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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38677-8.txt b/38677-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..864df42 --- /dev/null +++ b/38677-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17604 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI), by Max Duncker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) + +Author: Max Duncker + +Translator: Evelyn Abbott + +Release Date: January 26, 2012 [EBook #38677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY. + + + + THE + HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY. + + FROM THE GERMAN + OF + PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER, + + + BY + EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., + _FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD._ + + + VOL. I. + + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. + 1877. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. + + +Fifty years ago, the opinion was held by some that we could watch, in +the tradition of the most ancient realms of the East, the first awkward +steps in the childhood of the human race, while others believed that it +was possible to discover there the remnants of an original wisdom, +received by mankind at the beginning of their course immediately from +the hand of heaven. The monuments of the East, subsequently discovered +and investigated by the combined labour of English, German, and French +scholars, have added an unexpected abundance of fresh information to the +Hebrew Scriptures and the narratives of the Greeks, which, till then, +were almost our only resource. No one can any longer be ignorant that +Hither Asia at a very remote period was in possession of a rich and +many-sided civilisation. The earliest stages of that civilisation in the +valley of the Nile, of the Euphrates and the Tigris, on the coasts and +in the interior of Syria are, it is true, entirely hidden from our +knowledge; even the far more recent culture of the Aryan tribes we can +only trace with the help of the Veda and the Avesta back to the point at +which they were already acquainted with agriculture, and possessed +considerable artistic skill. + +Our object in regard to the ancient East is not to retrace the beginning +of human civilization, but rather to understand and establish the value +and extent of those early phases of civilisation to which the entire +development of the human race goes back. The way to this aim is clearly +sketched out for us. A minute comparison of tradition with the results +of the successful advance of Oriental studies, a conscientious +examination of the one by the other, opens out to us the prospect of +discerning more precisely the nature of those ancient constitutions and +modes of life. + +To this purpose I have undertaken to contribute by a descriptive +treatment of the subject. Such an attempt appeared to me indicated by +the consideration that the fragments of our knowledge--and more than +fragments we do not at present possess, and never shall possess, even +though we assume that the number of monuments be considerably +increased--if conscientiously brought together, would produce the most +effective impression by exhibiting the connection of all the various +sides of those ancient civilisations--and if to this collection were +added the conclusions that can be drawn from it and from the monuments +about the political life, the religion, the manners and laws, the art +and trade of those nations. + +How to offer in a general survey the sum total of these fragments of the +ancient East is a problem attended with difficulties which I have felt +at every step in my work. There are not many corner-stones immovably +fixed; the outlines are often to be drawn with a wavering pen; the +unavoidable explanations of the gaps to be filled up admit of a variety +of opinions. Hence it is often--only too often--necessary to interrupt +the narrative by comments, in order to support the view taken by the +author, or refute other views, or arrive at the conclusion that there is +no sufficient evidence for a final decision. The best mode of remedying +these disagreeable interruptions was first to state the tradition, which +is generally closely connected with the peculiar nature of the people +whose fortunes it narrates, and if not actually true, is nevertheless +characteristic of the manners and views of the nation, and then to +examine this tradition in and by itself, and in conjunction with the +monuments; to state the opposite interpretations; and, finally, to give +the results thus obtained. In this way narrative and investigation are +combined in such a manner that the reader is enabled to pursue the +inquiry. The data and the critical examination of them, and lastly the +results obtained, are put before him for his own decision. + +The objections, made of late to the results of Assyrian researches, +touch certain points only, in which over-hasty conclusions have +prematurely declared the enigma to be solved. Whatever doubts may still +remain, I have felt the more confidence in following the main results, +because wherever Asshur and Israel come into contact the Hebrew +Scriptures agree with the records of the kings of Asshur. Who could +understand the meaning of the verses of Nahum (iii. 8-10), of the fate +of "No-Ammon, to whose aid came Ethiopians, Arabians, and Libyans," till +G. Smith discovered the document of Assurbanipal relating to the capture +of Thebes? Who could explain the words of Ezekiel about the grave of +Elam (xxxii. 27) till the tiles of Babylonia and Assyria told us of the +ancient supremacy and power of this kingdom, and of its battles with the +Assyrians, and subjugation by their arms? If, in chronology, I have +given the preference to the tablets of the Assyrian Archons over the +Books of Kings, I have done so, not because I hold the former to be +infallible, but because the chronological dates in the Books of Kings +prove, by more than one contradiction, that they have not come down to +us intact. + +My narrative embraces those independent civilisations of the ancient +East which came to exercise a mutual influence on each other. First we +follow the realm on the Nile and the kingdoms of Hither Asia as far as +the point where the nations of Iran began to influence their destinies. +Then I attempt to set forth the peculiar development of the Aryan tribes +in the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges, down to the times of +Tshandragupta and Asoka. Then follows the history of the Bactrians, the +Medes, and the Persians, until the period when the nations of the +table-land of Iran were united by Cyrus and Darius with the countries +of Western Asia, when Aryan life and Aryan civilisation gained the +supremacy over the whole region from Ceylon to the Nile and the +Hellespont. The forms of life at which the great empires of Asia had +arrived are finally brought face to face with the more youthful +civilisation attained by the Hellenes in their mountain cantons. This +new development we follow down to the first great shock when East and +West met in conflict, and the Achæmenids sought to crush the Hellenes +under the weight of Asia. With the failure of this attempt my history of +the ancient world concludes. + + MAX DUNCKER. + +BERLIN, _March_, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK I. + +_EGYPT._ + + CHAPTER I. PAGE + THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 1 + + CHAPTER II. + THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 15 + + CHAPTER III. + THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS 42 + + CHAPTER IV. + THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS 84 + + CHAPTER V. + THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM 122 + + CHAPTER VI. + THE HOUSE OF RAMSES 142 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES 167 + + CHAPTER VIII. + LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS 183 + + +BOOK II. + +_THE SEMITIC NATIONS._ + + CHAPTER I. + THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON 233 + + CHAPTER II. + THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDÆANS 264 + + CHAPTER III. + THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA 287 + + CHAPTER IV. + THE ARABS 307 + + CHAPTER V. + THE CANAANITES 337 + + CHAPTER VI. + THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES 351 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS 383 + + CHAPTER VIII. + THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT 420 + + CHAPTER IX. + THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS 441 + + CHAPTER X. + THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT 467 + + CHAPTER XI. + THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN 490 + + CHAPTER XII. + THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR 510 + + + + +ERRATA. + + + Page 14, line 3 from bottom, _for_ "chalk rock" _read_ "lime-stone." + " 51, " 3 " _for_ "sun-globe" _read_ "sun-mountain." + " 81, " 2 " _for_ "horologe" _read_ "sun-mountain." + " 140, " 10 " _for_ "_savans_" _read_ "_savants_." + + + + +BOOK I. + +EGYPT. + + + + +EGYPT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. + + +History knows nothing of her infancy. The beginning of the development +of the human race lies beyond the sphere of memory, and so also do the +first steps in that development. The early stages of culture--whether in +nations or individuals--are unconscious, and unobservant of self; they +are therefore without the conditions which make remembrance possible. +The original forms of social life in the family and in the tribe, the +movement of wandering hunters and shepherds, the earliest steps in +agriculture, could leave behind them neither monuments nor records. It +is true no gifted or favoured nation, which has raised itself above +these beginnings to civic life and independent culture, has neglected to +cast a backward glance upon the history of its past. Everywhere the +attempt has been made to present the past from the later point of +culture. Whether the memory reaches but a little way, or goes back far +into the past, it is always enriched by ideas taken from religious +conceptions, or national pride, from reflection or theory. Such +reconstructions are significant of the nature and character of the +people for whom they replace the history of their youth, but they have +no claim to represent the actual course of their development. The case +is different when the growing culture of a people is observed by nations +already at a higher grade of civilisation. The Romans were in a position +to leave behind a picture of the youthful German tribes; the Byzantines +could inform us of the movements of the Slaves; modern Europe could +observe the tribes of America, the nomadic shepherds of Asia, and the +islanders of the South Sea from a higher and riper point of development. + +The oldest kingdoms of which tradition and monuments preserve any +information passed unobserved through the earliest stages of their +culture. Tradition and the earliest monuments present them already in +the possession of a many-sided and highly-developed civilisation. In +what way these nations, the oldest representatives of the culture of +mankind, arrived at their possession, we can only deduce from such +evidence as is before us anterior to tradition and independent of +it--from the nature of the regions where these civilisations sprung up, +from the physical character and constitution of the nations which +developed them, from their languages and their religious ideas. + +The history of antiquity is the description of the forms of culture +first attained by the human race. If it is impossible to discover the +origin of these forms historically, and the attempt is made to indicate +their preliminary stages, so far as the recorded elements allow +connected conclusions, it becomes the chief object of such a history to +recover from the fragments of monuments and tradition the culture of the +ancient East, and of the Hellenes so closely connected with the East: +to reconstruct from isolated relics and myths the image of that rich and +ample life which filled the East in religion and state, in art and +industry, in research and commerce, in political struggles and intense +religious devotion, long before the time when Solon gave laws to the +Athenians, and the army of Cyrus trod the shore of the Ægean Sea. + +The oldest civilisation, the oldest state grew up on that quarter of the +globe which seems least favourable to the development of mankind. On +either side of the equator, Africa stretches out in huge land-locked +masses. A vast table-land occupies the whole south of the continent, and +in the north sinks down to a plain more impassable even than the broad +seas which wash the coasts of Africa on the west, south, and east. This +plain--the bed of a dry sea--lies in the burning sun without vegetation. +Only where springs water the thirsty soil do fruitful islands rise out +of the moving sand, the lonely waste of ravines, the craggy ridges, and +bald platforms of rock. + +As the sea nowhere indents the coasts of Africa with deep bays, the +rivers cannot excavate broad and fruitful valleys, and provide means of +access to the interior. The high table-land is surrounded by a steep +rampart of mountains, which descend in terraces to the coast, and here, +almost without exception, leave narrow strips of low and marshy land. +Through the barrier drawn around them by this rampart the rivers must +force their path in a violent course, in waterfalls and rapids, in order +to fall into the sea after a short, and proportionately more sluggish +course through the narrow strip on the shore. + +The table-land, its rampart of mountains, and the long lines of coast, +are, with the exception of the southern apex and the Alpine territory +of Abyssinia in the east, the dwelling-places of the black race--the +negro. However great the number of negro nations and tribes, however +much they differ in physical form and in dialect--living as they do +beneath a vertical sun, in regions difficult of access--they have never +risen beyond the infancy of human civilisation--a rude worship of gods. +Wherever they have not been powerfully affected by the introduction of +foreign elements, generation has followed generation without remembrance +or essential alteration. + +The north coast of Africa is of a different character to the rest of the +continent. While the western coast looks to the broad Atlantic Ocean, +and the waves which break on the southern apex lead to the ice of the +pole, the north coast is separated from the neighbouring shores by a +basin of moderate extent. It is a mountainous district which fills up +the space between the Sahara and the Mediterranean. Towards the west the +peaks of Atlas reach, even in this climate, to the region of eternal +snow; on the east, towards the mouths of the Nile, the hills gradually +sink down, and the plain of Barca rises little more than 1,000 feet +above the sea level. Numerous chains of hills, at one time pressing +close upon the sea, at another leaving more extensive plains upon the +coast, cover the northern edge, which along the deep valleys of the +mountain streams exhibits that vigorous and luxuriant vegetation so +characteristic of Africa when not checked by want of water, although +even these fruitful valleys are again in their turn broken by droughty, +and therefore bare, table-lands and depressions. + +On this northern coast, toward the Mediterranean, opens the valley +which, in extent of fruitful territory, is the largest in the whole +continent. It occupies the north-east corner of Africa, which is only +separated from Arabia by a narrow strip of sea, and carries its gleaming +waters through the wide space from the subsidence of the table-land down +to the coast, where for almost its whole remaining breadth the continent +is filled up with the desert of Sahara. + +From the north-east spur of the table-land, out of vast lakes (Ukerewe), +fed from the glaciers and snows of huge mountains lying under the +equator, and passing through the lower lake Mwutan, flows the western +arm of the Nile, the White Nile, Bahr-el-Abiad. After bursting through +the terraces of the mountain, it reaches, at the foot, a woody morass, +filled with thickets of tamarisks and sycamores, of bamboo and reeds and +tall creepers, inhabited by the elephant and rhinoceros, the +hippopotamus and the crocodile, the zebra and hyena, by antelopes and +snakes. Then the stream passes into broad savannas, covered here and +there with tropic forests, and while flowing through a mountainous +district of moderate elevation, it unites with the eastern arm, the Blue +Nile, Bahr-el-Azrak, which, rising further to the east out of the +Abyssinian plateau, brings down a far smaller bulk of water from the +Alpine glades of the snowy mountain Samen. Combined into one stream, +these waters flow through a broad expanse of rock and desert, covered +with conical stones of volcanic origin. The lines of hills running +parallel to the terraces of the mountain rampart lie athwart the river; +and through this barrier it breaks in numerous cataracts. Only in the +depressions between them can the soil, refreshed with water, support +vegetation. Finally, at Syene the Nile passes through the last cataract. +Henceforward the structure of the mountains is changed. A fissure in +the rock about 750 miles long opens on the Mediterranean; and through +this the mighty river--at the last cataract it is 3,000 feet in +breadth--can flow onward in undisturbed peace to the ocean. + +Out of this fissure the Nile has created a narrow strip of fruitful +soil--the valley is not more than three or four hours in breadth on an +average--which is secured by the heights on the west from the moving +sand and the storms of the great desert, and is separated by the +mountain on the east from the rocky crags, the desolate flats, and sandy +dunes which fill up the space between the valley of the river and the +Red Sea. To this valley the mighty river not only gives a refreshing +coolness and moisture by the mass of its waters, it fertilises and +manures it from year to year by its overflow. At the summer solstice, +when the snow on the peaks of the lofty mountains, in which the two arms +of the Nile take their rise, is melting, and the tropical rains fall +upon its upper course, the waters of the river slowly and gradually +rise. Towards the end of July it passes over the banks and overflows the +whole valley as far as the enclosing lines of hills, so that towards the +end of September it stands more than twenty feet above the lowest water +level. Falling as gradually as it rose after more than four months it +sinks back to the ordinary level. Wherever the overflowing waters have +covered the land, there is left behind a fertilising mud or slime. This +is the soil which the two rivers before uniting have washed from the +upper hills. Carried down by the stream, it is deposited by the gentle +flow of the waters on the surface of the valley. The refreshment of the +earth by the inundation, the fertilisation by this slime, and the +cooling of the air by the immense body of water, are the essential +advantages which Egypt owes to her river, and hence, even as early as +Herodotus, Egypt seemed to be the gift of the Nile. The watering of the +soil and the cooling of the air just in the very hottest months of the +year, are the more invaluable because the blue and gleaming sky of the +upper valley is never darkened by rain clouds, while the heat is severe, +and the storms from the south-west occasionally carry the sand and the +dust over the Libyan hills into the Nile. In the Delta, the region along +the lowest course of the Nile, showers occasionally rise from the +neighbouring sea; and through eight months of the year the whole valley +opening on the Mediterranean is fanned by refreshing winds from the +north, which also facilitate navigation against the stream. + +This river-valley, the like of which in nature and formation is not to +be found in the whole globe, offered in its seclusion a peculiarly +favoured spot. It was a small green oasis of luxuriant fertility and +grateful coolness in the midst of boundless deserts. The dwellers in a +land whose soil was every year newly manured by nature, which brought +forth abundantly almost without labour, must very soon have abandoned a +pastoral life for agriculture, and in consequence have acquired fixed +abodes and settled possessions. But the yearly inundation compelled them +also at an early period to protect their flocks from the water, to +secure their habitations, to observe the periods of the rising and +falling of the stream. The long duration of the overflow made it +necessary to provide for the support of man and beast. They had to learn +how to carry on their dealings with each other upon the water, when the +whole valley was still filled with the river, and to mark out firmly the +limits of their plots, so that they might again take possession of them +after the inundation. In Nubia the cataracts stopped the navigation of +the river, and the lines of rock and strips of desert made intercourse +difficult, and confined the life of the tribes within the limits of the +native valley to their separate possessions. In Egypt, within the two +lines of hills, land and river created no hindrance. A region so +concentrated could not but carry the tribes beyond the limits of +separate existence; the very land forced them to live a life more in +common. There was only a slight natural distinction between the more +secluded upper valley and the lower opening in the Delta about the +mouths of the Nile; and this could merely have a stimulating effect upon +the development of culture, without interfering in any way with its +unity. Nevertheless the community of life in the valley of the Nile was +not caused solely by the nature of the land. The tribes of the deserts +around this long and narrow oasis must have had all the more lively a +sense of the charm of the favoured valley owing to the difficulty with +which they procured their own subsistence. Against these plundering +neighbours, and their attempts to force themselves into the valley of +blessing and abundance, the inhabitants of Egypt had to combine their +forces. They needed a strong centralized command, a warlike monarchy, to +which here, earlier than elsewhere, the patriarchal government of the +tribes would therefore give way. + +Egypt kept her inhabitants secluded within hard and fast limits; beyond +the hills began the desert. With the increasing number of inhabitants +the attempt must have been made to set low-lying marshy districts free +from the excess of water, and to make fruitful the higher parts of the +valley beyond the reach of the inundations by bringing the water upon +them. Experience quickly taught that the plot produced the most abundant +fruits on which the inundation had continued longest, and consequently +had time to deposit the thickest layer of mud. Hence the attempt was +made to keep the water longer on the soil by means of dykes. These +objects, in regard to which the interests of the several districts +differed, and which required the combination of large masses of +operatives to carry them out, must have made the need of a supreme +decisive and executive power felt earlier in Egypt than in other lands. + +The inhabitants of Egypt found themselves surrounded by a solemn +landscape, before fixed and unchanging forms and outlines, in the midst +of natural phenomena, recurring with invariable regularity and always in +the same succession. Such surroundings and impressions must have stamped +on the young life of a ripening nation a settled, stern, and unvarying +character. When the original unity and society of life, which comprises +all members of the family and in the tribe, has been broken +through--when at the beginning of their settled life some have turned +their attention to agriculture and cattle, others to hunting and war, +others again to the fulfilment of religious duties--the sons are wont to +carry on the vocation of the fathers. This is the rule often in far more +advanced periods; and simpler conditions of life compel the son to carry +on the life of the father, in whose occupation he has grown up. In such +times there is no mode of teaching and instruction but through the +family. In this way the tribes and the nation part into separate +circles, which carry on as an inheritance the mode of life derived from +their forefathers. These divisions of occupation, of vocation, and mode +of life could be carried out earlier and with greater sharpness in +Egypt than in other lands. + +As life becomes more settled and developed, there are always found +families with an especial liking for war. They are enriched by the spoil +which is the fruit of their bravery, and protect the agricultural and +pastoral part of their tribe from the attacks of plunderers. Every +nation gives willing honour to the brave warriors among them, and gladly +recognises the superiority of a mode of life which puts life to the risk +over other occupations. And when, from the early simple stage, in which +every head of a family approaches the gods with his offerings in trust +and confidence, religion has developed into a body of usages and customs +which must be performed and followed out if any share is to be obtained +in the grace of the gods, the exact knowledge of these can only be +handed down from father to son. And if the mass of the population gives +honour to the warriors, how much more readily will it bow down before +those who, by their prayers, libations, and offerings, can bring them +the fruits of the field and the blessing of the gods--protection in this +world and salvation in the next! Moreover, if the families of warriors +and priests, filled with the conviction of their own higher worth, +disdain the occupations of the rest of the people; if they are convinced +that they are of a better kind than the rest, that only from the noble +and good can the noble and good arise--that better blood gives better +feelings, and better birth better men--then in this feeling, so natural +to a primitive era, they allow their occupation to be shared only by +those who belong to their race; they take wives from their own class +only, not from others; they give their daughters in marriage to their +own people only. Thus the various modes of life and orders which +naturally come into existence end in castes. + +The more fruitful the land of Egypt, the richer the products of the +soil, and the more frequent the necessity of repelling the plundering +inroads of the desert tribes, the more rapidly did the distinction +between the agricultural and military orders spring up. And the greater +the pride with which the inhabitants of this favoured land might and did +look down upon the miserable tribes of the desert, the more grateful +were the looks turned towards the gods, who had given them so beautiful +and productive a land in the midst of the desert, who supplied them with +water, fertilised their soil, cooled the heat of the atmosphere and gave +them life and plenty, while all around them reigned desolation and +death. To these beneficent powers the inhabitants of the valley of the +Nile could not refuse an earnest service of thanksgiving for blessings +so rich and so ceaselessly renewed; by their piety they had also to +provide that the gods would graciously preserve these blessings to them. +It is obvious that a tone and feeling like this, arising in the +population from the very nature of the land, must have been in a high +degree conducive to the rise of a priestly order in Egypt. + +Egypt had excellent natural boundaries. If the forces of the land were +once united in a single hand, there could be no difficulty in repelling +the tribes of the desert. Thenceforward there would be little reason to +fear an enemy on this side of the boundary hills. No rival power could +arise in the neighbouring deserts, and should any victorious state arise +at a distance, the deserts checked the advance of their armies. It was +much more probable that the united forces of the river-valley should +subjugate the tribes of the surrounding desert. Hence the position of +their land allowed the inhabitants of the valley to develop undisturbed. +The culture once obtained could be quietly transmitted to others, and +constantly extended. This circumstance, in connection with the domestic +peace of the country under a monarchy, allowed the priesthood to extend +their lore in unbroken tradition from generation to generation, while +quietly amassing stores of knowledge; and with the increase of the +population all the hands not required for agriculture--and in Egypt this +claims but a small amount of labour--had to devote themselves to trade +and manufacture. And even these arts were likely to attain the greater +excellence in so far as the artisans and tillers of the ground were less +disturbed by war and military service. The more distinct the boundaries +of the land, the less to conquer and occupy outside them, the more +industrious, amid the growing population, must have been the culture of +the ground and the irrigation of it, the more actively must the artisans +have pursued their trade, and industry must have developed with a +greater vigour as the number of mouths requiring food increased. + +So far as our knowledge reaches, the northern edge of Africa, like the +valley of the Nile as far as the marshes at the foot of the Abyssinian +hills, was inhabited by nations who in colour, language, and customs +were sharply distinguished from the negro. These nations belong to the +whites: their languages were most closely allied to the Semitic.[1] From +this, and from their physical peculiarities, the conclusion has been +drawn that these nations at some time migrated from Asia to the soil of +Africa. They formed a vast family, whose dialects still continue in the +language of the Berbers. Assisted by the favourable conditions of their +land, the tribe which settled on the Lower Nile quickly left their +kinsmen far behind. Indeed the latter hardly rose above a pastoral life. +The descendants of these old inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, in +spite of the numerous layers which the course of centuries has +subsequently laid upon the soil of the land, still form the larger part +of the population of Egypt, and the ancient language is preserved in the +dialect of the Copts.[2] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 75 ff.; Ebers, "Ægypten and die Bücher +Moses," p. 43; Renan ("Histoire générale et système comparé des langues +Sémitiques") will not admit this close connection. + +[2] Brugsch ("Histoire d'Egypte," pp. 5, 6) explains the name Egypt by +_ha-ka-ptah_, _i.e._ "the precinct of Ptah." As Ptah was more especially +the god of Memphis, this name would have come from Memphis. The attempt +has been repeatedly made to derive the civilisation of Egypt from +Ethiopia and Meroe. But the problem of the origin of a given +civilisation is not solved by removing it from the locality where it +exists in full bloom to another, and as a rule more unknown, district. +In the case before us this assumption is met by the peculiar difficulty, +that the culture of Egypt is influenced essentially by the nature of the +land, and therefore can hardly have had an external origin. It cannot be +removed from a highly favoured locality into a district extremely hot, +and fruitful only in detached oases, without making the explanation of +its origin much more difficult. Moreover, the lower valley of the Nile +has always ruled over the upper: even in mediæval and modern times. The +inscriptions of Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), mention the king +of Meroe (Miluhhi); those of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) tell us, "The +kings of Egypt have summoned the archers, the chariots, the horses of +the king of Miluhhi." The inscriptions of Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.) +speak of the "King of Egypt and Miluhhi," whom they also name "King of +Egypt and Cush;" and the successor of Esarhaddon directed his first +campaign against "Tarku" (Thirhaka) "of Egypt and Miluhhi." The word +Meroe, therefore, as the name of a kingdom lying above Egypt on the +Nile, must have been in use in Syria, even in the eighth century B.C. +Hence the Greeks denote by this name an island, and also a city of the +Upper Nile. According to Herodotus (2, 29) the great city Meroe, "which +ought to be the chief city of the rest of the Ethiopians" (_i.e._ of +those of whom the Egyptians were not the immediate neighbours), was +forty days' journey and twelve days' sail (_i.e._ over 15,000 stadia) +above Syene. Later authorities, Eratosthenes, Artemidorus, Strabo, +Pliny, Ptolemy reduce the distance by nearly one-half; they regard the +distance between Meroe and Syene as nearly equal to the distance from +Syene to Alexandria, and fix the whole distance from Alexandria to Meroe +at 10,000 to 12,000 stadia. As the town and island of Meroe must be +south of the junction of the Astaboras (Atbara), (Strabo, p. 786), we +must look for the island between the Atbara and the Blue Nile, and for +the city in the ruins at the modern Begerauieh. Yet the chief town of +the kingdom of Meroe, when it takes an active part in history, is not +Begerauieh. King Thirhaka's residence lay near the modern Meraui under +Mount Barkal. The name in inscriptions is Neb, and, consequently, in +Greek and Latin Napata. Even under the Sesurtesen and Amenemha, Egypt +ruled over Nubia as far as Semne and Kumna, under Amenophis III. as far +as Soleb, and under Ramses II. as far as Mt. Barkal. The oldest ruins at +this spot belong to a temple dedicated by this king to Ammon (Lepsius, +"Reisebriefe," s. 238); next come the ruins of the buildings of +Thirhaka, which differ as little from Egyptian buildings as those which +he and his two Ethiopian predecessors erected in Egypt. Moreover, the +later ruins found at Napata, especially some twenty small pyramids, are +feeble imitations of Egyptian art. The same character of imitation is +stamped upon the monuments of Begerauieh, though here it is mingled with +foreign elements. This place, further removed from Egypt, and therefore +more secure, was beyond doubt the residence of the kings of Meroe, at +least from the time of Cambyses, and it was named after the country. +Herodotus points out that Zeus and Dionysus, _i.e._ Osiris, were +worshipped here, and that the oracle of Zeus, _i.e._ of Ammon, extended +its authority over the Ethiopians: the further accounts which Diodorus +preserves of this priesthood give a poor idea of their cultivation (3, 3 +ff. Strabo, pp. 827, 828). At the time of the second Ptolemy, this +priesthood was destroyed by the King, Ergamenes, whose name (Arkamen) +Lepsius has discovered on ruins at Mt. Barkal, as well as Begerauieh, +and an independent monarchy was established. Hence we must entirely give +up the idea of deriving the supposed supremacy of the priesthood in +Egypt, a supremacy which never existed here, from the priesthood formed +at Begerauieh after the time of Thirhaka and Psammetichus (in the days +of Psammetichus, Herodotus tells us that a king of the Ethiopians +received strangers without an oracle, and gave them land, 2, 30); that +is, in the sixth century B.C., which continued to exist till 250 B.C. +Still less reason is there to suppose that the so-called Indian +supremacy of the priesthood came through Meroe into Egypt. Rather we may +feel ourselves justified in assuming that the elements of civilisation +which took root on the middle Nile passed from Egypt to that district. +In the inscriptions of Begerauieh the name Meroe occurs as Meru, and +Merua, _i.e._ "White rock"; Lepsius, _l. c._ 205-232. As the banks of +the Nile, here and also at Mt. Barkal, consist of whitish-yellow chalk +rocks, the name of the land and its southern metropolis, of which the +existence since the sixth century B.C. is demonstrated, may have been +named from this peculiarity of the land. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. + + +In the eighteenth century B.C., according to their reckoning, the +tradition of the Hebrews presents us with a complete picture of court +and civic life in the valley of the Nile, and it tells us of the +building of cities in the east of the Delta, which, according to the +same computation, must have been founded about the year 1550 B.C. The +Homeric poems contain accounts of the land of Ægyptus, of the +fair-flowing Zeus-born river of the same name, of the very beautiful +fields and cities of Egypt, of princes who fought from their chariots, +and finally of "Egyptian Thebes, where in the palaces lie the greatest +treasures; a city with a hundred gates, from each of which go forth two +hundred men with horses and chariots." They also add "that the fruitful +earth bears abundance of drugs in Egypt, some mingled for good, others +for evil, and there every one is a physician and has acquaintance with +men; they are all sprung from the god of healing."[3] + +According to the account given by the Greeks the Egyptians boasted to be +the oldest of mankind, and to possess the most ancient traditions.[4] +Their priests believed that they could compute the history of Egypt by +thousands of years. When Herodotus was in Egypt about the middle of the +fifth century B.C., the priests at Thebes read to him from a book the +names of 331 kings who had reigned from Menes, the first ruler of Egypt, +and the founder of Memphis, down to Moeris inclusive; among these were +eighteen Ethiopians, and one queen; the rest were Egyptians. After +Moeris came Sesostris, Pheron, Proteus, Rhampsinitus, Cheops and +Chephren, Mycerinus, Asychis, Anysis, Sabakon, and Sethos, so that from +Menes to Sethos 341 kings had reigned over Egypt in as many generations. +Herodotus remarks that the priests assured him that they had an accurate +knowledge of what they said, for the years were always enumerated and +put down. To convince him they carried him into the great temple at +Thebes and showed him there 345 wooden colossi of the chief priests who +had presided over the temple through as many generations, in regular +succession from father to son; for every chief priest placed his statue +here during his own life-time. Before these kings and chief priests the +gods had ruled over Egypt; first the Eight Gods, then the Twelve, then +Osiris the Greek Dionysus, after him Typhon, and, last of all, Horus. +From the time of King Amasis (570-526 B.C.) to the time of Osiris 15,000 +years had passed, but from the time of the Twelve Gods to Amasis 17,000 +years.[5] + +Herodotus does not conceal the doubts raised in his mind by the high +antiquity claimed in these accounts by the priests. He found an especial +difficulty in the fact that Dionysus Osiris, who, according to his +computation, was born 1,600 years at the most before his own time +(_i.e._ about 2050 B.C.), must have lived more than 15,000 years +earlier, according to the assertion of the Egyptians. By their account +341 kings reigned from Menes to Sethos; and on this basis Herodotus +reckoned the duration and commencement of the Egyptian kingdom. He took +33-1/3 years as the length of a generation, and thus Menes must have +begun to reign 340 generations, or 11,340 years before the accession of +Sethos. Further, Herodotus placed over 150 years between the accession +of Sethos and the death of Amasis, and thus according to his data we get +the enormous total of 11,500 years for the duration of the Egyptian +kingdom from Menes till its overthrow by the Persians. Menes therefore +must have ascended the throne before the year 12000 B.C.; the rule of +Osiris commenced 15500 B.C.; and that of the Twelve Gods 17500 B.C. + +If we leave the gods out of the question, and reduce the length of a +generation, which Herodotus has put too high, to its real average of +twenty-five years, the 340 generations with those of Sethos, +Psammetichus, Necho, Psammetichus II., Apries, and Amasis, make up 8,650 +years, and since the Persians took Egypt in 525 B.C., the beginning of +the reign of Menes still falls in the year 9175 B.C. This incredible +fact is not made more credible because Plato represents an Egyptian +priest asserting to Solon that the annals of Sais reached back 8,000 +years; or speaks in the "Laws" of works of Egyptian art, ten thousand +years old.[6] + +Four hundred years after Herodotus, Diodorus travelled to Egypt.[7] He +tells that, according to some fabulous accounts, gods and heroes first +ruled over Egypt for something less than 18,000 years. The last of +these was Horus, the son of Isis. After these came 470 native kings, of +whom the first was Menes, before the time of the Macedonian and Persian +rule, and also four Ethiopian kings and five queens. The Ethiopians did +not immediately succeed each other, but at intervals, and their united +reigns amounted to a little less than thirty-six years. "Of all these +kings the priests have sketches in their holy books, handed down through +successive generations from extreme antiquity, showing how tall each +king was, what he was like, and what he accomplished in his reign." If +we place the reign of Menes 479 generations before Cambyses, this +computation, on the reckoning of Herodotus, would place the accession of +Menes in the year 16492 B.C.; taking a shorter average length for the +generations, we may bring it to the year 12500 B.C. But Diodorus shows +from other accounts that this mode of computation is inadmissible. He +tells us that the priests of Egypt numbered about 23,000[8] years from +the reign of Helius or Hephæstus, who, according to other priests, was +the first of the gods to reign,[9] till the entrance of Alexander into +Asia (334 B.C.). If of this total we allow about 18,000 years to the +gods, the accession of Menes would have to be placed about the year 5300 +B.C.[10] But as Diodorus also says that something less than 5,000 years +had elapsed since the first human king to his arrival in Egypt, Menes' +reign would fall about the year 5000 B.C. Diodorus fixes the accession +of this king even more closely when he remarks, in a third passage, that +the Egyptians assured him that, "for more than 4,700 years, kings, +mostly natives, had ruled, and the land had prospered greatly under +them."[11] With this agrees the further account given by Diodorus, that +according to some the largest pyramid was built 3,400 years before his +time. According to this Menes cannot be carried back further than 4,800 +years B.C. + +If Menes founded the kingdom of Egypt 4,800 years B.C., it continued for +4,275 years under native kings; and if in this period 346 kings ascended +the throne, as Herodotus says, or 479, as Diodorus, the average duration +of each reign would be in the first case more than twelve years, in the +second less than nine, which contradicts all credible history. The +lowest average of oriental reigns is fifteen years. + +Still, from these accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus it is clear that +the priests of Egypt possessed lists of the kings in long series, and +that, according to their view, gods and demigods had ruled over Egypt +for thousands of years before the earliest of these kings. After Greek +princes had ascended the throne of the Pharaohs, and Egypt with its +monuments and writings was opened to the research of the Greeks, +Eratosthenes, who was the head of the library at Alexandria in the +second half of the third century B.C., studied the history of these old +kings--at "the royal request," as Georgius Syncellus tells us--in the +old annals and lists of the Egyptians, and transcribed these lists in +the Hellenic language.[12] This compilation of Eratosthenes contained +the names and reigns of thirty-eight kings of Thebes. Syncellus repeats +the list, and adds: "Here ended the rule of the thirty-eight kings who +were called Theban in Egypt, whose names Eratosthenes collected out of +the sacred books of Thebes and translated into the Hellenic language. +The names of the fifty-three Theban kings who followed these have been +also preserved by Apollodorus; but we consider it superfluous to add +them, for even the list of the first is of no use."[13] Thus the +researches of the Alexandrine Greeks had brought together a list of +ninety-one kings, ninety successors of Menes, out of the writings of the +priests of Thebes. As early as the time of Eratosthenes the Egyptians +assisted the researches of the Greeks. About the middle of the third +century B.C., that is, in the time of the second and third Ptolemy, an +Egyptian named Manetho (_Ma-n-thoth_ = "loved by Thoth"), of Sebennytus, +and apparently scribe to the temple at Thebes,[14] composed in Greek a +work on the history of Egypt in three books. "Obviously possessed of +Hellenic culture"--so we find it in Josephus--"Manetho wrote the history +of his country in Greek, translating it, as he tells us, from the sacred +writings; he undertook to interpret Egyptian history from the sacred +writings."[15] This work of Manetho was lost at an early period; all +that remains is the list of the dynasties, a third part of the names of +the kings, and a few fragments; and even these remnants we possess only +in excerpts by a second or third hand. Manetho begins his history of +Egypt with the rule of the gods. First came Ptah, the creative god of +light, and the great gods, then the demigods, and Manes. After these had +ruled over Egypt for 24,857 Egyptian years, according to the excerpt of +Africanus, that is for 24,820 Julian years, the rule of human kings +begins with Menes, and these continued through thirty dynasties for +5,366 years. As Manetho closes his list of the kings of Egypt with the +last year of Nectanebos, who rebelled against Artaxerxes Ochus--_i.e._ +with the year 340 B.C.--Menes must have founded the kingdom in the year +5706 B.C., or rather, if we reduce the Egyptian years of Manetho's +reckoning to Julian years, in the year 5702 B.C.[16] This statement +carries us back to a far less remote antiquity than the computation of +the date of Menes by 346 generations previous to Cambyses; on the other +hand, it goes 900 years higher than the date which we deduced from +Diodorus. + +What amount of authority should be ascribed to the lists of Manetho? Did +the priests really possess sketches of kings and accounts of their +reigns reaching back more than 5,000 years? In order to believe this, +must we not allow that at such a remote time as the reign of Menes, or +soon after it, writing was known and in use in Egypt? And granting this, +must not the first beginning of culture in Egypt be carried back at +least 500 years before Menes? Moreover, the lists do not correspond with +the number of the kings given by Herodotus, or by Diodorus. Herodotus, +as we said, put 346 generations before the time of Cambyses, Diodorus +gave 479 kings before the same date. The excerpt of Africanus from +Manetho, even if we substitute the smaller numbers given in the excerpt +of Eusebius in all the dynasties, of which only the total sum of the +rulers is stated, still gives us 388 kings from Menes to Cambyses.[17] +If these discrepancies awaken the suspicion that the number and the +succession of the kings was not agreed upon even by the priests +themselves, the suspicion is increased by the fact that the lists do +not tally in the various excerpts in which they have come down to us. +What weight can be given to a list which, in the excerpt from Africanus, +allows 953 years (or 802 at the least) to the rule of the Hyksos, and in +the excerpt of Eusebius allows 103 years, and again 511 years in the +excerpt of Josephus? Still greater discrepancies appear if we compare +the list of Eratosthenes with the names and numbers handed down to us +from Manetho's work. Both lists begin with Menes; both allow him a reign +of sixty-two years; but Eratosthenes describes his thirty-eight kings as +of Theban origin or race, while in Manetho the first Theban dynasty +began to reign 2,240 years after Menes.[18] Nevertheless the names of +the first three or four rulers in Eratosthenes agree with those in +Manetho. Then the coincidence breaks off till the fifteenth, sixteenth, +and seventeenth names in Eratosthenes, to which corresponding names are +found in Manetho's list, but in the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and +thirtieth places; and from this point to the end of the list of +Eratosthenes there are only two or three names to which corresponding +names are found in Manetho, and these occur at far greater intervals in +the series. The last name in Eratosthenes nearly corresponds to the name +of the king, in Manetho, under whom the invasion of the Hyksos took +place. If, therefore, we assume that the list of Eratosthenes was +intended to enumerate the kings who ruled over Egypt to this date, we +find thirty-eight kings who must have reigned through 1076 years; and, +as parallel to these, we find in Manetho fourteen dynasties with at +least 241 kings, occupying a period of 3,084 years. + +Scarcely less striking are the contradictions in the monuments +themselves. In the temple of Ammon at Karnak, which was extended on a +magnificent scale by Tuthmosis III. (1591-1565 B.C.),[19] the king is +delineated twice in a colossal form on the back wall of a chamber. +Between the two pictures sit sixty-four kings in four rows one over the +other. The inscription, "A royal offering for the kings of both Egypts," +as well as the position of Tuthmosis, shows that he is offering prayer +and sacrifice to his predecessors in the kingdom. Of these sixty-four +kings, three are the immediate predecessors of Tuthmosis, Tuthmosis I., +II., and Amosis. Before Amosis this table puts fifty-seven kings; the +name of Menes is wanting; but in Manetho's list there are nevertheless +no fewer than 284 kings,[20] from Menes to Amosis, with whom, in the +excerpt of Africanus, the eighteenth dynasty begins. In the great temple +built by Sethos I. (1439-1388, B.C.) at Abydus in honour of Osiris, this +prince, with his son Ramses, may be seen on the wall of a passage +offering prayer and incense to his predecessors in the kingdom. There +are seventy-six shields with names, beginning with the shield of Menes. +The last is the shield of Sethos, who in this way is represented as +offering prayer to himself, among the rest. Down to Amenemha IV., the +close of the twelfth dynasty (2179-2171 B.C.), there reigned, according +to Manetho's list 104 kings, but the table of Sethos gives sixty-five +shields for the interval from Menes to Amenemha IV. From this king to +Sethos, the first prince of the nineteenth dynasty, Manetho's list gives +193 kings, excluding the shepherd kings, whereas the table of Sethos +shows only ten shields for this interval.[21] Nothing in the way of +explanation is to be obtained from the monuments of this kind belonging +to the time of Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.) On the wall of the portico +between the first and second court of the Ramesseum, the great temple +built by Ramses II. at Thebes, on the left bank of the Nile, there is a +picture in which the statues of thirteen predecessors in the kingdom are +carried in procession before the king. There are eleven kings up to +Amosis; before him is the figure of Mentuophis; then Menes. In the +little temple built by Ramses II. at Abydus in honour of Osiris, there +is a tablet, on which Ramses is represented offering adoration to the +manes of his predecessors. On this we can make out fifty shields, but +only about thirty are sufficiently uninjured to be legible; so far as we +can tell this table is only a repetition of the table of Sethos in the +great temple of Abydus. A third series of the kings of this period has +been discovered in the tombs at Sakkarah. In the tomb of Tunari, the +kings' scribe and architect, there is a representation of the sacrifice +of Ramses II. for the deceased kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. Here we +find fifty-seven shields; immediately before Ramses II. is Sethos, +Ramses I., and Horus, then six illegible names; and before these Amosis. +Before Amosis are forty-six shields, of which the first can perhaps be +compared with the king mentioned in the sixth place after Menes in +Manetho's list.[22] + +The variations of these tables from the lists may be explained by +assuming that it depended on the particular view and peculiar object of +the kings who erected these monuments, which of their predecessors they +wished to honour, and which they wished to exclude. But even a +manuscript list of kings, which has come down to us, exhibits numerous +and very considerable variations from Manetho's lists. This list is a +papyrus, now in Turin, supposed to belong to the period 1500-1000 B.C. +It begins with the rule of the gods; then follow the names of the kings, +with the length of their reigns in years, months, and days, down to the +time of the Tuthmosis; and thus it includes the first seventeen +dynasties of Manetho's list. It has been much damaged, and therefore we +can only discover that about 240 names were given, of which, however, +about 100 are entirely gone; and of the others the lesser half at least +is hardly legible. As has been remarked, Manetho numbers at least 284 +kings to the eighteenth dynasty. Moreover, the papyrus does not agree +with Manetho in the division of the dynasties; at certain places, which +do not coincide with the sections of Manetho, totals are given of the +preceding reigns. The first king after the gods is Mena (Menes), but of +the names which follow only a few agree with those in Manetho, and a few +more with those of the tables of Karnak, Abydus, and Sakkarah.[23] But +here also the same names occupy different places in the series. + +If in addition to all these variations and discrepancies we add the fact +that even in the contemporary monuments and inscriptions which have come +down to us there is no lack of contradictions to Manetho's +statements--if too these monuments have not been erected or preserved in +sufficient continuity, nor are of a sufficiently ample kind, to form an +adequate check upon the papyrus of Turin, or the tables of kings or the +list of Manetho--we must give up the hope of ascertaining the antiquity +and course of Egyptian history on such data. One thing only comes out +clear and irrefragable from the tables of Karnak, Abydus, and Sakkarah, +no less than the Turin papyrus. Long before Herodotus was in Egypt, long +before Manetho wrote his Egyptian history, in the fifteenth century B.C. +Menes was considered the first king of Egypt. Even then lists of the +kings were in existence, and the priests had made a sketch of the +history of their land, in which the rule of the gods preceded the rule +of human kings. + +Modern research has attempted in various ways to find the key to the +puzzle of these long and confused series of kings made by the Egyptian +priests. Assuming that the names of the kings and the length of their +reigns, and the number of reigns belonging to each dynasty, has been +handed down correctly by Manetho, but that some of these dynasties were +contemporaneous, the attempt has been made to give such a selection from +the dynasties of Manetho as would supply a continuous thread for +Egyptian history. Thus from the dynasties expressly marked as Memphitic, +or Theban, a series may be formed which shortens the calculation of +Manetho by at least 1,000 years. We might proceed further in this +direction, and reduce Manetho's list by 2,000 or 3,000 years. According +to the separate items in the excerpts preserved, Manetho's thirty +dynasties include a series of 5,366 Egyptian years (from the year 5702 +to the year 340 B.C.); nevertheless, Syncellus, in a passage of his +Chronology, has observed that the whole period of history treated by +Manetho in his three books covered 3,555 years.[24] This observation +has been used to prove that Manetho himself arranged several dynasties +contemporaneously; and thus, by taking the whole total of years given by +Syncellus as a basis, the year 3892 B.C. has been fixed as the first +year of the reign of Menes. No doubt a selection may be made from the +dynasties of Manetho in such a way that the sum total of the reigns +included in it will carry us no farther back than this year.[25] But it +is clear from the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus that the series of +kings made by the Egyptian priests were strictly successive; and this +fact is abundantly confirmed by the Turin papyrus and the excerpts +preserved from Manetho himself. The 3,555 years which Syncellus brings +forward cannot, in the face of his own excerpt, be taken as a number +really derived from Manetho, and with this number all the calculations +founded upon it fall to the ground.[26] + +A second path, which has lately been struck out for the reduction of +Manetho's dynasties, is based upon the list of Eratosthenes. The +thirty-eight kings enumerated in this list are placed beside the first +fourteen dynasties of Manetho. It is assumed that only the names quoted +in Eratosthenes are the names of real monarchs, and that we must look +for similar names in the list of Manetho. By this assumption, it is +true, we are compelled to set aside several of Manetho's dynasties, and +even to throw away the greater part of the kings of the dynasties which +are allowed to count in the series.[27] But even when we have overcome +all the difficulties in the way of this system, we are still without the +means to define accurately the duration of the rule of the alien kings, +which, as has been already remarked, according to the various excerpts +from the list of Manetho, continued 953, or 511, or 103 years; nor is +there any fixed point immediately before the alien monarchy to enable us +to succeed in establishing the antiquity and commencement of the +Egyptian series of kings. + +All attempts to arrive at the antiquity of the civilisation and history +of Egypt by these means are the more doubtful, because in Egypt there is +no fixed era to form a basis for calculation. The time is reckoned by +the reigns of the kings. In such a case even the most cautious inquiry +of the priests could hardly have arrived at a satisfactory chronology +for the oldest period. Though they had before them far more numerous +monuments than we have, and though the lists of the various dominant +families began to be kept at a very early period, it was no longer +possible at the time when the lists of the Turin papyrus were made out, +to discover in what order the families came, or which ruled +contemporaneously before the time of the alien kings. The mere +arrangement of our materials in the order of succession cannot fail to +give an entirely false picture of the history of Egypt, while on the +other hand the national pride of the Egyptians, and the vanity of the +priests, found a great satisfaction in exaggerating the antiquity of +their history by such enumerations, even where it was known that any +families of kings were contemporaneous. With what pride and complacency +would they exhibit this endless list of kings to the travelling +strangers from Greece! + +Besides the want of a fixed era, and the insufficient knowledge of the +ancient period, and of the alien monarchy--besides the motives of +national vanity, there was another remarkable circumstance connected +with the priests of Egypt which was calculated to lead them far away +from historical truth. The Egyptians measured time by a solar year of +360 days, divided into twelve months of thirty days. It was early +observed that this year did not correspond to the sun's orbit; and +therefore five additional days were added. The decisive event of the +Egyptian year was the inundation. The Nile began to rise at the time of +the summer solstice, and was coincident with the rising of the Dog-star +(Sothis), the brightest star in the Egyptian sky. The Dog-star +proclaimed the approach of the inundation and the new fertilization of +the soil, and by proclaiming caused it. Thus to the Egyptians this star +Sothis was "the Lady of the Beginning." The rising of the star denoted +the new year; which therefore must have begun on the 20th July, the +first of Thoth in the Egyptian calendar. But since, in the Egyptian +year, a quarter of a day was wanting, in spite of the additional five +years, to make up the true astronomical year, the beginning of every +fourth year must have been a day in advance of the true year, and the +seasons, of which the Egyptians made three of four months each, the +months, and the festivals anticipated more and more the true time of the +year. This advance could not have escaped the priests; they must soon +have observed that a period of 1,461 Egyptian years must elapse in order +to allow the Egyptian year to coincide with astronomical time. For in +1,460 Egyptian years the additional quarter of a day in the astronomical +year would amount to 365 whole days--_i.e._ to an Egyptian year; and at +the end of this year the beginning of the next was again coincident with +the rising of the Dog-star, as seen from Lower Egypt, and the +commencement of the inundation. Thus in a period of 1,461 years the year +was again brought to its true beginning.[28] Since the fruitfulness and +life of the Egyptian land depended on the inundation, and the inundation +began with the rising of the Dog-star, the history of Egypt must also +have begun with a similar rising. If after 1,461 Egyptian years the +rising of the Dog-star again coincided with the beginning of the civic +year, the priests would regard this restoration of the natural order as +the completion of a great cycle of events. The Dog-star brought the +inundation, and with it the fruits and life of Egypt. It was the +awakener of life. It must therefore have brought life to the world also; +time must have begun with the rising of Sirius. Porphyrius tells us that +to the Egyptians the rising of the Dog-star was the beginning of the +world.[29] Hence the periods of the world must proceed according to a +number of periods fixed by the Dog-star. It seems that the priests +comprised the whole duration of the world in twenty-five Sothis periods, +_i.e._ in 36,525 Egyptian years. Regarded in this light, the Sothis +periods of the priests of Egypt must lead to a cyclic treatment of their +history, to which also the want of any definite era was forcing them, +while the antiquity and number of the lists of kings offered abundant +material for it. The history of Egypt must comprise a definite number of +Sothis periods. It was known that in the fourteenth century B.C. such a +period ended, and a new one commenced; the difficulty was to fill up two +or three periods anterior to this. Before the Sothis period of the +kings, the gods had ruled over Egypt, to whom, therefore, a number of +Sothis cycles, naturally more extensive than those given to the rule of +men, was allotted. Thus the priests of Thebes were able to tell +Herodotus that, from the time when the Twelve Gods ruled over Egypt, +down to the days of King Amosis, 17,000 years had passed; that from +Menes, down to Sethos, 341 kings ruled in succession over Egypt, and +that in this space of time the sun had four times risen in an unusual +way--it had twice risen where it then set, and had twice set where it +then rose; and nothing in Egypt had been changed by this, either in the +gifts of the earth or the river, in sickness or in mortality.[30] This +change of the rising and setting of the sun is nothing more than the +symbolical astrology of the priests, who must have expressed the +completion of the movable solar year by the opposite quarters of the +sky; and it means no more than that two Sothis periods had elapsed +between Menes and Sethos; but to Herodotus the statement as given +naturally appeared quite incredible.[31] What the priests told +Herodotus, Manetho, following far older authorities, had already fixed +in a systematic form before Diodorus found that the gods ruled 18,000 +years, and the human kings had begun to reign 4,700 years before his +arrival in Egypt. To the gods and demigods Manetho allows twelve Sothis +periods, _i.e._ 17,520 Julian years. Then follows the history of the +men, the beginning of which Manetho places in the commencement of that +period of the Dog-star which begins with the year 5702 B.C. From this +point the series of kings runs through three complete Sothis periods +down to Menephta; in the fourth period Manetho closed the lists of his +thirty dynasties with the last native ruler in 340 B.C., the 984th year +of the fourth Sothis period of the human kings. Thus it would be +possible to make the scheme clear on which the priests of Egypt dealt +with the history of their land, and the lists of Manetho would then lay +claim to complete historical credibility for the ancient periods in +isolated items, though certainly not in their combination as a whole. + +With this result before us the only course open is to seek for external +evidence, and attempt to ascertain the antiquity of the civilisation of +Egypt independently of the priests and their traditions. The first fixed +point in Egyptian chronology is given by the campaign of Pharaoh Sisak +against Judah and Jerusalem. Sisak caused a sketch of his enterprise to +be delineated on the wall of a structure erected by him in the temple at +Karnak. According to Manetho's list, Sisak (Sesonchis), the first ruler +of his twenty-second dynasty, begins his reign in the year 934 B.C.[32] +But the chronology of the Hebrews, which from the establishment of the +monarchy downwards coincides within a few insignificant variations with +the Assyrian records, proves that Sisak must have been king in the first +half of the tenth century B.C. The campaign against Judah falls in the +middle of this century. From Sisak to the expulsion of the Hyksos there +was an interval of at least 500 years, as we may maintain approximately +from the names of kings and their reigns recorded on monuments. If +therefore we accept the excerpt from Manetho's history given in Josephus +(and that excerpt was made precisely for this period, and has come down +to us in the best shape), and allow 511 years for the reign of the +Hyksos, we arrive at the year 2000 B.C. as the end of the old monarchy. +From this monarchy numerous monuments have come down to us belonging to +the Amenemha, and Sesurtesen, the twelfth dynasty of Manetho; and again +to the time preceding these princes belong the greatest monuments in +Egypt, the pyramids of Memphis, which, according to Manetho's list, are +the work of the fourth dynasty. These pyramids therefore may have been +built about the year 2500 B.C. The plan and execution of these monuments +presuppose a very long practice in the treatment and preparation of +materials; the size, permanence, and solidity of the construction were +impossible without great experience in the use of stone; and their +massive form requires an acquaintance with the principles of +architecture which can only be obtained in the course of centuries. And +independently of the advanced state of architecture exhibited by these +monuments at the first sight, their erection is a proof of a condition +of social and civic life far removed from primitive tribal communities. +So long as tribes few in number and isolated from each other possessed +the valley of the Nile, under the rule of their tribal chiefs, such +structures were impossible. They presuppose a settled population, +accustomed to work, and skilled in it. And more than this. The whole +population could not any longer be occupied in agricultural work; there +must have been a considerable amount of superfluous labour, living upon +the productions obtained from the earth by others. Such structures +required the united force of many thousands, the continued efforts of +long years. And as the use of complex machinery for moving and raising +the heavy materials was unknown to the Egyptians, and remained unknown, +as we see from the monuments, a still greater force of men and beasts of +draught were necessary to move such huge squares and blocks by means of +a simple lever and rollers. Finally, the combination and continued +employment of such forces presupposes that society has been subordinated +to a superior direction and power, which could apply those forces as it +chose; in a word, it presupposes an economical, political, and technical +civilisation, removed by at least 500 years from pastoral life and +patriarchal rule. If therefore we may assume that the great pyramids +were erected about the year 2500 B.C., the beginning of higher +civilisation in the valley of the Nile must not be placed later than the +year 3000 B.C. + +This assumption is confirmed by the fact that the oldest monuments of +Egypt--and they are also the oldest in the world--exhibit the Egyptians +in possession of the art of writing. All writing proceeds from pictures. +The writing of the Egyptians and Babylonians, like that of the Chinese, +Mexicans, and the tribes of North America, was in the first instance no +more than speaking pictures. The Egyptians engraved on the stone of +their rocks pictures of the objects and events of which they wished to +preserve the remembrance. As this use of pictures to assist the memory +became more common and more regular, from external no less than internal +reasons, it quickly acquired certain abbreviations and combinations. The +frequent repetition of a picture led to its abbreviation. The picture of +a house dwindled into a square; water is not so much sketched as +indicated by waved lines; instead of a forest we have the outline of a +tree--in Egypt we find the sycamore, the most common tree in the +country. Thus from actual imitative pictures we arrive at indicatory +pictures. But how could the various kinds of fluid, for instance, be +represented in these indicatory pictures? The three waved lines +indicating water were retained, but beside them was sketched a wine-jar +or water-pot, and thus the desired end was attained. By adding the +picture of a god to the square, a temple was distinguished from a house. +By such means the objects of the visible world could be reproduced in +pictures more or less abbreviated. Even the actions and conditions of +men which do not come immediately under the eye could be represented in +this abbreviated metaphorical manner. Giving could be represented by an +outstretched arm with a loaf; opening, by a door; going, by a road +planted with trees; travelling, by a walking bird; battle, by an arm +equipped with shield and lance; binding and fastening, by a coiled rope; +destruction, by a prostrate man. It was more difficult to represent +conditions which do not show themselves to the eye, as, for instance, +hunger and thirst. To express thirst the Egyptians chose the symbol of +water and a calf running to it; hunger they represented by a hand +conveyed to the mouth, and this was also the symbol of eating. But the +most difficult task for this picture-writing was the description of +objects transcending sense, and abstract ideas. For the gods, it is +true, popular notions and the fancy of the priests had supplied fixed +forms which only required to be abbreviated for the picture-writing. The +picture of the sky-goddess served as a symbol for the sky. The Egyptians +regarded the sky as arched over the earth; the feet of the goddess +rested on one extremity, and her hands on the other. Instead of the +complete figure of the goddess in this arched attitude, they drew a line +of a similar kind, and this was the abbreviated picture of the sky. If +the sun or a star was combined with this line, the picture represented +the day and the night. But the abstract ideas of law and justice, truth, +protection, good, evil, life, &c., could only be represented in this +picture-writing by sensuous images. In Egypt power was represented by a +brandished whip, or poleaxe; justice, by the cubit, or symbol of equal +measurement; good, by the symbol of sound, in order perhaps to indicate +harmony; evil, by the picture of an unclean fish; truth, by an ostrich +feather--the feathers of this bird are said to remain unchanged; +protection, by a soaring vulture, &c., &c. + +Though the possession of such indicatory or symbolic pictures enabled +men to describe a series of objects and conditions, and even certain +classes of conceptions--this picture-writing was nevertheless far +removed from the expression of a definite and intelligible speech. It +was a great step in the Egyptian writing when to their simple +metaphorical and symbolical pictures phonetic pictures were added. From +the actual picture by means of abbreviation, by indicatory signs and +symbols, they had arrived at picture-signs, and had succeeded in +expressing a certain feeling by means of figures; but now the indication +of the sound was added to the representation of the sense. The +picture-writing could only go to these picture-signs in order to borrow +the symbols for sound. Hence the sound A was denoted by a symbol which +signified an object of which the name began with A; for this in Egypt +the symbol of an eagle (_achem_), or of a reed (_ak_), might be, and was +selected. Thus in order to express words which could not be made plain +by picture-signs and images of sense, the plan was adopted of adding to +the picture-signs already in use for such words, one or more phonetic +symbols, a complete or incomplete phonetic supplement. Hence arose a +class of mixed pictures, made up of the picture of the object, with the +addition of the sounds of the words of which the picture was intended to +express the meaning. To make the meaning yet more clear, it was found +necessary to add key-signs, indicating the class and nature of the word +in question. Thus with the pictorial and phonetic signs for day and hour +was combined the sign of the sun, and to the names of countries and +rivers the sign for land and water. Moreover these key-signs showed +whether the word symbolised by a sound or a picture denoted an animal, a +plant, a kind of stone, or belonged to a particular class of conditions +and actions. Yet in this combination of real and phonetic pictures, it +always remained uncertain whether a picture or symbol was to be taken +for its real meaning, or was to be regarded as a phonetic symbol. + +This, then, is the difficult writing of the Egyptians; these are the +hieroglyphics as presented even on those great monuments. Even here we +find this method of writing applied in the same forms, and with the same +mixture of pictorial and phonetic signs, which it retained in Egypt, +with slight modifications (see below). Without doubt, the development of +this complicated system was the work of centuries. In the infancy of +history, special insight and capability is obtained and handed down only +within the limits of certain circles. There could be no regular +application and development of this system of writing before the +formation of a priestly order. And again, the separation of such an +order from the rest of the people could only take place gradually; it +must go through a number of stages to raise it above the primitive +conditions of life. When this point of culture was reached, a +considerable space of time was still needed in order to bring the +picture-writing, even within the priestly class, to the form in which we +see it on the pyramids. In those nations whose progress we can follow +with greater accuracy, centuries must pass before the indefinite and +floating notions entertained of the gods are fixed in rigid forms. Yet +in Egypt this change had already taken place before the date of the +oldest hieroglyphics: for even in these we find typical forms in use for +the gods, with sharply drawn and abbreviated outlines. In the +picture-writing itself there is a wide interval between the delineation +of an incident, or object, and the representation of a definite +feeling; and a yet wider interval before the expression of ideas, of +definite speech, is attained. An advanced stage of reflection and +abstraction is required in order to step from the picture of an +occurrence to picture-signs and images of sense, and again from these to +phonetic symbols. The symbols for an incident, and for an idea and a +sound, are separated by a wide gulf. Independently of these internal +requirements for the advance of picture-writing, the external form in +which the oldest hieroglyphics are represented, their even, harmonious, +clearly-cut and unalterable forms, are evidence not only of an +industrious and careful application of these signs, but also of a +tolerably long use. The oldest hieroglyphics of the date of the great +pyramids are for the most part embossed; but even the engraved work of a +date very little more recent is not surpassed by later times in artistic +excellence, in sharpness and neatness of execution. + +The study of the calendar of Egypt, no less than the use of writing upon +the great monuments, carries us back to an early date for the beginning +of Egyptian civilization. We saw that the priests, by adding five days +to the old year of 360 days, had come tolerably near to the natural +year, and had fixed the beginning of their year by the rising of Sirius. +Monuments of the age of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen show that even then +the rising of Sirius had been observed and noted. Nevertheless, the +beginning of their short civic year tended to anticipate the natural +year; and thus the Egyptian year was always in advance of the solar. But +if it was observed and noted down by the Egyptians, that in the year of +their reckoning, corresponding to the Julian year 1322 B.C., the +beginning of the year had again fallen on the right day, that is, on +the rising of Sirius, so that the first day of Thoth in the movable year +coincided with the first day of Thoth in the solar year, which was the +20th of July, it follows that the fixing of the beginning of the year on +July 20, and of the length of the year at 365 days, had taken place +1,460 years (p. 30) before the date 1322 B.C., _i.e._ in the year 2782 +B.C. This conclusion is supported by another consideration. Our +astronomers have calculated that it was only in the two or three +centuries preceding and following the year 3285 B.C. that the rising of +Sirius so exactly coincided with the summer solstice and the rise of the +Nile; and therefore in this epoch only could the observation have been +made that Sirius brought the inundation. Hence in this period only could +the beginning of the year have been fixed at the rising of Sirius. But +if the Egyptians could set aside an old calendar and introduce a new +arrangement requiring attention and long-continued observations, +somewhere about the year 2800 B.C., it is clear that the beginnings of +higher culture in Egypt cannot be later than 3000 B.C.[33] + +Valuable as this result is, we are nevertheless carried back to +hypotheses and combinations in order to fix the various epochs, and more +especially before the reign of the Hyksos. And as an arrangement of +history is impossible without chronology, divisions must be assumed here +and there where it is impossible to establish them satisfactorily. The +arrangement of Egyptian chronology proposed by Lepsius has for the first +time introduced a well-considered system into the whole. Hence, in spite +of the objections already brought forward against the basis of this +arrangement, and the proved uncertainties and contradictions of +tradition and the monuments, which the progress of inquiry into the +older periods may indeed lessen but cannot remove, I follow the data +given by Lepsius for the epochs of Egyptian history, and the duration of +the reigns which come under our notice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] "Il." 9, 381; "Od." 4, 230 ff. 477, 581. 14, 257, 264 ff. 17, 426. + +[4] Herod. 2, 2; Diod. 1, 10, 50; Plat. Tim. p. 23. + +[5] Herod. 2, 100, 142, 143. + +[6] Plato, "Tim." p. 23; "De Leg." p. 657. + +[7] Diodorus, 1, 44, 45, Olympiad 180, _i.e._ between 60 and 56 B.C. + +[8] Or, according to another version, more than 10,000 years from Osiris +to Alexander. More than 10,000 years had passed, according to the +Egyptians, since the creation of the first man.--Diod. 1, 23, 24. + +[9] Diod. 1, 13, 14. + +[10] Ibid. 1, 69. + +[11] Diod. 1, 63. + +[12] Syncell. p. 91, ed. Goar. + +[13] Syncell. p. 12. + +[14] Boeckh, "Manetho," p. 395. + +[15] "C. Apion." c. 14, 26. + +[16] Boeckh, "Manetho," p. 769 ff. + +[17] Reinisch reckons 389 kings from Menes to Cambyses, "Zeitschrift d. +d. M. Ges." 15,251; Brugsch's table gives 334 royal shields from Menes +to Cambyses. + +[18] According to Boeckh's "Kanon des Africanus." + +[19] This, like the following dates, is from Lepsius, see below. + +[20] Not including the thirty-eight shepherd kings; if these are added +the number reaches 322. + +[21] Dümichen and Lepsius, "Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache," 1864, +p. 81 ff. Deveria and Mariette, "Revue Archéolog." 1865, p. 50 ff; 1866 +(13), p. 73 ff. + +[22] Mariette in "Revue Archéolog.," 1864 (10), p. 170. + +[23] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 20, 44, 72; Devéria, _loc. cit._ p. +58 ff. + +[24] P. 98. + +[25] Gutschmid in the "Philologus," 10, 672. + +[26] The number of 113 generations, which Syncellus gives as +contemporaneous, does not in the least agree with the accounts of +Manetho; moreover, Gutschmid has shown from what items the number 3,555 +in Syncellus has arisen in "Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Orients," +s. 9. + +[27] On this rests the difference of the systems of Lepsius and Bunsen. +Taking the total given by Syncellus from Manetho of 3,555 years before +Nektanebös, Lepsius arrives at the years 3,892 B.C. Bunsen also +considers the number 3,555 to be from Manetho, but without historical +value. He insists on this number because he allows Manetho to reckon +1,286 years for the new monarchy, 922 years for the Hyksos, and 1,347 +years for the old monarchy; but for these 1,347 years he substitutes the +1,076 years of Eratosthenes, in order to fix the historical accession of +Menes. According to this, Menes began to reign in the year 3284 B.C. +From this, Reinisch ("Zeitschrift der Deutschen morgenl. Gesell." 15, +251 ff.) has attempted to reconcile the systems of Bunsen and Lepsius. +He retains the total of 3,555 years, and the year 3,892 B.C. for Menes; +to the 1,076 years given by Eratosthenes for the old monarchy he adds +four years for Skemiophris, thus making 1,080 years, fixes the middle +monarchy--the Hyksos--at 1,088 years, or down to the era [Greek: apo +Menophreôs] at 1,490, and the new monarchy down to Nektanebos at 985 +years. + +[28] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 411; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 148 ff. Th. +Martin "Mém de l'Acad. d'Inscr," 1869 (8), 265 ff. + +[29] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 404. In the decree of Kanopus, belonging to +the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, _i.e._ to the year 238 +B.C., we find as follows (Lepsius, "Das Bilingue Decret von Kanopus"): +"In order that the seasons of the year may continue to observe their +time according to the present arrangement of the world, and that feasts +which ought to be celebrated in winter may not be celebrated in summer, +because the star advances one day in every four years, while others +which are celebrated in summer will in later times be celebrated in +winter, as has already happened, and will happen again, if the year is +to be composed of 360 days, and the five days usually added, from +henceforth a day shall be kept as the festival of the Divi Euergetes, +every fourth year after the intercalary days, before the new year." That +the discovery of the want of a quarter of a day was made before the time +of Ptolemæus Euergetes I., and that for a long time computations were +made by the fixed year with an intercalary cycle every fourth year, as +well as by the movable year, is beyond doubt. The decree did not become +of universal application till 26 B.C. + +[30] Herod. 2, 142. + +[31] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 36; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 193. + +[32] According to Boeckh's "Kanon des Africanus." + +[33] Lepsius, "Königsbuch," s. 118. Biot, "L'Année vague," p. 57; cf. +however H. Martin, "Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript." 1869, pp. 1, 8, 265. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS. + + +Next to its language the oldest possession of a nation is its religion. +Living in a country of very distinct outlines and characteristic forms, +where the regularity of external life is brought more prominently before +the view than in other countries, the Egyptians at an early period +arrived at a fixed expression of their religious feelings and of the +forms of their gods. Their original conceptions are unknown to us. The +oldest monuments, our earliest sources of information, present us with a +numerous assemblage of gods, and the conclusions drawn from these carry +us back to views far removed from primitive forms of worship. They +indicate a system already developed in the circle of the priests. We can +only attempt from the fragments of that system preserved in inscriptions +and manuscripts, and the very late accounts of the Greeks, to deduce +conclusions concerning the religious notions which originally +predominated. + +The distinction in the nature of the upper and lower valley, already +referred to, cannot have been without influence upon the direction of +civic life among the Egyptians, and the formation of their religious +ideas. So far as we can tell, these developed independently at the same +time in the upper and lower country. In both districts peculiar forms +were retained at the most prominent centres of religious worship, until +after the union of the country they became amalgamated in all essential +points. + +Memphis worshipped the god Ptah. The great sanctuary of the god at that +city was held to be as ancient as the city itself. So far back as our +knowledge extends, the Pharaohs were occupied with the extension and +adornment of this temple. Among the Greeks the god of Memphis was known +as Hephæstus: they tell us he was represented in the temple by a +dwarf-like image; and that similar images of the children of Ptah stood +in a part of the temple only entered by the priests.[34] The name +Hephæstus, and the further statement of the Greeks, that this god was +the father of the Sun-god, prove that in Ptah the Egyptians worshipped +not only fire, but the spirit of warmth and light generally; and that +they must have regarded him as the origin and source of light. + +Manetho puts Ptah at the head of the dynasties of the gods. He ruled for +9,000 years before the other gods. Inscriptions name Ptah "the lord of +truth," the "father of truth," the "ruler of the sky," "the king of both +worlds." As the god of the light which shows everything in its true +form, he is the spirit of truth; as the spirit of the light in the sky, +he is the lord of heaven. The inscriptions also say that Ptah "moves the +egg of the sun and the moon;" he is called "the weaver of the +beginnings," the "god who rolls his egg in the sky." Consequently, to +the Egyptians Ptah was the mover of the luminaries, a formative, +creative spirit, and as he is called in the inscriptions "the father of +the father of the gods," he must have been to them the first and oldest +god, the beginning of the gods and of all things. + +The Egyptians believed that a kind of beetle peculiar to their country +(_scarabæus sacer_) was propagated without the female sex; they saw the +mode of its reproduction in the balls of dung which the beetles +occasionally pushed before them. Hence they consecrated this insect to +their god of beginning and creation, and on monuments and records we +find the god Ptah with a beetle on his shoulders, in the place of a +human head. As the god of the beginning he appears on monuments in the +shape of a child or dwarf; and again, as the unchangeable god, he is +wrapped in the casings of a mummy, with the symbols of dominion, the +whip and sceptre, or the so-called Nile-gauge, a ring with parallel +cross bars, in his hand, in order to denote him as the god who gives to +all things measure, order, and law. He is also coloured green, to +signify, as it would seem, that lie is a god favourable to vegetation, +and possessed of a fertilising power. + +Thus Ptah was one of the forms under which the Egyptians invoked the +creator, the highest god. On a pillar of Memphis, now in the Berlin +Museum, belonging to the time of the nineteenth dynasty, he is called +"the only unbegotten begetter in the heaven and on the earth," "the god +who made himself to be god, who exists by himself, the double being, the +begetter of the first beginning." Other inscriptions and records denote +him as "the creator in heaven and on earth, who has made all things, the +lord of all that is, and is not."[35] + +Below Memphis lay On, the city of the sun (Heliopolis). Here the spirit +of the sun, Ra, was the pre-eminent god. In Manetho's list Ra succeeds +Ptah in the kingdom. "The Egyptians," says Plutarch, "regard the sun as +the body of the beneficent power, the visible form of a being only +comprehensible to thought. The morning sun they represented as a +new-born child seated on a lotus leaf, and thrice each day--at sunrise, +noon, and sunset--they offered incense to Helius."[36] We also find that +the Egyptians represented the sun of the winter months as a little +child, the sun of the vernal equinox as a youth, that of the summer +solstice as a bearded man, and again, the sun of the autumnal equinox as +an old man.[37] Hence they looked at the yearly course of the sun under +the allegory of human life. Plutarch's remark about the morning sun +shows that they regarded the daily course of the sun from the same point +of view, and when he tells us that according to Egyptian story, Apopis +made war against the god of the sky,[38] his statements are confirmed by +the monuments. According to the inscriptions Ra is "revealed in the +abyss of the sky," he is throned "in the orb of the sun," "he moves his +egg." "A Supplication to Ra"--such are the words of a prayer--"who each +day by himself brings himself to a new birth. Ra has created all that is +in the abysses of the sky."[39] In the tombs of the Ramesids, at Thebes, +the course of the sun is represented by the hour of the day and night. +On the form of the blue outstretched goddess of the sky appears the boat +of the sun, for the Egyptians conceived the sun as navigating the air in +a skiff, as they navigated the Nile; and in the boat is Ra, a child with +finger in mouth at the first hour of the morning. As the day goes on the +child increases in size, and at every hour the spirits who lead the boat +are changed. In the hours of the afternoon the evil serpent, Apep, the +darkness, the Apopis of Plutarch, attempts to swallow the sun, but +twelve spirits draw the serpent by ropes to the side. In the hours of +the night the sun-god is inclosed in his shrine on the boat, which is +carried along by spirits changing every hour over the waters of the +under world to the east--just as the boats on the Nile are drawn against +the stream--so that he may again shine out in the east on the next +morning. The hieroglyphics accompanying the navigation of the night +hours contain seventy-four invocations of Ra in Amenti, _i.e._ in his +concealment. In a similar way the monuments of Edfu exhibit the growth +of the sun-god through the twelve hours of the day from a child to a +youth and a man, and an old man bowed with age, leaning upon a staff. +This last is called in the inscriptions, "The old man who becomes again +a child."[40] + +The monuments exhibit Ra in red, with the sun's orb on his head, a +sceptre in one hand, and the symbol of life in the other. The cat, the +tawny bull, and the hawk are the chosen creatures of Ra; often he is +found on the monuments with the head of a hawk in the place of the human +head, or as a hawk carrying the sun's orb. All the entrances of the +temple and the pylons display the symbolical form of the deity, the +sun's orb, supported by two wings. From the sun-god the kings of Egypt +derived their might and power. They generally call themselves "the sons +of Ra," and they rule over Egypt as Ra rules over the world. + +Hence we can assume that to the minds of the priests Ptah was +essentially the deity of beginning, the first originator of creation. Ra +again was the propagating and sustaining power of the divinity embodied +in the sun. + +At Hermopolis (Ashmunein), besides Thoth, whom the Greeks compared to +their Hermes, and the inscriptions name the "Lord of divine truth," the +"scribe of truth," to whom the white Ibis with black neck and beak is +sacred, the "children of Ptah" were worshipped. These were eight gods in +four pairs. Owing to this worship Hermopolis was known to the Egyptians +as Pe-sesennu, _i.e._ "the city of reverence." These children of Ptah +seem to have been spirits of the elements. In an inscription at Edfu we +find, "The eight gods, the very great, who are from the beginning, +created before the gods, the children of Ptah, arising through him, +begotten of him, to take possession of the south and the north, to +create in the Thebaid, and fashion in the land of Memphis. When they +arose the stream flowed out from the young waters, the child of the +lotus flower rose up in the boat, the beautiful one, making this earth +bright by his beams."[41] + +At Sais, at Buto, on the Sebennytic mouth, and at Bubastis (Tel Basta), +on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, female goddesses were worshipped. To +the feast of the goddess of Sais, whom the Greeks called Athene, the +Egyptians came from the whole country, as Herodotus tells us, to Sais, +and lighted lamps on the appointed night, and even those who did not +come to Sais lit lamps, so that lamps were burning throughout all +Egypt.[42] Jamblichus and Proclus tell us that the goddess of Sais, the +Neith of the Egyptians, was the mother of the sun-god; the inscriptions +call Neith "the cow which bore the sun," "ancient mother of the sun," +"mother of the gods." Hence we may assume that Neith was associated with +Ptah, whose green colour she shares on the monuments; and that the +creative power of nature was personified in her under a female form. The +feast of lamps may have symbolised the birth of light, and its rise from +the darkness.[43] The goddess of Buto, who was also worshipped at +Letopolis, near Memphis, was compared by the Greeks with their goddess +Leto, whose child was Apollo, the spirit of light, because at Buto the +victorious god of light of the Egyptians, of whom we shall speak below, +was said to have grown up.[44] + +The sanctuary of the goddess at Bubastis was, according to Herodotus' +account, the most delightful, though not the largest or most costly, in +the whole of Egypt. It was situated in the middle of the city, and could +be seen from every side. "Beyond the market-place a paved road, about +forty feet in width, leads to the shrine, which is overshadowed by trees +on both sides. The precincts, a place of about a stadium square, is +surrounded with a trench one hundred feet broad; this is connected with +the Nile, and also planted with trees. The portico is ten fathoms high, +and adorned with statues six cubits in height, and well worth +description. On the external walls pictures are everywhere engraved, and +the temple in which the statue of the goddess stands is also surrounded +by very lofty trees. At the festival of the goddess the Egyptians from +all the land go down in boats to Bubastis: in every boat is a number of +men and women; some of the men blow the flute; some of the women have +castanets, and strike them; the rest sing and clap their hands. The boat +touches at every city on the river bank; and here also the women sing +and strike their castanets, while others follow the women of the city +with shouts and raillery; others, again, dance; others expose +themselves. On arriving at Bubastis, they bring large offerings to the +goddess, and drink more wine at this festival than in all the rest of +the year. According to the accounts of the Egyptians, about 700,000 men +and women are collected at this festival, without counting children.[45] + +Herodotus calls the goddess of Bubastis Artemis: her Egyptian name was +Bast and Pacht; and the city was called after her Pa-Bast, _i.e._ "abode +of Bast." On monuments this goddess has the sun's disk upon her head, +or, in the place of a human head, the head of a cat, which animal was +sacred to her. At Heliopolis there was a picture of Ra in the form of a +he-cat;[46] and in the inscription Pacht is called the daughter of Ra. +Ra was invoked to come to the help of his daughter, the holy she-cat, +who was panic-stricken by the snake which approached heaven in order to +tread upon the path of the sun-god, and to defile the limbs of the holy +she-cat.[47] In the sketches in the "Book of the Dead" we find a +she-cat, with the right forefoot upon the head of a serpent, and in the +left a broad knife, with which she is cutting off the head of the +serpent.[48] The account given by Herodotus of the customs observed at +the festival are confirmed from other sources. The monuments exhibit +musicians, whose music is accompanied by the audience with clapping of +the hands; and Plutarch describes the castanets of the Egyptians adorned +with the figure of a human-headed she-cat, the sound of which was +intended to scare away the evil spirit.[49] + +In the upper country other deities were worshipped. At Thebes, Amun, +known to the Greeks as Ammon, took the place occupied by Ptah at +Memphis. Hecatæus of Abdera relates that the Egyptians identified their +supreme god with the universe, but the god was invisible and +concealed.[50] Amun, as a fact, signifies "the concealed" or "veiled." +The monuments of Thebes exhibit him as a creative god with the Phallus, +as a ruling deity either standing or sitting on a throne; on his royal +head-dress are two upright feathers, which to the Egyptians were the +symbol of dominion over the upper and under world, and in his hand are +the sceptre and the symbol of life. His colour is blue. By his side +stands the goddess Mut; the "mother," the "lady of darkness," as the +inscriptions[51] style her. She wears on her head the vulture, or the +crown of Upper Egypt. She is also found on inscriptions with the head of +a vulture, the bird sacred to her, instead of a human head; and in +pictures of battles the vulture of Mut hovers over the Pharaoh as the +symbol of protection. The son of Ammon and Mut is Shu (Sosis, Sos), the +spirit of the atmosphere, "the bearer of heaven," as the inscriptions +name him.[52] This (Thinis) and Abydus were the chief seats of his +worship. In Manetho's list the reign of Shu follows on those of Ptah and +Ra. + +In the place of Ammon we often find another divinity, Tum (Atmu.) This +was the sun-god in a special form. In Upper Egypt the spirit of the sun +was invoked under the names Tum and Mentu. Of these names the first +signified the declining sun, the sun of the west, the sun of +concealment, the sun in the under world; the second the rising sun, the +sun of the east, the sun of the day, the bright sun-god. Tum also wears +the double crown, and the two feathers of Ammon, or in the place of them +the two royal serpents round his head-dress; he also is lord of both +kingdoms. Like Ptah, he is "the father of beginnings, who begot +himself," "the father of the gods;" like him also he is formed with the +beetle in the place of the human head; as the creative god he is the +creator of his name, _i.e._ of his properties; he is the primæval night, +the darkness of the beginning, before light existed. To him also +belonged the primæval water. According to Plutarch, the Egyptians +believed that the sun arose out of moisture, that it sprang up out of +water, and was nourished by it, and therefore water was the beginning +and origin of things. This account is confirmed by the monuments. As +light in the process of production, Tum is called "Ra in his egg;" and +as the spirit of light arising out of darkness and water, the horologe +and the sun-dial are his insignia.[53] + +At Coptus, in Upper Egypt, a phallic god was worshipped under the name +Chem, whom the Greeks compared to their god Pan, and at the falls of +Syene a ram-headed god, Chnum (Chnemu, Chnuphis, Kneph), who in +inscriptions is named the lord of the "inundations," of the "outpouring +of the waters."[54] As a giver of fruits, the colour of his pictures on +the monuments is generally green. In the eyes of the inhabitants of +Upper Egypt Chnum was, according to the account of Plutarch, an +uncreated eternal spirit.[55] We must therefore regard him as a peculiar +form of the life-giving god. Chnum was often united with Ammon, inasmuch +as the latter assumes the attributes of Chnum, the ram's horns or even +head.[56] As the worship of Ammon passed beyond Egypt up the Nile as far +as Meroe, so the worship of Ammon-Chnum spread westward in the Libyan +desert as far as the oasis of Siwa, where the inhabitants were called by +the Greeks Ammonians. Here, even now, in the vicinity of a clear pool +surrounded by lofty palms, the remains of a considerable temple are to +be seen, with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and the picture of the +ram-headed deity.[57] + +The worship of the goddess Hathor was widely diffused both in Upper and +Lower Egypt. The most renowned seats of the cultus were Aphroditopolis, +near Memphis; Edfu and Dendera, in Upper Egypt. She is called in the +inscriptions "the lady of the dance and revel," and is represented on +the monuments with fetters and a tambourine in her hands. From this and +from her Grecian name we may conclude that she was the Egyptian goddess +of love, of the enchaining passion; but though we find in her form +hints of a more individual and lively fancy, the natural power of +maternity in general is by far the most prominent conception. She is +represented with the horns of a cow--her sacred animal--on her head, and +between them the moon's disk; or entirely as a cow. In the rock-temple +at Abusimbel, which the wife of Ramses II. dedicated to Hathor, she is +represented as a cow in a boat, over which water-plants meet in arches. +To this cow the king and queen offer flowers and fruits.[58] In the +temple at Edfu, a structure of the Ptolemies, 360 local forms of Hathor +are said to have been enumerated and among these seven were especially +prominent. + +It was the beneficent, creative, and life-giving powers of nature which +the Egyptians worshipped in these divinities--water, light, the clear +heaven, the sun, the powers of reproduction and birth. But the phenomena +and the powers presented by nature were not in every case beneficent. +Night swallowed up day, and death swallowed up life. Beside the waters +and the black fruitful soil of Egypt lay the boundless yellow desert, +from which storms blew the sand into the green valley. In the hot +months, the sun blazed with a devouring and scorching heat, the flowers +withered; and the powers of nature failed in the winter. Thus in the +life of nature there was a strife between malignant and beneficent +powers, a strife in which nevertheless the beneficent powers always +gained the upper hand. Out of night arose a new day; out of the death of +nature in winter blossomed forth new increase, fruitfulness, and life. +Through this conception of a strife raging between the healing and +destructive powers of nature, by regarding nature as moving in a +circular course from life to death, and death to life, the Egyptians +succeeded in making a great advance in their religious ideas. They +personified this strife in certain divine forms. The beneficent power, +the divinity of life was allowed to succumb, and then to rise from +apparent death into a new life. Only for a moment could the evil powers +vanquish the good; the eternal victory remained with the gods of +beneficence. + +After Helius, Hephæstus, Ammon, and Hermes, says Diodorus,[59] Cronos +and his sister Rhea ruled. These became the parents of Isis and Osiris, +of Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite. Plutarch tells us that, according to +the legend of the Egyptians, Rhea and Cronos were the parents of Osiris +and Isis, of Typhon and Nephthys. Osiris ruled happily over Egypt; but +Typhon conspired against him with seventy-two associates; they inclosed +Osiris in a chest and threw it into the Nile, and the stream carried it +down to the sea. When Isis heard of it, she put on mourning, and sought +with lamentation the body of Osiris. At last she found the chest in the +neighbourhood of Byblus, where the sea had cast it up; she mourned over +the corpse and carried it back to Egypt. And when Horus, the son of Isis +and Osiris, who grew up in Buto, came to his full strength, he prepared +to avenge the wrong which Typhon had done to his father and mother. +Thrice he fought with Typhon; the battle raged for many days, and Horus +conquered.[60] + +According to the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, Osiris (Dionysus) +and Horus (the Apollo of the Greeks) were the last rulers of the divine +race.[61] In the list of Manetho, Ptah was followed in the kingdom by +Ra and Shu (or, according to the Theban account, by Ammon, Tum, and +Shu), Cronos, Osiris, Typhon, and Horus. These then are the younger +gods; the evidence of the monuments shows that they were connected by +race with each other, but not akin to the three gods who ruled before +them. And as we also find that the five supplementary days added in the +Egyptian year to the original number of 360 (p. 29) were dedicated to +these gods, the first to Osiris, the second to Horus, the third to +Typhon, the fourth to Isis, the fifth to Nephthys--the natural +conclusion is that these gods were of later origin.[62] On the other +hand it is clear that the belief in Osiris and his power had already +arisen at the time when the great pyramids were erected. + +The two gods at the head of this circle, whom Diodorus and Plutarch call +Cronos and Rhea, were known to the Egyptians under the names Seb and +Nut.[63] They are the spirits of the earth and sky. Osiris himself in +the inscriptions and records is called "the king of the gods," "the lord +of unnumbered days," "the king of life," "the regulator of eternity." +The inscription on the lid of a coffin runs thus--"Ra gave thee the +richly streaming light which gleams in thy eyes. Shu gave thee the +pleasant air which in thy lifetime was inhaled in thy nostrils. Seb gave +thee all fruits whereon thou livest. Osiris gave thee the Nile-water +whereon thou livest."[64] As a life-giving god, the colour of Osiris is +green; his sacred tree is the evergreen tamarisk; and his sacred bird a +kind of heron, distinguished by two long feathers at the back of the +head. Osiris is always represented in a human form, and with a human +head. + +The chief seats of the worship of Osiris were Philæ and Abydus, in Upper +Egypt. In the temple on the island of Philæ, formed by the Nile above +Syene, the history of the god was represented.[65] On a little island +close by, where only the priests might tread, lay the grave of Osiris, +overshadowed by tamarisks;[66] here were libations offered to him, and +Diodorus tells us that in Upper Egypt no more sacred form of oath was +known than the oath by Osiris who rests at Philæ.[67] In the temple of +Osiris at Abydus (Arabat-el-Medfuneh) the wealthy Egyptians sought to be +buried, that they might rest in the vicinity of the god's grave. In +Lower Egypt Osiris[68] was worshipped in the cities of Memphis, +Sais,[69] and Busiris. At Busiris (the name Pe-osiri meant "abode of +Osiris"), on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, in the middle of the +Delta--it was the chief city of the district of Busiris--was situated +the largest temple of Isis, as we learn from Herodotus, and here also, +according to other evidence, the grave of Osiris was to be found.[70] +Here the whole land worshipped this god and goddess.[71] Thousands of +men and women assembled, according to Herodotus, made lamentation for +Osiris, and brought an offering to the greatest goddess (Isis). Amid +prayers the bull was flayed, the thighs and other parts cut out, and a +part of the belly filled with bread, honey, and incense; these were +drenched plentifully with oil, and set on fire, and so long as the +sacrifice burned the people lamented. When the lamentation ended, the +remainder of the sacrifice was eaten.[72] Plutarch says that with Osiris +the Egyptians lamented the receding of the Nile, the ceasing of the cool +north wind, the death of vegetation, and decrease in the length of the +day. On the 17th Athyr, the day on which Typhon slew Osiris (on this day +the sun passes through the Scorpion), the priests instituted rites of +lamentation, and, among other things, as a sign of the sorrow of Isis, +they exhibited for four days a gilded cow, covered with a black veil of +byssus--for the cow was the Egyptian symbol of this goddess. On the +19th Athyr, in the night, they went down to the sea, and the priests +brought out the chest, and the congregation cried, "Osiris is +found!"[73] Moreover, according to Plutarch, the holy rites represented +the burial of Osiris: in these the wood was cut for the chest, the linen +torn for cerements, and libations poured. A serpent was also slain in +effigy.[74] About the time of the winter solstice, as Plutarch tells us +in another place, the Egyptians carried "the cow," _i.e._ Isis, seven +times round the temple, and this procession was called the search for +Osiris.[75] On the monuments the Isis worshipped with Osiris appears +generally in a youthful shape, with the horns of a cow on her head, the +moon's disk between the horns, with the flower-sceptre and symbol of +life in her hands. The inscriptions denote her as the "royal consort," +the "great goddess." An image in which she was represented in the form +of a cow was seen by Herodotus in the royal palace of the last Pharaohs +at Sais. "In a beautifully-adorned chamber lay the wooden image of a +cow, resting on her knees, not larger than a full-grown cow. The body +was covered with a purple robe; on the neck and head could be seen the +thick gilding, and between the horns a golden disk. Every day incense +was burned before the image; and at night a lamp was kindled before it. +Once a year," continues Herodotus, "this cow was carried out into the +open, when the Egyptians lamented the god, whose name I do not think +proper to mention now."[76] + +Osiris and Isis, the spirits of blessing and life, were attacked by +Typhon. Plutarch observes that the Egyptians called Typhon Set,[77] and +this statement is confirmed by the inscriptions. The colour of Set was +burning red,[78] like the glowing sun in the dust of the desert; the ass +was the sacred animal of this god, and a peculiarly-formed animal his +symbol on the monuments. In poisonous serpents also the Egyptians saw +this destructive deity, and they brought the crocodile and hippopotamus +into association with him. The third of the five additional days of the +year (p. 29), which belonged to Set, was to the Egyptians an unlucky +day.[79] On a papyrus he is called "the almighty destroyer and +blighter,"[80] and with this agrees the statement of Plutarch, that +Typhon, according to the Egyptians, had filled the whole earth and +sea--which they call "the foam of Typhon"--with evils; and they +considered all animals, trees, and vegetables, all incidents of a +harmful and destructive nature to be works, parts and actions of +Typhon.[81] + +The evil god can limit and overcome the beneficent power of nature, but +not for ever. Osiris had left behind a young son, who could hold Typhon +in check, though unable to suppress him entirely. Horus, as Plutarch +tells us, was born about the time of the winter solstice, and the +festival of the delivery of Isis was celebrated at the time of the +vernal equinox.[82] On the monuments we find Horus (Har), "the avenger +of his father Osiris," as the inscriptions call him, represented as a +naked child, with finger on lip, sitting on a lotus-leaf, or on a crook, +the symbol of dominion. Hence he is the young Horus, the Harpocrates of +the Greeks, the Harpechruti--_i.e._, "Har, the child"--of the Egyptians. +Then, according to the legend, he grows up at Buto; he becomes a +handsome youth, the strong Horus (Har-ver, Arveris of the Greeks), the +"great helper," the "pillar of the world." In the temple at Philæ we see +him pouring libations before the bier of Osiris; on other monuments he +guides the sun's bark through the hours of the day.[83] At Hermopolis, +as Plutarch tells us, a hippopotamus was to be seen, on which a +hawk--the sacred bird of Horus, in which form the god is often +represented--fought with a serpent; and, according to the belief of the +Egyptians, Typhon escaped from Horus in the shape of a crocodile.[84] +The monuments represent Horus on the sun-boat in the act of stabbing a +serpent with a human head,[85] _i.e._, Apopis, the serpent Apep; or +standing on crocodiles with serpents in his hands; or as a winged sun's +disk contending with a hippopotamus. In an invocation of Horus, +belonging to the fourth century B.C., we find the following: "Come to me +quickly on this day to guide the holy bark (the sun's-boat), to force +back all lions to the land of Egypt, and all crocodiles into the Nile. +Shamelessness and sin (?) come and appear upon earth; but when Horus is +invoked he destroys them. All mankind rejoice when they see the sun. +They praise the son of Osiris, and the serpent turns back."[86] Hence to +the Egyptians Horus was the triumphant god of light (Har-phre, +Horus-sun), who subdues gloom, and winter, and drought. As a victorious +god arousing fresh life, he gives to the kings of Egypt life and +victory. The Greeks called the Egyptian Ra Helius, and Horus Apollo; and +these names correspond to the Egyptian conception of these deities. The +chief seats of the worship of Horus were the two cities which the Greeks +called the great and little cities of Apollo (Edfu and Kus) and Ombus. +At Edfu Hathor was worshipped beside Horus (p. 52). + +Plutarch tells us that Isis, in the minds of the Egyptians, was the +female receptive part of nature. Osiris was the light, Typhon the +darkness, the obscuration of the sun and the moon; Osiris was the +fruit-giving Nile-water, Typhon the salt and barren sea; Osiris was +moisture, Typhon drought, the parching wind, which overcomes and +consumes moisture; Osiris was health, Typhon disease; Osiris was the +orderly, unchanging; Typhon the passionate, irrational, and giant-like; +disturbances, blight, and tempest.[87] It is incorrect, Plutarch +observes, in conclusion, to call water, the sun, or the earth and sky +Osiris and Isis; and not less so to call the glowing sun and hot wind +Typhon. If we merely ascribe to Typhon all that is immoderate or +irregular in these, whether in the way of excess or defect, and hold in +reverence and honour all that is orderly and good and useful as the work +of Isis, as the image, likeness, and essence of Osiris, we shall hardly +go wrong.[88] + +Thus there can be little doubt about the meaning of the myth. When the +Nile receded and the sirocco from the south drove back the refreshing +north wind, when the hot days--for these are the seventy-two +fellow-conspirators of Typhon--parched up the soil; then had Typhon +struck down Osiris. Then, as Plutarch says, "the Egyptians bewailed the +decay of the fruits, and prayed the gods to send new in the place of +those that were gone, and allow them to spring forth again." When the +seed was cast into the ground, the Egyptians buried Osiris: but the +sacred rites were an imitation of the sufferings of Isis, and the +incidents which occurred when the body was deposited in the tomb. The +progressive decay of productive power towards the north during the hot +days, and the winter, which was indicated in the myth by the carrying of +the corpse of Osiris to the sea, and the custom of carrying the chest to +the coast (p. 57), is part of the Egyptian conception; that Isis +discovers the body at Byblus on the Phenician coast is probably an +invention of the Greeks, who confounded the Phenician horned goddess +Astarte, Ashtaroth Karnaim, with Isis. When Egypt was again fertilised +by the inundation, when the days began to lengthen after the winter +solstice, when the sun shone with fresh brightness, and the new fruit +budded forth, then Horus, the child born about the winter solstice, +waxed strong at Buto in the north of Egypt--then he overcame Typhon. The +renewed power of the sun, the returning life of nature, the fresh +blessings of the new year--these are the avenging son of Osiris. + +When the creative and receptive powers of nature had thus been +comprehended in the forms of Osiris and Isis, the divinities in whom +creative power and receptivity had hitherto been perceived naturally +coalesced with these forms to a greater or less degree. Thus Ptah of +Memphis, Tum of Thebes, the sun-god of Heliopolis, are combined with +Osiris (the title Ptah-Osiris is not uncommon in the inscriptions,) +though they are also retained as separate deities. Thus also Isis is +identified with Neith of Sais, with Mut of Thebes, with Hathor, with +Bast,[89] the goddess of Bubastis. Horus, again, is identified with Chem +and Ra, though at the same time his personality as the youthful, +vigorous spirit of light is strongly marked. Plutarch is certainly right +in his remark that the Egyptians regard Osiris as the personification of +everything in heaven and the under world.[90] All the other deities were +transfigurations and manifestations of Osiris, mere modifications of his +nature. When Osiris is called the soul of Ra,[91] this can hardly have +any other meaning but this, that the appearance of the sun-god in the +visible world is an incarnation of the invisible nature of Osiris. + +The Egyptians often represented their deities with the heads, or in the +shape of, the animals sacred to them; that is, they recognised the +nature of the deities who were primarily conceived under the form of +men, in the races of the beasts which they allotted to them. To the +Egyptians these animals must have appeared so closely and intimately +connected with the deity to which they belonged, that the nature of the +deity was better expressed and made more visible in the shape of the +beast than in the shape of man. We must assume that the predominance of +a distinct mark or characteristic property in the races of animals, that +their simple, uniformly instinctive life created this conception in the +mind of the Egyptians, to whom a fixed and unalterable course of action, +an unchanging and typical nature, was the ideal. The force of nature, +the regular recurrence of certain phenomena, coalesced in the Egyptian +mind with the blind, unchanging action of animals. Yet animals were also +seen to possess freedom and movement, and an individual existence. This +combination of the type and the individual must have seemed to the +Egyptians to correspond to the nature of their deities. The mystery of +life, the natural law, which lay at the base of their worship, must for +them have reached its most distinct and lively realisation in these +animals. + +The bull is the sacred animal of the creative gods: the cow of the +goddesses of birth and receptivity; the ram is sacred to Chnum; the hawk +and the cat to the deities of light and the sun; the beetle to Ptah; a +kind of heron to Osiris; the vulture to Ptah and Isis; a kind of ibis to +Thoth; the dog-ape to Anubis, the "ruler in the west;[92]" the crocodile +to the god Sebek, who was worshipped at Arsinoe, &c., &c. Herodotus +tells us that when a cat died in a house, all the inhabitants shaved +their eyebrows; and that at conflagrations the Egyptians directed all +their attention to saving the cats, not to quenching the flames, and if, +in spite of their efforts, a cat leapt into the flames and was burnt, +the Egyptians made a great lamentation.[93] "To each of the races of the +sacred animals," says Diodorus, "a certain piece of land is consecrated, +the products of which suffice for the food and tending of the race. +Those entrusted with the care of each race have to feed them. To feed +the hawks they cut up pieces of flesh, and call loudly to the birds till +they come and take their food. The cats they coax by giving them bread +and milk, or chopped fish from the Nile, and thus provide them with +suitable food. These duties they do not scruple to perform before the +whole people; on the contrary, they are proud of them as of the highest +offices which they can attain to in the service of the gods. With +special symbols to distinguish them, they proceed through town and +country, and as it is known from the symbols what animal it is whose +servants are approaching, all who meet them bow the knee and pay homage. +If one of the animals dies, it is wrapped in a costly covering, and, +amid loud lamentations and beating of the breast, it is carried away to +embalment. Steeped in oil of cedar, or any other kind remarkable for its +scent and powers of preservation, the corpse is then buried in the holy +sepulchres. Anyone who intentionally kills a sacred animal is punished +with death; and everyone who has caused the death of an ibis or a cat, +intentionally or unintentionally, must die, and is often killed in the +most cruel manner, without any sentence passed upon him, by the +collected mob. So deeply rooted is the reverence for sacred animals in +the feeling of the people, so persistently does everyone cling to the +worship of them, that even at the time when Ptolemy was not yet declared +an ally by the Romans, and the nation was most anxious to pay respect to +visitors from Italy, and to give no cause for war, when a Roman had +unintentionally killed a cat, the mob gathered at his house, and neither +the officers sent by the king to quiet them, nor the prevailing awe of +the Romans, could protect him from their vengeance. This fact I have not +received from hearsay: I was in Egypt and saw the occurrence. But what +is done for the animals which are kept in the temples is easy to +narrate, but difficult for anyone to believe who has not seen it."[94] + +Among the races of animals which, according to Egyptian belief, shared +in the nature of the deities to which they were sacred, were certain +pre-eminent specimens. These were recognised by certain signs by the +priests, and passed for a special incarnation of the deity. They were +brought into his temple, and there worshipped and prayed to as his +manifestation. The most sacred among these selected animals was Apis, +the bull, in the temple of Ptah, at Memphis. According to the account of +Herodotus, the Egyptians believed that a ray of light from heaven had +impregnated the cow, which brought forth an Apis: by Plutarch, the +impregnation is said to take place by a ray of the moon.[95] The priests +recognized Apis in a black bull, which had a triangular white spot on +the forehead, a fleshy growth under the tongue in the form of the sacred +beetle of Ptah, white spots on his back in the shape of an eagle, and +bi-coloured hairs in the tail.[96] When an Apis was found, he was, says +Diodorus, in the first place brought for forty successive days to the +meadow of the "city of the Nile" (Nilopolis), where women were shown to +him, who were afterwards excluded from the sight of the Apis. Then he +was conveyed on a boat in a golden shrine like a god to the temple of +Ptah, at Memphis. There he was bathed in the holy place, and anointed, +and the most precious frankincense was constantly burned before him. He +received the most beautiful garments, the richest bedding-places, and +the most handsome cows as his "bed-fellows"; the most distinguished men +provided him with the best food at a very great expense. When the Apis +died of old age he was honoured with a splendid funeral. "When, on the +death of Alexander, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, made himself master of +Egypt, it happened that the Apis died, and the person entrusted with his +care not only spent his own large fortune upon his burial, but borrowed, +in addition, fifty talents from Ptolemy. Even in my own times certain +feeders of the sacred animals have spent not less than one hundred +talents on a single funeral."[97] + +"The Egyptians," Diodorus remarks, "are of opinion that the soul of the +dead Osiris passed into this bull, and thus continues among them, and +will so continue among their descendants." Plutarch says that the Apis +at Memphis was an image of the soul of Osiris. According to the usual +account of the priests, Osiris and Apis were one; for they taught that +the Apis was to be regarded as a fair image of the soul of Osiris. +Strabo tells us, "The bull Apis, which is revered as a god, is the same +as Osiris. The temple in which the Apis was kept stands beside the +temple of Hephæstus (Ptah). There is also a temple of Serapis in that +city, before which we saw sphinxes, buried in the sand, some to the +middle, some to the neck."[98] Evidence from other sources, no less than +the monuments, confirms these accounts of Diodorus and Plutarch. The +monuments exhibit the Apis with the sun's disk and the royal serpent +between his horns, and Greek papyri tell us that the keeper with whom +the Apis was placed was known as the "Herdman of Osorapi," _i.e._ of +Osiris-Apis (Osarhapi).[99] We may assume that this Osorapi was the +Serapis or Sarapis of the Greeks, and the temple of Serapis a temple of +Osorapi. The sphinxes buried in sand at Memphis have been discovered on +the plateau on which the inhabitants buried their dead to the west of +the ruins of this city. They are found here in two rows as often before +the entrance of temples between Abusir and Sakkarah. It is by following +this path of sphinxes that the discoverers were recently enabled to find +the ruins of the temple of Serapis, _i.e._ the temple of the grave of +Osiris-Apis, and the sepulchral chambers of the Apis-bulls hewn in the +rocks around it. The oldest of the tombs hitherto opened belongs, +according to the inscriptions, to an Apis buried in the time of +Amenophis III. (1524-1488 B.C.). Above ground rises a massive structure, +truncated at the top, and decorated with reliefs. This is the mortuary +chapel. A sloping passage, the entrance to which lies before this +structure, leads beneath the earth to a sepulchral chamber, where stands +a sarcophagus with the mummy of the Apis. The relief on the structure +above exhibits the king bringing a drink-offering to the Apis. Beside +the picture of the bull we read, "The living Osiris, the lord of the +sky: he is Tum (p. 51): his feathers are upon him: he gives life for +evermore." On the sarcophagus of an Apis buried in a similar tomb in the +reign of Horus (1455-1443 B.C.), we read:--"Apis-Osiris, the great deity +who dwells in Amenti, the ever-living lord." King Ramses II. (1388-1322 +B.C.), in the second half of his reign, caused a broad gallery to be +excavated under the rock, on both sides of which chambers of about +twenty feet high were subsequently cut out as occasion required; in +these were placed the remains of the dead Apis-bulls in sarcophagi of +basalt or granite. When the gallery of Ramses was no longer sufficient, +Psammetichus I. caused a gallery still larger and more beautiful to be +excavated, and provided with handsome cells. After Darius had extended +this second gallery, the bodies of the bulls were buried in the chambers +of it down to the times of the latest Ptolemies. As yet sixty-four tombs +in all have been discovered; but of these only four were uninjured. All +the rest had been already opened by the Arabs, plundered, and in part +destroyed. The inscriptions on the tombs in the galleries give the same +representation of the Apis as the older sepulchres. He is "the Osiris +again restored to life," the "revived Apis of Ptah," "the living Apis, +which is Osiris abiding in Amenti," the "second Ptah." On a sarcophagus +we read:--"Here is Osiris Apis, who dwells in Amenti, the great God, the +eternal Lord, the ruler for all time." Another inscription remarks "that +he had been sought for three months in the valleys of Upper Egypt, and +on the islands of Lower Egypt. When found he had been brought to his +throne in the temple, to his father Ptah, in such and such a year, on +such and such a day. The happy duration of his life had been +six-and-twenty years; then the deity had been carried to burial, as he +had established himself in the good Amenti in order to unite himself on +his eternal throne with the house of centuries." Or, as it is said in +another inscription, "the holiness of Apis has been brought to unite +himself with the good Amenti."[100] + +By this constantly renewed incarnation in the form of a bull, the emblem +of generation, the god of life gave the Egyptians a guarantee for the +continuance of his grace, and the perpetuation of their life in this +world and the next. Whether other forms of incarnation beside this were +ascribed to the god cannot be determined. + +At the time when the Nile began to rise, or shortly before it, there +appeared in Egypt from year to year a peculiar kind of heron, +distinguished by two long feathers on the back of the head.[101] This +was known to the Egyptians as Bennu. This bird, which announced or +caused the fertilisation or new life of the land, could not but belong +to the god of life. The whole race, or a select specimen, appears in +special connection with Osiris, and the temple at Heliopolis. In the +oldest portions of the Book of the Dead, which belong to the time of the +Amenemha and Sesurtesen, we find, "I am that great Bennu of On" +(Heliopolis); and the commentary adds, "Bennu is Osiris, viz., the +Osiris in On."[102] The inscriptions say of the great Bennu that "it was +self-begotten," that "it caused the divisions of time to arise."[103] +This production of himself signifies the creative power of Osiris, and +the origin of the seasons might well be attributed to the bird which +regularly appeared announcing the return of the period of fertilization. +With the cultus of the Bennu at Heliopolis is connected the story of the +phoenix. Herodotus tells us that he was informed by the inhabitants of +Heliopolis that a bird, which, if it resembled the pictures, was +gold-coloured and red, and like an eagle in shape and size, came from +Arabia to their city once in every 500 years, and buried the corpse of +his father in myrrh in the sanctuary of the sun-god.[104] From later +accounts we learn that the phoenix, on reaching the age of 500 years, +prepared a funeral pile of spices, and burned himself upon it; then he +recreated himself, and carried the remains of his old body to +Heliopolis.[105] Tacitus says: "In the consulship of Paulus Fabius and +Lucius Vitellius (_i.e._ in the year 34 A.D.) after a lapse of +centuries, the phoenix appeared in Egypt. This bird, which was sacred +to the sun, returned after an interval of 500 years, according to the +most common accounts; according to others after an interval of 1461 +years. The first phoenix appeared in the reign of Sesostris; the +second under Amasis; the third in the time of the third Ptolemy; and as +there was only a lapse of 250 years between this Ptolemy and the reign +of Tiberius, some regarded the last phoenix as a spurious one."[106] +Ælian remarks: "The Egyptians are not agreed when the 500 years are +completed; and the priests were at variance whether the bird would +appear then or later, and when he ought to come; but amid their +dissensions the bird suddenly appeared at the right time."[107] Pliny +informs us that the cycle of the great year was connected with the life +of this bird, and with his return the stars came again into their old +position.[108] Horapollo maintains that the phoenix was a symbol of +the sun, and signified one who returned after a long time from a far +country.[109] There is no doubt, therefore, that the alleged appearance +of the phoenix signified to the Egyptians the close of an astronomical +period. On the monuments the planet Venus is described as the "star of +Bennu-Osiris." As the morning star announced the day, the light +returning out of darkness, it could easily be appropriated to Osiris, +and that period might be connected with the cycles of the planet +Venus.[110] + +The selected cats of the sun-god and his daughter, the goddess of +Bubastis, the hawk of Horus, the ibis of Thoth, the vulture of Mut, were +regarded by the Egyptians with no less veneration than the bulls of +Osiris. In a hymn to a male cat, which was kept for Ra at +Heliopolis--the hymn is to be found on a memorial pillar of the fourth +century B.C.--we read: "Thy head is the head of the sun-god; thy nose is +the nose of Thoth, the twice mighty lord of Hermopolis. Thy ears are the +ears of Osiris, who hears the voice of all who call upon him; thy mouth +is the mouth of the god Tum, the lord of life, he has preserved thee +from every stain. Thy heart is the heart of Ptah; he has purified thee +from every stain of evil in thy members: thy teeth are the teeth of the +god Chunsu (the moon-god). Thy thighs are the thighs of the god Horus, +the avenger of his father Osiris, who has retaliated upon Set the +mischief he purposed against Osiris."[111] Selected crocodiles--and even +the crocodile was worshipped, at least in some regions, as in the +Thebais and around the lake of Moeris--were to be found at Thebes and +Arsinoe. "For both these animals," says Herodotus "(and they are so tame +that they allow themselves to be touched), the priests put ornaments of +glass and gold in their ears, and bracelets on their fore-feet, and give +them the best of food both of meal and from the sacrifices, and attend +to them with the utmost care. When they die they are embalmed, and +buried in the sacred tombs."[112] Strabo, who travelled through Egypt +more than four hundred years later than Herodotus, narrates that a +sacred crocodile was kept in the lake of Moeris, which was tame to the +priests. He was fed with the bread, wine, and flesh brought to him by +visitors. "Our host," Strabo continues, "a man of distinction at +Arsinoe, who showed us the sacred things of the city, took cakes, roast +meat, and a drink mixed with honey, and went with us to the lake. On the +shore lay the crocodile; the priests went up to him, two of them opened +his jaws; and the third put in first the cakes, then the meat, and last +of all he gave him the drink. Then the crocodile ran into the water and +swam to the opposite bank. Another stranger came with similar presents: +the priests took them, ran round the lake and offered them to the +crocodile, when they had found him, in the same manner as before."[113] +Clement of Alexandria describes the glory of the Egyptian temples, and +then continues thus: "The innermost shrine is veiled with a curtain of +cloth of gold; when the priest removes the veil you see a cat, a +crocodile, or a serpent of the land rolling on a purple coverlet." + +According to the account of Herodotus, the dead cats were embalmed in +sacred tombs at Bubastis, the hawks at Buto, the ibis at +Hermopolis.[114] Mummies of cats have been discovered at Thebes and +Sheikhassan; mummies of bulls, cows, jackals, dogs, and vultures at +Thebes and Sioot; of hawks and ibises at Thebes, Hermopolis, Abydus, and +Memphis; of crocodiles at Thebes and Manfalut.[115] + +This reverence for beasts, the excessive regard for the nourishment of +the sacred kinds and the preservation of their bodies, the offering of +prayers to them, the worship of bulls, birds, and crocodiles as living +gods, the royal honours with which these selected examples were buried, +would of necessity be regarded as a very rude superstition or degraded +fetichism, hardly compatible with the general level of civilisation and +culture in the country, had not the Egyptians united a deeper feeling +with their worship of animals. In the living and yet typical forms of +beasts as contrasted with the deadness of nature, they saw not only +creations of the deities, but manifestations of the divine life itself. +The consecrated race of animals participated in the nature of the god to +whom it belonged, and the specimens in the temples were an unbroken +series of incarnations of the deity. + +In a different sense from the sacred animals, man also was in the eyes +of the Egyptians a manifestation of the divine life and nature. If we +set aside the position of the kings (see below), we find no indication +that man was regarded as the incarnation of particular deities or their +attributes. Yet man had a share in the immortality of the gods; and he +who studied and desired the divine was thought by his bodily death to +arrive at a complete divine existence. The primary result of this +feeling was that the body must be preserved as the vehicle of +personality even when life and soul have left it; it must be protected +from decay and ruin and any external disturbance by nature or man. +Beyond the reach of beasts of prey, safe from the enemy and the +destroyer, the corpses must rest uncorrupted and uninjured in cool, +secure, inaccessible, unpolluted, indestructible graves. No nation has +devoted so much care and labour to the preservation of the corpses, +whether of men or of sacred animals, as the Egyptians. It was almost the +first duty of the living to attend to the dead. And with his body must +be preserved all that the deceased person had done or acquired in life: +his occupation, his actions must live on in the grave, like his corpse. +Pictures in his tomb must represent his life, and inscriptions must give +an account of it. "The Egyptians," says Diodorus, "speak of the +dwellings of the living as a lodging; but of the tombs of the dead as +eternal habitations, because the dead pass an endless time in Hades. +Hence they bestow less toil upon their houses; but their tombs they +furnish in a most extraordinary manner."[116] + +The tombs are always turned towards the west, and are deeply hollowed +out in soil, or hewn in the rocks of the Libyan mountains. Those of the +wealthier sort generally consist of two chambers, an upper and a lower, +or a front and a back one. The upper or front chamber is furnished with +a description of the life of the dead person, his possessions, his +office, his occupation, and the most important results of his life +exhibited in relief and pictures. It served as a chapel in which the +offerings to the dead were made. In the lower or hinder chamber lay the +corpse. The corpses of the poorer inhabitants found their resting-place +in the common sepulchres. The preservation of the corpse was +accomplished in various ways. Either the entrails were taken out through +an aperture and placed in separate vessels, or the corpse was protected +against corruption by the injection of various substances; or finally it +was allowed to lie for a considerable time in saltpetre. + +Like the embalmment and the tomb, the cerements and the coffin were more +or less costly, according to the rank and wealth of the deceased. The +dead person was placed in a receptacle adapted to the shape of the +corpse, provided with a mask to represent his face, and adorned with +inscriptions and pictures. On the breast was generally depicted the +beetle of Ptah, or an open eye, the symbol of Osiris. This receptacle +was then placed in two or more coffins, each inclosing the other, which +were made of more or less costly wood. Rich persons added to their +coffins the stone sarcophagus, a hollow block of granite, the heavy lid +of which was then made so fast to the lower part that it could not be +opened without destroying the whole. + +The sarcophagus was carried to the sepulchre in solemn procession, led +by the temple-servants, with the necessary implements, and the bull +destined for sacrifice to the dead. Next were seen the implements used +by the deceased in his lifetime; the insignia of his order, if he had +been a priest, or in any office; or, if he had held any military +command, his chariot followed. After this came the waiting-women, hired +for this purpose according to the custom of the East; and men with +palm-branches, the servants of the dead, and the priests; last of all +followed the sarcophagus on a boat--for the soul of the dead passed +like the sun-god on a boat to the under world. This boat was on rollers, +and drawn by oxen. The procession was closed by the mourners of the +family and the friends. When the bull had been sacrificed and +frankincense burned to the gods, libations were poured in honour of the +dead. He was praised, as Diodorus assures us, not because he was born of +a noble race, but because he had been carefully educated and well +instructed, because he had been pious towards the gods, and had lived a +just and sober life. Then the kinsfolk implored the gods to receive the +dead into the society of the good. The accompanying multitude joined in +the prayer, and extolled the faith of the deceased, who now would for +ever pass his life in the company of the good.[117] The coffin was then +brought into the upper chamber, and from thence, when the ceremonies +were completed, it was carried to its proper resting-place, and placed +on the west side of it; the place was then closed and sealed. + +According to the Egyptian story, Osiris was not slain by Typhon. He did +not die; he was only taken away from men, as Diodorus says;[118] he +descended into the under world; he passed away into the invisible +region, while in the visible world he continued to live and work in the +vigorous strength of his son Horus. In the shape of Horus, or Ra, Osiris +wandered through the visible world. He changed only his name and shape +when, every evening, he went back to his distant home in order to be +alone. Thus, by descending from earth and dying, he had received the +sovereignty of the lower world, and left to the youthful Ra, his son +Horus, the empire of this world. As the sun goes down every evening, +and every morning awakes to new life, as the vegetation dies away in +the heat of summer and in autumn, and again in the spring attains to new +life, so to the minds of the Egyptians death, in all its shapes, was +only death in appearance, in reality it was a transition to a new life. +And as Osiris remained alive in death, and was the source of new life, +so through him and in him the soul of man was aroused out of death to a +new life. The sacred animals and men were of divine nature and origin; +they could not, therefore, end with death; death could only carry them +back to their divine origin, to that other world, from which they had +come; and in that other world they must awake to a new life. + +Owing to this power of awakening life out of death, Osiris became to the +Egyptians the special god of the human soul. As lord of the under world, +Osiris is often found on the monuments in the shape of a mummy. His +colour was in this case black, like his bull in Memphis; his clothing +was white;[119] his symbol, a wide-open eye, signifying the second +beholding of light. In this form of Osiris the Greeks recognised the +Dionysus of their Mysteries, whom they could also compare with Osiris as +the giver of fruits.[120] + +The Egyptians, says Herodotus, were the first to maintain that the soul +of man was immortal.[121] Plutarch, as we have already seen, informs us +that to the Egyptian Osiris was the embodiment not only of all that is +in heaven, but also of all that is in the under world. "His soul," he +continues, "was regarded by the Egyptians as eternal and indestructible, +and, according to the doctrine of the priests, Osiris ruled over the +dead, as Hades and Pluto among the Greeks. In reality, he was free and +untouched by everything subject to change and death. When men are +delivered from the body, and from pain, and pass into the eternal and +invisible world, where pain is unknown, then Osiris becomes their king +and leader. They are his retainers, who desire him, and are spectators +of a beauty inconceivable and inexpressible to men. This is the +explanation of the story most suitable to the deities."[122] + +The inscriptions on the sarcophagi, the wraps round the corpses, but +above all a papyrus roll placed in the coffin with the dead body, the +so-called "Book of the Dead," enable us to ascertain with considerable +accuracy the views of the Egyptians on the fate of the soul after death. +The greater part of the known manuscripts of this book belong to the +seventh or sixth century B.C. The contents show that rubrics and prayers +of the same purport, but differently drawn up, proceeding from different +times, and with different commentaries, are collected together in order +to provide the dead person with everything he can want in the next +world. All the prayers and invocations for that world are also given, in +order that the most effective may be at hand, just as at the end of +these manuscripts all the names under which Osiris can be invoked--and +they are more than a hundred--are gathered together. But fragments of +this Book of the Dead, or, more strictly, this Book of the Resurrection, +which forms the core of the Egyptian doctrine of the world to come, are +found hewn in sarcophagi--already with a triple commentary--which belong +to a date previous to the year 2000 B.C. + +After death the soul of man descends with the setting sun under the +earth into the nether world. Here, on the day of the "valuation of +words," the day of "justification," the soul is examined, and its +actions weighed in the hall of double justice, _i.e._ the justice which +rewards and the justice which punishes. Osiris, with a crown upon his +head, and holding in his hand a crosier and a whip, sits upon a throne +surrounded by the water of life, out of which spring up lotus-flowers. +Beside him sit forty-two spirits; Anubis, the god with a jackal's head, +the leader and keeper of the dead, and Horus, with a hawk's head, are +busied with a balance; in one scale is the heart of the deceased, in the +other an ostrich-feather, the symbol of truth and justice. The god with +the head of an ibis, the scribe of truth, takes down the result of the +weighing. As Osiris, according to the legend, was once justified by +Horus and Thoth, so is every human soul justified by those deities. The +deceased assures them that he has committed no sins; he enumerates +forty-two errors into which he has not fallen. He has done no +wickedness; he has not stolen, nor slain any one intentionally; he has +not allowed his devotions to be seen; he has not been guilty of +hypocrisy, or lying; he has not stolen the property of the gods, or the +sacrificial food; he has not calumniated any one, or fallen into +drunkenness or adultery; he has not turned away his ear from the words +of truth; he has been no idle talker; he has not slighted the king or +his father; he has not contemned the gods, or torn from the dead their +linen wraps. + +The departed spirit was not allowed to enter the other world in +ignorance: he must know what awaits him there; the path which he has to +tread, and the prayers which opened for him the gates of the various +regions, which gave him power to overcome whatever spirits and monsters +might meet him in the way and attempt to hold him back; he must know +the charm which will at last unlock for him the fields of Ra. He must +know and recognise the gods to whom he returns; the nature from which he +has sprung, and which he now again assumes. As in him divinity has been +made human, so is he now in turn deified. To secure this knowledge for +the dead, the book is placed in his coffin, the important passages were +written on the wraps, and engraved on the coffin. + +If the heart of the dead man was not found too light and his soul was +pure,[123] he was acquitted in the other world, he received back from +the gods his heart and members renewed and deified, and the goddesses of +life and the sky--Hathor and Nut--poured out upon him the water of life. +His prayer opened for him the gates of the dwellings in the world to +come; he was enabled to strike with his lance the evil spirits and +monsters, the crocodiles, snakes, tortoises, the two vipers, and the +serpent Apep, to keep at a distance all impurity, and finally to reach +the fields of the sun-god.[124] Here the blessed planted the heavenly +wheat--of which the ears were two cubits in length--wandered at will in +shady avenues with odours in their hair, and bathed in pools of water. + +Arrived among the gods, the soul receives the power of assuming various +existences--that is, apparently, of entering into the bodies of men and +beasts, and returning finally into the divine substance from which it +sprang. Hence to the Egyptians death is the "going up to heaven," the +"entrance into heaven," the "entrance into the place of the gods."[125] +The first chapter of the Book of the Dead was to be pronounced by the +deceased on the day of his burial when going forth from the grave at the +western gate of the under-world, in order to find immediate entrance +there. "By learning this chapter when on earth," so runs the close of it +in the book, "or by setting it forth in writing on his tomb, he will +emerge on the day, and on entering into his dwelling he will not be +thrust back. Food and drink will be given to him, much flesh also on the +table of Ra; he will work in the fields on the plain of Aanro +(Paradise), where corn and wheat will be given to him; he will live +happily as he lived upon earth." On the day of justification, the dead +has to say: "I am one of the initiated; thy name I know; I know the +names of thy forty-two gods, who dwell with thee in the hall of twofold +justice." Then comes the answer: "Enter! thou knowest us."[126] On a +sarcophagus of the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen the deceased +utters the following words, which are found detailed at greater length +and commented upon in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of the Dead. +"I am Tum (p. 51), a being, which I alone am. I am Ra in his first +sovereignty. I am the great self-existing god, the creator of his name, +the ruler of all gods, whom none of the gods restrains. I was yesterday; +I know the morrow. When I spoke a battle-field was prepared for the +gods. I know the name of that great god who is there. Glory of Ra is his +name. I am the great Bennu which is worshipped in On. I am Chem in his +manifestation; on me have been placed the two feathers on my head; I +have arrived at my land, I have arrived at my dwelling-place."[127] "The +sun-mountain (horizon) of his father Tum is meant,"--so run the +commentaries, both old and late, and at the same time they remark that +the great god, existing by his own power, is Osiris; and the great Bennu +also is Osiris (p. 69). By Chem is meant Chemhor, _i.e._, the Horus, who +by his own power renews his own youth every day. On the cover of the +sarcophagus we find the formula, "When this chapter has been pronounced, +he (the dead man) enters into the western land at the time of his +resurrection: if entirely unacquainted with it, he cannot enter; for +him, as for one uninitiated, there is no resurrection."[128] + +Thus we must assume that the Egyptians believed in man's return to his +divine origin in the sense that a soul which was not found wanting in +weight, and was conscious of its own true nature, was not only received, +after the completion of the proper cycle, into the bosom of the godhead, +and allowed to be absorbed into the divine power, but was so far deified +that it could adopt divine attributes and power, and even assume a +divine title. + +According to the account of Herodotus, the Egyptians believed that the +soul of the dead passed into an animal, born at the time; from this it +wandered into all the other animals on earth, in the air and the sea, +and after 3,000 years it was again born with a human body.[129] That +this account is incorrect is proved by the records already quoted; it +may perhaps have arisen from the Egyptian conception that the soul of +the justified obtained the power to assume every shape. But a +purification of the unclean and ignorant soul by passing through the +bodies of all kinds of animals could never have been assumed by the +Egyptians, since the sacred races were pre-eminent manifestations, and +the selected animals continuous incarnations, of the gods. If a +pilgrimage through the bodies of beasts was really regarded by the +Egyptians as a course of punishment and amelioration, the beasts meant +can only be such as were not sacred. But as yet the examination of the +monuments and records has by no means completely cleared up the relation +of the soul to the body it has left, nor has it attained to any result +on the fate in store for the souls which were found wanting when weighed +in the balance. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[34] Herod. 3, 37. + +[35] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, 1, 357. + +[36] "De Isid." c. 51, 52; "De Pyth. Oraculis," p. 400. + +[37] Macrob. "Sat." 6, 18. + +[38] "De Isid." c. 36. + +[39] De Rougé, "Zeitsch. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," after a sepulchral +pillar in the Berlin Museum, 4, 375. + +[40] Champollion, Monuments, pl. 123 _seq._ Dümichen, +"Tempelinschriften." 1, 24. Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte des Todtenbuchs," +s. 13. + +[41] Lepsius, "Die Götter der vier Elemente;" Dümichen, in "Zeitsch. für +ægyptische Sprache," 1869 s. 7. + +[42] Herod. 2, 61. + +[43] Plut. "De Isid." c. 38. + +[44] The identification of Neith with Athene (Herod. 2, 62; Plat. "Tim." +p. 21) rests on the similarity of the name, on the torch-races in honour +of Pallas at Athens, and the feast of lamps at Sais. Gutschmid, +"Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Orients," s. 39, 45 ff., has shown +that Neith and Athene cannot be brought into agreement in points of +language. The inscription on the throne of Neith at Sais, given by +Plutarch ("De Isid." c. 9), "I am all that has been, is, will be, and no +mortal has lifted my robe," does not in the first part of it contradict +certain applications of the oldest text of the "Book of the Dead" (see +below). On the other hand, the second part is doubtful. In any case, the +fact that the _peplos_ has not been raised does not refer to the +inconceivable nature of the goddess, but to seclusion from sexual +intercourse. It can only mean that Neith was born from her own creative +force. + +[45] Herod. 2, 60, 137, 138. + +[46] Horapoll. 1, 10. + +[47] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. morgenland. Gesellschaft," 10, 683. + +[48] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, 1, 339. + +[49] Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 63; cf. Eber's "Gosen," s. 484. + +[50] Plut. "De Isid." c. 9. + +[51] Bunsen, "Ægypten," I, 446. + +[52] Lepsius in "Zeitschrift für æg. Sprache," 1868, s. 127. + +[53] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 42, 48, 52; "Götterkreis," s. 31-43. + +[54] Plut. "De Isid." c. 11. + +[55] Ibid. c. 21. + +[56] Wilkinson, 4, 237, 242, 246. + +[57] Parthey, "Abh. der Berl. Akademie," 1863; Minutoli, "Reise zum +Tempel des Ammon;" cf. Herod. 4. 181. + +[58] Bunsen, "Ægypten," 1, 470; Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 105. + +[59] Diod. 1, 13. + +[60] Plut. "De Isid." c. 12-20. + +[61] Herod. 2, 144; Diod. 1, 25, 44. + +[62] Compare the beautiful explanation given by Lepsius of the game at +dice between Hermes and Selene, narrated in Plutarch, _loc. cit._ + +[63] Lepsius, "Chronol." 1, 91. As to the meaning of Seb, I should be +inclined to give the preference to the view of Brugsch. + +[64] Brugsch and Lepsius in "Zeitschrift für æg. Sprache," 1868, s. 122 +ff. + +[65] Wilkinson, "Ancient Egypt," 4, 189. + +[66] Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 35; "Briefe," 106-111. + +[67] Diod. 1, 22. + +[68] Plut. "De Isid." c. 20 + +[69] Plut. _ib._ 12-20; Strab. p. 803. + +[70] Herod. 2, 59; Plut. _loc. cit._ 21; Diod. 1, 88. + +[71] Busiris was the name of several towns in Lower Egypt; we must +assume that the chief town of the district of this name was the scene of +the festival. How the Greeks turned the name of this town into a king +Busiris who used to slay strangers, I cannot explain. Eratosthenes in +Strabo, p. 802, says: "There never was a king Busiris; the story may +have been invented owing to the inhospitality of the inhabitants of +Busiris;" and Diodorus observes: "It was not a king who was called +Busiris, but the grave of Osiris was so named in the native language" +(1, 88), which is near the truth. + +[72] Herod. 2, 40, 42, 144. + +[73] Plut. "De Isid." c. 35, 39. + +[74] Plut. _loc. cit._ 12, 21, 42. + +[75] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 52. The inscriptions on the temple at Dendera +prescribe a seven days' lamentation for Osiris, beginning on the 24th +Choiak, and give full directions for the burial. Lauth, in the +"Zeitschr. f. æg. Sprache," 1866, s. 64 ff. + +[76] Herod. 2, 41, 132. + +[77] "De Isid." c. 42. + +[78] Diod. 1, 88. + +[79] Plutarch, _loc. cit._ c. 12. + +[80] Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 53. + +[81] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 32, 40, 50. + +[82] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 65. + +[83] Parthey, on Plut. "De Isid." c. 12. + +[84] Plut. _loc. cit._ 50. + +[85] Wilkinson, _loc. cit._ 4, 436. + +[86] Brugsch in the "Zeitschr. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," 9, 10, 68 c. ff. + +[87] Plut. "De Isid." c. 33, 39, 40, 49, 53, 65, 71. + +[88] Plut. "De Isid." c. 64. + +[89] Diod. 1, 27; Plut. "De Isid." c. 9, 56, 63. + +[90] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 61. + +[91] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 46. + +[92] Birch. "Gall." 1, 24, 44. + +[93] Herod. 2, 66. + +[94] Diod. 1, 83, 84. + +[95] Plut. "De Isid." c. 43. + +[96] Herod. 3, 28; Ælian ("De Nat. Anim." 1, 10) speaks of twenty-nine +marks of Apis; cf Plin. "Hist. Nat." 8, 184. + +[97] Diod. 1, 84, 85. + +[98] Diod. 1, 85; Plut. "De Iside." c. 29; Strabo, p. 807. + +[99] "Mém. pres. à l'Acad. des Inscript." sér. 1, 2, p. 15. + +[100] Mariette, "Bulletin de l'Athén-Français," Oct. 1856, p. 75; Juill. +Nov. 1855, pp. 67, 96, 98. + +[101] "Ardea purpurea;" Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 50. + +[102] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 43, 46, 51. + +[103] Brugsch in "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff. + +[104] Herod. 2, 73. + +[105] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 10, 2; cf. 13, 9; Pompon. Mela. 3, 8. + +[106] "Annal." 6, 28. + +[107] "De Nat. Anim." 6, 58. + +[108] "Hist. Nat." 10, 5. + +[109] Ibid. 1, 34, 35. + +[110] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff.; Lepsius, "Aelteste +Texte," s. 51; De Rougé, "Bulletin de l'Athén. Français," 1856, p. 25 +_seqq._ + +[111] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 683. + +[112] Herod. 2, 69. + +[113] Strabo, p. 811. + +[114] Herod. 2, 65-67. + +[115] Wilkinson, "Egypt," 5. 117, 123, 230 ff. + +[116] Diod. 1, 51, cf. 92. + +[117] Diod. 1, 92; Wilkinson, "Egypt," sec. ser. 2, 411. + +[118] Diod. 1, 25. + +[119] Plut. "De Iside," c. 33, 78. + +[120] Herod. 2, 42; Diod. 1, 11, 13, 25. + +[121] Ibid. 2, 123. + +[122] "De Iside," c. 54, 61, 79, 80. + +[123] Pierret, "Traduct. du Chap. I. du Livre des Morts;" "Zeitsch. für +æg. Sprache," 1869, s. 135; 1870, s. 18 ff. + +[124] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, p. 79 ff. + +[125] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 4. + +[126] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 6, 9. + +[127] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s. 30 ff. + +[128] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 25. + +[129] Herod. 2, 123. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS. + + +The lists of the Egyptians place Menes (Mena) at the head of their +series of kings. They describe him as a native of This, a place in the +neighbourhood of Abydus, below Thebes, a district which Diodorus +considers the oldest part of Egypt. Menes passes for the founder of the +kingdom and the builder of Memphis (Mennefer); he is said to have taught +the Egyptians the worship of the gods and the offering of +sacrifice.[130] Herodotus informs us that he learnt from the Egyptian +priests that Menes had thrown a dam across the Nile about 100 stades +above Memphis, and thus forced the stream which previously flowed at the +foot of the Libyan chain of hills to leave its ancient channel, and flow +at an equal distance between the two ranges. When the land thus gained +by the dam had become firm, he built upon it the city, now called +Memphis, and still situated in the narrow part of Egypt. Towards the +north and west sides of the city, Menes had excavated a lake, and filled +it with water from the river--which was itself a protection to the city +on the east,--and in the city he built the greatest and most remarkable +temple of Hephæstus (Ptah).[131] Diodorus observes:--The founder of +Memphis, the most splendid city in Egypt, selected the most suitable +site by founding the city in the place where the Nile separates into +several arms, so that the city, lying on the pass, commanded the +navigation up the Nile. He also obtained for the place a wonderful +advantage and security by throwing a huge dam in front of it towards the +south, as the Nile at the time of inundation overflows the district. +This dam was a protection against the rising water, and at the same time +served as an acropolis and defence from the attack of enemies. On all +the other sides of the city he caused a large and deep lake to be +excavated, which received the overflow of the water and afforded the +strongest protection for the city. The circuit of the city he placed at +150 stades, and owing to the excellence of the situation, Memphis was +generally chosen by the kings as their place of residence.[132] The +situation, just a little above the place where the river-valley, +hitherto enclosed between the two ranges of hills, opens out into the +Delta, was certainly the best adapted to form the centre of an empire +extending over the narrow valley of the upper river and the broader +district of the Delta, with its wealth of corn-land and meadows, and to +check the entrance of enemies who came from the north-west or the +north-east into the upper valley, even when it was no longer possible to +maintain the Delta against them. About fifteen miles above Memphis, at +Kafr-el-Yat, the Nile makes a considerable bend to the east, and modern +investigations claim to have discovered traces showing that this curve +is due to the hand of man. + +Menes, whose accession, according to the arrangement of Lepsius, would +fall in the year 3892 B.C., was followed on the throne by King Athotis +(Ateta), who was said to have built the citadel at Memphis. Next came +Kenkenes, whose successor was Uenephes, to whom is ascribed the erection +of the pyramids. We have seen what care and labour the Egyptians devoted +to their tombs, their "everlasting houses." The west, where the sun +sets, and the desert spreads out in boundless expanse beyond the Libyan +range, belonged in their minds to the gods of night, of the under-world, +and of death. About ten miles to the west of Memphis there rises a +desolate and barren plateau of rock, which for many miles runs parallel +to the river, about 100 feet above the blooming and animated valley +through which the Nile takes its course. In that rocky soil, which +separates the fruitful land from the desert, the bodies of the dead were +placed in chambers, either hewn in the solid stone, or, where the soil +was less firm, built of masonry, and thus secured even from the overflow +of the river. Even the kings sought their resting-places on this plateau +of rock. They, above all, gave attention to the solidity and durability +of their tombs; and in death, as in life, they wished to be kings. The +place where a king rested must be marked as royal, and visible from a +distance; the grave of a king must tower over the rest; his chamber must +be of all most difficult to open. Thus at first blocks of stone were +rolled upon the closed burial-place of a king, or a mound of earth was +raised over it, if sand and soil were to be obtained in the +neighbourhood. The strong winds which blew from the desert made it, +however, necessary to secure these mounds, and cover them with stone. +Hence by degrees the sepulchral heaps acquired a definite shape: they +were rectangular structures, lessening toward the apex; then, by +extending the base and sharpening the gradient, they were brought into +the form of pyramids, and thus obtained the greatest possible firmness +and solidity. For a similar reason the core, or central part, was no +longer made of earth, but of brick; where blocks of stone could be +obtained they were fitted into the core with more and more regularity, +until at last these structures were completed within and without of +rectangular hewn blocks of stone in regular layers, and artificial +mountains of stone towered over the sepulchral chambers of the kings. + +"At a distance of forty stades from Memphis," Strabo tells us, "is a +range of hills, on which stand the pyramids, or sepulchres of the kings. +Among these, three are especially deserving of notice. Rectangular in +shape, they are about one stadium high; and the height is slightly less +than the length of either side. The sides are not equal, one is a little +longer than the other, and near the middle of the longer side is a +stone, which can be taken out. Behind this a winding, hollow passage +leads to the tomb. Two of these pyramids stand close to each other on +the same level; at a distance, on a higher level, rises the third, +which, though much smaller, has been erected at much greater cost." +"Like mountains," says Tacitus, "the pyramids have been raised amid +impassable quicksands by the emulation and power of the kings."[133] + +About seventy of these structures, which rise in a long line on the +plateau of Memphis, from Abu Roash to Dahshur,[134] remain as witnesses +of the rulers of the old kingdom of Memphis and their dependants, of the +artistic skill and laborious industry of their nation. Of some only the +bases and a few fragments are in existence; of the largest, the points, +and at least a part of the casing, are either decayed, fallen down, or +broken off; for at a later time the Arabs used these monuments as +quarries. Three pyramids which stand in the neighbourhood of the modern +Abusir are formed of rough blocks of stone, both in the cores and in the +passages to the sepulchral chambers; and these blocks are fastened +together by mud from the Nile poured in between them; their casings, now +decayed, were of lime-stone blocks, and in height they extended from 150 +to 200 feet. Others, originally at least, of an equal height, of which +the core was regularly built of brick, are found farther to the south +near Dahshur. The architecture of these remains shows that the kings of +Memphis commenced building their tombs soon after their accession. They +began, it would seem, with a core of moderate size, and in this they +probably constructed a sort of temporary chamber. If time sufficed, the +first plan was overlaid with new strata, and thus it gradually increased +in size. Should the builder die before the whole was completed, the +casing of the structure thus raised in the form of steps was left to the +successor.[135] Between seven smaller pyramids, built regularly of stone +blocks, which are about 150 feet in height, and of similar plan and +structure, rise the three largest at Gizeh; the highest was originally +480 feet in height, though now it measures only 450 feet; the next +greatest, standing south-west of the highest, is now 447 feet, and was +originally 457 feet in height; the third measures but 218 feet. The +second largest, originally twenty-three feet lower than the largest, is +on a slightly higher level, the masonry is inferior to the largest, and +the chamber lies immediately under the area of the structure. The +largest measures 716 feet, or 500 Egyptian cubits,[136] on each side of +the area; the height along the slope is 574 feet, and the structure +contains about ninety million cubic feet of masonry. Fifty feet above +the original area, now covered with the sand of the desert, in the +middle of the north side, there commences a gradually descending +passage, about three feet broad and four feet high, leading to a chamber +hewn deep in the foundation rock. This chamber lies more than one +hundred feet below the level of the pyramid, exactly 600 feet under the +apex, and in a perpendicular line with it; it is thirty-six feet above +the level of the Nile. From this passage to the chamber there branches +off, just behind the entrance, a horizontal shaft, and from this rises +an ascending passage leading to two chambers, one over the other, which, +like the sepulchral chamber below, lie in the axis of the pyramid. The +third and smaller pyramid--its sides measure 333 feet, and the height of +the slope is 262 feet--being built upon looser soil, required a greater +substructure, on which it rose in five or six perpendicular and +gradually diminishing stories, the spaces between being filled up with +bevelled masonry. Up to a considerable height the casing consists of +polished slabs of granite. Under this structure in the native rock lies +a larger chamber, and behind this the sepulchral chamber. + +When Herodotus visited Egypt about the middle of the fifth century B.C., +and questioned his interpreter and guide about the builders of these +three pyramids, he was told in answer that they were built by Cheops, +Chephren, and Mycerinus. He was told that Cheops first caused a road to +be made from the stone quarries in the Arabian chain of hills--the range +east of the Nile--down to the river, and again from the west side of the +river to the high ground above Memphis. The road was built of smoothed +stones five stades in length, ten fathoms broad, and at the highest +places thirty-two fathoms high; and it was intended to convey the +materials from the Arabian side of the river. In making this road and +building the subterranean chamber for the grave of Cheops ten years were +consumed, although 100,000 men were constantly employed upon it by +spaces of three months, when they were relieved by an equal number of +fresh workmen. Twenty years were then spent upon the pyramid, of which +each side and the height measured 800 feet; it was built in such a +manner that the structure was carried out by landings and steps, like a +staircase. When the proper height was reached, the landings were covered +from top to bottom with smoothed and carefully-fitted stones, and no +stone is less than thirty feet. Under the surface was a canal carried in +masonry from the Nile round the subterranean chamber. "It is also +inscribed on the pyramid," Herodotus continues, "what the workmen +consumed in radishes, onions, and garlic, and on these, as I well +remember, the interpreter who read the letters told me, 1,600 talents of +silver were spent. If this is true, what must have been expended upon +iron for the tools, and on food and clothing for the workmen?" When +Cheops had reigned fifty years he was succeeded by his brother Chephren, +who also built a pyramid, though not equal in size to the other, and +without any chamber or subterranean canal. "Both pyramids stand on the +same elevation, of about one hundred feet; but the second is forty feet +lower than the first; the lower stratum is built of vari-coloured +Ethiopian stone." When Chephren had reigned fifty-six years, he was +followed by Mycerinus, the son of Cheops. This king also left a pyramid +behind him, "but his pyramid was much smaller than that built by his +father: the sides are only 280 feet in length; the lower half is built +of Ethiopian stone."[137] + +The account of Diodorus is as follows:--King Chemmis of Memphis reigned +fifty years, and built the largest of the three pyramids, which in +height measures more than six plethra, and along the sides more than +seven plethra. It is entirely constructed of solid stone, very difficult +to work, and therefore of endless durability. Even now, although not +less than a thousand, or as some say even more than 3,400, years have +passed, the structure is uninjured, and the joints of the stones +unloosened. Besides, we are told that these stones were brought from a +considerable distance out of Arabia, and the structure was carried to +its present height by means of mounds of earth. Most wonderful of all, +no traces of these mounds, no fragments from the hewing and smoothing of +the stones remain; so that it would seem that this work was not +accomplished gradually by the hand of man, but was planted complete by a +god in the midst of the surrounding sand. Though it is said that 360,000 +men bestowed their labour on the structure, the work can hardly have +been finished in twenty years, and the number of men who erected it must +also have removed the mounds of earth and excavated material, and put +everything in its original condition. Chemmis was followed by his +brother Kephren, who reigned fifty-six years. Other accounts tell us +that the kingdom descended on his son, Chabryes, and not on his +brother. But all agree that he built the second pyramid, which resembles +the first in the art of the execution, though much inferior in size, +since on the sides it measures only one stadium (or, according to recent +measurement, exactly 700-1/2 Greek feet). And while the money spent in +radishes and garden herbs for the builders is inscribed on the larger +one, the smaller remains without any inscription. Though both these +kings had destined these tombs for their place of burial, neither is +buried there. Roused by the burden of their labours, the cruelty and +violence of these kings--and in Herodotus also Cheops and Chephren +appear as wicked and godless kings--the people threatened to take their +bodies out of their graves and insult them. Terrified by this threat, +each of the kings in his last moments bade his relations bury him +privately in a secret place. After Kephren reigned Mycerinus, whom +others call Mencherinus, the son of Chemmis. He built the smallest +pyramid. Though less in size, it surpasses the others in the excellence +of the work and the beauty of the stone; up to the fifteenth layer it +consists of black stone resembling the stone of Thebes; from thence to +the top the stone is the same as in the other pyramids. On the north +side is written the name of the builder, Mycerinus. Abhorring the +cruelty of his predecessors, Mycerinus, as we learn, sought to make his +rule moderate and beneficent to his subjects, and did everything to gain +the affections of the nation. He paid great attention to the +administration of justice; and to the common people who had not received +from the tribunals such a sentence as seemed just to him, he made +presents. "But as to the building of the pyramids, there is no agreement +either among the Egyptians or their historians; some ascribe them to +the kings I have mentioned; some to other kings."[138] + +The accounts given by Herodotus and Diodorus of the structure of the +largest pyramid are completely confirmed by modern researches. Even now +it is thought that traces can be recognised of the causeway which served +for the transport of the materials from the left bank of the Nile to the +plateau.[139] The pyramid itself is built in large regular steps +constructed of squares of granite. The yellow lime-stone of the casing +must also have been really brought from the Arabian side of the Nile, +because better stone of that kind was found there.[140] On the other +hand, the account of a subterranean canal round the grave chamber is +merely a legend of the people, who desired to adorn with new marvels the +structure already so marvellous; it is impossible, simply because the +lower chamber, and not only the area of the pyramid, is above the lower +level of the Nile. The 100,000 workmen of Herodotus, changed every three +months, and the 360,000 of Diodorus--a number formed from the days in +the old Egyptian year--have arisen out of the free invention of later +times, although the building must certainly have occupied more than a +decade of years. Inscriptions are not found now on the external side of +the pyramid. If such were in existence at the time of Herodotus, they +certainly contained other things than those which the interpreter +pretended to read there. The interpreters who served as guides to the +travellers of that day in Egypt, as the dragoman does now, could hardly +have read the hieroglyphics; they contented themselves with narrating +the traditions and stories popularly connected with the great monuments +of past time, not without certain exaggerations and additions.[141] + +But the names of the builders of the three largest pyramids, which these +interpreters mentioned to the Greeks, are confirmed by the monuments. In +the deep chamber of the largest pyramid there is no sarcophagus; in the +upper of the two chambers which lie in the axis of the pyramid there has +been found, it is true, a simple sarcophagus of red granite, but it +bears no inscription. Above these chambers, however, there are certain +small spaces left open, with a view no doubt of diminishing the pressure +of the stone-work upon them, and on the walls of these spaces is written +the name, Chufu, Chnemu Chufu, in hieratic characters.[142] The same +name frequently recurs in the tombs surrounding this pyramid, in which, +according to the inscriptions, the wives, sons, officers, and priests of +Chufu were buried; and among them the scribe of the buildings of the +kings and the priest of Apis, who was at the same time keeper of the +gates and of the palace. In this inscription the pyramid of Chufu is +called "Chut." On a monumental stone found in the Apis tombs--now in +Cairo--we read, "The living Horus, the King of Egypt, Chufu, has built a +temple to Isis near the temple of the Sphinx, north of the temple of +Osiris, and has erected his pyramid beside the temple of Isis."[143] +Chufu himself is not found in Egypt, but in the peninsula of Sinai he is +pictured in relief on the rocks in the Wadi Maghara. He is represented +as lifting his war-club against an enemy whom he has forced upon his +knee and seized by the head-dress with the left hand.[144] In an +inscription in the same valley, the oldest which we possess, his +predecessor Snefru claims to have subjugated these regions. + +In the second pyramid, in the chamber under the surface, a sarcophagus +of granite has been discovered on the floor without any inscription. But +in the inscriptions on the graves, especially on the grave of the +architect of King Chafra, his pyramid is mentioned as "the great +pyramid." Between the paws of the Sphinx which stands to the north of +the second pyramid, hewn out of the living rock, is a monumental stone, +on which is read the name Chafra,[145] and in the ruins of a temple +lying near the Sphinx--the same without doubt which is mentioned in the +stone at Cairo--seven statues have been exhumed, the inscriptions on +which prove that they represent "the Master and Gold Horus, Chafra, the +good god, the lord of the crown," _i.e._, King Chafra himself.[146] And +lastly, the inscriptions on the tomb of a woman whose name is read as +Mertitef, prove that she was the chief favourite of Snefru and of Chufu, +and had been united to Chafra.[147] Hence Chafra must have succeeded +Chufu, and the "great" pyramid built by him can hardly have been any +other than that which now holds the second place. + +In the sepulchral chamber of the third pyramid, it is known in the +inscriptions as "Har," _i.e._, "the supreme," the sarcophagus of King +Menkera with his mummy has been discovered. It is made of blue basalt, +and bears the following inscription:--"O Osiris, King Menkera, ever +living one; begotten of the sky, carried in the bosom of Nut, scion of +Seb (p. 55). Thy mother Nut is outstretched over thee, in her name of +the mystery of the sky may she deify thee and destroy thy enemies, King +Menkera, ever living one."[148] + +It is therefore an ascertained fact that Chufu, Chafra, and Menkera were +the builders of the three great pyramids. In the mouth of the Greeks the +name Chufu passed into Cheops, and by a farther change into Suphis. The +name Chemmis in Diodorus has arisen out of the name Chnemu in the form +Chnemu Chufu; from Chafra naturally arose Chephren, Kephren, and +Chabryes. In the list of kings in Eratosthenes, the fourteenth successor +of Menes is Saophis; Eratosthenes allows him a reign of twenty-nine +years. His successor, who has a reign of twenty-seven years, bears the +same name. The second Saophis is followed by Moscheres with a reign of +thirty-one years. Manetho's list gives the name Suphis to the +twenty-seventh king after Menes, and he is said to have reigned +sixty-three years. Then follows a second Suphis, with a reign of +sixty-six years, and this king is succeeded by Menchres, who reigned +sixty-three years. On the first Suphis in Manetho's list the excerpt of +Africanus remarks: "This king built the largest pyramid, which Herodotus +assigns to the time of Cheops;" in the excerpt of Eusebius, both in the +Greek text and the Armenian translation, this remark is made on the +second Suphis. Hence we can have no hesitation in identifying the Cheops +and Chephren of Herodotus, the Chemmis and Kephren of Diodorus, with the +first and second Saophis and Sufis of the lists, the Chufu and Chafra +of the inscriptions; and the Mycerinus of Herodotus and Diodorus is +beyond doubt the same as the Moscheres of Eratosthenes, the Mencheres of +Manetho, and the Menkera of the sarcophagus in the third pyramid. In the +national tradition of the Egyptians, as received by the Greeks, Cheops +and Chephren were called brothers, and this is no doubt mainly due to +the fact that the monuments of these two kings surpassed all the other +pyramids, and were of nearly the same height and size. It is impossible +that Cheops should have reigned fifty years, and his brother Chephren +who succeeded him, fifty-six years, as Herodotus and Diodorus tell +us--the inscription quoted above makes the same woman the favourite of +the predecessor of Chufu, of Chufu, and Chafra also; even more +impossible is it that the first Suphis should have reigned sixty-three +years, and the second sixty-six, as given in the list of Manetho, if +they were brothers; or that Mycerinus, whom Herodotus as well as +Diodorus calls the son of Cheops, should have succeeded Chephren with a +reign of sixty-three years, as Manetho tells us. Like their brotherhood, +the wickedness of Cheops and Chephren is due to the popular legends of +later times. The sight of the enormous structures forced on later +generations the reflection what labour, what stupendous efforts must +have been necessary for their erection. This reflection united with +certain dim memories, and gathered round the rule of the strangers, the +shepherd-tribes, which for a long time afflicted Egypt, as is clear +enough from a trait in the narrative of Herodotus. He assures us that +the Egyptians could scarcely be induced to mention the names of the +kings who built the great pyramids: they spoke of them as the works of +the shepherd Philitis.[149] In the eyes of the Egyptians of the olden +time, tombs would never have appeared to be works of impiety and +wickedness, realising as they did in such an extraordinary degree the +object most eagerly desired, a secure and indestructible resting-place +for the dead: with them they would rather pass as works of singular +piety. Without doubt it is the older tradition, that of the priests, +which meets us in the observation appended in the list of Manetho and +the excerpt of Africanus to the first Suphis, and in the excerpt of +Eusebius, both in the Greek text and Armenian translation, to the second +Suphis, in which we are told that this king had composed a sacred book, +and the Egyptians regarded it as a very great treasure. + +According to the inscription, Chufu had erected a temple to Isis by the +side of the temple of the Sphinx, and therefore the latter temple must +have been already in existence. And as a fact the ruins still found +beside the great Sphinx give evidence of very ancient workmanship. There +was a court, the ante-court of the temple, which surrounded a portico +supported on twelve square pillars; next came a hall supported on +monoliths, the temple itself, and finally the Holy of Holies, surrounded +by small chambers. The material used in building was limestone and +granite. The symbolic form of the deity, to whom the temple belonged, +was the enormous Sphinx, 190 feet in length, hewn out of the rock, with +the body of a lion and the head of a man. From the memorial stone before +it we learn that it symbolized the god Harmachu (Armachis of the +Greeks), _i.e._ Horus in Splendour (_har-em-chu_).[150] From the +inscription on this stone, which dates from the time of Tuthmosis IV., +it seems to follow that it was Chafra, who caused this shape to be hewn +out of the rock and consecrated it to the god. Other inscriptions inform +us that the pyramids were regarded as sepulchral temples, and that there +were priests for the service of the princes who were buried there, and +had attained to a divine nature, and these services were still in +existence at the time of the Ptolemies. One of the tombs at Gizeh +belongs to a priest, a relation of Chafra, whose duty it was to "honour +the pyramid Uer (the Great) of king Chafra;" another is found at +Sakkarah belonging to "a priest of Chufu, and Chafra."[151] On a +monumental stone of the time of the Ptolemies (found in the Serapeum, +and now in the Louvre) mention is made of the temple of Harmachu on the +south of the house of Isis, and of a certain Psamtik, the prophet of +Isis, of Osarhapi (p. 67), of Harmachu, of Chufu and Chafra.[152] + +The temples of Osiris and Isis, near the three great pyramids, and the +inscription on the sarcophagus of king Menkera are evidence that the +cultus of Osiris, the belief in his rule in the next world, in the +return of the soul to her divine origin, and her deification after +death, was already in existence at the time when these monuments were +erected. The use not of hieroglyphics only, but also of the hieratic +alphabet, in red and black colours, in the pyramid of Chufu, and the +graves around it, in the sculptures of which writing materials and rolls +of papyrus are frequently engraved, the forms of domestic and household +life, of agriculture and the cultivation of the vine, of hunting and +fishing, preserved on the tombs of Gizeh, are evidence of the long +existence and manifold development of civilisation, no less than those +great monuments, or even the graves themselves with their artistic mode +of construction, their severe and simple style of execution, and the +pleasing forms of their ornaments. Of the seven statues of Chafra, +discovered in the temple of the Sphinx, one, chiselled out of hard green +and yellow basalt, has been preserved uninjured. The king is represented +sitting, and naked, with the exception of a covering on the head and a +girdle round the loins. The lower arms rest on the thighs, the left hand +is outstretched, the right holds a fillet. The sides of the cube, on +which Chafra is seated, are formed by lions, between the feet of which +are stems of papyrus. On the high back of the chair, behind the head of +the king, sits the hawk of Horus, whose wings are spread forwards in an +attitude of protection. The execution of the statue of the king is a +proof of long practice in sculpture. The natural form is truly and +accurately rendered, and though even here Egyptian art displays its +characteristic inclination to severity, and correctness in the +proportions of the body, to repose and dignity, yet in the head there is +an unmistakable attempt to individualize an outline already fixed--an +attempt not without success. Still more distinctly individual are two +statues found near the pyramids of Meidum, from the reign of the +predecessor of Chufu, a wooden statue, and certain pictures in relief +from the tombs near the great pyramids. The architecture, no less than +the sculpture, of these most ancient monuments, displays a high degree +of experience and a knowledge of the principles of art, a conscious +purpose and effort existing together with a fixed obedience to rule. + +We learnt from Diodorus that the great pyramids were erected 1,000, or, +according to some, 3,400 years before his time. According to the list +of Manetho, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus belonged to the fourth +dynasty. If we accept the incredible reigns of sixty-three, sixty-six, +and again, sixty-three years, which Manetho allows to those three kings, +they reigned over Egypt, according to Lepsius' dates, from the year 3095 +B.C., to 2903 B.C. + +At a period subsequent to these kings the list of Manetho speaks in the +sixth dynasty of a king Phiops, who came to the throne as a child in his +sixth year, and lived to be 100 years old. The list of Erastosthenes +mentions a king Apappus, who reigned for 100 years. The monuments show +us a king Pepi, in whom we recognise Phiops and Apappus, and in +consequence a reign of ninety-five years is assigned to him (2654-2559 +B.C.). Yet hitherto the sixteenth year is the highest found on the +monuments for the reign of Pepi; and in the inscription on a tomb at +Abydus, now in the museum at Cairo, a man of the name of Una declares +that he had filled the highest offices in the kingdom under Teta, the +predecessor of Pepi, under Pepi, and again under his successor, Merenra. +If one person could be the minister of three successive rulers, it is +clear that the second of these reigns could not have lasted 95 or 100 +years. Under the reign of Pepi, as well as his immediate predecessors +and successors, _i.e._, in the sixth dynasty of Manetho, the development +of Egypt must have undergone a certain change. The kings, previous to +this family, are represented on the monuments with a cap falling to one +side, or with a tall head-dress; Pepi is represented on one relief with +this head-dress, but on another with one of a lower shape. The tall +white cap is the crown of Upper Egypt, the lower red one is the crown +of Lower Egypt. It is no longer on the plateau of Memphis, and among the +tombs there, but in Middle Egypt, near El Kab, and in the valley of +Hamamat, which leads from Coptus to the Red Sea, that we find the +monuments of Pepi and his race, and the tombs of their priests and +magistrates are at Abydus. Under this dynasty, therefore, the central +point of the kingdom appears to have been moved from Memphis in the +direction of Middle Egypt. On the west coast of the peninsula of Sinai, +in the Wadi Maghara, Pepi is seen striking down an enemy; and from the +inscription on the tomb of Una, it is clear that Pepi's kingdom extended +up the Nile as far as the negroes, that his successor caused dockyards +to be built in Nubia, and that Una had to procure blocks of fine stone +for the sarcophagus of Pepi and his successor, and also for the pyramid +of the latter.[153] + +The removal of the centre of the kingdom from Memphis, which is +noticeable under the family of Pepi, was completely carried out under a +later house, which is stated in the lists to belong to Thebes--the +eleventh and twelfth dynasty of Manetho. Upper Egypt became the seat of +the royal power; Thebes (the No-Amon, _i.e._ possession of Ammon, of the +Hebrews) took her place beside Memphis. The princes of this new dynasty +are no longer called in the monuments the lords of Upper and Lower +Egypt, but the "lords of both lands;" they always wear both crowns. +Hence it is possible that this royal house in the first instance ruled +over Upper Egypt only from Thebes, and that for a long time Upper and +Lower Egypt existed side by side independently, till the kings of Thebes +succeeded in reducing Lower Egypt under their dominion. + +Of Amenemha, the first king of this house, who ruled over Upper and +Lower Egypt (2380-2371 B.C.), a colossal figure of red granite is still +in existence, which was discovered in Lower Egypt at Tanis (San), not +far from Lake Menzaleh.[154] His power must have extended up the Nile +over the adjacent part of Nubia, for a pillar discovered there informs +us that he intrusted an officer with the superintendence of the gold +mines in Nubia.[155] His successor, Sesurtesen I. (2371-2325 B.C.), +erected a temple to Ammon at Thebes, and set up obelisks, _i.e._ pointed +monolithic pillars, dedicated to the sun-god, in Lower Egypt, in Fayum, +and at Heliopolis. The obelisk at Fayum, not far from the ancient +Arsinoe, was about forty feet in height; it has been broken by the fall +into two pieces. The obelisk of Heliopolis is sixty feet in height; it +still towers over the ruins of this city, near the village of Matarieh. +It is not the first obelisk erected in Egypt, for the inscriptions of +Chufu mention an obelisk erected by that king, but it is the oldest +which has come down to our time. The inscription, repeated on all four +sides, runs thus:--"Horus, the life of that which is born, the child of +the sun, Sesurtesen, who is beloved by the spirits of Heliopolis, who +will live for ever, the golden hawk, the life of that which is born, +this gracious god has erected this obelisk at the beginning of the great +festival. He has erected it who assures us of life for ever."[156] That +this king also ruled in Nubia, and forced his way far up the Nile above +Egypt, is proved by a monument in Nubia on the cataracts of the Wadi +Halfa; a pillar, on which is depicted Sesurtesen, representing Nubians +and negroes, the prisoners of eight nations or tribes, to the god +Horus.[157] In the rock tombs of Beni Hassan is buried an officer of +this king, Amenj, overseer of the canton of Hermopolis (Ashmunein). The +inscription tells us that Amenj had served the king when on a campaign +to destroy his enemies; that he had approached the land of Cush, and +reached the limits of the earth. The king had returned in peace after +the overthrow of his enemies. Afterwards Amenj with 600 warriors had +conveyed the produce of the goldmines from the canton of Hermopolis to +the stronghold of Coptus. He had loved his canton; and all the works +required for the house of the king he had carried out in his canton by +his own arm, and had paid in the tribute. He had laboured, and the +canton had been in full activity. He had not afflicted the children, or +ill-treated the widows; he had not disturbed the fishermen, or hindered +the herdsmen. Famine had never prevailed, because every plot had been +planted. He had caused the inhabitants to live, had given gifts without +regarding the great before the small.[158] The fragment of a seated +colossus of Sesurtesen I., of black granite, is to be seen in the museum +at Berlin; his colossus of red granite is at Tanis. A third statue of +this king has been found at Abydus.[159] + +Amenemha II. and Sesurtesen II. carried on the campaigns of the first +Sesurtesen in the south of Egypt. A monument in the valley of Hamamat +exhibits battles with the Punt, _i.e._ with the tribes of the Arabians +and the negroes.[160] Sesurtesen III., who succeeded Sesurtesen II., +completed the subjugation of Lower Nubia. To protect the new border +of the kingdom, he caused fortresses to be erected a little above +the falls of the Wadi Halfa, at Semne and Kumne, about 250 miles +south of Syene. A pillar discovered in this district has the following +inscription:--"Southern border; erected in the eighth year, under the +rule of his holiness King Sesurtesen III., who gives life for all +eternity. No negro shall pass over it on his way, except the boats +laden with the oxen, goats, and asses of the negroes."[161] + +The third Sesurtesen was followed by the third Amenemha (2221 to 2179 +B.C.). Inscriptions in the Wadi Maghara, in the peninsula of Sinai, tell +us that Amenemha III. caused the copper to be conveyed from the mines +there by 734 soldiers, in the second year of his reign; and inscriptions +in the valley of Hamamat show that the quarries there were frequently +used by this king.[162] Near the fortifications of his predecessor, on +the rocks of Semne and Kumne, are found numerous records of the height +reached by the Nile in the reign of Amenemha III. Here we read--"Level +of Hapi (the Nile) in the fourteenth, sixteenth, thirtieth years, &c., +under his holiness King Amenemha III., who lives for ever." From these +observations we find that the average height of the inundations at that +time was more than twenty-four feet higher than at present; and the +greatest height reached under Amenemha III. was twenty-seven feet above +the greatest height of modern times.[163] + +Herodotus tells us the following story;--Among the successors of Menes, +Moeris carried out some remarkable works; he built the north gateway in +the temple of Hephaestus, excavated a great lake, and erected pyramids +in it. "The priests told me that under the rule of Moeris, the Nile +overflowed the land below Memphis, although it had only risen to the +height of eight cubits, but now the water does not cover the land unless +it reaches a height of sixteen or at least fifteen cubits; and it seems +to me that if the land were raised again in the same proportion, the +Egyptians who live in the Delta below the lake of Moeris would be in +distress. The circuit of the lake of Moeris is about 3,600 stades, or +sixty schoenes, and the depth in the deepest place about fifty fathoms. +The lake extends from north to south. That it was the work of human +hands, is clear from the nature of it. About the middle are two +pyramids, each of which rises about fifty fathoms out of the water, and +on each is a stone colossus seated on a throne. The water of the lake +does not arise from springs, for the whole district there is entirely +without water, it is introduced by a canal from the Nile. For six months +the water flows from the Nile into the lake, and again for six months +from the lake into the Nile. While it runs out the fishery brings in a +talent of silver a day for the King's treasury; but when the water flows +into the lake the product is a third of a talent only.[164]" + +Diodorus tells us that king Moeris erected the north gateway at Memphis, +the splendour of which excelled all others; and above the city at about +ten schoenes distance he excavated a lake of marvellous utility and +incredible size. The circuit was 3,600 stades, and the depth in most +places was fifty fathoms. "Who would not ask, when contemplating the +vast extent of this work, how many myriads of men were required to +complete it, and for how many years? But no one could ever speak in +worthy terms of the utility of the lake and the advantage it is to the +inhabitants of Egypt and the wise prudence of the king in making it. As +the Nile does not rise evenly, and the fruitfulness of the land depends +on the evenness of the overflow, Moeris excavated this lake to receive +the superfluous water, in order that an excessive inundation might not +create marshes and morasses, or a deficiency of water imperil the +fruitfulness of the soil. He carried a canal 300 feet in breadth from +the river for eighty stades (about ten miles) to the lake, through which +he first admitted the superfluous water and then drew it off. In this +way he procured for the tillers of the soil the desired medium in the +water, since the mouth of the canal was sometimes closed, sometimes +opened, which was both a difficult and costly thing to do. The lake has +remained to our time, and is still called by the name of the +constructor, the lake of Moeris. In the middle, the king who excavated +it left a place on which he built his own tomb, and two pyramids. One +was erected for himself, the other for his wife. On these he placed +stone statues of himself and his wife, sitting on thrones, in the +impression that by means of this work he would be for ever held in +grateful remembrance."[165] + +Of the lake above Memphis, Strabo gives the following account:--"The +canton of the city Arsinoe, which was formerly known as the City of +Crocodiles, surpasses all others in the beauty of its appearance, in +fruitfulness, and also in the wonders to be seen there. It alone is +covered with green and large olive trees, whereas there are no olives +in the rest of Egypt; it produces a considerable amount of wine, and +corn, and pulse, and many other cereals. In it also lies the wonderful +lake of Moeris, which in size and colour is like a sea, and has shores +like the shores of the sea. Owing to its size and depth this lake is +able to receive the superfluous water at the time of the inundation, so +that it does not overflow the inhabited and planted districts. On the +other hand, when the river begins to subside, after it has poured the +overflow into one of the two mouths of the canal, the lake and the canal +together retain the water required for irrigation. This takes place in +the natural course of things, but there are also artificial sluices at +both mouths of the canal, by which the persons in charge regulate the +rise and fall of the water." Tacitus also mentions "the excavated lake +which receives the overflow of the Nile."[166] + +From these accounts the object of the work is clear. It was intended to +regulate the inundation by a large reservoir, and so to increase its +beneficent effects upon the soil of Egypt. The inundation was to be +reduced for the Delta by drawing off a part of the water, which had +risen into this basin in the neighbourhood of Memphis, in order that the +land in this district might not be rendered swampy, and the marshes +might have time to dry. This basin could also retain a portion of water +in the superabundant years of excessive inundation, in order to supply +the deficiencies of other years when the water did not reach the highest +plots. Further, the reservoir might be used to irrigate the arable land +in the neighbourhood during the waterless months, when there was no +inundation. + +A few miles above Memphis the Libyan range is divided by a depression. +This cleft leads from the Nile into a spacious urn-shaped valley, now +called Fayum, of which the western part is filled by a large lake. On +the ruins near this lake, the name of King Amenemha III. is frequently +read. If we remember that the careful observations of the rise of the +Nile from the reign of this king tend to show that he was busily engaged +with the irrigation of the land, that the Egyptians call this lake the +lake of inundation (_meri_), and that the king Moeris of the Greeks +owes his name to this title (_suten en meri_), we may regard Amenemha +III. as the author of the wonderful hydraulic structures at Fayum. The +great reservoir, which he constructed, is no longer in existence, but +the remains of it can be traced in dams and in the modern lake of Fayum, +the Birket-el-Kerun. The urn-shaped valley of Fayum offered a situation +for a basin near the Nile, which might receive and preserve part of the +inundation, and the depression in the Libyan range secured a natural +path for the canal, required to feed the basin from the Nile, and the +Nile from the basin. For the site of the basin the nearest part of the +valley was selected; it was enough that the bed of the reservoir was not +lower than the lowest level of the Nile. No deep excavations were +needed; all that was required was to enclose a large part of the valley +with strong dams; and the earth necessary for erecting these could be +taken out of the enclosed space. These dams must have been massive +enough to retain a large body of water, and prevent it from breaking out +into the western, and far lower part of the valley, and at the same time +of sufficient height to prevent any overflow even in the times of the +highest inundations. At the eastern entrance into Fayum we find running +from the valley of the Nile the remains of long, rectilinear, and very +massive banks, in which modern research has recognised the original +enclosure of the lake of Moeris. The breadth of the dams appears to have +been carried to 150 feet; whereas the height can hardly have exceeded +thirty feet.[167] When Herodotus tells us that the depth of the basin in +the deepest part was fifty fathoms, it is obvious that the statement +rests on the computation that the two pyramids in the middle of the lake +were of the same height under as above the surface. The same authority +allows a circuit of about 450 miles for the lake, but from the remains +we cannot allow a greater circuit than 150 miles.[168] The Egyptians +were sufficiently skilled in the erection of strong dams, and structures +of such an extent could not be in excess of the resources of a country +which had erected the great pyramids. Finally, when Herodotus asks what +had become of the earth dug out of this great lake, the answer is that +there was no complete excavation, but merely the enclosure of a certain +space of land, and what was taken out of this was at once applied to the +construction of the dams. + +The statement of the priests about the height of the inundation in the +reign of Moeris, which Herodotus has preserved for us, and from which he +has drawn the conclusion that the soil of Lower Egypt must have risen +since that reign from seven to eight cubits in height, is much +exaggerated. The deposit of mud in consequence of the inundation raises +the soil only about four inches in 100 years, that is, about +three-and-a-quarter feet in 1,000 years. Supposing the basin of Amenemha +to have been completed 1,500 years before Herodotus travelled in Egypt, +the difference in the required height of the inundation might reach +three or four cubits, but not seven or eight. Yet the raising of the +soil, and more especially of the bed of the great basin, which rose far +more rapidly than the surface of the land, brought about the decay, and +at last the ruin, of this reservoir. The bed of the basin in which the +water remained the whole year through, and not for three or four months +only, must have been raised by the deposit at a peculiarly rapid rate; +at the present time it shows a height of eleven feet as compared with +the land outside the remains of the dams.[169] With this rise in the +bed, the value of the basin diminished in proportion as the amount of +water which the reservoir was capable of receiving was lessened. It was +useless to raise the height of the dams, for the influx of the water +from the Nile depended on the level of the bed of the connecting canal, +and of the basin. These causes along with the disaffection of later +times must have brought about the decay of the reservoir, the value of +which Diodorus places so high, and which was in existence in the time of +Tacitus. At a later period the dams must have been neglected, so that at +the time of some extraordinary inundation, a breach was made towards the +west, which filled the western and lowest part of Fayum with water. This +is the origin of the Birket-el-Kerun, the water of which is still +sufficient to convert the largest part of Fayum into one of the most +fertile and blooming districts of Egypt. The level of the +Birket-el-Kerun is seventy feet lower than the canal which once +connected the reservoir with the Nile.[170] + +"A little above Lake Moeris," Herodotus tells us, "at the so-called City +of the Crocodiles, is the labyrinth. I have seen it, and it outdoes its +reputation. If any one were to put together the walls and buildings of +the Hellenes, he would find that they were surpassed in labour and cost +by this labyrinth alone, although the temples at Ephesus and Samos are +certainly well worth speaking of. The pyramids are indeed beyond all +description, and each of them is equivalent to many of the greatest +works of Hellas, but the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids. It +contains twelve roofed courts, abutting on each other, the entrances to +which are opposite, six to the north and six to the south. Externally +they are all included in one wall. The chambers are of two kinds, some +are under the ground, others visible above it; of each kind there are +1,500. Those above ground I have passed through, and can speak of them +from eyesight; those under the ground the Egyptian overseers could not +be induced to show me, because, as they said, they contained the +sepulchres of the kings who built the labyrinth, and of the sacred +crocodiles. Of these, therefore, I can only speak from hearsay: but the +chambers above ground, which I saw, are a superhuman work. The entrances +through the covered spaces, and the windings through the courts are very +complicated, and excite infinite wonder, as you pass from the courts +into the chambers, and from the chambers into colonnades, and from these +into other covered spaces, and from the chambers into other courts. On +all these spaces lies a roof of stone, similar to the walls; the walls +are covered with carved pictures, and each court is surrounded on the +inside with pillars of white stones, excellently fitted together. In the +angle where the labyrinth ends there is a pyramid forty fathoms high, +with large figures cut into it. The entrance to this is under the +surface."[171] + +Diodorus says:--"One of the old kings, named Menas, built on the lake of +Moeris, the City of Crocodiles, a tomb for himself, a square pyramid, +and the marvellous labyrinth." In another passage he says: "King Mendes, +whom some call Marrhus, was not distinguished by any military +achievements, but he built for his tomb the so-called labyrinth, which +is marvellous not so much for its size as for the inimitable art of the +structure. Without a thoroughly competent guide, it would not be easy +for any one to find his way out." And in a third passage we are told: +"The labyrinth at the entrance into Lake Moeris is a square +structure--each side measuring a stadium--built of the most beautiful +stone, unsurpassed in the sculptures and the art bestowed upon it." +"Passing through the enclosure, you see a house surrounded with pillars, +forty on each side, and with a roof of a single stone, adorned with +mullions in relief, and various paintings. It also contains the +monuments of the twelve provinces of Egypt of their sacred relics and +sacrifices, all represented in the most excellent pictures."[172] + +Strabo's account is as follows:--"At the sluices (of the canal +connecting the basin and the lake) is the labyrinth, a work as great as +the pyramids, and moreover the grave of the king who built it. About +thirty or forty stades above the mouth of the canal is a table-land, on +which lies a hamlet and a palace made up of as many palaces as there are +districts in Egypt. For so many in number are the colonnaded courts, +adjoining each other in a row, and abutting on a partition against which +they are built as against a long wall.[173] The entrances which lead to +them are over against the wall. Before these entrances lie dark +chambers, long in shape, and numerous, which are connected with each +other by winding passages, so that without a guide it is impossible for +the stranger to find the entrance or exit belonging to each court. The +most marvellous thing is that the roof of each chamber consists of a +single stone. Even the dark passages (before the entrances into the +courts) are covered with slabs of a single stone, from side to side, +without use of wood or other support, and these slabs are of +extraordinary size. If you go out on the roof, and as there is but one +story, it is not high, you find before you a plateau of stones of this +kind. If from this point you look again into the courts, you see them +twenty-seven in number in a row, supported by pillars of a single stone. +The walls also are of stones not less in size. This number of courts are +said to have been erected because it was the custom for all the +districts to assemble here by their representatives, with their priests +and animals for sacrifice, in order to offer sacrifice and decide +matters of the greatest importance. Each district thus met in its own +court. At the end of the structure, which extends over more than a +stadium (in the square), lies the tomb, a square pyramid, of which each +side is about a plethron in length and the same in height. The king +buried there is called Ismandes."[174] + +"The labyrinth," remarks Pliny, "is still existing in Egypt, though it +is said to have been erected more than 3,600 years. Lykeas calls it the +tomb of Moeris; some authorities assert that it is a shrine of the +Sun-god, and this is the general belief. The entrance was built of +Parian marble, which is astonishing to me, the remainder of joined +blocks of granite, which centuries have not been able to destroy, +albeit assisted by the inhabitants of Heracleopolis, who regard this +structure with the greatest detestation, and treat it accordingly. The +plan of the whole and the various parts it is impossible to describe. It +is divided according to the districts and prefectures, which they call +nomes; these are twenty-five in number, and their names are given to an +equal number of large buildings. Besides this it contains a temple of +all the gods of Egypt, and includes above 1,500 small buildings. The +chambers are lofty, and each colonnade is ascended by a flight of ninety +steps. Within are pillars of porphyry, images of the gods, statues of +the kings, and monstrous shapes. Through the greater part you pass in +darkness. From the wing attached to the labyrinth, passages lead through +the rock to underground chambers, and there is also a pyramid belonging +to it."[175] + +As we have seen, Diodorus in one passage ascribes the building of the +labyrinth to the ancient king Menas, and in another to king Mendes, whom +other authorities call Marrhus, and at last he says that the twelve +kings, who reigned in Egypt after the dominion of the Ethiopians, built +the labyrinth for their common sepulchre. Four hundred years before his +time Herodotus had stated that the twelve kings built it as a common +memorial of their reign. Lykeas mentioned king Moeris as the builder, +and Strabo told us that the king buried in it was Ismandes, a name which +would agree with the Mendes of Diodorus. According to the lists of +Manetho, it was the fourth ruler of the twelfth dynasty--Lacharis in the +excerpt of Africanus, and Lamaris in that of Eusebius--who built the +labyrinth in the province of Arsinoe for his own sepulchre. + +The Menas of Diodorus may be an abbreviation of Amenemha, and this +supposition becomes the more probable because the king called Moeris by +the Greeks is mentioned as a builder of the labyrinth. The remains of +the building, on the north side of which the pyramid is still standing, +raise this supposition into a certainty. At the entrance to this +pyramid, on the pillars and architraves in the ruins, the name of +Amenemha III. is repeatedly found.[176] + +We must assume, therefore, that in the district which he had recovered +from the desert by means of his large reservoir, king Amenemha built a +large national temple close to the basin, and in this temple it was +intended that all the provinces of Upper and Lower Egypt should see the +deities of their land reproduced in separate courts and temples. Then +the Egyptians may have ascribed a restoration of this imperial temple, +this pantheon, to the supposed twelve kings who were thought to have +reigned after the Ethiopian dominion. This tradition is obviously at the +bottom of the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, who carry the building +back to the seventh century B.C. The ruins of the labyrinth lie near the +modern village of Hauara, among orchards and palm groves, beside rose +gardens and sugar plantations, surrounded by fruitful fields, in a +district which is still flourishing and covered with villages, bounded +to the west by naked ridges of rock and the sand of the desert. They +consist of blocks of granite and dazzling white limestone, which +explains the supposed Parian marble in Pliny, the remains of walls and +the capitals of pillars. The extent of the structure reaches 600 feet in +length and 500 in width; the traces of numerous chambers, some large +and some very small, but all rectangular, are still visible both above +and under the ground. In the centre is a clear space, once perhaps +filled by the courts, of which Herodotus enumerates twelve and Strabo +twenty-seven. The pyramid consists of a core built of bricks, and was +cased with sculptures, of which, however, there are very slight remains; +each side measured 300 feet in length. It was the sepulchre of Amenemha; +here, among his great creations, he lay at rest. + +In addition to the monuments in Nubia, and this great building, the lake +which ripples against the labyrinth is a most eloquent witness of the +prosperity to which this dynasty of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen raised +Egypt. The population must have been already very numerous when it came +to recovering fresh land from the desert, and attention was turned +towards increasing and improving the rich fertilization which nature +every year secured for Egypt. The picture of the richly developed +cultivation, of which these structures exhibit the highest point, is +supplemented by the insight into the details of the circumstances of the +country permitted by the rock tombs of Beni Hassan, Bersheh, and Sioot +(in Central Egypt), which belong to this period of Egyptian history. At +Beni Hassan, where the tombs go back to the reign of the first +Sesurtesen, we see the entire process of agriculture. Oxen or slaves are +drawing the ploughs, of which five different kinds are in use. Sheep and +goats tread the seed into the ground. The corn when cut is gathered into +sheaves, trodden out by oxen, measured, and carried in sacks to the +granary. The flax is packed upon the backs of asses, the lotus, the +vintage, and the figs are gathered in. The vintage is partly trodden +out, partly squeezed in a press moved by a lever; the wine is poured +into jars, and carried into a cellar. We see the irrigation of the +fields, the planting of the gardens, the cultivation of onions, the +overseer and his clerks. The overseer passes sentence on the lazy and +negligent slaves: when he has heard the complaint and the answer, he +orders the bastinado to be applied to the culprits, and hands to his +master the written account of the matter. With equal minuteness we can +follow the breeding of cattle. We see fine herds of oxen, cows, and +calves, asses, sheep, and goats in the stalls or at pasture with their +keepers; we see the cows milked, the butter and cheese prepared. The +fowl-yards are filled with a multitude of different ducks and geese. In +the same way by following the pictures on the graves at Beni Hassan we +can obtain an accurate view of the process of the various manufactures. +We see the spinners and weavers at work; we can follow the potter +through all the stages of his work, from the first kneading of the clay +to the burning of the finished jar. The carpenter and joiner, the +currier, the shoemaker, the smith and goldsmith, the mason and painter, +pursue their occupations before our eyes. We see rudders, lances, +javelins, bows and arrows, clubs and war-axes preparing: and lastly we +have the manufacture of glass, even the blowing, in all the various +operations before us. With similar minuteness we can see the interior of +the Egyptian house, simply or splendidly furnished, with all the movable +goods, the dogs, cats, and apes belonging to the inhabitants; there are +the servants at their work, and the operations of the kitchen in great +detail. Further we find soldiers of every rank, and with all kinds of +weapons; we see them exercising military drill; the battle, the siege, +the ram, which is brought up against the walls of the enemy, the roof +of shields under which the besieging army advanced to storm the +wall--all these are before us. Birding is carried on by means of traps +and nets, angling by hooks and spears of two or three tines; there is +hunting in its various modes. Long rows of wrestlers exhibit all the +various positions of their sport, which seems to have been much in +vogue; along with this various games exhibiting strength or endurance +were carried on; among others, games of ball and mora. We see dancers, +male and female, in various and sometimes very intricate positions; +harps and flutes of very different shapes are played upon. A singer is +accompanied by a musician on a harp, and the concert is completed by two +choruses, one of men, the other of women, who clap their hands. The +better class are depicted in gaily-coloured skiffs and palanquins, +surrounded by numerous servants, among whom may be observed a +considerable number of negroes. Dwarfs and deformed persons are also +found in their train. + +The most splendid tomb at Beni Hassan belongs to Chnumhotep, the son of +Nehera, who, as the inscriptions tell us, was a minister of Amenemha II. +and Sesurtesen II. Like Amenj before him, he was the overseer of the +province of Hermopolis (Ashmunein). A picture on his tomb exhibits a +huge portrait of Chnumhotep, with a staff in his hand, and a scribe at +his side; before him are a number of smaller figures, who, to judge from +their shape and clothing, are foreigners. The chief among the +foreigners, clad in a gay garment, leads forward an antelope and makes a +reverential obeisance before the minister. His companions are more +simply clad, and armed with lances and bows; one of them is striking a +lute with the plectrum. Four women follow, in long gaily embroidered +garments, with their heads veiled. An ass driven by a boy with a lance +carries two children, and a second ass arms and utensils. The leaf of +papyrus, which the scribe of Chnumhotep is handing to his master informs +us that Abusa (Abscha) with thirty-six companions from the nation of the +Aamu (nomads of the East), had brought presents to the minister of the +province of Hermopolis in the sixth year of Sesurtesen III.