A H ISTO RY - Forgotten Books

A H ISTO RY

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

J AMES HENRY.BREASTED, PHD .

PROFESSOR O F EGYPTOLOGY‘

AND O RIENTAL HISTORY IN THE

UNIV ERSITY O F CHICAGO ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER O F

THE ROYAL ACADEMY O F SCIENCES O F BERLIN

WITH F O UR MAPS AND TH REE PLANS

NEW Y O RK

CHARLES SCR IBNER ’

S SO NS

1908

7 I908

ran-4m m a y

00 FY B.

Cop yright 1905 , 1908

BY CHARLES SCRIBNER ’S SONS

Published May . 1908

‘(Ilibe 919m m ); of

MY FATHERIN REVERENCE AND GRATITUDE

PR EFA CE

As works on the early Orient multiply, it becomesmore and more easy to produce such books at secondand third hand

,which are thus separated by a long

remove from the original monuments forming ourprimary sources of knowledge . As the use of this volume is in a measure conditioned by the method whichproduced it

,may the author state that it is based di

rectly and immediately upon the monuments , and inmost cases upon the original monuments , rather thanupon any published edition of the same ? For this purpose the historical monuments still standing in Egypt,or installed in the museums of Europe (the latter in toto) , were copied or collated by the author anew ad hoc

and rendered into English (see infra ,p . 4 4 5, B . Trans

lations, BAR) . Upon this complete version the presentvolume rests . Those students who desire to consultthe sources upon which any given fact is based, are re

ferred to this English corpus . A full bibliography of

each original monument,if desired

,will also be found

there , and hence no references to such technical bibliography will be found herein , thus freeing the readerfrom a mass of workshop debris

,to which, however,

he can easily refer,if he desires it .

While this volume is largely a condensation andabridgement of the author’ s longer history, he has en

vi ii PREFACE

deavoured to conf orm it'

to the design of this historicalseries and to make it as.far as possible a history of theEgyptian peop le. At the same time the remarkablerecent discoveries and the progress of research madesince the appearance of his larger history have beenfully incorporated . The discovery of the Hittite capitalat Boghaz- KOi In Asia Minor

,with numerous cuneiform

records of this remarkablepeople , and elsewhere theevidence that they conquered Babylonia temporarily Inthe eighteenth century B . C .

, form the most remarkableof the new facts recently recovered .

* The new- foundevidence that the first and third dynasties of Babylonwere contemporaneous with the second , has also settledthe problem

,whether the civilization of the Nile or of the

Euphrates 15 older, In favour of Egypt, where the formation of a homogeneous , united state , embracing thewhole country under the successive dynasties , is over athousand years older than in Babylonia . We possess nomonument of Babylonia , as Eduard Meyer recentlyremarked to the author

,Older than 3000 B . C . The

author’ s journey through Sudanese Nubia during thewinter of 1906—07 cleared his mind of a number of misconceptions of that country, especially economically,while it also recovered the lost city of Gem- Aton , anddisposed of the impossible though current view that theEgyptian conquest was extended southward im m edi

ately after the fall of the Middle Kingdom . Those familiar with the other history will also welcome the improved maps redrawn for this volumeOn the never- settled question of a pronounceable,*This bookwas p ga ed in October, 1907 , but as the proof was

unhappily lost for three m onths in transport to Europe, the re

sul ts of the second cam paign (sum m er of 1907 ) at Boghaz- Koi,

which appeared in Decem ber , 1907 , could not be em ployed indetail as they m ight otherwise have be .en

PREFACE ix

that is vocalized , form of Egyptian proper names,

which are written in hieroglyphic without vowels, I mustrefer the reader to the remarks in the preface of my Ancient Records (Vol . I. , pp . xiv. fl ) . It is hoped that theindex has made them pronounceable . As to the au

thor’s indebtedness to others in the preparation of thisvolume

,he may also refer to hl S acknowledgments in

the same preface,as well as in that of his larger history

— acknowledgments which are equally true of thisbriefer work. He would also express his appreciationof the patience shown him by both editor and publisher, who have waited long for the manuscript of thisbook

,delayed as it has been by distant travels and

heavy tasks,and the fact that the mass of the material

collected proved too large to condense at once into thisvolume

,thus resulting in the production of the larger

history first . Even so , the present volume is larger thanits fellows in the series

,and the author greatly appre

ciates the indulgence of the publishers in this respect.In conclusion

,to the student of the Old Testament, by

whom it will be chiefly used , the author would expressthe hope that the little book may contribute somewhattoward a wider recognition of the fact, that the rise anddevelopment

,the culture and career, of the Hebrew

nation were as vitally conditioned and as deeply influ

enced by surrounding civilizations , as modern historicalscience has shown to be the fact with every other people, ancient or modern .

J AMES HENRY BREASTED .

BORDIGHERA, ITALY, March 2 , 1908 .

C O NT ENT S

PART I

INTRODUCTION

I . THE LAND OF THE EGYPTIANSII . PRELIMINARY SURVEY, CHRONOLOGY AND DOCU

MENTARY SOURCESIII . EARLIEST EGYPT

PART IITHE OLD KINGDOM

EARLY RELIGIONTHE O LD KINGDOM : GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY,

INDUSTRY AND ART

THE‘

PYRAMID BUILDERSTHE SIXTH DYNASTY : THE DECLINE OF THE O LD

KINGDOM

PART III

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM : THE FEUDAL AGEVIII . THE DECLINE OF THE NORTH AND THE RISE OF

THEBEs

IX . THE MIDDLE KINGDOM OR THE FEUDAL AGESTATE

,SOCIETY AND RELIGION

THE TWELFTH DYNASTY

xii CONTENTS

PART IV

THE HYKSOS : THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE

XI . THE FALL OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM . THE

HYKSOSXII . THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS AND THE TRI

XVI .

UMPH OF THEBES

PART V

THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

THE NEW STATE : SOCIETY AND RELIGIONTHE CONSOLIDATION OF THE KINGDOM ; THE

RISE OF THE EMPIRETHE FEUD OF THE THUTMO SIDS AND THE REIGNOF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE EMPIRE : THE WARSOF THUTMOSE III .

THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHTTHE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION OF IKHNATONTHE FALL OF IKHNATON AND THE DISSOLUTIONOF THE EMPIRE .

PART VI

THE EMPIRE : SECOND PERIOD

THE TRIUMPH OF AMON AND THE REORGANIZATION OF THE EMPIRE

THE WARS OF RAMSES II .

‘

THE EMPIRE OF RAMSES II .

THE FINAL DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE : MERNEPTAH AND RAMSES III .

PAGE

CONTENTS xiiiPART VII

THE DECADENCE OF ANCIENT EGYPTPAGE

XXIV. THE FALL OF THE EMPIREXXV . PRIESTS AND MERCENARIES : THE SUPREMACY OF

THE LIBYANSXXVI . THE ETHIOPIAN SUPREMACY AND THE TRIUMPH

OF ASSYRIA

PART VIIITHE RESTORATION AND THE END

XXVII . THE RESTORATION 387

XXVIII . THE FINAL STRUGGLES : BABYLON AND PERSIA 4 04

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 4 19

NOTES ON RECENT DISCOVERIES 4 39

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY (INCLUDING ABBREVIATIONS) 4 4 4

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTS 4 55

MAPS AND PLANSFACING PAGE

MAP I . EGYPT AND THE ANCIENT WORLDMAP II . THE ASIATIC EMPIRE OF EGYPTMAP III . THEBES AND ITS ANCIENT BUILDINGSPLAN IV . THE TEMPLES OF KARNAKTHE BATTLE OF KADESH, FIRST STAGETHE BATTLE OF KADESH, SECOND STAGEMAP V . GENERAL MAP OF EGYPT AND NUBIA .

PART I

INTRODUCTION

THE LAND OF THE EGYPTIANS

1 . THE roots of modern civilization are plantedd eeply in the highly elaborate life of those nationswhich rose into power o ver six thousand years ago , inthe basin of the e astern Mediterranean , and the ad

jacent regions on the east of it . Had the Euphratesfinally found its way into the Mediterranean , towardwhich

,indeed , it seems to have started, both the early

civilizations,to which we refer

,might then have been

included in the Mediterranean basin . As it is, thescene of early oriental history does hot fall entirelywithin that basin, but must be designated as the eastern Mediterranean region . It lies in the midst of thevast desert plateau , which, beginning at the Atlantic;extends eastward across the entire northern end ofAfrica, and continuing beyond the depression of theRed Sea, passes northeastward, with some interruptions, far into the heart of Asia . Approaching it, theone from the south and the other from the north, twogreat river valleys traverse this desert ; in Asia, theTigro - Euphrates valley ; in Africa that of the Nile . Itis in these two valleys that the career of man may bet raced from the rise of European civilization back to aremoter age than anywhere else on earth ; and it isf rom these two cradles of the human race that the influences which emanated from their highly developed

3

4 INTRODUCTION

but differing cultures , can now be more aclearly traced as we discern '

them converging theearly civilization of Asia Minor and southern Europe.2. The Nile, which created the valley home of theearly Egyptians, rises three degrees south of the equator

,and flowing into the Mediterranean at over thirty

One and a half degrees north latitude,it attains a length

of some four thousand miles and vies with the greatestrivers of the world in length , if not in volume . In its

upper course the river, emerging from the lakes ofequatorial Africa , is known as the White Nile. Justsouth of north latitude sixteen at Khartum, aboutthirteen hundred and fifty miles from the sea, it receives from the east an affluent known as the BlueNile

,which is a considerable mountain torrent, rising

in the lofty highlands of Abyssinia . One hundred andforty miles below the union of the -two Niles the streamis joined by its only other tributary, the Atbara, whichis a freshet not unlike the “Blue Nile. It is at Khartum

, O r just below it, that the river enters the table

land of Nubian sandstone, underlying the Great Sahara . Here it winds on its tortuous course betweenthe desert hills

,where it returns upon itself, often

flowing due south,until after it has finally pushed ‘

through to the north, its course describes a vast S .

3 . In six different places throughout thi s region thecurrent has hitherto failed to erode a perfect channelthrough the stubborn stone

,and these extended inter

ruptions, where the rocks are piled in scattered and;irregular masses in the stream, are known as the cataracts of the Nile ; although there is no gress and sudden fall such as that of our cataract at Niagara. Theserocks interfere with navigation most seriously in the

region of the second and fourth cataracts ; otherwise

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THE LAND O F THEEGYPTIANS 5

the river is navigable almost throughout its entirecourse. At Elephantine it passes the granite barrierwhich there thrusts up its rough shoulder, forming thefirst cataract, and thence emerges

.

upon an unob

structed course to the sea.

4 . It is the valley below the first cataract which constituted Egypt proper. The reason for the changewhich here gives the river a free course is the disappearance of the sandstone, sixty- eight miles belowthecataract, at Edfu , where the ,

nummulitic limestonewhich forms the northern desert plateau, Off ers thestream an easier task in the erosion of its bed . It hasthus produced a vast cati on or trench cut across theeastern end of the Sahara to the northern sea . Fromcliff to clifl’

, the valley varies in width, from ten ortwelve, to some thirtyone miles . The floor of thecanon 18 covered with black, alluvial deposits, throughwhich the river winds northward . It cuts a deepchannel through the alluvium, flowing with a speed ofabout three miles an hour ; in width it only twice attains a maximum of eleven hundred yards . On thewest the Bahr Yusuf a second

,minor channel some

two hundred miles long, leaves the main stream nearSiut and flows into the Fayum

'

. In antiquity it flowedthence into a canal known as the “North,

” whichpassed northward west of Memphis and reached thesea by the site of later Alexandria (BAR , iv 224 , l . 8,note). A little over a hundred miles from the sea themain stream enters the broad triangle , with apex atthe south, which the Greeks so graphically called the“Delta . This is of course a bay

‘

of prehistoric ages,which has been gradually filled up by the river. Thestream once divided at this point and reached the seathrough seven mouths, but in modern times there are

6 INTRODUCTION

but two main branches, straggling through the Deltaand piercing the coast- line on either side of the middle . The western branch is called the Rosetta mouththe eastern that of Damiette .5. The depOsits which have formed the Delta, are

very deep, and have slowly risen over the sites of themany ancient cities which once flourished there. The

old swamps which once must have rendered the regionsof the northern Delta a vast morass

,have been gradu

ally filled up , and the fringe of marshes pushed furtherout. They undoubtedly occupied in antiquity a muchlarger proportion of the Delta than they do now. Inthe valley above

,the depth of the soil varies from thirty

three to thirty- eight feet, and sometimes reaches amaximum of ten miles in width .

‘The cultivable areathus formed, between the cataract and the sea, is lessthan ten thousand square miles in extent

,being roughly

equal to the area of the state of Maryland,or about

ten per cent. less than that Of Belgium. The cliffs oneither hand are usually but a few hundred feet inheight, but here and there they rise into almost mountains of a thousand feet . They are of course flankedby the deserts through which the Nile has cut its way.

On the west the Libyan Desert or the great Sahararolls in illimitable, desolate hills of sand , gravel androck

,from six hundred and fifty to a thousand feet

above the Nile. Its otherwise waterless expanse isbroken only by an irregular line of oases, or watereddepressions , roughly parallel with the river and doubtless owing their springs and wells to infiltrationof theNile waters . The largest of these depressions is situaated so close to the valley that the rock wall which onceseparated them has broken down , producing the fertileFayum, watered by the Bahr Yusuf. Otherwise the

THE LAND OF THE EGYPTIANS 7

western desert held no economic resources for the useO f the early Nile- dwellers . The eastern or ArabianDesert is somewhat less inhospitable, and capable of

y ielding a scanty subsistence to wandering tribes of

Ababdeh . Deposits of alabaster and extensive massesO f various fine, hard igneous rocks led to the exploitat ion of quarries here also , while the Red Sea harbourscould of Course be reached only by traversing thisdesert, through which established routes thither wereearly traced . Further north similar mineral resourcesled to an acquaintance with the peninsula of Sinai andits desert regions, at a very remote date .

6 . The situation afforded by this narrow valley wasone of unusual isolation ; on either hand vast desertwastes

,on the north the harbourless coast- line of the

Delta,and on the south the rocky barriers of successive

cataracts , preventing fusion with the peoples of innerAfrica . It was chiefly at the two northern corners ofthe Delta, that outside influences and foreign elementswhich were always sifting into the Nile valley

,gained

access to the country. Through the eastern corner itwas the prehistoric Semitic population of neighbouringAsia, who forced their way in across the dangerousintervening deserts; while the Libyan races , of possibly Europ ean origin , found entrance at the westerncorner. The products of the south also , in spite of

the cataracts, filtered in ever increasing volume intothe regions of the lower river and the lower end of thefirst cataract became a trading post

,ever after known

as Suan ”

(As suan) or“market,

” where the negrotraders of the south met those of Egypt. The upperNile thus gradually became a regular avenue of commerce with the Sudan . The

‘ natural boundaries ofEgypt

,however

,always presented sufficiently efl

’ective

8 INTRODUCTION

barriers to would- be invaders, to enable the nativesslowly to assimilate the newcomers, without beingdisplaced .

7 . It will be evident that the remarkable shape of

the country must powerfully influence its political developm ent. Except in the Delta it was but a narrowline, some seven hundred and fifty miles long. Straggling its ' slender length along the river, and sprawlingout into the Delta, it totally lacked the compactnessnecessary to stable political organization . A givenlocality has neighbours on only two sides, north andsouth, and these their shortest boundaries ; local feelingwas strong, local differences were persistent, and aman of the Delta could hardly understand the speechof a man of the first cataract region . It “was only theease of communication aff orded by the river which inany degree neutralized the effect of the country’ s remarkable length .

8 . The wealth of commerce which the river servedto carry, it was equally instrumental in producing.

While the climate of the country is not rainless, yet therare showers of the south, often separated by intervalsof years, and even the more frequent rains of the Delta,are totally insuflicient to maintain the processes of

agricuPcure. The marvellous productivity of the Egyptian soil is due to the annual inundation of the river ,which is caused by the melting of the snows, and by theSpring rains at the sources of the Blue Nile . Freightedwith the rich loam of the Abyssinian highlands, therushing waters of the spring freshet hurry down theNubian valley, and a slight rise is discernible at thefirst cataract in the early part of June. The floodswells rapidly and steadily

,and although the increase

is usually interrupted for nearly a month from the end


10 INTRODUCTION

soil , and almost unfailing waters for its refreshment,the wealth of Egypt could not but be chi efly agricul

tural , a fact to which we shall Often recur. Suchopulent fertility of course supported a large populat ion— in Roman times some seven million souls (Diodorus I, 31)— while in our own day it maintains overn ine million , a density of population far surpassingthat to be found anywhere in Europe . The othernatural resources of the valley we shall be better ableto trace as we follow their exploitation in the course ofthe historical , development.10. In climate Egypt is a veritable paradise, drawing

to its shores at the present day an ever increasingnumber of winter guests . The air of Egypt is essentially that

’

of the deserts within which it lies, and suchis its purity and dryness that even an excessive degreeof heat occasions but slight discomfort, owing to thefact that the moisture Of the body is dried up almostas fast as it is exhaled . The mean temperature of theDelta in winter is 56° Fahrenheit and in the valleyabove it is ten degrees higher. In summer the meanin the Delta IS and although the summ er tem

perature in the valley is sometimes as high as theair is far from the oppressiveness accompanying thesame degree of heat in other lands . The nights even insummer are always cool, and the vast expanses ofvegetation appreciably reduce the temperature. In winterjust before dawn the extreme cold is “surprising, ascontrasted with the genial warmth of mid- day at thesame season . To the absence of rain we have alreadyadverted. The rare

,

showers of upper Egypt occuronly when cyclonic disturbances in the southernMediterranean or northern Sahara force undischargedclouds into the Nile valley from the west ; from the

THE LAND OF THE‘

EGYPTIANS 11

east they cannot reach the valley , owing to the highmountain ridge along the Red Sea, which forces themupward and discharges them . The lower Delta, however, falls within the zone of the northern rainy season .

In spite Of the wide extent of marshy ground , left stagnating by the inundation , the dry airs of the desert,[blowing constantly across the valley

,quickly dry the

soil,and there is never any malarial infection in upper

Egypt. Even in the vast morass of the Delta,malariais practically unknown . Thus, lying just outside of

the tropics, Egyp t enjoyed a mild climate of unsurpassed salubrity, devoid of the harshness of a northernwinter

,but at the same time sufficiently cool to escape

those enervating influences inherent in tropical conditions .1 1 . The prospect of this contracted valley spread out

before the Nile dweller,was in antiquity

,as it is to - day

somewhat monotonous . The level Nile bottoms, thegift of the river

,clad in rich green

,shut in on either

hand by the yellow cliffs,are unrelieved by any eleva

tions or by any forests,save the occasional groves of

graceful palms,which fringe the river banks or shade

the villages of sombre mud huts, with now and then asycamore, a tamarisk or an acacia . A network of

irrigation canals traverses the country in every dircetion like a vast arterial system . The sands of thedesolate wastes which lie behind the canon walls , driftin athwart the cliffs

,and Often invade the green fields

so that one may stand with one foot in the verdure ofthe valley, and the other in the desert sand . Thussharply defined was the Egyptian ’ s world : a deep andnarrow river- valley of unparalleled fertility, windingbetween lifeless deserts, furnishing a remarkable en

vironm ent, not to be found elsewhere in all the world .

12 INTRODUCTION

Such surroundings reacted powerfully upon the mindand thought of the Egyptian , conditioning and determining his idea O f the world and his notion of themysterious powers which ruled it .12. Such was in brief the scene in which developed

the people of the Nile, whose culture dominated thebasin of the eastern Mediterranean in the age whenEurope was emerging into the secondary stages ofcivilization , and coming into intimate con tact with theculture of the early east . Nowhere on earth have thewitnesses of a great, but now extinct civilization , beenso plentifully preserved as along the banks of the Nile.Even in the Delta, where the storms of war beat morefiercely than in the valley above, and where the slowaccumulations from the yearly flood have graduallyentombed them, the splendid cities of the Pharaohshave left great stretches cumbered with enormousblocks of granite, limestone and sandstone, shatteredObelisks

,and massive pylon bases, to proclaim the

wealth and power of forgotten ages ; while an evergrowing multitude of modern visitors are drawn to theupper valley by the colossal ruins that greet the wondering traveller almost at every bend in the stream .

Nowhere else in the ancient world were such massivestone buildings erected , and nowhere else has a dryatmosphere

,coupled with an almost complete absence

of rain,permitted the survival of such a wealth of the

best and highest in the life of an ancient people, in so faras that lif e found expression in material form . In theplenitude of its splendour, much of it thus survivedinto the classic age of European civilization , and henceit was

,that as Egypt was gradually overpowered and

absorbed by the western world; the currents of lifefrom west and east commingled here, as they have

THE LAND OF THE EGYPTIANS 13

never done elsewhere. Both in the Nile valley andbeyond it, the west thus felt the full impact of Egyptiancivilization for many centuries, and gained from it allthat its manifold culture had to contribute. The careerwhich made Egypt so rich a heritage of alien peoples,and a legacy so valuable to all later ages, we shallendeavour to trace in the ensuing chapters.

PRELIMINARY SURVEY, CHRONOLOGY AND DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

13 . A RAPID survey of the purely external featureswhich serve to demark the great epochs in the career ofthe Nile valley people, will enable us the more intelli

gently to study those epochs in detail, as we meet themin the course of our progress . In such a survey, wesweep our eyes down a period of four thousand yearsO f human history, from a time when the only civilization known in the basin of the Mediterranean is slowlydawning among a primitive people on the shores of theNile. We can cast but a brief glance at the outwardevents which characterized each great period, especially noting how foreign peoples are gradually drawnwithin the circle of Egyptian intercourse from age toage, and reciprocal influences ensue ; until in the thirteenth century B . C . the peoples of southern Europe,long (fi cernible in their material civilization , emergein the written documents of Egypt for the first time inhistory . It was then that the fortunes of the Pharaohsbegan to decline, and as the civilization and power,first of the East and then of classic Europe, slowlyd eveloped, Egypt was finally submerged in the greatworld O f Mediterranean powers , first dominated byPersia, and then by Greece and Rome.14 . The career of the races which peopled the Nile

valley falls into a series of more or less clearly marked14

PRELIMINARY SURVEY 15

epochs,each of which is rooted deeply in that which

preceded it, and itself contains the germs of that whichis to follow. A more or less arbitrary and artificial butconveni ent subdivision of these epochs

,beginning with

the historic age, is furnished by the so - called dynastiesof Manetho . This native historian of Egypt

,a priest

Of Sebennytos, who flourished under Ptolemy I (305285 B . wrote a history of his country In the Greeklanguage. The work has perished , and we only knowit in an epitome by Julius Af ricanus and Eusebius

,and

extracts by Josephus . The value of the work wasslight, as it was built up on folk- tales and populartraditions of the early kings . Manetho divided thelong succession of Pharaohs , as known to him,

intothirty royal houses or dynasties, and although we knowthat many of his divisions are arbitrary, and that therewas many a dynastic change where he indicates none

,

yet his dynasties divide the kings into convenientgroups

,which have so long been employed in modern

study of Egyptian history,that it is now impossible to

dispense with them .

15. Af ter an archaic age of primitive civilization , anda period of small and local kingdoms, the various centres of civilization on the Nile gradually coalesced intotwo kingdoms : one comprising the valley down to theDelta ; and the other made up of the Delta itself. Inthe Delta

,civilization rapidly advanced, and the calen

dar year of 365 days was introduced in 4 24 1 B . C . , theearliest fixed date in the history of the world as knownto us (MC, 38 ff . , BAR ,

I,4 4 A long develop

ment,as the N O Lands

,which left their imprint

forever after on the civilization of later centuries, preceded a united Egypt, which emerged upon our historic horizon at the consolidation of the two kingdoms

16 INTRODUCTION

into one nation under Menes about 34 00 B. C . Hisaccession marks the beginning of the dynasties, and thepreceding, earliest period may be conveniently designated as the predynastic age . In the excavations ofthe last twelve years (since 1895) the predynastic civilization has been gradually revealed in material documents exhibiting the various stages in the slow evolu

tion which at last produced the dynastic culture.16 . A uniform government of the whole country was

the secret of over four centuries of prosperity under thedescendants of Menes at Thinis, near Abydos, close tothe great bend of the Nile below Thebes , and probablyalso at or near later Memphis . The remarkable developm ent of these four centuries in material civilization led to the splendour and power of the first greatepoch of Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom . Theseat of government was at Memphis, where four royalhouses

,the Third

,Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties,

ruled in succession for five hundred years (2980—24 75B . Art and mechanics reached a level of unprecedented excellence never later surpassed, while government and administration had never before been so

highly developed . Foreign enterprise passed far beyond the limi ts of the kingdom ; the mines of Sinai,already operated in the First Dynasty, were vigourouslyexploited ; trade in Egyptian bottoms reached the coastof Phoenicia and the Islands of the North

,while in the

South, the Pharaoh’ s fleets penetrated to the Somali

coast (Punt) on the Red Sea ; and in Nubia'

his envoyswere strong enough to exercise a loose sovereignty overthe lower country, and by tireless expeditions to keepopen the trade routes leading to the Sudan. In theSixth Dynasty (2625—24 75 B . C.) the local governors ofthe central administration , who had already gained


18 INTRODUCTION

usurped the throne . For’

over two hundred years

(2000—1788 B . C . ) this powerful line of kings ruled a

feudal state . This feudal age is the classic period of

Egyptian history. Literature flourished,the orthog

raphy of the language was for the first time regulated,

poetry had already reached a highly artistic structure,the earliest known literature of entertainment was produced, sculpture and architecture were rich and prolific, and the industrial arts surpassed all previousattainments . The internal resources of the countrywere elaborately developed , especially by close attention to the Nile and the inundation . Enormoushydraulic works reclaimed large tracts of cultivabledomain in the Fayum , in the vicinity Of whi ch the kingsof the Twelfth Dynasty, the Am enem hets and the

Sesostrises, lived. Abroad the exploitation of the

mines in Sinai ' was now carried on by the constantlabour of permanent colonies there, with temples, fortifications and reservoirs for the water supply. A

plundering campaign was carried into Syria, trade andintercourse with its Semitic tribes were constant, and

an interchange of commoditieswith the early Mycenaeancentres of civilization in the northern Mediterraneanis evident. Traffic with Punt and the southern coastsof the Red Sea continued, while in Nubia the countrybetwem the first and second cataracts, loosely controlled In the Sixth Dynasty, was now conquered and

held tributary by the Pharaoh, so that the gold mineson the east of it were a constant resource of his treasury.

19 . The fall of the Twelfth Dynasty in 1788 B. C .

Was followed by a second period Of disorganization andobscurity

,as the feudatories struggled for the crown .

Af ter possibly a century of such internal conflict thecountry was entered and appropriated by a l I?


rulers from Asia, who had seemingly already gained awide dominion there. These foreign usurpers

,now

known as the Hyksos, after Manetho’ s designation of

them, maintained themselves for perhaps a century.

Their residence was at Avaris in the eastern Delta,

and at least during the later part of their supremacy,

the Egyptian nobles of the South succeeded in gainingmore or less independence . Finally the head of aTheban family boldly proclaimed himself king, and inthe course of some years these Theban princes succeeded in expelling the Hyksos from the country

,and

driving them back from the Asiatic frontier into Syria.

20. It was under the Hyksos and in the struggle withthem that the conservatism of millennia was brokenup in the Nile valley. The Egyptians learned aggres

s ive war for the first time, and introduced a well or

ganized military system, including chariotry , whi ch theimportation of the horse by the Hyksos now enabledthem to do . Egypt was transformed into a m ilitaryempire. In the struggle with the Hyksos and witheach other, the old feudal families perished, or wereabsorbed among the partisans of the dominant Thebanfamily, from which the imperial line sprang. The

great Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty thus became emperors, conquering and ruling from northernSyria and the upper Euphrates, to the fourth cataracto f the Nile on the south. Amid unprecedented wealthand splendour, they ruled their vast dominions, whichthey gradually welded together into a fairly stableempire, the first known in the early world . Thebes

grew into a great metropolis, the earliest monumentalc ity. Extensive trade relations with the East and theMediterranean world developed ; Mycenaean productswere common in Egypt, and Egyptian influences are

20 INTRODUCTION

clearly discernible in Mycenaean art. For two hundredand thirty years (1580—1350 B . C . ) the Empire flour

ished, but was wrecked at last by a combination of

adverse influences both within and without . A religious revolution by the young and gifted king Ikhnaton,caused an internal convulsion such as the country hadnever before experienced ; while the empire in thenorth gradually disintegrated under the aggressions ofthe Hittites, who pushed in from Asia Minor. At thesame time in both the northern and southern Asiaticdominions of the Pharaoh, an overflow of Beduin immigration , among which were undoubtedly some of thetribes who later coalesced with the Israelites, aggravatedthe danger, and together with the persistent advance ofthe Hittites, finally resulted in the complete dissolutionof the Asiatic empire of Egypt, down to the very frontierOf the northeastern Delta. Meanwhile the internaldisorders had caused the fall of the Eighteenth Dynasty

,an event which terminated the first Period of

the Empire (1350 B .

21 . Harm hab, one of the able commanders underthe fallen dynasty

,survived the crisis and finally seized

the throne . Under his vigorous rule the disorganizednation was gradually restored to order, and his successors of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1350—1205 B. C . ) wereable td begin the recovery of the lost empire in As ia.

But the Hittites were too firmly entrenched in Syriato yield to the Egyptian onset . The assaults of Seti I,and half a generation of pers1stent campaigning underRamses 11, failed to push the northern frontier of theEmpire far beyond the limits of Palestine . Here itremained and Syria was never permanently recovered .

Semitic influences now powerfully affected Egypt . Atthis juncture the peoples of southern Europe emerge


for the first time upon the arena of orIental history andtogether with Libyan hordes, threaten to overwhelmthe Delta from the west . They were neverthelessbeaten back by Merneptah. After another period ofinternal confusion and usurpation , during which theNineteenth Dynasty fell (1205 B . Ramses III,

whose father, Setnakht founded the Twentieth Dynasty (1200—1090 B . was

'

able to maintain theEmpire at the same limits , against the invasions of

restless northern tribes,who crushed the Hittite power ;

and also against repeated immigrations of the Libyans .With his death (1167 B . C .) the Empire, with the exception of Nubia , which was still held , rapidly fell topieces . Thus, about the middle of the twelfth centuryB . C . the Second Period of the imperial age closed withthe total dissolution of the Asiatic dominions .22. Under a series of weak Ramessids, the countryrapidly declined and fell a prey first to the powerfulhigh priests of Am on , who were obliged almost immediately to yield to stronger Ramessid rivals in the Deltaat Tanis, forming the Twenty- First Dynasty (109094 5 B . By the middle of the tenth century B . C .

the mercenary chiefs, whose followers had formed thearmies of the second imperial period, had foundedpowerful families in the Delta cities

,and among these

the Libyans were now supreme. Sheshonk I, aLibyan mercenary commander

, gained the throne as

the founder of the Twenty- second Dynasty in 94 5 B . C.

and.

the country enjoyed transient prosperity, whileSheshonk even attempted the recovery of Palestine .But the family was unable to control the turbulentmercenary lords

,now established as dynasts in the

larger Delta towns , and the country gradually relapsedinto a series O f military principalities in constant war

22 INTRODUCTION

fare with each other. Through the entire Libyanperiod of the Twenty- second, Twenty- third andTwenty - fourth Dynasties (94 5—7 12 B . C .) the un

happy nation groaned under such misrule, constantlysuffering economic deterioration .

23 . Nubia had now detached itself and a dynasty ofkings , probably of Theban origin had arisen at Napata,below the Fourth Cataract. These Egyptian rulers ofthe new Nubian kingdom now invaded Egypt, andalthough residing at Napata, maintained their sovereignty in Egypt with varying fortune for two generations B. But they were unable to suppress and exterminate the local dynasts , who ruled on,

while acknowledging the suzerainty of the Nubianoverlord . It was in the midst of these conflicts betweenthe Nubian dynasty and the mercenary lords of LowerEgypt, that the Assyrians finally entered the Delta,subdued the country and placed it under tribute (670660 B . At this juncture Psam tik I , an abledynast of Sais, in the western Delta, finally succeededin overthrowing his rivals, expelled the Ninevite garrisons, and as

‘

the Nubians had already been forcedout of the country by the Assyrians , he was able tofound a powerful dynasty, and usher in theRestoration .

His mcession fell in 663 B . C. , and the entire period ofnearly five hundred years from the final dissolution of

the Empire about 1150 to the dawn of the Restorationin 663 B. C. ,

may be conveniently designated theDecadence. After 1 100 B . C . the Decadence may beconveniently divided into the Tanite- Am onite Period

(1090—94 5 B . the Libyan Period (94 5- 5 12 B .

the Ethiopian Period (722—663 B . and the AssyrianPeriod

,which is contemporary with the last years of

the Ethiopian Period .


24 . O f the Restoration , like all those epochs in whichthe seat Of power was in the Delta, where almost allm onuments have perished, we learn very little fromnative sources ; and all

'

too little also from Herodotusand later Greek visitors in the Nile valley . It wasoutwardly an age of power and splendour, in whichthe native party endeavoured to restore the old glorieso f the classic age before the Empire ; while the

e

kingsdepending upon Greek mercenaries , were modern

politicians , employing the methods of the new Greekworld , mingling in the world—politics of their age andshowing little sympathy with the archaizing tendency .

But their combinations failed to save Egypt from theambition of Persia, and its history under native dynasties , with unimportant exceptions , was concludedwith the conquest of the country by Cambyses in 525B . C .

25. Such, in mechanical review, were the purelyexternal events which marked the successive epochs ofEgypt’ s history as an independent nation . With theirdates, these epochs may be summarized thus :Introduction of the Calendar

,4 24 1 B . C .

Predynastic Age,before 34 00 B . C .

The Accession of Menes , 34 00 B . C .

The first Two Dynasties, 34 00—2980 B . C .

The Old Kingdom : Dynasties Three to Six,2980

24 75 B . C .

Dynasties Seven and Eight,24 75—24 4 5 B . C .

Eighteen Heracleopolitans,Dynasties Nine and Ten ,

24 4 5—2160 B . C .

The Middle Kingdom : Dynasties Eleven and Twelve2160—1788 B . C .

Internal Conflicts of the Feudator ie 's, 1788—1580

The Hyksos, B . C .

INTRODUCTION

The Empire : First Period, the Eighteenth Dynasty,1580—1350 B . C .

The Empire : Second Period,the Nineteenth and

part of the Twentieth Dynasty, 1350

—1 150 B . C .

Last Two Generations of TwentiethDynasty, about 1 150 to 1090 B . C .

Tanite- Am onite Period,Twenty- first

Dynasty, 1090—94 5 B . C .

Lib an Period, D nasties TwentThe Decadencetv

ffo to TwentySqr

, 94 5—7 12 B .b.

Ethiopian Period, 722— 663 B . C .

(Twenty- fifth Dynasty, 7 12—661

B . C .

Assyrian Supremacy, 670

—660 B . C .

The Restoration,660—525 B . C . (Saite Period,

Twenty- sixth Dynasty, 663—525 .B . C) .Persian Conquest, 525 B . C .

26 . The reader will find at the end of the volume afuller table of reigns . The chronology of the abovetable is obtained by two independent processes : first by“ dead reckoning,

” and second by astronomical calculations based on the Egyptian calendar . By “ deadreckoning” we mean simply the addition of the knownminimum length Of all the kings ’ reigns, and from thetotal thus Obtained

,the simple computation (backward

from a fixed starting point) of the date of the beginningof the series of reigns so added . Employing all thelatest dates from recent discoveries, it is mathematicallycertain that from the accession of the Eighteenth Dynasty to the conquest of the Persians in 525 B . C . the

successive Pharaohs.reigned at least 1052 years in all

(BAR,I,4 7 The Eighteenth Dynasty therefore

began not later than 157 7 B . C . Astronomical calculations (independent of the above dead reckoning), based


26 INTRODUCTION

The reader will have observed that this system of

chronology is based upon the contemporary monuments and lists dating not later than 1200 B . C . Theextremely high dates for the beginning of the dynastiescurrent in some histories are inherited from an oldergeneration of Egyptologists ; and are based upon thechronology of Manetho , a late, careless, and uncriticalcompilation

,the dynastic totals of which can be proven

wrong from the contem porary m onum ents in the vastmajority O f cases , where such m oniIm ents have survived‘

. Its dynastic totals are so absurdly high throughout

,that they are not worthy of a moment ’ s credence,

being Often nearly or quite double the maximum drawnf rom contem porary m onum ents, and they will not standthe slightest careful criticism . Their accuracy is nowmaintained only by a small and constantly decreasingnumber of modern scholars .27 . Like our chronology our knowledge of the early

history of Egypt must be gleaned from the contemporary native monuments (BAR, I, 1

' Monumentalrecords

,even when full and complete are at best but

insufficient sources, affording data for only the meagrestoutlines of great achievements and important epochs .While the material civilization of the country foundadequate expression in magnificent works of the artist,craftSHIan and engineer, the inner life of the nation ,or even the purely external events

‘

Of moment couldfind record only incidentally. Such documents aresharply differentiated from the materials with whichthe historian of E uropean nations deals, except ofcourse in his study of the earliest ages . Extensivecorrespondence between statesmen

,journals and diaries,

state documents and reports— such materials as theseare almost wholly wanting in monumental records.


Imagine writing a history of Greece from the few Greekinscriptions surviving. Moreover, we possess no history of Egypt of sufficiently early date by a nativeEgyptian ; the compilation of puerile folk- tales byManetho, in the third century B . C . is hardly worthyof the name history. But an annalist of the remoteages with which we are to deal , could have had littleconception of what would be important for future agesto know, even if he had undertaken a full chronicle ofhistorical events . Scanty annals were indeed keptfrom the earliest times, but these have entirely perishedwith the exception of two fragments

,the now famous

Palermo Stone (BAR , I, 76—167 ; EH, which oncebore the annals of the earliest dynasties from the

beginning down into the Fifth Dynasty ; and some extracts from the records of Thutmose Il I’

s campaignsin Syria . Of the other monuments of incidental character but the merest fraction has survived . Underthese circumstances we shall probably never be able tooff er more than a sketch of the civilization of the Oldand Middle Kingdoms

,with a hazy outline of the

general drift of events . Under the Empire the available documents, both in quality and quantity, for thefirst time approach the minimum

,which in European

history would be regarded as adequate to a moderatelyfull presentation of the career of the nation . Scores ofportant questions, however, still remain unanswered,

in whatever direction we turn . Nevertheless a roughframe- work of the governmental organization

,the Con

stitution of society, the most important achievementsof the emperors

,and to a limited extent the spirit of

the age, m ay be discerned and sketched in the mainoutlines, even though it is only here and there thatthe sources enable us to fill in the detail . In the De

28 INTRODUCTION

cadence and the Restoratlon, however, the same paucity O f documents, so painfully apparent in the Olderperiods, again leaves the historian with a long seriesof hypotheses and probabilities. For the reserve withwhich the author has constantly treated such periods,he begs the reader to hold the scanty sources responsible

(BAR ,I, 1

EARLIEST EGYPT

28. THE forefathers of the people with whom we

shall have to deal were related to the Libyans or northAfricans on the one hand, and on the other to thepeoples of eastern Africa, now known WSomali, Bega, and other tribes . An invasion of theNile valley by Semitic nomads of Asia, stamped itsessential character unmistakably upon the language ofthe African p eople there . The earliest strata of the

Egyptian language accessible to us, betray clearly thiscomposite origin. While still coloured by its Africanantecedents, the language is in structure Semitic. Itis moreover a completed product as observable in our

earliest preserved examples of it ; but the fusion of theLibyans and east Africans with the Nile valley peoplescontinued far into historic times, and in the case of

the Libyans may be traced in ancient historical documents for three thousand years or more. The Semiticimmigration from Asia

,examples Of which are also

observable in the historic age, occurred in an epochthat lies far below our remotest historical horizon .

We shall never be able to determine when , nor withcertainty through what channels it took place, al

though the most probable route is that along whichwe may observe a s1m11ar influx from the deserts ofArabia in historic times , the isthmus of Suez, by which

29

30 INTRODUCTION3

the Mohammedan invasion entered the country. Whilethe Semitic language which they brought with themleft its indelible impress upon the O ld Nile valley people,the nomadic life of the desert which the invaders leftbehind them evidently was not so persistent, and thereligion of Egypt, that element of life which alwaysreceives the stamp of its environment, shows no traceo f desert life. The aflinities observable in the languageare confirmed in case of the Libyans by the survIVIngp roducts of archaic civilization in the Nile valley, suchas some of the early pottery, which closely resemblesthat still made by the Libyan Kabyles. Again the representations of the early Puntites, or Somali people, onthe Egyptian monuments, Show striking resemblancesto the Egyptians themselves. The examination of thebodies exhumed from archaic burials in the Nile valley,which we had hoped might bring further evidence forthe settlement of the ethnic problem, has, however,p roduced such diversity of opinion among the physicalanthropologists, as to render it impossible for theh istorian to obtain decisive results from their researches.

It has, however, been shown that the prehistoric andthe historic Egyptians as now found in the ancientcemeteries are identical in race.29. As found in the earliest burials to—day, the pre

dynantic Egyptians were a dark- haired people , already

possessed of the rudiments of civilization. The m en

wore a skin over the shoulders, sometimes skin drawers,and again only a short white linen kilt ; while thewomen were clothed in long garments of some textile,p robably linen , reaching from the shoulders to theankles . Statuettes of both sexes without clothingwhatever are, however, very common . Sandals werenot unknown . They occasionally tattooed their bodies,

EARLIEST EGYPT 31

and they also wrought ornaments such as rings, bracelets and pendants of stone, ivory and bone ; with beadsof flint

,quartz, carnelian , agate and the like . The

women dressed their hair with ornamented ivory combsand pins . For the eye and face- paint necessary forthe toilet they had palettes of carved slate on whichthe green colour was ground. They were able to builddwellings of wattle, sometimes smeared with mud , andprobably later of sun - dried brick. In the furnishingof these houses they displayed considerable mechanicalskill, and a rudimentary artistic taste. They ate withivory spoons, sometimes even richly carved with figuresof animals in the round, marching along the handle.Al though the wheel was at first unknown to them,

theyproduced fine pottery of the most varied forms in vastquantities . The museums of Europe and America arenow filled with their polished red and black ware

, or a

variety with incised geometrical designs,sometimes in

basket patterns,while another style of great importance

to us is painted with rude representations of boats,men

,

animals,birds

,fish or trees. While they made no ob

jects of glass, they understood the art of glazing beads,plaques and the like. Crude statuettes in wood, ivory,or stone, represent the beginnings of that plastic art

which was to achieve such triumphs in the early dynastic age ; and three large stone statues of Min, foundby Petrie at Coptos

,display the rude strength of the

predynastic civilization of which we are now speaking.

The art of the prolific potter was obliged to give wayslowly to the artificer in stone, who finally producedexcellent stone vessels, which , on gaining the use of

copper tools,he rapidly improved toward the end of the

predynastic period, when his bowls and jars in thehardest stones

,like the diorites and porphyries, display

32 INTRODUCTION

magnificent work. The most cunningly wrought flintsthat have ever been found among any people belong tothis age. The makers were ultimately able to affixcarved ivory hafts , and with equal skill they put togetherstone and flint axes

,flint- headed fish- spears and the

like . The war mace with pear- shaped head, as foundalso in Babylonia, is characteristic of the age. Side byside with such weapons and implements they also produced and used weapons and implements of copper.It is indeed the age of the slow transition from stone tocopper . Gold, silver and lead , while rare, were in use.30. In the fruitful Nile valley we cannot think of

such a people as other than chiefly agricultural ; andthe fact that they emerge into historical times as agriculturalists, with an ancient religion of vastly remoteprehistoric origin

,whose symbols and outward mani

festations clearly betray the primitive fancies of anagricultural and pastoral people— all this would leadto the same conclusion . In the unsubdued jungles ofthe Nile

, animal life was of course much more plentifulat that time than now ; the elephant, giraff e, hippo

potam us and the strange okapi, which was deified asthe god Set

,wandered through the jungles, though all

these animals were later extinct. These early menwere therefore great hunters

,as well as skilful fisher

mengThey pursued the most formidable game of the

desert,like the lion or the

'

wild ox, with bows andarrows ; and in light boats they attacked the hippo

potam us and the crocodile with harpoons and lances .They commemorated these and like deeds in rude pictures incised on the rocks

,where they are still found

in the Nile valley, covered with a heavy bsown patinaof weathering, such as historic Sculptures never display ;thus showing their vast age.


34 INTRODUCTION

the other comprising the states of the valley above, islikewise a process of which we shall never know thecourse . Of its heroes and its conquerors, its wars andconquests

,not an echo will ever reach us ; nor is there

the slightest indication of the length of time consumedby thi s process . It will hardly have been concluded

,

however,before 4 000 B . C . Our knowledge of the

two kingdoms which emerged at the end of this longprehistoric age is but slightly more satisfactory. TheDelta was , through the historic age, open to inroads ofthe Libyans who dwelt upon the west of it ; and the constant influx of people from this source gave the westernDelta a distinctly Libyan character which it preservedeven down to the time of Herodotus . At the earliest m o

ment, when the monuments reveal the conditions in theDelta, the Pharaoh is contending with the Libyan invaders, and the earlier kingdom of the North will therefore have been strongly Libyan , if indeed it did not oweits origin to this source . Reliefs recently discovered atAbusir show four Libyan Chieftains wearing on theirbrows the royal uraeus serpent of the Pharaohs

,to

whom it therefore descended from some early Libyanking of the Delta . The temple at Sais

,in the western

Delta,the chief centre of Libyan influence in Egypt

bore the name House of the King of Lower Egypt

(the Delta), and the emblem of Ncit, its chief goddesswas tattooed by the Libyans upon their arms. It

(

maytherefore have been an early residence of a Libyanking of the Delta, although the capital of the Northwas traditionally Buto . As its coat of arms or symbolthe Northern Kingdom employed a tuft of papyrusplant, which grew so plentifully in its marshes as tobe distinctive of it. The king himself was designatedby a bee, and wore upon his head a red crown ,

EARLIEST EGYPT 35

both in colour and shape peculiar to his kingdom.

All of these symbols are very common in later hieroglyphic. Red was the distinctive colour of the northern kingdom and its treasury was called the “

Red

House .

”

33 . Unfortunately the Delta is so deeply overlaidwith deposits of Nile mud that the materialof its earliest civilization are buriedreach . That civilization was probably earlier andmore advanced than that of the valley above . Alreadyin the forty- third century B . C . the men of the Deltahad discovered the year of three hundred and sixty- five

days and they introduced a calendar year of this length,beginning on the day when Sirius rose at sunrise, asdetermined in the latitude of the southern Delta, wherethese earliest astronomers lived, in 4 24 1 B . C . (MC ,

38 It is the civilization of the Delta, therfurnishes us with the earliest fixed date inof the world . It was thus also these men of the Deltawho furnished the modern civilized world with itscalendar, which , as they devised it, with twelve thirtyday months and five intercalary feast days; was theonly practical calendar known in antiquity. The yearbegan on that day when Sirius first appeared on theeastern horizon at sunrise (the heliacal rising) , which inour calendar was on the nineteenth of July (Julian) .But as this calendar year was in reality about a quarterOf a day shorter than the solar year

,it therefore gained

a full day every four years,thus slowly revolving on the

astronomical year, passing entirely around it once infourteen hundred and sixty years, only to begin therevolution again . An astronomical event like theheliacal rising of Sirius, when dated in terms of theEgyptian calendar

,may therefore be computed and

36 INTRODUCTION

dated within four years in terms of our reckoning,that

is, in years B . C .

34 . The kingdom of Upper Egypt was more distinctively Egyptian than that of the Delta . It had itscapital at Nekheb, modern El Kab , and its standard orsymbol was a lily plant, while another southern plantserved as the ensign of the king, who was further distinguished by a tall white crown, white being the colourof the Southern Kingdom . Its treasury was thereforeknown as the “White House .” There was a royalresidence across the river from Nekheb, called Nekhen ,

the later Hieraconpolis, while corresponding to it in i

the Northern Kingdom was a suburb of Buto, called Pe.

Each capital had its patroness or protecting goddessButo

,the serpent- goddess, in the North ; and in the

South the vulture - goddess, Nekhbet. But at bothcapitals the hawk- god Horus was worshipped as thedistinctive patron deity of both kings . The people ofthe time believed in a life hereafter, subject to wants ofthe same nature as those of the present life. Theircemeteries are widely distributed along the margin of

the desert in Upper Egypt,and of late years thousands

of interments have been excavated . The tomb is usually a flat- bottomed oval or rectangular pit, in whichthe body

,doubled into the “ contracted or

“ embryOnic ’

i posture, lies on its side. In the earliest burialsit is wrapped in a skin , but later also in woven fabric ;there is no trace of embalmment . Beneath the bodyis frequently a mat of plaited rushes ; it often has inthe hand or at theb reast a

’

slate palette for grindingface- paint

,the green malachite for which lies near in a

small bag. The body is besides accompanied by otherarticles of toilet or of adornment and is surrounded byjars of pottery or stone containing ash or organic

EARLIEST EGYPT 37

matter,the remains of food, drink and ointment for the

deceased in the hereafter. Not only were the toilet ando ther bodily wants of the deceased thus provided for

,

but he was also given his flint weapons or bone- tippedharpoons that he might replenish his larder from the

chase. Clay models of Objects which he might needwere also given him, especially boats . The pits aresometimes roughly roofed over with branches, coveredwith a heap of desert sand and gravel, forming rudimentary tombs , and later they came to be lined withcrude, sun - dried brick . Sometimes a huge

,roughly

hemispherical bowl of pottery was inverted over thebody as it lay in the pit . These burials furnish the solecontemporary material for our study of the predynasticage. The gods of the hereafter were appealed to in

p rayers and magical formulae, which eventually tookconventional and traditional form in writing. A thousand years later in the dy nastic age fragments Of thesemortuary texts are found in use in the pyramids of theFifth and Sixth Dynasties (see pp. 65 Pepi I, aking of the Sixth Dynasty, in his rebuilding of theDendereh temple, claimed to be reproducing a plan ofa sanctuary of the predynastic kings on that spot .Temples of some sort they therefore evidently had.

35. Wh ile they thus early possessed all the rudimentsof material culture, the people of this age developed asystem of writing also . The computations necessaryfor the discovery and use of the calendar show a use ofwriting in the last centuries of the fifth millennium B . C .

It is shown also by the fact that nearly a thousand yearslater the scribes of the Fifth Dynasty were able to copya long list of the kings of the North, and perhaps thoseof the South also (BAR ,

I, 76 while the mortuary

texts to which we have referred will not have survived

38 INTRODUCTION

a thousand years without having been committed towriting in the same way. The hieroglyphs for theNorthern Kingdom,

for its king, and for its treasurycannot have arisen at one stroke with the first king ofthe dynastic age ; but must have been in use longbefore the rise of the First Dynasty ; while the presenceof a cursive linear hand at the beginning of the dynasties is conclusive evidence that the system was notthen a recent innovation .

36 . Of the deeds of these remote kings of the Northand South, who passed away before three thousand fourhundred B . C. , we know nothing. Their tombs havenever been discovered

,a fact which accounts for the

lack of any written monuments . among the contem

porary documents, all of which come from tombs of

the poorer classes, such as contain no writing even inthe dynastic age . Seven names of the kings of theDelta

,like Seka

,Khayu

,or Thesh, alone of all the line

have survived ; but of the Southern Kingdom not evena royal name has descended to us, unless it be that ofthe Scorpion , which, occurring on some few remainsof this early age

,was probably that Of one of the power

ful Chieftains of the South (BAR , I , The scribesOf the Fifth Dynasty who drew up this list of kings ,some eight hundred years after the line had passed

,

.seem to have known only the royal names , andwere unable to

, or at least did not record, any of theirachievements (BAR ,

I,

As a class these kings ofthe North and South were known to their posterity asthe “worshippers of Horus and as ages passed theybecame half- mythic figures

,gradually to be endowed

with semi - divine attributes , until they were regardedas the demi—gods who succeeded the divine dynasties ,the great gods who had ruled Egypt in the beginning

EARLIEST EGYPT 3 9

(SU,III) . Their original character as deceased kings ,

as known to the earlier dynasties , led to their beingconsidered especially as a line of the divine dead whohad ruled over the land before the accession of humankings ; and in the historical work of Manetho theyappear simply as “ the dead . Thus their real historical character was finally completely sublimated , thento merge into unsubstantial myth , and the ancient kingsof the North and the South were worshipped in thecapitals where they had once ruled .

37 . The next step in the long and slow evolution of

national unity was the union of the North and the South .

The tradition which was still current in the days of theGreeks in' Egypt, to the effect that the two kingdomswere united by a 'king named Menes

,is fully confirmed

by the evidence of the early monuments . The figure of»

Menes, but a few years since as vague and elusive asthose of the worshippers of Horus ,

” who preceded him,

has now been clothed with unmistakable reality, andhe at last steps forth into history to head the long lineof Pharaohs who have yet to pass us in review. Itmust have been a skilful warrior and a vigorous administrator, who thus gathered the resources of theSouthern Kingdom so well in “hand that he was ableto invade and conquer the Delta, and thus merge thetwo kingdoms into one nation , completing the longprocess of centralization which had been going on formany centuries . His native city was Thinis, an oh

scure place in the vicinity of Abydos , which was notnear enough to the centre of his new kingdom to serveas his residence, and we can easily credit the narrativeof Herodotus that he built a great dam, diverting thcourse of the Nile above the site of Memphis that hmight gain room there for a city. This stronghold ,

40 INTRODUCTION

perhaps not yet called Memphis, was probably knownas the “White Wall,

”In reference O f course to the

White Kingdom, whose power it represented . If wemay believe the tradition of Herodotus ’ time

,it was

from this place, situated so favourably on the borderbetween the two kingdoms, that Menes probably governed the new nation which he had created . He carriedhis arms also southward against northern Nubia (NGH,

which then extended below the first cataract as far “

northward as the nome of Edfu . According to thetradition of Manetho, he was blessed with a long reign,and the memory of his great achievement was im perisha

able, as we have seen . He was buried in Upper Egypt,

either at Abydos near his native Thinis, or some distance above it near the modern Village of Negadeh,where a large brick tomb

,probably his, still survives .

In it and similar tombs of his successors at Abydoswritten monuments of his reign have been found

, and

even a golden fragment of his royal adornments , bearing his name, which this ancient founder of theEgyptianstate wore upon his per38. The kings of this remote protodynastic age are no

longer merely a series of names as but a few years sincethey still were . As a group at least, we know muchO f their life and its surroundings ; although we shallnevenbe able to discern them as possessed of distinguishable personality. They blend together without distinction as children of their age. The outward insigniawhich all alike employed were now accommodated tothe united kingdom . The king’ s favourite title was“Horus,

” by which he identified himself as the successor of the great god who had once ruled over; thekingdom. Everywhere, on royal documents, seals andthe like, appeared the Horus- hawk as the symbol of


4 2 INTRODUCTION

t ion of public works . O n the thirtieth anniversary of

his appointment by his father as crown prince to theheirship of the kingdom, the king celebrated a great

jubilee called the“Feast of Sed ,

” a word meaning“ tail ,

” and perhaps commemorating his assumptiono f the royal lion ’ s tail at his appointment thirty yearsbefore. He was a mighty hunter, and recorded with

p ride an achievement like the slaying of a hippopotamus.His weapons were costly and elaborate, as we shall see.His several palaces each bore a name, and the royalestate possessed gardens and vineyards

,the latter being

also named and carefully administered by Officials whowere responsible for the income therefrom.

4 0. The furniture of such a palace, even in this rem ote age

,was magnificent and of fine artistic quality.

Among it were vessels exquisitely wrought in somee ighteen or twenty different varieties of stone, espec ially alabaster ; even in such refractory material asd iorite, superb bowls were ground to translucent thinness, and jars of rock crystal were carved with matchless precision to represent natural Objects . The potf ery, on the other hand, perhaps because of the perfection of the stone vessels, is inferior to that of the predynastic age. The less substantial furniture has forthe most part perished, but chests of ebony inlaid withivory and stools with legs of ivory magnificently carvedto represent bull ’ s legs, have survived in fragments.Glaze was now more thoroughly mastered than before,and incrustation with glazed plaques and ivory tabletswas practiced. The coppersmith furnished the palacewith finely wrought bowls, ewers, and other vessels ofcopper ; while he materially aided in the perfection of

stone vase- making by the production of excellent coppertools. The goldsmith combined with a high degree of

EARLIEST EGYPT 43

technical skill also exquisite taste, and produced forthe king’ s person and for the ladies of the royal household magnificent regalia in gold and precious stones

,

involving the most delicate soldering of the metal , aprocess accomplished with a skill of which even amodern workman would not be ashamed . While theproducts of the industrial craftsman had thus risen to apoint of excellence such that they claim a place as

works of art, we find that the rude carvings and drawings of the predynastic people have now developedinto reliefs and statues which clearly betray the professional artist. The kings dedicated in the temples ,especially in that of Horus at Hieraconpolis, cerem o

nial slate palettes , maces and vessels, bearing reliefswhich display a sure and practiced hand . The humanand animal figures are done with surprising freedomand vigour

,proclaiming an art long since conscious of

itself and centuries removed from the nalve efforts of aprimitive people. By the time of the Third Dynastythe conventions of civilized life had laid a heavy handupon this art ; and although finish and power of faithful delineation had reached a level far surpassing thatof the Hieraconpolis slates, the O ld freedom had disappeared. In the astonishing statues of KingKhasekhemat Hieraconpolis, the rigid canons which ruled the art ofthe Old Kingdom are already clearly discernible.

4 1 . The wreck of all this splendour, amid which theseantique kings lived

,has been rescued by Petrie from

their tombs at Abydos . These tombs are the result ofa natural evolution from the pits in which the predynastic people buried their dead . The pit, now rectangular and brick- lined

,has been enlarged ; while the

surrounding jars of food and drink have developed intoa series of small chambers surrounding the central

4 4 INTRODUCTION

room or pit,in which, doubtless , the body lay. The

whole was roofed with heavy timbers and planking,

probably surmounted by a heap of sand,and on the

east front were set up two tall narrow stelae bearing theking’ s name. Access to the central chamber was hadby a brick stairway descending through one side. Theking

’ s toilet furniture, a rich equipment of bowls, jarsand vessels, metal vases and ewers , his personal ornaments

,and all that was necessary for the maintenance

Of royal state in the hereafter were deposited with hisbody in this tomb ; while the smaller surroundingchambers were filled with a liberal supply of food andwine in enormous pottery jars

,sealed with huge cones

of Nile mud mixed with straw, and impressed whilesoft with the name of the king, or of the estate or vineyard from which they came. The revenue in food andwine from certain of the king’ s estates was diverted andestablished as permanent income of the tomb to maintain for all time the table supply of the deceased kingand of his household and adherents , whose tombs, tothe number of one or twohundred, were grouped abouthis own . Thus he was surrounded in death by thosewho had been his companions in life ; his women , hisbody- guard , and even the dwarf, whose dances hadd iverted his idle hours , all sleep beside their lord thathe m ay continue in the hereafter the state with whichhe had been environed on earth. Thus early beganthe elaborate arrangements of the Egyptian upperclasses for the proper maintenance of the deceased inthe life hereafter.4 2. This desire to create a permanent abiding- place

for the royal dead exerted a powerful influence in thedevelopment of the art of building. Already in theFirst Dynasty we find a granite floor in one of the royal

EARLIEST EGYPT 4 5

tombs,that of Usephais, and toward the end of the

Second Dynasty the surrounding brick chambers ofKing Khasekhem ui’s tomb enclose a chamber built ofhewn limestone

, the earliest stone masonry structureknown in the history of man . His predecessor, probably his father

,had already built a stone temple which

he recorded as a matter of note (BAR,

'I, andKhasekhem ui himself built a temple at . Hieraconpolis,of which a granite door- post has survived .

4 3 . Such works of the skilled artificer and builder

(for a number of royal architects were already attachedto the court) indicate a well - ordered and highly organized state ; but of its character little can be discernedfrom the scanty materials at our command . Theking’s chief assistant and minister in government seemsto have been a chancellor, whom we have seen attending him on state occasions . The officials whom welater find as nobles with judicial functions , attached tothe two royal residences of the North and South

, PC

and Nekhen , already existed under these earliestdynasties

,indicating an organized administration O f

judicial and juridical aff airs . There was a body of fis

cal officials, whose seals we find upon payments ofnaturalia to the royal tombs , impressed upon the clayjar- sealings ; while a fragment of a scribe

’s accountsevidently belonging to such an administration , wasfound in the Abydos royal tombs . The endowmentof these tombs with a regularly paid income clearlyindicates a fiscal organization , of which several Offices,like the “provision office,

” are mentioned on the seals .In all probability all the land belonged to the estate

‘

of

the king, by whom it was entrusted to a noble class.There were large estates conducted by these nobles

, as

in the period whi ch immediately followed ; but on

4 6 INTRODUCTION

what terms they were held we cannot now determine.The people, with the possible exception of a free classof artificers and tradesmen, will have been slaves onthese estates . They lived also in cities protected byheavy walls of sun - dried brick, and under the commandof a local governor . The chief cities of the time werethe two capitals, El Kab and Buto, with their royalsuburbs of Nekhen or Hieraconpolis, and Fe ; the“White Wall,

”the predecessor of Memphis ; Thinis,

the native city of the first two dynasties ; the neighbouring Abydos ; Heliopolis, Heracleopolis and Sais ; whilea number of less importance appear in the ThirdDynasty.

4 4 . Every two years a numbering of the royalpossessions was made throughout the land by theofficials of the treasury, and these numberings ”

served as a partial basis for the chronological reckoning.

The years of a king’s reign were called,“Year of the

First Numbering,” “Year after the First Numbering,

”

“Year of the Second Numbering, and so on . Anearlier method was to name the year after some important event which occurred in it, thus :

“Year ofSmiting the Troglodytes,

” a method found also inearly Babylonia. But as the “ numberings ” finallybecame annual, they formed a more convenient basisfor designating the year, as habit seemed to havedeterred the scribes from numbering the years themselves! Such a system of government and adm inis

tration as this of course could not operate without amethod of writing, which we find in use both in elaborate hieroglyphics and in the rapid cursive hand of theaccounting scribe. It already possessed not only phonetic signs representing a whole syllable or group of

consonants but also the alp habetic signs , each of which

EARLIEST EGYPT 4 7

stood for one consonant ; true alphabetic letters havingthus been discovered in Egypt two thousand five hundred years before their use by any other people . Hadthe Egyptian been less a creature of habit, he mighthave discarded his syllabic signs years beforeChrist

,and have written with an alphabet of twenty

four letters. In the documents of these early dynastiesthe writing is in such an archaic form that many of thescanty fragments which we possess from this age are

as yet unintelligible to us . Yet it was the medium ofrecording medical and religious texts, to which in latertimes a peculiar sanctity and effectiveness were attributed . The chief events of each year were also re

corded in a few lines under its name, and a series ofannals covering every year of a king’s reign and showing to a day how long he reigned was thus produced .

A small fragment only of these annals has escapeddestruction

,the now famous Palermo Stone, so called

because it is at present in the museum of Palermo

(BAR ,1 , 76

—167 ; EH, Fig.

4 5. Already a state form of religion was developing,and it is this form alone of which we know anything ;the religion O f the people having left little or no trace .

Even in the later dynasties we shall find little to say O fthe folk- religion

,which was rarely a matter of per

manent record . The royal temple of Menes’

s timewas still a simple structure

,being little more than a

shrine or chapel of wood, with walls of plaited wattle .

