of men, with +which we become acquainted through the monuments of Egypt, can only now +be found in the most southern parts of ancient Ethiopia, so that now +many representations, for instance in the tombs of Benihassan, seem +to delineate scenes in this country rather than in Egypt. There is no +special name here for the Cynocephalus, only the general one, _qird_ +(large monkey). Its head, hair, and colour, are not unlike those of a +dog, and hence its Greek name. Sometimes also it barks and snarls like a +dog. It is still young, and very good-natured, but far more intelligent +than Abeken’s pretty little Nesnas ape. It is extremely ludicrous when +it wishes to get something good to eat, which we have in our hands; it +then lays back its ears on its head, and knows how to express the utmost +delight, but remains sitting quiet like a good child, only chattering +with the lips, like an old wine-bibber. At the sight of the crocodile, +however, all the hair of its body bristled up; it uttered piercing +shrieks, and could scarcely be held down from terror. + +On the 27th February we reached SENNÂR, the celebrated ancient capital +of the Sudan, whose king, before the conquest of the country by Ismael +Pascha, had dominion as far as Wadi Halfa, and ruled over a number of +smaller kings who paid him tribute. One would not suspect, from the +present aspect of the place, that only a short time since it was such a +powerful royal residence. Between six and seven hundred pointed straw +huts, Tukele, surrounded the piles of red-brick ruins, where formerly +the royal mansion stood. These bricks are now employed for building an +abode for Solimân Pascha, who is to reside in Sennâr; it was already so +far complete that the Wakil[45] of the absent Pascha was able to hold his +divan within it. We found him there, just as he was sitting in judgment. +Many other people, Sheikhs and Turks, were present; among them the Sheikh +Sandalôba, the chief of the Arabian merchants, and a relative of the +Sultâna Nasr, whose acquaintance we afterwards made in the village of +Sorîba, which she makes her royal residence. We paid a visit to this +distinguished man in his own house, with which honour he seemed much +gratified. His principal apartment is a dark, lofty hall, with a roof +resting on two pillars and four pilasters, upon which we mounted to +obtain a view over the town. + +Meanwhile an anqareb was prepared for us, to sit upon in the court-yard; +they brought us mead (honey with water), and led a hyæna out of the +stable, here called Marafil, and two young lions, the largest of which, +belonging to Solimân Pascha, and two wethers, were taken to the boat, +as a present from his Wakil. I had the creature fastened down in the +hold, and as a welcome immediately received a violent scratch on my hand +from his sharp claws. His body is now above two feet long, and his voice +has already become a strong tenor. There is a most tumultuous scene now +every morning on our, not very large, boat, when we drink our tea at an +early hour in front of the cabin; on each side of the door, a monkey is +making its merry leaps, and when the lion is released from the hold of +the vessel, and on the deck, which is given to him during the day, we are +obliged to place our cups and pitchers in safety, as he endeavours to +reach them with his clumsy, but already strong claws. + +On the 29th of February, about nine in the morning, we arrived at ABDÎN. +The 1st of March the wind was unfavourable to us, and we made very little +progress, so that we had plenty of time at our disposal for shooting +birds. Towards evening I came to a village romantically situated in a +creek formed by the river, spreading out at this point. Many huts, built +of straw, extended their pointed roofs upwards between the branches +and thick foliage of the trees. Narrow crooked paths, forming a real +labyrinth, led from one hut to the other, between thorns and trunks of +trees; within the huts, and in front of them, the black families were +lying, the children playing by a feeble lamp-light. I asked for some +milk, but was told to apply at an Arab village in the neighbourhood, to +which I was led by a man armed with a spear, the universal weapon of the +country. Making our way through thin shrubs and tall grass, we reached +the large troops of cattle belonging to the Arabs, who had raised their +mat huts round the pasture ground. The Fellahs who have settled here are +much browner than the wandering Arabs, though they are not negroes, but +they appear by race to be connected with the Nubian stock. + +The 2nd of March we landed on an island close to the eastern bank. At +a short distance from the landing-place the Rais discovered a broken +crocodile egg, at a spot where there was some newly turned up ground. +He dug down with his hands, and found forty-four eggs lying beside each +other three feet deep in the sand. They were still covered with a slimy +coat, as they had been only laid the previous day or during the night. +Crocodiles prefer coming out of the river on a windy night, they bury +their eggs in the ground, cover them over, and the wind soon disperses +all traces of the disturbed earth. A few months afterwards the young ones +creep out. The eggs are like large goose’s eggs, but as much rounded +off at both ends as these are only at the blunt end. I had some of them +boiled, they are eatable, but have a disagreeable taste; therefore I +willingly left them to the sailors, who devoured them with a hearty +appetite. + +We landed at the forsaken village of DÁHELA on the eastern bank, from +which I proceeded alone a distance of about three-quarters of an hour +inland. The character of the vegetation continues the same. The ground +is dry and level, the small hills and valleys which intersect it are not +the original forms of the ground, but seem only to have been produced +by rain. The farthest point I aimed at was a great tamarind-tree which +towered up splendidly from the lower trees and bushes, and round which +were fluttering a number of green and red birds hitherto unknown to me. + +On my road, I first came to a settlement, Kumr betá Dáhela, where the +inhabitants of the village I mentioned above are accustomed to keep +their _villeggiatura_. They only remain here during the dry months, and +wander back in the beginning of the rainy season to their more solidly +built village on the bank of the river. The last village that I reached +is called ROMÂLI, a little above the place which is marked SERO on the +map, and which is situated at the 13° of north latitude. On the hot and +fatiguing road back, I was present at a burial; silent and serious, +without sound or lamentation, two corpses wrapped in white cloths were +borne by men on anqarebs, and were laid in a grave several feet deep, +in the wood, close to the passing road. Perhaps they had died of the +cholera-like plague, which we hear has broken out with virulence in these +southern parts. + +We would willingly have gone up, as far as Fazoql, into the last province +in Mohammed Ali’s dominions, to become acquainted with the complete +change in the character of the country, which then again occurs, +beginning at Rosêres, and exhibiting so many phenomena, plants and +animals, peculiar to the tropics; but our time had come to an end. + +The Rais received orders to lower the sails and masts; by which the +boat at once lost its dignified appearance, and it floated down with +the current of the river like a wreck. Soon the agreeable silence in +the vessel, which had hitherto hastened on as if of its own accord, +was interrupted by the shrill and discordant singing of the rowers, +struggling against the wind. + +On the 4th of March we again arrived at Sennâr, and on the morning of the +8th reached Wed Médineh. This place is almost as important as Sennâr. A +regiment of soldiers is here in garrison with the only band of music in +the Sudan, and with two cannons. We were immediately visited by the chief +clerk of the regiment, Seïd Haschim, one of the most distinguished people +of the place, with whom we had formerly become acquainted in Chartûm. + +We determined to go from this on a visit to the Sultâna Nasr (Victoria) +in SORÎBA, which is about an hour and a half inland, partly to learn +something of the character of the country farther removed from the river, +partly to gain some notion of the court of an Ethiopian princess. Seïd +Haschim offered his dromedaries and asses, and to accompany us himself on +this expedition. We therefore set out with him in the afternoon over the +hot, black plain, where only a few trees were scattered here and there, +and soon got over the uninteresting ground on our active animals. + +NASR is the sister of the most powerful and the richest King (Melek) +in the Sudan, the IDRIS WED (_i. e._ WELLED, the son or descendant of) +ADLÂN, who now indeed is under the supremacy of Mohammed Ali, but yet +rules over several hundred villages in the province of El Fungi; his +title is Mak el Qulle, King of the Qulle Mountains. One of his ancestors +was called ADLÂN, and the whole family at present is named after him; +his father was the same Mohammed (Wed) Adlân, who at the period of the +victorious campaign of Ismael Pascha, appropriated to himself the greater +part of the power belonging to the legitimate but feeble Bâdi, King of +Sennâr, but who afterwards, at the instigation of a second Pretender, +Reg´eb, was murdered. When Ismael approached, and Reg´eb had fled with +his adherents into the Abyssinian mountains, King Bâdi joined the +children and the party of Mohammed Adlân, and submitted to the Pascha, +who made him a Sheikh over the country, had the murderers of Mohammed +Adlân empaled, and bestowed great power and riches on his children Reg´eb +and Idris Adlân. Their sister Nasr was also treated with great respect, +which was still more increased because she was descended, on the mother’s +side, from the legitimate royal house itself. On that account she is +also called _Sultâna_, Queen. Her first husband was Mohammed Sandalôba, +a brother of Hassan Sandalôba, whom we had visited in Sennâr. He died +a long time ago, but by him she had a daughter, Dauer (the Light), who +married a great Sheikh, Abd el Qader, but she was afterwards separated +from him, and now always resides with her mother in Sorîba. The second +husband of Nasr is Mohammed Defalla, the son of one of her father’s +viziers. He was just then with Ahmed Pascha Menekle, on the campaign +(_Ghazua_, out of which the French have made _Razzia_) in Taka. But even +when he is at home, on account of her noble birth, she continues mistress +in the house. + +A great preference for the female sex seems to have been a very universal +custom since ancient times in these southern countries. We must recollect +how frequently we find reigning Queens of Ethiopia mentioned. In the +campaigns of Petronius, Candace is well known, a name which, according to +Pliny, was given to all the Ethiopian Queens; according to others, only +to the mother of the King. In the pictures at Meröe, also, we sometimes +see very warlike, and doubtless reigning, Queens represented. According +to Makrizi, the genealogies of the Beg´as, who I consider to be the +direct descendants of the Meröitish Ethiopians, and the ancestors of the +present Bischâris, were not counted by the men, but by the women; and the +inheritance did not go to the son of the deceased, but to the son of the +sister, or of the daughter of the deceased. In like manner, according to +Abu-Sela, among the Nubians, the sister’s son always had the preference +of his own son in the succession to the throne; and, according to Ibn +Batuta, the same custom existed among the Messofites, a negro people +lying to the west. Even now the household and chief offices belonging +to the courts of several southern princes are wholly filled by women. +Ladies of distinction are in the habit of allowing their nails to grow +an inch long, as a sign that their duty consists in commanding, and not +in working; a custom we have lately seen in the representations of the +unshapely and corpulent Queens of Meröe. + +When we arrived in SORÎBA, we stepped through a peculiar gate-house +into the great square court-yard, which passes round the principal +building, and then into an open lofty hall, the roof of which rested on +four pillars, and four pilasters. The narrow beams of the ceiling jut +out several feet above the simple architrave, and form the immediate +support of the flat roof; the whole entrance reminded me much of the +open façades of the tombs of Benihassan. In the hall there stood some +beautiful furniture of Indian work in ebony, some broad anqarebs, with +frames for the fly-nets. Magnificent coverlets were immediately brought +in, and sherbet, coffee, and pipes handed round; the vessels were made +of gold and silver. Black slave girls in light white dresses, which are +fastened round the hips, and drawn over the bosom and shoulders, handed +the refreshments, and looked most strange with their half-braided, +half-combed wigs. The Queen did not however appear; perhaps she shrank +from showing herself to Christians; we were only able to see some women +who were standing behind a half-opened door, which re-closed, and to +whom we ourselves might have been an object of curiosity. I therefore +sent word to the Sultâna, through Seïd Haschim, that we had come to pay +a visit to herself, and we now begged we might be permitted to pay our +respects to her. Upon which, soon afterwards, a strong wooden door, cased +with metal, which led from the inner chambers to the hall, opened wide, +and Nasr, with free and dignified steps, walked in. She was wrapped in +long, finely-woven linen, with coloured borders, and underneath she wore +wide, party-coloured trousers of a darker hue. The female household +followed her, eight or ten girls in white dresses, bordered with red, and +ornamented sandals. Nasr sat down before us in a friendly and natural +manner; she only sometimes drew her dress before her mouth and the lower +part of her face, an Oriental custom which is universal in Egypt among +women, but which is less practised in this country. She replied to the +salutations which I addressed to her through the Dragoman, with an +agreeable voice, but only remained a short time with us, and then again +retired through the same door. + +We were now permitted to see the interior of the house, with the +exception of her own apartments, which were in a small adjoining house; +and we got upon the roof to have a view over the village. We afterwards +took a walk through the place, saw the well, which is lined with bricks +to the depth of 60 feet, and supplies a lukewarm water, which is more +insipid than that of the Nile, from which Nasr always has her own +drinking water fetched. We then turned back, intending to start, but +Nasr invited us to spend the night in Sorîba, as it was already too late +to return to Wed Médineh by daylight. We accepted the invitation, and +immediately a repast of cooked food was brought in, which was only a +preparation for the magnificent supper. The Sultâna, however, did not +allow herself to be seen again the whole evening. We remained in the +hall, and slept on the same cool cushions which had served us during the +day as a divan. The next morning, however, we were invited to visit her +in her own rooms. She was more willing to talk to-day than yesterday, +had European chairs placed for us, while her attendants and slave girls +squatted down round us. We told her about her name-sister, the Sultâna +Nasr of England, and exhibited her portrait to her on an English gold +coin, which she regarded with much curiosity. Nevertheless, she showed +very little desire to see with her own eyes that distant world beyond the +northern ocean. + +About eight o’clock we rode back to Wed Médineh. Soon after our arrival +Seïd Haschim received a letter from Nasr, in which she asked him +confidentially whether I would accept a little slave girl from her, +as a gift to the stranger. I sent a message to inform her that this +was contrary to our customs, but that there would be no difficulty if, +instead of a slave girl, she would select a slave boy; and, after the +removal of some scruples, as this seemed to her less becoming, she really +sent a little slave boy, who was brought to me in our boat. + +He had been the playmate of the Sultâna’s little grandson, the son of +her daughter Dauer, and was handed over to me with the name of REHÂN +(the Arabic designation for the sweet-scented basilicum). I was also +informed that he was born in the district of Makâdi, on the frontier of +Abyssinia, which generally furnishes the most intelligent and faithful +slaves. This district is under Christian domination, and is inhabited +both by Christians and Mohammedans, who are separated into different +villages. The former call themselves Nazâra (Nazarenes), or Amhâra +(Amharic Christians); the latter Giberta. Amongst the latter, children of +their own race, or that of their neighbours, are frequently stolen and +sold to Arabian slave-dealers; for in the central parts of Abyssinia the +slave trade is strictly interdicted. However, this account of the boy has +since proved incorrect, and perhaps was only meant to remove the obstacle +which some might find in offering me a Christian boy, while on the other +hand it would appear still more doubtful to hand over to me a native +Mohammedan. The boy himself first communicated to our Christian cook, and +afterwards to myself, that he was born of Christian parents, that he had +here for the first time received the name of Rehân, and that his real +name was Gabre Máriam, _i. e._ in Abyssinian, “the slave of Mary.” He +was born near Gondar, the capital of Amhâra. He appears to have belonged +to a family of some distinction, for the place called Bamba, which is +stated by Bruce to be in the neighbourhood of Lake Tzana, by his accounts +belonged to his grandfather; and his father, who now is dead, possessed +many herds, which the boy often drove, with others, to the pasture. One +day, above three or four years ago, when on such an expedition, at a +considerable distance from his dwelling-place, he was stolen by some +mounted Bedouins, carried off to the village of Waldakarel, and then sold +to King Idris Adlân; by him he was afterwards presented to his sister +Nasr. He is a pretty boy, very dark, and may be now between eight and +nine years old; but much more advanced than a child of this age would be +with us. The girls here marry from eight years old upwards. He wears his +hair in a peculiar manner, in innumerable little braids; these must, at +least once every month, be re-braided and daubed with grease, by a woman +skilled in the art; and his body also must from time to time be well +rubbed with grease. His entire clothing consists in a great white cloth, +which he binds round his hips, and throws upwards over the shoulders. I +call him now by his Christian name, and shall take him to Europe with me. + +Seïd Haschim did all in his power to keep us some days longer in Wed +Médineh. The first evening he invited us to his house, with the Turks +of most distinction, and had a number of dancing-girls to show us the +national dances in these parts; they chiefly consist in contortions of +the upper part of the body and the arms, similar to what are represented +on the Egyptian monuments; but differ from the Egyptian dances of the +present day, which are chiefly limited to very ungraceful gestures. + +A good-natured and very comical old man led on the dances, while he +at the same time sang some Arabic songs, with a piercing but not +disagreeable voice, which had reference to the assembled company, or to +persons of repute, such as Nasr, Idris Adlân, Mak (_i. e._ Melek), Bâdi, +&c.; and with his left hand touched the chords of a five-stringed lyre, +passing the plectrum over them in time with his right. His instrument +only embraced six tones of the octave. The first string on the right +hand had the highest tone, C, to be struck with the thumb, the string +immediately succeeding, the lowest tone, E; then followed the third, F; +the fourth, A; the fifth, B. The instrument is called RABABA, and the +performer on it REBÂBI. This man had been instructed by an old celebrated +Rebâbi in Schendi; he had made his instrument himself, after the model +of that belonging to his master, and had also acquired from him his +talent for making verses, and thus became the favourite black bard of Wed +Médineh. All the poetry of his songs had been composed by himself; they +were sometimes improvised, and whoever disobliged him or his patrons, +would probably be made the object of his satire. + +I made him come to me the following morning, and, through Jussuf, write +down four of his poems in Arabic: one on Mohammed, the son of Mak Mesâʾd, +who resides in Metammeh; one upon King Nimr, who burnt Ismael Pascha, +and is still living in Abyssinia; a third on Nasr; and lastly, a song of +homage to pretty girls.[46] It is impossible to render these melodies +in our notes. I have only written down a small portion of them, which +in some measure approaches our mode of singing. They are generally half +recited, half carried down, with quivering tones, from the highest +notes to a deep and long-sustained tone. These are their most peculiar +characteristics, but they are quite incapable of being noted down. Each +verse contains four rhymes; the voice is retained lightly on each of +them, on the second more than on the first and third; but longest on +the last rhyme. The music always sinks at this point, and the same deep +tone recurs, which gives a certain character to the progressing song. +A particular recurrence of the melody may, indeed, also be noticed, +but this is impossible for a European ear to remember. I purchased +the instrument from the good-natured old man. He gave it unwillingly, +although I let him name his own price; and several times after he had +taken the money, and had laid down his instrument for it, an air of +anxious sorrow came over his expressive countenance. The following day +I bid him come to me again. He was depressed, and told me his wife had +given him a sound beating for having given his instrument away. Here it +is no disgrace for a man to be beaten by his wife, but it is so perhaps +in the reverse case. A woman who has been beaten goes at once to the +Cadi to complain; she then generally obtains justice, and the husband is +punished. + +In Wed Médineh we were also present at a funeral ceremony, which seemed +a strange enough one to us. A woman had died three days before; the +day succeeding her death, the third, the seventh, and several days +afterwards are peculiarly solemnised. In front of the house, an hour +before sunset, above a hundred women and children had collected, and +more were constantly coming in, and cowered down beside the others. Two +daughters of the deceased were present, whose richly ornamented and +grease-besmeared heads they had already strewed with ashes, and had +rubbed the whole of the upper part of their bodies white with them, so +that their eyes and mouths alone shone forth clean, and, as it were, set +into the white mask. The women wore long cloths round their hips; the +young girls and children the Ráhat, a girdle composed of five strips of +leather, hanging down close together; this is usually bound round the +loins by a cord, prettily ornamented with shells and pearls, and it falls +half-way down the leg. There was a great wooden bowl with ashes, which +was repeatedly filled again with fresh ones. Female musicians cowered +down close on either side of the door uttering shrill screams, which +pierced our ears; they now clapped their hands together in time; now +struck the sounding DARA-BUKA (a kind of hand kettle-drum, called here +in the Sudan DALUKA); and now beat with sticks on some hollow gourds +floating in tubs of water. The two daughters, about eighteen or twenty +years of age, and the nearest relations, began, two and two, to move at +first slowly towards the door in a narrow passage between the constantly +increasing crowds; then suddenly shrill screams, clapping of hands, +and loud shrieks burst from them all at once; whereupon they turned +round, and began their fearfully contorted dancing. Bending the upper +part of their body in convulsive and strained twistings and turnings, +and slowly balancing themselves, they moved their feet forwards, then +suddenly threw their breasts upwards with violence and their heads back +on their shoulders, which they stretched out in all directions, and +thus, with half-closed eyes, gradually glided forwards. In this manner +they went down a slight incline of fifteen and twenty paces, where they +threw themselves on the ground, covered themselves with dust and earth, +and turned back again to re-commence the same dance. The younger of the +two daughters had a beautiful slight figure, with wonderful elasticity, +and when she stood quietly erect, or was lying on the ground with her +sunken head, her regular and gentle, though inanimate features, even +during the dance, and the classical form of her body, was exactly like +an antique statue. This dancing procession was repeated over and over +again. Each of the mourners is compelled at least to go through this +once, and the nearer the relationship so much the more frequently is it +repeated. Whoever cannot immediately force her way up to the vessel of +ashes, takes them from the head of her neighbour to strew it on her own +head. In front of this squatting assembly some women are cowering, who +understand how to sob loudly and to shed profuse tears, which leave long +black streaks on their white-rubbed cheeks. The most striking, and the +most repelling, part of this spectacle is, that nothing is done from +unrestrained sorrow, but all with deliberation, with a degree of pathos, +and evidently studied; children as young as four and five years old are +placed in the procession, and if they perform the difficult and unnatural +movements well, their mothers, who are cowering behind, call out to them +_taib, taib_—_i. e._ bravo! well done! In the second act, however, of +this ceremony, rendered peculiarly stunning by its continual clapping, +screaming, and shrieking, all the dancers throw themselves into the +dust, and tumble down the hill; but this they also do slowly, and with +deliberation, carefully drawing up their knees to their bodies, to hold +their dresses with them, and also crossing their arms; they then roll +down, over knees and back. This ceremony begins one hour before sunset, +and lasts till night. + +The unnatural feeling pervading the whole proceeding makes an +indescribable impression, which is rendered still more disagreeable by +seeing nothing in all of it but an inherited and perverted custom, an +empty spectacle; not a trace of individual truth and natural sentiment +can be perceived in the persons who participate; and yet the comparison +between this and certain descriptions and representations of similar +festivals among the ancients, teaches us to understand much, of which +judging by our own manner of life, we can never form a correct notion, +till we have once seen with our eyes such caricatures of metamorphoses as +are here and there exhibited in the East. + +The following day we visited the hospital, which we found very cleanly, +and in good order; it holds a hundred patients, but there were then +only eight-and-twenty within it. We then went to the barracks, in the +large court-yard of which the men are exercised. The commanding officer +ordered out the band of music, and they played several pieces before +us. The first was the Parisienne, which sounded most strangely in this +country, as well as the succeeding pieces, most of them French, and +known to me; they were, however, tolerably well executed. The musicians +performed almost solely on European instruments, and have also admitted +the name of our trumpet into their Arabic musical language, but have +transferred it to the drum, which they call _trumbêta_, while for the +trumpet they have a peculiar name of their own, _nafir_; they call +their great flute _sumára_, the small one _sufára_, and the great drum +_tabli_. There were only twelve hundred soldiers present belonging to the +regiment, which consists of four thousand men, almost all negroes, whose +black faces staring out of their white linen uniform and red-tasselled +caps, made them look like dressed-up monkeys, only much more unhappy +and oppressed. The negroes are incapable of any military discipline and +regular exertion, and generally sink beneath the imposed yoke. We did +not, however, suspect that these same people would two days afterwards +rebel in a body, and set off to their hills. + +Emin Pascha was expected hourly. But on the 13th I received in the +morning a letter from him, from Messelemîeh, between four and five hours +distant from this place, in which he wrote that he should not come to Wed +Médineh before the following day, and hoped to find us still there. He +at the same time informed me that the war in Taka was over, and that all +had submitted. Several hundred natives had been killed in skirmishes; the +morning before the chief battle, all the Sheikhs of the tribes from Taka +had come to the Pascha to sue for pardon, which he had granted them, on +condition that no fugitive should venture to remain in the great wood, +which was their chief place of refuge. The following morning he had the +wood searched, and as nobody was discovered in it, he had it set on fire, +and entirely burnt to the ground. On his journey back, he intends to pass +through the eastern districts to Katârif, on the Abyssinian frontier, +and thence to go to the Blue River. We had scarcely read this news +from Taka, when we heard the sound of cannon in front of the barracks +announcing the victorious message to the population round. + +In another letter, which had gone to Emin Pascha instead of me, Herr +von Wagner gave me the pleasing intelligence that our new companion, +the painter Georgi, had arrived from Italy, and had already started for +Dongola, where he waits for further orders. I shall write to him to come +as far as Barkal to meet us. + +As we were certain by this letter of finding the Pascha still in +Messelemîeh, we started for that place about mid-day; and as the town is +situated an hour and a half distant from the Nile, we made the journey by +land. + +The boat, meanwhile, was to follow us to the harbour of Messelemîeh, that +is to say, to the nearest landing-place of this most important of the +commercial towns of the whole Sudan. Besides Jussuf, we took with us the +Kawass and Gabre Máriam, who sat behind me on the dromedary, where there +is always left a small place for a servant, like a coach-box behind the +carriage; he sits on the narrow hinder part of the animal, and holds on +to the saddle with both his hands. It was hot, and the ground was parched +up. The few birds which I saw were different from those which habitually +inhabit the banks of the river. + +Half-way we came to TÂIBA, a village which is only inhabited by FUKARA +(plur. of FAKIR). These are the sages, the holy men of the people, a kind +of priest, without however having priestly functions to perform; they +can read and write; they do not permit any music, dancing, or festivals +among them, and therefore have a great reputation for sanctity. The +chief of this village is the greatest Fakir of the whole surrounding +neighbourhood. Every one believes in him like a prophet; whatever he +predicts, happens. The late Achmed Pascha, one month before his death, +caused him to be imprisoned. “God will punish you for this,” was his +answer to the order, and one month afterwards the Pascha died. He is a +very rich man, and possesses several villages. We went in quest of him, +and found him in his house at dinner; about twenty people were sitting +round a colossal wooden bowl, which was filled with a gruel of boiled +Durra and milk. The bowl was pushed in front of us, but we could not eat +any of this food. We amused ourselves with the old Fakir, who joined in +our conversation with easy, friendly, and pleasing manners, and then +inquired our names, and the object of our journey. Every one who entered, +our servants among the number, approached him reverently, and touched his +hand with their mouth and forehead. The dignity of Sheikh is hereditary +in his family; his son is looked up to almost as much as himself, and +in this way we can understand how a village like this, when the Sheikh +has once been himself a Fakir, can become altogether a priest-village. +E’ Dâmer, on the island of Meröe, was formerly a Fakir place similar to +this. The inhabitants of Tâiba, probably of Arabic race, call themselves +ARAKIN. There are a number of such local names here, whose origin it is +difficult to make out. + +When we had smoked out our pipes, we left the congregation of holy men, +and rode away. One half hour before we reached Messelemîeh, we came to +a second village called Hellet e’ Solimân, where we dismounted at a +house which had been built by the late Mak, or Melek Kambal, of Halfaï, +when he married the daughter of Defalla, to whom the village belonged; +it now belongs to his brother’s son, Mahmûd welled Schauîsch, who has +besides the title of Melek, but is really only the guardian of Kambal’s +little son, Melek Beshîr. It is easy to see what is now thought here of +the old reverential title of Melek, or King. Mahmûd was not at home, as +he had accompanied Ahmed Pascha on his campaign. Nevertheless, we were +entertained in his house according to the hospitable custom of this +country. Coverlets were spread out, milk and fresh baked Durra bread in +thin slices, which has by no means a bad taste, was brought in; added +to this, another simple, but refreshing beverage, _abréq_, fermented +sourish Durra water. Soon after Asser we reached Messelemîeh. Emin +Pascha received us very kindly, and communicated to us the intelligence +that Mohammed Ali’s first minister, Boghos Bey, whom I had visited in +Alexandria, was dead, and that Artim Bey, a man of elegant manners, and a +shrewd politician, had been appointed in his place. + +We declined the Pascha’s invitation to supper, and offer of a night’s +lodging, and soon rode away towards the river, where we hoped to find +our boat. As it had not yet arrived, we spent the night on anqarebs in +the open air. We were not able to start for Kamlîn till the following +morning, the 15th March, and reached it towards evening. The next day we +spent agreeably with our countryman, Herr Bauer. On the 17th, having paid +a visit to Nureddin Effendi, in Wad Eraue, several hours distant from +Kamlîn, we arrived on the following day at SOBA, where I immediately sent +for one of the vases which had been found in the ruins of the ancient +city, and which was said to be kept by the brother of the Sheikh. After +waiting a long time, it was brought to us. It was an ancient vessel +for incense, made of bronze in filigree work. The sides of the vessel, +which was of a roundish form, and about nine inches high, and of similar +width, consisted solely of open-work Arabesques; the swinging chains had +been fastened to the upper border by three little hooks, one of which, +however, has broken away, so that the most interesting part of the whole, +an inscription running round beneath the border, and like the Arabesques +carved _à jour_, in rather large letters, thereby is unfortunately +incomplete. This is of peculiar importance, as the writing is again in +the Greek, or rather in the Coptic character, as on the stone-tablet; but +the language is neither of these, but doubtless the ancient vernacular +tongue of Soba, the capital of the mighty Kingdom of Alŏa. Short as it +is, it is distinguished from the stone inscription by containing the +Coptic signs ϣ (sch) and ϯ (ti), which are not to be found in the latter. +I purchased the vessel for a few piastres. This is now the third monument +of Soba which we take away with us, for I must mention, in addition, +that at the house of Seïd Haschim, in Wed Médineh, we also saw a small +Venus of Greek workmanship, carved in pure style, and about a foot high, +which had likewise been found in Soba, and was presented to me by its +owner. At length, on the 19th March, we again entered the house of Herr +Hermanovich, in Chartûm, later than our original calculations had led +us to expect, for which reason I had already communicated our delay to +Erbkam, in a letter from Wed Médineh. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + + + _Chartûm, the 21st March, 1844._ + +Here, for the first time, we received more exact intelligence of the +military revolt in Wed Médineh, which was of a most serious nature, and +would have infallibly thrown us into the greatest danger had we remained +two days longer in that town. All the black soldiers revolted while Emin +Pascha was residing there. The drill-sergeant and seven white soldiers +were killed immediately; the Pascha was besieged in his own house, which +was briskly fired into; his negotiators were repelled, and the powder +magazine seized. All the arms and ammunition, with the two cannons, +fell into the hands of the negroes, who then selected six leaders for +themselves, and set out in six divisions on the road to Fazoql to take +refuge in their mountains. The regiment in this place, which has about +1500 blacks in it, was at once disarmed, and will be kept within the +barracks. The most serious consequences are dreaded, as Ahmed Pascha +Menekle has been so inconsiderate as to take almost all the white troops +along with him to Taka; otherwise I should rejoice at the desertion of +the blacks, as they are treated in the most revolting manner by their +Turkish masters. Yet the insurrection may easily bring the whole country +into a state of disorder, and then, also, have an injurious influence +on our expedition. The blacks will undoubtedly endeavour on their road +to draw over to their own party whatever country people they meet, +especially the troops of Solimân Pascha in Sennâr, and of Selîm Pascha in +Fazoql. The whites are far too few to offer them effectual resistance. +News has just arrived that between five and six hundred slaves of the +late Ahmed Pascha, belonging to the indigo factory at Tamaniât, a little +to the north of this, have fled with their wives and children to the +Sudan, and intend to join the soldiers; the same is reported of the +factory at Kamlîn, so that we necessarily feel anxious about our friend +Bauer, who was not, indeed, cruel as the Turks are, but yet was a strict +master. + +_26th March._—The news is spread that the troops in Sennâr and the people +belonging to Melek Idris Adlân, have put the negroes to the sword. It +is also said, that the slaves of Tamaniât have been overtaken by the +Arnauts, and murdered or dragged back, and that the revolt in Kamlîn has +been suppressed. Still we cannot build much on this, as the intelligence +reached me through our Kawass from the people belonging to the Pascha, +and the desire was also expressed that I should spread the news still +farther, and write about it to Cairo. + +Yesterday, as we were walking in the dusk of the evening, in the large +and beautiful garden belonging to Ibrahim Chêr, in whose cheerful and +pleasantly-situated house I write this letter, we saw tall dark clouds of +sand rise like a wall on the horizon. A violent east wind has also been +blowing to-night ever since, and still blows, enveloping all the trees +and buildings in a disagreeable sandy atmosphere, which almost takes away +our breath. I have closed the window-shutters firmly, and barricaded the +door with stones, to be in some measure secured from the first assault; +nevertheless, I am constantly obliged to cleanse the sheet of letter +paper from the covering of sand which is incessantly thrown down on it. + +I returned in such a tattered condition from my hunting excursion to +Sennâr, that I was at length obliged to assume the Turkish costume, which +I cannot now soon exchange again. It has its advantages for the customs +of this country, especially for sitting on coverlets, or low cushions; +but the Tarbusch, which lies so flat upon the head, is very ill-adapted +to this sunny sky, and the fastening of the innumerable buttons and hooks +is daily a most wearisome trial of patience. + +_30th March._—We intend to leave Chartûm as soon as this packet of +letters is handed over to the Pascha. The revolution is now completely +suppressed in all parts. It would doubtless have had a far worse result +had it not, from a particular cause, broken out in Wed Médineh several +days too soon. It had been planned and secretly arranged for a long +time past in the whole of the south, and was not to have broken out +before the 19th of this month simultaneously in Sennâr, Wed Médineh, +Kamlîn, Chartûm, and Tamaniât. The precipitate movement in Wed Médineh +had, however, disarranged the whole plan, and had especially given time +to Emin Pascha to send messengers to Chartûm, by which means the negro +soldiers here were consigned and disarmed before news of the outbreak +had reached their ears. Emin Pascha, however, seems himself to have been +totally helpless. The victory is said to be solely due to the courage +and presence of mind of a certain Rustan Effendi, who with 150 devoted +soldiers, chiefly whites, pursued the negroes, who were 600 strong, +overtook them beyond Sennâr, and after attacking them three times, +defeated them, with great loss of life. Above a hundred of the fugitives +have surrendered, and have been taken to Sennâr in irons; the remaining +number were killed in the action, or leapt into the river and were +drowned there. + +But the news arrived here at the same time, that an insurrection had also +broken out on account of the taxes in Lower Nubia, in Kalabsche, and +another village, that both villages had on that account been immediately +destroyed by Hassan Pascha, who is to come to Chartûm in place of Emin +Pascha, and that the inhabitants had been killed or driven away. + + + + +LETTER XX. + + + _The Pyramids of Meröe, 22nd April, 1844._ + +We quitted Chartûm on the 30th March, towards evening, and proceeded half +the night by moonlight. + +The following day we arrived at TAMANIÂT. Almost the whole of the large +village had disappeared, and only one vast burning plain was to be seen. +The slaves in their revolt had laid everything in ashes, the walls of the +factory are alone left standing. As I had quitted the boat and arrived +on foot, I was unexpectedly startled near the still smoking ruins by +a horrible spectacle, for I suddenly found myself in an open piece of +garden, which was completely covered by the mutilated corpses of blacks. +The greatest proportion of the slaves who had been recaptured were here +shot down in masses. + +We stopped at sunset in Surîe Abu Ramle, before a cataract, which we were +unable to pass during the night. + +The 1st of April we again started long before daybreak, and thought we +should make a good step in advance. But the wind rose with the sun, and +as the boat could not be towed at this point on account of the rocky +banks, a few hours afterwards we were compelled to halt again, and to +lie quiet in the heavy, dense atmosphere of sand. In front of us lay the +insulated range of Qirre, detached from which, Aschtân (the Thirsty) on +our left hand, Rauiân (the Thirsty assuaged) on our right, stand forth +from the plain like watch-posts; the former, however, at a greater +distance from the river. + +Rauiân was only about three-quarters of an hour distant from our boat. +I set out with my gun, traversed the bare stony plain, and climbed +the mountain, during the inundation season almost entirely surrounded +by water, for which reason we were always told that it stood upon an +island. The rock of which it is composed is granite, of a mixed coarse +and fine grain, with much quartz. On the road back, I passed the village +of Meláh, the huts of which lie hidden behind large mounds of upturned +earth, formed by the inhabitants when they dig for salt (malh). A great +deal of it is found in the surrounding country (thus Meláh is the Arabic +translation of salt-work, or Sulza). Towards evening we sailed on a +little farther, in the midst of the range, and lay to, in a little rocky +creek. The following day, also, we made but little progress. We saw +some black slaves wandering about like chamois, on the eastern summits +of the wild granitic rocks, who have perhaps escaped from Tamaniât, but +their miserable life will not probably be much longer prolonged. They +disappeared immediately again behind the jagged summits, our Kawass +having indulged in the brutal jest of firing at them in the air. I +climbed up the western mountains with Abeken; they rise precipitously for +about 200 or 300 feet from the bank. It is evident here, by the natural +walls of rock, to what height the river rises and deposits its mud at +high-water. I measured nearly 8 metres (26 feet English) from that point +to the surface of the water at the present moment, and the river will +continue to sink about 2 feet more. + +From the summit of the mountain we saw the wide desert extending behind +the farthest eminences, and soon after passing Méraui, we shall be +wandering across it. We quitted the picturesque range of mountains with +regret, which form such an agreeable interruption to the flat banks of +this far and wide level country. + +On the morning of the 4th April, we at length reached our group of +palm-trees at BEN NAGA, and immediately went to the ruins in the Wadi el +Kirbegân, where we found a portion of a pillar, and several altars in the +south-eastern temple which had been newly-excavated by Erbkam; the same +Royal Shields were upon them as upon the principal temples of Naga in +the desert, besides several others which had not previously appeared. Of +the three altars that had been excavated, the central one, of very hard +sandstone, was in excellent preservation. On the western side there was +a representation of the King, on the eastern, of the Queen, with their +names, and on both the other sides were two goddesses. On the northern +side the hieroglyphic group of the North was also inscribed, and on the +southern that of the South. Both the other altars exhibited the same +figures. All three were still standing on their original site, and were +let into a smooth floor, which was composed of square slabs of stone +covered with plaster. Unfortunately I had not then the means of carrying +away the best of these altars, which weighed at least 50 cwt., and I had, +therefore, to plan a special excursion from Meröe for the purpose. + +On Good Friday, the 5th April, we arrived at Schendi. We entered the +widely-scattered but depopulated town, saw the ruins of the palace +of King Nimr, in which he had burnt Ismael Pascha, after a nocturnal +festival which he had prepared for him, and many houses which still bore +traces of the balls of Defterdar Bey, who was sent by Mohammed Ali to +revenge the death of his son. The dwelling of King Nimr, which now also +lay in ruins, used to stand in the centre of the town on an artificial +eminence. The suburb, built for the present military garrison, is at +a little distance up the river, and separated from the town. We then +returned to the boat, which had put in near the fortress-like house of +Churshid Pascha, where the military commander now resides. + +On the same day we arrived, shortly before sunset, at Beg´erauîeh, and +immediately rode to the Pyramids, where we once more found Erbkam and the +remainder of the party safe and sound. They have been diligently drawing +in Naga and Wadi Sofra, and the rich costume of the kings and gods, as +well as the representations belonging to these Ethiopian temples in +general, devoid of style indeed, but ornamental, look very well on paper, +and will make a splendid show in our sketch-books. Much had been done in +this spot also, and many new things had come to light in clearing out +the ante-chambers, which had been full of rubbish. Abeken thought, even, +during our first visit, that he had found the name of the Queen KENTAKI +(CANDACE). Now, indeed, we see that the Shield is not written + + 𓍹𓎡𓈖𓍘𓇋𓎡𓇌𓏏𓆇𓍺 but 𓍹𓎡𓈖𓍘𓇋𓎱𓇌𓏏𓆇𓍺 + +which would read KENTAHEBI; nevertheless it seems to me to have meant +that famous name, and that the questionable sign merely has been changed +by the ignorant scribes. The determinative signs 𓏏𓆇 prove, at least, that +it is the name of a Queen. The name of CANDACE was known even at an +earlier period as that of a private person. The name of ERGAMENES is +likewise found, and this also written sometimes correctly, sometimes +with mistaken variation. + +We kindled Easter bonfires on the evenings of the succeeding holidays. +Our tents are situated between two groups of Pyramids in a small hollow +of the valley, which is everywhere covered with dry tufts of a woody +grass. We lighted this all about us; it blazed up high, and flung the +whirling flames upwards into the dark starry night. The spectacle of +fifty or sixty such fires burning at once in the valley was beautiful; +they threw a ghost-like light on the half-crumbled Pyramids of the old +kings ranged on the eminences round, and on our airy tent-pyramids rising +in the foreground. + +We were surprised on the 8th of April by seeing a magnificent cavalcade +of horses and camels, which appeared within our camp. It was OSMAN BEY, +who, as the chief in command, is leading back the army of 5000 men from +Taka. The French military surgeon, Peney, was in his suite, besides the +Chief Sheikh Ahmed welled ʾAuad. The troops had encamped near Gabuschié, +one hour farther up the river, and were to pass through Beg´erauîeh +in the evening. The visit to our camp had, however, another object, +which was soon disclosed in the course of conversation. Osman Bey was +desirous of making treasure-diggers out of his pioneers, and of ordering +some battalions to come hither, to pull down a number of Pyramids. The +discovery of Ferlini is still remembered by most people, and has since +that time caused the ruin of many Pyramids. They were also full of it at +Chartûm, and more than one European, besides the Pascha himself, imagined +they might still find treasures there. I constantly endeavoured to prove +to them all, that the discovery of Ferlini was pure chance, that he had +not found the gold rings in the sepulchral chambers with the mummies, +where they alone might reasonably have been searched for with any hope +of success, but walled up in the stone, in which place they had been +concealed by a whim of the owner. I endeavoured to convince Osman Bey +of this also, who even offered me the aid of his companies of soldiers +to conduct the work of destruction. I naturally declined this, though +perhaps I should have accepted it for the sake of laying open to view +the sepulchral chambers, which necessarily must have their entrance in +front of the Pyramids in the natural rock, had I not feared that here +also we might not arrive at any brilliant result, and even if our own +expectations were not so, yet those of the credulous general might be +bitterly disappointed. I succeeded in diverting him from his idea, and +thus for the present, at least, the existing Pyramids have been saved. +The soldiers have departed without having made war on the Pyramids. + +I invited the three gentlemen to dine with us, which placed the old +Sheikh in some embarrassment, for he was always trying to cut the meat +with the back of his knife, till at length I myself laid aside the +European implements, and began to eat in good Turkish fashion; my example +was soon followed willingly by the rest of the company, especially by +our excellent dark-skinned guest, who did not fail to observe my polite +attention. After dinner they again mounted their sumptuously-caparisoned +animals, and the procession hastened towards the river. + +On the 9th of April, I sent Franke and Ibrahim Aga to Ben Naga, with +stone-saws, hammers, and ropes, to transport the great altar to this +spot. I myself rode with Jussuf to Gabuschié, partly to return the +visit of Osman Bey, who had intended to give the soldiers a day of rest +in our neighbourhood, partly to take advantage of the presence of the +distinguished Sheikh Ahmed, through whose interest I hoped to procure +boats to carry us across the river, and camels for the desert journey +that we had in prospect. The army had, however, already decamped, and had +passed the first places on the road. I therefore rode after them with +Jussuf in a brisk trot, and soon overtook the 400 Arnauts who formed +the rear. They were not, however, able to inform us how far Osman Bey +was in advance. The Arnauts are the soldiers most dreaded in the whole +country for brutality and cruelty, who at the same time are treated with +most indulgence by their leaders, because they are the only troops who +serve voluntarily, and the only foreigners taken into pay. It is but a +few months ago since they were sent to the late Ahmed Pascha by Mohammed +Ali, under an officer who was peculiarly feared, with the order, as it +is said, to bring the Pascha, dead or alive, to Cairo. The sudden death +of the Pascha at all events released him from his commission. The name +of that officer is Omar Aga, but he is known through the whole country +by the not very flattering appellation of Tomus Aga (Commandant Cochon) +which was once given him by Ibrahim Pascha, and which, since that time, +he himself thinks it an honour to bear. His own attendants, when we +overtook his horses and baggage, and inquired after their master, called +him by this name. After riding briskly for about five or six hours in the +most oppressive heat, we at length reached the camp at the village of +Bêida. + +We had by degrees gone more than half-way to Schendi, and were rejoiced +at the near prospect of finding some refreshment, after the exhaustion +of the hot ride; for we had already made up our minds to fast, till our +return in the evening, as there was absolutely nothing that we could eat +in the villages between; there was not even milk to be had. + +Osman Bey and Hakîm Peney were as much surprised as delighted at +my visit; some bowls of _Suri_ were immediately brought for our +refreshment—a beverage which undergoes a slow and troublesome process of +preparation, from half-fermented Durra; it is an agreeable acid, and, +especially with sugar, has a most excellent and refreshing taste. After +our breakfast, I went through the camp with Peney. The tents were pitched +along the river in the most picturesque variety of groups, on a great +space of ground here and there scattered over with trees and thicket, and +completely surrounded by it. An Egyptian army, composed half of blacks +and half of whites, most of them in tatters, returning in forced marches +from a depredatory expedition against the poor natives, presents, indeed, +a very different aspect from what we are accustomed to witness at home. +Although the intimidated population of Taka, for the most part innocent +of individual revolt, had already sent messengers to the Pascha, to avert +his vengeance, and moreover, on the approach of the troops, had not +offered the slightest resistance, nevertheless, several hundred unarmed +men and women, who either would not, or could not fly, were murdered by +that notorious troop of Arnauts; and Ahmed Pascha caused a number of +other men, who were believed to have been concerned in the insurrection, +as they were each led before him, to be beheaded in front of his tent. +Then, after all the conditions that were imposed had been fulfilled, +and the heavy contributions which had been required from them under +every variety of pretext had been also correctly paid, the Pascha caused +all the Sheikhs to assemble at once, as if for a fresh conference, but +forthwith had them all put in fetters, together with 120 other people, +and led away as prisoners. The young and strong men were to be placed +among the troops, the women handed over to the soldiers as slaves; the +Sheikhs were reserved for punishment till a later day. + +This was the glorious history of the Turkish campaign against Taka, as +it was related to me by the European eye-witnesses. Already twelve among +the forty-one Sheikhs who were carried away, and were nearly sinking +under the fatigue of the marches, have been shot on the road. The others +were exhibited to me singly. Each of them carried before him the stem +of a tree as thick as a man’s arm, about five or six feet long, which +terminated in a fork, into which the neck was fixed. The prongs of the +fork were bound together by a cross-piece of wood, fastened with a strap. +Some of their hands, also, were tied fast to the handle of the fork, +and in this condition they remain day and night. During the march, the +soldier who is specially appointed to overlook the prisoner, carries +the end of the pole: in the night most of them have their feet also +pinioned together. All of them had had their black curls shaven off. +The Sheikhs alone still wore their large head-dress of braids or curls. +Most of them looked very depressed and miserable; they had been the most +distinguished of their nation, and had been accustomed to be treated +by those they commanded, with the greatest reverence. They almost all +spoke Arabic, beside their own language, and mentioned to me the tribes +to which they severally belonged. But the most distinguished of all of +them was a Fakir, who was held sacred; his word had been regarded like +that of a prophet throughout the whole land, and, by his oracular sayings +and exhortations, he had been chiefly instrumental in causing the whole +revolution. He was called Sheikh MÛSA EL FAKIR, and was of the tribe of +the Mitkenâbs. I found him an old, blind, broken-down, hoary man, with +a few snow-white hairs; his body was already more like a skeleton; he +was obliged to be raised up by others, and was scarcely able to hear and +answer the questions which were addressed to him. His little, shrivelled +face, was incapable of any new expression corresponding to the present +circumstances. He looked forwards with a fixed and indifferent stare, +and I was surprised how such a shadow could have still exercised so +much influence on the minds of his fellow-countrymen as to excite a +revolution. Yet it is remarkable that, both in Egypt and everywhere about +here, blind people have an especial reputation for sanctity, and are held +in great respect as Prophets. + +After breakfast I had one of the captured Sheikhs, Mohammed welled +Hammed, brought to the tent of Osman, that I might question him about his +language, of which I was still perfectly ignorant. He was an intelligent, +well-spoken man, who at once took advantage of the opportunity which +I readily granted him, to relate his history to Osman Bey and Sheikh +Ahmed, and to assure them of his innocence of the revolutionary events. +He belonged to the tribe of the HALENKA, from the village of KASSALA. I +made him give me the lists of the forty-one Sheikhs and their tribes, and +had them written down. Six tribes had taken part in the insurrection—the +Mitkenâb, Halenka, Kelûli, Mohammedîn, Sobeh, Sikulâb, and Hadenduwa +(plur. from Henduwa). + +All the tribes of Taka speak the same language; but only a few of them +also understand the Arabic. I suspect that it is the same as that of the +Bischâri tribes. It has many, and well-distributed vowels, and is very +euphonous, as it is without the hard guttural sound of the Arabs. On +the other hand, it has a peculiar alphabetical letter, which to our ear +seems to stand between _r_, _l_, and _d_; a cerebral _d_, which, like the +Sanscrit, is pronounced by throwing back the point of the tongue upwards. + +After our examination of the Sheikh it had become too late to set out +again; night would have overtaken me, and especially on camel-back, it +is impossible to avoid the dangerous branches of the thorny trees. I +therefore complied with the invitation to spend the night in the camp, +till the rising of the moon; Osman Bey would then at the same time start +in the opposite direction with the army. A whole sheep was roasted on +the spit, which we ate with a hearty appetite. + +I learnt from Osman Bey about many interesting customs of the most +southern provinces, as for the last sixteen years he has been living +here in the south, and has an accurate knowledge of the country, to the +extreme limits of Mohammed Ali’s government. It is still the custom in +Fazoql to hang a king who is no longer beloved, which occurred only a few +years ago to the father of the present reigning monarch. His relatives +and ministers assemble round him, and announce to him that as he no +longer pleases the men and women of the country, the oxen, asses, and +fowls, &c., &c., but is detested by all, it is better that he should die. +Once upon a time, when a king did not wish to submit to this practice, +his own wife and mother made the most pressing remonstrances to him, not +to load himself with still greater disgrace, upon which he yielded to his +fate. Diodorus narrates exactly the same resignation to death in those +who in Ethiopia were to die by judicial verdict; a person who had been +condemned, and who had at first intended to save himself by flight, had +nevertheless allowed himself to be strangled without resistance by his +mother, who had obstructed him in his design. Osman Bey has only lately, +he assures me himself, abolished the custom there of burying old people +alive, when they become feeble. A pit used to be dug and a horizontal +passage at the end of it, and the body laid within, like that of a dead +person, firmly swathed in cloths; by his side they placed a bowl with +merisa, fermented Durra water, a pipe, and a hoe, to cultivate the land; +also, according to the wealth of the individual, one or two ounces of +gold, to pay the ferryman who must convey the deceased across the great +river which flows between heaven and hell. The entrance is then filled +up with rubbish. Indeed, according to Osman, the whole legend of Charon, +even with a Cerberus, appears still to exist here. + +This custom of burying old people alive also exists, as I afterwards +heard, among the negro tribes to the south of Kordofan. Invalids and +cripples, those especially who have an infectious malady, are there +also put to death in a similar manner. The family complains to the sick +man, that because of him, no one will come near them any longer; that +he himself is wretched, and death would be only a gain for him; that +he would again find his relations in the other world, and would be in +health and happiness there. They charge him with kind messages to all +the deceased, and then bury him either as they do in Fazoql, or standing +upright in a pit. Besides merisa, bread, a hoe, and a pipe, he is there +given a sword and two pairs of sandals, for the deceased live in the +other world just as they do here on earth, only in greater happiness. + +The dead are buried with loud lamentations, while their actions and good +qualities are extolled. Nothing is there known of a river and ferryman +of the lower world, but they are acquainted with the old Mohammedan +legend of the invisible angel Asrael, or as he was here called Osraîn. +He is commissioned by God, as they say, to receive the souls of the +dead, and to conduct the good to the place of reward, the bad to that +of punishment. He dwells upon a tree, _el Ségerat Mohàna_ (the Tree of +Completion), which has as many leaves as there are living men. There is +a name upon every leaf, and a new one grows whenever a child is born. +If any one sickens, his leaf fades, and should he die, Osraîn breaks it +off. In former times he used to come in a visible form to those whom he +was going to carry away from the earth, and thereby put them in a great +fright. Since the days of the Prophet he has been invisible, for when +he came to fetch the soul of Mohammed, the latter told him that it was +not good that he should terrify mankind by his visible appearance; they +might then easily die of fright without having previously prayed; for he +himself, although very courageous, and a man of enlarged mind, had been +terrified by his appearance. The Prophet, therefore, prayed to God that +he would make Osraîn invisible, and the prayer was heard. + +Osman Bey told me that among some other tribes in Fazoql, the king was +obliged to administer justice daily beneath a certain tree. If on account +of sickness, or from any other mishap, which renders him unfit, he does +not make his appearance for three whole days, he is hung up. Two razors +are placed in the noose, and when this is drawn tight, they cut the +throat across. + +The meaning of another of their customs is quite obscure. At a certain +time of the year they have a kind of carnival, where every one does what +he likes best. Four ministers of the king then bear him on an anqareb out +of his house to an open space of ground; a dog is fastened by a long cord +to one of the feet of the anqareb. The whole population collects round +the place, streaming in on every side. They then throw darts and stones +at the dog, till he is killed, after which the king is again borne into +his house. + +Amidst these and other tales and accounts of those tribes, which were +besides confirmed by the old Chief Sheikh Ahmed, we feasted on the +roasted sheep in the open air in front of the tent. Night was somewhat +advanced, and the near and distant camp-fires, with the people busy +around them, either squatting about, or walking up and down between +groups of trees, had an extremely picturesque and unique effect. +Gradually they all became extinguished, with the exception of the +watch-fire; the poor prisoners scattered here and there, had their legs +fastened still more tightly together, and it became quieter in the camp. + +Osman Bey is a strong, cheerful man, with natural manners, and at +the same time a strict and valued officer. He promised to give me a +slight proof of the discipline and good order among his soldiers, whose +external appearance did not prejudice me very much in their favour by +an unexpected reveillé. I was sleeping on an anqareb in the open tent, +covered with a soldier’s cloak. About three o’clock in the morning I was +awoke by a slight noise; Osman Bey, who lay beside me on the ground, +got up, and ordered the nearest drummer of the chief watch to beat the +reveillé. He made a few, short, interrupted beats of the drum, quickly +sinking again into silence. These were immediately repeated at the post +of the next regiment, then at the third, fourth, and fifth, in various, +always more distant, positions of the camp; and suddenly the whole mass +of 5000 men rose up and stood to their arms. Nothing was to be heard +but a soft whispering and rustling of the soldiers, who were rousing +each other, and the faint clank of the weapons, which were cautiously +separated from one another. I went through the camp with Dr. Peney, who +came across to me from the adjoining tent, and in a very few minutes we +found the whole army under arms, arranged in ranks, the officers marching +up and down in front. On our return, after we had related to Osman Bey +the wonderfully punctual execution of his commands, he allowed the +soldiers to separate again, and did not give the signal for the breaking +up of the camp before four o’clock. That produced a very different +effect: all were quickly in movement and activity; the abominable +gurgling and miserable roaring of the camels was heard above everything +during the packing up; the tents were taken down, and in less than half +an hour the army marched southwards with pipe and drum. + +I started in an opposite direction. The early morning with the bright +moonlight was very refreshing; the birds awoke with the dawn of day, a +cool wind rose, and we trotted quickly through the thorny sont-trees. +Soon after sunrise we met a magnificent procession of well-dressed men, +and attendants, on camels and asses. It was the King Mahmûd welled +Schauîsch, whose father, the warlike Schauîsch, King of the Schaiqies, +is well known in the conquering expedition of Ismael Pascha, to whom he +did not submit for a long time, and at whose house in Hellet e’ Solimân, +near Messelemîeh, we had stopped a few weeks ago. He had gone with Ahmed +Pascha Menekle to Taka, and followed the army to Halfaï, where he now +usually resides. About half-past nine we again reached the Pyramids. My +camel, a young one, and very difficult to manage, shortly before, took +fright in the plain, and ran round in a circle with me as if it was mad; +at length, stumbling over a tall bunch of grass, it fell on one knee, +and hurled me far over its head, happily without doing me any serious +injury. + +On my return I occupied myself, without interruption, with the Pyramids +and their inscriptions. I had several more chambers excavated, and made +an exact description of each individual Pyramid. Altogether, I have +found about thirty different names of Ethiopian kings and queens. I have +certainly not yet been able to bring them into any chronological order, +but from a comparison of the different inscriptions, I have learnt much +about the manner of the succession, and form of government. The King of +MERÖE (whose name in one of the most southern Pyramids is written MERU, +or MÉRUA,) was at the same time first Priest of Ammon; if his consort +survived him, she succeeded him in the government, and the male heirs +to the throne only took the second place beside her; if the reverse +happened, the son, as it appears, succeeded, who, even in the lifetime +of his father, bore the royal shields and titles, and was second Priest +of Ammon. Thus we still see here the domination of the priests, which is +spoken of by Diodorus and Strabo, and the pre-eminence of the worship of +Ammon, which is even mentioned by Herodotus. + +The inscriptions on the Pyramids show that, at the period of their +erection, the hieroglyphic writing was no longer perfectly understood, +and that the hieroglyphic signs were often only added as a customary +ornament, without wishing to express anything by them. Even the kings’ +names are thereby rendered uncertain, and this for a long time prevented +me from recognising the three royal personages who built the chief +temples in Naga, Ben Naga, and in Wadi Temêd, and who undoubtedly +belonged to one of the most brilliant periods of the Meröitic Monarchy. +I am now convinced that the Pyramids with Roman arched ante-chambers, in +the brick-work of which Ferlini found the treasure concealed, in spite of +slight alterations in the name, belonged to the same mighty and warlike +queen who appears in Naga with her rich decorations, and her pointed +nails almost an inch long. By the circumstance of their having belonged +to a well-known, and, as it appears, the greatest of all the queens of +Meröe, who built almost all the temples still in tolerable preservation +on the island, Ferlini’s jewels become infinitely more valuable for the +history of Ethiopian art, in which they now occupy a fixed position. The +purchase of that remarkable discovery is a most important acquisition to +our museum. + +An _Ethiopian-demotic_ writing was more in use at that period, and +more generally understood than hieroglyphics. It was similar to the +Egyptian-demotic in its characters, although consisting of a very limited +alphabet of between twenty-five and thirty signs. The writing, like the +latter, is read from right to left, but is distinguished by a constant +separation of the words by two strongly-marked points. I have already +found six-and-twenty similar demotic inscriptions; some of them on +steles and libation-tablets; some of them in the ante-chambers of the +Pyramids, over the persons belonging to the processions, who usually go +to meet the deceased king with palm-branches; some of them on the smooth +surfaces of the Pyramids; and indeed always in such a state, that they +are clearly proved to have belonged originally to the representations, +and not to have been added at a later period. On a closer examination +of this writing, it will not perhaps be difficult to decipher, and we +should then obtain the first certain sounds of the Ethiopian language +spoken here at that period, and could decide on its true relation to +the Egyptian language, while the almost perfect agreement between the +Ethiopian and Egyptian hieroglyphics have hitherto yielded no conclusive +evidence that there is an equal accordance between the two languages. It +seems, on the contrary, and with respect to the later Meröitic period +may be safely affirmed, that the hieroglyphics, as the sacred monumental +writing, were adopted from Egypt without alteration, but also without +being perfectly understood. The few signs which constantly recur, +prove that the Ethiopian-demotic writing is purely alphabetic, which +must very much facilitate the deciphering of it. The separation in the +words has perhaps been borrowed from the Roman writing. But its analogy +with the Egyptian development of writing went still further; for next +to this Ethiopian-demotic writing there is an _Ethiopian-Greek_, at a +later period, which may be perfectly compared with the _Coptic_, and +it has borrowed certain letters directly from it. It is found in the +inscriptions of Soba, and in some others on the walls of the temple-ruins +of Wadi e’ Sofra. We have therefore now, as in the case in Egypt, two +modes of writing, which no doubt sprang up one after the other, and +really contain the actual Ethiopian dialect of the country. It is now +usual to call the ancient Abyssinian Geez language the Ethiopian, which, +with the characteristics of a Semetic language that has immigrated from +Arabia, has only a local, but no ethnographic claim on our attention. A +Geez inscription, which I have found in the chamber of a Pyramid, has +evidently been written down at a later period. + +I hope that we shall obtain many important results from studying the +native inscriptions, as well as the present living languages. The +Ethiopian name comprehended much that was dissimilar among the ancients. +The ancient population of the whole Nile valley as far as Chartûm, and +perhaps, also, along the Blue River, as well as the tribes of the desert +to the east of the Nile, and the Abyssinian nations, were in former +times probably more distinctly separated from the Negroes than now, and +belonged to the _Caucasian_ race. The Ethiopians of Meröe (according to +Herodotus, the parent-state of all Ethiopia) were a red-brown people, +similar to the Egyptians, but darker, as they are at the present day. +The monuments also prove this, on which I have more than once found the +_red_ colour of the skin in the kings and queens preserved. In Egypt, +especially in the Old Monarchy, before the mixture with the Ethiopian +race, at the period of the Hyksos, the women were always painted yellow; +and the Egyptian women even now, who are blanched in the harem, incline +to the same colour. But red women appear even after the 18th Dynasty, +and the Ethiopian women were always so represented. It appears that much +Ethiopian blood is mingled with the nation of the so-called Barâbras, so +widely distributed at the present day, and this perhaps will also one day +appear still more distinctly from their language. This, no doubt, is the +ancient _Nubian_, and has been still retained in somewhat distant regions +to the south-west under this name; for the Nuba languages in and round +Kordofan, as can be proved, are partly related to the Berber language. +I have also found indications in the local names that this last, which +is only now spoken from Assuan to Dar Schaiqîeh, south of Dongola, in +the Nile valley, predominated for a long while also in the province of +Berber, and still higher up. + +MARÛGA, DANQELEH, and E’ SÛR, are close to the ruins of the city of +Meröe, and are situated along the river from south to north; all three +are comprehended under the name of BEGERAUÎEH, so that we scarcely ever +hear anything but this last name mentioned. Five minutes to the north of +e’ Sûr lies the village of Qala, and ten minutes farther on El Guês, both +of which are comprehended under the name of Ghabîne. One hour down the +river there are two other villages, not far apart, called MARÛGA, which +were deserted even before the conquest of the country; and still more to +the north, close to the Omarâb Mountains, which project towards the river +on the eastern bank, there is a third village called GEBEL (mountain +village) inhabited only by Fukaras. Cailliaud knew only the most southern +of the three MARUGAS, situated near the largest temple-ruins. He was +struck by the name, on account of its similarity with that of Meröe. The +similarity becomes still more evident when it is known that the real name +is MARU, since -GA is only the universal termination to names, and is +always either added or omitted, according to the grammatical combination, +for it does not belong to the root of the word. In the dialect of Kenûs +and Dongola this termination is -GI; in the dialect of Mahass and +Sukkôt it is -GA. When I ran over the different local names of the upper +countries with one of our Berber servants, I learnt that in one dialect +_maro_ or _marôgi_, in the other _maru_ or _marûga_, means “mounds of +ruins,” “destroyed temples;” thus, for example, the ruins of ancient +Syene, or those on the island of Philæ, are called _marôgi_. There is +another Berber word quite distinct from this, _mérua_, which is also +pronounced _méraui_, by which all _white rocks_, _white stones_, are +designated; as, for example, such a rock as occurs in the neighbourhood +of Assuan, on the eastern side of the Nile, at the village of El Gezîret. +By this it is evident that the appellation Marûga has nothing to do with +the name of Meröe, as a town would not be called when first founded +“ruin city.” On the other hand, the name of Mérua, Méraui (in German, +_Weissenfels_, white rock), would be very appropriate for a town, if its +local position gave occasion to it, as at Mount Barkal, but which, again, +is not really the case here. + + + + +LETTER XXI. + + + _Keli, opposite Meröe, the 29th April._ + +Franke did not return from his expedition to Ben Naga before the 23rd +instant. He brought the altar here, on a boat, in sixteen blocks. All +the stones taken together, which we must carry along with us on the +difficult journey of six or seven days across the desert, form a load +for about twenty camels, so that our train will be considerably longer +than before. Unfortunately, on account of the difficulty of the means of +transport, we have been unable to take anything away with us from NAGA +in the desert, except a Roman inscription, mentioned above, and a great +_Clavis Nilotica_, peculiarly carved. Some very strange representations +are to be seen there; among others, a figure sitting frontways, a crown +of rays over the floating hair, the left arm raised at a right angle, and +the fore-finger and middle-finger of the hand stretching upwards, as is +represented in the old Byzantine figures of Christ. The right hand holds +a long staff resting on the ground, as John the Baptist usually holds it. +This figure is totally different from the Egyptian representations, and +no doubt is borrowed elsewhere, as well as another god who frequently +appears, also represented frontwise, with a richly curling beard; he +might at first sight be compared to a Jupiter, or Serapis, in bearing and +appearance. The mixture of the religions had made great progress at that +period, evidently of very late date, and it would not surprise me if it +should be proved by later researches that the Ethiopian kings had adopted +Christ and Jupiter also, among their various kinds of gods. The god with +the three or four lions’ heads is probably not a native invention, but +obtained from some other quarter. + +On the 25th we crossed the Nile in boats, in order to set out on the +left bank, on our road across the desert to Gebel Barkal. There seemed +to be difficulties again about procuring camels, but my threat, that if +they would not come to a private agreement I should, on the ground of my +Firman, settle the matter, not with the Sheikh but with the Government, +had such a rapid effect, that, even the following morning, we were +enabled to set out with eighty camels from Gôs Burri in the immediate +neighbourhood, across the desert. + +Here, in Keli, I had again an opportunity of witnessing a funeral +ceremony—this time, for a deceased Fellah—for which purpose about two +hundred people had collected, the men separate from the women. The men +were seated, two and two opposite, embracing each other; they laid their +heads on their shoulders, raised them up again, beat themselves, clapped +their hands, and wept as much as they were able. The women moaned, sang +songs of lamentation, strewed themselves with ashes, walked about in +procession, and threw themselves on the ground; everything very similar +to what we saw in Wed Médineh, except that their dance more resembled, +in its violent movements, that of the Dervishes. The remainder of the +inhabitants of Keli sat round in groups under the shade of the trees, +sighing and lamenting, with their heads bent down. + +As we were obliged to wait for the camels, I once more crossed over +to Beg´erauîeh, to search for certain ruins, which were said to be +situated somewhat more to the north. Starting from EL GUÊS, I arrived in +three-quarters of an hour, upon my ass, at the two villages of Marûga, +not far removed from each other. To the eastward of the first, on the +low eminences running along in that direction, there are a number of +mounds of tombs, which from a little distance looked like a group of +Pyramids standing out from the sky. The elevation turns backwards, in +the form of a crescent, towards the south, and is covered with these +circular-thrown-up mounds, composed of black desert stone; standing on a +large mound in the centre I counted fifty-six of them. + +Five minutes farther on in the desert there is a second group of similar +mounds, twenty-one in number; but many others lie near it, scattered +on single small pieces of ground. Situated in a still lower position, +and even within the limit of the thicket, I discovered a third group, +to the south of the two former ones, containing about forty tombs, in +some of which we could still clearly recognise their original square +form. The tomb in best preservation was between 15 and 18 feet wide on +every side; like many others, it had been excavated in the centre, and +had been filled up with mud deposited by the rain, in which a tree was +growing; a great square wall of 24 paces enclosing it on every side, was +still remaining of another tomb, the lowest layers were built up solidly +of small black stones, and a mound seemed to have been erected within, +but not in the centre. Another still stronger circumvallation, in good +preservation, was not much smaller in circumference, but appeared to have +been completely filled up with a Pyramid. Nothing was to be seen of an +actual casing. The mounds continued still more to the south amidst the +thicket, and altogether there might be about two hundred which could be +distinguished. Perhaps, also, they continue still farther on the border +of the desert, in the direction of Meröe, whither I would have ridden +back had I not sent the boat too far down the river, in quest of which +I now was obliged to hasten. It appears, therefore, that this was the +actual cemetery of Meröe, and that pyramidal, or, in default of smooth +sides, conical mounds of stones, were the usual forms of the tombs, even +of private individuals, at that period. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + + + _Barkal, the 9th May, 1844._ + +The desert of GILIF, which we traversed on our road hither, to cut off +the great eastern bend of the Nile, derives its name from the principal +mountain range which lies in the centre of it. On the maps it is +confounded with the desert BAHIUDA, which bounds it to the south-east, +and across which runs the road from Chartûm to Ambukôl and Barkal. +Our direction was first due east as far as a well, afterwards to the +north-west, and in the midst of the Gilif range to the great Wadi Abu +Dôm, which then led us across in the same direction to the western bend +of the Nile. + +The general character of the country here, is not so much that of a +desert as between Korusko and Abu Hammed, but more that of a sandy +steppe. It is almost everywhere covered with Gesch (tufts of reed-grass), +and not unfrequently with low trees, chiefly Sont-trees. The rains which +fall here at certain seasons of the year, have deposited considerable +masses of earth on the low grounds, which might be profitably cultivated, +and this is sometimes traversed, to the depth of three or four feet, +by torrents occasioned by the rain. The soil is yellow, and composed +of a clayey sand. The rock forming the subsoil, and the whole of the +mountains, with the exception of the lofty Gilif range, is a sandstone. +The ground is covered to a considerable extent with hard, black blocks +of sandstone, the road is generally uneven, and undulating. Numerous +gazelles, and large white antelopes with only a brown stripe down their +backs, are to be found on these plains, which are also frequented in the +rainy season by herds of camels and of goats, on account of the plentiful +supply of pasture. + +On the 29th April we left the river, but, as is very customary in +caravans of any considerable size, this was only a first start—a trial of +our travelling powers, such as birds of passage make before their long +migration. We had only been two hours on the road when the guide allowed +the restless swarm to encamp again, just beyond GÔS BURRI, at a little +distance from the river; the camel-drivers were without their provisions; +some single beasts were still procured, others were exchanged. It was not +before the following day at twelve o’clock that we got into perfect order +and in full march. We spent the night in the WADI ABU HAMMED, at which +point GEBEL OMARDA was on our right hand. + +The third day we started very early; passed GEBEL QERMANA, and arrived +at the well of ABU TLÊH, which took us far to the east, and detained +us several hours after mid-day. From this point we were seven hours +traversing a wide plain, and encamped about ten at night near GEBEL +SERGEN. The 2nd May, after proceeding four hours, we reached a district +well supplied with trees, to the right of GEBEL NUSF, the “Mountain of +the Half,” which is situated half-way between the well of Abu Tlêh and +Gaqedûl, as on all these journeys the wells are the real indicators of +the hour in the desert-clock. + +The Arabs from the district of Gôs Burri, who are our guides, belong to +the tribe of the ʾAuadîeh; they are not nearly as respectable as the +Ababde Arabs, have a rapid and indistinct mode of speech, and altogether +seem to have very little capacity. They may have already intermingled +much with the Fellahîn of the country, who here call themselves Qaleâb, +Homerâb, Gaalîn. There are also some Schaiqîeh Arabs here, probably only +from the time of the conquest of the country by the Egyptians; they carry +shields and spears like the Ababde Arabs. The wealthy Sheikh, Emin, of +Gôs Burri, had given us his brother, the Fakir Fadl Allah, as our guide, +and his own son, Fadl Allah, as overseer to his camels; but even the +best among these people make but a miserable and starved appearance in +comparison with our desert companions of Korusko. The order of the day +here was as follows: that in general we should start about six in the +morning, and keep moving till ten o’clock; after that, the caravan rested +during the mid-day heat till about three o’clock, and we then proceeded +again till about ten or eleven at night. + +We rode across the large plain of EL GÔS the whole afternoon, so called, +probably, from the great sand dunes, which are characteristic of this +part of the country, and which, more especially towards the south, assume +a peculiar form. They are almost all in the shape of a crescent, which +opens towards the south-west, so that from the road on our right hand +we look into a number of tunnels, or semi-theatres, whose precipitous +walls of sand rise nearly ten feet from the ground, while the north +wind, passing over the field within, clears it completely from the sand, +which would gradually fill up the cavity. But the rapidity with which +this moveable sand-architecture alters its position is manifested by the +single tracks on the caravan-road, which are frequently lost under the +very centre of the highest sand-hills. About eight o’clock in the evening +we left GEBEL BARQUGRES on our left hand, and halted for the night, about +ten o’clock, at a short distance from the Gilif range. + +The 3rd May we marched through the WADI GUAH EL ʾALEM, which is covered +with a great many trees, into the heart of the mountains, which are +chiefly composed of porphyritic rock, and like all primitive mountains, +on account of their longer retention of the precipitated humidity and the +small amount of rain, are more covered with vegetation than the sandy +plains. In three hours we reached the WADI GAQEDÛL, thickly covered with +Gesch and thorny trees of every description, Sont, Somra, and Serha. We +met some herds of camels and goats grazing here, especially near the +water, which had also attracted numerous birds, among others ravens and +pigeons. The water is said to be retained for the space of three years, +without any fresh accession in this broad, low-situated grotto, about 300 +feet in diameter, surrounded, and for the most part covered in, by lofty +walls of granite. It was, however, so dirty, and had such an abominable +smell, that it was even despised by my thirsty ass. The drinkable water +is situated higher up in the mountains, and is difficult of access. + +We here quitted the northerly direction into which we had been led by +the well, since leaving Gebel Nusf, and continued for several hours +very much to the west along the Gilif range, into the WADI EL MEHET, +then traversing the perfectly dry bed of the valley (Chôr) of EL AMMER, +from which the road to Ambukôl diverges, we halted past ten o’clock at +night in the WADI EL UER, which was named by others the WADI ABU HAROD. +From this point, the Gilif range retreated for some distance farther +towards the east, and only left a succession of sandstone hills in the +foreground, along which we rode the following morning. In the W.N.W. we +saw other mountain ranges, which are no longer called Gilif; one single +two-pointed mountain among them, which stood out from the rest, was +called MIGLIK. The great inlet of the Gilif chain, filled with sandstone +rock, is two hours broad;[47] the road then continues to lead in a more +northerly direction, into the midst of the range itself, which is here +called GEBEL EL MÁGEQA, after the well of MÁGEQA. + +Before entering this mountain range, we came to a place covered with +heaps of stones, which might be supposed to be barrows, though no +one lies buried beneath them. Whenever the date merchants come this +road, many of whom we met the following morning, with their large +round plaited straw baskets, their camel-drivers at this spot demand +a trifle from them. He who will give nothing, has a cenotaph such as +this erected to him, out of the surrounding stones, as a bad omen for +his hard-heartedness. We met with a similar assemblage of tombs in the +desert of Korusko. We reached this well soon after nine o’clock, but +without halting ascended a wild valley to a considerable height, where we +encamped about mid-day. + +The whole road was amply supplied with trees, and thereby offered an +agreeable variety. The Sont, or gum-trees, were rare here; the Somra +appeared most frequently, which begins to spread out directly from the +ground in several strong branches, and terminates with a flat covering of +thinly-scattered boughs and small green leaves, so that it often forms a +completely regular inverted cone, which at this spot sometimes attains +to about the height of fifteen feet. Near it grows the HEGLIK, with +irregular boughs round the stem, and single tufts of leaves and twigs, +like the pear-tree. The thornless SERHA, on the other hand, has all the +branches surrounded with quite small green leaves, like moss, and the +TONDUB has no leaves at all, but in their place only small green little +twigs, growing zig-zag, and almost as close as foliage, while the Sálame +shrub consists of long flexible twigs covered with green leaves and long +green thorns. + +About four o’clock we set out, and descended very gradually from the +heights. There are also a number of wells in the WADI KALAS, with very +good rain water, about twenty feet in depth; we pitched our encampment +for the night at this spot, although we arrived there soon after sunset. +The animals were watered, and the skins filled. The whole of the plateau +is well supplied with trees and shrubs, and inhabited by men and animals. + +Our road on the following day preserved the same character, as long as we +were wandering between the beautiful and rugged escarpments of porphyry. +After proceeding a couple of hours farther, we came to two other wells, +also called KALAS, with little, but good water. From this spot, a road +diverged in a north-easterly direction to the well of MERÖE, in the Wadi +Abu Dôm, probably so called also from a white rock. + +Three hours farther, having passed GEBEL ABRAK, we entered the great +WADI ABU DÔM, which we now pursued in a west north-west direction. This +remarkable valley passes uninterruptedly by the side of a long mountain +chain from the Nile at El Mechêref to the village of Abu Dôm, which is +situated obliquely opposite Mount Barkal. When we consider that the upper +north-eastern opening of this valley, which traverses the whole Peninsula +and its mountain ranges, lies nearly opposite the mouth of the Atbara, +which flows into the Nile in the same direction above Mechêref, we cannot +help suspecting that once, though perhaps not in historical times, there +must have been a connection by water, which cut off the largest portion +of the great eastern bend of the Nile, now formed by the rocky elevated +plateau at Abu Hammed, driving back the stream above a degree and a half +towards the south, contrary to its common direction. The name of the +valley is derived from the single Dôm Palms, which are here and there +found in it. The mountain chain, which passes along the north of the +valley, is completely separated from the range, through which we had +hitherto come. At the entrance of this valley we left the solid ground +of which the mountain is composed, and the loose sands again prevailed, +without however overpowering the still far from scanty vegetation. + +In the afternoon, after leaving on our left hand a side valley, OM +SCHEBAK, which contains well-water, we encamped for the night as early as +nine o’clock. The following morning we came to the deep well of HANIK, +and halted about mid-day at a second well, which was called OM SAIALE, +after the tree of that name. + +At this spot, I left the caravan with Jussuf, to reach Barkal by a +circuitous road by NURI, situated on this side of the river somewhat +higher up. In an hour and a half we arrived at some considerable ruins of +a large Christian convent in the WADI GAZÂL, so called from the gazelles, +which dig in great numbers for water here in the Chôr (bed of the +valley). The church was built as high as the windows of white, well-hewn +sandstone, and above that of unburnt bricks. The walls are covered with +a strong coating of plaster, and are painted in the interior. The vaulted +apse of the three-naved Basilica is situated, as usual, towards the east, +the entrances behind the western transept are towards the north and +south; all the arches of the doors, the windows, and between the pillars, +are round: above the doors, Coptic crosses are frequently exhibited, more +or less ornamented, whose most simple form ✙ may be compared with the +ancient Egyptian symbol of Life. The whole church is a genuine type of +all the Coptic churches which I have seen in ruins, and I therefore add +the small ground plan just as Erbkam took it down. + +[Illustration] + +The building is above eighty feet long, and exactly half as broad. The +outer wall to the north has fallen in. The church is surrounded by a +great court, whose walls of enclosure, as well as the numerous convent +cells, some of which have vaulted roofs, are built of rough blocks, and +are in good preservation; the largest of them, a dwelling forty-six +feet long, is situated in front of the western side of the church, and +is only separated from it by a small narrow court; no doubt it belonged +to the prior, and a special side-entrance led from it into the church. +Two churchyards are situated on the southern side of the convent; that +to the west, about forty paces removed from the church, contained a +number of tombs, which consisted simply of a collection of black stones +heaped up together. The eastern churchyard was situated nearer to the +buildings, and was remarkable from possessing a considerable amount of +tombstones with inscriptions, partly in Greek, partly in Coptic, which +will induce me to pay a second visit to this remarkable convent before +we leave Barkal. I counted more than twenty stones with inscriptions, +some of which had sustained much injury, and about as many tablets in +burnt earth, with inscriptions scratched into them, though most of them +were broken to pieces. They contain the most southern Greek inscriptions +which have been hitherto known in the Nile region, with the exception of +those of Adulis and Axum in Abyssinia. There is no doubt that the Greek +language following in the wake of Christianity, and the traces of which +we might have ourselves pursued in structural remains even beyond Soba, +was at one time employed and understood, at least for religious objects, +by the natives in the flourishing districts, even as far as the interior +of Abyssinia; nevertheless these monumental inscriptions (none of them, +as far as I could see in a hasty survey, in the Ethiopian language) allow +us to infer that the inhabitants of the convent were Greek Coptics who +had immigrated. + +About five o’clock I left my companions, who went direct to Abu Dôm, and +I immediately set out for NURI. We soon saw MOUNT BARKAL shining blue +in the distance; it rises singly and precipitously from the surrounding +plain, and has a broad platform, and, by its peculiar form and position, +at once attracts attention; about six o’clock the Nile valley, which is +here of considerable breadth, lay spread out before us, a sight always +longed for after the desert journey, and which, like the approaching +misty coast after a sea voyage, keeps the attention of the traveller in a +state of joyful expectation. + +Our road, however, now turned towards the right, and led among the +mountains, which stretch out into the plain, and are still composed +of masses of porphyry. When we stood directly in front of Barkal, I +observed on our left hand a great number of black barrows, either round, +or pyramidal in form, similar to those I previously saw at Meröe. It +was probably the general cemetery of NAPATA, which even in the time +of Herodotus was the royal residence of the Ethiopian kings, and was +situated on the farther bank; a considerable town must therefore at +one time have been placed on the left bank of the Nile, which would +also explain the position of the Pyramids of NURI on the same side of +the river. Nevertheless, I have not been able to discover any mound of +ruins in accordance with this surmise. I only saw some similar to these, +though not of considerable extent, behind the village of Duêm and at Abu +Dôm, which were called SANAB. It was not before half-past seven that we +arrived in the neighbourhood of this considerable group of Pyramids, and +we quartered ourselves for the night in the house of the Sheikh of the +village. + +Before sunrise I was already at the Pyramids, of which I counted +twenty-five. They are some of them grander than those at Meröe, but are +built of soft sandstone, and, therefore, have suffered much from exposure +to the weather; only very few of them had a portion of the smooth casing +preserved. The largest shows, again, the same structure in the interior +which I have referred to in the Pyramids of Lower Egypt; a smaller +internal Pyramid was enlarged in all its dimensions by a superimposed +stone casing. In one place, on the west side, the smoothed upper surface +of the internal structure was most clearly disclosed beneath the +well-joined external covering, which is eight feet thick. Little is to be +seen here of ante-chambers such as there are in Meröe and at the Pyramids +of Barkal; I think I have only found the remains of two; the rest, if +they ever existed, must have been completely demolished, or buried +beneath the rubbish. Some of the Pyramids, however, stand so immediately +against each other, that, on that account alone, an ante-chamber, at +least on the last side where it might have been expected, could not have +existed. Besides this, the Pyramids are generally built quite massively +of square blocks; I could only perceive, on the one situated most to the +east, that it was filled up with black unhewn stones. There is also a +truncated Pyramid like that of Daschûr; but here the lower, and not, as +in that instance, the upper angle of inclination, must have been the one +originally intended, as the former is scarcely sufficient for a series +of steps. Although, unfortunately, I had been unable to discover any +inscriptions, with the exception of one single small fragment of granite, +yet much seems to favour the idea that this group of Pyramids is of an +older date, while those of Barkal are more recent. + +Soon after ten o’clock I reached ABU DÔM, where I found my companions +already arrived. The whole of the next day was occupied in crossing the +Nile, and we did not reach Barkal before sunset. Georgi, to my delight, +had arrived here some days previously from Dongola. We now more than ever +require his assistance, because drawings must be made of whatever we meet +with here. The Ethiopian royal residence of King TAHRAKA, who reigned at +the same time in Egypt, and left buildings behind him, the same who in +the time of Hezekiah marched to Palestine against Sennacherib, is too +important for us not to exhaust it, if possible, of its treasures. + + + + +LETTER XXIII. + + + _Mount Barkal, the 28th May, 1844._ + +During the next few days I expect the arrival of the transport boats +which I begged of Hassan Pascha, and which set off eleven days ago; they +are to receive our Ethiopian treasures, and to convey us to Dongola. +The results of our researches here are not without importance. Upon +the whole, they are quite confirmatory of the opinion that Ethiopian +art is only a late offshoot from the Egyptian. It does not commence +under native rulers before the time of Tahraka. The little which is +extant from a still earlier period belongs to the Egyptian conquerors +and their artists. Here, at least, it is confined solely to one temple, +which Ramses the Great erected to Amen-Ra. It is true that the name of +Amenophis III. has been discovered on several of the granite Rams, as +well as on Lord Prudhoe’s Lion in London, but there are good grounds to +suppose that these magnificent Colossi did not originally belong to a +temple here. They were only brought here at a later period, it appears, +from Soleb, probably by the Ethiopian king whose name is found engraved +on the breast of the above-mentioned lion, and which, from the incorrect +omission of a sign, has been hitherto read AMEN ASRU in place of MI AMEN +ASRU. + +Nevertheless, I consider these Rams so remarkable, especially on account +of their inscriptions, that I have determined to carry away the best of +them. The fat wether probably weighs nearly 150 cwt. However, in the +space of three sultry days, it has been safely dragged on rollers to the +river bank by ninety-two Fellahs, and it there waits for embarkation. +Several other monuments besides are to accompany us from this spot, as +we need no longer fear their weight since the desert is behind us. I +will only mention an Ethiopian altar, four feet high, with the Shields +of the king who erected it; a statue of Isis, on whose plinth there is +an Ethiopian-demotic inscription of eighteen lines; another also from +Méraui; as well as the peculiar monument bearing the name of Amenophis +III., which was copied by Cailliaud, and was thought to be a foot, but, +in truth, is the lower portion of the sacred sparrow-hawk. All these +monuments are of black granite.[48] + +The town of NAPATA, the name of which I have now frequently found in +hieroglyphics, and even on the monuments of Tahraka, was situated, no +doubt, somewhat farther down the river, near the present town of MÉRAUI, +where considerable mounds of ruins still testify to this. The Temples +and Pyramids were alone situated near the mountain. This remarkable +mass of rock bears the name of the “Sacred Mount” 𓈋𓏤𓃂 in the hieroglyphic +inscriptions. The god who was peculiarly worshipped here was Ammon-Ra. + +On the 18th of May we accomplished our long intended second visit to +the Wadi Gazâl; we took an impression of all the Greek and Coptic +inscriptions of the cemetery, and carried away with us such as appeared +in some degree legible. + +We feel now, more than ever, what the torrid zone will be in the hot +season which we are now approaching. The thermometer generally rises +after mid-day to 37° and 38° R. (115-117¼° Fahr.), and is occasionally +even above 40° (122° Fahr.) in the shade. I frequently found the burning +sand beneath our feet as much as 53° (151° Fahr.); and anything made of +metal can only be laid hold of in the open air with a cloth. All our +drawings and papers are abundantly bedewed with drops of perspiration. +But the most oppressive thing is the hot wind, which, instead of cooling +us, drives a regular furnace heat into our faces, and the nights are not +much more refreshing. The thermometer, towards evening, falls down to 33° +(106¼° Fahr.), and by the morning is as low as 28° (95° Fahr.). Our only +refreshment is in taking frequent baths in the Nile, which, however, in +Europe, would be considered warm baths. Between times we have more than +once had tempests, with violent storms of wind loaded with sand, and +even a few drops of rain fell in the midst of them. Yesterday, a gust +of wind beat our tent down to the ground, and at the same moment, owing +to its violence, our large arbour, built of solid stems of trees and +palm-branches, fell upon our heads, while we were eating within it; we +could scarcely enjoy our dinner from the strong spicing of sand. Violent +squalls and whirlwinds seem to be peculiar to this country, or to this +season, for often we see four or five high columns of sand rushing up at +once to the sky, at different distances, like great volcanoes. There are +few snakes here; but, on that very account, more scorpions and hideous +great spiders, which are dreaded by the natives even more than the +scorpions. We now sleep, on account of the venomous vermin, on anqarebs, +which we have had brought out of the village. + + + + +LETTER XXIV. + + + _Dongola, the 15th June, 1844._ + +Before we left Barkal, I undertook another excursion of three days up the +Nile to the Cataract country, which we had cut off by our desert journey. +I was anxious to become acquainted with the character of this district +also, the only part of the Nile valley through which we had not travelled +with the caravan. We went by water as far as KASINQAR, and spent the +night there. At this point bold masses of granite rise up majestically, +which divide the river into numerous islands, and impede the navigation. +The following morning, before the camels were ready, we reached, not +without difficulty, the island of ISCHISCHI; it is surrounded by violent +and dangerous currents. We here found ruins of walls, and buildings built +of bricks, and sometimes of stones, both hewn and unhewn, by which we may +conclude there were fortifications on the island at different periods of +time; but there were no inscriptions, except one single one, consisting +of a few incomprehensible signs. + +We did not mount our camels in Kasinqar before nine o’clock, and then +rode along the right bank between the granite rocks, which leave but a +small space for a scanty vegetation. Almost all the numerous, though +generally small, islands refresh the eye by green groups of trees and +cultivated bits of ground, which are cut up in a variety of ways by the +black rocks. There would be scarcely room in this rocky channel for +villages of any considerable size, still less sufficient to maintain +them. Those that exist are distributed in houses standing singly, and +small groups of houses far apart, but which bear one and the same name +up to certain frontier points. The village plot of ground belonging to +Kasinqar terminated with a beautiful group of palm-trees. We then entered +the territory of KÛʾEH, after that followed the long tract of HAMDÂB, +which includes the island of MÉRUI or MERÖE, which is a quarter of an +hour in extent. Here also the name is explained by its appearance. It +is very lofty, sometimes forty feet above the surface of the water, but +completely barren and uninhabited; and with the exception of the low +black rock, which at times is covered by the water, the whole island is +totally white. This chiefly arises on account of the dazzling moving +sands with which it is covered; but, what is still more remarkable, the +rock which projects from them is also white, either on account of great +veins of quartz, similar to what I had observed in another strikingly +white rock which lay on our road in the province of ROBATAT, and which +was called HAGER MÉRUI by the camel-drivers, or because the weathered +granite had here assumed this colour. The name of the town of MÉRAUI, +near Barkal, is perhaps derived from the same origin; in that instance +the white rocky precipices descending from Méraui to the river, which, +on our departure, especially struck me by their colour, must have given +occasion to it. On the opposite bank, GEBEL KONGELI approaches close to +the river, which is also called Gebel Mérui, from the island, and in the +same manner the rushing cataract a little above the island has received +the name of Schellâl Mérui. + +About four o’clock we arrived at the ruins of HELLET EL BIB, which in the +distance looks exactly like a castle of the middle ages. It rises from a +low rock, whose ridge intersects the court and the building itself, so +that one portion of it looks like an upper story to the other. The whole +structure is composed of unburnt, but well and carefully made, bricks, +which were firmly joined together with a little lime, and covered with +a coating of the same. There are various larger and smaller chambers in +the interior, some of them furnished with semicircular niches, and arched +doors. The walls on the western side were fifteen feet high. The outer +wall of the court was of unhewn stones, but carefully built up to the +height of between five and eight feet; it embraced a tolerably regular +square space, each side of which was about sixty-five paces long. + +This small castle, though of considerable importance in this district, +reminded us much, by its niches and arched doors, of the Christian +architecture of the earlier centuries, but yet did not seem to have had +any religious destination. Perhaps, therefore, it only belonged to the +flourishing times of the powerful and warlike Schaiqîeh tribes, which, +according to tradition, are said to have first wandered from Arabia +into these parts several hundred years ago. In the time of the Egyptian +conquest the country was under three Schaiqîeh princes, one of whom might +have resided here. The neighbourhood, besides, was somewhat more favoured +by nature, the banks more level, and covered with thicket, which here +and there bordered some of the land capable of cultivation. After I had +drawn out the plan of the building we started on our return about nine +o’clock in the evening, by the light of a full moon, and we considerably +shortened our journey by taking the road through the desert from the +island of SAFFI. About eleven o’clock we halted for the night, on an open +sandy spot of ground of the great granite plain. About five o’clock we +again started betwixt moonlight and morning dawn, and, as early as nine, +we reached our boat at Kasinqar. + +Near this place I met with a new tree in a small Wadi, which led to the +river. It was called BÂN, and is said to grow nowhere in this country +except in this Wadi, called after it CHÔR EL BÂN, and in one other +Wadi near Méraui.