[177] + +If we compare the works of that epoch, which saw the erection of the +great pyramids, in technical and artistic value with the remains which +have come down from the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen--according +to the chronology of Lepsius the two periods are separated by an +interval of six centuries--we find in the great monuments of the first +epoch, in their passages and chambers, a dexterity in the use of stone +for building, which has never been surpassed. The sculptures exhibit +broader and stouter forms, with more strongly-marked but well-shaped +muscles. The ornaments consist of simple, straight lines, besides which +scarcely any other adornment is found beyond the lotus leaf. The style +is composed and full of repose; it remains nearer nature than in the +later works. In the monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha +the ornamentation has already become far richer. The pillars are +massive, fluted, and crowned by a simple cube. The sculptured forms are +taller and thinner; the work in relief, carried out with much industry +and delicacy, displays at times very happy moments of natural grace and +truth of expression, although perspective is entirely left out of +sight. Such work is always carefully painted. The statues of limestone +are also painted throughout; in those of granite, only the clothing, the +eyes and the hair are coloured.[178] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[130] Diod. 1, 12, 45. + +[131] Herod. 2, 99. + +[132] Diod. 1, 50. He ascribes the foundation of the city to a later +king, whom he calls Uchoreus. + +[133] Strabo, p. 808; Tac. "Ann." 2, 6. + +[134] Lepsius asserts that he found traces and remains of sixty-seven +pyramids. "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 65. + +[135] Lepsius, "Abh. der Berl. Akad." 1843, s. 177 ff. + +[136] Boeckh, "Metrologie," s. 236. + +[137] Herod. 2, 124-127, 134. + +[138] Diod. 1, 63, 64. + +[139] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 35. + +[140] Cf. Strabo. p. 809. + +[141] Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 248, 302. Gutschmid has supported the +Herodotean inscription on the strength of papyri from the times of +Ramses Miamen in Philologus, 10, 644; the "talents" in any case must be +left for the dragoman. + +[142] Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II. + +[143] De Rougé, "Monuments des six premières dynasties; Mémoires de +l'Institut," 1856, 25, 265 ff. + +[144] Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II. + +[145] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 113. + +[146] Brugsch, "Zeitschrift für aegyptische Sprache," 1864, s. 61. + +[147] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ p. 257. + +[148] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ pp. 282, 283. + +[149] Herod. 2, 128. M. Büdinger ("Zur ægypt. Forschung Herodot's." s. +24) identifies this Philitis with the shepherd-king Salatis; cf. infra. + +[150] Cf. above, p. 59. Mariette, "Revue archéol." 1860, p. 18. + +[151] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ pp. 281, 307. + +[152] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ p. 267. + +[153] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ p. 328 ff. + +[154] "Revue archéolog." 1862, p. 279. + +[155] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 53. + +[156] Rosellini, "Monumenti storici," 3, 33. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +p. 54. + +[157] Rosellini, _loc. cit._ 1, 38. + +[158] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 55, 56. + +[159] "Revue archéolog." 1862, p. 297; 1864, p. 69. + +[160] Bunsen, "Ægypt." 2, 323; Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 287. + +[161] Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 259. On the fortifications, De +Vogüé, "Athen. franz." Sept. 55, p. 84. + +[162] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 68, 69. + +[163] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s, 81; Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 67. + +[164] Herod. 2, 13, 101, 149. + +[165] Diod. 1, 51, 52. "This is what the Egyptians tell of Moeris." + +[166] Strabo. p. 809-811. Tac. Annal. 2, 61. + +[167] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 81. + +[168] Linant, "Mémoire sur le lac Moeris." + +[169] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ + +[170] Linant, _loc. cit._ + +[171] Herod. 2, 148. + +[172] Diod. 1, 89, 66, 61. + +[173] Strabo. p. 811; for [Greek: teichous mikrou] we must obviously +read [Greek: makrou], and for [Greek: echontes, echontos]. + +[174] Strabo. p. 811; cf. 813. + +[175] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 36, 19. As the building was actually not more +than a stadium square, the statement of Herodotus that there were 1500 +chambers above the earth--quite irrespective of the 1500 underground--is +inexplicable, unless the chambers were very small. In Pliny we must read +1500 for 15,000. + +[176] Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 74 ff. + +[177] Brugsch, "Histoire d'Egypte," p. 63; Ebers, "Die Bücher Mose's," +s. 98. + +[178] De Rougé in Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 69. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM. + + +In spite of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, and the extension of the +Egyptian dominion up the Nile as far as Semne and Kumne, the kingdom of +the pyramids, of the lake of Moeris, and the labyrinth succumbed to the +attack of a foreign enemy. According to Josephus, Manetho, in the second +book of his Egyptian History, gave the following account: "There was a +king Amyntimaeus. In his reign the divine power, I know not why, was +ungracious. From the East came an unexpected swarm of men belonging to a +tribe of no great reputation, with a bold resolution of taking the +country. This they succeeded in doing without much trouble. They made +themselves masters of the ruling princes, ruthlessly set fire to the +cities, and destroyed the shrines of the gods. Towards the inhabitants +they behaved in a most hostile manner; some they put to the sword, from +others they carried away their wives and children into slavery. At last +they made one of their own number, by name Salatis, their king. He took +up his abode at Memphis, collected tribute from the Upper and Lower +country, and placed garrisons in the most suitable places. The eastern +districts were fortified most strongly, since he foresaw that the +Assyrians, who were then growing in power, would be seized with the +desire of invading his country. In the Saitic (Sethroitic) province he +found a city excellently adapted for his purpose, lying eastwards of the +river from Bubastis, and called Avaris, from some old legend or another. +This he surrounded with the strongest walls, filled it with inhabitants, +and placed there the bulk of his armed soldiers, 240,000 men, as a +garrison. In the summer he visited this stronghold to measure the corn, +pay his soldiers, and exercise his troops in order to strike fear in +those who dwelt beyond the fortress. After a reign of nineteen years +Salatis died. After him reigned a king of the name of Beon, for +forty-four years, then Apachnas for thirty-six years and seven months, +then Apophis for sixty-one years, and Annas for fifty years and one +month, and finally Assis for forty-nine years and two months. These six +were their first rulers, and they sought more and more to destroy Egypt +to the very root. The whole tribe was called Hyksos, _i.e._ shepherd +kings. For in the sacred language _hyk_ means 'king,' and _sos_ in the +ordinary dialect is 'a shepherd,' and from composition of the two comes +the word Hyksos. Some authorities say that they were Arabs." "The +shepherd kings named above and their descendants are supposed by Manetho +to have ruled over Egypt for 511 years. Yet he afterwards tells us that +kings arose in the district of Thebes and the rest of Egypt, between +whom and the shepherds there was a long and severe struggle. In the +reign of a king named Misphragmuthosis the shepherds were defeated by +the king, driven out of Egypt, and confined in one place, 10,000 arouræ +in extent, the name of which was Avaris. This space, as Manetho tells +us, the shepherds surrounded with a great and strong wall, in order to +preserve their possessions and their booty in security. But Tuthmosis, +the son of Misphragmuthosis, attempted to take Avaris by force, and led +out 480,000 men before the walls. When he found that the investment made +but little way, he came to terms with the shepherds, permitting them to +leave Egypt uninjured and go whither they would. On these terms they +departed from Egypt with their families, and goods, not less than +240,000 strong, and went into the Syrian desert, and through fear of the +Assyrians, who were then the great power in Asia, they built a city in +the land now called Judæa, large enough to contain their numbers, and +named it Jerusalem." + +The short excerpts made by Africanus and Eusebius from the Egyptian +History of Manetho only tell that "there were certain foreign kings, +Phenicians, who took Memphis, and built a city in the Sethroitic +province, from which they went forth and subdued the Egyptians." +Africanus gives six, Eusebius four, names of these foreign kings, which +are somewhat the same in sound as those in Josephus, only in Africanus +Apophis is the last in the list, not last but two.[179] + +If Josephus has transcribed and reproduced Manetho correctly there is an +obvious contradiction in his narrative. The first shepherd king, +Salatis, fortified and peopled Avaris, and placed there a garrison of +240,000 men, for protection against the Assyrians. Then after a lapse of +511 (or according to the excerpt of Africanus of 953) years, when the +shepherds had lost Egypt they were shut up in a place containing 10,000 +arouræ, _i.e._ a square of twenty-five miles, of the name of Avaris, +which they surrounded with a strong wall in order to keep their +possessions and booty in security. At last they were compelled to +retire even from this, and march out in just the same strength as the +garrison which Salatis had placed so long before at Avaris, towards +Judæa, and here they founded a second city of Jerusalem, also for +protection against the Assyrians. + +We may leave the Assyrians out of the question, and assume that the +reference to them has been transferred by Manetho from the later +position which Assyria took up towards Syria and Egypt in the eighth and +seventh centuries B.C. to those earlier times; we may also regard the +turn of the narrative, which makes the shepherds the ancestors of the +Jews and builders of Jerusalem, as a combination invented by Manetho, +for in the tradition of the Hebrews there is no hint that their +ancestors had once ruled over Egypt for centuries, and Jerusalem down to +the time of David was merely the stronghold of a small tribe, the +Jebusites. Still it remains inexplicable that these shepherds, who, +after they had taken Egypt, or, in order to take it, fortified Avaris, +and garrisoned it with 240,000 men, should fortify Avaris a second time +centuries later, in order to maintain their last possession in Egypt, +and at last march out of Avaris in exactly the same numbers as the +garrison originally settled there. Shepherds, _i.e._ nomads, do not make +war by building fortresses as a base of operations for extending their +conquests; they had nothing to gain by conquering Egypt for the mere +purpose of shutting up the whole or the greater part of their numbers +with their flocks in a fortified place. On the other hand, it might have +seemed advisable to them, when they had subjugated Egypt, to possess a +fortified place on the eastern border, in order to keep up a connection +with their tribe; and it was natural that the shepherds, when the +Egyptians had risen against them with success, and they were no longer +able to hold the Delta, should attempt to maintain themselves in the +flats and swamps of the Eastern Delta; and when forced to act on the +defensive should fortify their camp at Avaris in this district. + +In the narrative of Manetho we can accept no more than the facts that +Egypt succumbed to the attack of the shepherds, and that they, to take +the lower estimate, ruled over Egypt for five centuries. Herodotus also +learnt in Egypt that the shepherd Philitis had once pastured his flocks +at Memphis. There is nothing wonderful in such an occurrence. Nomad +tribes dwelt in the deserts on the east and west of Egypt, to whose +poverty and scanty means of subsistence the abundance and cultivation of +Egypt must have presented a continual temptation. That temptation would +increase in force when the tribes became more numerous, when unusual +heat diminished the springs in the oases, and robbed these shepherds of +the produce of their scanty agriculture. The tradition of the Hebrews +tells us that their ancestor Abraham went to Egypt when "there was a +famine in the land," and the sons of Jacob bought corn in Egypt. + +According to Manetho's account, the tribes from whom the attack +proceeded were not famous, and he regarded the invaders as coming from +the east. The peninsula of Sinai, Northern Arabia, and the Syrian desert +sheltered in the Amalekites, Horites, Edomites, and Midianites, tribes +who were rendered hardy and warlike by life in the desert, tribal feuds, +and raids for plunder; and these may very well have united in +considerable number under some leader of military genius, and attempted +the invasion of the rich river-valley in their neighbourhood. According +to Manetho, the invaders were Phenicians or Arabians. The name of the +shepherd Philitis, given by Herodotus, points to a Semitic tribe, and +one immediately bordering on Egypt on the Syrian coast--the Philistines +(Pelischtim), from whom the whole Syrian coast was called by the Greeks +Palæstina. The name of the stronghold of the shepherds, Avaris, or +Abaris, recurs in Hauara, a town of Arabia on the shore of the Red +Sea.[180] If the shepherds who conquered Egypt had not been Semitic, and +closely related to the Hebrews, Manetho would not have made them the +ancestors of the Hebrews and founders of Jerusalem after their expulsion +from Egypt. + +After the conquest, the chiefs of the shepherds ruled over Egypt. The +inscriptions on the monuments repeatedly denote certain tribes in the +east of Egypt by the name Schasu, which in the later language is +contracted into Sôs. _Schasu_ means shepherds. Moreover, in old +Egyptian, the head of a family, a tribe, and a province is called _hak_, +and Hyksos thus can be explained by _Haku-schasu_, chiefs of the +shepherds, shepherd kings, as Josephus, Eusebius, and Africanus render +it.[181] What Manetho tells us of the destruction of the cities and +shrines, the slaughter and enslaving of the Egyptians may be correct for +the time of the war and conquest. But this hostility and destruction +cannot, as he intimates, have gone on for centuries, for, on the +restoration of the Pharaohs, we find ancient Egypt unimpaired in +population, unchanged in language, customs, and manners, in civilisation +and art. If the national development was interrupted and repressed by +the Hyksos, it still remained uninjured at the core, so far as we have +the means of judging. + +When at a subsequent period the kings of Ethiopia subjugated Egypt, the +warrior caste, the soldiers settled in the country by the Pharaohs, were +deprived of their lands. The same thing may have taken place on the +irruption of the shepherds. The warriors of the Pharaohs fell in battle, +were carried away as prisoners, or deprived of their weapons; and in +their place came the victorious army of the shepherds. Of these many +would soon return home laden with the booty of Egypt, others pitched +their tents in the conquered land, and settled in the greenest meadows, +more especially in the eastern provinces of the Delta, nearest their own +home, on the Tanitic and Pelusiac arms of the Nile, and Lake Menzaleh. +The chief of the immigrants became the head of the conquerors and the +conquered. The latter would render the same abject homage to their new +masters as they rendered before and after to their native kings; and the +power which the conquered willingly acknowledged in the chief would +exalt his position even among the conquerors. As time went on, the +culture and civilisation of Egypt had their natural effect on the +barbarous invaders, and when the storm of conquest was over, we may +assume that Egypt was no worse off under the rule of the shepherd kings +than at later periods under the rule of the Persians, the Ptolemies, and +the Romans. + +That the new princes, soon after the conquest, attempted to approximate +their position as much as possible to that of the ancient Pharaohs may +be concluded from the mere fact that Manetho was in a position to give a +catalogue of their reigns by years and months. But this is proved more +definitely still by certain monuments. In the neighbourhood of Lake +Menzaleh, among the ruins of the ancient Tanis, the modern San, two old +statues have been discovered, the forms and lineaments of which exhibit +a physique different from the Egyptian. In the heads of four sphinxes, +discovered in the same place, it is thought that we may recognise the +portraits of four shepherd kings, and a colossus discovered at Tel +Mokdam is said to bear the following inscription:--"The good god, the +star of both worlds, the child of the sun, Sel Salati, beloved by +Sutech, the lord of Hauar.[182]" + +The six shepherd kings enumerated by Josephus from the Egyptian History +of Manetho reigned, according to the dates given by the latter, for 260 +years, _i.e._ from the year 2101 B.C., in which, on Lepsius's +arrangement, the irruption of the shepherds took place, till the year +1842 B.C. Their successors must therefore have ruled over Egypt for 251 +years more, _i.e._, down to the year 1591 B.C. But in the time of the +later shepherd kings, native princes again arose in Upper Egypt, +although subject to tribute. A papyrus of the British Museum tells us: +"It so happened that the land of Egypt became the possession of her +enemies, and when this took place there was no king. And behold Raskenen +became king of the country in the south. The enemy were in possession +of the fortress of Aamu (p. 120), and their chief, Ra Apepi was at +Hauar. The whole land paid tribute to him, and rendered service of all +kinds, and brought to him the produce of Lower Egypt. King Apepi chose +Sutech as his lord, and served no other god, and built him a temple of +firm and lasting structure."[183] + +The power of the native princes at Thebes must have been gradually +strengthened till the successors of Raskenen were in a position to press +forward towards Lower Egypt, and place limits on the sway of the +shepherd kings, and finally to drive them entirely out of Egypt. +Josephus has already told us from Manetho that the princes of Thebes and +the rest of Egypt rose up against the shepherds, and in consequence a +long and severe struggle took place between them. In Manetho's list the +series of shepherd kings is followed by Amosis of Thebes (1684-1659 +B.C.). Hence we may assume that it was under this prince that the +kingdom of Thebes got the upper hand, and the power of the shepherd +kings was restricted to the Eastern Delta. + +This conclusion is established by the evidence of monuments. There +Amosis is again mentioned as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, and two +inscriptions of the twenty-second year of Amosis (1662 B.C.), in the +quarries of Massara, inform us that these quarries were opened to +restore the temples at Memphis and the temple of Ammon at Thebes.[184] +Hence by this time Amosis had again rescued the old capital, Memphis, +from the shepherds; that he also forced his way beyond Memphis, and +attacked the shepherds at Avaris, is proved by the inscription of a tomb +at El Kab, in Upper Egypt. It is the tomb of Aahmes, the son of Abuna, +the chief of the steersmen. The inscription tells us that, at the time +of Amosis, Aahmes, with his father on the boat, had ministered to "the +calf." He had not yet seen any woman, and wore the clothing of the young +men, when Hauar was attacked. When he had won a hand, he received the +king's commendation, and the golden necklace in token of his bravery. In +a second and third battle at Hauar he had again won a hand, and made a +prisoner, and he received the chain for the second and third time.[185] + +From the accounts given in Josephus and the excerpts of Africanus and +Eusebius, Avaris lay eastward of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, in the +province of Sethroe. Consequently we must look for this fortified camp +of the shepherds on the eastern shore of the Lake Menzaleh, perhaps on +the site of the later Pelusium. In the lists of kings Amosis is followed +by Amenophis I., then follows Tuthmosis I., then Tuthmosis II. and III., +under the regency of Misphra (1625-1591 B.C.). From this connection has +arisen the king Misphragmuthosis, who, in Josephus, defeats the +shepherds, drives them out of the rest of Egypt, and shuts them up in +Avaris. Hence it must have been Tuthmosis III., after the rise of the +independent monarchy (1591-1565), who led the great host of 480,000 men +against the shepherds in Avaris, and failing to enter the place by +storm, allowed them to depart unharmed, whereupon the strangers, to the +number of 240,000, retired into the Syrian desert (1591 B.C.). Yet the +inscriptions do not agree with this account. From the inscription of +Aahmes already quoted, it seems more probable that Amosis had already +taken Avaris, and that Tuthmosis I. had marched through Syria to +Naharina, _i.e._ to Mesopotamia, a fact which is confirmed by the +inscriptions of Tuthmosis III., though here also there are accounts of +battles fought by Tuthmosis II. against the Schasu, or shepherds.[186] + +However this may be, after a long subjection to foreign rulers, and +weary struggles against them, the whole land of Egypt was again governed +by native kings. These battles must have invigorated the military +strength of the Egyptians; and the happy result could not but increase +the self-confidence of the new dynasty to which Egypt owed her +liberation. The mighty impulse thus given carried the kingdom quickly to +the height of its power and greatness. Tuthmosis III. caused an +enumeration to be made of the conquests which he won from the +twenty-second to the forty-second year of his reign, and the tribute +which he received in this period. In this enumeration sixteen or +seventeen campaigns are mentioned. In the twenty-third year the king +marched against the Retennu (Syrians). From Kazatu (Gaza) beyond Taanaka +(Taanach) he reached Maketi (Megiddo). Here, on the twenty-ninth of the +month Pachor he defeated his enemies. The conflict was not sanguinary. +Only eighty-three of the enemy were slain. The king made 340 prisoners, +but took at the same time 924 chariots and 2,132 horses. Megiddo +surrendered, and Tuthmosis was able to lead back 2,500 prisoners into +Egypt. After this 117 cities and places in Syria surrendered, Kadeschu +(Kades), Tevekhu (Tibshath on the Orontes), Maram (Merom), Tamesku +(Damascus), Atara (Ataroth), Hamtu (perhaps Hamath), Kaanu (Kanah), +Masaar (Misheal), Astartu (Astaroth Karnaim), Hutar (Hazor), Kennarut +(Kinneroth), Aksap (Achshaph), Bar Semas (Beth Shemesh), Atuma (Adamah), +Ranama (Rimmon), Japu (Joppa), Harar (Har El), Rabbau (Rabbah), Baratu +(Berothai, Berytus), Sarta, &c.[187] Thus the coast of Syria and the +mountain district as far as Damascus and Hamath on the Orontes would +have become subject to the Pharaohs. This subjection, however, does not +seem to have gone beyond payment of tribute. The following campaigns of +the king were again for the most part directed against the Retennu; a +battle was fought at Aratu (Aradus). The sums which Tuthmosis received +in tribute from the Cheta (Hittites) are enumerated. Afterwards the king +made repeated expeditions against Naharina (Arem Naharaim), _i.e._ +against the land of the two rivers, Mesopotamia, and here also he levied +tribute. Then the tribute is given in the list, which the king received +from the Punt (the Arabians). That Lower Nubia, as far as the old +boundary at Semne, was subject to Tuthmosis III. is beyond a doubt. An +inscription found at Ellesieh in Nubia informs us that Nahi, the +governor of Nubia, has sent the tribute of the lands of the south to the +king in gold, ebony, and ivory,[188] and the list quoted mentions 115 +tribes or places subdued by Tuthmosis in the south of Egypt.[189] Of +Amenophis II., the successor of Tuthmosis III. (1565-1555 B.C.), +inscriptions at Amada in Nubia declare that he fought against the +Retennu (Syrians), and slew seven kings, and that in the south he +forced his way as far as Napata, _i.e._ up the Nile as far as Mount +Barkal.[190] + +His successor, Tuthmosis IV., appears on monuments of the island +Konosso, near Philæ, as victorious over the negroes.[191] And after him +Amenophis III. (1524-1488 B.C.) again directed his arms in his first +campaign against the negroes; a memorial stone at Semne tells us that he +traversed Abha, the land of the negroes. That the power of Amenophis +III. extended to the south far beyond Semne is proved by the ruins of a +temple which he built at Soleb on the Nile, "to his image living upon +earth," _i.e._ to the copy or manifestation of his divine nature, his +own divinity,[192] and inscriptions on certain scarabæi assure us that +Amenophis ruled from Naharina, _i.e._ Mesopotamia, to the land of Karu +in the south.[193] + +Thebes was the point from which the liberation of the land began. Here +the new dynasty who had restored the kingdom, driven out the enemy, and +carried the arms of Egypt far to the south and east, took up their +lasting abode, and this city became the brilliant centre of the new +kingdom. Here, also, the new Pharaohs glorified themselves by mighty +works, as the old kings had done in the city of Memphis and the +burial-place adjacent. And along with the warlike vigour displayed by +the people, the art and civilisation of Egypt, under the series of kings +extending from Amosis to Amenophis III. (1684-1488 B.C.), reached the +highest perfection which the position and character of the nation +permitted. + +On the right bank of the Nile, on a terrace near the modern village of +Karnak, the first Sesurtesen (2371-2325 B.C.), built a temple of +moderate size to Ammon (p. 102). To this Tuthmosis I. (1646-1625 B.C.) +added a splendid gateway, a lofty gate between two broad wings, which +rise in the form of truncated pyramids, and behind this gateway he built +an oblong court, encircled by a portico supported on pillars. Against +these pillars leaned karyatids, images of Osiris, with the hands, in +which is the cross with handles, crossed upon the breast. Of these four +remain still uninjured. Before the entrance of the gateway he erected +two obelisks of red granite, of which one, sixty-nine feet in height, is +still standing. The inscription runs thus:--"The mighty Horus, the +friend of truth, the king Tutmes, the mighty sun, which is given to the +world, whom Ammon establishes, has erected this firm structure in honour +of his father Ammon Ra, the protector of the world, and has placed two +large obelisks before the double gates."[194] The queen Misphra +(Ramake), who was regent for Tuthmosis II., and in the early years of +Tuthmosis III. (1625-1591 B.C.), erected in the oblong court of +Tuthmosis I. the two second largest obelisks known. Of these also one is +still uninjured, and stands ninety feet high, the other has fallen, and +lies on the ground. The inscription tells us that the queen whom Ammon +himself had placed on the throne and chosen as the protectress of Egypt, +had resolved in her heart to erect two great obelisks, the tops of which +should reach to heaven, in honour of the god Ammon and in remembrance of +her father Tuthmosis I., in order that her name might continue in the +temple of Ammon for ever and ever. Each obelisk was to be of a single +stone of red granite. Her holiness had commenced the work in her +fifteenth year, and completed it in her sixteenth, seven months after +the work was commenced in the mountain quarry.[195] + +To this court Tuthmosis III. added a gateway towards the south, and +surrounded the ancient sanctuary of Sesurtesen with a circle of huge +buildings. These consisted of two halls, each of twelve pillars, to the +right and left of the entrance, on which abut chambers, great or small +as the walls which surround the old temple allow. On the walls which +close these halls and chambers towards the old building, the king +recorded the events of his reign from the twenty-second to the +forty-second year, from which everything has already been given which up +to this time can be regarded as certain. The two largest obelisks also, +of which the largest is now standing in Rome before the Lateran, and the +other is destroyed, were erected by Tuthmosis III., and placed, as it +would seem, before the entrance into the old temple of Sesurtesen. The +obelisk now at Constantinople is also a work of this prince. The +inscription says that Tuthmosis III. "extended his dominion from Mount +Apta (in the south) to the uttermost habitations of Mesopotamia."[196] +On the east side of the enlarged temple of Sesurtesen, he built a +splendid hall, the roof of which is supported by fifty-six pillars. +Besides this he built additions to the temple of Ra at Heliopolis, +restored the temple at Dendera, apparently after a plan sketched on a +goatskin, which, belonging to the time of Chufu (p. 94) was rediscovered +under king Phiops (p. 101),[197] and finally he erected shrines to the +sun-god Mentu at Hermonthis, near Thebes, the god Sebek at Ombos, Chnum +at Letopolis (Esneh), and on the island of Elephantine. In Nubia he +erected temples at Pselchis, Korte, Amada, and Semne. The temple at +Semne he consecrated to Chnum and Sesurtesen III., who extended the +borders of Egypt to this point (p. 105), in order that "the king might +live again in this memorial."[198] + +Before the great sphinx, near the second pyramid, Tuthmosis IV. erected +the memorial stone already mentioned (p. 94); it represents the king +worshipping the sphinx. In the inscription the sphinx addresses the +king, and says, "I, thy father Harmachu, give thee the dominion, the +world in all its length and breadth, rich tribute from all nations, and +a long life of many years."[199] + +The buildings of Amenophis III. are not inferior to those of Tuthmosis +III. in extent or magnificence. Half an hour southward of the gateways, +court, and porticoes of the temple at Karnak, close on the right bank of +the Nile, at the modern village of Luxor, Amenophis built a second +temple to Ammon, the god of Thebes. In a court surrounded by colonnades, +the "court of sacrifice" joined the antechamber of the temple, or outer +temple, then came the temple with the Holy of Holies, built in the form +invariably used in Egypt after the restoration.[200] Only the spacious +antechamber, a hall with a roof supported on pillars and lighted by +windows in the wall, or by the spaces between the front pillars, could +be entered by laymen. The inner temple, reserved for the priests, to +which a second gate led from the antechamber, was a smaller hall of the +same kind, which received only a moderate light through openings made +high up in the side walls. From this half-darkened room the Holy of +Holies was again separated by a court, and the entrance was through a +door. Two other doors led by means of a passage running round the Holy +of Holies into the chamber surrounding it. The Holy of Holies, together +with the chambers abutting upon it, was surrounded by a high wall and +formed a separate temple of small dimensions. The masonry is heavy, and +narrows toward the top. Here in the gloom dwelt the hidden spirit of the +god. The heavy, solemn, mysterious character of the Egyptian temple +naturally makes itself most strongly felt in these spaces or rooms. On +the inner walls of the temple the sacrifices and worship rendered by the +king are represented, on the outer walls we see his achievements in war. +What still remains of the building of Amenophis--and it was subsequently +enlarged--allows us only to conjecture upon the original plan. Yet about +200 pillars and shafts still rise out of the ruins. The reliefs on the +outer walls of the temple, and in the chambers round the Holy of Holies, +are in the best state of preservation. On the walls of one of these +chambers we see the scribe of heaven, Thoth, announcing to Mutemua, the +mother of Amenophis, the birth of her son. Then the ram-god and the +goddess Hathor lead the queen into the lying-in chamber; another goddess +supports the queen during the birth. Then four heavenly spirits, the two +spirits of the south and the two spirits of the north, carry Amenophis, +already grown into a youth, to a throne in the presence of Ammon Ra, who +anoints him king. Then the gods promise gifts, honour, and power to the +new king. They declare that the Retennu, the "nine nations," _i.e._ the +nations bordering on Egypt, and all people, shall be subject to +him.[201] + +Far fewer--not more than a great heap of ruins with a few pillars and +memorial stones--are the remains of a second great work of Amenophis +III., which he built opposite the temple of Karnak on the west bank of +the Nile not far from the modern village of Medinet Habu. We learn +from Pliny that it was a temple of Serapis, _i.e._ of Osarhapi, +Osiris-Apis.[202] We have already mentioned the shrine of the same +goddess, which was situated among the tombs near Memphis (p. 67), +and we know that in the view of the Egyptians the west belonged to the +setting sun, the sun of the under world. The statement of Pliny is also +confirmed by two memorial stones among the ruins, from which we gather +that Osiris and Ammon Ra were the lords of the temple; and it is not +strange that the tutelary god of Thebes should be associated with +Osiris. Before the entrance to this sanctuary Amenophis caused two +statues to be erected, which still rise like steep cliffs above the flat +level of the bank by the side of a palm forest. They are two seated +figures, and the inscriptions tell us that both represent Amenophis. +The king is in a quiet attitude, the hands rest on the knees. The front +parts of the throne are formed by statues of the mother and wife of +Amenophis, which reach up to the knees of the king. The statues were +chiselled out of a single block, as also the bases. The height of the +whole is towards sixty feet.[203] + +The power to which Tuthmosis III. and Amenophis III. exalted Egypt +appears to have declined under their successors, or at least it did not +advance. The monuments prove to us that Amenophis IV. (1488-1476 B.C.) +began certain religious innovations. He paid excessive or exclusive +reverence to the sun-god, and attempted to found a new capital in the +neighbourhood of the modern Amarna, in Central Egypt, which was no doubt +intended to be the centre of the new cult. If, at the same time, as the +monuments show, he was able, like his predecessor, to build at Soleb, in +Dongola, it follows that the supremacy of Egypt was maintained, at any +rate in the south. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[179] Joseph. c. Apion 1, 14; cf. 1, 26; Afric. et Euseb. ap. Sync., p. +61, 62; Schol. Plat. 2, 424, ed. Bekker. + +[180] Caussin de Perceval, "Hist. des Arab." 1, 13, 19. That the +tradition of the Arabs about the Amalika is worthless has been proved by +Nöldeke ("Ueber die Amalekiter"). + +[181] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 77. + +[182] Ebers, _loc. cit._ s. 88, 202; Mariette, "Revue archéol." 1861, p. +337 ff.; 1862, p. 300 ff. From a memorial-stone discovered at Tanis we +find that 400 years before a certain year, which is not named, in the +reign of Ramses II. _i.e._, about 1750 B.C. (according to Lepsius's data +for Ramses II.), the shepherd king Nubti held sway; that he introduced +certain regulations in Egypt for the province of Tanis, the special home +of the shepherds; and that Ramses II. when erecting his buildings, which +in any case were sufficiently durable, at Tanis (see below), referred +back to this king. Further conclusions, which have been deduced from the +inscription on this stone, have been completely overthrown in my opinion +by Mariette.--"Revue archéol." 1865, 11, 169 ff. + +[183] De Rougé, "Athén. Franç." 1854, p. 532; Brugsch, in the "Zeitschr. +d. d. M. G." 9, 200 ff.; "Hist. d'Eg." p. 78. Brugsch assumes that Ra +Apepi was a later Apophis, and not the Apophis who is the fourth +shepherd king in Josephus, and sixth in Africanus, for according to the +inscription on the tomb of Aahmes, Amosis followed Raskenen. On the +inscription Apepi on a colossus of Ramses II., cf. _infra._ + +[184] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 85. + +[185] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 80-90. + +[186] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 81, 87; De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." +1860, 2, 310 ff. + +[187] De Rougé, "Divers Monuments de Tutmes;" "Revue archéol." 1861, 4, +196 ff. 344 ff. + +[188] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 107. + +[189] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1861, 1, 345. + +[190] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 111. + +[191] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 114. + +[192] Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 216; Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. +118. + +[193] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 114. + +[194] Rosellini, "Monumenti Storici," 3, 1, 29, 114 ff. + +[195] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 92, 93: cf. Rosellini, "Monumenti +Storici," 3, 1, 332, 146, and Lepsius, "Königsbuch," s. 38. + +[196] Brugsch, _loc cit._ pp. 108, 109. + +[197] Dümichen, "Bauurkunde von Dendera;" Chabas in "Zeitschr. für +ægypt. Sprache," 1865, s. 91 ff. + +[198] Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 113; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +pp. 65, 66. + +[199] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 113. + +[200] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1865, 11, 354 ff.; Dümichen, +"Bauurkunde von Edfu;" Brugsch, "Bau und Masse des Tempels von Edfu;" +"Zeitschr. für ægypt. Sprache," 1870, s. 153 ff; 1871, s. 25, 32 ff. + +[201] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 210; Rosell. M. St. 1, 219, 223, 236, +248. + +[202] "Hist. Nat." 35, 11. + +[203] Rosell. _loc. cit._ 3, 1, 216. The Greeks regarded the northern +colossus as the statue of Memnon. The ruins of this temple, and other +buildings on the west bank of the Nile, were called by them +"Memnoneia."--Diod. 1, 47; Strabo, pp. 813, 816. The name is strictly +limited to the temples and palaces on the west bank. Yet even the +fortress of Susa is called "the Memnonia."--Herod. 5, 53, 7, 151; +Strabo, p. 728; Diod. 2, 22; Paus. 10, 31. The name as applied to the +Egyptian monuments may be a corruption of Amenophis, so that the name of +the buildings of Amenophis has given the analogy for other similar +structures. Still, it is more probable that the connection of these +buildings with the divinity of the under world, and the death of Osiris, +to which the death of Memnon was compared, is at the root of this +nomenclature of the Greeks. The story of the Ethiopian Memnon, the son +of the Morning, _i.e._ of the East, who came to aid the Trojans and +found an early death before Troy, is known to the Odyssey (11, 522, 4, +187), the Homeric hymns ("In Ven." 219-239) and the Theogony (l. 984), +and was treated in detail by Arktinus of Miletus about 750 B.C. In +Homer's view the Ethiopians dwell in the far East, at the rising of the +sun, beyond the Amazons, whose abode was on the Thermodon. Hence the +ancient Susa, far in the East, the subsequent capital of the Achæmenids, +might have been the dwelling of the son of the East. When it was known +that the Ethiopians inhabited the Upper Nile, and the name Memnon was +found in Egypt, the Greeks, after the time of Herodotus, began to search +for the Homeric Ethiopians and Memnon, in and above Egypt. That the name +is given to the northern colossus only is due to the following reasons. +In the year 27 B.C. an earthquake broke this northern colossus and threw +the upper parts to the ground. Then the pedestal and trunk occasionally +gave forth a metallic sound at sunrise.--Tac. "Annal." 2, 61. This, in +the poetic minds of the Greeks, was the greeting of the son to his +divine mother, the Morning, while she in her sorrow for the early death +of her son moistened the statue every morning with tears of dew. Greek +inscriptions on the pedestal from the time of Nero give the names of +witnesses who had heard the sound. Pausanias, who was of this date, +tells us, _loc. cit._--"At Thebes, in Egypt, is the sounding statue of a +seated man, whom most authorities call Memnon, and say that he forced +his way from Ethiopia to Egypt and Susa. The inhabitants of Thebes, +however, deny that it is Memnon. They regard it as the statue of +Phamenoph, a native Egyptian." Ph-Amenoph is Amenophis with the Egyptian +article. The sounding statue was long regarded as a fable, until the +_savans_ of the French expedition, in the early morning, when the hot +sunbeams followed on the cool of the night, as is usual in the climate +of Africa, perceived in the great Egyptian buildings a small whispering, +or singing tone, which must be due to those physical influences. This +phenomenon may have been especially striking in the mutilated statue of +Amenophis. In the time of Septimius Severus, when the colossus was +restored--the upper parts are now composed of four pieces--the +inscriptions and the marvel came to an end. The new weight placed upon +the pedestal appears to have checked the vibrations. At present no sound +is heard.--Letronne, "La Statue vocal de Memnon." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE HOUSE OF RAMSES. + + +The Greeks inform us that Sesostris, or Sesosis, was the greatest +warrior among the kings of Egypt. Herodotus was told by the priests that +he was the first who set out with ships of war from the Arabian Gulf, +and reduced the dwellers by the Red Sea, until he was checked by waters +which were too shallow for navigation. On his return from this +expedition, Sesostris, as the priests said, gathered together a great +army, invaded the continent, and reduced every nation in his path. In +the conquered lands he set up pillars, on which were inscribed his name +and country, and that he had reduced the nation by his power. Wherever +he found but little resistance he also caused female emblems to be +engraved on the pillars. "So he passed from Asia into Europe, and +reduced the Scythians and Thracians. Beyond these the Egyptian army did +not, in my opinion, pass; for in the country of the Thracians the +pillars of Sesostris are found, but not farther. The greater number of +these pillars are no longer in existence; yet in Syrian Palestine I have +myself seen them with the inscriptions and emblems. In Ionia also there +are two images of this king hewn in the rock, one on the way from +Ephesus to Phocæa, the other on the way from Sardis to Smyrna. At both +places there is the figure of a man, 4-1/2 cubits high, with a spear in +the right hand and a bow in the left, armed partly as an Egyptian and +partly as an Ethiopian. Across the breast, from one shoulder to the +other, run Egyptian sacred letters, saying: 'I have conquered this land +with my arms.' Who he is and from whence he comes, Sesostris does not +tell us here, but on the other pillars. When Sesostris returned, he +brought with him many prisoners from the tribes, and his brother, to +whom Sesostris had entrusted Egypt, gave him a hospitable reception at +Pelusium. But round the house in which Sesostris was with his wife and +children he caused wood to be heaped, and set on fire. Then the queen +cried out to Sesostris to take two of her six sons, throw them on the +burning wood, and pass over their bodies as over a bridge. This was +done. The two sons were burnt, but the others with their father escaped. +After taking revenge on his brother, Sesostris employed the masses of +prisoners in drawing enormous stones to the temple of Hephæstus, and in +digging all the canals which now intersect Egypt. By these the land, +hitherto an open field for chariots and horses, was made less +accessible. The king's object in making them was that the cities which +were not on the river should have more water at the time when the floods +were not out. Then Sesostris is said to have divided the arable land of +Egypt into equal rectangular portions, and to have allotted to every man +an equal portion. And if the inundation washed away any part of this +allotment, the king returned the owner a corresponding part of his tax. +Sesostris was the only king of Egypt who also ruled over Ethiopia. As a +memorial of his reign, he left six large statues before the temple of +Hephæstus--images of himself, his wife, and his four sons; the two +first are thirty, the four last twenty cubits high. Long after, when +Darius wished to place his own statue in front of these, the priest of +Hephæstus forbade him, because Darius had not achieved such mighty deeds +as Sesostris. He had reduced the Scythians, whom Darius had failed to +reduce. This indignity, they say, Darius pardoned."[204] + +Diodorus assures us that Sesostris had surpassed the greatest and most +glorious deeds of his predecessors. "But inasmuch as not only the Greek +writers are far from agreeing in their accounts of this king, but even +the Egyptian priests, and those who sing of his deeds are at variance, +we shall attempt to give the most probable account and that which is +most in agreement with the monuments still existing in Egypt." When +Sesosis was born, his father gathered together all the boys born on the +same day, more than 1700 in number, and caused them to be brought up in +the same manner as his own son, in the impression that they would thus +become his most loyal and bravest comrades in battle. With these +companions he first despatched him against the Arabs, and Sesosis +subjugated the whole country of the Arabs, which no one had ever +subjugated before. In the next place, his father sent him against the +tribes in the west, and Sesosis, although still quite young, subjugated +a great part of Libya. On the death of his father, Sesosis, relying on +the results of previous campaigns, formed the resolution of subjugating +the whole earth. Having gained the good will of the Egyptians by +gentleness, remission of punishments, and presents, he gathered together +a great army of the mightiest men, an army of 600,000 infantry, 24,000 +cavalry, and 27,000 chariots. The various divisions of this great host +he placed under the command of those who had been educated with him, to +whom at the same time he allotted the most fruitful lands in Egypt. With +this host Sesosis first reduced the Ethiopians, who dwelt in the south, +and imposed upon them a tribute of gold, ebony, and ivory. Then he sent +a fleet of four hundred ships into the Red Sea--he was the first +Egyptian to build ships of war--and by means of these he subjugated to +his dominion all the islands and sea-coasts, as far as India. Meanwhile +he marched out in person with his army, and reduced the whole of Asia. +He crossed the Ganges and passed through India to the ocean. Then he +subjugated the nations of Scythia as far as the Tanais, which divides +Europe and Asia. In the same manner he reduced the rest of Asia, and +then passed into Europe. But in Thrace he was in great danger of losing +his army through want of food and the severity of the climate. So he put +an end to the campaign in Thrace, after erecting pillars at many places +in the countries he had subjugated. On these was engraved, in the +character which the Egyptians called sacred, the following +inscription:--"This land Sesosis, the king of kings and lord of lords, +conquered with his arms." At some places also he set up his own statue +in stone, with a bow and lance, four cubits and four hands high, for +this was his own height. After completing these campaigns in nine years, +Sesosis returned with his prisoners and untold spoil. When at Pelusium, +his brother formed a plan for his destruction. He invited Sesosis to a +banquet, and in the night, when all were asleep after their wine, he +heaped up reeds round the king's tent and set them on fire. When the +flames suddenly sprang up, the retinue, heavy with wine, could render +little service, but Sesosis lifted up his hands and besought the gods +to save his wife and children, and with them he happily escaped from the +flames. In gratitude for this rescue he honoured the gods with +dedicatory statues, more especially the god Hephæstus, as it was by him +that he was saved. In his temple at Memphis he placed statues of himself +and his wife, monoliths of thirty cubits high, and also statues of his +four sons, twenty cubits in height. The princes whom he placed over the +conquered nations, or allowed to retain their thrones, came with +presents to Egypt at the appointed time. Sesosis received them with +honour and distinction. But whenever he went into a temple or a city he +caused his horses to be unyoked from his chariot, and in their place the +princes and rulers were yoked four abreast, in order to show to all that +he was the mightiest and had conquered the bravest, so that no one was +his equal in valour. Having ended his wars, Sesosis began to erect great +works for his own glory and the security of Egypt. In every city he +erected a temple to the divinity chiefly worshipped there. On these +works no Egyptian was employed; they were entirely completed by his +prisoners. Moreover, for the cities which lay too low Sesosis caused +many large dams to be made, to which he transferred the cities, so that +they were secure from the inundations of the Nile. From Memphis +downwards he carried a number of canals through the whole land, partly +to facilitate commerce, partly to make invasion more difficult to the +enemy. Up to this time the best part of Egypt was an open field for the +movements of cavalry and chariots; after this it became almost +impassable, owing to the number of canals. In addition the king built a +wall 1,500 stades in length, from Pelusium to Heliopolis, as a security +against inroads from Syria and Arabia. To the god held in chief honour +at the city of Thebes he presented a ship of cedar wood, 280 cubits in +length, of which the visible part was overlaid on the inside with silver +and on the outside with gold, and in his honour he also erected two +obelisks of hard stone, 120 cubits high, on which he caused to be +inscribed the greatness of his power, the number of the subjugated +nations, and the amount of his income. When he had reigned thirty-three +years his eyesight began to fail, and he voluntarily put an end to his +own life. Many generations after, when Darius wished to set up his own +image in front of Sesosis, the high priest forbade him in the assembly +of priests, and explained that Darius had not surpassed the deeds of +Sesosis. So far from being enraged, Darius was pleased at his freedom, +and said that he would henceforth make it his object, should an equal +length of life be given him, to fall below Sesosis in no respect.[205] + +Strabo says: Sesostris appears first of all to have conquered the land +of the Ethiopians and Troglodytes; on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, +between the harbour of the Protectress and the Elephant-hunt, there +stood on a hill a temple built by Sesostris in honour of Isis. He +succeeded in reaching the land of cinnamon, where pillars and +inscriptions are shown as monuments of his campaign. Then he crossed +over to Arabia, and it is said that in the narrow part of Ethiopia +towards Arabia, on the promontory of Dirê, there was a pillar giving an +account of his crossing. From Arabia he went on to invade the whole of +Asia, and even forced his way into Europe. In many places ramparts and +temples of the Egyptian style are shown as the work of Sesostris. In +Egypt he undertook the construction of a canal from the Nile into the +Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea.[206] + +When Germanicus, the son of Drusus, travelled in Egypt, he saw large +remains of ancient Thebes. On the mighty walls, so Tacitus continues, +the Egyptian inscriptions still remained, telling of their former +magnificence. One of the older priests was bidden to translate the +Egyptian inscriptions, and he informed them that once there had been +700,000 men of military age in the kingdom, and with this army Ramses +had subjugated Libya and Ethiopia, the Medes, Persians, Bactrians, and +Scythians, and in addition to these had ruled over the lands from the +Bithynian to the Lycian Seas, which are inhabited by the Syrians, the +Armenians, and their neighbours, the Cappadocians. The amount of tribute +also imposed upon the nations was read, the weight of silver and gold, +the number of weapons and horses, the presents of ivory and frankincense +for the temples, and how much each nation had to contribute in corn and +goods--an amount no less than that which is now imposed by the power of +the Parthians or the Romans.[207] + +Josephus, on the authority of Manetho's Egyptian History, tells us that +Sethosis, who was called Ramesses, possessed a great force in cavalry +and ships. After leaving his brother Armais as governor of Egypt, and +placing the royal power in his hands,--with the restrictions that he was +not to wear the crown, or do any injury to the queen-mother and her +children, or approach the king's concubines,--he marched against Cyprus +and the Phenicians, and afterwards against the Assyrians and the Medes, +and subjugated them all, some by his arms, others by the fear of his +great power. Fired with ambition by these successes, he pressed boldly +onward to reduce the cities and lands of the east. Thus his absence was +prolonged, and his brother Armais, without the least shame, disregarded +all the restrictions laid upon him. He violated the queen, lay with the +concubines of the king, allowed himself to be persuaded by his friends +into wearing the crown, and rebelled against his brother. But the person +who was in authority over the sanctuaries of Egypt wrote to the king and +disclosed all that his brother had done against him. Sethosis at once +turned back to Pelusium, and established himself again in possession of +the dominion which belonged to him.[208] + +Thus, according to the accounts of Tacitus and Josephus, the warrior +whom Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo call Sesostris or Sesosis, was +known to the Egyptians as Ramses, Ramesses, or Sethosis. Let us now +inquire whether the monuments present us with princes and achievements +which confirm the narratives of the Greeks, the account of Manetho, and +the evidence of Tacitus. According to these it may be assumed that Horus +(Hor, 1455-1443 B.C.) whom the sculptures of a temple hewn in the rock +in the valley of the Nile at Selseleh represent as a conqueror over the +negroes,[209] was succeeded by Ramses I. (1443-1439 B.C.) who was +followed by Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.). Of him we are told in the +inscriptions on the outer wall of the great colonnade which he erected +at Karnak (p. 169) that in the first year of his reign he had attacked +the Schasu, from the fortress of Tar as far as Kanana;[210] his holiness +had startled them like a lion, and made a great slaughter. On a mountain +fortress to which the defeated enemy fled is read, "Fortress of the +land of Kanana (Canaan)." After this there were expeditions against the +Schasu, and the tribute which they paid to Sethos is mentioned. The +Schasu are the nomad tribes in the desert between Egypt and Canaan, +which had previously conquered and ruled over Egypt. The inscriptions +also remark that Sethos had twice desolated the land of Cheta with fire, +and had taken Kadeshu (Kades).[211] The Cheta are the Chittim, or +Hittites, who possessed the south of Canaan. Then the sculptures +represent the victory of the king over the Retennu, _i.e._ over the +tribes of Syria, and inscriptions celebrate the victories which Sethos +had gained over the "nine nations,"[212] _i.e._ over all the nations +bordering on Egypt. On the Upper Nile also Sethos had fought and +established his dominion, as is proved by the ruins of a temple on Mount +Sese in Dongola above the buildings of Amenophis II. and III. at +Soleb.[213] The representations of the achievements of Sethos at Karnak +are brought to a close by the victorious return of the king with +"innumerable" prisoners and rich booty, and by two enormous figures of +the king, in each of which he is holding nine prisoners. The list of the +conquered nations first mentions the tribes of Cush, _i.e._ of the +south; then follow the Schasu, the Cheta, and Naharina (the inhabitants +of Mesopotamia), and last of all the "Punt," _i.e._ the tribes of +Arabia. These names are followed by the observation;--"This is the list +of the nations of the south and the north, which his holiness has +subdued: the number of prisoners conveyed into the temple of Ammon Ra +cannot be given."[214] From these monuments we gather that Sethos +carried on a number of successful campaigns which begin with battles +against the nomad tribes on the eastern borders of Egypt, then extend to +the south and north of Syria, and finally to Mesopotamia, while in the +other direction he reduced the tribes of Arabia, and carried the sway of +Egypt beyond Dongola, farther to the south than before. + +Sethos was followed by his son Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.).[215] We +learnt from Herodotus that Sesostris had set up pillars in the conquered +lands in remembrance of his campaigns: in Syrian Palestine Herodotus had +himself seen such pillars, and in Ionia there were two figures of this +king hewn in the rock. As a fact a rock half way between Smyrna and +Sardis to this day presents a relief of an armed warrior. In style and +attitude it is certainly not Egyptian, and therefore cannot have been +the work of a Pharaoh. On the other hand, the rocks on the Phenician +coast which run into the sea at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, near the +ancient Berytus, the modern Beyrout, have Egyptian sculptures upon them. +These are three figures of Ramses II. In one he is carrying an enemy +into the presence of Ammon. In the two others he is striking down an +enemy before the gods Ptah and Ra. Though to a great extent destroyed, +the inscriptions still show that the achievements, of which these +sculptures are intended to immortalise the memory, belonged to the +second and fourth year of Ramses II. His arms had therefore reached the +coast of Phenicia, northward of Tyre and Sidon, and he maintained his +ground so far or so long, that he could set up this memorial of his +victory. In the ruins of a temple built or restored by Ramses at Tanis +(San), we find an inscription which ascribes to him the subjugation of +the land of Kaft, _i.e._ of Phenicia, of Nebinai, which is explained to +be Cyprus, and lastly of the Upper Retennu, _i.e._ of eastern +Syria.[216] Inscriptions on the building of Ramses II. at Karnak, near +Medinet Habu (the so-called Ramesseum), and in his rock temple at Abu +Simbel in Nubia, inform us that he again fought in Syria in the fifth +year of his reign. Eighteen nations, tribes, or cities are mentioned +which were opposed to the Egyptians. Here, also, the Cheta, _i.e._ the +Hittites, are first mentioned, then the Karkisa (perhaps the +Girgasites),[217] Kadeshu (Kades, either Kadesh Barnea in the south, or +Kadesh in the north of Canaan), Aratu (Aradus), Chirbu (perhaps Chelbon, +Aleppo), Kirkamisha (Karchemish), and Naharina (Mesopotamia). At Kadesh +Ramses was victorious and thence he returned to Egypt.[218] In the +eighth year of his reign he was again in Canaan. He took Maram (Merom), +Dapurr (perhaps Debir), in the land of the Amari (Amorites), and +Salam,[219] and on the walls of the Ramesseum, as also on a large +memorial stone in the ruins of Karnak, there is a treaty of the +twenty-first year of Ramses II., between "Ramses, the son of the great +prince Sethos the brave, the son of the great prince Ramses I." and +"Chetasar (_i.e._, the prince of the Cheta), son of the great prince +Maursar the brave, son of the great prince Sepalulu." It is concluded +"on good terms for eternal peace and friendship, that this may be a +beginning for all eternity according to the intention of the great king +of Egypt." After reference to former treaties, the great king of the +Cheta pledges himself never to invade Egypt to inflict injury, and a +similar promise is made by Ramses. Both kings are to send back those of +their subjects who wish to take service with the other. Either is to +help the other when attacked by enemies. The treaty is ratified by oaths +on either side; and Sutech (Baal) appears as the tutelary god of the +Cheta.[220] + +Such is the information we can gain from monuments of the achievements +of Ramses II. in Syria. His campaigns in the south appear to have been +attended by more important results. Sculptures in the temple at Abu +Simbel display the king sitting on his chariot, and leading back as +prisoners red figures, which here are probably Nubians, and negroes with +ropes round their necks: both tribes have no other garments but the +skins of wild animals. In another temple hewn in the rock of the western +bank at Beth-el-Walli, a little above Syene, we see Ramses II. standing +alone upon his war chariot, rushing with drawn bow on a crowd of +negroes, who are armed with very long bows, but clothed only with skins. +They fall before the horses of the king. Thus defeated, they fly to +their villages, which lie in a valley shadowed by cocoa-palms, in the +tops of which apes are climbing. Women and children come forth in +distress to meet the fugitives. The prisoners and the booty are brought +before the king, chieftains in fetters, and negroes carrying elephants' +tusks and ebony; others lead lions, panthers, antelopes, gazelles, +ostriches, and a giraffe, the animal of Central Africa.[221] Besides +this Ramses II. founded the furthest monument of Egyptian dominion up +the stream of the Nile, so that he must have ruled further to the south +than his father Sethos. Beyond Soleb, under the steep spur of Mount +Barkal, 400 miles or more above Syene, lie the ruins of a temple which +Ramses built in honour of Ammon.[222] Symbolical representations of the +temple already mentioned at Abu Simbel on the right and left of the +entrance collect all the victories which Ramses won. Before the god +Ammon, who hands to the king the scythe of battle, Ramses is brandishing +his club upon a crowd of kneeling enemies, whom he has seized by the +forelock. Among these are three negroes, three red and beardless men, +and four forms which are yellow and bearded. Ammon speaks thus: "I give +thee the scythe, slay with it; I give thee the south for subjection, and +the north for conquest, and to put to flight all the tribes of the +perverse nations, and to extend the fabric of thy dominion to the +pillars of the sky."[223] + +On this evidence we find that the narratives of the Greeks of the deeds +of Sesostris, with whom tradition has amalgamated Sethos and Ramses II., +and also Manetho's account of the exploits of Ramses, and what the +priest read about them to Germanicus at Thebes, are all violent +exaggerations. Of the battles in the north-east and in Asia, we find in +the inscriptions only the battles fought by Sethos against the +shepherds, between Egypt and Syria, against the Schasu, against the +Hittites, against the Retennu, and finally a campaign to Mesopotamia, or +at least battles against princes of the Euphrates. Of Ramses II. we find +that he forced his way as far as Berytus in Syria, and fought against +Syrian tribes and cities, with whom Karchemish on the Euphrates, and +other princes of the Euphrates (Naharina) are said to have been united. +Even as early as Tuthmosis I. and III., and Amenophis III., the +inscriptions mention campaigns to Mesopotamia. They tell us that +Tuthmosis III. forced his way into the interior of Mesopotamia, and +enumerate the regions which he compelled to pay tribute. With regard to +Ramses II. the monuments prove no more than that he temporarily reduced +Syria, including the Phenician cities and the island of Cyprus, which +was probably already dependent upon them. The subsequent battles and the +treaty of Ramses II. with the Cheta, prove how slight were the successes +so highly extolled in the inscriptions. If the Hittites were never +reduced to obedience, all the more distant campaigns into Syria, and all +attempts against Mesopotamia had only a momentary result, and could +hardly have been more than mere raids. In the inscriptions, every +Pharaoh, from Amosis onward, is found fighting against the same nations, +the Schasu, the Cheta, the Retennu, the Punt, the Cushites, &c., and +each time we are assured that the "eight" or "nine nations," "the lands +of the north and south," the earth from one end to the other has been +subdued. It is by no means remarkable that the recollections of the +campaigns of the third Tuthmothis and Amenophis, of the achievements of +Sethos, and of Ramses II. and of Ramses III., of which we have still to +speak, supported as they were by the flattery and exaggeration of the +inscriptions, should combine in the tradition of the Egyptians into a +monarch who subdued the whole earth, of whom certain accounts and these, +as Diodorus says, by no means accordant, passed to the Greeks. And +Diodorus observes expressly that these contradictions were not due to +the Greeks, but to the Egyptian priests and those who sang of the +exploits of Sesostris. + +As we have seen, this tradition lays especial weight on the achievements +of Sesostris in Ethiopia, in the Red Sea, and in Arabia. Herodotus +tells us that the priests assured him that the king--at first sailing +with ships of war out of the Arabian Gulf--had subjugated the +inhabitants of the Red Sea. He was, they said, the only king who had +ruled at once over Egypt and Ethiopia. In Diodorus we find that he first +reduces the whole of Arabia, which had never before been conquered, and +the greater part of Libya, and the Ethiopians in the south of Egypt. +Afterwards he--first of the Egyptians--built ships of war, and sent them +into the Red Sea, and with these reduced all the coasts and islands as +far as India. In Strabo Sesostris first marches against Ethiopia, forces +his way as far as the land of Cinnamon, then crosses the Straits of +Bab-el-Mandeb, reduces Arabia, and commences the digging of a canal from +the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. The monuments confirm the statement that +Sethos fought with the Punt, _i.e._ the Arabs, that he pushed farther +than his predecessors into the territory of the negroes, and that Ramses +II. (in whose reign the monuments mention governors of Ethiopia)[224] +established a lasting supremacy as far as Mount Barkal. + +Thus it is established that the dominion of Egypt under Ramses II. +extended beyond Nubia and Dongola, and reached the territory of the +negroes, while at the same time the tribes of the Arabian peninsula may +have been to a great extent reduced to pay tribute; and from this we may +draw the conclusion that the attention of Sethos and Ramses was mainly +directed to these regions. The products which they could obtain by +tribute or by trade with these tribes--slaves, gold, ebony, ivory, +frankincense, spices, gum--were of great value for Egypt, and ships of +war were needed both to keep in submission the tribes which may have +been subjugated on the coasts of Arabia, and to maintain the trading +stations settled on the east coast of Africa. For the fleet of Ramses +Herodotus refers to the evidence of the priests. Such a fleet is, as a +fact, exhibited on the monuments of Ramses III., and the tradition of +the Hebrews tells us of trading ships which, about the year 1000 B.C., +sailed from Elath out of the Arabian Sea, and reached the mouth of the +Indus, no doubt on routes the Egyptian trade had already laid down to +the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and the southern coast of Arabia. In +connection with these efforts, directed towards the establishment of +trade and authority on the Arabian Sea, it seems intelligible that +Sethos and his son Ramses should have entertained the idea of +establishing a water communication between the Nile and this sea, and +should have actually commenced the work. Remains of a canal, beginning +on the Nile at Bubastis, above the city, ran through the valley of +Tumilat, a depression of the Arabian hills towards the east, in the +direction of the Lake of Crocodiles and the Bitter Lakes. On these +remains at Tel-el-Kebir and Abu Kesheb are the ruins of Egyptian +buildings. At the second place an image of Ramses II. has been found, +worshipping Tum and Ammon. We may assume that the ruins at Tel-el-Kebir +are those of the city of Pithom (Patumos, _pa-tum_, _i.e._ habitation of +Tum), which we learn from Herodotus lay on this canal, and those at Abu +Kesheb are the ruins of the city of Ramses (_pa-rameses_), names +preserved to us in the tradition of the Hebrews, and that Sethos and +Ramses II. had built both these cities.[225] The Hebrews, whose +forefathers had broken off from the Edomites, the settlers on Mount +Seir, which runs from the north-east point of the Red Sea to the Dead +Sea, and pastured their flocks on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile under +Egyptian protection, have a tradition that it was they who were +compelled to build Pithom and Ramses for the Pharaoh. The canal remained +unfinished; at that time it apparently reached only to the Lake of +Crocodile. Seven hundred years later Necho carried it as far as the +Bitter Lakes; it was finished by King Darius and the Ptolemies, who +completed what the Pharaohs were unable to carry out. + +The tradition of the mighty deeds of Sesostris in Asia contradicts +itself in the most glaring manner, inasmuch as it likewise tells us that +he dug a number of canals from Memphis downwards to the sea, in order to +fortify the land and make the approach difficult for enemies. The +eastern side of Egypt also he fortified against the inroads of Arabians +and Syrians, by building a wall of about 1,500 stades long through the +desert from Pelusium to Heliopolis. And the inscriptions on the building +of Sethos at Karnak are believed to tell us that this prince had erected +"the double walls against the lands of the impure."[226] No line of +fortification was required against the nomads on the eastern border, if +these were sufficiently held in check by the Egyptian arms, or had been +thoroughly subjugated. This great fortification which passed beyond the +protecting arm of the Nile from Bubastis in a slanting direction through +the desert, from the sea to Heliopolis, along a line of about 1,500 +stades, may very likely have been connected with the making of the +canal. The trade on the canal would be protected against predatory +attacks, and the territory rescued from the desert by its construction, +and the cities adjacent would be protected. The city which Ramses built +on the canal and named by his own name apparently belonged to those +fortifications. It was a border fortress against the desert and the +attacks of Syrian tribes. + +Of Menephta, _i.e._ beloved of Ptah (1322-1302 B.C.), the son and +successor of Ramses II., Josephus, following Manetho, gives us the +following account:--"Like Horus, who had been king before him, Menephta +desired to see the gods. This wish he confided to a wise prophet, the +son of Papius. The prophet told him that he would see the gods if he +cleared the whole land of leprous and unclean persons. Then the king +collected out of Egypt all who were diseased in their bodies, to the +number of 80,000, and threw them into the stone quarries east of the +Nile, that they might labour there along with the other Egyptians +condemned to similar toil. But as among the diseased persons were +certain men of learning and priests who had been attacked by leprosy, +the son of Papius feared the anger of the gods would descend upon +himself and the king if holy men were forced into slavish tasks, and he +foresaw that others would come to the aid of these impure persons, and +rule over Egypt for thirteen years. He did not venture to tell this to +the king, but wrote it down, and then put an end to his own life. Filled +with anxiety, when the lepers had suffered long enough in the stone +quarries, the king gave them Avaris, the city abandoned by the +shepherds, as a refuge and protection. But according to the old +mythology this city belonged to Typho. When the unclean persons came to +Avaris, and were in possession of a centre to support any disaffection, +they chose Osarsiph, one of the priests at Heliopolis, as their leader, +and swore to obey him in everything. The first law he gave them was to +offer prayer to no god, and to abstain from no animal held sacred in +Egypt, but to sacrifice them all and eat them, and to hold communion +with none but those who had taken the oath. After giving these and many +other laws, diametrically opposed to the Egyptian customs, Osarsiph bade +them fortify the city, and arm themselves against Menephta, while he +took counsel with certain priests and infected persons, and sent an +embassy to Jerusalem, to the shepherds driven out by Tuthmosis. He told +them what an outrage had been done to him and his associates, and called +on them to march against Egypt with the same intentions as himself. +Avaris, the city of their forefathers, would first open its gates to +them and give freely whatever they needed, and whenever necessary he +would fight at their head and easily subdue the land for them. Delighted +at the message, the shepherds all set out with eagerness, about 200,000 +strong, and were soon in Avaris. When Menephta heard of their approach, +he was seized with alarm, for he bethought him of the prophecy of the +son of Papius. It is true he gathered together about 300,000 of the +flower of the Egyptian army, but when the enemy met him, he would not +join battle, fearing to fight against the gods. After taking counsel +with his officers, he gave orders for the sacred animals, which were +held in especial honour, to be brought to him, and bade the priests +secure the images of the gods with the greatest care; and when he had +placed his son Sethos, now five years old, in security with a friend, he +turned back to Memphis. Then he took Apis and the other sacred animals, +which the priests had brought to Memphis, with him, and retired with his +army and the bulk of the Egyptians to Ethiopia. The king of Ethiopia, +who was under a debt of gratitude to Menephta, received him and the +multitude with him, provided for the Egyptians, and allotted them cities +and villages sufficient to support them for the thirteen years, and +caused the Ethiopian army to keep watch on the borders of Egypt. But the +men of Jerusalem and the unclean invaded Egypt, and displayed such +impious rage against the Egyptians, that to those who witnessed their +wickedness their dominion seemed the worst of all. They were not content +with burning cities and villages, with plundering the sanctuaries, and +destroying the images of the gods, they even compelled the priests and +prophets to sacrifice and strangle the sacred animals, and then they +thrust them naked out of the temples, and ate the animals if at all good +for food. But in time Menephta returned with a great host from Ethiopia, +and his son Ramses also with an army. Both attacked the unclean and the +shepherds, and overcame them. Many they slew, and the rest they pursued +as far as the borders of Syria. It is said that the priest who gave them +their constitution and laws, a native of Heliopolis, and called +Osarsiph, from Osiris, the god worshipped there, changed his name from +Osarsiph to Moses."[227] + +From the tradition of the Hebrews we learn that their ancestors, after +pasturing their flocks for a long time, under Egyptian protection, on +the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, in the land of Goshen, became weary of +the task-work imposed upon them, and set forth out of Egypt, in order to +feed their flocks in freedom in the peninsula of Sinai, to the east of +the Dead Sea. The oppression of these shepherds by Egypt may, of course, +be connected with the fortification of the border towards Syria, the +construction of the canal, and the erection of the cities for trade, and +the border fortresses on this canal. Accordingly there seems no reason +to contest the tradition of the Egyptians that the exodus of the Hebrews +took place under Menephta. That the Egyptian tradition regards these +Hebrews as leprous and unclean Egyptians is of no importance. The +cession of Avaris and invitation of the Hyksos is mere imagination, +arising from the somewhat analogous event of former times. The most +improbable fact is the voluntary departure of Menephta to the allied +king of the Ethiopians, and the abandonment of Egypt without a struggle +to her fiercest foe. Under Ramses II., as we have seen, Ethiopia, as far +as Mount Barkal, became an Egyptian province. Far more credible is the +tradition of the Hebrews that the army of the Pharaoh met with a heavy +reverse in the attempt to check the exodus of the Hebrews, and their +union with the hostile tribes of the desert. It is possible that, in +consequence of this disaster, a king was set up in opposition to +Menephta, and that Menephta retired before him to Ethiopia, from whence +he afterwards recovered Egypt. In the excerpt of Eusebius we find, after +the name Menephta, a king Amenemes, and on the monuments Amenemessu, +whose shields, though chiselled out, can still be recognised.[228] + +Of all these things the monuments of Menephta know nothing. On the +contrary, a long inscription in the small court, on the southern wall of +the temple at Karnak, tells us of a victory which Menephta had obtained +over the Libyan tribes. These are the Lubu (Libyans), Maschawascha (who +may be explained as the Maxyans, a tribe which, as Herodotus tells us, +dwelt near Lake Triton, on the north coast of Africa), the Kesak, and +from the "regions on the sea," the Tuirscha, Sakalascha, Schardaina, +Akaiwascha, and Leku. They had crossed the western border and forced +their way, not into the land only, but down to the river, and had +pitched their camp in the territory of the city Paali. The king was +obliged to protect the city of Tum and the sanctuary of Ptah Tatamen +(perhaps Memphis). On the first of Epiphi--the year of the reign of +Menephta was not given, or at any rate is not found now--a battle took +place. Of the Lubu 6,359 were slain; of hands belonging to the +Sakalascha 250 were counted, and 790 belonging to the Tuirscha. Fourteen +pairs of horses were taken, belonging to the chief of the Leku and his +sons, and 9,111 swords of the Maschawascha.[229] + +Menephta was succeeded by Sethos II. and Menephta II. Then followed +Ramses III. (1269-1244 _B.C._). The warlike exploits which this king has +commemorated on his temple at Medinet Habu appear from the inscriptions +to have been hardly inferior to those of Sethos I. and Ramses II. In the +reliefs of this temple is seen an Egyptian fleet and the engagement +with the ships of the enemy. On a picture on a wall are collected all +the campaigns of the king; the chiefs of the conquered tribes are +represented by fourteen figures, and the accompanying hieroglyphics give +us the names of their tribes. Two of these names are destroyed, and a +third is illegible. The first figure is the chief of the "evil land of +Cush." Two of the figures are negroes, and their tribes are mentioned. +Then follow the lord "of the hostile Schasu," _i.e._ the shepherds of +the Syrian border, the "evil chief of the Cheta," against whom the +inscription observes that he was taken alive, the "evil chief of the +Amari" (Amorites), the sovereign of the Lubu (Libyans), the sovereign of +the Maschawascha, the coast-land Tuirscha, the coast-land Schardaina, +and the "lord of the hostile Zakkarj."[230] The first Menephta, as we +have seen, had been compelled to fight against the Lubu, Maschawascha, +Tuirscha, and Schardaina. The remaining figures prove that Ramses III. +carried on war on the Upper Nile against the Nubians and Negro tribes, +and in the north-east he had to contend with the Schasu, _i.e._ the +descendants of the Hyksos, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the old +enemies against whom his forefathers took the field. To these the +Pulista, _i.e._ the Philistines, who are here mentioned for the first +time, are added in a list of the nations reduced by the king in the +eighth and ninth years of his reign, inscribed on the right wing of the +gateway which leads into the second court of the temple. In the second +court four pictures represent the achievements of the king in the fifth +year of his reign against the Lubu (Libyans), and ten pictures on the +outer side of the north wall give the achievements of the eighth and +ninth years. First there is a great slaughter of the Temhu, apparently +the general name under which the Egyptians comprehended the Libyan +tribes. The enumeration of hands and members gives a total of 12,535 for +each, and the scribe on the picture is taking this down. On the eighth +picture the Egyptian ships, with beaks ending in lions' heads, and +mastheads manned by archers, are manoeuvring with sails and oars to +thrust the enemy's ships upon the shore, on which is drawn up the +Egyptian army with arrows also directed against the hostile ships. The +inscriptions tell us that these are the ships of the Zakkarj. At a +fortress over which is written Magadil (Migdol?) the captive Zakkarj are +brought before the king. This is on the ninth picture; on the tenth the +king celebrates his return to Thebes.[231] + +Ramses III. was followed by eleven kings of the same name (1244-1091 +_B.C._). But the days of warlike expeditions were over. The inscriptions +which have come down to us from these rulers only prove that their +sovereignty was maintained over Nubia, and tell us of certain buildings +which these princes also erected at Memphis.[232] Of Ramses XII. a +memorial stone found in the temple of the moon-god Chunsu at Karnak--a +deity to whom the house of Ramses paid especial honour--informs us that +he elevated the daughter of the lord of the land of Buchten (or Bachtan) +to be Queen of Egypt. When afterwards another daughter of the chief fell +ill, he besought the king of Egypt for a wise man to cure her. The +priest, whom Ramses sent, found the king's daughter possessed by a +spirit, but he was too weak to contend with it. Then the chief of +Buchten besought Ramses to send him a god to overcome the spirit. And +Ramses sent the image of the god Chunsu from the temple at Thebes in a +large boat, accompanied by five small boats and a chariot. The spirit +gave way before the god, and the chieftain was in great joy, and refused +to allow the god to return to Egypt, until in a dream he saw a golden +hawk, which spread out its wings to fly to Egypt. On awaking he found +himself seized by an illness. So he allowed the god to return to Egypt +after he had kept him three years and nine months, and gave him many +rich presents for the journey.[233] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[204] Herod. 2, 102-110. + +[205] Diod. 1, 53, 58. + +[206] Strabo, pp. 38, 686, 769, 770, 790, 804. + +[207] Tac. "Annal." 2, 60. + +[208] Joseph. "C. Apion." 1, 15; Euseb. "Arm." ed. Aucher, p. 230; +"Sethos qui et Rameses." + +[209] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 124. + +[210] Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 78. + +[211] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 132. + +[212] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 320 ff. + +[213] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 136. + +[214] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 315 ff.; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 171; +Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 128 ff.; cf. Brugsch, "Recueil," p. 59. + +[215] The lists allow him a reign of 61, 66, or 68 years. According to a +memorial-stone discovered by Mariette at Abydus he reigned 67 years; cf. +p. 160, note 1. + +[216] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 373, and "Monatsberichte des Berl. Akad." +1866, s. 294, 297 ff. + +[217] Gen. 10, 16; Joshua 24, 11. + +[218] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1867, 16, 36. + +[219] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ pp. 145, 146. + +[220] De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1866, 13, 269; Brugsch, "Hist. +d'Egypte," p. 147. + +[221] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 10-12, 24. + +[222] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 239. + +[223] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 1, 93, 94. + +[224] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151. + +[225] Herod. 2, 158; Aristot. "Metereol." 1. 14; Lepsius, "Chronolog." +s. 349 ff. 357; Ebers ("Durch Gosen," s. 496) finds Pithom in Abu +Soliman. + +[226] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 340 ff.; Ebers ("Ægypten," s. 781), +relying on the Berlin papyrus I., regards the fortification as much +older, and carries it as far as Suez. + +[227] Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 26, 27; Lepsius ("Chronologie," s. 323, +330) has sufficiently proved that we ought to read Menephtes instead of +Amenophis and Menophis. A similar story is in Chæremon, a contemporary +of Aelius Gallus.--Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 32. + +[228] Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 211. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 178, +179. + +[229] De Rougé, "Revue Archéolog." 1867, 16, 38 ff., 81 ff; Lauth, +"Sitzungsberichte" of the Academy at Munich, 1867, 2, 528 ff. The +explanation of the Tuirscha as Tyrsenians, of the Sakalascha as Sikels, +of the Schardaina as Sardinians, and the Akaiwascha as Achæans, appears +to me very doubtful. The locality points to Libyan tribes. Brugsch +("Hist. d'Egypte," p. 172) reads Qairdina for Schardaina, Qawascha for +Akaiwascha. On the weapons and features of the Schardaina, see Rougé, +_loc. cit._ pp. 90,91. + +[230] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte." p. 191. + +[231] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 183 ff. + +[232] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 203; Mariette, "Ath. Franç." 1855, Oct. p. +86. + +[233] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 206. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES. + + +More than ten centuries seem to have elapsed from the founding of the +kingdom of Memphis before Egypt ventured beyond her natural borders. The +peninsula of Sinai, the shores of the Red Sea opposite Thebes, and Semne +in Nubia were the extreme limits in the times of the kings who built the +pyramids, of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha. The impulse given by the +successful war of liberation carried Egypt beyond these boundaries. When +Amosis and Tuthmosis III. had restored the kingdom, it reached the +summit of its greatness and splendour under the latter and Amenophis +III., Sethos I., and Ramses II., while Ramses III. strengthened anew and +maintained the position which his great forefathers had obtained for +Egypt. Four centuries of glory and victory had now passed over Egypt +(1650-1250), the victorious arms of the Pharaohs had been carried to +Nubia and Dongola, to the Negroes, to Libya and Syria in repeated +campaigns; more than once the Euphrates had seen the Egyptian armies. In +these centuries Egypt was the first kingdom in the ancient world, not in +civilisation merely, or in art, but in military power, though her +lasting acquisitions were limited to the Upper Nile. For yet another +century and a half the successors of Ramses III. could enjoy undisturbed +the fruits of the exertions of their ancestors. + +As the new kingdom surpassed the old in power, so did the new capital +Thebes eclipse the older Memphis. None of these princes neglected to +offer his booty to Ammon of Thebes; from the time of Tuthmosis I. to +Ramses III. no king omitted to adorn Thebes with new buildings. The city +must have presented a most marvellous appearance when the works of the +Tuthmosis and Amenophis, of Sethos, of Ramses II. and III. stood erect +and rose up from the earth solid and massive as rocks on either bank of +the Nile, while the multitude of obelisks and colossi towered up like a +forest of stone. Fancy might imagine that she looked upon a city built +by giants. The houses of the people also, though built of brick only, as +Diodorus tells us, were three or four stories high. Diodorus fixes the +circuit of the city at more than fifteen miles; for us it is still +marked by the remains of the temples of Karnak, Luxor, Gurnah, and +Medinet Habu.[234] + +We have spoken above of the buildings erected by Tuthmosis I. and III. +at Karnak, and Amenophis III. at Luxor and Medinet Habu. It was Sethos +I. who on the west of the oblong court, the gateway, and obelisks of +Tuthmosis I. at Karnak, added a hall on the most magnificent scale, the +entrance to which is also formed by a gateway. This hall, the most +splendid monument of Egyptian architecture, is 320 feet long, and over +160 feet broad; the roof rests on 134 pillars, which on each side +towards the north and south form seven naves, each of nine pillars. The +central space, supported on either side by six pillars of 12 feet in +diameter and 68 feet in height, rises higher than the naves at the side. +On the external wall of this hall are displayed the triumphs of Sethos +over the Schasu, the Cheta, and the Retennu; there are recorded the +campaigns already mentioned against the tribes of Cush, the Punt, and +the Naharina. Opposite Karnak, on the left bank of the Nile, north east +from the colossi of Amenophis III., at the village of Gurnah, he built a +temple to Ammon, and at Abydus a large sanctuary to Osiris.[235] + +None of the Pharaohs undertook such numerous works and left behind so +many monuments as Ramses II. He completed the hall of his father at +Karnak,[236] and extended on a magnificent scale the temple of Amenophis +III. at Luxor, by adding on the north-east a second court, and adorning +the entrance to it by a lofty gateway. Before this he placed two seated +colossi, statues of himself--at present, like the lower parts of all the +ruins at Luxor, they are covered to a considerable height with sand--and +two obelisks of red granite, of which one still rises in splendour to +the blue sky, and displays the long, sharply-cut rows of the +hieroglyphics in all the brightness of the uninjured polish. The other +is at Paris, in the Place de la Concorde. On the left bank of the Nile, +between the colossi of Amenophis III. and his father's temple, a little +further to the west, and immediately at the foot of the Libyan range, he +built a large temple. A massive gateway rises on a slightly elevated +terrace, leading to a rectangular court. This is surrounded by a double +row of pillars supporting the portico, of which two only are now +standing. On this follows a second court, of which the portico is +supported on the right and left by double pillars, on the front +transverse side by single pilasters, and on the back by double +pilasters, against the first row of which lean colossal images of +Osiris. At the entrance from the first into the second court, on the +left, was the greatest of all the detached colossi in Egypt, the seated +statue of Ramses, hewn out of a block of red granite from Syene. Sixty +feet in height, this statue once overlooked both courts; now it lies +prostrate on the ground. The length of the middle finger is four feet. +There was apparently a second colossus on the other side of the entrance +corresponding to this. From the second court, in which are the remains +of two smaller colossi, three gates of black granite led into a great +hall, built on a higher level. The roof of this, the remains of which +exhibit a blue ground with gold stars, was supported by sixty pillars in +ten rows. Of these rows four are still standing; the pillars are 35 feet +in height and six feet in diameter. On this great hall adjoin three +smaller ones, on both sides of which lay chambers, and the roof of one +is adorned with a large astronomical painting. The back part of the +building was formed by vaulted porticoes of brick, and each brick is +stamped with the name-shield of Ramses II.[237] + +The inscriptions on the second court and in the hall tell us, "that the +gracious god, _i.e._ the king, erected this great structure in honour of +his father Ammon-Ra, the king of the gods: by his own arm he has erected +it, the royal sun, the champion of justice, established by Ra, the child +of the sun, Ramses, beloved of Ammon, beloved of the goddess Mut." On +the walls of the portico between the first and second court is +represented a great procession to the altar of Ammon. Two rows of men +carry the statues of thirteen predecessors of Ramses on their shoulders +(p. 24). Further on the king, with a sickle, is cutting a sheaf of corn +from the field, a priest receives this from the hand of the king, and +offers it to a white bull. Then the priest bids the four geese belonging +to the four spirits of the quarters of the sky to fly south, north, +east, and west, in order to announce to the gods of each quarter, "that +Horus the son of Osiris, that king Ramses, established by Ra, has put on +the double crown."[238] The sculptures of the front side of the gateway +exhibit the king in intercourse with the gods, and symbolise the divine +expressions of favour towards Ramses. Gods lead him to the greater gods. +The god Tum places him before Mentu (p. 51). Mentu takes the hand of the +king, and says, "Come to the heavenly mansions, to behold thy father the +king of the gods, who will bestow upon thee length of days, to rule over +the world and reign upon the throne of Horus." Mentu leads the king to +Ammon, over whose figure we read, "Ammon-Ra, king of the gods, who +dwells in Ramses' house at Thebes, speaks thus: Beloved son of my race, +Ramses, lord of the world, my heart is glad in that I behold thy good +works; thou hast built me this house; I grant thee a pure life to live +upon the throne of Seb" (p. 55). In the hall Ammon is holding the crook +from his throne towards the king, and says, "I certify that thy building +shall continue as the heavens." The goddess Bast (p. 49) lifts her right +hand to the head of the king, and says, "I have prepared for thee the +diadem of the sun, that this helmet should remain upon thy brow, where I +have placed it." On another sketch in this hall Ammon is giving to +Ramses the scythe, the whip, and the crook (the symbols of dominion), +and says, "Take the scythe of battle to subdue the nations without, and +to smite off the head of the unclean; take the whip and the crook to +rule over Chemi (Egypt)." On the exterior of the wings of the gateway +are represented the wars which in the fifth year of his reign Ramses +carried on against the Cheta, and in the eighth year against Maram, +Dapur, and Salam (p. 152). In one of the side chambers of the hall +Ramses and his consort, together with the moon-god, Chunsu, and the +goddess Mut, are carried to Ammon by the priests. The goddess Mut says: +"I come to pay worship to the king of the gods, that he may secure long +years to his son, to king Ramses, who loves him." Chunsu says: "We come +to honour thee, Ammon, king of the gods; grant to thy son who loves +thee, the king of the world, a safe and pure life." The king and queen +also speak to Ammon; Ramses says: "I come to my father escorted by the +gods whom he at all times allows in his presence." And over the queen we +read: "Behold what the divine consort says, the royal mother, the mighty +mistress of the world:--I come to worship my father Ammon the king of +the gods; my heart is gladdened by thy favour. O thou who hast +established the seat of thy power in the dwelling of thy son Ramses, +lord of the world, grant to him a safe and pure life, and let his years +be numbered by the periods of the festivals." Finally, Ramses is +represented under an arbor vitæ (Persea) before the throne of Tum. Tum +and Thoth write the name of the king on leaves of the arbor vitæ, and +Tum says to Ramses: "I write thy name for a series of days that it may +be upon the divine tree." In another chamber we find the figures of the +children of Ramses; twenty-three sons and more than thirteen daughters +are mentioned in the inscription.[239] + +This is the structure of which Diodorus gives the following account, +though he had not seen the work himself. "The entrance to the monument +of the king whom they call Osymandyas--such is the account in +Diodorus--was formed by a gateway covered with sculptures, 200 feet +broad, and forty-five cubits in height; through this you passed into a +rectangular court surrounded by pillars, measuring 400 feet on each +side, but in the place of pillars are statues sixteen cubits high, each +hewn in the antique style out of a single block. The roof of the portico +is two fathoms in width; it also is built of monoliths painted with +stars upon a blue ground. Behind this court there is a second gateway +similar to the first, but adorned with still richer sculptures. At the +entrance stand three monolithic statues. The middle one is the seated +image of Osymandyas, the largest in all Egypt, for the feet are more +than seven cubits in length; the two others, on the right and left, +which represent the wife and daughter of the king, are inferior in +height. This statue is not only remarkable for the size, but also for +the excellence of the art and the nature of the stone. In spite of the +enormous size, a chip or split is not to be found in it. There, too, is +the statue of the mother of Osymandyas, twenty cubits high, and also a +monolith. Behind this gateway is a second court, more marvellous even +than the first, in which various sculptures represent the war against +the Bactrians. This nation had revolted from the king, but with 400,000 +foot and 20,000 horse he marched out against them, divided his army into +four parts, and put each under the command of one of his four sons. On +the first wall we see the king fighting at the head of his army against +a fortress surrounded by a river; a lion is seen at his side assisting +him (as a fact in the picture of the great battle against the Cheta on +the gateway a lion is found beside the chariot of the king.) On the +second wall the prisoners are brought forward: they are without their +hands and members, in order to indicate that they fought without spirit. +The third wall contains reliefs of various kinds and sketches +representing the king's sacrifice of bulls, and his triumphant return. +In the middle of the court stands an altar of marvellous size and +workmanship. Before the fourth wall are two seated colossi 27 cubits +high, and beside these three entrances lead into a colonnade, of which +the sides measure 200 feet. In this hall are a number of statues of wood +representing men in expectation of the decision of their law-suits, and +looking towards the judges. These, thirty in number, are engraved on one +of the walls; in their midst is the chief judge, on whose neck hangs a +picture of truth with closed eyes; beside him lie a great quantity of +books. Then you pass into a space intended for walking, where are +represented many of the most delicate kinds of food. Here also the image +of the king is engraved, and brightly coloured, showing how he offered +to the god the gold and silver which came to him year by year from the +mines of Egypt, and the total is written down close by; estimated in +silver, it amounted to 320,000 minæ. Then follows the sacred library, +and after this the images of all the gods of Egypt, and of the king, who +offers to each god the appropriate gifts, in order as it were to show to +Osiris and his assessors in the under world that the king had lived a +life just towards men and pious towards the gods. On the walls of the +library abuts another building, in which are twenty couches, the images +of Zeus and Hera, and the images of the king. In this chamber the king +appears to be buried. In a circle round this chamber are yet many other +rooms containing very beautiful pictures of all the animals worshipped +in Egypt. Through these chambers we reach the top of the sepulchre, a +golden circle 365 cubits in circumference, and one cubit thick. On this +circle are marked divisions for every day in the year, and in each is +noted the rising and setting of the stars, and the influence which the +Egyptian astrologers attributed to these constellations."[240] + +The temple built by Ramses II. to Ammon, in Dongola, on Mount Barkal, +has been mentioned before (p. 154). A memorial stone discovered at +Dakkeh tells us that he caused wells to be dug in Ethiopia.[241] In +Nubia also, five or six days' journey to the south of Dakkeh, at Abu +Simbel, on the left bank of the Nile, a small valley with almost +perpendicular walls of rock breaks at right angles the ridge running by +the river side. In these walls of brownish yellow sandstone two temples +have been cut. The northern and larger is dedicated to Ra by Ramses; the +smaller, on the opposite side, is dedicated by Ramses' wife, Nefruari, +to the goddess Hathor. Before the temple of Hathor are six colossi, +three on either side of the entrance. In each triad the middle statue +represents the queen, the two others the kings. Before the temple of +Ramses are four seated colossi, with the arms upon the hips, hewn out of +the natural rock. All are statues of Ramses, and in height are over +sixty, or, counting the thrones, over seventy feet. The breadth across +the shoulders is twenty-five feet; from the elbow to the tip of the +finger measures fifteen feet. Seen from a distance, these statues are +very impressive, owing to their severe and calm beauty, and the +correctness of the proportions, notwithstanding the enormous scale. The +entrance to the temple lies deep down between the thrones of the +colossi. First we pass into a spacious portico, of which the roof is +supported by eight pillars, against which lean as many standing colossi +about 30 feet high, with arms crossed, the whip and the symbol of life +in their hands. All are images of Osiris. From this portico, out of +which doors open on either hand into side halls, we arrive through two +chambers into the sanctuary of the goddess, which lies 200 feet deep in +the rock. The whole excavation consists of fourteen chambers. The +sculptures, painted throughout, are uninjured still, and of the most +brilliant colours. The most striking pictures among them have been +mentioned above (pp. 153, 154). Below Abu Simbel, at Derr Sebua and Gerf +Hussein, on the Nile, Ramses II. built temples to Ra, Ammon, and Ptah. +Here, as at Abu Simbel, new cities rose round the temples.[242] Further +downwards at Beth-el-Walli, a temple was hewn in the rocks at the west +side of the Nile, the sculptures of which exhibit the exploits of Ramses +II. against the Negroes, and the booty of these campaigns--gazelles, +ostriches, giraffes (p. 153); while the ruins of the temple which he +built beside the larger one of his father to Osiris at Abydus, is +evidence of the honour which he paid to his predecessors in the kingdom +(pp. 24, 169). + +Herodotus and Diodorus told us that Sesostris had set up before the +temple of Hephæstus (_i.e._ of Ptah) at Memphis statues of himself, his +wife, and his sons, on a colossal scale (p. 146). In the ruins of +Memphis (at the village of Mitrahinneh) there lies, surrounded by green +turf and tall palms, in a depression, the prostrate statue of Ramses II. +hewn out of a single block. The feet are wanting, the head wears the +crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; in the middle of the girdle are engraved +the words Mi Amun Ramses, _i.e._ Ramses beloved of Ammon. From the knees +upwards the fragment measures thirty-five feet; on this scale the total +height must have reached forty-two or forty-three feet. At Tanis in the +Delta, Ramses II. built or restored a great temple, and erected +obelisks. The inscriptions on the ruins speak of his victories in Syria. +Here also lies a prostrate and shattered colossus; the name-shields on +the back of the throne are those of the second Ramses.[243] Of the +buildings of this king for the sepulchral chambers of the Apis bulls at +Memphis, the fortification of the border towards Syria, and the canal, +we have spoken above (pp. 68, 157). + +On the left bank of the Nile, westwards of the temple and the two +colossi of Amenophis III., at Medinet Habu, Ramses III. built a splendid +temple. A magnificent gate flanked by broad wings sixty-six feet in +height leads from the east to the first ante-court, which, as always, is +surrounded by a portico, partly supported by massive pillars, and partly +by statues of Osiris. From this court a second somewhat smaller gateway +leads into a second court; the portico surrounding this is supported to +the right and left on strong columns, of seven feet in diameter, the +capitals of which are formed by lotus-leaves, and on each of the other +sides by eight Osiris pillars. The columns and pillars, in spite of +their massiveness, do not seem too heavy to support the blocks which +form the roof of the portico. In this court we find the four pictures +which represent the war of Ramses III. against the Libyans (p. 164). The +ante-temple, to which the entrance lay between the Osiris pillars just +mentioned, the inner temple, and the shrine, are in ruins; the bases +only and the foundations can still be traced. In the ten reliefs +mentioned above the external wall of the second court displays in the +most brilliant colours the warlike achievements of Ramses III. against +the Temhu and Zakkarj (p. 165). About 120 steps to the south-east of the +first gateway are the ruins of another structure of this king, which +appears to have been his palace. Two obliquely rising towers enclose a +court, surrounded by a building several stories high. The rooms still +remaining are paved with slabs; the windows are square. The reliefs +represent the king surrounded by his wives, and then at draughts, the +instruction which his children receive in reading and writing from a +priest, and other household matters. On the right bank of the Nile at +the south-west edge of the terrace of Karnak, Ramses III. began to build +a temple to the moon-god Chunsu, which was completed by Ramses IV.; and +at Karnak itself, in the court before the great hall of Sethos I., he +erected a smaller temple, cutting the southern portico of this temple at +right angles, which he dedicated to "Ammon Ra, his father," to whom the +whole sanctuary belonged.[244] + +As at Memphis, so also at Thebes, great care was taken for the dead. Not +far from the city, in the first Libyan range of hills, which here rise +300 feet out of the plain, lie the tombs of the inhabitants of Thebes, +running on into these hills for two hours' distance in an unbroken +series of catacombs. The graves, and the passages which lead to them, +are all hewn in the rock, sometimes to a considerable depth. Several +rows of chambers lie one over the other. In the lower rows, where the +richer class are buried, the chambers are larger and more handsome; +those in the upper rows are simpler, smaller, and meaner. Staircases, +straight or winding, connect these stories and chambers with each other. +Galleries, gangways, and perpendicular shafts break the rows of +excavations, and give to this city of the dead the features of an +inextricable labyrinth. These catacombs, with their thousands of +mummies, innumerable chambers full of papyrus rolls and amulets buried +with the corpses, with their sculptures and frescoes on the walls and +roofs, which are for the most part preserved in marvellous brilliancy +and represent in the truest and most varied manner the occupation of +every person buried there of the higher orders, are an almost +inexhaustible source for the knowledge of the life and the habits of +that distant time. + +Separated from the first range of hills by a lonely and desolate ravine, +there rises further to the west a second wall of rock, which the Arabs +call Biban-el-Moluk, _i.e._ the gates of the kings. In this lie the +largest and most richly-furnished tombs. The kings of the old monarchy +heaped mountains of stone over their graves at Memphis, and in like +manner the princes of the new kingdom caused vaults and porticoes to be +hewn in the rocks for their sepulchral chambers. Here in antiquity forty +tombs were enumerated,[245] and the latest investigations have confirmed +this enumeration. Spacious, but often barred, passages lead sometimes +only fifty, sometimes 360 feet into the rock. The greater part of the +tombs consist of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels for the +offering of sacrifices to the dead; these are followed by the sepulchral +chamber, where rests the sarcophagus, sometimes in a deep niche. The +Pharaohs of Thebes appear to have carried on their work upon these +burying-places in the same manner as the princes of the old kingdom +proceeded with the building of their pyramids. They commenced with the +entrance, the ante-chapel (a broad and not very long portico, generally +supported on pillars), and a small chamber, the real sepulchre.[246] If +the length of the reign sufficed, a new passage was driven deeper into +the rock from the chamber, a new and larger ante-chapel, a wider and +higher sepulchral chamber was excavated. All the graves as yet opened +and examined in this wall of rock are entered by square doors of uniform +shape, with simple ornamentation. At one time they were provided with +wings for security in closing. Behind them the corridor descends +somewhat rapidly into the deep rock. As a rule the sculptures on the +inner walls begin from the doors immediately behind this entrance. The +colouring is still lively, not to say harsh. + +The oldest tombs lie to the north-east; but as yet only two chambers +have been opened here, one of which is large in size and adorned with +beautiful, though very much injured sculptures, the grave of Amenophis +III.[247] The tombs of the Tuthmosis have not yet been found. Next, on +the south-west, lies the tomb of Ramses I. The rock chamber and the +granite sarcophagus, which is still standing there, are without any +ornament whatever except a few pictures on the walls, in which the god +Tum and the goddess Neith, the great mother, the lady of heaven, the +queen of the deities, lead the king before Osiris. The king speaks, "I +have come to thee, lord of the gods, mighty god, master of the sky," +while Neith says to the king, "I secure to thee the throne of Osiris, on +which thou shalt sit for ever."[248] The grave of his successor, Sethos +I., consists of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels. A corridor +leads to a staircase, which ends in a chamber; from this a second +staircase leads to a portico, on which abuts a great hall, the roof of +which is supported by four pillars. A third staircase leads from this +hall on the left into one similarly adorned, of which the pictures +remain unfinished, and on the right into a broad vaulted portico sunk +more than 300 feet deep into the rock. The roof of this portico is +supported by six pillars. Here the corpse of the king rested in a +sarcophagus of alabaster, which is covered with sculptures. The +sarcophagus, now in the British Museum, was empty when found, and the +cover was broken. The sculptures of the first hall display on every side +of the pillars the king and a deity. Those on the walls represent the +stations of the nightly course of the sun and the hindrances thrown in +the way of the sun by the serpent Apep (p. 46), the judgment in the +under world, the reward of the good, the punishment of the bad, the +constellations of the sky, the five planets in their boats, and the four +tribes into which the Egyptians divided mankind. Each tribe is +represented by four figures. + +Of the grave of Ramses II. but few chambers have as yet been +opened.[249] The grave of his son Menephta presents nothing more than a +picture referring to the under world. Beside Menephta, Amenmessu (p. +162) and Menephta's son, Sethos II., found their resting places in these +rocks, which also conceal Menephta II. (p. 163). The grave of Sethos II. +is distinguished by paintings and sculptures. The sarcophagus of red +granite is intended to exhibit on the lid the image of the king, but +this remained unfinished.[250] The grave of Ramses III. comes nearest to +that of Sethos I. in size and splendour of adornment. Galleries +following one upon the other, on the side of which are small chambers, +lead to a large portico in which rests the sarcophagus. The sculptures +in these chambers exhibit scenes of court life, of agriculture, of the +banquet, musicians, boats, and weapons; those of the galleries and the +portico represent scenes of the under world and existence beyond the +grave. The grave of Ramses IV., far smaller and incomplete, still +contains the shattered sarcophagus of granite.[251] On the other hand, +the tomb of Ramses V., one of the most handsome, displays on the arching +of the roof of the great portico, where the sarcophagus stood, the +outstretched form of the goddess of the sky, in which are enclosed the +stars. On the walls are depicted the fortunes of the soul in the next +world, and the king in the boat of the sun-god. These representations of +the judgment in the under-world, which recur perpetually in the tombs at +Biban-el-Moluk, and of the life to come, are wholly unknown to the +pyramids and the tombs surrounding them, the burying-places of the +ancient kingdom. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[234] Diod. 1, 45; Strabo, p. 816. + +[235] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 256; Mariette, "Revue Arch." 1860, 2, 21; +_cf. supra_, p. 23, 56. + +[236] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s. 273, 274. + +[237] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 286; "Denkmale aus Ægypten und Nubien," 1, +2, 7, 82; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 161. + +[238] Rosell. "Monum. Stor." 1, 123, 136. + +[239] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 263-283; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. +163-165. + +[240] Diod. 1, 47-49. + +[241] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151. + +[242] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 112-115, 263, 403, 414. + +[243] As this statue bears on the right shoulder the shield Ra Apepi, or +Apepa, it has been thought to be the statue of the shepherd king Apepi +(p. 130). Lepsius regards it as a statue of Ramses II.--"Königsbuch," s. +44. + +[244] Brugsch, Hist. d'Egypte, pp. 197, 198. + +[245] Strabo, p. 816, puts the number of the royal sepulchres at forty. +Diodorus, on the authority of the sacred records, speaks of forty-seven +graves. At the time of Ptolemy I. only seventeen were in existence +(Diod. 1, 46), and of these, at the time when Diodorus travelled in +Egypt, the greater part were destroyed. Lepsius gives twenty-five graves +of kings, and fifteen graves of the wives of the kings ("Briefe," s. +270). + +[246] Brugsch, "Reiseberichte," s. 324. + +[247] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 288. + +[248] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 128. + +[249] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 266; Rosellini, "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 284. + +[250] Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 213. + +[251] On the sketch of this tomb on a Turin papyrus, cf. Lepsius, "Abh. +der Berl. Akad." 1867. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. + + +We have already called attention to the peculiar features in the +position and nature of their country which favoured the development of +the Egyptians. The shape of the land, so conducive to unity, must have +led at an early time to a community of life; the protection of this +favoured valley against the plundering tribes of the desert must have +called into existence a military monarchy. But it is no longer in the +form of a patriarchal rule or military chieftainship that the monuments +and tradition display the government of Egypt. It is the form of +despotism peculiar to the East, which meets us at the threshold of +history, meets us, too, in a very sharply-defined form. Herodotus says +that the Egyptians could not have lived without a king, and Diodorus +tells us that the Egyptians worshipped their kings, and prostrated +themselves before them as though they were really gods. Of men who could +confer such great blessings as their kings the Egyptians assumed that +they partook of the nature of gods.[252] As a fact, we see on the +monuments not only the commanders and magistrates of the districts, but +even the priests, in the dust before the kings. It is true that it was +the universal custom in the East to approach the ruler kneeling, as one +on whose nod depended the life and death of every subject at every +moment of his existence; but the Egyptians, led by their peculiar +religious views, have gone further than any other nation in the +exaltation of the power of the monarch; they worshipped their kings as +the deities of the land. As in the beginning, according to the teaching +of the priests, the gods ruled over Egypt, so in subsequent times the +Pharaohs occupy the place of the gods. They do not merely spring from +the gods; they are themselves gods of the land. They are not only called +children of the sun; but to their subjects they are the "sun itself, +which is given to the world," which beams over the land and gives +blessing and increase; they are the "outpourers of life," like the gods. +Like the gods, they are lords of truth and justice; they preserve order, +punish the bad, and reward the good, and keep away the unclean enemies; +through their care it is that their subjects share in the fruits of the +earth, hence they cause Egypt to live. The king of Egypt is called, and +is, "the mighty Horus," the god who gives blessing to the land. If to +the Egyptians animals and men were the manifestations of the divine +nature, must they not recognise such manifestations in peculiar potency +in the life of the king, in the ruling, arranging, and sustaining power +of the king over the whole land? This conception of the king as a god on +earth has been already brought before us in the inscription on the +statue of Chafra, the builder of the second largest pyramid, which +describes him as the "good god, the master and gold Horus" (p. 95). It +continues unchanged to the last centuries of the kingdom, and even +survives the independence of Egypt. In the inscriptions of the temples +the Ptolemies and Roman Cæsars are named by the same solemn titles as +the ancient Pharaohs.[253] + +We saw that priests were allotted to the spirits of the buried kings (p. +99). In the ruins at Luxor, spirits of heaven are carrying Amenophis +III. into the presence of Ammon, who consecrates him king (p. 138). In +the Ramesseum and in the palace at Medinet Habu we have pictures of the +coronation of Ramses II. and Ramses III. In both, the four geese of the +four spirits of heaven are bidden by the priest to announce to the +spirits of the east and west, of the north and the south, that the king +has put on the double crown. In the rock temple at Selseleh (p. 149), +the goddess Anuke gives her breast to king Horus, who is depicted as +already grown into a youth; in the rock temple at Beth-el-Walli, Isis +and Anuke allow Ramses II. to suck at their breasts. In the Ramesseum, +Ramses II. is led by the gods Mentu and Chunsu and the goddess Mut +before Ammon (p. 171). These pictures, in which gods bring the kings +before Ammon, and worship him, that he may bestow life and purity on the +princes presented by them, are constantly recurring. On the monuments +the kings are found sacrificing, not only to their divine forefathers, +but also to themselves and their own divinity (p. 24). Tuthmosis III. +dedicated a temple to the god Sesurtesen III., and ordained regular +sacrifices to him; and Amenophis III. built a temple in Nubia to his own +divinity (pp. 134, 137). + +Nowhere do we find a trace to show that the kings stood in need of the +intervention of the priests in order to approach the gods, and without +such intervention there can be no supremacy of the priests over the +sovereigns of the state. Everywhere the kings come independently before +the gods. Everywhere we find the sacrifices of the kings, not of the +priests, offered. It is the kings who consecrate temples to the gods, in +order that the king may obtain "lasting life and purity." It is the +Pharaohs and not the priests who represent the state and people before +the gods. The kings are at the same time the high priests, and stand at +the head of religion as at the head of the state; their sons and +grandsons, their mothers, wives, and daughters, are, according to the +inscriptions, the priests of this or that god or goddess. The kings, as +Diodorus assures us, were not waited upon by slaves, but by the sons of +the most distinguished priests; by priests only could the ruling god of +the country be served--and the priests did not omit to mention on their +tombs, even at a very early period, the king in whose service they were +prophets, scribes, and minstrels. In a word, the Pharaoh was not merely +the head of the state, but also of the church, if such an expression may +be allowed, and the power of the priests, without any real and +ceremonial support, does not extend beyond the moral influence which +religion exercised upon the heart of the king. Finally, it is the kings +who are celebrated as the lawgivers of the land, and this excludes any +thought of a supremacy of priests. Yet the influence of religion and of +the priesthood on the king is not to be contested, although, under the +military princes who governed Egypt after the expulsion of the Hyksos, +the priests had to share their influence with the leaders of the army. +Not till the time of Menephta, do we observe a more influential position +assumed by the high priests at Thebes. This influence goes on increasing +under the weak successors of Ramses III., and reaches its summit under +the first princes of the dynasty of Tanis. Then it declined, and +afterwards only came into operation under foreign supremacy. + +If further proof were needed for the unlimited power of the kings than +their representation of Ra and Horus, and the menial position of the +priests, we should find it in the gigantic structures which the Pharaohs +left behind them. To carry out works of this kind is impossible unless +the monarch has absolute disposal of the labour of his subjects. But +these buildings were undoubtedly the main interest and the main +occupation of the kings. In this they follow the characteristic traits +of the whole nation. In building temples and erecting images, their +object was just as much to confer honour on the gods as to preserve the +remembrance of the homage which they had offered to them. The +preservation of their own actions and names, which these buildings in +the eyes of the Egyptians "caused to live," is the main object of the +structure, and along with the sacrifices of the kings, and the evidence +of the favour of the gods, the sculptures on the temples display the +martial exploits of the kings. If the kings erected pyramid tombs, it +was in order that their corpses might rest in security, and the tumulus +"cause their name to live" in the generations to come. If they built +temples, it was that the gates, walls, frescoes, and inscriptions might +preserve their acts for posterity. The buildings of the Pharaohs are the +history of their reigns written in stone. + +The ceremonial which surrounded the life of the Pharaohs is described by +Diodorus. In the morning the king first read the communications received +from every quarter; then he performed his ablutions, put on his robes, +and offered sacrifice to the gods. While the sacrificial animal was +being led to the altar the high priest offered prayer to the gods, +beseeching them to grant life and all good things to the king, as he was +a righteous ruler. He was pious to the gods, gentle towards men, strong, +just, and courageous, an enemy of lies, a sharer of his goods with +others, and master of his desires; one who did not punish the wicked so +severely as they deserved, and gave to the good more than their +proportionate share. Then the priest laid the punishment of any error +into which the king might have fallen on his servants, and urged him to +a pious life, "not by reproaches," as Diodorus expressly observes, "but +by commendations." When the sacrifice was finished, the priest read to +the king the apothegms and achievements of distinguished men, that is, +no doubt, of previous kings, out of the sacred books. We know that poems +of considerable extent on historical subjects were in existence.[254] In +the same way the remaining part of the day was allotted to definite +occupations. For walking, for bathing, even for sleeping with the queen, +definite hours were appointed. The king might only eat the flesh of +calves and geese--the food of the priests--and take a fixed portion of +wine. Diodorus regards it as wonderful that the kings should have +subjected themselves to this ceremonial. In this he leaves out of sight +the fact that the god of the land was expected to lead the life of a +god, and also, a thing which could not indeed be so obvious to him, that +all periods present proofs to what oppressive rules of state and +etiquette rulers are willing to subject themselves in order to exhibit +their dignity and majesty. Yet this was not the object chiefly held in +view in the regulation of the king's life, nor was it the love of the +Egyptians for systematic and fixed arrangements. The king was at the +same time the first priest of the land; and therefore the regulations of +the priestly life applied to him also. Moreover, the Egyptians were +extremely careful to keep themselves pure from the unclean, in order by +such purity to preserve life and salvation. With this object, priests +and laity alike regulated all their actions, their eating and drinking, +feeding and clothing, by a minute ritual. It was the first duty of the +king to protect the purity of Egypt. He was the Horus of the land, who +had struck down disorder, impurity, and evil, and therefore, like the +victorious god, he must shine out in the brightness of unsullied purity. +Thus the king had to lead the pure life of a priest; he could eat none +but the priestly food, and every duty must be performed at a favourable +moment, for the Egyptians were under the dominion of a widespread +astrological superstition. This system further required that every fault +he might happen to commit should be taken from him and laid upon others. +It is probably the plan sketched by the priests for the king's life, of +which Diodorus has preserved some traces; we know that among the sacred +books those of the minstrels contained regulations for the life of the +king. Whatever flattery and homage was thus intended for the great and +gracious king, the Pharaohs no doubt observed so much as seemed +suitable to them. Of a later king, Amasis, we are told that he +emancipated himself from the customary ceremonial, and when business was +over, gave himself up to relaxation and enjoyment. Yet his reign was a +long one, and regarded with affection by the Egyptians. + +The Pharaohs were surrounded with all the state of Oriental despots. On +the picture of the coronation, the assumption of the Pschent by Ramses +III. at Medinet Habu, the procession is led by trumpeters, who are +followed by commanders and magistrates. Twenty-two priests lead the +statue of Ammon, who is followed by a priest with incense, and a scribe +who appears to read a proclamation. The king is then carried in by +twelve richly-attired men on a throne under a canopy. Beside the throne +walk certain officers, who cool the king with large fans; others carry +the weapons of the king and the insignia of his power. Behind follow the +captains of the army and the body-guard. Then a white bull is led in the +procession by priests, and the whole closes with priests carrying the +name-shields of the predecessors of the king. On descending from the +throne the king makes a libation towards Ammon, burns incense to him, +and cuts off some ears of corn with a golden sickle.[255] The court was +numerous: fan-bearers on the right, and fan-bearers on the left, bearers +of the parasol, keepers of the king's bow, captains of the body-guard, +overseers of the palace, overseers of the buildings in Upper and Lower +Egypt, overseers of the horses, books, and music, stewards of the +granaries in Upper and Lower Egypt, stewards of the royal flocks, +treasurers, butlers of the palace, and other officers are +mentioned.[256] According to the monuments, the king's household +furniture was profuse in silver and gold. The gondolas were gilded, with +variegated sails, the trappings of the horses were splendidly +ornamented, the stuffed seats curiously carved and richly decked; and of +the complicated occupations of the royal kitchen, of the number of +people employed, of cup-bearers and master cooks, as well as of the +preparation of the food--the monuments give us a very complete idea. + +The death of the king was mourned for seventy days, like the death of an +Apis. During this time everyone had to abstain from baths, from flesh +and wine, until the son of the ruler, who had entered into Amenti, +ascended the throne as a new Horus and giver of life to the land, and +the visage of the new lord again "beamed like a sun over both the lands +of Egypt" after the days of lamentation. The succession, so far as we +can see, was not infrequently broken by usurpations, which have always +been inseparable from the despotic form of government.[257] + +It is characteristic of the all-absorbing power of the monarchy in Egypt +that tradition can scarcely mention a single eminent person beside the +names of the kings. We hear nothing of generals or statesmen, and +scarcely of priests. All stood in equal subjection to the king. Though +families may have at one time arisen from the nation, which were in a +position, from wealth and inclination, to undertake the defence of the +valley of the Nile against the tribes of the desert, and though the +monarchy may have arisen out of the ranks of this military nobility, +which in bygone times united the valley of the Nile into a kingdom, +still, so far as the monuments allow us to see, there is no trace left +of the eminent position of any nobility, whether military or hereditary. +The military order, as presented to us on the monuments, and by the +tradition of the Greeks, no longer consisted of wealthy landowners who +went to war at the bidding of the king with their chariots and horses +and retainers; they are merely soldiers--families, who for a certain +portion of land given to them by the state are pledged to service in +war, and who receive their weapons from the armouries of the state. Such +are the warriors on the monuments even in the times of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, and also under Ramses III. Herodotus tells us that each +family of warriors possessed twelve measures of good land, free of +taxes, the measure being 100 Egyptian cubits in length and breadth. This +would make the allotment more than twelve acres. These families, +according to Herodotus, could, even about the middle of the fifth +century B.C., put in the field 400,000 men, although two hundred years +before, under Psammetichus I., a large number of them, it is said more +than 200,000, migrated into Ethiopia. The military order was divided +into two classes: the Hermotybians, numbering at most 160,000 men, and +the Kalasirians, about 250,000 strong. In the time of Herodotus, the +first were settled in Upper Egypt in the province of Chemmis, and mainly +in the western Delta; the Kalasirians were in the province of Thebes, +and in the central and eastern Delta.[258] Each division furnished +yearly 1,000 men for the bodyguard of the king, who were handsomely +provided for, and the garrisons in the border towns and strongholds, +which were also relieved year by year. From the masses of the two +divisions so many may have been told off for field duty as were +considered necessary. From the numbers which Herodotus gives it is not +impossible that the armies of Sethos and Ramses II., when all the +soldiers were called out, were, if not 700,000, yet from 400,000 to +500,000 strong. Under Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) the army of +Egypt was estimated at 240,000 men. + +The monuments prove that even at the time of the Sesurtesen and +Amenemha, war was scientifically carried on, and the soldiers regularly +drilled. From the royal armouries the infantry were provided with bows, +helmets, shields, lances, and crooked knives, and were divided into +battalions, each carrying its own ensign. The heavy infantry moved in +ranks to the sound of trumpets. Attacks were not made on fortified +cities without the ram, and sheds to protect the attacking party. +Instead of cavalry, which never occur on the monuments, we find, though +not till after the time of the Hyksos, numerous war-chariots in use. +Those who fought in the chariots, as the kings, who are invariably +represented as fighting from a chariot, made use of bows. The monuments +often exhibit practice in archery. With the Egyptians, as with the whole +of the East in antiquity, the bow was the favourite weapon. + +To the priestly order Egypt owed the growth and establishment of her +cultus, the peculiar turn of her religious conceptions, her moral law, +her writings, her art, and her science. The piety of the people and the +kings had amply endowed the temples. "The priests eat nothing of their +own," says Herodotus; "sacred bread is daily baked for them, and they +obtain vegetables, geese, calves' flesh, and wine in sufficient +quantities."[259] Diodorus tells us that the land in ancient Egypt was +divided into three portions, of which a third belonged to the kings, a +third to the priests for their support and the maintenance of the +sacrifices and festivals, and another third to the military order, and +that all the farmers in Egypt held on leases;[260] and we have already +seen that at any rate a part of the land, though by no means so much as +a third, was really allotted to the soldiers, who could scarcely have +leased their small patches, but must have cultivated them in person if +they wished to live upon them with their families. Another part of the +land was marked off for the maintenance of the priests and the expenses +of public worship; but it appears that this land also belonged to the +king, for Herodotus speaks of the incomes of the priests as gifts +received from the king;[261] and the Hebrew Scriptures also tell us that +"the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their +portion which Pharaoh gave them."[262] From these data--even if the +statement of Herodotus, that Sesostris (Ramses II.) had given an equal +square of land to every Egyptian, must be limited to a measurement of +the land, in order to regulate the taxes[263]--it appears that the +Pharaohs looked on themselves as the proprietors of the soil--a view by +no means strange to the despotisms of the East--and in consequence they +allotted to the soldiers so much as was necessary, and of the rest +allowed a great portion, which was estimated at a third of the whole, to +pay taxes to the temples, while the remainder contributed to themselves. +According to the statements of the Hebrews the taxes amounted to a fifth +of the produce,[264] and hence all the farmers could with justice be +considered leaseholders, or at any rate as having copyhold estates. It +is expressly observed that only the farms of the soldiers were free from +taxes,[265] and that the land which was taxed for the temples +contributed nothing to Pharaoh.[266] At the same time it is easily +intelligible that the piety of the subjects provided additional incomes +for the priests, and that, so far as it was possible to make any +arrangements of the kind, land and revenues were presented to the +temples.[267] + +The maintenance which they derived from the incomes and contributions of +the temple-lands, in corn, wine, and animals for sacrifice, enabled the +priests to live for their religious duties, for the complete +performance of their customs in regard to purification and food, and +for the study of the holy scriptures. They were divided into various +classes and corporations. In every temple there was one upper +priest,--the head of the temple--the prophet,[268] a temple scribe, who +was especially skilled in writing, and managed the temple property, a +chamberlain, who took care of the clothing of the images, the +sacrifices, and the ritual, an astronomer, who had to observe the +heavens, and a minstrel. In the processions the prophet carried the jar +of water for purifications; the chamberlain carried the cubit of justice +and a basin for sprinkling water; the scribe can be recognised by the +feather in his head-dress, the roll of books in one hand, and the pen in +the other; the astronomer by an hour-glass and a palm branch, the symbol +of the seasons among the Egyptians. These higher classes of the +priesthood were followed by the lower; the pastophors, who carried the +images in the processions, and practised medicine, the attendants, male +and female ("the nurses"), of the sacred animals, the persons whose duty +it was to select and seal the animals for sacrifice, the embalmers, and +lastly, the temple-servants, who were responsible for the purifications. +The first sanctuaries in Egypt were the temples of Ammon at Thebes, of +Ptah at Memphis, and of Ra at Heliopolis. The colleges at these temples +were the most important centres of priestly life and doctrine. So long +as Thebes was the metropolis of the kingdom, the high priest of Ammon at +Thebes was the first priest in the land. Herodotus tells us from the +lips of the priests of Thebes that the office of high priest descended +from father to son, and Diodorus maintains that the same was the case +with all the officers of the temples.[269] These statements are +contradicted by the inscriptions. They mention five places in the +temples through which all "fifth priests" must pass. From a memorial +stone of a priest, Bakenchunsu, we learn that for fifteen years he was +third priest, and for twelve years second priest of Ammon at Thebes; +then he became first priest of this god, and continued to be so to the +end of his life. + +The priests had to lead a holier and purer life than the laity. The +ritual, the rules for purification and food, which the priests laid upon +themselves, were stricter than those expected from the rest of the +people. The priest must wash twice in each day and each night. Every +third day he must shave his whole body, more especially his eyebrows and +beard. He might only wear linen clothing (byssus), and shoes of papyrus. +Any other clothing, and especially the hair and skins of beasts, defiled +a priest; though on monuments the priests of Osiris wear leopard skins, +especially at the ceremony of the burial. The flesh of sheep, swine, and +most other animals was forbidden to the priests; they might never touch +fish. Pulse they might not eat, and beans were not even to be looked at. +They observed frequent fasts. From time to time they underwent certain +mortifications, which in one instance continued for forty-two days, in +order to destroy in themselves the forty-two deadly sins. Finally the +priests could only marry one wife; while the laity were allowed to have +other wives beside the first. The kings had more than one wife, and this +was the rule among the wealthier class in Egypt.[270] + +We are not informed how sharply the different orders in Egypt were +separated, or how far the different occupations were distinguished among +the labouring or trading population in addition to the classes of +priests and soldiers. We do not know, for instance, in what degree the +tiller of the soil was distinguished from the artizan. We are only told +that the people were divided into husbandmen, artizans, and shepherds, +and the shepherds were regarded as the lowest class. But we learn that +no one was allowed to follow any other occupation than that derived from +his father.[271] The inscriptions tell us that the same office, as for +instance that of architect, remained in the same family for twenty-three +generations;[272] and in the seventh century B.C. a kind of caste grew +up out of a number of Egyptian boys, whom Psammetichus handed over to +his Ionian mercenaries. Hence we may conclude that the impulse to +perpetuate types and lock up occupations in hereditary circles and fixed +families was very strong, as was natural enough with the fixed and +conservative character of the Egyptians. But however strong the impulse, +however deeply rooted the custom for the son to follow the father's +profession, there was in Egypt no caste in the strict sense of the term. +Marriages between the orders were not forbidden, and it is exclusiveness +in this point which completes the idea of caste. Moreover in Egypt there +were adoptions and transitions from one order to another. The sepulchral +pillars never lay any weight on birth in a certain order, but rather +show that members of the same family had belonged to different +orders--that a man could be at once a priest and a soldier, and Diodorus +remarks that in Egypt all were regarded as of equally honourable birth. +The statement that the shepherds were held in the least estimation is +probably correct, for the reason that their unrestrained occupation was +least adapted for subjection to fixed rules of life and a strict ritual; +but that statement, like the assertion in Genesis that "cowherds were an +abomination to the Egyptians," is not to be taken in reference to the +breeders of oxen and the care of flocks, which was carried on with great +vigour among the Egyptians, but to the nomadic tribes who wandered with +their flocks on the broad marshes of the Delta, or on the pastures of +the Libyan and Arabian ranges, and were wholly strangers to all settled +life. When we are told that the swineherds were held in especial +contempt, we must remember that to the Egyptians the swine was an +unclean animal.[273] Hence we may consider it as certain that custom +required the Egyptian to follow the trade of his father, and caused the +father to live again in his son, but no law of religion or state turned +the orders into castes, and that the various classes of trades and +professions were neither haughty and exclusive, nor servile and +submissive towards each other, but all lived together on a tolerable +equality. + +Beside the respect and weight which the religious importance of their +order, their general knowledge and science gave to the priests, it was +to them more especially that the honour of serving the king fell. We +cannot doubt that the public officers were mainly taken from the order +of priests, which was also the order of scribes. Egypt was not, like the +great monarchies of the ancient East, a state founded by conquest, in +which the lord of the victorious people was master of the conquerors and +the conquered also, and in which it was all-important to retain the +conquered nation in subjection; it was a compact district inhabited by +the same tribe. Here, if we make an exception in favour of the +transitory conquests in Nubia and Arabia, there were no extensive and +distant provinces to be held in check. The departments in the land were +small, their number reached forty-four;[274] the officers, whom the king +set over them, were in his sight, they could not assume the position of +refractory pashas. They were nominated out of the members of the royal +house (the monuments furnish instances), the priests, the soldiers, and +also out of the people. Royal scribes and judges, "scribes of justice," +were allotted to these prefects. As the Egyptians early arrived at a +written law, as religion and justice were closely connected, and the +priests were acquainted with the art of writing, the prefects of the +provinces were without doubt assisted by men from the priestly order in +the exercise of their judicial duties. Besides the maintenance of the +peace and the administration of justice, it was their duty to provide +for the cultivation of the land, the collection and transmission of the +taxes to the king. Even the soldiers settled in the provinces seem to +have been subject to their rule. The gold and copper mines on the Upper +Nile and in Sinai appear to have been put under the care of special +officers, and the products were conveyed under military protection to +the treasury of the king (p. 105). + +The officers of the central government surrounded the person of the king +(p. 190). Even the administration of justice, according to Diodorus, was +centred in a supreme court, consisting of thirty judges, ten of the best +men from Heliopolis, ten from Memphis, and ten from Thebes. Without +doubt these judges belonged to the three priestly colleges of Memphis, +Thebes, and Heliopolis. From these thirty the president was chosen, and +on his breast, attached to a golden chain, he wore a shield of precious +stones, beautifully wrought, which the Egyptians named "Truth" (p. 174). +This court of the thirty no doubt gave very honourable decisions, and in +accordance with law, unless the king were interested in the result, or +preferred to pass sentence himself. Diodorus further informs us that the +laws of the Egyptians were collected in eight books, and were always +kept at hand by the judges. The first written laws were given by Menes +to the Egyptians, who declared that he had received them from the god +Thoth. These laws had been enlarged by "Sasychis," who at the same time +left the most accurate rubrics for the service of the gods, discovered +geometry, and taught astronomy. Then Sesosis (Sesostris) laid down the +laws for the kings, and the army. Finally the kings Bocchoris and Amasis +completed the laws of Egypt. Herodotus praises a king "Asychis," whom he +places after Menkera (p. 16), as the giver of the laws of mortgage. From +Diodorus we also learn, and the monuments confirm his statement, that a +written process went on before the court, that plaint and answer, +rejoinder and reply, were given in, in writing; and this custom, +considering the delight of the Egyptians in writing, did not appear for +the first time in the later period of legal administration. The +contracts and bills of sale found in tombs of the time of the Ptolemies +are drawn up with the most circumstantial accuracy, and furnished with +the signatures of many witnesses.[275] What Diodorus tells us of the law +of Egypt with respect to _meum_ and _tuum_ gives evidence of a certain +gentleness and humanity. The interest was never to exceed the amount of +the capital. Slavery for debt was not allowed; the sons of all the wives +shared equally in the inheritance. The murder of a slave was punished +with death, just as the murder of an Egyptian. Perjury was threatened +with the same penalty. Anyone who falsified documents or measures had +his hand cut off. In the confession which the souls made before Osiris +(p. 79), especial emphasis is laid on the fact that the dead man had +not falsified measures or seals, that he had practised no deceit in the +law court, and had lent no money upon usury. The punishments inflicted +on the guilty are characteristic of the East: the stocks, compulsory +labour at the mines and quarries, loss of the nose, excision of the +tongue, and mutilation were the usual penalties.[276] + +Beside the law of the state stood the law of religion, of the priests. +It was not sufficient to offer bread, and geese, and thighs of bulls, to +pour drink-offerings of milk and wine, and "all things whereon the +divine nature lives," to burn frankincense before the images of the +gods, to offer the firstlings of the fruits, figs, onions, and flowers, +to set up in the temples dedicatory offerings, small statues, crowns, +and rings, to celebrate in honour of the gods of the district the great +and small festivals, to honour the dead and bring sacrifice to them at +the beginning and end of the year, at the festivals of the great and the +little heat, on the monthly and fortnightly festivals (the calendars of +the festivals on the monuments exhibit an almost unbroken series of +sacrifices), to attend to the animals of the sacred kinds and bury them +handsomely, "to give bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes +to the naked, and shelter to the wanderer"--the whole life must be a +religious service. In their favoured land the Egyptians considered +themselves a favoured people. Full of gratitude to the gods who had +given them this land and this life, they looked with contempt on the +unclean and perverse nations who dwelt beyond the valley of the Nile. To +keep themselves clean from the unclean is the essential task of their +lives. To the merely superficial view, cleanliness of body and clothing +seems cleanliness of soul and life. But this purity, which the law of +the priests required from every Egyptian, and above all and in an +especial degree from the priests, was not limited to simple and natural +cleanliness. There were beneficent life-giving gods, and there were also +evil and destructive deities. To these belonged the side of nature which +seemed to correspond to their being. Contact with this side of nature is +not only displeasing to the good and pure gods, it gives the evil +influences power over the men contaminated by it. Hence for the +salvation of men such contact must be shunned. Certain things must be +avoided for clothing and others for nourishment, certain impulses must +not be satisfied, or must at any rate be limited. + +This conception introduced certain usages and customs, which were +developed by the priests into a system of rules for purification and +food. Herodotus says, "the Egyptians are the most religious of all men; +they have a severe and strict service, and many sacred customs." The +boys were circumcised. Beans, rye, and barley might not be eaten; the +flesh of many animals and many kinds of fish was forbidden. It was not +lawful to eat the head of any animal. The animals for sacrifice must +first be examined by the priests, to see that they did not belong to the +sacred kinds--to sacrifice these was an inexpiable offence--and whether +in other respects they were without blemish and pleasing to the gods. +This examination was the duty of the class of temple-servants already +mentioned, and it devolved on them to mark the animals found to be clean +with a seal, which in bulls was placed on the horns. The Egyptians never +ate at the same table with strangers, nor used a cup from which a +stranger had drunk, nor ate flesh cooked in the vessel of a stranger +and cut with a stranger's knife; all strangers and their utensils were +unclean. Nothing woollen might be taken into a temple or a tomb. The +Egyptians always wore newly-washed under-clothing of linen; they were +obliged frequently to wash their bodies, and for three days in each +month they used means of evacuation, clysters and emetics, in order to +cleanse the body internally.[277] These statements are confirmed by +papyrus rolls containing medicinal precepts. If the king, a sacred +animal, or a member of the family died, no one was allowed to wear white +or bright-coloured clothes; he must shave his eyebrows, and abstain from +intercourse with his wife and from baths. Men and women threw dust on +their heads and faces, and the women ran to and fro wailing with bare +breasts.[278] + +If an Egyptian had not committed murder, theft, or adultery, if he had +not defamed the gods nor the king, nor those in authority over him, nor +his own father, if he were not guilty of lying or slandering, if he had +deceived neither gods nor men, nor oppressed his workmen in their daily +tasks, nor drawn off the water, if he had allowed no one to be hungry, +and caused no one to weep, if he were not slothful and idle in his +occupation, if he sacrificed to the gods at the appointed time, and +poured libations and observed all the regulations for cleanliness, then +he might hope to find grace in the presence of the twenty-four judges +before Osiris on the day of judgment in Amenti (p. 79). In order to gain +by such conduct and careful observation of the laws of cleanliness and +the ritual, a long life in this world, rest in the grave, and eternal +life in the fields of the sun-god, the Egyptians worshipped their gods +with unwearied zeal, while their kings raised temple upon temple of +enormous blocks in honour of the life-giving powers of heaven. + +We cannot rate the knowledge and science of the Egyptians very low, +however absurd and singular much in it appears to be. The early +discovery of writing, however unwieldy the form, gave them the means of +preserving not only invocations and incidents, but also the results of +observation and experience, and of increasing slowly and surely their +stock of knowledge. They made an unusually extensive use of writing. The +walls of the temples are covered with inscriptions, which often enough +only repeat once more what has been repeated already innumerable times. +Even in the tombs at Beni Hassan from the time of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, we find scribes engaged in numbering the flocks and +ticketing the sacks of corn. The scribes of the king registered the game +obtained in hunting, the number of hands hewn off after a victory, and +of prisoners, and calculated the amount of the booty. The temple-scribes +are seen in the processions with pen in hand, and on the monuments the +gods note down the years of the kings on the leaves of the arbor vitæ. +Everything is to be enumerated, registered, and entered. Even ornaments +and utensils are covered with inscriptions. As the hieroglyphics on the +walls explained the images in the temples, and the hieroglyphics on the +sides of the sepulchral chambers recorded the race and achievements of +eminent persons and officers, so did the priests write down their +wisdom, and private people their documents on a lighter material, the +leaves of the papyrus, a tall reed growing in abundance in the swamps of +Egypt. + +Notwithstanding this extensive use, the system of writing among the +Egyptians continued to the end a clumsy and difficult system, partly +owing to the number of pictures and symbols, and partly to the variety +of the phonetic pictures. The unchanging character of the Egyptians, the +symbolical and mystic sense concealed in the hieroglyphics, the +religious character of these old and sacred signs, stood in the way of +the change to a more simple and phonetic mode of writing. Yet the effort +to obtain such a system is unmistakable. After the year 1300 B.C. a +number of picture symbols were used as phonetic symbols, which up to +that time had no phonetic value, and this change becomes more and more +frequent in the last centuries B.C. The habit of writing the +hieroglyphics on the papyrus had early led to abbreviation in writing; +the pictures were represented by simple outlines more adapted to the +hand; and hence arose a cursive mode of writing the hieroglyphics, the +so-called "hieratic" writing, which we already (pp. 90, 94) found in use +on the pyramids under the old kingdom, and which was in use on an +extensive scale at the time when the new kingdom was at its height. +Finally, from the hieratic writing arose a third and more abbreviated +kind, the demotic, which represented the language of ordinary +intercourse and the national dialect. This was in existence when +Herodotus travelled in Egypt. Here we see the most marked effort to +avoid the ideographic element and picture signs, and to extend the use +of the phonetic symbols. Beside the remains of the picture symbols, the +demotic writing employs seventeen simple phonetic symbols and some fifty +symbols of syllables. The hieroglyphic and hieratic modes of writing are +called on the monuments the "writing of the gods," the demotic is "the +writing of the books." For us the difficulty of the hieroglyphics is +materially increased by the fact that the Coptic language in the form +accessible to us is removed by thousands of years from the form of words +represented by the hieroglyphics of the old and new kingdom. The forms +which we obtain from the records preserved in the demotic writing are +about midway between those in the hieroglyphics and the forms retained +in the Coptic translation of the Scriptures, and in some books of +liturgies, which belong to the first centuries A.D.[279] + +In the circles of the priests the traditional invocations of the gods, +the rules for the proper conduct of sacrifices and feasts, for the pure +conversation which is the way to life and salvation in this world and +the next, were without doubt committed to writing at a very early +period. When gradually extended and continued, those writings grew into +a liturgical canon and ecclesiastical codex of religious and moral law, +and a comprehensive collection of all the wisdom known to the priests. +We learn that the Egyptian priests possessed forty-two sacred books. +Regarded as a collection of religious rules in every department of +civilisation and life, as the measure of holy and upright conversation, +and as rules of civil law, these books passed as the writings of the god +Thoth, the scribe of heaven, the god of truth and justice. The civil law +also was grounded upon the rules and axioms of religion; from these it +arose, and the books of civil law without doubt formed a part of the +sacred law, and of the books of the priests. Of these forty-two books +ten belonged to the high priest, of which eight may have been the eight +books of civil law (p. 202). In that case the two others would contain +the doctrine concerning the gods, and the instruction of the priests. +Ten other books belonged to the temple-scribe. Of these the first +contained the rules for the sacred writing; the second the geography +and cosmogony; the third and fourth the arrangement of the sun, moon, +and five planets; the fifth and sixth the description of Egypt and the +Nile; the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, the weights and measures, +the mode of registering the temple furniture and property. Again, ten +books belonged to the chamberlain. These taught the ritual and the +liturgy, the offering of first-fruits and sacrifices, hymns and prayers, +together with the conduct of festivals and other things of the kind, +and, finally, discipline and the rules for examining the animals for +sacrifices. The two books of the minstrel contained the hymns and the +contemplation of the life proper for a king (p. 188). The four books of +the astrologer concluded the narrower circle of the sacred writings. Of +these, the first contained the arrangement of the fixed stars; the +second and third the coincidences of the orbits of the sun and moon; the +fourth, the rising of the constellations. Besides these sacred books the +pastophors (p. 196) had six books which taught the principles and +practice of medicine;[280] for the art of healing, _i.e._ of preserving +life, also belonged to the priests. The medicine of the Egyptians is +commended as early as the Homeric poems (p. 15). Herodotus assures us +that in Egypt every kind of sickness had a special physician, and +Diodorus states that the art was carried out strictly according to the +written principles, _i.e._ no doubt, according to these six sacred +books. A hieratic papyrus on the subject of medicine has been recently +found at Thebes, which is supposed to belong to the first centuries of +the restoration of the monarchy. A section of this deals with diseases +of the eye.[281] Egyptian physicians were much sought after in the East +(the founder of the Persian kingdom, Cyrus, procured an oculist from +Egypt), until the fame of the Greek medicine about 500 B.C. threw +Egyptian physicians into the shade.[282] + +In the sacred books of the priests was drawn up the religious system +into which the original conceptions of the gods were shaped and +developed in the circles of the priests. The gods who passed for the +greatest and mightiest in the various districts out of which Egypt was +made up, the protecting deities of the separate localities, were here +arranged in definite ranks and classes. And if, nevertheless, +considerable differences can be observed in the teaching of the priests +of Memphis and Thebes, they are sufficiently explained by the mode in +which religion and state were developed in Egypt, and the rival position +of the two great centres of ecclesiastical life. According to the +doctrine of Memphis the seven highest deities were Ptah, the creative +god of light of the lower country; Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis; and +Shu (Sosis, p. 50), the deity of the clear air; these three were +followed by the forms belonging to the Osiris circle, on whose nature +rested the moral basis of the life of the Egyptians; Seb, the father of +Osiris; Osiris himself; then his opposite, Typhon; and lastly, Horus, +the conqueror of Typhon.[283] The doctrine of Thebes placed Ammon at the +head instead of Ptah, and in the place of Ra stood the two sun-gods of +Upper Egypt, Tum (Atum, p. 51) and Mentu; these were followed by Shu, +and the gods of the Osiris circle. To the seven or eight great gods was +appended a circle of twelve gods, and among these Thoth and Anubis. The +twelve were followed by a number of spirits, genii and demigods. With +this system of gods the doctrine of the priests was connected. Even from +the attributes of Ptah, Neith, and other deities, it is clear that there +was among the priests a strong tendency to gather up the divine powers +into the forms of Ptah, Tum, Osiris, and Ra. The teaching of the priests +evidently desired to grasp the connection of life, and attain to a +theogony and a theory of creation. It has been already pointed out on +the authority of documents belonging to the times of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, that the priests in their doctrine were at pains to discover +the unity of the divine spirits, and to conceive the forms of the gods +as manifestations of one being. They regarded the animals as the +manifestations of special characteristics of the gods, and men as +phænomena of a divine origin and nature, who would return to the place +whence they came. To go further and grasp the heart of the system is +impossible in the present condition of our researches. Conceptions and +inferences of the Græco-Egyptian speculation of the time of the +Ptolemies and the first centuries after Christ cannot be accepted as the +true form of the old Egyptian religion, or as the doctrine of the +priests of ancient Egypt. + +With the Egyptians, as with other nations, poetry probably arose out of +the invocations of the gods and hymns of praise and thanksgiving. +Religious poetry had a fixed canon in the books of the minstrels. That +national songs were also in vogue is shown by the monuments (p. 222). +Diodorus told us above that the achievements of Sesostris were +celebrated in poetry (p. 144). The description of a deed of arms of +Ramses II. which he must have regarded as of considerable importance +has been preserved. The battle he fought with the Cheta in the fifth +year of his reign (p. 152), he caused to be represented in the rock +temple at Abu Simbel and in the Ramesseum, and a description of it is +engraved in these temples, as at Luxor and Beth-el-Walli, and in the +walls of the great temple at Karnak. It is found in still greater detail +in a papyrus of the British Museum.[284] At the end is the observation +that the scribe Pentaur composed it in the seventh year of the reign of +Ramses II. In this poem we are told that the chief of the Cheta had come +with his archers and chariots, three men on each chariot. North-west of +Kadesh they lay in ambush. The king, urging on his chariot, pressed into +the midst of the miserable Cheta. He found himself surrounded by 2,500 +chariots. "My bowmen and my chariots have abandoned me, this is what the +king said; none of them is here to fight beside me. What is the will of +my father Ammon? Is he a father who denies his son? Or have I followed +my own thoughts? Did I not set forth at thy command; has not thy mouth +led my armies, and thy counsel guided them? Have I not celebrated many +brilliant festivals, and filled thy house with booty? Thirty thousand +bulls I have sacrificed with odorous herbs and perfumes of all kinds. I +have built thee temples of stone, I bring obelisks from Elephantine, and +cause the everlasting stones to be carried down. For thee--the great +ships swim upon the sea, to bring thee the tribute of the nations. Has +the like been done before? Ruin on him who opposes thee: salvation to +him who comprehends thee, Ammon. On thee I call. I am alone before thee +in the midst of unknown nations. My bowmen and chariots left me when I +called; no one heard me when I cried for help. But I choose Ammon before +thousands of bowmen and millions of chariots. The devices of men are +nothing; Ammon will deliver from them. These words echoed in Hermonthis. +Ra comes to him who calls upon him. He reaches to thee his hand. He +flies to thee, Ramses Miamun. I am with thee, I am thy father, the sun, +and my hand is with thee. Their hearts shall waver in their breasts and +all their limbs shall fail. They shall not shoot their arrows; their +lances they shall not be able to hold. The chief of the Cheta sent +princes, the prince of Aratus (Aradus) and the prince of Kirkamischa +(Karchemish). My charioteer was weak, and a great terror came upon his +limbs. He said, Brave king, hold, and let us save the breath of our +lives. What can we do, noble lord, Ramses Miamun? Mark what his majesty +answered to his charioteer. Courage! Stablish thine heart, my +charioteer. Like the divine hawk, I will swoop into their midst, they +shall be overthrown and hewn down into the dust. Ammon were no god if he +glorified not my face before their countless hosts. The king pressed +into the midst of the miserable Cheta, six times he pressed into their +midst. My bowmen and charioteers came at the hour of evening from their +camp: they found the whole region covered with dead bathed in their +blood. His holiness answered his army and the captains who had not +fought. Ye did not well to leave me alone in the midst of the enemies. I +have fought, I have beaten back thousands of enemies, and I was alone. +The horses which drew me were 'Might in Thebes,' and 'Rest in the upper +land.' As soon as I am within my royal gates, I command that they have +corn every day before the god Ra. When the earth again became light, he +began the conflict again; he dashed into the battle like a bull, which +hurls himself upon geese, and with him the mighty lion beside his +horses. Rage inflamed all his limbs. They were hewn in pieces before his +mares. The chief of the miserable Cheta sent to call upon the great name +of his majesty. Thou art the sun, the god of both worlds, thou art +Sutech the great conqueror, the son of heaven. Baal is in all thy limbs. +Terror is upon the land of Cheta; thou hast possessed thyself of their +inwards for ever. The slave said, as he spoke to Pharaoh: Since Ammon +has granted to thee that Egypt and the nation of the Cheta shall be +slaves at thy feet, and Ra has granted thee the dominion over them, thou +canst slay thy slaves; they are in thy power; we lie bowed to the earth, +ready to obey thy command. O brave king, delight of the warriors, grant +us the breath of our lives! The king summoned his generals in order to +hear the message and write an answer, and toward midday he took ship. He +returned in peace with his army to Egypt. The whole earth has subjected +itself to his name, and the princes, lying on the ground, worship his +countenance."[285] + +Not only certain turns in this description, but passages in invocations +which have come down to us, show that in expressing themselves, the +Egyptians, in spite of the predominant vein of reflection, were not +without force of imagination, or striking figures, or largeness and +vigour of conception. That they are not free from bombast, foolish +exaggeration, and incessant repetition, any more, or even so little, as +the other nations of the East, is proved more especially by the +inscriptions in the temples recording the mighty deeds of the kings. Our +knowledge of the manuscripts does not as yet allow us to pass a more +definite judgment. Yet it is beyond doubt that even in the centuries +immediately preceding the irruption of the Hyksos, under the Sesurtesen +and Amenemha, they were in possession of a written literature, that even +then the oldest parts of the "Book of the Dead" were not only in +existence, but already commentated upon, and that after the restoration +of the kingdom, beside the comprehensive books of the priests, and +manuscripts on medicine (p. 209), there was at any rate after the +fourteenth century B.C., and the reign of Ramses II., a literature of a +considerable extent. There is a second papyrus in existence by the +author of the description of the battle, of which the title runs, +"Beginning of the Rudiments of the Art of Letter-writing by the Scribe +Pentaur, composed in the 10th year of Ramses II."[286] The fifth letter +of this collection is addressed by Ameneman, the head of the keepers of +the archives of the treasure of the king, to Pentaur; it is said that +Pentaur has turned his back on the sacred writings, and applied himself +to agriculture. The farmer has to fear grubs and rats, sparrows and +locusts for his crops; and thieves too. Implements and horses wear out. +The scribes come and demand the taxes, and the neighbours are away and +busy with the harvest. On the other hand, the work of the scribe is the +highest of all, and the scribe has no taxes to pay.[287] On a third +papyrus a hymn, addressed by Ramses III. to Ammon, is said to have been +found.[288] A fourth has the name-shields of Sethos II. (p. 163). It is +a composition by a scribe of the name of Enna, and contains the story of +the fate of two brothers.[289] A fifth papyrus, which is also +attributed to the time of successors of Ramses II., has preserved a +collection of apothegms.[290] In a country which placed such importance +on preserving every incident, on enumerating, recording, and registering +everything, care must have been taken to record the series of the kings. +When the shepherds were driven out, the liberation from foreign dominion +would give a strong impulse toward the attempt to keep firmly before the +eyes the old days of independent Egypt. At the same time these attempts +must have met with serious hindrances. The destruction which came upon +numerous records and monuments of those old times, and the want of any +definite æra of chronology, made it difficult to obtain a really correct +order of succession, or a historical picture of the ancient period. The +historical truth of the writings, which, in spite of these difficulties, +were undertaken, as is shown by the monuments mentioned above, and the +Turin papyrus (p. 25), was still more seriously impaired by the fact +that the views of the priests were governed by the conception that the +course of certain periods was allotted to the world by the gods, and in +these periods the fortunes of Egypt had reached their fulfilment, and +would continue to reach it. We have already become acquainted with this +Sothis period (p. 29 ff). From the gods came life and the world. So the +gods were said to have reigned in person over Egypt, before the kings, +their divine successors, ruled over men. Hence the priests of Lower +Egypt commenced the reign of the seven great gods with the beginning of +a Sothis period. The seven great gods were followed by the twelve gods +of the second rank, Thoth, Anubis, Chunsu, &c., in reigns of gradually +diminishing length through a certain number of Sothis periods. According +to the scheme still preserved, Ptah reigned 9,000 years, and the last of +the gods only seventy years, so that on an average each occupies exactly +half a Sothis period, or 730 of our years. These nineteen gods were +followed by thirty demigods; to each of whom was allotted the twelfth +part of a Sothis period for a reign, so that the whole period of the +reign of the gods takes up twelve Sothis periods, or 17,520 years. After +this, according to some authorities, began the period of human rulers; +others allotted four Sothis periods, _i.e._ 5840 years, to another set +of demigods. Then followed, beginning like the rest with the beginning +of a Sothis period, the rule of human kings. This Sothis period +commenced either in the year 5702 B.C., or, according to the arrangement +of Lepsius, with the year 4242 B.C. This year, therefore, was the first +of the history of Egypt. To Menes the priests attached the long list of +names in one continuous series, without in the least regarding whether +the dynasties were contemporaneous or successive, whether they ruled in +Upper or Lower Egypt, over the whole land, or in certain districts only. +If we calculate the rule of the human kings from the first of the dates +given, the first Sothis period of men came to an end, according to the +canon of Manetho, in 4242 B.C.; the second in 2782 B.C. The third ended +in the time of Menephta I., in whose reign as a fact the Egyptian year +did again coincide with the natural year.[291] + +The Egyptians were devoted more than other nations to the contemplation +of the heavens. The constellations announced to them the approach of the +inundation, its height, and its decline. Moreover, their religion was to +a great extent a worship of light and the sun, and as they plainly +perceived the influence of the stars on the country in the rise and fall +of the water, the increase and abatement of the heat, &c., it was +natural that they should ascribe to the constellations and the movements +of the heavenly bodies similar influences on the life and growth, the +happiness and misery, of mankind; and this belief must in turn have +contributed to the assiduous and accurate observation of the heavens. +"If anywhere," says Diodorus, "it is in Egypt that the most accurate +observation of the position and movements of the stars have been made. +Of each of these they have records extending over an incredible series +of years, the courses and positions of the planets also they have +accurately observed, and they can accurately predict the eclipses of the +sun and the moon."[292] Astronomical pictures are not uncommon on the +monuments belonging to the period after the expulsion of the Hyksos. +Fragments of a calendar of festivals from the time of Ramses II. are +found on a gateway of the Ramesseum. The outer walls of the temple at +Medinet Habu give a complete calendar of the festivals from the time of +Ramses III. In the tomb of Sethos I. are pictures and names of the five +divinities of the planets known to the Egyptians, Mercury, Venus (the +star of the Bennu, p. 69), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; the same picture +is found on the roof of the astronomical hall in the Ramesseum at +Thebes, and on two pictures in the tombs of Ramses V. and IX. The +painting in the Ramesseum--though the circle of 369 cubits, which, +according to Diodorus, was once on the roof of the Ramesseum (p. 175), +is wanting, being removed by Cambyses--presents a complete map of the +Egyptian sky. The pictures in the tombs of the two kings give the rising +of the stars at intervals of a fortnight. In the tomb of Ramses IV. the +thirty-six Decan stars are given together with their deities.[293] The +importance placed by the Egyptian priests on the knowledge of the sky is +shown not only by the monuments, but also by the four books of the +astrologer, and the third and fourth books of the temple scribe; and +that their astronomical science was by no means slight is sufficiently +proved by their early establishment of a solar year of 360, and then of +365 days, and by the observation and establishment of the Sothis +periods. This fact is confirmed by the lists of the rising of the stars +already mentioned. Yet the astronomical knowledge of the priests of +Egypt cannot be placed beside that of the Babylonians. Representations +of the zodiac are not found on the monuments till the time of the +Ptolemies,[294] and Ptolemy, himself an Egyptian, has preserved for us +observations of the Chaldees, but none made by his own countrymen. The +greater part of the attention which the priests of Egypt bestowed upon +the heavens was given in the interests of astrology rather than +astronomy. As the months in the year belonged to certain gods, the first +to Thoth, the third (Athyr) to Hathor, the last to Horus, so the days +of the month had their deities. The first day belonged to Thoth, the +second to Horus, the third to Osiris, &c.; and lastly, every hour of the +day was allotted to a special influence. From the importance thus given +to the days and hours the astrologers could foretell the fortune of +life; they could ascertain what issue awaited any enterprise--whether +the day and hour were favourable or not for this or that occupation or +undertaking. For this object they possessed tables worked out in +extensive detail. For instance, anyone born on the 14th of Athyr, the +day when Typhon was said to have slain Osiris, had to expect a violent +death; anyone born on the 23rd of Phaophi was doomed to be killed by a +crocodile; and anyone born on the 27th of the same month, by a serpent. +On the other hand, a child born on the 9th of Phaophi might look forward +to a long life. In the tables of the hours we find for a given +day--first hour, Orion is lord of the left elbow; second hour, the Twins +have influence on the left ear; fifth hour, the Pleiads(?) are sovereign +over both chambers of the heart; tenth hour, the feet of the Swine +predominate over the left eye, &c.[295] + +In the achievement won by Egyptian art the priests took a leading part. +The buildings of the temples and the tombs of the kings could only be +erected after their designs; for in these essentially sacred things, +sacred measures and numbers, were concerned, and, like architecture, +sculpture and painting were primarily employed in the service of +religion. As we might expect from the character of the people, the +architecture of the Egyptians aimed at the firm and durable. The +structures rise up simple in their lines, like the ridges of rock which +are the boundaries of Egypt, broad and massive. The pyramids, with great +simplicity of form, were found to display a considerable skill in +dealing with and uniting large masses of stone. Following this path, the +architecture of Egypt has always preserved a severity and simplicity of +outline even when employing richer forms and ornaments. Among the +Egyptians sculpture and painting never attained independence; it was +their vocation to support architecture, and assist her in preserving in +the stream of time the picture of the king, his sacrifices, and his +achievements, and this or that incident of his reign. The sculpture of +the Egyptians exhibits a vigorous attempt to grasp the forms in a naive, +but prosaic and merely intellectual manner; it preserves them free from +any fanciful use of symbols, and conceives the human form in fixed +proportions and characteristic expression of movement, while it is still +more happy in the form and character of the animals. Like architecture, +sculpture prefers to work in the hardest and most lasting material. But, +as in all other departments of life, so here; the type when once fixed, +the canon of proportion when once discovered, the mode of treatment and +the law of form is rigorously retained. With complete accuracy of +execution in the most difficult material, sculpture constantly repeats +the same figures, geometrical rather than natural in form. Yet in spite +of this typical character, in sculpture and painting, as in +architecture, a considerable development took place. The statues of the +times of the pyramids, the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, exhibit, +comparatively speaking, very correct forms, lively energy in the +expression of action, and a strong treatment of the muscles; but the +sculptures of the new kingdom are distinguished by greater variety of +forms, a larger wealth of lines, and a delicacy of outline; the drawing +of the figures is far more slender, and there is considerable grace in +the treatment of massive pillars and capitals. The Tuthmosis and +Amenophis, the Sethos, and the earliest Ramses, imposed upon Egyptian +art an almost oppressive number of tasks, and in performing them she +touched her highest point. But the amount of work must of itself have +introduced a more and more conventional treatment within the limits of +the typical circle in which sculpture moved; and at last this treatment +was content with mere precision of outlines. This is the character of +the sculpture of the times of Ramses III. down to the days of +Psammetichus, in which, by a truer imitation of nature, and greater +grace in the form of the bodies, it once more attained to a beautiful +after-growth. + +The industry and skill with which the cultivation of the land and of the +vine, and the breeding of cattle and sheep, was carried on in Egypt even +before the invasion of the Hyksos, has been already seen on the +monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha (p. 118). The +fields were tilled with ploughs drawn by oxen, or with the hoe. It was +not in every case necessary to make furrows. In December and January, +when the water had run off, the seed was cast into the moist ground and +trodden in, as we see from the monuments, by sheep and goats. Everywhere +the overseer is in the field with the labourers and herdmen. By the end +of March harvest was ready; wheat and maize were cut with the sickle, +and then the grain was trodden out by oxen. Meanwhile the thrasher sang, +according to the inscription on a rock tomb at El Kab (above Thebes), +"Thrash for yourselves, oxen, thrash for yourselves; thrash bushels for +your masters."[296] Diodorus remarks that it was marvellous with what +care and skill the herds were tended by their keepers in Egypt, what +knowledge of healing plants and of food was to be found in these +keepers, how their occupation came to them from their forefathers, with +a large stock of experience and manual skill; and how their knowledge +increased to an incredible degree the propagation of the animals.[297] +On the monuments we find not only great herds of cattle, asses, sheep, +and goats, but also whole droves of hens, ducks, and geese. +Poultry-sellers and depots of poultry are often found. These sculptures +confirm the statements of Diodorus of the careful tending of the +animals; they also show us the medicinal treatment of ailing animals. +Beside this wealth of cattle, there was an abundance of fish, provided +by the Nile. These were caught partly with hooks, and partly with large +nets. The upper classes fished for pleasure. Yet most kinds of fish were +forbidden food: the priests, as we have seen, were not allowed to taste +fish at all. + +The monuments also teach us that hunting was not neglected by the +Egyptians. Hares, foxes, antelopes, gazelles, hyænas, buffaloes, and +lions were driven into inclosures surrounded by nets, or chased with the +bow and arrow and dogs, or with the chariot and hounds. Gazelles and +buffaloes were also taken with the lasso; traps were set for the hyænas; +the hippopotamus was attacked with a spear from a boat.[298] + +Of the industry of the Egyptians in trade we have already had striking +evidence in the monuments of the old kingdom. There we saw all kinds of +manufactures in the various stages; we found on them the simple +weaver's loom, which produced the robes of byssus, so highly valued in +antiquity,--the lasting fabric which may still be examined in the +clothing of mummies. The early development of technical skill meets us +more especially in the pictures of the preparation of glass on the tombs +at Beni Hassan. Glass cups and vessels are frequently found in the +tombs, and Strabo observes that the earth required for making glass is +among the products of Egypt.[299] The working of the copper mines in the +mountains of Sinai goes considerably further back than the date of the +tombs at Beni Hassan. They were open as early as the times of Snefru and +Chufu.[300] Yet by far the greatest proportion of hands must have been +employed upon the buildings of the kings and the tombs of the wealthy. +On the monuments we see the masons in all their various occupations; +painters and statuaries also are represented there in the different +moments of their work; and the tables of proportion which they followed +are still preserved. + +Even before the invasion of the Hyksos, as we saw from the tombs at Beni +Hassan, the life of the wealthy Egyptian was surrounded by considerable +elegance (p. 118). The houses of the rich, built, according to the +pictures on the monuments, in a light and graceful style, in contrast to +the heavy structure of the temples, had several stories, and were +provided with the galleries and terraces still usual in the East. Houses +in the country had shady avenues of trees, planted in exact rows, and +neat beds of flowers, graceful pavilions, and fountains of water. The +common national dress was a linen shirt, and over it a woollen cloak; +the labourer and the lowest class had only an apron round the body; but +the clothing of the higher classes was choice and delicate. The women, +who enjoyed considerable freedom in Egypt, wore various +ornaments--necklaces, eardrops, and bracelets; rings of the most various +shape adorned almost every finger. Their hair was carefully dressed; +they bathed frequently, and made a considerable use of ointments. Life +was sociable in ancient Egypt. In the tombs at Beni Hassan we find men +carried in a palanquin to a social meeting; and in the tombs at Thebes +they are driving in chariots to a similar gathering. Gaily-dressed men +and women meet and converse with each other in the hall; slaves, +light-coloured and black, in part handsomely-dressed, hand them garlands +and cups. The table is spread. Bread, figs, and grapes are set out in +baskets, wine in glass bottles; vegetables and poultry are also there. +The solid food was eaten with the hand, liquids were taken with spoons. +At these banquets the Egyptians do not seem to have been very moderate. +Herodotus tells us that a small wooden image of a mummy was carried +round at their entertainments, with the exhortation, "Look on this, +drink and be merry. When dead, thou wilt be as this is!"[301] This +admonition was not without its results. In the pictures on monuments we +find not only men, but women, throwing up the surfeit of food and wine; +others are carried away home by their servants. Indeed, excess and +drunkenness are quoted among the forty-two chief sins of the Egyptians. +During the meal dancers were introduced, and bands of musicians, male +and female, who played on harps, guitars, and flutes; among which was +mingled the sound of the tambourine. A chorus also sang to the harp. The +company also played and danced.[302] We have already seen that games of +ball and mora were played under the old monarchy. Among the recreations +of the new monarchy draughts are found. We often find on the monuments +sketches of men and women who exhibit contortions of their bodies and +feats of strength. Sham-fights at sea also occur, and wrestling matches +are very common. + +Proudly as the Egyptians, in the consciousness of their purity and +culture, looked down on "the unclean and perverse" nations outside their +land, and rarely as they travelled into other countries, Egypt was +nevertheless the centre of a considerable trade. China and Japan also +for a long time shut themselves up from the outer world, yet their trade +was considerable, though permitted only at certain fixed places. The +Egyptians also caused the products which they needed to be brought, +without themselves going to seek them. Egypt required wood for the +building of houses and ships, brass, ivory, slaves, and incense. Even +before the year 1500 B.C., Arabian caravans carried the products of the +south coast of Arabia to Syria and Egypt.[303] The wandering tribes of +Libya, Syria, and Arabia required corn, weapons, utensils, and +implements, which they could buy in Egypt. Then at a later period came +the trade of the Phenicians with Egypt. They could bring wood from the +forests of Lebanon--wine, oil, slaves, amber, and tin, and exchange them +for the manufactures of Egypt; for retail goods, glass, drugs, which +Egypt produced in great quantities, fish, Egyptian fabrics, linen, and +material prepared from the papyrus. The Greeks called fabrics made from +this plant, "byblian," from the city Byblus, a proof that they first +became acquainted with these Egyptian wares through the Phenicians, and +mainly through the ships of Byblus, and received them from this quarter. +Horses, also, and chariots were brought as articles of trade from Egypt +to Syria about the year 1000 B.C.; at that time a chariot cost in Egypt +600 shekels, and a horse 150.[304] So far as we can gather from the +legends of the Greeks, the trading ships could only enter the Canopic +mouth of the Nile, and intercourse with foreign merchants could only +take place on the little island of Pharos, opposite the city of Thonis. +Here the mariners of that day, the Phenicians, and with them, and after +them, the Ionians, carried on their trade with the Egyptians. On land +the only entrance was by Pelusium; and here as also at Pharos, an +entrance-tax had apparently to be paid. From the Homeric poems we may +conclude that there was then a trade with Egypt, and not only piratical +descents upon the coasts; but when the Ionians, about the middle of the +eighth century, began to enter into dangerous competition with the +Phenicians, the latter seem to have succeeded in getting the Greeks +excluded from Egypt, and obtaining for themselves the monopoly of the +sea--a privilege which, however, they did not maintain for more than a +century.[305] + +Such was ancient Egypt, the land of marvel, whose richly developed +civilization lies on the threshold of historical life. Excellently +furnished by nature, and placed in a peculiarly favoured land, the Copts +have transferred to their own lives and civilization the grave and +solemn character of their sky and their country. Their conservative +feeling is directed towards fixed and unalterable order; the sons +repeat the lives of their fathers, and the nation is divided into +various classes and corporations, which carry on the same occupations +from generation to generation. The beneficent powers of nature, the +mystery of life, the life returning out of death--these are the forces +and laws which the Egyptians worshipped as their good gods, whose +creation is the fruitful world, who manifest themselves in good +creatures, whose unchangeable nature they seemed to recognise as +embodied in the instinctive and unalterable life of certain animals. The +life of the nation adapts itself also to priestly rules, which operate +without alteration, like the laws of nature. + +As the heart of this people was set upon the continuance of the race and +occupation, on rule and law, so also was it their desire to prolong the +existence of the individual. This impulse towards the preservation of +self operated so strongly that the Egyptians busied themselves with the +future quite as much as with the past. It was this trait in their +character which caused the Egyptians to rescue their dead from +corruption, and occupied the living with the construction of "eternal +dwellings for the dead." This it was which made them a nation of +scribes, builders, painters and sculptors. These efforts culminate in +the buildings of the kings, who could command the whole powers of the +land in preserving their names. The Egyptians were loath to end with +death. It was the true vocation of every man worthily to build and +"adorn his tomb;" and the essential object of life is--not to lose the +everlasting life after death by unclean and unlawful conversation--to +win a return to the divine origin of life. + +With the simple confidence of childhood, with the patient endurance of +a man, and with iron perseverance, the Egyptians attempted to redeem the +existence of man from destruction and decay, and rescue his life from +oblivion. The power of the Egyptians exhausted itself in this toil after +continuance of life. But however eager a man might be to preserve his +own individuality, he loses it in the presence of his ruler, who gathers +up in his own person the whole political life of the nation, and +exhausts it. Like a god, or an incarnate Destiny, the Pharaoh stands in +absolute supremacy over the land; "His countenance beams over Egypt as +the sun;" before him all distinctions fade away, and all bow down in +equal obedience. But even though the perishable was preserved, and made +as lasting as the rocks of the land--though in the ceremonial, the +ritual, and the rules of life the same unalterable constancy prevailed +as in the laws of nature, there was still room beside fixed prescription +and the will of the divine ruler for the vigorous pursuit of an industry +which was not far behind that of modern Europe, for an enjoyment of life +in the Oriental manner, which was not only social, but even luxurious +and sensual. + +The efforts of the Egyptians to preserve themselves and their actions, +and to cause their names to live in the mouths of the generations after +them, have not been without a result. What the Greeks and Romans knew of +their history were traditions attached to the great monuments. Before +our researches the Egyptian nation has literally risen from the tomb; +the pyramids tell us the history of the old monarchy, and the temples at +Thebes the history of the new. Without these monuments the kings of +Manetho would have remained an empty and unintelligible echo. These +mountains of stone at the threshold of history, these chronicles of +hieroglyphics, this nation of mummies proclaim, beyond contradiction, +that nations do succeed in outliving themselves by their works, but also +that their life reaches only so far as their development. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[252] Diod. 1, 90. + +[253] Thus, _e.g._ in the Rosetta inscription the order is given that in +every temple an image is to be set up to the "god Epiphanes, the avenger +of Egypt," to whom the principal deity of the temple presents the arms +of victory. Three times in every day the image of Epiphanes is to be +worshipped, and on the great festivals the same honours are to be paid +to him as to the rest of the gods. In addition, a special festival is +solemnized every year to the god Epiphanes, and a special order of +priests established for him. This resolution of the collected priests +was ordered to be engraved on hard stone and set up in all the temples +of the first, second, and third class. The full title of Epiphanes is: +"Son of Ptah, Beloved of Ammon and Ra, the Child of the Sun, the +Eternal." + +[254] Diod. 1, 53; Plut. "De Isid." c. 6, 9; and below, p. 211 ff. + +[255] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," Suppl. Pl. 76; Champollion, +"Lettres," p. 344 ff. + +[256] In the inscriptions of the graves and sarcophagi of the Berlin +Museum; cf. Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 300. + +[257] What Synesius (Op. p. 94) tells us of the election of the kings is +so astounding that it can hardly have been part of any plan of the +priests; the whole history of Egypt contradicts an elective monarchy of +such a kind. These supposed elections were said to have taken place on +the Libyan mountains, near Thebes; the priests mentioned the names of +the candidates for whom the votes were to be given. The votes of the +prophets had the value of one hundred, those of the lower priests of +twenty, of the servants of the temple of ten, and of the warrior class +of one. + +[258] Kalasiris was the name given by the Egyptians to a linen coat, +with fringe round the thighs (Herod. 2, 81). The name Hermotybian has +been derived from [Greek: hêmitybion], a kind of apron. + +[259] Herod. 2, 37. + +[260] Diod. 1, 73, 74. + +[261] Herod. 2, 37, 168. + +[262] Genesis xlvii. 22, 26. + +[263] Herod. 2, 109 _supra_, p. 143. + +[264] Genesis xlvii. 24, 26. + +[265] Herod. 2. 168. + +[266] Genesis xlvii. 26. + +[267] Even the land which the Pharaohs allotted to the temples with a +tax of a fifth belonged to them in a certain sense. We have tolerably +ancient records on papyrus, on which are given the incomes of the +temples, with the names of the tax-payers, and the things given in +taxation. When the Ptolemies ruled over Egypt the land which paid to the +temples belonged actually to the temples as property, but as property +revocable at will, and the kings on their side taxed the temples just as +the Islamite princes are accustomed to tax their mosques. In the Rosetta +inscription, under date March 27, 196 B.C., the prophets, upper priests, +chamberlains, pastophors, and scribes, explain that the king (Ptolemy +Epiphanes) had given an order that the incomes of the temples and the +land-taxes paid to them yearly, and the portions reserved for the gods +in the vineyards and other property, should continue to be paid. At the +same time we see from the sequel of this inscription, as well as from +other sources, that these incomes were not sufficient to keep the +temples in good order, and the king was compelled to make additions. +Yet, in any case, the Ptolemies by their state taxes withdrew from the +temples a portion of their incomes. From every plot of corn-land +([Greek: aroura]) the temples were to pay to the king an _artabe_ of +corn, and from every plot of vineyard an amphora of wine. Besides this, +they had to pay a money-tax and a certain amount of byssus cloth. + +[268] Clemens ("Strom." p. 757 ff. ed. Pott) expressly says that the +prophet was the overseer of the temple; on the other hand, in the +inscription of Rosetta, the high priests and prophets stand side by +side. + +[269] Herod. 2, 37, 143; Diod. 1, 73. + +[270] Diod. 1, 80; Herod. 2, 37, 81; Diog. Laert. 8, 27; Porphyr. "De +abst." 4, 7. + +[271] Diod. 1, 74, 92. + +[272] Lepsius, "Briefe." s. 309, 310; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 259. + +[273] Herod. 2, 47; Aelian, "De Nat. An." 10, 16. As Herodotus tells us +that the swineherds married in their own order only, it follows that the +other orders married with each other. The attempt has often been made to +explain the so-called divisions of the Egyptians into castes by the +immigration of foreign tribes. This conception places in mechanical +layers what is really an organic development. In India such an +assumption has a certain historical foundation. There, there was a +servile class (the Sudra) under three superior classes; the first was +composed of the original inhabitants, the others of the Aryan +immigrants. This kind of division is wholly wanting in Egypt, and not +less so any historical or physiological foundation for the immigrations. +Strabo knows three orders only in Egypt; the priests, the soldiers, and +the population engaged in work or trades. Diodorus (1, 74) speaks of +five orders; _i.e._ in addition to the first two, husbandmen, artizans, +and shepherds. Plato ("Timæus," p. 21) mentions priests, soldiers, +artizans, shepherds, and hunters; Herodotus mentions priests, warriors, +cowherds, swineherds, merchants, interpreters, and mariners. In Plato +and Diodorus we miss the merchants, who certainly were not wanting in +Egypt, and in Herodotus the husbandmen and artizans. Nothing therefore +remains but the natural assumption that the labouring masses were +chiefly divided into shepherds, artizans, and husbandmen; and these were +again broken into many divisions according to their different vocations, +and each of our authorities has brought into prominence those +distinctions which especially came under his notice. As Herodotus +especially notices cowherds, we must suppose that those herdsmen are +probably meant who derived a living from the buffalo herds, which they +pastured in the swampy flats of the Delta, on the border of Egypt, and +lived in huts of reeds.--Diod. 1, 43. + +[274] The number of provinces in Egypt under the old kingdom appears to +have been twenty-seven, according to the myth of the hewing of the body +of Osiris into twenty-seven pieces, and the distribution of them to all +the priests of the land for burial, which Diodorus has preserved. From +this may be derived the number of twenty-seven courts in the labyrinth +given by Strabo, p. 811, and twenty-five in Pliny, pp. 113, 114; as a +fact the building had only twelve courts. Yet Strabo mentions thirty-six +provinces (p. 787). Later coins give forty-six provinces, and Ptolemy +forty-seven. Forty-four nomes, twenty-two for Upper Egypt and as many +for Lower Egypt, can be established, together with their +names.--Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 9. + +[275] Diod. 1, 73, 75, 94; Herod. 2, 136; Plut. "De Isid." 10; Chabas, +"Mél." 3, 10. + +[276] Diod. 1, 77 ff. + +[277] Herod. 2, 37, 38, 39, 65; Genesis xliii. 32. + +[278] Herod. 2, 77, 85; Diod. 1, 84, 91. + +[279] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 10; Brugsch, "Grammaire démotique." + +[280] Clem. Alex. "Strom." p. 758, ed. Pott; cf. Diod. 1, 49. + +[281] Ebers, "Augsburger Allg. Zt." 1873. On a papyrus of a medicinal +character of the period from the twentieth to the twenty-second dynasty, +see Birch, "Zeitschrift für ægyptische Sprache," 1871, s. 61. + +[282] Herod. 2, 84, 3, 1. + +[283] Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 30; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 189 ff. + +[284] Papyrus, Sallier III. + +[285] De Rougé, "Recueil de Travaux," 1, 3 ff.; Chabas, "Revue Archéol." +1875. + +[286] On the papyrus Sallier I.; "Revue Archéol." 1860, 2, 241. + +[287] Goodwin-Chabas, _loc. cit._ 1861, 4, 118 ff. + +[288] _Loc. cit._ 1860, 1, 357. + +[289] De Rougé, _loc. cit._ 1852. On another very marvellous narrative +on a papyrus in the demotic character, see Brugsch, _loc. cit._ 1867, +16, 161 ff. This papyrus Brugsch, on paleographical grounds, places in +the third or second centuries B.C. + +[290] Lauth, "Sitzungsberichte der Akademie, zu München," 1872, 347 ff, +and his "Abhandlung über den papyrus Sallier II. und Anastasi III.;" +_ibid._ p. 29 ff.; cf. Chabas, "Voyage d'un Egyptien," and Goodwin, +"Saneha." + +[291] Boeckh, "Manetho und die Hundsternperiode;" Lepsius, +"Chronologie," s. 470 ff. and _supra_, p. 40. + +[292] Diod. 1. 81. + +[293] Brugsch, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. S." 10, 662 ff. + +[294] The Egyptians then compared certain constellations in their +spheres with the signs of the zodiac. The Crab they denoted by the +scarabæus, the Lion by the knife, the Scales became the "sun-mountain," +the Scorpion became the snake. The Kid was with them "the life," the +Ram "the slain" &c.--Brugsch, _loc. cit._ + +[295] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 239; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 109, +110; cf. _supra_, p. 58. + +[296] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 196. + +[297] Diod. 1, 74. + +[298] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 3, 4. + +[299] Strabo, p. 758; cf. p. 147. + +[300] _Supra_, p. 94; Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 135 ff. + +[301] Herod. 2, 78. + +[302] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 2, 132. + +[303] Cf. _infra_, Book II. cap. 3. + +[304] 1 Kings x. 28, 29; 2 Chronicles i. 16, 17; ix. 28. + +[305] "Od." 14, 288; 4, 225, 355; 17, 448; Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 70. + + + + +BOOK II. + +THE SEMITIC NATIONS. + + + + +THE SEMITIC NATIONS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON. + + +The neighbours of Egypt on the east were the Syrians and Arabians. +Herodotus gives the name of Syrians to the inhabitants of the Syrian +coasts and Mount Lebanon, the settlers on the Euphrates and Tigris, and +the population of the eastern districts of Asia Minor. In Xenophon the +Babylonians speak Syriac. Strabo remarks that the Syrians and Arabians +are closely related in language, mode of life, and physique--that +Syrians dwelt on both sides of the Taurus--that the same language was +spoken on both sides of the Euphrates--that Babylon and Nineveh were +cities of the Syrians--that the Assyrian kingdom was a kingdom of +Syrians, and that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Babylon and Nineveh +were called Syrians by their own historians.[306] As a fact tribes +closely related in language and nature--which we denote by the general +term Semitic--invaded with their armies the broad steppes of Arabia, and +the Syrian desert, occupied the coasts of Syria and a part of Asia +Minor, and inhabited the district of the Euphrates and Tigris, from the +mountains of Armenia to the Persian Gulf on the south, and the tableland +of Iran on the east. The languages of the Arabians, the Semitic tribes +of the south, the Aramæans and Canaanites in the west, and the +Babylonians and Assyrians in the east, are three ramifications springing +from one and the same stem of language, which spreads from the Black Sea +and the Mediterranean to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs. Living under +different conditions, the Semitic nations attained to different degrees +of civilization. The tribes of the desert did not go beyond the simplest +and most primitive forms, at which point a considerable portion of them +still remain; but the inhabitants of more favoured districts developed +independently, and in the course of time these developments operated on +each other, and thus led to a far more varied, and, in certain +directions, far more vigorous culture, than the isolated, exclusive, and +self-concentrated civilization of Egypt. + +The two rivers which determine the character and nature of the +depression between the Syrian plateau and the tableland of Iran rise at +no great distance from each other on the mountains of Armenia. The +Euphrates rises to the north, the Tigris to the south. After leaving the +mountains of Armenia--the Euphrates, by a broad circuit to the west, the +Tigris by a direct course to the south--both rivers enter a tolerably +lofty steppe, where the uniform surface is broken by ridges of rock, by +ranges of hills, pastures, and fruitful strips of land, while the banks +of the rivers are overgrown with forests of plane-trees, tamarisks, and +cypresses, and shut in by meadows. As the soil becomes more level, these +fruitful depressions by the rivers become somewhat broader, but the land +between the streams becomes more sterile and treeless, and supports +only nomad tribes and herds of wild asses, ostriches, and bustards.[307] +When the Euphrates has left behind the last spurs of this desolate hill +country, at the place where the two rivers approach each other most +nearly--about 400 miles from their mouths--there commences a plain of +brown rich soil. Through this the Euphrates passes with a quiet stream, +but the Tigris hurries to the sea down a bed which is both narrower, and +often inclosed by rocks, while at the same time the river is increased +by copious additions from the western edge of the tableland of Iran. In +spite of the excellent soil this flat would remain unfruitful unless the +two rivers, year by year, when the snow melted on the Armenian +mountains, overflowed their banks, and thus irrigated the land for the +summer. In the Tigris the inundation commences about the beginning of +June, in the Euphrates, whose sources lie far higher, about the +beginning of July. But this inundation does not take place nearly so +calmly and regularly as that in the Nile. Instead of fertilising water, +the Tigris often sends down destructive floods over the plain, and +changes it, down to the marshy Delta at the mouth, into a broad and +rolling sea. + +By its simple structure and the absence of any internal limitations, +this low-lying land on the Euphrates and Tigris was favourable to the +development of great kingdoms, and was hardly behind the Nile in +incentives and instigations to a civilised life. The writers of +antiquity celebrate the fruitfulness and natural wealth of these flats. +While on the other side of the Euphrates, so writes a Babylonian +historian of his own home, the land as far as Arabia is without water +and fruits, and on the other side of the Tigris the land is indeed +fruitful but rocky; in the land between the streams wheat and barley, +linseed beans and sesame grow wild; both in the marshes and the reeds of +the river nourishing roots are found in abundance, as valuable for food +as barley. Besides these there are dates, and apples, and other +different fruits, and abundance of fish and birds in the marsh and on +the land. Herodotus commends the wealth of the land in wheat and palms +in the strongest terms; Xenophon speaks in admiration of the size and +beauty of the dates.[308] Even now the palm-forests which run without +interruption along the lower course of both rivers produce dates in +abundance, and with their slender forms and lofty tops give a +picturesqueness to the otherwise uniform landscape. This vigorous +vegetation, together with the peculiar character of the land, must have +early incited a capable population to a regular cultivation and a higher +civilization. The protection of the land against the rapid overflow, the +conducting of the water to the higher districts, and the removal of +water from the marshes, must have led to measures calculated to produce +and develop a fertility of technical resources. Basins were required of +more considerable extent, longer canals, and stronger dams against the +violent inundations, and more extensive conduits, in order to convey the +water into the middle of the land, than were necessary in Egypt. Long +before Egypt had reached the height of her power and prosperity under +the Tuthmosis and Amenophis and the early Ramessids, the inhabitants of +this plain had attained to a peculiar culture and civilisation. + +The accounts which the Greeks have handed down to us of the fortunes of +these districts in ancient times are meagre and defective. The power of +the Semitic empires on the Euphrates and Tigris had fallen long before +inquisitive Greeks penetrated the East, and the Persians, who were the +rulers at that time, had little interest in instructing the Greeks in +the former splendour of their opponents and ancient masters. Herodotus +intended to write the history of the Assyrians; if ever composed, it has +not come down to our times. On the other hand, he has described the +land, manners, and customs of the Babylonians; of their history, +however, he only tells us that many kings and two queens ruled over +Babylon.[309] Aristotle remarks that in Babylon astronomical +observations were said to exist extending back 31,000 years from the +time of Alexander the Great.[310] Diodorus tells us that the priests of +Babylon declared that they had observed the heavens for 473,000 years. +Cicero speaks of the shamelessness of the Chaldæans in boasting that +they possessed records for more than 470,000 years. Julius Africanus +gives 480,000 years, and Pliny even 720,000 years as the period for +which observations of the heavens burnt upon tiles were in +existence.[311] + +About the time when Manetho compiled his list of Egyptian sovereigns, +under the rule of Antiochus Soter (281-262 B.C.) Berosus, a priest of +the temple of Bel at Babylon, composed a history of his country in Greek +in three books.[312] Only a few fragments of this work have come down to +us. Berosus commenced with the creation of the world. "Once all was +darkness and water. In this chaos lived horrid animals, and men with +two wings, and others with four wings and two faces, and others again +with double organs male and female. Others had the thighs of goats, and +horns on their heads; others had horses' feet, or were formed behind +like a horse and in front like a man. There were bulls with human heads, +and horses and men with the heads of dogs, and other animals of human +shape with fins like fishes, and fishes like sirens, and dragons, and +creeping things, and serpents and wild creatures, the images of which +are to be found in the temple of Bel. Over all these ruled a woman of +the name of Omorka. But Bel divided the darkness and clove the woman +asunder, and of one part he made the earth, and of the other the sun and +moon and planets, and he drew off the water,[313] and apportioned it to +the land, and prepared and arranged the world. But those creatures could +not endure the light of the sun, and became extinct. When Bel saw the +land uninhabited and fruitful, he smote off his head and bade one of the +gods mingle the blood which flowed from his head with earth, and form +therewith men and animals and wild creatures, who could support the +atmosphere. A great multitude of men of various tribes inhabited +Chaldæa, but they lived without any order, like the animals. Then there +appeared to them from the sea, on the shore of Babylonia, a fearful +animal of the name of Oan. Its body was that of a fish, but under the +fish's head another head was attached, and on the fins were feet like +those of a man, and it had a man's voice. Its image is still preserved. +The animal came at morning and passed the day with men. But it took no +nourishment, and at sunset went again into the sea, and there remained +for the night. This animal taught men language and science, the +harvesting of seeds and fruits, the rules for the boundaries of land, +the mode of building cities and temples, arts and writing, and all that +pertains to the civilisation of human life."[314] + +The first sovereign of Babylon was Alorus, a Chaldæan of the city of +Babylon, whom the god had himself pointed out to the nation as a +shepherd. His reign continued for 36,000 years. After the death of +Alorus, his son Alaparus ruled for 10,800 years. He was succeeded by +Almelon from the Chaldæans, of the city of Sippara, for 46,800 years, +and Almelon by Ammenon, a Chaldæan of the same city for 43,200 years. +Under his rule there came out of the sea an animal, combining, like Oan, +the shape of a fish and a man, and called Idotion.[315] After Ammenon +came Amegalarus, of the city of Sippara, for 64,800 years, and after him +Daonus, also from Sippara, for 36,000 years. In his reign there again +appeared from the Red Sea four animals in the shape of men and fish. +These were Euedokus, Eneugamus, Eneubulus, and Anementus. Daonus was +followed by Edorankhus, from Sippara, who ruled for 64,800 years, and in +his time appeared another monster of the same kind, named Odakon. These +explained in detail what Oan had given in the sum. After Edorankhus came +Amempsinus, a Chaldæan of Larancha for 36,000 years,[316] and after him +Otiartes (Ubaratulu),[317] a Chaldæan of the same city for 28,000 years. +Otiartes was followed by his son Xisuthrus who reigned 64,800 years. + +From the first year of Alorus to the last year of Xisuthrus 432,000 +years had elapsed. "In this year the god Bel revealed to Xisuthrus in a +dream that in the fifteenth year of the month Daësius there would be a +great storm of rain, and men would be destroyed by the flood of waters. +He bade him bury all written records, the ancient, mediæval, and modern, +in Sippara, the city of the sun, and build a ship and embark in it with +his kindred and nearest friends. He was also to take food and drink into +the ship, and carry into it all creatures winged and four-footed. +Xisuthrus did as he was bidden, and built a boat fifteen stadia +long,[318] and two stadia in breadth, and placed in it his wife and +child, his relations and friends. Then the inundation came. When the +rain ceased, Xisuthrus sent out some birds, but they returned back to +the ship, as they could find nothing to eat and no place of rest. After +a few days he sent out other birds. These also returned, but with mud on +their feet. Then Xisuthrus sent yet others, and they never returned. +Xisuthrus knew that the earth had appeared. He took out a part of the +roof of his boat, and perceived that it had settled down on a mountain. +Then he went out with his wife and daughter and the architect of the +boat. He worshipped the earth, and built an altar, offered sacrifice to +the gods, and then disappeared together with those whom he had brought +out of the boat. When his companions, whom he had left in the boat, had +gone out, and were in search of Xisuthrus, his voice called to them out +of the air, saying that the gods had carried him away in reward for his +piety; that he with his daughter and the architect were dwelling among +the gods. But the others were to return from Armenia, where they then +were, to Babylon, and, in obedience to the command of the gods, dig up +the books buried at Sippara, and give them to mankind. They obeyed these +instructions. They sacrificed to the gods, and returned by land to +Babylon. They dug up the sacred books, erected many cities and temples, +and rebuilt Babylon. On the Gordyæan mountains, where it settled, +remains of the boat of Xisuthrus were in existence for a long time +afterwards.[319] In Lucian Xisuthrus is called Sisythes; and he with +wives and children is said to have escaped, in the great ark, the flood +which destroyed everything else. + +After the flood Euexius reigned over the land of the Chaldæans for 2,400 +years. He was followed by his son Chomasbelus, who reigned 2,700 years; +and after him came eighty-four kings, who, if we reckon in the reigns of +Euexius and Chomasbelus, ruled for 34,080 years.[320] Then the Medes +gathered together an army against Babylon, and took the land, and set up +tyrants from among their own people. These, eight in number, reigned +over Babylon for 234 years. After that eleven kings reigned for 248 +years; then followed the Chaldæans, with forty-nine kings, who ruled +over Babylon for 458 years. These were followed by nine Arabian kings +for 245 years, and then came forty-five Assyrian kings for 526 years. +These were followed by Sennacherib, Asordan, Samuges, and his brother, +and afterwards by Nabopolassar. After Nabopolassar, Nabukudurussar +(Nebuchadnezzar) and his successor reigned for sixty-seven years.[321] + +Such is the essential information contained in the fragments of Berosus +which have come down to us. They give us a tolerably clear view of the +system of cosmogony set up by the priests of Babylon, of the way in +which order and civilisation arose among men by successive revelations +from divine creatures coming out of the sea, and a sketch, though a very +meagre one, of the dynasties which reigned over Babylon down to the time +of Cyrus. The enormous number of 432,000 years, which the fragments +allot to the ten rulers of the first dynasty, and the 34,080 years of +the second dynasty, which came immediately after the flood, show that +the statements of Diodorus, Cicero, and Pliny are not mere imagination, +though these totals are perhaps scarcely intended to give the period +during which observations were made by the Chaldæans, but the antiquity +ascribed by the Babylonian priests to the existence of the world before +and after the flood. + +Accounts of the great flood are also to be seen on tablets, copied from +old Babylonian originals, which have been discovered in the ruins of the +palace of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria. Disregarding the strange +beginning, and still stranger close, we find on these tablets that the +god Hea had commanded Sisit (Xisuthrus) of Surippak to build a ship, so +many cubits in length, breadth, and height, and to launch it on the +deep, for it was his intention to destroy sinners. "When the flood +comes, which I will send, thou shalt enter into the ship, and into the +midst of it thou shalt bring thy corn, thy goods, thy gods, thy gold +and silver, thy slaves male and female, the sons of the army, the wild +and tame animals, and all that thou hearest thou shalt do." Sisit found +it difficult to carry out this command, but at last he yielded, and +gathered together all his possessions of silver and gold, all that he +had of the seeds of life, and caused all his slaves, male and female, to +go into the ship. The wild and tame beasts of the field also he caused +to enter, and all the sons of the army. "And Samas (the god of the sun) +made a flood, and said: I will cause rain to fall heavily from heaven; +go into the ship, and shut to the door. Overcome with fear, Sisit +entered into the ship, and on the morning of the day fixed by Samas the +storm began to blow from the ends of heaven, and Bin thundered in the +midst of heaven, and Nebo came forth, and over the mountains and plains +came the gods, and Nergal, the destroyer, overthrew, and Adar came forth +and dashed down: the gods made ruin; in their brightness they swept over +the earth. The storm went over the nations; the flood of Bin reached up +to heaven; brother did not see brother; the lightsome earth became a +desert, and the flood destroyed all living things from the face of the +earth. Even the gods were afraid of the storm, and sought refuge in the +heaven of Anu; like hounds drawing in their tails, the gods seated +themselves on their thrones, and Istar the great goddess spake. The +world has turned to sin, and therefore I have proclaimed destruction, +but I have begotten men, and now they fill the sea, like the children of +fishes. And the gods upon their seats wept with her. On the seventh day +the storm abated, which had destroyed like an earthquake, and the sea +began to be dry. Sisit perceived the movement of the sea. Like reeds +floated the corpses of the evil-doers and all who had turned to sin. +Then Sisit opened the window, and the light fell upon his face, and the +ship was stayed upon Mount Nizir, and could not pass over it. Then on +the seventh day Sisit sent forth a dove, but she found no place of rest, +and returned. Then he sent a swallow, which also returned, and again a +raven, which saw the corpses in the water, and ate them, and returned no +more. Then Sisit released the beasts to the four winds of heaven, and +poured a libation and built an altar on the top of the mountain, and cut +seven herbs, and the sweet savour of the sacrifice caused the gods to +assemble, and Sisit prayed that Bel (El) might not come to the altar. +For Bel (El) had made the storm and sunk the people in the deep, and +wished in his anger to destroy the ship and allow no man to escape. Adar +opened his mouth and spoke to the warrior Bel (El): Who would then be +left? And Hea spoke to him: Captain of the gods, instead of the storm, +let lions and leopards increase, and diminish mankind; let famine and +pestilence desolate the land and destroy mankind. When the sentence of +the gods was passed, Bel (El) came into the midst of the ship and took +Sisit by the hand and conducted him forth, and caused his wife to be +brought to his side, and purified the earth, and made a covenant, and +Sisit and his wife and his people were carried away like gods, and Sisit +dwelt in a distant land at the mouth of the rivers."