There was an enclosed court before it, containing a

symbol or emblem of the god mounted on a standard ;and in front of the enclosure was a pair of poles, perhaps the forerunners of the pair of stone obelisks whichin historic times were erected at the entrance of a temple . By the second half of the Second Dynasty, how

4 8 INTRODUCTION

ever, stone temples were built, as we have seen (BAR ,

I, The kings frequently record in their annalsthe draughting of a temple plan , or their superintendence of the ceremonious inauguration of the work whenthe ground was measured and broken (BAR, I, 91

The great gods were those familiar in latertimes

,whom we shall yet have occasion briefly to dis

cuss ; we notice particularly Osiris and Set, Horus andAnubis , Thoth, Sokar, Min , and Apis a form of Ptah ;while among the goddesses, Hathor and Neit are veryprominent . Several of these, like Horus, were evidently the patron gods of prehistoric kingdoms, preceding the kingdoms of the North and South, and thusgoing back to a very distant age. Horus, as under thepredynastic kings

,was the greatest god of the united

kingdom,and occupied the position later held by Re.

His temple at Hieraconpolis was especially favoured,and an old feast in his honour, called the “Worship of

Horus,

” celebrated every two years , is regularly re

corded in the royal annals. The kings therefore continned without interruption the traditions of the “Wor

shippers of Horus,” as the successors of whom they

regarded themselves . As long as the royal successioncontinued in the Thinite family, the worship of Horuswas carefully Observed ; but with the ascendancy Ofthe Third Dynasty, a Memphite family, it graduallygave way and was neglected. The priestly office wasmaintained of course as in the Old Kingdom by laymen,who were divided, as later, into four orders or phyles.4 6 . The more than four hundred yearsduring whichthe first two dynasties ruled must have been a periodof constant and vigorous growth. Of the seven kingsof Menes

’

s line, who followed him during the first twocenturies of that development, we can identify only two


50 INTRODUCTION

probably during the First Dynasty, carried on miningoperations in the copper regions of the Sinaitic peninsula

, in the Wady Maghara. His expedition was ex

posed to the depredations of the wild tribes of Beduin ,who

,already in this remote age, peopled those districts ;

and he recorded his punishment of them in a reliefupon the rocks of the wadi (WRS, p . It is theoldest historical relief known to us . An ivory tablet ofKing Usephais, and a reference under the reign of

Miebis on the Palermo Stone comm emorates other victories over the same people (BAR , I, Indeedthere are indications that the kings of this time maintained foreign relations with far remoter peoples . Intheir tombs have been found fragments of a peculiar

,

non - Egyptian pottery, closely resembling the ornam ented E gean ware produced by the island peoples ofthe northern Mediterranean in pre- Mycenaean times .If this pottery was placed in these tombs at the time ofthe original burials , there were commercial relationsbetween Egypt and the northern Mediterranean peoplesin the fourth millennium before Christ. We find an

other foreign connection in the north, in the occasionalcampaign now necessary to restrain the Libyans on thewest (QH,

I , pl. 15, No . In the south at the firstcataract, where, as late as the Sixth Dynasty, theTrogiodyte tribes of the neighbouring eastern desertmade it dangerous to operate the quarries there, KingUsephais of the First Dynasty was able to maintainan expedition for the purpose of securing granite topave one of the chambers of his tomb at Abydos .4 8. Scanty as are its surviving monuments, we seenow gradually taking form the great state which issoon to emerge as. the Old Kingdom. These earliestPharaohs were buried, as we have seen, at Abydos or

EARLIEST EGYPT 51

in the vicinity, where nine of their tombs are known .

A thousand years after they had passed away thesetombs of the founders of the kingdom were neglectedand forgotten, and as early as the twentieth centurybefore Christ that of King Zer was mistaken for thetomb of Osiris (BAR , I , When found in moderntimes it was buried under a mountain of potsherds, theremains of votive offerings left there by centuries ofOsiris - worshippers . Its rightful occupants had longbeen torn from their resting- places, and their limbs,heavy with gold and precious stones , had been wrenchedfrom the sockets to be carried away by greedy violatorsof the dead . It was on some such occasion that one ofthese thieves secreted in a hole in the wall of the tombthe desiccated arm of Zer

’

s queen, still bearing underthe close wrappings its splendid royal bracelets. Perhaps slain in some brawl , the robber, fortunately forus, never returned to recover his plunder, and it wasfound there and brought to Petrie intact by his welletrained workmen in 1902.

PART II

THE O LD KINGDOM

EARLY RELIGION

4 9. THERE is no force in the life of ancient man theinfluence of which so pervades all his activities as doesthat of the religious faculty. Its fancies explain for himthe world about him, its fears are his hourly master,its hopes his constant Mentor, its feasts are his calendar,and its outward usages are to a large extent the educat ion and the motive toward the gradual evolution ofart, literature and science. As among all other earlypeoples, it was in his surroundings that the Egyptiansaw his gods. The trees and springs, the stones andhill - tops, the birds and beasts were creatures like himself, or possessed of strange and uncanny powers ofwhich he was not master. Among this host of spiritsanimating everything around him some were hisfriends , ready to be propitiated and to lend him theiraid and protection ; while others with craft and cunninglowered about his pathway

,awaiting an opportunity to

strike him with disease and pestilence, and there was nomisfortune in the course of nature but found explanat ion in his mind as coming from one of these evil beingsabout him . Such Spirits as these were local , eachknown only to the dwellers in a given locality, and theefforts to serve and propitiate them were of the humblest and most primitive character. Of such worshipwe know little or nothing in the O ld Kingdom , but

55

56 THE OLD KINGDOM

during the Empire we shall be able to gain fleetingglimpses into this naive and long- forgotten world . Butthe Egyptian peopled not merely the local circle abouthim with such spirits ; the sky above him and earthbeneath his feet were equally before him for explanation . Long ages of confinement to his elongated valley

,

with its monotonous, even if sometimes grand scenery,had imposed a limited range upon his imagination ;neither had he the qualities of mind which could be ;

stirred by the world of nature to such exquisite fanciesas those with which the natural beauties of Hellas inspired the imagination of the Greeks . In the remoteages of that earliest civilization , which we have brieflysurveyed in the preceding chapter, the shepherds andplowmen of the Nile valley saw in the heavens a vastcow, which stood athwart the vault, with head in thewest, the earth lying between f ore and hind feet, whilethe belly of the animal , studded with stars , was thearch of heaven . The people of another locality, however, fancied they could discern a colossal female figurestanding with feet in the east and bending over the earth,till she supported herself upon her arms in the far west.To others the sky was a sea, supported high above theearth with a pillar at each of its four corners . As

these fancies gained more than local credence and cameinto contact with each other, they mingled in inextricable confusion . The sun was born every morning as acalf or as a child, according to the explanation of theheavens

,as a cow or a woman , and he sailed across the

sky in a celestial barque, to arrlve in the west and descend as . an old man tottering into the grave. Againthe lofty flight of the hawk, which seemed a very com

rade of the sun , led them to believe that the sun himselfmust be such a hawk taking his daily flight across the


58 THE OLD KINGDOM

Isis , Set and Nephthys ;”

together they formed withtheir primeval father the sun -

god, Re or Atum,a circle

o f nine deities , the ennead ”of which each temple

later possessed a local form . This correlation of the

p rimitive divinities as father, mother and son , stronglyinfluenced the theology of later times until each templepossessed an artificially created triad

, of purely secondary origin , upon which an

“ ennead ” was then built up.

Other local versions of this story of the world ’ s originalso circulated . One of them represents Re as rulingthe earth for a

'

time as king over men (of , p . 1 12) whoplotted against him, so that he sent a goddess, Hathor,to slay them, but finally repented and by a ruse succeeded in diverting the goddess from the total extermination of the human race, after she had destroyedthem in part . The cow of the sky then raised Re uponher back that he might forsake the ungrateful earthand dwell in heaven .

51 . Besides these gods of the earth, the air and theheavens, there were also those who had as their dom ainthe nether world , the gloomy passage, along which thesubterranean stream carried the sun from west to east.Here

,according to a very early belief, dwelt the dead ,

whose king was Osiris . He had succeeded the sun - god ,R e

,as king on earth, aided in his government by his

f aithful sister- wife, Isis . A benefactor of men, andbeloved as a righteous ruler, he was neverthelesscraftily misled and slain by his brother Set. When,after great tribulation , Isis had gained possession of

her lord ’s body , she was assisted in preparing it forburial by one of the old gods of the nether world, Ahubis, the jackal—god , who thereafter became the godof embalmment . So powerful were the charms now

,

uttered by Isis over the body of her dead husband that

EARLY RELIGION 59

it was reanimated, and regained the use of its limbs ;and although it was impossible for the departed godto resume his earthly life, he passed down in triumph as a living king, to become lord of the netherworld. Isis later gave birth to a son, Horus , whom shesecretly reared among the marshy fastnesses of theDelta as the avenger of his father. Grown to manhood

,the youth pursued Set, and in the ensuing awful

battle,which raged from end to end of the land

,both

were fearfully mutilated . But Set was defeated,and

Horus triumphantly assumed the earthly throne of hisfather. Thereupon Set entered the tribunal of the gods

,

and charged that the birth of Horus was not withoutstain

,and that his claim to the throne was not valid.

Defended by Thoth, the god of letters, Horus wasvindicated and declared true in speech

,

”or

“ trium phant . According to another version it was Osirishimself who was thus vindicated.

52. Not all the.

gods who appear in these tales andfancies became more than mythological figures . Manyof them continued merely in this role, without temple orform of worship ; they had but a folk- lore or finally atheological existence. Others became the great godsof Egypt. In a land where a c lear sky prevailed andrain was rarely seen the incessant splendour of the sunwas an insistent fact, which gave him the highest placein the thought and daily life of the people . His worship was almost universal, but the chief centre of hiscult was at On , the Delta city, which the Greeks calledHeliopolis . Here he was known as Re, which wasthe solar orb itself ; or as Atum, the name of the decrepit sun , as an old man tottering down‘ the west ;again his name Khepri, written with a beetle in hiero

glyphics, designated him in the youthful vigour of his

60 THE OLD KINGDOM

rising. He had two barques with which he sailedacross the heavens, one for the morning and the otherfor the afternoon , and when in this barque he enteredthe nether world at evening to return to the east hebrought light and joy to its disembodied denizens.The symbol of his presence in the temple at Heliopoliswas an obelisk, while at Edfu , on the upper river, whichwas also an old centre of his worship, he appeared as ahawk, under the name Horus.53 . The Moon , the measurer of time, furnished the

god of reckoning, letters , andwisdom,Thoth

,whose chief

centre was Shm fin , or Hermopolis , as the Greeks whoidentified him with Hermes, called the place. He wasidentified with the Ibis . The Sky, whom we have seenas Nut, was worshipped throughout the land, althoughNut herself continued to play only a mythological role.

The sky- goddess became the type of woman and of

woman ’ s love and joy. At the ancient shrine of Dendereh she was the cow- goddess , Hathor ; at Sais shewas the joyous Neit ; at Bubastis, in the form of a cat

,

she appeared as Bast ; while at Memphis her genialaspects disappeared and she became a lioness , thegoddess of storm and terror. The myth of Osiris , sohuman in its incidents and all its characteristics

,rapidly

induced the wide propagation of his worship, and al

thouglf Isis still remained chiefly a figure in the myth ,she became the type of wife and mother upon whichthe people loved to dwell . Horus also, although hereally belonged orlglnally to the sun—myth and hadnothing to do with Osiris, was for the people the embodiment of the qualities of a good son , and in himthey constantly saw the ulitm ate triumph of the justcause . The immense influence of the Osiris- worshipon the life of Egypt we shall have occasion to notice

EARLY RELIGION 6I

further in discussing mortuary beliefs . The originalhome of Osiris was at Dedu , called by the GreeksBusiris

,in the Delta ; but Abydos, in Upper Egyp t,

early gained a reputation of peculiar sanctity, becausethe head of Osiris was buried there. He always appeared as a closely swathed figure, enthroned as aPharaoh or merely a curious pillar, a fetish survivingfrom his prehistoric worship . Into the circle of naturedivinities it is impossible to bring Ptah of Memphis,who was one of the early and great gods of Egypt . Hewas the patron of the artisan , the artificer and artist,and his High Priest was always the chief artist of thecourt . Such were the chief gods of Egypt , althoughmany another important deity presided in this or thattemple, whom it would be impossible for us to noticehere, even with a word.

54 . The external manifestations and the symbolswith which the Egyptian clothed these gods are of thesimplest character and they show the primitive sim

p licity of the age in which these deities arose. Theybear a staff like a Beduin native of today

, or the goddesses wield a reed - stem ; their diadems are of wovenreeds or a pair of ostrich feathers , or the horns of asheep .

’

In such an age the people frequently saw the

manifestations of their gods in the numerous animalswith which they were surrounded

,and the veneration

of these sacred beasts survived into an age of highcivilization , when we should have expected it to disappear. But the animal - worship

,which we usually

associate with ancient Egypt, as a cult is a late product,brought forward in the decline of the nation at theclose of its history. In the periods with which we shallhave to deal, it was unknown ; the hawk, for example,was the sacred animal of the sun - god

,and as such a

62 THE OLD KINGDOM

living hawk might have a place in the temple,where

he was fed and kindly treated, as any such pet mightbe ; but he was not worshipped , nor was he the objectof an elaborate ritual as later (EHR,

55. In their elongated valley the local beliefs of theearliest Egyptians could not but differ greatly amongthem selves

,and although, for example, there were many

centres of sun - worship , each city possessing a suntemple regarded the sun as its particular god

,to the

exclusion of all the rest ; just as many a town of Italyat the present day would not for a moment identify itsparticular Madonna with the virgin of any other town.

As commercial and administrative intercourse was increased by political union , these mutually contradictoryand incompatible beliefs could not longer remain local.They fused into a complex of tangled myth, of whichwe have already offered some examples and shall yetsee more . Neither did the theologizing priesthoodsever reduce this mass of belief into a coherent system ;it remained as accident and circumstance brought ittogether, a chaos of contradictions . Another result ofnational life was that, as soon as a city gained politicalsupremacy

,its gods rose with it to the dominant place

among the innumerable gods of the land .

56 . The temples in which the earliest Egyptian worshipped we have already had occasion to notice . Heconceived the place as the dwelling of his god , andhence its arrangement probably conformed with thatof a private house of the predynastic Egyptian . Whilewattle walls have given place to stone masonry, it wasstill the house of the god . Behind a forecourt open tothe sky rose a colonnaded hall

,beyond which was a

series of small chambers containing the furniture andimplements for the temple services . O f the architect

EARLY RELIGION 63

m e and decoration of the building we shall later haveoccasm n to speak further. The centre of the chambersin the rear was Occupied by a small room, the holy of

holies,in which stood a shrine hewn from one block

of granite. It contained the image of the god , a smallfigure of wood from one and a half to six feet high

,

elaborately adorned and splendid with gold , silver andcostly stones. The service of the divinity who dwelthere consisted simply in furnishing him with thosethings which formed the necessities and luxuries of anEgyptian of wealth and rank at that time : plentifulfood and drink, fine clothing, music and the dance .The source of these offerings was the income from theendowment of lands established by the throne

,as well

as various contributions from the royal revenues ingrain , wine, oil , honey and the like (BAR ,

I,153—167 ,

These contributions to the comfort and happiness of the lord of the temple, while probably originallyoff ered without ceremony, gradually became the occasion of an elaborate ritual which was essentially alikein all temples. Outside in the forecourt was the greataltar

,where the people gathered on feast days, when

they were permitted to share the generous food offerings ,which ordinarily were eaten by the priests and servantsof the temple, after they had been presented to the god .

These feasts, besides those marking times and seasons,were frequently commemorations of some importantevent in the story or myth of the god, and on such occasions the priests in procession brought forth the imagein a portable shrine, having the form of a small Nileboat.57 . The earliest priesthood was but an incident inthe duties of the local noble, whowas the head of thepriests in the community ; but the exalted position of

64 THE OLD KINGDOM

the Pharaoh , as the nation developed, mad e him thesole official servant of the gods , and there arose at thebeginning of the nation ’ s history a state form of re

ligion in which the Pharaoh played the supreme role.In theory , therefore , it was he alone who worshippedthe gods ; in fact, however, he was of necessity repre

sented in each of the many temples of the land by a

high priest, by whom all off erings were presented“ for

the sake of the life, prosperity and health”

of thePharaoh . Some of these high priesthoods were of

very ancient origin : particularly that of Heliopolis,whose incumbent was called Great Seer while heof Ptah at Memphis was called Great Chief of Artificers Both positions demanded two incumbents atonce, and were usually held by men of high rank. Theincumbents of the other high priesthoods of later originall bore the simple title of overseer or chief of priests .”

It was the duty of this man not merely to conduct theservice and ritual of the sanctuary, but also to administer its endowment of lands

,from the income of which

it lived , while in time of war he might even commandthe temple contingent. He was assisted by a body ofpriests , whose sacerdotal service was, with few exceptions

,merely incidental to their worldly occupations .

Thq were laymen , who from time to time served fora stated period in the temple ; thus in spite of thefiction of the Pharaoh as the sole worshipper of thegod, the laymen were represented

“ in its service. Inthe same way the women of the time were commonlypriestesses of Neit or Hathor ; their serv1ce consistedin nothing more than dancing and J ingling a sistrumbefore the god “

on festive occasions . The state fictionhad therefore not quite suppressed the participation of

the individual in the service of the temple. In har


66 THE OLD KINGDOM

the world there were many once probably local notionsof the place to which the dead journeyed ; but thesebeliefs

,although mutually irreconcilable, continued to

enjoy general acceptance, and no one was troubled bytheir incompatibility, even if it ever occurred to them.

There was a world of the dead in the west, where thesun -

god descended into his grave every night, so that“

“westerners ” was for the Egyptian a term for the departed ; and wherever possible the cemetery was locatedon the margin of the western desert. There was alsothe nether world where the departed lived awaiting thereturn of the solar barque every evening, that they mightbathe in the radiance of the sun -

god, and, seizing thebow- rope of his craft

,draw him with rejoicing through

the long caverns of their dark abode. In the splendourof the nightly heavens the Nile- dweller also saw the

host of those who had preceded him ; thither they hadflown as birds , rising above all foes of the air, andreceived byRe as the companions of his celestial barque,they now swept across the sky as eternal stars . Stillmore commonly the Egyptian told of a field in thenortheast of the heavens, which he called the field offood

,

”or the field of Yarn,

” the lentil field, where thegrain grew taller than any ever seen on the banks ofthe Nile, and the departed dwelt in security and plenty.

Besi s the bounty of the soil he received, too; from the

cart y offerings presented in the temple of his god :bread and beer and fine linen. It was not every one

who succeeded in reaching this field of the blessed ; forit was surrounded by water. Sometimes the departedmight induce the hawk or the ibis to bear him acrosson the1r p 1n10 ns ; again friendly spirits , the four sons ofHorus , brought him a craft upon which he might floatover ; sometimes the sun - god bore him across in his

EARLY RELIGION 67

barque ; but by far the majority depended upon theservices of a ferryman called “

Turnface” or “Look

behind,

” because his face was ever turned to the rearin poling his craft. He will not receive all into hisboat

,but only him of whom it is said,

“ there is no evilwhich he has done,

”or

“ the just who hath no boat,

”

or him who is “ righteous before heaven and earth andbefore the isle (Pyramid of Pepi I , 4 00 ; Mernere 570,

AZ, XXXI, 76 where lies the happy field to whichthey go . These are the earliest traces in the historyof man of an ethical test at the close of life, making thelife hereafter dependent upon the character of the lifelived on earth. It was at this time, however, prevailingly ceremonial rather than moral purity which secured the waiting soul passage across the waters. (Butsee BAR ,

I,252, 279 .

60. Into these early beliefs, with which Osiris originallyhad nothing to do, the mythwhich told of his deathand departure into the nether world, now entered tobecome the dominating element in Egyptian mortuarybelief. He had become the “ first of those in the west”

and king of the glorified ”; every soul that suffered

the fate of Osiris might also experience his restorationto life ; might indeed become an Osir is. Believing thusthat all might share the goodly destiny of Osiris, theycontemplated death without dismay, for they said of

the dead,

“They depart not as those who are dead,but they depart as those who are living”

(EHR , 96

Here there entered , as a salutary influence, also the il lcident of the triumphant vindication of O S1ris whenaccused ; for there is a hint of a similar moral justification for all , which, as an ethical influence, we shall yetsee, was the most fruitful germ in Egyptian religion

(BAR , I, 331 , 253 , 330, 338 ,

68 THE OLD KINGDOM

61 . These views are chiefly found in the oldest m ortuary literature of Egypt which we possess , a series oftexts supposed to be effective in securing for the deceased the enjoyment of a happy life, and especially theblessed future enjoyed by Osiris . They were engravedupon the passages of the Fifth and Sixth Dynastypyramids, where they have been preserved in largenumbers , and it is largely from them that the abovesketch of the early Egyptian ’ s notions of the hereafterhas been taken (see EHR) . From the place in whichthey are found they are usually called the “PyramidTexts . ” Many of these texts grew up in the predynastic age and some have therefore been altered toaccommodate them to the Osiris faith, with which theyoriginally had no connection— a process which has ofcourse resulted in inextricable confusion of originallydiffering mortuary beliefs.62 . So insistent a belief or set of beliefs in a lif ebeyond the grave necessarily brought with it a mass ofmortuary usages with which in the earliest period of

Egypt’s career we have already gained some acquaintance. It is evident that

.

however persistently theEgyptian transferred the life of the departed to somedistant region

,far from the tomb where the body lay,

he was never able to detach the future life entirely fromthe body. It is evident that he could conceive of nosurvival of the dead without it . Gradually he haddeveloped a more and more pretentious and a saferrepository for his dead , until, as we have seen , it had

become a vast and massive structure of stone . In allthe world no such

,colossal tombs as the pyramids are

to be found ; while the tombs of the nobles groupedabout

‘

have in the Old Kingdom become immensemasonry structures, which , but a few centuries before,

EARLY RELIGION 69

a king would have been proud to own. Such a tombas that of Pepi I’ s vizier in the Sixth Dynasty containedno less than thirtyone rooms . The superstructure ofsuch a tomb was a massive, flat- topped , rectangularoblong of masonry, the sides of which slanted inwardat an angle of , roughly, seventy- five degrees . It was,with the exception of its room or rooms , solid throughout, reminding the modern natives of the

“mastaba ,”

the terrace,area or bench on which they squat before

their houses and shops . Such a tomb is thereforecommonly termed a “mastaba The simplest of suchmastabas has no rooms within , and only a false doorin the east side

,by which the dead, dwelling in the

west,that is

,behind this door, might enter again the

world of the l1v1ng . This false door was finally elaborated into a kind of chapel - chamber in the mass ofthe masonry

,the false door now being placed in the

west wall of the chamber. The inner walls of thischapel bore scenes carved in relief, depicting the servants and slaves of the deceased at their daily tasks onhis estate, in field and workshop, producing all thosethings which were necessary for their lord’ s welfare inthe hereafter, while here and there his towering figureappeared superintending and inspecting their laboursas he had done before he departed into the West . Itis these scenes which are the source of our knowledgeof the life and customs of the time. Far below themassive ma staba was a burial chamber in the nativerock reached by a shaft which passed down throughthe superstructure of masonry . On the day of burialthe body

,now duly embalmed

,was subjected to elab

orate ceremonies re- enacting occurrences in the resurrection of Osiris. It was especially necessary by potentcharms to open the mouth and ears of the deceased

70 THE OLD KINGDOM

that he might speak and hear in the hereafter. The

mummy was then lowered down the shaft and laid uponits left side in a fine rectangular cedar coffin

,which

again was deposited in a massive sarcophagus of graniteor limestone . Food and drink were left with it

, be

sides some few toilet articles, a magic wand and a number of amulets for protection against the enemies of thedead, especially serpentsu The number of serpentcharms in the Pyramid Texts, intended to render thesefoes harmless , is very large . The deep shaft leadingto the burial chamber was then filled to the top withsand and gravel , and the friends of the dead now lefthim to the life in the hereafter, which we have pictured.

63 . Yet their duty toward their departed friend hadnot yet lapsed . In a tiny chamber beside the chapelthey masoned up a portrait statue of the deceased,sometimes cutting small channels, which connected thetwo rooms, the chapel and the statue- chamber, or

“ serda as the modern natives call it . As the statuewas an exact reproduction of the deceased ’ s body, hiska might therefore attach itself to this counterfeit, andthrough the connecting channels enjoy the food anddrink placed for it in the chapel . The offerings to thedead

,originally only a small loaf in a bowl , placed by

a son ,or wife, or brother on a reed mat at the grave,

have how become as elaborate .as the daily cuisine onceenjoyed by the lord of the tomb before he forsook hisearthly house . But this labour of love, or sometimesof fear, has now devolved upon a large personnel , attached to the tomb , some of whom,

as its priests,con

stantly maintained its ritual . Very specific contractswere made with these persons

,requiting them for their

serv1ces w1th a fixed income drawn from endowmentslegally established and recorded for this purpose by

EARLY RELIGION

the noble himself, in anticipation of his death . Thetomb of Prince Nekure, son of King Khafre of the

Fourth Dynasty , was endowed with the revenues fromtwelve towns, and as many as eight priests of such atomb were required for its service (BAR , I, 200—209,231—235, 191 , 226

—227 , 37 9 ; EHR ,

Such endowments and the service thus maintainedwere intended to be permanent

,but in the course of a

few generations the accumulated burden was intolerable

,and ancestors of a century before, with rare excep

tions,were necessarily neglected or transferred in order

to maintain those whose claims were stronger andmore recent (BAR , I, 17 3 , l . 5 ; It had nowbecome so customary for the king to assist his favouritelords and nobles in this way that we find a frequentmortuary prayer beginning An offering which the kinggives,

” and as long as the number of those whose tombswere thus maintained was limited to the noble andofficial circle around the king

,such royal largesses

to the dead were quite possible . But in later times,

when the mortuary practices of the noble class hadspread to the masses, they also employed the sameprayer, although it is impossible that the royal bountycould have been so extended . Thus this prayer is today the most frequent formula to be found on theEgyptian monuments, occurring thousands of times onthe tombs or tombstones of people who had no prospectof enjoying such royal distinction ; and in the sametomb it is always repeated over and over again . Inthe same way the king also assisted his favourites inthe erection of their tombs , and the noble often recordsthe fact with pride (BAR ,

I,204 , 207 , 213

—227 , 24 2

24 9, 370, 210—212

, 237—24 0, 27 4 - 27 7 ,

64 . If the tomb of the noble had now become an

72 THE OLD KINGDOM

endowed institution , we have seen that that of the kingwas already such in the First Dynasty . In the ThirdDynasty, at least, the Pharaoh was not satisfied withone tomb , but in his double capacity as king of theTwo Lands he erected two

, just as the palace wasdouble for the same reason . We find the monarch ’ stomb now far surpassing that of the noble in its extentand magnificence . The mortuary service of the Pharaoh

’

s lords might be conducted in the chapel in theeast side of the mastaba ; but that of the Pharaohhimself now required a separate building, a splendidmortuary temple on the east side of the pyramid . Arichly endowed priesthood was here employed to maintain its ritual and to furnish the food , drink and clothingof the departed king. Its large personnel demandedmany outbuildings

,and the whole group of pyramid,

temple and accessories was surrounded by a wall . All

this was on the edge of the plateau overlooking thevalley

,in Which ,

below the pyramid , there now grewup a walled town . Leading up from the town to thepyramid enclosure was a massive causeway of stonewhich terminated at the lower or townward end in alarge and stately structure of granite or limestone, sometimes with floors of alabaster, the whole forming asuper

’b portal , a worthy entrance to so impressive a

tomb . Through this portal passed the white - robedprocession on feast days , moving from the town up thelong white causeway to the temple, above which rosethe mighty mass of the pyramid . The populace in thecity below probably never gained access to the pyramidenclosure . Over the town wall

,through the waving

green of the palms,they saw the gleaming white

pyramid , where lay the god who had once ruled overthem ; while beside it rose slowly year by year another


THE OLD KINGDOM: GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY,

INDUSTRY AND ART

65. AT the dawn of the O ld Kingdom the kingshiphad attained a prestige and an exalted power

,demand

ing the deepest reverence of the subject whether highor low. Indeed the king was now officially a god, andone of the most frequent titles was the Good God ”

;

such was the respect due him that there was reluctanceto refer to him by name . The courtier might designatehim impersonally as “

one,” and “ to let one know”

becomes the official phrase for report to the king.

His government and ultimately the monarch personallywere called the Great House , in Egyptian Per- o , aterm which has descended to us through the Hebrewsas “Pharaoh .

” When he died he was received intothe circle of the gods, to be worshipped like them everafte in the temple before the vast pyramid in whichhe slfept .

66 . Court customs had gradually developed into anelaborate official etiquette, for the punctilious observance of which, already in this distant age, a host ofgorgeous marshals and court chamberlains were inconstant attendance at the palace . There had thusgrown up a palace life , not unlike that of modern timesin the East, a life into which we gain obscure glimpsesin the numerous titles which the court lords of the time ,

7 4

GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY 75

with ostentatious pride , have displayed on the walls oftheir tombs . Every need of the royal person was represented by some palace lord, whose duty it was to supplyit . There were many ranks , and the privileges of each,with all possible niceties of precedence

,were strictly

observed and enforced by the court marshals at allstate levees and royal audiences . The king’s favouritewife became the official queen , whose eldest son usually received the appointment as crown prince to succeed his father. But as at all Oriental courts, therewas also a royal harem with numerous inmates . Manysons usually surrounded the monarch, and the vastrevenues of the palace were liberally distributed amongthem . A son of King Khafre in the Fourth Dynastyleft an estate of fourteen towns, besides a town houseand two estates at the royal residence, the pyramidcity. Besides these, the endowment of his tomb comprised twelve towns more (BAR , I, 190 Butthese princes assisted in their father’ s government

,and

did not live a life of indolence and luxury . We shallfind them occupying some of the most arduous posts inthe service of the state.67 . However exalted may have been the official position of the Pharaoh as the sublime god at the head of

the state, he nevertheless maintained close personalrelations with the more prominent nobles of t he realm .

As a prince he had been educated with a group of

youths from the families of these nobles, and togetherthey had been instructed in such manly art as swimming. The friendships and the intimacies thus formedin youth must have been a powerful influence in thelater life of the monarch. We see the Pharaoh givinghis daughter in marriage to one of these youths withwhom he had been educated , and the severe decorum

7 6 THE OLD KINGDOM

of the court was violated in behalf of this favourite,

who was not permitted on formal occasions to kiss thedust before the Pharaoh, but enjoyed the unprecedentedprivilege of kissing the royal foot. On the part of hisintimates such ceremonial was purely a matter of

official etiquette ; in private the monarch did not hesitate to recline familiarly in c omplete relaxation besideone of his favourites, while the attending slaves anointedthem both. The daughter of such a noble might become the official queen and mother of the next king.

We see the king displaying the greatest solicitude andsorrow at the sudden sickness and death of his vizier.It is evident that the most powerful lords of the kingdom were thus bound to the person of the Pharaoh byclose personal ties of blood and friendship. These relations were carefully fostered by the monarch, and inthe Fourth and early Fifth Dynasty there are aspectso f this ancient state in which its inner circle at leastreminds one of a great family, so that, as we have observed, the king assisted all its members in the buildingand equipment of their tombs, and showed the greatestsolicitude for their welfare, both here and in the hereafter (BAR ,

I , 256 ; 254 fi. ; 260, 270, 34 4 , 24 2

68 . At the head of government there was theoreticallynone

qto question the Pharaoh

’ s power . In actual facthe was as subject to the demands of policy toward thisor that class, powerful family, clique or individual, ortoward the harem, as are his successors in the Orientaldespotisms of the present day. These forces

,which

m ore or less modified his daily acts, we can follow atthis distant day only as we see the state slowly mouldedin its larger outlines by the impact of generation after

generation of such influences from the Pharaoh’s en

vironm ent. In spite of the luxury evident in the organ

GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY 7 7

ization of his court, the Pharaoh did not live the lifeof a luxurious despot, such as we frequently find amongthe Mamelukes of Moslem Egypt . In the FourthDynasty

,at least, he had as prince already seen arduous

service in the superintendence of quarrying and m 1n1ngoperations, or he had served his father as vizier or

prime minister, gaining invaluable experience in governm ent before his succession to the throne. He wasthus an educated and enlightened monarch

,able to

read and write, and not infrequently taking his pen inhand personally to indite a letter of thanks and appre

ciation to some deserving oflicer in his government

(BAR , I , 268—270, He constantly received hisministers and engineers to discuss the needs of the

country,especially in the conservation of the water

supply and the development of the system of irrigation .

He read many a weary roll of state papers,or turned

from these to dictate dispatches to his commanders inSinai, Nubia and Punt, along the southern Red Sea.

The briefs of litigating heirs reached his hands and wereprobably not always a matter of mere routine to beread by secretaries . When such business of the royaloffices had been settled the monarch rode out in hispalanquin

,accompanied by his vizier and attendants

,

to inspect his buildings and public works, and his handWas everywhere felt in all the important affairs of thenation .

69. The situation of the royal residence was largelydetermined by the pyramid which the king was building. As we have remarked, the palace and the townformed by the court and all that was attached to itprobably lay in the valley below the margin of thewestern desert plateau on which the pyramid rose.From dynasty to dynasty, or sometimes from reign to

78 THE OLD KINGDOM

reign,it followed the pyramid , the light construction

of the palaces and villas not interfering seriously withsuch mobility . After the Third Dynasty the residencewas always in the vicinity of later Memphis . Thepalace itself was double , or at least it possessed twogates in its front, named after, and corresponding tothe two ancient kingdoms, of which it was now the seatof government (BAR , I , Throughout Egyptianhistory the facade of the palace was therefore called thedouble front,

” and in writing the word “ palace” thescribe frequently placed the sign of two houses after it.The royal office and the sub - departments of government were also termed “ double ;

” but these titlesdoubtless no longer corresponded to existing doubleorganizations ; they have become a persistent fictionsurviving from the first two dynasties . Adjoining thepalace was a huge court, connected with which werethe “halls ” or offices of the central government. Theentire complex of palace

.

and adjoining offices wasknown as the Great House,

” which was‘

thus thecentre of administration as well as the dwelling of theroyal household . Here was focussed the entire systemof government, which ram ified throughout the country.

70. For purposes of local government Upper Egyptwas divided into some twenty administrative districts

,

and later we find as many more in the Delta. These“ nomes ” were presumably the early principalities fromwhich the local princes who ruled them in prehistoricdays had long disappeared . At the head of such adistrict or nome there was in the Fourth and FifthDynasties an oflicial appointed by the crown, and knownas “First under the King.

” Besides his adm inistrativefunction as “ local governor of the nome, he also servedin a judicial capacity, and therefore bore also the title


of judge In Upper Egypt these local governorswere also sometimes styled “Magnates of the SouthernTen

,

” as if there were a group among them enjoyinghigher rank and forming a college or council of ten .

While we are not so well informed regarding the governm ent of the North, the system there was evidentlyvery similar

,although there were perhaps fewer local

governors. Within the nome which he administeredthe

“ local governor had under his control a miniaturestate

,an administrative unit with all the organs of

government : a treasury, a court of justice, a landoffice

,a service for the conservation of the dykes and

canals,a body of militia, a magazine for their equip

ment ; and in these offices a host of scribes and recorders

,with an ever growing mass of archives and local

records . The chief administrative bond which co

ordinated and centralized these nomes was the organization of the treasury, by the operation of which thereannually converged upon the magazines of the centralgovernment the grain

,cattle, poultry and industrial

products,which in an age without coinage, were col

lected as taxes by the local governors . The localregistration of land, or the land - office, the irrigationserivce, the judicial administration , and other adm inistrative functions were also centralized at the GreatHouse ; but it was the treasury which formed the mosttangible bond between the palace and the nomes .Over the entire fiscal administration there was a ChiefTreasurer

,

” residing of course at the court, assisted bytwo “ treasurers of the god

”

(i . e. , of‘ the king) , having

charge of resources from mines and quarries for thegreat public works.7 1 . As the reader may have already inferred, the

judicial functions of the local governors were merely

80 THE OLD KINGDOM

incidental to their administrative labours. There Wastherefore no clearly defined class of professional judges,but the administrative officials were learned in the lawand assumed judicial duties . Like the treasury

, t he

judicial administration also converged in one person,

for the local judges were organized into six courts andthese in turn were under a chief justice of the wholerealm . Many of the judges bore the additional predicate attached to Nekhen”

(Hieraconpolis) , an an- a

cient title descended from the days when Nekhen wasthe royal residence of the Southern Kingdom . Therewas a body of highly elaborated law

,which has um

fortunately perished entirely. The local governorsboast of their fairness and justice in deciding cases

,

often stating in their tombs : “Never did I judge twobrothers in such a way that a son was deprived of hispaternal po ssession ”

(BAR , I, 331 , Ewen a royalintrigante conspiring in the harem is not summarily putto death, but is given legal trial (BAR ,

I, 307 ,

The system of submitting all cas es to the court in theform of written briefs

,a method so praised by Diodorus

(I, 75 f ) , seems to have existed already in this remoteage, and the Berlin Museum possesses such a legaldocument pertaining to litigation between an heir andan executor. It is the oldest legal document in existenceand contains an appeal to the king, which, undercircumstances not y et clear to us, was possible (PKM,

82 7T) .72. The immediate head of the entireorganizationofgovernment was the Pharaoh’ s prime minister

,or as

he is more commonly called in the East, the vizier. Atthe same time he also regularly served as chief justice ;he was thus the most powerful man in the kingdom,

next to the monarch himself, and for that reason the


82 THE OLD KINGDOM

before converging upon the palace. It was the maintenance of the nomes each as a separate unit of government, and the interposition of the governor at its headbetween the Pharaoh and the nome

,which rendered

the system dangerous . These little states within thestate might too easily become independent centres ofpolitical power. How this process actually took placewe shall be able toobserve as we follow the career ofthe Old Kingdom in the next chapter.7 4 . Such a process was rendered the more easy because the government did not maintain any uniform or

compact military organization . Each nome possessedits militia, commanded by the civil officials , who werenot necessarily trained soldiers ; there was thus noclass of

.

exclusively military officers . The templetates likewise maintained a body of such troops . Theywere for the most part employed in mining and quarrying expeditions, supp lying the hosts necessary for thetransportation of the enormous blocks often demandedby the architects . In such work they were under thecommand o f the treasurer of the god.

” In case ofserious war

,as there was no standi ng army, this militia

from all the nomes and temple estates, bes ides auxiliaries levied among the Nubian tribes, were broughttogether as quickly as possible, and the command of them ot host, without any permanent organization, wasentrusted by the monarch to some able ' official . Asthe local governors commanded the militia of the nomes ,they held the sourCes of the Pharaoh’s dubious militarystrength in their own hands .7 5. The land which was thus administered must toa large extent have belonged to the crown . Under theoversight of the local governors’ subordinates it wasworked and . made profitable by slaves or serfs, who


formed the bulk of the population . They belonged tothe ground and were bequeathed with it (BAR,

I,

We have no means of determining how large this population was, although, as we have before stated, it hadreached the sum of seven million by Roman times .The descendants of the numerous progeny of olderkings, with possible remnants of the prehistoric landednobility, had created also a class of land—holding nobles ,whose great estates must have formed a not inconsiderable fraction of the available lands of the kingdom .

Such lords did not necessarily enter upon an offi cialcareer or participate in the administration . But thenobles and the peasant serfs, as the highest and thelowest, were not the only classes of society . There wasa free middle class , in whose hands the arts

‘

and industries had reached such a high degree of excellence; butof these people we know almost nothing. They didnot build imperishable tombs, such as have furnishedus with all that we know of the nobles of the time ; andtheir business documents , written on papyrus, have allperished, in spite of the enormous mass of such materials which must have once existed . Later conditions would indicate that there undoubtedly was a classof industrial merchants in the Old Kingdom who produced and sold their own wares . 5

'

That there were freelandholders not belonging to the ranks of the nobles isalso highly probable .

76 . The social unit was as in later human history,the family. A man possessed but one legal wife

,who

was the mother of his heirs . As [ constantly depictedon the monuments , she was in every respect his equal ,was always treated with the greatest consideration

,and

participated in the pleasures of her'

husband and herchildren

’

. Such relations had often existed from the

84 THE OLD KINGDOM

earliest childhood of the pair ; for it was customary inall ranks of society for a youth to marry his sister.Besides the legitimate W ife, the head of his household,the man of wealth possessed also a harem

,the inmates

”of which maintained no legal claim upon their lord.

The children of the time show the greatest respect fortheir parents , and it was the duty of every son to maintain the tomb of his father: The respect and affectionof one’ s parents and family were highly valued

,and we

often find in the tombs the statement,“ I was one be

loved of his father, praised of his mother, whom his

brothers and sisters loved ”

(BAR , I, As amongmany other peoples , the natural line of inheritance wasthrough the eldest daughter, though a will might disregard this . The closest ties of blood were through themother

,and a man ’ s natural protector, even in prefer

ence to his own father, was the father of his mother.The debt of a son to the mother who bore and nourished him, cherished and cared for him while he wasbeing educated , is dwelt upon with emphasis by thewise men of the time. While there was probably a

loose form of marriage whi ch might be easily dissolved,a form presumably due to the instability of fortuneamong the slaves and the poorer class , yet immoralitywas strongly condemned by the best sentiment . The

wise m an warns the youth , Beware of a woman fromabroad

,who is not known in her city. Look not upon

her when she comes, and know her not . She is likethe vortex of deep waters, whose whirling is unfathomable . The woman , whose husband is far away, she

writes to thee every day. If there is no witness withher she arises and spreads her net . O deadly crime , ifone hearkens !” (PB , I, 16 , 13 fig EA, To allyouths marriage and the foundation of a household are


86 THE OLD KINGDOM

chests of ebony, inlaid with 1vory in the finest workmanship, formed the chief articles of furniture. 5 Little orno use was made of tables, but the rich vessels of alabaster and other costly stones, of copper, or sometim es of gold and silver, were placed upon bases andstandards which raised them from the floor. The floorswere covered with heavy rugs, upon which guests, es

pecially ladies, frequently sat, in preference to the chairsand stools . The food was rich and varied ; we findthat even the dead desired in the hereafter ten diff erent kinds of meat, five kinds of poultry, sixteen kinds ofbread and cakes, six kinds of wine, four kinds of beer,eleven kinds of fruit, besides all sorts of sweets andmany other things ” (DG,

18—26 ; EA,

79 . The costume of these ancient lords was simplein the extreme ; it consisted merely of a white linenkilt, secured above the hips with a girdle or band, andhanging often hardly to the knees, or again in anotherstyle, to the calf of the leg. The head was commonlyshaven, and two styles of wig, one short and curly, theother with long straight locks parted in the middle, wereworn on all state occasions . A broad collar, often inlaid with costly stones, generally hung from the neck,but otherwise the body was bare from the waist up.

With ng staff in hand , the gentleman of the day wasready 0 receive his visitors, or to make a tour of inspection about his estate. His lady and her daughtersall appeared in costumes even more simple . They wereclothed in a thin

,closefitting, sleeveless, whi te linen

garment hanging from the breast to the ankles, andsupported by two bands passing over the shoulders .The skirt

,as a modern modiste would say,

“ lacked fulness

,

” and there was barely freedom to walk. A longwig, a collar and necklace, and a pair of bracelets com


pleted the lady’ s costume . Neither she nor her lord

was fond of sandals, although they now and then worethem. While the adults thus dispensed with all unnecessary clothing, as we should expect in such a climate

,the children were allowed to run about without

any clothing whatever. The peasant wore merely abreech- clout, which he frequently cast off when at workin the fields ; his wife was clad in the same long closefitting garment worn by the wife of the noble ; but she,too , when engaged in heavy work, such as winnowinggrain

,cast aside all clothing.

80. The Egyptian was passionately fond of natureand of outdoor life. The house of the noble was alwayssurrounded by a garden , in which he loved to plant figsand palms and sycamores, laying out vineyards andarbours

,and excavating before the house a pool

,lined

with masonry coping and filled with fish. A largebody of servants and slaves were in attendance, both inhouse and garden; a chief steward had charge of theentire house and estate, while an upper gardenerdirected the slaves in the care and culture of the ardenThis was theM agachfl

se,here he spent his leisure

hours with his family and friends, playing at draughts,listening to the music of harp, pipe and lute, watchinghis women in the slow and stately dance of the time,while his children about among the trees,

the pool ed with—bal l , doll df'j ufiip

The hunt 1n the cool shade of the papyrusmarshes , or out in the blazing heat of the desert equallyattracted him in his leisure hours. In this lighter sideof the Egyptian ’ s life, his love of nature, his wholesomeand sunny view of life, his never fail ing cheerfulness inSpite of his constant and elaborate preparation fordeath, and especially his noticeable humour , we find

l

88 THE OLD KINGDOM

pervading characteristics of his nflure, which are soevident in his art, as to raise it f ar above the sombre ,heaviness that pervades the contemporary art of Asia .

81 . Some five centuries of uniform government,with

centralized control of the innundation ,in the vast sys

tem of dykes and irrigation canals,had brought the

productivity of the nation to the highest level ; for theeconomic foundation of this civilization in the OldKingdom, as in all other periods of Egyptian history,was agriculture: It was the enormous harvests of

wheat and barley gathered by the Egyptian from theinexhaustible soil of his valley which made possible thesocial and political structure which we have beensketching. Besides grain , the extensive vineyards andwide fields of succulent vegetables , which formed a partof every estate, greatly augmented the agricultural resources of the land . Large herds of cattle

,sheep

,goats,

droves of donkeys (for the horse was unknown) , andvast quantities of poultry

,wild fowl

,the large game of

the desert and innumerable Nile fish,added not in

considerably to the wealth and prosperity which theland was now enjoying. It was thus in field and pasture that the millions of the kingdom toiled to producethe annual wealth by which its economic processes continued.

82.

'O ther sources of wealth also occupied largenumbers of workmen . There were granite quarries atthe first cataract , sandstone was quarried at Silsileh,the finer and harder stones chiefly at Hammamat between Coptos and the Red Sea

,alabaster at Hatnub

behind Amarna, and limestone at many places, particularly at Ayan or Troia opposite Memphis . Theybrought from the first cataract granite blocks twentyor thirty feet long and fifty or sixty tons in weight.


90 THE OLD KINGDOM

sun - dried bricks were turned out by the brick- yards,

as they still are at the present day, and, as we have seen,the masons erected whole quarters for the poor

,villas

for the rich, magazines, storehouses, forts and city wallso f these cheap and convenient materials . In theforestless valley the chief trees were the date palm,

thesycamore, tamarisk and acacia, none of which furnished good timber. Wood was therefore scarce andexpensive, but the carpenters, joiners and cabinetmakers flourished nevertheless, and those in the employ of the palace or on the estates of the nobles wroughtwonders in the cedar, imp orted from Syria, and theebony and ivory which came in from the south. Inevery town and on every large estate ship- building wasconstant. There were many different styles of craftfrom the heavy cargo- boat for grain and cattle, to the

gorgeous many- oared dahabiyeh,” of the noble, with

its huge sail . We shall find these Shipwrights buildingthe earliest known sea- going vessels, on the shores ofthe Red Sea and the Mediterranean84 . While the artistic craftsman in stone still pro

duced magnificent vessels, vases, jars, bowls and

p latters in alabaster, diorite, porphyry and other costlystones, yet his work was gradually giving way to thepotter

,whose rich blue and green - glazed fayence ves

sels éould not but win their way. He produced alsovast quantities of large coarse jars for the

“

storage ofo ils, wines, meats and other foods in the magazines ofthe nobles and the government ; while the use of smallervessels among the millions of the lower classes madethe manufacture of pottery one of the chief industrieso f the country. The pottery of the time is withoutdecoration , and is hardly a work of art . Glass wasstill chiefly employed as glaze and had not yet been

INDUSTRY AND ART 91

developed as an independent material . In a landof pastures and herds the production of leather was ofcourse understood. The tanners had thoroughly mastered the art of curing the hides , and produced finesoft skins, which they dyed in all colours, coveringstools and chairs , beds and cushions, and furnishing gaycanopies

’

and baldachins . Flax was plentifullv cultivated, and the Pharaoh

’s harvest of flax was under thecontrol of a noble of rank (BAR I , 172, l . Thewomen of the serfs on the great estates were the spinners and weavers . Even the coarser varieties forgeneral use show good quality, but surviving specimensof the royal linens are of such exquisite fineness thatthe ordinary eye requires a glass to distinguish themfrom silk, and the limbs of the wearer could be discerned through the fabric . Other vegetable fibres furnished by the marshes supported a large industry incoarser textiles . Among these the papyrus was themost beautiful . Broad, light skiffs were made of it bybinding together long bundles of these reeds ; rope wastwisted from them, as also from palm- fibre ; sandalswere plaited

,and mats woven of them ; but above all,

when split into thin strips, it was possible to join theminto sheets of tough paper, the well - known papyrus.That the writing of Egypt spread to Phoenicia and furnished the classic world with an alphabet, is in a measuredue to this convenient writing material , as well as to themethod of writing upon it with ink (BAR , IV, 562,

582)85. The Nile was alive with boats,barges, and craft

of all descriptions, bearing the products of these industries

,and of field and pasture

,to the treasury of the

Pharaoh, or to the markets where they were disposedof . Here barter was the common means of exchange :

THE OLD KINGDOM

a

'

crude pot for a fish , a bundle of onions for a fan ; awooden box for a jar of ointment . In some transactions, however, presumably those involving largervalues

,gold and copper in rings of a fixed weight

,cir

culated as money, and stone weights were alreadymarked with their equivalence in such rings . Thi sring- money is the oldest currency known . Silver wasrare and more valuable than gold. Business had al

ready reached a high degree of development ; books andaccounts were kept ; orders and receipts were given ;wills and deeds were made ; and written contractscovering long periods of time were entered upon . Everynoble had his corps of clerks and secretaries , and theexchange of letters and official documents with hiscolleagues was incessant. Save at Elephantine, thesehave all perished (PKM, 82 f”)86 . Under such circumstances an education in the

learn ing of the time was indispensable to an officialcareer . Connected with the treasury

,for whose multi

fold records so many skilled ” scribes were necessary,there were schools where lads received the educationand the training which fitted them for the scribal offices,and lifted a youth above all other classes in the opinionof the scribe . The content of the instruction, besidesinnlim erable moral precepts , many of them most whole

some and rational, was chiefly the method of writing.

The elaborate hieroglyphic with its numerous animaland human figures, such as the reader has often seen onthe monuments in our museums, or in works on Egypt,was too slow and laborious a method of writing for theneeds of every- day business . The attempt to writethese figures rapidly with ink upon papyrus had gradually resulted in reducing each sign to a mere outline,much rounded off and abbreviated. This cursive


94 THE OLD KINGDOM

nary arithm etical processes were demanded in the dailytransactions of business and government, and had longsince come into common use among the scribes . Fractions

,however

,caused difficulty. The scribes could

operate only with those having one as the numerator,

and all other fractions were of necessity resolved into aseries of several , each with one as the numerator. Theonly exception was two- thirds . Elementary algebraic

p roblems were also solved without difficulty. In

geometry they were able to master the simpler propositions ; while the area of a trapezoid caused difficultyand error, that of the circle had been determined withclose accuracy. The necessity of determining the content of a pile of grain had led to a roughly approximateresult in the computation of the content of the hemisphere, and a circular granary to that of the cylinder.But no theoretical or abstract propositions were discussed, and the whole science attempted only thosepractical problems which were continually met in dailylife. The laying out of a ground- plan like the squarebase of the Great Pyramid could be accomplished withamazing accuracy, and the orientation displays a nicetythat almost rivals the results of modern instruments .A highly developed knowledge of mechanics was atthe command of the architect and craftsman . Thearchwas employed in masonry, and can be dated as farback as the thirtieth century B . C. , the oldest datedarches known . In the application of power to themovement of great monuments only the simplest devices were employed ; the pulley was unknown , andprobably the roller also . Medicine was already inpossession of much empirical wisdom, displaying closeand accurate observation ; the calling of the physic1analready existed , and the court physician of the Pharaoh

INDUSTRY AND ART 95

was a man of rank and influence. His recipes weremany of them rational and useful ; but more werenaively fanciful, like the prescription of a decoctionof the hair of a black calf to prevent gray hair. Mostdepended upon magic for their efficacy

,because disease

was due to hostile spirits . They had already beencollected and recorded in papyrus rolls (BAR ,

I,

and the recipes of this age were famous for their virtuein later times . Some of them finally crossed with theGreeks to Europe, where they are still in use amongthe peasantry of the present day.

88. Art flourished as nowhere else in the ancientworld . Here again the Egyptian ’s attitude of mindwas not wholly that which characterized the art of thelater Greek world . Art as the pursuit and the production exclusively of the ideally beautiful was unknownto him . He loved beauty as found in nature

,his spirit

demanded such beauty in his home and surroundings .The lotus blossomed on the handle of his spoon

,and

his wine sparkled in the deep blue calyx of the sameflower ; the muscular limb of the ox in carved ivoryupheld the couch upon which he slept, the ceiling overhis head was a starry heaven resting upon palm trunkcolumns , each crowned with its graceful tuft of drooping foliage ; or papyrus stalks rose . from the floor tosupport the azure roof upon their swaying blossoms ;doves and butterflies flitted across his in—door sky ; hisfloors were frescoed with the opulent green of richmarsh- grasses

,with fish gliding among their roots,

where the wild ox tossed his head at the birds twittering on the swaying grass- tops

,as they strove ln vain to

drive away the stealthy weasel creeping up to plundertheir nests . Everywhere the objects of every- day lifein the homes of the rich showed unconscious beauty of

96 THE OLD KINGDOM

line and fine balance of proportion , whi le the beauty ofnature and of out- of - door life which spoke to the beholder m the decoration on every hand

,lent a certain

di stinction even to the most commonplace objects .

The Egyptian thus sought to beautify and to makebeautiful all objects of utility , but all such objectsserved some practical use. He was not inclined tomake a beautiful thing solely for its beauty. Insculpture, therefore, the practical dominated . The

(Sect It was this motive chiefly to which themarvellous development of portrait sculpture inJ heOld Kingdom was due.89 . The sculptor might either put his model intostone by a process of exactly imitating his every feature, or again depict him in accordance with a conventional ideal . Both styles, representing the same man,though strikingly different, may appear i n the sametomb . Every device was adopted to increase the re

semblance to life. The whole statue was coloured inthe natural hues, the eyes were inlaid in rock- crystal,and the life likeness with which these Memphite sculptures were instinct has never been surpassed . Thefinest of the sitting statues is the well - known portrait ofKhafre

,the builder of the second pyramid of Gizeh.

In the most diflicult stone, lik e diorite, the sculptorskilfully [met the limitations imposed upon him by theintensely hard and refractory material , and whileobliged, therefore, to treat the subject summarily, heslightly emphasized salient features , lest the workshould lack pronounced character. These unknown


98 THE OLD KINGDOM

figure : in drawing a man a front view of the eyes andshoulders was regularly placed upon a profile of thetrunk and head . This unconscious incongr uity wasafterward also extended to temporal relations, and successive instants of time were combined in the samescene . Accepting these limitations, the reliefs of theOld Kingdom, which are really slightly modelleddrawings, are often sculptures of great beauty, es

pecially in their exquisite modelling. It is from thescenes which the Memphi te sculptor placed on the wallsof the mas tabachapels that we learn all that we knowof the life and customs of the Old Kingdom . Al l suchreliefs were coloured, so that when completed we maycall them raised and modelled paintings ; at least theydo not fall within the domain of plastic art, as do Greekreliefs . Painting was also practiced independently

,

and the familiar line of ducks from a tomb at Medum

(EH,Fig. 55) well illustrates the strength and freedom

with which the Memphite of the time could depict theanimal forms with whi ch he was familiar.91 . The sculpture of the Old Kingdom may be char

acterized as a natural and unconscious realism, exer

cised with a techn ical ability of the highest order. Inthe practice of this art the sculptor of the Old Kingdom ln some respects compares favourably even withmodern artists . He was the only artist in the early O ri

ent who could put the human body into stone, and living in a society such that he was daily familiarized withthe nude form

,he treated it with sincerity and frank

ness . I cannot forbear quoting] the words of an um

prejudiced classical archaeologist, M. Georges Perrot,who say s of the Memphite sculptors of the O ld Kingdom ,

It must be acknowledged that they produced workswhich are not to be surpassed in their way by the great

INDUSTRY AND ART 99

est portraits of modern Europe (PCHA, II, Thesculpture of the Old Kingdom , however, was superficial ; it was not interpretative, did not embody ideasin stone and shows little contemplation of the emotionsand forces of life. It is characteristic of the age thatwe must speak of this Memphite art as a whole . Weknow none of its greatest masters , and only the nameso f an artist or two during the whole period of Egyptianhistory.

92. It is only very recently that we have been able to«discern the fundamentals of Old Kingdom architecture.Too little has been preserved of the house and palaceo f the time to permit of safe generalizations upon thelight and airy style of architecture which they repre

sent. It is only the massive stone structures of thisage which have been preserved . Besides the mastabasand pyramids , which we have already briefly noticed,the temple is the great architectural achievement ofthe Old Kingdom . Its arrangement has been touchedupon in the preceding chapter. The architect employed only straight lines, these being perpendicularsand horizontals , very boldly and felicitously combined.

The arch,although known , was not employed as a

member in architecture. In order to carry the roofa cross the void , either the simplest of stone piers, asquare pillar of a single block of granite was employed,or an already elaborate and beautiful monolithic columno f granite supported the architrave . These columns,the earliest known in the history of architecture, mayhave been employed before the Old Kingdom, for theyare fully developed in the Fifth Dynasty. They represent a palm- tree, the capital being the crown of foliage ;o r they are conceived as a bundle of papyrus stalks,bearing the architrave upon the cluster of buds at theL07 0.

100 THE OLD KINGDOM

top,which form the capital . The proportions are

graceful and elegant, and surrounded with such ex

quisite colonnades as these, flanked by brightly colouredreliefs

,the courts of the Old Kingdom temples belong

to the noblest architectural conceptions bequeathed tous by antiquity. Egypt thus became the source of

columned architecture. While the Babylonian builders displayed notable skill in giving varied architecturaleffect to great masses

,they were limited to thi s , and

the colonnade was unknown to them ; whereas theEgyptian already at the close of the fourth millenniumbefore Christ had solved the fundamental problem of

great architecture , developing with the most refinedartistic sense and the greatest mechanical skill thetreatment of voids (as opposed to the m asses of theBabylonian), and thus originating the colonnade.

93 . The age was dealing with material things and

developing material resources, and in such an age

literature has little opportunity ; it was indeed hardlyborn as yet. The sages of the court, the wise old

viziers, Kegem ne, Imhotep, and Ptahhotep , had putinto proverbs the wholesome wisdom of life

,which a.

long career had taught them, and these were probablyalready circulating in written form, although the oldestmanuscript of such lore which we possess dates fromtheMiddle Kingdom . The Palermo Stone (see p . 4 7 )was but a bald catalogue of events

,achievements and

temple donations, without literary form . It is theoldest surviving fragment of royal annals . As the

desire to perpetuate the story of a distinguished lifeincreased, the nobles began to record in their tombssimple narratives characterized by a primitive directness, in long successions of simple sentences , eachshowing the same construction

,but lacking expressed

.J to J


102 THE OLD KINGDOM

present knowledge,was the active and aggressive age

which unfolds before us, as the kings of the Thinitedynast1es give way to those of Memphis. It now re

mains for us to trace the career of this , the most ancientstate, whose constitution is still discernible.

THE PYRAMID BUILDERS

94 . AT the close of the so - called Second Dynasty,early in the thirtieth century B . C .

, the Thinites, ac

cording to Manetho , were finally dislodged from.the

position of power which they had maintained so wellfor over four centuries, and a Memphite family, whosehome was the “White Wall,

” gained the ascendancy.

But there is evidence that the sharp dynastic divisionrecorded by Manetho never took place, and this finalsupremacy of Memphis may have been nothing morethan a gradual transition thither by the Thinites themselves. In any case the great queen , Nem athap , thewife of King Khasekhem ui, who was probably the lastking of the Second Dynasty, was evidently the motherof Zoser

,with whose accession the predominance of

Memphis becomes apparent. During this Memphitesupremacy, the development which the Thinites hadpushed so vigorously , was skilfully and ably fostered.

For over five hundred years the kingdom continued toflourish, but of these five centuries only the last twohave left us even scanty literary remains, and we areobliged to draw our meagre knowledge of its first threecenturies almost entirely from material documents, themonuments which it has left us . In some degree sucha task is like attempting to reconstruct a history ofAthens in the age of Pericles , based entirely upon the

103

104 THE OLD KINGDOM

temples, sculptures, vases, and other material remainssurviving from his time. While the multifold life whichwas then unfolding in Athens involved a mental endowment and a condition of state and society which Egypt

,

even at her best, never knew, yet it must not be forgotten that

,tremendous as is the impression which we

receive from the monuments of the Old Kingdom,they

are but the skeleton , upon which we might put flesh,

and endue the whole with life, if but the chief literarymonuments of the time had survived . It is a difficulttask to discern behind these Titanic achievements thebusy world of commerce

,industry

,administration

, so

ciety, art, and literature out of which they grew . Ofhalf a millennium of political change, of overthrow andusurpation, of growth and decay of institutions, of localgovernors, helpless under the strong grasp of thePharaoh , or shaking off the restraint of a weak m on

arch, and developing into independent barons, so powerful at last as to bring in the final dissolution of the state— of all this we gain but fleeting and occasional glimpses,where more must be guessed than can be known .

95. The first prominent figure in the Old Kingdomis that of Zoser, with whom, as we have said , the ThirdDynasty arose . It was evidently his strong handwh

'

h _ firmly established Memphite supremacy . Hecon

l

finued the exploitation of the copper mines in Sinai,while in the south he extended his power in some formof control over the turbulent Nubian tribes

,just beyond

the first cataract, if we may credit a late tradition of

the priests (SU,II, 22 The success of Zoser’ s

efforts was perhaps in part due to the counsel of the

great wise man, Imhotep, who was one of his chiefadvisers . In priestly wisdom,

in magic,in the formula

tion of wise proverbs, in medicine and architecture, this


106 THE OLD KINGDOM

possible to reconstruct . It is probable that we shouldattribute to one of them the great blunted stone pryam idof Dahshur, and if this bonclusion be correct, such amonument is a striking testimony to the wealth andpower of this Third Dynasty . At the close of thedynasty the nation was enjoying wide prosperity underthe vigorous and farseeing Snefru . He built vesselsnearly one hundred and seventy feet long

,for traffic

and administration upon the river ; he continued thedevelopment of the copper m lnes in Sinai, where hedefeated the native tribes and left a record of his triumph (BAR ,

I, 14 6—14 7 , 168 He placed

Egyptian interests in the peninsula upon such a permanent basis that he was later looked upon as thefounder and establisher of Egyptian supremacy there,and he became a patron god of the district (LD, II,137g ; BAR , I , 722, He regulated the easternfrontier, and it is not unlikely that we should attributeto him the erection of the fortresses at the Bitter Lakesln the Isthmus of Suez, which existed already in theFifth Dynasty . Roads and stations in the easternDelta still bore his name fifteen hundred years afterhis death . In the west it is not improbable that healready controlled one of the northern oases. Morethan all this, he opened up commerce with the northandi sent a fleet of forty vessels to the Phoenician coastto procure cedar logs from the slopes of Lebanon .

This.

is the earliest known naval expedition 0 11 the opensea . He was equally aggressive ln the south , where heconducted a campaign against northern Nubia, bringing back seven thousand prisoners

,and two hundred

thousand large and small cattle (BAR ,I,165, 5 ; 312, l .

21 ; 17 4 , l . 9 ;97 . The first of the two tombs

“

built by Snefru is

THE PYRAMID BUILDERS 107

situated atMedfim , between Memphis and the Fayum .