[49] A strong stem, with a white bark, not unlike our +walnut-tree, with some side stems and branches just as white, rose short +and knotty from the ground. Most of the branches were now bare; only +a few of them had foliage, if we choose to call the long green twigs +collected in little bunches by that name. The fruits are long, roundish, +furrowed pods, which split into three parts, when the black-shelled +nuts contained within (of the size of small hazel nuts), five to ten +in number, are ripe; the white oily kernel, sweet as a nut, though +also somewhat acrid, is good to eat, and is much liked, but it is more +particularly used by the inhabitants in the immediate neighbourhood for +pressing oil out of it. The blossoms are said to be yellow, and to grow +in clusters. + +About mid-day the Sheikh of Nuri came on board our boat, and I collected +some more information from him about the Cataract country. In the +province of SCHAIQÎEH, and the adjoining one of MONASSIR, eight separate +cataracts are reckoned; the first, Schellâl Gerêndid, at the island of +Ischischi; then Schellâl Terâi, at Kûʾeh; Schellâl Mérui; Schellâl Dahák, +at the island of Uli; Schellâl el Edermîeh; e’ Kabenât; e’ Tanarâi; and +Om Derás. Afterwards the rocky country continues uninterruptedly to El +Kab, from which point the river has very little fall as far as Schellâl +Mogrât, in the great bend towards Berber. + +At the present day nothing but Arabic is spoken in the whole of this +district; but some recollection of the earlier Nubian population has +been distinctly retained, since even now a number of villages are +distinguished from the others as _Nuba places_. The following were +mentioned to me as such, above the province of Dongola: GEBEL MAQÁL and +ZÛMA on the right bank, and near it the island of MASSAUI, which also +still bears the Nubian name of ABRANARTI; then upon the left bank BELLED +E’ NUBA, between Debbe and Abu Dôm, HALUF or NURI and BELLEL; opposite to +these, GERF E’ SCHECH and KASINQAR. Then there is a gap in the statement, +and it refers to places up the river to CHÔSCH E’ GURÛF, a little below +the island of Mogrât, to SALAME and DARMALI, two villages between +Mechêref and Dâmer; lastly, there is another BELLED E’ NUBA to the north +of Gôs Burri, in the province of Metamme. + +On the 4th of June we at length left Barkal, after having placed the Ram +and the other heavy monuments on two transport boats specially devoted to +that purpose. + +We stopped the first night in Abu Dôm, on the left bank. I had heard of a +Fakir in this place, who was said to be in possession of written records +about the tribes of the Schaiqîeh Arabs. He was an intelligent, and, for +this country, a learned man, who would not indeed yield up to me the few +sheets of his own copy which he actually possessed, but immediately set +to work to transcribe them for me. + +The following morning we first landed in TANQASSI, situated an hour and +a half below Abu Dôm, where we were told we should find ruins. A Fakir +Daha, who belonged to the Korêsch, the tribe of the Prophet, accompanied +us to the, now at least insignificant, mound of bricks. We passed his +hereditary sepulchre, a small building with a cupola that had been built +by his grandfather, but had already received in addition to him, his +father and several relatives. From this spot I descried some mounds in +the distance, which the Fakir pronounced to be natural. We, however, rode +up to them, and a short half hour from the river found more than twenty +Pyramids of tolerable size, now apparently only consisting of black +earth, but originally built of Nile bricks. Single stones lay around, and +on the eastern side, at a short distance, there were always two small +heaps of stones, which seem to have belonged to the ante-chamber, and +were perhaps connected with the Pyramid by brick walls; but nowhere could +we find hewn stones, and still less inscriptions. + +We also found a field of Pyramids at KURRU, on the farther bank, although +but little could be discovered of the ruins of a town. Of the two most +considerable Pyramids, the largest, which still bears the strange name +of QANTUR, was 35 feet high; and towards the south-east we saw the +remains of an ante-chamber. Twenty-one smaller ones are grouped round +these two, four of which, like the largest Pyramid, were entirely +built of sandstone, but are now in great part demolished; others only +consisted of black field stones. Lastly, to the west of all of them, the +ground plan is still to be seen of a large Pyramid, which was probably +once completely massive, and has been on that account demolished; the +foundations were laid in the rock. It appears that these Pyramids also, +which, by their solid structure, are quite distinct from those lying +opposite, belonged to a royal Dynasty of Napata, for which reason the +absence of any considerable ruins of a town would be easier to explain +here than on the opposite side of the river. + +Three-quarters of an hour farther down the river is situated the village +of ZÛMA, on the right bank. Near it, in the direction of the mountains, +there rises an old fortress, with towers of defence, called KARAT NEGIL, +whose front walls were only destroyed and thrown down about fifty or +sixty years ago, when the inhabitants of Zûma settled here. The name is +derived from an ancient King of the country, NEGIL, in whose time the +surrounding land, now dry, was still within reach of the Nile, and is +said to have been fertile. + +The first thing that I saw on the road to the fortress was again a number +of Pyramids, eight of which are still 20 feet high; including those which +are destroyed, and which in general seem to have been those which were +most massive, we found above thirty; the ancient stone quarries are still +to be seen which furnished the material for the Pyramids. + +These three fields of Pyramids, that of TANQASSI, KURRU, and ZÛMA, or +KARAT NEGIL, whose sites were paced, and carefully noted down by Erbkam, +are planted on an extent of ground of but a few hours in circumference, +and indicate the existence of a strong and flourishing population in this +district in Heathen times; on the other hand, in the district immediately +succeeding this, and more or less throughout the whole province of +Dongola, we found numerous remains of Christian churches. + +On the 7th of June we visited three of these, situated at short distances +from each other, all on the right bank of the river. Two hours and a +half from Zûma we first come to BACHÎT. Here the precipitous rock of the +desert advances close upon the river, and bears a fortress, no doubt, +also dating from Christian times, with eighteen semicircular projecting +towers of defence. In the interior, beneath barren heaps of rubbish, +there were still the ruins of a church, which at that time seems to +have everywhere formed the central point of the stronghold. Here it was +only 63 feet long, and the whole nave rested on four columns and two +pilasters; nevertheless, the plan corresponded perfectly with the general +type. + +The church of MAGAL, which is situated only one half hour farther on, +must have been considerably larger, as we found beneath the ruins +monolithic granite columns 13½ feet high from below the capital, which is +separated from it, and is 1½ foot high and 2 feet in diameter; it appears +to have had five naves. + +From this point we reached GEBEL DÊQA in one hour. Strong, massive +walls again surrounded a Christian fortress, which was situated on the +projecting sandstone rock, and in the interior exhibited the ruins of +several buildings of considerable size; among them, those of a small, +three-naved church, very similar to the one at Bachît. + +This is the frontier village of the province of Schaiqîeh, in the +direction of Dongola, the last place coming from the south, whose +inhabitants speak Arabic. Formerly the frontier of the Nubian population +and language, undoubtedly, was as far up as the cataracts above Barkal. +This seems to have occasioned the accumulation of strong posts in this +district, and probably also the strong fortification of the island of +Ischischi. + +Christianity penetrated to the Nubians from Abyssinia as early as the +sixth century; they were at that time a powerful people, till their +Christian priest-kings, in the fourteenth century, yielded to the +encroachment of Islamism. We must date the erection of the numerous +churches from those days, the ruins of which we have found scattered from +Wadi Gazâl, northwards, throughout the whole province. + +The same day we went as far as AMBUKÔL, at the extremity of the western +bend of the Nile, and halted here for the night. The following day we +reached TIFAR, and again visited the ruins of an old fortress with the +remains of a church. + +On the road we met the boat of Hassan Pascha, which was on its way to +Méraui. We each fired many salutes as a mutual greeting, and anchored +beside each other. The Pascha inquired with interest about the treasures +which he suspected existed in the Pyramids of Barkal, and with the +greatest courtesy promised us all that we could desire to promote our +journey and its objects. After returning our visit, we parted with fresh +salutes. + +The 10th June we reached OLD DONGOLA, the former royal residence of this +Christian kingdom. The extensive ruins of the town, however, now testify +to little more than the considerable extent which it once embraced. On +a hill in the neighbourhood, which commanded an admirable panorama, now +stands a mosque. An Arabic inscription on marble proves that it was +opened on the 20 Rabî el auel, of the year 717 (1st June, 1317), after +the victory of Safeddin Abdallah e’ Nâsir over the infidels. + +As we have had very little opportunity of improving our monumental +knowledge since leaving Barkal, and had much leisure in our boat, +I employed myself specially during this time with a comparison and +research, as far as lay in my power, of the Nubian language, which +is spoken in this part of the country. It presents very remarkable +linguistic phenomena, but does not exhibit the slightest similarity with +the Egyptian language. My belief is, that the whole race penetrated into +the Nile valley from the south-west at a late period. We have now a +servant from Derr, the capital of Lower Nubia, who speaks tolerably good +Italian, is animated and intelligent, and is a great assistance to me in +acquiring a knowledge of his own dialect, the Mahass. I have sometimes +tormented him with questions in the boat for five or six entire hours in +one day, for it is no small trouble for both of us to understand each +other about grammatical forms and inflections. He has, at any rate, at +the same time acquired more respect for his own language, here everywhere +considered bad, and inferior to the Arabic, and which it is thought one +ought rather to be ashamed of. + +Yesterday, after sailing three days from Old Dongola, we at length +reached New Dongola, usually only called by the Arabs EL ORDE (the Camp); +we had the great joy of receiving here the large packet of letters, whose +arrival had already been announced to us on the road by Hassan Pascha. +We now look forward with fresh courage and renewed confidence to the +last difficult portion of our southern journey. For from this point we +must again, alas! quit our boats, and mount the far more uncomfortable +ships of the desert. The Cataract country before us can only be navigated +during the short season of the highest flood, and even then not without +danger. Nevertheless, our richly freighted stone-boat must undergo this +dangerous trial, as naturally it is impossible to think of transporting +our Ram and the other monuments from Barkal by land. + +We shall besides be unable to leave this as soon as we otherwise should +have done, owing to the total change in the arrangements for our journey +during the next five or six weeks. Yet we shall be obliged to separate +from our boat of burden, as it must seize the proper moments of high +water, which first occurs a few weeks hence. + + + + +LETTER XXV. + + + _Dongola, the 23rd June, 1844._ + +Yesterday we returned from an excursion of four days to the nearest +cataract, which we were able to reach by water. We were rewarded far +beyond our expectations, for we found a number of ancient Pharaonic +monuments, the only ones in the whole province of Dongola, and some of +them of extreme antiquity. + +On the island of Argo we discovered the first Egyptian sculptures from +the Hyksos period; and at KERMÂN, on the right bank, the traces of a +town extending far across the plain, with an immense necropolis attached +to it, in which two huge monumental tombs were distinguished above all +the others, one of which was called Kermân (like the village), the other +DEFÛFA. They are not Pyramids, but of an oblong form; the first 150 by +66 feet, the second 132 by 66 feet in extent, and about 40 feet high, +built massively of good, solid unburnt bricks of Nile mud; each provided +with an outer building, which might have corresponded to the temples in +front of the Egyptian Pyramids. Several fragments of statues from the +best ancient style scattered round them, some, having good hieroglyphics +upon them, testify their great antiquity, and lead us to suppose that the +oldest Egyptian settlement of any importance on Ethiopian territory must +have been on this spot: it was probably occasioned by the Egyptian power +having been driven back towards Ethiopia during the rule of the Hyksos in +Egypt. No doubt the enormous granite quarries which we found on the right +bank, some hours to the north of Kermân, opposite the island of TOMBOS, +at the entrance of the Cataract country, were connected with this. The +inscriptions on the rock contain Shields of the 17th Dynasty, and an +inscription of eighteen lines, mentions the second year of Tuthmosis I. + +I have also, here in Dongola, begun to study the Kong´âra language of +Dar Fûr. A negro soldier, a native of that dreaded warlike country, with +woolly hair, and thick projecting lips, and who we took with us last year +from Korusko to Wadi Halfa, as a military attendant, instead of Ibrahim +Aga, who had been sent away, found us out here again, and was given +up to me by the Pascha for my studies in language. He promises well, +but in half an hour I am obliged to exchange him with the Nubian. The +Kong´âra language is quite different from the Nubian, and in particular +points seems to me to show a stronger analogy with certain South African +languages. + +I was rejoiced here to see the fortress built by Ehrenberg in 1822, +which has suffered indeed by the inundations, but still always serves as +a dwelling for the governor, now Hassan Pascha. We shall also leave a +monumental structure behind us, for Hassan Pascha has requested Erbkam to +give him the plan of a powder-magazine, and to seek out a suitable site +for it. + + + + +LETTER XXVI. + + + _Korusko, the 17th August, 1844._ + +We did not accomplish our departure from Dongola before the 2nd of +July. We went slowly down the western side of the river. That very +day we passed over extensive fields of ruins, the dim remains of once +flourishing towns, whose names have died away. The first we found were +opposite ARGONSENE, others at KOÏ, and at MOSCH. The following day we +arrived at HANNIK, opposite Tombos, in the province of MÁHAS. Here the +Cataract country begins immediately, and a fresh Nuba dialect, which +extends as far down as Derr and Korusko. The Nile, on the whole, retains +its northerly direction as far as a high mountain, named after a former +conqueror, Ali Bersi. Early on the third day we left this on our left +hand. It is situated on the sharp bend of the river, from north-west to +due east, from which point it is usual to cut off the largest portion of +the province of Máhas by a desert road running in a northerly direction. +We, however, followed the turns of the river, and dismounted near two +old castles on the bank, at a grove of palm-trees, under whose shade we +rested during the sultry mid-day hours. The nearest of these castles, +so romantically situated between the fissures of the rock, I find +differently named on every map, as FAKIR EFFENDI (Cailliaud); FAKIR EL +BINT, from _Bint_, the girl (Hoskins); FAKIR BENDER, from _Bender_, the +capital (Arrowsmith). In the dialect of this place, however, it is called +FAKIR FENTI, or, in that of Dongola, FAKIR BENTI; and it is so named +from the palm-trees at its foot, _Fenti_, _Benti_, being the names for +palm and date. + +On the 4th of July we got as far as SÊSE, a hill which bears the remnants +of a fortress. Our servant, Ahmed, from Derr, related to us that, at the +death of every king, his successor was led up to its summit, and there +adorned with a peculiar royal cap. Castles like that of Sêse, many of +which we saw, far and near, on the plateau beyond the river district, +indicate an early, numerous, and warlike population, which has now +almost entirely disappeared. The ruins, situated a quarter of an hour +south of Mount Sêse, are called SESEBI. Here stood an ancient temple, of +which only four columns stand erect, with palm capitals. They have the +Shields of SETHÔS I., the most southern we have met with belonging to +this king. Near these temple remains are the ruins of a large town, on +an artificially raised piece of ground, of which the regular encircling +walls may still be recognised. + +On the 6th July we arrived at SOLB (Soleb), where a temple of +considerable importance, and still in good preservation, was erected by +Amenophis III. to his own genius, the deified RA-NEB-MA (Amenophis).[50] +The rich representations belonging to this temple—the same to which once +also belonged our own Ram from Barkal, and Lord Prudhoe’s Lion—gave us +materials for almost five days’ work. We did not again set off before the +11th July. + +Scarcely one hour to the north of this is situated GEBEL DOSCHE, a +sandstone rock, projecting into the river, in which, on the river side, a +grotto is cut, which contains representations of the third TUTHMOSIS. + +The very same evening we arrived at SEDEÏNGA, where AMENOPHIS III. +erected a small temple to his own wife, TII. In the midst of the +picturesque heap of ruins, thrown one above another, rises one single +column, which has remained standing. A great necropolis stretches out +towards the west. + +On the 13th of July we halted near a Schôna (such is the name given to +the station store-houses maintained by government), opposite Mount ABIR +or QABIR, a little below the northern point of the island of SAI. On the +other side of the river, not exactly opposite, stands the village of +AMARA, and near it the ruins of a temple. I was not a little surprised +to recognise directly on the columns (six of which are still preserved) +the fat Queen of NAGA and MERÖE, with her husband. This temple was built +by them, an important testimony to the widely-extended dominion of +that Ethiopian Dynasty. In the necropolis to the south of the temple I +also observed fragments of inscriptions in the above-mentioned demotic +Ethiopian alphabetic writing, such as I had also found near Sedeïnga. + +The following day, after having visited the island of SAI, where we had +found the scanty remains of a temple with inscriptions of Tuthmosis III. +and Amenophis II., besides the remains of a town and a Coptic church, we +proceeded farther, and on the 15th of July reached DAL, which forms the +frontier between the provinces of Sukkôt and Batn el hagér (Stone-belly); +at night we encamped at the Cataract of KALFA. + +From this point our road passed near the hot sulphur spring of OKMEH, to +which I turned off from our caravan road with Abeken. It led us from the +Schôna, where we separated, along the rocky bank, above an hour backwards +to a square tower, which has been erected over the spring, and which is +now called after its builder, HAMMÂM SEIDNA SOLIMÂN. The tower, which is +9 feet in diameter, and in the inside 4 feet wide, is now half filled +with sand and earth; the stream of water, about the thickness of a man’s +wrist, issues from the eastern side of the tower; on the other side, +within the space of a square foot, sixteen little whirlpools rise out of +the sand, and here, where the water is hottest, it is not quite 44° R. +(131° Fahr.). It tastes sulphureous, and a white substance is deposited +on the earth round the spring. Every year the river rises above it, and +even over the tower, which stands half-way up the river bank. The surface +of the water had now only risen to about the height of a man, and had +not yet reached the spring. A rough hole is dug into the rubbish for the +sick who come here, and is covered with branches to keep back the stream. +Somewhat farther down the river another small spring of water appears, +which has a temperature of 40° R. (122° Fahr.) when it issues from the +ground. The saying goes, that OKASCHE, a friend of the Prophet’s, was +killed in a campaign in the south, his corpse floated down hither, and +then disappeared in the rock on the opposite bank; there, even now, at +some distance up the river, his grave is shown; a tree marks the spot. + +On the 17th July we encamped at the temple of SEMNEH. The village +consists only of a few straw huts, which are shaded by some date palms, +but the number of potsherds in the neighbourhood prove that a place of +some importance stood here formerly. The temple is surrounded with very +ancient fortifications, of immense dimensions; its erection dates even +as far back as the Old Monarchy under Sesurtesen III., a king of the +12th Dynasty. It appears that this king first enlarged the limits of +the Egyptian Monarchy as far as this point; indeed it has been found +that at a later period he was himself worshipped in these districts as +a divinity of the country. The temple which Tuthmosis III. erected here +in the New Monarchy, is also dedicated to him, and to the god TETUN. On +the right bank, also, at the village of KUMMEH, there are still some old +fortifications, and within them a still larger temple, which was even +begun by Tuthmosis II. + +The most important discovery which we made here, and which I shall only +mention briefly, because I am at this moment sending a more detailed +account of it to Ehrenberg, is a number of short rock inscriptions +which mark the highest rises of the Nile during a series of years +under the government of AMENEMHA III. (MŒRIS), and of his immediate +successors. These statements have in some measure a _historical_ value, +as they decidedly confirm my supposition that the SEBEKHOTEPS followed +immediately after the 12th Dynasty, and they are in some measure +peculiarly interesting for the geological history of the Nile valley; +because they prove that the river, above 4000 years ago, rose more than +24 feet higher than now, and thereby must have produced totally different +conditions in the inundation and in the whole surface of the ground both +above and below this spot. Our examination of this remarkable locality, +with its temples and rock-inscriptions, occupied us twelve whole days.[51] + +On the 29th July we went from Semneh to ABKE, and the following day +visited the old castle situated to the north of it, which is called el +Kenissa, the church, and formerly therefore probably contained one. From +the top of this castle we had the most magnificent prospect of the chief +cataracts of the whole country. Three great falls could be distinguished +from the smaller ones in the broad, rocky island valley, and the eye +passed over several hundred islands, as far as the black mountain range +on the opposite bank. But towards the north the wide plain spread out, +which extends from Wadi Halfa to Philæ. The succession of the different +kinds of rock was most distinctly visible as we descended from the +last ridge of the rocks on the banks into the great plain, from which +some single cones of sandstone alone protruded, as if from the bed of +a primitive ocean. Here undoubtedly are the sources of the everlasting +sand, which, driven by the northern wind among the primitive mountains, +rendered our road to Semneh very difficult. + +On the 1st of August we left WADI HALFA in three boats, and from +this point again sailed through a country with which we were already +acquainted. The following morning we came to ABU SIMBEL, where we spent +nine days, in order to become perfectly acquainted with the copious +representations on both the rock-temples. I long searched in vain for +the remarkable Greek inscription which Leake had found on one of the +four great Ramses Colossi, till I fortunately re-discovered it, buried +tolerably deep, on the left leg of the second Colossus from the south. +I was obliged to make a great excavation to obtain a perfect impression +of it on paper. I see no reason why we should not take this antique +inscription for what it states itself to be, namely, memoranda of the +Greek mercenaries, who came hither with PSAMMETICUS I. in pursuit of the +rebellious warriors. Beneath the other inscriptions on the Colossus, I +also found some Phœnician inscriptions. + +After we had visited from this point some other rock-monuments on the +opposite bank at ABAHUDA and SCHATAUI, we quitted Abu Simbel on the 11th +of July, and next halted on the right bank near IBRÎM, ancient PRIMIS, +the name of which I have also found in hieroglyphics written P.R.M. Ibrîm +is situated on the left bank opposite ANÎBE, near which we discovered, +and made a drawing of, only one private tomb from the period of the 20th +Dynasty, but it was in good preservation. Thence we proceeded to DERR, +where we got the largest despatch of letters we have yet received, so +that it was a real holiday for us. With these treasures we hastened past +AMADA to this spot KORUSKO, whose delightful group of palms had won +our hearts during our long, though involuntary, detention there last +year. We have fixed upon the present Sunday to celebrate with pleasant +recollections the happy termination of our southern journey. Our boats +lie quietly beside the bank. + + + + +LETTER XXVII. + + + _Philæ, the 1st September, 1844._ + +I am only now able to finish my journal from Korusko, whence we set sail +on the evening of the 18th August for SEBÛA. + +From this point, as far as Philæ, the valley is called WADI KENÛS, “the +valley of the BENI KENSI,” a tribe of which we read much in the Arabic +accounts. The upper valley of Korusko, as far as Wadi Halfa, is called +on all the maps WADI NUBA, a name which has indeed been already used by +Burckhardt, but which must originate in some mistake. Neither our Nubian +servant, Ahmed, a native of the district of Derr, nor the people who are +settled in the country, are acquainted with this name; and even Hassan +Kaschef, above seventy years of age, who governed the country before +the Egyptian conquest, could give no answers to my particular inquiries +about this name. They all agree in stating that the lower district has +always been called WADI KENÛS. Afterwards, near Korusko, follows the WADI +EL ARAB, so called from the Arabs of the desert, who have encroached as +far as this spot; then WADI IBRÎM; and lastly, WADI HALFA. But since +the conquest the official name for the whole province between the two +cataracts is GISM HALFA, the province of Halfa. + +In Korusko I found a Bischâri, by name ALI, whose animated and pleasant +deportment determined me at once to make him my instructor in this +important language. He was quite satisfied with my invitation for him +to accompany us, and now every moment that is at liberty is employed in +preparing a grammar and vocabulary of this language. He comes from the +interior of the country, from Beled Ellâqi, which is eight days distant +from the Nile, and twenty from the Red Sea, and gives a name to the +remarkable Wadi Ellâqi, which extends, without interruption, through the +very midst of the extensive range of country between the Nile and the +Red Sea. He calls the country of the Bischâri tribes EDBAI, and their +language, _Midâb_ to _Beg´auîe_, the Beg´a language, from which may be +traced its identity with the language of the mighty Beg´a nations, so +often mentioned in the middle ages. + +From Korusko we next sailed to SEBÛA, where we spent four days; then by +DAKKEH (Pselchis) and KUBÁN (Contra Pselchis) to GERF HUSSÊN, with its +rock-temple dedicated by Ramses to Ptah. This place is frequently called +by earlier travellers GIRSCHE, a confusion with the village situated on +the farther eastern bank, which is called by the Arabs QIRSCH, by the +Nubians KISCH or KISCHIGA, and which is situated near some considerable +ruins of an ancient city which bear the name of SABAGÛRA. The 25th August +we spent in the temple of DENDÛR, first built under the Roman dominion; +and the following day in KALABSCHEH, the ancient TALMIS, whose temple +likewise contains only the Shields of Cæsar (Augustus). Talmis was for +a long time a capital of the BLEMYES, whose inroads into Egypt gave the +Romans plenty of employment. On one of the columns of the great outer +court there is engraved the interesting inscription of Silco, who calls +himself a βασιλίσκος Νουβάδων καὶ ὅλων τῶν Αἰθιόπων.[52] In it he boasts +of his victories over the Blemyes, who I hold to be a branch of the +Meröitic Ethiopians, the Bischâri of the present day. It seems that the +demotic Ethiopian inscriptions, one of which is remarkable by its length, +and perhaps forms a counterpart to the Greek inscription of the Nubian +King, can only be ascribed to these Blemyes. I have discovered another +very late inscription on the wall to the back of the temple, but in such +barbarous Greek that it is almost inexplicable. I send it to Böckh for +him to decipher. + +On the 30th August we reached DEBÔT, and the following day PHILÆ, where +we immediately took possession of the enchanting temple-terrace, which, +since that time, has been our chief quarters, and will remain so for +several weeks longer. The great temple-buildings, although the most +ancient of them date only as far back as NECTANEBUS, present an unusual +number of hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek inscriptions, and, to my +surprise, I have also found here a whole chamber in one of the pylones +which contains nothing but ETHIOPIAN representations and inscriptions. + + + + +LETTER XXVIII. + + + _Thebes, Qurna, 24th November, 1844._ + +On the 4th of November we reached this last great station of our journey, +and feel that we have again reached much nearer home. We have selected a +charming castle on a rock for our residence here, which will certainly +be protracted for several months. It is situated on a hill called ABD EL +QURNA, and is an ancient tomb enlarged by brick buildings, from which we +overlook the whole Theban plain at one view. I should be afraid of being +almost oppressed by the overwhelming number of monuments, if the mighty +character of the ruins of this most royal city of all antiquity did not +maintain, and daily renew, our interest to the highest possible degree. +While our investigations of the numerous temples, from the Ptolemaic +and the Roman period, immediately preceding that, had in fact become +almost fatiguing, here, where the Homeric forms of the mighty Pharaohs +of the 18th and 19th Dynasties stand out before me in their dignity and +splendour, I feel as fresh again as at the commencement of our journey. + +I first had excavations made in the renowned temple of Ramses Miamun, +lying at our feet, which have led to unexpected results. Erbkam has +superintended the work with the greatest care, and his ground plan which +is now finished of this most beautiful building of the Pharaonic times, +described by Diodorus as the tomb of Osymandyas, is the first which can +be called perfect, as it no longer rests on arbitrary restorations, +which are too long in the French descriptions and too short in those of +Wilkinson. + +I have also had excavations made in the rock-tomb of the same RAMSES in +Bab el Meluk, which was covered over with rubbish, and which Rosellini +was mistaken in thinking unfinished; several chambers have already +been opened, and if fortune favours us we shall also still find the +sarcophagus, not indeed unopened—the Persians had already taken care of +that—but perhaps less mutilated than others, as the tomb has been closed +up by the river mud from very ancient times. + +On our journey from Korusko hither, besides our antiquarian labours, +I was engaged with the languages of the southern countries, still so +little known. Amidst these, three may be selected as being the most +widely-distributed; the NUBA language, that of the Nuba or Berber nation; +the KUNGARA language, of the negroes of DAR FÛR; and the BEGA language, +that of the BISCHARÎBAS inhabiting the eastern portion of the Sudan. +I have prepared the grammar and vocabulary of all three, so fully, +that whenever they are published some notion of these languages may be +obtained. The most important of them is the one last mentioned, because, +both with reference to its grammatical construction and by its position +in the development of languages, it proves itself to be a very remarkable +member of the _Caucasian_ stock. It is spoken by the people, for which +reason I think I can perceive that they were once the inhabitants of the +flourishing city of Meröe, and thus have a peculiar claim, to be called +in a more exact sense the ETHIOPIAN people. + +It has furthermore been proved, that nothing can be discovered of a +primitive Ethiopian civilisation, or indeed of an ancient Ethiopian +national civilisation, which is so much held up by modern erudition; +indeed, we have every reason to deny this completely. Whatever in the +accounts of the ancients does not rest on total misapprehension, only +refers to _Egyptian_ civilisation and art, which had fled in the time +of the Hyksos rule to ETHIOPIA. The irruption of Egyptian power from +Ethiopia, at the foundation of the new Egyptian Monarchy, and its +progress even far into Asia, was mentioned in the Asiatic, and afterwards +in the Greek traditions, as an event which was transferred from the +Ethiopian _country_ to the Ethiopian _nation_, for no knowledge of a +still older Egyptian Monarchy, and of its high but peaceful state of +civilisation, had penetrated to the northern nations. I have sent an +account of the results of our Ethiopian journey to the Academy, and in +it I give a cursory survey of the history of Ethiopia from the first +conquest of the country by Sesurtesen III. in the 12th Manethonic Dynasty +down to the most flourishing period of the Meröitic Monarchy in the +first centuries of our era, and then through the middle ages down to the +Bischarîbas of the present day, whose Sheikhs we saw in chains marching +over the ruins of what was once their capital, and passing in front of +the Pyramids of their ancient kings. + + + + +LETTER XXIX. + + + _Thebes, Qurna, 8th January, 1845._ + +A short time ago we received the joyful intelligence that our colossal +Ram and the other Ethiopian monuments had arrived safely in Alexandria. +We shall also bring away some valuable monuments from this spot, among +them a beautiful sarcophagus of fine white limestone, on parts of which +are some painted inscriptions, which go back as far as the Old Monarchy +in the first period of the increasing greatness of Thebes.[53] + +I have made another conquest to-day, which gives me double pleasure, +as it was only effected with indescribable difficulty, and has brought +out a monument in the most perfect preservation, which will hardly +find its equal in our museums. A sepulchral chamber with interesting +representations of kings of which we have made drawings, opens out of a +deep pit which was excavated a short time ago; from this a narrow passage +leads still deeper into a second chamber, which is painted all over, just +like the other. The chambers are hewn out of an extremely friable rock, +which loosens from the ceiling in large fragments at the slightest touch; +the rock-caves were therefore vaulted in a circular form, with Nile +bricks, which were covered with stucco, and then painted. At the side of +the inner door, on the right hand, King AMENOPHIS I. is represented, and +on the left, his mother AAHMES-NUFRE-ARI, who even in later times was +much worshipped. Both are about four feet high, painted on the stucco, +and the colours preserved as fresh as possible. I was anxious to detach +these figures from the wall, which they entirely covered; but for this +purpose I was compelled to break through the brick walls all round, and +afterwards also to take out the bricks singly from behind the stucco +with the greatest care. This at length we have accomplished after great +labour. We have taken out the whole stucco, which is only the thickness +of a finger, with the figures completely uninjured, and, placing it on +two slabs composed of smooth boards covered with skins, linen, and paper, +we raised it from the narrow sepulchral cave, which is still half filled +with rubbish. + +We have also, to my great delight, got a fresh supply for our plaster +casts. A short time ago 5 cwt. of plaster arrived, forwarded to us by +M. Clot Bey, for which we had sent an order to France, and I have found +an Arab here, and immediately taken him into my service, who has at +least sufficient knowledge to prepare the plaster and to make casts from +bas-reliefs. + + + + +LETTER XXX. + + + _Thebes, the 25th February, 1845._ + +We have now been inhabiting our Theban Acropolis, on the hill of Qurna, +above a quarter of a year, every one busily employed in his own way +from morning to evening, in investigating, describing, and drawing the +most valuable monuments, taking paper impressions of the inscriptions, +and in making plans of the buildings; we have not yet been able to +complete the Libyan side alone, where there are at least twelve temples, +five-and-twenty tombs of kings, fifteen belonging to the royal wives or +daughters, and a countless number belonging to private persons, still to +be examined. The eastern side, with its six-and-twenty sanctuaries, in +a certain degree of preservation, will however demand no less time, and +yet, more has been done by previous travellers and expeditions in Thebes +itself, especially by the French-Tuscan expedition, than in any other +spot, and we have everywhere only compared and completed their labours, +and not repeated them. We are also far from imagining that we have now +by any means exhausted the infinite number of monuments; whoever follows +us with new information, and with the results of more advanced science, +will also find fresh treasures, and gain fresh instruction from the same +monuments. I have always had a historical aim in view, and this has +especially determined my selection of the monuments. Whenever I believed +that I had attained what was most essential for this end I was satisfied. + +The river here divides the broad valley into two unequal halves. On the +west side it approaches close to the precipitous Libyan range, which +there projects; on the eastern side it bounds a wide fruitful plain, +extending as far as Medamôt, a spot situated on the border of the Arabian +desert, several hours distant. On this side stood the actual town of +THEBES, which seems to have been chiefly grouped round the two great +temples of KARNAK and LUQSOR, situated above half an hour apart. Karnak +lies more to the north, and farther removed from the Nile; Luqsor is now +actually washed by the waves of the river, and may even formerly have +been the harbour of the city. The west side of the river contained the +necropolis of Thebes, and all the temples which stood here referred more +or less to the worship of the dead; indeed, all the inhabitants of this +part, which was afterwards comprehended by the Greeks under the name +of MEMNONIA, seem to have been principally occupied with the care of +the dead and their tombs. The former extent of the Memnonia may be now +distinguished by Qurna and Medînet Hâbu, places situated at the northern +and southern extremities. + +A survey of the Theban monuments naturally begins with the ruins of +KARNAK. Here stood the great royal temple of the hundred-gated Thebes, +which was dedicated to Ammon-Ra, the King of the Gods, and to the +peculiar local god of the city of Ammon, so called after him (No-Ammon, +Diospolis). AP, along with the feminine article TAP, from which the +Greeks made THEBE, was the name of one particular sanctuary of Ammon. +It is also often employed in hieroglyphics in the singular, or still +more frequently in the plural (Napu), as the name of the town; for +which reason the Greeks naturally, without changing the article along +with it, generally used the plural Θῆβαι. The whole history of the +Egyptian Monarchy, after the city of Ammon was raised to be one of the +two royal residences in the land, is connected with this temple. All +Dynasties emulated in the glory of having contributed their share to the +enlargement, embellishment, or restoration of this national sanctuary. + +It was founded by their first king, the mighty SESURTESEN I., under the +1st Theban Royal Dynasty, the 12th of Manetho, between 2600 and 2700 +B.C., and even now exhibits some ruins in the centre of the building +from that period, bearing the name of this king. During the Dynasties +immediately succeeding, which for several centuries groaned under the +yoke of the victorious hereditary enemy, this sanctuary no doubt was +also deserted, and nothing has been preserved which belonged to that +period. But after the first king of the 17th Dynasty, Amosis, in the 17th +century B.C., had succeeded in his first war against the Hyksos, his two +successors, AMENOPHIS I. and TUTHMOSIS I., built round the remains of the +most ancient sanctuary a magnificent temple, with a great many chambers +round the cella, and with a broad court, and pylones appertaining to it, +in front of which Tutmosis I. erected two obelisks. Two other pylones, +with contiguous court-walls, were built by the same king, at a right +angle with the temple in the direction of Luqsor. Tutmosis III. and his +sister enlarged this temple to the back by a hall resting on fifty-six +columns, besides many other chambers, which surrounded it on three sides, +and were encircled by one common outer wall. The succeeding kings partly +closed the temple more perfectly in front, partly built new independent +temples near it, and also placed two more large pylones towards the +south-west, in front of those erected by Tuthmosis I., so that now four +lofty pylones formed the magnificent entrance to the principal temple on +this side. + +But a far more splendid enlargement of the temple was executed in the +fifteenth and fourteenth centuries B.C. by the great Pharaohs of the +19th Dynasty; for SETHÔS I., the father of Ramses Miamun, added in the +original axis of the temple the most magnificent hall of pillars that +was ever seen in Egypt or elsewhere. The stone roof, supported by 134 +columns, covers a space of 164 feet in depth, and 320 feet in breadth. +Each of the twelve central columns is 36 feet in circumference, and 66 +feet high beneath the architrave; the other columns, 40 feet high, are +27 feet in circumference. It is impossible to describe the overwhelming +impression which is experienced upon entering for the first time into +this forest of columns, and wandering from one range into the other, +between the lofty figures of gods and kings on every side represented +on them, projecting sometimes entirely, sometimes only in part. Every +surface is covered with various sculptures, now in relief, now sunk, +which were, however, only completed under the successors of the builder; +most of them, indeed, by his son RAMSES MIAMUN. In front of this +hypostyle hall was placed, at a later period, a great hypæthral court, +270 by 320 feet in extent, decorated on the sides only with colonnades, +and entered by a magnificent pylon. + +The principal part of the temple terminated here, comprising a length of +1170 feet, not including the row of Sphinxes in front of its external +pylon, nor the peculiar sanctuary which was placed by Ramses Miamun +directly beside the wall farthest back in the temple, and with the +same axis, but turned in such a manner that its entrance was on the +opposite side. Including these enlargements, the entire length must have +amounted to nearly 2000 feet, reckoning to the most southern gate of the +external wall, which surrounded the whole space, which was of nearly +equal breadth. The later Dynasties, who now found the principal temples +completed on all sides, but who also were desirous of contributing their +share to the embellishment of this centre of the Theban worship, began +partly to erect separate small temples on the large level space which was +surrounded by the above-mentioned enclosure-wall, partly to extend these +temples also externally. + +The head of the 20th Dynasty, RAMSES III., whose campaigns in Asia, in +the fifteenth century before Christ, were scarcely inferior to those of +his renowned ancestors, Sethôs I. and Ramses II., built a special temple, +with a court of columns and a hypostyle hall, above 200 feet long, which +now intersects, in a rather unsymmetrical manner, the enclosure-wall of +the external court in front; and he founded, at a little distance from +it, a still larger sanctuary for the third person of the Theban Triad, +Chensu, the son of Ammon. This last was completed by the succeeding kings +of his Dynasty, and the priest-kings of the 21st Dynasty, who added to +it a magnificent court of columns, with a pylon in front. In the 22nd +Dynasty we recognise SCHESCHENK I., the warlike King Shishak of the +Bible, who, about 970 B.C., conquered Jerusalem. His Asiatic campaigns +are celebrated on the southern external wall of the great temple, where, +in the symbolic form of prisoners, he leads 140 vanquished towns and +countries before Ammon. Among their names there is one which, not without +reason, is considered to be a designation for the kingdom of Judæa, as +well as the names of several well-known towns in Palestine. + +The two priests’ Dynasties mentioned above, which followed immediately +after the Ramessides, were no longer of the Theban race, but proceeded +from towns in Lower Egypt. The power of the Monarchy sank with this +change; and after the short 23rd Dynasty, from which period there are +still some remains in Karnak, a revolution seems to have occurred. The +present lists of authors name only _one_ king of the 24th Dynasty, who +has not yet been re-discovered on the Egyptian monuments. In his reign +the invasion of the Ethiopians occurred, who, from the 25th Dynasty, +SCHABAK and TAHRAKA (the So and Tirhaka of the Bible), reigned in Egypt +at the commencement of the seventh century B.C. These kings came, indeed, +from Ethiopia, but governed completely in the Egyptian manner, and they +did not neglect to worship the Egyptian god-kings. Their names are found +on several smaller temples of Karnak, and on a splendid colonnade in the +great court in front, which seems to have been first placed there by +Tahraka. According to historical accounts, this last king returned of +his own accord to Ethiopia, and left the Egyptian kingdom to its native +rulers. + +The dispossessed Saitic Dynasty now returned to the throne, and once +more, in the seventh and sixth centuries, developed all the splendour +of which this country, as rich in internal resources as in external +power, was capable of producing under a powerful and wise sceptre. +It opened for the first time a peaceful intercourse between foreign +countries and Egypt; Greeks settled amongst them, commerce flourished, +and a new and enormous amount of wealth was accumulated, such as before +had only been attained by the spoils of war and tribute. But this was +only an artificial height of glory; for the pristine vigour of the +nation had long been broken, and even art gave more signs of luxury +than of intrinsic value. The last flourishing period of the nation soon +passed away. The country could not withstand the advancing storm of the +Persians. In the year 525 it was conquered by CAMBYSES, and trodden +down with barbaric fanaticism. Many monuments were destroyed, and not a +single sanctuary nor wall was erected during this period; nothing at +least has been preserved to our time, not even from the long and milder +government of DARIUS; one temple only in the Oasis of Kargeh, or at +least sculptures with his name, having been discovered from that period. +Under Darius II., exactly one hundred years after the commencement of +the Persian rule, Egypt became, indeed, once more independent, and we +then again find the names of the native kings in the temples of Karnak; +but after three Dynasties had succeeded each other in rapid succession, +during the space of sixty-four years, it fell a second time under the +dominion of the Persians, who soon afterwards, in the year 332, lost +it by the conquest of Alexander of Macedon. Since then the country was +reduced to the necessity of getting habituated to foreign rulers, it had +lost its independence for ever, and passed from one hand to another, the +succeeding ruler always worse than the preceding, down to the present day. + +Under the Macedonians and Greeks, Egypt still possessed sufficient vigour +to retain its religion and institutions in the manner that had been +carried down from ancient times. The foreign princes in all respects took +the place, and followed in the footsteps of the ancient Pharaohs. Karnak +bears testimony to this. We here find the names of ALEXANDER and PHILIP +ARIDÆUS, who preceded the Ptolemies in restoring that which had been +destroyed by the Persians. Alexander rebuilt the sanctuary behind the +great temple; Philip that to the front; the Ptolemies added sculptures to +it—restored other parts, and even erected entirely new sanctuaries, at +no inconsiderable expense, though no longer, indeed, on the grand scale +of the Egyptian classic style of the olden times. Even the last epoch +of declining Egypt, that of the Roman dominion, is still represented in +Karnak by a series of representations which were executed under CÆSAR +AUGUSTUS. + +Thus this remarkable spot, which, in the course of twenty-five hundred +years, had increased from the small sanctuary in the centre of the +large temple to a complete city of temples, situated on a level space +a quarter of a geographical mile in length, and above 2000 feet in +breadth, presents both an almost uninterrupted thread of events, and an +interesting scale of measurement for the history of the whole of the +New Egyptian Monarchy, from its origin in the Old Monarchy down to its +decline under the Roman dominion. The appearance or non-appearance of the +Dynasties and individual kings in Egyptian history is almost uniform with +the representation of them in and round the temple of Karnak. + +Higher up the river than Karnak, where the stream, which has been divided +by the fertile island of Gedîdeh, reunites, rises even now to view a +second bright point of the ancient city, the temple of LUQSOR. One of +the most powerful Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty, AMENOPHIS III., who had +only built a side temple in Karnak, and had added but very little to the +principal temple, here erected a so much the more splendid sanctuary to +Ammon, which the great Ramses enlarged still more by a second magnificent +court in front, in the direction of Karnak. For, although a good half +hour distant from it, this temple must also be regarded as belonging to +the space dedicated, from ancient times, to the great national sanctuary. +This is proved by a circumstance which otherwise would be difficult to +explain: that the temple, though situated close to the bank, has its +entrance, contrary to custom, away from the river, and directed towards +Karnak, with which it was, besides, immediately connected by colonnades, +series of rams, and artificially-constructed roads. + +The ruins on the eastern bank terminate with Luqsor. The monuments of +_western_ Thebes offer still greater variety, as here the subterranean +dwellings and palaces of the dead are added to those above ground. At +one time an uninterrupted series of the most splendid temples extended +from Qurna as far as Medînet Hâbu, which nearly occupied the whole of the +narrow strip of desert between the cultivated land watered by the Nile +and the foot of the mountain range. The immense field of the dead spreads +out immediately behind these temples, where the sepulchral caves, like +the cells of bees, close beside each other, are either dug in the rock of +the plain, or hewn in the adjacent hills. + +Qurna is situated on the angle of the Lybian range, projecting farther +forward towards the river. As the mountains here suddenly retreat +towards the west, they form a great mountain cauldron, the front part +of which, where it is separated by low hills from the valley, is called +EL ASASIF. Behind, it is closed in by lofty, steep escarpments of rock, +which display their beautiful stone to the mid-day and morning sun. +These precipitous declivities of the limestone range, which, owing to +their solid and uniform texture, are particularly adapted for the finest +sculptures of the rock-tombs, seem to have been produced by the gradual +removal of a bed of clay beneath them, from the wearing effects of +exposure to the weather, and thus the overhanging masses are deprived of +their foundation. + +In this rock-creek are situated the _most ancient_ tombs, and they belong +to the Old Monarchy. Their entrances may be seen from a distance, high up +in the rocks lying to the north, exactly beneath the vertical precipice +which rises from the steep hills of rubbish to the summit of the mountain +ridge. Their external site, and the road up, bounded by low stone walls +leading to the entrances in a steep and straight line of several hundred +feet from the valley, reminded me directly of the tombs of Benihassan, +which belong to the same period. They date from between 2500 and 3000 +B.C., under the kings of the 11th and 12th Manethonic Dynasties, the +first of which laid the foundation of the mighty power of Thebes, and +made the town the seat of the government they had rendered independent of +Memphis; the second elevated it to be the capital of the Monarchy of the +whole country. + +These grottoes, of which there are some of a similar age in the adjacent +hills in the foreground, generally descend, in an oblique angle, deep +into the rock, but they have neither paintings nor inscriptions; it was +only the stone sarcophagi on which peculiar diligence was bestowed. These +are usually formed of the finest limestone, and are sometimes above +nine feet long; they have inscriptions, and are decorated with colours, +both internally and externally, in the elaborate and pure style of that +period, very elegantly, though with a certain degree of parsimony. We +are bringing away with us one of these sarcophagi, as I mentioned once +before. A few days ago it was safely carried down into the plain, after +the pit, which had long been completely filled with rubbish, had been +cleared, and part of the solid rock itself had been cut through, to +obtain a shorter exit for it. The occupant of the tomb was the son of +a prince, and himself bore the dynastic appellation of the 11th Royal +Dynasty, namely, NENTEF. + +In the outermost angle of this rock-cove is situated the most ancient +temple-building of Western Thebes, which belongs to the period of the +New Egyptian Monarchy, at the commencement of its glory. One street, +above 1600 feet long, adorned on either side with colossal rams and +sphinxes, led from the valley in a straight line to an outer court, then, +by means of a flight of steps to another, whose front wall was adorned +with sculpture, and had a colonnade before it, and finally, beyond, by a +second flight of steps to a granite gate in good preservation, and to the +last temple court, which was surrounded on both sides with beautifully +decorated halls and chambers, and terminated behind with a broad façade, +placed along the precipitous rock. Another granite gate, in the centre +of this façade, leads at length to the innermost temple-chamber, which +was hewn into the rock, and had a lofty, stone-vaulted roof, out of +which again opened several smaller niches and chambers, at the sides +and the back. All these chambers were covered with the most beautiful +sculptures, with variegated colours on a grey ground, executed in the +finished style of that period. This grand structure, beside which stood +other series of buildings, now destroyed, seems to have been originally +connected with the river, by a street intersecting the whole valley, and +beyond, with the great temple of Karnak, which lies exactly in the same +direction; I have no doubt that it was with this object that the narrow +rock-gate was first artificially cut through the hills in front, across +which the temple-street enters into the lower plain. It was a Queen, NUMT +AMEN, the elder sister of Tuthmosis III., who accomplished this bold +plan of a structural connection between the two sides of the valley, the +same who had erected the two greatest obelisks in front of the temple +of Karnak. She never appears on her monuments as a woman, but in male +attire; we only find out her sex by the inscriptions. No doubt at that +period it was illegal for a woman to govern; for that reason, also, her +brother, probably still a minor, appears at a later period as ruler along +with her. After her death, her Shields were everywhere converted into +Tuthmosis Shields, the feminine forms of speech in the inscription were +changed, and her names were never adopted in the later lists along with +the legitimate kings. + +There are two peculiar temples, both erected on the border of the desert +by TUTHMOSIS III., who completed the work of his royal sister during the +long period that he sat alone upon the throne. Of these, the northern one +can now only be recognised by its ground plan, and by the remains of its +brick pylon; the southern one, on the other hand, at Medînet Hâbu, is +still in good preservation; and judging by some sculptures, the oldest +part of the building might perhaps have belonged to an earlier Tuthmosis, +and have only been completed by him. His second successor, TUTHMOSIS IV., +also built a temple, which has now almost disappeared. + +He was followed by AMENOPHIS III., in whose brilliant and long reign the +temple of Luqsor was built. To him are inscribed the two giant Colossi, +far out in the fertile plain, near Medînet Hâbu, which once stood at the +gates of a great temple-building, but whose remains are now for the most +part buried beneath the crops of the annually accumulating soil of the +valley. Perhaps, also, a connecting street, corresponding with that to +the north, once led from this point across the valley to Luqsor, on the +opposite side. Of the two Colossi, the one situated to the north-east was +the celebrated sounding statue, which the Greeks connected with their +charming legend of the beautiful Memnon, who every morning at sunrise +greeted his mother, Aurora, while she moistened him with her tears of +dew for his early heroic death. This myth, as Letronne has shown, was +only composed at a late period; because the actual phenomenon of clear +tremulous tones produced by the springing of small particles of the +stone when it became rapidly warm after being cooled during the night, +did not become strikingly evident till fragments of the statue had +partly fallen inwards upon itself, having been previously split by an +earthquake which happened in the year B.C. 27. The phenomenon of cracking +and sounding stones in the desert and among great fields of ruins, is +not unfrequent in Egypt; but the nature of the hard flinty conglomerate +of which this statue is composed, is peculiarly favourable to it, as is +further proved by the innumerable large and small cracks now penetrating +in all directions portions of the statue, which were described even as +late as the Greek period, and consequently were then uninjured. It is +also remarkable how, even now, several of the pieces that have split +off, and are only hanging loose, sound as clear as metal if they are +struck, while others beside them remain perfectly dumb and without +sound, according as they are more or less moistened by their reciprocal +positions. The numerous Greek and Roman inscriptions which are engraved +upon the statue, and which intimate the visits of strangers, especially +if they have been so fortunate as to hear the morning greeting, first +commence in the time of Nero, and extend down to the time of Septimius +Severus, from which period we may probably date the restoration of the +original monolithic statue. Since this restoration of the upper portion +in single blocks, the phenomenon of the sounding stones seems, if not to +have entirely ceased, yet to have become less frequent and less striking. +The change of Amenophis (who even then, as the inscriptions inform us, +was not forgotten) into Memnon was probably chiefly occasioned by the +name of this entire western portion of Thebes, MEMNONIA, which the Greeks +seem to have explained by the “palaces of Memnon,” while the name in +hieroglyphics, _Mennu_, meant, speaking generally, “splendid buildings, +palaces.” At the present day the statues are called by the Arabs Schama +and Tama, or, both together, the Sanamât, _i. e._ the “idols” (not +Salamât).[54] + +When we came here in the beginning of November, the whole plain, as far +as the eye could reach, was overflowed, and formed one entire sea, from +which the Sanamât rose up still more strangely and more solitary than +from the green but yet accessible corn-fields. A few days ago I measured +the Colossi and the elevation to which the soil of the Nile had risen +upon their thrones. The height of the Memnon statue, calculated from head +to foot, not including the tall ornament on the head which it once bore, +amounted to about 14 metres 28′, or 45 feet and a half, in addition to +which the base separated from it, a block by itself, measured 4 metres +25′, or 13′ 7″, of which 3 feet were covered by steps placed round. Thus +the statues were originally nearly 60 feet in height, including the +Pschent, perhaps 70 feet above the ground on which the temple stood. +Now the surface of the valley is already 8 feet above that level, and +the inundation sometimes rises as far as the upper edge of the base, +therefore 14 feet higher than it could ever have risen, at the period of +their erection, without reaching the temple itself. Now, if we compare +this fact with our discovery at Semneh, where the surface of the Nile +during historical times has sunk above 23 feet, it is proved, by simple +addition, that the Nile at the Cataracts fell from a greater height by at +least 37 feet between this and Semneh than it does at present.[55] + +Horus, the last King of that great 18th Dynasty, had also erected a +temple near Medînet Hâbu, which has now, however, disappeared in rubbish. +The fragment of a colossal statue of the King, of hard limestone, +almost like marble, seems to point out the position of what was once +the entrance to the temple, the bust carved in the most finished style, +weighing several hundred-weight, is intended for our Museum. + +A large portion of two temples still exist from the succeeding Dynasty; +they were built by the two greatest and most renowned of all the +Pharaohs—SETHÔS I. and his son RAMSES II. The temple belonging to the +first is the most northern in the series, and is usually called the +temple of QURNA, because the old village of Qurna was grouped round a +Coptic church at this spot, and was principally situated in the interior +of the great outer courts of the temple, but which was afterwards +deserted by the inhabitants, and exchanged for the rock-tombs in the +angle of the mountain situated very near at hand. + +Farther towards the south, between the temples of TUTHMOSIS III. and +IV., now totally destroyed, stands the temple of RAMSES II. (MIAMUN), +in its structural arrangement, and in all its parts, perhaps the most +beautiful in Egypt, though inferior in grandeur of scale, and in variety +of interest, to the temple of Karnak. That portion of the temple to the +back as well as the lateral halls, belonging to the hypostyle hall, have +disappeared, and their original plan could only be explained by the aid +of careful, protracted excavations, under the direction of Erbkam. All +round this destroyed portion of the temple the extensive brick halls +are visible, which are everywhere covered with regular and neatly-built +waggon-vaulted roofs, some of them 12 feet wide, which belong to the +period of the erection of the temple itself. This is indisputably proved +by the stamps, which were impressed on every brick in the royal factory, +and which contain the Name-Shields of King Ramses. That this temple, even +in ancient times, attracted much notice, we learn from the particular +description of it, under the name of the TOMB OF OSYMANDYAS, given by +Diodorus Siculus, according to Hecataeus. + +Directly to the right of the temple, one of the few industrious Fellahs +has laid out a small vegetable garden, which affords us some variety for +our table, and for that reason, yielding to the intercessions of our +good-natured dark-skinned gardener, as was but just, it was spared in our +excavations, which threatened to extend towards that side, although it is +over the foundations of a side temple hitherto unnoticed, whose entrance +I found opening into the outer court of the temple of Ramses. + +The southernmost, and best preserved of all the splendid buildings in +the long series, is situated in the midst of the ruins of the houses of +MEDÎNET HÂBU, a Coptic town, now totally forsaken, but once of no small +importance. It was founded by RAMSES III., the first King of the 20th +Dynasty, the rich Rhampsinitus of Herodotus, in the thirteenth century +before Christ, and on its walls extols the great campaigns of this King, +by land and by sea, which might rival those of the great Ramses. In the +interior of the second outer court a great church was built by the Copts, +the monolithic granite columns of which are still scattered about. The +chambers to the back are for the most part in a heap of rubbish. But the +far projecting sort of pylon building, in front of the temple, is of +peculiar interest; it contained the private apartments of the King, in +four stories, placed one above the other. The Prince is represented on +the walls, in the midst of his family, conversing with his daughters, who +are recognised to be Princesses by the side-plait of their hair; he is +playing at drafts, and receiving fruits and flowers from them. + +This building terminates the series of large splendid temples known +under the peculiar appellation of MEMNONIA. They comprise the really +flourishing period of the New Monarchy, for after Ramses III., the +external power, as well as the internal greatness of the Monarchy again +declined. It is only from this, and the immediately succeeding period, +that we find the tombs of the Kings in the rock-valleys of the mountain +range. + +The entrance to these is situated on the farther side of the promontory +of Qurna. The escarpments of the rock there rise rugged and barren on +either side, rounding off above to bare summits, and their golden brows +are partly covered with coal black stones, as if they had been burnt +by the sun. The peculiarly solemn and gloomy character of this country +always struck me most vividly when I was riding back after sunset over +the endless heaps of stony rubbish covering the bottom of the valley +to a considerable height, and only furrowed by broad chasms, formed in +the course of thousands of years, by sudden torrents of rain, which, +though of rare occurrence, are not entirely unknown, as we ourselves have +witnessed. All is mute and dead around; the rapid tramps of my little ass +being only interrupted occasionally by the dull barks of the jackals, or +the gloomy hooting of the night-owls. + +After long windings, which lead by circuitous paths almost immediately +behind the lofty mountain sides of the Asasif valley described above, the +valley divides into two branches, the one on the right hand conducting +to the most ancient of those tombs. Only two of these are opened, both +belonging to the 18th Dynasty: the one dedicated to AMENOPHIS III., +the Memnon of the Greeks, the other to a rival King AI, coming very +soon after him, who was not admitted into the monumental lists of the +legitimate kings.[56] + +The last is situated at the extreme end of the slowly-ascending cleft in +the rock; the granite sarcophagus of the King, in the small sepulchral +chamber, has been destroyed, and his name is everywhere studiously +erased, with the exception of a few traces on the walls, as well as +upon the sarcophagus. The other lies farther forward in the valley, +is of greater extent, and covered with beautiful sculptures, though, +alas! much mutilated by time and human hands. Besides these two tombs, +there are several more here incomplete, without sculptures; others, no +doubt, are concealed beneath the high mounds of rubbish, which to clear +away would have occupied more of our time and means than, after mature +consideration, we thought right to bestow on it. In one place where I +made them dig, following tolerably certain signs, we found, indeed, about +ten feet beneath the rubbish, a door and chamber, but these also without +sculpture. Some remains of earthen vases were, however, brought to light +at the same time, which contained the name of a king hitherto unknown. + +The left branch of the principal valley, which contains the tombs of +almost all the Kings of the 19th and 20th Dynasties, seems to have been +originally closed by an elevation of the bottom of the valley, and to +have been first opened artificially, by a paved ascent to the spot. + +Here we find pits with wide openings not far above the bottom of the +valley, on the descending slope of the mountain, which pass downwards at +a somewhat oblique angle. Where the overhanging rock has a perpendicular +height of 12 to 15 feet, the sharply-carved door-posts of the first +entrance appear, which was once provided with one or two great +folding-doors to close it. There also the painted sculptures generally +commence, which, on suddenly approaching, strike one by the wonderful +contrast between their sharp lines, brilliant surfaces, and fresh vivid +colours, and the jagged rock and rugged rolled stones scattered around, +among which they are placed. Long corridors of imposing height and width +now lead always deeper into the rocky mountain range; the sculptures +on the sides, and the ceiling also, continue in single subdivisions, +which are formed by the contraction of the passages and by additional +doors. The King is represented worshipping before different gods, and +directs his prayers and justifications for his earthly life to them; the +peaceful occupations of the justified spirits are represented on one +side, the punishments of Hell for the wicked on the other; the Goddess +of Heaven is represented extended lengthways on the ceiling, as well +as the hours of the day and night, with their influences on mankind, +and their astrological signification, all accompanied by explanatory +inscriptions. Lastly, we arrive at a great vaulted hall of pillars, whose +walls generally exhibit the representations on a golden yellow ground, +for which reason it also bore the name of the Golden Hall. This was +intended for the royal sarcophagus, which stood in the centre, and was +from six to ten feet high. But often if the King, after the completion of +the tomb, in its first and most necessary extent, felt his vigour still +unimpaired, and promised himself a prolonged life, the central passage +of this hall of pillars was cut out in a still more steep descent, for +the commencement of a new hall; new corridors and lateral chambers were +attached, sometimes they deviated from the first direction into another, +till the King, for the second time, fixed upon a goal, and terminated the +building with a second hall of pillars, almost more spacious and splendid +than the first; smaller chambers on both sides were then added to this, +if the time still allowed, destined for particular sacrifices for the +dead, till at length the last hour struck, and the royal corpse, having +undergone the process of embalming for seventy days, was entombed in the +sarcophagus. It was then closed up, in such an artificial manner that +the colossal granite tomb, as the cover could not be raised, was always +obliged to be destroyed by the plunderers of the corpses, who, at a +later period, penetrated into every spot. + +The tombs of the PRINCESSES also, which are collected together in a +smaller valley behind Medînet Hâbu, at the southern end of the Memnonia, +belong exclusively to the period from the 18th to the 20th Dynasties, +as well as the most important of the innumerable tombs of private +individuals, which extend over hill and valley, from beyond Medînet Hâbu +to the entrance of the King’s valley. The priests of rank, and the great +officers, liked to have represented on the walls of their tombs their +whole wealth in horses and carriages, herds, boats, and implements, as +well as their hunting-ground and fish-ponds, their gardens and hall, for +company, even the artists and artisans they employed, actively engaged +in various ways; all this renders these tombs much more interesting than +those of the Kings, where the representations almost exclusively refer to +the life after death. + +Among the later monuments, the tombs from the 26th Dynasty of the seventh +and sixth centuries before Christ are especially worthy of notice. The +greatest proportion of these are dug in the flat ground, in the front +part of the rocky creek between Qurna and the hill of Abd el Qurna, where +we reside, and they are called specially EL ASASIF. The rocky plain alone +afforded room at that time for sepulchral buildings of any considerable +size, and was therefore employed for that purpose on a vast scale. +Even in the distance a number of lofty gates and walls built of black +bricks are seen. These enclosed great sunken courts within an oblong, +to which the entrance led by immense arched pylon gates, resembling at +a little distance Roman triumphal arches. Stepping through this within +the enclosure wall, we look directly into a court cut 12 or 15 feet deep +into the rock, into which we descended by a staircase. This uncovered +court belongs to the largest sepulchral building now accessible; it was +built for a royal scribe, Petamenap; is 100 feet long, and 74 broad. +From this we stepped through an outer hall into a great rock-chamber, +having an extent of from 65 to 52 feet, supported by two rows of pillars, +with some lateral chambers and corridors on either side; then through +an arched entrance into a second hall, from 52 to 36 feet large, with +eight pillars; and into a third, 31 feet both ways, with four pillars; +and lastly, into a chamber from 20 to 12 feet large, terminating with a +niche. From this chamber, at the head of the first series of rooms, a +door on the left hand leads into an immense chamber; and on the right, +another to a continuous series of six corridors, with two staircases of +nine to twenty-three steps, and a chamber in which a perpendicular pit, +44 feet deep, led at the bottom to a small lateral chamber. This second +range of chambers and passages which run at right angles with the first, +amounted in its whole length to 172 feet, while the first, including the +external court, amounted to 311 feet. Finally, from the chamber with the +well, a corridor turns off again to the right, which leads to a diagonal +chamber, extending altogether 58 feet in this third direction. But before +arriving at the two staircases in the second range, a fourth line of +passages again opened to the right, running on 122 feet in one and the +same direction, to which, on the left hand, is attached a great passage +running round in a square 60 feet long on every side, along with other +lateral chambers; the central part of which is decorated on its four +sides like a huge sarcophagus. The sarcophagus of the deceased rests +also, in fact, in the centre beneath the great square, which, however, +can only be reached by means of a vertical pit 18 feet deep, opening into +a fourth range, which conducts to a horizontal passage 58 feet long; +then to a third pit, through this to more chambers; and lastly, through +the ceiling of the last to a chamber placed above it, which contains +the sarcophagus, and which is situated exactly beneath the centre of +the above-mentioned square. The whole of the ground covered by this +tomb, that of a private individual, amounts accordingly to 21,600 square +feet, and calculated with the pit chambers, to 23,148 square feet.[57] +This enormous work appears still more colossal if we consider that all +the surface of the walls, the pillars, and the doors are covered from +above downwards with innumerable representations and inscriptions, which +astonish us still more by the care, sharpness, and elegance with which +they are executed. + +The few remains which are found from the period of the later foreign +dominion are far less important. We can only mention two small temples +near Medînet Hâbu among those erected under the Ptolemies, and a third +at the end of the great Lake circumvallation, which extends from Medînet +Hâbu towards the south. The oldest sculptures in this last are from +the time of CÆSAR AUGUSTUS, yet the Cella, now the only part in good +preservation, was built by Antoninus Pius. The outermost gate of the +temple district contains the only representations found in Egypt of the +Emperor OTHO, the discovery of which was once a most joyful event to +Champollion and Rosellini. They had, however, overlooked the circumstance +that on the opposite side the name of the Emperor GALBA, hitherto equally +unknown in Egypt, was also to be found. + +Even in Strabo’s time ancient Thebes had crumbled into several villages, +and Germanicus visited it, as we are doing, from a thirst for knowledge, +and with reverence for the great antiquity of its monuments, _cognoscendæ +antiquitatis_, as Tacitus informs us. The latest hieroglyphic imperial +name that I have found in all Egypt, is that of DECIUS (A.D. 250); it +appears in a representation on the temple of Esneh. A hundred years later +the holy ATHANASIUS retires to the Theban desert among the Christian +hermits there resident. The edict of THEODOSIUS against Paganism (391) +divested the Egyptian temples of their last authority, and greatly +favoured the development of monkish and recluse habits, to which Egyptian +Christianity was always peculiarly inclined. + +After that period numerous churches and convents spring up throughout +the country, even in the upper districts of the Nile; and the sepulchral +caves of the desert become troglodytic habitations for an ascetic hermit +population. The Thebaic necropolis, above all other places, presented +the greatest variety of means to satisfy these new wants. Both the +kings’ tombs, as well as the tombs of private individuals, were very +much employed for Christian cells, and still bear traces on their walls +of this new purpose to which they were applied. A letter of the holy +Athanasius, the archbishop of Alexandria, to the orthodox monks of +Thebes, still exists in a tomb at Qurna, in beautiful untial characters +on the white stucco, but unfortunately in a very fragmentary condition. +It was a favourite practice to convert ancient temples into Coptic +churches or convents. + +The largest church seems to have been erected in the temple of Medînet +Hâbu (town of Hâbu). Monolithic granite columns of considerable size +still cover the ground in great numbers, in the second outer court at +this spot; in order to obtain room for the niches in the choir, an +ancient Egyptian pillar was taken away on the northern side, and a +series of doors from the chambers which were arranged for the priests’ +cells were broken through the external wall of the temple to the back. +The convent appertaining to it, called the DER EL MEDÎNET—“belonging to +a town”—was placed in the Ptolemaic temple behind the hill of Qurnet +Murrâi, situated close at hand. Another church stood in the temple of +Old Qurna, and the convent of DER EL BACHÎT, situated on the heights of +Qurna, probably belonged to it. The ruins of a third convent occupy the +chambers of the temple of the Queen Numtamen, in the angle of the Asasif +valley, and bear the name of DER EL BAHRI, the northern convent. + +Such transformations of the ancient magnificent buildings were partly +against, and partly in favour of, their preservation. Single walls were +frequently demolished, or broken through, to enable them to make new +arrangements; upon others the heathen images were destroyed to obtain +bare walls, or at least, the human figures and even those of animals +in the inscriptions, especially the heads, were studiously picked out, +and mutilated, as high up as the loftiest ceilings. Not unfrequently, +however, the same zealous, pious hands also served to preserve the +ancient splendour in a most successful manner, for sometimes, instead of +laboriously destroying the representations with a hammer, they preferred +covering them over from the top to the bottom with Nile mud, which had +generally afterwards an additional white coating, in order to receive the +Christian paintings. In time this Coptic loam again fell off, and the +ancient paintings came out once more, with a brilliancy and surprising +freshness, which they could hardly have retained on uncovered walls, +exposed to the air and sun. In the niche of an ancient cella I found St. +Peter, in the ancient Byzantine style, holding the key, and raising his +finger, but beneath the half-decayed Christian casing, the cow’s horns +of the goddess Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, peeped forth from behind the +glory; to her, originally was given the incense and sacrifice of the +king who is standing by her side, which now are offered to the venerable +apostle. I have often with my own hands assisted time in the work of +restoration, and still further loosened the stucco, which is generally +covered over with totally uninteresting Coptic paintings, that I might +restore the splendid sculptures of the Egyptian gods and kings concealed +beneath them once more to their older and greater claims on our attention. + +A great part of the population of Thebes on both sides of the Nile is +still Coptic; our Christian cook Siriân was born here, and a Coptic +woman of good means, Mustafîeh, who lives at a short distance from us, +supplies us daily with excellent wheaten bread. For a long time past, +however, the Arabic Mohammedan population has gained the upper hand here, +as throughout the country, and the Copts can only oppose this by the +influence derived from ancient days, by their knowledge of arithmetic, +and their privilege of filling the most important financial offices in +the country. + +The small church in which the Theban Christians are now in the habit of +assembling every Sunday, is situated alone in the great gravelly plain +to the south of Medînet Hâbu. It has an Arabic cupola, and is surrounded +by the wall of a court. I entered it a few days ago from noticing that +the black turbans, which are only worn by Copts, were proceeding in +greater numbers than usual to the chapel. It was the feast of the holy +Donadeos, who had founded the church. The service was over. I only found +the old priest, who inhabits and takes charge of the church, inside with +his numerous family. The compartments were covered with mats; I was +shown the division for the men and women, the small chapels decorated +with variegated carved work attached to it, the square cistern for +baptisms and holy water. A large old Coptic book still lay open on the +reading-desk, with extracts from the Psalms and Gospels, and an Arabic +translation beside it. I asked the old man whether he could read Coptic; +he answered in the affirmative, but thought that his children could read +better than himself; his eyes had already become feeble. I sat myself +down upon the mat, and the whole troop of great and small yellow-brown +children and grandchildren of the old priest squatted down around me. +I asked the eldest lad to read a little, and he immediately began not +to read, but to sing with the greatest fluency—that is to say, to chant +in rough grumbling tones. I interrupted him, and asked him now to read +slowly in his usual voice; he did it with far greater difficulty, and +with many mistakes, which his younger brother sometimes corrected over +his shoulder; but when I went so far as to inquire the meaning of the +individual words, he pointed coolly to the Arabic translation, and +thought it was explained there, and wanted to read this aloud to me; +he could tell me nothing as to the single words, not even about the +value of the single letters over the paragraphs, nor, indeed, could the +old man have done that at any time. Afterwards I made them show me the +other treasures in the way of books belonging to the church, which were +immediately brought in a great cloth tied together at the four corners, +containing some prayer-books very much worn, some of them in Coptic, +some in Arabic. I left a small present behind for the good of the church, +and had rode on a little farther, when one of the boys overtook me, +bringing me breathless a small consecrated kind of biscuit cake, stamped +with a Coptic cross and a Greek inscription, which gift I was obliged to +repay by a second bakschisch. These are the Epigoni, the most genuine, +unmixed descendants of the old Pharaonic nation that once conquered Asia +and Ethiopia, and led its prisoners from the north and south into the +great hall of Karnak before Ammon; in whose wisdom Moses was educated, +and with whose priesthood the Greek sages went to school. + +_O Aegypte, Aegypte! religionum tuarum solæ supererunt fabulæ, æque +incredibiles posteris; solaque supererunt verba lapidibus incisa tua +pia facta narrantibus, et inhabitabit Aegyptum, Scythes, aut Indus, aut +aliquis talis, id est vicina barbaria._[58] + +We now know the meaning of this _aliquis_ which Hermes Trismegistus then +knew not how to explain; it is the Turks, who at present dwell in the +fields of Osiris. + +At the foot of our hill, in the direction of the green plain, stands +a single group of Sont-trees, which overshadow a pleasant reservoir +nicely lined with stones; here the sheep and goats are daily brought +to water, and every evening and morning the dark girls and veiled +women descend from their rock-caves, returning afterwards with a slow +step, their tall water-jugs on their heads; a lovely picture from the +patriarchal times. But close to where the refreshing element is found +there is a bare white spot in the middle of the fertile plain: on this, +two lime-kilns are erected, in which, as often as they are wanted, the +very best blocks of the ancient temples and rock-grottoes, with their +images and inscriptions, are pounded and burnt into lime, that they +may again cement together other blocks, which are extracted from these +convenient and inexhaustible stone-quarries, for some cattle-stall or +other structure for government purposes. + +The same day that I visited the Coptic church, I was desirous of riding +from that spot to the village of KÔM EL BIRÂT, which is situated on the +other side of the great lake of Hâbu, now dry. To my no small surprise, +my guide, the excellent old ʾAuad, who I have engaged to be my servant +while here, on account of his great knowledge of the locality, informed +me that he could not accompany me thither, he even almost shrank from +pronouncing the name of the village, and could not be persuaded to give +me any information about it, and about his strange behaviour. It was only +when I got home that I learnt the ground of his refusal from others, and +afterwards also from himself. Above seven or eight years ago a man was +killed in the house of the Sheikh of Qurna, to whose household ʾAuad then +belonged; how it happened is not yet made out. In consequence of this +circumstance, the whole family of the murdered man emigrated from this +place, and settled in Kôm el Birât. Ever since the law of vengeance for +blood has hung over the two families. Not a single member of that family +has from that time trod the ground of Qurna; and if ʾAuad, or any other +individual from the Sheikh’s house were to be seen in that village, any +one of the injured family would be justified in killing him openly. This +is the ancient Arabic custom.[59] + +I turn from my wanderings through the ruins of the great royal city, and +through the changes of thousands of years which have passed over them, +to our castle on the detached hill of Abd el Qurna. Wilkinson and Hay +have rendered an essential service to later travellers by building up +the habitable rooms, which, from our being desirous of spending a long +time in Thebes, we have profited by. A broad, convenient road leads by +windings from the plain to a spacious court, the left side of which +(the mountain side) is formed by a long shady colonnade; beyond this +there are several habitable rooms. At the end of the court stands a +single watch-tower, on which the Prussian flag waves, and beside it a +small house with two rooms, one above the other, the lowest of which I +occupy myself. There is no want of accommodation either for the kitchen +department, the servants, and the asses. + +The wide, boundless prospect across the Theban plain over the wall of +the court, low on the inner side, but with a deep fall externally, is +most beautiful and enchanting. The eye from this point, and still more +perfectly from the summit of the tower, or from the top of the hill +rising directly behind our dwelling, commands all, that still remains of +Ancient Thebes. In front of us the splendid ruins of the Memnonia, from +the angle of the hills at Qurna on our left, to the lofty Pylones, which +tower up above the mounds of ruins of Medînet Hâbu on our right; then the +green meadow encircled by the broad Nile, from which the solitary Colossi +of Amenophis rise on the right hand, and beyond the river the groups +of temples at Karnak and Luqsor, behind which the lower plain extends +several hours farther to the clear outline of the slightly undulating +Arabic ranges, which every morning were lit up by the first rays of the +sun casting a wonderful richness of colouring over the valley and rocky +desert all around us. There is no other spectacle in the world that I can +compare with this, a scene which daily impresses us with fresh wonders +and delight; but it reminds me perhaps of the view, for two years before +my window, looking down from the Tarpeian Rock, which comprised the whole +of Ancient Rome from the Aventine, with the Tiber at its foot, to the +Quirinal, and beyond that the undulating Campagna, with the beautiful +profile of the Alban hills (strikingly like those we now behold) in the +background. + +We never, however, look out into the distant country without being +peculiarly attracted to the silvery water-highway, and without our eyes +following the pointed sails, which may bring us letters or travellers +from the North. Winter here, as in all other places, is the season of +sociability. Not a week passes that we do not see several guests among +us. A stranger’s book, which I have placed here for future travellers, +and furnished with an introduction, was inaugurated on New Year’s Day +by our own signatures. Since then above thirty names have been added, +although the book has hitherto been kept exclusively in our castle, and +will only be handed over to our faithful castellan ʾAuad on our departure. + +On Christmas Eve we for the third time selected a palm for our +Christmas-tree. This symbol, still more beautiful than our fir-tree, +was decorated with lights and small gifts. Our artists celebrated the +cheerful festival in other imaginative ways, and an illuminated Christmas +crib, executed in the typical manner, and placed at the end of the long +rock-passage, was most successful. + +As it is natural to expect, England is by far the most numerously +represented among travellers; the French are more rarely seen, but among +their numbers I must mention the well-known and amiable savant Ampère, +who, as he told me, intends to spend several months in this country, in +order to make some solid progress in his Egyptian studies.[60] We are +not, however, without some of our German countrymen, and one beautiful +Sunday morning, at the close of the year, we had the pleasure of seeing +Lic. Strauss, the son of the court chaplain in Berlin, and his cousin +Dr. Krafft. We were just about to begin our simple Sunday service, which +ever since Abeken, our dear friend and former preacher of the desert, has +quitted us, I have been in the habit of conducting myself. I therefore +immediately resigned my place to one of these two rev. gentlemen, which +more befitted them than me; and as it happened that we had with us the +very sermons written by the two fathers of our dear guests, one of these +was selected for a discourse. + +Messrs. SEUFFERHELD and Dr. BAGGE, from Frankfort, visited us almost +simultaneously with them, and soon afterwards our friend Dr. SCHLEDEHAUS +from Alexandria, with the Austrian painter SATTLER, and when Messrs. +Strauss and Krafft called on us a second time, on their journey back, +they met some other guests here, Messrs. TAMM, STAMM, SCHWAB, and the +Assessor von ROHR, from Berlin. This very day twelve Germans (nine of +them Prussians) sat down to dinner with us. + + + + +LETTER XXXI. + + + _On the Red Sea, between Gebel Zeït and Tôr. Good Friday. + The commencement of Spring. 21st March, 1845._ + +Our vessel lies motionless in the midst of the sea, in sight of the +distant coast of Tôr, which we hoped to have reached in the course +of last night. I sit down to write in order to divest myself of the +annoying state of impatience necessarily resulting from an exceedingly +inconvenient and protracted calm, under a sultry mid-day sun, in a +sailing vessel, adapted only for bales of goods. + +On the 20th of February we changed our abode in Thebes from the western +to the eastern bank, from Qurna to Karnak. We settled ourselves here +in some chambers of the great royal temple; but as I was desirous of +setting out on my journey to the Peninsula of Sinai as soon as possible, +I limited myself for the time, to merely taking such a survey of the +monuments as was absolutely necessary, in order to enable me to appoint +the work that was to be done during my absence. + +The 3rd of March I set out on my journey. The younger Weidenbach +accompanied me, in order to give me some assistance in the drawings, +which would be absolutely required: besides him, I took our Dragoman +Jussuf along with me, the Kawass Ibrahim Aga, Gabre Máriam, and two +additional servants. We first went down the Nile as far as Qeneh. After +it became dark and the stars had risen, the conversation, which had +hitherto been animated, ceased, and, lying on the deck, I watched the +star of Isis, the sparkling Sothis (Sirius), this Polar star of Egyptian +chronology, as it gradually ascended over our heads. Our two oarsmen were +only too musically inclined, and went through their whole stock of songs, +quivering them with innumerable repetitions, sometimes interrupted by the +short cry of _Scherk_, _Gharb_ (East, West), which was softly answered by +the feeble and obedient boy’s voice of our little steersman. Half waking, +half dreaming, we then glided down the river till about midnight, when +the Arab quivering also ceased; the strokes of the oar became fainter, +and at length the boat was left entirely to the waves. The rising of the +moon in her last quarter, and dawning day, first aroused them to renewed +activity. + +We arrived early in Qeneh, where we were very kindly received in the +house of the illustrious Seïd Hussên. He is the important man through +whose hands all our letters pass, both going and coming, and who is +thus highly deserving of our gratitude. He and his two sons were of +great assistance to us in obtaining the innumerable things which were +requisite for our departure for the desert, which we were desirous of +accelerating as much as possible. Meanwhile, I was delighted with the +patriarchal manners which prevailed in this most estimable Arabian +family. All business was carried on there, as it is throughout the East, +in public, and most commonly in the street. In front of each house there +is a long divan, another in the room; friends come in, make a short +salutation, sit down almost unnoticed, and business goes on as usual. +Guests of higher rank are offered coffee, or the long pipe. Slaves stand +round, ready at the slightest sign. Acquaintance of inferior rank kiss +the hand of the master of the house, even if they are only passers by; +they do it all seriously and quietly, without the least demonstration of +feeling, but with the usual greetings, frequently murmured for a long +time from one to another. If there is no more space left on the divan, +or if it is occupied by persons of higher rank, the new comer squats +down on the ground beside it. Every one rises and goes at his pleasure, +and, what strikes us as very singular, without any parting words, though +the forms of greeting are so long. The master of the house, also, quits +his guests without any salutation, if the visitor is not a person of +distinction; when such is the case, he is frequently detained for a +long while by the monotonous, and almost always empty, conversation. +This domestic life in the street, such as prevailed more or less among +the ancient Greeks and Romans, and which is so fundamentally different +from the life in our studies and offices, is closely united with the +Eastern character in general. Individuals always deport themselves with +propriety and reserve, but they are compliant, and ready for anything +that occurs. In respectable families, such as this, there also exists an +amiable religious feeling, originating in a true and kindly disposition. +Old Hussên is above seventy, with a white beard, but, in spite of his +age, taking a lively interest in all that occurs, and meeting every one +in a friendly manner. The two sons, who are nearly fifty, carry on the +business. They treat the old man with extreme reverence. Both are great +smokers, but they never smoke in the presence of their father; this +would be regarded as a want of the respect which is due to him; they +immediately lay aside their pipes when he enters. In the evening after +supper, when it would have been too great a privation to resign them, the +sons sit in front of the threshold to smoke; while we, as the guests, sit +with the old man in the room, they only take part in the conversation +through the open door. + +The evening before our departure we visited a manufactory of the +celebrated Qulleh (cooling vessels), 200,000 of which are annually made; +and also the field from which the clay of which they are made is taken. +It is only one Feddan (160 square roods) in extent. + +After spending a couple of days at Qeneh, we quitted it, on the 6th +March, with fifteen camels. The first day we only rode three hours, as +far as the copious spring of BIR AMBAR, charmingly situated between Palms +and Nebek-trees,[61] and provided by Ibrahim Pascha with a dome-shaped +building for the caravans. We also reached early on the following day the +second night-encampment, at the station of Leqêta. The ancient road to +Kossêr from Koptos, the present Quft, the mounds of which we saw in the +distance on our right hand, leads immediately to the projecting mountains +of El Qorn (the Horns). We did not descend into the broad Kossêr road +until we approached these mountains, and after a march of six hours +arrived at LEQÊTA at the junction of the roads from Qeneh, Quft (Koptos), +Qûs (the ancient ⲕⲱⲥ or _Apollinopolis parva_), and a fourth road, also, +leading direct from Luqsor hither. Five wells furnish here a supply of +tolerably good water; two buildings, with domes half fallen down, are +destined for the reception of travellers. + +I here noticed a trait of Arabian hospitality which I must also mention. +At our last repast at Qeneh a fresh draught of the delicious Nile water +was brought me in an ornamental gilt cup, decorated with pious sayings +from the Koran. I was pleased with its simple and yet agreeable form, +the segment of a sphere, and expressed this to old Hussên, without +anticipating the answer I immediately received:—“The cup belongs to +you.” As I had nothing about me which I could give in return for the +gift, I went away shortly after, declining the civility, and left the +cup standing unnoticed. That night, when I went to rest, I found it +placed beside my bed, but the following morning I gave express orders +that it should not be packed up. We started on our journey, and in +Leqêta, where for the first time I opened my travelling-bag, my surprise +was great when the first thing I beheld was the cup carefully placed +within it. Gabre Máriam had closed my baggage, and in reply to my almost +angry inquiry how it was that the cup was here, contrary to my order, he +confessed that he had been obliged to place it at the top, by the express +wish of old Seïd Hussên. I was now, indeed, compelled to yield, and to +think of some present for him, on my return. + +We again started from Leqêta the same evening, and rode three hours +farther to an old station, at the GEBEL MAÁUAD, very little used now, and +deficient in water. Our Arabs, from the tribe of the Ag´aïze, are not so +animated as the Ababde, or Bischariîn, and their camels are also inferior. + +After Gebel Maáuad, we entered the hilly, sandy plain of QSUR EL BENAT, +and after another pass, the plain of RESCHRASCHI. At the end of this, +Gebel ABU GUEH rises on the left, upon which we turned our backs and went +to the right, round an angle of rock, on the precipitous sides of which, +composed of sandstone, I found engraved the Shields of the sun-worshipper +Amenophis IV., along with his consort, and over it the Sun, with rays +spread out like hands around it. Their names, as everywhere else, were +partly erased, although the King had not yet altered his name into that +of BECH-EN-ATEN. Towards mid-day we entered the primitive mountain range, +and in three-quarters of an hour arrived at the well of HAMAMÂT. + +There appears to have been an ancient Coptic settlement here, and the +broad well, about 80 feet deep, lined with stones, into which there is a +descent by a winding staircase, is even now ascribed by the Arabs to the +Nazarenes (the Christians). The ancient stone-quarries, which were our +most immediate object, were situated another half hour from the well. + +I pitched my head-quarters here, in a spacious grotto covered with +Egyptian and Greek inscriptions, as, by a hasty survey, we easily +perceived that we should find work which would occupy us for several +days. The ancient Egyptians, who were great lovers and eminent +connoisseurs of remarkable kinds of stone, had here found a bed of +precious green breccia, and beside it, also, some beautiful dark-coloured +veins of granite, which were worked as early as the 6th Dynasty, rather +more than B.C. 2000. There are numerous memorial inscriptions engraved +on the surrounding rocks since that period. Among them there are several +especially deserving notice, from the time of the Persian Government. The +hieroglyphic shields of Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, are indeed +almost alone known in this spot; and a royal state architect from the +Dynasty of the Psammeteci, has displayed his whole pedigree, no less than +twenty-three families, who, _without one exception_, held this important +post, and some of them also, in connection with high priestly honours. +An ancestral mother stands at the head of the long series, who must have +lived nearly 700 years before the last link of the chain. A great number +of Greek Proskynemata allow us to infer that the stone-quarries were +still used in the time of the Greeks and Romans. For five whole days we +were occupied from morning to night with copying and taking impressions, +to the continual wonder of the small caravans which we saw almost daily +pass before us, as the principal road by which the pilgrims of Upper +Egypt, and a great part of the Sudan, pass to Kossêr and Mecca, leads +through this valley. + +My original plan had been to go from Qeneh to Kossêr, and to embark +thence for Tôr. As the voyage, however, occupies a great deal of time, I +was very glad to learn in Qeneh that there is also a road from Hamamât, +across the mountain chain to Gebel Zeït, nearly opposite Tôr. I therefore +determined to take that road, difficult, indeed, but interesting, and far +shorter. At the same time I sent a messenger in advance to Kossêr to give +orders that a vessel should start for Gebel Zeït without delay, and await +us there. + +In Hamamât I had also a severe contest with the Arabs, who suddenly +became apprehensive of the long road, but little known and almost devoid +of water, and who wanted rather to guide us by Kossêr along the coast. +But as my principal object was to visit certain ancient stone-quarries +in the lofty mountain range, I threatened, if they did not keep their +word, to write to the Pascha, and I made them responsible for all the +consequences. Thus after long capitulations I accomplished my plan. +Nevertheless, it was still very nearly upset, as, on the evening before +our departure, we were almost poisoned by the carelessness of our cook, +who had allowed some vinegar to stand in copper vessels. However, we +recovered happily after a night of great suffering, and on the 13th March +started from Hamamât. + +We had brought with us six barrels full of water from Qeneh; the +camel-drivers were worse provided, and must consequently have suffered +much from thirst. Besides Selâm, our old trustworthy guide of the +caravan, I had brought with me in addition a special guide from Qeneh, +Selîm, who was said to be well acquainted with the mountainous district +between Hamamât and Gebel Zeït, although he had only made the journey +once before, above twelve years ago; and under his guidance, we got in +two days as far as GEBEL FATIREH. After great labour and long searching, +we re-discovered the remains of the ancient colony of workmen, who +quarried here a beautiful black and white granite. From this point, +however, the ignorance of the guide was manifested in many ways. On +the evening of the 15th of March we arrived at a high water-shed, and +were compelled to pass the night on the hard rocky ground, there being +no possibility of pitching a tent. The following day, Palm Sunday, we +suddenly came early in the morning upon a steep precipice, which descends +about 800 feet between the two chains of the MUNFÎEH mountain range. It +seemed impossible to pass the steep and dangerous path with a caravan. +The Arabs one and all protested in the most decided manner against +attempting it, and poured forth the most violent curses upon Selîm. He +was in a difficult position. He had evidently not known the difficulties +of this pass; the roads that are passable, though it is true they are +very circuitous, lead either by NECHEL DELFA, eastward, or by SCHAIB +EL BENAT, westward of this spot. To strike into one of these two roads +now, would have at least cost us two more days, and as we had already +lost a great deal of time at Gebel Fatireh, we should have run into +still greater danger of a deficiency of water, as our supply had been +calculated very exactly, and between Hamamât and Gebel Zeït we had only +the prospect of one single spring, which was said to be situated near +Gebel Dochân. I therefore gave orders, and carried my point in spite +of the most violent protestations to the contrary, that all the camels +should be unloaded on the height, and that the whole of the baggage +should be carried down on the shoulders of the Arabs. My own servants +had to begin, and we all set to work together. Chests and trunks were +taken singly from one point of rock to another; we had most difficulty +in managing the great water-casks, which could only be moved by three or +four people at once. The unloaded beasts were then carefully led down, +and thus the bold enterprise terminated successfully without any accident +or injury, amid loud and fervent appeals to Abd el Qader, the sacred +patron of the camel. After three toilsome hours, all was over, and the +beasts were again loaded. + +Soon after, however, we were to encounter a far more serious danger. I +was as usual riding in advance with Max and some of the servants, and +had charged the caravan to follow the footmarks of my ass in the sand. +Towards mid-day we saw GEBEL DOCHÂN, “the Smoking Mountain,” on our +left hand, rising deep blue beyond the Munfîeh chain, and several hours +afterwards, when we emerged from the higher mountains into an undulating +and more open country, on the farther side of the wide plain, and beyond +the sea, we, for the first time, saw the distant mountains of Tôr, like +rising mist, situated in the third quarter of the globe, which we were +now about to enter. + +Soon after three o’clock we came to two Bedouin huts made of mats, in +which we found a woman, and a dark-skinned boy, with beautiful eyes, who +gave us some milk. On my inquiring whether there were ancient walls in +the neighbourhood, the boy conducted us to a piece of granite rock, one +hour distant, standing isolated, surrounded by a rough, but well piled +up, wall, about 10 feet high. The square, in which the above-mentioned +rock formed the acropolis, was 70 paces long, and 60 broad; the entrance +from the south was furnished with two circular bastions; and similar +ones stood at the four corners, and in the centre of the three remaining +sides. In the interior single chambers were partitioned off, and in the +centre there was a well of burnt bricks, but which was now covered with +rubbish.