[322] + +The correspondence to the Hebrew tradition of the flood, the coincidence +of certain points, and striking contrast of others, both in the +narrative of Berosus and in this account of the great flood, need not be +pointed out. In number, at any rate, the ten kings whom Berosus places +before the flood correspond to the ten patriarchs from Adam to +Noah.[323] In Berosus the boat of Xisuthrus lands in Armenia on the +mountains of the Gordyæans; Noah's ark landed on the mountains of the +land of Ararat. Like Sisit, Xisuthrus builds an altar and offers +sacrifice; when he has left the boat he disappears, and bids his +followers return to Chaldæa. They obey, and rebuild Babylon. Noah, after +leaving the ark, builds an altar to the Lord and offers burnt sacrifice, +and concludes the new covenant with Jehovah. Then Noah became a +husbandman, and lived for three hundred and fifty years after the flood; +but when the generations of his sons "journeyed from the East, they +found a plain in the land of Shinar, _i.e._ in Babylonia, and there they +dwelt and built the city called Babylon."[324] It is clear that these +legends formed an ancient common possession of the Semitic tribes of the +lands of the Euphrates and Tigris. In the Scriptures of the Hebrews we +find this in a purified and deepened form. The reason for the legend of +the flood is found in the nature of the land of Babylon. As has been +remarked, it is inundated yearly; it is also occasionally desolated by +fierce floods, which change the whole of the lower land as far as the +sea into a broad sheet of water. Similar legends are found in all +regions exposed to floods, in Armenia, Thessaly, Boeotia, and in +India. + +Let us now attempt to ascertain what may be gained historically from the +fragments of Berosus. The seven Fish-men rise out of the sea of +Babylonia, i.e., out of the Persian Gulf. They teach language, +agriculture, the building of temples and cities, and writing; and what +the first gave in general terms the others expound in detail. Hence it +would appear that civilisation, culture, and writing came to the +Chaldæans from the south, from the shore of the Persian Gulf. The +sevenfold revelation points to the seven sacred books of the priesthood, +of which the last six explained by special rules the doctrine contained +in the first. The fragments lay especial weight on the fact that the +sacred books were already in existence before the flood, were saved from +it, and again dug up at Sippara. Pliny remarks that the mysteries of the +Chaldæans were taught at Sippara.[325] Beside this city (the site is +marked by the mounds at Sifeira, above Babylon, on the Euphrates) the +fragments mention Larancha and Babylon. The first two kings before the +flood were Chaldæans of Babylon, the next five, Chaldæans of Sippara, +the last three, Chaldæans of Larancha. If we set aside the time before +the flood, we find that the first dynasty of eighty-six kings after the +flood reigned for 34,080 years; more than 5,000 years are allotted to +the first two kings; and about 29,000 are left for the remaining +eighty-four. Looking at these numbers, and remembering that the +Babylonians reckoned by certain cycles of years, sosses of 60 years, +neres of 600, and sares of 3,600, we may suppose that the priests +brought the times before and after the flood into a certain number of +sares. The 432,000 years before the flood make up 120 sares (the 720,000 +years of Pliny would make 200 sares). The period after the flood may +have been fixed at a tenth part of that sum, _i.e._, at 12 sares, or +43,200 years. The 34,080 years allotted to the first dynasty after the +flood do not come out in any round number of sares. If we suppose that +these cycles were first instituted after Babylon had succumbed to the +attack of Cyrus, and that the fall of Babylon before his arms coincided +with the end of the tenth sarus after the flood, then of the 36,000 +years, which, according to the opinion we ascribe to the Babylonian +priests, had elapsed from the flood to the conquest of Babylon in the +year 538 B.C., 34,080 belong to the mythical dynasty after the flood, +and 1,920 years are left for the historical times down to this date. The +taking of Babylon is a known date, and if to it we add 1,920 years, we +get the year 2458 B.C. as the first year of the historical period. The +first ruler of the third dynasty of Berosus began to reign in the year +2458 B.C.[326] The same result and number of years comes out if we add +up the separate items in the dynasties, given in the fragments, from the +year 538 B.C. to the first king of the third dynasty, and leave out of +sight the very striking fact that the fragments break off the Assyrian +dynasty before Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Samuges, who certainly +belong to it, and fill up the chasm thus made in the succession of +dynasties by the 140 years which the canon of Ptolemy show to have +preceded the accession of Nebuchadnezzar--a canon which has no +historical object in view, no dynasties to tabulate, but is merely +intended to fix the years from which observations made by the Chaldæans +were in existence. If this is the right method[327] of ascertaining the +first established starting-point for the history of the lower land upon +the two streams, the beginnings of civilisation in these districts may +be placed not much below the year 3000 B.C. Life must have become richer +in Babylonia before the tribes of the Iranian uplands were roused to +obtain the sovereignty of that country. Still it remains a remarkable +fact that the history of Babylonia begins with the dominion of +strangers, and that the native tradition, as we can show from the +fragments of it remaining to our times, had nothing to place before the +strangers, except the two mythical dynasties of Babylonian princes +before and after the flood. In the fragments the first native dynasty of +historical times, the dynasty of the Chaldæan princes, comes in the +fifth place; according to the calculation given above, their supremacy +began in the year 1976 B.C., and already in 1518 B.C. it gave place +first to the nine Arabian, and then to the Assyrian kings. The statement +of the fragments, that forty-nine native kings reigned, in the 458 years +from 1976 B.C. to 1518 B.C., is also remarkable, since it allows for the +reign of each of the kings of this dynasty the brief average of a little +more than nine years. + +But perhaps the Scriptures of the Hebrews, and the monuments of +Babylonia and Assyria, present sufficient material to supplement these +meagre results in the way of confirmation or contradiction? According to +Genesis, the sons of Shem, the eldest son of Noah, were "Elam and +Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram." And the eldest son of Ham, +Noah's second son, was Cush, and Cush begat Nimrod; the same "began to +be a mighty one in the earth, and the beginning of his kingdom was +Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."[328] +From this we see not only the close relationship between the Hebrews and +the population of Mesopotamia, but also the precedence in high antiquity +allowed by the Hebrews to the tribes of the Tigris and Euphrates. The +Hebrews derived their own origin from Noah, Shem, and Arphaxad; but +before Arphaxad they place the two elder sons of Shem, Elam and Asshur. +The first is the representative of the nation and land of Elam on the +lower Tigris, while Asshur represents the Assyrians of the upper Tigris. +But, strangely enough, the Babylonians were not reckoned in the +generations of Shem, although, as we know perfectly well, the Chaldæans +were Semitic, and spoke a Semitic language closely resembling Hebrew. On +the contrary, the founding of the kingdom of Babylon is ascribed to +another stock, the eldest son of Cush, and grandson of Ham. As Genesis, +like the Hebrews of later date, includes under the name of Cush the +nations dwelling to the south, the Nubians, Ethiopians, and tribes of +South Arabia, we may here take the son of Cush, who founded Babylon, to +represent a southern tribe, dwelling perhaps on the shore of the Persian +Gulf. Thus as the fragments of Berosus derive the civilisation of +Babylon from the south sea and the south, so also does Genesis point to +a southern origin for Babylonia. And at the same time Genesis calls a +tribe dwelling on the lower Tigris, between the river and the mountains +of Iran, the Elamites, the oldest son of Shem. Among the Greeks the land +of the Elamites was known as Kissia, and afterwards as Susiana, from the +name of the capital. It was also called Elymais, and, in the +inscriptions of the Achæmenids, Uwazha. The Greeks describe this +district as a hot but very fruitful plain, well watered by the +tributaries of the Tigris from the mountains of Persia. There the land +brought forth two or even three hundredfold. According to Strabo the +land was inhabited by two tribes, the Kissians and Elymæans. The chief +city, Susa, lay between the Shapur and Dizful.[329] With the Greeks it +passed as the fortress of Memnon, the son of the Dawn, who came to the +aid of the Trojans in their distress--"the ancient mighty city," as +Æschylus calls it.[330] The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings give us +some information of the fortunes of the kingdom of Elam, which is not +contradicted by such isolated indications as we can gather from the +inscriptions of Babylonia. This evidence shows that in Elam from the +year 2500 B.C. a political constitution was in existence, and that the +kings of Elam invaded Babylonia before the year 2000 B.C., and about +this time ruled over Babylonia and Mesopotamia as far as Syria. Hence +before the year 2000 B.C. there was some kind of constitution in +Babylonia, and, as we shall see, it was accompanied by a certain amount +of culture. The dominion of Elam over Babylon was of short duration, and +Babylon soon recovered her independence. When, about the year 1500 B.C., +Assyria rose into an independent state, and her power, after 900 B.C., +became dangerous to the neighbouring states--when Babylonia, after the +middle of the eighth century B.C., was no longer a match for +Assyria,--Elam continued to maintain her independence in spite of +numerous attacks from the Assyrians. + +It was not till the subjection of Babylonia was complete that the +Assyrian king Assurbanipal succeeded in reducing Elam, and in +taking and destroying Susa, the ancient metropolis of the country. +In his inscriptions this king of Assyria informs us that King +Kudur-Nanchundi[331] of Elam laid his hand on the temples of Accad (p. +257); two neres, seven sosses, and fifteen years,--_i.e._, 1,635 years +previously, he carried away the image of the goddess Nana. He +(Assurbanipal) brought her back; on the first of the month Kisallu +(Kislev) the goddess was conducted back to Erech (p. 237); in Bithiliana +he built for her a lasting sanctuary. As Elam was not completely subdued +by Assurbanipal till the year 645 B.C., we may place the recovery of the +statue of Nana in this year.[332] Hence the date of Kudur-Nanchundi of +Elam, whom an inscription of Susa calls the son of Sutruk-Nanchundi, +would fall in the year 2280 B.C., and if about this time it was possible +to carry away images of gods from Babylonia, we cannot place the +beginnings of civilisation in Babylonia later than the year 2500 B.C. +Tiles found at Mugheir, at no great distance from the mouth of the +Euphrates in Babylonia, belong to a second king with a name of similar +formation--Kudur-Mabuk. His inscriptions tell us that Kudur-Mabuk, lord +of the west-land (martu), had erected a shrine to the god "Sin, his +king, for prolonging his own life and that of his son, Zikar-Sin."[333] +On a statuette of bronze, now in the Louvre, we also read the name of +Kudur-Mabuk and his son. Babylonian inscriptions speak of battles of +Hammurabi king of Babylon against Kudur-Mabuk and against Elam.[334] The +tradition of the Hebrews tells us that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, +the kings of Adama, Zeboiim, and Zoar, _i.e._ the princes of the land +of Jordan, whose names are quoted, had served Kedor-Laomer, king of +Elam, for twelve years, and when they revolted, Kedor-Laomer and the +princes with him, Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch and Tidal, had come down +and conquered the Horites, the Amalekites, and the Amorites, _i.e._ the +tribes of the Syrian desert, the land of Aram between Sinai and Hermon; +and the kings of Jordan were defeated in the valley of Siddim. The first +part of the name Kedor-Laomer corresponds to Kudur in the name +Kudur-Nanchundi and Kudur-Mabuk. The second part recurs in the name +Lagamar, which is the name of a god worshipped by the Elamites.[335] +According to this, the Kudurids, or kings of Elam, of whom Sutruk and +Kudur-Nanchundi, Kudur-Mabuk, and Kudur-Lagamar are known by name, first +attacked Babylonia, then became rulers of Babylonia, and at one time +extended their dominion to the west as far as Syria. According to the +computations of the Hebrews, the campaign of Kedor-Laomer to Syria would +take place about the year 2100 B.C. The inscription would carry the +beginning of the rule of the Kudurids in Elam to the year 2500 B.C., and +consequently the beginning of a political constitution in Elam may be +assumed to be prior to the year 2300 B.C., and the sovereignty of the +Kudurids over Babylon and in the west may be placed about the year 2000 +B.C. + +If Elam was once more powerful than Babylon it may have been also +older--as among the Hebrews Elam is the eldest son of Shem--the +civilisation of the Elamites may have developed earlier than that of the +Babylonians. But although a number of names of kings have been handed +down to us on Assyrian tablets, which also tell us of ceaseless battles +with Elam, we are in almost total darkness about the nature and +direction of the civilisation of Elam. Our first notice is the Assyrian +account of the fall of the kingdom and the capture of the capital, and +from this we learn that the conditions and mode of life in the capital +of the Elamites were not very different from those of Babylon and +Nineveh. A picture of the city (found in the palace of Assurbanipal), +shows it to us between the two rivers (p. 249), oblong in shape, and +surrounded by high walls with numerous towers. Outside the city, between +the walls and the rivers are palms, and some dwelling-houses.[336] +Assurbanipal narrates: "Shushan, the great city, the abode of their +gods, the seat of their oracle, I took. I entered into their palaces and +opened their treasure-houses. Gold and silver, and furniture, and goods, +gathered together by the kings of Elam in times past and in the present, +the brass and precious stones with which the kings of Accad, Samuges, +and those before him had paid their mercenaries--the treasures on which +no enemy before me had laid a hand, I brought forth to Assyria. I +destroyed the tower of Shushan. The god of their oracles, who dwelt in +the groves, whose image no man had seen, and the images of the gods +Sumudu, Lagamar and the others (nineteen are mentioned), which the kings +of Elam worshipped, I conveyed with their priests to Assyria. Thirty-two +statues of the kings in silver, brass, and alabaster, I took from +Shushan. Madaktu and Huradi, and the statues of Ummanigas, of +Istar-Nanchundi, Halludus, and Tammaritu the younger, I carried to +Assyria. I broke the winged lions and bulls which guarded the temple, +and removed the winged bulls which stood at the gates of the temples of +Elam. Their gods and goddesses I sent into captivity."[337] More than a +hundred years after this time the Elamites had not forgotten their +independence, and they attempted to recover it by repeated rebellions +against the Persians. + +The inscriptions in which the kings of Persia spoke to the nations of +their wide empire are of a triple character. Three different kinds of +cuneiform writing repeat the same matter in three different languages. +The first gives the inscription in the Persian language, the language of +the king and dominant people, the third repeats it in the +Babylonian-Assyrian language. The second, we may suppose, gives the +inscription in the language of Elam, for the Persian kings resided in +Susa, and in the enumeration of the subject territories, Susiana and +Babylonia as a rule come after Persia. The forms of the language in +cuneiform inscriptions on bricks and tiles discovered in the ruins of +Susa are closely related to the language of the cuneiform inscriptions +of the second kind in the inscriptions of the Achæmenids.[338] So far as +these have been deciphered the language contained in them seems for the +most part to be closely related to the Turkish-Tatar languages,[339] +while the names of the Elamite gods preserved in Assyrian inscriptions, +although different from those of Babylonia and Assyria, and also the +names of the kings of Elam, have more of a Semitic than a Turkish-Tatar +sound. + +On Assyrian tablets, beside the Assyrian and Babylonian names of the +month, which are also the Hebrew names, we find names in another +language unknown to us;[340] and the symbols of the Assyrian cuneiform +writing are not only explained by the addition of the phonetic value and +actual meaning, but before the substantives, verb-forms, and declensions +of the Babylonian-Assyrian language are placed the corresponding words +and inflections of another language, which is decidedly of a non-Semitic +character, and also seems to belong to the Turkish-Tatar branch of +language.[341] If it was considered necessary in Babylonia and Assyria +to place another language before or beside their own, the relation of +this language to that spoken by the Babylonians and Assyrians must have +been very close. The most probable supposition is that it was the +language of the ancient population of the land about the lower course of +the two streams, which afterwards became subjected to Semitic +immigrants. Whatever be the value of this supposition, we may in any +case assume that the Semitic races found older inhabitants and an older +civilisation on the lower Euphrates and Tigris. This older population +was even then in possession of a system of writing, and this +civilisation and writing was adopted by the Semitic races, just as at a +later time the Armenians, Medes, and Persians borrowed their cuneiform +writing from the inhabitants of Babylonia, Assyria, and Susiana. + +The precedence of Elam in Hebrew tradition, the statement of Berosus +that civilisation came from the Persian Gulf, the ancient supremacy of +Elam over Babylonia, which we can discover from the Hebrew tradition, +and more plainly from the inscriptions, are so many proofs that the +oldest seats of culture in the lower lands of the Euphrates and Tigris +lay at the mouths of the two rivers. And this conclusion receives +further support from the fact that the oldest centres of the Babylonian +state were nearer the mouth of the Euphrates. Perhaps we may even go a +step further. The Hebrews ascribe the foundation of the Babylonian +kingdom to a son of the south. The language and religious conceptions of +the Babylonians and Assyrians show a close relationship with the +language and religion of the tribes of South Arabia; some of these +tribes are in Genesis variously enrolled among the descendants of Shem +and of Cush. Hence we may perhaps assume that Arabian tribes on the +sea-shore forced their way eastward, to the land at the mouth of the +Euphrates and Tigris, and then, passing up the stream, settled in the +valley of the two rivers, as far as the southern offshoots of the +Armenian mountains.[342] Of these Semitic tribes those which remained on +the lower Tigris and subjected the old population of Susiana, could not +absorb the conquered Kissians (p. 249). The old language retained the +upper hand, and developed; and the ruling tribe, the Semitic Elamites, +were amalgamated with the ancient population. It was otherwise on the +lower Euphrates, where the Semitic immigrants succeeded--probably in a +long process of time, since it was late and by slow degrees that they +gained the upper hand--in absorbing the old Turanian population, and +formed a separate Semitic community, when they had borrowed from their +predecessors the basis of civilisation and the system of cuneiform +writing which was invented for another language. + +In the fragments of Berosus the inhabitants of Babylonia are called +Chaldees, a name which Western writers give especially to the priests of +Babylon, though even to them a district on the lower Euphrates is known +as Chaldæa.[343] The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings name the whole +land Kaldi, and the inhabitants Kaldiai.[344] To the Hebrews, as has +been observed (p. 248), Erech, Accad, and Calneh were the beginning of +the kingdom of Nimrod. In the fragments of Berosus, Babylon, the Bab-Ilu +of the inscriptions, _i.e._ "Gate of Il (El)," Sippara and Larancha are +supposed to be in existence before the flood. Erech, the Orchoe of the +Greeks, and Arku of the inscriptions, is the modern Warka, to the south +of Babylon on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, where vast heaps of +ruins remain to testify to the former importance of the city. The site +of Calneh and of the Larancha mentioned in the fragments cannot be +ascertained, unless the latter city is the same as the Larsam mentioned +in the inscriptions. In these the name Accad occurs very frequently. The +kings of Babylon, and after them the kings of Assyria, who ruled over +Babylon, called themselves kings of Babel, of Sumir, and Accad, names +which are used to denote the districts (perhaps Upper and Lower +Babylonia) and their inhabitants. Sippara, the city of the sacred books +and mystic lore of the Chaldæans (p. 246), is called by the Hebrews, +Sepharvaim, _i.e._ "the two Sepher." Sepher means "writing." It was +therefore the Babylonian City of Scriptures. The Hebrews were aware +that this city worshipped the gods Adar and Anu, Adrammelech and +Anammelech. The inscriptions also mention two cities of the name of +Sippara, or as they give the word, Shipar; they distinguish the Shipar +of the god Anu from the Shipar of Samas, the sun-god. The cuneiform +symbol for Sippara means "City of the sun of the four quarters of the +earth," and the Euphrates is denoted by a symbol which means "River of +Sippara."[345] From this it is clear what position this city once took +in Babylonia. The Ur Kasdim, _i.e._ "Ur of the Chaldæans" in the Hebrew +Scriptures, is the modern Mugheir, south-east of Babylon; on +clay-tablets discovered in the ruins of this place we find cuneiform +symbols, which are to be read as "Uru."[346] The Kutha and Telassar of +the Hebrews also recur in the Kuthi and Tel Assur of the inscriptions. +In his inscriptions Sennacherib boasts that in the year 704 B.C. he took +eighty-nine fortified cities and 820 places in Babylonia, beside Babylon +itself.[347] + +The tumuli covering the ruins of these cities and the Assyrian +inscriptions have preserved for us the names of more than fifty of the +kings who once ruled over Babylon. The fragments of Berosus limit the +period of the independence of Babylon to the 458 years from 1976 B.C., +to 1518 B.C. (p. 248), and after the Chaldæan kings of this period they +place Arabian kings down to 1273 B.C., who in turn are followed by the +Assyrian kings. These statements are flatly contradicted by the +inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria. We have already seen that in the +period from about the year 2300 B.C. to 2000 B.C., Elam had the +preponderance, and in part the sovereignty, over Babylonia. Afterwards +Babylon became independent, and maintained her position even against +Assyria, until, after the ninth century before Christ, the latter gained +the upper hand; and then, from the beginning of the seventh century, for +a period of seventy or eighty years, the independence of Babylon was +entirely destroyed. + +As yet it is not possible to arrange the names preserved in the +inscriptions in a definite order. We can only perceive that in the +oldest period Babylon was not yet the capital of the kingdom. Erech, Ur, +and Nipur, _i.e._ cities lying to the south, were the seat of +government. We find also that the power of the ancient princes must have +extended to the mouth of the Euphrates, and afterwards over a part of +Mesopotamia, and over the Assyrian district on the upper Tigris, till +Assyria, about the year 1500 B.C., became an independent kingdom. That +the region of the upper Euphrates did not belong to Babylonia, but was +the seat of independent princes, more especially at Karchemish, is shown +by the campaigns of the Pharaohs against Naharina, _i.e._ Mesopotamia, +which fall in the period between 1650 B.C. and 1350 B.C., and the +assistance which was rendered at this time by the princes of the upper +Euphrates to the Syrians against the Egyptians.[348] Afterwards the +Assyrians forced their way over the upper Euphrates towards Syria, +without coming in conflict with the Babylonians. At a later period the +lower part of Chaldæa separated from Babylon, and independent princes +established themselves on the lower Euphrates--a fact which obviously +was of great assistance to the Assyrians in gaining the upper hand over +Babylon. + +Among the ancient princes of Babylon one of the first places must be +allotted to a king whose name is read as Urukh. On tiles discovered at +Warka (Erech) we find that the "king of Ur, king of Sumir and Accad, has +built a temple to his Lady, the goddess Nana;" on tiles discovered at +Mugheir (Ur), it is said that "Urukh has built the temple and fortress +of Ur in honour of his Lord, the god Sin;" and finally on an inscription +of Nabonetus, the last king of Babylon, which he had surrendered as far +as Ur, we are told that Urukh began to build a temple here to the great +goddess, and that his son Ilgi completed it. At Nipur (Niffer), Urukh +built temples to Bel and Bilit, and a temple to the god Samas at the +modern Senkereh.[349] On a cylinder of Urukh we find three beardless +forms, apparently the king, his son, and the queen, holding up their +hands to an aged long-bearded and seated figure, which the new moon +visible above him denotes as the moon-god Sin; the inscription, written +in the older form of cuneiform writing (see below), runs thus: "Of +Urukh, the mighty Lord, the King of Ur,..." Another cylinder belongs to +the time of his son Ilgi. It bears the inscription: "For saving the life +of Ilgi, from the mighty Lord, the king of Ur, son of Urukh. May his +name continue!" Inscriptions on tiles inform us that he built a temple +at Mugheir.[350] King Ismidagon (_i.e._ "Dagon hears"), whose name is +also found on tiles of Mugheir, is entitled on them, "Lord of +Nipur,[351] king of Sumir, and Accad." Of king Sarruk (_i.e._ "strong +is the king") an inscription tells us that he built the city of Agane, +and the tablets of prognostication announce to him, that he will conquer +Elam, and subjugate the whole of Babylonia and Syria.[352] The +inscriptions of king Hammurabi (_i.e._ "the sun-god is great") +discovered at Babylon, Zerghul, and Tell Sifr, tell us that the gods El +and Bel had delivered the inhabitants of Sumir and Accad to his +dominion, that he had overthrown Elam, and conquered Mabuk (p. 251), and +that he had caused the river Hammurabi (_i.e._ the canal of that name) +to be dug for the benefit of the Babylonians, and had provided a +constant supply of water for Sumir and Accad. At the command of Merodach +he had erected a fortress on this canal, of which the towers were as +high as mountains, and had named it after the name of his father +Dur-Ummubanit.[353] + +Hammurabi is the first who, according to his inscriptions, resided at +Babylon. If Sarrukin and he succeeded in breaking down the supremacy of +Elam, we must put Hammurabi at the head of the dynasty which reigned +over Babylon, according to Berosus, from 1976-1518 B.C. (p. 248). In an +Assyrian list of the kings of Babylon, belonging to the times of +Assurbanipal, we find, after Hammurabi, the names of more than fifteen +kings, and opposite the last of these, king Binsumnasir of Babylon, two +kings of Assyria, Assurnirar and Nabudan, are placed as contemporaries +(between 1500 and 1450 B.C.; see below).[354] Then Karatadas, of +Babylon, makes an alliance with Assurbel-nisi, king of Assyria, and the +friendship was continued under their successors, Purnapuryas of Babylon, +and Busurassur of Assyria (about 1450 to 1400 B.C.) Assuruballit, the +successor of Busurassur, made war upon Nazibugas, the usurper who +succeeded Purnapuryas, and raised to the throne in his place Kurigalzu, +a son of Purnapuryas (about 1400 B.C.) Tiles at Senkereh inform us that +Purnapuryas, "king of Babylon, of Sumir and Accad," restored the great +temple which Urukh had built for the sun-god Samas. Tiles are found at +Ur (Mugheir) with the name Kurigalzu; and the fortress Dur-Kurigalzu +(Akerkuf), which is often mentioned in later Assyrian inscriptions, and +spoken of as "the key of Babylonia," was built, as is proved by the +stamp on the tiles, in the reign of this king.[355] An ornament, now in +the British Museum, has the inscription: "Kurigalzu, son of Purnapuryas, +king of Babel."[356] The grandson of Kurigalzu was Merodach-Baladan +(Marduk-habaliddina, _i.e._ "Merodach presented the son").[357] Then +about the year 1300 B.C., Tiglath Adar (Tuklat Adar), of Assyria, +attacked the Babylonians, at first, as it seems, with success, but at +last he lost his seal in this war, and for 600 years it was preserved in +the treasury at Babylon. Still more unfortunate was Belkudurussur of +Assyria in his attempt on Babylon. He was defeated, and fell himself in +the battle (about 1200 B.C.); his successor also, Adarpalbitkur, barely +succeeded in defending himself from the attacks of the Babylonians. When +afterwards the first Nebuchadnezzar (Nabukudurussur) of Babylon twice +invaded Assyria, Assur-ris-ilim, king of Assyria (between 1150-1130 +B.C.), succeeded in repulsing him, and Nebuchadnezzar lost forty +war-chariots and a standard. Tiglath Pilesar I. (Tuklat-habal-assar, +about 1120 B.C.), the successor of Assur-ris-ilim, fought against the +Babylonians, and, like Tiglath Adar, he was at first successful. +Assyrian tablets boast that in two successive years he had taken +Dur-Kurigalzu, both Sipparas (p. 257), and even Babylon. But the result +of the war was that Marduknadinakh, king of Babylon, about the year 1110 +B.C., carried off images of gods from Assyria to Babylon.[358] +Assur-bel-kala of Assyria (1110-1090 B.C.) had to fight against another +Marduk of Babylon. Two hundred years later Nebubaladan of Babylon +repulsed the attacks of Assurnasirpal of Assyria (883-859 B.C.) Then +Shalmaneser II. of Assyria made such excellent use of a contention for +the throne of Babylonia, that in the year 850 B.C. he offered sacrifice +at Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha. But it was not till the year 703 or 689 +B.C. that the seal of Tiglath Adar and the images lost by Tiglath +Pilesar I. were carried back to Assyria. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[306] Xenoph. "Cyrop." 7, 5; Strabo, pp. 41, 84, 544, 736, 737. + +[307] Strabo, p. 748; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 5, 1 ff.; G. Hertzberg, +"Feldzug der Zehntausend," s. 139 ff. + +[308] Beros. ap. Sync. p. 28; Herod. 1, 193; "Anab." 2, 3. + +[309] Herod. 1, 178-200. + +[310] "De Coelo," p. 503. + +[311] Diod. 3, 31; Cic. "De Divin." 1, 19; Jul. Afric. ap. Syncell. p. +17; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 7, 57; cf. H. Martin, "Revue Archéol." 1862, 5, +243. + +[312] Between 280-270 B.C. Clinton, "Fasti Hell." ad ann. 279. + +[313] Abydeni Fragm. 9, ed. Müller. + +[314] Berosi Fragm. 1, ed. Müller. + +[315] Abyd. Fragm. 1, 2, ed. Müller; Berosi Fragm. 5. + +[316] In the Armenian Eusebius, p. 10, ed. Schoene, the name is +Lancharis. + +[317] G. Smith, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 531. + +[318] So in the Armenian Eusebius; in Syncellus it is five stadia, +_i.e._ 3,000 feet long. + +[319] Eusebius, p. 14, ed. Mai; Syncell. p. 30; Abydeni Fragm. 3 ed. +Müller; Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 12. + +[320] Eusebius gives 33,091. As Syncellus enumerates the sares, neres, +and sosses, the number given in the text is the correct one, or must be +replaced by 34,091. The basis of the calculation which Syncellus has +adopted in the four first dynasties of Berosus has been thoroughly +established by Lepsius ("Chronol. der Ægypter," s. 78). + +[321] The period of the fourth dynasty, the eleven kings, is filled up +to 248 years from the marginal note on the Armenian manuscripts of +Eusebius. + +[322] G. Smith, "Assyrian Discoveries," p. 185-195. I retain the reading +"Sisit" as against Hasisadra because of the "Sisythes" of Lucian. + +[323] According to Bunsen, "Ægypt." 5, 2, 61 ff., the Hebrews originally +were acquainted with only seven patriarchs before the flood; see below. + +[324] Gen. ix. 20, 28; xi. 2-9. + +[325] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 30. Hipparenum can be nothing but +Sipparenum, or Sipparenorum. + +[326] If the number 34,091 be correct (p. 241, note 2), the year 2447 +B.C. would be the first year of the historical era. + +[327] It is pointed out by Von Gutschmid in the Rhein. Mus. 8, 252. + +[328] Gen. x. 22; x. 8, 10. + +[329] Menke, "Jahrb. für classiche Philologie," 1862, s. 545. + +[330] Aesch. "Pers." 16. + +[331] The name Nanchundi occurs also in the compounds Istar-Nanchundi, +p. 253. + +[332] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 200, 234-236, 249-251. As in two +passages 1,635 years are given with quotation of the Neres and Sosses, +this number must be kept in the third passage instead of 1,535 years. +The conquest of Susa did not follow immediately on the conquest of +Babylon, in the year 647; see below. + +[333] Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 479; Oppert, "Empires de Chaldée et +d'Assyrie," p. 27. + +[334] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 234; "Early Hist." p. 58. + +[335] Genesis, xiv. 1-12; G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 228. + +[336] Also in Ménant, "Les Achémenides," p. 136. + +[337] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 224, ff. + +[338] Sayce, "Transact. Bibl. Arch." 3, 465, 485. + +[339] So Rawlinson, Norris, Mordtmann, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. G." 1870, +s. 7, 76, and Sayce, _loc. cit._ + +[340] Norris, "Dict." I. 50. + +[341] Such is also the opinion of Eberhard Schrader. + +[342] Schrader, "Abstammung und Ursitze der Chaldæer," s. 405 ff., 416 +ff. + +[343] Strabo, p. 735, 765, 767; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 6, 23, 27. 5, 20. + +[344] On the correct interpretation of the passage, Isaiah xxiii. 13, +see Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 269; on the Armenian +Chaldæans, the Chalybian Chaldæans, Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldæer," +s. 399, 400. The former are to be sought for in the valley of the Lycus, +and are known to the Armenians as Chalti: Kiepert, "Monats-Berichte der +B. Akad. d. W." 1869. Arphaxad, _i.e._ the high mountain district Albak +(Kiepert, _loc. cit_. s. 200), on the Upper Zab, was on the other hand +undoubtedly colonised by Semitic tribes; but these probably came from +Mesopotamia and Assyria. Arphaxad is the younger brother of Elam and +Asshur. Where to look for Kir, whence, according to Amos ix. 7; i. 5, +the Syrians came, we do not know. + +[345] Schrader, "Assyrisch-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 382, 18, 42, 165, +225. + +[346] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 383. + +[347] Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonides," p. 55 ff. + +[348] Above, pp. 132, 151, 152. From Naharina Tuthmosis III. received, +among other things, forty-seven tiles of lead, forty-five pounds of +gold, eighty-one mana (minæ) of spice.--De Rougé, "Notice," pp. 16, 18. + +[349] Oppert, "Empires," pp. 16, 17; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," 1, +63, 64, 137; Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 74, 75, 254. + +[350] G. Smith, "Early History," p. 36; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," +pp. 69, 94, 157 ff. + +[351] Oppert, "Empires," p. 21. + +[352] Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test." s. 47; "Assyrisch-babylonische +Keilschriften," s. 162; Sayce, "Zeitschrift für ægypt. Sprache," 1870, +s. 151; Ménant, "Babylone," p. 98. + +[353] Oppert, "Empires," p. 36. + +[354] Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 1, 249. + +[355] Oppert, "Empires," p. 28; Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 118, 121. + +[356] G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," pp. 169, 170. + +[357] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 236 ff., gives a deed of gift of +Merodach-Baladan, the son of Milihiru, the grandson of Kurigalzu. + +[358] Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 127, 128. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDÆANS. + + +In the period from 2000 to 1000 B.C., Babylonia under Hammurabi, +Nebuchadnezzar, and Marduknadinakh, was already the foremost state of +Hither Asia in power, science, and skill in art. Her civilisation had +developed without external assistance. If the first foundations were +borrowed, and not laid by the Babylonians, they certainly were not due +to the Egyptians. The religious views of the Babylonians and the +Egyptians rest on an entirely different basis. In Egypt the heavens were +carefully observed; but the Chaldæans arrived at a different division of +the heavens, of the year, and month, and day, and the results of their +astronomy were far clearer and more exact. In Egypt, weights and +measures were regulated by the priests; the Chaldæans established a much +more accurate and consistent system, which prevailed far beyond the +borders of Babylonia. The Egyptians reached the highest point that could +be reached by the art of building in stone; but the buildings of the +Chaldæans in brick are unsurpassed in size, strength, and height by any +nation or period. To what antiquity the hydraulic works of the Chaldæans +reached we do not know (the canal of Hammurabi has been mentioned +above); but we find that in size and variety they were not behind those +of Egypt. Their sculpture cannot be compared with the Egyptian in +artistic finish; but the few fragments which remain exhibit a style +which, while thoroughly independent, is more vigorous and complete, and +shows a greater freedom of conception than the Egyptian. + +The Babylonians, as we learn from Diodorus, worshipped twelve gods as +lords of the sky. To each of these a sign in the zodiac and a month in +the year were dedicated.[359] These statements are supported by the +inscriptions. The supreme god of the Babylonians was El (Il), after whom +they named their capital, Babel, "Gate of El." After El came the gods +Anu, Bel (Bil), Hea, Sin, Samas, and Bin; and after these the gods of +the planets; Adar, Merodach, Nergal, Istar, and Nebo. Of El we only know +that he was the supreme god, who sat enthroned above the other gods. +What peculiar importance and power is ascribed to him is the more +difficult to ascertain, as the name of the third deity, Bel, simply +means "lord," and by this title not only Bel himself, but El and other +gods also are invoked. In his inscription, king Hammurabi says "that El +and Bel have given over to his rule the inhabitants of Sumir and Accad." +In the story of the flood, quoted above, El is called "the prince of the +gods," "the warrior." In Assyrian inscriptions he is the "lamp of the +gods," "the lord of the universe." The Greeks give us accounts of the +great temple of Belus at Babylon, and represent the Babylonians as +swearing "by the great Belus."[360] In the fragments of Berosus it was +Belus who smote asunder the primæval darkness, and divided Omorka, and +caused the creation of men and beasts; while according to the clay +tablets of the flood, El was unwilling to save even Sisit. Of the god +Hea we can at present ascertain no more from the inscriptions than that +he is the "lord of the earth," "the king of rivers;" and that it is he +who announced the coming flood to Sisit, and pointed out the means of +safety. Anu, the god who follows next after El, was sovereign of the +upper realms of the sky. In the narrative of the flood given on the clay +tablets the gods fled horror-stricken before the storm into the heaven +of Anu. In Assyrian inscriptions the god has frequently the epithet +Malik (_i.e._ "king"). As the Hebrews inform us that the men of +Sepharvaim worshipped Anammelech, it is obvious that Anumalik and +Anammelech are one and the same deity. The creature, who brought the +first revelations of language and writing, is called in Berosus Oan, by +others, Yan.[361] As these revelations reached Sepharvaim, and the +sacred books were preserved there (p. 245), we may venture to assume +that the Oan of Berosus and the Anu of the inscriptions are the same +god. The nature of the next deities, Sin, Samas, and Bin, is more +intelligible. Sin is the god of the moon. On monuments the new moon is +often found beside his bearded image. The inscriptions provide him with +"white-beaming horns." The main seat of his worship is Ur (Mugheir), +where, as we have seen, Urukh built him a temple, and Nabonetus, the +last king of Babylon, prays this god "to plant in the heart of his +first-born a reverence for his great divinity, that he might not yield +to sin, or favour the unfaithful."[362] The sun-god Samas is +distinguished by sign of the circle; according to the inscription he +illuminates "heaven and earth," and is the "lord of the day." Beside +Sin and Samas the Babylonians worshipped a deity of the heaven, Bin, the +god who "thunders in the midst of the sky," who holds "a flaming sword +in his hand," "who holds the lightning," "who is the giver of abundance, +the lord of fertility."[363] + +At the head of the five spirits of the planets stands the lord of Saturn +(the Kaivanu of the Babylonians), the most distant and highest of all. +This is the god Adar, _i.e._ "the sublime." His name was given to the +last month in the Babylonian year. In the inscriptions the epithet Malik +is often joined to Adar; Sakkut Adar also is a name given in the +inscriptions to this god. The Hebrews tell us that the men of Sepharvaim +worshipped Adrammelech; and this can hardly be any other deity than the +Adar-Malik of the inscriptions. They also add that children were burned +to Adrammelech,[364] and hence we may conclude that the Adar of the +Babylonians was a harsh and cruel deity, averse to generation, whose +wrath had to be appeased by human sacrifice. When the prophet Amos +announces to the Israelites that they would "carry Siccuth their king, +and Kewan (Chiun) their star-god, their images which they had +made,"[365] Sichuth-Melech can be no other god than Sakkut-Malik, _i.e._ +Adar, and by Kewan is meant the Kaivanu (Saturn) of the +inscriptions.[366] Nebo (Nabu), the god of Borsippa, was the lord of the +planet Mercury. According to the inscriptions of Babylonia, he ruled +over the hosts of heaven and earth. His image on the cylinder of Urukh +has been mentioned above (p. 259). Statues of Nebo with long beard and +hair, and a robe from the breast downwards, have been found in the +ruins of Nineveh. Assyrian inscriptions entitle him the "prince of the +gods." His name means the "revealer," and what we learn from western +writers about a special school of Chaldaic priests at Borsippa agrees +very well with this. The lord of Mars, Nergal, was worshipped at the +city of Kutha. The inscriptions name him the "king of the battle," the +"ruler of the storm," or simply the "lion-god."[367] Hence the winged +lions with a human head at the temples and palace gates of Susa and +Nineveh (p. 253) were his images, and stood no doubt at Babylon and +Kutha also, while the winged bulls must have been the images of Adar. In +the narrative of the flood on Assyrian tablets, it is Adar who +overthrows and Nergal who destroys (p. 243). After the restoration of +the Babylonian kingdom, the kings are named after Nebo and Nergal. Yet +the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II. celebrate above all other deities +the lord of Jupiter, Merodach, as Belrabu, i.e. the "great lord," the +"highest god," the "lord of heaven and earth."[368] + +To this circle of planet-gods belongs also the female deity, whom the +Babylonians worshipped with much zeal--the goddess Bilit, _i.e._ "Lady," +the Mylitta of Herodotus. Her star is Venus. The inscriptions name her +"Queen of the Gods," "Mother of the Gods." As she is also called the +"Lady of Offspring," it is clear that she was regarded by the +Babylonians as the goddess of fertility and birth. They recognised the +power of the goddess in the charm and beauty of vegetative nature. +Within the wall of her temple at Babylon a grove afforded a cool shade, +and a cistern reminded the worshippers of the mistress of the +fertilizing water. The creatures sacred to her were fish, as the +inhabitants of water, and remarkable for vigorous propagation, and the +dove.[369] According to the account of Herodotus the maidens of +Babylonia had to worship the goddess by the sacrifice of their +virginity; once in her life each was expected to sell her body in honour +of the goddess, and thus to redeem herself. Hence on the festivals of +Mylitta the maidens of Babylon sat in long rows in the grove of the +goddess, with chaplets of cord upon their heads. Even the daughters of +the wealthy came in covered cars with a numerous body of attendants. +Here they had to remain till one of the pilgrims, who came to worship +the goddess, cast a piece of gold into their laps, with the words, "In +the name of Mylitta." Then the maiden was compelled to follow him, and +comply with his wishes. The money thus earned she gave to the +temple-treasury, and was henceforth freed from her obligation to the +goddess. "The good-looking and graceful maidens," adds Herodotus, +"quickly found a pilgrim, but the ugly ones could not satisfy the law, +and often remained in the temple three or four years."[370] The Hebrew +scriptures confirm the statements of Herodotus. They tell us of the +Babylonians, "that their women, with cords about them (they were bound +to the goddess), sat by the wayside, and burnt bran for perfume, and she +who was drawn away by the passer-by reproached her fellow that she had +not been thought worthy of the honour, and that her cord was not +broken."[371] The goddess Nana, whose image, as we have seen, was +carried away at an ancient period from Erech to Susa, and to whom it is +Nebuchadnezzar's boast that he built temples at Babylon and +Borsippa,[372] was hardly distinguished from Bilit or Mylitta. + +Opposed to the goddess of fertility, procreation, and birth, stood +Istar, the goddess of war, of ruin, and destruction. She is often +mentioned in inscriptions as "the Queen of Babylon;" according to +Assyrian inscriptions she carries a bow, and western writers tell us of +the worship of Artemis by the Babylonians. That this goddess united with +Bilit, and sent alternately blessing and fruit, death and ruin, is +placed beyond doubt, by the analogous worship of Baltis, Ashera, and +Astarte by the Syrians, and more especially by the Phoenicians and +Carthaginians. Moreover the planet Venus belonged to this goddess in +both her forms. In the tablets of the flood, Istar boasts that men owed +their existence to her (p. 243), and an Assyrian syllabarium tells us +that "the star of Venus (Dilbat, the Delephat of the Greeks), at +sunrise, is Istar among the gods; the same star at sunset is Bilit among +the gods."[373] On Assyrian tablets is found a narrative of the journey +of Istar to the under-world. She determines to go down to the house of +the departed, to the abode of the god Irkalla, to the house which has no +exit, to the road which leads not back, to the place where the entrance +is without light, where dust is their nourishment and mould their food, +where light is not seen, where they dwell in darkness, where the arches +are filled with spirits like birds; over the gate and the panels dust is +strewed. "Watchman of the waters," said Istar, "open thy gate, that I +may enter. If thou openest not, I will break thy gate, and burst asunder +the bars; I will shatter the threshold and destroy the doors." The +watchman opened the gate, and as she passed through he took the great +crown from her head; and when she passed through the second gate he took +the rings from her ears; and when she passed through the third gate he +took the necklace from her neck; and when she passed through the fourth +gate he took the ornaments from her breast; and when she passed through +the fifth gate he took the girdle of her robe; and when she passed +through the sixth gate he took the rings from her arms and legs; and +when she passed through the seventh gate he took the mantle from her +neck and said, "Thus does Ninkigal to those who come to her." Arrived in +the under-world, Istar was grievously afflicted in the eyes, on the +hips, feet, heart, head, and whole body. But the world above could not +bear the loss of Istar, "the bull sought not the cow, nor the male ass +the female," and the god Hea sent a message to Ninkigal, the Lady of the +under-world, to set her free. Ninkigal caused the water of life to pour +out over Istar. Then the seven doors of the under-world were again +opened for her, and before each she received back what had been taken +from her at her entrance.[374] + +In the fragments of Berosus the last of the fish-men is called Odakon +(p. 239). Inscriptions of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon +mention a god Dakan, or Dagani; and we also meet the name of this god in +the name of the king Ismidagon, whom we found it necessary to place +before the year 2000 B.C. Assurbanipal of Assyria boasts of the favour +of Anu and Dagon. These two gods appear in the same connection in other +inscriptions. Sargon, king of Assyria, calls himself "the apple of the +eye of Anu and Dagon."[375] Male figures, with a horned cap on the head, +and ending in a fish, and priests with fishskins hung above them, are +often found on the monuments of Nineveh. As the word Dag means "fish," +we may with confidence find in the god Dakan the fish-god of the +Babylonians; the god who out of moisture gives plenty, fertility, and +increase. That the Canaanites also worshipped Dagon is proved by the +names Beth-Dagon and Kaphar-Dagon, which occur near Joppa and Sichem. +The Philistines also on the coast of the Mediterranean invoked the same +god. His image in the temple at Ashdod had the face and hands of a man, +the body of a fish, and the feet of a man (see below). The seven +fish-men who rose out of the Persian Gulf were therefore seven +manifestations, or revelations, of the gods Oan and Dagon, Anu and +Dakan. + +The chief seats of the religious worship of the Babylonians were Babylon +itself, when it had become the metropolis of the land, Borsippa and +Kutha. The kings of Assyria, who succeeded in entering Babylonia, or in +subjugating it, remark more than once that they have sacrificed at +Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha, to Bel, Nebo, and Nergal, and Assurbanipal +tells us that his rebellious brother, the viceroy of Babylon, had +purchased the help of the Elamites with the treasures of the temple of +Bel at Babylon, of Nebo at Borsippa, and Nergal at Kutha.[376] Hence +these temples must have been the most considerable, and the treasures in +them the largest. Beside these temples, as has been remarked, Erech was +of importance, as the seat of the worship of Nana, Ur contained the +temple of the moon-god, and Sepharvaim was the abode of Anu and Samas, +and the city of the sacred scriptures. + +The relation of the deities to the luminaries of the sky occupied a very +prominent place in the minds of the Babylonians. The powerful operation +of the sun was due to the god Samas; the moon, as we have seen, belonged +to Sin, Saturn to Adar, Jupiter to Merodach, Mercury to Nebo, Mars to +the war-god Nergal, Venus to Istar-Bilit. From the inscriptions of +Nebuchadnezzar II. we learn that there existed at Borsippa, the seat of +the worship of Nebo, an ancient temple to "the seven lamps of the +earth." The horizon of the Babylonian plain was very extensive; the more +uniform and boundless the expanse of earth, the more did the eye turn +upwards towards the changes, movements, and life of the sky. In the +clear atmosphere the eye followed the regular paths of the planets, and +discovered each morning new stars, while others disappeared every +evening. With the higher or lower position of the sun, or of this or +that star, a new season commenced, or changes took place in the natural +world; the inundation rose, and vegetation began to awaken or decay. On +the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars, the life of +mankind, their waking and sleeping, their vigour and weariness, +depended; the seasons of budding and ripening fruit, of favourable or +unfavourable navigation, commenced with the appearance of certain stars +and ended with their disappearance. It was natural, amid such +conceptions, to believe that the whole life of nature and man depended +on the luminaries of the sky, and that the earth and mankind received +their laws from above, from the gleaming paths of the constellations. +The good or evil effect which these stars were thought to exercise upon +the life of nature, applied also to their influence on the life of man. + +Within the circle of such conceptions the planets naturally occupied a +prominent place. The Greeks inform us that the Chaldæans called these +stars "interpreters," as proclaiming the will of the gods.[377] Among +them Jupiter and Venus (Merodach and Istar-Bilit) passed with the later +astrologers as luck-bringing powers. Jupiter was supposed to bring the +beneficent and genial warmth of the atmosphere, while Venus, the star of +evening (Bilit), poured forth the cool fructifying dew. Saturn (Adar) +was an unlucky star, the Great Evil; and this confirms the conclusion +already drawn that Adar was thought to be a god averse to generation, +and hostile. Mars (Nergal) was also a pernicious planet: his fiery glow +brought scorching heat, and he is the Lesser Evil of astrologers. +Mercury, the moon, and the sun, _i.e._ Nebo, Sin, and Samas, stood +midway between the good and evil stars; they were of an intermediate +undefined character.[378] + +But according to the Chaldæans the planets also assumed the influence +and character of the constellations in which they passed over the earth. +They divided the path of the sun into twelve stations or houses, +according to the constellations which it passes through in its course. +The sun's proper house was its highest position in the sign of Leo. The +paths of the planets were divided in a similar way; and to the Chaldæan +these "houses of the planets" became divine powers, because they altered +and defined the character and operation of the planets. Hence they even +call them "lords of the gods."[379] On the other hand thirty other fixed +stars are "counselling gods," because they were thought to exercise +only a secondary influence on the planets; and lastly, twelve fixed +stars in the northern sky, and twelve in the southern were called the +"judges." Of these twenty-four stars, those which were visible decided +on the fortunes of the living, and those which were invisible on the +fortunes of the dead.[380] The inscriptions also distinguish two classes +of twelve stars each; of which one is named "the stars of Accad," the +other "the stars of the West."[381] Each month of the year belonged to a +god; the first to the god Anu: the seven days of the week belonged to +the sun, moon, and five planets; after the moon came Mars, then Mercury, +then Jupiter, then Venus, and last of all Saturn. The day belonged to +the planet to which the first hour after midnight was allotted; in the +next hour the planet ruled which came next in proximity to the sun; and +in the same way followed the remaining planets, first in a solar, then +in a lunar series. + +Thus the Chaldæans worshipped "the sun, and the moon, and the zodiac;" +thus they offered incense, as the Hebrews say, to the "houses of the +planets, and the whole host of heaven."[382] This lore was the work of +the priests, who accordingly understood how to read the will of the gods +in the constellations of the sky, and to foretell the fate of life from +the hour of birth, and from the ever-changing position of the stars to +fix the suitable moment for commencing any task or undertaking. How the +stars passed through the sky, how they approached each other, or +diverged, imparted or withdrew their operation, were found in equipoise +or opposition--on this depended the prosperity or misfortune of the +kingdom, the king, the year, the day, the hour. Moreover it was of +importance at what season of the year, and in what quarter of the sky +the stars rose, or disappeared, and what colours they displayed.[383] To +the east belonged withering heat, to the south warmth, to the west +fertilising moisture, and to the north cold; and the planets exercised +greater or less power as they stood higher or lower.[384] Tablets +discovered at Nineveh allow us a closer insight into the system of these +constellations. On some of these we find written as follows:--"If +Jupiter is seen in the month of Tammuz, there will be corpses." "If +Venus comes opposite the star of the fish, there will be devastation." +"If the star of the great lion is gloomy, the heart of the people will +not rejoice." "If the moon is seen on the first day of the month, Accad +will prosper." One tablet supplies information for all the periods of +the day and night in the 360 days of the year, telling us what day and +what period is favourable or unfavourable for commencing a campaign, or +a siege, for storming the enemy's walls, or for defence.[385] + +Such was the faith and doctrine of the Babylonians. In the original +conception of El as lord of the sky, and Adar as the highest of the star +gods, there may have been nobler and simpler traits, yet even these +early views were not without their harshness and cruelty, as we are +forced to conclude from the Hebrew accounts of the sacrifices offered to +Adar. Such traits are also more than outweighed by the licentious +worship of Mylitta, in which the sensual elements of the Semitic +character are seen in all their coarseness. With the growth of the +kingdom, and the consequent effeminacy and luxury of life in Babylonia, +this side of their religion must have become predominant, while, on the +other hand, the great conception of a world ruled and governed by the +movements of the stars tended in time to degenerate into mere +astrological computations and fortune-telling. + +Our knowledge of the life and position of the priests of Babylon is +scanty. The Greeks tell us that they took the same place as in Egypt. +Their rank was hereditary; the son was instructed by the father from an +early age. Some occupied themselves with the offerings and +purifications; others strove to avert existing or threatening evils by +expiations and charms; others explained any miraculous phenomena of +nature, interpreted dreams, and prophesied from the flight of birds. The +Hebrew scriptures speak of interpreters of stars and signs, magicians +and prophets.[386] According to the accounts of Western writers, the +priests at Babylon inhabited a special quarter of the city, and there +were schools of priests at Sippara.[387] The fragments of Berosus +pointed out Babylon, Sippara, and Larancha (p. 239) as centres of +priestly wisdom even before the flood, inasmuch as they attribute to +these places special revelations of the gods Anu and Dakan. They speak +of the sacred books saved in Sippara from the flood. These books they +divide into ancient, mediæval, and modern. By the "ancient" books we +must understand the announcements which the god Anu caused to be made to +the two earliest kings, Alorus and Alaparus, of Babylon. Under the +"mediæval" are comprised the revelations received by Ammenon and Daonus +of Sippara, and lastly, under the "modern" the mysteries disclosed by +Dagon to Edorankhus of Sippara (p. 239). Hence we may assume that the +priests of Babylon arrived at an early age at a code which included +their creed and ritual, as it would seem, in seven books (p. 245). How +high the cosmogonies go, of which the most essential traits were found +in the fragments of Berosus (p. 238), we cannot decide. In the +conception which lies at the base of them the forces of nature are seen +pouring forth in wild confusion. The name of the woman who rules these +forces, or of this chaos inhabited by monsters, Omorka, has been +explained as "Homer-Kai," _i.e._, "material of the egg," the world-egg, +but more recently by "Um Uruk," _i.e._ "the mother," the "great goddess +of Erech." In the cosmogony of Berosus we can see, though in a very rude +and contradictory shape, the opposition of a material and intellectual, +a natural and supernatural principle, and later accounts maintain that +the Babylonians regarded the world as arising out of fire and water, +that Chaos and Love were the parents of Life and Contention, and of Life +and Contention Bel was the son.[388] + +More important and far more valuable than these abstractions, to which +the Babylonians obviously attained only at a late period, and in all +probability under the influence of Greek ideas, are the results which +their knowledge and acuteness gained in other fields. The cuneiform +writing, according to the conclusions we have already been compelled to +draw, was borrowed by the Elamites and Babylonians from the earlier +inhabitants of the lower districts. It was originally a picture-writing, +which, like the Egyptian, passed from real pictures to indicatory and +symbolic pictures or picture-signs. The necessity of abbreviating and +compressing the picture-signs was here far more keenly felt than in +Egypt, quite irrespective of the fact that the strong pictorial +tendency of the Egyptians was probably wanting on the Lower Tigris. The +stones and slabs on which the Egyptians engraved their hieroglyphics +were not to be found in the plains of the two rivers, and the slabs of +mud, clay, and brick on which they were compelled to write (the pictures +and symbols were written on the soft slabs with the style, and these +were then burnt), were ill-adapted for sketches. Such obstinate material +made the abbreviation of the symbols an imperative necessity; and it was +by sharp and straight strokes that the signs could be most easily traced +upon slabs of mud and clay. The oldest bricks in the ruins of Mugheir, +Warka, and Senkereh display pictures in outline; then beside bricks with +inscriptions of this kind we find others repeating the same inscription +in cuneiform signs, which now form a completely ideographic system of +writing. The immediate comprehension of picture signs by the senses died +away owing to abbreviations of the kind mentioned, and the +picture-writing became symbolic writing. This writing, which consisted +of groups of cuneiform symbols, attained a higher stage of development +when a phonetic value was attributed to a part of the cuneiform groups, +whether used to signify nouns or verbs and adjectives, or new groups +were formed for this purpose. By cuneiform groups both simple and +compound syllables are expressed. For simple syllables, _i.e._ for those +consisting of a single consonant with a vowel before or after it in +order to give the consonant a sound, the cuneiform writing of Babylon +and Assyria possesses about one hundred groups, and several hundred +groups for compound syllables, _i.e._ for those which have more than one +consonant. Side by side with this syllabic writing the old abbreviated +picture-writing was retained. Certain words of frequent occurrence, as +king, battle, month, were always represented by picture signs, or +ideograms, and so also were the names of deities and most proper names. +The greater number of the cuneiform groups were then used in a phonetic +as well as an ideographic sense, and without any correlation between the +phonetic and actual meaning. Thus the symbol for the word "father" had +the phonetic value of the syllable _at_, but "father" in the Babylonian +language is _abu_. In Babylon this system of writing became even more +complicated by the fact that different meanings and different phonetic +values were ascribed to the same cuneiform groups. There are symbols +which have four different phonetic values and four different +meanings.[389] In order to lessen to some degree the great difficulty in +understanding the meaning which was caused by the varying use of the +same symbol as an ideogram and a sound, and the multiplicity of meanings +and sounds attached to certain signs--key-symbols were placed before the +names of gods, lands, cities, and persons, and occasionally one or more +syllables were attached to ideograms of more than one meaning, which +formed the termination of the word intended to be expressed by the +ideogram in the particular instance. + +Complicated and difficult as this writing was, it was applied on a +considerable scale in Assyria and Babylonia, and it remained in use even +after the fall of the Babylonian empire, as is shown by bricks and +tablets of the time of Cyrus, Cambyses, Artaxerxes I., and the +Seleucidæ.[390] These are principally records of business or legal +matters, of which, in this way, a selection has come down to us +extending from the times of Hammurabi (p. 261) to the first century B.C. +The Armenians adopted this system from the Babylonians and Assyrians; +and they also made it shorter and simpler. In the same way the Medes and +Persians borrowed it. But in the Persian inscriptions of the Achæmenids +it has already become a mere phonetic mode of writing but little removed +from an ordinary alphabet. Beyond doubt the Babylonian system was known +to the Western Semitic tribes; it even passed over from Syria to Cyprus, +where we find it assuming a peculiar form, and displaying throughout the +character of a syllabic mode of writing. At the same time among the +Syrians and Phenicians a cursive method was developed, just as in Egypt +the hieratic writing grew up beside the hieroglyphic. This cursive +writing of the Western Semitic nations has not, however, arisen out of +the cuneiform symbols, but out of the hieratic writing of the Egyptians. +The Phenicians must claim the merit of having abbreviated still further, +for their own use, the cursive writing of the Egyptians. But the +picture-symbols of the hieratic writing were not merely contracted and +simplified; the mixture of pictorial, syllabic, and alphabetic +symbols--beyond which the Egyptians did not rise--was abandoned, and +then for the first time an alphabet was discovered. This Phenician +alphabet was in use in Syria as early as the year 1000 B.C.[391] In +Babylonia also this alphabetic writing was in use beside the cuneiform. +We find it in Babylon side by side with the corresponding cuneiform on a +weight, of which the inscription tells us: "Thirty minæ of standard +weight: the palace of Irba Merodach (Marduk) king of Babylon." The exact +date of this king cannot be ascertained: we only know that he must have +belonged to the old kingdom. Assyrian weights with inscriptions in the +Phenician alphabet, beside the cuneiform inscriptions, are found of the +eighth century B.C., the time of King Tiglath Pilesar II., Shalmanesar +IV., and Sennacherib.[392] + +"It can be maintained with good reason," says Diodorus, "that the +Chaldæans are far before all other nations in their knowledge of the +heavens; and that they devoted the greatest attention and labour to this +science." At an early period, by comparing the course of the sun with +that of the moon, they had perceived that the sun returned to the same +position after passing through about twelve cycles of the moon; hence +they fixed the year at twelve months of thirty days, which they, by +intercalations of various kinds, brought into harmony with the +astronomical year of 365-1/4 days.[393] The observation, that the sun +after a course of twelve months returns to the same constellation, led +them on to determine the changing position of the sun in the other +months by constellations. Thus the Babylonians marked off the +constellations which seemed to touch nearest upon the course of the sun, +and arrived at the signs of the ecliptic or zodiac. Each of these twelve +stations through which the sun passed they again divided into thirty +parts. The week they fixed at seven days by the course of the moon; to +the day they allotted twelve hours, to correspond to the twelve months +of the year; the hours they divided into sixty parts, and each of these +sixtieths was again subdivided into sixty parts. Their measures were +also duodecimal. The cubit was twenty-four finger-breadths; and on the +same system, their numerals were based upon the _sossus_, or sixty,--a +derivative from twelve, and the _sarus_, or square of the _sossus_. When +they attempted to fix the position and intervals of the stars in the +sky, the basis taken for their measurements was the diameter of the sun. +They divided the daily course of the sun, like the ecliptic, into 360 +parts, and then attempted to measure these at the equinox. At the moment +when the sun was seen in the sky on the morning of the equinox, a jar +filled with water was opened. From this the water was allowed to run +into a second small jar, till the orb of the sun was completely visible; +then it ran into a third and larger jar, till the sun was again seen on +the horizon on the following morning. They concluded that the diameter +of the sun must stand in the same proportion to the cycle it passed +through as the water in the small jar stood to the water in the large +one. Hence they found that the diameter of the sun was contained 720 +times in its course, and this diameter they fixed at 1/30 of an +hour.[394] The observation that an active foot-courier could accomplish +a certain distance in the thirtieth part of an equinoctial hour, and +thirty times as much in the whole hour, supplied the Chaldæans with a +longitudinal measurement on the same basis. The measure of the hour was +the parasang (3/4 of a geographical mile), and the thirtieth part of the +parasang was the stadium. Till we obtain help from the inscriptions we +must remain acquainted only with the Persian name of the first measure +and the Greek name of the second. At the equator the sun was supposed in +every hour to traverse a distance of thirty stadia. On this system also +the Chaldæans fixed the length of their cubit. The stadium was divided +into 360 cubits, and the sixth part of the stadium, or plethron, into +sixty cubits, and the foot was fixed at 3/5 of this cubit. Consequently +the Babylonian cubit was fixed at twenty-one inches of our measure (525 +millimeters).[395] + +From this division of the sphere the Babylonians, though aided by very +simple instruments, the polus and gnomon,[396] arrived at very exact +astronomical observations and results. They discovered a period of 223 +months, within which all eclipses of the moon occurred in a similar +number and equal extent. By means of this period they fixed the average +length of the synodic and periodic month with such accuracy that our +astronomers here found the first to be too large by four seconds only, +and the last by one second. Their observations of ten lunar eclipses, +and three conjunctions of planets and fixed stars, have come down to us. +The oldest of these observations is that of a lunar eclipse of the year +721 B.C., which took place "a good hour after midnight." The second took +place in 720 B.C., "about midnight;" the third in the same year "after +the rising of the moon." In these observations also our astronomers have +found but little to correct. + +As the Chaldæans brought their measures of the sphere, of time and +length into correlation, so also they attempted to preserve the same +relation in their cubic measures and weights. For their weights and +cubic measures the division of the units into sixtieths (minæ, _i.e._ +parts) was retained. The quadrantal, or _Maris_, contained one +Babylonian cubic foot, and the sixtieth part of this was the _Log_. The +weight in water of a Babylonian cubic foot was, according to the +statistics of our physicists, about sixty-six pounds (32,721 +kilogrammes), but the Chaldæans reckoned it at only 60-3/5 pounds +(30,300 kilogrammes).[397] + +The weight of the cubic measure was also the standard for imperial +weight in Babylonia. The oldest weight which we know dates from the time +of Ilgi, king of Ur. The stone, which in shape is not unlike a duck, has +the inscription: "Ten minæ of Ilgi."[398] There was a heavy talent +(Kikkar, _i.e._ "orb") arranged to weigh twice as much as the +quadrantal. Hence it weighed 121-1/5 pounds (60,600 kils.), and the +sixtieth, or mina, weighed over two pounds. The light talent weighed one +quadrantal, according to the estimate of the Chaldæans, _i.e._ 60-3/5 +pounds, and the mina was a little heavier than a pound of our weight. +But in weighing the precious metals, the Chaldæans used units, which +differed from the imperial weights in use for all other purposes. They +calculated by little circular pieces, or rings, or bars (tongues) of +silver and gold, and the smallest of these was equivalent to the shekel, +or sixtieth part of the mina of the heavy talent. These shekels were the +commonest and most indispensable measure of value. It was found easier +to reckon by units of 3,000 shekels, than by units of 3,600. And so it +came about that the mina contained fifty shekels instead of sixty, and +the talent 3,000 shekels instead of 3,600. The three thousand shekels as +a whole, no longer weighed 121-1/5 pounds, but only 101 pounds, and the +mina, or sixtieth part, instead of weighing fully two pounds, weighed +only about 1-3/5 pounds.[399] + +This weight, or the half of it (50-1/2 pounds), was retained for the +heavy and light gold talent. In the weight of silver trade caused a +further deviation. It was necessary to exchange gold and silver, and in +the East in antiquity the value of gold and silver was estimated at +13 : 1, or more accurately 13-1/3 : 1.[400] By making the silver shekel +(_i.e._ the fiftieth part of the silver mina), which corresponded to the +weight of the light gold talent, a little heavier, a silver coin was +obtained which stood to the fiftieth of the light gold mina, nearly in +the ratio of 10 : 1. Ten silver shekels of this weight could therefore +without any further trouble be exchanged for the fiftieth of the gold +mina, or gold shekel of the light gold talent. Hence arose a silver +talent of 67-1/3 pounds (33,660 kil.), a silver mina of 1-1/10 pound, +and a silver shekel of about eleven milligrammes. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[359] Diod. 2, 30. + +[360] Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 9, 10, ed. Müller. + +[361] Pindari Fragm. adesp. 83, ed. Bergk. + +[362] Schrader, "Assyr.-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 123; "Keilschriften +und Alt. Test." s. 280. + +[363] G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," p. 130. + +[364] 2 Kings xvii. 31. + +[365] Amos v. 26. + +[366] Eberhard Schrader, "Theologg. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 324 +ff. + +[367] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 167, 272; +"Assyr.-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 88, 129, 140. + +[368] Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 201-203. + +[369] Munter, "Religion der Babylonier," s. 28. + +[370] Herod. 1, 199. + +[371] Baruch, vi. 42, 43 (Ep. Jerem.); cf. Genesis xxxviii. 14 ff. + +[372] Ménant, "Babylone," p. 204. + +[373] Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldæer," s. 405. So, too, Istar of +Agane is opposed to Istar of Erech. + +[374] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 220; Schrader, "Höllenfahrt," p. 15 ff. + +[375] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 69, 85, 86. + +[376] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 201. + +[377] Diod. 2, 30. + +[378] Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 48. + +[379] Diod. 2, 30. + +[380] Diod. 2, 31. + +[381] Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, p. 137. + +[382] 2 Kings xxiii. 5-7. + +[383] Diod. 2, 31. + +[384] Stuhr, "Die Religionsysteme der Völker des Orients," 1, 424. + +[385] Sayce, "Bibl. Archæol." 3, p. 153. + +[386] Diod. 2, 30, 31; Daniel 4, 4. + +[387] Above, p. 268; Strabo, p. 739. + +[388] Movers, "Religion der Phoenizier," 2, 262, 275. + +[389] Schrader, "Assyrisch. Babyl. Keilschriften," s. 105. + +[390] G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 387, 388; Ménant, "Les Achæmenides." +Recently a tablet has been found, supposed to belong to the time of +Cæsar. + +[391] De Rougé, "Sur l'Origine Egyptienne de l'Alphabet Phénicien;" +Lauth, "Sitzungsber. d. Bair. Akad. d." 10, 1867, pp. 84-124. The +inscription of Mesha, king of Moab, proves by the formation and use of +the letters that this alphabet had been known for a long time. + +[392] The Basalt duck of Irba Marduk--no doubt a piece of Babylonian +booty--was found at Nineveh.--Layard, "Discoveries," p. 601; Schrader, +"Assyr. Babyl. Keilschrift," s. 175; De Vogué, "Rev. Arch." 11, 366. + +[393] Ideler, "Handbuch der Chronologie," 1, 207; Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." +3, p. 160. + +[394] Ideler, "Sternkunde der Chaldaer," s. 214. + +[395] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 20 ff. + +[396] Herod. 2, 109. + +[397] Brandis, "Münzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 36 ff. + +[398] George Smith, "Records of the Past." 3, 11. + +[399] These statements are founded on the more recent forms established +by Brandis, "Münzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 158, ff. + +[400] Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 85. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA. + + +Like the Pharaohs, the rulers of Babylon sought their fame in +magnificent buildings. But their works have not been able to withstand +the ravages of time with the same durability as the stone mountains and +porticoes on the Nile. The lower Euphrates does not lie, like the Nile, +between walls of rocks, from which the most beautiful and hardest stone +could be obtained. The plain of Babylonia afforded nothing but earth for +the bricks, which were sometimes burnt, sometimes dried in the sun; and +excellent mortar was to be obtained from the large asphalt pits on the +Euphrates, especially at Hit. Hence it was necessary to unite the walls +more strongly. In the palaces, and temples, the walls of brick were +covered with slabs of gypsum, or limestone, which must often have been +brought from a distance, and these slabs were then covered with +sculptures, like the stone walls of the Egyptian buildings. But more +commonly the ornaments on the inner walls, and occasionally even those +on the outer walls, consist of bricks coloured and glazed. Though the +material in Babylonia was more fragile than the granite of Egypt, the +extent, scale, and splendour of these buildings were so great, that +remains even of the oldest have come down to our time. The upper +portions of the brick walls have fallen down, and the ruins of the +Babylonian cities have thus for the most part become unsightly enough; +but not the less do they point out the positions of the old buildings, +and under the heaps are hidden the most valuable remains of those +ancient periods. + +As has been already remarked, the cities in the south of Babylonia are +the first to emerge in the progress of the country. The oldest princes +call themselves kings of Ur and Nipur; they build at Ur, at Nipur, at +Erech, and at Senkereh, between Erech and Ur. Not till the time of +Hammurabi, and perhaps through his power, did Babylon become the centre +and metropolis of the kingdom. He and his successors built at Babylon, +Borsippa, Sippara, and Kutha, as well as in the southern cities. The +universal characteristic of these buildings, so far as the remains allow +us to pass any judgment, is the extraordinary strength of the walls and +the obvious effort to obtain, by placing one story of solid masonry upon +another, higher positions, better air, and a more extensive view in the +level plain. The temples seem almost universally to be built in this +tower-like style, either in order to be nearer the gods in the purer and +higher air, or because the gods, as spirits of the heaven, and as bright +luminaries of the sky, received the sacrifices here offered to them, and +the prayers hence addressed to them with greater favour. On the inside +their structures were built of square bricks three or four inches in +thickness, and on the outside these bricks are lined with burnt tiles. +The tiles almost invariably carry in the middle the impression of the +stamp of the king who used them. + +The ruins of Ur (Mugheir), on the western bank of the Euphrates, occupy +a considerable space, shut in by the remains still traceable, of a +wall, running in an oval shape, and from three to four miles in +circumference. Amid these ruins rises, to the north-west, a heap of +bricks and broken tiles, which is even now about 70 feet above the +surface of the plain. On a plateau about 20 feet in height is a +rectangular building, with the four sides directed exactly to the four +quarters of the sky. The two longer sides are about 200 feet in length, +the shorter sides are about 130 feet. It was a solid mass of brick, +joined with bitumen, about 27 feet high; the outer walls, of burnt +tiles, are about 10 feet thick. Buttresses of eight feet in breadth +surround the whole story at short distances. The centre of the structure +is pierced by narrow air-passages extending from one side to the other. +On this story is a second, 120 feet in length by 75 feet in breadth, and +even now about 17 feet high. The ruins lying on this point to a third +story, which may have contained the actual temple. There are traces +still remaining of the entrance, which led up from the outside. The +tiles of the lower story bear the stamp, "Urukh, king of Ur, has erected +the temple of the god Sin;" on those of the upper story we find, "Ilgi, +king of Ur, king of Sumir, and Accad." This building was, therefore, the +temple of Sin, which Urukh commenced and his son Ilgi continued and +completed--a fact which is further proved by the inscriptions of +Nabonetus, the last king of Babylon, which were found in these ruins. To +the south-east of this structure lies a platform, faced with tiles, 400 +feet in circuit, which probably supported another temple or a palace. +The foundation walls of various chambers can still be traced. Similar +structures are found in the ruins of Abu Shahrein, south of Mugheir on +the Euphrates. From a wide platform rises a square structure surrounded +by a wall, in which are the remains of decorated chambers. North of Ur, +on the east bank of the Euphrates, the remains of Senkereh form a +circular plateau, not quite five miles in circumference; the ruins rise +gradually towards the centre, which is marked by the remains of a +structure 320 feet long and 220 broad, the walls of which, on one side, +still rise 70 feet over the plain. In these and the other ruins of +Senkereh inscriptions are found in considerable numbers, which give us +the names of kings from Urukh to Cambyses. + +In the ruins of Erech (Uruk, Warka), above Senkereh, on the eastern bank +of the Euphrates, are found the remains of an outer wall, broken by +semicircular towers open to the city. This wall forms an irregular +circle of more than five miles in circumference. Here and there the +ruins are still about 40 feet high. Within the wall are three heaps of +ruins. On the highest, which forms an exact square of more than 200 feet +at the base, we may trace the ruins of a second story. This heap is +about 100 feet in height. It consists of bricks alternating with layers +of reeds at intervals of four or five feet in height. Here also there +are buttresses, in which the tiles are cemented with bitumen. To the +west lie the remains of an oblong structure of double the size. The +ruins of Nipur are sixty miles to the north of Erech, in the land +between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Here are several rounded heaps, +but they are of less extent than the remains of Ur, Senkereh, and Erech. + +The heaps of ruins which rise out of the plains some miles to the +south-west of Babylon--the Arabs call them Birs Nimrud, _i.e._ "the +fortress of Nimrod"--exhibit the same plan of structure as the ruins of +the temples at Ur and Erech. Within a square wall, on a platform of +brick, rises a square story, 272 feet on every side, and 26 feet in +height; over this is a second story, of the same height, but forming a +square of 230 feet only, and not placed exactly in the middle of the +lower story, but in such a manner that on one side it recedes 12 feet +only, but on the other 30 feet from the edge of the lower plateau. In +the same way the third and still smaller story rests on the second. It +is of the same height as the others. The fourth story is only 15 feet in +height. The loose mass of ruins does not allow us to trace any more +stories. Hence the building in all probability consisted of seven +stories. It appears that these ruins, like the extensive heaps of +remains lying to the east of them (Tel Ibrahim), mark the site of the +ancient Borsippa. The tiles of the stories, which lie one over the +other, bear the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar II., and in the angles of the +building cylinders have been discovered,[401] on which Nebuchadnezzar +relates that the temple of the seven lamps of the earth, the tower of +Borsippa, which an earlier king had commenced but not completed, and +which had fallen into decay for many years, was again erected by him, +and the pinnacles covered with copper. In his great inscription of +Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar further tells us that he "restored the marvel of +Borsippa, the temple of the seven spheres of the sky and of the earth, +and covered the pinnacles with copper." In the same inscription it is +said that Nebuchadnezzar built temples at Borsippa to the goddess Nana, +to Adar, Bin, and Sin, and that he restored and completed Beth-Sida, +_i.e._ the chief temple of Nebo at Borsippa; nevertheless we may be +certain, from the cylinders actually found in the ruins, that the +remains are those of the temple of the seven lamps.[402] + +Turning from Borsippa to Babylon, we find Herodotus describing the +largest temple of the city in the following manner:--"The sanctuary of +Zeus Belus--it is in existence still--forms a square of two stadia on +every side, and is furnished with iron gates. In the midst is a massive +tower, a stadium in the square. Over this tower stands another, and +again another, till there are eight towers, one over the other. They are +ascended from the outside, and the ascent goes up round all the towers. +Half-way up there is a resting-place, and seats for those who are +ascending. On the highest tower is a large temple, and in the temple a +large and beautifully-prepared bed, and beside it a golden table. There +is no image there, nor does anyone watch there through the night except +a woman of the country, whom, as the Chaldæan priests say, their god has +chosen out of all the land. They also declare, though I do not believe +it, that the god sometimes comes into the temple and rests on the bed. +In this sanctuary there is also another temple below, and in this there +is a great image of the seated Zeus, of gold, and a large golden table; +the footstool and seat are also of gold; and altogether, as the +Chaldæans say, the amount of gold used is 800 talents. Outside this +temple is a golden altar, on which only sucking creatures may be +sacrificed, and also a larger altar, where the full-grown animals are +sacrificed. On this the Chaldæans burn in every year 1,000 talents of +incense when they celebrate the festival of the god. Here was another +golden image of the god, 12 cubits high. But this I did not see; I only +repeat what the Chaldæans told me. This image Xerxes had taken away. +Such were the adornments of the temple, and besides these there were in +it many dedicatory offerings given by individuals."[403] + +Diodorus, who wrote four hundred years later than Herodotus, +relates:--"In the middle of the city was the sanctuary of Zeus, whom the +Babylonians call Belus. But as the writers give different accounts of +the temple, and the structure has fallen from age, it is not possible to +say anything certain about it. Yet they agree that it was extremely +high, and that the Chaldæans here made their observations of the stars, +as the height of the building enabled them to observe accurately their +rising and setting. The whole building is said to have been constructed +of burnt brick and bitumen, with great skill and much ornament. On the +top were three statues of Zeus, Hera, and Rhea, of beaten gold. The +statue of Zeus represented him standing and advancing. It was 40 feet +high and 1,000 Babylonian talents in weight. Of the same weight was the +statue of Rhea, in which the goddess was seated on a golden throne. +Beside her knees were two lions, and close at hand two very large +serpents of silver, each weighing 30 talents. The standing figure of +Hera weighed 800 talents; in her right hand she held a serpent by the +head, and in the left a sceptre studded with precious stones. Before +these statues was a common table of beaten gold, 40 feet long and 15 +feet broad, and 500 talents in weight. On the table were two chalices, +each 30 talents in weight. There also were two vessels for incense, each +30 talents in weight, and three great jars, of which that consecrated to +Zeus was 1,200 talents in weight, and the two others 600 talents +each."[404] Strabo contents himself with the remark: "The now ruined +grave of Belus was a square pyramid of burnt bricks. It was a stadium in +height, and a stadium on every side. Alexander intended to rebuild it, +but the work was enormous, and required a long time; the removal of the +debris alone employed 10,000 workmen for two months, so that he could +not bring it to an end, for soon after he fell sick and died."[405] What +Diodorus tells us of the many thousand talents of gold, of the statues +and utensils on the top of the temple-tower, is borrowed from Ctesias, +and belongs to the romance or poetry of the East from the time of the +empire of the Medes. But we cannot doubt that there was a considerable +amount of gold in the greatest sanctuary at Babel. The seated image of +gold in the lower temple, which Herodotus saw, weighed, according to the +Chaldæans, 800 talents, _i.e._, on the light imperial scale, 50,000 +pounds. + +It was this magnificent temple at Babylon to which the tradition of the +Hebrews has attached the account of the building of that tower in the +plain of Shinar of which the top should reach heaven. The mighty men, +the giants of the ancient days, desired to climb heaven. Their insolence +and wicked purpose was punished by the confusion of language and the +dispersion of mankind. Josephus makes Nimrod, as the founder of the +kingdom of Babylon, the promoter of this wicked scheme. Nimrod intended +the tower to be so high that a second flood could not reach the top, and +thus men would be able to bid defiance to the gods, and yet be secure +against a second destruction.[406] + +Let us now inquire what conclusions, if any, can be derived from the +inscriptions about the great temple of Babylon. From ancient times there +was at this place a sanctuary of the name of Beth-Sagall, or +Beth-Saggatu, _i.e._ "House of the Height." Whether this was erected as +early as Hammurabi is doubtful; but an inscription of his successor +tells us that he set up the image of the god Merodach (Marduk) in +Beth-Sagall.[407] These inscriptions of king Esarhaddon, who ruled over +Assyria and Babylonia from 681 B.C. to 668 B.C., tell us that "he caused +tiles to be made in Babylon for Beth-Saggatu, the temple of the great +gods."[408] After the restoration of the Babylonian empire +Nebuchadnezzar always calls himself in his inscriptions, "Supporter of +Beth-Saggatu, and Beth-Sida." Beth-Sida, _i.e._ "House of Prosperity," +or "House of the Right Hand," was the name of the rich temple of Nebo at +Borsippa. "Like a pious man," says Nebuchadnezzar in one of his +inscriptions, "I have dealt towards Beth-Saggatu, and towards Beth-Sida. +I have magnified the splendour of the god Merodach, and the god Nebo, my +lords: I have completed Beth-Sida, the eternal house, where Nebo and +Nana are enthroned, at Borsippa."[409] "I have set up Beth-Saggatu, and +beautified it; Beth-Sida I have completed."[410] On the cylinders found +in the ruins of the temple of the seven lamps, Nebuchadnezzar says: +"Beth-Saggatu is the temple of the Heaven and the Earth, the dwelling of +Merodach, the lord of the gods, and with pure gold have I caused the +temple to be covered, where his splendour rests; the temple of the +foundations of the earth, the tower of Babylon, I have restored, with +tiles and copper I have completed it, and raised its summit."[411] The +chief inscription on the stone of black basalt relates at greater length +how Nebuchadnezzar adorned the sanctuary in Beth-Saggatu, where Merodach +rested; how he set up the marvel of Babylon, the temple of the +foundations of the heaven and the earth; how he raised the summit with +tiles and copper. The description of this erection concludes with the +satisfaction felt in seeing that Beth-Saggatu was now completed.[412] +And not only does Nebuchadnezzar boast of the care and attention +bestowed by him on Beth-Sida and Beth-Saggatu. The prince before whose +arms the creation of Nebuchadnezzar, the restored kingdom of Babylon, +was overthrown--Cyrus, the Persian, calls himself on the stamp of a tile +at Senkereh, "Kuru, supporter of Beth-Saggatu and Beth-Sida, son of +Kambuzija."[413] + +This series of evidence shows that the lofty temple of Belus, which +Herodotus has described for us above, was to the Babylonians "the House +of the Height," the temple of Bel Merodach (p. 268), and that it was the +first of the three temples in which the kings of Assyria sacrificed when +they trod the soil of Babylon at the head of their victorious armies, +or as sovereigns; and that of these three rich temples, _i.e._ the +temple of Nergal at Kutha, Beth-Sida, the temple of Nebo at Borsippa, +and Beth-Saggatu, the temple of Merodach at Babel, the latter was +certainly the most wealthy. Moreover, the inscriptions show that the +foundation goes back as far as the times of king Hammurabi, whose +accession we found it possible--on hypothesis only, it is true--to place +in the year 1976 B.C. But even the Hebrew narrative of the building of +the Tower of Babel, which must have been written down before 1,000 B.C. +(below, chap. vii.) proves, in this respect harmonising with the +inscriptions, that long before this time there must have been in Babylon +a structure of great height, but unfinished. + +Herodotus, in his description of Babylon, tells us that the Tower of +Belus was on one side of the Euphrates, and the royal castle on the +other. On which side each of these lay, he does not state. Xenophon +speaks of the palace of Babylon, and beside this of special +castles.[414] From the accounts of those who accompanied Alexander, it +is clear that there were two royal castles in Babylon, one on the right +hand and one on the left of the Euphrates, which certainly were not +built under the Achæmenids. Berosus tells us that Nebuchadnezzar built +himself a palace beside that of his father Nabopolassar. The +inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar speak repeatedly of the continuation of +the palace at Babylon which his father had begun.[415] As the two great +heaps of ruins on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, El Kasr and Amran +ibn Ali, exhibit on the tiles found there the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar, +this palace of the ruler of the restored kingdom must have lain on the +east bank of the Euphrates. Diodorus describes the two castles of +Babylon, of which one was on the east and the other on the west bank of +the river; while both were adorned with various ornaments. "That in the +part lying towards the west" had a circuit of sixty stades, inclosed by +lofty and costly walls. These were followed by a second circular wall, +on the rude bricks of which various kinds of animals were stamped, and +brought into a resemblance with the reality by the painter's art. The +circumference was forty stades in length, and the wall was three hundred +bricks in thickness; the height, according to Ctesias, was fifty +fathoms, and the tower rose to sixty fathoms. The third interior wall +which surrounded the buildings was twenty stades in circuit, but in +height and thickness it surpassed the middle wall. On this and the +towers belonging to it animals of all kinds were depicted with +considerable skill in form and colour. The whole exhibited a chase, full +of many different animals, which were of more than four cubits in size. +Among these was a queen on horseback, who threw her dart at a panther; +and at hand was the king, who thrust at a lion with his lance. This +palace surpassed both in size and beauty the palace on the other side of +the Euphrates. Here the exterior wall of burnt tiles was only thirty +stades in circumference, and instead of the numerous animals were bronze +statues of a king and a queen and of governors, and also a bronze statue +of Zeus, whom the Babylonians call Belus. But in the interior were +military evolutions and hunting scenes of every kind, which gave varied +amusement to the spectator.[416] Ctesias, whom Diodorus followed in +his description of the palace on the west bank, as in his account of the +treasures in the Tower of Belus (p. 293), has also borrowed, in his +description of this castle, the erection of which he ascribes to Ninus, +from the Medo-Persian Epos, and this, as I shall show below, endeavoured +to place the glory of Ninus and Semiramis in the most brilliant light. +Hence, though here, as in the account of the treasures, considerable +deductions are to be made, we can nevertheless recognise the fact that +the castle of the ancient kings of Babylon on the western bank of the +Euphrates was of considerable size, magnificent, and well fortified, +although the remains now in existence are fewer and far smaller than +those of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar on the eastern bank of the +Euphrates, where the painted and glazed tiles also confirm what Diodorus +says of the battle and hunting scenes of this palace. If the ancient +royal castle lay on the western bank, the Tower of Belus rose opposite +it on the eastern bank. This is proved by an inscription of +Nebuchadnezzar, in which we are told:--"In order to protect Beth-Saggatu +more strongly, and secure it from the attack of the enemy, I have +erected a second wall, the wall of the rising sun, which no king had +built before me."[417] Hence we may with certainty affirm that the most +northern of the heaps on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, the heap of +Babil, the summit of which still rises 140 feet above the river, is the +remains of the great tower of Bel Merodach. + +The ancient kings of Babylon, Hammurabi and his successors, not only +built temples and palaces, but also fortresses. Hammurabi has himself +already told us, that he built the fortress of Ummubanit, "the towers +of which were as high as mountains." Kurigalzu built the fortress of +this name (Akerkuf, p. 262). Of the extensive walls of Ur and Erech we +have already spoken, and Sennacherib could boast of having taken +eighty-nine fortresses in Babylonia (p. 258). + +Herodotus observes that in Babylonia the river (Euphrates) does not +overflow into the fields spontaneously, as in Egypt. It is not so active +as the Nile, and the water has to be raised artificially by hand, and by +wheels.[418] The provision of a sufficient supply of water for the land +was not neglected by the kings. We have already seen (p. 261) that king +Hammurabi boasted to have supplied Sumir and Accad with water for ever. +The canal system of Babylonia began about 150 miles above the +metropolis.[419] The main object was to protect the plain from the rapid +floods of the Euphrates by dams, and to moderate the flow of the +inundation. Reservoirs were required to receive the water of the +overflow, and preserve it against the time of drought. It was also +necessary to carry the water as far as the middle of the plain, which in +ordinary years it failed to reach, to form a network of canals to convey +water from the Euphrates even when there was no inundation, and finally +to dig trenches to remove the water from districts where it lay too +long, and to drain the broad marshes on the lower river near the mouth +of the Euphrates. From the inscription of Hammurabi, and the numerous +remains of dams and canals, we may conclude that the kings of Babylon +constructed large and comprehensive works of this kind, which were of +use not in agriculture only, but for commerce also. The brief duration +of the later restoration of the kingdom could not allow time to complete +the greater part of the vast structures and conduits, of which traces +and ruins are still in existence. The canal Naarsares, which was carried +from the Euphrates above Babylon toward the west, and ran parallel to +the stream till within a short distance of the mouth; the canal +Pallakopas, which was derived from the main stream 100 miles below +Babylon, and emptied into the Chaldæan lakes, in order to convey to them +the excess of water from the Euphrates; and three junction canals above +Babylon between the Euphrates and Tigris, from which trenches branched +off for irrigation, appear to belong to the time of the ancient kingdom +(see below). These labours of the princes, the numerous dams and "waters +of Babylon," attained their object. Babylonia was a garden where the +land brought forth more abundant fruits than in Egypt. + +Very few relics are left of the sculpture of the Babylonians. If we set +aside a few sketches on cylinders and seals, we have no means of knowing +at first hand the images of their gods. The form of the god Nebo on the +cylinder of Urukh has been already mentioned (p. 260). The finished +statues cannot have been very different from the images of the Assyrian +gods and the statues of Nebo (p. 267). The remains of the ornaments of +the friezes in the palaces of Babylon are scarcely to be distinguished +from Assyrian sculptures. They are bearded, long-haired heads of serious +expression, with tall, upright headdresses. Beyond these only a few +figures in clay have been preserved, which are not without a certain +truth of nature, though exaggerated, and a rude though powerful lion of +stone standing over a prostrate man, from the ruins of Babylon. Whether +we regard it as unfinished, or as belonging to the infancy of art, this +work is all that we possess of full figures in stone, except a duck, +intended for use as a weight (p. 282). The human forms on the numerous +seal cylinders are often sketched in rude, childish outlines. On the +other hand, the single relief of a king of Babylon hitherto discovered, +though massive, is of artistic and neat workmanship. The king wears a +long and very richly-adorned robe with close sleeves, which are fastened +by bracelets round the knuckles. The robe reaches to the ankles, over +which come the richly embroidered shoes. The head is covered by a tall, +upright tiara, on which are horses with wings and horns. The king has a +bow in his left hand, and two arrows in his right; in his girdle is a +dagger. It appears to be an image of Mardukidinakh, the opponent of +Tiglath Pilesar I. of Assyria (p. 262). The forms of the animals in the +reliefs, and the cylinders, are lively in conception and vigorous in +workmanship; they consist of dogs, birds, apes, deer, and antelopes. +Humorous sketches of animals in caricature are also found on cylinders, +and the earrings and ornaments, found in the ruins, are, in part, of +delicate workmanship. + +The most remarkable remains in the ruins of Ur and Erech are the tombs. +At Ur, outside the wall already mentioned, there is a broad band of +sepulchres encircling the ruins of the wall. The tombs are chambers of +seven feet in length, three to four feet in breadth, and five feet in +height. The roofs are formed by tiles projecting in successive layers +over the walls, and thus gradually approaching each other. The floors +are also covered with tiles. On the tiles lay a mat of reeds, and on +this the corpse was placed, generally turned to the left side, with the +head on a brick; the right arm, laid towards the left over the breast, +rests the fingers on the edge of a copper saucer. Clay vessels for food +and drink are found on the walls. In the ruins of Erech the whole space +between the three prominent heaps of ruins and the external walls is +filled with tombs, bones, and relics of the dead. The coffins here are +receptacles partly oval, made of burnt clay in a single piece, about +seven feet long, two and a half broad, and two to three feet high, +contracting towards the top; and partly narrow funnel-shaped vessels of +clay rounded off at both ends and united in the middle, in which the +body was closely fitted. The position of the skeletons and objects round +them are the same in the oval coffins as in the brick vaults. As a rule +these coffins are not found under the surface, but in raised brick +buildings. They lie thickly together, and often in several rows, one +upon the other. Relics of weapons, necklaces, and bracelets, gold and +silver rings for the fingers and toes, and other ornaments, are found in +these sepulchres.[420] + +The industry of the Babylonians quickly attained great skill and wide +development. They were famous for their weaving in wool and linen. The +nations of the West agree in acknowledging the excellence of the cloths +and coloured stuffs of Babylonia. Their pottery was excellent and the +manufacture active; the preparation of glass was not unknown; the +ointments prepared in Babylon were famous and much sought after, and the +stones cut there were highly valued. The products of Babylonian skill +and industry were first brought to their kinsmen in Syria, who could +offer oil and wine in exchange. In the Hebrew scriptures we find +Babylonian cloaks in use in Syria before the immigration of the Hebrews +into Canaan.[421] How active the commerce between Babylonia and Syria +was even before that date is proved by the circumstance that the tribute +which in the sixteenth century B.C. was received by Tuthmosis III. from +Syria is put down on the inscriptions at Karnak (p. 135) in part in +weight by the mina, and in part, when reduced from the Egyptian to the +Babylonian weight, gives round sums corresponding to the Babylonian +weight, from which the conclusion can be drawn that the imperial +Babylonian weight and the Babylonian money weight were already in use in +Syria about this time. That the trade mina of the Syrians was the +sixtieth part of the heavy (weight) talent of the Babylonians is +ascertained; but the heavy and light gold talent, as well as the silver +talent of 67-1/3 pounds, must, according to these deductions, have been +known to the Syrians about this date.[422] Afterwards the Hebrews put +their gold shekel, on the basis of the heavy gold talent of Babylon, at +the fiftieth part of the mina of this talent. Besides the silver talent +of Babylonia, there was also a heavy silver talent of about ninety +pounds (44,760 kil.) in use in Syria. This came into existence because +in Syria fifteen, and not ten, silver pieces (fiftieths of the mina) +were equal to the fiftieth of the heavy gold mina (1-3/5 pounds), +(p. 285).[423] Along with their weights the Syrians also adopted the +cubic measures of the Babylonians. + +The rough material required by Babylonian industry was supplied in the +first place by the Arabs, who exchanged their animals, skins, and wool +for corn and weapons. Wine, and more especially wood, of which there was +none in Babylonia, were brought by the Armenians from their valleys in +the north down the Euphrates to Babylon.[424] Before 1500 B.C. the +commerce of the Arabs brought the products of South Arabia, the spices +of Yemen, and even the products and manufactures of India, especially +their silks, which reached the coasts of Southern Arabia (see below), to +Babylon. The Babylonians required the perfumes of Arabia and India to +prepare their ointments. In order to prepare the best or royal ointment, +twenty-five of the most precious perfumes were mixed together.[425] When +the cities of Phenicia became great centres of trade which carried the +wares of Babylonia by sea to the West in order to obtain copper in +exchange, the trade between Babylonia and Syria must have become more +lively still. It was the ships of the Phenicians which brought the cubic +measure, and the weights, and the cubit of Babylonia to the shores of +Greece, and caused them to be adopted there. In the ninth or eighth +century B.C. the Greeks completely dropped their old measures of length +and superficies, and fixed their stadium at 360 Babylonian cubits, their +plethrum at the length and the square of sixty Babylonian cubits, and +regulated the Greek foot by the Babylonian at a measure from 308 to 315 +millimeters, and made their cubit equal to one and a half of these +feet.[426] The light Babylonian talent became known in Greece under the +name of the Euboeic talent, while the Greek city Phocæa, on the +shores of Asia Minor, struck the oldest Greek coin, the Phocæan stater, +at the value of a fiftieth of the heavy gold mina of Babylon (1-3/5 +pounds). Chios, Clazomenæ, and Lampsacus followed the heavy Syrian +silver talent in their coinage; and lastly, Croesus made his gold +stater equal to the fiftieth part of the mina of the light Babylonian +gold talent (50-1/2 pounds), and his silver stater equal to the fiftieth +part of the mina of the Babylonian silver talent of 67-1/3 pounds.[427] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[401] H. Rawlinson, "Journ. Asiat. Soc." 1861, 18, 2 ff. + +[402] The assumption that the Birs Nimrud is the temple Beth-Sida at +Borsippa is contradicted by the inscriptions. The measurements of the +temple give no support for such a theory, even if the forty-two cubits +of the cylinders of Rawlinson are interpreted with Norris, "Dict." p. +280, by Amatgagar; for we do not know the value of this measure exactly. +I cannot regard Borsippa as a part of Babylon in the teeth of the direct +testimony of Strabo (p. 728), Justin (12, 13), and Ptolemy (5, 20). The +inscriptions of the Assyrians, and, not least, those of Nebuchadnezzar +himself, always mention Borsippa beside Babylon. If it be maintained +that in spite of this Nebuchadnezzar might have included Borsippa in the +walls of Babylon, the theory is contradicted by Berosus (Joseph, "c. +Apion." 1, 20), according to whom Cyrus besieges and takes Babylon while +Nabonetus is blocked up in Borsippa, and by Nebuchadnezzar himself, who, +after speaking of the great walls of Babylon, adds:--"I also laid the +foundations of the walls of Borsippa, the Tabi-subur-su" (Ménant, +"Babylone," p. 205). + +[403] Herod. 1, 181-183. + +[404] Diod. 2, 9. + +[405] Strabo, p. 738. + +[406] "Antiq." 1, 4. + +[407] G. Smith, "Records of the Past," 5, 69, 73. + +[408] Aberdeen inscription in Ménant, "Annal." p. 248. + +[409] Cylinder Phillips in Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 210, 211. + +[410] Cylinder of the British Museum in Ménant, p. 212. + +[411] Ménant, "Babylone," p. 216. + +[412] Ménant, _loc. cit._ p. 202. + +[413] "Transactions Bibl. Arch." 2, 148. + +[414] "Cyr. Inst." 7, 5. + +[415] Cylinder Grotefend, in Oppert, "Exped." 1, 232. Chief inscription +in Ménant, p. 206. + +[416] Diod. 2, 8. + +[417] Cylinder Phillips, in Ménant, "Babylone," p. 210. + +[418] Herod. 1, 193. 2, 11. + +[419] Xen. "Anab." 1, 7; Ammian, 24, 3; Strabo, p. 748, puts the borders +of Babylon at a canal, 18 schoenes, _i.e._ 135 miles above Seleucia, +and Seleucia was somewhat higher than Babylon. + +[420] W. K. Loftus, "Warka, its Ruins and Remains;" "Transactions of the +Royal Society," 2, 6, 1-64. + +[421] Joshua, vii. 21. + +[422] Brandis, "Münzwesen." s. 93. + +[423] Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 105 ff. + +[424] Herod. 1, 194. + +[425] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 103. + +[426] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 21 ff. + +[427] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 71, 107, 121. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE ARABS. + + +The Arabian peninsula is a repetition of Africa on a smaller scale and +in more moderate proportions, without a river-valley like that of the +Nile. The centre is occupied by a table-land, which presents a few +well-watered depressions lying under a burning sky between naked +deserts, plains of sand, cliffs, and bald peaks. Thus, in spite of the +great extent of the country (more than 1,000,000 square miles), there +are few districts in the interior of Arabia suitable for agriculture. +But towards the south, on the Indian Ocean, the plateau sinks down to +the sea in broad mountain terraces. Here are extremely fertile valleys, +and the most valuable fruits grow on the terraces in the tropic +atmosphere, which is cooled by the elevation of the mountains and the +winds blowing from the ocean. This is the land of frankincense, of the +sugarcane and coffee-tree, of pomegranates, figs, and dates, of wheat +and maize. + +Herodotus, who follows all antiquity in extending the name Arabia to the +deserts of Syria and Sinai, gives us but few notices of the inhabitants +of this wide district. "The Arabs," he tells us, "wear long garments, +and on the right side carry large bows, which can be strung on either +side, and travel on swift camels. They have only two gods--Dionysus, +whom they call Urotal; and Urania, whom they call Alilat. Urania is +known to the Babylonians as Mylitta, to the Arabs as Alilat. Bargains +are struck in the following manner. A third person makes an incision in +the hand near the thumb of each of the two persons who wish to enter +into the compact, and with the blood he smears seven stones lying +between them; calling at the same time on Urotal and Alilat. These +compacts are observed with a sanctity unknown to any other nation."[428] +Eratosthenes tells us that the Arab tribes lying next to the Syrians and +Jews were agricultural, but beyond them lay a sandy and poor soil, with +nothing but a few palms, acacias, tamarisks, and wells of water. This +district, as far as the Euphrates, was inhabited by the Nabatæans, +Agræans, and Chaulotæans, tribes who kept camels and lived in +tents.[429] Artemidorus of Ephesus calls Arabia rich in cattle, lions, +panthers, wolves, wild asses, and camels; the inhabitants were wandering +herdmen, who gained a subsistence from their camels; on them they rode, +from them they fought, and on their milk and flesh they lived. The names +of the Arabian tribes he is unwilling to mention, because of their +insignificance and harsh sound.[430] Diodorus also tells us that the +inhabitants of the part of Arabia towards Syria lived by agriculture and +trade, but with the Nabatæans the land began to be arid and barren; and +they led the life of robbers, plundering their neighbours far and wide; +no one had succeeded in conquering them.[431] The interior of Arabia, +and the western side, were occupied by plains of sand of enormous +extent. On these it was only possible to travel as on the sea, by taking +the Great Bear as a guide. In the whole of the interior there were no +cities, but only dwellers in tents, and the most part of the Arabian +tribes led a nomadic life, for Arabia was very rich in animals of +various kinds, so that the Arabs could easily live on them without +cultivating corn. They had large herds of cattle, and with these they +wandered over immeasurable plains. In conclusion, Diodorus praises the +fertility and beauty of a well-watered palm-grove in the peninsula +between the northern bays of the Arabian Sea, which the barbarians had +very justly consecrated to the gods, as it lay in the midst of a very +hot and desert land, surrounded by a wilderness. There was an old altar +there of hard stone inscribed with very ancient letters, which no one +could read. A man and woman presided for life as priests over this holy +palm-grove, and every four years the neighbouring Arab tribes sacrificed +hecatombs of goodly camels there.[432] Pliny observes: "Strange to say, +the Arabs live about equally on plunder and on trade; what they get from +their forests (by which is meant the products of the date-palms and the +fruit-trees of South Arabia) and from the sea they sell; but they +purchase nothing in return."[433] "The Arabs," says Ammianus +Marcellinus, "extend from the Euphrates to Egypt. They are half-naked, +with only a coloured apron round the body reaching to the middle. Every +man is a warrior. On their swift fine-limbed horses and their camels +they ride in every direction. They do not continue long in any one +place: without settled abodes they wander to and fro, and their whole +life is nothing but a flight. Of bread and wine the most part of them +know nothing whatever."[434] + +Of the southern coasts of Arabia the accounts are different. It is a +remark of Herodotus that the fairest blessings are allotted to the +extreme limits of the earth; and among other places to Arabia, the +southern extremity of the inhabited world. Here only, in all the earth, +grow frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and ladanum; here are sheep with such +thick tails, that carriages have to be fastened behind them. But the +frankincense trees are watched by winged serpents, and the cassia by +bats. Cinnamon does not grow in Arabia, but large carnivorous birds of +prey brought branches of cinnamon for their nests,--from which direction +the Arabs could not tell.[435] Heraclides of Cyme gave an account of the +wealth of the king of the land of frankincense. He pretended to know +that the expenses for the king, his wife, and friends, amounted each day +to the sum of fifteen Babylonian talents. Living an effeminate and +luxurious life, he always remained in the palace; he did nothing, and +was never seen by the people; but if anyone went into the palace to +complain of a decision at law, the king himself passed sentence.[436] +Through the trade connection of Alexandria Eratosthenes obtained better +information on these districts, and was enabled to mention the tribes +who possessed the south. "In the extreme end of Arabia next the sea +dwell the Minæans, whose metropolis is Karna; after these come the +Sabæans, whose metropolis is Mariaba; further to the west, as far as the +corner of the Arabian Gulf, are the Cattabani, whose kings dwell at +Thamna; finally, the Chatramites are furthest to the east, and their +city is Sabbatha. Each of these four districts is larger than the Delta +of Egypt; they have rain in the summer, and rivers which lose +themselves in the plains and lakes. Hence the land is so fruitful that +seed is sown twice in the year. The land of the Cattabani supplies +incense, the Chatramites produce myrrh; but elsewhere also fruits of +every kind are plentiful and cattle abundant. From the Chatramites it is +a journey of forty days to the Sabæans; from the Minæans the merchants +go in seventy days to Aela (Elath). The cities of the Chatramites, +Cattabani, Sabæans, and Minæans are rich, and adorned with temples and +royal palaces."[437] The Sabæans, the most numerous tribe of Arabia, +according to Agatharchides, who wrote in the second half of the second +century B.C., inhabited the so-called Arabia Felix. Here grew the most +beautiful fruits without number; here was an inexhaustible abundance of +animals of every kind. In the strips of land by the sea grew balsam and +cassia, and another plant most beautiful to the eye. In the interior +were thick forests of tall frankincense and myrrh-trees, and also +cinnamon-trees, palm and calmus, and trees of a similar kind, which, +like the others, send forth the sweetest odour. Owing to the innumerable +multitude, it is not possible to name and describe every species. The +perfume is divine and beyond all words. Even those who go past on the +coast, at a distance from the land, enjoy this perfume, if the wind is +blowing off shore. For there the spices are not cut and old and stored +up, but in fresh vigour and bloom, so that those who sail along the +coast believe that they are enjoying ambrosia, since no other word can +express the extraordinary power and strength of the odour. The monarchy +among the Sabæans is hereditary. Their chief city, Mariaba, lies on a +mountain; here lives the king, who pronounces justice for the people, +but he is never allowed to leave his palace. If he acts otherwise, he is +stoned by the people, in obedience to an ancient oracle. The Sabæans are +the richest people in the world. For a few goods silver and gold are +brought in quantities, and flow in from every side; while, owing to +their remote situation, they have never been conquered by any one. +Hence, especially in the metropolis, they have a number of vessels of +silver and gold and couches, and porticoes, the pillars of which are +gilded in the shaft, and the capitals are adorned with silver ornaments, +while the architraves and doors are finished with gold and precious +stones. On these structures they bestow great care and industry.[438] +Artemidorus of Ephesus, who wrote somewhat later than Agatharchides of +Cnidus, represents the king of the Sabæans and his court as living at +Mariaba, which lay on a wooded mountain, in effeminate luxury. Owing to +the abundance of fruit the people were lazy and inactive, and reclined +on the roots of the spice-trees. For fire-wood they used cinnamon and +cassia. The occupation of the people was partly agriculture, and partly +trade in spices, both native and imported from the opposite coast of +Æthiopia (Africa), whither the Sabæans passed over the inlet of the sea +in boats of skins. The neighbouring tribes received the wares from the +Sabæans, and then passed them on to their neighbours, till they reached +Syria and Mesopotamia.[439] Pliny tells us that the Sabæans were the +most famous of the Arabians, owing to their frankincense, and their land +reached from sea to sea. Their cities lay on the sea and in the +interior, the chief city being Mariaba. One portion of the Sabæans were +called the Chatramites, and their chief city, Sabbatha, had sixty +temples within its walls; further to the east were the Cattabani, whose +city, Thamna, could enumerate sixty-five temples. The Minæans lay in the +interior beyond the Chatramites. The frankincense was collected and +brought to Sabbatha, and could not be purchased and taken away by +strangers till the priests had set apart a tenth for the god of +Sabbatha. The only passage for exportation was through the land of the +Cattabani, to the king of which imposts had to be paid. The priests also +and the scribes of the king received presents, and the doorkeepers, +bodyguard, and escort. Thamna, the chief city of the Cattabani, was +distant seventy-five days' journey from Gaza. And as payments had to be +made, at one place for pasturage, at another for water, at a third for +the stage, and again for the convoy, the cost for each camel as far as +the Syrian desert amounted to 688 denarii.[440] + +According to the Hebrew Scriptures the Sheba, _i.e._ the Sabæans, "a +distant people, rich in frankincense, spices, gold, and precious +stones," were to be sought in the south of Arabia.[441] The tribe or +locality of Uzal, which Genesis and Ezekiel mention beside the Sabæans, +is the older name of the later Sanaa. The chief city of the Sabæans, +which Western writers call Mariaba, is the Maryab of the inscriptions. +To the east of the Sabæans, on the south coast, were situated the +Hazarmaweth of the Hebrews, the Chatramites of the Western nations, in +the district of Hadramaut, which still preserves the name. The Rhegmæans +of the Western nations, the sons of Rama among the Hebrews, are to be +sought in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, in Oman, the south-east +of Arabia. Further to the north-east, on the shore of this Gulf, were +the Dedanites; and yet further to the north-east the Havila appear to +have dwelt, who are perhaps the Chaulotæans, whom Eratosthenes places +towards the Lower Euphrates. The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly mention +the Hagarites, the Nebajoth (the Agræans and Nabatæans of Eratosthenes), +and further towards the interior of Arabia the Kedarites and Temanites; +and lastly, on the peninsula of Sinai, and on the borders of Canaan, the +Amalekites, Edomites, and Midianites. The Hebrews mention two chiefs of +the Midianites, whose names were "Wolf" and "Raven," the leather tents +of this people, the number of their dromedaries, and the moons which +their camels carried as ornaments. Next are mentioned the flocks of the +Nebajoth, the black tents of the Kedarites, their wealth in cattle +(large and small), and their brave bowmen.[442] + +The inscriptions of Egypt from the time of the Tuthmosis and the first +Ramses celebrate achievements performed, as it is said, by these +Pharaohs against the Punt, _i.e._ against the Arabs; but with one +exception, they do not supply any information of the land and the tribes +of this people. A daughter of Tuthmosis I., queen Misphra (Hatasu, +Ramake), who was regent first for her brother Tuthmosis II., and during +a considerable time for Tuthmosis III. (1625-1591 B.C.), wished to +become acquainted with "the land of Punt, as far as the uttermost end +of To-Neter." She equipped a fleet on the Red Sea, and led it in person +to the coast of Arabia. The inhabitants of the coast on which she landed +submitted, and she returned to Egypt with rich spoil, in which were +thirty-two spice-trees.[443] The inscriptions of the kings of Asshur +supply further information: among the tribes of the Arabians they +mention in the first place the Pekod, the Hagarites, whom they place in +the neighbourhood of the lands of Hauran, Moab and Zoba, the Kedarites, +Thamudenes, Nabatæans, and finally the Sabæans. The Hebrew Scriptures +bring the queen of Sheba to Solomon at Jerusalem, and represent her as +offering rich presents in gold and frankincense, and similarly +Tiglath-Pilesar II., king of Assyria, tells us that in the year 738 B.C. +he had received tribute from Zabibieh, the queen of Arabia (Aribi), and +in the year 734 B.C. he had taken from Samsieh, queen of the Arabs, +30,000 camels and 20,000 oxen, and further, that he had subjugated the +people of Saba, the city of the Sabæans. Sargon boasts that he had +subdued the people of Thammud (the Thamudenes), Tasid, Ibadid, Marsiman, +Chayapa, the distant Arbæans, and the inhabitants of the land of Bari, +"which was unknown to the learned and to the scribes," and that he +received the tribute of Samsieh, queen of the Arabs, and of Yathamir, +the Sabæan (Sabahi) in gold, spices, and camels (in the year 715 B.C.). +He mentions the land of Agag, "on the borders of the Arabs toward the +rising sun," _i.e._ the Eastern Arabs.[444] King Sennacherib took from +the Pekod, the Hagarites, Nabatæans, and some other tribes, 5,330 camels +and 800,600 head of small cattle (703 B.C.), and in the time of +Assurbanipal (about 645 B.C.) Adiya, the queen of the Arabs, and +Ammuladin, the king of the Kedarites, were brought in chains to Nineveh; +the "innumerable troops" of another prince, Uaiti, were defeated and his +tents burnt. Abiyateh also, who was leagued against Assyria, first with +Uaiti, and then with Nadnu (Nathan), the king of the Nabatæans, was +conquered, together with these allies, and the worshippers of Atar +Samain (Istar). Assurbanipal tells us that out of the booty of this +campaign he distributed camels like sheep, and that at the gate of +Nineveh camels had been sold for half a silver shekel (from 1_s._ 6_d._ +to 2_s._).[445] + +The position of Arabia, between the valleys of the Nile and the +Euphrates and Tigris, where agriculture and civilisation came into bloom +at an early period, and which were the oldest seats of trade and +industry, brought the Arab tribes who wandered along the borders of +these river valleys into connection with Egypt and Babylon. Barter had +to supply all that could not be obtained by freebooting. The nomads +required corn, implements, and weapons; Egypt and Babylon were in need +of horses, sheep, goats, and camels. The Arabians, therefore, could +exchange their animals for corn, weapons, and implements, and supply the +industry of Babylon and Egypt with a part of the necessary raw products, +more especially skins and wool. The tradition of the Hebrews represents +Abraham as going to Egypt, and the sons of Jacob buy corn in Egypt when +"there was a famine in the land." On the other hand, Egypt, as has been +already remarked, had already, under Snefru, the predecessor of Chufu, +_i.e._ about the year 3000 B.C., fixed herself in the peninsula of +Sinai, and when, a thousand years later, nomad tribes of the north-west +of Arabia obtained the supremacy in the valley of the Nile, and +maintained it for centuries (p. 123), their supremacy could only develop +further the trade between Egypt and the Arabs, between the ruling tribe +in Egypt and their kinsmen at home, and thus the contact with the +civilisation of Egypt and Babylonia was not without effect on the Arabs. +This contact increased their wants, and therefore increased their +trading intercourse. The Arabs could offer not merely the products of +their herds, they could exchange the costly spices and perfumes from the +southern coast of their land with each other, and so convey them to the +Egyptians and Babylonians. The Hebrew Scriptures make Keturah, _i.e._ +"Incense," the wife of Abraham, and from this connection spring the +Midianites and the Dedanites; to Esau, the son of Isaac, the progenitor +of the Edomites, they give a wife of the name of Basmath, _i.e._ +"Perfume,"[446] and in the twentieth century B.C., according to their +reckoning, we find a caravan of Ishmaelites, with camels, carrying +spices, balsam, and ladanum, and Midianites going for purposes of trade +to Egypt. + +The trade of Egypt and Babylonia with the south of Arabia, through the +medium of the Arab tribes, certainly goes back to the year 2000 B.C., if +the attempt was made in Egypt about the year 1600 B.C. to reduce +Southern Arabia. Not long after his campaigns in Syria and Mesopotamia, +Tuthmosis III. imposed on the Syrians a tribute of 828 minæ, and on the +Naharina a tribute of 81 minæ of spices;[447] hence such spices must not +only have found their way into these districts at this time, but must +have been already known as ordinary articles of trade. How strongly +Egypt felt her need of the products of South Arabia is most strikingly +shown by the fact that the Egyptians were very anxious to obtain these +products by the direct route over the Arabian Gulf; the canal which +Ramses II. began to make towards the gulf (p. 146) could have no other +object in view than to facilitate the communication between the Nile and +the coast of South Arabia and East Africa, by the Red Sea. Under Ramses +III. (1269-1244 B.C.) a great fleet is said to have sailed for a second +time to To-Neter, and to have returned to Coptus with the tribute of +these lands and a rich freight.[448] The need of incense was not less in +Babylon than in Egypt. We saw that the preparation of ointments was a +main branch of Babylonian industry, and Herodotus tells us that at the +feast of Belus, at Babylon, a thousand talents of incense, which +according to the light Babylonian weight is more than 60,000 pounds, was +burnt on the altar of the great temple. As the Temanites, Kedarites, +Nebajoth, and Midianites formed the medium of trade between South Arabia +and Egypt, so were the Rhegmæans and Dedanites the communicating link +between South Arabia and Babylonia. Among the Sabæans the Babylonian +talent was current.[449] + +This carrying trade between South Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia +must have increased when the cities of the Phenicians on the Syrian +coast became centres of trade which carried the manufactures of +Babylonia, as well as the products of their own industry, over the sea +to the West, and when the tribes of Greece and Italy began to desire the +incense and spices of Arabia. And it was not only the products of South +Arabia which the Arabs brought to Syria, Egypt, and Babylonia, but also +those of the south coast of Africa, and even of India. Artemidorus told +us that the Sabæans crossed the Arabian Gulf on boats of skins in order +to bring back the products of Ethiopia. Though it was possible to cross +the narrow basin by these means of transit, the mouths of the Indus and +the coasts of Malabar were beyond the reach of such skiffs. If in the +course of time Indian wares reached Syria through the Sabæans, they must +have been brought by the Indians themselves to the coasts of the +Sabæans. At the beginning of the second century B.C. the island +Dioscoridis, off the coast of Somali, which was known to the West as the +Land of Cinnamon, formed the centre of the trade between Egypt, South +Arabia, and India. To this island the ships of the Indians brought the +products of their land. + +In the first instance the Arabs transported the goods from South Arabia +to the Euphrates and the Nile on their camels, and afterwards it lay +with them to permit or refuse a passage for the caravans of the +Babylonians and Phenicians. First one tribe and then another lay in wait +for the caravans, plundered them, or allowed them to buy a passage, +convoy, or guide.[450] Eratosthenes has already told us that the +merchants took seventy days in going from the Minæans to Aela, _i.e._ to +Elath, on the north-east point of the Arabian Gulf, and Pliny fixes the +distance from Gaza to Thamna, the chief city of the Cattabani, at +seventy-five days' journey. Of the caravan road which led from the +Sabæans, _i.e._ in all probability from Maryab to Elath, we only know +that it ran along the coast, then passed from Elath by Sela and Bosra +into the mountains of the Edomites, then divided the land of the +Moabites and Ammonites, passed by Kir Moab (Charak Moab) and Rabbat +Ammon, Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, through the land of the Jeturites, +to Damascus, and finally, from this place reached the cities of the +Phenicians. A second road led apparently past the Oasis of Duma (Dumætha +of Ptolemy, Dumat-el-Dshandal) straight to Damascus. In the east the +Dedanites brought the products of South Arabia through the desert, by +the land of the Temanites and Kedarites, to the Lower Euphrates.[451] +The goods not required for Babylonia then passed up the Euphrates to +Harran (Charræ). From this point the caravans turned to the west, and in +twenty days arrived through the desert at the coasts of the +Phenicians.[452] + +How active the trade with the land of frankincense was is shown by the +words of the Hebrew prophet, who proclaims to the new Jerusalem: "A +multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and +Ephah (see below); all they from Shebah shall come; they shall bring +gold and incense. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together +unto thee; the rams of Nebajoth shall minister unto thee."[453] The +Arabs, when conquered by the Persians, were compelled to pay a yearly +tribute of 1,000 talents of incense,[454] _i.e._ at least 60,000 pounds. +This they could only obtain from South Arabia, and to Western nations +the connection between Damascus and South Arabia appeared so close, that +they represented the Sabæans as colonists of the Egyptians, Ninus and +Semiramis having sent colonies from Damascus to Arabia Felix. + +Though the Phenicians could receive the products of South Arabia and the +Somali coast by the high road of Elath, and from the Euphrates by +Harran, they were nevertheless eager to have a connection by sea with +these regions. They availed themselves of the relations in which they +stood to Solomon, king of Israel, in order to send ships from Eziongeber +down the Arabian Gulf, to Ophir, as far as the mouth of the Indus. These +ships brought back sandalwood, apes, peacocks, and gold. This trade fell +with the decline of the kingdom of Judah, after the time of Jehoshaphat. +But when Amaziah of Judah again subjugated the Edomites, about the year +790 B.C., and after him his son Uzziah again advanced the borders of +Judah to the Red Sea, the Phenicians also resumed their connection with +the kings of Judah and the trade to Ophir.[455] Afterwards Pharaoh Necho +gave them an opportunity for a short time to set out upon their voyages +in the Arabian Gulf, not, indeed, from the north-east, but from the +north-west corner of the Red Sea. But immediately afterwards +Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, by subduing the Dedanites and planting +Babylonian centres of trade on the coast of Dedan and at the mouth of +the Euphrates, succeeded in transplanting the marine trade with South +Arabia to the Persian Gulf, while the conquest of the Kedarites also put +him in a position to strike a road across the desert from Babylon to +Sela (in the land of the Edomites, see below). Darius or the Ptolemies +were the first to succeed in the attempt made by Rameses II. and Necho, +and concentrated in the Bay of Heroonpolis the trade of Egypt and Syria +with South Arabia. + +Soon after the year 2000 B.C.--so we must conclude--the tribes of South +Arabia delivered their spices to the Egyptians, Syrians, and +Babylonians, and their incense, which Eastern nations, and in time +Western nations also, burned upon the altars of their gods. Then they +imported the products of the opposite shore of Africa, a region no less +fruitful than South Arabia, and at length the ships of the Indians +brought to them the products of the Indus and the Ganges. Thus South +Arabia not only exported her own fruits, she became the central mart of +East African and Indian products, the point of connection between +Eastern and Western Asia. Owing to the fertility of their valleys and +terraces, and their old and extensive trade, the tribes of the South +soon acquired a more fixed form of constitution and a more advanced +civilisation. Numerous remains of magnificent stone structures, ruins of +aqueducts, canals, basins, and dams, built with the object of preserving +and collecting the water which streamed down the terraces of the +mountains and in the valleys, still excite the astonishment of our +travellers for the excellence of the plan as well as for the strength of +the masonry. The ruins of Nedshran, Sirwah, Ghorab, Nakb-el-Hadshar, and +Misenat, and those of Maryab, the old metropolis of the Sabæans, confirm +what Western writers and Arab tradition tell us of the glorious palaces +of the ancient time and the mighty dams built in the valley of +Maryab.[456] The remains of the dams prove that South Arabia, like Egypt +and Babylonia, was far better cultivated in those distant times than +now; that there also the greatest importance was attached to irrigation, +and the inhabitants understood how to preserve and use the water from +the mountain-streams on the terraces. The natural assumption that at one +time the cultivation of valuable fruits was far more extensive in South +Arabia than at present can hardly be incorrect. The inscriptions found +in those ruins and elsewhere in the south-west of Yemen, though they do +not, so far as is at present ascertained, go back beyond the year 120 +B.C.,[457] give us some insight into the nature of the civilisation of +these tribes and the ancient form of the South Arabian language and +alphabet, which must have grown out of the Phenician at an early date, +and then have developed independently beside it.[458] Of a still more +recent date, from the first century A.D., we find in the opposite +north-west corner of Arabia numerous inscriptions on the rocks in the +region of Sinai, written in the North Arabian language and +alphabet.[459] + +The Hebrew Scriptures divide the tribes of the Arabs into four +groups--the Joktanites, among whom tribes of the south and east take the +lead; the Keturites, among whom are tribes of Western and Eastern +Arabia; the Ishmaelites, including tribes of the table-land of the +interior and North Arabia; and finally, the group of tribes who settled +and wandered on the eastern borders of Canaan--the Amalekites, Moabites, +Ammonites, and Edomites. The Hebrews derive the origin of the Arabs from +the progenitors from whom they were themselves sprung. To Shem, the son +of Noha, so Genesis tells us, Arphaxad was born, and "Arphaxad begat +Salah, and Salah begat Eber, and Eber begat Peleg and Joktan. And Joktan +begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth (the Chatramites, in +Hadramaut, p. 314), and Jerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal (Sanaa), and +Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba (the Sabæans), and Ophir and +Havilah (the Chaulotæans), and Jobab (the Jobarites of Ptolemy, on the +south coast), and their dwelling was from Mesha (Maishan, Mesene on the +Euphrates) towards Sephar (Dshafar, to the south of Sanaa and Maryab), a +mount of the East." Peleg, the elder brother of Joktan, was the father +of Reu, Reu, of Serug; then followed Nahor and Terah. Terah's sons were +Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. To Abraham Hagar, his Egyptian bond-servant, +bore Ishmael. Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael into the deserts of +Beersheba, but "God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the +wilderness of Paran, and was an archer, and his mother took him a wife +from the land of Egypt, and his first-born was Nebajoth (the Nabatæans, +p. 314), and his sons were Kedar (the Kedarites) and Adbeel, and Mibsam, +and Mishma, and Dumah (p. 320), and Massa (the Masanians of Ptolemy), +and Hadar, and Thema (the Themanites, p. 314), and Jetur (the Jeturites, +near Damascus, p. 320), and Naphish, and Kedemiah, twelve princes; and +the descendants of Ishmael dwelt from Shur, which is before Egypt, and +from Havilah (p. 314) to Asshur." "And again Abraham took a wife, whose +name was Keturah, and she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and +Midian (the Midianites) and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Joksham begat Dedan, +and the sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher (p. 320). And Abraham gave +them gifts and sent them away into the east country."[460] Abraham's son +was Isaac, Isaac's oldest son was Esau, the father of the Edomites, and +Esau's grandson, Amalek, was the progenitor of the Amalekites.[461] +Haran, the brother of Abraham, begat Lot, and Lot's sons were Moab and +Ammon (the Moabites and Ammonites). From these genealogies it is clear +that the Hebrews looked on the Arabs almost without exception as kinsmen +of their own,[462] and as kinsmen of a more ancient branch, for the +Hebrews were descended from the second son of Isaac. The place nearest +to themselves they give to the Ishmaelites, who were divided into twelve +tribes, the descendants of the twelve princes, the sons of Ishmael--and +next in order came the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites. + +The native tradition of the Arabs is without historical value. Their +recollections hardly go back as far as the beginning of the Christian +era, and all that their historians who began to write after Mohammed +knew of the older fortunes of their race is either borrowed from the +Hebrews or mere imagination. The Amalekites, whom they found in the +Hebrew Scriptures, they took for their original stock, and represented +them as dwelling in Canaan and Damascus, as well as in the land of Mecca +and Oman, and even as ruling over Egypt. These Amalekites--the Tasmites +and Dshadi, the A'adites and Dshorhomites--they consider as the genuine +Arabs; to whom God had taught Arabic after the confusion of speech. But +the Tasmites and Dshadi are as little historic as Amalek in the Arabian +tradition; their names signify "the extinct" and "the lost;" the +A'adites are a purely fabulous nation, and the Dshorhomites (near Mecca) +are a tribe of no great antiquity.[463] The progenitor of the southern +tribes of Yemen is, in the Arabian tradition, Kachtan, the son of Eber, +and great-grandson of Noah. This is the Joktan of Genesis. Kachtan's +son, J'arab, founded the monarchy of the Kachtanids, in South Arabia; +Abd-Shams-Sabah, the grandson of J'arab, built the city of Mareb, the +chief city of the Sabæans, according to the Greeks. This founder of the +monarchy of the Sabæans left two sons, Himyar and Kachlan. The first was +the progenitor of the Himyarites, who are mentioned even by Western +writers, but not till the first century A.D., and then on the south +coast between Mareb and Hadramaut. The name Himyarites includes the +tribes of the Chatramites, the Codaa, the Kinana, the Dshoheina, &c. +Kachlan founded Dshafar (p. 324), and was the progenitor of the +Kachlanids, _i.e._ the Hamdanids, the Badshila, the Odthan, the Chozaa, +and other tribes. To the kingdom of Mareb, founded by Abd-Shams-Sabah, +the Arab tradition ascribes a long list of princes. But even if we +ascribe a period of more than thirty years to every name in this series, +the date of Kachtan is not carried back beyond 700 B.C.[464] +Abd-Shams-Sabah is said to have built not only Mareb, but also a great +dam for the irrigation of the country. The excellent dams, canals, and +sluices at Sanaa (the Uzal of the Hebrews, westward of Mareb) are said +to have been built by Asad.[465] The castles of Sahlin and Bainun (at +Sanaa) are said to have been built by demons at the bidding of Solomon +for Belkis, queen of Shebah. Besides these the Arabs talk of numerous +castles and fortresses in the south. Towards the year 100 B.C. Harith, a +descendant of Himyar, obtained the throne of the Sabæans; and the place +of the Sabæans is taken by the Himyarites, the Homerites of Western +nations, who henceforth are the ruling nation in Yemen, a change for +which Arab tradition prepares the way by making Himyar the son and +successor of Abd-Shams-Sabah. Harith's successors fixed their residence +first at Dshafar (Dhu Raidan), then at Mareb, and finally at Sanaa.[466] + +The tribes of the high land of the interior, whom the Arabs call Neshd, +_i.e._ "the high people," and certain tribes of Hidyaz, are derived by +tradition from Adnan, a grandson of Ishmael. When Ibrahim (Abraham) had +sent away Hagar and her son, and Hagar was about to perish in the +desert, the child Ishmael struck the earth with his foot, and from it +sprang the fountain of Zamzam, close to Mecca. Amalekites, in search of +their lost camels, found the spring, settled down beside it, and +worshipped Ishmael as the lord of the spring. Then came tribes from the +South, the Dshorhomites and Katura, to the fountain; and Ishmael married +the daughter of the chief of the Dshorhomites and begot Nabit (the +Nebajoth) and Kaidar (the Kedarites). The Amalekites and Katura were +then driven away, and the Dshorhomites remained alone in possession of +the fountain of Zamzam. Kaidar's son was Adnan. From Adnan sprang the +Benu Bekr, the Taghlib, the Temim, the Takif, the Gatafan, &c. If we +ascend the genealogies which Arab tradition gives to the princes of the +tribes sprung from Ishmael, in twenty generations, ending with Adnan, +the grandson of Ishmael, we only arrive at the end of the second +century B.C., even if we allow thirty years for each generation.[467] + +The few facts which we can make out about the religious worship of the +southern Arabs (they belong almost exclusively to the period in which +the Himyarites obtained the supremacy in South Arabia) exhibit a certain +connection with the worship of the Babylonians; but we cannot ascertain +whether this coincidence, like the close relationship of the South +Arabian and Babylonian languages (p. 256), is due to original unity or +later intercourse. The Byzantines tell us that the Himyarites worshipped +the sun, the moon, and certain demons of the land. The tradition of the +Arabs mentions Abd-Shams-Sabah as the founder of the kingdom of the +Sabæans, and the name Abd-Shams signifies the servant of the sun-god, +and hence in the eyes of the Arabs the worship of the sun-god must have +occupied a very prominent place in the religion of the Sabæans--a fact +which is confirmed by the inscriptions. They mention the sun-god (Shams, +Shamas), the moon-god Al-makak, and the gods Aththor, Haubas, and Dhu +Samavi.[468] The Himyarites are said to have worshipped the sun under +the form of an eagle (Nasr), and the Hamdanids (who dwelt to the north +of Sanaa and Mareb) under the form of a horse; a third tribe in Yemen +are said to have worshipped him in the form of a lion.[469] + +The accounts which we have of the religion of the tribes who in the +second century of our era, in consequence of the bursting of a great dam +at Mareb, according to Arab tradition, migrated to the North, and by +this migration destroyed or drove out or amalgamated with the new-comers +a considerable number of the old tribes of this region, prove that the +immigrants worshipped certain stars as their protecting deities. The +Tadshi immigrants from the South, who pastured their flocks on the oasis +of Duma (p. 320), worshipped Canopus; the Lachmites, who were driven +towards Hira, on the lower Euphrates, worshipped the fortunate star +Jupiter; and the Chozaa, who settled to the north of Mecca, worshipped +Sirius.[470] + +With regard to the religious rites of the tribes derived by the Arabs +from Adnan, we learn that the Benu Bekr, who forced their way from Neshd +towards the Euphrates, worshipped the god Audh, _i.e._ the burning one; +an ancient form of oath used by this tribe runs as follows--"I swear by +the blood streams round Audh and the stones set up beside Suair." The +Kinana and the Benu Gatafan in Hidyaz worshipped the goddess Uzza, a +name which is said to signify "the mighty one" in a sacred tree.[471] +The tribe of the Takif (near Taif, southward of Mecca) worshipped the +goddess Allat, in whose name we can, without difficulty, recognise the +Alilat of Herodotus: Alilahat means "the goddess." Among the palms of +the valley of Nachlah rose the mighty tree of the goddess, "presented +with sacred offerings;" but the Takif also prayed to this goddess under +the form of a white stone. A third goddess, of the name of Manat, held +sway in the district of Medinah; she was worshipped in a black +shapeless stone. The Kuraish swore by Allat, Uzza, and Manat.[472] Among +other tribes of the desert the goddess Halasah, or Venus, was +worshipped. According to the Western writers the Nabatæans are said to +have worshipped the sun and the war-god Dusares.[473] "His image is a +black, undressed, rectangular stone, four feet high and two feet broad, +on a pedestal of beaten gold. To this stone they offer sacrifice and +pour libations with the blood of the victims; such are their libations; +the whole temple is filled with gold and votive offerings." Modern +scholars identify this god Dusares with the Du'sharah of Arabian +writers.[474] Herodotus has already told us that on the conclusion of +agreements the stones between the two parties were smeared with blood; +and, as according to this evidence, the idols also were sprinkled with +the blood of the victims, we can explain the oath of Benu Bekr by the +bloodstreams round Audh. The statement of Herodotus that the Arabs +worshipped Urotal and Alilat only, and the statements of Strabo and +Arrian that they worshipped Zeus, and Dionysus, and the sky, must +apparently be limited to the migratory tribes of the north. + +Of the gods worshipped by the tribes bordering on Syria we have more +definite knowledge. The Midianites and Amalekites who possessed the +sandstone plateau of Sinai, and the deserts of Shur in the north, and +Sin in the south, worshipped on the highest peaks of that district +which the Hebrews called Horeb and Sinai (_i.e._ the Sinian), the god +Baal, who was also worshipped by the Syrians. At the foot of Sinai there +still remains the well-watered palm grove, with its rich black earth, of +which Agatharchides and Diodorus told us above (p. 309). It is the oasis +of Firan, and from the palms the mountain above it is still called +Serbal, _i.e._ "the palm forest of Baal."[475] The Moabites invoked Baal +on Mount Peor, and in times of distress appeased his wrath by human +sacrifices. In the same way the Ammonites worshipped their god Milkom; +the female deity of the Moabites was Astor, the Astarte of the Syrians, +who was also worshipped by the Kedarites.[476] That the Baal of Sinai +was a god who gave fruits and water in the desert is clear from the fact +that Herodotus could compare the god of the Arabs with Dionysus, and +Strabo and Arrian could ascribe the worship of Dionysus to the Arabs. + +From a general view of these scanty notices it becomes clear that the +basis of the religious conceptions current among the Semitic tribes of +Arabia was not widely different from that of the Semitic tribes by the +Euphrates and Tigris, or in Syria, which will be found to be connected +with each other. It is easy to understand that the rites of the tribes +bordering on Syria were nearer to the rites of the Syrians, and it has +been already remarked that the worship of the southern tribes appears to +be most closely allied to the rites of the Babylonians. Here, as there, +we find the worship of Astarte; Herodotus expressly calls the goddess +of the Arabs by the name of Mylitta, the Bilit of the Babylonians, whom, +as we shall see, the Canaanites also worshipped with much zeal. We saw +that in Babylon her power was recognized in the evening gleam of the +planet Venus, that all young things, fountains, and pools, belonged to +this goddess; and we shall find her worshipped in Syria on the shady +heights of Lebanon. The tribes of the Arabian deserts also consecrated +lofty trees to this goddess, their Allat, or Halasah; and just as they +believed that the power of this, as of other deities, was present in +stones, so shall we find a similar custom prevailing among the Syrians. +That the tribes of the deserts should pay especial reverence to the +deities of the stars--we have seen how systematised was the worship of +stars in Babylon--cannot surprise us. With the refreshing dew of evening +not Venus only or the moon, but the whole glory of the starry heaven met +the eye and touched the spirit of the Arabs. High above the tents and +resting flocks, above the nocturnal ride and waiting ambuscade, and all +the doings of men the stars passed along on their glittering courses. +They guided the Arabs on their way through the deserts; certain +constellations announced the wished-for rain, others the wild storms, +the changes of the seasons, the time for breeding in their herds and +flocks. As these stars at one time brought abundance and good pastures +for their flocks, and at another dried up the springs and scorched the +meadows, so could they also bring joy and happiness or trouble and pain +to men. Hence to the tribes of the desert especially brilliant stars +appeared as living spirits, as rulers over nature and the fortunes of +mankind. + +The life of the roving tribes in the interior whom the Arabs denote by +the general name of Badawi (Bedouins), _i.e._ "sons of the desert," has +undergone few changes; at the present day but slight deviations have +been made from the customs and conditions of the ancient time. Their +life was regulated according to their descent in patriarchal forms, and +the basis of it was the natural affection of the family. At the head of +the tribe stood the chief of the oldest family, from which the rest +derived their origin. All descendants of the patriarch who had given the +name to the tribe gave a willing obedience to his nearest descendants, +for the claims of primogeniture were sacred. The wealth in horses of +excellent breed, camels, and cattle is the pride of these tribal chiefs +and the symbol of their supremacy. Surrounded by the council of the +elders, the heads of the other families, the chiefs maintained peace in +the tribe, settled quarrels, led out the youth of the tribe on +plundering expeditions and in feuds, and divided the spoil. They alone +had the right to assemble the tribe, to carry the standards under which +the tribe fought, and give the command in battle. In rare instances the +remembrance of a common origin keeps several tribes together in a kind +of union under the chief of the oldest tribe, from which the others have +branched off, but as a rule the tribes hold proudly aloof and are +hostile to each other. They attack each other, plunder the tents, carry +off the women, children, and servants, and drive away the flocks. When a +feud has once broken out and members of a tribe have been slain, it is +incumbent on the family and tribe to which the dead belonged to revenge +the fallen, and kill at least as many members of the hostile tribe. +This duty of revenge is hereditary on either side, and descends from +generation to generation until the chief of a third tribe is chosen to +decide the quarrel and become a peace-maker by fixing a fine of cattle +or other property. + +In such a mode of life, which, in its general features, has remained +unchanged for thousands of years, the Arabs of the desert exercised the +virtues of reverence, piety, and attachment to their tribal chiefs; thus +there grew up among them a steadfast, manly character; they were true to +their promise when once given, and displayed a noble hospitality. If any +one came in peace to their tents, drink was given to him by the +daughters of the tribe from the fountains, the men took him as a friend +into their tents and shared their store of dates with him, or +entertained him with a sheep from the flock. When the stranger had once +set his foot in the tent, the host guaranteed his safety with his own +life. When the night came on with her refreshing coolness, the stranger +was required to sit in the starlight in the circle of the tribesmen. He +was expected to tell of his origin, his race, and tribe; and then the +hosts also told the fame of their ancestors and sang the deeds of their +fathers and themselves, the feuds and encounters in which their tribe +had been victorious, the virtues of their favourite horses, and the +swiftness of their camels. + +Poetry was the only form of intellectual life known to the tribes of the +desert. The Bedouins had a lively sense of the incidents which broke the +simple loneliness of their lives, and gave them a vigorous and even a +fiery expression. The artless song was the expression of feelings deeply +stirred by sorrow or joy. Such songs were equally adapted for calling +to mind their own deeds and fortunes or those of the tribe, and for +moral exhortation. They were "occasional" pieces. Lament for the dead, +praise of the noblest warrior, the battles and exaltation of the tribe, +the generosity and courage of their own tribe or hatred of the hostile +tribe, derision of the enemy, hunting, weapons, rides through the +desert, horses and camels, are the subjects of this poetry, which is +expressed in short iambic verses. Tradition mentions Lokman as the +oldest poet. He is supposed to be a contemporary of David; and round his +name is gathered a number of proverbs, gnomes, and fables. The short +poems lived on in the tribe, they were sung again and again, extended +and recast. At a later time there were also rhapsodes who could repeat a +store of such poems. + +The Arabs have developed in the most healthy and marked manner the +characteristic features of the Semitic race. Their roving life in the +deserts under the burning sun and amid tempests and whirlwinds of sand +has strengthened and hardened them. Surrounded in pathless isolation by +beasts of prey and hostile tribes, every one was dependent on his own +watchfulness and keenness, on his courage and resolution, on his horse +and his lance. On a frugal and scanty sustenance the body became lean +and thin, but supple, muscular, and capable of endurance; and in these +hardy bodies dwelt a resolute spirit. Thus the Arabs display a freer +attitude, a more steadfast repose, a more haughty pride, a greater love +of independence, and a more adventurous boldness than their kinsmen. +Their land and their mode of life have saved them from the greedy +avarice, from the luxury and debauchery, into which the Semitic nations +on the Euphrates and Tigris, as on the Mediterranean, often fell, +though they share in the cruelty and bloodthirstiness common to their +race. It was the Arabs on whose virgin strength a new Semitic empire and +civilization was able to be founded in the Middle Ages, when Babel and +Asshur, Tyre and Carthage, Jerusalem and Palmyra had long passed away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[428] Herod. 3, 7; 1, 131; 7, 69, 86. + +[429] Eratosthenes in Strabo, p. 767. + +[430] Strabo, p. 777. + +[431] Diod. 2, 48; 3, 44. + +[432] Diod. 2, 48, 50, 54; 3, 42, 43. The accounts of the grove are +taken from Agatharchides.--Strabo, p. 777. + +[433] "Hist. Nat." 6, 32. + +[434] Amm. Marcell. 14, 4. + +[435] Herod. 3, 107-113. + +[436] Heracl. Cuman. Fragm. 4. ed. Müller. + +[437] Apud Strabon. p. 768 ff. + +[438] Agatharch. "De Mari Erythr.;" apud Diod. 3, 45-48, and the excerpt +of Photius in Müller, "Geogr. Gr. Min." 1, 111 ff.; cf. Strabo, p. 778. + +[439] Strabo, p. 778. + +[440] "Hist. Nat." 12, 32; 6, 32 seq. + +[441] The queen of Sheba, who brings such large gifts of gold and spices +to Solomon, must in any case be regarded as the queen of the rich spice +land, and with this account agree other passages in which Sheba is +mentioned. To the Seba, who are mentioned in Psalm lxxii. 10, 15, as +rich in gold along with the Sheba, and are described in Isaiah as people +of great stature (xlv. 15; cf. xliii. 3), and are placed in Genesis x. 7 +among the children of Cush, I cannot assign any place. Prideaux assumes +that the two nations became amalgamated; "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 2. + +[442] Isaiah xxi. 13, 14, 17. + +[443] Dümichen, "Die Flotte einer ægyptischen Königin." + +[444] G. Smith, "Assyr. Discov." p. 286; Schrader, "Keilschriften und +Alt. Test." s. 56, 143, 163. + +[445] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 264, 265, 275. + +[446] Gen. xxv. 1-11; xxvi. 34; xxxvi. 11. + +[447] Birch, "The Annals of Tutmes III.;" "Archæolog." vol. xlv. + +[448] Papyrus Harris in Chabas, "Recherches sur la Dynastie 19," p. 59. + +[449] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 302. + +[450] Strabo, p. 756; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 12, 32. + +[451] Isaiah xxi. 13, 14. + +[452] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 293. + +[453] Isaiah lx. 6. + +[454] Herod. 3, 97. + +[455] 1 Kings xxii. 49; 2, xiv. 7, 22; 2 Chronicles xvii.; 2, xxvi. 6, +7. Under Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, Elath was again lost.--2 Kings +xvi. 6. + +[456] Caussin de Percival, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 16, 17; Wellsted, +"Reisen in Arabien, von E. Rödiger," 1, 307. + +[457] Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 19. + +[458] D. H. Müller, "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 1876, s. 522 ff. + +[459] Osiander in the "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 10, 17-73; +Praetorius, _loc. cit._ 26, 417 ff; Gildemeister and Levy, _loc. cit._ +24, 188. + +[460] Genesis xxv. 1-6. + +[461] Genesis xxxvi. 12-16. + +[462] The table in Genesis x. 7, places Ramah, Shebah, Dedan, Havilah, +among the sons of Cush, but in the genealogy of the Arabs (c. xxv.) +Shebah and Dedan are given to Joktan and Midian. + +[463] Nöldeke. "Ueber die Amalekiter," s. 23 ff. + +[464] Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49, arrives at the year 794 for +the birth of J'arab, by allotting thirty-three years to each generation. +Wüstenfeld, in his genealogical tables, gives from thirty to thirty-four +generations between Kachtan and Mohammed, and thus, though he allows +forty years for each generation, cannot reach beyond the year 700 B.C. +for Kachtan. + +[465] Osiander, in "Zeitschr. d. d. Morgen. Gesellschaft," 10, 27. + +[466] Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49-60; Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. +Arch." 2, 10. + +[467] Caussin, "Hist. des Arabes," 1, 166 ff. Wüstenfeld ("Genealogische +Tabellen") reaches higher, because, as already remarked, he allows forty +years for a generation. + +[468] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 41, 30; Lenormant, "Lett. Assyr." +2, 10. + +[469] Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. G." 7, 474; 10, 63; 11, 472; +Lenormant, _loc. cit._ 279; Caussin, _loc. cit._ 1, 113; Prideaux, +"Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 18. + +[470] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," 8, 24; Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. +G." 7, 473 ff. + +[471] Osiander, _loc. cit._ 7, 487. On a stone image we find a cow and a +calf with the inscription "Uzza." + +[472] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 73, 78. On the seven black stones +of the planets at Erech.--"W. A. J." 2, 50. On the stones of the Kaabah, +Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 2, 120 ff.; Caussin, "Hist. des Arabes," 1, +165, 176 ff. + +[473] Strabo, p. 784; Suid. [Greek: Theos Arês]; Steph. Byz. [Greek: +Dousarê]. + +[474] Krehl, _loc. cit._ s. 49. See _ibid._ on the worship of Alful, +Sahd, and Sahid. + +[475] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 330 ff. + +[476] Nöldeke, "Inschrift. des Mesa," s. 6. The amalgamation of Astarte +with Camus, like the amalgamation with Melkarth among the Phenicians +presupposes the separate worship of the goddess.--G. Smith, +"Assurbanipal," p. 283. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CANAANITES. + + +Between the basin of the Euphrates and Tigris and the Mediterranean rise +the mountains of Syria, an elevated plateau which ascends gradually from +the right bank of the Euphrates and descends steeply on the sea-coast. A +peculiar depression, known as Hollow Syria,[477] divides this region in +its entire length from north to south--from the Taurus to the N.E. point +of the Red Sea, and separates the plateau into an eastern and a western +half. The bed of the narrow valley reaches its greatest elevation in the +neighbourhood of the city of Baalbec (Heliopolis). From this point the +Orontes flows towards the north and irrigates the green gardens of Emesa +and Hamath, till it turns westward and finds a way toward the sea at +Antioch; the Leontes and the Jordan flow towards the south. Between +steep walls of rock the Jordan hurries down the gorge, and passes in a +rapid course through the lakes of Merom and Kinneroth (Gennesareth), +which are formed by the streams from the mountains on either side. The +deeper the bed of the valley the more valuable are the fruits growing in +the tropic atmosphere. The country round Jericho, the city of palms, +sheltered from the winds of the table-land and heated by the rays +refracted from the walls of rock, produces grapes and figs for ten +months in the year; its wealth in dates and balsam was rated high in +antiquity.[478] The course of the Jordan ends in the Dead Sea, the +surface of which is about 1,300 feet below the level of the +Mediterranean. + +Out of Hollow Syria rises on the east like a wall of rock the plateau of +Aram,[479] in naked, wild, and broken ridges, which, in Antilibanus, the +highest point, reaches 9,000 feet. On the back of the mountains we find +at first green pastures overshadowed by forests of oak, but further +towards the east the heights become bald and desolate, until the land, +as it sinks towards the Euphrates, gradually assumes the character of +the deserts, which are broken only by the fruitful depressions of +Damascus, Hieropolis (Membidsh), and Tadmor (Palmyra). + +On the west of the fissure the land is differently shaped. The coast is +a narrow strip of land, which only extends into small plains at the +mouths of the mountain streams; it is hot, moist, and unhealthy, but of +great fertility. Soon the white and yellow limestone rocks of the +mountains begin to rise. On these heights the air is purer and cooler, +and terraces planted with myrtles and oleanders, with pines, fig-trees, +and mulberries, alternate with vineyards. On the broad slopes of the +loftier mountain ridges rise splendid forests of tamarisks, planes, +cypresses and nut-trees, and above all magnificent cedars. Even now some +trees are found here forty feet in girth and ninety feet in height.[480] +Just in front of the highest ridges of rock lie green slopes, on which +feed numerous flocks of black goats, disturbed by jackals, bears, and +lions, dwelling in the desolate gorges. Between the mouth of the Orontes +and the promontory of Carmel, which runs out far into the sea, this +mountain wall, which stretches out to the sea, reaches its greatest +height in the peaks of Libanus (over 10,000 feet) of which Tacitus +remarks with astonishment that they retained the snow even in that hot +climate.[481] Rising above the green pastures and forests, the +cultivated and watered fields, this ridge with its white mantle of snow +gives the appearance of a winter landscape above perpetual spring. +Southward of Carmel the mountains become lower, and at the same time +less precipitous and picturesque. The coast is broader and more sandy, +flatter, and with fewer harbours. In the place of the steep ridges is a +grassy depression (Esdraelon, Galilee), overtopped by one or two peaks +only, like Tabor (1,700 feet). Then parallel ridges again form valleys, +broad and fruitful and overshadowed by forests (Samaria), until the land +between the Dead Sea and the coast assumes a severer and wilder +character. There the table-land is rough and bare, the valleys are +narrow and deep clefts, the soil is stony. From Libanus the eye looks +out on the most various groups of wooded promontories and a smiling +coast, but in Judæa the landscape exhibits none but severe and simple +outlines. On the wide expanses only a few bushes of pale olives arise, +or transparent groups of a few palm-trees. The grassy plains have made +way for steppes or downs, and even the bed of the valleys is covered +with fresh green only in the brief rainy season. The region round the +Dead Sea is wholly desolate. Springs of sulphur and beds of bitumen +point to a volcanic origin; the large proportion of salt contained in +the water makes it impossible for fish to live in the lake, and the +deposits of salt which cover the country round restrict the vegetation. + +In contrast to the vast and uniform regions of the Tigris and Euphrates +and Arabia, the western mountains of Syria exhibit change and variety. +The narrowness of the coast forces the inhabitants upon the sea, the +luxuriant fertility of the deeper valleys invites to cultivation of the +land and the planting of vines and orchards, while the upland valleys +and mountain slopes permit nothing but pastoral life, combined with a +little agriculture. There is no central district from which these +numerous and for the most part secluded mountain cantons can be brought +into unity and governed. In the place of the uniform development of +large masses of people we have here to expect a variety of modes of +culture; in the place of one huge despotic kingdom, and the uniform +movement of wandering tribes a more independent and unfettered +development of small communities; sharp contrasts appear in the place of +a general civilisation. At the same time these Syrian coasts by the sea +and mountain air, by life on the ocean and among the hills, compensate +to a great degree the enervating influences of the Eastern sun, and thus +the elements are combined which are wont to keep fresh and vigorous the +life and power of the inhabitants. As the sea attracted the inhabitants +to distant regions, and trained upon its waves a mobile, enterprising, +active population, so on the other hand did the severe formation of the +hills and the seclusion of the valleys lead to a uniform unchanging mode +of life and a desire to retain what was customary and traditional. The +nearer these opposites approached each other the more energetic must +have been their mutual operation, the more lively the process of +intellectual life, and the more productive its results. + +The mountain district extending on the west of the fissure from Mount +Hermon and the sources of the Orontes southward as far as the desert +which divides Syria from Egypt was by its inhabitants called Canaan. We +met with this name already in the inscriptions of Sethos I. It means +lower land, and has obviously been transferred from the coast to the +interior. Among the Greeks the southern strip of coast was named +Palæstina, after the Philistines (the Pelishtim) who possessed it; the +northern part, from Carmel to the Eleutherus (Nahr-el-Kebir) was +Phenicia; among the Egyptians the coast was known as Kaft; the tribes of +the interior, and more especially those of Northern Syria, were known as +Retennu.[482] + +The oldest information about these districts which has come down to us +is contained in the statements about the campaigns which Kudur-Lagamer +and Kudur-Mabuk of Elam are said to have undertaken against Syria (p. +251). If we might regard the kings of Elam, who extended their power +over Babylonia, and then forced their way to Syria, as belonging to the +fourth dynasty of Berosus, the campaign of Kudur-Lagamer and Kudur-Mabuk +could be placed about the year 2000 B.C. When Babylonia under Sarrukin +and Hammurabi shook off the supremacy of Elam, Sarrukin is said to have +advanced towards Syria as far as the "Western Sea" (p. 260). Three +centuries later Syria was attacked from the western or opposite side. As +soon as the kings of Upper Egypt had succeeded in expelling the Hyksos +from the land, they carried their arms towards Syria, and in these +campaigns repeatedly touched the Euphrates. In the times of Tuthmosis I. +(1646-1625 B.C.) we are told that he traversed Syria towards the north, +advanced as far as the Euphrates, and set up a column there. Tuthmosis +III. (1591-1565 B.C.) marched seven times against Syria; in the fourth +campaign (1580 B.C.) he reached and crossed the Euphrates; then he +appears to have advanced through Mesopotamia as far as the Tigris, and +to have collected tribute there.[483] More than one hundred and fifty +years later Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.) fought against the Schasu, _i.e._ +the Shepherds, "who extend as far as Canana," the Cheta (Hittites), and +the Retennu, _i.e._ the Syrians. Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.) invaded the +land of Kaft, and caused memorials of his victories to be engraved upon +the rocks at Nahr-el-Kelb, in the neighbourhood of Berytus, fought +against the Hittites and their allies from the Euphrates, the prince of +Karchemish, and then concluded peace and entered into friendship with +the prince of the Cheta (p. 150 ff). The campaigns of Ramses III. +(1269-1244 B.C.) were also directed against the Schasu, the Cheta, whose +prince he took alive, the Amari (the Amorites) and the Pulista (the +Philistines, p. 164). + +The inscriptions of these Pharaohs prove that the tribes of Syria, even +as early as the sixteenth century B.C., had arrived not only at a +settled mode of life, but at a vigorous trade and a civilisation far +from contemptible. The princes of Syria met Tuthmosis III. with numerous +war-chariots, of which in the battle of Megiddo they lost 924 (p. 132). +If Tuthmosis can mention 107 cities from Hamath in the north to Gaza in +the south which he had subjugated, the population must have been already +more numerous and the land more thickly inhabited. The names quoted +prove that Gaza (Kazatu), Damascus (Tamesku), Hamath (Hamtu), Joppa +(Japu), Berothai (Berytus), Kades (Kadeshu), Ashtaroth Karnaim +(Astartu), and many cities frequently mentioned at a later date, were +already in existence: several of them are represented to us on the +monuments of the Pharaohs, as situated on heights and surrounded by +strong walls. + +The tribute received by Tuthmosis III. from Syria is sufficient evidence +that the valleys of Canaan were well cultivated, that extensive trade +relations had already been formed, and that metals were in use to a +considerable amount. Syria contributed to Tuthmosis not wine only, honey +and dates, but also considerable quantities of spices. The Retennu +contributed at one time 1,718 minæ of sweet wine. The Hittites +contributed 8 silver rings, weighing in all 301 Egyptian pounds, and 93 +Egyptian pounds of gold; the Retennu paid 40 bars, and afterwards 80 +bars (bricks) of iron; on one occasion they contributed 761 Egyptian +pounds, and in another year 1,495 pounds of silver and 55 pounds of +gold.[484] It was remarked above (p. 304) that these tributes also prove +that the measures and weights of Babylon were already in use in Syria at +that time. + +The monuments of the Pharaohs also prove that the land was divided into +independent districts, governed by hereditary princes. The leading and +most powerful tribe at the time of the Ramessids was that of the +Hittites in the south of Canaan. In the fourteenth century B.C. this +tribe, with its confederates, could place 2,500 war chariots in the +field. We have already seen (p. 152) that the king of the Hittites, the +son of Maursar and grandson of Sepalulu, entered into an alliance and +compact with Rameses II., as one power with another. In the records of +the Egyptians the court and army of the Hittites are found well +arranged. Generals of the cavalry, masters of the horse, and scribes are +mentioned, and the sculptures of the Pharaohs exhibit the Hittites in +their chariots in magnificent clothing and armour. The inscriptions of +Rameses II. mention Baal and Astarte as gods of the Hittites--deities +which we have already found at Babylon under the names of Bel and Istar. +We have less information of the land of Kaft, of the Amari, and finally +of the Pulista, who are first mentioned under Rameses III., and of the +tribes of the Retennu to the north of the Cheta. As was remarked above, +the Pharaohs did not succeed in establishing a lasting supremacy over +Syria. Even Tuthmosis III., who achieved the greatest successes, did no +more than force the Syrian princes to pay him tribute for a short series +of years. + +Thus the beginnings of settled life, of agriculture, of cities and trade +in Canaan cannot be placed later than the year 2,000 B.C., and this +result is confirmed by the tradition of the Hebrews. According to +Genesis, Ham, the second son of Noah, begat Canaan, and Canaan begat +Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and Amori, and Hivi, and Arvadi, and +Hamathi, and afterwards the families of the Canaanites were spread +abroad.[485] Hence, with the Hebrews, the Sidonians passed for the +oldest Canaanites. The name means Fishcatcher, and a tribe limited to a +narrow strip of coast may soon have betaken themselves to the sea. The +primogeniture of the Sidonians was afterwards explained to mean that the +origin of their city, Sidon, belonged to the oldest period. That the +second city of this tribe, Sor (Tyre), "the daughter of Sidon,"[486] was +proud of her great antiquity, we learn from other sources. When +Herodotus was there, and inquired about the erection of the most sacred +temple in the city, the temple of Melkarth, he received the answer that +this shrine had been built, together with the city, about 2,300 years +before his time, i.e. about the year 2,750 B.C. Lucian also assures us +that the temples of Phenicia and the temple of Melkarth at Tyre were +founded not much later than the oldest Egyptian temples.[487] + +Northward of Sidon, at the mouths of the Nahr Ibrahim and the +Nahr-el-Kelb (Adonis and Lycus), was settled the tribe of the Giblites, +_i.e._ the mountaineers, whose cities were Gebal (Byblus) and Berothai +(Berytus). Byblus claimed to be the oldest city in the land--older than +Sidon--and to have been built by El, the supreme deity. At any rate, as +we have already seen, it was in existence at the time of Tuthmosis III., +whose inscriptions also mention the city of a third tribe, that of +Arvadi, _i.e._ the Arvadites, whom the Hebrews mention among the sons of +Canaan. This tribe was in possession of a considerable district to the +north of Byblus, on the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kebir (Eleutherus), and of +a rocky island off the coast, on which lay their city Arvad, the Aratu +of the Egyptians, the Aradus of the Greeks. + +The tradition of the Hebrews derived the Hittites from Heth, the second +son of Canaan. The centre of their land, which stretched from the coast +to the Jordan, was formed by the bare and stony mountains round Hebron. +Here, according to Hebrew story, giants once dwelt--the Anakim--whose +father and chief was Arba; after this prince, Hebron was formerly called +Kirjath-Arba. To this city also the Hebrews ascribe a great antiquity; +it was built seven years earlier than Zoan (Tanis) in Egypt.[488] We do +not know the date of the building of Zoan, but the name occurs as early +as the inscriptions of Sesurtesen I., whose reign we must place about +the year 2,350 B.C.[489] With the Hittites of Hebron the Hebrew +Scriptures represent their own forefathers as living in peaceful and +friendly intercourse in the century 2100-2000 _B.C._ We have already +seen what a sustained resistance the disciplined forces of the princes +of the Hittites were able to make against the attacks of Egypt for two +centuries--from the middle of the fifteenth to the middle of the +thirteenth century B.C. War against the Cheta is a standing item in the +inscriptions of the Ramessids. + +Northward of the Hittites lay the tribes which the tradition of the +Hebrews derives from Hivi and Amori, the younger sons of Canaan, the +Hivites and Amorites--the former in the beautiful mountain valleys round +Gibeon and Sichem, northwards as far as Mount Hermon; the latter, a +numerous and powerful tribe, outside the land of Canaan, north-east of +Jordan, from the Jabbok in the south to Hermon in the north.[490] The +Amorites, as we may venture to assume, were the Amari of Egyptian +inscriptions. Furthest to the north, in the valley of the Orontes, were +the Hamathites, whom the Hebrews also reckon among the sons of Canaan. + +On the other hand, the Damascenes, the northern neighbours of the +Amorites, whose city is mentioned by the Egyptians with Hamath as early +as the sixteenth century, and who in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. +were the centre of the most powerful community in the Syrian interior, +were not reckoned by the Hebrews among the sons of Canaan; and the +inscriptions of the Assyrians also place the Damascenes among the Arimi, +_i.e._ Aramaeens. Nor are the old inhabitants of the valley of the +Jordan included by Hebrew tradition among the Canaanites, which is here +associated with the principalities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Adamah, +Zeboim, and Zoar, and the names of the princes who once fought against +Kedor Laomer in the valley of Siddim. But Jehovah caused fire and +brimstone to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah owing to the sins of the +inhabitants, and destroyed these cities and the whole region. The +Philistines also, whom we find in possession of the coast from Gaza in +the south to Carmel in the north, were not counted by the Hebrews among +the sons of Canaan. It has been remarked that the name occurs for the +first time in Egyptian inscriptions in the first half of the thirteenth +century B.C. The Hebrews tell us that the Philistines marched from +Caphtor and overcame the Avites, who dwell "in villages as far as Gaza." +By Caphtor we should probably understand the eastern sea coast of Egypt, +the north-east of the Delta, where a Semitic population may have +established itself firmly from the time of the Hyksos, and may have been +able to maintain themselves after their expulsion. Yet there is nothing +to contradict the assumption that, at the time of their expulsion by +Amosis and the Tuthmosis, a part of the Hyksos turned towards Syria, and +that the Philistines were sprung from these. We may remember that +Manetho terms the Hyksos Phenicians, or kinsmen of the Phenicians, and +tells us that they retired in the direction of Syria, and Herodotus +represents the shepherd Philitis as pasturing his flocks at +Memphis.[491] In the eleventh century B.C. we find the Philistines under +the dominion of the princes of the cities of Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, +Gath, and Ekron. The princes had their palaces; the cities were +protected by walls and towers, and possessed extensive temples, in which +were images of wood and iron, and rich offerings. The five cities formed +a federation, their princes (Seranim) sat in a common council, led out +their armies in common, and in common offered thankofferings for the +victories won. They could bring into the field a splendid army of +chariots, horsemen, heavy-armed soldiers, and bowmen; the soldiers were +divided into troops of hundreds and thousands.[492] + +Towards the middle of the thirteenth century a considerable alteration +took place in the interior of Canaan, between the coast of the +Philistines and the valley of the Jordan. The Amorites advanced towards +the south over the Jabbok, and subjugated the Moabites, who dwelt in +this district to the east of the Dead Sea, as far as the Arnon. They +spread westwards over the Jordan, and overthrew the ancient federation +of the Hittites. These were either subjugated or driven out; only in +some mountain cantons did the Hittites maintain themselves. In their +place the Amorites ruled between the coast and the Dead Sea, and this +district was now known as the "Mountain of the Amorites."[493] + +Northwards also the Amorites pressed forward against the Hittites, and +took possession of their land as far as Lake Merom.[494] It was only in +Gibeon and the surrounding districts that the Hivites held their +own;[495] and all the Hittites and Hivites who refused subjugation and +slavery were compelled to retire to the coast. It must have been a heavy +blow that could shatter the power of the Hittites; while the collection +of a numerous population on the coast, which was caused by the new +supremacy of the Amorites, was in its turn of important consequence for +the cities of Phenicia. But the new masters of the southern land did not +form a consolidated power, like the Hittites before them; they were +broken up into separate tribes, so that among them, and the remnants of +the Hittites and Hivites, there were about thirty small principalities. +The ancient power of the Hittites must have been important enough to +leave behind a very lasting impression. The Book of Joshua uses the +expression "land of the Hittites," for the whole region from the sea to +the Euphrates, and the Assyrian inscriptions of the ninth, eighth, and +seventh centuries include beside the land of Arimi, _i.e._ of the +Aramæans the whole of Canaan from Hamath to the sea and southwards as +far as Egypt, under the name of the "land of Chatti."[496] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[477] Strabo, p. 756. "It is true that the whole land from Seleucis to +Egypt and Arabia is also called Hollow Syria, but strictly speaking the +name is given only to the land between Libanus and Antilibanus." + +[478] Strabo, p. 763. + +[479] Genesis xxxi. 20-24; Strabo, pp. 627, 784. + +[480] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 396. + +[481] Tacit. "Histor." 5, 6. + +[482] Ebers, "Ægypten und die Bücher Mose's," s. 131 ff. + +[483] De Rougé, "Annales de Toutmes;" cf. _supra_ p. 136. + +[484] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 80, 92. + +[485] Genesis x. 15-19. + +[486] Isaiah xxiii. 3; Justin, 18, 3. + +[487] Herod. 2, 34; Lucian, "De dea Syria," 2, 3. + +[488] Judges i. 10; Joshua xiv. 12, 15; xv. 13, 14; Numbers xiii. 23. + +[489] Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 188. + +[490] Genesis xv. 16; xxxiv. 2; Joshua iii. 10; xi. 3; Jud. iii. 3. + +[491] Above, p. 127; Gen. x. 13, 14; Amos ix. 7; Deut. ii. 23; +Jeremiah xlvii. 4; Stark, "Gaza," s. 104 ff. Ebers explains Kaphtor +by _Kaft-ur_, _i.e._ Great Kaft, Great Phenicia. To Ai-Kaphtor the +Egyptian Aa-Kaft, _i.e._ island and coast land, curved coast land +would correspond.--"Ægypten," s. 131 ff. + +[492] Stark, "Gaza," s. 132-136, 318 ff. + +[493] Deut. i. 7, 20, 44; Joshua x. 5, 6; xi. 3. The Jebusites who +possessed the Jerusalem of later times were a tribe of the Amorites. +They and their king are expressly mentioned as Amorites. + +[494] In the book of Joshua, as well as in the prophet Amos, it is the +Amorites whom the Hebrews have to contend against, mingled with scanty +remnants of the Hittites and Hivites. Besides this, the advance of the +Amorites against the Moabites is sufficiently proved (_vide_ Exodus, +Numbers, and Deuteronomy), and the migration of the Hittites by their +settlement in Cyprus. + +[495] Joshua ix. 7, 10. + +[496] Joshua i. 4; Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test," s. 30. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES. + + +Our knowledge of the religious conceptions of the Canaanites consists of +scattered and meagre statements. Yet these statements are enough to show +with certainty that the ideas of the Syrians about the powers of Heaven +rested on the same basis as the worship of the Babylonians. But the +sensual and lascivious side of this worship, no less than the cruel and +bloody side, is more strongly and broadly developed in Syria than in +Babylonia, while, on the other hand, the complete development of the +star-worship, as we found it on the lower Euphrates, is unknown in +Syria. The gods who were regarded as alien and hostile to natural life +were worshipped by the Canaanites with severe abstinence and harsh +asceticism, with self-mutilation and human sacrifices; while the deities +of procreation and birth, who were considered favourable to life, were +worshipped with the most shameless prostitution and the most unbridled +debauchery. Indeed these rites, distinguished by sensual excess and +bloody asceticism, were united by that mysterious link which in the +human breast brings debauchery and pain into close connection; and hence +this worship is a true copy of the Semitic mode of feeling, which wavers +between luxurious enjoyment and fanatical destruction, between cringing +servility and stiff-necked obstinacy, between effeminate retirement in +the harem, and bold achievements in the battle-field. + +The Phenicians are said to have possessed sacred scriptures of very +great antiquity. In Babylonia we found a city to which the sacred +scriptures were specially allotted, Sepharvaim on the Euphrates; in +Canaan, Debir, in the neighbourhood of Hebron, was at one time called +Kiriath Sepher, _i.e._ "city of scriptures." The scriptures of the +Phenicians are said to be derived from Esmun one of their gods, or from +a series of hierophants, Thabion, Isiris, Sanchuniathon and Mochus. +According to the evidence of Poseidonius, Mochus lived before the Trojan +war.[497] Sanchuniathon also, a Sidonian according to some, according to +others a Syrian, and to others a Berytean, is said to have lived before +or during the time of the Trojan war. He is said to have collected his +writings from the archives of the Phenician cities, from the records in +the temples, and a document of Hierombal which had been placed by the +latter before Abelbaal, king of Berytus, and had met with approval, and +it is maintained from the catalogue of the Phenician kings that +Hierombal and Sanchuniathon lived before the Trojan war.[498] Of the +writings of Sanchuniathon, Philo of Byblus, who wrote in the first half +of the second century, B.C., is said to have given a Greek translation +in his _History of the Phenicians_. Of this supposed translation of a +supposed original, discovered after much research by Philo, besides +which he pretended to have made use of the sacred scriptures of the +Egyptians, the Books of Thoth, some excerpts and fragments have come +down to us. Scanty and unconnected as these are, they show us at once +that Philo, whatever his original may have been, was far removed from +any mere repetition of old religious views, that the syncretistic +culture of his time had exercised a strong influence on his own ideas, +and that his whole point of view belongs to that kind of enlightenment +which pretended to find in the gods a number of deified kings, who had +once ruled over the land in ancient days. Yet Philo also allowed that, +over and above these, the sun, moon, planets, and certain elements were +worshipped as gods.[499] + +Following the cosmogonic systems, as they may have been drawn out with +greater definiteness after the Hellenistic period, Philo assumes as the +beginning of all things an obscure and moving atmosphere, and a dark and +melancholy chaos. When the wind of his Beginning felt the yearning of +love, a mixture took place, and this combination was named Desire. +Desire is the beginning of all things. From the union of the wind with +itself arose Mot, which some explain as mud, others as putrefaction of a +watery mixture. Out of this arose the seeds of all and the origin of all +things. Mot was fashioned after the form of an egg. "And then shone +forth the sun and moon, and the great constellations. As the air now +sent forth a fiery glow, winds and clouds arose from the kindling of the +sea and the earth, and vast tempests of rain streamed down; and when all +this dashed together, there followed thunderings and lightning, by which +the creatures were awaked, and on the earth and in the sea the male and +the female elements began to move.[500] And from the wind Kolpia and his +wife Baau, which means night, Aeon and Protogonus, mortal men, were +begotten. Aeon discovered the nourishment obtained from trees. And Aeon +and Protogonus begot Genos and Genea, who dwelt in Phoenicia; and when +the fierce heat came they stretched out their hands to the sky and the +sun. As they regarded the sun as the only lord of the sky, they called +him Belsamen, which among the Phenicians means lord of the sky, and +among the Greeks Zeus." But Aeon and Protogonus had also begotten +children, called by the names of Phos (light), Pyr (fire), and Phlox +(flame). These discovered fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, +and taught the use of fire, and begot children who surpassed all others +in size and stature. The names of these giants were given to the +mountains of which they possessed themselves, to Casius, Libanus, +Anti-libanus, and Brathy (Tabor?). The giants begot Samemrumus, who is +also called Hypsuranius, and Usous. These made a traffic of their +mothers, for it was the custom in those days for the women to associate +with any one. Samemrumus lived at Tyre, and discovered the art of making +huts out of reeds and sedge, while Usous invented clothing made of the +skins of the beasts which he knew how to slay. Samemrumus rebelled +against Usous, but the latter took a tree and divested it of the +branches, and was the first who went on board a vessel. Then he +dedicated two pillars to the fire and the wind, and offered to these the +blood of the beasts which he had taken. When the brothers were dead, +prayers were offered to the pillars, and each year a festival was +celebrated in honour of them. And for a long time afterwards Agreus (the +hunter) was among the descendants of Usous, and Halieus (the fisher) +among those of Samemrumus. From these sprung two brothers, of whom the +one was Chusor, _i.e._ Hephaestus, who discovered the working of iron, +and the other, who invented the fish-hook and was the first navigator, +was named Zeus Meilichius;[501] and the two together discovered the +building of walls by bricks. From these came Agros (the field), and +Agrotes (the husbandman), who was worshipped in Phoenicia as a god, +and was called the greatest god in Byblus. From these sprung Misor and +Sydyk; from Sydyk came the Cabiri, who invented the ship. + +About this time Eljon, named "the Highest," was born, and a woman of the +name of Beruth; and these two dwelt at Byblus. They begot Uranus and Ge, +and when "the Highest" fell in conflict with wild beasts, he was +worshipped by his children as a god with libation and sacrifices. But +Uranus succeeded his father in the kingdom, and took his sister Ge to +wife, and with her begot El, who is also called Cronus, Dagon, who, +after discovering corn and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrius, and +Atlas. But as Uranus begot children with other women, El, when he was +grown up, determined to revenge the slight put upon his mother. He +provided himself with a sickle and a lance of iron, attacked Uranus, +drove him from his throne, expelled him from the land, and took the +kingdom for himself. He surrounded his house with a wall, and built +Byblus, the first city of the Phenicians. His brother Atlas, whom he +suspected, he threw into the abyss, and covered him with earth; his son +he slew with the sword, and cut off his daughter's head. When in the +thirty-second year of his reign he had laid an ambush for his father +Uranus in the interior of the land, and in this way had got him into his +power, he cut off his genitals, close by some springs and rivers. The +blood flowed into these springs and streams, and this place became +sacred, and is shown even at the present day. At the wish of El, +"Astarte the Great," the daughter of Uranus, and Zeus Demarus, the son +of Uranus by a concubine, and Adodus "the king of the gods," ruled over +the land. As a symbol of her supremacy, Astarte placed the head of an ox +on her own head, and when she had wandered over the whole earth she +found a star fallen from heaven, took it, and dedicated it at Tyre on +the sacred island. But when a pestilence came, and a mortality, El burnt +his only son in royal robes as a sacrifice to Uranus on the altar which +he had erected, and circumcised himself and forced his comrades to do +the same. The city of Byblus he handed over to the goddess Baaltis, +Berytus to the sea-god, to the Cabiri, and to the descendants of Agrotes +(the husbandman) and of Halieus (the fisher), and when El came into the +land of the South, he gave all Egypt over to Taauthus to be a royal +habitation for him. To El, after his death, was consecrated the star +named after him.[502] + +We should indeed be in an evil case if we were restricted for our +knowledge of Canaanitish rites to these fragments, which carry so +plainly on the front of them their late origin, their fictitious +genealogical combinations, into which the gods are brought, their +over-subtle Euhemerism, and their mixture with Greek and Egyptian ideas. +That threads of various systems of cosmogony intertwine and cross each +other in these fragments is proved by the derivation of the origin of +the world, first from the wind, and next from chaos, and then from +Kolpia and Baau, and by the repetition even to the third time of the +discovery of hunting, agriculture, and navigation. Happily there are +other sources of information which allow us to bring the statements of +Philo into some sort of order, and to supplement them in very essential +points. We saw that the highest god of the Babylonians was El. If Philo +tells us that the star known by his name, _i.e._ the planet Saturn, was +consecrated to king El after his death, and if this king allows Astarte, +Demarus, and even Adodus, the king of the gods, to rule after his +death,--if he apportions cities and provinces to Baaltis and the +Cabiri,--it becomes clear enough that for the Canaanites also El was the +ruling god, and that in Syria also the planet Saturn belonged to him. +But from the contest of El with Uranus, _i.e._ with the sky-god, in +Philo, we may also with certainty conclude, that among the Canaanites +also the highest place was allotted to Baal-Samim, _i.e._ to the lord of +the sky, as Philo rightly explains that name; Philo denotes him as the +god worshipped by the earliest generations of mankind. Among the Greeks +also there was a myth, borrowed no doubt from the East, that Zeus (Baal) +had once striven with El-Cronus.[503] As the god of Saturn, the El of +the Canaanites would have to be placed beside the Adar of the Eastern +Semitic nations. The inscriptions of Ramses II. have already mentioned +Baal as the god of the Cheta. We also saw that the nomads of the +peninsula of Sinai consecrated their highest mountain summit to the god +of this name. The Moabites invoked Baal on Mount Peor. In Canaan also +the mountain summits were sacred to this deity; in the south of the land +the lonely peak of Casius on the Serbonian lake, then Carmel, Tabor, and +Hermon. The Philistines worshipped him at Ekron; the names of numerous +places in Canaan,--Baal Hamon, Baal Hazor, Baal Meon, Baal Gad, Baal +Perazim, Baal Tamar, Baalath, Baalbec, &c.,--give us sufficient proof +of the widespread worship of Baal in Canaan. We shall not go wrong if we +regard him as the deity of the beneficent operation of the sun. If El +cuts off the genitals of Uranus, _i.e._ of Baal-Samim, and the blood +flows into the springs and streams, the meaning of the myth is without +doubt that the beneficent god has imparted his life-giving, creating +power to the fertilising water. Among the Phenicians springs and streams +were sacred. The Carthaginian Hannibal swore to his compact with Philip +king of Macedonia before "the rivers, meadows, and waters," and the Zeus +Demarus of Philo must be explained as Baal Tamar, _i.e._ Baal in the +procreative power. Northward of Sidon there falls into the sea a river +especially sacred to Baal Tamar, which the Greeks called Tamyras (now +Nahr Damur). It marks, no doubt, the spot where the act in the myth was +localised, which, as Philo observes, was still pointed out. Pliny tells +us that with the Belus, _i.e._ Baal (Sihor Libnath of the Hebrews), a +mountain stream falling into the sea southward of Sidon, after a brief, +and in the plain, a sluggish course from the parent lake, customs of a +very sacred nature were connected.[504] + +The goddess whom the Syrians invoked, beside the sun-god, had various +names. According to the fragments of Philo, El had handed over the +government of the city of Byblus to Baaltis, _i.e._ to Bilit, the +"mistress." At Ascalon she was known as Derceto, at Hierapolis (Bambyke, +Membidsh) as Atargatis;[505] the Hebrews call her Ashera. Herodotus +calls the goddess of Ascalon Aphrodite Urania; he also denotes her as +the goddess of the sexual impulse and of procreation, and mentions the +temple at Ascalon, as the oldest temple of this goddess which he knew; +"from this comes the shrine of Urania in Cyprus, as the Cyprians +themselves said; and the Phenicians, who also belonged to Syria, founded +the temple of Urania on Cythera." Pausanias observes that the Assyrians +had been the first among men to worship Urania, and after the Assyrians +came the Paphians in Cyprus, and the Phenicians at Ascalon.[506] Hence +we may conclude that Baaltis, in nature or in name, was not far removed +from the Bilit or Mylitta of the Babylonians, and this conclusion is +sufficiently confirmed by all that we know of the worship of Baaltis. +Cinyras, the first king of Byblus, is said to have erected shrines to +Aphrodite at Byblus and in Cyprus, and his daughters are said to have +paid service to the goddess with their persons. The maidens of Byblus +waited for strangers in the market-places, just as the maidens of +Babylon waited in the temple (p. 269), and the price of compliance was +paid, as in Babylon, to Aphrodite.[507] Of the maidens of Cyprus we are +told that they went down to the sea shore in order to sell themselves to +the sailors on landing.[508] We also find that sacred servants, male and +female, who dedicated themselves to this form of worship, were always to +be found in the temples of the Syrian goddess, and even married women +entered their ranks at certain times.[509] The Hebrews tell us that the +women wove tents for Ashera, and that paramours, male and female, were +in her sanctuaries.[510] In shady groves, on green hills, and among the +mountain forests of Libanus, sacrifice was offered to this goddess. The +lofty trees, the terebinth, the evergreen pine and the cypress were +sacred to her; the pomegranate, the symbol of fruitfulness, was her +peculiar fruit. The ram, the he-goat, and the dove, especially the white +dove, animals of vigorous procreation and reproduction, were dedicated +to her, and formed the most welcome offerings. In the temples of the +goddess before the cell in which she was worshipped under the form of +conical stones or upright pillars of wood, were dove-cotes and pools of +water.[511] Fish also were dedicated to this goddess; and certain kinds +of fish were sacred among the Syrians. These were not to be injured, and +enjoyed divine honours.[512] Beside the rich and ancient temple of +Derceto at Ascalon was a lake abounding in fish. At Hierapolis the image +of Atargatis, which had a dove on the head, was carried down to the lake +near the temple. This image of "the Assyrian Urania" was also carried +down to the sea, amid a great crowd collected from Syria, Arabia, and +Mesopotamia.[513] The image of Derceto at Ascalon, on the shore of the +sea, in that temple which was the oldest of Urania, known to Herodotus, +was a woman as far as the waist, but from the thighs downwards she had +the body of a fish.[514] From the custom of carrying the image of the +goddess to pools of water, and the form of the goddess at Ascalon, has +arisen the legend of the Greeks, that at Ascalon or Hierapolis she threw +herself into the water, and was changed into a fish. The colonies of +the Phenicians worshipped a Venus Marina, and the goddess of Berytus is +said to have come from the sea; with the Greeks the goddess of Cyprus +and Cythera is said to have risen from the sea.[515] Appian remarks that +the goddess of Hierapolis was regarded by some as Aphrodite, by others +as Hera, and by others again as the source and spring of all that came +out of moisture.[516] Hence the Bilit (Baaltis) of Byblus, the Derceto +of Ascalon, the Atargatis of Hierapolis, the Ashera of the Hebrews, was +a deity favourable to birth and fertility, the power of nature which +creates from moisture and water. + +A male deity also, who gave fruit and increase from water, was +worshipped by the Canaanites. At Gaza and Ashdod, the cities of the +Philistines, and near the coast, at Beth-Dagon, and Kaphar-Dagon, the +god Dagon was invoked, whom Philo mentioned as the Zeus Arotrius, the +Zeus of the field, the god of nourishment. His temple at Gaza was the +pre-eminent shrine of the Philistines, the centre of their federation. +The image of Dagon in his temple at Ashdod had the face and hands of a +man, the body of a fish, and again the feet of a man.[517] Philo's +account denotes Dagon as the discoverer of the plough and the god of +nourishment, as the giver of corn and protector of the field, and +therefore he must in any case have been a spirit of increase and +fertility. We found the name of this god in Babylonian inscriptions of +the time of Hammurabi, and before it, his image, and that of his +priests, among the monuments of Assyria. We saw that his name designated +him as a fish-god, and know that Babylonian legends connected him with +the sea, and represented him as arising from the sea (p. 272). + +By the side of the deities of the beneficent powers of nature and of +birth, the Canaanites placed severe and gloomy deities, who were averse +and hostile to the bloom of nature, the life and generation of mankind. +These were Moloch and Astarte. The first is known to the Greeks under +the name of Cronus, and from Philo's account of El we must deduce the +relation of this god to Saturn. The Moloch of the Canaanites is the +cruel destroying god of war; fire in its consuming, though also in its +purifying properties, was his element. He is said to have been +represented in the form of a bull or with a bull's head or horns.[518] +Among the booty which Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.) brought back from his +campaigns against the Cheta and Retennu we may see, in the sculptures at +Karnak (p. 150), the image of a bull.[519] The Canaanites offered human +sacrifices to Moloch. If we remember that the Sepharvites of Babylonia +offered up men to Adrammelech, _i.e._ "to king Adar," the spirit of the +planet Saturn, we may venture to regard the Moloch of the Canaanites as +the god of Saturn, without excluding the possibility that the burning +glow of the midsummer sun may have lain at the root of the Canaanite +conception of this god.[520] Not only were captives, often to the number +of thousands, sacrificed to Moloch in gratitude for the victory +bestowed;[521] but also at the beginning of an important undertaking, or +the opening of a campaign, his favour was sought by human sacrifices. +These were indispensable in order to appease his wrath, and turn +destruction from all upon the head of a few.[522] If the crops withered, +or a pestilence devastated the cities, or great reverses fell upon the +land in war, human victims were burned as expiatory offerings.[523] Such +offerings could only be taken from among the native families. Pure +victims as yet undefiled by sexual intercourse, children and youths, +were, as it seems, the most welcome sacrifice. The dearest possession +was the most powerful expiation. The best beloved children, the +firstborn or only son, must be offered to the god "as a ransom."[524] We +have seen above (p. 356), how Philo represents El himself as performing +this sacrifice of a son. Only the surrender of what was dearest could +touch the cruel feeling of the relentless god, and turn his wrath upon +the enemy so that he laid his curse upon him. Thus it came to pass that +the eldest son of the king was clothed with purple and burned to Moloch +in the place of the ruler of the land. When Joram, king of Israel, had +shut up the king of Moab in Kir Harosheth, "the Moabite took his +firstborn son, who would have been king in his place, and sacrificed him +as a burnt offering upon the wall. Then there was great indignation +against Israel, and Israel turned back to his own land."[525] Hamilcar, +Hanno's son, burnt himself in the year 480 B.C., when the battle of +Himera went against the Carthaginians; and when Himilco, in the year 406 +B.C., besieged Agrigentum, and a pestilence came upon the army, he +sacrificed a boy to Cronus, in order to stay the plague.[526] When +Agathocles of Syracuse, after landing in Africa had defeated the +Carthaginian army, and encamped under the walls of Carthage, the +Carthaginians believed that they had brought the anger of the god upon +them because of late, instead of sacrificing the children of the noblest +citizens, they had secretly purchased and substituted other children. +Inquiry showed that this had been done in some cases. In expiation, 200 +boys of the first families were selected as victims, and the families, +who were suspected of previously withdrawing their children from the +god, now spontaneously brought forward 300 children. "In Carthage," so +Diodorus, who tells us this incident, continues, "there was an iron +image of Cronus, which held out the hands in a downward position, so +that the victim placed upon them rolled into a cavity filled with +fire."[527] The cries of the victims, Plutarch tells us, were drowned by +the noise of drums and flutes; the mothers were compelled to stand by +without lamentation or sighing. If a sigh or a tear escaped them, they +were regarded as dishonoured; but the child was burnt just the same. A +Roman poet gives an invocation to the "paternal gods" of Carthage, whose +temples are cleansed by murder, and who rejoice in being worshipped by +the agony of mothers.[528] + +The inscriptions of Ramses II. mentioned Astarte as the goddess of the +Hittites; the name of their city Astaroth we have already found in the +form of Astartu in the inscriptions of Tuthmosis III. (p. 343). The +Philistines worshipped Astarte; for the Sidonians, the "great Astarte" +was the goddess of their city. "A virgin-goddess"[529] she ruled over +the fortune of battle; she is the goddess of war, bringing death and +destruction, the goddess of death. Coins of Sidon represent her with a +spear in her hand. As the goddess of war she carried a spear in her +temples in Cyprus and Cythera.[530] In her temple on the ancient +fortress of Carthage, she was represented riding on a lion, with a spear +in her hand. The Istar of the Babylonians and Assyrians carried the bow +(p. 270). When the Philistines carried off the armour of Saul, king of +Israel, they dedicated it in the house of Astarte. If Astarte, according +to Philo, consecrates a star on the island of Tyre, we have already seen +(p. 270) that Venus when rising was the star of Istar at Babylon. Yet +the Astarte of the Syrians stood in a closer relation to the moon. Philo +told us that she carried on her head the head of an ox. The monuments of +Sethos display, beside the bull's image of Baal, a cow's head with a +segment of the moon; and on Carthaginian stones we find the full moon +between the horns of an ox. With the horns of the moon the goddess is +known as Astaroth Karnaim, _i.e._ the horned Astarte. The priests of +Astarte were pledged to continence and celibacy, and on the priestesses +of the "heavenly maiden," the "maiden of the sky,"[531] virginity was +imposed. No married woman could enter her temples. In her temples, as in +those of Moloch, burned the eternal fire.[532] Like Moloch, Astarte also +received human sacrifices. To the virgin-goddess the youthful were +offered, and maidens and women were burned.[533] As in the worship of +Ashera the Syrians attempted to transfuse themselves into the nature of +the goddess, to sink and pass into her being, so also the worship of +Astarte required that they should become like the goddess, and that lust +should be killed in them. It was the highest and most acceptable +sacrifice, if priests and laymen made themselves eunuchs in honour of +the virgin-goddess. During the festival of Astarte it was the custom, +while the congregated people were thrown into excitement and frenzy by +the sound of cymbals, drums, and double pipes, for young men to spring +forward, seize the ancient sword which lay on the altar of the goddess, +and therewith to mutilate themselves.[534] At a later time there were +thousands of eunuch-attendants in the temples of Astarte, while others +went about through the land in female clothing, their faces painted +after the manner of women, begging and mortifying their flesh. To the +sound of drums and pipes they whirled round with wild movements and +contortions of the body, and bent their heads to the ground, so that +their hair trailed in the mire. At the same time they bit their arms and +cut themselves with swords. The most frenzied began to moan and +prophesy. At last he bewailed his sins, took up the knotted whip, and +beat himself on the back till the blood ran down. When the dancing and +the scourging was ended, the eunuchs collected subscriptions from the +bystanders. Some gave money; others, milk, wine, cheese, and meal. These +they hastily gathered together in order to compensate, by a hearty meal +at evening in their retreat, for the torments of the day.[535] + +These friendly and hostile, creative and destructive, natural and +supernatural powers stood mutually opposed in the religious +consciousness of the Syrians. Just as the Egyptians went forward, and +saw in the myth of Osiris the beneficent deity as the conqueror of the +evil god in the process of vegetative life and in the revolution of the +year, so did the Semitic nations unite the beneficent and destructive +powers of heaven in the same deities, who in turn dispensed blessing and +destruction, and by themselves and in themselves overcame the +destructive element. This combination is obvious in the form of Baal of +Tyre, whom the Tyrians invoked as the king and protector of their city +under the name of Melkarth,_ i.e._ city-king.[536] The Greeks identified +this god with their own Heracles; but as the protector of navigation and +the god of the sea, they are acquainted with Melkarth, under his native +name of Melicertes. Herodotus was astonished at the splendour of the +ancient temple of this god at Tyre, at the richness and beauty of the +votive offerings, and the two rectangular pillars in the temple, the one +of pure gold, the other of emerald, and so large that it shone by +night.[537] Hiram, king of Tyre, had dedicated the first about the year +1,000 B.C. to Melkarth. To the Phenicians Baal Melkarth was a labouring +and conquering deity, who creates new life out of destruction, +vanquishes the baneful signs in the zodiac, brings back the sun from +perigee and apogee, from excessive heat and wintry cold, to beneficial +operation, whose life is seen in the sun's course.[538] When the sun +burned with the fiercest glow, and stood in the sign of the lion, then +the good sun-god must vanquish the lion or symbol of fiery heat; he +pressed the lion to his own breast, forced back into himself the fiery +beams, and consumed himself in his own heat. The good sun-god must +overcome the evil sun-god, or he must consume himself, so that with +renewed youth he may again secure gentler warmth for the earth. When the +sun appeared most remote from the earth, Baal of Tyre had gone on a +journey or was asleep. In the Phenician colonies in the West, in Crete, +Sicily, and at Gades, in the distant land of the setting sun, were +pointed out the resting-places of the deity, from which he arose with +the vernal sun to new activity and life. At the end of February or the +beginning of March the festival of the awakening of the god took +place;[539] and if the Greeks tell us that Iolaus awoke the god, Iolaus +is merely a Grecised form of Jubal, _i.e._ the beauty of Baal, and +therefore only a mythical expression for the god himself as re-awakening +with the beautiful vernal sun.[540] From these ideas of strife and +conquest Melkarth could become in the eyes of the Phenicians a +warrior-hero, who was thought to have wandered over the earth, as the +sun revolves round it, in order to set it free from hostile powers. With +this conception may be connected the story that the procreative power +was taken from Uranus and transferred to the springs and rivers, and +that El's brother Atlas, _i.e._ Atel, a name which perhaps may be +explained as meaning darkness, is overthrown and cast into the abyss. In +the legends of the Phenicians it was Melkarth who reduced the barbarous +tribes of the distant coasts, who founded the ancient colonies of the +Phenicians on the western coasts of the Mediterranean, and set up, as +the boundary stone of his wanderings, the two great pillars at the end +of the earth, the rocks of Calpe and Abyle on the Straits of Gibraltar. +As the restrainer of the burning heat, of the lion, and of giants, +Melkarth is the Heracles of the Greeks; as a wandering god who gives +order to the life of mankind, he bears, in Greece, the names Minos and +Cadmus (the name Kadmon means, "the man of the East"), by which forms +they expressed not the deity only, but the old supremacy of the +Phenicians, and their settlements on their islands and coasts. The +Hebrews tell us that once, when a great drought attacked the land, the +priests of Baal assembled at Carmel and invoked the god to consume with +his rays the bull which they placed as a sacrifice on the billets of the +altar. But the god heard them not. Then Elijah, the prophet of the Jews, +mocked them. "Call louder," he said: "perhaps he is meditating or hath a +pursuit; he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up +again." The priests called louder, and became frantic, and cut +themselves with knives and lancets, so that the blood gushed out.