Erected as a terraced monument, like that of Zoser, itsterraces were finally filled out in one smooth slope fromtop to bottom at a diff erent angle, thus producing thefirst pyramid . Like Zoser, Snefru

’s first tomb was

much less pretentious than his second , the great stonepyramid which he built at Dahshl

'

ir, nearer MemphisThree hundred years later we still find its town andpriesthood exempt by royal decree from all state duesand levies (AZ, 4 2, 198. With Snefru the rising tide of prosperity and

power has reached the high level which made the subsequent splendour of the Old Kingdom possible . Withhim there had also grown up the rich and powerfulnoble and official class , whose life we have alreadysketched— a class who are no longer content with thesimple brick tombs of their ancestors at Abydos andvicinity. Their splendid mastabas of hewn limestone.

are still grouped as formerly about the tomb of the

king whom they served . It is the surviving remainsin these imposing cities of the dead , dominated

'

by the

towering mass of the pyramid, which has enabled us togain a picture of the life of the great kingdom, the

threshold of which we have now’

crossed . Behind us

lies the long slow development which contained the

promise of all that is before us ; but that developmentalso we were obliged to trace in the tomb of the earlyEgyptian

,as we have followed him from the sand- heap

that covered his primitive ancestor to the colossalpyramid of the Pharaoh .

99 . The passing of the great family of which Snefrwwas the most prominent representative did not , as faras we can now see

,effect any serious change in the

history of the nation . Indeed Khufu , the founder of

6 108 THE OLD KINGDOM

the so - called Fourth Dynasty, may possibly have beena scion of the Third . There was in his harem at leasta lady who had also been a favourite of Snefru . Khufu,however, was not

‘a Memphite . He came from a townof middle Egypt near modern Benihasan,

which wasa fterward, for this reason , called

“Menat- Khufu,

”

“ Nurse of Khufu .

” We have no means of knowinghow the noble of a provincial town succeeded in supplanting the line of the powerful Snefru and becomingthe founder of a new line. We only see him looming

grandly from the obscure array of Pharaohs of his time,his greatness proclaimed by the noble tomb which heerected at Gizeh , opposite modern Cairo . How strong.and efiective must have been the organization of

Khufu’

s government we appreciate in some measurewhen we learn that his pyramid contains some twomillion three hundred thousand blocks, each weighingon the average two and a. half tons (PG) . Herodotusrelates a tradition current in his time that the pyramidhad demanded the labour of a hundred thousand menduring twenty years , and Petrie has shown that thesenumbers are quite credible . The maintenance of thiscity of a hundred thousand labourers , who were nonproducing and a constant burden on the state, the ad

justnl ent of the labour in the quarries , so as to ensurean uninterrupted accession of material around thebase of the pyramid , will have entailed the developmento f a small state in itself. Not merely was this work

quantitatively so formidable, but in quality also it isthe most remarkable material enterprise known to usanywhere in this early world , for the most p onderousmasonry in the pyramid amazes the modern beholderby its fineness . The pyramid is , or was , about fourhundred and eighty- one feet high, and its square base,


1 10 THE,OLD KINGDOM

stirred by its vast dimensions or by the fineness of itsmasonry , should not obscure its real and final significance ; for the great pyramid is the earliest and mostimpressive witness surviving from the ancient world

,

to the final emergence of organized society from prehistoric chaos and local conflict

,thus coming for the

first time completely under the power of a far- reachingand comprehensive centralization effected by one cont rolling mind .

100 . Khufu’

s name has been found from Desuk in

the northwestern and Bubastis in the eastern Delta, toHieraconpolis in the south, but we know almost nothingof his other achievements . He continued operations inthe peninsula of Sinai (BAR , I, perhaps Openedfor the first time, and in any case kept workmen in thealabaster quarry of Hatnub ; and Ptolemaic traditiona lso made him the builder of a Hathor temple at Dendereh (DD , p. But we know nothing further of his

great and prosperous reign .

101 . It is uncertain whether his successor, Khafre,was his son or not. But the new king’ s name

,which

means His Shining is Re,” would indicate the political

influence of the priests of Re at Heliopolis . He builta pyramid beside that of Khufu, but it is somewhatsm afller and distinctly inferior in workmanship. Scantyremains of the pyramid - temple on the east side arestill in place, from which the usual causeway leadsdown to the margin of the plateau and terminates in asplendid granite building, which served as the gatewayto the causeway and the pyramid enclosure above .This imposing entrance stands beside the Great Sphinx,

and is still usually termed the “ temple of the Sphinx ,

”

with which it had , however, nothing to do . Whetherthe Sphinx itself is the work of Khafre is not yet deter

THE PYRAMID BUILDERS 1 1 1

mined . The Great Sphinx, like other EgyptianSphinxes, is the portrait of a Pharaoh, and an obscurereference to Khafre in an inscription between its forepaws

,dated fourteen hundred years later in the reign

of Thutmose IV, perhaps shows that in those times hewas considered to have had something to do with it

(BAR ,II

,Beyond these buildings we know

nothing of Khafre’ s deeds , but these show clearly thatthe great state which Khufu had done so much to

create was still firmly controlled by the Pharaoh .

102. Under Khafre’ s successor, Menkure, however,if the size of the royal pyramid is an adequate basis forjudgment, the power of the royal house was no longerso absolute . The third pyramid of Gizeh , which weowe to him,

is less than half as high as those of Khufuand Khafre ; its ruined temple, recently excavated byReisner, was evidently unfinished at his death, and hissuccessor put in only sun - dried brick instead of thegranite facing it was intended to receive . Besides this,the causeway , still submerged in sand , and three smallpyramids of Menkure’ s family

,are all that remains of

his splendour. Of his immediate successors we possess contemporary monuments only from the reign of

Shepseskaf . Although we have a record that he selected the site for his pyramid in his first year (BAR , I,

he was unable to erect a monument sufficientlylarge and durable to survive

,and we do not even know

where it was located ; while of the achievements of

this whole group of kings at the close of the FourthDynasty, including several - interlopers

,who may now

have assumed the throne for a brief time,we know

nothing whatever.103 . The cause of the fall of the Fourth Dynasty,

while not clear in the details, is in the main outlines


tolerably certain . The priests of Re at Heliopolis,whose influence is also evident in the names of the kingsfollowing Khufu , had succeeded in organizing theirpolitical influence, becoming a party of sufficient powerto overthrow the old line . The state theology hadalways represented the king as the successor of the sungod

,and he had bor ne the title “Horus,

” a sun - god ,from the beginning ; but the priests of Heliopolis nowdemanded that he be the bodily son of Re, who henceforth would appear on earth to become the father ofthe Pharaoh . A folk—tale (PW) , of which we have acopy

,some nine hundred years later than the fall of

the Fourth Dynasty, relates how Khufu, while enjoyingan idle hour with his sons, learned from an ancientwiseman that the three children soon to be borne bythe wife of ' a certain priest of Re were begotten of Re

himself, and that they should all become kings ofEgypt. The names given these children by the disguised divinities who assisted at their birth wereUserkaf , Sahure and Kakai, the names of the first threekings of the Fifth Dynasty . In this folk- tale we havethe popular form of what is now the state fiction : everyPharaoh is the bodily son of the sun - god, a belief whichwas thereafter maintained throughout the history ofEg pt (BAR ,

II,187

104 . The kings of the Fifth Dynasty, who continuedto reside in the vicinity of Memphis, began to ruleabout 2750 B . 0 . They show plain traces of the originascribed to them by the popular tradition ; the officialname which they assume at the coronation must invariably contain the name of Re. Before this namemust now be placed a new title, Son of Re.

”Be

sides the old “Horus ” title and another new titlerepresenting the Horus - hawk trampling upon the



tive of another family,with whom it remains hereditary.

Each incumbent, through five generations,bore the

namePtahhotep . This hereditary succession , so striking in the highest office of the central government

, was

now common in the nomes also , and the local governorswere each gaining stronger and stronger foothold inhis nome as the generations passed , and son succeededfather in the same nome (BAR , I , 213106 . While Userkaf , as the founder of the new

dynasty, may have had enough to do to make securethe succession of his line, he has left his names on therocks at the first cataract, the earliest of the long seriesof rock- inscriptions there , which from now on willfurnish us many hints of the career of the Pharaohs inthe south (MMD, 54 e) . Sahure; who followed Userkaf, continued the development of Egypt as the carliest known naval power in history. He dispatched a

fleet against the Phoenician coast, and a relief justdiscovered in his pyramid temple at Abusir showsfour of the ships

,with Phoenician captives among the

Egyptian sailors. This is the“earliest surviving representation of sea- going ships (c . 2750 B . C . and theoldest known picture of Semitic Syrians . Anotherfleet was sent by Sahure to still rem oter waters , on avoyag to Punt, the Somali coast at the south endof the Red Sea, and along the south side of the gulfof Aden . From this region , which, like the wholeeast, was termed the God ’s - Land ,

” were obtainedthe fragrant gums and resins so much desired for theincense and ointments indispensable in the life of theOriental . Intercourse with this country had beencarried -

on for centuries (BAR , II, but Sahure

was the first Pharaoh of whom the monuments recordthe dispatch of a special expedition thither. This ex

THE PYRAMID BUILDERS 1 15

pedition brought back measures of myrrh, probably weight of electrum (gold - silver alloy) , besides staves of some costly wood, presumablyebony (BAR , I, 161 , We find his officials at thefirst cataract also , one of whom left the earliest of thelong series of inscriptions on the rocks there (MCM,

I,

while an expedition to Sinai returned richlyladen (BAR , I , 161 , 7 ;107 . We can only discern enough of the next four

reigns to gain faint impressions of a powerful andcultured state, conserving all its internal wealth andreaching out to distant regions around it for the materials which its own natural resources do not furnish .

Toward the end of the dynasty, in the second half ofthe twenty- seventh century B. C. ,

Isesi opened thequarries of the Wadi Hammamat in the eastern desert,three days

’ journey from the Nile, and two days fromthe Red Sea port, from which the Isesi

’

s fleet sailed forPunt on the second voyage thither known to us (BAR ,

I, 351 , His successor, Unis, must have beenact1ve ln the south, for we find his name at the frontierof the first cataract, followed by the epithet

“ lord ofcountries ”

(PS . x11 , No .

108. Under Isesi we perceive more clearly the risingpower of the officials, who from now on never fail tomake themselves increasingly prominent in all recordsof the royal achievements (BAR , I, 264 , It is apower with which the Pharaoh wil l find more and mored ifficulty in dealing as time passes . There is now perhaps another evidence of declining power in the com

paratively diminutive size and poorer workmanship ofthe Fifth Dynasty pyramids, ranged along the desertm argin south of Gizeh, at Abusir and Sakkara. Thecentralized power of the earlier Pharaohs was thus


visibly weakening, and it was indeed in every waydesirable that there should be a reaction against thetotally abnormal absorption by the Pharaoh’ s tomb ofsuch a large proportion of the national wealth.

109 . The transitional period of the Fifth Dynasty,

lasting probably a century and a quarter, during whichnine kings reigned, was therefore one of significantpolitical development, and in material civilization one

of distinct progress . Architecture passed from the

massive,unadorned

,rectangular granite pillars of the

Fourth Dynasty at Gizeh to the graceful papyrus andpalm- crowned columns and colonnades of the sun andpyramid- temples at Abusir. Art thus flourished as

before,and great works of Egyptian sculpture were

produced ; while in literature Ptahhotep , King Isesi’

s

vizier and chief judge composed his proverbial wisdom,

which we have already discussed . The state religionreceived a form worthy of so great a nation , the templesthroughout the land enjoyed constant attention, andthe larger sanctuaries were given endowments commensurate with the more elaborate daily offerings onthe king’ s behalf (BAR , I , 154 It is this period which has preserved our first religious literature ofany extent

,as well as our earliest lengthy example of

the Egyptian”language . In the pyramid of Unis, the

last king of the dynasty, is recorded the collection of

mortuary ritualistic utterances, the so - called PyramidTexts which we have before discussed (p . As

most of them belong to a still earlier age, and some ofthem originated in predynastic times, they represent amuch earlier form of language and belief than those ofthe generation to which the pyramid of Unis belongs.



dence,not as officials of the central government. We

have here the first example traceable in history of thedissolution of a centralized state by a process of aggrandizem ent on the part of local officials of the crown ,like that which resolved the Carlovingian empire intoduchies

,landgraviates, or petty principalities . The new

lords were not able to render their tenure unconditionally hereditary, but here the monarch still maintaineda powerful hold upon them ; for at the death of a noblehis position , his fief and his title must be conferred uponthe inheriting son by the graclous favour of the Pharaoh. These nomarchs or “great lords” are loyal adherents of the Pharaoh, executing his commissions indistant regions

,and displaying the greatest zeal in his

cause ; but they are no longer his officials merely ; nor

are they so attached to the court and person of themonarch as to build their tombs around his pyramid.

They now have sufi cient independence and local attachm ent to erect their tombs near their homes . Theydevote much attention to the development and prosperity of their great domains, and one of them eventells how he brought in emigrants from neighbouringnomes to settle in the feebler towns and infuse newblood into the less productive districts of his own

nome (BAR ,I ,

1 1 1 . The chief administrative bond which unitedthe nomes to the central government of the Pharaohwill have been the treasury as before ; but the Pharaohfound it necessary to exert general control over thegreat group of fiefs which now comprised his kingdom ,

and already toward the end of the Fifth Dynasty hehad therefore appointed over the whole of the valleyabove the Delta a “governor of the South,

” throughwhom he was able constantly to exert governmental

THE DECLINE OF THE OLD KINGDOM 1 19

pressure upon the southern nobles ; there seems tohave been no corresponding governor of the North,

”

and we may infer that the lords of the North were lessaggressive . Moreover, the kings still feel themselves tobe kings of the South governing the North .

1 12. The seat of government, the chief royal resid ence, was, as before, in the vicinity of Memphis, stillcalled the “White Wall ” ; but after the obscure reigno f Teti II, and possibly Userkere, the first two kings ofthe new dynasty, the pyramidcity of his successor, thepowerful Pepi I, was so close to the “Wh ite Wall ” thatthe name of his pyramid,

“Men - nofer,” corrupted by

the Greeks to Memphis, rapidly passed to the city, and“White Wall ” survived only as an archaic and poeticdesignation of the place. The administration of theresidence had become a matter of sufficient importanceto demand the attention of the vizier himself. Heh enceforth assumed its immediate control, receiving thetitle “governor of the pyramid—city” or “governor ofthe city” merely, for it now became customary to speakof the residence as the “ city.

” Notwithstanding" thorough- going changes, the new dynasty continued theofficial cult maintained by their predecessors . Re

remained supreme, and the old foundations were re

Spected.

1 13 . In spite of the independence of the new nobles,it is evident that Pepi I possessed the necessary force tohold them well in hand . His monuments, large andsmall

,are found throughout Egypt. Now began also

the biographies of the officials of the time, affordingus a picture of the .busy life of the self- satisfied magnateso f that distant age ; while to these we may fortunately.add also the records at the mines and in the quarries .Loyalty now demands no more than a relief showing

120 THE OLD KINGDOM

the king as he worships his gods or smites his enemies ;and this done, the vanity of the commander of the ex

pedition and his fellows may be gratified in a record oftheir deeds or adventures, which becomes longer andlonger as time passes . In the quarries of Hammamatand Hatnub, as well as in Wady Maghara in Sinai theofficials of Pepi I have left their records with full listsof their names and titles (BAR ,

I,295—301 ; 304

—305 ;

302 We have a very interesting and instructiveexample of this official class under the new régime inUni, a faithful adherent of the royal house, who hasfortunately left us his biography . Under king Teti IIhe had begun his career at the bottom as an obscureunder- custodian in the royal domains . Pepi I now

appointed him as a judge,at the same time giving him

rank at the royal court,and an income as a priest of

the pyramid - temple. He was soon promoted to asuperior custodianship of the royal domains

,and in

this capacity he had so gained the royal favour thatwhen a conspiracy against the king arose in the haremhe was nominated with one colleague to prosecute thecase. Pepi I thus strove to single out m en of forceand ability with whom he might organize a stronggovernment, closely attached to Ms fortunes and to

those of his house. In the heart of the southerncountry he set up among the nobles the “ great lord ofthe Hare- nome,

” and made him governor of the South ;while he married as his official queens the two sisters ofthe nomarch of Thinis, both bearing the same name,Enekhnes-Merire, and they became the mothers of thetwo kings who followed him (BAR ,

I, 307 , 310,

e foreign policy of Pepi I was more vigorousharaoh of earlier times . In Nubia


122 THE OLD KINGDOM

was placed in their hands, so that the head of the fam ilybore the title “Keeper of the Door of the South.

‘They made the place so safe that when the king dis

p atched Uni to the granite quarries at the head of thecataract to procure the sarcophagus and the finerfittings for his pyramid, the noble was able to aecom

p lish his errand with“ only one war- ship

,an unprece

dented feat (BAR , I , The enterprising youngmonarch then commissioned Uni to establish unbrokenconnection by water with the granite quarries by opening a succession of five canals through the intervening

granite barrl ers of the cataracts ; and the faithful noblecompleted this difficult task, besides the building ofseven boats , launched and laden with great blocks of

granite for the royal pyramid in only one year (BAR ,

1 16 . Now that the first cataract was passable forNile boats at high water, a closer control, if not theconquest of northern Nubia was quite feasible. North

ern Nubia was not of itself a country which the agricultural Egyptian could utilize. The strip of cultivablesoil between the Nile and the desert on either hand ishere so scanty, even in places disappearing altogether,that its agricultural value is slight , But the high ridgesawl valleys in the desert on the east contain rich veinso f gold- bearing quartz, and non ore is plentiful also ,a lthough no workings of it have been found there . Thec ountry was furthermore the only gateway to the regionso f the south, with which constant trade was now maintained. Besides gold, the Sudan sent down the rivero strich feathers

,ebony logs, panther skins and ivory ;

while along the same route, from Punt and the countries further east, came myrrh, fragrant gums and resinsand aromatic woods . It was therefore imperative that

THE DECLINE OF THE OLD KINGDOM 123

the Pharaoh should command this route. We knowlittle of the negro and negroid tribes who inhabited thecataract region at this time . Immediately south of theEgyptian frontier dwelt the tribes of Wawat, extendingwell toward the second cataract, above which the entireregion of the upper cataracts was known as Kush

, al

though the name does not commonly occur on themonuments until the Middle Kingdom . In the northern loop of the huge “S ” formed by the course of theNile between the junction of the two Niles and the sec?ond cataract, was included the territory of the powerfulMazoi, who afterward appeared as auxiliaries in theEgyptian army in such numbers that the Egyptian.

word for soldier ultimately became “Matoi,a late

(Coptic) form of Mazoi . In this northern loop of the“S ” too

,between the Third and the Fourth Cataracts,

the Nile Valley widens into broad fields,of the greatest

productivity and enjoying the finest climate. But theconquest of this Nubian paradise by the Pharaohs wasstill a thousand years away. Probably on the west ofthe Mazoi was the land of Yam , and between Yam andMazoi on the south and Wawat on the north were distributed several tribes , of whom Irthet and Sethut werethe most important. The last two , together withWawat, were sometimes united under one chief (BAR ,

I, All these tribes were still in the barbarousstage. They dwelt m squalid settlements of mud hutsalong the river

,or beside wells in the valleys running

Up country from the Nile ; and besides the flocks andherds which they maintained

,they. also lived upon the

scanty produce of their small grain - fields.

1 17 . Doubtless utilizing his new canal , Mernere nowdevoted special attention to the exploitation of theseregions . His power was so respected by the chiefs of

124 THE OLD KINGDOM

Wawat, Irthet, Mazo i and Yam that they furnishedthe timber for the heavy cargo—boats built by Uni forthe granite blocks which he took out at the first cataract . In his fifth year Mernere did what no Pharaohbefore him had ever done

,in so far as we are informed .

He appeared at the first cataract in person to receivethe homage of the southern chiefs , and left upon therocks a record of the event

,accompanied by a relief

depicting the Pharaoh leanm g upon his staff, while theNubian chiefs bow down ln his presence (BAR , I, 324 ,

Law1 18. Mernere now utilized the services of the Ele

phantine nobles in tightening his hold upon the southernchiefs . Harkhuf , who was then lord of Elephantine,was also appointed governor of the South

,perhaps as the

successor of Uni , who was now too old for active serivce,or had meantime possibly died (BAR , I , althoughthe title had now become a mere epithet of honour wornby more than one deserving noble at this time . It wasupon Harkhuf and his relatives, a family of daringand adventurous nobles

,that the Pharaoh now de

pended as leaders of the arduous and dangerous expeditions which should intimidate the barbarians on hisfrontiers and maintain his prestige and his trade conneetions in the distant regions of the south . Thesemen are the earliest known explorers of inner Africaand the southern Red Sea . At least two of the fami lyperished in executing the Pharaoh’ s hazardous commissions in these far- off lands , a significant hint of thehardships and perils to which they were all exposed .

Besides their princely titulary as lords of Elephantinethey all bore the title caravan - conductor, who bringsthe products of the countries to his lord,

” which theyproudly display upon their tombs , excavated high in


126 THE OLD KINGDOM

house in the south. In the young king’s second yearHarkhuf was for the fourth time dispatched to Yam

,

whence he returned bringing a rich pack train and oneof those uncouth, bandy- legged dwarfs from one of thepigmy tribes of inner Africa, so highly prized for thedances by which the king

’s leisure hours were diverted .

The delighted letter of thanks written by the child - kingon hearing of the dwarf was recorded by the gratifiedHarkhuf on the front of his tomb and thus preserved

(BAR , I, 350Not all of these hardy lords of Elephantine

,who

adventured their lives in the tropical fastnesses of

inner Africa in the twenty- sixth century before Christ,were as fortunate as Harkhuf . One of them, a governor of the South, nam ed

’

Sebni, suddenly received newsof the death of his father, Prince Mekhu, who perishedwhile on an exp edition south of Wawat . ThereuponSebni undertook the dangerous mission of recoveringhis father’ s remains . Returning in safety, he wasshown every mark of royal favour for his pious deedin rescuing his father’s b ody. Splendid gifts and the“ gold of praise” were showered upon him, and lateran official communication from the vizier conveyed toh im a parcel of land (BAR , I , 362

K.121 . A loose sovereignty was now extended over theNubian tribes

,and Pepinakht, one of the Elephantine

lords,was placed in control with the title “governor

of forelgn countries .” In this capacity Pepi II twice

sent him against Wawat and Irthet , where he finallycaptured the two chiefs of these countries themselves,besides their two commanders and plentiful spoil fromthei r herds . Expeditions were pushed far into theupper cataract region , which is once called Kush inthe Elephantine tombs , and , in general , the preliminary

THE DECLINE OF THE OLD KINGDOM 127

work was done which made possible the complete conquest of lower Nubia in the Middle Kingdom . Indeedthat conquest would now have been begun had notinternal causes produced the fall of the Sixth Dynasty

(BAR ,I, 356 , 358, 359,

122. The responsibility for the development of

Egyptian commerce with the land of Punt and theregion of the southern Red Sea also fell upon the lordsof Elephantine . Evidently they had charge of thewhole south from the Red Sea to the Nile. There wasno waterway connecting the Nile with the Red Sea

(of. p. and these leaders were obliged to build theirships at the eastern terminus of the Coptos caravanroute from the Nile, in one of the Red Sea harbourslike Koser or Leucos Limen . While so engaged,Enenkhet, Pepi Il

’

s naval commander, was fallen uponby the Beduin , who slew him and his entire command .

Pepinakht was imm ediately dispatched by the Pharaohto rescue the body of the unfortunate noble (BAR , I,

In spite of these risks, the communication withPunt was now active and frequent, and at least oneman had made the voyage probably eleven times (BAR ,

I,

It will be seen that the usually accepted seclusion of the Old Kingdom can no longer be maintained .

The commerce of the Old Kingdom Pharaohs extendedfrom the gate of the Indian Ocean on the south, to theforests of Lebanon, and the pre-Mycenaean civilizationof the Greek islands on the north. (See Note xi . )123 . The tradition of Manetho states that Pepi II

was six years-

old when he began to reign,and that he

continued until the hundredth year,doubtless meaning

of his life . The list preserved by Eratosthenes aversthat he ruled a full century. The Turin Papyrus ofkings supports the first tradition

,giving him over

128 THE OLD KINGDOM

ninety years, and there is no reason to doubt its truth.

His was thus the longest reign in history. Several briefreigns followed, among them possibly that of the QueenNitocris, to whose name were attached the absurdestlegends .124 . But after the death of Pepi II all is uncertain,

and impenetrable obscurity veils the last days of theSixth Dynasty. When it had ruled something over onehundred and fifty years the power of the landed barons .

had become a centrifugal force, which the Pharaohscould no longer withstand, and the dissolution of thestate resulted . The nomes gained their independence

,

the Old Kingdom fell to pieces, and for a time wasthus resolved into the petty principalities of prehistorictimes. Nearly a thousand years of unparalleled developm ent since the rise of a united state, thus ended,in the twenty- fifth century B . C.

, in political conditionslike those which had preceded it.125. It had been a thousand

’ years of inexhaust iblefertility when the youthful strength of a people ofboundless energy had for the first time found the or

ganized form in which it could best express itself. Inevery direction we see the products of a national freshness and vigour whi ch are never spent ; the union of

the country under a single guiding hand which hadquelled internal dissensions and directed the combinedenergies of a great people toward harmonious effort,had brought untold blessing. The Pharaohs

,to whom

the unparalleled grandeur of this age was due,not only

gained a place among the gods in their .own time, buttwo thousand years later, at the close of Egypt

’s history as an independent nation , in the Twenty- sixthDynasty

,we still find the priests who were appointed

to maintain their worship . And at the end of her


PART III

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

THE FEUDAL AGE


134 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM: THE FEUDAL AGE

regarded the Sixth Dynasty as their ancestors ; butnone of their pyramids has ever been found

, nor havewe been able to date any tombs of the local nobility inthis dark age. In the mines and quarries of Sinai andHammamat, where records of every prosperous line ofkings proclaim their power, not a trace of these ephemeral Pharaohs can be found. A generation after thefall of the Sixth Dynasty a fam i ly of Heracleopolitannomarchs wrested the crown from the weak Mem

phites of theEighth Dynasty, who may have lingeredon,claiming royal honours for nearly another century.

127 . Some degree of order was finally restored bythe triumph of the nomarchs of Heracleopolis . Thiscity, just south of the Fayum, had been the seat of atemple and cult of Horus from the earliest dynastictimes . Akhthoes, who , according to Manetho, was thefounder of the new dynasty, must have taken grimvengeance on his enemies, for all that Manethoknowsof him is that he was the most violent of all the kings ofthe time, and that, having been seized with madness, hewas slain by a crocodile. The new house 18 knownto Manetho as the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties, but its,

kings were still too feeble to leave any enduring monuments ; neither have any records contemporary withthe f amily survived except during the last three generations, when the powerful nomarchs of Siut were able toexcavate cliff- tombs in which they fortunately leftrecords of the active and successful career of theirfamily, furnishing us a hint of the disorganized statefrom which the country had been rescued (BAR , I,391

J

128. These Siut nomarchs enjoyed the m o st intimaterelations with the royal house at Heracleopolis, and

we see them digging canals, reducing taxation, reaping

THE RISE OF THEBES 135

rich harvests, maintaining large herds, while there werealways in readiness a body of tr0 0 ps and a fleet. Suchwas the wealth and power of these Siut nobles thatthey soon became a buffer state on the south of inest imable value to the house of Heracleopolis, and one

o f them was made military commander of MiddleEgypt” (BAR , I,129 . Meantime among the nobles of the South a

s imilar powerful family of nomarchs was slowly risinginto notice . Some four hundred and forty miles aboveMemphis

,and less than one hundred and forty miles

below the first cataract, along the stretch of Nile aboutforty miles above the great bend, where the river approaches most closely to the Red Sea before turningabruptly away from it, the scanty margin betweenriver and cliffs expands into a broad and fruitful plain ,in the midst of which now lie the mightiest ruins ofancient civilization to be found anywhere in the world .

They are the wreck of Thebes , the world’s first great

monumental city. At this time it was an obscureprovincial town and the neighbouring Hermonthiswas the seat of a family of nomarchs, the Intefs andMentuhoteps. Toward the close of the Heracleopolitansupremacy , Thebes had gained the lead in the South,and its nomarch, Intef , was

“ keeper of the Door of theSout His successors were finally able to detach thewhole south as far northward as his own Theban nome,and organized an independent kingdom, with Thebesat its head . This Intef was ever after recognized asthe ancestor of the Theban line, and the monarchs ofthe Middle Kingdom set up his statue in the temple atThebes among those of their royal predecessors whowere worshipped there (BAR ,

I, 4 20,130. At this juncture

,the unshaken fidelity of ‘the

136 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM : THE FEUDAL AGE

Siut princes was the salvation of the house of Heracleopolis. We can now vaguely discern a protractedstruggle

,in whi ch they bore the brunt, continuing with

varying fortune,as the Intefs pushed northward from

Thebes,till Wahenekh- Intef gained Abydos and fixed

his northern boundary there . His southern frontierwas at the cataract . His son and successor

,another

Intef , maintained this southern kingdom till the acsion of a line of five Mentuhoteps, probably a collateral branch of the Theban family, who establishedthe universal supremacy of Thebes, and the sovereigntyof Egypt passed from the north to the south. Heracle

opolis disappears, after we have gained but a fleetingglimpse of her kings in the tombs of the Siut lords

(BAR , I, 396 , 393 , 4 03 , 1. 23 ; We then findthe last three Mentuhoteps controlling all Egypt, andreviving building operations

, “ for which the first of

them (Nibtowere) dispatched a great expedition toHammamat for the necessary stone . The second

(Nibhepetre) erected a terraced mortuary templeagainst the cliffs of Der cl - Bahri, now the oldest surviving building at Thebes . He even resumed the absorption of Nubia, and sent a fleet against Wawat .

He was later regarded as the great founder of the

131 . Af ter his reign of half a century SenekhkereMentuhotep continued to hold the .

undivided sover

eignty of all Egypt. This Mentuhotep was able toresume the distant foreign enterprises of the Pharaohsfor the first time s ince the Sixth Dynasty, five hundred

years ‘

before. He dispatched his chief treasurer, Henu,to the Red Sea by the Hammamat road

"

with a following of three thousand men . Such was the efficiencyof his organization that each man received two jars



cept the situation and deal with it as best he might .He now achieved the conquest of the country and itsreorganization only by skilfully employing in his causethose noble families whom he could win by favour andf air promises . We see him rewarding Khnum hotep ,one of his noble partisans

,with the gift of the Oryx

nome, and personally going about determining the justboundaries and erecting landmarks . To suppressthese landed barons entirely was impossible. The utmost that the monarch could now accomplish was theappointment in the nomes of nobles favourably inc lined toward his house. The state which the un

precedented vigour and skill of this great statesmanfinally succeeded in thus erecting

,again furnished

Egypt with the stable organization which enabled herabout 2000 B . c. to enter upon her second great periodo f productive development

,theMiddle Kingdom (BAR,

I, 4 65, 688 f , 625, 619

THEMIDDLEKINGDOMOR THE FEUDAL AGE : STATE,

SOCIETY AND RELIGION

133. IT had been but natural that the kings of theEleventh Dynasty should reside at Thebes, where thefounders of the family had lived during the long warfor the conquest of the North. But Am enem het was

evidently unable to continue this traditlon .

I

All the

kings of Egypt, since the passing of the Thinites athousand years before, had lived in the North, exceptthe Eleventh Dynasty which he had supplanted. The

spot which he selected was on the west side of the

river some miles south of Memphis, near the placenow called Lisht, where the ruined pyramid of Am enem het has been discovered . From this stronghold,bearing the significant name Ithtowe, Captor of theTwo Lands,

”Am enem het swayed the destinies of a

state which required all the skill and political sagacityof a line of unusually strong rulers in order to maintainthe prestige of the royal house.The nation was made up of an aggregation of smallstates or petty princedoms, the lords .of which owed thePharaoh their loyalty, but they were not his officialsor his servants. Some of these local nobles were“ great lords ”

or nomarchs,ruling a whole nome ;

others were only “ counts ” of a smaller domain with itsfortified town. It was

.

thus a feudal state, not essen139


tially different from that of later Europe, which Amenem het had organized . We are dependent for our

knowledge of these barons upon their surviving tombsand mortuary monuments. All such remains in theDelta have perished, so that we can speak with certainty only of the conditions in the South, and evenhere it is only in lVIiddle Egypt that we are adequatelyinformed .

134 . Through long generations of possession thenomarch had now become a miniature Pharaoh in hisl ittle realm. O n a less sumptuous scale his residencewas surrounded by a personnel not unlike that of thePharaonic court and harem ; while his governmentd emanded a chief treasurer, a court of justice, witho ffices

,scribes, and functionaries, and all the essential

machinery of government which we find at the royalresidence. The nomarch collected the revenues of hisdomain, was high priest or head of the sacerdotalo rganization, and commanded the militia of his realmwhich was permanently organized . His power wasthus considerable. Such lords were able to buildtemples, erect public buildings, and set up massive and

pretentious monuments in their principal towns (BAR ,

I, 520 f ; 4 66 , note 0 ; 694—706, 4 03 , 637 and note a .)The nomarch devoted himself to the interests of his

p eople, and was concerned to leave to posterity areputation as a merciful and beneficent ruler. Afterm aking all due allowance for a natural desire to recordthe most favourable aspects of his government, it is evident that the paternal character of the nomarch’ s localand personal rule, in a community of limited numbers,with

i

which he was acquainted by almost daily contact,had proved an untold blessing to the country and

p opulation at large (BAR , I, 638, 4 08, 4 07 , 4 59,



central government, Which gave admin istrative cohes ion to the otherwise l oose aggregation of nomarchies .It had its income- paying property in all the nomes .Some of this property was administered by governmentoverseers , while to a large extent it was entrusted tothe noble, probably as part of the

“ count’ s estate ”

(BAR ,I, 522, and note a) . We have no means of even

conjecturing the amount or proportion of propertyheld by the crown in the nomes and “ count’ s estates ,

”

but it is evident that the claims of these powerful feudatories must have seriously curtailed the traditionalrevenues of the Pharaoh. He no longer had the re

sources of the country at his unconditional disposal asin the Old Kingdom. Other resources of the treasurywere

,however, now available, and, if not entirely new,

were henceforth more energetically exploited . Besideshis internal revenues , including the tribute of the nomesand the Residence, the Pharaoh received a regularincome from the goldmines of Nubia

,and those on

the Coptos road to the Red Sea. The traffic with Puntand the southern coasts of the Red Sea seems to havebeen the exclusive prerogative of the crown , and musthave brought in a considerable return ; while the minesand quarries of Sinai, and perhaps also the quarries ofHammamat, had also been developed as a regularsource of profit. The conquest of lower Nubia

,and

now and then a plundering expedition into SyriaPalestine, also furnished not unwelcome contributionsto the treasury.

137 . The central organization and the chief functionaries of the treasury were the same as3 in the OldKingdom, and the vigorous administration of the timeis evident in the frequent records of these active officials,showing that notwithstanding their rank, they often

STATE, SOCIETY AND RELIGION 1 4 3

personally superintended the king’s interests in Sinai,

Hammamat, or on the shores of the Red Sea at theterminus of the Coptos road . It is evident

,however

,

that the treasury had become a more highly developedorgan since the Old Kingdom. The army of subordinates, stewards, overseers and scribes filling the

offices under the heads of sub - departments was obviously larger than before. They began to display anarray of titles, of which many successive ranks, heretofore unknown, were being gradually differentiated .

Such condition made possible the rise of an officialmiddle class .138. Justice, as in the Old Kingdom , was still dis

pensed by the administrative officials (BAR ,I,

The six Great Houses,” or courts of justice

,with the

vizier at their head, sat in Ithtowe (SEI, I, Therewas, besides , a

“House of Thirty,” which evidently pos

sessed judicial functions , and was also presided overby the vizier, but its relation to the six Great Houses ”

is not clear. There was now more than one “SouthernTen, and Magnates of the Southern Tens ” werefrequently entrusted with various executive and ad

ministrative commissions by the king. The law whichthey administered, while it has not survived, had certainly attained a high devlopm ent, and was capable ofthe . finest distinctions . A nomarch at Siut makes acontract between himself as count

,and himself as high

priest in the temple of his city, showing the closestdifferentiation of the rights which he possessed in thesetwo different capacities (BAR , I, 568139. The scanty records of the time throw but littlelight upon the other organs of government, like theadministration of lands

,the system of irrigation and

the like. The country was divided into two adm inis

14 4 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM : THE FEUDAL AGE

trative districts of the South and the North , and the“Magnates of the Southern Tens ” served in both districts, showing that they were not confined to the Southalone. The office of the governor of the South haddisappeared

,and already before the close of the Old

Kingdom the title had become merely an honourablepredicate

,if used at all . An elaborate system of

registration was in force . Every head of a family wasenrolled as soon as he had established an independenthousehold, with all the members belonging to it, including serfs and slaves (GKP, pl . ix, f , pp . 19

The office of, the vi zl er was the central archives of thegovernment as before, and all records of the landadministration with census and tax registration werefiled in his bureaus . His powers were the same as inthe Old Kingdom , and that he might prove dangerousto the crown is evident in the history of Am enem het

’

s I

probable‘

rise from the viziership.

14 0 . It was therefore now more necessary than everthat the machinery of government should be in thehands of men of unquestioned loyalty. Young menwere brought up in the circle of the king’s house thatthey might grow up in attachment to it. Discreetconduct toward the Pharaoh was the condition of acarger, and the wise praise him who knows how to besilent ‘ in the king’ s service (BAR , I, 665, 514 , 532,

14 1 . Under such conditions the Pharaoh could notbut surround himself with the necessary power toenforce his will when obliged to do so . A class of

military “ attendants,”

or, literally,

“ followers of hismajesty therefore arose, the first professional soldiersof whom we have any knowledge in ancient Egypt . Incom panies

‘

of a hundredm i en each they garrisoned the



country, took on local form s . The nomarch, with hislarge family circle, his social pleasures , his hunting andhis sports, is an interesting and picturesque figure of

the country nobleman, with whom we would gladlytarry if space permitted . Characteristic of this age isthe prominence of the middle class . To some extentthis prominence is due to the fact that a tomb, a tombstone and mortuary equipment have become a neces

sity also for a large proportion of this class, who felt nosuch necessity and left no such memorial of theirexistence in the Old Kingdom. In the cemetery at

Abydos, among nearly eight hundred men of the timehaving tombstones there

,one in four bore no title

either of office or of rank (CC ,Nos. 20001

Some of these men were tradesmen, some land- owners,

others artisans and artificers ; but among them weremen of wealth and luxury. In the Art Institute at

Chicago there is a fine coffin belonging to such an untitled citizen

,which he had made of costly cedar im

ported from Lebanon . Of the people bearing titles ofoffice on these Middle Kingdom tombstones of Abydosthe vast majority were small office—holders, displayingno title of rank and undoubtedly belonging to thissame middle class . The government service now

fired a career to the youth of this station in life.e inheritance by the son of his father’ s office, already

not uncommon in the Old Kingdom, was now generalSuch a custom must necessarily lead to the formationof an official middle class . Their ability to read and

write also raised them above those of their own socialstation who were illiterate

,and from this time on we

shall find the scribe constantly glorying in his knowledgeand despising all other callings (P Sall . , II) . For the

, ,first time therefore we now discern a prosperous and

STATE, SOCIETY AND RELIGION 14 7

o ften well - todo middle class in the provinces,some

times owning their own slaves and lands and bringingtheir off erings of first fruits to the temple of the townas did the nomarch himself (BAR , I , At thebottom of the social scale were the unnamed serfs , thetoiling millions who produced the agricultural wealtho f the land— the despised class whose labour nevertheless formed the basis of the economic life of the nation .

In the nomes they were also taught handicrafts,and we

see them depicted in the tombs at Benihasan and elsewhere engaged in the production of all sorts of handiwork. Whether their output was solely for the use ofthe nomarch’ s estates or also on a large scale for trafficin the markets with the middle class throughout thecountry, is entirely uncertain .

14 3 . In no element of their life are there clearer evideuces of change and development than in the religionof the Middle Kingdom Egyptians . Here again we arein a new age. The official supremacy of Re, so markeds ince the rise of the Fifth Dynasty, was now complete .The other priesthoods, desirous of securing for theirown, perhaps purely local deity, a share of the sun

god’ s glory, gradually discovered that their god wasbut a form and name of Re ; and some of them wentso far that their theologizing found practical expression in the god’ s name . Thus, for example, Amon,hitherto an obscure local god of Thebes, who had at

tained some prominence by the political rise of the city ,was from now on a solaregod , and was commonly calledby his priests Amon - Re. There were in this movement the beginnings of a tendency toward a pantheisticsolar monotheism, which we shall yet trace to its remarkable culmination . While the temples had probably somewhat increased in size, the official cult was


not materially altered, and there was still no largeclass of priests (AZ , 1900,14 4 . The triumph of Re was largely due to his po

litical prominence ; but that of Osiris, which is nowequally evident

,had no connection with the state, but

was a purely popular victory. That his priests contributed to his triumph by persistent propagandanevertheless probable

,but their field of operations will

have been among the people. At Abydos the Osirismyth was wrought into a series of dramatical presentations in which the chief incidents of the god ’s life,death and final triumph were annually enacted beforethe people by the priests . Indeed in the presentationof some portions of it the people were permitted toparticipate ; and this ancient passion play was um

questionably as impressive in the eyes of the multitudeas were the miracle and passion plays of the Christianage (BAR ,

I, 662, 669 ; SU,

ix, Am ong the inci-s

dents enacted was the procession bearing the god ’

s

body to his tomb for burial , a custom which finallyresulted in identifying as the original tomb of Osiristhe place on the desert behind Abydos, which in thisscene served as the tomb . Thus the tomb of King Zerof the First Dynasty, who had ruled over a thousandyears before, was in the Middle Kingdom already regarded as that of Osiris (ibid) As veneration for thespot increased

,it became a veritable holy sepulchre,

and Abydos gained a sanctity possessed by no otherplace in Egypt. All this wrought powerfully upon thepeople ; they came in pilgrimage to the place, and theancient tomb of Zer was buried deep beneath a mountain of jarscontaining the votive offerings which theybrought . If possible the Egyptian was now buried atAbydos ; from the vizier himself down to the humblest



deceased person,when spoken of by the living

,received

this predicate ; ‘ it was always written after the namesof the dead

,and finally also after those of the living in

anticipation of their happy destiny.

14 6 . In one important respect the beliefs of theEgyptian regarding his future state have suffered astriking change.

_

He is now beset with innumerabledangers in the next world . Besides the serpents comm on in the Pyramid Texts , the most uncanny foes andthe most terrifying dangers await him . Against all

these the deceased must now be forewarned and forearmed

,and h ence a mass of magical formularies has

arisen,by the proper utterance of which the dead may

overcome all these foes and live in triumph and secur

ity. These charms, with many others securing manyblessings to the dead

,were”

Written for the use of thedeceased on the inside of his coffin, and although no

canonical selection of these texts yet existed, theyformed the nucleus of What afterward became the Bookof the Dead or

,as the Egyptian later called it,

“The

Chapters of Going Forth by Day , in reference to theirgreat function of enabling the dead to leave the tomb .

It will be seen that in this class of literature there wasoffered to an unscrupulous priesthood an opportunityfomain, of which in later centuries they did no t fail totake advantage. Already they attempted what mightbe termed a guide - book of the hereafter, a geographyof the other world, with a map of the two ways alongwhich the dead might journey . This “ Book of theTwo Ways was probably composed for no other purpose than for gain ; and

' the tendency of which it is anevidence will meet us in future centuries as the mostbaleful influence of Egyptian life and re11g1on . In thematerial equipment of the dead

,the mastaba , while it

STATE, SOCIETY AND RELIGION 151

has not entirely disappeared, has largely been displacedby the excavated cliff- tomb

,already found so practical

and convenient by the nobles of Upper Egypt in theO ld Kingdom . The kings , however, continue to build

pyramids, as we shall see.

THE TWELFTH DYNASTY

14 7 . THE difficult and delicate task of reorganizationdoubtless consumed a large part of Am enem het I ’ sreign, but when it was once thoroughly accomplishedhis house was able to rule the country for over twocenturies . It is probable that at no other time in thehistory of Egypt did the land enjoy such widespreadand bountiful prosperity as now ensued .

14 8. In the midst of all this, when Am enem het fancied that he had firmly established himself and his lineupon the throne of the land which owed him so much

,

a foul conspiracy to assassinate him was conceivedamong the official members of his household. Thepalace halls rang with the clash of arms, and the king

’ slife was in danger, though he finally escaped (BAR , I,4 79 f”) In the twentieth year of his reign (1980probably no long time after this incident, and doubtlessinfluenced by it,Am enem het appointed his son Sesostris

,the first of the name

,to share the throne as co

regent with him. It was during this coregericy thatEgypt again resumed a policy of expansion . In spiteof the achievements of the Sixth Dynasty in the Souththe country below the first cataract as far north as Edfuwas still reckoned as belonging to Nubia and still borethe name Tapedet,

“Bow- Land,

” usually applied toNubia (BAR , I , 500, l . 4 ) In the twenty- ninth year



Egypt itself ; and the progress of the dynasty, at leastin inscribed records, can be more clearly traced abroadthan at home . It will therefore be easier to follow theforeign enterprises of the dynasty before we dwell upontheir achievements at home . We follow the feudatoriesl ike Ameni, later nomarch of the Oryx- nome

,under the

leadership of their liege, Sesostris I , as they penetrateabove the second cataract into the great region knownas Kush, which now for the first time becomes commonin the monumental records . The campaign is notableas the first in a foreign country ever led by the Pharaoh

p ersonally, in so far as we know (BAR ,I,

Eight

years after the death of his father, Sesostris I dispatchedMentuhotep , one of his commanders, on a further cam

p aign into Kush . Mentuhotep left a large stela atWady Halfa, just below the first cataract, recording histriumph and giving us the first list of conquered foreigndi stricts and towns which we possess . Mentuhotepm ade himself so prominent on his triumphant stelathat his figure was erased and that of a god placed overit. All appearances would indicate that the successfulcommander was deposed and disgraced (BAR , I, 510

Nubian gold now began to flow into the treasury,

and Ameni of the Oryx- nome was dispatched to Nubiaa t fhe head of four hundred troops of his nome to bringback the output. The king improved the occasion tosend with Ameni the young crown prince, who afterwards became Am enem het II, in order that he mightfamiliarize himself with the region where he should oneday be called upon to continue his father

’ s enterprises

(BAR,I,

Similarly the gold country on the eastof Coptos was now exploited , and the faithful Ameniwas entrusted with the mission of convoying it. It isunder the energetic Sesostris I also , that we first

THE TWELFTH DYNASTY 155

hear of intercourse with the oases (BAR , I, 521 , 524

151 . It was doubtless the realization of the evidentadvantage which he had enjoyed by ten years ’ association with his father as coregent that induced Sesostris Ito appoint his own son in the same way . When hedied in 1935 B. C. , after a reign of thirtyfive years, hisson

,Am enem het IIhad already been coregent for three

years,and assumed the sole authority without diffi

culty. This policy was also continued by Am enem het

II,and his son Sesostris II had also ruled three years in

conjunction with his father at the latter’ s death (BAR ,

I,

For fifty years under these two kings in succession the nation enjoyed unabated prosperity . Themines of Sinai were reopened , and the traffic with Puntresumed by Am enem het II was continued under hisson . The distant shores of Punt gradually becamemore familiar to Egyptian folk, and a popular talenarrates the marvellous adventures of a shipwreckedseaman in these waters (AZ , The Nubian goldmines continued to be a source of wealth to the royalhouse

,and Egyptian interests in Nubia were protected

by“

fortresses in Wawat , garrisoned and subject toperiodical inspection . With the death of Sesostris IIin 1887 B . C.

,all was ripe for the complete and thorough

conquest of the two hundred miles of Nile valley thatlie between the first and second cataracts (BAR ,

I , 602,604—606 , 616

152. Immediately on his accession Sesostris III tookthe preliminary step toward the completion of the greattask in Nubia, viz . , the establishment of unbroken connection by water with the country above the firstcataract . What had become of the canal made byUni

,six hundred years before

,we cannot say (see p .


At the most difficult point in the granite barrier theengineers of Sesostris III cut a channel through therock

,and many a war- galley of the Pharaoh must have

been drawn up through it during the early campaignsof this king, of which we unfortunately have no records

(BAR ,I , 64 2 By the eighth year the subjuga

tion of the country had made such progress that Sesostris III was able to select a favourable strategic positionas his frontier at modern Kum m eh and Semneh, situated on opposite banks of the river in the heart of thesecond cataract country forty miles above the lowerend . This point he formally declared to be the southern boundary of his kingdom . He erected on each sideo f the river a stela marking the boundary- line

,and

one of these two important landmarks has survived

(BAR , I, 651 in) It was of course impossible to maintain the new frontier without a constant display offorce . Sesostris III therefore erected a strong fortresson each side of the river at this point, each with itstemple and barracks within the enclosure . These twostrongholds of Kum m eh and Sem neh still survive, andalthough in a state of ruin, they show remarkable skillin the selection of the site and unexpected knowledgeof the art of constructing effective defenses .15 3 . Later disturbances among the turbulent Nubian

tribes south of the new frontier three times recalled theking into Nubia, the last time in his nineteenth year

(BAR , I, 653 f. , Although Egypt did not claimsovereignty in Kush , the country above the secondcataract, it was nevertheless necessary for the Pharaohto protect the trade- routes leading through it to hisnew frontier

,from the extreme south— routes along

which the products of the Sudan were now constantly

p assing into Egypt . The declaration of the frontier


1 58 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM : THE FEUDAL AGE

155. It is under the"

aggressive Sesostris III also thatwe hear of the first invasion of Syria by the Pharaohs

, 3Sebek- khu, commandant of the residence city, ment ions on his memorial stone at Abydos that he aecom

p anied the king on a campaign into a region calledSekm em in Retenu (Syria) . The As iatics were def eated in battle, and Sebek- khu took a prisoner. Henarrates with visible pride how the king rewarded him

,

and we discern a trace of the military enthusiasm whichtwo centuries and a half later achieved the conquest ofthe Pharaoh ’ s em p l re ln the same region. While wedo not know the location of Sekm em in Syria

,it is

h ighly'

im probable that this was the only expedition ofthe Twelfth Dynasty kings into that country. In somed egree the Pharaohs of theMiddle Kingdom were thus

p reparing the way for the conquest in Asia, as those ofthe Sixth Dynasty had done in Nubia. Already inSesostris I’ s time regular messengers to and from thePharaonic court were traversing Syria and Palestine :Egyptians and the Egyptian tongue were not uncomm on there, and the dread of the Pharaoh ’ s name wasa lready felt. At Gezer, between Jerusalem and thesea , the stela of an Egyptian official of this age and thes tatue of another have been found. The port of

Byblos , whence Snefru had brought cedar a thousandyears before

,was well known in Egypt, and Egyptian

women were now named after her goddess (AZ , 4 2,Khnum hotep of Menat—Khufu depicts in his

well - known Benihasan tomb the arrival there of thirty:s even Semitic tribesmen , who evidently came to trade.Their leader was a “ ruler of the hill- country, Absha,

”

a name well known in Hebrew as Abshal . The unfortunate noble, Sinuhe, who fled to Syria at the death ofAm enem het I , found not far over the border a friendly


sheik who had been in Egypt ; in Syria he foundEgyptians abiding. While a fortress existed at theDelta frontier to keep out the marauding Beduin

,there

can be no doubt that it was no more a hindrance tolegitimate trade and intercourse than was the blockadeagainst the negroes maintained by Sesostris III at thesecond cataract. A canal connected the Nile with thisfortress and the Bitter Lakes of the Isthmus of Suez

,

thus joining the Nile and the Red Sea . The needs ofthe Semitic tribes of neighbouring Asia were alreadythose of highly civilized peoples and gave ample occasion for trade. Al ready the red pottery produced bythe Hittite peoples in Cappadocia, of Asia Minor, waspossibly finding its way to the Semites of southernPalestine. Undoubtedly the commerce along thisroute, through Palestine, over Carmel and northwardto the trade—routes leading down the Euphrates toBabylon , while not yet heavy, was already long existent .Commerce with southern Europe had also begun . The

peoples of the ZEgean, whose civilization had now develOped into that of the early Mycenaean age, were notunknown in Egypt at this time. Their pottery hasbeen found at Kahun in burials of this age

,and the

ZEgean decorative art of the time, especially in its useof spirals, is influenced by that of Egypt . Europe thusemerges more clearly upon the horizon of the Nile peopleduring the Middle Kingdom (BAR ,

I , 67 6—687 4 96 ,

l . 94 ; 620, note (1 ; 4 93 f. ; 4 28 ; PEFQS, 1903 , 37 , 125 ;1905, 317 ; 1906 , 121 ; II, Sam . x

,10 ; AZ , 4 3 , 72 f”)

156 . For thirty- eight years Sesostris III continuedhis vigorous rule of a kingdom which now embraceda thousand miles of Nile valley. The regard in whichhe was held is evident in the extraordinary hymn in hishonour composed before his death (GKP) . To the


name Sesostris tradition attached the first foreign con:quests of the Pharaohs . Around this name clusteredforever after the stories of war and conquest related bythe people

,and in Greek times Sesostris had long since

become but a legendary figure which cannot be identifiedwith any particular king. As old age drew on, Sesostris III appointed his son as coregent

,and an account

of the appointment was recorded on the walls of thetemple at Arsinoe in the Fayum . At Sesostris III’

s

death in 184 9 B . C. , this coregent son Am enem het,

the third of the name, seems to have assumed thethrone without difficulty.

157 . A number of peaceful enterprises for the pros

perity of the country and the increase of the royalrevenues were successfully undertaken by Am enemhet

III. Operations in the mines of Sinai had been resumedas early as the reign of Sesostris I . It remained forAm enem het - III to develop the equipment of the stations in the peninsula, so that they might become morepermanent than the mere camp of a brief expedition.

These expeditions suffered great hardships, and anofficial of the time describes the difficulties which besethim when some unlucky chance had decreed that heshould arrive there in summer (BAR ,

I, 733

Am enem het III therefore made the mines at Sarbut elKhadem a well equipped station (BAR , I , 725—7277 17 f , The mines were placed each undercharge of a foreman , after whom it was named, and atperiodic visits of the treasury officials a fixed amount ofore was expected from each mine. Here Egyptiansdied and were buried in the burning valley with allthe equipment customary at home

,and the ru1ns still

surviving show that what had before been but anintermittent and occasional effort had now become



force. At the same time they undertook vast retention walls inside the Fayum at the point where thewaters entered , in order to reclaim some of the area ofthe Fayum for cultivation . The earlier kings of theTwelfth Dynasty began this process of reclamation

,

but it was especially Am enem het III who so extendedthi s vast wall that it was at last probably abouttwenty- seven miles long, thus reclaiming a final total oftwenty- seven thousand acres. These enormous worksat the point where the lake was most commonly visited gave the 1m pression that the whole body of waterwas an artificial product

,excavated, as Strabo says,

by King“Lamares

,

” a name in which we recognizewith certainty the throne name of Am enem het III .This was the famous lake Moeris of the classic geographers and travellers. Modern calculations haveshown that enough water could have been accumulatedto double the volume of the river below the Fayumduring the hundred days of low Nile from the first ofApril on (BFLM)160 . The rich and flourishing province recovered

from the lake was doubtless royal domain, and there areevidences that it was a favourite place of abode withthe kings of the latter part of the Twelfth Dynasty, A

prgsperous town , known to the Greeks as Crocodilopolis

,or Arsinoe

,with its temple to Sobk, the crocodile

god,arose in the new province

,and remains of imposing

monuments of the time still lie near. In the gap, onthe north bank of the inflowing canal , was a vast building, some eight hundred by a thousand feet, whichformed a kind of religious and administrative centrefor the whole country

,with a set of halls for each nome

where its gods were enshrined and worshipped, and thecouncils of its government gathered from time to time.


It would seem from the remarks of Strabo that thebuilding was the Pharaoh’ s seat of government for theentire country. It was still standing in Strabo’ s time

,

when it had already long been known as the “Labyrinth,

” one of the wonders of Egypt,famous among

travellers and historians of the Graeco - Roman world,

who compared its intricate complex of halls and passages with the Cretan Labyrinth of Greek tradition .

The town which had grown up around this remarkablebuilding was seen by Strabo ; but both have now com

pletely disappeared . Sesostris II had also founded atown just outside the gap called Hotep—Sesostris ,“ Sesostris is contented ,

” and he later built his pyramidbeside it. Under these circumstances the Fayum hadbecome the most prominent centre of the royal andgovernmental life of this age ; and its great god Sobkwas rivalling Amon in the regard of dynasty, whoselast representative bore the name Sobk—nefru- Re, whichcontains that of the god. The name of the god alsoappeared in a whole series of Sobk—hoteps of the next

For nearly half a century the beneficent rule of Amenemhet III maintained peace and prosperity throughout his flourishing kingdom (BAR , I , Businesswas on a sound basis, values were determined in termsof weight in copper, and it was customary to indicatethe value of an article when mentioned in a documentby appending to it the words “ of x deben [of copper],a deben being 14 14 grains . From the frontier forts inthe second cataract to the Mediterranean, the evidencesof this prosperity under Am enem het III and his predecessors still survive in the traces of their extensive monum ents and building enterprises, although these have sosuffered from the rebuilding under the Empire that


they are but a tithe of what was once to.be seen . Moreover the vandalism of the Nineteenth Dynasty, especially under Ramses II, obliterated priceless records ofthe Middle Kingdom by the most reckless appropriationof its monuments as building material . Besides thegreat works of the kings, it should not be forgotten thatthe wealthier and more powerful of the nomarchs alsoerected temples and considerable buildings for purposes.of government ; and , had the various structures due tothese great lords survived, there is no doubt that thevwould have added materially to our impressions of thesolidity and splendour with which the economic life ofthe nation was developing on every hand (BAR , I,4 84 , 4 88 f ; 7 4 1 f. , 534 , note b ; 67 4 f , 4 98

—506 , 503 ,

637 , note a ;161 . Such impressions are also strengthened by the

tombs of the time, which are indeed the only buildingswhich have survived from the feudal age ; and eventhese are in a sad state of ruin . The chapel - hall inthe cliff - tombs of the nobles

,with its scenes from the

life and activity of the departed lords, are our chiefsource for the history and life of the feudal age. The

tombs of the Twelfth Dynasty kings show that the resources of the n ation are no longer absorbed by the

pyramid as in the Old Kingdom . Am enem het I builthis pyram id at Lisht of brick protected by casingmasonry of limestone (GJ L) . The custom was continued by all the kings of the dynasty with one exception . Their pyramids are scattered from the mouthof the Fayum northward to Dahshur, just south of

Memphis . All these pyramids show the most complicated and ingenious arrangements of entrance andpassages in order to baffle the tomb - robbers. Nevertheless all were entered and robbed in antiquity, doubt



the nomarchs were elaborately decorated with paintings depicting the life of the deceased and the industries on his great estates. It cannot be said that thesepaintings

,excellent as many of them unquestionably

are, show any progress over those of the Old Kingdom,

while as flat relief they are for the most part distinctlyinferior to the earlier work.

163 . The close and familiar oversight of the nomarchlent a distinct impetus to the arts and crafts

,and the

provinces developed large numbers of skilled craftsmenthroughout the country (BAR ,

I,

Naturally theartisans of the court were unsurpassed . We discernin their work the result of the development which hadbeen going on since the days -

of the early dynasties .The magnificent jewelry of the princesses of the royalhouse displays

,

both technical skill and refined taste,

quite beyond our anticipations . Little ever producedby the later goldsmiths of Europe can surpass either inbeauty or in workmanship the regal ornaments wornby the daughters of the house of Am enem het nearlytwo thousand years before Christ (MD ,

I) .V/164 . It is literature to which we must look for the

most remarkable monuments of this age. A system ofuniform orthography, hitherto lacking, was now deveb ped and followed by skilled scribes with consistency.

The language of the age and its literary products werein later times regarded as classic, and in spite of itsexcessive artificialities, the judgment of modern studyconfirms that of the Empire . Although it unquestionably existed earlier

,it is in Egypt and in this period

that we .first find a literature of entegtainm ent . The

unfortunate noble, Sinuhe, who fled into Syria on the

death of Am enem het I,returned to Egypt in his old

age,and told the story of his flight

,of his life and ad


ventures in As ia till it became a favourite tale (BAR ,I,

4 86 if ), which attained such popularity that it was evenwritten on sherds and flags of stone to be placed in thetomb for the entertainment of the dead in the hereafter. A prototype of Sindbad the Sailor, who wasshipwrecked in southern waters on the voyage to Punt

,

returned with a tale of marvellous adventures on theisland of the serpent queen where he was rescued

,

and loaded with wealth and favours , was sent safelyback to his native land (AZ, The life of the courtand the nobles found reflection among the people infolk- tales, narrating the great events in the dynastictransitions, and a tale of the rise of the Fifth Dynastywas now in common circulation, although our survivingcopy was written a century or two after the fall of theTwelfth Dynasty (PW) . The ablest literati of thetime delighted to employ the popular tale as a mediumfor the exercise of their skill in the artificial style nowregarded as the aim of all composition . A story comm only known at the present day as the Tale of theEloquent Peasant was composed solely in order toplace in the mouth of a marvellous peasant a series ofspeeches in which he pleads his case against an officialwho had wronged him, with such eloquence that he isat last brought into the presence of the Pharaoh himself, that the monarch may enjoy the beauty of thehoneyed rhetoric which flows from his lips (PKM) .We have already had occasion to notice the instructionleft by the aged Am enem het I for his son, which wasvery popular and has survived in no less than sevenfragmentary copies (BAR ,

I,4 74 The instruction

concerning a wise and wholesome manner of life , whichwas so prized by the Egyptians , is represented by anumber of compositions of this age, like the advice of


the father to his son on the value of the ability to write

(P Sall . ) or the wisdom of the viziers of the Old Kingdom ; although there is no reason why the Wisdom of

Ptahhotep and Kegem ne (PP) , preserved in a papyrusof the Middle Kingdom, should not be authentic compositions of these old wise men . A remarkable philosophizing treatise represents a man weary of life involved in a long dialogue with his reluctant soul as hevainly attempts to persuade it that they should end lifetogether and hope for better things beyond this world

(EG) . A strange and obscure composition of the timerepresents a Sibylline prophet named Ipuwer, standingin the presence of the king and delivering grim prophecies of com ing ruin, in which the social and politicalorganization shall be overthrown ,

until there shall comea saviour, Who shall be the shepherd of all the people,

”

and shall save them from destruction .

‘ Specimens ofthis remarkable class of literature, of which this is theearliest example, may be traced as late as the earlyChristian centuries, and we cannot resist the conclusionthat it furnished the Hebrew prophets with the formand to a surprising extent also with the content ofMessianic prophecy . It remained for the Hebrew togive this old form a higher ethi cal and religious significafiCe (SBA, xxvu, 601

165. So many of the compositions of the Egyptianscribe are couched in poetic language that it is oftendifficult to distinguish between poetry and prose. Buteven among the common people there were compositions which are distinctively poems : the song of thethreshers as they drive their cattle to and fro upon thethreshing—floor, a few simple lines breathing the wholesome industry of the people ; or the lay of the harperas he sings to the banqueters in the halls of the rich


nner'

s Initials:


that already in the reign of the mighty Sesostris IIIthe power of the feudal barons had been broken ; wefind no tombs of these rich country nobles from theaccession of Sesostris III on. The Pharaoh’ s powerhad suppressed them almost to disappearance . ThusAm enem het III had a free hand. But when he passedaway in 1801 B. C. the strength of the line was waning. As Pram m ares, god of the Fayum, the worshipof the great king survived far into Greek days . Afourth Am enem het, after a short coregency with theold king, succeeded at the death of Am enem het III,but his brief reign of a little over nine years has leftfew monuments, and the decllne of the house, to whomthe nation owed two centuries of imperishable splendour, was evident. Am enem het IV left no son, for hewas succeeded by the Princess Sebek- nefru—Re, theSkem iophris of Manetho. After struggling on fornearly four years she too , the last of her line, disappeared. The family had ruled Egypt two hundredand thirteen years, one month and some days (AZ , 4 2,

1 11 fi. ; 4 3, 84 fi. ; BAR ,

PART IV

THE HYKSOS

THE RISE O F THE EMPIRE


17 4 THE HYKSO S : THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE

Frag. No . 80 ; P Scan , No . It was, however,but a brief restoration , and the monuments whichhave survived bear no records to inform us of its

character.169 . The darkness which followed is only the more

obscure by contrast. Foreign adventurers took advantage of the opportunity, and one of the pretenderswho achieved a brief success was a Nubian . Withina century and a quarter after the fall of the TwelfthDynasty sixty of these ephemeral Theban rulers hadheld the throne

,form ing Manetho’ s Thirteenth Dynas

ty. They left little behind them. Here and there afragment of masonry, a statue, or sometimes only ascarab bearing a royal name, furnishes contemporarytestimony to the brief relgn of this or that one amongthem. There was neither power, nor wealth, nor timefor the erection of permanent monuments ; king stillfollowed king with unprecedented rapidity

,and for

mo st of them our only source of knowledge is thereforethe bare name in the mutilated Turin list, the disordered fragments of which have not even preserved forus the order of these ephemeral rulers except as we findgroups upon one fragment. Where preserved at all,the length of the reign is usually but a year or two ,while in two cases we find after a k ing’s name butthree days.170 . Economically the condition of the country must

have rapidly degenerated. The lack of a uniform ad

ministration of the irrigation system, oppressive taxation and the tyranny of warring factions in need of

funds sapped the‘

energies and undermined the pros

perity- of the past two centuries. The hapless nation

was thus an easy prey to foreign aggression . About1657 B . C. , before the close of the Thirteenth Dynasty ,

THE FALL OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM 175

there now poured into the Delta from Asia a possiblySemitic invasion such as that which in prehistoric timeshad stamped the language with its unmistakable form ;and again in our own era, under the influence of Moham m ed

’

s teaching, had overwhelmed the land (MNOThese invaders, now generally called the Hyksos,

after the designation applied to them by Josephus

(quoting Manetho) , themselves left so few monuments inEgypt that even their nationality is still the subject ofmuch difference of opinion ; while the exact length andcharacter of their supremacy, for the same reason , areequally obscure matters . The documentary materialsbearing on them are so meagre and lim i ted in extentthat the reader may easily survey them and judge thequestion for himself

,even if this chapter is thereby

in danger of relapsing into a laboratory note- book .