[62] + +According to the statements of our guide, we ought now to have been +near the water that was said to be only one half day’s journey distant +from our last night’s encampment. But the sun went down without our +having reached the desired goal. By the dim light of the moon in her +first quarter, we at length turned into a lofty rock-valley, which Selîm +assured us would certainly lead to the spring. We ascended for a long +time between bare granite precipices; the moon set, no well appeared, and +the guide confessed that he had missed the right valley. We were obliged +to turn back. The same thing occurred in a second and a third valley into +which the guide conducted us, who was now evidently quite lost, having +altered his direction more than once. He excused himself on the plea +of uncertain moonlight, and assured us that at break of day he would +immediately discover the right path. Nothing, therefore, remained but +to lie down on the hard ground, in our light riding-dresses, to take a +short disturbed sleep, without eating or drinking; for our water-bottles +had long been emptied, and we had each of us, some time before, devoured +our small provision of four biscuits. Some camel-saddles were our only +protection from the cold north wind. Thus, with the stars above and the +stones beneath us, we placed our hopes in the following morning. + +With the dawn of day we again mounted. My ass, who had taken the last +scanty ration of water that had been measured out for it, more than +four-and-twenty hours back, and could not endure thirst like the camels, +would scarcely go a step farther. Selîm, however, was in good heart, and +thought we should soon get back to the right road. We found innumerable +marks of camels. “Only a little while longer,” exclaimed the guide, “and +we shall be all right.” Our hope was again revived. + +Beautiful variegated blocks of granite and porphyry, which I saw lying +among the loose stones, were joyful signs to me of the vicinity of the +_Mons porphyrites_. Meanwhile, the broad valley into which we had turned +constantly became narrower, and divided into two branches, the right of +which we ascended. But this also divided once more, and like the valleys +described above, everything round us led to the sad conviction that +here we were again upon the wrong path; I made a halt to give some rest +to our tired animals, and sent the guide forward alone to find out his +right road. Hungry, and above all, thirsting for a draught of water, +we encamped in the shadow of a rock-precipice. We were in a critical +position. I had begun to doubt whether our guide would ever find the +spring in this desert and uniformly barren mountainous region. And where +was our caravan? Had it found its way to the water? If, as hitherto +had been the case, it had followed the footmarks of my ass, which were +distinguished singly among the innumerable tracks of camels, then it was +lost like ourselves. We waited impatiently for Selîm; he could at least +lead us back to the Arab huts, which we had seen the previous day. But +one hour after the other passed away: Selîm did not come. The sun rose +higher, and deprived us of the narrow shadow of the mountain precipice, +beside which we had halted. We sat silent upon the burning stones. We +did not venture to leave the spot for fear of missing Selîm. Had he met +with an accident, or could he have forgotten himself so far as only to +think of his own preservation, and to leave us to our fate, which is said +to have happened some years ago to three Turks, in this same desert, who +were never seen again? Or was Selîm too weary to return back to us? He +had been on foot almost all the way, and must consequently be much more +exhausted than we were. + +From time to time we mounted the nearest heights, and fired off our +guns. All in vain! We were at length compelled to yield to the cheerless +conviction that we should not see our guide again. After waiting four +hours, mid-day had arrived, and with it the latest time to start, if we +could still cling to the faint hope of again finding out the Arab huts, +which must be about six hours distant from us. To search any longer for +the spring of water would have been madness, as even Selîm had not found +it; Gebel Zeït, where our vessel lay, was two and a half days’ journey +distant, and the Nile, on the other side of the mountain range, five +days’ journey off: the camels had drank nothing for four days, and the +ass was already completely exhausted. + +We, therefore, started once more. My companions had done everything +that I proposed, but I never felt more severely the responsibility I +was under for others, whose lives were at stake with my own, than when +forming that lingering determination. It seemed foolhardy to think of +travelling without our guide, only directed by the stars, in this totally +uninhabited and barren mountainous land, lost as we already were, and +brought still more out of our right direction by the crossed and crooked +paths we had pursued during the night; nevertheless, it was our last +resource. + +After deliberating for some time, we determined to ride back to the +principal valley, which we had passed through that morning so full of +hope; the endless variety of bare, jagged mountain precipices, however, +and the valleys without a tree or bush, filled only with rubbish and +loose stones, leave such a completely uniform impression, that none of us +would ever have recognised this principal valley, had we not felt sure +that we were right by the direction and probable distance. At the outlet +of this valley we were obliged again to enter the region of the lower +hills, between which, towards the south, it seemed at least there was a +possibility of finding the Arab huts, as I had taken the position of the +magnet, with reference to the highest point of Dochân, from the mountain +fortress, which was not too far removed from that spot. The huts, indeed, +were so concealed, that we might ride past them at a short distance +without observing them; perhaps, even the mats might to-day be set up in +a different place. Thus we were lost in the wide, burning desert, without +a guide, tormented by increasing hunger and thirst, and so far as human +calculation went, wholly in the hands of chance. Silently we descended +in the burning, mid-day heat, each occupied with his own reflections, +when suddenly—I shall never forget that moment—two men emerged from the +nearest angle of the rock; they rushed towards us, embraced our knees, +kissed our hands, offered us water from their pitchers, and continued to +repeat their congratulations and salutations with touching joy. “El hamdu +l’illah!” Praised be God! sounded from all sides. We were saved. + +Our caravan, from which the two Arabs came, had as usual followed our +traces, and therefore, like us, got into the wrong road; but Ibrahim Aga, +soon perceiving our error, had halted early in the day, and during the +night kindled small fires on some of the hills with the scanty materials +for burning which had been collected with difficulty, and he had almost +fired off all his powder. But the wind blew towards the opposite +quarter, and we heard none of the signals of our anxious comrades. The +following morning they had proceeded onwards, and owing to Sheikh Selâm’s +surprising knowledge of the locality, though he had only once been +here above five-and-twenty years before, they reached the road to the +spring. Nevertheless, Ibrahim Aga made the caravan encamp one hour before +arriving at it, as all traces of us had disappeared, and anxious about +our fate, he sent patrols of Arabs into the mountains in search of us. + +How strange, then, that during this very quarter of an hour we should +have again struck into the great valley, where we could not fail to +meet this message. As we had reached our side valley over the mountain, +no marks of our beasts could lead thither, as here these generally +disappeared upon the stones; had we therefore started but a few minutes +later, they would certainly have passed us, and had we descended the +valley earlier than this, we should have forthwith bent our steps to the +right towards the huts, and turned our backs on the caravan, encamped far +away on our left hand. + +About two o’clock we reached the encampment, which we entered amidst +universal cries of joy. The greatest surprise was expressed at not +finding Selîm with us—he was given up by all. I would not, however, allow +the camp to break up, but had the camels at once led alone to the spring. +The Arabs were again sent into the mountains in search of Selîm, and I +remained the rest of the day quietly in my tent. + +Towards evening some Arabs returned from the spring, bearing with +them, upon a camel, Selîm, hardly in possession of his senses, his +feet bleeding and bound up. He had been found speechless, lying beside +the reservoir of water, his mouth open, his body swollen from having +taken an immoderate draught of the water. How he came there we could +not immediately learn, for he answered none of our questions. He +must, however, have at length found his way out of the high mountains +accidentally, or by the wonderful faculty possessed by the Arab of +following tracks. At present, perhaps, it was rather his fears of the +serious consequences which might ensue from the wretched trick he had +played us which rendered him speechless. When he observed that he had +excited our compassion, he very soon recovered. I no longer, however, +retained him near my person, but for the remainder of the journey took +the old, trustworthy Sheikh Selâm as our guide in front, and left the +former behind with the caravan. + +GEBEL DOCHÂN, the porphyry mountain, our real object in this district, +and which had occasioned the whole enterprise, now after all lay +far behind us. We had been riding for several hours continuously +at its base, as I had suspected even the day before, in spite of +Selîm’s assurance to the contrary, for we had incorrectly fancied the +spring was in its neighbourhood. None of the caravan had ever seen +the stone-quarries and the remains of the ancient colony of workmen. +Nevertheless, I determined to venture upon a second attempt the following +day, which was successful. + +I set out at daybreak with Max, the Sheikh Selâm, and a young, active +Arab. The huts had not been observed by the caravan, and were also +situated too much towards the east for us. We therefore rode straight +towards the highest point of the group of Dochân. It so chanced, that +just as we were in the neighbourhood of the river, we met an Abâdi from +one of the huts with some camels, for which he was seeking out some +pasture ground. With his assistance we soon attained our object. + +We first found the large opening to a well built up with unhewn stones; +it was 12 feet in diameter, but was now fallen to pieces and filled +up with rubbish. Five pillars were still standing on the western +side, most likely formerly belonging to a covered hall; a sixth was +demolished. Three hundred paces farther up the valley a temple, now in +ruins, was erected on a granite rock projecting from the left side of +the valley. The walls were formed of unhewn stones, the finer parts of +the architecture were, however, very delicately chiselled out of red +granite. A staircase of twenty steps led from the north to the paved +outer court, which was surrounded by a wall, and in the middle stood a +rough granite altar. On the left hand four cell-chambers were attached +to this court, the most southern of which, however, had partly fallen +with its rock-basis. Another small chamber had been joined to these as +the rock offered space for it, in which stood a tolerably large altar, +but also without inscriptions. In front of these chambers, in the centre +of the court, at an elevation of several feet, and with a foundation of +sharply-cut blocks of granite, rose an Ionic portico, which consisted +of four monolithic slender and swelling granite columns, whose bases +and voluted capitals, with the blocks of the gables and architraves, lay +scattered around in ruins. The long dedicatory inscriptions mentioned +that the temple had been consecrated under the Emperor HADRIAN to ZEUS +HELIOS SERAPIS, by the Eparch, Rammius Martialis. To the left of the well +the ruins of the town are situated on an elevated spot. It was in the +form of a square, and, as usual, fortified with towers. In the centre +there was another well, the chief requisite of every station, built of +burnt bricks, and covered with a coating of lime. Eight rough, slender, +granite pillars form the entrance to the well. + +An ancient precipitous road leads to the adjoining mountain, and conducts +to the porphyry quarries, which were situated immediately beneath +its summit; they furnished the beautiful deep red porphyry which is +displayed in so many monuments of the imperial time. Broad veins of it, +which were worked to a considerable depth, passed between another kind +of rock of a blue colour, sprinkled with white, and a rock of almost a +red brick colour. We found five or six quarries beside each other, the +largest about 40 paces square. I could nowhere discover wedge-holes +for splitting; on the contrary, the bluish rock immediately beside the +quarry, which was pulverised nearly as fine as sand, seemed to indicate +the application of fire. In the town, also, I found lofty and peculiar +heaps of ashes. + +From the quarries I ascended to the summit of the mountain, affording +an extensive and glorious prospect over the mountains in the immediate +vicinity to the plain, which declined rapidly from the hilly district to +a sandy level extending to the sea; and on the opposite side of the blue +surface of the water, we descried the lofty range of Tôr. After I had +taken a number of observations with the compass I re-descended, and after +sunset once more reached our camp at the MOIE MESSÂID. + +The 19th of March we crossed the plain to the ENNED mountains, stretching +along the sea-coast, which we traversed by a valley running diagonally +across them. An abundant spring here came to the surface, whose rippling +waters accompanied us for a long while. It might be considered the _Fons +Tadnos_ of Pliny, as its water has only recently become brackish and +undrinkable, from the bed of natron on the surface. We left the ruins +of ABU SCHAR, the ancient _Myos hormos_ or _Philoteras portus_, on our +right, and encamped on the peninsula of GIMSCHEH, which is called by the +Arabs, KEBRIT, from the sulphur which is there obtained. + +Yesterday morning we rode to the Bay of Gebel Zeït, between the Enned +mountains and the sea-shore. The Range of Tôr, which floated before +sunrise in a milky blue colour over the surface of the sea, stood out +faintly from the sky; its outline only disappeared with the rising sun. + +After mid-day we arrived at GEBEL ZEÏT, the oil mountain. Our vessel, +which had been appointed to meet us from Kossêr, made the voyage from +thence in six days, and had already waited four days for our arrival. The +camels were dismissed here, and returned the same evening. + +One quarter of an hour north of our anchorage were the ZEITIEH; such is +the name given to five or six pits, hollowed out in the sandy shore, or +in the rock, and which fill with blackish-brown naphtha, like syrup. A +few years ago researches were set on foot by Em Bey, who was in hopes of +finding coal beneath, though hitherto they have had no success. + +Yesterday evening it was a perfect calm. It was only during the night +that a light wind rose from the north, which we immediately availed +ourselves of, for setting sail. With the wind in our favour we might have +accomplished the passage across in one night; but now the day is again +drawing to a close, and we have not yet reached the port. The ship of +burden scarcely stirs, though the long oars have been at length set in +motion. + +The sailors of this sea are very different from those on the Nile. +Their deportment is more reserved, less sly and subservient. Their +songs, which commence at the first stroke of the oar, consist of +fragmentary short lines, which are sung first by one, and are taken up +by another, while the remainder utter short and deep grunting sounds, +as an accompaniment, at equal intervals. The Rais, on an elevated seat, +rows along with the others. He is a negro, as well as several others +among the sailors, but one of the handsomest and strongest Moors that I +ever saw—a real Othello; when making his athletic movements, he rolls +his yellow-white eyes, shows his dazzling teeth, and gives the tone to +the song, leading it for a length of time, with a shrill, piercing, but +skilful voice. + + + + +LETTER XXXII. + + + _Convent on Mount Sinai, the 24th March, 1845. Easter Monday._ + +On the evening of Good Friday we landed in Tôr by moonlight. The harbour +is now so much sanded up, that our vessel was obliged to lie off several +hundred paces, and we were landed in a boat. We were met on shore by +the old Greek NICOLA JANNI, who had before received EHRENBERG, LEON DE +LABORDE, RÜPPELL, ISENBERG, and other well-known travellers; and he had +favourable testimonials to produce of the reception they had met with +from him. After long negotiations with the insolent Arabs, who, when they +discovered we were in a hurry, and that they were indispensable to us, +endeavoured in all ways to overreach us, we started early the day before +yesterday from Tôr, limiting ourselves to what was absolutely necessary +for the land journey; and we sent the vessel to await us at Cape ABU +ZELÎMEH. + +Our road led in a due northerly direction to the mouth of WADI HEBRÂN, +across the plain of EL G´EʾAH, which, being five or six hours broad, is +situated between the sea and mountain. On first starting, however, I +made a digression to the hot springs of GEBEL HAMMÂM. They are situated +at the southern end of the isolated line of mountains, which, commencing +one hour to the north of Tôr, extends to the sea-shore. I again met +the caravan at the well of EL HAI, which is pleasantly situated, on +the direct road, between gardens of palm-trees. The ground gradually +rises from the sea-coast to beyond this well. As soon as we got an open +prospect over the whole plain, and to the lofty range which descends +towards the south-west in a steep and regularly declining chain to the +extremity of the Peninsula, I took the points of the compass, with +reference to all the places of any note, the mouths of valleys, and +summits of mountains, which the guides were able to name. About half-past +five I reached the foot of the mountain range. Here already, at the +entrance of the valley, I observed the first SINAITIC Inscription on the +black blocks of stone. A little farther on we came to the small piece of +water shaded by some palm-trees, where we spent the night. + +Yesterday we traversed the WADI HEBRÂN, which separates the group of +Serbâl from the principal range of Gebel Mûsa, crossed over NAKB EL +EGAUI, which forms the water-shed between the west and east, and turning +from this point southwards, over NAKB EL HAUI, the wind-saddle, we +reached the CONVENT on Easter Sunday, as the sun was setting. We were +drawn, like other travellers, up the high wall of the fortification, to +the entrance, although there is another entrance through the convent +garden, or more level ground, but which they are only in the habit +of using from within. The aged and worthy prior, who is mentioned by +Robinson, had died that year in Cairo, and had been replaced by another, +Demetrius Nicodemus, who is said to hold the rank of a bishop. + +As it is a Greek convent, instead of Easter rejoicings we came to a +strict season of fasting. But independently of that, the whole life and +habits of the four priests and twenty-one lay brothers made by no means +such an edifying impression as we might have expected to witness in +this spot. A gloomy spirit of wearisome sloth and ignorance hangs like a +cloud of mist over their discontented countenances. Yet these fugitives +from this world of cares are wandering beneath an ever cheerful sky of +moderate temperature, are alone able, of all the inhabitants of this +sultry wilderness, to refresh themselves beneath the dark shade of the +cypress, palm, and olive-tree, and have besides in their possession a +library of 1500 volumes, not in the smallest degree considering the best +purpose for which they are intended—viz., a ἰατρεῖον ψυχῆς.[63] + +To-day we ascended GEBEL MÛSA. In my own imagination, and by the +descriptions of former travellers, it formed the actual centre of the +whole range; but this is not the case. Both in elevation and in the +planimetrical projection of the whole mass of the primitive range, it +forms part of the north-eastern slope. The convent in a direct line is +_three times_ as near the eastern border of the range as the western. +Even Gebel Katherîn, situated immediately to the south, is loftier than +the almost concealed summit of Gebel Mûsa, which is invisible to the +whole of the surrounding country. Still higher mountains rise on the +farther side of Katherîn, but in steps, as for example, UM RIGLIN, ABU +SCHEGERE, QETTÂR, &c., as far as UM SCHÔMAR, which towers up over all +the others, and stands in the centre of the eastern and western slope of +the whole elevation, forming the principal and most northern vertebra +of the long backbone of the range, which passes down to the south, and +determines the direction of the whole Peninsula. All the way up Gebel +Mûsa, along with the various spots which are connected with holy legends, +was a walk amidst the wildest and grandest natural features; it reminded +me of being led through a castle of historical renown, where the places +of rest and study, &c., of some great king are exhibited. + +On our return from Gebel Mûsa, we ascended the actual brow of the +so-called HOREB, which Robinson regards as the TRUE SINAI instead of +Gebel Mûsa, which has hitherto been viewed as such. We passed several +hermit’s huts and chapels, till we at length reached one, situated in a +rocky basin, behind which the principal mass of Horeb rises up abruptly +and grandly. There is no accessible road to it. We clambered up, first +through a precipitous cleft in the rock, then over the brows of the rock +towards the south. About half-past five we reached the summit, just +above the great plain of Râha, on the immense round-formed mountain top, +which has such a grand appearance from the plain. Robinson seems to have +attempted this road at first, but to have given it up afterwards, and +mounted to the top of Sessâf, which certainly is loftier, but situated a +little to the westward, and does not project into the plain as the actual +central point, like the knob which we ascended.[64] Our companions, with +the exception of one active Arab boy, had remained behind, as it was, in +fact, a dangerous ascent. Even this site did not allow me to entertain +the view that Moses ever stood upon a rock that was visible from this +valley, if the narrative is to be understood in so literal a manner. We +did not ascend Gebel Katherîn, as it has fewer historical claims even +than Gebel Mûsa. + + + + +LETTER XXXIII. + + + _On the Red Sea, the 6th April, 1845._ + +I shall employ our tranquil sea voyage, which will last for several days +longer, in arranging the various materials I have collected on the +Peninsula, and combining the principal events of this episode in our +journey. I shall send a more detailed account of it from Thebes.[65] +These lines, however, shall be handed over to Seïd Hussên in Qeneh, and +shall be forwarded to the north by the first opportunity. + +We left the convent on the 25th March, towards evening, and passed +downwards through the broad WADI E’ SCHEIKH. I selected this roundabout +way, as formerly, before the wild defile of Nakb el Haui was rendered +passable, this valley was the only way by which the Israelites, if they +were desirous of marching to the plains of Râha, could have reached that +spot.[66] We spent the night in the upper part of the valley, near the +tomb of the holy SHEIKH SALIH, from whom it receives the name of WADI +E’ SCHEIKH. In the lower portion of the valley we first meet with the +manna-yielding shrubs of Tarfa,[67] and the Sinaitic inscriptions on +the sides of the valley become more frequent. But before reaching the +outlet of the valley, we quitted it and climbed over to our left into +the WADI SELÂF, which lower down joins the Wadi e’ Scheikh, in order to +reach the foot of SERBÂL, by the shortest road from this. We had already +frequently seen at every opening on the road the huge rocky summit rising +above the surrounding mountainous district, and the accounts given us by +the Arabs, of the fertile and irrigated WADI FIRÂN at its base, had long +made me desirous of becoming better acquainted with it. I had resolved to +ascend the mountain, and therefore made them lead us into the WADI RIM, +that runs down from the mountain into the Wadi Selâf, which passes along +Serbâl. After riding upwards of an hour in this valley, we came to an +old stone hut, which might have once sheltered a hermit; soon afterwards +we found some Arab tents, and at a short distance beyond these, several +Sittere-trees, which we selected for our place of encampment. + +On the 27th March we rose early to ascend the mountain Derb e’ Serbâl. +The true road to Serbâl leads from WADI FIRÂN through Wadi Aleyât to +the mountain. We were forced to go round its south-eastern extremity, +and ascend behind from the south, as it would have been far beyond our +powers to clamber up the heights through the Rim ravine, which descends +precipitously, and in a direct line between the two eastern summits. One +quarter of an hour above our encampment we came to a spring, shaded by +Nebek, Hamâda, and Palm-trees, whose fresh, pure water, was walled round +to the depth of several feet. We then climbed over a small rib of the +mountain, on which there again stood several ancient stone houses, down +into another branch of the Rim valley (Rim el mehâsni), and in an hour +and a half reached the south-eastern angle of the mountain. From this +point we pursued a paved road of rock, which was even sometimes supported +by masonry work. This led us to an artificial terrace and a wall, the +remains, as it appeared, of a house that had been destroyed, and to +a cool spring, shaded by tall reeds, a palm-tree, and several Jassur +bushes[68] (from which the Moses rods are cut); the whole mountain is +here overgrown with Habak, and other sweet-smelling herbs. Some minutes +farther on we came to several caves in the rock, which once served as +hermit’s cells; and after wandering for almost four hours we reached a +small plateau spreading out between the summits, where we again found +a house with two rooms. A road led over this level ground to the edge +of the western side of the mountain, which sinks at first steep and +rugged, then in more gently-inclined wide ribs, to the sandy plain of EL +G´EʾAH, and here disclosed to me across the sea a glorious prospect of +the opposite coast, and the Egyptian chain of mountains bounding it. From +this point the rock-path suddenly descended along the ragged mountain +declivity into a wild, deep basin, round which the five summits of Serbâl +meet in a semicircle, forming one mighty crown. In the middle of this +basin, called WADI SIʾQELJI, are the ruins of an old convent, to which +the mountain path leads, which unfortunately we had not time to visit.[69] + +I therefore returned across the level space, and then began to ascend +the most southern of the summits of Serbâl. When I had almost got to +the top of the precipitous height, I thought I observed that the second +summit was somewhat higher, and therefore hastened down again, and sought +out a way to reach this. We passed a small piece of water, and were +obliged to go almost round the whole basin, till we at length succeeded +in clambering up it, from the north-east side. Here, to my astonishment, +between the two points into which the summit is divided, I found a small +level valley, plentifully supplied with shrubs and herbs, and from this +I first ascended the one, then the other point, and by the assistance +of my guide, who was conversant with the spot, I took the points of +the compass with reference to all the places of note which might here +be surveyed in the wide horizon. For instance, I could clearly perceive +how the mountain summits beyond Gebel Mûsa continue to rise higher, and +that the distant UM SCHÔMAR rose above all the others. We did not set +out on our return till four o’clock, so that we were obliged to avoid +the circuitous road by which we had ascended, unless we were desirous of +being overtaken by darkness. We therefore determined to leap down, from +block to block like chamois, and follow the precipitous rocky ravine, +which led almost in a straight line to our camp in Wadi Rim, and in two +hours and a half, with trembling knees, we reached our tent by this +impracticable path, the most difficult and the most fatiguing that I ever +trod in the whole course of my life. + +The following day we proceeded farther, and passing through Wadi Selâf, +and the lowest part of Wadi e’ Scheikh, we reached the WADI FIRÂN—this +most precious jewel of the Peninsula, with its Palms and groves of Tarfa, +on the banks of a lovely rushing stream, which, winding among shrubs and +flowers, conducted us to the old convent mountain of the town of PHARAN, +the FIRÂN of the present day. Everything that we had hitherto seen, and +what we afterwards saw, was naked, stony desert compared to this fertile +oasis, abounding in wood and water. For the first time since we had left +the Nile valley, we once more walked on soft black earth, obliged to +defend ourselves with our arms from the overhanging leafy branches, and +we heard singing birds warbling in the thick foliage. At the point where +the broad Wadi Aleyât, descending from Serbâl, enters Wadi Firân, and +where the valley spreads out into a spacious level tract, there rises +in the centre of it a rocky hill called HERERAT, on the summit of which +are the ruins of an ancient convent building. At its foot stood once a +magnificent church, constructed of well-hewn blocks of sandstone, the +ruins of which are built into the houses of the town situated on the +slope of the opposite mountain. + +The same evening I went up Wadi Aleyât, passing innumerable +rock-inscriptions, to a well, surrounded by Palm and Nebek trees, where +I enjoyed the entire prospect of the majestic mountain chain. Apart +from all the other mountains, and united into one single mass, Serbâl +rises, at first in a slope of moderate inclination, afterwards in steep +precipices, with chasms, to the height of 6000 feet (above the sea). +Nothing could equal the scene when the valleys and low mountains around +were already veiled in the shadows of night, and the summits of the +mountain still glowed above the colourless grey, like a fiery cloud in +the sinking sun. + +The following morning I repeated my visit to Wadi Aleyât, and completed +my observations of the whole of this remarkable district, the principal +features of which I had already noted down from the summit of Serbâl. + +The most fertile district of Wadi Firân is enclosed between two hills +which rise from the centre of the valley; the upper one of these two +is called EL BUÊB, the lower, situated at the outlet of Wadi Aleyât, +MEHARRET or HERERAT. In very ancient times the valley appears to have +been closed in here, and the waters rushing down from all sides, even +from Gebel Mûsa, into this basin, appear to have united into a lake. It +is only in this manner that we can explain the very remarkable deposit +of earth, which extends along the sides of the valley to between eighty +and a hundred feet high, and no doubt it is this remarkable position +of Firân, as the lowest point of a large mountainous district, which +occasions the unusual supply of water that issues forth at this point. + +Directly behind the convent hill we found the narrow bed of the valley +as stony and barren as the more elevated valleys, although the brook was +still visible by our side for half an hour. The violent irruption of +those primitive waters permitted no more deposits of earth in this spot. +It was only at the next still more decided bend of the valley, called EL +HESSUE, that a few more groups of palm-trees appeared. Here the brook +disappeared in a cleft of the rock, as suddenly as it had burst forth +behind Buêb, and we did not see it again. + +After being five hours on the road, we quitted Wadi Firân, that here +turned off to the left hand towards the sea, and we emerged from the +primitive mountains into a more level region of sandstone. The loftier +range retreated towards the north-west, and encircled in a great bow +the hilly, sandy district that we traversed. We next came to the WADI +MOKATTEB, the “valley with inscriptions,” which derives its name from the +immense numbers of inscriptions which are to be found here in several +places. It is easy to perceive, that it is those places sheltered from +the mid-day sun, which invited passing travellers on the road to Firân +to engrave their names and short mottoes in the soft rock. We took +impressions on paper of as many of them as we could obtain, or copied +with the pen those which were less adapted for an impression. We found +these inscriptions scattered singly, in the most various, and frequently +very remote places of the Peninsula, and taking them altogether, I have +no doubt whatever that they were engraved by the inhabitants of the +country during the first centuries before and after Christ. I sometimes +found them cut over more ancient Greek names, and not unfrequently +Christian crosses are connected with them. These inscriptions are +habitually called SINAITIC, which would not be inappropriate, if thereby +the whole Peninsula of Sinai was intended to be designated as the spot +where they are found. But we must observe, that on Gebel Mûsa itself, +which is regarded as Sinai, very few single and short inscriptions +of this kind have been found, such as those which, after careful +observation, are to be met with in almost all spots adapted to them, but +that, on the contrary, their actual centre was rather PHARAN, at the foot +of SERBÂL. + +On the 31st of March we again reached the lofty chain which turns +back from the east, and marched through Wadi Qeneh into the small +WADI MAGHÂRA, which branches off from it, and in which the sandstone +and primitive rock border on one another. Here we found, high up in +the northern sandstone precipices, the remarkable Egyptian rock stele +belonging to the earliest monuments generally known to us among Egyptian +antiquities.[70] As early as the 4th Manethonic Dynasty, the same which +built the great Pyramids of Gizeh, in Egypt, more than 3000 years before +our era, _copper mines_ were discovered in this wilderness, which were +worked by a colony of labourers. Even then the Peninsula was inhabited by +Asiatic, probably Semetic races, for which reason we frequently see the +Pharaoh represented in those rock-images as conqueror over the enemies of +Egypt. Almost all the inscriptions belong to the Old Monarchy; we only +found one from the period when King Tuthmosis III. and his sister reigned +together. + +From this point I was anxious to take the shortest road to the second +place in the Peninsula, where there are ancient Egyptian monuments, +SARBUT EL CHÂDEM. But there was no direct road over this lofty range +to its slope on the other and north-easterly side, so we were obliged +to return to WADI MOKATTEB, and get across the mountains by a very +circuitous route through WADI SITTERE and WADI SICH. As we again emerged, +we had the immeasurable plateau in front of us, which includes the whole +of the north of the Peninsula, and consists of one single vast bed of +sandstone. This, however, descends towards the south by two steps, so +that the prospect seems as if it were bounded by two lofty mountain +precipices retreating at about equal distances into the far distance. The +descent nearest to the south, called E’ TIH, sinks to a flat, broad sandy +valley, DEBBET E’ RAMLEH, while the masses of sandstone rock, on this +side, seem to be as high as the general plateau. + +On a terrace protruding far into the broad valley, which we climbed with +great difficulty, are the wonderful monuments of SARBUT EL CHÂDEM, which +appear no less so, even to those who are prepared to behold them. The +oldest representations led us also here into the Old Monarchy, but only +as far back as its last dynasty, the twelfth of the Manethonic list. In +this period, under AMENEMHA III., a small rock-grotto was excavated, +and furnished with an ante-chamber; lofty steles were erected outside, +at different distances, and without any determined arrangement, the one +lying most remote being a short quarter of an hour distant on the highest +point of the plateau. During the New Monarchy, TUTHMOSIS III. enlarged +the building towards the west, and added a small pylon with an outer +court. The later kings had built an additional long series of chambers, +one in front of the other, in the same direction, solely, as it appears, +for the purpose of protecting the memorial stele erected upon them from +the weather, especially from the sharp wind, often loaded with sand, +which has now almost totally destroyed the ancient steles, which were +even at that time unprotected. The latest stele exhibits the Shields of +the last king of the 19th Dynasty, therefore since that time, or soon +afterwards, the place was probably deserted by the Egyptians. + +The divinity who was here peculiarly worshipped in the New Monarchy, +was HATHOR, with the epithet which is also found in the Wadi Maghâra, +“Mistress of MAFKAT”—_i. e._ of the _copper country_, for _mafka_ in +hieroglyphics, as well as still in the Coptic language, meant “copper.” +Therefore no doubt copper was also obtained here. This was confirmed by +a peculiar appearance, which, strange to say, seems to have been left +unnoticed by all previous travellers. To the east and west, namely of the +temple, may be seen great mounds of slag, which, by their black colour, +form a strong contrast with all that surrounds them. These artificial +elevations, the largest of which is 256 paces long, and from 60 to 120 +broad, are situated on a tongue of land forming a terrace that projects +into the valley; they are coated over with a solid crust of slag between +4 and 5 feet thick, and are covered to their base with separate fragments +of slag to the depth of 12 to 15 feet. The ground shows that the mines +could not have been situated in the immediate neighbourhood, their site +might, however, easily be discovered by the ancient roads, which are +still visible, leading to the mountain range, but unfortunately we had +not sufficient time to accomplish this. Hence it appears that this open +spot was probably selected merely for smelting the ore, on account of the +keen draught of wind, which, as we were assured by the Arabs, is here +almost incessantly blowing. + +The 3rd of April we rode on farther, visited the Wadi Nasb, in which we +also found the traces of ancient smelting places, and the following day, +towards evening, reached our ship, which had been waiting for us several +days, in the harbour of ABU ZELÎMEH. + +We here, to our no small surprise, found four German journeymen; two of +them Prussians, from the district of the Neisse, in Silesia. They had +started from Cairo with the intention of visiting Sinai, and reached +Suez safely; had there waited in vain for a ship, and at length, like +genuine modern Crusaders, started alone to attain their bold object. They +had been told (hardly in good German) that the way was short, and could +not be missed, and that there was no want of water. Possessed with this +happy belief, their pilgrim’s bottle filled to the brim, they entered the +wilderness. But the footsteps of the children of Israel had long since +disappeared, and no pillar of smoke went before them. The third day they +lost their way, their bread was consumed, they had missed the wells, +had several times been stopped by Arabs, and only escaped being robbed +because they possessed nothing worth robbing; and thus they certainly +would have been starved in the wilderness, had they not looked down from +the mountains and beheld our vessel on the coast many hours distant, +and fortunately reached it before our arrival. On my inquiring about +the trades, to perfect which, they had undertaken this journey to the +East, and also whether they hoped to find employment with the monks on +Mount Sinai, as they had no money with them, it appeared that one was +a carpenter, who was in hopes of making himself very useful there; I +was, alas! compelled to inform him, that he would have to compete with a +lay-brother in that department; the other was a shoemaker, the third a +stocking-weaver, and the fourth, after some hesitation, confessed that he +was a woman’s tailor. Nothing remained but to take these strange people +along with us in the vessel, although they were regarded with a jealous +eye by the sailors, as we began to feel some scarcity in the supply of +water. I landed them at Tôr, and arranged that some one should accompany +them thence to the convent. + +Besides the remarkable _Egyptian_ monumental sites of this copper +country, and the so-called _Sinaitic_ inscriptions, I was chiefly +occupied during the journey with geographical inquiries in connection +with the sojourn of the _Israelites_ on the Peninsula. I think I have +arrived at some results with respect to this, deviating, indeed, in +essential points, from what has hitherto been admitted; but if they +are correct, they furnish some important features for the historical +and geographical background of that most important event in the Old +Testament. I will here only point out briefly some of the chief points, +of which I will say more when I write from Thebes. + +I became doubtful, even in the convent at GEBEL MÛSA, whether the holy +mount of the law-giving could have been situated here. Since I have seen +SERBÂL and WADI FIRÂN at its base, besides a great part of the rest of +the country, I have become convinced that SERBÂL must be recognised as +SINAI, in preference to the other.[71] + +The monkish tradition of the present day is of no value to the +unprejudiced inquirer.[72] Whoever has once occupied himself earnestly +with such matters is aware of this. Even in Jerusalem it is for the +most part useless, and has not the slightest weight, if unsupported by +original authorities, how much more so in the Peninsula of Sinai, where +far more remote questions, both as to time and place, are treated of. In +the long interval of time between the law-giving and the first centuries +of the Christian era, Sinai is only once mentioned in a passage referring +to a later historical event, as the “Mount of God, HOREB,” to which +Elijah retires.[73] It would, in fact, be most strange if the tradition +had never received an interruption during this period, although the +population of the Peninsula had meantime changed so much that we are no +longer able to point out with certainty a single Old Testament name for +a locality; and even the Greeks and Romans were unacquainted with those +ancient designations.[74] We are, therefore, referred solely to the +Mosaic narrative to prove the correctness of our present assumptions. + +We must further premise with respect to this, that the general +geographical conditions of the Peninsula have not essentially altered +since the days of Moses. Whoever takes refuge in the opposite +supposition, may indeed prove everything, but for that very reason proves +nothing. It is, however, just as important to bear in mind distinctly the +_historical_ conditions of the different periods, because these indeed +were calculated to produce partial alterations of particular districts. + +Accordingly, no one will be able to deny that WADI FIRÂN, abounding at +all times, and therefore in the time of Moses, in water, and possessing +a rich soil, must, in consequence of its incomparable fertility and +its inexhaustible rapid stream, have been the most important and the +most desirable central spot of the whole Peninsula. For this wonderful +Oasis, in the centre of the ever barren wilderness, was subject even +then, as now, to the general conditions of the surface of the ground in +that country. On the other hand, it is however no less certain, that the +vicinity of the present convent of GEBEL MÛSA was formerly, in spite +of the scanty springs of water also appearing on the surface there, +but which merely moisten the ground immediately surrounding them, just +as barren as all the other parts of that mountainous wilderness, only +furnishing sufficient water for the inhabitants of the convent by means +of a draw-well dug into the rock;[75] and after more than a thousand +years of artificial irrigation, the most careful employment of every +means of cultivation only enabled them to make small plantations, such +as exist there at the present time.[76] In ancient times there was not +the slightest reason for making that wilderness habitable by artificial +means, the rather as it was situated away from the great roads connecting +the different parts of the Peninsula, and formed an actual _cul de sac_, +with only one single entrance through the Wadi e’ Scheikh. + +On the other hand, there is another spot in the Peninsula which was a +position of great importance long before the time of Moses, and even +in his days, but has lost it since that time: it is the harbour of +ABU ZELÎMEH. It was to this point that the roads led from the three +different mines that hitherto we have become acquainted with. They +proceeded from WADI MAGHÂRA, SARBUT EL CHÂDEM, and WADI NASB. There was +no more convenient landing-place than this, to connect Egypt with those +colonies; indeed, our sailors decidedly affirmed that it was the best +harbour on the whole coast, not excepting that of Tôr. The Egyptians +were therefore compelled to provide, above all things, for a copious +supply of water, in the most immediate neighbourhood of that spot. As +this was neither furnished by the sandy sea-coast, nor by valleys, +which had their outlets here, wells no doubt were made at the nearest +spots which offered a likelihood of yielding water from below ground. +Such a spot was discovered at the lower outlet of the Wadi Schebêkeh +(called by others Tâibeh), where even now, there are a number of Palms, +and many other trees, consequently a moist soil, although there is no +appearance of a spring.[77] This, therefore, would have been the most +suitable point to dig for water, and to make a well. No one now differs +in opinion that the place of encampment at the RED SEA, mentioned after +Elim in the Book of Numbers,[78] was near ABU ZELÎMEH. In Exodus this +statement is omitted, and the _twelve wells_ and _seventy palm-trees_ +of ELIM are alone mentioned.[79] What, therefore, can be a more natural +conclusion, or indeed an almost unavoidable one, than that the wells +and palms of Elim were situated about an hour distant from the outlet +of the valley whose entrance was at the harbour of Abu Zelîmeh, and for +that very reason in Exodus, the encampment on the sea, is related as +being not specially separated from ELIM, the watering station of the +harbour, which probably bore the same name. According to the statements +that have been hitherto admitted, as well as those of Robinson, the +twelve wells of Elim were situated in the WADI GHARANDEL, by the latest +calculations[80] between eight and nine hours distant from the port, a +long day’s journey, therefore useless for the supply of that important +spot. It is not easy to perceive what could have occasioned twelve wells +to be made precisely in Wadi Gharandel, where even now the brackish +water of that whole district appears on the surface in somewhat greater +abundance than elsewhere. In addition to this, we should further be +compelled to transfer the station of MARA, which immediately preceded +it, to an insignificant spring not more than an hour and a half, or +two hours distant from Wadi Gharandel, while the succeeding station is +assumed to be at the distance of eight hours. To me, it seems scarcely +possible to doubt that the first three desert marches conducted as far as +WADI GHARANDEL, _i. e._ MARA, the fourth, to the harbour station of ABU +ZELÎMEH, _i. e._ ELIM. + +It is only in this manner that we can understand their progress, when +it is said, “And they took their journey from Elim—and came unto the +wilderness of _Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai_.”[81] The boundary +of two provinces at Wadi Gharandel would geographically be just as +inconceivable, as it is natural at Abu Zelîmeh. The harbour, with its +small plain situated between the Nochol rock and Gebel Hammâm Faraûn, +forms in fact, by the rock protruding into the sea, the most important +geographical section of the whole coast.[82] + +The northern plateau sinking uniformly towards the sea was called the +Wilderness of SÛR; the southern mountainous district rising higher, and +soon passing into the primitive rock, totally different in character, +is called the Wilderness of SIN. There would be no meaning in the remark +that this last was situated _between_ Elim and Sinai, if by this it were +not meant that the Wilderness of Sin extended as far as Sinai, or even +farther. The next departure, therefore, from the Wilderness of Sin to +Raphidîm, is not to be understood as if they had quitted this wilderness; +on the contrary, they remained in it till they reached Sinai, whose +name SINI, _i. e._ “the Mount of SIN,” was evidently first derived from +this district, and for this very reason should not be sought for beyond +its limits. The same conclusion may be deduced from the account about +the _Manna_ which was given to the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sin; +for this is first met with in the valleys in the vicinity of Firân, and +appears as little in the sandy districts near the sea, as in the more +elevated regions of Gebel Mûsa.[83] + +Now, if we already here put the preliminary question, which of the +two mounts, SERBÂL or GEBEL MÛSA, was so situated as to be peculiarly +designated as SINI, the “SINIC,” “the Mount of the Wilderness of +SIN,” there cannot be a moment’s doubt which to select. Gebel Mûsa, +invisible from every quarter, almost concealed and buried,[84] neither +distinguished by height, form, position, nor any other peculiarity, +presented nothing which could have induced the native tribes, or the +Egyptians who had settled there, to give it the peculiar designation of +the “Mount of Sin,” while Serbâl, attracting the eye to itself from all +sides, and from a great distance, unequivocally commanding the whole of +the northern portion of the primitive range, has always been the central +point for the widely-scattered inhabitants of the country, and the goal +of travellers, not only from its external aspect, but also on account of +Wadi Firân, situated at its base; therefore it might very appropriately +be designated the “Mount of Sin.” But if any one were to conclude from +the expression the departure from the Wilderness of Sin to Raphidîm, +that the broad tract of sea-shore to the south of Abu Zelîmeh, which the +Israelites were obliged to traverse, was alone called the Wilderness +of Sin, which is Robinson’s view of the question,[85] Serbâl, which +commands and also comes into immediate contact with this district, and +is accessible from this point by the old convent of Siʾqelji, might even +then have been designated Mount Sin, for instance by the sailors on the +Red Sea; but Gebel Mûsa, situated exactly on the opposite and eastern +side of the great range, could not possibly have been named after the +western Wilderness of Sin, nor have given the smallest ground for the +statement that the Wilderness of Sin was situated between Abu Zelîmeh and +Gebel Mûsa. One other view might still be adopted: for instance, that the +whole of the primitive mountain range—that is to say, the whole of the +Peninsula to the south of Abu Zelîmeh—was called the “Wilderness of Sin,” +and consequently included Gebel Mûsa. Even this would not necessarily +prevent our assuming that Serbâl, as the mountain best known, and nearest +at hand, must especially have appeared of more importance to the Egyptian +colonists than the southern range, and might have been distinguished by +that name; whilst in the principal southern range Um Schômar, as the +loftiest central point, would have alone justified such a distinction, +and not the entirely subordinate Gebel Mûsa, still less the insulated +rock Sefsâf, which is regarded as such by Robinson. + +All that has been here said about SINAI as the “MOUNT OF THE WILDERNESS +OF SIN,” is also applicable to the still more remote question, which of +the two mountains, Serbâl, or Gebel Mûsa, possessed such qualifications +as to have been regarded by the native tribes of the Peninsula, even +before the great event of the Law-giving, as a “HOLY MOUNT,” A MOUNT +OF GOD.[86] For Moses drove the sheep of Jethro from Midian beyond +the wilderness to the “MOUNT OF GOD, CHOREB,”[87] and Aaron met him, +on his return to Egypt, at the MOUNT OF GOD.[88] If we maintain that +the necessary centre of the Sinaitic population must have been, at +all events, the Oasis of FIRÂN, we may also suppose that those tribes +founded a sanctuary, a common PLACE OF WORSHIP, in the vicinity of that +spot, either at the base, or, still more naturally, on the summit of +the mountain which rises up from that valley.[89] This also was the +most appropriate place for the meeting between Moses, who came from +Midian in the East, and Aaron, who came from Egypt. In such a barren and +uninhabited country there was no occasion to search for any peculiarly +secret and remote corner among the mountains for such an interview. + +In addition to this, the _Sinaitic inscriptions_, which, as mentioned +above, are found in the greatest numbers, especially on the roads to Wadi +Firân, and in Wadi Aleyât, which leads up to Serbâl, seem to indicate +that in much later times also considerable pilgrimages were undertaken +thither to solemnise religious festivals.[90] + +If we now pass at once to the principal point, which must appear as +most decisive to those who look attentively at the general conditions +connected with the march of the Israelites, it must be allowed that +if Moses desired to lead his numerous people to the Peninsula, the +first and chief task he had to perform, in accordance with his wisdom, +and his knowledge of the country, was to _maintain_ them. For however +we may explain the given numbers of the emigrants, which according +to Robinson amounted to two millions, by Lane’s account equal to the +present population of Egypt, we must always admit that there was a +very considerable mass of people who were suddenly to be maintained +in the Sinaitic wilderness without any importation of provisions. How +then can we imagine that Moses would not have kept in view, above +all other places, the only spot in the Peninsula that was fertile and +amply supplied with water; and that he would not have endeavoured to +reach it by the shortest path; but that in place of this, a remote +nook in the mountains should have been sought out, which at that time +could not possibly have supplied the daily necessity of water and other +nourishment, even for only 2000 emigrants and their belongings—I mention +a high number intentionally. Moses would have been wrong to have trusted +here to miraculous aid from God; for this is never manifested until +human wisdom and human counsel, which is not intended to be rendered +superfluous through it, can go no further. + +It appears to me that we should not relinquish this inevitable opinion +respecting the position of Sinai, which is opposed to the view hitherto +entertained, and becomes stronger the longer we reflect upon it, and we +ought not to disclaim any more particular historical consideration of +this wonderful occurrence, unless other grounds, as urgent, should afford +proofs against our mode of acceptation. Let us therefore pursue the +narrative still further. + +From Elim, Moses reached Raphidîm in a march of three days. Modern +scholars generally agree that the march from Abu Zelîmeh did not pass +again through the same Wadi Schebêkeh or Tâibeh through which they had +descended, back to the eastern sandy plain of E’ Raml, but followed the +customary caravan road which leads to Wadi Firân. How should Moses then +have selected the far longer upper road devoid of water, or even the +still longer, and still more arid, circuitous route along the sea-coast +by Tôr and Wadi Hebrân, instead of at once entering the less arid valleys +of the primitive range which abounded in manna? + +He was obliged therefore to go to Wadi Firân; no third way was possible. +This is the urgent reason why Raphidîm (except by Robinson[91]) has +almost as unanimously been transferred to FIRÂN. It seems, however, +impossible that this oasis, if it was traversed, should not have been +once mentioned; therefore even Josephus,[92] Eusebius,[93] Jerome,[94] +and, as it appears, all the older authors and travellers,[95] place +Raphidîm near the town of PHARAN. No spot in the whole land could have +been of greater value for the native tribes who were menaced by Moses +than these orchards of Pharan. We may, therefore, perfectly conceive that +Moses was attacked at this very spot in Raphidîm by the Amalekites, who +were about to lose their most precious possession. He repulsed them, and +Moses could now first say that he had got possession of the Peninsula. +His nearest object was attained. What could have attracted him still +farther from this point? + +It is also said, however, in distinct terms, that the people had arrived +here at the MOUNT OF GOD; consequently at the MOUNT OF THE LAW. For it +is said, after the victory at Raphidîm, that Jethro, the father-in-law +of Moses in Midian, heard of all that had happened. “And Jethro, Moses’ +father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the +Wilderness, WHERE HE ENCAMPED AT THE MOUNT OF GOD.”[96] And even before +that, the Lord had said to Moses, “Behold, I will stand before thee there +upon the rock in CHOREB; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall +come water out of it, that the people may drink,”[97] words which could +only have alluded to the wonderful spring of Firân, as has been already +supposed long before my time.[98] It may still further be deduced, that +Moses really found repose here in Raphidîm, because now, by the advice +of Jethro, he organises the hitherto disorderly mass of people to enable +him to govern them.[99] He selects the best qualified men, and places +them over a thousand, over a hundred, over fifty, and over ten; these +are appointed judges of smaller matters while he only retains the most +important for himself. + +All this evidently indicates that the journey was past, and the period of +repose had commenced. + +The beginning of the following chapter (Exodus xix. 1-3) certainly +seems to contradict this, for it is said, “In the third month, when the +children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same +day[100] came they into the wilderness of SINAI. For they were DEPARTED +FROM Raphidîm, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in +the wilderness; and there Israel camped BEFORE THE MOUNT, and Moses went +up unto God, and the Lord called unto him OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN,” &c. + +According to this, they decamped between Raphidîm and Sinai. This +favoured the tradition which believed that the Mount of the Law might +be re-discovered in Gebel Mûsa beyond Firân. At the same time, however, +it was not considered that by admitting this we encounter much greater +contradictions with the text. In the first place, the words mention no +more than one day’s journey,[101] not even in the Book of Numbers,[102] +where, nevertheless, between Elim and Raphidîm, not only Alus and Daphka, +but the Red Sea (though this last was near Elim) are particularly +mentioned. From Firân to Gebel Mûsa there were, however, at least two +long days’ journeys, if not more. The “MOUNT OF GOD” has likewise been +already mentioned in Raphidîm, it was there called a rock in CHOREB; and +it is therefore impossible to understand by the Mount of God any other +than “THE MOUNT OF GOD” to which Moses drives the sheep of Jethro. + +We should, thus, be obliged to admit that there were _two_ “Mounts of +God;” one, the “MOUNT OF GOD, CHOREB,” in Raphidîm, which would be +SERBÂL, and a “MOUNT OF GOD, SINAI,” on which the law was given, which +would be GEBEL MÛSA.[103] + +To admit this would, however, in itself not only be scarcely +conceivable, but most distinctly self-contradictory, inasmuch as it +maintains that the Mount of God, CHOREB, where God first appears to +Moses, is even in anticipation designated as the Mount of the Law (Exodus +iii. 1-12); that further, the general designation, the “MOUNT OF GOD,” +which appears so frequently without a name being appended (Exodus iv. +27, xviii. 5, xxiv. 13; Numbers x. 33), could only have been employed if +there were no more than _one_ such Mount; and, finally, because the name +of SINAI, or MOUNT SINAI, and CHOREB, or MOUNT CHOREB, are continually +mentioned with exactly the same meaning as Mount of the Law-giving. + +This evident difficulty has indeed been felt strongly at all times.[104] +Josephus (Ant. iii. 2, 3) forwarded his view by transposing the doubtful +commencement of the xix chapter from its present position _after_ the +visit of Jethro, to _before_ it, so that Moses does not receive his +family in Raphidîm, but in Sinai. By this means certainly the double +difficulty is avoided; on the one hand, because two Mounts of God do not +appear, on the other, that the organisation of the people does not occur +during the journey. He also deliberately omits the statement that in +CHOREB was situated the rock which Moses strikes for the spring of water. + +Modern scholars have, on the contrary, proposed either to make Sinai the +general name for the whole of the range, and Choreb the individual Mount +of the Law-giving, or _vice versâ_, Choreb for the more extended, and +Sinai for the limited designation,[105] while the tradition of the monks +refer both names to different mountains situated immediately beside each +other.[106] It seems to me that the comparison of the individual passages +admits of none of these views; in my opinion it is rather clearly proved, +by the names of Choreb and Sinai being used alternately, but with perfect +equality, that _both_ designated _one and the same mountain_ together +with the district immediately surrounding it,[107] so that Choreb +perhaps was the more precise Amalekitish local name, Sinai the more +indeterminate one, derived from its position in the Wilderness of Sin. + +But with respect to the departure from Raphidîm, many might think it very +probable that those words, which so strikingly interrupt the natural +sequence of circumstances as to have been intentionally transposed either +by Josephus, or prior to his time, did not originally belong here, but +were placed at the commencement of the account of the Law-giving; if, as +no doubt frequently occurred, this was to be understood by itself alone, +separate from all that preceded and succeeded it.[108] The unusual manner +in which they are connected, since the arrival at Sinai is mentioned +previously to the departure from Raphidîm, and the expression “the same +day,” which is so difficult to explain, while in the other statements of +time a particular day is mentioned, would support the supposition.[109] +Whoever, however, may consider it too bold to assume that we no longer +possess the original composition, can only explain the fresh departure to +be a last and insignificant removal of the encampment, such as we were +obliged to admit to be the case at the departure from Elim to the sea +coast. This removal was either while they advanced from El Hessue (where +they first beheld the water) towards Firân, or from Firân into the upper +portion of Wadi Aleyât, where the camp might have extended far and wide +at the foot of the Mount.[110] + +Whoever endeavours to realise the whole progress of the event, with +its essential and necessary characteristics, can only be satisfied by +comprehending it in this manner. He will not be able to blind himself +to the conviction that Serbâl, on account of the oasis at its base, +must have been the necessary object and centre for the pouring in of +the new people, and that the wise Man of God, so well acquainted with +the country, could never have intended to lead the multitude into a +mountain enclosure like the plain at Gebel Mûsa, where they would find +no water, no trees bearing fruit, nor manna, and where they would have +been more easily cut off from all connection with the other parts of +the Peninsula than anywhere else. He will be compelled to acknowledge +that the designation of SINAI as the chief mountain of the Wilderness +of SIN, and the sanctity with which it was regarded, not merely by the +Israelites, but by the native tribes of the country, decidedly points +to Serbâl; further, that the Raphidîm defended by the Amalekites was +undoubtedly situated, together with the spring of Moses in Choreb, in +the Wadi Firân; that consequently the Mount of God at Choreb, where God +appeared to Moses, and the Mount of God at Raphidîm, where Moses is +visited by Jethro, and organises the people, could also be no other than +Serbâl, from which, finally, we must as necessarily deduce that unless we +admit that there were two Mounts of God, the Mount of the Law was also +near Raphidîm, and is recognisable in Serbâl, not in Gebel Mûsa. + +In conclusion, if we now once more look back and observe how the +present tradition bears on our account of the event, we perceive that +it refers at once to the foundation of the convent, by Justinian, in +the sixth century.[111] This, however, was by no means the first church +of the Peninsula. At a far earlier period we already find a bishopric +in the town of Pharan, at the foot of Serbâl.[112] Here was the first +Christian centre of the Peninsula, and the church founded by Justinian +also remained dependent on this for the space of several centuries. The +question therefore is, whether the tradition which regards the present +Gebel Mûsa as Sinai can be referred to a time prior to Justinian.[113] +The remoteness of that district, and its distance from frequented roads +of communication, though from its position in the lofty range offering +sufficient subsistence for the trifling necessities of the single, +scattered monks, rendered it peculiarly applicable for individual +hermits, but for the same reason inapplicable for a large people, ruling +the land for a certain period of time, and exhausting all its resources. +The gradually increasing hermit population might have drawn the attention +of the Byzantine emperors to that particular district, and, as it +appears, have fixed the previously wavering tradition to that spot for +future times.[114] + +I have, indeed, been in need of a learned foundation for what I have here +said about the position of Elim, Raphidîm, and Mount Choreb or Sinai, but +this I shall not be able to supply even in Thebes; it would, however, +chiefly refer to the history of the earliest tradition before Justinian, +which, even were it to agree in all its parts with the tradition of the +present day, would still hardly suffice to decide anything conclusively. +It seems to me that these questions will always remain unsolved, if +the elements which were at my command—namely, the Mosaic account, a +personal view of the locality, and acquaintance with the history of that +period—should not be considered sufficient to explain them. We shall +only obtain a correct idea of the whole of the external character of the +event, by simultaneously observing these three most essential sides of +the investigation, while, on the other hand, an endeavour to obtain an +indifferent and equal confirmation of each individual feature in the +account now under our consideration, must necessarily lead to the wide +road of false criticism, which always sacrifices the comprehension of the +whole, to the comprehension of the individual part. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE PENINSULA OF MOUNT SINAI TO EXPLAIN THE MARCH +OF THE ISRAELITES FROM ELIM TO HOREB + +by R. Lepsius 1845. + +G. ERBKAM delᵗ. + +Engraved by J. & C. Walker.] + + + + +LETTER XXXIV. + + + _Thebes, Karnak, the 4th of May._ + +On the 6th of April we quitted Tôr, where we had only spent one night. +During our farther voyage we landed every evening on the shelly and +coralline coast of Africa, till, on the 10th, we arrived at Kossêr, where +excellent Seïd Mohammed of Qeneh was waiting to furnish us with camels +for our return to Thebes. In four days we passed over the broad Rossafa +road, crossing the mountain range, passed Hamamât, and on the 14th of +April once more reached our Theban head-quarters. + +We found everything in the most desirable order and activity; but our old +and faithful castellan, ʾAuad, met me with a bandaged head, and saluted +me in a feeble voice. A short time previously he had a narrow escape from +death. I mentioned in a former letter that many years ago he, together +with the whole house of the Sheikh of Qurna, burdened themselves with +a crime of blood, which had not yet been expiated. The family of the +man who had been killed in Kôm el Birât, had, soon after our departure, +seized an opportunity when ʾAuad was returning home from Luqsor one +evening with a relation, to fall upon the two unsuspicious wanderers. The +attack was more aimed at the companion of ʾAuad than at himself, they +therefore called out to him to go away; however, as he did not do this, +but vigorously defended his relation, he received an almost deadly blow +on his head from a sharp weapon, which stretched him insensible on the +ground; the other man was murdered and thrown into the Nile, sacrificed +to the revenge for bloodshed, which had remained unsatisfied seven years. +Since that time there has been peace between the families. + +A longer account of our Sinai journey will be despatched to-day, to which +I have also added two maps of the Peninsula, by Erbkam, drawn from my +notes. I now contemplate the difficult task of finishing my account with +Thebes, which, however, I hope to accomplish in about ten or twelve days. + + + + +LETTER XXXV. + + + _Cairo, the 10th of July, 1845._ + +The first place we halted at after we left Thebes on the 16th of May, +was DENDERA, whose magnificent temple is the last towards the North, +and although of later date, almost confined to the Roman period, it +yet presented an unusual amount of subjects for our portfolios and +note-books. We then spent nine additional whole days upon the remarkable +rock-tombs of AMARNA, from the time of the fourth Amenophis, that royal +Puritan who persecuted all the gods of Egypt, and would only permit the +worship of the sun’s disc. + +As we approached Beni-suef, we saw a magnificent steamer of Ibrahim +Pascha’s hastening towards us. We hoisted our flag, and immediately the +red Turkish flag, with the Crescent, appeared on board the steam-boat +in return for our salute. It then altered its course, steered directly +towards us, and stopped. + +We were eager for the news which we were about to hear: a boat pushed +off, and pulled to beside our ship. It was, indeed, a joyful surprise +when I recognised my old university friend, Dr. Bethmann, in the fair +Frank who came on board, and who had come hither from Italy to accompany +me on my journey back by Palestine and Constantinople. Ali Bey, the right +hand of Ibrahim Pascha, who was steaming to Upper Egypt, had kindly +taken him into his vessel, and told me he unwillingly parted with his +agreeable travelling companion, to whom he had become much attached even +in their short acquaintance. + +His presence, and the assistance he affords me, have become still more +valuable since my other travelling companions have left me behind +alone. They started from hence yesterday. Willingly indeed I would have +accompanied them, as to-day is the third anniversary of my departure from +Berlin, but the taking to pieces of the Pyramid tombs still detains us. +The four workmen, able young men, who were sent to assist me from Berlin, +have arrived, and I immediately took them with me to the Pyramids. We +made ourselves a lodging in a tomb which was in a convenient situation. +A travelling blacksmith’s forge was constructed, some scaffolding was +raised for the windlass, and we set to work vigorously. + +The difficulties of the whole affair, however, rest still more in the +petty jealousies, by which we are here surrounded on every side, and in +the different diplomatic influences, which are not unfrequently rendered +abortive by Mohammed Ali’s distinct orders. Herr von Wagner therefore +considered it absolutely necessary that I should by no means quit Egypt +before the transport and embarkation of the monuments was completed, and +I therefore shall be obliged to wait here patiently for several weeks +longer. + + + + +LETTER XXXVI. + + + _Cairo, the 11th July, 1845._ + +Will you permit me to communicate briefly some ideas which have of late +considerably occupied my attention.[115] I have never lost sight of your +wish to decorate the New Museum in harmony with the monuments which it +contains, and I hope that you continue to entertain these views. I have +had great pleasure in the account Herr Hertel has given me respecting +the arrangement of the Egyptian saloons, and have heard from him that +the facing of the columns is still _in suspenso_. It is very improbable +that such a favourable opportunity will ever recur of having such means +at our disposal on the first formation of a museum as we have in the +arrangement of this Egyptian one, when we shall be able to furnish a +complete whole, and at the same time offer to the public so much that +is new and important in plan, materials, and arrangement. If I remember +rightly, you have expressed a desire to form an _historical_ museum, +such, in fact, as all such museums should be, in conformity with their +purpose and idea, and yet such as nowhere exists. This view, however, in +an Egyptian museum, is at all events attainable in a degree which, even +under the most favourable circumstances, can be but remotely approached +in all other museums, because in no other nation can the date of each +individual monument be so precisely and surely presented as in this, and +because no other collection is distributed throughout so long a period +of time (above 3000 years). I therefore presume that, as a whole, you +wish to arrange the principal saloons historically, so far as this can +be accomplished, and by some method to combine what belongs to the Old, +what to the New, and what to the Greek-Roman Monarchy, in such a manner +at least, that each chamber of any size should have a definite historical +character. I have always borne this in view in forming the collection, +although I by no means believe that this principle should be carried out +pedantically in details. With respect to the plaster casts which you will +probably wish to incorporate as a whole with the existing collection of +casts, it would be very desirable to have a few duplicates made of these +for the Egyptian saloons, for the sake of rendering them complete. + +But what especially induces me to write from hence on such matters, is +the notion that even now, or perhaps very soon, you may have made such +progress in the edifice as to be desirous of coming to a decision with +reference to the architectonic and pictorial decoration of the saloons, +and in that case a few observations may not perhaps be unacceptable from +me. + +You will, no doubt, select _Egyptian architecture_ for the Egyptian +saloons; this should by all means be carried out in every part, and by +what I hear from Hertel, there is still ample time for this. I think, +for instance, that to produce a general harmonious impression the +architectural style of ranges of columns, which is characteristic of +different periods, should be retained in their historical succession of +series, as well as with all their rich decoration of colouring. + +The coloured paintings on the walls are, however, then indispensable. +Every temple, every tomb, every wall in the palaces of the Egyptians +was decorated from top to bottom with painted sculptures or paintings. +The first inquiry must be, in what style these paintings should be +executed. They might either be _free compositions in the Greek style_, +or strictly _Egyptian representations, avoiding, however, Egyptian +perspective_, therefore a kind of translation, somewhat in the manner of +the frieze on the wall in the _Musée Charles X._; or, lastly, they might +be simple _copies of genuine Egyptian representations_ drawn by us, and +only adapted for this particular purpose. With respect to the _first_ +view, I think that a man like CORNELIUS, if he chose to enter on such a +completely new field, would be capable of forming a beautiful and great +work out of such a task; but then, the public would most likely be much +more interested in the master than in the subject of the representation +derived from a history of which they are still so ignorant. The _second_ +method would perhaps deserve a trial; it might succeed once, in a single +case, and would certainly then not be devoid of interest. But I am firmly +persuaded that a series of any length of such bastard representations +would not fulfil the requisite demands, presupposing, as they would, +a double mastery of two artistic languages, and that they would also +be decidedly contrary to the taste of the public. All attempts of this +nature that I have occasionally seen have, in my opinion, been completely +unsuccessful, and have appeared ridiculous to connoisseurs; although, +as I have already said, I do not believe that such an attempt might not +succeed in an individual case, if the subject were carefully selected. It +therefore appears to me, that the _third_ method is the only one left, +although it has least pretension; but it unites so many advantages, that +I believe, indeed, it will also meet with your approval. + +There can scarcely be any doubt with respect to the subject of the +representations. They ought to place before us in characteristic features +the highest point of Egyptian history, civilisation, and art, and I was +even astonished at the great number of most suitable subjects which +immediately present themselves, if we allow all that has been hitherto +disclosed of Egyptian history to pass before us. Merely to give you a +hasty notion of this, I will communicate the individual points, which I +wrote down when I was still doubtful whether one of the two first modes +of representation might not be executed. A more diffuse commentary than +I can now give ought indeed to be appended to this, but it only refers +to a very preliminary notion. The names within brackets indicate where +materials could be found for single compositions. + + PRE-HISTORICAL. + + The elevation of the god HORUS upon OSIRIS’ gods’ throne. + (Dendera.) To be placed with reference to the last number. + + OLD MONARCHY. + + Dyn. I. The removal of MENES from This, the city of Osiris. + + Foundation of MEMPHIS, the town of Phtha by Menes. + + Dyn. IV. The Pyramids built by CHEOPS and CHEPHREN. + + Dyn. VI. The union of the two crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt + during the reign of APAPPUS, which lasted a hundred years. + + Dyn. XII. The Temple of Ammon in THEBES, the city of Ammon, + founded by SESURTESEN I. in the 12th Dynasty. + + Immigrating HYKSOS. (Benihassan.) + + The LABYRINTH and LAKE MŒRIS, the works of AMENEMHA III. of the + 12th Dynasty. + + Dyn. XIII. The INVASION OF THE HYKSOS into Lower Egypt, occurring + shortly after. + + Expulsion of the Egyptian rulers to Ethiopia. + + The rule of the Hyksos. + + NEW MONARCHY. + + Dyn. XVII.-XVIII. AMENOPHIS I. and the black Queen Aahmesnefruari. + + TUTHMOSIS III. expels the HYKSOS from Abaris. JERUSALEM founded + by them. + + AMENOPHIS III. Memnon and the sounding statue. + + Persecution of the Egyptian gods, and introduction of the worship + of the sun, under BECH EN ATEN. (Amarna.) King HORUS, the + Revenger. + + Dyn. XIX. SETHÔS I. (Sethôsis, Sesostris.) Conquest of CANAAN. + (Karnak.) Joseph and his brethren. + + RAMSES II. the Great. Miamun. War against the Cheta. (Ramesseum.) + + The (brick-making) Israelites (Thebes) build Pithom and Ramses, + under Ramses II. + + Colonisation of GREECE from Egypt. + + MENEPTHES. EXODUS OF THE ISRAELITES to Sinai. Moses before + Pharaoh. Commencement of the new SIRIUS PERIOD, B.C. 1322. + + Dyn. XX. RAMSES III. A battle from Medînet Hâbu. + + The king among his daughters. The riches and luxury of + Rhampsinitus. (Medînet Hâbu.) + + Dyn. XXII. SCHESCHENK I. (Shishak) takes possession of Jerusalem. + (Thebes.) + + Dyn. XXV. SABAKO, the Ethiopian, rules in Egypt. + + Dyn. XXVI. PSAMMETICUS, the friend of the Greeks, elevates art. + Removal of the warrior caste to Ethiopia. + + Dyn. XXVII. CAMBYSES rages; he destroys temples and statues. + + Dyn. XXX. NECTANEBUS. (Philæ.) + + ALEXANDER, the son of Ammon, conquers Egypt; builds Alexandria. + + Ptolemy PHILADELPHUS founds the library. + + CLEOPATRA and CÆSARION. (Dendera.) + + Coronation of CÆSAR AUGUSTUS. (Philæ.) + + CHRIST at Heliopolis. + +This selection would not, indeed, be so great, if we had only to deal +with existing representations. The Old Monarchy would first commence with +the 4th Dynasty, and would entirely omit the Hyksos period, since nothing +has been preserved before the former period, or from the time of the +Hyksos. + +On the other hand, the Egyptian conceptions of art might be more +completely represented, and each single representation would at the same +time have a scientific interest. The following provisional selection +which occurred to me might, however, be increased, and altered in all its +parts from the ample supply of subjects in our drawings, which are 1300 +in number. + + MYTHOLOGY. + + 1. The great and minor gods; the 1st and 2nd Dynasty of the gods. + (Karnak.) + + 2. OSIRIS undertakes the government of the lower world. HORUS + that of the upper. (Dendera.) + + 3. Triad of the gods from THIS and ABYDOS. Osiris, Isis, Horus. + + 4. Triad of the gods from MEMPHIS. Phtha, Pasht, Imhotep. + + 5. Triad of the gods from THEBES. Ammon Ra, Mut, Chensu. + + OLD MONARCHY. + + King CHUFU (Cheops) beheading his enemies. (Peninsula of Sinai.) + + Scenes from private life of the 4th and 5th Dynasties. (Giseh and + Saqâra.) + + APAPPUS unites the two crowns. (Kossêr road.) + + SESURTESEN I., of the 12th Dynasty, beats the Ethiopians. + (Florence.) + + Scenes from private life of the peaceful flourishing period of + the 12th Dynasty. Asiatic attendants. Precursors of the Hyksos; + wrestlers, games, a hunt, &c. (Benihassan.) The Colossus dragged + by men. (Berscheh.) + + Immigrating HYKSOS who seek for protection. (Benihassan.) + + NEW MONARCHY. + + The working of the stone quarries of Memphis. (Tura.) + + AMENOPHIS I. and Aahmesnefruari. (Thebes.) + + TUTHMOSIS III. and his sister. (Thebes; Rome.) + + TUTHMOSIS III. Tribute. Erection of obelisks. (Thebes.) + + AMENOPHIS III. (Memnon) and his consort Tii before Ammon Ra. + (Thebes.) + + March of an Ethiopian queen to Egypt under AMENTUANCH. (Thebes.) + + AMENOPHIS IV. (Bech-en-aten), the SUN-WORSHIPPER. His procession + with the queen and four princesses drawn in a chariot to the + Temple of the Sun in Amarna. (Grottoes of Amarna.) + + A favourite is borne on the shoulders of the people before + Amenophis IV. Distribution of wreaths of honour among the whole + of the royal family. + + HORUS running to Ammon. (Karnak.) + + SETHÔS I. makes war upon Canaan. (Karnak.) + + RAMSES II. Battle against the Asiatic Cheta. (Ramesseum.) + + The same in the Tree of Life. (Ramesseum.) + + The same triumphant. Royal procession. (Ramesseum.) + + RAMSES III. Battle against the Robu. (Medînet Hâbu.) + + The same among his daughters; he plays with them. (Medînet Hâbu.) + + RAMSES XII. Procession of great pomp to Ammon. (Qurna.) + + PISCHEM, the Priest King. (Karnak.) + + SCHESCHENK I. (Shishak) brings the prisoners from Palestine + before Ammon (Karnak), King of JUDAH. + + SABAKO, the Ethiopian. (Thebes.) + + TAHRAKA, the Ethiopian. (Barkal.) + + PSAMMETICUS, Amasis. (Thebes.) + + NECTANEBUS. (Thebes.) + + ALEXANDER. PHILIP ARIDÆUS. (Thebes.) + + PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. (Thebes.) + + CLEOPATRA and CÆSARION. (Dendera.) + + Coronation of CÆSAR AUGUSTUS. (Philæ.) + + Ethiopian subjects from MERÖE. + +This selection of representations, or one similar to this, as large as +the partitions in the walls permit, executed in the strict Egyptian +classic style, with the full, splendid colouring of the original, +would have the great advantage, beyond all other methods, of giving +the spectator some idea on a great scale of Egyptian art; the subjects +would force themselves on his criticism, and the study of them, in +conjunction with the smaller and isolated original monuments, would be +more complete. For, with the exception of the tombs which we are now +taking to pieces, and which only offer the most simple subjects, no +monument is of sufficient size to give a notion of Egyptian temples, and +of wall decoration in general, in which grandeur of idea and dexterity of +composition is frequently displayed with a feeling for general harmony +in the distribution and arrangement of the whole, most astonishing to +the attentive observer. Such a selection of what is most beautiful +and characteristic, in large representations, capable of being easily +surveyed, would perhaps be of more service than any other thing in +imparting Egyptian science to a larger proportion of the public, and +at the same time offers the advantage, which is hardly sufficiently +considered at the present day, of averting all invidious criticisms of +the representations regarded as modern works. All hasty critics would, +by this method, be referred to the original, which cannot be robbed of +its most important position in the artistic history of the human race, +by a miserable journalist. They would all learn that before venturing to +criticise the faithful copy, they must first study the original, for if +we can turn the attention of those young artists who have studied for +three years to record these things, I am certain that the classic purity +of their style will not easily be attacked. The novelty of the idea, +and the effect on a large scale, and as a whole, could not fail to make +a considerable impression on the learned and unlearned public, and the +series of subjects mentioned above, independent of their execution, would +afford satisfaction to intellectual men, and more especially to the King. +Lastly, in addition to this, it might be executed at a comparatively +small expense, on account of the perfect simplicity of the design and +colouring, and because all expenditure on the artistic composition has +been previously borne by the ancient Egyptians themselves. + +The representations should only commence at a certain height, according +to the manners of the Egyptians, and as is most convenient to our own +purpose, and should rest on a deep band below, the colour of which ought +to be an imitation of wood or stone. The lofty walls should probably be +partly divided one above the other into several sections, and perhaps +the whole series of the Egyptian Pharaohs, or their Name-Shields only, +might be introduced in the frieze. The ceilings in the ante-chambers +might be blue, with gold stars, the usual representation of the Egyptian +heavens; and in the historical saloons there might be the long series of +vultures, with outspread wings, the symbol of victory, with which most of +the ceilings of the temples and palaces are decorated, in an incomparably +splendid manner. Finally, a certain amount of hieroglyphic inscriptions +must not be absent, which are so essentially connected with all Egyptian +representations, and make a splendid impression in variegated colours. +Modern hieroglyphic inscriptions might be easily composed for the doors, +and the central stripes of the ceilings, which would refer in the +ancient Egyptian fashion to the munificence of the king, the locality, +the period, and the purpose of the building. How magnificent the two +Egyptian rows of columns would then look in the centre of all, with their +simplicity and rich colouring! + +Finally, another idea might be carried out, perhaps, in the +ante-chambers. Views of the Egyptian localities at the present day might +be introduced upon the walls, to give a notion of the country to a person +on first entering, and of the state of the buildings from which the +ancient monuments, by which they are surrounded, are taken. These views +might be also arranged historically, according to the principal places in +the different epochs of time. But here we must presume that the spectator +possesses some of the historical knowledge which we may hope to see +generally diffused. On that account it would be more useful to attempt +a geographical sequence, and we might embrace the views of Alexandria, +Cairo, the Pyramids of Giseh, Siut, Benihassan, Abydos, Karnak, Qurna, +the Cataracts of Assuan, Korusko, Wadi Halfa, Sedeïnga, Semneh, Dongola, +Barkal, Meröe, Chartûm, Sennâr, and Sarbut el Châdem, in Arabia Petræa. + +Besides all this, a most rich, interesting, and at the same time useful, +selection of the subjects and occupations of private life might be +introduced in the lateral chambers, all of them copied from the original, +on a large scale, by which means we might facilitate and excite both +an inviting and effective mode of comprehending that portion of the +collection of antiquities which refer to private life. + + + + +LETTER XXXVII. + + + _Jaffa, 7th October, 1845._ + +We proceeded rapidly in taking the tombs to pieces; nevertheless, as +was to be expected, the most manifold obstacles were thrown in the way +of the transport and embarkation. The export of the whole collection +of monuments even then required a special permit from the Viceroy; I +therefore set out on the 29th of August for Alexandria, in order to take +leave of Mohammed Ali, and availed myself of this opportunity to give an +official termination to our mission. + +The Pascha received me with his former kindness, and immediately issued +the most distinct commands with respect to the export of the collection, +which he presented to H.M. our King in a special letter, which was handed +to me. As soon as all the preparations were accomplished I returned to +Cairo, and there made the last arrangements respecting the transport of +the stone-boat to Alexandria, and then, on the 25th September, started +with Bethmann for Damietta. On the road thither I visited several ruins +of towns in the eastern part of the Delta, such as those of ATRIB +(Athribis), SAMANÚD (Sebennytos), BEHBÉT EL HAGÉR (Iseum), but except +the high mounds of rubbish, composed of Nile mud and potsherds, which +generally indicate historical sites, we everywhere found only a few +blocks, all that remained of the ancient temples. In SAN, the ancient +renowned TANIS, whither I made a last excursion from Damietta across Lake +Menzaleh, the foundation of a temple of Ramses II. alone remains, and +about twelve or fourteen small granite obelisks, belonging to the same +king, are preserved, some entire and some in fragments. + +On the 1st of October we went from Damietta, and embarking in the roads +of Ezbe, the following morning set sail for the Syrian coast. We had an +almost incessant contrary wind, and cruised for a whole day in front +of Ascalon, situated picturesquely on lofty sea cliffs; we only landed +yesterday in the Holy Land, on the beach of Joppa. + + + + +LETTER XXXVIII. + + + _Nazareth, 9th November, 1845._ + +You will not, I am sorry to say, receive my last letter of the 26th +October from Jerusalem, as the courier of our consul, Dr. Schulz, in +whose charge I gave it, with five other letters, was attacked by robbers +at Cæsarea, on the road to Berut, maltreated, and robbed of all the +despatches, as well as of a small amount of money which he had on his +person. There is great disorganisation in this country. The Turkish +authorities, to whom the land has been again handed over by Christian +valour, are both lazy, malevolent, and impotent, while Ibrahim Pascha +knew at least how to preserve order and security, so far as his own +government extended. + +We spent nearly three weeks in Jerusalem, part of which time I passed in +becoming better acquainted with the state of religious matters at the +present day, a subject daily becoming of greater importance; partly in +making some antiquarian and topographical researches. These delightful +days were rendered peculiarly valuable and instructive by the extreme +amiability of Bishop Alexander, who overtook us with Abeken from Jaffa, +and was willing to impart all that he knew; and by the scientific ability +of Dr. Schulz, with whom I had been on terms of friendship since our +mutual residence in Paris, in the years 1834 and 1835. An excursion to +Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea, and back by San Saba, formed an +interesting episode. My journal of this expedition, which I wrote very +fully, was, however, contained in that letter, and will probably never +reappear, so that I can but imperfectly restore it now. + +The 4th of November we left the Holy City. We had some difficulty in +procuring horses or mules on account of the war the Pascha of Jerusalem +was carrying on with Hebron, which was assuming a more serious aspect. +We spent the first night after leaving Jerusalem in a tent in BÎREH. +The second day we proceeded by BETHIN (Bethel), ʾAIN EL HARAMIEH (the +Robbers’ spring), and SELUN (Silo) to NABLUS (Sichem, Neapolis), and the +same evening ascended GARIZIM, the holy mount of the Samaritans, whose +remaining population (about 70 men, or 150 souls) we became somewhat +better acquainted with the following morning. They still continue to +be shunned by the Jews, and have as little communication with the +Christians and Mohammedans. + +On Garizim we saw the bare rocky surface, surrounded by some remains of +an ancient wall, where these SAMARI still, as in past ages, annually +offer up the sacrifice of sheep to their God. The following morning, +after we had visited the Samaritan place of worship, in which we were +shown the old Samaritan manuscript of the Pentateuch, and had seen +Jacob’s well, and Joseph’s tomb surrounded by vine branches, we rode on +farther, with an armed attendant of Solimân Bey’s, in whose house we were +lodging, and proceeded first to SEBASTIEH (Sebaste, the ancient Samaria), +where we saw the ruins of the beautiful old church from the period of the +Crusaders, said to be built over the tomb of John the Baptist. We spent +the night in the woody GENNIN (Egennin). Thence our road led through the +wide and fertile, but nevertheless barren, plain of Jesreel (Esdraelon), +the great bloody plain of Palestine, to ZERIN and the beautiful spring +(AIN GULUT, Goliath’s spring), where Naboth’s vineyard was situated, +and where the whole house of Ahab was murdered; then to GEBEL DAHʿI, +little HERMON, beyond which TABOR (GEBEL E’ TUR), distinguished by +its cupola-like form and isolated position, rose up and arrested our +attention, until we once more rode into the mountains to NAZARETH, +beautifully situated in a mountain hollow, like an amphitheatre. +Yesterday we made an excursion in the morning from this place over Mount +Tabor to TIBERIAS, on Lake Genezaret, and have only just returned. In +spite of my endeavours to the contrary, we were compelled to take a +body-guard of armed Arabs with us thither, as we did to the Dead Sea; and +we, in fact, encountered various groups of low Bedouin rabble in their +picturesque variegated costume, whom I should have been sorry to have met +alone, most of them in the neighbourhood of beautiful wooded Tabor, where +they were lying on the road, or riding past across the plain. + + + + +LETTER XXXIX. + + + _Smyrna, 7th December, 1845._ + +From Nazareth we proceeded down the plain of JESREEL to Mount CARMEL, +where we passed the night in the magnificent convent which has been +newly erected. The following morning we descended from this promontory, +commanding the wide ocean and its fragrant coast, to HAIPHA (Hepha), +crossed over the bay to ACCA (Ako, Ptolemais), and then rode along the +coast on the damp sandy shore, keeping the mountain range constantly in +view, and by SÛR (Tyrus) and SAIDA (Sidon) to BERUT (Berytos), where we +met with a kind reception from the Prussian consul-general, Herr von +Wildenbruch. + +On the 15th of November, we started from Berut for Damascus. I left +Gabre Máriam behind with Herr von Wildenbruch, and only took with me +my faithful Berber, Ibrahim, and a Kawass. The road, after leaving +the sand-hills immediately surrounding Berut, rises directly up these +glorious mountains, abounding in flowers, trees, and springs of water. +We crossed it nearly on the frontier between the territories of the +Druses and the Maronites. We ascended all day, part of the time on +terribly bad roads cut in the rock, and spent the night on this side +of the mountain ridge; we did not reach the summit till the following +morning, and now had a wide prospect over the fertile plain of the +LEONTES, which separates Libanon and Anti-Libanon, and which, with the +brief interruption of Gebel e’ Scheikh (Hermon), with its ramifications +protruding upwards, it forms one single huge cleft through the whole +of the valley of the Jordan, and continues across the Dead Sea, as far +as the Gulf of Akaba and the Red Sea. We descended to MEKSEH, took our +breakfast on one of its flat roofs, and intended to have cut across +from this point, in a south-easterly direction, through the valley to +MEGDEL and AITHI, but, in preference, we took a circuitous road towards +the north to ZACHLEH, which is one of the largest and most flourishing +towns of Christian Libanon. On the road we met a troop of soldiers, +who were escorting some thousands of weapons on asses, which had been +taken the previous day from the inhabitants of Zachleh. The disarming +of the whole of Libanon by Schekib Effendi had commenced from the +south, and, as is well known, was executed with the greatest prejudice +against the unfortunate Christians, who were miserably sacrificed to a +piece of reckless commercial policy. In order to disarm Zachleh, which +is a strong and influential post, it had been besieged by two hundred +regular troops, some of whom we still found stationed there, and also a +countless multitude of Bedouins had been allowed to encamp in the great +valley of the Beqâʾa, whose aid against the Christians they would have +availed themselves of in case of necessity; these last, however, had +again withdrawn. We inquired in the town, which was still in a state +of great excitement, after Bishop Theophilus, who was described to us +as both a vigorous and heroic champion in the fight; but unfortunately +he had just set off for Beirut. After we had again departed, we met on +the road a German Catholic priest, who accompanied us to the adjoining +place, MOʾALLAQA, and told us much of the cruelties which the Turks had +practised here, as elsewhere, on the miserable inhabitants. Several +hundred more muskets had been demanded than really existed in the whole +place, and the old Sheikhs, who ought to have supplied them, were +cudgelled till the missing muskets had been purchased by the inhabitants +at a high price, and with great difficulty, in the camp of the Turks +themselves. + +From Zachleh we went to KERAK, in order to visit the tomb of Noah at that +spot. We found a long, narrow building, of well joined square blocks, +and beside it a small building with a cupola, surrounded by trees, from +which there was a beautiful prospect of the plain, and of Anti-Libanon. +Through a window, hung with votive shreds, I saw a tomb built up in +the usual Oriental form within the long vaulted room, and I was not a +little surprised to see, through the windows in the whole length of the +building, a constant continuation of this same tomb, which seemed to have +neither a beginning nor an end. At length the door-keeper arrived, and, +to my astonishment, I was convinced that the tomb was 40 ells long, by +exact measurement 31 metres 77′ (131 feet English), therefore somewhat +more than 40 ordinary Egyptian ells.[116] The case assumes an air of +probability, as this measurement of the length of Noah’s body is exactly +proportionate to the length of his life, one thousand years. + +From Kerak we at length turned to our right, into the plain across to TEL +EMDIEH, we then turned to our left into a valley, which again conducted +us directly northward, and at sunset arrived at EL ʾAIN, a small village +near a spring, situated at the upper end of the valley, at a considerable +height above the great plain. From our having followed the circuitous +road to Zachleh and Kerak, we were somewhat beyond the day that we had +calculated on, and therefore determined, to the disappointment of our +mule driver, to go on still farther to ZEBEDÊNI, which was said to be +situated on the eastern declivity of Anti-Libanon, two hours from hence. +As none of our people had ever gone this road across the mountains, we +took a guide with us, who very soon led us out of our valley, which +ascended towards the north, between the lower mountains and the principal +ridge, and led us up a steep, toilsome, and endless rocky path on our +right hand. The moon rose, hours passed on, and the ardently-desired +Zebedêni would never make its appearance. At length we stood on the +precipitous border of another deep valley, up which we were compelled to +clamber painfully on foot, for another whole hour, leading our animals; +and it was not before midnight that we reached Zebedêni, after a march of +six hours. All here were plunged in the most profound slumber; we were +obliged to knock at several houses to inquire our road to the convent, +where we hoped to find some shelter. At length we were told that there +was indeed a church, but no room in the adjoining convent to receive us. +We therefore quartered ourselves in the last house, which was opened to +us after knocking at it for a long time. It only contained _one_ large +room, but there was sufficient space for ourselves and our servants, +after the whole of the numerous family of men, women, and children, had +retired to one corner. The people were, however, friendly and courteous, +the next morning received their backshish, and took leave of us, with +an invitation to repeat the visit on our return. We now proceeded down +the beautiful fertile valley of Zebedêni towards the south, for an hour +and a half, when we again turned eastward, into the precipitous rocky +defile, where the rippling brook, beside which we had hitherto been +marching, swelled into a small river, called BÁRADA, opening a path for +itself, in most beautiful and picturesque cascades, through luxuriant +verdure, to the great plain of Damascus. We rode for several hours along +its precipitous banks, sometimes in the very bed itself, till we came +to a lofty pointed arch, which, as a bridge, conducted us from the left +to the right bank. Here the road went up the mountain, and disclosed a +number of ancient rock-tombs, opposite the continuation of the steep +rock-precipice we had just left. Soon afterwards the wild ravine opened +into a broader valley, through which the rushing river winds more +quietly, passing several pleasantly situated villages. It had hitherto +pierced in an easterly direction, through a mountain ridge, passing from +north to south, from which it now issued through a lofty rock-gate. Two +single mountain masses rose up like mighty pylons towards the east; on +the summit of the one to the south, rising almost perpendicularly several +thousand feet, was a small sepulchral edifice, surrounded by trees. This +place is worshipped as the tomb of Abel, NEBBI HABÎL, who, according to +tradition, was buried here. The summit is said to be almost inaccessible, +and so it appeared, at least from this side, we therefore omitted to +investigate whether a tomb, 40 ells in length, had been also erected to +the youth Habel. At the foot of the mount the ancient city of ABILA was +formerly situated, whose name has probably given rise to the story. + +We now quitted for several hours the enchanting valley of the Bárada, and +rode over bare rocky plateaus, till at GEDÎDEH we again descended to it, +and rested a short time upon its bank, in the shadow of tall plane-trees +and silver poplars of changing hue. At length we once more quitted the +river, which had become gradually fuller, and more rapid, by the addition +of various brooks, and ascending a high mountain, we suddenly stood in +front of the illimitable plain, which lay spread out before us unbounded +by mountain ranges, and covered like one large garden with innumerable +leafy green trees, and intersected by roads and streams. In the midst of +this garden, and immediately at our feet, lay glorious DAMASCUS, with its +cupolas, minarets, and terraces. We knew that we were about to see one of +the most celebrated prospects in the world, but we were, nevertheless, +astonished, and found our expectations surpassed by the magnificent +picture which, like a stroke of enchantment, unfolded itself before us in +the direction of the lovely but narrow valleys, alternating with barren, +rocky deserts. We lingered nearly an hour at this point, which has been +rendered prominent by a magnificent dome, resting upon four isolated +pillars, called QUBBET E’ NASR, the “victorious cupola.” + +Damascus is one of the holiest and most lauded cities of the East. The +prophet Mohammed considered it thrice blessed, because the angels spread +their wings over the city, and at the glorious sight are said not to +have taken possession of it for this reason, that _one_ Paradise only is +intended for man, and that one he will find in heaven. In the Koran, God +swears by the fig and the olive-tree, that is by Damascus and Jerusalem, +and the Arabian geographers call it the mole on the cheek of the World, +the plumage of the peacock of Paradise, the necklace of beauty, and among +the Sultan’s titles, “the Paradise-scented Dimischk.”[117] In accordance +with the legend of the Oriental Christians, Adam was here formed out of +the reddish earth of the district; and tradition places the spot where +Cain slew Abel on Mount KASIUN, near this. + +The Bárada, which we had followed from its first source, enters the great +plain a little south of Damascus, turns to the left towards the city, +through which it flows in seven branches, and then passes into a lake. +It was the gold-streaming Chrysorrhoas of the ancients, the much-praised +Farfar of the Eastern poets. It was this river that, calling forth the +whole idea of Paradise, gave at all times to this most ancient city—known +even by Abraham, and conquered by David—its great importance. Damascus +was formerly one of the chief seats of Arabian literature and learning, +and a disciple of the Prophet is said to have given instruction in +reading the Koran to 1600 of the faithful at once (after the method of +Joseph Lancaster) in the great mosque of the Ommiads. The city at first +seemed but little to correspond with the glorious country surrounding +it. We entered streets of considerable breadth, but bare, closed in by +low houses, whose mud walls had small doors, and scarcely any windows. +None of the beautiful wood-carvings of Cairo, or stone decorations, were +to be seen on the windows and doors. Some of the mosques and fountains +which we passed were the only exceptions; and the number of single trees +in the streets and in the squares had a pleasant appearance. Farther in +the interior of the city we came to the long bazaar, consisting mostly +of massive building. The well-filled booths, the abundance of fruits +of every kind that were heaped up, finally, the crowd of people, of +all ages and of every description, in all sorts of costumes, and the +endless turnings from one street into the other, impressed us with the +feeling that we were in a large and wealthy capital of the East. We first +rode to our Prussian consul, who was, however, prostrated with fever. +We therefore proceeded still farther, to an inn, lately established. +Here also, as in the consul’s house, we passed through a narrow door +in a plain outer wall into a small dark court, and out of that into +another low and angular passage. But then a beautiful spacious court was +disclosed, surrounded on all sides by magnificent shining marble walls, +in the centre of which was a fountain, overshadowed by tall trees. On +the farther side was a vaulted niche, the entrance-arch of which was +five-and-twenty feet high. To this we ascended by some marble steps, and +now found ourselves in a somewhat narrow but lofty saloon, which was open +to the court, and had commodious divans placed along the inner walls. On +the left of this niche was the dining-room; on the right a staircase, +by which we ascended to the rooms above, which we occupied. They were +wainscoted all round, and the walls, as well as the ceiling, were adorned +with a variety of decorations painted in gold and silver. We afterwards +saw several more of the finest houses in Damascus, all of which appeared +externally almost mean, but in the interior displayed Oriental splendour +more like a fairy tale than anything which I have since seen in these +countries. And occasionally, even at the present day, they build their +houses in this style, at least if we may judge by some of these small +palaces, which were only erected between ten and twenty years ago. There +is a lavish display of marble, and other costly stones, in these courts, +halls, and rooms, such as with us is only seen in royal palaces. The +beautiful open hall, which is always formed in front simply by a lofty +arch, sometimes appears on two, or even three, sides of the court, and +not unfrequently has also a small fountain to itself, independent of the +larger one, which is never absent, and is usually shaded by trees, which +grow up from the midst of the slabs of marble. + +The following day we spent entirely in viewing the city, and especially +the rich bazaars, in which beautiful silks embroidered in gold and +silver, splendid weapons, and other brilliant articles of Eastern luxury +are exposed for sale. We visited the great Khan, with its nine immense +domed chambers, a kind of exchange frequented by the most considerable +merchants; then the mighty Mosque of the Ommiads, regarded as very +sacred, whose Hall of Pillars is 550 feet long and 150 broad. It was +formerly a Christian church, which itself was said to have been built on +the foundation of a Roman temple to Juno. We were not permitted to enter, +and therefore could only survey it through the numerous open gates, and +were even prevented from mounting on the roof of a neighbouring house by +a fanatical Mussulman, so that we were obliged to defer doing so till +our return on the following day. We were shown the enormous plane-tree, +thirty-five feet in circumference, standing in the middle of a street +near a fountain, called after an old Sheikh, Ali, who is said to have +planted the tree. We also stepped into the inviting coffee-houses on the +cool bank of the river. Next morning we rode to the southern gate of the +city, called BAB ALLAH, to which a street above an hour long leads in +a direct line between magnificent shops, mosques, workshops, and other +buildings; this is probably the so-called “Straight-street” (ἡ ῥύμη ἡ +καλουμένη εὐθεῖα) in which Saul dwelt when he was converted by Ananias. +(Acts ix. 11.) + +On the road we stopped at the small cupola building which is usually +regarded as the tomb of Saladin, but which is only a place of worship +built to his honour by Sultan Selîm. The real tomb is said to be twelve +hours to the south of Damascus, near a place called GIBBA; this was +confirmed by the Sheikh whom we met here. From BAB ALLAH, the “gate +of God,” through which the pilgrims to Jerusalem and Mecca pass, we +rode to the left round the city through the pleasant gardens of olives, +poplars, mulberries, and gigantic apricot-trees; these last produce those +delicious apricots which, when dried, are sent to all quarters of the +world under the appellation of Misch-misch. We then came to the cemetery +of the Jews, where a corpse was being lowered into the grave; and, +according to the custom here, the virtues of the deceased were called +to mind and eulogised. Not far off is situated the Christian cemetery, +near which the spot is marked where Saul was struck to the ground by the +heavenly vision. Thence our road led over a small bridge to the city +wall, in which, near a gate now built up, we were shown a window from +which Paul was let down. We followed the wall as far as a beautiful +ancient Roman gate with three entrances, the _porta orientalis_, through +which we came to the house of Ananias, with the rock-cave, which is now +converted into a Latin chapel. We then rode through the gardens of fruit +and olive-trees to a neighbouring village, GÔBA, where Elisha crowned +King Hazael of Syria, and where Elijah was fed by a raven in a chamber of +the rock. + +On our departure from Damascus we also visited SALHÎEH, a place in the +neighbourhood, the tomb of the greatest of the Arabian mysticists, the +celebrated Sheikh MOHIEDDIN EL ARABI, and were here also reminded of his +teacher, SCHEDELI, who invented the beverage of coffee, and who was in +the habit of keeping his disciples awake with it. + +In Palestine we had wandered among the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and +Jacob, of Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel, of Joseph, David, Solomon, and the +prophets, of Christ, his parents and disciples. Here we came to the tombs +of Noah and Abel, and soon after to Seth also, and set foot on the fields +of Paradise, which belonged to the first pair. What a strange sensation +to travel in these regions, where tradition deals with such materials! + +We halted the first night after our departure in SUK EL BÁRADA, at the +foot of Nebbi Habîl. From this point we again crossed over the old +pointed arch bridge, which, like most early structures in this country, +is said to have been built by the Empress Helena; and this time we +examined the ancient rock-tombs somewhat more accurately. We reached them +by a difficult path, partly by an ancient aqueduct hewn in the rock. Some +of these tombs were planned in a singular manner, and appeared to be very +old; farther on followed several from the Greek period, with bas-reliefs +and gable-ends, and some steles upon the rock, on which we were still +able to decipher some Greek words. Not far from this, up the river, we +found a mighty Roman work, the great, ancient, now deserted high-road +hewn for a considerable distance through the living rock, and two Roman +inscriptions, each in two copies, on the flat lofty wall behind. The +longer one ran as follows:—IMPerator CAESar Marcus AVRELius ANTONINVS | +AVGustus ARMENIACVS ET IMPerator CAESar Lucius AVRELius VERVS AVGustus AR +| MENIACVS VIAM FLVMINIS | VI ABRVPTAM INTERCISO | MONTE RESTITVERVNT PER +| IVLium VERVM LEGatum PRO PRaetore PROVINCiæ | SYRiæ ET AMICVM SVVM | +IMPENDIIS ABILENORVM. The other:—PRO SALVTE IMPeratoris AVGusti ANTONI | +NI ET VERI Marcus VO | LVSIVS MAXIMVS | Ↄ (centurio) LEGionis XVI Flaviae +Firmae | QVI OPERI IN | STITIT Vota suscepto.