[541] + +As Baal and Moloch, the beneficent and the baneful powers, were united +in Baal of Tyre, and in the form of Melkarth, so also was the goddess of +reproduction, of birth, and procreation amalgamated with the warrior +goddess, the maiden who brought death. It was this deity which in turn +gave blessing and destruction, sensual enjoyment and war, birth and +death. She inspired consuming sensual passion, and then caused death to +overtake her lover, even if she did not slay him herself. Thus a Roman +poet can put into the mouth of a Carthaginian the invocation, "Goddess +Astarte, power of gods and men, life and safety, and again destruction, +death, and dissolution."[542] We find that the Venus of Tyre was called +Astarte, that at Ashtaroth Karnaim, the ancient seat of the worship of +the horned Astarte, the maiden with the horns of the moon, there was a +sanctuary of Atargatis,[543] and that fire-festivals were celebrated at +Hierapolis in the sanctuary of Atargatis, which festivals belonged to +Astarte; that the Urania, _i.e._ the birth-goddess, of Ascalon, Cyprus, +and Cythera became an Aphrodite Areia, _i.e._ a warlike Aphrodite;[544] +that after Cinyras, the king of Byblus, whose daughters paid service to +the goddess of Byblus with their bodies, Pygmalion became king, and he +regarded with abhorrence the unchaste daughters of Cinyras, and +worshipped the pure goddess of heaven, and taught how to appease her +anger by human sacrifices.[545] At Carthage a good goddess of the sky +(_bona coelestis_) was worshipped beside an evil one (_inferna +coelestis_). If human sacrifices were here burnt to the goddess Dido, +just as the supposed foundress of Carthage is said to have burnt +herself,[546] her sister Anna, _i.e._ the charming one, was worshipped +with cheerful rites. Other accounts mention that the two sisters Dido +and Anna were one and the same goddess. Without doubt they are right. We +saw that with the Babylonians the planet Venus, when rising, was the +war-goddess Istar, and, when setting, she was Mylitta, the goddess of +love (p. 270). + +The relation of the Tyrian goddess Astarte to the moon has already been +touched upon. As goddess of the moon, she was a changing, wandering +deity. With the waning light of the moon she retired into the gloom of +the west, the region of the setting sun; and on the disappearance of the +goddess on the "bad evening," the Tyrians performed rites of mourning. +As a "wandering goddess,"[547] Astarte was called among the Phenicians +Dido, _i.e._ the rover, and among the Westerns Europa, _i.e._ the dark +one.[548] With the retirement of the goddess was connected the legend +how her destructive power was overcome; it showed how Astarte could be +worshipped in Tyre as the wife of Melkarth, as Milkath (Melecheth, +_i.e._ queen).[549] The wandering sun-god went in search of the lost +goddess. At length he found her in the remote distance, and loosed her +girdle; the goddess surrendered herself to him, and sacred marriage +changed the warlike goddess into the friendly deity favourable to +procreation, Astarte into Ashera, Dido into Anna, Artemis or Athena into +Atargatis. The "maiden of the sky" is now the wife of the god of Tyre, +the Hera of the sky, the Ada (Athe) of the Syrians. From the embraces of +Melkarth and Astarte, the sun-god and the moon-goddess, and the conquest +of the cruel goddess of war, spring life, order, and law. The sacred +marriage is said to have taken place in the West, at Samothrace, and +further still, on the Cadmeia, the citadel of Cadmus,[550] _i.e._ of the +searching Melkarth, and finally beyond the pillars of the god, on the +happy islands of the Western Sea, where all fruits of every kind grew +spontaneously, especially the apples of life, the pomegranates of +Ashera, the apples of the Hesperides,--the pledge of love, the symbol of +life and light returning out of darkness. Here also Melkarth sank down +to rest in the streams of the Western Sea, which his beams had +warmed.[551] + +The Syrians did not remain content with combining the beneficent and +destructive powers into one form only, into Baal-Melkarth and +Astarte-Ashera. While searching for the unity of the divine powers and +the divine nature, they also combined the male and female deities into +one figure, and the creative and receptive powers were amalgamated in +one and the same form. As the combination of mighty heroic power with +luxurious sensuality is the practical ideal of the East, so in theory +also the highest union of the powers of nature and divine being, the +amalgamation of male and female is attained by the same combination. +When Astarte had become Ashera, and had surrendered herself to the god, +the god in turn surrendered himself to the goddess. He plied female +tasks, she carried the weapons. But even their nature became one, their +forms were combined. Astarte and the Baal placed at her side became one +deity. The male deity of the Moabites was Camos. When Mesha, king of +Moab, took Nebo from the Israelites, he dedicated it to +Ashtor-Camos.[552] At Carthage Dido-Astarte was represented with the +beard of Melkarth.[553] At Paphos there was a standing image of the +bearded Aphrodite, which was worshipped as a great divinity. It is this +unification which lies at the root of the legends of Heracles (Melkarth) +and Omphale (perhaps, mother[554]), of Semiramis and Sardanapalus. At +certain festivals of Baal the priests and worshippers of the androgynous +deity appeared in red transparent female garments, and were otherwise +dressed as women, while the women were dressed as men, and carried +swords and lances.[555] The law of the Jews strictly forbids the +erection of Astartes and pillars, the bringing of the hire of the harlot +or the pay of the fornicator into the house of Jehovah, the tearing of +the skin, or the cutting of the hair (which was customary among the +Syrians in different ways as the symbol of the worship of certain +deities), and insists that no eunuch shall come into the people of +Jehovah, that no woman shall wear a man's clothes, and no man the +clothes of a woman.[556] + +Philo told us above (p. 355) that Eljon of Byblus, who was called the +Highest, was slain in conflict with wild beasts, and was worshipped by +after generations with libations and sacrifice. In Byblus, under the +name Adonis (Adon, _i.e._ Lord), a god was worshipped, who was thought +to have disappeared, or to have been carried off in the bloom of youth. +Eljon and Adonis are one and the same form. When the maritime river +named after this deity, the Adonis (now Nahr Ibrahim), near Byblus, +began to run red in July (Thammuz), owing to the red earth washed down +from the mountains, then it was believed that the beautiful Adonis was +slain on Libanus by the savage boar of the war-god. With lamentations +and cries the women sat in the shrine at Byblus; or lingered by the +wayside lamenting the death of Adonis. They cut off their hair, tore +their breasts, and cried out--Ailanu, ailanu (woe to us). Adonis was +lost, and was now called Thammuz (the Departed).[557] A time of +lamentation was observed, during which his wooden image was washed and +anointed, and laid upon a bier, which the priests carried about with +their garments rent and beards shorn. But the god appeared again; he +came to life again, as it seems, with the new spring. And as the +lamentations for his death had been excessive, so also was the +sensuality with which his return to life was celebrated.[558] Hence we +must assume that in Adonis was personified the vernal sun, the bloom of +vegetation, which so soon begins to droop. If it was the boar of the +war-god, _i.e._ of Moloch, which slew Adonis, as one account maintains, +then in the minds of the Syrians the destructive sun-god, the glow of +the midsummer sun which makes vegetation wither, was the cause of the +death of Adonis. + +Philo further told us of the two sons of the giants, the brothers +Samemrumus and Usous, at Tyre (p. 354). The name Samemrumus means the +High One of the Sky, a meaning which is clearly confirmed by the Greek +attribute Hypsuranius. Hence Samemrumus was the god, the Baal of Tyre, +Baal Melkarth. That Usous also was a god of Tyre is clear from the +observation of Eusebius, that Usous, a man of little account, had been +deified at Tyre beside Melicertes.[559] Usous, who knew how to catch +and destroy wild animals, and clad himself in their skins, the ancestor +of hunters, reminds us of the Esau of Hebrew tradition. Compared in +point of language the names of Usous and Esau coincide: "Usous" (Usov) +means, like "Esav," the hairy one. Completely reversing the natural +connection, Philo ascribes to Usous the erection of the pillars which +belong to his brother, and represents the hunter as embarking on the +earliest ship, whereas Samemrumus, the father of the fisherman, must +have embarked on the first ship. We saw that the name Sidon means +"fish-catchers" (p. 344). Hence the legends of the Phenicians carried +back the origin of the Sidonians, to whom not only the city of Sidon but +also Tyre belonged, to Baal Melkarth. From this god the tribe of the +Sidonians, as it seems, pretended to have sprung. At a later period the +mariners of the coast, _i.e._ the population of the harbour towns, +looked down with scorn on the shepherds and hunters of the mountains, +although they could not refuse to recognise the greater antiquity of +this mode of life. Usous, therefore, must be regarded as the elder +brother, the hunter of the mountains, like the Esau of the Hebrews, +while the younger Melkarth takes up his abode in Tyre. That Usous is the +firstborn is clear from Philo's remark, that Samemrumus rebelled against +his brother. The contrast between the two brothers is marked by the +statement of Eusebius, that Usous was of little account, more strongly +than in Philo. From this we may perhaps conclude that Usous, the older +god, was originally looked upon as a hostile power, as Baal Moloch; +while in Samemrumus the friendly, helpful, beneficent power of the deity +was personified as Baal Melkarth. An obscure trace of the contrast of +the two gods is to be found also in the name Surmubel, _i.e._ Opponent +of Baal, in Philo, which seems to belong to Baal Melkarth in opposition +to Baal Moloch.[560] + +The gods, whom the various cities of the Phenicians worshipped as their +tutelary deities, were placed side by side as soon as the feeling of +community in the cities became more lively, and intercourse between them +more vigorous. Hence it came about that a common worship was also paid +to these tutelary deities. Beside their significance in the natural and +moral world, there resided from antiquity in certain deities peculiar +relations to hunting and agriculture, and it was natural that as naval +occupations, trade, and industry developed in the cities, the gods +should be brought into relation to these spheres of activity also. In +the same degree as it was felt that trade and commerce could only +prosper amid internal peace and security in the cities, and under the +protection of law and justice, the gods who maintained order in the +world must become the protectors of order and law in the cities. In this +feeling, and starting from conceptions of this kind, the priests of the +Phenicians brought the gods of their cities into a connected system +which, following the sacred number seven, included seven gods. The +deities brought into this circle were known by the collective name +Cabirim, i.e. the "Powerful," the "Great." Among the descendants of the +"field" and the "husbandman," Philo has already mentioned Misor, _i.e._ +Sydyk (justice). As powers ruling in justice, law, and equity, and +maintaining order in the cities, the Cabiri are the children of Sydyk. +The Greeks call them children of the sun-god, _i.e._ of Baal Samim; and +if others connect the Cabiri with Ptah, the god of light among the +Egyptians, the conclusion to be drawn is, that it was Baal Samim who, in +his relation to the Cabiri, was denoted by the name of the Just, the +supreme champion of justice. From the hunter and the fisher Philo +derives Chusor, who discovered the working of iron; he calls him +Hephæstus (p. 354). Chusor, so far as we can tell, was the foremost +deity within the circle of the Cabiri. Phenician coins exhibit him with +a leather apron, hammer, and tongs; the name seems to denote "arranger." +He was the tutelary god of the life of the cities occupied in navigation +and handicraft. Next to Chusor came a female deity, Chusarthis, also +called Turo (Thorah, law), whom the Greeks call by the name Harmonia. As +the same deity is also called the goddess of the moon, we cannot doubt +that Chusarthis is Astarte, which is also sufficiently clear from other +evidence; only in the new system the severe goddess was connected in a +definite manner with the upholding of justice and preservation of law. +Next to Astarte in the series of the Cabiri comes Baal Melkarth of Tyre, +who is known to the Greeks under the name of Cadmus. He is regarded as +the discoverer of mining and masonry and the inventor of writing. He +searches for the lost Harmonia, and with her when found celebrates the +sacred marriage. Hence Cadmus could be worshipped in this system as a +life-awakening, phallic god, as well as the tutelar god of marriage. A +peculiar reverence was enjoyed among the Cabiri by the deity who was +added as an eighth to these seven; his name was Esmun, _i.e._ the +Eighth. In this form it seems that the peculiarities of the seven gods +were taken up and gathered together. At any rate in Carthage the temple +of Esmun stood in the Byrsa, and on the highest part of it. In this +temple the holiest relics of the city were preserved and the most +important deliberations held. The Greeks call Esmun by the name of +Asclepius, but also add that he was different from the Greek Asclepius. +He was, it appears, a healing, _i.e._ an appeasing deity, like Jasion in +the Cabiric mysteries of Samothrace. Esmun is also compared and +confounded with Hermes, as with the Thoth of the Egyptians. Just as +Thoth revealed the sacred books of the Egyptians, did Esmun reveal the +sacred books of the Phenicians. Esmun was represented with a serpent in +his hand as the serpent-holder (Ophiuchus), and his head as surrounded +by eight rays. The forms of the eight tutelar gods were carved by the +Phenicians on the prows of their ships; it was the Cabiri, as Philo told +us, who discovered the ship. Even now Phenician coins exhibit the Cabiri +in that dwarfed and distorted form in which the Phenicians loved to +represent the nature and superhuman power of the gods.[561] + +From the circumstance that the Greeks, when settling in Lemnos, Imbros, +Samothrace, and Rhodes, found the worship of the Cabiri in existence, +and adopted it, though not without certain alterations, we may conclude +that the Cabiric system was established before the year 1000 B.C. In the +tutelary gods of the sea-loving nation of the Phenicians the Greeks +recognised and worshipped the deities favourable to mariners, and from +this side they combined them with their own Dioscuri. On the other side +the myth of Melkarth and Astarte, who were adopted into this circle of +divinities, the myth of Melkarth, who discovers the lost moon-goddess in +the land of gloom, and returns thence with her to new light and life, +and who wakes to new life after the slumber of the winter, gave the +Greeks an opportunity of connecting with the mysteries of the Cabiri +those conceptions of the life after death, which grew up among them +after the beginning of the sixth century. + +When the great deities had been combined with the circle of the Cabiri, +the subordinate spirits followed in their course. By degrees a scheme of +thrice seven was reached, a scheme of twenty-one or rather twenty-two +deities, since an eighth was added to the seven Cabiri. These, beginning +with El, were arranged according to the twenty-two letters of the +Phenician alphabet, and stood in a certain relation to them. From this +number of deities, their various names, and the order of succession, +various schemes of the origin of the gods were developed, and with the +help of these genealogies certain systems of theogony and cosmogony were +formed, of which the dislocated and confused fragments were found in +Philo; and the chief of them I have given above. The wind Kolpia (p. +353) modern research would explain by Kol-pyah, _i.e._ "breath of the +month;" Baau, the wife of this wind, by Bohu, _i.e._ Chaos, the +Tohu-wa-Bohu of the Hebrews. The more abstract the potentialities with +which these systems begin, the later we may assume their origin to be. + +Like the Arabs, the Syrians originally worshipped their gods upon the +mountains and in stones; then they erected pillars of wood and stone to +them, and images, figures of bulls, or shapes combined from the forms of +men and fish. They also erected statues male and female, or androgynous. +At the great festivals the sacred tents and chests in which ancient +symbols and tokens of the deities were preserved, or the images of the +gods, were carried round in solemn procession.[562] Of the festival in +the temple of Atargatis, at Hierapolis, we have already spoken (p. 360); +of the fire-festival which the Tyrians held in the spring, Lucian tells +us: "They trim great trees, set them up in the court of the temple, and +bring goats, sheep, birds, and other victims. These they fasten to the +trees, and in addition, clothes and gold and silver jewellery. After +these preliminaries they carry the images of the gods round the trees; +the pyre is then kindled, and all consumed."[563] + +As we may conclude from Lucian's account and from ruins, the temples +were on a tolerably extensive scale. There were two or three courts, one +after the other, either rectangular as at Paphus and Marathus, or oval, +as at Malta and Gaulus, surrounded by strong walls, and furnished with +pillars, altars, and pools of water. With these was connected a narrow +and small shrine, containing the sacred stone or image. The tithes +belonged to the gods. Every year, at the festival of Melkarth, in Tyre, +an embassy appeared from Carthage which offered to the god of the mother +city the tenth of the revenue of their state, and after great victories +the Carthaginians probably sent a tenth of the spoil to the gods of +Tyre.[564] The number of priests was great; we often find hundreds +engaged in a single sacrifice,[565] and the ritual was complicated. The +human sacrifices, mutilation, and prostitution, by which the Syrians +sought to win the favour of their deities, we have already heard of. At +a later time at all the great sanctuaries there were thousands of male +and female servants beside the priests. The priests lived on the tithes, +the temple lands, and the part which fell to them in the sacrifices. The +ritual distinguished burnt offerings, offerings of purification, +expiatory offerings, and offerings of the first fruits; besides animals +and the firstlings of the field, sacrificial cakes were frequently +offered. The bull was the most acceptable victim; cows were not +sacrificed, nor the flesh eaten. Beside bulls, rams and he-goats, and of +birds, the dove, the partridge, the quail, and the goose were offered. +The animals were required to be pure, without blemish, of the male sex, +and capable of procreation. To guard against the offering of unclean +beasts, the priests of Hierapolis refused to sacrifice any but those +bought from themselves.[566] Two Phenician inscriptions of Massilia and +Carthage have come down to us from the fourth century B.C., containing +the edicts of the Carthaginian Suffetes about the part of the sacrifice +belonging to the priests, the fee to be paid for the sacrifice, and +finally the price of the victims purchased of the priests. The +Carthaginian inscription lays down the rule that of a bull, a ram, or a +goat, offered as a burnt-offering, the skin was to be the property of +the priests and the inwards the property of the person presenting the +victim. Moreover, of every victim offered, the cut and roasted flesh +went to the priests. On the other hand, the inscription of Massilia +gives the skin to those who present the victim (the law of the Hebrews +also gives the skin of a burnt-offering to the man who offers the +victim), but according to this decree the victims must be bought from +the priests. For a bull ten shekels were to be paid to them, and though +the tariff at Carthage lays upon the sacrificer a fee of only 2 _sus_ +for each head of fowl sacrificed, the inscription of Massilia raises the +fee to 3/4 of a shekel and 2 sus.[567] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[497] In Strabo, p. 756. + +[498] Philo. Frag. 1. ed. Müller. + +[499] Philon. frag. 1, 6, 7, ed. Müller. + +[500] _Loc. cit._ 2, 1-4, ed. Müller; cf. Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 257 +ff. + +[501] Such is obviously the meaning of this passage.--Baudissin, "Abh. +z. semit. Relig." s. 14. + +[502] Fragm. 2, 4, 5, ed. Müller. + +[503] Pausan. 5, 7, 10. + +[504] "Hist. Nat." 36, 65. + +[505] Athar-ath, _i.e._ Astarte-Athe; Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 431. +Diod. 2, 4, 30. 2 Maccab. xi. 26. + +[506] Herod. 1, 105. Pausan. 1, 14, 7. + +[507] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 16. The cutting off of the hair which +Lucian mentions is also a vicarious custom. + +[508] Justin. 18, 3. + +[509] Movers, "Phoeniz." Encycl. v. Ersch. s. 388, ff. + +[510] 2 Kings xxiii. 7. Ezek. xxiii. 40, ff. + +[511] Movers, "Phoeniz." 1, 197, 579; Munter, "Tempel der Göttin von +Paphos," and the Syrian coins in De Luynes, "Numismatique," pl. 1. +Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 13, 28. On the pillars of Marathus and Paphos, +Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoeniker," s. 23. + +[512] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 4; Diod. 2, 4; Lucian, _loc. cit._ 14. + +[513] Lucian, _loc. cit._ 33, 39. + +[514] Stark, "Forschungen," s. 248, ff. + +[515] Avien. "Ora maritima," v. 305. + +[516] De Bell. Parth. 28. + +[517] Judges xiv. 23; 1 Samuel, v. ff. + +[518] Gesenius, "Monum. Tab." 25. Silius Ital. Pun. 3, 104. + +[519] Osborne, "Egypt," p. 144. + +[520] Baudissin ("Jahve et Moloch," p. 47) regards the amalgamation of +Moloch and Adar as of later origin; to me the connection between Saturn +and the sun (Diod. 2, 30) appears of later origin. + +[521] _e.g._ Diod. 20, 65. + +[522] Justin. 18, 6. 19, 1; Plin. "H. N." 36, 4. + +[523] Curtius, 4, 15, ed. Mützell; "Porphyr. de Abstinentiâ," 2, 56. + +[524] Euseb. "Præcept. Evang." 4, 26. + +[525] 2 Kings iii. 27; see below. + +[526] Diod. 13, 86. + +[527] Diod. 20, 14. + +[528] Plut. "De Superstitione," p. 171; Sil. Ital. 4, 767. + +[529] Numen virginale; virgo cælestis. + +[530] De Luynes, "Numism." pl. v.; Hockh. "Kreta," 1, 98. + +[531] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 4, 32; Augustin, "De Civitate Dei," 2, 26. + +[532] Movers, "Religion der Phoen." s. 605, 611, 621 ff. + +[533] Procop. "De bello Persico," 2, 28. + +[534] Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 15, 27, 43, 50, 51. + +[535] Movers, "Religion der Phoen.," s. 681. + +[536] "Our Lord Melkarth, Baal of Tyre," as he is called in an +inscription found at Malta. + +[537] Herod. 2, 44; Plin. H. N. 37, 75; Theophr. "De Lap." 25. + +[538] Thus Virgil says of the minstrel of Dido: "Canit errantem lunam, +solisque labores," Æn. 1, 742. + +[539] Joseph. Ant. 8, 53; Movers, "Religion der Phoenizier," s. 150. + +[540] Athen. p. 392; Movers, _loc. cit._ s. 536. + +[541] 1 Kings xviii. 28. + +[542] Plaut. "Merc." 4, 6. + +[543] Cic. "De Nat. Deorum," 3, 23; 1 Macc. v. 43; 2, xii. 26. + +[544] Pausan. 3, 23, 1. + +[545] Movers, "Phoeniz." 2, 230. + +[546] Sil. Ital. 4, 81, 819; Justin. 18, 6. + +[547] Virg. "Æn." 1, 742. + +[548] Hesychius: "[Greek: Eurôpon skoteinon platy. Eurôpê hê chôra tês +dyseôs ê skoteinê."] That Europe is Astarte follows from Hesychius: +[Greek: "Hellôpia, heortê Eurôpês en Krêtê]." The "Etymolog. Mag." pp. +232, 333, says: "Europa was anciently called Hellotia, '[Greek: hoti hoi +Phoinikes tên parthenon Hellôtian klousin].'" Eloth signifies "goddess." + +[549] Jeremiah vii. 18; xliv. 17-23. + +[550] Pindar, "Pyth." 3, 90; Cic. "De Nat. Deor." 3, 23. + +[551] Appian, "De Reb. Hisp." c. 2; Movers, "Kolonieen der +Phoenizier," s. 63 ff. We shall see below what a conglomeration of +fables the Greeks have gathered round the wandering Astarte, who rides +on a bull and is represented with the crescent of the moon, and a cow's +horns. With them she is not only Europe whom the Bull-Zeus carries from +Phoenicia, who is sought by Cadmus the son of Phoenix. In her crescent +and cow's horns they also recognise their Argive Moon-goddess, Io, and +represent her as wandering to Phoenicia and Egypt, where Isis, who here +again wears the cow's horns or head, or is entirely represented as a +cow, becomes their Io. The wanderings of Dido-Astarte then became +confused with the stories of Helena, with the wanderings and fortunes of +the foundress of Carthage, and the travels of Æneas, the favourite of +Aphrodite, were directed to the most famous seats of the worship of +Ashera. + +[552] Nöldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa." + +[553] Serv. ad Æn. 2, 632; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoeniker," s. 36, 38. + +[554] According to Lenormant, _um-pali_, "mother of the sword." + +[555] Joh. Lyd. "De Mensibus," 4, 46. + +[556] Lev. xix, 27-29; Deut. xiv. 1; xxii. 5; xvi. 21; xxiii. 1. + +[557] Ezek. viii. 14. + +[558] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 8; Strabo, p. 755. + +[559] "De Laudib. Constant." c. 13. + +[560] Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 379. + +[561] Herod. 3, 37; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoenicker Taf." 4, 5; Movers, +"Phoenizier," 2, 87-99; "Phoeniz." in Ersch. s. 391 ff. + +[562] Jerem. x. 5; Baruch, vi. 3, xxv. 26; Diod. 20, 65. + +[563] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 49. + +[564] Polyb. 31, 20; Diod. 20, 14; Just. 18, 7; Curt, 4, 13. + +[565] 1 Kings xviii. 17-24. + +[566] Movers, "Phoeniz." in Ersch. s. 419. + +[567] Movers, "Opferwesen der Karthager," s. 8; Blau, "Opfertarif von +Karthago;" Zeitschrift d. d. M. G. 16, 438. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS. + + +The tradition of the Hebrews of the early history and fortunes of their +people previous to the settlement in Canaan is contained in the books of +the Pentateuch. After they had settled in that land and had passed +beyond the loose combination of their tribes to the unity of civic life, +after a monarchy had been established, and under it a metropolis and a +centre for the national religion had been founded, the priesthood +engaged in this worship began to collect together ritualistic +observances and customs of law, and to write them down in combination +with anything still living about their early history in the traditions +of their families. The Hebrews had found existing in Canaan that ancient +and many-sided civilisation the nature and extent of which we have +already attempted to describe. Of their own history they could have +preserved nothing but prominent facts and decisive crises. Songs of +praise and victory which celebrated the great events of the Hebrew past, +such as the exodus from Egypt and the victories won over the Canaanites, +of which some were already written down,[568] forms of blessing, +genealogies,[569] isolated fragments of the moral law, or time-honoured +sacrificial custom, or ancient rules of justice,[570] and finally +narration of the wars,[571] constituted fixed points of connection in +this tradition. At the new centre of religious worship the whole stock +of existing ritual and custom had to be brought under review, and from +hence provision made for the use of the true and acceptable kind of +sacrifice, and sentence of law. The consideration of the marvellous lot +which had fallen to the Hebrews, the rise of a feeble shepherd tribe +under the powerful protection of Egypt, the liberation from the dominion +of this great kingdom, the conquest of Canaan, the capture of ancient +and strongly-fortified cities, "of fields which they had not tilled, of +vineyards and olive-gardens which they had not planted, of wells which +they had not dug, of cities which they had not builded," caused the +Hebrews to recognise in the favour which had attended them the direct +guidance of their deity. This grace would remain with them if they +continued to worship the god of their fathers according to his will, in +the way acceptable to him. Thus to the priests, who undertook the task +of writing down the tradition, the nation appeared as a chosen people +from the beginning, to whom their god had early given his blessing. In +return for such grace and beneficence the Hebrews had to obey his law. +This is the "covenant" which Jehovah has made with them.[572] This law, +therefore, must be carefully recorded, in order that it may be obeyed +exactly in every particular by the priests themselves, as by the judges +and all the nation. + +On the basis of this tradition, these songs and poems, genealogies and +ancient records, and under the guidance of the views just pointed out, +there arose at Hebron, in the first decade of the reign of David, +within the circle of a priestly family, which apparently claimed to be +sprung from Aaron, the brother of Moses, the Judæan text of the +Pentateuch, and the Book of Joshua.[573] Composed as annals, this text +deals primarily with the connection and course of the fortunes of +Israel; the central point is the covenant between Jehovah (Elohim) and +Israel, Israel and Jehovah, and the law, which is the body of this +covenant.[574] The unity of religious worship and the centralisation of +it at one place and one only is brought prominently forward, and this +could not have happened till political unity had been obtained, a +metropolis founded, and a seat erected there for the worship of the +whole nation, or at least contemplated, if not erected. The law for the +priests, the minute details of ritual which make up the chief part of +this text, were, in the view of the priests, given at that mighty time +when Moses led the people; though, as a matter of fact, only a few of +the fundamental precepts reached so far back (see below). The +centralisation of the worship also at one place of sacrifice, the +command to have a common place of worship, was thought to have been in +existence as early as the time of Moses, and to have been prescribed +even when the Hebrews were in the desert. And the priests were more +inclined to believe that the ideal sought after for their religion, for +Church and State, belonged to the time of Moses, because in those days +of piety and exaltation the true ordinances must have been in existence, +and certain sacrificial institutions, certain principles of law and +morality, actually came down from that period. + +Not long after this first text arose a second, which, however, can +hardly have been composed in priestly circles, and certainly did not +come from Judah. With the author of this second text, it is not the +collection and establishment of the law, and the desire to insist on the +obedience to it, which is the main point. It is rather the personal +fortunes of the fathers of the race, in which the divine guidance is +shown, the manifestations of the deity in their favour, the revelations +made to them by divine messengers, the importance of old customs and old +names, on which he lays especial weight. He also availed himself of +older written sources.[575] The language and style of this second text +are more lively, versatile, and distinct than those of the first; and +the importance which he ascribes to the fortunes of Joseph and the +tribes of Ephraim confirms the assumption that the author belonged to +this tribe. The origin of this second text falls in the second half of +Solomon's reign, or immediately after it--in the decades from 970 to 950 +B.C.[576] + +About a hundred years later, towards the middle of the ninth century +B.C., both these texts were combined and transformed into one work. The +author of this combined text (the Jahvist) was guided by the feelings +and views of the prophets. He is superior to the authors of the two +texts in versatility, in reflection, and vivid power of imagination. Not +only did he work up the two texts into one and insert into the whole his +own views, but he has added some sections, the materials of which must +have been furnished partly by tradition and partly by written +records.[577] In this shape were the first four books of the Pentateuch, +the beginning and the end of the fifth book, and the book of Joshua, at +the time of the prophets Amos and Hosea. The "Second Law," _i.e._ the +main portion of the fifth book of the Pentateuch,[578] on the other +hand, was not written till the time of king Josiah, about 625 B.C., and +was then added to the rest. The author of this second law also revised +the book of Joshua.[579] + +If we compare the Hebrew account of the Creation with the cosmogonies of +Berosus and Philo (pp. 257, 353), and the narrative of Noah's deluge +with the description of the flood on the Assyrian tablets and in Berosus +(p. 240 ff.), we see at the first glance how far asunder the conceptions +lie--with what clearness and vigour the Hebrews have succeeded in +purifying and exalting the rude fancies of the nations so closely akin +to them--the ancient common possession of the Eastern Semitic tribes, +from whom the Hebrews were sprung. This power--the patient labour, the +serious and thoughtful effort to deepen the traditions of the past into +an ethical significance, to sublimate legends into simple moral +teaching, and transplant the myth into the region of moral earnestness +and moral purpose--to pass beyond the rude naturalism of their kinsmen +into the supernatural--from the varied polytheism of Babel and Canaan to +monotheism--this it is which gives to the Hebrews the first place, and +not among Semitic nations only, in the sphere of religious feeling and +development. At a later period the Greeks understood how to breathe +life, beauty and nobility into the gods of the Phenicians, whose rites +came over to Hellas; they could change Ashera-Bilit, the goddess of +prostitution, into the youthful Aphrodite, the goddess of blooming +grace, and the highest charm of love; but the Hebrews practised the +severer, sterner, and loftier task of carrying religious feeling beyond +the life of nature, of conceiving the highest power as morally in +opposition to natural impulses and forces, of publishing the supremacy +of the intellectual and moral over the natural being. + +Adam begot Seth, so we are told in the first book of the Pentateuch, and +Seth begot Enos, and Enos begot Kenan, and Kenan begot Mahalaleel, and +Mahalaleel begot Jared, and Jared begot Enoch, and Enoch begot +Methuselah, and Methuselah begot Lamech, and Lamech begot Noah, and Noah +begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth was full of evil, but Noah +walked with God. Then God said to Noah: Make for thyself an ark of +gopher-wood, 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in breadth, and 30 cubits +in height. For I will send a flood upon the earth to destroy under the +heaven all flesh wherein is the breath of life. But with thee I make my +covenant; and thou shalt go into the ark, thou and thy three sons and +thy wife, and the three wives of thy sons with thee. And of all living +creatures thou shalt bring two into the ark, male and female shall they +be. And Noah did as God commanded him. When Noah was 600 years old, in +the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the fountains of +the deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and +there was rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and the +waters rose and lifted the ark. And the flood was mighty, and all the +high mountains that are under heaven were covered; the water rose +fifteen cubits above the tops of the mountains. For 150 days the flood +was mighty on the earth. Then God caused a wind to blow, and the waters +sank. And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the +ark rested on the mountains of the land of Ararat; and in the tenth +month, on the first day, the tops of the mountains appeared. It came to +pass after forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark, and sent +out a raven; but it flew to and fro. Then he sent out a dove, to see +whether the water had retired from the earth. But the dove found no +place of rest, and returned to the ark. And Noah remained seven days +more, and again sent out the dove. Then the dove came to him at evening, +and lo! a fresh olive-branch was in her mouth. And he remained yet seven +days, and again sent out the dove, but she returned to him no more. Then +Noah opened the door of the ark and looked out, and lo! the earth was +dry. And in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the +earth was dry. And Noah went out of the ark, and his sons, and his wife, +and the wives of his sons, and he built an altar to Jehovah, and took of +all clean beasts and birds and offered a burnt sacrifice upon the altar. +After the flood sons were born to the sons of Noah. The sons of Shem +were Elam and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud and Aram. Arphaxad begot +Salah, and Salah begot Eber. Eber had two sons, the name of the one was +Peleg, and the name of the other Joktan. Peleg begot Reu, and Reu begot +Serug, and Serug begot Nahor, and Nahor begot Terah. + +Terah dwelt in the land of his nativity at Ur in Chaldæa, and his sons +were Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot and Milcah and Iscah, +and died before his father at Ur in Chaldæa. Nahor took Milcah to wife, +and Abraham took Sarah. And Terah went with Abraham his son, and Lot the +son of Haran, from Ur in Chaldæa to Haran and dwelt there. But Jehovah +said to Abraham: "Go from thy land, and thy home, and thy father's +house, to a land which I will show thee." Then Abraham took Sarah his +wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their goods, and the souls +born to them in Haran, and went forth from Haran. He came unto the land +of Canaan as far as Sichem and to the oak Moreh, and there he built to +Jehovah an altar; and afterwards he went towards the mountain and +pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, and there he built an altar to +Jehovah, and journeyed towards the south. And when the famine was sore +in the land, Abraham, and Lot with him, went to Egypt, and Pharaoh, for +Sarah's sake, gave Abraham sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants, +and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels. But Jehovah smote Pharaoh +with great plagues, so that he let Abraham and Sarah go, and bade men +guide him. + +Then Abraham dwelt again at Bethel, and was very rich in flocks, in +silver and gold. Lot also had tents and sheep and oxen, and there was a +strife between the shepherds of Abraham and the shepherds of Lot. Then +Abraham said to Lot: "Let there be no strife between my shepherds and +thine, for we are brethren. If thou wilt go to the left hand, I will go +to the right." Then Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw the land of Jordan, +that it was watered as a garden of the Lord; and he set forth at +morning, and pitched his tents at Sodom. But Jehovah said to Abraham: +"Lift up thine eyes; the whole land which thou seest I will give to thee +and thy seed for ever; rise up and go through the length and breadth of +the land, for I will give it to thee." And Abraham pitched his tents +under the oaks, which are at Kirjath-Arba (Hebron), and there built an +altar to Jehovah. + +For twelve years the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Adamah, Zeboiim and +Zoar, had served Kedor-Laomer, king of Elam. Then they rebelled; and in +the fourteenth year Kedor-Laomer, and the kings who were with him, +Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Tidal and Arioch of Elassar, smote the +Rephaims at Ashtaroth-Karnaim, the Zuzims at Ham, and the Emims at +Shaveh-Kiriathaim, and the Horites on their mountain of Seir, and smote +the whole land of the Amalekites and Amorites. The kings of Sodom and +Gomorrah also, of Adamah, Zeboiim and Zoar, who had drawn out against +them in the valley of Siddim, were put to flight, and fled to the +mountains, and all the goods and all the food in Sodom and Gomorrah were +taken, and they also took Lot and his goods. When Abraham heard that his +brother's son was carried away, he set forth with his servants, 318 in +number, and fell upon them by night at Dan, and pursued them as far as +Hobah, which is to the west of Damascus, and brought back all the goods +and Lot and the people that were captured. The king of Sodom came to him +and said: Give me the souls, and take the goods for thyself. But Abraham +said: I lift up my hand to Jehovah that I will take nothing of thee, +save what my servants have eaten. + +Abraham dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, but his wife bore him no +son. But he had an Egyptian maid-servant whose name was Hagar. Her Sarah +gave him to wife, and Hagar was with child, and the angel of Jehovah +announced to her that she should bear a son who would be like a wild +ass, and his hand would be against every man and every man's hand +against him, and he would dwell to the east of his brethren. And Hagar +bore Abraham a son, and Abraham named him Ishmael. Then he received the +promise that Sarah also should bear a son, "from whom should arise kings +and nations;" and when he was 100 years old, and in the south between +Kadesh and Sur, Sarah bore him a son. Abraham named him Isaac, and +circumcised him when he was eight days old. The year before he had +circumcised Ishmael, for God had said: This is the covenant which thou +shalt keep between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, that every male +shall be circumcised. + +When Isaac grew up and Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian woman, she said +to Abraham: Thrust out this woman and her son; Ishmael shall not be heir +with Isaac. Then Abraham gave Hagar bread and a bottle of water on her +shoulders, and sent her forth with her child. She wandered into the +desert of Beersheba, i.e. the well of the seven, and when the water was +spent, and the child was fainting with thirst, she laid him down under a +bush, and sat down a bow-shot from him, and said: "Let me not see the +death of the child." Then Jehovah heard the voice of the child, and His +angel called to Hagar out of heaven: "Fear not, rise up, and take the +boy in thy hand, Jehovah will make him a great people." And Jehovah +opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and filled the bottle, and +gave her child drink. And Jehovah was with him; he grew up in the +desert, and was an archer, and dwelt in the desert of Paran, and his +mother took him a wife out of Egypt, and Ishmael begot Nebajoth, and +Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, and +Hadar, and Tema, and Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah, twelve princes. +And Ishmael died 137 years old, and his descendants dwelt to the east of +his brethren from Shur, which lies before Egypt, to Havilah, and towards +Asshur. + +Abraham abode a long time in the land of the Philistines. And God +tempted Abraham, and bade him sacrifice his only son Isaac, in the land +of Moriah, as a burnt offering. But when Abraham had built the altar on +the top of the mountain, and laid the wood upon it, and bound Isaac and +laid him on the altar, and taken the knife and stretched forth his hand +to slay his son, the angel of Jehovah called from heaven, saying: Lay +not thine hand on the lad, for now I know that thou fearest God; thou +hast not refused Him thine only son. And Abraham saw a ram caught in the +thicket, and he sacrificed him. + +When Sarah died at Hebron, Abraham spoke to the Hittites among whom he +dwelt: I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a +burying-place for my people among you, that I may put away my dead from +me. Speak for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he give me the cave +of Machpelah which is his, at the corner of his field; let him give it +to me for a burying-place at its full worth in money. Ephron agreed, and +Abraham weighed the money to Ephron, four hundred shekels of silver, +current money with the merchant. And thus the field of Ephron at +Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, that is Hebron, the field and the cave, +and all the trees on the field and round it, were given to Abraham +before the eyes of the Hittites, and the eyes of all who went into the +gates of the city. And Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of +Machpelah. + +Then Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah, and she bore him +Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. But +Isaac had grown a man, and Abraham said to his servant, the oldest in +his house, Eliezer of Damascus: Lay thy hand under my thigh; I charge +thee that thou take not to my son a wife from the daughters of the +Canaanites, among whom we dwell; to my fatherland and my home thou shalt +go, and there seek a wife for Isaac. Then the servant took ten camels +from the camels of his master, and goods of every kind, and passed over +the Euphrates towards Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, the brother of +Abraham. To Nahor his wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, had borne +eight sons. The youngest was Bethuel, and Bethuel's son was Laban, and +his daughter Rebekah. Eliezer came to the city of Nahor at evening, and +halted his camels at the well outside the city. Then came a maiden, fair +to behold, with her pitcher on her shoulder, to the well. When she had +filled her pitcher and come up from the well, the servant went to her +and said: Bend down thy pitcher and let me drink a little water. Drink, +my lord, she answered, and quickly took the pitcher in her hand, and +gave him to drink. Then she said: I will draw also for thy camels, and +stepped down again to the well. Eliezer marvelled at her; and when all +the camels had drunk, he took a golden ring, half a shekel in weight, +and two golden bracelets, ten shekels in weight, and put the ring in her +nose, and the bracelets on her arm, and then inquired whose daughter she +was, and whether there was room in her father's house to shelter him and +the camels. And she answered: I am Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the +son of Nahor; straw and fodder is in abundance with us, and room for the +camels. And her brother Laban came to the well, and led Eliezer to the +house, and Laban took the saddles from the camels, spread straw for +them, and gave them fodder and brought water for his guest to wash his +feet, and food. But Eliezer said: I will not eat till I have given my +message. I am the servant of Abraham, and Jehovah has blessed my master, +so that he has become great, and he has given him sheep and oxen, and +silver and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels and +asses. And Sarah has borne a son to my master in his old age, and I have +sworn to seek a wife for his son from his home and his own people; and +Jehovah led me in the right path in order to take the granddaughter of +the brother of my master for his son. If ye are willing to plight troth +and love with Abraham, say it. Then said Bethuel, Rebekah's father, and +Laban her brother: Behold, the maiden stands before thee, take her and +go. Then Eliezer brought forth gold and silver ornaments, and garments, +and gave them to Rebekah; to her brother also and her mother he gave +gifts. And when Laban and his mother sent away Rebekah with her nurse +Deborah, and Abraham's servant Eliezer, they blessed Rebekah, and said: +Become a thousand times a thousand, and may thy seed possess the gate of +thy enemies. When Eliezer returned home, he told all that he had done, +and Isaac received Rebekah into the tent of his mother, and she became +his wife, and he loved her. And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; +but to Ishmael and the sons of Keturah he gave gifts, and sent them away +from his son Isaac into the land to the East. Then Abraham, after he had +lived 175 years, died at a good old age, and his sons Isaac and Ishmael +buried him in the cave of Machpelah. + +These narratives show that the Hebrews derived the origin of their +nation from the land of the Euphrates and Tigris. We remarked above that +the legend of the Deluge could only have arisen in river valleys, +exposed to severe inundations (p. 245). If we set aside the additions +made in the prophetic revision, the narrative of the flood belongs to +the first text; in this text therefore the nations of the earth were +derived from the sons of Noah. The revision adds that the descendants of +Noah, in their journey from the East, found a plain in the land of +Shinar, i.e. Babylonia, and dwelt there, and erected a city and a tower, +intended to reach to heaven. Then Jehovah confounded their language and +scattered them over the earth.[580] But it is the first text which gives +the genealogy of Abraham, according to which the descendant of Noah, +Terah, the father of Abraham, dwells in the land of his nativity, at Ur +in Chaldæa. We found that Ur lay on the lower Euphrates, where the ruins +of Mugheir mark its site, that the oldest buildings in Babylonia belong +to this place, and the oldest sovereigns on the Euphrates called +themselves kings of Ur (p. 259). From Ur Terah, according to the first +text, journeyed with his family to Haran.[581] Haran lies in a wide +plain surrounded by hills on the Skirtos, a tributary of the Belik, at +no great distance from the Euphrates; it is the Carrhae of western +writers. From Haran Abraham turns towards Canaan; but his brother's +tribe remains in Haran. Hence, as the oldest writings of the Hebrews +without any doubt derive the progenitors of the nation from Ur and +Carrhae in the land of the Euphrates, so later authorities maintain, as +an absolute certainty, that "the fathers dwelt beyond the river," _i.e._ +the Euphrates. In the "second law" Abraham is called a "wandering +Aramæan," and Ezekiel calls Chaldæa "the birthplace of the +Hebrews."[582] The name "Hebrews" confirms this statement and view. +Heber means "that which is beyond," "those who dwell beyond." The +Hebrews call themselves the sons of Israel; the name of Hebrews they +received from the Canaanites, into whose land they forced a way, though +the Canaanites, no doubt, meant no more by the name than that the sons +of Israel dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, before they set foot in +Canaan. + +But the genealogy of the Hebrews goes far beyond Carrhæ and Ur. After +enumerating the ten patriarchs from Adam, _i.e._ from the man "formed of +earth" (adama) to Noah, and giving the age of these patriarchs in +hundreds of years (the highest age is 969, and the lowest is the +seventh, 365), the first text enumerates another set of ten patriarchs +from the sons of Noah down to Abraham, and of these the age gradually +dwindles from 600 to 175 years.[583] The head of this series, Shem, the +eldest son of Noah, the friend of God, is the immediate progenitor of +the Hebrews. That the recollection and feeling of the relationship with +the inhabitants of the land of the two streams, and with the population +of Aram, _i.e._ of the upper land between the Tigris and Euphrates, the +Euphrates and the Jordan, and with portions of the inhabitants of +Arabia and Asia Minor, was alive and present in the minds of the +Hebrews, is clear from the fact that these nations, akin in tribe and +blood and language, were carried back to Shem. From Arphaxad, the third +son of Shem, sprang the fathers of the Hebrews; the two first sons Elam +and Asshur, we already know as the progenitors of the Elamites and +Assyrians. From Lud and Aram, the fourth and fifth sons of Shem, the +Lydians and Aramæeans were derived, a genealogy which certainly belongs +to the Ephraimitic, if not to the Judæan text. In Arphaxad, the name of +the third son, we cannot mistake the name of a district any more than in +the names of the other sons. Arphaxad is a mountain canton of South +Armenia, between the lakes of Van and Urumiah,--the Arrapachitis[584] of +the Greeks, the Alpak of the Armenians, the modern Albak--and lies more +than 6,000 feet high, at the source of the Great Zab, which also flows +through it.[585] The son of Arphaxad is Salah, _i.e._ "leaving," +"departure," and the son of Salah is Eber, in whom we have the later +name of the Israelites, transformed into a patriarch. To Eber two sons +are allotted. The name of the elder, Peleg, means division, "because in +his time the earth was divided." From this we may draw the conclusion +that the division of the descendants of Noah and the separation of the +nations was transferred to the fifth generation after him. But another +meaning may also be given on linguistic grounds to the name Peleg +(Phaleg), and at the juncture of the Chaboras and the Euphrates we find +a place of the name of Phalga.[586] Joktan, the second son of Eber, we +know already as the father of those Arabian tribes who dwell from Mesha +to Dshafar, and in Kachtan we have already found his name in Arab +tradition (p. 326). The descendants of Peleg, the elder son of Eber, are +Reu, and Serug the son of Reu. The name Serug appears to have been +retained in the district of Serug, and the modern Serudsh, south-west of +Edessa, in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates. Western writers speak of +the district of Osrhoene, and give this name to the south-west of +Mesopotamia.[587] Serug's son is Nahor, _i.e._ "the river," the +Euphrates. Nahor is followed by Terah, who had his home at Ur. + +If this series of the first text preserved a genuine historical +recollection, a portion of a Semitic tribe, settled in the mountains of +South Armenia, or even the whole tribe--the sons of Arphaxad--journeyed +to the south, after leaving nothing but their name in the mountain +valley. The separation from their kindred was signified by the name +Salah, _i.e._ "leaving." At first the sons of Arphaxad pastured their +flocks at Serudsh, in the north-west of Mesopotamia, and from thence +they passed to Ur on the lower Euphrates, while another branch, the sons +of Joktan, turned away from the mouth of the Euphrates in the direction +of Arabia. At a later time the sons of Arphaxad settled at Ur must again +have marched up the Euphrates to Carrhae. Then followed a second +division; one portion, the Nahorites, _i.e._ the people of the river, +remained at Carrhae, while others, the Abrahamites, wandered to Canaan, +or rather into the deserts bordering on Canaan. Moreover, since the +first text denotes Abraham's eldest son Ishmael, as the progenitor of +the Ishmaelites, _i.e._ of a considerable number of tribes of North and +Central Arabia, and since the revision derives the Midianites, who +wandered on the peninsula of Sinai, and further in the East, and other +Arabian tribes, from the sons of Keturah, the younger sons of Abraham +(pp. 324, 393), it follows that on the borders of Canaan a portion of +the Abrahamites must again have broken off, and passed on to the +peninsula of Arabia. + +However this may be, the kinship of the Hebrews with the Babylonians, +Assyrians, and Aramæans, the derivation of their tribe from the +river-land of the Euphrates and Tigris, is beyond a doubt, and we must +regard the districts of Arphaxad and Serug, of Ur and Carrhæ, as the +original home of the tribe, which afterwards grew up to be the Hebrews. +In any case it is clear from this genealogical table that the Hebrews +considered themselves closely allied to the Nahorites of Haran, but more +especially to a considerable number of the Arabian tribes, or +Ishmaelites, _i.e._ the Nebajoths, the Kedarites, the Temanites, the +Jeturites, and finally the Midianites. This is proved, not only by the +derivation of the Ishmaelites from the eldest son of Abraham, but also +by the close relationship in which the Edomites, the brothers of the +Hebrews, are represented as standing to the Ishmaelites. The names +Ishmael and Israel are similarly formed; the first means "God (El) +hears," the second, "God strives," or "God rules." + +Within this circle of kindred nations, the Hebrews occupy the foremost +place. The Ishmaelites are descended, it is true, from the eldest son of +Abraham; but not from a legitimate or equal marriage; the mother of +their tribe is a maid-servant and an Egyptian. Ishmael's wife also came +from Egypt, and, in this there may linger a dim recollection of the +ancient supremacy of the Hyksos in Egypt.[588] The Midianites, on the +other hand, spring from a younger branch than the Hebrews; and they too +are not born from the true wife of Abraham, and hence are not his +genuine heirs. To the Moabites also, who pastured their flocks to the +east of the Dead Sea, and the Ammonites, whose land lay to the +north-east of this sea, the Hebrews held themselves akin. These tribes +are the descendants of Lot, Abraham's brother's son; and therefore they, +like the Hebrews themselves, spring from those who had moved from +Carrhae to the West. But Lot had separated from Abraham, and chosen the +region of Jordan. And when Jehovah rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom +and Gomorrah, because the sins of their inhabitants were grievous, and +overthrew these cities, and the whole land around them, Lot with his two +daughters escaped towards the East; but because all the men of Sodom +were destroyed, there was no man to dwell with Lot's daughters. Then +they gave their father wine to drink, and lay with him, and the elder +bore Moab, and the younger Ammon. Thus although the Moabites and +Ammonites are closely allied to the Hebrews, and are of the pure +stock--they were begotten in incest. A dark stain rests on their origin. +Obviously the bitter hostility which afterwards prevailed between the +Hebrews, and the Moabites and Ammonites, and the severe wounds which the +Hebrews suffered from the attacks of these nations, have had their +influence in forming and moulding the story of their origin. The Judæan +text narrated quite simply the separation of Abraham and Lot, the +choice of the land of Jordan, the destruction of the cities, and Lot's +escape.[589] The broader details and motives given in the narrative are +the work of the prophetic revision, to which the account of the origin +of the Moabites and Ammonites exclusively belongs. + +To the Hebrews, the wanderings and fortunes of their forefathers +appeared compressed into the lives of the patriarchs, whose mighty forms +are also to them the patterns of morality, piety, and a life pleasing to +God, the expression of the genuine national character. The name Abraham +means, in the form ab-ram, "high father;" in the form ab-raham, "father +of the multitude." Sarah means "princess." Their right to the +possessions, which they won in Canaan by the sword, they saw in the +command given to their ancestors to go thither, and in the promise that +the land should belong to his seed, which is given to Abraham, even in +the first text. Moreover, the purchase which Abraham concluded with the +Hittites of Hebron of a burying-place for his wife and himself in the +cave of Machpelah--this narrative is a part of the Judæan text--and the +services rendered by Abraham to Canaan gave to his descendants a claim +to the possession of Canaan. Abraham planted the trees at Beersheba, and +dug wells; he defended Canaan against Kedor-Laomer, and recovered from +the kings of the east the booty taken, without keeping back any for +himself. These services of the progenitor also constituted a claim for +his descendants. + +The accounts in Genesis[590] of campaigns of Elamite rulers towards the +west, and the supremacy of a king of Elam, one of the Kudurids, over +Syria, are founded on events and circumstances which occurred about the +year 2000 B.C., as has been already pointed out in detail (p. 251). The +connection into which Abraham is brought with them is the work of the +Hebrews, and belongs to the Ephraimitic text.[591] The account which +puts the Horites, who occupied Mount Seir before the Edomites, among the +nations conquered by the Elamites, and beside these certain extinct and +mythical tribes--the Rephaites, Susites, and Emites--shows plainly that +the events must belong to a very distant past. + +When the rights of the Hebrews to Canaan had been proved, when at the +same time it was ascertained that the kindred tribes of Moab and Ammon +could establish no claim to the land, after the voluntary renunciation +of their progenitor, it remained to be shown that the ancient +inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites themselves, had been from the +first destined to give way to the Hebrews. We found that the Canaanites, +like the Hebrews, belonged to the great family of the Semitic nations; +but they were distinguished from them in character, in dialect, and +religious conceptions. Hence they were not derived from Shem, but from +Noah's second son, Ham; and they were also burdened with the curse of +Noah--a trait which the prophetic reviser has added to the +narrative.[592] After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, and he became +drunken, and uncovered himself in his tent; and Ham, the father of +Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, but Shem and Japhet went +backwards and covered him. And when Noah heard what Ham had done, he +said, "Cursed be Ham; a servant of servants shall he be to his +brethren." + +Abraham passed through the length and breadth of Canaan, the land which +his descendants were destined to possess. At Shechem and Hebron, and +then in the south, at Kadesh (Barnea) and Shur, he abode longest; at +Hebron, and between Bethel and Ai, he built an altar to Jehovah. The +presence of the patriarchs consecrated the places where his descendants +were to dwell; among the Hittites and the Canaanites Abraham remained +true to the God who had led him into Canaan; he rendered a willing +obedience even to the harshest command. At the places where Abraham had +set up altars, and where he had offered sacrifice, we find at a later +period centres of Hebrew worship: by Abraham's sacrifices they were +already consecrated. The Judæan text places the abode of Abraham mainly +in the south of Canaan, at Hebron; the south belonged mainly to the +tribe of Judah, and Hebron was David's royal abode till he conquered +Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The Ephraimitic text placed Abraham mainly +at Shechem, the chief city of the tribe of Ephraim, and gives especial +prominence to the sacred place at Bethel. The wandering of Abraham from +the south of Canaan to Egypt, where the Pharaoh, warned by plagues from +Jehovah, sends him away with valuable presents and in peace, is the work +of the reviser. It is an anticipation of the later sojourn of the +Hebrews in Egypt, and forms at the same time a contrast to the widely +different circumstances of their exodus. + +After long waiting, the true son is at length born to the patriarch from +his wife, of the blood of his fathers in Haran.[593] In order to +preserve the blood of the Hebrews pure, a wife is not taken from Canaan +for this son, Isaac, but the care of the father provides a wife from +among his kindred, the tribe of the Nahorites, on the Euphrates. The +first text tells us quite briefly, "Isaac was forty years old when he +took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramæan of +Mesopotamia, the sister of Laban the Aramæan."[594] The lively +description of the journey and the suit of Eliezer is the work of the +reviser of the two original texts. After thus providing for the +continuance of the pure stock, when the oldest son, the child of Hagar, +and the younger sons, the children of Keturah, had been sent away with +presents, as the law of the Hebrews afterwards ordained for the sons of +concubines, and directed to the East, when he had given everything into +the hand of Isaac, Abraham died full of years and blessings. + +Isaac was now sixty years old--such is the account given in Genesis--and +his wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the sister of Laban, had +borne him no son. Then Isaac besought Jehovah for his wife, and Jehovah +heard him. Rebekah became with child, and lo! there were twins in her +womb, and the children strove in her womb; and Jehovah said to her: Two +nations are in thy body, and two people shall separate from thy bosom. +The first boy was red in colour, and hairy, and she called him Esau; and +afterwards his brother came out, and his hand was upon Esau's heel, and +he was called Jacob, _i.e._ "one that holds the heel." And the boys +grew; and Esau was a hunter, but Jacob abode in the tents, and his +mother loved him. Once Esau returned weary from hunting, as Jacob was +making a mess of pottage. And Esau said: Give me to eat. And Jacob +replied: Sell me first thy birthright, and pledge it to me. And Esau +swore, and sold his birthright, and ate and drank, and went his way. +Thus Esau despised his birthright; and when he was forty years old, he +took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basmath +(Bashemath), the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and afterwards Mahalath, +the daughter of Ishmael, Nebajoth's sister. + +There was a famine in Canaan, and Isaac went to Gerar in the land of the +Philistines, and there dwelt, and sowed in that land, and received a +hundredfold, for Jehovah blessed him. He became more and more mighty, +and had sheep, and oxen, and many servants. And Isaac dug out the wells +which Abraham's servants had made, and which the Philistines had filled +up after the death of Abraham. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with +the shepherds of Isaac, and Isaac called the name of the wells Esek +(contention) and Sitnah (hatred); but to the third, for which the +shepherds of Gerar had not striven, he gave the name Rehoboth (room). +From thence he went to Beersheba, and there he set up an altar. + +When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he said to Esau: Take thy bow +and quiver, hunt venison for me, and make a savoury dish such as I love, +that I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die. Esau went +forth, but Rebekah, who had heard Isaac's speech, said to Jacob: Go to +the flock and bring me two kids. I will prepare them for a savoury dish +for thy father, that he may bless thee instead of Esau. Jacob obeyed, +and Rebekah put on him the clothes of Esau, and placed on his neck and +hands the skins of the kids, that his father, if he touched him, might +not know Jacob by his smooth skin. Then Jacob went in to his father, and +said: I am Esau, thy firstborn; eat of my venison. How hast thou found +it so quickly, my son? asked the father. Jehovah, thy God, put it into +my hand, he replied. The voice is the voice of Jacob, the father said, +but the hands are the hands of Esau. He ate, and Jacob brought him wine, +and he drank. Then Isaac said: Come near, and kiss me, my son. God give +thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance +of corn and wine. Be thou lord over thy brethren, and let the sons of +thy mother bow before thee. Cursed be they who curse thee, and blessed +be they who bless thee. And when Jacob had gone away from his father +with this blessing, Esau came with his venison. Isaac trembled and said: +Thy brother has come with subtilty, and taken away thy blessing. Then +Esau lifted up his voice and wept, and said: My birthright has he taken +from me, and now thy blessing also. Bless me, even me also, O my father. +What can I do for thee? answered Isaac. Lo! I have made him thy lord, +and all his brethren I have given him for servants, and I have given him +corn and wine. Hast thou but one blessing? said Esau, and wept. Then +Isaac said: Thy dwelling shall be without the fatness of the earth and +the dew of heaven. By thy sword thou shalt live; thou shalt serve thy +brother, but his yoke thou shalt break from off thy neck. + +Esau was at enmity with Jacob, because he had deceived him in his +father's blessing; and Esau said in his heart: The days of mourning for +my father will come, for I will slay Jacob. Then Rebekah said to Jacob: +Arise and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran, till the anger of thy +brother is turned away. And Rebekah spoke to Isaac, that Jacob should +not take a wife from the daughters of the Hittites; and Isaac bade Jacob +go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of his mother, +and there take a wife from the daughters of Laban. Then Jacob went from +Beersheba to Haran. And when he abode for the night at the city of Luz, +he put a stone under his head, and there rested. Then in a dream he saw +a ladder placed upon the earth, the end of which touched heaven, and the +angels of God went up and down upon the ladder. Jehovah stood over it, +and said: I am the God of Abraham thy father and of Isaac; the land +whereon thou sleepest I will give to thee and thy seed. And in the +morning Jacob arose, and set up the stone which he had placed under his +head for a sign, and poured oil on the stone, and called the name of the +place Bethel. + +In the land of the children of the east Jacob saw a well, round which +lay three flocks of sheep. Then Jacob said to the shepherds: Whence are +ye, my brethren? They answered, From Haran. Jacob asked again: Know ye +Laban, Nahor's son? And they said: We know him; it is well with him, and +lo! there is Rachel, his daughter, with the sheep of her father. And +Jacob rolled away the great stone, which lay at the mouth of the well, +and watered Rachel's sheep; and Laban came, and took his sister's son +into his house. Laban had two daughters: Leah the eldest had dim eyes, +but Rachel was fair to look upon; and Jacob said to Laban: I will serve +seven years for Rachel. And these seven years were as seven days in +Jacob's eyes, because he loved Rachel. When the time was past, Laban +gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in +the dark of the evening he brought Leah instead of Rachel to Jacob, and +it was not till the morning that Jacob knew Leah. Why hast thou deceived +me? Jacob asked of Laban; have I not served thee seven years for Rachel? +Laban answered, It is not so done in our country, to give the younger +daughter before the firstborn. Serve me yet seven years, and thou shalt +have Rachel also to wife. So Jacob abode seven years more with Laban, +and gained Rachel for his second wife, and he kept Laban's flock for six +years more, and the sheep increased under Jacob's hand. + +Leah bore Jacob four sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. But Rachel +was barren and bore not. Then Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob, and +Bilhah bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah also gave her maid Zilpah +to Jacob, and she bore Gad and Asher. Then Leah bore Issachar and +Zebulon; and Jehovah heard Rachel, and sent her a son, whom she called +Joseph. When Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: For twenty years I +have been with thee; thy sheep and thy goats have not cast their young, +and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. Let me depart that I may go +to my own land, with my wives and children, and give me my hire. What +shall I give thee? asked Laban. Set aside all that are striped and +spotted among thy sheep and goats, and whatever is afterwards born +striped or spotted among thy sheep and goats, that shall be my hire, +said Jacob. And Laban said: Be it according to thy word. Then Jacob set +apart the coloured sheep and goats; and when the time of generation +came, he took fresh wands of maple and almond-wood, and made white +strips in them, by peeling off the bark, and cast them into the wells +and runnels, where Laban's sheep and goats were watered; and everything +was born spotted, and fell to Jacob's share, so that he became mighty, +and gained many sheep and camels, and asses, and maid-servants, and +men-servants. But Laban's countenance was not towards him as heretofore; +and Laban's sons were angry and said: He has got his wealth from that +which is our father's. Then Jacob arose, when Laban was gone to the +shearing, and set forth secretly with his wives and children, and +flocks; and Rachel took the images from the house of her father, and +carried them with her, and Jacob fled over the river, and set his face +towards Mount Gilead. Then Laban hastened after him, and came up with +him on Mount Gilead, and said: "Why art thou fleeing secretly before me, +so that I cannot accompany thee with drums, and music, and singing? why +hast thou not allowed me to kiss my daughters, and why hast thou taken +my gods?" Jacob answered: "I was afraid, for I thought thou wouldest +take thy daughters from me." And Jacob set up a stone on Mount Gilead, +and they made a heap of stones, and offered sacrifice on the heap, and +Laban said: "The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor be judge between +us, and guardian that thou do not afflict my daughters, or take other +wives to them; and this heap be witness that I go not after thee for +evil, nor shalt thou come beyond this sign after me for evil." And Jacob +swore by him, whom his father feared, and offered sacrifice on the +mountain. And the heap of stones was called Galeed (heap of witness), +and Mizpah (watch tower), because Laban had said that Jehovah should be +guardian if they were separated one from the other. + +And Jacob sent messengers before him to appease his brother Esau, to +Mount Seir, with 200 ewes, and 20 rams, and 200 she-goats, and 20 +he-goats, and 30 camels with their colts, and 40 cows, and 10 bulls, and +20 she-asses, and 10 asses, as a gift to Esau; and he divided his flocks +into two parts, that the one might escape, if Esau came against the +other; for he was sore afraid. He rose in the night and took his two +wives, and his two maids, and his eleven children, and carried them +through the ford of the Jabbok, but he himself remained behind. Then a +man wrestled with him till the morning broke, and smote the socket of +his hip, and Jacob's hip was out of joint. And he said: "Let me go, for +the morning is breaking." But Jacob said: "I will not let thee go, till +thou blessest me." Then he said: "Thy name shall be Jacob no longer, but +Israel; for thou hast striven with God, and with men, and hast +overcome," and he blessed him there. And Jacob named the place Peniel +(God's visage), and the sun arose as he passed beyond Peniel. + +Jacob lifted up his eyes, and lo! Esau came, and with him four hundred +men. Then Jacob assigned his children to Leah and Rachel and the two +maids, and the maids and their children he put in the front, and next +Leah and her children, and last of all Rachel with her son. He went +before them and bowed himself seven times before his brother. But Esau +embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. The present of cattle Esau +would not accept. "I have enough, my brother," he said, "keep what is +thine." But Jacob urged him to take them as a proof that he had found +grace in his eyes. Then Esau took them and parted in peace from his +brother, and on the same day turned back on his way to Mount Seir. But +Jacob went to Shechem, and bought the field where he had pitched his +tent, and there set up an altar; and from Shechem he went to Bethel, and +there also he built an altar; and from Bethel Jacob returned to Hebron +to his father Isaac. + +As we have seen, the Arabs and Phenicians believed that the power and +might of the gods was present in certain stones, which they worshipped +in their sanctuaries (pp. 329, 360). The Hebrews also were acquainted +with this worship. The first text tells us that God appeared to Jacob +when he returned out of Mesopotamia, that He blessed him, and said: +Henceforth Israel shall be thy name. And God went up from the place +where he had spoken with him, and Jacob set up a stone as a sign on the +place, and poured oil on it, and called the name of the place Bethel +(house of God).[595] In the older mode of conception, the stone was +itself the house of God. The Ephraimitic text represents Jacob as +resting on the stone when he went to Mesopotamia, and as seeing in a +dream the ladder on which the angels went up and down;[596] the +appearance of Jehovah at the top of the ladder, as well as the form of +the blessing, belongs to the revision.[597] The change of the name Jacob +into Israel is referred by the Ephraimitic text to a definite occasion. +To the Hebrews, in the old time, the god of their tribe was a jealous +and fearful deity, averse to the life of nature,--a god who exercised +dominion above in the highest heaven, who rode on the clouds, and +announced himself in thunder and lightning, and earthquakes, who +appeared in flames of fire, whom the eye of mortal man could not behold +and live.[598] The supernatural God can in the first instance be +conceived and regarded only in contrast to nature, and the life of +nature. But inasmuch as the natural life can only come into being and +continue to exist by his permission, and with his consent, that life +must be redeemed and purchased. Hence according to the primitive +conception of the Hebrews, everything that was brought to the birth +belonged to their god, the firstlings of the field, and of beast, the +first-born male of the woman. Abraham was ready to sacrifice the +firstborn son of his wife, the son of his own heart. But he was not +permitted to slay him. He had already offered the sacrifice, inasmuch as +he was resolved to sacrifice what was dearest, in obedience to the +bidding of God. So runs the Ephraimitic text. As Jacob was returning +from the Euphrates he came upon a place in Gilead, known as "God's +visage." Here, in the dark of the night, a man wrestled with Jacob till +the morning broke, and Jacob would not let him go till he had blessed +him; "Thou hast striven with God and men, and overcome; therefore, +henceforth thy name shall be Israel."[599] In the myth of the +Phenicians, the power of destruction is taken from the hostile god, when +the friendly god wrestles with him. The Hebrews changed the wrestling +between the hostile and friendly deities, into a wrestling between the +servant and the master, between the patriarch of the tribe and his god, +a struggle from which the former does not let the god go till he has +obtained a pledge, that he will spare him and his tribe, and send +increase and blessing to him and his tribe. The contrast of hostile and +friendly deities, and their struggle with each other, the Hebrew +conceives as the work, the toil, the struggle of men, _i.e._ strenuous +wrestling to win the blessing of God. Jacob carried away the injury to +his thigh, but he won the blessing of Jehovah. + +With this conception of the Hebrews, that the First-born belonged to +Jehovah, is connected the ordinance that a ransom must be offered for +him. Moreover, in every spring the Paschal lamb was offered as a +sin-offering for the redemption of the house, along with the firstlings +of the field. The use of circumcision also, as it seems, stood with the +Hebrews in close connection with the idea that the life of boys must be +ransomed by a bloody sacrifice. Jehovah is said to have commanded +Abraham to circumcise his family in token of the covenant which he had +made with him and his seed (p. 392). This custom was also in use among +the Edomites and certain other Arabian and Syrian tribes.[600] + +According to the genealogy of the Hebrews we had to assume that the +Semitic tribes from Arphaxad first went to Serug, and afterwards to Ur +in Chaldæa; and that these immigrants, or a branch of them, passed from +Ur to Haran. While the Nahorites remained behind at Haran, the +Abrahamites turned towards the southern border of Canaan, where the +Ammonites and Moabites, the Ishmaelites and Midianites, separated, and +took possession of the centre of Arabia, the peninsula of Sinai, and the +land eastward of the Jordan. From the narrative of Isaac, Esau, and +Jacob, it further follows that not only those nations but also the sons +of Esau, the Edomites, were descendants of Abraham, and the Hebrews were +a branch of the Edomites who had separated from them. Hence the Hebrews +were the youngest scion of the stock which once came from the mountains +of Arphaxad to Ur, to Mesopotamia, and then into the deserts of Arabia +and Syria. If, however, we allow that the genealogies of the Hebrews +express the position which they took up or wished to take up towards the +kindred Semitic nations, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, the +Arabians, Midianites, Moabites, and Ammonites, and did not attempt to +place facts of history beyond doubt, yet we must not refuse to recognise +a definite historical basis in the relation of the Hebrews to the +Edomites. The Edomites possessed Mount Seir, which runs from the +southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the north-east corner of the Red +Sea. Before them the Horites possessed this mountain (p. 403).[601] +According to the Hebrew tradition the patriarch of the Edomites was +Esau. He "was red in colour and hairy." Though this is not the meaning +of the name Esau, the name Edomites does actually mean the "red people," +and the name of their mountain Seir means, "to be hairy," a name which +could very well be given to a mountain covered with briars and +brushwood. The Edomites were fond of the chase and of war; their +progenitor is a hunter and warrior; and to this, his eldest son, Isaac +foretells that his dwelling should be without the fatness of the earth; +by his sword should he live. Only a slight advantage in age is allowed +to Esau: he is merely the firstborn of twins; and even at birth his +brother Jacob held him by the heel. The pre-eminence which Isaac gives +to the younger son is explained in the Judæan text merely by the fact, +that Esau had taken wives from the Hittites. "And when Esau saw that +Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Mesopotamia in order to take a +wife from thence, Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his +father, and he went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath, the daughter of +Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth, to wife to his +other wives."[602] All the further details of the relations between the +two brothers, the sale of the birthright, the obtaining of the blessing, +and the form of the blessing, belong to the revision. This text and this +only could make Isaac say to Esau, "Thou shalt serve thy brother, but +shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." Saul conquered, and David +subjugated the Edomites; it was not till the time of Joram, king of +Judah, in the first half of the ninth century B.C., that they recovered +their independence. + +The description of the journey of Jacob to the Euphrates, his service +with Laban, and his flight, come from the Ephraimitic text: the revision +has only extended the introduction, and here and there inserted an +interpolation. To the same text belongs the peaceful departure from the +Nahorites, the setting up of a token on the east of Jordan to fix how +far the borders of the Israelites, beyond which the Nahorites were not +to go, were to extend in this direction, and finally Jacob's +reconciliation with Esau. With the daughters of Canaan whom he took to +wife, Esau could only beget an impure race, and even with the daughter +of Ishmael his race would not be wholly pure, while Jacob served +patiently for fourteen years in order to obtain wives of the genuine +blood. By this, and by the blessing of Isaac, the pre-eminence of the +younger Israelites is established over the Edomites; but the brothers +parted in peace. Esau received rich gifts. Thus they separated on the +ford of the Jabbok at the sacred place of Peniel. The one went to Seir, +the other to Shechem in Canaan. Hence the Edomites had no reason to +cherish resentment against the sons of Jacob. + +Isaac and Jacob abode in Canaan at Hebron, Beersheba, and Shechem. Here +Isaac again dug out the wells which Abraham's servants had previously +made. The quarrel of his servants about the wells with the Philistines +of Gerar is based on the severe battles afterwards fought between the +Philistines and Israel. As Abraham had set up pillars, so does Isaac +build an altar at Beersheba,[603] and Jacob sets up a sacred stone at +Bethel. As Abraham, according to the first text, buys the burying-place +at Hebron, so Jacob, according to this same text, bought the field at +Shechem, where he had pitched his tent. Thus Isaac and Jacob also have +acquired possessions in Canaan, and have rendered services to the land; +they also have prepared the way for the rule of their descendants in +Canaan, and have consecrated the places at which the Hebrews were +destined to worship the gods of their fathers. + +The three patriarchs strictly carry out the commands of Jehovah, from +which their descendants swerved often and long. To the Hebrews they are +patterns of the purity of their race; their descendants did not always +keep themselves free from mixture with the Canaanites. But they are not +only patterns of the fear of God, and piety, of correct faith and right +dealing with the Canaanites; they also exhibit to the Hebrews the moral +ideal of their conduct. Abraham is distinguished by the virtues of +faithfulness, of unselfishness, and friendliness to his brother's +family, and, in return, the blessing of Jehovah rests upon him. Other +virtues are brought into prominence by the tradition in Jacob, the most +immediate ancestor of the Hebrews. If Abraham knew how to raise the +sword, and Esau lived a wild hunter's life, Jacob is a peaceable, +faithful shepherd, who patiently endures heat and cold, who is ever wide +awake, under whose hand the flocks increase, and whose care prevents the +sheep and goats from casting their young. When Jacob had served fourteen +years for his wives, he still continued to serve six years for hire. +Among the Hebrews the life of a hired servant is not considered a +degradation; and continuance in service for the sake of hire is not +looked down upon with contempt. Jehovah rewards the industrious +servant, the active workman. With his staff in his hand Jacob passed +over the Euphrates; but he returned rich in flocks and goods, blessed +with wife and child. In his pliancy, his quiet, peaceful trust in God, +his wrestling for the blessing of God, Jacob is the genuine warrior of +God (Israel), who is rescued, and gains the victory. Beside these stand +realistic traits peculiar to the East and the Hebrew character. Jacob is +a cunning man, who knows how to invent clever devices. With the help of +his mother he gains from his brother the blessing of the firstborn. At +first Laban outwits him, but in the end Jacob's cunning is victorious. +He knows how to pacify his brother by subjection. To bow before the +mighty in order to save property and life has not always appeared +dishonourable to the Oriental. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[568] Numbers xxi. 27; Joshua x. 14; Genesis xlviii. 20, 22. In proof +that Genesis xlix. belongs to the time of the judges, cf. Ewald, "Gesch. +Israel's," 1, 91. + +[569] Gen. xxxvi. 1; xlvi. 8 ff.; Exod. vi. 14 ff.; Numb. iii. 17-21; +xxvii. 33. + +[570] Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 64. + +[571] Numb. xxi. 14. + +[572] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273. + +[573] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 316, 317. + +[574] Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," s. 11. + +[575] Gen. x. 14; Exod. xv. 1-11; Numb. xxi. 14-18; cf. De +Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 319. + +[576] De Wette-Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 318. + +[577] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," 320, 321. + +[578] Chap. iv., 44--c. xxviii, 69. + +[579] De Wette-Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 303 ff. + +[580] Gen. xi. 1-9. + +[581] Gen. xi. 10-32. + +[582] Ezek. xxiii. 15; Deut. xxvi. 25; Joshua xxiv. 2. + +[583] These are the numbers in the Hebrew text; in the Samaritan and +Septuagint they are altered.--Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 112. To the +first text, chap, ii., 4-24 and iii., were added by the reviser; he +inserted another genealogical table below the series of patriarchs in +the original text from Adam to Noah (iv. 17 ff), and this table does not +run like the first: Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, +Methusalah, Lamech, Noah, but gives the following order: (Enos) Adam, +Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mahajael, Methusael, Lamech. To Lamech this narrator +attached the origin of the shepherds, players on instruments, and +workers in brass. Bunsen ("Ægypten," 5, 2, 62 ff), has drawn from this +the conclusion that the Hebrews had really only seven patriarchs before +the flood. + +[584] Ptolemy. 6, 1. + +[585] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akademie," 1859, s. 200. + +[586] Stephan. Byz. s. v. from Arrian; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 16. + +[587] Buttmann, "Mythol." 1, 235; Procop. "De Bell. P." 1, 17; Ewald, +"Gesch. der V. Israel," 1, 358, 380; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 450. + +[588] The narrative of Hagar (Gen. xvi.) belongs to the first text; the +additions to the revision; the account of the expulsion of Ishmael (Gen. +xxi.) is from the Ephraimitic text. + +[589] Gen. xiii. 5, 11, 12; xix. 29. + +[590] Gen. xvii. + +[591] Gen. xiv. De Wette-Schrader thinks the derivation from a written +source probable ("Einleitung," s. 319). + +[592] Gen. ix. 20-27; Schrader, "Studien und Kritiken," s. 166 ff. + +[593] Gen. xxv. 19. + +[594] Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," p. 313. + +[595] Gen. xxxv. 9-15. + +[596] Gen. xxviii. 11, 12, 17-22. + +[597] Gen. xxviii. 13-16. + +[598] Exod. xxiv. 17, "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like +devouring fire." Exod. xix. 16, 18, "There were thunders and lightnings, +and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding +loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And mount +Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in +fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the +whole mount quaked greatly." Exod. xl. 38, "For the cloud of the Lord +was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night;" cf. +Numbers ix. 15, 16. Deut. iv. 15, "On the day that the Lord spake unto +you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire." Job i. 16, "The fire of God +is fallen from heaven and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, +and consumed them." Numb. xvi. 35, "And there came out a fire from the +Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." +Lev. x. 2, "And there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them, +and they died before the Lord." Exod. xxxiii. 3, "I will not go up in +the midst of thee lest I consume thee in the way." Exod. xxxiii. 20, +"Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." +Deut. v. 26, "Who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of +the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and +lived." Lev. xvi. 2, "Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at +all times into the holy place ... that he die not." Exod. xix. 21, +"Charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and +many of them perish." Exod. xx. 19, "Let not God speak with us, lest we +die." Judges xiii. 22, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God." +1 Sam. vi. 19, "And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had +looked into the ark of the Lord." + +[599] Gen. xxxii. 24-32. + +[600] Exod. iv. 24; xii. 1-18; xiii. 2, 12-14; xxxiv. 19; xxx. 11-16. +From the sacrifice of Isaac, the redemption of the firstborn and the +Paschal offering, the conclusion may be drawn that in the oldest times +human sacrifices were not unknown to the Hebrews. If such took place +they were not offered in the same manner as the Moloch-offerings of the +Canaanites. If Jehovah appears in fire, the fire is not, to the Hebrews, +his essence, but only a form or mode of appearance. Sacrifices like +those offered to Moloch were forbidden by the earliest text (Levit. +xviii. 22; xx. 2) under pain of death. The narrative of Jephthah's +daughter lays especial stress on the sanctity of the vow. Of the other +passages which come into consideration only one or two deal with +sacrifices; the remainder have reference to executions. In Numbers xxv. +4, we find, "Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before +the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be +turned away from Israel." Jephthah vowed his daughter and sacrificed +her, Judges xi. 30, 34. "And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord +in Gilgal," 1 Samuel xv. 33. In 2 Samuel xxi. 6-9, the Gibeonites say, +"Give us seven men of his sons that we may hang them before the Lord in +Gibeah. And they hanged them up on the mountain before Jehovah." + +[601] Gen. xiv. 6; Deut. ii. 12, 22. + +[602] Gen. xxviii. 1-9; Gen. xxxvi. 3, 10, calls the daughter of +Ishmael, Basmath; cf. _supra_, pp. 317, 406. + +[603] Gen. xlviii. 1. On the places of worship at Beersheba and the +"heights of Isaac" in Amos, cf. A. Bernstein, "Ursprung der Sagen," s. +14, 15. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT. + + +When the progenitors of the Hebrews had come from the Euphrates to +Canaan, and had taken up their abode there at Hebron and Shechem, when +Jacob and Esau had parted in peace, and the latter had gone to Mount +Seir, Jacob, with all his sons, went to Egypt. + +Jacob dwelt at Hebron--so runs the narrative--when he sent Joseph, the +son of Rachel, to his elder brethren in Shechem, to see if all was well +with them and their flocks. But his brethren hated Joseph, because his +father loved him more than them; and when they saw him coming, they +said: We will slay him. But the eldest, Reuben, said: Shed no blood, but +throw him into the pit yonder. This they did; they took from Joseph the +coat which his father had made for him, and thrust him into the pit. +Then there came a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead; their camels +carried spices, balsam, and myrrh to Egypt. And his brethren took Joseph +again out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels +of silver. Then they slew a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood, and +brought it to their father. Jacob knew the coat, and cried: An evil +beast has eaten my son, and torn his garments; and he would not be +comforted, but said: In sorrow will I go down to the grave to my son. +But Joseph was carried away to Egypt, and was bought by Potiphar, an +Egyptian in the service of the king, and captain of the body-guard, from +the Ishmaelites. Joseph found grace in the eyes of his master; and as +everything which he undertook prospered, Potiphar set him over his +house. Joseph was goodly to look upon, and the wife of his master cast +her eyes upon him. But he resisted her, and when she caught him by his +garment, he left his garment in her hand, and fled out. Then she kept +Joseph's garment by her till Potiphar returned, and said to him: The +Hebrew servant, whom thou has brought to us, came to me to mock me; and +when I lifted up my voice, he fled away and left his garment. Then +Potiphar was angry, and took Joseph and cast him into the house of +bondage, where were the prisoners of the king. And it came to pass that +the chief butler and the chief baker sinned against the king, and +Pharaoh put them in prison. Each of these had a dream in the night, and +Joseph interpreted the dreams; and it came to pass, as he foretold, that +the chief baker was hanged, but the chief butler was restored by Pharaoh +to his office, on his birthday, so that, as before, he gave the cup into +his hand. Two years afterwards, the king of Egypt saw in a dream seven +fat kine come up out of the Nile, and after them seven lean kine, and +the lean kine ate up the fat. As none of the interpreters and wise men +of Egypt could interpret this dream, the chief butler bethought him of +the young man of the tribe of the Hebrews, who had interpreted his own +dream in the prison, and told Pharaoh what had befallen him. Then +Pharaoh sent, and Joseph was quickly brought out of prison, and shaved +himself, changed his garments, and came before Pharaoh and said: Seven +years of abundance will come in the land of Egypt, and after them seven +years of famine. Let Pharaoh collect food in the good years, and gather +together corn, and keep it against the years of famine, that the land be +not destroyed. Then Pharaoh took his ring from his hand and placed it on +the hand of Joseph, and clothed him in garments of linen, and placed a +golden chain upon his neck, and said: I place thee over the whole land +of Egypt, only by my throne will I be above thee. And Pharaoh called +Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of the +priest at On, to wife, and caused him to ride in his second chariot, and +the people cried before him: Bow the knee. When the seven years of +abundance came, Joseph collected food, and gathered up corn in the +cities, without number, as the sand of the sea. And when the years of +famine came, there was no bread in the land, and the people were +compelled to buy bread from the granaries of Pharaoh; and when their +money failed, they brought their horses, cattle, sheep, and asses to buy +food from Joseph, and all the cattle in the land came to the king. And +when they had no cattle left to buy corn, they gave their land and +fields. Thus Joseph bought the land for Pharaoh, and the country became +Pharaoh's, and Joseph said: Here is seed for you; sow your fields, and +at the time of harvest, give the fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall +be your own for food, for yourselves and your children, and those in +your houses. Thus Joseph laid on the land of the Egyptians a tax of the +fifth, until this day. + +The famine was sore in all lands, and in the land of Canaan, and when +Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons: Go down +and buy for us there, that we die not. Then the brethren of Joseph went +down; but Benjamin, whom Rachel had borne after Joseph, Jacob sent not +with them, for he feared that some evil might happen to him. Joseph, who +sold corn to the people, knew his brethren when they bowed themselves to +the earth before him, and remembered how he once dreamed at Hebron that +he was binding sheaves with his brethren in the field, and his sheaf +stood upright, and the sheaves of his brethren bowed before it; and that +the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed before him. The interpreter was +between them, and he dealt roughly with his brethren, and said: Ye are +spies, who are come to see the weakness of the land. No, my lord, they +answered, we are true men, twelve brethren, the sons of one father in +the land of Canaan. The youngest has remained with our father, and one +is not. Then Joseph took Simeon, and bound him and said: Take corn for +the need of your house, and then bring your youngest brother with you, +that I may see that ye are not spies; then will I give you back your +brother, and ye shall deal in our land. + +When Jacob heard this, he said to his sons: Ye make me childless; Joseph +is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin ye would take from me. +All these things are against me. But when the corn was eaten which they +brought out of Egypt, he sent his sons a second time to buy food; and +Benjamin was with them. Judah had promised his father to be surety for +him. Joseph caused them to be brought into his house, and gave them +water to wash their feet, and food for their asses, and restored Simeon +to them, and bade them eat at his table. And food was placed for the +brethren by themselves, and for Joseph and the Egyptians by themselves. +And Joseph caused presents to be given to them, and Benjamin's present +was the largest; and they were drunken in his house. Then Joseph caused +his steward to fill the sacks of the strangers with corn, and to replace +the purchase money in each sack, and in Benjamin's sack to place his own +cup of silver. When the morning came, and the brethren went forth from +the city with their sacks and their asses, Joseph's steward overtook +them not far from the city, and demanded the silver and gold which they +had stolen, and found the cup in Benjamin's sack. The brethren rent +their garments and turned back, and cast themselves on the earth before +Joseph. But he said: With whomsoever the cup was found he shall be my +servant; the rest may go in peace. Then Judah came forward and said: +When we set forth our father said, If ye take Benjamin also from me, and +any evil happen to him, ye will bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the +grave. If then we go back to our father, thy servant, and the boy is not +with us, he will die, for his soul hangs upon him; let me remain here in +his place, and be thy servant, that I may not see the sorrow of my +father. Then Joseph could no longer restrain himself: he caused the +Egyptians to go out from his presence, and lifted up his voice with +tears, and said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold. Hasten, and go +to my father, and tell him of all my glory. Bid him come to me, and you +shall dwell here with your possessions. But Jacob did not believe the +words of his sons, till he saw the chariots which Pharaoh had sent to +carry him to Egypt. And Jacob set out with his sons, their wives and +their children, seventy souls, with his flocks, and his goods, to Egypt; +and Joseph came to meet him in his chariot, and wept long on the neck of +his father, and gave to his kindred food, and a dwelling-place in the +land of Goshen. When Jacob's days came to a close, he called his son +Joseph, and said to him: Thy two sons, born to thee in the land of +Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me as Reuben and +Simeon. And he laid his right hand on Ephraim, and named Ephraim the +younger before Manasseh, and said: In thee shall Israel bless and say: +God make thee like Ephraim and Manasseh. And thus Jacob blessed his +other sons also, and to Judah he said: The sceptre shall not depart from +Judah, nor the staff of the ruler from between his feet; he shall bind +his ass to the vine, and the colt of his she-ass to the choice vine; he +shall wash his garment in wine, and his robe in the blood of the grape; +his eyes are red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. But Joseph is +the son of a fruit-tree by a well. The branches ran over the wall; the +archers provoke and follow him, but his bow remains firm, and the +strength of his hands is supple. So he blessed them, and said to Joseph: +Bury me not in Egypt; bury me with my fathers in the cave which Abraham +bought of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and +Rebekah are buried, and where I buried Leah. Then Joseph fell on the +face of his father and wept, and the Egyptians mourned seventy days for +Jacob, and Joseph carried the body with Pharaoh's servants, and the +elders of Pharaoh's house and of all Egypt, and with all his brethren, +and the whole house of Jacob to Canaan, and buried him in the cave of +Machpelah. But Joseph dwelt in Egypt till his death, and he saw the sons +of Ephraim till the third generation, and the sons of Machir, the son of +Manasseh, were born on his knees. Joseph died 110 years old, and they +embalmed him, and placed him in a sepulchre in Egypt. And all Joseph's +brethren died. But their sons were fruitful and increased, and the land +was full of them. + +Then there arose a new king in Egypt who knew not Joseph, and he said: +The children of Israel are mighty; we shall be wise to prevent their +increase, that they join not with our enemies if a war arise. And the +Egyptians put taskmasters over the children of Israel, in order to +oppress them with burdens. The children of Israel were compelled to +perform heavy tasks in the field, and taskwork in clay and bricks; and +they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of Pithom and Ramses, and +Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile all the male +children born to the Israelites, but to let the daughters live. + +It is no longer possible to discover what motives were given in the +Judæan text for the settlement of Jacob and his sons in Egypt. In it the +land thus apportioned to the Hebrews is not called Goshen, but Ramses. +Yet it is clear that even in that account it was Joseph who procured a +habitation and possessions for his father and brethren in Egypt.[604] +The reasons given for the change in the narrative, as it now stands, are +taken from the Ephraimitic text, which describes in the most lively +manner, the virtues and glory of the ancestor of this tribe. The +prophetic revision only added a few details, and sharpened a few of the +traits. The second text represented Joseph as falling into the hands of +Midianite merchants, the revision added Ishmaelites. According to the +second text, Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar, in whose +house as captain of the body-guard the butler and baker of Pharaoh were +imprisoned, and there Joseph interpreted their dreams. The revision +inserts the temptation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife, and makes him, +owing to her false accusation, a fellow-prisoner of the butler and +baker.[605] Thus it was able to exalt Joseph, not from servitude only, +but from the misery of imprisonment to the steps of the throne. + +The ethical traits of the narrative, the national and religious views +underlying it, are obvious. The evil of which his brothers are guilty +towards Joseph, without any offence on his part, he bears with +submission. In the service of the Egyptian he shows himself a faithful +slave; he withstands the most enticing temptation. In return for this +faithful honesty he is compelled again to suffer innocently. After long +endurance he receives the highest exaltation; from prison he is summoned +to be ruler of the land, and second only to Pharaoh. As he had been a +faithful steward to Potiphar in small things, he is now a faithful +servant to Pharaoh in great things; all the events, which he correctly +foresaw, he knew how to turn to the advantage of his master. When he has +shown his brothers, in order to touch their consciences for the evil +they had done to him, how men may innocently fall into suspicion, +punishment, and misfortune, he generously pardons them. In this pardon, +this rescue of the whole tribe by the man whom they had attempted to +destroy, rests the true punishment laid upon the brothers. It is the +wonderful guidance of Jehovah which assists the innocent out of misery +and distress, which turns the evil, which the brothers had committed +against Joseph, in such a direction that in the grievous years of famine +the race of Jacob finds a helper and protector near the throne of Egypt, +who is able to give food and a habitation to that tribe, and allot to +their flocks the magnificent pastures of the land of Goshen. The +carrying of the corpse of Jacob to Hebron is intended to signify that +Canaan, and not Egypt, was to be the lasting abode of the posterity of +Jacob. At the same time the tradition of the Hebrews shows the benefits +which a man of their race conferred upon the Egyptians in a time of +evil; it marks how Egypt, owing to his foresight, was saved from +destruction, in order at the same time to show how little the Egyptians +regarded these benefits, and how great is the contrast presented by +their subsequent conduct towards the Hebrews. + +The description of Egypt corresponds exactly to the circumstances of the +land as we have found them before. Both the author of the Ephraimitic +text and the reviser were well acquainted with the life and customs of +Egypt. We have found captains of the body guard in the retinue of +Pharaoh (p. 190), a chief baker is also to be seen on the monuments, and +although we cannot point to any butler of the king upon them, we know +that in Egypt wine was not wanting at the table of Pharaoh, any more +than among his workmen.[606] In the whole of the East, and demonstrably +in Egypt, great importance was attached to dreams.[607] By knowing how +to explain their meaning more correctly than the wise men and +interpreters of Egypt--_i.e._ than the prophets, and temple-scribes of +the Egyptian priesthood[608]--Joseph is liberated from prison, and +raised to the position of grand vizier. The robes of byssus, in which +Joseph is now clad, we have found to be the prescribed dress of the +priests (p. 197), and if Pharaoh puts a golden chain round his neck, we +have already met with an instance of this kind of distinction (p. 131). +That the Pharaohs regarded themselves as proprietors of the soil, that +they collected a land-tax, and that the fields would require to be +measured in order to collect this tax, has been already stated (p. 194). +This tax, so surprising to them, the Hebrews explained by assuming that +the Egyptians sold their plots to Joseph in the time of the famine, +which were then given back to the proprietors in return for a fifth of +the yearly produce. Hereby the services of Joseph to the throne are +placed in the clearest light. We saw above that it was the first object +of Pharaoh and his ministers to provide Egypt with life and sustenance +(pp. 104, 184). Joseph's wisdom and providence put Pharaoh in a position +to attain this object, even in the years of the famine. The names also +quoted in the Hebrew narrative seem to correspond to the ancient +Egyptian. The name Potiphar may be explained by Petphra, _i.e._ +"dedicated to Ra," or by Puti-phra, _i.e._ "given by Ra." The name of +the daughter of the priest at On (Heliopolis), Asenath, whom Joseph took +to wife, can be explained by As-neith, and the Egyptian name of Joseph, +Zaphnath-paaneah, by Zpentpouch, _i.e._ "creator of life" (in the time +of famine).[609] + +Setting aside these points in the narrative, what historical value can +be given to the tradition that the children of Jacob went from the south +of Canaan to the east of Egypt, that they remained there 430 years, +according to the older text, and in this period increased into a mighty +people?[610] The district given to the children of Jacob for their abode +lies, as the tradition plainly shows, in the lower country east of the +Nile, beyond the Eastern or Tanitic mouth. The name Goshen, given in the +Ephraimitic text, appears to correspond to Keshem, the name of a +province in Lower Egypt.[611] The chain of mountains running on the east +of the Nile, sinks down between the Tanitic arm and the north-west +corner of the Arabian Gulf, and on the slopes nearer the river presents +a flat extent of pasture land. In Egypt a tribe of shepherds could have +no share in the regular system of cultivation, and the fixed order of +Egyptian life; a district suitable for the maintenance of their flocks +would be allotted to them, and nothing more. On the north of this +district, the nearest of the great cities of Egypt was Tanis (Zoan), on +the south, Heliopolis (On, Anu), with which we have become acquainted as +a great centre of religion, and the seat of the worship of the sun god +Ra, and the god of life Bennu-Osiris (pp. 44, 69). Hence with perfect +consistency, the Hebrew tradition narrates that the daughter of a priest +of Heliopolis was given to Joseph to wife. + +But what could induce the children of Jacob to go to Egypt, or the +Egyptians to give them a pasture-land on their north-eastern border? We +arrived above at the conclusion that the tribe of Jacob was a branch of +the Edomites, whose dwelling-place is fixed by tradition in the +mountains between the north-east point of the Arabian Gulf and the Dead +Sea, where in fact we find them in historical times. This tribe, +therefore, both at the time when in union with the Edomites it passed +along the eastern and southern borders of Canaan, and after separating +from the Edomites--who may have already taken Mount Seir from the +Horites, or have pastured their flocks in the vicinity--was at no great +distance from Egypt. When divided from the Edomites, the fear of the +stronger part of the tribe from which they had separated, and the desire +to find more fruitful pastures in the neighbourhood of the Nile, or want +of corn, as the tradition says, might have induced the sons of Jacob to +leave the borders of Canaan for the borders of Egypt. The tribes, or +families of shepherds, who pastured their flocks in the neighbourhood of +Canaan, may have been accustomed to purchase corn when their own +cultivation was insufficient, from the corn-growers in Canaan. A blight +in Canaan would therefore compel them to turn to the abundance of corn +in Egypt. And to a shepherd tribe, which sought her protection, and +submitted voluntarily to her rule, Egypt would be the more inclined to +give up the pastures beyond the Nile, if this tribe was in unfriendly or +hostile relations to the Semitic tribes in the neighbourhood. + +If we attempt to fix the date at which the tribe of Jacob may have +exchanged the pastures on the border of Canaan for the more fruitful +regions on the Tanitic arm of the Nile, it soon becomes clear that the +accounts of the Hebrews cannot be maintained. The older text puts 215 +years between the time when Abraham entered Canaan and the arrival of +the sons of Jacob into Egypt, and exactly twice this amount between +their arrival in and exodus from Egypt. The fixed proportion between the +two numbers, and the further circumstance that tradition can only +mention a few generations of the sons of Jacob,[612] leads to the +conclusion that those numbers do not spring from any record or actual +remembrance, but have been invented upon reflection. The date of the +exodus also is fixed by a round sum; from the exodus to the building of +the temple 480 years are said to have elapsed.[613] The Hebrews reckoned +40 years to the generation; hence they put twelve generations between +the exodus and the building of the temple, and fixed the interval on +this computation; yet their scriptures could only mention by name nine +or ten generations in this period.[614] Hence the dates 2140 B.C., and +1925 B.C., which are deduced from the older text for the entrance of +Abraham into Canaan, and of Jacob into Egypt, if the beginning of the +building of the temple is fixed according to traditional assumption in +the year 1015 B.C., must be given up, as well as the year 2115 B.C. for +the entrance of Abraham into Canaan, and the year 1900 B.C. for the +settlement of Jacob in Egypt, which results from the fixing the +beginning of the building of the temple in the year 990 B.C. The only +fact in the ancient tradition which admits of an approximate date is the +campaign of Kudur-Lagamer of Elam, mentioned in the Ephraimitic text. +This campaign we ventured to place about the year 2000 B.C. Genesis +represents him as defeating the nations on the east and south of Canaan, +and the Horites on Mount Seir, while at the separation of Esau and Jacob +Mount Seir is no longer the abode of the Horites, but of the tribe of +Esau. But we must contest the claim of tradition to bring the history of +Abraham into connection with this campaign of the Elamites to the west. +On the other hand we may regard it as settled that the tribe of Jacob +did not arrive in Egypt at the time when the valley of the Nile was +under the dominion of the Hyksos, _i.e._ in the period from 2101 B.C. to +1591 B.C., which we have assumed for this dominion, and that during this +time it did not dwell in Egypt. The tradition of the Hebrews was not +likely to forget that their ancestors came to the Nile, not as +fugitives, but as kinsmen of the ruler of Egypt, or that their race had +once shared in the rule over Egypt, and thus they might have dropped the +slavery and imprisonment, and the position of Joseph in Pharaoh's +service. And if these grounds are not held to be sufficient--if the +tribe of Jacob was in Egypt under the dominion of the Hyksos, it must +have been involved in their overthrow and expulsion. + +Thus it may be assumed as proved that the admission of the sons of Jacob +into Egypt did not take place till after the complete expulsion of the +Hyksos, _i.e._ till Tuthmosis III. had forced the shepherds to leave the +region to which they were at last confined, _i.e._ till after the year +1591 B.C. And it can hardly have taken place immediately after this +event. We cannot suppose any inclination among the Egyptians, +immediately after the expulsion of foreign shepherd tribes, to admit +shepherds of the same nationality to the Nile. But when Tuthmosis III. +had carried his weapons as far as the Euphrates, and received yearly +tribute from the Syrians, the Cheta, and the Retennu, there would be no +scruples felt about allotting pastures on the edge of the desert to an +inconsiderable shepherd tribe. Hence the settlement of the sons of Jacob +in Goshen may be placed about the middle of the sixteenth century B.C. + +The tradition of the Hebrews informed us that their ancestors were +compelled to build the two treasure-cities Pithom and Ramses for +Pharaoh. This statement is in the Ephraimitic text, while the Judæan +text calls the land given to the Hebrews Ramses.[615] The ruins of +Pithom and of Ramses we found on the canal which Sethos I. and Ramses +II. intended to carry from the Nile at Bubastis into the Arabian Gulf, +and which was completed as far as the Lake of Crocodiles (p. 157). The +depression of the Wadi Tumilat, which the canal followed, crosses the +land of Goshen. Cities could not be founded here till the canal from the +Nile had provided water in sufficient quantity. A city of the name of +Pa-Rameses, _i.e._ abode of Ramses, could only be founded by a prince of +that name. Being situated on the canal of Ramses II. and further to the +east than Pithom, the city could only have been built by the prince +whose reign we have placed from 1388 B.C. to 1322 B.C. As a fact his +image is found here on a block of granite in the ruins between the gods +Ra and Tum, and the bricks in the remains of the outer walls are mixed +with cut straw, the use of which in moulding the bricks for these +buildings is mentioned by the revision.[616] This city of Ramses must +have been of considerable importance for the district allotted to the +Hebrews, as the whole region was called after it. Hence the sons of +Jacob were in the land of Goshen in the reign of Ramses II. The +tradition allows them to remain unmolested in Egypt for a long +time--"not till the land was full of them," so runs the older text, +without ascribing any other motive, "did the Egyptians force the +children of Israel to work in clay and brick, and in the fields."[617] +In the former class of works comes the building of these two cities. +Hence the Israelites must have reached Goshen before the time of Ramses +II. + +The desired evidence of the presence of the children of Jacob in Egypt +could be obtained from Egyptian writings and monuments if it were +certain that a name used in them referred to the Hebrews. On a hieratic +papyrus (now at Leyden) an officer intreats his superiors to give him +corn "for the soldiers and the Apuriuu who drag stones to the great +fortress of the house of Ramses, beloved of Ammon," _i.e._ king Ramses +II.[618] In other places in the same papyrus the name occurs as Apruu. +Another papyrus observes under date of Ramses III. (p. 163)--"2083 Apruu +at this place" _i.e._ at Heliopolis.[619] In an inscription in the +quarries at Hamamat it is said that 800 Apuriu or Apriu are mentioned as +workmen.[620] But is the Egyptian name of the Hebrews really Apru or +Apuriu? The wife of Potiphar, it is true, calls Joseph "the Hebrew +servant" (p. 421); but did the sons of Jacob really bear the name of +Hebrews--_i.e._ men of the other side--when they came to Egypt? Does not +the meaning of the name in the places quoted seem rather to be of a +general kind, than to denote any one particular stock? + +The kings Sethos I. and Ramses II. (1439-1322 B.C.) were engaged in +battle, as we have seen, with the Schasu, _i.e._ the shepherd tribes +between Egypt and Canaan, with the Hittites, who possessed the south of +Canaan, and other tribes of Syria (p. 150). Even though they obtained +successes over these nations, and Sethos I. once forced his way to the +Euphrates, and Ramses II. as far as the coasts of the Phenicians, yet +the Schasu, like the Cheta, continued to be dangerous enemies of Egypt. +If this were not so, why should Sethos have hit upon the plan of +protecting the eastern frontier from Pelusium to Heliopolis, by a vast +fortification? What induced Ramses, after several campaigns in Syria, to +conclude a peace with the Cheta in the year 1367 _B.C._ (p. 152), in +which the advantage was not with Egypt? Ramses III. had again to fight +with the Schasu, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Philistines (p. +164). But if Egypt had to take measures to keep off the shepherds and +the Syrians, they would hardly suffer doubtful subjects of the same +nation within their own borders; in the peace just mentioned it was +expressly stipulated that neither party should receive the subjects +coming to him from the other side (p. 153). Under such circumstances it +was necessary to take measures that the Hebrews should "not join with +the enemies," as the second text says.[621] The attempt had to be made +to settle and assimilate them, and make them Egyptians. The +fortifications from Pelusium to Heliopolis included just the region +allotted to the Hebrews. These works required hands to build them. There +was also the project of the canal from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. As +the fortification surrounded Goshen, so the canal ran athwart it, from +Bubastis to the Lake of Crocodiles. If this canal, as well as the +fortifications, required a great number of hands--and naturally those +who were nearest would be first employed--the water brought by the canal +made it possible to change the pastures along the canal into arable +land, and to build cities upon it. From all this it is not improbable +that the oppression of which the Hebrews speak commenced under the reign +of Sethos I. continued under Ramses II, and was increased by the +building of those two cities. + +The tradition of the Hebrews maintains that the Hebrew nation arose in +Egypt; in that country the family became a nation. The Egyptians could +endure a tribe of shepherds on their borders, but not a powerful nation. +With seventy souls, according to the first text, Jacob came into Egypt, +and at the end of their sojourn the Hebrews, according to the same +authority, had increased to 600,000 men, besides women and +children.[622] Supposing the seventy to be a sacred number, and +reckoning into the total "a number of strangers," who according to the +revision joined the Hebrews, it is still quite impossible, even if the +tribe which, as we assume, exchanged the pastures of the south of Canaan +for those on the Nile about the middle of the sixteenth century numbered +its thousands at the time of the change, that they should have increased +to 600,000 full-grown men, _i.e._ to more than two millions of souls, +within the given period of something less than the 250 years, to which +the length of their settlement on the Nile will be shown to be limited. +Even if we assume that the strangers made up a third of the whole total, +this is impossible. At a much later time the number of the fighting men +among the Hebrews can scarcely be reckoned higher than from two to three +hundred thousand. Even if we regard the total as including the whole +population, and not confined to the fighting men, it still appears very +high. Granting, too, that an enumeration was not in itself impossible +(the Hebrews had long had before them the pattern of the enumerations in +Egypt), yet a closer examination shows, that the total is founded upon +an average of 50,000 souls for each of the twelve tribes. This total +therefore must be given up as a mere attempt to glorify the ancient +times.[623] The events which follow show that the Israelites did really +increase from a tribe to a nation under the protection of Egypt, and +could put in the field from fifty to sixty thousand warriors,--a growth +and increase which in their old pastures, the proximity of the far more +powerful Edomites, Hittites, Midianites, and Amalekites, could hardly +have allowed sufficient space. + +The twelve tribes, into which the nation of the Hebrews was divided, +were carried back to the sons of Jacob, who were thought to be their +ancestors. This fact has obviously influenced the number and position of +these sons in the tradition. The tribes which claimed to be the oldest +must have sprung from the oldest sons of Jacob; those who boasted of the +purest descent must have for their progenitors sons born in lawful +marriage; those whose blood was less pure were derived from sons born to +Jacob by the handmaids of his wives. We found above (p. 409) that Leah, +sprung from the true blood of the fathers, while yet in Haran, had borne +Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon. The oldest families +of the Hebrews were named after Reuben. These, "the sons of Reuben," +were "brave men who carried the sword and the shield, and drew the bow, +and were skilful in war;"[624] but even in later times they still +pursued the old pastoral mode of life in the mountain glades on the east +of Jordan, and hence had no important influence on the development of +the nation. This remarkable insignificance of the oldest tribe is +accounted for in the revision by a sin of the ancestor, who lay with +Bilhah, his father's handmaid.[625] According to the same prophetic +authority, Simeon and Levi also had done an unclean deed, and Judah had +once been equally guilty.[626] It is for his account of Judah only that +we must make this narrator entirely responsible. For the deeds of +Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, he has merely developed hints contained in the +"Blessings of Jacob," a poem of the time of the Judges, which he found +existing in the Ephraimitic text.[627] That poem says expressly that +Reuben, though the firstborn, was not to have the pre-eminence; and +Simeon and Levi, "because in their anger they slew a man, and in their +passion lamed a bull," were to be scattered in Israel, _i.e._ were to +have no district specially their own. In contrast to the tribes of +Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, this poem celebrated the tribe of +Joseph--under which name the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were +included--whose praise has been already given, and it brings into +prominence the tribe of Judah. The strength of the nation rested on the +tribes of Ephraim and Judah; they had done the best service at the +conquest of Canaan, and were the foremost in defending the land. The +tribe of Ephraim was first in battle, and it retained this superiority +for centuries. The tribe was not sprung from the oldest, but from the +most beloved son of Jacob, the late-born son of Rachel. Ephraim was the +younger of the two sons born to Joseph by the Egyptian woman, but Jacob +had placed his right hand on the head of the younger son, and said, "By +thee shall Israel bless."[628] Such is the account of the Ephraimitic +text. In the Judæan Jacob is made to say, "Ephraim and Manasseh shall be +as my two firstborn."[629] The fathers of the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, +Gad, and Asher were considered to have been born to Jacob by his +handmaids. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[604] Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 32. + +[605] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273 ff. + +[606] Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 430; "Ægypt. und die Bücher Moses," s. +330, 323 ff. + +[607] Ebers, "Ægypt. und die Bücher Moses," s. 321, 322. + +[608] Above p. 196; Ebers, _loc. cit._ s. 347. + +[609] Lepsius, "Chronol." s. 382; Ebers, "Ægypten und die Bücher Moses," +s. 296; Lauth, "Moses," s. 77. + +[610] Exod. xii. 40. + +[611] Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 505 ff. + +[612] Generally only two or three. The longest genealogy is that of +Joshua: Ephraim, Beriah, Rephah, Telah, Tahan, Laadan, Ammihud, +Elishama, Nun (1 Chron. vii. 20 ff; cf. Numb. xxvi. 35; vii. 48; x. 22), +from which, if it were to be regarded as certain (Ewald, "Gesch. +Israel's," 1, 490, thinks that it is certain), it would follow that the +Hebrews were over 200 years in Egypt, assuming 25 years as the length of +a generation. + +[613] 1 Kings vi. 1. + +[614] Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 365. On the possible twelve +representatives of those twelve generations, Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 190. + +[615] Exod. i. 11; Gen. xlvii. 11. + +[616] Exod. v. 6-11. + +[617] Exod. i. 7, 13, 14. + +[618] Chabas, "Mélang. égypt." pp. 2, 42 ff. That _lutu_ means +"Egyptians," as Ebers ("Ægypt." s. 96) thinks, is by no means certain. + +[619] Ebers, "Durch Gosen." p. 494. + +[620] Lauth, "Moses," s. 1. + +[621] Exod. i. 10. + +[622] Exod. xii. 37. Numb. i. 46. + +[623] "With 600,000 men, besides the children," Exod. xii. 37, 38. +Numbers i. 22-46, enumerates 603,550 fighting men, who could take the +field, in the total sum, and in the totals for the several tribes, to +which must be added 22,000 male Levites, men and boys, Numb. iii. 39. +The question seems to me to be settled by Nöldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. +117). + +[624] 1 Chron. vi. 18. + +[625] Above, p. 409; Gen. xxxv. 22. + +[626] Gen. xxxiv. 13, 25-30, xxxviii. + +[627] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 280, n. 54. + +[628] Gen. xlviii, 20. + +[629] Gen. xlviii. 5; above, p. 425. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS. + + +The oppression which, according to the Pentateuch, the Egyptians +exercised upon the sons of Jacob when settled in the land of Goshen, by +field-labour and tasks of building, may be regarded as a historical +fact. It is proved by the position of Egypt and her relations to her +neighbours on the north-east in the fourteenth century B.C., and it +agrees with the arrangements and aims entertained and carried out in +this border-land by Sethos I. and Ramses II. It must have been a +grievous burden for the Hebrews to pass from the easy life of shepherds +to the work of agriculture, and abandon the old life with their flocks. +In addition there were the heavy tasks of the fortifications, the canal, +and the new cities. Were they to give up the memory of their fathers, +and their attachment to their customary mode of life, in order to +perform taskwork for the Egyptians and become Egyptians? Was it possible +to escape this grievous oppression? How could they be freed from the +mighty power of the Pharaohs? Could the Hebrews, a peaceful nation and +without practice in war, venture to resist the numerous, disciplined, +and drilled armies of Egypt? + +The Hebrew tradition gives the following account of the liberation of +their forefathers, connecting it with the supposed command of Pharaoh to +throw into the Nile all the male children born to the Israelites, and to +allow the daughters only to live. The son of Levi, the son of Jacob, was +Kahath, and Kahath's son was Amram. Amram had a son born to him by his +wife Jochebed. When Jochebed saw that the boy was fair, she hid him for +three months; and when she could hide him no longer, she took an ark of +reeds and daubed it with resin and pitch, and placed the boy in it, and +put the ark in the reeds on the bank of the Nile, and the boy's sister +was placed near to see what would come to pass. Then Pharaoh's daughter +came with her maidens to bathe in the river. She saw the ark, and caused +it to be brought to her, and when she opened it the boy wept. It is one +of the children of the Hebrews, she said, and had pity on it. Then the +sister came and offered to find a nursing-woman from among the Hebrews, +and brought her mother. When the child grew up, Pharaoh's daughter took +him for her son, and called him Moses. One day Moses went out to his +brethren and saw their burdens, and when an Egyptian smote a Hebrew, and +Moses perceived that no one was at hand, he slew the Egyptian, and fled +before Pharaoh into the land of Midian. And as he rested at a well, the +seven daughters of Jethro came to water the sheep of their father, but +the other shepherd prevented them, and drove them away. Then Moses came +to their help, and watered their sheep, and their father Jethro took him +in, and Moses found favour in his eyes, and took Zipporah, one of his +daughters, to wife, and kept Jethro's sheep. After many days the king of +Egypt died, and the sons of Israel sighed by reason of their burdens; +and God heard their complaint, and thought of his covenant with +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses, as he was keeping the flocks of +Jethro, and led them behind the desert, and came to Mount Horeb, saw a +bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses +approached, and Jehovah spoke to him out of the bush, and said: I am the +God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; come not near; put thy shoes from off +thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. Then Moses +veiled his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Then Jehovah said: +I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I will deliver them. +Thou shalt go to Pharaoh and lead my people away to Canaan, to a land +flowing with milk and honey. Moses answered: O my Lord, I am not a man +of words; I cannot speak to the children of Israel, for I am dull of +speech and heavy of tongue. Go, said Jehovah, I will be with thy lips, +and will teach thee what to say; and Aaron thy brother, the priest, can +speak. Then Moses took his wife and his sons and put them upon the ass, +and turned back to Egypt, and Aaron his elder brother met him in the +desert. Moses told him the commands of Jehovah, and they gathered the +elders of Israel together, and the people believed their words. + +Then Moses and Aaron came into the presence of the king of Egypt, and +said: Let us go with our people three days' journey into the desert and +sacrifice to our God Jehovah, that He may not visit us with the +pestilence or the sword. The king answered: Would ye free the people +from their tasks? Go to your work. And he ordered the taskmasters and +the overseers to increase the work of the Israelites, and make their +service heavier, and to give them no more straw for their bricks, so +that they might be compelled to gather straw for themselves. But the +daily tale of bricks remained the same, and the chiefs of the +Israelites were beaten because they could not make up the sum. Then +Moses and Aaron went again to Pharaoh, and Aaron threw down his rod +before the king, and lo! it became a serpent. Then the wise men and +magicians of Egypt cast their rods down, and they also became serpents, +but Aaron's serpent consumed the rest. And Aaron stretched out his hand +over the waters of Egypt, and the water in the stream was turned into +blood, and the fish died, and the water became foul and noisome. But the +magicians of Egypt did the same by their art. Then Aaron stretched out +his hand over the stream, and the frogs came up over the fields, into +the houses, the chambers, the beds, the ovens and kneading-troughs. Then +Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to take away the frogs from him and his +land; he was willing to let them go. And the frogs died away out of the +houses, the courts, and the fields. But when Pharaoh was delivered he +hardened his heart, and would not let the Hebrews go. Then Aaron turned +the dust of the earth into flies, and Moses and Aaron took at Jehovah's +bidding ashes of the oven and sprinkled them in the air, and the dust of +the ashes became boils and blains, breaking out on man and beast, on the +magicians, and all the Egyptians. And Moses stretched out his hand to +heaven, and Jehovah caused it to thunder and hail, and fire came down, +and the hail smote all that was in the field, man and beast, and all the +herbs of the field; and all the trees were destroyed; only in the land +of Goshen there was no hail. And Moses stretched out his hand over all +Egypt, and Jehovah brought the east wind, and in the morning the east +wind brought swarms of locusts, and they ate up all that the hail had +left in the field: there was nothing green in the field and in the +trees. And Moses stretched his hand towards heaven, and there was a +thick darkness in the land of Egypt for three days. And now the king was +willing to let Israel go, but their flocks and herds must remain behind. +Moses answered that not a single hoof should remain, and went in wrath +from the presence of Pharaoh. But to the Israelites he said: At midnight +Jehovah will go forth and smite all the firstborn of Egypt, from the +firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the woman behind the mill, and +all the firstborn of cattle. But they were to slay a yearling lamb +without blemish for each household, and to eat it roast, with unleavened +bread and bitter herbs. With loins girded, with shoes on their feet, and +staff in hand, they were to keep the feast. With the blood of the lamb +they were to strike the door-posts and the lintel of their houses, that +Jehovah might see the blood and pass by their doors. In the morning +there was not a house of the Egyptians in which there was not one dead. +There was a great cry in Egypt, and the king called Moses and Aaron and +said: Depart with your people, your flocks, and your herds. + +Then the children of Israel set forth from Ramses to Succoth--600,000 +men on foot, besides children. And with them went a number of strangers, +and many flocks and herds. And they went from Succoth, and encamped at +Etham, on the edge of the desert; and from Etham they went to +Pihahiroth, and encamped over against Baalzephon. But Pharaoh was +grieved that he had let the people go from their service; he pursued +them with all his chariots, his horsemen, and his army, and found them +encamped on the sea at Pihahiroth, over against Baalzephon. But Moses +stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah caused the sea to go +back by a strong east wind through the whole night, and made the sea +into dry land, and the Israelites passed through the midst of the sea, +and the waters were a wall upon their right hand and a wall upon their +left. And the Egyptians pursued and came after them with their chariots +and their horsemen into the sea. Then Moses again stretched out his +hand, and the sea returned towards morning into its bed, and covered the +chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh, so that not one of them was left. + +And Moses and the children of Israel sang: I will sing of Jehovah, for +he is glorious; the horses and chariots he whelms in the sea; Jehovah, +the God of my father, will I praise. Jehovah is a man of war; Thy right +hand, O Jehovah, shatters the enemy. The chariots of Pharaoh and his +might he threw into the sea; his chosen charioteers were drowned in the +reed-sea. The floods covered them; like stones they sank in the pit. At +the breath of Thy nostrils the waters rose in a heap; the floods stood +like a bank; the floods ran in the midst of the sea. The enemy said: I +will pursue, and overtake, and divide the spoil; I will satisfy my lust +upon them; I will draw my sword, and destroy them with my hand. Thou +didst blow with Thy mouth, O Jehovah, and the sea covered them; they +sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like unto +thee, Jehovah?[630] + +The older text narrated in a simple manner, that the Hebrews multiplied +greatly in Egypt, and the Egyptians vexed them with heavy burdens, and +God heard their cry, and thought of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, +and Jacob. Then God spoke to Moses: he would take Israel for his people, +and lead them out of Egypt, and Moses spoke to the children of Israel, +but they did not listen to him. Then the command came to Moses to speak +to Pharaoh, and Aaron was to speak for him. Afterwards came the plagues +(to which the revision has added the hail, the locusts, and the +darkness),[631] the slaying of the firstborn, the march through the sea +as described.[632] The text of the tribes of Joseph is far better +instructed, or, at any rate, far more detailed in its account of Moses, +no less than in that of Joseph. To it belongs the command of Pharaoh to +slay the children of the Hebrews, the rescue of Moses, the history of +his youth, his flight into the desert, his connection with Jethro, the +appearance of God on Sinai, and certain traits in the dealings with +Pharaoh, and the direct action of God in the march through the sea and +the desert. + +Of both these narratives the tendency is the same, it is only more +strongly marked and broadly realised in the second. The God of the +Hebrews has pity on the sufferings of his people. He provides and +arouses their leader. To him and to Aaron he imparts the power of +working miracles which the magicians of Egypt can only imitate up to a +certain point. Yet the power of working miracles given to Moses and +Aaron is not enough to overcome Pharaoh. The decisive stroke is given by +Jehovah himself, inasmuch as he smites the firstborn among the Egyptians +of man and beast. And when Pharaoh hastens after the Hebrews Jehovah +causes the sea to retire before them, and finally buries Pharaoh and his +host under the returning waves. Thus has Jehovah led his people out of +Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. + +The narrative of the slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians and the +mode in which the Hebrews protected themselves from the visitation are +borrowed from the Hebrew ritual. We saw above that the firstlings of the +fruits, and "all that first opens the womb, man or beast," belonged to +the God of the Hebrews.[633] This firstborn must be sacrificed, or +ransomed by a vicarious sacrifice. In the spring the sacrifice of the +firstfruits was offered from an ancient period, and unleavened bread +eaten, as was usual with shepherds.[634] The spring, the time when +nature has borne anew, was also the right time to offer the sacrifice +for the redemption of the house. The head of the family at the spring +festival slew a lamb without breaking any bone, and with the blood he +smeared the lintel and door-posts. Hence the offering in the spring was +also the festival of redemption and purification--the passover, the +_passah_ of Jehovah, who had spared the house for the lamb. To this old +spring sacrifice, which was celebrated in the month Nisan, the first +month of the Hebrew year (it was the year of the Babylonians), at the +time of the full moon, when the sun was in the Ram, the first text has +already attached a historical background and meaning. It was in the +night following this sacrifice that the exodus from Egypt took place. +The unleavened bread of the ancient custom was explained by the haste of +the exodus; and as signs of the readiness to go forth, the girdle round +the loins, the shoes upon the feet, and the staff in the hand were +added to the old ritual; the smearing of the lintel with the blood was +done in order that the angel of Jehovah might distinguish the doors of +the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. Tradition turned the spring +festival and sacrifice into a feast of thanksgiving for the protection +of the firstborn of the Israelites while Jehovah carried off those of +the Egyptians, a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the nation out of +Egypt. + +The lofty calling of the man whom Jehovah summoned to be the instrument +of the deliverance is shown in the Ephraimitic text by the marvellous +fortune which attended him even in his earliest years. The daughter of +Pharaoh himself, disregarding her father's commands, rescues the boy, +brings him up, takes him for her son, and gives the name to the man who +is destined to liberate the Hebrews and bring so much misfortune upon +Egypt. Amid the kindness shown to him by the Egyptians Moses does not +forget the people to whom he belongs. The sight of the oppressions which +his people suffer kindles his heart. A rash action, by which he avenges +the ill-treatment of a Hebrew, compels him to fly into the desert. Here +he founds a family by taking a Midianitish woman, a daughter of the +desert, to wife. In the second text the father of his wife is called +Jethro, in the revision Reuel.[635] When he has begotten sons here, and +is advanced in years, his mission is revealed to him on the mountain of +God. In both texts he hesitates to undertake it, but finally carries it +resolutely to the end. + +As in the narrative of Joseph, so here, all that is said of Egypt agrees +with what we know from other sources of that country. As the Hebrews +were settled to the east of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, the locality +of the exposure in the meaning of the Ephraimitic text must be sought +in the neighbourhood of Tanis. We saw above that Ramses II. erected +considerable buildings in this district (p. 134). The name Moses, which +the king's daughter is said to have given to the rescued boy, may be +connected without violence with the Egyptian messu, _i.e._ the child. +The plagues too which tradition represents as coming upon Egypt are +suited to the nature of the land. Even now the water of the Nile becomes +at times red and disagreeable in smell; often after the inundation +swarms of frogs cover the fields, and at the same time myriads of +marsh-gnats and flies rise out of the mud, and locusts from time to time +in thick devastating swarms cover the fields in the valley of the +Nile.[636] Eruptions of the skin also occur after the inundation, and +sometimes grow into large boils. Storms of hail, though not entirely +unknown, are yet extremely rare in Egypt, and storms from the +south-west, which in the spring blow over the great desert, are one of +the worst plagues in Egypt; they bring with them violent heat and thick +dust, which darkens the sky. + +If we attempt to ascertain the historical value of these narratives, it +follows from the helpless position of the Hebrews in regard to the +Egyptians which we have already described, that the idea of rescuing +them from the dominion of Egypt could only have been entertained by a +resolute spirit, and the undertaking begun by a leader who was prepared +to make the highest venture in order to preserve the highest +prize--nationality and religion. Among the Hebrews there could be no +other thought but to leave the borders of Egypt in order to resume the +old mode of life in the deserts of Syria, and there to worship their +old God in the old manner. In harmony with the situation the Ephraimitic +text represents the resolution to make an exodus as growing up after +long hesitation and grave thought in the soul of a man who, owing to the +oppression of his people, had come into the sharpest conflict with +Egypt, had fled into the desert in order to save his life, and there had +again seen and lived the free life of the kindred tribes. If the Hebrews +intended to leave Egypt it was necessary to know certainly that the +tribes of the desert, or at least a part, would receive them, and that +they would not one and all oppose them. By combination with the +Midianites the conditions most needed for the exodus could be supplied. +If of the Midianites and the Amalekites, the desert tribes who dwelt +nearest to Egypt, the first were gained for the Hebrews, and from them +support, assistance, and alliance in repulsing an Egyptian attack might +be expected, then it was possible to hope for success in the venture. +The Ephraimitic text represents the Hebrews as choosing that moment for +carrying out the exodus in which there was a change of the succession in +Egypt, and it is obvious that a change of this kind, the commencement of +a new and perhaps contested dominion, secured better prospects for the +Hebrews than an established rule when obedience was unchallenged. + +According to the older text the Israelites gathered together near the +city of Ramses (Abu Kesheb) for the exodus. We have seen that this city +was built on the canal, nearly in the middle of the district allotted to +the Hebrews; it was therefore the natural place for meeting. From this +the Israelites took a southern direction towards the north-west point of +the Arabian Gulf, which is known to the Hebrews as the reed-sea. This +was the shortest way of reaching the deserts of the peninsula of Sinai +and the pastures of the Midianites, and on this line the Hebrews had the +Bitter Lakes at hand, from which could be obtained what water was +absolutely necessary. When they had passed Succoth, Etham, Pihahiroth, +and had reached the corner of the reed-sea, as the first text describes, +the pursuit overtook them, which Pharaoh had begun with a +hastily-collected force. Southward of the extreme point of the reed-sea, +in the neighbourhood of Suez, there are firths which can be crossed at +the ebb, especially if a strong north-east wind drives back the waves to +the south-west. By a strong east wind, blowing through the whole night, +Jehovah caused the sea to retire, and turned it into dry land; and the +water became a wall on the right hand and the left, as we learnt from +the oldest account. The extreme point of the reed-sea, _i.e._ the sea on +the left of the firth, is too deep to be crossed, on the right the wind +and the ebb kept the waters back.[637] Thus it was not in itself +impossible that the Hebrews reached the other shore, _i.e._ the +peninsula of Sinai, by passing through the firth and cutting off the +extreme point of the sea; and not impossible that the Egyptian army in +their eagerness to overtake the Hebrews, or afraid that the marshes at +the head of the sea would detain them so long that they could not come +up with them before the desert made pursuit very difficult, attempted to +cross the sea when the water had already returned. The narrative is +supported to some extent by the ancient song of victory (p. 446). This +song, it is true, cannot be proved to belong to that period, but it is +nevertheless of very ancient origin.[638] + +The account which the Egyptians and Manetho give of the exodus of the +Hebrews has been already related. According to it the Hebrews are impure +and leprous Egyptians whom Pharaoh had banished to the quarries east of +the Nile, and made to work there, like other Egyptians employed in that +task. That the Hebrews are Egyptians, and leprous Egyptians, in the +Egyptian tradition, need excite no astonishment; white leprosy was a +disease from which the Israelites frequently suffered. We cannot contest +the number of the lepers, which Manetho puts at 80,000, though we have +already seen that the Hebrews at the time of the exodus could hardly +have approached this number of men capable of work. The Hebrew tradition +in both texts represents the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the +descendants of Joseph and an Egyptian woman, as growing up during the +settlement in Egypt; the revision adds that a "number of strangers" left +Egypt with their forefathers. Moses, the leader of the lepers, is +described by Manetho as an Egyptian priest of Heliopolis, of the name of +Osarsiph. We saw that Heliopolis was the nearest centre of Egyptian +religious worship to the land of Goshen, and that the second text gives +the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis to Joseph to wife. According to +this text also Moses is brought up by the Egyptians, and the revision +calls him an "Egyptian."[639] Hence we can at once accept the statement +of Manetho that the leader of the Hebrews was skilled in the wisdom of +the Egyptian priests.[640] On the other hand the more detailed +narrative of Manetho is in itself far more improbable, more full of +contradictions and impossibilities, than the account of the Hebrews. It +does not agree with the tenor of Manetho's narrative when we find +Pharaoh giving over the fortified city of Avaris to the leprous +Egyptians whom he had banished to the stone quarries. In that city the +lepers rebel, there they make the priest of Heliopolis, Osarsiph, their +leader, and Osarsiph gives them the law, to worship no god, to eat the +most sacred animals, and to have dealings only with their confederates. +From hence he summons the Hyksos, who had been driven out of Avaris a +long time before, and had meanwhile built Jerusalem. Pharaoh goes with +an army of 300,000 of the best warriors of Egypt against the +conspirators, 80,000 unclean persons and 200,000 shepherds, yet turns +back voluntarily, and flies towards Ethiopia, while the confederates +desolate Egypt without pity for thirteen years. It is hardly credible +that a king of Egypt should abandon his kingdom without a struggle to +lepers and the descendants of the Hyksos. And if anyone is inclined to +assume that the Hebrews did actually combine, not with the supposed +Hyksos of Jerusalem, but perhaps with the Midianites, and conquer Egypt +and force the king into Ethiopia, and so rule over Egypt for thirteen +years--their tradition would not have forgotten or suppressed such a +glorious achievement of the nation, such a proof of the power of +Jehovah. Compared with this wholly purposeless exile of the king, the +account of the Hebrews seems far more credible--that Pharaoh did make +the attempt to stop the migration, but that the attempt was without +success. + +It remains to fix the date at which the Hebrews succeeded in escaping +from the dominion of Egypt, and resuming their old mode of life in the +deserts of Syria. It has already been proved that Sethos I. and Ramses +II. were the Pharaohs who oppressed the Hebrews; and it is in harmony +with the whole situation to assume that the attempt to escape from this +oppression would be made under a less powerful successor. If, as is +shown above (p. 159), the Pharaoh of Manetho, who banished the lepers +and retired before them, was Menephta, the son and successor of Ramses +II., it would be Ramses II. before whom Moses fled into the desert, and +after his death he would have returned and carried out against his son +the attempt he could not have ventured upon against so powerful a ruler +as Ramses II. Menephta's rule falls in the years 1322 to 1302 B.C. Hence +the exodus of the Hebrews must be placed in this period, about the year +1320 B.C.[641] The immigration into the land of Goshen, we found that we +might place about the year 1550 B.C. (p. 433). Hence they dwelt there +about 230 years, and this lapse of time corresponds pretty closely to +the eight generations which the table of the leader under whom the +Hebrews afterwards conquered Canaan gave for the sojourn in Egypt (p. +431). When the Hebrews, after retiring from Egypt, wished to give up the +peninsula of Sinai, and settle themselves in the east of Jordan, they +besought "the king of Edom," according to the second text, for a free +passage through his country. The first text knows and mentions eight +kings who had ruled over Edom "before kings ruled over Israel." As the +monarchy was established in Israel about the year 1050 B.C. (see below), +eight generations would carry us two centuries beyond the date of Saul, +king of Israel, if this list could be regarded as historical, but the +two first names in it seem of a mythical rather than a historical +kind.[642] + +The oldest accounts of western writers of the fortunes of the Hebrews +date from the time of the successors of Alexander of Macedon. They were +founded partly on accounts of the Egyptians, and partly on accounts of +the Hebrews themselves. The narrative of Hecataeus of Abdera, who was in +Egypt in the time of Ptolemy I., and wrote an Egyptian history, gives us +the most unprejudiced account, composed from the widest point of view, +and connects the emigration of the Hebrews, whom he does not consider +Egyptians, with the supposed emigration from Egypt to Greece. "Once, +when a pestilence had broken out in Egypt, the cause of the visitation +was generally ascribed to the anger of the gods. As many strangers of +various extraction dwelt in Egypt, and observed different customs in +religion and sacrifice, it came to pass that the hereditary worship of +the gods was being given up in Egypt. The Egyptians, therefore, were of +opinion that they would obtain no alleviation of the evil unless they +removed the people of foreign extraction. When they were driven out, the +noblest and bravest part of them, as some say, under noble and renowned +leaders, Danaus and Cadmus, came to Hellas; but the great bulk of them +migrated into the land, not far removed from Egypt, which is now called +Judæa, and was at that time without inhabitants. These emigrants were +led by Moses, who was the most distinguished among them for wisdom and +bravery. When he had settled in the land he built several cities, among +them Jerusalem, which is now the most famous. He also built the most +celebrated temples, taught the worship of the God, and the ritual, and +arranged the constitution, and gave laws. He divided the people into +twelve tribes, because this number is the most complete, and corresponds +to the number of the months which make up the year. The most handsome +men, who could also at the same time guide the united people best, he +made priests, and arranged that they should concern themselves with all +that was sacred, the religious worship and the sacrifices, and at the +same time he made them judges in the most important matters, and put +into their hands the preservation of the laws and customs. He erected no +images of the gods, because he did not believe that God had the form of +men; he rather believed that the heaven which surrounds the earth was +alone god and lord of all things. The sacrifices, too, and manner of +life he arranged unlike those of other people; owing to their own +banishment, he introduced among them a misanthropic and inhospitable +life. At the end of his laws is written: This Moses has heard from God, +and tells it to the Jews. This lawgiver also made provision for war, and +compelled the young men to exercise themselves in strength and +manliness, and the endurance of privations. He undertook campaigns +against the neighbouring nations, and divided the conquered land by lot, +and gave to the priests larger lots than to the rest. But no one was +permitted to trade with his lot, in order that none might from avarice +buy up the lots and drive away the more needy (by this is meant no doubt +the Hebrew year of Jubilee). He forced the people also to bring up their +children, and as it was possible to do this with little cost, the tribes +of the Jews were always numerous. About their marriages and their +burials he laid down quite different laws from those in use among other +nations."[643] + +When Antiochus Sidetes besieged Jerusalem in the year 134 B.C., and +began to treat with the city, the greater part of the counsellors of the +king (so Diodorus tells us) were of opinion that the Jews ought to be +destroyed, for of all nations they were the only one who had no +community with others, and contracted no marriages with them, and +regarded them all as enemies. Their forefathers had been banished out of +the whole of Egypt as godless men, and abhorred of heaven. At that time +all who had white leprosy, and scales upon the body, were collected as +being under a curse and sent over the border in order to purify the +land. The expelled persons had then gathered together and formed the +nation of the Jews; they had taken the districts round about Jerusalem, +and propagated their hatred of mankind. Hence they had adopted wholly +different laws from others. They were not to eat with strangers at one +table, or bear them any friendly feeling. When Antiochus Epiphanes +conquered the Jews (167 B.C.), he went into the innermost shrine of the +temple, which only the priests might enter, and there he found the stone +image of a man with a long beard, who was riding on an ass with a book +in his hand. This statue he took for an image of Moses, who had founded +Jerusalem, gathered the people together, and given the wicked and +misanthropic laws.[644] + +Strabo remarks that southern Syria "was inhabited by mixed tribes of +Egyptian, Arabian, and Phenician origin, but the prevailing legend of +the temple at Jerusalem called the ancestors of the Jews Egyptians. For +Moses, one of the Egyptian priests, who occupied a part of this land, +and was dissatisfied with his condition, removed from that country, and +many who worshipped the deity emigrated with him, and Moses told them +and taught that the Egyptians were not right in representing the +divinity as a wild or domesticated animal, nor the Libyans, nor were the +Hellenes wise in giving gods the form of men. For only the One was God +which surrounds us all and the earth and the sea, and who was called +Uranus and Cosmos, and the nature of things. How could any reasoning +creature venture to make an image which should truly represent this +nature? All making of images must be cast aside, a sacred place must be +marked off, and a temple erected, and prayers offered without any image. +In order to have fortunate dreams it was needful to sleep in the +sanctuary, and those who were wise and lived with justice could always +expect signs and gifts from God. By such doctrines Moses convinced not a +few men of reason, and led them to the place where Jerusalem now is. He +easily obtained possession of the land, because it was not sufficiently +valuable for anyone to fight vigorously for it. It is rocky, and the +district round the city is without water. At the same time he pretended +to take it for the sake of the sanctity of the place, and the deity for +whom he sought a dwelling, and established such a ritual and such +sacrificial customs, that the worshippers were not compelled to undergo +great expense, or vex themselves by any ecstasies, contortions of the +body, or vile occupation. As this was well received, Moses established +no unimportant dominion, for those who dwelt round about were induced by +his speeches and promises to join him. But at a later time superstitious +and even tyrannical men acquired the priesthood, and from superstition +the abstinences from food, circumcision, and mutilation and other things +of the kind became law, and are observed even to this day. The +capricious nature of the ruling power ended in robbery, for the +insurgents plundered the land. But those who were with the rulers +subjugated even the border territories, and conquered a good deal of +Syria and Phoenicia. Yet the fortress, which, instead of treating it +as a place of confinement they worshipped as a temple, retained a +certain dignity."[645] + +Better acquainted with the traditions of the Hebrews, Nicolaus of +Damascus tells us that Abraham came with an army out of Chaldæa, which +lies beyond Babylon, and ruled over Damascus. Not long after he again +set out from this place with his people, and established himself in the +land which was then called Chananæa, and afterwards Judæa. Here he dwelt +and his numerous posterity. "The name of Abraham is still praised in the +region of Damascus, and a village is pointed out which is called +Abraham's dwelling, after him."[646] This account, of which the +continuation in the writings of Nicolaus is lost, was used, as it +seems, by Trogus Pompeius. His account survives only in the excerpt of +Justinus. "The Jews," so we find in this excerpt, "derive their origin +from Damascus, the most famous city of Syria. This city took its name +from king Damascus, in whose honour the Syrians revered the tomb of his +wife Astarte as a temple, and worshipped her as a goddess in the most +sacred manner. After Damascus, Azelus reigned, then Adores, then +Abraham, and lastly Israhel. Israhel became more famous than his +predecessors, for he had ten sons to help him. So he left the nation +divided into ten kingdoms to his sons, and called them after the name of +Juda, who died after the division, Judæans, and commanded that his +memory should be held in honour by all, because his share had profited +all the others. The youngest of the brothers was Joseph. The others were +afraid of his pre-eminent gifts, and secretly they got him into their +power, and sold him to foreign merchants. By these he was carried to +Egypt, and as he gave his mind eagerly to the magic arts of the place, +he was soon in high estimation even with the king. For he was the most +acute expounder of signs and wonders, and first founded the +interpretation of dreams. Nothing in divine or human ordinances seemed +hidden from him; he even foresaw the unfruitfulness of the land many +years before it came. The whole of Egypt would have been destroyed by +famine had not the king, at Joseph's suggestion, ordered corn to be laid +by for many years previously, and he gave such proofs of his wisdom that +his answers seemed to be those of a god and not of a man. His son was +Moses, who in addition to the inheritance of his father's wisdom, +received also great beauty of person. But at the bidding of an oracle +the Egyptians banished him, because they were afflicted with scab and +leprosy, with all the diseased persons beyond their borders, so that he +might not infect more. Chosen to be leader of the exiles, Moses took +from the Egyptians their sacred things. The Egyptians rose to recover +them by force of arms, but were compelled to return by storms. Then +Moses as he turned towards his old fatherland, Damascus, settled on +Mount Syna. As he came there with his people exhausted after seven days' +privations in the deserts of Arabia, he consecrated each seventh day a +fast for all time. After the manner of the people this day was called +Sabbata, because it had put an end to the hunger and wandering. And when +they remembered that they had been driven out of Egypt from fear of +contamination, they were careful that they should not be hated by the +inhabitants from the same causes and had no dealings with them, which +rule in time became a strict custom and religious observance. After +Moses, his son Arvas became priest of the Egyptian sacred things, and +was soon after chosen to be king. Since then it became a custom among +the Jews that their priests should be at the same time kings, and their +duties as judges, combined with the worship of the god, held the nation +uncommonly close together."[647] + +The most marvellous story is that of Lysimachus of Alexandria, who +brings down the exodus of the Jews to the eighth century B.C. "At the +time of king Bocchoris, unclean and leprous men had come into the +temples to beg for food. Hence there was a blight in the land; and +Bocchoris received a response from Ammon, that the temples must be +purified. The lepers, as if the sun were angry at their existence, were +to be plunged into the sea, and the unclean were to be driven out of the +land. Hence the lepers were tied to plates of lead, and thrown into the +sea; but the unclean were driven out helpless into the desert. These met +together in council; in the night they lit fires and lights, and called, +fasting, upon the gods to save them. Then a certain Moses advised them +to go through the desert till they came to inhabited regions, but at the +same time required them to show kindness to no man, to advise every one +for the worst, and to destroy all altars and temples upon which they +came. The exiles approved, and after many hardships came through the +desert to an inhabited land, and after treating the men cruelly, robbing +and burning the temples, they established a city Hierosyla +(temple-plunder) in Judæa, and afterwards, to lessen the disgrace, the +name was slightly altered into Hierosolyma (Jerusalem)."[648] + +Even this narrative was accepted and believed. Tacitus first enumerated +the different views of the writers on the origin of the Jews, in order +finally to agree in all essential points with the narrative of +Lysimachus. "According to the view of some," Tacitus says, "the Jews +were descendants of the Ethiopians, whom fear and disinclination +compelled, at the time of king Kepheus, to change their dwelling; others +say that a horde coming from Assyria gained possession of a part of +Egypt, and soon after passed into the neighbouring parts of Syria, and +inhabited the Hebrew land and cities." The latter statement obviously +confounds the immigration of the Hyksos and the Jews, and makes them a +mingled horde of Assyrians, but still is nearest the truth. "Others, +again," Tacitus continues, "are of opinion that under the rule of Isis +in Egypt, the number of men became too great, and the superfluous +multitudes were settled under the leadership of Hierosolymus and Judah +in the neighbouring lands. But most authorities agree that under king +Bocchoris a contagious disease raged in Egypt, and the oracle of Ammon +bade them purify the kingdom and remove the diseased persons out of the +land as a race hated by the gods. Hence the unclean were collected and +left behind in the desert. Amid their idle lamentations one of the +exiles, Moses, warned them that they had no assistance to expect from +gods or men, for they were abandoned by both, but they were to trust to +him as a heavenly leader by whose assistance they might be rescued from +their present calamities. To this they agreed, and in complete ignorance +struck out a path at random. The want of water distressed them most, and +almost at death's door they sank upon the ground, when a herd of wild +asses ran from the pasture to a rock covered with trees. Moses followed +them, and found copious streams of water. This saved them, and after a +march of six days they came on the seventh day to a region where, when +they had expelled the inhabitants, they founded a city and a temple. In +order to strengthen the nation and establish his own supremacy, Moses +gave them new customs, quite opposed to the usages of the rest of the +world. What we consider sacred, they regard as profane; and what is +permitted to us is forbidden to them. The image of the animal which had +shown them an escape from their wanderings, and put an end to their +thirst, they placed in the innermost shrine, after they had slain a ram. +in order, as it were, to throw contempt upon Ammon. They abstained from +swine's flesh in remembrance of the misery which the leprosy, to which +this animal is subject, had once brought upon them. The long hunger +which they then endured they still avow by frequent fasts; and as a +proof of the fruits once stolen, their bread is unleavened. On the +seventh day they rest, because the seventh day brought them to an end of +their labours; the seventh year also, induced by their laziness, they +have given up to inaction. Others are of opinion that this is done in +honour of Saturn, because Saturn completes the highest circle of all the +seven stars which rule the fortunes of men, and is of pre-eminent power, +and most constellations accomplish their influence and their orbits by +the number seven. + +"Other abominable customs have come into force owing to their vile +corruption. For all the worst of men, despising their hereditary +religions, brought money and contributions to them; and because among +them stiffnecked belief and ready assistance was to be found, and deadly +hatred towards the rest of the world, their power increased. They do not +eat with strangers or make marriages with them; and this nation, +otherwise most prone to debauchery, abstains from all strange women. +They have introduced circumcision in order to distinguish themselves +thereby; and those who have adopted their customs follow this practice. +The first lesson learnt by their youth is to hate the gods, to despise +their country, to disregard parents, children, and brothers. Yet they +take considerable care to increase their numbers. It is a sin to slay a +kinsman, and the souls of all slain in battle and by execution they +consider immortal. Hence they have a lively impulse to beget children, +and they hold death in contempt. The custom of burying the dead, +instead of burning them, they have borrowed from the Egyptians; on the +other hand, the Jews alone worship in the spirit a single deity, while +the Egyptians offer prayer to many animals and composite images. They +also consider it profane to make any images of God out of perishable +material in the form of men, for the deity is the Highest, the Eternal, +the Unchangeable and Imperishable. Hence in their cities and temples +there are no images. As their priests use the music of flutes and drums, +and wear crowns of ivy, and a golden vine was found in the temple, some +have thought that they worshipped the conqueror of the East, the god +Bacchus. But the rites are widely different. Bacchus inaugurated blithe +and merry festivals; but the customs of the Jews are absurd and +melancholy.[649]" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[630] Exod. xv. 1-11; cf. Joshua xxiv. 7. + +[631] Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 40. + +[632] Exod. i. 1-7, 13, 14; ii. 23, 24; vi. 2-7, 9-27; vii. 8-13, 19-22; +viii. 1-4, 12-15; ix. 8-11; xii. 1-23, 37, 40-51; xiii. 20; xiv. 8, 9, +15-17, 21-23, 29. + +[633] Exod. xiii. 2; xxii. 29, 30; xxxiv. 19, 20. "The firstborn of thy +sons thou shalt give to me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and +thy sheep. All that openeth the matrix is mine, all thy cattle that is +male. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem." Cf. Exod. xxx. +11-16. + +[634] Ewald, "Alterthümer des Volkes Israel," s. 358 ff. + +[635] De Wette-Schrader. "Einleitung," s. 282, 284, 290. + +[636] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 46, 47. + +[637] Ebers. "Durch Gosen." s. 101 ff. + +[638] Nöldeke. "Untersuchungen," s. 47. According to De Wette-Schrader, +from the second text ("Einleitung," 283), verses 11-17 may be an +addition; verses 19-21 obviously come from the revision. + +[639] Exod. ii. 19. + +[640] Büdinger ("Akad. d. Wissenschaft zu Wien," Sitzung vom, 15 +October, 1873) regards Moses and Aaron as of Egyptian origin, as +Egyptian priests, and finds the tribe of Levi in the leprous Egyptians +who went out with the Hebrews. Lauth ("Moses der Hebraeer," and +"Zeitsch. d. d. M. G." 1871, s. 135 ff) inclines to recognise Moses in +the mohar, sotem (scribe) and messu of the papyrus Anastasi I., who +would thus have been one of the Egyptian scholars, and employed by +Ramses II. in matters of state and war. This view is opposed by Pleyte +("Zeitschr. f. aeg. Sprache," 1869, s. 30, 100 ff.); he reads the name +Ptah-messu. Lauth, at the same time, refuses to derive the name Osarsiph +from Osiris; he considers it to be Semitic, and explains it as +a-sar-suph, _i.e._ "rush-basket." + +[641] Lepsius, "Königsbuch der Ægypten," s. 117-150. Maspero objects +that Egypt in the time of Menephta was still too powerful for the +Israelites to carry out their exodus. Such a plan was possible for the +first time in the last years of Sethos II. (above, p. 150), or shortly +after his death ("Hist. Ancienne," p. 259). These considerations are of +too general a nature to allow any definite conclusions to be founded +upon them; and if Josephus or his copyist changed the Menephtes of +Manetho into the much better known Amenophis, or mistook one for the +other, a similar interchange cannot so easily be assumed for the names +Sethos and Menephtes. + +[642] Gen. xxxvi. 31-39; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 87. + +[643] Diod. 40, frag. 3. + +[644] Diod. 34, frag. 1. + +[645] Strabo, p. 760, 761. + +[646] Fragm. 30, ed. Müller. + +[647] Justin. "Hist." 36, 2. + +[648] Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 34. + +[649] "Hist." 5, 2-5. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT. + + +The fortunes and achievements of the Israelites after leaving Egypt and +escaping the pursuit of the Egyptians, are narrated in the second, +third, and fourth books of the Pentateuch in the following manner. From +the reed-sea the Israelites marched into the wilderness of Shur, and for +three days found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink +the water there, because it was bitter. Then Jehovah showed Moses a +piece of wood, and he threw it into the water, so that the water became +sweet. From Marah they came to Elim, where were twelve wells and seventy +palm-trees, and they encamped there by the water. From Elim they came +into the wilderness of Sin, and the people murmured against Moses, +because there was no food to be found; but at evening Jehovah caused +swarms of quails to rise which covered the camp, and in the morning +manna had fallen, which lay like hoar frost upon the ground, and the +people were allowed to gather manna for six days, but on the seventh +they were not allowed to gather it. And Israel set forth from the +wilderness of Sin and encamped at Rephidim. There there was no water to +drink, and the people were angry with Moses; but Jehovah said to Moses: +Take thy staff with which thou didst smite the Nile; thou shalt smite +the rock, and the water shall flow forth. And Moses did so before all +Israel, and they called the name of the place Massah and Meribah. And +Amalek came and strove with Israel in Rephidim, and was smitten down +with the edge of the sword. And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the +father-in-law of Moses, came and advised Moses to choose valiant men for +his helpers, as overseers over the people and judges for the matters of +smaller moment. And Moses did so. + +In the third month after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set forth +from Rephidim, and came into the desert of Sinai, and encamped over +against the mountain. The people were commanded to purify themselves and +wash their garments, and Moses forbad any one to approach the mountain. +On the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, +and a thick cloud stood upon the mountain, and there was a mighty sound +of trumpets. And all the people heard the thunder and saw the flames and +the smoking mountain, and the mountain quaked, and all trembled. But +Moses led them to meet Jehovah at the foot of the mountain. And Jehovah +came down to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. For forty days +and forty nights Moses was on the mountain, and Jehovah revealed to him +his laws, and the finger of God wrote them on two stone tables. And +Jehovah spoke to Moses out of the darkness, and told him all the +ordinances which he should lay upon the people. But the cloud covered +the mountain, and the glory of Jehovah was a consuming fire on the top +of the mountain. + +When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, +the people said to Aaron: We know not what has happened to the man who +led us out of Egypt; make us a god to go before us. And Aaron said to +them: Take off the golden rings which are in the ears of your wives, +your daughters, and your sons. They brought him the rings, and he made +of them a golden calf, and built an altar before the calf. Then they +said: That is the god, who led us out of Egypt; and Aaron caused a +festival to be proclaimed to Jehovah, and they brought a thank-offering +to the calf, and the people ate and drank and stood up to dance. But +when Moses came down from the mountain with the stone tablets in his +hand, and heard the singing and shouting, and saw the calf and the +dancing, his anger was kindled. He cast the tables out of his hand, and +broke them at the foot of the mountain, and took the calf, and burned it +with fire, and ground it to dust, and strewed it on the water, and made +the children of Israel drink it. And Moses came into the entrance of the +camp and cried: Come to me, all who belong to Jehovah. Then the +descendants of Levi gathered round him. Take everyone his sword at his +side, he said to them; go from one gate of the camp to the other, and +slay every man his brother, his friend, and his neighbour. And there +fell on that day about 3,000 men of the people. + +On the next morning Moses said: Ye have sinned a great sin; I will go up +to Jehovah, perhaps I can appease him for your sin. And Jehovah said to +Moses: Hew two stone tables like the others, and be ready in the +morning, and appear before me on the top of the mountain. And Moses was +there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights, and ate no bread, and +drank no water, and he wrote on the tables the ten commandments. Then he +came down with the two tables of the law in his hand, and told the +people the commandments which Jehovah had given him, and the laws; and +the people answered: All that Jehovah has commanded we will do. Then +Moses built an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes. And the +young men slew burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, and the half of the +blood Moses sprinkled on the altar, and with the other half he sprinkled +the people, and said: This is the blood of the covenant which Jehovah +makes with you over all laws. + +Then Moses set up the tent of the assembly for a sanctuary of Jehovah, +that He might dwell in their midst, as Jehovah had commanded, with +planks of acacia wood on silver feet, and fastened them with silver +bars; and on them he placed a cover of woven cloth of byssus, of a +purple colour, and over this a second roof of red sheep-skins and +seal-skins, and divided the tent by a curtain of blue and red purple, +and carmine, and byssus, with cherubs woven upon it. And in the tent +behind the second curtain he placed the ark of the law, as Jehovah had +commanded, of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and placed the law +in the ark. Then Moses made a table of acacia wood, overlaid with pure +gold, and placed bowls of pure gold upon it for the drink-offerings, and +laid the sacrificial bread upon the table. And he made a candlestick of +pure gold, with seven lamps, three on the one side and three on the +other side of the candlestick. Then he made the altar of incense of +acacia wood, overlaid with gold; and the altar of burnt sacrifice of +acacia wood, as Jehovah commanded, and overlaid it with copper; and made +the curtains for the court and the poles for the curtains of copper. The +Israelites brought what was necessary for the erection and adornment of +the shrine, and gave their nose-rings, ear-rings, seals, and ear-drops. +And Moses made Aaron and his sons priests, and anointed the altars and +all utensils with holy ointment, and sanctified the fire on the altar, +and offered burnt-offerings. But two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, +brought strange fire before Jehovah; then fire went forth from Jehovah +and consumed them, and they died before Him. And the glory of Jehovah +filled His habitation, and the cloud covered the tent of assembly; and +when the cloud rose, the children of Israel set forth, and by night +there was fire in the cloud. + +In the second year after the exodus from Egypt, in the second month, on +the twentieth day of the month, the cloud rose from the dwelling of the +law, and the children of Israel set forth on their march out of the +desert of Sinai, from the mountain of Jehovah, and they went three days' +journey, and the cloud halted in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah +bade Moses send men to search out the land of Canaan--one for each tribe +from among the leaders. And from Ephraim Moses sent Joshua the son of +Nun; and from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Then the +twelve princes set forth at the time of the first grapes, and came to +Hebron and to the valley of Eshcol, and there cut a bunch of grapes and +a vine, and carried them on a pole between two; and they also took of +the pomegranates and the figs. After forty days they returned, and said +to the people: The land into which you sent us flows with milk and +honey, and these are its fruits. But the people is mighty, and their +cities are large and fortified, and Amalek dwells in the land to the +south, and the Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell on the +mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and on the side of +Jordan. And Caleb said: We will go up and overpower them; but the others +said: We cannot go up against that people, for they are mightier than +we; and the sons of Israel cried: Why should we fall by the sword, and +our wives and children fall into the hand of the enemy; is it not better +to return to Egypt? Then Jehovah said to Moses: All those who have +murmured against me shall not enter into the land wherein I have lifted +up my hand to cause you to dwell. Your bodies shall lie in the desert, +save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun; and your +children shall pasture their flocks in the desert forty years: forty +years shall my face be turned from you. And Moses told these words to +the children of Israel. But the Israelites ventured to rise up and went +to the heights of the mountains on the way towards Atharim. But the +Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt on the mountains came down and smote +them, and scattered them as far as Hormah. + +And Korah of the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of +Reuben, and two hundred and fifty of the foremost men, heads of families +and officers of the community, assembled themselves against Moses and +Aaron, and said: Why do ye lift yourselves up against the people? And to +Moses they said: Is it not enough that thou hast led us out of Egypt, to +slay us in the desert? Wilt thou also make thyself a ruler over us? But +the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up. On the next morning +the people murmured in the assembly against Moses and Aaron, and said: +Ye have slain them. But Jehovah said to Moses: Go out from this company; +I will destroy them suddenly. Then the plague began. At Moses' command +Aaron took the censer of incense and offered incense to purify the +children of Israel; and he stood between the living and the dead, and +the plague was stayed. But there died fourteen thousand and seven +hundred. + +The children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, and Moses sent +messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Let us pass through thy land; we +will go along the highway, and turn neither to the right hand nor to the +left. But Edom went to meet them with mighty hosts and a powerful hand, +and Israel retired before him, and went from Kadesh to Mount Hor, and +from Mount Hor to the reed-sea. Then the people became impatient on the +way, and murmured against Moses, and Jehovah sent the serpents, the +saraphs, among the people, and many died. Then the Israelites saw that +they had sinned, and Moses prayed for the people and made a serpent of +copper, and set it up on a pole, and all who were bitten by the serpents +and looked upon the image of copper were saved. From the reed-sea the +Israelites went again to the north, towards Oboth and Beer, to the well +which the princes dug. Then Israel sang: "Rise up, O fountain, meet him +with songs; O well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people +hollowed out with their sceptre and their staves." And from Beer they +went to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to Pisgah, which rises over the desert. +And Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in his city at Heshbon, +gathered all his people and went to meet Israel in the desert, and came +towards Jahaz, and strove with Israel. Then Israel smote him with the +edge of the sword, laid waste the land, and took the cities. And Israel +sang: "Fire went forth from Heshbon, and flames from the city of Sihon; +we shot at them, we laid waste the land to Nophah, we burnt it with +fire to Medeba." Then the Israelites turned and went up against Og, the +king of the Amorites of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth Karnaim, and smote +him at Edrei, and his sons and all his people, and his cities were +taken, and not a fugitive escaped. From Bashan Israel went southwards, +and encamped in the plains of Moab at Shittim; and they began to commit +whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and served Baal Peor. And Phinehas, +the grandson of Aaron, pierced with his spear Zimri, a captain of the +tribe of Simeon, as he lay with a Midianitish woman, and slew both with +one thrust through the belly. And Jehovah said to Moses: Go up to Mount +Abarim and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel, +and when thou hast seen it, thou shalt be gathered to thy people. Take +Joshua, the son of Nun, and lay thy hand on him, and place him before +Eleazar the priest (the son of Aaron), and before all the people, so +that all may obey him; and Eleazar shall inquire of Jehovah for him, and +as he commands he shall go out and in. And Moses did as Jehovah +commanded. And the sons of Reuben and Gad said to Moses: The land which +Jehovah has smitten before Israel is a land for flocks, and thy servants +have flocks; and to them, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses gave +the land of Gilead. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to the top +of Pisgah, over against Jericho, and Jehovah caused him to see the whole +land from Gilead to Dan, and from Jericho to Zoar. And there Moses died, +a hundred and twenty years old. But his eyes were not dim, nor had his +strength forsaken him. The Israelites mourned for Moses thirty days in +the plains of Moab, and henceforth there was no prophet in Israel like +Moses; and to this day no man knows the grave of Moses. + +In those portions which deal with the abode and fortunes of the Hebrews +in the desert, the two texts were less closely combined, and the +contradictions are more numerous, than in the other parts. The two +narratives are interpolated each into the other, and the additions of +the reviser are more prominent than elsewhere. An ancient record, +embodied in the first text, gives a list of the places where the +Israelites pitched their tents between Egypt and the Jordan. The +statements do not agree with the narrative in its present condition. In +the first text the Midianites manifestly dwell to the east of the +Jordan. It represents the Israelites as taking vengeance upon them, +because they had seduced Israel to a heathenish ritual; first by the act +of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, whose seed in consequence received +"the everlasting covenant of the priesthood," and then by the war which +cost the Midianites a vast booty of sheep, oxen, asses, and thousands of +prisoners.[650] In the Ephraimitic text the Midianites dwell on Sinai; +hither Moses fled to the Midianites from Egypt; he married the daughter +of the priest of the Midianites, and stands in most friendly relations +with them. This text represents the seduction of the Israelites as the +work not of the Midianites, but of the Moabites; and subsequently +narrates the victories over the Moabites of Heshbon and Bashan. How the +first text described the conquest of the land of Gilead we cannot any +longer ascertain; that it dealt with the subject is beyond +question.[651] + +The setting up of the golden calf at Sinai is inconceivable in the +connection in which the narrative places it. While Jehovah's glory is +visible on Sinai, and proclaims itself in thunder and lightning, would +the people, and Aaron at their head, have required an image of God, and +offered prayer to it? When after the death of Solomon the ten tribes +founded their independent kingdom Jehovah was worshipped among them in +the form of a bull, in contrast to the worship of the kingdom of Judah. +To stigmatise this worship, wherein priests of the family which claimed +to be derived from Aaron may have taken part from the first, as +objectionable, the prophetic revision has interpolated the adoration of +the golden calf and the punishment of such idolatry; and from this the +second ascent of Sinai by Moses came into the narrative. The account of +the saraphs and the setting up of the brazen serpent belongs to the +Ephraimitic text.[652] At Jerusalem there was a serpent of brass, which +was thought to have come down from Moses.[653] + +It was the fixed belief of the Hebrews that it was only by the immediate +help of Jehovah that their forefathers had been able to escape the power +of Egypt. And this was not the only thing done for their fathers; they +had afterwards gained abodes to the east and west of the Jordan, and +from the wilderness they had come into a land flowing with milk and +honey. Here, also, the help of Jehovah had been shown forth mightily for +his people, against the old and powerful cities, and the mountain +fortresses of Canaan. Obviously Jehovah had delivered his people out of +Egypt, in order to give them this beautiful and rich land for a +dwelling. But why had he not at once led them thither? Why did the +Israelites remain so long in the miserable wilderness? The +Israelites--so the first text explains this delay--received the account +of the spies with fear. This cowardly generation, therefore, must die +out. We saw above that the Hebrews reckoned the length of a generation +at forty years, and so the first text puts the sojourn in the desert at +forty years. We shall see below that this period is too short by some +decads of years. Moses and Aaron also did not reach Canaan, because, as +the first text says, "they sinned against Jehovah at the water of +strife, at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Sin," because "they rebelled +against his command at the water," an obstinacy which cannot be any +longer found in the revised narrative of this occurrence.[654] If Joshua +and Caleb are exempted from this decree, if they alone reach Canaan, it +was certain that Joshua had undertaken and carried out the attack upon +Canaan, that Caleb conquered Hebron and subjected the surrounding +district; his descendants were living there even in David's time in +princely wealth. + +In the desert also Jehovah had taken care of his people; he had not +allowed them to perish there; he had sent quails and given them manna. +Even now long lines of quails pass over the Syrian steppes and the +wilderness of Sinai, and in the neighbourhood of Firan, manna, i.e. the +juice running from the branches and leaves of the tamarisk, is still +gathered.[655] Nor had Jehovah allowed water to fail in the midst of the +desert. Moses changed a bitter spring into sweet water. The story rests, +no doubt, on the name of the spring. Marah means bitter. At another +spring of the name of Meribah, _i.e._ strife (here Jehovah bade the +rocks give water), the rebellion of Moses and Aaron is said to have +taken place. The well of Beer, which the princes dug, cannot be any +other than the well of Beer Elim, _i.e._ the well of the strong,[656] +and the song which tradition connects with this place (p. 473) is +certainly very old, if not contemporary. + +The law made known to Moses on Sinai forms the main portion of the +second, third, and fourth books of the Pentateuch. It not only contains +the fundamental moral rules, the ordinances of the law of family and +blood-feud, and the rubrics for the national worship; it is rather a law +for the priesthood, given in systematic detail, which fixes their +position, rights, and honours, the dress of their office, and the fees +for the sacrifice--a wide collection of regulations for the ritual of +sacrifice, descending into the smallest minutiæ, the place of worship, +the instruments of sacrifice, the celebration of festivals, and the +arrangement of life in the future dwellings of the tribes. Could tribes +wandering in the desert have made rules for the celebration of the +festivals of sowing, of harvest, and of the vintage? Could they have +settled what part of the produce of the field should be given to the +priests, and how they should deal with the fallow time of the seventh +year of rest, and the reversion of the alienated land in the year of +Jubilee? Could dwellers in tents make regulations about receiving the +stranger in their gates, about cities of refuge and cities of the +Levites? And even if this had really taken place, how are we to explain +the fact that whole groups of arrangements for worship and life which +these laws prescribe were demonstrably not in existence among the +Hebrews in the centuries following their wandering? Laws are never +created except in connection with definite circumstances; no lawgiver +can anticipate the relations which the future will bring into +existence, and answer, _à priori_, the questions which will then arise. + +It is therefore beyond doubt that views and tendencies of later +development and the results of a long course of growth have been +transferred to early times, the times of the exodus from Egypt. Those +early days had been an era of original piety, and the time of the exodus +had been a period in which the God of the fathers had guided and led +them with a mighty hand, in which he had announced to them his will +directly and without deception. The condition of religious service and +life, therefore, which was held to be the true and proper kind must have +been prescribed in those early days and have existed then; the ideal +after which men were to strive, and in the pursuit of which every +hindrance was to be removed, must have already existed in those days of +direct divine guidance. Thus ordinances and usages which arose +successively after the settlement in Canaan, were amalgamated with older +customs and rules, and united into one system, which seemed to the +priests the necessary system, appointed by God and pleasing to him. The +position which the first text ascribes to Aaron, and which the laws +attached to that text, give to the priests and Levites the prominence of +a centralised, rich, and even splendid ritual, and of a single place for +the worship of Jehovah, display the tendency which was active in the +priesthood, to concentrate the worship of Jehovah on a single spot, and +to obtain power in the state for the chief priests. The gorgeous +tabernacle erected near Mount Sinai with the portable altars for burnt +sacrifice and incense, the implements of sacrifice and the candlestick +of seven branches, can only have been taken from the tabernacle erected +by David, and afterwards from the temple of Solomon and its glory, the +sacred pattern of which ought to be recognised in the movable sanctuary +already erected by Moses on Mount Sinai. At the same time the rich +adornment of this pattern by the voluntary offerings of the Israelites +proved how ready the nation was at that time to honour their God and +dedicate their property to him. For these descriptions there was a +historical foundation in the fact that the Israelites had carried their +national sanctuary, the sacred ark, the Ark of the Covenant, into the +desert, that it had been placed under a movable tent, and before the +tent the heads of the tribes and the nation had gathered for sacrifice +and counsel. In the position of Aaron and his family we have a pattern +which brings clearly into light the attributes and advantages, the +rights and honours, which belonged to the chief priests and priests in +contrast to the Levites or servants of the temple. The fearful +punishments which awaited offences against ritual and neglect of the +priestly rules were strongly marked. Even two sons of Aaron, Nadab and +Abihu, die because they approach Jehovah with unconsecrated fire; and +when the Levite Korah, and Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben, +rebel against Moses and Aaron, they were swallowed up by the earth, and +Jehovah smites the people who follow them.[657] It is the ideal picture +of the priesthood, and arrangement of the Church, which those laws +exhibit, and transfer to that mighty time when Jehovah spoke to the +Israelites through Moses. + +The intention of the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt could not at +first go further than the attempt to escape from the dominion of Egypt, +and resume the old free life in the desert. That the line of march at +first attempted to pass along the western shore of the reed-sea, and +reach the south of the peninsula of Sinai, in order to get as far as +possible from Egypt, place the whole length of the protecting arm of the +sea between the emigrants and Egypt, and reach the pasture lands of the +apparently friendly Midianites, corresponds to the situation. Nor can it +in any way surprise us that the Amalekites, as the Ephraimitic text +states, opposed the Hebrews, _i.e._ contested the possession of the +pasture-lands and oases of the wildernesses of Shur and Paran, with the +new-comers. The Israelites obtained the victory. So they arrived at +Sinai, the sacred mountain of the wilderness of Sin. Between the two +bays with which the sea encloses this peninsula, that mountain rises, a +naked granite ridge, with five steep peaks, united into a mighty crown, +above the plateau of sandstone which occupies the whole peninsula. The +height is 8,000 feet, and the wild and rugged mass overlooks in sublime +solitude the broad and desert flats in the north, and the waves of the +sea in the south. The beautiful oasis at the foot of the mountain (Wadi +Firan) affords nourishment for a large number of men and beasts.[658] On +the old and sacred mountain the Israelites might believe that they +approached nearer to their deity; that here thanksgiving and sacrifice +for their happy deliverance could best be offered to him. Then the +Israelites would pasture their flocks on the slopes and glades of the +peninsula. But they may have found but scanty food beside the flocks of +the Midianites, and the security from Egypt would be greater, if they +removed to a greater distance from that country. On the southern +borders of Canaan, at Kadesh and Hormah, they sought better pastures. +Yet they were driven back, and pursued as far as Hormah. After this +misadventure, the Israelites, according to the Ephraimitic text, +besought the king of Edom to allow them a peaceful passage through Edom, +"on the road of the king, they would not turn either to the right or the +left." Hence the defeat must have been a serious one.[659] The object of +this march through Edom can only have been to find new pasture-lands in +the Syrian steppes beyond Mount Seir on the east. The wide extent of the +Syrian desert would certainly supply sufficient pastures, and the +distance from the Nile was a good protection from Egypt. As the Edomites +refused the demand, and showed themselves prepared to resist the march +by force of arms, the Israelites did not venture to give battle; they +preferred to retire to the south, and make a long circuit round the +territory of the Edomites, by marching through the whole length of the +valley of Arabah southward to Elath, as far as the north-east point of +the reed-sea. From this point they passed to the other side of Mount +Seir, past Punon and Oboth, towards the Arnon, which falls into the Dead +Sea. If they could at first maintain themselves on the east, in the +desert, the uplands on the left bank of the Jordan were far better than +the steppes of the desert. The arms of the Israelites were here more +fortunate than on the other side of the Dead Sea. The Amorites of +Heshbon, eastward of the Dead Sea, were defeated at Jahaz, and their +cities taken. The song which celebrates this victory (p. 473) is old, +and above suspicion. From this point, out of the newly-conquered land, +from the top of Pisgah--a mountain near Heshbon--Moses is said to have +seen the promised land. A second victory over the Amorites lying to the +north beyond the Jabbok, the people of Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, +opened ample pasture-lands to the Israelites, and also some well-watered +valleys on the wide plateau to the east of the Jordan. Their territory +now reached from the Arnon northwards to the Jarmuk. Here the nation +remained; the greater part tended their flocks as hitherto, the lesser +part applied themselves to agriculture in exceptionally fruitful +valleys. + +Though a peaceful race of shepherds and unused to arms, the Hebrews had +bidden defiance to the strong arm of Pharaoh; with bold resolution they +had successfully delivered themselves from a cruel slavery; and had +preserved their freedom, their national character, and their religion. +Beyond the borders of Egypt and the reed-sea, the lively perception of +their liberation, and the recovery of their ancient mode of life, and of +the visible protection of their God, must have aroused a mighty impulse, +especially in their great leader. It was a moment of great elevation. +Together with the valley of the Nile, they had left behind the gods of +Egypt; and they returned to the worship of their old deity with +strengthened and deepened feelings. Thus on Sinai Moses could inculcate +the exclusive worship of Jehovah--a worship without images--and the +consecration of the seventh day.[660] These were commands consciously +and diametrically opposed to the multitude of Egyptian gods, the variety +of their forms and modes of worship, and the times of their festivals. +In connection with these commands, and the customs of sacrifice in use +among the Israelites, regulations were given for purification, and +rules, telling how to proceed at the erection of altars, at +purifications and expiations, at burnt-offerings, thank-offerings, and +offerings of corn and meal; rules which were preserved and developed in +the family of Aaron.[661] Even for the establishment of this ritual the +contrast to the Egyptian was not without influence. This contrast was in +fact so strong that what was best in the Egyptian religion--the belief +in the existence of the soul after death, and in its awaking from death +to a new life, was not adopted by the Israelites. Of the care shown to +the corpses of the dead in Egypt, we find no trace. + +We saw what a long series of moral rules were set up in Egypt. For his +people Moses collected the foundations of moral and religious law into a +simpler, purer, deeper, and more earnest form, in the Ten +Commandments.[662] In connecting the moral law with the worship of +Jehovah, its inseparable foundation, and setting it up with passionate +earnestness as the immediate command of the God of Israel, Moses +imparted to his people that character of religious earnestness, and +ethical struggling, which distinguishes their history from that of every +other nation. With the decalogue were connected the regulations for +peace in the nation, the law of the family, and the avenging of blood. +One who curses father or mother must be put to death. One who strikes +father or mother must be put to death. One who strikes a man so that he +dies must be put to death. One who has slain a man without intention, by +misadventure, must flee to the altar. But if anyone sins against another +so as to slay him by craft, thou shalt take him from the altar that he +may die. If men strive with one another, and one is injured, thou shalt +give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot for foot, burn +for burn, bruise for bruise. If any man strike his man-servant or his +maid-servant with his staff, and they die under his hand, vengeance must +be taken. If thou buyest a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and +in the seventh he shall go free. The long service in Egypt was still +held in lively remembrance.[663] + +Just as the ordinances of Moses for religious worship again brought into +prominence the ancient customs of the Hebrews, purified and developed +them, so his regulations for peace, for revenge, and expiation, for +injury to the person, and theft, were connected with ancient customs of +the children of Jacob, which could hardly have been entirely forgotten +in Egypt. As Moses attached his law to the old customs, permeating them +with the depth of his own ethical point of view, a certain stock of +sayings must have been formed, which were preserved and further +developed by the decisions of the heads of the tribes, the leaders of +families, and the elders and the priests. The code in Exodus is taken +from an old document, though apparently first inserted by the +revision.[664] + +The Israelites had risen from a tribe into a nation, which stood in need +of organisation when it was no longer under Egyptian dominion. This +arrangement must be founded upon the connection of families and races, +on respect for the tie of blood, and reverence for age. No other +political division was known but community of family and descent. +Affinities and races were in existence which carried back their origin +to one patriarch, they followed the head of the oldest family, from whom +the rest were derived, or thought that they were derived, and usually +obeyed his decision. Some of these races carried their pedigree back to +Jacob and his sons. After the pattern of these connections, and by +adopting and adding to them, the whole nation was brought into ties of +relationship. Strangers and families without a name must have here been +in part allotted to the affinities already in existence, and partly +formed into new corporations, and new affinities, so that in the total +there were some seventy groups of families. Those derived from the old +stocks, who carried their origin back to the same son of Jacob, formed +together a large community, or tribe, and were accustomed to obey the +nearest descendant of the patriarch, the son of his oldest son, from +first-born to first-born, and thus the head of the oldest family in the +whole community, as their tribal prince and leader by birth. In the same +manner, also, the new groups of families became amalgamated into tribes, +and older families were put at their head as chiefs of the tribe, in +such a manner that from three to ten groups of families formed a +tribe.[665] Thus twelve tribes were formed. Even the nations most +closely allied to the Hebrews, the Nahorites, and Ishmaelites, were +divided into twelve tribes; the Edomites were apparently divided into +sixteen. The tribes already in existence were derived from definite +progenitors, the sons of Jacob; and also for the new tribes one of the +sons of Jacob, the number of whom has thus been fixed, was allotted as a +patriarch. Reuben, Simeon, and Judah, were Jacob's eldest sons, borne by +Leah his first wife in lawful marriage. From these three the oldest +groups were derived. With the tribes of Issachar and Zebulon families +were connected, whose antiquity did not go so far back, and thus +Issachar and Zebulon were held to be younger sons of Jacob by the same +wife. The tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, were not considered +equally pure; perhaps because additional families had been incorporated +in them: hence, as we saw, their progenitors are said to be the sons of +Jacob by his handmaids. The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, +are marked as of later origin by the fact that they are carried back to +Jacob and Rachel; and if Joseph begot his sons Ephraim and Manasseh with +the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, this leads to the conclusion +that the families incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh +had grown up in Egypt, and had Egyptian blood in their veins. But +Ephraim was at the same time the strongest tribe, which in numbers and +bravery outstripped the rest, and the later origin is compensated by the +importance of Rachel and Joseph. The Egyptian element which Ephraim and +Manasseh introduced among the Hebrews cannot have been of any +importance, for neither the language nor the ideas of the Hebrews +incorporated elements from Egypt. Only a few external touches in the +dress of the priests can be carried back with certainty to Egyptian +influence. Of the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh is the elder, Ephraim the +younger. Hence the groups of families incorporated into the first, must +have been considered the older, or the tribe of Manasseh must at one +time have had precedence of Ephraim, which may have been the case about +the time of Gideon. + +If in the place of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, two grandsons are +adopted into the number of the patriarchs, room is made by excluding +Levi, a son of Jacob's first marriage, from the series of the tribes. +Tradition places him among the oldest sons, between Simeon and Judah. +But the tribes deduced from this ancestor won no territory like the +rest: they were scattered among the other tribes. We may assume that the +priestly families, who from antiquity had discharged the sacred duty at +the main seats of worship, the race of Kohath (to which belonged the +sons of Aaron), with the priestly families of the other altars (the +races of Gershom and Merari), and the families of the temple-servants +connected with them, were not combined into a tribe till a late period. +The name "Levi" may mean "bound," _i.e._ bound to a shrine, and hence a +temple-servant. The separation of this tribe from the rest, and its +dedication to the sacred service, is brought forward with great emphasis +in the first text, which was composed from the point of view of the +priests. Jehovah takes the Levites in the place of the first-born of +Israel, and this same text allots to the Levites forty-eight cities of +Canaan which they never possessed, and never inhabited either +exclusively or in preponderant numbers.[666] But while in this text the +adoption of the Levites by Jehovah, and their "possession of the +sacrifice" in the place of a territory, is regarded and extolled as a +privilege of this tribe, we found above (p. 439) that an old poem spoke +of the "division of the Levites in Jacob and their scattering in Israel" +as the punishment of the sin which their progenitor had once committed. +Hence we must assume that the groups of races, to which the foremost +families of the priests belonged, once formed a connected tribe like the +rest, and the breaking up of this tribe was brought about after the +settlement in Canaan by causes unknown to us. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[650] Numb. xxiv. 13, c. xxxi. + +[651] Numb. xxxii. 4; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 90. + +[652] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 292; Nöldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 86. + +[653] 2 Kings xviii. 4. + +[654] Numb. xx. 1-13, 22-29; Deut. xxxii. 48-52. + +[655] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 245. + +[656] Isaiah xv. 8. + +[657] On the mutual interpolations of the narratives, both in regard to +the rebels and the mode of their destruction, see Nöldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 79, 131. + +[658] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 341. + +[659] Numb. xxxiii. 40 (the first text); Numb. xxi. 1-3, and xiv. 44, +45, belong to the second text; De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 291; +Deut. i. 44; Joshua xii. 14; Judges i. 17. Cf. Nöldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 85, on the tenacity with which unsuccessful battles +are remembered in these districts. + +[660] Nöldeke explains Exod. xx. 23-26 and xxi. 1-xxiii. 19, as in +substance and in part a composition of great antiquity, +"Untersuchungen," s. 51. + +[661] Nöldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. 62 ff.) proves that Levit. i.-xxvi. +2, and xxvii., with the exception of a few additions, especially cc. +xviii.-xx. belong to the first text; and De Wette-Schrader +("Einleitung," s. 286 ff.) proves the same for nearly the whole book. +Moreover, he shows at length, pp. 265, 266, that many of the ceremonial +ordinances and the faith of the land in general goes back to Moses, or +the Mosaic times. + +[662] The Mosaic origin of the decalogue (Exod. xx. 1-17; Deut. v. 6-21) +is proved in De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 284. The original form +of it, it is true, is no longer in existence. + +[663] So the old codex, Exod. xxi. 1-6. The priestly law on the other +hand puts off the liberation till the year of Jubilee, Levit. xxv. 39 +ff. + +[664] On Exod. xxi.-xxiii. 19, cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. +285, 286, and Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 51, 63 ff. + +[665] Gen. xlvi. 8-27 Numb. ii 3-31; 1 Chron. ii 10. + +[666] Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 103, 109, 128. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN. + + +When the Israelites had delivered themselves from the dominion of Egypt, +they pastured their flocks on the peninsula of Sinai. Afterwards they +wandered further to the north-east into the Syrian desert, and at +length, as the oases in this district were few, and the wells +insufficient, they threw themselves upon the rich uplands on the east of +the Jordan. From the table-land, which they had conquered, they saw +before them the happy valley of the Jordan, the fig-trees and +pomegranates, the vines and green glades in the valleys beyond it. The +sight roused the greater portion of the Israelites to descend into the +valley, and invade the land beyond the river, in order to win settled +abodes where milk and honey were said to flow. + +We have already examined the circumstances of Canaan. The Amorites had +destroyed the power of the Hittites; and in conjunction with the +remnants of the Hittites and Hivites, they possessed the land. They +lived separately in the various mountain cantons, under small princes +from thirty to forty in number. But their cities were old and well +fortified; the nature of the land was in favour of defence, and on the +coasts lay the strong cities of the Phenicians and the Philistines. It +was no light undertaking. The Israelites had left Egypt a nation of +peaceful shepherds, but the sixty or seventy years which they +subsequently passed in the desert, and on the uplands beyond the Jordan, +had hardened them and made them into warriors. The successes which they +gained against the Amalekites, the Amorites of Heshbon, and Bashan must +have roused their courage. If they combined in an attack on the isolated +cantons of Canaan, they might hope to become masters even of the +fortified walls, and perhaps they even found assistance among the +Hittites and Hivites, who lived under the oppressive rule of the +Amorites. About the middle of the thirteenth century B.C., the greater +part of the Israelites marched towards the Jordan. Joshua, the prince of +the tribe of Ephraim, led the army. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and a +part of the tribe of Manasseh, remained behind on the other side of the +Jordan.