The late tradition regarding the Hyksos, recorded byManetho and preserved to us in the essay of Josephusagainst Apion

,is but the substance of a folk- tale like

that narrating the fall of the Fourth Dynasty (above, p.

The more ancient and practically contemporaryevidence should therefore be questioned first.Two generations after the Hyksos had been expelledfrom the country

,the great queen, Hatshepsut, narrating

her restoration of the temples they had desecrated , callsthem “Asiatics” and “barbarians dwelling in Avaris,and ruling “ in ignorance of Re (BAR , II,The still earlier evidence of a soldier in the Egyptianarmy that expelled the Hyksos shows that a siege ofAvaris was necessary to drive them from the country ;and

,further

,that the pursuit of them was continued

into southern Palestine,and ultimately into Phoenicia

or Coelesyria (BAR ,II

, 8—10 ; 12 i. , Some four

hundred years after their expulsion a folk- tale , narrat

17 6 THE HYKSOS : THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE

ing the cause of the final war against them,was cir

culating among the people. It gives an interestingaccount of them

“Now it came to pass that the land of Egypt wasthe possession of the polluted , no lord being king at thetimewhen it happened ; but King Sekenenre, hewas rulerof the Southern City [Thebes] King Apophis wasin Avaris , and the whole land was tributary to him ;the [Southland] bearing their impost, and the Northland likewise bearing every good thing of the Delta.

Now King Apophis made Sutekh his lord, serving noother god, who was in the who le land , save Sutekh .

He built the temple in beautiful and everlasting work .

(P Sall . , I , 11. 117 1 . From these earlier documents it is evident that

the Hyksos were an Asiatic people who ruled Egyptfrom their stronghold of Avaris in the Delta. Theexact site of Avaris is still undetermined . The latertradition as quoted from Manetho by Josephus in themain corroborates the above more trustworthy evidence ,and is as followsThere was a king of ours whose name was Tim aios,

in whose reign it came to pass, I know not why , thatGod was displeased with us, and there came unex

Wctedly men of ignoble birth out of the eastern parts,who had boldness enough to make an expedition intoour country, and easily subdued it by force without abattle. And when they had got our rulers under theirpower, they afterward savagely burnt down our citiesand demolished the temples of the gods, and used allthe inhabitants in a most hostile manner, for they slewsome and led the children and wives of others intoslavery. At length they made one of themselves king,whose name was Salatis, and he lived at Memphis and


178 THE HYKSO S : THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE

late vulgar dialect. There is no such word known inthe older language of the monuments “Hyk

”

(Egyptian Hk’

) however, is a common word for ruler, as

Manetho says, and Khian , one of the Hyksos kings,

often gives himself this title upon his monuments,fol

lowed by a word for“ countries,

” which by slight andvery common phonetic changes might become sos

”

;

so that “Hyksos ” is a not im probable Greek spellingfor the Egyptian title “

Ruler of Countries . ”173 . Looking further at the scanty monuments left

by the Hyksos themselves, we discover a few vague butnevertheless significant hints as to the character of

these strange invaders , whom tradition called Arabiansand Phoenicians ; and contemporary monuments designated as “Asiatics ,

” “ barbarians ,” and “ rulers of

countries . An Apophis, one o f their kings, fashionedan altar

, now at Cairo , and engraved upon it the dedication : He [Apophis] made it as his monument forhis father Sutekh , lord of Avaris, when he [Sutekh] setall lands under his [the king

’s] feet (MMD,

General as is the statement, it would appear that thisApophis ruled over more than the land of Egypt.More significant are the monuments of Khian ,

the

most remarkable of this line of kings . They have beenfrom Gebelen in southern Egypt to the northernbut they do not stop here . Under a Mycenaean

wall in the palace of Cnossos in Crete an alabaster vaselid bearing his name was discovered by Mr. Evans

(Annual of British School at Athens , VII , 65, Fig.

while a granite lion with his cartouche upon the breast,found many years ago at Bagdad , is now in the BritishMuseum . One of his royal names was “

Encompasser

[literally‘embracer of the Lands ,

” andwe recall that hisconstant title upon his scarabs and cylinders is “ ruler of


countries .” Scarabs of the Hyksos rulers have beenturned up by the excavations in southern Palestine.Meagre as these data are, one cannot contemplatethem without seeing conjured up before him the visionof a vanished empire which once stretched from theEuphrates to the first cataract of the Nile, an empireo f which all other evidence has perished, for the reasonthat Avaris

,the capital of its rulers, was in the Delta

where, like so many other Delta cities, it suffered adestruction so complete that we cannot even locate thespot on which it once stood . There was , moreover,every reason why the victorious Egyptians should annihilate all evidence of the supremacy of their hated con

querors. In the light of these developments it becomesevident why the invaders did not set up their capitalin the midst of the conquered land

,but remained, in

Avaris, on the extreme east of the Delta, close to theborders of Asia . It was that they might rule not onlyEgypt , but also their Asiatic dominions . Accepting theabove probabilities, we can also understand how theHyksos could retire to Asia and withstand the Egyptianonset for three years in southern Palestine

,as we know

from contemporary evidence they did (BAR , II ,It then becomes clear also how they could retreat toSyria when beaten in southern Palestine ; these movements were possible because they controlled Palestineand Syria.

17 4 . If we ask ourselves regarding the nationality,

origin and character of this mysterious Hyksos empire,

we can hazard little in reply. Manetho ’s tradition thatthey were Arabians and Phoenicians , if properly inter

preted, may be correct . Such an overflow of southernSemitic emigration into Syria

,as we know has since

then taken place over and over again,may well have

180 THE HYKSOS : THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE

brought together these two elements ; and a generationor two of successful warrior- leaders might weld themtogether into a rude state . The wars of the Pharaohsin Syria immediately after the expulsion of the Hyksosshow the presence of civilized and highly developedstates there. Now, such an empire as we believe theHyksos ruled could hardly have existed without leavingits traces among the peoples of Syria- Palestine for somegenerations after the beginning of the E gyptian su

prem acy inAsia which now followed . It would therefore be strange if we could not discern ln the recordsof the subsequent Egyptian wars in Asia some evidenceof the surv1v1ng wreck of the once great Hyksos empirewhich the Pharaohs demolished .

175. For two generations after the expulsion of theHyksos we can gain little insight into the conditions inSyria . At this point the ceaseless campaigns of Thutmose III

,as recorded in his Annals , enable us to dis

cern which nation was then playing the leading rolethere . The great coalition of the kings of Palestineand Syria

,with which Thutmose III was called upon

to contend at the beginning of his wars, was led anddominated throughout by the powerful king of Kadeshon the Orontes . It required ten years of constantm m paigning by Thutmose III to achieve the captureof the stubborn city and the subjugation of the kingdomof which it was the head ; but with power still umbroken it revolted , and Thutmose

“

III’

s twenty yearsof warfare in Syria were only crowned with victorywhen he finally succeeded 1n again defeating Kadesh ,after a dangerous and persistent struggle. The leadership of Kadesh from the beg1nn1ng to the end of Thutmose III’

s campaigns is such as to show that manySyrian and Palestinian kinglets

,especially in southern



Thebes died out about 1665 B . C . The local Fourteenth Dynasty at Xois in the Delta had probablyalready arisen as ephemeral vassals of the Hyksos .Similar vassals doubtless continued to rule in Thebesand probably throughout Upper Egypt . Both the account in Manetho and the folk- tale above quoted statethat the Hyksos kings laid the whole country undertribute , and we have already observed that Hyksosmonuments have been found as far south as Gebelen .

The beginning of their rule may have been a gradualimmigration without hostilities, as Manetho relates . Itis perhaps in this epoch that we should place one oftheir kings, a certain Khenzer, who seems to have leftthe affairs of the country largely in the hands of hisvizier

,Bukhu, so that the latter administered and re

stored the'

tem ples (BAR ,

“

I, 781 As thisvizierlived in the period of Neferhotep and the connectedSebekhoteps, it is evident that we should place thegradual rise of Hyksos power in Egypt just after thatgroup of Pharaohs .17 7 . From the contemporary monuments we learn

the names of three Apophises and of Khian,besides

possibly Khenzer and Jacob- her, whom we have al

ready noted . Among the six names preserved fromManetho by Josephus we can recognize but two , an

Apophis and Iannas, who is certainly the same as Khianof the contemporary monuments . The only contemporary date is that of the thirty- third year of an Apophis,in the mathematical papyrus of the British Museum .

The Manethonian tradition in which we find threedynasties of shepherds or Hyksos (the Fifteenth to.

Seventeenth) is totally without support from the contemporary monuments in the matter of the duration of

the Hyksos supremacy in Egypt . A hundred years


ample for the whole period . Even if it was actuallymuch longer, this fact would not necessarily extend thelength of the period from the fall of the Twelfth Dynasty to the end of the Hyksos rule ; for it is evidentthat many of the numerous kings of this period , enum erated in the Turin Papyrus, ruled as vassals of theHyksos

,like the Sekenenre, whom the folk- tale makes

the Theban vassal of one of the Apophises.

178. What occasioned the unquestionable barbaritieson the part of the conquerors, it is now impossibleto discern ; but it is evident that hostilities must haveeventually broken out, causing the destruction of thetemples , later restored by Hatshepsut. Their patron

god Sutekh is of course the Egyptianized form of someSyrian Baal ; Sutekh being an older form of the wellknown Egyptian Set . The Hyksos kings themselvesmust have been rapidly Egyptianized ; they assumedthe complete Pharaonic titulary, and they appropriatedstatues of their predecessors in the Delta cities, wrought,of course, in the conventional style peculiar to thePharaohs . Civilization did not essentially suff er ; am athematical treatise dated under one of the ApO phisesis preserved in the British Museum. We have alreadyseen one of the Apophises building a temple in Avaris ,and a fragment of a building inscription of an Apophisat Bubastis says that he made “ numerous flag

- stavestipped with copper for this god, such flag

- staves flyinga tuft of gaily coloured pennants being used to adorn atemple front (NB ,

1,pl . 35 Having once gained

the upper hand,the Hyksos Dynasty evidently slowly

decayed to become at last much like their own Egyptianvassals . The country was now broken up into pettyk ingdoms

,of which Thebes was evidently the largest

in the South . Nubkheprure- Intef , one of a group of


three Intefs who'

i'uled there, frankly discloses the conditions in a decree of banishment, naively declaringthat no other king or ruler showing mercy to a banishedtraitor shall become Pharaoh of the whole country

(BAR , I, 7 73 These Intefs were buried atThebes, where the pyramids of two of them were inspected five hundred years later by the Ramessid commissioners, who found that one of them had been tunnelled into by tomb robbers (BAR , IV,

514 f ; 517 ,The ' influence upon Egypt of such a foreign

dominion, including both Syria-Palestine and the lowerNile valley, was epoch making, and had much to dowith the fundamental transformation which began withthe expulsion of these aliens . It brought the horse intothe Nile valley and taught the Egyptians warfare ona large scale. Whatever they may have suffered, theEgyptians owed an incalculable debt to their con

querors.



the tale ; for he says that the kings of the Thebaid andother parts of Egypt made a great and long war uponthe Hyksos in Avaris . His use of the plural “kings ”

immediately suggests the numerous local dynasts,whom

we have met before , each contending with his neighbour and effectually preventing the country from presenting a united front to the northern foe . There werethree Sekenenres. The mummy of the last of the threediscovered in the great find at Der el- Bahri

,and now

at the Cairo museum , exhibits frightful wounds in thehead , so that he doubtless fell in battle, not improbablyin the Hyksos war. They were followed by a KingKem ose who probably continued the war . ThisTheban family , who form the latter part of Manetho

’ sSeventeenth Dynasty , were obliged to maintain themselves not merely against the Hyksos, but also againstnumerous rival dynasts, especially in the extreme Southabove El Kab . Here, removed from the turmoil ofnorthern war

,and able to carry on a flourishing internal

commerce,the local princes enjoyed great prosperity,

while those of the North had doubtless in many instances perished . We shall later find these prosperousdynasts of the South holding ‘

out against the risingpower of Thebes while the latter was slowly expellingthe Hyksos .180. Following Kem ose

’

s short reign , Ahm ose I, pos

sibly his son , the first king of Manetho ’s EighteenthDynasty

, assumed the leadership of the Theban house,about 1580 B . C . ,

and became the deli‘

verer of Egyptfrom her foreign lords . He succeeded in holding thevaluable support (

of the powerful El KaB princes , al

ready won by Sekenenre III, and he employed themagainst both the Hyksos and the .obstinate local dynasts

of the upper river , who constantly threatened his rear.

THE TRIUMPH OF THEBES 187

Ahm ose thus made El Kab a buff er, which protectedhim from the attacks of his Egyptian rivals south of

that city. No document bearing on the course of thewar with the Hyksos in its earlier stages has survivedto us

, nor have any of Ahm ose’

s royal annals been preserved, but one of his El Kab allies , named Ahm ose,

son of Ebana, has fortunately left an account of hisown military career on the walls of his tomb at El Kab

(BAR ,II

,17 ff ) . He tells how he was taken from El

Kab and given service in the northern fleet against theHyksos in Avaris . After three battles before the city,the siege of Avaris was interrupted by an uprising ofone of Ahm ose

’

s southern enemies , a hostile dynastyabove El Kab— a danger which was regarded as soserious by the k ing that he himself went south to meetit,and took Ahm ose, son of Ebana, with him . Having

sufficiently .quelled his southern rivals,Ahm ose resumed

the siege of Avaris,for at this point our naval officer

abruptly announces its capture : One captured AvarlsI took captive there one man and three women

,total

four heads . His majesty gave them to me for slaves.”

The city thus fell on the fourth assault after the arrivalof Ahm ose, son of Ebana, but it is quite uncertain howm any such assaults had been made before his transference thither, for the siege had evidently lasted manyyears and had been interrupted by a rebellion in UpperEgypt (BAR , II , 7181 . Ahm ose I pursued the Hyksos fleeing into Asia

after being driven from Avaris,and they took refuge in

Sharuhen , probably in southern Judah (Josh.,19,

Our biographer now says : “One besieged Sharuhenfor three years and his majesty took it . Then I tookcaptive there two women and one hand . One gaveto me the gold of bravery besides giving me the captives


for slaves (Note III; BAR , II, This is theearliest siege of such length known in history

,and it is

surprising evidence of the stubbornness of the Hyksosdefence and the tenacity of King Ahm ose in dislodgingthem from a stronghold in such dangerous proxim ityto the Egyptian frontier. Ahm ose then pursued theHyksos northward from Sharuhen

,forcing them back

to at least a safe distance from the Delta frontier.Returning to Egypt, now entirely free from all fear ofits Hyksos lords , he gave his attention to the recoveryof the Egyptian possessions in Nubia.

182. During the long period of disorganization following the‘

Middle Kingdom, the Nubians had naturally taken advantage of their Opportunity and fallenaway. How far Ahm ose penetrated it ‘ is impossible todetermine, but he was no sooner well out of the countryon the Nubian campaign than his inveterate rivalssouth of El Kab again arose against him . Totally defeated in a battle on the Nile, they rose yet again andAhm ose was obliged to quell one more rebellion beforehe was left in undisputed possession of the throne. Ourold friend Ahm ose, son of Ebana, was rewarded forhis valour in these actions with five slaves and five stat

(nearly three and a half acres) of land in El Kab ,and again he says : There were given to me three heads

[slaves] and five stat of land in my city His comradeswere treated with equal generosity (BAR ,

- II , 14We thus see how king Ahm ose bound his supportersto his cause. He did not stop , however, with gold,slaves and land , but in some cases even granted thelocal princes

,the descendants of the great feudal

lords of the Middle Kingdom, high and royal titles like“first king’s son

,which, while perhaps conveying few

or no prerogatives , satisfied the vanity of old and illustri


PART V



194 THE EMPIRE: FIRST PERIOD

whole land was roused and stirred with a lust of conquest, whi ch was not quenched for several centuries .The wealth , the rewards and the promotion open to theprofessional soldier were a constant incentive to amilitary career

,and the middle classes

,otherwise so un

warlike,now entered the ranks with ardour. In the

biographies which they have left in their tombs atThebes the survivors of

‘

the noble class narrate with thegreatest satisfaction the campaigns which they wentthrough at the Pharaoh ’ s side

,and the honours which

he bestowed upon them (BAR ,II

,1—16 ; 17—25 et

passim ) . Many a campaign, all record of which wouldhave been irretrievably lost, h as thus come to our

knowledge through one of these military biographies ,like that of Ahm ose, son of Ebana, from whichWe havequoted (Ibid) . The sons of the Pharaoh, who in theOld Kingdom held administrative offices, are now

generals in the army (BAR , II, 350 ; For the nextcentury and a half the story of the achievements of thearmy will be the story of Egyp t, for the army is nowthe dominant force and the chief motive power in thenew state. In organization it quite surpassed the

militia of the old days, if for no other reason than thatit was now a standing army. It was organized into two

g and divisions, one in the Delta and the other in theupper country (BAR ,

III, In Syria it had learnedtactics and proper strategic disposition of forces, theearliest of which we know anything in history. Weshall now find partition of an army into divisions, weshall hear of wings and centre, we shall even trace aflank movement and define battle lines . All this isfundamentally different from the disorganized plundering expeditions naively reported as wars by the monuments of the older periods. Besides the old bow and

THE NEW STATE : SOCIETY AND RELIGION 195

spear,the troops henceforth carry also a war axe.

They have learned archery fire by volleys and thedreaded archers ofEgypt now gained a reputation whichfollowed and made them feared even in classic times.But more than this , the Hyksos having brought thehorse into Egypt , the Egyptian armies now for the firsttime possessed a large proportion of chariotry. Cavalryin the modern sense of the term was not employed.

The deft craftsmen of Egypt soon mastered the art ofchariot- making

,while the stables of the Pharaoh con

tained thousands of the best horses to be had in Asia.

In accordance with the spirit of the time, the Pharaohwas accompanied on all public appearances by a bodyguard of élite troops and a group of his favourite military officers.184 . This new state is revealed to us more clearly

than that of any other period of Egyptian history undernative dynasties . The supreme position occupied bythe Pharaoh meant a very active participation in theaffairs of government. He was accustomed everV

morning to meet the vizier, still the mainspring of theadministration

,to consult with him on all the interests

of the country and all the current business whichnecessarily cam e under his eye. Immediately thereafterbe held a conference with the chief treasurer. Thesetwo men headed the chief departments of government :the treasury and the judiciary. The Pharaoh

’

s oflice,

in which they made their daily reports to him, was thecentral organ of the whole government where all itslines converged. Even in the lim ited '

num ber of suchdocuments preserved to us , we discern the vast array ofdetailed questions in practical administration which thebusy monarch decided, going on frequent journeys toexam ine new buildings and check all sorts of official

196'


abuses. Besides numerous campaigns in Nubia andAsia, he visited the quarries and mines in the desert orinspected the desert routes , seeking suitable locationsfor wells and stations . The official cults in the greattemples, too , demanded more and more of the monarch

’ stime and attention as feasts and ritual were multiplied .

Early in the Eighteenth Dynasty, however, the businessof government and the duties of the Pharaoh had so

increased that he appointed a second vizier. One resided at Thebes

,for the administration of the South,

from the cataract as far as the nome of Siut ; while theother, who had charge of all the region north of thelatter point

,lived at Heliopolis (GIM).

For administrative purposes the country was dividedinto irregular districts

, of which there were at leasttwenty- seven between Siut and the cataract, and thecountry as a whole must have been divided into overtwice that number. The head of government in the oldtowns still bore the feudal title “ count,

” but it nowindicated solely administrative duties and might betterbe translated mayor ” or “ governor. ” Each of the

smaller towns had a town - ruler,” but in the other

districts there were only recorders and scribes , with oneof their number at their head (BAR , II, 7 16' 185. The great object of government was to make thecountry economically strong and productive . To securethis end, its lands, now chiefly owned by the crown , wereworked by the king’ s serfs

,controlled by his officials, or

entrusted by him as permanent and indivisible fiefs to

his favourite nobles, his partisans and relatives. Divis’

ible parcels might also be held by tenants of the untitled classes . Both classes of holdings might be transferred by will or sale in much the same way as if theholder actually owned the land . For purposes of


198 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

both income and outgo , a monthly fiscal report wasmade to him by all local officials, and thus the southernvizier was able to furnish the king from month to monthwith a full statement of prospective resources in theroyal treasury (BAR , II, 708 ; 7 16—74 5 ; 709 ; 7 4 6—751 ;760 f ) .186 . In the administration of justice the southern

vizier played even a greater role than in the treasury .

Here he was supreme. The old magnates of the Southern Tens, once possessed of important judicial functions,have sunk to a mere attendant council at the vizier’spublic audiences, where they seem to have retained noteven advisory functions (BAR , II, The six greathouses ” or courts of justice have evidently disappearedsave in the title of the vizier . All petitioners for legalredress applied first to him in his audience hall ; if possible in person , but in any case in writing. Every morning the people crowded into the “hall of the vizier

,

”

where the ushers and bailiff s jostled them into line thatthey might “be heard,

” in order of arrival , one afteranother. All crimes in the capital city were denouncedand tried before him, and he maintained a criminaldocket of prisoners awaiting trial or punishment, whichstrikingly suggests modern documents of the same sort .Alk this,and especially the land cases, demanded rapidand convenient access to the archives of the land . Theywere therefore all filed in his office. No one m ightmake a will without filing“ it in the

“vizier’s hall .”

Copies of all nome archives, boundary records and allcontracts were deposited with him or with his colleaguein the North . Every petitioner to the king was obligedto hand in his petition in writing at the same office

(BAR , II, 675 ; 7 14 f. ; 683° 688 ; 7 03 ; 691 ; GIM) .

187 . Besides the vizier s hall , also called the

THE“

NEW STATE : SOCIETY AND RELIGION 199

greatcouncil, there were local councils throughout theland

,not primarily of a legal character. There was

,as

heretofore, no class of judges with exclusively legalduties

,and these local courts were merely the body of

administrative officials in each district, who werecorporately empowered to try cases with full competence. They were the “great men of the town

,

” orthe local “ council ,

” and acted as the local representatives of the “ great council . ” The number of theselocal courts is entirely uncertain , but the most importanttwo known were at Thebes and Memphis . At Thebesits composition varied from day to day ; it was appointedby the vizier or the Pharaoh, according to the natureof the case. All courts were largely made up of

priests . They did not , however, always enjoy thebest reputation among the people, for the bribe of therich was often stronger than the justice of the poor man’ scause, as it frequently is at the present day (BAR ,

II,

7 05 ; IV, 4 23 f ; SS ; PA, II , 8,The law to which the poor appealed was undoubtedly

just . The vizier was obliged to keep it constantly beforehim, contained in forty rolls which were laid out beforehis dais at all his public sessions where they weredoubtless accessible to all . Unfortunately the codewhich they contained has perished, but of its justice wehave ample evidence. Even conspirators against theking’ s life were not summarily put to death, but werehanded over to a legally constituted court to be properlytried , and condemned only when found guilty. Whilethe great body of this law was undoubtedly very old ,

it continued to grow ; thusHarem hab’

s regulations werenew law enacted by him . The social , agricultural andindustrial world of the Nile- dwellers under the Empirewas therefore not at the mercy of arbitrary whim on the

200 THE EMPIREz' FIRST PERIOD

part of either king or court, but was governed by a largebody of long respected law, embodying the principles ofjustice and humanity (BAR , II, 675 ; 7 12 j . 7 15 ; III ,51 f. ; 65 ; SS) .188. The southern vizier was the motive power he

hind the organization and operation of this ancientstate. We recall that he . went in every morning andtook council with the Pharaoh on the affairs of the

country ; and the only other check upon his untrammelled control of the state was a law constraining himto report the condition

“ of his office to the chief treasurer.His office was the Pharaoh’ s means of communicationwith the local authorities , who reported to him in writingon the first day of each season

,

"

that is, three times ayear. It is in his office that we discern with unm istakable clearness the complete contralization of all localgovernment in all its functions . He was minister of

war for both army and navy,and in the Eighteenth

Dynasty at least,

“when the king was with the army,he conducted the administration at home. He hadlegal control of the temples throughout the country ,

or, as the Egyptian put it,“he established laws in the

temples of the godssof the South and the North,”so that

he was m lnister of ecclesiastical affairs . He exercisedadvi sory functions in all the offices of the state ; so longas his office was undivided with a vizier of the Northhe was grand steward of all Egypt, and there was noprime function of the state which did not operate immediately or secondarily through his office . He wasa veritable Joseph and it must have been this office whichthe Hebrew narrator had in mind as that to whichJoseph was appointed . He was regarded by the peopleas their great protector and no higher

“

praise could be

proffered to Amon when addressed by a worshipper than



must have begun . There thus grew up a new oflicial

class. As there was no longer a feudal nobility,the

great government officials became the nobles of theEmpire, surrounding the person of the Pharaoh. Atthe bottom the masses who worked the fields and estates

,

the serfs of the Pharaoh, formed so large a portion of

the inhabitants, that the Hebrew scribe, evidentlywriting from the outside, knew only this class of societybesides the priests (Gen . xlvn, These lower strata

p assed away and left little or no trace, but the middleclass was now able to erect tombs and mortuary stelaein such surprising numbers that they furnish us a vastmass of materials for reconstructing the life and customso f the time. The soldier in the standing army hasnow also become a social class . The free middle class

,

l iable to military service, are called“ citizens of the

army, a term already known in the Middle Kingdom,

but now very common ; so that liability to militaryservice becomes the significant designation of this classo f society. Politically the soldier’ s influence growswith every reign and he soon becomes the involuntaryreliance of the Pharaoh in the execution of numerouscivil commissions where formerly the soldier was neverem loyed (BAR , II, 27 4 ; p . 165, note a ;

0. Side by side with the soldier appears anothernew and powerful class, that of the priesthood . As anatural consequence of the great wealth of the templesunder the Empire, the priesthood becomes a profession ,no longer merely an incidental office held by a layman ,as in the Old and Middle Kingdoms . All the priestlycommunities were now for the first time united in a greatsacerdotal organization embracing the whole land .

The head of the state temple at Thebes, the HighPriest of Amon , was the supreme head of this greater

THE NEW STATE : SOCIETY AND RELIGION 203

body also and his power was thereby increased farbeyond that of his older rivals at Heliopolis and Memphis . The temples grew into vast and gorgeouspalaces, each with its community of priests , and thehigh priest of such a community in the larger centreswas a veritable sacerdotal prince, ultimately wieldingconsiderable political power.191 . The triumph of a Theban family had brought

with it the supremacy of Amon . Transformed by thesolar theology into Amon—Re, and with some attributesborrowed from his neighbour, Min of Coptos , he nowrose to a unique and supreme position of unprecedentedsplendour as the state god . But the fusion of the oldgods had not deprived Amon alone of his individuality

,

for in the general flux almost any god might possess thequalities and functions of the others , although the

dom inant position was still occupied by the sun - god .

192. The mortuary beliefs of the time are the outgrowth of tendencies already plainly observable in theNl iddle Kingdom (see p. The magical formulaeby which the dead are to triumph in the hereafter become more and more numerous, so that it is no longerpossible to record them on the inside of the coffin.

They must be written on papyrus and the roll placedin the tomb . As the selection of the m ost importantof these texts came to be more and more uniform, the“Book of the Dead began to take form. But magicachieved still more . The luxurious lords of the Empireno longer look forward with pleasure to the prospect ofplowing, sowing and reaping in the happy fields of Yaru ;a magical statuette placed in the tomb arises and doesthe work otherwise falling upon the deceased . Such“Ushebtis,

”or

“ respondents,” as they were termed ,

were now placed in the necropolis by scores and hun


dreds. A sacred beetle or scarabaeus is cut from stoneand inscribed with a charm , beginning with the significant words, O my heart, rise not up against me as awitness ;

” and thus an evil life is masked in the judgment hall of Osiris . Likewise the rolls of the Book of

the Dead containing, besides all the other charms, alsothe scene of judgment, and especially the welcome verd ict of acquital, are now sold by the priestly scribes toanyone with the means to buy ; and the fortunatepurchaser’s name is then inserted in the blanks left forthis purpose throughout the document ; thus securingf or himself the certainty ofs uch a verdict

,before it was

k nown whose name should be so inserted . The invention of these devices by the priests was undoubtedlyas subvers1ve of moral progress in religion as the sale ofindulgences

’

in Luther’s time, and as the priestly literature on the hereafter continued to grow

,it stifled the

moral aspirations which had come into the religion ofEgypt with the ethical influences so potent in the Osirismyth.

193 . The tomb of the noble consists as before of

chambers hewn in the face of the cliff . In accordancewith the prevailing tendency it is now filled with im ag

inary scenes from the next world, while at the same timethe tomb has become more a personal monument to thed eceased , and the walls of the chapel bear many scenesfrom his life

,especially from his official career, particu

farly as a record of the honours which he received fromthe king. Thus the cliffs opposite Thebes, honeycombed as they are with the tombs of the lords of theEmpire, contain whole chapters of the life and historyo f the period, with which we shall now deal . In asolitary valley behind these cliffs, as we shall see, thek ings now likewise excavate their tombs in the limestone



in a masonry tomb, which has now long perished. The

famous jewelry of his mother, stolen from her neighbouring tomb at a remote date, was found by Marietteconcealed in the vicinity. The body of Ahm ose I, aswell as this jewelry, are now preserved in the Museumat Cairo (BAR, II , 26—8 ; 33 1? 4 9—51 ; Masp . Mom.

roy.

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE KINGDOM ; THE RISEOF THE EMPIRE

195. THE time was not yet ripe for the great achievements which awaited the monarchs of the new dynastyin Asia . The old Nubian dominion of the MiddleKingdom, from the first to the second cataract, was stillfar from final pacification. The Troglodytes , wholater harassed the Romans on this same frontier, nowpossessed a leader, and Ahm ose

’

s campaign againstthem had not been lasting in its effects . Amenhotep I,Ahm ose

’

s successor,was therefore obliged to invade

Nubia in force. He captured the rebellious leader, andpenetrated to the old landmarks of the Middle Kingdomfrontier at the second cataract. Northern Nubia wasnow placed under the administration of the mayor orgovernor of the old city of Nekhen, which now becamethe northern limit of a southern administrative district,including all the territory on the south of it, controlledby Egypt, at least as far as northern Nubia, or Wawat .

From this time the new governor was able to go northwith the tribute of the country regularly every year

(BAR , II, 38 f. ; 4 1 , 4 7196 . The wars of the Hyksos had given the Libyans

the opportunity, which they always improved , of pushing in and occupying the rich lands of the Delta, andthe new Pharaoh was now suddenly called northward

207


to expel them . This mission successfully concluded ,Amenhotep was at liberty to turn his arms toward Asia .

Unfortunately we have no records of his Syrian war, buthe possibly penetrated far to the north, even to theEuphrates . In any case he accomplished “enough toenable his successor to boast of ruling as far as theEuphrates, before the latter had himself undertaken anyAsiatic conquests (BAR , II, 39, ll. 27 f. ; 4 2, 22 ;197 . Af ter a reign of at least ten years Amenhotep I ’ s

richly wrought buildings at Thebes were interrupted byhis death (BAR , II, 4 5 f. ; - IV

, 513 ; B , I, 4 , No . 3 , 164

Whether he left a son entitled to the throne or not , wedo not know. His successor , Thutmose I, was the sonof a woman not of royal blood. Her great son evidentlyowed his accession to the kingship to his marriage witha princess . of the old line

,named Ahm ose, through

whom he could assert a valid claim to the throne. It isto him that Egypt owed the conquest of Upper Nubia,over four hundred miles beyond the old frontier of theMiddle Kingdom, to Napata at the foot of the Fourthcataract where the southern frontier remained for nearlyeight hundred years. The forward movement beganalready in the king’s second year. In the battle whichprobably took place between the second and thirdcataracts , the Pharaoh himself transfixed the Opposingchi ef with his lance. He now pushed on through theexceedingly difficult country of the second and thirdcataracts

,where his scribes and officers have left a long

trail of names and titles scratched on the rocks . At theIsland of Tombos , he emerged from the desolate and

preclp i tous cataract country upon the wide and fertilevalley of the Dongola Province winding along a widecurve of uninterrupted r1ver, two hundred and fiftymiles to the foot of the fourth cataract . At Tombos,



199 . The country was settled chiefly by Semites, the

descendants of an early overflow of population from thedeserts of Arabia, such as has occurred in historic timesover and over again . In the ‘north these we're Aram ae

ans, while in the south they may be most convenientlydesignated as Canaanites . In general these peoplesshowed little genius for government, and were totallywithout any motives for consolidation . Divided

,more

over, by the physical conformation of the country , theywere organized into numerous city- kingdoms

,each

having not only its own kinglet, but also its own god,a local ba’al (Baal) or

“ lord with whom was oftenassociated a ba’ lat or lady, a goddess like her of

Byblos . These miniature kingdoms were embroiled infrequent wars with one another, each dynast endeavouring to unseat his neighbour and absorb the latter

’

s

territory and revenues . Exceeding all the others insize was the kingdom of Kadesh, in the Orontes valley,in which we should

,in the author’s opinion , recognize

the nucleus of the Hyksos empire as already indicated

(pp . 180 in) We shall now discern it for two generations, struggling desperately to maintain its independence, and only crushed at last by twenty years of

warfare under Thutmose III .

200. Some of these kingdoms possessed a high degreeof civilization . Masters of

'

the art of m etal- workingthey made metal vessels, weapons and chariots a greatindustry . Woolen text iles of the finest dye, rich andsumptuous in design , issued from their looms . TheseSemites were already inveterate traders, and an animated com m erce

'

was passing from town tel town , wherethe market place was a busy scene of traffic as it is today. On the scanty shoreward slopes of Lebanon someof them

,crossing from the interior, had early gained


THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE 211

a footing,to become the Phoenicians of historic times .

They rapidly subdued the sea and soon developed intohardy mariners . In every favourable harbour theyestablished their colonies, in Cyprus and Rhodes, alongthe southern litoral of Asia Minor, throughout the

n ean , and here and there on the mainland of Greece.Everywhere throughout the regions which they reached

,

their wares were prominent in the markets . As theirwealth increased

,every harbour along the Phoenician

coast was the seat of a rich and flourishing city , amongwhi ch Tyre, Sidon , Byblos , Arvad and Sim yra were thegreatest, each being the seat of a dynasty . Thus it wasthat in theHomeric poems the Phoenician merchant andhis wares were proverbial , for the commercial and maritime power enjoyed by the Phoenicians at the rise of theEgyptianEmpire continued intoHomeric times and later.201 . The civilization which they found in the northernMediterranean was that of the Mycenaean age. Itspeople are termed by theEgyptian monuments Keftyew,

and so regular was the traffic with these regions that thePhoenician craft plying on these voyages were known asKeftyew ships (BAR , II , All this northernregion was known to the Egyptians as the “ Isles of theSea,

” for having no acquaintance with the interior ofAs ia Minor, they supposed it to be but island coasts ,like those of the ZEgean .

202. Much more highly organized than the neighbouring peoples of Asia, the mature civilization of the

mighty kingdom on the Nile had from time immemorialexerted a powerful influence upon the politically feeblestates there. There was little or no native art amongthese peoples of the western Semitic world

,but they

were skilful imitators , and the products which theirfleets marketed throughout the eastern Mediterranean

,


if not original Egyptian work,were therefore tinctured

through and through with Egyptian elements . In thesePhoenician galleys the material civilization of the Orientwas being gradually disseminated through southernEurope and the west . Babylonian influences

,while not

so noticeable in the art of Syria- Palestine,were never

theless sufficiently powerful to have introduced therethe cuneiform system of writing

,even among the non

Semitic Hittites . Thus Syria- Palestine became commonground

,where the forces of civilization from the Nile and

the Euphrates mingled at first in peaceful rivalry,but

ultimately to meet upon the battlefield . The historicalsignificance of this region is found in the inevitable struggle for its possession between the kingdom of the Nileon the one hand and those of the Tigro - Euphrates valleyand Asia Minor on the other. It was in the midst ofthis struggle that Hebrew national history fell , andits relentless course the Hebrew monarchi es perished .

203 . Other non - Semitic peoples were also beginningto appear on Egypt’s northern horizon . A group -of

warriors of Iran,now appearing for the first time in

history, had by 1500 B . C . pushed westward to the

upper Euphrates and established an Aryan dynasty ,ruling the kingdom of Mitanni in the great westwardbeqd of the river, where it approaches most closely tothe Mediterranean . It was the earliest a nd westernmost outpost of theAryan race. They formed a powerful and cultivated state

,which

,planted thus on the road

leading westward from Babylon along theEuphrates ,effectively

'

cut off the latter from her profitable westerntrade

,and doubtless had much to do with the decline in

which Babylon , under her foreign Kassite dynasty, nowfound herself. Everything thus conspired to favour thepermanence of Egyptian power in Asia


THE FEUD OF THE THUTMO SIDS AND THE REIGN OFQUEEN HATSHEPSUT

205. How long Thutmose I ’ s Asiatic war may haveoccupied him, we do not now know, but at about thetime of his thirty years’ jubilee - the 30th anniversaryof his appointment to the heirship of the throne —his

claim upon it was probably weakened by the death of

his queen, Ahm ose, through whom alone he had anyvalid title to the crown . She was a descendant of theold Theban princes who had expelled the Hyksos, andthere was a strong party who regarded the blood of thisline as alone entitled to royal honours . Her only surviving child was a daughter, Makere—Hatshepsut , andso strong was the party of legitimacy, that they hadforced the king, years before, at about the middle of hisreign, to proclaim her his successor, in spite of thegeneral disinclination to submit to the rule of a queen .

Among other children, Thutmose I had also two sonsby other queens : one, who afterward became ThutmoseII

,was the son of a princessMutnofret ; while the other,

later Thutmose III, had been born to the king by an

obscure concubine named Isis . The close of ThutmoseI ’s reign is involved in deep obscurity, and the followingreconstruction is not without its difficulties . When thelight finally breaks

,Thutmose III is on the throne for a

long reign,the beginning of which had been interrupted

214

FEUD OF THE THUTMOSIDS 215

for a short time by the ephemeral rule of Thutmose II .Thus, although Thutmose Il I

’

s reign really began before that of Thutmose II, seven- eighths of it falls afterThutmose II’

s death , and the numbering of the twokings is most convenient as it is . As a young prince ofno prospects

,Thutmose III had been placed in the

Karnak temple as a priest with the rank of prophet .Meantime he had in some way gained the hand of thebeautiful and gifted Hatshepsut, the sole princess of theold line. He now had a claim upon the throne, byinheritance through his wife. To this legal right thepriesthood of Am on, who supported him, agreed to addthat of divine sanction, and under the most dramaticcircumstances secured his call to the kingship by thegod himself during state ceremonies in the temple hallof Thutmose I. Thutmose III’ s five- fold name andtitulary were immediately published

,and on the third

of May, in the year 1501 , B. C . ,he suddenly stepped

from the duties of an obscure prophet of Amon intothe palace of the Pharaohs (BAR , II, 105 ; 86—8 ; 64 ,l. 1 1 ; 307 ; 128—136 ; 138

206 . Thutmose I was evidently not regarded as asource of serious danger, forhe was permitted to live on.

Thutmose III early shook off the party of legitimacy.

Indeed he allowed Hatshepsut no more honourable titlethan great or chief royal wife.” But the party oflegitimacy was not to be so easily put off . As a resultof their efforts Thutmose III was forced to acknowledgethe coregency of his queen and actually to give her ashare in the government. Before long her partisans hadbecome so strong that the king was seriously hampered

,

and eventually even thrust into the background, andthe conventions of the court were all warped and dis

torted to suit the rule of a woman . Hardly had she


begun her independent works and royal monuments,

especially the great temple of Der el - Bahri,when the

priestly party of Thutmose III and the party of legitim acy fell victims of a third party, that of Thutmose11

, who, allying himself with the old dethroned king,Thutmose I, succeeded in thrusting aside Thutmose IIIand Hatshepsut and seizing the crown . Then Thutmose I and II, father and son, began a bitter persecution of the memory of Hatshepsut

,cutting out her

name on the monuments and placing both their ownover it wherever they could find it .207 . News of the enmities within the royal house hadprobably now reached Nubia, and on the very day of

Thutmose II’s accession , the report of a serious out

break there was handed to him . One of his commanders quelled the rising,

“ however,and another

insurrection in southern Palestine was also successfullyput down . At this juncture it is probable that the deathof the aged Thutmose I so weakened the position of thefeeble and diseased Thutmose II that he made commoncause “with Thutmose 111

,then apparently living in

retirement,but of course secretly seeking to reinstate

himself. In any case we find them together for a briefcoregency

,which was terminated by the death of Thut

mase II, after a reign of not more than three years atmost (Note IV ; BAR , II, 119- 125 ; 593

—5 ;MMR ,

208 . Thutmose III thus held the throne again,although the partisans of Hatshepsut forced him to acompromise, by which the queen was recognized as coregent. Matters did not stop here ; her party was sopowerful , that, although they were unablefit o dispose ofThutm ose III entirely, he was again relegated to thebackground

,while the queen played the leading role

in the state . Both she and Thutmose III numbered the



temple against the western clifl’s at Thebes

,where her

father and brother had inserted their names over hers .The building was in design quite unlike the greattemples of the age. It resembled the little terracedtemple of Nibhepetre-Mentuhotep in a n eighbouringbay of the cliffs . In a series of three colonnaded terraces it rose from the plain to the level of an elevatedcourt, flanked by the massive yellow cliff s

,into which

the holy of holies was cut. The queen found especialpleasure in the design of the temple, seeing in it aparadise of Amon , and conceived its terraces as themyrrh- terraces

”of Punt

,the original home of the

gods . To carry out the design fully it was furthernecessary to plant the terraces with the myrrh treesfrom Punt, and resum ing the Red Sea traffic interruptedby the Hyksos wars , she dispatched a fleet to Punt tosecure the myrrh trees (BAR ,

II, 6 f. 375 ; 295 ;

287 ; 285, 11. 5—6 ; It was the largest expeditionthither of which we know ; Passing from the Nile tothe Red Sea by means of a canal in the eastern Delta,the fleet reached Punt ‘ in safety. Besides Egyptianmerchandise they carried with them a statue of the

queen , which they erected in Punt (AZ , 4 2, 91 fin)After a fair return voyage, and without mishap , the

$ et of fine vessels finally moored again at the dockso f Thebes . Probably the Thebans had never beforebeen diverted by such a sight as now greeted them , whenthe motley array of Puntites and the strange productso f their far- off country passed through the streets to the

queen’ s palace

,where the Egyptian commander pre

sented them to her majesty. Having planted the treesin the temple , the queen boasted ,

“ It was done .

I have made for him a Punt in his garden , just as hecommanded me. It is large enough for him to walk


FEUD OF THE THUTMOSIDS: HATSHEPSUT 219

abroad in it. Thus the splendid temple was madea terraced myrrh- garden for the god , though theenergetic queen was obliged to send to the end of theknown world to do this for him. She had all the incidents of the remarkable expedition recorded in a seriesof splendid reliefs on the upper terrace, where theystill form one of the great beauties of her temple (BAR ,

II, 290 ; 252 f ; 292 ; 254 ; 257 ; 259 ; 24 6210. This unique temple was in its function the culmination of a new development in the arrangement andarchitecture of the royal tomb . As we have seen

, the

Pharaoh had gradually abandoned the construction of apyram id , and he now, like his nobles, excavated a

cliff - tomb with the mortuary temple against the face ofthe cliff before it. Probably for purposes of safetyThutmose I then took the radical step of separating thecliff- tomb from the mortuary chapel before it . Thechapel was left upon the plain at the foot of the westerncliffs

,but the burial chamber, with the passage leading

to it was hewn into the rocky wall of a wild and desolatevalley lying behind the cliffs, some two miles in adirect line westward from the river

,and accessible only

by a long detour northward , involving nearly twice thatdistance . It is evident that the exact spot where theking’ s body was entombed was intended to be kept ,secret, that all possibility of robbing the royal burialmight be precluded . The new arrangement was suchthat the sepulchre, as in pyramid days, was still behindthe chapel or temple, which thus continued to be on theeast of the tomb as before, although the two were nowseparated by the intervening cliffs . The valley, nowknown as the Valley of the Kings’ Tombs,

” rapidlyfilled with the vast excavations of Thutmose I’

s

successors . It continued to be the cemetery of the


Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties , andover forty tombs of the Theban kings were excavatedthere. Forty- two now accessible form one of the wonders which attract the modern Nile- tourists to Thebes ,and Strabo speaks of forty which were worthy to bevisited in his time. Hatshepsut

’

s terraced sanctuarywas therefore her mortuary temple

,dedicated also to

her father. As the tombs multiplied in the valleybehind, there rose upon the plain before it temple aftert emple endowed for the mortuary service of the de

p arted gods, the emperors who had once ruled Egypt .Hatshepsut

’

s tomb has in recent times been discoveredbehind her terraced temple

,and that of her father is

near by (BAR ,II

, 513 ; 106 ; 552 ;

211 . Meanwhile Hatshepsut was rece1v1ng tributef rom her wide empire

,extending from the upper cata

racts of theNile to the Euphrates ; Evidently no serioust rouble in Asia had as yet resulted from the fact thatthere was no longer a warrior upon the throne of thePharaohs. This energetic woman therefore began toemploy her new wealth in the restoration of the oldtem ples, which, although two generations had elapsed,had not yet recovered from the neglect whi ch they hadsuffegzd under theHyksos (BAR , II , 321 ; 296 fi. ;

212. It was now seven or eight years since she andThutmose III had regained the throne,

_

and fifteen yearss ince they had first seized it . Thutmose IIIhad neverbeen appointed heir to the succession , but his queen hadenjoyed that honour, and at the thirtieth anniversary ofher appointment she celebrated her jubilee by theerection of a pair of obelisks, which were the customarymemorial of such jubilees . The queen chose anextraordinary location for these monuments , namely , thevery colonnaded hall of the Karnak temple erected by


222 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIODion the base. Everywhere from the cataracts to theDelta, on the walls of all buildings both her figure andher name have been backed out. Her partisans doubtless all fled . If not they must have met short shr ift .In all the records of the time, and even in their tombsand on their statues, their names and their figures wereruthlessly chiselled away. And these mutilated monuments stand to this day, grim witnesses of the greatk ing’ s vengeance. But inHatshepsut

’

s splendid templeher fame still lives , and the masonry around her Karnakobelisk has fallen down , displaying her name andrecords

,and exposing the gigantic shaft, to proclaim to

the modern world the greatness of Hatshepsut (BAR , II,3 37 ; 338, note i ; 348 ; PPS , p .

THE CONSO LIDATION OF THE EMPIRE : THE WARSOF THUTMOSE III

214 . IN the year fifteen Hatshepsut and Thutmose 111still controlled their Asiatic dependencies as far northas the Lebanon . From that time until we find himmarching into Asia, late in the year twenty- two

,we are

not informed of what took place there ; but the conditionwhich then confronted him

,and the course of his subse

quent campaigns, makes it evident how matters hadgone with Egyptian supremacy during the interim .

Not having seen an Egyptian army for many years , theSyrian dynasts grew continually more restless , andfinding that their boldness called forth no responsefrom the Pharaoh , the king of Kadesh had stirred all thecity- kings of northern Palestine and Syria to accept hisleadership in a great coalition , in which they at last feltthemselves strong enough to begin Open revolt . Kadeshthus assumed its head with a power in which we shouldevidently recognize the surviving prestige of her old

time more extended suzerainty . Only southern Palestine held aloof and remained true to the Pharaoh . Not

only were all the allied countries of Zahi,”or western

Syria,in open rebellion against the Pharaoh , but it

is also evident that the great kingdom of Mitanni, onthe east of the Euphrates , had done all in her power toencourage the rebellion and to support it when once in

223


progress. Against such formidable resources as these,them

- Thutmose III was summoned to contend , and noPharaoh before his time had ever undertaken so greata task. In what condition the long unused Egyptianarmy may have been, or how long it took Thutmose toreorganize and prepare it for service, we have no meansof knowing. The armiesof the early Orient were notlarge, and it is not probable that any Pharaoh ever invaded Asia with more than twenty - five or thirty thousandmen , while less than twenty thousand is probably nearerthe usual figure (BAR ,

II, 137 ; 162 ; 4 16 ; 616 ; BK,

8

215. Late in his twenty- second year we find Thutmosewith his army ready to take the field . He marchedfrom Tharu, the last Egyptian city on the northeasternfrontier, about the 19th of April, 14 79 B . C . On the l othof May he camped on the southern slopes of the Carmelrange. Meantime the army of the Asiatic allies , underthe command of the king of Kadesh, had pushed southward and had occupied the strong fortress of Megiddo

,

in the plain of Esdraelon , on the north slope of theCarmel ridge. Thi s place, which here appears in historyfor the first time, was not only a powerful stronghold,but occupied an important strategic position, commanding the road fromEgypt between the two Lebanons to theEuphrates, hence its prominent role in Oriental historyfrom this time on (BAR,

II, 4 09 ; 4 15 ; 4 17 - 4 19 ;

216 . Learning now of the enemy’ s occupation ofMegiddo , Thutmose called a council of his officers toascertain the most favourable route for crossing theridge and reaching the plain of Esdraelon . Thutmosecharacteristically favoured the direct route, but hisofficers urged that two other roads , involving long detours to north or south , were more open, while the



way at the first charge, they fled headlong to Megiddoin fear, and many, finding the gates closed against them,

were drawn up the wall by their friends within . The

discipline of an Oriental army cannot to this day withstand a rich display of plunder ; much less could the hostof Egypt in the fifteenth century B . c. resist the spoil ofthe combined armies of Syria, although by pushingquickly forward they might have captured Megiddo atonce. It is evident that in the disorganized rout thecamp of the king of Kadesh fell into the hands of theEgyptians, and they brought its rich and luxuriousfurniture to the Pharaoh (BAR, II, 4 29—4 33 ; 4 13 ; 616 ;

218 . But the sternThutmose was not ' to be placatedby these tokens of victory ; he saw only what had beenlost, and gave orders for the instant investment of thecity .

'

The season was far enough advanced so that theEgyptians foraged on the grain - fields of the plain of

Esdraelon, while its herds furnished them the fat of theland . They were the first host, of whom we haveknowledge, to ravage this fair plain , destined to be thebattle- ground of the east and west from Thutmose IIIto Napoleon . But within the walls all was difl’

erent ;

proper provision for a siege had not been made, andfam ifie finally wrought its customary havoc in thebeleaguered town , which, after sustaining the siege forsome weeks, at length surrendered .

.But the king of

Kadesh was not among the prisoners . To compensatefor the failure to capture the dangerous king of Kadeshhimself they secured his family as hostages ; for Thutmose says

,

“Lo,my majesty carried off the wives of

that vanquished one, together with his children , andthe wives of the chiefs who were there, together withtheir children .

”Rich as had been the spoil on the

THE WARS OF THUTMOSE III 227

battlefield, it was not to be compared with the wealthof the allied kings which awaited the Pharaoh in thecaptured city : nine hundred and twenty- four chariots

,

including those of the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo,

two thousand two hundred and thirty- eight horses,two

hundred suits of armour, again including those of thesame two kings , the gorgeous tent of the king of Kadesh ,his magnificent household furniture, and among it hisroyal sceptre, a silver statue, perhaps of his god , and anebony statue of himself, wrought with gold and lapislazuli, besides prodigious quantities of gold and silver

(BAR ,11 , 4 33—4 37 ; 4 4 1 f. ; 596 ; I Kings, xv,

219. Thutmose lost no time in marching as far northward as the hostile strongholds and the lateness of theseason would permit . He captured three cities on thesouthern slopes of Lebanon . They quickly succumbed.

Here , in order to prevent another southward advanceof the still unsubmissive king of Kadesh and to holdcommand of the important road northward between theLebanons , he now built a fortress . He then began thereorganization of the conquered territory, supplanting '

the old revolting dynasts , of course, with others whomight be expected to show loyalty to Egypt. Thesenew rulers were allowed to govern much as they pleased ,if only they regularly and promptly sent in the yearlytribute to Egypt . In order to hold them to theirobligations Thutmose carried off their eldest sons withhim to Egypt , where they were educated and so treatedas to engender feelings of ‘

friendliness toward Egypt ;and whenever a king of one of the Syrian cities died“his majesty would cause his son to stand in his place.

The Pharaoh now controlled all Palestine as far northas the southern end of Lebanon , and , further inland ,also Damascus (BAR , II, 54 8 ; 4 34 ; 4 02 ; 4 67 ;

.228 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

Early in October Thutmose had reached Thebes .It was less than six months since he had left Egypt

,and

he had done all within the limits of the dry season inPalestine. With what difliculties such an achievementwas beset we may learn by a perusal of Napoleon ’

s

campaign from Egypt through the same country againstAkko , which is almost exactly as far from Egypt asMegiddo . We may then understand why it was thatThutmose immediately celebrated three “Feasts of

Victory” in his capital , each five days long. Thesefeasts were made permanent, endowed with an annualincome of plentiful offerings . At the feast of Opet,Amon ’ s greatest annual feast, lasting eleven days , hepresented to the god the three towns captured insouthern Lebanon , besides a rich array of magnificentvessels of gold, silver and costly stones from the Asiaticspoil , and also extensive lands in Upper and LowerEgypt, equipped with plentiful herds and with hosts ofpeasant serfs taken from among his As iatic prisoners .Thus was established the foundation of that vast fortuneof Amon , which now began to grow out of all proportionto the increased wealth of other temples (BAR , II, 4 09 ;54 9 ; 550

—553 ; 557 f. ; 54 3—54 7 ; 555 ;220. The great task of properly consolidating theempire was now fairly begun ; but Egyptian power inAsia during the long military inactivity of Hatshepsut

’s

reign had been so thoroughly shaken that Thutmose IIIwas far from ready, as a result of the first campaign, tomarch immediately upon Kadesh , his most dangerousenemy . Moreover, he desired properly to organizeand render perfectly secure the states already under thepower of Egypt . In the year twenty - four therefore hemarched in a wide curve through the conqueredterritory of northern Palestine and southern Syria, while




unsubdued Phoenician cities of the coast. It was likew1se 1m possible to strike Naharin and Mitanni withoutfirst destroying Kadesh, which dominated the Orontesvalley. He therefore planned a series of campaigns ,directed first against the northern coast, which he mightthen use as a base of operations against Kadesh ; andthis being once disposed of , he could again push infrom the coast against Mitanni and the whole Naharinregion . He therefore organized a fleet and placed incommand of it a trusty officer named Nibam on, who

had served with his father. Employing the new fleet,he transported his army by sea

,and in the year twenty

nine, on his fifth campaign , he moved for the first timeagainst the northern coast cities, the wealthy commercialkingdoms of Phoenicia. The name of the wealthy citywhich Thutmose first took is unfortunately lost, but itwas on the coast opposite Tunip , which sent it reinforcements. It must have been a place of considerable importance, for it brought him rich spoils ; and there wasin the town a temple of Amon, erected by one of Thutmose III’

s predecessors . Thence the Pharaoh movedhis army southward against the powerful city of Arvad .

A short siege sufficed to bring the place to terms , andwith i ts surrender a vast quantity of the wealth of

Phoenlcla fell into the hands of the Egyptians, whospent days of feasting and drunkenness in the richPhoenician vineyards and gardens . The dynasts alongthe coast now came in with their tribute and ofl’

ered submissions . Thutmose had thus gained a secure footingon the northern coast, easily accessible by water fromEgypt,

’

and forming an admirable base for operationsinland, as he had foreseen . He then returned toEgypt,possibly not for the first time, by water (BAR , II, 7 79 ;4 57—4 59 ; 4 60

THE WARS OF THUTMOSE III 23 1

223 . All was now in readiness for the long plannedadvance upon Kadesh. It had taken five campaignsto gain the south and the coast ; the sixth was at lastdirected against his long invulnerable enemy. In theyear thirty the close of the spring rains found Thutmosedisembarking his army from the fleet at Sim yra, by themouth of the Eleutheros, up the valley of which he immediately marched upon Kadesh. The city lay on thewest side of the Orontes river, surrounded by its watersand those of a tributary at this point, at the north end ofthe high valley between the two Lebanons (MapAn inner moat encircling the high curtain- walls withinthe banks of the rivers reinforced the natural waterdefences, so that, in spite of its location in a perfectlylevel plain

,it was probably the most formidable fortress

in Syria and commanded the Orontes valley, the onlyroute northward in inner Syria . It will be remembered,furthermore

,that ‘it also dominated the Eleutheros

valley, the only road inland from the coast for a longdistance both north and south (BK,

13—21 Thecapture of such a place by siege was an achievement ofno slight difficulty , but the scanty sources permit us todiscern only that it was taken after a difficult siege, lasting from early spring to harvest time, during which atleast one assault was made . The siege continued longenough to encourage the coast cities in the hope thatThutmose had suffered a reverse. Before the longplanned advance into Naharin could be undertakenthe revolting cities of the coast had therefore again to bechastised. The rest of this season and all the next , theseventh campaign (year were spent in punishingthe obstinate Arvad, and its neighbour Sim yra . Thutmose then sailed from harbour to harbour along thecoast, displaying his force and thoroughly organizing


the administration of the cities . In particular he ‘tsaw

to it that every harbour- town. should be liberally suppliedwith provisions for his coming campaign in Naharin .

On his return to Egypt he found envoys from the extreme south, probably eastern Nubia, bringing to thePharaoh their tribute, showing that he was maintainingan aggressive policy in the far south while at the sametime so active in the north (BAR , II, 4 65 ; 585 ; 4 674 70

224 . Preparations for the great campaign delayedThutmose until the spring of the year thirty - three

,

when we find him on the march down the Orontes onhis eighth campaign . Having captured Ketne, hefought a battle at the city of Senzar, which he also took.

Entering Naharin no serious force confronted himuntil he had arrived at “The Height of Wan

, on thewest of Al eppo,

” where a considerable battle wasfought. Al eppo itself must have fallen

,for the Pharaoh

could otherwise hardly have pushed on without delay,as he evidently did . Behold his majesty went north

,

capturing the towns and laying waste the settlements ofthat foe of wretched Naharin, who was, of course, theking of Mitanni . Egyptian troops were again plundering the Euphrates valley, a license which they had notenjoyed since the days of their fathers under ThutmoseI,some fifty years before (BAR ,

II, 4 76 ; 598 ; 584 ;581 f. ;225. As he advanced northward Thutmose nowturned slightly toward the Euphrates , in order to reachCarchemi'sh . In the battle fought at that city it musthave been his long unscathed foe, the king of Mitanni,whose army Thutmose scattered far and wide,

“not one

looked behind him , but they fled forsooth like a herd ofmountain goats . ” This battle at last enabled Thutmose



few days, he was then able to strike inland without delayand bring delinquents to an immediate accounting.

His sea power was such that the king of Cyprus becamepractically a vassal of Egypt, as later in Saitic times .Moreover, his fleet made him so feared in the islands ofthe north that he was able to exert a loose control overthe eastern Mediterranean , ,

westward an indefinited istance toward the .EEgean . Likewise the Pharaoh ’streasury was now receiving the richest contributionsf rom his trade with Punt ; and it is at some time during these wars that Thutmose is also found in possession of the entire oasis region on the west of Egypt

(BAR ,II, 4 82—4 86 ;

227 . The great object for which Thutmose had sol ong striven was now achieved ; he had followed hisfathers to the Euphrates . The kings whom they hadbeen able to defeat singly and in succession , he had beenobliged to ‘ meet united, and against the combinedmilitary resources of Syria and northern Palestine hehad, in ten years

’ warfare, forced his way through to thenorth . He might pardonably permit himself somesatisfaction in the contemplation of what he had aecom

p lished. A pair of enormous obelisks, which had been in

p repa ation for his second jubilee, were now erected atthe arnak temple and one of them bore the proudwords “Thutmose , who crossed the great

‘Bend of

Naharin’

[the Euphrates] with might and with victoryat the head of his army.

”The other obelisk of this

p air has perished, but this one now stands in Constantinople. Indeed , all of the great king

’ s obelisks in Egypthave either perished or been removed , while the modernworld possesses a line of them reaching from Constantinop le, through Rome and London to New York (BAR11, 382

—384 ; 629

THE WARS OF THUTMOSE III 235

228. With such monuments as these before them thepeople of Thebes soon forgot that he who erected themwas once a humble priest in the very temple where hisgiant obelisks now rose. On its walls, moreover, theysaw long annals of his victories in Asia, endless recordsof the plunder he had taken , with splendid reliefspicturing the rich portion which fell to Am on . In thegarden of Amon ’ s temple grew the strange plants ofSyria -Palestine, while animals unknown to the hunterof the Nile valley wandered amon ’g trees equally nu

familiar. Envoys from the north and south were constantly appearing at the court. Phoenician galleys, suchas the upper Nile had never seen before, delighted theeyes of the curious crowd at the docks of Thebes ; andfrom these landed whole cargoes of the fin est stuffs ofPhoenicia, gold and silver vessels of magnificent workmanship, from the cunning hand of the Tyrian artificer

or the workshops of distant Asia Minor, Cyprus, Creteand the ZEgean islands ; exquisite furniture of carvedivory, delicately wrought ebony, chariots mounted withgold and electrum, and bronze implements of war ;besides these, fine horses for; the Pharaoh

’ s stables anduntold quantities of the best that the fields, gardens,vineyards, orchards and pastures of Asia produced .