[118] + +Since that time the rock has no doubt been twice hollowed out and broken +away by the torrent, which has certainly great force every spring; +for, in the immediate neighbourhood of the second copy of the two +inscriptions, the rock-road is terminated by a sudden precipice. By four +o’clock we had mounted Anti-Libanon, and at NEBBI SCHÎT, that is SETH, +we again entered the great plain of the Leontes. We immediately went in +search of the tomb of Nebbi Schît, and were not a little surprised to +find here also, as at Nebbi Noëh, a solid ancient Arabian building, with +a small cupola standing beside it, and within, a tomb _forty_ ells long. +It was even broader than that of Noah, because three steps led up to the +height of the monument on either side, the whole way along, which in the +former case were wanting. By bestowing on them such an unusual size of +body, the legend evidently wished to distinguish these two patriarchs +as having lived before the Flood, and the number 40, which is used so +frequently both in the Old and New Testament as an undetermined sacred +number, has not, as is here exemplified, lost its application among the +Arabs. + +The same evening we rode on two hours farther, to BRITAN; and the +following morning we started before sunrise for BÂLBECK, the ancient +Heliopolis, with its celebrated ruins of the temple of the Sun. I +lingered first at the ancient stone-quarries, in front of which the road +passed, and there measured a block of building-stone, which was not quite +separated from the rock; it was 67 feet long, 14 feet broad, and 13 feet +5 inches thick. Many of the walls in the temple ruins in Bâlbeck are +composed of similar, or not much smaller blocks. One which I measured on +the spot, and in its original position, without making any particular +selection, was 65 feet 4 inches by 12 feet 3 inches and 9 feet 9 inches +large. They are, indeed, grand ruins, but the ornamental part of the +architecture is heavy, overloaded, and some in a very barbarous taste. + +Bâlbeck is associated with a sad recollection. As I approached the +scattered houses of the village, immediately adjoining the ancient temple +ruins, my faithful servant Ibrahim, who had arrived here before us, met +me with the joyful intelligence that Abeken, from whom we had separated +in Jerusalem, had just arrived. I found him, in fact, in the house of the +venerable Bishop Athanasius situated close at hand; but we had scarcely +greeted each other, when I was informed that Ibrahim was lying in the +road dying. I hastened out, and found him almost in the very spot where +he had shortly before saluted me in so friendly a manner, lying extended +with the rattle in his throat; his eyes were already dim. It was in vain +that a priest of the neighbouring convent endeavoured to give assistance; +in a few minutes he died before my face. His death seems to have been +occasioned by a chill. He was a thoroughly excellent man, with a natural +nobleness of character not often found among the Arabs. I had taken him +with me on my journey to Nubia from Assuan; he wished of his own accord, +and from his attachment to me, to accompany me to Europe, and by his +knowledge of the Nubian dialect, would have been very useful to me in my +studies of the languages of the Sudan. I was anxious to place a tombstone +to his memory at the foot of Anti-Libanon, where he was buried on the +declivity of the hill, beside a tree, but we found no stone-mason who +could execute it. I therefore sent one to Bâlbeck from Berut, with an +inscription as follows:—IBRAHIMO HASSAN SYENE ORIVNDO SERVO BENE MERENTI +P. R. LEPSIUS. D. XXI. _Novemb._ MDCCCXLV. + +This news made a great impression on Gabre Máriam when I communicated it +to him in Berut; he wept bitterly, for they had been excellent friends. + +Before we left Bâlbeck, the bishop advised us to take a different road +from what we intended, as intelligence had been received that there was +much disturbance on the other side of Libanon, and that the population +had revolted. But, in fact, as the whole country was in a state of great +excitement, and we had notwithstanding found no difficulty, we paid +little regard to his recommendation, and told him we should only pass +through Christian districts, whose inhabitants would look upon us as +friends. We quitted Bâlbeck shortly before sunset, and traversed the +narrow plain, in order to spend the night in DER EL AHMAR, the “Red +Convent,” and the following day, with renewed strength, ascend Libanon +almost to its highest point, so that we might again descend by the famous +cedar forest. Hitherto we had been favoured, during our whole journey in +Palestine and Syria, with the most beautiful weather. From day to day +we had been expecting increasing rain, according to the calendar of the +weather on other years, and up to the present time had only once been +drenched—on our return from the Dead Sea to Jerusalem. The wide plain of +BEQÂʾA, which we now traversed for the second time, is quite impassable +after rain at this season of the year, and the numerous mountain streams +of Libanon, so abounding in springs, generally swell these to such a +degree that, with the frequent absence of bridges, they can only be +crossed with extreme danger. The sky clouded over in a threatening +manner this evening, the obscurity of the night was impenetrable, and at +length, after we had already seen some of the lights of DER EL AHMAR in +the distance, we lost our way on a barren piece of ground rent by rugged +clefts. At length, we had hardly arrived, when the rain poured down in +torrents. Here again we shared a large room with the whole of a Christian +peasant family, but we spent a most restless night. There were constant +groans and lamentations among the women and children, who appeared to +be sick. In a short time the incessant rain had soaked through the flat +roof of the house, and trickled upon the beds; people were now sent up +to throw fresh sand upon the roof, and to ram it firm with pieces of +stone pillars, which are ready for this purpose on the top of all the +houses; but this operation sent down so much lime and dirt upon us, +that we were at length compelled to request they would discontinue this +well-intentioned repair. In a small shed near the door lay a dog with a +numerous progeny, whose bed seemed also to have been invaded by the rain, +for they began to whine and yelp in the most wretched manner. At length +our hosts were roused by repeated loud knocks, to furnish a horse for a +soldier, who was carrying letters farther on at the utmost speed for the +Pascha. Thus we got no rest the whole night through; and if an Arabian +proverb says, that the king of the fleas keeps his court in Tiberias, the +holy city of the Jews, I have now every reason to suppose that he has +since then transferred his residence hither from that spot, where we had +found good and undisturbed lodging. + +The rain subsided towards morning, and gave place to a thick mist which, +continuing still in single large clouds, seemed sometimes wholly to cut +off the ascent to the mountain fronting the lofty ridge of Libanon, but +also often charmed us by its magic play with the penetrating light of +the cool morning sun round the nearer and the more distant wooded hills +and points of rock. When we reached the first elevations, which are +separated from the principal chain by a level valley, we suddenly burst +upon an indescribably beautiful and astounding prospect. The sight of the +chain of Libanon, covered in its whole extent and far down with fresh +dazzling snow, was a real Alpine landscape on the grandest scale, rising +majestically above the eternal spring of this blessed land, though now +indeed so miserably trodden down by the hereditary enemy the Turk. I +thoroughly enjoyed this unusual spectacle, which roused a true home-like +joy in my heart, and I endeavoured to imbibe all that I could of the +clear, white, quiet light. I drove my little Egyptian horse in front +of me, which had lost its rider in Bâlbeck, and now bore on its back +the small possessions he had left behind him. I thought how, a few days +previously, I had been enjoying the thoughts of seeing my good Ibrahim’s +surprise when he should pass through the snowy region of Libanon along +with us. The deep parts of the snow which soon after we were obliged +to ride through, did not seem to annoy the ass; it frequently stood +still astonished in the midst of the snow, and no doubt viewed it all +as salt, soft white fields of which it had known near the Red Sea and +elsewhere. We rode zig-zag up the extremely steep mountain precipice +between seven and eight thousand feet high. It is not rocky at this +point, but covered with earth, and terminates in a sharp ridge. “El hamdu +l’illah,” exclaimed the old guide when he had attained the summit, and +“Salâm, salâm,” resounded in one chorus of voices. We had almost ascended +the highest point of Libanon, but the prospect over land and sea was +unfortunately hidden from us by clouds and layers of mist, although we +had blue sky above us. After a short ride downwards from the summit, our +guide pointed out the ancient venerable forest of cedars at our feet in a +great level bay of the mountain range, from which King Hiram had sent the +huge stems to Solomon for the building of the Temple; it looked as small +as a garden from this lofty point. For a long while it was considered the +only remains of those ancient forests, till, in recent times, several +more tracts of cedar forest have been discovered in some of the northern +parts of Libanon. We soon again lost sight of the cedars as we descended +deeper among the layers of cloud, which excluded all prospect. Suddenly +the dark shade of these gigantic trees rose like mountain spirits, close +beside us, out of the grey mass of mist. We rode to the chapel of the +hermit, who usually presents the stranger here, with a good glass of wine +of Libanon, but we found it closed; just then the clouds dissolved into a +most prosaic rain, from which we were scarcely able to shelter ourselves +beneath the wide roof of needles of the noble cedars. I found a beautiful +cedar cone hanging down sufficiently low for me to break it off and take +it away with me as a keepsake. Single stems of these cedars are 40 feet +in circumference, and 90 feet high; and as one cedar, which they pretend +they know to be 100 years old, is only half a foot in diameter, the +largest cedars are stated to be 3000 years old, which would go back as +far as the time of Solomon. The rain increased, and we had still several +thousand feet to descend before reaching the nearest village, BSCHERREH. +The lower we came, so much the more slippery and dangerous grew the +narrow, sometimes rocky, sometimes soaked footpath, which led along the +precipitous side of the valley with an abrupt precipice to our right. +Turning an angle of rock, we at length gained sight of the night quarters +we so longed to reach. The wealthy, inviting, and important village of +Bscherreh, which gives a name to the whole district, is well known from +its powerful and influential, but wild, uncontrolled, and often cruel +inhabitants. + +The rain had abated, the white houses, with their terrace roofs, between +which a number of silver poplars, plane-trees, and cypresses, rise up +singly, or in rows, were placed one above the other in a semicircle, on a +hill projecting from the right side of the valley, and shining after the +rain, they looked as if they had just emerged from a bath. Nothing was +stirring in the village; it seemed as if it were perfectly dead. I rode +in advance of the rest of our party, with our old guide, up a narrow path +beside vineyard walls, when suddenly, at a bend in the road, a strong +voice called out to me, and when I looked up, over the terrace of the +vineyard, which was about a man’s height, to my no small surprise I saw +about twenty muskets pointed at me and the guide. He let go the bridle of +his horse, stretched out his hands towards heaven, and shouted out to the +people. I hastily threw back the cape of my cloak, in order to show the +people my European hat, and let them see who we were. When they perceived +that we were but a small party, and that we did not put ourselves in any +attitude of defence, they came out in hundreds from behind the trees, +surrounded us with loud yells, and for a long time would not believe +but that we were soldiers in disguise. Some even struck at our horses +with staves, downwards from the terrace, while I was endeavouring to +explain to those nearest to us who we were. Others had more quickly +perceived their error; they came down to the street, and took my horse +by the bridle. One especially, an animated boy of about fourteen, with a +clear eye, beautiful forehead, and ruddy, fresh cheeks, pressed forwards +towards me, calling out in Italian, that we should fear nothing, it was +all a mistake, we were their friends, that I had only to ride on and +dismount at the house of his brother. Some vehement people continued to +accompany us, and called out to us from the wall, with the most angry +gesticulations, while the great mass were already satisfied, and uttered +a deafening cry of joy; they fired off muskets in the air, and now +conducted us in triumph to the village. + +All were on foot in Bscherreh, which contains between 1200 and 1500 +inhabitants, and there was pressing and pushing to kiss our hands and +clothes; the women began their piercing shrieks, clapped their hands, and +danced; my honest youth remained constantly by my side, and thus step by +step we made our way through the dense crowd, whom we now also greeted as +friends, till we arrived in front of the Sheikh’s house, whose youngest +brother was my companion and guide. We were led up the stone staircase, +and the open hall in front, to the spacious saloon which was to shelter +us. + +I conversed almost the whole evening with the Sheikh of the village, +JUSEF HANNA DAHIR, a young and handsome man, with a serious, gentle +countenance, inspiring confidence. His father had fallen in the war, +under Ibrahim Pascha, who will soon be invested here with an odour of +sanctity, should the present abominations of the Turks last much longer. +Sheikh Jusef was the eldest son of this numerous and ancient family, in +which the dignity of Sheikh is hereditary. He related to me with perfect +frankness, composure, and intelligence, what was now going on among them, +how they had resolved to supply the weapons which were required, but had +retracted this determination when they heard of the disgraceful manner +in which the Turkish military had behaved in the southern districts; +thirty-four villages had now combined, and sworn in their churches not +to furnish the weapons, but to use them against the Turkish dogs. When +I asked him if they had any prospect of being able to defend themselves +successfully against a disciplined army, especially since the death of +their common leader, Emir Beschir, he told me that in Bscherreh alone +there were 3000, and in the whole of the district which had formed a +combination 13,000 armed men—as large a number as the Turkish military +in the country. Besides this, they had their mountains, their snow and +rain, their passes and lurking holes, which would render all the Turkish +cavalry and artillery useless. I nevertheless advised them to apply to +a consul at Berut, who was friendly to their cause, to solicit some +mediation, and to avoid the last extremity. As I afterwards heard, this +has taken place. The French consul-general, Bourré, has treated with the +Pascha on their behalf. + +But all may have been too late, and I fear that the storm of war has +long since broken over my excellent hosts in Bscherreh, and that their +wives and children have been even less spared than those of their weaker +neighbours. + +I was rejoiced to be of some service that evening to the young Sheikh, +whose pleasing and composed deportment pre-possessed me much in his +favour. I bound up a wound for him better than was possible with the +means he had at hand, and provided him with linen and lint. He told me +that we could not set out next day, for he must prepare a feast for us, +roast a sheep, and show us that he was our friend; but I declined the +invitation, which was made with all sincerity. + +The following morning we took a servant of the Sheikh with us as far +as the next village, EHDEN, which we also found in great excitement, +but not inimical to us. Outposts had been stationed, and the variegated +costume of the population, their bright red and yellow dresses, looked +at a distance like a spring flower-garden among the green trees; they +surrounded and questioned us, and even here there seemed to be divided +opinions as to what we were. One young Amazon ran for a considerable +distance beside us, raised her finger in a menacing manner, and upbraided +us that we Franks did not openly and vigorously side with them. + +We here dismissed our companion from Bscherreh; in his place, a rider, +on a magnificent fiery horse, unasked, attached himself to our party; +he politely saluted us, and keeping at a certain distance never lost +sight of us. In about a couple of hours afterwards, at a more gentle +inclination of the mountain, we perceived a troop of armed people in the +field, who had planted the red banner of blood to preach war and revolt +far away over the plain. The patrol advanced to meet us, and absolutely +refused our proceeding any farther. It was only after long negotiations +that, by means of a gold piece and the intercession of our companion, +who seemed to be the Sheikh of a neighbouring village, we were granted +free passage, but the whole troop accompanied us down the hill. When we +had passed the next and last village, ZAHERA, our attendant Sheikh was +obliged to employ serious threats to get us safe across the frontiers +of the revolted district; he then accompanied us still farther down a +valley, as far as a turn of the rock, and then saluting us shortly, +rode merrily back among his mountains. We were but a few hours distant +from TRIPOLIS, which we reached shortly after sunset; passing the +grave Turkish guards, who may have possibly lost some of their stupid +indolence, with the prospect of a near and desperate contest with the +courageous inhabitants of the mountains. + +In TRIPOLIS, now called TARABLUS, we stayed in the Latin convent, which +is inhabited and taken care of by only two monks. They related to us that +the Christians of Libanon had come to them a short time ago, and asked +for their spiritual intercessions, whereupon they had not scrupled to +dispense the holy sacrament for the space of three days. Unfortunately, +the Maronites fail much less in such spiritual intercessions and good +wishes than in the corporal provisions of bread and powder, for the Turks +cut off their supply. + +The following morning we visited the Prussian American consul, who +inhabits a handsome house, fitted up in the Oriental style, and +afterwards went to the Bazar. Just then a large division of Turkish +horsemen, on their road to Libanon, passed over a beautiful old bridge in +the centre of the town, dressed in their party-coloured, streaked, dirty +uniforms, with their lances ten feet long adorned with black bunches of +ostrich feathers, their small war kettle-drums in full beat. Towards noon +we again departed, just as the new Turkish general entered by the same +gate from Berut, through which we had ridden out. On the road we met the +divisions of the troops which had been ordered hither from Zachleh. From +this point our road lay along the sea-coast, and almost the whole day we +heard the thunder of the artillery in the adjacent mountains. + +We spent the night in a Khan on this side of the promontory of RAS E’ +SCHEKAB, named after the ancient θεοῦ πρόσωπον; no doubt because the +black mountain, which here projects into the sea, assumes the exact form +of a bust to those coming from the north. The following day we came to +ancient BYBLOS (Gebel), and then crossed over the ADONIS river, which +still, after violent rain, is occasionally the colour of blood, mourning +over the wounded favourite of Aphrodite. Passing GUNEH, generally +proceeding along the sea, sometimes even in it, we arrived at NAHR EL +KELB, the ancient LYCUS, to the south of which the celebrated bas-reliefs +of Ramses-Sesostris, and of a later Assyrian king[119], are engraved upon +a rock projecting into the sea. In spite of our rapid ride we did not +reach the rock-tablets till shortly after sunset, and we spent the night +in the Khan beyond. + +The following morning I investigated the sculpture more accurately, +close to which passed the very ancient, artificial road, which is now +destroyed, and I was rejoiced to make an important acquisition, for I +was enabled to decipher a date in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Among +the three Egyptian representations, which all bear the Shields of Ramses +II., the central one is dedicated to the chief god of the Egyptians, RA +(Helios), the southern one to the Theban or Upper Egyptian AMMON, and the +northern to the Memphitic or Lower Egyptian PHTHA; this Ramses had also +dedicated to these same gods the three remarkable rock-temples in Nubia, +at GERF HUSSÊN, SEBÛA, and DERR, no doubt because they were viewed by +him as the three chief representatives of Egypt. On the central stele, +the inscription begins below the representation, with the date of the +2ND CHOIAK OF THE 4TH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF KING RAMSES; the Ammon stele, +on the other hand, was dated from the _second_, or (if the two strokes +above were connected) from the _tenth_ year; at all events, not the same +year as the central stele, from which we might conclude that all three +representations referred to _different_ campaigns. + +We did not leave the tomb of St. George unvisited, and the church +dedicated to him near Nahr el Kelb; and as we entered BERUT towards +evening, we deviated from our path to visit the well where the dragon +which he slew was in the habit of drinking. Thus, on the 26th of +November, we ended our excursion to, and over the mountain range of, +Libanon; justly lauded from its numerous historical recollections, and +its rare natural beauties, of which the poet says, “that it bears winter +on its head, spring upon its shoulders, autumn in its lap, but that +summer slumbers at its feet on the Mediterranean.” + + + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE WORK OF DR. LEPSIUS ENTITLED THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE +EGYPTIANS. + +BERLIN, 1849. + +WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EXODUS OF THE ISRAELITES. + +REVISED BY THE AUTHOR. + + + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE AUTHOR’S DEDICATION TO THE CHEVALIER BUNSEN. + + +My chronological work (the first volume of which is now before you), +starting from a far more limited point of view, has a less remote +aim than your history[120], and will be at most but a supplemental +elaboration of the ideas originally laid down in your more comprehensive +plan. It is not my task to indicate the position Egypt occupies in the +HISTORY OF THE WORLD, but only in its external form in the HISTORY OF +TIME; it is therefore chronological, not historical. But to obtain the +chronological basis was, with reason in your opinion also, the first +and most important point of your inquiry, because upon this must depend +every extensive development of history. You derived your information +directly from those authors from whom we learn the connection of events, +as a whole, and in detail. I obtained mine from the monuments, which +establish the authenticity of the Greek account, frequently disclose +their meaning, and necessarily correct, complete, and confirm their +separate statements. The mutual interchange was intended to have led to a +common result. If formerly this was not always the case, the interruption +of our intercourse could not but lead us in many points still farther +apart. I have never hesitated to express myself freely when I have +differed from you, because I well know that, like me, you alone regard +the subject before you, and are convinced that truth is finally elicited +only by a distinct presentation of opposing possibilities. In the present +investigations, also, I have yielded to this conviction, but on that +account have felt it still more obligatory to lay them first of all +before you, and fulfilling an agreeable duty, dedicate them to you as a +public testimony of my gratitude. + +In this work I have touched upon the most various provinces of +archæology, and have frequently been obliged to oppose, in essential +points, the views of men whom I honour and admire as the heroes of +science, and as unsurpassed models in criticism and true inquiry. This +opposition would be presumptuous were it not that these contested points +are mere specialities in the wide domain over which those men rule, +to refute which, even successfully, could not abate from their just +fame; while, on the other hand, most of them are vital questions in the +solution of the present undertaking, and closely connected with the +very substance of those investigations, with which I have especially +endeavoured to render myself familiar. + +Had my vocation placed me in a political position, my motto would have +been REVERENCE and FREEDOM, and with REVERENCE and FREEDOM (those are +your words) science must also be pursued. Reverence, for everything that +is venerable, sacred, noble, great, and approved; freedom, wherever +truth and a conviction of it are to be obtained and expressed. Where the +latter is wanting, there fear and hypocrisy will exist; where the former, +insolence and presumption will luxuriate in science as in life. + +The investigation of Egyptian history will gradually exercise an +extensive influence upon all branches of archæology—upon our whole +conception of the past history of man. We must therefore expect a +reaction from all these sides. Some of these influential points have +been already vindicated, partly by you and partly in the investigations +now before us. They will not fail to call forth an animated opposition, +and at best elicit discussion, going to the root of the question, and +emendation on the part of the learned, to whose opinion I attach the +greatest weight. + +That section of my volume which endeavours to establish the relation +of the Egyptian to the Old Hebrew Chronology, will meet with most +opposition. Considering the intimate connection that necessarily subsists +between the philological and dogmatical method of examining the Biblical +Records, it is perfectly natural, that whenever a step in advance, or an +error, strives to obtain a place on the philological side, theological +interest, so much more universally distributed, takes a part either for, +or against it. Whoever would dispute its right to do this, must deny to +theology in general its character as a science. The Christianity, which +derives its origin and its sustenance from the Bible, is essentially and +intrinsically wholly independent of all learned confirmation. But it +is the duty of theology, whose task it is to fathom Christianity in a +rational manner, and prove its results, to decide scientifically what are +the essential points in the holy Scriptures on which it founds its system +of Christian belief. Should its true supports not be recognised, but +imaginary ones placed in their stead, it will not injure Christianity, +but the theological system, or that portion of it which was built on +unstable ground. That truth which is discerned by the sound progress +of any science whatsoever, cannot be hostile to Christian truth, but +must promote it; for all truths, from the very beginning, have formed a +compact league against everything that is false and erroneous. Theology, +however, possesses no other means than every other science to distinguish +scientifically, in any department, between truth and error, namely, only +a reasonable and circumspect criticism. Whatever is brought forward +according to this method, can only be corrected, or entirely refuted, by +a still better and more circumspect criticism. + +I believe that you, my honoured friend, and myself, have only one opinion +on these points, I have therefore ventured to refer, at the conclusion +of this section, to your excellent words, written on an occasion similar +to the present. It seems to me, also, that the practical religious +meaning, which the Old Testament possesses for every Christian reader, +is very independent of the dates of periods, the exact knowledge of +which could only have been known by means of a purposeless inspiration +to the authors and elaborators of those writings, many of whom lived +several centuries later. Strict science has also very generally decided +in this manner for a long time past, and has not failed to exercise its +purifying reaction upon the dogmatical comprehension of the matter. So +much the more solicitous am I, however, as to whether my views will +stand your examination, and the judgments of other far more competent +investigators than myself in this department, or will, at any rate, meet +your consideration. + +The two numbers, namely the 430 years of the sojourn of the Israelites in +Egypt, and the 480 years from the Exodus to the building of the Temple, +have been entirely abandoned by me, but have been the points on which all +the most modern investigations have rested, though they appear to have +been quite unknown, at least not brought under the consideration of all +the older scholars, as Josephus, Africanus, Eusebius, Syncellus, &c. On +the other hand, I have clung to the Levitical registers of Generations +as a far more certain guide; and thus, in place of a chronological +fabric, which had been already long considered untenable, I immediately +obtained a true historical foundation, and a chronology bordering, at +least, on a perfectly reliable one, as far back as Abraham, and this +not only most satisfactorily coincided with all the other historical +relations in the writings of the Old Testament, but also with the already +established Manethonic-Egyptian computation of time. The path which I +have here taken is by no means new. Des Vignoles, Böckh, and Bertheau +had already abandoned the number 480 years; you yourself decided against +the 430 years, and I find the same path pursued by Engelstoft in the +most decided manner in his interesting work, to which, however, too +little attention has been paid. Other preparatory labours in the widely +extended department of this literature may have escaped my notice, but, +at all events, these opinions had hitherto been unable to make themselves +properly appreciated, as is evident from the latest works of the most +important inquirers; and first among them Ewald’s profound and acute +history. Were it only occasioned by this mode of apprehension being +hitherto not sufficiently carried out, and requiring especially the +essential confirmation of Egyptian chronology, and should the new course +which I have adopted on that account win a more general assent, it would +be no slight satisfaction to me, and would especially afford me one more +guarantee of the genuineness of the Egyptian chronology. + +But the real foundation for the Egyptian computation of time, according +as, in my opinion, it should be restored, is to be found in the last +section of this volume in the criticism upon the authorities which derive +their information from Manetho. This is a detailed and complicated +investigation, and the superabundant material which is presented, +forms a knot which the labour of almost a thousand years, in place of +disentangling, has only drawn still tighter, because the wrong ends of +the threads were always pulled. It was first of all necessary carefully +to pursue these false ends through all their twistings—I mean especially +the spurious writings, and the influences exercised by them, and separate +them distinctly; but to recognise the true character of the remaining +genuine portion, and to fix securely the few principal points. Besides +my own preparatory labours, I possessed two admirable researches, +upon which I could still further build: your own work, and the one by +Böckh upon the Manethonic Computation of Time. The result of the two +investigations, which were obtained independently of each other, and +published almost simultaneously, deviate very much from one another, +since you fix Menes more than 2000 years later than Böckh believes he +is placed by Manetho. This discrepancy must be the immediate result of +the difference in your fundamental views, which caused Böckh to regard +the Manethonic Dynasties as uninterruptedly consecutive, you as partly +reigning contemporaneously. Böckh especially cited in support of his +view the circumstance, that if we count the Dynasties according to the +presentation of them by Africanus in a continuous line, the first year +of Menes coincided very nearly with the proleptically calculated year +of commencement of an Egyptian Sothis period. He treated the questions +under consideration with all the learning and ingenious criticism which +is peculiar to this master in archæological investigation, pointing out +that the slight deviation between the result which had been arrived at, +and the one expected, might be removed by very simple means; and he came +to the conclusion, that this agreement was intentionally brought about +by the Egyptian annalists, consequently that the Manethonic computation +of time was cyclically invented or adapted, not handed down by history. +The view that you maintain, which differs very much from this, you +founded especially upon the comparison of the Eratosthenic lists with +the Manethonic Dynasties of the Old Monarchy; you thus determined the +continuous Monarchical Dynasties, whose periods you calculated by the +numbers of Eratosthenes, you especially recognised no cyclical element in +the Manethonic chronology, and hence believed the accounts of Manetho and +Eratosthenes to be a historical tradition, in part the result of learned +Alexandrian investigations. + +My view corresponds with yours in all essential points. That several +of the Dynasties were contemporaneous, appears to me most decidedly +attested; and I have been able to obtain a direct, and, as I believe, a +genuine Manethonic proof of it. On the other hand, from the beginning I +have never been able to lay so much stress upon the list of Eratosthenes, +especially upon its individual names and numbers, opposed to the +Manethonic statement, as appeared to you justifiable, owing to the +important information you obtained from it concerning the Monarchical +Dynasties. This is the principal reason why we still differ so much +in our determination of the duration of the Old Monarchy down to the +entrance of the Hyksos. A cyclical treatment of the Egyptian chronology, +which you neither recognised in the History of the Gods, nor in the +History of Man, which Böckh, on the other hand, believes he finds in both +parts, appears to me, indeed, capable of being demonstrated, but only +in the mythical history, before Menes. The result of this has been a +confirmation of the sum total of the Manethonic History of Man, which is +also considered genuine by you, and upon which I imagine I may venture to +place the greatest weight. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTION + + On the previous Conditions necessary for the Origin of a Chronology + among the Egyptians, and the Possibility of its Restoration. + + PAGE + + Favourable Conditions for an early Egyptian History and + Chronology 368-396 + + External Circumstances in favour of an Historical Development 368-374 + + Influence of the Local Character and Climate upon the + Preservation of the Monuments 368-371 + + Abundance of Building Stone 371 + + Bricks. Papyrus used as a Writing Material 372 + + Intellectual Basis and Proofs of Historical Activity 374-396 + + National Historical Sense of the Egyptians 374-380 + + Earlier and more extended Habit of Writing 377-380 + + Books. Libraries 380 + + Fame of Egyptian Wisdom and Learning among the Greeks 382 + + Sacred Writings of the Egyptians 387 + + Remains of Historical Literature 392 + + Retrospective View 397-400 + + FIRST PART OF THE CHRONOLOGY. + + Criticism upon the Authorities. + + The Hebrew Tradition 401-493 + + Uncertainty of the Hebrew Numbers 401 + + The Exodus according to Manetho 404 + + The Exodus according to Hecataeus and Diodorus 408 + + The Exodus of the Lepers the same as that of the Israelites 411 + + The Pharaoh of the Exodus according to Manetho 417 + + The Pharaoh of the Exodus according to Ptolemy Mendesius, + Apion Josephus 420 + + The Pharaoh of the Exodus according to Eusebius 422 + + The Pharaoh of the Exodus according to Lysimachus 423 + + Intimations concerning the Time of the Exodus in the Old + Testament 424 + + The Situation of Abaris 425 + + The Situation of Heroonpolis 434 + + The Situation of Ramses 437 + + The Town of Ramses built by Ramses-Miamun (Ramses II.) 438 + + Canal Connection between the Nile and the Red Sea 439 + + The Towns Pithom and Ramses, on the Canal of Ramses II., + built in the Reign of Ramses II. 446 + + The Exodus of the Israelites later than Ramses II. 449 + + The Exodus in the year B.C. 1314 according to the Rabbinical + Chronology 450 + + The Date of the Exodus according to the Jewish Generations 457 + + The Date of the Exodus according to the Book of Judges 470 + + The Period from Jacob and Joseph to Moses 475-485 + + The Pharaoh of Joseph in Herodotus and Diodorus 480 + + The Period from Abraham to Moses 485-492 + + Joseph placed during the Reign of Aphophis 487 + + End of Hebrew Tradition 492 + + The genuine Manethonic Numbers 494 + + Retrospective View 496 + + Tables of Egyptian Dynasties 499 + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE EGYPTIANS. + + +While the beginnings of Greek and Roman history, by the strict +investigations of modern criticism, have lost more and more of their +historical character, and while cautious inquirers consider it impossible +to obtain a fixed date for separate events, earlier than the seventh and +eighth centuries before Christ, the history of Egypt treats of strictly +historical facts, and its chronology contains exact numbers of years, +months, and days in the third and fourth millennium previous to our +era. This appears such a palpable contradiction, that it is not alone +worth while on account of the larger circle of readers who are more out +of the scope of these investigations, but it must also be important to +the inquirers in this field, to answer for themselves the preliminary +question, how it is possible to prosecute the history of Egypt so much +farther back than the history of the nations of the West and East, +without denying the principles of that criticism which has pointed out +limits to the history of classical antiquity, and which must justly be +considered the most valuable treasure of modern science? + +In order to answer this question, we must first call to mind that it has +now become a principle, derived from experience, that the real history +of a nation, in the strictest sense of the word, never recedes much +farther back than its _oldest contemporaneous authorities_, and this +once expressed, becomes, from its intrinsic necessity, self-evident. +This principle applies both to us—since our certain conclusions in +historical investigations do not extend much farther back—and also to +the nations themselves; for they only obtain historical consciousness +and historical experience when they begin to produce monuments, +especially written monuments, to bear witness to posterity of what is +occurring. Monuments form the dial-plate of history; until they exist, +the present alone belongs to a nation, not the past—it exists without a +history. If a nation loses its monuments, either through its own fault +or through circumstances, it will be unable to preserve its history, +which becomes confused and traditionary, and in place of the purely +historical account which it has lost, it obtains, at the best, another +principle of internal order; a poetic-mythological, as with the Greeks; +a philosophic-mythological, as with the Indians; or a religious one, +as with the Israelites; but it always loses its original value as a +reproduction of a series of real facts. + +Now if we start from this axiom, that the commencement of every true +history and chronology, as it is scientifically understood at the +present day, cannot be carried much farther back than their _oldest +contemporaneous authorities_, and that we find this confirmed in the +nations of Europe and Asia to the prejudice of their earliest histories, +then it is here precisely that exists the marked _superiority_ of the +history of Egypt above all other histories. It is because we have here +_such very early contemporaneous authorities_—not only _literary_, but +the most direct which exist, namely, _monumental authorities_—that we +possess the means of obtaining so early a history of the Egyptians. + +If, with reference to this, we first observe the local and climatal +conditions of Egypt, we shall at once perceive that they aid in a +wonderful manner in preserving all kinds of monuments and other relics +of the earliest antiquity. A damp climate generally prevails in the more +elevated and northern parts of Asia; and in the more favoured regions, +owing to a periodical rainy season, the extensive plains are covered with +a fertile soil and luxuriant vegetation (the barren and stony deserts +being always deprived of any high cultivation), consequently all, even +the most solid, monuments of art, where we might have hoped to find +them in considerable numbers, are overpowered and destroyed by the +predominating vital power of nature, ever inimical to the works of man; +whereas the fertility of Egypt, as is well known, is almost entirely +independent of rain. This certainly applies less to the damp air, often +pregnant with rain, along the sea-coast, or to the well-watered and +marshy low district of the Delta. But it is principally for that reason +that there are so few remains of the numerous large and flourishing towns +of the Delta, and that these are hardly worth mentioning. Irregular +heaps of ruins alone exist now of Memphis, the rich metropolis of Lower +Egypt, renowned in the earliest and latest periods of the Monarchy, and +of Heliopolis, Sais, Bubastis, and other important towns. The granite +obelisks in Alexandria are so corroded by the weather that their +inscriptions are hardly recognisable. + +In Upper Egypt, where it _scarcely ever_ rains, it is totally different, +especially with respect to all the monuments which are situated on the +borders of the desert, out of reach of the annual inundation, and this +is uniformly the case with the _tombs_, the richest store-houses for +our knowledge of ancient Egyptian life, which in this country alone +really fulfil their true destination, by serving as an asylum against +destruction and decay. The narrow district of the Nile, annually +recreated, borders in its whole length on the wide, rocky, and petrifying +desert. The towns and temples were therefore chiefly built on the +boundary between the two, partly not to intrench upon the fertile ground, +partly in order that the buildings should be upon a drier and more secure +foundation. And thus, in fact, we find the numerous temples and palaces +in wonderful preservation, so far as they are not mutilated by the hand +of man. + +Even the black bricks made of Nile mud, and dried in the sun, apparently +the most perishable material, have not unfrequently been preserved in +the open air for thousands of years, in the form in which they were +built up, and with their coating of plaster. A row of great vaulted +halls, built entirely of black Nile bricks, and partly covered in the +inside with stucco, stands about the celebrated temple of the great +Ramses, in Thebes. They date from the same period as the temple itself, +the beginning of the thirteenth century before Christ. This is not alone +testified by the architectonic plan of the building, but most irrefutably +by the bricks themselves, which bear the name of Ramses-Miamun stamped +upon them, as a mark of the royal manufacture. At that time, and +earlier, during the whole of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, it was a very +common practice to line the excavated rock-tombs with Nile bricks, +and afterwards to paint upon the stucco, especially wherever the rock +was friable, and was therefore hewn into a vaulted roof. But the same +custom is sometimes found even in the earliest period of the Pyramids +of Memphis. In enclosed places, not only the building material, but the +colours, both upon the stone and upon the plaster covering, have almost +without exception retained their original freshness and perfection, and +also, very frequently, where they have been exposed to the open air. + +The peculiar incorruptibility of vegetable and even of animal matter +is, however, still more astonishing. Our museums are filled with such +remains. In the most ancient tombs of Memphis, a multitude of objects are +found made of wood, such as sarcophagi, chests, and boxes of all kinds, +chairs, instruments, small ships, likewise grains of corn, and dried +fruits, such as pomegranates, dates, the fruit of the Doum Palm, nuts, +almonds, beans, grapes; also bread and other food, besides cloth made of +bast, a texture of reeds, papyrus, and an incredible quantity of linen. +The countless number of mummies, also, are well known, which, though +taken out of their tombs, still last for centuries with their skin and +hair; also all mummified bodies of animals, with their furs and feathers; +even the internal parts of the human body could there be embalmed for +ever, and are still found in vases expressly designed for that purpose. + +This wonderful conservative property belonging to all ancient Egyptian +objects, depends therefore chiefly upon the sky being without rain, and +the dry soil of the non-irrigated desert. But the country offered another +marked advantage above other lands, namely, the greatest abundance of +_materials especially adapted for all kinds of monuments_. + +Chief among these, is an admirable stone of the most varied quality, +suited as well to building of all kinds, as to the most delicate +sculpture. The mountain range which flanks the valley, and follows the +course of the river from the Delta to beyond Thebes, is composed of +limestone; in the neighbourhood of ancient Memphis, upon the Lybian +side, where the Pyramids stand, it is a solid nummulitic limestone, more +adapted for excavations in the rock, and for building stone, than for +sculpture; on the opposite side, among the Arabian mountains, it has +the finest grain, and is of a uniform density, approaching almost to +marble; it is capable of being worked in any manner, and on account of +the beautiful polish it takes, was used, among other purposes, for the +external covering of the Pyramids, while the interior was made of the +Lybian stone off the ground, upon which they were erected. The Theban +range of mountains is almost everywhere composed of rock, of such an +extremely fine quality, that the sepulchral passages and chambers of the +dead, hewn out in the living rock, most of them several hundred feet +deep, running in various directions, were capable of receiving everywhere +the richest sculptures, in the most delicate bas-reliefs, directly +upon the polished surface of the rock. Beyond Thebes there are ranges +of sandstone mountains, from Gebel-Selseleh to Assuan. From these, and +especially from the enormous stone-quarries of Selseleh, the architects +as well as the sculptors of the New Monarchy obtained their chief supply +of the most excellent and durable fine-grained sandstone. Finally, the +syenite and granite of Assuan are still considered the most beautiful +and valuable of their kind, and were also used by the ancient Egyptians +not only for their monolithic colossi, obelisks, sarcophagi, statues for +entire small temples, &c., but were employed as a building stone, at +all periods. In the Pyramid of Chufu, the high walls, the ceiling, and +floor of the greatest sarcophagus chamber, are entirely made of polished +granite, and the third Pyramid of Mencheres was cased with it up to a +certain height. + +I shall here pass over all the other more valuable kinds of stone, +particularly those of the higher Arabian mountains, abundantly used in +ancient Egypt, each in its own way, especially the beautiful yellow +alabaster, several very valuable breccias, greenstone, serpentine, and +the bluish-red porphyry of Gebel-Dochân, which was much employed at a +later period, as they were all reserved rather for purposes of luxury. +But we must not omit to mention here, that the abundance of building +stone in this country was doubled by the _ease of transport_ from one end +of Egypt to the other, upon the great water road of the Nile; therefore, +sandstone and granite were used nearly as much at Thebes, and in all that +part of the country where limestone rock alone was to be found near at +hand, as in Upper Egypt, where it was hewn. + +Limestone or sandstone have been always, and in all countries, the most +important material for monumental productions. Where this was wanting, +or was obtained with difficulty, as in Babylon, or on the Indus, or in +the north of Germany, earthen bricks were used as the best substitute, +at least for building purposes. But in Egypt also they could be replaced +by bricks of the best quality, since the soft, clayey Nile mud was +especially adapted for the latter. Thus the wary Egyptians not only did +not neglect this expedient, but made the utmost use of it, and with +greater results than anywhere else, because here it was not required to +take the place of some better material, but only preferred in those cases +where the object itself made it appear best adapted. This more especially +applies to great dykes, town walls, and those temple enclosures which +were to contain no covered rooms, and no delicately constructed parts; +therefore, even in the earliest times, Pyramids were also built of +bricks. They were employed to fill up the ground and to make elevations, +but were more especially everywhere used where large spaces had to be +covered in, without incurring the great expense of huge slabs of stone, +before the useful principle of concentric stone-cutting was known. +This occasioned the remarkably early use of brick-vaulted roofs, along +with the imperfect stone arch, which was, as it were, only cut out of +horizontal layers of stone. Hence arose the custom connected with this, +which we have already mentioned, of lining rock-chambers of crumbling +stone with arches of Nile bricks. The external layers of the brick +buildings in Babylon and Nineveh were generally made of burnt bricks, and +yet they could not resist the climate and time. In Egypt, dried bricks +alone were everywhere used; owing to their natural solidity, and to the +climate, they answered better for their monumental purpose than the burnt +bricks of Babylon, which is still proved by the numerous extant brick +buildings, with their stucco and their pictures. + +But in the history of a nation, a substance favourable to its book +literature is of no less importance than the material for building and +sculpture. Egypt possessed also for this purpose an invaluable product +of the country, the _papyrus plant_, from which they were able to obtain +a perfect material for writing upon, unsurpassed throughout antiquity. +Neither the skins of the Ionians, nor the linen of the ancient Romans, +nor the cotton stuff and palm leaves of the Indian, nor the parchment of +Mysia, are to be compared with the Egyptian papyrus in pliability, or +in the power of extension, in durability and cheapness; therefore its +use became gradually more widely spread, and was preserved far down into +the middle ages. Even the later discovered paper of our own time has not +only retained the name of the ancient plant, but, with regard to its +material, can only be looked upon as a continuation and perfecting of +the Egyptian paper, since pressed fibres of plants (particularly of flax +and hemp) have proved to be the most suitable material, even up to the +present day. In ancient times the papyrus plant grew more especially in +the marshy ground of the Nile Delta, and is only elsewhere mentioned by +Pliny as growing near Syracuse, where to this day it is found in great +abundance. Why, on the other hand, it has become almost entirely extinct +in Egypt, may be explained by the circumstance that it was artificially +cultivated to an extent far beyond its natural powers of growth, and +became therefore, like other plants, exhausted. Its use may be traced +back to the most ancient times of Egypt; the papyrus roll and the writing +apparatus are found upon monuments as early as the 4th and 5th Dynasties, +therefore between three and four thousand years before Christ. But this +discovery of very ancient Egypt, which may perhaps be considered as the +most important, next to the invention of writing, only obtains its full +significance in history by the unaltered preservation of those very +rolls of writing for thousands of years. For they not only afforded the +Egyptian priests the benefit of primeval uninjured archives, but we still +obtain from them the instructive contemplation of a multitude of such +original documents, written on papyrus, from the prosperous times of the +Monarchy. + +In addition, however, to the external aid afforded by the climate and +productions of Egypt, for the preservation of its history, is to be +mentioned the internal and more efficient influence derived from the +original direction of the national character—its _historical sense_. This +can by no means be explained solely by the reaction which the facility +of immortalising the present, and the peculiarly conservative nature of +the neighbouring desert, might produce upon the original tendency of the +national mind; as little as we can interpret the striking want of a sense +for history, among the Indian people, by the less favourable locality of +their country. The ultimate foundation for such national individualities +can always alone be sought, in the particular part they are called to +play in the general history of the world. But, on a nearer examination, +we can have no doubt that such an historical sense existed among the +Egyptian people in an unusually high degree, and was cultivated by them +in all its stages. + +It is first of all demonstrated by the incredible multitude of monuments +of every kind, which were at all periods erected by kings, and persons of +private fortune. All the chief cities of Egypt were adorned with temples +and palaces, and the other towns, frequently indeed more insignificant +places, with at least one, often with several sanctuaries; these were +filled with statues of the gods and kings of all sizes, composed of the +most valuable stone, and the walls externally and internally were covered +with coloured sculptures. To erect these public buildings, and to endow +them splendidly, was the exclusive privilege and pride of kings. In their +turn the richer portion of the people vied with them in their concern for +the dead, by erecting monumental tombs. Whilst with reference to public +buildings, the passion for building among the Greeks and Romans, in their +most prosperous days, can alone be placed beside that of the Pharaonic +time, the Egyptian necropoli far surpass those of Greece and Rome, both +in extent and in the number of the monuments, as well as in the richness +of their execution, especially in their endowment of pictures and +inscriptions. + +But next to the multitude and splendour of these works, the unsurpassed +attention paid to their durability, especially proves the innate +historical sense of the Egyptians. That they laid due stress on the great +age of their buildings, follows from the annalistic account of Manetho, +which is in no respect liable to suspicion, by which we learn that even +TOSORTHROS, the second king of the 2nd Dynasty, and the cotemporary of +Menes, commenced building with _hewn stones_ διὰ ξεστῶν λίθων. + +And it is hardly necessary to mention the great Pyramids of Memphis, +those colossal massive structures, which, solid throughout, and built +of strong nicely joined hewn stones, are piled up above the sepulchral +chambers, cut out of the living rock, generally without leaving any +vacant space, like artificial rocks in the simplest form, as if he who +built them had been aware that, in them he laid the foundation of the +future gigantic building—the _History of Man_. This may equally refer to +all the other buildings, whether they are destined for the living or the +dead; the desire to labour for eternity is imprinted upon all of them. + +The belief which was early formed of a life after death, and of a +relation continuing to subsist between the soul and the body, was closely +connected with this; and along with it the exaggerated care that was +bestowed upon the bodies of the dead, embalming them, and swathing +them, and shutting them up in double and triple sarcophagi, made of the +strongest wood, and the hardest stone, which were buried in deep pits, +and in laboriously excavated rock-chambers. Even in the most peaceful +times this nation appears always to have anticipated the possibility of +future hostile invasions, and of barbarous and rapacious races; for that +reason they so ingeniously closed the large granite sarcophagi by means +of metal rods, which only fell down into the holes prepared for them in +the sides, at the last thrust of the cover, which was driven drawer-like +in, so that the sarcophagi could only be opened by the destruction of the +colossal masses of stone. They also endeavoured to guard even the passage +which led to the sarcophagi chambers by heavy stone trap-doors, and by +ingeniously building up the walls, so as to divert the attention, and to +protect them in every other possible way from inroad and desecration. For +that reason many subterranean tombs are undoubtedly still hidden from us; +only a few tombs of kings are known, and many important monuments will +still be discovered in the inexhaustible necropoli of Memphis, Abydos, +and Thebes. + +However, we already possess such an abundant supply of works of art, and +other things belonging to daily life, from the earliest, down to the +latest times of the Pharaonic Monarchy, that these in themselves alone, +considered only objectively, would form an extremely important source of +knowledge concerning the mode of life in ancient Egypt. The great work of +Napoleon, the “_Description de l’Egypte_,” has splendidly demonstrated +how much in fact may be gained by such an objective examination of the +monuments; it contains matter that will always deserve praise, and a rich +treasure was collected for the cause of science, although the key to +the hieroglyphics had not yet been discovered, and consequently all the +monuments being chronologically uncomprehended, or wrongly comprehended, +stood beside each other, as in a picture without perspective, on one +plane surface. + +This very work, however, is an evident proof of what could _not_ be done, +even with the greatest expenditure of means and learning, without aid +obtained from the inscriptions. The _history_ of the people in all its +varied development remained dark and fabulous as before. It is the same +with the monuments of all nations, which have come down to us either +without any written character, or with it undeciphered, like those of our +own heathen ancestors, or of the aborigines of South America, or even of +the Babylonians. History profits very little by them. + +The Egyptians, however, from the beginning, exhibit, even on this higher +stage, their historical sense and vocation. According to the Egyptian +annals, it was the same King Tosorthros who gained the highest reputation +relative to the perpetuity of the history of Egypt since his time, not +only by the introduction of hewn building stones, but still more by the +care he bestowed upon the development of the written character; and +we see upon the monuments, at least since the time of Cheops, between +three and four thousand years before Christ, a perfectly-formed system +of writing, and a universal habit of writing, by no means confined to +the priesthood. Even at that time the writing was no longer merely +monumental; the signs, indeed, when they were rapidly used, sometimes +approached the hieratical short-hand. It therefore appears to me +undoubted that, even in the time of Menes, in the very commencement of +our Egyptian history, the hieroglyphic writing had been long invented, +established, and practised, which we must of course presuppose since +we hold Menes to be historical; for there can be no history without +writing. From the choice of the pictures in hieroglyphics, and from other +reasons, it appears indeed justifiable to suppose, that this wonderful +picture-writing of the Egyptians was formed, with reference to its +peculiar character in Egypt itself, without any other influence from +abroad, although they may have brought the first beginning of it with +them from their original home in Asia. But that a people should produce +anything so perfect as this system of writing, which embraces at once all +the stages of human writing, from the most direct ideographical symbolic +writing through syllables, to the equally direct notification of sound +by means of vowels and consonants, certainly indicates a long previous +development. + +The application, however, which the Egyptians made of this early +invention, from which so much resulted, is of still more importance. +For they not only employed it, as often happens among nations of much +higher civilisation, in the most necessitous cases, and where it was most +immediately advantageous, but to an extent which surpasses everything +that we have heard of elsewhere, and which must still astonish any +one who considers the matter for the first time. While the Greeks and +Romans, at the period when they were most lavish of their writing, only +placed a short inscription of a few words on the front of their largest +temples and most splendid buildings, for which reason the monumental +style still denotes among us a short laconic style, as seems most +suitable to the speaking stone; among the Egyptians the temples were +almost covered with inscriptions. All buildings, which were erected to +the gods, to the kings, and to the dead, had generally representations +or inscriptions upon all the walls, ceilings, pillars, architraves, +friezes, and posts—inside as well as outside. In place of only giving +the most necessary information, the writing here forms in itself at the +same time an essential ornament of the architecture, as is the case also +with representations on a larger scale. The variegated written columns on +the white or grey surfaces, not only express a feeling for ornamental +drawing, by the great variety in their lines, which run backward and +forward with the utmost regularity, and satisfy the painter’s eye by the +brilliancy of the varied colours, but they also excite the observation +of the unlearned by the figurative and direct meaning of the written +objects, taken from all the natural kingdom, and, lastly, the intelligent +curiosity of the inquirer, especially of every cultivated man, by the +peculiar signification of their religious or historical purport. Thus +hieroglyphics becomes a _monumental writing_, in a sense and to a degree +of perfection, beyond any other written character on earth. + +They had also so far overcome the technical difficulty of engraving these +signs, both in the most fragile and the hardest kinds of stone, that it +seems hardly to have been considered at all, though these signs were +not composed of simple mathematical strokes, like the Roman or Greek +monumental writing, or the cuneiform writing of the Asiatics, but were at +the same time writing and artistic drawing. + +Among the Egyptians the written character was not alone the constant +and indispensable accompaniment of architecture, and of the larger +representations upon the walls of the temples, but was placed with an +equal predilection upon all, even the smallest objects of art and of +daily life. How precious among other nations of antiquity are those +statues, vases, gems, or other objects, which bear upon them inscriptions +with respect to their origin, their owners, or their intended use! This +is the universal practice in Egypt. There, no Colossus was so great, and +no amulet so small, that it should not itself express for what it was +designed by means of an inscription; no piece of furniture that did not +bear the name of its owner. Not only the temples had their dedications, +in which the builder was named, and the god to whom it was consecrated +by him, but they were considered of such importance that a particular +class of independent monuments were especially devoted to them, viz., the +obelisks at the entrance of the gates; and besides this, every fresh +addition to the temple, every newly-erected pillar, actually even the +restoration of separate representations, which had been accidentally +injured upon the old walls, had a written information respecting which +of the kings built it, and what he had done for the enlargement, +embellishment, and restoration of the temple. We sometimes find the name +of the reigning king recorded upon the separate building stones, as the +stone-cutter’s mark, and it was usually stamped upon the bricks of royal +manufacture. + +Finally, however, writing was employed among the Egyptians in its last +and highest destination, as _book-writing for literary purposes_; and, +indeed, as we have already mentioned, from the earliest times, for the +use of the papyrus goes thus far back, and we frequently see upon the +representations from the time of the great Pyramids of Memphis, one +or more scribes occupied in registering upon sheets their master’s +possessions in flocks, corn, and other treasures. We learn from the +historical accounts relative to the first Dynasties, which are still +preserved, that even at that time they possessed _Annals of the Monarchy_. + +If we now reflect upon the period from which the original fragments +of such annals have come down to us, namely, the beginning of the New +Monarchy, we find that this extends one thousand five hundred years +farther back than the oldest remains of book literature in the whole of +antiquity put together. For it is known that the greater proportion of +our manuscripts only go back about as far as the tenth century of our +era; previous to this their number rapidly diminishes, and the small +fragment of a manuscript of Livy, which was lately brought to Berlin, +and was there recognised as probably belonging to the first century +after Christ, may be viewed as the earliest remains of a book which +can be referred to out of Egypt; even the rolls—which were reduced to +coal at Herculaneum—do not go farther back; whereas in Egypt not alone +numerous papyri have been preserved from the time of Ptolemy, but a much +greater number from the centuries previous to that time, namely from +the sixteenth to the thirteenth century, some of them of extraordinary +length[121]. The greatest proportion of them were deposited with the +mummies, and therefore only contain what relates to death and a future +life; but other rolls were interred in the tombs as the most secure +places, carefully packed in particular vases or baskets, and they contain +laudatory songs upon kings or gods, historical annals, the accounts of +the temple, that which relates to the calendar, and many other things +with reference to this life, frequently contracts, law-suits, and +similar documents from the time of the Greeks, sometimes also with Greek +translations or additions. + +The large number still in preservation leave therefore no doubt +concerning the remarkable fact communicated by Diodorus I. 49, on good +authority, that King Osymandyas, _i. e._ Ramses-Miamun, built a library +in his temple at Thebes, as early as the fourteenth century before +Christ. The description which he gives us of this splendid building +may still be traced from one chamber to the other among its ruins, and +at the entrance—behind which, according to Diodorus, the library was +situated—Champollion perceived on both sides the representations of +Thoth, the God of Wisdom, and of Saf, the Goddess of History; then, +behind the former, the God of Hearing, and, behind the latter, the God of +Seeing, which significantly reminded the person who was entering of the +locality. Several hieratical papyri, which we still possess, are dated +from the Rameseion, 𓉐𓏤𓈖𓍹𓇳𓄠𓋴𓇓𓌹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓍺 and it is also frequently +mentioned in the so-called Historical Papyri. I found in Thebes the tombs +of two _Librarians_ of the time of Ramses-Miamun, therefore probably +belonging to the library described by Diodorus; they are situated to the +south-west of the palace of Ramses, behind Der el Medînet. The occupants +were father and son, since this office was hereditary, as most of them +were. The father was called Neb-nufre, the son Nufre-hetep, and they bore +the titles of 𓇯𓇩𓏏𓏺𓏼 _her scha· tu_, “Superior over the Books,” and +𓉻𓈖𓇩𓏏𓏺𓏼 _naa en scha· tu_, “Chief over the Books.” In the tomb of +the son, Ramses sacrifices to Amen-Ra, and portions of two statues of +the deceased are still scattered about. We have good reason to suppose +that this library, of which we have incidentally received still further +information, was neither the first, nor the only one, and this is +inferred, among other things, because the two gods above mentioned bear +as one of their fixed titles, not only here, but upon other monuments of +all classes, the one the _Master_ and the other the _Mistress_ of the +_Hall of Books_, and that, consequently, the idea of gods of libraries +must have been very familiar to the Egyptians. + +This also explains how, in the earliest times of the Greek dominion, +under Ptolemy Philadelphus, it was possible to fill the library founded +in Alexandria in the space of a few years with 400,000[122] rolls, at +a time when there was no precedent in the Grecian motherland except +the private collection of Aristotle. It is explained, when we remember +that Philadelphus found such an abundant store already existing in the +Egyptian archives and libraries. It no longer seems anything remarkable +when Iamblichus[123], referring to a Seleucus, tells us of 20,000 +hermetic books, which we must understand to be a rough computation of all +Egyptian literature; the notice does not obtain a mythological character +until the introduction into it of the cyclical number 36,525, which +Iamblichus quotes from Manetho—of course from the false one. + +The fame of Egyptian wisdom[124], which was universally diffused +throughout the ancient world, was grounded upon an abundant literature, +and the stock of knowledge deposited therein, which increased from year +to year like a well-invested capital. This fame was never disputed +even by the Greeks themselves; possessing so much higher natural +endowments than others, they were more just in this point than many of +our modern critics, who would rather consider the genius of the Greeks +as auto-didactic, grown up in a barbarous wilderness. Herodotus calls +the Egyptians “by far the best instructed people with whom he has become +acquainted, since they, of all men, _store up most, for recollection_.” +When the Eleians wished to establish their Olympian games, they sent +an embassy to the Egyptians, they being the wisest people of all the +earth, to obtain their judgment and their good advice upon this great +project[125]. + +The distinguished series of celebrated men[126] who are said to have +carried Egyptian wisdom to the Greeks, begins as early as the mythical +times. Danaus brought the first germ of higher civilisation from Egypt +to Argos[127], and Erectheus, King of Athens, was considered by some +an Egyptian[128], and taught the Eleusinian mysteries according to the +manner of the Egyptians. The holy singers of antiquity, Orpheus[129], +Musaeus[130], Melampus[131], and Eumolpus[132], thence acquired their +theological wisdom; and even to Homer[133] himself Egypt may not have +been unknown. The most ancient artists of Greece, Daedalus[134], +Telecles[135], and Theodoras[136], are said to have educated themselves +in this land of primeval art, and have employed the Egyptian canon +of proportions. Lycurgus[137] and Solon[138] introduced into their +fatherland all the wise regulations they there became acquainted with; +and Herodotus[139] especially tells us that the Egyptian laws relating +to the surveying of the land, by which every one was obliged to declare +to the monarch his annual revenue, were transferred to Athens by Solon, +and were in use even in his time. Cleobulus, the sage of Lindus, is said +also to have visited Egypt[140]. It signifies little how much historical +foundation there is for these accounts. The general direction taken by +tradition, with reference to it, proves even more than separate facts +could do, the early and late general universal recognition of Egyptian +wisdom. It was considered a glory to participate in it. + +But Egypt was especially regarded as a university for philosophy, and +for all that could be gained through science and learning. We therefore +see philosophers, mathematicians, physicians, historians, resorting to +Egypt, each emulating with the other, and studying for many years under +Egyptian teachers. The houses in Heliopolis in which Plato and the +mathematician Eudoxus had lived for thirteen years, were still shown to +Strabo[141]. The observatory of Eudoxus, in which he is said to have made +certain observations of the stars, and on Canobus, in particular, bore +his name[142] in the time of Strabo. Even Thales[143] was instructed by +the Egyptian priests, and as it is expressly said, had besides them, no +other teachers. Here he became acquainted with the division of the year +into seasons, and into 365 days; and here also he learnt how to take the +measurement of high objects, such as the Pyramids by their shadow, at a +particular hour of the day[144]. Archimedes[145] invented his celebrated +water screw in Egypt, and there applied it, in the establishments +which were devoted to the irrigation of the land. Pythagoras[146] was +a long time in Egypt, and all that we know concerning the dogmas of +this influential man agrees with this account[147]. His doctrine of +the immortality of the soul, especially, is very decidedly referred, +by Herodotus, to Egypt. He says, “_This doctrine is wrongly pronounced +by certain Greeks, whom he will not mention, as belonging peculiarly +to them_[148],” by which he evidently has Pythagoras and his master +Pherecydes in view, for it is also related of the latter that he was in +Egypt[149]. And it is in fact now sufficiently known, from the monuments, +that the Egyptians possessed from the earliest times very distinct ideas +about the transmigration of souls, and of judgment after death[150]. The +philosophers _Anaxagorus_[151], _Democritus_[152], _Sphaerus_[153], the +mathematician _Oinopides_[154], the physician _Chrysippus_[155], also +_Alcaeus_[156] and _Euripedes_[157], are enumerated among the visitors +to Egypt. Finally, the same is known of _Hecataeus_[158], _Herodotus_, +_Diodorus_[159], _Strabo_, and many less celebrated Greeks. + +All these men did not merely desire to acquire a knowledge of Egypt as +eye-witnesses, but went there principally to gain instruction from the +learned priests on particular branches of knowledge. This is the light in +which those historians regarded it, who give us more detailed accounts +of these wanderings of the Greek scholars to Egypt[160]. The Egyptians +themselves indeed valued it so highly that the priests, as Diodorus, i. +96, expressly recounts, recorded in their annals the visits of celebrated +Greeks. It thence arose that the most distinguished among them, even the +individual teachers, remained known by name and descent, and were handed +down to us[161]. These names bear upon them a genuine Egyptian stamp, +and therefore offer no grounds for any material doubt from this side. +Plutarch calls the teacher of Solon, _Sonchis_, from Sais; of Pythagoras, +_Onnuphis_, from Heliopolis; and of Eudoxus, _Chonuphis_, from Memphis. +Clemens adds to these the teacher of Plato, _Sechnuphis_; all of them +names whose Egyptian form may be easily restored. + +It is evident that this instruction must have contained more than an +unintelligible knowledge of symbols, a petrified mysticism, and empty +dreams, as people have been hitherto frequently inclined to believe. Real +knowledge and scientific experiences could only be founded upon a copious +_literature_, carefully fostered for many ages. Its great treasures had +indeed been long known and envied before the time of the Ptolemies; the +Persians, under Artaxerxes, carried off a portion of them, together with +other treasures, from the ancient archives of the temples, and only +restored them for a high ransom[162]. But their contents began for the +first time to be better known, and more perfectly understood, when the +translations appeared, which were extensively made for the Greeks[163] +after the time of the first Ptolemies. Strabo, among others, affords +us a valuable proof of this, where he speaks of the thirteen years’ +residence of Plato and Eudoxus in Egypt[164]. “These priests (he says) +were versed in astronomy, but, mysterious and far from communicative, +it was only after the lapse of time and by polite attentions that they +allowed themselves to be induced to communicate some of their doctrines; +but still the most part was kept concealed by these barbarians. For +instance, to complete the perfect year, they added that portion of the +day and night which goes beyond the 365 days; _nevertheless, the perfect +year remained unknown to the Greeks, as well as many other things, until +the later astronomers learnt it from the treatises of the priests, which +were translated into Greek; and they still refer to the writings of the +Egyptians, as well as to those of the Chaldeans_”[165]. + +But, in order to view more distinctly the multiplicity of the Egyptian +branches of learning, I shall mention the forty-two Hermetic books, +probably chiefly _sacred_, described to us by Clemens of Alexandria, from +a genuine ancient authority[166]. We learn from it that the ten first +and principal books, those of the _Prophets_, called the Hieratical, or +Priest Books, treated of the laws and the gods, namely, of the highest +theological education, which embraced at once divine and human laws[167], +and philosophy[168]. To this was appended, as an immediate and necessary +complement, the ten books of the _Stolistes_—liturgical in their +contents—containing ordinances about the sacrifice, and the offering of +the first-fruits, of hymns, prayers, processions, feasts, &c. + +To these twenty writings, which were in a stricter sense sacerdotal, +succeeded fourteen others, treating of more secular learning, what we +should call the _exact_ sciences, which were indeed indispensable to the +priests, but in themselves bore no theological character. These also +were again divided into two divisions; of which the first, consisting of +ten books, belonged to the hierogrammatist[169], and not alone embraced +the wide field of hieroglyphics, _i. e._ writing and drawing; but also +all that fell within the department of the measurement of space and of +geometry, commencing with the more general, _cosmography_, universal +_geography_, the _chorography_ of Egypt, and the course of the Nile; +then, also consequent upon that, the _topography_ of the temple-sites; +and lastly, the most local arrangements of the furniture of the temple, +as it were, or _naography_. The remaining four books, the _astrological_, +more properly called by us the _astronomical_, were committed to a +particular class of scholars—the horoscopi, or time seers. This portion +of their science, so peculiarly important to the Egyptians, and therefore +kept distinct from the rest, entered into everything that it was +necessary to be acquainted with for the calculation of time, both in +detail and on a large scale, therefore more especially with the heavenly +chronometers, the stars, and indeed, above all, the position of the fixed +stars (and the constellations); then the arrangement of the planets (and +their revolutions), the conjunctions and phases of the sun and moon; +lastly, the rising of the stars. The practical purpose was indicated by +the symbols of the horoscopes, the horologium, and the palm-branch of the +years and periods. + +After the strict sciences, there followed the two books of the _Chanter_. +He represented the only _art_—at least, the only one which was recognised +as such, by its separate position—that of _music_. Architecture and the +art of drawing were practised, and even with a feeling for art, but they +had not emancipated themselves as independent arts, from the rule and +line condition of the hierogrammatist. Even music, which was apprehended, +and came into the world for the first time through the Greeks, was not +considered by the Egyptians as an independent art, in our sense of the +word, neither could it be regarded a science like drawing, as if it +were equally an efflux of the horoscopical chronology, to which it was +externally attached. It was on that account necessary to keep them apart. +We must, therefore, look upon the chanter only as a precentor—a practical +leader of the religious and festive songs. His two books contained hymns +to the gods, and (encomiastic-poetical) observations upon the _royal +life_, but only as the subject-matter of the religious chorus. It cannot +be known how far real music was here brought into consideration; but +certainly the ᾠδός had nothing to do with the theological purport of his +hymns—information concerning this must be derived from the prophets and +the Stolist. + +The contents of the last six books were medicinal, and treated of the +structure of the body, of diseases, the organs, curatives, for the eyes +especially, and of female cases. They are assigned by Clemens, probably +from a misunderstanding, to the _Pastophori_, _i. e._ the watchers of the +temples[170]. + +This survey of the forty-two ancient sacred books deserves here +especially, our full consideration, because it brings clearly to light +an intelligent, thoughtful, general view of the universe, straining +after inward perfection and conscious arrangement, and also the necessity +of giving this a prominent form by _literature_, and of introducing it +practically into life. Proceeding from the general to the individual, +from the spiritual to the external, from the theoretical to the +practical, as well in the succession of the general sections as in the +arrangement of the separate books, this code forms a defined whole, which +we nowhere find repeated among any of the nations of antiquity, not even +among the Indians. Unfortunately, the ten first and most important books, +which contained their fundamental ideas on religion, philosophy, and +law, and therefore the highest and most spiritual department of their +contemplation, are not so fully described as the following sections, as +regards the detail of their contents; therefore the enumeration of the +separate branches of knowledge with which the hierogrammatists, the real +scholars, and the horoscopi, next to them, occupied themselves, and which +comprehended the whole visible and measurable world, is so much the more +worthy of our notice. + +At the same time we must remember that in the construction of this canon +there was no intention of giving the chief features of an encyclopædia of +their sciences. Every scientific purpose was necessarily laid aside, only +the thoroughly practical aim of a sacerdotal compendium was contemplated, +in which learning only formed part of the education of a priest, and +merely occupied a third place after theology and the liturgical forms, +and was only represented so far as a direct practical use could be +obtained from it. Philosophy was therefore not at all separated from +theology; human law was only an efflux of divine law. The knowledge of +geometry was necessary for the surveying of the land, the division of +the produce, the building and decoration of the temples; the knowledge +of astronomy for the calendar of festivals, and the civil calculation of +time; singing formed a part of the Liturgy. Nor is proof wanting that the +knowledge and literature of Egypt far surpassed what was required by the +hierarchy, that the thirty-six or forty-two books were also the earliest +and original centre, to which later progressive improvements might +everywhere attach themselves. + +We frequently read in other authors about the “_Sacred Writings_[171]” +of the Egyptians, or of their _Hermetic books_, but it would be wrong +to refer all these notices to the forty-two books named by Clemens. It +seems to me by no means improbable that the above-mentioned precepts on +the life of the king, in Diodorus, which for Egypt bear a thoroughly +classical stamp on them, formed a portion of the sacred law-books of the +prophets, and that the laudatory song upon the deceased king, mentioned +at the end of that passage, might have been composed in imitation of +the ἐκλογισμὸς βασιλικοῦ βίου, in the last of the thirty-six books, and +have only been employed in the last case. But it is not to be supposed +the forty-two books themselves contained separate laudatory songs on +particular kings, although such songs, understood in a wider sense, +certainly belonged to the sacred books. + +We read in the same passage of Diodorus, that wise sayings and actions +of the most distinguished men were read aloud to the king after the +sacrifice by the hierogrammatist from the “Sacred Books,” ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν +βίβλων. We still possess ancient papyri which contain proverbs of a +similar kind, some of them even put into the mouths of certain celebrated +kings belonging to the Old Monarchy, such as Amenemha I., the head of +the 12th Dynasty[172], resembling somewhat in their form the proverbs of +Solomon. For the sake of the reader, and the one who reads out loud, they +are divided by red points recurring at nearly stated intervals into short +verses, according to the sentences, like the Hebrew scriptures. But these +could not have belonged to the ten rolls of the hierogrammatists, nor to +the priests’ canon in general. + +It were more easy to suppose that the first book of the singer may have +consisted of single hymns and prayers addressed to particular divinities, +such as we still possess several instances of, _e. g._ to Ra, Amen Ra, +Mut[173], to Thoth[174], to Osiris[175], Atmu[175], &c., yet probably +it likewise only contained the daily litanies, which belonged to every +temple service, and which were also expressly mentioned[176]. I can as +little agree with the opinion[177] that the great Book of the Dead of +the Egyptians was one of the ten books of the Stolistes, although I +consider it to be also[178] a sacred book ascribed to Hermes. Even its +extent forbids the former supposition. And, moreover, it is by no means +a liturgical book, which one belonging to the Stolistes must have been, +nor a book of Rituals, as Champollion appears to have regarded it, but +essentially a history of the soul after death, therefore it was placed in +the tomb with the deceased. The theological basis of this work, however, +was undoubtedly included in the hieratical books of the prophets. + +Bunsen[179] justly makes a distinction between the civil law-book, +and the sacred law-books of the prophets. It was impossible that the +regulations and precepts of the six law-givers, who are mentioned by +Diodorus[180], could have been received into the canon, this can only be +supposed of the most ancient portion of them—the laws of Menes, which +were ascribed to Hermes by himself, and probably were the foundation both +of the religious and of the civil law. + +We shall now more easily understand why still less space was afforded +in the canon of Clemens for the _historical_ literature. It presented +neither a speculative nor a practical side to the object which Egyptian +theology had in view, and regarded in this light, therefore, it must +appear subordinate. But on that account it no less existed. This is +proved as well by the authors[181] themselves as by the original remains, +which we still possess. Historical facts of all kinds, related both by +means of pictures and writings, covered the walls of the temples in the +principal towns; single battles and whole wars were described, with their +exact dates, and with all the living details of an eye-witness, upon the +stone surfaces of the pylons and the surrounding walls. As long as these +lasted, the remembrance of those actions must have remained living and +true in the mind of every cultivated Egyptian. And, in fact, we find +these representations at a late period used as a direct authority in +history. + +Tacitus[182] recounts to us the visit of Germanicus to the “_great +remains of ancient Thebes. And Egyptian inscriptions were still extant +upon the enormous buildings which declared the former riches. One of +the most distinguished of the priests, who was required to explain the +language of the country, related, that at one time 700,000 men, capable +of bearing arms, dwelt here, and that King Ramses with this army had +conquered Libya, Ethiopia, the Medes and Persians, the Bactrians, and +Scythians, and that he held under his dominions the countries of the +Syrians, the Armenians, and the neighbouring Cappadocians, and thence +to the Bithynian and the Lycian Sea; the tribute laid upon the people +was also read aloud, the weight of the silver and gold, the number of +the weapons and horses, and the presents to the temple, of ivory and +frankincense, and how much corn and other objects had been remitted by +each nation, which was not less than what is now imposed upon the people +by the might of the Parthians, or the power of the Romans._” + +This is as strictly an historical notice from the reign of Ramses II., in +the fourteenth century before Christ, as was ever related to us by the +Greeks from the life of Xerxes or Alexander: for we read this statement +now in the present day upon the same walls, before which Germanicus +stood with wondering eyes. The Greeks and Romans seldom derived their +knowledge from such a direct source as Germanicus did here, and Tacitus +was quite unconscious that he was speaking of the same King Ramses, when +shortly before he related of King _Sesostris_, that the bird called the +Phœnix appeared for the first time in his reign. We still read the name +Ramses upon the monuments, as the priest read it to Germanicus; Sesostris +was the name of Sethôs I., who was so often confused with his son Ramses, +and was carried down by a Greek mistake, since the time of Herodotus +(ⲥⲉⲑⲱⲥⲓⲥ, ⲥⲉⲥⲟⲱⲥⲓⲥ, ⲥⲉⲥⲱⲥⲧⲣⲓⲥ). + +Who can well doubt that along with such a historical literature engraven +in stone, which to this day fills the whole of Egypt from Alexandria +to Mount Barkal, far in Ethiopia, a corresponding _historical book +literature_ must have existed, of course much richer and more complete, +even though we may not be able at present to point out the remains +of it. But in fact we still possess papyrus rolls, one of which +accidentally refers to the identical warlike deeds represented, with +their annotations, upon the walls of the Theban temple. This is one of +the important documents which the British Museum purchased in the year +1839 from M. Sallier, in Aix, after Champollion had already, in the year +1828, recognised and communicated several passages in it which related to +the war of the great Ramses against the people of Cheta[183]. In 1838 I +found at Leghorn, in a collection of Egyptian antiquities belonging to M. +D’Anastasi, a series of papyri very similar to this, which mention other +warlike features of that glorious period. They appear to come originally +from the same tomb as those of Sallier, since they proceed, partly, +indeed, from the same scribe. Other similar pieces are found in the +Egyptian collections at Turin, Leyden, and Berlin. + +It is evident, partly from the express date of the author or scribe, +partly from the kings mentioned in the text, that the largest proportion +of them belong to the 19th Dynasty. The most ancient date in the London +papyrus is from the ninth year of the Great RAMSES II.; the latest is +from the first year of King SET-NECHT, the third successor of the former. +The Turin Royal Annals also belong to this or the next Dynasty. Other +papyri are certainly not older than the 20th; _e. g._ one of those which +I obtained in Thebes repeatedly mentions the name of RAMSES IX., and is +dated, upon the reverse side, from the 13th of Pachon—the sixteenth year, +probably, of this king. + +Another of these rolls contains, on the other hand, a portion of a +composition which belongs to the time of Tutmes III., the conqueror of +the Hyksos in the 18th Dynasty; a roll in Turin treats of the same king. +We have as little reason to doubt that the first paragraph in the Pap. +Sallier, No. 1, pl. i.-iii., which treats of two kings at the end of the +Hyksos period, was also composed in their time, or soon after their death. + +Two remarkable papyrus rolls, which I obtained in London for the Berlin +Museum, mention the first kings of the 12th Dynasty, AMENEMHA I. and +SESURTESEN I. Their writing is very different from the rest of those that +I am acquainted with, and they belong to the very rare exceptions which, +in place of horizontal lines, are written in vertical columns, after the +manner of hieroglyphical writing; so that it would not surprise me, if +by penetrating more deeply into the contents, the result should be, that +they were composed, even this very copy, during the Old Monarchy. But the +most ancient of all the hieratic royal names are found in a papyrus in +my own possession[184]. Here the name of CHUFU (Cheops) is frequently +mentioned, also King SNEFRU in the 3rd Manethonic Dynasty, and three +other kings, who probably belong to the same Dynasty. These kings are, +indeed, all cited as dead, but since the whole of them belonged to that +ancient period, its contents could hardly be placed much later. Among +a people who were at all times surrounded by so many contemporaneous +monuments and historical authorities, reaching as far back as their first +royal Dynasties, it must have been generally much more difficult to +supplant, or essentially to alter the existing genuine history of ancient +times by fabulous tales and poetical inventions of later times. + +In spite of the astonishing number of monuments, and in spite of the rich +literature, whose original remains are confirmed by the accounts we find +in different authors, it would, however, have been impossible to the +Egyptians themselves, how much more so to us, to obtain a correct and +clear insight into the course and connection of their history, if from +its commencement a chronological sense had not been so early developed +among them. Without chronology we should obtain no history, even from +the most varied literature; the Indians, especially, give us a striking +proof of this. History first obtains a perfect self-consciousness through +chronology. With the growing civilisation of a people, the necessity +increases for a sharper division of time both in small and large periods. +From the earliest era of their history, the Egyptians have known how to +satisfy this necessity, inherent in every higher state of civilisation. + +But a chronology which is well arranged and established must always +proceed from astronomy. We cannot conceive the existence of the former, +in any nation, without the latter being to a certain degree developed. It +will not, therefore, appear superfluous if we enter here more minutely +into the astronomical knowledge of the Egyptians, before we turn our +attention to their computation of time. We shall here, also, commence +with the information we obtain from authors, and afterwards see how far +it is confirmed and completed by the monuments. + +[The author here proceeds to the astronomical basis of Egyptian +chronology, and the chronological knowledge possessed by the Egyptians, +and concludes his Introduction with the following words:] + +Taking a retrospective survey of the path we have hitherto pursued in our +discussions, I believe I have essentially fulfilled the task we undertook +at the commencement, namely, to point out the _possibility_ of the +existence of such an early history of Egypt. + +We have seen how, contrasted with the most ancient Asiatic nations, the +Egyptians (pre-eminently favoured by their climatal and geographical +conditions) were destined, as it were by nature, to be a monumental +nation. These external conditions correspond with the innate bias of +their feelings, which is shown by the innumerable multitude of their +monuments, and by the extreme care they bestowed upon their preservation. +From their desire to retain the fleeting present, may be explained the +early development of their system of writing (so rich and significant in +its organism, owing to its important origin), as well as the excessive +use which was made of this writing, especially for the monuments, beyond +any other nations of antiquity, so that it soon attained its highest +destination by its application to a many-sided book literature. We have +been able to refer to a Theban library as early as the fourteenth century +before Christ, and have found reason for considering it neither the most +ancient, nor the only one in Egypt. It was this very ancient literature +and hereditary learning, which a later antiquity, and more particularly +the Greeks, abundantly acknowledged, praised, sought out, and studied. +Among the various branches of knowledge we have surveyed, especially the +sacred codes of the priests—the forty-two Hermetic books described by +Clemens, we have however particularly attempted, to indicate more closely +from the monuments, the early study of astronomy, because the arrival +at a more fixed chronology depends especially upon its development. +We have likewise endeavoured to point out that, under the favourable +circumstances of an Egyptian sky, and especially since the introduction +of the variable sun-calendar (calculating as it were, and forming periods +for itself), astronomy was cultivated in the most elaborate and most +complete manner, and this we have been able partly to confirm by the +monuments of the 4th and 12th Dynasties of the Old Monarchy. We have +discovered a division of time, less than an hour, to the sixty times +sixtieth part of a minute, and above an hour to the period of 36,525 +years. Between these there were the greatest variety of cycles, such as +no other ancient nation, except the Egyptian, has been able to produce +in equal perfection. They were acquainted with the _civil hours_ of day +and night, also with the twenty-four equal or _equinoctial hours_ of the +complete day, νυχθήμερον. + +From days they formed the decades, or Egyptian weeks, and from these +the thirty-day month; they also knew the lunar months, and solemnised +the new and full moon. Their season consisted of four months. They +recognised as forms of years, and carried out in the calendar, both the +oldest lunar year, as well as the solar year of 365 days, and the Sirius +year, which is a quarter of a day longer. The civil solar year, after +twenty-five years, namely at the Apis period, agreed again with the lunar +year; in the same way, calculating by the day, it agreed with the Sirius +year, at the lustrum of four years; and in the space of 1461 years, it +agreed completely with the _Sothis period_. The Phœnix period, of 1500 +years, was employed to make the civil year agree with the tropical year, +which was afterwards divided according to the three seasons into three +parts—500 years each. Finally, the Sidereal year, or the slow receding of +the ecliptic to the west, became known, and it was expressed, although +with an imperfect comprehension of the direction and velocity of the +movement, by its greatest astronomical period of 36,525 years. + +We have gained the principal purpose we had in view if we have succeeded +in pointing out that, in Egypt, from the time of Menes, to whose reign +the historical accounts go back, there existed to an extraordinary degree +all the conditions necessary for the growth and the perfect development +of the self-conscious and historical life of a nation, and for a +chronologically-arranged historical literature, formed by the monuments +and contemporaneous records. These circumstances have placed it in our +power to investigate and restore, from such early times, the experienced +and recorded history of the Egyptians. As far as our present knowledge +extends, the conditions that we have named only appear complete among +the most ancient Asiatic and European nations at a much later period, +namely, during the last millennium before Christ, therefore an historical +investigation, which refers back as far as that of Egypt, has hitherto +been impossible with respect to those nations, except so far as in the +Egyptian history itself new points of information may be found respecting +the oldest history of nations, not Egyptian. + +But it may very possibly be imagined that we have been compelled to stop +at the indication of this _possibility_, being deficient in the means to +raise this historical treasure from the depths in which we behold it. +We can only restore true history with the assistance of an historical +literature, and this must either be contemporaneous, and so far possess +in itself a monumental value, or if it is a later literature, referring +to what has long gone by, it must be accompanied by contemporaneous and +intelligible monuments to enable us to prove and correct it by them. +Hitherto we have certainly possessed one of the necessary means for +the restoration of the Pharaonic history, namely, the Greek accounts, +and extracts from an ancient Egyptian historical literature. But they +remained useless and confused, because the monuments and the literary +remains of the country were still mute and unintelligible. However, since +Champollion’s praiseworthy deciphering of the hieroglyphical writing has +rendered it possible to make an historical use of the monuments of the +country, the second means for historical investigation has been placed in +our hands. It was now for the first time possible to gain some advantage +from the literary authorities, and to make a critical examination of +them, which would necessarily demonstrate the general connection that +subsists between the monuments. Only a correct all-sided combination of +the means offered on both sides can here lead to the aim we have in view. + + + + +THE HEBREW TRADITION. + + +We can best exhibit the relation that subsists between the Hebrew and +Egyptian records, by endeavouring to determine chronologically, and by +such means as are extant, the most important point of contact in the +two histories—namely, the Mosaic period—and thus to prove the value of +the several numbers stated. We shall thereby perceive that the Hebrew +accounts, in so far as they are connected with Egypt, may be held to +be of more historical value than several modern inquirers are inclined +to accord to them, and that they are by no means wanting in a fixed +chronological principle, without which history cannot subsist; but that +a more exact chronology, which might serve as a point of support to the +Egyptian, is not to be sought in them, and it is rather this last which +supplies the most certain chronological explanation of those times to +the history of the Israelites. The genuine chronological character of +the Jewish history is pretty well acknowledged by every one as far back +as the division of the kingdom, or the building of the temple, whereby, +indeed, the individual chronological difficulties, which frequently +occur during this epoch, are not considered, but only the chronological +value of those numbers generally which form the basis of these separate +investigations; but the strictly chronological character of the Hebrew +determinations of time before this epoch is disputed, and, indeed, in +those very numbers which contain in themselves alone the threads of an +exact chronology. A critical examination of the value of these numbers +generally is thus necessary, and therefore this discussion becomes +appropriate here. It is, in fact, of the greatest importance to us, +because it determines whether it be possible to solve some marked +contradictions which have at all times keenly engaged the attention +of historians and theologians, and still continue to do so; it will, +besides, enable many people to decide upon the value of the Manethonic, +consequently of the Egyptian chronology generally, so far as it is made +to depend on its agreement with the accounts obtained from the oldest +source, the only one indeed not Egyptian, which here, at all events, +admits of a comparison. + +There are, especially, _two numbers_ which have hitherto formed the +turning points of the chronology of the Old Testament for the Mosaic +period, because, passing over the uncertain individual statements, +they fixed the limits to great spaces in time, and appeared to lay +down a rule for more special investigations. I mean the 480 years[185] +which are calculated to be the period between the Exodus and the +building of the temple, and the 430 years[186] for the sojourn of the +Israelites in Egypt. Both numbers very early created difficulty, and +are partly modified, and partly refuted by other statements of time in +the Old Testament. The 480 years ought to correspond with the sum of +the individual numbers in the Book of Judges, which last is, however, +considerably greater. The genealogies of that same period would, on the +other hand, lead to the conclusion that the number of years was much +fewer. The Seventy themselves differ in their statement of the number, +since they write 440 in place of 480 years; and in the Acts of the +Apostles (xiii. 20), 450 years are calculated for the Judges only to +the time of Samuel; and this again differs from all other statements. +Lastly, we find that Josephus also, even if he knew the number 480, still +did not consider it as binding, since he never mentions it, but accepts +different numbers, and far higher ones[187], which, nevertheless, do +not agree with the Book of Judges. It thereby at least follows, that +the number 480 by itself cannot claim any decided authority. But there +is a still greater difference in the acceptation of the 430 years which +the Israelites are said to have passed in Egypt. For, setting aside that +in an earlier prophecy[188] the round number 400 alone is given, the +Seventy understand the whole statement to mean, not from the entrance +of JACOB INTO EGYPT, but from the entrance of ABRAHAM INTO CANAAN, and +they therefore translate the words in Exodus xii. 40, “Now the sojourning +of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and +thirty years;” by ἡ δὲ κατοίκησις τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, ἣν κατῴκησαν ἐν τῇ γῇ +Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἐν γῇ Χαναὰν, ἔτη τετρακόσια τριάκοντα (Now the dwelling of +the children of Israel, which they dwelt in the land of Egypt and in the +land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years). The Apostle Paul[189] +also reckons the 430 years from the promise of Abraham, and Josephus[190] +does the same, so that for the sojourn in Egypt, which is understood in +the Hebrew text, only 215 years are reckoned, the remaining 215 being +assigned to the time from Abraham to Jacob. Lastly, if we compare the +number of generations in this period, we shall only find four generations +for the four centuries, so that for this, even half of the time stated +would still be far too great. + +Finally, if we consider along with these contradictory statements the +intrinsic character of the numbers given in the original text, namely, +the arithmetical relation of the 215 years from Abraham to Jacob, to +the 430 or 215 years from Jacob to Moses, the frequent return also of +the indeterminate number 40, both in the first[191] and still more in +the second period, and lastly the nature of the numbers 480 or 440 as a +multiple of 12 or 11 generations of 40 years each, it appears to me very +natural that either a higher providential meaning, and in spite of all +other opposing considerations, the only correct chronological expression +would be seen in this play of numbers, or that this external garb of +numbers would be regarded as unessential for the religious—indeed, in +part, also, for the historical import of those narrations, but that in +the latter case all more exact chronological investigation of this period +must be relinquished. + +The latter view must gradually prevail in stricter science. A criterion +was wanting in the investigation of the Old Testament, which might +decide upon a definite choice among its self-contradictory statements. +Each claimed for itself a like authority. If we believe that we may now +attempt a new solution of the difficulty, we rely upon the fresh point +of view which we can occupy for that purpose, since we now possess a +positive scale that may be relied on (independent of the investigations +of the Old Testament), by which we can estimate the Hebrew statements, +namely, the authentic history and chronology of the Egyptians, which more +than equals the Hebrew in point of age. + +Now if it should appear that they can in no way be harmonised, science +would then, indeed, remain in its former uncertainty concerning the times +before Solomon, and we should lose one of the most important and most +acceptable corroborations of Egyptian chronology. But the result of our +investigations is more favourable, since the Egyptian order of time, +resting upon perfectly independent foundations, most decidedly determines +that there is a chronological principle throughout the historical +relation of the Old Testament, and not an arbitrary selection of Hebrew +numbers. By this means a firm foundation is given to the critical +examination of the latter, and both histories reciprocally afford each +other a support that cannot be shaken. + +We must first of all show that the Egyptian account of the expulsion +of the LEPERS, given by Manetho, refers really to the same event as +that narrated in the Old Testament, as the Exodus of the ISRAELITES. We +shall afterwards determine the epoch which is recognised in the Egyptian +tradition, and, lastly, attempt to show how every other time is in like +manner excluded by the historical purport of the Hebrew narrative; that +there exists, also, a chronological thread which leads us to the same +result, and, indeed, that the authentic tradition concerning the year of +the Exodus has never been entirely lost among the Jews. From this fixed +point we shall then look back still farther into the times of JOSEPH, and +the accounts of the Greeks appertaining to that period, to which will be +added our views regarding the visit of Abraham to Egypt. + +The following is the account of the Mosaic events which Josephus gives +us from Manetho, and partly in the words of Manetho himself[192]. After +describing the expulsion of the Hyksos, whom Josephus considered to +be the ancestors of the Jews, and giving an account of the kings who +succeeded that event, as far as Rampses, the son of Sethôs, he continues: +“After he (Manetho) had therefore related, in conformity with his earlier +narrative, that our ancestors[193] (the Hyksos) had departed from Egypt +so many years earlier, he then says that King Amenophis, whom he here +inserts, desired to become a beholder of the gods, like Horus, one of +his predecessors. He communicated this desire to one Amenophis, son of +Paapis, who, on account of his wisdom and penetration into futurity, +was believed to partake of the divine nature. Now this namesake of +Amenophis told him that if he cleansed the whole country of the LEPERS +and other unclean people, he would then be able to behold the gods. The +king thereby rejoiced, collected together all who were smitten with this +bodily disease, throughout the whole of Egypt 80,000 in number, and cast +them into the stone-quarries, which are situated east of the Nile, in +order that they should there work, apart from the other Egyptians. Among +them were some learned priests, who had been attacked by the leprosy. +But that wise and prophesying Amenophis began to fear the anger of the +gods, for himself as well as for the king, if they, the priests, were +seen at such compulsory labour; and he foretold, moreover, that others +would hasten to the assistance of the unclean, and would govern Egypt for +thirteen years. He did not, however, venture to express this to the king, +but, leaving behind him a written record, he killed himself. Upon that +the king became very much dejected. Then he (Manetho) continues verbatim, +thus: ‘Now, when these people had suffered sufficiently by the hard work +in the stone-quarries, the king yielded to their entreaty, and gave +up to them, for their deliverance and protection, the town of Abaris, +which had at that time been forsaken by the shepherds (Hyksos). But this +town, according to traditions of the gods, had always been a Typhonic +town. Now, when these people had entered into this town, and found the +place favourable for revolt, they appointed as their leader a priest of +Heliopolis, by name Osarsiph, and swore to obey him in all things. He +established as their first law that they should worship no gods, and +that they should not abstain from those animals which, according to the +law, are considered most holy in Egypt, but that they might sacrifice +and consume them all; also, that they should associate only with their +fellow-conspirators. After he had established these and many other laws, +which were entirely opposed to the Egyptian customs, he commanded them +all to set to work to build up the town walls, and to prepare themselves +for war against King Menophis. But, whilst he consulted some of the other +priests and infected persons, he sent messengers to the shepherds who +had been expelled by Tethmosis to the town of Jerusalem, and, after he +had let them know what had happened to himself and to the others who had +been injured along with him, he invited them to make war against Egypt +in unison with his followers. He would first of all conduct them to +Abaris, the town of their forefathers, and amply provide the troops with +what they required; but, if it were necessary, he would protect them, +and easily subject the country to them. Greatly rejoiced, they readily +brought together as many as 200,000 men, and soon arrived at Abaris. But +when Amenophis, the Egyptian king, heard of the invasion of these people, +he was not a little disturbed, for he remembered what Amenophis, the +son of Paapis, had prophesied. He first collected the Egyptian troops, +conferred with his commanders, desired those sacred animals which are +the most honoured in the sanctuaries to be brought to him, and commanded +the individual priests, more especially to conceal the images of the +gods most securely. But he sent his son, Sethôs, who was five years old, +and was also called Ramesses, from Rampses, the father of Amenophis, to +his friend (the King of Ethiopia). He himself, indeed, went forward with +the remaining Egyptians, who amounted to 300,000 fighting men; however, +when the enemy advanced to meet him he did not engage in battle, but +returned hastily to Memphis, because he believed he was fighting against +the gods. There he carried off the Apis and the other sacred animals +which had been brought thither, and repaired immediately with the whole +army and the remaining baggage of the Egyptians to Ethiopia. The King +of Ethiopia was, in fact, beholden to him; he, therefore, received him, +supplied his troops with all the necessaries of life which the country +afforded, assigned to them as many towns and villages as would suffice +for the predetermined thirteen years, in which they would be compelled to +be deprived of his government, and even placed an Ethiopian army on the +borders of Egypt as a protection to the people of King Amenophis. Thus +it stood in Ethiopia. But the Solymites who had come into the country, +and the unclean among the Egyptians, treated the people so shamefully, +that the period of their government appeared to all who then beheld +these impieties the worst of times; for they not only burnt towns and +villages, and were not satisfied with plundering the sanctuaries, and +abusing the images of the gods, but they continually made use of those +venerated and sacred animals which were fit to be eaten, compelled the +priests and prophets to become their butchers and destroyers, and then +sent them away destitute. It is said, however, that the priest who gave +them a constitution and laws, who was a native of Heliopolis, and called +Osarsiph (from the god Osiris in Heliopolis), went over to these people, +changed his name, and was called Moses.’ This and much more, which for +the sake of brevity I must omit, is what the Egyptians relate concerning +the Jews. But Manetho says further, that Amenophis afterwards returned +out of Ethiopia with a great force, that he and his son Rampses, who had +also an army, gave battle to the shepherds and the unclean, conquered +them, killed many, and pursued the remainder to the borders of Syria. +Manetho wrote this and similar things.” + +Next to this Manethonic account, we shall place the Greek conception of +the matter as we find it in DIODORUS, xl. 3, taken from Hecataeus of +Abdera (and also in an earlier passage, xxxiv. 1, without his authority +being given). + +“When,” says Hecataeus, “a plague once broke out in Egypt, most people +believed that it was a punishment sent by the gods. For since many +strangers of divers races dwelt among them, who practised very anomalous +customs, with respect to the sacred things and to the sacrifice, it +came to pass that hence their own ancient worship of the gods declined. +Therefore the natives feared there would be no end to the evil, if they +did not remove those who were of foreign extraction. The foreigners +were therefore quickly expelled. The best and the most powerful of them +united together, and, as some people say, were driven away to Greece and +other places, under distinguished leaders, of whom Danaus and Cadmus +were the most famous. But the great mass withdrew to the country which +is now called Judea, situated not far from Egypt, which was at that time +barren and uninhabited. The leader of this colony was MOSES, who was +distinguished by the power of his mind, and by his courage. He captured +the country, and besides other towns, built HIERSOLYMA, which has now +become so famous. He also founded the temple, which was so peculiarly +holy in their eyes, taught them the worship and the service of the +Deity, gave them laws, and regulated their constitution. He divided the +people into twelve tribes, because this is the most complete number, and +agrees with the number of months in the year. But he set up no image of +the gods, for he did not believe God had a human form, but that he is +one God, who embraces heaven and earth, and is Lord of all things. He +regulated the sacrifices and the usages of life very differently from +those of other nations; since, in consequence of the banishment which +they had themselves experienced, he introduced a misanthropical mode of +life, hostile to strangers.” + +The statement in the earlier passage of DIODORUS, xxxiv. 1, sounds far +more bitter, where he says “that they (the Jews) alone among all nations +scorn any intercourse with others[194], and look upon every one as their +enemy. Their forefathers, also, were driven out of Egypt as disgraced and +hated by the gods; and in order to cleanse the country, those attacked +with the _white_ sickness and leprosy had been collected together and +cast beyond the frontiers as an accursed race. But the expelled people +had conquered the country round Jerusalem, had formed the nation of the +Jews, and transmitted to their descendants their hatred of mankind. On +that account also they had adopted perfectly anomalous laws, neither to +eat with any other people, nor to show them any kindness.” “Antiochus +Epiphanes, after he had conquered the Jews, entered into their holy of +holies, into which only the priests were admitted; he there found a stone +image of a bearded man, who sat upon an ass, and held a book in his hand. +He took this for Moses, who had founded Jerusalem, organised the people, +given them laws, and introduced the disgraceful and misanthropical +customs.” + +Now if we compare these relations, which evidently refer to Egyptian and +not to Jewish statements, with the representation we meet with in the +Hebrew conception of the matter, we cannot mistake the general agreement +of the most essential features. + +Differing entirely from the former Exodus of the Hyksos, the description +of which is likewise preserved to us by Manetho, here, it is not an open +enemy who is to be subdued, but people of foreign descent, peaceably +dwelling in the land, increasing, however, to a dangerous extent, and +who inspired the Egyptians with fear and hatred. It is true that neither +Manetho, nor any one of the authors we have named, expressly say that +the expelled people were of a different race from the Egyptians; but the +cause of this may have been that the entrance of the family of Jacob into +the country which was so important to the Jews, probably passed unnoticed +by them. The influx of emigrants from the eastern and north-eastern +Semitic countries was apparently much greater in those flourishing times +of the Egyptian kingdom than it was thought necessary to recount in the +detached history of the house of Israel. The influence of those people +from Palestine who had been driven back under Tuthmosis, must only have +increased the former importunity of that people to enter the blessed land +of Egypt. But so long as they came singly and peacefully, and did not +shrink from entering into all kinds of intercourse and alliance with the +Egyptians, they must have been considered by the natives as belonging +to the country—as Egyptians. It is certainly a mistake to suppose the +Israelites were the only strangers in Egypt. They dwelt in the land of +Goshen, situated on the eastern border of the Delta, but of course only +a very small body in the midst of Egyptians, and many Philistines and +Arabians, from whom the Egyptian could not distinguish them. The immense +increase in their numbers, of which we read, is only to be understood in +this manner. How could there have been so distinct a division of the one +race from their Semitic companions, as is usually understood, when their +chief men themselves frequently did not shrink from mingling with the +Egyptians? + +Even Ishmael had an Egyptian mother and an Egyptian wife[195]. Joseph +becomes so completely Egyptian that he is able to occupy the highest +position under the king, does not eat at the same table with his +brethren, and speaks to them through an interpreter. He also takes +an Egyptian woman as his wife[196], even the daughter of a Priest of +Heliopolis; and Moses himself marries an Ethiopian[197]. The same +intermingling between the races is afterwards still more frequently +mentioned, without being considered as anything remarkable or forbidden, +_e. g._ Leviticus xxiv. 10; 1 Chron. ii. 34, 35; and the same with +respect to other foreigners, the Tyrians, _e. g._ 1 Kings vii. 14. The +immigrants also did not limit themselves to the land of Goshen, which +had been first assigned to them, but “_filled the land_,” and appeared +“_to grow greater and mightier than the Egyptians_.” That the single race +of Jacob is not here meant, but all who had allied themselves to it, as +to a powerful centre, is again made evident in the Exodus, where it is +said[198], “_And a mixed multitude went up also with them._” There may +even have been many Egyptians among the mixed multitude; indeed the whole +population continued to cling, even long after the Exodus, so firmly to +Egyptian customs, and even to the religious practices of the Egyptians, +that they were constantly inclined to fall back again to the old form of +worship. Is it surprising that the Egyptians should have considered those +people as Egyptians—and called them so in their traditions—who, even at +the foot of Sinai, made an image of the holy bull, Mneuis, and solemnised +it with festivities, thus proving that the greater proportion of them had +adopted the Egyptian religion? + +This was naturally the reason why the Jews were so frequently viewed +as an EGYPTIAN COLONY, _e. g._ by Strabo[199], Apion[200], and others; +and in this at least there is no contradiction between the Egyptian and +Hebrew accounts; they rather both assist in completing a more perfect +picture. + +The emigrating people were described especially by Manetho, and by all +the other Egyptian traditions, as a race of “_unclean, leprous Egyptians, +godless, and hated by God_.” It is evident that the people designated +here were of foreign extraction, DIFFERING IN FAITH, consequently GODLESS +settlers in Egypt, the shepherd families, who, on account of their +occupation, in remembrance of the old hereditary enemy, were hated by the +genuine Egyptians, especially by the priests, “_for every shepherd is an +abomination unto the Egyptians_[201].” + +The Mosaic account also corroborates the opinion that the _leprosy_ +and the _white_ sickness (λεύκη, ἀλφός), which resembles it, were very +prevalent in those times, and particularly among the Jews, and that they +were most dangerously infectious. This is intimated by the strict laws +of separation issued by Moses against those attacked by the leprosy, +among whom, however, his own sister Miriam[202] is found; also by the +miracle of Moses, who draws his own hand out of his bosom white as snow +with leprosy[203], and afterwards afflicts the land with the plague and +with noxious boils[204], and finally with the sudden death of all the +first-born. This perfectly explains the Egyptian account of the universal +_plague of the leprosy_, which had more particularly broken out among +the poorer and more uncleanly settlers, and which threatened the whole +Egyptian nation[205]. To this is to be added the belief of the strict +Egyptians that inward uncleanness and godlessness of the heart must +necessarily be inseparably connected with outward uncleanness and with +the leprosy, the most abhorred of the diseases sent by God. + +It is said, by Manetho, that among these infected people there were +some learned priests. Possibly these were of the Egyptian race, and yet +were cast together with the unclean strangers. But there is nothing to +prevent our assuming that these priests were also of foreign descent, +and perhaps themselves Israelites. It is not, indeed, an improbable +assertion, that Moses himself was brought up as a priest of Heliopolis. +It is evident that Joseph could not, as a Hebrew, have been first +minister of Pharaoh, but that he must, at the same time, have possessed +both the rank, learning, and outward consecration of the Egyptian +priests, with whom he had also united himself by marriage; and that +Moses likewise, brought up in the house of the king, could only be +instructed, in all the wisdom of the Egyptian priests, through the same +medium of outward fellowship. Contrasted with the Egyptian prophets +and hierogrammatists, who equally convert their staffs into serpents, +change water into blood, and fill the land with frogs, he appears before +Pharaoh only as a wiser, and more highly endowed man, than those sages. +The name _Osarsiph_, is of little importance here, for even the name of +_Moses_ is expressly declared to be Egyptian, as it could not have been +otherwise. But yet on this very account it is worthy of notice, because +it is interpreted as being expressly derived from Osiris at Heliopolis. +As the principal god in that place was Ra, _i. e._ Ἥλιος, the service +of Osiris was undoubtedly most closely united with the holy sun-bull +of Osiris[206], the white bull represented in the paintings gold[207] +𓈖𓏠𓇋𓃒 Menes, or Mneuis, the same whom the people adored in the desert, +and whose worship was even introduced into Palestine by King Jeroboam +I., when he was recalled from Egypt[208]. A particular local worship in +HELIOPOLIS had been dedicated to this bull since the time of Menes; and +this very town, in which, according to the Egyptian tradition, Moses is +said to have been the priest of Osiris (therefore of the golden calf), +is, besides, always considered specially connected with the Jews. From +that town Joseph took his wife, and _On_—so Heliopolis was called by the +people—according to the Septuagint, was even built by the Israelites[209]. +This cannot mean that they first founded the town, for it had been already +mentioned as the native town of Joseph’s wife, and is also named upon the +monuments even in the Old Monarchy, and in the annals as early as the +time of Menes; but it cannot also be explained alone by saying that +Heliopolis was probably the principal town of the eastern province of +Goshen, it certainly can only be understood to mean that the Israelites +completed the elevation and damming off of the town against the +inundations, of which we shall say more hereafter. The Manethonic +account is therefore important for this reason also, that it makes +Moses come from Heliopolis, and thence indicates his connection with +the golden bull. + +It further follows, from the Egyptian recital, that the _sudden_ +persecution of the unclean people had a special cause, and this +appears always to proceed from the advice which the priests give the +superstitious kings, as to how the distress of the leprosy, and the +degeneration and desecration of their religious services were to be +remedied. But in the desire not to expel this whole race, but to destroy +them by hard labour in the country itself, or to let them perish in the +desert, or even to drown them[210], we at the same time perceive another +reason for the persecution, namely, the fear lest they should rise up +as open enemies of the country, and unite themselves with the banished +shepherds for a new subjugation of the land, a fear so well founded, +that what was expected, was soon most completely fulfilled. Here again +there is the silent acknowledgment that those unclean Egyptians were +principally of foreign extraction, and had a natural bias to their +Palestinian hereditary enemies, whom they afterwards called to their +assistance. And the Mosaic account also exactly agrees with this[211]: +“Let us deal wisely with them,” says Pharaoh, “lest they multiply, and it +come to pass that when there falleth out any war _they join also with +our enemies, and fight against us_.” Therefore, taskmasters were placed +over the land, and the people tormented with building and all kinds of +hard service, to which undoubtedly the working in the stone-quarries had +reference, which is made particularly prominent in the Egyptian relation. +The chief feature in both recitals is the design of oppression and +destruction, by means of exorbitant taskwork. + +All accounts are also agreed upon the great number of the enemy, which +had grown up in the country, and even if only 280,000[212] had departed, +as the Egyptians related, while in the Hebrew accounts 600,000 are +mentioned, it was at any rate a great event, on which the Egyptian annals +could not possibly preserve silence. + +These are all features of the Egyptian narrative, which place beyond +doubt the identity of that insurrection of the Lepers under Osarsiph, +with the Exodus of the Israelites under Moses, even if we set aside the +far more direct, but in the view of some perhaps, on that very account, +less trustworthy evidence, which consists in what is added concerning the +laws of Osarsiph, that the Egyptian gods should no longer be worshipped, +and that they should never again hold intercourse with any other race, +also concerning the name of Moses itself, which Osarsiph is said to have +adopted. For I certainly consider it as more than probable that the name +of Moses was not originally found in the Egyptian narrative; that the +latter was only connected with a rebellious priest Osarsiph, and that +Manetho first changed the name in consequence of the comparison with +the Hebrew accounts, which had been made long before his day. But this +assumption only upholds still more the age and the independence of the +Manethonic narrative, whose genuine and ancient Egyptian character is +besides apparent to the attentive reader through all its other parts. +With reference to this, I shall only mention the peculiar feature of +beholding the gods, and its connection with an earlier king, further the +name of the town _Abaris_, which was entirely lost in later times, and +could not therefore have been orally preserved by the people, but must +have been taken from old writings. Also the unfortunate and ignominious +turn of the event for the Egyptians, the cowardly flight of the king +to Ethiopia, and the revolting usage to which the whole lower country, +and especially the priesthood, were exposed for thirteen years, but, +above all, the complete absence of all allusions and attacks upon the +Jews as such, sufficiently proves that the whole was a simple, faithful +account from the old writings. Therefore, when Josephus, in order to +maintain his wholly untenable opinion that the Hyksos were the Jews, +asserts that Manetho did not derive this narrative from genuine ancient +sources, but that he only relates incredible fables, and declares +besides that Manetho himself granted the uncertainty of his account, +when he says, he will now write what is mentioned in the _tradition_ +of the Jews—γράφειν τὰ μυθευόμενα καὶ λεγόμενα περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων—(to +write the mythical and legendary accounts concerning the Jews), this +is only one more of the forced and ingenious accusations of which his +controversial work is composed. The words of Manetho, as they are extant, +nowhere support this assertion of Josephus, except the last, which are +to this purport:—λέγεται δ’ ὅτι τὴν πολιτείαν καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῖς +καταβαλόμενος ἱερεύς, τὸ γένος Ἡλιουπολίτης, ὄνομα Ὀσαρσίφ, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν +Ἡλίου πόλει θεοῦ Ὀσίρεως, ὡς μετέβη εἰς τοῦτο τὸ γένος, μετετέθη τοὔνομα +καὶ προσηγορεύθη Μωυσῆς—(_It is said_ that a priest who founded their +polity and laws, a Heliopolitan by race, named Osarsiph, when he went +over to this nation from the service of the god Osiris in Heliopolis, +received a change of name, and was called Moses). This contains the +honest acknowledgment of Manetho that the ancient sources whence he +derived his information neither mention the _Jews_ nor _Moses_, which +is confirmed by his own narrative. Therefore it was only a λεγόμενον +(tradition), if it were not indeed a μυθευόμενον (mere fable), as +Josephus adds, which applied that account to the Jews. Manetho evidently +did not intend to say more. The account of the banishment of the Lepers +bears exactly the same stamp as the earlier account of the banishment +of the Hyksos, and even an entirely superficial critical examination +would only lead us to conclude, from the mention in both accounts of the +city of Abaris (which at Manetho’s time had long since passed out of +remembrance), that he made use of the same ancient authorities for the +one as for the other. Therefore, instead of the reproaches of Josephus, +Manetho rather deserves all our gratitude for so strictly abstaining +from introducing his own views, however correct they may have been, into +the long-approved historical relations. He leaves the decision in the +hands of his readers. And it seems to me that we can now make ours upon +good grounds, not depending upon his opinions, but upon the documentary +evidence he lays before us, to the effect, namely, that the identity of +the two occurrences, recognised even before the time of Manetho, must +actually be accepted. + +Josephus, however, is equally groundless and frivolous in his reproach +to the Egyptian historian, when he asserts that he has only of his own +accord inserted the king here, under whom he places the event—Ἀμένωφιν +εἰσποιήσας ἐμβόλιμον βασιλέα—(Having inserted Amenophis as king), and +that he has not therefore ventured to assign a fixed number of years to +his reign. As Josephus before made a great confusion between the kings +Ἄμωσις and Τέθμωσις, and since here also, he has not remarked, that he +has named the same king once before in a former extract (c. 15) in his +right place, and ascribed to him the correct nineteen years and six +months as the period of his reign, the reproach is at once removed from +the Egyptian historian, and falls back upon himself. + +Let us now see what place in the Egyptian annals is assigned to the King +of the Exodus. Here again we are first referred to Josephus. We shall +investigate in its proper place more minutely, how far he had the true +account of Manetho before him, or only extracts from it. But it is easy +to perceive from a cursory comparison of his extracts, which are partly +given verbatim, and partly summarily, that in the two principal passages +upon this portion of Egyptian history, he had two different authorities +before him, who, in the writing of the names, and in certain details, +somewhat differ from one another, and thence caused no little confusion +to the inconsiderate critic. + +If we now place these two authorities of Josephus beside one another, and +compare with them the corresponding portion of the lists of Africanus and +of the monuments, we obtain the following general view. (See next page.) + + +LISTS OF JOSEPHUS AND AFRICANUS. + + +------------------------------------------------------+---------------+ + | MANETHO. | MONUMENTS. | + | +-----------------+--------+ | | + | | | | | + | JOSEPHUS. | AFRICANUS. | | + | +--------+--------+ | | | + | | | | | | + | c. Ap. i. 15. | c. Ap. i. 26. | | | + | | | | | + | Y. M. | Y. M.| | | + | | | | | + |1. Ῥαμέσσης 1. 4.| 1. |1. Ῥαμέσσης 1. | 1. Rameses I. | + | | | | | + |3. Ἀρμέσσης 66. 2.| | | | + | Μιαμμοῦ | | | | + | | | | | + |4. Ἀμένωφις 19. 6.| |(4. Ἀμενωφάθ 19.)| | + | | | | | + |(5) | | | | + |2. Σέθωσις ὁ | 2. Σεθώς 50. 9.|2. Σεθὼς 51. | 2. Sethôs I. | + | καὶ Ῥαμέσσης | (59 _l._) | | | + | | | | | + |3. | 3. Ῥάμψης 66. |3. Ῥαψάκης 66. | 3. Rameses | + | | | (61 _l._) | Miamun | + | | | | | + |4. | 4. Ἀμένωφις |4. Ἀμενέφθης 20. | 4. Menephthes | + | | | | | + |5. | 5. Σεθὼς ὁ καὶ |5. Ῥαμέσσης 60. | 5. Sethôs II. | + | | Ῥαμέσσης | | | + +------------------+-----------------+-----------------+---------------+ + +The first thing to be remarked is that the last column, that of the +monuments, is _authentically_ determined, because it is entirely borrowed +from several monumental catalogues, and taking it in details, the +testimony of numerous contemporaneous monuments puts it beyond a shadow +of doubt. The lists of the authors may therefore be judged with the +greatest safety, according as they agree with it, but not the reverse. +Hence it follows, that in the first authority of Josephus, either one has +been lost between the first and second names, or the second and third +names are incorrectly anticipated, since they should have come after the +fourth. The numbers placed beside the reigns leave no doubt of this. The +last of the two mistakes has evidently been committed by Africanus with +regard to the Ἀμενωφάθ; therefore, in the comparative columns, the same +has also been assumed to belong to Josephus. Furthermore, we read in the +text of Josephus, chap. 15, Σέθωσις καὶ Ῥαμἑσσης (Sethôsis and Rameses), +but we learn from the context, and chap. 26, that we ought to read ὁ καὶ +(who is also). In the second authority of Josephus, the addition ὁ καὶ +Ῥαμέσσης (who is also Rameses), is entirely wanting, which is undoubtedly +correct, since neither the names of these two, or any other kings, are +seen in connection on the monuments. The mistaken connection appears to +have been occasioned by the confusion that existed at a much earlier +period, in the ideas of the people, about these two kings; whereas, +the surname of the second Ramses, Μιαμμοῦ, is evidently founded on the +constant addition of 𓌹𓇋𓏠𓈖 _Miamun_, on the monuments of this king. + +Without entering into further details, it is now undeniably evident +from the same comparative list, that Ἀμένωφις, or Μένωφις, the third +king of the second authority of Josephus, to whom the banishment of the +Lepers was ascribed, is no other than the corresponding Ἀμενέφθης, with +20 years, and the Μενέφθης (_Menephtha_) of the monuments; lastly, no +other than the anticipated Ἀμένωφις, with 19 years and 6 months of the +first authority of Josephus, the son of Ἀρμέσσης Μιαμμοῦ, with 66 years +2 months, _i. e._ of _Ramses-Miamun_, whose sixty-second year appears +upon the monuments. The King of the Exodus therefore belongs, according +to the Egyptian accounts, to the 19th Manethonic Dynasty, and it seems +to me impossible any longer to admit the opinion of those who believed +him to belong to the previous 18th Dynasty[213]. It is true that in this +Dynasty we find three different kings named _Amenophis_, which caused the +confusion with the similarly sounding name _Menephthes_, but none of them +have a Ramses for a father, and a Sethôs for a son and grandfather; for +the two last names never appear in the 18th Dynasty. + +We find, indeed, a king of the 18th Dynasty mentioned in the Manethonic +relation in Josephus, viz. King Horus. But this incidental quotation +contains so much the more an impartial and convincing proof, that the +king with whom we are concerned, belonged to the 19th Dynasty, and that +the whole account was taken from an ancient authority, to whom the same +chronological connection was perfectly well known. It is said, namely, +that Amenophis desired to become a beholder of the gods, like _one of +his ancestors, King Horus_. Now this notice is in itself remarkable, and +testifies its genuine character, since King Horus is not otherwise known +to us through the popular tradition, probably because he, like most of +the others, had left no monuments behind him which had attracted any +particular notice in Memphis. But with regard to the time of his reign, +it is apparent that he was certainly a _predecessor_, namely, the fourth +of Menephthes, but a _successor_ of all the three Amenophises of the 18th +Dynasty, which he terminated. + +It is of minor importance that, according to Diodorus (34, 1), the +banishment of the Jews is connected with the emigration of Danaus to +Greece, and that this also is placed, according to the Egyptian tradition +at least, in the 19th Dynasty. But we thereby see that the Egyptian +tradition with regard to dates did not deviate much, even when it was +connected with foreign elements. + +If we now compare the clear Egyptian statements that we have cited, +concerning the period of the Exodus with what is said about it by the +later, particularly the Jewish and Christian chronologists, it would +be difficult to comprehend why they differed so exceedingly, if we +did not find the fundamental error fully explained in the writings of +Josephus against Apion, where he asserts that the Jews were no other than +the Hyksos. The perfectly untenable grounds for this opinion, which, +nevertheless, has been shared even by some modern scholars, although the +Mosaic narrative is entirely contradictory to it, both as a whole and in +its details, may be gathered from Josephus himself, since a refutation of +them here would be superfluous. But Josephus was by no means the first +who started this opinion. It was already held by PTOLEMY MENDESIUS[214] +and APION[215], perhaps even by POLEMON[216]. From this, also, +originates the other misunderstanding, that it was not _Tuthmosis_, but +_Amosis_, the first king of the 17th Dynasty, who drove away the Hyksos; +and therefore in Josephus[217] the name Τέθμωσις is inserted in place of +Ἄμωσις, and in Syncellus[218] both names appear united as Ἄμωσις ὁ καὶ +Τέθμωσις—(Amosis, who is also Tethmosis). The reason of this confusion +lay simply in this, that Amosis is found placed by Manetho at the head +of the Dynasty which immediately follows the Dynasties of the Hyksos; he +must, therefore, have driven away the Hyksos, who by them are understood +to be the Jews. + +We find a different opinion in EUSEBIUS. In his Manethonic list[219], +beside King _Chencheres_, therefore in the middle between the true Exodus +of the Hyksos and that of the Israelites, he writes as follows:—κατὰ +τοῦτον Μωυσῆς τῆς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου πορείας τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡγήσατο—(During +this reign Moses conducted the journey of the Jews out of Egypt). But +the reason for this deviation from the usual statements concerning the +Pharaoh of the Exodus does not here lie in the name, which perhaps +Eusebius had found somewhere mis-stated, but in his assumption (to which +we shall afterwards return) that the first year of Abraham was also the +first year of the 16th Manethonic Dynasty. He only counted, as he himself +states, 75 years[220] from this year to Abraham’s removal to Haran, and +then the 430 years of bondage in Egypt. By that means he obtained the +year of the Exodus of Moses from Egypt. This happened, according to his +Egyptian list, in the sixteenth year of _Chencheres_; consequently, in +his annals, he entered the Exodus under this king. + +The most fabulous recital of the Exodus is in Lysimachus, who appears to +have written about the time of Christ’s birth, shortly before Apion. It +is not, therefore, worth while to investigate whether the name of the +King Bocchoris, in whose reign he makes Moses depart, was arbitrarily +imagined, or whether it originated in some great misunderstanding. His +romance appears, however, to have found acceptance, since we again +meet with the fable of Lysimachus in Tacitus[221], with some new and +additional facts. Tacitus says, that according to some the Jews wandered +to Palestine during the reign of Isis, led by Hierosolymus and Judah; +according to others, they were descendants of the Ethiopians, and +departed during the reign of King Cepheus; but most people said, that +at the breaking out of a plague, King Bocchoris had cleared the land of +them, according to the sentence of an oracle. + +But Josephus has rendered the narrative of Lysimachus still more +confused, and by that means has also led astray later scholars. He +relates, namely, as follows, in the second book of his controversy with +Apion: “Manetho says that the Jews wandered out of Egypt in the reign +of _Tethmosis_, 393 years before the flight of Danaus to Argos; but +Lysimachus makes it under King _Bocchoris_, that is, 1700 years ago; +Molon and others make it as it seems best to them; but Apion, the one +most to be depended upon of all of them, placed the Exodus exactly in the +_seventh Olympiad_, and in the _first year_ of it, in which, as he says, +the Phœnicians founded Carthage.” + +It was impossible that Josephus could place Bocchoris 1700 years before +his own time, for that would make him nearly cotemporary with the first +kings of the Egyptian succession, whose names he cites, without, however, +mentioning a Bocchoris among them. This king lived, rather, according to +Manetho, about 750, and not about 1650 before Christ. If, furthermore, it +is asserted that Apion placed the Exodus at the Olympiad 7. 1., namely, +B.C. 752, that is most decidedly contradicted by Clemens of Alexandria, +Justin Martyr, and Africanus, in passages above referred to, who, on the +contrary, agree in relating that Apion followed Ptolemy Mendesius, and +placed the Exodus under Amosis, therefore about 1650 years before Christ. +It is evident that Josephus has here in his careless way confused the +authors and the numbers with one another. He meant to say, or ought to +have said, that Manetho fixed the Exodus (not of the Jews, indeed, but of +the Hyksos) 393 years before Danaus, _i. e._ 1700 years before Josephus, +and Lysimachus fixed it, during the reign of _Bocchoris_. The fabulous +narrator, Lysimachus, could hardly have affixed any statement of time to +the name of Bocchoris, or he would certainly have discovered his error; +but Apion, the grammatist and hyper-critic, had probably subjected the +opinion of Lysimachus to his own critical examination, and reckoned that +if he assumed Bocchoris to be the king under whom the Exodus was made, +he must intend to fix his date at Olympiad 7. 1. At any rate there is no +doubt that the Olympiad calculation belonged to Lysimachus, and the 1700 +years to the Manethonic statement. The latter point might be remedied if +we could place the words τουτέστι πρὸ ἐτῶν χιλίων ἑπτακοσίων (That is +one thousand seven hundred years) after Δαναοῦ φυγῆς (The flight of the +Danai). But we should certainly be wrong to change the number 1700, as +Böckh[222] has done, into 700; or with Ewald[223] and Bunsen[224], to +accuse Apion of the confusion of which Josephus alone is guilty. + +If it is therefore impossible to place the Exodus of Moses, regarding it +from the _Egyptian_ point of view—which has been singularly misunderstood +by all the ancient and modern authors we have mentioned—under any other +Pharaoh than MENEPHTHES, the son of the great Ramses, in the 19th +Dynasty, nothing remains to the opponents of this view than to attack +the truth of this statement from the standing point of the Hebrew +authorities, and to show that there are irrefutable grounds in the +_Mosaic_ accounts which prove the falsity of the Egyptian annals. But, +upon a closer consideration, this is so little the case that, on the +contrary, the Hebrew account confirms in the most unequivocal manner the +Manethonic disposal of this event in the Egyptian history. + +There are certainly very few features in the Mosaic account of the Exodus +from which we could obtain in a direct manner any information about the +condition of Egypt at the time of its occurrence. Whatever Egyptian +manners and customs are occasionally mentioned, are generally little +characteristic of any particular epoch of time; greater events, such as +wars, change of government, the erection of famous buildings, are still +less mentioned, everything is so exclusively apprehended and rendered +in an Israelitish point of view. The great change which was introduced +by Joseph in the agrarian condition of the country is almost the only +exception made here, because it happens to be so closely connected with +him personally. Farther on we shall consider the historical inferences +which may be founded upon it concerning the time of Joseph. The +complete absence of Egyptian proper names, which might so frequently be +opportunely mentioned, is particularly striking. Neither the name of the +Pharaoh in whose reign Abraham came into Egypt, nor he of whom Joseph +was the minister, nor, finally, the one in whose house Moses was brought +up, or his successor, in whose reign he left Egypt, are mentioned. This +undoubtedly shows a total indifference about chronological points of +union for the special history of the Israelites of those times, which +is remarkably opposed to the very exact dates, apparently avoiding all +breaks, from which our current chronology of the Old Testament is summed +up. + +Only a few _geographical_ names of Egyptian towns and localities enable +us to contemplate, at least in some degree, the theatre of that great +event. But there are two among them of peculiar importance to us here, +because they also throw a light which was much needed upon Egyptian +relations of time, and interpret in a remarkable manner sundry accounts +of the old authors. + +It is said in Exodus i. 2: “Therefore they did set over them taskmasters +to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh +treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses.” The Hebrew name of the latter town +is רעמסס, and is therefore exactly the same as that of King _Ramses_ +in hieroglyphics, 𓂋𓂝𓄠𓋴𓋴. Now it is difficult to believe that this king’s +name was given to a town before any King Ramses had reigned. We could +not, therefore, on account of its name, place the building of this town +earlier than under the 19th Manethonic Dynasty, because this dynastic +name first appears here. + +It seems to me, that we may now point out the historical relation of +this town _Ramses_, with a particular King _Ramses_, among the many +kings of that name. We shall, then, for the first time, learn the full +significancy of the passage. But it will be necessary for this purpose to +examine more closely the _geographical_ conditions at that time of the +Isthmus of Suez, which formed the boundary between Egypt and Asia, and +was therefore the theatre of the Exodus. + +Since the Israelites departed from Ramses, this town must have been +their central point and place of meeting. According to Manetho, the +lepers, as the Hyksos before them, were finally driven out of Abaris. +We might therefore be inclined at first to consider these two towns as +one and the same. This was also the opinion of an old abbreviator of +Eusebius[225], who says of Jacob: καὶ παροικεῖ ἐν τῇ Ῥαμέσῃ τῇ πάλαι +Ἀβάρῃ καλουμένῃ—(And he sojourns in Ramses, which was formerly called +Abare). Many scholars are of the same opinion[226]; Rozière[227] also, +the great traveller, but who seldom hits on the right point, places +Abaris in the spot where we at least believe we ought to place Ramses; +and the same opinion, although given with hesitation, is found even in +the masterly researches of D’Anville[228]. It is still more extraordinary +that Ewald[229] holds Abaris to be _Baal Zephon_, and therefore seeks it +in the immediate neighbourhood of the Red Sea. + +The situation of the town of Abaris can only be decided by the accounts +of Manetho; for all other authors, who mention this town, refer to +the same passages in the work of Manetho, which we find most fully +communicated by Josephus[230]. The first mention of the town occurred +in the account of the invasion of the Hyksos, who entered the country +from Syria about 2100 years before Christ, and governed it for many +centuries. The easy success of this invasion, owing to the hitherto +unfortified state of the eastern boundary, immediately directed the +attention of Salatis, the first king of the Hyksos, to the necessity of +closing the gate, which had stood open to them, against every future +invader. He therefore did not delay, as Manetho relates[231], to make use +of his experience: “He resided in Memphis, collected tribute from the +Upper and Lower country, and left garrisons in the most suitable places. +But he fortified the eastern boundaries, especially, as a precaution +against the Assyrians, who were at that time very powerful, and who +might afterwards be desirous like them to invade the same kingdom. Now +he found a town particularly suitable for his purpose, situated to the +east of the _Bubastic_ arm in the _Sethroitic_ Nome; and, according to +the old tradition of the gods, it was named ABARIS. This he built up and +fortified with strong walls, and placed as a guard within a garrison +of 240,000 armed men. Thither he came, in the summer season, partly on +account of the harvest and to issue the pay, partly in order to practise +the garrison diligently in arms to the terror of the foreigners.” But +when at the termination of the rule of the Hyksos, in the reign of +Misphragmuthosis, these hereditary enemies were driven back out of the +whole country, “the king finally enclosed them in that place called +Abaris. It was 10,000 arura in extent, and (according to Manetho) the +Hyksos surrounded it with a great and strong wall.” Since he could not +capture them by a siege, he came to an agreement with them, and permitted +them to depart with all their property to Syria. + +Abaris is mentioned for the last time at the Exodus of the lepers, as we +have seen above. It is here called an old Typhonic town, which had been +uninhabited since the departure of the Hyksos, and was given up to the +unclean after they were delivered from their oppression. But they fortify +it again, call the Hyksos from Jerusalem to their assistance, and from +this firm point for many years maintain the upper hand over the feeble +king, until he, with the aid of an Ethiopian army, drove them back to the +borders of Syria. + +In these accounts there is an explicit statement about the geographical +situation of Abaris, which determines it to have been placed in the +_Sethroitic_ Nome. For it has been long acknowledged that we should +read it so, instead of the _Saitic_ Nome, as it is in our present text. +This is also shown by the reading of Eusebius, which, indeed, is still +incorrectly written in the Armenian translation[232], but evidently +purports to say, _in nomo Methraite_ in place of _Sethraite_, and by many +other passages in which this town, though without a name, is mentioned +by Manetho, and is placed in the Sethroitic Nome[233]. But even if this +correct reading had not been preserved to us by others, we must still +have rejected the Saitic Nome, because this is situated in the western +part of the Delta, while Abaris ought to be placed to the east of the +Bubastic arm of the Nile. + +There can be no doubt about the general situation of the _Sethroitic_ +Nome, from the statements of Strabo[234], and of Ptolemy[235], who was +born in Egypt. It lay eastward along the northern part of the Bubastic, +or Pelusaic arm of the Nile. Its capital was Heracleopolis Parva, and +Pelusium, from its position, must also have belonged to this Nome, +although this is never expressly said. Abaris must accordingly be +situated there. + +The object also which was to have been gained, by the original founding +of Abaris, directs us to this province, and to its most north-eastern +portion in the neighbourhood of Pelusium. It was to serve as a _boundary +fortification_ against Syria. In all times, ancient as well as modern, +there was only _one_ military entrance from that country. The road +led from Gaza, along the sea-coast by Raphia (Refah), Rhinokolura (El +Arisch), Mons Casius, along the Lake of Serbon, to Pelusium, which +is situated at the mouth of the eastern arm of the Nile. This part +of the Nile, which extended far out towards the east, was the first +within reach; therefore, although the destination of most travellers +lay considerably to the south, the northern circuitous route by this +road was rendered necessary, and for the march of armies indeed it was +quite unavoidable. When _Sesostris_ led home his conquering army from +Asia, he returned by this road. According to Herodotus[236], Δάφναι +αἱ Πηλούσιαι (Daphni of Pelusium) was the place where his treacherous +brother met him; according to Manetho[237] and Diodorus[238], it was +PELUSIUM itself. It is said that from this place the same Sesostris +fortified the eastern frontiers as far as Heliopolis[239]. Hither Sethôs, +the priest of Ptha, came to meet Sanherib, because, as Herodotus[240] +adds, “here was the entrance into Egypt.” In this neighbourhood, at the +Pelusaic mouth, below Bubastis, the Ionians and Carians brought hither by +Psammeticus were stationed undoubtedly as frontier guards, at a place +which afterwards bore the name of Στρατόπεδα[241]. In the strong town of +PELUSIUM, Psammenitus waited for Cambyses, and by losing this position, +lost besides all Egypt to the Persian conqueror[242]. In later times, +the great Macedonian entered by Pelusium[243]. In Strabo’s time, also, +Pelusium, to which point according to him Phenicia extended[244], was the +frontier post in the direction of Syria and Arabia, and the road to Egypt +led through this “inaccessible” country, not only from Phenicia, but +also from the Nabatain Arabia[245]. _Amru_ (_Amr ebn el As_) also took +the same road with his 4000 Arabs, when he conquered Egypt from the side +of Syria, A.D. 639, having first taken the strong town of Pelusium by a +thirty days’ siege; even down to the latest times, we see the Egyptian +armies marching _to_ and from Syria by this road. + +It appears accordingly undoubted that ABARIS, which during the time +of the Hyksos, and in the reign of Menephthes, was destined for the +same purpose as Pelusium at a later period, could not have been far +removed from it also in point of situation. To me, indeed, it seems +very probable that it was the ancient name of PELUSIUM. According to +the accounts we receive, both towns were of considerable extent, and +it cannot be supposed that there were several of such a description in +that neighbourhood. No proof is required to show that Πηλούσιον was +not, as the Greeks imagined, formed from πηλός, although the Arabs in +their translation of _Tineh_—_i. e._ _Lutetia_—accepted the quibble. +It is much more probably referred to the Philistine name Pelistim, +which is already proved in the above-mentioned tradition of its heros +eponymos Παλαιστινός, or Πηλούσιος. We must, therefore, explain Pelusium +by “Philistine” or “Palestine-town.” It appears to me that Ewald[246] +has successfully attributed a similar origin to the name of the town +Ἄβαρις[247], as the “_town of the Hebrews_,” _of the Abarim_. A peculiar +historical epoch may, perhaps, be indicated in this change in the +name. Ewald’s searching investigations concerning the history of the +Israelites, have demonstrated that the term Hebrew nation had originally +a far more comprehensive signification than has been hitherto commonly +accepted. It comprised the most south-westerly Semitic tribes[248], and +extended to the gates of Egypt, therefore as far as our frontier town. +But we afterwards find in these very same countries the immigrated race +of the PHILISTINES, who had driven back the Hebrews from that spot. +Ewald[249] does not place this change before the time of the Judges. +Therefore, if our town had formerly been an advanced frontier-post in +the land of the Hebrews, and afterwards in the land of the Philistines, +and was undoubtedly each time filled with a large Semitic population, it +may have exchanged its earlier name Ἄβαρις, Hebrew town, for the later +Πηλούσιον, Philistine-town. + +Abaris has frequently been identified with Heroonpolis, by +D’Anville[250], Larcher[251], Champollion[252], Gesenius[253], +Jomard[254], and others. The only apparent reason which is cited for +this opinion is that Stephanus, of Byzantium, quotes the otherwise +unauthenticated tradition, that Typhon was struck with lightning at +Heroonpolis; and that Manetho called Abaris, according to an old +tradition, a Typhonic town[255]. This comparison does not at all +overbalance the distinct geographical statement of Manetho, that Abaris +was situated in the Sethroitic Nome, to which Heroonpolis, as we shall +see, could not belong. That tradition, indeed, seems only to be founded +upon a misunderstanding of Stephanus; namely, upon the unauthentic +information that Ἡρώ was also called Αἷμος. Greek tradition[256], namely, +connected Αἷμος (not a town, however, but the Thracian mountains), as it +did other mountains, with Typhon, and probably, only on account of its +name, imagined that it was here he was killed, and shed his blood. + +On the other hand, this tradition about Typhon refers us again to the +idea that Abaris was the most ancient name of Pelusium. Typhon was always +considered as the particular god of the hereditary enemy of the Asiatic +Hyksos. The mythological evidence of this assertion, which is far from +new, does not belong here. But this was, perhaps, the reason why this +god, according to tradition, was also brought into local connection with +that important point on the frontier, the only entrance into the kingdom +of Osiris from the land of Typhon. Herodotus related[257], probably, +therefore, from a native Egyptian tradition, that it was there—namely, +in the Lake of Serbonis, so dangerous to all travellers, which stretched +out directly from Pelusium eastwards, that Typhon, who was struck by +lightning, lay chained; and others, also, make him fly away from Jupiter +out of Syria, as far as Pelusium[258]. + +But, perhaps, another Typhonic trace may still be referred to Pelusium. +It might have been expected, namely, that the town of Abaris, or +Pelusium, had, besides these signs which were deduced from its origin +or from its population, a real Egyptian name; still more, because we +find that most Egyptian towns had a double name—the popular name which +usually appears in the Coptic and Arabic writings, and the sacred name +derived from the local gods, which the Greeks generally, though not +always, retained in their translations. Πηλούσιον undoubtedly answered +to the popular name of the town. The sacred name, according to report, +could only be derived from Typhon. Now we find the Nome to which Pelusium +belonged always called Σεθρωΐτης, or Σεθραΐτης, not Ἡρακλεοπολίτης, as +we should have expected, since Ἡρακλέους πόλις is cited as its capital. +This denomination necessarily presupposes a town, which in Greek would +have been Σεθρώη, Σεθρώ, Σεθραΐς. Stephanus, of Byzantium, also mentions +such a town, and calls it Σέθρον. Perhaps, instead of reading ⲥⲉⲑⲣⲟⲛ, we +should read, with Salmasius, ⲥⲉⲑⲣⲟⲏ[259]. + +It is, however, extraordinary, that we should find the town which gave +its name to a Nome, only once mentioned. But this is explained, if we +admit that the denomination of the Nome was taken from the sacred name +of a town, which was unfamiliar to the Greeks, as in Διὸς πόλις, Ἡλίου +πόλις, Πανὸς πόλις. If we may now venture to admit, that the beginning of +the name Σεθρώ, signified the god _Seth_, or _Set_, _i. e._ Typhon[260], +it is not improbable that this was the sacred name of the Typhonic town +Pelusium, which had once been of greater importance, and had given the +name Σεθρωΐτης to the Nome. + +The only reason which could be employed against Abaris and Pelusium being +identical places, and which is really given by D’Anville is, that it +would have been mentioned by Manetho. But this reason may be used against +every other town, and in that case we must suppose that the enormous +town had afterwards been entirely deserted, and that no traces of its +ruins remained, which is more than improbable. It is more likely that +either Manetho did not know himself to what modern town the ancient name +ought to be applied, which he only met with in old writings, or that he +mentioned it in a passage which Josephus has not preserved. For Josephus +himself at least supposed, that by Abaris, Pelusium was meant, as his +words show in the 29th chapter, where he even puts the last name in the +mouth of Manetho: τοὐναντίον γὰρ αὐτὸς εἴρηκεν ὡς ὁ παῖς τοῦ Ἀμενώφιος +τριάκοντα μυριάδας ἔχων εἰς Πηλούσιον ὑπηντίαζεν—(For, on the contrary, +he said that the son of Amenophis, having thirty myriads, advanced to +_Pelusium_)—and Chairemon[261] had no doubt about it, since he does not +name Abaris, but makes the lepers march to Pelusium. + +Now, if it is certain that Abaris was the ancient name for Pelusium, +or at any rate was situated in the neighbourhood of this town, it is +impossible at the same time to consider it to be Heroonpolis; but neither +could it be Ramses. On the contrary, both these latter towns are brought +into close connection with each other, even by the Seventy, since they +placed the town of Heroonpolis in the district of Ramses, in which +undoubtedly the town of Ramses must have been situated[262]. + +Scholars also hold the most different opinions about the situation of +Heroonpolis, it will therefore be necessary to examine this question next. + +Strabo[263] says that the town was situated “in the _angle of the Arabian +Gulf_,” and thence people concluded that it must have been situated in +the neighbourhood of the present Suez[264], and on that account assert +that the gulf itself was called after it κόλπος Ἡρωοπολίτης[265], and +cites the statement of Ptolemy[266], according to which Heroonpolis is +placed at 30° north latitude, which corresponds nearly with the present +Suez. These reasons appear to be of great importance. Nevertheless we +cling, without hesitation, to the opinion of those scholars who place +Heroonpolis far more north, namely, on the ancient Nile canal, west from +Birket e’ temsah, in the neighbourhood of the valley Seba-Biar. D’Anville +was also of this opinion, though he was not then aware of the ruins of +ancient towns which are found there. The French expedition pointed out +two of them. Adjoining Seba-Biar, at the west end of this low district, +lie the ruins which are now called _Mukfâr_, and farther west those of +_Abu-Keshêb_[267]. The latter are considered by Et. Quatremère[268], +Champollion[269], Du Bois Aymé[270], and others, as the remains of +Heroonpolis. I am more in favour of those at _Mukfâr_. + +With regard to the general situation of Heroonpolis in this country, we +must next remark, that it would be singular if _three_ towns, Arsinoë, +Klysma, and Heroonpolis, had been crowded together at the head of the +gulf, while the ruins of _two_ only are to be seen. But it is a still +more important consideration, that we find the meeting between Joseph +and Jacob placed at Heroonpolis not only by Josephus[271], but also by +the Seventy, who must undoubtedly have known the situation. Heroonpolis +existed in their time, indeed it appears to have been first mentioned by +them. But it was impossible that they could have made Joseph go to Suez, +if he wished to meet his father, who came out of Syria. It must have +been situated on the road from Syria, and they undoubtedly mentioned it, +because in their time it was the capital of that province, which they +considered to be the district of Goshen and Ramses. But the situation +which the Itinerarium Antonini[272] gives to the town _Hero_, which is +Heroonpolis, is decisive, since it places it XXIV. mille passus from +_Thoum_, XVIII. from _Serapiu_, and the latter L. from _Klysma_. But +Et. Quatremère[273] has most completely pointed out that Klysma was +situated at the head of the gulf opposite Arsinoë, as it is marked in the +tablet of Peutinger. But _Thoum_, _i. e._ _Pithom_, was situated on the +Nile, in the neighbourhood of Bubastis[274]. Thereby the situation of +Heroonpolis is placed somewhere near the above-mentioned ruins. + +This was a convenient situation for the capital of that part of the +country to which it gave its name[275]. But the province, which extended +as far as the gulf, might have been suitably named after it. The account +given by the Seventy also agrees very well with this, since the road +from the north to Cairo still passes in this neighbourhood[276]. But +the question is, how can Strabo, who places Heroonpolis in the _angle +of the gulf_, be made to accord with this? In consequence of these +different statements, Du Bois Aymé believed he was justified in the +supposition[277], which he has fully stated, that in earlier times the +gulf extended much farther north, and filled up all the low districts +of the now dry so-called Bitter lakes, but afterwards being covered by +sand, withdrew itself within its present shore. I do not think that it is +necessary to believe in such a physical change; and the idea of it seems +to me most completely set aside by the remains of an artificial canal, +more than four leagues in length, which runs from Suez towards the north, +and which was pointed out by the French expedition, for no canal could +be cut where there was sea; the utmost that was necessary was to render +the passage navigable when it was filled up with sand. But the opening +of this canal must have had nearly the same results as those which may +be derived from the belief in the extended sea. The wide basins of the +Bitter lakes were filled by the canal, as well as the adjoining lakes to +the north, and the low district of Seba-Biar, which extends even to the +ruins of Mukfâr. Here first commenced the real Nile canal, which received +its water from the west. Here was the harbour, as Strabo expressly +says[278], in which they embarked for a voyage on the Red Sea. On account +of the natural and extensive shore of the lake, the notion of a sea +voyage was here imparted to the traveller; and, therefore, this part +artificially drawn into the gulf might naturally be called the μυχὸς τοῦ +κόλπου, the innermost angle of the gulf. Strabo, or Eratosthenes, whom he +cites, even says expressly in one place, that Heroonpolis was situated on +the Nile, that is to say, on a canal of the Nile, and yet calls the town +itself at the same time the μυχὸς τοῦ Αραβίου κόλπου (The innermost part +of the Arabian Gulf)[279]. + +Ptolemy also says, that the _Trajanic river_ (as the canal was called, +which was afterwards cut from Babylon) flowed through Heroonpolis. On +account of the sharp angle so far removed to the east, which is formed +here by the Nile canal and the extended gulf, this provincial capital was +particularly adapted for the more general geographical determinations of +those countries, for which purpose it had been especially used by Strabo, +and earlier, also, by Eratosthenes[280]. + +With regard to the statement of numbers given by Ptolemy, the longitude +agrees very well with our acceptation, and also prevents us placing the +town still farther west. But the latitudes, according to which Ἡρώων +πόλις would fall under 30° (others give 29° 50′), the μυχὸς τοῦ κόλπου +(innermost part of the gulf) under 29° 50′, and Ἀρσινόη under 29° 30′ +(or 29° 10′, also 29° 20′), certainly contain an error, wheresoever we +place the μυχός, because Arsinoë, which was undoubtedly situated in the +neighbourhood of Suez, is placed 30′, or even 50′, too far south. It is, +therefore, more probable, that we ought only to consider the distances +of the three places from one another as correctly fixed, somewhat in +the order, 29° 50′, 29° 50′, 29° 10′, exactly as they are given in the +codex Mediceus, but that there is an error easy of explanation throughout +the numbers, by which they have all been placed 50′ too far south. For +the true position, according to other proofs, demanded for Heroonpolis +(Mukfâr), and for the μυχός (Seba-Biar), bordering on it, 30° 40′, for +Arsinoë (not far north of Suez), 30°. + +Thus the statements of Ptolemy also appear to me to be no longer opposed +to our acceptation. We decide, therefore, for Mukfâr, rather than for +Abu-Keshêb, because the first was in reality situated close to the μυχός +of Seba-Biar, while Abu-Keshêb lay about an hour and a half farther west +on the canal, and not on the lake. + +There is, besides, the additional reason, that we believe we have found +in the ruins of Abu-Keshêb the still more ancient town of _Ramses_, which +must have been situated in this neighbourhood, and yet can hardly be the +same as Heroonpolis. The Seventy say that Heroonpolis was situated in the +province of Ramses. Thence follows that in their time at least the town +no longer bore the name of Ramses. This last name, moreover, is nowhere +found except in the Old Testament. The town had therefore undoubtedly +been already forsaken and forgotten, and appears to have been exactly +supplanted and replaced by Heroonpolis, which was afterwards built in its +neighbourhood; whilst no reason could be discovered wherefore the old +Egyptian name of Ramses should have been changed into the later Egyptian +name of Heroonpolis. + +But that we may really seek for Ramses in the ruins of Abu-Keshêb is +most decidedly confirmed by a monument which was found upon those very +ruins as early as the time of the French expedition. It is a group of +three figures cut out of a block of granite, which represents the gods +Ra and Tum, and between them the King Ramses II. The shields of this the +greatest of the Pharaohs are repeated six times in the inscriptions on +the back[281]. + +It was therefore King RAMSES-MIAMUN who built this town, and was +worshipped there, as is shown by this monument, and he it was who gave +his name to the town[282]; for it is not easy to believe that it was +founded by his grandfather, Ramses I., who only reigned about one year. + +This leads us to the history of the remarkable canal on which the town +was built. It is known that this canal afterwards served to connect +the Nile and the Red Sea. Concerning this connection, we read in +Herodotus[283] that it was first undertaken by Nekôs, who also caused +Africa to be circumnavigated, but that it was interrupted before its +completion. Darius then took up the work. The connection actually existed +in the time of Herodotus, as we learn from his words. The assertions of +Aristotle, Diodorus, Strabo, and Pliny appear to contradict this, who +some of them fix the period of the first plan of the connection much +earlier than Herodotus, since they ascribe it to Sesostris, and some +make the completion of the work later than him, namely, that it was only +finished in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus. + +Aristotle[284] says that both Sesostris and afterwards Darius commenced +the work, but gave it up because the sea was discovered to be higher +than the land, and it was therefore feared that the Nile water might be +spoilt by the rushing in of the sea. Aristotle does not mention Nekôs; +it therefore appears that in his day the connection which existed in the +time of Herodotus had again ceased. + +We can thus understand why Diodorus[285] ascribes the final completion of +the canal to PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. He makes no more mention of Sesostris, +than Herodotus did. But according to him, Nekôs as well as Darius are +prevented from completing it, lest by that means they should overflow +the country. This does not weaken the testimony of Herodotus concerning +the existing connection. Ptolemy Philadelphus did not only re-open the +connections, but he built an artificial sluice at its extreme point, at +Arsinoë, from which this canal received the name of the Ptolemaic. + +Strabo[286] says, that SESOSTRIS began it, but desisted, being afraid +of the higher level of the Red Sea. It was not finished by the son of +Psammeticus (_Nekôs_), on account of his premature death. _Darius_ also +discontinued the almost completed work, because he feared that he should +overflow Egypt; the Ptolemies at length finished the opening, and made +a sluice at Arsinoë. By that means, the salt-water of the Bitter lakes +became sweet, and abounded with fish. + +Of the more ancient kings, Pliny[287] only mentions SESOSTRIS and +DARIUS, but he says of PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS, that he cut a canal 100 +feet wide and 40 feet deep, as far as the Bitter lakes, called it _amnis +Ptolemæus_, and built Arsinoë upon it. He discontinued cutting the canal, +being afraid of an inundation. + +Lastly, we must again cite here what has been already casually mentioned +in a former place, that a Τραϊανὸς ποταμὸς is named by Ptolemy[288], +which ran through Babylon and Heroonpolis. + +The contradictions which these different statements of the ancient +authors appear to contain, have been frequently brought forward, but even +the full deliberation which Letronne has bestowed on this interesting +subject[289], does not appear to me to have given a perfectly true +picture of the history of this connecting canal. It has everywhere been +forgotten, that the question is not about _one_, but _two_ canals. + +The first and the oldest canal was only conducted from the Nile to +Seba-Biar, in an exact easterly direction. This canal was undoubtedly +cut by Ramses (Sesostris), because, as has been remarked, in the +neighbouring ruins of Abu-Keshêb, a granite group has been found, which +represents this king, and which must have stood in the temple of the +place. Letronne, who appears to have been unaware of this circumstance, +is therefore wrong, when (p. 7) he considers the information given by +Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny, that Sesostris commenced the connection, +but did not restore it, as a later tradition, only arisen since the time +of Herodotus, in order to enhance still more the name of Sesostris. +This canal, like many others cut by this king, had its own particular +purpose; he acquired thereby a considerable portion of the desert. +But if we consider the especial attention which Sesostris also paid +to ship-building, since he first navigated the Arabian Gulf with war +ships[290], it could not have appeared to him a very strange idea to cut +through the narrow isthmus between the Arabian Gulf and the Bitter lakes. +The Egyptians had for ages possessed the art of levelling in the greatest +perfection, and practised it more than ever in the time of Sesostris, +therefore there was nothing extraordinary at that time in the reasons +given by Aristotle and Strabo why the opening was not ventured upon, +because it was discovered that the Red Sea was too high[291]. + +NEKÔS, however, undertakes it, but leaves it off again, according to +Herodotus, influenced by an oracle, who told him he worked for the +barbarians (a danger which likewise has always made the calculating +Mehemet Ali disinclined to the undertaking), and according to Strabo, +because he died. Diodorus attributes this scruple to him in place of to +Sesostris, but incorrectly, because the levelling must have been made +before the section could have been commenced. It was necessary, however, +to dig through a double elevation of the ground, and distinct traces of +both these connecting trenches may still be found upon the careful map of +the French engineer, who took the level of this part of the country[292]. +The first cutting which restored the connection between Seba-Biar and +the Bitter lakes, was insignificant, and only consisted of about 7000 +metres; the second, between the Bitter lakes and the sea, was the most +important, and almost four times as long as the former. Now, it is +possible that Nekôs undertook the first cutting either with the intention +of fertilising the extensive land round the Bitter lakes by the pouring +in of the Nile water, or thus to prepare for the second more difficult +cutting. We can easily imagine that the idea of connecting the two seas +must have been a very natural one to that same Nekôs, who, according to +Herodotus[293], caused Africa to be circumnavigated, and triremes to +be constructed for various enterprises, both on the Mediterranean Sea, +as well as on the Arabian Gulf[294]. The opinion of Letronne seems to +me, therefore, of little value, who imagined that he first borrowed the +idea from the plan of his cotemporary, PERIANDER, for cutting through +the Isthmus of Corinth. The reverse is evidently a much more probable +supposition, since the Greek plan was much more difficult to accomplish, +was less called for by necessity, and was conceived at a time in which, +probably, Egyptian hydraulic architects would have been employed, since +this profession had flourished for ages in Egypt, but nothing similar to +it had been accomplished in Greece. + +DARIUS must have certainly cut through the district between the sea +and the Bitter lakes, and thus have restored the first real connection +by water, between the sea and the Nile, for it existed in the time of +Herodotus, whatever Aristotle, Diodorus, and Strabo may say to the +contrary, who again transfer the old tradition about the fear of an +inundation from Sesostris to Darius. It was never possible, indeed, to +make a perfectly free connection, on account of the different height of +the water, and the ebb and flow of the Red Sea. I conjecture, therefore, +that Darius constructed a sluice at the inner extremity of the new canal, +where it discharges itself into the Bitter lakes, in order to protect the +inner waters and the adjacent fertile lands from the overflowing sea. +This was undoubtedly the most suitable point for such a work, since it +would not be so difficult as immediately on the sea. The passage through, +would be regulated by the level of the sea, which changes with the ebb +and flow of the tide, as must be the case with a simple sluice. + +But it is in the monuments that we again find the opinion most certainly +confirmed, that a passage existed here as early as the times of the +Persians. During the French expedition, the chief engineer, De Rozière, +discovered, on a military excursion from Suez, a heap of ruins in a +district which is not accurately defined, but which cannot have been +far from the southern extremity of the Bitter lakes, upon which were +scattered the remains of the statue of a _Persian_ king, and several +fragments of _cuneiform inscriptions_, all in red granite[295]. It +appears that no traveller has since visited this spot[296]. But how can +the existence of Persian ruins in this part of the isthmus be explained, +if they were not connected with the opening of the canal, situated there? +Besides this, the largest portion of the cuneiform writings mentioned +above contains precisely the name of King _Darius_, followed by the +addition _narpa vas-(arqa)_, _princeps magnus_, which is also found in +other inscriptions, from which we may deduce with certainty that this +king, whom the image also undoubtedly represented, took an active part +here. At all events it was only a narrow canal, and not constructed for +large ships. Therefore it might afterwards be again filled up with sand, +and fall into disuse, and, indeed, be so far forgotten that Aristotle +might imagine it had never been completed. + +PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS undertook its restoration. He appears to have had +the magnificent intention of restoring a connection by water between +the two seas for ships of war also. This alone explains the grand idea +of constructing a canal to the Bitter lakes, 100 feet wide, and 40 feet +deep, which would have been quite unnecessary for common ships of burden. +At the same time he constructed an artificial sluice, probably at the +point where the sea entered, where he also built the town Arsinoë. But +as Pliny expressly says, he only carried this work from the sea to the +Bitter lakes. It is only this canal that we must undoubtedly understand +by the ποταμὸς Πτολεμαῖος, _amnis Ptolemæus_, which, according to +Diodorus and Pliny, received its name from the second Ptolemy. The +immense difference between this canal and the two northern ones, is +visible in the plan of the French engineer[297], therefore it does not +even require the ingenious explanation of Letronne in order to understand +that it was impossible for Cleopatra, after the battle of Actium, to +cause ships of war to be brought from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, +except by land. + +With reference to this last work, Strabo mentions the PTOLEMAIC kings, +this, connected with the fact that the town of Arsinoë, since the +time of Strabo, is also mentioned under the name Κλεοπατρίς, leads to +the supposition that one of the last Ptolemies, or Cleopatra herself, +completed the workings on this canal, perhaps the sluices. + +The name ποταμὸς Τραϊανός, by which Letronne also understands the +whole connecting way as far as the sea[298], was undoubtedly as limited +as the name ποταμὸς Πτολεμαῖος. Ptolemy designedly neither mentions +Arsinoë or the sea; he says that Trajan’s canal flowed through Babylon +and Heroonpolis. This, therefore, refers to the canal, of which traces +are also still extant, which received its water much higher up than +the ancient one of Sesostris, namely, at Babylon, and was afterwards +conducted into it, and discharged itself with it into the basin of +Seba-Biar at Heroonpolis[299]. + +This geographical digression, whose length may be excused owing to the +peculiar interest of the subject, allows us now, as it seems to me, +to judge confidently on two points, which are important in a critical +examination of the Exodus of the Israelites. From the position of the two +towns, Abaris and Ramses—the former situated on the Mediterranean Sea, +near the mouth of the Pelusaic arm of the Nile, the latter half a degree +more to the south, and almost as much more west—it follows that the +Israelites, according to the Mosaic accounts, marched out of a different +town, as well as in a different direction, from that taken by the +unclean in the Manethonic narration. + +On the other hand, we have found that the town of Ramses derived its +name from the King Ramses-Miamun (Sesostris), by whom it was built, and +that the ancient Nile canal, on which it was situated, was constructed, +according to the Greek accounts, by Sesostris, _i. e._ Ramses-Miamun. It +is evident that these two works, that of the canal and that of the town, +are connected, and reciprocally corroborate each other. The new town was +occasioned by the canal being cut. This connection will be still more +apparent by two other facts. + +In the western part of the Delta there is a village which to this day +bears the same name as the town we are speaking of, namely, Ramses. This +village also, and its name, are of ancient date, which is proved by the +mound of ruins at that spot; and, what is still more important to us, +it is situated, like the eastern Ramses, on the border of an _ancient +canal_, which was conducted from the Canopic arm, and brought the water +of the Nile to Hermopolis Parva (Damanhur)[300]. The existence of +these ruins of Ramses appears to me alone to justify the very probable +supposition that this great western canal was also cut by Ramses-Miamun, +and that the royal constructor was worshipped as the eponymous divinity +in the town which was there built. It is evident that the Israelites +would not have been sent hither from Goshen in order to build _this_ +town[301]. + +Besides the eastern RAMSES, the Israelites also built the town of PITHOM. +The situation of this town cannot easily be mistaken. It has been long +recognised in the town of Πάτουμος, of which Herodotus speaks when he +says that the eastern Nile canal, which was conducted a little above +Bubastis, flowed past it[302], the Arabian town[303]. It was probably +situated opposite Bubastis (Tel Basta), on the border of the desert, and +at the entrance of the Wadi, through which the canal is led. The ancient +ruins of a town are found there under the name of _Tel el kebir_, and the +_Itinerarium Antonini_ places the town of _Thoum_, which has certainly +been properly recognised as the ancient town of _Tum_ Πά-τουμος[304], +exactly in that place, namely, upon the road from Heliopolis to Pelusium, +on the edge of the desert between Vicus Judæorum (Tel Jehudeh) and +Tacasartha (Salhîeh?). Now if the Coptic translation in the passage which +is cited from Gen. xlvi. 28, writes ⲡⲓⲑⲟⲙ in place of Heroonpolis, as +is translated by the Seventy, it does not mean that Pithom was believed +to be discovered in Heroonpolis, but that it was thought better to fix +the place at which Joseph went to meet Jacob at Pithom rather than at +Heroonpolis. + +PITHOM, therefore, was situated at one end, and RAMSES at the other, +of the ancient Nile canal, which was constructed by the great Pharaoh, +Ramses-Miamun, in the land of Goshen. Both were founded in consequence of +the new canal, and their direct connection in the Mosaic narrative, as +well as the statement that they were built by the _Israelites_, is most +decidedly confirmed by the geographical circumstances which have been +exhibited. Taking it in a general point of view, there can be no doubt +that the Israelites were chiefly settled in that very country, namely, +below Heliopolis, in the neighbourhood of Bubastis (Tel Basta) and of +the modern Belbês, where ruins are still extant called _Tel Jehudeh_; and +the Itinerarium Antonini cites a place called _Vicus Judæorum_, where, +finally, the Jewish temple of _Onias_ was built, probably at the Ὀνίου of +Ptolemy[305]. + +The inference we have arrived at, that if the Israelites built these +towns, they must have been still in Egypt in the reign of King Ramses, +who founded them, and that they could not have departed several centuries +previous, no longer rests upon the name of one single town, which might +be explained by an accidental inexactitude of the writer, or by a +confusion in dates[306], but upon the close connection of a series of +facts, which reciprocally support and explain one another. + +Hence the oppression took place more especially under Ramses, and +the Exodus resulting from it under his son and successor Menephthes. +According to the Mosaic narrative also, the Pharaoh by whom the towns +were built was a different one from that of the Exodus[307]. Moses only +returned from Midian upon hearing of the death of the first, and it seems +that the event of the Exodus was directly connected with the change of +government. + +Another proof of the correctness of our opinion, that, according to the +history of the Israelites, as recorded in the books of the Old Testament, +the Exodus cannot be fixed before the reign of the second Ramses, is +afforded by the accounts of the settlement of the Jews in Palestine. +It is well known, and most thoroughly confirmed by the monuments, and +the nearly contemporaneous Egyptian papyrus rolls, that Ramses-Miamun +attacked and conquered a great part of Asia, and probably during his +whole reign held under his dominion the adjoining lands, the peninsula of +Petræa, and all Palestine. We also see his father, Sethôs I., represented +upon the monuments in victorious warfare against the people of Syria, +among whom the Canaanites are expressly named. These were the most +glorious times in the whole Egyptian history. That they are nowhere +mentioned in the books of Joshua and Judges, while the numerous far +more transitory subjugations of the Israelites by the nations bordering +upon them are so fully recorded, appears, in fact, to be a fresh proof +that those warlike expeditions happened _before_ the Exodus of the +Israelites[308]. + +But it even appears as if the true epoch of Egyptian history in which +the Exodus of the Israelites occurred, has been preserved in late +Jewish traditions. I will at least bring forward one circumstance from +_Rabbinical chronology_, which deserves, perhaps, to be followed up by +those who are more familiar with this literature. + +This Jewish chronology, namely, deviates in a most striking manner from +every other, and as late as the times of the Persian kings it differs +no less than about 160 years from the recognised numbers. The different +authorities present few deviations among themselves. They reckon by +the years of the world, a mode of reckoning which, as Ideler[309] also +considers, most probably was first discovered, and gradually introduced, +by the Rabbi Hillel Hanassi, in the year 344 after Christ, simultaneously +with the whole of the present arrangement of the year among the Jews. +They place the Creation 3761 years before Christ, and till the time of +Joseph they agree perfectly with the customary mode of reckoning in the +Hebrew text. They fix the Flood 1656 years after Adam; Abraham’s birth +1948; Isaac’s 2048; Jacob’s 2108; Joseph’s 2199; Jacob’s march to Egypt +2238; Joseph’s death 2309. It is only when they come to Moses that they +immediately deviate about 210 years, because, following the precedent of +Josephus and others, they reckon the 400 years of the sojourn in Egypt +from the birth of Isaac, and not from the entrance of Jacob[310]. They +fix the birth of Moses at 2368, and his Exodus at 2448 after the Creation. + +_But this year 2448 of their era corresponds with the year 1314 [-1313]_ +B.C.[311], and therefore, according to the Manethonic chronology, occurs +in the time of King Menephthes, who reigned nineteen years, therefore +the _same_ king whom the Egyptian annals called the King of the Exodus. +Besides this, the latter tell us of a flight of thirteen years which +the king made into Ethiopia. If this flight took place, as it probably +did, in the first or second year after the change of government, he must +have returned and driven away the lepers in the fourteenth or fifteenth +year of his reign. _But the year 1314 is exactly the fifteenth year of +Menephthes_, according to the Manethonic calculation. + +This coincidence is certainly striking, but might possibly be only +accidental, if other circumstances were not added to it. For instance, +the same Jewish chronology places the building of the temple by Solomon, +according to the 1 Kings vi. 1, about 480 years after the Exodus, +therefore 2928 = 834 B.C., the march of Shishak against Rehoboam 2969 = +793, that of Zerah against Asa 2998 = 764, the banishment of Israel 3205 += 557, the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar 3338 = 424, +Darius (Hystaspes) 3406 = 356, the building of the second Temple 3408 = +354. These, as well as the intervening numbers, which I omit here, are +all of them about 165 years too late. But from this place the correct +dates are suddenly restored; Alexander of Macedon is placed 3442 = 320, +therefore only sixteen years too late; his government of the world, and a +march which he is said to have made to Jerusalem, 3448 = 314; his death +3454 = 308, and so forth. + +About this time, the Jews being subject to the Syrian government, +adopted the Syrian _Era of the Seleucidæ_, which was called by them the +“Era of the Greeks,” or, on account of its being used in civil affairs, +“the Era of Contracts.” Its commencement happens, as is well known, in +the year 312 before Christ, and we find it adopted in the Book of the +Maccabees[312]. This era is also mentioned in the rabbinical chronology, +and is _quite correctly_ placed by the more ancient authorities in the +year of the world 3450 = 312 B.C.[313] If Ganz[314], in place of this, +gives the year 3448 = 314, it is evidently either an arbitrary change, +or perhaps first devised by him for the sake of the exact period of a +thousand years between the Exodus (2448) and the new era (3448). This +connection that subsisted between the two numbers to form a monarchy +of a thousand years’ duration, was not in fact very remote; we should +only have expected that the number of the Exodus would rather have +been advanced two years, in conformity with the fixed and universally +introduced era of the Seleucidæ, and not, on the contrary, that the +latter should be sent so far back. But the number 2448 was left standing, +which still more indicates a determinate selection of this year, +independent of a cyclical or arbitrary arrangement. + +There is proof also that the Rabbis did not alter the commencement of the +Seleucidic Era, in the circumstance, that it has retained its correct +place in chronology, in spite of the universal displacement in the +chain of events. According to that displacement, Alexander first began +to reign 3442 = 320, and died in 3454 = 308. The beginning of the new +era, therefore, according to this, happened in the reign of Alexander +himself, who in reality had been dead twenty-one years at the time of the +battle of Gaza, which occasioned the new era. In consequence of these +contradictions the _number_ was retained, and the _event_ was changed +to agree with it, since the introduction of the era of Seleucus was +transferred to Alexander, and connected with an account of his presence +in Jerusalem, which is otherwise only mentioned by Josephus[315], and the +so-called Barbarus of Scaliger[316]. + +But the question is, how we can reconcile the remarkable displacement +of events with the true numbers? IDELER has shown that we must refer +the first establishment of the era of the world, and consequently the +foundation of the whole chronological system that we are considering, +to the author of the Moleds, or new moons, and particularly of the late +Jewish calendars, therefore to the Rabbi Hillel, in the first half of +the fourth century. In the time of Eusebius, and Theon of Alexandria, +people could not possibly be so completely ignorant of the history of +the last centuries before Christ, as the rabbinical chronology supposed. +It was least to be believed of such a learned mathematician, astronomer, +and chronologist, as we imagine the reformer of the Jewish calendar to +have been, who founded it upon the nineteenth-yeared cycle of Meton and +Calippus[317]. + +It appears to me, therefore, that the following acceptation is alone +possible, which I would at least recommend to the closer examination of +well-versed labourers in Jewish antiquities. The Talmud contains very +few chronological dates, and nothing justifies us in the belief that the +learned HILLEL had already given a chronological view of the events, as +we afterwards find them. But he must have necessarily had some resting +points for his technical chronological works, if he desired to connect +his present with the past, and even with the Creation. It could not have +been difficult to find these resting points at that time, so soon after +Africanus; the best authorities were still open to him. But the Exodus +from Egypt must have been his most important point, for previous to that +event the numbers in the Pentateuch were clear, and without mistakes. +It was only necessary for him to decide between the two different views +concerning the period between Jacob and Moses. The numbers after the +Exodus were much more uncertain, as the calculations of Josephus have +already proved. On the other hand, the well-known era of the Seleucidæ, +which was at that time still in use, naturally formed another fixed point +which he could not avoid. Under these circumstances, every clever and +mathematically educated chronologist, would be compelled to connect the +date of the Exodus with the only certain and astronomically verified +Egyptian chronology. If the ERA of KING MENEPHTHES, and the exact +year of its commencement was familiar to the mathematician, Theon of +Alexandria, who lived at a later period, must it not have been equally +well known to the astronomer Hillel? But nothing more was necessary to +determine the date of the _Exodus_, which took place _under the same King +Menephthes_[318]. + +We should not therefore be surprised to see, even at that time, the +perfectly correct acceptation of the year 2448 for the Exodus. It was, +at all events, impossible to determine the year of the Creation without +having obtained the two periods of the Seleucidic Era, and of the Exodus. + +On the other hand, it is very improbable that Hillel set to work as +Ideler[319] imagines he did. He says “that Hillel evidently started +from the beginning of the Seleucidic Era, which was at that time +still universally employed by the Jews, the autumn of the year B.C. +312. Reckoning from this point backwards, he made the next epoch the +_destruction_ of the first Temple, and placed it only 112 years earlier +than the Seleucidic Era, counting about 150 years too little, so that +he advanced Nebuchadnezzar to the times of Artaxerxes I. Whilst he thus +went back still farther to the building of the first Temple, to the +Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, to the Flood, and to the Creation, +following partly the express statements of time in the Bible, partly his +own explanation of it, he found the beginning of the year, 3450 of the +world, to be the epoch of the _Minjan schtaroth_.” As we said before, it +was perfectly _impossible_ for a scholar of the fourth century to make +such a gross mistake of nearly 160 years at that late period. But it +is easily explained, if we believe that after the great gap in Jewish +literature, which commenced at the conclusion of the Talmud, about the +year 500, and which lasted to the eighth century, the Rabbis had adopted +those few correct chronological periods fixed by Hillel, and now first +undertook to fill up their history of the world, which comprised 5000 +years, according to the statements of the Old Testament. In fact, we find +neither in the Talmud, nor even in the first writings of the rabbis, +which succeed the Talmud, _e. g._ in the _Seder Olam Rabah_, one of the +oldest of those writings, the full chronological details, some extracts +of which we have seen above. It appears to have been first completed in +the twelfth century, therefore in the period of a scientific barbarism, +which had been long introduced. It was only necessary to follow the +numbers of the Pentateuch from the Creation to the Flood, and to the +Exodus, in order to obtain the given year 2448 = 1314. The convenient +number 480 years, down to the building of the Temple, in the first Book +of Kings, was afterwards immediately adopted, and the chronology of the +times of the Judges adapted to it. But hereby the historical event next +following was at the same time displaced to about the 160-170 years we +have mentioned, and drew with it the displacement of all the succeeding +events. It first became apparent at the next fixed point, about the year +3450 = 312, that the chain of events was far too long for the stated +interval, from the building of the first to the second Temple. Therefore, +the period from the erection of the second Temple, built under Darius +Hystaspes, to the time of Alexander, to which was given the name of the +Grecian Era[320], was cut down without ceremony from 184 years into 34 +years. This raised no obstacle at first, but afterwards occasioned many +difficulties, until these also were got rid of by the simple expedient of +taking Darius II. and III for one and the same person. Only thus can we +explain the peculiar phenomena of an entirely displaced and afterwards +mutilated chronology, in which, however, there appears two fixed points +alone correct, and which afford us at the same time the important, and +probably the most exact, determination of the Exodus by a truly learned +chronologist of the fourth century[321]. + +Viewing it, therefore, from this side, we return to the opinion, that the +great stumbling-block to the whole of the chronology hitherto adopted +for the Old Testament was the number 480 years, which was calculated as +the period between the Exodus and the building of the Temple mentioned +in the first Book of Kings[322]. As soon as we set this aside, regarding +it only as a supplementary multiple of twelve generations, or segments +of 40 years each, the Hebrew and Egyptian chronologies are no longer +opposed to each other with reference to the time of the Exodus. All the +other intimations we meet with in the Hebrew accounts, and their whole +connection, demand, on the contrary, precisely the same time, which we +find unequivocally stated in the Egyptian annals of Manetho. + +The question now is, whether along with this number 480, to which we +can attribute no greater importance than to the simple number _forty_, +so often repeated in the history of Israel at that period, we must also +give up as valueless every other chronological measure of the events +immediately succeeding the Exodus. But this is so little the case, that, +on the contrary, in the true chronological scale which the Mosaic +writings furnish, we find a fresh refutation of the opinions hitherto +adopted, and a confirmation of the Egyptian statements. We look upon the +REGISTER OF GENERATIONS as this scale. + +I am not aware whether these numerous family records have ever been fully +placed under _one_ point of view, and estimated as a whole in their +great chronological significance, in the same way as they have certainly +frequently been used for separate purposes and divisions of time. Such a +survey would very much increase the importance of the separate lists, and +facilitate their application to chronological determinations. + +It is well known how in the East at all times, and even to this day, the +register of generations and genealogies is orally transmitted, with a +wonderful fidelity and completeness, through the memories of perfectly +illiterate and frequently even now nomadic races. The Arabian races are +especially noted for this, and their historical recollections are often +almost entirely limited to this dry register. I have met with many such +pedigrees in the upper districts of the Nile, south of the province +of Dongola, among the Arabs who immigrated there from the west, these +being the only written remains of their past, which inform us of their +immigration and distribution in those districts. But these lists of names +are still more to be depended upon among those nations of antiquity, who, +like the Egyptians and the Hebrews, were a literary people, and were +accustomed to preserve in writing these sacred bequests of individual +families. On the rock of the Kosser-road, in the eastern desert of Egypt, +I found a hieroglyphical inscription belonging to the time shortly +before the first Persian dominion, in which a chief architect of the +country, named Ranumhet, carries back his direct ancestors as far as the +twenty-fourth generation, to an ancestral mother Nofratmu, who, according +to a rough calculation, must have lived about the end of the 19th +Dynasty, therefore about the time of Moses. + +But the Israelites particularly, above all the nations of antiquity, +appear to have laid the greatest stress upon the register of +generations, lists of names, and general enumerations of tribes and +generations. The writings of the Old Testament are full of them, +especially all the historical books; and the care and exactitude which +was expended upon the general preparation of these lists, is evident to +the reader. The peculiar destiny of the Israelitish people, firmly bound +together, always separating themselves most rigorously from strangers, +yet frequently transplanted in masses from one country to another, and +settled amidst other nations, enables us perfectly to comprehend this +universal attention to an authentic register of generations. We find +it stated that they were already twice numbered[323] in the desert; +for which purpose the whole people were collected together, and were +entered in the registers of the births “by their generations, after +their families, according to the number of the names, from twenty years +and upwards, and by their polls.” On their return from exile it is +particularly observed that some of the wanderers could not trace their +genealogy[324]. Among these were several priests’ families, of whom it +is said, “These sought the register of their generations, but it was not +found, and, therefore, they were _rejected_ from the priesthood[325].” It +follows from this that the priests of the tribe of Levi were obliged by +law to preserve and continue the register of their generations. This law +must naturally only have existed since the Exodus, and, therefore, when +Josephus[326] asserts that the High priests possessed written registers +of their generations, as far back as 2000 years, this is, indeed, +connected with his opinion about the early epoch of the Exodus; it shows, +however, that they were brought down to his time, which is, indeed, also +confirmed by the register of the generations of Jesus Christ[327]. + +We need no further justification, therefore, for placing great value +upon the successive generations, and for discovering in them the _true +chronological thread_ for those times during which more exact reliable +statements are wanting. We fortunately possess a whole array of +genealogies for the period between the Exodus and the building of the +Temple; and, indeed, principally generations of priests, which go back as +far as Levi, and are, therefore, from the reasons we have stated above, +the most to be depended upon. Altogether, _five_ different generations of +the Levites may be distinguished; some obscurities have crept into our +text, which probably happened at the time it assumed its present form, +since they are found also in the Septuagint; it seems, however, that they +may easily be removed[328]. + +The following is a survey of the principal genealogies, in which the +_Levitical generations_ preserve the order in which they are cited, +1 Chron. vii.[329] This is preceded by the genealogical succession, +according to Josephus, from _Levi_ to _Zadok_, and by his series of +_High priests_ from _Aaron_ to _Zadok_. Lastly, there follows a table of +the generations of _Judah_. On the other hand, we have excluded other +genealogies; _e. g._ the three of _Ephraim_; Num. xxvi. 35; 1 Chron. vii. +20, 21, 24-27[330]; because they are evidently confused, and lead to no +result[331]. + + +THE GENERATIONS OF THE JEWS FROM ABRAHAM TO DAVID. + + +-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------+ + | The Heads of the People | The Succession of the | The Ancestors of| + | from Abraham to David. | High Priests to Zadok, | Zadok, according| + | | according to Josephus, | to Josephus, | + | | A. J. 5, 11, 5. | A. J. 8, 1, 3. | + +-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------+ + | 1. Abraham 100 or 30| | | + | 2. Isaac 100 30| | | + | --- | | | + | 200 | | | + | 3. Jacob 100 30| | | + | --| | | + | 90| | | + | | | | + | 1. Levi 100 30| | 1. Λευί. | + | 2. Kohath 100 30| | 2. Κάαθος. | + | 3. Amram 100 30| | 3. Ἀμαράμης. | + | --- --| | | + | 400 90| | | + | | | | + | 1. Moses 40 | 1. Ἀαρών 30| 1. Ἀαρών 30| + | 2. Joshua 40 | 2. Ἐλεαζάρης 30| 2. Ἐλεαζάρης 30| + | 3. Othniel 40 | 3. Φινεέσης 30| 3. Φινεέσης 30| + | 4. Ehud 40 | 4. Ἀβιεζέρης 30| 4. Ἰώσηπος 30| + | 5. Shamgar 40 | 5. Βουκί 30| 5. Βοκκίας 30| + | 6. Barak 40 | 6. Ὅζις 30| 6. Ἰώθαμος 30| + | 7. Gideon 40 | 7. Ἠλεί 30| 7. Μαραίωθος 30| + | 8. Jephthah 40 | 8. (Φινεέσης) 30| 8. Ἀροφαῖος 30| + | 9. Samson 40 | 9. Ἰοχάβης 30| 9. Ἀχίτωβος 30| + |10. Eli 40 |10. Ἀχιμέλεχος = Ἀχίας 30|10. Σάδωκος 30| + |11. Samuel Saul 40 |11. Ἁβιάθαρος with 30| | + |12. David 40 | Σάδωκος | | + | --- | ---| ---| + | 480 | 330| 300| + +-------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------+ + + +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + | I. | II. | III. | + | | | | + | The Generation |The Generation of|The Generation of| + | of Aaron. | Gershom-Libni. |Kohath-Amminadab.| + | 1 Chron. vii. |1 Chron. vii. 20,| 1 Chron. vii. | + | 1-9, 50-53. | 21. ( = VIII.) | 22-24. ( = VI.) | + | Ezra vii. 2-5. | | | + +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + | 1. Levi | 1. Levi | 1. [Levi] | + | 2. Kohath | 2. Gershom | 2. Kohath | + | 3. Amram | 3. Libni | 3. Amminadab | + | | | | + | 1. _Aaron_ 30| 1. (Jahath) | 1. Korah 30| + | 2. _Eleazar_ 30| 2. Zimmah | 2. Assir 30| + | 3. _Phinehas_ 30| 3. Joah | 3. Elkanah 30| + | 4. _Abishua_ 30| 4. Iddo | 4. Ebiasaph 30| + | 5. _Bukki_ 30| 5. Zerah | 5. Assir 30| + | 6. _Uzzi_ 30| 6. Jeaterai | 6. Tahath 30| + | 7. Zerahiah 30| | 7. Uriel 30| + | 8. Meraioth 30| | 8. Uzziah 30| + | 9. Amariah 30| | 9. Saul 30| + |10. Ahitub 30| |10. (Jonathan) 30| + |11. _Zadok_ 30| | | + | ---| | ---| + | 330| | 300| + +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + + +---------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ + | IV. | V. | VI. VII. | + | | | | + | The | The | The Ancestors of Heman | + | Generation of | Generation of | | | + | Elkanah-Amasai. | Merari-Mahli. | from Izhar. | from Amasai. | + | 1 Chron. vii. | 1 Chron. | 1 Chron. vii. | 1 Chron. vii. | + | 25-28.( = VII.) | vii. 29-30. | 36-38. (= III.)| 33-36. (= IV.)| + +---------------------+---------------+----------------+---------------+ + | 1. [Levi] | 1. Levi | 1. Levi | 1. [Levi] | + | 2. Elkanah | 2. Merari | 2. Kohath | 2. Elkanah | + | 3. Amasai (and) | 3. Mahli | 3. Izhar | 3. Amasai | + | | | | | + | 1. Ahimoth 30| 1. Libni | 1. Korah 30| 1. Mahath 30| + | 2. Elkanah 30| 2. Shimei | 2. [Assir] 30| 2. Elkanah 30| + | 3. Elkanah Zophai 30| 3. Uzza | 3. [Elkanah] 30| 3. Zuph 30| + | 4. Nahath 30| 4. Shimea | 4. Ebiasaph 30| 4. Toah 30| + | | | | (Thohu) | + | 5. Eliab 30| 5. Haggiah | 5. Assir 30| 5. Eliel 30| + | | | | (Elihu) | + | 6. Jeroham 30| 6. Asaiah | 6. Tahath 30| 6. Jeroham 30| + | 7. Elkanah 30| | 7. Zephaniah 30| 7. Elkanah 30| + | 8. Samuel 30| | 8. Azariah 30| 8. Shemuel 30| + | 9. Vashni 30| | 9. Joel 30| 9. Joel 30| + |10. --- 30| |10. [Heman] 30|10. Heman 30| + | ---| | ---| ---| + | 300| | 300| 300| + +---------------------+---------------+----------------+---------------+ + + +--------------------+--------------------+------------------------+ + | VIII. | IX. | | + | | | | + | The Ancestors of | The Ancestors of | The Ancestors of | + | Asaph from Jahath, | Ethan from Mushi. | David from Judah. | + |1 Chron. vii. 39-43.|1 Chron. vii. 44-17.| Ruth iv. 18. 1 Chron. | + | (= II.) | |ii. 4-13. Gos. Matth. i.| + | | | 3-6. Luke iii. 32, 33. | + +--------------------+--------------------+------------------------+ + | 1. Levi | 1. Levi | 1. Judah | + | 2. Gershom | 2. Merari | | + | 3. (Jahath) | 3. Mushi | 2. Pharez | + | | | | + | 1. Shimei 30| 1. Mahli 30| 1. Hezron 30| + | 2. Zimmah 30| 2. Shamer 30| 2. Ram 30| + | 3. Ethan 30| 3. Bani 30| 3. Amminadab 30| + | 4. Adaiah 30| 4. Amzi 30| 4. Nahshon 30| + | 5. Zerah 30| 5. Hilkiah 30| 5. Salmon 30| + | 6. Ethni 30| 6. Amaziah 30| 6. Boaz 30| + | 7. Malchiah 30| 7. Hashabiah 30| 7. Obed 30| + | 8. Baaseiah 30| 8. Malluch 30| 8. Jesse 30| + | 9. Michael 30| 9. Abdi 30| 9. David 30| + |10. Shimea 30|10. Kishi 30| | + |11. Berachiah 30|11. Ethan 30| | + |12. Asaph 30| | | + | ---| ---| ---| + | 360| 330| 270| + +--------------------+--------------------+------------------------+ + +The first column contains after the patriarchs from Abraham to Amram, +the 12 heads of the people, commencing with Moses, who appear to have +been regarded as the representations of 12 generations of 40 years each, +and thence to have occasioned the calculation of 480 years. Ewald[332], +as well as Bertheau[333], gives another list, because, on the whole, +the subject admits of no exactitude; the common acknowledgment of +the division of the period into twelve parts is alone of importance +to us. But one (VIII.) of the genealogies we have quoted (1 Chron. +vii. 39-43[334]) contains twelve generations of _one and the same +family_[335]. It is possible, therefore, that this succession, rather +than that uncertain division, gave occasion to the 480 years. It was, +besides, distinguished from the others by being continued through +_Gershom_, the _First-born of Levi_. But the _principal lineage_ of the +Levites was that of the high priests, who were descended from Aaron and +Kohath (I.); this contains, as well as that of Mushi (IX.), only 11 +generations. This might therefore be the reason why the Seventy only +reckoned 440 years[336]. + +In the Chronicles the _second_ succession of Levites is closely connected +with the third[337]. But in the Hebrew as well as in the Greek text +a distinct pause is made at verse 22, after _Jeaterai_. The author +begins again: “_The son of Kohath; Amminadab, his son; Korah, his +son_[338];” and so on. The Seventy even write the plural υἱοὶ Καάθ. A +new succession therefore undoubtedly begins here, and we must consider +the portion from Gershom to Jeaterai as an incomplete genealogy inserted +here, which evidently runs parallel to the first part of our _eighth_ +Levitical series[339]. _Kohath_, who succeeds Jeaterai, was also a son +of _Levi_, and the names which follow, clearly show that it ought to +be the same series as our _sixth_. That the third and sixth series are +really identical follows from the name of the grandson of Kohath being +_Korah_, which recurs in both, and also from the three successive names, +_Ebiasaph_, _Assir_, _Tahath_, also recurring. The eighth name, Uzziah, +is also undoubtedly the same name as Azariah in the other text; for the +very same change of both names is again found afterwards in the King +of Judah, the son of Amaziah, who is called Azariah eight times in the +same chapter (2 Kings xv.) and is afterwards three times called by his +usual name, Uzziah[340]. I have not, therefore, hesitated to fill up the +two names of Assir and Elkanah which were wanting after Korah[341] in +the _sixth_ series, as the _third_ series is, on the whole, most to be +depended on. It has undoubtedly been retained on account of the last name +of _Saul_, whom we must consider to be no other than _King_ Saul, whose +generation indeed is usually (1 Sam. ix. 1) carried back through Kish and +Aphiah, with an interruption, to Benjamin, but here again also presents +difficulties and appears in general to have been disputed. + +But the _sixth_ series does not conclude in the Chronicles with _Joel_, +but is continued into our _seventh_, and no text appears to indicate +that there is a pause. Yet the correctness of our division here also, +will hardly be found doubtful. It would be quite impossible to believe +that among six genealogies one alone could have been _as long again_ +as all the others; for if we omitted the two restored members of the +sixth series, we should still retain nineteen members in place of ten +or eleven, as in the other genealogies. We should therefore still feel +obliged to believe there was a mistake, even though unable to point it +out. But, upon a further investigation, it explains itself. + +It is very apparent that we have the same genealogies in the _fourth_ +series as in the _seventh_, although there appears to be several +deviations in the manner the names are written, and in some passages +completely different names. Let us now see how the _fourth_ series is +introduced in the Chronicles. The first part of the seventh chapter (in +the Hebrew text made the sixth) brings prominently forward, apart from +the other genealogies, that of the generations of the high priests, which +goes back through Aaron, Amram, and Kohath, to Levi. The generations +of the other Levites are afterwards designated, and indeed in _two_ +divisions. The _first_ proceeds from the _first-born_ of the sons of +Levi, in which, nevertheless, in the race of Kohath, _Amram_ has already +been removed from the series, and _Amminadab_, _i. e._ _Izhar_, takes +his place; the _second_ goes upwards from the three songsters of David, +Heman, Assaph, and Ethan, as far back as the grandchildren of Levi. The +ancestors of _Heman_ come first, because a _first-born grandson_ of +Levi stands at the head, _Izhar_, _i. e._ _Amminadab_, whose generation +was therefore already mentioned among those of the first-born grandsons +(III.). The ancestors of _Assaph_ and of _Ethan_ succeed, because +later-born grandsons of Levi stand at the head, who are again arranged in +the succession of the sons of Levi. + +There is here a strict and duly considered rule, which is made evident by +the following survey: + + LEVI. + | + +-----------------+-+-----------------+--------------+ + | | | | + 1. _Gershom._ 2. _Kohath._ 3. _Elkanah._ 4. _Merari._ + | | | | + | I. 1. Amram. | | + | | | | + | 1. Aaron. 2. Moses. | | + | | | + | III. } | | + II. 1. Libni. VI. } 2. Amminadab-Izhar. | | + | | + IV. } | | + VIII. 2. Jahath-Shimei. 3. Hebron. VII. } 1. Amasai. V. 1. Mahli. + 4. Uzziah. + 2. Ahimoth. IX. 2. Mushi. + +This certainty presupposes what has been already assumed here, that +_Elkanah_ was a _son of Levi_, and, indeed, the THIRD son, although in +former passages he is not cited as among the sons of Levi. Little is +proved by this omission, for there are many such cases, and in this very +chapter, v. 43, _Jahath_ is called a son of _Gershom_, although in v. 17 +he is not cited among the sons of Gershom[342]. In such cases, certainly, +the conjecture still remains which we admitted above, p. 464, in the +case of Jahath, that one name has been _substituted_ for another, as, +without doubt, occurs in many cases; and therefore some might prefer +here to suppose _Elkanah_ the same person as _Kohath_, Zuph (VII.) as a +later Elkanah (IV.), Toah (VII.) as Nahath (IV.), Azariah (VI.) as Uzziah +(III.), Joel (VII.) as Vashni (IV.), Laadan as Libni, &c. However, this +seems very improbable here. In the chapter we allude to the children of +Gershom-Libni are first stated in the series of the first-born, then +the children of Kohath-Amminadab, then the children of Elkanah-Amasai, +lastly the children of Merari-Mahli. Elkanah is, therefore, evidently +also placed between _Kohath_ and _Merari_, as one of the _first-born_. +If _Elkanah_, the head of this family, were no other than the _Elkanah_ +previously mentioned in v. 23, the son of _Assir_, this whole genealogy +would not belong here, which is evident from the arrangement we have +given above. + +But the same arrangement proves that the first part of the genealogy of +_Heman_, our _sixth_ series[343], concludes with the same _Joel_ who in +the second part in our _seventh_ series appears as the father of _Heman_; +that, consequently, we have to complete the end of the _sixth_ series +with the name of Heman again; in short, that we have before us, in place +of one of double length, _two_ single genealogies of _Heman_, which +spring from his father by different grandfathers[344]. + +So much for the generations of Levi from the Hebrew text. With respect to +the genealogical succession from Levi to Zadok, according to Josephus, it +corresponds with our first Levitical series, but does not entirely agree +with it. According to Josephus, the generations belonging here would be +as follows: + + Ἀαρών. + +-----------------------------+ + | | + 1. Ἐλεαζάρης. Ἰθάμαρος. + 2. Φινεέσης. | + | + +------------ | + | | + Ἰώσηπος. 3. Ἀβιεζέρης. | + Βοκκίας. 4. Βουκί. | + Ἰώθαμος. 5. Ὄζις. | + | + (Meraioth =) Μαραίωθος. 6. Ἠλεί. + Ἀροφαῖος. Φινεέσης. + (Ahitub =) Ἀχίτωβος. 7. Ἰοχάβης. + 10. Σάδωκος. 8. Ἀχιμέλεχος. + 9. Ἀβιάθαρος. + +But the Hebrew series is not only supported by three passages, but it +has also more internal probability than that of Josephus. For Βοκκίας +and Βουκί seem to differ but little, and since Zadok and Abiathar are +cotemporary, a name appears to be wanting in the series of Σάδωκος, which +is given in the Hebrew series[345]. + +In our series of the successions of the _High priests_ φινεέσης is an +interposition, because the pontificate passed immediately from Eli to his +grandson. + +The genealogy of _Judah_, which we have added, is at the same time the +table of the generation of _David_. It is the shortest of all, but ought +not therefore to be regarded with suspicion. We must place _Hezron_ +equal with _Moses_, although only _one generation_ is given between +him and Judah, for it is said of him (1 Chron. ii. 24) that he died at +Caleb-Ephratah, therefore after the entrance into Palestine, and that +his wife, Abiah, had a son after his death. Therefore there only remains +_Judah_ and _Pharez_ for the Egyptian time. This need not surprise us, +since _Pharez_ was only born to _Judah_ by _Thamar_ after she had been +already the wife of his sons; _Pharez_ is, therefore, both the son and +the _grandson_ of _Judah_. There remain nine generations for the period +from the Exodus to the building of the Temple; but here, also, we know at +least concerning the last name, _David_, that he was the _seventh_ son of +his father. + +If we now review the collected series of our table, we find among them +_eight_ different and complete series, namely, besides six tribes of +Levi, the tribe of _Judah_, and the series of the High priests. Of these, +_one_ contains 12 names, _three_ of them 11, _three_ 10, and _one_ 9. +This gives as a mean number exactly ten and a half generations. + +If we inquire the mean number for the years of a generation, we must not +think of the Hebrew number 40. It is evidently too high a number, and +was only sometimes conferred by the Hebrews on the generations, because +it had been long used by them for undetermined quantities as a round and +sacred number. + +The 33⅓rd years also of the Egyptian generations, according to Herodotus +(ii. 142), was rather a subdivision of the _century_ than a calculation +of the real succession of generations. The longest series, from which we +could obtain a mean number, are the _series of kings_. But we can obtain +no scale even from them. The kings of Judah only reigned on an average +nineteen years, those of Israel only twelve years. Successions of reigns +are, however, always shorter than generations, and in Judah seven out +of twenty kings were killed, or expelled; in Israel, fully half out of +twenty. We shall therefore approach much nearer the truth if we adopt the +_Greek_ acceptation[346] of thirty years for a generation, in which we +only follow most of the modern scholars. + +Admitting this, ten or eleven generations would amount to 300 or 330 +years, and if we place _Solomon_ about the year 1000, the genealogies +would lead us to 1300 or 1330 years before Christ, which most perfectly +agrees with our earlier results, since, according to Manetho, we believe +we ought to place _Menephthes_ 1328-1309. The _Rabbinical_ date of the +Exodus is B.C. 1314, exactly between 1300 and 1330, upon which of course +no more importance is to be laid than is allowable by the indeterminate +factors of the calculation. At any rate the whole discussion leads to +this, that the _genealogies_, the only trustworthy although less exact +chronological thread of those Hebrew times, speak as decidedly against +the calculation hitherto adopted of 480 years, as in favour of our +calculation of, about, 300 years. This agreement appears to me of the +greatest importance in judging both the Egyptian as well as the Jewish +history. + +But if, finally, we look at the numbers in the Book of Judges, we have +already seen that, according to the usual mode of reckoning, they are +by no means found to agree immediately with any other chronological +acceptation; still the chronological character of many separate numbers +cannot be mistaken, and we may at least expect that, from our point of +view also, a simple solution must present itself, which would release +the statements of numbers in the Book of Judges from the contradictions +in which, as hitherto interpreted, they have stood with the Manethonic +chronology. + +Bunsen[347] gives us a survey of this period. He compares the “Time of +Foreign Rule and Anarchy” with the “Time of the Judges and of Peace.” +For the former he puts 3 _x_ + 111 years, for the latter, including +the monarchical time to the building of the Temple, 4 _x_ + 442 years. +He considers the first, less historical than the last (p. 212), and +supposes that the number 480 is perhaps formed out of the latter 442. +At all events, he believes we must start from this number. But I should +prefer an entirely different combination, which promises to lead sooner +to a result. If we place the uncertain and round numbers upon one side, +and the remaining on the other side, we shall obtain the following +survey[348]: + + INDETERMINATE NUMBERS. | HISTORICAL NUMBERS. + -------------------------------------+--------------------------------- + 40. Years in the Desert. | + | + _x_ _Joshua_ (25, according to | + Josephus, A. J. V. 1, 29). | + | + _x_ Successors to Joshua (Joshua | + xxiv. 31). | + | + 40. _Othniel_ (Judg. iii. 11). | 8. under Mesopotamia (Judg. + | iii. 8.) + | + | 18. under the Moabites (Judg. + 80. _Ehud_ (Judg. iii. 30; according | iii. 14). + to the Seventy 40). | + | + _x_ _Shamgar._ | + | + | 20. under the Canaanites (Judg. + | iv. 3. This Period happens, + 40. _Deborah_ (Judg. iv. 4) and | according to Judg. iv. 4, + _Barak_ (Judg. v. 1, 31). | perhaps under Deborah). + | + 40. _Gideon_ (Judg. viii. 28). | 7. under the Midianites (Judg. + | vi. 1). + | + | 3. _Abimelech_ (Judg. ix. 22). + | 23. _Tola_ (Judg. x. 2). + | 22. _Jair_ (Judg. x. 3). + | 18. Philistines (Judg. x. 8). + | 6. _Jephthah_ (Judg. xii. 7). + | 7. _Ibzan_ (Judg. xii. 9). + | 10. _Elon_ (Judg. xii. 11). + | 8. _Abdon_ (Judg. xii. 14). + | --- + 40. Philistines (Judg. xiii. 1). | 150 + | + 20. _Samson_ (in the time of the | + Philistines, Judg. xv. 20, | + xvi. 31). | + | + _x_ Anarchy (Judg. xvii. 6, xviii. | + 1, xix. 1, xxi. 25). | + | + 40. _Eli_ (1 Sam. iv. 18). | + | + 20. _Saul_ (1 Sam. vii. 1, 2; | + compare iv. 18, vi. 1; 2 Sam. | + vi. 3; 1 Chron. xiv. 3. | + According to Acts xiii. 21, | + Jos. A. J. VI. 14, 9, Saul | + reigned 40 years). | + | + 40. _David_ (2 Sam. v. 4, 5; 1 | + Kings, ii. 11). | + -------------------------------------+--------------------------------- + 14 times _x_ × 12 years = 168. 