[667] + +The book of Joshua gives the following account of the conquest of Canaan +by the Hebrews: It came to pass after the death of Moses, that Jehovah +spoke to Joshua the son of Nun: Up, cross over Jordan, thou and all the +people, into a land which I will give thee. Then Joshua commanded the +leaders of the people: Go through the camp and say, Make ready your +provisions; in three days ye shall cross the Jordan. When the people +set out from their tents at Shittim, and reached the Jordan with the +priests carrying the ark before them, and the feet of the priests, who +carried the ark, touched the water of Jordan, the water which flowed +from above stood up, and the water which flowed downwards to the Dead +Sea parted from the upper water, till the ark of Jehovah and the people +of Israel had passed over on dry land. And the people encamped at +Gilgal, on the tenth day of the first month, and Joshua made sharp +knives and circumcised the children of Israel, the whole nation that was +born in the desert, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the +month at evening in the plain of Jericho. And Jehovah said to Joshua: +See, I have given Jericho and her king into thy hand. Go round the city +for six days, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets before the ark, +and on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times, and the +priests shall blow upon the trumpets. And when ye hear the sound of the +trumpets, all the people shall make a great cry, and the walls of the +city will fall down, and the people shall pass over them, every man +straight before him. Joshua fulfilled the command of Jehovah, and when +the people marched round the walls of Jericho for the seventh time on +the seventh day, Joshua said: Cry aloud, for Jehovah has given the city +to you, and it shall be sacred, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah, +and all the silver and gold, and all the vessels of copper and iron +shall belong to Jehovah, and shall go into his treasury. When the people +heard the sound of the trumpets, they made a great cry, and the walls +fell down, and the people went up into the city and took it. And they +set apart all that was in the city from the man to the woman, from the +boy to the old man, from the oxen to the sheep, and slew them with the +edge of the sword. + +Then Joshua sent spies to Ai. When they returned they said to Joshua: +Let not the whole people go up; two or three thousand men can smite Ai, +for they are few. Joshua sent three thousand, but the men of Ai overcame +them, and pursued them as far as Shebarim, and smote them on the slope +of the mountain. Then Joshua rent his garments and fell upon his face. +But Jehovah said to him: Israel has taken of the forbidden spoil; the +children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, if that which is +forbidden is not destroyed from their midst. They must come forth +according to their tribes, races, and houses, and the house, which +Jehovah shall choose, shall come forward man by man. And whoever shall +be found with that which is forbidden, shall be burnt with fire and all +that belongs to him. Joshua caused Israel to come forward, according to +their tribes, and the lot fell on the tribe of Judah, and race of Serah; +and in the race of Serah the lot fell upon the house of Sabdi, and of +the men of the house of Sabdi the lot fell upon Achan, the son of +Charmi. Then Achan confessed that he had taken a beautiful mantle of +Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in +weight, and had hidden them in his tent. And Achan the son of Charmi was +led out "with his sons and daughters, his oxen and asses, his tent and +all that he had, and all Israel stoned them, and they burnt them with +fire, and covered them with stones, and then erected there a great heap +of stones." But Joshua set out towards Ai, with all the people, and +chose 5,000 men of war, and sent them out in the night, and said to +them: Go ye and lie in ambush at the back of the city, between Ai and +Bethel. I and all the people that is with me will draw near towards the +city, and if they come out to meet us, we will fly before them. Then be +ye ready and rise up out of your ambush and set fire to the city. When +Israel went forth towards Ai, the king of Ai came to meet them for +battle; but Joshua turned with his people and fled, and all the people +of Ai pursued them, and left the city open. Then the men in ambush rose, +and set fire to the town; and when the men of Ai looked behind them, the +smoke of their houses rose to heaven; and Israel turned upon their +pursuers and slew the men of Ai, who were between the Israelites on this +side, and the Israelites on that side, so that none remained beside the +king whom they took alive. Afterwards the women and children in Ai were +put to the sword, and of the slain on this day there were 12,000. And +Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree till evening. Then they took the +corpse down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate, and +erected over it a great heap of stones till this day: but the city +remained a heap of desolation. + +When the men of Gibeon--a great city like one of the king's cities, it +was greater than Ai, and all the inhabitants were men of war--and the +men of Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, heard what Joshua had +done, they sent to him, and the messengers put old shoes and clouted on +their feet, and old clothes on their bodies, and took old sacks on their +asses, and patched wine skins, and the bread of their provisions was old +and mouldy. Thus they came into the camp of Israel at Gilgal, and said +to Joshua: We are come from a far country to make a covenant with thee; +behold, the wine skins are torn which we filled new, our bread is dry +and mouldy, our clothes and our shoes are old by reason of the length +of the way. And Joshua made a covenant with them to let them live, and +the princes of the people made an oath with them. But when the children +of Israel set forth from Gilgal, they came on the third day to their +cities. Then Joshua called them and said: Why have ye deceived us and +said, we are far from you. Be ye now accursed, and may ye never cease to +be servants, and drawers of water, and hewers of wood for the house of +my God. Thus he did to them, and saved them from the hand of the +children of Israel that they slew them not. + +Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, heard what Joshua had done to Jericho +and her king, and to Ai and her king, and that Gibeon had made peace +with Joshua. He sent to Hoham, king of Hebron; and to Piram, king of +Jarmuth; and to Japhia, king of Lachish; and to Debir, king of Eglon, +and they gathered themselves and went forth, five kings of the Amorites, +and encamped against Gibeon. Then Joshua set forth from Gilgal, and all +the men of war with him. And Jehovah caused the Amorites to flee before +the children of Israel, and Joshua cried: Sun, stand thou still upon +Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood +still, and the moon waned not, till the people took vengeance on their +enemies, and before this was no day like it, nor after it. And the five +kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah; and when it was +told to Joshua, that the kings were hidden there, he said: Roll great +stones before the cave, and set men there to watch it. But do ye halt +not, but pursue your enemies, and smite the rear guard, and let them not +come into the cities. And Israel accomplished the slaughter, and turned +back to the camp at Makkedah. And Joshua caused the five kings to come +forth out of the cave, and called to the leaders of his warriors and +said: Come forward and set your feet on the necks of these kings. And +when this had been done, Joshua smote the kings, and hanged them on five +trees, and they hung on the trees till evening. Then Joshua commanded to +take them down, and they cast them into the cave, and laid great stones +on the mouth of the cave till this day. + +Then Joshua took Makkedah, and Libnah, and Lachish, and smote them with +the edge of the sword, and let no fugitive escape in Makkedah, Libnah, +and Lachish; and did to the kings of Makkedah and Libnah as he had done +to the king of Jericho. Horam, king of Gezer, went out to help Lachish, +but Joshua defeated him and went from Lachish against Eglon, and from +Hebron against Debir; and he set apart Eglon, and Hebron, and Debir, all +the souls that were therein, and smote the kings of Hebron and Debir +with the edge of the sword, and returned to the camp at Gilgal. + +But Jabin, king of Hazor, gathered together the kings of Madon, Shimron, +and Achshaph, and the kings of the north, who dwell towards the +midnight, on the mountain and in the plain, and they encamped a great +nation as the sands on the shore of the sea in multitude, with chariots +and horses on Lake Merom. Then Joshua with all his men of war fell upon +them suddenly, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Sidon, and to +the valley of Mizpeh, and lamed their horses, and burned their chariots +with fire. Then he took Hazor, the chief city of all these kingdoms, and +smote their king with the sword, and all the souls that were therein; +and all the booty of these cities, and all the cattle, the Israelites +took for spoil. For a long time Joshua made war with all these kings, +and he expelled the Anakites from the mountains of Hebron, from Debir +and Anab, from the mountain of Judah and the mountain of Israel; with +their cities he destroyed them. And there was no city which surrendered +peacefully to the Hebrews except that of the Hivites of Gibeon. + +Joshua was old and stricken in years, and Jehovah said to him: Divide +this land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And +Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chiefs of the +tribes of the children of Israel divided the land by lot. And the lot of +the children of Judah was in the south, as far as the wilderness of Sin +and the brook of Egypt, and in the east as far as the Dead Sea and to +the end of Jordan, and in the north the border was Gilgal and the valley +of Ben Hinnom, and Beth Shemesh, and the western border was the Great +Sea. And the lot came forth for the children of Joseph, and their +borders on the south ran from the water of Jericho over toward +Bethhoron, and from Bethhoron toward the sea. The land toward the south +fell to Ephraim, and the land toward the north to Manasseh. And the +whole community of the children of Israel were gathered together at +Shiloh, and there they set up the holy tent, and Joshua spake to the +seven tribes, whose possessions were not yet allotted: Choose three men +out of each tribe to write down the land, for I will cast lots for you +here at Shiloh before Jehovah. And so the men went and wrote down the +land according to the cities, in seven parts, and Joshua cast lots at +Shiloh, and divided the land to the children of Israel according to +their divisions. But Jehovah commanded Joshua that he should speak to +the children of Israel, and tell them to fix the cities of refuge, to +which the homicide was to fly who slew a man in misadventure, in order +that the elders of the city might receive him, and if the avenger +pursued him, they were not to deliver him into his hand till he had been +brought before the people. And they consecrated Kadesh, and Shechem, and +Hebron, and Bezer, and Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan. And the chiefs of +the tribe of the Levites went to Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son +of Nun, and asked for cities to dwell in, and land for their cattle; and +the Israelites gave them forty-eight cities and their land for their +possession. And Joshua gathered the elders of Israel, and his leaders +and judges, and gave law and justice at Shechem; and he died one hundred +and ten years old, and they buried him in the land of his possession at +Timnath-serah, on the mountain of Israel; and the bones of Joseph, which +the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, +on the piece of the field which Jacob bought (pp. 411, 418), and the +children of Joseph kept the place for a possession. And Eleazar, the son +of Aaron, died, and they buried him in Gibeah, the city of Phinehas, his +son, which was given to him on the mountain of Ephraim. + +The conception of the covenant between Jehovah and Israel, and of the +arrangement of law, as it existed in complete perfection in later times, +dominates the two texts of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, no +less than the prophetic revision of these texts (p. 386), and could not +but exercise an influence on the narrative of the conquest of Canaan, +_i.e._, the fulfilment of the prophecies. Even in the first text it is +the direct command of Jehovah which leads Joshua to set out towards the +Jordan; and it is the priestly ideas of this text which come out +strongly in the feast of the passover and the circumcision before the +conquest of Jericho. The miraculous passage of the Jordan is a +repetition of the passage through the reed-sea. This narrative belongs, +as it seems, to the second text, and is further amplified by the +reviser.[668] The overthrow of the walls of Jericho, when the priests +had blown their trumpets and the people raised the war-cry, is briefly +narrated in the first text; here also the details are the work of the +reviser. If the walls of Jericho were mounted at the first onset, +tradition might well recount the story that they were broken down before +the war-cry of Israel; and from this the farther account could be +framed. The law of the priests ordained: "All that is devoted +(_cherem_), what every man dedicates to Jehovah from all that is his, +from men, or cattle, or the field of his possession, that cannot be +bought or redeemed. All that is devoted is holy to Jehovah."[669] Joshua +had devoted Jericho and all that was in the city to Jehovah. But one of +the nation had taken something for himself from this devoted spoil. The +punishment comes upon the whole people, and the first attempt on Ai is a +failure. The more complete is the victory when that transgressor and his +house is stoned to death. By this narrative the observance of the +command was deeply impressed on all. When it was found long after the +settlement in Canaan what pernicious results for life, morals, and +religious worship followed from the fact that portions of the old +population were allowed to remain among them, it appeared to the +priestly mind that the due regulation and purity of the Hebrew nature +required the extinction of the earlier inhabitants, and even before +they took possession of Canaan, Jehovah must have given the command to +make neither covenant nor marriage with the Canaanites, to destroy their +altars and images, and to extirpate the nation.[670] Without doubt, at +the time of the conquest a considerable number of the old population +were not only driven out, but were put to death; and it is certain that +when cities were taken by storm their inhabitants "from man to woman, +from child to old man," were slain with the edge of the sword; but a +systematic extirpation did not take place. Of the four cities of the +Hivites--Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim--Gibeon, two +good hours north-west of Jebus, was the most important. These four +cities joined the Hebrews against the ruling Amorites,[671] and combined +with them. The craft of the Gibeonites, by which they succeeded in +deceiving Joshua about their Canaanitic descent, is intended to explain +the sparing of such an important part of the old population in +opposition to the pre-dated command of extirpation. And if to this is +added the fact that Joshua, when he had once sworn to grant their lives, +made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole community, +this, no doubt, rests on the fact that at a later time king Saul, "in +his zeal for Israel," intended to extirpate all the Gibeonites, and did +extirpate part, "though Israel had sworn to them;" that David favoured +them, but Solomon made "all that was left of the Amorites, Jebusites, +Hittites, Perizzites, and Hivites bond-servants to this day."[672] The +king Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, who, startled by the fall of Jericho and +Ai, and "the peace which Gibeon had made with Joshua," brings about the +league of the Amorite princes in the south against the invasion of the +Hebrews, belongs to the prophetic revision; in the first text the +Jerusalem of later times is still the city of the Jebusites. The +description of the great battle and of the miracle at Gibeon against the +Amorites belongs to the second text. The miracle is founded merely on +the poetical expression in the Israelite song of victory, "the sun stood +still and the moon stayed till the people had punished their enemies," +which meant no more than that the day had been long enough, and the moon +had shone long enough, to allow them to achieve a great defeat of the +Amorites, and to pursue them a considerable distance. After this day +Joshua is said to have taken Hebron, Debir, Libnah, and Lachish, to have +conquered the kings of Northern Canaan in a great battle, and to have +gained their cities, including Hazor. This narrative with its +particulars, according to which the conquest of Canaan took place in +consequence of the battle of Gibeon and a second great victory of the +Israelites at Lake Merom, belongs to the revision,[673] and is open to +serious difficulties. In the first place we are told that Joshua, for a +long time, had fought against all the kings; but Hazor, the abode of +Jabin, which Joshua had attacked, we find shortly after as again the +abode of Jabin. A large number of places which Joshua is said to have +taken are subsequently not in the hands of Israel, and both in the Book +of Joshua and the Book of Judges mention is made of separate battles of +the tribes among which the battle about Hebron, which the tribe of +Judah obtained, is the most conspicuous.[674] + +It was the view of both texts that the whole land was promised and +plighted to the Hebrews. They did not dwell on particulars in order to +bring out more definitely and clearly the community of the tribes, the +divinely-arranged and righteous division of the land among them. After +the war, in the traditional account, had continued about five years, and +Joshua was eighty-five years old, he and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, +divide by lot the territory gained on this side of the Jordan. The first +text here defines the portion of the tribe of Judah with special +minuteness, the second dwells upon the importance of the tribe of +Ephraim. Last of all, the forty-eight cities, on an average four in each +tribe, were set apart for the Levites. Of these forty-eight thirteen are +mentioned as allotted to the families of the priests of the tribe of +Levi. These lie entirely in the territory of Judah, Simeon, and +Benjamin, while the ark of the covenant evidently was placed at Shiloh +in the territory of Ephraim. In the neighbourhood of this sanctuary, +therefore, the priests must have had their dwellings. On the other hand, +Nob, which in Saul's time was called a city of the priests,[675] was not +among these thirteen cities. And among the thirty-five cities which are +said to have been given to the Levite ministers, several are found which +were not conquered by the Israelites, such as Taanach, Gezer, Jibleam, +and Nahalal. Of the thirteen towns of the priests and the six cities of +refuge, which were partly cities of the priests and partly of the +temple-servants, Hebron, the first-mentioned, was, as has been already +remarked, conquered later on, and not by Joshua. These arrangements have +arisen out of ideals; there never were Levite cities in Israel, and the +right of asylum in the cities of refuge was not recognised till a later +time. Even if we set aside the sacerdotal scheme for the distribution of +the land, we cannot repose complete confidence in an apparently ancient +enumeration of the conquered kings and cities given in the Book of +Joshua. Allowing that it belonged to one of the two original texts, it +has been altered and interpolated.[676] Cities are mentioned as +conquered which are not mentioned in the preceding narrative; others are +quoted as subjugated which evidently remained long after in the hand of +the Canaanites, like Taanach and Megiddo.[677] + +Adopting, therefore, as our principal basis the accounts which are in +existence about the battles of the various tribes, we shall have to +assume that the course of affairs was somewhat of this kind. The two +tribes of Reuben and Gad and the greater part of the tribe of Manasseh +preferred to remain on the east of the Jordan. The fertile depression +round Jericho naturally formed the first object of attack. Jericho was +taken. But the destruction of the city can hardly have been completely +carried out; for not very long after we find it again inhabited.[678] +That the Hebrews after taking Jericho established themselves at Gilgal, +and from this place undertook flying campaigns against the cities of the +Amorites, are statements which, as to the fact, need not excite any +doubts. The covenant with the neighbouring four cities of the Hivites, +which was appealed to even in the time of the kings, proves evidently +that these cities united with the Israelites and fought on their side +against the Amorites. In order to defend Gibeon against the Amorites, +who wished to punish their defection, the great battle against the +Amorites took place near this city, which is proved to be a fact by the +old song of victory. By this overthrow the power of the Amorites seems +to have been broken. Their defence henceforth is confined to each of the +cities maintaining itself. But the attacking party also lost their +unity. The various tribes of the Israelites attempted to conquer the +districts which pleased them; and the campaign of conquest broke up into +local conflicts. The tribe of Ephraim, accompanied by the greater part +of the remaining tribes, turned northwards to the green heights and +shady valleys of Shiloh and Shechem. Here, on "the mountain of Ephraim," +the Ephraimites settled; the sacred ark was placed at Shiloh, and here +at Timnath-Serah, "which he had sought from the people and had +obtained," Joshua took up his abode, and built the city and dwelt +therein. Round the fortress of the prince the best part of the tribe +must have settled. On the same mountains lay the portion of land which +belonged to the priest of the sacred ark, Phinehas, the grandson of +Aaron.[679] Near a sanctuary at Shechem, under the oak, the priests and +elders of the tribe assembled for the administration of law and justice. +The Ephraimitic text represents the sons of Joseph as saying to Joshua +that they were a numerous people, and that Mount Ephraim was too narrow +for them. Joshua replied, Go up to the forest, and hew out for +yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaims, if Mount +Ephraim is too narrow for you. They answered: The mountain will not be +gained by us; there are iron chariots among all the Canaanites who +dwell in the land of the valley at Beth-shean, and in the valley of +Jezreel. But Joshua said: The mountain shall belong to thee. It is +forest, hew it down, and the outgoings shall belong to thee. Thou shalt +drive out the Canaanites.[680] + +The tribes of Judah and Simeon turned to the south after the battle of +Gibeon, and settled in the mountain land of Hebron; here they succeeded +in acquiring a considerable territory. But it was only by slow degrees, +through long and severe battles, that the two tribes advanced. The tribe +of Judah first overcame the king of Bezek, and took him prisoner. From +the king as from the rest of the prisoners the thumbs and the great toes +were cut off. Then the king of Bezek said: Three score and ten kings +having their thumbs and their great toes cut off gathered what fell from +my table; now I have been requited.[681] Of more importance was it that +Caleb the son of Jephunneh established himself in Hebron, the old +metropolis of the land of the south (p. 346), and independently +subjugated the surrounding territory.[682] To the man who should conquer +Debir he promised his daughter Achsah to wife, and Othniel his brother's +son gained the city and the woman. From Debir the tribe of Judah pressed +on to the south, and conquered Zephath and Hormah. "And Jehovah"--so we +find it in the Book of Judges--"was with Judah, and he took the mountain +and possessed it, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the low +ground because they had chariots of iron."[683] The inhabitants of the +low ground are the Philistines on the coast, whose power was undoubtedly +superior to that of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. The Simeonites, a +tribe by no means numerous, settled themselves under the tribe of +Judah, and had to be content with the least fertile districts on the +southern border. + +The tribe of Manasseh, so nearly related to Ephraim, had in part +remained beyond the Jordan; the other part settled under the +Ephraimites, on their northern border in the region from Hadad Rimmon to +the mouth of the Kishon, but they were unable to gain the mastery over +the greater number of the cities of the Canaanites situated in this +district. The little tribe of Benjamin had settled round Gibeon, perhaps +immediately after the battle, between Bethhoron and Jericho, on the +southern border of Ephraim. The tribes of Issachar and Zebulon, Asher +and Naphtali were the last to acquire settled abodes. Issachar conquered +the heights of Tirzah and Gilboa, as far as Tabor; Zebulon planted +himself between the right bank of the Kishon and the lake of Kinneroth, +in the region of Jokneam and Beth Arbel. Westward of the lakes of +Kinneroth and Merom lay the tribes of Naphtali and Asher; the first was +nearest to the lake of Merom, in the district of the northern Kadesh; +Asher was further to the west, on the borders of the land of Tyre. The +tribe of Dan attempted to gain the spurs of the mountain westward of +Benjamin towards the sea. For a long time it encamped against the +Amorites and the northern cities of the Philistines, Ekron and Gath, but +though occasionally supported by Ephraim and Judah, it never gained +territory enough for its numbers. When the others had long been fixed in +settled abodes, a part of the Danites, finding it impossible to advance +to the coast, set out to the north, and took the city of Laish, +northward of Kadesh and the land of Naphtali, which belonged to the +Sidonians,[684] gave it the name of Dan, and here, as they had become +more warlike than the rest, owing to their prolonged battles, maintained +the northernmost point of the land of Israel. + +The conquest was completed. In the middle of the thirteenth century B.C. +the Israelites had broken the power of the Amorites in Canaan, and +gained a considerable territory (about 10,000 square miles), of which +one-half lay on the nearer and the other on the farther side of the +Jordan. But this land, divided by the Jordan, was neither a whole united +from within, nor protected by natural boundaries from without. As the +Israelites immediately after their first successes became again +disunited, and the attack became less powerful at every step in advance, +the Canaanites maintained themselves in independence, in separate +valleys or heights difficult of approach, and in strong fortresses. +Remnants of the Canaanites remained everywhere among and between the +Israelites. Beside the Benjamites the Jebusites (a tribe of the +Amorites) maintained themselves, and at Gibeon, Kirjath-jearim, +Chephirah, and Beeroth were the Hivites, who had made peace with the +Israelites. In the land of Ephraim the Canaanites held their ground at +Gezer and Bethel, until the latter--it was an important city--was +stormed by the Ephraimites.[685] Among the tribe of Manasseh the +Canaanites were settled at Beth Shean, Dan, Taanach, Jibleam, Megiddo +and their districts,[686] and in the northern tribes the Canaanites were +still more numerous. It was not till long after the immigration of the +Hebrews that they were made in part tributary.[687] The land of the +Israelites beyond the Jordan, where the tribe of Manasseh possessed the +north, Gad the centre, and Reuben the south as far as the Arnon, was +exposed to the attacks of the Ammonites and Moabites, and the migratory +tribes of the Syrian desert, and must have had the greater attraction +for them, as better pastures were to be found in the heights of Gilead, +and the valleys there were more fruitful. To the west only the tribe of +Ephraim reached the sea, and became master of a harbourless strip of +coast. The remaining part of the coast and all the harbours remained in +the hands of the powerful cities of the Philistines and the Phenicians. +No attempt was made to conquer these, although border-conflicts took +place between the tribes of Judah, Dan, and Asher, and Philistines and +Sidonians. Such an attempt could only have been made if the Israelites +had remained united, and even then the powers of the Israelites would +hardly have sufficed to overthrow the walls of Gaza, Ascalon, and +Ashdod, of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblus. Yet the invasion of the Israelites +was not without results for the cities of the coast: it forced a large +part of the population to assemble in them, and we shall see below how +rapid and powerful is the growth of the strength and importance of Tyre +in the time immediately following the incursion of the Israelites, +_i.e._ immediately after the middle of the thirteenth century. As the +population and in consequence the power of the cities on the coast +increased, owing to the collection of the ancient population on the +shore of the sea, those cities became all the more dangerous neighbours +for the Israelites. + +It was a misfortune for the new territory which the Israelites had won +by the sword that it was without the protection of natural boundaries on +the north and east, that the cities of the Philistines and Phenicians +barred it towards the sea, and in the interior remnants of the +Canaanites still maintained their place. Yet it was a far more serious +danger for the immigrants that they were without unity, connection, or +guidance, for they had already given up these before the conflict was +ended. Undoubtedly a vigorous leadership in the war of conquest against +the Canaanites might have established a military monarchy which would +have provided better for the maintenance of the borders and the security +of the land than was done in its absence. But the isolated defence made +by the Canaanites permitted the attacking party also to isolate +themselves. The new masters of the land lived, like the Canaanites +before and among them, in separate cantons; the mountain land which they +possessed was much broken up, and without any natural centre, and though +there were dangerous neighbours, there was no single concentrated +aggressive power in the neighbourhood, now that Egypt remained in her +borders. The cities of the Philistines formed a federation merely, +though a federation far more strongly organised than the tribes of the +Israelites. Under these circumstances political unity was not an +immediately pressing question among the Israelites; but owing to the +dispersion in which they lived, and the open borders of their new +kingdom, the question seriously arose whether they could enjoy in peace +the land they had won. Whatever the weight with which the want of +internal concentration and external repulsion might be felt, whatever +the difficulties arising from the remnant of Canaanites left in the +land, and however unsatisfactory the maintenance of the borders of the +land, these political drawbacks were only so many advantages for the +development of the religious and moral life of the Israelites. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[667] That the chronological statements in the book of Judges afford no +fixed point for deciding the date of the invasion of Canaan by the +Hebrews is proved by Nöldeke ("Chronologie der Richterzeit"). The +genealogical tables give only six or seven generations down to Eli and +Samuel, and these cannot fill a longer space than of 150 to 175 years. +As Ramses III. whose reign according to Lepsius falls in the years +1269-1244 B.C. fought against the Pulista, Cheta, and Amari, _i.e._ the +Philistines, Hittites, and Amorites, within the first nine years of his +reign (p. 164) without meeting the Hebrews among them, we may assume +that their settlement in Canaan did not take place till after the year +1260 B.C., about the middle of the thirteenth century, B.C. + +[668] Cf. Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 95. + +[669] Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. + +[670] In the form of a vow, Numb. xxi. 1-3, from the second text; in the +form of a command, Exod. xxiii. 32, 33; xxxiv. 12, from the revision. + +[671] If the Hivites are counted in 2 Samuel xxi. 22 among the Amorites, +the reason is to be sought in the comprehensive meaning here given to +the name Amorites. + +[672] 2 Sam. xxi. 1-10; 1 Kings ix. 20; cf. Joshua xvii. 12. + +[673] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 304, 305; Nöldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 98. + +[674] Joshua xi. 1, 10, 13; xii. 19; xix. 36; Judges iv. 2, 17; 1 Sam. +xii. 9 + +[675] 1 Sam. xxi. 1-6; xxii. 11-18. + +[676] Joshua xii.; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 98. + +[677] Judges i. 27-30. + +[678] Judges i. 16; iii. 13. + +[679] Joshua xix. 49, 50; xxiv. 33, both from the first text; Joshua +xvii. 14-18. + +[680] Joshua xvii. 14-18. + +[681] Judges i. 7. + +[682] Judges i. 12-15, 20; Jesus, 46, 11. + +[683] Judges i. 19. + +[684] Joshua xix. 47; Judges xviii. + +[685] Judges i. 22, 29. + +[686] Judges i. 27. + +[687] Judges i. 30-35. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR. + + +The peninsula of Asia Minor is a table-land of about 750 miles in length +by 400 in breadth, lying between the Black Sea, the Ægean, and the +Mediterranean. This table-land reaches its highest level in the south; +here run along the Mediterranean, from east to west, parallel ranges of +mountains, the chain of Taurus, and under the snow-clad heights lie +green Alpine pastures, while the slopes are filled with the most +beautiful wood. Under these mountains on the sea we find here and there +narrow and hot but fruitful plains, which are separated into several +sharply-divided districts by the spurs of the Taurus, which run athwart +them into the sea. Northward of the peaks of Taurus the soil gradually +sinks to the Black Sea, so that while the southern coast possesses only +short streams, with the exception of the Sarus and Pyramus, the larger +arteries of the land empty into the Black Sea--the Iris, the Halys, the +Billæus, the Sangarius, and the Rhyndakus. These rivers take their +course, partly through rocky districts, partly through extremely +fruitful valleys. The centre of the land, from the middle course of the +Halys to the Sangarius in the west, is taken up with a wide treeless +desert, the great Salt-steppe, the edges of which are formed by a mass +of volcanic craters, by deep ravines and large lakes. Further to the +west the waters streaming from the table-land find their way to the +Ægean, down a series of mountain terraces, so that the valleys of the +Mæander and the Hermus are at the same time the highways which connect +the coast with the interior. These terraces sometimes advance to the +western shore, with steep limestone rocks and precipitous promontories +running out into the bright blue sea; at other times they approach the +coast with softer outlines; in one place broader, in others narrower +plains are left, which, owing to the great fertility of the soil, are +covered with orchards and vineyards. Further inland, on the rising +heights, is a splendid forest of oaks, firs, and planes, broken by +mountain pastures, over which rise the jagged rocks of Ida, Tmolus, +Messogis, and Latmus; in the far distance the snow-capped peaks of +Taurus fill the horizon. On the western coast the proximity of the ocean +softens the heat of summer and the cold of winter; and the combination +of sea and mountain, of ocean breezes and upland air, the connection +opened to the table-land on the east by the Hermus and Mæander and the +calm sea on the west, which forms a passage to a number of adjacent +islands--make these districts on the shore of the Ægean Sea the favoured +home of civilisation in Asia Minor. + +On the north-east, where the peninsula joins the broad mountain land of +the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian, around the sources of +the Euphrates and Tigris, on the course of the Araxes, which falls into +the Caspian Sea, and the high table-land of Lake Van, lay the home of +the Armenians. According to Strabo, their customs were like those of the +Medes, who were the neighbours of the Armenians, to the east of the +Lake of Urumiah, and at the mouth of the Araxes. And if, according to +the same evidence, the Armenians paid the greatest reverence to the +goddess Anaitis,[688] the goddess Anahita held a prominent position in +the worship of the nations of the table-land of Iran. Moreover, even in +modern Armenian, the affinity with the Iranian languages is predominant; +and there is therefore no doubt that the Armenians belong to the +Indo-Germanic stock, and are a nation of Aryan descent. + +On the southern slope of the group of mountains which they possessed +south-east of the Lake of Van, on the upper course of the Great Zab, lay +the district of Arphaxad, with which we have already become acquainted +from Semitic sources; south of the lake lay the Carduchi, whom the later +Greeks call the Gordyæans and Gordyenes; but among the Armenians they +were known as Kordu, among the Syrians as Kardu.[689] These are the +ancestors of the modern Kurds, a nation also of the Aryan stock, whose +language is even nearer to those of Iran than the Armenian. Westward of +the Carduchi, at the confluence of the two streams of the Euphrates, we +again meet with a Semitic race.[690] The north-western slope of the +Armenian mountains, as far as the Phasis and the Black Sea, was the home +of the Muskai of the Assyrian inscriptions, the Mesech of the Hebrews, +the Moschi of the Greeks. Beside them, further to the west, on the +coast, were the Tabal of the Assyrians, the Tubal of the Hebrews, the +Tibarenes of the Greeks; westward from these, as far as the mouth of the +Iris, were the Chalti of the Armenians, the Chalybians (Chaldæans) of +the Greeks. Of the origin and language of the Moschi and Tibarenes we +know nothing further; the genealogies of the Hebrews placed Mesech and +Tubal among the sons of Japhet. + +The territory of the Armenians round Lake Van lies 5,000 feet high. The +only extensive plain among the mountains which are the home of the +Armenians is the valley on the middle course of the Araxes, which is +separated from the district of the Van by the range of the Masis +(Ararat). The highest peak of this range, a mighty cone of dark rock, +veiled by wide glaciers, rises to a height of 16,000 feet. Only the +valley of the Araxes allowed agriculture on any extensive scale; it only +brought forth abundant produce. Other more protected and warmer +depressions, though small in extent, on the southern slopes, permitted +the culture of the vine. The inhabitants of the heights followed a +pastoral life, and the mountain pastures supported splendid horses and +mules. + +Moses of Chorni (Khorene), who wrote the history of Armenia in the years +460-480 of our era,[691] tells us as follows:--Japhet, the third son of +Noah, had a son Gomer; Gomer's son was Thiras; Thiras had a son Thorgom; +Thorgom's son Haik, together with his son Armenak and all his family, +emigrated from Babylon to the plain of Airarat, in order to escape the +tyranny of Belus, the king of Babel. This plain Haik then left to +Cadmus, his grandson, the son of Armenak, and himself, with Armenak, +passed on to the west, and founded Haikashen. But when the army of the +Babylonians marched out to attack Airarat, Haik came to the assistance +of his grandson, and defeated Belus on the shore of Lake Van. Then +Armenak marched eastwards from Haikashen into the plain at the foot of +the Aragazd, where at a later time Armajis, the son of Armenak, built +the city of Armavir. The son of Armajis was Amasiaj, and of Amasiaj, +Arast. The grandson of Arast was Aram, who undertook distant campaigns, +and subjugated Syria and Cappadocia to his rule. With him Ninus, king of +Assyria, out of respect to his power and bravery, made a league. Aram's +son and successor was Araj, whose beauty inflamed Shamiram (Semiramis), +the queen of Assyria. When Araj resisted her inclinations, Shamiram, at +the head of her army, invaded Armenia, but, before the battle, she bade +her soldiers spare Araj. The Armenians were defeated, and in spite of +the command of Shamiram, Araj was slain in the _mêlée_, and she +attempted in vain to resuscitate the corpse by magic arts. Then Shamiram +caused builders to come from Assyria to Armenia, and with the help of +these she erected a splendid city, Shamiramakert (city of Semiramis), on +the shore of the lake of Van, in order to dwell in the cool air of the +mountains during the heat of the summer months; and the throne of +Armenia she gave to Cardus, the son of Araj. But he rebelled against +her, fought without success, and, like his father, fell in battle. At +last the Medes rebelled against Shamiram, and after defeat she fled to +Armenia. On the shores of Lake Van she was overtaken by her pursuers, +and when she had thrown her necklace and her ornaments into the water, +she was slain. Then her son Zames (Ninyas) ascended the throne of +Assyria, and for twenty-six generations the descendants of Cardus were +vassals of the kings of Assyria.[692] After these twenty-six kings, +whose names are given by Moses, when Nineveh had fallen, Barbakis +(Arbaces) the Mede, crowned Baroir king of Armenia, and his descendants +ruled as independent princes. The ninth successor of Baroir was Tigran +(Tigranes). He conquered Azdahag (Astyages), the king of the Medes, and +pierced him through with his lance in the battle. Owing to Tigran's +bravery and victory, the prince of the Persians became the lord of the +Medes.[693] + +We can trace the elements out of which this account has arisen. The +names Japhet, Gomer, and Thiras are borrowed from the Hebrew scriptures, +from the genealogy of the Japhetic nations in Genesis; but the order of +succession is altered. To the same book belongs Thorgom, the son of +Thiras, and father of Haik; in the Hebrew his name is Torgarmah. +Torgarmah was the name of Armenia among the Syrians;[694] the Hebrews +appear to have used the word to denote the district of Van. The native +name of the Armenians was Haikh, and of the land, Haiastan. From these +names is derived Haik, the son of Thorgom, the progenitor of the race. +The emigration from Babylon is no doubt an invention arising out of some +early contact, out of the trade of Armenia with Babylonia, and intended +to give the Armenians a share in the splendour of that ancient centre of +the civilisation of Hither Asia, from which, as a fact, they derived +such important elements of culture as their system of writing. Eastward +of Lake Van Haik defeats the Babylonians, for here lay Haik's fortress; +in Armenian Haikabjerd, _i.e._ fortress of the Armenians, and +Hajots-dsor, _i.e._ valley of the Armenians. Northeast of this lake lies +the canton of Harkth, _i.e._ the fathers, the canton of the +fathers;[695] and in this, on the Eastern Euphrates, is Haikashen, +_i.e._ Haik's building, which Haik is said to have founded, and where +his grave was reported to be. As the name of Haik, _i.e._ the name of +the nation, clings especially to the neighbourhood of Lake Van, so are +the names of his supposed successors, his son Armenak, and grandsons +Cadmos and Amajis, attached to the district of Airarat, to Mount +Aragadz, and the city of Armavir. The land of Airarat, _i.e._ the +fruitful plain, on the middle course of the Araxes, was, as we have +heard, the first object of the immigrants, who must have come, not from +the south, as the story represents, but from the east, from Media, and +must have reached the valley of the Araxes from the shore of the Caspian +Sea. As Haikh is the name by which the Armenians called themselves, so +Armenak is obviously formed from the name Armina, which the Medes and +Persians gave to the Armenians. Cadmus, the son of Armenak, is inserted +in the story; and has been borrowed, as the form of the name shows, from +Grecian sources, perhaps to represent the Semitic population in the +South of Armenia. That in this learned construction of the Armenian myth +the eastern, and not the southern, district of Armenia is given to +Cadmus, is due, no doubt, to the fact that the Semitic word _kedem_ +could hardly have any other meaning than that of "the East." Armenak's +grandson and great-grandson, Amasiaj and Arast, represent respectively +the mountain chain of Masis and the river Araxes; in old Armenian the +name of the latter was Eras'ch.[696] + +The division of the two centres of the Armenian land and Armenian +life--the land in the East and the land in the West, the land of Ararat +on the Araxes, and the district of Van--is strongly marked in this +tradition, and not less so in the Assyrian inscriptions and the +scriptures of the Hebrews. The first text of the Pentateuch represents +Noah's ship as landing on Mount Ararat, and this text or the second +mentions Togarmah beside Gomer. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the horses +and mules which came from Togarmah, the land of mountain pastures, to +Tyre.[697] The Assyrian inscriptions mention the land of Van (_mat +vannai_) beside the land of Urarti, _i.e._ Ararat; each is ruled by its +own prince. + +King Aram represents the land of Aram, the Aramæans, whose neighbours +the Armenians were, and with whom they came into frequent contact. The +oldest historical recollections of the Armenians might perhaps go back +to the times when the kings of Assyria made an inroad into their +mountains and reduced their princes to tribute and obedience. But when +Moses of Chorni tells us of the meetings of Aram, Araj, and Cardus with +Ninus, Semiramis, and Ninyas, of the twenty-six kings who governed under +Assyrian dominion, and of the liberation of the land by Arbaces, these +supposed names of the Assyrian riders are enough to prove that the +narratives were framed upon the accounts of the Greeks, especially the +Greek chronographers. + +On the other hand, the story of the city of Semiramis on Lake Van is +grounded upon the Assyrian images and ruins, which are still found in +various parts of Armenia, especially at Van, Bitlis, Karkar, Egil, and +Achlat, as also upon monuments of the Persian kings, and Xerxes in +particular; but no doubt it is due in the greatest extent to the +monuments of the native princes, of whom inscriptions are in existence +belonging to the end of the seventh and the sixth century B.C. Later +historians knew nothing of these princes, and were unable to read the +inscriptions. The long list of Armenian kings in Moses of Chorni does +not contain a single name of the Armenian princes mentioned in the +inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, or in the native inscriptions of +these princes. + +The narrative of king Tigran appears to be of an earlier date than the +rest of the material from which Moses of Chorni compiled his history of +Armenia in the older period. Tigran is said to have ruled over Armenia +at the time of Cyrus, with whom he entered into a league; he overcame +Astyages (Azdahag) of Media in battle, and slew him in single combat. +The first wife of Astyages and a number of his children, together with +other captives, Tigran then conducted to Armenia, and there he settled +them in the neighbourhood of Koghten. In the songs of the people of +Koghten the descendants of Astyages are "allegorically" spoken of as the +descendants of the dragon, "for Azdahag," Moses adds, "signifies a +dragon in our language."[698] Hence it is clear that the Armenians +claimed the glory of having conquered the Medes and overthrown their +supremacy. And if they called the descendants of Astyages the +descendants of the dragon, they obviously contracted the old cloud-demon +of the Avesta, Azhi-dahaka, into Azdahag, and confounded him with +Astyages. Xenophon in his romance of Cyrus calls Tigranes the son of the +king of Armenia, and represents him as paying the most considerable +services to Cyrus. It may have been the case that Xenophon in his march +through Armenia, when he crossed the snowclad heights of this mountain +region, and entered the mud huts of the mountaineers, and was +hospitably entertained by them with barley-wine, _i.e._ with beer, heard +the name and deeds of Tigranes.[699] + +The kings of Assyria at an early period turned their arms to the North. +On the Zibene-su, the eastern source of the Western Tigris, the likeness +of Tiglath Pilesar I. (1130-1110 B.C.) has been found engraved on the +rocks at Karkar. The inscription tells us that he had overcome the land +of Nairi, _i.e._ in all probability the land of the rivers (Euphrates +and Tigris), and that he had defeated the Muskai (p. 512), who had not +paid their tribute for fifty years, and had invaded Kumukh (Commagene). +More than 200 years later, Tiglath Adar II. (889 to 883 B.C.) caused his +image to be hewn in the rocks here beside that of the first Tiglath +Pilesar. Tiglath Adar's successor, Assurnasirpal (883-859 B.C.), made +repeated campaigns against the Nairi, destroyed 250 of their towns, slew +many of their princes, and set up his image beside those of Tiglath Adar +and Tiglath Pilesar. In his tenth campaign he took Amida (Diabekr) on +the Tigris. Below this city, at Kurkh, there is a second image of this +king. His successor also, Shalmanesar II. (859-823 B.C.), fought against +the Nairi, set up his image at the source of the Tigris, and in the year +843 defeated the king of Urarti. In the year 831 his troops again +defeated a king of Urarti, of another name than the first; in the year +828 B.C. they laid waste the land of king Udaki of Van, and in the +following campaign fifty places in Urarti were burnt. Bin Nirar III., +king of Asshur (810-781 B.C.), marched twice against the district of +Lake Van, and seven times against the Nairi; he boasts that he has taken +possession of the land of the Nairi throughout its whole extent.[700] +Shalmanesar III. (781-771 B.C.) led his army six times against Urarti. +Then Tiglath Pilesar II. (745-727 B.C.), in the year 742, defeated king +Sarda, or Sarduri, of Urarti, with his confederates; in the year 728 +B.C. removed Vassarmi from Tubal, and placed Chulli on the throne in his +stead. In the time of Sargon of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), Aza, the prince +of the land of Van, who, like his predecessor Iranzu, was a tributary to +Assyria, was murdered. His brother Ullusun, whom Sargon put in his +place, combined with Urza, prince of Ararat, and the prince of Mount +Mildis against Assyria. Sargon was victorious; Ullusun submitted (716 +B.C.); but Urza maintained himself in Ararat, and although Sargon boasts +to have burnt fifty of his townships, he combined with Urzana of +Musasir, _i.e._ probably of Arsissa on Lake Van, with Mita, prince of +the Moschi, with Ambris, prince of Tubal, the son of Chulli, whom Sargon +had allowed to succeed his father on the throne of the Tibarenes, and to +whom at the same time he had entrusted the sovereignty over Cilicia, and +had given his daughter in marriage.[701] The confederates were defeated; +Ambris was carried prisoner to Assyria, a part of his nation were +transplanted to Assyria, and Assyrians settled at Tubal in his place. +Mita submitted. Arsissa was captured; 20,000 prisoners, their treasures, +the gods Haldia (?) and Bagamazda (?), with the holy vessels, were +carried away. When Urza perceived this, he took away his own life (714 +B.C.).[702] In the seventh century Esarhaddon of Assyria had to fight +against the Cilicians, the Tibarenes, and the Mannai; the last name +seems to denote the Armenian district of Minyas, on the upper course of +the Eastern Euphrates, of which the chief city was Manavazakert; +Manavaz, the son of Haik, is said to have built this city.[703] Against +the Mannai, or the Minni of Ezekiel, Esarhaddon's successor, +Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C.), also directed his weapons. In the course of +this war Asheri, the prince of the Minni, was slain by his own +dependents, and his son Ualli submitted; the previous tribute of the +Minni was raised by thirty horses; and Mugalla, king of Tubal, and +Sandasarmi of Cilicia voluntarily submitted to Assurbanipal.[704] + +The mountains of Armenia, as these narratives prove, were divided into +several principalities. The Assyrians first attacked the land to the +south of the high mountain-range, _i.e._, in the first instance the land +of Ararat, the most powerful of these Armenian principalities. On either +side of the mountain, in the basin of Lake Van, and in the valley of the +Araxes, the Armenians made a vigorous resistance, so that the obedience +of the Armenian chieftains never seemed to be secured for any length of +time. In spite of this resistance, the civilisation of the Assyrians +exercised great influence on the Armenians. This is not merely shown in +the adoption of the system of cuneiform writing on the part of the +Armenians; Sargon caused the capture of Arsissa to be represented in his +palace at Khorsabad. If these reliefs are true representations, the +style of architecture and the plan of the Armenian temples were not +essentially different from the Assyrian. The altars also, the ornaments, +and the weapons appear to be similar.[705] On the other hand it would +admit of no doubt that the Armenians, in spite of this influence, +retained the worship of their Iranian gods without any foreign +admixture, if the name of that Armenian deity Bagamazda, _i.e._ the +great god, were read correctly. That deity would at the same time afford +a new proof that the deities of Iran were worshipped in Armenia also. +Strabo, as already (p. 512) remarked, gives an account of the worship of +Anaitis, the water-giving goddess, the Anahita of the Iranians, among +the Armenians; and the name of this goddess is found, in the form +"Anaid," in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Armenian princes. +Unfortunately these inscriptions, which mainly belong to the land of +Van, have not as yet been sufficiently deciphered. The names of the +kings, from which they come, are read as Bagridur, Isbuinis, Minuas, +Argistis II. and Bagridur II.[706] These kings reigned successively; +each calls himself the son of his predecessor. An older Argistis of +Ararat is mentioned after the time of Urza in an inscription of Sargon, +king of Assyria, belonging apparently to the year 708 B.C. The +inscriptions of the kings of Armenia from the first to the second +Bagridur are filled with the wars which they carried on, the numbers of +the slain, of the captives, the cattle in the spoil, the towns and +temples destroyed. As Asshur is mentioned in the inscriptions of +Argistis II., and in those of his successor Bagridur II. a war against +Babylon is narrated,[707] these two kings must have been contemporaries +of the last ruler of Assyria, Assuridilili (626-606 B.C.), and +Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon (604-568 B.C.), and their three +predecessors contemporaries of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and +Assurbanipal. + +The central plain of the table-land of Asia Minor, from the valley of +the Halys and the great salt lake to the Cadmus and the Mysian Olympus, +north-westwards as far as the coasts of the Propontis, was inhabited by +the Phrygians. According to Herodotus the Thracians asserted that the +Phrygians had once dwelt in their land under the name of Briges. Hence +they had passed through Thrace to Asia, though a part, who still +preserved the name of Briges, had remained behind in Thrace. Of those +who arrived in Asia, some passed still further to the east; and the +Armenians were colonists of the Phrygians.[708] In Strabo also the +Phrygians are immigrants, and come from Thrace.[709] In any case the +Bithynians, who were settled on the lower course of the Sangarius from +the mouth of this stream westward as far as the Bosporus, were of +Thracian descent; they are said to have emigrated from the Strymon to +Asia.[710] On the other hand, the Phrygians themselves maintained that +they were not an offshoot from the Thracian Briges, but the Briges in +Thracia had emigrated from them.[711] If the affinity of the Armenians, +the Phrygians, and Thracians is established, the Phrygians must be +considered in the right. These migrations could not have proceeded from +the Strymon, they must rather have taken place from the east to the +west, from Armenia to Thrace, and the Thracians rather than the +Armenians were the last link in this emigration. As the modern science +of language finds Indo-Germanic roots in the slight remains of the +Phrygian language which have come down to us,[712] we must assume that +the progenitors of the Phrygians and Thracians passed from the Armenian +mountains in the east towards the west. The ancestors of the Phrygians +remained on the table-land of Asia Minor, those of the Thracians went +further to the north-west, towards Bithynia, over the Bosporus, which +the Greeks named after the Thracians; and beyond the strait they +inhabited the land under the Balkan from the Black Sea to the shores of +the Adriatic. The character of the language of the Thracians and +Illyrians, remains of which are preserved in Rumanisch and Albanian, +places it in the Indo-Germanic family. + +The Phrygians are said to have been a very ancient nation.[713] +According to the accounts of the Greeks, the legends of the Phrygians +began the history of their country with Gordius and Midas. Gordius, it +was said, was a poor farmer, who possessed only two yoke of oxen. At +that time the Phrygians were divided by factions, and in order to +restore peace, the deity commanded that they should elect as king the +man whom they first met on a waggon on the way to the shrine of Zeus. +Then they met Gordius on his waggon and greeted him as king. Gordius +built the city of Gordium at the confluence of the Scopas and Sangarius, +and dedicated in the temple of Zeus on the citadel of Gordium the +chariot which carried him to the throne. After Gordius's death the +throne descended to his son Midas, to whose lips, when a boy, ants had +carried grains of corn. Midas is said to have founded the city of +Gordiutichus in the south of the land, on the borders of Phrygia, and +Ancyra in the north: at Pessinus on the slope of Mount Agdus he built a +temple to the goddess of Phrygia and established the sacrifices.[714] He +was the richest king who ever lived. Everything that he touched turned +to gold. Once he bathed in the Pactolus, and ever since the sands washed +down by the river became sands of gold. When Pan blew his shepherd's +pipe, and Apollo touched his lyre, Midas preferred the music of Pan. In +revenge, Apollo caused asses' ears to grow upon Midas, and he covered +them with a tall cap. But the barber of Midas knew the secret, and told +it into a pit; and some rushes grew in the pit, and whispered "Midas has +asses' ears."[715] + +The gold of Midas and his power of changing everything into that metal +comes from the Greeks, whose legends desired to celebrate and explain +the ancient wealth of the kings of Phrygia. From the same source are the +asses' ears and the whispering rushes. The use of the pan's pipe, though +not of the shepherd's pipe, was learnt by the Greeks through their +colonists in Asia Minor from the Phrygians. The reed (or flute) was +called "eleg" among the Armenians: its notes first accompanied the +Elegies of Callinus of Ephesus, and Archilochus of Paros, to which it +gave the name. Among the Greeks many judges, and those by no means of +the least reputation, gave the most decided preference to the music of +the cithara, the lyre of Apollo, over the flute. In the same feeling +which prompted this judgment, the want of taste in finding the tones of +the flute more beautiful than those of the cithara is visited by a +punishment which at the same time is intended to explain the origin of +the tall Phrygian cap. The reeds belong to a brook in the vicinity of +Celænæ in Phrygia, which the Greeks called "the flute-spring" +(Aulokrenê) because the reeds growing on the shores were used as +wind-instruments. There is another story in which the Greeks have +expressed the contrast between the quiet and composed tones of the +cithara, and the wild music of the Phrygian flutes--the Phrygian +harmonies to which they ascribed the power of rousing the feelings into +a passionate excitement of pain or delight.[716] The music of the flute +was introduced into choric poetry in the first half of the sixth century +by Polymnestus of Colophon, and Sakadas of Argos. Among the Phrygians, +Marsyas, a faithful and chaste companion of their national goddess, was +the genius of flute-music.[717] A brook which flowed into the Mæander +through the city Apamæa Cibotus, in the neighbourhood of Celænæ, was +named after Marsyas. The Greeks had a story that their god Apollo had +overcome with his cithara the flute-player of the Phrygians, and had +flayed him in punishment for his presumption in entering on the contest. +At Celænæ a bottle of Marsyas was exhibited, on which the story of the +flaying of Marsyas may have been founded.[718] + +After removing the fictions and additions of the Greeks, the +characteristic trait of the Phrygian story still remains, that their +monarchs arose out of the agricultural class, that grains of corn were +carried into the lips of the son of the first ruler, and that the king +of Phrygia loved the pan's pipe of the shepherds. Elsewhere also the +respect of the Phrygians for the agricultural life is brought into +prominence. Nicolaus of Damascus tells us of a law of the Phrygians by +which the slaughter of the ploughing ox, or the theft of agricultural +implements, was punished with death.[719] In the fourth century B.C. the +waggon of Gordius was still standing on the citadel of Gordium. The yoke +was bound so fast to the pole with the bark of dog-wood--the knot is +reported to been tied by Gordius himself--that it was said in Phrygia +that the man who should untie this knot would rule over all Asia. The +name Gordius should apparently be traced back to the Armenian "gords," +i.e. labour, or "day labour."[720] That side by side with these traits +the national tradition ascribed the erection of the ancient cities and +temples, the building of Gordium, Gordiuteichus, and Ancyra to the +earliest princes, is only natural. The names of the cities Manegordum +(near Ancyra) and Midaëum also point to these. + +The Phrygians obeyed a dynasty which saw its ancestors in the kings +Gordius and Midas, and called themselves alternately by these names. The +first king of whom we have any more definite information was Midas, the +son of Gordius, who ascended the throne of Phrygia in the year 738 B.C. +according to the date of Eusebius. His wife was Damodice, the daughter +of Agamemnon, the king of the Greek city of Cyme, who is said to have +been a woman distinguished by beauty and wisdom.[721] The seat on which +he used to dispense justice, a work well worth seeing, as Herodotus +says, he consecrated at Delphi. When Phrygia was attacked by the first +great invasion of the Cimmerians, he took away his own life by drinking +bull's blood (693 B.C.).[722] Of a third Midas, who reigned apparently +about a century later, we learn that his tomb was adorned with the image +of a maiden in brass, and that a Greek poet composed as an inscription +for this monument the following verses:-- + + "I am a maiden of brass, + I lie on the tomb of Midas; + While waters flow, and tall trees grow, + On Midas' tearful tomb I lie. + I say to every passer by, + 'Here Midas sleeps in earth below.'"[723] + +With the descendants of this Midas, Gordius and his son Adrastus, this +dynasty came to an end in the sixth century B.C.[724] + +Between Prymnessus and Midaëum (Jazili Kaja and Sidi Ghazi), in the +valley of Doganlu, lie the tombs of these kings, sepulchral chambers, +which are hewn in the perpendicular walls of red sandstone. On the face +of the rock there is no trace of any entrance; and the corpses must have +been lowered down behind the exterior front. The walls of rock are +changed into sculptures, in imitation of the outlines and rudiments of a +light wooden building. In low relief a framework of beams is sketched, +and over this a low-pitched gable rises. Such are the simplest of these +façades, which apparently we must also consider the oldest. Others +display a frieze of palm leaves in the upper field of the framework. +Others again put the figures of animals in the gable, _e.g._ two horses, +between which is an obelisk, and exhibit traces of Hellenic influence, +while another presents a perfect imitation of the Doric arrangement of +pillars. Among these sepulchres may once have been the tomb with the +maiden of brass. The inscriptions found on some, or in the +neighbourhood, are Phrygian, but written in Greek characters. The most +important tomb is that of a more ancient Midas at Kümbet. The façade of +this monument, which is in framework of the Phrygian style, covers about +sixty square feet of the hundred feet of the rock. The space in the +field of the framework is entirely filled up with rectangular ornaments +and a kind of scroll, while the tympanum of the gable is covered with a +key pattern.[725] + +Other remarkable remains of buildings are found in Phrygia. Strabo tells +us of a tribe on the borders of Cilicia who lived in the arches and +hollows of the rocks above the fruitful valley which they cultivated; +till conquered by the Romans the tribe was considered invincible, and +Vitruvius remarks that the Phrygians excavated the natural hills, cut +passages in them, and extended the spaces into dwellings as far as the +nature of the place allowed.[726] On the Rhyndakus, in the district of +the ancient Prymnessus, at Beibazar, on Lake Egerdir, to the east near +Iconium, numerous habitations are found excavated in the rocks, so that +it really seems that the Phrygians dwelt in the walls of their +mountains.[727] Lofty walls of rock, thousands of isolated cones, and +some mighty mountain summits are excavated into dwellings, into rock +cities--a task which was rendered easier by the softness of the stone +(peperino and tufa). Steep and at times wonderfully jagged rocks, +overhanging picturesque valleys, are chiselled out for one or two +hundred feet in height in such a manner that several galleries of +habitations lie one upon the other. These are lighted by openings in the +front, and connected with each other by shafts and staircases: of seats, +hearths, or couches there is no trace whatever--only niches and recesses +are found. Yet in some of the rock cities an advance may be observed. In +these the entrances to some extent exhibit indications of pillars, +architraves, portals, and the like, so that the habitations of this kind +seem to have been built at a later period. The ruins of the cities of +the Phrygians, the remains of Gordium, Midaëum, Pessinus, Prymnessus, +and Ancyra allow us to see the so-called Cyclopian style.[728] + +Our knowledge of the religious rites of the Phrygians is extremely +scanty. They are said to have invoked the god Men, or Manes under +various titles,[729] and the names of the cities Manegordum and Manesium +seem to go back to this deity. Whether this is the god whom the Greeks +called the Phrygian Zeus is not clear. The goddess, whom the Greeks +called Rhea or Cybele, Dindymene, Agdistis, after the mountains sacred +to her, is said to have been called Amma by the Phrygians.[730] The +chief home of her rites was that sanctuary on Mount Agdus near Pessinus, +which the first Midas is said to have dedicated to her (p. 525). Here +she was worshipped in a shapeless stone of no great size, not larger +than a man could lift. At the side of her statue in the temple lions and +panthers are said to have stood.[731] Her priests were eunuchs, who +waited on the goddess in gaily coloured vestments. The chief priest at +Pessinus, or Archigallus, is afterwards found holding a princely +position. At the festivals of the goddess, which were celebrated every +year, it was the custom for young men to make themselves eunuchs with a +sharp shell, crying out at the same time, "Take this, Agdistis." Then +they went round the country asking alms in the name of the goddess, and +they were known to the Greeks as "Metragyrtes," _i.e._ "beggars of the +mother;"[732] for the goddess, whose priests were eunuchs, and whose +service demanded the sacrifice of sex, was called by the Greeks the +"Great Mother," the "Mountain Mother," the "Nourishing Earth," the +"Giver of all." She must, therefore, have been regarded as the maternal +power of the earth, the power of nature, which gives life. It is +especially stated that she gave increase to the flocks,[733] and since +she was named after different mountains we may assume that high places +and mountains were the chosen seats of her worship. In Greek and Roman +art the Phrygian goddess is represented as sitting on a chariot drawn by +lions and panthers, with a cymbal in her hand, and wearing on her head +the mural crown as the goddess of the earth which supports cities. + +By the side of the Great Mother stands the god Atys, whom Herodotus +calls a son of Manes.[734] He grew up with the shepherds among the goats +of the forest. The goddess loved him, but he fled away into the +mountains, and there, under a fir-tree, into which his spirit passed, he +made himself an eunuch. In search of him Amma roams over the hills in +frantic grief, and carries into her cave the tree into which his spirit +passed. The emasculation and death of Atys, as also his resurrection, +were celebrated by the Phrygians.[735] At these festivals a fir-tree was +felled, crowned with violets, twined with garlands, and carried into the +sanctuary of the goddess. Afterwards Atys was sought in the mountains +with wild music and frenzy, as Amma had sought him. The third day of the +festival was "the day of blood," i.e. of the mutilation and death of +Atys, who was bewailed with despairing grief, amid rending of the hair +and beating of the breast. Then followed a happier scene, the festival +of "the resurrection," and the washing of the stone of the goddess.[736] +We learn further that Atys was also called Papas among the Phrygians. He +is also entitled the goat-herd and neat-herd; the plastic art of Greece +and Rome represents him as a youthful shepherd with the Pan's-pipe, and +by his side is a pine and a ram. According to later accounts he was the +"shepherd of the bright stars."[737] Hence we must assume that in Atys +the Phrygians personified the youthful bloom of nature, the bloom of the +spring, and they mourned the disappearance of this, just as, according +to the Greeks, they sang a piercing wail--the Lityerses--at the time of +corn-cutting. They lamented the death of the spring, and the fall of the +fruit; the youthful god had resigned his own power; the creative vigour +continued only to exist in the tree of Atys, the ever-green fir. In the +spring time it awoke again; this was the day of the resurrection with +its joy and pleasure. This orgiastic worship, and roaming with wild +cries over the heights and in the ravines of the mountains, sometimes in +wailing and lamentation, sometimes in joy, is peculiar to the religion +of the Phrygians. + +The central point of the Phrygian kingdom lay westwards of the great +salt plain in the region between Gordium and Ancyra, between Midaëum and +Pessinus in the valley of the Sangarius, on whose banks the Homeric +poems place the Phrygians, who are the possessors of "well-walled +cities."[738] If the majority of the Phrygians remained farmers and +shepherds, they nevertheless arrived at an early date at a monarchy, and +under this they reached a civilisation by no means contemptible, a +national culture, with an architecture and music of their own. On the +religion of the Phrygians the rites of their Semitic neighbours on the +north and south no doubt exercised a strong influence. The combination +of the creative power and the power hostile to procreation into one +deity, and the custom of mutilation, are conceptions and rites unknown +to the Aryan nations. But they are closely connected with the forms and +worship of Astarte-Ashera, just as Atys resembles the Adonis of the +Syrians. On the other hand, as was remarked above, the Phrygians adopted +the Greek alphabet on their monuments, and Greek verses were composed +for the tomb of Midas (p. 528). In return the Greeks adopted the +Phrygian flute, and along with it the form of the elegy and the Phrygian +harmonies. Nor were these all. The wild roaming, the unchecked sorrow +and joy, the tambourines and drums of the Phrygian festivals passed +without doubt in the first instance to the Greek colonies in the +Propontis, and more especially to Cyzicus, and from thence to the mother +country at the celebration of certain festivals of Demeter and Dionysus. +"Take," says Euripides in the _Bacchæ_, "take the drums, the invention +of the Phrygians and the mother Rhea. Long ago the Corybantes (the +attendants of the Great Mother) devised the mighty circle of the +stretched hide and placed in Rhea's hand, with the loud, sweet-sounding +tone of Phrygian flutes, the thunder for the festal song."[739] + +Towards the east, the south coast of Asia Minor was inhabited by the +Cilicians and the Solymi. To the former belonged the slopes of Taurus +and the coast to the right bank of the Kalykadnus. Towards the west came +the Solymi, in a wild and broken mountain country. They took their name +from the Solyma mountains (_sallum_ = steps), which they inhabited, and +according to Choerilus of Samos, they spoke the language of the +Phenicians.[740] "The pass," so Xenophon tells us, "which leads to +Cilicia (from the interior of Asia Minor) is very steep, and only broad +enough for a single waggon. On descending from it you come into a +well-watered plain by the sea, which is inclosed from one end to the +other by lofty and precipitous mountains. But the plain itself is large +and beautiful, and filled with trees of every kind, and with vines. It +produces much sesame, wheat, millet, and barley."[741] In addition to +these advantages the slopes of Taurus offered splendid pastures for +horses, and on the coast were excellent harbours. The inhabitants of +this favoured land, known in Assyrian inscriptions as Chillakai, and on +the coins of the district from the Persian times as Chelech,[742] +belonged, like their neighbours on the Orontes and on the Upper +Euphrates, to the Semitic stock. This is proved by the names of their +districts and places of their gods, and by the inscriptions on their +coins. The Semitic stamp of names of places like Amanus (_amana_, firm), +Adana (_eden_, delight), Mallus (_maa'la_, height), Tarsus (_tars_, dry) +is beyond a doubt.[743] Herodotus tells us that the Cilicians wore +woollen clothes, and peculiar helmets of ox-leather, and carried swords +and spears like the Egyptians, and he maintained that they were +descended from Cilix, the son of Agenor, a Phenician. Their princes were +always styled Syennesis.[744] This standing name was, without doubt, the +title given by the princes of Cilicia to themselves: it must have been +_schu'a nasi_, _i.e._ "noble prince."[745] Hellanicus tells us that of +the two kings of the name of Sardanapalus, who ruled over Assyria, one +had built the two cities of Tarsus and Anchiale in Cilicia in one +day.[746] On the other hand Berosus informs us that Sennacherib (705-681 +B.C.) had heard in Assyria that an army of Greeks had landed in +Cilicia; against this he marched and defeated it, but with heavy loss. +As a memorial of this victory he caused his image to be set up there, +and afterwards the city of Tarsus was built in such a way that the +Cydnus flowed through the middle of it. The temple at Anchiale (west of +Tarsus, on the sea) was also founded by Sennacherib.[747] When Alexander +of Macedonia reached Cilicia his attendants found that the circuit and +towers of the walls of Anchiale proved that the city was planned on a +large scale. Near the walls they saw the statue of an Assyrian king. His +right hand was raised, and the inscription in Assyrian letters is said +to have called him Sardanapalus, the son of Anakyndaraxes.[748] + +No king of the name of Anakyndaraxes or Sardanapalus ever ruled over +Assyria, unless perhaps by the latter is meant Assurbanipal +(Assurbanhabal), the son of Esarhaddon. On the other hand, the +inscriptions of Shalmanesar II. of Asshur (859-828 B.C.) mention the +fact that he had overcome "Pikhirim the chief of the land of Chilakku +(Cilicia)," and Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), tells us that +the Cilicians had not been subject to his father, and that he had +transferred the dominion over Cilicia to Ambris, king of Tubal. Hence +Cilicia must have become subject to Sargon in the earliest years of his +reign. In consequence of the revolt, which Ambris undertook with Urza of +Ararat, and Mita, the king of Moschi, as we saw above (p. 520), Ambris +was taken captive and dethroned in the year 714 B.C. Sennacherib, the +successor of Sargon (705-681 B.C.), informs us that in the very first +years of his reign he had caused rebellious Cilicians to be removed: the +inscriptions of the later years of his reign remark that the cities of +the Cilicians were destroyed and burnt, and the Cilicians in the forests +were reduced. After this the inscriptions of Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.) +assure us that he reduced the Cilicians; and Assurbanipal recounts that +Sandasarmi of Cilicia, who had not submitted to the kings his fathers, +and fulfilled their commands, sent his daughter with many presents to +Nineveh for the harem of Assurbanipal, and kissed his feet.[749] + +The fall of the Assyrian kingdom restored their freedom to the +Cilicians, and they appear to have maintained it till the times of +Cyrus. After that time the princes of Cilicia were merely the viceroys +of the kings of Persia. To these sovereigns Cilicia paid each year 500 +Babylonian talents of silver and 360 selected horses. The harbours, +which carried on a lively trade, were able, at the beginning of the +fifth century B.C., to equip and man a hundred ships of war +(triremes).[750] + +The coins which have come down to us from the supremacy of the Persians +allow us to form some conclusions about the religious rites of the +Cilician cities. They represent Baal, the sun-god of the Syrians, on the +throne, with grapes and ears of corn in his right hand, and sometimes an +eagle at his side. Others exhibit Heracles attacking a lion with his +club. The inscriptions name the god thus represented Bal Tars, _i.e._ +Baal of Tarsus. A coin of Mallus also exhibits Heracles strangling the +lion, i.e. the beneficent sun-god who overcomes the terrible sun-god in +the sign of the lion, the consuming glow of the sun. On other coins we +can trace the war-goddess, on others the birth-goddess of the Syrians, +or her cow; some coins of Celenderis exhibit the goat of this +goddess.[751] + +The land of the Cilicians must at one time have stretched northwards +over the Taurus range to the inner table-land as far as the sources of +the Sarus, to the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, +or even further. Sargon could not have transferred the sovereignty over +Cilicia to the king of Tubal if his territory was not contiguous to +Cilicia. And if we assume that the land of Tubal reached at that time as +far as the Taurus, we are met by the objection that even Herodotus +represents the Halys as passing through the land of the Cilicians on its +way from Armenia.[752] Hence the land afterwards called Cataonia, +between Taurus and Antitaurus and the northern spur of the latter range, +must, even in the time of Herodotus, have belonged to Cilicia. + +On the north-western slope of the Armenian mountains toward the Black +Sea we have already found the Moschi and Tibarenes, whom the Hebrews +counted among the sons of Japhet. The western neighbours of the +Tibarenes on the coasts of the Black Sea were the Chalybians. It is the +land of the Chalybians of which the Homeric poems speak, when they +mention the city of Alybe--"where is the birth of silver."[753] But it +is not only the obtaining of silver that is ascribed by the Greeks to +the Chalybians; they are also the discoverers of the working of iron; +and steel, which the Greeks obtained from this coast, was named after +the Chalybians. Æschylus calls the Chalybians "barbarous workers in +brass, men averse to foreigners."[754] In the scriptures of the Hebrews +Tubal-cain, a name of which the first part seems to denote the +Tibarenes, is the father of the smiths in brass and iron. Hence it is +clear that the mines of ore and iron in the land of the Tibarenes and +Chalybians must have been opened at a very early period. As a fact the +ore lies at a very slight depth in the mountains. Even now large masses +of copper are discovered along the coast to the west of Trebizond; +beside copper, the mines of Gümüsh Khane, two days' journey in the +interior from Trebizond, even now yield lead containing silver, which is +also found in the mines of Baibut and Tokat, further to the south.[755] +Hence these districts could furnish not only iron and steel, but silver +also; elsewhere silver was only to be got in the mines on Mount Ida till +the Phenicians imported this metal in large quantities from Tartessus. + +Westward of the Chalybians on the Thermodon, the Iris, and the lower +course of the Halys, dwelt a population which, setting aside any later +admixture, were of Semitic origin. Herodotus calls the inhabitants of +the land which reaches from Armenia on the east to the Halys on the +west, from the coast of the Black Sea southwards as far as Cilicia, +Syrians, and remarks that this was the name of the people in use among +the Greeks.[756] Pindar speaks of "a spear-armed Syrian host" on the +mouth of the Thermodon.[757] The Greek colony of Sinope west of the +mouth of the Halys is said to have been founded in the land of the +Syrians of noble stock.[758] A promontory running into the sea to the +north of Sinope is called Syrias.[759] The Greeks derived the people in +this district from Syrus, a son of Apollo.[760] Scylax of Caryanda names +the coast of the Black Sea, from the Chalybians to Armene, westward of +the promontory of Syrias, Assyria.[761] Strabo states that these +Syrians, who extended from the Taurus northwards as far as the Pontus, +were named Leuco-Syrians, _i.e._ white Syrians, to distinguish them from +the true Syrians, and that the Cataonians (p. 538) spoke the same +language with them.[762] The coins struck at Sinope (Sanab), Side and +Kotyora (Gazir), in the fourth century B.C., have Aramaic legends, and +we can trace on them the name and form of the god Baal.[763] The +Persians called these people Cappadocians (Katapatuka), and extend the +name to Cilicia also. If the Phrygians when marching westwards from +Armenia not only traversed but took possession of the land, the +Phrygians who remained in the country must have retired to the west +before the Semitic tribe, which forced its way from Cilicia and the +Upper Euphrates, or have been absorbed by them. + +In the eighth century B.C. the Syrians between the Lower Halys and +Armenia received a peculiar admixture. "On the shore of the Pontus, +where the Scythians now dwell"--such is the account of Herodotus--"it is +said that the territory of the Cimmerians lay, and in Scythia the +Cimmerian Bosporus and Cimmerian walls and harbours remain, and a region +which is called Cimmeria. When the Scythians who once dwelt in the east +were driven out by the Massagetes or the Issedones, they came into the +land of the Cimmerians. The latter took counsel on the river Tyras, and +one part were inclined with the kings to fight against the Scythians, +but the others wished to abandon the land. Thus a strife arose between +the two parties, and those who wished to retire from the land defeated +the king and all who were of the same opinion with him, and buried the +slain on the Tyras, where their grave is still to be seen. Then the +remainder fled before the Scythians along the sea to Asia, and settled +on the peninsula, where Sinope, the city of the Greeks, is now built. +But the Scythians took their land in possession, and, led by their king +Madyas, they pursued the retreating Cimmerians, but missed them, as they +took the upper road, which is far longer, and keeps the Caucasus on the +right."[764] + +We shall return to the Scythians again; for the present we may leave +them out of the question. In Homer the Cimmerians, "miserable men, who +are veiled in cloud, darkness, and night, and are never illuminated by +the sun," dwell "at the end of earth and Oceanus, where is the opening +of the entrance into the under-world."[765] As guardians of the +under-world Aristophanes calls them after the dog of Hades, +Cerberians.[766] Following the guidance of the Homeric poems, the +Cimmerians were sought in the west, where the sun sinks, and the +entrance to the under-world was supposed to be; they were placed in the +neighbourhood of the Italic Kyme.[767] When the Milesians, about the +middle of the eighth century, discovered the north shore of the Black +Sea, they found in the extreme north, at the end of the earth, a nation +whom the Greeks called Cimmerians. Thus the entrance into Lake Mæotis +obtained among the Greeks the name of the Bosporus of the Cimmerians, in +contrast to the Bosporus of the Thracians. At a later time the +Cimmerians were identified with the Germanic Cimbri and the Celtic +Kymri. + +Hence the decision would seem to be correct that the Cimmerians ought to +be struck out of history as a mythical nation and a mythical name, which +was perhaps intended to correspond to the misty, wintry nature of some +remote lands, did not the poet Callinus of Ephesus, whose date falls +about the year 700 B.C., speak of "the approaching army of the +Cimmerians, who achieved mighty deeds:" did not Herodotus himself tell +us that the expelled Cimmerians "settled on the peninsula at the place +where the Greek city of Sinope now stands"; and also narrate that the +Cimmerians, while king Ardys ruled over the Lydians (654-617 B.C.), +invaded Lydia, and captured Sardis, the metropolis, except the citadel; +and that Alyattes king of Lydia (612-563 B.C.) first expelled the +Cimmerians entirely out of Asia Minor:[768] did not Aristotle tell us +that the Cimmerians had been settled for a hundred years in Antandros, +on the Trojan coast, and Scymnus of Chius, that the Milesian Abron, who +founded Sinope, was said to have been slain by the Cimmerians, that Coes +and Cretines founded the city anew, "after the Cimmerians, when their +array traversed Asia"?[769] + +The Cimmerians then were not a legendary fiction: the Cimmerian Bosporus +really owed its name to a people who called themselves, or were known to +the Greeks, by this name, as also the hamlet of Cimmerikum on the +Crimea, and Cimmerium on the peninsula of Kertch. Strabo, the best +authority on the Eastern districts of Asia Minor, of which he was a +native, says: "The wanderings of the Scythian Madys (it is the Madyas of +Herodotus) and of Kobos the Trerian are unknown to most people. The +Cimmerians, who are called Treres,[770] or a tribe of them, dwelt on the +gloomy Bosporus. They came from a far distant region, and are said to +have been driven out by the Scythians. They have often attacked the +right side, _i.e._ the eastern side of the Pontus, and fought against +the Cappadocians, Paphlagonians, and Phrygians;[771] they crossed the +Halys, and forced their way as far as the Ionian cities.[772] Their +first invasion is placed by the chronologers in the time of Midas, who +put an end to his life by drinking bull's blood, _i.e._ as we saw above +(p. 528) in the period from 738 to 693 B.C., or according to others, in +the time of Homer, or shortly before him.[772] But Lygdamis, with a +horde of his own, forced his way to Lydia and Ionia, and conquered +Sardis, though he remained in Cilicia.[773] Callisthenes says that +Sardis was first taken by the Cimmerians, then by the Treres, and +finally by Cyrus. The first capture is also proved by Callinus. At +length the Treres, under Kobos, are said to have been driven out by the +Scythians under Madys."[774] + +From this account it is clear that the Cimmerians, or a part of them, +were called Treres, a name also given to a Thracian tribe between the +Skomius and Hebrus, on the Bistonian Lake;[775] that they made at least +two invasions into the west of Asia Minor; that the second of these, +which in Strabo is undertaken under the command of Lygdamis, is the same +as the invasion of the Cimmerians which Herodotus places in the time of +king Ardys of Lydia. In both writers this invasion extends to Sardis and +to some of the Greek cities on the coast, and Plutarch expressly +establishes the identity of the invasion of the Treres under Lygdamis +with that of the Cimmerians in Herodotus, on ancient authorities.[776] +Justin calls the Cimmerians a part of the Scythians, who, owing to their +internal contentions, migrated under the leadership of Ilinus and +Scolopitus, and established themselves on the coast of Cappadocia.[777] + +The incursion of the Scythians into Media, with which Herodotus has +combined the migration of the Cimmerians, took place, as we shall show +from Herodotus' own statement, about the year 630 B.C. But if Alyattes +of Lydia was the first to expel the Cimmerians from the west of Asia +Minor after they had been settled for a century in Antandros, these +Cimmerians must have been in Asia at least as early as 663 B.C., since +Alyattes reigned till 563 B.C. Further, if Herodotus only mentions the +destruction of Sardis, which took place about 630 B.C., and is wholly +silent on the first destruction by the Cimmerians, this first capture +must have taken place before the time from which he commences his +accurate account of Lydian history, _i.e._ before the accession of Gyges +in the year 689 B.C., or, according to the data of Herodotus, even +before 719 B.C. This capture of Sardis is the only one which could have +been known to Callinus. Further, the Cimmerians are said to have invaded +Phrygia at the time of that Midas who put himself to death in the year +693 B.C. Hence they must have been in Asia Minor before this year, and +if they overpowered Phrygia, they could easily at the same time have +forced their way as far as the western coast. Moreover, Strabo remarks +that the Milesians built Sinope, when they had become acquainted with +the favourable position of the place and the weakness of the people, but +the people were not weak after the Cimmerians had occupied the mouth of +the Halys. The first foundation of Sinope under Abron must therefore be +placed before the arrival of the Cimmerians in Asia Minor. The ancient +Sinope founded the city of Trapezus in the year 756 B.C.,[778] and +therefore that city must have been founded at least ten years earlier, +and its destruction by the Cimmerians must be placed after the year 756 +B.C. Hence the Cimmerians might have reached the mouth of the Halys +about 750 B.C., though they cannot have come along the coast from +Colchis, but over the sea. With this agrees the statement that the +Cimmerians forced their way into Asia Minor in the year 782.[779] + +From this investigation it follows that the Cimmerians once possessed +the north shore of the Black Sea on the straits from Kaffa, westward +perhaps as far as the mouth of the Danube. Since the Treres, a Thracian +nation, are always mentioned in connexion with the Cimmerians, and it is +ascertained that Thracian tribes possessed the western coast of Pontus +from the Thracian Bosporus northwards as far as the mouth of the Danube, +and as the Agathyrsi in Transylvania are also called Thracians, there +can hardly be any doubt remaining that the Cimmerians were of Thracian +origin, or at least nearly related to the Thracians. According to the +account of Herodotus the Cimmerians held a consultation on the Tyras +(Dniester), their kings were said to have been killed there, and in +confirmation of the story he appeals to the tumuli which were still to +be seen on the Dniester. The only certain conclusion to be drawn from +this statement is that mounds on the Dniester were shown to Herodotus as +coming down from an older population of those districts. The Cimmerians, +who arrived in Asia Minor (the Tauri, on the peninsula which was named +after them, appear to be a remnant of this nation, who maintained their +old settlements, and the modern name Crimea goes back to the +Cimmerians), must have been a numerous and martial people, if they were +able not only to establish themselves firmly in the East on the Halys, +but also to force their way to the western coast, there to settle down +in several places and maintain themselves in these, and to capture twice +the fortified metropolis of the Lydians, the most warlike nation in Asia +Minor. + +According to the genealogy in Genesis, Gomer is the eldest son of +Japhet. This name is without doubt the Semitic term for the population +on the north shore of the Pontus, who were known to the Greeks as +Cimmerians. In the sixth century B.C. the prophet Ezekiel mentions Gomer +beside Togarmah.[780] Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (681-668 B.C.), tells +us that Tiuspa from the distant land of the Cimmerians (Gimirai) +submitted to him with his army. Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C.) relates: +"The Cimmerians were not afraid of my fathers or of me, and would not +take the yoke of my sovereignty. Gugu (Gyges), king of Ludi (Lydia), a +land beyond the sea, a distant region, of which my fathers had not heard +the name, sent a messenger into my presence, in order to implore my +friendship and kiss my feet. From the day on which he accepted my yoke, +he took Cimmerians, desolators of his land, alive in the battle with his +own hand. From the number of the captured leaders he bound two with +strong fetters of iron, and sent them with numerous presents to Nineveh, +the city of my dominion. He constantly sent messengers to ask for my +friendship. He omitted to do so when he disregarded the will of Asshur, +the god, my creator, trusted to his own power, and hardened his heart. +He sent his forces to aid Pisamilki (Psammetichus), king of Egypt, who +had thrown off the yoke of my sovereignty. I heard this, and prayed to +Asshur and Istar thus: May his body be cast out to his enemies, and his +servants be carried away captive. Asshur answered me: His body shall be +cast out to his enemies, and his servants carried away captive. The +Cimmerians, whom he had brought under his feet by the renown of my name, +conquered and laid waste his whole land. His son (Ardys) sat upon his +throne. He sent to me and received the yoke of my supremacy, saying +thus: I am thy subject and servant, and my people will do all thy +will."[781] + +Thus the account of the Greeks is completely established. To be +subjugated by Esarhaddon the Cimmerians must have been in Asia Minor in +the first decades of the seventh century B.C., they must also have got +the upper hand here to such a degree that Gyges, king of Lydia, found it +impossible to defend himself against them without the help of the +Assyrians. The first capture of Sardis must have taken place before the +accession of Gyges, on that campaign which the Cimmerians made in the +year 693 B.C. to Phrygia. On the other hand it may be that the +Cimmerians had got possession of the city of Antandrus in the reign of +Gyges. When Gyges had repulsed the Cimmerians he thought that he had no +longer any need of Assyria. For this, according to Assurbanipal, he was +punished by a second invasion of the Cimmerians, who desolated his land; +he lost his life in the battle, of which the Greeks know nothing, and +his son and successor Ardys was again forced to submit to Assyria. That +Ardys had to fight severe battles with the Cimmerians is proved by the +second capture of Sardis, which took place in his reign about the year +630 B.C. While the Cimmerians were thus engaged in the West, the city of +Miletus, or some exiled Milesians, seized the opportunity to re-found +Sinope. Alyattes succeeded in forcing back the Cimmerians and attacking +them with such vigour that they were no longer able to undertake any +invasions to the West. Even Sinope had no more to fear from them, +although their settlements lay in the neighbourhood of this city. At a +subsequent period in the third century B.C. the invading Celts threw the +whole of Asia Minor into a panic, and plundered it, until they were +confined to Galatia; and the invasion of the Cimmerians appears to have +taken a similar course. The Celts, however, maintained themselves within +a limited district; the Cimmerians disappeared so entirely among the +Cappadocians, that Syncellus calls Gomer the progenitor of the +Cappadocians, and the Armenians denote the Cappadocians by the name +Gamir.[782] + +In Cappadocia also, rock tombs, sculptures, and fragments of buildings +have been discovered, the authors of which and the date of their +erection we cannot ascertain even approximately. Near Amasia, on the +middle course of the Iris, we find graves hewn in the rocks, of which +those lying nearest the city may have belonged to the first kings of +Pontus. Near Aladja also the façade of a large rock-tomb may be seen. +Near Uejük, on an elevated terrace, are the ruins of a palace, the lower +part of which is formed by great blocks worked and joined in the +Cyclopian style, and the blocks are in part covered with sculptures. In +the middle of the south front is a spacious doorway guarded by two pairs +of lions; one pair is detached, the other is worked out of the stone +posts of the doorway, like the protecting figures in the palaces of +Nineveh.[783] Near Boghaskoi, which is perhaps the site of the ancient +city of Pteria, at the foot of a lofty limestone plateau, overhung by +cones of rock, in the fork of a mountain stream which flows northward to +the Halys, are the remains of a building about 200 feet in length and +140 feet in breadth. A broad staircase leads from the river to a +terrace, on which rises the palace surrounded by a wall. As at Uejük, +the lower part of the structure consists of Cyclopian blocks of fifteen +to twenty feet in length, and some six feet in depth. About thirty +chambers, greater or smaller, surround the court of this structure. The +ground plan is like that of the palaces of Nineveh; in the sculptures a +resemblance has been traced to the reliefs of the buildings of the +Achæmenids. Pteria was afterwards the abode of a Persian commander. On +the rocky plateau over the palace we see the remains of two citadels, +surrounded by lines of fortification, of which the Cyclopian foundations +may still be traced.[784] Two miles and a half to the north-west of the +ruins of the citadels, in the rocks surrounding the plateau, remarkable +sculptures have been discovered. In a deep recess of the rocks the rough +walls, which have been but slightly hewn and smoothed, are covered with +reliefs. There are two rows of figures which meet each other. They +advance from the outer curve of the niche along the side-walls, on the +right and left, towards the back wall. While the figures in these rows +are only from two to three feet high, the shapes on the back wall, which +form the centre of the picture, are of the size of life, and indeed the +main figure is even larger. All the figures are in profile. The main +figure, which moves from left to right, as does the long row of figures +following it on the left side of the niche, is a bearded warrior, who +steps over, or even upon, two bending figures with high and pointed +caps, falling over in front, and in garments which fall in folds from +the girdle. In his right hand he carries a sceptre, the left hand, which +is not very distinct, holds a flower out of which peers a circle, or an +oval ring. His doublet hardly reaches to the knee; the head is covered +with a tall conical cap, and on the feet are pointed shoes. He is +followed by two male figures suitably clothed, who stand on mountain +summits; then between two winged genii are two figures with round caps, +who carry bowls, and behind them a form in a long garment, with a bent +staff in his hand, and a winged circle on his head. Then follow warriors +armed with sabres, or clubs, in the same short doublet and the same +pointed shoes as the three leaders, and between them are two demons, the +only figures presenting a full face, with round, broad faces, who carry +two segments of a circle, one upon the other. They were followed by +warriors and two priests with pointed caps falling over in front. The +end of the row on the left entrance is formed by a series of twelve +warriors, who march on without armour, close together, and with even +step. On the right side of the niche is another row, coming to meet the +row described. Opposite the leader of the warriors, in the middle of the +north wall, is a large female figure, who advances from the right to the +left on a lion or leopard, whose feet rest on four mountain summits. She +wears a long robe falling in folds to her ankles; her hair streams down, +and upon it is a cylindrical head-dress; the right hand carries a staff, +while the left, which holds something similar to the ring already +mentioned, is held out towards the outstretched left hand of the leader +of the warriors. Behind her, on a smaller scale, but also riding on a +lion with the feet resting on mountain summits, is a youthful warrior, +without a beard, in the clothing of the main figure; the head is covered +with a lofty pointed cap, the shoes are also pointed; in the girdle is +the two-edged bill, in the left hand a long battle-axe, and in the right +a staff. He is followed by two female figures above a double eagle, in +the dress of the main female figure; behind them come thirteen more +female figures of a similar kind, with staves or harps in their hands. +The whole picture contains more than sixty figures. In a niche receding +to the back we find, beside a demon of remarkable shape, a young +beardless man with an exceedingly tall conical cap; in his outstretched +right hand he appears to carry the picture of a temple; and with his +left he embraces the neck of a very youthful female form, whose +head-dress and robe fall down in numerous folds. Beside them march +twelve warriors with lower caps than those in the main recess, and +scythe swords in their right hands; the left arm is raised as high as +the shoulder, since they are treading on the left heel, and the top of +the right foot.[785] + +If this great rock picture is not intended to represent some act of +religious worship, it might depict the conclusion of a treaty between +two nations. In this case it might belong to the period in which Media, +under Cyaxares, extended her borders to the Halys, and came into fierce +conflict with the Lydians. This war was brought to an end by a treaty of +peace, accompanied by the betrothal of the daughter of Alyattes of +Lydia to the son of Cyaxares. The picture might be explained in +reference to this treaty and betrothal, did not the style and manner +appear closely allied to the figure near Smyrna (p. 151), and a relief +not far from Ancyra.[786] + +As to the religious rites of the Cappadocians, we know that they +worshipped the god Men, who is called a moon-god, and a female deity, +Mene, or Ma. On the Lycus, an affluent of the Iris, at Cabeira, stood +the sanctuary of Men in the middle of large precincts; the sanctuary of +Mene was at Comana, on the Iris, and was the oldest, richest, and most +important sanctuary in the land. Ma, or Mene, was a war-goddess whom +Greeks and Romans called Enyo and Bellona; to Strabo she is known as +Artemis, and this name is evidence of her relation to the moon, no less +than of her position as a war-goddess. That relation is confirmed by +further evidence. Comana, says Strabo, is thickly populated; but the +inhabitants are effeminate; the greater part are fanatics or religious +maniacs, and there is also a number of women who serve the goddess with +their bodies, of whom the greater part are dedicated to the temple. +Here, twice in the year, the "Exodus of the Goddess" was celebrated. To +this festival pilgrims, male and female, came from every side, and in +frenzy and ecstasy performed certain sacred customs, which consisted +partly in wounding themselves with swords, and partly in sensual +excesses. In the south of Cappadocia, on the upper Sarus, there was a +second city of Comana, which also possessed a sanctuary of Ma. Here, as +at Comana on the Iris, six thousand servants are said to have attended +upon Ma.[787] We know the tendencies of the Syrian worship, to bring +man, by means of certain services, nearer to the deity to whom the +services are performed, and make him resemble the peculiar nature of the +deity whom he worships. The maidens who served the maiden goddess in her +temples on the Pontus carried weapons like the goddess, and honoured her +by dancing in armour. + +Out of these armed maidens in the temples of Ma there grew up among the +Greeks a peculiar and widely-developed legend--the legend of the warlike +tribe of the Amazons. When the Greek colonists landed on the western +coast of Asia Minor, they found, in the land of the Lydians, where they +built Smyrna, Cyme, and Ephesus, seats of the worship of a goddess whom +they compared to their Artemis, and whose attendants were eunuchs and +armed maidens (p. 556). They next perceived that similar seats of +worship were to be found in the East also, on the coasts of the Pontus. +Thus the Homeric poems already placed the "Amazons equal to men" on the +east of the Phrygians, and represented king Priam as meeting them with +his men on the banks of the Sangarius.[788] As natives of Asia Minor the +Amazons must have fought with the Trojans against the Greeks. Arctinus +represented the Amazons as coming to Troy after the death of Hector, and +distressing the Greeks till Achilles slew their queen, the beautiful +"Penthesilea, the daughter of the dread, manslaying Ares." The cyclic +poets knew the abode of the Amazons more accurately than Homer; they +place them at Themiscyra, on the Thermodon;[789] and at this place +Pindar represents them as drawing up their army. Æschylus also places +the Amazons on the Thermodon;[790] according to Pherecydes the war-god +begot the Amazons with Harmonia on the Thermodon.[791] We have seen that +the Greeks gave the name Harmonia to Astarte, the moon-goddess of the +Phenicians. When the Greeks at the time of Arctinus had founded Sinope +and Trapezus in those regions, they believed that they were in the land +of the Amazons; and Sinope was thought to have been previously inhabited +by the Amazons.[792] The places at which the Greeks here founded a new +home were thought to have been named and sanctified long before their +arrival, not only by the voyage of the Argonauts, for Heracles, Theseus, +and Peirithous were said to have set foot there, in order to perform +their mighty deeds against the Amazons. At the command of Eurystheus +Heracles had been compelled to bring the girdle from Hippolyte, the +queen of the Amazons, for Admete. Theseus and Peirithous had carried off +Antiope. Among the Phenicians, as we have seen, Baal-Melkarth looses the +girdle of the moon-goddess; the Greeks transferred the legend of +Melicertes to their Heracles. Even as early as the thirteenth or twelfth +century B.C. the ships of the Phenicians had probably brought the +worship of the warlike moon-goddess to the coast of Attica. At any rate, +at a later time, tombs of the Amazons, _i.e._ abandoned seats of the +worship of the Artemis of Syria and Asia Minor, were shown there. After +the Attic territory was united under the rule of a military monarchy, of +which, among the Ionians, Theseus was the embodiment, the Phenicians +were driven back from the coasts of the Greeks: Theseus was said to +have conquered the Minotaur and the Amazons. In order to establish the +existence of Amazons in Attica, Theseus was said to have carried off +Antiope. To avenge this wrong, the Amazons marched from their distant +home on the Thermodon to Attica; and the Athenians considered it one of +their greatest services towards their common fatherland that they had +conquered the Amazons, "an enemy who threatened all Hellas."[793] + +Out of these elements the Greeks framed a circumstantial history of the +Amazons. Even among the historians, their home is the land of the +Thermodon. Here the Amazons dwelt, according to Herodotus, Diodorus, and +Strabo, and here, as Diodorus tells us, they offered splendid sacrifices +to Ares and Artemis Tauropolus. Their first queen is said to have been +the daughter of Ares, and she built the great city of Themiscyra; the +second queen extended the dominion of the Amazons as far as Syria; and +finally queen Myrina reduced the whole of Syria, and received the +voluntary submission of the Cilicians.[794] It is obvious that the +Amazons founded all the cities where the worship of the maiden +war-goddess flourished or had ever existed. Roused by the crime of +Theseus, they marched to the west, founded the sanctuary of Ephesus, +where "they set up the image of the goddess under the trunk of an elm, +and, armed with shields, danced the war-dance, so that their quivers +sounded."[795] Then they marched to the north, and founded Smyrna, +Myrina, and Cyme.[796] Analogous rites proved that they were also in +Lesbos and Samothrace. Through Thrace and Thessaly, and finally across +Euboea, they are said to have marched to Attica; tombs of the Amazons +were shown at Scotussa and Cynoscephalæ, in Thessaly, and at Chalcis, in +Euboea.[797] After returning home, the Amazons next marched to the aid +of the Trojans, and were conquered by Achilles. When the Greeks had +founded Cyrene on the coast of Attica, and found, among the Libyan +tribes of the surrounding district, the worship of a female +war-goddess--when they found the Libyan women wearing corslets of +goatskins, they came to the conclusion that the Amazons once dwelt on +the Tritonian lake in Libya.[798] + +A nation of heroines was certainly never found by the Greeks on the +Thermodon. On the other hand, they received accounts of the warlike +queens of the Saces and Massagetæ, of Zarinæa, Sparethra, and Tomyris, +who fought against the Medes and Persians; and on the coasts of the +Black Sea, in the colonies of the Milesians, they heard of the riding, +the archery, and hunting of the women of the Sauromatæ. Hence the Greeks +resolved to make the Amazons the ancestors of the Sarmatians. They were +represented as taking ship from the Thermodon across the Black Sea to +the coast of the Mæotis, because here, in the Crimea, on the "promontory +of the maiden," a cruel maiden goddess, who was also called Artemis +Tauropolus by the Greeks, was worshipped. Herodotus, and after him +Ephorus, tells us that the Amazons fled over the Pontus from the +Thermodon, and landed on the shore of the Mæotis. Here they took the +young men among the Scythians, who, according to Herodotus, were settled +between the mouths of the Danube and the Don, as their husbands, and +with them marched eastwards over the Tanais (Don), beyond which river +and north of the Caucasus lay, according to Herodotus, the dwellings of +the Sauromatæ, whom later writers call the Sarmatians. Hence the +Sarmatian women still preserved the customs of the Amazons; they carried +bows and javelins, and wore the same clothing as the men, sat on +horseback, and rode with or without their husbands to the chase or to +battle, and no maiden married till she had slain an enemy; "so that some +never married at all, because they were unable to satisfy this rule." +The language of the Sauromatæ was the same as the language of the +Scythians, but they spoke it badly, because the Amazons had never +perfectly learned it. These statements, and especially the assertion +that the Sarmatian women fought as long as they were maidens, were +repeated by Greek writers--in other respects very trustworthy--in the +fifth and fourth century B.C. Others also maintained that the women were +rulers among the Sarmatians.[799] Poetry and plastic art had stamped +the legend of the Amazons so firmly on the Greeks that they could not +break loose from it. Several of the historians of Alexander of Macedon +tell us that the queen Thalestris, with 300 Amazons, sought out +Alexander from a great distance, and made a proposal of marriage to him, +on his return from Hyrcania,[800] a story which has perhaps arisen out +of the fact that the satrap Atropates of Media sent 100 mounted women to +Alexander.[801] When at a later time Pompey fought in the Caucasus, and +women were found among the wounded, it was thought that the real Amazons +were at last found;[802] and the story was now told that the Amazons +dwelt northward of the Gelen (in Ghilan), on the southern foot of the +Caucasus. In order to solve the difficulty of their propagation of the +race, the story was invented that for two months in the spring they met +the Gargareans--a neighbouring tribe--on the mountains by night, and +associated with them, as accident might determine. The boys were then +sent to the Gargareans, who brought them up in common; the daughters +were retained by the Amazons.[803] In order to explain the name Amazon, +which in Greek can mean "without a breast," the story was invented that +they burnt off the right breast of the maidens, so that they might use +the right arm better, and draw the bow--a story which Hippocrates had +already told about the daughters of the Sarmatians.[804] On the +monuments of plastic art the Amazons have both breasts; the older +period represents them with a broad girdle, an ample robe, and a +Phrygian cap, a crescent shield (the symbol of the moon-goddess), a bow, +and a battle-axe. In later sculptures the Amazons, when they had been +connected with the Scythians and the Sarmatians, were generally +represented on horseback, in a Doric tunic, with naked arms and thighs, +a helmet on the head, and a spear in the hand. + +On the western slopes of the table-land of Asia Minor, in the river +valleys of the Hermus and Mæander, the Lydians were settled. Their land +reached from the sources of the Hermus in Mount Dindymon to the Ægean +sea, from Messogis and Cadmus in the south to the Temnus range in the +north. The valley of the Hermus was exuberantly fertile, and still more +luxuriant was the vegetation in the district round the Gygæan lake. The +mountain pastures supported herds of powerful horses and numerous flocks +of sheep. The Pactolus brought sands of gold down from Tmolus; in the +rocks of this range and its western continuation, Sipylus, rich veins of +gold are said to have been found.[805] + +But little has been preserved of the legendary accounts of the Lydians +about their rulers in the earliest times. About the middle of the fifth +century B.C. the Lydian Xanthus, the son of Candaules, wrote the history +of his people in four books, in the Greek language. Of this some +fragments have come down to us, which can here and there be supplemented +by the statements of Herodotus. From both we learn that the Lydians +traced back the origin of their royal house to the gods. Atys, the son +of the god Manes, was the first sovereign of the Lydians; after him +came his son Lydus, who gave the name to the people. From the brother of +Lydus, whom Xanthus calls Torrhebus, and Herodotus Tyrsenus, the tribe +of the Torrhebians or Tyrsenians was derived. The territory of the +Torrhebi lay on the upper Cayster. From Asius, the son of Cotys, the son +of Atys, sprang the tribe of the Asionæans, who inhabited the Asian +meadow.[806] From Atys, their progenitor, the first king, his +successors, the first house of Lydian kings, were called Atyads. Among +the successors of Lydus the most pious and just was Alkimus. During his +reign there was peace and quiet in Lydia; every man lived securely and +without fear, and all things prospered. After him reigned king Akiamus, +who sent Ascalus with an army to Syria. There Ascalus founded the city +of Ascalon. After this, as Herodotus narrates, a lion was born to king +Meles from his concubine, and this lion, in obedience to an oracle, he +caused to be carried round the walls of Sardis, his metropolis, in order +that they might be impregnable.[807] According to Xanthus, Meles, who +was a tyrannous and cruel king, was overthrown by Moxus, a very just and +brave man, after he had vowed to the gods that, in gratitude for their +deliverance, the Lydians should henceforth offer to them a tenth of all +their animals. Then Moxus marched to Syria, and there took Atargatis +captive, with her son Ichthys (fish). As a punishment for her rebellion +she was thrown into the lake of Ascalon, and eaten by the fish. Then +king Cambletes reigned, who sacrificed his wife, and ate her, and then +slew himself with his sword before all the people. After him Jardanus, +who had been an enemy of Cambletes, ruled over Lydia.[808] Jardanus was +followed by his daughter Omphale.[809] To avenge the insult which had +been paid to her before she ascended the throne of Lydia, she compelled +the maidens of the land to give themselves up to the slaves at an +appointed place, and slew the strangers whom she entertained, when she +had lain with them.[810] After Omphale, Tylon reigned, who died from the +bite of a snake, but was again restored to life by a marvellous +herb.[811] But with the slave-girl of Jardanus, according to Herodotus, +or, according to others, with Omphale, Heracles begot Alcæus; the son of +Alcæus was Belus; the son of Belus was Ninus, and the son of Ninus was +Agron. With the accession of Agron the dominion of the Atyads came to an +end, and that of the Heracleids commenced, who then continued to rule +over Lydia for 505 years.[812] + +Manes and Atys are already known to us as deities of the Phrygians; they +must therefore have been worshipped by the Lydians also. Lydus, the +second king of the land, is taken from the name of the nation. The +prosperous, peaceful reign of the good king Alkimus is no doubt founded +on some conception of an early happy age. The story of the lion of Meles +obviously goes back to the relations in which the lion was placed, in +the religious rites of the Syrians, to the sun-god, who was also +worshipped with zeal by the Lydians. We learn from a Lydian that the +name Sardis was given to the city in honour of the sun-god.[813] The +coins of Sardis which have been preserved regularly present the image of +a lion and a bull.[814] The vow of Moxus is intended to explain the +blood-tithe, which we have already found in use among the tribes of +Syria. Still more definite are the references to Syrian rites in the +supposed marches of Moxus and Ascalus to Syria, and the prominent +position of Atargatis[815] and the temple of Ascalon, and the children +of Atargatis, the fish. We know Atargatis, the Astarte of the Assyrians, +as transformed into Hera, and the temple at Ascalon, the city of the +Philistines, as the oldest and most famous sanctuary of the Syrian +goddess of fertility. The name of the king Jardanus does not differ from +"jarden" (river), and if Omphale is said to have forced the maidens of +the land to prostitute themselves at a fixed place, we have already +found this prostitution in the worship of the Syrian goddess of birth +and the Babylonian Mylitta. The new dynasty which ascends the throne of +Lydia after the Atyads with Agron is again derived from a god, according +to the accounts of the Greeks, from Heracles and Omphale. The Greeks +narrated that Omphale carried the lion's skin and club of Heracles, and +that she clothed the hero in a transparent female robe of scarlet, and +caused him to card wool and spin as her slave.[816] Lydian coins exhibit +a female form with the lion's skin and the bow.[817] It was shown above +that the Greeks connected Melkarth (Melicertes) with their Heracles, and +that according to the mythus of the Syrians, the sun-god finds and +overpowers the moon-goddess; that after the holy marriage, the god on +his part succumbs to the goddess, and changes his nature with her; he +assumes the female nature, she the male; she carries the weapons, while +he performs woman's work. We saw that the Syrians symbolised the +pre-eminent nature, the unity of the deity, in this amalgamation of the +sexes--this female manhood and male womanhood. Johannes Lydus tells us +that the Lydians worshipped the sun-god under the name Sandon, and adds, +that because Sandon had lived as a woman, the men at the mysteries of +the god clothed themselves in women's clothes, and put on transparent +crimson garments, coloured with vermilion.[818] Thus the Greeks put +their hero in the place of the Lydian sun-god, who overwhelms the lion, +and changes his nature with the goddess; and if they farther tell us +that Omphale gave her love to strangers, but also slew all who lay with +her, this also is a trait which had already met us in the Syrian +Astarte, in the nature of Ashera-Astarte, which at one time grants the +enjoyment of love, and at another brings destruction. + +The result of these considerations proves that the traits of the Lydian +legends, which have been preserved, present us with very little beyond +mere mythical elements. The connection of the Lydian worship with the +worship of the Syrians comes plainly to the surface, and this connection +is confirmed by all that we know from other sources of the rites of the +Lydians. The name of their sun-god Sandon[819] recurs on Assyrian +monuments, where it appears as Sandan.[820] In the Semitic languages the +word means "helper," and is used as an attribute of the god Adar, with +whom we are already acquainted as the god of the planet Saturn.[821] It +is obvious that the title "helper" could be given not to Adar only, but +to any other god, from whom special favour and assistance might be +expected. The Lydians gave the title to the good sun-god, who vanquishes +the glowing heat--the terrible sun-god--who looses the girdle of the +moon-goddess, and changes his nature with her. When the Greek colonists +landed on the coast of Lydia, they at first recognised their own Apollo, +i.e. their god of light, in the Lydian god. They allowed the sanctuary +of the Lydian god at Miletus to remain in the hands of a family of +native priests, the Branchidæ. As god of the country and protector of +the coast, the Homeric poems give to Apollo the foremost place among the +deities who defend Troy. The Lydians also on their side recognised the +connection between their sun-god and the Apollo of the Greeks; Gyges and +Croesus send rich presents to Delphi. But when the Greeks of the coast +became more accurately acquainted with the nature and the myths of the +Lydian sun-god, that side which chiefly corresponded to their Heracles, +and the image of Heracles developed under the influence of the +Phenician Melkarth, came into prominence. The nature of the female +goddess also, whom the Lydians chiefly worshipped, is beyond doubt. +Herodotus tells us that all the daughters of the Lydians sold +themselves, and in this way collected their dowries; others narrate that +they received slaves or foreigners in the groves and porticoes of the +temples.[822] As we have seen, tradition connects this prostitution with +the rule of Omphale, and Johannes Lydus assures us that the goddess +Blatta worshipped in Lydia was the same as the Mylitta of the +Babylonians. Hence the worship of Bilit, the Ashera of the Syrians, +prevailed also among the Lydians, a fact which the campaigns (already +mentioned) of Ascalus and Moxus to the shrine of Derceto at Ascalon also +prove. That this goddess of the Lydians was not without her destructive +side--the power and nature of Astarte--we could already infer from the +bloody acts of Omphale (p. 562). At the mouths of the Cayster and the +Hermus the Greeks found the shrines of a goddess, whose priests were +eunuchs, and who was at the same time honoured with dances in armour by +maidens, as the moon and war-goddess of the Cappadocians.[823] This +goddess of the coasts of Lydia was called by the Greeks Artemis, and +this name distinguishes her as at once a maiden goddess and the goddess +of the moon and of war. And if at the same time the image of Artemis of +Ephesus was represented with large breasts, the obvious conclusion is +that in the goddess of Lydia, as in the goddesses of Babylonia and +Syria, the two opposites, of continence and sensual enjoyment, of +fertility and of destruction, were united. + +The forms of religious worship also would appear to have been in all +essentials the same among the Lydians and the Syrians. Mutilation (which +we know was practised very widely among the Lydians),[824] and the +prostitution of girls, were common to both countries. We found above +that the Arabs and Syrians believed their gods to be present in stones, +and prayed to them in that shape. Not far from Magnesia on Sipylus, a +stone, some twenty feet in height, juts out of a wall of marble, and +this in ancient times must have been regarded with veneration as the +idol of a native goddess. Even in the Homeric poems we find mention of +this stone, and the legend connected with it by the Greek colonists. "I +have seen the stone of Niobe on Sipylus," said Pausanias. "At a near +view it is a fragment of stone, which does not look like a woman or a +person weeping; but from a distance you might believe that you saw a +weeping and mourning woman."[825] + +The essential result of the examination of Lydian legend and Lydian +worship is the obvious and very close relationship between the Lydian +and Syrian deities and rites. Moreover, the mountain range which bounds +the valley of the Mæander to the south, bears the Semitic name of +Cadmus, _i.e._ "the Eastern;" and at the foot of the range lies the city +of Ninoë (Nineveh, _i.e._ "to dwell.")[826] Again, from one side the +languages of the Phrygians and Lydians are said to be distinctly +different; on the other hand, most of the Lydian words which have been +preserved to us by the Greeks--it is true they are not numerous--can be +traced back to Semitic roots;[827] and the national genealogy of the +Hebrews enumerates Lud among the sons of Shem, together with Elam, +Asshur, Arphaxad, and Aram. Yet, so far as the Lydian language allows us +to form an opinion, elements of a different character are not entirely +wanting. The gods Manes and Atys, from whom the first royal house was +derived, and after whom it was named, the goddess Cybele, whose temple +stood at Sardis,[828] do not belong to the circle of Semitic deities. +Manes, as well as Atys, we found in Phrygia. Hence, looking back at the +connection between the Armenians, Phrygians, and Thracians, already +brought into prominence we may suppose that the original population of +the river valley of the Hermus was Phrygian, and that Semitic invaders +from the east subjugated these Phrygians and absorbed them; but not +without adopting on their part some elements of the Phrygian language +and worship. + +That a monarchy was in existence among the Lydians before the first +Heracleid ascended the throne cannot be doubted. In the time of the +Heracleids we find mention made of the descendants of Tylon (p. 562), a +king who is said to have belonged to the family of the Atyads. The +foundation and fortification of Sardis also seem to belong to the period +before the Heracleids, the period of the Atyads. Herodotus tells us that +the second dynasty, the supposed descendants of Sandon-Heracles, gave +twenty-two sovereigns to the Lydians, who ruled over Lydia for 505 +years.[829] However astonishing the pedigree which Herodotus gives to +these Heracleids (the son of Heracles, Alcæus, begets Belus, Belus +begets Ninus, and Ninus Agron),[830] we may regard his statement of the +period for which this dynasty lasted, of which several later members are +established, as historical. And since, after the Heracleids, the family +of Gyges ruled for 140 years down to the time when Cyrus took Sardis, +and since the taking of Sardis fell in the year 549 B.C., the Heracleids +must have ascended the throne of Lydia 645 years previously, _i.e._ in +the year 1194 B.C.[831] What degree of civilisation had been reached by +the Lydians about the year 1000 B.C. we can only conclude from the fact +that the Greek settlers on their coasts found money already coined by +the Lydians, and therefore ascribe to them the invention of the art of +coining.[832] The art of dying wool also was, in the opinion of the +Greeks, an invention of the Lydians; and games at ball as well as at +dice were thought to have been learnt from the Lydians by the +Greeks.[833] That the Greeks made use of the Lydian flute, and +subsequently of the Lydian cithara (both the cithara with three strings +and that with twenty strings), and the Lydian harmonies to enrich their +own music, is an established fact.[834] The Homeric poems describe the +Lydians (Mæonians) as an "armed equestrian people," and mention their +trade and wealth.[835] + +North of the Lydians, in the river valleys of the Caïcus Macestus and +Rhyndacus, were settled the Mysians. According to Strabo, they spoke a +language of mixed Phrygian and Lydian elements.[836] It was apparently +the Mysian legend which told of king Tantalus, who possessed the +greatest treasures, who slew his son and offered him for a banquet, +_i.e._ for a sacrifice to the gods. His grave was shown on Sipylus.[837] +Before the Greek colonists took the coasts from them, the Mysians may +have risen to the first elements of civilisation; but when they were +debarred from the sea, they remained within the limits of their +mountains, pursuing an agricultural and pastoral life. About the year +500 B.C. their armour was still a small round shield and javelins, the +points of which were hardened in the fire.[838] In spite of these +miserable weapons they gave a good deal of trouble to the satraps of the +Persian king, and even at a later time desolated the fruitful plains on +the coasts by marauding inroads. Of their worship we only know that the +Greeks found the rites of a god of light on the coasts at Thymbra, +Chryse, and Cilla, who was invoked under the title Smintheus, a word +which is said to mean the expeller or destroyer of field-mice;[839] and +that a goddess of procreation and fertility was worshipped on Ida.[840] +In the Homeric poems it is Aphrodite, by the side of Apollo, who +protects Ilium, and favours Capys and the sons of Priam in the dells of +Ida. + +The coast of Asia Minor, to the south of the Lydians, was in the +possession of the Carians. Herodotus tells us that, according to the +legends of the Cretans, the Carians were, in the most ancient times, +called Leleges, and inhabited the islands of the Ægean at the time when +Minos reigned in Crete. They were compelled to man the fleet of Minos. A +long time afterwards they were driven out of the islands by the Ionians +and Dorians, and migrated to Asia Minor. But the Carians themselves +maintained that they had always lived in the land which they +possessed.[841] We cannot hesitate to give the preference to the +assertion of the Carians. From the numerous harbours of their coast they +could easily cross to the neighbouring islands, and thus they could +populate Rhodes Samos and Chios.[842] Advancing from one to another in +the numerous islands of this sea, they reached the Cyclades and settled +there. The most ancient population of Crete, called by the Greeks +Eteocretes, may very likely have consisted of Carians only, as is proved +by the position which Greek legend gives to the Carians in reference to +Minos, as well as by other evidence. This occupation of the islands of +the Ægean Sea by the Carians must be placed about the year 1500 B.C. For +when the Phenicians colonised these islands in the thirteenth century, +they were occupied by Carians. The Carian population became dependent on +the Phenicians. Subsequently, about the year 1000 B.C., the Hellenes +landed on the islands of the Ægean, and drove out the Carians. The +Carians lost even Samos and Chios; they were again confined to their old +home, and they could not even maintain themselves in that, for the best +harbours of their coasts passed into the hands of the Greeks. Yet the +Carians continued to be seamen and pirates. They lay in wait, as before, +for the merchants, and overran the rich coast land. Even in the seventh +century we meet with Carian pirates and mercenaries, and these not only +on the mouths and banks of the Nile; and the Chronographers mention, +apparently, a hegemony of the Carians on the sea, which is placed in the +interval from the year 731 to the year 670 B.C.[843] + +The Carians had no monarchy embracing the whole of their territory. But +here also, so far as we can see, princes stood at the head of the +various cities. A kind of confederation united the several places. About +the year 500 we hear of assemblies of Carians on the banks of the +Marsyas near the white pillars, and afterwards we find common sacrifices +of the Carian cities, and days of meeting in the temple of Zeus +Chrysaor, which was situated in the neighbourhood of Mylasa (now Milas) +at Lagina (now Leïna).[844] Among the Carians the Greek colonists found +a style of armour superior to their own, and they adopted it. The +"Catalogue of ships," in Homer, represents the leader of the Carians as +going into battle decked with gold.[845] In Alcæus "the Carian helmet +laments," and Anacreon speaks "of putting the hand upon the well-fitted +Carian haft." Herodotus tells us that the Greeks learned from the +Carians to wear plumes upon their helmets, to paint devices upon their +shields, and to furnish them with fixed handles,--in Homer the shields +are carried over the shoulder by straps. Greaves also are said to have +been invented by the Carians.[846] + +We are unable to tell with certainty the origin or the national +characteristics of the Carians, though Herodotus maintains that the +Lydians, Mysians, and Carians spoke the same language. Of the religious +worship of the Carians he tells us that they were the only nation who +worshipped Zeus as a warrior. Mylasa was the centre of their worship. On +the heights which tower over the plain of Mylasa, in a forest of +plane-trees, near Labranda, lay the temple of "Zeus Stratius." The image +of the god is said to have carried the double axe. Carian coins of the +fourth century B.C. display the image of a god with a double axe.[847] +The same axe is also found on the remains of Carian altars. The Greeks +even maintain that the god was named after this axe, that his national +name was Labrandeus, and that in Lydian and Carian _labrys_ meant a +battle-axe. Plutarch says:--Arselis, the Carian of Mylasa, marched to +the aid of Candaules, king of Lydia (he ruled about the year 700 B.C.), +and afterwards he left the sacred axe of the kings of Lydia to the god +of Labranda.[848] This giving up of the battle-axe to the god of the +battle-axe allows us to suppose that the god of Mylasa is meant by the +Carian of Mylasa; and that Arselis may have been the name or attribute +of this god--a supposition which is changed into a certainty by the fact +that in Semitic languages, Chars-el means "axe of El," "axe of +God."[849] Beside this warrior Zeus, a warlike Aphrodite was also +worshipped at Mylasa,[850] and if Strabo calls the goddess of Leïna +Hecate, the reason of the name may be the death-bringing power of the +goddess Astarte-Ashera. The sacred fish who were to be found in a pool +at Mylasa, with gold rings round the neck, would then be evidence of the +bountiful, increase-giving side of the nature of this goddess.[851] + +East of the Carians, on the south coast, in the valley of the Xanthus, +were the settlements of the Lycians. The range of Taurus, which here +rises to a height of 10,000 feet, sinks down in fields of snow and +Alpine pastures to the course of the Xanthus. The sides of this valley, +Mounts Kragus and Anti-Kragus, are beautifully wooded, and traversed by +sounding rills. The view extends from the upper course of the river over +the luxuriant vegetation of the plain down to the sea. + +Herodotus tells us that this district was once known as Milyas, and that +the Lycians, who were originally called Termilians, immigrated from +Crete. Sarpedon and Minos contended for the throne, and as Minos got the +upper hand, Sarpedon went with the Termilians to Asia, and took +possession of Milyas. Afterwards Lycus, the son of the Attic king +Pandion, when driven out by his brother Aegeus, came to Sarpedon, and +from him the Termilians got the name of Lycians. Their laws were Cretan +and Carian. They wore hats adorned with feathers, goat skins round their +shoulders, sickle-shaped swords and daggers, coats of mail, greaves, +bows, and arrows of reeds. They were named after the mother, and not +after the father, and spoke of the mothers of their mothers as their +ancestors. The son of a free woman and a slave was free and passed for a +well-born man; but if a free man, even the first among them, begot +children with a foreign woman or a concubine, these were outlaws.[852] +Heraclides of Pontus extends these statements so far as to assert that +the Lycians from ancient times had been under the dominion of their +wives; Nicolaus, of Damascus tells us that the daughters of the Lycians, +and not the sons, took the inheritance.[853] + +In the Homeric poems, Proetus, king of Argos, sends Bellerophontes of +Ephyra (Corinth) to the king of the Lycians, to be put to death. The +king bade him slay the Chimæra, a monster which was a lion in front, a +goat in the middle part, and a dragon behind, and when he succeeded in +this he sent him to fight against the Solymi and the Amazons. But +afterwards he gave him half his kingdom and his daughter, who bore him +Hippolochus and Laodameia. The son of Hippolochus was Glaucus, and the +son of Laodameia was Sarpedon, the chieftains who led the Lycians to the +aid of the Trojans. + +Beside the supposed immigration of the Lycians from Crete and the poetry +of Homer we know nothing of the history of the Lycians beyond the fact +that they did not submit to the army of Cyrus without a most obstinate +resistance. And even under the supremacy of the Persians the Lycians +managed their internal affairs independently. They formed a federation +which was in existence at Strabo's time, and then included twenty-three +places. Each city was represented at the assembly; the six larger cities +had three votes each, the next largest had two, and the smaller cities +had one.[854] + +The name Milyas, which, according to Herodotus, was borne by the valley +of the Xanthus, clung even in later times to the spur under the ridge of +Mount Taurus, which runs out eastward towards Mount Solyma. Hence the +Lycians could easily be represented as in conflict with the Solymi. The +name Chimæra is given to a high mountain valley on Mount Kragus.[855] If +the Greeks call the inhabitants of the valley of the Xanthus Lycians, +the name has not arisen among them from the supposed Lycus, the brother +of Ægeus, but rather from the Grecian god of light, Apollo Lyceus. +According to the mythus of the Greeks, Apollo Bellerophontes (who was +worshipped at Corinth), dashes down from his cloud-horse and with his +crown of rays breaks through the thick clouds which obscure the sun; he +overcomes Bellerus, the spirit of darkness. In the mind of the Greeks, +Lycia was free from the clouds of winter; and, as a fact, the climate of +the valley of the Xanthus is excellent. Into this bright land, +therefore, the god was thought to have marched when he had become a +hero; here he overcame the Chimæra, the creature of mist and cloud. The +Greeks went still further in this conception. The east, the land of +sunrise, was in itself the land of light, of the god of light, Lyceus. +The god of light was thought to pass the winter in the brighter east, in +the home of the sun. When the Greek colonists had settled on the western +coasts of Asia Minor, they regarded the valley of the Xanthus as the +eastern land of light, they gave it this name, and supposed that Apollo +passed the winter in Lycia, and gave oracles during the six winter +months at Patara in Lycia.[856] In spite of the eastern situation and +the climate of Lycia, this idea would hardly have taken root had not the +Lycians at Patara, and probably at other places in Lycia, worshipped a +god in whom the Greeks could recognise their own god of light. The +Homeric poems place the Lycians in the closest connection with the +Teucrians. There is a Xanthus in Lycia and in the Troad, and the name +Tros seems to be identical with the name of the Lycian city of Tlos, +which lies high up in the valley of the Xanthus under Taurus. In any +case, from this close combination of the Teucrians and Lycians in Homer, +we may conclude that with the Greeks of the coast the Lycians passed for +a tribe who had already been for a long time in possession of their +settlements. None but native Asiatic tribes could be represented as +fighting beside the native Teucrians as their closest confederates. + +The Lycians developed a peculiar civilisation and a peculiar art, of +which numerous monuments, and many of them accompanied by inscriptions, +have come down to us. The alphabet in these inscriptions closely +resembles the Greek. With the aid of some inscriptions written in the +Greek and Lycian languages, scholars have succeeded in fixing the value +of the Lycian letters--of which there are ten for vowels and diphthongs, +and twenty for consonants.[857] By this means we have become acquainted +with the name by which the Lycians called themselves. They were not +merely called Termilians, as Herodotus supposed, in the most ancient +times, but even in their own inscriptions they call themselves Tramele. +The city which the Greeks calls Xanthus is in the language of the +Tramele, Arna; the city of Patara is Pttarazu; Pegasa is Begssere.[858] +In fixing the character of the Lycian language, it was at first supposed +that the Lycians might have been a branch of the Phrygians, who had +forced their way over the Taurus to the south coast--an assumption +which seems to be supported by the fact that the Lycian monuments +resemble the Phrygian in plan and style; and that the Lycians, like the +Phrygians, loved to excavate walls of rock and that in Lycia, as in +Phrygia, the influence of the Greeks was felt at an early time. But the +Lycian idiom, so far as the remains of it have been examined at present, +was distinctly different from the Phrygian language. While some of our +scholars find in the Lycian language words and inflexions allied to the +Albanian, _i.e._ to the remains of the language of the ancient +Illyrians, others are more inclined to place the Lycian in close +connection with the Iranian languages.[859] In either case the Lycians, +like the Armenians and Phrygians, belong to the Indo-Germanic stock, and +not only the Armenians and Phrygians, but along with them the +forefathers of the Lycians came into Asia Minor from the north-east. + +The Lycians were settled in a region of strong natural boundaries, and +of a very defined and picturesque form. The position of their land, +protected as it was by strong natural boundaries, secured for them a +more undisturbed development than was possible to the other tribes of +Asia Minor. Their cities and towers, Xanthus, Phellus, Myra, Telmissus, +Patara, Pinara, and Tlos were surrounded by strong walls of Cyclopian +architecture, and the splendid remains are evidence of great skill in +masonry. The noble ruins of Xanthus, not far from the mouth of the river +of the same name, still proclaim, even at a distance, the ancient +metropolis of the Lycians. How far back the monuments of Lycia extend +cannot be determined as yet. The oldest of which the date can be fixed +go back to the reign of Darius II., the Itariayush of Lycian +inscriptions. The reliefs exhibit the Chimæra, as described in Homer; +and they repeatedly exhibit a lion slaying a bull.[860] The Lycians +themselves are represented in long garments, just as in works of Greek +art; and even to this day the peasants on the Xanthus are to be seen in +the caftan.[861] Pictures of battles, of agricultural and pastoral +occupations are frequent on the monuments; but so far as the +inscriptions have been deciphered at present, they afford no single +instance in support of the statement of Herodotus that the Lycians were +not named after the father, but after the mother.[862] The most +important remains are the tombs, which are evidence of the great +industry and care which the Lycians devoted to the repose and memory of +the dead. A considerable number of these tombs lie within the walls of +the city, and are surrounded by the ruins of other buildings. Hence the +dwellings of the dead and of the living were not separated among the +Lycians. Besides sarcophagi, made of blocks brought for the purpose, we +also find detached rocks, which are changed into great sarcophagi, rocky +peaks transformed into sepulchres, and extensive walls of rock, in which +grave-chambers have been cut. The face of the rocky wall, thus hollowed +out for tombs, is provided with façades which rise up in rich variety to +the number of many thousands, over and alongside of each other, +sometimes advancing, sometimes receding, according to the nature of the +rock. The style of these tombs, which is for the most part very +delicate and slender, is an imitation of a kind of wooden structure, +which must have been common in Lycia in ancient times, and the simplest +forms of which are still in use among the peasants of the region which +corresponds to Lycia;[863] sometimes the structure is simpler, at others +more complicated, and the effect is strengthened by delicate and +luxuriant ornamentation. The faces of the rock-tombs sometimes end with +a flat framework of beams, at others with a gable in low relief. The +detached sepulchres exhibit the same imitation of a wooden building. +Many of these sepulchres are obviously intended for three corpses; in +the single chamber included in them are generally found two stone +benches in the sides and at the back a receptacle for a corpse in a +recess.[864] The detached sarcophagi are the most numerous. On a +sub-structure, or immediately on the ground, stands a long stone coffin, +closed by a high massive cover, the section of which exhibits a Gothic +pointed arch. On these sarcophagi also the ornamentation is almost +always rich, and carried out with neatness even to the smallest detail. +Beside the sarcophagi we also find pillars and obelisks among the ruins. +The tympana, friezes, and surfaces of all these monuments are covered +with reliefs, which represent with much truth and liveliness the life of +animals as well as the life of men. Evident remains of colouring on all +the monuments show us that a layer of lively and even startling colours +was laid upon these buildings. The reliefs also were painted, and some +are treated almost as pictures. The inscriptions upon the tombs prove +that the Lycians erected these tombs in their lifetime for themselves, +wives, and children, and that this was done by several families in +common; they invoke the anger of a goddess Phate--whom the Greeks call +Leto--on those who might dare to violate them. From the nature and +solidity of these tombs and sarcophagi, it is clear that the Lycians +were almost at as much trouble to give a secure resting-place to their +dead as the Egyptians were to give rest to their mummies, while the +ornaments show that the Lycians must have regarded the life after death +as a state of peaceful repose; the sculptures on the tombs invariably +represent friendly scenes of family life, of occupation in the country, +of social life or festal enjoyment. We see mothers with their children, +carriage journeys, riders, processions, banquets, and feasts, and +finally battle-pieces, in which the combatants are partly armed as +Lycians and partly as Greeks. Nothing, not even in the pictures of +battles, reminds us of the horrors of death, or of a judgment in the +under world. The monuments of Lycia prove that the supremacy of the +Persians did not interrupt the progress of Lycian art. But the creations +of the later period enable us to see that Greek art, in her bloom, +obtained and exercised the strongest influence over the Lycians. The +most beautiful monument of Lycia, the tomb of Harpagus, the Persian +satrap, which belongs to the first half of the fourth century, exhibits +a preponderance of Greek forms. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[688] Strabo, pp. 525, 530, 532, 559. + +[689] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 238. + +[690] Kiepert, _loc. cit._ s. 239. + +[691] Von Gutschmid, "Sächs. Gesell. d. W." 1876, p. 5, _seqq._ + +[692] Mos. Chor. 1, 10-22. + +[693] Mos. Chor. 1, 23-30. + +[694] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 222. + +[695] Kiepert, _loc. cit._ s. 236. + +[696] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 226. + +[697] Jer. li. 27; Ezek. xxvii. 14; xxxviii. 6. + +[698] Moses Chor. c. 24-30, in Le Vaillant's translation. + +[699] Anab. 4, 5. + +[700] G. Rawlinson, "Monarch.," 2, 64, 79; Ménant, "Annal.," pp. 49, 64, +73, 82. + +[701] G. Smith, "Zeit. fur. ægypt. Sprache," 1869, s. 9-13, 98. + +[702] Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonid.," p. 22, _et seq._, 37; +"Inscript. de DurSarkayan", pp. 14, 21. G. Rawlinson, "Monarchies," 2, +188. According to Oppert's reading the two gods of Arsissa were called +Haldia and Bagabarta. + +[703] Joseph. "Antiq.," 1, 3, 6; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," +1869, s. 236. + +[704] G. Smith, "Assurb.," 61, 75, 84 _seqq._ + +[705] Botta, "Monum. de Ninive," 2, pl. 140, 141. + +[706] Lenormant, "Lettr. Assyr." 1, 121, 142, reads Belitdur and Menuas +Hincks read Niriduris and Kinuas. + +[707] Mordtmann, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 26, 484 ff. + +[708] Herod. 7, 73; 8, 138. + +[709] Strabo, p. 471. + +[710] Herod. 7, 75; Thucyd. 4, 75; Xenoph. "Anab." 6, 4, 2; Strabo, p. +541, 542. + +[711] Otto Abel, "Makedonien," s. 57 ff. + +[712] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 369 ff. + +[713] Herod. 2, 2. + +[714] Justin, "Hist.," 11, 7; Plut. "Alex.," c. 18; Arrian, "Anab.," 2, +3; Steph. Byzant, [Greek: Gordieion]; Pausan. 1, 4, 5. + +[715] Aristoph. "Plut.," 287; Ovid, "Metamorph.," 11, 146. + +[716] Arist. "Pol." 8, 55. + +[717] Diod. 3, 59. + +[718] Herod. 7, 26; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 2, 8. + +[719] Fragm. 128, ed. Müller. + +[720] A communication from Kiepert. + +[721] Pollux, 9, 83; Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 11, ed. Müller. + +[722] Euseb. "Chron." 2, 82, ed. Schöne. + +[723] [Plato, "Phaedr." 264 D. (Jowett.)] + +[724] Diog. Laert. 1, 89; Simonid. Fragm. 57, ed. Bergk; Herod. 1, 14, +35; Strabo, p. 61; "Bergk-Griech. Litteratur-Gesch." 1, 779. The date of +the second Midas is fixed by the observation of Herodotus that the +dedicatory offerings of Midas were older than those of Gyges, and by the +date of the first invasion of the Cimmerians, which will be ascertained +below: the second invasion of the Cimmerians took place far later, in +the time of Ardys of Lydia, _i.e._ at a time when monarchy was no longer +in existence in the Greek cities. Hence I believe that the Midas of the +tomb must be distinguished from the Midas of the dedicatory offering. + +[725] The upper inscription of this tomb is as follows: "Ates arkiaevos +akenanogavos Midai lavaltaie vanaktei edaes;" the lower is: "Baba +memavais proitavos kphizan avozos sikeman edaes."--Leake, "Asia Minor," +p. 22-36; Barth, in Petermann "Geog. Mittheilungen," 1860, s. 91-93; +Lassen, in "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 372. For "lavaltaie" R. Stuart reads +"na-" or "gavaltaie." + +[726] Strabo, p. 569; Vitruvius, 2, 1, 5. + +[727] Perrot, "Exploration," pp. 218, 224. + +[728] Hamilton, "Asia Minor," 1, 95-98, 401, 451; 2, 233-252. + +[729] Lucian, "Jup. Trag." c. 8. 42. + +[730] Etym. Magn. [Greek: Amma.] + +[731] Diod. 3, 59; Livy, 29, 14. + +[732] Arist. "Rhet." 3, 2; Ovid. "Fast." 4, 265; Arnoh. "Adv. Gent." 9, +5, 4. + +[733] Diod. 3, 59. + +[734] Herod. 1, 94. In Hippolytus ("Philosoph." 5, 9, p. 118, ed. +Miller) Atys is called the sun of Rhea. Agdistis appears to have been +androgynous; Paus. 7, 17, 5. Hesych. [Greek: Agdistis]. The chief +priests at Pessinus were always called Atys, according to the +inscriptions of Sivrihissar, cf. Polyb. 22, 20. + +[735] Plut. "De Isid." 69. + +[736] Arnob. "Adv. Gent." 5, 16; Herodian, 1, 10. + +[737] Hippolyt. _loc. cit._, p. 119. + +[738] "Il." 3, 187; Hym. Ven. 112. + +[739] "Bacch." 55 ff., 120 ff.; Diod. 3, 57. + +[740] Herod. 1, 173, and H. Stein _ad loc._; Choerilus in "Joseph. c. +Apion." 1, 22. + +[741] "Anab." 1, 2, 21 ff. + +[742] Blau, "Num. Achaem. Aram-persic," p. 5. + +[743] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 385. + +[744] Herod. 7, 91; 5, 118; 7, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." 7, 8, 25. + +[745] H. Stein, on Herodotus, 1, 74. + +[746] Hellan. fragm. 158, ed Müller. + +[747] Berosi Fragm. 12, ed. Müller; Abyd. Fragm. 7, ed. Müller. That +Anchialensium should be read instead of Atheniensium need not be proved +at length. + +[748] Arrian, "Anab." 2, 5; Athen. p. 529; Steph. Byz. [Greek: +Anchialê]. + +[749] Ménant, "Annal." pp. 107, 228, 231, 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," +p. 62. + +[750] Æsch. "Persae," 326; Herod. 3, 90; 7, 91, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, +2, 12. + +[751] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 348 ff., 354, 497 ff., 574. + +[752] 1, 72; cf. 5, 62. + +[753] "Il." 2, 857. + +[754] "Prom. Vinct." 613-617. + +[755] Sandwich, "Siege of Kars," p. 35 of translation. On the Murad +Tshai, near Charput, the best iron is still procured. + +[756] Herod. 1, 72; 7, 72. + +[757] Fragm. incert. 150, ed. Bergk. + +[758] Scymn. Ch. 943. + +[759] "Peripl. P. E." c. 20, ed. Müller. + +[760] Plut. "Lucull," 23. + +[761] C. 89, 90. + +[762] Strabo, p. 533, 544, 737; cf. Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1, 948. + +[763] Brandis, "Münzwesen," 308, 427; Blau, "Phoeniz. Münzkunde," 2, +12, 19. These, and the reasons given above, seem to me sufficient to +prevent my agreeing to Lassen's opinion ("Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 377) +that the Cappadocians were an Indo-Germanic tribe. + +[764] Herod. 4, 1, 10-12; 1, 103, 104. + +[765] "Odyss." 11, 14-19. + +[766] "Ranae," 187. + +[767] Scym. Ch. 239, 240; Strabo, 244; Virgil, "Aen." 3, 441; Plin. +"Hist. Nat." 3, 9. + +[768] Callinus, apud Strabo, 648; Herod. 1, 6, 15, 16; 4, 12. + +[769] Aristot. apud Steph. Byz. [Greek: Antandros]: Scymn. Ch. 941. + +[770] [Greek: Trêres]. + +[771] Strabo, p. 61, 552, 494. On p. 647 we find "The Treres, a +Cimmerian nation." + +[772] Strabo, p. 552. + +[773] Strabo, p. 20, 149, 573. + +[A] Strabo, p. 61. + +[774] Strabo, pp. 627, 647, 61. That in this passage, where Madys is +mentioned a second time with the epithet: the Cimmerian, [Greek: +Skythês] must be read instead of Madys, as Madys has been mentioned just +before, is self-evident. + +[775] Thuc. 2, 96; Strabo, p. 59; Theopomp (Fragm. 313, ed. Müller) call +them Trares. + +[776] Herod. 1, 6; Plut. "Marius," 11. + +[777] Justin. 2, 4. + +[778] Strabo, p. 545; Euseb. "Chron." ann., 1260; Syncell. p. 401, ed. +Dind. Cf. Xenophon, "Anab." 4, 8; Steph. Byzant. [Greek: Trapezous]. + +[779] Orosius, 1, 21: "Anno ante urbem conditam tricesimo" (Orosius +follows the Catonian era), "tunc etiam Amazonum gentis et Cimmeriorum in +Asiam repentinus incursus plurimam diu lateque vastationem et stragem +edidit." Grote ("History of Greece," 3, 334) objects that if this +statement is allowed to hold good for the Cimmerians, we are justified +in making the same conclusions for the Amazons, who would thus become +historical. The Amazons are connected with the Cimmerians because the +land round Sinope was the abode of the Cimmerians, and it was in this +place that the Amazons were said to have dwelt. I too should be inclined +to give the less weight to the testimony of Orosius, as the number 30 +may be a corruption for 300. But the other evidence given is enough to +prove that the Cimmerians immigrated into Asia Minor in the period +between 750 and 700 B.C., and settled round the Halys at the mouth of +the river. + +[780] Above, p. 517. + +[781] Ménant, "Annal." p. 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 64-72. + +[782] Syncell. "Chron." p. 49; Kiepert, "Monatsber. Berl. Akad." 1859, +p. 204. + +[783] Perrot, "Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," pp. 339, 340, 371. + +[784] H. Barth, "Reise von Trapezunt nach Skutari," s. 42 ff; Perrot, +_loc. cit._ p. 328 ff. + +[785] Barth, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akad." 1859, s. 142 ff.; Perrot, +"Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," pp. 330 ff. 352-356. + +[786] Perrot, "Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," p. 157. + +[787] Diod. 3, 57; Strabo, pp. 535-537, 557, 559; Plut. "Sulla," c. 9; +Hirt. "Bell. Alex." 66. + +[788] "Il." 3, 184-190. + +[789] Pausan. 1, 2, 1; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." 78. + +[790] "Prom. Vinct." 723, Suppl. 287. In other passages, following the +later view, he places them in Scythia. + +[791] Frag. 25, ed. Müller. + +[792] Strabo, p. 505. + +[793] Herod. 9, 27; Plut. "Menex." p. 239; Isocr. "Panegyr." 19. + +[794] Diod. 2, 45, 46; 3, 55; Strabo, p. 505; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2, +949. + +[795] Callim. "in Dian." 237. + +[796] "Il." 2, 814; Ephori Fragm. 87, ed. Müller; Pausan. 7, 2, 7. +According to Diodorus, Priene and Pitane were also founded by the Amazon +Myrina, 3, 55. + +[797] Plut. "Thes." 27, 28; Pausan. 2, 32; 3, 25; Diod. 4, 28. + +[798] Herod. 4, 189; Diod. 3, 52-55. + +[799] Herod. 4, 110-117; Plato, "Legg." p. 804; Hippocr. "De aere," c. +17; Ephor. fragm. 78, 103, ed. Müller; Ctes. fragm. 25-28, ed. Müller. +Justinus (2, 4), as remarked, represents Ilinus, and Skolopitus, as +making their way from Scythia to the Thermodon, and when these Scythians +had for many years plundered their neighbours from this centre, they +were attacked and cut down by the conspirators among their neighbours. +Their wives remained; they seized the weapons, and founded a female +kingdom. In order to preserve the race, they came together with the +neighbouring people, but they slew all the male children. Marpesia and +Lampedo, who called themselves daughters of Mars, ruled over this female +kingdom. Then Lampedo with a part of the Amazons marched out and founded +Ephesus, and many other cities; over those who remained behind, when +Marpesia was slain, Antiope and Oreithyia reigned; and in their time +Heracles and Theseus came and carried off two sisters of Antiope. To +avenge this act Oreithyia marched against Athens, supported by the +Scythian king Sagillus, and his son Panasagorus. After Oreithyia, +Penthesilea reigned; after her reign the power of the Amazons declined. +Cf. Steph. Byzant, _s. v._ [Greek: Amazones], where the story which +Herodotus (4, 1-4) tells of the returning Scythians of Madyas is turned +to the advantage of the Amazons. + +[800] Plut. "Alex." 46; Curtius, 6, 5; Diod. 17, 77; Strabo, p. 505; +Justin, 2, 4; 12, 3. Cf. Arrian, "Anab." 4, 15. + +[801] Arrian, _loc. cit._ 7, 13. + +[802] Plut. "Pompeius," c. 35; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." c. 103. + +[803] Strab, pp. 503-505, 547, 550, 552. + +[804] Hippoc. "De aere," c. 89, 91. If the name Amazon were Greek, it +could only have been invented in a contrast to [Greek: polymazos], "with +many breasts," the epithet of the Ephesian Artemis, as the goddess of +birth, to denote the maidens devoted to chastity. + +[805] Strabo, pp. 591, 680. + +[806] Herod. 1, 7, 94; 4, 45; Dion. Hal. 1, 27, 28; "Il." 2, 461; +Strabo, p. 627; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Asia]. + +[807] Herod. 1, 84; Xanth. Fragm. 10; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 26, 29, ed. +Müller. The legend of Meles is obviously connected with the founding of +Sardis. This Meles therefore cannot be identified with the Heracleid +(the last but two) of the same name. In Nicolaus, Moxus is the successor +of Meles; Fragm. 24, 49. + +[808] Xanth. Fragm. 11, 12; Nicol. Dam. Fragm. 25, 28, ed. Müller. + +[809] Diod. 4, 21. + +[810] Ephor. Fragm. 9; Pherecyd. Fragm. 3, 4; Mæandri Mil. Fragm. 8; +Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 8, ed. Müller; Apollod. 2, 6, 3. + +[811] Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 25, 5. Cf. Nicol., Dam. Fragm. 49, ed. Müller, +where Sadyuttes and Lixus are mentioned in the place of the Heracleidæ +as the successors of Tylon, _loc. cit._ p. 382, 384. + +[812] Herod. 1, 7. According to Apollodorus (2, 7, 8), the son of +Omphale and Heracles was Agelaus; according to Diodorus (4, 31) Heracles +first begot Cleodæus with a slave, and then Lamus with Omphale. Others +call the son of Omphale and Heracles Meleus (Meles). Others again +represent Sandon, the son of Heracles, as the father of Damalisandus, or +Dalisandus, by Damalis. Cf. Müller, on Nicol. Fragm. 28. + +[813] Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 3, 14. + +[814] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 168, 386. + +[815] Hesych. [Greek: Attagathê Atharê para tô Xanthô.] The native name +Athar-ath is found on a coin of Bambyke, in Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 431. + +[816] Joh. Lyd. "De Mag." 3, 64; Plut. "Quæst. Graec." c. 45; "An seni +resp." c. 4; Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 6, ed. Müller; Ovid. "Heroid." 83-118; +"Fast." 2, 325. + +[817] Hupfeld, "Res Lyd." pp. 55, 63, 67. + +[818] Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 4, 46; Lucian. "Dial. Deor." 13, 2. + +[819] Compare the Lydian names Sandonis and Sandoces in Herod. 1, 71; 7, +194. + +[820] Oppert, "Expéd. en Mesopot." 2, 337. + +[821] E. Schrader, "Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 330. + +[822] Herod. 1, 93; Athen. pp. 515, 516. + +[823] Strabo, p. 641; Paus. 7, 2, 7. + +[824] Herod. 3, 48; 8, 105. + +[825] Paus. 1, 21; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte d. Berl. Akademie," 1866, s. +298. + +[826] Steph. Byz. _s. v._ + +[827] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 382 ff; cf. G. Curtius, "Grundzüge." + +[828] Herod. 5, 102. + +[829] Herodotus (1, 7) says twenty-two generations. But as these, +according to the length which he assumes for a generation, would give a +much longer interval than 505 years, he can only mean twenty-two +sovereigns. That lists of kings existed in Lydia is proved by the +considerable number of names of Atyadæ given in Xanthus. + +[830] Cf. H. Stein on the passages of Herodotus quoted; in one class of +MSS. Alcæus, Belus, and Ninus are not found. The city of Ninoë has been +already mentioned (p. 567). + +[831] The year 549 B.C., the year of the capture of Sardis, will be +proved below. I believe that we ought to maintain this statement. +Herodotus' total of 170 years for the dynasty of Gyges is untenable in +the face of the Assyrian monuments. According to them Gyges and Ardys +were contemporaries of Assurbanipal, who reigns from 668 to 626 B.C. +Hence for the 170 years of Herodotus we must adopt the number given by +Eusebius, which is 30 years less, and the separate dates of the latter. + +[832] Boeckh, "Metrologie," s. 76. + +[833] Herod. 1, 94. + +[834] Plut. "De Mus." 6; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Asias]. + +[835] "Il." 18, 291; 10, 431. + +[836] P. 572. + +[837] Pausan. 2, 22, 3; 5, 13, 7. + +[838] Æsch. "Pers." 52; Herod. 7, 74. + +[839] Strabo, p. 604, 605, 612; Pausan. 10, 12, 6. + +[840] Strabo, p. 469; Plut. "De Fluviis," c. 13. + +[841] Herod. 1, 171; 5, 119. + +[842] Thuc. 1, 8; Isoc. "Panath." p. 241. On the Carians in Samos and +Chios, see Diod. 5, 84; Strabo, p. 457, 633-637, 661; Paus. 7, 2, 5, 8, +9, 10. + +[843] Archiloch. Fragm. 23, ed. Bergk; Euseb. "Chron." 1, 321, ed. +Auch.; cf. Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 4, 5, s. 427. + +[844] Herod. 5, 118, 119; Strabo, p. 660. + +[845] "Il." 2, 872. + +[846] Alcæus and Anacreon in Strabo, p. 661; Herod. 1, 171. + +[847] Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 338. + +[848] "Quæst. Græcæ," c. 45. + +[849] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 381. + +[850] Boeckh, "Corp. Inscript." 26, 93. + +[851] Ælian, "Hist. Anim." 12, 30. + +[852] 1, 173; 7, 92. + +[853] Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 15; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 129, ed. Müller. + +[854] Strabo, p. 664. + +[855] Strabo, p. 665. + +[856] Herod. 1, 182; Serv. ad Æneid, 4, 143. Pausanias (1, 19, 3) says +that the Lyceum at Athens was a sanctuary of Apollo Lyceus; the "Iliad" +(5, 171) represents Lycaon as ruling in Lycia. + +[857] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 335 ff; Blau, _ibid._ 17, 667. + +[858] Steph. Byzant., [Greek: Arna]: Fellowes, "Lyc. Coins," pl. 12, 7. + +[859] Blau ("Z. d. d. M. G." 17, 649 ff) sustains the first view, +Savelsberg and M. Schmidt the second; M. Schmidt, "Lyc. Inscript." + +[860] Fellowes, "Account," p. 174, 194; "Lyc. Coins," pl. x. 1, 2, 3. + +[861] Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 57. + +[862] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 348. + +[863] Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 51. + +[864] Ross, _loc. cit._ s. 35. + + + + THE END. + + + LONDON: + R. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/38677-8.zip b/38677-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc595f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/38677-8.zip diff --git a/38677-h.zip b/38677-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..53c57a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/38677-h.zip diff --git a/38677-h/38677-h.htm b/38677-h/38677-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0982e5c --- /dev/null +++ b/38677-h/38677-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,22454 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Antiquity (Vol. I.), by Max Duncker. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .sblockquot {text-indent: -2em; margin-left: 2em;} + .bbt {border-bottom: solid 1px; border-top: solid 1px; margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 5em;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + + .notebox {border: solid 2px; padding: 1em; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; background: #CCCCB2;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI), by Max Duncker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) + +Author: Max Duncker + +Translator: Evelyn Abbott + +Release Date: January 26, 2012 [EBook #38677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="notebox"> +<p><b>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</b> Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end +of the chapters in this HTML version. Obvious errors in punctuation have been +silently corrected. Other than that, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, +hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h3>THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.</h3> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h5>THE</h5> + +<h1>HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.</h1> + +<h5>FROM THE GERMAN</h5> + +<h6>OF</h6> + +<h4>PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER,</h4> + +<p> </p> +<h6>BY</h6> + +<h3>EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A.,<br /> +<small><i>FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD.</i></small></h3> + +<p> </p> +<h4>VOL. I.</h4> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 15%;"> +<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="100%" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<h4>LONDON:<br /> +<big>RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,</big><br /> +Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.<br /> +1877.</h4> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + +<h3>TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.</h3> + + +<p>Fifty years ago, the opinion was held by some that +we could watch, in the tradition of the most ancient +realms of the East, the first awkward steps in the +childhood of the human race, while others believed +that it was possible to discover there the remnants +of an original wisdom, received by mankind at the +beginning of their course immediately from the hand +of heaven. The monuments of the East, subsequently +discovered and investigated by the combined labour +of English, German, and French scholars, have added +an unexpected abundance of fresh information to the +Hebrew Scriptures and the narratives of the Greeks, +which, till then, were almost our only resource. No +one can any longer be ignorant that Hither Asia at +a very remote period was in possession of a rich and +many-sided civilisation. The earliest stages of that +civilisation in the valley of the Nile, of the Euphrates +and the Tigris, on the coasts and in the interior of +Syria are, it is true, entirely hidden from our +knowledge; even the far more recent culture of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>Aryan tribes we can only trace with the help of the +Veda and the Avesta back to the point at which +they were already acquainted with agriculture, and +possessed considerable artistic skill.</p> + +<p>Our object in regard to the ancient East is not +to retrace the beginning of human civilization, but +rather to understand and establish the value and +extent of those early phases of civilisation to which +the entire development of the human race goes back. +The way to this aim is clearly sketched out for us. +A minute comparison of tradition with the results of +the successful advance of Oriental studies, a conscientious +examination of the one by the other, opens out +to us the prospect of discerning more precisely the +nature of those ancient constitutions and modes of +life.</p> + +<p>To this purpose I have undertaken to contribute +by a descriptive treatment of the subject. Such an +attempt appeared to me indicated by the consideration +that the fragments of our knowledge—and more +than fragments we do not at present possess, and +never shall possess, even though we assume that the +number of monuments be considerably increased—if +conscientiously brought together, would produce +the most effective impression by exhibiting the +connection of all the various sides of those ancient +civilisations—and if to this collection were added +the conclusions that can be drawn from it and +from the monuments about the political life, the +religion, the manners and laws, the art and trade +of those nations.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<p>How to offer in a general survey the sum total +of these fragments of the ancient East is a problem +attended with difficulties which I have felt at every +step in my work. There are not many corner-stones +immovably fixed; the outlines are often to be drawn +with a wavering pen; the unavoidable explanations of +the gaps to be filled up admit of a variety of opinions. +Hence it is often—only too often—necessary to +interrupt the narrative by comments, in order to +support the view taken by the author, or refute +other views, or arrive at the conclusion that there +is no sufficient evidence for a final decision. The +best mode of remedying these disagreeable interruptions +was first to state the tradition, which is +generally closely connected with the peculiar nature +of the people whose fortunes it narrates, and if not +actually true, is nevertheless characteristic of the +manners and views of the nation, and then to examine +this tradition in and by itself, and in conjunction +with the monuments; to state the opposite +interpretations; and, finally, to give the results thus +obtained. In this way narrative and investigation +are combined in such a manner that the reader is +enabled to pursue the inquiry. The data and the +critical examination of them, and lastly the results +obtained, are put before him for his own decision.</p> + +<p>The objections, made of late to the results of +Assyrian researches, touch certain points only, in +which over-hasty conclusions have prematurely declared +the enigma to be solved. Whatever doubts +may still remain, I have felt the more confidence in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>following the main results, because wherever Asshur +and Israel come into contact the Hebrew Scriptures +agree with the records of the kings of Asshur. +Who could understand the meaning of the verses of +Nahum (iii. 8-10), of the fate of "No-Ammon, to +whose aid came Ethiopians, Arabians, and Libyans," +till G. Smith discovered the document of Assurbanipal +relating to the capture of Thebes? Who +could explain the words of Ezekiel about the grave +of Elam (xxxii. 27) till the tiles of Babylonia and +Assyria told us of the ancient supremacy and power +of this kingdom, and of its battles with the Assyrians, +and subjugation by their arms? If, in chronology, +I have given the preference to the tablets of the +Assyrian Archons over the Books of Kings, I have +done so, not because I hold the former to be infallible, +but because the chronological dates in the Books of +Kings prove, by more than one contradiction, that +they have not come down to us intact.</p> + +<p>My narrative embraces those independent civilisations +of the ancient East which came to exercise a +mutual influence on each other. First we follow +the realm on the Nile and the kingdoms of Hither +Asia as far as the point where the nations of Iran +began to influence their destinies. Then I attempt +to set forth the peculiar development of the Aryan +tribes in the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges, +down to the times of Tshandragupta and Asoka. +Then follows the history of the Bactrians, the Medes, +and the Persians, until the period when the nations +of the table-land of Iran were united by Cyrus and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>Darius with the countries of Western Asia, when +Aryan life and Aryan civilisation gained the supremacy +over the whole region from Ceylon to the Nile +and the Hellespont. The forms of life at which the +great empires of Asia had arrived are finally brought +face to face with the more youthful civilisation +attained by the Hellenes in their mountain cantons. +This new development we follow down to the first +great shock when East and West met in conflict, and +the Achæmenids sought to crush the Hellenes under +the weight of Asia. With the failure of this attempt +my history of the ancient world concludes.</p> + +<p style='text-align: right'><span class="smcap">Max Duncker.</span></p> +<p> +<span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>March, 1877</i>.<br /> +</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan='2'><big><a href="#BOOK_I">BOOK I.</a><br /><i>EGYPT.</i></big></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE HOUSE OF RAMSES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan='2'><br /><br /><big><a href="#BOOK_II">BOOK II.</a><br /><i>THE SEMITIC NATIONS.</i></big></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDÆANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ARABS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE CANAANITES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_351">351</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_420">420</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_441">441</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER X.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_467">467</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_490">490</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_510">510</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></p> +<h3>ERRATA.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Page</td><td align='left'>14,</td><td align='left'>line</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='left'>from bottom, </td><td align='left'><i>for</i> "chalk rock" <i>read</i> "lime-stone."</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>51,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><i>for</i> "sun-globe" <i>read</i> "sun-mountain."</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>81,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><i>for</i> "horologe" <i>read</i> "sun-mountain."</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>140,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><i>for</i> "<i>savans</i>" <i>read</i> "<i>savants</i>."</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></p> + + + + + + + + +<div class="bbt"> +<h3><a name="BOOK_I" id="BOOK_I"></a>BOOK I.</h3> + +<h2>EGYPT.</h2> +</div> + +<h1>EGYPT.</h1> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE.</h3> + + +<p>History knows nothing of her infancy. The beginning +of the development of the human race lies +beyond the sphere of memory, and so also do the +first steps in that development. The early stages of +culture—whether in nations or individuals—are unconscious, +and unobservant of self; they are therefore +without the conditions which make remembrance +possible. The original forms of social life in the +family and in the tribe, the movement of wandering +hunters and shepherds, the earliest steps in agriculture, +could leave behind them neither monuments nor +records. It is true no gifted or favoured nation, which +has raised itself above these beginnings to civic life and +independent culture, has neglected to cast a backward +glance upon the history of its past. Everywhere +the attempt has been made to present the past from +the later point of culture. Whether the memory +reaches but a little way, or goes back far into the past, +it is always enriched by ideas taken from religious conceptions, +or national pride, from reflection or theory. +Such reconstructions are significant of the nature and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>character of the people for whom they replace the +history of their youth, but they have no claim to +represent the actual course of their development. The +case is different when the growing culture of a people +is observed by nations already at a higher grade of +civilisation. The Romans were in a position to leave +behind a picture of the youthful German tribes; the +Byzantines could inform us of the movements of the +Slaves; modern Europe could observe the tribes of +America, the nomadic shepherds of Asia, and the +islanders of the South Sea from a higher and riper +point of development.</p> + +<p>The oldest kingdoms of which tradition and monuments +preserve any information passed unobserved +through the earliest stages of their culture. Tradition +and the earliest monuments present them already in +the possession of a many-sided and highly-developed +civilisation. In what way these nations, the oldest +representatives of the culture of mankind, arrived +at their possession, we can only deduce from such +evidence as is before us anterior to tradition and +independent of it—from the nature of the regions +where these civilisations sprung up, from the physical +character and constitution of the nations which +developed them, from their languages and their +religious ideas.</p> + +<p>The history of antiquity is the description of the +forms of culture first attained by the human race. +If it is impossible to discover the origin of these +forms historically, and the attempt is made to indicate +their preliminary stages, so far as the recorded +elements allow connected conclusions, it becomes the +chief object of such a history to recover from the +fragments of monuments and tradition the culture +of the ancient East, and of the Hellenes so closely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +connected with the East: to reconstruct from +isolated relics and myths the image of that rich +and ample life which filled the East in religion and +state, in art and industry, in research and commerce, +in political struggles and intense religious devotion, +long before the time when Solon gave laws to the +Athenians, and the army of Cyrus trod the shore of +the Ægean Sea.</p> + +<p>The oldest civilisation, the oldest state grew up on +that quarter of the globe which seems least favourable +to the development of mankind. On either side of the +equator, Africa stretches out in huge land-locked +masses. A vast table-land occupies the whole south +of the continent, and in the north sinks down to a +plain more impassable even than the broad seas which +wash the coasts of Africa on the west, south, and east. +This plain—the bed of a dry sea—lies in the burning +sun without vegetation. Only where springs water +the thirsty soil do fruitful islands rise out of the +moving sand, the lonely waste of ravines, the craggy +ridges, and bald platforms of rock.</p> + +<p>As the sea nowhere indents the coasts of Africa with +deep bays, the rivers cannot excavate broad and +fruitful valleys, and provide means of access to the +interior. The high table-land is surrounded by a +steep rampart of mountains, which descend in terraces +to the coast, and here, almost without exception, leave +narrow strips of low and marshy land. Through the +barrier drawn around them by this rampart the rivers +must force their path in a violent course, in waterfalls +and rapids, in order to fall into the sea after a short, +and proportionately more sluggish course through the +narrow strip on the shore.</p> + +<p>The table-land, its rampart of mountains, and the +long lines of coast, are, with the exception of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +southern apex and the Alpine territory of Abyssinia +in the east, the dwelling-places of the black race—the +negro. However great the number of negro +nations and tribes, however much they differ in +physical form and in dialect—living as they do +beneath a vertical sun, in regions difficult of access—they +have never risen beyond the infancy of human +civilisation—a rude worship of gods. Wherever they +have not been powerfully affected by the introduction +of foreign elements, generation has followed generation +without remembrance or essential alteration.</p> + +<p>The north coast of Africa is of a different character +to the rest of the continent. While the western coast +looks to the broad Atlantic Ocean, and the waves +which break on the southern apex lead to the ice of +the pole, the north coast is separated from the neighbouring +shores by a basin of moderate extent. It is +a mountainous district which fills up the space between +the Sahara and the Mediterranean. Towards +the west the peaks of Atlas reach, even in +this climate, to the region of eternal snow; on the +east, towards the mouths of the Nile, the hills +gradually sink down, and the plain of Barca rises +little more than 1,000 feet above the sea level. +Numerous chains of hills, at one time pressing +close upon the sea, at another leaving more extensive +plains upon the coast, cover the northern edge, which +along the deep valleys of the mountain streams +exhibits that vigorous and luxuriant vegetation so +characteristic of Africa when not checked by want +of water, although even these fruitful valleys are +again in their turn broken by droughty, and therefore +bare, table-lands and depressions.</p> + +<p>On this northern coast, toward the Mediterranean, +opens the valley which, in extent of fruitful territory,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +is the largest in the whole continent. It occupies the +north-east corner of Africa, which is only separated +from Arabia by a narrow strip of sea, and carries its +gleaming waters through the wide space from the +subsidence of the table-land down to the coast, where +for almost its whole remaining breadth the continent +is filled up with the desert of Sahara.</p> + +<p>From the north-east spur of the table-land, out of +vast lakes (Ukerewe), fed from the glaciers and snows +of huge mountains lying under the equator, and passing +through the lower lake Mwutan, flows the western +arm of the Nile, the White Nile, Bahr-el-Abiad. +After bursting through the terraces of the mountain, +it reaches, at the foot, a woody morass, filled with +thickets of tamarisks and sycamores, of bamboo and +reeds and tall creepers, inhabited by the elephant +and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus and the crocodile, +the zebra and hyena, by antelopes and snakes. Then +the stream passes into broad savannas, covered here +and there with tropic forests, and while flowing +through a mountainous district of moderate elevation, +it unites with the eastern arm, the Blue Nile, Bahr-el-Azrak, +which, rising further to the east out of the +Abyssinian plateau, brings down a far smaller bulk of +water from the Alpine glades of the snowy mountain +Samen. Combined into one stream, these waters flow +through a broad expanse of rock and desert, covered +with conical stones of volcanic origin. The lines of +hills running parallel to the terraces of the mountain +rampart lie athwart the river; and through this barrier +it breaks in numerous cataracts. Only in the depressions +between them can the soil, refreshed with +water, support vegetation. Finally, at Syene the Nile +passes through the last cataract. Henceforward the +structure of the mountains is changed. A fissure in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +the rock about 750 miles long opens on the +Mediterranean; and through this the mighty river—at +the last cataract it is 3,000 feet in breadth—can +flow onward in undisturbed peace to the ocean.</p> + +<p>Out of this fissure the Nile has created a narrow +strip of fruitful soil—the valley is not more than three +or four hours in breadth on an average—which is +secured by the heights on the west from the moving +sand and the storms of the great desert, and is +separated by the mountain on the east from the +rocky crags, the desolate flats, and sandy dunes +which fill up the space between the valley of +the river and the Red Sea. To this valley the +mighty river not only gives a refreshing coolness +and moisture by the mass of its waters, it fertilises +and manures it from year to year by its overflow. +At the summer solstice, when the snow on the +peaks of the lofty mountains, in which the two arms +of the Nile take their rise, is melting, and the tropical +rains fall upon its upper course, the waters of the +river slowly and gradually rise. Towards the end of +July it passes over the banks and overflows the +whole valley as far as the enclosing lines of hills, +so that towards the end of September it stands +more than twenty feet above the lowest water level. +Falling as gradually as it rose after more than four +months it sinks back to the ordinary level. Wherever +the overflowing waters have covered the land, there +is left behind a fertilising mud or slime. This is +the soil which the two rivers before uniting have +washed from the upper hills. Carried down by the +stream, it is deposited by the gentle flow of the waters +on the surface of the valley. The refreshment of the +earth by the inundation, the fertilisation by this slime, +and the cooling of the air by the immense body of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +water, are the essential advantages which Egypt owes +to her river, and hence, even as early as Herodotus, +Egypt seemed to be the gift of the Nile. The watering +of the soil and the cooling of the air just in the +very hottest months of the year, are the more invaluable +because the blue and gleaming sky of the +upper valley is never darkened by rain clouds, while +the heat is severe, and the storms from the south-west +occasionally carry the sand and the dust over the +Libyan hills into the Nile. In the Delta, the region +along the lowest course of the Nile, showers occasionally +rise from the neighbouring sea; and through eight +months of the year the whole valley opening on the +Mediterranean is fanned by refreshing winds from +the north, which also facilitate navigation against +the stream.</p> + +<p>This river-valley, the like of which in nature and +formation is not to be found in the whole globe, +offered in its seclusion a peculiarly favoured spot. +It was a small green oasis of luxuriant fertility and +grateful coolness in the midst of boundless deserts. +The dwellers in a land whose soil was every year +newly manured by nature, which brought forth +abundantly almost without labour, must very soon +have abandoned a pastoral life for agriculture, and in +consequence have acquired fixed abodes and settled +possessions. But the yearly inundation compelled +them also at an early period to protect their flocks +from the water, to secure their habitations, to observe +the periods of the rising and falling of the stream. +The long duration of the overflow made it necessary to +provide for the support of man and beast. They had +to learn how to carry on their dealings with each other +upon the water, when the whole valley was still filled +with the river, and to mark out firmly the limits of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +plots, so that they might again take possession of them +after the inundation. In Nubia the cataracts stopped +the navigation of the river, and the lines of rock and +strips of desert made intercourse difficult, and confined +the life of the tribes within the limits of the native +valley to their separate possessions. In Egypt, within +the two lines of hills, land and river created no +hindrance. A region so concentrated could not but +carry the tribes beyond the limits of separate existence; +the very land forced them to live a life more in +common. There was only a slight natural distinction +between the more secluded upper valley and the lower +opening in the Delta about the mouths of the Nile; and +this could merely have a stimulating effect upon the +development of culture, without interfering in any +way with its unity. Nevertheless the community of +life in the valley of the Nile was not caused solely +by the nature of the land. The tribes of the deserts +around this long and narrow oasis must have had all +the more lively a sense of the charm of the favoured +valley owing to the difficulty with which they procured +their own subsistence. Against these plundering +neighbours, and their attempts to force themselves into +the valley of blessing and abundance, the inhabitants +of Egypt had to combine their forces. They needed +a strong centralized command, a warlike monarchy, +to which here, earlier than elsewhere, the patriarchal +government of the tribes would therefore give way.</p> + +<p>Egypt kept her inhabitants secluded within hard +and fast limits; beyond the hills began the desert. +With the increasing number of inhabitants the +attempt must have been made to set low-lying +marshy districts free from the excess of water, and +to make fruitful the higher parts of the valley beyond +the reach of the inundations by bringing the water<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +upon them. Experience quickly taught that the plot +produced the most abundant fruits on which the +inundation had continued longest, and consequently +had time to deposit the thickest layer of mud. Hence +the attempt was made to keep the water longer on +the soil by means of dykes. These objects, in regard +to which the interests of the several districts differed, +and which required the combination of large masses +of operatives to carry them out, must have made +the need of a supreme decisive and executive power +felt earlier in Egypt than in other lands.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Egypt found themselves surrounded +by a solemn landscape, before fixed and +unchanging forms and outlines, in the midst of +natural phenomena, recurring with invariable regularity +and always in the same succession. Such +surroundings and impressions must have stamped on +the young life of a ripening nation a settled, stern, +and unvarying character. When the original unity +and society of life, which comprises all members of the +family and in the tribe, has been broken through—when +at the beginning of their settled life some have +turned their attention to agriculture and cattle, others +to hunting and war, others again to the fulfilment of +religious duties—the sons are wont to carry on the +vocation of the fathers. This is the rule often in far +more advanced periods; and simpler conditions of life +compel the son to carry on the life of the father, in +whose occupation he has grown up. In such times +there is no mode of teaching and instruction but +through the family. In this way the tribes and the +nation part into separate circles, which carry on as an +inheritance the mode of life derived from their forefathers. +These divisions of occupation, of vocation, +and mode of life could be carried out earlier and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +with greater sharpness in Egypt than in other +lands.</p> + +<p>As life becomes more settled and developed, there +are always found families with an especial liking for +war. They are enriched by the spoil which is the +fruit of their bravery, and protect the agricultural and +pastoral part of their tribe from the attacks of +plunderers. Every nation gives willing honour to the +brave warriors among them, and gladly recognises the +superiority of a mode of life which puts life to +the risk over other occupations. And when, from +the early simple stage, in which every head of a +family approaches the gods with his offerings in trust +and confidence, religion has developed into a body of +usages and customs which must be performed and +followed out if any share is to be obtained in the +grace of the gods, the exact knowledge of these can +only be handed down from father to son. And if the +mass of the population gives honour to the warriors, +how much more readily will it bow down before those +who, by their prayers, libations, and offerings, can +bring them the fruits of the field and the blessing of +the gods—protection in this world and salvation in +the next! Moreover, if the families of warriors and +priests, filled with the conviction of their own higher +worth, disdain the occupations of the rest of the +people; if they are convinced that they are of a +better kind than the rest, that only from the noble +and good can the noble and good arise—that +better blood gives better feelings, and better birth +better men—then in this feeling, so natural to a +primitive era, they allow their occupation to be +shared only by those who belong to their race; they +take wives from their own class only, not from others; +they give their daughters in marriage to their own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +people only. Thus the various modes of life and orders +which naturally come into existence end in castes.</p> + +<p>The more fruitful the land of Egypt, the richer the +products of the soil, and the more frequent the necessity +of repelling the plundering inroads of the desert +tribes, the more rapidly did the distinction between +the agricultural and military orders spring up. And +the greater the pride with which the inhabitants of +this favoured land might and did look down upon the +miserable tribes of the desert, the more grateful were +the looks turned towards the gods, who had given +them so beautiful and productive a land in the midst +of the desert, who supplied them with water, fertilised +their soil, cooled the heat of the atmosphere and gave +them life and plenty, while all around them reigned +desolation and death. To these beneficent powers the +inhabitants of the valley of the Nile could not refuse +an earnest service of thanksgiving for blessings so rich +and so ceaselessly renewed; by their piety they had +also to provide that the gods would graciously preserve +these blessings to them. It is obvious that a +tone and feeling like this, arising in the population +from the very nature of the land, must have been in a +high degree conducive to the rise of a priestly order +in Egypt.</p> + +<p>Egypt had excellent natural boundaries. If the +forces of the land were once united in a single hand, +there could be no difficulty in repelling the tribes of +the desert. Thenceforward there would be little +reason to fear an enemy on this side of the boundary +hills. No rival power could arise in the neighbouring +deserts, and should any victorious state arise at a +distance, the deserts checked the advance of their +armies. It was much more probable that the united +forces of the river-valley should subjugate the tribes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +the surrounding desert. Hence the position of their +land allowed the inhabitants of the valley to develop +undisturbed. The culture once obtained could be +quietly transmitted to others, and constantly extended. +This circumstance, in connection with the domestic +peace of the country under a monarchy, allowed the +priesthood to extend their lore in unbroken tradition +from generation to generation, while quietly amassing +stores of knowledge; and with the increase of the +population all the hands not required for agriculture—and +in Egypt this claims but a small amount of +labour—had to devote themselves to trade and manufacture. +And even these arts were likely to attain +the greater excellence in so far as the artisans and +tillers of the ground were less disturbed by war and +military service. The more distinct the boundaries +of the land, the less to conquer and occupy outside +them, the more industrious, amid the growing population, +must have been the culture of the ground +and the irrigation of it, the more actively must the +artisans have pursued their trade, and industry must +have developed with a greater vigour as the number +of mouths requiring food increased.</p> + +<p>So far as our knowledge reaches, the northern +edge of Africa, like the valley of the Nile as far as +the marshes at the foot of the Abyssinian hills, was +inhabited by nations who in colour, language, and +customs were sharply distinguished from the negro. +These nations belong to the whites: their languages +were most closely allied to the Semitic.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> From this, +and from their physical peculiarities, the conclusion +has been drawn that these nations at some time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +migrated from Asia to the soil of Africa. They +formed a vast family, whose dialects still continue +in the language of the Berbers. Assisted by the +favourable conditions of their land, the tribe which +settled on the Lower Nile quickly left their kinsmen +far behind. Indeed the latter hardly rose above a +pastoral life. The descendants of these old inhabitants +of the valley of the Nile, in spite of the +numerous layers which the course of centuries has +subsequently laid upon the soil of the land, still +form the larger part of the population of Egypt, +and the ancient language is preserved in the dialect +of the Copts.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 75 ff.; Ebers, "Ægypten and die Bücher +Moses," p. 43; Renan ("Histoire générale et système comparé des +langues Sémitiques") will not admit this close connection.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Brugsch ("Histoire d'Egypte," pp. 5, 6) explains the name Egypt by +<i>ha-ka-ptah</i>, <i>i. e.</i> "the precinct of Ptah." As Ptah was more especially +the god of Memphis, this name would have come from Memphis. The +attempt has been repeatedly made to derive the civilisation of Egypt +from Ethiopia and Meroe. But the problem of the origin of a given +civilisation is not solved by removing it from the locality where it exists +in full bloom to another, and as a rule more unknown, district. In the +case before us this assumption is met by the peculiar difficulty, that the +culture of Egypt is influenced essentially by the nature of the land, and +therefore can hardly have had an external origin. It cannot be removed +from a highly favoured locality into a district extremely hot, and fruitful +only in detached oases, without making the explanation of its origin much +more difficult. Moreover, the lower valley of the Nile has always ruled +over the upper: even in mediæval and modern times. The inscriptions +of Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 <small>B.C.</small>), mention the king of Meroe +(Miluhhi); those of Sennacherib (705-681 <small>B.C.</small>) tell us, "The kings of +Egypt have summoned the archers, the chariots, the horses of the king of +Miluhhi." The inscriptions of Esarhaddon (681-668 <small>B.C.</small>) speak of the +"King of Egypt and Miluhhi," whom they also name "King of Egypt +and Cush;" and the successor of Esarhaddon directed his first campaign +against "Tarku" (Thirhaka) "of Egypt and Miluhhi." The word Meroe, +therefore, as the name of a kingdom lying above Egypt on the Nile, must +have been in use in Syria, even in the eighth century <small>B.C.</small> Hence +the Greeks denote by this name an island, and also a city of the Upper +Nile. According to Herodotus (2, 29) the great city Meroe, "which +ought to be the chief city of the rest of the Ethiopians" (<i>i. e.</i> of those +of whom the Egyptians were not the immediate neighbours), was forty +days' journey and twelve days' sail (<i>i. e.</i> over 15,000 stadia) above Syene. +Later authorities, Eratosthenes, Artemidorus, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy +reduce the distance by nearly one-half; they regard the distance between +Meroe and Syene as nearly equal to the distance from Syene to Alexandria, +and fix the whole distance from Alexandria to Meroe at 10,000 to 12,000 +stadia. As the town and island of Meroe must be south of the junction +of the Astaboras (Atbara), (Strabo, p. 786), we must look for the island +between the Atbara and the Blue Nile, and for the city in the ruins at +the modern Begerauieh. Yet the chief town of the kingdom of Meroe, +when it takes an active part in history, is not Begerauieh. King +Thirhaka's residence lay near the modern Meraui under Mount Barkal. +The name in inscriptions is Neb, and, consequently, in Greek and Latin +Napata. Even under the Sesurtesen and Amenemha, Egypt ruled over +Nubia as far as Semne and Kumna, under Amenophis III. as far as +Soleb, and under Ramses II. as far as Mt. Barkal. The oldest ruins at +this spot belong to a temple dedicated by this king to Ammon (Lepsius, +"Reisebriefe," s. 238); next come the ruins of the buildings of Thirhaka, +which differ as little from Egyptian buildings as those which he and his +two Ethiopian predecessors erected in Egypt. Moreover, the later ruins +found at Napata, especially some twenty small pyramids, are feeble imitations +of Egyptian art. The same character of imitation is stamped upon +the monuments of Begerauieh, though here it is mingled with foreign +elements. This place, further removed from Egypt, and therefore more +secure, was beyond doubt the residence of the kings of Meroe, at least +from the time of Cambyses, and it was named after the country. Herodotus +points out that Zeus and Dionysus, <i>i. e.</i> Osiris, were worshipped +here, and that the oracle of Zeus, <i>i. e.</i> of Ammon, extended its authority +over the Ethiopians: the further accounts which Diodorus preserves of this +priesthood give a poor idea of their cultivation (3, 3 ff. Strabo, pp. 827, +828). At the time of the second Ptolemy, this priesthood was destroyed +by the King, Ergamenes, whose name (Arkamen) Lepsius has discovered +on ruins at Mt. Barkal, as well as Begerauieh, and an independent monarchy +was established. Hence we must entirely give up the idea of deriving the +supposed supremacy of the priesthood in Egypt, a supremacy which never +existed here, from the priesthood formed at Begerauieh after the time of +Thirhaka and Psammetichus (in the days of Psammetichus, Herodotus +tells us that a king of the Ethiopians received strangers without an oracle, +and gave them land, 2, 30); that is, in the sixth century <small>B.C.</small>, which continued +to exist till 250 <small>B.C.</small> Still less reason is there to suppose that +the so-called Indian supremacy of the priesthood came through Meroe +into Egypt. Rather we may feel ourselves justified in assuming that the +elements of civilisation which took root on the middle Nile passed from +Egypt to that district. In the inscriptions of Begerauieh the name Meroe +occurs as Meru, and Merua, <i>i. e.</i> "White rock"; Lepsius, <i>l. c.</i> 205-232. +As the banks of the Nile, here and also at Mt. Barkal, consist of whitish-yellow +chalk rocks, the name of the land and its southern metropolis, of +which the existence since the sixth century <small>B.C.</small> is demonstrated, may +have been named from this peculiarity of the land.</p></div> +</div> + + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY<br /> +OF THE NILE.</h3> + + +<p>In the eighteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, according to their +reckoning, the tradition of the Hebrews presents us +with a complete picture of court and civic life in the +valley of the Nile, and it tells us of the building of +cities in the east of the Delta, which, according to the +same computation, must have been founded about the +year 1550 <small>B.C.</small> The Homeric poems contain accounts +of the land of Ægyptus, of the fair-flowing Zeus-born +river of the same name, of the very beautiful fields and +cities of Egypt, of princes who fought from their +chariots, and finally of "Egyptian Thebes, where in the +palaces lie the greatest treasures; a city with a hundred +gates, from each of which go forth two hundred men +with horses and chariots." They also add "that the +fruitful earth bears abundance of drugs in Egypt, +some mingled for good, others for evil, and there every +one is a physician and has acquaintance with men; +they are all sprung from the god of healing."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>According to the account given by the Greeks +the Egyptians boasted to be the oldest of mankind, +and to possess the most ancient traditions.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +priests believed that they could compute the history +of Egypt by thousands of years. When Herodotus +was in Egypt about the middle of the fifth century +<small>B.C.</small>, the priests at Thebes read to him from a +book the names of 331 kings who had reigned from +Menes, the first ruler of Egypt, and the founder of +Memphis, down to Moeris inclusive; among these +were eighteen Ethiopians, and one queen; the rest +were Egyptians. After Moeris came Sesostris, Pheron, +Proteus, Rhampsinitus, Cheops and Chephren, Mycerinus, +Asychis, Anysis, Sabakon, and Sethos, so that +from Menes to Sethos 341 kings had reigned over +Egypt in as many generations. Herodotus remarks +that the priests assured him that they had an accurate +knowledge of what they said, for the years were +always enumerated and put down. To convince him +they carried him into the great temple at Thebes +and showed him there 345 wooden colossi of the chief +priests who had presided over the temple through as +many generations, in regular succession from father to +son; for every chief priest placed his statue here +during his own life-time. Before these kings and +chief priests the gods had ruled over Egypt; first +the Eight Gods, then the Twelve, then Osiris the +Greek Dionysus, after him Typhon, and, last of all, +Horus. From the time of King Amasis (570-526 +<small>B.C.</small>) to the time of Osiris 15,000 years had passed, +but from the time of the Twelve Gods to Amasis +17,000 years.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Herodotus does not conceal the doubts raised in his +mind by the high antiquity claimed in these accounts +by the priests. He found an especial difficulty in +the fact that Dionysus Osiris, who, according to his +computation, was born 1,600 years at the most before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +his own time (<i>i. e.</i> about 2050 <small>B.C.</small>), must have lived +more than 15,000 years earlier, according to the assertion +of the Egyptians. By their account 341 kings +reigned from Menes to Sethos; and on this basis +Herodotus reckoned the duration and commencement +of the Egyptian kingdom. He took 33⅓ years as the +length of a generation, and thus Menes must have +begun to reign 340 generations, or 11,340 years +before the accession of Sethos. Further, Herodotus +placed over 150 years between the accession of Sethos +and the death of Amasis, and thus according to his +data we get the enormous total of 11,500 years for +the duration of the Egyptian kingdom from Menes +till its overthrow by the Persians. Menes therefore +must have ascended the throne before the year +12000 <small>B.C.</small>; the rule of Osiris commenced 15500 <small>B.C.</small>; +and that of the Twelve Gods 17500 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>If we leave the gods out of the question, and reduce +the length of a generation, which Herodotus has put +too high, to its real average of twenty-five years, +the 340 generations with those of Sethos, Psammetichus, +Necho, Psammetichus II., Apries, and Amasis, +make up 8,650 years, and since the Persians took +Egypt in 525 <small>B.C.</small>, the beginning of the reign of +Menes still falls in the year 9175 <small>B.C.</small> This incredible +fact is not made more credible because Plato represents +an Egyptian priest asserting to Solon that the annals +of Sais reached back 8,000 years; or speaks in +the "Laws" of works of Egyptian art, ten thousand +years old.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>Four hundred years after Herodotus, Diodorus +travelled to Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> He tells that, according to some +fabulous accounts, gods and heroes first ruled over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +Egypt for something less than 18,000 years. The last +of these was Horus, the son of Isis. After these came +470 native kings, of whom the first was Menes, before +the time of the Macedonian and Persian rule, and also +four Ethiopian kings and five queens. The Ethiopians +did not immediately succeed each other, but at intervals, +and their united reigns amounted to a little less +than thirty-six years. "Of all these kings the priests +have sketches in their holy books, handed down +through successive generations from extreme antiquity, +showing how tall each king was, what he +was like, and what he accomplished in his reign." If +we place the reign of Menes 479 generations before +Cambyses, this computation, on the reckoning of +Herodotus, would place the accession of Menes in +the year 16492 <small>B.C.</small>; taking a shorter average length +for the generations, we may bring it to the year 12500 +<small>B.C.</small> But Diodorus shows from other accounts that +this mode of computation is inadmissible. He tells +us that the priests of Egypt numbered about 23,000<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +years from the reign of Helius or Hephæstus, who, +according to other priests, was the first of the gods +to reign,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> till the entrance of Alexander into Asia +(334 <small>B.C.</small>). If of this total we allow about 18,000 +years to the gods, the accession of Menes would have +to be placed about the year 5300 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> But as Diodorus +also says that something less than 5,000 years +had elapsed since the first human king to his arrival +in Egypt, Menes' reign would fall about the year +5000 <small>B.C.</small> Diodorus fixes the accession of this king +even more closely when he remarks, in a third passage, +that the Egyptians assured him that, "for more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +4,700 years, kings, mostly natives, had ruled, and the +land had prospered greatly under them."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> With this +agrees the further account given by Diodorus, that +according to some the largest pyramid was built 3,400 +years before his time. According to this Menes cannot +be carried back further than 4,800 years <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>If Menes founded the kingdom of Egypt 4,800 +years <small>B.C.</small>, it continued for 4,275 years under native +kings; and if in this period 346 kings ascended the +throne, as Herodotus says, or 479, as Diodorus, the +average duration of each reign would be in the first +case more than twelve years, in the second less than +nine, which contradicts all credible history. The +lowest average of oriental reigns is fifteen years.</p> + +<p>Still, from these accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus +it is clear that the priests of Egypt possessed lists of +the kings in long series, and that, according to their +view, gods and demigods had ruled over Egypt for +thousands of years before the earliest of these kings. +After Greek princes had ascended the throne of the +Pharaohs, and Egypt with its monuments and +writings was opened to the research of the Greeks, +Eratosthenes, who was the head of the library at +Alexandria in the second half of the third century +<small>B.C.</small>, studied the history of these old kings—at +"the royal request," as Georgius Syncellus tells +us—in the old annals and lists of the Egyptians, and +transcribed these lists in the Hellenic language.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> This +compilation of Eratosthenes contained the names and +reigns of thirty-eight kings of Thebes. Syncellus +repeats the list, and adds: "Here ended the rule of +the thirty-eight kings who were called Theban in +Egypt, whose names Eratosthenes collected out of +the sacred books of Thebes and translated into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +Hellenic language. The names of the fifty-three +Theban kings who followed these have been also +preserved by Apollodorus; but we consider it superfluous +to add them, for even the list of the first is of +no use."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Thus the researches of the Alexandrine +Greeks had brought together a list of ninety-one kings, +ninety successors of Menes, out of the writings of +the priests of Thebes. As early as the time of +Eratosthenes the Egyptians assisted the researches +of the Greeks. About the middle of the third century +<small>B.C.</small>, that is, in the time of the second and third +Ptolemy, an Egyptian named Manetho (<i>Ma-n-thoth</i> = +"loved by Thoth"), of Sebennytus, and apparently +scribe to the temple at Thebes,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> composed in Greek +a work on the history of Egypt in three books. +"Obviously possessed of Hellenic culture"—so we find +it in Josephus—"Manetho wrote the history of his +country in Greek, translating it, as he tells us, +from the sacred writings; he undertook to interpret +Egyptian history from the sacred writings."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> This +work of Manetho was lost at an early period; all +that remains is the list of the dynasties, a third part +of the names of the kings, and a few fragments; and +even these remnants we possess only in excerpts by a +second or third hand. Manetho begins his history of +Egypt with the rule of the gods. First came Ptah, +the creative god of light, and the great gods, then the +demigods, and Manes. After these had ruled over +Egypt for 24,857 Egyptian years, according to the +excerpt of Africanus, that is for 24,820 Julian years, +the rule of human kings begins with Menes, and these +continued through thirty dynasties for 5,366 years. +As Manetho closes his list of the kings of Egypt with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +the last year of Nectanebos, who rebelled against +Artaxerxes Ochus—<i>i. e.</i> with the year 340 <small>B.C.</small>—Menes +must have founded the kingdom in the year 5706 <small>B.C.</small>, +or rather, if we reduce the Egyptian years of Manetho's +reckoning to Julian years, in the year 5702 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +This statement carries us back to a far less remote +antiquity than the computation of the date of Menes +by 346 generations previous to Cambyses; on the +other hand, it goes 900 years higher than the date +which we deduced from Diodorus.</p> + +<p>What amount of authority should be ascribed to +the lists of Manetho? Did the priests really possess +sketches of kings and accounts of their reigns reaching +back more than 5,000 years? In order to believe this, +must we not allow that at such a remote time as the +reign of Menes, or soon after it, writing was known and +in use in Egypt? And granting this, must not the first +beginning of culture in Egypt be carried back at least +500 years before Menes? Moreover, the lists do not +correspond with the number of the kings given by +Herodotus, or by Diodorus. Herodotus, as we said, +put 346 generations before the time of Cambyses, +Diodorus gave 479 kings before the same date. The +excerpt of Africanus from Manetho, even if we substitute +the smaller numbers given in the excerpt of +Eusebius in all the dynasties, of which only the total +sum of the rulers is stated, still gives us 388 kings +from Menes to Cambyses.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> If these discrepancies +awaken the suspicion that the number and the succession +of the kings was not agreed upon even by the +priests themselves, the suspicion is increased by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +fact that the lists do not tally in the various excerpts in +which they have come down to us. What weight can be +given to a list which, in the excerpt from Africanus, +allows 953 years (or 802 at the least) to the rule of the +Hyksos, and in the excerpt of Eusebius allows 103 +years, and again 511 years in the excerpt of Josephus? +Still greater discrepancies appear if we compare the +list of Eratosthenes with the names and numbers +handed down to us from Manetho's work. Both lists +begin with Menes; both allow him a reign of sixty-two +years; but Eratosthenes describes his thirty-eight +kings as of Theban origin or race, while in Manetho +the first Theban dynasty began to reign 2,240 years +after Menes.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> Nevertheless the names of the first +three or four rulers in Eratosthenes agree with those +in Manetho. Then the coincidence breaks off till the +fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth names in Eratosthenes, +to which corresponding names are found in +Manetho's list, but in the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, +and thirtieth places; and from this point to +the end of the list of Eratosthenes there are only two +or three names to which corresponding names are +found in Manetho, and these occur at far greater +intervals in the series. The last name in Eratosthenes +nearly corresponds to the name of the king, in +Manetho, under whom the invasion of the Hyksos +took place. If, therefore, we assume that the list of +Eratosthenes was intended to enumerate the kings +who ruled over Egypt to this date, we find thirty-eight +kings who must have reigned through 1076 years; +and, as parallel to these, we find in Manetho fourteen +dynasties with at least 241 kings, occupying a period +of 3,084 years.</p> + +<p>Scarcely less striking are the contradictions in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +monuments themselves. In the temple of Ammon +at Karnak, which was extended on a magnificent +scale by Tuthmosis III. (1591-1565 <small>B.C.</small>),<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> the king +is delineated twice in a colossal form on the back wall +of a chamber. Between the two pictures sit sixty-four +kings in four rows one over the other. The +inscription, "A royal offering for the kings of both +Egypts," as well as the position of Tuthmosis, shows +that he is offering prayer and sacrifice to his +predecessors in the kingdom. Of these sixty-four +kings, three are the immediate predecessors of +Tuthmosis, Tuthmosis I., II., and Amosis. Before +Amosis this table puts fifty-seven kings; the name of +Menes is wanting; but in Manetho's list there are +nevertheless no fewer than 284 kings,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> from Menes to +Amosis, with whom, in the excerpt of Africanus, the +eighteenth dynasty begins. In the great temple built +by Sethos I. (1439-1388, <small>B.C.</small>) at Abydus in honour +of Osiris, this prince, with his son Ramses, may +be seen on the wall of a passage offering prayer +and incense to his predecessors in the kingdom. +There are seventy-six shields with names, beginning +with the shield of Menes. The last is the shield +of Sethos, who in this way is represented as offering +prayer to himself, among the rest. Down to +Amenemha IV., the close of the twelfth dynasty +(2179-2171 <small>B.C.</small>), there reigned, according to +Manetho's list 104 kings, but the table of Sethos +gives sixty-five shields for the interval from Menes to +Amenemha IV. From this king to Sethos, the first +prince of the nineteenth dynasty, Manetho's list gives +193 kings, excluding the shepherd kings, whereas the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +table of Sethos shows only ten shields for this +interval.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Nothing in the way of explanation is to +be obtained from the monuments of this kind +belonging to the time of Ramses II. (1388-1322 <small>B.C.</small>) +On the wall of the portico between the first and second +court of the Ramesseum, the great temple built by +Ramses II. at Thebes, on the left bank of the Nile, there +is a picture in which the statues of thirteen predecessors +in the kingdom are carried in procession before the king. +There are eleven kings up to Amosis; before him is +the figure of Mentuophis; then Menes. In the little +temple built by Ramses II. at Abydus in honour of +Osiris, there is a tablet, on which Ramses is represented +offering adoration to the manes of his +predecessors. On this we can make out fifty shields, +but only about thirty are sufficiently uninjured to be +legible; so far as we can tell this table is only a +repetition of the table of Sethos in the great temple +of Abydus. A third series of the kings of this period +has been discovered in the tombs at Sakkarah. In +the tomb of Tunari, the kings' scribe and architect, +there is a representation of the sacrifice of Ramses II. +for the deceased kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. +Here we find fifty-seven shields; immediately before +Ramses II. is Sethos, Ramses I., and Horus, then six +illegible names; and before these Amosis. Before +Amosis are forty-six shields, of which the first can +perhaps be compared with the king mentioned in the +sixth place after Menes in Manetho's list.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>The variations of these tables from the lists may +be explained by assuming that it depended on the +particular view and peculiar object of the kings who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +erected these monuments, which of their predecessors +they wished to honour, and which they wished to +exclude. But even a manuscript list of kings, which +has come down to us, exhibits numerous and very +considerable variations from Manetho's lists. This +list is a papyrus, now in Turin, supposed to belong to +the period 1500-1000 <small>B.C.</small> It begins with the rule +of the gods; then follow the names of the kings, +with the length of their reigns in years, months, and +days, down to the time of the Tuthmosis; and thus +it includes the first seventeen dynasties of Manetho's +list. It has been much damaged, and therefore we +can only discover that about 240 names were given, +of which, however, about 100 are entirely gone; and +of the others the lesser half at least is hardly legible. +As has been remarked, Manetho numbers at least +284 kings to the eighteenth dynasty. Moreover, the +papyrus does not agree with Manetho in the division +of the dynasties; at certain places, which do not +coincide with the sections of Manetho, totals are +given of the preceding reigns. The first king after +the gods is Mena (Menes), but of the names which +follow only a few agree with those in Manetho, and a +few more with those of the tables of Karnak, Abydus, +and Sakkarah.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> But here also the same names occupy +different places in the series.</p> + +<p>If in addition to all these variations and discrepancies +we add the fact that even in the contemporary +monuments and inscriptions which have come down +to us there is no lack of contradictions to Manetho's +statements—if too these monuments have not been +erected or preserved in sufficient continuity, nor are +of a sufficiently ample kind, to form an adequate check +upon the papyrus of Turin, or the tables of kings or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +the list of Manetho—we must give up the hope of +ascertaining the antiquity and course of Egyptian +history on such data. One thing only comes out clear +and irrefragable from the tables of Karnak, Abydus, +and Sakkarah, no less than the Turin papyrus. Long +before Herodotus was in Egypt, long before Manetho +wrote his Egyptian history, in the fifteenth century +<small>B.C.