Under heavy guard emerged from these ships, too , theannual tribute of gold and silver m large commercialrings, some of which weighed as much as twelve poundseach, while others for purposes of daily trade were ofbut a few grains weight . The amount of wealth whichthus came intoEgypt must have been enormous for thosetimes, and on one occasion the treasury was able toweigh out some eight thousand nine hundred and fortythree pounds of gold- silver alloy. Nubia also

,under

the Egyptian Viceroy, was rendering with great regu


larity her annual impost of gold , negro slaves, cattle,ebony, ivory and grain ; much of the gold in the abovehoard must have come from the Nubian mines . Similarsights diverted the multitudes of the once provincialThebes , when every autumn Thutmose

’ s war- galleysmoored in the harbour of the town ; and the unhappyAsiatic captives , bound one to another in long lines,were led down the gang planks to begin a life of slavelabour for the Pharaoh . With their strange speech anduncouth postures the poor wretches were the subject of

j ibe and merrim ent on the part of the multitude ; whilethe artists of the time could never forbear caricaturingthem , in the gorgeous paintings in which the vizier andtreasury officials loved to perpetuate such scenes on theinner walls of their tomb chapels . Many of themfound their way into the houses of the Pharaoh’sf avourites and generals ; but the larger number wereimmediately employed on the temple estates, thePharaoh’ s domains , or in the construction of his greatmonuments and buildings . We shall later see how thiscaptive labour transformed Thebes (BAR , II, 4 02 f ;7 60 f ; 7 7 3 ; 756229 . The return of the king every autumn began for

him awinter, if not so arduous , at least as busily occupied as the campaigning season in Asia . Immediatelyafter his return Thutmose made a tour of inspectionthroughout Egypt fo r the purpose of suppressing corruption and oppression in the lecal administration . Onthese journeys, too ,

he had opportunity of observing theprogress on the noble temples which he was either erecting, restoring or adorning at over thirty different placeso f which we know, and many more which have perished.

He revived the long neglected Delta, and from there tothe third cataract his buildings were rising, strung like



o f Thebes . A lucky chance has rescued one of thesetales written by some scribe on a page or two of

p apyrus . It concerns one Thutiy, a great general ofThutmose, and his clever capture of the city of J oppaby introducing his picked soldiers into the town , concealed in panniers, borne by a train of donkeys . But‘

Thutiy was not a creation of fancy, and som e of hissplendid tomb equipment, especially a golden dishgiven him by his king, still survives . But the dailyrecords of Thutmose’s scribal annalist which .mighthave enabled us to follow not only the whole romance!of Thutmose’ s personal adventures on the field andthose of his commanders, but also the entire courseo f his campaigns, have all perished. From these,we have upon the wall at Karnak only the capriciousextracts of a temple scribe, more anxious to setforth the spoil and Amon’ s share therein than to

p erpetuate the story of his king’s great deeds. Howm uch he has passed over, the biography of Am enemhab

shows only too well ; and thus all that we have of

the wars of Egypt’s greatest commander has filteredthrough the shrivelled soul of an ancient bureaucrat,who little dreamed how hungrily future ages wouldponder his meagre excerpts (BAR, II, 763—7 7 1 ; 57 7 ;

231 . The conquest in Asia was not yet complete.The spring of the thirty- fourth year therefore foundThutmose again in Zahi on his ninth campaign , punishing some disaffection, probably in the Lebanon region .

This year evidently saw the extension of his power inthe south also ; for he secured the son of the chief ofIrem, the neighbour of Punt, as a hostage ; and thecombined tribute of Nubia amounted to over one hundred and thirty- four pounds of gold alone, besides the

THE WARS or THUtMO SE III 239

usual ebony, ivory, grain, cattle and slaves (BAR,II

,

4 89 It was now nearly two years since he had seenNaharin,

and in so short a time its princes had ceased tofear his power . They formed a coalition , with someprince at its head, possibly the king of Aleppo , whomThutmose’ s Annals call “ that wretched foe of Naharin,

”

and together revolted . Thutmose’ s continual state ofpreparation enabled him to appear promptly on theplains of Naharin in the spring of the year thirtyfive.

He engaged the allies in battle at a place called Araina,which we are unable to locate with certainly , but it wasprobably somewhere in the lower Orontes valley . Herethe alliance of the Naharin dynasts was com p letelv

shattered , and its resources for future resistance destroyed or carried off by the Victorious Egyptians (BAR ,

II, 587 ; 4 98232 . Thutmose ’ s annals for the next two years arelost

,and we know nothing of the objective of his eleventh

and twelfth campaigns ; but the year thirty- eight foundhim on his thirteenth campaign

,chastising southern

Lebanon, while the next expedition (fourteenth cam

paign) carried him from southern Palestine to Syria,setting his house in order. On’ the march the envoysof Cyprus and Arrapakhitis met him with gifts . Thetribute seems to have come in regularly for the next twoyears (forty and forty - one) , and again the king ofKheta theGreat sent gifts, whichThutmose, as before,records among the “ tribute ”

(BAR ,II

, 507 ; 511 f. ;517 ; 580 ; 520

233 . The princes of Syria, sorely chastised as theyhad been, were nevertheless unwilling to relinquishfinally their independence. Incited by Kadesh , Thutmose’ s inveterate enemy , they again rose in a final unitedeffort to shake ofl’ the Pharaoh’ s strong hand . All


Naharin, especially the king of Tunip , and also someof the northern coast cities , had been induced to jointhe alliance. The great king was now an old man ,probably over seventy years of age, but with his accustom ed promptitude he appeared with his fleet off thenorth coast of Syria in

'

the spring of the year forty- two .

It was“ his seventeenth and last campaign . Like hisfirst, it was directed against his arch enemy, Kadesh,which he now isolated by approaching from the northand capturing Tunip first. He then accomplished themarch up the Orontes to Kadesh without mishapand wasted the towns of the region . The king of

Kadesh knowing that his alll was lost unless he

could defeat Thutmose’s army, made a desperate re

sistance, but in spite of stratagem , lost the battlebefore the city . Thutmose’ s

_

siege- lines now closed inon the doomed city, the wall was breached, and thestrongest fortress of Syria was again at the Pharaoh ’ smercy.

234 . Never again as long as the old king lived did theAsiatic princes make any attempt to shake off his yoke .

In seventeen campaigns, during a period of nineteenyears

,he had beaten them into submission, until there

was no spirit for resistance left among them . With thefall Bf Kadesh disappeared the last vestige of thatHyksos power which had once subdued Egypt . Thutmose’s name became a proverb in their midst, andwhen

,four generations later, his successors failed to

shield their faithful vassals in Naharin from the aggression of the Kheta, the forsaken unfortunates rememberedThutmose’s great name, and wrote pathetically toEgypt : “Who formerly could have plundered r

h inipwithout being plundered by Manakhbiria (Thutmose

But even now, at three score and ten or more,



in a moment of leisure ; the lynx- eyed administrator,

who launched his armies upon Asia with one hand andwith the other crushed the extortionate tax- gatherer;the astute politician of many a court crisis, and the firstgreat military strategist of the early East (BAR , II,664 ; 570 ; His reign marks an epoch not only inEgypt, but in the whole East

,

as we know it in his age .Never before in history had a single brain wielded theresources of so great a nation and Wrought them intosuch centralized, permanent and at the same time mobileefficiency, that for years they could be brought to bearwith incessant impact upon another continent . Thegenius which rose from an obscure priestly office toaccomplish thi s for the first time in history reminds usof an Alexander or a Napoleon . He built the first realempire, and is thus the first character possessed of universal aspects

,the first world—hero . From the fastnesses

of Asia Minor, the marshes of the upper Euphrates , theislands of the E gean, the swamps of Babylonia, thedistant shores of Libya, the oases of the Sahara, theterraces of the Somali coast and the upper cataracts ofthe Nile, the princes of his time rendered their tributeto his greatness . He thus made not only a world wideimpression upon his age, but an impression of a neworder! His commanding figure, towering like an embodiment of righteous penalty among the trivial plotsand treacherous schemes of the petty Syrian dynasts ,must have clarified the atmosphere of O riental politicsas a strong wind drives away miasmic vapours . Theinevitable chastisement of his strong arm was held inawed remembrance by themen of Naharin for threegenerations . His name was one to conjure with, andcenturies after his empire had crumbled to pieces it wasplaced on amulets as a word of power. It should be a

THE WARS OF THUTMOSE III 24 3

matter of gratification to us of the western world thaton either shore of the western ocean , one of this king

’sgreatest monuments now rises as a memorial ofworld ’s first empire- builder.*

O f his two Heliop olitan abelisks , one is on the Tham

Em bankm ent in London, and the"

other in Central Park, NewYork City .

THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT

237 . THE imperial age was now at its full noontidethe Nile valley. The old seclusiveness had totally

disappeared, the wall of partition between Asia andAfrica, already shaken by the Hyksos, was now com

pletely broken down by the wars of Thutmose III.Traditional limits disappeared , the currents of lifeeddied no longer within the landmarks of tiny kingdoms,but pulsed from end to end of a great empire, embracingmany kingdoms and tongues , from the upper Nile to theupper Euphrates . The wealth of Asiatic trade, circulating through the eastern end of the Mediterranean ,which once flowed down the Euphrates to Babylon, wasthus diverted to the Nile Delta, now united by canalwith the Red Sea. All the world traded in the Delta

Assyria was still in her infancy and Babyno longer possessed any political influence in the

west . The Pharaoh looked forward to an indefinitelease of power throughout the vas t empire which hehad conquered .

f his administration in Asia we know very little.The whole region was under the general control of a“governor of the north countries . ” To bridle theturbulent Asiatic dynasts it was necessary permanentlyto station troops throughout Syria- Palestine in strongholds named after the Pharaoh , under deputies with

24 4


24 6 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

of Naharin , captured seven of their dynasts in Tikhsi,retaken Niy, and rescued his beleaguered garrison inIkathi. As he reached his extreme advance, whichprobably surpassed his father ’ s, he set up a boundarytablet, as his father and grandfather had done. His

return was a triumphal procession as he approachedMemphis, driving before him over five hundred andfifty of the north Syrian lords, with their women, horsesand chariots, and a treasure o f nearly sixteen hundredand sixty pounds of gold in the form ofvases and vessels,besides nearly one hundred thousand pounds of copper.Proceeding toThebes the seven kings of Tikhsi werehung head downward on the prow of his royal barge ashe approached the city. He personally sacrificed themin the presence of Am on and hanged their bodies on thewalls of Thebes, reserving one for a lesson to theNubians,as we shall see (BAR , II, 184 ; 780—790 ; 792, l . 4 ; 796 i . ;800, 11. 4

—5 ; 804 , 11. 2

239 . The young Pharaoh now directed his attentionto the other extremity of his empire . He dispatched anexpedition into Nubia, bearing the body of the seventhking of Tikhsi, which was hung up on the wall of Napata

,just below the fourth cataract, in the region of Karoy,

theisouthern limit of Egyptian administration . Here

Am enhotep set up tablets marking his southern frontier,and beyond these there was no more control of the rudeNubian tribes than was necessary to keep open thetrade- routes from the south a nd prevent the barbariansfrom becoming so bold as to invade the province inplundering expeditions . Thenceforth, as far as weknow

,he was not obliged to invade either As ia or Nubia

a in (BAR ,II

,1025 ; 800 ; 791

24 0. Personally, we are able to discern little of

Amenhotep II, but he seems to have been a worthy son

THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT 24 7

o f the great king. Physically he was a very powerfulman

,and claims in his inscriptions that no man could

draw his bow, which curiously enough was found in histomb . It is this circumstance which furnished Herodotus with the legend that Cambyses was unable todraw the bow of the king of Ethiopia. Few or noremnants of his fine buildings at Karnak, Memphis andHeliopolis have survived , but in Nubia, especially atKum m eh and Amada, more has escaped . Dying about14 20 B . C. , after a reign of some twenty - six years

,

Am enhotep II was interred like his ancestors in thevalley of the kings’ tombs, where his body rests to thisday

,though even now a prey to the clever tomb - robbers

of modern Thebes , who in November, 1901 , forced thetomb and cut through the wrappings of the mummy intheir search for royal treasure on the body of theirancient ruler. Their Theban ancestors in the samecraft, however, had three thousand years ago taken

good care that nothing should be left for their descendants (BAR , 11 , 803

—806 ; 792, note d ; 507 f ; IV, 4 99

24 1 . Amenhotep II was followed by his son, Thutmose IV. It is possible that this prince was not at firstdesigned to be his father’ s successor, if we may believea folk- tale

,in circulation some centuries later

,and now

recorded on the huge granite stela between the forelegsof the Great Sphinx . He was early called upon tomaintain the empire in Asia, and invaded Naharin,

returning with the usual captives and plunder, besidesa cargo of cedar for the sacred barge of Am on atThebes . His nobles now called him Conqueror of

Syria,” and the tribute of the Syrian princes was regu

larly sent in . To confirm his position there, Thutmoseevidently desired a friend in the north, for he sent toArtatam a

,theMitannian king, and secured his daughter

24 8 THE EMPIRE: FIRST PERIOD

in marriage. She probably received an Egyptian name,

Mutem uya, and became the mother o f the next king ofEgypt, Amenhotep III . A firm alliance with Mitanniwas thus formed , which forbade all thought of futureconquest by the Pharaoh east of the Euphrates. Afriendly alliance was also cemented with Babylonia.

The suppression of a serious revolt in northern Nubia,in his eighth year, concludes the known wars of Thutmose IV. It ' is probable that he did not long survivethis war, and his most notable monument from thisperiod is the greatest of all obelisks, a monument leftunfinished by his grandfather Thutmose III

,at Thebes,

and now standing before the Lateran in Rome (BAR,

II, 810—815 ; 819—822 ; 824 ; 826 ; 829 ; 830 174 838 ; AL,

63 ; 21 , 16

24 2. The son who succeeded him was the third of theAmenhoteps and the last of the great emperors . Hewas but the great grandson of Thutmose III, but withhim the high tide of Egyptian power was already slowlyon the ebb, and he was not the man to stem the tide.Already as crown prince, or at least early in his reign, hemarried a remarkable woman of untitled parentage,namedTiy. There is not a particle of evidence to proveher of foreign birth, as is so often claimed . In celebration of the marriage, Amenhotep issued a large numberof scarabs , or sacred beetles, carved in stone andengraved with a record of the event, in which the untitled parentage of his queen frankly follows her name.From the beginning the new queen exerted a powerfulinfluence over Amenhotep , and he immediately insertedher nam e in the official caption placed at the head of

royal documents . Her power continued throughout hisreign , and was the beginning of a remarkable era, characterized by the prominence of the queens in state



ni and Alasa- Cyprus , were exerting every effort to gainthe friendship of Egypt . A scene of world politics, suchas is unknown before in history, now unfolds before us.From the Pharaoh’s court as the centre radiate a hosto f lines of communication with all the great peoples ofthe age . The Tell el - Amarna letters

,perhaps the most

interesting mass of documents surviving from the earlyEast

,have preserved to us this glimpse across the king

doms of hither Asia as one might see them on a stage,

each king playing his part before the great throne of thePharaoh . The letters, some three hundred in number,written on clay tablets in the Babylonian cuneiform

,

were discovered in 1888 at Tell el -Amarna, from whichthe correspondence takes its name . They date fromthe reign of Amenhotep

,III and that of his son and suc

cessor, Am enhotep IV, or Ikhnaton , being correspondence of a strictly official character between these Pharaohs on the one hand , and On the other the kings ofBabylonia, Nineveh, Mitanni, Alasa (Cyprus) and thePharaoh’ s vassal kings of Syria—Palestine . Five letterssurvive from the correspondence of Amenhotep IIIwith Kadashm an - Bel (Kallim m a—Sin), king of Babylonia

,one from the Pharaoh and the others from

Kada man- Bel . The Babylonian king is constantlyin nee of gold and insistently importunates his brothero f Egypt to send him large quantities of the preciousm etal , which he says is as plentiful as dust in Egyptaccording to the reports of the Babylonian messengers .Considerable friction results from the dissatisfaction ofKadashm an—Bel at the amounts with which Am enhotepfavours him . He refers to the fact that Amenhotep hadreceived from his father a daughter in m arriage, andmakes this relationship a reason for further gifts ofgold . As thecorrespondence goes on another marriage

THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT 251

is negotiated between a daughter of Amenhotep andKallim m a—Sin or his son.

24 5. Similarly Amenhotep enjoys the most intimateconnection with Shuttarna, the king of Mitanni, theson of Artatam a

,with whom his father, Thutmose IV,

had sustained the most cordial relations . IndeedAmenhotep was perhaps the nephew of Shuttarna, fromwhom he now, in his tenth year, received a daughter,named Gilukhipa, in marriage. On the death of Shuttarna the alliance was continued under his son, Dushratta, from whom Amenhotep later received, as a wifefor his son and successor, a second Mitannian princess ,Tadukhipa, the daughter ofDushratta (AL, 7 ; 1

—5 17 ;

BAR , II, 86624 6 . Similarly Amenhotep sent a gift of twentytalents of gold to the king of Assyria, and gained hisfriendship also . The vassalship of the king of AlasaCyprus continued

,and he regularly sent the Pharaoh

large quantities of copper, save when on one occasionhe excuses himself because his country had been visitedby a pestilence . SO complete was the understandingbetween Egypt and Cyprus that even the extradition of

the property of a citizen of Cyprus who had died inEgypt was regarded by the two kings as a matter ofcourse (AL, 23 , 30fi. 25, 30

24 7 . Thus courted and flattered , the object of diplomatic attention from all the great powers, Am enhotepfound little occasion for anxiety regarding his Asiaticempire . The Syrian vassals were now the grandsonsof the men whom Thutmose III had conquered ; theyhad grown thoroughly habituated to the Egyptianallegiance

,and it was not without its advantages . An

Egyptian education at the Pharaoh’ s capital had,moreover

,made him many a loyal servant among the


children of the dynasts . They protest their fidelity to thePharaoh on all occasions, and their letters were introduced by the most abject and self- abasing adulation .

They are “ the ground upon which thou treadest, thethrone upon which thou sittest

,the foot—stool of thy feet

even “ thy dog”

; and one is pleased to call himself the

groom of the Pharaoh ’ s horse . The garrisons in thelarger towns , consisting of infantry and chariotry, areno longer solely native Egyptians, but to a large extentNubians and Sherden, perhaps the ancestors of thehistorical Sardinians : From now

,on they took service

in the Egyptian army in ever larger and larger numbers . These forces of the Pharaoh were maintainedby the dynasts, and one of their self- applied tests ofloyalty in writing to the Pharaohwas their readiness andfaithfulness ln furnishing supplies . Syria thus enjoyeda stability of government which had never before beenhers . The roads were safe from robbers, caravans wereconvoyed from vassal to vassal, and a word from thePharaoh was sufficient to bring any of his subjectprinces to. his k nees . The payment of tribute was asregular as the collection of taxes in Egypt itself. Butin case of any delay a representative of the Pharaoh,who was stationed in the various larger towns , neededbut tfi appear in the delinquent’ s vicinity to recall theunfulfilled obligation . Amenhotep himself was neverobliged to carry on a war in Asia . On one occasion heappeared at Sidon, but one of the vassal princes laterwrote to Amenhotep ’s son : “Verily, thy father did notmarch forth

,nor inspect the lands of his vassal princes ”

(AL, 138, 4—13 ; 14 9, 1

—7 ; 87 , 62

24 8. Under such circumstances Amenhotep was atleisure to devote himself to those enterprises of peacewhich have occupied all emperors under similar condi


254 THE EMPIRE ; FIRST PERIOD

Greek writing of Crete shows traces of the influence ofthe hieroglyphics of the Nile . The men of the Mycenaean world, the Keftyew,

were now a familiar sightupon the streets of Thebes, where the wares which theyOffered were also modifying the art of Egypt . Theplentiful silver of the north now came in with thenorthern strangers in great quantities

,and

,although

under the Hyksos the baser metal had been worth twiceas much as gold

,the latter now and permanently became

the more valuable medium . The ratio was now aboutone and two- thirds to one, and the value of silversteadily fell until Ptolemaic times (third century B. C . on) ,when the ratio was twelve to one. Such trade required

p rotection and regulation . Against the bold Lycianp irates Amenhotep was obliged to develop a marinepolice which constantly patrolled the coast of theDelta . Here and at all frontiers custom houses werealso maintained, and all merchandise not consigned tothe king was dutiable (AL, 87 , 62

—64 ; 28 ; 29 ; 32 33 ;

BAR ,II , 916, ll. 33

24 9 . The influx of slaves chiefly Of Semitic race,.still continued, and the king s chief scribe distributedthem throughout the land and enrolled them amongthe tax

- paying serfs . As this host of foreigners interm arried with the natlves, the large infusion of strangeblood began to make itself felt in a new and compositetype of face

,if we may trust the artists of the day. The

incalculable wealth which had now been convergingupon the coffers of the Pharaoh for over a century alsobegan to exert a profound influence, which, as underlike conditions

,in later history, was far from wholesome.

On New Year’ s Day the king presented his nobles witha profusion of costly gifts which would have amazed thePharaohs of the pyramid - age. The luxury and display


of the metropolis supplanted the old rustic simplicityand sturdy elemental virtues . A noble of the landedclass from the time of the Am enem hets or the Sesostrises, could he have walked the streets of Thebes inAmenhotep III’

s reign, would almost have been at aloss to know in what country he had suddenly found himself ; while his own antiquated costume, which hadsurvived only among the priests, would have awakenedequal astonishment among the fashionable Thebansof the day . He would not have felt less strange than anoble of Elizabeth’ s reign upon the streets of modernLondon . Where once was a provincial village hewould now have found elegant chateaus and luxuriousvillas , with charming gardens and summer—housesgrouped about vast temples, such as the Nile- dwellerhad never seen before (BAR ,

II, 916 , 11. 31—33, 36 ;801

250 . The wealth and the captive labour o f Asia andNubia were being rapidly transmuted into noble architecture, on a scale of size and grandeur surpassing allprecedent, and at Thebes a new fundamental chapter inthe history of the world’ s architecture was being dailywritten . Amenhotep supported his architects with allhis unparalleled resources . There .were among themmen of the highest gifts, like

“Amenhotep

,son

”

ofHapu,

” whose wisdom circulated in Greek some twelvehundred years later among the “Proverbs of the SevenWise Men,

” till it gained him a place among the gods.

(BAR , II, Despite the vast dimensions of the imperial buildings, the smaller of the two f orms of templewhich now developed is not less effective than the larger.It was a simple

,

rectangular cella or holy of holies,

thirty or forty feet long and fourteen feet high, with adoor at each end , surrounded by colonnades, the whole


being flat- roofed and raised upon a base of about halfthe height of the temple walls . With the door lookingout between two graceful columns, and the facadehappily set in the retreating vistas of the side colonnades

,

the whole is so finely proportioned and boldly conceivedthat the trained eye immediately recognizes the hand ofa master who appreciated and depended upon simple

,

fundamental lines of structural origin and significance.The other and larger type of temple, which now foundits highest development, differs strikingly from the onejust discussed ; and perhaps most fundamentally in thefact that its colonnades are all within and not visiblefrom the outside. The holy of holies at the rear issurrounded, as of old, by a seri es of chambers, nowlarger than before, as rendered necessary by the rich andelaborate ritual which had arisen . Before it is a largecolonnaded hall

,often called the hypostyle, while in

front of this hall lies an extensive forecourt surroundedby a columned portico . In front of this court rise twotowers (together called a which form thefacade of the temple . Their outer walls incline inward ,they are crowned by a hollow cornice, and the great doorof the temple opens between them. While the masonry ,

which is of sandstone or limestone, does not usuallyconta in large blocks, huge architraves, thirty or fortyfeet long and weighing one or two hundred tons , are notunknown . Nearly all the surfaces, except those on thecolumns

,are carved with reliefs , the outside showing the

king in battle , while on the inside he appears in theworship of the gods , and all surfaces with slight exception were highly coloured . Before the wast doubledoors

’

of cedar of Lebanon m ounted in bronze, rose, oneon either side

,a pair of obelisks , towering high above

the pylon- towers , while colossal statues Of the king, each



ful gardens, with which he united Karnak and Luxor,avenues of sculptured rams connected the great temples.The general effect must have been imposing in theextreme ; the brilliant hues of the polychrome architecture, with column s and gates overwrought in gold, andfloors overlaid with silver, the whole dominated by towering obelisks clothed in glittering metal , rising high abovethe rich green of the nodding palms and tropical foliage which framed the mass, ormirrored ln the surface ofthe temple lake— all this must have produced an impression both of gorgeous detail and overwhelminggrandeur

,of which the sombre ruins of the same build

ings, impressive as they are, offer little hint at thepresent day (BAR , II, 903 ;253 . Thebes was thus rapidly becoming a worthyseat of empire, the first monumental city of antiquity.

Nor did the western plain on the other side of the river,

behind which the conquerors slept, suffer by comparisonwith the new glories of Karnak and Luxor. Along thefoot of the rugged cliffs, from the modest chapel ofAmenhotep I on the north, there stretched southward inan imposing line the mortuary temples of the emperors .At the south end of this line, but a little nearer the river,Amenhotep III now erected his ownmortuary sanctuary,the largest temple o f his reign, the prodigal magnificenceof which defies description . But this sumptuous building

, probably the greatest work of art ever wrought inEgypt, has vanished utterly. Only the two weatherbeaten colossi which guarded the entrance still look outacross the plain, one of them still bearing the scribblingsin Greek of curious tourists in the times of the RomanEmpire who came to hear the marvellous voice whichissued from it every morning (BAR , II , 904 878

254 . Adorned with such works as these the western


p lain of Thebes was a majestic prospect as the observeradvanced from the river, ascending Amenhotep

’ s avenueof sculptured jackals, between the two seven- hundredton colossi of the king, towering above the temple.O n the left, behind the tem p le and nearer the cliffs,appeared a palace of the king of rectangular woodenarchitecture in bright colours ; very light and airy, andhaving over the front entrance a gorgeous cushionedbalcony with graceful columns, in which the king showedhimself to his favourites on occasion . Innumerable

p roducts of the industrial artist which fill the museumso f Europe indicate with what tempered richness andd elicate beauty such a royal chateau was furnished andadorned . Magnificent vessels in gold and silver, withfigures of men and animals, plants and flowers risingfrom the rim, glittered on the king’s table amongcrystal goblets, glass vases , and gray porcelain vesselsinlaid with pale blue designs. The walls were coveredwith woven tapestry which skilled judges have declaredequal to the best modern work. Besides painted pavements depicting animal life, the walls also were adornedwith blue glazed tiles , the rich colour of which shonethrough elaborate designs in gold leaf, while glazedfigures were employed in encrusting larger surfaces . Allthis was done with fine and intelligent consideration ofthe whole colour scheme. The fine taste and thet echnical skill required for all such supplementaryworks of the craftsman were now developed to a pointO f classical excellence, beyond which Egyptian art never

p assed.

255. Sculpture also flourished under such circumstances as never before. While there now developedan attention to details which required infinite patienceand nicety, such arduous application did not hamper the


fine feeling of whichl

theseEighteenth Dynasty sculptorswere capable. They thus interpreted and expressedindividuality with a keen insight, a subtle refinementand an individual power, which endued their portraitswith a personality and a winning grace far surpassingall earlier works . The perfection attained in thesculpture of anim al forms by the artists of this timemarks the highest level of “achievement attained byEgyptian art herein, and Ruskin has even insisted withhis customary conviction that the two lions of Am enhotep

’

s reign , now in the British Museum , are the finestembodiment Of animal majesty which has survived tous from any ancient people. Especially in relief werethe artists of this age masters . In a fragment now inthe Berlin Museum, the abandoned grief of the twosons of the High Priest of Memphis as they follow theirfather’s body to the tomb, is effectively contrasted withthe severe gravity and convent ional decorum of thegreat ministers Of state behind them, who themselvesare again in striking contrast with a Beau Brummel ofthat day

,as he affectedly arranges the perfumed curls

of his elaborate wig. Here across thirtyfive centuriesthere speaks to us a maturity in the contemplation of

life which finds a sympathetic response in every cultivat observer. This fragmentary sketch belongs to aclass of work totally lacking in other lands in this age .It is one of the earliest examples of sculpture exhibitingthat interpretation Of life and appreciation of individualtraits (often supposed to have arisen first among thesculptors of Greece) , in which art finds its highestexp ression.

256 . Now, too , the Pharaoh’s deeds of prowess in

spired the sculptors of the time to more elaboratecompositions than had ever before been approached.



it without the faintest knowledge of the imperial ruler,their ancestor, whose name is perpetuated in it .258 . Am ong the king’ s favourite diversions was the

hunt, which he practised on an unprecedented scale.He slew as many as seventy- six wild cattle in one expedition, and in the first ten years of his reign he had slain onehundred and two lions . In celebration of these exploitsand of such events as the dedication of the sacred lakethe king issued each time a series of commemorativescarabs (see p . It will be seen that in these thingsa new and modern tendency was coming to its own .

The divm e Pharaoh is constantly being exhibited incommon human relations, the affairs of the royal houseare made public property , the name of the queen, noteven a woman of royal birth, is constantly appearing atthe head of official documents side by side with that ofthe Pharaoh . In constant intercourse with the nationsof Asia he is gradually forced from his O ld superhumanstate, suited only to the Nile, into less provincial and'

more modern relations withh is neighbours of Babylonand Mitanni

,who in their letters call him “ brother.”

This lion - hunting, bull - baiting Pharaoh is far indeedfrom the godlike and unapproachable immobility of hisdivine ancestors . Whether consciously or not he hadassumed a modern stand- point, which must inevitablylead to sharp conflict with the almost irresistible inertiaof tradition in an Oriental country (BAR , II, 865 ; 868

f ; 863 f. ; 880, note a ; 893259 . Presiding over the magnificence of Thebes, thenow aging Amenhotep had celebrated his third jubileewhen ominous signs of trouble appeared on the northernhorizon . Mitanni was invaded by the Hittites (Kheta) ,and the provinces of Egypt on the lower Orontes werenot spared . The situation was complicated by the


connivance of treacherous vassals of the Pharaoh, whowere themselves attempting the conquest of territory ontheir own account , even threatening Ubi, the region of

Damascus . While the Hittites thus secured a footing inn orthern Naharin of the greatest value in their furtherplans for the conquest of Syria

,an invasion of the

Khabiri, desert Semites, such as had periodically inund ated Syria and Palestine from time immemorial

,was

also now taking place. It was of such proportions thatit may fairly be called an immigration . Before Amenhotep III

’

s death it had become threatening, and thusR ibaddi of Byblos later wrote to Am enhotep III’

s son :“ Since thy father returned from Sidon, since that timethe lands have fallen into the hands of the Khabiri ”

(BAR ,II, 870—873 ; AL,

16 , 30—37 ; 138 rev . ll . 5, 18

3 1 , 37 ; 83, 28—33 ; 94 , 13

—18 ; 69, 7 1°

260 . Under such ominous conditions as these the oldPharaoh, whom we may well call

“Amenhotep theMagnificent,

” drew near his end. His brother of

Mitanni, with whom he was still on terms of intimacy ,probably knowing of his age and weakness , sent thecaptured image Of Ishtar of Nineveh for the secondtime to Egypt, doubtless in the hope that the far- famed

goddess might be able to exorcise the evil spirits whichwere causing Amenhotep ’ s infirmity and restore theoldking to health . But all such m eanswere of no avail

,and

about 1375 B . C .,after nearly thirty- six years upon the

throne,“Amenhotep the Magnificent ” passed away,

and was buried with the other emperors , his fathers , inthe Valley of the Kings ’ Tombs (AL,

20)

XVIII

THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION OF IKHNATON

261 . NO nation ever stood ln direr need of a strongand practical ruler than did Egypt at the death of Am enhotep III . Yet she chanced to be ruled at this fatalcrisi s by a young dreamer, who, ln spite of unprece

dented greatness in the world of ideas , was not fitted tocope with a difficult situation demanding an aggressiveman of aff airs and a skilled military leader. The conflict of new forces with tradition was, as we have seen,already felt by his father. The task before him was

such manipulation of these conflicting forces as mighteventually give reasonable play to the new and moderntendency, but at the same time to conserve enough of theOld to prevent a catastrophe. It was a problem of

practical statesmanship . His mother, Tiy, and hisqueen, Nofretete, perhaps a woman of Asiatic birth, anda favourite priest

,Eye, the husband of his childhood

nurse, formed his immediate circle . The first two weregiven a prominent share in the government, and in amanner quite surpassing his father’ s similar tendency,he constantly appeared in public with both his motherand his wife . With such eff eminate counsellors abouthim , instead of gathering the army so sadly needed inNaharin, Amenhotep IV immersed himself heart andsoul in the thought of the time, and the philosophi zingtheology of the priests was of more importance to him

264


266 THE EMPIRE ' FIRST PERIOD

and works of art , needed but to be expressed in spokenwords to take concrete form as material realities .Thus the efficient force by which this intelligence puthis designs into execution was his spoken “word

,

” andthis primitive “ logos ” is undoubtedly the incipient

germ of the later logos- doctrine which found its originin Egypt . Early Greek philosophy may also haved rawn upon it (AZ , 39 , 39263 . Similar ideas were now being prop agated re

garding all the greater gods of Egypt,but the activity

o f such a god had been limited , in their thinking, to theconfines of the Pharaoh ’ s domain , and the world of

which they thought meant no more . From Of old thePharaoh was the heir of the gods and ruled the twok ingdoms of the upper and lower river which they hadonce ruled . Thus they had not in the myths extendedtheir dominion beyond the river valley. But under theEmpire all this is changed , the god goes where thePharaoh ’s sword carries him ; the advance of the Phar aoh

’

s boundary - tablets in Nubia and Syria is the ext ension of the god ’s domain . Thus, for king and priesta like, the world was becoming only a great domain of

the god . The theological theory of the state is simplythat the king receives the world that he may deliver itto tl

fe god , and he prays for extended conquests that the

dominion of the god may be correspondingly extended .

It can be no accident that the notion of a practicallyuniversal god arose in Egypt at the moment when hewas receiving universal tribute from the world of thatday. Similarly the analogy .of the Pharaoh’s powerunquestionably operated powerfully with the Egyptiantheologian at this time ; for as in the myth- makingthe gods were conceived as Pharaohs ruling the Nilevalley, because the myth- makers lived under Pharaohs

THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION OF IKHNATON 267

who so ruled ; so now, living under Pharaohs whoruled a world - empire , the priest of the imperial age hadbefore him in tangible form a world - dominion and a

world- concept, the prerequisite of the notion of theworld- god . Conquered and organized and governed ,it had now been before him for two hundred years

,and

out of the Pharaoh—ruled world he gradually began to see»

the world - god (BAR , II, 7 70 ; 959, l . 3 ; 1000 ; III,264 . While many local gods, especially Amon claimedprecedence as the state god, none of the old divinities ofEgypt had been proclaimed the god of the Empire

,

although in fact the priesthood of Heliopolis had gainedthe coveted honour for their revered sungod , Re,who indeed enjoyed the best historical title to the distinction . Already under Amenhotep III an old namefor the material sun ,

“Aton ,” had come into prominent

use, where the name of the sun—god might have beenexpected . The sungod , too , had now and again beendesignated as “

the sole god ” by Amenhotep III’

s contemporaries . Under the name of Aton , Amenhotep IVintroduced the worship of the supreme god . While hemade no attempt to conceal the identity of his newdeity with the old sun - god, Re, it was not merely sunworship ; the word Aton was employed in place of theold word for “god ”

(nuter) , and the god is clearly distinguished from the material sun . To the O ld sungod ’ s name is appended the explanatory phrase “ underhis name : ‘Heat which is in the Sun and heis likewise called “ lord of the sun The king,therefore, was deifying the vital. heat which he foundaccompanying all life. Thence, as we might expect,the god is stated to be everywhere active by means ofhis rays . ” In his age of theworld it is perfectly certainthat the king could not have had the vaguest notion of


the physico - chemical aspects of his assumption any morethan had the early Greeks in dealing with a similarthought . The outward symbol of his god, a disk in theheavens

,darting earthward numerous diverging rays

which terminate in hands , each grasping the symbol oflife

,broke sharply with tradition , but it was capable of

practical introduction in the many different nationsmaking up the empire , and could be understood at aglance by any intelligent foreigner (BAR, II , 869 ; 94 5 ;934 , l . 2 ; 987 , note e) .265. The new god could not dispense with a temple,

and early in the new king ’s reign arose a stately sanctuaryO f Aton called Gem- Aton ” between Karnak andLuxor

,in a new quarter now called “Brightness of

Aton the Great . ” Although the other gods were stilltolerated as of old, it was nevertheless inevitable that thepriesthood of Amon should view with growing jealousythe brilliant rise of a strange god in their midst . Thepriesthood of Amon was now a rich and powerful body.

Besides being supreme head of the national sacerdotalorganization , their High Priest was often grand vizierand wielded the widest political power. They hadinstalled Thutmose III as king, and could they havesupplanted with one of their own tools the youngdreamer who now held the throne they would of coursehave done so at the first opportunity . But besides theprestige of his great line, Amenhotep IV possessedunlimited personal force of character, and he was ofcourse supported in his Opposition of Amon by the olderpriesthoods of the : north at Memphis and Heliopolis ,long jealous of this interloper, the obscure Theban god,who had never been heard of in the north before therise of the Middle Kingdom . A conflict to the bitterend

,with the most disastrous results to the Am onite


2 70 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

Aton—city of Nubia was located on the west side of ther iver at the foot of the third cataract, in the heart of theEgyptian province (Note VI) . It was named GemAton ” after the Aton- temple in Thebes . In Syria theAton - city is unknown , but Ikhuaton will not have donel ess for Aton there than his fathers had done forAmon .

In the sixth year, shortly after he had changed his name,the king was already living in his own Aton - city inEgypt . He chose as its site a fine bay in the cliffs aboutone hundred and sixty miles above the Delta andnearly three hundred miles below Thebes . He calledit Akhetaton,

“Horizon of Aton,” and it is known in

m odern times as Tell el - Amarna. In addition to thetown

,the territory around it was demarked as a domain

belonging to the god, and included the plain on bothsides of the r1ver. In the cliff s on either side, fourteenlarge stelas

, one of them no less than twenty- six feet inheight

,were cut into the rock, bearing inscriptions

determ m m g the limits of the entire sacred distri ct aroundthe city. As thus laid out the district was about eightm iles wide from north to south, and from twelve to overseventeen miles long from cliff to cliff. Besides thissacred domain the god was endowed with revenues fromoth lands in Egypt and Nubia, and probably also inSyr a. The royal architect, Bek, was sent to the firstcataract to procure stone for the new temple , or weshould rather say temples, for no less than three werenow built in the new city

,one for the queen mother, Tiy,

and another for the Princess Beketaton (“Maid

servant of beside the state temple of the kinghimself. Around the temples rose the palace of theking and the chateaus of his nobles. Many a scene ofSplendour is now discernible in the beautiful city, aswhen the king publicly demits the Office O i

' High Priest

THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION OF IKHNATON 27 1

Of Aton and confers it with rich gifts upon Merire, one

of the royal favourites . Again we behold the king proceeding to the temple in his chariot, accompanied byhis four daughters and a gorgeous retinue, while he receives there the first dues from its revenues (BAR ,

II,

949- 972 ; 973 if ; 1016—1018 ; 1000 982 ; AZ , 4 0, 106 fi.)267 . It becomes more and more evident that all thatwas devised and done in the new city and in the propa

gation of the Aton faith is directly due to the king andbears the stamp of his individuality. A king who wasdeliberately attempting the annihilation of the godsone who did not hesitate to erase his own father’s nameon the monuments in order to destroy Amon

, the greatfoe of his revolutionary movement , was not one tostop half way

,and the men about him must have been

involuntarily carried on at his imperious will. But

Ikhnaton understood enough of the old policy of thePharaohs to know that he must hold his party bypractical rewards

,and the leading partisans of his

movement, like Merire,enjoyed liberal bounty at his

hands . The reason which they give , as they boastof his favour

,is significant. Thus the general of the

king’s army, Mai, says :“My lord has advanced m e

because I have carried out his teaching,and I hear his

word without ceasing. How prosperous is'

he

who hears thy teaching of life !” On state occasions .

instead of the old stock phrases,with innu erable

references to the traditional gods (which it m uI

st ave

been very awkward for them to cease using) , every noblewho would enjoy the king’ s favour was ev identlyobliged to show his familiarity with the Aton faith andthe king

’ s position in it by a liberal use Of its currentphrases and allusions . Even the Syrian vassals werewise enough to make their dispatches pleasant reading


by glossing them with appropriate recognition Of thesupremacy of the sun-

god . Although there must havebeen a nucleus of men who really appreciated the idealaspects of the king’ s teaching, it is evident that manywere chiefly influenced by “

the loaves and the fishes ”

(BAR , II, 994 , ll . 17 995, ll . 21 f ; 985 ; 987 ; 994 ,ll . 16 f ; 1002 f ) .268 . Indeed there was one royal favour which must

have been welcome to them all without exception .

This was the beautiful cliff- tomb which the king comm anded his craftsmen to hew out of the eastern cliffsfor each one of his favourites . The “ eterna l house ”

was no longer disfigured with hideous demons andgrotesque monsters which should confront the dead inthe future life ; and the magic paraphernalia necessaryto meet and vanquish the dark powers of the netherworld

,which filled the tombs of the old order at Thebes

,

were completely banished. The tomb now became amonument to the deceased ; the walls of its chapel borefresh and natural pictures from the life of the people inAkhetaton, particularly the incidents in the Officialcareer of the dead man, and preferably his intercoursewith the king. Thus the city of Akhetaton is nowbetter known to us from its cemetery than from itsruing. Throughout these tombs the nobles take delightin reiterating, both in relief and inscription , the intimaterelation between Aton and the king. Over and overagain they show the king and the queen together standing under the disk of Aton, whose rays, terminating inhands , descend and embrace the royal pair (BAR , II,996 ; 1012 ; 1000, l . 5 ; 991 , l . 3 ; 1010, l . 3 ; AL , 14 9,

6 fl. and often) .269 . It is in these tombs that the nobles have en

graved the two hymns to Aton composed by the king.


27 4 THE' EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD

Bright is the earth ,When thou risest in the hori

zon,

When thou shinest as Aton byday .

The darkness is banished,When thou sendest forth thy

rays, (Psalm 104 , 22

The Two Lands [Egypt] are indaily fest ivity ,Awake and standing upontheir feet ,

For thou hast raised them 11

Their lim bs bathed, they ta e

their clothing ;Their arm s uplifted in adorat ion to thy dawning .

Then in all the world, they dotheir work .

DAY AND THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS

All cattle rest upon their herbage,Al l trees and plants flourish,The birds flutter in their m arshes,Their wings upl ifted in adorat ion to thee.

Al l the sheep dance upon their feet ,Al l winged things fly ,

They l ive when thou hast shone upon them .

DAY AND THE WATERS

The barques sail up—stream Yonder is the sea , great and

and down - stream al ike. wide,Ev ry highway is Open because Wherein are things creeping in

ou hast dawned . num erable

The fish in the river leap up Both sm all and great beastsbefore thee, There go the ships ;

And thy rays are in the m idst There is leviathan, whom thou:of the great sea . hast form ed to sport with

(Psalm 104,25

CREATION or MAN

Thou art he who createst the m an - child in wom an ,

Who m akest seed in m an,

Who givest l ife to the son in the body of his m other,Who soothest him that he m ay not weep,A nurse [even] in the wom b .

Who giveth breath to anim ate every one that he m aketh .

AND MAN

The sun ariseth, they get themaway ,

And lay them down in theirdens.

Man goeth forth unto his work,And to his labour unt il theevening .


When he com eth forth from the body ,on the day of his birth ,

Thou openest his m outh in speech,

Thou supp liest his necessit ies.

CREATION or ANIMALS

When the chicklet crieth in the egg- shell ,

Thou givest him breath therein, to preserveWhen thou hast perfected himThat he m ay pierce the egg,He com eth forth from the egg,To chirp with all his m ight ;He runneth about upon his two feet ,When he hath com e forth therefrom .

THE WHOLE CREATIONHow m anifold are all thy 0 lord , how m anifold are thyworks! works !

They are hidden from before In wisdom hast thou m ade

us, them all ;0 thou sole god, whose powers The earth is ful l of thy creatno other possesseth .

* ures.

Thou didst create the earth ac (Psalm 104 ,cording to thy desire .

While thou wast aloneMen,

all cattle large and sm all,

Al l that are upon the earth,That go about upon their feet ;Al l that are on high,That fly with their wings.

The countries of Syria andNubia ,

The land of Egypt ;Thou settest every m an in his

place,

Thou supp liest their necessities.

Every one has his possessions,And his days are reckoned .

Their tongues are divers in

speech,Their form s likewise and their

skins,For thou d ivider, hast dividedthe peoples.

WATERING THE EARTHThou m akest the Nile in the Nether World,Thou bringest it at thy desire, to preserve the people al ive .

*The other hym ns frequent ly say , 0 thou so le god , beside whom thereis no other .

”

276 THE EMPIRE : FIRST PERIOD0 lord of them all

,when feebleness is in them

,

0 lord of every house, who risest for them ,

0 sun O f day , the fear of every distant land,Thou m akest [also] their l ife .

Thou hast set a Nile in heaven,That it m ay fall for them ,Making floods upon the m ountains, l ike the great sea;And watering their fields am ong their towns.

How excellent are thy designs, 0 lord of eternity !The Nile in heaven is for the strangers,And for the cattle of every land , that go upon their feet ;But the Nile, ,it com eth from the Nether World for Egypt .

Thus thy rays nourish every garden,

When thou risest they l ive, and grow by thee.

THE SEASONSThou m akest the seasons, in order to create all thy worksW inter bringing them coolness,And the heat [of sum m er l ikewise] .Thou hast m ade the distant heaven to rise therein,In order to behold all that thou didst m ake,While thou wast alone,Rising in thy form as l iving Aton,Dawning , shining afar off and returning .

BEAUTY DUE To LIGHTThou m akest the beauty of form

,through thyself alone .

Cit ies, towns and settlem ents,O n highway or on river,Al l eyes see thee before them ,

For thou art Aton of the day over the earth .

0REVELATION To THE KING

Thou art in m y heart ,There is no other that knoweth thee,Save thy son Ikhnaton .

Thou hast m ade him wise in thy designsAnd in thy m ight .

The world is in thy hand,Even as thou hast m ade them .

When thou hast risen, they l ive;When

‘

thou settest , they die. 1

For thou art duration, beyond thy m ere

By thee m an l iveth,And their eyes look upon thy beauty ,Until thou settest .



27 1 . While Ikhnaton thus recognized clearly the

power, and to a surprising extent, the beneficence of

God , there is not here a very spiritual conception of thedeity nor any attribution to him o f ethical qualities beyond those already long attributed to the gods . Nevertheless, there is in this teaching, a constant emphasisupon “ trut such as is not found before nor since .The king always attaches to his name the phrase “ living in truth,

” and that this phrase was not meaningless is evident in his daily life . Thus his family life wasopen and unconcealed before the people. He took thegreatest delight in his children and appeared with themand the queen, their mother, On all possible occasions,as if he had been but the humblest scribe in the Atontemple . He had himself depicted on the monumentswhile enjoying the most familiar and unaff ected intercourse with his family, and whenever he appeared inthe temple to off er sacrifice, the queen and the daughtersshe had borne him participated in the service . All thatwas natural was to him “ true,

” and he never failedpractically to exemplify this belief, however radically hewas obliged to disregard tradition .

272. Such a principle unavoidably affected the art ofthe tine in which the king took great interest . Bek,his chief sculptor, appended to his title the words,whom his majesty himself taught.

” Thus the artistsof his court were taught to make the chisel and the brushtell the story of what they actually saw. The result wasa sim ple and beautiful realism that saw more clearlythan ever any art had seen before . They caught theinstantaneous postures of animal life ; the coursingbound, the fleeing game, the wild bull leaping in theswamp ; for all these belonged to the

“ truth,” in which

Ikhnaton lived . The king’ s person, as we have inti


m ated , was no exception to the law of the new art, andthe monuments of Egypt now bore what they had neverborne before

,a Pharaoh not frozen in the conventional

p osture demanded by the traditions O f court propriety ,but as he actually was . There are now portraits ofthe king that m ight have been done by a Donatello .

The modelling of the human figure at this time was so

p lastic that at the first glance one is sometimes in doubtwhether he has before him a product of the Greek age .

More than this, complex compositions of grouped figures in the round were now first conceived . Fragmentsrecently discovered show that in the court of the king’ s

p alace at Akhetaton there stood a group wrought instone depicting the king in his chariot in full career,pursuing the wounded lion . This was indeed a newchapter in the history of art, even though so soon toperish . It was in some things an obscure chapter ; forthe strange treatment of the lower limbs by Ikhnaton ’

s

artists is a problem which still remains unsolved andcannot be wholly accounted for by supposing a m alfor

m ation of the king’s own limbs. It is one of thoseunhealthy symptoms which are visible too in the body

politic, and to these last we must now turn if we wouldlearn how fatal to the material interests of the statethis violent break with tradition has been (BAR, II,

THE FALL OF IKHNATON,AND THE DISSOLUTION O F

THE EMPIRE

273. WHOLLY absorbed in the exalted religion towhich he had given his life, with difficulty stemming thetide of tradition that was daily as strong against him asat first, Ikhnaton was beset with too many problemsat home to give much attention to the aff airs of theEmpire abroad . On his accession his Sovereignty inAsia had immediately been recognized by the Hittitesand the powers of the Euphrates valley. Dushratta of

Mitann i and Burraburyash of Babylon sent assurancesof sympathy on Amenhotep III’

s death, and bothsought the favour of the new Pharaoh . A son of Burraburyash later sojourned at Iklm aton

’

s court and married a daughter of the latter. But such intercourse didnotLast long, as we shall see (AL, 22 ; 21 ; 14 ; 8,

27 4 .

‘Meantime the power of the Hittites in northernSyria was ever increasing, constantly reinforced by thesouthern movement of their countrymen behind them .

The remains of this remarkable race, one of the greatest problems in the study of the early Orient, have beenfound from the western coast of Asia Minor eastwardto the plains of Syria and the Euphrates, and southward as far as Hamath. They were a non- Semiticpeople

, or rather peoples, of uncertain racial affinities,but evidently distinct from, and preceding, the Indo



ence which his father had maintained . If he realizedthe situation, Ikhnaton had good reason indeed forabandoning the connection ; for the Hittite empire nowstood on the northern threshold of Syria, the most form idable enemy which had ever confronted Egypt , andthe greatest power in Asia (MAAG ; AL, 35 ; 25, 4 9 f ;BAR , II,275. Immediately on Ikhnaton

’

s accession the disa ffected dynasts who had been temporarily suppressedbyhis father resumed their operations against the faithfulvassals of Egypt . The Hittites were steadily advancingup the Orontes, with the cooperation of the unfaithfulEgyptian vassals, Abd- ashirta and his son Aziru, whowere at the head of an Am orite kingdom on the upperO rontes ; together with Itakam a, a Syrian prince, whohad seized Kadesh as his kingdom . Azi

‘

ru of Amorfinally succeeded in capturing all the Phoenician andnorth Syrian coast cities except Sim yra and Bybloswhich held out. Then, as the Hittites pushed up theOrontes

, Aziru cooperated with them and captured Niy,Whose king he slew. Tun ip was now in such gravedanger that her elders wrote the Pharaoh a patheticletter beseeching his protection . They ask : “Whoforrflerly could have plundered Tunip without beingplundered by Manakhbiria [Thutmose III] andthey conclude with lamentation : “

And when Aziruenters Sim yra, Aziru will do to us as he pleases, in theterritory of our lord, the king, and on account of thesethings our lord will have to lament . And now, Tunip ,

thy city weeps,and her tears are flowing, and there is no

help for us . For twenty years we have been sending toour lord

, the king, the king of Egypt, but there has notcome to us a word, no not one

”

(AL , 88 ; 1 19 ; 125 ;

131—133 ; 123 ; 86 ; 1 19 ; 120 ;

THE DISSOLUTION OF THE EMPIRE 283

276 . During all this , Rib- Addi, a faithful vassal ofByblos

,where there was an Egyptian temple , repeatedly

writes to the Pharaoh the most urgent appeals, statingwhat is going on, and asking for help to driveaway Aziru’

s people from Sim yra , knowing full wellthat if it falls his own city of Byblos is likewisedoomed . But no help comes Several Egyptian deputies had been charged with the investigation of

affairs at Sim yra, but they did not succeed in doinganything

,and the city finally fell . Aziru had no

hesitation in slaying the Egyptian deputy residentin the place , and having destroyed it

,was now

free to move against Byblos . Rib- Addi wrote in horrorof these facts to the Pharaoh, stating that the Egyptiandeputy

,resident in Kum idi in northern Palestine

,was

now in danger. But the wily Aziru,skilful in specious

excuses, so uses his friends at court that he escapes .

Ikhnaton is reassured by Aziru’

s promises to pay thesame tribute as the cities which he has taken formerlypaid . Such acknowledgment of Egyptian suzeraintyby the turbulent dynasts everywhere must have left inthe Pharaoh a feeling of security which the situation byno means justified ((AL,

150 f ; 85 ; 1 19 ; 120 ; 94 ; 4 44 7 ; 4 9, 36

- 4 0 ; 50 in)27 7 . During all this time Rib- Addi is in sore straitsin Byblos , and sends dispatch after dispatch to theEgyptian court, appealing for aid against Az iru. The

claims of the hostile dynasts , however, are so skilfullymade that the resident Egyptian deputies actually donot seem to know who are the faithful vassals and whothe secretly rebellious . Thus Bikhuru,

the Egyptiandeputy in Galilee , not understanding the situation inByblos , sent his Beduin mercenaries thither, where theyslew all of Rib- Addi’ s Sherden garrison . The unhappy


Rib- Addi, now at themercy of his foes , sent off twod ispatches beseeching the Pharaoh to take notice of hispitiful plight ; while, to make matters worse, the cityraised an insurrection against him because of the wantonact of the Egyptian resident . He has now sustained thesiege for three years, he is old and burdened with disease ;fleeing to Berfi t to secure help from the Egyptian deputythere, he returns to Byblos to find the city closed againsthim

, his brother having seized the government in hisabsence and delivered his children to Aziru. As Beratitself is soon attacked and falls, he forsakes it , againreturns to Byblos and in some way regains control andholds the place for a whi le longer. Although Aziru, hisenemy, was obliged to appear at court and finally didso , no relief came for the despairing Rib- Addi . All thec ities of the coast were held by his enemies and theirships commanded the sea, so that provisions and reinforcements could not reach him . His wife and familyurge him to abandon Egypt and join Aziru’

s party, butstill he is faithful to the Pharaoh and asks for threehundred men to undertake the recovery of Beriit, andthus gain a little room . The Hittites are plunderinghis territory and the Khabiri, or Beduin mercenariesof his enemy Aziru, swarm under his walls ; his dis

p atches to the court soon cease, his city of course fell,he was probably slain like the kings of the other coastcities

,and in him the last vassal of Egypt in the north

had perished (AL , 51 ; 7 7 ; 100 ; 7 1 ; 23 ; 96 ; 65 ; 67 ;

104 ; 68 ; 102 ;

278. Similar conditions prevailed in the south, wherethe advance of the Khabiri, among whom we mustrecognize bands of Hebrews and Aramaeans , was steadily absorbing Palestine. Knots of their warriors are nowappearing everywhere and taking service as mercenary



Pharaoh himself and the whole available army ofEgypt.AtAkhetaton, the new and beautiful capital, the splendidtemple of Aton resounded with hymns to the new godo f the Empire, while the Empire itself was no more.The habit of generations and fast vanishing appre

hension lest thePharaoh might appear in Syria with hisa rmy, still prompted a few sporadic letters from thedynasts, assuring him of their loyalty, which perhapscontinued in the mind of Ikhnaton the illusion that hewas still lord of Asia.

280. The storm which had broken over his Asiaticempire wasnot more disastrous than that which threatened the fortunes of his house inEgypt. But he was assteadfast as before in the propagation of his new faith .

At his command temples of Aton had now risen all overthe land . He devoted himself to the elaboration of thetemple ritual and the tendency to theologize somewhatd immed the earlier freshness of the hymns to the god .

Meantime the suppression of the most cherished beliefso f the people, like their faith in Osiris, their old- timeprotector and friend in the world of darkness, was producing a national convulsion. The people could unders tand nothing O f the refinements involved in the newf

°

th, and in the course of such attempted changes int e customs and traditional faith Of a whole people,as we see in the similar attempt of Theodosius eighteenhundred years later

,the span of one man ’ s life is in

significant indeed . The Aton - faith remained but thecherished theory of the idealist, Ikhnaton, and a littlecircle which formed his court ; it never really becamethe religion of the people (BAR , II, 1014—15 ; 1017—18 ;AZ ,

4 0, 110

281 . Added to the secret resentment and oppositiono f the people, we must consider also a far m ore danger

THE DISSOLUTION OF THE EMPIRE 287

ous force, the hatred of the old priesthoods , particularlythat of Amon . The neglect and loss of the Asiaticempire must have turned against the king many a strongman

,and aroused indignation in the hearts of the

military class, whose grandfathers had served underThutmose III . One such man , an officer namedHarm hab, now in the service of Ikhnaton and enjoyingthe royal favour, not only contrived to win the supportof the military class , but also gained the favour of thepriests of Amon , who were of course looking for some.

one who could bring them the opportunity they coveted .

Thus both the people and the priestly and militaryclasses

,alike, were fomenting plans to overthrow the

hated dreamer in the palace of the Pharaohs, of whose

thoughts they understood so little. To increase hisdanger

,fortune had decreed him no son

,and he was

obliged to depend for support as the years passed,upon

his son - in- law a noble named Sakere , who had marriedhis eldest daughter, Meritaton,

“Beloved of Aton .

Ikhnaton had probably never been physically strong ;his spare face, with the lines of an ascetic, shows increasing traces of the cares which weighed so heavilyupon him . He finally nominated Sakere as his successorand appointed him at the same time coregent . He

survived but a short time after this, and about 1358 B . C. ,

having reigned some seventeen years he succumbed tothe overwhelming forces that were against him . In alonely valley some miles to the east of his city he wasburied in a tomb which he had excavated in the rockfor himself and family, and where his second daughter,Maketaton, already rested (BAR , III , 22282. Thus disappeared the most remarkable figure inearlier oriental history ; or indeed in the history of theworld before the Hebrews . To his own nation he was


afterward known as the criminal of Akhetaton ; but,however much we may censure him, we see in him at thesame time such a spirit as the early world had neverknown before. Among the Hebrews, seven to eighthundred years later, we look for such men ; but themodern world has yet adequately to value or even ac

quaint itself with this man, who in an age so remote andunder conditions so adverse, became the world

’s firstidealist and the world’ s first individual .283 . Sakere quickly disappeared , to be followed by

Tutenkhaton (“Living image of another son

in- law of Ikhnaton, who was soon forced by the priests ofAmon to forsake Akhetaton and reside at Thebeswhich had not seen a Pharaoh for twenty years . TheAton - temples fell a prey to the vengeance of the Thebanparty

,and the once beautiful city of Aton was gradually

transformed into a desolate ruin . Here in a low brickroom

,which had served as an archive- chamber for

Ikhnaton’

s‘ foreign office, were found in 1885 some

three hundred letters and dispatches,the Tell el

Amarna letters, in which we have traced his intercourseand dealings with the kings and rulers of Asia and thegradual disintegration of his empire there . Here werethe more than sixty dispatches of the unfortunate RibAddi of Byblos. All the other Aton- cities likewiseperished . utterly ; but Gem- Aton

,safe from the first

burst of wrath in far- off Nubia, survived for a thousand years, and— strange irony l— there was afterward atemple there to Am on, lord of Gem—Aton !” (AZ , 40 ,106

284 . On reaching Thebes, Tutenkhaton continuedthe worship of Aton , but Am on slowly regained his own ,

till the king was obliged even to change his name toTutenkhamon,

“Living image of Amon ,” showing that


PART VI



294 THE EMPIRE SECOND PERIOD

tion of it. He was untiring in restoring to the land theorderly organization which it had once enjoyed . At thesame time he did not forget the temples, which had beenso long closed under the Aton regim e. He restoredthe temples from the pools of the Delta marshes toNubia . He shaped all their images in number morethan before. The priesthoods were everywhere re

stored Am on received again his old endowments andeven gold- country” of his own in Nubia, while theincomes of all the other disinherited temples were likewise restored . The peop le resumed in public theworship of the innumerable gods which they hadpractised in secret during the supremacy of Aton . Thesculptors of the king were sent throughout the land,reinserting on the monuments defaced by Ikhnaton, thenames of the gods which he had erased . Everywherethe name of the hated Ikhnaton was treated as hehadthose of the gods . At Akhetaton his tomb waswreckedand its reliefs chiselled out ; while the tombs of his

nobles there were violated in the same way. Everyeffort was made to annihilate all trace Of the reign of

such a man ; and when in legal procedure it was necessary to cite documents or enactm ents from his reign hewasfiesignated as

“ that criminal of Akhetaton .

”The

triumph of Am on was complete ; the priests exulted inthe overthrow of his enemies : “Woe to him who assailsthee Thy city endures but he who assails thee isoverthrown . Fie upon him who sins against thee inany land . The sun of him who knew thee nothas set

,but he who knows thee shines . The sanctu

ary of him who assailed thee is overwhelm ed in darkness

,but the whole earth is in light ” (BAR , III, 22—32 ;

7 1 f ; II, p. 383, notes a, b ; BTLN, p. 20 ; AZ, 4 2,

106—109 ; GIM) .I

THE REORGANIZATION OF THE EMPIRE 295

287 . There were other directions in which the restoration of what Harm hab regarded as normal conditionswas not merely yielding to the inertia of tradition .

Gross laxity in the oversight of the local administrationhad characterized the reign of Ikhnaton and his successors . Everywhere the local officials, long secure fromclose inspection on the part of the central government,had revelled in extortions , practised upon the longsuffering masses . To ameliorate these conditionsHarmhab first informed himself thoroughly as to theextent and character of the evils, and then in his privatechamber he dictated to his personal scribe a remarkableseries of special and highly particularized laws to suitevery case of which he had learned. The penaltieswere severe. A tax- collector for example , if foundguilty of thus practising upon the poor man, wassentenced to have his nose cut off , followed by banishment to Tharu, the desolate frontier city far out in thesands of the Arabian desert toward Asia. The discovery of such local misgovernment was very difficultowing to collusion with the local officials by inspectingofficers sent out by the central government. Thesecorrupt superiors, for a share in the plunder, wouldoverlook the extortions which they had been sent fromthe court to discover and prevent . This evil, rootedout in the days of the aggressive Thutmose III, wasnow rampant again

,and Harm hab apparently revived

the methods of Thutmose III for controlling it . Inorder to lift his executive officials above all necessity ofaccepting any income from a corrupt source, Harm habhad them provided for with great liberality. Theywent out

'

on inspection several times a month , and onthese occasions either just before their departure or

immediately after their return, the king gave them a

296 THE EMPIRE : SECOND PERIOD

sumptuous feast in the palace court, appearing himselfupon the balcony, addressm g each man by name andthrowing down gifts among them . In the introductionand application of the new laws Harm hab went personally from end to end of the kingdom, improving also theadministration of justice. Besides the appointment ofgood viziers and stringent laws against bribery

,in

order to discourage the latter among the local judges,he

took an unprecedented step . He remitted the tax ofgold and Silver levied upon judicial officers, permittingthem to retain the entire income of their Oflices, in orderthat they might have no excuse for illegally enrichingthemselves . These sane and philanthropic reformsgive Harm hab a high place in the history of humanegovernment ; especially when we remember that evensince the occupation of the country by theEnglish,the evils at which he struck have been found exceedingly persi stent and difficult to root out (BAR ,

III,

4 5

288. IfHarm hab had any ambition to leave a reputation as a foreign conqueror, the times were against him.

His accession fell at ‘ a time when all his powers and allhis great ability were necessarily employed exclusivelyreorganizing the . kingdom . He probably reached an

understanding wi th the Hittites, he kept Nubia well inhand

,and he sent out a successful expedition toPunt . He

performed his task at home with a strength and skill notless than were required for great conquest abroad ;and

,although a soldier, with all the qualities which that

calling implies in the early east, he could truly say“Behold

,his majesty spent the whole time . seeking the

welfare of Egypt .” He probably reigned some thirtyfive years, and was buried in his o ld Memphite tomb,erected before his coronationand still bearing his old



rapidly northward, capturing the towns of the plain ofEsdraelon (Jezreel), pushing eastward across the valleyo f the Jordan and erecting his tablet of V ictory in theHauran

,and westward to the southern slopes of Leba

non, where the neighbouring dynasts immediately cameto him and offered their allegiance. They had not seena Pharaoh at the head of his army in Asia for over fifty

'

years, —not since Amenhotep III had left Sidon (Seep . It is remotely possible that he advanced as farnorth as Sim yra and Ullaza , and that the prince ofCyprus sent in his gifts as of O ld . However that maybe, Tyre and O thu submitted in any case, and havingthus secured the coast and restored the water routebetween Syria and Egypt for future operations, Seti returned to Egypt, where a triumph awaited him as he

p assed the frontier and on his arrival at Thebes, such asthe grandees of the realm had not witnessed for two

generations (BAR , III, 83 f 85 f ; 87 f. ; 81 ; 89—94 ;98

291 . This campaign was quite sufficient to restoreSouthern Palestine to the kingdom of the Pharaoh , andprobably also most of northern Palestine . Seti

’

s operat ions inAs ia were now interrupted by a campaign againstthe Libyans west of the Nile mouths who never failedto ii ifiirove the opportunity of lax government in Egyptto push into the Delta and settle there . The next seasonwe find him in Galilee, storming the walled city ofKadesh (not to be confused with Kadesh on theO rontes) , in the Amorite kingdom, founded by Abdashirta and Aziru (p . now form ing a kind of

buffer state in the Orontes valley between Palestine onthe south and the southern Hittite frontier on the north .