150 + 168 = 318 years. + +From this juxtaposition alone we obtain a threefold division of the +whole period. In the first division we see from the time of Joshua the +determinate and indeterminate numbers alternating almost regularly (for +_Shamgar_ appears to be included in _Ehud’s_ higher number, and therefore +to have no number himself), and the historical numbers are certainly +not ascribed here to the separate personages, but to the period of the +oppression, therefore the whole time appears to have been one of contest +and startling revolts, which, by means of a succession of powerful men, +ends at length in a victorious assertion of their own dominion. + +This second period commences with Abimelech, and is only once interrupted +by the government of the Philistines. Here there is a real succession of +events and separate governments, and therefore no round numbers. + +The third division begins with a new, and, as it appears, a far longer +oppression by the Philistines, in which the narrative of _Sampson_ only +forms a passing episode. It seems to me that the anarchical times, which +are entirely omitted by others, are connected with this oppression, and, +although there is no date, that they were of considerable duration. They +form, in a certain degree, the real conclusion of the time of the Judges. +The new, the regal time, begins with Eli, which is always alluded to in +the time of the anarchy. Before the time of Eli the historical thread +was broken; from his time it continues uninterrupted. Eli prepares the +way for the kings. Samuel grows up under him, and his first action after +the death of Eli seems to have been to anoint _Saul_ as king. He appears +to have continued his _office of judge_ under Saul, whom he has rather +chosen as a _general_, as he also afterwards anoints _David_ as king. +This may be the reason why no time is ascribed to him; the Ark of the +Covenant, which was taken as booty in the conquest of Mizpah by the +Philistines, and was retained for seven months (1 Sam. vi. 1), was thus +brought to Kirjath-Jearim, shortly before Saul’s elevation; remained +there twenty years (1 Sam. vii. 2), and was first brought away from that +place at the elevation of David (2 Sam. vi. 3), “_for we inquired not at +it in the days of Saul_” (1 Chron. xiii. 3). + +If we now add up the historical numbers, we shall obtain 150 years, so +that there is on an average 12 years for each of the twelve governments. +Now if we apply this mean number (which is best adapted to the purpose, +and which was also that of the kings of Israel) to the fourteen +governments, whose numbers are uncertain, we shall obtain 168 years, +which, together with the 150, gives 318 years. Now if we count these +backward, beginning at Solomon, about 1000 years before Christ, we come +to the year 1318 before Christ, therefore again under the government of +Pharaoh MENEPHTHES. + +We thus obtain, also, from this side a simple confirmation of our former +results. It is at least evident, that the numbers in the Book of Judges +can no longer be employed as a refutation of the Manethonic calculation. +But this agreement between the chronology of the time of the Judges, and +the genealogies of the Chronicles, is of manifest importance to Jewish +history. + +As soon as we may consider the chronological importance of the +genealogies established, we are enabled to rise still higher on the +same path in the history of Israel, and to obtain a chronological view +concerning the period of the sojourn of the Israelites _in Egypt_. + +If in the 40 years of the later generations we can only perceive a +chronological _garb_, without on that account supposing that the +substance of the narratives are unhistorical, still less should we see +in the hundred and more years of the generations from Abraham to Moses, +the true chronological relation upon which these perfectly credible +narratives are founded. The whole array of numbers is rather, as we have +indicated above, to be judged from a perfectly different point of view, +the closer investigation of which does not belong here. + +When, for the sake of judging the chronology of the times from Moses to +Jacob, and from Jacob to Abraham, we start from the historical importance +of the genealogies, this period becomes extremely contracted, and we are +led to new historical comparisons, which appear to throw a clear light +upon those times. + +In all registers of generations we only find _three_ generations from +_Joseph_ or _Levi_ to _Moses_. In the pedigree of _Judah_, indeed, we +only saw _two_, which was however explained by the unnatural alliance of +Thamar. But _Aaron_ himself, and _Moses_, on the father’s side, stood in +the third degree from _Levi_, but from the maternal side in the second; +for their father, _Amram_, the grandson of Levi, took to wife in Egypt +his aunt _Jochabed_, the daughter of Levi (Exod. vi. 20; Num. xxvi. +59), who bore him Moses and Aaron. Thus one event explains and confirms +another, and allows us still less to doubt the historical reality and the +natural relations which the successive generations bear to each other. + +Therefore, unless we wish to regard all the narratives of those times, +and all the accounts, which afterwards refer to them, as mythical and +unhistorical, for which there is not the slightest ground, we must +also here separate the chronological garb from the subject itself, and +recognise, as a necessary conclusion, that _only about ninety years +intervened from the entrance of Jacob to the Exodus of Moses_, and +_about as much_ from the _entrance of Abraham into Canaan_, to _Jacob’s +Exodus_[349], so that from Abraham to Moses only about 180, or if we wish +to make the most of it, 215 years passed, which alone, according to the +present calculation, are reckoned from Abraham to Jacob. + +But even this result is by no means only founded upon the internal +impossibility of the numbers hitherto adopted, nor upon the genealogies +alone, but upon a much more general historical connection of the events, +as we find them both in the Egyptian and Israelitish history of those +times. + +All the views hitherto adopted from Josephus, and from those who before +his day held the same opinions, down to the most modern scholars, must, +on the supposition that the Jews were the Hyksos—which we have rejected +above (p. 422), as not worth refutation—or at least that they departed +_with_ them, and further that they lived in Egypt from the time of Jacob, +215 or 430 years, necessarily have led them to the conclusion that Joseph +and Jacob came to Egypt during the _dominion of the Hyksos_. But an +attentive and impartial consideration of the passages bearing upon this +point, show beyond doubt that this could not be the case according to the +_Biblical_ accounts, and therefore that either this representation, or +the accepted chronology, must contain errors. + +“And Joseph,” it says, Gen. xxxix. 1, “was brought down to Egypt, and +Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, +bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down +thither.” + +Here, as in all the other passages where the _Egyptian_ king is +mentioned, he is called _Pharaoh_. This is an Egyptian designation +and not a _Semitic_ one, as we should have expected if the Semitic +Hyksos[350] had still ruled in Egypt. In that case we should have been +everywhere compelled to admit in this designation, throughout the history +of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, an anachronism which cannot easily +find a parallel. The captain of the king’s body-guard was also an +_Egyptian_, as is proved by his name Potiphar, פוטיפר[351], which is +written by the Seventy Πετεφρής, _i. e._ _Petphra_. Still an _Egyptian_ +in so important a situation at a _Semitic_ court might as well form an +exceptional case, as the _Hebrew_ Joseph, according to our opinion, at an +_Egyptian_ court. “And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put +it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen[352], +and put a gold chain[353] about his neck. And he made him to ride in +the second chariot[354] which he had, and they cried before him, Bow +the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh +said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up +his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph’s +name צפנת פענח (Ψονθομφανήχ), and he gave him to wife _Asenath_, +the daughter of _Potipherah_, PRIEST OF ON.” (Gen. xli. 42, &c.) The +fact that the distinctions here conferred upon Joseph are in perfect +accordance with Egyptian manners[355], would still not be sufficient to +prove that he lived at an Egyptian court, for the Semitic rulers might +possibly have brought with them the same customs, or might have adopted +them. But if such were our belief, it would be impossible to combine +with it the circumstance that Joseph received from Pharaoh expressly +an _Egyptian_ name. For even if the older Hebrew commentators have +attempted to derive the name from the Hebrew, these attempts have long +been rejected by modern scholars[356]. We should be able to decide with +more complete certainty about the Egyptian signification of the name if +we found it written in hieroglyphics. It sounds in Hebrew _Zepnet-ponch_ +(_Zaphnath-phaneach_). It appears to me that the last portion can hardly +be referred to any other word than the hieroglyphical 𓋹𓈖𓐍 anch, Coptic +ⲱⲛϩ, ⲁⲛϩ, with the article ⲡ ⲱⲛϩ, the life; the first part is obscure. +Since the Seventy write Ψονθομφανήχ, it is generally supposed that the +two first letters in the Hebrew text have been misplaced, and that the +uniting genitive —_n_ (before the labial —_m_) has been omitted. Both are +possible, but not probable. It seems to me that the Seventy cannot claim +any more authority on this point than any other interpreter. It is not +surprising that, without understanding the hieroglyphical writing, they +were as little capable as we are of explaining the old name from the +popular language. But that they wrote Ψονθ in place of _Zepnet_, or +_Zpent_, seems to prove that they explained the name something like ⲡ +ⲥⲱⲛⲧ ⲙ ⲫⲁⲛϩ _creatio_ (_creator_) vitæ. + +But how is it possible that a _Semitic_ king, who, like the six in the +lists of the so-called shepherd kings, must undoubtedly have himself +borne a Semitic name, would have given Joseph an _Egyptian_ name, in +order to do him honour. + +_Asenath_ is of course an _Egyptian_ name like that of her father, +_Potiphra_, _i. e._ _Petphra_, and his being called a _High priest +of On_ (Heliopolis) is an additional and more certain proof that the +Semitic nation of the Hyksos were not reigning here, for they would have +destroyed all the Egyptian temples; and they would hardly have permitted +the worship of _Ra_ (Helios) to continue in the neighbourhood of Memphis, +whose High priest must give his daughter to Joseph for a wife, in order +to show him particular honour, and to naturalise him completely. + +It is equally evident, from the meeting of Joseph with his brethren, that +he lived at a really Egyptian court. Distrust towards their Phœnician +neighbours was continually kept alive among the Egyptians, therefore it +was easy to form a pretext to attack the Hebrews. “Ye are spies, to see +the nakedness of the land ye are come.” (Gen. xlii. 9, 12, 14.) When the +brethren talk among themselves of the act which they perpetrated against +Joseph, they speak out loud in the presence of Joseph: “They knew not +that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them by an _interpreter_.” +(Gen. xlii. 23.) Joseph had become so completely an Egyptian, and the +Egyptian language was so exclusively spoken at the court of Pharaoh, that +the brethren could not conjecture any one was near them who understood +their language. + +When, therefore, on their second visit to Joseph’s house, they were about +to take their meal, it is said, “And they set for him by himself, and for +them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by +themselves: _because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, +for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians_.” (Gen. xliii. 32.) The +native Egyptians could never have expressed this horror, and regulated +their manners accordingly, under the dominion of a Semitic reigning +family. Lastly, it is equally improbable that Joseph would have advised +the immigrating family to call themselves shepherds in order to obtain +from Pharaoh a country set apart for themselves. “And it shall come to +pass when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? +That ye shall say, Thy servant’s trade hath been about cattle from our +youth, even until now, both we, and also our fathers; that ye may dwell +in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the +Egyptians.” (Gen. xlvi. 33.) If the shepherd people of the Hyksos reigned +in Egypt, how could the shepherds be an abomination to them? + +If it is therefore evident that Joseph lived at an _Egyptian_, and +not at a _Semitic_ court, the old tradition of the Jewish interpreters +that Joseph came to Egypt in the reign of a shepherd king, Apophis, is +entirely destroyed, as well as the view taken by more modern scholars +concerning the Hebrew chronology of that time. + +But according to Manetho, the Exodus happened in the reign of Menephthes, +and according to all the Hebrew genealogies, Jacob’s entrance could only +have happened 90 or 100 years earlier. Therefore Sethôs, the father of +the great Ramses, must certainly be the Pharaoh under whom Joseph came +into Egypt. This is most indubitably confirmed by the unmistakeable +agreement which exists between the Hebrew account of the Pharaoh of +Joseph, and what is related by others of King Sethôs. It is said by the +former, “And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the +Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over +them: _so the land became Pharaoh’s_. And as for the people, he removed +them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other +end thereof. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests +had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which +Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands. Then Joseph said +unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for +Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it +shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part +unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own.... And Joseph made it +a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have +the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not +Pharaoh’s.” (Gen. lxvii. 20, &c.) + +We find the same great alteration in the agrarian conditions of the +country, and connected with it the introduction of a general ground-tax, +from which the priests alone were excepted, ascribed by Herodotus and +Diodorus to the King _Sesostris-Sesoosis_. + +We read in Herodotus, ii. 1081, that the king intersected the country +with canals, because the places which were remote from the Nile suffered, +when it retreated, from a scarcity of water. It appears from what +has been observed above, that it was chiefly Ramses who completed the +Egyptian system of canals, although it is very probable that the great +transformation in the condition of the ground which it occasioned had +been already commenced by his father, _Sethôsis_. It is well known that +the fertility of Egypt alone depends upon the proper and well-maintained +regulation of the overflowings. Since the time of _Möris-Amenemha_, who +was the first to bestow any considerable attention upon it, the country +had degenerated, owing to its long foreign rule, and had but just risen +again to complete independence under the mighty Pharaohs of the 18th +Dynasty. It is quite conceivable that such comprehensive and tedious +undertakings for increasing the general prosperity, as a universal +construction of canals, especially in the Delta, could only have been +first undertaken by the earlier kings of the 19th Dynasty, _Sethôsis_ +and _Ramses_, who were both of them favoured by long reigns. Therefore +until that time, a general failure of the crops and a famine might have +very frequently occurred, at a low or even a moderate rise of the water, +and perhaps happened for several successive years. Strabo[357] relates +that, before the time of the Prefect Petronius, owing to the water-works +being neglected, famine broke out in Egypt if the Nile only rose 8 ells, +and 14 ells were necessary for a particularly good year; whereas, by +his improvements, it was only necessary for the Nile to rise 10 ells to +produce the best harvest, and if it rose but 8 ells no scarcity ensued. +Famine broke out in Egypt in the Arabian times also from the same +reason[358]. Thus the famine-years in the time of Joseph may be explained +to have occurred in the reign of Sethôs; this event may even have called +attention to the necessity of a better water regulation in the country. + +In the following chapter Herodotus says, that the King Sesostris “divided +the land between all the Egyptians by giving an equal-sized square +portion to each, from which he afterwards derived his income by laying +an annual tax upon it. But when the river carried away a part of any +person’s portion, he showed it to the king, who sent people to inquire +and measure how much smaller the piece of land had become, in order that +he might pay the tax for the remainder according to the commands.” This +is essentially the same arrangement which is ascribed to Joseph, the +minister of Pharaoh. Herodotus had already[359] mentioned in an earlier +passage that the priests paid no taxes, but even received their daily +sustenance besides, exactly as it is related in the Mosaic accounts. + +Diodorus[360] says of SESOOSIS, that he “divided the whole country into +thirty-six parts,” which the Egyptians called Nomes; over these he placed +Nomarchs, who had the charge of the ROYAL REVENUES, and “ruled everything +besides in their provinces.” Therefore here again there was an entirely +new division and government of the country, in which the taxes to the +king are not forgotten. Afterwards (c. 57) he adds also, that he raised +many great mounds, and upon them _transplanted the towns_ which were +situated too low (μετῴκισεν). The fresh regulations in the country, and +especially the new canals, necessarily created a great number of towns +and villages for the management of the grounds which were portioned out, +and were now partly cultivated for the first time. To this we may most +naturally refer the remark in the Hebrew account that Pharaoh “removed +them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other +end thereof.” (Gen. xlvii. 21.) Diodorus (c. 56) also mentions the hard +taskwork which thence became necessary, and that in consequence of it +the “Babylonian prisoners, who could no longer bear the toilsome labour, +rebelled against the king.” + +In the very valuable description of the manner in which the Egyptian +administration had subsisted under the _old_[361] kings of the country, +which is drawn from the most ancient sources, Diodorus again mentions +(c. 73, 74) the arrangement of the Nomes, and a division of the property, +by which one-third belonged to the priests, one to the king, the other +to the warriors; and how all the cultivators of the soil, for a small +reward, only performed task-service for the three orders who possessed +land. It is here also expressly mentioned, that the priests were exempt +(ἀτελεῖς) from taxation[362]. But it seems that it is only from the +Mosaic narrative we learn that the universal statute of the taxes imposed +on the remaining possessors of the land was fixed upon exactly the _fifth +part_ of the produce; this narrative here, as well as in other points, +confidently completes our knowledge of those circumstances. + +Now if the arrangements we have cited, which in fact so essentially +changed Egypt, that their introduction could not fail to occupy an +important place in the monuments of that time, and to be thus handed down +to posterity, were ascribed in the Greek account to SESOSTRIS-SESOOSIS, +we should, in the next place, be uncertain whether SETHÔS or his son +RAMSES was meant. It is not in itself improbable, that works demanding so +much time, and the extensive alterations in the political circumstances, +might fully occupy two such long reigns as those of both the kings +mentioned; and of the canal works especially, we know that at least two +particular canals of considerable importance were completed by Ramses, +east and west of the Delta, and towns were built beside them. But since +it can now hardly be disputed that those events could not have taken +place either earlier or later than under these two reigns, which embraced +more than a century, it appears to be perfectly justifiable to suppose +that the first and most essential steps to this reform were taken in the +reign of Sethôs, because, according to the genealogical calculation of +time in the Bible, Joseph must have lived and acted in the first half of +the reign of Sethôsis. The succession of kings in the Mosaic accounts +also perfectly agrees with this. We here read of only _three Pharaohs_ +during that time. Joseph came to Potiphar in Egypt in the reign of the +first, and rose by his wisdom to be first minister of the king. This +Pharaoh was Sethôsis I., with whom the Manethonic lists begin a new +Dynasty. By means of the new improvements introduced and regulated by +him, the country was saved from the years of famine which had hitherto +been constantly dreaded, and the power of the king was increased and +strengthened. + +“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and his whole race.” “Now there +arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph[363].” Sethôsis +had reigned more than fifty years, and Joseph must have lived in the +first part of his reign. It is therefore conceivable that the new King +Ramses II. knew nothing more of him, or wished to know nothing more, and +therefore might not on his (Joseph’s) account have favoured the rapidly +increasing population of the Israelites in Egypt. We therefore see that +it was incorrect to explain the words of the account, which are only +correct when taken in their simplest signification, that a _new king_ +arose—by understanding that by this the commencement of a new royal house +is intended after a long and indefinite period. The birth of Moses, and +his education at the court of Pharaoh, happened under this King Ramses +II., and indeed in the latter part of his reign of sixty-six years, +in which the times of Joseph were still more forgotten, and the hard +oppressions and persecutions of the Jews prevailed. This king, although +of a Theban family, resided equally, and perhaps in those times, even +more at Memphis than at Thebes, as the later Saitic, Bubastic, and other +dynasties also by no means forsook the old palace in Memphis. There +exists, therefore, no grounds for imagining the youth of Moses to have +been spent at Thebes rather than at Memphis. + +But when Moses had slain the Egyptian, he fled to Midian. “And it came to +pass in process of time, that the _King of Egypt died_; and the children +of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage[364].” The _third_ king, +therefore, succeeded the Pharaoh of the Exodus, MENEPHTHES, the son of +the great Ramses, the same under whom, as we believe we have pointed +out, the Exodus really happened, and from whom the new Sothis period, +which began in his reign, likewise received its name. + +If, in the same manner, we go still farther back in the Hebrew accounts +from Joseph to Abraham, we find this period also only occupied by +three generations, which would fix it, according to the views we have +exhibited, to about 90 or 100 years. + +According to the chronology hitherto adopted, ABRAHAM’S visit to Egypt +would also have happened in the TIME of the HYKSOS. But this is partly +opposed by the same objections which we mentioned when speaking of the +immigration of Jacob. Abraham also comes to the court of a Pharaoh, +therefore of a native Egyptian ruler, and, in accordance with the +Manethonic chronology, the visit of Abraham would have happened under +Tuthmosis IV. or Amenophis III., therefore in the middle of the 18th +Dynasty, after the Hyksos had been already expelled by the 17th Dynasty, +first into the lowest country of the Delta, and then from their last +fortress, Abaris. + +Therefore only about 200 years had passed between Abraham’s journey into +Egypt and the time of the Exodus. But what gave _occasion_ to the number +_four hundred and thirty years_, so expressly stated in Exodus xii. 40, +and which appears, in comparison with the round statement of 400 years in +Gen. xv. 13, as more exact, and, at all events, not an unmeaning number? +We have already expressed our opinion that the round and indeterminate +numbers, as well as the larger calculations, were only adopted at a +later period in the writings of the Old Testament. The number 480 or +440 years between the Exodus and the building of the Temple appeared +to us to depend upon a calculation of 12 or 11 generations of 40 years +each. But in the 430 years may, perhaps, lie the first indication of +the early-conceived idea mentioned above, that the Israelites were the +Hyksos. For the number would, in fact, be most perfectly explained if it +was referred to the residence of these Semitic races in Egypt. + +We shall, namely, point out, in the second part of the chronology, that +the long contest between the Egyptians and the Hyksos, mentioned by +Manetho, occurred during the 17th Dynasty from AMOSIS to TUTHMOSIS III. +The former completely broke the foreign dominion, and drove back the +Hyksos to the northern part of the Delta; but it was Tuthmosis who first +succeeded in sending them out of their last stronghold of refuge, Abaris. +Thence arose the confusion that has so generally prevailed concerning +these two kings. The one as much as the other might be regarded as +the conqueror of the Hyksos. Manetho specified the whole time of the +residence of the Hyksos in Egypt, up to their departure from Abaris, to +be 511 years. But it must also have appeared from his narrative, and +have been a fact specially known to the priests from their history, that +the real dominion of the Hyksos in Egypt was terminated by Amosis. If +we now subtract the time from Amosis to Tuthmosis, which was 80 years, +from 511[365], exactly _four hundred and thirty years_ remain for the +dominion of the Hyksos in Egypt[366]. If, therefore, in the present +day, the opinion can in any way be maintained and defended that Abraham +(or Jacob) was King Salatis, and entered Egypt not as a petitioner, +but as a powerful and conquering enemy, and that his seed was first +conquered and driven away in the time of Moses by the native kings, +the relation of the above-mentioned numbers would certainly appear as +one of the most important proofs of it. It cannot, however, be argued +that an admission which appears, according to our present criticism, +perfectly impossible, must have appeared equally so in ancient times. +An impartial apprehension of the present, and a faithful rendering of +the past, was the vocation of an ancient annalist or historian; it is +only thus that they are of importance and worthy of consideration in +our inquiry. Criticism was completely out of their sphere, historical +as well as philological; and when, nevertheless, we do meet with it, it +is generally very unsatisfactory, and even from the most distinguished +writers, astonishingly feeble. The school of professional Alexandrian +critics is by no means excepted. We find the most striking examples of +this, particularly in the Christian chronologists, who were not wanting +either in abundance of authorities, nor in extensive learning and honest +intentions. But we have actually seen, from the example of Josephus, as +well as from earlier and later authors, how the opinion above mentioned, +of the identity of the Hyksos with the Jews, really gained admittance +from various very superficial foundations, and yet Josephus belonged +undoubtedly to the most learned antiquarians who we can place under +our observation here. We ought not, therefore, to be surprised even if +we find this view again stated at an earlier period in the arrangement +and combinations of the Hebrew historical books; and this appears, in +fact, to be very probable, by the number 430 years, which can neither be +applied to the three generations of Jacob, nor to the six from Abraham to +Moses. + +The calculation also verifies itself still further. It was an early +opinion that Joseph came to Egypt in the reign of the shepherd King +_Aphophis_. This is expressly said by Eusebius and Syncellus; and the +various changes in the position of Aphophis, who is differently placed +both by Josephus and Africanus, appear, upon a closer investigation, +always to originate from the same reason, namely, in order to place +Joseph under Aphophis. The correct position of Aphophis, according to +Manetho, was undoubtedly at the end of the 16th Dynasty, as we find it +stated by Africanus[367]. Joseph stood, according to the generations, +exactly between Abraham and Moses. According to the Egyptian chronology, +the first Dynasty of the Hyksos reigned 259 years, the second 251 +years, therefore Aphophis, the last king of the 1st Dynasty, reigned +in the middle of the time of the Hyksos. This was probably the first +idea which supported the opinion of the exact division of the 430 years +into two equal halves, and the belief that Jacob came to Egypt in the +time of Aphophis. Jacob’s entrance, or the end of the first 215 years, +accordingly happened in the seventeenth year of the Aphophis; Joseph +was exalted by Pharaoh 9 years earlier, therefore in the eighth year of +Aphophis. + +But the correct Egyptian statement, that the Hyksos first departed in +the reign of Tuthmosis, had been already misunderstood in the time of +Josephus. He placed the Exodus of the Hyksos and of the Jews under +Amosis, and made the whole 17th Dynasty of 251 years precede Amosis. It +was impossible, therefore, that he could place Joseph under Aphophis. +He could as little make the entrance of Abraham happen at the same time +as that of the Hyksos, for he gave 511 years for the residence of the +Hyksos, 430 for that of the Jews. But he nowhere says either that the +Jews entered with the Hyksos, as they departed with them, or that Jacob +or Josephus came to Egypt in the reign of Aphophis. He appears rather +to have believed that the _first_ and not the _second_ entrance of the +Jews into Egypt, therefore the entrance of Abraham happened in the time +of _Aphophis_; and thus that the tradition, which was no doubt known +to him, was so to be understood. He must, at least, have thought that +the entrance of Abraham really took place in the first Hyksos Dynasty, +although, indeed, not under the _last_, but under the _fourth_ king. +According to my opinion, this was the reason why Josephus made Aphophis +the _fourth_ king of the Dynasty. + +Africanus, the most faithful among the reporters, did not admit all these +calculations, or seek to explain the Manethonic calculation, and to make +it agree with his own, but let the contradictions stand, and therefore +simply gave the Manethonic tradition, even when he did not understand it, +and could not correct the mistakes which were handed down to him. We +therefore find the correct position of Aphophis retained by him. + +Eusebius on the other hand, and his uncertain authorities, again wished +to mediate and to explain. In his account we find the first year of +the 16th Dynasty placed contemporaneous with the first year of the +life of Abraham, which is evidently an arbitrary proceeding, and one +that necessarily drew other changes along with it, which are met with +plentifully in the numbers substituted for those of Manetho. His 17th +Dynasty names the four first kings of the Manethonic 16th Dynasty, and +Amosis follows immediately after. In order to fit in again with the later +history, it was necessary to abridge considerably the 16th and 17th +Dynasties. The numbers of Eusebius, as they appear in the Canon, clearly +state that he only counted seventy-five years from the first year of +Abraham to his entrance into Canaan and Egypt, and again 430 years from +that time to the Exodus of Moses. This happened, therefore, in the last +year of Χενχέρης. The same is given in the codex A of Syncellus, p. 72, +D. If we here again calculate 215 years to the entrance of Jacob, or 224 +to the exaltation of Joseph, we arrive at his reign of APHOPHIS, as was +intended. But in codex B, and in the Armenian translation, the two kings, +Athoris and Chencheres, who are correctly placed in the Eusebian Canon, +are omitted, and undoubtedly by the oversight of Eusebius himself, not +of Syncellus. Thence the Exodus was placed in the reign of Achencheres, +in place of Chencheres. The similarity in the names themselves appears +to have led to the oversight; thus Syncellus found the text. Now, if +we count back from Achencheres 215 or 224 years, we come to Archles, +the predecessor of _Aphophis_. Syncellus knew of no better way than to +transpose Archles and Aphophis, as we find to be really the case in his +text of Eusebius, p. 62, A; this of course can no longer be reconciled +with the emendations of the codex A, which were added in a later passage +out of Eusebius. No doubt seems to be left by this explanation of the +numbers. + +Lastly, Syncellus, who follows the false Sothis, places the Exodus in the +last year of MISPHRAGMUTHOSIS, calculates from here backwards 215 years, +and passing over the 2nd Hyksos Dynasty, which Sothis and Eusebius had +already placed before the 1st Hyksos Dynasty, arrives at the fourth king +of the latter. Therefore, as in Josephus, Aphophis is placed there. + +All these circumstances are easily explained when the aim and the issue +of the matter is known. But the original grounds why Aphophis, the last +king of the 1st Manethonic Hyksos Dynasty, was regarded as the Pharaoh of +Joseph and Jacob, is alone apparent by the simple relation which we have +found subsisting between the Hebrew and the Manethonic numbers. + +I do not believe that a sound critical examination can consider so many +and such universal agreements and confirmations to be accidental, or +the result of an artificial correction, which, at all events, would of +necessity be easily pointed out, the more so as, with the exception of a +few individual points, my restoration of the Manethonic chronology was +principally determined before my journey to Egypt. + +We therefore believe, that by means of a new path, namely, the Manethonic +chronology, we have found the key to the relative portions of time +in the Old Testament, so far as these are connected with Egypt; and +in an inverse manner we may now consider the agreement that subsists +between the chronology of the Hebrew history (both the true chronology +represented in the genealogies, and the false one, which was afterwards +erroneously adopted) and the Egyptian numbers upon which the chronology +was originally founded, to be indeed strongly confirmatory of the +authenticity of these last, as they appear according to our restoration +of them. + +It is very evident that our carrying back the Old Testament chronology +to its natural relations, as far back as Abraham, must be not merely +of chronological, but of truly historical importance in the highest +meaning of the term. The prolongation to above a hundred years, contrary +to all historical experience, of the thirty-yeared generations of the +immediate ancestors of Moses, who lived in the midst of the Egyptians, +the length of whose lives was exactly like our own, must either appear +an intentional miracle, or make us doubt the simple historical reality +of the persons themselves, and of the events concerning them. The +superhuman duration of life, considered as a miracle, would appear to +be entirely without a purpose; besides, in the Old Testament itself it +is never viewed as such. The Psalmist[368], on the contrary, considered +as we do, a life of eighty years as a great age. Therefore the most +distinguished, and most earnest inquirers of the present day were led to +the opinion, evidently from the numbers, that the history of the three +patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was less strictly historical, but +only brought before the reader, as it were, three representations of long +epochs of about a century each[369]. It was likewise necessary to regard +the register of generations in the time of the Judges as defective, +and extremely shortened, because in no other manner could they fill up +the long period of 480 years. In order to make this abbreviation more +probable, the genealogy of _Haman_ was referred to as the only one which +was preserved perfect[370], while we, on the contrary, consider it a +double one. + +Now according to our view of the subject, this apparently so well-founded +doubt of the real continuity of the events, and of the historical +character of the contents, in as far as they depend upon the chronology, +entirely disappears, and I see no longer any reason to consider the +accounts of the great personality of Abraham, of the non-prominent +activity of Isaac, the opulent life of Jacob, and the remarkable fate +of Joseph, chiefly as typical, and as it were only slightly connected +with the historical reality[371]. For although we must still make a +considerable difference between the character of the history of Israel +before and after the building of the temple, yet it cannot be denied that +the agreement we have pointed out between the true chronological thread, +as it is represented to us by the genealogies, and the Egyptian history, +as well as the confirmation of so many notices respecting Egypt, from the +time of Moses and Joseph, establish a far greater _historical_ character +for the Hebrew accounts, as far back as Abraham, than would have ever +been allowed them by a strict criticism, had we been obliged to ascribe +to the old authorities themselves the numbers which were inserted at a +later period. + +[After some notice concerning the times before Abraham, the author +concludes this section as follows:] + +If, however, our entire view of the Old Testament chronology, regarding +it as founded upon accurately preserved dates, only so far back as the +separation of the kingdom, but nevertheless attached from that epoch up +to the time of Abraham to an evidently authentic thread of historically +reliable genealogies, offering, however, before the Egyptian period, +only cyclical instead of historical numbers and genealogies, and mainly +confined to Babylonian sources and traditions—if, I say, this general +view of the character of the chronological data which leaves untouched +the significance of their contents, should, on theological grounds, +arouse scruples in the mind of any one, I would refer him to the +introduction which Bunsen has prefixed to the third section of his first +book on Egypt, as full of talent as of meaning, and from which I would +more especially extract the following passages[372]. + +“Whoever adopts as a principle that chronology is a matter of revelation, +is precluded from giving effect to any doubt that may cross his path, as +involving a virtual abandonment of his faith in revelation. He must be +prepared, not only to deny the existence of contradictory statements, +but to fill up chasms; however irreconcileable the former may appear by +any aid of philology and history, however unfathomable the latter. He +who, on the other hand, neither believes in an historical tradition as to +the eternal existence of man, nor admits an historical and chronological +element in revelation, will either contemptuously dismiss the inquiry, +or, by prematurely rejecting its more difficult elements, fail to +discover those threads of the research which lie beneath the unsightly +and time-worn surface, and which yet may prove the thread of Ariadne. + +“The assumption that it entered into the scheme of Divine Providence +either to preserve for us a chronology of the Jews and their forefathers +by real tradition, or to provide the later commentators with magic +powers, in respect to the most exoteric element of history, may seem +indispensable to some, and absurd to others. Historical inquiry has +nothing whatever to do with such idle, preposterous, and often fallacious +assumptions. Its business is to see whether anything—and if so, what—has +been transmitted to us. If it fulfil this duty in a spirit of reverence +as well as of liberty, sooner or later it will obtain the prize, which, +if the history of the last 2000 years prove anything at all, Providence +has refused to both the other systems.” + +[After the two first sections of _The Criticism upon the Authorities_, +of which the first, upon Herodotus and Diodorus, has been omitted in +this translation, while the second, upon the Hebrew tradition, has been +strongly dwelt upon, the author proceeds to the third and last section, +which treats of the historical works of Manetho and the authorities +which refer to him. Now, although this section contains the really +critical restoration of the Manethonic chronology, considered by the +author as the only one to be relied on in its general features, it has +not been considered compatible with the object of the present work to +communicate at full length this difficult research, which was only +written for the profound investigator. We think it sufficient to give the +two passages in which the whole extent of the Manethonic history, down +to the second Persian conquest, according to a statement obtained from +Manetho himself, is said to amount to 3555 years, and the connection is +pointed out between this time, considered as strictly historical, and the +cyclically discovered History of the Gods.] + +The number 3555 is, however, alone essential and important, and, in +spite of all the uncertainties and revisings of the text, there cannot +be the slightest doubt about it. It led undoubtedly to the termination +of the reign of Nectanebus II. If we can, therefore, determine this end +in other more certain ways, we need no longer trouble ourselves about +the calculation of Syncellus; since this, as every one allows, is, at +all events, incorrect. But it cannot be doubted that Manetho knew, and +correctly stated, the true year of the conquest of Egypt by Ochus, which +very likely happened during his lifetime. + +The calculation of this concluding year has, however, been so fully and +convincingly proved by Böckh (p. 125-133), that I consider it would be +superfluous to return to it again. I assume with him that _the year 340_ +B.C. is perfectly ascertained to be _the concluding year of the Egyptian +dominion_. Calculating back from this stated terminating point 3555 +Egyptian or 3553 Julian years, we come to the _year 3893 before Christ, +as the first of Menes_. We consider this to be established as perfectly +historical, in as far as the Manethonic relation founded upon the annals +of the kingdom may generally be regarded as historically correct. + +But long before the cyclical system of the government of the gods could +be founded upon the Sothis periods, which were established in the course +of history, MENES had already been admitted into the Egyptian annals, and +was maintained to be the fixed chronological commencement of Egyptian +history, especially of the history of Lower Egypt. His epoch could be +no more altered. What happened before his time was ante-historical, and +might be adjusted to the cyclical necessities of mythology. The only +historical fact was, that other kings had reigned before Menes, and +indeed in THIS. In order to distinguish them from the later kings as +being ante-historical, a designation was selected, which we are not yet +acquainted with in hieroglyphics, but which was translated in Greek by +Νέκυες, _the deceased_; here also undoubtedly establishing the idea that +they were deceased MEN. + +We may, however, certainly regard it as the most welcome confirmation +of the whole of our restoration of the Manethonic chronology, that +this ante-historical Dynasty of man of the ten Thinitic kings, the +invention of whom could have no other aim than the extension of the +history of man to the commencement of the current Sothis period, most +accurately indeed fulfils the purpose that was designed. For while we +add to the first of the 3555 Manethonic years, namely, to the year 3893 +(3892) B.C. (Julian), the first of the reign of Menes, the 350 civil +years of the Thinitic Νέκυες, the year 4242 is the result, _which was, +in reality, the necessarily expected commencement year of the current +Sothis period_. This immediately explains why the number 350, although it +was ante-historical, and was therefore invented, is still in itself no +cyclical number, and is in no way related to the Sothis period. It could +just as little be a Sothic number as the number 3555, which it completed. +But, on the contrary, it thence proves both the truthfulness as well as +the historical character of the important and genuine Manethonic number +3555, and further proves that the establishment of the first historical +year, or the Menes epoch, which is directly given by the number 3555 +years, cannot first proceed from Manetho, but must be at least as old as +the invention of the cyclical system of Egyptian mythology inseparably +united with it, which no one will or can ascribe first to Manetho, +because we have pointed out the same numbers belonging to the gods before +his time. But the establishment of the discovered Menes year must indeed +be still older than the formation of the whole cyclical system, since +this is first appended to that number, and presupposes it; that is to +say, _the Menes epoch designated by Manetho was one which had been given +from the beginning, and was handed down historically_, and was combined +in the following manner, with the cyclical system of the history of the +gods. + + PERIOD OF THE GODS. + + _Gods_ 13,870 years. + _Demi-gods_ 3,650 ” + ------ + 17,520 ” = 12 Sothis periods. + + PERIOD OF MAN. + + _Ante-Historical Dynasty_ 350 years. + _30 Historical Dynasties_ 3555 ” + _Foreign dominion to the time of Antoninus_ 478 ” + ---- + 4383 ” = 3 Sothis periods. + +Thus the history of the thirty Manethonic Dynasties, which began with +Menes and comprised 3555 Egyptian years, was between two Sothis periods, +without coming in contact with them, an evident proof that they were not +formed with reference to the Sothis periods. + + * * * * * + +In order to take a general survey, we shall now repeat, in a few words, +the result of our investigations. + +Manetho apparently added himself to his detailed history, which was +comprised in three Books, a _Review of the Dynasties_, in a continued +series, in the style of the old Egyptian annals. These were more often +transcribed than the work itself, which seems, indeed, to have been +less widely distributed, owing to this convenient compendium. Separate +narratives, however, from the work itself have been adopted by later +authors, and were thereby preserved to us, although not without some +alterations, after the complete work itself was lost, which must have +happened at an early period, perhaps when the Alexandrian library was +destroyed. + +It was at least unknown to Josephus in the first century of our +era; but the more copious, and certainly chiefly _literal extracts_ +communicated by him, he has borrowed from other works. Along with these, +he either himself combined, or found combined, _another partial list_ +of kings, which only included the names from Amosis down to Menephthes +(Amenophis), and which was drawn up specially and solely for the learned +purposes of the Jews, at all events before the time of Josephus. + +Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, in the second century, communicated the +same list with slight deviations, and probably not from the writings of +Josephus. + +The complete Dynastic lists of the Manethonic work, which by a different +method have also themselves been preserved, seem to have been unknown to +both. These were first preserved to us by Africanus in the third century. +They had undoubtedly before this time passed through several hands, and +assumed forms partly deviating from one another. The partial Jewish list +which we find in Josephus and Theophilus, was already adopted, in the +time of Africanus (though hardly by himself), in the same series with the +others, as one peculiarly authenticated, and apparently complete; because +it contained no subdivision in itself, it was regarded as one single +Dynasty, the 18th, although it really corresponded with the 17th and 18th +and half of the 19th Dynasty taken together. Thence arose the confusion +which now exists here. + +The necessity for an agreement between the Christian-Jewish and the +Egyptian computation of time produced, towards the end of the third, or +the beginning of the fourth century, two spurious writings; first, the +_Old Chronicle_, which retained the Egyptian cyclical point of view, +that, namely, of the history of the gods, and even extended it, yet in +such a manner that the means of reduction was suggested, by which these +large numbers might be compressed into the period assumed as that given +by Moses for the time since Adam. With the same end in view the first 15 +Dynasties of man were transformed into 15 Generations. + +The second spurious work, the SOTHIS, professed to be Manethonic; and +could do this more easily, because a long time had elapsed since the +genuine history had been lost. This writing proceeded still further +upon the same road as the Old Chronicle. By means of alterations and +abbreviations it reduced the Egyptian numbers to certain epochs, which +were considered as Biblical, and on the other hand partly abandoned the +Cyclical basis. + +Eusebius, who wrote in the fourth century, was deceived by both these +writings, and endeavoured to make their statements agree with the genuine +Manethonic Dynastic lists. He had these lists before him in a form which +was rather different from, and at all events more negligently drawn up, +than that of Africanus. He followed it for the Old Monarchy, which was +almost entirely omitted in the two spurious writings. In the New Monarchy +he adopted principally the Dynastic numbers of the Old Chronicle. In +other points he followed the Sothis. His numbers of the gods, like those +of the spurious writings, are upon the whole founded on the genuine +Manethonic numbers, which he nevertheless combined in a mistaken manner. + +In the commencement of the fifth century the speculative chronologists, +ANIANOS and PANODORUS, laboured with subtle ingenuity at Egyptian +chronology, but necessarily entirely failed in discovering the truth, +because they considered the two spurious writings as the true basis. They +endeavoured by ingenious arithmetical calculations to bring the numbers +of the Old Chronicle and of the Sothis to agree more exactly with their +acceptations of the Biblical chronology, than it had been the intention +of these writings themselves. + +Lastly, in the eighth century, GEORGIUS SYNCELLUS delivered his compiled, +but on that very account for us most important work, by which we first +became acquainted with almost all the earlier authorities. Through him +alone we possess especially the most valuable basis for our Manethonic +chronology, the Dynastic lists of Africanus. He himself decided +nevertheless likewise in favour of the two spurious writings, and indeed +as they were worked out by Panodorus; upon this last he founded his own +system, which therefore is only so far of value to us as we thereby +become acquainted with his authorities. + + + + +TABLES OF EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES, COMPILED FOR THIS TRANSLATION. + + +As many of the readers of this work may not be acquainted with the +several Dynasties which successively reigned over Egypt, and the +approximate dates which have been assigned to them, the following Tables +have been compiled for their convenience, on the authority of the +Chevalier Bunsen[373] and Dr. Richard Lepsius[374], and of Kenrick’s +“Egypt under the Pharaohs.” + +Manetho, High Priest of the Temple of Isis at Sebennytus, in Lower Egypt, +in the reign of the first Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, surnamed Soter, +322 to 284 B.C., a man of the highest reputation for wisdom, and versed +in Greek as well as in Egyptian lore, published various works for the +purpose of informing the Greeks. Although his history is lost, we have +the Dynasties tolerably entire. His excellence as an historian is placed +in the clearest light by the monuments which are now made accessible +to us; and the notices concerning him transmitted by Greek and Latin +authors, are in no respect contradictory. The writers by whom the works +of Manetho have been preserved to us, are: + + Julius Africanus, Bishop of Emmæus, or Nicopolis, in Judæa, a man + of learning, research, and probity, who wrote in the beginning of + the third century, A.C.; + + Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, in Palestine, about a hundred years + later than Africanus; and + + Syncellus, a Byzantine monk, of the beginning of the ninth + century. + +The lists of Manetho comprise 30 Dynasties. Egyptian history is divided +into three periods—the Old Monarchy, which comprised 13 Dynasties; the +Middle Monarchy, which included the 14th and 17th Dynasties; and the New +Monarchy, which, commencing with the 18th, ended with Nectanebus, the +last of the Pharaohs, 339 years before Christ. + + “The result of our chronological investigations (Bunsen and + Lepsius) has been, to carry us up to the foundation of an empire + in Egypt, and to a series of kings whose names have not only been + registered and transmitted to us by the Egyptians themselves, but + which are now legible on Egyptian monuments, most of them erected + in the lifetime of the kings whose names they record.”—BUNSEN. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+----------------+ + |DYNASTY. | | | Approximate | + | ORIGIN. | Names of | | Dates B.C. of | + | | the Kings | Names of | beginning | + | | in the Lists | the same Kings | of Dynasty. | + | | of Manetho, | in other +-------+--------+ + | | or of | Authors. |Bunsen.|Lepsius.| + | | Eratosthenes. | | | [375] | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |I. |Menes |Menaios, _Herodotus_ | 3643 | 3893 | + | THINITE. |Athothis | | | | + | |Kenkenes | | | | + | |Menephis |Mnevis, _Pliny_ | | | + | |Semempses {|Ismandes, | | | + | | {| _Strabo_ | | | + | | {|Osymandyas, | | | + | | {| _Diodorus_ | | | + + REMARKABLE EVENTS. + + MENES, born at Abydos, or This, in Upper Egypt. Several States existed + in the Thebaid and Delta before his time, and he united them in one + Monarchy. He founded Memphis. + + Under Semempses, the building of the Pyramid at the Labyrinth in the + Fayoum, the oldest existing in Egypt. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |II. |Boethos | | | | + | THINITE. |Kaiechos |Choos-Kechoos | | | + | |Binothris | | | | + | |Tlas | | | | + | |Sethenes | | | | + | |Chaires | | | | + | |Nephercheres | | | | + | |Sesochris | | | | + | |Cheneres | | | | + + Under Kaiechos, the introduction of the worship of the Bull,—APIS at + Memphis, and MNEVIS at Heliopolis, and of the Mendesian Goat. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |III. |Sesorcheres | | 3453 | 3640 | + | MEMPHITE. |Toichares | | | | + | |Sesortosis |Ægyptus, _Diodorus_ | | | + | |Mares |Sasychis, _Herodotus_ | | | + | |An-Soyphis | | | | + + Under Sesortosis the introduction of building with hewn stones; also + improvements in the art of writing. + + Building of the Pyramids of Dashour. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |IV. |Saophis {|Cheops, _Herodotus_ | 3229 | 3426 | + | MEMPHITE. | {|Chufu | | | + | |Saophis II. { |Chephren | | | + | | { |Schafra | | | + | |Mencheres {|Menkera | | | + | |Mencheres II. {|Mykerinus | | | + | |Pammês | | | | + + Builder of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. + + Builds the second Pyramid. + + Builds the third Pyramid. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |V. |Usercheris | | |c. 3150 | + | ELEPHANTINE.|Snephres | | | | + | |Nephercheres | | | | + | |Sisires | | | | + | |Cheres | | | | + | |Rathures | | | | + | |Mencheres | | | | + | |Tancheres | | | | + | |Onnos |Unas | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |VI. |Othoes | | 3074 | | + | MEMPHITE. |Phios | | | | + | |Methusuphis | | | | + | |Phiops |Apappus, _Eratos._, | | | + | |Menthesuphis | the Mœris of the | | | + | |Nitokris (a | Greeks and Romans | | | + | | queen), widow | | | | + | | of Phiops, | | | | + | | resigned after | | | | + | | the death | | | | + | | of her son | | | | + | | Menthesuphis | | | | + + Phiops (Mœris) formed out of the desert, the fertile district of the + Fayoum. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |VII. to XI. |} Manetho does not give the names of | 2967 |c. 2960 | + | |} the Kings of these Dynasties; none | | | + | |} between Nitokris and Amenemes. | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XII. & XIII. |{ Amenemhe I. | | 2801 |c. 2330 | + | THEBAN. |{ Sesortesen I. |Osirtasen | 2654 |c. 2120 | + | | Amenemhe II. | | | | + | | Sesortesen II.|The Great Sesostris | | | + | | | of the Greeks | | | + | | Amenemhe III. |Mares Amenemes | | | + | | | Memnon of the Greeks| | | + + Sesortesen I. conquers Ethiopia; erects the Obelisk of Heliopolis. + Amenemhe III., the builder of the Labyrinth in the Fayoum. + Foundation of Thebes by Sesortesen I. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XIV. |} | | | + |XV. |} | | | + |XVI. |} The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings. | | | + |XVII. |} | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XVIII. |Amos |Aahmes | 1638 | | + | THEBAN. | |Amasis | | | + | |Amenophis I. |Amenatep | | | + | |Tuthmosis I. |Tuthmes | | | + | | ” II. | ” | | | + | | ” III. | ” | | | + | |Amenophis II. |Amenatep | | | + | |Tuthmosis IV. |Tuthmes | | | + | |Amenophis III. |Amenatep | | | + | |Horus |Her | | | + + Under Tuthmosis III. the temple on the eastern side of Thebes was + built—Drove the Hyksos from the frontier—The Israelites sorely + oppressed. + + Erection of the obelisks at Alexandria by Tuthmosis III. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XIX. |Ramesses |Ramses | 1409 |c. 1440 | + | THEBAN. |Sethôs I. |Seti | | | + | |Ramesses II. |Sesostris | | | + | | Miamun | | | | + | |Menophthah |Menophres | 1322 | | + | |Sethôs II. |Seti | | | + + Ramesses II. built many of the chief monuments now existing. Formed + the Cave Temples at Abu-Simbel. + + His monument, the Colossus at Mitrahenny, on the site of Memphis. + + Great extension of Thebes under Sethôs I. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XX. |Merr-Ra |Phuoro, Nilus | 1297 |c. 1270 | + | THEBAN. |Ramses III. | | | | + | | ” IV. | | | | + | | ” V. | | | | + | | ” VI. | | | | + | | ” VII. | | | | + | | ” VIII. | | | | + | | ” IX. | | | | + | | ” X. | | | | + | | ” XI. | | | | + | | ” XII. | | | | + | | ” XIII. | | | | + + Ramses III. leads great armies into Asia, and is a conqueror nearly + equal in renown to Sethôs I. and his son Ramesses II. Built the + Temples of Medînet-Hâbu. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXI. |Smendes |Smen-Titi | 1112 | | + | TANITE. |Phusemes |Pi-Scham | | | + | |Nephercheres |Nefru-ke-ra | | | + | |Menophthes |Menephthah | | | + | |Osochor |Peher-Se-Amen | | | + | |Phinaches |Pianch | | | + | |Phusemes |Pi-Scham-Miamn II. | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXII. |Sheshonk I. |Sesonchis | 982 | | + | BUBASTITE. |Osorkon I. |Usuken, Userken, | | | + | | | Oserkan | | | + | |Peher | | | | + | |Osorkon II. | | | | + | |Sheshonk II. | | | | + | |Takelet I. |Takiloth | | | + | |Osorkon III. | | | | + | |Sheshonk III. | | | | + | |Takelet II. | | | | + + Sheshonk I. takes Jerusalem about 970, and many cities in Judæa. He + is the Schischak of the Bible. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXIII. |Petubastes |Pet-subast, Pet-Pacht | 832 | | + | TANITE. |Osorcho |Oserkna, Userken | | | + | |Osorcho |P-Si-Mut | | | + | |Zet, Sethôs | | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXIV. |Bocchoris | | 743 | | + | SAITE. | | | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXV. |Sevech I. |Shabak, Sabako | 737 | | + | ETHIOPIAN. |Sevech II. | | | | + | |Tirhaka |Tahraka, Taheika | | | + + Schabak and Tahraka are the So and Tirhakah of the Bible. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXVI. |Stephinales | | 687 | c. 680 | + | SAITE. |Nechepsos | | | | + | |Necho I. | | | | + | |Psammetik I. |Psammetichus | | | + | |Necho II. | | | | + | |Psammetik II. | | | | + | |Psammetik III. | | | | + + Arches in the tombs near the Pyramids of Gizeh. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXVII. |Cambyses | | 525 | 525 | + | PERSIAN. |Darius I. | | | | + | | Hystaspes | | | | + | |Xerxes I. | | | | + | |Artabanos | | | | + | |Artaxerxes | | | | + | |Xerxes II. | | | | + | |Sogdianos | | | | + | |Darius II. | | | | + | | Nothus | | | | + + Conquest of Egypt by Cambyses. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXVIII. |Amyrteos | | 414 | | + | SAITE. | | | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXIX. |Nepherites | | 408 | 399 | + | MENDESIAN. |Achoris | | | | + | |Psammuthis | | | | + | |Nephorites | | | | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + |XXX. |Nectanebus I. | | 387 | 378 | + | SEBENNYTIC. |Teos | | | | + | |Nectanebus II., | | | | + | | last of the | | | | + | | Pharaohs | | | | + + Nectanebus I. builds a temple at Philæ. + + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + | PERSIAN. |Alexander |Ochus | 340 | 340 | + | | conquers |Arses | 338 | 338 | + | | Egypt |Darius | 336 | 336 | + | | | | 332 | 332 | + +-------------+----------------+----------------------+-------+--------+ + + +---------------------------------------+----------+ + | AGE OF THE PTOLEMIES. | Lepsius. | + +---------------------------------------+----------+ + | I. Ptolemy Lagus, Soter I. | 305 | + | II. ” Philadelphus | 285 | + | III. ” Euergetes I. | 247 | + | IV. ” Philopator I. | 222 | + | V. ” Epiphanes | 205 | + | VI. ” Eupator | 181 | + | VII. ” Philometor | 181 | + | VIII. ” Philopator II. | 146 | + | IX. ” Euergetes | 146 | + | X. ” Soter II. | 117 | + | XI. ” Alexander I. | 107 | + | XII. ” Alexander II. | 81 | + | XIII. ” Neos Dionysos | 81 | + | Cleopatra VI. Philopator. | | + | With Ptolemy XIV. | 52 | + | With ” XV. | 48 | + | With ” XVI. Cæsar | 45 | + | With Mark Antony | 37 | + | Egypt a Roman province | 30 | + +---------------------------------------+----------+ + + + + +APPENDIX. + +(A, p. 239.) + + _Observations on the Discovery, by_ Professor LEPSIUS, _of + Sculptured Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in Nubia; indicating + that, within the historical period, the river had flowed at a + higher level than has been known in Modern Times._ By LEONARD + HORNER, Esq., F.R.S.S. L. & E., F.G.S., &c. (_This paper is here + reprinted[376] at the request of_ Professor LEPSIUS.) + + +The recent archaiological researches of Professor Lepsius in Egypt, +and the Valley of the Nile, in Nubia, have given a deserved celebrity +and authority to his name, among all who take an interest in the early +history of that remarkable portion of the Old World. While examining +the ruins of a fortress, and of two temples of high antiquity at Semne, +in Nubia, he discovered marks cut in the solid rocks, and in the +foundation-stones of the fortress, indicating that, at a very remote +period in the annals of the country, the Nile must have flowed at a level +considerably above the highest point which it has ever reached during +the greatest inundations in modern times. This remarkable fact would +possess much geological interest with respect to any great river, but it +does so especially in the case of the Nile. Its annual inundations, and +the uniformity in the periods of its rise and fall, have been recorded +with considerable accuracy for many centuries; the solid matter held in +suspension in its waters, slowly deposited on the land overflowed, has +been productive of changes in the configuration of the country, not only +in times long antecedent to history, but throughout all history, down to +the present day. Of no other river on the earth’s surface do we possess +such or similar records; and, moreover, the Nile, and the changes it has +produced on the physical character of Egypt, are intimately associated +with the earliest records and traditions of the human race. Everything, +therefore, relating to the physical history of the Nile Valley must +always be an object of interest; but the discovery of Professor Lepsius +is one peculiarly deserving the attention of the geologist; for he does +not merely record the facts of the markings of the former high level of +the river, but he infers from these marks that since the reign of Mœris, +about 2200 years before our era, the entire bed of the Nile, in Lower +Nubia, must have been excavated to a depth of about 27 feet; and he +further speculates as to the process by which he believes the excavation +to have been effected. + +It will be convenient, before entering upon the observations I have to +offer upon the cause assigned by Professor Lepsius for the former higher +levels of the Nile indicated by these marks, that I should give the +description of the discovery itself, by translating Dr. Lepsius’s own +account of it, in letters which he addressed to his friends, Professors +Ehrenberg and Böckh of Berlin, from the island of Philæ, in September, +1844[377]. + + “You may probably remember, when travelling to Dongola on the + Lybian side of the Nile, and in passing through the district + of Batn el hagér, that one of the most considerable of the + cataracts of the country occurs near Semne, a very old fortress, + with a handsome temple, built of sandstone, in a good state of + preservation; the track of the caravan passing close to it, + partly over the 4000-year-old artificial road. The track on the + eastern bank of the river is higher up, being carried through the + hills; and you must turn off from it at this point in order to + see the cataract. This Nile-pass, the narrowest with which I am + acquainted, according to the measurement of Hr. Erbkam, is 380 + metres (1247 English feet) broad[378]; and both in itself, and + on account of the monuments existing there, is one of the most + interesting localities in the country, and we passed twelve days + in its examination. + + “The river is here confined between steep rocky cliffs on both + sides, whose summits are occupied by two fortresses of the most + ancient and most massive construction, distinguishable at once + from the numerous other forts, which, in the time of the Nubian + power in this land of cliffs, were erected on most of the larger + islands, and on the hills commanding the river. The cataract + (or rapid) derives its name of Semne from that of the higher of + the two fortresses on the western bank; that on the opposite + bank, as well as a poor village lying somewhat south of it, is + called Kumme. In both fortresses the highest and best position is + occupied by a temple, built of huge blocks of sandstone, of two + kinds, which must have been brought from a great distance through + the rapids; for, southward, no sandstone is found nearer than + Gebel Abir, in the neighbourhood of Amara and the island of Sai + (between 80 and 90 English miles), and northward, there is none + nearer than the great division of the district at Wadi Halfa (30 + miles distant). + + “Both temples were built in the time of Tutmosis III., a king + of the 18th dynasty, about 1600 years before Christ; but the + fortresses in which they stand are of a more ancient date. The + foundations of these are granite blocks of Cyclopian dimensions, + resting on the rock, and scarcely inferior to the rock itself + in durability. They were erected by the first conqueror of the + country, King Sesurtesen III., of the 12th Dynasty, in order + to command the river, so easily done in so narrow a gorge. The + immediate successor of this king was Amenemha III., the Mœris of + the Greeks: he who accomplished the gigantic work of forming the + artificial lake of Mœris, in the Fayoum, and from whose time—the + most flourishing of the whole of the old Egyptian kingdom—the + risings of the Nile in successive years, doubtless by means of + regular markings, as indeed Diodorus tells, remained so well + known, that, according to Herodotus, they were recorded in + distinct numbers from the time of Mœris. It appears that this + provident king, occupied with great schemes for the welfare of + his country, considered it of great importance that the rising + of the Nile on the most southern border of his kingdom should be + observed, and the results forthwith communicated widely in other + parts of the land, to prepare the people for the inundations. The + gorge at Semne offered greater advantages for this object than + any other point; because the river was there securely confined + by precipitous rocky cliffs on each side. With the same view + he had doubtless caused Nilometers to be fixed at Assuan and + other suitable places; for without a comparison with these, the + observations at Semne could be of little use. + + “The highest rise of the Nile in each year at Semne, was + registered by a mark, indicating the year of the king’s reign, + cut in the granite, either on one of the blocks forming the + foundation of the fortress, or on the cliff, and particularly + on the east or right bank, as best adapted for the purpose. Of + these markings eighteen still remain, thirteen of them having + been made in the reign of Mœris, and five in the time of his two + next successors. These last kings discontinued the observations; + for, in the mean time, the irruption of the Asiatic pastoral + tribes into Lower Egypt took place, and well-nigh brought the + whole kingdom to ruin. The record is almost always in the same + terms, short and simple: _Ra en Hapi en renpe_ ... mouth or gate + of the Nile in the year.... And then follows the year of the + reign, and the name of the king. It is written in a horizontal + row of hieroglyphics, included within two lines—the upper line + indicating the particular height of the water, as is often + specially stated— + + [Illustration: 𓂋𓏤𓈖𓎛𓂝𓊪𓈘𓈖𓆳𓏏𓇳𓎆𓎆𓏽...] + + “The earliest date preserved is that of the sixth year of the + king’s reign, and he reigned 42 years and some months. The next + following dates are, the years 9, 14, 15, 20, 22, 23, 24, 30, 32, + 37, 40, 41, and 43; and include, therefore, under this king, a + period of 37 years. Of the remaining dates, that only of the 4th + year of his two successors is available; all the others, which + are on the west or left bank of the river, have been moved from + their original place by the rapid floods which have overthrown + and carried forward vast masses of rock. One single mark only, + that of the 9th year of Amenemha, has been preserved in its + original place on one of the building stones, but somewhat below + the principal rapid. + + “We have now to consider the relation which these—the most + ancient of all existing marks of the risings of the Nile—bear to + the levels of the river in our own time. We have here presented + to us the remarkable facts, that the highest of the records now + legible, viz., that of the 30th year of the reign of Amenemha, + according to exact measurements which I made, is 8·17 metres (26 + feet 8 inches) higher than the highest level to which the Nile + rises in years of the greatest floods; and further, that the + lowest mark, which is on the east bank, and indicated the 15th + year of the same king, is still 4·14 metres (13 feet 6½ inches): + and the single mark on the west bank, indicating the 9th year, is + 2·77 metres (9 feet) above the same highest level. + + “The mean rise of the river, recorded by the marks on the east + bank, during the reign of Mœris, is 19·14 metres (62 feet 6 + inches) above the lowest level of the water in the present day, + which, according to the statements of the most experienced + boatmen, does not change from year to year, and therefore + represents the actual level of the Nile, independently of its + increase by the falls of rain, in the mountains in which its + sources are situated. The mean rise above the lowest level, + at the present time, is 11·84 metres (38 feet 8 inches); and, + therefore, in the time of Mœris, or about 2200 years before + Christ, the mean height of the river, at the cataract or rapid of + Semne, during the inundation, was 7·30 metres (23 feet 10 inches) + above the mean level in the present day.” + +Such are the facts recorded by Dr. Lepsius; and then follow, in the same +letter, his views as to the cause of the remarkable lowering of the level +of the river. + + “There is certainly no reason for believing,” he says, “that + there has been any diminution in the general volume of water + coming from the south. The great change in the level can, + therefore, only be accounted for by some changes in the land, + and these must also have altered the whole nature of the Nile + Valley. There seems to be but one cause for the very considerable + lowering of the Nile; namely, the washing out and excavations of + the catacombs (_Auswaschen und Aushölen der Katakomben_[379]); + and this is quite possible from the nature of the rocks + themselves, which, it is true, are of a quality that could not + well be rent asunder, and carried away by the mere force of the + water, but might be acted upon directly by the rising of the + water-level, and the consequent effects of the sun and air on + the places left dry, causing cracks, into which earth and sand + would penetrate, which would then give rise to still greater + rents, until, at last, the rocks would of themselves fall in, by + having been hollowed out, a process that would be hastened in + those parts of the hills where softer and earthy beds existed, + and which would be more easily washed away. But that, in + historical times, within a period of about 4000 years, so great + an alteration should take place in the hardest rocks, is a fact + of the most remarkable kind—one which may afford ground for many + other important considerations. + + “The elevation of the water-level at Semne must necessarily have + affected all the lands above; and, it is to be presumed, that + the level of the province of Dongola was at one time higher, as + Semne cannot be the only place in the long tract of cliffs where + the bed of rock has been hollowed out. It is to be conceived, + therefore, that not only the widely-extended tracts in Dongola, + but those of all the higher country in Meröe, and as far up + as Fasogle, which, in the present day, are dry and barren on + both sides of the river, and are with difficulty irrigated + by artificial contrivances, must then have presented a very + different aspect, when the Nile overflowed them, and yearly + deposited its fertile mud to the limits of the sandy desert. + + “Lower Nubia also, between Wadi Halfa and Assuan, is now arid + almost throughout its whole extent. The present land of the + valley, which is only partly irrigated by water-wheels, is, on + an average, from 6 to 12 feet higher than the level to which the + Nile now rises; and although the rise at Semne might have no + immediate influence upon it, yet what has occurred there makes + it more than probable that at Assuan there was formerly a very + different level of the river, and that the cataracts there, even + in the historical period, have been considerably worn down. The + continued impoverishment of Nubia is a proof of this. I have no + manner of doubt that the land in this lower part of the valley, + which, as already stated, is at present about 10 feet above the + highest rise of the Nile, was inundated by it within historical + time. Many marks are also met with here, that leave no doubt + regarding the condition of the Nile Valley antecedent to history, + when the river must have risen much higher; for it has left an + alluvial soil in almost all the considerable bays, at an average + height of 10 metres (32 feet 9 inches) above the present mean + rise of the river. That alluvial soil, since that period, has + doubtless been considerably diminished in extent by the action + of rain. On the 17th of August Hr. Erbkam and I measured the + nearest alluvial hillock in the neighbourhood of Korusko, and + found it 6·91 metres (22 feet 7 inches) above the general level + of the valley, and 10·26 metres (33 feet 7 inches) above the + present mean rise of the river. That rise, which at Semne, on + account of the greater confinement of the stream between the + rocks, varies as much as 2·40 metres (7 feet 10 inches) in + different years, varies at Korusko less than 1 metre (3 feet 3 + inches). + + “Near Abusimbel, on the west bank, I found the ground of + the temple 6·50 metres (21 feet 2 inches) above the highest + water-level. This temple, it is well known, was built under + Rameses the Great, between 1388 and 1322 years before Christ. + Near Ibrîm there are, on the east bank, four grottoes excavated + in the vertical rock that bounds the river, which belong partly + to the 18th and partly to the 19th Dynasties; the last, under + Rameses the Great, is also the lowest, and only 2·50 metres (8 + feet 1 inch) above the highest inundation; the next in height is + 2·70 metres (8 feet 9½ inches) above the former, and was made 250 + years earlier, under Tutmes III. Although I only measured the + present level of the valley near Korusko, nevertheless it appears + to me that, during the whole of the new kingdom, that is, from + about 1700 years before Christ to this time, the Nile has not + reached to the full height of the low land of the valley. + + “It is, however, conceivable that, at the time when the present + low land of the Nubian Valley was formed, the cataracts at Assuan + were in a totally different state; one that would, in some + degree, justify the overcharged descriptions of the ancients, + according to whom they made so great a noise that the dwellers + near them became deaf. The damming up of the inundation at Assuan + could have no material influence on Egypt, any more than that at + Semne, or the land from thence to Assuan.” + +It appears, therefore, from the above statements, that at the time +mentioned, the Nile, during the inundations, stood 26 feet 8 inches +higher than the highest level to which it now rises in years of the +greatest floods; and that, to account for this, Professor Lepsius +conceives that, between the time of Mœris and the present day, the bed of +the Nile, from a considerable distance above Semne to Assuan, must have +been worn down to that extent. In the index to the volume of the Berlin +Monatsbericht, in which the letters of Professor Lepsius are inserted, +there is the following line:— + + “NIL, _senkung seines Bettes um 25 Fuss seit 4000 Jahren_.” + + “_Nile_, sinking of its bed about 25 feet (Paris) within the last + 4000 years.” + +Rivers are, undoubtedly, among the most active agents of change that are +operating on the earth’s surface; the solid matter which renders their +waters turbid, and which they unceasingly carry to the sea, afford +indisputable proof of this agency. But the power of rivers to abrade and +wear down the rocks over which they flow, and to form and deepen their +own bed, depends upon a variety of circumstances not always taken into +account; and although the great extent of that power, in both respects, +is shown in the case of many rivers, to conclude, as some have done, +from these instances, that all rivers have excavated the channels in +which they flow, is a generalisation that cannot be safely assented +to. The excavation of the bed of a river is one of those problems in +geological dynamics which can only be rightly solved by each particular +case being subjected to the rigorous examination of the mathematician +and the physicist. The solid matter which rivers carry forward is in +part only the produce of their own abrading power; and the amount of it +must be proportional to that power, which is mainly dependent on their +velocity; they are the recipients of the waste of the adjoining lands by +other combined agencies, and the carriers of it to the lower districts +and to the sea. They often afford the strongest evidence of the vast +lapse of time that must be included between the beginning and close of +a geological period; and, when they flow through countries whose remote +political history is known to us, they supply a scale by which we may +measure and estimate that lapse of time. This is especially so in the +case of the Nile. + +When so startling an hypothesis as that now referred to, viz., that the +entire bed of so vast a river as the Nile, for more than 250 miles, +from Semne to Assuan, has been excavated, within historical time, to a +depth of 27 feet, is made by a person whose name carries so much weight +in one department of philosophical inquiry, the statement involves +such important geological considerations, that it becomes the duty of +the geologist to examine, and thoroughly test, the soundness of the +explanation, in order that the authority of Professor Lepsius for the +accuracy of the facts observed, may not be too readily admitted as +conclusive for the correctness of his theory of the cause to which they +owe their existence. That there has been such an undoubting admission, +appears from the following passage in the work of one of the latest +writers on Nubia: + + “The translation of the name of this town (Aswán) is ‘the + opening;’ and a great opening this once was, before the Nile had + changed its character in Ethiopia, and when the more ancient + races made this rock (at the first cataract) their watch-tower + on the frontier between Egypt and the south. That the Nile has + changed its character, south of the first cataract, has been made + clear by some recent examinations of the shores and monuments + of Nubia. Dr. Lepsius has discovered water-marks so high on the + rocks and edifices, and so placed as to compel the conviction + that the bed of the Nile has sunk extraordinarily by some great + natural process, either of convulsion or wear. The apparent + exaggerations of some old writers about the cataracts at Syene + may thus be in some measure accounted for. If there really was + once a cataract here, instead of the rapids at the present day, + there is some excuse for the reports given from hearsay by Cicero + and Seneca. Cicero says, that ‘the river throws itself headlong + from the loftiest mountains, so that those who live nearest are + deprived of the sense of hearing, from the greatness of the + noise.’ Seneca’s account is: ‘When some people were stationed + there by the Persians, their ears were so stunned with the + constant roar, that it was found necessary to remove them to a + more quiet place[380].’” + +The learned author of an article on Egyptian Chronology and History in +the “Prospective Review” for May, 1850, in referring to the contributions +of Professor Lepsius to Egyptian history, says: “He has discovered +undescribed pyramids, equal in number to those known before; has traced +the Labyrinth, and ascertained its founder. _He has detected inscriptions +on the banks of the Nile, which show that its bed has subsided many feet +in historic times._” _9th June, 1850._ + +In the assumption of an excavation of the bed of the river, we have no +small amount of wear to deal with, for the distance from Semne to Assuan, +following the course of the river, is not less than 250 miles; and if, as +Professor Lepsius supposes, the excavation extended to Meröe, we have a +distance, between that place and Assuan, of not less than 600 miles. + +Although these records of a former high level of the Nile at Semne had +not been noticed by any traveller prior to Professor Lepsius, we may +rest fully assured of the accuracy of his statements, from the habitual +care and diligence, and the established character for fidelity, of the +observer. The silence of other travellers may be readily accounted for by +this, that none of them appear to have remained more than a very short +time at this spot—not even the diligent Russegger—whereas we have seen +that Professor Lepsius passed twelve days in the examination of this +gorge in the Nile Valley. + +The theory of a lowering of the bed of the river by wearing, involves +two main considerations, viz., the power of the stream, and the degree +of hardness of the rocks acted upon. The power depends upon the volume +and velocity of the river—the velocity on its depth, and the degree of +inclination of the bed: the hardness of the rocks we can form a tolerable +estimate of when we know their nature. To judge, therefore, of the +probability of the hypothesis of Professor Lepsius, we must inquire into +the physical and geological features of the Nile Valley, in Nubia. + +In the observations I have now to offer, my information has been derived +of course entirely from the works of other travellers, particularly those +of Burckhardt, Rüppell, and Russegger[381], and especially the latter, +who travelled in Nubia in 1837; for he not only enters far more into +the details of the natural history of the country, but he is the only +traveller in Nubia who appears, from previous acquirements, to have been +competent to describe its natural history with any degree of accuracy—I +refer more particularly to the physical and geological features of +the country. Besides full descriptions in his volumes, he has given a +geological map of Nubia, and also several sections, or what may more +properly be called _vertical sketches_—a term that would, perhaps, be +a more appropriate designation for all sections that are not drawn to +a true scale, or at least when the proportion of height to horizontal +distance is not stated. + + +_The Physical Geography of Lower Nubia[382]._ + +Russegger informs us[383], that he believes he was the first traveller +who had succeeded in making a series of barometrical measurements along +the Nile Valley, from the Mediterranean to Sennaar and Kordofan, and +thence to the 10th degree of north latitude. He gives the following +altitudes, above the sea: + + Paris Feet. English Feet. + + The upper part of the Cataract of Assuan 342 = 364·37 + Korusko, on the right bank of the Nile, in Nubia 450 = 479·43 + Wadi Halfa 490 = 522·00 + New Dongola 757 = 806·52 + Abu Hammed 963 = 1026·00 + +I shall now give the length of the Nile along its course from Abu +Hammed to the island of Philæ, at the head of the cataract of Assuan. I +employ for this purpose the map in the atlas which accompanies the work +of Russegger, which bears the date of 1846, and which, doubtless, was +constructed on the best authorities. He mentions a map of General von +Prokesch with great praise[384]. It flows: + + German M. English M. + + From NE. to SW., from Abu Hammed to Meröe, about 31 = 150 + + It makes a curve between Meröe and Old Dongola, + of about 16 = 77 + + It flows between Old and New Dongola, from SE. + to NW., about 16 = 77 + + Then, with some short windings, nearly due north + to the island of Sais, for about 30 = 145 + + And from Sais to the island of Philæ, from SW. + to NE., about 68 = 327 + --- --- + Making the whole length of the course, from Abu + Hammed to Philæ, about 161 = 776 + +Ascending the river, we have, between Philæ and Korusko, a distance of +24 German, or 115½ English miles, and without any rapid, except one near +Kalabsche. Korusko being 115 feet above the head of the cataract of +Assuan, at Philæ, we have an average fall of the river between these two +places of a foot in a mile. + +Between Korusko and Wadi Halfa there is no rapid. The distance being 20 +German, or 96⅓ English miles, and the difference of altitude being 42½ +feet, we have an average fall throughout that part of the river’s course +of not more than 5·3 inches in a mile. + +This very inconsiderable fall need not surprise us; for the average +fall of the Nile in Lower Egypt, at the lowest water, is little more +than one-third of that now stated. At the time of the highest water the +surface of the Nile, at Boulak, near Cairo—that is, about 116 miles in a +direct line from the coast—is only 43·437 English feet above the level of +the Mediterranean, and at the time of the lowest water, only 17·33 feet. +Thus, in the first case, there is an average fall of about 5·00 inches; +in the second, of not more than 1·80 inches in a mile[385]. + +Between Wadi Halfa and Dale, a distance of about 94 miles, six cataracts, +or schellals, as they are called in the language of the country, are +marked in Russegger’s map. And here, it may be as well to notice, that +there are no cataracts, in the ordinary sense of the term, on the Nile; +no fall of the river over a precipice; all the so-called cataracts +are rapids, where the river rushes through rocks in its bed; the +rapids varying in their length and degrees of inclination. We have no +measurements of their lengths or of their falls, except as regards the +first and second cataracts. The former, according to Russegger, has a +fall of about 85 English feet in a distance of about 8 miles; and he +describes the latter as extending from 5 to 6 _stunden_; that is, from 12 +to 14½ miles, but he does not give the height. Speaking of the schellals +above Semne, Russegger says, that all may be passed in boats without +difficulty for about six weeks, or two months in the year. This is the +case also at the cataract or rapid of Assuan. But between Wadi Halfa and +Dale, with some inconsiderable spaces of free navigable water, in the +ordinary state of the river, there is an almost uninterrupted series of +rapids. We have no measurement of the height of Dale above Wadi Halfa, +near to which the second great cataract of the Nile occurs; but this is +the part of the river’s course where the fall is greatest, and from Semne +to Dale there are about 45 miles of this more rapid fall. + +From Dale to New Dongola, a distance of 35 German, or about 168 English +miles, only three rapids are marked on Russegger’s map—the highest being +at Hannek, about 26 English miles below New Dongola. New Dongola being +806 English feet above the sea, and the distance from that place to the +rapid of Hannek being 26 miles only, we may with probability estimate +the surface of the river at the rapid of Hannek at 780 feet above the +sea. Now, Wadi Halfa being 522 feet, we have a difference of height, +between these two last-named places, of 258 feet; and the length of the +river’s course between them being 236 miles, we have an average fall +of 13·12 inches in a mile; that is, in the part of the river’s course +where nine rapids occur, in the provinces of Batn-el-Hadjar, Sukkôt, and +Dar-el-Mahass, where the river flows over granite and other plutonic +rocks; gneiss, mica-schist, and other hard rocks, which Russegger +considers to be metamorphic. But between Semne and the head of the +second cataract at Wadi Halfa, there is not a continuous rapid stream; +for Hoskins says, that about two miles above that cataract, the river +has a width of a third of a mile, and, when he passed it, the water was +scarcely ruffled[386]. + +From the rapid of Hannek to Abu Hammed the distance is 329 English miles, +and the difference of altitude is 246 English feet. We have thus an +average fall in that distance of 9·00 inches in a mile. + +Thus, in the 776 miles between Abu Hammed and Philæ, we have an average +fall of the Nile + + Of 9·00 inches in a mile, for a distance of 329 miles. + Of 13·12 ” ” 236 ” + Of 5·30 ” ” 96 ” + Of 12·00 ” ” 115 ” + + +_Of the Breadth, Depth, and Velocity of the Nile, in Nubia._ + +Our information is very scanty respecting the breadth and depth of the +river, either at the time of lowest water or during the inundations. +About two miles above Philæ, it is stated by Jomard[387] to be 3000 +metres, or nearly two English miles wide. At the second cataract, or +rapid of Wadi Halfa, it spreads over a rocky bed of nearly two miles and +a quarter in width (2000 klafter)[388], but contracts above the rapid to +a third of a mile. Russegger also states, that the Nile, near Boulak, +in Lower Egypt, is 2000 toises, nearly two-and-a-half English miles in +breadth, and yet that it is considerably wider in some parts of Southern +Nubia; but Burckhardt says that the bed of the Nile in Nubia is, in +general, much narrower than in any part of Egypt. Near Kalabsche, about +30 miles above Philæ, the river runs through a gorge not more than 300 +paces wide, and its bed is full of granite blocks. It shortly afterwards +again widens for some distance; but near Sialla, 78 miles above Philæ, +it is contracted by the sandstone hills on both sides coming so near +each other, that the river’s bed is again not more than from 250 to 300 +paces wide. It is about 600 yards broad about two miles above the second +cataract near Wadi Halfa, but is again very much contracted in the rocky +region of Batn-el-Hadjar. At Aulike it is only 200 paces broad[389]. + +I have not met with any measurements of the depth of the river in any +part of its course in Nubia; but Hoskins describes it as being so +shallow at the island of Sais, 327 miles above Philæ, on the 9th of June, +which would be before the commencement of the inundation, as only to +reach the knees of the camels[390]. Near Derr, about 86 miles below the +Cataract of Wadi Halfa, Norden, in January, found the river so shallow +that loaded camels waded through it, and his boat frequently struck the +ground. In May, Burckhardt found the river fordable at Kostamne, 53 miles +above Philæ; and Parthey states, that between Philæ and the island of +Bageh, to the west of it, the river is so shallow before the commencement +of the inundation, that it may be waded through[391]. Burckhardt says, +that from March to June the Nile-water, in Nubia, is quite limpid[392]. +Miss Martineau, who visited Nubia in December and January, speaking of +the river above Philæ, says, that it “was divided into streamlets and +ponds by the black islets. Where it was overshadowed it was dark-grey or +deep blue, but when the light caught it rushing between a wooded island +and the shore, it was of the clearest green[393].” At the second cataract +she describes the river as “dashing and driving among its thousand +islets, and then gathering its thousand currents into one, proceeds +calmly in its course[394].” + +Although we have no accurate measurements of the velocity of the Nile in +Nubia, we may arrive at an approximate estimate of it by comparing its +fall with that of a river well known to us. + +I have stated the fall of the Nile in different parts of its course to +be 5·30, 9·00, 12·00, and 13·12 inches in a mile. The fall of the Thames +from Wallingford to Teddington Lock, where the influence of the tide +ends, is as follows: + + +-----------------------------------+---------+----------+----------+ + | | Length | | Fall in | + | | of | Fall. | Inches | + | | Course. | | per Mile.| + | +---------+----------+----------+ + | |Miles. F.| Feet. in.| | + | | | | | + |From Wallingford to Reading Bridge | 18·0 | 24·1 | 15·72 | + |From Reading to Henley Bridge | 9·0 | 19·3 | 25·68 | + |From Henley to Marlow Bridge | 9·0 | 12·2 | 16·20 | + |From Marlow to Maidenhead Bridge | 8·0 | 15·1 | 22·32 | + |From Maidenhead to Windsor Bridge | 7·0 | 13·6 | 23·16 | + |From Windsor to Staines Bridge | 8·0 | 15·8 | 23·52 | + |From Staines to Chertsey Bridge | 4·6 | 6·6 | 17·28 | + |From Chertsey to Teddington Lock | 13·6 | 19·8 | 17·40 | + | +---------+----------+----------+ + | | 77·4 | 125·11 | | + +-----------------------------------+---------+----------+----------+ + +“In general, the velocity may be estimated at from half a mile to two +miles and three-quarters per hour; but the mean velocity may be reckoned +at two miles per hour. In the year 1794, the late Mr. Rennie found the +velocity of the Thames at Windsor two miles and a half per hour[395].” + +It will thus be seen that the velocity of the Nile is probably greatly +inferior to that of the Thames; for it appears that, except during the +inundation, for more than half the year the depth is inconsiderable. +The average fall when greatest, that is, including the province of +Batn-el-Hadjar, where the rapids chiefly occur, is considerably less than +that of any part of the above course of the Thames; so that there must +be long intervals between the rapids where the fall must be far less +than 13 inches in a mile. The breadth of the Nile is vastly greater; but +supposing the depth of the water to be the same as that of the Thames, on +account of the friction of the bed, the greater breadth would add very +little to the velocity. If we assume the average depth of the Thames +in the above distance to be 5 feet, and that it flows with an average +velocity of 2 miles in an hour, and if we assume the average depth of +the Nile in that part of its course where the fall is 13·12 inches to be +10 feet, when not swollen by the rise, the velocity would be 2⅘ miles +nearly in an hour[396], if the fall were equal to that of the Thames. We +shall probably come near the truth, by assuming the velocity of the Nile +on this part at 2 miles in an hour. That it must be considerably less in +the other divisions of the course I have named, and especially in that +part immediately below the second cataract, where the average fall is +only 5·30 inches for a distance of 96 miles, is quite evident. + +The power of a river to abrade the soil over which it flows, so far as +water is by itself capable of doing so, must depend upon its volume and +velocity, and the degree of hardness of the material acted upon. The +power is increased when the water has force enough to transport hard +substances. But even transported gravel has little action on the rocks +with which it comes in contact, when it is free to move in running water, +unless the fall be considerable, and, consequently, the velocity and +force of the stream great. When stones are firmly set in moving ice, they +then acquire a great erosive power, cutting and wearing down the rocks +they are forcibly rubbed against; but this condition never obtains in +Lower Nubia, as ice is unknown there. + + +_Geological Structure of Lower Nubia._ + +One kind only of regularly stratified rock occurs in the 776 miles from +Abu Hammed to Philæ; viz., a silicious sandstone, similar to that which +occurs to a great extent on both sides of the Nile in Upper Egypt, and +which Russegger, after a very careful examination of it there, considers +to be an equivalent of the greensand of the cretaceous rocks of Europe. +The tertiary nummulite limestone, so abundant in Egypt, has not hitherto +been met with in Nubia. + +The Nile flows over this sandstone for nearly 426 miles of the entire +distance, but not continuously. At Abu Hammed, it flows over granitic +rocks, and these continue from that place for about 120 miles. There is +then about 215 miles of the sandstone, which is succeeded by igneous and +metamorphic rocks, that continue for 195 miles without any interruption, +except a narrow stripe of sandstone of about 15 miles near Amara. It is +in this region of hard igneous rocks that nearly all the rapids occur, +between that of Hannek and the great or second cataract at Wadi Halfa. +From the latter place there is sandstone throughout a distance of about +196 miles, and then commences the granitic region of the Cataract of +Assuan, through which the Nile flows about 35 miles. Thus we have about +350 miles of igneous and metamorphic rocks, and about 426 of sandstone. + +The general hard nature of the igneous and metamorphic rocks, over +which the Nile flows for about 155 miles above Semne, and for about +40 immediately below it, will be recognised by my naming some of the +varieties described by Russegger, viz., granites of various kinds, often +penetrated by greenstone dykes; sienite, diorite, and felspar porphyries; +gneiss, and clay slate, penetrated by numerous quartz veins. + +The siliceous sandstone is very uniform in its character; and in Nubia, +as in Egypt, the only organic bodies which it has as yet been found +to contain, are silicified stems of wood. Occasionally, as in the +neighbourhood of Korusko, interstratified beds of marly clay are met +with[397]. + +When, therefore, we take into account the hard nature of the siliceous +sandstone, the durability of which is shown by the very ancient monuments +of Egypt and Nubia, that are formed of it, and the still greater hardness +of the granites and other crystalline rocks, it is manifest that the +wearing action of a river flowing over so gentle a fall, can scarcely +be appreciable. If the occasional beds of marly clay occur in the bank +of the river, they may be washed out, and blocks of the superincumbent +sandstones may fall down; but such an operation would have a tendency to +raise rather than deepen the bed of the river at those places; unless the +transporting power of the stream were far greater than can exist with so +moderate a fall, especially in that part of the river below Semne, where, +for 96 miles, it is not more than 5·3 inches, and for 115 miles below +that, not more than 12 inches in a mile. Even if we suppose the river to +have power to tear up its bed for some distance above Semne and below +it, as far as the rapid of Wadi Halfa, it is evident that the materials +brought down would be deposited, except the finest particles, in that +tranquil run of 96 miles, which may be almost compared to a canal. The +drains in Lincolnshire are inclined 5 inches to a mile[398]. When the +annual inundations commence, the water of the Nile comes down the rapid +at Assuan of a reddish colour loaded with sand and mud only; whatever +detrital matter of a larger and heavier kind the Nile may have brought +with it, is deposited before it reaches that point. + +From all these considerations, therefore, I come to the conclusion, that +the bed of the Nile cannot have been excavated, as Professor Lepsius +supposes, since the date of the sculptured marks on the rock at Semne. He +says, “Es lässt sich kaum eine andere Ursache für das bedeutende Fallen +des Nils denken, als ein Auswaschen und Aushölen _der Katakomben_.” By +the word _Katakomben_[399] he can only mean natural caverns in the rock; +but such caverns are rarely, if ever, met with in sandstones, and only +occasionally in limestones. If the course of the Nile were over limestone +instead of sandstone, we could not for a moment entertain the idea of a +succession of caverns for 200 miles beneath its bed, sometimes two miles +in width, the roofs of which were to fall in; and where the igneous rocks +prevail, this explanation is wholly inapplicable. + +But besides the objections arising from the nature of the rocks, and the +inconsiderable fall of the river, there is still another difficulty to +overcome. It is to be borne in mind, that this lowering of the bed of the +Nile, from Semne to Assuan, is supposed to have taken place within the +last 4000 years. Between the first cataract at Assuan and the second at +Wadi Halfa there are numerous remains of temples on both banks of the +Nile, some of very great antiquity. “From Wadi Halfa to Philæ,” says +Parthey, “there is a vast number of Egyptian monuments, almost all on the +left bank of the river, and so near the water that most of them are in +immediate contact with it[400].” We may rest assured that the builders of +these would place them out of the reach of the highest inundations then +known. Although we have many accurate descriptions of these monuments, +the heights of their foundations above the surface of the river are not +often given; they are, however, mentioned in some instances. I shall +describe the situations of some of these buildings relatively to the +present state of the river’s levels, and shall begin with those on the +island of Philæ. + +This island, according to the measurements of General von Prokesch, is +1200 Paris feet (1278 English) in length, and 420 (447) in breadth, and +is composed of granite. Lancret informs us, that, “à l’époque des hautes +eaux, l’île de Philæ est peu élevée au-dessus de leur surface: mais, +lorsqu’elles sont abaissées, elle les surpasse de huit mètres.” It was +formerly surrounded by a quay of masonry, portions of which may be traced +at intervals, and in some places they are still in good preservation. +The south-west part of the island is occupied by temples. According +to Wilkinson, the principal building is a temple of Isis commenced by +Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned from 283 to 247 years before Christ; +and he adds, that it is evident an ancient building formerly stood +on the site of the present great temple. Lancret, in referring to +this more ancient building, says:—“Il y a des preuves certaines d’une +antiquité bien plus reculée encore, puisque des pierres qui entrent dans +la construction de ce même grand temple, sont des débris de quelque +construction antérieure.” Rosellini considers that it was built by +Nectanebus. The first king of Egypt, of the Sebennite Dynasty of that +name, ascended the throne 374 years B.C., the second and last ceased to +reign about 350 years B.C.[401] + +Rosellini[402] informs us, that on the island of Bageh, opposite to +Philæ, there are the remains of a temple of the time of Amenophis II., +and a sitting statue of granite representing him. He was a king in the +earlier years of the 18th Dynasty, which, according to the Chevalier +Bunsen[403], began in the year 1638, and ended in 1410 B.C. + +GAU[404], in describing a temple at Debu, about 12 miles above Philæ, +which he visited in January, and consequently during the time of low +water, states that he discovered under the sand, at the edge of the +river, the remains of a terrace leading towards a temple. + +A short distance north of Kalabsche, about 30 miles above Philæ, at +Beil-nalli, Rosellini[405] speaks of a small temple in the following +terms:—“Among the many memorials that still exist of Ramses II., the +most important, in a historical point of view, is a small temple or +grotto excavated in the rock!” and Wilkinson mentions it “as a small but +interesting temple excavated in the rock, of the time of Ramses II., +whom Champollion supposes to be the father of Sesostris or Rameses the +Great[406].” He was the first king of the 19th Dynasty, which began in +the year 1409 B.C.[407] + +Gau[408] thus describes a monument at Gerbé Dandour:—“La chaîne de +montagnes qui borde le Nil est, dans cet endroit, si approchée du lit de +ce fleuve, qu’il ne reste que très peu d’espace sur la rive. Cet espace +est presque entièrement occupé par le monument, et la rivière, dans ses +débordemens, arrive jusqu’au pied du mur de la terrasse.” + +Parthey informs us that the temple of Sebûa is about 200 feet distant +from the river, in which distance there are two rows of sphinxes, and +that the road between them, from the temple, ends in wide steps at the +water’s edge; and he adds that Champollion refers this temple to the time +of Rameses the Great[409]. + +It thus appears that monuments exist close to the river, some of which +were constructed at least 1400 years before our era; so that taking the +time of Amenemha III. to be, as Professor Lepsius states, 2200 years +B.C., the excavation of the bed of the Nile which he supposes to have +taken place, must have been the work, not of 4000 years but of 800. If +the erosive power of the river was so active in that time, it cannot be +supposed that it then ceased; it would surely have continued to deepen +the bed during the following 3000 years. + +At all events, the buildings on the island of Philæ demonstrate that the +bed of the Nile must have been very much the same as it is now, 2200 +years ago; and even a thousand years earlier it must have been the same, +if the foundation of the temple on the island of Bageh, opposite to +Philæ, be near the limit of the highest rise of the Nile of the present +time; so that there could be no barrier at the Cataract of Assuan to dam +up the Nile when they were constructed; and thus the deafening sound of +the waterfall recorded by Cicero and Seneca must still be held to be an +exaggeration. + +The existence of alluvial soil, apparently of the same kind as that +deposited by the Nile, in situations above the Cataract of Assuan, at +a level considerably above the highest point which the inundations of +the river have reached in modern times, to which allusion is made by +Professor Lepsius, has been noticed by other travellers, and even at +still higher levels than those he mentions. Whether that alluvial soil be +identical with, or only resembles the Nile deposit, would require to be +determined by a close examination, and especially with regard to organic +remains, if any can be found in it. There is no evidence to show that +it was deposited during the historical period, and it may be an evidence +of a depression and subsequent elevation of the land antecedent to that +period. It may not be of fresh-water origin, but the clay and sand, or +till, left by a drift while the land was under the sea. For remote as +is the antiquity of Nubia and Egypt, in relation to the existence of +the human race, it appears to be of very modern formation in geological +time. The greater part of Lower Egypt, probably all the Delta, is of +post-pliocene age, and even late in that age; and the very granite of +the Cataract of Assuan, that of which the oldest monuments in Egypt +are formed, and which, in the earlier days of geology, was looked upon +as the very type of the rock on which the oldest strata of the earth +were founded, is said to have burst forth during the later tertiary +period. We learn from Russegger, that the low land which lies between +the Mediterranean and the range of hills that extends from Cairo to the +Red Sea at Suez, and of which hills a nummulite limestone constitutes a +great part, is composed of a sandstone which he calls a “Meeresdiluvium,” +a marine diluvial formation, and considers to be of an age younger than +that of the sub-appennines[410]. This sandstone he found associated with +the granite above Assuan, and covering the cretaceous sandstone far into +Nubia. It appears, therefore, that, in the later ages of the tertiary +period, this north-eastern part of Africa must have been submerged, and +that very energetic plutonic action was going forward in the then bed of +the sea. The remarkable fact of the granite bursting through this modern +sandstone is thus described by Russegger: + + “We arrived at a plateau of the Arabian Chain south-east of + Assuan. It is about 200 feet above the bed of the Nile, and + consists of the lower and upper sandstone, which are penetrated + by innumerable granite cones from 20 to 100 feet in height, + arranged over the plateau in parallel lines, very much resembling + volcanic cones rising from a great cleft. The sandstone is + totally altered in texture near the granite, and has all the + appearance as if it had been exposed to a great heat. ‘I cannot + refrain,’ he says, ‘from supposing that the granite must have + burst, like a volcanic product, through long wide rents in + the sandstone, and that, in this way, the conical hills were + formed[411].’” + +An eruption of a true granite during the period of the sub-appennine +formations, one possessing the same mineral structure as that we know +to have been erupted during the period of the palæozoic rocks, would +be a fact of so extraordinary a kind, that its age would require to be +established on the clearest evidence, and especially by that of organic +remains in the sandstone. + +Having thus ventured—I trust without any want of the respect due to so +eminent a person—to reject the hypothesis proposed by Professor Lepsius +for the high levels of the Nile at Semne, indicated by the sculptured +marks he discovered, it may perhaps be expected that I should offer +another more probable explanation. If in some narrow gorge of the river +below Semne, a place had been described by any traveller, where, from +the nature of the banks, a great landslip, or even an artificial dam, +could have raised the bed to an adequate height; that is, proportionate +to the fall of the river, as it was more distant from Semne, a bar that, +in the course of a few centuries, might have been gradually washed away, +I might have ventured to suggest such a solution of the problem. But +without any information of the existence of such a contraction of the +river’s channel, or any exact knowledge of the natural outlets and dams +to running water along the 250 miles of the Nile Valley, from Semne to +Assuan, it would be idle to offer even a conjecture. These marks are +unquestionably very difficult to account for, in the present imperfect +state of our knowledge of the structure of that portion of the Nile +Valley; and any competent geologist, well versed in the questions of +physical structure involved, who may hereafter visit Nubia, would have a +very interesting occupation in endeavouring to solve the difficulty. + +_7th April, 1850._ + + +_Translation of a Letter from Dr. Lepsius to Mr. Horner, dated Berlin +the 12th of April, 1853._ + + DEAR SIR,—I observe from a letter of your daughter, that she is + desirous of adding to her translation of my Letters a note upon + the height of the water of the Nile, with reference to your paper + in the “Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.” I wish that you would + get reprinted in that note the whole of the small memoir, as it + possesses great interest, and abounds in data not easily brought + together; for in that case the subject may probably be further + discussed. + + I will, at all events, avail myself of this opportunity to + make some remarks, which you may, if you like, propose to have + introduced into the contemplated note. + + I must first remark that the word _Katakomben_ was entirely a + typographical error for _Katarakten_, as was unfortunately the + case in many other instances in those things which were printed + during my absence. + + But in respect of the explanation of the observed facts, my + views are perhaps less different from yours than you imagine. + You imagine a natural or artificial barrier which has broken + down, but this appears to me of insufficient magnitude; I too + imagine barriers to have existed, and natural ones, but that + there must have been several of them. I do not, moreover, regard + it as impossible, that at certain periods, when the country was + in its most flourishing condition, artificial dams may have been + constructed in order to obtain a higher rise of the water within + a particular space, such as was necessary for an overflowing. But + if we imagine an entire dam thrown across the river, this, if + I am not mistaken, could only hold back the current for a very + short way, namely, where there is a greater general fall. If, + for example, we imagine a barrier at Assuan, it would require to + be several hundred feet high to have any effect on the height + of the water at Semneh, and then the whole valley from Philæ to + Wadi Halfa would be a great lake, as it may indeed have been in + geological time. + + If we imagine a succession of barriers which would be especially + formed where veins existed in the primitive rock, then the + present entire physiognomy of the Nile valley seems to be more + easily explained. The river-bed, amidst granitic or other + upheaved rock, is not level, like a chalk or sandstone channel, + but forms sometimes lakes, sometimes barriers. The force of + the swollen current at these last, of which there is one at + Semneh itself, does not act in the mean proportion of a space + of considerable extent, but with immense effects, exceeding all + calculation, especially when, in addition, there is a contraction + of the sides, as at Semneh. Immediately below this barrier the + bed again spreads out, and the rocks disappear in the current. + The colossal rock-fragments on that bank, whose inscriptions + sometimes show that above 4000 years ago they were still not + broken loose, display the Titan force of a current thus hemmed + in, and allow us to conceive how at that spot it gradually washed + out its bed, sometimes to a great depth, but sometimes also to + a greater breadth, which has the same effect, and how all that + is broken away, or that during the time of low water splits to + a considerable depth in the bed of the river from the summer + heat, rolls away, until arrested by falling into hollows. But + if these single barriers are only washed away in the course of + thousands of years, then the whole river must receive an equable + fall, and it will never rise in the very rocky districts, but can + only continue to be still more excavated, and will only again + deposit the heavier portions it bears along with it, below the + cataracts, where every obstruction disappears. The monuments can + hardly be cited in opposition to the view of a gradual sinking + of the bed of the river in the higher districts. All of them + lie tolerably far above the region of the rise of the Nile—for + example, the temple on the island of Bigeh, to which there is a + considerable ascent. Philæ has only been built upon since the + time of Nectanebus, and there is nothing to indicate buildings + of an earlier date. The sinking of the surface of the water even + at Philæ and Assuan must also have been far less than at Semneh. + Nevertheless, special researches with respect to the relative + condition of the ancient temple and rock-inscriptions to the + present surface of the water would certainly be of the greatest + utility. + + Herr von Humboldt, after reading some observations on the same + subject by Wilkinson in the Nouv. Ann. des Voyages, i., without + recollecting my views, wrote to me as follows: + + “Breaches in dams, I imagine, cause only temporary rises of + water, unless in earlier times (for which I see no reason) + there was a greater accumulation of water in the valley of the + river, from meteorological causes. Primeval conditions, where + broad valleys were filled with waters, are not applicable to + periods when there were inscriptions. Does it not seem to you + more probable, that the height of the water was at one time at a + greater elevation, on account of the bed of the river not having + been so much furrowed out, because at an earlier period the + bottom of the river was not at _c d_, but at _e f_. + + [Illustration] + + “There are rivers whose beds are elevated and rendered more + shallow by deposition, others which furrow out their bed _qui + creusent un lit plus profond_.” + + With sincere respect, your faithful, + + R. LEPSIUS. + +APPENDIX B. (P. 303 and 318.)