</small> Menes was considered the first king of Egypt. +Even then lists of the kings were in existence, and +the priests had made a sketch of the history of their +land, in which the rule of the gods preceded the rule +of human kings.</p> + +<p>Modern research has attempted in various ways to +find the key to the puzzle of these long and confused +series of kings made by the Egyptian priests. +Assuming that the names of the kings and the length +of their reigns, and the number of reigns belonging +to each dynasty, has been handed down correctly by +Manetho, but that some of these dynasties were +contemporaneous, the attempt has been made to +give such a selection from the dynasties of Manetho +as would supply a continuous thread for Egyptian +history. Thus from the dynasties expressly marked +as Memphitic, or Theban, a series may be formed +which shortens the calculation of Manetho by at least +1,000 years. We might proceed further in this +direction, and reduce Manetho's list by 2,000 or +3,000 years. According to the separate items in the +excerpts preserved, Manetho's thirty dynasties include +a series of 5,366 Egyptian years (from the year 5702 +to the year 340 <small>B.C.</small>); nevertheless, Syncellus, in a +passage of his Chronology, has observed that the +whole period of history treated by Manetho in his +three books covered 3,555 years.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> This observation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +has been used to prove that Manetho himself arranged +several dynasties contemporaneously; and thus, by +taking the whole total of years given by Syncellus +as a basis, the year 3892 <small>B.C.</small> has been fixed as +the first year of the reign of Menes. No doubt +a selection may be made from the dynasties of +Manetho in such a way that the sum total of the +reigns included in it will carry us no farther back +than this year.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> But it is clear from the accounts +of Herodotus and Diodorus that the series of kings +made by the Egyptian priests were strictly successive; +and this fact is abundantly confirmed by the Turin +papyrus and the excerpts preserved from Manetho +himself. The 3,555 years which Syncellus brings +forward cannot, in the face of his own excerpt, be +taken as a number really derived from Manetho, and +with this number all the calculations founded upon it +fall to the ground.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>A second path, which has lately been struck out +for the reduction of Manetho's dynasties, is based +upon the list of Eratosthenes. The thirty-eight +kings enumerated in this list are placed beside the +first fourteen dynasties of Manetho. It is assumed +that only the names quoted in Eratosthenes are the +names of real monarchs, and that we must look for +similar names in the list of Manetho. By this assumption, +it is true, we are compelled to set aside several +of Manetho's dynasties, and even to throw away the +greater part of the kings of the dynasties which are +allowed to count in the series.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> But even when we have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +overcome all the difficulties in the way of this system, +we are still without the means to define accurately +the duration of the rule of the alien kings, which, as +has been already remarked, according to the various +excerpts from the list of Manetho, continued 953, or +511, or 103 years; nor is there any fixed point +immediately before the alien monarchy to enable us to +succeed in establishing the antiquity and commencement +of the Egyptian series of kings.</p> + +<p>All attempts to arrive at the antiquity of the +civilisation and history of Egypt by these means are the +more doubtful, because in Egypt there is no fixed era +to form a basis for calculation. The time is reckoned +by the reigns of the kings. In such a case even the +most cautious inquiry of the priests could hardly have +arrived at a satisfactory chronology for the oldest +period. Though they had before them far more +numerous monuments than we have, and though the +lists of the various dominant families began to be +kept at a very early period, it was no longer possible +at the time when the lists of the Turin papyrus were +made out, to discover in what order the families +came, or which ruled contemporaneously before the +time of the alien kings. The mere arrangement of our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>materials in the order of succession cannot fail to give +an entirely false picture of the history of Egypt, while +on the other hand the national pride of the Egyptians, +and the vanity of the priests, found a great satisfaction +in exaggerating the antiquity of their history by such +enumerations, even where it was known that any +families of kings were contemporaneous. With what +pride and complacency would they exhibit this endless +list of kings to the travelling strangers from Greece!</p> + +<p>Besides the want of a fixed era, and the insufficient +knowledge of the ancient period, and of the alien +monarchy—besides the motives of national vanity, +there was another remarkable circumstance connected +with the priests of Egypt which was calculated to +lead them far away from historical truth. The +Egyptians measured time by a solar year of 360 days, +divided into twelve months of thirty days. It was +early observed that this year did not correspond to +the sun's orbit; and therefore five additional days +were added. The decisive event of the Egyptian year +was the inundation. The Nile began to rise at the +time of the summer solstice, and was coincident with +the rising of the Dog-star (Sothis), the brightest +star in the Egyptian sky. The Dog-star proclaimed +the approach of the inundation and the new fertilization +of the soil, and by proclaiming caused it. Thus +to the Egyptians this star Sothis was "the Lady of the +Beginning." The rising of the star denoted the new +year; which therefore must have begun on the 20th +July, the first of Thoth in the Egyptian calendar. +But since, in the Egyptian year, a quarter of a day +was wanting, in spite of the additional five years, to +make up the true astronomical year, the beginning of +every fourth year must have been a day in advance of +the true year, and the seasons, of which the Egyptians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +made three of four months each, the months, and the +festivals anticipated more and more the true time of +the year. This advance could not have escaped the +priests; they must soon have observed that a period +of 1,461 Egyptian years must elapse in order to +allow the Egyptian year to coincide with astronomical +time. For in 1,460 Egyptian years the +additional quarter of a day in the astronomical year +would amount to 365 whole days—<i>i. e.</i> to an Egyptian +year; and at the end of this year the beginning of +the next was again coincident with the rising of the +Dog-star, as seen from Lower Egypt, and the commencement +of the inundation. Thus in a period of +1,461 years the year was again brought to its true +beginning.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Since the fruitfulness and life of the +Egyptian land depended on the inundation, and the +inundation began with the rising of the Dog-star, the +history of Egypt must also have begun with a similar +rising. If after 1,461 Egyptian years the rising of +the Dog-star again coincided with the beginning of the +civic year, the priests would regard this restoration of +the natural order as the completion of a great cycle of +events. The Dog-star brought the inundation, and with +it the fruits and life of Egypt. It was the awakener of +life. It must therefore have brought life to the world +also; time must have begun with the rising of Sirius. +Porphyrius tells us that to the Egyptians the rising of +the Dog-star was the beginning of the world.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Hence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +the periods of the world must proceed according to a +number of periods fixed by the Dog-star. It seems that +the priests comprised the whole duration of the world +in twenty-five Sothis periods, <i>i. e.</i> in 36,525 Egyptian +years. Regarded in this light, the Sothis periods of +the priests of Egypt must lead to a cyclic treatment of +their history, to which also the want of any definite +era was forcing them, while the antiquity and number +of the lists of kings offered abundant material for it. +The history of Egypt must comprise a definite number +of Sothis periods. It was known that in the fourteenth +century <small>B.C.</small> such a period ended, and a new +one commenced; the difficulty was to fill up two or +three periods anterior to this. Before the Sothis period +of the kings, the gods had ruled over Egypt, to whom, +therefore, a number of Sothis cycles, naturally more +extensive than those given to the rule of men, was +allotted. Thus the priests of Thebes were able to tell +Herodotus that, from the time when the Twelve Gods +ruled over Egypt, down to the days of King Amosis, +17,000 years had passed; that from Menes, down to +Sethos, 341 kings ruled in succession over Egypt, and +that in this space of time the sun had four times risen +in an unusual way—it had twice risen where it then +set, and had twice set where it then rose; and nothing +in Egypt had been changed by this, either in the gifts +of the earth or the river, in sickness or in mortality.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +This change of the rising and setting of the sun is +nothing more than the symbolical astrology of the +priests, who must have expressed the completion of +the movable solar year by the opposite quarters of +the sky; and it means no more than that two Sothis +periods had elapsed between Menes and Sethos; but +to Herodotus the statement as given naturally +appeared quite incredible.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> What the priests told +Herodotus, Manetho, following far older authorities, +had already fixed in a systematic form before +Diodorus found that the gods ruled 18,000 years, +and the human kings had begun to reign 4,700 years +before his arrival in Egypt. To the gods and demigods +Manetho allows twelve Sothis periods, <i>i. e.</i> +17,520 Julian years. Then follows the history of +the men, the beginning of which Manetho places in +the commencement of that period of the Dog-star which +begins with the year 5702 <small>B.C.</small> From this point the +series of kings runs through three complete Sothis +periods down to Menephta; in the fourth period +Manetho closed the lists of his thirty dynasties with +the last native ruler in 340 <small>B.C.</small>, the 984th year of +the fourth Sothis period of the human kings. Thus +it would be possible to make the scheme clear on +which the priests of Egypt dealt with the history of +their land, and the lists of Manetho would then lay +claim to complete historical credibility for the ancient +periods in isolated items, though certainly not in +their combination as a whole.</p> + +<p>With this result before us the only course open is +to seek for external evidence, and attempt to ascertain +the antiquity of the civilisation of Egypt independently +of the priests and their traditions. The first +fixed point in Egyptian chronology is given by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +campaign of Pharaoh Sisak against Judah and +Jerusalem. Sisak caused a sketch of his enterprise to +be delineated on the wall of a structure erected by him +in the temple at Karnak. According to Manetho's +list, Sisak (Sesonchis), the first ruler of his twenty-second +dynasty, begins his reign in the year 934 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> +But the chronology of the Hebrews, which from the +establishment of the monarchy downwards coincides +within a few insignificant variations with the Assyrian +records, proves that Sisak must have been king in the +first half of the tenth century <small>B.C.</small> The campaign +against Judah falls in the middle of this century. +From Sisak to the expulsion of the Hyksos there was +an interval of at least 500 years, as we may maintain +approximately from the names of kings and their +reigns recorded on monuments. If therefore we +accept the excerpt from Manetho's history given in +Josephus (and that excerpt was made precisely for this +period, and has come down to us in the best shape), +and allow 511 years for the reign of the Hyksos, we +arrive at the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small> as the end of the old +monarchy. From this monarchy numerous monuments +have come down to us belonging to the +Amenemha, and Sesurtesen, the twelfth dynasty of +Manetho; and again to the time preceding these +princes belong the greatest monuments in Egypt, the +pyramids of Memphis, which, according to Manetho's +list, are the work of the fourth dynasty. These +pyramids therefore may have been built about the +year 2500 <small>B.C.</small> The plan and execution of these +monuments presuppose a very long practice in the +treatment and preparation of materials; the size, +permanence, and solidity of the construction were +impossible without great experience in the use of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +stone; and their massive form requires an acquaintance +with the principles of architecture which can +only be obtained in the course of centuries. And +independently of the advanced state of architecture +exhibited by these monuments at the first sight, +their erection is a proof of a condition of social and +civic life far removed from primitive tribal communities. +So long as tribes few in number and +isolated from each other possessed the valley of the +Nile, under the rule of their tribal chiefs, such structures +were impossible. They presuppose a settled +population, accustomed to work, and skilled in it. +And more than this. The whole population could +not any longer be occupied in agricultural work; +there must have been a considerable amount of superfluous +labour, living upon the productions obtained +from the earth by others. Such structures required +the united force of many thousands, the continued +efforts of long years. And as the use of complex +machinery for moving and raising the heavy +materials was unknown to the Egyptians, and remained +unknown, as we see from the monuments, +a still greater force of men and beasts of draught +were necessary to move such huge squares and blocks +by means of a simple lever and rollers. Finally, the +combination and continued employment of such forces +presupposes that society has been subordinated to a +superior direction and power, which could apply +those forces as it chose; in a word, it presupposes +an economical, political, and technical civilisation, +removed by at least 500 years from pastoral life and +patriarchal rule. If therefore we may assume that the +great pyramids were erected about the year 2500 <small>B.C.</small>, +the beginning of higher civilisation in the valley of the +Nile must not be placed later than the year 3000 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span><small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>This assumption is confirmed by the fact that the +oldest monuments of Egypt—and they are also the +oldest in the world—exhibit the Egyptians in possession +of the art of writing. All writing proceeds from +pictures. The writing of the Egyptians and Babylonians, +like that of the Chinese, Mexicans, and the +tribes of North America, was in the first instance no +more than speaking pictures. The Egyptians engraved +on the stone of their rocks pictures of the objects and +events of which they wished to preserve the remembrance. +As this use of pictures to assist the memory +became more common and more regular, from external +no less than internal reasons, it quickly acquired certain +abbreviations and combinations. The frequent +repetition of a picture led to its abbreviation. The +picture of a house dwindled into a square; water is +not so much sketched as indicated by waved lines; +instead of a forest we have the outline of a tree—in +Egypt we find the sycamore, the most common tree +in the country. Thus from actual imitative pictures +we arrive at indicatory pictures. But how could the +various kinds of fluid, for instance, be represented +in these indicatory pictures? The three waved lines +indicating water were retained, but beside them was +sketched a wine-jar or water-pot, and thus the desired +end was attained. By adding the picture of a god to +the square, a temple was distinguished from a house. +By such means the objects of the visible world could +be reproduced in pictures more or less abbreviated. +Even the actions and conditions of men which do +not come immediately under the eye could be represented +in this abbreviated metaphorical manner. +Giving could be represented by an outstretched arm +with a loaf; opening, by a door; going, by a road +planted with trees; travelling, by a walking bird;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +battle, by an arm equipped with shield and lance; +binding and fastening, by a coiled rope; destruction, +by a prostrate man. It was more difficult to represent +conditions which do not show themselves to the +eye, as, for instance, hunger and thirst. To express +thirst the Egyptians chose the symbol of water and +a calf running to it; hunger they represented by a +hand conveyed to the mouth, and this was also the +symbol of eating. But the most difficult task for +this picture-writing was the description of objects +transcending sense, and abstract ideas. For the gods, +it is true, popular notions and the fancy of the priests +had supplied fixed forms which only required to be +abbreviated for the picture-writing. The picture of +the sky-goddess served as a symbol for the sky. +The Egyptians regarded the sky as arched over the +earth; the feet of the goddess rested on one extremity, +and her hands on the other. Instead of the complete +figure of the goddess in this arched attitude, they +drew a line of a similar kind, and this was the +abbreviated picture of the sky. If the sun or a star +was combined with this line, the picture represented +the day and the night. But the abstract ideas of +law and justice, truth, protection, good, evil, life, &c., +could only be represented in this picture-writing by +sensuous images. In Egypt power was represented +by a brandished whip, or poleaxe; justice, by the +cubit, or symbol of equal measurement; good, by the +symbol of sound, in order perhaps to indicate harmony; +evil, by the picture of an unclean fish; truth, +by an ostrich feather—the feathers of this bird are +said to remain unchanged; protection, by a soaring +vulture, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>Though the possession of such indicatory or +symbolic pictures enabled men to describe a series<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +of objects and conditions, and even certain classes +of conceptions—this picture-writing was nevertheless +far removed from the expression of a definite and +intelligible speech. It was a great step in the +Egyptian writing when to their simple metaphorical +and symbolical pictures phonetic pictures were +added. From the actual picture by means of abbreviation, +by indicatory signs and symbols, they had +arrived at picture-signs, and had succeeded in expressing +a certain feeling by means of figures; but +now the indication of the sound was added to the +representation of the sense. The picture-writing could +only go to these picture-signs in order to borrow the +symbols for sound. Hence the sound A was denoted +by a symbol which signified an object of which the +name began with A; for this in Egypt the symbol of +an eagle (<i>achem</i>), or of a reed (<i>ak</i>), might be, and was +selected. Thus in order to express words which could +not be made plain by picture-signs and images of +sense, the plan was adopted of adding to the picture-signs +already in use for such words, one or more +phonetic symbols, a complete or incomplete phonetic +supplement. Hence arose a class of mixed pictures, +made up of the picture of the object, with the addition +of the sounds of the words of which the picture was +intended to express the meaning. To make the meaning +yet more clear, it was found necessary to add +key-signs, indicating the class and nature of the +word in question. Thus with the pictorial and +phonetic signs for day and hour was combined the +sign of the sun, and to the names of countries and +rivers the sign for land and water. Moreover these +key-signs showed whether the word symbolised by +a sound or a picture denoted an animal, a plant, +a kind of stone, or belonged to a particular class<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +of conditions and actions. Yet in this combination +of real and phonetic pictures, it always remained +uncertain whether a picture or symbol was to be +taken for its real meaning, or was to be regarded as +a phonetic symbol.</p> + +<p>This, then, is the difficult writing of the Egyptians; +these are the hieroglyphics as presented even on those +great monuments. Even here we find this method of +writing applied in the same forms, and with the same +mixture of pictorial and phonetic signs, which it retained +in Egypt, with slight modifications (see below). +Without doubt, the development of this complicated +system was the work of centuries. In the infancy of +history, special insight and capability is obtained and +handed down only within the limits of certain circles. +There could be no regular application and development +of this system of writing before the formation of +a priestly order. And again, the separation of such +an order from the rest of the people could only take +place gradually; it must go through a number of +stages to raise it above the primitive conditions of +life. When this point of culture was reached, a considerable +space of time was still needed in order to +bring the picture-writing, even within the priestly +class, to the form in which we see it on the pyramids. +In those nations whose progress we can follow with +greater accuracy, centuries must pass before the indefinite +and floating notions entertained of the gods +are fixed in rigid forms. Yet in Egypt this change +had already taken place before the date of the oldest +hieroglyphics: for even in these we find typical +forms in use for the gods, with sharply drawn and +abbreviated outlines. In the picture-writing itself +there is a wide interval between the delineation of an +incident, or object, and the representation of a definite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +feeling; and a yet wider interval before the expression +of ideas, of definite speech, is attained. An advanced +stage of reflection and abstraction is required in order +to step from the picture of an occurrence to picture-signs +and images of sense, and again from these to +phonetic symbols. The symbols for an incident, and +for an idea and a sound, are separated by a wide +gulf. Independently of these internal requirements +for the advance of picture-writing, the external form +in which the oldest hieroglyphics are represented, +their even, harmonious, clearly-cut and unalterable +forms, are evidence not only of an industrious +and careful application of these signs, but also of a +tolerably long use. The oldest hieroglyphics of the +date of the great pyramids are for the most part +embossed; but even the engraved work of a date +very little more recent is not surpassed by later times +in artistic excellence, in sharpness and neatness of +execution.</p> + +<p>The study of the calendar of Egypt, no less than +the use of writing upon the great monuments, +carries us back to an early date for the beginning of +Egyptian civilization. We saw that the priests, by +adding five days to the old year of 360 days, had come +tolerably near to the natural year, and had fixed +the beginning of their year by the rising of Sirius. +Monuments of the age of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen show that even then the rising of Sirius +had been observed and noted. Nevertheless, the +beginning of their short civic year tended to anticipate +the natural year; and thus the Egyptian year +was always in advance of the solar. But if it was +observed and noted down by the Egyptians, that in +the year of their reckoning, corresponding to the +Julian year 1322 <small>B.C.</small>, the beginning of the year had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +again fallen on the right day, that is, on the rising of +Sirius, so that the first day of Thoth in the movable +year coincided with the first day of Thoth in the solar +year, which was the 20th of July, it follows that the +fixing of the beginning of the year on July 20, and of +the length of the year at 365 days, had taken place +1,460 years (<a href="#Page_30">p. 30</a>) before the date 1322 <small>B.C.</small>, <i>i. e.</i> in the +year 2782 <small>B.C.</small> This conclusion is supported by another +consideration. Our astronomers have calculated that +it was only in the two or three centuries preceding +and following the year 3285 <small>B.C.</small> that the rising of +Sirius so exactly coincided with the summer solstice +and the rise of the Nile; and therefore in this epoch +only could the observation have been made that Sirius +brought the inundation. Hence in this period only +could the beginning of the year have been fixed at the +rising of Sirius. But if the Egyptians could set aside +an old calendar and introduce a new arrangement +requiring attention and long-continued observations, +somewhere about the year 2800 <small>B.C.</small>, it is clear that +the beginnings of higher culture in Egypt cannot be +later than 3000 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>Valuable as this result is, we are nevertheless +carried back to hypotheses and combinations in order +to fix the various epochs, and more especially before +the reign of the Hyksos. And as an arrangement of +history is impossible without chronology, divisions +must be assumed here and there where it is impossible +to establish them satisfactorily. The arrangement of +Egyptian chronology proposed by Lepsius has for +the first time introduced a well-considered system +into the whole. Hence, in spite of the objections +already brought forward against the basis of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +arrangement, and the proved uncertainties and contradictions +of tradition and the monuments, which +the progress of inquiry into the older periods may +indeed lessen but cannot remove, I follow the data +given by Lepsius for the epochs of Egyptian history, +and the duration of the reigns which come under +our notice.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "Il." 9, 381; "Od." 4, 230 ff. 477, 581. 14, 257, 264 ff. 17, 426.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Herod. 2, 2; Diod. 1, 10, 50; Plat. Tim. p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Herod. 2, 100, 142, 143.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Plato, "Tim." p. 23; "De Leg." p. 657.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Diodorus, 1, 44, 45, Olympiad 180, <i>i. e.</i> between 60 and 56 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Or, according to another version, more than 10,000 years from Osiris +to Alexander. More than 10,000 years had passed, according to the Egyptians, +since the creation of the first man.—Diod. 1, 23, 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Diod. 1, 13, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Ibid. 1, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Diod. 1, 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Syncell. p. 91, ed. Goar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Syncell. p. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho," p. 395.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "C. Apion." c. 14, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho," p. 769 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Reinisch reckons 389 kings from Menes to Cambyses, "Zeitschrift +d. d. M. Ges." 15,251; Brugsch's table gives 334 royal shields from Menes +to Cambyses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> According to Bœckh's "Kanon des Africanus."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> This, like the following dates, is from Lepsius, see below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Not including the thirty-eight shepherd kings; if these are added the +number reaches 322.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Dümichen and Lepsius, "Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache," 1864, +p. 81 ff. Deveria and Mariette, "Revue Archéolog." 1865, p. 50 ff; 1866 +(13), p. 73 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Mariette in "Revue Archéolog.," 1864 (10), p. 170.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 20, 44, 72; Devéria, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 58 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> P. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Gutschmid in the "Philologus," 10, 672.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The number of 113 generations, which Syncellus gives as contemporaneous, +does not in the least agree with the accounts of Manetho; moreover, +Gutschmid has shown from what items the number 3,555 in +Syncellus has arisen in "Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Orients," s. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> On this rests the difference of the systems of Lepsius and Bunsen. +Taking the total given by Syncellus from Manetho of 3,555 years before +Nektanebös, Lepsius arrives at the years 3,892 <small>B.C.</small> Bunsen also considers +the number 3,555 to be from Manetho, but without historical value. He +insists on this number because he allows Manetho to reckon 1,286 years +for the new monarchy, 922 years for the Hyksos, and 1,347 years for the +old monarchy; but for these 1,347 years he substitutes the 1,076 years of +Eratosthenes, in order to fix the historical accession of Menes. According +to this, Menes began to reign in the year 3284 <small>B.C.</small> From this, Reinisch +("Zeitschrift der Deutschen morgenl. Gesell." 15, 251 ff.) has attempted +to reconcile the systems of Bunsen and Lepsius. He retains the total of +3,555 years, and the year 3,892 <small>B.C.</small> for Menes; to the 1,076 years given +by Eratosthenes for the old monarchy he adds four years for Skemiophris, +thus making 1,080 years, fixes the middle monarchy—the Hyksos—at +1,088 years, or down to the era +ἀπὸ Μενοφρέως +at 1,490, and the new monarchy down to Nektanebos at 985 years.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho," s. 411; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 148 ff. Th. +Martin "Mém de l'Acad. d'Inscr," 1869 (8), 265 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho," s. 404. In the decree of Kanopus, belonging to +the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, <i>i. e.</i> to the year 238 <small>B.C.</small>, +we find as follows (Lepsius, "Das Bilingue Decret von Kanopus"): "In order +that the seasons of the year may continue to observe their time according +to the present arrangement of the world, and that feasts which ought to be +celebrated in winter may not be celebrated in summer, because the star +advances one day in every four years, while others which are celebrated in +summer will in later times be celebrated in winter, as has already happened, +and will happen again, if the year is to be composed of 360 days, +and the five days usually added, from henceforth a day shall be kept as +the festival of the Divi Euergetes, every fourth year after the intercalary +days, before the new year." That the discovery of the want of a quarter +of a day was made before the time of Ptolemæus Euergetes I., and that +for a long time computations were made by the fixed year with an intercalary +cycle every fourth year, as well as by the movable year, is beyond +doubt. The decree did not become of universal application till 26 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Herod. 2, 142.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho," s. 36; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 193.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> According to Bœckh's "Kanon des Africanus."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Lepsius, "Königsbuch," s. 118. Biot, "L'Année vague," p. 57; cf. +however H. Martin, "Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript." 1869, pp. 1, 8, 265.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS.</h3> + + +<p>Next to its language the oldest possession of a nation +is its religion. Living in a country of very distinct +outlines and characteristic forms, where the regularity +of external life is brought more prominently +before the view than in other countries, the Egyptians +at an early period arrived at a fixed expression of +their religious feelings and of the forms of their gods. +Their original conceptions are unknown to us. The +oldest monuments, our earliest sources of information, +present us with a numerous assemblage of gods, and the +conclusions drawn from these carry us back to views +far removed from primitive forms of worship. They +indicate a system already developed in the circle of +the priests. We can only attempt from the fragments +of that system preserved in inscriptions and manuscripts, +and the very late accounts of the Greeks, to +deduce conclusions concerning the religious notions +which originally predominated.</p> + +<p>The distinction in the nature of the upper and +lower valley, already referred to, cannot have been +without influence upon the direction of civic life among +the Egyptians, and the formation of their religious +ideas. So far as we can tell, these developed independently +at the same time in the upper and lower +country. In both districts peculiar forms were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +retained at the most prominent centres of religious +worship, until after the union of the country they +became amalgamated in all essential points.</p> + +<p>Memphis worshipped the god Ptah. The great +sanctuary of the god at that city was held to be as +ancient as the city itself. So far back as our knowledge +extends, the Pharaohs were occupied with the extension +and adornment of this temple. Among the Greeks +the god of Memphis was known as Hephæstus: they +tell us he was represented in the temple by a dwarf-like +image; and that similar images of the children +of Ptah stood in a part of the temple only entered by +the priests.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> The name Hephæstus, and the further +statement of the Greeks, that this god was the father +of the Sun-god, prove that in Ptah the Egyptians +worshipped not only fire, but the spirit of warmth and +light generally; and that they must have regarded him +as the origin and source of light.</p> + +<p>Manetho puts Ptah at the head of the dynasties of +the gods. He ruled for 9,000 years before the other +gods. Inscriptions name Ptah "the lord of truth," +the "father of truth," the "ruler of the sky," "the +king of both worlds." As the god of the light which +shows everything in its true form, he is the spirit of +truth; as the spirit of the light in the sky, he is the +lord of heaven. The inscriptions also say that Ptah +"moves the egg of the sun and the moon;" he is +called "the weaver of the beginnings," the "god +who rolls his egg in the sky." Consequently, to the +Egyptians Ptah was the mover of the luminaries, a +formative, creative spirit, and as he is called in the +inscriptions "the father of the father of the gods," he +must have been to them the first and oldest god, the +beginning of the gods and of all things.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Egyptians believed that a kind of beetle +peculiar to their country (<i>scarabæus sacer</i>) was propagated +without the female sex; they saw the mode +of its reproduction in the balls of dung which the +beetles occasionally pushed before them. Hence they +consecrated this insect to their god of beginning and +creation, and on monuments and records we find the +god Ptah with a beetle on his shoulders, in the place +of a human head. As the god of the beginning he +appears on monuments in the shape of a child or +dwarf; and again, as the unchangeable god, he is +wrapped in the casings of a mummy, with the +symbols of dominion, the whip and sceptre, or the +so-called Nile-gauge, a ring with parallel cross bars, +in his hand, in order to denote him as the god who +gives to all things measure, order, and law. He is +also coloured green, to signify, as it would seem, that +lie is a god favourable to vegetation, and possessed of a +fertilising power.</p> + +<p>Thus Ptah was one of the forms under which the +Egyptians invoked the creator, the highest god. On a +pillar of Memphis, now in the Berlin Museum, belonging +to the time of the nineteenth dynasty, he is called +"the only unbegotten begetter in the heaven and on the +earth," "the god who made himself to be god, who +exists by himself, the double being, the begetter of the +first beginning." Other inscriptions and records denote +him as "the creator in heaven and on earth, who has +made all things, the lord of all that is, and is not."<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>Below Memphis lay On, the city of the sun +(Heliopolis). Here the spirit of the sun, Ra, was the +pre-eminent god. In Manetho's list Ra succeeds Ptah +in the kingdom. "The Egyptians," says Plutarch, +"regard the sun as the body of the beneficent power,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +the visible form of a being only comprehensible to +thought. The morning sun they represented as a +new-born child seated on a lotus leaf, and thrice each +day—at sunrise, noon, and sunset—they offered +incense to Helius."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> We also find that the +Egyptians represented the sun of the winter months +as a little child, the sun of the vernal equinox as a +youth, that of the summer solstice as a bearded man, +and again, the sun of the autumnal equinox as an +old man.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Hence they looked at the yearly course +of the sun under the allegory of human life. +Plutarch's remark about the morning sun shows +that they regarded the daily course of the sun from +the same point of view, and when he tells us that +according to Egyptian story, Apopis made war against +the god of the sky,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> his statements are confirmed by +the monuments. According to the inscriptions Ra +is "revealed in the abyss of the sky," he is throned +"in the orb of the sun," "he moves his egg." +"A Supplication to Ra"—such are the words of a +prayer—"who each day by himself brings himself to +a new birth. Ra has created all that is in the abysses +of the sky."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> In the tombs of the Ramesids, at +Thebes, the course of the sun is represented by the +hour of the day and night. On the form of the blue +outstretched goddess of the sky appears the boat of +the sun, for the Egyptians conceived the sun as +navigating the air in a skiff, as they navigated the +Nile; and in the boat is Ra, a child with finger in +mouth at the first hour of the morning. As the day +goes on the child increases in size, and at every hour +the spirits who lead the boat are changed. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +hours of the afternoon the evil serpent, Apep, the +darkness, the Apopis of Plutarch, attempts to swallow +the sun, but twelve spirits draw the serpent by ropes +to the side. In the hours of the night the sun-god is +inclosed in his shrine on the boat, which is carried +along by spirits changing every hour over the waters +of the under world to the east—just as the boats on +the Nile are drawn against the stream—so that he +may again shine out in the east on the next morning. +The hieroglyphics accompanying the navigation of the +night hours contain seventy-four invocations of Ra +in Amenti, <i>i. e.</i> in his concealment. In a similar +way the monuments of Edfu exhibit the growth of +the sun-god through the twelve hours of the day from +a child to a youth and a man, and an old man bowed +with age, leaning upon a staff. This last is called in +the inscriptions, "The old man who becomes again +a child."<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>The monuments exhibit Ra in red, with the sun's +orb on his head, a sceptre in one hand, and the symbol +of life in the other. The cat, the tawny bull, and the +hawk are the chosen creatures of Ra; often he is +found on the monuments with the head of a hawk in +the place of the human head, or as a hawk carrying the +sun's orb. All the entrances of the temple and the +pylons display the symbolical form of the deity, the +sun's orb, supported by two wings. From the sun-god +the kings of Egypt derived their might and power. +They generally call themselves "the sons of Ra," and +they rule over Egypt as Ra rules over the world.</p> + +<p>Hence we can assume that to the minds of the +priests Ptah was essentially the deity of beginning, +the first originator of creation. Ra again was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +propagating and sustaining power of the divinity +embodied in the sun.</p> + +<p>At Hermopolis (Ashmunein), besides Thoth, whom +the Greeks compared to their Hermes, and the inscriptions +name the "Lord of divine truth," the "scribe +of truth," to whom the white Ibis with black neck +and beak is sacred, the "children of Ptah" were +worshipped. These were eight gods in four pairs. +Owing to this worship Hermopolis was known to the +Egyptians as Pe-sesennu, <i>i. e.</i> "the city of reverence." +These children of Ptah seem to have been spirits of +the elements. In an inscription at Edfu we find, +"The eight gods, the very great, who are from the +beginning, created before the gods, the children of +Ptah, arising through him, begotten of him, to take +possession of the south and the north, to create in +the Thebaid, and fashion in the land of Memphis. +When they arose the stream flowed out from the +young waters, the child of the lotus flower rose up in +the boat, the beautiful one, making this earth bright +by his beams."<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>At Sais, at Buto, on the Sebennytic mouth, and at +Bubastis (Tel Basta), on the Pelusiac arm of the +Nile, female goddesses were worshipped. To the +feast of the goddess of Sais, whom the Greeks called +Athene, the Egyptians came from the whole country, +as Herodotus tells us, to Sais, and lighted lamps on +the appointed night, and even those who did not come +to Sais lit lamps, so that lamps were burning throughout +all Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> Jamblichus and Proclus tell us that +the goddess of Sais, the Neith of the Egyptians, was +the mother of the sun-god; the inscriptions call Neith +"the cow which bore the sun," "ancient mother of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +the sun," "mother of the gods." Hence we may +assume that Neith was associated with Ptah, whose +green colour she shares on the monuments; and that +the creative power of nature was personified in her +under a female form. The feast of lamps may have +symbolised the birth of light, and its rise from the +darkness.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> The goddess of Buto, who was also worshipped +at Letopolis, near Memphis, was compared +by the Greeks with their goddess Leto, whose +child was Apollo, the spirit of light, because at +Buto the victorious god of light of the Egyptians, +of whom we shall speak below, was said to have +grown up.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>The sanctuary of the goddess at Bubastis was, +according to Herodotus' account, the most delightful, +though not the largest or most costly, in the whole of +Egypt. It was situated in the middle of the city, +and could be seen from every side. "Beyond the +market-place a paved road, about forty feet in width, +leads to the shrine, which is overshadowed by trees +on both sides. The precincts, a place of about a stadium +square, is surrounded with a trench one hundred +feet broad; this is connected with the Nile, and also +planted with trees. The portico is ten fathoms high,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +and adorned with statues six cubits in height, and well +worth description. On the external walls pictures are +everywhere engraved, and the temple in which the +statue of the goddess stands is also surrounded by +very lofty trees. At the festival of the goddess the +Egyptians from all the land go down in boats to +Bubastis: in every boat is a number of men and +women; some of the men blow the flute; some of +the women have castanets, and strike them; the rest +sing and clap their hands. The boat touches at every +city on the river bank; and here also the women sing +and strike their castanets, while others follow the +women of the city with shouts and raillery; others, +again, dance; others expose themselves. On arriving +at Bubastis, they bring large offerings to the goddess, +and drink more wine at this festival than in +all the rest of the year. According to the accounts +of the Egyptians, about 700,000 men and women are +collected at this festival, without counting children.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>Herodotus calls the goddess of Bubastis Artemis: +her Egyptian name was Bast and Pacht; and the +city was called after her Pa-Bast, <i>i. e.</i> "abode of +Bast." On monuments this goddess has the sun's disk +upon her head, or, in the place of a human head, the +head of a cat, which animal was sacred to her. At +Heliopolis there was a picture of Ra in the form of a +he-cat;<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> and in the inscription Pacht is called the +daughter of Ra. Ra was invoked to come to the +help of his daughter, the holy she-cat, who was panic-stricken +by the snake which approached heaven in +order to tread upon the path of the sun-god, and to +defile the limbs of the holy she-cat.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> In the sketches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +in the "Book of the Dead" we find a she-cat, with the +right forefoot upon the head of a serpent, and in the +left a broad knife, with which she is cutting off the +head of the serpent.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The account given by Herodotus +of the customs observed at the festival are confirmed +from other sources. The monuments exhibit musicians, +whose music is accompanied by the audience +with clapping of the hands; and Plutarch describes +the castanets of the Egyptians adorned with the +figure of a human-headed she-cat, the sound of +which was intended to scare away the evil spirit.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>In the upper country other deities were worshipped. +At Thebes, Amun, known to the Greeks +as Ammon, took the place occupied by Ptah at +Memphis. Hecatæus of Abdera relates that the +Egyptians identified their supreme god with the +universe, but the god was invisible and concealed.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> +Amun, as a fact, signifies "the concealed" or "veiled." +The monuments of Thebes exhibit him as a creative +god with the Phallus, as a ruling deity either standing +or sitting on a throne; on his royal head-dress are two +upright feathers, which to the Egyptians were the +symbol of dominion over the upper and under world, +and in his hand are the sceptre and the symbol of +life. His colour is blue. By his side stands the +goddess Mut; the "mother," the "lady of darkness," +as the inscriptions<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> style her. She wears on her +head the vulture, or the crown of Upper Egypt. She +is also found on inscriptions with the head of a vulture, +the bird sacred to her, instead of a human head; +and in pictures of battles the vulture of Mut hovers +over the Pharaoh as the symbol of protection. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +son of Ammon and Mut is Shu (Sosis, Sos), the spirit +of the atmosphere, "the bearer of heaven," as the +inscriptions name him.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> This (Thinis) and Abydus +were the chief seats of his worship. In Manetho's list +the reign of Shu follows on those of Ptah and Ra.</p> + +<p>In the place of Ammon we often find another +divinity, Tum (Atmu.) This was the sun-god in a +special form. In Upper Egypt the spirit of the sun +was invoked under the names Tum and Mentu. Of +these names the first signified the declining sun, the +sun of the west, the sun of concealment, the sun +in the under world; the second the rising sun, the +sun of the east, the sun of the day, the bright sun-god. +Tum also wears the double crown, and the two +feathers of Ammon, or in the place of them the two +royal serpents round his head-dress; he also is lord of +both kingdoms. Like Ptah, he is "the father of +beginnings, who begot himself," "the father of the +gods;" like him also he is formed with the beetle in +the place of the human head; as the creative god he is +the creator of his name, <i>i. e.</i> of his properties; he is +the primæval night, the darkness of the beginning, +before light existed. To him also belonged the +primæval water. According to Plutarch, the Egyptians +believed that the sun arose out of moisture, that it +sprang up out of water, and was nourished by it, and +therefore water was the beginning and origin of +things. This account is confirmed by the monuments. +As light in the process of production, Tum is called +"Ra in his egg;" and as the spirit of light arising +out of darkness and water, the horologe and the +sun-dial are his insignia.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>At Coptus, in Upper Egypt, a phallic god was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +worshipped under the name Chem, whom the Greeks +compared to their god Pan, and at the falls of +Syene a ram-headed god, Chnum (Chnemu, Chnuphis, +Kneph), who in inscriptions is named the lord of +the "inundations," of the "outpouring of the waters."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> +As a giver of fruits, the colour of his pictures on the +monuments is generally green. In the eyes of the +inhabitants of Upper Egypt Chnum was, according to +the account of Plutarch, an uncreated eternal spirit.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> +We must therefore regard him as a peculiar form of +the life-giving god. Chnum was often united with +Ammon, inasmuch as the latter assumes the attributes +of Chnum, the ram's horns or even head.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> As +the worship of Ammon passed beyond Egypt up +the Nile as far as Meroe, so the worship of Ammon-Chnum +spread westward in the Libyan desert as +far as the oasis of Siwa, where the inhabitants were +called by the Greeks Ammonians. Here, even now, +in the vicinity of a clear pool surrounded by lofty +palms, the remains of a considerable temple are to +be seen, with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and the +picture of the ram-headed deity.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>The worship of the goddess Hathor was widely +diffused both in Upper and Lower Egypt. The most +renowned seats of the cultus were Aphroditopolis, +near Memphis; Edfu and Dendera, in Upper Egypt. +She is called in the inscriptions "the lady of the +dance and revel," and is represented on the monuments +with fetters and a tambourine in her hands. From +this and from her Grecian name we may conclude +that she was the Egyptian goddess of love, of the +enchaining passion; but though we find in her form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +hints of a more individual and lively fancy, the natural +power of maternity in general is by far the most +prominent conception. She is represented with the +horns of a cow—her sacred animal—on her head, +and between them the moon's disk; or entirely +as a cow. In the rock-temple at Abusimbel, which +the wife of Ramses II. dedicated to Hathor, she is +represented as a cow in a boat, over which water-plants +meet in arches. To this cow the king and +queen offer flowers and fruits.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> In the temple at +Edfu, a structure of the Ptolemies, 360 local forms of +Hathor are said to have been enumerated and among +these seven were especially prominent.</p> + +<p>It was the beneficent, creative, and life-giving powers +of nature which the Egyptians worshipped in these +divinities—water, light, the clear heaven, the sun, +the powers of reproduction and birth. But the +phenomena and the powers presented by nature were +not in every case beneficent. Night swallowed up +day, and death swallowed up life. Beside the waters +and the black fruitful soil of Egypt lay the boundless +yellow desert, from which storms blew the sand into +the green valley. In the hot months, the sun blazed +with a devouring and scorching heat, the flowers +withered; and the powers of nature failed in the +winter. Thus in the life of nature there was a strife +between malignant and beneficent powers, a strife in +which nevertheless the beneficent powers always gained +the upper hand. Out of night arose a new day; out +of the death of nature in winter blossomed forth new +increase, fruitfulness, and life. Through this conception +of a strife raging between the healing and +destructive powers of nature, by regarding nature as +moving in a circular course from life to death, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +death to life, the Egyptians succeeded in making a +great advance in their religious ideas. They personified +this strife in certain divine forms. The beneficent +power, the divinity of life was allowed to succumb, +and then to rise from apparent death into a new life. +Only for a moment could the evil powers vanquish +the good; the eternal victory remained with the gods +of beneficence.</p> + +<p>After Helius, Hephæstus, Ammon, and Hermes, +says Diodorus,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> Cronos and his sister Rhea ruled. +These became the parents of Isis and Osiris, of +Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite. Plutarch tells us +that, according to the legend of the Egyptians, Rhea +and Cronos were the parents of Osiris and Isis, of +Typhon and Nephthys. Osiris ruled happily over +Egypt; but Typhon conspired against him with +seventy-two associates; they inclosed Osiris in a chest +and threw it into the Nile, and the stream carried +it down to the sea. When Isis heard of it, she put +on mourning, and sought with lamentation the body +of Osiris. At last she found the chest in the neighbourhood +of Byblus, where the sea had cast it up; +she mourned over the corpse and carried it back to +Egypt. And when Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, +who grew up in Buto, came to his full strength, he +prepared to avenge the wrong which Typhon had +done to his father and mother. Thrice he fought +with Typhon; the battle raged for many days, and +Horus conquered.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> + +<p>According to the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, +Osiris (Dionysus) and Horus (the Apollo of the +Greeks) were the last rulers of the divine race.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> In +the list of Manetho, Ptah was followed in the kingdom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +by Ra and Shu (or, according to the Theban account, +by Ammon, Tum, and Shu), Cronos, Osiris, Typhon, +and Horus. These then are the younger gods; the +evidence of the monuments shows that they were +connected by race with each other, but not akin to +the three gods who ruled before them. And as we +also find that the five supplementary days added in +the Egyptian year to the original number of 360 +(<a href="#Page_29">p. 29</a>) were dedicated to these gods, the first to +Osiris, the second to Horus, the third to Typhon, the +fourth to Isis, the fifth to Nephthys—the natural +conclusion is that these gods were of later origin.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> +On the other hand it is clear that the belief in Osiris +and his power had already arisen at the time when +the great pyramids were erected.</p> + +<p>The two gods at the head of this circle, whom +Diodorus and Plutarch call Cronos and Rhea, were +known to the Egyptians under the names Seb and +Nut.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> They are the spirits of the earth and sky. +Osiris himself in the inscriptions and records is called +"the king of the gods," "the lord of unnumbered +days," "the king of life," "the regulator of eternity." +The inscription on the lid of a coffin runs thus—"Ra +gave thee the richly streaming light which gleams +in thy eyes. Shu gave thee the pleasant air which +in thy lifetime was inhaled in thy nostrils. Seb gave +thee all fruits whereon thou livest. Osiris gave thee +the Nile-water whereon thou livest."<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> As a life-giving +god, the colour of Osiris is green; his sacred +tree is the evergreen tamarisk; and his sacred bird +a kind of heron, distinguished by two long feathers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +at the back of the head. Osiris is always represented +in a human form, and with a human head.</p> + +<p>The chief seats of the worship of Osiris were Philæ +and Abydus, in Upper Egypt. In the temple on the +island of Philæ, formed by the Nile above Syene, the +history of the god was represented.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> On a little +island close by, where only the priests might tread, +lay the grave of Osiris, overshadowed by tamarisks;<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> +here were libations offered to him, and Diodorus +tells us that in Upper Egypt no more sacred form +of oath was known than the oath by Osiris who rests +at Philæ.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> In the temple of Osiris at Abydus +(Arabat-el-Medfuneh) the wealthy Egyptians sought +to be buried, that they might rest in the vicinity of +the god's grave. In Lower Egypt Osiris<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> was worshipped +in the cities of Memphis, Sais,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> and Busiris. +At Busiris (the name Pe-osiri meant "abode of Osiris"), +on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, in the middle of +the Delta—it was the chief city of the district of +Busiris—was situated the largest temple of Isis, as +we learn from Herodotus, and here also, according to +other evidence, the grave of Osiris was to be found.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> +Here the whole land worshipped this god and goddess.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> +Thousands of men and women assembled, according to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +Herodotus, made lamentation for Osiris, and brought +an offering to the greatest goddess (Isis). Amid +prayers the bull was flayed, the thighs and other parts +cut out, and a part of the belly filled with bread, +honey, and incense; these were drenched plentifully +with oil, and set on fire, and so long as the sacrifice +burned the people lamented. When the lamentation +ended, the remainder of the sacrifice was eaten.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> +Plutarch says that with Osiris the Egyptians lamented +the receding of the Nile, the ceasing of the cool north +wind, the death of vegetation, and decrease in the +length of the day. On the 17th Athyr, the day on +which Typhon slew Osiris (on this day the sun passes +through the Scorpion), the priests instituted rites of +lamentation, and, among other things, as a sign of +the sorrow of Isis, they exhibited for four days a +gilded cow, covered with a black veil of byssus—for +the cow was the Egyptian symbol of this goddess. +On the 19th Athyr, in the night, they went down +to the sea, and the priests brought out the chest, and +the congregation cried, "Osiris is found!"<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> Moreover, +according to Plutarch, the holy rites represented the +burial of Osiris: in these the wood was cut for the +chest, the linen torn for cerements, and libations +poured. A serpent was also slain in effigy.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> About +the time of the winter solstice, as Plutarch tells us in +another place, the Egyptians carried "the cow," <i>i. e.</i> +Isis, seven times round the temple, and this procession +was called the search for Osiris.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> On the monuments +the Isis worshipped with Osiris appears generally in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +youthful shape, with the horns of a cow on her head, +the moon's disk between the horns, with the flower-sceptre +and symbol of life in her hands. The +inscriptions denote her as the "royal consort," the +"great goddess." An image in which she was represented +in the form of a cow was seen by Herodotus +in the royal palace of the last Pharaohs at Sais. "In a +beautifully-adorned chamber lay the wooden image of +a cow, resting on her knees, not larger than a full-grown +cow. The body was covered with a purple +robe; on the neck and head could be seen the thick +gilding, and between the horns a golden disk. Every +day incense was burned before the image; and at +night a lamp was kindled before it. Once a year," +continues Herodotus, "this cow was carried out into +the open, when the Egyptians lamented the god, whose +name I do not think proper to mention now."<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> + +<p>Osiris and Isis, the spirits of blessing and life, +were attacked by Typhon. Plutarch observes that +the Egyptians called Typhon Set,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> and this statement +is confirmed by the inscriptions. The colour of +Set was burning red,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> like the glowing sun in the dust +of the desert; the ass was the sacred animal of this +god, and a peculiarly-formed animal his symbol on the +monuments. In poisonous serpents also the Egyptians +saw this destructive deity, and they brought the crocodile +and hippopotamus into association with him. The +third of the five additional days of the year (<a href="#Page_29">p. 29</a>), +which belonged to Set, was to the Egyptians an unlucky +day.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> On a papyrus he is called "the almighty +destroyer and blighter,"<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and with this agrees the +statement of Plutarch, that Typhon, according to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +Egyptians, had filled the whole earth and sea—which +they call "the foam of Typhon"—with evils; and +they considered all animals, trees, and vegetables, all +incidents of a harmful and destructive nature to be +works, parts and actions of Typhon.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> + +<p>The evil god can limit and overcome the beneficent +power of nature, but not for ever. Osiris had left +behind a young son, who could hold Typhon in check, +though unable to suppress him entirely. Horus, as +Plutarch tells us, was born about the time of the +winter solstice, and the festival of the delivery of Isis +was celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> +On the monuments we find Horus (Har), "the avenger +of his father Osiris," as the inscriptions call him, +represented as a naked child, with finger on lip, sitting +on a lotus-leaf, or on a crook, the symbol of dominion. +Hence he is the young Horus, the Harpocrates of the +Greeks, the Harpechruti—<i>i. e.</i>, "Har, the child"—of +the Egyptians. Then, according to the legend, he +grows up at Buto; he becomes a handsome youth, the +strong Horus (Har-ver, Arveris of the Greeks), the +"great helper," the "pillar of the world." In the +temple at Philæ we see him pouring libations before +the bier of Osiris; on other monuments he guides the +sun's bark through the hours of the day.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> At Hermopolis, +as Plutarch tells us, a hippopotamus was to be +seen, on which a hawk—the sacred bird of Horus, in +which form the god is often represented—fought with a +serpent; and, according to the belief of the Egyptians, +Typhon escaped from Horus in the shape of a +crocodile.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> The monuments represent Horus on the +sun-boat in the act of stabbing a serpent with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +human head,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> <i>i. e.</i>, Apopis, the serpent Apep; or +standing on crocodiles with serpents in his hands; or +as a winged sun's disk contending with a hippopotamus. +In an invocation of Horus, belonging to the +fourth century <small>B.C.</small>, we find the following: "Come to +me quickly on this day to guide the holy bark (the +sun's-boat), to force back all lions to the land of Egypt, +and all crocodiles into the Nile. Shamelessness and +sin (?) come and appear upon earth; but when Horus +is invoked he destroys them. All mankind rejoice +when they see the sun. They praise the son of Osiris, +and the serpent turns back."<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> Hence to the Egyptians +Horus was the triumphant god of light (Har-phre, +Horus-sun), who subdues gloom, and winter, and +drought. As a victorious god arousing fresh life, he +gives to the kings of Egypt life and victory. The +Greeks called the Egyptian Ra Helius, and Horus +Apollo; and these names correspond to the Egyptian +conception of these deities. The chief seats of the +worship of Horus were the two cities which the Greeks +called the great and little cities of Apollo (Edfu and +Kus) and Ombus. At Edfu Hathor was worshipped +beside Horus (<a href="#Page_52">p. 52</a>).</p> + +<p>Plutarch tells us that Isis, in the minds of the +Egyptians, was the female receptive part of nature. +Osiris was the light, Typhon the darkness, the obscuration +of the sun and the moon; Osiris was the fruit-giving +Nile-water, Typhon the salt and barren sea; +Osiris was moisture, Typhon drought, the parching +wind, which overcomes and consumes moisture; Osiris +was health, Typhon disease; Osiris was the orderly, +unchanging; Typhon the passionate, irrational, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +giant-like; disturbances, blight, and tempest.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> It is +incorrect, Plutarch observes, in conclusion, to call +water, the sun, or the earth and sky Osiris and Isis; +and not less so to call the glowing sun and hot wind +Typhon. If we merely ascribe to Typhon all that +is immoderate or irregular in these, whether in the +way of excess or defect, and hold in reverence and +honour all that is orderly and good and useful as the +work of Isis, as the image, likeness, and essence of +Osiris, we shall hardly go wrong.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> + +<p>Thus there can be little doubt about the meaning of +the myth. When the Nile receded and the sirocco +from the south drove back the refreshing north wind, +when the hot days—for these are the seventy-two +fellow-conspirators of Typhon—parched up the soil; +then had Typhon struck down Osiris. Then, as +Plutarch says, "the Egyptians bewailed the decay of +the fruits, and prayed the gods to send new in the +place of those that were gone, and allow them to +spring forth again." When the seed was cast into the +ground, the Egyptians buried Osiris: but the sacred +rites were an imitation of the sufferings of Isis, and +the incidents which occurred when the body was +deposited in the tomb. The progressive decay of +productive power towards the north during the +hot days, and the winter, which was indicated in +the myth by the carrying of the corpse of Osiris to +the sea, and the custom of carrying the chest to the +coast (<a href="#Page_57">p. 57</a>), is part of the Egyptian conception; +that Isis discovers the body at Byblus on the +Phenician coast is probably an invention of the Greeks, +who confounded the Phenician horned goddess Astarte, +Ashtaroth Karnaim, with Isis. When Egypt was again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +fertilised by the inundation, when the days began to +lengthen after the winter solstice, when the sun shone +with fresh brightness, and the new fruit budded forth, +then Horus, the child born about the winter solstice, +waxed strong at Buto in the north of Egypt—then +he overcame Typhon. The renewed power of the +sun, the returning life of nature, the fresh blessings of +the new year—these are the avenging son of Osiris.</p> + +<p>When the creative and receptive powers of nature +had thus been comprehended in the forms of Osiris +and Isis, the divinities in whom creative power and +receptivity had hitherto been perceived naturally +coalesced with these forms to a greater or less degree. +Thus Ptah of Memphis, Tum of Thebes, the sun-god +of Heliopolis, are combined with Osiris (the title +Ptah-Osiris is not uncommon in the inscriptions,) +though they are also retained as separate deities. +Thus also Isis is identified with Neith of Sais, with +Mut of Thebes, with Hathor, with Bast,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> the goddess +of Bubastis. Horus, again, is identified with Chem +and Ra, though at the same time his personality as +the youthful, vigorous spirit of light is strongly +marked. Plutarch is certainly right in his remark +that the Egyptians regard Osiris as the personification +of everything in heaven and the under world.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> All +the other deities were transfigurations and manifestations +of Osiris, mere modifications of his nature. +When Osiris is called the soul of Ra,<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> this can hardly +have any other meaning but this, that the appearance +of the sun-god in the visible world is an incarnation +of the invisible nature of Osiris.</p> + +<p>The Egyptians often represented their deities with +the heads, or in the shape of, the animals sacred to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +them; that is, they recognised the nature of the +deities who were primarily conceived under the +form of men, in the races of the beasts which +they allotted to them. To the Egyptians these animals +must have appeared so closely and intimately +connected with the deity to which they belonged, +that the nature of the deity was better expressed and +made more visible in the shape of the beast than in +the shape of man. We must assume that the predominance +of a distinct mark or characteristic property +in the races of animals, that their simple, uniformly +instinctive life created this conception in the mind of +the Egyptians, to whom a fixed and unalterable course +of action, an unchanging and typical nature, was the +ideal. The force of nature, the regular recurrence +of certain phenomena, coalesced in the Egyptian mind +with the blind, unchanging action of animals. Yet +animals were also seen to possess freedom and movement, +and an individual existence. This combination +of the type and the individual must have seemed to +the Egyptians to correspond to the nature of their +deities. The mystery of life, the natural law, which +lay at the base of their worship, must for them have +reached its most distinct and lively realisation in +these animals.</p> + +<p>The bull is the sacred animal of the creative gods: +the cow of the goddesses of birth and receptivity; +the ram is sacred to Chnum; the hawk and the cat +to the deities of light and the sun; the beetle to +Ptah; a kind of heron to Osiris; the vulture to Ptah +and Isis; a kind of ibis to Thoth; the dog-ape to +Anubis, the "ruler in the west;<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a>" the crocodile to the +god Sebek, who was worshipped at Arsinoe, &c., &c. +Herodotus tells us that when a cat died in a house,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +all the inhabitants shaved their eyebrows; and that at +conflagrations the Egyptians directed all their attention +to saving the cats, not to quenching the flames, +and if, in spite of their efforts, a cat leapt into the +flames and was burnt, the Egyptians made a great +lamentation.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> "To each of the races of the sacred +animals," says Diodorus, "a certain piece of land is +consecrated, the products of which suffice for the food +and tending of the race. Those entrusted with the care +of each race have to feed them. To feed the hawks +they cut up pieces of flesh, and call loudly to the +birds till they come and take their food. The cats +they coax by giving them bread and milk, or chopped +fish from the Nile, and thus provide them with suitable +food. These duties they do not scruple to perform +before the whole people; on the contrary, they are +proud of them as of the highest offices which they +can attain to in the service of the gods. With special +symbols to distinguish them, they proceed through +town and country, and as it is known from the +symbols what animal it is whose servants are approaching, +all who meet them bow the knee and pay +homage. If one of the animals dies, it is wrapped +in a costly covering, and, amid loud lamentations +and beating of the breast, it is carried away to embalment. +Steeped in oil of cedar, or any other kind +remarkable for its scent and powers of preservation, +the corpse is then buried in the holy sepulchres. Anyone +who intentionally kills a sacred animal is punished +with death; and everyone who has caused the death +of an ibis or a cat, intentionally or unintentionally, +must die, and is often killed in the most cruel manner, +without any sentence passed upon him, by the collected +mob. So deeply rooted is the reverence for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +sacred animals in the feeling of the people, so persistently +does everyone cling to the worship of them, that +even at the time when Ptolemy was not yet declared +an ally by the Romans, and the nation was most +anxious to pay respect to visitors from Italy, and to +give no cause for war, when a Roman had unintentionally +killed a cat, the mob gathered at his house, +and neither the officers sent by the king to quiet +them, nor the prevailing awe of the Romans, could +protect him from their vengeance. This fact I have +not received from hearsay: I was in Egypt and +saw the occurrence. But what is done for the +animals which are kept in the temples is easy to +narrate, but difficult for anyone to believe who has +not seen it."<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> + +<p>Among the races of animals which, according to +Egyptian belief, shared in the nature of the deities to +which they were sacred, were certain pre-eminent +specimens. These were recognised by certain signs +by the priests, and passed for a special incarnation of +the deity. They were brought into his temple, and +there worshipped and prayed to as his manifestation. +The most sacred among these selected animals was +Apis, the bull, in the temple of Ptah, at Memphis. +According to the account of Herodotus, the Egyptians +believed that a ray of light from heaven had impregnated +the cow, which brought forth an Apis: by +Plutarch, the impregnation is said to take place by a +ray of the moon.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> The priests recognized Apis in a +black bull, which had a triangular white spot on the +forehead, a fleshy growth under the tongue in the +form of the sacred beetle of Ptah, white spots on his +back in the shape of an eagle, and bi-coloured hairs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +in the tail.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> When an Apis was found, he was, says +Diodorus, in the first place brought for forty successive +days to the meadow of the "city of the Nile" (Nilopolis), +where women were shown to him, who were afterwards +excluded from the sight of the Apis. Then +he was conveyed on a boat in a golden shrine like +a god to the temple of Ptah, at Memphis. There he +was bathed in the holy place, and anointed, and the +most precious frankincense was constantly burned +before him. He received the most beautiful garments, +the richest bedding-places, and the most handsome +cows as his "bed-fellows"; the most distinguished +men provided him with the best food at a very great +expense. When the Apis died of old age he was +honoured with a splendid funeral. "When, on the +death of Alexander, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, made +himself master of Egypt, it happened that the Apis +died, and the person entrusted with his care not only +spent his own large fortune upon his burial, but borrowed, +in addition, fifty talents from Ptolemy. Even +in my own times certain feeders of the sacred animals +have spent not less than one hundred talents on a +single funeral."<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> + +<p>"The Egyptians," Diodorus remarks, "are of +opinion that the soul of the dead Osiris passed into +this bull, and thus continues among them, and will +so continue among their descendants." Plutarch says +that the Apis at Memphis was an image of the soul of +Osiris. According to the usual account of the priests, +Osiris and Apis were one; for they taught that the +Apis was to be regarded as a fair image of the soul of +Osiris. Strabo tells us, "The bull Apis, which is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +revered as a god, is the same as Osiris. The temple +in which the Apis was kept stands beside the temple of +Hephæstus (Ptah). There is also a temple of Serapis +in that city, before which we saw sphinxes, buried in +the sand, some to the middle, some to the neck."<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> +Evidence from other sources, no less than the monuments, +confirms these accounts of Diodorus and +Plutarch. The monuments exhibit the Apis with +the sun's disk and the royal serpent between his +horns, and Greek papyri tell us that the keeper with +whom the Apis was placed was known as the "Herdman +of Osorapi," <i>i. e.</i> of Osiris-Apis (Osarhapi).<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> We +may assume that this Osorapi was the Serapis or +Sarapis of the Greeks, and the temple of Serapis +a temple of Osorapi. The sphinxes buried in sand +at Memphis have been discovered on the plateau on +which the inhabitants buried their dead to the west of +the ruins of this city. They are found here in two +rows as often before the entrance of temples between +Abusir and Sakkarah. It is by following this path +of sphinxes that the discoverers were recently enabled +to find the ruins of the temple of Serapis, <i>i. e.</i> the +temple of the grave of Osiris-Apis, and the sepulchral +chambers of the Apis-bulls hewn in the rocks +around it. The oldest of the tombs hitherto opened +belongs, according to the inscriptions, to an Apis +buried in the time of Amenophis III. (1524-1488 +<small>B.C.</small>). Above ground rises a massive structure, +truncated at the top, and decorated with reliefs. +This is the mortuary chapel. A sloping passage, +the entrance to which lies before this structure, +leads beneath the earth to a sepulchral chamber, where +stands a sarcophagus with the mummy of the Apis.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +The relief on the structure above exhibits the king +bringing a drink-offering to the Apis. Beside the +picture of the bull we read, "The living Osiris, the lord +of the sky: he is Tum (<a href="#Page_51">p. 51</a>): his feathers are upon +him: he gives life for evermore." On the sarcophagus +of an Apis buried in a similar tomb in the reign of +Horus (1455-1443 <small>B.C.</small>), we read:—"Apis-Osiris, +the great deity who dwells in Amenti, the ever-living +lord." King Ramses II. (1388-1322 <small>B.C.</small>), in the +second half of his reign, caused a broad gallery to be +excavated under the rock, on both sides of which +chambers of about twenty feet high were subsequently +cut out as occasion required; in these were placed the +remains of the dead Apis-bulls in sarcophagi of basalt +or granite. When the gallery of Ramses was no longer +sufficient, Psammetichus I. caused a gallery still +larger and more beautiful to be excavated, and provided +with handsome cells. After Darius had extended +this second gallery, the bodies of the bulls were buried +in the chambers of it down to the times of the latest +Ptolemies. As yet sixty-four tombs in all have been +discovered; but of these only four were uninjured. +All the rest had been already opened by the Arabs, +plundered, and in part destroyed. The inscriptions +on the tombs in the galleries give the same representation +of the Apis as the older sepulchres. He is "the +Osiris again restored to life," the "revived Apis of Ptah," +"the living Apis, which is Osiris abiding in Amenti," +the "second Ptah." On a sarcophagus we read:—"Here +is Osiris Apis, who dwells in Amenti, the great +God, the eternal Lord, the ruler for all time." Another +inscription remarks "that he had been sought for +three months in the valleys of Upper Egypt, and on +the islands of Lower Egypt. When found he had been +brought to his throne in the temple, to his father Ptah,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +in such and such a year, on such and such a day. The +happy duration of his life had been six-and-twenty +years; then the deity had been carried to burial, +as he had established himself in the good Amenti in +order to unite himself on his eternal throne with the +house of centuries." Or, as it is said in another +inscription, "the holiness of Apis has been brought +to unite himself with the good Amenti."<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>By this constantly renewed incarnation in the form +of a bull, the emblem of generation, the god of life +gave the Egyptians a guarantee for the continuance +of his grace, and the perpetuation of their life in this +world and the next. Whether other forms of incarnation +beside this were ascribed to the god cannot be +determined.</p> + +<p>At the time when the Nile began to rise, or shortly +before it, there appeared in Egypt from year to year +a peculiar kind of heron, distinguished by two long +feathers on the back of the head.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> This was known +to the Egyptians as Bennu. This bird, which announced +or caused the fertilisation or new life of +the land, could not but belong to the god of life. The +whole race, or a select specimen, appears in special +connection with Osiris, and the temple at Heliopolis. +In the oldest portions of the Book of the Dead, which +belong to the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, +we find, "I am that great Bennu of On" (Heliopolis); +and the commentary adds, "Bennu is Osiris, viz., the +Osiris in On."<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> The inscriptions say of the great +Bennu that "it was self-begotten," that "it caused +the divisions of time to arise."<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> This production of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +himself signifies the creative power of Osiris, and +the origin of the seasons might well be attributed to +the bird which regularly appeared announcing the +return of the period of fertilization. With the +cultus of the Bennu at Heliopolis is connected the +story of the phœnix. Herodotus tells us that he +was informed by the inhabitants of Heliopolis that +a bird, which, if it resembled the pictures, was gold-coloured +and red, and like an eagle in shape and +size, came from Arabia to their city once in every +500 years, and buried the corpse of his father in +myrrh in the sanctuary of the sun-god.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> From +later accounts we learn that the phœnix, on reaching +the age of 500 years, prepared a funeral pile +of spices, and burned himself upon it; then he recreated +himself, and carried the remains of his old +body to Heliopolis.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> Tacitus says: "In the consulship +of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius (<i>i. e.</i> in +the year 34 <small>A.D.</small>) after a lapse of centuries, the phœnix +appeared in Egypt. This bird, which was sacred to +the sun, returned after an interval of 500 years, +according to the most common accounts; according +to others after an interval of 1461 years. The first +phœnix appeared in the reign of Sesostris; the second +under Amasis; the third in the time of the third +Ptolemy; and as there was only a lapse of 250 years +between this Ptolemy and the reign of Tiberius, some +regarded the last phœnix as a spurious one."<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> Ælian +remarks: "The Egyptians are not agreed when the +500 years are completed; and the priests were at +variance whether the bird would appear then or later, +and when he ought to come; but amid their dissen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>sions +the bird suddenly appeared at the right time."<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> +Pliny informs us that the cycle of the great year was +connected with the life of this bird, and with his +return the stars came again into their old position.<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> +Horapollo maintains that the phœnix was a symbol of +the sun, and signified one who returned after a long +time from a far country.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> There is no doubt, therefore, +that the alleged appearance of the phœnix +signified to the Egyptians the close of an astronomical +period. On the monuments the planet Venus +is described as the "star of Bennu-Osiris." As the +morning star announced the day, the light returning +out of darkness, it could easily be appropriated to +Osiris, and that period might be connected with the +cycles of the planet Venus.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> + +<p>The selected cats of the sun-god and his daughter, +the goddess of Bubastis, the hawk of Horus, the ibis +of Thoth, the vulture of Mut, were regarded by the +Egyptians with no less veneration than the bulls of +Osiris. In a hymn to a male cat, which was kept for +Ra at Heliopolis—the hymn is to be found on a +memorial pillar of the fourth century <small>B.C.</small>—we read: +"Thy head is the head of the sun-god; thy nose is +the nose of Thoth, the twice mighty lord of Hermopolis. +Thy ears are the ears of Osiris, who hears the +voice of all who call upon him; thy mouth is the +mouth of the god Tum, the lord of life, he has preserved +thee from every stain. Thy heart is the heart +of Ptah; he has purified thee from every stain of evil +in thy members: thy teeth are the teeth of the god +Chunsu (the moon-god). Thy thighs are the thighs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +of the god Horus, the avenger of his father Osiris, +who has retaliated upon Set the mischief he purposed +against Osiris."<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> Selected crocodiles—and even the +crocodile was worshipped, at least in some regions, as +in the Thebais and around the lake of Moeris—were +to be found at Thebes and Arsinoe. "For both these +animals," says Herodotus "(and they are so tame that +they allow themselves to be touched), the priests put +ornaments of glass and gold in their ears, and bracelets +on their fore-feet, and give them the best of food both +of meal and from the sacrifices, and attend to them +with the utmost care. When they die they are +embalmed, and buried in the sacred tombs."<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> Strabo, +who travelled through Egypt more than four hundred +years later than Herodotus, narrates that a sacred crocodile +was kept in the lake of Moeris, which was tame to +the priests. He was fed with the bread, wine, and flesh +brought to him by visitors. "Our host," Strabo continues, +"a man of distinction at Arsinoe, who showed +us the sacred things of the city, took cakes, roast +meat, and a drink mixed with honey, and went with +us to the lake. On the shore lay the crocodile; the +priests went up to him, two of them opened his jaws; +and the third put in first the cakes, then the meat, +and last of all he gave him the drink. Then the +crocodile ran into the water and swam to the opposite +bank. Another stranger came with similar presents: +the priests took them, ran round the lake and offered +them to the crocodile, when they had found him, in the +same manner as before."<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> Clement of Alexandria +describes the glory of the Egyptian temples, and then +continues thus: "The innermost shrine is veiled with +a curtain of cloth of gold; when the priest removes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +the veil you see a cat, a crocodile, or a serpent of the +land rolling on a purple coverlet."</p> + +<p>According to the account of Herodotus, the dead +cats were embalmed in sacred tombs at Bubastis, the +hawks at Buto, the ibis at Hermopolis.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> Mummies +of cats have been discovered at Thebes and +Sheikhassan; mummies of bulls, cows, jackals, dogs, +and vultures at Thebes and Sioot; of hawks and +ibises at Thebes, Hermopolis, Abydus, and Memphis; +of crocodiles at Thebes and Manfalut.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> + +<p>This reverence for beasts, the excessive regard for +the nourishment of the sacred kinds and the preservation +of their bodies, the offering of prayers to them, the +worship of bulls, birds, and crocodiles as living gods, +the royal honours with which these selected examples +were buried, would of necessity be regarded as a +very rude superstition or degraded fetichism, hardly +compatible with the general level of civilisation and +culture in the country, had not the Egyptians united +a deeper feeling with their worship of animals. In +the living and yet typical forms of beasts as contrasted +with the deadness of nature, they saw not +only creations of the deities, but manifestations of the +divine life itself. The consecrated race of animals +participated in the nature of the god to whom it +belonged, and the specimens in the temples were an +unbroken series of incarnations of the deity.</p> + +<p>In a different sense from the sacred animals, man +also was in the eyes of the Egyptians a manifestation +of the divine life and nature. If we set aside the +position of the kings (see below), we find no indication +that man was regarded as the incarnation of particular +deities or their attributes. Yet man had a +share in the immortality of the gods; and he who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +studied and desired the divine was thought by his +bodily death to arrive at a complete divine existence. +The primary result of this feeling was that the body +must be preserved as the vehicle of personality even +when life and soul have left it; it must be protected +from decay and ruin and any external disturbance by +nature or man. Beyond the reach of beasts of prey, +safe from the enemy and the destroyer, the corpses +must rest uncorrupted and uninjured in cool, secure, +inaccessible, unpolluted, indestructible graves. No +nation has devoted so much care and labour to the +preservation of the corpses, whether of men or of sacred +animals, as the Egyptians. It was almost the first +duty of the living to attend to the dead. And with +his body must be preserved all that the deceased +person had done or acquired in life: his occupation, +his actions must live on in the grave, like his corpse. +Pictures in his tomb must represent his life, and +inscriptions must give an account of it. "The Egyptians," +says Diodorus, "speak of the dwellings of the +living as a lodging; but of the tombs of the dead as +eternal habitations, because the dead pass an endless +time in Hades. Hence they bestow less toil upon +their houses; but their tombs they furnish in a most +extraordinary manner."<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p> + +<p>The tombs are always turned towards the west, and +are deeply hollowed out in soil, or hewn in the rocks +of the Libyan mountains. Those of the wealthier +sort generally consist of two chambers, an upper and +a lower, or a front and a back one. The upper or +front chamber is furnished with a description of the +life of the dead person, his possessions, his office, his +occupation, and the most important results of his life +exhibited in relief and pictures. It served as a chapel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +in which the offerings to the dead were made. In the +lower or hinder chamber lay the corpse. The corpses +of the poorer inhabitants found their resting-place +in the common sepulchres. The preservation of the +corpse was accomplished in various ways. Either the +entrails were taken out through an aperture and +placed in separate vessels, or the corpse was protected +against corruption by the injection of various +substances; or finally it was allowed to lie for a +considerable time in saltpetre.</p> + +<p>Like the embalmment and the tomb, the cerements +and the coffin were more or less costly, according to +the rank and wealth of the deceased. The dead person +was placed in a receptacle adapted to the shape of +the corpse, provided with a mask to represent his +face, and adorned with inscriptions and pictures. On +the breast was generally depicted the beetle of Ptah, +or an open eye, the symbol of Osiris. This receptacle +was then placed in two or more coffins, each inclosing +the other, which were made of more or less costly +wood. Rich persons added to their coffins the stone +sarcophagus, a hollow block of granite, the heavy lid +of which was then made so fast to the lower part that +it could not be opened without destroying the whole.</p> + +<p>The sarcophagus was carried to the sepulchre in +solemn procession, led by the temple-servants, with +the necessary implements, and the bull destined for +sacrifice to the dead. Next were seen the implements +used by the deceased in his lifetime; the insignia of +his order, if he had been a priest, or in any office; or, +if he had held any military command, his chariot +followed. After this came the waiting-women, hired +for this purpose according to the custom of the East; +and men with palm-branches, the servants of the dead, +and the priests; last of all followed the sarcophagus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +on a boat—for the soul of the dead passed like +the sun-god on a boat to the under world. This +boat was on rollers, and drawn by oxen. The procession +was closed by the mourners of the family and +the friends. When the bull had been sacrificed +and frankincense burned to the gods, libations were +poured in honour of the dead. He was praised, as +Diodorus assures us, not because he was born of a +noble race, but because he had been carefully educated +and well instructed, because he had been pious towards +the gods, and had lived a just and sober life. Then +the kinsfolk implored the gods to receive the dead +into the society of the good. The accompanying +multitude joined in the prayer, and extolled the faith +of the deceased, who now would for ever pass his life +in the company of the good.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> The coffin was then +brought into the upper chamber, and from thence, +when the ceremonies were completed, it was carried +to its proper resting-place, and placed on the west +side of it; the place was then closed and sealed.</p> + +<p>According to the Egyptian story, Osiris was not +slain by Typhon. He did not die; he was only +taken away from men, as Diodorus says;<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> he descended +into the under world; he passed away into +the invisible region, while in the visible world he continued +to live and work in the vigorous strength of +his son Horus. In the shape of Horus, or Ra, Osiris +wandered through the visible world. He changed +only his name and shape when, every evening, he +went back to his distant home in order to be alone. +Thus, by descending from earth and dying, he had +received the sovereignty of the lower world, and left +to the youthful Ra, his son Horus, the empire of this +world. As the sun goes down every evening, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +every morning awakes to new life, as the vegetation +dies away in the heat of summer and in autumn, +and again in the spring attains to new life, so to the +minds of the Egyptians death, in all its shapes, was +only death in appearance, in reality it was a transition +to a new life. And as Osiris remained alive in +death, and was the source of new life, so through +him and in him the soul of man was aroused out of +death to a new life. The sacred animals and men +were of divine nature and origin; they could not, +therefore, end with death; death could only carry +them back to their divine origin, to that other world, +from which they had come; and in that other world +they must awake to a new life.</p> + +<p>Owing to this power of awakening life out of death, +Osiris became to the Egyptians the special god of the +human soul. As lord of the under world, Osiris +is often found on the monuments in the shape of a +mummy. His colour was in this case black, like his +bull in Memphis; his clothing was white;<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> his symbol, +a wide-open eye, signifying the second beholding +of light. In this form of Osiris the Greeks recognised +the Dionysus of their Mysteries, whom they +could also compare with Osiris as the giver of fruits.<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p> + +<p>The Egyptians, says Herodotus, were the first to +maintain that the soul of man was immortal.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> +Plutarch, as we have already seen, informs us that to +the Egyptian Osiris was the embodiment not only +of all that is in heaven, but also of all that is in +the under world. "His soul," he continues, "was +regarded by the Egyptians as eternal and indestructible, +and, according to the doctrine of the priests, +Osiris ruled over the dead, as Hades and Pluto among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +the Greeks. In reality, he was free and untouched +by everything subject to change and death. When +men are delivered from the body, and from pain, and +pass into the eternal and invisible world, where pain +is unknown, then Osiris becomes their king and +leader. They are his retainers, who desire him, and +are spectators of a beauty inconceivable and inexpressible +to men. This is the explanation of the story +most suitable to the deities."<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> + +<p>The inscriptions on the sarcophagi, the wraps round +the corpses, but above all a papyrus roll placed in the +coffin with the dead body, the so-called "Book of +the Dead," enable us to ascertain with considerable +accuracy the views of the Egyptians on the fate of the +soul after death. The greater part of the known +manuscripts of this book belong to the seventh or +sixth century <small>B.C.</small> The contents show that rubrics +and prayers of the same purport, but differently drawn +up, proceeding from different times, and with different +commentaries, are collected together in order to provide +the dead person with everything he can want +in the next world. All the prayers and invocations +for that world are also given, in order that the most +effective may be at hand, just as at the end of these +manuscripts all the names under which Osiris can be +invoked—and they are more than a hundred—are +gathered together. But fragments of this Book of +the Dead, or, more strictly, this Book of the Resurrection, +which forms the core of the Egyptian doctrine +of the world to come, are found hewn in sarcophagi—already +with a triple commentary—which belong +to a date previous to the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>After death the soul of man descends with the +setting sun under the earth into the nether world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +Here, on the day of the "valuation of words," the day +of "justification," the soul is examined, and its actions +weighed in the hall of double justice, <i>i. e.</i> the justice +which rewards and the justice which punishes. Osiris, +with a crown upon his head, and holding in his hand +a crosier and a whip, sits upon a throne surrounded by +the water of life, out of which spring up lotus-flowers. +Beside him sit forty-two spirits; Anubis, the god with +a jackal's head, the leader and keeper of the dead, +and Horus, with a hawk's head, are busied with a +balance; in one scale is the heart of the deceased, in +the other an ostrich-feather, the symbol of truth and +justice. The god with the head of an ibis, the scribe +of truth, takes down the result of the weighing. As +Osiris, according to the legend, was once justified by +Horus and Thoth, so is every human soul justified by +those deities. The deceased assures them that he has +committed no sins; he enumerates forty-two errors +into which he has not fallen. He has done no wickedness; +he has not stolen, nor slain any one intentionally; +he has not allowed his devotions to be seen; he +has not been guilty of hypocrisy, or lying; he has not +stolen the property of the gods, or the sacrificial food; +he has not calumniated any one, or fallen into drunkenness +or adultery; he has not turned away his ear from +the words of truth; he has been no idle talker; he +has not slighted the king or his father; he has not +contemned the gods, or torn from the dead their linen +wraps.</p> + +<p>The departed spirit was not allowed to enter the +other world in ignorance: he must know what awaits +him there; the path which he has to tread, and the +prayers which opened for him the gates of the various +regions, which gave him power to overcome whatever +spirits and monsters might meet him in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +way and attempt to hold him back; he must know +the charm which will at last unlock for him the fields +of Ra. He must know and recognise the gods to +whom he returns; the nature from which he has +sprung, and which he now again assumes. As in him +divinity has been made human, so is he now in turn +deified. To secure this knowledge for the dead, the +book is placed in his coffin, the important passages +were written on the wraps, and engraved on the coffin.</p> + +<p>If the heart of the dead man was not found too light +and his soul was pure,<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> he was acquitted in the other +world, he received back from the gods his heart and +members renewed and deified, and the goddesses of life +and the sky—Hathor and Nut—poured out upon him +the water of life. His prayer opened for him the gates +of the dwellings in the world to come; he was enabled +to strike with his lance the evil spirits and monsters, +the crocodiles, snakes, tortoises, the two vipers, and +the serpent Apep, to keep at a distance all impurity, +and finally to reach the fields of the sun-god.<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> Here +the blessed planted the heavenly wheat—of which the +ears were two cubits in length—wandered at will in +shady avenues with odours in their hair, and bathed +in pools of water.</p> + +<p>Arrived among the gods, the soul receives the +power of assuming various existences—that is, +apparently, of entering into the bodies of men and +beasts, and returning finally into the divine substance +from which it sprang. Hence to the Egyptians death is +the "going up to heaven," the "entrance into heaven," +the "entrance into the place of the gods."<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> The first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +chapter of the Book of the Dead was to be pronounced +by the deceased on the day of his burial when going +forth from the grave at the western gate of the under-world, +in order to find immediate entrance there. "By +learning this chapter when on earth," so runs the close +of it in the book, "or by setting it forth in writing on +his tomb, he will emerge on the day, and on entering +into his dwelling he will not be thrust back. Food and +drink will be given to him, much flesh also on the table +of Ra; he will work in the fields on the plain of Aanro +(Paradise), where corn and wheat will be given to him; +he will live happily as he lived upon earth." On +the day of justification, the dead has to say: "I am +one of the initiated; thy name I know; I know the +names of thy forty-two gods, who dwell with thee +in the hall of twofold justice." Then comes the +answer: "Enter! thou knowest us."<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> On a sarcophagus +of the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen the +deceased utters the following words, which are found +detailed at greater length and commented upon in the +seventeenth chapter of the Book of the Dead. "I +am Tum (<a href="#Page_51">p. 51</a>), a being, which I alone am. I am +Ra in his first sovereignty. I am the great self-existing +god, the creator of his name, the ruler of all +gods, whom none of the gods restrains. I was +yesterday; I know the morrow. When I spoke a +battle-field was prepared for the gods. I know the +name of that great god who is there. Glory of +Ra is his name. I am the great Bennu which is +worshipped in On. I am Chem in his manifestation; +on me have been placed the two feathers on my head; +I have arrived at my land, I have arrived at my +dwelling-place."<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> "The sun-mountain (horizon) of +his father Tum is meant,"—so run the commentaries,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +both old and late, and at the same time they remark +that the great god, existing by his own power, is Osiris; +and the great Bennu also is Osiris (<a href="#Page_69">p. 69</a>). By Chem is +meant Chemhor, <i>i. e.</i>, the Horus, who by his own power +renews his own youth every day. On the cover of the +sarcophagus we find the formula, "When this chapter +has been pronounced, he (the dead man) enters into +the western land at the time of his resurrection: if +entirely unacquainted with it, he cannot enter; for him, +as for one uninitiated, there is no resurrection."<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p> + +<p>Thus we must assume that the Egyptians believed +in man's return to his divine origin in the sense that +a soul which was not found wanting in weight, +and was conscious of its own true nature, was not +only received, after the completion of the proper cycle, +into the bosom of the godhead, and allowed to be +absorbed into the divine power, but was so far deified +that it could adopt divine attributes and power, and +even assume a divine title.</p> + +<p>According to the account of Herodotus, the Egyptians +believed that the soul of the dead passed into +an animal, born at the time; from this it wandered +into all the other animals on earth, in the air and +the sea, and after 3,000 years it was again born +with a human body.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> That this account is incorrect +is proved by the records already quoted; it may +perhaps have arisen from the Egyptian conception that +the soul of the justified obtained the power to assume +every shape. But a purification of the unclean and +ignorant soul by passing through the bodies of all +kinds of animals could never have been assumed by +the Egyptians, since the sacred races were pre-eminent +manifestations, and the selected animals continuous +incarnations, of the gods. If a pilgrimage through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +bodies of beasts was really regarded by the Egyptians +as a course of punishment and amelioration, the beasts +meant can only be such as were not sacred. But as +yet the examination of the monuments and records has +by no means completely cleared up the relation of the +soul to the body it has left, nor has it attained to any +result on the fate in store for the souls which were +found wanting when weighed in the balance.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Herod. 3, 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, 1, 357.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> "De Isid." c. 51, 52; "De Pyth. Oraculis," p. 400.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Macrob. "Sat." 6, 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> "De Isid." c. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> De Rougé, "Zeitsch. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," after a sepulchral pillar +in the Berlin Museum, 4, 375.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Champollion, Monuments, pl. 123 <i>seq.</i> Dümichen, "Tempelinschriften." +1, 24. Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte des Todtenbuchs," s. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Lepsius, "Die Götter der vier Elemente;" Dümichen, in "Zeitsch. +für ægyptische Sprache," 1869 s. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Herod. 2, 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> The identification of Neith with Athene (Herod. 2, 62; Plat. "Tim." +p. 21) rests on the similarity of the name, on the torch-races in honour +of Pallas at Athens, and the feast of lamps at Sais. Gutschmid, "Beiträge +zur Geschichte des alten Orients," s. 39, 45 ff., has shown that Neith +and Athene cannot be brought into agreement in points of language. The +inscription on the throne of Neith at Sais, given by Plutarch ("De Isid." +c. 9), "I am all that has been, is, will be, and no mortal has lifted my +robe," does not in the first part of it contradict certain applications of the +oldest text of the "Book of the Dead" (see below). On the other hand, +the second part is doubtful. In any case, the fact that the <i>peplos</i> has not +been raised does not refer to the inconceivable nature of the goddess, but +to seclusion from sexual intercourse. It can only mean that Neith was +born from her own creative force.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Herod. 2, 60, 137, 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Horapoll. 1, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. morgenland. Gesellschaft," 10, 683.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, 1, 339.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 63; cf. Eber's "Gosen," s. 484.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," I, 446.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Lepsius in "Zeitschrift für æg. Sprache," 1868, s. 127.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 42, 48, 52; "Götterkreis," s. 31-43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Ibid. c. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Wilkinson, 4, 237, 242, 246.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Parthey, "Abh. der Berl. Akademie," 1863; Minutoli, "Reise zum +Tempel des Ammon;" cf. Herod. 4. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," 1, 470; Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Diod. 1, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 12-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Herod. 2, 144; Diod. 1, 25, 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Compare the beautiful explanation given by Lepsius of the game at +dice between Hermes and Selene, narrated in Plutarch, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Lepsius, "Chronol." 1, 91. As to the meaning of Seb, I should be +inclined to give the preference to the view of Brugsch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Brugsch and Lepsius in "Zeitschrift für æg. Sprache," 1868, s. 122 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Wilkinson, "Ancient Egypt," 4, 189.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 35; "Briefe," 106-111.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Diod. 1, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 20</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Plut. <i>ib.</i> 12-20; Strab. p. 803.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Herod. 2, 59; Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> 21; Diod. 1, 88.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Busiris was the name of several towns in Lower Egypt; we must +assume that the chief town of the district of this name was the scene +of the festival. How the Greeks turned the name of this town into a +king Busiris who used to slay strangers, I cannot explain. Eratosthenes +in Strabo, p. 802, says: "There never was a king Busiris; the story +may have been invented owing to the inhospitality of the inhabitants of +Busiris;" and Diodorus observes: "It was not a king who was called +Busiris, but the grave of Osiris was so named in the native language" +(1, 88), which is near the truth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Herod. 2, 40, 42, 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 35, 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> 12, 21, 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> c. 52. The inscriptions on the temple at Dendera prescribe +a seven days' lamentation for Osiris, beginning on the 24th Choiak, +and give full directions for the burial. Lauth, in the "Zeitschr. f. æg. +Sprache," 1866, s. 64 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Herod. 2, 41, 132.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> "De Isid." c. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Diod. 1, 88.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Plutarch, <i>loc. cit.</i> c. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 53.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> c. 32, 40, 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> c. 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Parthey, on Plut. "De Isid." c. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Wilkinson, <i>loc. cit.</i> 4, 436.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Brugsch in the "Zeitschr. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," 9, 10, 68 c. ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 33, 39, 40, 49, 53, 65, 71.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Diod. 1, 27; Plut. "De Isid." c. 9, 56, 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Plut. <i>loc. cit.</i> c. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Birch. "Gall." 1, 24, 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Herod. 2, 66.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Diod. 1, 83, 84.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." c. 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Herod. 3, 28; Ælian ("De Nat. Anim." 1, 10) speaks of twenty-nine +marks of Apis; cf Plin. "Hist. Nat." 8, 184.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Diod. 1, 84, 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Diod. 1, 85; Plut. "De Iside." c. 29; Strabo, p. 807.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> "Mém. pres. à l'Acad. des Inscript." sér. 1, 2, p. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Mariette, "Bulletin de l'Athén-Français," Oct. 1856, p. 75; Juill. +Nov. 1855, pp. 67, 96, 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> "Ardea purpurea;" Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 43, 46, 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Brugsch in "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Herod. 2, 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Plin. "Hist. Nat." 10, 2; cf. 13, 9; Pompon. Mela. 3, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> "Annal." 6, 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> "De Nat. Anim." 6, 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> "Hist. Nat." 10, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Ibid. 1, 34, 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff.; Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," +s. 51; De Rougé, "Bulletin de l'Athén. Français," 1856, p. 25 <i>seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 683.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> Herod. 2, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Strabo, p. 811.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Herod. 2, 65-67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> Wilkinson, "Egypt," 5. 117, 123, 230 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Diod. 1, 51, cf. 92.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Diod. 1, 92; Wilkinson, "Egypt," sec. ser. 2, 411.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> Diod. 1, 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Plut. "De Iside," c. 33, 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Herod. 2, 42; Diod. 1, 11, 13, 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Ibid. 2, 123.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> "De Iside," c. 54, 61, 79, 80.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Pierret, "Traduct. du Chap. I. du Livre des Morts;" "Zeitsch. für +æg. Sprache," 1869, s. 135; 1870, s. 18 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1860, p. 79 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 6, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Lepsius, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 30 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Herod. 2, 123.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS.</h3> + + +<p>The lists of the Egyptians place Menes (Mena) at +the head of their series of kings. They describe him +as a native of This, a place in the neighbourhood of +Abydus, below Thebes, a district which Diodorus +considers the oldest part of Egypt. Menes passes +for the founder of the kingdom and the builder of +Memphis (Mennefer); he is said to have taught the +Egyptians the worship of the gods and the offering +of sacrifice.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Herodotus informs us that he learnt +from the Egyptian priests that Menes had thrown a +dam across the Nile about 100 stades above Memphis, +and thus forced the stream which previously flowed +at the foot of the Libyan chain of hills to leave its +ancient channel, and flow at an equal distance between +the two ranges. When the land thus gained by the +dam had become firm, he built upon it the city, now +called Memphis, and still situated in the narrow part +of Egypt. Towards the north and west sides of the +city, Menes had excavated a lake, and filled it with +water from the river—which was itself a protection +to the city on the east,—and in the city he built the +greatest and most remarkable temple of Hephæstus +(Ptah).<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> Diodorus observes:—The founder of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +Memphis, the most splendid city in Egypt, selected +the most suitable site by founding the city in the place +where the Nile separates into several arms, so that the +city, lying on the pass, commanded the navigation up +the Nile. He also obtained for the place a wonderful +advantage and security by throwing a huge dam in +front of it towards the south, as the Nile at the time +of inundation overflows the district. This dam was a +protection against the rising water, and at the same +time served as an acropolis and defence from the +attack of enemies. On all the other sides of the city +he caused a large and deep lake to be excavated, +which received the overflow of the water and afforded +the strongest protection for the city. The circuit of +the city he placed at 150 stades, and owing to the +excellence of the situation, Memphis was generally +chosen by the kings as their place of residence.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> The +situation, just a little above the place where the river-valley, +hitherto enclosed between the two ranges of +hills, opens out into the Delta, was certainly the best +adapted to form the centre of an empire extending +over the narrow valley of the upper river and the +broader district of the Delta, with its wealth of corn-land +and meadows, and to check the entrance of +enemies who came from the north-west or the north-east +into the upper valley, even when it was no longer +possible to maintain the Delta against them. About +fifteen miles above Memphis, at Kafr-el-Yat, the Nile +makes a considerable bend to the east, and modern +investigations claim to have discovered traces showing +that this curve is due to the hand of man.</p> + +<p>Menes, whose accession, according to the arrangement +of Lepsius, would fall in the year 3892 <small>B.C.</small>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +was followed on the throne by King Athotis (Ateta), +who was said to have built the citadel at Memphis. +Next came Kenkenes, whose successor was Uenephes, +to whom is ascribed the erection of the pyramids. +We have seen what care and labour the Egyptians +devoted to their tombs, their "everlasting houses." +The west, where the sun sets, and the desert spreads +out in boundless expanse beyond the Libyan range, +belonged in their minds to the gods of night, of the +under-world, and of death. About ten miles to the west +of Memphis there rises a desolate and barren plateau +of rock, which for many miles runs parallel to the river, +about 100 feet above the blooming and animated valley +through which the Nile takes its course. In that +rocky soil, which separates the fruitful land from the +desert, the bodies of the dead were placed in chambers, +either hewn in the solid stone, or, where the soil was +less firm, built of masonry, and thus secured even +from the overflow of the river. Even the kings +sought their resting-places on this plateau of rock. +They, above all, gave attention to the solidity and +durability of their tombs; and in death, as in life, +they wished to be kings. The place where a king +rested must be marked as royal, and visible from a +distance; the grave of a king must tower over the +rest; his chamber must be of all most difficult to +open. Thus at first blocks of stone were rolled upon +the closed burial-place of a king, or a mound of earth +was raised over it, if sand and soil were to be obtained +in the neighbourhood. The strong winds which blew +from the desert made it, however, necessary to secure +these mounds, and cover them with stone. Hence by +degrees the sepulchral heaps acquired a definite shape: +they were rectangular structures, lessening toward the +apex; then, by extending the base and sharpening the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +gradient, they were brought into the form of pyramids, +and thus obtained the greatest possible firmness and +solidity. For a similar reason the core, or central +part, was no longer made of earth, but of brick; +where blocks of stone could be obtained they were +fitted into the core with more and more regularity, +until at last these structures were completed within +and without of rectangular hewn blocks of stone +in regular layers, and artificial mountains of stone +towered over the sepulchral chambers of the kings.</p> + +<p>"At a distance of forty stades from Memphis," +Strabo tells us, "is a range of hills, on which stand the +pyramids, or sepulchres of the kings. Among these, +three are especially deserving of notice. Rectangular +in shape, they are about one stadium high; and the +height is slightly less than the length of either side. +The sides are not equal, one is a little longer than the +other, and near the middle of the longer side is a +stone, which can be taken out. Behind this a winding, +hollow passage leads to the tomb. Two of these +pyramids stand close to each other on the same level; +at a distance, on a higher level, rises the third, +which, though much smaller, has been erected at +much greater cost." "Like mountains," says Tacitus, +"the pyramids have been raised amid impassable +quicksands by the emulation and power of the kings."<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> + +<p>About seventy of these structures, which rise in a +long line on the plateau of Memphis, from Abu +Roash to Dahshur,<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> remain as witnesses of the rulers +of the old kingdom of Memphis and their dependants, +of the artistic skill and laborious industry of their +nation. Of some only the bases and a few fragments<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +are in existence; of the largest, the points, and at +least a part of the casing, are either decayed, fallen +down, or broken off; for at a later time the Arabs +used these monuments as quarries. Three pyramids +which stand in the neighbourhood of the modern +Abusir are formed of rough blocks of stone, both in +the cores and in the passages to the sepulchral +chambers; and these blocks are fastened together by +mud from the Nile poured in between them; their +casings, now decayed, were of lime-stone blocks, +and in height they extended from 150 to 200 feet. +Others, originally at least, of an equal height, of +which the core was regularly built of brick, are found +farther to the south near Dahshur. The architecture +of these remains shows that the kings of Memphis +commenced building their tombs soon after their +accession. They began, it would seem, with a core +of moderate size, and in this they probably constructed +a sort of temporary chamber. If time +sufficed, the first plan was overlaid with new strata, +and thus it gradually increased in size. Should the +builder die before the whole was completed, the +casing of the structure thus raised in the form of +steps was left to the successor.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> Between seven smaller +pyramids, built regularly of stone blocks, which are +about 150 feet in height, and of similar plan and +structure, rise the three largest at Gizeh; the highest +was originally 480 feet in height, though now it +measures only 450 feet; the next greatest, standing +south-west of the highest, is now 447 feet, and was +originally 457 feet in height; the third measures +but 218 feet. The second largest, originally twenty-three +feet lower than the largest, is on a slightly +higher level, the masonry is inferior to the largest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +and the chamber lies immediately under the area +of the structure. The largest measures 716 feet, +or 500 Egyptian cubits,<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> on each side of the area; +the height along the slope is 574 feet, and the +structure contains about ninety million cubic feet of +masonry. Fifty feet above the original area, now +covered with the sand of the desert, in the middle +of the north side, there commences a gradually +descending passage, about three feet broad and four +feet high, leading to a chamber hewn deep in the +foundation rock. This chamber lies more than one +hundred feet below the level of the pyramid, exactly +600 feet under the apex, and in a perpendicular line +with it; it is thirty-six feet above the level of the +Nile. From this passage to the chamber there +branches off, just behind the entrance, a horizontal +shaft, and from this rises an ascending passage +leading to two chambers, one over the other, which, +like the sepulchral chamber below, lie in the axis +of the pyramid. The third and smaller pyramid—its +sides measure 333 feet, and the height of the +slope is 262 feet—being built upon looser soil, +required a greater substructure, on which it rose +in five or six perpendicular and gradually diminishing +stories, the spaces between being filled up with +bevelled masonry. Up to a considerable height the +casing consists of polished slabs of granite. Under +this structure in the native rock lies a larger chamber, +and behind this the sepulchral chamber.</p> + +<p>When Herodotus visited Egypt about the middle of +the fifth century <small>B.C.</small>, and questioned his interpreter +and guide about the builders of these three pyramids, +he was told in answer that they were built by Cheops, +Chephren, and Mycerinus. He was told that Cheops<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +first caused a road to be made from the stone quarries +in the Arabian chain of hills—the range east of the +Nile—down to the river, and again from the west side +of the river to the high ground above Memphis. The +road was built of smoothed stones five stades in length, +ten fathoms broad, and at the highest places thirty-two +fathoms high; and it was intended to convey the +materials from the Arabian side of the river. In +making this road and building the subterranean +chamber for the grave of Cheops ten years were +consumed, although 100,000 men were constantly +employed upon it by spaces of three months, when +they were relieved by an equal number of fresh +workmen. Twenty years were then spent upon the +pyramid, of which each side and the height measured +800 feet; it was built in such a manner that the +structure was carried out by landings and steps, like +a staircase. When the proper height was reached, +the landings were covered from top to bottom with +smoothed and carefully-fitted stones, and no stone is +less than thirty feet. Under the surface was a canal +carried in masonry from the Nile round the subterranean +chamber. "It is also inscribed on the pyramid," +Herodotus continues, "what the workmen consumed +in radishes, onions, and garlic, and on these, as +I well remember, the interpreter who read the letters +told me, 1,600 talents of silver were spent. If this is +true, what must have been expended upon iron for +the tools, and on food and clothing for the workmen?" +When Cheops had reigned fifty years he was succeeded +by his brother Chephren, who also built a pyramid, +though not equal in size to the other, and without +any chamber or subterranean canal. "Both pyramids +stand on the same elevation, of about one hundred +feet; but the second is forty feet lower than the first;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +the lower stratum is built of vari-coloured Ethiopian +stone." When Chephren had reigned fifty-six years, +he was followed by Mycerinus, the son of Cheops. +This king also left a pyramid behind him, "but his +pyramid was much smaller than that built by his +father: the sides are only 280 feet in length; the +lower half is built of Ethiopian stone."<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> + +<p>The account of Diodorus is as follows:—King +Chemmis of Memphis reigned fifty years, and built +the largest of the three pyramids, which in height +measures more than six plethra, and along the sides +more than seven plethra. It is entirely constructed +of solid stone, very difficult to work, and therefore of +endless durability. Even now, although not less than a +thousand, or as some say even more than 3,400, years +have passed, the structure is uninjured, and the joints +of the stones unloosened. Besides, we are told that +these stones were brought from a considerable distance +out of Arabia, and the structure was carried to its +present height by means of mounds of earth. Most +wonderful of all, no traces of these mounds, no +fragments from the hewing and smoothing of the +stones remain; so that it would seem that this work +was not accomplished gradually by the hand of man, +but was planted complete by a god in the midst of +the surrounding sand. Though it is said that 360,000 +men bestowed their labour on the structure, the work +can hardly have been finished in twenty years, and +the number of men who erected it must also have +removed the mounds of earth and excavated material, +and put everything in its original condition. Chemmis +was followed by his brother Kephren, who +reigned fifty-six years. Other accounts tell us that +the kingdom descended on his son, Chabryes, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +not on his brother. But all agree that he built the +second pyramid, which resembles the first in the art of +the execution, though much inferior in size, since on +the sides it measures only one stadium (or, according +to recent measurement, exactly 700½ Greek feet). And +while the money spent in radishes and garden herbs +for the builders is inscribed on the larger one, the +smaller remains without any inscription. Though +both these kings had destined these tombs for +their place of burial, neither is buried there. Roused +by the burden of their labours, the cruelty and violence +of these kings—and in Herodotus also Cheops +and Chephren appear as wicked and godless kings—the +people threatened to take their bodies out +of their graves and insult them. Terrified by this +threat, each of the kings in his last moments bade his +relations bury him privately in a secret place. After +Kephren reigned Mycerinus, whom others call Mencherinus, +the son of Chemmis. He built the smallest +pyramid. Though less in size, it surpasses the others +in the excellence of the work and the beauty of the +stone; up to the fifteenth layer it consists of black +stone resembling the stone of Thebes; from thence to +the top the stone is the same as in the other pyramids. +On the north side is written the name of the builder, +Mycerinus. Abhorring the cruelty of his predecessors, +Mycerinus, as we learn, sought to make his +rule moderate and beneficent to his subjects, and did +everything to gain the affections of the nation. He +paid great attention to the administration of justice; +and to the common people who had not received from +the tribunals such a sentence as seemed just to him, +he made presents. "But as to the building of the +pyramids, there is no agreement either among the +Egyptians or their historians; some ascribe them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +to the kings I have mentioned; some to other +kings."<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> + +<p>The accounts given by Herodotus and Diodorus of +the structure of the largest pyramid are completely +confirmed by modern researches. Even now it is +thought that traces can be recognised of the causeway +which served for the transport of the materials from +the left bank of the Nile to the plateau.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> The pyramid +itself is built in large regular steps constructed of +squares of granite. The yellow lime-stone of the casing +must also have been really brought from the Arabian +side of the Nile, because better stone of that kind was +found there.<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> On the other hand, the account of a +subterranean canal round the grave chamber is merely +a legend of the people, who desired to adorn with new +marvels the structure already so marvellous; it is +impossible, simply because the lower chamber, and not +only the area of the pyramid, is above the lower level +of the Nile. The 100,000 workmen of Herodotus, +changed every three months, and the 360,000 of +Diodorus—a number formed from the days in the old +Egyptian year—have arisen out of the free invention +of later times, although the building must certainly +have occupied more than a decade of years. Inscriptions +are not found now on the external side of the +pyramid. If such were in existence at the time of +Herodotus, they certainly contained other things than +those which the interpreter pretended to read there. +The interpreters who served as guides to the travellers +of that day in Egypt, as the dragoman does now, could +hardly have read the hieroglyphics; they contented +themselves with narrating the traditions and stories +popularly connected with the great monuments of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +past time, not without certain exaggerations and +additions.<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>But the names of the builders of the three largest +pyramids, which these interpreters mentioned to the +Greeks, are confirmed by the monuments. In the deep +chamber of the largest pyramid there is no sarcophagus; +in the upper of the two chambers which lie in the axis +of the pyramid there has been found, it is true, a +simple sarcophagus of red granite, but it bears no +inscription. Above these chambers, however, there +are certain small spaces left open, with a view no +doubt of diminishing the pressure of the stone-work +upon them, and on the walls of these spaces is +written the name, Chufu, Chnemu Chufu, in hieratic +characters.<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> The same name frequently recurs in the +tombs surrounding this pyramid, in which, according +to the inscriptions, the wives, sons, officers, and priests +of Chufu were buried; and among them the scribe of +the buildings of the kings and the priest of Apis, who +was at the same time keeper of the gates and of the +palace. In this inscription the pyramid of Chufu is +called "Chut." On a monumental stone found in the +Apis tombs—now in Cairo—we read, "The living +Horus, the King of Egypt, Chufu, has built a temple +to Isis near the temple of the Sphinx, north of +the temple of Osiris, and has erected his pyramid +beside the temple of Isis."<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> Chufu himself is not +found in Egypt, but in the peninsula of Sinai he is +pictured in relief on the rocks in the Wadi Maghara. +He is represented as lifting his war-club against an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +enemy whom he has forced upon his knee and +seized by the head-dress with the left hand.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> In an +inscription in the same valley, the oldest which we +possess, his predecessor Snefru claims to have subjugated +these regions.</p> + +<p>In the second pyramid, in the chamber under the +surface, a sarcophagus of granite has been discovered on +the floor without any inscription. But in the inscriptions +on the graves, especially on the grave of the +architect of King Chafra, his pyramid is mentioned +as "the great pyramid." Between the paws of the +Sphinx which stands to the north of the second +pyramid, hewn out of the living rock, is a monumental +stone, on which is read the name Chafra,<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> and in the +ruins of a temple lying near the Sphinx—the same +without doubt which is mentioned in the stone at +Cairo—seven statues have been exhumed, the inscriptions +on which prove that they represent "the +Master and Gold Horus, Chafra, the good god, the +lord of the crown," <i>i. e.</i>, King Chafra himself.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> And +lastly, the inscriptions on the tomb of a woman whose +name is read as Mertitef, prove that she was the chief +favourite of Snefru and of Chufu, and had been +united to Chafra.<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> Hence Chafra must have succeeded +Chufu, and the "great" pyramid built by him can +hardly have been any other than that which now holds +the second place.</p> + +<p>In the sepulchral chamber of the third pyramid, it +is known in the inscriptions as "Har," <i>i. e.</i>, "the +supreme," the sarcophagus of King Menkera with his +mummy has been discovered. It is made of blue<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +basalt, and bears the following inscription:—"O +Osiris, King Menkera, ever living one; begotten of +the sky, carried in the bosom of Nut, scion of Seb +(<a href="#Page_55">p. 55</a>). Thy mother Nut is outstretched over thee, +in her name of the mystery of the sky may she +deify thee and destroy thy enemies, King Menkera, +ever living one."<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> + +<p>It is therefore an ascertained fact that Chufu, Chafra, +and Menkera were the builders of the three great +pyramids. In the mouth of the Greeks the name +Chufu passed into Cheops, and by a farther change +into Suphis. The name Chemmis in Diodorus has +arisen out of the name Chnemu in the form Chnemu +Chufu; from Chafra naturally arose Chephren, Kephren, +and Chabryes. In the list of kings in Eratosthenes, +the fourteenth successor of Menes is Saophis; Eratosthenes +allows him a reign of twenty-nine years. His +successor, who has a reign of twenty-seven years, bears +the same name. The second Saophis is followed by +Moscheres with a reign of thirty-one years. Manetho's +list gives the name Suphis to the twenty-seventh king +after Menes, and he is said to have reigned sixty-three +years. Then follows a second Suphis, with a reign +of sixty-six years, and this king is succeeded by +Menchres, who reigned sixty-three years. On the +first Suphis in Manetho's list the excerpt of Africanus +remarks: "This king built the largest pyramid, +which Herodotus assigns to the time of Cheops;" +in the excerpt of Eusebius, both in the Greek +text and the Armenian translation, this remark is +made on the second Suphis. Hence we can have no +hesitation in identifying the Cheops and Chephren of +Herodotus, the Chemmis and Kephren of Diodorus, +with the first and second Saophis and Sufis of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +lists, the Chufu and Chafra of the inscriptions; and +the Mycerinus of Herodotus and Diodorus is beyond +doubt the same as the Moscheres of Eratosthenes, the +Mencheres of Manetho, and the Menkera of the +sarcophagus in the third pyramid. In the national +tradition of the Egyptians, as received by the Greeks, +Cheops and Chephren were called brothers, and this +is no doubt mainly due to the fact that the monuments +of these two kings surpassed all the other pyramids, +and were of nearly the same height and size. It +is impossible that Cheops should have reigned +fifty years, and his brother Chephren who succeeded +him, fifty-six years, as Herodotus and Diodorus +tell us—the inscription quoted above makes the same +woman the favourite of the predecessor of Chufu, +of Chufu, and Chafra also; even more impossible is +it that the first Suphis should have reigned sixty-three +years, and the second sixty-six, as given in +the list of Manetho, if they were brothers; or that +Mycerinus, whom Herodotus as well as Diodorus +calls the son of Cheops, should have succeeded +Chephren with a reign of sixty-three years, as +Manetho tells us. Like their brotherhood, the +wickedness of Cheops and Chephren is due to the +popular legends of later times. The sight of the +enormous structures forced on later generations the +reflection what labour, what stupendous efforts must +have been necessary for their erection. This reflection +united with certain dim memories, and gathered round +the rule of the strangers, the shepherd-tribes, which for +a long time afflicted Egypt, as is clear enough from a +trait in the narrative of Herodotus. He assures us +that the Egyptians could scarcely be induced to mention +the names of the kings who built the great pyramids: +they spoke of them as the works of the shepherd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +Philitis.<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> In the eyes of the Egyptians of the olden +time, tombs would never have appeared to be works of +impiety and wickedness, realising as they did in such +an extraordinary degree the object most eagerly desired, +a secure and indestructible resting-place for the dead: +with them they would rather pass as works of singular +piety. Without doubt it is the older tradition, that +of the priests, which meets us in the observation +appended in the list of Manetho and the excerpt of +Africanus to the first Suphis, and in the excerpt of +Eusebius, both in the Greek text and Armenian translation, +to the second Suphis, in which we are told +that this king had composed a sacred book, and the +Egyptians regarded it as a very great treasure.</p> + +<p>According to the inscription, Chufu had erected a +temple to Isis by the side of the temple of the +Sphinx, and therefore the latter temple must have +been already in existence. And as a fact the ruins +still found beside the great Sphinx give evidence of +very ancient workmanship. There was a court, the +ante-court of the temple, which surrounded a portico +supported on twelve square pillars; next came a hall +supported on monoliths, the temple itself, and finally +the Holy of Holies, surrounded by small chambers. +The material used in building was limestone and +granite. The symbolic form of the deity, to whom the +temple belonged, was the enormous Sphinx, 190 feet in +length, hewn out of the rock, with the body of a lion +and the head of a man. From the memorial stone before +it we learn that it symbolized the god Harmachu +(Armachis of the Greeks), <i>i. e.</i> Horus in Splendour +(<i>har-em-chu</i>).<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> From the inscription on this stone,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +which dates from the time of Tuthmosis IV., it seems +to follow that it was Chafra, who caused this shape to +be hewn out of the rock and consecrated it to the +god. Other inscriptions inform us that the pyramids +were regarded as sepulchral temples, and that there +were priests for the service of the princes who were +buried there, and had attained to a divine nature, +and these services were still in existence at the +time of the Ptolemies. One of the tombs at Gizeh +belongs to a priest, a relation of Chafra, whose duty +it was to "honour the pyramid Uer (the Great) of king +Chafra;" another is found at Sakkarah belonging to +"a priest of Chufu, and Chafra."<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> On a monumental +stone of the time of the Ptolemies (found in the +Serapeum, and now in the Louvre) mention is made of +the temple of Harmachu on the south of the house of +Isis, and of a certain Psamtik, the prophet of Isis, of +Osarhapi (<a href="#Page_67">p. 67</a>), of Harmachu, of Chufu and Chafra.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p> + +<p>The temples of Osiris and Isis, near the three great +pyramids, and the inscription on the sarcophagus of +king Menkera are evidence that the cultus of Osiris, +the belief in his rule in the next world, in the +return of the soul to her divine origin, and her deification +after death, was already in existence at the +time when these monuments were erected. The use +not of hieroglyphics only, but also of the hieratic +alphabet, in red and black colours, in the pyramid of +Chufu, and the graves around it, in the sculptures of +which writing materials and rolls of papyrus are +frequently engraved, the forms of domestic and household +life, of agriculture and the cultivation of the +vine, of hunting and fishing, preserved on the tombs +of Gizeh, are evidence of the long existence and +manifold development of civilisation, no less than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +those great monuments, or even the graves themselves +with their artistic mode of construction, their severe +and simple style of execution, and the pleasing forms +of their ornaments. Of the seven statues of Chafra, +discovered in the temple of the Sphinx, one, chiselled +out of hard green and yellow basalt, has been preserved +uninjured. The king is represented sitting, +and naked, with the exception of a covering on the +head and a girdle round the loins. The lower arms +rest on the thighs, the left hand is outstretched, the +right holds a fillet. The sides of the cube, on which +Chafra is seated, are formed by lions, between the feet +of which are stems of papyrus. On the high back of +the chair, behind the head of the king, sits the hawk +of Horus, whose wings are spread forwards in an +attitude of protection. The execution of the statue +of the king is a proof of long practice in sculpture. +The natural form is truly and accurately rendered, +and though even here Egyptian art displays its +characteristic inclination to severity, and correctness +in the proportions of the body, to repose and dignity, +yet in the head there is an unmistakable attempt +to individualize an outline already fixed—an attempt +not without success. Still more distinctly individual +are two statues found near the pyramids of +Meidum, from the reign of the predecessor of Chufu, +a wooden statue, and certain pictures in relief from +the tombs near the great pyramids. The architecture, +no less than the sculpture, of these most ancient +monuments, displays a high degree of experience and +a knowledge of the principles of art, a conscious purpose +and effort existing together with a fixed obedience +to rule.</p> + +<p>We learnt from Diodorus that the great pyramids +were erected 1,000, or, according to some, 3,400<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +years before his time. According to the list of +Manetho, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus belonged +to the fourth dynasty. If we accept the incredible +reigns of sixty-three, sixty-six, and again, sixty-three +years, which Manetho allows to those three kings, +they reigned over Egypt, according to Lepsius' dates, +from the year 3095 <small>B.C.</small>, to 2903 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>At a period subsequent to these kings the list of +Manetho speaks in the sixth dynasty of a king +Phiops, who came to the throne as a child in his +sixth year, and lived to be 100 years old. The list +of Erastosthenes mentions a king Apappus, who +reigned for 100 years. The monuments show us a +king Pepi, in whom we recognise Phiops and Apappus, +and in consequence a reign of ninety-five years +is assigned to him (2654-2559 <small>B.C.</small>). Yet hitherto +the sixteenth year is the highest found on the monuments +for the reign of Pepi; and in the inscription on +a tomb at Abydus, now in the museum at Cairo, a +man of the name of Una declares that he had filled +the highest offices in the kingdom under Teta, the +predecessor of Pepi, under Pepi, and again under his +successor, Merenra. If one person could be the +minister of three successive rulers, it is clear that +the second of these reigns could not have lasted +95 or 100 years. Under the reign of Pepi, as well +as his immediate predecessors and successors, <i>i. e.</i>, +in the sixth dynasty of Manetho, the development +of Egypt must have undergone a certain change. +The kings, previous to this family, are represented +on the monuments with a cap falling to one side, +or with a tall head-dress; Pepi is represented on +one relief with this head-dress, but on another with +one of a lower shape. The tall white cap is the +crown of Upper Egypt, the lower red one is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +crown of Lower Egypt. It is no longer on the +plateau of Memphis, and among the tombs there, +but in Middle Egypt, near El Kab, and in the valley +of Hamamat, which leads from Coptus to the Red +Sea, that we find the monuments of Pepi and his +race, and the tombs of their priests and magistrates +are at Abydus. Under this dynasty, therefore, the +central point of the kingdom appears to have been +moved from Memphis in the direction of Middle +Egypt. On the west coast of the peninsula of +Sinai, in the Wadi Maghara, Pepi is seen striking +down an enemy; and from the inscription on the tomb +of Una, it is clear that Pepi's kingdom extended up the +Nile as far as the negroes, that his successor caused dockyards +to be built in Nubia, and that Una had to procure +blocks of fine stone for the sarcophagus of Pepi +and his successor, and also for the pyramid of the latter.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p> + +<p>The removal of the centre of the kingdom from +Memphis, which is noticeable under the family of +Pepi, was completely carried out under a later house, +which is stated in the lists to belong to Thebes—the +eleventh and twelfth dynasty of Manetho. Upper +Egypt became the seat of the royal power; Thebes +(the No-Amon, <i>i. e.</i> possession of Ammon, of the +Hebrews) took her place beside Memphis. The princes +of this new dynasty are no longer called in the +monuments the lords of Upper and Lower Egypt, but +the "lords of both lands;" they always wear both +crowns. Hence it is possible that this royal house +in the first instance ruled over Upper Egypt only +from Thebes, and that for a long time Upper and +Lower Egypt existed side by side independently, till +the kings of Thebes succeeded in reducing Lower +Egypt under their dominion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of Amenemha, the first king of this house, who +ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt (2380-2371 <small>B.C.</small>), +a colossal figure of red granite is still in existence, +which was discovered in Lower Egypt at Tanis +(San), not far from Lake Menzaleh.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> His power must +have extended up the Nile over the adjacent part of +Nubia, for a pillar discovered there informs us that he +intrusted an officer with the superintendence of the +gold mines in Nubia.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> His successor, Sesurtesen I. +(2371-2325 <small>B.C.</small>), erected a temple to Ammon at +Thebes, and set up obelisks, <i>i. e.</i> pointed monolithic +pillars, dedicated to the sun-god, in Lower Egypt, in +Fayum, and at Heliopolis. The obelisk at Fayum, +not far from the ancient Arsinoe, was about forty feet +in height; it has been broken by the fall into two +pieces. The obelisk of Heliopolis is sixty feet in +height; it still towers over the ruins of this city, +near the village of Matarieh. It is not the first +obelisk erected in Egypt, for the inscriptions of Chufu +mention an obelisk erected by that king, but it is +the oldest which has come down to our time. The +inscription, repeated on all four sides, runs thus:—"Horus, +the life of that which is born, the child of +the sun, Sesurtesen, who is beloved by the spirits of +Heliopolis, who will live for ever, the golden hawk, +the life of that which is born, this gracious god has +erected this obelisk at the beginning of the great +festival. He has erected it who assures us of life for +ever."<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> That this king also ruled in Nubia, and +forced his way far up the Nile above Egypt, is proved +by a monument in Nubia on the cataracts of the +Wadi Halfa; a pillar, on which is depicted Sesurtesen, +representing Nubians and negroes, the prisoners<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +of eight nations or tribes, to the god Horus.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> In +the rock tombs of Beni Hassan is buried an officer +of this king, Amenj, overseer of the canton of Hermopolis +(Ashmunein). The inscription tells us that +Amenj had served the king when on a campaign +to destroy his enemies; that he had approached +the land of Cush, and reached the limits of the +earth. The king had returned in peace after the +overthrow of his enemies. Afterwards Amenj with +600 warriors had conveyed the produce of the goldmines +from the canton of Hermopolis to the stronghold +of Coptus. He had loved his canton; and all the +works required for the house of the king he had +carried out in his canton by his own arm, and had +paid in the tribute. He had laboured, and the canton +had been in full activity. He had not afflicted +the children, or ill-treated the widows; he had not +disturbed the fishermen, or hindered the herdsmen. +Famine had never prevailed, because every plot +had been planted. He had caused the inhabitants +to live, had given gifts without regarding the great +before the small.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> The fragment of a seated colossus +of Sesurtesen I., of black granite, is to be seen in +the museum at Berlin; his colossus of red granite is +at Tanis. A third statue of this king has been found +at Abydus.<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p> + +<p>Amenemha II. and Sesurtesen II. carried on the +campaigns of the first Sesurtesen in the south of +Egypt. A monument in the valley of Hamamat +exhibits battles with the Punt, <i>i. e.</i> with the tribes of +the Arabians and the negroes.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> Sesurtesen III., who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +succeeded Sesurtesen II., completed the subjugation +of Lower Nubia. To protect the new border of the +kingdom, he caused fortresses to be erected a little +above the falls of the Wadi Halfa, at Semne and +Kumne, about 250 miles south of Syene. A pillar +discovered in this district has the following inscription:—"Southern +border; erected in the eighth year, +under the rule of his holiness King Sesurtesen III., +who gives life for all eternity. No negro shall pass +over it on his way, except the boats laden with the +oxen, goats, and asses of the negroes."<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></p> + +<p>The third Sesurtesen was followed by the third +Amenemha (2221 to 2179 <small>B.C.</small>). Inscriptions in the +Wadi Maghara, in the peninsula of Sinai, tell us that +Amenemha III. caused the copper to be conveyed from +the mines there by 734 soldiers, in the second year of +his reign; and inscriptions in the valley of Hamamat +show that the quarries there were frequently used by +this king.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> Near the fortifications of his predecessor, +on the rocks of Semne and Kumne, are found +numerous records of the height reached by the Nile +in the reign of Amenemha III. Here we read—"Level +of Hapi (the Nile) in the fourteenth, sixteenth, +thirtieth years, &c., under his holiness King Amenemha +III., who lives for ever." From these observations +we find that the average height of the inundations +at that time was more than twenty-four feet higher +than at present; and the greatest height reached +under Amenemha III. was twenty-seven feet above +the greatest height of modern times.<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></p> + +<p>Herodotus tells us the following story;—Among +the successors of Menes, Moeris carried out some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +remarkable works; he built the north gateway in +the temple of Hephaestus, excavated a great lake, +and erected pyramids in it. "The priests told me that +under the rule of Moeris, the Nile overflowed the +land below Memphis, although it had only risen to +the height of eight cubits, but now the water does not +cover the land unless it reaches a height of sixteen +or at least fifteen cubits; and it seems to me that if +the land were raised again in the same proportion, +the Egyptians who live in the Delta below the lake of +Moeris would be in distress. The circuit of the lake +of Moeris is about 3,600 stades, or sixty schoenes, +and the depth in the deepest place about fifty fathoms. +The lake extends from north to south. That it was +the work of human hands, is clear from the nature +of it. About the middle are two pyramids, each of +which rises about fifty fathoms out of the water, and +on each is a stone colossus seated on a throne. The +water of the lake does not arise from springs, for +the whole district there is entirely without water, +it is introduced by a canal from the Nile. For +six months the water flows from the Nile into the +lake, and again for six months from the lake into the +Nile. While it runs out the fishery brings in a talent +of silver a day for the King's treasury; but when the +water flows into the lake the product is a third of a +talent only.<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a>"</p> + +<p>Diodorus tells us that king Moeris erected the +north gateway at Memphis, the splendour of which +excelled all others; and above the city at about ten +schoenes distance he excavated a lake of marvellous +utility and incredible size. The circuit was 3,600 +stades, and the depth in most places was fifty +fathoms. "Who would not ask, when contemplating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +the vast extent of this work, how many myriads of men +were required to complete it, and for how many years? +But no one could ever speak in worthy terms of the +utility of the lake and the advantage it is to the +inhabitants of Egypt and the wise prudence of the +king in making it. As the Nile does not rise evenly, +and the fruitfulness of the land depends on the +evenness of the overflow, Moeris excavated this lake +to receive the superfluous water, in order that an +excessive inundation might not create marshes and +morasses, or a deficiency of water imperil the fruitfulness +of the soil. He carried a canal 300 feet in +breadth from the river for eighty stades (about ten +miles) to the lake, through which he first admitted +the superfluous water and then drew it off. In this +way he procured for the tillers of the soil the desired +medium in the water, since the mouth of the canal +was sometimes closed, sometimes opened, which +was both a difficult and costly thing to do. The +lake has remained to our time, and is still called +by the name of the constructor, the lake of Moeris. +In the middle, the king who excavated it left a place +on which he built his own tomb, and two pyramids. +One was erected for himself, the other for his wife. +On these he placed stone statues of himself and his +wife, sitting on thrones, in the impression that by +means of this work he would be for ever held in +grateful remembrance."<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> + +<p>Of the lake above Memphis, Strabo gives the following +account:—"The canton of the city Arsinoe, which +was formerly known as the City of Crocodiles, surpasses +all others in the beauty of its appearance, in fruitfulness, +and also in the wonders to be seen there. It alone +is covered with green and large olive trees, whereas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +there are no olives in the rest of Egypt; it produces a +considerable amount of wine, and corn, and pulse, and +many other cereals. In it also lies the wonderful lake +of Moeris, which in size and colour is like a sea, and +has shores like the shores of the sea. Owing to +its size and depth this lake is able to receive the +superfluous water at the time of the inundation, so +that it does not overflow the inhabited and planted +districts. On the other hand, when the river begins to +subside, after it has poured the overflow into one of +the two mouths of the canal, the lake and the canal +together retain the water required for irrigation. This +takes place in the natural course of things, but +there are also artificial sluices at both mouths of the +canal, by which the persons in charge regulate the +rise and fall of the water." Tacitus also mentions +"the excavated lake which receives the overflow of +the Nile."<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></p> + +<p>From these accounts the object of the work is clear. +It was intended to regulate the inundation by a large +reservoir, and so to increase its beneficent effects upon +the soil of Egypt. The inundation was to be reduced +for the Delta by drawing off a part of the water, +which had risen into this basin in the neighbourhood +of Memphis, in order that the land in this district +might not be rendered swampy, and the marshes +might have time to dry. This basin could also retain +a portion of water in the superabundant years of +excessive inundation, in order to supply the deficiencies +of other years when the water did not reach the +highest plots. Further, the reservoir might be used +to irrigate the arable land in the neighbourhood during +the waterless months, when there was no inundation.</p> + +<p>A few miles above Memphis the Libyan range is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +divided by a depression. This cleft leads from the +Nile into a spacious urn-shaped valley, now called +Fayum, of which the western part is filled by a large +lake. On the ruins near this lake, the name of King +Amenemha III. is frequently read. If we remember +that the careful observations of the rise of the Nile +from the reign of this king tend to show that he was +busily engaged with the irrigation of the land, that +the Egyptians call this lake the lake of inundation +(<i>meri</i>), and that the king Mœris of the Greeks owes +his name to this title (<i>suten en meri</i>), we may regard +Amenemha III. as the author of the wonderful +hydraulic structures at Fayum. The great reservoir, +which he constructed, is no longer in existence, but +the remains of it can be traced in dams and in the +modern lake of Fayum, the Birket-el-Kerun. The urn-shaped +valley of Fayum offered a situation for a basin +near the Nile, which might receive and preserve part of +the inundation, and the depression in the Libyan range +secured a natural path for the canal, required to feed +the basin from the Nile, and the Nile from the basin. +For the site of the basin the nearest part of the +valley was selected; it was enough that the bed of +the reservoir was not lower than the lowest level of +the Nile. No deep excavations were needed; all that +was required was to enclose a large part of the valley +with strong dams; and the earth necessary for erecting +these could be taken out of the enclosed space. These +dams must have been massive enough to retain a large +body of water, and prevent it from breaking out into +the western, and far lower part of the valley, and at +the same time of sufficient height to prevent any +overflow even in the times of the highest inundations. +At the eastern entrance into Fayum we find running +from the valley of the Nile the remains of long,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +rectilinear, and very massive banks, in which modern +research has recognised the original enclosure of the +lake of Moeris. The breadth of the dams appears to +have been carried to 150 feet; whereas the height can +hardly have exceeded thirty feet.<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> When Herodotus +tells us that the depth of the basin in the deepest part +was fifty fathoms, it is obvious that the statement +rests on the computation that the two pyramids in the +middle of the lake were of the same height under as +above the surface. The same authority allows a +circuit of about 450 miles for the lake, but from the +remains we cannot allow a greater circuit than 150 +miles.<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> The Egyptians were sufficiently skilled in the +erection of strong dams, and structures of such an +extent could not be in excess of the resources of a +country which had erected the great pyramids. +Finally, when Herodotus asks what had become of the +earth dug out of this great lake, the answer is that +there was no complete excavation, but merely the +enclosure of a certain space of land, and what was +taken out of this was at once applied to the construction +of the dams.</p> + +<p>The statement of the priests about the height of the +inundation in the reign of Moeris, which Herodotus +has preserved for us, and from which he has drawn +the conclusion that the soil of Lower Egypt must +have risen since that reign from seven to eight cubits in +height, is much exaggerated. The deposit of mud in +consequence of the inundation raises the soil only +about four inches in 100 years, that is, about three-and-a-quarter +feet in 1,000 years. Supposing the basin of +Amenemha to have been completed 1,500 years before +Herodotus travelled in Egypt, the difference in the +required height of the inundation might reach three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +or four cubits, but not seven or eight. Yet the raising +of the soil, and more especially of the bed of the +great basin, which rose far more rapidly than the +surface of the land, brought about the decay, and at +last the ruin, of this reservoir. The bed of the basin +in which the water remained the whole year through, +and not for three or four months only, must have been +raised by the deposit at a peculiarly rapid rate; at +the present time it shows a height of eleven feet as +compared with the land outside the remains of the +dams.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> With this rise in the bed, the value of the +basin diminished in proportion as the amount of +water which the reservoir was capable of receiving +was lessened. It was useless to raise the height of +the dams, for the influx of the water from the Nile +depended on the level of the bed of the connecting +canal, and of the basin. These causes along with the +disaffection of later times must have brought about the +decay of the reservoir, the value of which Diodorus +places so high, and which was in existence in the time +of Tacitus. At a later period the dams must have +been neglected, so that at the time of some extraordinary +inundation, a breach was made towards the +west, which filled the western and lowest part of +Fayum with water. This is the origin of the Birket-el-Kerun, +the water of which is still sufficient to convert +the largest part of Fayum into one of the most fertile +and blooming districts of Egypt. The level of the +Birket-el-Kerun is seventy feet lower than the canal +which once connected the reservoir with the Nile.<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> + +<p>"A little above Lake Moeris," Herodotus tells us, +"at the so-called City of the Crocodiles, is the labyrinth. +I have seen it, and it outdoes its reputation. +If any one were to put together the walls and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +buildings of the Hellenes, he would find that they were +surpassed in labour and cost by this labyrinth alone, +although the temples at Ephesus and Samos are +certainly well worth speaking of. The pyramids are +indeed beyond all description, and each of them is +equivalent to many of the greatest works of Hellas, +but the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids. It +contains twelve roofed courts, abutting on each other, +the entrances to which are opposite, six to the north +and six to the south. Externally they are all included +in one wall. The chambers are of two kinds, +some are under the ground, others visible above it; of +each kind there are 1,500. Those above ground I +have passed through, and can speak of them from eyesight; +those under the ground the Egyptian overseers +could not be induced to show me, because, as they +said, they contained the sepulchres of the kings who +built the labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles. Of +these, therefore, I can only speak from hearsay: but +the chambers above ground, which I saw, are a superhuman +work. The entrances through the covered +spaces, and the windings through the courts are +very complicated, and excite infinite wonder, as +you pass from the courts into the chambers, and from +the chambers into colonnades, and from these into +other covered spaces, and from the chambers into +other courts. On all these spaces lies a roof of +stone, similar to the walls; the walls are covered +with carved pictures, and each court is surrounded on +the inside with pillars of white stones, excellently +fitted together. In the angle where the labyrinth +ends there is a pyramid forty fathoms high, with +large figures cut into it. The entrance to this is +under the surface."<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>Diodorus says:—"One of the old kings, named +Menas, built on the lake of Moeris, the City of Crocodiles, +a tomb for himself, a square pyramid, and the +marvellous labyrinth." In another passage he says: +"King Mendes, whom some call Marrhus, was not +distinguished by any military achievements, but he +built for his tomb the so-called labyrinth, which is +marvellous not so much for its size as for the inimitable +art of the structure. Without a thoroughly competent +guide, it would not be easy for any one to find his +way out." And in a third passage we are told: "The +labyrinth at the entrance into Lake Moeris is a +square structure—each side measuring a stadium—built +of the most beautiful stone, unsurpassed in the +sculptures and the art bestowed upon it." "Passing +through the enclosure, you see a house surrounded with +pillars, forty on each side, and with a roof of a single +stone, adorned with mullions in relief, and various paintings. +It also contains the monuments of the twelve +provinces of Egypt of their sacred relics and sacrifices, +all represented in the most excellent pictures."<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></p> + +<p>Strabo's account is as follows:—"At the sluices (of +the canal connecting the basin and the lake) is the +labyrinth, a work as great as the pyramids, and +moreover the grave of the king who built it. About +thirty or forty stades above the mouth of the canal is +a table-land, on which lies a hamlet and a palace made +up of as many palaces as there are districts in Egypt. +For so many in number are the colonnaded courts, +adjoining each other in a row, and abutting on a +partition against which they are built as against a +long wall.<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> The entrances which lead to them are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +over against the wall. Before these entrances lie dark +chambers, long in shape, and numerous, which are +connected with each other by winding passages, so that +without a guide it is impossible for the stranger to find +the entrance or exit belonging to each court. The +most marvellous thing is that the roof of each chamber +consists of a single stone. Even the dark passages +(before the entrances into the courts) are covered with +slabs of a single stone, from side to side, without use +of wood or other support, and these slabs are of extraordinary +size. If you go out on the roof, and as there +is but one story, it is not high, you find before you a +plateau of stones of this kind. If from this point you +look again into the courts, you see them twenty-seven +in number in a row, supported by pillars of a single +stone. The walls also are of stones not less in size. +This number of courts are said to have been erected +because it was the custom for all the districts to assemble +here by their representatives, with their priests and +animals for sacrifice, in order to offer sacrifice and decide +matters of the greatest importance. Each district +thus met in its own court. At the end of the structure, +which extends over more than a stadium (in the +square), lies the tomb, a square pyramid, of which +each side is about a plethron in length and the same +in height. The king buried there is called Ismandes."<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></p> + +<p>"The labyrinth," remarks Pliny, "is still existing +in Egypt, though it is said to have been erected more +than 3,600 years. Lykeas calls it the tomb of Moeris; +some authorities assert that it is a shrine of the Sun-god, +and this is the general belief. The entrance was +built of Parian marble, which is astonishing to me, +the remainder of joined blocks of granite, which +centuries have not been able to destroy, albeit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +assisted by the inhabitants of Heracleopolis, who +regard this structure with the greatest detestation, +and treat it accordingly. The plan of the whole and +the various parts it is impossible to describe. It is +divided according to the districts and prefectures, +which they call nomes; these are twenty-five in +number, and their names are given to an equal +number of large buildings. Besides this it contains a +temple of all the gods of Egypt, and includes above +1,500 small buildings. The chambers are lofty, and +each colonnade is ascended by a flight of ninety steps. +Within are pillars of porphyry, images of the gods, +statues of the kings, and monstrous shapes. Through +the greater part you pass in darkness. From the +wing attached to the labyrinth, passages lead through +the rock to underground chambers, and there is also +a pyramid belonging to it."<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></p> + +<p>As we have seen, Diodorus in one passage ascribes +the building of the labyrinth to the ancient king +Menas, and in another to king Mendes, whom other +authorities call Marrhus, and at last he says that the +twelve kings, who reigned in Egypt after the dominion +of the Ethiopians, built the labyrinth for their common +sepulchre. Four hundred years before his time Herodotus +had stated that the twelve kings built it as a +common memorial of their reign. Lykeas mentioned +king Moeris as the builder, and Strabo told us that +the king buried in it was Ismandes, a name which would +agree with the Mendes of Diodorus. According to the +lists of Manetho, it was the fourth ruler of the twelfth +dynasty—Lacharis in the excerpt of Africanus, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +Lamaris in that of Eusebius—who built the labyrinth +in the province of Arsinoe for his own sepulchre.</p> + +<p>The Menas of Diodorus may be an abbreviation of +Amenemha, and this supposition becomes the more +probable because the king called Moeris by the +Greeks is mentioned as a builder of the labyrinth. +The remains of the building, on the north side of +which the pyramid is still standing, raise this supposition +into a certainty. At the entrance to this pyramid, +on the pillars and architraves in the ruins, the name +of Amenemha III. is repeatedly found.<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></p> + +<p>We must assume, therefore, that in the district which +he had recovered from the desert by means of his large +reservoir, king Amenemha built a large national temple +close to the basin, and in this temple it was intended +that all the provinces of Upper and Lower Egypt should +see the deities of their land reproduced in separate courts +and temples. Then the Egyptians may have ascribed +a restoration of this imperial temple, this pantheon, to +the supposed twelve kings who were thought to have +reigned after the Ethiopian dominion. This tradition is +obviously at the bottom of the accounts of Herodotus +and Diodorus, who carry the building back to the seventh +century <small>B.C.</small> The ruins of the labyrinth lie near the +modern village of Hauara, among orchards and palm +groves, beside rose gardens and sugar plantations, surrounded +by fruitful fields, in a district which is still +flourishing and covered with villages, bounded to the +west by naked ridges of rock and the sand of the +desert. They consist of blocks of granite and dazzling +white limestone, which explains the supposed Parian +marble in Pliny, the remains of walls and the +capitals of pillars. The extent of the structure +reaches 600 feet in length and 500 in width; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +traces of numerous chambers, some large and some very +small, but all rectangular, are still visible both above +and under the ground. In the centre is a clear space, +once perhaps filled by the courts, of which Herodotus +enumerates twelve and Strabo twenty-seven. The +pyramid consists of a core built of bricks, and was +cased with sculptures, of which, however, there are +very slight remains; each side measured 300 feet in +length. It was the sepulchre of Amenemha; here, +among his great creations, he lay at rest.</p> + +<p>In addition to the monuments in Nubia, and this +great building, the lake which ripples against the labyrinth +is a most eloquent witness of the prosperity to +which this dynasty of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen +raised Egypt. The population must have been already +very numerous when it came to recovering fresh land +from the desert, and attention was turned towards increasing +and improving the rich fertilization which +nature every year secured for Egypt. The picture of +the richly developed cultivation, of which these structures +exhibit the highest point, is supplemented by +the insight into the details of the circumstances of +the country permitted by the rock tombs of Beni +Hassan, Bersheh, and Sioot (in Central Egypt), which +belong to this period of Egyptian history. At Beni +Hassan, where the tombs go back to the reign of the +first Sesurtesen, we see the entire process of agriculture. +Oxen or slaves are drawing the ploughs, of which five +different kinds are in use. Sheep and goats tread the +seed into the ground. The corn when cut is gathered +into sheaves, trodden out by oxen, measured, and +carried in sacks to the granary. The flax is packed +upon the backs of asses, the lotus, the vintage, and the +figs are gathered in. The vintage is partly trodden +out, partly squeezed in a press moved by a lever; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +wine is poured into jars, and carried into a cellar. We +see the irrigation of the fields, the planting of the +gardens, the cultivation of onions, the overseer and +his clerks. The overseer passes sentence on the lazy +and negligent slaves: when he has heard the complaint +and the answer, he orders the bastinado to be +applied to the culprits, and hands to his master +the written account of the matter. With equal +minuteness we can follow the breeding of cattle. We +see fine herds of oxen, cows, and calves, asses, sheep, +and goats in the stalls or at pasture with their +keepers; we see the cows milked, the butter and +cheese prepared. The fowl-yards are filled with a +multitude of different ducks and geese. In the same +way by following the pictures on the graves at Beni +Hassan we can obtain an accurate view of the process +of the various manufactures. We see the spinners +and weavers at work; we can follow the potter +through all the stages of his work, from the first +kneading of the clay to the burning of the finished +jar. The carpenter and joiner, the currier, the shoemaker, +the smith and goldsmith, the mason and painter, +pursue their occupations before our eyes. We see +rudders, lances, javelins, bows and arrows, clubs and +war-axes preparing: and lastly we have the manufacture +of glass, even the blowing, in all the various +operations before us. With similar minuteness we can +see the interior of the Egyptian house, simply or +splendidly furnished, with all the movable goods, the +dogs, cats, and apes belonging to the inhabitants; +there are the servants at their work, and the operations +of the kitchen in great detail. Further we find +soldiers of every rank, and with all kinds of weapons; +we see them exercising military drill; the battle, the +siege, the ram, which is brought up against the walls of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +the enemy, the roof of shields under which the besieging +army advanced to storm the wall—all these are before +us. Birding is carried on by means of traps and nets, +angling by hooks and spears of two or three tines; +there is hunting in its various modes. Long rows of +wrestlers exhibit all the various positions of their sport, +which seems to have been much in vogue; along +with this various games exhibiting strength or endurance +were carried on; among others, games of ball and +mora. We see dancers, male and female, in various +and sometimes very intricate positions; harps and +flutes of very different shapes are played upon. +A singer is accompanied by a musician on a +harp, and the concert is completed by two choruses, +one of men, the other of women, who clap their +hands. The better class are depicted in gaily-coloured +skiffs and palanquins, surrounded by numerous servants, +among whom may be observed a considerable +number of negroes. Dwarfs and deformed persons are +also found in their train.</p> + +<p>The most splendid tomb at Beni Hassan belongs to +Chnumhotep, the son of Nehera, who, as the inscriptions +tell us, was a minister of Amenemha II. and +Sesurtesen II. Like Amenj before him, he was the +overseer of the province of Hermopolis (Ashmunein). +A picture on his tomb exhibits a huge portrait of +Chnumhotep, with a staff in his hand, and a scribe at +his side; before him are a number of smaller figures, +who, to judge from their shape and clothing, are +foreigners. The chief among the foreigners, clad in a +gay garment, leads forward an antelope and makes a +reverential obeisance before the minister. His companions +are more simply clad, and armed with lances +and bows; one of them is striking a lute with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +plectrum. Four women follow, in long gaily embroidered +garments, with their heads veiled. An ass +driven by a boy with a lance carries two children, +and a second ass arms and utensils. The leaf of +papyrus, which the scribe of Chnumhotep is handing to +his master informs us that Abusa (Abscha) with thirty-six +companions from the nation of the Aamu (nomads +of the East), had brought presents to the minister of +the province of Hermopolis in the sixth year of +Sesurtesen III.<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></p> + +<p>If we compare the works of that epoch, which saw +the erection of the great pyramids, in technical and +artistic value with the remains which have come +down from the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen—according +to the chronology of Lepsius the two +periods are separated by an interval of six centuries—we +find in the great monuments of the first epoch, in +their passages and chambers, a dexterity in the use of +stone for building, which has never been surpassed. +The sculptures exhibit broader and stouter forms, +with more strongly-marked but well-shaped muscles. +The ornaments consist of simple, straight lines, besides +which scarcely any other adornment is found beyond +the lotus leaf. The style is composed and full of repose; +it remains nearer nature than in the later works. +In the monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen +and Amenemha the ornamentation has already become +far richer. The pillars are massive, fluted, and +crowned by a simple cube. The sculptured forms +are taller and thinner; the work in relief, carried out +with much industry and delicacy, displays at times +very happy moments of natural grace and truth of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +expression, although perspective is entirely left out of +sight. Such work is always carefully painted. The +statues of limestone are also painted throughout; in +those of granite, only the clothing, the eyes and the +hair are coloured.<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Diod. 1, 12, 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Herod. 2, 99.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Diod. 1, 50. He ascribes the foundation of the city to a later king, +whom he calls Uchoreus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Strabo, p. 808; Tac. "Ann." 2, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> Lepsius asserts that he found traces and remains of sixty-seven +pyramids. "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Lepsius, "Abh. der Berl. Akad." 1843, s. 177 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> Bœckh, "Metrologie," s. 236.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Herod. 2, 124-127, 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Diod. 1, 63, 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> Cf. Strabo. p. 809.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 248, 302. Gutschmid has supported the +Herodotean inscription on the strength of papyri from the times of Ramses +Miamen in Philologus, 10, 644; the "talents" in any case must be left for +the dragoman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> De Rougé, "Monuments des six premières dynasties; Mémoires de +l'Institut," 1856, 25, 265 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Brugsch, "Zeitschrift für aegyptische Sprache," 1864, s. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 257.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 282, 283.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Herod. 2, 128. M. Büdinger ("Zur ægypt. Forschung Herodot's." +s. 24) identifies this Philitis with the shepherd-king Salatis; cf. infra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> Cf. above, p. 59. Mariette, "Revue archéol." 1860, p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 281, 307.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 267.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 328 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> "Revue archéolog." 1862, p. 279.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 53.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Rosellini, "Monumenti storici," 3, 33. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 54.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> Rosellini, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1, 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 55, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> "Revue archéolog." 1862, p. 297; 1864, p. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypt." 2, 323; Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 287.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 259. On the fortifications, De +Vogüé, "Athen. franz." Sept. 55, p. 84.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 68, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> Lepsius, <i>loc. cit.</i> s, 81; Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> Herod. 2, 13, 101, 149.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Diod. 1, 51, 52. "This is what the Egyptians tell of Mœris."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Strabo. p. 809-811. Tac. Annal. 2, 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Linant, "Mémoire sur le lac Moeris."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> Lepsius, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Linant, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> Herod. 2, 148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Diod. 1, 89, 66, 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Strabo. p. 811; for +τείχους μικροῦ +we must obviously read μακροῦ, and for +ἔχοντες, +ἔχοντος.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> Strabo. p. 811; cf. 813.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Plin. "Hist. Nat." 36, 19. As the building was actually not more +than a stadium square, the statement of Herodotus that there were 1500 +chambers above the earth—quite irrespective of the 1500 underground—is +inexplicable, unless the chambers were very small. In Pliny we +must read 1500 for 15,000.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 74 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Brugsch, "Histoire d'Egypte," p. 63; Ebers, "Die Bücher Mose's," +s. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> De Rougé in Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 69.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN<br /> +KINGDOM.</h3> + + +<p>In spite of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, and +the extension of the Egyptian dominion up the Nile +as far as Semne and Kumne, the kingdom of the +pyramids, of the lake of Moeris, and the labyrinth +succumbed to the attack of a foreign enemy. According +to Josephus, Manetho, in the second book of his +Egyptian History, gave the following account: "There +was a king Amyntimaeus. In his reign the divine +power, I know not why, was ungracious. From the +East came an unexpected swarm of men belonging to a +tribe of no great reputation, with a bold resolution of +taking the country. This they succeeded in doing +without much trouble. They made themselves masters +of the ruling princes, ruthlessly set fire to the cities, +and destroyed the shrines of the gods. Towards the +inhabitants they behaved in a most hostile manner; +some they put to the sword, from others they carried +away their wives and children into slavery. At last +they made one of their own number, by name Salatis, +their king. He took up his abode at Memphis, collected +tribute from the Upper and Lower country, and +placed garrisons in the most suitable places. The +eastern districts were fortified most strongly, since he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>foresaw that the Assyrians, who were then growing +in power, would be seized with the desire of invading +his country. In the Saitic (Sethroitic) province he +found a city excellently adapted for his purpose, lying +eastwards of the river from Bubastis, and called +Avaris, from some old legend or another. This he +surrounded with the strongest walls, filled it with inhabitants, +and placed there the bulk of his armed +soldiers, 240,000 men, as a garrison. In the summer +he visited this stronghold to measure the corn, pay his +soldiers, and exercise his troops in order to strike fear +in those who dwelt beyond the fortress. After a reign +of nineteen years Salatis died. After him reigned a +king of the name of Beon, for forty-four years, then +Apachnas for thirty-six years and seven months, then +Apophis for sixty-one years, and Annas for fifty years +and one month, and finally Assis for forty-nine years +and two months. These six were their first rulers, and +they sought more and more to destroy Egypt to the +very root. The whole tribe was called Hyksos, <i>i. e.</i> +shepherd kings. For in the sacred language <i>hyk</i> means +'king,' and <i>sos</i> in the ordinary dialect is 'a shepherd,' +and from composition of the two comes the word Hyksos. +Some authorities say that they were Arabs." "The +shepherd kings named above and their descendants +are supposed by Manetho to have ruled over Egypt +for 511 years. Yet he afterwards tells us that kings +arose in the district of Thebes and the rest of Egypt, +between whom and the shepherds there was a long +and severe struggle. In the reign of a king named +Misphragmuthosis the shepherds were defeated by the +king, driven out of Egypt, and confined in one place, +10,000 arouræ in extent, the name of which was +Avaris. This space, as Manetho tells us, the shepherds +surrounded with a great and strong wall, in order to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>preserve their possessions and their booty in security. +But Tuthmosis, the son of Misphragmuthosis, attempted +to take Avaris by force, and led out 480,000 +men before the walls. When he found that the investment +made but little way, he came to terms with the +shepherds, permitting them to leave Egypt uninjured +and go whither they would. On these terms they +departed from Egypt with their families, and goods, +not less than 240,000 strong, and went into the Syrian +desert, and through fear of the Assyrians, who were +then the great power in Asia, they built a city in the +land now called Judæa, large enough to contain their +numbers, and named it Jerusalem."</p> + +<p>The short excerpts made by Africanus and Eusebius +from the Egyptian History of Manetho only tell that +"there were certain foreign kings, Phenicians, who took +Memphis, and built a city in the Sethroitic province, +from which they went forth and subdued the Egyptians." +Africanus gives six, Eusebius four, names of these +foreign kings, which are somewhat the same in sound +as those in Josephus, only in Africanus Apophis is the +last in the list, not last but two.<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></p> + +<p>If Josephus has transcribed and reproduced Manetho +correctly there is an obvious contradiction in his +narrative. The first shepherd king, Salatis, fortified +and peopled Avaris, and placed there a garrison of +240,000 men, for protection against the Assyrians. +Then after a lapse of 511 (or according to the excerpt +of Africanus of 953) years, when the shepherds had +lost Egypt they were shut up in a place containing +10,000 arouræ, <i>i. e.</i> a square of twenty-five miles, of +the name of Avaris, which they surrounded with a +strong wall in order to keep their possessions and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>booty in security. At last they were compelled to +retire even from this, and march out in just the same +strength as the garrison which Salatis had placed so +long before at Avaris, towards Judæa, and here they +founded a second city of Jerusalem, also for protection +against the Assyrians.</p> + +<p>We may leave the Assyrians out of the question, +and assume that the reference to them has been transferred +by Manetho from the later position which +Assyria took up towards Syria and Egypt in the +eighth and seventh centuries <small>B.C.</small> to those earlier +times; we may also regard the turn of the narrative, +which makes the shepherds the ancestors of the Jews +and builders of Jerusalem, as a combination invented +by Manetho, for in the tradition of the Hebrews there +is no hint that their ancestors had once ruled over +Egypt for centuries, and Jerusalem down to the time +of David was merely the stronghold of a small tribe, +the Jebusites. Still it remains inexplicable that these +shepherds, who, after they had taken Egypt, or, in +order to take it, fortified Avaris, and garrisoned it with +240,000 men, should fortify Avaris a second time +centuries later, in order to maintain their last possession +in Egypt, and at last march out of Avaris in exactly +the same numbers as the garrison originally settled +there. Shepherds, <i>i. e.</i> nomads, do not make war by +building fortresses as a base of operations for extending +their conquests; they had nothing to gain by conquering +Egypt for the mere purpose of shutting up the whole +or the greater part of their numbers with their flocks +in a fortified place. On the other hand, it might +have seemed advisable to them, when they had subjugated +Egypt, to possess a fortified place on the eastern +border, in order to keep up a connection with their +tribe; and it was natural that the shepherds, when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>the Egyptians had risen against them with success, +and they were no longer able to hold the Delta, +should attempt to maintain themselves in the flats +and swamps of the Eastern Delta; and when forced to +act on the defensive should fortify their camp at +Avaris in this district.</p> + +<p>In the narrative of Manetho we can accept no +more than the facts that Egypt succumbed to the +attack of the shepherds, and that they, to take the +lower estimate, ruled over Egypt for five centuries. +Herodotus also learnt in Egypt that the shepherd +Philitis had once pastured his flocks at Memphis. +There is nothing wonderful in such an occurrence. +Nomad tribes dwelt in the deserts on the east and +west of Egypt, to whose poverty and scanty means of +subsistence the abundance and cultivation of Egypt +must have presented a continual temptation. That +temptation would increase in force when the tribes +became more numerous, when unusual heat diminished +the springs in the oases, and robbed these shepherds +of the produce of their scanty agriculture. The tradition +of the Hebrews tells us that their ancestor +Abraham went to Egypt when "there was a famine +in the land," and the sons of Jacob bought corn in +Egypt.</p> + +<p>According to Manetho's account, the tribes from +whom the attack proceeded were not famous, and he +regarded the invaders as coming from the east. The +peninsula of Sinai, Northern Arabia, and the Syrian +desert sheltered in the Amalekites, Horites, Edomites, +and Midianites, tribes who were rendered hardy and +warlike by life in the desert, tribal feuds, and raids +for plunder; and these may very well have united in +considerable number under some leader of military +genius, and attempted the invasion of the rich river-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>valley +in their neighbourhood. According to Manetho, +the invaders were Phenicians or Arabians. The name +of the shepherd Philitis, given by Herodotus, points +to a Semitic tribe, and one immediately bordering +on Egypt on the Syrian coast—the Philistines +(Pelischtim), from whom the whole Syrian coast was +called by the Greeks Palæstina. The name of the +stronghold of the shepherds, Avaris, or Abaris, recurs +in Hauara, a town of Arabia on the shore of the +Red Sea.<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> If the shepherds who conquered Egypt +had not been Semitic, and closely related to the +Hebrews, Manetho would not have made them the +ancestors of the Hebrews and founders of Jerusalem +after their expulsion from Egypt.</p> + +<p>After the conquest, the chiefs of the shepherds +ruled over Egypt. The inscriptions on the monuments +repeatedly denote certain tribes in the east of +Egypt by the name Schasu, which in the later language +is contracted into Sôs. <i>Schasu</i> means shepherds. +Moreover, in old Egyptian, the head of a family, +a tribe, and a province is called <i>hak</i>, and Hyksos +thus can be explained by <i>Haku-schasu</i>, chiefs of the +shepherds, shepherd kings, as Josephus, Eusebius, and +Africanus render it.<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> What Manetho tells us of the +destruction of the cities and shrines, the slaughter and +enslaving of the Egyptians may be correct for the +time of the war and conquest. But this hostility and +destruction cannot, as he intimates, have gone on for +centuries, for, on the restoration of the Pharaohs, +we find ancient Egypt unimpaired in population, +unchanged in language, customs, and manners, in +civilisation and art. If the national development was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>interrupted and repressed by the Hyksos, it still +remained uninjured at the core, so far as we have +the means of judging.</p> + +<p>When at a subsequent period the kings of Ethiopia +subjugated Egypt, the warrior caste, the soldiers +settled in the country by the Pharaohs, were deprived +of their lands. The same thing may have taken place +on the irruption of the shepherds. The warriors of +the Pharaohs fell in battle, were carried away as +prisoners, or deprived of their weapons; and in their +place came the victorious army of the shepherds. Of +these many would soon return home laden with the +booty of Egypt, others pitched their tents in the conquered +land, and settled in the greenest meadows, +more especially in the eastern provinces of the Delta, +nearest their own home, on the Tanitic and Pelusiac +arms of the Nile, and Lake Menzaleh. The chief of +the immigrants became the head of the conquerors and +the conquered. The latter would render the same abject +homage to their new masters as they rendered before +and after to their native kings; and the power which +the conquered willingly acknowledged in the chief +would exalt his position even among the conquerors. +As time went on, the culture and civilisation of Egypt +had their natural effect on the barbarous invaders, +and when the storm of conquest was over, we may +assume that Egypt was no worse off under the rule of +the shepherd kings than at later periods under the +rule of the Persians, the Ptolemies, and the Romans.</p> + +<p>That the new princes, soon after the conquest, +attempted to approximate their position as much as +possible to that of the ancient Pharaohs may be concluded +from the mere fact that Manetho was in a +position to give a catalogue of their reigns by years +and months. But this is proved more definitely still +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>by certain monuments. In the neighbourhood of Lake +Menzaleh, among the ruins of the ancient Tanis, the +modern San, two old statues have been discovered, +the forms and lineaments of which exhibit a physique +different from the Egyptian. In the heads of four +sphinxes, discovered in the same place, it is thought +that we may recognise the portraits of four shepherd +kings, and a colossus discovered at Tel Mokdam is +said to bear the following inscription:—"The good +god, the star of both worlds, the child of the sun, +Sel Salati, beloved by Sutech, the lord of Hauar.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a>"</p> + +<p>The six shepherd kings enumerated by Josephus +from the Egyptian History of Manetho reigned, +according to the dates given by the latter, for 260 +years, <i>i. e.</i> from the year 2101 <small>B.C.</small>, in which, on +Lepsius's arrangement, the irruption of the shepherds +took place, till the year 1842 <small>B.C.</small> Their successors +must therefore have ruled over Egypt for 251 years +more, <i>i. e.</i>, down to the year 1591 <small>B.C.</small> But in the +time of the later shepherd kings, native princes again +arose in Upper Egypt, although subject to tribute. A +papyrus of the British Museum tells us: "It so happened +that the land of Egypt became the possession +of her enemies, and when this took place there was no +king. And behold Raskenen became king of the +country in the south. The enemy were in possession +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>of the fortress of Aamu (<a href="#Page_120">p. 120</a>), and their chief, +Ra Apepi was at Hauar. The whole land paid tribute +to him, and rendered service of all kinds, and brought +to him the produce of Lower Egypt. King Apepi +chose Sutech as his lord, and served no other god, and +built him a temple of firm and lasting structure."<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></p> + +<p>The power of the native princes at Thebes must +have been gradually strengthened till the successors of +Raskenen were in a position to press forward towards +Lower Egypt, and place limits on the sway of the +shepherd kings, and finally to drive them entirely out +of Egypt. Josephus has already told us from Manetho +that the princes of Thebes and the rest of Egypt rose +up against the shepherds, and in consequence a long +and severe struggle took place between them. In +Manetho's list the series of shepherd kings is followed +by Amosis of Thebes (1684-1659 <small>B.C.</small>). Hence we +may assume that it was under this prince that the +kingdom of Thebes got the upper hand, and the +power of the shepherd kings was restricted to the +Eastern Delta.</p> + +<p>This conclusion is established by the evidence of +monuments. There Amosis is again mentioned as +king of Upper and Lower Egypt, and two inscriptions +of the twenty-second year of Amosis (1662 <small>B.C.</small>), +in the quarries of Massara, inform us that these +quarries were opened to restore the temples at Memphis +and the temple of Ammon at Thebes.<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> Hence by +this time Amosis had again rescued the old capital, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>Memphis, from the shepherds; that he also forced his +way beyond Memphis, and attacked the shepherds at +Avaris, is proved by the inscription of a tomb at El +Kab, in Upper Egypt. It is the tomb of Aahmes, the +son of Abuna, the chief of the steersmen. The inscription +tells us that, at the time of Amosis, Aahmes, with +his father on the boat, had ministered to "the calf." +He had not yet seen any woman, and wore the clothing +of the young men, when Hauar was attacked. When he +had won a hand, he received the king's commendation, +and the golden necklace in token of his bravery. In +a second and third battle at Hauar he had again won +a hand, and made a prisoner, and he received the +chain for the second and third time.<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></p> + +<p>From the accounts given in Josephus and the +excerpts of Africanus and Eusebius, Avaris lay eastward +of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, in the province +of Sethroe. Consequently we must look for this +fortified camp of the shepherds on the eastern shore +of the Lake Menzaleh, perhaps on the site of the later +Pelusium. In the lists of kings Amosis is followed by +Amenophis I., then follows Tuthmosis I., then +Tuthmosis II. and III., under the regency of Misphra +(1625-1591 <small>B.C.</small>). From this connection has arisen +the king Misphragmuthosis, who, in Josephus, defeats +the shepherds, drives them out of the rest of Egypt, +and shuts them up in Avaris. Hence it must have +been Tuthmosis III., after the rise of the independent +monarchy (1591-1565), who led the great host of +480,000 men against the shepherds in Avaris, and +failing to enter the place by storm, allowed them to +depart unharmed, whereupon the strangers, to the +number of 240,000, retired into the Syrian desert +(1591 <small>B.C.</small>). Yet the inscriptions do not agree +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>with this account. From the inscription of Aahmes +already quoted, it seems more probable that Amosis +had already taken Avaris, and that Tuthmosis I. had +marched through Syria to Naharina, <i>i. e.</i> to Mesopotamia, +a fact which is confirmed by the inscriptions +of Tuthmosis III., though here also there are accounts +of battles fought by Tuthmosis II. against the Schasu, +or shepherds.<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></p> + +<p>However this may be, after a long subjection to +foreign rulers, and weary struggles against them, the +whole land of Egypt was again governed by native +kings. These battles must have invigorated the military +strength of the Egyptians; and the happy result +could not but increase the self-confidence of the new +dynasty to which Egypt owed her liberation. The +mighty impulse thus given carried the kingdom +quickly to the height of its power and greatness. +Tuthmosis III. caused an enumeration to be made +of the conquests which he won from the twenty-second +to the forty-second year of his reign, and the +tribute which he received in this period. In this +enumeration sixteen or seventeen campaigns are mentioned. +In the twenty-third year the king marched +against the Retennu (Syrians). From Kazatu (Gaza) +beyond Taanaka (Taanach) he reached Maketi +(Megiddo). Here, on the twenty-ninth of the month +Pachor he defeated his enemies. The conflict was not +sanguinary. Only eighty-three of the enemy were slain. +The king made 340 prisoners, but took at the same +time 924 chariots and 2,132 horses. Megiddo surrendered, +and Tuthmosis was able to lead back 2,500 +prisoners into Egypt. After this 117 cities and places +in Syria surrendered, Kadeschu (Kades), Tevekhu +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>(Tibshath on the Orontes), Maram (Merom), Tamesku +(Damascus), Atara (Ataroth), Hamtu (perhaps Hamath), +Kaanu (Kanah), Masaar (Misheal), Astartu +(Astaroth Karnaim), Hutar (Hazor), Kennarut (Kinneroth), +Aksap (Achshaph), Bar Semas (Beth Shemesh), +Atuma (Adamah), Ranama (Rimmon), Japu (Joppa), +Harar (Har El), Rabbau (Rabbah), Baratu (Berothai, +Berytus), Sarta, &c.<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> Thus the coast of Syria and the +mountain district as far as Damascus and Hamath +on the Orontes would have become subject to the +Pharaohs. This subjection, however, does not seem +to have gone beyond payment of tribute. The following +campaigns of the king were again for the most +part directed against the Retennu; a battle was fought +at Aratu (Aradus). The sums which Tuthmosis +received in tribute from the Cheta (Hittites) are enumerated. +Afterwards the king made repeated expeditions +against Naharina (Arem Naharaim), <i>i. e.</i> against +the land of the two rivers, Mesopotamia, and here +also he levied tribute. Then the tribute is given in +the list, which the king received from the Punt (the +Arabians). That Lower Nubia, as far as the old +boundary at Semne, was subject to Tuthmosis III. is +beyond a doubt. An inscription found at Ellesieh in +Nubia informs us that Nahi, the governor of Nubia, +has sent the tribute of the lands of the south to the +king in gold, ebony, and ivory,<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> and the list quoted +mentions 115 tribes or places subdued by Tuthmosis in +the south of Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> Of Amenophis II., the successor +of Tuthmosis III. (1565-1555 <small>B.C.</small>), inscriptions +at Amada in Nubia declare that he fought against +the Retennu (Syrians), and slew seven kings, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>that in the south he forced his way as far as Napata, +<i>i. e.</i> up the Nile as far as Mount Barkal.<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></p> + +<p>His successor, Tuthmosis IV., appears on monuments +of the island Konosso, near Philæ, as victorious +over the negroes.<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> And after him Amenophis III. +(1524-1488 <small>B.C.</small>) again directed his arms in his first +campaign against the negroes; a memorial stone at +Semne tells us that he traversed Abha, the land of the +negroes. That the power of Amenophis III. extended +to the south far beyond Semne is proved by the ruins +of a temple which he built at Soleb on the Nile, "to +his image living upon earth," <i>i. e.</i> to the copy or manifestation +of his divine nature, his own divinity,<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> and +inscriptions on certain scarabæi assure us that +Amenophis ruled from Naharina, <i>i. e.</i> Mesopotamia, to +the land of Karu in the south.<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></p> + +<p>Thebes was the point from which the liberation of +the land began. Here the new dynasty who had +restored the kingdom, driven out the enemy, and +carried the arms of Egypt far to the south and east, +took up their lasting abode, and this city became the +brilliant centre of the new kingdom. Here, also, the +new Pharaohs glorified themselves by mighty works, as +the old kings had done in the city of Memphis and +the burial-place adjacent. And along with the warlike +vigour displayed by the people, the art and civilisation +of Egypt, under the series of kings extending from +Amosis to Amenophis III. (1684-1488 <small>B.C.</small>), reached +the highest perfection which the position and character +of the nation permitted.</p> + +<p>On the right bank of the Nile, on a terrace near +the modern village of Karnak, the first Sesurtesen +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>(2371-2325 <small>B.C.</small>), built a temple of moderate size to +Ammon (<a href="#Page_102">p. 102</a>). To this Tuthmosis I. (1646-1625 +<small>B.C.</small>) added a splendid gateway, a lofty gate between +two broad wings, which rise in the form of truncated +pyramids, and behind this gateway he built an +oblong court, encircled by a portico supported on +pillars. Against these pillars leaned karyatids, images +of Osiris, with the hands, in which is the cross with +handles, crossed upon the breast. Of these four +remain still uninjured. Before the entrance of the +gateway he erected two obelisks of red granite, of +which one, sixty-nine feet in height, is still standing. +The inscription runs thus:—"The mighty Horus, the +friend of truth, the king Tutmes, the mighty sun, +which is given to the world, whom Ammon establishes, +has erected this firm structure in honour of +his father Ammon Ra, the protector of the world, and +has placed two large obelisks before the double gates."<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> +The queen Misphra (Ramake), who was regent for +Tuthmosis II., and in the early years of Tuthmosis +III. (1625-1591 <small>B.C.</small>), erected in the oblong court of +Tuthmosis I. the two second largest obelisks known. +Of these also one is still uninjured, and stands +ninety feet high, the other has fallen, and lies on the +ground. The inscription tells us that the queen whom +Ammon himself had placed on the throne and chosen +as the protectress of Egypt, had resolved in her heart +to erect two great obelisks, the tops of which should +reach to heaven, in honour of the god Ammon and in +remembrance of her father Tuthmosis I., in order that +her name might continue in the temple of Ammon for +ever and ever. Each obelisk was to be of a single +stone of red granite. Her holiness had commenced +the work in her fifteenth year, and completed it in her +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>sixteenth, seven months after the work was commenced +in the mountain quarry.<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p> + +<p>To this court Tuthmosis III. added a gateway +towards the south, and surrounded the ancient sanctuary +of Sesurtesen with a circle of huge buildings. +These consisted of two halls, each of twelve pillars, to +the right and left of the entrance, on which abut +chambers, great or small as the walls which surround +the old temple allow. On the walls which close these +halls and chambers towards the old building, the king +recorded the events of his reign from the twenty-second +to the forty-second year, from which everything +has already been given which up to this time +can be regarded as certain. The two largest obelisks +also, of which the largest is now standing in Rome +before the Lateran, and the other is destroyed, were +erected by Tuthmosis III., and placed, as it would +seem, before the entrance into the old temple of +Sesurtesen. The obelisk now at Constantinople is +also a work of this prince. The inscription says +that Tuthmosis III. "extended his dominion from +Mount Apta (in the south) to the uttermost habitations +of Mesopotamia."<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> On the east side of the +enlarged temple of Sesurtesen, he built a splendid hall, +the roof of which is supported by fifty-six pillars. +Besides this he built additions to the temple of Ra +at Heliopolis, restored the temple at Dendera, +apparently after a plan sketched on a goatskin, +which, belonging to the time of Chufu (<a href="#Page_94">p. 94</a>) was rediscovered +under king Phiops (<a href="#Page_101">p. 101</a>),<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> and finally he +erected shrines to the sun-god Mentu at Hermonthis, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>near Thebes, the god Sebek at Ombos, Chnum at +Letopolis (Esneh), and on the island of Elephantine. +In Nubia he erected temples at Pselchis, Korte, Amada, +and Semne. The temple at Semne he consecrated to +Chnum and Sesurtesen III., who extended the borders +of Egypt to this point (<a href="#Page_105">p. 105</a>), in order that "the king +might live again in this memorial."<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></p> + +<p>Before the great sphinx, near the second pyramid, +Tuthmosis IV. erected the memorial stone already +mentioned (<a href="#Page_94">p. 94</a>); it represents the king worshipping +the sphinx. In the inscription the sphinx addresses the +king, and says, "I, thy father Harmachu, give thee the +dominion, the world in all its length and breadth, rich +tribute from all nations, and a long life of many years."<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></p> + +<p>The buildings of Amenophis III. are not inferior to +those of Tuthmosis III. in extent or magnificence. +Half an hour southward of the gateways, court, and +porticoes of the temple at Karnak, close on the right +bank of the Nile, at the modern village of Luxor, +Amenophis built a second temple to Ammon, the god +of Thebes. In a court surrounded by colonnades, +the "court of sacrifice" joined the antechamber of +the temple, or outer temple, then came the temple +with the Holy of Holies, built in the form invariably +used in Egypt after the restoration.<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> Only the +spacious antechamber, a hall with a roof supported on +pillars and lighted by windows in the wall, or by the +spaces between the front pillars, could be entered by +laymen. The inner temple, reserved for the priests, to +which a second gate led from the antechamber, was a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>smaller hall of the same kind, which received only a +moderate light through openings made high up in the +side walls. From this half-darkened room the Holy of +Holies was again separated by a court, and the +entrance was through a door. Two other doors led +by means of a passage running round the Holy of +Holies into the chamber surrounding it. The Holy of +Holies, together with the chambers abutting upon it, +was surrounded by a high wall and formed a separate +temple of small dimensions. The masonry is heavy, +and narrows toward the top. Here in the gloom +dwelt the hidden spirit of the god. The heavy, +solemn, mysterious character of the Egyptian temple +naturally makes itself most strongly felt in these spaces +or rooms. On the inner walls of the temple the +sacrifices and worship rendered by the king are represented, +on the outer walls we see his achievements +in war. What still remains of the building of Amenophis—and +it was subsequently enlarged—allows us +only to conjecture upon the original plan. Yet about +200 pillars and shafts still rise out of the ruins. The +reliefs on the outer walls of the temple, and in the +chambers round the Holy of Holies, are in the best +state of preservation. On the walls of one of these +chambers we see the scribe of heaven, Thoth, announcing +to Mutemua, the mother of Amenophis, the birth +of her son. Then the ram-god and the goddess +Hathor lead the queen into the lying-in chamber; +another goddess supports the queen during the birth. +Then four heavenly spirits, the two spirits of the +south and the two spirits of the north, carry Amenophis, +already grown into a youth, to a throne in the +presence of Ammon Ra, who anoints him king. +Then the gods promise gifts, honour, and power to +the new king. They declare that the Retennu, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>"nine nations," <i>i. e.</i> the nations bordering on Egypt, +and all people, shall be subject to him.<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a></p> + +<p>Far fewer—not more than a great heap of ruins +with a few pillars and memorial stones—are the remains +of a second great work of Amenophis III., +which he built opposite the temple of Karnak on the +west bank of the Nile not far from the modern village +of Medinet Habu. We learn from Pliny that it was +a temple of Serapis, <i>i. e.</i> of Osarhapi, Osiris-Apis.