Af ter harrying its territory and probably taking Ka

desh, Seti pushed northward against the Hittites, now

THE REORGANIZATION OF THE EMPIRE 299

under their king, Merasar (cuneiform Mursili), son of

Seplel (cuneiform Shubbilulium a) , who had enteredinto treaty

’

relations with Egypt toward the close Of theEighteenth Dynasty. Somewhere in the Orontes valleySeti came into contact with them and the first battlebetween the Hittites and a Pharaoh occurred . It is,not probable that he met the main army of the Hittites ;certain it is that he did not shake their power in Syria ;Kadesh on the Orontes remained in their hands, and atmost, Seti could not have accomplished more than tocheck their southern advance . The boundary whichhe had established in Asia roughly coincided inlandwith the northern limits of Palestine

,and must have in

cluded also Tyre and the Phoenician coast south of themouth of the Litany. Though much increasing theterritory of Egypt in As ia, it represented but a smallthird of what she had once conquered there . Underthese circum stances, it would have been quite naturalfor Seti to continue the war in Syria. For some reason

,

however, he did not, in so far as we know,ever appear

with his forces in Asia again ; and either at this time orlater, he negotiated a treaty of peace with the Hittiteking, Metella, who had succeeded his father, Merasar

(BAR , III, 82, 2 ; 120—152 ; 375292. Returning to Egypt, he devoted himself to theinterests of peace

,especially to restoring the temples of

the gods defaced during the Aton revolution , onlypartially repaired by Harm hab. At all the greatsanctuaries of the old gods his b uildings were now

rising on a scale unprecedented in the palmiest days ofthe Empire. In front of the pylon of Am enhotep III,forming the facade of the state temple at Karnak, Seticontinued the vast colonnaded hall planned and begunby his father, and surpassing in size even the enormous


unfinished hypostyle of Amenhotep III at Luxor. Hecompleted some of the columns of the northern aislesas well as the north wall, on the outside of which hissculptors engraved a colossal series of reliefs portrayinghis campaigns . Mounting from the base to the copingthey cover the entire wall (over two hundred feet long) .Similar works existed in‘ the Eighteenth Dynastytemples, but they have all perished, and Seti

’

s battlereliefs therefore form the most imposing work of thekind now surviving in Egypt . Like his fathers of theEighteenth Dynasty, he erected a great mortuary templeon the western ‘ plain of Thebes, and another yet moresplendid at Abydos, having a side chapel for the servicesof the old kings , especially of the .First and Second Dynasties, whose tombs still lie in the desert behind thetemple . The list of theirnameswhich he engraved uponthe walls still forms one of the mo st important sourcesfor our chronological arrangement and assignment of thePharaohs . A temple at Memphis, probably anotherat Heliopolis

,with doubtless others in the Delta of

which we know nothing, completed the series of Seti’

s

greater buildings (Note VII ; BAR , III, 200—221 225

24 3 ; 80—156 ;

293 . These works drew heavily upon his treasury,and lie personally explored the road leading to the goldmines of Gebel Zebara , finally digging a well andestablish ing a station on this road thirty- seven milesfrom the river (just above Edfu) . Then Seti established the income from the mines thus reached as a

permanent endowment for his temple at Abydos , andcalled down terrifying curses on any posterity who shouldViolate his enactments . Yet within a year after hisdeath they had ceased to be effective and had to be renewed by his son ; In a similar attempt further south



Thither he immediately hastened, probably from theDelta, and celebrated in the state temple the greatannual Feast of Opet . Having gained the priests ofAmon , he devoted himself with great zeal to piousworks in memory of his father, whose magnificentmortuary temple at Abydos had been left unfinishedby Seti . This sumptuous building having been com

pleted, he restored its endowments already violated,and generously furnished it. These and similar worksrequired him to continue his father

’s efforts to increasethe revenue from the Nubian gold countries, and hesucceeded where Seti had failed, in supplying withwater the road to the mines of the Wadi Alaki . Suchenterprises of internal exploitation were but preparatoryin the plans of Ramses . His ambition held him to

greater purposes ; and he contemplated nothing lessthan the recovery of the great As iatic empire

,conquered

by his predecessors of the Eighteenth Dynasty (BAR ,

II, 251

THE WARS OF RAMSES II

297 . WE have seen that the Nineteenth Dynasty hadinherited a very dangerous situation in Syria . WhenRamses II ascended the throne the Hittites had remained in undisputed possession of their Syrian conquests for probably more than twenty years since theonly attempt by Seti I to dislodge them . The longpeace probably concluded with Seti gave their king

,

Metella (cuneiform Muttallu) , an opportunity, ofwhich he made good use, to render their position inSyria impregnable

,by pushing southward and seizing

Kadesh,the key to the Orontes valley and the strongest

fortress in Syria .

298 . Ram ses’

s plan for the war was like that of hisgreat ancestor, Thutmose III : he first gained the coast,that he might use one of its harbours as a base

,enjoying

quick and easy communication with Egypt by water.An illegible limestone stela cut into the face of the rocksoverlooking the Nahr el - Kelb (Dog River) near Beriit,our only source for this event, shows that it took placein the “year four. ” Meantim e Metella was collectingprobably the largest force that Egypt had ever met , containing probably not less than twenty thousand men .

We find among them the old enemies of Egypt in Syriathe kings of Naharin

, Arvad , Carchemish,Kode

,

Kadesh,Nugcs, Ekereth (Ugarit) and Aleppo . Besides

303


these, Mettella’

s subject kingdoms in Asia Minor,like

Kezweden and Pedes,were drawn upon ; and not con

tent with the army thus collected,he emptied his

treasury to tempt the mercenaries of Asia lVIinor andthe Mediterranean islands : Lycian pirates

,Mysians

,

Cilicians, and Dardanians took service in the Hittiteranks.299 . Ramses on his part had not been less active insecuring mercenary support. Nubian levies

,not un

known in the Egyptian army since the remote days ofthe old Kingdom , and especially the

“Sherden

”or

Sardinians, long ago employed in the Pharaoh’ s Syrian

garrisons (p . were now a recognized contingent.Thus Ramses likewise com manded a force of not lessthan twenty thousand men all told . He divided thesetroops into four divisions

,each named after one of the

great gods : Amon, Re, Ptah and Sutekh ; and himselftook personal command of the division of Amon (BAR ,

III , 297 ; 306 i. ;300. About the end of April of his fifth year (1288

B . when the rains of Syria had ceased , Ramsesmarched out of Tharu , on his northeastern frontier, atthe head of these troops . The division of Amon, withwhom the Pharaoh was

,formed the advance, and the

othér divisions, Re, Ptah and Sutekh , followed in theorder mentioned . A month later we find him marchingdown the Orontes, northward, till he camped on a heightoverlooking the vast plain in which lay Kadesh, onlya day’ s march distant, with its battlements probablyVisible on the northern horizon, toward which the

Orontes wound its way across the plain (BKR, III, 4 91 ;BK) .301 . Day after day Ramses ’ officers had reported tohim their inability to find any trace of the enemy, and



of the city he has secured a position on Ramses ’ flank,

from which he can completely isolate the Pharaoh fromhis southern divisions, threatening the destruction of

Ramses and his army. The Egyptian forces werenow roughly divided into two groups : near Kadeshwere the two divisions of Amon and Re, while farsouthward the divisions of Ptah and Sutekh have notyet crossed at the ford of Shabtuna . The division of

Sutekh was so far away that nothing more was heardof it and it took

—

no part in the day ’s action . Ramseshalted on the northwest of the city, not far from andperhaps on the very ground occupied by the Asiaticarmy a short time before.302 . Here he camped in the early afternoon, and thedivision of Amon, coming up shortly afterward , bivouacked around his tent . The weary troops were re

laxing,feeding their horses and preparing their own

meal,when two As iatic spies were brought in by

Ramses’ scouts and taken to the royal tent . Broughtbefore Ramses after a merciless beating, they confessedthat Metella and his entire army were concealed behindthe city. Thoroughly alarmed, the young Pharaohhastily summoned his commanders and officials, chidedthem bitterly

,and commanded the vizier to bring up

the division of Ptah with all speed , supposing that Rewas almost within call . He therefore at this juncturelittle dreamed of the desperate situation into which hehad been betrayed

,nor of the catastrophe which at that

very moment was overtaking the unfortunate divisionof Re. Already Metella

’

s chariotry had issued fromthe south side of Kadesh and quickly crossing the river,struck the unsuspecting division of Re while on the

march,cut it in two and scattered the two portions far

and wide. Some fled northward toward Ramses’

THE WARS OF RAMSES II 307

camp in a wild rout , and the first intimation receivedby the Pharaoh of the appalling disaster which nowfaced him was the headlong flight of these fugitives ofthe annihilated division , among whom were two of hisown sons . As they burstoverthe barricade into theastonished camp , with theHittite chariotry in hotpursuit close upon theirheels, they inevitably swepta long with them northwardthe surprised and defenseless division of Amon . Thebulk of Ramses ’ availableforce was thus in flight

,

his southern divisions werem iles away and separatedfrom him by the whole masso f twenty - five hundred ofthe enemy ’s chariotry

,whose

wings now rapidly swelledout on either hand and en

folded the camp . The disaster was complete .

303 . Takenwith but short m a t —2KMshrift for preparation

,the O 5”

young Pharaohhesitated not THE BATTLE O F KADESH:

a moment in attempting to Showm g Ram ses H’s d“

vided forces and his envelopcut his way out and to m ent by the enem y in the

reach his southern columns . second Stage O f the batt le“

With only his household troops,his immediate followers

and the officers , who happened to be at his side, hemounted his waiting chariot and boldly charged intothe advance of the Hittite pursuit as it poured into his


camp on the west side ; but perceiving how heavily theenemy was massed before him

,immediately understood

that further onset in that direction was hopeless .Retiring into the camp again , he must have noted howthin was the eastern wing of the surrounding chariotsalong the river where there had not yet been time forthe enemy to strengthen their line . As a forlorn hopehe charged this line with an impetuousity that hurledthe As iatics in his immediate front pell - mell into theriver. Again and again Ramses renewed the charge,finally producing serious discom fiture in the enemy’

s

line at this point . Had the mass of the Hittite chariotrynow swept in upon his rear from the west and south hemust certainly have been lost . But to his great goodfortune his camp had fallen into the hands of thesetroops and, dismounting from their chariots, they hadthrown discipline to the winds as they gave themselvesup to the rich plunder. Thus engaged, they were suddenly fallen upon by a body of Ramses

’ “ recruits ”who

may possibly have marched in from the coast to join hisarmy at Kadesh . At any rate, they did not belong toeither of the southern divisions . They completely surprised the plundering Asiatics in the camp and slewthem to a man .

304 . The sudden offensive of Ramses along the riverand the unexpected onslaught of the “ recruits ” musthave considerably dampened the ardour of the Hittiteattack

,giving the Pharaoh an opportunity to recover

himself. These newly arrived recruits, togetherwith the returning fugitives from the unharmed butscattered division of Anion, so augmented his power,that even though Metella now sent in his reserves of athousand chariots, the Pharaoh, by prodigies of personalvalour

,still kept his scanty forces together, till the be



superiority to be gained by clever m aneuvres masked ,from the enemy,was clearly comprehended by the Hittiteking when he executed the first flank movement of

which we : hear in the early orient ; and the plains ofSyria, already at that remote epoch, witnessed notableexamples of that supposedly modern science

,which

was brought to such perfection by Napoleon ,— the

science of winning the victory before the battle (BAR ,

III, 298—351 ; BK) .306 . Arrived in Thebes

, Ramses enjoyed the usualtriumph in the state temple

,but the moral effect of his

return to Egypt immediately after the battle withouteven laying siege to Kadesh , was immediately evidentamong the dynasts of Syria and Palestine, who now

revolted. The rising spread s outhward to the verygates of Ramses ’ frontier forts in the northeasternDelta . We see him, therefore, obliged to begin againat the very bottom to rebuild the Egyptian empire inAsia and recover by weary campaigns even the territorywhich his father had won .

’

It was not until his eighthyear, after three years spent in recovering Palestine, thatRamses was again pushing down the valley of theOrontes, where he must have finally succeeded in dislodging the Hittites . In Naharin he conquered thecountry as far as Tunip , which he also reduced andplaced a statue of himself there . But the Hittites soonstirred the region to further revolt, and Ramses againfound them in Tunip ,

which he retook by storm . His

lists credit f ’

him with having subdued Naharin, LowerRetenu (North Syria) , Arvad , the Keftyew, and Ketne

in the Orontes valley . It is thus evident that Ramses’ ability and tenacity as a soldier had now reallyendangered the Hittite empire in Syria, althoughit is very uncertain whether he succeeded in holding

THE WARS OF RAMSES II 3 11

these northern conquests (BAR, III, 355—360 ; 364

307 . When he had been thus campaigning probablysome fifteen years, Metella, the Hittite king, either diedin battle or at the hands of a rival , and his brother,Khetasar (cuneiform Hattusil) , who succeeded him,

p roposed to the Pharaoh a permanent peace and atreaty of alliance. In Ramses’ twenty- first year (1272B . C . ) Khetasar

’

s messengers bearing the treaty reachedthe Egyptian court , now in the Delta . Having beendrafted in advance and accepted by representatives ofthe two countries, it was now in its final form, in eighteen paragraphs inscribed on a silver tablet . It thenproceeded to review the former relations between thetwo countries, passed then to a general ' definition O f the

present pact , and thus to its special stipulations . Ofthese the most important were : the renunciation byboth rulers of all projects of conquest against the other,the reaffirmation of the former treaties existing betweenthe two countries , a defensive alliance involving the assistance of each against the other’ s foes ; co - operationin the chas tisement of delinquent subjects , probably inSyria ; and the extradition of political fugitives andimmigrants . A codicil provides for the humane treatment of these last. Two transcripts of the treaty havebeen found at Thebes, engraved upon temple walls,and last summer (1906) the Hittite copy in Babyloniancuneiform on a clay tablet

,was found at Boghaz - KOi

in Asia Minor (Note X ; BAR , III, 375, l . 10 ; 37 3 ;367

308. It will be noticed that the treaty nowhere refersto the boundary recognized by both countries in Syria .

It is difficult to form any idea of the location of thisboundary. It is not safe to aflirm that Ramses had


permanently advanced t he boundary of his father’ skingdom in Asia, save probably on the coast, where hecarved two more stelae on the rocks near Berut, besidethat of his fourth year (p . Thirteen years later

(1259 B . C .) the Hittite king himself visited Egypt toconsummate the marriage of his eldest daughter as thewife of Ramses . His visit was depicted before Ramses

’

temple at Abu Simbel, with accompanying narrative inscriptions, while the Hittite princess was given a prominent position at court and a statue beside her royalhusband in Tanis . Court poets celebrated the eventand pictured the Hittite king as sending to the king of

Kode and summoning him to p m in the journey toEgypt that they might do honour to the Pharaoh . Theoccurrence made a popular impression also

,and a tale,

which was not put into writing, so far as we know, untilGreek times

,began with the marriage and told how

afterward,

.at the request of her father,an image of the

Theban Khonsu was sent to the land of the princess,that the god ’s power might drive forth the evil spiritsfrom her afflicted sister. The friendly relations betweenthe two kingdoms prospered

,and it is even probable that

Ramses received a second daughter of Khetasar inmarriage . Throughout Ramses’ long reign the treatyremained unbroken and the peace continued at leastinto the reign of his successor

,Merneptah (BAR , III,

392 ; 394—4 24 ; 4 16 f ; 4 25 f ; 4 27 f ; 4 29

309 . From the day Of the peace compact with Khetasar

, Ramses was never called upon to enter the fieldagain . Unimportant revolts in Nubia, and a Libyancampaign

,often vaguely referred to on his monuments,

did not require the Pharaoh’ s personal leadership .

310 . With the Asiatic campaigns of Ramses II themilitary aggressiveness of Egypt which had been awak


XXII

THE EMPIRE OF RAMSES II

311 . THE dominance of Egypt in As iatic affairs hadirresistibly drawn the centre of power on the Nile fromThebes to the Delta. Thebes remained the religiouscapital of the state and at the greater feasts in its templecalendar the Pharaoh was oftenpresent, but his permanent residence was in the north . His constant presencehere resulted in a development of the cities of the easternDelta such as they had never before enjoyed . Tanisbecame a great and flourishing city

,with a splendid

temple, while in the WadyTum ilat, the natural approachto Egypt from Asia

,Ramses built a “ store—city, which

he called Pithom, or House of Atum”

(Ex. I , Atthe western end of the Wady he and Seti founded a cityjust north of Heliopolis, now known as Tell cl - Yehudiyeh . Somewhere in the eastern Delta he founded aresidence city, Per- Ramses, or House of Ramses . ”

Its situation is not certain , although it has often beenthought to be identical with Tanis ; but it was close tothe eastern frontier

, and was also accessible to seafaringtraffic . It was familiar to the Hebrews as Raamses

(Ex. I,

and through this Pharaoh ’ s other great emterprises here, this region became known as

“ the land ofRamses , a name so completely identified with it thatHebrew

’

tradition read it back into the days of‘

Joseph ,before any Ramses had ever sat on the throne . In

3 14

THE EMPIRE OF RAMSES II 3 15

Mem phis'

and Abydos little has survived . At Thebeshe spent enormous resources in the completion of hisfather ’s mortuary temple , another beautiful sanctuaryfor his own mortuary service, known to all visitors atThebes as the Ram esseum ; a large court

’

and pylonin enlargement of the Luxor temple ; while, surpassingin size all buildings of the ancient or modern world , hisarchitects completed the colossal colonnaded hall ofthe Karnak temple, already begun under the firstRamses, the Pharaoh

’s grandfather. Few of the greattemples of Egypt have not some chamber, hall, colonnade or pylon which bears his name, in perpetuatingwhich the king stopped at no desecration or destructionof the ancient m onuments of the country . But in spiteof this fact, his own legitimate building was on a scalequite surpassing in size and extent anything that hisancestors had ever accomplished . The buildings whichhe erected were filled with innumerable supplementarymonuments

,especially colossal statues of himself and

obelisks . The former are the greatest monolithicstatues ever executed ; one at Tanis having beenninety feet in height, of a single block weighing ninehundred tons , while another, still lying in fragmentsin the Ram esseum , weighed about a thousand tons .As the years passed and he celebrated jubilee afterjubilee the obelisks whi ch he erected in commemoration of these festivals rapidly rose among his temples . At Tanis alone he erected no less than fourteen , all of which are now prostrate ; three at leastof his obelisks are in Rome ; and of the two whichhe erected in Luxor, one is in Paris . The generousendowment necessary for the erection of each suchtemple, must have been a serious economic problem

(BAR ,III

, 82, 2 ; 4 92—537 ; 54 3

—54 9 ; PT, I, 22—24 ;


AS,III

,29 ; Pl , p . 4 ; PKGH, p . 22; NA, pp . 2

,

9—1 1,pl .

3 12. Notwithstanding the shift of the centre of

gravity northward , the south was not neglected . InNubia Ramses became the patron deity ; no less thanseven new temples arose there, dedicated to the greatgods of Egypt, to the Pharaoh and his queen, Nefretiri .Nubia became more and more Egyptianized, and

between the first and second cataracts the old nativechiefs had practically disappeared, the administrativeofficials of the Pharaoh were in complete control, andthere was evenan Egyptian court of justice, with theViceroy as chief judge (ELAE,

313 . Ramses’ great building enterprises were notachieved without vast expense of resources, especiallythose of labour. There is probably little question ofthe correctness of the Hebrew tradition in attributingthe oppression of some tribe of their ancestors to thebuilder of Pithom and Ramses ; that they should havefled the country to escape such labour is quite in accordwith what we know of the time . Intercourse withPalestine and Syria was now more inim ate than ever .A letter of a frontier official

,dated in the reign of

Ranjses I

'l’

s successor, tells of passing a body of Edomite Beduin through a fortress in the Wady Tum ilat,that they might pasture their herds by the pools of

Pithom as the Hebrews had done in the days of Joseph .

In the rough memoranda of a commandant’s scribe ,probably of the frontier fortress of Tharu, in the

Isthmus of Suez, we find also noted the people whomhe had allowed to pass : messengers with letters for theofficers of the Palestinian garrisons, for the king of

Tyre,and for officers with the king (Merneptah) then

campaigning in Syria, besides officers bearing reports ,



phis, with its temples Of Baal and Astarte ; and theseand other Semitic gods found a place in the Egyptianpantheon . The dialects of Palestine and Vicinity

, of

which Hebrew was one, lent many a Semitic word tothe current language of the day, as well as select termswith which the learned scribes were fond of garnishingtheir writings . We find such words commonly in theNineteenth Dynasty papyri four or five centuries beforethey appear in theHebrewwritings of theOldTestament .The royal family was not exempt from such influence ;Ramses’ favourite daughter was called Bint- Anath ,

”

a Semitic name, which means“Daughter of Anath ”

(aSyrian goddess), and one of the royal steeds was namedAnath- herte,

” “Anath is Satisfied315. The effect of the vast influx of Asiatic life, already apparent under the Eighteenth Dynasty, was nowprofound, and many a foreigner of Semitic bloodfound favour and ultimately high station at the courtor in the government . A Syrian named Ben-

’Ozen waschief herald or marshal of Merneptah’

s court, but hewas never regent as sometimes stated . The commercialopportunities of the time also brought them wealth andpo’wer ; a Syrian sea- captain named Ben- Anath wasable to secure a son of Ramses II as a husband for hisdaifghter. In the army great careers were open to suchforeigners

,although the rank and file of the Pharaoh’ s

forces were replenished from western and southernpeoples rather than from Asia . In a body of five

thousand of Ramses ’ troops not a single native Egyptianwas to be found ; . over four thousand of them wereSherden and Libyans and the remainder were Nubians.

The dangerous tendencies inherent in such a system hadalready shown themselves and were soon felt by theroyal house

,although powerless to make head against

THE EMPIRE OF RAMSES II 319

them . The warlik e spirit which had made Egypt thefirst world power had endured but a few generations

,

and a naturally peaceful people were returning to theiraccustomed peaceful life ; While at the very momentwhen this reversion to their old manner o f living wastaking place

,the eastern Mediterranean and the Libyan

tribes offered the Pharaoh an excellent class of m ercen

ary soldiery which under such circumstances he couldnot fail to utilize (PA, IV,

15, 2—17 = III 8 ; Ibid . IV, 3 ,

10 f ; BAR , III, 27 4 ; MA, 11, 50 ; MC (1 Ah. , No . 1136,

p . 4 22 ; RIH, 32 ; BT , VI, 4 37 Ostracon , Louvre, Inv .,

2262 ; Dever. , Cat . , p . 202 ; Rec. , 16 , 64 ; BK,

316 . While the wars in Asia had not recovered theempire of Thutmose 111 , all Palestine and possibly someof southern Syria continued to pay tribute to the Pharaoh, while on the south the boundary of the Empirewas as before at Napata, below the fourth cataract.The wealth thus gained still served high purposes . Art

,

’

though now decadent , still lived . Nothing better wasever produced by the Egyptian sculptor than the superbstatue of the youthful Ramses, which forms the chefd ’

oeuvre of the Turin Museum ; and even colossalstatues like those of Abu Simbel are sometimes fineportraits . However much the refinement of the Eighteenth Dynasty may be wanting in the great hall atKarnak, it is nevertheless the most impressive buildingin Egypt, and at the last , as even Ruskin admits, sizedoes tell . Nor should it be forgotten that the samearchitects produced Ramses’ mortuary temple, theRam esseum , a building not inferior in refined beautyto the best works of the Eighteenth Dynasty . Again novisitor to the temple of Abu Simbel will ever forget thesolemn grandeur Of this lonely sanctuary looking out

upon the river from the sombre cliffs . But among the


host of buildings which Ramses exacted from his architects, there were unavoidably many which were devoidof all life and freshness, or like his addit ion to theLuxor temple, heavy, vulgar and of very slovenlyworkmanship . All such buildings were emblazonedwith gayly coloured reliefs, interesting as compositions,but often badly drawn , depicting the valiant deeds ofthe Pharaoh in his various wars, especially, as we havealready noticed, his desperate defence at the battle ofKadesh .

317 . This last incident was not only influential ingraphic art ; it also wrought powerfully upon the im agination of the court poets, one of whom produced aprose poem on the battle, which displays a good deal ofliterary skill, and is the nearest approach to the epic tobe found in Egyptian literature. A copy of this composition On papyrus was made by a scribe namedPentewere (Pentaur) , who was misunderstood by earlystudents of the document to be the author of the poem .

The real author is unknown , although“Pentaur ” still

commonly enjoys the distinction . In manner thisheroic poem strikes a new note ; but it came at a periodtoo late in the history of the nation to be the impulsetoward a really great epic. The martial age and thecreative spirit Were passed in Egypt (ELAE GLWBL;BAR , III,In the tale

,however

,the Nineteenth Dynasty really

showed great fertility, combined with a spontaneousnaturalism

,which quite swept away all trace of the

artificialities of the Middle Kingdom . Already in theMiddle Kingdom and probably earlier, there hadgrown up collections of artless folk- tales woven oftenabout a historical motive, and such tales, clothedin the simple language of the people, had early in



and some of them display distinct literary CharactWe shall revert to them again in discussing the religionof this age . Numerous letters from scribes andofficials of the time, exercises and practice letters composed by pupils of the scribal schools, bi lls, templerecords and accounts,— all these serve to fill in thecolour and detail in a picture of unusual fullness andinterest (ELAE; GLWBL; MCP; PTAG) .318. In religion the age was moving rapidly. The

state,always closely connected with religion, was be

coming more and more a religious institution,designed

to exalt and honour the gods through its head, thePharaoh . The state was thus being gradually distortedto fulfill one function at the expense of all the rest, andits wealth and economic resources were being slowlyengulfed, until its industrial processes should becomebut incidents in the maintenance of the gods. Thepriesthood of Amon was the strongest influence in thisd irection . The High Priest of Am on

,as head of the

sacerdotal organization embracing all the priesthoodsof the country, controlled a most influential politicalfaction . Hence it was that under Merneptah (Ram sesII

’

s son and successor) , and possibly already under

a ses himself, the High Priest of Amon was ableto go further and to install his son as his own successor,a very dangerous precedent . Thus there was graduallyarising the sacerdotal state described byDiodorus, uponwhich the Egyptian priests of Greek timeslooked backas upon a golden age. As the inward content of the

prevailing religion had already long been determinedby the dominant priesthood, so now its outward manifestations were being elaborated by them into a vastand inflexible system, and the popularity of everyPharaoh with the priesthood was determined by the

THE EMPIRE OF RAMSES II 323

degree of his acquiescence in its demands (BAR , III,6 18 ; 64 0 ; IV,

319 . Though the state religion was made up offormalities

,the Pharaohs were not without their own

ethical standards , and these were not wholly a matter ofappearances . The things for which these kings prayed,however

,were not character nor the blameless life. It

is material things which they desire. A higher type ofpersonal religion was developing among the better classof the people. A fine hymn to Am on, popular at thistime

,contains many of the old ideas prevalent in the

Aton - faith , while other religious poems show that apersonal relation is gradually growing up between theworshipper and his god, so that he sees in his god thefriend and protector of men . Man feels also the senseof sin and cries out : “Punish me not for my manysins . ” The proverbial wisdom of the time shows muchof the same spirit . Whereas it formerly inculcated onlycorrect behaviour, it now exhorts to hate evil, and toabhor what the god abhors . Prayer should be thesilent aspiration of the heart and to Thoth the wise manprays, O thou sweet Well for the thirsty in the desert !It is closed up for him who speaks, but it is open for himwho keeps silence . When he who keeps silence comes

,

lo he finds the Well . ” The poisonous power of themagical literature now everywhere disseminated by thepriests gradually stifled these aspirations of the middleclass, and these the last symptoms of ethical and morall ife in the religion of Egypt slowly disappeared (BAR ,

IV, 4 70 ; BIHC, XXVI ; PA, II, 8, 6 ; Ibid, . 6 , 5—6 ;EHEL ; PSall . , I , 8, 2 fi.)It is at this time that we gain our sole glimpse intothe religious beliefs of the common people. The poorman had no place amid the magnificence of the state


temples, nor could he offer anything worthy the attention of a god of such splendour. He could only resortto the host of minor genii or spirits of mirth and music

,

the demi- gods, who, frequenting this or that limitedregion, had local interest and inclination to assist thehumble in their daily cares and needs . Besides theseand the old kings, the foreign gods of Syria, brought inby the hosts of Asiatic slaves, appear also among thoseto whom the folk appeal ; Baal, Kedesh, Astarte,Reshep , Anath and Sutekh are not uncommon namesupon the votive tablets of the time. Animal worshipnow also begins to appear both among the people andin official circles (EHEL) .320. The young Pharaoh under whom these m o

m entous transitions were slowly taking place was tooplastic in dealing with them for us to discover themanner of man he was. His unscrupulous appropriation of the monuments of his ancestors does not prepossess us in his favour. In person he was tall andhandsome, with features of dreamy and almost effem inate beauty, in no W ise suggestive of the manly traitswhich he certainly possessed. After his nearly fifteenyears of arduous campaigning, in which he more thanredee

med the almost fatal blunder at Kadesh, he wasquite ready to enjoy the well earned peace . He was.

inordinately vain and made far more ostentatious display O f his wars on his monuments thanwas ever doneby Thutmose III. He loved ease and pleasure and

gave himself up without restraint to voluptuous enjoyments . He had an enormous harem, and the descendants of his nearly two hundred children became aRamessid class of nobles whom we still find over fourhundred years later bearing among their titles the nameRamses, not as a patronymic, but as the designation of



them prayed that he might be granted a reign of

seven years like that of his great ancestor, and all ofthem with varying success imitated his glory . He hadset his stamp upon them all for a hundred and fiftyyears, and it was impossible to be a Pharaoh W ithoutbeing a Ramses (BAR, IV,

XXIII

THE FINAL DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE : MERNEPTAHAND RAMSES III

323 . EGYPT was now on the defensive . This was theresult of conditions both within and without . Within

,

the spirit which had stirred the heroes of the Asiaticconquests had now vanished ; without all was turbulenceand unrest. The restless maritime peoples of thenorthern Mediterranean, creeping along the coasts,sought plunder or places for permanent settlement, andtogether with the Libyans on the one hand and the

p eoples of remoter As ia Minor on the other, they brokein wave on wave upon the borders of the Pharaoh’ sempire. Egypt was inevitably thrown on the defensive .

For the next sixty years after the death of Ramses IIwe shall be able to watch the struggle of the Pharaohsm erely to preserve the empire, which it had been theambition of their great ancestors rather to extend . Atthis crisis in the affairs of the nation , the enfeebledRamses was succeeded by his thirteenth son,Merneptah,now far advanced in years . Thus one old man succeeded another upon the throne. The death of Ramseswas not at once followed by any disturbance in theAs iatic dominions . The northern border in Syria wasstill as far north as the upper Orontes valley, includingat least part of the Amorite country. With the Hittitekingdom he enjoyed undisturbed peace, even sending

327


them shiploads of grain in time of famine . By the endof his second year

,however, he had reason to rue the

good will shown his father ’s ancient enemy, whom henow discovered to be involved in the incursions of themaritime peoples in the western Delta in alliance withthe Libyans . Thereupon the year three (about 1223B. C . ) found widespread revolt against Merneptah inAsia from Askalon at the very gates of Egypt

,to the

tribes of Israel and all western Syria- Palestine as far asit was controlled by the Pharaoh ; all these rose againsttheir Egyptian overlord . We have nothing but a songof triumph to tell us of the ensuing war ; but it is evidentthat Merneptah appeared in Asia with his army in histhird year. The revolting cities were severely punishedand all Palestine was again humiliated and broughtcompletely under the yoke, including some of the tribesof Israel , who had now secured a footing in Palestine,as we saw at the close of the Eighteenth and openingof the Nineteenth Dynasty (pp . 284 fi. ) They weresufficiently amalgamated to be referred to as “ Israel,

”

and they here make their first appearance in history asa people (BAR ,

III, 580, l . 24 ; 606 ; 603 ; 617 ; 629

324 . Meantime the situation in the west was seriousin the extreme ; the hordes of Tehenu- Libyans werepushing further into the Delta from their settlementsalong the northern coast of Africa west of Egypt . It ispossible that some of their advance settlers had evenreached the canal of Heliopo lis . Little is known of theLibyans at this time . Immediately upon the Egyptianborder seems to have been the territory of the Tehenu ;further west came the tribes known to the Egyptians asLebu or Rebu, the Libyans of the Greeks, by whichname also the Egyptians designated these western

peoples as a whole . On the extreme west, and extend



325. Merneptah, at las t aroused to the situation , wasfortifying Heliopolis and Memphis, when news of thedanger reached him late in March of his fifth year.In fourteen days his forces were ready to move

,and on

the morning of April fifteenth, near the Pharaoh’ s

chateau at Periere in the western Delta,battle was

joined . The contest lasted six hours when theEgyptianarchers drove the allies from the field with immenseloss . KingMeryey had fled as soon as he saw the action

going against him . He made good his escape , but allhis household furniture and his family fell into the handso f the Egyptians . The energetic pursuit resulted in agreat slaughter and many prisoners . N0 less than ninethousand of the invaders fell, of whom at least one- thirdwere among the maritime allies of the Libyans ; while

p ropably as many more were taken prisoner. Amongthe dead were six sons of the Libyan king. The bootywas enormous . The hostile camp was burned ; andwith the booty came news to the Pharaoh, that theLibyans had repudiated and dethroned their discom fited

king and chosen another in his place who was hostile tohim and would fight him . It was evident therefore thatthe aggressive party in Libya had fallen and that nofurther trouble from that quarter need be apprehendedduring the reign of Merneptah at least (BAR , III ,569

326 . The constant plundering at the hands of Libyanhordes

,which the people of the western Delta had

endured for nearly a generation was now ended .

Not only was a great national danger averted , but anintolerable situation was relieved . The people sang

The kings are overthrown , saying, Salam iNot one holds up his head am ong the nine nations of the bow.

Wasted is Tehenu,

THE DECLINE : MERNEPTAH AND RAMSES III 331

The Hittite Land is pacified,Plundered is the Canaan, with every evil,Carried off is Askalon,Seized upon is Gezer,Yenoam is m ade as a thing not existing.

Israel is desolated, her seed is not,Palestine has becom e a [defenceless] widow for Egypt.All lands are united, they are pacified ;Every one that is turbulent is bound by king Merneptah.

(BAR, 111, 616—617 ; 603 fi.)

327 . It is this concluding song, reverting also to

Merneptah’ s triumphs in Asia, which tells us nearly allthat we know of his Asiatic war. It is a kind of summary of all his victories

,and forms a fitting conclusion

of the rejoicing of the people.328 . Thus the sturdy old Pharaoh

,although bowed

down with years , had repelled from his empire the firstassault, premonitory of the coming storm . He reignedat least five years longer, apparently enjoying profoundpeace in the north . He strengthened his Asiatic frontierwith a fortress bearing his name

,and in the south he

quelled a rebellion in Nubia. Too old to gather fromthe quarries the blocks for great buildings, Merneptahbrutally destroyed the monuments of his forefathers .He made a quarry of the noble sanctuary of AmenhotepIII on the western plain, ruthlessly tore down its wallsand split up its superb statues to serve as blocks in hisown mortuary temple . We even find Merneptah ’

s

name constantly on the monuments of his father, whoin this respect had set him a notorious example (PA, VI,pl . 4 , l . 13—pl . 5, l . 5 ; BAR ,

III, 606 , note a ; II, 878 if ;

III, 602

329 . Af ter a reign of at least ten years Merneptahpassed away (1215 B . C . ) and was buried at Thebes inthe valley with his ancestors . His body has recently

332 THE EMPIRE: SECOND PERIOD

been found there . However much we may despise himfor his shameful destruction of the greatest works of hisancestors, it -must be admitted that at an advanced age

,

when such responsibility must have sat heavily, hem

‘anfully met a grave crisis in the history of his country,which might have thrown it into the hands of a foreign

330 . The laxity which had accompanied the successive rule of '

two old men gave ample opportunity forintrigue

,conspiracy and the machinations of rival

factions . The death of Merneptah was the beginningof a conflict for the throne which lasted for many years.As in the Roman Empire, we discern the influence ofprovincial power, as the Viceroy of Nubia , one Seti,

p robably thrusts aside the second of the two pretendersAm enm eses and Mem eptah

- Siptah, who now followedeach other. This Seti, the second of the name, seemsto have ruled with some success ; but his lease of powerwas brief ; the long uncurbed nobility, the hosts of

m ercenaries in the armies, the powerful priesthoods, thenumerous foreigners in positions Of rank at court,ambitious pretenders and their adherents, —all theseaggressive and conflicting influences demanded fortheig control a strong hand and unusual qualities ofstatesmanship in the ruler. These qualities Seti II didnot possess, and he fell a victim to conditions whichwould have mastered many a stronger man than he

(BAR ,III

, 64 0—64 4 ;

331 . With the disappearance of Seti II those who hadoverthrown him were unable to gain the coveted powerof which they had deprived him . Complete anarchyensued . The whole country fell into the hands of thenobles

,chiefs and rulers of towns ; famine and violence

were supreme. Profiting by the helplessness of the



o ther branch of the pre- Greek Sikeli or Sicilians . These,a ccompanied by contingents of Denyen (Danaoi), Sherden, Weshesh and Shekelesh, had begun a southwardm ovem ent, ,som e of them impelled by pressure of IndoGerm anic peoples (among them the later Phrygians) ,pushing into Asia Minor in their rear. Their own racialaffinities are unknown . Moving gradually southwardin Syria, some of these immigrants had now advancedperhaps as far as the upper waters of the Orontes andthe kingdom of Amor ; while the more venturesome oftheir ships were coasting along the Delta and stealinginto the mouths of the river on plundering expeditions .They readily fell in with the plans of Themer, theLibyan king

,to invade and plunder the rich and fer

t ile Delta. By land and water they advanced intothe western Delta where Ramses III promptly met andoverthrew them . Their ships were destroyed or captured and their army beaten back with enormous loss .O ver twelve thousand five hundred were slain uponthe field and at least a thousand captives were taken .

O f the killed a large proportion were from the rankso f the sea- rovers. To strengthen his frontier againstthe Libyans, Ramses now built a town and strongholdnamed after himself upon the western road where it leftthe Delta (MAAG ; BAR ,

IV, 4 02 ; 4 4 ; 39 52—55 ; 4 2 ;

57 f ; 73 ; 102 ; 107 ;

Meanwhile the rising tide from the north wasthreatening gradually to overwhelm the EgyptianEmpire ; we have seen its outermost waves breaking onthe shores of the Delta. It was now in full motionsouthward through Syria. Its hosts were approachingboth by land, with their families in curious, heavy, twowheeled ox- carts

,and by sea in a numerous fleet that

skirted the Syrian coast . Well armed and skilled in

THE DECLINE : MERNEPTAH AND RAMSES 111 335

warfare as the invaders were, the Syrian city- stateswere unable to withstand their onset. They overranall the Hittite country of northern Syria as far asCarchemish on the Euphrates

,past Arvad on the

Phoenician coast, and up the Orontes valley to thekingdom of Amor, which they devastated . The Syriandominions of the Hittites must have been lost and theHittite power in Syria completely broken . The fleetvisited Alasa

,or Cyprus ; and nowhere was an effec

tive resistance offered them . In Amor they establisheda central camp and apparently halted for a time (BAR ,

IV, 64 ;

335 . Ramses 111 threw himself with great energy intothe preparations for repelling the attack . He fortifiedhis Syrian frontier and rapidly gathered a fleet

,which

he distributed in the northern harbours . He then setout for Syria to lead the campaign himself. Where theland- battle took place we are unable to determine

,but

as the Northerners had advanced to Amor,it was at

most not further north than that region . We learnnothing from Ramses III’

s records concerning it beyondvague and general statements of the defeat of the enemy,although in his reliefs we see his Sherden mercenariesbreaking through the scattered lines of the enemy andplundering their ox- carts

,bearing the women and chil

dren and the belongings of the Northerners. Ram seswas also able to reach the scene of the naval battle,probably in one of the northern harbours on the coastof Phoenicia, early enough to participate in the actionfrom the neighbouring shore . He had manned his fleetwith masses of the dreaded Egyptian archers, whose firewas so eff ective that the ranks of the heavy armedNortherners were completely decimated before theycould approach within boarding distance . As the


Egyptians then advanced to board , the enemy’ s ships

were thrown into confusion and many were capsized .

Those who escaped the fleet and swam ashore werecaptured by the waiting Egyptians on the beach. ThePharaoh ’s suzerainty, at least as far north as Am or,could not now be questioned by the invaders . Theycontinued to arrive in Syria, only to become vassals ofEgypt

,paying tribute into the treasury of the Pharaoh .

The Egyptian Empire in As ia had again been saved andRamses returned to his Delta residence to enjoy a wellearned triumph (BAR , IV, 59

—82 ;

336 . He was now given but a short respite, for anothermigration of the peoples in the far west caused an overflow which again threatened the Delta in the eleventh

year of the king. TheMeshwesh, a tribe living behindthe Libyans, invaded the Libyan country and laid itwaste

,thus forcing the unfortunate Libyans, already

twice punished, into another alliance against Egypt.The lead er of the movement was Meshesher, son of

Keper , king of the Meshwesh, whose firm purpose wasto migrate and settle in the Delta. Ramses attackedthe allies under the walls of Hatsho , his frontier fortress,and put them to flight . Meshesher, the chief of the

h,was slain and his father Keper was capthousand one hundred and seventy- five of

their followers fell, while two thousand and fifty- two , of

whom over a fourth were females, were taken captive.The western tribes had thus been hurled back from theborders of the Delta for the third successive , time, andRamses had no occasion to apprehend any further aggressions from that quarter. The expansive power ofthe Libyan peoples , although by no means exhausted,now '

no longer appeared in united national action, butas they had done from prehistoric times they continued



and inconvenient clay tablet was gradually supplem ented in Syria by the handy papyrus . With the papyrus paper, the hand customarily written upon it inEgypt now made its way into Phoenicia, where beforethe tenth century B . C . it developed into an alphabetof consonants, which was quickly transmitted to theIonian Greeks and thence to Europe (BAR ,

IV, 576 ;

339 . The suppression of occasional disorders inNubia, caused

‘

no disturbance of the profound peace,

which now settled down upon the Empire. Intercourseand commercewith the outside world were now fosteredby the Pharaoh as in the great days . The temples ofAmon, Re, and Ptah had each its own fleet upon theMediterranean or the Red Sea

,transporting to the god’

s

treasury the products of Phoenicia, Syria and Punt.Other fleets of the Pharaoh brought copper and malachite from Sinai and its now familiar wealth fromPunt . Navigation was now perhaps on a larger scalethan ever before . Ramses tells of a sacred barge of

Amon at Thebes,which was two hundred and twenty

four feet long, built in his yards, of enormous timbersof cedar of Lebanon (BAR , IV,

211 ; 270 ; 328 ; 4 07

4 09 °

3 0. The Pharaoh’ s wealth now enabled him to

undertake buildings and works of public utility.

Throughout the kingdom,and especially in Thebes and

the royal residence , he planted numerous trees, offeringgrateful shade, in a land devoid of natural forests . Healso resumed building, at a standstill since the death ofRamses II . On the western plain of Thebes, at thepoint now called Medinet Habu, he began a large andsplendid temple to Amon, which , as it grew from yearto year, became a vast record of the king

’ s achievements

THE DECLINE : MERNEPTAH AND RAMSES III 339

in war which the modern visitor may read , tracing itfrom year to year as he passes from the earliest hallsin the rear to the latest courts and pylon at the front.Here he may see the hordes of the North in battle withRamses ’ Sherden mercenaries . The first naval battleon salt water, of which we know anything, is here depioted

,and in these reliefs we may study the armour

,

clothing, weapons, war- ships and equipment of thesenorthern peoples with whose advent Europe for thefirst time emerges upon the stage of the early world .

Other buildings of his have for the most part perished ;a small temple of Amon at Karnak, and a sanctuary forKhonsu,

only begun by Ramses 111,still survive. In

the residence city he laid out a magnificent quarterand garden for Am on , possessing nearly eight thousand slaves for its service . He also erected in thecity a temple of Sutekh in the tem onos of Ramses II’

s

temple. The art displayed by these buildings , in sofar as they have survived , is clearly in a decadent stage.The lines are heavy and indolent, the colonnades havenone of the old- time soaring vigour ; they visibly labourunder the burden imposed upon them, expressing thesluggish spirit of the decadent architect . The workalso is careless and slovenly in execution . The reliefswhich cover the vast surfaces of the Medinet Habutemple are with few exceptions but weak imitations ofthe fine sculptures of Seti I at Karnak, badly drawnand executed without feeling. Only here and theredo we find a flash of the old- time power (BAR , IV, 213

215 ; 4 10 ; 195—215 ; 1

—26 ; 69—82 ; 250

—265 ; 311—328 ;

225 ; 362 ;

34 1 . The imitation so evident in the art of RamsesIII

’

s reign is characteristic of the time in all respects .The inspiring figure of a young and active Pharaoh


hurrying his armies from frontier to frontier of hisempire and repeatedly hurling back the most formidablevasions Egypt had ever suff ered, awoke no responsein the conventional soul of the priestly scribe

,whose lot

it was to write the record of these things for the templewall . He possessed only the worn and long spent curreney of the Older dynasties from which he drew wholehymns, songs and lists to be furbished up and made todo service again in perpetuating the glory of a really ableand herOic ruler. Even the king himself considered ithis highest purpose to restore and reproduce the timesof Ramses II34 2. This was especially evident in his attitude toward the religious conditions inherited from the Nineteenth Dynasty . He made no effort to shake off thepriestly influences with which the crown was encumbered . The temples were fast becoming a gravepolitical and economic menace . In the face of this factRamses III continued the policy of his ancestors, andwith the most lavish liberality poured the wealth of theroyal house into the sacred coffers . The opulentsplendour with which the rituals of the great gods weredaily observed beggars description . In making the

great temple balances for weighing the off erings to Reat ffi liopolis nearly two hundred and twelve pounds ofgold and four hundred and sixty- one pounds of silverwere consumed . The reader may peruse pages of suchdescriptions in the great Papyrus Harris , of which weshall later give some account . Such magnificence,while it might frequently be due to incidental gifts ofthe king, must nevertheless be supported by an enormous income

,derived from a vast fortune in lands,

slaves and revenues . The records of Ramses III forthe first and only time in the course of Egyptian history,



long continued policy was inevitable . Of the nearlythree' quarters of a million acres of land held by thetemples

,Am on owned over five hundred and eighty

three thousand, over five times as much as his nearestcompetitor

, Re of Heliopolis . Of the fifteen per cent.of the lands of the entire country held by all the temples,Amon thus owned o ver two—thirds . In other items ofAmon’ s wealth the same proportion is observable . Hisestate and his revenues, second only to those of the king,

’

now assumed an important economi c rOle in the state,

and the political power wielded bv a community of

priests who controlled such vast wealth was from nowon a force which no Pharaoh could ignore. Othersimilar prerogatives also now came to Amon . HisHigh Priest had in the Eighteenth Dynasty becomehead of all the priesthoods of Egypt ; now his Thebantemple became the sacerdotal capital

,where the records

of the other temples were kept, and the furtive powerof Amon was thus gradually extended over all thesacred estates in the land (BAR , IV,

164 ; 14 6 189

226 ; 219 ; 218 ; 139—14 5 ; 236

—237 ; 25—34 ; 190 ; 224

4 05 ; 167 ; 165 ; 170 f ) .344 . It is a mistake to suppose, as i s commonly done ,

thatfitam ses III was solely or even , chiefly responsiblefor these conditions . They began in the enormousgifts to the temples, especially to Amon , by the conquerors of the Eighteenth Dynasty. By generations ofthis policy the vast wealth of the temples had graduallybeen accumul ated, and against the insatiable priesthoodslong accustomed to the gratification of unlimited exactions

, Ramses III was unable and indeed did notattempt to make a stand . Yet the treasury, with itsincome gradually shrinking, must have sorely felt thedraughts upon it . It was now with the greatest difli

THE DECLINE : MERNEPTAH AND RAMSES III 34 3

culty that day- labourers for the state could wring theirwages of grain from the complacent scribal overseer.Thus whi le the poor in the employ of the state werestarving at the door of an empty treasury

,the store

houses of the gods were groaning with plenty, andAmon was yearly receiving over two hundred and fivethousand bushels of grain for the offerings at his annualfeasts alone (BAR, IV, 202 ; 157 f ; 17 4 ; ELAE,

124

34 5. The only forces which Ramses III and hiscontemporaries could bring into play against thepowerful priestly coteries were the numerous foreignersamong the slaves owned by the crown . These slaveswere now largely natives of Syria, Asia Minor andLibya

,especially Syria, and as the king found them

more and more useful, they gradually gained highoffice in the state and at the court, especially as royalbutlers .” It was a situation, as Erman has remarked,precisely like that at the court of the Egyptian sultansof the lVIiddle Ages . While all was outwardly splendourand tranquillity and the whole nation was celebratingthe king who had saved the Empire, the forces of decaywhich had for generations been slowly gathering in thestate were rapidly reaching the acute stage. An insatiable and insidious priesthood commanding enormouswealth

,a fdreign army ready to serve the master who

paid most liberally , a personal following of alienslaves

,and a host of royal relatives and dependants,

these were the factors which Ramses III was constantlyforced to manipulate and employ, each against theothers in a situation of ever increasing difficulty and'

complication (BAR , IV,4 05 ; 4 19 if ) .

34 6 . The first serious trouble discernible was theinsubordination of one of the viziers . This past

,the

34 4 THE EMPIRE : SECOND PERIOD

first royal jubilee was celebrated with the usual splendour at Memphis . Something over a year after thisstately commemoration, as the old king was beginningto feel his years

,a more serious crisis developed . In

order to crown a pretender from the numerous haremchildren

,a conspiracy against the Pharaoh ’s life was

formed . Involved in it were no less than eleven haremofficials of various ranks, five royal butlers

,the com

mander of archers in Nubia, an overseer of the treasury,a general in the army named Peyes, three royal scribesin various offices, and several

,

subordinate officials .34 7 . At the critical moment theking’ s partygained fullinformation of the conspiracy, and the people involvedin the treason were all seized . The old Pharaoh

,sorely

shaken by the ordeal, and possibly suffering bodilyinjury from attempted assassination, lived to appoint aspecial court for the trial of the conspirators with themost impartial justice . Even now there was a boldattempt by the accused to influence two of the judges,who were guilty of such indiscretion that they were triedand condemned to lose nose and ears . The trials of theconspirators proceeded with regularity

,and from the

records of three different prosecutions we are able totraceyt

he conviction of thirty- two officials of all ranks,

including the unhappy young pretender himself.‘

Meantim e the thirty- second anniversary of the Pharaoh

’

s accession was. celebrated with the gorgeous twentydays’ feast customary since his twenty- second year.

But the old king survived only twenty days more andbefore the prosecution of his would - be assassins wasended he passed away (1 167 B . having ruled thirtyone years and forty days (BAR , IV, 361 ; 335 ; 4 13—4 15 ;

4 16—4 56 ;


XXIV

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE

34 8. THE death of Ramses III introduced a long lineof nine weaklings all of whom bore the great nameRamses. They were far from bearing it worthily

,and

under them the waning power of the Pharaohs declinedswiftly to its fall in a few decades . We see Ramses IV

,

the son of Ramses III, struggling feebly with the hopeless situation which he inherited about 1 167 B . C.

Immediately on his accession the new king preparedone of the most remarkable documents which has

reached us from the civilization of ancient Egypt,a

huge list of his father’ s good works . It contained anenormous inventory of Ramses Il I’

s gifts to the threechief divinities of the nation, besides a statement of hisachievements in war and of his benefactions toward thepeople of his empire. Al l this recorded on papyrusformed a huge roll one hundred and thirty feet long

,

now called Papyrus Harris, the largest document whichhas descended to us from the early orient. Accompaniedby this extraordinary statement of his benefactionstoward gods and men

,Ramses III was laid in his

tomb . In its efficacy in securing him unlimited favourwith the gods there could be no doubt ; and it containedso many prayers placed in the mouth of Ramses III onbehalf Of his son and successor, that the gods, unableto resist the appeals of the favourite to whom they

34 7

3 48 THE DECADENCE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

owed so much, would certainly grant his son a longreign . Indeed it is clear that to this motive was due theproduction of the document . In this decadent age thePharaoh was more dependent upon such means for themaintenance of his power than upon his own strongarm

,and the huge papyrus thus becomes a significant

Sign of the times . With fair promises of a long reignthe insatiable priesthoods were extorting from theimpotent Pharaoh all they demanded, while he wassatisfied with the assured favour of the gods (BAR ,

IV,

151—4 12 ;

34 9 . Naturally the only work of Ramses IV,of

which we know, is an enterprise for the benefit of the

gods, involving the dispatch of nine thousand men tosecure building stone from the quarries of Hammamat,which he himself first visited . After an inglorious reigno f six years he was succeeded in 1 161 B . C . by the fifthRamses, probably his son . The exploitation of them ines of Sinai now ceased, and the last Pharaonic namefound there is that of Ramses IV. The Empire stillmaintained by

'

Ramses III in As ia must have rapidlydeclined ; that in Nubia was still maintained . In

quick succession these feeble Ramessids now followedeach other, They all excavated tombs in the Valleyo f the Kings, but we know nothing of their deeds . Nowand again the obscurity lifts, and we catch fleeting

glimpses of a great state tottering to its fall (BAR , IV,

4 57

350 . From the close of Ramses III’

s reign to the first

years of Ramses IX, only some twenty- five or thirty

years elapsed . The high priesthood of Amon whichhad at least once descended from father to son in theNineteenth Dynasty had since become permanentlyhereditary, and now while it was passing from the hands



declining, but it continued to be the burial place of allthe royal dead . In the lonely valley behind the westernplain

,deep in the heart of the cliffs, slept the great

emperors,decked in all the magnificence which the

wealth of Asia had brought them . In the sixteenth yearof Ramses IX’

s reign the royal tombs of the plainbefore the western cliffs were found to have beenattacked by tomb robbers . Within a generation

,as

the work of plunder continued, all the bodies of Egypt’s

kings and emperors buried at Thebes were despoiled,

and of the whole line of Pharaohs from the beginningo f the Eighteenth to the end of the Twentieth Dynasty

,

only one body, that of Amenhotep ,

II,has been found

still lying in its sarcophagus ; although it had by nomeans escaped spoliation . Thus, while the tombs ofthe Egyptian emperors at Thebes were being ransackedand their bodies rifled and dishonoured , the empirewhich they conquered was crumbling to final ruin (BAR ,

IV, 4 99

352. At the accession of Ramses XII (1 118 B . C. ) weare able to discern the culmination of the tendencieswhich we have been endeavouring to trace. Before hehad been reigning five years a local noble at Tanisn‘am Nesubenebded, the Sm endes of the Greeks, hadabsor ed the entire Delta and made himself king of theNorth . There was now nothing for the impotentPharaoh to do but retire to Thebes , —ii this transfer hadnot indeed already occurred before this ,— where he stillmaintained his precarious throne . Thebes was thuscut off from the sea and the commerce of Asia andEurope by a hostile kingdom in the Delta, and itswealth and power still more rapidly declined . TheHigh Priest of Amon was now Virtually at the head of aTheban principality, which we shall see becoming

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 351

gradually more and more a distinct political unit .Together with this powerful priestly rival

,the Pharaoh

continued to hold Nubia (BAR , IV, 557 ;

353 . The swift decline of the Ramessids was quicklynoticed and understood in Syria long before the revo lution which resulted in the independence of the Delta .

The Thekel and Peleset (Philistines), whose invasionRamses 111 had for a time halted, as we have beforestated

,had continued to arrive in Syria. They had

moved gradually southward, pushing before them the

Amorites and scattered remnants of the Hittites, whowere thus forced southward into Palestine, where theywere found later by the Hebrews . By 1 115 B . C. the

Thekel were already established as an independentkingdom at Dor

, just south of the seaward end of Carmel . As we do not find them mentioned in the surviv

ing records of the Hebrews, they must have merged intothe larger mass of the Philistines, whose cities graduallyextended probably from Beth- Shean in the Jordanvalley westward and southward, through the plain of

Esdraelon or Megiddo to the southern sea- plain, cuttingOff the northern tribes of Israel from their kinsmen inthe south . Continually replenished with new arrivalsby sea, they threatened to crush Israel , as they had donethe kingdom of Amor, before the Hebrew tribal leadersshould have welded the Palestinian Semi tes into a

nation. With their extreme southern frontier at thevery gates of Egypt, these hardy and warlike wanderersfrom Crete and the far north could not have paidtribute to the Pharaoh very long after the death of

Ramses III (1167 B . In the reign of Ramses IX

(1 14 2—1 123 B. or about that tim e, a body of Egyptian envoys were detained at Byblos by the local dynastfor seventeen y ears, and, unable to return, they at last

352 THE DECADENCE O F ANCIENT EGYPT

died there . The Syrian princes, among whom Ramses111 had won his victories, were thus indifl

’erent to the

power of Egypt within twenty or twenty- five years ofhis death (BAR , IV, 558 ; 585 ; Jer. XLVII, 4 ; Amos ,IX,

354 . A few years later, under Ramses XII, thesesame conditions in Syria are vividly portrayed in thereport of an Egyptian envoy thither. In response toan oracle, Wenam on, the

‘

envoy in question,was dis

patched to Byblos, at the foot of Lebanon, to procurecedar for the sacred barge of Amon . Hrihor, the HighPriest of Amon , was able to give him only a pitiful sumin gold and silver, and therefore sent with him an imageof Amon, called

“Amon- of - the—Way ,” who was able to

bestow “ life and health,” hoping thus to impress the

prince of Byblos and compensate for the lack of liberalpayment . Nothing more eloquently portrays the decadent condition of Egypt than the humiliating stateof this unhappy envoy, dispatched without ships, withno credentials, with but a beggarly pittance to off er forthe timber desired, and only the memory of Egypt’ sformer greatness with which to impress the prince ofByblos . Stopping at Dor on the voyage out, Wenam on

wasn'

obbed of the little money he had, and was unableto secure any satisfaction from ‘ the Thekel prince of thatcity. After waiting in despair for nine days, he departed for Byblos by way of Tyre, having on the waysomehow succeeded in seizing from certain Thekelpeople a

_bag of silver as security for his loss at Dor.

He finally arrived insafety at Byblos , where Zakar- Baal,the prince of the city, would not even receive him, butordered him to leave . Such was the stateof an Egyptian envoy i n Phoenicia, within fifty or sixty years ofthe death of Ramses 111. Finally, as the despairing


354 THE DECADENCE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

of cordage,and the like, that the Phoenician ruler

ordered his men to cut the desired logs ; although hehad sent some of the heavi er timbers for the hull of thebarge in advance, as an evidence of his good faith .

Having escaped from a fleet of eleven Thekel shipswhich pursued him, the barque of the unhappy Wenam on was driven by a tempest from the homeward courseupon the coast of Cyprus, where the populace was aboutto slay him at the palace of Hatiba, the queen . Herhe fortunately intercepted as she was passing from one

palace to another. Among her following, Wenam on,

by inquiry,found a Cyprian who spoke Egyptian

,and

by skillful intercession he gained her protection . Atthis point his report breaks off

,and the conclusion is

lost ; but here again , in Cyprus, whose king, as practicallyhis vassal

,the Pharaoh had been wont to call to account

for piracy in the old days of splendour,we find the

representative of Egypt barely able to save his life onlytwo generations after a great war- fleet of Ramses 111had destroyed the powerful united navy of his northernenemies in these very waters . This unique and instructive report of Wenam on (BAR ,

IV, 557

therefore,reveals to us the complete collapse of Egyptian

pe ige abroad and shows with what appalling swiftness the dominant state in theMediterranean basin haddeclined under the weak successors of Ramses 111 .

When an Assyrian king,presumably Tiglath-

pileser I ,appeared in the West about 1 100 B . C.

, a Pharaoh, whowas probablyNesubenebded, feeling his exposed positionin the Delta

,deemed it wise to propitiate the Assyrian

with a gift . Thus Egyptian influence in Syria hadutterly vanished

,while in Palestine a fiction of tradi

tional sovereignty, totally without practical politicalsignificance, was maintained at the Pharaoh

’ s court.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 355

In resumption of that sovereignty we shall see futurekings making sporadic campaigns thither after theestablishment of the Hebrew monarchy.

356 . Meanwhile there was but one possible issue forthe conditions at Thebes . The messenger who procured the timber for the sacred barge of Amon was nolonger dispatched by the Pharaoh, but as we have seen ,by the High Priest of Amon, Hrihor. He has nowbecome head of the Pharaoh ’ s military forces, with thetitle commander in chief of the armies of the South andNorth.

” On the temples there are now two dedications :the usual one by the Pharaoh and another by the HighPriest ; while in the temple reliefs , in the place forthousands of years occupied by the Pharaoh, stands the

'

High Priest Hrihor. Like the shadowy caliph, whomthe Egyptian sultans brought from Bagdad to Cairo ,and maintained for a time there, so the unfortunateRamses XII had been brought from his Delta residencetoThebes, that the conventionalities of the old Pharaonictradition might still be continued for a brief time . Aletter written to his Nubian Viceroy in his seventeenthyear shows that he still retained some voice in Nubia ;but he is soon deprived of his authority there also, andHrihor appears as “Viceroy of Kush .

” Already at thebeginningof the Nineteenth Dynastywerecall that Amonhad gained possession of the Nubian gold- country ; theHigh Priest has now gone a step further and seized thewhole of the great province of the Upper Nile . Thesame inscription calls him also “overseer of the double

granary,”the most important fiscal officer in the state,

next the chief treasurer him self. There is now nothingleft in the way of authority and power for the HighPriest to absorb ; he is commander of all the armies,Viceroy of Kush, holds the treasury in his hands , and


executes the buildings of the gods . When the fictionof the last Ramessid’s official existence had been maintained for at least twenty- seven years the High Priest’ssupreme position seems to have been confirmed by anoracle of Khonsu . followed by the approval of Am on .