—The tradition of Gebel Mûsa being the Mount +of the Law, became gradually more decided and exclusive for this view +after the time of Procopius in the sixth century; mainly, no doubt, on +account of the church founded at that spot in the reign of Justinian. I +am not aware that there are any modern travellers and savants who have +thrown doubts on the correctness of this assumption. Not even Burckhardt, +although from the numerous inscriptions on Serbâl he was led to infer +that that mountain might have been at one time _incorrectly_ regarded +by the pilgrims as Sinai. The words of this distinguished traveller are +as follows: (Trav. in Syr. p. 609.) “It will be recollected that _no +inscriptions_ are found either _on the Mountain of Moses, or on Mount +St. Catherine_; and that those which are found in the Ledja valley at +the foot of Djebel Catherine, are not to be traced above the rock from +which the water is said to have issued, and appear only to be the work of +pilgrims who visited that rock. From these circumstances _I am persuaded +that Mount Serbâl was at one period the chief place of pilgrimage in +the Peninsula; and that it was then considered the mountain where Moses +received the tables of the law; though I am equally convinced, from a +perusal of the Scriptures, that the Israelites encamped in the Upper +Sinai_, and that either Djebel Mousa, or Mount St. Catherine, is the +real Horeb. It is not at all impossible that the proximity of Serbâl to +Egypt, may at one period have caused that mountain to be the Horeb of +the pilgrims, and that the establishment _of the convent_ in its present +situation, _which was probably chosen from motives of security, may have +led to the transferring of that honour to Djebel Mousa_. At present +neither the monks of Mount Sinai nor those of Cairo consider Mount +Serbâl as the scene of any of the events of sacred history; nor have the +Bedouins any tradition among them respecting it, but it is possible, that +if the Byzantine writers were thoroughly examined, some mention might be +found of this mountain, which I believe was never before visited by any +European traveller.” + +More recently the remarkable book of travels by E. ROBINSON form a marked +epoch in our knowledge of the Peninsula as well as of Palestine. With +reference to the position of Sinai, he for the first time especially +urges the favourable vicinity of the great plain of RÂHA, to the north +of Gebel Mûsa, in which there was ample space for the encampment of the +people of Israel. (Palestine, vol. i., p. 144, &c.) In his determination, +however, of the actual Mount of the Law, he deviates from the previous +tradition, since he endeavours to prove that Moses did not ascend Gebel +Mûsa, but the mountain ridge jutting out from the south, above the +plain, which is now called HOREB by the monks, and whose highest point +is named Sefsâf. (Vol. i. p. 176.) Unfortunately he did not visit Wadi +Firân and the adjoining Serbâl. In a more recent treatise (Bibl. sacra. +vol. iv. No. xxii. May, 1849, p. 381, &c.) the learned author returns to +the question with reference to my view of it, with which he had become +acquainted, and in opposition he especially mentions the arguments which +he had formerly maintained in favour of Gebel Sefsâf. He comprehends +these under the three following heads, which he extracts from the Mosaic +narrative, as being eminently striking, and which must therefore also +now be pointed out: “1st. A mountain summit overlooking the place where +the people stood. 2nd. Space sufficient adjacent to the mountain for +so large a multitude to stand and behold the phenomena on the summit. +3rd. The relation between this space where the people stood and the +base of the mountain must be such that they could approach and stand at +‘the nether part of the mount,’ that they could also touch it; and that +further bounds could appropriately be set around the mount, lest they +should go up into it, or touch the border of it.” Of these three heads, +the first would speak against Gebel Mûsa, and not against Serbâl. This +last, says Robinson, is excluded by the second and third head. Now with +respect to the second, I must only call to mind that the encampment of +the people at Sinai is not related in a different manner from all the +previous stations. If, therefore, we take such a circumscribed view +of the encampment as to believe that we must provide for sufficient +_space_ for the settlement of such a great people, we should then have +to indicate a plain of Râha at all the previous stations, especially in +Raphidîm (which by almost unanimous opinion was situated at the foot of +the Serbâl), because here manifestly they remained for a considerable +time, Moses was visited by Jethro, by his advice divided the whole people +into tens, and organised them according to a form of law, from which we +should be compelled to conclude that there, for the first time, existed +a distinct locality for each individual. He who imagines a multitude +of two millions of men, about as many as the inhabitants of London, or +of the whole of Egypt at the present day, placed in an enclosed camp +composed of tents, of which they must have had two hundred thousand, if +we reckon one for every ten, like a huge, well-arranged military camp, +even to him the plain of Râha would appear too small; but he who assumes +that a comparatively small number could assemble round the chief quarters +of Moses, but that all the others must have sought for shady places, +caves in the rock-precipices, and the scanty herbage of the adjacent +valleys, can as easily imagine the camp to have been placed in Wadi +Firân, or at any other station. Wadi Firân besides, as far down as El +Hessue, even if we only take its most fertile portion (more inviting as +a settlement than any other spot), would offer, in combination with the +broad Wadi Aleyât, just as large, and at all events a far more habitable +space, for a combined encampment than the plain of Râha. Indeed, if it be +true that we can gain anything from such single facts, such an encampment +would render it still more comprehensible why the people were led _out of +the camp_ towards God at the foot of the mountain in the upper portion +of Wadi Aleyât, in order to have a complete survey of the mountain. To +obtain such a view would be impossible at Gebel Mûsa, and unnecessary +at Gebel Sefsâf. Finally, the command not to ascend the mountain, which +is expressed still more imperatively, that no one “should touch the +border of the mountain,” applies to every mountain, which rises simply +before the eyes, and whose means of access can be shut out by a fence. +Immediately beyond the fence lies the border of the mountain. + +With reference to this last point, Robinson appeals to my own map of +Serbâl, and the description of Wadi Aleyât, by Bartlett (Forty Days in +the Desert, p. 54, 59). It would be difficult, however, to prove from my +map that the people could not have spread themselves out at the foot of +the mountain, and Bartlett seems to me rather to share my opinion. As +this traveller is so well known by his descriptions of countries, which +are both beautifully illustrated and clearly and graphically described, +and as he is just one of the few who have examined the localities with +his own eyes in reference to the question started by me without holding +any previous views on the subject, it may not be inappropriate to insert +here those words relating to it, from a book cited by Robinson in favour +of his own view; so much the rather, as I could not possibly have placed +the chief heads of the question in a more convincing point of view. + +He says, p. 55[412]: “If we endeavour to reconcile ourselves to the +received but _questionable system_ which seeks to accommodate the +miraculous with the natural, _it is impossible_, I think, _not to close +with the reasoning advanced in favour of the Serbâl_. There can be no +doubt that Moses was personally well acquainted with the Peninsula, +and had even probably dwelt in the vicinity of Wadi Feirân during his +banishment from Egypt; but even common report as to the present day, +would point to this favoured locality AS THE ONLY FIT SPOT _in the whole +range of the desert for the supply, either with water or such provisions +as the country afforded_, of the Israelitish host: on this ground alone, +then, he would be led irresistibly to fix upon it, when meditating a +long sojourn for the purpose of compiling the law. This consideration +derives additional force when we consider the supply of wood and other +articles requisite for the construction of the tabernacles, and which +can only be found readily at Wadi Feirân, and of its being also, in all +probability, from early times a place visited by trading caravans. But +if Moses were even unacquainted previously with the resources of the +place, he must have passed it on his way from the sea-coast through the +interior of the mountains, and _it is inconceivable that he should have +refused to avail himself of its singular advantages for his purpose_, +or that the host would have consented, without a murmur, to quit, after +so much privation, this fertile and well-watered oasis for new perils +in the barren desert, or that he should, humanly speaking, have been +able either to compel them to do so, or afterwards to fix them in the +_inhospitable, unsheltered position of the monkish Mount Sinai, with +the fertile Feirân but one day’s long march in their rear_. Supplies of +_wood_, and perhaps of _water, must, in that case, have been brought +of necessity from the very spot they had but just abandoned_. We must +suppose that the _Amalekites_ would oppose the onward march of the +Israelites, _where they alone had a fertile territory_ worthy of being +disputed, and from which Moses must, of necessity, have sought to expel +them. If it be so, then in this vicinity, and no other, we must look for +Raphidîm, from whence the Mount of God was at a very short distance. We +seem thus to have a _combination of circumstances, which are met with +nowhere else_, to certify that it was here that Moses halted for the +great work he had in view, and that the scene of the law-giving is here +before our eyes in its wild and lonely majesty. The principal objection +to this is on the following ground, that there is no open space in the +immediate neighbourhood of the Serbâl suitable for the _encampment_ of +the vast multitude, and from which they could ALL OF THEM AT ONCE have +had a view of the mountain, as is the case at the plain Er Rahah at Mount +Sinai, where Robinson supposes, principally for that reason, the law to +have been given. _But is this objection conclusive_? We read, indeed, +that Israel ‘camped BEFORE THE MOUNT,’ and that ‘the Lord came down in +sight of all the people;’ moreover, that bounds were set to prevent the +people from breaking through and violating even the precincts of the +holy solitude. Although THESE conditions are more LITERALLY fulfilled +at Er Rahah, yet, if we understand them as couched in general terms, +_they apply perhaps well enough to the vicinity of the Serbâl_. A glance +at the view, and a reference to this small rough map[413], will show +the reader that the main encampment of the host must have been in Wadi +Feirân itself, from which the summit of the Serbâl is only here and +there visible, and that it is by the lateral Wadi Aleyât that the base +of the mountain itself, by a walk of about an hour, is to be reached. +It certainly struck me, in passing up this valley, as a very unfit, if +not impracticable spot for the encampment of any great number of people, +_if they were all in tents_; though well supplied with pure water, the +ground is rugged and rocky—towards the base of the mountain awfully +so; but still _it is quite possible that a certain number might have +established themselves there, as the Arabs do at present_, while, as on +other occasions, the principal masses were distributed in the surrounding +valleys. I do not know that there is any adequate ground for believing, +as Robinson does, that because the people were warned not to invade the +seclusion of the mount, and a guard was placed to prevent them from doing +so, that THEREFORE THE ENCAMPMENT ITSELF pressed closely on its borders. +Curiosity might possibly enough lead many to attempt this even from a +distance, to say nothing of those already _supposed to be located_ in the +Wadi Aleyât, near the base of the mountain, to whom the injunction would +more especially apply. Those, however, who press closely the literal +sense of one or two passages, should bear in mind all the difficulties +previously cited, and the _absolute destitution of verdure, cultivation, +running streams, and even of abundant springs, which characterise the +fearfully barren vicinity of the monkish Sinai_, where there is indeed +room and verge enough for encampment, BUT NO RESOURCES WHATEVER. If we +take up the ground of a CONTINUAL AND MIRACULOUS PROVISION _for all the +wants of two millions of people_, doubtless they may have been subsisted +there as well as in any other place; _otherwise it seems incredible_ +that _Moses_ should ever have abandoned a spot, offering such _unique +advantages as Feirân_, to select instead _the most dreary and sterile +spot in its neighbourhood_.” + +This was the distinct impression, and one frankly offered, after +comparing those localities with the Biblical narration, by a man +who nevertheless finally remains doubtful whether, in spite of all +the reasons cited, it would not be more advisable to follow “the +other system,” in accordance with which we must assume it to be an +uninterrupted miracle from the beginning to the end, even though this +is not expressed in the Bible (see p. 19 of the work cited), whereby, +assuredly, all considerations about the most probable _human_ course of +that great historical event become worthless. The author then passes +to some _individual points_, which he himself only calls attention to +as such; in which he deviates from my mode of comprehension, since, +for instance, he feels himself obliged to place the attack of the +Amalekites somewhat farther down the valley towards El Hessue. The +various possibilities in the explanation of the shorter marches oblige +us always to point out again, that it is only by taking a view of the +most essential points of the question, as a whole, that we can arrive +at a positive conviction; this would necessarily drive those objections +into the background, which might arise from regarding it only from any +individual point. + +Shortly after Robinson, in the year 1843, Dr. John Wilson travelled +through Palestine and the Peninsula of Arabia Petræa; he published his +extensive travels (_The Lands of the Bible_, 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1847), +but did not by any means attain the high standing point held by his +learned predecessor. Nevertheless, I cannot but accord with some of the +objections which (vol. i. p. 222, &c.) he makes to Robinson’s assumption +that Sefsâf is the Mount of the Law. He coincides with the tradition +in recognising the Mount of the Law in Gebel Mûsa. In Serbâl, on the +contrary, he believes that he recognises the Mount Paran of the Bible +(p. 199), which we could only suppose, if we admit Mount Paran to be +another expression for Sinai, and if we identify the last with Serbâl. +At the close of the second volume (p. 764, &c.) the author adds a note +in the Appendix, in which he guards himself against my different view as +to the position of Sinai. He does not, however, here touch upon the most +essential arguments which I have everywhere placed in the foreground, +but only speaks of individual points, some of which can be easily +overcome, and of others which have no influence on the chief question. +He places DAPHKA, which is not once mentioned in the principal account, +and therefore assuredly must have been a subordinate spot, in Wadi +Firân, and Raphidîm, “the places for rest,” in the barren sandy Wadi e’ +Scheikh, because there was _no_ water there. But, that I may use his own +weapons, what has become of the spring of Moses? “_Few in the kingdom +of Great Britain_ at least,” says the author, “will be disposed to +substitute the _Wadi Feirân_, with clear running water, for _Rephidim_, +where there was no water for the people to drink.” I think he wrongs +his countrymen in making them deviate so universally from the almost +unanimous tradition, and reject as a rationalistic explanation what is +admitted even by the learned Fathers of the Church, who place Raphidîm in +Firân, and consequently regard the spring there as belonging to Moses; +besides, independently of H. BARTLETT, many others of his countrymen +have distinctly declared themselves in favour of my view, which includes +this point, among whom I may mention Mr. HOGG (see below, concerning +his pamphlet about this particular point), the Rev. Dr. CROLY, and the +author of the Pictorial Bible. If he is of opinion that I had overlooked +the fact that the Wilderness of Sin and the Wilderness of Sinai had +different meanings, I refer him to my pamphlet, p. 47, where precisely +the opposite occurs; I have not either left unnoticed the words “_out_ +of the Wilderness of Sin” (p. 39), which has not either been done by +Eusebius nor St. Jerome, who equally make the Wilderness of Sin extend as +far as the Wilderness of Sinai. The fight with Amalek, as it is related +in Exodus, presupposes a universal, obstinate, and probably a prepared +contest; that the principal attack of the front was immediately supported +by an attack of the rear-guard is not excepted, as it is added besides +in Deuteron. xxv. 18; the double attack besides appeared distinctly +indicated in the words קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּב ἀντέστη σοι ἐν +τῇ ὁδῷ, καὶ ἔκοψέ σου τὴν οὐραγίαν. At Elim, certainly, twelve _springs_ +עֵינֹת not _wells_ are mentioned; but this does not alter the +case, as nevertheless we cannot imagine twelve _rushing_ springs like +those in the Wadi Firân, but as the author (vol. i. p. 175) himself +observes, only _standing_ water underground, which must be specially dug +for—therefore, in fact, wells. Their great number alone remains worthy of +consideration, from which we may conclude that it was an important place. +I knew the Sheikh Abu Zelîmeh very well; but that would not prevent the +existence of a connection between the name and the locality, although I +do not lay the slightest weight on such accordance of names. + +The author omits some other reasons, which he believes he can prove in +opposition to my views; these might perhaps have referred precisely to +the chief points of the whole question, which had hitherto remained +uncontested. The author now perhaps feels himself obliged to repeat +his arguments, with reference to the separate remarks of one of his +countrymen, Mr. John Hogg, who handled the subject in a very complete +manner, and worked it out still further, first in the _Gentleman’s +Magazine_, March, 1847, and afterwards in the _Transact. of the R. Soc. +of Literature_, 2 Ser. vol. iii. p. 183-236 (read May, 1847, Jan. 1848), +under the title: _Remarks and Additional Views on Dr. Lepsius’s Proofs +that Mount Serbâl is the true Mount Sinai; on the Wilderness of Sin; on +the Manna of the Israelites; and on the Sinaitic Inscriptions_. This +learned author combines the earliest testimonies about the tradition, and +from them endeavours to prove, that before the time of Justinian it was +in favour of Serbâl, and not of Gebel Mûsa. He seems, in fact, to have +succeeded in proving this, but we shall return, to this question below. + +Since then the comprehensive work of my respected friend CARL RITTER +has appeared, which is executed with his usual mastery of the subject: +_Vergleichende Erdkunde der Sinai-Halbinsel, von Palästina und Syrien, +erster Band_, Berlin, 1848. Although he has employed and worked out +all imaginable authorities, from the most ancient to those of modern +date, and has formed a complete picture of the Peninsula as a whole +and in details, with a clear perception and steady hand, both in its +geographical bearing and in the historical relations of its population, +he has nevertheless not neglected the question now under consideration, +in which geography and history are more intimately connected than in any +other. Sinai is to the Peninsula of Sinai what Jerusalem is to Palestine, +and as it is certain that the erection of the church on Gebel Mûsa in +the sixth century, from a belief that it was founded on the spot of +the law-giving, caused the _historical_ centre of the Peninsula, which +previously coincided indisputably with the town of Pharan and its forest +of palms (the natural _geographical_ centre), to be sundered for the +first time, and gradually, since the tenth century, from this, and to +be removed several days’ journey farther to the south,—so it is equally +certain that the decision of the question, whether this was a _first_ +or _second_ separation between the historical and geographical centre, +must bear most essentially on the comprehension and delineation of the +earliest history of the Peninsula, and might even exercise an influence +not only on the future form of Sinaitic literature, but even on many +relative conditions of the Peninsula itself, which are in no small degree +regulated by the objects aimed at by the constantly increasing number +of travellers. Ritter’s representation was compelled at the very outset +to decide for one of these two views. At the same time, the new view, +proffered at the latest termination of the preliminary works of merit, +and in opposition to what had been held with implicit faith for the last +thousand years, and maintained without exception by all recent writers of +travels, now first appeared in the form of an occasional and necessarily +imperfect traveller’s account, and might very naturally lay even less +claim to a favourable hearing, not having hitherto received critical +examination from any quarter, nor been noticed by later travellers. +For this reason I so much the more value the careful and impartial +examination of the grounds in favour of Serbâl being Mount Sinai, for +which Ritter has granted a place in his work. + +He does this at p. 736, &c. He here rejects the opinion that the +tradition of the convent on Gebel Mûsa, known only since the sixth +century, could have any weight in forming a decision; “the tradition of +the still older convent of Serbâl, and of the town of Serbâl in Wadi +Firân, might be said to have existed just as truly, but has only been +lost _to us_.” Other reasons, therefore, derived from nature and history, +must speak in its favour. He then cites the view adopted by Robinson, +who places Raphidîm in the upper part of the Wadi e’ Scheikh; but with +justice he places in opposition to this, that it then encroaches upon the +farther march, and would be mentioned; and shortly afterwards he says, +in as convincing a manner, that we cannot then conceive how the people +could have murmured for want of water, already one day’s journey beyond +the Firân, which was so richly supplied with water, while this can be +easily explained on the long way from Elim, as far as the neighbourhood +of Firân. Ritter therefore agrees with me and the old tradition in +regarding the wonderful brook of Firân as the spring of Moses. He +only thinks, if Moses struck the spring out of the rock, it must then +have been at the beginning, and not at the termination of the present +brook, and he therefore transfers Raphidîm into the uppermost portion +of Wadi Firân, whose fertility did not exist before the appearance of +the spring. With respect to the position of the Mount of the Law, he +evades positive decision for the time. “Already,” he says, “in both the +almost contemporaneous narrators, Jerome (Procopius?) and Cosmas, we see +the division of the views entertained about these localities, neither +of which, even in the most recent double view, it appears by decisive +and sufficient grounds, can be preferred, by us at least, alone before +the others. Since each of these two modes of explanation of a text so +indeterminate in topographical respects, and of a locality still known +so imperfectly, can only serve as _hypothetical probabilities_ in a more +exact interpretation, allow me to point out cursorily our _hypothetical +view_ of this affair, which will perhaps never be placed in a perfectly +clear light.” + +It amounts finally to this, that _the_ “Mount of God,” where Moses was +encamped when he was visited by Jethro in Raphidîm, _could have in +no case meant the convent mountain of Sinai_ (_i. e._ _Gebel Mûsa_), +although this, on a later occasion, is even thus called, as that of the +true God, _but from which they at that time under every supposition +were far removed_, though _probably_ it might have been a designation +for the overtowering and far nearer _Serbâl_ when they were still in +the camp at “Raphidîm.” He afterwards acknowledges that before the 19th +chapter there was an _interruption of the connection_ with the preceding +chapters, but seeks a reason for this in a _gap_ in the text, while I +would rather assume that there was a short _interpolation_. Let the +progress of the people from the Feirân valley into the upper valley of +the Scheikh, and to Gebel Mûsa, the true Sinai, be thrown into this gap. +This at first is only called “the Mount” (Exodus xix. 2), and becomes a +“Mount of God” for the first time _after_ the law-giving (which, however, +the following verse, xix. 3, contradicts), while Serbâl might have been +called “the Mount of God” from a heathen deity there worshipped. “Both +mounts, the Mount of God (Serbâl) in Raphidîm, and the mount in the +Wilderness of Sinai, are therefore just as different by name as they +appear removed from each other by the last day’s marches between both +places of encampment.” He regards the general natural conditions of the +country about Gebel Mûsa on account of the greater security and coolness, +and from the pasture-land bearing a greater resemblance to the Alps, as +more adapted for a longer sojourn of the people. The name of HOREB only, +which is already mentioned in Raphidîm, might serve as an objection, yet +he sees no sufficient ground not to extend this name to some of the lower +mountains attached to Serbâl itself, for already ROBINSON, HENGSTENBERG, +and others, comprehend it as a general designation. + +So far as I know, this is the first time that it has been attempted to +prove that there were _two_ Mounts of God, Serbâl _and_ Gebel Mûsa. This, +however, certainly is the _necessary result, though not yet expressed by +others, which all must arrive at who place Raphidîm in Firân_. In this, +it appears to me, lies a main proof with reference to the criticism of +the text, that _both_ Mounts of God are to be recognised in _Serbâl_. +We must not lay too much stress on the greater security of the plain of +Râha for a “harnessed” (Exodus xiii. 18) army of 600,000 men, after it +had set firm footing in the land, besides Serbâl must have at all times +offered an admirable place of reserve. The cold in the high mountain +range, which, according to RÜPPELL and ROBINSON, freezes the water into +ice in the convent (5000 feet above the sea) even as late as February +(Ritter, p. 445, 630), would have alone rendered an open encampment on +the plain of Râha during the winter impossible, for a population lately +accustomed to the Egyptian climate. But with respect to the vegetation +in those districts, which has indeed been differently described by +different travellers, the idea that not the slightest doubt existed as +to this having been at one time the sojourn of the Israelites, may have +partly caused many to presuppose the existence of more herbs in the +neighbourhood than they momentarily saw; partly, no doubt, the season +of the year occasions some variations. I therefore only observe that I +visited the Peninsula about the same time of the year in which, according +to the Mosaic narration, the Israelites also went thither. + +Ritter, finally, has expressed his views on the Sinai question on another +occasion in a popular essay, “The Peninsula of Sinai, and the Path of the +Children of Israel to Sinai,” in the “Evangelical Calendar,” Almanack for +1852, published _by F. Piper_, p. 31, &c. Here also he places Raphidîm +in Firân, and traces the _Mount of God_ at _Raphidîm_ in _Serbâl_. But +in opposition to the identity of Serbâl and Sinai, he here adduces +principally the two following reasons. As it has been now proved that +the so-called Sinaitic inscriptions have a Pagan origin, and that they +indicate that Serbâl, to which they principally refer, was the “centre +of an ancient worship,” then this remarkable mount, if already a holy +mount of the _idolater_, could not have been at the same time a “Mount +of _Jehovah_” (p. 51), and further (p. 52), “Israel’s holy Mount of God +was not situated in the territory of _Amalek_, like Serbâl, but in the +eastern and southern territory of _Midian_, for it is said expressly +(Exodus iv. 19), that the Lord commanded Moses in Midian to go to Egypt, +and to lead the people to sacrifice to him upon this Mount Horeb and +Sinai in Midian” (Exodus iii. 1-12). With respect to these two points +however, the first, namely that Serbâl was also a _holy_ mount for +the Semitic people ruling over the Peninsula at a later period, seems +to me a reason of great weight _in favour_ of Serbâl-Sinai, as indeed +also already, _before_ the law-giving, it was not called “Idol Mount,” +but _Mount of God_ (Exodus iii. 1, iv. 27, xviii. 5), just as much as +_after_ the law-giving (Exodus xxiv. 13, 1 Kings xix. 8), and a heathen +readoption at a later period of the worship of this mount must certainly +be less surprising. But that Moses dwelt with Jethro in MIDIAN, when +the Lord spoke to him, offers no ground to place the Mount of the Law +in Midian, for that is nowhere said. We only know that Raphidîm, where +Moses was visited by Jethro out of Midian, was situated in the territory +of the _Amalekites_, as these here made the attack. Eusebius, who (s. +v. Ῥαφιδίμ, see note, p. 313) expressly places Raphidîm and Choreb in +Pharan, says (s. v. Χωρήβ) that this Mount of God lay in MADIAN. In the +Itinerar. Antonini, c. 40, also, Pharan is placed in MADIAN. + +I trust these remarks, in which I think I have touched upon all the +essential objections of the respected author, may prove to him how high a +value I place on each of his arguments, as being those of one who is more +competent to judge in this field than any other person. Ritter’s long +proved acuteness for tracing the correct view of such questions, would +have excited more consideration in me against my own view of the subject, +than all the reasons he has adduced, which, taken singly at least, seem +to me refutable, had I not in _this_ case, at any rate, had the advantage +of a personal view of the localities, without any preconceived influence; +this might render my judgment of earlier narrators more independent than +could be the case with him. + +APPENDIX C. (P. 306.)—Robinson gives the distances from Ayûn Mûsa to the +point where Wadi Schebêkeh and Wadi Tâibeh meet, vol. iii. Div. ii. p. +804; these accord with BURCKHARDT, p. 624, 625, who also records the more +remote points as far as Wadi Firân; these last are confirmed by mine, if +we calculate his circuitous route by Dhafari. Robinson’s calculation, p. +196, does not, however, take into consideration the circuitous route, +from four to five hours longer from the Convent, through Wadi e’ Scheikh, +for Burckhardt passed over the Nakb el Haui in eleven hours to Firân, +while we occupied sixteen, without including the short way round through +the Kteffe valley. After this the distances stand thus: From Ayûn Mûsa +to Ain Hawâreh 18 hours 35 minutes; then to Wadi Gharandel, 2 hours +30 minutes (not from one hour and a half to two hours from Robinson’s +place of encampment as it is calculated above, p. 307); to the outlet +of the valley near Abu Zelîmeh, 7 hours 12 minutes; to the sea, 1 hour; +to Wadi Schellâl, 4 hours 15 minutes; to Firân, 13 hours 45 minutes; +to the Convent, 16 hours. Robinson cannot remove the encampment in the +Wilderness of SIN to a more southern point than the outlet of WADI +SCHELLÂL, because the people here, according to him, stept forth out of +the Wilderness of Sin. For the same reason he is compelled to place ALUS +in FIRÂN. On the other hand, in my opinion, not alone is the encampment +at the sea not different from that at the outlet of the valley at Abu +Zelîmeh, but the Wilderness of Sin mentioned in the Book of Exodus, which +extended as far as Sinai, and ended with Raphidîm, is also the same as +the two stations mentioned in the Book of Numbers, Daphka and Alus, and +therefore in the last passage should as little have been mentioned as +peculiar places of encampment, as the Red Sea. The Wilderness of Sin +accordingly, like the Wilderness of Sûr, embraced three days’ journey. +The stations, and their remoteness from each other, stand therefore as +follows: + + According to ROBINSON. + + HOURS. MIN. + + I. 6 12 } three Stations from Ayûn Mûsa to Ain + II. 6 12 } Hawâreh = MARAH. + III. 6 12 } + + IV. 2 30 to Wadi Gharandel = ELIM. + + V. 8 12 to the Sea. + + VI. 4 15 to Wadi Schellâl = Wilderness of SIN. + + VII. 7 } two Stations to Firân = DAPHKA and ALUS. + VIII. 7 } + + IX. 8 } two Stations to the Plain of Râha = Raphidîm + X. 8 } and SINAI. + + According to _my_ assumption. + + I. 7 } three Stations to Wadi Gharandel = MARAH. + II. 7 } + III. 7 } + + IV. 7 12 to the Outlet of the Valley near Abu Zelîmeh = ELIM. + + V. 6 } three Stations to Firân, _i. e._ by DAPHKA and + VI. 6 } ALUS to Raphidîm at SINAI. + VII. 6 } + +It is easy to imagine why the latter stations are somewhat shorter than +the first, on account of the greater difficulty of the road. According to +Robinson, the fourth station would be scarcely explicable. Why did the +people murmur so near the twelve springs of Elim? How would precisely +that strikingly long journey of more than eight hours, from Elim to the +sea, not have been mentioned at all? And how was it possible that the +days’ marches should have constantly increased in length amidst the lofty +mountains and difficult ground? + +APPENDIX D. (P. 314 and 318.)—The expounders of this passage take the +words: בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְׁלִישִׁ֔י “_In the third month_,” as if it were +written, “_On the first day of the third month_,” and therefore refer the +following “_the same day_,” equally to the _first_ day of the month. See +GESENIUS, Thesaur. p. 404, b: “tertiis calendis post exitum,” and p. 449, +b: tertio novilunio, _i. e._ calendis mensis tertii. Ewald, Gesch. des V. +Isr. ii. p. 189. “_The Day (?) of the third month_ (_i. e._ _however of +the new moon, therefore the first day_.”) But the Seventy at all events +have not understood it in this manner, as they translate: Τοῦ δὲ μηνὸς +τοῦ τρίτου τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ. It also appears that the Jewish tradition +have not comprehended it thus, as the LAW-GIVING, which according to +Exod. xix. 11, 15, occurred on the _third_ day after their arrival, +is even now solemnised by the Jews on the fifth or sixth day of the +third month, simultaneously with the appointed harvest-feast, on the +fiftieth day after the Exodus (Leviticus xxiii. 15, 16); in accordance +with this, the arrival at Sinai must have happened on the _third_ day +of the third month. We cannot, however, but perceive, how חֹדֶשׁ +without addition, might here be employed for _new moon’s day_, although +in all other passages of customary speech it had lost this etymological +signification, and only meant _month_; even in passages where the _new +moon’s day_ itself was spoken of, as in Exod. xl. 2, 17; Numb. i. 1; +xxxiii. 38, where everywhere בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ is especially added +to it, “on the _first_ (day) of the month,” whereas passages like Numb. +ix. 1, and xx. 1, cannot naturally be cited, because here, there lies as +little reason as in Exod. xix. 1, to understand _first_ of the month, and +the Seventy also do not translate, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ, or νουμηνίᾳ as in the +former passages, but only in the simple sense of the words ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ +πρώτῳ. Our passage, Exod. xix. 1, therefore, would alone remain, from +which it would be possible to conclude that there was such a double and +equivocal employment of חֹדֶשׁ, because here certainly the following +words, “the same day,” indicate a particular single day, which particular +day, nevertheless, cannot be guessed from our present text. But in my +opinion this is exactly an additional and not unimportant reason, to +assume either a transposition or a later insertion of these two verses. +The last is also assumed by EWALD, in so far as he, indeed (Gesch. des +V. Isr. p. 75), ascribes the account, xix. 3-24, but not the two first +verses, to the oldest sources. I have already mentioned above (p. 316) +that JOSEPHUS (Ant. iii. 2, 5), who also does not understand the words +from the _first_ day of the month, transposes the passage, and indeed _to +that very place_ whither I, ignorant of this, had already placed it in my +earlier printed account, p. 48, namely, _immediately after the battle +of the Amalekites_, to which “the same day” most naturally refers. If +this is correct, then the original text ran thus: that the Israelites +at Raphidîm, in Wadi Firân, where they fought the battle, were not only +near Horeb, but also near Sinai, that is to say, that both Mounts of +God are one; and that, in fact, Moses first at Sinai received the visit +of Jethro, and, as appears most natural, first at Sinai organised his +people; but at the same time it must be allowed that Sinai, or Horeb, was +no other mountain than SERBÂL. + +Supposing that, in this manner, we have correctly understood the original +connection, it did not first of all require any statement of the month; +this would probably be only added upon the isolation of the following +section referring to the law-giving. In this case, only three exact dates +for the journey could exist. The people pass out from Ramses in the first +year, the first month, on the fifteenth day; they proceed from Elim, +which is half-way, just one month after, in the first year, second month, +on the fifteenth day. The days of rest at the stations are unknown, but +if we assume that the people proceeded without sojourning, then they came +to Raphidîm on the third day from Elim; received the water, and were +attacked by Amalek on the fourth, fought on the fifth till after sunset +to the commencement of the sixth day, and on the same sixth day (for the +Hebrew day began in the evening) encamped at Sinai. This would have been +in the first year, in the second month, on the twentieth day. Now as the +retreat from Sinai followed in the second year, in the second month, the +twentieth day, then the sojourn at Sinai would have lasted exactly _one +year_. This coincidence was perhaps originally as little the result of +accident as the duration of just _one month_ between the first departure +from RAMSES and the second from ELIM. + +APPENDIX E. (P. 319.)—Two inscriptions in marble, referring to the +foundation of the convent, still exist, which are let into the external +wall facing the convent-garden, one in _Greek_, the other in _Arabic_. +BURCKHARDT (Trav. p. 545) says: “An Arabic inscription _over the gate_, +in modern characters, says that Justinian built the convent in the +thirtieth year of his reign, as a memorial of himself and his wife +Theodora. It is curious to find a passage of the Koran introduced into +this inscription: it was probably done by a Moslem sculptor, without the +knowledge of the monks.” The Arabic inscription is certainly over the +small door leading into the garden. But if Burckhardt saw it here, it is +inconceivable that he did not see the _Greek_ inscription beside it, let +into the wall with a similar border and shelter. ROBINSON saw neither of +them (i. p. 205); RICCI caused the Greek inscription to be copied, and +from his copy this has been communicated and translated by LETRONNE in +the _Journ. des Sav._ 1836, p. 538, with some slight deviations. But as +early as 1823, another copy, which escaped Letronne, was published by Sir +Fr. Henniker (_Notes during a Visit to Egypt, &c._ p. 235, 236), which, +however, is very inaccurate, although it endeavours to render the written +characters themselves. The _Arabic_ inscription, as far as I am aware, +is still quite unknown. I have taken an impression of both on paper, and +offer a faithful representation of them here. The Greek runs thus: + + Ἐκ βάθρων ἀνηγέρθη τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο μοναστήριον τοῦ Σιναίου ὄρους, + ἔνθα ἐλάλησεν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Μωυσῇ παρὰ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ βασιλέως Ῥωμαίων + Ἰουστινιανοῦ πρὸς ἀΐδιον μνημόσυνον αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς συζύγου τοῦ + Θεοδώρας· ἔλαβε τέλος μετὰ τὸ τριακοστὸν ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ, + καὶ κατέστησεν ἐν αὐτῷ ἡγούμενον ὀνόματι Δουλᾶ ἐν ἔτει ἀπὸ μὲν + Ἀδὰμ ͵ϛκαʹ ἀπὸ δὲ Χριστοῦ φκζʹ. + + “This holy convent of Mount Sinai, where God spoke to Moses, was + built from the foundation by Justinian, the lowly king of the + Romans, in eternal remembrance of the same, and of his consort + Theodora; it was completed in the thirtieth year of his reign, + and he placed a chief in the same, one of the name of Dulas, in + the year 6021 since Adam, 527 since Christ.” + +LETRONNE read in the second line ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον in place of ἔνθα, and in the +seventh line κατέστησε τὸν in place of κατέστησεν. The written characters +indicate about the twelfth or thirteenth century. As the Emperor +Justinian reigned from 527-565, it is assumed by the writer that the +determination to found the convent, and at the same time the appointment +of his abbot Dulas, occurred in the first year of the reign of the +emperor, although the completion of the edifice is not placed before +the thirtieth year of the same, _i. e._ 556 after Christ. The year 6021 +from the creation of the world corresponds to the year 527 after Christ, +according to the Alexandrine era of PANODORUS and ANIANUS. + +The Arabic inscription is this: + + انثا دير طور سينا و كنيسة جبل المناجاة افقير لله الراجي + عفو مولاه الملك المهذب الرومي المذهب يوستيانس تذكارا لى + ولزوجته ثاوضوره علي سرور الزسان حني برث اللّه الارض ومن + عليها وهو خير الوارثين وتم بناوه بعد ثلاثين سنة من ملكة + ونصب له ريسا اسبه ذولاس جري ذلك سنا ٦٠٢١ لادم الوافق + لتاريخ السيد المسيح سنة ٥٢٧ + + “The convent of TÔR (Mount) Sina, and the Church of the Mount of + the Interview, was built by the dependent on God, and hoping in + the promise of his Lord, the pious King of the Greek Confession, + Justianus (for Justinian), in remembrance of himself and his + consort Theodora to last for all times, in order that God might + inherit the earth, and who upon it: for _he is the best of the + heirs_. And the building was completed after thirty years of his + reign. And he appointed it a chief, with the name of Dhulas. And + this happened after Adam 6021, which corresponds with the year + 527 of the era of the Lord Christ.” + +The written characters of the inscription, according to the learned +judgment of the consul, Dr. WETZSTEIN, who has also most kindly taken +upon himself the re-writing and translation of the inscription here +communicated, indicate that it did not exist before the year 550 of +the Mohammedan era, which thus refers to the period when the Greek +inscription was also composed. The passage in the Koran which BURCKHARDT +already mentions, is to be found, Sûr. 21, v. 18. + +Another large stone is immured in the same wall, but much higher up, over +a far larger gate, now built up, at a spot behind which the kitchen is +at present situated, the ornamental part of which [Illustration] might +lead us to infer that another still older inscription might still exist +here. Unfortunately I was unable to bring a ladder to the spot to examine +the stone more accurately. It is to be hoped some future traveller may +accomplish this. + +APPENDIX F. (P. 319.)—The history of the _Palm-wood of Pharan_ forms the +central point of the history of the whole Peninsula. The accounts of it +given by the Greeks and Romans furnish a new proof for this, although +their geographical determinations in great measure have not hitherto been +correctly comprehended. Thus the POSEIDION of Artemidorus, Diodorus, and +Strabo, is generally placed at the extremity of the Peninsula, which is +now called RÂS MOHAMMED; also by Gosselin, Letronne, and Grosskurd, who +nevertheless had already recognised the manifestly incorrect comment of +the Strabonic manuscripts (p. 776: τοῦ [Ἐλανίτου] μυχοῦ). As Poseidion +was situated _within_ (ἐνδοτέρω) the Gulf of Suez, and here the _west +coast_ of the Peninsula was to be described, this altar of Poseidion +therefore of necessity was situated either at RAS ABU ZELÎMEH, the +harbour of Faran, or at RAS GEHAN, whence there was a more southern and +shorter communication with Wadi Firân through Wadi Dhaghadeh. That the +_palm-grove_ (Φοινικών) of those authors is not to be sought at TÔR, but +in the Wadi Firân, has been already justly acknowledged by Tuch (Sinait. +Inschr. p. 35), although he still places Poseidion at Râs Mohammed (p. +37). It was the SERB BAL, the _palm-grove_ of Baal, from which the +mountain first received its name. It appears, in earlier times, while the +grove itself was still called by the inhabitants SERB BAL, that the name +of Faran was especially employed for the harbour at Abu Zelîmeh, and for +a Pharanitic settlement on the site of ancient ELIM, near the present +Gebel Hammâm Faraûn, still always called FARAN by the Arabic authors. +(See note, p. 307.) Here also, probably, was the spot where ARISTON +landed under Ptolemy Philadelphus, and founded POSEIDION. + +Artemidorus (in Strabo, p. 776) and Diodorus (3, 42) mention Μαρανῖται, +in place of which Gosselin, Ritter, Tuch, and others, read Φαρανῖται. As +the MARANITES, however, inhabited the _eastern coast_ of the Peninsula, +and are said to have been totally destroyed by the Garindæes, I cannot +see any support for this supposition. The ravine of PHARA, mentioned by +JOSEPHUS (Bell. Jud. 4, 9, 4), in Judæa, does not belong hither. + +The name of the PHARANITES on the western coast of the Peninsula first +appears in Pliny (H. N. 37, 40), for there is no reason to regard the +_Pharanitis gens_, whom he places in _Arabia Petræa_, as differing from +the _Pharanitai_ of Ptolemy. That the northern station PHARA (circa ten +hours west of Aila) has nothing to do on the tablet of Peutinger with the +Pharanitic palm-grove, is placed beyond a doubt by Ritter (p. 147, &c.). + +Ptolemy, in the third century, is the first who mentions a _place_ +called PHARAN (κώμη Φαράν); but on account of the detailed comparison +not agreeing, the basis and the connection of his statements deviating +widely from the true conditions, they have for that very reason hitherto +remained in obscurity. His construction of the Peninsula becomes clear +at once, when we take into account that he has evidently taken the blunt +angle of the coast at RAS GEHAN (whither by his latitude he removes Cape +Pharan, instead of to Hammâm Faraûn) to be the most southern point of +the Peninsula, from which the more remote coast runs up again towards +the north-east. Thereby the Peninsula, according to him, becomes about +50′ too short, although the longitude of his point corresponds with +the true one. The real extremity (Râs Mohammed) now corresponds with +the point whither he places the bend of the Elanitic Gulf (ἐπιστροφὴ +τοῦ Ἐλανίτου κόλπου). The whole of the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akaba) +contracts with him into a small angle (μυχός) of 15′, because all is +pushed too far to the north. The coast from the “bend” as far as Ὄννη +in reality corresponds with that from RAS FURTAK (the άκρωτήριον τῆς +ἠπείρου of Diodorus and Artemidorus, in front of which was situated the +island of Phokes) to ʾAIN UNEH, and his Elanitic Gulf, the north part of +which (ἐπιστροφή) he places 66° lon., 29° lat., now assumes the form of +the gulf whose innermost point is now marked by ʾAIN UNEH. He imagines +the Bay of Pharan (μυχὸς κατὰ Φαράν) to be from Cape Faran (ἀκρωτήριον +Φαράν) to the inland town of the same name, as the angle of Elana, and +the innermost angle of Heroonpolis north of Arsinoë. From this same +construction of the Peninsula it followed that the RAITHENES, who were +situated below the Pharanites, on the same coast near Tôr (even now +called Ῥαιθοῦ), are now placed on the coast facing Arabia (παρὰ τὴν +ὀρεινὴν τῆς Εὐδαίμονος Ἀραβίας), therefore on the eastern, in place of +the western coast of the Peninsula; and finally, as the natural result +of this, he makes the primitive chain of mountains extending from Faran +to Râs Mohammed (ὄρη μέλανα) run towards Judæa, therefore up towards the +north-east, in place of down towards the south-east. + +From all this, it is evident, that the place PHARAN of Ptolemy is +identical with the well-known Pharan in the Wadi Firân, and the Phœnikon +of Artemidorus and Strabo. Still less can we doubt that the PHARAN of +Eusebius also (s. v. Ῥαφιδίμ), and of Jerome, which is expressly (s. +v. Φαράν) called a _town_ (πόλις, _oppidum_), and situated (certainly +somewhat too near) three days’ journey from Aila, was the town in Wadi +Firân, although by a confusion with the Biblical wilderness of Paran, it +is added that the Israelites on their way back from Sinai went past this +Pharan. (Compare Ritter, p. 740.) + +According to the manuscript of the monk AMMONIUS (Illustr. Chr. Martyr +lecti. triumphi ed. Combefis. Paris, 1660), the town of Pharan was +converted to Christianity in the middle of the fourth century by a monk +Moses, born in Pharan itself, but his narration, which is evidently an +invention, and belongs to about 370, must by no means be employed as +an historical authority for that period, and seems to rest chiefly on +some passages of a romance of Nilus, which was written for an edifying +object, and his seems to have been composed with a similar intention. In +NILUS, who is placed about 390, but over whose period and writings much +uncertainty still hangs, a Christian counsellor (βουλή) of the town of +Pharan is mentioned (Nili opp. quædam, 1539. 4ᵒ). Soon after this, since +the first half of the fifth century, Le Quien, from authorities of very +unequal value indeed (Oriens, Christ. vol. iii. p. 751), cites a list +of _bishops of_ PHARAN, who can be followed down to the middle of the +twelfth century. (See Reland, Palæst. vol. ii. p. 220.) All the monks of +the entire mountain range were subordinate to these bishops. + +With reference to the foundation of the present convent on Gebel Mûsa, +it is indeed ascribed to the Emperor JUSTINIAN by SAÏD BEN BATRIK +(Eutychius), who wrote about 932-953 (D’Herbelot, s. v.), as well as in +the convent inscriptions of the twelfth or thirteenth centuries, which +have been communicated above; but this is most decidedly contradicted by +the far more reliable testimony, peculiarly valuable here, of PROCOPIUS, +who was the _cotemporary_ of Justinian. He says, in his special treatise +about the buildings founded by Justinian (Proc. ed. Dind. vol. iii. de +ædif. Just. p. 326), that the emperor built a _church_ to the mother of +God, “_not_ upon the summit of the mountain, but _a considerable way +below it_” (παρὰ πολὺ ἔνερθεν, in accordance with the locality, which can +only mean on the intermediate space of ground half-way up the mountain, +where the chapel to Elijah now stands). Separated from this he had also +erected a very strong castle (φρούριον) at the foot of the mountain +(ἐς τοῦ ὄρους πρόποδα), and provided it with a good military guard +to check the incursions of the Saracens into Palestine. As Procopius +directly before and afterwards, as well as throughout the whole paper, +distinguishes very exactly between the _convents_ and the _churches_, +and the military _guard-houses_, it is evident that, according to him, +Justinian did _not_ found the present convent together with his church. +The military castle was, however, probably at a later period employed, +and rebuilt into a convent. Besides, the church founded by Justinian +higher up the hill was not dedicated, like the present convent church, +to St. KATHARINE (see Le Quien, vol. iii. p. 1306), but to MARY. What +is said by Eutychius (who ROBINSON first cited, though he placed him +somewhat too early, still in the tenth century), both about the building +of the convent, and in still more direct contradiction with Procopius, +about a church built upon the _summit of the mountain_, deserves +therefore no more credit than the conversation between the emperor and +the architect, which is communicated. As little must we ascribe to +Justinian, on the statement of Ben Batrik, the foundation of the convents +of RAYEH (at Tôr) and of KOLZUM (a _bishop_ of Clysma, by name Poemes, +is inserted at the Constantinopolitan Council as early as 460; see Acta +Concil. ed. Harduin, ii. 696, 786), as in this case he would undoubtedly +have been mentioned by Procopius. PHARAN is not mentioned by Procopius. +On the contrary, he narrates (de bell. Pers. i. 19, 164; de ædif. 5, +8) the important fact, that the Saracen Prince Abocharagos, reigning +there, had presented the Emperor Justinian with a large palm-grove +(φοινικῶνα), situated in the centre of the land (ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ). On +closer consideration of this account, scarcely a doubt can remain that +the palm-grove of PHARAN is here understood, not the place on the coast +Φοινίκων κώμη, mentioned by Ptolemy (vi. 7, 3), or a palm-grove totally +unknown to us, also situated in the midst of a solitary wilderness, +wholly unprovided with water. According to Ammonius and Nilus all the +inhabitants of Pharan had then become Christian, and a church at all +events existed there; thereby it is easier to understand the gift made +by Abocharagos, which Justinian himself presented to the Phylarch of the +Palestinian Saracens. No doubt the foundation of the castle in the higher +mountains, for watching over those Saracens, was in connection with this. + +Next to Procopius, COSMAS INDICOPLEUSTES is by far the most authentic +authority of that period. He was not only both a _cotemporary_ of +Justinian, but likewise describes (about 540) what he himself saw upon +the Peninsula. His work is the only one containing detailed geography +belonging to that period, and his unassuming narration bears everywhere +the marks of unvarnished truth. It is so much the more remarkable that +he neither mentions a convent edifice, nor indeed the localities at +Gebel Mûsa, but only PHARAN, although he had the path of the Israelites +especially in view. (See below more of this.) That on the other hand +ANTONINUS PLACENTINUS, who is held by others to be the _b. Antoninus +Martyr_, nevertheless in his ITINERARIUM (_Acta Sanctor. May_, vol. ii. +p. x-xviii), which is placed by Ritter about 600, should again speak +of a convent at the thorn-bush (Procopius does not yet make mention +of the thorn-bush), between Horeb and Sinai, therefore on the site of +the present convent, appears rather to lead us back to the opinion so +decidedly expressed by PAPEBROCH, who first published the Itinerary, that +this narrative, which has excited such various considerations, though +so learnedly defended, does not belong to an earlier period than the +eleventh or twelfth centuries. At all events, it would be very desirable +if the writings of Ammonius, Nilus, and Antoninus, that have been cited, +and so many others attributed to the first Christian centuries, were +submitted to a more searching and connected criticism than has hitherto +been the case. + +The earliest bishop of Mount Sinai to whom we can refer, is not to be +found before the eleventh century, Bishop Jorius, who dies 1033 (Le +Quien, iii. 754). The name in the second Constantinopolitan Council (a. +553), signed _Phronimus episc. Synnaii_ (Acta Concil. ed. Harduin, vol. +iii. p. 53), or SYNAITANORUM (p. 206), and in the fourth council (a. +870), the one named _Constantinus_ ep. SYNAI (Harduin, vol. v. p. 927), +have been incorrectly brought hither (Ritter, Abhandl. der Berl. Akad. +1824, p. 216. Halbinsel Sinai, p. 96), as they belong to SYNAUS, or +SYNNAUS, in Phrygia. + +APPENDIX G. (P. 320.)—It must be most absolutely denied that an +interrupted and distinct tradition about the position of Sinai in the +Peninsula was preserved as late as the Christian times. The name Choreb, +or Sinai, appears even at a very early period to have been understood +for the whole of the lofty range in the Peninsula, which was constantly +regarded from a distance as one single mountain. No one before the time +of the Christian hermits attached any interest in connecting a fixed +geographical notion with the name that had been transmitted. We only +read of ELIJAH that he fled to the “Mount of God Choreb,” and there +(1 Kings xix. 9) went into the same cave (for it is presupposed that +it is known) in which the Lord had already appeared to Moses on Mount +Sinai (2 Exodus xxxiii. 22). The native Arab tribes by degrees became +so much changed, that not one of the Old Testament names remained in +its original position. The Greeks and Romans only knew _one_ spot on +the whole Peninsula, the _Palm-wood of Pharan_, because this spot only, +and the harbour leading to it, was of any importance since the mines +of that wilderness had been exhausted. Firân must of necessity have +been the earliest central point for the Christian hermits also; that +mountainous wilderness, affording necessary means of sustenance, in the +greatest retirement, must have appeared better adapted for them than any +other district, since here we also find the most _ancient church_ of the +Peninsula. When gradually the individual Biblical localities began to be +more accurately investigated, people had no other means for forming their +determinations than we possess now, and besides understood far less to +employ these means, since all acute criticism of the Biblical passages, +which could alone give them information, at that time lay far removed. +They understood the name SINAI as an indeterminate appellation for the +whole range; but when they searched for Sinai in a single mountain, +SERBÂL then must have immediately presented itself. Thither also points +all that we read about the matter in authentic writings during the first +centuries, but to these the writing of the monk Ammonius certainly does +not belong in the opinion of those who examine accurately, and hardly +the edifying romance of Nilus. What JOSEPHUS (Ant. iii. 5) says of Sinai +(τὸ Σιναῖον) may very well refer to Serbâl, at all events not to Gebel +Mûsa, as has been already shown by HOGG (in several passages, p. 207). +According to EUSEBIUS, Choreb and Raphidîm were situated _at_ PHARAN +(ἐγγὺς Φαράν, see note, p. 313), and Sinai near Choreb (παράκειται τῷ +ὄρει Σινᾶ, see above). JEROME (s. v. _Choreb_) regards both mounts as +one, which he likewise places _at_ PHARAN, and consequently recognises +in SERBÂL. The account by NILUS also, about the Saracenic attack at +Sinai, either does not belong to the time in which it is placed (c. +400), or refers to SERBÂL, for here a _church_ (ἐκκλησία) is frequently +(p. 38, 46) mentioned, which at that time did not exist at Gebel Mûsa, +and Nilus, that _very same_ night in which the scattered slain had been +buried, goes down to Pharan, which would have been impossible from Gebel +Mûsa. Finally, COSMAS INDICOPLEUSTES, who traversed the Peninsula about +the year 535, probably immediately before the building of the Justinian +church, passes through Raithu, _i. e._ Tôr, which he regards as Elim, +although he only found a few palm-trees there (the present considerable +plantations are, therefore, of more recent date), and across the present +Wadi Hebrân to Raphidîm, which is now called PHARAN. Here he was at the +termination of his Sinai journey. From this spot Moses went with the +elders “upon the Mount Choreb, _i. e._ Sinai, which is about 6000 paces +(one mile and a half) distant from Pharan,” and struck the water out of +the rock; here also the tabernacle of the congregation was built, and the +law was given; thereby the Israelites besides received the Scripture, and +had leisure to learn it for their application; thence we may date the +numerous rock-inscriptions which are still to be found in that wilderness +(especially at Serbâl). (Εἶτα πάλιν παρενέβαλον εἰς Ῥαφιδίν, εἰς τὴν νῦν +καλουμένην Φαράν· καὶ διψευσάντων αὐτῶν, πορεύεται κατὰ πρόσταξιν θεοῦ +ὁ Μωϋσῆς μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἡ ῥάβδὸς ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, εἰς Χωρὴβ +τὸ ὄρος, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ Σιναΐῳ, ἐγγὺς ὄντι τῆς Φαρὰν ὡς ἀπό μιλίων ἕξ· +(Burckhardt, _Trav. in Syr._ p. 611, when he descended Serbâl, occupied +two hours and a half, from its base to Wadi Firân) καὶ ἐκεῖ πατάξαντος +τὴν πέτραν, ἐῤῥύησεν ὕδατα πολλὰ καὶ ἔπιεν ὁ λαός.—Λοιπὸν κατεληλυθότος +αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους προστάττεται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ποιεῖν τὴν σκηνήν), etc. +(_Topograph. christ._ lib. v. in the _Coll. nova patr. ed. B. de +Montfaucon_, tom. ii. p. 195, _seq._) + +This testimony of an unprejudiced traveller is expressed with as much +distinctness, as it is worthy of confidence and without suspicion. At +the commencement of the sixth century, therefore, according to this +eye-witness, it was believed that the law had been given on SERBÂL. +Cosmas has so little doubt about the matter, that he does not even +mention the southern range. Nevertheless, we must admit that the monkish +population had already spread over the whole of the mountain range, +especially among the districts in a sheltered situation about Gebel Mûsa; +and we need not be surprised that a different view was formed among the +monks there situated, according to which Moses turned to the south, +instead of towards the north, coming from the height of Wadi Hebrân (for +the idea that Elim was Raithu was a fixed conviction already cherished +by the convent, prematurely founded there). Such changes are of frequent +occurrence in Christian topography. But however closely Horeb and Sinai, +Raphidîm and the Mount of the Law, appear in the representation, it +follows again from this, that associated with Sinai, the rock from which +the water flowed was moved farther south. The monks were not deterred +by the verses at the commencement of the 19th chapter from transferring +the rock of Raphidîm, and consequently Raphidîm itself, as well as the +thorn-bush of Horeb, also to Gebel Mûsa, their new Sinai; there in Wadi +Leg´a (Robinson, i. p. 184) it is still shown for the admiration of +travellers. Thus the unlettered apprehension of the monks that Raphidîm +was situated at Sinai, approached nearer to the truth on this head than +the more recent verbal criticism. + +The legate of Justinian now found it appropriate to found his castle +in that secure position, and to build a church at that very spot for +the hermits who were dwelling around it. It is quite conceivable that +this alone would have contributed to attract many new hermits thither, +and to originate a new view about the position of the Mount of the Law, +if this had not previously existed. But how both views accommodated +themselves to each other during the centuries immediately succeeding, +we have absolutely no distinct proofs. At all events, while Mount +SINAI is frequently mentioned after the foundation of the bishopric of +Pharan, we must be guarded not to understand it to be Gebel Mûsa, unless +something further is said. Ordinarily, the lofty range of the Peninsula +seems in general to be understood by it. When, for example, as early as +the year 536, therefore probably before the erection of the church, at +the _Concilium sub Mena_ at Constantinople, one _Theonas, presbyter et +legatus S. Montis Sinai et deserti Raithu et S. ecclesiæ Pharan_ (Θεωνᾶς +ἐλεῷ θεοῦ πρεσβύτερος καὶ ἀποκρισιάριος τοῦ ἁγίου ὄρούς Σινᾶ καὶ τῆς +ἐρήμου Ῥαιθοῦ καὶ τῆς κατὰ Φαρὰν ἁγίας ἐκκλησίας. Harduin, vol. ii. p. +1281) is named, the church of Pharan, at that time the still undoubted, +most important central point and bishopric would have been first +mentioned, if the monks scattered over the whole range and the plain of +Raithu had not been regarded more comprehensive, and on that account +placed first. LE QUIEN (iii. p. 753) mentions the _Episcopi Pharan +sivi Montis Sinai_ in succession, and, as the earliest with the last +designation, the above-mentioned Bishop Jorius († 1033). Since then, and +even since Eutychius (c. 940), the designation of the single Gebel Mûsa, +as Sinai, is indeed beyond all doubt. + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +[1] Chronologie der Ægypter. Vol. i. Berlin, 1849. + +[2] On the sudden death of Bishop Alexander, which happened shortly +after our departure from Palestine, Gobat, as is known, was selected +by H. M. the King of Prussia to be Bishop of the Evangelical Bishopric +of Jerusalem, which he has administered, by the blessing of God, +efficaciously ever since 1846. + +[3] Previous to my departure from Alexandria, the firman of the +Viceroy was presented to me, with unlimited permission to make all the +excavations which I might think desirable, and with instructions to +the local authorities to render me assistance. All the workmen and aid +necessary for forming and transporting our collection of antiquities, +were demanded in return for money, through virtue of our firman, from the +Sheikhs of the neighbouring villages, or the Mudhirs of the provinces, +by the Kawass, who had been given us by the government, and they were +never refused. The monuments from the southern regions were transported +from Mount Barkal to Alexandria on government boats, and three sepulchral +chambers near the great Pyramids of Gizeh were also added, which were +carefully taken to pieces by the aid of four workmen, sent expressly for +the purpose from Berlin, and were put on board a vessel opposite Old +Cairo. I also received, before my departure from Egypt, a written permit +for the exportation of the collection; and the objects themselves were +presented from the Viceroy to H. M. the King of Prussia. + +These peculiar favours, at a time when all private travellers, +antiquarian speculators, and even diplomatic persons, were expressly +forbidden by the Egyptian Government to make any collection, or to export +antiquities, have caused many unfavourable judgments to be passed on our +expedition. We have been chiefly accused of a thirst for destruction, +which, under the given circumstances, would presuppose a peculiarly +barbarous feeling to have existed in our party; for as we did not, like +many of our rivals, excavate and transport the monuments, the greater +part of which had previously been invisible, hurriedly and by night, +and with bribed assistance, but leisurely, and with open aid from the +authorities, and before the eyes of numerous travellers, all disregard in +our treatment of the remaining monuments, of which perhaps they formed a +part, would certainly have been so much the more blameable, since it was +so easy to avoid it. We might, however, trust to a more correct judgment +than what is usually possessed by the greater proportion of ordinary +travellers or collectors, with regard to the value of the individual +monuments; besides, we were not, after all, in danger of being deceived +in this matter by personal self-interest, as we made our selection of +the monuments not for ourselves, but commissioned by our government, for +the Royal Museum in Berlin, therefore for the benefit of science, and a +public eager after knowledge. + +The collection, which chiefly on account of its historical value, may +be placed on an equal footing with the most important European museums, +was incorporated immediately on its arrival with the Royal collections, +without my remaining myself officially connected with it; and it is +already arranged and exhibited to the public. A more accurate examination +is best fitted to place the inconsiderate accusations of more recent, and +even German tourists, in their proper light, some of whom have gone so +far, for example, very recently, Herr Julius Braun, in the _Algemeiner +Augsburg Gazette_, as to charge us with the mutilation of the gods, +which happened more than 3000 years ago, in the temple of El Kab. +Besides, it would prove an entire ignorance of Egyptian affairs at the +present time, or of that which chiefly lends the monuments of antiquity +their real interest to us, if all were not desirous to preserve in the +public museums of Europe, as many as possible of the treasures of those +countries, which are really as valuable, as they are undervalued in their +own home, and numbers of which are still daily destroyed. + +[4] The journal of this expedition up the Nile has been since published +under the title Expedition zur Entdeckung der Quellen des Weissen Nil, +1840-1841. By Ferd. Werne. With a Preface by Karl Ritter. A map and a +table of figures. Berlin: G. Reimer 1848. 8vo. + +[5] Abbas Pascha has been Viceroy of Egypt since the death of Ibrahim +Pascha in 1848. + +[6] This paper—An account of the river Goschop, and of the countries of +Enarea, Caffa, and Doko, given by a native of Enarea (with a map)—has +been translated by Ritter, and was communicated to the Geographical +Society at Berlin on the 7th January, 1843, and was printed in the +monthly reports of this society in the latter part of the year. P. +172-188. + +[7] On our departure for Upper Egypt, we had minutely examined 130 +private tombs, and had discovered the remains of 67 Pyramids. + +[8] See my essay, _Sûr l’ordre des colonnes piliers en Egypte_ et ses +rapports avec le second ordre Egyptien et la colonne Grecque (avec deux +planches), in the ninth volume of the Annales de l’Institut. de Corresp. +Archéol. Rome, 1838. + +[9] See p. 118. + +[10] _Proskynemata._ “Sometimes travellers who happened to pass by a +temple inscribed a votive sentence on the walls, to indicate their +respect for the deity, and solicit his protection during their journey, +the complete formula of which contained the adoration (_proskunéma_) of +the writer, with the assurance that he had been mindful of his wife, his +family, and friends; and the reader of the inscription was sometimes +included in a share of the blessings it solicited. The date of the king’s +reign, and the day of the month, were also added, with the profession +and parentage of the writer.”—_Wilkinson’s Ancient Egypt_, vol. iii., p. +395.—TR. + +[11] “Every Pharaoh was the Sun of Egypt, and over his name bore ‘Son of +the Sun;’ and as the sun was Phra, so each king was called Phra. Each +monarch by law inherited his father’s throne in lineal succession, so +that the incumbent was Phra son of Phra.”—_Gliddon’s Ancient Egypt_, p. +32.—TR. + +[12] The colours have now, alas! almost entirely disappeared. Owing to +the unequal grain of the stone all the representations were prepared +with a thin layer of lime for the groundwork, before they were painted; +this lime has peeled off in the transport and by the action of the damp +sea air, so that the rough sculpture alone remains. In the Work on the +Monuments of the Prussian Expedition (Div. II., sheet 19-22), the colours +have been given faithfully, as they were preserved in their original +freshness when covered by the sand. + +[13] After our return from the south, two entire sepulchral chambers, +besides the one here mentioned, were taken to pieces and brought to +Europe. All three are now reconstructed, with the other monuments, in the +New Museum at Berlin. _See_ Letter XXXV. + +[14] A separate essay, Ueber den Bau der Pyramiden, was sent by me to the +Royal Academy of Sciences in 1843, and it was printed in consequence of +a resolution of the 3rd of August of that year. See the Monthly Report +(Monats Bericht) of the Academy, 1843, p. 177-203, with three Plates. + +[15] I have spoken more at length on this in my Chronology of the +Egyptians, vol. i., p. 294. + +[16] We have been told on good authority that this statue is not composed +of granite, but of limestone from the neighbouring hills.—TR. + +[17] Compare my essay, _Ueber die ausgedehnte Anwendung des Spitzbogens +in Deutschland im 10 und 11 Jahrhundert_, as an Introduction to H. Gally +Knight’s Entwickelung der Architectur vom 10 bis 14 Jahrhundert unter den +Normannen, translated from the English; Leipzig, 1841, at G. Wigand’s; +and my father’s treatise, _Der Dom zu Naumburg_, by C. P. Lepsius; +Leipzig, 1840 (in Puttrich’s Denkm. der Bauk., ii., Lief. 3, 4) + +[18] He among them blushes, who cannot show many strokes upon his body, +for non-payment of tribute.—TR. + +[19] _Kaftan_, an open tunic.—TR. + +[20] _Tarbusch_, red cap.—TR. + +[21] The Germans generally calculate distance by the _hour_, which +corresponds to about three English miles, as this distance can be +traversed at a foot pace within that space of time.—TR. + +[22] About twopence-halfpenny English money. + +[23] Compare my Chronology of the Egyptians, i., p. 262, &c. + +[24] According to Linant, the difference amounts to 22 metres, that +is, 70 feet Rheinland (72 English). In June, 1843, an engineer of the +Viceroy, Nascimbeni, who was engaged in making a new map, and levelling +the Faiûm, visited us in our camp, at the Pyramid of Mœris. He had only +found a descent of 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches English) from Illahûn to +Medînet, but from thence to Birqet-el-Qorn, 75 metres (246 feet English). +I am not aware that anything has been published about this considerable +difference of measurements. Sir G. Wilkinson, in his Mod. Eg. and Thebes, +vol. ii., 346, states the surface of the water to be about 125 English +feet below the bank of the Nile at Beni-suef. + +[25] Mémoire sur le lac Mœris, presenté et lu à la Société Egyptienne le +5 Juillet, 1842, par Linant de Bellefonds, inspecteur-général des ponts, +et chaussées, publié par la Société Egyptienne. Alexandrie, 1843. 4to. +Compare my Chronology, vol. i., p. 262 &c. + +[26] The same Domenico Lorda again travelled that year to Abyssinia, and +sent six other Abyssinian manuscripts to Herr Lieder from thence, who +showed them to me on my return to Cairo. These, also, on my suggestion, +were afterwards obtained for the Royal Library. By M. Lorda’s account +they contain: + +A. ABUSCHER—Almanacco perpetuo Civile-Ecclesiastico-Storico. + +B. SETTA NEGHEST—Codice dell’ Imperadore Eeschias. + +C. JUSEPH—Storia Civile, ed Ecclesiastica. (?) + +D. BERAAN—Storia Civile, ed Ecclesiastica. + +E. PHILKISIUS E MARISAK—Due Opere, in un volume, che trattano della +Storia Civile. + +F. SINODUS—Dritto Canonico. + +[27] _Sont_, or Acacia, Mimosa Nilotica.—_Sir G. Wilkinson._—TR. + +[28] This letter, addressed to Alexander von Humboldt, has been already +printed in the _Prussian Gazette_, Berlin, 9th Feb., 1844. + +[29] “Dedicated to King Ptolemy and Cleopatra, his sister, benevolent +deities.”—TR. + +[30] The emendation, ἀδελφῆς, in this inscription, which dates from the +thirty-fifth year of Euergetes (B.C. 136), is of importance in certain +chronological determinations of that period. Letronne (Rec. des Inscr., +vol. i., p. 33-56) assumed that Cleopatra III., the niece and second +wife of Euergetes II., was here meant. Hence alone he concluded that +this king, in the official documents written before his expulsion, in +the year 132 B.C., only joined the name of his wife, Cleopatra III., to +his own, and therefore he fixed the date of all the inscriptions, in +which both the Cleopatras, the sister, and the (second) wife are named +after the king, in the period after the return of Euergetes (127-117), +_e. g._ the inscriptions on the obelisk of Philæ (Rec., vol. 1., p. +333). In this determination of the time, he is followed by Franz (Corp. +Inscr., vol. iii., p. 285), who, for the same reason, fixes the date of +the inscriptions (c. i., no. 4841, 4860, 4895, 4896) between B.C. 127 and +117, although he was already aware of my correction of the inscription of +Pselchis (c. i., no. 5073). + +It is indeed singular that only _one_ Cleopatra is mentioned in the +inscription of Pselchis; but as it is Cleopatra II., the _first_ wife +of the king, who he always distinguishes from his second wife by the +appellation of _sister_; it cannot thence be concluded that from the very +commencement of his second marriage he expressly excluded all mention of +the latter in the documents. This also is confirmed in the most distinct +manner by two Demotic Papyri belonging to the royal museum, in which +_both_ Cleopatras are mentioned, although the one papyrus is as early as +the year B.C. 141, the other, a duplicate, is from the year B.C. 136. All +inscriptions which, according to Letronne (Rec. des Inscr., tome i., no. +7, 26, 27, 30, 31) and Franz (Corp. Inscr., vol. iii., no. 4841, 4860, +4895, 4896), from the reasons stated, date between the years B.C. 127 +and 117, may, therefore, still be placed, with equal probability, in the +years 145 to 132. + +[31] Compare Letronne, Recueil des Inscriptions Grecques de l’Egypte, +tome i., p. 365, &c. Ptolemy EUPATOR is not mentioned by authors. He was +introduced for the first time among the predecessors of Soter II., who +were worshipped as divinities, in a Greek papyrus [in Leyden[A]], which +was composed in the reign of Soter II., in the year B.C. 105, and he was +inserted between Philometor and Euergetes. Böckh, who published the +Papyrus (1821), referred the surname of Euergetes to Soter II. and his +wife, and considered EUPATOR to be a surname of the deified EUERGETES II. +In the same year, Champollion Figeac also wrote about this papyrus, and +endeavoured to prove that Eupator was the son of Philometor, who was +killed by Euergetes II., on his ascent to the throne. This view was +assented to at a later period by St. Martin, Böckh, and Letronne (Rech. +pour ser à l’Hist. de l’Eg., p. 124). Meanwhile, the name of EUPATOR was +discovered in a second papyrus from the reign of Soter II., as well as +in the letter of Numenius on the Philensic obelisk of H. Bankes, from +the time of Euergetes II. In both inscriptions the name of Eupator was +mentioned; it did not, however, follow, but preceded Philometor, and +therefore could not signify his son. Letronne now conjectured (Recueil des +Inscr., vol. i., p. 365) that EUPATOR was another surname of Philometor. +But then it would not have been καὶ θεοῦ Εὐπάτορος καὶ θεοῦ Φιλομήτορος, +but καὶ θεοῦ Εὐπάτορος τοῦ καὶ Φιλομήτορος. In a letter to Letronne, of +the 1st Dec., 1844, from Thebes, which is printed in the Révue Archéol., +vol. i., p. 678, &c., I communicated to him that I had also found the +name of EUPATOR in several hieroglyphic inscriptions, and indeed always +_before_ Philometor. The same reason which I had employed against +Letronne’s explanation of the Greek name (the passage is not printed +along with it in the Révue), namely, the simple repetition of the θεοῦ, +did not even permit us in the hieroglyphic list to consider EUPATOR +another surname of Philopator. He must have been a Ptolemy who, for a +short time at least, was acknowledged as king, but who is not mentioned +by authors; and, indeed, according to Franz (Corp. Inscr., vol. iii., p. +285), and also by the acknowledgment of Letronne (Rec., vol. ii., p. 536), +he must have been an elder brother of Philometor, who died in a few +months, and therefore was omitted in the Ptolemaic canon. + +But the son of Philometor, and of his sister, Cleopatra II., mentioned +by Justinus and Josephus, who was formerly believed to have been +re-discovered in the Eupator of the [Leyden] papyrus, is particularly +mentioned in the hieroglyphic inscriptions among the other Ptolemies, +in his place between Philometor and Euergetes, and we thence become +acquainted with his name, which had not been added by the authors. He +is sometimes named PHILOPATOR, sometimes NEOS PHILOPATOR, and he must +therefore also be placed in future as PHILOPATOR II. in the series of the +reigning Ptolemies. Among fourteen hieroglyphic lists of the Ptolemies, +which come down at least as far as the second Euergetes, seven of their +number give PHILOPATOR II.; in four other lists, in which his name +might appear, he is passed over, and these all seem to belong to the +first years of Euergetes II., his murderer, when the omission is easily +explained. It is natural that he does not appear in the canon, because +neither he nor Eupator lived to witness a change of the Egyptian year +during his reign; on the other hand, as was to be expected, he is also +named in the protocol of the _Demotic Papyrus_, in which the Ptolemies +who are worshipped as divinities are exhibited, and in which Young had +also already correctly acknowledged EUPATOR. In fact, he is here cited +in all the lists with which I am acquainted (five in Berlin, from the +years 114, 103, 99, 89, one in Turin from the year 89), which are of +more recent date than Euergetes II., as well as in a Berlin papyrus from +the fifty-second year of Euergetes himself (B.C. 118). A comparison +also of the demotic lists shows finally that the transposition of the +names EUPATOR and PHILOMETOR in the Greek papyrus from the year B.C. +105 (not 106, as Franz writes—Corp. Inscr., p. 285) is not alone an +error of the copyist in writing, as this, and other transpositions also, +are not unfrequent in the Demotic Papyrus. The different object of +the hieroglyphic and the demotic lists makes it conceivable that such +deviations were not admissible in the former, as in the latter lists. + + [A] _Note._—_Leyden_ in place of _Berlin_, both here and below, + is a correction by the author, April, 1853.—TR. + +[32] Wilkinson (Mod. Eg. and Th., vol. ii., p. 275) considers this +CLEOPATRA TRYPHÆNA to be the celebrated Cleopatra, the daughter of Neos +Dionysos; Champollion (Lettres d’Eg., p. 110) thinks she is the wife +of Philometor; but the Shields connected with her name belong neither +to Ptolemy XIV., the elder son of Neos Dionysos, nor to Ptolemy VI. +Philometor, but to Ptolemy XIII. Neos Dionysos, or Auletes, who is always +called on the monuments Philopator Philadelphus. CLEOPATRA TRYPHÆNA was, +consequently, the wife of PTOLEMY AULETES. + +[33] The inscription alluded to is to be found in the rock-grotto of +ECHMIM, and was undoubtedly first engraved before the reign of Ptolemy +Philadelphus. He is also named with double shields and the usual royal +titles, but without the surname of Soter upon a _stele_ in Vienna, +which was erected in the reign of Philopator. Here, however, he bears +a different Throne-shield from that in Echmim, and certainly, strange +to say, it is the same which even before his time was borne by Philip +Aridæus, and Alexander II., under whom Ptolemy, son of Lagus, was +governor of Egypt. He is also mentioned upon a statue of the king in +the ruins of Memphis, on which the Horus name of the king also appears, +and which probably might have been engraved during his reign. Finally, +the SOTERS are also frequently mentioned by their surnames alone at +the head of the worshipped ancestors of later kings; as in the Rosetta +inscription, and in the bilingual decrees of Philæ (see below, p. 121), +𓊹𓊹, while SOTER II. is always written 𓊪𓊹𓏌𓏏𓏭𓈖𓈞𓂡 _p. nuter enti +nehem_, which would correspond to the Coptic ⲡ.ⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲧ-ⲛⲉϩⲙ, _deus +servator_. In the _demotic_ inscriptions, the first Soters are also +designated by _nehem_, and in the singular by the Greek word, _p. suter_. + +Although, therefore, it cannot be doubted that the SOTERS who, according +to the Demotic Papyrus, were especially worshipped along with the other +Ptolemies, not only in ALEXANDRIA and PTOLEMAIS, but also in THEBES, +were regarded as the head of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, it is nevertheless +so much the more remarkable, that hitherto not a single structure can be +pointed out which was erected under Ptolemy Soter when king, although +he ruled twenty years in this capacity. In addition to this, the +above-mentioned hieroglyphic lists of the Ptolemies commence the series +without exception, _not_ with the _Soters_, but with the _Adelphes_; and, +as was mentioned before, his shields in Echmim bear _no_ royal title; +and in Karnak under Euergetes II., in one and the same representation, +Philadelphus is designated as _king_, and the _Soter_, corresponding to +him in space, as _no king_. In the _demotic_ series of kings, also, of +the Papyrus, the Alexandrine series was wont to omit the Soters, till +the reign of Philometor, and to make the _Adelphes_ immediately succeed +Alexander the Great. The earliest period that I have met with the Soters +is in a Papyrus, from the 17th year of Philopator (B.C. 210), the oldest +of the Berlin collection; the Theban worship of the Ptolemies seems to +have wholly excluded the Soters. Although the commencement of the royal +government is therefore fixed in the year B.C. 305, as is specified +in the canon, and most undeniably confirmed by the above-mentioned +_hieroglyphic stele in Vienna_, which has been already cited for that +purpose by my friend, M. Pinder (Beitr. zur Aelterem Münzkunde, vol. i., +p. 201) in his instructive essay, On the Era of Philip upon Coins, it +appears, however, to have offered another legitimate opinion, by which +not Ptolemy Lagus, but Philadelphus, the first son of the king (if not +Porphyrogenitus), was considered the head of the Ptolemies. It may thence +be also explained why we find an astronomical Era employed in the reign +of Euergetes, that of the otherwise unknown Dionysius, which began from +the year 285, the first year of the reign of Philadelphus, while the +coins of Philadelphus do not reckon as the commencement of a new era +from the beginning of his own reign, nor from the year 305, but from the +year of the death of Alexander the Great, or the commencement of the +governorship of Ptolemy. (_See_ Pinder, p. 205.) + +[34] _See_ Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, Abth. II., Bl. 123-133. + +[35] _See_ Denkmäl. Abth. II., Bl. 134. + +[36] _Panegyrics_: public religious assemblies which were periodically +held in Egypt.—_Kenrick’s Ancient Egypt._—TR. + +[37] _See_ Denkmäl. Abth. IV., Bl. 38, 39.—A special essay on these +inscriptions is prepared. + +[38] The first news of the discovery of these important inscriptions, +which had not been noticed by the French-Tuscan expedition, excited some +surprise. Simultaneously with the more exact description of them in the +_Prussian Gazette_, a short English notice of them appeared, in which the +discovery of a second copy of the Rosetta inscription was mentioned, and, +indeed, in Meröe. More recently, when M. Ampère had brought an impression +of the inscription to Paris, the learned academician, M. de Saulcy, +denied that the decree had anything to do with the Rosetta inscription, +and felt himself obliged to ascribe it to Ptolemy Philometor. I therefore +took an opportunity to point out more accurately, in two letters to H. +Letronne (Rev. Archéol., vol. iv., p. i., &c., and p. 240, &c.), as well +as in an essay, in the Papers of the German Oriental Society (vol. i., p. +264, &c.), that the document in question had been drawn up in the 21st +year of Ptolemy Epiphanes, and that it contained a repetition of the +actual decree of the Rosetta inscription, which referred to Cleopatra, +who had meanwhile been elevated to the throne. + +[39] The name Cleopatra, instead of Arsinoë, in the hieroglyphic +inscription, appears solely to rest on an error of the writer, which was +avoided in the demotic inscription, for here Arsinoë stands correctly. +The hieroglyphic text of the inscription of Rosetta is also less correct +than the demotic. + +[40] Such designations appear even at an earlier period. Thus, in Thebes, +an “Ammon of Tuthmosis (III.)” is mentioned. It thereby appears that one +of the kings named was designated for the newly-established worship of +these gods. Ramses II. dedicated three great rock-temples in Lower Nubia, +at _Derr_, _Gerf Hussên_, and _Sebûa_, to the three greatest gods of +Egypt, _Ra_, _Phtha_, and _Ammon_ (See my Memoir on the earliest Cycle +of the Egyptian Gods, in the papers of the Academy of Berlin, 1851), +and named the places founded there simultaneously after the same gods, +accordingly in Greek HELIOPOLIS, HEPHAISTOPOLIS, and DIOSPOLIS. The same +Ramses founded a fourth powerful and fortified position, Abusimbel, and +called it after himself RAMESSOPOLIS, or the FORTRESS OF RAMESSOPOLIS, +as he also founded two towns in the Delta, and called them after his +own name. Now it is, undoubtedly, with reference to these new worships, +that the gods there adored were named Ammon of Ramses, and Phtha of +Ramses. The king himself was worshipped along with those gods, in these +particular rock-temples, especially in that of Abusimbel. + +[41] Compare passages in Letters XXIV., XXVI., XXVII. A grammar and +vocabulary of the Nuba language, as well as a translation of the Gospel +of St. Mark into the Nubian tongue, is ready for publication. + +[42] Dhorra. _Holcus sorghum._ Kenrick, Anc. Eg.—TR. + +[43] I have since then received intelligence of the death of Herr Bauer, +which happened only the following year. + +[44] Russegger (Reise, 2 Bd., 2 Thl., S. 125) found one specimen of this +tree, 95 feet in circumference. He is mistaken when he calls it GANGLES; +the tree is called HÓMARA, and the fruit GUNGULES. + +[45] _Wakil_, or deputy.—TR. + +[46] The poems contain many unusual grammatical forms and expressions, +and are composed in a very free, and, as it appears, in some measure, +incorrect style. + +[47] About six English miles.—TR. + +[48] These monuments are now placed in the Egyptian Museum (Berlin). See +the ram and sparrow-hawk in the _Denkmäler aus Egypt. und Ethiop., Abth. +III., Blatt 90_. + +[49] By the pods and their kernels, which we brought away with us, Dr. +Klotsch has recognised the _Moringa Arabica Persoon_ (_Hyperanthera +peregrina Forskål_). It seems that this tree has hitherto only been known +in Arabia, and is indigenous there. The individual trees found near +Barkal, which are not mentioned by previous travellers, might perhaps +have been introduced from Arabia. This is the more probable, as the +immigration of those tribes of the Schaiqîeh Arabs from Heg’âz is still +testified in writing. + +[50] The expression is, that he has built the Temple 𓂙𓈖𓏏𓆑𓋹𓁶𓇾𓈅𓏤𓇳𓎟𓁧 +“to his living image on earth RA-NEB-MA.” The word _chent_ no longer +exists in the Coptic language, but is always translated in the Rosetta +inscription by εἰκών. The temple, and the locality belonging to it, was +also named after the king, but after his Horus name, “The Dwelling of +Scha-em-ma.” From this we may trace the origin of the Ram of Barkal and +the Lion in the British Museum. + +[51] This theory of Dr. Lepsius, of the bed of the Nile having been +excavated to a depth of 25 feet in 4000 years, has been examined by +Leonard Horner, Esq., F.R.S., in a paper published in the _Edinburgh +Philosophical Journal_ for July, 1850. Dr. Lepsius having in a letter, +dated 12th April, 1853, addressed to Mr. Horner, expressed a wish that +that paper should be reprinted in the present volume, it will be found +accordingly in the Appendix.—TR. + +[52] King of the Noubadœ and the Ethiopians.—TR. + +[53] Denkmäl., Abth. II., Bl. 245, 246. + +[54] They are called Salamât, “the Salutations,” by earlier travellers. +My attention was called to the correct pronunciation of this word by +our old intelligent guide, ʾAuad. The alteration is very great to the +Arabs, because سَلَامٌ _salàm_, _salus_, is pronounced with the +dental _sin_, صَنَمٌ _sʾanam_, _idolum_, with the lingual _sʾâd_. +The plural, which usually is expressed by أصْنامٌ _asʾnâm_, here +assumes the feminine form صَنَمَاتٌ _sʾanamât_. It is impossible now +to see by the mutilated heads whether they were masculine figures. The +stone of which the statues are composed is a particularly hard quartzose +friable sandstone conglomerate, which looks as if it was glazed, and had +innumerable cracks. The frequent crackling of small particles of stone +at sunrise, when the change of temperature is greatest, in my opinion +produced the tones of Memnon, far-famed in song, which were compared to +the breaking of a musical string. + +[55] See note, p. 239. + +[56] This King AI was previously a private individual, and afterwards +assumed the priest’s title into his Royal Shield. He not unfrequently +appears with his wife in the tombs of Amarna, as a distinguished +and peculiarly highly venerated officer of King Amenophis IV., that +puritanical worshipper of the Sun, who changed his name into that of +BECH-EN-ATEN. + +[57] The dimensions here stated have been taken from Wilkinson, Mod. Eg. +and Thebes, vol. ii., p. 220. + +[58] _Apuleii Asclepius sive dialogus Hermetis Trismegisti_, c. 24.—(“Oh +Egypt! Egypt! fables alone of thy religion will survive, equally +incomprehensible to thy descendants; and words cut into stone will alone +remain telling of thy pious deeds, and the Scythian, or one from the +Indus, or some such neighbouring barbarian, will inhabit Egypt.”)—TR. + +[59] I did not imagine, when I wrote this down, that this crime of blood +would so speedily be avenged. See Letter XXXIV. + +[60] I have since been informed (_Rév. Arch._, vol. iv. p. 82) that M. +Ampère had been expressly sent to Egypt by the Paris Academy, for the +purpose of copying the bilingual inscription at Philæ, which I have +noticed in my letters. See above, p. 121. The exceedingly abridged +representation of the Demotic text, which was communicated by M. de +Saulcy in the _Révue Archéologique_, is borrowed from the copy which was +taken back to Paris, in which, however, the commencement of the Demotic +lines, and along with them the date of the decree, are wanting. + +[61] _Rhamnus nabeca_, Wilkinson, Mod. Eg. and Thebes.—TR. + +[62] These places were described for the first time accurately, and in an +instructive manner, by Wilkinson. Journ. of the R. Geogr. Soc., vol. ii., +p. 28, &c. + +[63] “Medicine for the soul.”—TR. + +[64] These are the exact words of my journal, and as they were understood +by Ritter, p. 578. In the printed report, p. 8, it might appear as if +Robinson had relinquished the ascent of the whole of this part of the +mountain; in the memoir of the Bibliotheca Sacra, this is mentioned as +a mistake. But I was only speaking of the actual brow of the mountain +which projects into the plain, contrasted with the loftier point, though +situated on one side, which was ascended by Robinson. + +[65] This account, which I addressed to H.M. the King of Prussia, was +printed while I was still absent in 1846, under the title of “_Reise +des Prof. Lepsius von Theben nach der Halbinsel des Sinai, vom 4 März +bis zum 14 April, 1845_,” _Berlin_, with two maps—a general map of the +Peninsula, and a special map of Serbâl and Wadi Firân, which was drawn +by G. Erbkam, from my notes, or statements. This printed pamphlet has +not been published, but only distributed to a few persons. Its contents, +however, have become better known, by a translation into English by Ch. +H. Cottrell (“A Tour from Thebes to the Peninsula of Sinai,” &c. London, +1846), and into French by F. Pergameni (“Voyage dans la Presq’ile du +Sinai, etc., lu à la Société de Géographie, séances du 21 Avril et du 21 +Mai. Extrait du Bulletin de la Soc. Géogr., Juin, 1847.” Paris). + +[66] The Nakb el Haui, “the Saddle of Wind,” is an extremely wild and +narrow mountain ravine, the depths of which are impassable, on account +of its steep precipices. The road must have been constructed with great +skill along the western mountain precipice, and is in many places hewn +out of the rock; in others, the crumbling ground has been paved with +great flat stones. There can be no doubt that this daring path was only +made after the erection of the convent, to maintain closer connection +with the town of Pharan, which, till that time, could only be reached by +the long circuitous route through the Wadi e’ Scheikh. + +[67] The _Tamarix Gallica mannifera_ of Ehrenberg. See Wilkinson, Mod. +Eg. and Thebes, ii., 401.—TR. + +[68] The _Moringa aptera_. See Wilkinson’s Mod. Eg. and Thebes, ii., +404.—TR. + +[69] It seems that this convent has not been visited by any very recent +travellers. Even Burckhardt, who calls it Sigillye, did not descend to +it, but heard that it was well built, spacious, and also provided with a +well, plentifully supplied with water. (Trav. in Syria, p. 610.) It is +much to be desired that more exact accounts could be obtained of this +convent, situated in the middle of the basin of Serbâl, as it probably +is one of the oldest, at any rate one of the most important in the +Peninsula, as is proved by the rock-road to it from Pharan, constructed +with much skill and difficulty. + +[70] Denkmäl., Abth. II., Bl. 2, 116, 137, 140, 152; III., 28. + +[71] See Appendix B. + +[72] I find all whose judgment is of any weight holding this same +opinion. Robinson, especially, has the merit of having cleared away many +old prejudices of this nature. But even Burckhardt so little allowed his +judgment to be guided by the authority of tradition, that he did not +scruple to place his reason for transposing the convent of Sinai to Gebel +Mûsa, rather on stratagetical considerations. (Trav. in Syria, p. 609.) + +[73] 1 Kings xix. 8.—TR. + +[74] The name of FIRÂN, formerly PHARAN, is, indeed, evidently the same +as PARAN in the Bible; but it is equally certain that this name has +altered its meaning with reference to the locality. All other comparisons +of names cannot be in the least depended on. + +[75] The smaller of the two wells dates as far back as the time of the +foundation of the convent. The principal deep well, which supplies the +largest amount and the best water, is said to have been first dug by an +English nobleman in 1760. (Ritter, p. 610.) + +[76] Burckhardt also (Trav., p. 554) observes distinctly that there were +no good pasture grounds near the convent, where nevertheless the somewhat +numerous small springs, might have led us to expect the ground to have +been in a moister condition. With respect to the impression made on +Bartlett: see Appendix B. + +[77] I was assured of this unanimously by the Arabs. (Compare also +Burckhardt, p. 625, and Ritter, p. 769.) Lord Lindsay found “a small wood +of Tarfa-trees here, in which blackbirds were singing, and also some +plantations of Palm-trees.” It was at the entrance of the same valley +“where Seetzen had the pleasure of gathering for himself, and eating for +the first time, a great deal of _manna_ from the bushes of Tarfa; he +found the ripe produce of the wild Caper shrub growing here in profusion, +which was as palatable to the taste as table-fruit.” + +[78] Numbers xxxiii. 10.—TR. + +[79] Exodus xv. 27.—TR. + +[80] See Appendix C. + +[81] Exodus xvi. 1.—TR. + +[82] These hot springs do not seem to have been originally named HAMMÂM +FARAÛN, of PHARAOH, but FARAN, from PHARAN. For EDRISI names those +places on the coast FARAN AHRUN, and ISTACHRI TARAN, which no doubt +ought to be called FARAN. (See Ritter, Asien, vol. viii., p. 170, &c.) +MACRIZI also calls the same spot BIRKET FARAN. (Ritter, Sinai-halbins, p. +64.) The harbour district of Pharan was probably called after the town +itself, though distant, and the tradition of Pharaoh’s destruction, so +inapplicable to this spot, was perhaps only connected with the alteration +of the name of Faran into Faraûn. It remains a striking fact that the +Arabian chroniclers, among whom Macrizi himself visited the spot, speak +of the town of Faran as of a town on the coast. + +[83] That portion of the sandy sea-shore which Robinson regards as the +Wilderness of Sin, produces no TARFA shrubs, much less manna. Compare +Ritter, p. 665, &c., with respect to the tracts of country where manna +is found. It has been already mentioned that EUSEBIUS maintains that +the Wilderness of Sin extended as far as Sinai. (Σίν, ἔρημος ἡ μεταξὺ +παρατείνουσα τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης καὶ τῆς ἐρήμου Σινά.) + +[84] Robinson, i., p. 173-196. In opposition to what Wilson adduces +with respect to the wide prospect from Gebel Mûsa, we must consider +that necessarily a great many places may be seen from a point so little +elevated above the immediately surrounding country; from which points, +however, the mountain cannot be traced independently and distinctly by +the eye. + +[85] See Robinson, i., p. 118-196. + +[86] Ewald—Gesch. des Volkes Israel, ii., p. 86—also assumes that Sinai +was held sacred “even before the time of Moses, as a place of oracles, +and the seat of the gods.” Ritter (see Appendix B) considered this to be +incompatible. + +[87] Exodus iii. 1.—TR. + +[88] Exodus iv. 27.—TR. + +[89] This is even proved to exist now by Rüppell, who holds Gebel +Katherîn to be Sinai. On his journey to Abyssinia (vol. i., p. 127) he +relates, in the account of his ascent of Serbâl in the year 1831, as +follows:—“On the summit of Serbâl the Bedouins have collected small +stones, and placed them in the form of a circular enclosure, and other +stones are placed outside on the shelving rock-precipice, like steps, +to facilitate the ascent. When we arrived at the stony circle _my guide +drew off his sandals, and approached it with religious veneration; he +then recited a prayer within it_, and told me afterwards that he had +already slaughtered two sheep here as a _thank-offering_, one of them on +the occasion of the birth of a son, the other on regaining his health +after an illness. From a belief that Mount SERBÂL is connected with +such things, it is said _to have been held in great reverence by the +Arabs of the surrounding districts since time immemorial_; and it must +also at one time have been regarded as holy in certain respects by the +Christians, as, in the valley on the south-western side, there are the +ruins of a great convent, and of a great many small hermit’s cells. At +all events, the wild jagged masses of rock in Serbâl, and the _isolated +position of the mountain, is far more striking, and in a certain degree +more imposing, than any other mountain group in Arabia Petræa, and for +that reason was peculiarly calculated to be the object of religious +pilgrimages_. The highest point of the mountain, or the second pinnacle +of rock, proceeding from the west, on which the Arabs are in the habit of +sacrificing, by my barometrical measurements is 6342 French feet above +the level of the sea.” + +[90] With reference to this, compare particularly the admirable pamphlet +by Tuch: _Ein und Zwanzig Sinaitische Inschriften_. _Leipzig_, 1849. This +scholar endeavours to prove from the names of the pilgrims that have been +deciphered, that the authors of the inscriptions were native heathen +Arabs, who wandered to Serbâl to some religious festivals. And he is of +opinion that pilgrimages ceased in the course of the third century at +latest. We may also mention that the name itself of Serbâl, which Rödiger +(in Wellsted’s Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., last page) derives, no doubt +correctly from the Arabic سرب _serb_, palmarum copia, and Baal, “the +Palm-grove (Φοινικών) of Baal,” refers to its heathen worship. + +[91] Vol. i., p. 198. See Appendix B. + +[92] I thought I might have been able to deduce this indirectly from his +narrative, _Antiqu._, iii., 2. Now it seems to me that there is nothing +that we can extract about his views from this; for which reason the above +name should be effaced. Abstractedly considered, it is very probable that +he entertained the same views as Eusebius and Jerome. Compare note, p. +316, and Appendix G. + +[93] Eusebius, Περὶ τῶν τοπικῶν ὀνομ., etc., s. v. Ῥαφιδίμ, τόπος τῆς +ἐρήμου παρὰ τὸ Χωρὴβ ὄρος, ἐν ᾧ ἐκ τῆς πέτρας ἐρρύησε τὰ ὕδατα καὶ ἐκλήθη +ὁ τόπος πειρασμός. ἔνθα καὶ πολεμεῖ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Ἀμαλὴκ ἐγγὺς Φαράν. + +[94] Hieronymus, de situ et nomin., etc., s. v. Raphidîm, locus +in deserto juxta montem Choreb, in quo de petra fluxere aquæ, +cognominatusque est tentatio, ubi et Jesus adversus Amalec dimicat _prope +Pharan_. + +[95] Among the older authors, _Cosmas Indicopleustes_ must be especially +named here (about A.D. 535). (Topogr. Christ., lib. v., in the Coll. +nov. patr. ed. Montfaucon, tom. ii., fol. 195.) Εἶτα πάλιν παρενέβαλον +εἰς Ῥαφιδὶν εἰς τὴν νῦν λεγομένην Φαράν. _Antoninus Placentinus_, who is +placed about the year 600 (while the learned _Papebroch_, who published +his _Itinerarium_ in the Acta SS., month of May, vol. ii., p. x.-xviii., +does not place him earlier than the eleventh or twelfth century), came, +as he says, _in civitatem_ (which can only be Pharan) _in qua pugnavit +Moyses cum Amalech: ubi est altare positum super lapides illos quos +posuerunt Moyse orante_. That the town was enclosed by a brick wall +and _valde sterilis_, instead of which Tuch (Sinait. Inschr., p. 38) +proposes to read _fertilis_. If Pharan is called an _Amalekitish_ town +by _Macrizi_ (Gesch. der Kopten, uebers. v. Wüstenfeld, p. 116), then +this can only indicate the same view that Moses was attacked near PHARAN +by the Amalekites, to whom this district belonged. Among more recent +scholars we must especially mention _Ritter_, as is mentioned in Appendix +B. + +[96] Exodus xviii. 5.—TR. + +[97] Exodus xvii. 6.—TR. + +[98] See below, the complete passage by Cosmas. See Appendix G. + +[99] Even the name itself, Raphidîm, _i. e._ the _places of repose_, +indicate that the place was adapted for rest of some duration. + +[100] See Appendix D. + +[101] For that reason Robinson and others, who do not allow that any +positions of the encampments were omitted, place Raphidîm beyond FIRÂN; +and although they make the march through the latter place, they leave +it either totally unmentioned, or place ALUS there. We have already +mentioned above the objections to this opinion, which have been partly +proved by Ritter. On the other hand, Ritter, to remove the difficulty, +distinctly admits of an omission in our present text. (P. 742.) + +[102] Numbers xxxiii. 10-14.—TR. + +[103] Ritter (see Appendix B) is consequently compelled to draw this +conclusion; which, in fact, seems to me the most doubtful of all. The +present tradition differs from this in holding Horeb and Sinai to be two +mounts, situated immediately beside each other but yet apart. + +[104] The three possible ways of removing this difficulty have been +tried by ROBINSON, RITTER, and JOSEPHUS. The first, places Raphidîm near +Gebel Mûsa; the second, assumes there is an omission between Raphidîm +and Sinai, and retains _two_ Mounts of God; the third, transposes the +separating passage, and does not mention Horeb at all, only Sinai. + +[105] See the manner in which Robinson combines, and weighs both views, +i., p. 197, &c. All those passages where precisely the same is said +concerning Horeb, as about Sinai, are opposed to the more recent opinion +that HOREB was the general designation for the mountain range, or for the +district, and that SINAI was the individual Mount, while not a single +passage requires us to think of a large extent of ground. No mention is +ever made of a “WILDERNESS OF HOREB,” as of the WILDERNESSES OF SÛR, SIN, +PARAN, and others. We might also cite in favour of the opposite opinion +Acts vii. 30 compared with Exodus iii. 1. + +[106] This view is found already in the above-mentioned (note, p. 313) +ITINERARIUM OF ANTONINUS, who places the convent between Sinai and Horeb. +The monks’ tradition of the present day, that the rock projecting into +the plain of Râha was Horeb, is well known. The arbitrary character +of such assumptions is evident; nevertheless, the latter opinion is +maintained by Gesenius (Thesaur, p. 517, Wiener, and others). + +[107] St. Jerome expressly says the same thing, since he adds to the +words of Eusebius s. v. _Choreb_: Mihi autem videtur quod duplici nomine +idem mons nunc _Sina_, nunc _Choreb_ vocetur. Even Josephus evidently +considered both mountains to be one, for wherever CHOREB is mentioned in +the Bible, he placed Sinai instead; the same is done by the author of +the Acts of the Apostles (vii. 30), and also by Syncellus (Chron., p. +190), who says of Elijah, ἐπορεύετο ἐν Χωρὴβ τῷ ὄρει ἤτοι Σιναίῳ. (The +following passage within brackets added by the author, April, 1853.