<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> +We have already mentioned the shrine of the same +goddess, which was situated among the tombs near +Memphis (<a href="#Page_67">p. 67</a>), and we know that in the view of +the Egyptians the west belonged to the setting sun, +the sun of the under world. The statement of Pliny +is also confirmed by two memorial stones among the +ruins, from which we gather that Osiris and Ammon +Ra were the lords of the temple; and it is not +strange that the tutelary god of Thebes should be +associated with Osiris. Before the entrance to this +sanctuary Amenophis caused two statues to be erected, +which still rise like steep cliffs above the flat level +of the bank by the side of a palm forest. They are +two seated figures, and the inscriptions tell us that +both represent Amenophis. The king is in a quiet +attitude, the hands rest on the knees. The front parts +of the throne are formed by statues of the mother and +wife of Amenophis, which reach up to the knees of +the king. The statues were chiselled out of a single +block, as also the bases. The height of the whole is +towards sixty feet.<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> +<p>The power to which Tuthmosis III. and Amenophis +III. exalted Egypt appears to have declined under +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>their successors, or at least it did not advance. The +monuments prove to us that Amenophis IV. (1488-1476 +<small>B.C.</small>) began certain religious innovations. He +paid excessive or exclusive reverence to the sun-god, +and attempted to found a new capital in the neighbourhood +of the modern Amarna, in Central Egypt, +which was no doubt intended to be the centre of the +new cult. If, at the same time, as the monuments +show, he was able, like his predecessor, to build at +Soleb, in Dongola, it follows that the supremacy of +Egypt was maintained, at any rate in the south.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> Joseph. c. Apion 1, 14; cf. 1, 26; Afric. et Euseb. ap. Sync., p. 61, 62; +Schol. Plat. 2, 424, ed. Bekker.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Caussin de Perceval, "Hist. des Arab." 1, 13, 19. That the tradition +of the Arabs about the Amalika is worthless has been proved by Nöldeke +("Ueber die Amalekiter").</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Ebers, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 88, 202; Mariette, "Revue archéol." 1861, p. 337 ff.; +1862, p. 300 ff. From a memorial-stone discovered at Tanis we find that +400 years before a certain year, which is not named, in the reign of +Ramses II. <i>i. e.</i>, about 1750 <small>B.C.</small> (according to Lepsius's data for Ramses +II.), the shepherd king Nubti held sway; that he introduced certain regulations +in Egypt for the province of Tanis, the special home of the shepherds; +and that Ramses II. when erecting his buildings, which in any case were +sufficiently durable, at Tanis (see below), referred back to this king. +Further conclusions, which have been deduced from the inscription on this +stone, have been completely overthrown in my opinion by Mariette.—"Revue +archéol." 1865, 11, 169 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> De Rougé, "Athén. Franç." 1854, p. 532; Brugsch, in the "Zeitschr. +d. d. M. G." 9, 200 ff.; "Hist. d'Eg." p. 78. Brugsch assumes that Ra +Apepi was a later Apophis, and not the Apophis who is the fourth shepherd +king in Josephus, and sixth in Africanus, for according to the inscription +on the tomb of Aahmes, Amosis followed Raskenen. On the +inscription Apepi on a colossus of Ramses II., cf. <i>infra.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 80-90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 81, 87; De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." +1860, 2, 310 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> De Rougé, "Divers Monuments de Tutmes;" "Revue archéol." +1861, 4, 196 ff. 344 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 107.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1861, 1, 345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 111.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 216; Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 118.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Rosellini, "Monumenti Storici," 3, 1, 29, 114 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 92, 93: cf. Rosellini, "Monumenti +Storici," 3, 1, 332, 146, and Lepsius, "Königsbuch," s. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc cit.</i> pp. 108, 109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Dümichen, "Bauurkunde von Dendera;" Chabas in "Zeitschr. für +ægypt. Sprache," 1865, s. 91 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe aus Ægypten," s. 113; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +pp. 65, 66.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1865, 11, 354 ff.; Dümichen, +"Bauurkunde von Edfu;" Brugsch, "Bau und Masse des Tempels +von Edfu;" "Zeitschr. für ægypt. Sprache," 1870, s. 153 ff; 1871, +s. 25, 32 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> Champollion, "Lettres," p. 210; Rosell. M. St. 1, 219, 223, 236, 248.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> "Hist. Nat." 35, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Rosell. <i>loc. cit.</i> 3, 1, 216. The Greeks regarded the northern colossus +as the statue of Memnon. The ruins of this temple, and other buildings +on the west bank of the Nile, were called by them "Memnoneia."—Diod. +1, 47; Strabo, pp. 813, 816. The name is strictly limited to the temples +and palaces on the west bank. Yet even the fortress of Susa is called +"the Memnonia."—Herod. 5, 53, 7, 151; Strabo, p. 728; Diod. 2, 22; +Paus. 10, 31. The name as applied to the Egyptian monuments may be a +corruption of Amenophis, so that the name of the buildings of Amenophis +has given the analogy for other similar structures. Still, it is more probable +that the connection of these buildings with the divinity of the +under world, and the death of Osiris, to which the death of Memnon was +compared, is at the root of this nomenclature of the Greeks. The story +of the Ethiopian Memnon, the son of the Morning, <i>i. e.</i> of the East, who +came to aid the Trojans and found an early death before Troy, is known +to the Odyssey (11, 522, 4, 187), the Homeric hymns ("In Ven." 219-239) +and the Theogony (l. 984), and was treated in detail by Arktinus of +Miletus about 750 <small>B.C.</small> In Homer's view the Ethiopians dwell in the far +East, at the rising of the sun, beyond the Amazons, whose abode was on +the Thermodon. Hence the ancient Susa, far in the East, the subsequent +capital of the Achæmenids, might have been the dwelling of the +son of the East. When it was known that the Ethiopians inhabited the +Upper Nile, and the name Memnon was found in Egypt, the Greeks, after +the time of Herodotus, began to search for the Homeric Ethiopians and +Memnon, in and above Egypt. That the name is given to the northern +colossus only is due to the following reasons. In the year 27 <small>B.C.</small> an +earthquake broke this northern colossus and threw the upper parts to the +ground. Then the pedestal and trunk occasionally gave forth a metallic +sound at sunrise.—Tac. "Annal." 2, 61. This, in the poetic minds of the +Greeks, was the greeting of the son to his divine mother, the Morning, +while she in her sorrow for the early death of her son moistened the statue +every morning with tears of dew. Greek inscriptions on the pedestal from +the time of Nero give the names of witnesses who had heard the sound. +Pausanias, who was of this date, tells us, <i>loc. cit.</i>—"At Thebes, in Egypt, +is the sounding statue of a seated man, whom most authorities call +Memnon, and say that he forced his way from Ethiopia to Egypt and +Susa. The inhabitants of Thebes, however, deny that it is Memnon. They +regard it as the statue of Phamenoph, a native Egyptian." Ph-Amenoph +is Amenophis with the Egyptian article. The sounding statue was long +regarded as a fable, until the <i>savans</i> of the French expedition, in the early +morning, when the hot sunbeams followed on the cool of the night, as is +usual in the climate of Africa, perceived in the great Egyptian buildings +a small whispering, or singing tone, which must be due to those physical +influences. This phenomenon may have been especially striking in the mutilated +statue of Amenophis. In the time of Septimius Severus, when the +colossus was restored—the upper parts are now composed of four pieces—the +inscriptions and the marvel came to an end. The new weight placed +upon the pedestal appears to have checked the vibrations. At present no +sound is heard.—Letronne, "La Statue vocal de Memnon."</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE HOUSE OF RAMSES.</h3> + + +<p>The Greeks inform us that Sesostris, or Sesosis, was +the greatest warrior among the kings of Egypt. Herodotus +was told by the priests that he was the first who +set out with ships of war from the Arabian Gulf, and +reduced the dwellers by the Red Sea, until he was +checked by waters which were too shallow for navigation. +On his return from this expedition, Sesostris, +as the priests said, gathered together a great army, +invaded the continent, and reduced every nation in +his path. In the conquered lands he set up pillars, +on which were inscribed his name and country, and +that he had reduced the nation by his power. +Wherever he found but little resistance he also caused +female emblems to be engraved on the pillars. +"So he passed from Asia into Europe, and reduced +the Scythians and Thracians. Beyond these the +Egyptian army did not, in my opinion, pass; for in +the country of the Thracians the pillars of Sesostris +are found, but not farther. The greater number of +these pillars are no longer in existence; yet in Syrian +Palestine I have myself seen them with the inscriptions +and emblems. In Ionia also there are two +images of this king hewn in the rock, one on the way +from Ephesus to Phocæa, the other on the way from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +Sardis to Smyrna. At both places there is the figure +of a man, 4½ cubits high, with a spear in the right hand +and a bow in the left, armed partly as an Egyptian +and partly as an Ethiopian. Across the breast, from +one shoulder to the other, run Egyptian sacred +letters, saying: 'I have conquered this land with +my arms.' Who he is and from whence he comes, +Sesostris does not tell us here, but on the other pillars. +When Sesostris returned, he brought with him many +prisoners from the tribes, and his brother, to whom +Sesostris had entrusted Egypt, gave him a hospitable +reception at Pelusium. But round the house in which +Sesostris was with his wife and children he caused +wood to be heaped, and set on fire. Then the queen +cried out to Sesostris to take two of her six sons, +throw them on the burning wood, and pass over their +bodies as over a bridge. This was done. The two +sons were burnt, but the others with their father +escaped. After taking revenge on his brother, +Sesostris employed the masses of prisoners in drawing +enormous stones to the temple of Hephæstus, and in +digging all the canals which now intersect Egypt. +By these the land, hitherto an open field for chariots +and horses, was made less accessible. The king's +object in making them was that the cities which were +not on the river should have more water at the time +when the floods were not out. Then Sesostris is +said to have divided the arable land of Egypt into +equal rectangular portions, and to have allotted to +every man an equal portion. And if the inundation +washed away any part of this allotment, the king +returned the owner a corresponding part of his tax. +Sesostris was the only king of Egypt who also ruled +over Ethiopia. As a memorial of his reign, he left +six large statues before the temple of Hephæstus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>—images +of himself, his wife, and his four sons; the +two first are thirty, the four last twenty cubits high. +Long after, when Darius wished to place his own +statue in front of these, the priest of Hephæstus forbade +him, because Darius had not achieved such +mighty deeds as Sesostris. He had reduced the +Scythians, whom Darius had failed to reduce. This +indignity, they say, Darius pardoned."<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></p> + +<p>Diodorus assures us that Sesostris had surpassed the +greatest and most glorious deeds of his predecessors. +"But inasmuch as not only the Greek writers are far +from agreeing in their accounts of this king, but even +the Egyptian priests, and those who sing of his deeds +are at variance, we shall attempt to give the most +probable account and that which is most in agreement +with the monuments still existing in Egypt." When +Sesosis was born, his father gathered together all the +boys born on the same day, more than 1700 in number, +and caused them to be brought up in the same +manner as his own son, in the impression that they +would thus become his most loyal and bravest comrades +in battle. With these companions he first +despatched him against the Arabs, and Sesosis subjugated +the whole country of the Arabs, which no one +had ever subjugated before. In the next place, his +father sent him against the tribes in the west, and +Sesosis, although still quite young, subjugated a great +part of Libya. On the death of his father, Sesosis, +relying on the results of previous campaigns, formed +the resolution of subjugating the whole earth. Having +gained the good will of the Egyptians by gentleness, +remission of punishments, and presents, he gathered +together a great army of the mightiest men, an army of +600,000 infantry, 24,000 cavalry, and 27,000 chariots.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +The various divisions of this great host he placed +under the command of those who had been educated +with him, to whom at the same time he allotted the +most fruitful lands in Egypt. With this host Sesosis +first reduced the Ethiopians, who dwelt in the south, +and imposed upon them a tribute of gold, ebony, and +ivory. Then he sent a fleet of four hundred ships into +the Red Sea—he was the first Egyptian to build ships +of war—and by means of these he subjugated to his +dominion all the islands and sea-coasts, as far as +India. Meanwhile he marched out in person with +his army, and reduced the whole of Asia. He +crossed the Ganges and passed through India to the +ocean. Then he subjugated the nations of Scythia as +far as the Tanais, which divides Europe and Asia. In +the same manner he reduced the rest of Asia, and +then passed into Europe. But in Thrace he was in +great danger of losing his army through want of food +and the severity of the climate. So he put an end to +the campaign in Thrace, after erecting pillars at many +places in the countries he had subjugated. On these +was engraved, in the character which the Egyptians +called sacred, the following inscription:—"This land +Sesosis, the king of kings and lord of lords, conquered +with his arms." At some places also he set up his +own statue in stone, with a bow and lance, four cubits +and four hands high, for this was his own height. +After completing these campaigns in nine years, +Sesosis returned with his prisoners and untold spoil. +When at Pelusium, his brother formed a plan for +his destruction. He invited Sesosis to a banquet, and +in the night, when all were asleep after their wine, he +heaped up reeds round the king's tent and set them +on fire. When the flames suddenly sprang up, the +retinue, heavy with wine, could render little service,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +but Sesosis lifted up his hands and besought the +gods to save his wife and children, and with them he +happily escaped from the flames. In gratitude for +this rescue he honoured the gods with dedicatory +statues, more especially the god Hephæstus, as it was +by him that he was saved. In his temple at Memphis +he placed statues of himself and his wife, monoliths of +thirty cubits high, and also statues of his four sons, +twenty cubits in height. The princes whom he placed +over the conquered nations, or allowed to retain their +thrones, came with presents to Egypt at the appointed +time. Sesosis received them with honour and distinction. +But whenever he went into a temple or a city +he caused his horses to be unyoked from his chariot, +and in their place the princes and rulers were yoked +four abreast, in order to show to all that he was the +mightiest and had conquered the bravest, so that no +one was his equal in valour. Having ended his +wars, Sesosis began to erect great works for his own +glory and the security of Egypt. In every city he +erected a temple to the divinity chiefly worshipped +there. On these works no Egyptian was employed; +they were entirely completed by his prisoners. Moreover, +for the cities which lay too low Sesosis caused +many large dams to be made, to which he transferred +the cities, so that they were secure from the inundations +of the Nile. From Memphis downwards he +carried a number of canals through the whole land, +partly to facilitate commerce, partly to make invasion +more difficult to the enemy. Up to this time the best +part of Egypt was an open field for the movements +of cavalry and chariots; after this it became almost +impassable, owing to the number of canals. In addition +the king built a wall 1,500 stades in length, from +Pelusium to Heliopolis, as a security against inroads<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +from Syria and Arabia. To the god held in chief +honour at the city of Thebes he presented a ship of +cedar wood, 280 cubits in length, of which the visible +part was overlaid on the inside with silver and on the +outside with gold, and in his honour he also erected +two obelisks of hard stone, 120 cubits high, on which he +caused to be inscribed the greatness of his power, the +number of the subjugated nations, and the amount of +his income. When he had reigned thirty-three years +his eyesight began to fail, and he voluntarily put an +end to his own life. Many generations after, when +Darius wished to set up his own image in front of +Sesosis, the high priest forbade him in the assembly +of priests, and explained that Darius had not surpassed +the deeds of Sesosis. So far from being +enraged, Darius was pleased at his freedom, and said +that he would henceforth make it his object, should +an equal length of life be given him, to fall below +Sesosis in no respect.<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></p> + +<p>Strabo says: Sesostris appears first of all to have +conquered the land of the Ethiopians and Troglodytes; +on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, between the harbour +of the Protectress and the Elephant-hunt, there stood +on a hill a temple built by Sesostris in honour of Isis. +He succeeded in reaching the land of cinnamon, where +pillars and inscriptions are shown as monuments of his +campaign. Then he crossed over to Arabia, and it is +said that in the narrow part of Ethiopia towards Arabia, +on the promontory of Dirê, there was a pillar giving an +account of his crossing. From Arabia he went on to +invade the whole of Asia, and even forced his way +into Europe. In many places ramparts and temples +of the Egyptian style are shown as the work of +Sesostris. In Egypt he undertook the construction of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +a canal from the Nile into the Arabian Gulf and +the Red Sea.<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></p> + +<p>When Germanicus, the son of Drusus, travelled in +Egypt, he saw large remains of ancient Thebes. On +the mighty walls, so Tacitus continues, the Egyptian +inscriptions still remained, telling of their former magnificence. +One of the older priests was bidden to +translate the Egyptian inscriptions, and he informed +them that once there had been 700,000 men of military +age in the kingdom, and with this army Ramses had +subjugated Libya and Ethiopia, the Medes, Persians, +Bactrians, and Scythians, and in addition to these +had ruled over the lands from the Bithynian to the +Lycian Seas, which are inhabited by the Syrians, the +Armenians, and their neighbours, the Cappadocians. +The amount of tribute also imposed upon the nations +was read, the weight of silver and gold, the number +of weapons and horses, the presents of ivory and +frankincense for the temples, and how much each +nation had to contribute in corn and goods—an +amount no less than that which is now imposed by +the power of the Parthians or the Romans.<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></p> + +<p>Josephus, on the authority of Manetho's Egyptian +History, tells us that Sethosis, who was called Ramesses, +possessed a great force in cavalry and ships. After +leaving his brother Armais as governor of Egypt, and +placing the royal power in his hands,—with the restrictions +that he was not to wear the crown, or do +any injury to the queen-mother and her children, or +approach the king's concubines,—he marched against +Cyprus and the Phenicians, and afterwards against +the Assyrians and the Medes, and subjugated them all, +some by his arms, others by the fear of his great +power. Fired with ambition by these successes, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +pressed boldly onward to reduce the cities and lands +of the east. Thus his absence was prolonged, and his +brother Armais, without the least shame, disregarded +all the restrictions laid upon him. He violated the +queen, lay with the concubines of the king, allowed +himself to be persuaded by his friends into wearing +the crown, and rebelled against his brother. But the +person who was in authority over the sanctuaries of +Egypt wrote to the king and disclosed all that his +brother had done against him. Sethosis at once turned +back to Pelusium, and established himself again in +possession of the dominion which belonged to him.<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p> + +<p>Thus, according to the accounts of Tacitus and +Josephus, the warrior whom Herodotus, Diodorus, and +Strabo call Sesostris or Sesosis, was known to the +Egyptians as Ramses, Ramesses, or Sethosis. Let us +now inquire whether the monuments present us with +princes and achievements which confirm the narratives +of the Greeks, the account of Manetho, and the evidence +of Tacitus. According to these it may be assumed +that Horus (Hor, 1455-1443 <small>B.C.</small>) whom the sculptures +of a temple hewn in the rock in the valley of the +Nile at Selseleh represent as a conqueror over the +negroes,<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> was succeeded by Ramses I. (1443-1439 <small>B.C.</small>) +who was followed by Sethos I. (1439-1388 <small>B.C.</small>). Of +him we are told in the inscriptions on the outer wall +of the great colonnade which he erected at Karnak +(<a href="#Page_169">p. 169</a>) that in the first year of his reign he had +attacked the Schasu, from the fortress of Tar as far +as Kanana;<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> his holiness had startled them like a +lion, and made a great slaughter. On a mountain +fortress to which the defeated enemy fled is read,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +"Fortress of the land of Kanana (Canaan)." After +this there were expeditions against the Schasu, and +the tribute which they paid to Sethos is mentioned. +The Schasu are the nomad tribes in the desert between +Egypt and Canaan, which had previously conquered +and ruled over Egypt. The inscriptions also remark +that Sethos had twice desolated the land of Cheta +with fire, and had taken Kadeshu (Kades).<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> The +Cheta are the Chittim, or Hittites, who possessed the +south of Canaan. Then the sculptures represent the +victory of the king over the Retennu, <i>i. e.</i> over the +tribes of Syria, and inscriptions celebrate the victories +which Sethos had gained over the "nine nations,"<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> +<i>i. e.</i> over all the nations bordering on Egypt. On the +Upper Nile also Sethos had fought and established his +dominion, as is proved by the ruins of a temple on Mount +Sese in Dongola above the buildings of Amenophis II. +and III. at Soleb.<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> The representations of the achievements +of Sethos at Karnak are brought to a close by +the victorious return of the king with "innumerable" +prisoners and rich booty, and by two enormous figures +of the king, in each of which he is holding nine +prisoners. The list of the conquered nations first +mentions the tribes of Cush, <i>i. e.</i> of the south; then +follow the Schasu, the Cheta, and Naharina (the inhabitants +of Mesopotamia), and last of all the "Punt," +<i>i. e.</i> the tribes of Arabia. These names are followed +by the observation;—"This is the list of the nations +of the south and the north, which his holiness has +subdued: the number of prisoners conveyed into +the temple of Ammon Ra cannot be given."<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> From +these monuments we gather that Sethos carried on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +number of successful campaigns which begin with +battles against the nomad tribes on the eastern borders +of Egypt, then extend to the south and north of +Syria, and finally to Mesopotamia, while in the other +direction he reduced the tribes of Arabia, and carried +the sway of Egypt beyond Dongola, farther to the +south than before.</p> + +<p>Sethos was followed by his son Ramses II. (1388-1322 +<small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> We learnt from Herodotus that Sesostris +had set up pillars in the conquered lands in remembrance +of his campaigns: in Syrian Palestine Herodotus +had himself seen such pillars, and in Ionia there +were two figures of this king hewn in the rock. As a +fact a rock half way between Smyrna and Sardis to +this day presents a relief of an armed warrior. In +style and attitude it is certainly not Egyptian, and +therefore cannot have been the work of a Pharaoh. On +the other hand, the rocks on the Phenician coast which +run into the sea at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, +near the ancient Berytus, the modern Beyrout, have +Egyptian sculptures upon them. These are three +figures of Ramses II. In one he is carrying an enemy +into the presence of Ammon. In the two others he +is striking down an enemy before the gods Ptah and +Ra. Though to a great extent destroyed, the inscriptions +still show that the achievements, of which these +sculptures are intended to immortalise the memory, +belonged to the second and fourth year of Ramses II. +His arms had therefore reached the coast of Phenicia, +northward of Tyre and Sidon, and he maintained his +ground so far or so long, that he could set up this +memorial of his victory. In the ruins of a temple<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +built or restored by Ramses at Tanis (San), we find +an inscription which ascribes to him the subjugation +of the land of Kaft, <i>i. e.</i> of Phenicia, of Nebinai, +which is explained to be Cyprus, and lastly of the +Upper Retennu, <i>i. e.</i> of eastern Syria.<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> Inscriptions on +the building of Ramses II. at Karnak, near Medinet +Habu (the so-called Ramesseum), and in his rock +temple at Abu Simbel in Nubia, inform us that he +again fought in Syria in the fifth year of his reign. +Eighteen nations, tribes, or cities are mentioned which +were opposed to the Egyptians. Here, also, the +Cheta, <i>i. e.</i> the Hittites, are first mentioned, then the +Karkisa (perhaps the Girgasites),<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> Kadeshu (Kades, +either Kadesh Barnea in the south, or Kadesh in the +north of Canaan), Aratu (Aradus), Chirbu (perhaps +Chelbon, Aleppo), Kirkamisha (Karchemish), and +Naharina (Mesopotamia). At Kadesh Ramses was +victorious and thence he returned to Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> In the +eighth year of his reign he was again in Canaan. He +took Maram (Merom), Dapurr (perhaps Debir), in the +land of the Amari (Amorites), and Salam,<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> and on the +walls of the Ramesseum, as also on a large memorial +stone in the ruins of Karnak, there is a treaty of the +twenty-first year of Ramses II., between "Ramses, +the son of the great prince Sethos the brave, the son +of the great prince Ramses I." and "Chetasar (<i>i. e.</i>, +the prince of the Cheta), son of the great prince +Maursar the brave, son of the great prince Sepalulu." +It is concluded "on good terms for eternal peace and +friendship, that this may be a beginning for all eternity +according to the intention of the great king of Egypt." +After reference to former treaties, the great king of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +Cheta pledges himself never to invade Egypt to inflict +injury, and a similar promise is made by Ramses. Both +kings are to send back those of their subjects who +wish to take service with the other. Either is to help +the other when attacked by enemies. The treaty is +ratified by oaths on either side; and Sutech (Baal) +appears as the tutelary god of the Cheta.<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></p> + +<p>Such is the information we can gain from monuments +of the achievements of Ramses II. in Syria. His campaigns +in the south appear to have been attended by +more important results. Sculptures in the temple at +Abu Simbel display the king sitting on his chariot, and +leading back as prisoners red figures, which here are +probably Nubians, and negroes with ropes round their +necks: both tribes have no other garments but the +skins of wild animals. In another temple hewn in +the rock of the western bank at Beth-el-Walli, a little +above Syene, we see Ramses II. standing alone upon +his war chariot, rushing with drawn bow on a crowd +of negroes, who are armed with very long bows, but +clothed only with skins. They fall before the horses +of the king. Thus defeated, they fly to their villages, +which lie in a valley shadowed by cocoa-palms, in +the tops of which apes are climbing. Women and +children come forth in distress to meet the fugitives. +The prisoners and the booty are brought before the +king, chieftains in fetters, and negroes carrying +elephants' tusks and ebony; others lead lions, panthers, +antelopes, gazelles, ostriches, and a giraffe, the +animal of Central Africa.<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> Besides this Ramses II. +founded the furthest monument of Egyptian dominion +up the stream of the Nile, so that he must have +ruled further to the south than his father Sethos.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +Beyond Soleb, under the steep spur of Mount Barkal, +400 miles or more above Syene, lie the ruins of a +temple which Ramses built in honour of Ammon.<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> +Symbolical representations of the temple already mentioned +at Abu Simbel on the right and left of the +entrance collect all the victories which Ramses won. +Before the god Ammon, who hands to the king the +scythe of battle, Ramses is brandishing his club upon a +crowd of kneeling enemies, whom he has seized by +the forelock. Among these are three negroes, three +red and beardless men, and four forms which are yellow +and bearded. Ammon speaks thus: "I give thee the +scythe, slay with it; I give thee the south for subjection, +and the north for conquest, and to put to flight +all the tribes of the perverse nations, and to extend the +fabric of thy dominion to the pillars of the sky."<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></p> + +<p>On this evidence we find that the narratives of the +Greeks of the deeds of Sesostris, with whom tradition +has amalgamated Sethos and Ramses II., and also +Manetho's account of the exploits of Ramses, and +what the priest read about them to Germanicus at +Thebes, are all violent exaggerations. Of the battles in +the north-east and in Asia, we find in the inscriptions +only the battles fought by Sethos against the shepherds, +between Egypt and Syria, against the Schasu, against +the Hittites, against the Retennu, and finally a campaign +to Mesopotamia, or at least battles against +princes of the Euphrates. Of Ramses II. we find that +he forced his way as far as Berytus in Syria, and +fought against Syrian tribes and cities, with whom +Karchemish on the Euphrates, and other princes of the +Euphrates (Naharina) are said to have been united. +Even as early as Tuthmosis I. and III., and Amenophis +III., the inscriptions mention campaigns to Mesopo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>tamia. +They tell us that Tuthmosis III. forced his +way into the interior of Mesopotamia, and enumerate +the regions which he compelled to pay tribute. With +regard to Ramses II. the monuments prove no more +than that he temporarily reduced Syria, including the +Phenician cities and the island of Cyprus, which +was probably already dependent upon them. The +subsequent battles and the treaty of Ramses II. with the +Cheta, prove how slight were the successes so highly +extolled in the inscriptions. If the Hittites were +never reduced to obedience, all the more distant campaigns +into Syria, and all attempts against Mesopotamia +had only a momentary result, and could hardly +have been more than mere raids. In the inscriptions, +every Pharaoh, from Amosis onward, is found fighting +against the same nations, the Schasu, the Cheta, the +Retennu, the Punt, the Cushites, &c., and each time +we are assured that the "eight" or "nine nations," +"the lands of the north and south," the earth from +one end to the other has been subdued. It is by no +means remarkable that the recollections of the campaigns +of the third Tuthmothis and Amenophis, of the +achievements of Sethos, and of Ramses II. and of +Ramses III., of which we have still to speak, supported +as they were by the flattery and exaggeration of the +inscriptions, should combine in the tradition of the +Egyptians into a monarch who subdued the whole earth, +of whom certain accounts and these, as Diodorus says, +by no means accordant, passed to the Greeks. And +Diodorus observes expressly that these contradictions +were not due to the Greeks, but to the Egyptian +priests and those who sang of the exploits of +Sesostris.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, this tradition lays especial weight +on the achievements of Sesostris in Ethiopia, in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +Red Sea, and in Arabia. Herodotus tells us that the +priests assured him that the king—at first sailing with +ships of war out of the Arabian Gulf—had subjugated +the inhabitants of the Red Sea. He was, they said, +the only king who had ruled at once over Egypt and +Ethiopia. In Diodorus we find that he first reduces +the whole of Arabia, which had never before been +conquered, and the greater part of Libya, and the +Ethiopians in the south of Egypt. Afterwards he—first +of the Egyptians—built ships of war, and sent +them into the Red Sea, and with these reduced all the +coasts and islands as far as India. In Strabo Sesostris +first marches against Ethiopia, forces his way as far as +the land of Cinnamon, then crosses the Straits of +Bab-el-Mandeb, reduces Arabia, and commences the +digging of a canal from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. +The monuments confirm the statement that Sethos +fought with the Punt, <i>i. e.</i> the Arabs, that he pushed +farther than his predecessors into the territory of the +negroes, and that Ramses II. (in whose reign the +monuments mention governors of Ethiopia)<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> established +a lasting supremacy as far as Mount Barkal.</p> + +<p>Thus it is established that the dominion of Egypt +under Ramses II. extended beyond Nubia and Dongola, +and reached the territory of the negroes, while at the +same time the tribes of the Arabian peninsula may +have been to a great extent reduced to pay tribute; and +from this we may draw the conclusion that the attention +of Sethos and Ramses was mainly directed to +these regions. The products which they could obtain +by tribute or by trade with these tribes—slaves, gold, +ebony, ivory, frankincense, spices, gum—were of +great value for Egypt, and ships of war were needed +both to keep in submission the tribes which may have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +been subjugated on the coasts of Arabia, and to maintain +the trading stations settled on the east coast of +Africa. For the fleet of Ramses Herodotus refers to +the evidence of the priests. Such a fleet is, as a fact, +exhibited on the monuments of Ramses III., and the +tradition of the Hebrews tells us of trading ships +which, about the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small>, sailed from Elath +out of the Arabian Sea, and reached the mouth of the +Indus, no doubt on routes the Egyptian trade had +already laid down to the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb +and the southern coast of Arabia. In connection with +these efforts, directed towards the establishment of +trade and authority on the Arabian Sea, it seems +intelligible that Sethos and his son Ramses should +have entertained the idea of establishing a water +communication between the Nile and this sea, and +should have actually commenced the work. Remains +of a canal, beginning on the Nile at Bubastis, above +the city, ran through the valley of Tumilat, a depression +of the Arabian hills towards the east, in the +direction of the Lake of Crocodiles and the Bitter +Lakes. On these remains at Tel-el-Kebir and Abu +Kesheb are the ruins of Egyptian buildings. At the +second place an image of Ramses II. has been found, +worshipping Tum and Ammon. We may assume that +the ruins at Tel-el-Kebir are those of the city of Pithom +(Patumos, <i>pa-tum</i>, <i>i. e.</i> habitation of Tum), which we +learn from Herodotus lay on this canal, and those at +Abu Kesheb are the ruins of the city of Ramses (<i>pa-rameses</i>), +names preserved to us in the tradition of +the Hebrews, and that Sethos and Ramses II. had +built both these cities.<a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> The Hebrews, whose fore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>fathers +had broken off from the Edomites, the settlers +on Mount Seir, which runs from the north-east point +of the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, and pastured their +flocks on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile under Egyptian +protection, have a tradition that it was they who were +compelled to build Pithom and Ramses for the +Pharaoh. The canal remained unfinished; at that +time it apparently reached only to the Lake of Crocodile. +Seven hundred years later Necho carried it +as far as the Bitter Lakes; it was finished by King +Darius and the Ptolemies, who completed what the +Pharaohs were unable to carry out.</p> + +<p>The tradition of the mighty deeds of Sesostris in +Asia contradicts itself in the most glaring manner, +inasmuch as it likewise tells us that he dug a number +of canals from Memphis downwards to the sea, in order +to fortify the land and make the approach difficult for +enemies. The eastern side of Egypt also he fortified +against the inroads of Arabians and Syrians, by +building a wall of about 1,500 stades long through +the desert from Pelusium to Heliopolis. And the +inscriptions on the building of Sethos at Karnak are +believed to tell us that this prince had erected "the +double walls against the lands of the impure."<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> No +line of fortification was required against the nomads +on the eastern border, if these were sufficiently +held in check by the Egyptian arms, or had been +thoroughly subjugated. This great fortification +which passed beyond the protecting arm of the +Nile from Bubastis in a slanting direction through the +desert, from the sea to Heliopolis, along a line of about +1,500 stades, may very likely have been connected with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +the making of the canal. The trade on the canal +would be protected against predatory attacks, and the +territory rescued from the desert by its construction, +and the cities adjacent would be protected. The city +which Ramses built on the canal and named by his +own name apparently belonged to those fortifications. +It was a border fortress against the desert and the +attacks of Syrian tribes.</p> + +<p>Of Menephta, <i>i. e.</i> beloved of Ptah (1322-1302 <small>B.C.</small>), +the son and successor of Ramses II., Josephus, +following Manetho, gives us the following account:—"Like +Horus, who had been king before him, +Menephta desired to see the gods. This wish he confided +to a wise prophet, the son of Papius. The prophet +told him that he would see the gods if he cleared the +whole land of leprous and unclean persons. Then the +king collected out of Egypt all who were diseased in +their bodies, to the number of 80,000, and threw them +into the stone quarries east of the Nile, that they might +labour there along with the other Egyptians condemned +to similar toil. But as among the diseased +persons were certain men of learning and priests who +had been attacked by leprosy, the son of Papius +feared the anger of the gods would descend upon +himself and the king if holy men were forced into +slavish tasks, and he foresaw that others would come +to the aid of these impure persons, and rule over +Egypt for thirteen years. He did not venture to tell +this to the king, but wrote it down, and then put an +end to his own life. Filled with anxiety, when the +lepers had suffered long enough in the stone quarries, +the king gave them Avaris, the city abandoned by +the shepherds, as a refuge and protection. But +according to the old mythology this city belonged to +Typho. When the unclean persons came to Avaris,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +and were in possession of a centre to support any +disaffection, they chose Osarsiph, one of the priests at +Heliopolis, as their leader, and swore to obey him in +everything. The first law he gave them was to +offer prayer to no god, and to abstain from no animal +held sacred in Egypt, but to sacrifice them all and +eat them, and to hold communion with none but those +who had taken the oath. After giving these and +many other laws, diametrically opposed to the +Egyptian customs, Osarsiph bade them fortify the +city, and arm themselves against Menephta, while he +took counsel with certain priests and infected persons, +and sent an embassy to Jerusalem, to the shepherds +driven out by Tuthmosis. He told them what an +outrage had been done to him and his associates, and +called on them to march against Egypt with the same +intentions as himself. Avaris, the city of their forefathers, +would first open its gates to them and give +freely whatever they needed, and whenever necessary +he would fight at their head and easily subdue the +land for them. Delighted at the message, the +shepherds all set out with eagerness, about 200,000 +strong, and were soon in Avaris. When Menephta +heard of their approach, he was seized with alarm, for +he bethought him of the prophecy of the son of +Papius. It is true he gathered together about +300,000 of the flower of the Egyptian army, but +when the enemy met him, he would not join +battle, fearing to fight against the gods. After +taking counsel with his officers, he gave orders for the +sacred animals, which were held in especial honour, to +be brought to him, and bade the priests secure the +images of the gods with the greatest care; and when +he had placed his son Sethos, now five years old, in +security with a friend, he turned back to Memphis.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +Then he took Apis and the other sacred animals, +which the priests had brought to Memphis, with him, +and retired with his army and the bulk of the +Egyptians to Ethiopia. The king of Ethiopia, who +was under a debt of gratitude to Menephta, received +him and the multitude with him, provided for the +Egyptians, and allotted them cities and villages sufficient +to support them for the thirteen years, and +caused the Ethiopian army to keep watch on the +borders of Egypt. But the men of Jerusalem and the +unclean invaded Egypt, and displayed such impious +rage against the Egyptians, that to those who witnessed +their wickedness their dominion seemed the +worst of all. They were not content with burning +cities and villages, with plundering the sanctuaries, +and destroying the images of the gods, they even +compelled the priests and prophets to sacrifice and +strangle the sacred animals, and then they thrust them +naked out of the temples, and ate the animals if at all +good for food. But in time Menephta returned with +a great host from Ethiopia, and his son Ramses also +with an army. Both attacked the unclean and the +shepherds, and overcame them. Many they slew, and +the rest they pursued as far as the borders of Syria. +It is said that the priest who gave them their constitution +and laws, a native of Heliopolis, and called +Osarsiph, from Osiris, the god worshipped there, +changed his name from Osarsiph to Moses."<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></p> + +<p>From the tradition of the Hebrews we learn that +their ancestors, after pasturing their flocks for a long +time, under Egyptian protection, on the Pelusiac arm +of the Nile, in the land of Goshen, became weary of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +the task-work imposed upon them, and set forth out +of Egypt, in order to feed their flocks in freedom in +the peninsula of Sinai, to the east of the Dead Sea. +The oppression of these shepherds by Egypt may, of +course, be connected with the fortification of the border +towards Syria, the construction of the canal, and the +erection of the cities for trade, and the border fortresses +on this canal. Accordingly there seems no reason +to contest the tradition of the Egyptians that the +exodus of the Hebrews took place under Menephta. +That the Egyptian tradition regards these Hebrews as +leprous and unclean Egyptians is of no importance. +The cession of Avaris and invitation of the Hyksos is +mere imagination, arising from the somewhat analogous +event of former times. The most improbable +fact is the voluntary departure of Menephta to the +allied king of the Ethiopians, and the abandonment +of Egypt without a struggle to her fiercest foe. Under +Ramses II., as we have seen, Ethiopia, as far as +Mount Barkal, became an Egyptian province. Far +more credible is the tradition of the Hebrews that the +army of the Pharaoh met with a heavy reverse in the +attempt to check the exodus of the Hebrews, and +their union with the hostile tribes of the desert. It +is possible that, in consequence of this disaster, a king +was set up in opposition to Menephta, and that +Menephta retired before him to Ethiopia, from +whence he afterwards recovered Egypt. In the +excerpt of Eusebius we find, after the name +Menephta, a king Amenemes, and on the monuments +Amenemessu, whose shields, though chiselled +out, can still be recognised.<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></p> + +<p>Of all these things the monuments of Menephta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +know nothing. On the contrary, a long inscription in +the small court, on the southern wall of the temple at +Karnak, tells us of a victory which Menephta had +obtained over the Libyan tribes. These are the Lubu +(Libyans), Maschawascha (who may be explained as +the Maxyans, a tribe which, as Herodotus tells us, +dwelt near Lake Triton, on the north coast of Africa), +the Kesak, and from the "regions on the sea," the +Tuirscha, Sakalascha, Schardaina, Akaiwascha, and +Leku. They had crossed the western border and +forced their way, not into the land only, but down to +the river, and had pitched their camp in the territory +of the city Paali. The king was obliged to protect +the city of Tum and the sanctuary of Ptah Tatamen +(perhaps Memphis). On the first of Epiphi—the year +of the reign of Menephta was not given, or at any rate +is not found now—a battle took place. Of the Lubu +6,359 were slain; of hands belonging to the Sakalascha +250 were counted, and 790 belonging to the Tuirscha. +Fourteen pairs of horses were taken, belonging to the +chief of the Leku and his sons, and 9,111 swords of +the Maschawascha.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></p> + +<p>Menephta was succeeded by Sethos II. and +Menephta II. Then followed Ramses III. (1269-1244 +<i><small>B.C.</small></i>). The warlike exploits which this king +has commemorated on his temple at Medinet Habu +appear from the inscriptions to have been hardly +inferior to those of Sethos I. and Ramses II. In the +reliefs of this temple is seen an Egyptian fleet and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +the engagement with the ships of the enemy. On a +picture on a wall are collected all the campaigns of +the king; the chiefs of the conquered tribes are represented +by fourteen figures, and the accompanying +hieroglyphics give us the names of their tribes. Two +of these names are destroyed, and a third is illegible. +The first figure is the chief of the "evil land of +Cush." Two of the figures are negroes, and their +tribes are mentioned. Then follow the lord "of the +hostile Schasu," <i>i. e.</i> the shepherds of the Syrian border, +the "evil chief of the Cheta," against whom the +inscription observes that he was taken alive, the "evil +chief of the Amari" (Amorites), the sovereign of the +Lubu (Libyans), the sovereign of the Maschawascha, +the coast-land Tuirscha, the coast-land Schardaina, +and the "lord of the hostile Zakkarj."<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> The first +Menephta, as we have seen, had been compelled to +fight against the Lubu, Maschawascha, Tuirscha, and +Schardaina. The remaining figures prove that +Ramses III. carried on war on the Upper Nile against +the Nubians and Negro tribes, and in the north-east he +had to contend with the Schasu, <i>i. e.</i> the descendants +of the Hyksos, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the old +enemies against whom his forefathers took the field. +To these the Pulista, <i>i. e.</i> the Philistines, who are here +mentioned for the first time, are added in a list of the +nations reduced by the king in the eighth and ninth +years of his reign, inscribed on the right wing of the +gateway which leads into the second court of the +temple. In the second court four pictures represent +the achievements of the king in the fifth year of his +reign against the Lubu (Libyans), and ten pictures on +the outer side of the north wall give the achievements +of the eighth and ninth years. First there is a great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +slaughter of the Temhu, apparently the general name +under which the Egyptians comprehended the Libyan +tribes. The enumeration of hands and members gives +a total of 12,535 for each, and the scribe on the picture +is taking this down. On the eighth picture the +Egyptian ships, with beaks ending in lions' heads, and +mastheads manned by archers, are manœuvring with +sails and oars to thrust the enemy's ships upon the +shore, on which is drawn up the Egyptian army with +arrows also directed against the hostile ships. The +inscriptions tell us that these are the ships of the +Zakkarj. At a fortress over which is written Magadil +(Migdol?) the captive Zakkarj are brought before the +king. This is on the ninth picture; on the tenth the +king celebrates his return to Thebes.<a name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></p> + +<p>Ramses III. was followed by eleven kings of the +same name (1244-1091 <i><small>B.C.</small></i>). But the days of warlike +expeditions were over. The inscriptions which +have come down to us from these rulers only prove +that their sovereignty was maintained over Nubia, and +tell us of certain buildings which these princes also +erected at Memphis.<a name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> Of Ramses XII. a memorial +stone found in the temple of the moon-god Chunsu at +Karnak—a deity to whom the house of Ramses paid +especial honour—informs us that he elevated the +daughter of the lord of the land of Buchten (or +Bachtan) to be Queen of Egypt. When afterwards +another daughter of the chief fell ill, he besought the +king of Egypt for a wise man to cure her. The +priest, whom Ramses sent, found the king's daughter +possessed by a spirit, but he was too weak to contend +with it. Then the chief of Buchten besought Ramses +to send him a god to overcome the spirit. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +Ramses sent the image of the god Chunsu from the +temple at Thebes in a large boat, accompanied by five +small boats and a chariot. The spirit gave way +before the god, and the chieftain was in great joy, and +refused to allow the god to return to Egypt, until in +a dream he saw a golden hawk, which spread out its +wings to fly to Egypt. On awaking he found himself +seized by an illness. So he allowed the god to return +to Egypt after he had kept him three years and nine +months, and gave him many rich presents for the +journey.<a name="FNanchor_233_233" id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> Herod. 2, 102-110.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> Diod. 1, 53, 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 38, 686, 769, 770, 790, 804.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> Tac. "Annal." 2, 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Joseph. "C. Apion." 1, 15; Euseb. "Arm." ed. Aucher, p. 230; +"Sethos qui et Rameses."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 124.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 132.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 320 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 315 ff.; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 171; +Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 128 ff.; cf. Brugsch, "Recueil," p. 59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> The lists allow him a reign of 61, 66, or 68 years. According to +a memorial-stone discovered by Mariette at Abydus he reigned 67 years; +cf. p. 160, note 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 373, and "Monatsberichte des Berl. Akad." +1866, s. 294, 297 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> Gen. 10, 16; Joshua 24, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1867, 16, 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 145, 146.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue archéolog." 1866, 13, 269; Brugsch, "Hist. +d'Egypte," p. 147.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 10-12, 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 239.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 1, 93, 94.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> Herod. 2, 158; Aristot. "Metereol." 1. 14; Lepsius, "Chronolog." +s. 349 ff. 357; Ebers ("Durch Gosen," s. 496) finds Pithom in Abu +Soliman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 340 ff.; Ebers ("Ægypten," s. 781), relying +on the Berlin papyrus I., regards the fortification as much older, and carries +it as far as Suez.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 26, 27; Lepsius ("Chronologie," s. 323, 330) +has sufficiently proved that we ought to read Menephtes instead of +Amenophis and Menophis. A similar story is in Chæremon, a contemporary +of Aelius Gallus.—Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 211. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 178, +179.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> De Rougé, "Revue Archéolog." 1867, 16, 38 ff., 81 ff; Lauth, +"Sitzungsberichte" of the Academy at Munich, 1867, 2, 528 ff. The explanation +of the Tuirscha as Tyrsenians, of the Sakalascha as Sikels, of the +Schardaina as Sardinians, and the Akaiwascha as Achæans, appears to me +very doubtful. The locality points to Libyan tribes. Brugsch ("Hist. +d'Egypte," p. 172) reads Qairdina for Schardaina, Qawascha for Akaiwascha. +On the weapons and features of the Schardaina, see Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> +pp. 90,91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte." p. 191.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 183 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 203; Mariette, "Ath. Franç." 1855, Oct. p. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 206.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES.</h3> + + +<p>More than ten centuries seem to have elapsed from +the founding of the kingdom of Memphis before +Egypt ventured beyond her natural borders. The +peninsula of Sinai, the shores of the Red Sea opposite +Thebes, and Semne in Nubia were the extreme +limits in the times of the kings who built the pyramids, +of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha. The impulse +given by the successful war of liberation +carried Egypt beyond these boundaries. When +Amosis and Tuthmosis III. had restored the kingdom, +it reached the summit of its greatness and splendour +under the latter and Amenophis III., Sethos I., and +Ramses II., while Ramses III. strengthened anew +and maintained the position which his great forefathers +had obtained for Egypt. Four centuries of +glory and victory had now passed over Egypt (1650-1250), +the victorious arms of the Pharaohs had +been carried to Nubia and Dongola, to the Negroes, +to Libya and Syria in repeated campaigns; more +than once the Euphrates had seen the Egyptian +armies. In these centuries Egypt was the first kingdom +in the ancient world, not in civilisation merely, +or in art, but in military power, though her lasting +acquisitions were limited to the Upper Nile. For yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +another century and a half the successors of Ramses +III. could enjoy undisturbed the fruits of the exertions +of their ancestors.</p> + +<p>As the new kingdom surpassed the old in power, so +did the new capital Thebes eclipse the older Memphis. +None of these princes neglected to offer his booty to +Ammon of Thebes; from the time of Tuthmosis I. to +Ramses III. no king omitted to adorn Thebes with +new buildings. The city must have presented a most +marvellous appearance when the works of the Tuthmosis +and Amenophis, of Sethos, of Ramses II. and +III. stood erect and rose up from the earth solid and +massive as rocks on either bank of the Nile, while the +multitude of obelisks and colossi towered up like +a forest of stone. Fancy might imagine that she +looked upon a city built by giants. The houses +of the people also, though built of brick only, as +Diodorus tells us, were three or four stories high. +Diodorus fixes the circuit of the city at more than +fifteen miles; for us it is still marked by the remains +of the temples of Karnak, Luxor, Gurnah, and +Medinet Habu.<a name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></p> + +<p>We have spoken above of the buildings erected by +Tuthmosis I. and III. at Karnak, and Amenophis III. +at Luxor and Medinet Habu. It was Sethos I. who +on the west of the oblong court, the gateway, and +obelisks of Tuthmosis I. at Karnak, added a hall on +the most magnificent scale, the entrance to which is +also formed by a gateway. This hall, the most +splendid monument of Egyptian architecture, is 320 +feet long, and over 160 feet broad; the roof rests on +134 pillars, which on each side towards the north and +south form seven naves, each of nine pillars. The +central space, supported on either side by six pillars of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +12 feet in diameter and 68 feet in height, rises higher +than the naves at the side. On the external wall of +this hall are displayed the triumphs of Sethos over +the Schasu, the Cheta, and the Retennu; there are +recorded the campaigns already mentioned against the +tribes of Cush, the Punt, and the Naharina. Opposite +Karnak, on the left bank of the Nile, north east +from the colossi of Amenophis III., at the village of +Gurnah, he built a temple to Ammon, and at Abydus +a large sanctuary to Osiris.<a name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></p> + +<p>None of the Pharaohs undertook such numerous +works and left behind so many monuments as Ramses +II. He completed the hall of his father at Karnak,<a name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> +and extended on a magnificent scale the temple of +Amenophis III. at Luxor, by adding on the north-east +a second court, and adorning the entrance to it by a +lofty gateway. Before this he placed two seated +colossi, statues of himself—at present, like the lower +parts of all the ruins at Luxor, they are covered to a +considerable height with sand—and two obelisks of +red granite, of which one still rises in splendour to the +blue sky, and displays the long, sharply-cut rows of +the hieroglyphics in all the brightness of the uninjured +polish. The other is at Paris, in the Place de la Concorde. +On the left bank of the Nile, between the +colossi of Amenophis III. and his father's temple, a +little further to the west, and immediately at the foot +of the Libyan range, he built a large temple. A +massive gateway rises on a slightly elevated terrace, +leading to a rectangular court. This is surrounded by +a double row of pillars supporting the portico, of +which two only are now standing. On this follows a +second court, of which the portico is supported on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +right and left by double pillars, on the front transverse +side by single pilasters, and on the back by +double pilasters, against the first row of which lean +colossal images of Osiris. At the entrance from the +first into the second court, on the left, was the greatest +of all the detached colossi in Egypt, the seated statue +of Ramses, hewn out of a block of red granite from +Syene. Sixty feet in height, this statue once overlooked +both courts; now it lies prostrate on the ground. +The length of the middle finger is four feet. There +was apparently a second colossus on the other side of +the entrance corresponding to this. From the second +court, in which are the remains of two smaller colossi, +three gates of black granite led into a great hall, built +on a higher level. The roof of this, the remains of +which exhibit a blue ground with gold stars, was +supported by sixty pillars in ten rows. Of these rows +four are still standing; the pillars are 35 feet in +height and six feet in diameter. On this great hall +adjoin three smaller ones, on both sides of which lay +chambers, and the roof of one is adorned with a large +astronomical painting. The back part of the building +was formed by vaulted porticoes of brick, and each +brick is stamped with the name-shield of Ramses II.<a name="FNanchor_237_237" id="FNanchor_237_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></p> + +<p>The inscriptions on the second court and in the hall +tell us, "that the gracious god, <i>i. e.</i> the king, erected +this great structure in honour of his father Ammon-Ra, +the king of the gods: by his own arm he has +erected it, the royal sun, the champion of justice, +established by Ra, the child of the sun, Ramses, +beloved of Ammon, beloved of the goddess Mut." On +the walls of the portico between the first and second +court is represented a great procession to the altar of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +Ammon. Two rows of men carry the statues of thirteen +predecessors of Ramses on their shoulders (<a href="#Page_24">p. 24</a>). +Further on the king, with a sickle, is cutting a sheaf of +corn from the field, a priest receives this from the +hand of the king, and offers it to a white bull. Then +the priest bids the four geese belonging to the four +spirits of the quarters of the sky to fly south, north, +east, and west, in order to announce to the gods of +each quarter, "that Horus the son of Osiris, that +king Ramses, established by Ra, has put on the +double crown."<a name="FNanchor_238_238" id="FNanchor_238_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> The sculptures of the front side +of the gateway exhibit the king in intercourse with +the gods, and symbolise the divine expressions of +favour towards Ramses. Gods lead him to the +greater gods. The god Tum places him before Mentu +(<a href="#Page_51">p. 51</a>). Mentu takes the hand of the king, and +says, "Come to the heavenly mansions, to behold thy +father the king of the gods, who will bestow upon +thee length of days, to rule over the world and reign +upon the throne of Horus." Mentu leads the king to +Ammon, over whose figure we read, "Ammon-Ra, +king of the gods, who dwells in Ramses' house at +Thebes, speaks thus: Beloved son of my race, Ramses, +lord of the world, my heart is glad in that I behold +thy good works; thou hast built me this house; I +grant thee a pure life to live upon the throne of Seb" +(<a href="#Page_55">p. 55</a>). In the hall Ammon is holding the crook +from his throne towards the king, and says, "I certify +that thy building shall continue as the heavens." The +goddess Bast (<a href="#Page_49">p. 49</a>) lifts her right hand to the head +of the king, and says, "I have prepared for thee the +diadem of the sun, that this helmet should remain +upon thy brow, where I have placed it." On another +sketch in this hall Ammon is giving to Ramses the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +scythe, the whip, and the crook (the symbols of dominion), +and says, "Take the scythe of battle to subdue the +nations without, and to smite off the head of the unclean; +take the whip and the crook to rule over Chemi +(Egypt)." On the exterior of the wings of the gateway +are represented the wars which in the fifth year +of his reign Ramses carried on against the Cheta, and +in the eighth year against Maram, Dapur, and Salam +(<a href="#Page_152">p. 152</a>). In one of the side chambers of the hall +Ramses and his consort, together with the moon-god, +Chunsu, and the goddess Mut, are carried to Ammon +by the priests. The goddess Mut says: "I come to +pay worship to the king of the gods, that he may +secure long years to his son, to king Ramses, who +loves him." Chunsu says: "We come to honour thee, +Ammon, king of the gods; grant to thy son who +loves thee, the king of the world, a safe and pure life." +The king and queen also speak to Ammon; Ramses +says: "I come to my father escorted by the gods +whom he at all times allows in his presence." And +over the queen we read: "Behold what the divine +consort says, the royal mother, the mighty mistress +of the world:—I come to worship my father Ammon +the king of the gods; my heart is gladdened by +thy favour. O thou who hast established the seat +of thy power in the dwelling of thy son Ramses, +lord of the world, grant to him a safe and pure life, +and let his years be numbered by the periods of the +festivals." Finally, Ramses is represented under an +arbor vitæ (Persea) before the throne of Tum. Tum +and Thoth write the name of the king on leaves of +the arbor vitæ, and Tum says to Ramses: "I write +thy name for a series of days that it may be upon +the divine tree." In another chamber we find the +figures of the children of Ramses; twenty-three sons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +and more than thirteen daughters are mentioned in +the inscription.<a name="FNanchor_239_239" id="FNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></p> + +<p>This is the structure of which Diodorus gives the +following account, though he had not seen the work +himself. "The entrance to the monument of the king +whom they call Osymandyas—such is the account in +Diodorus—was formed by a gateway covered with +sculptures, 200 feet broad, and forty-five cubits in +height; through this you passed into a rectangular +court surrounded by pillars, measuring 400 feet on +each side, but in the place of pillars are statues sixteen +cubits high, each hewn in the antique style out of a +single block. The roof of the portico is two fathoms in +width; it also is built of monoliths painted with stars +upon a blue ground. Behind this court there is a +second gateway similar to the first, but adorned with +still richer sculptures. At the entrance stand three +monolithic statues. The middle one is the seated +image of Osymandyas, the largest in all Egypt, for +the feet are more than seven cubits in length; the two +others, on the right and left, which represent the wife +and daughter of the king, are inferior in height. This +statue is not only remarkable for the size, but also for +the excellence of the art and the nature of the stone. +In spite of the enormous size, a chip or split is not +to be found in it. There, too, is the statue of the +mother of Osymandyas, twenty cubits high, and also a +monolith. Behind this gateway is a second court, +more marvellous even than the first, in which various +sculptures represent the war against the Bactrians. +This nation had revolted from the king, but with +400,000 foot and 20,000 horse he marched out against +them, divided his army into four parts, and put each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +under the command of one of his four sons. On the +first wall we see the king fighting at the head of his +army against a fortress surrounded by a river; a lion +is seen at his side assisting him (as a fact in the +picture of the great battle against the Cheta on the +gateway a lion is found beside the chariot of the king.) +On the second wall the prisoners are brought forward: +they are without their hands and members, in order to +indicate that they fought without spirit. The third +wall contains reliefs of various kinds and sketches +representing the king's sacrifice of bulls, and his +triumphant return. In the middle of the court stands +an altar of marvellous size and workmanship. Before +the fourth wall are two seated colossi 27 cubits high, +and beside these three entrances lead into a colonnade, +of which the sides measure 200 feet. In this +hall are a number of statues of wood representing men +in expectation of the decision of their law-suits, and +looking towards the judges. These, thirty in number, +are engraved on one of the walls; in their midst is +the chief judge, on whose neck hangs a picture of +truth with closed eyes; beside him lie a great quantity +of books. Then you pass into a space intended for +walking, where are represented many of the most +delicate kinds of food. Here also the image of the +king is engraved, and brightly coloured, showing how +he offered to the god the gold and silver which came +to him year by year from the mines of Egypt, and the +total is written down close by; estimated in silver, +it amounted to 320,000 minæ. Then follows the +sacred library, and after this the images of all the gods +of Egypt, and of the king, who offers to each god the +appropriate gifts, in order as it were to show to Osiris +and his assessors in the under world that the king had +lived a life just towards men and pious towards the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +gods. On the walls of the library abuts another building, +in which are twenty couches, the images of Zeus +and Hera, and the images of the king. In this chamber +the king appears to be buried. In a circle round this +chamber are yet many other rooms containing very +beautiful pictures of all the animals worshipped in +Egypt. Through these chambers we reach the top of +the sepulchre, a golden circle 365 cubits in circumference, +and one cubit thick. On this circle are +marked divisions for every day in the year, and in +each is noted the rising and setting of the stars, +and the influence which the Egyptian astrologers +attributed to these constellations."<a name="FNanchor_240_240" id="FNanchor_240_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></p> + +<p>The temple built by Ramses II. to Ammon, in +Dongola, on Mount Barkal, has been mentioned before +(<a href="#Page_154">p. 154</a>). A memorial stone discovered at Dakkeh +tells us that he caused wells to be dug in Ethiopia.<a name="FNanchor_241_241" id="FNanchor_241_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> +In Nubia also, five or six days' journey to the south of +Dakkeh, at Abu Simbel, on the left bank of the Nile, +a small valley with almost perpendicular walls of rock +breaks at right angles the ridge running by the river +side. In these walls of brownish yellow sandstone +two temples have been cut. The northern and larger +is dedicated to Ra by Ramses; the smaller, on the +opposite side, is dedicated by Ramses' wife, Nefruari, +to the goddess Hathor. Before the temple of Hathor +are six colossi, three on either side of the entrance. +In each triad the middle statue represents the queen, +the two others the kings. Before the temple of Ramses +are four seated colossi, with the arms upon the hips, +hewn out of the natural rock. All are statues of +Ramses, and in height are over sixty, or, counting +the thrones, over seventy feet. The breadth across the +shoulders is twenty-five feet; from the elbow to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +tip of the finger measures fifteen feet. Seen from a +distance, these statues are very impressive, owing to +their severe and calm beauty, and the correctness of +the proportions, notwithstanding the enormous scale. +The entrance to the temple lies deep down between the +thrones of the colossi. First we pass into a spacious +portico, of which the roof is supported by eight pillars, +against which lean as many standing colossi about 30 +feet high, with arms crossed, the whip and the symbol +of life in their hands. All are images of Osiris. From +this portico, out of which doors open on either hand +into side halls, we arrive through two chambers into +the sanctuary of the goddess, which lies 200 feet deep +in the rock. The whole excavation consists of fourteen +chambers. The sculptures, painted throughout, are +uninjured still, and of the most brilliant colours. The +most striking pictures among them have been mentioned +above (pp. <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>). Below Abu Simbel, at Derr Sebua +and Gerf Hussein, on the Nile, Ramses II. built +temples to Ra, Ammon, and Ptah. Here, as at Abu +Simbel, new cities rose round the temples.<a name="FNanchor_242_242" id="FNanchor_242_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> Further +downwards at Beth-el-Walli, a temple was hewn in +the rocks at the west side of the Nile, the sculptures +of which exhibit the exploits of Ramses II. against +the Negroes, and the booty of these campaigns—gazelles, +ostriches, giraffes (<a href="#Page_153">p. 153</a>); while the ruins of +the temple which he built beside the larger one of his +father to Osiris at Abydus, is evidence of the honour +which he paid to his predecessors in the kingdom +(pp. <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>).</p> + +<p>Herodotus and Diodorus told us that Sesostris had +set up before the temple of Hephæstus (<i>i. e.</i> of Ptah) +at Memphis statues of himself, his wife, and his sons, +on a colossal scale (<a href="#Page_146">p. 146</a>). In the ruins of Memphis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +(at the village of Mitrahinneh) there lies, surrounded +by green turf and tall palms, in a depression, the +prostrate statue of Ramses II. hewn out of a single +block. The feet are wanting, the head wears the crown +of Upper and Lower Egypt; in the middle of the girdle +are engraved the words Mi Amun Ramses, <i>i. e.</i> Ramses +beloved of Ammon. From the knees upwards the +fragment measures thirty-five feet; on this scale the +total height must have reached forty-two or forty-three +feet. At Tanis in the Delta, Ramses II. built or +restored a great temple, and erected obelisks. The +inscriptions on the ruins speak of his victories in +Syria. Here also lies a prostrate and shattered +colossus; the name-shields on the back of the throne +are those of the second Ramses.<a name="FNanchor_243_243" id="FNanchor_243_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> Of the buildings of +this king for the sepulchral chambers of the Apis bulls at +Memphis, the fortification of the border towards Syria, +and the canal, we have spoken above (pp. <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>).</p> + +<p>On the left bank of the Nile, westwards of the +temple and the two colossi of Amenophis III., at +Medinet Habu, Ramses III. built a splendid temple. +A magnificent gate flanked by broad wings sixty-six +feet in height leads from the east to the first ante-court, +which, as always, is surrounded by a portico, partly +supported by massive pillars, and partly by statues of +Osiris. From this court a second somewhat smaller +gateway leads into a second court; the portico surrounding +this is supported to the right and left on +strong columns, of seven feet in diameter, the capitals of +which are formed by lotus-leaves, and on each of the +other sides by eight Osiris pillars. The columns and +pillars, in spite of their massiveness, do not seem too +heavy to support the blocks which form the roof of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +the portico. In this court we find the four pictures +which represent the war of Ramses III. against the +Libyans (<a href="#Page_164">p. 164</a>). The ante-temple, to which the +entrance lay between the Osiris pillars just mentioned, +the inner temple, and the shrine, are in ruins; the +bases only and the foundations can still be traced. In +the ten reliefs mentioned above the external wall of +the second court displays in the most brilliant colours +the warlike achievements of Ramses III. against the +Temhu and Zakkarj (<a href="#Page_165">p. 165</a>). About 120 steps to +the south-east of the first gateway are the ruins of +another structure of this king, which appears to have +been his palace. Two obliquely rising towers enclose +a court, surrounded by a building several stories high. +The rooms still remaining are paved with slabs; the +windows are square. The reliefs represent the king +surrounded by his wives, and then at draughts, the +instruction which his children receive in reading and +writing from a priest, and other household matters. +On the right bank of the Nile at the south-west edge +of the terrace of Karnak, Ramses III. began to build +a temple to the moon-god Chunsu, which was completed +by Ramses IV.; and at Karnak itself, in the court +before the great hall of Sethos I., he erected a smaller +temple, cutting the southern portico of this temple at +right angles, which he dedicated to "Ammon Ra, +his father," to whom the whole sanctuary belonged.<a name="FNanchor_244_244" id="FNanchor_244_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></p> + +<p>As at Memphis, so also at Thebes, great care was +taken for the dead. Not far from the city, in the first +Libyan range of hills, which here rise 300 feet out of +the plain, lie the tombs of the inhabitants of Thebes, +running on into these hills for two hours' distance in +an unbroken series of catacombs. The graves, and +the passages which lead to them, are all hewn in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +rock, sometimes to a considerable depth. Several rows +of chambers lie one over the other. In the lower +rows, where the richer class are buried, the chambers +are larger and more handsome; those in the upper +rows are simpler, smaller, and meaner. Staircases, +straight or winding, connect these stories and +chambers with each other. Galleries, gangways, and +perpendicular shafts break the rows of excavations, +and give to this city of the dead the features of +an inextricable labyrinth. These catacombs, with +their thousands of mummies, innumerable chambers +full of papyrus rolls and amulets buried with the +corpses, with their sculptures and frescoes on the walls +and roofs, which are for the most part preserved in +marvellous brilliancy and represent in the truest and +most varied manner the occupation of every person +buried there of the higher orders, are an almost inexhaustible +source for the knowledge of the life and +the habits of that distant time.</p> + +<p>Separated from the first range of hills by a lonely +and desolate ravine, there rises further to the west a +second wall of rock, which the Arabs call Biban-el-Moluk, +<i>i. e.</i> the gates of the kings. In this lie the +largest and most richly-furnished tombs. The kings +of the old monarchy heaped mountains of stone over +their graves at Memphis, and in like manner the princes +of the new kingdom caused vaults and porticoes to +be hewn in the rocks for their sepulchral chambers. +Here in antiquity forty tombs were enumerated,<a name="FNanchor_245_245" id="FNanchor_245_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> and +the latest investigations have confirmed this enumera<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>tion. +Spacious, but often barred, passages lead +sometimes only fifty, sometimes 360 feet into the rock. +The greater part of the tombs consist of a suite of +galleries, chambers, and chapels for the offering of +sacrifices to the dead; these are followed by the +sepulchral chamber, where rests the sarcophagus, sometimes +in a deep niche. The Pharaohs of Thebes +appear to have carried on their work upon these burying-places +in the same manner as the princes of the old +kingdom proceeded with the building of their pyramids. +They commenced with the entrance, the ante-chapel (a +broad and not very long portico, generally supported +on pillars), and a small chamber, the real sepulchre.<a name="FNanchor_246_246" id="FNanchor_246_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> If +the length of the reign sufficed, a new passage was +driven deeper into the rock from the chamber, a new +and larger ante-chapel, a wider and higher sepulchral +chamber was excavated. All the graves as yet opened +and examined in this wall of rock are entered by +square doors of uniform shape, with simple ornamentation. +At one time they were provided with wings for +security in closing. Behind them the corridor descends +somewhat rapidly into the deep rock. As a rule the +sculptures on the inner walls begin from the doors +immediately behind this entrance. The colouring is +still lively, not to say harsh.</p> + +<p>The oldest tombs lie to the north-east; but as yet +only two chambers have been opened here, one of +which is large in size and adorned with beautiful, +though very much injured sculptures, the grave of +Amenophis III.<a name="FNanchor_247_247" id="FNanchor_247_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a> The tombs of the Tuthmosis have +not yet been found. Next, on the south-west, lies the +tomb of Ramses I. The rock chamber and the +granite sarcophagus, which is still standing there, are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +without any ornament whatever except a few pictures +on the walls, in which the god Tum and the goddess +Neith, the great mother, the lady of heaven, the +queen of the deities, lead the king before Osiris. The +king speaks, "I have come to thee, lord of the gods, +mighty god, master of the sky," while Neith says to +the king, "I secure to thee the throne of Osiris, on +which thou shalt sit for ever."<a name="FNanchor_248_248" id="FNanchor_248_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a> The grave of his +successor, Sethos I., consists of a suite of galleries, +chambers, and chapels. A corridor leads to a staircase, +which ends in a chamber; from this a second +staircase leads to a portico, on which abuts a great +hall, the roof of which is supported by four pillars. +A third staircase leads from this hall on the left into +one similarly adorned, of which the pictures remain +unfinished, and on the right into a broad vaulted +portico sunk more than 300 feet deep into the rock. +The roof of this portico is supported by six pillars. +Here the corpse of the king rested in a sarcophagus of +alabaster, which is covered with sculptures. The +sarcophagus, now in the British Museum, was empty +when found, and the cover was broken. The sculptures +of the first hall display on every side of the +pillars the king and a deity. Those on the walls represent +the stations of the nightly course of the sun +and the hindrances thrown in the way of the sun by the +serpent Apep (<a href="#Page_46">p. 46</a>), the judgment in the under world, +the reward of the good, the punishment of the bad, the +constellations of the sky, the five planets in their boats, +and the four tribes into which the Egyptians divided +mankind. Each tribe is represented by four figures.</p> + +<p>Of the grave of Ramses II. but few chambers have +as yet been opened.<a name="FNanchor_249_249" id="FNanchor_249_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_249_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a> The grave of his son Menephta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +presents nothing more than a picture referring to +the under world. Beside Menephta, Amenmessu +(<a href="#Page_162">p. 162</a>) and Menephta's son, Sethos II., found their +resting places in these rocks, which also conceal +Menephta II. (<a href="#Page_163">p. 163</a>). The grave of Sethos II. is +distinguished by paintings and sculptures. The sarcophagus +of red granite is intended to exhibit on the +lid the image of the king, but this remained unfinished.<a name="FNanchor_250_250" id="FNanchor_250_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a> +The grave of Ramses III. comes nearest to +that of Sethos I. in size and splendour of adornment. +Galleries following one upon the other, on the side of +which are small chambers, lead to a large portico in +which rests the sarcophagus. The sculptures in these +chambers exhibit scenes of court life, of agriculture, +of the banquet, musicians, boats, and weapons; those +of the galleries and the portico represent scenes of the +under world and existence beyond the grave. The +grave of Ramses IV., far smaller and incomplete, still +contains the shattered sarcophagus of granite.<a name="FNanchor_251_251" id="FNanchor_251_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a> On the +other hand, the tomb of Ramses V., one of the most +handsome, displays on the arching of the roof of the +great portico, where the sarcophagus stood, the outstretched +form of the goddess of the sky, in +which are enclosed the stars. On the walls are +depicted the fortunes of the soul in the next world, +and the king in the boat of the sun-god. These +representations of the judgment in the under-world, +which recur perpetually in the tombs at Biban-el-Moluk, +and of the life to come, are wholly unknown +to the pyramids and the tombs surrounding them, the +burying-places of the ancient kingdom.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> Diod. 1, 45; Strabo, p. 816.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 256; Mariette, "Revue Arch." 1860, 2, 21; +<i>cf. supra</i>, p. 23, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> Lepsius, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 273, 274.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_237_237" id="Footnote_237_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 286; "Denkmale aus Ægypten und Nubien," +1, 2, 7, 82; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_238_238" id="Footnote_238_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> Rosell. "Monum. Stor." 1, 123, 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_239_239" id="Footnote_239_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> Champollion, "Lettres," p. 263-283; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +pp. 163-165.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_240_240" id="Footnote_240_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> Diod. 1, 47-49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_241_241" id="Footnote_241_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_242_242" id="Footnote_242_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 112-115, 263, 403, 414.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_243_243" id="Footnote_243_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> As this statue bears on the right shoulder the shield Ra Apepi, or +Apepa, it has been thought to be the statue of the shepherd king Apepi (<a href="#Page_130">p. +130</a>). Lepsius regards it as a statue of Ramses II.—"Königsbuch," s. 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_244_244" id="Footnote_244_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> Brugsch, Hist. d'Egypte, pp. 197, 198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_245_245" id="Footnote_245_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> Strabo, p. 816, puts the number of the royal sepulchres at forty. +Diodorus, on the authority of the sacred records, speaks of forty-seven +graves. At the time of Ptolemy I. only seventeen were in existence (Diod. +1, 46), and of these, at the time when Diodorus travelled in Egypt, the +greater part were destroyed. Lepsius gives twenty-five graves of kings, +and fifteen graves of the wives of the kings ("Briefe," s. 270).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_246_246" id="Footnote_246_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246_246"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> Brugsch, "Reiseberichte," s. 324.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_247_247" id="Footnote_247_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247_247"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 288.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_248_248" id="Footnote_248_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248_248"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 128.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_249_249" id="Footnote_249_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249_249"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 266; Rosellini, "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 284.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_250_250" id="Footnote_250_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250_250"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 213.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_251_251" id="Footnote_251_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251_251"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> On the sketch of this tomb on a Turin papyrus, cf. Lepsius, "Abh. +der Berl. Akad." 1867.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS.</h3> + + +<p>We have already called attention to the peculiar +features in the position and nature of their country +which favoured the development of the Egyptians. +The shape of the land, so conducive to unity, +must have led at an early time to a community of +life; the protection of this favoured valley against the +plundering tribes of the desert must have called into +existence a military monarchy. But it is no longer in +the form of a patriarchal rule or military chieftainship +that the monuments and tradition display the government +of Egypt. It is the form of despotism peculiar +to the East, which meets us at the threshold of +history, meets us, too, in a very sharply-defined form. +Herodotus says that the Egyptians could not have +lived without a king, and Diodorus tells us that the +Egyptians worshipped their kings, and prostrated +themselves before them as though they were really +gods. Of men who could confer such great blessings +as their kings the Egyptians assumed that they +partook of the nature of gods.<a name="FNanchor_252_252" id="FNanchor_252_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a> As a fact, we see on +the monuments not only the commanders and magistrates +of the districts, but even the priests, in the dust +before the kings. It is true that it was the universal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +custom in the East to approach the ruler kneeling, as +one on whose nod depended the life and death of every +subject at every moment of his existence; but the +Egyptians, led by their peculiar religious views, have +gone further than any other nation in the exaltation of +the power of the monarch; they worshipped their kings +as the deities of the land. As in the beginning, +according to the teaching of the priests, the gods ruled +over Egypt, so in subsequent times the Pharaohs +occupy the place of the gods. They do not merely spring +from the gods; they are themselves gods of the land. +They are not only called children of the sun; but to +their subjects they are the "sun itself, which is given to +the world," which beams over the land and gives +blessing and increase; they are the "outpourers of +life," like the gods. Like the gods, they are lords of +truth and justice; they preserve order, punish the +bad, and reward the good, and keep away the unclean +enemies; through their care it is that their subjects +share in the fruits of the earth, hence they cause +Egypt to live. The king of Egypt is called, and is, +"the mighty Horus," the god who gives blessing to +the land. If to the Egyptians animals and men were +the manifestations of the divine nature, must they +not recognise such manifestations in peculiar potency +in the life of the king, in the ruling, arranging, and +sustaining power of the king over the whole land? +This conception of the king as a god on earth has been +already brought before us in the inscription on the +statue of Chafra, the builder of the second largest +pyramid, which describes him as the "good god, the +master and gold Horus" (<a href="#Page_95">p. 95</a>). It continues unchanged +to the last centuries of the kingdom, and +even survives the independence of Egypt. In the +inscriptions of the temples the Ptolemies and Roman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +Cæsars are named by the same solemn titles as the +ancient Pharaohs.<a name="FNanchor_253_253" id="FNanchor_253_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a></p> + +<p>We saw that priests were allotted to the spirits of +the buried kings (<a href="#Page_99">p. 99</a>). In the ruins at Luxor, +spirits of heaven are carrying Amenophis III. into +the presence of Ammon, who consecrates him king +(<a href="#Page_138">p. 138</a>). In the Ramesseum and in the palace at +Medinet Habu we have pictures of the coronation of +Ramses II. and Ramses III. In both, the four geese +of the four spirits of heaven are bidden by the +priest to announce to the spirits of the east and +west, of the north and the south, that the king has +put on the double crown. In the rock temple at +Selseleh (<a href="#Page_149">p. 149</a>), the goddess Anuke gives her breast to +king Horus, who is depicted as already grown into a +youth; in the rock temple at Beth-el-Walli, Isis and +Anuke allow Ramses II. to suck at their breasts. In +the Ramesseum, Ramses II. is led by the gods Mentu +and Chunsu and the goddess Mut before Ammon +(<a href="#Page_171">p. 171</a>). These pictures, in which gods bring the +kings before Ammon, and worship him, that he may +bestow life and purity on the princes presented by +them, are constantly recurring. On the monuments +the kings are found sacrificing, not only to their +divine forefathers, but also to themselves and their +own divinity (<a href="#Page_24">p. 24</a>). Tuthmosis III. dedicated a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +temple to the god Sesurtesen III., and ordained regular +sacrifices to him; and Amenophis III. built a temple +in Nubia to his own divinity (pp. <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>).</p> + +<p>Nowhere do we find a trace to show that the kings +stood in need of the intervention of the priests in +order to approach the gods, and without such intervention +there can be no supremacy of the priests +over the sovereigns of the state. Everywhere the +kings come independently before the gods. Everywhere +we find the sacrifices of the kings, not of the +priests, offered. It is the kings who consecrate +temples to the gods, in order that the king may +obtain "lasting life and purity." It is the Pharaohs +and not the priests who represent the state and people +before the gods. The kings are at the same time the +high priests, and stand at the head of religion as at +the head of the state; their sons and grandsons, their +mothers, wives, and daughters, are, according to the +inscriptions, the priests of this or that god or goddess. +The kings, as Diodorus assures us, were not waited +upon by slaves, but by the sons of the most distinguished +priests; by priests only could the ruling +god of the country be served—and the priests did +not omit to mention on their tombs, even at a very +early period, the king in whose service they were +prophets, scribes, and minstrels. In a word, the +Pharaoh was not merely the head of the state, but +also of the church, if such an expression may be +allowed, and the power of the priests, without any +real and ceremonial support, does not extend beyond +the moral influence which religion exercised upon the +heart of the king. Finally, it is the kings who are +celebrated as the lawgivers of the land, and this excludes +any thought of a supremacy of priests. Yet +the influence of religion and of the priesthood on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +the king is not to be contested, although, under the +military princes who governed Egypt after the expulsion +of the Hyksos, the priests had to share their influence +with the leaders of the army. Not till the time of +Menephta, do we observe a more influential position +assumed by the high priests at Thebes. This influence +goes on increasing under the weak successors +of Ramses III., and reaches its summit under the +first princes of the dynasty of Tanis. Then it declined, +and afterwards only came into operation under +foreign supremacy.</p> + +<p>If further proof were needed for the unlimited +power of the kings than their representation of Ra +and Horus, and the menial position of the priests, we +should find it in the gigantic structures which the +Pharaohs left behind them. To carry out works of +this kind is impossible unless the monarch has absolute +disposal of the labour of his subjects. But these +buildings were undoubtedly the main interest and the +main occupation of the kings. In this they follow the +characteristic traits of the whole nation. In building +temples and erecting images, their object was just as +much to confer honour on the gods as to preserve the +remembrance of the homage which they had offered to +them. The preservation of their own actions and +names, which these buildings in the eyes of the +Egyptians "caused to live," is the main object of the +structure, and along with the sacrifices of the kings, +and the evidence of the favour of the gods, the +sculptures on the temples display the martial exploits +of the kings. If the kings erected pyramid tombs, +it was in order that their corpses might rest in +security, and the tumulus "cause their name to +live" in the generations to come. If they built +temples, it was that the gates, walls, frescoes, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +inscriptions might preserve their acts for posterity. +The buildings of the Pharaohs are the history of their +reigns written in stone.</p> + +<p>The ceremonial which surrounded the life of the +Pharaohs is described by Diodorus. In the morning +the king first read the communications received from +every quarter; then he performed his ablutions, +put on his robes, and offered sacrifice to the gods. +While the sacrificial animal was being led to the altar +the high priest offered prayer to the gods, beseeching +them to grant life and all good things to the +king, as he was a righteous ruler. He was pious to +the gods, gentle towards men, strong, just, and +courageous, an enemy of lies, a sharer of his goods +with others, and master of his desires; one who did not +punish the wicked so severely as they deserved, and +gave to the good more than their proportionate share. +Then the priest laid the punishment of any error into +which the king might have fallen on his servants, and +urged him to a pious life, "not by reproaches," as +Diodorus expressly observes, "but by commendations." +When the sacrifice was finished, the priest read to the +king the apothegms and achievements of distinguished +men, that is, no doubt, of previous kings, out of the +sacred books. We know that poems of considerable +extent on historical subjects were in existence.<a name="FNanchor_254_254" id="FNanchor_254_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a> In +the same way the remaining part of the day was +allotted to definite occupations. For walking, for +bathing, even for sleeping with the queen, definite +hours were appointed. The king might only eat the +flesh of calves and geese—the food of the priests—and +take a fixed portion of wine. Diodorus regards it as +wonderful that the kings should have subjected themselves +to this ceremonial. In this he leaves out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +sight the fact that the god of the land was expected +to lead the life of a god, and also, a thing which could +not indeed be so obvious to him, that all periods +present proofs to what oppressive rules of state and +etiquette rulers are willing to subject themselves in +order to exhibit their dignity and majesty. Yet this +was not the object chiefly held in view in the regulation +of the king's life, nor was it the love of the +Egyptians for systematic and fixed arrangements. +The king was at the same time the first priest of the +land; and therefore the regulations of the priestly +life applied to him also. Moreover, the Egyptians +were extremely careful to keep themselves pure from +the unclean, in order by such purity to preserve life +and salvation. With this object, priests and laity alike +regulated all their actions, their eating and drinking, +feeding and clothing, by a minute ritual. It was the +first duty of the king to protect the purity of Egypt. +He was the Horus of the land, who had struck down +disorder, impurity, and evil, and therefore, like the +victorious god, he must shine out in the brightness of +unsullied purity. Thus the king had to lead the pure +life of a priest; he could eat none but the priestly +food, and every duty must be performed at a +favourable moment, for the Egyptians were under the +dominion of a widespread astrological superstition. +This system further required that every fault he +might happen to commit should be taken from him +and laid upon others. It is probably the plan +sketched by the priests for the king's life, of which +Diodorus has preserved some traces; we know that +among the sacred books those of the minstrels contained +regulations for the life of the king. Whatever +flattery and homage was thus intended for the great +and gracious king, the Pharaohs no doubt observed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +so much as seemed suitable to them. Of a later king, +Amasis, we are told that he emancipated himself from +the customary ceremonial, and when business was +over, gave himself up to relaxation and enjoyment. +Yet his reign was a long one, and regarded with +affection by the Egyptians.</p> + +<p>The Pharaohs were surrounded with all the state of +Oriental despots. On the picture of the coronation, +the assumption of the Pschent by Ramses III. at +Medinet Habu, the procession is led by trumpeters, +who are followed by commanders and magistrates. +Twenty-two priests lead the statue of Ammon, who +is followed by a priest with incense, and a scribe who +appears to read a proclamation. The king is then +carried in by twelve richly-attired men on a throne +under a canopy. Beside the throne walk certain +officers, who cool the king with large fans; others +carry the weapons of the king and the insignia of +his power. Behind follow the captains of the army +and the body-guard. Then a white bull is led in the +procession by priests, and the whole closes with priests +carrying the name-shields of the predecessors of the +king. On descending from the throne the king makes +a libation towards Ammon, burns incense to him, and +cuts off some ears of corn with a golden sickle.<a name="FNanchor_255_255" id="FNanchor_255_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a> The +court was numerous: fan-bearers on the right, and +fan-bearers on the left, bearers of the parasol, keepers +of the king's bow, captains of the body-guard, overseers +of the palace, overseers of the buildings in +Upper and Lower Egypt, overseers of the horses, +books, and music, stewards of the granaries in +Upper and Lower Egypt, stewards of the royal +flocks, treasurers, butlers of the palace, and other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +officers are mentioned.<a name="FNanchor_256_256" id="FNanchor_256_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_256_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a> According to the monuments, +the king's household furniture was profuse in +silver and gold. The gondolas were gilded, with +variegated sails, the trappings of the horses were +splendidly ornamented, the stuffed seats curiously +carved and richly decked; and of the complicated +occupations of the royal kitchen, of the number of +people employed, of cup-bearers and master cooks, +as well as of the preparation of the food—the monuments +give us a very complete idea.</p> + +<p>The death of the king was mourned for seventy +days, like the death of an Apis. During this time +everyone had to abstain from baths, from flesh and +wine, until the son of the ruler, who had entered +into Amenti, ascended the throne as a new Horus and +giver of life to the land, and the visage of the new +lord again "beamed like a sun over both the lands of +Egypt" after the days of lamentation. The succession, +so far as we can see, was not infrequently broken +by usurpations, which have always been inseparable +from the despotic form of government.<a name="FNanchor_257_257" id="FNanchor_257_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></p> + +<p>It is characteristic of the all-absorbing power of +the monarchy in Egypt that tradition can scarcely +mention a single eminent person beside the names +of the kings. We hear nothing of generals or +statesmen, and scarcely of priests. All stood in +equal subjection to the king. Though families may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +have at one time arisen from the nation, which were +in a position, from wealth and inclination, to undertake +the defence of the valley of the Nile against the +tribes of the desert, and though the monarchy may +have arisen out of the ranks of this military nobility, +which in bygone times united the valley of the Nile +into a kingdom, still, so far as the monuments allow +us to see, there is no trace left of the eminent position +of any nobility, whether military or hereditary. The +military order, as presented to us on the monuments, +and by the tradition of the Greeks, no longer consisted +of wealthy landowners who went to war at +the bidding of the king with their chariots and horses +and retainers; they are merely soldiers—families, who +for a certain portion of land given to them by the +state are pledged to service in war, and who receive +their weapons from the armouries of the state. Such +are the warriors on the monuments even in the times of +the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, and also under Ramses +III. Herodotus tells us that each family of warriors +possessed twelve measures of good land, free of taxes, +the measure being 100 Egyptian cubits in length and +breadth. This would make the allotment more than +twelve acres. These families, according to Herodotus, +could, even about the middle of the fifth century <small>B.C.</small>, +put in the field 400,000 men, although two hundred +years before, under Psammetichus I., a large number +of them, it is said more than 200,000, migrated +into Ethiopia. The military order was divided into +two classes: the Hermotybians, numbering at most +160,000 men, and the Kalasirians, about 250,000 +strong. In the time of Herodotus, the first were +settled in Upper Egypt in the province of Chemmis, +and mainly in the western Delta; the Kalasirians +were in the province of Thebes, and in the central<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +and eastern Delta.<a name="FNanchor_258_258" id="FNanchor_258_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a> Each division furnished yearly +1,000 men for the bodyguard of the king, who were +handsomely provided for, and the garrisons in the +border towns and strongholds, which were also relieved +year by year. From the masses of the two divisions +so many may have been told off for field duty as +were considered necessary. From the numbers which +Herodotus gives it is not impossible that the armies of +Sethos and Ramses II., when all the soldiers were called +out, were, if not 700,000, yet from 400,000 to 500,000 +strong. Under Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 <small>B.C.</small>) +the army of Egypt was estimated at 240,000 men.</p> + +<p>The monuments prove that even at the time of +the Sesurtesen and Amenemha, war was scientifically +carried on, and the soldiers regularly drilled. From +the royal armouries the infantry were provided with +bows, helmets, shields, lances, and crooked knives, +and were divided into battalions, each carrying its own +ensign. The heavy infantry moved in ranks to the +sound of trumpets. Attacks were not made on fortified +cities without the ram, and sheds to protect the +attacking party. Instead of cavalry, which never +occur on the monuments, we find, though not till +after the time of the Hyksos, numerous war-chariots +in use. Those who fought in the chariots, as the +kings, who are invariably represented as fighting from +a chariot, made use of bows. The monuments often +exhibit practice in archery. With the Egyptians, +as with the whole of the East in antiquity, the bow +was the favourite weapon.</p> + +<p>To the priestly order Egypt owed the growth and +establishment of her cultus, the peculiar turn of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +religious conceptions, her moral law, her writings, her +art, and her science. The piety of the people and +the kings had amply endowed the temples. "The +priests eat nothing of their own," says Herodotus; +"sacred bread is daily baked for them, and they +obtain vegetables, geese, calves' flesh, and wine +in sufficient quantities."<a name="FNanchor_259_259" id="FNanchor_259_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a> Diodorus tells us that +the land in ancient Egypt was divided into three +portions, of which a third belonged to the kings, a +third to the priests for their support and the maintenance +of the sacrifices and festivals, and another third +to the military order, and that all the farmers in Egypt +held on leases;<a name="FNanchor_260_260" id="FNanchor_260_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a> and we have already seen that at any +rate a part of the land, though by no means so much +as a third, was really allotted to the soldiers, who +could scarcely have leased their small patches, but +must have cultivated them in person if they wished to +live upon them with their families. Another part of +the land was marked off for the maintenance of the +priests and the expenses of public worship; but it +appears that this land also belonged to the king, for +Herodotus speaks of the incomes of the priests as gifts +received from the king;<a name="FNanchor_261_261" id="FNanchor_261_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a> and the Hebrew Scriptures +also tell us that "the priests had a portion assigned +them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which +Pharaoh gave them."<a name="FNanchor_262_262" id="FNanchor_262_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a> From these data—even if the +statement of Herodotus, that Sesostris (Ramses II.) had +given an equal square of land to every Egyptian, must +be limited to a measurement of the land, in order to +regulate the taxes<a name="FNanchor_263_263" id="FNanchor_263_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a>—it appears that the Pharaohs +looked on themselves as the proprietors of the soil—a +view by no means strange to the despotisms of the +East—and in consequence they allotted to the soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +so much as was necessary, and of the rest allowed a +great portion, which was estimated at a third of the +whole, to pay taxes to the temples, while the remainder +contributed to themselves. According to the statements +of the Hebrews the taxes amounted to a fifth of the +produce,<a name="FNanchor_264_264" id="FNanchor_264_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a> and hence all the farmers could with justice be +considered leaseholders, or at any rate as having copyhold +estates. It is expressly observed that only the +farms of the soldiers were free from taxes,<a name="FNanchor_265_265" id="FNanchor_265_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a> and that +the land which was taxed for the temples contributed +nothing to Pharaoh.<a name="FNanchor_266_266" id="FNanchor_266_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a> At the same time it is easily +intelligible that the piety of the subjects provided +additional incomes for the priests, and that, so far as +it was possible to make any arrangements of the kind, +land and revenues were presented to the temples.<a name="FNanchor_267_267" id="FNanchor_267_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></p> + +<p>The maintenance which they derived from the incomes +and contributions of the temple-lands, in corn, +wine, and animals for sacrifice, enabled the priests to +live for their religious duties, for the complete per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>formance +of their customs in regard to purification and +food, and for the study of the holy scriptures. They +were divided into various classes and corporations. In +every temple there was one upper priest,—the head of +the temple—the prophet,<a name="FNanchor_268_268" id="FNanchor_268_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a> a temple scribe, who was +especially skilled in writing, and managed the temple +property, a chamberlain, who took care of the clothing +of the images, the sacrifices, and the ritual, an +astronomer, who had to observe the heavens, and a +minstrel. In the processions the prophet carried the jar +of water for purifications; the chamberlain carried the +cubit of justice and a basin for sprinkling water; the +scribe can be recognised by the feather in his head-dress, +the roll of books in one hand, and the pen in the other; +the astronomer by an hour-glass and a palm branch, +the symbol of the seasons among the Egyptians. +These higher classes of the priesthood were followed by +the lower; the pastophors, who carried the images in +the processions, and practised medicine, the attendants, +male and female ("the nurses"), of the sacred +animals, the persons whose duty it was to select +and seal the animals for sacrifice, the embalmers, +and lastly, the temple-servants, who were responsible +for the purifications. The first sanctuaries in Egypt +were the temples of Ammon at Thebes, of Ptah at +Memphis, and of Ra at Heliopolis. The colleges at +these temples were the most important centres of +priestly life and doctrine. So long as Thebes was the +metropolis of the kingdom, the high priest of Ammon +at Thebes was the first priest in the land. Herodotus +tells us from the lips of the priests of Thebes that the +office of high priest descended from father to son, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +Diodorus maintains that the same was the case with +all the officers of the temples.<a name="FNanchor_269_269" id="FNanchor_269_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a> These statements are +contradicted by the inscriptions. They mention five +places in the temples through which all "fifth priests" +must pass. From a memorial stone of a priest, +Bakenchunsu, we learn that for fifteen years he was +third priest, and for twelve years second priest of +Ammon at Thebes; then he became first priest of +this god, and continued to be so to the end of his life.</p> + +<p>The priests had to lead a holier and purer life +than the laity. The ritual, the rules for purification +and food, which the priests laid upon themselves, were +stricter than those expected from the rest of the +people. The priest must wash twice in each day and +each night. Every third day he must shave his whole +body, more especially his eyebrows and beard. He +might only wear linen clothing (byssus), and shoes of +papyrus. Any other clothing, and especially the hair +and skins of beasts, defiled a priest; though on monuments +the priests of Osiris wear leopard skins, especially +at the ceremony of the burial. The flesh of sheep, +swine, and most other animals was forbidden to the +priests; they might never touch fish. Pulse they +might not eat, and beans were not even to be looked +at. They observed frequent fasts. From time to +time they underwent certain mortifications, which in +one instance continued for forty-two days, in order +to destroy in themselves the forty-two deadly sins. +Finally the priests could only marry one wife; while +the laity were allowed to have other wives beside the +first. The kings had more than one wife, and this was +the rule among the wealthier class in Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_270_270" id="FNanchor_270_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></p> + +<p>We are not informed how sharply the different orders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +in Egypt were separated, or how far the different occupations +were distinguished among the labouring or +trading population in addition to the classes of priests +and soldiers. We do not know, for instance, in what +degree the tiller of the soil was distinguished from +the artizan. We are only told that the people were +divided into husbandmen, artizans, and shepherds, +and the shepherds were regarded as the lowest class. +But we learn that no one was allowed to follow any +other occupation than that derived from his father.<a name="FNanchor_271_271" id="FNanchor_271_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> +The inscriptions tell us that the same office, as for +instance that of architect, remained in the same +family for twenty-three generations;<a name="FNanchor_272_272" id="FNanchor_272_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_272_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a> and in the +seventh century <small>B.C.</small> a kind of caste grew up out of +a number of Egyptian boys, whom Psammetichus +handed over to his Ionian mercenaries. Hence we may +conclude that the impulse to perpetuate types and +lock up occupations in hereditary circles and fixed +families was very strong, as was natural enough with +the fixed and conservative character of the Egyptians. +But however strong the impulse, however deeply rooted +the custom for the son to follow the father's profession, +there was in Egypt no caste in the strict sense of the +term. Marriages between the orders were not forbidden, +and it is exclusiveness in this point which +completes the idea of caste. Moreover in Egypt there +were adoptions and transitions from one order to +another. The sepulchral pillars never lay any weight +on birth in a certain order, but rather show that +members of the same family had belonged to different +orders—that a man could be at once a priest and a +soldier, and Diodorus remarks that in Egypt all were +regarded as of equally honourable birth. The statement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +that the shepherds were held in the least estimation is +probably correct, for the reason that their unrestrained +occupation was least adapted for subjection to fixed rules +of life and a strict ritual; but that statement, like the +assertion in Genesis that "cowherds were an abomination +to the Egyptians," is not to be taken in reference +to the breeders of oxen and the care of flocks, which +was carried on with great vigour among the Egyptians, +but to the nomadic tribes who wandered with their +flocks on the broad marshes of the Delta, or on the +pastures of the Libyan and Arabian ranges, and were +wholly strangers to all settled life. When we are told +that the swineherds were held in especial contempt, +we must remember that to the Egyptians the swine +was an unclean animal.<a name="FNanchor_273_273" id="FNanchor_273_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_273_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a> Hence we may consider it as +certain that custom required the Egyptian to follow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +the trade of his father, and caused the father to live +again in his son, but no law of religion or state turned +the orders into castes, and that the various classes of +trades and professions were neither haughty and +exclusive, nor servile and submissive towards each +other, but all lived together on a tolerable equality.</p> + +<p>Beside the respect and weight which the religious +importance of their order, their general knowledge +and science gave to the priests, it was to them more +especially that the honour of serving the king fell. +We cannot doubt that the public officers were mainly +taken from the order of priests, which was also the +order of scribes. Egypt was not, like the great +monarchies of the ancient East, a state founded by +conquest, in which the lord of the victorious people +was master of the conquerors and the conquered +also, and in which it was all-important to retain the +conquered nation in subjection; it was a compact +district inhabited by the same tribe. Here, if we +make an exception in favour of the transitory conquests +in Nubia and Arabia, there were no extensive +and distant provinces to be held in check. The departments +in the land were small, their number reached +forty-four;<a name="FNanchor_274_274" id="FNanchor_274_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a> the officers, whom the king set over +them, were in his sight, they could not assume the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +position of refractory pashas. They were nominated +out of the members of the royal house (the monuments +furnish instances), the priests, the soldiers, and also +out of the people. Royal scribes and judges, "scribes +of justice," were allotted to these prefects. As the +Egyptians early arrived at a written law, as religion +and justice were closely connected, and the priests +were acquainted with the art of writing, the prefects of +the provinces were without doubt assisted by men from +the priestly order in the exercise of their judicial duties. +Besides the maintenance of the peace and the administration +of justice, it was their duty to provide for the +cultivation of the land, the collection and transmission +of the taxes to the king. Even the soldiers settled in +the provinces seem to have been subject to their rule. +The gold and copper mines on the Upper Nile and in +Sinai appear to have been put under the care of special +officers, and the products were conveyed under military +protection to the treasury of the king (<a href="#Page_105">p. 105</a>).</p> + +<p>The officers of the central government surrounded +the person of the king (<a href="#Page_190">p. 190</a>). Even the administration +of justice, according to Diodorus, was centred +in a supreme court, consisting of thirty judges, ten +of the best men from Heliopolis, ten from Memphis, +and ten from Thebes. Without doubt these judges +belonged to the three priestly colleges of Memphis, +Thebes, and Heliopolis. From these thirty the +president was chosen, and on his breast, attached to +a golden chain, he wore a shield of precious stones, +beautifully wrought, which the Egyptians named +"Truth" (<a href="#Page_174">p. 174</a>). This court of the thirty no doubt +gave very honourable decisions, and in accordance +with law, unless the king were interested in the +result, or preferred to pass sentence himself. Diodorus +further informs us that the laws of the Egyptians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +were collected in eight books, and were always kept +at hand by the judges. The first written laws were +given by Menes to the Egyptians, who declared that +he had received them from the god Thoth. These +laws had been enlarged by "Sasychis," who at the +same time left the most accurate rubrics for the +service of the gods, discovered geometry, and taught +astronomy. Then Sesosis (Sesostris) laid down the +laws for the kings, and the army. Finally the +kings Bocchoris and Amasis completed the laws of +Egypt. Herodotus praises a king "Asychis," whom he +places after Menkera (<a href="#Page_16">p. 16</a>), as the giver of the laws +of mortgage. From Diodorus we also learn, and the +monuments confirm his statement, that a written +process went on before the court, that plaint and +answer, rejoinder and reply, were given in, in writing; +and this custom, considering the delight of the Egyptians +in writing, did not appear for the first time in +the later period of legal administration. The contracts +and bills of sale found in tombs of the time of the +Ptolemies are drawn up with the most circumstantial +accuracy, and furnished with the signatures of +many witnesses.<a name="FNanchor_275_275" id="FNanchor_275_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a> What Diodorus tells us of the law of +Egypt with respect to <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i> gives evidence +of a certain gentleness and humanity. The interest +was never to exceed the amount of the capital. +Slavery for debt was not allowed; the sons of all +the wives shared equally in the inheritance. The +murder of a slave was punished with death, just as +the murder of an Egyptian. Perjury was threatened +with the same penalty. Anyone who falsified documents +or measures had his hand cut off. In the +confession which the souls made before Osiris (<a href="#Page_79">p. 79</a>),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +especial emphasis is laid on the fact that the dead +man had not falsified measures or seals, that he had +practised no deceit in the law court, and had lent +no money upon usury. The punishments inflicted on +the guilty are characteristic of the East: the stocks, +compulsory labour at the mines and quarries, loss of +the nose, excision of the tongue, and mutilation were +the usual penalties.<a name="FNanchor_276_276" id="FNanchor_276_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></p> + +<p>Beside the law of the state stood the law of religion, +of the priests. It was not sufficient to offer bread, +and geese, and thighs of bulls, to pour drink-offerings +of milk and wine, and "all things whereon the divine +nature lives," to burn frankincense before the images +of the gods, to offer the firstlings of the fruits, figs, +onions, and flowers, to set up in the temples dedicatory +offerings, small statues, crowns, and rings, to celebrate +in honour of the gods of the district the great and +small festivals, to honour the dead and bring sacrifice +to them at the beginning and end of the year, at +the festivals of the great and the little heat, on the +monthly and fortnightly festivals (the calendars of +the festivals on the monuments exhibit an almost +unbroken series of sacrifices), to attend to the animals +of the sacred kinds and bury them handsomely, "to +give bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes +to the naked, and shelter to the wanderer"—the +whole life must be a religious service. In their +favoured land the Egyptians considered themselves +a favoured people. Full of gratitude to the gods +who had given them this land and this life, they +looked with contempt on the unclean and perverse +nations who dwelt beyond the valley of the Nile. +To keep themselves clean from the unclean is the +essential task of their lives. To the merely superficial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +view, cleanliness of body and clothing seems cleanliness +of soul and life. But this purity, which the law +of the priests required from every Egyptian, and +above all and in an especial degree from the priests, +was not limited to simple and natural cleanliness. +There were beneficent life-giving gods, and there were +also evil and destructive deities. To these belonged +the side of nature which seemed to correspond to +their being. Contact with this side of nature is not +only displeasing to the good and pure gods, it gives +the evil influences power over the men contaminated +by it. Hence for the salvation of men such contact +must be shunned. Certain things must be avoided for +clothing and others for nourishment, certain impulses +must not be satisfied, or must at any rate be limited.</p> + +<p>This conception introduced certain usages and customs, +which were developed by the priests into a system +of rules for purification and food. Herodotus says, +"the Egyptians are the most religious of all men; +they have a severe and strict service, and many sacred +customs." The boys were circumcised. Beans, rye, +and barley might not be eaten; the flesh of many +animals and many kinds of fish was forbidden. It +was not lawful to eat the head of any animal. The +animals for sacrifice must first be examined by the +priests, to see that they did not belong to the sacred +kinds—to sacrifice these was an inexpiable offence—and +whether in other respects they were without +blemish and pleasing to the gods. This examination +was the duty of the class of temple-servants already +mentioned, and it devolved on them to mark the animals +found to be clean with a seal, which in bulls was +placed on the horns. The Egyptians never ate at the +same table with strangers, nor used a cup from which +a stranger had drunk, nor ate flesh cooked in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +vessel of a stranger and cut with a stranger's knife; +all strangers and their utensils were unclean. Nothing +woollen might be taken into a temple or a tomb. The +Egyptians always wore newly-washed under-clothing +of linen; they were obliged frequently to wash their +bodies, and for three days in each month they used +means of evacuation, clysters and emetics, in order to +cleanse the body internally.<a name="FNanchor_277_277" id="FNanchor_277_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_277_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a> These statements are +confirmed by papyrus rolls containing medicinal precepts. +If the king, a sacred animal, or a member of +the family died, no one was allowed to wear white +or bright-coloured clothes; he must shave his eyebrows, +and abstain from intercourse with his wife and from +baths. Men and women threw dust on their heads +and faces, and the women ran to and fro wailing +with bare breasts.<a name="FNanchor_278_278" id="FNanchor_278_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></p> + +<p>If an Egyptian had not committed murder, theft, +or adultery, if he had not defamed the gods nor the +king, nor those in authority over him, nor his own +father, if he were not guilty of lying or slandering, +if he had deceived neither gods nor men, nor oppressed +his workmen in their daily tasks, nor drawn off the +water, if he had allowed no one to be hungry, and +caused no one to weep, if he were not slothful and +idle in his occupation, if he sacrificed to the gods at +the appointed time, and poured libations and observed +all the regulations for cleanliness, then he might hope +to find grace in the presence of the twenty-four judges +before Osiris on the day of judgment in Amenti (<a href="#Page_79">p. 79</a>). +In order to gain by such conduct and careful observation +of the laws of cleanliness and the ritual, a long life in +this world, rest in the grave, and eternal life in the +fields of the sun-god, the Egyptians worshipped their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +gods with unwearied zeal, while their kings raised +temple upon temple of enormous blocks in honour +of the life-giving powers of heaven.</p> + +<p>We cannot rate the knowledge and science of the +Egyptians very low, however absurd and singular +much in it appears to be. The early discovery of +writing, however unwieldy the form, gave them the +means of preserving not only invocations and incidents, +but also the results of observation and experience, +and of increasing slowly and surely their stock +of knowledge. They made an unusually extensive +use of writing. The walls of the temples are covered +with inscriptions, which often enough only repeat once +more what has been repeated already innumerable times. +Even in the tombs at Beni Hassan from the time of +the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, we find scribes engaged +in numbering the flocks and ticketing the sacks of corn. +The scribes of the king registered the game obtained +in hunting, the number of hands hewn off after a +victory, and of prisoners, and calculated the amount +of the booty. The temple-scribes are seen in the processions +with pen in hand, and on the monuments the +gods note down the years of the kings on the leaves of +the arbor vitæ. Everything is to be enumerated, +registered, and entered. Even ornaments and utensils +are covered with inscriptions. As the hieroglyphics +on the walls explained the images in the temples, +and the hieroglyphics on the sides of the sepulchral +chambers recorded the race and achievements of eminent +persons and officers, so did the priests write down their +wisdom, and private people their documents on a +lighter material, the leaves of the papyrus, a tall reed +growing in abundance in the swamps of Egypt.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this extensive use, the system of +writing among the Egyptians continued to the end a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +clumsy and difficult system, partly owing to the +number of pictures and symbols, and partly to the +variety of the phonetic pictures. The unchanging +character of the Egyptians, the symbolical and mystic +sense concealed in the hieroglyphics, the religious +character of these old and sacred signs, stood in the +way of the change to a more simple and phonetic mode +of writing. Yet the effort to obtain such a system is +unmistakable. After the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small> a number of +picture symbols were used as phonetic symbols, which +up to that time had no phonetic value, and this change +becomes more and more frequent in the last centuries +<small>B.C.</small> The habit of writing the hieroglyphics on the +papyrus had early led to abbreviation in writing; the +pictures were represented by simple outlines more +adapted to the hand; and hence arose a cursive mode +of writing the hieroglyphics, the so-called "hieratic" +writing, which we already (pp. <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>) found in use on +the pyramids under the old kingdom, and which was +in use on an extensive scale at the time when the new +kingdom was at its height. Finally, from the hieratic +writing arose a third and more abbreviated kind, the +demotic, which represented the language of ordinary +intercourse and the national dialect. This was in existence +when Herodotus travelled in Egypt. Here we see +the most marked effort to avoid the ideographic element +and picture signs, and to extend the use of the phonetic +symbols. Beside the remains of the picture symbols, +the demotic writing employs seventeen simple phonetic +symbols and some fifty symbols of syllables. The +hieroglyphic and hieratic modes of writing are called +on the monuments the "writing of the gods," the +demotic is "the writing of the books." For us the +difficulty of the hieroglyphics is materially increased +by the fact that the Coptic language in the form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +accessible to us is removed by thousands of years from +the form of words represented by the hieroglyphics of +the old and new kingdom. The forms which we obtain +from the records preserved in the demotic writing are +about midway between those in the hieroglyphics and +the forms retained in the Coptic translation of the +Scriptures, and in some books of liturgies, which +belong to the first centuries <small>A.D.</small><a name="FNanchor_279_279" id="FNanchor_279_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a></p> + +<p>In the circles of the priests the traditional invocations +of the gods, the rules for the proper conduct +of sacrifices and feasts, for the pure conversation +which is the way to life and salvation in this +world and the next, were without doubt committed +to writing at a very early period. When gradually +extended and continued, those writings grew into a +liturgical canon and ecclesiastical codex of religious +and moral law, and a comprehensive collection of all +the wisdom known to the priests. We learn that the +Egyptian priests possessed forty-two sacred books. +Regarded as a collection of religious rules in every +department of civilisation and life, as the measure of +holy and upright conversation, and as rules of civil +law, these books passed as the writings of the god +Thoth, the scribe of heaven, the god of truth and +justice. The civil law also was grounded upon the +rules and axioms of religion; from these it arose, and +the books of civil law without doubt formed a part of +the sacred law, and of the books of the priests. Of +these forty-two books ten belonged to the high priest, +of which eight may have been the eight books of +civil law (<a href="#Page_202">p. 202</a>). In that case the two others would +contain the doctrine concerning the gods, and the +instruction of the priests. Ten other books belonged +to the temple-scribe. Of these the first contained the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +rules for the sacred writing; the second the geography +and cosmogony; the third and fourth the arrangement +of the sun, moon, and five planets; the fifth and +sixth the description of Egypt and the Nile; the +seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, the weights and +measures, the mode of registering the temple furniture +and property. Again, ten books belonged to the +chamberlain. These taught the ritual and the liturgy, +the offering of first-fruits and sacrifices, hymns and +prayers, together with the conduct of festivals and +other things of the kind, and, finally, discipline and +the rules for examining the animals for sacrifices. +The two books of the minstrel contained the hymns +and the contemplation of the life proper for a king +(<a href="#Page_188">p. 188</a>). The four books of the astrologer concluded +the narrower circle of the sacred writings. Of these, +the first contained the arrangement of the fixed stars; +the second and third the coincidences of the orbits of +the sun and moon; the fourth, the rising of the constellations. +Besides these sacred books the pastophors +(<a href="#Page_196">p. 196</a>) had six books which taught the principles +and practice of medicine;<a name="FNanchor_280_280" id="FNanchor_280_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_280_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a> for the art of healing, <i>i. e.</i> +of preserving life, also belonged to the priests. The +medicine of the Egyptians is commended as early as +the Homeric poems (<a href="#Page_15">p. 15</a>). Herodotus assures us +that in Egypt every kind of sickness had a special +physician, and Diodorus states that the art was carried +out strictly according to the written principles, <i>i. e.</i> no +doubt, according to these six sacred books. A hieratic +papyrus on the subject of medicine has been recently +found at Thebes, which is supposed to belong to the +first centuries of the restoration of the monarchy. A +section of this deals with diseases of the eye.<a name="FNanchor_281_281" id="FNanchor_281_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_281_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +Egyptian physicians were much sought after in the +East (the founder of the Persian kingdom, Cyrus, +procured an oculist from Egypt), until the fame of +the Greek medicine about 500 <small>B.C.</small> threw Egyptian +physicians into the shade.<a name="FNanchor_282_282" id="FNanchor_282_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a></p> + +<p>In the sacred books of the priests was drawn up +the religious system into which the original conceptions +of the gods were shaped and developed in the circles of +the priests. The gods who passed for the greatest and +mightiest in the various districts out of which Egypt +was made up, the protecting deities of the separate +localities, were here arranged in definite ranks and +classes. And if, nevertheless, considerable differences +can be observed in the teaching of the priests of +Memphis and Thebes, they are sufficiently explained +by the mode in which religion and state were developed +in Egypt, and the rival position of the two great +centres of ecclesiastical life. According to the doctrine +of Memphis the seven highest deities were Ptah, the +creative god of light of the lower country; Ra, the +sun-god of Heliopolis; and Shu (Sosis, <a href="#Page_50">p. 50</a>), the +deity of the clear air; these three were followed by +the forms belonging to the Osiris circle, on whose +nature rested the moral basis of the life of the +Egyptians; Seb, the father of Osiris; Osiris himself; +then his opposite, Typhon; and lastly, Horus, the +conqueror of Typhon.<a name="FNanchor_283_283" id="FNanchor_283_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a> The doctrine of Thebes placed +Ammon at the head instead of Ptah, and in the place +of Ra stood the two sun-gods of Upper Egypt, Tum +(Atum, <a href="#Page_51">p. 51</a>) and Mentu; these were followed by +Shu, and the gods of the Osiris circle. To the seven +or eight great gods was appended a circle of twelve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +gods, and among these Thoth and Anubis. The +twelve were followed by a number of spirits, genii and +demigods. With this system of gods the doctrine of +the priests was connected. Even from the attributes +of Ptah, Neith, and other deities, it is clear that there +was among the priests a strong tendency to gather up +the divine powers into the forms of Ptah, Tum, Osiris, +and Ra. The teaching of the priests evidently desired +to grasp the connection of life, and attain to a +theogony and a theory of creation. It has been +already pointed out on the authority of documents +belonging to the times of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, that the priests in their doctrine were at +pains to discover the unity of the divine spirits, and +to conceive the forms of the gods as manifestations +of one being. They regarded the animals as the +manifestations of special characteristics of the gods, +and men as phænomena of a divine origin and nature, +who would return to the place whence they came. To +go further and grasp the heart of the system is +impossible in the present condition of our researches. +Conceptions and inferences of the Græco-Egyptian +speculation of the time of the Ptolemies and the first +centuries after Christ cannot be accepted as the true +form of the old Egyptian religion, or as the doctrine +of the priests of ancient Egypt.</p> + +<p>With the Egyptians, as with other nations, poetry +probably arose out of the invocations of the gods and +hymns of praise and thanksgiving. Religious poetry +had a fixed canon in the books of the minstrels. That +national songs were also in vogue is shown by the +monuments (<a href="#Page_222">p. 222</a>). Diodorus told us above that +the achievements of Sesostris were celebrated in +poetry (<a href="#Page_144">p. 144</a>). The description of a deed of arms +of Ramses II. which he must have regarded as of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +considerable importance has been preserved. The +battle he fought with the Cheta in the fifth year of +his reign (<a href="#Page_152">p. 152</a>), he caused to be represented in the +rock temple at Abu Simbel and in the Ramesseum, +and a description of it is engraved in these temples, +as at Luxor and Beth-el-Walli, and in the walls of +the great temple at Karnak. It is found in still +greater detail in a papyrus of the British Museum.<a name="FNanchor_284_284" id="FNanchor_284_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a> +At the end is the observation that the scribe Pentaur +composed it in the seventh year of the reign of +Ramses II. In this poem we are told that the chief of +the Cheta had come with his archers and chariots, +three men on each chariot. North-west of Kadesh +they lay in ambush. The king, urging on his chariot, +pressed into the midst of the miserable Cheta. He +found himself surrounded by 2,500 chariots. "My +bowmen and my chariots have abandoned me, this is +what the king said; none of them is here to fight +beside me. What is the will of my father Ammon? +Is he a father who denies his son? Or have I followed +my own thoughts? Did I not set forth at thy command; +has not thy mouth led my armies, and thy +counsel guided them? Have I not celebrated many +brilliant festivals, and filled thy house with booty? +Thirty thousand bulls I have sacrificed with odorous +herbs and perfumes of all kinds. I have built thee +temples of stone, I bring obelisks from Elephantine, +and cause the everlasting stones to be carried down. +For thee—the great ships swim upon the sea, to bring +thee the tribute of the nations. Has the like been +done before? Ruin on him who opposes thee: salvation +to him who comprehends thee, Ammon. On +thee I call. I am alone before thee in the midst +of unknown nations. My bowmen and chariots +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>left me when I called; no one heard me when I cried +for help. But I choose Ammon before thousands of +bowmen and millions of chariots. The devices of men +are nothing; Ammon will deliver from them. These +words echoed in Hermonthis. Ra comes to him who +calls upon him. He reaches to thee his hand. He +flies to thee, Ramses Miamun. I am with thee, I am +thy father, the sun, and my hand is with thee. Their +hearts shall waver in their breasts and all their limbs +shall fail. They shall not shoot their arrows; their +lances they shall not be able to hold. The chief of +the Cheta sent princes, the prince of Aratus (Aradus) +and the prince of Kirkamischa (Karchemish). My +charioteer was weak, and a great terror came upon his +limbs. He said, Brave king, hold, and let us save the +breath of our lives. What can we do, noble lord, +Ramses Miamun? Mark what his majesty answered +to his charioteer. Courage! Stablish thine heart, my +charioteer. Like the divine hawk, I will swoop into +their midst, they shall be overthrown and hewn +down into the dust. Ammon were no god if he +glorified not my face before their countless hosts. +The king pressed into the midst of the miserable +Cheta, six times he pressed into their midst. My +bowmen and charioteers came at the hour of evening +from their camp: they found the whole region covered +with dead bathed in their blood. His holiness +answered his army and the captains who had not +fought. Ye did not well to leave me alone in the +midst of the enemies. I have fought, I have beaten +back thousands of enemies, and I was alone. The +horses which drew me were 'Might in Thebes,' and +'Rest in the upper land.' As soon as I am within my +royal gates, I command that they have corn every day +before the god Ra. When the earth again became light,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +he began the conflict again; he dashed into the battle +like a bull, which hurls himself upon geese, and with +him the mighty lion beside his horses. Rage inflamed all +his limbs. They were hewn in pieces before his mares. +The chief of the miserable Cheta sent to call upon the +great name of his majesty. Thou art the sun, the god +of both worlds, thou art Sutech the great conqueror, +the son of heaven. Baal is in all thy limbs. Terror is +upon the land of Cheta; thou hast possessed thyself +of their inwards for ever. The slave said, as he spoke +to Pharaoh: Since Ammon has granted to thee that +Egypt and the nation of the Cheta shall be slaves at +thy feet, and Ra has granted thee the dominion over +them, thou canst slay thy slaves; they are in thy +power; we lie bowed to the earth, ready to obey thy +command. O brave king, delight of the warriors, +grant us the breath of our lives! The king summoned +his generals in order to hear the message and write an +answer, and toward midday he took ship. He returned +in peace with his army to Egypt. The whole earth +has subjected itself to his name, and the princes, lying +on the ground, worship his countenance."<a name="FNanchor_285_285" id="FNanchor_285_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></p> + +<p>Not only certain turns in this description, but +passages in invocations which have come down to +us, show that in expressing themselves, the Egyptians, +in spite of the predominant vein of reflection, were +not without force of imagination, or striking figures, +or largeness and vigour of conception. That they +are not free from bombast, foolish exaggeration, and +incessant repetition, any more, or even so little, as the +other nations of the East, is proved more especially +by the inscriptions in the temples recording the +mighty deeds of the kings. Our knowledge of the +manuscripts does not as yet allow us to pass a more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +definite judgment. Yet it is beyond doubt that even +in the centuries immediately preceding the irruption +of the Hyksos, under the Sesurtesen and Amenemha, +they were in possession of a written literature, that +even then the oldest parts of the "Book of the Dead" +were not only in existence, but already commentated +upon, and that after the restoration of the kingdom, +beside the comprehensive books of the priests, and +manuscripts on medicine (<a href="#Page_209">p. 209</a>), there was +at any rate after the fourteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, +and the reign of Ramses II., a literature of a considerable +extent. There is a second papyrus in +existence by the author of the description of the +battle, of which the title runs, "Beginning of the +Rudiments of the Art of Letter-writing by the Scribe +Pentaur, composed in the 10th year of Ramses II."<a name="FNanchor_286_286" id="FNanchor_286_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a> +The fifth letter of this collection is addressed by +Ameneman, the head of the keepers of the archives of +the treasure of the king, to Pentaur; it is said that +Pentaur has turned his back on the sacred writings, +and applied himself to agriculture. The farmer has +to fear grubs and rats, sparrows and locusts for his +crops; and thieves too. Implements and horses wear +out. The scribes come and demand the taxes, and +the neighbours are away and busy with the harvest. +On the other hand, the work of the scribe is the +highest of all, and the scribe has no taxes to pay.<a name="FNanchor_287_287" id="FNanchor_287_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a> +On a third papyrus a hymn, addressed by Ramses III. +to Ammon, is said to have been found.<a name="FNanchor_288_288" id="FNanchor_288_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a> A fourth has +the name-shields of Sethos II. (<a href="#Page_163">p. 163</a>). It is a composition +by a scribe of the name of Enna, and contains the +story of the fate of two brothers.<a name="FNanchor_289_289" id="FNanchor_289_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_289_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a> A fifth papyrus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +which is also attributed to the time of successors of +Ramses II., has preserved a collection of apothegms.<a name="FNanchor_290_290" id="FNanchor_290_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_290_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a> +In a country which placed such importance on +preserving every incident, on enumerating, recording, +and registering everything, care must have been +taken to record the series of the kings. When the +shepherds were driven out, the liberation from foreign +dominion would give a strong impulse toward the +attempt to keep firmly before the eyes the old days +of independent Egypt. At the same time these +attempts must have met with serious hindrances. The +destruction which came upon numerous records and +monuments of those old times, and the want of any +definite æra of chronology, made it difficult to obtain +a really correct order of succession, or a historical +picture of the ancient period. The historical truth of +the writings, which, in spite of these difficulties, were +undertaken, as is shown by the monuments mentioned +above, and the Turin papyrus (<a href="#Page_25">p. 25</a>), was still more +seriously impaired by the fact that the views of the +priests were governed by the conception that the +course of certain periods was allotted to the world by +the gods, and in these periods the fortunes of Egypt +had reached their fulfilment, and would continue to +reach it. We have already become acquainted with +this Sothis period (<a href="#Page_29">p. 29 ff</a>). From the gods came +life and the world. So the gods were said to have +reigned in person over Egypt, before the kings, +their divine successors, ruled over men. Hence +the priests of Lower Egypt commenced the reign +of the seven great gods with the beginning of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +Sothis period. The seven great gods were followed +by the twelve gods of the second rank, Thoth, +Anubis, Chunsu, &c., in reigns of gradually diminishing +length through a certain number of Sothis +periods. According to the scheme still preserved, +Ptah reigned 9,000 years, and the last of the gods +only seventy years, so that on an average each +occupies exactly half a Sothis period, or 730 of our +years. These nineteen gods were followed by +thirty demigods; to each of whom was allotted the +twelfth part of a Sothis period for a reign, so that +the whole period of the reign of the gods takes +up twelve Sothis periods, or 17,520 years. After +this, according to some authorities, began the period +of human rulers; others allotted four Sothis periods, +<i>i. e.</i> 5840 years, to another set of demigods. Then +followed, beginning like the rest with the beginning +of a Sothis period, the rule of human kings. This +Sothis period commenced either in the year 5702 +<small>B.C.</small>, or, according to the arrangement of Lepsius, +with the year 4242 <small>B.C.</small> This year, therefore, was the +first of the history of Egypt. To Menes the priests +attached the long list of names in one continuous +series, without in the least regarding whether the +dynasties were contemporaneous or successive, whether +they ruled in Upper or Lower Egypt, over the whole +land, or in certain districts only. If we calculate the +rule of the human kings from the first of the dates +given, the first Sothis period of men came to an end, +according to the canon of Manetho, in 4242 <small>B.C.</small>; +the second in 2782 <small>B.C.</small> The third ended in the time +of Menephta I., in whose reign as a fact the Egyptian +year did again coincide with the natural year.<a name="FNanchor_291_291" id="FNanchor_291_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_291_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Egyptians were devoted more than other +nations to the contemplation of the heavens. The +constellations announced to them the approach of +the inundation, its height, and its decline. Moreover, +their religion was to a great extent a worship +of light and the sun, and as they plainly perceived +the influence of the stars on the country in the rise +and fall of the water, the increase and abatement of +the heat, &c., it was natural that they should ascribe to +the constellations and the movements of the heavenly +bodies similar influences on the life and growth, the +happiness and misery, of mankind; and this belief +must in turn have contributed to the assiduous and +accurate observation of the heavens. "If anywhere," +says Diodorus, "it is in Egypt that the most accurate +observation of the position and movements of the +stars have been made. Of each of these they have +records extending over an incredible series of years, +the courses and positions of the planets also they +have accurately observed, and they can accurately +predict the eclipses of the sun and the moon."<a name="FNanchor_292_292" id="FNanchor_292_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_292_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a> +Astronomical pictures are not uncommon on the +monuments belonging to the period after the expulsion +of the Hyksos. Fragments of a calendar of +festivals from the time of Ramses II. are found on +a gateway of the Ramesseum. The outer walls of +the temple at Medinet Habu give a complete calendar +of the festivals from the time of Ramses III. +In the tomb of Sethos I. are pictures and names of +the five divinities of the planets known to the +Egyptians, Mercury, Venus (the star of the Bennu, +p. 69), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; the same picture +is found on the roof of the astronomical hall in +the Ramesseum at Thebes, and on two pictures in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +tombs of Ramses V. and IX. The painting in the +Ramesseum—though the circle of 369 cubits, which, +according to Diodorus, was once on the roof of the +Ramesseum (<a href="#Page_175">p. 175</a>), is wanting, being removed by +Cambyses—presents a complete map of the Egyptian +sky. The pictures in the tombs of the two kings +give the rising of the stars at intervals of a fortnight. +In the tomb of Ramses IV. the thirty-six Decan stars +are given together with their deities.<a name="FNanchor_293_293" id="FNanchor_293_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_293_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a> The importance +placed by the Egyptian priests on the knowledge of +the sky is shown not only by the monuments, but +also by the four books of the astrologer, and the +third and fourth books of the temple scribe; and that +their astronomical science was by no means slight is +sufficiently proved by their early establishment of a +solar year of 360, and then of 365 days, and by the +observation and establishment of the Sothis periods. +This fact is confirmed by the lists of the rising of the +stars already mentioned. Yet the astronomical knowledge +of the priests of Egypt cannot be placed beside +that of the Babylonians. Representations of the zodiac +are not found on the monuments till the time of the +Ptolemies,<a name="FNanchor_294_294" id="FNanchor_294_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_294_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a> and Ptolemy, himself an Egyptian, has +preserved for us observations of the Chaldees, but +none made by his own countrymen. The greater +part of the attention which the priests of Egypt +bestowed upon the heavens was given in the interests +of astrology rather than astronomy. As the months +in the year belonged to certain gods, the first to +Thoth, the third (Athyr) to Hathor, the last to Horus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +so the days of the month had their deities. The first +day belonged to Thoth, the second to Horus, the third +to Osiris, &c.; and lastly, every hour of the day was +allotted to a special influence. From the importance +thus given to the days and hours the astrologers +could foretell the fortune of life; they could ascertain +what issue awaited any enterprise—whether the day +and hour were favourable or not for this or that occupation +or undertaking. For this object they possessed +tables worked out in extensive detail. For instance, +anyone born on the 14th of Athyr, the day when +Typhon was said to have slain Osiris, had to expect a +violent death; anyone born on the 23rd of Phaophi +was doomed to be killed by a crocodile; and anyone +born on the 27th of the same month, by a serpent. +On the other hand, a child born on the 9th of +Phaophi might look forward to a long life. In the +tables of the hours we find for a given day—first +hour, Orion is lord of the left elbow; second hour, the +Twins have influence on the left ear; fifth hour, the +Pleiads(?) are sovereign over both chambers of the +heart; tenth hour, the feet of the Swine predominate +over the left eye, &c.<a name="FNanchor_295_295" id="FNanchor_295_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_295_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a></p> + +<p>In the achievement won by Egyptian art the +priests took a leading part. The buildings of the +temples and the tombs of the kings could only be +erected after their designs; for in these essentially +sacred things, sacred measures and numbers, were concerned, +and, like architecture, sculpture and painting +were primarily employed in the service of religion. +As we might expect from the character of the people, +the architecture of the Egyptians aimed at the firm and +durable. The structures rise up simple in their lines,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +like the ridges of rock which are the boundaries of +Egypt, broad and massive. The pyramids, with great +simplicity of form, were found to display a considerable +skill in dealing with and uniting large masses of stone. +Following this path, the architecture of Egypt has +always preserved a severity and simplicity of outline +even when employing richer forms and ornaments. +Among the Egyptians sculpture and painting never +attained independence; it was their vocation to +support architecture, and assist her in preserving in +the stream of time the picture of the king, his +sacrifices, and his achievements, and this or that +incident of his reign. The sculpture of the Egyptians +exhibits a vigorous attempt to grasp the forms in a +naive, but prosaic and merely intellectual manner; it +preserves them free from any fanciful use of symbols, +and conceives the human form in fixed proportions +and characteristic expression of movement, while it is +still more happy in the form and character of the +animals. Like architecture, sculpture prefers to work +in the hardest and most lasting material. But, as in +all other departments of life, so here; the type when +once fixed, the canon of proportion when once discovered, +the mode of treatment and the law of form is +rigorously retained. With complete accuracy of execution +in the most difficult material, sculpture constantly +repeats the same figures, geometrical rather than +natural in form. Yet in spite of this typical character, +in sculpture and painting, as in architecture, a considerable +development took place. The statues of the +times of the pyramids, the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, +exhibit, comparatively speaking, very correct forms, +lively energy in the expression of action, and a strong +treatment of the muscles; but the sculptures of the +new kingdom are distinguished by greater variety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +of forms, a larger wealth of lines, and a delicacy of +outline; the drawing of the figures is far more slender, +and there is considerable grace in the treatment of +massive pillars and capitals. The Tuthmosis and +Amenophis, the Sethos, and the earliest Ramses, imposed +upon Egyptian art an almost oppressive number +of tasks, and in performing them she touched +her highest point. But the amount of work must of +itself have introduced a more and more conventional +treatment within the limits of the typical circle in +which sculpture moved; and at last this treatment +was content with mere precision of outlines. This +is the character of the sculpture of the times of +Ramses III. down to the days of Psammetichus, in +which, by a truer imitation of nature, and greater +grace in the form of the bodies, it once more attained +to a beautiful after-growth.</p> + +<p>The industry and skill with which the cultivation +of the land and of the vine, and the breeding of +cattle and sheep, was carried on in Egypt even before +the invasion of the Hyksos, has been already seen on +the monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen and +Amenemha (<a href="#Page_118">p. 118</a>). The fields were tilled with ploughs +drawn by oxen, or with the hoe. It was not in every +case necessary to make furrows. In December and +January, when the water had run off, the seed was +cast into the moist ground and trodden in, as we see +from the monuments, by sheep and goats. Everywhere +the overseer is in the field with the labourers +and herdmen. By the end of March harvest was +ready; wheat and maize were cut with the sickle, and +then the grain was trodden out by oxen. Meanwhile +the thrasher sang, according to the inscription on a +rock tomb at El Kab (above Thebes), "Thrash for +yourselves, oxen, thrash for yourselves; thrash bushels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +for your masters."<a name="FNanchor_296_296" id="FNanchor_296_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_296_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a> Diodorus remarks that it was +marvellous with what care and skill the herds were +tended by their keepers in Egypt, what knowledge +of healing plants and of food was to be found in +these keepers, how their occupation came to them +from their forefathers, with a large stock of experience +and manual skill; and how their knowledge +increased to an incredible degree the propagation of the +animals.<a name="FNanchor_297_297" id="FNanchor_297_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_297_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a> On the monuments we find not only great +herds of cattle, asses, sheep, and goats, but also whole +droves of hens, ducks, and geese. Poultry-sellers and +depots of poultry are often found. These sculptures +confirm the statements of Diodorus of the careful +tending of the animals; they also show us the medicinal +treatment of ailing animals. Beside this wealth +of cattle, there was an abundance of fish, provided +by the Nile. These were caught partly with hooks, +and partly with large nets. The upper classes fished +for pleasure. Yet most kinds of fish were forbidden +food: the priests, as we have seen, were not allowed +to taste fish at all.</p> + +<p>The monuments also teach us that hunting was +not neglected by the Egyptians. Hares, foxes, +antelopes, gazelles, hyænas, buffaloes, and lions were +driven into inclosures surrounded by nets, or chased +with the bow and arrow and dogs, or with the chariot +and hounds. Gazelles and buffaloes were also taken +with the lasso; traps were set for the hyænas; the +hippopotamus was attacked with a spear from a +boat.<a name="FNanchor_298_298" id="FNanchor_298_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_298_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></p> + +<p>Of the industry of the Egyptians in trade we have +already had striking evidence in the monuments of the +old kingdom. There we saw all kinds of manufactures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +in the various stages; we found on them the simple +weaver's loom, which produced the robes of byssus, so +highly valued in antiquity,—the lasting fabric which +may still be examined in the clothing of mummies. +The early development of technical skill meets us more +especially in the pictures of the preparation of glass on +the tombs at Beni Hassan. Glass cups and vessels are +frequently found in the tombs, and Strabo observes +that the earth required for making glass is among +the products of Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_299_299" id="FNanchor_299_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_299_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a> The working of the copper +mines in the mountains of Sinai goes considerably +further back than the date of the tombs at Beni +Hassan. They were open as early as the times of +Snefru and Chufu.<a name="FNanchor_300_300" id="FNanchor_300_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_300_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a> Yet by far the greatest proportion +of hands must have been employed upon the +buildings of the kings and the tombs of the wealthy. +On the monuments we see the masons in all their +various occupations; painters and statuaries also are +represented there in the different moments of their +work; and the tables of proportion which they +followed are still preserved.</p> + +<p>Even before the invasion of the Hyksos, as we saw +from the tombs at Beni Hassan, the life of the wealthy +Egyptian was surrounded by considerable elegance (<a href="#Page_118">p. +118</a>). The houses of the rich, built, according to the +pictures on the monuments, in a light and graceful +style, in contrast to the heavy structure of the temples, +had several stories, and were provided with the galleries +and terraces still usual in the East. Houses in the +country had shady avenues of trees, planted in exact +rows, and neat beds of flowers, graceful pavilions, and +fountains of water. The common national dress was a +linen shirt, and over it a woollen cloak; the labourer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +and the lowest class had only an apron round the body; +but the clothing of the higher classes was choice and +delicate. The women, who enjoyed considerable freedom +in Egypt, wore various ornaments—necklaces, +eardrops, and bracelets; rings of the most various +shape adorned almost every finger. Their hair was +carefully dressed; they bathed frequently, and made +a considerable use of ointments. Life was sociable in +ancient Egypt. In the tombs at Beni Hassan we find +men carried in a palanquin to a social meeting; and +in the tombs at Thebes they are driving in chariots +to a similar gathering. Gaily-dressed men and women +meet and converse with each other in the hall; slaves, +light-coloured and black, in part handsomely-dressed, +hand them garlands and cups. The table is spread. +Bread, figs, and grapes are set out in baskets, wine +in glass bottles; vegetables and poultry are also there. +The solid food was eaten with the hand, liquids were +taken with spoons. At these banquets the Egyptians +do not seem to have been very moderate. Herodotus +tells us that a small wooden image of a mummy was +carried round at their entertainments, with the exhortation, +"Look on this, drink and be merry. When +dead, thou wilt be as this is!"<a name="FNanchor_301_301" id="FNanchor_301_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_301_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a> This admonition was +not without its results. In the pictures on monuments +we find not only men, but women, throwing up the +surfeit of food and wine; others are carried away +home by their servants. Indeed, excess and drunkenness +are quoted among the forty-two chief sins of the +Egyptians. During the meal dancers were introduced, +and bands of musicians, male and female, who +played on harps, guitars, and flutes; among which was +mingled the sound of the tambourine. A chorus also +sang to the harp. The company also played and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +danced.<a name="FNanchor_302_302" id="FNanchor_302_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_302_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a> We have already seen that games of ball +and mora were played under the old monarchy. +Among the recreations of the new monarchy draughts +are found. We often find on the monuments +sketches of men and women who exhibit contortions +of their bodies and feats of strength. Sham-fights +at sea also occur, and wrestling matches are very +common.</p> + +<p>Proudly as the Egyptians, in the consciousness of +their purity and culture, looked down on "the +unclean and perverse" nations outside their land, +and rarely as they travelled into other countries, Egypt +was nevertheless the centre of a considerable trade. +China and Japan also for a long time shut themselves +up from the outer world, yet their trade was considerable, +though permitted only at certain fixed places. The +Egyptians also caused the products which they needed +to be brought, without themselves going to seek them. +Egypt required wood for the building of houses and +ships, brass, ivory, slaves, and incense. Even before +the year 1500 <small>B.C.</small>, Arabian caravans carried the +products of the south coast of Arabia to Syria and +Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_303_303" id="FNanchor_303_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_303_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a> The wandering tribes of Libya, Syria, and +Arabia required corn, weapons, utensils, and implements, +which they could buy in Egypt. Then at a +later period came the trade of the Phenicians with +Egypt. They could bring wood from the forests of +Lebanon—wine, oil, slaves, amber, and tin, and exchange +them for the manufactures of Egypt; for retail +goods, glass, drugs, which Egypt produced in great +quantities, fish, Egyptian fabrics, linen, and material +prepared from the papyrus. The Greeks called fabrics +made from this plant, "byblian," from the city Byblus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +a proof that they first became acquainted with these +Egyptian wares through the Phenicians, and mainly +through the ships of Byblus, and received them from +this quarter. Horses, also, and chariots were brought +as articles of trade from Egypt to Syria about the +year 1000 <small>B.C.</small>; at that time a chariot cost in Egypt +600 shekels, and a horse 150.<a name="FNanchor_304_304" id="FNanchor_304_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_304_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a> So far as we can +gather from the legends of the Greeks, the trading +ships could only enter the Canopic mouth of the Nile, +and intercourse with foreign merchants could only +take place on the little island of Pharos, opposite +the city of Thonis. Here the mariners of that day, +the Phenicians, and with them, and after them, the +Ionians, carried on their trade with the Egyptians. +On land the only entrance was by Pelusium; and here +as also at Pharos, an entrance-tax had apparently to +be paid. From the Homeric poems we may conclude +that there was then a trade with Egypt, and not only +piratical descents upon the coasts; but when the +Ionians, about the middle of the eighth century, began +to enter into dangerous competition with the Phenicians, +the latter seem to have succeeded in getting +the Greeks excluded from Egypt, and obtaining for +themselves the monopoly of the sea—a privilege +which, however, they did not maintain for more than +a century.<a name="FNanchor_305_305" id="FNanchor_305_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_305_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a></p> + +<p>Such was ancient Egypt, the land of marvel, whose +richly developed civilization lies on the threshold of +historical life. Excellently furnished by nature, and +placed in a peculiarly favoured land, the Copts have +transferred to their own lives and civilization the grave +and solemn character of their sky and their country. +Their conservative feeling is directed towards fixed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +and unalterable order; the sons repeat the lives of +their fathers, and the nation is divided into various +classes and corporations, which carry on the same +occupations from generation to generation. The beneficent +powers of nature, the mystery of life, the life +returning out of death—these are the forces and laws +which the Egyptians worshipped as their good gods, +whose creation is the fruitful world, who manifest +themselves in good creatures, whose unchangeable +nature they seemed to recognise as embodied in the +instinctive and unalterable life of certain animals. +The life of the nation adapts itself also to priestly +rules, which operate without alteration, like the laws +of nature.</p> + +<p>As the heart of this people was set upon the continuance +of the race and occupation, on rule and law, +so also was it their desire to prolong the existence of the +individual. This impulse towards the preservation of +self operated so strongly that the Egyptians busied +themselves with the future quite as much as with +the past. It was this trait in their character which +caused the Egyptians to rescue their dead from +corruption, and occupied the living with the construction +of "eternal dwellings for the dead." This it +was which made them a nation of scribes, builders, +painters and sculptors. These efforts culminate in +the buildings of the kings, who could command the +whole powers of the land in preserving their names. +The Egyptians were loath to end with death. It was +the true vocation of every man worthily to build and +"adorn his tomb;" and the essential object of life is—not +to lose the everlasting life after death by unclean +and unlawful conversation—to win a return to the +divine origin of life.</p> + +<p>With the simple confidence of childhood, with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +patient endurance of a man, and with iron perseverance, +the Egyptians attempted to redeem the existence +of man from destruction and decay, and rescue his life +from oblivion. The power of the Egyptians exhausted +itself in this toil after continuance of life. But +however eager a man might be to preserve his own +individuality, he loses it in the presence of his +ruler, who gathers up in his own person the whole +political life of the nation, and exhausts it. Like a +god, or an incarnate Destiny, the Pharaoh stands in +absolute supremacy over the land; "His countenance +beams over Egypt as the sun;" before him all distinctions +fade away, and all bow down in equal obedience. +But even though the perishable was preserved, and +made as lasting as the rocks of the land—though in +the ceremonial, the ritual, and the rules of life the +same unalterable constancy prevailed as in the laws of +nature, there was still room beside fixed prescription +and the will of the divine ruler for the vigorous +pursuit of an industry which was not far behind that +of modern Europe, for an enjoyment of life in the +Oriental manner, which was not only social, but even +luxurious and sensual.</p> + +<p>The efforts of the Egyptians to preserve themselves +and their actions, and to cause their names to live in +the mouths of the generations after them, have not been +without a result. What the Greeks and Romans knew +of their history were traditions attached to the great +monuments. Before our researches the Egyptian +nation has literally risen from the tomb; the pyramids +tell us the history of the old monarchy, and the +temples at Thebes the history of the new. Without +these monuments the kings of Manetho would have +remained an empty and unintelligible echo. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +mountains of stone at the threshold of history, these +chronicles of hieroglyphics, this nation of mummies +proclaim, beyond contradiction, that nations do succeed +in outliving themselves by their works, but +also that their life reaches only so far as their +development.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_252_252" id="Footnote_252_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252_252"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> Diod. 1, 90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_253_253" id="Footnote_253_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> Thus, <i>e. g.</i> in the Rosetta inscription the order is given that in every +temple an image is to be set up to the "god Epiphanes, the avenger of Egypt," +to whom the principal deity of the temple presents the arms of victory. +Three times in every day the image of Epiphanes is to be worshipped, and +on the great festivals the same honours are to be paid to him as to the +rest of the gods. In addition, a special festival is solemnized every year +to the god Epiphanes, and a special order of priests established for him. +This resolution of the collected priests was ordered to be engraved on +hard stone and set up in all the temples of the first, second, and third +class. The full title of Epiphanes is: "Son of Ptah, Beloved of Ammon +and Ra, the Child of the Sun, the Eternal."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_254_254" id="Footnote_254_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254_254"><span class="label">[254]</span></a> Diod. 1, 53; Plut. "De Isid." c. 6, 9; and below, <a href="#Page_211">p. 211 ff</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_255_255" id="Footnote_255_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255_255"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," Suppl. Pl. 76; Champollion, +"Lettres," p. 344 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_256_256" id="Footnote_256_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256_256"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> In the inscriptions of the graves and sarcophagi of the Berlin Museum; +cf. Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 300.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_257_257" id="Footnote_257_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257_257"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> What Synesius (Op. p. 94) tells us of the election of the kings is so +astounding that it can hardly have been part of any plan of the priests; the +whole history of Egypt contradicts an elective monarchy of such a kind. +These supposed elections were said to have taken place on the Libyan +mountains, near Thebes; the priests mentioned the names of the candidates +for whom the votes were to be given. The votes of the prophets +had the value of one hundred, those of the lower priests of twenty, of the +servants of the temple of ten, and of the warrior class of one.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_258_258" id="Footnote_258_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258_258"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> Kalasiris was the name given by the Egyptians to a linen coat, with +fringe round the thighs (Herod. 2, 81). The name Hermotybian has been +derived from ἡμιτύβιον, +a kind of apron.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_259_259" id="Footnote_259_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259_259"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> Herod. 2, 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_260_260" id="Footnote_260_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260_260"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> Diod. 1, 73, 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_261_261" id="Footnote_261_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261_261"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> Herod. 2, 37, 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_262_262" id="Footnote_262_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262_262"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> Genesis xlvii. 22, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_263_263" id="Footnote_263_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263_263"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> Herod. 2, 109 <i>supra</i>, p. 143.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_264_264" id="Footnote_264_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264_264"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> Genesis xlvii. 24, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_265_265" id="Footnote_265_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265_265"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> Herod. 2. 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_266_266" id="Footnote_266_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266_266"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> Genesis xlvii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_267_267" id="Footnote_267_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267_267"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> Even the land which the Pharaohs allotted to the temples with a tax +of a fifth belonged to them in a certain sense. We have tolerably ancient +records on papyrus, on which are given the incomes of the temples, with +the names of the tax-payers, and the things given in taxation. When the +Ptolemies ruled over Egypt the land which paid to the temples belonged +actually to the temples as property, but as property revocable at will, and +the kings on their side taxed the temples just as the Islamite princes are +accustomed to tax their mosques. In the Rosetta inscription, under date +March 27, 196 <small>B.C.</small>, the prophets, upper priests, chamberlains, pastophors, +and scribes, explain that the king (Ptolemy Epiphanes) had given an +order that the incomes of the temples and the land-taxes paid to them +yearly, and the portions reserved for the gods in the vineyards and other +property, should continue to be paid. At the same time we see from the +sequel of this inscription, as well as from other sources, that these incomes +were not sufficient to keep the temples in good order, and the king was +compelled to make additions. Yet, in any case, the Ptolemies by their +state taxes withdrew from the temples a portion of their incomes. From +every plot of corn-land (ἄρουρα) the temples were to pay to the king an +<i>artabe</i> of corn, and from every plot of vineyard an amphora of wine. Besides +this, they had to pay a money-tax and a certain amount of byssus cloth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_268_268" id="Footnote_268_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268_268"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> Clemens ("Strom." p. 757 ff. ed. Pott) expressly says that the +prophet was the overseer of the temple; on the other hand, in the inscription +of Rosetta, the high priests and prophets stand side by side.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_269_269" id="Footnote_269_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269_269"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> Herod. 2, 37, 143; Diod. 1, 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_270_270" id="Footnote_270_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270_270"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> Diod. 1, 80; Herod. 2, 37, 81; Diog. Laert. 8, 27; Porphyr. "De abst." 4, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_271_271" id="Footnote_271_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271_271"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> Diod. 1, 74, 92.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_272_272" id="Footnote_272_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272_272"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe." s. 309, 310; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 259.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_273_273" id="Footnote_273_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273_273"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> Herod. 2, 47; Aelian, "De Nat. An." 10, 16. As Herodotus +tells us that the swineherds married in their own order only, it follows +that the other orders married with each other. The attempt has often +been made to explain the so-called divisions of the Egyptians into castes by +the immigration of foreign tribes. This conception places in mechanical +layers what is really an organic development. In India such an assumption +has a certain historical foundation. There, there was a servile class (the +Sudra) under three superior classes; the first was composed of the original +inhabitants, the others of the Aryan immigrants. This kind of division +is wholly wanting in Egypt, and not less so any historical or physiological +foundation for the immigrations. Strabo knows three orders only in +Egypt; the priests, the soldiers, and the population engaged in work or +trades. Diodorus (1, 74) speaks of five orders; <i>i. e.</i> in addition to the +first two, husbandmen, artizans, and shepherds. Plato ("Timæus," p. 21) +mentions priests, soldiers, artizans, shepherds, and hunters; Herodotus +mentions priests, warriors, cowherds, swineherds, merchants, interpreters, +and mariners. In Plato and Diodorus we miss the merchants, who +certainly were not wanting in Egypt, and in Herodotus the husbandmen +and artizans. Nothing therefore remains but the natural assumption +that the labouring masses were chiefly divided into shepherds, artizans, +and husbandmen; and these were again broken into many divisions +according to their different vocations, and each of our authorities has +brought into prominence those distinctions which especially came under his +notice. As Herodotus especially notices cowherds, we must suppose that +those herdsmen are probably meant who derived a living from the buffalo +herds, which they pastured in the swampy flats of the Delta, on the +border of Egypt, and lived in huts of reeds.—Diod. 1, 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_274_274" id="Footnote_274_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274_274"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> The number of provinces in Egypt under the old kingdom appears to +have been twenty-seven, according to the myth of the hewing of the body +of Osiris into twenty-seven pieces, and the distribution of them to all the +priests of the land for burial, which Diodorus has preserved. From this +may be derived the number of twenty-seven courts in the labyrinth given by +Strabo, p. 811, and twenty-five in Pliny, pp. 113, 114; as a fact the building +had only twelve courts. Yet Strabo mentions thirty-six provinces (p. 787). +Later coins give forty-six provinces, and Ptolemy forty-seven. Forty-four +nomes, twenty-two for Upper Egypt and as many for Lower Egypt, +can be established, together with their names.—Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +p. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_275_275" id="Footnote_275_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275_275"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> Diod. 1, 73, 75, 94; Herod. 2, 136; Plut. "De Isid." 10; Chabas, +"Mél." 3, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_276_276" id="Footnote_276_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276_276"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> Diod. 1, 77 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_277_277" id="Footnote_277_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277_277"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> Herod. 2, 37, 38, 39, 65; Genesis xliii. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_278_278" id="Footnote_278_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278_278"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> Herod. 2, 77, 85; Diod. 1, 84, 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_279_279" id="Footnote_279_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279_279"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 10; Brugsch, "Grammaire démotique."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_280_280" id="Footnote_280_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280_280"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> Clem. Alex. "Strom." p. 758, ed. Pott; cf. Diod. 1, 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_281_281" id="Footnote_281_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281_281"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> Ebers, "Augsburger Allg. Zt." 1873. On a papyrus of a medicinal +character of the period from the twentieth to the twenty-second dynasty, +see Birch, "Zeitschrift für ægyptische Sprache," 1871, s. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_282_282" id="Footnote_282_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282_282"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> Herod. 2, 84, 3, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_283_283" id="Footnote_283_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283_283"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> Lepsius, "Götterkreis," s. 30; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 189 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_284_284" id="Footnote_284_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284_284"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> Papyrus, Sallier III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_285_285" id="Footnote_285_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285_285"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> De Rougé, "Recueil de Travaux," 1, 3 ff.; Chabas, "Revue Archéol." 1875.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_286_286" id="Footnote_286_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286_286"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> On the papyrus Sallier I.; "Revue Archéol." 1860, 2, 241.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_287_287" id="Footnote_287_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287_287"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> Goodwin-Chabas, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1861, 4, 118 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_288_288" id="Footnote_288_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288_288"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> <i>Loc. cit.</i> 1860, 1, 357.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_289_289" id="Footnote_289_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289_289"><span class="label">[289]</span></a> De Rougé, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1852. On another very marvellous narrative on a +papyrus in the demotic character, see Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1867, 16, 161 ff. +This papyrus Brugsch, on paleographical grounds, places in the third or +second centuries <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_290_290" id="Footnote_290_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290_290"><span class="label">[290]</span></a> Lauth, "Sitzungsberichte der Akademie, zu München," 1872, 347 ff, +and his "Abhandlung über den papyrus Sallier II. und Anastasi III.;" +<i>ibid.</i> p. 29 ff.; cf. Chabas, "Voyage d'un Egyptien," and Goodwin, "Saneha."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_291_291" id="Footnote_291_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291_291"><span class="label">[291]</span></a> Bœckh, "Manetho und die Hundsternperiode;" Lepsius, "Chronologie," +s. 470 ff. and <i>supra</i>, p. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_292_292" id="Footnote_292_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292_292"><span class="label">[292]</span></a> Diod. 1. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_293_293" id="Footnote_293_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293_293"><span class="label">[293]</span></a> Brugsch, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. S." 10, 662 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_294_294" id="Footnote_294_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294_294"><span class="label">[294]</span></a> The Egyptians then compared certain constellations in their spheres +with the signs of the zodiac. The Crab they denoted by the scarabæus, +the Lion by the knife, the Scales became the "sun-mountain," the Scorpion +became the snake. The Kid was with them "the life," the Ram "the +slain" &c.—Brugsch, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_295_295" id="Footnote_295_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295_295"><span class="label">[295]</span></a> Champollion, "Lettres," p. 239; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 109, 110; +cf. <i>supra</i>, p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_296_296" id="Footnote_296_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296_296"><span class="label">[296]</span></a> Champollion, "Lettres," p. 196.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_297_297" id="Footnote_297_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297_297"><span class="label">[297]</span></a> Diod. 1, 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_298_298" id="Footnote_298_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298_298"><span class="label">[298]</span></a> Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 3, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_299_299" id="Footnote_299_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299_299"><span class="label">[299]</span></a> Strabo, p. 758; cf. p. 147.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_300_300" id="Footnote_300_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300_300"><span class="label">[300]</span></a> <i>Supra</i>, p. 94; Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 135 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_301_301" id="Footnote_301_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301_301"><span class="label">[301]</span></a> Herod. 2, 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_302_302" id="Footnote_302_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302_302"><span class="label">[302]</span></a> Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 2, 132.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_303_303" id="Footnote_303_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303_303"><span class="label">[303]</span></a> Cf. <i>infra</i>, Book II. cap. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_304_304" id="Footnote_304_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304_304"><span class="label">[304]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 28, 29; 2 Chronicles i. 16, 17; ix. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_305_305" id="Footnote_305_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305_305"><span class="label">[305]</span></a> "Od." 14, 288; 4, 225, 355; 17, 448; Movers, "Phœnizier," 2, 70.</p></div> +</div> + + + +<div class="bbt"> +<h3><a name="BOOK_II" id="BOOK_II"></a>BOOK II.</h3> + +<h2>THE SEMITIC NATIONS.</h2> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> +</div> + + +<h1>THE SEMITIC NATIONS.</h1> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON.</h3> + + +<p>The neighbours of Egypt on the east were the Syrians +and Arabians. Herodotus gives the name of Syrians +to the inhabitants of the Syrian coasts and Mount +Lebanon, the settlers on the Euphrates and Tigris, +and the population of the eastern districts of Asia +Minor. In Xenophon the Babylonians speak Syriac. +Strabo remarks that the Syrians and Arabians are +closely related in language, mode of life, and physique—that +Syrians dwelt on both sides of the Taurus—that +the same language was spoken on both sides of +the Euphrates—that Babylon and Nineveh were cities +of the Syrians—that the Assyrian kingdom was a +kingdom of Syrians, and that the inhabitants of the +kingdom of Babylon and Nineveh were called Syrians +by their own historians.<a name="FNanchor_306_306" id="FNanchor_306_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_306_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a> As a fact tribes closely +related in language and nature—which we denote by +the general term Semitic—invaded with their armies +the broad steppes of Arabia, and the Syrian desert, +occupied the coasts of Syria and a part of Asia Minor, +and inhabited the district of the Euphrates and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +Tigris, from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian +Gulf on the south, and the tableland of Iran on the +east. The languages of the Arabians, the Semitic tribes +of the south, the Aramæans and Canaanites in the west, +and the Babylonians and Assyrians in the east, are +three ramifications springing from one and the same +stem of language, which spreads from the Black Sea and +the Mediterranean to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs. +Living under different conditions, the Semitic nations +attained to different degrees of civilization. The tribes +of the desert did not go beyond the simplest and +most primitive forms, at which point a considerable +portion of them still remain; but the inhabitants of +more favoured districts developed independently, and +in the course of time these developments operated on +each other, and thus led to a far more varied, and, in +certain directions, far more vigorous culture, than the +isolated, exclusive, and self-concentrated civilization of +Egypt.</p> + +<p>The two rivers which determine the character and +nature of the depression between the Syrian plateau +and the tableland of Iran rise at no great distance +from each other on the mountains of Armenia. The +Euphrates rises to the north, the Tigris to the south. +After leaving the mountains of Armenia—the +Euphrates, by a broad circuit to the west, the Tigris +by a direct course to the south—both rivers enter a +tolerably lofty steppe, where the uniform surface is +broken by ridges of rock, by ranges of hills, pastures, +and fruitful strips of land, while the banks of the +rivers are overgrown with forests of plane-trees, +tamarisks, and cypresses, and shut in by meadows. +As the soil becomes more level, these fruitful depressions +by the rivers become somewhat broader, but the +land between the streams becomes more sterile and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +treeless, and supports only nomad tribes and herds +of wild asses, ostriches, and bustards.<a name="FNanchor_307_307" id="FNanchor_307_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_307_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a> When the +Euphrates has left behind the last spurs of this +desolate hill country, at the place where the two +rivers approach each other most nearly—about 400 +miles from their mouths—there commences a plain +of brown rich soil. Through this the Euphrates +passes with a quiet stream, but the Tigris hurries to +the sea down a bed which is both narrower, and often +inclosed by rocks, while at the same time the river +is increased by copious additions from the western +edge of the tableland of Iran. In spite of the +excellent soil this flat would remain unfruitful unless +the two rivers, year by year, when the snow melted on +the Armenian mountains, overflowed their banks, and +thus irrigated the land for the summer. In the Tigris +the inundation commences about the beginning of +June, in the Euphrates, whose sources lie far higher, +about the beginning of July. But this inundation +does not take place nearly so calmly and regularly as +that in the Nile. Instead of fertilising water, the +Tigris often sends down destructive floods over the +plain, and changes it, down to the marshy Delta at +the mouth, into a broad and rolling sea.</p> + +<p>By its simple structure and the absence of any +internal limitations, this low-lying land on the +Euphrates and Tigris was favourable to the development +of great kingdoms, and was hardly behind the +Nile in incentives and instigations to a civilised life. +The writers of antiquity celebrate the fruitfulness and +natural wealth of these flats. While on the other +side of the Euphrates, so writes a Babylonian historian +of his own home, the land as far as Arabia is without +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>water and fruits, and on the other side of the Tigris +the land is indeed fruitful but rocky; in the land +between the streams wheat and barley, linseed beans +and sesame grow wild; both in the marshes and the +reeds of the river nourishing roots are found in abundance, +as valuable for food as barley. Besides these +there are dates, and apples, and other different fruits, +and abundance of fish and birds in the marsh and on the +land. Herodotus commends the wealth of the land +in wheat and palms in the strongest terms; Xenophon +speaks in admiration of the size and beauty of the +dates.<a name="FNanchor_308_308" id="FNanchor_308_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_308_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a> Even now the palm-forests which run without +interruption along the lower course of both rivers +produce dates in abundance, and with their slender +forms and lofty tops give a picturesqueness to the +otherwise uniform landscape. This vigorous vegetation, +together with the peculiar character of the +land, must have early incited a capable population to +a regular cultivation and a higher civilization. The +protection of the land against the rapid overflow, the +conducting of the water to the higher districts, and the +removal of water from the marshes, must have led to +measures calculated to produce and develop a fertility +of technical resources. Basins were required of more +considerable extent, longer canals, and stronger dams +against the violent inundations, and more extensive +conduits, in order to convey the water into the middle +of the land, than were necessary in Egypt. Long +before Egypt had reached the height of her power +and prosperity under the Tuthmosis and Amenophis +and the early Ramessids, the inhabitants of this plain +had attained to a peculiar culture and civilisation.</p> + +<p>The accounts which the Greeks have handed down +to us of the fortunes of these districts in ancient times<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +are meagre and defective. The power of the Semitic +empires on the Euphrates and Tigris had fallen long +before inquisitive Greeks penetrated the East, and the +Persians, who were the rulers at that time, had little +interest in instructing the Greeks in the former +splendour of their opponents and ancient masters. +Herodotus intended to write the history of the +Assyrians; if ever composed, it has not come down +to our times. On the other hand, he has described +the land, manners, and customs of the Babylonians; +of their history, however, he only tells us that +many kings and two queens ruled over Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_309_309" id="FNanchor_309_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_309_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a> +Aristotle remarks that in Babylon astronomical +observations were said to exist extending back 31,000 +years from the time of Alexander the Great.<a name="FNanchor_310_310" id="FNanchor_310_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_310_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a> +Diodorus tells us that the priests of Babylon declared +that they had observed the heavens for 473,000 +years. Cicero speaks of the shamelessness of the +Chaldæans in boasting that they possessed records for +more than 470,000 years. Julius Africanus gives +480,000 years, and Pliny even 720,000 years as the +period for which observations of the heavens burnt +upon tiles were in existence.<a name="FNanchor_311_311" id="FNanchor_311_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_311_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></p> + +<p>About the time when Manetho compiled his list of +Egyptian sovereigns, under the rule of Antiochus Soter +(281-262 <small>B.C.</small>) Berosus, a priest of the temple of Bel at +Babylon, composed a history of his country in Greek +in three books.<a name="FNanchor_312_312" id="FNanchor_312_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_312_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a> Only a few fragments of this work +have come down to us. Berosus commenced with +the creation of the world. "Once all was darkness +and water. In this chaos lived horrid animals, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +men with two wings, and others with four wings and +two faces, and others again with double organs male +and female. Others had the thighs of goats, and +horns on their heads; others had horses' feet, or were +formed behind like a horse and in front like a man. +There were bulls with human heads, and horses and +men with the heads of dogs, and other animals of +human shape with fins like fishes, and fishes like +sirens, and dragons, and creeping things, and serpents +and wild creatures, the images of which are to be +found in the temple of Bel. Over all these ruled a +woman of the name of Omorka. But Bel divided the +darkness and clove the woman asunder, and of one +part he made the earth, and of the other the sun and +moon and planets, and he drew off the water,<a name="FNanchor_313_313" id="FNanchor_313_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_313_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a> and +apportioned it to the land, and prepared and arranged +the world. But those creatures could not endure the +light of the sun, and became extinct. When Bel saw +the land uninhabited and fruitful, he smote off his +head and bade one of the gods mingle the blood +which flowed from his head with earth, and form therewith +men and animals and wild creatures, who could +support the atmosphere. A great multitude of men +of various tribes inhabited Chaldæa, but they lived +without any order, like the animals. Then there +appeared to them from the sea, on the shore of +Babylonia, a fearful animal of the name of Oan. Its +body was that of a fish, but under the fish's head +another head was attached, and on the fins were feet +like those of a man, and it had a man's voice. Its +image is still preserved. The animal came at morning +and passed the day with men. But it took no +nourishment, and at sunset went again into the sea, +and there remained for the night. This animal taught<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +men language and science, the harvesting of seeds +and fruits, the rules for the boundaries of land, the +mode of building cities and temples, arts and writing, +and all that pertains to the civilisation of human +life."<a name="FNanchor_314_314" id="FNanchor_314_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_314_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></p> + +<p>The first sovereign of Babylon was Alorus, a +Chaldæan of the city of Babylon, whom the god had +himself pointed out to the nation as a shepherd. His +reign continued for 36,000 years. After the death of +Alorus, his son Alaparus ruled for 10,800 years. He +was succeeded by Almelon from the Chaldæans, of the +city of Sippara, for 46,800 years, and Almelon by +Ammenon, a Chaldæan of the same city for 43,200 +years. Under his rule there came out of the sea an +animal, combining, like Oan, the shape of a fish and +a man, and called Idotion.<a name="FNanchor_315_315" id="FNanchor_315_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_315_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a> After Ammenon came +Amegalarus, of the city of Sippara, for 64,800 years, +and after him Daonus, also from Sippara, for 36,000 +years. In his reign there again appeared from the +Red Sea four animals in the shape of men and fish. +These were Euedokus, Eneugamus, Eneubulus, and +Anementus. Daonus was followed by Edorankhus, from +Sippara, who ruled for 64,800 years, and in his time +appeared another monster of the same kind, named +Odakon. These explained in detail what Oan had +given in the sum. After Edorankhus came Amempsinus, +a Chaldæan of Larancha for 36,000 years,<a name="FNanchor_316_316" id="FNanchor_316_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_316_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a> and +after him Otiartes (Ubaratulu),<a name="FNanchor_317_317" id="FNanchor_317_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_317_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a> a Chaldæan of the +same city for 28,000 years. Otiartes was followed +by his son Xisuthrus who reigned 64,800 years.</p> + +<p>From the first year of Alorus to the last year of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +Xisuthrus 432,000 years had elapsed. "In this year +the god Bel revealed to Xisuthrus in a dream that +in the fifteenth year of the month Daësius there +would be a great storm of rain, and men would be +destroyed by the flood of waters. He bade him bury +all written records, the ancient, mediæval, and modern, +in Sippara, the city of the sun, and build a ship and +embark in it with his kindred and nearest friends. +He was also to take food and drink into the ship, +and carry into it all creatures winged and four-footed. +Xisuthrus did as he was bidden, and built a +boat fifteen stadia long,<a name="FNanchor_318_318" id="FNanchor_318_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_318_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a> and two stadia in breadth, and +placed in it his wife and child, his relations and friends. +Then the inundation came. When the rain ceased, +Xisuthrus sent out some birds, but they returned back +to the ship, as they could find nothing to eat and no +place of rest. After a few days he sent out other birds. +These also returned, but with mud on their feet. Then +Xisuthrus sent yet others, and they never returned. +Xisuthrus knew that the earth had appeared. He +took out a part of the roof of his boat, and perceived +that it had settled down on a mountain. Then +he went out with his wife and daughter and the +architect of the boat. He worshipped the earth, +and built an altar, offered sacrifice to the gods, and +then disappeared together with those whom he had +brought out of the boat. When his companions, +whom he had left in the boat, had gone out, +and were in search of Xisuthrus, his voice called +to them out of the air, saying that the gods had +carried him away in reward for his piety; that he +with his daughter and the architect were dwelling +among the gods. But the others were to return from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +Armenia, where they then were, to Babylon, and, in +obedience to the command of the gods, dig up the +books buried at Sippara, and give them to mankind. +They obeyed these instructions. They sacrificed to +the gods, and returned by land to Babylon. They dug +up the sacred books, erected many cities and temples, +and rebuilt Babylon. On the Gordyæan mountains, +where it settled, remains of the boat of Xisuthrus +were in existence for a long time afterwards.<a name="FNanchor_319_319" id="FNanchor_319_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_319_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a> In +Lucian Xisuthrus is called Sisythes; and he with +wives and children is said to have escaped, in the +great ark, the flood which destroyed everything +else.</p> + +<p>After the flood Euexius reigned over the land of the +Chaldæans for 2,400 years. He was followed by his +son Chomasbelus, who reigned 2,700 years; and after +him came eighty-four kings, who, if we reckon in the +reigns of Euexius and Chomasbelus, ruled for 34,080 +years.<a name="FNanchor_320_320" id="FNanchor_320_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_320_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a> Then the Medes gathered together an army +against Babylon, and took the land, and set up tyrants +from among their own people. These, eight in number, +reigned over Babylon for 234 years. After that eleven +kings reigned for 248 years; then followed the Chaldæans, +with forty-nine kings, who ruled over Babylon +for 458 years. These were followed by nine Arabian +kings for 245 years, and then came forty-five Assyrian +kings for 526 years. These were followed by Sennacherib, +Asordan, Samuges, and his brother, and +afterwards by Nabopolassar. After Nabopolassar,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +Nabukudurussar (Nebuchadnezzar) and his successor +reigned for sixty-seven years.<a name="FNanchor_321_321" id="FNanchor_321_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_321_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a></p> + +<p>Such is the essential information contained in the +fragments of Berosus which have come down to us. +They give us a tolerably clear view of the system of +cosmogony set up by the priests of Babylon, of the +way in which order and civilisation arose among men +by successive revelations from divine creatures coming +out of the sea, and a sketch, though a very meagre one, +of the dynasties which reigned over Babylon down to +the time of Cyrus. The enormous number of 432,000 +years, which the fragments allot to the ten rulers of +the first dynasty, and the 34,080 years of the second +dynasty, which came immediately after the flood, +show that the statements of Diodorus, Cicero, and +Pliny are not mere imagination, though these totals +are perhaps scarcely intended to give the period +during which observations were made by the Chaldæans, +but the antiquity ascribed by the Babylonian +priests to the existence of the world before and after +the flood.</p> + +<p>Accounts of the great flood are also to be seen on +tablets, copied from old Babylonian originals, which +have been discovered in the ruins of the palace of Assurbanipal, +king of Assyria. Disregarding the strange beginning, +and still stranger close, we find on these tablets +that the god Hea had commanded Sisit (Xisuthrus) +of Surippak to build a ship, so many cubits in length, +breadth, and height, and to launch it on the deep, +for it was his intention to destroy sinners. "When +the flood comes, which I will send, thou shalt enter +into the ship, and into the midst of it thou shalt +bring thy corn, thy goods, thy gods, thy gold and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +silver, thy slaves male and female, the sons of the +army, the wild and tame animals, and all that thou +hearest thou shalt do." Sisit found it difficult to +carry out this command, but at last he yielded, and +gathered together all his possessions of silver and gold, +all that he had of the seeds of life, and caused all +his slaves, male and female, to go into the ship. The +wild and tame beasts of the field also he caused to +enter, and all the sons of the army. "And Samas +(the god of the sun) made a flood, and said: I will +cause rain to fall heavily from heaven; go into the +ship, and shut to the door. Overcome with fear, +Sisit entered into the ship, and on the morning of +the day fixed by Samas the storm began to blow from +the ends of heaven, and Bin thundered in the midst +of heaven, and Nebo came forth, and over the mountains +and plains came the gods, and Nergal, the +destroyer, overthrew, and Adar came forth and dashed +down: the gods made ruin; in their brightness they +swept over the earth. The storm went over the nations; +the flood of Bin reached up to heaven; brother did not +see brother; the lightsome earth became a desert, and +the flood destroyed all living things from the face of +the earth. Even the gods were afraid of the storm, +and sought refuge in the heaven of Anu; like hounds +drawing in their tails, the gods seated themselves on +their thrones, and Istar the great goddess spake. The +world has turned to sin, and therefore I have proclaimed +destruction, but I have begotten men, and +now they fill the sea, like the children of fishes. And +the gods upon their seats wept with her. On the +seventh day the storm abated, which had destroyed +like an earthquake, and the sea began to be dry. Sisit +perceived the movement of the sea. Like reeds floated +the corpses of the evil-doers and all who had turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +to sin. Then Sisit opened the window, and the light +fell upon his face, and the ship was stayed upon +Mount Nizir, and could not pass over it. Then on +the seventh day Sisit sent forth a dove, but she +found no place of rest, and returned. Then he sent +a swallow, which also returned, and again a raven, +which saw the corpses in the water, and ate them, and +returned no more. Then Sisit released the beasts to +the four winds of heaven, and poured a libation and +built an altar on the top of the mountain, and cut seven +herbs, and the sweet savour of the sacrifice caused the +gods to assemble, and Sisit prayed that Bel (El) +might not come to the altar. For Bel (El) had made +the storm and sunk the people in the deep, and wished +in his anger to destroy the ship and allow no man to +escape. Adar opened his mouth and spoke to the +warrior Bel (El): Who would then be left? And +Hea spoke to him: Captain of the gods, instead of +the storm, let lions and leopards increase, and diminish +mankind; let famine and pestilence desolate the land +and destroy mankind. When the sentence of the +gods was passed, Bel (El) came into the midst of the +ship and took Sisit by the hand and conducted him +forth, and caused his wife to be brought to his side, +and purified the earth, and made a covenant, and +Sisit and his wife and his people were carried away +like gods, and Sisit dwelt in a distant land at the +mouth of the rivers."<a name="FNanchor_322_322" id="FNanchor_322_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_322_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a></p> + +<p>The correspondence to the Hebrew tradition of +the flood, the coincidence of certain points, and +striking contrast of others, both in the narrative of +Berosus and in this account of the great flood, need +not be pointed out. In number, at any rate, the ten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +kings whom Berosus places before the flood correspond +to the ten patriarchs from Adam to Noah.<a name="FNanchor_323_323" id="FNanchor_323_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_323_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a> In +Berosus the boat of Xisuthrus lands in Armenia on +the mountains of the Gordyæans; Noah's ark landed +on the mountains of the land of Ararat. Like Sisit, +Xisuthrus builds an altar and offers sacrifice; when he +has left the boat he disappears, and bids his followers +return to Chaldæa. They obey, and rebuild Babylon. +Noah, after leaving the ark, builds an altar to the Lord +and offers burnt sacrifice, and concludes the new covenant +with Jehovah. Then Noah became a husbandman, +and lived for three hundred and fifty years after the +flood; but when the generations of his sons "journeyed +from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, +<i>i. e.