The shadowy Pharaoh vanishes, and on the royalbuildings the High Priest’s name, preceded by thePharaonic titles and enclosed in the royal cartouche atlast appears alone (BAR , IV, 592

—594 ; 602 609 ; .611 ;

595—600 ; 640 614



by special oracle of the god at any time, and by prearrangement the cultus image before which the HighPriest made known his desires invariably respondedfavourably by violent nodding of the head, or even byspeech. All wills and property conveyances of membersof the High Priest’ s family were oracles of Amon

,and

civil documents thus became divine decrees . Banishedpolitical exiles were recalled by oracle of the god

,crim

inal cases were tried before him ,

"

and by his decision theconvicted were put to death. Priestly jugglery, rulingif necessary in utter disregard of law and justice

,thus

enabled the High Priest to cloak with the divine sanctionall that he wished to effect (BAR, IV, 620 ; 623 ; 7 95 ;

358. Hrihor must have been an old man at his accession (1090 B. He did not long survive RamsesXII

,and at his death his son, Payonekh, also advanced

in years,was unable to maintain the independence of

Thebes against Nesubenebded at Tanis, who extendedhis authority over the whole country for a brief time.He is

,therefore

,called the first king of the Twenty- first

Dynasty by Manetho , who knows nothing of the inde

peirglflnce of Thebes . Payonekh

’s son, Paynozem I,

qui y succeeded him, and while he was ruling at

Thebes in more or less independence, but W ithout royaltitles, Nesubenebded was followed at Tanis by Pesibkhenno I, probably his son . Paynozem I now achieveda master- stroke of diplomacy and gained in marriage thedaughter of the Tanite, Pesibkhenno 1 . Thus on thedeath of the latter (1067 B . he obtained through hiswife the Tanite crown and the sovereignty over a unitedEgypt, which he maintained for some forty years .Three of his sons became high priests at Thebes, butnot without disturbance . These Tanite kings were not

THE SUPREMACY OF THE LIBYANS 359

great builders, although Pesibkhenno I raised a massiveenclosure wall eighty feet thick around his temple atTanis . As they show little initiative in other directions

,

the century and a half during which they maintainedthemselves was one of steady industrial and economicdecline (BAR , IV, 627 ; 631 ; 633

—6 35 ; 64 2 ; 650—6 58 ;

661 ; PT, I ,359. The Tanites as a whole did nothing for the once

great capital of the empire, and its decline was steadyand rapid . They respected the memory of their royalancestors and vied with the high priests at Thebes inprotecting the bodies of the emperors, which theyhurried from place to place to conceal them from thepersistent tomb- robbers . Finally, under PesibkhennoII, the last king of the Tanite Dynasty, they werehurriedly removed to their final hiding place, an old

and probably unused tomb of Amenhotep 1,near the

temple of Der cl- Bahri . Here the greatest kings ofEgypt slept unmolested for nearly three thousand years,until about 187 1 or 1872, when the Theban descendantsof those same tomb - robbers whose prosecution underRamses IX we can still read, discovered the place andthe plundering of the royal bodies was begun again .

In 1881 , by methods not greatly differing from thoseemployed under Ramses IX, the modern authoritiesforced the thieves to disclose the place . Thus nearlytwenty- nine centuries after they had been sealed in theirhiding place by the ancient scribes, and some threethousand five hundred years after the first interment ofthe earliest among them, the faces of Egypt

’ s kings andemperors were disclosed to the modern world (BAR , IV,

681 ; 627 if ; 664—667 ; 691 7 4 99

360 . Abroad , the Twenty- first Dynasty was as feebleas its predecessors at the close of the Twentieth had


been . They probably maintained Egyptian power inNubia, but as for Asia, there was only the court fictionof a nominal suzerainty over Palestine in continuanceof century- long tradition . During this period of

Egypt’s total ecl ipse the tribes of Israel were givenopportunity to consolidate their national organizationand under Saul and David they gradually gained theupper hand against the Philistines . Egypt’s exactrelation to these events it is as yet impossible todetermine , as we have no contemporary monuments .The seapeoples no longer appear upon the monuments,and from the west, the Delta was now the peacefulconquest of the Libyans, who accomplished by gradualimmigration what they had failed to gain by hostileinvasion . Libyan mercenaries still filled the ranks ofthe Egyptian army, and the commanders of the Meswesh in control of the fortresses and garrisons of theimportant Delta towns soon gained positions of power.A titleless Teben—Libyan named Buyuwawa settled atHeracleopolis early in the Twenty- first Dynasty, andthe family slowly rose till Sheshonk the seventh descendant of the line was a powerful mercenary princeat Heracleopolis, in control of a principality reaching

pro%bly as far as Memphis on the north and on thesouth as far as Siut . The other Libyan commandersin the Deltawere evidently enjoying similar prosperity.

Whether the Tanite line died out or its last representative was too feeble to maintain himself we cannot nowdiscern ,

but such was the power of Sheshonk at Heraoleopolis that he nowtransferred his residence to Bubastis in t he eastern Delta

,where he seized the royal

authority and proclaimed himself Pharaoh about 94 5B . C . His line was known to Manetho as the W entysecond Dynasty. Thus , in a little over two centuries



Memphis . He likewise attempted to hold the supporto f Thebes to his house by appointing his own son as

High Priest of Amon there ; but it still remained ad istinct principality, capable of offering serious Opposit ion to the ruling family in the Delta . The city itselfat least was not taxable by the Pharaoh , and was nevervisited by his fiscal officials . Under these circumstancesan outbreak among the Libyan lords of the Delta or inthe two powerful principalities of the South might beexpected as soon as there was no longer over them astrong hand like that of Sheshonk 1 (BAR, IV, 738 ;

7 4 5—7 4 7 ; 699

362 . Under the energetic Sheshonk Egypt’ s foreignpolicy took on a more aggresswe character, and herlong merely formal claims upon Palestine , were praetically pressed . Solomon was evidently an Egyptianvassal who possibly received in marriage a daughter ofthe Pharaoh and whose territory his Egyptian suzerainextended by the gift of the important

“

city of Gezer,a Canaanite stronghold unsubdued by"

the Israelites,

which the Pharaoh now captured, burned, and preesented to Solom on, who rebuilt it . The Pharaoh withwhom Solomon had to deal cannot have been one of thedegeig

rate kings at the close of the Twenty- first Dynasty, but an aggressive ruler who resumed Egypt

’scontrol in Palestine ; and we know of no other king atthis time who answers this description save Sheshonk 1 .

After the division of the kingdom of the Hebrews undSolomon ’s son , Rehoboam , Sheshonk I, who had alreadyharboured the fugitive Jeroboam , Rehoboam

’

s northernenemy, thought it a good opportunity to make hisclaims in Palestine unquestionable, and in the fifth

y ear of Rehoboam, probably about 926 B . C . he invadedPalestine . His campaign penetrated no further north

THE SUPREMACY OF THE LIBYANS 363

than the Sea of Galilee and extended eastward probablyas far as Mahanaim on the east of Jordan . Accordingto the Hebrew records, the Egyptians also enteredJerusalem and despoiled it of the wealth gathered therein Solomon’s day ; but it is clear that Sheshonk ’

s

campaign was directed impartially against the twokingdoms and did not affect Judah alone . Amongother Palestinian towns which Sheshonk records as ,taken by him is a place called “Field of Abram

,

” inwhich we find the earliest occurrence of the name of

Israel ’ s patriarchal hero . Sheshonk was able to returnwith great plunder to replenish the long depletedPharaonic coffers . He placed a record of the tributeof Palestine and of Nubia

,of which he had now gained

control, beside those of the great conquerors of theEmpire on the walls of the Karnak temple at Thebes .Thus for a time at least the glories of the Empire of theNineteenth Dynasty were restored with tribute flowinginto the treasury from a domain extending fromnorthernPalestine to the upper Nile , and from the oases to theRed Sea (BAR , IV, 750 ; 709

—722 ; 723—724 A ; 7 82

784 ; I Kings IX, 15—17 ; Ibid ., XIV,

25 ; AJ SL,XXI

,

22

363 . With his treasury thus replenished Sheshonkwas able to revive the customary building enterprisesof the Pharaohs which had been discontinued for overtwo hundred years . He beautified Bubastis, his Deltaresidence, and at Thebes undertook a vast court beforethe Karnak temple . By its south gate, now known asthe

“Bubastite Portal,” the Pharaoh had executed a

huge relief in the old style,depicting himself smiting

the Asiatics before Amon, who leads and presents to

Sheshonk one hundred and fifty- six Palestinian pris

oners, each symbolizing a town or locality captured by


Sheshonk and bearing its name . A number of Biblicalnames may here be recognized (BAR ,

IV, 709

364 . The Libyan rulers who succeeded Sheshonk Iwere completely Egyptianized, though they retainedtheir Libyan names. When O sorkon I, Sheshonk I

’ sson and heir, followed him, probably about 920 B. C.

he succeeded by right of inheritance through his wife,

the daughter of Pesibkhenno II . He inherited a prosperons kingdom and enormous wealth, but Thebes,as in the Twenty - first Dynasty, caused great friction ,and the problem was not solved by the appointment ofthe Pharaoh’ s son as High Priest there. The decliningfortunes of the Twenty- second Dynasty can only bed imly discerned in the career of the Theban principality,which, however, clearly exhibits the turbulent andrestless character of the feudal princes who now makeup the state . We see the High Priest driven fromThebes in a civil war lasting many years, and theseevents are such as filled the reigns of the last threeBubastites, who continued to hold Thebes and ruledfor a hundred years ; although their city of Bubastis has

p erished so completely that little or no record of theircareers has survived . To revolt must be added hostilities Between the two principalities of Thebes andHeracleopolis

,of which there are plain traces, and feuds

among the mercenary lords of the Delta . The situationwill have closely resembled that under the Mam lukes,

when the people,groaning under every oppression and

e specially exorbitant taxation, often successively taxedby two different lords, rose in revolt after revolt, onlyto be put down by the mercenaries with slaughter andrapine . Under such circumstances the Pharaoh’sinfluence in Palestine must have totally vanished ; but,a larmed at the growing power of Nineveh in Syria, one



futile was the policy of the Egyptian party in Israel,

which would have depended upon the support of Egyptagainst the oppression of Assyria . When the troopsof Tiglath

—pileser III devastated the West down to the

frontier of Egypt in 734 —7 32 B . C . , the kinglets of theDelta were too involved in their own complicated and

p etty wars to render the wretched Hebrews any assistance ; nordid they foresee that the day must soon comewhen the great

,power on the Tigris would cross the

desert that separated Egypt from Palestine and for abrief time absorb the ancient kingdom of the Nile.But before this inevitable catastrophe should occur,another foreign power was to possess the throne of thePharaohs (BAR , IV, 794 ; 878 ; 796 fi.; 830, No . 2 ;

WZKM, XVII ; MSPER, VI, 19 if ).

XXVI

THE ETHIOPIAN SUPREMACY AND THE TRIUMPHOF ASSYRIA .

367 . LOWER NUBIA had now been dominated by theEgyptians for over eighteen hundred years , while thecountry above the second cataract to the region of thefourth cataract had for the most part been underEgyptian control for something like a thousand years .The fertile and productive lands below the fourthcataract

,the rich gold mines in the mountains east of

Lower Nubia, which compensated in some measure forits agricultural poverty , and the active trade from the

Sudan which was constantly passing through the

country, made it a land of resources and possibilities,which the Egyptianized Nubians, slowly awakening totheir birthr ight

,were now beginning to realize.

368 . Shehonk I had still held Nubia, and it is probablethat the cataract country was still a dependency of

Egypt until the middle of the Twenty- second Dynasty,

about 850 B . C. It will be recalled that Nubia had forfive centuries been very closely connected with Thebesand the temple of Am on . The control of the ThebanHigh Priest had finally strengthened into full possessionof Nubia for two hundred and fifty years . It must havebeen the Theban priesthood, perhaps as political exiles,who founded the Am onite theocracy which now

,as a

fully developed Nubian kingdom emerges upon our

367


view,with its seat of government at Napata, just below

the fourth cataract . Napata had been an Egyptianfrontier station from the days of Amenhotep II, sevenhundred years earlier. It was, moreover, the remotestpoint in Egyptian Nubia, and hence safest from attackfrom the North (BAR , IV, 796 ; 614 f.; III,369. The state which arose here was, in accordancewith our explanation of its origin , a reproduction of theAm onite theocracy at Thebes . The state god wasAm on, and he continually intervened directly in theaffairs of government by specific oracles . The kingbore all the Pharaonic titles, calling himself Lord of theTwo Lands as if he governed all Egypt . He builttemples of Egyptian architecture, decorated withEgyptian reliefs and bearing hieroglyphic inscriptionsand dedications of the traditional Egyptian form .

370. By 721 B . C . we suddenly find the Nubian kingPiankhi, then over twenty years upon the throne, inpossession of Upper Egypt as far north as Heracleopolis,just south of the Fayum, with Nubian garrisons in themore im portant towns . At this time the Twenty- thirdDynasty, represented by O sorkon III at Bubastis, nolonger actually ruling more than the district of Bubastisand mi rrounded by rivals in every important town of theDelta, was confronted by an aggressive and powerfulopponent in Tefn‘

akhte, the dynast of Sais, in thewesternDelta . This Saite had subdued all his neighbours in the western Delta, and beginning the absorption of upper Egypt had already captured Hermopolis .Piankhi sent an army against him,

which drove himback into the Delta and began the siege of Hermopolis.Several months later Piankhi him self reached Herm opolis with reinforcements and vigorously pushed thesiege , soon forcing the surrender of the place.



the holy of holies of the sun -

god here, that he might berecognized as his son and heir to the throne of Egypt,according to custom since the remote days of the FifthDynasty. Here king O sorkon III of the Twenty - thirdDynasty at Bubastis, now but a petty dynast like therest

, visited Piankhi and recognized the Nubian ’

s

suzerainty . Having then moved his camp to a pointjust east of Athribis, Piankhi there received the submission of the principal Delta lords, fifteen in number.373 . Meantime the desperate Tefnakhte, having beendriven from his

,last fortress

,had taken refuge on one of

the remote islands in the western mouths of the Nile .Many miles of vast Delta morass and a network of

irrigation canals separated Piankhi from the fugitive.It would have been a hazardous undertaking to dispatchan army into such a region . When, therefore, Tefnakhte sent gifts and an humble message of submissionrequesting that Piankhi send to him a messenger withwhom he might go to a neighbouring temple and takethe oath of allegiance to his Nubian suzerain, Piankhiwas very glad 'to accept the proposal . This done

,a

Nubian Pharaoh had obtained complete recognition,had supplanted the Libyans and was lord of all Egypt .

When his Delta vassals had paid Piankhi a lastvisit he loaded his ships with the wealth of the North andsailed away for his southern capital amid the acclamations of the people . Arrived at Napata, Piankhi

erected in the temple of Amon a magnificent granitestela

,inscribed on all four sides

,recording in detail the

entire campaign . It is the clearest and mast rationalaccount of a military expedition which has survivedfrom ancient Egypt . It is this document of coursewhich has enabled us to follow Piankhi in his conquestof the North (BAR , IV, 796

THE ETHIOPIAN SUPREMACY 37 1

375. Tefnakhte, while he had nominally submittedtoPiankhi, only awaited thewithdrawal of theEthiopianto resume his designs . He eventually succeeded inestablishing a kingdom of Lower Egypt

,assumed the

Pharaonic titles and ruled at least eight years over afeudal state like that of the W enty

- second Dynasty.

His reign is parallel with the last years of the Twentythird Dynasty, which seems to have struggled on atBubastis as vassal princes under him . In Upper Egypt,Piankhi controlled Thebes long enough to do someslight building in the temple of Mut . In order to gaincontrol of the fortune of Amon with an appearance oflegitimacy, Piankhi had caused his sister- wife, Am enar

dis, to be adopted by Shepnupet, the daughter of

O sorkon III, who was sacerdotal princess of Thebes .The device was probably not new. But as Piankhiwithdrew, the decadent Twenty- third Dynasty put forthits last expiring effort and established an ephemeralauthority in Thebes . Piankhi

’

s invasion of Egypt andentire reign there seem therefore to have fallen withinthe reign of O sorkon III . But the rising power of Saissoon overwhelmed the failing Bubastites, and Bocchoris,son of Tefnakhte of Sais

,gained the throne of Lower

Egypt probably about 7 18 B . C . , to be later known asthe founder, and in so far as we know, the sole king ofthe Twenty- fourth Dynasty. The monuments of hisbrief reign have perished . A doubtless reliable tradition of Greek times makes him a wise lawgiver, and aremarkable Demotic papyrus dated

,in the thirty- fourth

year of the Roman Emperor Augustus, narrates theprophecies of a lamb uttered in the sixth year of Bocchoris, in which the imminent invasion of Egypt and itsconquest by the Assyrians are foretold, seemingly withthe assurance that the misfortunes of the unhappy


country should continue nine hundred years . It is.

the last example of that school of prophetic literature ofwhich Ipuwer of the Middle Kingdom (p. 168) was:the earliest representative known to us . Manethocharacteristically narrates this marvellous tale as an

important occurrence of Bocchoris’s reign (BAR,

IV,

81 1 ; 940 ; KFB)376 . Egypt had now been under the divided authority

of numerous lOcal dynasts for probably over a centuryand a half. With its vast works of irrigation slowlygoing to ruin, its roads unprotected , intercourse betweencities unsafe and the larger communities suffering fromconstant turmoil and agitation

,the productive capacity

of the country was steadily waning,while foreign com- s

merce disappeared . The hopeless state of the countrywas clearly understood by the sagacious Isaiah

,who ;

declared to his people : Behold the Lord rideth upon aswift cloud and cometh unto Egypt; and the idols ofEgypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart ofEgypt shall melt in the midst of it . And I will stir upthe Egyptians against the Egyp tians ; and they shallfight every one against his brother, and every one againsthis neighbour ; city against city and kingdom againstkinfi om . And I will give over the Egyptians into ,

the hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall ruleover them, saith the Lord , the Lord of Hosts . Theprinces of Zoan [Tanis] are utterly foolish ; the counselof the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish.

The princes of Zoan are become fools , the princesof Noph [Napata are deceived ; they have causedEgypt ‘

to go astray that are the corner stone of her

tribes . The Lord hath mingled a spirit of perverseness:in the midst of her ; they have caused Egypt to go astrayin every work thereof, as a drunken man staggering in



aware of their danger . In 7 15 B . C . Sargon ’s recordsreport the reception of gifts from Pir’u (Pharaoh) ofEgypt, who will probably have been Bocchoris (IIKings, XVII, 4 ; WUAG, 93 f”)378. Such was the threatening situation of Egyptwhen

,probably about 7 1 1 B . C .

, after an interval ofsome ten years since the retirement of Piankhi, the

Nubian kings,

again appeared in the North . Piankhi

had now been succeeded by his brother, Shabaka, withwhom the uninterrupted series of pure Ethiopian royalnames begins . ~ We

i

possess no native records of hisconquest of the country, but Manetho states that heburned Bocchoris alive . Lower Egypt was completelysubdued

,Ethiopian supremacy acknowledged and

Shabaka entrenched himself so firmly that he becamethe founder of the Twenty- fifth or Ethiopian Dynasty

,

as reported by Manetho . Appreciating the seriousdanger of Assyria’ s presence on his very borders

,

Shabaka immediately sent his agents among the SyroPalestinian states to excite them to revolt . In Philistia

,

Judah,Moab and Edom he promised the vassals of

As syria support in rebellion against their Ninevitesuzerain . Remembering the ancient supremacy of

Egypt, failing to understand the state of decadent.impotence into which she had fallen

,and anxious to

shake off the oppressive Assyrian yoke, they lent a .

ready ear to the emissaries of Shabaka . Only inJudah did the prophet- statesman , Isaiah, foresee thefutility of depending upon Egypt, and the final catastrophe which should overtake her at the hands of

Assyria. The vigilant Assyrian, however, hearing of

the projected alliance, acted so quickly that the con

spirators were glad to drop their designs and protestfidelity. In spite of difficulties in Babylon and rebel

THE ETHIOPIAN SUPREMACY 375

lions in the north, the able and aggressive Sargonpushed the consolidation of his power with brilliantsuccess and left to his son Sennacherib in 705 B. C.

the first stable and firmly compacted empire everfounded by a Semitic power XX; WUAG; BAR,

IV,

379. Sennacherib was embarrassed in his earlier

years with the usual complications in Babylon. Mardukbaliddin (Merodach—baladan), an able and activeclaimant of the Babylonian throne, who had alreadycaused Sennacherib’ s father much trouble, now sent hisemissaries to stir up defection and create a diversionin his favour in the west. As a result Luli

,the energetic

king of Tyre, Hezekiah of Judah, the dynasts of Edom,

Moab and Ammon, with the chiefs of their Beduinneighbours, in fact, all the southern half of the Assyrianconquests in the west besides Egypt were finally organized in a great alliance against Nineveh . Before theallies could act in concert, Sennacherib suddenly ap

peared in the west, marched down the Phoenician coast ,capturing all its strongholds save Tyre ; and pressed onsouthward to the revolting Philistine cities . Here ,having punished Askalon, he advanced to Altaqu,

where he came upon the motley army gathered by , thetardy Shabaka among his northern vassals, whomSennacherib calls the - Kings of

‘ Mucri”

(Egypt) .We know nothing of the strength of this force , althoughSennacherib claims that they were without number ;but it is safe to conclude that it was not a formidablearmy. A loose aggregation of levies from the domainso f the local Delta princes was little .fitted to meet thecompact and finely organized armies which the Assyriankings had gradually developed, till they had become thedread and terror of the west. Although small Egyptian


contingents had before served as auxiliaries against theAssyrians, the armies of the two empires on the Nileand the Tigris had never before faced each other.Sennacherib led his own power in person while theEgyptian army was entrusted by Shabaka to his nephew,

a son ot Piankhi, named Tabarka, who some thirteenor fourteen years afterward became king of Ethiopia, afact which led the Hebrew annalist to give him that titlealready at the time of this campaign . There was butonepossible issue for the battle ; Sennacherib disposedof Taharka

’

s army without difficulty, having meanwhilebeleaguered Jerusalem and devastated Judah far andwide . He had eff ectually stamped out the disaffectionin the west and completely discom fited the allies, butbefore he could take Jerusalem the plague- infectedwinds from the malarial shores east of the Delta hadscattered death among his troops . This overwhelm ingcatastrophe, together with disquieting news from Babylon

,forced him hastily to retire to Nineveh, thus bring

ing to Jerusalem the deliverance promised by Isaiah, anevent in which pious tradition afterward saw the destroying angel of the Lord . This deliverance was perhaps as fortunate for Egypt as for Jerusalem . For thethirdi tim e the invincible Assyrian army had stood on

the very threshold of Egypt,and still the decrepit nation

on the Nile for a little t ime was spared the inevitablehumiliation which was now so near. The SyroPalestinian princes

,however

,were so thoroughly

cowed that Egypt was thenceforth unable to seducethem to rebellion . Like the Hebrews, they at lastrecognized the truth, as mockingly stated by the officersof Sennacherib to the unhappy ambassadors of Jerusalem :

“Now behold , thou trustest upon the staff of

this bruised reed,even upon Egypt ; whereon if a man



ured began to appear as the reign of Shabataka drewto a close about 688 B . C.

382. It is at this juncture that we can trace the risingfortunes of a son of Piankhi, prince Tabarka, whosefeatures

,as preserved in contemporary sculptures

,show

unmistakable negroid characteristics . He had beenentrusted with the command of the army in the cam

paign against Sennacherib . While we know nothing ofthe circumstances which brought about his advent tothe throne, Manetho states, that l eading an army fromEthiopia he slew Sebichos, who must be Shabataka, andseized the crown . The contemporary monuments

,

without intimation of these events, abruptly picturehim in Tanis as king, summoning his mother, whom hehas not seen for m any years, fromNapata to Tanis , thatshe may assume her proper station as queen- motherthere. In view of this fact and the trouble to be anticipated from Assyria, it is not improbable that the Ethiopians at this time maintained Tanis as their Egyptianresidence (BAR, IV, 892

—896)383 . For some thirteen years Tabarka ruled hiskingdom without molestation from Asia. The west hadfor twenty years seen nothing of Sennacherib, who wasnow ag aSSinated by his sons, in 681 B. C . . As soon ashis son, Esarhaddon, could arrange the aff airs of the

great empire to which he had succeeded, he determinedto resort to the only possible remedy for the constantinterference of Egypt with the authority of Assyria inPalestine

, viz . , the conquest of the Nile country andhumiliation of the Pharaoh . With farseeing thoroughness, he laid his plans for the execution of thispurpose,and his army was knocking at the frontier fortresses ofthe eastern Delta in 67 4 B . C . But Tabarka

,who was a

man of far greater ability than his two Ethiopian pred


ecessors, must have made a supreme effort to meet thecrisis . The outcome of the battle (673 B . C . ) was unfavourable for the Assyrian if indeed, as the documentsperhaps indicate, he did not suffer positive defeat.But Esarhaddon nevertheless quietly continued hispreparations for the conquest of Egypt . Baal

,king of

Tyre, perhaps encouraged by the undecisive result ofthe first Assyrian invasion

,then rebelled

,making

common cause with Tabarka . In 670 B . C .Esarhaddonwas again in theWest at the head of his forces . Havinginvested Tyre, he defeated and scattered the Egyptianarmy. As the Ethiopian fell back upon Memphis

,

Esarhaddon pressed him closely, and besieged andcaptured the city, which fell a rich prey to the cruel andrapacious Ninevite army. Fleeing southward Taharkaabandoned Lower Egyp t, which was immediatelyorganized by Esarhaddon into dependencies of Assyria.

He records the names of twenty lords of the Delta,formerly Ethiopian vassals, who now took the oath offealty to him . Among these names, written in cuneiform

,a number may be recognized as those of the same

men with eighteen of whom Piankhi had to deal in thesame region . Necho, doubtless a descendant of Tefnakhte, occupies the most prominent place among themas prince of Sais and Memphis . The list also includesa prince of Thebes, but Esarhaddon certainly possessedno more than a merely nominal authority in UpperEgypt at this tim e. As he returned to Nineveh , northward along the coast road, he hewed in the rock s at theDog River, beside the triumphant stelae of RamsesII (p . a record of his great achievement ; while inSamal (Senj irli) , in north Syria, he erected a similarmonument representing himself of heroic stature, leadingtwo captives , of whom one is probably Baal of Tyre,


and the other, as his negroid features indicate, is theunfortunate Taharka (WUAG, 97 ff)384 . After the domination of Libyan and Nubian inEgypt was now a prey to a third foreign conqueror

,

who , however, differed essentially from the others , inthat he resided abroad, and evinced not the slightestsympathy with Egyptian institutions or customs . Theresult was that the Delta kinglets, who had swornallegiance to the Ninevite, immediately plotted withTabarka for the resumption of his rule in Lower Egypt

,

which he thereupon assumed without much delay on thewithdrawal of the As syrian army. Esarhaddon wasthus forced to begin his work over again ; but in 668 B . C. ,

while on the march to resum e operations in Egypt,he

died . With but slight .delay the campaign was continued by his son, Ashurbanipal, who placed one of hiscommanders in charge of the expedition . BetweenMemphis and the frontier of the eastern Delta , Tabarkawas again routed . He fled to Thebes, this time pursued by the Assyrians who made the forty days ’ marchthither, determined to expel him from Egypt . Whetherthe enemy actually captured Thebes at this time is somewhat doubtful . In any case, Ashurbanipal was stillunable to extend his authority to Upper Egyp t. He hadhardly restored his supremacy in the Delta when hisvassals there again began communicating with Tabarka,purposing his restoration as before . But their correspondencewith Tabarka was discovered by the Assyrianofficials in Egypt, and they were sent to Nineveh inchains . There thewily Necho , whom Esarhaddon hadmade king of Sais, was able to win the confidence ofAshurbanipal , who pardoned him, loaded him withhonours and restored him to his kingdom in Sais, whilehis son was appointed to rule Athribis . At the same



mightiest ruin surviving from the ancient world (BAR,

IV,

‘ 919—934 ; Nahum, III, 8—710 ; WUAG) .386 . As

'

the Assyrians withdrew from Thebes,

Tanutam on again entered the desolated city,where he

maintained himself for at least six years more (till 655B . By 654 B . C . he had disappeared from Thebes,whether by death or retirement, and his disappearancewas the termination of Ethiopian supremacy in Egypt

(see Note IX) . At a time when Assyria was dominatingthe East

,without a worthy r1val elsewhere to stay her

hand,it was to

(be expected that the historic people of

the Nile should confront her and dispute her progresson even terms . To this great task the Ethiopians wereappointed ; but in fact Assyria was never dealing witha first - class power in her conquest of Egypt . TheNubians were not the men to reorganize a long decadent and disorganized nation, and the unhappy Niledwellers, in

’

hopeless impotence, looked in vain for astrong ruler

,throughout the supremacy of the inglorious

Ethiopians .387 . Withdrawing to Napata, the Ethiopians nevermade another attempt to subdue the kingdom of thelower river, but gave their attention to the developmentof t ia . As the Egyptians resident in the countrydied out and were not replaced by others, the Egyptiangloss which the people had received began rapidly todisappear

,and the land relapsed into a semi- barbaric

condition . The theocratic character of the governmentbecame more and more pronounced until the king wasbut a puppet in the hands of the priests, at whose behesthe was obliged even to take his own life and make wayfor another weakling whom the priests might choose .

The nation soon‘turned its face southward . By 560

B. C . the Nubian kings were occupying their new capital ,


far above the fifth cataract, known to the Greeks asMeroe . Apart from other considerations

,the wisdom

of thus placing the difficult cataract region between thecapital and invaders from the north was shown by thediscom fiture of Cambyses’ expedition against Nubia atthe hands of its king Nastesen in 525 B . C . As thenation shifted southward it was completely withdrawnfrom contact with the northern world ; and Ethiopia,gradually lost behind a mist of legend

,became the won

derland celebrated in Greek story as the source of

civilization . TheEgyptian language and hieroglyphics,

which the kings had hitherto used for their records,now

slowly disappeared , and by the beginning of our era thenative language was finally written in a script which asyet is undeciphered . When a century or two after theRoman conquests, the Ethiopian kingdom slowly collapsed and fell to pieces, its northern districts wereabsorbed by wild hordes of the Blemmyes who pushedin from the east ; while in the south it was succeeded bythe Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, which rose at thesources of the Blue Nile in the fourth century A . D. andfinally acquired the name of its ancient Ethiopianpredecessor.


XXVII

THE RESTORATION

388. O N the death of Necho of Sais , probably at thehands of Tanutam on, Psam tik his son had fled to theAssyrians . Having thus shown his fidelity

,he was

installed over his father’ s kingdom of Sais and Memphi s by Ashurbanipal . The Delta continued under themercenary lords in control there with some interruptionssince the Twenty- first Dynasty, while in Upper Egypt,as we have seen, Tanutam on at first maintained himselfat Thebes . Outwardly there was little indication of

the brilliant day which was now dawning upon thelong afflicted nation . Psam tik

,scion of a line of men

of marked power and political sagacity, soon shook offthe restraint and supervision of the resident Assyrianofficials . He can hardly have been unaware thatAshurbanipal was ere long to be engaged in a deadlystruggle with his brother

,the king of Babylon

,involving

dangerous complications with Elam. As this war cameon (652 B . C. ) an attempt of the Arabian tribes to sendaid to Babylon demanded an Assyrian expeditionthither ; while disturbances among the peoples on thenorthern borders of the Ninevite empire and thenecessity of meeting the Cimmerians in Cilicia requiredliberal assignments of Ashurbanipal

’

s available militaryforces to these regions . It was over twelve years beforethese difficulties were all adjusted, and when in 64 0 B . C.

387

388 THE RESTORATION AND THE END

peace at last settled upon the Assyrian empire, Psam

tik’

s movement had gone‘

too far and Ashurbanipalevidently did not care to risk opposing it.389 . With Psam tik , the Greek traditions regarding

Egypt begin to be fairly trustworthy, if the folk—taleswhich the Greeks so readily credited be properly sifted .

In these, as transmitted by Herodotus, we can followthe rise of Psam tik , as he employs the Ionian andCarian mercenaries dispatched from Asia Minor byGyges, king of Lydia, who at this juncture, after courting the Assyrians to save himself from the Cimmerianhordes, is anxious to combine with Egypt in commonopposition toNinevite aggression .

1 The Assyrian annalsstate that he sent assistance to Egypt. It is not to bedoubted that Psam tik took advantage of these favouringcircumstances in the creation of which he had of coursehad a hand, and by such means gained permanentascendency over the local dynasts .390 . His progress was rapid . By 654 B . C.

, whileAshurbanipal was attacking Babylon , he had gainedThebes, where Tanutam on had by that time eitherdied or retired to Napata (See Note IX) . In order toobtain legitimate control of the fortune of Amon, nowof m urse much depleted, Psam tik decreed that hisdaughter Nitocris should be adopted by the DivineVotress at Thebes

,Shepnupet, the sister of the deceased

Taharka . The collapse of the high priesthood of

Am on was now so complete that within sixty years theonce powerful office was actually held by these sacerdotalprincesses. The High Priest of Amon was a woman !In the suppression of the mercenary lords and localdynasts by Psam tik , the nation was at last rescued fromthe unstable rule of a body of feudal lords and theirturbul ent military adherents , under whose irresponsible


THE RESTORATION AND THE END

of the warrior- class, having been kept at one station forthree years without being relieved , thereupon desertedand departed in a body southward to offer their servicesto the king of Ethiopia at Meroe. While his numbersare incredibly exaggerated, as usual, the story must contain a germ of fact as it accords with all that we knowof the conditions in Psam tik ’

s time. As a concessionto this class his bodyguard contained a thousand menfrom each of the two classes, the Herm otybies andCalasyries ; but he will have had many more of his

hardy Greeks and Carians at his hand on all occasions .392. The prosperous and powerful Egypt which was

now emerging from the long Decadence was totallydifferent from the Egypt of any earlier renascence. It

was impossible a gain to rouse the nation to arms as inthe days when the Hyksos were expelled ; it was therefore inevitably the deliberate policy of Psam tik I, whileexpending every effort to put the nation on a soundeconomic basis, at the same time to depend upon foreignsoldiery for the military power indispensable to an

oriental ruler. His necessarily constant care was totransmute the economic prosperity of the land intomilitary power. In a word, the wealth of the land mustmourim and maintain a formidable army, even thoughthe effective portion of this army might be aliens . Arevival under such conditions as these is due almostsolely to the personal initiative of the sovereign whomanipulates the available forces : those of power andthose of industry ; so employing them all in harmoniousinteraction that prosperity and effective power result .Psam tik was himself the motive and creative power,while the people were but given the Opportunity tofulfil their proper functions and to move freely in theirwonted channels . There was no longer any great

THE RESTORATION 391

relative vitality in the nation, and the return of orderedgovernment and consequent prosperity enabled themto indulge the tendency to retrospect already observablein the Twenty - third Dynasty . The nation fell backupon the past and consciously endeavoured to restoreand rehabilitate the vanished state of ‘ the old daysbefore the changes and innovations introduced by theEmpire . Seen through the mist of over a thousandyears, what was to them ancient Egypt was endowedwith the ideal perfection of the divine regim e which had

p receded it. The worship of the kings who had ruledat Memphis in those remote days was revived and theritual of their mortuary service maintained and en

d owed . Their pyramids were even extensively re

stored and repaired . The archaic titles and the longarray of dignities worn by the lords at the court and inthe government of the pyramid- builders were againbrought into requisition, and in the externals of governm ent everything possible was done to clothe it with theappearance of remote antiquity. The writing of thet ime was also given an archaic colour on formal andofficial monuments, and its antique forms must havecost the Saite scribes long and weary study. In religionevery effort was made to purify the pantheon of allm odern interlopers and to rid the ritual of every innovation . Everything foreign in religion was banished,and Set, the god of the waste and the desert, was everywhere exterminated . An inexorable exclusiveness , likethat which was soon to take possession of the new- bornJewish community, was also now universally enforced.

The ancient mortuary texts of the pyramids were revived, and although frequently not understood wereengraved upon the massive stone sarcophagi . TheBook of the Dead

,which now received its last redaction,


becoming a roll sixty feet long, shows plain traces ofthe revival of this ancient mortuary literature . In thetom b - chapels we find again the fresh and pleasingpictures from the life of the people in m arsh andmeadow

,in workshop and shipyard . They are perfect

reproductions of the relief scenes in the mastabas of theOld Kingdom, so perfect indeed that at the first glanceone is not infrequently in doubt as to the age of themonument. Indeed, a man named Aba at Thebes senthis artists to an Old Kingdom tomb near Siut to copythe reliefs thence for use in his own Theban tomb,because the owner of the anc1ent tomb was also namedAba.

393 . In this endeavour to reconstitute modern re

ligion, society and government upon ancient lines, thearchaizers must consciously or unconsciously have beenconstantly thwarted by the inevitable mutability of thesocial

,political and economic conditions of a race.

The two thousand years which had elapsed since theOld Kingdom could not be annihilated . Through thedeceptive m antle of antiquity with which they cloakedcontemporary conditions, the inexorable realities of thepresent were discernible . The solution of this difficulty

,

whew perceived, was the same as that attempted bythe Hebrews in a similar dilemm a : it was but to attribute to the modern elements also a hoary

,antiquity

,. as

the whole body of Hebrew legislation was attributed toMoses . The theoretical revival was thus rescued .

This was especially easy for the Egyptian of the Saiticrestoration ; for , long before his time it had been custom ary t o attribute to the Old Kingdom especiallySacred mortuary texts, favourite medical prescriptionsand collections of proverbial wisdom; While in somecases such attribution may have been correct in the



do not suffer by the comparison . The artist in bronzewas now supreme , hollow casts of considerable size weremade and animal forms are esp ecially fine . Superbbronze statues elaborately inlaid with rich designs ingold

,silver and electrum display surprl sm g refinements

in technique . Works in bronze are now very numerousand“most of those which fill the modern museums wereproduced in this age . Industrial art flourished asnever before and the Egyptian craftsman was rarelyrivalled . In fayence the man ’ufactories of the time wereespecially successful and prolific

,and the museum col

lections are filled with works of this period . Thearchitecture of the time has, alas, perished, and if wemay judge from the achievements of the Saitic sculptor

,

we have in this respect suffered irreparable loss ; for it isprobable that we owe the origin of the rich and beautifulcolumns of Ptolemaic temples to the Saite architect .394 . While the material products of art off ered visualevidence of marked divergence from the ancient prototype which it was supposed to follow, such incongruitiesin the organization of the government, while not lessreal , were probably not so evident . From the few survivi g monuments of the period the real character ofthe state is not clearly determinable. Geographicallythe Delta had forever become the dominant region .

The development of commerce with the northern worldand related political reasons had made this northwardshift inevitable and permanent . Psam tik and hisdescendants lived in their native Sais , which now becamea great and Splendid city, adorned with temples andpalaces . Thebes no longer possessed either political orreligious significance . The valley of the Nile was but anappendage upon the Delta . We have already referredto the survival of certain of the feudal lords . They

THE RESTORATION 395

may have retained their lands , but, judging from the

case of Mentem het of Thebes , they could not bequeaththem to their sons . With these exceptions all the landbelonged to the crown and was worked by the peasantserfs, who rendered twenty per cent . of the yield to thePharaoh . Priests and soldiers were exempt fromtaxation . The administration must have been conducted as under the Empire by local officials of the central government, who collected the taxes and possessedjudicial powers. The archaic titles which they bear

, as

far as I have been able to trace them,usually correspond

to no real functions in government . In education andtraining these

‘men are fundamentally different from

the scribal officials of the Empire,in that they are not of

necessity possessed of a knowledge of the old hieroglyphie. Since the Ethiopian Dynasty there has grownup a very cursive form of hieratic

,the ancient running

hand . This new and more rapid form,an unconscious

development, is better suited to the needs of practicalbusiness and administration, and being in common andeveryday use was therefore known to the Greeks as“ demotic ” writing, a term now usually applied to itat the present day. It represented the language thenspoken, while the hieroglyphic of the time, which continued to lead an artificial existence

,employed the ar

chaic form of the language which had prevailed centuriesbefore . That this fundamental change was but oneamongmany modifications and alterations in the governm ent, must of necessity have resulted from the changedconditions. Socially, the influence of revived industryhad divided the people into more or less sharply definedclasses or guilds, determined by their occupations ; but“ caste ” in the proper significance of the term, was as

‘

unknown as at any time in Egyptian history .


395. The priests succeeded little better than theofficials in their revival of the good old times . It is

,

indeed, to the priesthoods in general that the attemptedrestoration must be largely attributed . The religious

,

like the political , centre, had completely shifted ; Thebes ,as we have stated, no longer possessed any religioussignificance. In the Delta cities of Sais, Athribis andButo were the wealthiest temples . Quite in contrastwith conditlons m the Old Kingdom,

the priests nowconstituted a more exclusive and distinct class than everbefore, and the office had become inalienably hereditary.

Venerated by the people, it was a political necessity thattheir maintenance should be provided for by liberalrevenues. While they no longer possessed any politicalinfluence to be compared with that which they exercisedunder the Empire, yet we find the old count of Thinisdeprived of . his ancient revenues from the oases and thelocal ferry, that they may be transferred to Osiris .

The reverse was, however, the rule, as we shall see.The old gods could not be resuscitated ; among themonly Osiris still maintained himself . His consort, Isis,contrary to the ancient customs, acquired an elaboratecultus, and the wide celebrity which afterward broughther shch general favour in the classic world

'

. Im hotep,the wisem an of Zoser ’ s court twenty- five hundred yearsearlier

,now gained a place among the gods, as son of

Ptah, an innovation of which the priests were unconscious . The religion which the priests represented wasthe inevitable result

,of the tendencies observable at the

close of the Empire . It consisted as far as daily lifeand conduct were concerned

,like the Rabbinical faith

born under very similar conditions, in innumerable ex:

ternal usages,and the most painful observance of the

laws of ceremonial purity . It was an age of unhealthy



and arranged . Thus the past was supreme ; the priestwho cherished it lived in a r ealm of shadows, and forthe contemporary world he had no vital meaning.

Likewise in Babylon the same retrospective spirit wasnow the dominant characteristic of the reviving empireo f Nebuchadrezzar . The world was already growingo ld, and everywhere men were fondly dwelling on herfaraway youth (BAR , IV, 956 ; 1024 ; 967 fi. ; 989 fl.

1015 fl. )396 . Wh ile the internal aspects of the Saitic period

are so largely retrospective that it has been well calledthe Restoration, yet its foreign policy shows littleconsideration for the past . In sharp contrast with theattempted restoration and especially with the nationalexclusiveness, now more intense than ever, was thef oreign policy of Psam tik I . The reorganization of

o rdered and centralized government,and the restoration

o f the elaborate irrigation system, were quite sufficientto ensure the internal prosperity of the country alongtraditional lines . But Psam tik ’

s early life and trainingled him to do more than this . He comprehended the.great economic value of foreign traffic to the nation hewas building up ; nor did he fail to perceive that suchtrafl c might be varlously taxed and made to yield largerevenues for his own treasury . He therefore revivedthe old connections with Syria; Phoenician galleysfilled the Nile mouths, and Semitic merchants, forerunners of the Aramaeans so num erous in Persian times,thronged the Delta. If Psam tik was able to employthe Greeks in his army he found them not less usefulin the furtherance of his commercial projects . Fromthe eighth century B . C. those southern movements ofthe northem ers, of which the incursions of the “ seapeoples over five hundred years earlier (pp . 333fi. )were

THE RESTORATION 399

the premonitory symptom , had now become dailyoccurrences . The Greeks, pushing in from the farNorth

,and emerging clearly for the first time into

history,had long since gained possession of the Greek

peninsula and its adjacent archipelago, with theircentres of Mycaenean civilization , and they now ap

peared as prosperous communities and rapidly growingmaritime states, whose fleets , penetrating throughoutthe Mediterranean, offered the Phoenicians sharp andincessant competition . Their colonies and industrialsettlements

,with active manufactories, rapidly fringed

the Mediterranean and penetrated the Black Sea .

Psam tik was probably the first of the Egyptian rulerswho favoured

'

such colonies in Egypt . Ere long thecountry ,was filled with Greek merchants and theirmanufacturing settlements were permitted, especiallyin the western Delta , near the royal residence at Sais .There was a Greek and also a Carian quarter in Memphis

,and not unlikely other large cities were similarly

apportioned to accommodate foreigners, especiallyGreeks .397 . Lines of communication between the Greekstates and Egypt soon established direct, continuousand in some respects intimate relations between them .

Greek recruits for the army of course followed constantlyupon those whom Psam tik had employed in his conquest

,and these

,with the active intercourse of the

indefatigable Greek merchants,carried back to the

mother- country an ever increasing fund of folk- tales,telling of the wondrous Egyptian world, which was sonew and strange to them . The marvels of Thebeswere celebrated in the Homeric songs, now assumingtheir final form

,and Egyptian gods appeared in their

my ths .

4 00 THE RESTORATION AND THE END

398. Ultimately the Greeks became very familiarwith the externals of Egyptian civilization

,but they

never learned to read its curious writing sufficientlywell to understand its surviving records, or to learnthe truth as to its ancient history. As time passed abody of interpreters arose, who became so numerous asto form a recognized class . By these such questionersas Herodotus were often grossly imposed upon . Theimpenetrable reserve of the Egyptians , and again theirunlimited claims, profoundly impressed the imaginativeGreek. This impression could only be deepened bythe marvels with which the land was filled : the enormous buildings and temples, whose construction wasoften a mystery to him ; the mystic writing which coveredtheir walls ; the strange river, unlike any he hadseen ; the remarkable religion, whose mysterious ritualseemed to him the cloak for the most profound truths ;the unquestionably vast antiquity of countless impressive monuments all about him ; all this, where an unprejudiced , objective study of the people and theirhistory was impossible, inevitably blinded even theGreek of the highest intelligence and culture, who nowvisited the country . Thus the real character of theEgypfian and his civilization was never correctly understood by the Greeks, and their writings regarding theNile country, even though often ridiculing its strangecustoms

,have transmitted to us a false impression as to

the value especially of its intellectual achievements .The Greek

,with his

.insatiable. .thirst for the truth, and

his constant attitude of healthy inquiry, was vastly

superior, I need hardly say, to the Egyptian, whosereputed wisdom he so venerated . Under these circumstances it was only the later political history of thecountry

,the course of which came under their own



Egypt in every detail, including the characteristicthrusting forward of the left foot . Of the Saitic portraitsculptor, the Greeks might have learned much , even fardown toward the days of their highest artistic achievements . Evidence of intellectual influence is moreelusive, but there is a grain of truth in the Greek tradition that they received their philosophy from Egypt.The philosophizing theology of the Egyptian priestscontained suggestive germs, which may easily havefound their way into the early Ionian systems. Thenotion of the primeval intelligence and the creativeword ,

” already conceived as far back as theEighteenthDynasty (p . could hardly fail to influence theeducated Greeks who very early visited Egypt

,long

before such a conception had arisen in Greece. Theinsistent belief of the Egyptian in the life hereafter andhis elaborate mortuary usages

,unquestionably exerted

a strong influence upon Greek and Roman alike ; andthe wide dissemination of Egyptian religion in theclassic world, demonstrates the deep impression whichit now made . To this day its symbols are turned upby the spade throughout the Mediterranean basin .

It was under Psam tik I that these influences fromEgypt begin to be traceable in the states, which werethen laying the foundations of later European civilization ; and it is significant as an indication of the greatrestorer’ s personal prestige in the Greek world that thepowerful Periander of Corinth named his nephew andsuccessor Psam rnetichos.

4 00 . By 64 0 B . C . Psam tik felt himself strong enoughto resume the old projects of conquest in Asia, to reviveEgypt’ s traditional claims upon Syria- Palestine, and todispute their possession with As syria. He invadedPhilisti

'

a and for many years besieged Ashdod ; but his

THE RESTORATION 4 03

ambitions there were rudely dashed by the influx ofScythian peoples from the far north, who overranAs syria and penetrated southward to the frontier ofEgypt . According to Herodotus they were boughtoff by Psam tik , who by liberal gifts succeeded thus inransoming his kingdom . It was more probably his ownstrong arm that delivered his land . He had alreadysaved it from centuries of weakness and decay, and whenhe died after a reign of fifty

- four years , he left Egyptenjoying such peaceable prosperity as had not been herssince the death of Ramses III, five hundred yearsbefore.

XXVIII

THE FINAL STRUGGLES : BABYLON AND PERSIA

4 01 . WHEN Necho succeeded his father Psam tik Ion the throne of Egypt in 609 B . C .

,there seemed to be

nothing to prevent his re- establishment of the EgyptianEmpire in Asia. As Psam tik ’

s kingdom had prospered, that of the once powerful Ninevites had rapidlydeclined . From the fearful visitation of the Scythianhordes in the reign of Psam tik I, it never recovered , andwhen Babylon‘ made common cause with Cyaxares,king of the rising Median states, Nineveh was unableto withstand their u nited assaults . Its inevitable fallwas anticipated by the western peoples , and beingclearly foreseen by the Hebrew Nahum, he exultinglypredicted its destruction . At the accession of Nechoit was in such a state of collapse that he immediatelybeganl the realization of his father’ s imperial designs inAsia . He built a war- fleet both in the Mediterraneanand the Red Sea, and in his first year invaded Philistia .

Gaza and Askalon, which offered resistance, were takenand punished

,and with a great army Necho then

pushed northward . In Judah, now freed from the

As syrians,the prophetic party was in the ascendancy.

As they had been delivered from Sennacherib nearlya century before

, so they fondly believed they mightnow face Egypt with the same assurance of deliverance .On the historic plain of Megiddo, where Egypt had

4 04



of Nabupalucur, the king of Babylon , and of the Medesunder Cyaxares, had accomplished the overthrow of

Nineveh. The city was destroyed and the nationutterly annihilated as a political force. The two con

querors divided the t erritory made available by theirconquest

,the Mede taking the north and northeast and

the Babylonian the south and southwest . Thus Syriafell by inheritance to Nabupalucur. He was now oldand unable to undertake its recovery ; but he quicklydispatched his son, Nebuchadrezzar, to oppose Necho .

Hearing of his coming, NechoWas wise enough to collecthis forces and hasten to meet him at the northernfrontier on the Euphrates in 605 B . C . At Carchemishthe motley army of the Pharaoh was completely routedby the Babylonians . The victory was so decisive thatNecho did not attempt to make another stand or tosave Palestine, but retreated in haste to the Deltafollowed by Nebuchadrezzar. The ignominious retreatof Necho’s proud army, as it hurried through Palestine,created a profound impression among the Hebrews ofJudah

, (and Jeremiah, who was interpreting to his people

in Jerusalem the movements of the nations, hurledafter the discom fited Egyptians his burden of sarcasmand derision . Had not the young Kaldean prince nowbeen summoned to Babylon by the death of his father,the conquest of Egypt, or at least its further humiliation,must inevitably have followed . Unwilling to prolonghis absence from the capital under these circumstances,Nebuchadrezzar came to an understanding with Necho,and returned home to assume the crown of Babylon .

Thus Syria- Palestine became Babylonian dominion

(Jer. , XLVI, 14 03 . Necho ’s agreement with Babylon involved therelinquishment of his ambitious designs in Asia. He

THE FINAL STRUGGLES 407

held to the compact, and made no further attempt tomaintain Egyptian sovereignty there, as the Hebrewannals ‘

record :“And the king of Egypt came not again

any more out of his land : for the king of Babylon hadtaken from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates

,

all that pertained to the king of Egypt ” (II Kings, xxiv,He even made no effort to intervene when Nebu

chadrezzar besieged and captured Jerusalem anddeported the chief families of Judah in 596 B . C . ThePharaoh’ s energies were now employed in the furtherance of his father’s commercial enterprises . He at

tempted to re- excavate the ancient canal from the Delta ,connecting the eastern arm of the Nile with the RedSea, but did not succeed . Necho ’s interest in maritimeprogress is further evidenced by his famous exploringexpedition . He dispatched a crew of Phoenicianmariners with instructions to sail around Africa, or asHerodotus calls it, Libya. As the Egyptians had fromthe earliest time supposed their land to be surroundedby sea, the O keanos of the Greeks, with which the Nilehad connection in the south, the feat of the Phoenicians,which they actually accomplished in three years, excitedno surprise.4 04 . Psam tik II, who followed his father Necho about

593 B . C. , either regarded Egypt’s prospects in Asia as

hopeless or continued the compact of his father withBabylon . Unable to accomplish anything in the North, _he turned his attention southward and attempted therecovery of Nubia, lost to Egypt since the foundationof the Ethiopian kingdom . He invaded lower Nubia,and an advanced body of his troops pushed up almostto the second cataract, where they left a record of theirvisit at Abu Simbel , in a Greek inscription on one of thecolossi of Ramses II, before his great temple . there.


Although,as we have before remarked

,this 1nvas1on

doubtless furnished the Ethiopians a further reason fortransferring their capital above the cataracts to Mem e

,

yet the results of the expedition were probably notlasting, and Lower Nubia never became an integralpart of the Saite kingdom (Note XII ; BAR ,

IV, 988 A

988 J) .4 05. Meanwhile the Saites were still ca sting longingeyes upon the ancient dominions of Egypt in Asia, andwhen Apries (the Ha

’

abre’

of the Egyptians , orHophra’

of the Hebrews) succeeded his father Psam tik II earlyin 588 B . C . , he immediately resumed the old designs ofhis house to recover them . Al ready under Necho, in597 B . C.

, as we have seen , Nebuchadrezzar had beenobliged to advance on Jerusalem in consequence of therebellion of Jehoiachin , an event in which Necho mayhave secretly had a hand . The next year the unhappycity capitulated

,and some nine or ten thousand of the

better class were deported to Babylonia, leaving onlythe poorest sort of the people of the land .

” Jehoiachin ’

s

uncle,Zedek iahywas appointed by Nebuchadrezzar as

king over the afflicted land . When he had been rulingnine years we find him in revolt against Babylon . Thereasofis for this foolish policy are quite evident . Thedate of hi s rebellion coincides with the accession of

Apries. Tyre and Sidon, Moab and Ammon had alsosent their emissaries to the Judean king,and when theweighty influence of Apries also fell into the scales thevacillating Zedekiah was no longer able to withstand,and he half- hearted]y joined the rest in casting off thesovereignty of Babylon . The events formerly followingsimilar revolts from Assyrian authority were now re

enacted under the Babylonians ; the allies were unableto act quickly in concert . Indeed Apries made it im


4 10 THE RESTORATION”

AND THE END

Apries relinquished his cla ims In Palestine without ablow. Thus the predictions of J eremiah, who hadconstantly proclaimed the folly of depending upon assistance from Egypt, were brilliantly confirmed . In thesummer of 586 B . C . Jerusalem fell it was razed to theground and the inglorious Zedekiah, having been takento Nebuchadrezzar ’

s camp at Ribl'

eh, was blinded, after

witnessm g the slaughter of his sons . The Judeannation was annihilated, but no decisive blow had beenstruck which might cripple the power of Egypt, theinstigator of the trouble . It was not for many years thatNebuchadrezzar was able to attempt anything in thisdirection ; his first obligation being the punishment ofTyre, which maintained itself for thirteen years , finallyyielding in 57 3 B . C .

4 07 . In spite of ill success in Asia,Apries enjoyed

unbounded,

prosperity in the internal administrationof his realm , and the kingdom flourished as only underhis great grandfather, its founder. From the west alsohe

,received the revenues of the Oasis region and in

the Northern Oasis his official Wahibrenofer built atemple . But in the full enjoyment of his wealth andsplendour a trag1e end was awaiting him from an unexpeated quarter . He found great difficulty in bridlinghis troops, of whatever nationality. On one occasionthe Libyans, Greeks and Syrians attempted to desertand migrate to Nubia, as in the days Of Psam tik I abody of the warrior- class had done . How many wereinvolved in this revolt under Apries it is impossible toestablish

,but theywere sufficiently numerous to render

the king very apprehensive, and the record of the eventdistinctly states that “his majesty feared .

”Another

misunderstandingw ith the native warrior- class did notend so happily. The new Greek settlement at Cyrene

THE FINAL STRUGGLES 4 1 1

was growing into a flourishing state and encroaching upon the Libyans who lay between Cyrene andEgypt. Apries deemed it wise to check the development of the Greek colony and sent to the aid of theLibyans a body of Egyptian troops naturally not including among them any of his Greek mercenaries .Despising their adversaries, the Egyptians advancedin careless confidence, but were totally defeated andalmost annihilated by the Cyrenian Greeks . Smartingunder their discom fiture they were so filled with resentment toward Apries that they concluded he had dispatched them against Cyrene with the purpose of riddinghimself of them . A revolt of the warrior—class followed ,which swelled to dangerous proportions . Apries thereupon commissioned one of his nobles, Ahm ose, or

Am asis, as Herodotus calls him, a relative of the royalhouse

,to conciliate the revolters . So skilfully did

Am asis manipulate the situation that the disaff ectedsoldiery soon ‘proclaimed him king, and a messengerof Apries, sent to recall the traitor, was dismissed withinsult and contumely . Herodotus narrates that abattle now ensued in which the Greek mercenaries ofApries, heavily outnumbered by the native troops ofAm asis, were beaten and Apries taken prisoner. It ispossible that he is here confusing the situation with thelater battle which, as we know from a contemporarydocument , occurred between the forces of the tworivals . However this may be, Am asis, while treatingApries with kindness and not yet dethroning him, laida vigourous hand upon the sceptre . A coregency en

sued in which Apries doubtless played but a feeble part ;and a monument or two showing the two rulers togetherhas survived . Alongside the cartouche, which he nowassumed

, Am asis continued to bear the old titles be


longing to his former less exalted offices . In the thirdyear of the coregency, however, a struggle between thetwo regents arose . Apries, as Herodotus knew,

gainedthe adherence of the Greeks, and with an army of thesemercenaries, supported by a fleet

,advanced upon Sais

from the North . Some time after the resulting battle ,which went against Apries, he was slain by his pursuers .Am asis gave

”

him honourable burial,befitting a king

,

among his ancestors in Sais,

.and established for himmortuary offerings endowed with a liberal revenue

(BAR , IV, 989 ; 999 f. ; 996 f ; KSI

GW ,1900, p.

4 08 . It might have been supposed that Am asis, whoowed his crown to an ebullition of national feeling

,as

opposed to the partiality shown the Greeks, would nowhave evinced his appreciation of this indebtedness in amarked reaction against foreign influence ; but for thishe was too s agacious a statesman . While s eeming tocurtail the privileges of the Greeks

,he really gave to

them all they wanted . The Greek merchants, who hadhitherto enjoyed unlimited latitude in their selection of afield for their merchandizing, were now not allowed toland anywhere in the Delta

,save at : a city appointed

for them by Am asis. On the Canopic mouth of the

Nile fn the western Delta,at a place where there was

probably an older settlement of but slight importance,Am asis founded the new city of Naucratis as a homeand market for the Greeks, which they speedily madethe most important commercial centre of Egypt, if notof the whole Mediterranean . It was 111 all essentials aGreek city

,and the wares which were manufactured

within its walls were, with but slight exceptions, in nosense Egyptian . The busy life which throbbed in itsthronging markets and factories

,the constitution of the

city and its daily administration were just such as pre



Memphis, and a vast monolith ic chapel from the

quarries of the first cataract, which he set up in Sai s,excited the admiration of Herodotus . The peopleenjoyed the greatest prosperity and Herodotus aversthat the land contained at that time twenty thousandc ities . He again revised the system of laws

, one of

which, demanding that every inhabitant“ should an

nually declare to the governor of his district by whatmeans he maintained himself

,

” was adopted by Solonon his Vl sit to Egypt, and enforced at Athens . Buteventually his evident liking for the Greeks could not

escape the notlce of the Egyptian party . He had twofrontier forts in the northeastern Delta, and fromDaphnae, one of these two

,he was obliged to transfer

the Greek garrison stationed there to Memphis, and thusensure the safety of the latter strong and populous city

,

so near his residence at Sais . Hewas finally compelled tothrow off the mask, and for the support of his mercenaryarmy and fleet to draw upon the fortunes and revenuesof the temples . It was no longer compatible withmodern statesmanship that the priesthoods should bepermitted to absorb so large a proportion of the resourcesof the land . A navy such as Egypt now possessed, andthe h rge body of mercenaries in his army, drew heavilyupon the treasury of Am asis ; and his curtailment ofthe temple incomes was inevitable . It was the beginning of still more serious inroads upon the templeestates in the Persian period

,resulting under the

Ptolemies in great reduction of the priestly revenuesand the taxation of the temple- property. Politicallyimpotent, the priesthoods could only swallow theird iscontent, which, however, gradually permeated allthe upper classes But Am asis, with a cleverness whichbecame proverbial

,was always able so to manipulate

THE FINAL STRUGGLES 4 15

the forces at his command that the Egyptian partyfound itself helpless and obliged to accede to hiswishes (BAR , IV,

1014 ; Rev. egypt . , I, 59fi. ; III,4 10 . The good understanding which Am asis con

stantly maintained with the Greeks made him secureupon the Mediterranean . In the west he controlledthe oases and erected a temple in the Northern Oasis ;but he was not so fortunate in his relations with theeast . His usurpation of the crown had furnishedNebuchadrezzar with the coveted Opportunity of

humiliating Egypt, which the Kaldean naturally supposed would have been weakened by the internaldissensions incident to such a revolution . Al readybefore the death of Apries in 568 B . C. , the army of theKaldeans appeared on the Delta frontier

,but the

course of the subsequent operations is unknown . It isnot probable that Nebuchadrezzar purposed the conquest of Egypt, which was now in a condition verydifferent from the state of impotent anarchy in whichthe Assyrians had found it under the Ethiopians . Inany case

,he did not achieve the conquest of the country ;

and Jeremiah and Ezekiel , who were awaiting withfeverish longing the complete overthrow of the hatedPharaoh’ s kingdom

,must have been sorely disappointed

that the catastrophe which they had confidently predicted to their countrymen failed to occur . As a resultof the campaign , however, Am asis was obliged to re

nounce any ambitions which he may have cherished forthe conquest of Syria- Palestine . His strong navy,nevertheless

,enabled him completely to subdue Cyprus ,

which he organized as an Egyptian dependency, payingtribute to him . His naval strength, which now becameformidable

,was the foundation of the sea- power, which

under the Ptolemies, made Egypt the dominant state


on the Mediterranean (KSGW,1900, p. 226 ; Jer. ,

xliii . , 8—13 ; Ezek.,xl , 10

4 1 1 . Meanwhile Nebuchadrezzar had died (562 B .

and the disappearance of his powerful personality distinctly diminished the prestige of the BabylonianEmpire. As internal dissensions arose, the alliancewith the Medes was no longer possible, and whenfinally Cyrus of Anshan , a Persian, succeeded in supplanting the Median dynasty by the overthrow of theMedian king, Astyages (550 B . the position of

Babylon was critical in the extreme. The extraordi

nary career of Cyrus was now a spectacle upon whichall eyes in the west were fastenedwithwonder and alarm .

Am asis was fully alive to the new danger whi ch threatened his kingdom in common with all the other powersof the West. He therefore in 54 7 B . C . made commoncause with them

,forming a league with Croesus of

Lydia, and the Spartans in the west ; and in the eastwith Nabuna ’

id of Babylon. Before the allies couldmove together, Croesus

P

was defeated and dethroned

(546—54 5 B . C. ) and the overflowing energies of thenew conqueror and his people, fresh and unspent forcenturies among their native hills, were then directedupon Babylon, which fell in 539 B. C . Am asis was

powerless to check their progress, while the vastPersian Empire was being raised upon the ruins of thevalley of the two rivers and the kingdoms - of Asia Minor.It was inevitable that the newworld power should nowlook toward Egypt, and the last years of Am asis musthave been darkened with anxious forebodings as hecontemplated the undisputed supremacy of Cyrus .But he was spared the fate of Croesus for, when he died,late in 526 or early in 525 B . C. , the impending catastrophe had not yet overtaken his kingdom .


4 18 THE RESTORATIONAND THE END

and vital force of the nation itself had long ago ended .

The fall of Egypt and the close of her characteristichistory, were already an irrevocable fact long beforethe relentless Cambyses knocked at the doors of Pelusium. The Saitic state was. a creation of rulers wholooked into the futiIre, who belonged to it, and hadlittle or no connection with the past. They were asessentially non- Egyptian as the Ptolemies who followedthe Persians. The Persian conquest in 525 B. C. ,

which deprived Psam tik III, the son of Am asis of histhrone and kingdom, was but a change of rulers, apurely external fact. And if a feeble burst of nationalfeeling enabled this or that Egyptian to thrust off thePersian yoke for a brief period, the movement may belikened to the convulsive contractions whi ch sometimeslend momentary motion to limbs from which consciouslif e has long departed . With the fall of Psam tik III,Egypt belonged to a new world, toward the developmentof which she had contributed much, but in which shecould no longer play an active part. Her great workwas done, and unable, like Nineveh and Babylon , todisappear from the scene, she lived on her artificial lifefor a time under the Persians and the Ptolemies, eversinking, till she became merely the g ranary of Rome,to be visited as a land of ancient marvels by wealthyGreeks andRomans, who have left their names scratchedhere and there upon her hoary monuments, just as themodern tourists, admir ing the same marvels, still continne to do . But her unwarlike people, still makingEgypt a garden of the world

,have verified the words

of the Hebrew seer, There shall be no more a princeout of the land of Egypt ” (Ezek. , XXX ,

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY

(N. B.- Al l dates with asterisks are astronom ically fixed.)