—TR.) +[There has been an attempt to prove, from the Greek termination Σιναίῳ, +that Choreb is only meant to designate here part of the range of Sinai. +However, the word cannot be understood thus in the sense of an adjective, +as there was no other but the Sinaitic Choreb. Τὸ ὄρος Σιναῖον (Syncell., +p. 122; Cosmas, p. 195; ἀνὰ μέσον Ἐλεὶμ καὶ τοῦ Σιναίου ὄρους. Joseph. +Ant. Jud. 3, 5: ἄνεισι (Μωυσῆς) πρὸς τὸ Σιναῖον; compare the inscription +on the convent, Appendix E) is used just as much as Τὸ ὄρος Σινᾶ. But +if, which is not the case, Choreb especially was only called Τὸ Σιναῖον, +not Τὸ Σινᾶ ὄρος, we could only infer the reverse, namely, that Sinai +must have meant a part of the range of Choreb.] Ewald, especially among +modern scholars, brings forward the same opinion of the similarity of +the two mounts. He says (Gesch. des. V. Isr., ii., p. 84) the two names, +SINAI and HOREB, do not change because they designated points in the +same range, situated beside each other; but the name of Sinai is clearly +the most ancient, for it was used also by Deborah, Judges v. 5, whereas +the name of Horeb cannot be pointed out before the period of the fourth +narrator (compare Exodus iii. 1; xvii. 6; xxxiii. 6); but it then becomes +very prevalent, as is proved in Deuteronomy, and in the passages of 1 +Kings viii. 9; xix. 8; Mal. iv. 4; Psalms cvi. 19, while it says nothing +against this view when very late authors reintroduce the name of Sinai, +merely from their learned acquaintance with the old books. + +[108] If we omit the two verses, Exodus xix. 1, 2, the account, xix. 3, +follows most naturally after xviii. 27. “And Moses let his father-in-law +depart, and he went away into his own land. And Moses went up unto God; +and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain.” + +[109] See Appendix D. + +[110] See Appendix B. + +[111] See Appendix E. + +[112] See Appendix F. + +[113] See Appendix G. + +[114] Ritter (p. 31), when he mentions that Sinai was almost +simultaneously regarded by the Egyptian, COSMAS, to be Serbâl; and by the +Byzantine, PROCOPIUS to be Gebel Mûsa; adds another supposition, which I +will mention here. “Might there not,” he says, “have, perhaps, existed a +different tradition or party-view on this matter in convents, and among +the monks at CONSTANTINOPLE and ALEXANDRIA, which might proceed from a +jealous feeling to vindicate the superior sanctity of one or the other +locality? It is remarkable that such different views of the matter should +be held simultaneously by the most learned theologians of their day.” + +[115] This letter, which I have had printed here _verbatim_, was +addressed to the General Director of the Royal Prussian Museum, Privy +Counsellor of Legation von OLFERS. This communication may perhaps serve +to spread a correct estimation of the fundamental principles which has +guided the arrangement and decoration of the Egyptian Museum, one of the +grandest and latest works that have been executed in Berlin, and which +has just been rendered accessible to the public. + +[116] Burckhardt must have been mistaken when (Trav. in Syr., p. 5) he +states that the tomb of Noah was only 10 feet long, although the same +statement is repeated by Schubert (Reise in das Morgenland, vol. iii., +p. 340). It is well known how frequently the number 40 is found employed +by the Hebrews as an indeterminate multiple. The same custom seems to +have been peculiar to _all Semetic_ nations; it may at least be pointed +out frequently, and at all periods, among the Phœnicians and Arabians; +even the numerical words for 4 and 40 in these languages indicate the +universal idea of multitude. See my _Sprachvergleichenden Abhandlungen_, +Berlin, 1836, p. 104, 139, and the _Chronologie der Ægypter_, vol. i, p. +15. + +[117] See V. Hammer, Geschichte des Osmanischen Reichs, Div. ii., p. 482. + +[118] Compare Krafft, Topographie Jerusalems. Bonn, 1846. P. 269, and +Plate II., No. 33. + +[119] The king here represented is explained by Rawlinson to be +the son of the builder of Khorsabad, Bel-Adonimscha. (A Commentary +on the Cuneiform Inscr. of Babylonia and Assyria. London, 1850, p. +70.) According to Layard, the same king is found on the buildings of +Kuyung´ik, Nebbi Yûnas, and Mossul (Nineveh, Lond., 1849, p. 142-144); +who (p. 400) supposes that the cypress monument now to be seen in Berlin +belongs to him. (Compare Bonomi, Nineveh and its Palaces. London, 1852, +p. 127.) + +[120] _Ægyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte._ (_Egypt’s Place in +Universal History._ Trans. by C. H. Cottrell.) + +[121] The great Book of the Dead, at Turin, is upon a single Roll, 57′ 3″ +Rhineland feet in length. + +[122] Ritschl. The Alexandrian Libraries. 1838. P. 32, &c. + +[123] De Myster. viii. 1. According to Böckh, _Manetho_, p. 117. J. +Firmicus also speaks somewhere of 20,000 books of Hermes. Compare Fabr. +_Bib. gr._ ed. Harl. t. i. p. 85. + +[124] 1 Kings iv. 30; Acts vii. 22. + +[125] Herod. ii. 160. + +[126] See the general accounts in Diodor. Sic. i. 69, 96-98; Plut. _de +Is. et Osir._ c. x.; Clem. Alex. Strom. p. 131; Sylb. Cedren. _Hist. +comp._ p. 94 B. + +[127] Herod. ii. 91; vii. 94, &c. [Diod. i. 28.] + +[128] Diod. i. 29. + +[129] Diod. i. 69, 96; iv. 25. [Justin. Mart. ad Græc. c. xiv.] + +[130] Diod. i. 96. [Clem. Protr. p. 12; Uireph. Synes, p. 421.] + +[131] Ibid. + +[132] Diod. i. 29. + +[133] Diod. i. 69, 96. Heliodor. Aeth. iii. 14; Clem. Div. i. p. 130. +[Justin. Mart. c. xiv. 17.] + +[134] Diod. i. 96. + +[135] Diod. i. 98. + +[136] Ibid. + +[137] Diod. i. 96; Plut. _de Is. et Osir._ c. x. [Plut. Lyc. i. p. 41; F. +Isocr. Laud. Busir. p. 329.] + +[138] Plato. _Tim._ p. 21; Diod. i. 69, 96; Plut. _de Is._ c. x.; _Vita +Solon_, c. xxvi. [Justin. Mart. c. xiv.; Cyrill. c. Julian. i. p. 15.] + +[139] ii. 177. + +[140] Diog. Laert. i. 89. + +[141] Strab. xvii. p. 806, 807; Cic. _de fin._ v. 29; Diod. Sic. i. 96; +Plut. _de Is._ c. x.; _de genio Socr._ p. 578; Clem. Al. _Strom._ i. p. +131; Diog. Laert. iii. 6. + +[142] Strab. ii. p. 119; xvii. p. 807. + +[143] Plut. _de Is._ c. x.; _de placit. philos._ i. 3; Clem. i. p. 130; +Diog. Laert. i. 27. [Theod. Melit. Proem. in Astr. c. xii.; Cyrill. c. +Jul. i. p. 15.] + +[144] Diog. Laert. i. 27; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 17. + +[145] Diod. v. 37. + +[146] Cic. _de fin._ v. 29; Diod. i. 96; Strab. vii. p. 297; xiv. p. 638; +Plut. _de Is._ c. x.; Diog. Laert. viii. 3, 11; Clem. l. 1. [Justin. +Mart. c. xiv. 19; Isocr. Busir. p. 227.] + +[147] Herod. ii. 81; Diog. Laert. viii. 24, 33, 34; Diog. Laert. viii. 4. + +[148] Herod. ii. 123; Diog. Laert. viii. 14; Cic. Tusc. i. 16. + +[149] Clem. Alex. i. p. 129; Cedren. p. 94, B. [Theod. Melit. Pr. in +Astr. c. 12.] + +[150] See preface to the _Todtenbuche der Ægypter_, p. 13, &c. + +[151] Cedren. p. 94, B. + +[152] Diod. i. 96; Diog. L. IX. 35. + +[153] Diog. L. VII. 177. + +[154] Diod. i. 96. + +[155] Diog. L. VII. 186; viii. 87. + +[156] Strab. I. ii. p. 37. + +[157] Diog. L. III. 6. + +[158] Herod. ii. 143. + +[159] Diod. i. 44. + +[160] Diod. i. 69. + +[161] Plut. _de Is._ c. x.; _de genio Socr._ p. 578, F; Clem. Al. Str. i. +p. 131. + +[162] Diod. xvi. 51. + +[163] Sync. p. 271, D. + +[164] xvii. p. 806. + +[165] See respecting this, Letronne. Translation of the 17th Book of +Strabo. (Géographie de Strabon. t. i. Paris, 1819. p. 390.) Compare +the passage in Herodot. ii. 123, where, though not by name, he accuses +Pythagoras and Pherecydes of having ascribed to themselves what they had +borrowed from the Egyptians. The same was related by some of Eudoxus. +Diog. Laert. viii. 89. + +[166] _Strom._ vi. p. 260, ed. Sylb. See also Bunsen _Ægyptens Stelle in +der Weltgesch._, Bd. i. p. 34, &c. (_Egypt’s Place in Universal History_, +book i. p. 9.) + +[167] Aelian. _Hist. var._ xiv. 34, says, that the Egyptians in ancient +times had priests as their judges. + +[168] Clem. Strom. i. p. 131. + +[169] [Sacred Scribe.] + +[170] The Pastophori do not appear in the train of the priests, and are +expressly separated from the priests (ἱερεῖς) by _Porphyrius_. They were, +as their name implies, the bearers of the small sacred chapels of the +gods which formed the principal furniture of the temple. That is probably +the reason why they appear in the great processions, where the images of +the gods were carried about, not as priests, but as _under-officers_ of +the temple; and they are, therefore, rightly placed by Porphyrius along +with the νεωκόροι, the sweepers of the temple, and the other servants +of the temple (ὑπουργοί). As bearers of the sacred shrines they were +also their watchmen, and, therefore, especially the overseers of the +temple, the watchmen of the temple; therefore their hieroglyphical sign, +according to Horapollo, i. 41, is a house watchman, φύλαξ οἴκου, because +the temple is guarded by him, διὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τούτου φυλάττεσθαι τὸ ἱερόν. But +what could the temple watchmen have had to do with medicine? There is +nowhere even the most distant relation indicated between the pastophori +and the physicians; indeed, their occupations appear necessarily to +exclude them. I therefore believe that there is either some fundamental +error, or a false reading, in the passage of Clemens, which cannot yet be +solved. The pastophori were the principal under-officers, and therefore +were united by their rank with the chanter, the lowest class of the +priests. Was this possibly the reason why the books of medicine, which +succeeded those of the chanter in this canon, were ascribed to them? +There were many more than forty-two sacred books, and they must have all +been lodged among the archives of the temple, without, however, being +assigned to any particular class of priests. + +[171] [Diod. i. 70, 73, 96.] + +[172] I speak here of the first section of the Papyrus of Sallier, No. 2, +which is communicated in the _Select Papyri in the hieratic character, +from the collection of the British Museum_. London. 1844. Pl. x.-xii. + +[173] I procured in Thebes a number of such hymns for the Royal Museum at +Berlin. Several of them were composed in the reign of King Ramses IX., +in the 20th Dynasty. There was a hymn to Amen-Ra, upon a roll of eleven +pages, in the Egyptian collection of Mr. Sams in London, 1839. + +[174] Upon a wooden tablet covered with fine white chalk, in the British +Museum. + +[175] In the Book of the Dead, c. 128, 134, 139, &c. [Plut. _de Is._ c. +52.] + +[176] Porphyr. _de abst._ iv. 8. + +[177] Bunsen, Bd. i. p. 55. (_Eg.’s Pl. in Un. Hist._ bk. i. p. 28.) + +[178] See my introduction to the _Todtenbuche der Ægypter_. Leipzig, +1842, p. 17. + +[179] Bd. i. p. 47. (_Eg.’s Pl. in Un. Hist._ bk. i. p. 20.) + +[180] i. 94, 95. + +[181] [Tatian. _or. ad Græc._ c. 1.] + +[182] _Annal._ ii. 60. + +[183] Champollion, _Lettres écrites d’Egypte et de Nubie_, p. 21, 426. +After the death of Champollion, Salvolini made use of the privately +withheld papers of his master for a particular treatise: _Campagne de +Ramsès-le-Grand (Sésostris) contre les Schéta et leurs alliés. Manuscrit +hiératique appartenant à M. Sallier à Aix en Provence. Notice sur ce MS._ +Paris, 1835, 8. + +[184] I am indebted for this valuable present to an English lady, Miss +Westcar, who had deposited it a long time ago in the _Bodleian Library_, +Oxford. It contains nine sides, of which, unhappily, the first four are +very much destroyed. The remainder, also, is very hastily written, and +is therefore difficult to decipher. It appears to be poetical, and to be +addressed to a king, whose name unfortunately is lost; the example “of +his ancestors,” _Chufu_, _Snefru Ser_, &c. is held up to him. + +[185] 1 Kings vi. 1. + +[186] Exodus xii. 40. + +[187] Ant. viii. 3, 1: 592; c. Ap. ii. 2: 612 years. + +[188] Gen. xv. 13; compare Ap. Hist. 7, 6. + +[189] Gal. iii. 17. + +[190] Ant. ii. 15, 2; viii. 3, 1. Compare c. Ap. i. 33, where he +calculates 170 years from Joseph to Moses. + +[191] Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca; Moses is 40 years +old when he goes to Midian; at 80 years of age he leads the people out of +Egypt, and dies at the age of 120. + +[192] Contra. Ap. i. 26. + +[193] Manetho had only related that the Hyksos were expelled in the reign +of Tuthmosis. It is the opinion of Josephus alone that they were the Jews. + +[194] Compare Exodus xxxiv. 12, 13. + +[195] Gen. xvi. 3; xxi. 21. + +[196] Gen. xli. 45. + +[197] Numb. xii. 1. + +[198] Exodus xii. 38. Compare Numbers xi. 4. + +[199] p. 760, 824. + +[200] C. Ap. ii. 3. Compare Tacit. _Hist._ v. 2. _Aethiopum prolem._ + +[201] Gen. xlvi. 34. + +[202] Numbers xii. 10. + +[203] Exodus iv. 6. + +[204] Exodus ix. 3, 9. + +[205] The Persians also knew no other way of protecting themselves +against this infectious disease of the λέπρη ἢ λεύκη than by driving +those who were attacked by it out of the town, and if they were +_strangers_, out of the country. _Herod._ i. 138. + +[206] Plut. _de Is._ c. xxxiii. + +[207] Champollion, _Panthéon_, pl. xxxviii. + +[208] 1 Kings xii. 2, 28, 30, 32; 2 Kings x. 29. + +[209] Exod. i. 11. + +[210] Similar perhaps to the command of Pharaoh to drown the Hebrew boys. + +[211] Exod. i. 10. + +[212] This number, which differs from the one in the original, was +inserted by the Author, April, 1853.—TR. + +[213] Bunsen. _Ægypten._ Bd. i. p. 227. (Tr. vol. i. p. 184.) But compare +Bd. iii. p. 109, where this opinion appears to be already modified. + +[214] Tatian. _Paraen ad Græc._ p. 129 (Oxon). Clemens Alex. _Strom._ i +21, p. 138. Justin Martyr ad Græc. p. 10, E. + +[215] Justin Martyr. Africanus in Eusebius. _Præp. Evang._ x. 10. Clemens +Alex. + +[216] Compare the passages of Justin and Africanus. + +[217] Contra. Ap. i. 15. + +[218] p. 63, B; 123, D. + +[219] Euseb. Armen. Canon, vol. ii. p. 105. Aucher. + +[220] According to Gen. xii. 4. + +[221] _Hist._ v. 2. + +[222] Manetho, p. 192, 325. + +[223] _Gesch. Isr._ ii. p. 69. + +[224] _Ægypten_, i. p. 127, 234. (Tr. vol. i. p. 91.) + +[225] _Anecd. græca_, Paris, ed. Cramer, vol. ii. p. 174. + +[226] They are cited by Gesenius. _Thesaur. ling. hebr._ p. 1297. + +[227] _De la géographie comparée et de l’ancien état des côtes de la mer +rouge_, in the _Description de l’Eg._ ed. Panckoucke, vol. vi. p. 316. + +[228] _Mémoires sur l’Eg._ p. 126. + +[229] _Gesch. d. V. Isr._ ii. p. 53. + +[230] C. Apion. i. 14, 26. + +[231] Joseph, c. Ap. i. 14. + +[232] Euseb. _Chron._ in Aucher. vol. i. p. 224. + +[233] Africanus in Syncellus, p. 61, B, &c. + +[234] p. 804. + +[235] iv. 5. 53. + +[236] ii. 107. + +[237] Jos. c. Ap. i. 15. + +[238] i. 57. + +[239] Diodor. i. 57. + +[240] Herod. ii. 141. + +[241] Herod. ii. 154. Compare Diod. i. 67. + +[242] Herod. iii. 10, 11. + +[243] Diod. xvii. 48. Arrian. iii. 1. + +[244] Strab. p. 756, 760, 781. + +[245] p. 803. + +[246] _Gesch. des Volkes Isr._ i. p. 451.—עַבָרִים, _Abarim_, is also +a Palestinian name. Numb. xxvii. 12; Deut. xxxii. 47, 49, &c. + +[247] The supposition of Larcher in Herd. t. viii. p. 62; Champollion, +_L’Eg. sous les Phar._ ii. p. 91; and Gesenius, _thes. l. hebr._ p. 1297, +that Αὔαρις is connected by its sound with Ἡρώ (see below on Heroonpolis) +has not even a semblance in itself, even if it were geographically +admissible. + +[248] Bd. i. p. 328. + +[249] Gesch. Isr. Bd. i. p. 290, 291. + +[250] _Mém. sur l’Eg._ p. 124. + +[251] Hérod. t. viii. p. 62, 429. + +[252] _L’Eg. sous les Phar._ t. ii. p. 90. + +[253] _Thes. l. hebr._ p. 1297. + +[254] In his map of the Delta. + +[255] Joseph. c. Ap. i. 26. + +[256] Apollodor. i. 6, 3. + +[257] Herod. iii. 5. + +[258] Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1215. + +[259] [This reading is now adopted also by the last eminent editor of +Stephanus, Meineke (tom. i. p. 559).] + +[260] 𓊃𓏏𓁣, Set, is the common hieroglyphical name of Typhon. + +[261] Joseph. c. Ap. i. c. 32. + +[262] Gen. xlvi. 28. + +[263] xvii. p. 804. + +[264] Rozière, in the _Descr. de l’Eg._ vol. vi. p. 257, &c. + +[265] Ptolem. V. 17. 1. Plin. H. N. V. 11, § 65. + +[266] iv. 5. According to other manuscripts, 29° 50′. + +[267] Wilkinson, _Modern Egypt and Thebes_, vol. i. p. 311, there only +heard the name of _E’ Saqieh_, “the Water-wheel;” but my friend and +fellow-traveller, H. Abeken, who was also on the spot, confirmed me in +the name which Robinson gives in his map (_Abu Keischeib_). The French +scholars, on the contrary, write _Abou Keycheyd_. + +[268] _Mém. sur l’Eg._ i. p. 166. + +[269] _L’Eg. sous les Phar._ ii. p. 89. + +[270] _Descr. de l’Eg._ xi. p. 378. + +[271] _Antiq. Jud._ ii. 7, 8. + +[272] p. 75, ed. Parthey and Pinder (p. 170, Wess). + +[273] _Mém. sur l’Eg._ t. i. p. 151, &c. + +[274] Herod. ii. 158. + +[275] Plin. H. N. V. ix. 9. + +[276] S. Wilkinson, _Eg. and Thebes_, vol. i. p. 311. + +[277] In his _Mémoire sur les anciennes limites de la mer rouge_, in the +_Descr. de l’Eg._ t. xi. (Panck.) p. 371, &c.; and in the _Notice sur le +séjour des Hébreux en Egypte_, t. viii. p. 112, &c. + +[278] p. 768. + +[279] p. 767. + +[280] Strabo, ii. p. 85, 86, &c. + +[281] The first imperfect copy is in the _Descr. de l’Eg. Antiq._ vol. +v. pl. 29, No. 6-8. The best is given by Wilkinson in his _Materia +Hieroglyphica_, Append. No. 4. + +[282] King Ramses was therefore just as much the local god of the town +Ramses, as the god Hero of the town Hero. + +[283] ii. 158. Compare iv. 42. + +[284] _Meteorolog._ i. 14, p. 352, b (Bekk). + +[285] i. 33. + +[286] p. 38, p. 804. Compare p. 780. + +[287] _Hist. Nat._ vi. 29, § 165-167. + +[288] iv. 5. + +[289] _L’Isthme de Suez_, in the _Révue des Deux Mondes_, _livr. du 15 +Juill. 1841_. + +[290] Herod. ii. 102. + +[291] The height of the Red Sea was discovered to be 30 feet 6 +inches above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. [By the very latest +investigations the difference of 30 feet, which was formerly accepted, +has been reduced to 3 feet.] + +[292] _Descr. de l’Eg._ Atlas, pl. 23, 31. + +[293] ii. 158, iv. 42. + +[294] Herod. ii. 159. + +[295] _Descr. de l’Eg._ (Panck.) _Ant._ vol. viii. p. 27, &c. Compare +vol. v. p. 451, and Jomard, _carte de la basse Egypte_. A copy of the +fragment is given in a copper-plate, _Ant._ vol. v. pl. 29. + +[296] [The spot has now been re-discovered, and marked upon the map +of the Société d’Etudes de l’Isthme de Suez. _Travaux de la Brigade +Française._ Rapport de l’Ingénieur. 1847.] + +[297] _Descr. de l’Eg._ Atlas, pl. 23, 31. + +[298] Letronne was probably led to this opinion because, as above +mentioned, he thought that Heroonpolis was on the sea. + +[299] Letronne, in this treatise mentioned, has further attempted to show +that the connecting canal between the Nile and the Red Sea continued till +about the third century after Christ, but was then interrupted until +it was re-opened by the Caliph ʾOmar in the year 639. Since that time +it continued till the year 762 or 767, when the canal was designedly +filled up by the Caliph El Mansur. The ingenious combinations by which +Letronne assumes that the canal was filled up with sand, about the time +of Septim. Severus, because at that time the Porphyry quarries of Gebel +Dochân appear to have been neglected, is not, however, a sufficient +reason for this conclusion. The canal might easily have been deepened +again, as in the time of ʾOmar, and many other reasons might be given +for the neglect of the stone-quarries in the Red Sea. But there is a +positive proof _against_ it in Ibn el Maqrizi (_Notices et Extr. des +MSS._ tom. vi. p. 337, 366), where it is said, according to Langlès: +_Hadrien dirigea ensuite sa marche vers l’Egypte, où il fit recreuser le +canal qui allait du Nil à la mer de Qolzoum; les vaisseaux y passaient +encore à l’apparition de l’islamisme: c’est le même que ʾAmrou ben +el-ʾAss fit nettoyer_; and farther on (p. 340), where Amru says: _Je sais +qu’avant l’islamisme, des vaisseaux amenaient chez nous des marchandises +de l’Egypte. Depuis que nous avons fait la conquête de ce pays, cette +communication est interrompue; le canal est encombré et les marchands en +ont abandonné la navigation._ It is evident from this, that the canal +during the rising of the Arabs, shortly before the Egyptian conquest, had +been designedly filled up by the Egyptians as an inimical and prudential +measure, for the same reason that it was afterwards again filled up by +the Caliph El Mansur, when Mohammet ben ʾAbdallah rose against him at +Medina, in the year 762 (according to others 767). The year also of its +restoration appears to me still doubtful. Maqrizi, indeed, says (p. 334): +_Lorsque le Très-Haut accorda l’islamisme aux hommes, et que ʾAmrou ben +el-ʾAss fit la conquête de l’Egypte, ce général, d’après l’ordre de ʾOmar +ben âl-Khaththâb, prince des fidèles, s’occupa de faire recreuser de +canal dans l’année de la mortalité._ This famine year was certainly the +year 18 after the flight of the prophet—_i. e._ A.D. 639. But in the same +year Egypt was also conquered, and it is not very probable that cutting +the canal, which would occupy six months, was the first and immediate +undertaking of the conqueror, although it was undoubtedly soon called for +by the famine in Arabia, which made it necessary to import provisions +from Egypt. From the words of Amru also, quoted above, there appears to +have been a longer period between the conquest and the cleaning out the +canal. I, therefore, think that we ought rather to follow the defined +statement of El-Kendi, who is cited by Maqrizi himself (p. 343), and +who wrote about 880. He places the restoration of the canal five years +later—namely, in the year 23; _i. e._ 644, the last year of Amru. For the +history of the canal, compare, besides the treatises of Letronne which we +have cited, what the same scholar said at a former time in his edition of +the _Dicuil._ 1814, 8vo, p. 10, &c., and in his translation of the 17th +book of Strabo, p. 382; also Mannert, _Geogr. von Africa_, Abth. i. p. +503, &c., and Weil, _Gesch. der Chalifen_, Bd. i. p. 119, &c.; the last +of whom likewise places the restoration of the canal after 641. + +The result we have arrived at with regard to the whole history of this +remarkable connecting canal is, therefore, briefly, the following: + +c. 1350 B.C. _Ramses II._ (_Sesostris_) digs the canal from Bubastis to +Heroonpolis (Mukfâr, near Seba-Biar), and with the assistance of the +Israelites builds near it the towns _Pithom_ and _Ramses_. + +c. 600 B.C. _Nekô_ appears to have conducted the canal as far as the +Bitter lakes. + +c. 500 B.C. _Darius_, for the first time, makes the whole connection, +since he cuts through the elevation between the Bitter lakes and the sea. + +c. 350 B.C. In the time of Aristotle the canal appears to have fallen +into disuse. + +c. 250 B.C. _Ptolemæus Philadelphus_ digs a wide canal, _amnis +Ptolemæus_, from the sea to the Bitter lakes, constructs an artificial +sluice, and builds Arsinoë on the sea. + +c. 100 A.D. _Trajan_ opens a new canal, _amnis Traianus_, from Babylon to +Heroonpolis. + +643 (644) A.D. _ʾOmar_ re-opens the interrupted connection. + +762 (767) A.D. _Mohammet ben ʾAbdallah_ fills up the canal. + +[300] Jomard, _carte de la basse Egypte. Wilkinson, Mod. Eg. and Thebes_, +i. p. 187. + +[301] It is a great mistake if Champollion—_L’Eg. sous les Phar._ ii. p. +244—considers these the ruins of the town built by the Israelites. + +[302] Wilkinson (_Mod. Eg._ p. 319) misunderstands the passage when he +supposes that _Patumos_ was situated at the other end of the canal, on +the Red Sea. He appears here to have followed Jomard, who, in his map +of the Delta, also places it at the head of the bay, although he places +Pithom in the right position. + +[303] Compare Steph. Byz. + +[304] Πά-τουμος, Pi-thom, ⲡⲓ-ⲑⲟⲙ, means “_the_ (namely the _Temple_, +the _Dwelling-place_) _of the Tum_” of the well-known Egyptian god +𓏏𓍃𓅓𓅱𓀭, who was much honoured exactly in this part of Egypt. He is +frequently found upon the Flaminian obelisks, which come from Heliopolis, +as well as upon the monuments of Ramses at Abu-Keshêb. + +[305] iv. 5, 53. + +[306] Compare Böckh, _Manetho_, p. 293 and p. 229. + +[307] Exod. ii. 23. + +[308] Ramses III., also, whose reign happened soon after the Exodus +of the Israelites, waged war with the northern nations, and therefore +undoubtedly passed through Syria and Palestine. But it is not probable +that his marches were ever of any considerable duration, or were +connected with long periods of possession, so that we may venture to +believe that these transitory marches against the _powerful_ nations of +this country, to whom the Jews did not at that time belong, could have as +yet little effect upon them, unless, indeed, it happened, perhaps, when +they were themselves subjugated by the Mesopotamians or the Moabites. +Such a supposition would be still less probable if the Jews had departed +as early as the reign of _Tuthmosis III._, or of _Amosis_, because in +that case that Egyptian occupation of the country would have happened +when the Jews had already become quite established, and masters of the +land. + +[309] _Handb. d. Chron._ i. p. 569, 578, 580. + +[310] Josephus, _Ant. Jud._ II. xv. 2, calculates 430 years from the +entrance of Abraham into Canaan to the Exodus of Moses. Compare VIII. +iii. 1. + +[311] [Ideler, _Handbuch der Chron._ i. p. 507, 543.] + +[312] Ideler, _Handb. d. Chron._ i. p. 531. + +[313] Abraham ben David (about 1161) says, in his book Sepher +_hakabbala_, col. 33, b (Amsterd.): “The second period begins from the +great synagogue of Simeon the Just. The Persian empire was destroyed in +his time by Alexander, the King of Greece (Javan). He came to Jerusalem +... in the year 40 after the building of the temple ... and commanded +that they should commence the reckoning of their contract from this +year, which is the year 1000 since their Exodus from Egypt, and the year +3450 since the Creation.” But he placed the year of the Exodus at 2448; +therefore the year 3450 is properly the 1003rd, not the 1000th, since the +Exodus. R. Isaac Israëli (about 1250), in the book _Jesod Olam_. Bl. 84, +b, says, “And the Talmud was concluded in the year 3949, according to +the calculation of the world, which is the year 500 of the Contract.” We +thence obtain for the commencement of the era of the Contract the year +3450 = 312. + +[314] _Semach David_ (written about 1592), p. 60-65, in the Latin +translation by Vorst (Lugd. Bat. 1644), cites several more authorities +for the year 3448; among them also Abraham ben David, but who, as we have +seen, expressly writes 3450, in spite of the mention of the 1000-yeared +period since the Exodus. + +[315] Ant. XI. viii. 5. + +[316] _Thesaur. tempp. Euseb._ 1658, tom. ii. p. 72. + +[317] S. Ideler, _Handb._ i. p. 579. + +[318] In the year 318 the determination of Easter, according to the +different Christian calendars, was transferred from the Nicene Council +to the Alexandrian chronologists. S. du Cange, _praef. ad Chron. pasch._ +This difficult work at once presupposed a careful consideration and +investigation of the different eras still in use, but especially of the +Jewish computation of time, because the feast of Easter was connected +with the solemnisation of the Jewish Paschal feast, which was instituted +at the time of the _Exodus from Egypt_. Therefore in those days, when +chronological studies were more especially practised, there was a +particular cause for obtaining the true date of the Exodus, which, to +Egyptian scholars in particular, could not have been difficult. + +[319] _Handb._ i. p. 581. + +[320] It was also called “the Era of _Alexander_.” Ideler, _Chron._ i. p. +449. + +[321] It would be important to inquire when the year 2448 is first +mentioned in Jewish literature as that of the Exodus, and which of the +Rabbis first clung to this epoch in the outline of history, which was at +first probably only marked in the calendar. + +[322] We have already seen above, that neither the Apostle Paul nor +Josephus recognised the calculation of the 480 years. Africanus just as +little, who reckoned 748 years. (Routh, _Reliqu. sacræ_, vol. ii. p. 313, +ff.) Eusebius (reckons 600, or even 610 years; _Præp. Ev._ x. 14, compare +Routh elsewhere; but in his _Canon_ he calculates 480), Clemens Alexandr. +(_Strom._ p. 386, Pott. 567), Syncellus (p. 175, 659), and others. Among +modern scholars, Des Vignoles (_Chronol. de l’hist. sainte_, t. i. p. +172) has especially treated the question in detail. He finally decides +upon the acceptation, that the period consisted of 648 years, but that +the number 480 arose from a mistake in the text (p. 184), as others +before him had declared. Böckh lastly says, that the number appears to +him to have been _inserted at a later period_. (_Manetho_, p. 190.) +Several other numbers of the Old Testament, especially all indeterminate +numbers, as the 40 and its multiplicates, as well as the greater sums, +_e. g._ Exodus xii. 40; Judges xi. 26; 1 Kings vi. 1; and in other +places, and the whole uninterrupted chain of numbers, originating in +them, appear to me to have been for the first time adopted since that +early part of the Old Testament was last combined and revised, at all +events for the first time after the exile. The opinion also adopted by +Bertheau (_Richter_, p. 34), that this revision proceeds from Ezra, +appears to me to be very probable. + +[323] Numb. i. 26. + +[324] Ezra ii. 59; Nehemiah vii. 61. + +[325] Ezra ii. 62; Neh. vii. 64. + +[326] Contra. Ap. i. 7. + +[327] Gospel Matth. i. 2, &c.; Luke iii. 23, &c. The great differences +between the two genealogies have been considered in a variety of ways, +but, as it appears, they have not yet been satisfactorily explained. +Therefore, they do not permit of any immediate chronological conclusions. + +[328] The removal of some of the difficulties indicated in the following +table are obvious, and may, therefore, have been expressed long before +me, in the critical-biblical literature already published, although I +am unable to point it out. But the aim we have in view requires us to +examine this subject somewhat more accurately. I see, besides, that +Ewald also, _Gesch. Isr._ i. p. 31, ii. p. 433, and in other passages, +considers the two generations from Levi to Saul and to Heman, as the most +complete, and, therefore, all the others as incomplete. + +[329] According to the Septuagint. In the Hebrew text, chap. v. & vi. + +[330] [Hebrew text, 1 Chron. vii. 20, 21, 24-27.] + +[331] It is impossible that the descendants of Ephraim, mentioned in +1 Chron. viii. 20, 21, could have been all killed at the same time by +the men of Gath (therefore, in Palestine), since they include eight +generations. The march to _Gath_ also, which is mentioned, could not have +been from Egypt (Bunsen, _Æg._ i. p. 220) (Tr. vol. i. p. 178), since +they went _down_. It is equally impossible that _Non_ and _Jehoshuah_ can +be rightly placed in v. 27, since the latter ought to stand in the ninth +in place of the third degree from Ephraim. + +[332] _Gesch. Isr._ ii. p. 371. + +[333] _Buch. d. Richt._ p. xix. xx. + +[334] Heb. Text, 1 Chron. vi. 39, 43. + +[335] Unless the name of _Jahath_, the son of Gershom, is to be +withdrawn, and Shimei put into its place, by which means this genealogy +also would only have eleven degrees from Moses to Solomon. + +[336] See above, p. 402. + +[337] De Wette, in his translation, makes no distinction in v. 22. + +[338] See Luther’s German Trans. of Bible.—TR. + +[339] The names of _Levi_, _Gershom_, _Jahath_, _Sima_ (_Zimmah_), +_Adaiah_ (_Iddo_), Zerah agree. It only differs in Ethan (Joah), and +_Ethni_ (Jeaterai). Shimei and Libni appear to be brothers. But, on that +account again, the name of Jahath, as above remarked, ought to be rubbed +out of both lists, and perhaps be considered as a common surname of the +brothers. For Jahath appears in the 1 Chron. vii. 43 as the father of +Shimei, xxiii. 10 as the son of Shimei, vii. 20 as the son of Libni, +but, xxiii. 8, not among the sons of Laadan, who nevertheless, xxiii. 7, +stands in the place of Libni. + +[340] Gesen. Thes. l. Hebr. p. 1011. + +[341] The omission may perhaps be explained by Exodus vi. 24, where +Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph literally appear beside one another as sons +of _Korah_, while it was probably intended that, as his sons, they should +succeed one another. + +[342] We should, perhaps, also take into consideration the preference +which is given in the genealogical tables of the Old Testament to _three_ +sons. + +[343] The genealogy was certainly originally _brought down_ from father +to son; therefore the names _carried up_ from Elkanah to Heman precede +those from Kohath to Joel (and Heman), although Kohath is the _elder_ +brother. We follow the correct order. + +[344] _Azariah_ appears to have been the true father of _Joel_; Samuel +was, perhaps, his father-in-law, or his uncle, for although, 1 Sam. viii. +2, _Joel_ and _Abiah_ are also stated to be sons of Samuel, our fourth +genealogy, 1 Chron. vii. 28, calls them Vashni and Abiah. + +[345] In the series of Eli, Ἀχίτωβος must stand in place of Ἰοχάβης, for +the ancestors of Zadok and Achimelech were both named Ahitub, which might +at all events easily produce confusion. The name Ἰοχάβης seems to be +founded upon Ichabod, the brother of Ahitub (1 Sam. iv. 21; xiv. 3). + +[346] According to Eratosthenes, Apollodor., Diodor. &c.; see Larcher, +_Hérod._ tom. vii. p. 51, 53, 68, 395, 397. + +[347] _Æg._ i. p. 209-214. (Tr. vol. i. p. 166-171.) + +[348] Two points may, perhaps, strike the reader in the survey of the +different statements of numbers given here from the Book of Judges, +upon which I will subjoin what follows in explanation. I have placed +the 20 years under the Canaanites to the right, the 20 of Sampson and +Saul to the left; not arbitrarily, but from the following reason: In the +first section of this epoch, which ends with Gideon, all the numbers +are indeterminate except those exactly which relate to the oppressions +by other nations. This does not seem to me to be accidental; why +should not the times of the oppression have been firmer fixed in the +memory than the other divisions of time, the recollection of which is +principally connected only with celebrated persons? The number 20 does +not belong to the round numbers; it bears in itself, therefore, the +probability of being historical. On the other hand, the 20 years of +Sampson and Saul are in the third division, in which all the remaining +numbers are unhistorical, as the eight preceding are all historical. +The person of Sampson is especially so poetically represented, that +it is perfectly adapted to its unchronological neighbourhood. It is +possible, also, that it belonged entirely to the preceding Philistine +time of 40 years, and ought therefore to be quite omitted. But the 20 +years of Saul was even received in the Acts of the Apostles, and by +Josephus, as a round number, and was therefore exchanged with 40. The +period of Saul also was certainly not better known than that of David +and Solomon. The second point is, that it might appear remarkable to see +the periods of oppression placed generally together with those of the +separate Judges, whilst both classes are however quite heterogeneous. +I would have separated them, if by that means the result would have +been very different. But it is so circumstanced, that the mean number +of the historical statements, if we separate the periods of oppression, +amounts to 11 years, in place of 12 years; therefore the total sum is 304 +years, in place of 318 years. But this is the same result to us; as we +cannot look for an exact sum in the calculation, it therefore appeared +more suitable, because more prudent, to leave those statements in their +historical order. + +[349] By the kind permission of Chevalier Bunsen we are enabled to give +the following note, which contains the result he has arrived at on this +subject:—Chevalier Bunsen agrees with Dr. Lepsius in the conviction that +the arrival of the Israelites cannot have taken place under the Hyksos. +On the question whether they arrived before or after them, Chevalier +Bunsen differs from Dr. Lepsius, since he believes that Jacob’s family +came to Egypt at a far earlier period, viz., in the reign of Sesurtesen +(Sesostris) the Second (or Third, according to some), in whose reign he +thinks the ancient writers place those changes in the tenure of land +which the Bible ascribes to Joseph’s advice as prime minister. This +Sesurtesen (Sesostris) reigned, according to the tables of Bunsen, about +2650 B.C., and since he agrees with Dr. Lepsius in placing the Exodus +in the reign of Menephthes, 1210 B.C., he allows an interval of 1440 +years to elapse between Joseph and the Exodus, more than _fourteen_ +centuries.—TR. + +[350] They are called by Manetho Φοίνικες and Ποιμένες, and from the most +ancient times the north-eastern neighbours of the Egyptians were never +other than Semitic nations. The unfounded opinion that the Hyksos were +the Scythians has been long ago refuted. + +[351] Evidently the same name as that of the Heliopolitan priest +פוטיפרע, which only, being more complete, has the ע at the end, +and which the Seventy likewise write Πετεφρῆ. In hieroglyphics the name +would be 𓊪𓂞𓁛 or 𓊪𓂞𓇳𓏤 Pet-Ra, or with the article, which can also be +written in hieroglyphics, Pet-Ph-Ra, _i. e._ “he who is consecrated to +the sun.” + +[352] This was especially the dress of the Egyptian priests, as well as +of the king himself, whose transparent upper garments, of fine linen, +are known by the monuments. Compare Herod. ii. 37; Plin. H. N. xix. 2. +The elevation of Joseph into the most distinguished class, that of the +priests, is shown by this laying on of fine linen garments. + +[353] Precious necklaces and chains were bestowed by the Egyptian +kings as particular marks of distinction. Several very illustrative +representations of this from Thebes and Tel-el-Amarna will be disclosed +in the work of the Prussian Expedition. + +[354] At festive processions the chariot of the queen used to follow that +of the king, and after it the chariot of the princes. Joseph was thus +treated like the son of a king. + +[355] For other points of comparison, see Hengstenberg, _Die Bücher Moses +und Ægypten_, p. 21-76. + +[356] Jablonski, _Voc. Æg._ _s. v._ _Psonthomphanech_; Gesenius, +_Thesaur._ p. 1181. + +[357] xvii. p. 788. + +[358] Maqrizi in Quatremère. Mém. ii. 318, 401. + +[359] ii. 37. + +[360] i. 54. + +[361] i. 72, 74. Compare c. 71. + +[362] Compare also Strabo, xvii. p. 787, upon the taxes to the king. + +[363] Exodus i. 8. + +[364] Exodus ii. 23. + +[365] Even if we take into account the months also, subtracting 80 years +and 8 months from 510 years and 10 months, we shall obtain 430 years and +2 months. + +[366] I do not, however, lay more importance upon this agreement than +it deserves. The coincidence of this number with the Hebrew periods, +originating in a different manner, may certainly have first caused it +to be believed that the Hyksos were the Jews. I am the less inclined to +reject this opinion, as we shall see below that the Hebrew number may +also be explained in a different manner. + +[367] Böckh is also of this opinion, _Manetho_, p. 227. + +[368] Ps. xc. 10. + +[369] So Ewald, _Gesch. d. Volks Israel_. Bd. i. p. 30, 339 &c. Bunsen, +_Ægypten_, i. p. 215, 225. (Trans. vol. i. p. 171, 181.) + +[370] Ewald, i. p. 31. Compare Bunsen, i. p. 220. + +[371] Ewald, i. p. 354, 387, &c. + +[372] P. 204, 206. (Trans. by C. H. Cottrell, vol. i. p. 161-163.) + +[373] Ægyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte. Hamburg, 1845. + +[374] Die Chronologie der Ægypter. Berlin, 1849. + +[375] These dates were obligingly supplied by Dr. Lepsius himself, in a +letter dated Berlin the 5th of July, 1853. + +[376] From the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for July, 1850. + +[377] Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der +Königl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Aus dem Jahre, +1844. + +[378] The breadth of the river itself. See Letter to Hr. Böckh, p. 27. + +[379] Dr. Lepsius, after he had seen this paper, informed me that +Katakomben was a misprint for Katarakten.—L. H. + +[380] Miss Martineau’s Eastern Life, vol. i. p. 99. + +[381] Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika, in der Jahren 1835, bis 1841. +Stuttgart, 1841-1846. + +[382] With reference to the object of this paper. + +[383] Reisen, Bd. ii. 545. + +[384] “Über den Stromlauf und das zunächst liegende Uferland des Nils, +von der zweiten Katarakte bis Assuan, besitzen wir eine vortreffliche +Karte nämlich:” “Land zwischen der kleinen und grossen Katarakten +des Nils. Astronomisch bestimmt und aufgenommen in J. 1827, durch v. +Prokesch. Nil Grundrisse der Monumente. Wien, 1831.”—Reisen, Bd. ii. Thl. +iii. 86. + +[385] Russegger, Reisen, Bd. i. 258. + +[386] Travels in Ethiopia, p. 272. + +[387] Description de l’Egypte.—Separate Memoir, entitled “Description de +Syène et des Cataractes.” + +[388] Russegger, Bd. ii. 3 Thl. 85. + +[389] Russegger, Bd. ii. 3 Thl. 76. + +[390] Travels, p. 257. + +[391] Wanderungen durch das Nilthal, von G. Parthey, Berlin, 1840. 378. + +[392] Travels, pp. 9 and 11. + +[393] Eastern Life, i. 104. + +[394] Ib. 144. + +[395] Rennie, Report on Hydraulics, in the Fourth Report of the British +Association for the Advancement of Science, 1834, p. 487. + +[396] I state this on the authority of my friend, W. Hopkins, Esq., of +Cambridge. + +[397] Russegger, Bd. ii. 1 Thl. 569 to 584. + +[398] Rennie, Report cited above, p. 422. + +[399] See note, p. 511. + +[400] Parthey, 318. + +[401] Russegger, Reisen, Bd. ii. 300 and 320. Lancret, Description de +l’Egypte, Mémoire sur l’île de Philæ, 15-58. Rosellini, I Monumenti +dell’ Egitto e della Nubia. Monumenti del Culto, 187. Wilkinson’s Thebes +and General View of Egypt, 466. Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman +Biography, Arts. Ptolemy, Ph. and Nectanebus. + +[402] p. 187. + +[403] Ægyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte.—Drittes Buch, 122. + +[404] Antiquités de la Nubie, p. 6. + +[405] Tome iii. parte ii. p. 6. + +[406] Thebes, &c. p. 482. + +[407] Bunsen, as above. + +[408] p. 9. + +[409] Wanderungen, &c. 334. + +[410] Reisen, Bd. i. s. 273. + +[411] Reisen, Bd. ii. 1 Thl. s. 328. + +[412] The _italics_ in the above quotation are thus distinguished by Dr. +Lepsius, the CAPITALS by the author himself. + +[413] Here follows a sketch of the plan. + + + + +INDEX. + + + A. + + Aahmes-nufre-ari, mother of Amenophis I., 246 + + Ababde Arabs, 140, 154 + + Abahuda, village of, 240 + + Abaris, 406, 416, 426, 446 + + —— situation of, 426-434 + + —— same as Pelusium, 431-434 + + Abaton, island of, 123 + + Abbas Pascha, 45 + + Abdebab, Nubian Desert, 141 + + Abd el Qurna, hill of Thebes, 243, 271 + + Abdîn, or Blue Nile, 174 + + Abeken, H., 12, 55, 72, 94, 98, 132, 148, 153, 159, 160, 194, 237, + 273, 346 + + Abel’s Tomb, Palestine, 340 + + Abke, Nubia, 239 + + Abir, or Qabir Mount, 237 + + Abocharagos, the Saracen Prince, 557 + + Abraham, 422, 485 + + —— ben David, cited, 452 + + Abu el Abas, village of, 172 + + —— Dôm, town of, 222, 229 + + —— Hammed, town of, 17, 141 + + —— —— arrival at, 143 + + —— Haras at mouth of Rahad, 148, 167 + + —— Haschin, province of Berber, 145 + + —— Keshêb, ruins of, 435, 438 + + —— Nugara, mountain chain in Nubian Desert, 141 + + —— Roasch, Pyramids of, 14, 59, 79 + + —— Schar, coast of Red Sea, 289 + + —— Senejat, mountain chain in Nubian Desert, 141 + + —— Sihha, mountain chain in Nubian Desert, 141 + + —— Simbel, temples of, 20, 240 + + —— Tlêh, Desert of Gilif, 214 + + —— Zelîmeh, Gulf of Suez, 22, 302, 365, 547 + + Abusir, Pyramids of, 13 + + —— stone inscribed at, 69 + + —— Sheikh of, 76 + + Abydos, 17, 23, 101, 116 + + Acca (Ptolemais), 336 + + Achencheres, Exodus was placed in reign of, 489 + + Achmed Pascha, 129, 147, 160, 163, 187, 191, 198 + + —— Pascha Menekle, 130, 147, 205, 190, 160 + + Adar Auîb, 141 + + Adererât, plain of, 141 + + Adulis, town of, 220 + + Aennum (Philotera), 22 + + Africa, certain nations in Central, 45 + + Africanus, Julius, cited, 419, 423, 487, 488 + + —— —— lists of, 418 + + —— —— preserved the works of Manetho, 499 + + Ag´aïze Arabs, 278 + + Agamîeh, the Faiûm, 97 + + Ahmet Pascha, 45 + + Ai, King, 261 + + Ain Gulut, Syria, 335 + + —— el Haramieh, Syria, 334 + + —— Hawâreh, Peninsula of Sinai, 547, 548 + + —— Uneh, Peninsula of Sinai, 555 + + Aithi, Syria, 336 + + Akaba, gulf of, 554 + + Akoris, position of town of, 105 + + Albert, Prince of Prussia, 70 + + Alabaster quarry, 101, 114 + + Alabastron, ancient, 115 + + Alexandria, 13, 41 + + —— obelisks in, corroded by weather, 42, 369 + + Alexander of Macedon, 252, 452, 456 + + Alexandrian library, 382, 496 + + —— critics, 487 + + Ali, a Bischâri, 241 + + Alluvial soil above Cataract of Assuan, 527 + + Aloa, kingdom of, 163 + + Altars at Wadi el Kirbegân, 194 + + Altar, Ethiopian, 223 + + Alus, Peninsula of Sinai, 547, 548 + + Amada, near Korusko, 20, 240 + + Amara, village of, 19, 237 + + Amarna, valley El, 101, 114, 115, 262, 322 + + Amasis I., 114 + + —— —— King, said to be buried in Sphinx, 67 + + Ambukôl, Nubia, 231 + + Amen-Ra, 382 + + —— hymn to, in Egyptian collection of Mr. Sams, London, 392 + + Amenemha I., 391, 395 + + —— III., 15, 20, 91, 239, 301, 527 + + Amenophis, 405, 408, 420, 497 + + —— I., 246, 248 + + —— II., 237 + + —— III., 19, 222, 236, 237, 253, 256, 261, 485 + + —— IV., 19, 27, 262, 278, 322 + + Ammon Ra, 126, 223, 248 + + Amharic language known by Isenberg, 39 + + Ammonius, the Monk, cited, 556, 557 + + Amnis Ptolemæus, a canal, 440, 444 + + Amosis, 424, 486, 488, 497 + + Ampère, M., cited, 121, 273 + + Amru entered Egypt with 4000 Arabs, 430 + + Anianos, 498 + + Anîbe, village of, 20, 240 + + Annals of the Monarchy as early as the first Dynasties, 380 + + Anti-Libanon, 338 + + Antinoe, ancient, 113 + + Antiochus Epiphanes, 409 + + Antoninus Placentinus, 558 + + Ants, large black, 138 + + Aphophis, King, 479, 487, 488 + + Apion, cited, 411, 421, 423 + + Apis, the, taken by Amenophis to Ethiopia, 407 + + Apries (Hophre), inscription belonging to Temple of, 43 + + Arab, Ababde, 140, 154 + + —— Ag´aïze, 278 + + —— ʾAuadîeh, 214 + + —— Schaiqîeh, 214, 229 + + —— carelessness in cookery, 280 + + —— discontented with pay for camels, 130 + + —— explanation of term, 76 + + —— family, manners of, 276 + + —— hospitality, 277 + + —— vengeance, 271, 321 + + Arabian Gulf, 434, 437, 441, 442 + + —— races orally transmit register of generations, 458 + + Arabic characters, 258, 311 + + —— inscription, 550-552 + + —— language, 228, 231 + + —— music, 182 + + Arbagi, village of, 166 + + Arch, pointed and round, 73, 74 + + Archæology of Egypt, 28 + + Archimedes invented water-screw in Egypt, 384 + + Architecture in Egypt, 388 + + Argo, island of, 17, 233 + + Argonsene, ruins of town at, 235 + + Ariston, cited, 554 + + Aristotle, cited, 439, 444 + + Arnaut soldiers, 198 + + Arsinoë II., 109 + + —— town of, 93, 435, 437, 440, 444 + + Art, canon of proportions in Egyptian, 21, 118, 383 + + —— Ethiopian more recent than Egyptian, 152 + + —— in Egypt and Ethiopia, 18 + + —— history of, in Egypt, 28 + + Artaxerxes, 279, 386 + + Artemidorus, 553, 554, 555 + + Artim Bey, 189 + + Artists of Greece, educated in Egypt, 383 + + Asasif, valley of, 254, 264 + + Asses in Berber, 157 + + Astronomy of Egyptian priests, 386 + + —— knowledge of, necessary to chronology, 396, 398 + + Assuan, 20, 104, 118 + + —— granite rocks of, 32, 371 + + Assur, plain of, 150 + + Astaboras river, 146 + + Atbara, province of Berber, 146 + + Atfeh, Nile at, 43 + + Athanasius in Theban desert, 266 + + Atrib (Athribis) in Nile Delta, 333 + + Atschan, range of, 158, 193 + + Auatêb, valley of, 156 + + ʾAuad, the guide, 271 + + ʾAuadîeh Arabs, 214 + + Axum, Abyssinia, 220 + + Ayûn Mûsa, Peninsula of Sinai, 547, 548 + + + B. + + Baal Zephon, 427 + + Bab Allah, gate of Damascus, 343 + + Bab el Meluk, Thebes, 244 + + Babylon, 437, 440, 445 + + Babylonian prisoners, 482 + + Bachît, village of, 230 + + Bageh, temple of, 526 + + Bahiuda, desert of, 213 + + Bahr-bela-mâ, the Faiûm, 95, 136 + + —— Jussuf, the Faiûm, 15, 92, 96 + + —— ʾHatab, Nubian desert, 137 + + —— Scheitan, or mirage, 142 + + —— Scherkîeh, the Faiûm, 94 + + —— Wardâni (the Faiûm), 94 + + Bâlbeck, 346 + + Ban-tree, 227 + + Baobab-trees, 166 + + Bárada river, 339 + + Barbarus of Scaliger, 453 + + Barkal, Mount, 18, 220, 222 + + Bartlett, H., cited, 535 + + Barquq, Sultan, 94 + + Batn el Hagér, province of, 237 + + Basilica in Wadi Gazâl, 218 + + Bauer, Herr, of Kamlîn, 189, 163 + + Bech-en-aten (King Amenophis IV.), 114, 262, 278 + + Bedouin, the, 86 + + —— explanation of term of, 76 + + Beg´a language, 31, 242, 244 + + —— plain of, 348 + + Begerauîeh, village of, 17, 150, 152, 195, 209, 212 + + Behbét el Hagér (Iseum), in Nile Delta, 23, 333 + + Berber, Mudhir of, 131 + + Bêida, village of, 198 + + Belbês, Israelites were settled near, 449 + + Beled Ellâqi, village of, 241 + + Belled e’ Nuba, village of, 228 + + Benihassan, tombs of, 16, 101, 110-113 + + Ben Naga, village of, 153, 154, 194 + + Beni-Suef, town of, 15, 100, 322 + + —— Kensi, tribe of, 241 + + Berscheh, village of, 16, 101, 113, 115 + + Bertheau, cited, 464 + + Bet el Ualli, temple of, 124 + + Berut (Berytos), Syria, 336, 356 + + Bethin (Bethel), Syria, 334 + + Bethmann, Dr., 23, 322 + + Biahmu, monuments of, 96 + + Bigeh, island of, 20, 120 + + —— temple of, 531 + + Bir Ambar, spring of, 277 + + Birds, collection of, 160 + + —— on Blue River, 168 + + Bîreh, village of, 334 + + Birket e’ temsah, 434 + + Birqet-el-Qorn, the Faiûm, 15, 92, 93, 95, 97 + + Biscay, Bay of, 37 + + Bischarîba people, 244 + + Bischâris, the, 140 + + Bischâri language, 241 + + Bitter lakes, 436, 440, 442, 444 + + Bischeh, the Faiûm, 97 + + Blemyes, the, 242 + + Blue River, 162 + + —— —— birds, trees, monkeys, &c., 168, 169 + + Bocchoris, King, 423 + + Böckh, cited, 107, 242, 424, 494 + + —— letter to, from Dr. Lepsius, 508 + + Boghos Bey, confidential minister of Mohammed Ali, 40, 46, 189 + + Bokty, the Prussian consul, 47 + + Bonomi, J., travelling companion, 12, 35, 45, 56, 57, 98 + + Book of the Dead, 381, 392 + + Braun, Herr Julius, 41 + + Bricks of Nile mud, 372 + + Bricks, burnt, of Babylon, 373 + + Brick-vaulted roofs, 373 + + Britan, Syria, 340 + + British Museum, 394 + + Bscherreh, Syria, reception at, 351 + + —— Sheikh of, 352 + + Bubastis, 369, 429, 436, 448, 449 + + Bubastic arm of Nile, 427, 428 + + Buêribs, the, 154, 157 + + Bulaq, harbour of Cairo, 44 + + Bunsen, Chev., cited, 387, 392, 420, 424, 471, 492, 499, 526 + + —— —— last friend seen in England, 35 + + Bujurldis. _See_ Firman + + Burckhardt, cited, 338, 532, 551, 561 + + Burial near Blue River, 176 + + Burying alive in Fazoql, 202 + + Byblus (Gebel), 355 + + + C. + + Cailliaud, cited, 150, 154, 155, 209 + + Calippus, cycle of, 454 + + Cæsar, Augustus, 252, 266 + + Cairo, 23, 44-46, 80 + + —— festival in, 70 + + Cambyses, 251, 279 + + Camel, explanation of term, 81 + + —— drivers, imposition of, 216 + + Camels, want of, 130 + + Camp, attack on, at Saqâra, 75 + + —— life in the, 56, 87 + + —— night in the Egyptian military, 204 + + Canal between Nile and Red Sea, 441-445 + + —— Nile, 436 + + —— Rosetta, 43 + + Canals in Egypt, 482 + + Candace, Queen, 196 + + Canons of proportions, 28, 118, 383 + + Canopic arm of Nile, 447 + + Carians, the frontier guard near Pelusium, 429 + + Carmel, Mount, 336 + + Castle of Abd el Qurna, 243 + + —— Abke, 239 + + —— Hellet el Bib, 226 + + —— Sêse, 236 + + Cataract, second, 131 + + —— country, excursion to, 225 + + —— of Kalfa, 237 + + Cataracts in provinces of Schaiqîeh and Monassir, 228 + + —— 239 + + Cemetery of Meröe, 212 + + Cepheus, King, 423 + + Chafra (Chephyren), Pyramid of, 59 + + Chairemon, cited, 434 + + Champion, M., the Austrian consul, 45, 47 + + Champollion, Figeac, cited, 25, 51, 107, 110, 112, 119, 120, 124, + 266, 527 + + —— —— cited, 381, 394, 431, 435 + + Chanter, the two books of, 388 + + Chartûm, 15, 130, 131, 158, 190, 193 + + Chemmis, 115 + + Chencheres, King, 422, 489 + + Cheops, writing on the monuments since the time of, 37 + + —— (Chufu), Pyramid of, 48, 59, 72, 372 + + —— —— —— —— —— tablet on, 57 + + —— King, 110, 114 + + Chephren. _See_ Schafra + + Chôr el Ammer, desert of Gilif, 216 + + —— Bân, 227 + + Choreb. _See_ Horeb + + —— 559 + + Chorography of Egypt, 29 + + Chôsch e’ Gurûf, Nuba village, 228 + + Christian chronologists on the period of the Exodus, 421 + + Christianity in Nubia, 231 + + Christmas at Pyramids, 55 + + —— —— Thebes, 273 + + Chronicle, old, 497, 498 + + Chronology, 396 + + —— Old Testament, 490, 492 + + —— Manethonic, 490 + + Chronological character of Jewish History, 401 + + Chronologists, Jewish and Christian, 421 + + Churches and convents, Christian, 230, 267 + + Church, Coptic, 237 + + —— of Magal, 231 + + Churshid Pascha, 163, 195 + + Civilisation of Egypt during the first Dynasties, 25 + + Clavis Nilotica, 210 + + Clemens of Alexandria, 387, 392, 398, 423 + + Cleobulus, sage of Lindus, 384 + + Cleopatra, Queen, 444 + + —— —— inscription referring to, 106 + + Cleopatra’s Needle, 42 + + Climate in Peninsula of Sinai, 545 + + —— 224 + + —— at Thebes, 103 + + Clot Bey, M., 32, 246 + + Clysma Poemes, bishop of, 557 + + Codex of Syncellus, 489 + + —— Mediceus, 437 + + Computation of time, Egyptian, 497 + + Contracts, era of the, 452 + + Convent at Gebel Mûsa, 291, 305, 556 + + —— in Wadi Gazâl, 218 + + Copper mines in Peninsula, 22, 300, 301 + + Coptic characters, 27, 94, 109, 117, 123, 158, 277, 394, 426 + + —— churches, 219, 237, 260 + + —— —— plan of, 219 + + —— inscription, 220 + + —— language encouraged by Lieder’s exertions, 36 + + —— population near Thebes, 268 + + —— school, 36 + + —— settlement, 278 + + Copts, the, 270 + + Corinth, Isthmus of, 442 + + Cosmas Indicopleustes, cited, 313, 320, 558, 560 + + Costume in Cairo, 80 + + —— worn by travellers in Thebes, 104 + + Crocodiles of Blue River, 169 + + —— eggs, 175 + + Crocodilopolis, remains of, 15, 97 + + Croly, Rev. Dr., 540 + + Cuneiform inscriptions, 443 + + Customs in southern provinces, 202 + + Cynocephalus, 172 + + + D. + + D’Abadie, cited, 99 + + Dáhela, village of, 175 + + Dakkeh (Pselchis), 17, 20, 242 + + Dal, frontier village, 237 + + —— Haui, island of, 149 + + Damascus, 340 + + —— journey to, 336-340 + + Damietta, 23 + + Dams of Lake Mœris, 95 + + D’Anastasi, M., the Swedish consul-general, 39, 394 + + Dâmer, village of, 133, 146, 147, 149 + + Danai, the flight of, 424 + + Danaus, 383, 408, 421 + + Danqeleh, village of, 209 + + D’Anville, cited, 427, 431, 433, 434 + + Daphka, Peninsula of Sinai, 540, 547, 548 + + Daphni of Pelusium, 429 + + Dara-buka kettle-drum, 184 + + Dar Fûr, 30, 234 + + —— —— language of, 244 + + Darius, 439, 440, 442 + + Darius II., 252, 279 + + Darmali, village of, 228 + + Daschûr, Pyramid of, 13, 79, 98 + + Dedications on Temples, 379 + + Date of the Exodus, 470-474, 449-457, 490 + + Debbet e’ Ramleh, plain of, 300 + + Debôd, 17, 20, 123, 242 + + Debu, temple at, 526 + + Decades, or Egyptian weeks, 398 + + Decius, Emp., 266 + + Defterdar Bey, 195 + + Defûfa, tomb of, 234 + + Delta of the Nile, 369, 483, 486 + + Dender River, 170 + + Dendera, temple of, 17, 23, 101, 110, 116, 322 + + Dendûr, temple of, 17, 20, 124, 242 + + Der el Ahmar, village in Syria, 348 + + —— Bachît, convent of, 267 + + —— Bahri, convent of, 267 + + —— Medînet, convent of, 267, 381 + + De Rozière, cited, 443 + + Derr, temple of, 126, 232, 240, 356 + + Desert, Nubian, 133, 143 + + —— journey through, 214 + + Derut-Scherif, 15 + + Dhafari, Peninsula of Sinai, 547 + + Dilêb-Palms, 171 + + Diméh, in the Faiûm, 15, 97 + + Dinka tribes, 149 + + —— language, 161 + + Diocletian, Emp., inscription in honour of, 42 + + Diodorus, cited, 123, 202, 260, 381, 383, 391, 408, 421, 429, 439, + 480, 483, 553, 554 + + Diodorus, Exodus according to, 409 + + Division of time, 398 + + Doko, country of the, 46 + + Dongola, province of, 19, 458 + + —— new, 233 + + —— old, 232 + + Dôm-Palms, 137, 218 + + Doseh, the trampling, 71 + + Dromedary, explanation of term, 81 + + —— pace of, 139 + + Du Bois Aymé, cited, 435, 436 + + Durra grain, 143, 154 + + Dynasty, Elephantine, collateral, 60 + + Dynastic Lists, 497 + + Dynasties, tables of Egyptian, 499, 506 + + + E. + + Echmim, inscription in rock grotto of, 23, 109, 115 + + Edbai, country of Bischâri tribes, 242 + + Edfu, temple of, 17, 20, 117 + + Egypt, archæology of, 29 + + —— civilisation of, during first Dynasties, 25 + + —— climatal conditions of, 368, 369 + + —— famine in, 481 + + —— geography and chorography of, 29 + + —— history of, 367 + + —— history of art in, 27 + + —— mythology of, 26 + + —— philology of, 26 + + —— regarded as a university for philosophy, 384 + + Egyptian administration under the old kings of the country, 482 + + —— Museum in Berlin, views respecting its decoration, 324 + + —— gods, 381, 392 + + —— annals, King of the Exodus in, 417 + + —— canon of proportions, 383 + + —— chronologies not opposed to Hebrew, 457 + + —— collection of Mr. Sams, 392 + + —— prophets, 413 + + Ehden, village of, 353 + + Ehrenberg, his views respecting luminosity of sea, 37 + + —— cited, 234, 239, 290 + + Eileithyia, ancient, 117 + + El Ain in Libanon, 338 + + El Akarid, village of, 150 + + El Ammer, valley of, 216 + + Elanitic Gulf, 554 + + El Bosra, alabaster quarries at, 21, 31, 114, 115 + + El Buêb, hill of, Peninsula of Sinai, 298 + + El Chôr, province of Berber, 145 + + El Elâm, in the Faiûm, 95, 96 + + Elephantine, island of, 20 + + El Farût, hill of, Nubian Desert, 141 + + El G´eʾah, plain of, 290, 296 + + El Gôs, plain of, 215 + + El Guês, village of, 212 + + El Hai, well of, 291 + + El-Harib, tombs of, 16 + + El Hessue, valley of, 298, 318 + + El Hibe, monuments of, 23 + + El Kab, rock tombs of, 20, 117 + + El Kenissa, castle of, 239 + + El Orde (New Dongola), 233 + + El Qorn, mountains of, 277 + + Elim, 306, 307, 548, 551, 560 + + Elijah, 559 + + Eleians, their Olympian games, 383 + + Em Bey, 289 + + Emigrants from Semitic countries, 410 + + Emir Pascha, 131, 146, 159, 186, 189, 192 + + Enned Mountains, 288 + + Era of the Greeks adopted by the Jews, 452 + + —— Grecian, 456 + + —— of Contracts adopted by the Jews, 452 + + —— of the Seleucidæ adopted by the Jews, 452 + + Eratosthenes, cited, 437 + + Erbkam, G., member of the expedition, 12, 28, 39, 45, 53, 72, 74, 79, + 81, 83, 97, 147, 153, 195, 230, 235, 243, 259 + + Erectheus, King of Athens, 383 + + Erment (Hermonthis), temple at, 17 + + E’ Seleha, valley of, 156 + + Esneh, temple of, 17, 20, 117 + + —— Mudhir of, 131 + + E’ Sofra, valley of, 156 + + E’ Sufr, valley of, 137 + + E’ Sûr, village of, 209 + + Ethiopian art more recent than Egyptian, 152 + + —— civilisation later than Egyptian, 244 + + —— demotic writing, 207 + + —— inscriptions, 31 + + Ethiopians of Meröe, 208 + + Ethiopia, flight to, 407, 416 + + Et. Quatremère, cited, 435 + + E’ Tih, descent of, 300 + + Eudoxus, 384, 386 + + Euergetes II., inscription referring to, 105 + + Eusebian canon, 489 + + Eusebius, cited, 313, 422, 453, 489, 498, 499, 555, 560 + + Eutychius. _See_ Saïd ben Batrik + + Ewald, cited, 310, 424, 427, 430, 464, 548 + + Exodus, date of the, 449-457, 470-474 + + —— according to Diodorus, 409 + + —— according to Hecataeus, 408 + + —— according to Manetho, 405-407 + + —— of the Hyksos, preserved by Manetho, 410 + + —— of Israelites, 410, 411 + + —— —— —— same as expulsion of lepers related by Manetho, 404 + + —— of lepers same as of Israelites, 412-417 + + Expedition, chief purpose historical, 24 + + —— French-Tuscan, 24 + + Ezbe, roads of, 333 + + Ezbekîeh square, in Cairo, 80 + + + F. + + Fadniê village, 154 + + Fakir in Abu Dôm, 229 + + —— of Tâiba, 187 + + —— Daha, his sepulchre, 229 + + —— Fenti, castle of, 235 + + Faiûm, the, 14, 92-98 + + —— journey to, 83 + + Fall of Nile, 521 + + —— Thames, 520 + + Falmouth, scenery about, 36 + + Famine in Egypt, 481 + + Faran in Peninsula of Sinai, 31, 554 + + Fazoql, customs in, 202 + + Fellah, explanation of term of, 76 + + —— industrious, 260 + + Ferhât Pascha, 131 + + Ferlini, treasure found by, 151, 197 + + Fidimîn, village of, 97 + + Finisterre, cape, 37 + + Firân, in Peninsula of Sinai, 547, 559 + + Firman of Viceroy, with permit to the Prussian expedition to collect + Egyptian monuments, 40, 42 + + Fishes, Egyptian collection of, 32 + + Fortress at Bachît, 231 + + —— of Karat Negil, 230 + + —— at Tifar, 232 + + Franke, member of the expedition, 39, 53, 57, 75, 153, 198, 210 + + Franz, cited, 106 + + French-Tuscan expedition, 24 + + French expedition, 436, 438, 443 + + Frey, J., the painter, 12, 38, 98 + + Funeral ceremony in Wed Médineh, 183 + + + G. + + Ganz, cited, 452 + + Gabre Máriam, the Abyssinian boy, 181, 187, 275 + + Gabuschié, village of, 196, 198 + + Gaqedûl, in Desert of Gilif, 214 + + Garizim, Mount, 334 + + Gau, cited, 123, 526 + + Gauâta, village of, 101, 115 + + Galba, Emp., 266 + + Gaza, road into Egypt from, 429 + + G´eʾah, plain of, 290, 296 + + Gebel, village of, 209 + + —— Abrak, 217 + + —— Abu Gueh, 278 + + —— —— Schegere, 292 + + —— —— Senejat, 141 + + —— —— Sihha, 141 + + —— Adar Auîb, 141 + + —— Aschtân, 158 + + —— Barkal, 18, 220, 222 + + —— Barqugres, 215 + + —— Buêrib, 154 + + —— Dahʿi, 335 + + —— Dêqa, 231 + + —— Dochân, 32, 281, 286 + + —— —— red porphyry of, 288, 372 + + —— Dosche, 236 + + —— El Bab, 136 + + —— Enned, 289 + + —— Farût, 141 + + —— Fatireh, 31, 280 + + —— Graibât, 141 + + —— Hammâm, hot springs of, 291 + + —— Katherîn, 292, 293 + + —— Kongeli, 226 + + —— Lagâr, 156 + + —— Maáuad, 277 + + —— Maqál, 228 + + —— el Mágeqa, 216 + + —— Mograd, 141 + + —— Mûsa, 292, 303, 315, 532, 544, 562 + + —— —— Mount of the Law, 532 + + —— —— convent of, 556 + + —— e’ Naga, 155, 156 + + —— Nusf, 214 + + —— Omarda, 214 + + —— Qermana, 214 + + —— Qettâr, 292 + + —— Rauiân, 158 + + —— Roft, 138 + + —— Sefsâf, 293 + + —— Selîn, 115 + + —— Selseleh, 371 + + —— Sergen, 214 + + —— Silsilis, 117 + + —— e’ Tih, 300 + + —— e Tur, 335 + + —— Um Riglin, 292 + + —— Um Schômar, 292, 297 + + —— Zeït, 289 + + Gedîdeh, in Syria, 340 + + Geez inscription, 208 + + Geg, province of Berber, 145 + + Genealogies, registers of, 458, 460 + + Generations, register of, 458 + + Genna, village of, 150 + + Gennin (Egennin), Syria, 335 + + Geography of Egypt, 29 + + Geological structure of Lower Nubia, 522 + + Geometry, the knowledge of, 390 + + Georgi, O., the painter, 12, 222, 187 + + Georgius Syncellus, cited, 498 + + Geraschab, Schellâl of, 158 + + Gerbé Dandour, monument at, 526 + + Gerf Hussên, temples of, 20, 124, 126, 242, 356 + + Gerf e’ Schech, village of, 228 + + Germanicus, visit to remains of, ancient Thebes, 266, 393 + + Gertassi, in Ethiopia, 123 + + Gesch, reed grass, 213 + + Gesenius, cited, 431, 548 + + Gezîret-el-Qorn, island of, 97 + + Ghabîne, village of, 209 + + Gharaq Lake, 98 + + Gibba, in Syria, 343 + + Gibraltar, 38 + + Gilif, desert of, 213 + + Gimscheh, or Kebrit, Peninsula of, 289 + + Girsche, 242 + + Gism Halfa, 241 + + Gizeh, Pyramids of, 13, 47, 79 + + Gôba, in Syria, 344 + + Gobat, Bishop of Jerusalem, 39 + + Gods, Egyptian, 381, 392 + + Gomra, island of, 150 + + Gorata, near source of Blue Nile, 99 + + Gôs Basabir, village of, 158 + + —— Burri, village of, 214 + + Goshen, land of, 49, 410, 411, 414, 435, 448 + + Granite of Assuan, 371 + + Greek inscriptions, 31, 105, 122, 125, 220, 240, 550 + + —— philosophers, 385 + + Greeks, era of the, 452, 456 + + Gulf of Akaba, 554 + + —— Arabian, 434 + + Guneh, in Syria, 355 + + Gungules, fruit of Baobab-tree, 166 + + + H. + + Habak herb, 296 + + Hadrian, Emperor, 113, 288 + + Hager Mérui, white rock in Province of Robatat, 226 + + Haipha (Hepha), Syria, 336 + + Hair, Arab mode of greasing, 144 + + Halfaï, or Nile, 205 + + Haluf, Nuba village, 228 + + Hamâda-trees, 295 + + Hamdâb, district of, 225 + + Hamitic languages, 31 + + Hammâm Faraûn, in Peninsula of Sinai, 554 + + —— Seidna Solimân, tower of, 237 + + Hammamât, quarries of, 22, 32, 278, 321 + + Hammer, von, 341 + + Hannik, in province of Máhas, 235 + + Haram el Gizeh, Pyramids of, 47 + + Hay, cited, 271 + + Hassan Kaschef, of Derr, 127, 241 + + —— Pascha, 131, 146, 192, 218, 232, 235 + + Hathor, temple to, in Dendera, 116 + + Heathen temples mutilated by Christians, 267 + + Hebrew Chronologies not opposed to Egyptian, 457 + + —— commentators, 477 + + —— numbers, uncertainty of, 402 + + —— tradition, 401 + + Hecataeus, of Abdera, Exodus according to, 408 + + —— —— cited, 260, 408 + + Heglik-tree, 217 + + Heliopolis, 46, 369, 384, 406, 408, 413, 414, 448 + + —— priest of, Joseph marries the daughter of, 411 + + —— (Bâlbeck), 346 + + Hellet el Bib, ruins of, 226 + + —— e’ Solimân, village of, 188, 205 + + Hengstenberg, cited, 544 + + Henniker, Sir Fr., 551 + + Heracleopolis Parva, 429 + + Hererat, 297 + + Hermanovich, Dr., 160, 190 + + Hermes, Book of the Dead ascribed to, 392 + + —— Trismegistus, citation from, 270 + + Hermetic books, 382, 387, 391, 397 + + Hermonthis, ancient (Erment), near Thebes, 117 + + Hermopolis Parva (Damanhur), 447 + + Hero, same as Heroonpolis, 435 + + Herodotus, cited, 119, 383, 384, 429, 432, 439, 442, 447, 480, 481 + + Heroonpolis, 434, 435, 437, 445, 555 + + —— situation of, 434, 438 + + Hierasykaminos, inscriptions of, 125 + + Hieroglyphical inscriptions on rock, 458 + + Hieroglyphic writing, 377 + + Hieroglyphics, 27, 58, 59, 109, 196, 223, 236, 377, 381, 382, 413, + 420, 426 + + Hierogrammatist, the, or Sacred Scribe, 387 + + Hiersolyma, built by Moses according to Hecataeus, 408 + + Hieratical, or Priest Books, 387 + + Hillel, the astronomer, 454 + + Hippopotamus, 158 + + —— on Blue River, 170 + + Historical book literature, 394 + + —— literature necessary to restoration of true history, 399 + + —— sense in the Egyptian character, 374 + + Hobi, island of, 153 + + Hogg, Mr. John, 540, 560 + + Hopkins, W., cited, 522 + + Horeb (Choreb), 293, 304, 314, 533 + + Horner, L., paper on bed of Nile, Appendix, 507 + + —— cited, 239 + + Horoscopi, the, or time-seers, 388 + + Horus, King, 259, 405, 420 + + Horus, the god at temple of Edfu, 117 + + Hospitality, Arabian, 277 + + Hospital in Wed Médineh, 185 + + Hoskins, 150, 154, 155 + + Howara, village of, 84 + + Humboldt, A. von, 105, 532 + + Hyksos, the, 395, 406, 421, 476, 479, 486 + + —— time of, 485 + + —— Exodus of the, 410 + + —— banishment of, 417 + + —— Dynasties of the, 488 + + —— invasion of the, 427 + + —— end of rule, 428 + + Hymn to Amen-Ra, in Egyptian collection of Mr. Sams, London, 392 + + Hymns to the God, 389, 392 + + + I. + + Iamblichus, concerning Hermetic books, 382 + + Ibrahim Aga (Kawass), 131, 198, 275 + + Ibrahim Chêr, a Syrian, house of, 160, 191 + + —— Hassan, death of, in Syria, 346 + + —— Pascha, 47, 101, 198 + + Ibrîm (ancient Primis), 20, 125, 240, 241 + + Ideler, cited, 450, 453 + + Illahûn, Pyramid of, 83, 93 + + Indigo factory in Kamlîn, 163 + + —— —— Tamaniât, 191 + + Inscription on temple of Begerauîeh, 151 + + —— on rock grotto of Echmim, 109 + + —— on obelisk of Heliopolis, 46 + + —— at Philæ, 120, 243 + + —— on temple of Pselchis, 105 + + —— —— of Edfu, 117 + + —— at Konosso, 120 + + —— at Naharieh, 43 + + —— on Pyramids of Gizeh, 52 + + —— —— of Meröe, 206 + + —— at Soba, 165 + + —— of Silco, 242 + + —— at Talmis, 123 + + —— Arabic, 232, 550, 552 + + —— Ethiopian demotic, 223, 237 + + —— Greek, 240 + + —— —— in Gertassi, 123 + + —— —— on Pompey’s pillar, 42 + + —— —— at Coptic church in Wadi Gazâl, 220 + + Inscriptions, 30, 245, 379 + + —— modern hieroglyphics commemorative of Prussian expedition, 57 + + —— Greek and Coptic, 220 + + —— Greek and Egyptian, 278 + + —— hieroglyphic, 114 + + —— Roman, 345 + + —— Sinaitic, 291, 294, 299, 311 + + —— Rock, 239, 560 + + —— in Untial characters, 267 + + Ischischi, Island of, 225, 231 + + Isenberg, missionary, 39, 47 + + Ishmael had an Egyptian mother, 410 + + Isis, chapel to, in Mehendi, 126 + + —— statue of, 223 + + —— temple to, at Philæ, 120 + + Ismael Pascha, 161, 195, 205 + + Israelites, the, 414, 446, 448, 458 + + —— Exodus of, 410, 411 + + —— not the only strangers in Egypt, 410 + + —— journey of the, 305 + + —— time occupied in journey to Sinai, 548-550 + + Israelitish people, destiny of the, 459 + + Isthmus of Suez, geographical conditions, 426 + + Itinerarium, Antonini, 317, 448, 449 + + —— situation of Heroonpolis given in, 435 + + + J. + + Jacob, meeting between Joseph and, 435 + + Jaffa, 23 + + Janni Nicola, 290 + + Jassur bush, 295 + + Jericho, 334 + + Jeroboam I., King, worship of sun-bull introduced into Palestine by, + 413 + + Jerome, St., 313, 317, 555, 560 + + Jerusalem, 39, 334 + + Jesreel, plains of, 336 + + Jewish calendars, 453 + + —— chronology, 450 + + —— chronologists, 421 + + —— generations, 458-470 + + —— history, chronological character of, 401 + + —— list, 497 + + —— temple of Onias, 449 + + Jews, the account of, by Diodorus, 409 + + Jomard, 431 + + Jorius, bishop of Mount Sinai, 558, 562 + + Joseph, 410, 413, 435, 481, 483 + + —— in Egypt, 476-484 + + Josephus, cited, 313, 316, 416, 417, 418, 423, 424, 427, 433, 459, + 460, 476, 487, 497, 548, 554, 560 + + —— lists of, 419 + + Joshua, book of, 450 + + Judæa, foreigners in Egypt fled to, 408 + + Judges, book of, 450 + + Jussuf, Dragoman, 133, 275 + + Justinian, convent built by Emperor, 319, 551, 556, 562 + + Justin Martyr, cited, 423 + + + K. + + Kafr el Batran, village of, 76 + + Kalabscheh, 17, 20, 192, 242, 526 + + Kalfa, cataract of, 237 + + Kamlîn, 163, 189 + + Karabel, rock-picture of, 24 + + Karat Negil, fortress of, 230 + + Karnak, 20, 102, 247, 248-253 + + Kasinqar, village of, 225, 227 + + Kasiun, Mount, 341 + + Katârif, village of, 186 + + Kawass, the, 87 + + —— Ibrahim, 149, 170 + + Kebrit, Peninsula of, 289 + + Keli, funeral ceremony in, 211 + + Kenes, island of, 120 + + Kerak, tomb of Noah at, 337 + + Kermân, village of, 233 + + Kings of Egypt, succession of, 26 + + Ki-si-Tuthotep, tomb of, 113 + + Kisch, or Kischiga, village of, 242 + + Klotsch, Dr., cited, 227 + + Klysma, at the head of Arabian Gulf, 435 + + Koch, Dr., 147, 160 + + Koï, remains of towns at, 235 + + Kolzum, convent of, 557 + + Kôm el Birât, village of, 271, 321 + + Kongára language, 30, 234 + + Konosso, island of, 20, 120 + + Koptos, ancient (Quft), 22 + + Kordofan, brother of Sultan of, 161 + + Korte, temple of, 124 + + Korusko, 17, 105, 127, 130, 240 + + Kossêr, 22, 279, 321 + + Kossêr road, hieroglyphical inscription on rock of, 458 + + Krapf, the missionary, 39, 45, 447 + + —— on certain nations in Central Africa, 45 + + Kteffe valley, 547 + + Kubán (Contra Pselchis), 20, 242 + + Kûʾeh, territory of, 225 + + Kûm-Ombo, temple of, 17 + + Kûm-Ahmar, rock-tombs of, 15 + + Kummeh, village of, 19, 238 + + Kumr betá Dáhela, village of, 175 + + Kungara language, 244 + + Kurru, Pyramids of, 229 + + + L. + + Labyrinth, arrangement of, 90 + + —— founder of, 15 + + —— ruins of the, 15, 83 + + —— payment of people for digging trenches at, 84 + + Lake of Serbon, 429 + + Lakes, bitter, 436, 440, 442, 444 + + Lancret, cited, 525 + + Language of Taka, 201 + + Languages, African, 31 + + Larcher, 431 + + Leake, 240 + + Leqêta, village of, 277 + + Le Quien, 556, 558, 562 + + Leontes, river, 336 + + Lepers, expulsion of, 404, 417 + + —— insurrection under Osarsiph, 416 + + —— Exodus of, same as of Israelites, 412-417 + + Leprosy, Egyptian, account of, 412 + + Letter to Mr. Horner from Dr. Lepsius, 530 + + Letronne, cited, 105, 107, 121, 123, 387, 440, 442, 444, 445 + + Levites, generations of, 460 + + Levi, tribe of, 459 + + L’Hôte, cited, 105 + + Libanon, view of, 349 + + —— war in, 352 + + Library at Thebes, 381, 397 + + —— Alexandrian, 382, 496 + + Lieder, Herr, German missionary, 36, 47, 74 + + Limestone, nummulitic, mountain range near Memphis composed of, 371 + + Linant, M., 14, 92, 94, 96 + + Lions in Berber, 157 + + Lion, young, 174 + + Lischt, Pyramid of, 64, 83 + + Lists, Jewish, 497 + + —— Dynastic of Manetho, 497 + + Literature of Egypt, 386, 390 + + Livy, fragment of a MS. of, 380 + + Locusts, swarm of, 68 + + Lorda, Domingo, 99 + + Loss of road, 282 + + Luqsor, temple of, 102, 247, 253 + + Lycopolis, 101 + + Lycurgus introduced Egyptian customs into Greece, 383 + + Lycus. _See_ Nahr el Kelb + + Lysimachus, on the Exodus, 422, 424 + + + M. + + Maccabees, book of, 452 + + Madian, district of, 546 + + Magal, church of, 231 + + Mágeqa, well of, in Gilif mountains, 216 + + Máhas, province of, 235 + + —— dialect of, 232 + + Mahmûd Welled Schauîsch, 188, 205 + + Mahmudieh canal, 42 + + Makrizi, cited, 178 + + Maktaf, or basket, 84 + + Makrobioten Apappus Pepi, 110 + + Malta, 38 + + Mandera, in desert, 130, 162 + + Manetho, cited, 382, 405, 410, 412, 416, 417, 423, 427, 429, 433, + 470, 480, 486, 487, 494, 496, 499 + + Manethonic chronology, 490, 493, 495 + + —— Dynastic lists, 498 + + —— Dynasties, 496 + + —— history, extent of, 493 + + —— list of Eusebius, 422 + + —— numbers, the genuine, 494-496, 498 + + Manuscripts, Ethiopian, 99 + + Mara, 307, 548 + + Maranites, the, 554 + + Marcellinus, Ammianus, cited, 79 + + Martineau, Miss, cited, 514, 520 + + Marûga, village of, 212, 209 + + Masr, or Cairo, 44 + + Massaui, island of, 228 + + Matarîeh, village of, 49 + + Mechêref, village of, 142, 144 + + Medamôt, village of, 247 + + Medik, village of, 125 + + Medînet el Faiûm, 93, 97 + + —— Hâbu, 102, 253, 256, 260 + + —— —— church at, 269 + + —— Mâdi, ruins of, 98 + + —— Nimrud, town of, 97 + + Mediterranean Sea, triremes on, 442 + + Megdel, in Syria, 336 + + Meharret. _See_ Hererat + + Mehemet Ali, 441 + + Mehendi, Roman camp of, 125 + + Meidûm, Pyramid of, 64, 83 + + Mekseh, village of, 336 + + Meláh (Arabic for salt work), 194 + + Melek Idris Adlân, 177, 191 + + Memnon statue, 257 + + Memnonia at Thebes, 102, 248, 258 + + Memphis, 14, 49, 72, 81, 369, 427, 484 + + —— Pyramids of, 24, 44, 370 + + Menephthes king during the Exodus, 424, 430, 449, 451, 454, 470, 474, + 480, 484 + + —— rock temple, at Surarieh, dedicated to Hathor by, 100 + + —— temple in Nubia erected by, 124 + + Menes, laws of, 392 + + —— epoch, or first historical year, 495 + + —— hieroglyphic writings invented in time of, 377 + + —— year of 3893, B.C., 494 + + Menkera (Mykerinos), Pyramid of, 59 + + Menzaleh Lake, 333 + + Merhet, priest of Chufu, tomb of, 61, 63 + + Méraui, town of, 194, 223 + + Meröe, derivation of term, 210 + + —— district between Nile and Astaboras, 17, 146 + + —— island of, 225 + + —— Pyramids of, 206 + + —— well of, 217 + + Mesaurât, monuments of, 156 + + —— el Kirbegân (Ben Naga), 156, 157 + + —— e’ Naga (Ben Naga), 156 + + —— e’ Sofra (Ben Naga), 156 + + Messâid, spring of water, 288 + + Messelemîeh, town of, 166, 189, 205 + + Metamme, village of, 154 + + Meton, the cycle of, 454 + + Mice in camp, 87 + + Miglik, in Gilif range, 216 + + Military band, 186 + + Minjan schtaroth, epoch of, 455 + + Mirage, in Nubian Desert, 141 + + Misphragmuthosis, end of rule of Hyksos, 428, 490 + + Mitrahinneh, 72 + + Mneuis, holy bull, 411, 413 + + Moʾallaqa, Syria, 337 + + Möris-Amenemha, 481 + + Mœris Lake, 92, 95 + + —— dams of lake, 95 + + Mœris, Pyramid of, 83 + + Mograd, mountain range of, 141 + + Mogrân River, 146 + + Mohammed Ali, 39, 40, 333 + + —— Saïd, 158 + + Moie Messâid, spring of, 288 + + Moleds, or new moons, 453 + + Molon, cited, 423 + + Monarchy, Old, 395, 414 + + Monassir, cataracts in province of, 228 + + Monkeys on Blue River, 169 + + Mons Casius, 429 + + —— Claudianus. _See_ Gebel Fatireh + + —— Porphyrites. _See_ Gebel Dochân + + Monuments, 368, 375 + + —— age of Egyptian, 16 + + —— in Old Monarchy, 414 + + —— of Biahmu, 96 + + —— granite, at Mount Barkal, 223 + + —— Pharaonic, 233 + + —— at Soba, 18 + + —— at Thebes, 20 + + Monumental nation, the Egyptian, 397 + + —— writing, hieroglyphics become, 379 + + Moqattam Hills, 47 + + Mosaic account of Exodus, 425 + + Mosch, town of, 235 + + Moses, 310, 408, 411, 449, 484, 486, 491, 546 + + Mosque at Damascus, 343 + + —— at Old Dongola, 232 + + Motmar, 150 + + Mountains of Nubian Desert, mineral character of, 136 + + Mud of Nile, bricks made of, 369 + + Mudhir of Berber, 131 + + —— Esneh, 131 + + Mühleisen, a missionary, 39, 47 + + Mukfâr, ruins of, 435, 436 + + Mulid e’ Nebbi, festival of, 70 + + Mummies, durability of, 370 + + Mundera, plain of, 141 + + Munfîeh range, 280 + + Mûsa Bey, 148 + + Music not considered by the Egyptians an independent art, 388 + + —— Eastern, 85 + + —— Arabic, 182 + + Mustaffa Pascha, 131 + + Mythology of Egypt, 25 + + Myos hormos, ruins of, 289 + + + N. + + Nablus (Sichem) Syria, 334 + + Naga in the desert, 17, 153, 156, 210 + + Naharieh, ruins of town near, 43 + + Nahr el Kelb (Lykos), 22, 355 + + Nakb el Egaui, Peninsula of Sinai, 291 + + —— Haui, Peninsula of Sinai, 291, 294, 547 + + Names, holy and popular, for towns, 115 + + Napoleon, Descrip. de l’Egypt, 376 + + Napata, town of, 18, 223 + + —— cemetery of, 220 + + Narrative, Mosaic, contradicts the idea that the Jews were the + Hyksos, 421 + + Nascimbeni, engineer of the Viceroy, 93 + + Nasr, Sultâna, 176 + + Natron, crust in desert of, 139 + + Natural history, collection by Ferd. Werne, bought for Prussia, 42 + + Nazareth, 335 + + Nebbi Habîl (tomb of Abel), 340 + + —— Schît, Syria, 345 + + Nebek-tree, 277, 298 + + Nebuchadnezzar, 455 + + Nechel Delfa, in Gebel Munfîeh, 281 + + Necropoli, Egyptian, 375 + + Necropolis of Thebes, 247 + + Nectanebus, 120, 243, 525, 531 + + —— II., 494 + + Negro soldiers, 186 + + Nehera-si-Numhotep, tomb of, 112 + + Nekleh, Rosetta arm of Nile, 43 + + Nekôs begins to cut canal between Nile and Red Sea, 439, 440, 441, 442 + + Neos Dionysos, Ptolemy XIII., 108 + + Neslet, village of, 98 + + Nesnas ape, 164 + + Neubauer, Herr, apothecary at Chartûm, 160 + + New Dongola, 233 + + Nile river, height of, at Semneh, 19, 20 + + —— gradual levelling of bed, 30 + + —— at Atfeh, 43 + + —— waters of, 44 + + —— crossing the, 211 + + —— observations on rise of, 239, 259 + + —— between Thebes and Qeneh, 275 + + —— narrow district of, 369 + + —— mud bricks of, 369 + + —— ease of transport on, 372 + + —— canal, 436, 448 + + —— upper districts of, 458 + + —— rise of, related by Strabo, 481 + + —— breadth, depth, and velocity in Nubia, 519 + + —— fall of, 521 + + Nilometer, 73 + + Nimr, palace of King, 195 + + Nilus, cited, 556, 557, 560 + + Noah’s tomb, 327 + + Nochol rock, 307 + + Nofratmu, an ancestor of Ranumhet, chief architect, 458 + + Nomarchs, who ruled in the Nomes, 482 + + Nomes, Egypt divided into, 482, 483 + + Nome, Sethroitic, Abaris situated in, 427, 431 + + Nuba language, 30, 128, 232, 234 + + —— dialect, 235 + + —— villages, 228 + + Nubia, Lower, phys. geog. of, _see_ Appendix, 516 + + —— Lower, geological structure of, Appendix, 522 + + —— breadth, depth, &c., of Nile, Appendix, 519 + + —— temples in, 124 + + Nubian language, 171 + + —— Sheikh, 30 + + Nubians, character of, 127 + + Numbers, genuine Manethonic, 494-496, 498 + + —— Hebrew, uncertainty of, 402 + + Nummulitic limestone near Memphis, 371 + + Numt Amen, temple of, 255 + + Nureddin Effendi, a Coptic Catholic Egyptian, 163, 189 + + Nuri, Pyramids of, 218, 221 + + Nus, hieroglyphic name of town, 112 + + + O. + + Obelisk at Heliopolis, 46 + + Obelisks in Alexandria, 369 + + Ochus, conquest of Egypt by, 494 + + Okmeh, sulphur-spring at, 237 + + Old Dongola, 232 + + Old Testament writings, 459 + + —— —— chronology, 490, 492 + + Old chronicle, 497, 498 + + Olympiad, the seventh, 423 + + —— calculation, 424 + + Olympian games, 383 + + Omar Aga, officer in Turkish army, 198 + + Omarâb mountains, 209 + + Ombos, canon of proportions found in, 20, 118 + + Om Saiale, well of, 218 + + Om Schebak, valley of, 218 + + On, same as Heliopolis, 113 + + Onias, temple of, 449 + + Osarsiph, priest of Heliopolis, 406, 408, 413, 416 + + Osiris, tomb of, 122 + + —— service of, 413 + + —— statue of, at Kamlîn, 164 + + Osman Bey, chief in command of army against Taka, 196 + + Osymandyas, King, 381 + + —— tomb of, 260 + + Otho, Emp., 266 + + + P. + + Paapis, son of Amenophis, 405 + + Palms, Dilêb, 171 + + —— Doum, 137, 218 + + Pachon, Papyri dated 13th of, 395 + + Painting on Pyramids, 52 + + —— Christian, over Heathen representations, 268 + + Paintings in Thebes, 246 + + —— on tomb in Benihassan, 111 + + Panodorus, 498 + + Panopolis (Chemmis), rock-grotto of, 115 + + Papyrus rolls, 391, 394, 395 + + —— of Sallier, 391 + + —— plant, 373, 380 + + —— roll on monuments, 374 + + Paran, 304, 539 + + Parthey, cited, 520, 525 + + Papebroch, cited, 558 + + Pastophori, the watchers of the temples, 389 + + Patriarchs, the three, 491 + + Paul, Apostle, on number, 403, 480 + + Pedigree of architect, 279 + + Peney, M., French surgeon, 196 + + Petamenap, tomb of the royal scribe, 265 + + Pelusaic arm of Nile, 429, 446 + + Pelusium, town of, 429, 430, 432 + + Peninsula of Sinai, climate of, 545 + + Periander, 442 + + Period from Abraham to Moses, 485-491 + + Perring, measurement of Pyramids by, 59 + + —— 13, 79, 114 + + Petronius, Prefect, 481 + + Phœnikon, Peninsula of Sinai, 555 + + Phœnix, period of 1500 years, 398 + + Phara ravine, 554 + + Pharan, 297, 304, 313, 546, 555, 557 + + —— church of, 562 + + —— palm-grove of, 553, 559 + + Pharaoh, 413, 480 + + —— of the Exodus, 421-425 + + —— the, of Joseph, 477 + + —— (Sethôsis I.), 484 + + Pharaonic history, restoration of the, 399 + + Philæ, island of, 20, 119, 242, 530, 531 + + —— name of, 120 + + —— inscriptions at, 107 + + —— temples on, 525 + + Philotera, ancient, 289 + + Philip Aridæus, 252 + + Philology, Egyptian, 26 + + Philosophers who visited Egypt, 385 + + Phokes, island of, 555 + + Physical Geography of Lower Nubia, Appendix, 516 + + Pilgrims, German, 302 + + Pipe, Turkish, pleasure of, 104 + + Pithom and Ramses, treasure cities, 426 + + —— situation of, 435, 447 + + Plague of the leprosy, Egyptian account of, 412 + + Plato, house he inhabited in Heliopolis, 384 + + Pliny, cited, 439, 444 + + —— fable by, of Sphinx, 67 + + Plutarch, cited, 123, 386 + + Poems, Arabic, 182 + + Polemon, cited, 422 + + Pompey’s Pillar, 42 + + Porphyry, Gebel Dochân, 372 + + Poseidion, town of, 553 + + Potiphar, an Egyptian name, 476 + + —— of Heliopolis, 411, 413 + + Priests in Egypt, 385, 386 + + —— books, the hieratical, 387 + + —— learned, 412 + + —— registers of their generations, 459 + + Primis, ancient, 125, 240 + + Procopius, cited, 320, 556 + + Prokesch, Gen. von, cited, 525 + + Proskynemata, 56, 279 + + Prophets, Egyptian, 413 + + —— the, 387 + + Prudhoe, Lion of Lord, 223, 236 + + Pruner, Dr., 47, 98 + + Psalmist, the, on length of life, 491 + + Psammeticus, 429, 440 + + —— I., 240, inscription belonging to temple of, at Naharieh, 43 + + Pselchis, inscription at temple of, 105 + + Ptah-nefru-be-u, tomb of, 63 + + Ptolemy Alexander I., temple built by, 117 + + —— 380, 429, 434, 437, 438 + + —— Mendesius, cited, 421, 424 + + —— Eupator, inscription referring to, 107 + + —— Philadelphus, 382, 439, 440, 444, 525 + + —— the geographer, 115, 429, 434, 437, 438, 554 + + Ptolemies, Greek inscription about the, 107 + + Publius, Prefect, 42 + + Pyramid of Cheops (Chufu), view from, 48, 49, 59, 72, 372 + + —— of Daschûr, 79, 98 + + —— of Gizeh, 47, 56, 79, 323 + + —— of Howara (Labyrinth), 83 + + —— of Labyrinth, 90 + + —— of Mencheres, 372 + + Pyramids, 47-65 + + —— age of, 13 + + —— ascent of, 48 + + —— view from summit of, 48 + + —— built of bricks, 372 + + —— first visit to, 47 + + —— remains of, 13 + + —— structure of, 65 + + —— supposed by Osman Bey to contain treasure, 197 + + —— of Abu Roasch, 59, 79 + + —— of Abusir, 69 + + —— of Beg´erauîeh, 195, 150 + + —— of Lischt and Meidûm, 64, 83 + + —— of Illahûn and Mœris, 83 + + —— of Meröe, 150-152, 206 + + —— of Memphis, 25, 44, 47-81, 375 + + —— of Nuri, 221 + + —— of Rigah, 79 + + —— of Saqâra, 64, 67 + + —— of Tanqassi and Kurru, 229 + + —— of Zauiet el Arrian, 59 + + —— of Zûma, 230 + + Pythagoras, cited, 385 + + + Q. + + Qala, village of, 209 + + Qantur, Pyramid of, at Kurru, 229 + + Qasr Qerûn, town of, 15, 98 + + —— e’ Saiat, tombs at, 16, 116 + + Qeneh, village of, 22, 275, 277, 321 + + Qirre, mountains of, 158, 193 + + Qirsch, village of, 242 + + Qsur el Benat, plain of, 278 + + Quarries, granite, 234 + + —— porphyry, 288 + + —— stone, 278 + + Qubbet e’ Nasr, view from, 340 + + Qurna, Thebes, 20, 102, 108, 254, 259 + + Qurnet Murrâi, hill of, 267 + + Queens preferred in Ethiopia, 178 + + Quft (Koptos), 277 + + Qulleh, clay water bottles, 103 + + —— manufactory of, 276 + + Qûs, Apollinopolis parva, 277 + + + R. + + Ra, figure of the god, 438 + + Rababa, musical instrument, 182 + + Rabbis, 453 + + Rabbinical chronology, 450-455 + + —— date of Exodus, 470 + + Rabbi Hillel Hanassi, 453, 450 + + Races intermingled, 411 + + Râha, plain of, 293, 545, 548, 553 + + Rahad river, 148, 167 + + Rain in Upper Egypt, 119 + + —— Nubian desert, 137 + + Raithenes, the, 555 + + Raithu. _See_ Tôr + + Ramadan, Mussulmans’ holy month, 45 + + Ram of Barkal, 236, 245 + + Rams, granite, 223 + + Rauiân, mountains of, 158, 193 + + Rammius Martialis Eparch, 288 + + Ramses II. (Miamun), 249, 259, 333, 370, 381, 393, 395, 418, 420, + 438, 441, 446, 447, 449, 481, 483, 484 + + —— his name inscribed on Cleopatra’s Needle, 42 + + —— statue of, 72 + + —— temple of, in Thebes, 102, 243, 259 + + —— temple of, near Kalabscheh, 526 + + —— bas-reliefs of, 355 + + —— memorial tablets of, 22 + + —— III., 250, 260, 450 + + —— IX., 395 + + —— town of, 426, 447 + + Rameseion, 381 + + Ranumhet, chief architect, 458 + + Raphia (Refah), 429 + + Raphidîm, Peninsula of Sinai, 312, 318, 540, 545, 548 + + Ras Furtak, Peninsula of Sinai, 555 + + —— Gehan, Peninsula of Sinai, 553, 554 + + —— Abu Zelîmeh, Peninsula of Sinai, 553 + + —— Mohammed, Peninsula of Sinai, 553, 554 + + —— e’ Schekab, in Syria, 355 + + Rayeh, convent of, at Tôr, 557 + + Red Sea, 437, 440 + + —— —— level higher than Mediterranean, 441 + + Register of generations, 458, 459 + + Rennie, Mr., cited, 521, 524 + + Representations at Naga in the desert, 210 + + Reschraschi, plain of, 278 + + Rhinokolura (El Arisch), 429 + + Ricci, cited, 551 + + Rigah, Pyramid of, 79 + + Ritter, Carl, 315, 316, 320, 541, 543, 554, 558 + + —— his views on position of Sinai, 545, 546 + + Ritschl, 382 + + Robatat, province of, 226 + + Robbery at Saqâra, 72, 75 + + Rock-chambers lined with brick, 373 + + —— temple at Abu Simbel, 240 + + —— inscriptions, 560 + + Robinson, E., measurements of distance in Peninsula of Sinai, 547, 548 + + —— cited, 308, 309, 315, 316, 533, 545, 551 + + Roda, island of, 73 + + Roft, mountain chain of, 138 + + Româli, village of, 175 + + Roman camp at Mehendi, 125 + + —— inscription, 345 + + Rossafa road, 321 + + Rosellini, cited, 29, 51, 108, 244, 266, 525 + + Rosetta canal, 43 + + —— inscription of, 121 + + Royal revenues, 482 + + Rozière, the traveller, 426 + + Ruins in Wadi el Kirbegân, 194 + + Rüppell, cited, 290, 310, 545 + + Russegger, cited, 166, 515, 519, 523, 528, 529 + + Rustan Effendi, 192 + + + S. + + Saba Doleb, village of, 171 + + Sabagûra, ruins of ancient city, 20, 242 + + Sacred Books, 391 + + Sa el Hager, ancient Sais, 43 + + Sacred Writings, 391 + + Saffi, island of, 227 + + Sagadi, village of, 150 + + Sai, island of, 19, 237 + + Saïd ben Batrik, cited, 556, 562 + + Saida (Sidon), 336 + + Sailors on Red Sea, 289 + + St. Athanasius in Theban desert, 266 + + St. George, tomb of, 356 + + St. Martin, cited, 107 + + Sais, ancient, 43, 369 + + Saladin’s tomb, 343 + + Salamât (Sanamât), 258 + + Sálame-tree, 217 + + —— village of, 228 + + Salatis, King, 486 + + Salhîeh, Syria, 344 + + Salmasius, cited, 433 + + Sallier, Papyrus of, 391, 394 + + Samanúd (Sebennytos), 23, 333 + + Sami Bey, 39 + + Sams’, Mr., Egyptian collection, 392 + + San (Tanis), 23, 333 + + Sanab, 221 + + Sand dunes in plain of El Gôs, 215 + + Sanherib, 429 + + Saqâra, 64, 72, 81, 86, 89, 103 + + —— Pyramids of, 10 + + —— Sheikhs of, 76 + + —— trial at, 77 + + Sarcophagus of white limestone in Thebes, 245 + + Sarcophagi, 376 + + Sarbut el Châdem, Egyptian monuments of, 22, 300, 305 + + Saulcy, M. de, 121, 273 + + Schabak (So), King of Ethiopia and Egypt, 251 + + Schaib el Benat, village of, 281 + + Schaiqîeh Arabs, 214, 229 + + —— cataracts in province of, 228 + + —— princes, 227 + + —— province of, 231 + + Schataui, village of, 240 + + Schech-Said, village of, 16 + + Schendi, town of, 17, 23, 153, 154, 195 + + Scherif Pascha, the minister, 77, 89 + + Scheschenk I., 250 + + Schilluk tribe, 149 + + Schoa, missionary station of, 39 + + Schômar. _See_ Gebel Um Schômar + + Schôna government store-house, 237 + + Schafra (Chafra), King, whether represented by Sphinx, 66 + + —— Pyramid of, 59, 66 + + Scherif Pascha, 89, 45 + + Schulz, Dr., 334 + + Sculptures, Egyptian, 233 + + Sea, sensations at, 36 + + —— luminous appearance on, 37 + + Seba-Biar, valley of, 434, 438, 441, 445 + + Sebastieh (Samaria), 335 + + Sebekhoteps, the Kings, 239 + + Sebekhotep I., 20 + + Sebûa, temple of, 20, 124, 241, 242, 356, 527 + + Seder Olam Rabah, the, 456 + + Sedeïnga, temple of, 19, 237 + + Sehêl, island of, 20 + + Seïd Hussên, family of, 275 + + —— Haschim, 176, 180, 181 + + Selajîn, village of, 97 + + Selama, village of, 154 + + Seleucidæ, era of the, 452, 453, 455 + + Seleucus, 382 + + Selîm Pascha, governor of Upper Egypt, 101, 114, 191 + + Selîm of Assuan, cited, 162 + + —— guide, 280 + + Selun (Silo), Syria, 334 + + Selseleh, sandstone mountains of, 32 + + Semitic king, 478 + + —— countries, 410 + + —— court, 477 + + —— Hyksos, 476 + + Semneh, 19, 238, 529, 531 + + —— Nile at, 30, 239, 529, 531 + + Senmut, hieroglyphic name for island of Bigeh, 120 + + Sennâr, capital of the Sudan, 18, 173, 176 + + Septuagint, 413 + + Serapiu, 435 + + Serbâl, Mount, 22, 295, 298, 299, 303, 308, 532 + + Serha-tree, 217 + + Sero, on frontier of Sennâr and Fasokl, 148, 175 + + Sêse, Mount, 236 + + Sesebi, ruins of, 19, 236 + + Sesoosis, 482 + + Sesostris Sesoosis, 480, 483 + + —— 481, 394, 429, 439 + + Sesurtesen I., 248, 395 + + —— on Pyramids of Begerauîeh, 151 + + —— obelisk erected by, 46 + + —— Throne-shield of, at Naga, 155 + + —— II., 112 + + —— III., 120, 238 + + Sesurtesens, the, 111 + + Sethôs, also called Ramesses, 407 + + —— priest of Ptha, 429 + + —— I., 15, 48, 236, 249, 259, 394, 449, 481 + + —— remains of temple erected by, 124 + + Sethôsis, 418, 481 + + Sethroitic Nome, 427, 428, 431 + + Seventy, the, 402, 434, 435, 436, 438, 464, 476 + + Serbon, lake of, 429 + + Set-Necht, King, 395 + + Sheikh Achmed, sheikh of camels, 134 + + —— Ahmed Welled ʾAuad, in the train of Osman Bey, 196 + + —— Sandalôba, chief of the Arabian merchants, 173 + + —— Mohammed Welled Hammed, prisoner of Osman Bey, 201 + + —— Mûsa el Fakir, prisoner of Osman Bey, 200 + + —— prisoners, 200 + + —— Selâm, 280, 286 + + —— Jusef Hanna Dahir, of Bscherreh, 352 + + Sheikhs of Saqâra and Abusir, 76 + + Shields on Pyramids of Gizeh, 58 + + —— hieroglyphic, 58, 196 + + —— of the Pharaohs, 438 + + Sidereal year, 398 + + Silco, inscription of, 242 + + Sittere-trees, 295 + + Sin, wilderness of, 308, 540, 547, 548 + + Sinai, Mount, true position of, 22, 303-321, 542, 560, 562 + + —— Ritter’s views respecting, 541-546 + + —— departure for Peninsula of, 274 + + —— convent of, 291, 305 + + —— tradition of, 559 + + Sinaitic inscriptions, 31, 291, 294, 299, 311, 545 + + Siut, town of, 16, 101, 114, 115 + + Slave revolt, 190, 192, 193 + + Sluice at Arsinoë, 440 + + Soba, capital of, kingdom of Aloa, 18, 162, 189 + + Solb (Soleb), temple of, 19, 223, 236 + + Soldiers, negro, 186 + + —— under Osman Bey in good discipline, 205 + + Snefru, King, 396 + + Sphinx, excavation in front of, 66 + + Sphinxes at temple in Wadi Lebua, 126 + + Solimân Pascha, 191 + + Solon, 383 + + Solymites, the, 407 + + Somra-tree, 217 + + Sont-trees, 101, 213, 217 + + Sorîba, Sultâna Nasr resident in, 178 + + Soter I., 108 + + Sothis, the, a spurious work, 497, 498 + + —— periods, 398, 494, 495, 496 + + Statue of a Persian king, 443 + + Stele between paws of Sphinx, 59 + + Stephanus of Byzantium, 431, 433 + + Stolistes, the ten books of the, 387 + + Stone buildings, 371 + + Storm near Pyramids, 53 + + Strabo, cited, 119, 266, 384, 386, 411, 429, 430, 434, 437, 439, 444, + 481 + + Structure of Pyramids, 221 + + Suez, town of, 434, 435, 436, 443 + + —— isthmus of, 426 + + Sugar factory in Kamlîn, 163 + + Suk el Bárada, village of, in Syria, 344 + + Sukkôt, province of, 237 + + Sulphur-spring of Okmeh, 237 + + Sûr (Tyrus), 336 + + —— wilderness of, 307, 547 + + Surarieh, rock temple near village of, 15, 100 + + Suri, beverage of, 199 + + Surîe, Abu Ramle, village of, 193 + + Syenite of Assuan, 371 + + Syncellus, cited, 489, 490, 494, 499 + + Syria, 430, 435, 449 + + + T. + + Table of Jewish generations, 461, 463 + + —— —— generations of Levi according to Josephus, 468 + + —— —— —— —— from Hebrew text, 467 + + —— —— undeterminate and historical numbers, 472 + + Tables of Egyptian Dynasties, 499 + + Tabor, Mount, 335 + + Tacitus, cited, 266, 393, 423 + + Tahraka (Tirhakah), King, 18, 222, 251 + + Tâiba, village inhabited by Fukara (Fakirs), 187 + + Taka, war in, 186, 199 + + —— language in, 201 + + —— tribes of, 201 + + Talmis (Kalabscheh), 123, 242 + + Talmud, few chronological dates, 454 + + Tamaniât, village of, 158, 193 + + Tamîeh, village of, 95, 98 + + Tanis (Tan), Nile Delta, 333 + + Tanqassi, Pyramids of, 229 + + Tarablus (Tripolis), Syria, 354 + + Tarfa shrubs, 294, 308 + + Tehneh, monuments near, 15 + + Teirieh, ruins near, 44 + + Tel Emdieh, village of, 338 + + Tel Jehudeh, 449 + + Tel-el-Amarna, 23, 27 + + Temple, building of first, 455 + + —— dedications, 379 + + —— at Amara, 237 + + —— on island of Bageh, 526 + + —— at Mount Barkal, erected by Ramses II., 222 + + —— at Bet el Ualli, 124 + + —— at Debu, 526 + + —— of Edfu, 117 + + —— near Kalabscheh, 526 + + —— at Karnak, 248 + + —— of Korte, 124 + + —— of Luqsor, 253 + + —— near Medînet Hâbu, erected by King Horus, 259 + + —— of Qurna, 259 + + —— at Sedeïnga, 237 + + —— of Sesebi, 236 + + —— in front of Sphinx, 52 + + —— at Solb, 236 + + —— rock at Surarieh, 100 + + Temples, Ethiopian drawings on, 195 + + —— erected by the Ptolemies, 266 + + —— rock at Abu Simbel, 240 + + —— of Bâlbeck, 346 + + —— at Ben Naga, 153 + + —— at Dendera, 116, 322 + + —— near Gebel Dochân, 287 + + —— of Gerf Hussên and Sebûa, 124 + + —— on Philæ, 120, 243, 525 + + —— at Naga, 154, 155 + + —— in Nubia, 124 + + —— at Thebes, 102, 116, 243, 255, 259 + + —— of Semneh, 238 + + Testament, Old, 402, 404, 438, 490 + + Tethmosis, King, 423 + + Thales instructed by Egyptian priests, 384 + + Thames, fall of, between Wallingford and Teddington, 520 + + Thâna, island of, near Gorata, in Ethiopia, 99 + + Thebes, 14, 102-104, 116, 243-274, 370, 371, 376, 381, 484 + + —— scenery about, 247 + + —— origin of name, 248 + + Theodosius, edict of, 266 + + Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, 497 + + Theon of Alexandria, 453 + + Theory of excavation of bed of Nile, 530 + + Thinitic kings, 495 + + This, town of, 494 + + Thoum, _i. e._ Pithom, 435, 448 + + Thutmosis III., Cleopatra’s needle erected by, 42 + + Tii, wife of Amenophis III., 237 + + Tifar, village of, 231 + + Tiberias, on Lake Genezaret, 335 + + Tomb of Abel, 340 + + —— of King Bech-en-Aten, 114 + + —— of Ki-si-Tuthotep, 113 + + —— of Saladin, 343 + + —— of Prince Merhet, 61, 63 + + —— of Noah, 337 + + —— of Ramses Miamun, 244 + + —— of St. George, 356 + + —— at Saqâra, 72 + + Tombos, island of, 19, 234 + + Tombs in Thebes, 245, 254 + + —— in Zauiet el Meitîn, 110 + + —— removal of, 323 + + —— rock, of Amarna, 322 + + —— of Beni Hassan, 16, 111 + + —— near El Guês, 212 + + —— of the kings, 261-263 + + —— of the princesses, 264 + + —— of private persons, 264 + + —— round Pyramids, 13 + + —— at Saba Doleb, 171 + + Tondub-tree, 217 + + Tôd, temple of, 20 + + Tôr, Peninsula of Sinai, 22, 274, 290, 560 + + Tower of Hammâm Seidna Solimân, 237 + + Tosorthros, 2nd Dynasty, 375, 377 + + Tradition of Gebel Mûsa, 532 + + —— about position of Mount Sinai, 304, 559 + + Trajanic river, name of canal cut from Babylon, 437, 445 + + Transmigration of souls, 385 + + Travellers, visit from, 273 + + Trees near Gilif mountains, 217 + + —— on Blue River, 168 + + Tripolis (Tarablus), 354 + + Tuch, cited, 311 + + Tukele, straw huts, 162, 173 + + Tura, chalk mountains of, 32 + + Turin, royal annals of, 395 + + Turk, character of the, 88 + + Turkish breakfast, 159 + + —— soldiers, their uniform, 354 + + Tuthmosis I., 234, 248, 249 + + —— II., 19, 238 + + —— III., 24, 124, 236, 237, 238, 249, 256, 259, 300, 301, 486 + + —— IV., 66, 156, 259, 485 + + —— IV., stele of, between paws of Sphinx, 59 + + Tutmes III., conqueror of the Hyksos, 18th Dynasty, 395 + + Typhon, the god, 432 + + Typhonic town, 428 + + + U. + + Um Schebak, valley of, in desert of Gilif, 218 + + Um Schômar. _See_ Gebel + + + V. + + Vase at Soba, 189 + + Venus, small statue of, in Soba, 190 + + Vermin, 104 + + Vicus Judæorum (Tel Jehudeh), 448, 449 + + Village scene in Ethiopia, 174 + + Visit from travellers, 273 + + Vyse, Colonel Howard, 13 + + + W. + + Wad Eraue, 189 + + —— Negudi, 171, 173 + + Wadi Auatêb, 154, 155, 156 + + —— Abu Dôm, 213, 218 + + —— Hammed, 214 + + —— Harod, 216 + + —— Aleyât, 297, 298, 318 + + —— el Arab, 241 + + —— Bahr ʾHatab, 137 + + —— Delah, 137 + + —— el Mehet, 216 + + —— Dhaghadeh, 553 + + —— e’ Scheikh, 22, 294, 547 + + —— e’ Siléha, 156 + + —— e’ Sofra, 152, 156 + + —— e’ Sufr, 137, 139 + + —— el Kirbegân, 154, 156, 157, 194 + + —— el Uer, 216 + + —— Ellâqi, 241 + + —— Firân, 20, 295, 297, 298, 299, 304, &c., 535 + + —— Gazâl, 218 + + —— Gaqedûl, 215 + + —— Gharandel, 306, 547, 548 + + —— Guah El ʾAlem, 215 + + —— Halfa, 17, 20, 131, 240, 241 + + —— Hebrân, 22, 290, 291, 312 + + —— Ibrîm, 241 + + —— Kalas, 217 + + —— Kenûs, 241 + + —— Leg´a, 561 + + —— Maghâra, 22, 300, 305 + + —— Mokatteb, 22, 31, 299 + + —— Murhad, 139 + + —— Nasb, 302, 305 + + —— Nuba, 241 + + —— Qeneh, 300 + + —— Rim, 295 + + —— Schebêkeh, 306, 547 + + —— Schellâl, 547, 548 + + —— Sebûa, temple in, 126 + + —— Selâf, 295, 297 + + —— Selîn, 16 + + —— Sich, 300 + + —— Siʾqelji, 296 + + —— Sittere, 300 + + —— Tâibeh, 312, 547 + + —— Teresib, 154 + + Wagner, von, the Prussian consul-general, 39 + + War in Taka, 186 + + Water, search in Nubian desert for, 137 + + —— search for, 281 + + Water-works in Egypt, 481 + + Wed Médineh, 176, 180 + + —— —— slave revolt in, 190 + + Weidenbach, Ernest, member of the expedition, 39, 54, 75, 83, 94, + 114, 153 + + —— Max., 153, 275 + + —— Ernest and Max., 12, 21 + + Werne, Ferd., objects of natural history collected by, 42 + + —— H., 32 + + Wetzstein, Dr., 552 + + White River, 161 + + Wild, J., travelling companion, 12, 35, 56, 57 + + Wilkinson, Sir G., cited, 29, 93, 108, 112, 244, 266, 271, 282, 435, + 448, 525, 532 + + Wilson, Dr. John, cited, 539 + + Wind, violent, in Chartûm, 191 + + Women, ancient Egyptian, painted yellow, 208 + + Wot Mahemût, 157 + + Writings, sacred, 391 + + + X. + + Xerxes, 279 + + + Z. + + Zachleh, town in Libanon, 336 + + Zahera, village of, 354 + + Zani, on the Nile, 98 + + Zauiet-el-Arrian, Pyramids of, 59, 79 + + —— Meitîn, rock-tombs of, 110 + + Zebedêni, village in Anti-Libanon, 338 + + Zeitieh, the naphtha pits, 289 + + Zerin, in Syria, 335 + + Zûma, village of, 230. + + THE END. + + C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. + + + + +AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BOOKS CONTAINED IN BOHN’S LIBRARIES. + +_Detailed Catalogue, arranged according to the various Libraries, will be +sent on application._ + + +=ADDISON’S Works.= With the Notes of Bishop Hurd, Portrait, and 8 Plates +of Medals and Coins. Edited by H. G. Bohn. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=ÆSCHYLUS, The Dramas of.= Translated into English Verse by Anna +Swanwick. 4th Edition, revised. 5_s._ + +=—— The Tragedies of.= Translated into Prose by T. A. Buckley, B.A. 3_s._ +6_d._ + +=AGASSIZ and GOULD’S Outline of Comparative Physiology.= Enlarged by Dr. +Wright. With 390 Woodcuts. 5_s._ + +=ALFIERI’S Tragedies.= Translated into English Verse by Edgar A. Bowring, +C.B. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=ALLEN’S (Joseph, R.N.) Battles of the British Navy.= Revised Edition, +with 57 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS. History of Rome= during the Reigns of Constantius, +Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens. Translated by Prof. C. D. +Yonge, M.A. 7_s._ 6_d._ + +=ANDERSEN’S Danish Legends and Fairy Tales.= Translated by Caroline +Peachey. With 120 Wood Engravings. 5_s._ + +=ANTONINUS (M. Aurelius), The Thoughts of.= Trans. literally, with Notes +and Introduction by George Long, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. ‘The Argonautica.’= Translated by E. P. Coleridge, +B.A. 5_s._ + +=APPIAN’S Roman History.= Translated by Horace White, M.A., LL.D. With +Maps and Illustrations. 2 vols. 6_s._ each. + +=APULEIUS, The Works.= Comprising the Golden Ass, God of Socrates, +Florida, and Discourse of Magic. 5_s._ + +=ARIOSTO’S Orlando Furioso.= Translated into English Verse by W. S. Rose. +With Portrait, and 24 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=ARISTOPHANES’ Comedies.= Translated by W. J. 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Imp. 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ + +=BACON’S Moral and Historical Works=, including the Essays, Apophthegms, +Wisdom of the Ancients, New Atlantis, Henry VII., Henry VIII., Elizabeth, +Henry Prince of Wales, History of Great Britain, Julius Cæsar, and +Augustus Cæsar. Edited by J. Devey, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=—— Novum Organum and Advancement of Learning.= Edited by J. Devey, M.A. +5_s._ + +=BALLADS AND SONGS of the Peasantry of England.= Edited by Robert Bell. +3_s._ 6_d._ + +=BASS’S Lexicon to the Greek Testament.= 2_s._ + +=BAX’S Manual of the History of Philosophy=, for the use of Students. By +E. Belfort Bax. 5_s._ + +=BEAUMONT and FLETCHER=, their finest Scenes, Lyrics, and other Beauties, +selected from the whole of their works, and edited by Leigh Hunt. 3_s._ +6_d._ + +=BECHSTEIN’S Cage and Chamber Birds=, their Natural History, Habits, +Food, Diseases, and Modes of Capture. Translated, with considerable +additions on Structure, Migration, and Economy, by H. G. Adams. Together +with SWEET BRITISH WARBLERS. With 43 coloured Plates and Woodcut +Illustrations. 5_s._ + +=BECKMANN (J.) History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins.= 4th +edition, revised by W. Francis and J. W. Griffith. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ +each. + +=BEDE’S (Venerable) Ecclesiastical History of England.= Together with the +ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. Edited by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. With Map. 5_s._ + +=BELL (Sir Charles). The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression, as +connected with the Fine Arts.= By Sir Charles Bell, K.H. 7th edition, +revised. 5_s._ + +=BERKELEY (George), Bishop of Cloyne, The Works of.= Edited by George +Sampson. With Biographical Introduction by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, +M.P. 3 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=BION.= _See_ THEOCRITUS. + +=BJÖRNSON’S Arne and the Fisher Lassie.= Translated by W. H. Low, M.A. +3_s._ 6_d._ + +=BLAIR’S Chronological Tables.= Revised and Enlarged. Comprehending the +Chronology and History of the World, from the Earliest Times to the +Russian Treaty of Peace, April 1856. By J. Willoughby Rosse. Double vol. +10_s._ + +=BLAIR’S Index of Dates.= Comprehending the principal Facts in the +Chronology and History of the World, alphabetically arranged; being a +complete Index to Blair’s Chronological Tables. By J. W. Rosse. 2 vols. +5_s._ each. + +=BLEEK, Introduction to the Old Testament.= By Friedrich Bleek. Edited by +Johann Bleek and Adolf Kamphausen. Translated by G. H. Venables, under +the supervision of the Rev. Canon Venables. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=BOETHIUS’S Consolation of Philosophy.= King Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon +Version of. With a literal English Translation on opposite pages, Notes, +Introduction, and Glossary, by Rev. S. 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With a General Index. + +=—— Speeches on the Impeachment of Warren Hastings=; and Letters. With +Index. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=—— Life.= By Sir J. Prior. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=BURNEY’S Evelina.= By Frances Burney (Mme. D’Arblay). With an +Introduction and Notes by A. R. Ellis. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=—— Cecilia.= With an Introduction and Notes by A. R. Ellis. 2 vols. +3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=BURN (R.) Ancient Rome and its Neighbourhood.= An Illustrated Handbook +to the Ruins in the City and the Campagna, for the use of Travellers. By +Robert Burn, M.A. With numerous Illustrations, Maps, and Plans. 7_s._ +6_d._ + +=BURNS (Robert), Life of.= By J. G. Lockhart, D.C.L. A new and enlarged +Edition. Revised by William Scott Douglas. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=BURTON’S (Robert) Anatomy of Melancholy.= Edited by the Rev. A. R. +Shilleto, M.A. With Introduction by A. H. Bullen, and full Index. 3 vols. +3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=BURTON (Sir R. F.) 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Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A., and Francis Barham. +5_s._ + +=—— Academics=, De Finibus, and Tusculan Questions. By Prof. C. D. Yonge, +M.A. 5_s._ + +=—— Offices; or, Moral Duties.= Cato Major, an Essay on Old Age; Lælius, +an Essay on Friendship; Scipio’s Dream; Paradoxes; Letter to Quintus on +Magistrates. Translated by C. R. Edmonds. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=CORNELIUS NEPOS.=—_See_ JUSTIN. + +=CLARK’S (Hugh) Introduction to Heraldry.= 18th Edition, Revised and +Enlarged by J. R. Planché, Rouge Croix. With nearly 1000 Illustrations. +5_s._ Or with the Illustrations Coloured, 15_s._ + +=CLASSIC TALES=, containing Rasselas, Vicar of Wakefield, Gulliver’s +Travels, and The Sentimental Journey. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=COLERIDGE’S (S. T.) 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Divine Comedy.= Translated by the Rev. H. F. Cary, M.A. 3_s._ +6_d._ + +=——= Translated into English Verse by I. C. Wright, M.A. 3rd Edition, +revised. With Portrait, and 34 Illustrations on Steel, after Flaxman. + +=—— The Inferno.= A Literal Prose Translation, with the Text of the +Original printed on the same page. By John A. Carlyle, M.D. 5_s._ + +=—— The Purgatorio.= A Literal Prose Translation, with the Text printed +on the same page. By W. S. Dugdale. 5_s._ + +=DE COMMINES (Philip), Memoirs of.= Containing the Histories of Louis +XI. and Charles VIII., Kings of France, and Charles the Bold, Duke of +Burgundy. Together with the Scandalous Chronicle, or Secret History +of Louis XI., by Jean de Troyes. Translated by Andrew R. Scoble. With +Portraits. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each. + +=DEFOE’S Novels and Miscellaneous Works.= With Prefaces and Notes, +including those attributed to Sir W. 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A Popular Manual. By J. +Devey. 5_s._ + +=DICTIONARY of Latin and Greek Quotations=; including Proverbs, Maxims, +Mottoes, Law Terms and Phrases. With all the Quantities marked, and +English Translations. With Index Verborum (622 pages). 5_s._ + +=DICTIONARY of Obsolete and Provincial English.= Compiled by Thomas +Wright, M.A., F.S.A., &c. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=DIDRON’S Christian Iconography=: a History of Christian Art in the +Middle Ages. Translated by E. J. Millington and completed by Margaret +Stokes. With 240 Illustrations. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=DIOGENES LAERTIUS. Lives and Opinions of the Ancient Philosophers.= +Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 5_s._ + +=DOBREE’S Adversaria.= Edited by the late Prof. Wagner. 2 vols. 5_s._ +each. + +=DODD’S Epigrammatists.= A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of +Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times. By the Rev. 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New and revised Edition by C. F. Keary, M.A., F.S.A. 6_s._ + +=HENRY OF HUNTINGDON’S History of the English.= Translated by T. +Forester, M.A. 5_s._ + +=HENRY’S (Matthew) Exposition of the Book of the Psalms.= 5_s._ + +=HELIODORUS. Theagenes and Chariclea.=—_See_ GREEK ROMANCES. + +=HERODOTUS.= Translated by the Rev. Henry Cary, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=—— Notes on.= Original and Selected from the best Commentators. By D. W. +Turner, M.A. With Coloured Map. 5_s._ + +=—— Analysis and Summary of.= By J. T. Wheeler. 5_s._ + +=HESIOD, CALLIMACHUS, and THEOGNIS.= Translated by the Rev. J. Banks, +M.A. 5_s._ + +=HOFFMANN’S (E. T. A.) The Serapion Brethren.= Translated from the German +by Lt.-Col. Alex. 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Hamilton Bryce, LL.D. +3_s._ 6_d._ + +=HUGO’S (Victor) Dramatic Works.= Hernani—Ruy Blas—The King’s Diversion. +Translated by Mrs. Newton Crosland and F. L. Slous. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=—— Poems=, chiefly Lyrical. Translated by various Writers, now first +collected by J. H. L. Williams. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=HUMBOLDT’S Cosmos.= Translated by E. C. Otté, B. H. Paul, and W. S. +Dallas, F.L.S. 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each, excepting Vol. V. 5_s._ + +=—— Personal Narrative= of his Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of +America during the years 1799-1804. Translated by T. Ross. 3 vols. 5_s._ +each. + +=—— Views of Nature.= Translated by E. C. Otté and H. G. Bohn. 5_s._ + +=HUMPHREYS’ Coin Collectors’ Manual.= By H. N. Humphreys. With upwards of +140 Illustrations on Wood and Steel. 2 vols. 5_s._ each. + +=HUNGARY=: its History and Revolution, together with a copious Memoir of +Kossuth. 3_s._ 6_d._ + +=HUTCHINSON (Colonel). 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Such books as have +heretofore been produced have almost invariably been of a character too +scientific and technical to be of much use to the general public. The +series now being issued is intended to obviate this defect, and when +completed will form a description, both historical and actual, of the +Royal Navy, which will not only be of use to the professional student, +but also be of interest to all who are concerned in the maintenance and +efficiency of the Navy.’—_Broad Arrow._ + +‘The series of naval handbooks edited by Commander Robinson has made a +most hopeful beginning, and may be counted upon to supply the growing +popular demand for information in regard to the Navy, on which the +national existence depends.’—_Times._ + +‘Messrs. Bell’s series of “Royal Navy Handbooks” promises to be a very +successful enterprise. 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Skeat, M.A. 2 vols. + +=Chaucer.= Edited by Dr. R. Morris, with Memoir by Sir H. Nicolas. 6 vols. + +=Churchill.= Edited by Jas. Hannay. 2 vols. + +*=Coleridge.= Edited by T. Ashe, B.A. 2 vols. + +=Collins.= Edited by W. Moy Thomas. + +=Cowper.= Edited by John Bruce, F.S.A. 3 vols. + +=Dryden.= Edited by the Rev. R. Hooper, M.A. 5 vols. + +=Falconer.= Edited by the Rev. J. Mitford. + +=Goldsmith.= Revised Edition by Austin Dobson. With Portrait. + +*=Gray.= Edited by J. Bradshaw, LL.D. + +=Herbert.= Edited by the Rev. A. B. Grosart. + +*=Herrick.= Edited by George Saintsbury. 2 vols. + +*=Keats.= Edited by the late Lord Houghton. + +=Kirke White.= Edited, with a Memoir, by Sir H. Nicolas. + +=Milton.= Edited by Dr. Bradshaw. 2 vols. + +=Parnell.= Edited by G. A. Aitken. + +=Pope.= Edited by G. R. Dennis. With Memoir by John Dennis. 3 vols. + +=Prior.= Edited by R. B. Johnson. 2 vols. + +=Raleigh and Wotton.= With Selections from the Writings of other COURTLY +POETS from 1540 to 1650. 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George Bell & Sons.’—_St. James’s Gazette._ + + + + +WEBSTER’S INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. + +_2118 Pages. 3500 Illustrations._ + + +PRICES: + +Cloth, 1_l._ 11_s._ 6_d._; half calf, 2_l._ 2_s._; half russia, 2_l._ +5_s._; full calf, 2_l._ 8_s._; full russia, 2_l._ 12_s._; half morocco, +with Patent Marginal Index, 2_l._ 8_s._; full calf, with Marginal Index, +2_l._ 12_s._ Also bound in 2 vols., cloth, 1_l._ 14_s._; half calf, 2_l._ +12_s._; half russia, 2_l._ 18_s._; full calf, 3_l._ 3_s._; full russia, +3_l._ 15_s._ + +The Appendices comprise a Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World, +Vocabularies of Scripture, Greek, Latin, and English Proper Names, a +Dictionary of the Noted Names of Fiction, a Brief History of the English +Language, a Dictionary of Foreign Quotations, Words, Phrases, Proverbs, +&c., a Biographical Dictionary with 10,000 names, &c., &c. + + ‘We believe that, all things considered, this will be found to + be the best existing English dictionary in one volume. We do not + know of any work similar in size and price which can approach + it in completeness of a vocabulary, variety of information, and + general usefulness.’—_Guardian._ + + ‘The most comprehensive and the most useful of its + kind.’—_National Observer._ + + ‘We recommend the New Webster to every man of business, every + father of a family, every teacher, and almost every student—to + everybody, in fact, who is likely to be posed at an unfamiliar or + half-understood word or phrase.’—_St. James’s Gazette._ + +_Prospectuses, with Specimen Pages, on Application._ + +THE ONLY AUTHORISED AND COMPLETE EDITION. + +LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. + +S. & S. 10.99. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78968 *** |