Predynastic kingdom s already flourishing 4 500 B . 0 .

Introduction of calendar and earl iest fixed date inhistory “

*4 24 1

Kingdom s of Upper and Lower Egypt probably flour

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Accession ofMemes and beginning of dynasties

FIRST AND SECOND DYNASTIEs— 34OO—2980 B . c

Eighteen Kings, 4 20 years, ruling at Thinis. Tom bs in Abydosand vicinity. Wars with Libyans, with Beduin of East, withDelta. Mining In Sinai . Stone m asonry and arch introduced.

OLD KINGDOM - 2980—24 75 B . C .

THIRD DYNASTY— 2980—2900 B . C.

Zoser to Snefru, 80 years, ruling at Mem phis. Zoser builds terraced pyram id of Sakkara , the oldest existing large stone

building ; continues m ining in Sinai , wise m an Im hotep .

Snefru builds first real pyram ids : one at Medum , another at

Dahshur; sends fleet to Lebanon (earliest known sea- voyage

and expedition into Syria in history) ; continues m ining inSinai.

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NO TES ON RECENT DISCO VERIES

NOTE I.—Since m y attem pt to reconstruct the Eleventh Dy

nasty (Abhandlungen'

der Berl. Akad. , 1904 , pp. 156—161 ; and

AJ SL, XXI, 163 fi. later and better BAR, I , 4 15 im portant new docum ents have turned up , which show that m y recon

s truction was in several places prem ature and based on too littleevidence. According to a new stela now in Cairo (seeMaspero ,

Rev. critique, Nov. , 1905 ; Sethe, AZ , 4 2, 132 an im portant official nam ed Henu served under the following kings insuccession :1 . Horus Wahenekh- Intef m any years

2. Long lacuna .

3 . His predecessor’

s son Horus Senekh son of Re,Mentuhotep .

A second stela in the British Museum (Naville Hall, TheXIth Dynasty Tem ple at Deir el - Bahari , part I, 1907 , p .

g ives the sam e succession com pletely as follows

1 . Horus Wahenekh- Intef .

2. Horus Nakhtneb- Tepnefer- Intef .

3 . Horus Senekhibtowe-Mentuhotep .

This gives us a newMentuhotep . Furtherm ore, the continuation of the excavations behind Nibhepetre-Mentuhotep

’

s tem pleat Der el- Bahri, shows that 'Nibhotep -Mentuhotep (of Lepsius)was a m isreading of Nibhapetre—Mentuhotep , another newMen

tuhotep (replacingNibhotep ) , whose tom b lies behindNibhepetreMentuhotep

’

s tem ple, showing that he was a predecessor of

Nibhepetre . The Turin Papyrus and the developm ent of thetitularies of these five Mentuhoteps give us their probable order

as below. They were preceded by the two Intefs, l and 2 above .

‘

Thus we have seven kings who m ay possibly have been precededby a Mentuhotep , and one or two Intefs who follow the

nom arch in the erratic Karnak list. Sethe has, however, nowshown (AZ, 4 2, 132 i .) that the Turin Papyrus conta ined butkings in this dynasty. I have drawn som e of this m atter from a

full reexam ination of the m aterials by Eduard Meyer (Abh. der

Berl. The dynasty thus reconstructed is asfollows

4 40 NOTES ON RECENT DISCOVERIESELEVENTH DYNASTY, 2160—2000 B . C.

(Preceded by Nom arch Intef and possibly a Mentuhotep andanother Intef . )

1 . Horus Wahenekh- Intef , 50 X years.

2 . Horus Nakhtneb- Tepnefer—Intef , X ears.

3 . Horus Senekhibtowe—Mentuhotep , years.

4 . Nibhapetre-Mentuhotep , X years .

5. Nibtowere—Mentuhotep , 2 X years.

6 . Nibhepetre-Mentuhotep , 4 6 X years.

7 . Senekhkere-Mentuhotep , 8 X years.

Known length, 160 years.

NOTE II.— Thetwo huge colossi on the Island of Argo, above

the third cataract, do not belong to a Sebekhotep , as all the

histories state, so far as I know (including m y own,p . 212 and

Fig. These colossi are late - Nubian, dating centuries afterthe separation of Nubia and Egypt. The only statue of Sebekhotep on the island is a sm all life- size sitting figure of thegranite, which I had the privilege of inspecting this yearIt weighs far less than the Soleb l ions of Am enhotep III (now inthe British Museum ) , which were transported by a late Nubianking from Soleb to Napata at the foot of the fourth cataract(BAR, II, 896 , note d) . In V iew of the tota l collapse of the

kingdom after the fall of the TwelfthDynasty, there cannot be theslightest doubt, that this easily transportable statue of Sebekhotep was carried by som e late Nubian king from som e lower

Nubian tem ple to Argo , just above the third cataract, a feat

involving far less distance and m uch lessweight than the transportof th leb lio'

ns. It is thus evident that this Sebekhotep did noterect he “

m onum ent on Argo , and we are relieved of the longcurrent, but anom alous, conclusion, that a king of the dark age,after the fall of the Twelfth Dynasty, accom plished a great extension of the kingdom southward.

NOTE III.— The siege of Sharuhen which I supposed from the

worn Berlin squeeze to have lasted six years (BAR , II, 13 ; BH, p .

has been shown by Sethe’

s exam ination of the original to

have lasted three years.

NOTE IV.—The inscription recording an Asiatic war, form erly

attributed to Thutm ose II, has been shown by Sethe’

s exam ina

tion of the original at Der el- Bahri to belong to Thutm ose I.


4 42 NOTES ON RECENT DISCOVERIESEvidently this establishm ent of his daughter by Psam tik I followed directly upon Tanutam on

’

s death or retirem ent, in the

sam e year. The fact that the Nubians returned to Thebes afterits sack by the Assyrians in 661 B . C. , and held it for at least six,and perhaps seven, years longer, places the close of the Nubiansuprem acy, and their final retirem ent from Egypt (655—654 B.

in a less ignom inious light.

NOTE X — The excavations of Winckler at Boghaz- kOi in AsiaMinor, east of the Kisil- irm ak (Halys) , five days

’

journey eastof Angora , in 1906 and 1907 , have shown that this place wasthe seat of Hittite power. In the num erous cuneiform tablets

which he found there, som e in Babylonian and som e in Hittite,this place is called

“Khatti .” Here Winckler found the cunei

form original O f the treaty of peace between Ram ses II and the

Hittite king Khetasar (cuneiform Hattusil) . (SeeWinckler’

s re

port, OLZ, 15th Dec. , 1906 ; MDO G,NO . The recent evi

dence of a Hittite invasion of Babylonia about 1750 B. C. (King,KSEH, II, 14 8) shows that there was a great expansion of Hittitepower at just the tim e when the Hyksos were entering Egypt.TheHyksos em pire was thus thrown back upon Egypt. O r was

the Hyksos invasion of Egypt itself Hittite ?

NOTEXI.—Recently two reliefs now in the CairoMuseum have

been put forward by W . Max Miiller (Publ . No . 53 , CarnegieInst. , Washington, Pl . I—II, pp]

. 5— 1 1) as showing intercourse between Egypt and theE gean, as well asMesopotam ia in the SixthDynasty or

“about (and ‘

before’

) 2500 B . C .

”The first relief

depicts a row of m en bearing blocks of tin (dhty) and is dated byMii ller on grounds of style in the Sixth Dynasty. The aecom

panying°

nscrip tion, however, writes the y in dhty with the twooblique rokes, a palaeographic peculiarity which never occurs so

early as the SixthDynasty . The sculpture cannot be older than

the Twelfth Dynasty (2000—1788 B . C . ) The other relief (Pl . II)shows two fragm entary hum an figures wearing Syrian or Sem iticcostum es, supposed byMuller to be “Mesopotam ians,” and dated

by him“before 2500 B. perhaps “ Dynasty The

relief is a characteristic Em pire work not older than the sixteenthcentury B . C.

NOTE XII.-Recently theNubian expedition of Psam tik IIhas

been attributed to Psam tik I, and the fam ous Greek inscriptionleft by m ercenaries at Abu Sim bel has been m ade the oldest ofGreek inscriptions, furn ishing a

“firm basis”

for“Greek ep i

graphics”

(W. MaxMii ller, Publ . No . 53, Carnegie Inst., Wash

NOTES ON RECENT DISCOVERIES 4 43

ington ,pp. 22—23, Pl 12 This conclusion of Muller is

based upon an inscription at Karnak stated by him to record an

expedition of Psam tik I against Nubia . In this inscription, however

,as published by Miiller him self, the nam e of the royal

author thereof (occurring twice) is Psam tik II Nir-

yb- R‘

and

Mné—yb) . No expedition of Psam tik I against Nubia is known.

NOTE XML— Readers who notice the discrepanc between theBabylonian dates given above in the Chronological um m ary andthose heretofore current, should note that recent researches havedisclosed the fact that the First Dynasty of Babylon was imm ediately followed by the Third, the Second being a paralleldynasty of kings ruling at the m outh of theEuphrates. It is thusno longer possible to m aintain the early date of Sargon I and

Naram sin, a fact long ago accepted by Eduard Meyer and

Lehm ann - Haupt. Even so ardent an advocate of extrem ely earlyBabylonian dates as Hilprecht, has relinquished the early date ofSargon Iand Naram sin . Indeed, as EduardMeyer recently re

m arked to the author, it is highly im probable that we possess asingle Babylonian docum ent Older than 3000 B. c. A highlyorganized, centralized, stable and enduring state in Egypt (theO ld Kingdom ) is over a thousand years Older than in Babylonia(First Dynasty) , for the consolidation of the sm aller kingdom s

into one nation, under the first of successive dynasties, took placetwelve to thirteen hundred years earlier in Egypt than in Babylonia (See Ranke. , Univ. of Penn . Publ . , Series A, Vol . I, part I,p . 8, note 1 , and for the final results on the parallel character ofthe Second Dynasty, see KSEH, II) .

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. GENERAL HISTO RIES O F ANTIQUITY

See list in GHBA (G . S . Goodspeed, A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians, New York, 1906 , second edition) . It m aybe added that a new edition of Meyer

’

s Geschichte des Altertum s

is in preparation and the first volum e containing the early O rientis now in press. A new edition of Maspero ’

5 sm aller history of

antiquity (Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l ’O rient) appearedin 1904 .

II. EGYPTIAN HISTO RY

Maspero’s threevolum es already cited am ong GeneralHistories

of Antiquity (GHBA) , especially full on Egypt (Steindorff , see4 50

FIG . .Eduard Meyer— Geschichte des Alten Aegyptens .

Berlin, 1887 .

Wiedemann— Aegyptische Geschichte. Gotha , 18841885.

W. M. F. Petrie— History of Egypt. Vol . I—III.

London.

éudge

—History of Egypt. Vol . I—VIII. London .

rugsch— A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs.

London .

Bissing— Geschichte Aegyptens. Berlin, 1904 .

BH Breasted— A History of Egypt. New York, 1905.

NGH .Newberry and Garstang— A Short History of AncientEgypt. London ,

1904 .

O n the later periods :Mahaffy

— History of Egypt under the Ptolem aicDynasty. London 1899 .

Milne—History of Egypt underRom anRule. London,

1898 .

Stanley Lane- Poole— History of Egypt 1n the MiddleAges. London , 1901 . (These three form ing vol

um es IV—VI in Petrie’

s series.)4 4 4


4 4 6 A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYAges is scantily indicated in the Arab geographers and historians,particularly‘

.

Abd el- Latif— Relation de l ’Egyp te par Abd al- Latiftraduit par Silvestre de Sacy. Paris, 1810.

El—Idrisi— Description de l ’Afrique. ed. Dozy et DeGoeje. Leyden, 1866 .

- Géographie d’

Idrisi. Traduite par P. Am adeeJaubert. Paris, 1836—184 0 .

Ibn Dukm ak— Description of Egypt (in Arabic) BulakPress, A. H. 1309 .

Makrizi— Description Historique et Topographique del

’

Egypte traduit par P. Casanova (in Mém o iresde l

’

Institut francais du Caire.- III. Cairo,

1906)

The m onum ents of theNile valleywere first disclosed toEuropein published form in the great

“Description de l ’Egypte,” published by the m em bers of Napoleon’

sEgyptian expedition (PlatesVol . I—XI; Texte, Vol . I—XXVI. Paris, 1820 The

gradual exploration of the country, and the discoveries am ong the

m onum ents in m odern tim es, m ay be traced in the followingworks:

J . Lobo—A Short Relation of the River Nile. London,1669.

Wansleben— The Present State of Egypt or a NewRelation of a Late Voyage into that Kingdom , per

form ed in the years 1672 and 167 3 . London, 1678.

Leach— Travels on the Nile. London, 17 4 2.

Pococke—World Displayed, or a Curious Collection of

Voyages and Travels. Vol . XII. London, 17 7 4 .

i — Voyages de Richard Pococke. Vol . I—VI. Neufchatel, 17 72 .

-A Description of the East. London, 174 3 .

Norden— Travels in Egypt and Nubia (1737—17translated and enlarged by Dr. Peter Tem plem an .

Vol. I—II. London , 1757 .

Bruce—Travels to Discover theSource of theNile in theYears 1768—17 73 . Vol . I—VII. London and Edinburgh, 1813 .

W. G . Browne—Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria,1792- 1798. London , 1806 .

Denon— Travelsin Africa . London, 1803.

Legh— Narrative of a Journey in Egypt and the CountryBeyond the Cataracts. London , 1816 .

Burckhardt— Travels in Nubia. London, 1819.

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 4 4 7

Belzoni— Narrative of O perations and Discoveriesin Egypt and Nubia . London, 1820 .

Cailliaud— Voyage a Meroe 1819—1822. Paris,1826 - 1828.

Drovetti— Voya e a l’

O asis de Dakel . Paris, 1821 .

Waddington an Hanbury— Journal of a Visit to Som e

Parts of Ethiopia. London , 1822.

Cham pollion— Lettre aM. Dacier, relative a l ’alphabetdes hiéroglyphes. Paris, 1822 . (Contains an account

O f the decipherm ent of the hieroglyphic by him . )Lettres écrites d ’

Egypte et deNubie. Paris, 1833 .

Notices descriptives (Text of Monum ents de

1’ Egypt) . Vol . I—II . Paris, 1844 .

Hartleben— Cham pollion , sein Leben und sein Werk.

Vol . I—II . Berlin , 1906 .

Prudhoe— Extracts from Private Mem oranda kept byLord Prudhoe on a Journey from Cairo to Sennaar in1829 . Journal Royal Geogr. Soc. , V. , 1835.

Wilkinson —Topography O f Thebes and General Viewof Egypt. London , 1835.

Wilkinson—m MOdern Egypt and Thebes. Vol . I- II.

London, 184 3 .

Hoskins—Travels in Ethiopia . London , 1835.

D’

Athanasi— Researches and Discoveries in UpperEgypt. London , 1836 .

Russegger— Reisen in Europa , Asien und Afrika , 1835

bis 184 1 . Vol . I- III . Stuttgart, 184 1 , (Vol . II is onthe Nile valley) .

Ferlini— Cenno sugli Scavi O perati nella Nubia e

Catalogo degli O ggetti Ritrovati . Bologna , 1837 .

Ferlini— Relation Historique des Fouilles O péreés dansla Nuhie. Rom e, 1838.

Holroyd— Notes on a Journey to Kordofan in 1836

1837 . London , 1839 .

L’HOte—Lettres écrites d ’

Egypte en 1838—1839 . Paris,184 0 .

Lepsius—Discoveries ln Egypt, Ethiopia and the

Peninsula of Sina i in the Years 184 2 - 184 5. London,

1852. Second ed ., 1853 .

Lepsius— Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sinai.Translated by J Hom er. London , 1853 .

Text (Vol . I- VI ) , accom panying the Denkm aeler

aus Aegypten und Nubien .

Brugsch— Die Géographie des alten Aegypten. Leipzig, 1857 .

4 4 8 A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBrugsch— Reiseberichte aus Aegypten. Leipzig, 1855.

Brugsch— Reise nach der grossen O ase el- Khargeh.

Leipzig, 187 8.

Brugsch— Dictionnaire géographique. Leipzig, 1879.

Mariette—Description des fouilles exécutées en Egypte,en Nubie, et au Soudan, 1850—1854 . Paris, 18631867 .

Speke— Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the

Nile. London and Edinburgh, 1864 .

With this com pare the discovery of higher sourcesbehind the equatorial lakes .byBaum ann— Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle, 1891

1893 . Berlin, 1894 .

Baker, Sir S.— Albert N’

yanza and the Great Basin of

the Nile. Vol . I—II. London, 1866, 1872 .

Baker, Sir S.— The Nile Tributaries of Abysinia .

London,

Dil’lm ann— Ueber die Anfaenge des Axum itischen

Reichs. Berlin, 1879.

Duem ichen— Geographical Introduction in Meyer,Geschichte des Alten Aegyptens. Berlin, 1887 .

Ebers —Egypt, Descriptive, Historical, Picturesque.

London , 1881 .

Hilm y, Prince Ibrahim— Bibliography of Egypt and theSoudan . Vol. I—II. London , 1886 .

Brown , Maj . R . H.— The Fayum and Lake Moeris.

London, 1892 .

Steindorff— Durch die LibyscheWueste zurAm onsoase.

Leipzig, 1904 .

Gleichen— The Anglo- Egyptian Sudan. Vol . I- II.

London, 1905.

JBorchardt— Nilhoehe und Nilstandsm arken. Abband'

lungen der Kgl . Preuss. Akad. , 1905.

Lyons— The Physiography of the River Nile and its

Basin . London , 1906 :

Petrie— Ten Years Digging ln Egypt. London , 1893 .

Petrie—Methods and Aim s m Archaeology. London,1901 .

Budge— The Egyptian Sudan, Vol . I- II London ,

1907 . Egypt Exploration Fund— Mem 0 1rs, 28 vo ls.

— Archaeological Survey, 16 vols.—Graeco- Rom an

Branch, 8 vols — Special Publications, 5 vols . N. B .

A survey of all discoveries in Egypt each year, beginning 1892, is furnished by the Annual Archaeological Reports, edited by F. Ll . Griffith.


A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYThere are m any m ore m ortuary and m agical texts notincluded above.

The treatises are :Erm an— A Handbook of Egyptian Religion. Trans

lated by A . S . Griffith. London, 1907 .

Steindorff— The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians.

New York and London, 1905.

Wiedem ann— Die Religion der alten Aegypter. Muen

ster, 1890 (also to be had in Engl ish) .Maspero— Etudes de Mythologie et d

’

Archéologie

égyptiennes. Vol . I—III. Paris, 1893—98.

Lange—Contribution.

onEgyp tian religion ln Saussaye’

s

Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte .

Budge —Gods of the Egyptians. Vol . I—II. London ,

1902.

The chief translations are

Maspero—Translation of the Pyram id Texts in above

edition of sam e.

Renouf— Book of the Dead 1n Life Work of the LateSir Peter Le Page Renouf , Vol . IV. Paris, 1907 .

Conclusion by Naville.

Budge—The Book of the Dead. Vol . I- III. London ,

1898.

VI. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ; ART AND

LITERATURE

Erm an— Life in Ancient Egypt. Translated by H. M.

Tirard . London, 1895.

Wilkinson— Manners and Custom s of the AncientEgyptians. Vol . I—III. London, 1885. Now out

of date, but an invaluable treasury of m aterials.

Steindorff— Die Bluetezeit des Pharaonenreichs. Bielefeld, 1900 .

Perrot Chipiez— History of Ancient Art. I. Egypt .Maspero - Egyp tian Archaeology.

Spiegelberg —Geschichte der Aegyp tischen Kunst.Leipz1 1903 .

Borchapuit— Die Aegyptische Pflanzensauie . Berlin,1897 .

von Bissing— Denkm aeler aegyp tischer Sculptur. Mun

chen, 1905—1907 (not yet com p l .ete)Erm an— General Sketchyof Egyptian literature proper.

ELAE. Chapter XV.

Griffith— Best series of translations in English in

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 451

Library of the World’

s Best Literature, edited by C .

D . Warner.

Masperm—Les Contes populaires deL’

Egypte ancienne,3rd ed. Paris, 1905.

Petrie - EgyptianTales. London. (AfterGriffith andMaspero .)

Erm an Krebs— Ans den Papyrus der KoniglichenMuseen. Berlin, 1899.

Mii ller —Die Liebespoesie der alten Aegyp ter. Leipzig, 1899.

Dem otic talesGrifiith— Stories of theHigh Priests ofMem phis. London, 1900 .

Krall— in KFB and WZKM, XVII .

EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS AND THE BIBLEEduard Meyer

— Der Moses- Sage und die Leviten.

Sitzungsber. Berlin . Akad ., 1905, 640 .

Eduard Meyer— Die Israeliten und Ihre Nachbar

staem m e.

Steindorff— In Recent Research in Bible Lands, ed.

Hilprecht . Philadelphia, 1906 .

Griffith— In Authority and Archaeology, ed. Hogarth.

New York, 1899 .

Mii ller— Asien und Europa nach altaegyptischen Denkm aelern. Leipzig, 1893 .

Spiegelberg— Aegyp tische Randglossen zum AltenTestam ent. Strassburg, 1904 .

Spiegelberg— Aufenhalt Israels in Aegypten . Strassburg, 1904 .

VIII. CO LLECTIONS O F ESSAYS , SERIES ,JOURNALS , ETC.

Zeitschrift fiir Aegyptische Sprache und Al tertum s

kunde, ed. by Erm an Steindorff . Leipzig.

Untersuchungen zur Geschichte und Altertum skundeAegyptens, ed . by Sethe. Leipzig.

Recueil de Travaux relatifs a la Philologie et a l’

Ar

chéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes, ed. Maspero .

Paris. Vol . I, 1870 ; Vols. II fl , 1880 fi.

Revue égyptologique, ed . by Revillout . Paris, 1880 fi.

Sphinx, ed. Ernst Andersson, Upsala (form erly K .

Piehl) . From 1897 on.

452 A SELECTED B IBLIOGRAPHYMélanges d

’archéologie égyptienne et assyrienne.

Paris, 1872—1878 .

Mélanges égyp tologiques, ed. Chabas. Chalon- sur»

SaOne, 1862—1873 .

L’

Egyp tologie, ed . Chabas. Paris, 1876—1878 .

Bulletin de l ’ institut franca is d ’

archéologie orientale au

Caire .

Annales du Service des Antiquités de I’Egyp te. Cairo , .1900

Bibliothzque égyptologique, ed . Maspero. Vol . I—XII

Paris, 1893 77.Maspero—Etudes égyptiennes. Paris, 1886 fi.

Proceedings of the Society of Biblical ArchmologyLondon.

From 1879 on .

Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology.

Ten vols. only. 1872 on .

Am erican Journal of Sem itic Languages, ed. Harper.

Chicago . (Continuing Hebraica .)

IX. CHRONO LO GY

Eduard Meyer—Aegyp tische Chronologie. Abhandl

der‘

Berl . Akad . , 1904 .

Q

G inzel— Handbuch der Mathem atischen und Techni

schen Chronologie . Vol . I. Zeitrechnung der Babylonier, Aegypter ,Moham m edaner, Perser, etc. Leipzig, 1906 .

Lehm ann— Zwei Hauptproblem e der altorientalischenChronologie . Berlin ,

1898 .

King— Stud ies in Eastern History : Chronicles Concerning early Babylon ian Kings. VOl . I—II. London,

1907 .

Niebuhr— Die Chronologie der Geschichte Israels ,Aegyp tens, Babyloniens und Assyriens. Leipzig,1896 .

Breasted— BAR ,I, 38—75.

X . ABBREVIATIONS

Annales du Service.

AJSL. . .Am erican Journal of Sem itic Languages.

AL Winckler, Am arna Letters.

BAR . .Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt.BFLM Brown , Fayum and Lake Moeris.

BH. Breasted, A History of Egypt.


4 54 A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYPB Papyrus de B .oulaqPOH Perrot- Chipiez, History of Art.

PEFQS. .Palestine Ekp1. Fund, Quart. Statem ent.PG

.Pe

tr

ie, Pyram ids and Tem ples of Gizeh.

PHE. History of Egypt.PI. Illahun.

PKGH” Kahun, Gurob Hawara.

PKM . . .Erm an—Krebs, Papyrus des KOnigl. Museum s.

PP Papyrus Prisse.

PPS Petrie, Cat. of Egyptian Antiquities found in.

Peninsula of Sinai .PS Petrie, Season 1n Egypt.PSall Papyrus SallierPScar ” .Petrie, Scarabs.

PSBA , . .Proceedings of the Soc. of Bib. Arch.

PT Petrie, Tanis.

PET . Egyptian Tales.

Papyrus Westcar, ed. Erman.

QH Quibell , Hieraconpolis.

RIH. d.e Rouge, Inscr. hierogl .

Rec Recueil de Travaux, ed . Maspero.

SBA Sitzungsberichte d . Berlin . Ak ad.

SEI Sharpe, Egyptian Inscriptions.

SS Spiegelberg, Studien und Material ien.

TP Turin Papyrus of Kings.

WAL. . “ Winckler, Am arna Letters.

WRS. . .Weill , Rc eil des Insor. Egypt. du Sinai.WUAG . .Winckler, Untersuchungen zur altorientalischen

schichte.

WZKM Wiener Zeitschr. f . d. Kunde d. Morgen] .

INDEX O F NAMES AND SUBJECTS

NOTE . For a full statem ent of the system of transl iterat ionadopted, the reader is referred to the preface of BAR, I. , pp .

xiv. if . Hierogl hic writing does not indicate vowels . Theym ust be supp l ied

’

iiy the m odern scholar m ore or less arb itrarilyin most cases, even the p lace of the vowel am ong the consonants

being often uncertain . The vowels thus supplied are com m only’

ven the cont inental or Italian sounds and no vowels are silent .

‘Kh ” indicates a single sound , a deep guttural ch as in the

Scotch loch or Germ an nach. W and Y are always consonantal ,and are pronounced as in Engl ish . The lat ter statem ent is for

practical purposes also true of all the rem aining consonants.

The rim ary accent is indicated by the secondary , if any , byThe etter after a nam e indicates its character : e.g .

, c= oity ;

d , district ; g , god or goddess ; k, king ; n , noble ; 0,Officer ; p,

people ; q , queen ; r,river ; t , town . M . K . Middle Kingdom ;

0 . K. O ld Kingdom ; Em p . Em pire ; Rest . Restorat ion .

A'- BA

, 392 Agricul ture, 9—10, 88 ; earl iest ,A - bab’

- deh, p, 7 32

Ab- sha' , 158 Ah - m o’- se I.

,k, 186—193 , 205 f .

Abd - ap shirfi ta, n ,282, 298 Ahm ose II . = A—m a

’- sis, q . v.

Abd - khi’

- ba , 11 , Ahm ose, q , 208 , 214Abram , 363 Ahm ose (son of Ebana) , n, 187 ,Abu Sim

’- be1, 3 12, 3 19 , 4 07 ; 188

Greek inscript ion at,4 07 A- khet- a’

- ton , 0 (see also Am

A- bu- sir’

,1 15 arna) , 27 0—272, 285, 286,

Abydos, 4 3, 4 6 , 50, 14 8, 300, 287 , 288

301 , 302 Akh—tho’—es, k, 134

Abyssinia, 4 , 8 , 383 Alabastron’

p olis, c, 293

Achae’ans, 329 - la - sa, or Alasia, see Cyprus.

Aegean , earliest com m ercewith, A- lep

’-

po, 232 , 239 , 303 , 305

50 ; in M . K .,159 ; in Em p .

, Al - ta’-

qu, c, 37 5

21 1 , 234 , 235, 253, 325 A’

- m a - da , 24 7

Ae-

gi’- na

,4 13 A - m ar

'—na, t (see also Akheta

Aeol ians, 4 13 ton) , 270Africa, 3 , 4 , 7 , 29 ; earl iest ex Am arna Letters, 250 , 288plorat ion of , 124

’

fl . ; circum A—m a’- sis

,k, 4 1 1—18

navigat ion of , 4 07 A - m en—ar’- dis, q , 3 7 1 , 37 7 381

4 55

4 56 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTSA'~m enem —hab

'

,n,233

,237 Aram aeans, 210, 284 ; in Egypt,

A '- m en - em - het

’ I k,137 f

139 f . ,152 f . , 164 , 167

Am enemhet K . , k, 154 , 155Am enem het III .

,k,160—163 ,

169 , 1 70

Am enemhet IV ., k, 1 70

A- m en—hO ’—tep I., k, 205, 207 f .

258, 359

Am enhotep II .,k, 24 1 , 24 5

—7 ,253

Am enhotep III .,24 8—263, 280

331

Am enhotep IV ., see Ikhna

ton .

Am enhotep, son of Ha’

pu,255

Am enhotep (High Priest of

Am on) , 34 9A—m e—ui

’

,n,154

'

A—‘

m en- m e—ses’

,k, 332

Am m on,375, 4 08

Am on and Am on- Re, g, 203 ,228, 267 , 268 f .

,286 f . , 288 ,

304 , 322 f ., 337 , 34 1

—3, 352 f . ;

in Syria, 230, 337 , 352 f . ; in

Nubia, 367 ff .Am on ,

High Priest of,202 f . ,

268, 322 f .

, 34 2, 34 8 ff .,352

,

362, 364 , 37 7 , 388 ; as King ,350 ff .

, 355 f .,357—36 1

Am or a Am orites, 282 , 298 ,3 1 7 ,

A’- nath , g , 3 18, 324

Anim al worship, 61 f . , 324 , 397Annals (see also Palerm o

Stone) , 4 7 , 238An

’- shan

,4 16

A- nu’- bis

, g, 4 8

A’

-

p is, g , 4 8, 397

Ae po’

phi s, k, 1 76 , 179, 183, 184185

Ap’- ri - es, k, 4 08—4 12

Arabia, 29 , 210, 387Arabian Desert , 7A ! rai’ - na, c, 239

Arch, 94

Architecture, earl iest , 4 4—4 5 ;

in O . K .,99—100 ; in M . K .,

165 ; in Em p .,218 f ., 255

—9 ,339 ; in Rest . 394

Arm enians, 281Arm y , 82, 14 4 f .

,193—5, 200,

202, 224 , 252, 3 18 f .

, 389 f .,

4 10 f . , 4 14

Ar'—ra—pa- khi ' - tis, c, 239

Ar—si’noe,160, 162

Art,earl iest , 30—32 ; proto- dy

,nast ic

,4 2—4 3 ; in O . K .

, 88

100 ; in M . K .

,165 f . ; in

hither Asia , 21 1 f . ; in Em p .,

255—26 1 , 27 8 f .

, 300, 30 1 ,3 19 f .

,338 ; in Rest .

, 393 f .

Ar—ta’

- ta—m a, k, 24 7 , 251Ar

’- vad, c

,211 , 230, 23 1 , 303,

3 10, 335, 4 09

Aryans, in Mitanni, 212 .

Ash’- dod, 4 02

A - shur—ban’—i—p al , k, 380—382,

387 f .

Asia, 3 , 29Asia Minor 4 89 , 159 , 21 1 , 212,280 f .

,233 , 235, 304 , 334 , 34 3 ,

388

As’

- ka=lon , c, 285, 328, 33 1 , 37 5,4 04 .

Asklep’ias, 105

Assuan’

, c, 7 , 125

Assyria and Assyrians, 17 7 ,229 , 24 9 , 250, 251 , 368 f . ,

4 02 f . ; Western em pire of ,

37 3 ff .

, 37 5—388, 4 02; fall of ,

4 04 , 4 06

As- tar’

- te, g , 3 18, 324

Astronom y , 93As—ty

’- a-

ges, 4 16

At - ba '- ra

,r, 4

Athens, 4 14A- thrib

’- is, c, 380 , 396


4 58

Courts O f justice, 79 14 3,195, 198 f .

, 34 4

Crete,17 9 , 235, 253 , 254 , 333

Crocodilo’pol is, c, 162Croesus, k, 4 16Crown , 34 , 36 , 4 1

Cy - ax'—a—res, k, 4 04 , 4 06

Cyprus, 21 1 , 234 , 235, 239 , 250,251 , 253 , 298, 3 17 , 335, 354 ,4 09 , 4 15

Cy- re

’- ne

,c, 4 1 1 , 4 13

Cyrus, 4 16 f .

DAK - SHUR’

,t,106

,107

Dam ascus, 227 , 263

Da—m i- ette’

,c, 6

Dan- a’

- oi,p, 334

Daph’- nae

,c,389 , 4 14

Darda’nians, 304

David , 360Dead

,beliefs regarding , 36, 65

7 3 , 14 9—51

,203 f .

Decadence,34 7—388 ; sketch

of , 21—22 ; sources

,27—28

De’du, c, 6 1

Delphians, 4 13Delta, 5—6 , 7 , 8, 1 1 , 12, 15, 33 ,34 , 35, 38 , 121

, 236, 237 ,3 1 1 , 3 14 , 329 f .

, 333 , 336 ,350 , 360 ff ., 365, 37 9 ff .

, 394 ,398, 07

De—m o - ic, 395

Den’- de- reh, c, 37 60, 1 10

Den’-

yen,p, 334

Der cl - Bah ’ri, d , 216 , 217

Desert , 3 , 4 , 6—7 , 1 1—12

De—suk ’

,t, 1 10

Dog River, 303 , 37 9Don’

-

go- la Province

,208 f .

Dor, c, 351 , 352

Dorians, 4 13Dram a

, earl iest, 14 8, 169Drawing , 97—98 , 26 1

Dush - rat’

- ta, k, 251 , 280 f .Dynast ies, 15

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTSED'- EU

, 5, 4 0, 60, 152

E’- dom

, 37 4 , 375

Edom ite, 3 16Educat ion

, 92—94 , 395

Egypt , l im its of,4 —8

,1 1 ; soil

of , 5—6 , 8

—9 ; shape of, 8

cl im ate, 8 ; wealth of, 9

—10 ;ruins of

,12 ; populat ion

,

83

Egypt, Lower (see also Delta) ,Egypt , Upper, 36—39 , 4 1 4 9 , 7879 , 379 , 380

Egypt ians, race of , 29 f . ; earli

est,29—34

Egypt ian Language, origin,29

Eighteenth Dynasty , 186—9,205 f .

,207—289 ; date of , 24

25

Eighth Dynasty , 133—4E- ke

’—reth, c, 303

Ek’

- wesh, p, 329—lam

, 387

E- le- phan- ti’ - ne, c, 5, 33 , 92,121

,124 , 125, 126 , 197 , 389

Eleventh Dynasty , 135—7 ; dateof

,25

E- leu’—the- ros, r, 231

E- li’—a—k im ,

k,4 05

El Kab’

, c, 36, 4 1 , 4 6 , 157 , 186 f . ,

187 , 189

Em pire,186—3 4 4 ; sketch of ,

19—21,24 ; sources for, 27

E'—nekh—nes-Me—ri—re’

,q, 125

En—en’

- khet,n,127

n'g khu, n ,

182- reth

,c, 337

E- sar - had’

- don,k, 378

—380

Es—dra'

- e’- lon

,d,224 , 225, 226,

Es’- neh, 189

Ethiopia, 383 , 390Ethiopian period, sketch O f ,22, 24

E—trus’

- cans,p,329

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS 4 59:

Euphrates, r, 3 , 208 , Greeks, 399 ; influence of Egypt

24 8 ; northern front ier of on , 399—4 02 ; in Egypt , 389 ,Egypt , 213 , 233 , 234 , 4 05 f . 398, 399, 4 00, 4 10 f .

,4 12

Europe, 4 , 7 4 15

European civil izat ion, rise of,Gy

’-

ges, k, 3883 f .

, 7 , 12, 14,50, 159

253 , 329 f . , 337 f . , 339

Eusebius, 15Extradit ion ,

251

E’-

ye, n, and k, 264 , 289Ezekiel , 4 15FAMILY, 83—84Fayum ’

,d, 6 , 161 f . , 1 70

Fifth dynasty , 1 12—1 16 , 1 1 7First dynasty , 4 0—51 , 300“

length and date of,25

Flax , 9 1Fl int , 32Fo—a- khir’

, Wady , 89Fourth dynasty , 107—1 12Fourteenth dynasty , 182Furniture, 4 2—4 4 , 85, 86 , 259 ;earl iest , 3 1

Future l ife, 36 , 65—7 3 , 14 9—51 ,203 f .

GALILEE,283 , 298, 363

Gal ’ - la,p,29

Ga’

- za, c, 4 04

Ge—be—len’

, 182

Gebel Ze—bfifl ra, 300

Gem - A’- ton,

268, 270, 288

Ge’- zer, t , 158, 285, 33 1 , 362

Gi- lu- khi’

-

p a , q , 251Gi’zeh , t , 108 , 1 10, 1 1 1Glass, 90, 259 ; earl iest , 3 14 2

God , 265 if ; local , 33Gold , 4 2 , 89 , 92 , 122 , 14 2, 154 ,155, 157 , 197 , 235, 24 5, 250,

Governor of the South, 1 18- 19

Greece, 21 1 , 253

HAIr I- CAR - NAS'- SUS

,4 13

Ha’- m ath

,c, 280

Ham - m a—m at’

, 88, 136 f .

, 14 2,153 , 34 8, 3 7 7 opening of ,1 15

Har- khuf ’,n, 124 , 125, 126

Harm hab ’

,k,287 , 289, 293

—7

Ha—t i’ - ba,q , 354

Hat - sho’

,c, 336

Hattusil ’,k, 3 1 1

Hauran’

,298

Hathor, g , 4 8, 60 , 64Hatnub ' , 88, 1 10 , 120Hat - shep’

- sut , q , 214'

f .,216

222

Hatshepsut -Mer—et - re’

,q,24 1

Hebrews (see also Israel ) , 182,Hebrew language in Egypt ,3 18

Hel iopol is, 4 6 , 57 , 59 , 60, 64 ,1 10 , 1 12, 196 , 203 , 267 , 268,300

Hel - le’- ni - um , 4 13

He’- nu

,n,136

Heracleopol itans, 1 7 , 23 , 1 34136 ; durat ion of

,25

Heracleo ’pol is,4 6 , 360 ; late

principal ity of,360, 36 1 , 364

Herds, 88

Her- m on’

- this,135

Herm o’pol is, 60, 368

Her- m o - ty’

- bi- es,390

Hezeki 'ah , 375Hieracon’

pol is, 36 , 4 3 , 4 5,4 8, 4 9

Hierat ’ ic, writ ing , 92—93,395

Hieroglyphic (see alsoWrit ing) ,397

4 60 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTSHittites

,in M. K .

,159 ; in Israel , 1 4 9 , 181 f . , 328 f . , 33 1 ,

Em p .

,212

,233

,239

,24 0 , 351 , 360 , 365, 37 3

262 f .,280, 283 , 298 , 299 , I- ta

’- ka- m a

,k,282

303—3 12, 3 17, 327 f .

, 33 1 , Ith- to’

- we, c, 139, 14 3

335, 337 , 351

Hoph—ra

"

, k, 4 08Hor

,n,389

Horse, 184 , 195, 229 , 3 17Horus

, g , 36 , 4 8 , 4 9 , 59 , 60

Horus (t itle) , 4 0—4 1 , 1 12House, 85, 87 ; earl iest, 3 1Hri—hor’

,k, 352, 355, 357

Hunt ing , earliest , 32 , 4 2 ; royal

,262

Hyk’- sos, 18

—19 , 23 , 17 5- 188,24 0

IAN’NAs, k, 183

I- ka’- thi, c, 24 6

I’- kher- nof

’- ret

,n, 157

Ikh- na’ton

,k,250 , 264—288,

293 ; m eaning of , 269

Im - ho’tep , n, 81 , 100 , 104 , 396

I- m ou’- thes

, see Im hotep .

Indian Ocean,127

Indo- Germ anic people first en

ter Asia Minor, 28 p , 334Industries, 88—92, 166, 205 °

earl iest , 30- 33

I- nen’

- i,n,213

Iu’tei om arch) , 135

Intefs, 136 , 184

Inundation , 8—10

Ionians, 388 , 389Ipuwer

’

,168

Iran,212

I ’rem

,238

Iron, 89 , 122

Irrigat ion, 8—9, 1 1 , 4 9, 161 f .

Ir’thet , 123 , 126

Isaiah , 372 f ., 37 4 , 37 6 f .

I- se’- si, k, 1 15

Ish’- tar, g , 263

I’- sis, g , 58, 60Isis, q , 214 , 396

JAGOB- HER (or Jacob- el) , 181 ,183

J e- ho’—a- haz

,k,4 05

J e- hoi’

- a- chin,k,4 08

J e—hoi’ - a - k im , k, 4 05J erem i’ah, 4 06 , 4 10, 4 15J erobo

'am

, 362

J erusalem ,285, 363 , 4 06 , 4 07 ,

4 08 ; destruct ion of,4 10

Jewelry , 4 2—4 3 , 51 , 89 , 166,206 ; earliest , 3 1

Joppa,c, 238

J ordan ,298 , 363

Joseph,189 , 197 , 200 , 3 16 , 321

J osiah, k, 4 05Judah

,362 f .

, 37 4 , 375 ff .,4 04 f . ,

4 06

Judge, 7 9—80 , 198

J udgm ent , hereafter, 67 , 14 9 f .

J ul ius Africanus, 15J osephus, 15

KA, 65, 7 0

Ka—by’- les, p , 30

Ka—dash—m an—Bel’

, k, 250Ka

’- desh, 181 f .

,210, 223 , 224 ,

226 , 227 , 228 , 229 f .

,23 1 ,

239 f .,282, 299 , 303 , 304 ,

337 ; battle O f , 304 if .

Kadesh (in Gal ilee) , c, 298Ka—ka’ i

,k, 1 12

Kaldeans,4 15

Kar’- nak , 229 , 257 f . , 315, 319,

339 , 363

Ka’

- roy , 24 6Kassites, 212Keb, g , 57Ke’

desh , g , 324Keft ’-

yew,p,21 1 , 254

Ke-

gem’- ne, n , 81 , 100, 168


4 62 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTSMem phis, 39—4 0, 4 6 , 61 , 64 ,

1 19 , 199 , 203 , 265 f .

,

268, 300, 3 14 f . , 3 17 , 381 ,387 , 39 1 , 4 14 ; captured byPiankhi

, 369 ; captured byAssyrians, 37 9

Menat - Khu’- fu, t , 108 , 158

Menes, 16 ; date of , 25 ; reignof , 39

—40

Men- ku—re’

,k, 1 1 1

Ment—em —het’

,n, 389 , 395

Men ’- tu- ho

’- tep s, k, 136 ' ii .

Mentuho’tep , n ,

154

Me’- ra—sar

,k,299

Me- rit—a’—ton

,q,287

Mer- ne—ptah '

,k, 312, 3 16 , 3 18 ,

—332

Mer- ne- re’

,k,121 - 125 ; cam

p aign in Nubia, 124Merodach - bal

’adan , k, 375

Me’

- ro - e,c, 383 , 390, 4 08

Mer-

yey’

, k, 329 f .

Me- she’—sher, k, 336

Mesh’

- wesh,p, 329 , 336 , 360

361

Me—tel’

- la,k,299 , 303, 304 , 305

306 , 307—311

Middl e Class, 83 , 14 6 , 194 , 201 f .

Middle kingdom ,137 f .

,139

1 70 ; sketch of , 1 7—18, 23 , 27

Miebis’ k,4 9 , 50

Mi—le’s, 4 13

Min,

203

Mis—phrag - m ou’

- tho - sis, k, 181Mi- tan’

- mi,212

,223 , 230, 23 1 ,

232, 233 , 24 5, 24 7 , 24 8, 24 9

Mi- ty - le’

- ne, 4 13

Moab , 37 4 , 375 , 4 08Moeris

,lake

,162

Money , 161‘Monotheism

,14 7

Monum ents, 26—27

Moral ity , 84 f .Muc- ri

, 37 5

Mum m y (see Future Life and

Tom b) , discovery of royal,359

Mur’sili

,k, see Merasar

Music and Song, 101 , 321 f .

Mut - em - u’

-

ya , q , 24 8Mut—nof ’ - ret , q , 214Muttal ’ lu, see MetellaMycenaeans, 159, 21 1 f ., 253 ,254

Mysians, 304

NA - BU- NA’-

’ID, k, 4 16

Nar bu-

p al- ufl- cur, k, 4 06

Nar ha- rin’

,213 , 230 , 23 1 , 232,

233 , 234 , 239, 24 0, 24 5, 24 6 ,263 , 264 , 303, 3 10, 3 17

Nahum , 381 f .,4 04

Na'xpa- ta,c, 208 , 24 6 , 3 19 ,

368, 3 70, 381

Narm er, k, 4 9Nas’

- te—sen,k, 383

Nau’crat is, 0 , 4 12—4 13

Navy (see Ships) , 4 14 , 4 15Ne’

- bu—cha—drez’

- zar,k, 4 06,

4 07 , 4 08—4 10, 4 15, 4 16

Ne’- cho

,k, 4 04 —4 07

Ne’- cho

, n, 37 9 , 380, 387

Ne- fer- hO’—tep , k, 1 7 3 , 182

Ne ’- fer- khe- re

’ k,1 7 3

Nef - ret - i’ - ri,q, 3 16

Ne-

ga’—deh

,c, 4 0

Negroes, 7 , 8, 157Ne’hi

,n,24 1

Ns it , 33 , 34 , 4 8 , 60, 64Ne’

kheb (see also El Kab) , 36Nekh ’

- bet , g , 36 , 4 1

Ne’- khen

,c, 36, 4 5, 4 6 , 80, 207

Ne—ku- re’n,7 1

Nem athap’

,103

Neph’- thys, g , 58

Ne ' - su- be—neb’- ded, k, 350, 354 ,

358

Neterim u’ k,4 9

Nib- a’- m on, O, 230

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTSNib ’

- hep- et - re

’

, k, 136, 218Nile, 4 —5, 8

—10 , 57 ; m onths O f ,5—6

Nile Valley , 3 , 4 , 5, 6 , 7 , 1 1—12Nineteenth dynasty , 293—333Nin’

eveh (see also Assyria) , c,263 , 37 5

Ninth dynasty , 134Ni- to’

- cris, q , 128Ni- to’

- cris, 388Niy , c, 233 , 24 6 , 282Nobles, 4 5—4 6 , 83 , 107 , 1 17

1 18, 128 , 135, 137 f . , 139

14 2,188 f .

,196 , 202

Nof ' - et - e’

- te, q , 264Nom arch (see also Noble) , 13914 6

Nom e, earl iest , 33 ; in O . K . ,

7 9 , 81—82 , 128 ; iuM.K .

,137 f .

in Em p .

,188 f .

Nubia and Nubians, in arm y ,

82, 120 f .,252, 304 , 3 18 ; in

earl iest tim es, 4 0 ; in O . K .

,

104 , 106 , 120 f . , 121—127 ; in

M. K .,14 2, 152, 154 , 155

1 57 ; in Em p . , 188, 207 , 208 f . ,

216 , 232 , 235 f . ; 238, 24 1 ,24 6 , 24 8 , 24 9 , 296, 301 , 3 16 ,33 1 ; in Decadence, 351 , 355,360, 363 ; independent , 367383 , 4 07

Nub ’- khep - ru—re

’- In

’- tef , k, 184

Nu’—ges, c, 303

Nut , g, 57 , 60

O ASES, 6 , 106 , 234 , 329 , 4 10, 4 15

O bel isk, 4 7 , 220 f .,234

,256 ,

3 15 ; in New York,234 ; in

Constant inople, 234 in Lon

don ,234 ; of Thutm ose III .

,

234,24 8 ; in Rom e, 234 , 24 8 ,

3 15 ; in London,234 ; in

Paris, 3 15O fficial Class, 1 15, 1 19 f ., 14 3

201 f .

4 63

Okapi, 32

O ke'anos, 57 , 4 07

O ld Kingdom , 7 4—129 ; sketch

of,16—17 , 23 , 27 ; length and

date of , 25 ; revived in Restorat ion , 391 if .

O n (see Hel iopol is)Orcho’

m enos, c, 253

Oron’tes, r, 209 , 230, 23 1 , 232 ,

239 , 24 0, 262 f . , 282, 298,299, 303 , 304 , 310 , 327

Oryx- nom e, 154

Osir’ is, g , 4 8, 57 , 60, 6 1 ,67 , 14 8

—150, 286 , 396

O - sor’

- kon I.,364

O sorkon III ., 365, 368, 370 ,

- thu, c, 298

PAINTING, 98 , 165 f ., 261Palace, earl iest , 4 2 ; in O . K .

,

7 8 ; in Em p .,259 , 261

Palerm o Stone,25 , 27 , 4 7 , 100

Palest ine, 121 , 351 ; in M . K .

,

158 f .,17 6 ; under Hyksos,

1 7 9 f .

,181 f . ; in Em p .

,209

212,223—227 , 228, 235, 239 ,

24 4,24 5, 250 , 263 , 283, 284 f . ,

297 f .,299 , 303

—3 1 1 , 3 16 ff .

,

3 18 f ., 328

- 33 1 , 337 ; in De

cadence, 354 , 360, 361 , 362 ff .,

3 7 3 f .

, 37 5 ff .

,37 8 ; in Rest .

,

4 02 f .,4 06 f .

,4 08—4 10, 4 15 =

Hebrews entering , 284 f .

Papyrus, 34 , 9 1 , 338Papyrus Harris, 34 0 , 34 7 f .Pay

- no’

- zem I.

,k,358

Pay - O’

- nekh , 358

Pe,c, 36 , 4 5, 4 6

Pe’- des, 304

Pe- di- bast’

, k, 365Pentaur’

, 320

Pen - te- we’

- re, 320

Pe’

- pi I.

,k,37 , 1 19

—121

Pepi I I .,k,125—128

4 64 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTSPe- pi - nakht ’

, n,126 , 127

Perian’der, k, 4 02

Peri’re, 330

Per- Ram ses,c, 3 14

Pe—sib '—khen- no’I.

,k, 358 f .

Pesibkhenno II ., 359 , 361

Pe’-

yes, 34 4

Peles’et , p (see also Phil istines) ,

Persia, 4 16—4 18Pharaoh (see King)Pha- se

'- lis

,4 13

Phil istines, 333 , 351 , 360, 37 4 ,3 75, 4 02, 4 04 f .

Pho - cae’

- a,4 13

Phoenicia and Phoenicians,in

O . K .

,106 , 1 14

,121 ; in

Em p .,210—212

,230 , 233 ,

235, 237 , 253 , 282, 297 f .

,

299 , 334 if ; in Egypt , 3 1 7 ;in Decadence, 352, 37 5 ; inRest .

,398 f .

,4 04 f .

,4 08 f .

Phrygians, enter Asia Minor,

Pi - an’- khi

, 368—37 1

Pir ’u, 37 4

Pithom , c, 3 14 , 3 16

Poetry , oldest , 101 ; in M . K .

,

168 f . ; in Em p .

,27 3—27 7

3 12, 320, 321 f .

Polycr’tes, k, 4 13

Popul on , 83

Portraiture, see SculpturePottery , 4 2, 92, earl iest , 3 1Pram m ares

’

, g , 1 70

Predynast ic civil isat ion,

16

30—39

Priest , 4 8, 63—65, 70—7 1 , 72 ,14 8, 199 , 202 f . , 265 ff . , 322 ff .

,

34 0—34 3 , 355 f .

,357—361

367 ff .

,395, 396

Prophecy , 353Peam ’

- tik I.,k .

, 387 , 398, 4 01 ,4 02—4 04

Psam tik II .,4 07 f .

Psam tik I II . , 4 18

Ptah, g , 4 8, 61 , 265 f .

, 304 , 325,338 , 397

Ptah- ho’

- tep , n, 81 , 100, 1 14 ;

wisdom of,1 16 , 168

Punt , 30 ; earl iest voyage to,1 14 ; in O . K .

, 1 14 , 1 15, 127 ;in M . K .

, 137 , 14 2, 155 ; in

Em p .,218 f .

,234

,238, 296,

338

Pyram id, 72, 78 , 106 , 107 , 391 ;the great , 108

—1 10 ; of Kha

fre, 1 10 ; of Menkure, 1 1 1 ; ofGizeh , 108—1 1 1 ; O f Shepseskaf , 1 1 1 ; of Fifth Dynasty ,1 15 ; of Eleventh Dynasty ,137 ; of Twelfth Dynasty ,164 f . ofThirteenth

,17 3 ;Sev

enteenth, 184 ; last , 205, 219

Pyram id text s, 37 , 68, 101 ,

QARQAR , c, 365

Queen , 7 5, 7 6

R0 AMSES, see Ram ses, c

Rain, 8, 10—1 1

Ram esse’um

, 3 19

Ram essids, 324

Ram’ses I.

,297

Ram ses IL ,164 , 301 f .

, 304- 310,

34 0

Ram ses III .

,333—34 4 , 34 7

Ramses IV .

, 34 7—34 8

Ram ses V ., 34 8

Ram ses VI to VIII .

, 34 8

Ram ses IX,34 8 , 34 9 f .

, 351

Ram ses X and XL , 350

Ram ses XII .

, 350 , 355 f .

Ram ses, c, 3 14 , 316

Ram ses- nakht , 34 9Raphia

, battle of , 37 3

Re , 58 , 66 , 1 10, 1 12, 14 7 f . ,

203 , 267 fi .,304 , 338 , 34 2;

tem ples of,1 13


4 66 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTSShab - tu

’- na

,t, 306

Shalm ane’ser II .

, 365

Shalm aneser IV ., 37 3

Sha '- ru—hen

’

,c,187 , 188

Sheke'lesh,p,329 , 334

She'm esh—E’dom

,24 5

Shep - nu’

-

p et (daughter of Osorkon 37 1

Shepnupet (sister of Taharka) ,381 , 388

Shep- ses—kaf’

, k, 1 1 1Sher

’den,

252,283 , 304 , 3 18

329 f ., 334 , 335, 3 38

She’shonk I.

, 360—364

Sheshonk IV .

,365

Sheshonk , n ,360

Ships (including boats) , 90, 106 ,122

,137 , 200 , 218 , 230, 24 0,

253 f . , 3 17 , 334 f .,338, 339 ,

34 1 , 354 , 398, 4 04 , 4 14 , 4 15 ;earl iest , 32

,33 ; earl iest

sea-

going , 106, 1 14Shm iin ,

c, 60

Shu, g , 57

Shubbilul iu’m a

, see Sep lel

Shut - tar’—na

,k,251

Sib ’ i , 37 3Sicily , 329 , 334Sidon

,21 1

,252, 263 , 4 08, 4 09

Si k,17 3

Si’kel i , p , 329 , 334Sil

’sileh , d, 88

Silver, 89 , 92, 197 , 235, 254 ,34 0 , 4 05

Si ’ - m y—ra

,c,21 1

,23 1

,282, 283 ,

298

Sinai, 7 , 50, 9 1 , 104 , 106, 1 10 ,

1 15, 14 2,155

,160 f .

,

Sind ’bad , 167

Si—nou’—he, n, 158, 166 f .

Sirius, 2410 25, 35—36

Siut ' , c, 5, 196 , 197 ; nom archs,

134 —136

Sixth dynasty , 1 17—129

Ske- m i- O’

-

phris, q , 1 70Slaves and serfs, 4 6 , 82

—83 , 85,196, 202, 236, 254 , 3 17 , 34 1 ,34 3 , 395

Sm en’- des, 350

Suef’

- ru,k, 106

—107

SO,k,37 3

Sobk, g, 162 f .

Society , 82—86 , 14 5—1 4 7 , 201 f .

,

395

So il of Egypt , 5—6, 8—9

S_O

’- kar, g , 4 8Solom on, 362, 363

Sofion,4 14

Som a’l i

,p,29

,30

Soul , 65Sources, character of , 26—28Spartans, 4 13 , 4 16Sphinx

,Great , 1 10—1 1 1

,24 7

State,earl iest , 4 5 ; in O . K .

,

7 4 —83 , 1 13—1 14 ; in M . K .,

139—14 7 ; in Em p .

,193 - 202,

322 ; in Rest .

, 394 f .

Stone, 4 2, 88—89 , 92 ; earl iest

work in ,31 f .

,4 4 f .

,105

Suan ’

, c, 7

Sudan, 7 , 156

Suez,29 , 106 , 253 , 3 16 , 3 17 ;

canal,159 , 218 , 4 07

Su’- tekh

, g , 1 7 6 , 17 9, 183 , 304 ,

Syria and Syrians, in O . K . , 90,106 , 1 14 ; in M . K .

,158 f . ;

under Hyksos, 180 , 181 ; inEm p .

,208, 209—212

,223

227 , 228 , 235, 237 , 239 , 24 0,24 4

,24 7

,250 , 25 f .

,263 f .,

282—284 , 285, 2 f .

,299 ,

303—3 1 1 , 316 ff ., 3 19 , 327 ,

333—336 , 337 , 34 1 , 34 3 ; in

Decadence, ‘ 351 f .,3 75 ff .

,

379 f . ; in Rest . , 389 , 398 ,4 02 f .

,4 05 f .

, 4 06 f .,4 08—4 10 ,

4 15 ; in Egypt , 158, 236,

254 , 3 17 f ., 398, 4 10

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJ ECTS 4 67

TA - DU - KHI’

- PA,q, 251

Ta - harJ - ka,k,37 6 , 37 8

- 381

Takelot’ II .

, 365

Tale, 17 6 , 185, 237 f .

24 7 , 3 12, 320 ff . , 365

Ta’- nis, c, 165, 3 14 , 3 15, 350

kings at, 350

—361

Tanite- Am onite period, 350

36 1 ; sketch of 21—22,24

Ta—nut - a’

- m on k 381—382, 387 ,388

Tapestry ,259

Taxat ion, 79 , 14 1—14 3 , 197 ,295 f .

, 395

Tef - nakh’

- te, k, 368—37 1 , 379

Tef ’ - nut, g , 57

Te’henu

,p,328 H.

Tell el - Am arna, see Am arna,

and AkhetatonTell el - Yehudi

’

yeh, 3 14

Tem ple, 14 7 f .,203 , 229 , 236 ,

255—259,299 f .

,3 14 f .

, 3 16 ,

338 f . ; earl iest , 33, 3 7 , 4 5,4 7 f .

, 62—63 ; of sun,

1 13 ;terraced

,217—219 ; endow

m ents,300 , 34 1 ff .

Tenth dynasty , 134—6

Te’

- os, 4 13

Te’resh

,p, 329

Te’

- t i K ., k, 1 19

Tha’- ru, c, 224 , 295, 297 , 304 ,

3 16, 3 17

Thebes, rise of,135, 1 7 4 , 182,

196 , 199 , 204 f . ; in Em p .,

257 ff .

, 3 14 , 3 15 ; in Decadence, 350, 355 f .

, 357 ff .

,

362 , 364 , 3 7 1 , 380 ; capturedby Assyr ians, 380 , 381 f . ; in

Rest .

, 394

The’- kel , 333 , 351 , 352, 354

The’

- m er, k, 334Thesh , k, 38Thi' - nis, c, 16 , 39 , 4 0, 4 6 , 120

Third dynasty , 4 8, 103—7

Thirteenth dynasty , 1 7 3—5, 182

Thoth, g , 4 8, 59 , 60, 1 13

Thu’—re

,n, 209

Thu’

- t iy , n,238

Thut - m o’

- se I.,k,208 f .

,213

Thutm ose II .

,214 , 215, 216

Thutm ose III .,2 14 f .

,216—24 3 ,

282; l st cam paign ,223—228 ;

2nd cam paign,228 f . ; 3rd

cam paign,229 ; 4 th cam

p aign,229 ; 5th cam paign ,

230 ; 6th cam paign, 23 1 ; 7 thcam paign, 23 1 ; 8th cam

p aign,232—234 ; 9th cam

p aign, 238 f l 1th and 12th

cam paigns, 239 ; 13th cam

p aign,239 ; 1 4 th cam paign,

239 ; 15th and l 6th cam

p aigns, 239 ; 1 7 th cam paign,239 f . ; 295

Thutm ose IV . ,24 7 f .

,251 , 261 ,

289

Tig- lath—pi—le’

- ser I.

, k, 354Tiglath

—p ileser III .

, 366

Tigro—Euphrates Valley , 3 , 212Tikh’

- si,c, 24 6

Tim ai’os, k, 1 7 7

Tim sah’

, lake, 3 1 7Tiy , q , 24 8, 253 , 264 , 270Tiy ,

q (wife of Tutenkhaton) ,289

Tom b , 36—37

,4 3—4 4

,51

,68

7 3 , 105, 106- 107 , 1 4 9 , 150 f .

,

164 , 202, 204 f .,219 f .

,272 f .

,

301 , 34 9 f . ; endowm ent of,

4 4,4 5, 70

—72

Tom’

- bos, 208

Tosor’ thros, k, 105Trade

,see Com m erce

Treasury and Treasurer, 4 5, 4 6 ,

7 9 , 1 18, 14 1—1 4 3

,195

,197 f .

,

200

Treaty ,299 , 303 , 3 1 1 , 37 7

Troglodytes, 50, 207

468

Troia, d, 88Tu

’- nip , c, 230, 24 0, 282, 305,3 10

Tut - enkh- a’

- ton,k,288 , 289

Tut - enkh - a’- m on

, k, 288Tu' - ya, q , 301’

h velfth dynasty , 152—17 0 ; date

of,27

Twentieth dynasty , 333—356

Twenty - first dynasty , 357- 36 1

362

Twenty - second dynasty , 360

366

Twenty - third dynasty , 365 f368

Twenty- fourth dynasty , 37 1

Twenty—fif th dynasty , 37 4 383

Twenty—sixth dynasty , 387—4 18Two Lands, 15

Tyre, 21 1 , 235, 298 , 299 , 3 16,375, 37 9, 4 08, 4 09 , 4 10

U’- BI

,d , 263

Uga’rit, 304

- laf za , c, 298

Une’shek , 24 9

U’- ni

,n,120, 121, 122, 124 ,

U’- nis, k, 1 15

Usephais’ k

,4 5, 4 9 , 50

U- ser k, 1 12, 1 14U'

- ser e- re’

, k, 1 19

VALLEY O F THE KINGs’TOMBS,

219 f .,24 1 , 24 7 , 263, 301 ,

348 , 350

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTSVizier, 80—81 , 1 13—114 , 1 19,14 4 , 182, 195, 196, 197 , 198 ,199, 200 f .

XOIS,c,1 7 5

YAM,d,123 , 126

Ya'—ru

, 66 , 203

Year, 35, 4 6Ye- no

’- am , c, 331

ZA’

- HI,223 , 238

Zakar- Ba’- al , 352

—4

Zau,n , 125

Zed- e- k i’—ah, k, 4 08 , 4 10

Zer, k, 51 , 14 8Zo

f- ser, k, 103—106

WADY A- LA’- KI

,301 , 302

Wady—Halfa , 154Wady Tu

—m i 153 , 3 14 , 3 16 ,3 17

Wa—wat’

,p,123

,126 , 153 , 155,

24 1

Wen- a’- m on

,352—4

We’shesh, p, 334

White House, 36 , 197White Nile, 4White Wall , 0 , 4 6 , 103 , 1 19World, 57

Worshippers of Horus, 38—39 ,4 8

Writ ing , 91 , 92—93 , 281 , 337 f . ,

395 ; earl iest, 37 f .,4 6 f .



are Eisturics l g a tes for IBible%inuents

EDITED BY

PROFESSOR CHARLES F . KENT, PH .D. , of Yale Universi ty ,

AND

PROFESSOR FRANK K . SANDERS, PH .D. , form erly ofYale Universi ty

!Bul imia V

A H IST O R Y

O F THE

A NC IE NT E GY PT IA NS

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