</i> in Babylonia, and there they dwelt and built the +city called Babylon."<a name="FNanchor_324_324" id="FNanchor_324_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_324_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a> It is clear that these legends +formed an ancient common possession of the Semitic +tribes of the lands of the Euphrates and Tigris. In +the Scriptures of the Hebrews we find this in a purified +and deepened form. The reason for the legend of the +flood is found in the nature of the land of Babylon. +As has been remarked, it is inundated yearly; it is +also occasionally desolated by fierce floods, which change +the whole of the lower land as far as the sea into a +broad sheet of water. Similar legends are found in +all regions exposed to floods, in Armenia, Thessaly, +Bœotia, and in India.</p> + +<p>Let us now attempt to ascertain what may be +gained historically from the fragments of Berosus. +The seven Fish-men rise out of the sea of Babylonia, +i.e., out of the Persian Gulf. They teach language, +agriculture, the building of temples and cities, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +writing; and what the first gave in general terms the +others expound in detail. Hence it would appear +that civilisation, culture, and writing came to the +Chaldæans from the south, from the shore of the +Persian Gulf. The sevenfold revelation points to +the seven sacred books of the priesthood, of which +the last six explained by special rules the doctrine +contained in the first. The fragments lay especial +weight on the fact that the sacred books were already +in existence before the flood, were saved from it, and +again dug up at Sippara. Pliny remarks that the +mysteries of the Chaldæans were taught at Sippara.<a name="FNanchor_325_325" id="FNanchor_325_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_325_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a> +Beside this city (the site is marked by the mounds at +Sifeira, above Babylon, on the Euphrates) the fragments +mention Larancha and Babylon. The first two kings +before the flood were Chaldæans of Babylon, the next +five, Chaldæans of Sippara, the last three, Chaldæans +of Larancha. If we set aside the time before the +flood, we find that the first dynasty of eighty-six +kings after the flood reigned for 34,080 years; more +than 5,000 years are allotted to the first two kings; +and about 29,000 are left for the remaining eighty-four. +Looking at these numbers, and remembering +that the Babylonians reckoned by certain cycles of +years, sosses of 60 years, neres of 600, and sares of +3,600, we may suppose that the priests brought the +times before and after the flood into a certain number +of sares. The 432,000 years before the flood make up +120 sares (the 720,000 years of Pliny would make +200 sares). The period after the flood may have been +fixed at a tenth part of that sum, <i>i. e.</i>, at 12 sares, +or 43,200 years. The 34,080 years allotted to the first +dynasty after the flood do not come out in any round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +number of sares. If we suppose that these cycles were +first instituted after Babylon had succumbed to the +attack of Cyrus, and that the fall of Babylon before his +arms coincided with the end of the tenth sarus after +the flood, then of the 36,000 years, which, according to +the opinion we ascribe to the Babylonian priests, had +elapsed from the flood to the conquest of Babylon in +the year 538 <small>B.C.</small>, 34,080 belong to the mythical +dynasty after the flood, and 1,920 years are left for +the historical times down to this date. The taking of +Babylon is a known date, and if to it we add 1,920 +years, we get the year 2458 <small>B.C.</small> as the first year of the +historical period. The first ruler of the third dynasty +of Berosus began to reign in the year 2458 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_326_326" id="FNanchor_326_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_326_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a> The +same result and number of years comes out if we +add up the separate items in the dynasties, given in +the fragments, from the year 538 <small>B.C.</small> to the first king +of the third dynasty, and leave out of sight the very +striking fact that the fragments break off the Assyrian +dynasty before Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Samuges, +who certainly belong to it, and fill up the chasm thus +made in the succession of dynasties by the 140 years +which the canon of Ptolemy show to have preceded +the accession of Nebuchadnezzar—a canon which has +no historical object in view, no dynasties to tabulate, +but is merely intended to fix the years from which +observations made by the Chaldæans were in existence. +If this is the right method<a name="FNanchor_327_327" id="FNanchor_327_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_327_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a> of ascertaining the first +established starting-point for the history of the lower +land upon the two streams, the beginnings of civilisation +in these districts may be placed not much below +the year 3000 <small>B.C.</small> Life must have become richer in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +Babylonia before the tribes of the Iranian uplands +were roused to obtain the sovereignty of that country. +Still it remains a remarkable fact that the history of +Babylonia begins with the dominion of strangers, and +that the native tradition, as we can show from the +fragments of it remaining to our times, had nothing +to place before the strangers, except the two mythical +dynasties of Babylonian princes before and after the +flood. In the fragments the first native dynasty of +historical times, the dynasty of the Chaldæan princes, +comes in the fifth place; according to the calculation +given above, their supremacy began in the year 1976 +<small>B.C.</small>, and already in 1518 <small>B.C.</small> it gave place first to the +nine Arabian, and then to the Assyrian kings. The +statement of the fragments, that forty-nine native +kings reigned, in the 458 years from 1976 <small>B.C.</small> to +1518 <small>B.C.</small>, is also remarkable, since it allows for the +reign of each of the kings of this dynasty the brief +average of a little more than nine years.</p> + +<p>But perhaps the Scriptures of the Hebrews, and +the monuments of Babylonia and Assyria, present +sufficient material to supplement these meagre results +in the way of confirmation or contradiction? +According to Genesis, the sons of Shem, the eldest son +of Noah, were "Elam and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and +Lud, and Aram." And the eldest son of Ham, Noah's +second son, was Cush, and Cush begat Nimrod; the +same "began to be a mighty one in the earth, and the +beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and +Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."<a name="FNanchor_328_328" id="FNanchor_328_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_328_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a> From this +we see not only the close relationship between the +Hebrews and the population of Mesopotamia, but also +the precedence in high antiquity allowed by the +Hebrews to the tribes of the Tigris and Euphrates. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +Hebrews derived their own origin from Noah, Shem, +and Arphaxad; but before Arphaxad they place the +two elder sons of Shem, Elam and Asshur. The first +is the representative of the nation and land of Elam +on the lower Tigris, while Asshur represents the +Assyrians of the upper Tigris. But, strangely enough, +the Babylonians were not reckoned in the generations +of Shem, although, as we know perfectly well, the +Chaldæans were Semitic, and spoke a Semitic language +closely resembling Hebrew. On the contrary, +the founding of the kingdom of Babylon is ascribed +to another stock, the eldest son of Cush, and grandson +of Ham. As Genesis, like the Hebrews of later date, +includes under the name of Cush the nations dwelling +to the south, the Nubians, Ethiopians, and tribes of +South Arabia, we may here take the son of Cush, +who founded Babylon, to represent a southern tribe, +dwelling perhaps on the shore of the Persian Gulf. +Thus as the fragments of Berosus derive the civilisation +of Babylon from the south sea and the south, +so also does Genesis point to a southern origin for +Babylonia. And at the same time Genesis calls +a tribe dwelling on the lower Tigris, between the +river and the mountains of Iran, the Elamites, the +oldest son of Shem. Among the Greeks the land of +the Elamites was known as Kissia, and afterwards as +Susiana, from the name of the capital. It was also +called Elymais, and, in the inscriptions of the +Achæmenids, Uwazha. The Greeks describe this +district as a hot but very fruitful plain, well watered +by the tributaries of the Tigris from the mountains +of Persia. There the land brought forth two or even +three hundredfold. According to Strabo the land was +inhabited by two tribes, the Kissians and Elymæans. +The chief city, Susa, lay between the Shapur and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +Dizful.<a name="FNanchor_329_329" id="FNanchor_329_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_329_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a> With the Greeks it passed as the fortress of +Memnon, the son of the Dawn, who came to the aid +of the Trojans in their distress—"the ancient mighty +city," as Æschylus calls it.<a name="FNanchor_330_330" id="FNanchor_330_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_330_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a> The inscriptions of +the Assyrian kings give us some information of the +fortunes of the kingdom of Elam, which is not contradicted +by such isolated indications as we can +gather from the inscriptions of Babylonia. This +evidence shows that in Elam from the year 2500 <small>B.C.</small> +a political constitution was in existence, and that the +kings of Elam invaded Babylonia before the year +2000 <small>B.C.</small>, and about this time ruled over Babylonia +and Mesopotamia as far as Syria. Hence before the +year 2000 <small>B.C.</small> there was some kind of constitution +in Babylonia, and, as we shall see, it was accompanied +by a certain amount of culture. The dominion +of Elam over Babylon was of short duration, and Babylon +soon recovered her independence. When, about +the year 1500 <small>B.C.</small>, Assyria rose into an independent +state, and her power, after 900 <small>B.C.</small>, became dangerous +to the neighbouring states—when Babylonia, after +the middle of the eighth century <small>B.C.</small>, was no longer +a match for Assyria,—Elam continued to maintain +her independence in spite of numerous attacks from +the Assyrians.</p> + +<p>It was not till the subjection of Babylonia was +complete that the Assyrian king Assurbanipal succeeded +in reducing Elam, and in taking and destroying +Susa, the ancient metropolis of the country. In +his inscriptions this king of Assyria informs us that +King Kudur-Nanchundi<a name="FNanchor_331_331" id="FNanchor_331_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_331_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a> of Elam laid his hand on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +the temples of Accad (<a href="#Page_257">p. 257</a>); two neres, seven +sosses, and fifteen years,—<i>i. e.</i>, 1,635 years previously, +he carried away the image of the goddess Nana. He +(Assurbanipal) brought her back; on the first of the +month Kisallu (Kislev) the goddess was conducted +back to Erech (<a href="#Page_237">p. 237</a>); in Bithiliana he built for +her a lasting sanctuary. As Elam was not completely +subdued by Assurbanipal till the year 645 <small>B.C.</small>, we +may place the recovery of the statue of Nana in this +year.<a name="FNanchor_332_332" id="FNanchor_332_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_332_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a> Hence the date of Kudur-Nanchundi of Elam, +whom an inscription of Susa calls the son of Sutruk-Nanchundi, +would fall in the year 2280 <small>B.C.</small>, and if +about this time it was possible to carry away images +of gods from Babylonia, we cannot place the beginnings +of civilisation in Babylonia later than the year +2500 <small>B.C.</small> Tiles found at Mugheir, at no great distance +from the mouth of the Euphrates in Babylonia, belong +to a second king with a name of similar formation—Kudur-Mabuk. +His inscriptions tell us that Kudur-Mabuk, +lord of the west-land (martu), had erected a +shrine to the god "Sin, his king, for prolonging his +own life and that of his son, Zikar-Sin."<a name="FNanchor_333_333" id="FNanchor_333_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_333_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a> On a +statuette of bronze, now in the Louvre, we also read +the name of Kudur-Mabuk and his son. Babylonian +inscriptions speak of battles of Hammurabi king of +Babylon against Kudur-Mabuk and against Elam.<a name="FNanchor_334_334" id="FNanchor_334_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_334_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a> +The tradition of the Hebrews tells us that the kings +of Sodom and Gomorrah, the kings of Adama,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +Zeboiim, and Zoar, <i>i. e.</i> the princes of the land of +Jordan, whose names are quoted, had served Kedor-Laomer, +king of Elam, for twelve years, and when they +revolted, Kedor-Laomer and the princes with him, +Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch and Tidal, had come down +and conquered the Horites, the Amalekites, and the +Amorites, <i>i. e.</i> the tribes of the Syrian desert, the +land of Aram between Sinai and Hermon; and the +kings of Jordan were defeated in the valley of Siddim. +The first part of the name Kedor-Laomer corresponds +to Kudur in the name Kudur-Nanchundi and Kudur-Mabuk. +The second part recurs in the name Lagamar, +which is the name of a god worshipped by the Elamites.<a name="FNanchor_335_335" id="FNanchor_335_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_335_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a> +According to this, the Kudurids, or kings of Elam, of +whom Sutruk and Kudur-Nanchundi, Kudur-Mabuk, +and Kudur-Lagamar are known by name, first attacked +Babylonia, then became rulers of Babylonia, and at one +time extended their dominion to the west as far as Syria. +According to the computations of the Hebrews, the +campaign of Kedor-Laomer to Syria would take place +about the year 2100 <small>B.C.</small> The inscription would carry +the beginning of the rule of the Kudurids in Elam to +the year 2500 <small>B.C.</small>, and consequently the beginning of +a political constitution in Elam may be assumed to be +prior to the year 2300 <small>B.C.</small>, and the sovereignty of the +Kudurids over Babylon and in the west may be placed +about the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>If Elam was once more powerful than Babylon it +may have been also older—as among the Hebrews +Elam is the eldest son of Shem—the civilisation of the +Elamites may have developed earlier than that of the +Babylonians. But although a number of names of +kings have been handed down to us on Assyrian +tablets, which also tell us of ceaseless battles with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +Elam, we are in almost total darkness about the +nature and direction of the civilisation of Elam. Our +first notice is the Assyrian account of the fall of the +kingdom and the capture of the capital, and from this +we learn that the conditions and mode of life in the +capital of the Elamites were not very different from +those of Babylon and Nineveh. A picture of the city +(found in the palace of Assurbanipal), shows it to us +between the two rivers (<a href="#Page_249">p. 249</a>), oblong in shape, and +surrounded by high walls with numerous towers. Outside +the city, between the walls and the rivers are palms, +and some dwelling-houses.<a name="FNanchor_336_336" id="FNanchor_336_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_336_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a> Assurbanipal narrates: +"Shushan, the great city, the abode of their gods, the +seat of their oracle, I took. I entered into their palaces +and opened their treasure-houses. Gold and silver, +and furniture, and goods, gathered together by the +kings of Elam in times past and in the present, the +brass and precious stones with which the kings of +Accad, Samuges, and those before him had paid their +mercenaries—the treasures on which no enemy before +me had laid a hand, I brought forth to Assyria. I +destroyed the tower of Shushan. The god of their +oracles, who dwelt in the groves, whose image no man +had seen, and the images of the gods Sumudu, Lagamar +and the others (nineteen are mentioned), which the +kings of Elam worshipped, I conveyed with their priests +to Assyria. Thirty-two statues of the kings in silver, +brass, and alabaster, I took from Shushan. Madaktu +and Huradi, and the statues of Ummanigas, of Istar-Nanchundi, +Halludus, and Tammaritu the younger, I +carried to Assyria. I broke the winged lions and +bulls which guarded the temple, and removed the +winged bulls which stood at the gates of the temples +of Elam. Their gods and goddesses I sent into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +captivity."<a name="FNanchor_337_337" id="FNanchor_337_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_337_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a> More than a hundred years after this time +the Elamites had not forgotten their independence, +and they attempted to recover it by repeated +rebellions against the Persians.</p> + +<p>The inscriptions in which the kings of Persia spoke +to the nations of their wide empire are of a triple +character. Three different kinds of cuneiform writing +repeat the same matter in three different languages. +The first gives the inscription in the Persian language, +the language of the king and dominant people, the +third repeats it in the Babylonian-Assyrian language. +The second, we may suppose, gives the inscription in +the language of Elam, for the Persian kings resided in +Susa, and in the enumeration of the subject territories, +Susiana and Babylonia as a rule come after Persia. +The forms of the language in cuneiform inscriptions +on bricks and tiles discovered in the ruins of Susa +are closely related to the language of the cuneiform +inscriptions of the second kind in the inscriptions +of the Achæmenids.<a name="FNanchor_338_338" id="FNanchor_338_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_338_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a> So far as these have been +deciphered the language contained in them seems for +the most part to be closely related to the Turkish-Tatar +languages,<a name="FNanchor_339_339" id="FNanchor_339_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_339_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a> while the names of the Elamite gods +preserved in Assyrian inscriptions, although different +from those of Babylonia and Assyria, and also the +names of the kings of Elam, have more of a Semitic +than a Turkish-Tatar sound.</p> + +<p>On Assyrian tablets, beside the Assyrian and +Babylonian names of the month, which are also the +Hebrew names, we find names in another language +unknown to us;<a name="FNanchor_340_340" id="FNanchor_340_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_340_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a> and the symbols of the Assyrian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +cuneiform writing are not only explained by the +addition of the phonetic value and actual meaning, +but before the substantives, verb-forms, and declensions +of the Babylonian-Assyrian language are placed +the corresponding words and inflections of another +language, which is decidedly of a non-Semitic +character, and also seems to belong to the Turkish-Tatar +branch of language.<a name="FNanchor_341_341" id="FNanchor_341_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_341_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a> If it was considered +necessary in Babylonia and Assyria to place another +language before or beside their own, the relation of +this language to that spoken by the Babylonians and +Assyrians must have been very close. The most +probable supposition is that it was the language of +the ancient population of the land about the lower +course of the two streams, which afterwards became +subjected to Semitic immigrants. Whatever be the +value of this supposition, we may in any case assume +that the Semitic races found older inhabitants and +an older civilisation on the lower Euphrates and +Tigris. This older population was even then in +possession of a system of writing, and this civilisation +and writing was adopted by the Semitic races, just as +at a later time the Armenians, Medes, and Persians +borrowed their cuneiform writing from the inhabitants +of Babylonia, Assyria, and Susiana.</p> + +<p>The precedence of Elam in Hebrew tradition, the +statement of Berosus that civilisation came from the +Persian Gulf, the ancient supremacy of Elam over +Babylonia, which we can discover from the Hebrew +tradition, and more plainly from the inscriptions, are +so many proofs that the oldest seats of culture in the +lower lands of the Euphrates and Tigris lay at the +mouths of the two rivers. And this conclusion receives +further support from the fact that the oldest centres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +of the Babylonian state were nearer the mouth of the +Euphrates. Perhaps we may even go a step further. +The Hebrews ascribe the foundation of the Babylonian +kingdom to a son of the south. The language and +religious conceptions of the Babylonians and Assyrians +show a close relationship with the language and +religion of the tribes of South Arabia; some of these +tribes are in Genesis variously enrolled among the +descendants of Shem and of Cush. Hence we may +perhaps assume that Arabian tribes on the sea-shore +forced their way eastward, to the land at the mouth of +the Euphrates and Tigris, and then, passing up the +stream, settled in the valley of the two rivers, as far +as the southern offshoots of the Armenian mountains.<a name="FNanchor_342_342" id="FNanchor_342_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_342_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a> +Of these Semitic tribes those which remained on the +lower Tigris and subjected the old population of +Susiana, could not absorb the conquered Kissians +(<a href="#Page_249">p. 249</a>). The old language retained the upper hand, +and developed; and the ruling tribe, the Semitic +Elamites, were amalgamated with the ancient population. +It was otherwise on the lower Euphrates, where +the Semitic immigrants succeeded—probably in a long +process of time, since it was late and by slow degrees +that they gained the upper hand—in absorbing the old +Turanian population, and formed a separate Semitic +community, when they had borrowed from their predecessors +the basis of civilisation and the system of +cuneiform writing which was invented for another +language.</p> + +<p>In the fragments of Berosus the inhabitants of +Babylonia are called Chaldees, a name which Western +writers give especially to the priests of Babylon, +though even to them a district on the lower Euphrates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +is known as Chaldæa.<a name="FNanchor_343_343" id="FNanchor_343_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_343_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a> The inscriptions of the Assyrian +kings name the whole land Kaldi, and the inhabitants +Kaldiai.<a name="FNanchor_344_344" id="FNanchor_344_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_344_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a> To the Hebrews, as has been observed +(<a href="#Page_248">p. 248</a>), Erech, Accad, and Calneh were the beginning +of the kingdom of Nimrod. In the fragments of +Berosus, Babylon, the Bab-Ilu of the inscriptions, <i>i. e.</i> +"Gate of Il (El)," Sippara and Larancha are supposed +to be in existence before the flood. Erech, the Orchoe +of the Greeks, and Arku of the inscriptions, is the +modern Warka, to the south of Babylon on the +eastern bank of the Euphrates, where vast heaps of +ruins remain to testify to the former importance of +the city. The site of Calneh and of the Larancha +mentioned in the fragments cannot be ascertained, +unless the latter city is the same as the Larsam +mentioned in the inscriptions. In these the name +Accad occurs very frequently. The kings of +Babylon, and after them the kings of Assyria, who +ruled over Babylon, called themselves kings of Babel, +of Sumir, and Accad, names which are used to denote +the districts (perhaps Upper and Lower Babylonia) +and their inhabitants. Sippara, the city of the sacred +books and mystic lore of the Chaldæans (<a href="#Page_246">p. 246</a>), +is called by the Hebrews, Sepharvaim, <i>i. e.</i> "the two +Sepher." Sepher means "writing." It was therefore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +the Babylonian City of Scriptures. The Hebrews were +aware that this city worshipped the gods Adar and +Anu, Adrammelech and Anammelech. The inscriptions +also mention two cities of the name of Sippara, or as +they give the word, Shipar; they distinguish the +Shipar of the god Anu from the Shipar of Samas, the +sun-god. The cuneiform symbol for Sippara means +"City of the sun of the four quarters of the earth," +and the Euphrates is denoted by a symbol which +means "River of Sippara."<a name="FNanchor_345_345" id="FNanchor_345_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_345_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a> From this it is clear +what position this city once took in Babylonia. The +Ur Kasdim, <i>i. e.</i> "Ur of the Chaldæans" in the Hebrew +Scriptures, is the modern Mugheir, south-east of +Babylon; on clay-tablets discovered in the ruins of +this place we find cuneiform symbols, which are to +be read as "Uru."<a name="FNanchor_346_346" id="FNanchor_346_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_346_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a> The Kutha and Telassar of the +Hebrews also recur in the Kuthi and Tel Assur of the +inscriptions. In his inscriptions Sennacherib boasts +that in the year 704 <small>B.C.</small> he took eighty-nine fortified +cities and 820 places in Babylonia, beside Babylon +itself.<a name="FNanchor_347_347" id="FNanchor_347_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_347_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a></p> + +<p>The tumuli covering the ruins of these cities and +the Assyrian inscriptions have preserved for us the +names of more than fifty of the kings who once ruled +over Babylon. The fragments of Berosus limit the +period of the independence of Babylon to the 458 years +from 1976 <small>B.C.</small>, to 1518 <small>B.C.</small> (<a href="#Page_248">p. 248</a>), and after the +Chaldæan kings of this period they place Arabian +kings down to 1273 <small>B.C.</small>, who in turn are followed by +the Assyrian kings. These statements are flatly contradicted +by the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria. +We have already seen that in the period from about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +the year 2300 <small>B.C.</small> to 2000 <small>B.C.</small>, Elam had the preponderance, +and in part the sovereignty, over Babylonia. +Afterwards Babylon became independent, and maintained +her position even against Assyria, until, after +the ninth century before Christ, the latter gained +the upper hand; and then, from the beginning of the +seventh century, for a period of seventy or eighty years, +the independence of Babylon was entirely destroyed.</p> + +<p>As yet it is not possible to arrange the names preserved +in the inscriptions in a definite order. We +can only perceive that in the oldest period Babylon +was not yet the capital of the kingdom. Erech, Ur, +and Nipur, <i>i. e.</i> cities lying to the south, were the seat +of government. We find also that the power of the +ancient princes must have extended to the mouth of the +Euphrates, and afterwards over a part of Mesopotamia, +and over the Assyrian district on the upper Tigris, till +Assyria, about the year 1500 <small>B.C.</small>, became an independent +kingdom. That the region of the upper Euphrates +did not belong to Babylonia, but was the seat of independent +princes, more especially at Karchemish, is +shown by the campaigns of the Pharaohs against +Naharina, <i>i. e.</i> Mesopotamia, which fall in the period +between 1650 <small>B.C.</small> and 1350 <small>B.C.</small>, and the assistance +which was rendered at this time by the princes of the +upper Euphrates to the Syrians against the Egyptians.<a name="FNanchor_348_348" id="FNanchor_348_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_348_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a> +Afterwards the Assyrians forced their way over the +upper Euphrates towards Syria, without coming in +conflict with the Babylonians. At a later period the +lower part of Chaldæa separated from Babylon, and +independent princes established themselves on the +lower Euphrates—a fact which obviously was of great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +assistance to the Assyrians in gaining the upper hand +over Babylon.</p> + +<p>Among the ancient princes of Babylon one of the +first places must be allotted to a king whose name +is read as Urukh. On tiles discovered at Warka +(Erech) we find that the "king of Ur, king of Sumir +and Accad, has built a temple to his Lady, the +goddess Nana;" on tiles discovered at Mugheir (Ur), +it is said that "Urukh has built the temple and fortress +of Ur in honour of his Lord, the god Sin;" and +finally on an inscription of Nabonetus, the last king of +Babylon, which he had surrendered as far as Ur, we +are told that Urukh began to build a temple here +to the great goddess, and that his son Ilgi completed +it. At Nipur (Niffer), Urukh built temples to Bel +and Bilit, and a temple to the god Samas at the +modern Senkereh.<a name="FNanchor_349_349" id="FNanchor_349_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_349_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a> On a cylinder of Urukh we find +three beardless forms, apparently the king, his son, +and the queen, holding up their hands to an aged +long-bearded and seated figure, which the new moon +visible above him denotes as the moon-god Sin; the +inscription, written in the older form of cuneiform +writing (see below), runs thus: "Of Urukh, the +mighty Lord, the King of Ur,..." Another cylinder +belongs to the time of his son Ilgi. It bears the +inscription: "For saving the life of Ilgi, from the +mighty Lord, the king of Ur, son of Urukh. May his +name continue!" Inscriptions on tiles inform us that +he built a temple at Mugheir.<a name="FNanchor_350_350" id="FNanchor_350_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_350_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a> King Ismidagon (<i>i. e.</i> +"Dagon hears"), whose name is also found on tiles of +Mugheir, is entitled on them, "Lord of Nipur,<a name="FNanchor_351_351" id="FNanchor_351_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_351_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a> king<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +of Sumir, and Accad." Of king Sarruk (<i>i. e.</i> "strong +is the king") an inscription tells us that he built the +city of Agane, and the tablets of prognostication +announce to him, that he will conquer Elam, and +subjugate the whole of Babylonia and Syria.<a name="FNanchor_352_352" id="FNanchor_352_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_352_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a> The +inscriptions of king Hammurabi (<i>i. e.</i> "the sun-god is +great") discovered at Babylon, Zerghul, and Tell Sifr, +tell us that the gods El and Bel had delivered the +inhabitants of Sumir and Accad to his dominion, that +he had overthrown Elam, and conquered Mabuk (<a href="#Page_251">p. +251</a>), and that he had caused the river Hammurabi +(<i>i. e.</i> the canal of that name) to be dug for the benefit +of the Babylonians, and had provided a constant +supply of water for Sumir and Accad. At the command +of Merodach he had erected a fortress on this +canal, of which the towers were as high as mountains, +and had named it after the name of his father Dur-Ummubanit.<a name="FNanchor_353_353" id="FNanchor_353_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_353_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a></p> + +<p>Hammurabi is the first who, according to his inscriptions, +resided at Babylon. If Sarrukin and he +succeeded in breaking down the supremacy of Elam, +we must put Hammurabi at the head of the dynasty +which reigned over Babylon, according to Berosus, from +1976-1518 <small>B.C.</small> (<a href="#Page_248">p. 248</a>). In an Assyrian list of the +kings of Babylon, belonging to the times of Assurbanipal, +we find, after Hammurabi, the names of +more than fifteen kings, and opposite the last of +these, king Binsumnasir of Babylon, two kings of +Assyria, Assurnirar and Nabudan, are placed as +contemporaries (between 1500 and 1450 <small>B.C.</small>; see +below).<a name="FNanchor_354_354" id="FNanchor_354_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_354_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a> Then Karatadas, of Babylon, makes an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +alliance with Assurbel-nisi, king of Assyria, and the +friendship was continued under their successors, Purnapuryas +of Babylon, and Busurassur of Assyria (about +1450 to 1400 <small>B.C.</small>) Assuruballit, the successor of Busurassur, +made war upon Nazibugas, the usurper who +succeeded Purnapuryas, and raised to the throne in +his place Kurigalzu, a son of Purnapuryas (about +1400 <small>B.C.</small>) Tiles at Senkereh inform us that Purnapuryas, +"king of Babylon, of Sumir and Accad," +restored the great temple which Urukh had built +for the sun-god Samas. Tiles are found at Ur +(Mugheir) with the name Kurigalzu; and the +fortress Dur-Kurigalzu (Akerkuf), which is often +mentioned in later Assyrian inscriptions, and spoken +of as "the key of Babylonia," was built, as is proved +by the stamp on the tiles, in the reign of this king.<a name="FNanchor_355_355" id="FNanchor_355_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_355_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a> +An ornament, now in the British Museum, has the +inscription: "Kurigalzu, son of Purnapuryas, king of +Babel."<a name="FNanchor_356_356" id="FNanchor_356_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_356_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a> The grandson of Kurigalzu was Merodach-Baladan +(Marduk-habaliddina, <i>i. e.</i> "Merodach presented +the son").<a name="FNanchor_357_357" id="FNanchor_357_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_357_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a> Then about the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small>, +Tiglath Adar (Tuklat Adar), of Assyria, attacked the +Babylonians, at first, as it seems, with success, but +at last he lost his seal in this war, and for 600 +years it was preserved in the treasury at Babylon. +Still more unfortunate was Belkudurussur of Assyria +in his attempt on Babylon. He was defeated, and fell +himself in the battle (about 1200 <small>B.C.</small>); his successor +also, Adarpalbitkur, barely succeeded in defending +himself from the attacks of the Babylonians. When +afterwards the first Nebuchadnezzar (Nabukudurussur)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +of Babylon twice invaded Assyria, Assur-ris-ilim, +king of Assyria (between 1150-1130 <small>B.C.</small>), succeeded +in repulsing him, and Nebuchadnezzar lost forty +war-chariots and a standard. Tiglath Pilesar I. +(Tuklat-habal-assar, about 1120 <small>B.C.</small>), the successor +of Assur-ris-ilim, fought against the Babylonians, +and, like Tiglath Adar, he was at first successful. +Assyrian tablets boast that in two successive years +he had taken Dur-Kurigalzu, both Sipparas (<a href="#Page_257">p. 257</a>), +and even Babylon. But the result of the war +was that Marduknadinakh, king of Babylon, about +the year 1110 <small>B.C.</small>, carried off images of gods from +Assyria to Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_358_358" id="FNanchor_358_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_358_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a> Assur-bel-kala of Assyria +(1110-1090 <small>B.C.</small>) had to fight against another Marduk +of Babylon. Two hundred years later Nebubaladan +of Babylon repulsed the attacks of Assurnasirpal +of Assyria (883-859 <small>B.C.</small>) Then Shalmaneser II. +of Assyria made such excellent use of a contention +for the throne of Babylonia, that in the year +850 <small>B.C.</small> he offered sacrifice at Babylon, Borsippa, +and Kutha. But it was not till the year 703 or +689 <small>B.C.</small> that the seal of Tiglath Adar and the +images lost by Tiglath Pilesar I. were carried back +to Assyria.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_306_306" id="Footnote_306_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306_306"><span class="label">[306]</span></a> Xenoph. "Cyrop." 7, 5; Strabo, pp. 41, 84, 544, 736, 737.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_307_307" id="Footnote_307_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307_307"><span class="label">[307]</span></a> Strabo, p. 748; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 5, 1 ff.; G. Hertzberg, "Feldzug +der Zehntausend," s. 139 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_308_308" id="Footnote_308_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308_308"><span class="label">[308]</span></a> Beros. ap. Sync. p. 28; Herod. 1, 193; "Anab." 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_309_309" id="Footnote_309_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309_309"><span class="label">[309]</span></a> Herod. 1, 178-200.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_310_310" id="Footnote_310_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310_310"><span class="label">[310]</span></a> "De Cœlo," p. 503.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_311_311" id="Footnote_311_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311_311"><span class="label">[311]</span></a> Diod. 3, 31; Cic. "De Divin." 1, 19; Jul. Afric. ap. Syncell. +p. 17; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 7, 57; cf. H. Martin, "Revue Archéol." 1862, +5, 243.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_312_312" id="Footnote_312_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312_312"><span class="label">[312]</span></a> Between 280-270 <small>B.C.</small> Clinton, "Fasti Hell." ad ann. 279.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_313_313" id="Footnote_313_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313_313"><span class="label">[313]</span></a> Abydeni Fragm. 9, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_314_314" id="Footnote_314_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314_314"><span class="label">[314]</span></a> Berosi Fragm. 1, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_315_315" id="Footnote_315_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315_315"><span class="label">[315]</span></a> Abyd. Fragm. 1, 2, ed. Müller; Berosi Fragm. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_316_316" id="Footnote_316_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316_316"><span class="label">[316]</span></a> In the Armenian Eusebius, p. 10, ed. Schœne, the name is Lancharis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_317_317" id="Footnote_317_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317_317"><span class="label">[317]</span></a> G. Smith, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 531.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_318_318" id="Footnote_318_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318_318"><span class="label">[318]</span></a> So in the Armenian Eusebius; in Syncellus it is five stadia, <i>i. e.</i> 3,000 +feet long.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_319_319" id="Footnote_319_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319_319"><span class="label">[319]</span></a> Eusebius, p. 14, ed. Mai; Syncell. p. 30; Abydeni Fragm. 3 ed. +Müller; Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_320_320" id="Footnote_320_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320_320"><span class="label">[320]</span></a> Eusebius gives 33,091. As Syncellus enumerates the sares, neres, +and sosses, the number given in the text is the correct one, or must be +replaced by 34,091. The basis of the calculation which Syncellus has +adopted in the four first dynasties of Berosus has been thoroughly +established by Lepsius ("Chronol. der Ægypter," s. 78).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_321_321" id="Footnote_321_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321_321"><span class="label">[321]</span></a> The period of the fourth dynasty, the eleven kings, is filled up to 248 +years from the marginal note on the Armenian manuscripts of Eusebius.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_322_322" id="Footnote_322_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322_322"><span class="label">[322]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assyrian Discoveries," p. 185-195. I retain the reading +"Sisit" as against Hasisadra because of the "Sisythes" of Lucian.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_323_323" id="Footnote_323_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323_323"><span class="label">[323]</span></a> According to Bunsen, "Ægypt." 5, 2, 61 ff., the Hebrews originally +were acquainted with only seven patriarchs before the flood; see below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_324_324" id="Footnote_324_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324_324"><span class="label">[324]</span></a> Gen. ix. 20, 28; xi. 2-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_325_325" id="Footnote_325_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325_325"><span class="label">[325]</span></a> Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 30. Hipparenum can be nothing but Sipparenum, +or Sipparenorum.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_326_326" id="Footnote_326_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326_326"><span class="label">[326]</span></a> If the number 34,091 be correct (<a href="#Footnote_320_320">p. 241, note 2</a>), the year 2447 <small>B.C.</small> +would be the first year of the historical era.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_327_327" id="Footnote_327_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327_327"><span class="label">[327]</span></a> It is pointed out by Von Gutschmid in the Rhein. Mus. 8, 252.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_328_328" id="Footnote_328_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328_328"><span class="label">[328]</span></a> Gen. x. 22; x. 8, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_329_329" id="Footnote_329_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_329_329"><span class="label">[329]</span></a> Menke, "Jahrb. für classiche Philologie," 1862, s. 545.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_330_330" id="Footnote_330_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330_330"><span class="label">[330]</span></a> Aesch. "Pers." 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_331_331" id="Footnote_331_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_331_331"><span class="label">[331]</span></a> The name Nanchundi occurs also in the compounds Istar-Nanchundi, +p. 253.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_332_332" id="Footnote_332_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_332_332"><span class="label">[332]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 200, 234-236, 249-251. As in two +passages 1,635 years are given with quotation of the Neres and Sosses, +this number must be kept in the third passage instead of 1,535 years. +The conquest of Susa did not follow immediately on the conquest of +Babylon, in the year 647; see below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_333_333" id="Footnote_333_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333_333"><span class="label">[333]</span></a> Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 479; Oppert, "Empires de Chaldée et +d'Assyrie," p. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_334_334" id="Footnote_334_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_334_334"><span class="label">[334]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." p. 234; "Early Hist." p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_335_335" id="Footnote_335_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_335_335"><span class="label">[335]</span></a> Genesis, xiv. 1-12; G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 228.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_336_336" id="Footnote_336_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_336_336"><span class="label">[336]</span></a> Also in Ménant, "Les Achémenides," p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_337_337" id="Footnote_337_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_337_337"><span class="label">[337]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 224, ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_338_338" id="Footnote_338_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_338_338"><span class="label">[338]</span></a> Sayce, "Transact. Bibl. Arch." 3, 465, 485.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_339_339" id="Footnote_339_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_339_339"><span class="label">[339]</span></a> So Rawlinson, Norris, Mordtmann, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. G." 1870, +s. 7, 76, and Sayce, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_340_340" id="Footnote_340_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_340_340"><span class="label">[340]</span></a> Norris, "Dict." I. 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_341_341" id="Footnote_341_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_341_341"><span class="label">[341]</span></a> Such is also the opinion of Eberhard Schrader.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_342_342" id="Footnote_342_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_342_342"><span class="label">[342]</span></a> Schrader, "Abstammung und Ursitze der Chaldæer," s. 405 ff., +416 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_343_343" id="Footnote_343_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_343_343"><span class="label">[343]</span></a> Strabo, p. 735, 765, 767; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 6, 23, 27. 5, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_344_344" id="Footnote_344_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_344_344"><span class="label">[344]</span></a> On the correct interpretation of the passage, Isaiah xxiii. 13, see +Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 269; on the Armenian Chaldæans, +the Chalybian Chaldæans, Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldæer," s. 399, +400. The former are to be sought for in the valley of the Lycus, and are +known to the Armenians as Chalti: Kiepert, "Monats-Berichte der B. +Akad. d. W." 1869. Arphaxad, <i>i. e.</i> the high mountain district Albak +(Kiepert, <i>loc. cit</i>. s. 200), on the Upper Zab, was on the other hand undoubtedly +colonised by Semitic tribes; but these probably came from +Mesopotamia and Assyria. Arphaxad is the younger brother of Elam +and Asshur. Where to look for Kir, whence, according to Amos ix. 7; i. 5, +the Syrians came, we do not know.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_345_345" id="Footnote_345_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_345_345"><span class="label">[345]</span></a> Schrader, "Assyrisch-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 382, 18, 42, 165, 225.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_346_346" id="Footnote_346_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_346_346"><span class="label">[346]</span></a> Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 383.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_347_347" id="Footnote_347_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_347_347"><span class="label">[347]</span></a> Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonides," p. 55 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_348_348" id="Footnote_348_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_348_348"><span class="label">[348]</span></a> Above, pp. 132, 151, 152. From Naharina Tuthmosis III. received, +among other things, forty-seven tiles of lead, forty-five pounds of gold, +eighty-one mana (minæ) of spice.—De Rougé, "Notice," pp. 16, 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_349_349" id="Footnote_349_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_349_349"><span class="label">[349]</span></a> Oppert, "Empires," pp. 16, 17; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," +1, 63, 64, 137; Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 74, 75, 254.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_350_350" id="Footnote_350_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_350_350"><span class="label">[350]</span></a> G. Smith, "Early History," p. 36; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," +pp. 69, 94, 157 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_351_351" id="Footnote_351_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_351_351"><span class="label">[351]</span></a> Oppert, "Empires," p. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_352_352" id="Footnote_352_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_352_352"><span class="label">[352]</span></a> Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test." s. 47; "Assyrisch-babylonische +Keilschriften," s. 162; Sayce, "Zeitschrift für ægypt. Sprache," 1870, +s. 151; Ménant, "Babylone," p. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_353_353" id="Footnote_353_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_353_353"><span class="label">[353]</span></a> Oppert, "Empires," p. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_354_354" id="Footnote_354_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_354_354"><span class="label">[354]</span></a> Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 1, 249.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_355_355" id="Footnote_355_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_355_355"><span class="label">[355]</span></a> Oppert, "Empires," p. 28; Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 118, 121.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_356_356" id="Footnote_356_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_356_356"><span class="label">[356]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," pp. 169, 170.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_357_357" id="Footnote_357_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_357_357"><span class="label">[357]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." p. 236 ff., gives a deed of gift of Merodach-Baladan, +the son of Milihiru, the grandson of Kurigalzu.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_358_358" id="Footnote_358_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_358_358"><span class="label">[358]</span></a> Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 127, 128.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDÆANS.</h3> + + +<p>In the period from 2000 to 1000 <small>B.C.</small>, Babylonia under +Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar, and Marduknadinakh, +was already the foremost state of Hither Asia in power, +science, and skill in art. Her civilisation had developed +without external assistance. If the first foundations +were borrowed, and not laid by the Babylonians, they +certainly were not due to the Egyptians. The religious +views of the Babylonians and the Egyptians rest +on an entirely different basis. In Egypt the heavens +were carefully observed; but the Chaldæans arrived at +a different division of the heavens, of the year, and +month, and day, and the results of their astronomy +were far clearer and more exact. In Egypt, weights +and measures were regulated by the priests; the +Chaldæans established a much more accurate and consistent +system, which prevailed far beyond the borders +of Babylonia. The Egyptians reached the highest point +that could be reached by the art of building in stone; +but the buildings of the Chaldæans in brick are unsurpassed +in size, strength, and height by any nation or +period. To what antiquity the hydraulic works of the +Chaldæans reached we do not know (the canal of +Hammurabi has been mentioned above); but we find +that in size and variety they were not behind those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +of Egypt. Their sculpture cannot be compared with +the Egyptian in artistic finish; but the few fragments +which remain exhibit a style which, while thoroughly +independent, is more vigorous and complete, and +shows a greater freedom of conception than the +Egyptian.</p> + +<p>The Babylonians, as we learn from Diodorus, worshipped +twelve gods as lords of the sky. To each of +these a sign in the zodiac and a month in the year +were dedicated.<a name="FNanchor_359_359" id="FNanchor_359_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_359_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a> These statements are supported by +the inscriptions. The supreme god of the Babylonians +was El (Il), after whom they named their capital, +Babel, "Gate of El." After El came the gods Anu, +Bel (Bil), Hea, Sin, Samas, and Bin; and after these +the gods of the planets; Adar, Merodach, Nergal, +Istar, and Nebo. Of El we only know that he was the +supreme god, who sat enthroned above the other gods. +What peculiar importance and power is ascribed to +him is the more difficult to ascertain, as the name +of the third deity, Bel, simply means "lord," and by +this title not only Bel himself, but El and other gods +also are invoked. In his inscription, king Hammurabi +says "that El and Bel have given over to his rule the +inhabitants of Sumir and Accad." In the story of +the flood, quoted above, El is called "the prince of +the gods," "the warrior." In Assyrian inscriptions +he is the "lamp of the gods," "the lord of the +universe." The Greeks give us accounts of the great +temple of Belus at Babylon, and represent the +Babylonians as swearing "by the great Belus."<a name="FNanchor_360_360" id="FNanchor_360_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_360_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a> In +the fragments of Berosus it was Belus who smote +asunder the primæval darkness, and divided Omorka, +and caused the creation of men and beasts; while +according to the clay tablets of the flood, El was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +unwilling to save even Sisit. Of the god Hea we can +at present ascertain no more from the inscriptions than +that he is the "lord of the earth," "the king of rivers;" +and that it is he who announced the coming flood to +Sisit, and pointed out the means of safety. Anu, the +god who follows next after El, was sovereign of the +upper realms of the sky. In the narrative of the flood +given on the clay tablets the gods fled horror-stricken +before the storm into the heaven of Anu. In Assyrian +inscriptions the god has frequently the epithet Malik +(<i>i. e.</i> "king"). As the Hebrews inform us that the +men of Sepharvaim worshipped Anammelech, it is +obvious that Anumalik and Anammelech are one +and the same deity. The creature, who brought the +first revelations of language and writing, is called in +Berosus Oan, by others, Yan.<a name="FNanchor_361_361" id="FNanchor_361_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_361_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a> As these revelations +reached Sepharvaim, and the sacred books were preserved +there (<a href="#Page_245">p. 245</a>), we may venture to assume that +the Oan of Berosus and the Anu of the inscriptions +are the same god. The nature of the next deities, Sin, +Samas, and Bin, is more intelligible. Sin is the god of +the moon. On monuments the new moon is often +found beside his bearded image. The inscriptions +provide him with "white-beaming horns." The main +seat of his worship is Ur (Mugheir), where, as we +have seen, Urukh built him a temple, and Nabonetus, +the last king of Babylon, prays this god "to plant in +the heart of his first-born a reverence for his great +divinity, that he might not yield to sin, or favour the +unfaithful."<a name="FNanchor_362_362" id="FNanchor_362_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_362_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a> The sun-god Samas is distinguished by +sign of the circle; according to the inscription he +illuminates "heaven and earth," and is the "lord of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +the day." Beside Sin and Samas the Babylonians +worshipped a deity of the heaven, Bin, the god who +"thunders in the midst of the sky," who holds "a +flaming sword in his hand," "who holds the lightning," +"who is the giver of abundance, the lord of fertility."<a name="FNanchor_363_363" id="FNanchor_363_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_363_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a></p> + +<p>At the head of the five spirits of the planets stands +the lord of Saturn (the Kaivanu of the Babylonians), +the most distant and highest of all. This is the god +Adar, <i>i. e.</i> "the sublime." His name was given to the +last month in the Babylonian year. In the inscriptions +the epithet Malik is often joined to Adar; Sakkut +Adar also is a name given in the inscriptions to this +god. The Hebrews tell us that the men of Sepharvaim +worshipped Adrammelech; and this can hardly be +any other deity than the Adar-Malik of the inscriptions. +They also add that children were burned +to Adrammelech,<a name="FNanchor_364_364" id="FNanchor_364_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_364_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a> and hence we may conclude that +the Adar of the Babylonians was a harsh and cruel +deity, averse to generation, whose wrath had to be +appeased by human sacrifice. When the prophet +Amos announces to the Israelites that they would +"carry Siccuth their king, and Kewan (Chiun) their +star-god, their images which they had made,"<a name="FNanchor_365_365" id="FNanchor_365_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_365_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a> Sichuth-Melech +can be no other god than Sakkut-Malik, <i>i. e.</i> +Adar, and by Kewan is meant the Kaivanu (Saturn) +of the inscriptions.<a name="FNanchor_366_366" id="FNanchor_366_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_366_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a> Nebo (Nabu), the god of +Borsippa, was the lord of the planet Mercury. +According to the inscriptions of Babylonia, he ruled +over the hosts of heaven and earth. His image on the +cylinder of Urukh has been mentioned above (<a href="#Page_259">p. 259</a>). +Statues of Nebo with long beard and hair, and a robe +from the breast downwards, have been found in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +ruins of Nineveh. Assyrian inscriptions entitle him the +"prince of the gods." His name means the "revealer," +and what we learn from western writers about a +special school of Chaldaic priests at Borsippa agrees +very well with this. The lord of Mars, Nergal, was +worshipped at the city of Kutha. The inscriptions +name him the "king of the battle," the "ruler of the +storm," or simply the "lion-god."<a name="FNanchor_367_367" id="FNanchor_367_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_367_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a> Hence the winged +lions with a human head at the temples and palace +gates of Susa and Nineveh (<a href="#Page_253">p. 253</a>) were his images, and +stood no doubt at Babylon and Kutha also, while the +winged bulls must have been the images of Adar. In +the narrative of the flood on Assyrian tablets, it is +Adar who overthrows and Nergal who destroys +(<a href="#Page_243">p. 243</a>). After the restoration of the Babylonian +kingdom, the kings are named after Nebo and Nergal. +Yet the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II. celebrate +above all other deities the lord of Jupiter, Merodach, +as Belrabu, i.e. the "great lord," the "highest god," +the "lord of heaven and earth."<a name="FNanchor_368_368" id="FNanchor_368_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_368_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a></p> + +<p>To this circle of planet-gods belongs also the female +deity, whom the Babylonians worshipped with much +zeal—the goddess Bilit, <i>i. e.</i> "Lady," the Mylitta of +Herodotus. Her star is Venus. The inscriptions name +her "Queen of the Gods," "Mother of the Gods." As +she is also called the "Lady of Offspring," it is clear +that she was regarded by the Babylonians as the goddess +of fertility and birth. They recognised the power of +the goddess in the charm and beauty of vegetative +nature. Within the wall of her temple at Babylon a +grove afforded a cool shade, and a cistern reminded +the worshippers of the mistress of the fertilizing water.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +The creatures sacred to her were fish, as the inhabitants +of water, and remarkable for vigorous propagation, and +the dove.<a name="FNanchor_369_369" id="FNanchor_369_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_369_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a> According to the account of Herodotus the +maidens of Babylonia had to worship the goddess by +the sacrifice of their virginity; once in her life each +was expected to sell her body in honour of the goddess, +and thus to redeem herself. Hence on the festivals of +Mylitta the maidens of Babylon sat in long rows +in the grove of the goddess, with chaplets of cord +upon their heads. Even the daughters of the wealthy +came in covered cars with a numerous body of attendants. +Here they had to remain till one of the +pilgrims, who came to worship the goddess, cast a piece +of gold into their laps, with the words, "In the name +of Mylitta." Then the maiden was compelled to follow +him, and comply with his wishes. The money thus +earned she gave to the temple-treasury, and was +henceforth freed from her obligation to the goddess. +"The good-looking and graceful maidens," adds Herodotus, +"quickly found a pilgrim, but the ugly ones +could not satisfy the law, and often remained in the +temple three or four years."<a name="FNanchor_370_370" id="FNanchor_370_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_370_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a> The Hebrew scriptures +confirm the statements of Herodotus. They tell us of +the Babylonians, "that their women, with cords about +them (they were bound to the goddess), sat by the +wayside, and burnt bran for perfume, and she who was +drawn away by the passer-by reproached her fellow +that she had not been thought worthy of the honour, +and that her cord was not broken."<a name="FNanchor_371_371" id="FNanchor_371_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_371_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a> The goddess +Nana, whose image, as we have seen, was carried away +at an ancient period from Erech to Susa, and to whom +it is Nebuchadnezzar's boast that he built temples at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +Babylon and Borsippa,<a name="FNanchor_372_372" id="FNanchor_372_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_372_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a> was hardly distinguished from +Bilit or Mylitta.</p> + +<p>Opposed to the goddess of fertility, procreation, +and birth, stood Istar, the goddess of war, of ruin, and +destruction. She is often mentioned in inscriptions +as "the Queen of Babylon;" according to Assyrian +inscriptions she carries a bow, and western writers tell +us of the worship of Artemis by the Babylonians. +That this goddess united with Bilit, and sent alternately +blessing and fruit, death and ruin, is placed +beyond doubt, by the analogous worship of Baltis, +Ashera, and Astarte by the Syrians, and more +especially by the Phœnicians and Carthaginians. +Moreover the planet Venus belonged to this goddess +in both her forms. In the tablets of the flood, Istar +boasts that men owed their existence to her (<a href="#Page_243">p. 243</a>), +and an Assyrian syllabarium tells us that "the star +of Venus (Dilbat, the Delephat of the Greeks), at sunrise, +is Istar among the gods; the same star at sunset +is Bilit among the gods."<a name="FNanchor_373_373" id="FNanchor_373_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_373_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a> On Assyrian tablets is +found a narrative of the journey of Istar to the under-world. +She determines to go down to the house of +the departed, to the abode of the god Irkalla, to the +house which has no exit, to the road which leads not +back, to the place where the entrance is without +light, where dust is their nourishment and mould +their food, where light is not seen, where they dwell +in darkness, where the arches are filled with spirits +like birds; over the gate and the panels dust is +strewed. "Watchman of the waters," said Istar, +"open thy gate, that I may enter. If thou openest +not, I will break thy gate, and burst asunder the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +bars; I will shatter the threshold and destroy the +doors." The watchman opened the gate, and as she +passed through he took the great crown from her head; +and when she passed through the second gate he took +the rings from her ears; and when she passed through +the third gate he took the necklace from her neck; +and when she passed through the fourth gate he took +the ornaments from her breast; and when she passed +through the fifth gate he took the girdle of her robe; +and when she passed through the sixth gate he took +the rings from her arms and legs; and when she passed +through the seventh gate he took the mantle from her +neck and said, "Thus does Ninkigal to those who +come to her." Arrived in the under-world, Istar was +grievously afflicted in the eyes, on the hips, feet, heart, +head, and whole body. But the world above could +not bear the loss of Istar, "the bull sought not the +cow, nor the male ass the female," and the god Hea +sent a message to Ninkigal, the Lady of the under-world, +to set her free. Ninkigal caused the water of +life to pour out over Istar. Then the seven doors of +the under-world were again opened for her, and before +each she received back what had been taken from her +at her entrance.<a name="FNanchor_374_374" id="FNanchor_374_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_374_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a></p> + +<p>In the fragments of Berosus the last of the fish-men +is called Odakon (<a href="#Page_239">p. 239</a>). Inscriptions of Hammurabi +and Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon mention +a god Dakan, or Dagani; and we also meet the name +of this god in the name of the king Ismidagon, whom +we found it necessary to place before the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small> +Assurbanipal of Assyria boasts of the favour of Anu +and Dagon. These two gods appear in the same +connection in other inscriptions. Sargon, king of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +Assyria, calls himself "the apple of the eye of Anu +and Dagon."<a name="FNanchor_375_375" id="FNanchor_375_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_375_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a> Male figures, with a horned cap on +the head, and ending in a fish, and priests with fishskins +hung above them, are often found on the monuments +of Nineveh. As the word Dag means "fish," +we may with confidence find in the god Dakan the +fish-god of the Babylonians; the god who out of +moisture gives plenty, fertility, and increase. That +the Canaanites also worshipped Dagon is proved by the +names Beth-Dagon and Kaphar-Dagon, which occur +near Joppa and Sichem. The Philistines also on the +coast of the Mediterranean invoked the same god. +His image in the temple at Ashdod had the face and +hands of a man, the body of a fish, and the feet of a +man (see below). The seven fish-men who rose out +of the Persian Gulf were therefore seven manifestations, +or revelations, of the gods Oan and Dagon, +Anu and Dakan.</p> + +<p>The chief seats of the religious worship of the Babylonians +were Babylon itself, when it had become the +metropolis of the land, Borsippa and Kutha. The kings +of Assyria, who succeeded in entering Babylonia, or in +subjugating it, remark more than once that they have +sacrificed at Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha, to Bel, +Nebo, and Nergal, and Assurbanipal tells us that his +rebellious brother, the viceroy of Babylon, had purchased +the help of the Elamites with the treasures +of the temple of Bel at Babylon, of Nebo at Borsippa, +and Nergal at Kutha.<a name="FNanchor_376_376" id="FNanchor_376_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_376_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a> Hence these temples must +have been the most considerable, and the treasures in +them the largest. Beside these temples, as has been +remarked, Erech was of importance, as the seat of +the worship of Nana, Ur contained the temple of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +moon-god, and Sepharvaim was the abode of Anu and +Samas, and the city of the sacred scriptures.</p> + +<p>The relation of the deities to the luminaries of the +sky occupied a very prominent place in the minds of +the Babylonians. The powerful operation of the sun +was due to the god Samas; the moon, as we have +seen, belonged to Sin, Saturn to Adar, Jupiter to +Merodach, Mercury to Nebo, Mars to the war-god +Nergal, Venus to Istar-Bilit. From the inscriptions +of Nebuchadnezzar II. we learn that there existed at +Borsippa, the seat of the worship of Nebo, an ancient +temple to "the seven lamps of the earth." The +horizon of the Babylonian plain was very extensive; +the more uniform and boundless the expanse of earth, +the more did the eye turn upwards towards the +changes, movements, and life of the sky. In the +clear atmosphere the eye followed the regular paths +of the planets, and discovered each morning new stars, +while others disappeared every evening. With the +higher or lower position of the sun, or of this or that +star, a new season commenced, or changes took place +in the natural world; the inundation rose, and vegetation +began to awaken or decay. On the rising +and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars, the +life of mankind, their waking and sleeping, their +vigour and weariness, depended; the seasons of budding +and ripening fruit, of favourable or unfavourable +navigation, commenced with the appearance of certain +stars and ended with their disappearance. It was +natural, amid such conceptions, to believe that the +whole life of nature and man depended on the luminaries +of the sky, and that the earth and mankind +received their laws from above, from the gleaming +paths of the constellations. The good or evil effect +which these stars were thought to exercise upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +life of nature, applied also to their influence on the +life of man.</p> + +<p>Within the circle of such conceptions the planets +naturally occupied a prominent place. The Greeks +inform us that the Chaldæans called these stars "interpreters," +as proclaiming the will of the gods.<a name="FNanchor_377_377" id="FNanchor_377_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_377_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a> +Among them Jupiter and Venus (Merodach and +Istar-Bilit) passed with the later astrologers as luck-bringing +powers. Jupiter was supposed to bring the +beneficent and genial warmth of the atmosphere, +while Venus, the star of evening (Bilit), poured forth +the cool fructifying dew. Saturn (Adar) was an unlucky +star, the Great Evil; and this confirms the +conclusion already drawn that Adar was thought to be +a god averse to generation, and hostile. Mars (Nergal) +was also a pernicious planet: his fiery glow brought +scorching heat, and he is the Lesser Evil of astrologers. +Mercury, the moon, and the sun, <i>i. e.</i> Nebo, Sin, and +Samas, stood midway between the good and evil +stars; they were of an intermediate undefined +character.<a name="FNanchor_378_378" id="FNanchor_378_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_378_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a></p> + +<p>But according to the Chaldæans the planets also assumed +the influence and character of the constellations +in which they passed over the earth. They divided +the path of the sun into twelve stations or houses, +according to the constellations which it passes through +in its course. The sun's proper house was its highest +position in the sign of Leo. The paths of the planets +were divided in a similar way; and to the Chaldæan +these "houses of the planets" became divine powers, +because they altered and defined the character and +operation of the planets. Hence they even call them +"lords of the gods."<a name="FNanchor_379_379" id="FNanchor_379_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_379_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a> On the other hand thirty +other fixed stars are "counselling gods," because they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +were thought to exercise only a secondary influence +on the planets; and lastly, twelve fixed stars in the +northern sky, and twelve in the southern were called +the "judges." Of these twenty-four stars, those +which were visible decided on the fortunes of the +living, and those which were invisible on the fortunes +of the dead.<a name="FNanchor_380_380" id="FNanchor_380_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_380_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a> The inscriptions also distinguish two +classes of twelve stars each; of which one is named +"the stars of Accad," the other "the stars of the +West."<a name="FNanchor_381_381" id="FNanchor_381_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_381_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a> Each month of the year belonged to a +god; the first to the god Anu: the seven days of +the week belonged to the sun, moon, and five +planets; after the moon came Mars, then Mercury, +then Jupiter, then Venus, and last of all Saturn. +The day belonged to the planet to which the first +hour after midnight was allotted; in the next hour +the planet ruled which came next in proximity to the +sun; and in the same way followed the remaining +planets, first in a solar, then in a lunar series.</p> + +<p>Thus the Chaldæans worshipped "the sun, and the +moon, and the zodiac;" thus they offered incense, as +the Hebrews say, to the "houses of the planets, and +the whole host of heaven."<a name="FNanchor_382_382" id="FNanchor_382_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_382_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a> This lore was the work +of the priests, who accordingly understood how to +read the will of the gods in the constellations of the +sky, and to foretell the fate of life from the hour of +birth, and from the ever-changing position of the +stars to fix the suitable moment for commencing any +task or undertaking. How the stars passed through +the sky, how they approached each other, or diverged, +imparted or withdrew their operation, were found in +equipoise or opposition—on this depended the prosperity +or misfortune of the kingdom, the king, the year, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +day, the hour. Moreover it was of importance at +what season of the year, and in what quarter of the +sky the stars rose, or disappeared, and what colours +they displayed.<a name="FNanchor_383_383" id="FNanchor_383_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_383_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a> To the east belonged withering heat, +to the south warmth, to the west fertilising moisture, +and to the north cold; and the planets exercised +greater or less power as they stood higher or lower.<a name="FNanchor_384_384" id="FNanchor_384_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_384_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a> +Tablets discovered at Nineveh allow us a closer insight +into the system of these constellations. On some of +these we find written as follows:—"If Jupiter is seen in +the month of Tammuz, there will be corpses." "If Venus +comes opposite the star of the fish, there will be +devastation." "If the star of the great lion is gloomy, +the heart of the people will not rejoice." "If the moon +is seen on the first day of the month, Accad will +prosper." One tablet supplies information for all the +periods of the day and night in the 360 days of the +year, telling us what day and what period is favourable +or unfavourable for commencing a campaign, or a +siege, for storming the enemy's walls, or for defence.<a name="FNanchor_385_385" id="FNanchor_385_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_385_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a></p> + +<p>Such was the faith and doctrine of the Babylonians. +In the original conception of El as lord of the sky, +and Adar as the highest of the star gods, there may +have been nobler and simpler traits, yet even these +early views were not without their harshness and +cruelty, as we are forced to conclude from the Hebrew +accounts of the sacrifices offered to Adar. Such traits +are also more than outweighed by the licentious +worship of Mylitta, in which the sensual elements of +the Semitic character are seen in all their coarseness. +With the growth of the kingdom, and the consequent +effeminacy and luxury of life in Babylonia, this side<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +of their religion must have become predominant, while, +on the other hand, the great conception of a world +ruled and governed by the movements of the stars +tended in time to degenerate into mere astrological +computations and fortune-telling.</p> + +<p>Our knowledge of the life and position of the priests +of Babylon is scanty. The Greeks tell us that they +took the same place as in Egypt. Their rank was +hereditary; the son was instructed by the father from +an early age. Some occupied themselves with the offerings +and purifications; others strove to avert existing +or threatening evils by expiations and charms; +others explained any miraculous phenomena of nature, +interpreted dreams, and prophesied from the flight of +birds. The Hebrew scriptures speak of interpreters of +stars and signs, magicians and prophets.<a name="FNanchor_386_386" id="FNanchor_386_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_386_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a> According +to the accounts of Western writers, the priests at +Babylon inhabited a special quarter of the city, and +there were schools of priests at Sippara.<a name="FNanchor_387_387" id="FNanchor_387_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_387_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a> The fragments +of Berosus pointed out Babylon, Sippara, and +Larancha (<a href="#Page_239">p. 239</a>) as centres of priestly wisdom even +before the flood, inasmuch as they attribute to these +places special revelations of the gods Anu and Dakan. +They speak of the sacred books saved in Sippara from +the flood. These books they divide into ancient, +mediæval, and modern. By the "ancient" books we +must understand the announcements which the god Anu +caused to be made to the two earliest kings, Alorus +and Alaparus, of Babylon. Under the "mediæval" are +comprised the revelations received by Ammenon and +Daonus of Sippara, and lastly, under the "modern" +the mysteries disclosed by Dagon to Edorankhus of +Sippara (<a href="#Page_239">p. 239</a>). Hence we may assume that the priests<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +of Babylon arrived at an early age at a code which +included their creed and ritual, as it would seem, in +seven books (<a href="#Page_245">p. 245</a>). How high the cosmogonies go, +of which the most essential traits were found in the +fragments of Berosus (<a href="#Page_238">p. 238</a>), we cannot decide. In the +conception which lies at the base of them the forces of +nature are seen pouring forth in wild confusion. The +name of the woman who rules these forces, or of this +chaos inhabited by monsters, Omorka, has been explained +as "Homer-Kai," <i>i. e.</i>, "material of the egg," +the world-egg, but more recently by "Um Uruk," <i>i. e.</i> +"the mother," the "great goddess of Erech." In the +cosmogony of Berosus we can see, though in a very +rude and contradictory shape, the opposition of a +material and intellectual, a natural and supernatural +principle, and later accounts maintain that the +Babylonians regarded the world as arising out of fire +and water, that Chaos and Love were the parents +of Life and Contention, and of Life and Contention +Bel was the son.<a name="FNanchor_388_388" id="FNanchor_388_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_388_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a></p> + +<p>More important and far more valuable than these +abstractions, to which the Babylonians obviously attained +only at a late period, and in all probability under +the influence of Greek ideas, are the results which +their knowledge and acuteness gained in other fields. +The cuneiform writing, according to the conclusions we +have already been compelled to draw, was borrowed +by the Elamites and Babylonians from the earlier inhabitants +of the lower districts. It was originally a +picture-writing, which, like the Egyptian, passed from +real pictures to indicatory and symbolic pictures or +picture-signs. The necessity of abbreviating and +compressing the picture-signs was here far more keenly +felt than in Egypt, quite irrespective of the fact that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +the strong pictorial tendency of the Egyptians was +probably wanting on the Lower Tigris. The stones +and slabs on which the Egyptians engraved their +hieroglyphics were not to be found in the plains of the +two rivers, and the slabs of mud, clay, and brick on +which they were compelled to write (the pictures and +symbols were written on the soft slabs with the style, +and these were then burnt), were ill-adapted for sketches. +Such obstinate material made the abbreviation of the +symbols an imperative necessity; and it was by sharp +and straight strokes that the signs could be most easily +traced upon slabs of mud and clay. The oldest bricks +in the ruins of Mugheir, Warka, and Senkereh display +pictures in outline; then beside bricks with +inscriptions of this kind we find others repeating the +same inscription in cuneiform signs, which now form +a completely ideographic system of writing. The +immediate comprehension of picture signs by the +senses died away owing to abbreviations of the kind +mentioned, and the picture-writing became symbolic +writing. This writing, which consisted of groups +of cuneiform symbols, attained a higher stage of +development when a phonetic value was attributed +to a part of the cuneiform groups, whether used to +signify nouns or verbs and adjectives, or new +groups were formed for this purpose. By cuneiform +groups both simple and compound syllables are expressed. +For simple syllables, <i>i. e.</i> for those consisting +of a single consonant with a vowel before or after +it in order to give the consonant a sound, the +cuneiform writing of Babylon and Assyria possesses +about one hundred groups, and several hundred groups +for compound syllables, <i>i. e.</i> for those which have +more than one consonant. Side by side with this +syllabic writing the old abbreviated picture-writing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +was retained. Certain words of frequent occurrence, +as king, battle, month, were always represented +by picture signs, or ideograms, and so also were the +names of deities and most proper names. The greater +number of the cuneiform groups were then used in +a phonetic as well as an ideographic sense, and +without any correlation between the phonetic and +actual meaning. Thus the symbol for the word +"father" had the phonetic value of the syllable +<i>at</i>, but "father" in the Babylonian language is +<i>abu</i>. In Babylon this system of writing became +even more complicated by the fact that different +meanings and different phonetic values were ascribed +to the same cuneiform groups. There are +symbols which have four different phonetic values +and four different meanings.<a name="FNanchor_389_389" id="FNanchor_389_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_389_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a> In order to lessen to +some degree the great difficulty in understanding the +meaning which was caused by the varying use of the +same symbol as an ideogram and a sound, and the +multiplicity of meanings and sounds attached to +certain signs—key-symbols were placed before the +names of gods, lands, cities, and persons, and occasionally +one or more syllables were attached to ideograms +of more than one meaning, which formed the +termination of the word intended to be expressed +by the ideogram in the particular instance.</p> + +<p>Complicated and difficult as this writing was, it +was applied on a considerable scale in Assyria and +Babylonia, and it remained in use even after the fall +of the Babylonian empire, as is shown by bricks and +tablets of the time of Cyrus, Cambyses, Artaxerxes I., +and the Seleucidæ.<a name="FNanchor_390_390" id="FNanchor_390_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_390_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a> These are principally records of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +business or legal matters, of which, in this way, a +selection has come down to us extending from the +times of Hammurabi (<a href="#Page_261">p. 261</a>) to the first century <small>B.C.</small> +The Armenians adopted this system from the Babylonians +and Assyrians; and they also made it shorter +and simpler. In the same way the Medes and +Persians borrowed it. But in the Persian inscriptions +of the Achæmenids it has already become a mere +phonetic mode of writing but little removed from +an ordinary alphabet. Beyond doubt the Babylonian +system was known to the Western Semitic tribes; it +even passed over from Syria to Cyprus, where we find +it assuming a peculiar form, and displaying throughout +the character of a syllabic mode of writing. At the +same time among the Syrians and Phenicians a cursive +method was developed, just as in Egypt the hieratic +writing grew up beside the hieroglyphic. This +cursive writing of the Western Semitic nations has +not, however, arisen out of the cuneiform symbols, +but out of the hieratic writing of the Egyptians. The +Phenicians must claim the merit of having abbreviated +still further, for their own use, the cursive writing +of the Egyptians. But the picture-symbols of the +hieratic writing were not merely contracted and +simplified; the mixture of pictorial, syllabic, and +alphabetic symbols—beyond which the Egyptians did +not rise—was abandoned, and then for the first time +an alphabet was discovered. This Phenician alphabet +was in use in Syria as early as the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_391_391" id="FNanchor_391_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_391_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a> +In Babylonia also this alphabetic writing was in use +beside the cuneiform. We find it in Babylon side by +side with the corresponding cuneiform on a weight, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +which the inscription tells us: "Thirty minæ of +standard weight: the palace of Irba Merodach (Marduk) +king of Babylon." The exact date of this king +cannot be ascertained: we only know that he must +have belonged to the old kingdom. Assyrian weights +with inscriptions in the Phenician alphabet, beside +the cuneiform inscriptions, are found of the eighth +century <small>B.C.</small>, the time of King Tiglath Pilesar II., +Shalmanesar IV., and Sennacherib.<a name="FNanchor_392_392" id="FNanchor_392_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_392_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a></p> + +<p>"It can be maintained with good reason," says +Diodorus, "that the Chaldæans are far before all +other nations in their knowledge of the heavens; and +that they devoted the greatest attention and labour to +this science." At an early period, by comparing the +course of the sun with that of the moon, they had +perceived that the sun returned to the same position +after passing through about twelve cycles of the +moon; hence they fixed the year at twelve months of +thirty days, which they, by intercalations of various +kinds, brought into harmony with the astronomical +year of 365¼ days.<a name="FNanchor_393_393" id="FNanchor_393_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_393_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a> The observation, that the sun +after a course of twelve months returns to the same +constellation, led them on to determine the changing +position of the sun in the other months by constellations. +Thus the Babylonians marked off the +constellations which seemed to touch nearest upon +the course of the sun, and arrived at the signs of the +ecliptic or zodiac. Each of these twelve stations +through which the sun passed they again divided into +thirty parts. The week they fixed at seven days by the +course of the moon; to the day they allotted twelve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +hours, to correspond to the twelve months of the +year; the hours they divided into sixty parts, and +each of these sixtieths was again subdivided into sixty +parts. Their measures were also duodecimal. The +cubit was twenty-four finger-breadths; and on the +same system, their numerals were based upon the +<i>sossus</i>, or sixty,—a derivative from twelve, and the +<i>sarus</i>, or square of the <i>sossus</i>. When they attempted +to fix the position and intervals of the stars in the +sky, the basis taken for their measurements was the +diameter of the sun. They divided the daily course +of the sun, like the ecliptic, into 360 parts, and then +attempted to measure these at the equinox. At the +moment when the sun was seen in the sky on the +morning of the equinox, a jar filled with water was +opened. From this the water was allowed to run +into a second small jar, till the orb of the sun was +completely visible; then it ran into a third and larger +jar, till the sun was again seen on the horizon on the +following morning. They concluded that the diameter +of the sun must stand in the same proportion +to the cycle it passed through as the water in the +small jar stood to the water in the large one. Hence +they found that the diameter of the sun was contained +720 times in its course, and this diameter they fixed +at 1/30 of an hour.<a name="FNanchor_394_394" id="FNanchor_394_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_394_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a> The observation that an active +foot-courier could accomplish a certain distance in the +thirtieth part of an equinoctial hour, and thirty times +as much in the whole hour, supplied the Chaldæans +with a longitudinal measurement on the same basis. +The measure of the hour was the parasang (3/4 of a geographical +mile), and the thirtieth part of the parasang +was the stadium. Till we obtain help from the +inscriptions we must remain acquainted only with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +Persian name of the first measure and the Greek name +of the second. At the equator the sun was supposed +in every hour to traverse a distance of thirty stadia. +On this system also the Chaldæans fixed the length of +their cubit. The stadium was divided into 360 cubits, +and the sixth part of the stadium, or plethron, into +sixty cubits, and the foot was fixed at 3/5 of this cubit. +Consequently the Babylonian cubit was fixed at +twenty-one inches of our measure (525 millimeters).<a name="FNanchor_395_395" id="FNanchor_395_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_395_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a></p> + +<p>From this division of the sphere the Babylonians, +though aided by very simple instruments, the polus +and gnomon,<a name="FNanchor_396_396" id="FNanchor_396_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_396_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a> arrived at very exact astronomical +observations and results. They discovered a period +of 223 months, within which all eclipses of the moon +occurred in a similar number and equal extent. By +means of this period they fixed the average length of +the synodic and periodic month with such accuracy +that our astronomers here found the first to be too +large by four seconds only, and the last by one +second. Their observations of ten lunar eclipses, and +three conjunctions of planets and fixed stars, have +come down to us. The oldest of these observations is +that of a lunar eclipse of the year 721 <small>B.C.</small>, which +took place "a good hour after midnight." The second +took place in 720 <small>B.C.</small>, "about midnight;" the third +in the same year "after the rising of the moon." In +these observations also our astronomers have found +but little to correct.</p> + +<p>As the Chaldæans brought their measures of the +sphere, of time and length into correlation, so also +they attempted to preserve the same relation in +their cubic measures and weights. For their weights +and cubic measures the division of the units into +sixtieths (minæ, <i>i. e.</i> parts) was retained. The quad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>rantal, +or <i>Maris</i>, contained one Babylonian cubic foot, +and the sixtieth part of this was the <i>Log</i>. The +weight in water of a Babylonian cubic foot was, +according to the statistics of our physicists, about +sixty-six pounds (32,721 kilogrammes), but the +Chaldæans reckoned it at only 60⅗ pounds (30,300 +kilogrammes).<a name="FNanchor_397_397" id="FNanchor_397_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_397_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a></p> + +<p>The weight of the cubic measure was also the +standard for imperial weight in Babylonia. The +oldest weight which we know dates from the time +of Ilgi, king of Ur. The stone, which in shape is +not unlike a duck, has the inscription: "Ten minæ +of Ilgi."<a name="FNanchor_398_398" id="FNanchor_398_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_398_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a> There was a heavy talent (Kikkar, <i>i. e.</i> +"orb") arranged to weigh twice as much as the +quadrantal. Hence it weighed 121⅕ pounds (60,600 +kils.), and the sixtieth, or mina, weighed over two +pounds. The light talent weighed one quadrantal, +according to the estimate of the Chaldæans, <i>i. e.</i> 60⅗ +pounds, and the mina was a little heavier than a +pound of our weight. But in weighing the precious +metals, the Chaldæans used units, which differed from +the imperial weights in use for all other purposes. +They calculated by little circular pieces, or rings, or +bars (tongues) of silver and gold, and the smallest of +these was equivalent to the shekel, or sixtieth part +of the mina of the heavy talent. These shekels were +the commonest and most indispensable measure of +value. It was found easier to reckon by units of +3,000 shekels, than by units of 3,600. And so it +came about that the mina contained fifty shekels +instead of sixty, and the talent 3,000 shekels instead +of 3,600. The three thousand shekels as a whole, +no longer weighed 121⅕ pounds, but only 101<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +pounds, and the mina, or sixtieth part, instead of +weighing fully two pounds, weighed only about 1⅗ +pounds.<a name="FNanchor_399_399" id="FNanchor_399_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_399_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a></p> + +<p>This weight, or the half of it (50½ pounds), was +retained for the heavy and light gold talent. In the +weight of silver trade caused a further deviation. It +was necessary to exchange gold and silver, and in the +East in antiquity the value of gold and silver was +estimated at 13 : 1, or more accurately 13⅓ : 1.<a name="FNanchor_400_400" id="FNanchor_400_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_400_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a> By +making the silver shekel (<i>i. e.</i> the fiftieth part of the +silver mina), which corresponded to the weight of +the light gold talent, a little heavier, a silver coin +was obtained which stood to the fiftieth of the light +gold mina, nearly in the ratio of 10 : 1. Ten silver +shekels of this weight could therefore without any +further trouble be exchanged for the fiftieth of the +gold mina, or gold shekel of the light gold talent. +Hence arose a silver talent of 67⅓ pounds (33,660 +kil.), a silver mina of 1<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>10</sub> pound, and a silver shekel +of about eleven milligrammes.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_359_359" id="Footnote_359_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_359_359"><span class="label">[359]</span></a> Diod. 2, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_360_360" id="Footnote_360_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_360_360"><span class="label">[360]</span></a> Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 9, 10, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_361_361" id="Footnote_361_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_361_361"><span class="label">[361]</span></a> Pindari Fragm. adesp. 83, ed. Bergk.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_362_362" id="Footnote_362_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_362_362"><span class="label">[362]</span></a> Schrader, "Assyr.-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 123; "Keilschriften und +Alt. Test." s. 280.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_363_363" id="Footnote_363_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_363_363"><span class="label">[363]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," p. 130.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_364_364" id="Footnote_364_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_364_364"><span class="label">[364]</span></a> 2 Kings xvii. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_365_365" id="Footnote_365_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_365_365"><span class="label">[365]</span></a> Amos v. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_366_366" id="Footnote_366_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_366_366"><span class="label">[366]</span></a> Eberhard Schrader, "Theologg. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 324 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_367_367" id="Footnote_367_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_367_367"><span class="label">[367]</span></a> Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 167, 272; "Assyr.-babyl. +Keilschriften," s. 88, 129, 140.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_368_368" id="Footnote_368_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_368_368"><span class="label">[368]</span></a> Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 201-203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_369_369" id="Footnote_369_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_369_369"><span class="label">[369]</span></a> Munter, "Religion der Babylonier," s. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_370_370" id="Footnote_370_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_370_370"><span class="label">[370]</span></a> Herod. 1, 199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_371_371" id="Footnote_371_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_371_371"><span class="label">[371]</span></a> Baruch, vi. 42, 43 (Ep. Jerem.); cf. Genesis xxxviii. 14 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_372_372" id="Footnote_372_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_372_372"><span class="label">[372]</span></a> Ménant, "Babylone," p. 204.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_373_373" id="Footnote_373_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_373_373"><span class="label">[373]</span></a> Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldæer," s. 405. So, too, Istar of +Agane is opposed to Istar of Erech.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_374_374" id="Footnote_374_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_374_374"><span class="label">[374]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." p. 220; Schrader, "Höllenfahrt," p. 15 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_375_375" id="Footnote_375_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_375_375"><span class="label">[375]</span></a> Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 69, 85, 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_376_376" id="Footnote_376_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_376_376"><span class="label">[376]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 201.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_377_377" id="Footnote_377_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_377_377"><span class="label">[377]</span></a> Diod. 2, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_378_378" id="Footnote_378_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_378_378"><span class="label">[378]</span></a> Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_379_379" id="Footnote_379_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_379_379"><span class="label">[379]</span></a> Diod. 2, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_380_380" id="Footnote_380_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_380_380"><span class="label">[380]</span></a> Diod. 2, 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_381_381" id="Footnote_381_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_381_381"><span class="label">[381]</span></a> Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, p. 137.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_382_382" id="Footnote_382_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_382_382"><span class="label">[382]</span></a> 2 Kings xxiii. 5-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_383_383" id="Footnote_383_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_383_383"><span class="label">[383]</span></a> Diod. 2, 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_384_384" id="Footnote_384_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_384_384"><span class="label">[384]</span></a> Stuhr, "Die Religionsysteme der Völker des Orients," 1, 424.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_385_385" id="Footnote_385_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_385_385"><span class="label">[385]</span></a> Sayce, "Bibl. Archæol." 3, p. 153.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_386_386" id="Footnote_386_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_386_386"><span class="label">[386]</span></a> Diod. 2, 30, 31; Daniel 4, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_387_387" id="Footnote_387_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_387_387"><span class="label">[387]</span></a> Above, <a href="#Page_268">p. 268</a>; Strabo, p. 739.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_388_388" id="Footnote_388_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_388_388"><span class="label">[388]</span></a> Movers, "Religion der Phœnizier," 2, 262, 275.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_389_389" id="Footnote_389_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_389_389"><span class="label">[389]</span></a> Schrader, "Assyrisch. Babyl. Keilschriften," s. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_390_390" id="Footnote_390_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_390_390"><span class="label">[390]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 387, 388; Ménant, "Les Achæmenides." +Recently a tablet has been found, supposed to belong to the time of +Cæsar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_391_391" id="Footnote_391_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_391_391"><span class="label">[391]</span></a> De Rougé, "Sur l'Origine Egyptienne de l'Alphabet Phénicien;" +Lauth, "Sitzungsber. d. Bair. Akad. d." 10, 1867, pp. 84-124. The +inscription of Mesha, king of Moab, proves by the formation and use of +the letters that this alphabet had been known for a long time.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_392_392" id="Footnote_392_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_392_392"><span class="label">[392]</span></a> The Basalt duck of Irba Marduk—no doubt a piece of Babylonian +booty—was found at Nineveh.—Layard, "Discoveries," p. 601; Schrader, +"Assyr. Babyl. Keilschrift," s. 175; De Vogué, "Rev. Arch." 11, 366.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_393_393" id="Footnote_393_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_393_393"><span class="label">[393]</span></a> Ideler, "Handbuch der Chronologie," 1, 207; Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." +3, p. 160.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_394_394" id="Footnote_394_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_394_394"><span class="label">[394]</span></a> Ideler, "Sternkunde der Chaldaer," s. 214.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_395_395" id="Footnote_395_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_395_395"><span class="label">[395]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 20 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_396_396" id="Footnote_396_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_396_396"><span class="label">[396]</span></a> Herod. 2, 109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_397_397" id="Footnote_397_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_397_397"><span class="label">[397]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 36 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_398_398" id="Footnote_398_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_398_398"><span class="label">[398]</span></a> George Smith, "Records of the Past." 3, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_399_399" id="Footnote_399_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_399_399"><span class="label">[399]</span></a> These statements are founded on the more recent forms established by +Brandis, "Münzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 158, ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_400_400" id="Footnote_400_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_400_400"><span class="label">[400]</span></a> Brandis, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 85.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA.</h3> + + +<p>Like the Pharaohs, the rulers of Babylon sought +their fame in magnificent buildings. But their works +have not been able to withstand the ravages of time +with the same durability as the stone mountains and +porticoes on the Nile. The lower Euphrates does not +lie, like the Nile, between walls of rocks, from which +the most beautiful and hardest stone could be obtained. +The plain of Babylonia afforded nothing but earth +for the bricks, which were sometimes burnt, sometimes +dried in the sun; and excellent mortar was to be +obtained from the large asphalt pits on the Euphrates, +especially at Hit. Hence it was necessary to unite +the walls more strongly. In the palaces, and +temples, the walls of brick were covered with slabs +of gypsum, or limestone, which must often have been +brought from a distance, and these slabs were then +covered with sculptures, like the stone walls of the +Egyptian buildings. But more commonly the ornaments +on the inner walls, and occasionally even those +on the outer walls, consist of bricks coloured and +glazed. Though the material in Babylonia was +more fragile than the granite of Egypt, the extent, +scale, and splendour of these buildings were so great, +that remains even of the oldest have come down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +our time. The upper portions of the brick walls have +fallen down, and the ruins of the Babylonian cities +have thus for the most part become unsightly enough; +but not the less do they point out the positions of the +old buildings, and under the heaps are hidden the most +valuable remains of those ancient periods.</p> + +<p>As has been already remarked, the cities in the +south of Babylonia are the first to emerge in the +progress of the country. The oldest princes call +themselves kings of Ur and Nipur; they build at +Ur, at Nipur, at Erech, and at Senkereh, between +Erech and Ur. Not till the time of Hammurabi, +and perhaps through his power, did Babylon become +the centre and metropolis of the kingdom. He and +his successors built at Babylon, Borsippa, Sippara, +and Kutha, as well as in the southern cities. The +universal characteristic of these buildings, so far as +the remains allow us to pass any judgment, is the +extraordinary strength of the walls and the obvious +effort to obtain, by placing one story of solid masonry +upon another, higher positions, better air, and a more +extensive view in the level plain. The temples seem +almost universally to be built in this tower-like style, +either in order to be nearer the gods in the purer and +higher air, or because the gods, as spirits of the +heaven, and as bright luminaries of the sky, received +the sacrifices here offered to them, and the prayers +hence addressed to them with greater favour. On the +inside their structures were built of square bricks +three or four inches in thickness, and on the outside +these bricks are lined with burnt tiles. The tiles +almost invariably carry in the middle the impression +of the stamp of the king who used them.</p> + +<p>The ruins of Ur (Mugheir), on the western bank of +the Euphrates, occupy a considerable space, shut in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +by the remains still traceable, of a wall, running +in an oval shape, and from three to four miles in +circumference. Amid these ruins rises, to the north-west, +a heap of bricks and broken tiles, which is even +now about 70 feet above the surface of the plain. +On a plateau about 20 feet in height is a rectangular +building, with the four sides directed exactly to the +four quarters of the sky. The two longer sides are +about 200 feet in length, the shorter sides are about +130 feet. It was a solid mass of brick, joined with +bitumen, about 27 feet high; the outer walls, of +burnt tiles, are about 10 feet thick. Buttresses of +eight feet in breadth surround the whole story at +short distances. The centre of the structure is pierced +by narrow air-passages extending from one side to +the other. On this story is a second, 120 feet in +length by 75 feet in breadth, and even now about +17 feet high. The ruins lying on this point to a +third story, which may have contained the actual +temple. There are traces still remaining of the +entrance, which led up from the outside. The tiles +of the lower story bear the stamp, "Urukh, king of +Ur, has erected the temple of the god Sin;" on +those of the upper story we find, "Ilgi, king of Ur, +king of Sumir, and Accad." This building was, +therefore, the temple of Sin, which Urukh commenced +and his son Ilgi continued and completed—a fact +which is further proved by the inscriptions of +Nabonetus, the last king of Babylon, which were +found in these ruins. To the south-east of this +structure lies a platform, faced with tiles, 400 feet +in circuit, which probably supported another temple +or a palace. The foundation walls of various +chambers can still be traced. Similar structures are +found in the ruins of Abu Shahrein, south of Mugheir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +on the Euphrates. From a wide platform rises a +square structure surrounded by a wall, in which are +the remains of decorated chambers. North of Ur, on +the east bank of the Euphrates, the remains of +Senkereh form a circular plateau, not quite five +miles in circumference; the ruins rise gradually +towards the centre, which is marked by the remains +of a structure 320 feet long and 220 broad, the walls +of which, on one side, still rise 70 feet over the plain. +In these and the other ruins of Senkereh inscriptions +are found in considerable numbers, which give us the +names of kings from Urukh to Cambyses.</p> + +<p>In the ruins of Erech (Uruk, Warka), above Senkereh, +on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, are +found the remains of an outer wall, broken by +semicircular towers open to the city. This wall +forms an irregular circle of more than five miles in +circumference. Here and there the ruins are still +about 40 feet high. Within the wall are three heaps +of ruins. On the highest, which forms an exact square +of more than 200 feet at the base, we may trace the +ruins of a second story. This heap is about 100 feet +in height. It consists of bricks alternating with layers +of reeds at intervals of four or five feet in height. +Here also there are buttresses, in which the tiles are +cemented with bitumen. To the west lie the remains +of an oblong structure of double the size. The ruins +of Nipur are sixty miles to the north of Erech, in the +land between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Here are +several rounded heaps, but they are of less extent +than the remains of Ur, Senkereh, and Erech.</p> + +<p>The heaps of ruins which rise out of the plains +some miles to the south-west of Babylon—the Arabs +call them Birs Nimrud, <i>i. e.</i> "the fortress of Nimrod"—exhibit +the same plan of structure as the ruins of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +the temples at Ur and Erech. Within a square wall, +on a platform of brick, rises a square story, 272 feet +on every side, and 26 feet in height; over this is +a second story, of the same height, but forming a +square of 230 feet only, and not placed exactly in +the middle of the lower story, but in such a manner +that on one side it recedes 12 feet only, but on the +other 30 feet from the edge of the lower plateau. +In the same way the third and still smaller story +rests on the second. It is of the same height as the +others. The fourth story is only 15 feet in height. +The loose mass of ruins does not allow us to trace +any more stories. Hence the building in all probability +consisted of seven stories. It appears that +these ruins, like the extensive heaps of remains lying +to the east of them (Tel Ibrahim), mark the site of +the ancient Borsippa. The tiles of the stories, which +lie one over the other, bear the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar +II., and in the angles of the building cylinders +have been discovered,<a name="FNanchor_401_401" id="FNanchor_401_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_401_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a> on which Nebuchadnezzar +relates that the temple of the seven lamps of the +earth, the tower of Borsippa, which an earlier king +had commenced but not completed, and which had +fallen into decay for many years, was again erected +by him, and the pinnacles covered with copper. In his +great inscription of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar further +tells us that he "restored the marvel of Borsippa, the +temple of the seven spheres of the sky and of the +earth, and covered the pinnacles with copper." In +the same inscription it is said that Nebuchadnezzar +built temples at Borsippa to the goddess Nana, to +Adar, Bin, and Sin, and that he restored and completed +Beth-Sida, <i>i. e.</i> the chief temple of Nebo at +Borsippa; nevertheless we may be certain, from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +cylinders actually found in the ruins, that the remains +are those of the temple of the seven lamps.<a name="FNanchor_402_402" id="FNanchor_402_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_402_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a></p> + +<p>Turning from Borsippa to Babylon, we find Herodotus +describing the largest temple of the city in +the following manner:—"The sanctuary of Zeus +Belus—it is in existence still—forms a square of +two stadia on every side, and is furnished with iron +gates. In the midst is a massive tower, a stadium +in the square. Over this tower stands another, and +again another, till there are eight towers, one over the +other. They are ascended from the outside, and the +ascent goes up round all the towers. Half-way up +there is a resting-place, and seats for those who are +ascending. On the highest tower is a large temple, +and in the temple a large and beautifully-prepared +bed, and beside it a golden table. There is no +image there, nor does anyone watch there through +the night except a woman of the country, whom, as +the Chaldæan priests say, their god has chosen out +of all the land. They also declare, though I do not +believe it, that the god sometimes comes into the +temple and rests on the bed. In this sanctuary there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +is also another temple below, and in this there is +a great image of the seated Zeus, of gold, and a large +golden table; the footstool and seat are also of gold; +and altogether, as the Chaldæans say, the amount of +gold used is 800 talents. Outside this temple is a +golden altar, on which only sucking creatures may +be sacrificed, and also a larger altar, where the full-grown +animals are sacrificed. On this the Chaldæans +burn in every year 1,000 talents of incense when +they celebrate the festival of the god. Here was +another golden image of the god, 12 cubits high. +But this I did not see; I only repeat what the +Chaldæans told me. This image Xerxes had taken +away. Such were the adornments of the temple, +and besides these there were in it many dedicatory +offerings given by individuals."<a name="FNanchor_403_403" id="FNanchor_403_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_403_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a></p> + +<p>Diodorus, who wrote four hundred years later than +Herodotus, relates:—"In the middle of the city was +the sanctuary of Zeus, whom the Babylonians call +Belus. But as the writers give different accounts +of the temple, and the structure has fallen from age, +it is not possible to say anything certain about it. +Yet they agree that it was extremely high, and that +the Chaldæans here made their observations of the +stars, as the height of the building enabled them to +observe accurately their rising and setting. The +whole building is said to have been constructed of +burnt brick and bitumen, with great skill and much +ornament. On the top were three statues of Zeus, +Hera, and Rhea, of beaten gold. The statue of Zeus +represented him standing and advancing. It was +40 feet high and 1,000 Babylonian talents in weight. +Of the same weight was the statue of Rhea, in which +the goddess was seated on a golden throne. Beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +her knees were two lions, and close at hand two very +large serpents of silver, each weighing 30 talents. +The standing figure of Hera weighed 800 talents; +in her right hand she held a serpent by the head, and +in the left a sceptre studded with precious stones. +Before these statues was a common table of beaten +gold, 40 feet long and 15 feet broad, and 500 talents +in weight. On the table were two chalices, each +30 talents in weight. There also were two vessels +for incense, each 30 talents in weight, and three +great jars, of which that consecrated to Zeus was +1,200 talents in weight, and the two others 600 +talents each."<a name="FNanchor_404_404" id="FNanchor_404_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_404_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a> Strabo contents himself with the +remark: "The now ruined grave of Belus was a +square pyramid of burnt bricks. It was a stadium +in height, and a stadium on every side. Alexander +intended to rebuild it, but the work was enormous, +and required a long time; the removal of the debris +alone employed 10,000 workmen for two months, so +that he could not bring it to an end, for soon after he +fell sick and died."<a name="FNanchor_405_405" id="FNanchor_405_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_405_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a> What Diodorus tells us of the +many thousand talents of gold, of the statues and +utensils on the top of the temple-tower, is borrowed +from Ctesias, and belongs to the romance or poetry +of the East from the time of the empire of the Medes. +But we cannot doubt that there was a considerable +amount of gold in the greatest sanctuary at Babel. +The seated image of gold in the lower temple, which +Herodotus saw, weighed, according to the Chaldæans, +800 talents, <i>i. e.</i>, on the light imperial scale, 50,000 +pounds.</p> + +<p>It was this magnificent temple at Babylon to which +the tradition of the Hebrews has attached the account +of the building of that tower in the plain of Shinar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +of which the top should reach heaven. The mighty +men, the giants of the ancient days, desired to climb +heaven. Their insolence and wicked purpose was +punished by the confusion of language and the +dispersion of mankind. Josephus makes Nimrod, as +the founder of the kingdom of Babylon, the promoter +of this wicked scheme. Nimrod intended the tower +to be so high that a second flood could not reach the +top, and thus men would be able to bid defiance to the +gods, and yet be secure against a second destruction.<a name="FNanchor_406_406" id="FNanchor_406_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_406_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a></p> + +<p>Let us now inquire what conclusions, if any, can be +derived from the inscriptions about the great temple +of Babylon. From ancient times there was at this +place a sanctuary of the name of Beth-Sagall, or +Beth-Saggatu, <i>i. e.</i> "House of the Height." Whether +this was erected as early as Hammurabi is doubtful; +but an inscription of his successor tells us that he set +up the image of the god Merodach (Marduk) in Beth-Sagall.<a name="FNanchor_407_407" id="FNanchor_407_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_407_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a> +These inscriptions of king Esarhaddon, who +ruled over Assyria and Babylonia from 681 <small>B.C.</small> to +668 <small>B.C.</small>, tell us that "he caused tiles to be made in +Babylon for Beth-Saggatu, the temple of the great +gods."<a name="FNanchor_408_408" id="FNanchor_408_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_408_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a> After the restoration of the Babylonian empire +Nebuchadnezzar always calls himself in his inscriptions, +"Supporter of Beth-Saggatu, and Beth-Sida." +Beth-Sida, <i>i. e.</i> "House of Prosperity," or "House of +the Right Hand," was the name of the rich temple +of Nebo at Borsippa. "Like a pious man," says +Nebuchadnezzar in one of his inscriptions, "I have +dealt towards Beth-Saggatu, and towards Beth-Sida. +I have magnified the splendour of the god Merodach, +and the god Nebo, my lords: I have completed Beth-Sida, +the eternal house, where Nebo and Nana are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +enthroned, at Borsippa."<a name="FNanchor_409_409" id="FNanchor_409_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_409_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a> "I have set up Beth-Saggatu, +and beautified it; Beth-Sida I have completed."<a name="FNanchor_410_410" id="FNanchor_410_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_410_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a> On +the cylinders found in the ruins of the temple of the +seven lamps, Nebuchadnezzar says: "Beth-Saggatu is +the temple of the Heaven and the Earth, the dwelling +of Merodach, the lord of the gods, and with pure +gold have I caused the temple to be covered, where +his splendour rests; the temple of the foundations of +the earth, the tower of Babylon, I have restored, with +tiles and copper I have completed it, and raised its +summit."<a name="FNanchor_411_411" id="FNanchor_411_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_411_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a> The chief inscription on the stone of +black basalt relates at greater length how Nebuchadnezzar +adorned the sanctuary in Beth-Saggatu, where +Merodach rested; how he set up the marvel of +Babylon, the temple of the foundations of the heaven +and the earth; how he raised the summit with tiles +and copper. The description of this erection concludes +with the satisfaction felt in seeing that Beth-Saggatu +was now completed.<a name="FNanchor_412_412" id="FNanchor_412_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_412_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a> And not only does Nebuchadnezzar +boast of the care and attention bestowed by +him on Beth-Sida and Beth-Saggatu. The prince +before whose arms the creation of Nebuchadnezzar, +the restored kingdom of Babylon, was overthrown—Cyrus, +the Persian, calls himself on the stamp of a +tile at Senkereh, "Kuru, supporter of Beth-Saggatu +and Beth-Sida, son of Kambuzija."<a name="FNanchor_413_413" id="FNanchor_413_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_413_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a></p> + +<p>This series of evidence shows that the lofty temple +of Belus, which Herodotus has described for us above, +was to the Babylonians "the House of the Height," +the temple of Bel Merodach (<a href="#Page_268">p. 268</a>), and that it was +the first of the three temples in which the kings of +Assyria sacrificed when they trod the soil of Babylon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +at the head of their victorious armies, or as sovereigns; +and that of these three rich temples, <i>i. e.</i> the temple of +Nergal at Kutha, Beth-Sida, the temple of Nebo at +Borsippa, and Beth-Saggatu, the temple of Merodach +at Babel, the latter was certainly the most wealthy. +Moreover, the inscriptions show that the foundation +goes back as far as the times of king Hammurabi, +whose accession we found it possible—on hypothesis +only, it is true—to place in the year 1976 <small>B.C.</small> But +even the Hebrew narrative of the building of the +Tower of Babel, which must have been written down +before 1,000 <small>B.C.</small> (below, chap. vii.) proves, in this +respect harmonising with the inscriptions, that long +before this time there must have been in Babylon a +structure of great height, but unfinished.</p> + +<p>Herodotus, in his description of Babylon, tells us +that the Tower of Belus was on one side of the +Euphrates, and the royal castle on the other. On +which side each of these lay, he does not state. +Xenophon speaks of the palace of Babylon, and beside +this of special castles.<a name="FNanchor_414_414" id="FNanchor_414_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_414_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a> From the accounts of those +who accompanied Alexander, it is clear that there +were two royal castles in Babylon, one on the right +hand and one on the left of the Euphrates, which +certainly were not built under the Achæmenids. +Berosus tells us that Nebuchadnezzar built himself a +palace beside that of his father Nabopolassar. The +inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar speak repeatedly of +the continuation of the palace at Babylon which his +father had begun.<a name="FNanchor_415_415" id="FNanchor_415_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_415_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a> As the two great heaps of +ruins on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, El Kasr +and Amran ibn Ali, exhibit on the tiles found there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar, this palace of the ruler +of the restored kingdom must have lain on the east +bank of the Euphrates. Diodorus describes the two +castles of Babylon, of which one was on the east and +the other on the west bank of the river; while both +were adorned with various ornaments. "That in the +part lying towards the west" had a circuit of sixty +stades, inclosed by lofty and costly walls. These +were followed by a second circular wall, on the rude +bricks of which various kinds of animals were +stamped, and brought into a resemblance with the +reality by the painter's art. The circumference was +forty stades in length, and the wall was three hundred +bricks in thickness; the height, according to Ctesias, +was fifty fathoms, and the tower rose to sixty +fathoms. The third interior wall which surrounded +the buildings was twenty stades in circuit, but in +height and thickness it surpassed the middle wall. +On this and the towers belonging to it animals of +all kinds were depicted with considerable skill in +form and colour. The whole exhibited a chase, full +of many different animals, which were of more than +four cubits in size. Among these was a queen on +horseback, who threw her dart at a panther; and at +hand was the king, who thrust at a lion with his lance. +This palace surpassed both in size and beauty the +palace on the other side of the Euphrates. Here the +exterior wall of burnt tiles was only thirty stades in +circumference, and instead of the numerous animals +were bronze statues of a king and a queen and of +governors, and also a bronze statue of Zeus, whom +the Babylonians call Belus. But in the interior were +military evolutions and hunting scenes of every kind, +which gave varied amusement to the spectator.<a name="FNanchor_416_416" id="FNanchor_416_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_416_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +Ctesias, whom Diodorus followed in his description +of the palace on the west bank, as in his account of +the treasures in the Tower of Belus (<a href="#Page_293">p. 293</a>), has also +borrowed, in his description of this castle, the erection +of which he ascribes to Ninus, from the Medo-Persian +Epos, and this, as I shall show below, endeavoured +to place the glory of Ninus and Semiramis in the +most brilliant light. Hence, though here, as in +the account of the treasures, considerable deductions +are to be made, we can nevertheless recognise the +fact that the castle of the ancient kings of Babylon on +the western bank of the Euphrates was of considerable +size, magnificent, and well fortified, although the +remains now in existence are fewer and far smaller than +those of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar on the eastern +bank of the Euphrates, where the painted and glazed +tiles also confirm what Diodorus says of the battle +and hunting scenes of this palace. If the ancient +royal castle lay on the western bank, the Tower of +Belus rose opposite it on the eastern bank. This is +proved by an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, in which +we are told:—"In order to protect Beth-Saggatu more +strongly, and secure it from the attack of the enemy, +I have erected a second wall, the wall of the rising +sun, which no king had built before me."<a name="FNanchor_417_417" id="FNanchor_417_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_417_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a> Hence we +may with certainty affirm that the most northern of +the heaps on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, the +heap of Babil, the summit of which still rises 140 +feet above the river, is the remains of the great +tower of Bel Merodach.</p> + +<p>The ancient kings of Babylon, Hammurabi and +his successors, not only built temples and palaces, +but also fortresses. Hammurabi has himself already +told us, that he built the fortress of Ummubanit,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +"the towers of which were as high as mountains." +Kurigalzu built the fortress of this name (Akerkuf, +<a href="#Page_262">p. 262</a>). Of the extensive walls of Ur and Erech +we have already spoken, and Sennacherib could boast +of having taken eighty-nine fortresses in Babylonia +(<a href="#Page_258">p. 258</a>).</p> + +<p>Herodotus observes that in Babylonia the river +(Euphrates) does not overflow into the fields spontaneously, +as in Egypt. It is not so active as the +Nile, and the water has to be raised artificially by +hand, and by wheels.<a name="FNanchor_418_418" id="FNanchor_418_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_418_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a> The provision of a sufficient +supply of water for the land was not neglected by +the kings. We have already seen (<a href="#Page_261">p. 261</a>) that +king Hammurabi boasted to have supplied Sumir +and Accad with water for ever. The canal system +of Babylonia began about 150 miles above the metropolis.<a name="FNanchor_419_419" id="FNanchor_419_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_419_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a> +The main object was to protect the plain +from the rapid floods of the Euphrates by dams, and +to moderate the flow of the inundation. Reservoirs +were required to receive the water of the overflow, +and preserve it against the time of drought. It was +also necessary to carry the water as far as the middle +of the plain, which in ordinary years it failed to +reach, to form a network of canals to convey water +from the Euphrates even when there was no inundation, +and finally to dig trenches to remove the +water from districts where it lay too long, and to +drain the broad marshes on the lower river near +the mouth of the Euphrates. From the inscription +of Hammurabi, and the numerous remains of +dams and canals, we may conclude that the kings +of Babylon constructed large and comprehensive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +works of this kind, which were of use not in agriculture +only, but for commerce also. The brief +duration of the later restoration of the kingdom +could not allow time to complete the greater part +of the vast structures and conduits, of which traces +and ruins are still in existence. The canal Naarsares, +which was carried from the Euphrates above Babylon +toward the west, and ran parallel to the stream till +within a short distance of the mouth; the canal +Pallakopas, which was derived from the main stream +100 miles below Babylon, and emptied into the +Chaldæan lakes, in order to convey to them the +excess of water from the Euphrates; and three +junction canals above Babylon between the Euphrates +and Tigris, from which trenches branched +off for irrigation, appear to belong to the time of +the ancient kingdom (see below). These labours of +the princes, the numerous dams and "waters of +Babylon," attained their object. Babylonia was a +garden where the land brought forth more abundant +fruits than in Egypt.</p> + +<p>Very few relics are left of the sculpture of the +Babylonians. If we set aside a few sketches on +cylinders and seals, we have no means of knowing +at first hand the images of their gods. The form +of the god Nebo on the cylinder of Urukh has been +already mentioned (<a href="#Page_260">p. 260</a>). The finished statues +cannot have been very different from the images of +the Assyrian gods and the statues of Nebo (<a href="#Page_267">p. 267</a>). +The remains of the ornaments of the friezes in the +palaces of Babylon are scarcely to be distinguished +from Assyrian sculptures. They are bearded, long-haired +heads of serious expression, with tall, upright +headdresses. Beyond these only a few figures in +clay have been preserved, which are not without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +a certain truth of nature, though exaggerated, and +a rude though powerful lion of stone standing over +a prostrate man, from the ruins of Babylon. Whether +we regard it as unfinished, or as belonging to the +infancy of art, this work is all that we possess of +full figures in stone, except a duck, intended for +use as a weight (<a href="#Page_282">p. 282</a>). The human forms on +the numerous seal cylinders are often sketched in +rude, childish outlines. On the other hand, the +single relief of a king of Babylon hitherto discovered, +though massive, is of artistic and neat workmanship. +The king wears a long and very richly-adorned robe +with close sleeves, which are fastened by bracelets +round the knuckles. The robe reaches to the ankles, +over which come the richly embroidered shoes. The +head is covered by a tall, upright tiara, on which are +horses with wings and horns. The king has a bow +in his left hand, and two arrows in his right; in his +girdle is a dagger. It appears to be an image of +Mardukidinakh, the opponent of Tiglath Pilesar I. +of Assyria (<a href="#Page_262">p. 262</a>). The forms of the animals in the +reliefs, and the cylinders, are lively in conception and +vigorous in workmanship; they consist of dogs, birds, +apes, deer, and antelopes. Humorous sketches of +animals in caricature are also found on cylinders, +and the earrings and ornaments, found in the ruins, +are, in part, of delicate workmanship.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable remains in the ruins of Ur +and Erech are the tombs. At Ur, outside the +wall already mentioned, there is a broad band of +sepulchres encircling the ruins of the wall. The +tombs are chambers of seven feet in length, three +to four feet in breadth, and five feet in height. The +roofs are formed by tiles projecting in successive +layers over the walls, and thus gradually approaching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +each other. The floors are also covered with tiles. +On the tiles lay a mat of reeds, and on this the +corpse was placed, generally turned to the left side, +with the head on a brick; the right arm, laid towards +the left over the breast, rests the fingers on the edge +of a copper saucer. Clay vessels for food and drink +are found on the walls. In the ruins of Erech the +whole space between the three prominent heaps of +ruins and the external walls is filled with tombs, +bones, and relics of the dead. The coffins here are +receptacles partly oval, made of burnt clay in a +single piece, about seven feet long, two and a half +broad, and two to three feet high, contracting towards +the top; and partly narrow funnel-shaped vessels of +clay rounded off at both ends and united in the +middle, in which the body was closely fitted. The +position of the skeletons and objects round them +are the same in the oval coffins as in the brick vaults. +As a rule these coffins are not found under the +surface, but in raised brick buildings. They lie +thickly together, and often in several rows, one upon +the other. Relics of weapons, necklaces, and bracelets, +gold and silver rings for the fingers and toes, and +other ornaments, are found in these sepulchres.<a name="FNanchor_420_420" id="FNanchor_420_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_420_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a></p> + +<p>The industry of the Babylonians quickly attained +great skill and wide development. They were famous +for their weaving in wool and linen. The nations of +the West agree in acknowledging the excellence of +the cloths and coloured stuffs of Babylonia. Their +pottery was excellent and the manufacture active; +the preparation of glass was not unknown; the +ointments prepared in Babylon were famous and +much sought after, and the stones cut there were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +highly valued. The products of Babylonian skill +and industry were first brought to their kinsmen +in Syria, who could offer oil and wine in exchange. +In the Hebrew scriptures we find Babylonian cloaks +in use in Syria before the immigration of the Hebrews +into Canaan.<a name="FNanchor_421_421" id="FNanchor_421_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_421_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a> How active the commerce between +Babylonia and Syria was even before that date is +proved by the circumstance that the tribute which +in the sixteenth century <small>B.C.</small> was received by +Tuthmosis III. from Syria is put down on the +inscriptions at Karnak (<a href="#Page_135">p. 135</a>) in part in weight +by the mina, and in part, when reduced from the +Egyptian to the Babylonian weight, gives round +sums corresponding to the Babylonian weight, from +which the conclusion can be drawn that the imperial +Babylonian weight and the Babylonian money +weight were already in use in Syria about this time. +That the trade mina of the Syrians was the sixtieth +part of the heavy (weight) talent of the Babylonians +is ascertained; but the heavy and light gold talent, +as well as the silver talent of 67⅓ pounds, must, +according to these deductions, have been known to +the Syrians about this date.<a name="FNanchor_422_422" id="FNanchor_422_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_422_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a> Afterwards the Hebrews +put their gold shekel, on the basis of the heavy gold +talent of Babylon, at the fiftieth part of the mina +of this talent. Besides the silver talent of Babylonia, +there was also a heavy silver talent of about ninety +pounds (44,760 kil.) in use in Syria. This came +into existence because in Syria fifteen, and not ten, +silver pieces (fiftieths of the mina) were equal to +the fiftieth of the heavy gold mina (1⅗ pounds), +(<a href="#Page_285">p. 285</a>).<a name="FNanchor_423_423" id="FNanchor_423_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_423_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a> Along with their weights the Syrians also +adopted the cubic measures of the Babylonians.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> + +<p>The rough material required by Babylonian industry +was supplied in the first place by the Arabs, who +exchanged their animals, skins, and wool for corn +and weapons. Wine, and more especially wood, +of which there was none in Babylonia, were brought +by the Armenians from their valleys in the north +down the Euphrates to Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_424_424" id="FNanchor_424_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_424_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a> Before 1500 <small>B.C.</small> +the commerce of the Arabs brought the products +of South Arabia, the spices of Yemen, and even the +products and manufactures of India, especially their +silks, which reached the coasts of Southern Arabia +(see below), to Babylon. The Babylonians required +the perfumes of Arabia and India to prepare their +ointments. In order to prepare the best or royal +ointment, twenty-five of the most precious perfumes +were mixed together.<a name="FNanchor_425_425" id="FNanchor_425_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_425_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a> When the cities of Phenicia +became great centres of trade which carried the wares +of Babylonia by sea to the West in order to obtain +copper in exchange, the trade between Babylonia and +Syria must have become more lively still. It was +the ships of the Phenicians which brought the cubic +measure, and the weights, and the cubit of Babylonia +to the shores of Greece, and caused them to be adopted +there. In the ninth or eighth century <small>B.C.</small> the Greeks +completely dropped their old measures of length and +superficies, and fixed their stadium at 360 Babylonian +cubits, their plethrum at the length and the square +of sixty Babylonian cubits, and regulated the Greek +foot by the Babylonian at a measure from 308 to +315 millimeters, and made their cubit equal to one +and a half of these feet.<a name="FNanchor_426_426" id="FNanchor_426_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_426_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a> The light Babylonian +talent became known in Greece under the name of +the Eubœic talent, while the Greek city Phocæa, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +the shores of Asia Minor, struck the oldest Greek +coin, the Phocæan stater, at the value of a fiftieth +of the heavy gold mina of Babylon (1⅗ pounds). +Chios, Clazomenæ, and Lampsacus followed the heavy +Syrian silver talent in their coinage; and lastly, +Crœsus made his gold stater equal to the fiftieth +part of the mina of the light Babylonian gold talent +(50½ pounds), and his silver stater equal to the +fiftieth part of the mina of the Babylonian silver +talent of 67⅓ pounds.<a name="FNanchor_427_427" id="FNanchor_427_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_427_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_401_401" id="Footnote_401_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_401_401"><span class="label">[401]</span></a> H. Rawlinson, "Journ. Asiat. Soc." 1861, 18, 2 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_402_402" id="Footnote_402_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_402_402"><span class="label">[402]</span></a> The assumption that the Birs Nimrud is the temple Beth-Sida at +Borsippa is contradicted by the inscriptions. The measurements of the +temple give no support for such a theory, even if the forty-two cubits of +the cylinders of Rawlinson are interpreted with Norris, "Dict." p. 280, +by Amatgagar; for we do not know the value of this measure exactly. I +cannot regard Borsippa as a part of Babylon in the teeth of the direct +testimony of Strabo (p. 728), Justin (12, 13), and Ptolemy (5, 20). The +inscriptions of the Assyrians, and, not least, those of Nebuchadnezzar +himself, always mention Borsippa beside Babylon. If it be maintained +that in spite of this Nebuchadnezzar might have included Borsippa in +the walls of Babylon, the theory is contradicted by Berosus (Joseph, +"c. Apion." 1, 20), according to whom Cyrus besieges and takes Babylon +while Nabonetus is blocked up in Borsippa, and by Nebuchadnezzar +himself, who, after speaking of the great walls of Babylon, adds:—"I +also laid the foundations of the walls of Borsippa, the Tabi-subur-su" +(Ménant, "Babylone," p. 205).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_403_403" id="Footnote_403_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_403_403"><span class="label">[403]</span></a> Herod. 1, 181-183.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_404_404" id="Footnote_404_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_404_404"><span class="label">[404]</span></a> Diod. 2, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_405_405" id="Footnote_405_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_405_405"><span class="label">[405]</span></a> Strabo, p. 738.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_406_406" id="Footnote_406_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_406_406"><span class="label">[406]</span></a> "Antiq." 1, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_407_407" id="Footnote_407_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_407_407"><span class="label">[407]</span></a> G. Smith, "Records of the Past," 5, 69, 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_408_408" id="Footnote_408_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_408_408"><span class="label">[408]</span></a> Aberdeen inscription in Ménant, "Annal." p. 248.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_409_409" id="Footnote_409_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_409_409"><span class="label">[409]</span></a> Cylinder Phillips in Ménant, "Babylone," pp. 210, 211.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_410_410" id="Footnote_410_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_410_410"><span class="label">[410]</span></a> Cylinder of the British Museum in Ménant, p. 212.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_411_411" id="Footnote_411_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_411_411"><span class="label">[411]</span></a> Ménant, "Babylone," p. 216.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_412_412" id="Footnote_412_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_412_412"><span class="label">[412]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 202.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_413_413" id="Footnote_413_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_413_413"><span class="label">[413]</span></a> "Transactions Bibl. Arch." 2, 148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_414_414" id="Footnote_414_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_414_414"><span class="label">[414]</span></a> "Cyr. Inst." 7, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_415_415" id="Footnote_415_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_415_415"><span class="label">[415]</span></a> Cylinder Grotefend, in Oppert, "Exped." 1, 232. Chief inscription +in Ménant, p. 206.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_416_416" id="Footnote_416_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_416_416"><span class="label">[416]</span></a> Diod. 2, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_417_417" id="Footnote_417_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_417_417"><span class="label">[417]</span></a> Cylinder Phillips, in Ménant, "Babylone," p. 210.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_418_418" id="Footnote_418_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_418_418"><span class="label">[418]</span></a> Herod. 1, 193. 2, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_419_419" id="Footnote_419_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_419_419"><span class="label">[419]</span></a> Xen. "Anab." 1, 7; Ammian, 24, 3; Strabo, p. 748, puts the borders +of Babylon at a canal, 18 schœnes, <i>i. e.</i> 135 miles above Seleucia, and +Seleucia was somewhat higher than Babylon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_420_420" id="Footnote_420_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_420_420"><span class="label">[420]</span></a> W. K. Loftus, "Warka, its Ruins and Remains;" "Transactions of +the Royal Society," 2, 6, 1-64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_421_421" id="Footnote_421_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_421_421"><span class="label">[421]</span></a> Joshua, vii. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_422_422" id="Footnote_422_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_422_422"><span class="label">[422]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen." s. 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_423_423" id="Footnote_423_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_423_423"><span class="label">[423]</span></a> Brandis, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 105 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_424_424" id="Footnote_424_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_424_424"><span class="label">[424]</span></a> Herod. 1, 194.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_425_425" id="Footnote_425_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_425_425"><span class="label">[425]</span></a> Movers, "Phœnizier," 2, 3, 103.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_426_426" id="Footnote_426_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_426_426"><span class="label">[426]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 21 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_427_427" id="Footnote_427_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_427_427"><span class="label">[427]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 71, 107, 121.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARABS.</h3> + + +<p>The Arabian peninsula is a repetition of Africa on +a smaller scale and in more moderate proportions, without +a river-valley like that of the Nile. The centre +is occupied by a table-land, which presents a few +well-watered depressions lying under a burning sky +between naked deserts, plains of sand, cliffs, and bald +peaks. Thus, in spite of the great extent of the +country (more than 1,000,000 square miles), there are +few districts in the interior of Arabia suitable for +agriculture. But towards the south, on the Indian +Ocean, the plateau sinks down to the sea in broad +mountain terraces. Here are extremely fertile valleys, +and the most valuable fruits grow on the terraces in +the tropic atmosphere, which is cooled by the elevation +of the mountains and the winds blowing from the +ocean. This is the land of frankincense, of the sugarcane +and coffee-tree, of pomegranates, figs, and dates, +of wheat and maize.</p> + +<p>Herodotus, who follows all antiquity in extending +the name Arabia to the deserts of Syria and Sinai, +gives us but few notices of the inhabitants of this +wide district. "The Arabs," he tells us, "wear long +garments, and on the right side carry large bows, +which can be strung on either side, and travel on +swift camels. They have only two gods—Dionysus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +whom they call Urotal; and Urania, whom they call +Alilat. Urania is known to the Babylonians as Mylitta, +to the Arabs as Alilat. Bargains are struck in the +following manner. A third person makes an incision +in the hand near the thumb of each of the two persons +who wish to enter into the compact, and with the +blood he smears seven stones lying between them; +calling at the same time on Urotal and Alilat. These +compacts are observed with a sanctity unknown to any +other nation."<a name="FNanchor_428_428" id="FNanchor_428_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_428_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a> Eratosthenes tells us that the Arab +tribes lying next to the Syrians and Jews were agricultural, +but beyond them lay a sandy and poor soil, +with nothing but a few palms, acacias, tamarisks, and +wells of water. This district, as far as the Euphrates, +was inhabited by the Nabatæans, Agræans, and +Chaulotæans, tribes who kept camels and lived in +tents.<a name="FNanchor_429_429" id="FNanchor_429_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_429_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a> Artemidorus of Ephesus calls Arabia rich +in cattle, lions, panthers, wolves, wild asses, and +camels; the inhabitants were wandering herdmen, +who gained a subsistence from their camels; on them +they rode, from them they fought, and on their milk +and flesh they lived. The names of the Arabian tribes +he is unwilling to mention, because of their insignificance +and harsh sound.<a name="FNanchor_430_430" id="FNanchor_430_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_430_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a> Diodorus also tells us that +the inhabitants of the part of Arabia towards Syria +lived by agriculture and trade, but with the Nabatæans +the land began to be arid and barren; and they +led the life of robbers, plundering their neighbours far +and wide; no one had succeeded in conquering them.<a name="FNanchor_431_431" id="FNanchor_431_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_431_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a> +The interior of Arabia, and the western side, were +occupied by plains of sand of enormous extent. On +these it was only possible to travel as on the sea, by +taking the Great Bear as a guide. In the whole of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +the interior there were no cities, but only dwellers in +tents, and the most part of the Arabian tribes led a +nomadic life, for Arabia was very rich in animals of +various kinds, so that the Arabs could easily live on +them without cultivating corn. They had large herds +of cattle, and with these they wandered over immeasurable +plains. In conclusion, Diodorus praises the fertility +and beauty of a well-watered palm-grove in the +peninsula between the northern bays of the Arabian +Sea, which the barbarians had very justly consecrated +to the gods, as it lay in the midst of a very hot and +desert land, surrounded by a wilderness. There was an +old altar there of hard stone inscribed with very ancient +letters, which no one could read. A man and woman +presided for life as priests over this holy palm-grove, +and every four years the neighbouring Arab tribes sacrificed +hecatombs of goodly camels there.<a name="FNanchor_432_432" id="FNanchor_432_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_432_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a> Pliny observes: +"Strange to say, the Arabs live about equally +on plunder and on trade; what they get from their +forests (by which is meant the products of the date-palms +and the fruit-trees of South Arabia) and from +the sea they sell; but they purchase nothing in +return."<a name="FNanchor_433_433" id="FNanchor_433_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_433_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a> "The Arabs," says Ammianus Marcellinus, +"extend from the Euphrates to Egypt. They are half-naked, +with only a coloured apron round the body +reaching to the middle. Every man is a warrior. On +their swift fine-limbed horses and their camels they +ride in every direction. They do not continue long +in any one place: without settled abodes they wander +to and fro, and their whole life is nothing but a flight. +Of bread and wine the most part of them know nothing +whatever."<a name="FNanchor_434_434" id="FNanchor_434_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_434_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of the southern coasts of Arabia the accounts are +different. It is a remark of Herodotus that the fairest +blessings are allotted to the extreme limits of the +earth; and among other places to Arabia, the southern +extremity of the inhabited world. Here only, in all +the earth, grow frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and +ladanum; here are sheep with such thick tails, that +carriages have to be fastened behind them. But the +frankincense trees are watched by winged serpents, and +the cassia by bats. Cinnamon does not grow in Arabia, +but large carnivorous birds of prey brought branches +of cinnamon for their nests,—from which direction +the Arabs could not tell.<a name="FNanchor_435_435" id="FNanchor_435_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_435_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a> Heraclides of Cyme gave +an account of the wealth of the king of the land of +frankincense. He pretended to know that the expenses +for the king, his wife, and friends, amounted each day +to the sum of fifteen Babylonian talents. Living an +effeminate and luxurious life, he always remained in +the palace; he did nothing, and was never seen by the +people; but if anyone went into the palace to complain +of a decision at law, the king himself passed +sentence.<a name="FNanchor_436_436" id="FNanchor_436_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_436_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a> Through the trade connection of Alexandria +Eratosthenes obtained better information on these +districts, and was enabled to mention the tribes who +possessed the south. "In the extreme end of Arabia +next the sea dwell the Minæans, whose metropolis is +Karna; after these come the Sabæans, whose metropolis +is Mariaba; further to the west, as far as the +corner of the Arabian Gulf, are the Cattabani, whose +kings dwell at Thamna; finally, the Chatramites are +furthest to the east, and their city is Sabbatha. Each +of these four districts is larger than the Delta of +Egypt; they have rain in the summer, and rivers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +which lose themselves in the plains and lakes. Hence +the land is so fruitful that seed is sown twice in the +year. The land of the Cattabani supplies incense, the +Chatramites produce myrrh; but elsewhere also fruits +of every kind are plentiful and cattle abundant. From +the Chatramites it is a journey of forty days to the +Sabæans; from the Minæans the merchants go in +seventy days to Aela (Elath). The cities of the +Chatramites, Cattabani, Sabæans, and Minæans are +rich, and adorned with temples and royal palaces."<a name="FNanchor_437_437" id="FNanchor_437_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_437_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a> +The Sabæans, the most numerous tribe of Arabia, +according to Agatharchides, who wrote in the second +half of the second century <small>B.C.</small>, inhabited the so-called +Arabia Felix. Here grew the most beautiful fruits +without number; here was an inexhaustible abundance +of animals of every kind. In the strips of land +by the sea grew balsam and cassia, and another plant +most beautiful to the eye. In the interior were thick +forests of tall frankincense and myrrh-trees, and also +cinnamon-trees, palm and calmus, and trees of a +similar kind, which, like the others, send forth the +sweetest odour. Owing to the innumerable multitude, +it is not possible to name and describe every +species. The perfume is divine and beyond all words. +Even those who go past on the coast, at a distance +from the land, enjoy this perfume, if the wind is +blowing off shore. For there the spices are not cut +and old and stored up, but in fresh vigour and bloom, +so that those who sail along the coast believe that +they are enjoying ambrosia, since no other word can +express the extraordinary power and strength of the +odour. The monarchy among the Sabæans is hereditary. +Their chief city, Mariaba, lies on a mountain; +here lives the king, who pronounces justice for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +people, but he is never allowed to leave his palace. +If he acts otherwise, he is stoned by the people, in +obedience to an ancient oracle. The Sabæans are +the richest people in the world. For a few goods +silver and gold are brought in quantities, and flow in +from every side; while, owing to their remote situation, +they have never been conquered by any one. +Hence, especially in the metropolis, they have a +number of vessels of silver and gold and couches, and +porticoes, the pillars of which are gilded in the shaft, +and the capitals are adorned with silver ornaments, +while the architraves and doors are finished with gold +and precious stones. On these structures they bestow +great care and industry.<a name="FNanchor_438_438" id="FNanchor_438_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_438_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a> Artemidorus of Ephesus, +who wrote somewhat later than Agatharchides of +Cnidus, represents the king of the Sabæans and his +court as living at Mariaba, which lay on a wooded +mountain, in effeminate luxury. Owing to the abundance +of fruit the people were lazy and inactive, and +reclined on the roots of the spice-trees. For fire-wood +they used cinnamon and cassia. The occupation of +the people was partly agriculture, and partly trade in +spices, both native and imported from the opposite +coast of Æthiopia (Africa), whither the Sabæans passed +over the inlet of the sea in boats of skins. The neighbouring +tribes received the wares from the Sabæans, +and then passed them on to their neighbours, till they +reached Syria and Mesopotamia.<a name="FNanchor_439_439" id="FNanchor_439_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_439_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a> Pliny tells us that +the Sabæans were the most famous of the Arabians, +owing to their frankincense, and their land reached +from sea to sea. Their cities lay on the sea and in +the interior, the chief city being Mariaba. One portion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +of the Sabæans were called the Chatramites, and their +chief city, Sabbatha, had sixty temples within its walls; +further to the east were the Cattabani, whose city, +Thamna, could enumerate sixty-five temples. The +Minæans lay in the interior beyond the Chatramites. +The frankincense was collected and brought to Sabbatha, +and could not be purchased and taken away +by strangers till the priests had set apart a tenth for +the god of Sabbatha. The only passage for exportation +was through the land of the Cattabani, to the +king of which imposts had to be paid. The priests +also and the scribes of the king received presents, +and the doorkeepers, bodyguard, and escort. Thamna, +the chief city of the Cattabani, was distant seventy-five +days' journey from Gaza. And as payments had +to be made, at one place for pasturage, at another for +water, at a third for the stage, and again for the convoy, +the cost for each camel as far as the Syrian desert +amounted to 688 denarii.<a name="FNanchor_440_440" id="FNanchor_440_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_440_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a></p> + +<p>According to the Hebrew Scriptures the Sheba, +<i>i. e.</i> the Sabæans, "a distant people, rich in frankincense, +spices, gold, and precious stones," were to be +sought in the south of Arabia.<a name="FNanchor_441_441" id="FNanchor_441_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_441_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a> The tribe or locality +of Uzal, which Genesis and Ezekiel mention beside the +Sabæans, is the older name of the later Sanaa. The +chief city of the Sabæans, which Western writers call +Mariaba, is the Maryab of the inscriptions. To the +east of the Sabæans, on the south coast, were situated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +the Hazarmaweth of the Hebrews, the Chatramites of +the Western nations, in the district of Hadramaut, +which still preserves the name. The Rhegmæans of +the Western nations, the sons of Rama among the +Hebrews, are to be sought in the neighbourhood of +the Persian Gulf, in Oman, the south-east of Arabia. +Further to the north-east, on the shore of this Gulf, +were the Dedanites; and yet further to the north-east +the Havila appear to have dwelt, who are perhaps +the Chaulotæans, whom Eratosthenes places towards +the Lower Euphrates. The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly +mention the Hagarites, the Nebajoth (the +Agræans and Nabatæans of Eratosthenes), and further +towards the interior of Arabia the Kedarites and +Temanites; and lastly, on the peninsula of Sinai, and +on the borders of Canaan, the Amalekites, Edomites, +and Midianites. The Hebrews mention two chiefs +of the Midianites, whose names were "Wolf" and +"Raven," the leather tents of this people, the number +of their dromedaries, and the moons which their +camels carried as ornaments. Next are mentioned +the flocks of the Nebajoth, the black tents of the +Kedarites, their wealth in cattle (large and small), +and their brave bowmen.<a name="FNanchor_442_442" id="FNanchor_442_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_442_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a></p> + +<p>The inscriptions of Egypt from the time of the +Tuthmosis and the first Ramses celebrate achievements +performed, as it is said, by these Pharaohs +against the Punt, <i>i. e.</i> against the Arabs; but with +one exception, they do not supply any information of +the land and the tribes of this people. A daughter of +Tuthmosis I., queen Misphra (Hatasu, Ramake), who +was regent first for her brother Tuthmosis II., and +during a considerable time for Tuthmosis III. (1625-1591 +<small>B.C.</small>), wished to become acquainted with "the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +land of Punt, as far as the uttermost end of To-Neter." +She equipped a fleet on the Red Sea, and led +it in person to the coast of Arabia. The inhabitants +of the coast on which she landed submitted, and she +returned to Egypt with rich spoil, in which were +thirty-two spice-trees.<a name="FNanchor_443_443" id="FNanchor_443_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_443_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a> The inscriptions of the kings +of Asshur supply further information: among the tribes +of the Arabians they mention in the first place the +Pekod, the Hagarites, whom they place in the neighbourhood +of the lands of Hauran, Moab and Zoba, +the Kedarites, Thamudenes, Nabatæans, and finally +the Sabæans. The Hebrew Scriptures bring the queen +of Sheba to Solomon at Jerusalem, and represent her +as offering rich presents in gold and frankincense, and +similarly Tiglath-Pilesar II., king of Assyria, tells us +that in the year 738 <small>B.C.</small> he had received tribute from +Zabibieh, the queen of Arabia (Aribi), and in the year +734 <small>B.C.</small> he had taken from Samsieh, queen of the Arabs, +30,000 camels and 20,000 oxen, and further, that +he had subjugated the people of Saba, the city of +the Sabæans. Sargon boasts that he had subdued +the people of Thammud (the Thamudenes), Tasid, +Ibadid, Marsiman, Chayapa, the distant Arbæans, and +the inhabitants of the land of Bari, "which was +unknown to the learned and to the scribes," and that +he received the tribute of Samsieh, queen of the +Arabs, and of Yathamir, the Sabæan (Sabahi) in gold, +spices, and camels (in the year 715 <small>B.C.</small>). He mentions +the land of Agag, "on the borders of the Arabs +toward the rising sun," <i>i. e.</i> the Eastern Arabs.<a name="FNanchor_444_444" id="FNanchor_444_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_444_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a> King +Sennacherib took from the Pekod, the Hagarites, +Nabatæans, and some other tribes, 5,330 camels and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +800,600 head of small cattle (703 <small>B.C.</small>), and in the +time of Assurbanipal (about 645 <small>B.C.</small>) Adiya, the +queen of the Arabs, and Ammuladin, the king of the +Kedarites, were brought in chains to Nineveh; the +"innumerable troops" of another prince, Uaiti, were +defeated and his tents burnt. Abiyateh also, who was +leagued against Assyria, first with Uaiti, and then +with Nadnu (Nathan), the king of the Nabatæans, +was conquered, together with these allies, and the +worshippers of Atar Samain (Istar). Assurbanipal tells +us that out of the booty of this campaign he distributed +camels like sheep, and that at the gate of +Nineveh camels had been sold for half a silver shekel +(from 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to 2<i>s.</i>).<a name="FNanchor_445_445" id="FNanchor_445_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_445_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a></p> + +<p>The position of Arabia, between the valleys of the +Nile and the Euphrates and Tigris, where agriculture +and civilisation came into bloom at an early period, +and which were the oldest seats of trade and industry, +brought the Arab tribes who wandered along the +borders of these river valleys into connection with +Egypt and Babylon. Barter had to supply all that +could not be obtained by freebooting. The nomads +required corn, implements, and weapons; Egypt and +Babylon were in need of horses, sheep, goats, and +camels. The Arabians, therefore, could exchange +their animals for corn, weapons, and implements, and +supply the industry of Babylon and Egypt with a +part of the necessary raw products, more especially +skins and wool. The tradition of the Hebrews represents +Abraham as going to Egypt, and the sons of +Jacob buy corn in Egypt when "there was a famine +in the land." On the other hand, Egypt, as has been +already remarked, had already, under Snefru, the predecessor +of Chufu, <i>i. e.</i> about the year 3000 <small>B.C.</small>, fixed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +herself in the peninsula of Sinai, and when, a thousand +years later, nomad tribes of the north-west of Arabia +obtained the supremacy in the valley of the Nile, and +maintained it for centuries (<a href="#Page_123">p. 123</a>), their supremacy +could only develop further the trade between Egypt +and the Arabs, between the ruling tribe in Egypt and +their kinsmen at home, and thus the contact with the +civilisation of Egypt and Babylonia was not without +effect on the Arabs. This contact increased their +wants, and therefore increased their trading intercourse. +The Arabs could offer not merely the +products of their herds, they could exchange the +costly spices and perfumes from the southern coast +of their land with each other, and so convey them to +the Egyptians and Babylonians. The Hebrew Scriptures +make Keturah, <i>i. e.</i> "Incense," the wife of +Abraham, and from this connection spring the +Midianites and the Dedanites; to Esau, the son of +Isaac, the progenitor of the Edomites, they give a +wife of the name of Basmath, <i>i. e.</i> "Perfume,"<a name="FNanchor_446_446" id="FNanchor_446_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_446_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a> and in +the twentieth century <small>B.C.</small>, according to their reckoning, +we find a caravan of Ishmaelites, with camels, carrying +spices, balsam, and ladanum, and Midianites going +for purposes of trade to Egypt.</p> + +<p>The trade of Egypt and Babylonia with the south of +Arabia, through the medium of the Arab tribes, +certainly goes back to the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small>, if the +attempt was made in Egypt about the year 1600 <small>B.C.</small> +to reduce Southern Arabia. Not long after his campaigns +in Syria and Mesopotamia, Tuthmosis III. imposed +on the Syrians a tribute of 828 minæ, and on the +Naharina a tribute of 81 minæ of spices;<a name="FNanchor_447_447" id="FNanchor_447_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_447_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a> hence such +spices must not only have found their way into these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +districts at this time, but must have been already +known as ordinary articles of trade. How strongly +Egypt felt her need of the products of South Arabia +is most strikingly shown by the fact that the +Egyptians were very anxious to obtain these products +by the direct route over the Arabian Gulf; the canal +which Ramses II. began to make towards the gulf +(<a href="#Page_146">p. 146</a>) could have no other object in view than to +facilitate the communication between the Nile and the +coast of South Arabia and East Africa, by the Red Sea. +Under Ramses III. (1269-1244 <small>B.C.</small>) a great fleet is +said to have sailed for a second time to To-Neter, and +to have returned to Coptus with the tribute of these +lands and a rich freight.<a name="FNanchor_448_448" id="FNanchor_448_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_448_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a> The need of incense was +not less in Babylon than in Egypt. We saw that the +preparation of ointments was a main branch of +Babylonian industry, and Herodotus tells us that at +the feast of Belus, at Babylon, a thousand talents of +incense, which according to the light Babylonian +weight is more than 60,000 pounds, was burnt on +the altar of the great temple. As the Temanites, +Kedarites, Nebajoth, and Midianites formed the +medium of trade between South Arabia and Egypt, so +were the Rhegmæans and Dedanites the communicating +link between South Arabia and Babylonia. Among +the Sabæans the Babylonian talent was current.<a name="FNanchor_449_449" id="FNanchor_449_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_449_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a></p> + +<p>This carrying trade between South Arabia, Egypt, +Syria, and Mesopotamia must have increased when +the cities of the Phenicians on the Syrian coast +became centres of trade which carried the manufactures +of Babylonia, as well as the products of their +own industry, over the sea to the West, and when the +tribes of Greece and Italy began to desire the incense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +and spices of Arabia. And it was not only the +products of South Arabia which the Arabs brought +to Syria, Egypt, and Babylonia, but also those of the +south coast of Africa, and even of India. Artemidorus +told us that the Sabæans crossed the Arabian Gulf on +boats of skins in order to bring back the products of +Ethiopia. Though it was possible to cross the narrow +basin by these means of transit, the mouths of the +Indus and the coasts of Malabar were beyond the +reach of such skiffs. If in the course of time Indian +wares reached Syria through the Sabæans, they must +have been brought by the Indians themselves to the +coasts of the Sabæans. At the beginning of the +second century <small>B.C.</small> the island Dioscoridis, off the +coast of Somali, which was known to the West +as the Land of Cinnamon, formed the centre of the +trade between Egypt, South Arabia, and India. To +this island the ships of the Indians brought the +products of their land.</p> + +<p>In the first instance the Arabs transported the +goods from South Arabia to the Euphrates and the +Nile on their camels, and afterwards it lay with them +to permit or refuse a passage for the caravans of the +Babylonians and Phenicians. First one tribe and +then another lay in wait for the caravans, plundered +them, or allowed them to buy a passage, convoy, or +guide.<a name="FNanchor_450_450" id="FNanchor_450_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_450_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a> Eratosthenes has already told us that the +merchants took seventy days in going from the +Minæans to Aela, <i>i. e.</i> to Elath, on the north-east +point of the Arabian Gulf, and Pliny fixes the +distance from Gaza to Thamna, the chief city of the +Cattabani, at seventy-five days' journey. Of the +caravan road which led from the Sabæans, <i>i. e.</i> in all +probability from Maryab to Elath, we only know that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +it ran along the coast, then passed from Elath by +Sela and Bosra into the mountains of the Edomites, +then divided the land of the Moabites and Ammonites, +passed by Kir Moab (Charak Moab) and Rabbat +Ammon, Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, through the +land of the Jeturites, to Damascus, and finally, from +this place reached the cities of the Phenicians. A +second road led apparently past the Oasis of Duma +(Dumætha of Ptolemy, Dumat-el-Dshandal) straight +to Damascus. In the east the Dedanites brought the +products of South Arabia through the desert, by the +land of the Temanites and Kedarites, to the Lower +Euphrates.<a name="FNanchor_451_451" id="FNanchor_451_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_451_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a> The goods not required for Babylonia +then passed up the Euphrates to Harran (Charræ). +From this point the caravans turned to the west, and +in twenty days arrived through the desert at the +coasts of the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_452_452" id="FNanchor_452_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_452_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a></p> + +<p>How active the trade with the land of frankincense +was is shown by the words of the Hebrew prophet, +who proclaims to the new Jerusalem: "A multitude +of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian +and Ephah (see below); all they from Shebah shall +come; they shall bring gold and incense. All the +flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee; +the rams of Nebajoth shall minister unto thee."<a name="FNanchor_453_453" id="FNanchor_453_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_453_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a> The +Arabs, when conquered by the Persians, were compelled +to pay a yearly tribute of 1,000 talents of incense,<a name="FNanchor_454_454" id="FNanchor_454_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_454_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a> +<i>i. e.</i> at least 60,000 pounds. This they could only +obtain from South Arabia, and to Western nations +the connection between Damascus and South Arabia +appeared so close, that they represented the Sabæans +as colonists of the Egyptians, Ninus and Semiramis +having sent colonies from Damascus to Arabia Felix.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> + +<p>Though the Phenicians could receive the products +of South Arabia and the Somali coast by the high +road of Elath, and from the Euphrates by Harran, +they were nevertheless eager to have a connection by +sea with these regions. They availed themselves of +the relations in which they stood to Solomon, king of +Israel, in order to send ships from Eziongeber down +the Arabian Gulf, to Ophir, as far as the mouth of +the Indus. These ships brought back sandalwood, +apes, peacocks, and gold. This trade fell with the +decline of the kingdom of Judah, after the time of +Jehoshaphat. But when Amaziah of Judah again +subjugated the Edomites, about the year 790 <small>B.C.</small>, +and after him his son Uzziah again advanced the +borders of Judah to the Red Sea, the Phenicians +also resumed their connection with the kings of +Judah and the trade to Ophir.<a name="FNanchor_455_455" id="FNanchor_455_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_455_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a> Afterwards Pharaoh +Necho gave them an opportunity for a short time to +set out upon their voyages in the Arabian Gulf, not, +indeed, from the north-east, but from the north-west +corner of the Red Sea. But immediately afterwards +Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, by subduing the +Dedanites and planting Babylonian centres of trade +on the coast of Dedan and at the mouth of the +Euphrates, succeeded in transplanting the marine +trade with South Arabia to the Persian Gulf, +while the conquest of the Kedarites also put him in +a position to strike a road across the desert from +Babylon to Sela (in the land of the Edomites, see +below). Darius or the Ptolemies were the first to +succeed in the attempt made by Rameses II. and +Necho, and concentrated in the Bay of Heroonpolis +the trade of Egypt and Syria with South Arabia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon after the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small>—so we must +conclude—the tribes of South Arabia delivered their +spices to the Egyptians, Syrians, and Babylonians, +and their incense, which Eastern nations, and in time +Western nations also, burned upon the altars of their +gods. Then they imported the products of the opposite +shore of Africa, a region no less fruitful than +South Arabia, and at length the ships of the Indians +brought to them the products of the Indus and the +Ganges. Thus South Arabia not only exported her +own fruits, she became the central mart of East +African and Indian products, the point of connection +between Eastern and Western Asia. Owing to the +fertility of their valleys and terraces, and their old and +extensive trade, the tribes of the South soon acquired +a more fixed form of constitution and a more +advanced civilisation. Numerous remains of magnificent +stone structures, ruins of aqueducts, canals, +basins, and dams, built with the object of preserving +and collecting the water which streamed down the +terraces of the mountains and in the valleys, still +excite the astonishment of our travellers for the +excellence of the plan as well as for the strength +of the masonry. The ruins of Nedshran, Sirwah, +Ghorab, Nakb-el-Hadshar, and Misenat, and those of +Maryab, the old metropolis of the Sabæans, confirm +what Western writers and Arab tradition tell us of +the glorious palaces of the ancient time and the mighty +dams built in the valley of Maryab.<a name="FNanchor_456_456" id="FNanchor_456_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_456_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a> The remains of +the dams prove that South Arabia, like Egypt and +Babylonia, was far better cultivated in those distant +times than now; that there also the greatest importance +was attached to irrigation, and the inhabitants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +understood how to preserve and use the water from +the mountain-streams on the terraces. The natural +assumption that at one time the cultivation of +valuable fruits was far more extensive in South +Arabia than at present can hardly be incorrect. The +inscriptions found in those ruins and elsewhere in the +south-west of Yemen, though they do not, so far as is +at present ascertained, go back beyond the year 120 +<small>B.C.</small>,<a name="FNanchor_457_457" id="FNanchor_457_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_457_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a> give us some insight into the nature of the +civilisation of these tribes and the ancient form of +the South Arabian language and alphabet, which must +have grown out of the Phenician at an early date, +and then have developed independently beside it.<a name="FNanchor_458_458" id="FNanchor_458_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_458_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a> Of +a still more recent date, from the first century <small>A.D.</small>, +we find in the opposite north-west corner of Arabia +numerous inscriptions on the rocks in the region of +Sinai, written in the North Arabian language and +alphabet.<a name="FNanchor_459_459" id="FNanchor_459_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_459_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a></p> + +<p>The Hebrew Scriptures divide the tribes of the +Arabs into four groups—the Joktanites, among whom +tribes of the south and east take the lead; the +Keturites, among whom are tribes of Western and +Eastern Arabia; the Ishmaelites, including tribes of +the table-land of the interior and North Arabia; and +finally, the group of tribes who settled and wandered +on the eastern borders of Canaan—the Amalekites, +Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites. The Hebrews derive +the origin of the Arabs from the progenitors from +whom they were themselves sprung. To Shem, the son +of Noha, so Genesis tells us, Arphaxad was born, and +"Arphaxad begat Salah, and Salah begat Eber, and +Eber begat Peleg and Joktan. And Joktan begat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth (the Chatramites, +in Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_314">p. 314</a>), and Jerah, and Hadoram, +and Uzal (Sanaa), and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, +and Sheba (the Sabæans), and Ophir and Havilah (the +Chaulotæans), and Jobab (the Jobarites of Ptolemy, +on the south coast), and their dwelling was from +Mesha (Maishan, Mesene on the Euphrates) towards +Sephar (Dshafar, to the south of Sanaa and Maryab), +a mount of the East." Peleg, the elder brother +of Joktan, was the father of Reu, Reu, of Serug; +then followed Nahor and Terah. Terah's sons were +Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. To Abraham Hagar, +his Egyptian bond-servant, bore Ishmael. Abraham +sent Hagar and Ishmael into the deserts of Beersheba, +but "God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt +in the wilderness of Paran, and was an archer, and his +mother took him a wife from the land of Egypt, and +his first-born was Nebajoth (the Nabatæans, <a href="#Page_314">p. 314</a>), +and his sons were Kedar (the Kedarites) and Adbeel, +and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah (<a href="#Page_320">p. 320</a>), and +Massa (the Masanians of Ptolemy), and Hadar, and +Thema (the Themanites, <a href="#Page_314">p. 314</a>), and Jetur (the +Jeturites, near Damascus, <a href="#Page_320">p. 320</a>), and Naphish, and +Kedemiah, twelve princes; and the descendants of +Ishmael dwelt from Shur, which is before Egypt, +and from Havilah (<a href="#Page_314">p. 314</a>) to Asshur." "And +again Abraham took a wife, whose name was Keturah, +and she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, +and Midian (the Midianites) and Ishbak, and Shuah. +And Joksham begat Dedan, and the sons of Midian were +Ephah and Epher (<a href="#Page_320">p. 320</a>). And Abraham gave them +gifts and sent them away into the east country."<a name="FNanchor_460_460" id="FNanchor_460_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_460_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a> +Abraham's son was Isaac, Isaac's oldest son was Esau, +the father of the Edomites, and Esau's grandson,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +Amalek, was the progenitor of the Amalekites.<a name="FNanchor_461_461" id="FNanchor_461_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_461_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a> +Haran, the brother of Abraham, begat Lot, and Lot's +sons were Moab and Ammon (the Moabites and +Ammonites). From these genealogies it is clear that +the Hebrews looked on the Arabs almost without +exception as kinsmen of their own,<a name="FNanchor_462_462" id="FNanchor_462_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_462_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a> and as kinsmen +of a more ancient branch, for the Hebrews were +descended from the second son of Isaac. The place +nearest to themselves they give to the Ishmaelites, who +were divided into twelve tribes, the descendants of the +twelve princes, the sons of Ishmael—and next in order +came the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites.</p> + +<p>The native tradition of the Arabs is without historical +value. Their recollections hardly go back as +far as the beginning of the Christian era, and all that +their historians who began to write after Mohammed +knew of the older fortunes of their race is either +borrowed from the Hebrews or mere imagination. The +Amalekites, whom they found in the Hebrew Scriptures, +they took for their original stock, and represented them +as dwelling in Canaan and Damascus, as well as in +the land of Mecca and Oman, and even as ruling over +Egypt. These Amalekites—the Tasmites and Dshadi, +the A'adites and Dshorhomites—they consider as the +genuine Arabs; to whom God had taught Arabic +after the confusion of speech. But the Tasmites and +Dshadi are as little historic as Amalek in the +Arabian tradition; their names signify "the extinct" +and "the lost;" the A'adites are a purely fabulous +nation, and the Dshorhomites (near Mecca) are a tribe +of no great antiquity.<a name="FNanchor_463_463" id="FNanchor_463_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_463_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a> The progenitor of the southern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +tribes of Yemen is, in the Arabian tradition, Kachtan, +the son of Eber, and great-grandson of Noah. This +is the Joktan of Genesis. Kachtan's son, J'arab, +founded the monarchy of the Kachtanids, in South +Arabia; Abd-Shams-Sabah, the grandson of J'arab, +built the city of Mareb, the chief city of the Sabæans, +according to the Greeks. This founder of the +monarchy of the Sabæans left two sons, Himyar and +Kachlan. The first was the progenitor of the +Himyarites, who are mentioned even by Western +writers, but not till the first century <small>A.D.</small>, and then +on the south coast between Mareb and Hadramaut. +The name Himyarites includes the tribes of the +Chatramites, the Codaa, the Kinana, the Dshoheina, +&c. Kachlan founded Dshafar (<a href="#Page_324">p. 324</a>), and was +the progenitor of the Kachlanids, <i>i. e.</i> the Hamdanids, +the Badshila, the Odthan, the Chozaa, and other +tribes. To the kingdom of Mareb, founded by Abd-Shams-Sabah, +the Arab tradition ascribes a long list +of princes. But even if we ascribe a period of more +than thirty years to every name in this series, the +date of Kachtan is not carried back beyond 700 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_464_464" id="FNanchor_464_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_464_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a> +Abd-Shams-Sabah is said to have built not only +Mareb, but also a great dam for the irrigation of the +country. The excellent dams, canals, and sluices at +Sanaa (the Uzal of the Hebrews, westward of Mareb) +are said to have been built by Asad.<a name="FNanchor_465_465" id="FNanchor_465_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_465_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a> The castles of +Sahlin and Bainun (at Sanaa) are said to have been +built by demons at the bidding of Solomon for Belkis, +queen of Shebah. Besides these the Arabs talk of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +numerous castles and fortresses in the south. Towards +the year 100 <small>B.C.</small> Harith, a descendant of Himyar, +obtained the throne of the Sabæans; and the place of +the Sabæans is taken by the Himyarites, the Homerites +of Western nations, who henceforth are the ruling +nation in Yemen, a change for which Arab tradition +prepares the way by making Himyar the son and +successor of Abd-Shams-Sabah. Harith's successors +fixed their residence first at Dshafar (Dhu Raidan), +then at Mareb, and finally at Sanaa.<a name="FNanchor_466_466" id="FNanchor_466_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_466_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a></p> + +<p>The tribes of the high land of the interior, whom +the Arabs call Neshd, <i>i. e.</i> "the high people," and +certain tribes of Hidyaz, are derived by tradition +from Adnan, a grandson of Ishmael. When Ibrahim +(Abraham) had sent away Hagar and her son, and +Hagar was about to perish in the desert, the child +Ishmael struck the earth with his foot, and from it +sprang the fountain of Zamzam, close to Mecca. +Amalekites, in search of their lost camels, found +the spring, settled down beside it, and worshipped +Ishmael as the lord of the spring. Then came tribes +from the South, the Dshorhomites and Katura, to +the fountain; and Ishmael married the daughter +of the chief of the Dshorhomites and begot Nabit +(the Nebajoth) and Kaidar (the Kedarites). The +Amalekites and Katura were then driven away, +and the Dshorhomites remained alone in possession of +the fountain of Zamzam. Kaidar's son was Adnan. +From Adnan sprang the Benu Bekr, the Taghlib, the +Temim, the Takif, the Gatafan, &c. If we ascend +the genealogies which Arab tradition gives to the +princes of the tribes sprung from Ishmael, in twenty +generations, ending with Adnan, the grandson of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +Ishmael, we only arrive at the end of the second +century <small>B.C.</small>, even if we allow thirty years for each +generation.<a name="FNanchor_467_467" id="FNanchor_467_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_467_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a></p> + +<p>The few facts which we can make out about the +religious worship of the southern Arabs (they belong +almost exclusively to the period in which the +Himyarites obtained the supremacy in South Arabia) +exhibit a certain connection with the worship of the +Babylonians; but we cannot ascertain whether this +coincidence, like the close relationship of the South +Arabian and Babylonian languages (<a href="#Page_256">p. 256</a>), is due +to original unity or later intercourse. The Byzantines +tell us that the Himyarites worshipped the sun, the +moon, and certain demons of the land. The tradition +of the Arabs mentions Abd-Shams-Sabah as the +founder of the kingdom of the Sabæans, and the +name Abd-Shams signifies the servant of the sun-god, +and hence in the eyes of the Arabs the worship of the +sun-god must have occupied a very prominent place +in the religion of the Sabæans—a fact which is +confirmed by the inscriptions. They mention the +sun-god (Shams, Shamas), the moon-god Al-makak, +and the gods Aththor, Haubas, and Dhu Samavi.<a name="FNanchor_468_468" id="FNanchor_468_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_468_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a> +The Himyarites are said to have worshipped the sun +under the form of an eagle (Nasr), and the Hamdanids +(who dwelt to the north of Sanaa and Mareb) under +the form of a horse; a third tribe in Yemen are said +to have worshipped him in the form of a lion.<a name="FNanchor_469_469" id="FNanchor_469_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_469_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a></p> + +<p>The accounts which we have of the religion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +the tribes who in the second century of our era, in +consequence of the bursting of a great dam at Mareb, +according to Arab tradition, migrated to the North, +and by this migration destroyed or drove out or amalgamated +with the new-comers a considerable number +of the old tribes of this region, prove that the immigrants +worshipped certain stars as their protecting +deities. The Tadshi immigrants from the South, who +pastured their flocks on the oasis of Duma (<a href="#Page_320">p. 320</a>), +worshipped Canopus; the Lachmites, who were driven +towards Hira, on the lower Euphrates, worshipped the +fortunate star Jupiter; and the Chozaa, who settled +to the north of Mecca, worshipped Sirius.<a name="FNanchor_470_470" id="FNanchor_470_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_470_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a></p> + +<p>With regard to the religious rites of the tribes +derived by the Arabs from Adnan, we learn that +the Benu Bekr, who forced their way from Neshd +towards the Euphrates, worshipped the god Audh, +<i>i. e.</i> the burning one; an ancient form of oath used +by this tribe runs as follows—"I swear by the blood +streams round Audh and the stones set up beside +Suair." The Kinana and the Benu Gatafan in +Hidyaz worshipped the goddess Uzza, a name which +is said to signify "the mighty one" in a sacred tree.<a name="FNanchor_471_471" id="FNanchor_471_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_471_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a> +The tribe of the Takif (near Taif, southward of Mecca) +worshipped the goddess Allat, in whose name we can, +without difficulty, recognise the Alilat of Herodotus: +Alilahat means "the goddess." Among the palms of +the valley of Nachlah rose the mighty tree of the +goddess, "presented with sacred offerings;" but the +Takif also prayed to this goddess under the form of +a white stone. A third goddess, of the name of +Manat, held sway in the district of Medinah; she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +was worshipped in a black shapeless stone. The +Kuraish swore by Allat, Uzza, and Manat.<a name="FNanchor_472_472" id="FNanchor_472_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_472_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a> Among +other tribes of the desert the goddess Halasah, or +Venus, was worshipped. According to the Western +writers the Nabatæans are said to have worshipped +the sun and the war-god Dusares.<a name="FNanchor_473_473" id="FNanchor_473_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_473_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a> "His image is +a black, undressed, rectangular stone, four feet high +and two feet broad, on a pedestal of beaten gold. To +this stone they offer sacrifice and pour libations with +the blood of the victims; such are their libations; +the whole temple is filled with gold and votive +offerings." Modern scholars identify this god Dusares +with the Du'sharah of Arabian writers.<a name="FNanchor_474_474" id="FNanchor_474_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_474_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a> Herodotus +has already told us that on the conclusion of agreements +the stones between the two parties were smeared with +blood; and, as according to this evidence, the idols +also were sprinkled with the blood of the victims, +we can explain the oath of Benu Bekr by the bloodstreams +round Audh. The statement of Herodotus +that the Arabs worshipped Urotal and Alilat only, +and the statements of Strabo and Arrian that they +worshipped Zeus, and Dionysus, and the sky, must +apparently be limited to the migratory tribes of the +north.</p> + +<p>Of the gods worshipped by the tribes bordering +on Syria we have more definite knowledge. The +Midianites and Amalekites who possessed the sandstone +plateau of Sinai, and the deserts of Shur in the +north, and Sin in the south, worshipped on the highest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +peaks of that district which the Hebrews called Horeb +and Sinai (<i>i. e.</i> the Sinian), the god Baal, who was +also worshipped by the Syrians. At the foot of Sinai +there still remains the well-watered palm grove, with +its rich black earth, of which Agatharchides and +Diodorus told us above (<a href="#Page_309">p. 309</a>). It is the oasis +of Firan, and from the palms the mountain above +it is still called Serbal, <i>i. e.</i> "the palm forest of +Baal."<a name="FNanchor_475_475" id="FNanchor_475_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_475_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a> The Moabites invoked Baal on Mount Peor, +and in times of distress appeased his wrath by human +sacrifices. In the same way the Ammonites worshipped +their god Milkom; the female deity of the Moabites +was Astor, the Astarte of the Syrians, who was also +worshipped by the Kedarites.<a name="FNanchor_476_476" id="FNanchor_476_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_476_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a> That the Baal of +Sinai was a god who gave fruits and water in the +desert is clear from the fact that Herodotus could +compare the god of the Arabs with Dionysus, and +Strabo and Arrian could ascribe the worship of +Dionysus to the Arabs.</p> + +<p>From a general view of these scanty notices it +becomes clear that the basis of the religious conceptions +current among the Semitic tribes of Arabia was not +widely different from that of the Semitic tribes by +the Euphrates and Tigris, or in Syria, which will be +found to be connected with each other. It is easy to +understand that the rites of the tribes bordering on +Syria were nearer to the rites of the Syrians, and +it has been already remarked that the worship of +the southern tribes appears to be most closely allied +to the rites of the Babylonians. Here, as there, we +find the worship of Astarte; Herodotus expressly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +calls the goddess of the Arabs by the name of +Mylitta, the Bilit of the Babylonians, whom, as +we shall see, the Canaanites also worshipped with +much zeal. We saw that in Babylon her power +was recognized in the evening gleam of the planet +Venus, that all young things, fountains, and pools, +belonged to this goddess; and we shall find her +worshipped in Syria on the shady heights of Lebanon. +The tribes of the Arabian deserts also consecrated +lofty trees to this goddess, their Allat, or Halasah; +and just as they believed that the power of this, as of +other deities, was present in stones, so shall we find a +similar custom prevailing among the Syrians. That +the tribes of the deserts should pay especial reverence +to the deities of the stars—we have seen how +systematised was the worship of stars in Babylon—cannot +surprise us. With the refreshing dew of +evening not Venus only or the moon, but the whole +glory of the starry heaven met the eye and touched +the spirit of the Arabs. High above the tents and +resting flocks, above the nocturnal ride and waiting +ambuscade, and all the doings of men the stars passed +along on their glittering courses. They guided the +Arabs on their way through the deserts; certain +constellations announced the wished-for rain, others +the wild storms, the changes of the seasons, the time +for breeding in their herds and flocks. As these +stars at one time brought abundance and good +pastures for their flocks, and at another dried up the +springs and scorched the meadows, so could they +also bring joy and happiness or trouble and pain to +men. Hence to the tribes of the desert especially +brilliant stars appeared as living spirits, as rulers +over nature and the fortunes of mankind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> + +<p>The life of the roving tribes in the interior whom +the Arabs denote by the general name of Badawi +(Bedouins), <i>i. e.</i> "sons of the desert," has undergone +few changes; at the present day but slight deviations +have been made from the customs and conditions +of the ancient time. Their life was regulated +according to their descent in patriarchal forms, and +the basis of it was the natural affection of the family. +At the head of the tribe stood the chief of the oldest +family, from which the rest derived their origin. All +descendants of the patriarch who had given the name +to the tribe gave a willing obedience to his nearest +descendants, for the claims of primogeniture were +sacred. The wealth in horses of excellent breed, camels, +and cattle is the pride of these tribal chiefs and the +symbol of their supremacy. Surrounded by the council +of the elders, the heads of the other families, the +chiefs maintained peace in the tribe, settled quarrels, +led out the youth of the tribe on plundering +expeditions and in feuds, and divided the spoil. +They alone had the right to assemble the tribe, to +carry the standards under which the tribe fought, and +give the command in battle. In rare instances the +remembrance of a common origin keeps several tribes +together in a kind of union under the chief of the +oldest tribe, from which the others have branched off, +but as a rule the tribes hold proudly aloof and are +hostile to each other. They attack each other, +plunder the tents, carry off the women, children, +and servants, and drive away the flocks. When a +feud has once broken out and members of a tribe +have been slain, it is incumbent on the family and +tribe to which the dead belonged to revenge the +fallen, and kill at least as many members of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +hostile tribe. This duty of revenge is hereditary +on either side, and descends from generation to +generation until the chief of a third tribe is chosen +to decide the quarrel and become a peace-maker by +fixing a fine of cattle or other property.</p> + +<p>In such a mode of life, which, in its general +features, has remained unchanged for thousands of +years, the Arabs of the desert exercised the virtues +of reverence, piety, and attachment to their tribal +chiefs; thus there grew up among them a steadfast, +manly character; they were true to their promise +when once given, and displayed a noble hospitality. +If any one came in peace to their tents, drink was +given to him by the daughters of the tribe from the +fountains, the men took him as a friend into their +tents and shared their store of dates with him, or +entertained him with a sheep from the flock. When +the stranger had once set his foot in the tent, the +host guaranteed his safety with his own life. When +the night came on with her refreshing coolness, the +stranger was required to sit in the starlight in the +circle of the tribesmen. He was expected to tell of +his origin, his race, and tribe; and then the hosts +also told the fame of their ancestors and sang the +deeds of their fathers and themselves, the feuds and +encounters in which their tribe had been victorious, +the virtues of their favourite horses, and the swiftness +of their camels.</p> + +<p>Poetry was the only form of intellectual life known +to the tribes of the desert. The Bedouins had a lively +sense of the incidents which broke the simple loneliness +of their lives, and gave them a vigorous and +even a fiery expression. The artless song was the +expression of feelings deeply stirred by sorrow or joy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +Such songs were equally adapted for calling to mind +their own deeds and fortunes or those of the tribe, and +for moral exhortation. They were "occasional" pieces. +Lament for the dead, praise of the noblest warrior, +the battles and exaltation of the tribe, the generosity +and courage of their own tribe or hatred of the hostile +tribe, derision of the enemy, hunting, weapons, rides +through the desert, horses and camels, are the subjects +of this poetry, which is expressed in short iambic +verses. Tradition mentions Lokman as the oldest +poet. He is supposed to be a contemporary of David; +and round his name is gathered a number of proverbs, +gnomes, and fables. The short poems lived on in +the tribe, they were sung again and again, extended +and recast. At a later time there were also rhapsodes +who could repeat a store of such poems.</p> + +<p>The Arabs have developed in the most healthy and +marked manner the characteristic features of the +Semitic race. Their roving life in the deserts under +the burning sun and amid tempests and whirlwinds of +sand has strengthened and hardened them. Surrounded +in pathless isolation by beasts of prey and hostile +tribes, every one was dependent on his own watchfulness +and keenness, on his courage and resolution, on +his horse and his lance. On a frugal and scanty sustenance +the body became lean and thin, but supple, +muscular, and capable of endurance; and in these +hardy bodies dwelt a resolute spirit. Thus the Arabs +display a freer attitude, a more steadfast repose, a +more haughty pride, a greater love of independence, +and a more adventurous boldness than their kinsmen. +Their land and their mode of life have saved them from +the greedy avarice, from the luxury and debauchery, +into which the Semitic nations on the Euphrates and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +Tigris, as on the Mediterranean, often fell, though +they share in the cruelty and bloodthirstiness common +to their race. It was the Arabs on whose virgin +strength a new Semitic empire and civilization was +able to be founded in the Middle Ages, when Babel +and Asshur, Tyre and Carthage, Jerusalem and +Palmyra had long passed away.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_428_428" id="Footnote_428_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_428_428"><span class="label">[428]</span></a> Herod. 3, 7; 1, 131; 7, 69, 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_429_429" id="Footnote_429_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_429_429"><span class="label">[429]</span></a> Eratosthenes in Strabo, p. 767.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_430_430" id="Footnote_430_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_430_430"><span class="label">[430]</span></a> Strabo, p. 777.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_431_431" id="Footnote_431_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_431_431"><span class="label">[431]</span></a> Diod. 2, 48; 3, 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_432_432" id="Footnote_432_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_432_432"><span class="label">[432]</span></a> Diod. 2, 48, 50, 54; 3, 42, 43. The accounts of the grove are taken +from Agatharchides.—Strabo, p. 777.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_433_433" id="Footnote_433_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_433_433"><span class="label">[433]</span></a> "Hist. Nat." 6, 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_434_434" id="Footnote_434_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_434_434"><span class="label">[434]</span></a> Amm. Marcell. 14, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_435_435" id="Footnote_435_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_435_435"><span class="label">[435]</span></a> Herod. 3, 107-113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_436_436" id="Footnote_436_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_436_436"><span class="label">[436]</span></a> Heracl. Cuman. Fragm. 4. ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_437_437" id="Footnote_437_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_437_437"><span class="label">[437]</span></a> Apud Strabon. p. 768 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_438_438" id="Footnote_438_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_438_438"><span class="label">[438]</span></a> Agatharch. "De Mari Erythr.;" apud Diod. 3, 45-48, and the excerpt +of Photius in Müller, "Geogr. Gr. Min." 1, 111 ff.; cf. Strabo, p. 778.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_439_439" id="Footnote_439_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_439_439"><span class="label">[439]</span></a> Strabo, p. 778.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_440_440" id="Footnote_440_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_440_440"><span class="label">[440]</span></a> "Hist. Nat." 12, 32; 6, 32 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_441_441" id="Footnote_441_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_441_441"><span class="label">[441]</span></a> The queen of Sheba, who brings such large gifts of gold and spices +to Solomon, must in any case be regarded as the queen of the rich spice +land, and with this account agree other passages in which Sheba is mentioned. +To the Seba, who are mentioned in Psalm lxxii. 10, 15, as rich +in gold along with the Sheba, and are described in Isaiah as people of +great stature (xlv. 15; cf. xliii. 3), and are placed in Genesis x. 7 among +the children of Cush, I cannot assign any place. Prideaux assumes +that the two nations became amalgamated; "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_442_442" id="Footnote_442_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_442_442"><span class="label">[442]</span></a> Isaiah xxi. 13, 14, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_443_443" id="Footnote_443_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_443_443"><span class="label">[443]</span></a> Dümichen, "Die Flotte einer ægyptischen Königin."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_444_444" id="Footnote_444_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_444_444"><span class="label">[444]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assyr. Discov." p. 286; Schrader, "Keilschriften und +Alt. Test." s. 56, 143, 163.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_445_445" id="Footnote_445_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_445_445"><span class="label">[445]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 264, 265, 275.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_446_446" id="Footnote_446_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_446_446"><span class="label">[446]</span></a> Gen. xxv. 1-11; xxvi. 34; xxxvi. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_447_447" id="Footnote_447_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_447_447"><span class="label">[447]</span></a> Birch, "The Annals of Tutmes III.;" "Archæolog." vol. xlv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_448_448" id="Footnote_448_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_448_448"><span class="label">[448]</span></a> Papyrus Harris in Chabas, "Recherches sur la Dynastie 19," p. 59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_449_449" id="Footnote_449_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_449_449"><span class="label">[449]</span></a> Movers, "Phœnizier," 2, 3, 302.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_450_450" id="Footnote_450_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_450_450"><span class="label">[450]</span></a> Strabo, p. 756; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 12, 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_451_451" id="Footnote_451_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_451_451"><span class="label">[451]</span></a> Isaiah xxi. 13, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_452_452" id="Footnote_452_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_452_452"><span class="label">[452]</span></a> Movers, "Phœnizier," 2, 3, 293.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_453_453" id="Footnote_453_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_453_453"><span class="label">[453]</span></a> Isaiah lx. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_454_454" id="Footnote_454_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_454_454"><span class="label">[454]</span></a> Herod. 3, 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_455_455" id="Footnote_455_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_455_455"><span class="label">[455]</span></a> 1 Kings xxii. 49; 2, xiv. 7, 22; 2 Chronicles xvii.; 2, xxvi. 6, 7. +Under Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, Elath was again lost.—2 Kings xvi. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_456_456" id="Footnote_456_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_456_456"><span class="label">[456]</span></a> Caussin de Percival, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 16, 17; Wellsted, +"Reisen in Arabien, von E. Rödiger," 1, 307.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_457_457" id="Footnote_457_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_457_457"><span class="label">[457]</span></a> Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_458_458" id="Footnote_458_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_458_458"><span class="label">[458]</span></a> D. H. Müller, "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 1876, s. 522 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_459_459" id="Footnote_459_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_459_459"><span class="label">[459]</span></a> Osiander in the "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 10, 17-73; Praetorius, +<i>loc. cit.</i> 26, 417 ff; Gildemeister and Levy, <i>loc. cit.</i> 24, 188.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_460_460" id="Footnote_460_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_460_460"><span class="label">[460]</span></a> Genesis xxv. 1-6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_461_461" id="Footnote_461_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_461_461"><span class="label">[461]</span></a> Genesis xxxvi. 12-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_462_462" id="Footnote_462_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_462_462"><span class="label">[462]</span></a> The table in Genesis x. 7, places Ramah, Shebah, Dedan, Havilah, +among the sons of Cush, but in the genealogy of the Arabs (c. xxv.) Shebah +and Dedan are given to Joktan and Midian.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_463_463" id="Footnote_463_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_463_463"><span class="label">[463]</span></a> Nöldeke. "Ueber die Amalekiter," s. 23 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_464_464" id="Footnote_464_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_464_464"><span class="label">[464]</span></a> Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49, arrives at the year 794 for the birth +of J'arab, by allotting thirty-three years to each generation. Wüstenfeld, in +his genealogical tables, gives from thirty to thirty-four generations between +Kachtan and Mohammed, and thus, though he allows forty years for each +generation, cannot reach beyond the year 700 <small>B.C.</small> for Kachtan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_465_465" id="Footnote_465_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_465_465"><span class="label">[465]</span></a> Osiander, in "Zeitschr. d. d. Morgen. Gesellschaft," 10, 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_466_466" id="Footnote_466_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_466_466"><span class="label">[466]</span></a> Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49-60; Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. +Arch." 2, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_467_467" id="Footnote_467_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_467_467"><span class="label">[467]</span></a> Caussin, "Hist. des Arabes," 1, 166 ff. Wüstenfeld ("Genealogische +Tabellen") reaches higher, because, as already remarked, he allows forty +years for a generation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_468_468" id="Footnote_468_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_468_468"><span class="label">[468]</span></a> Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 41, 30; Lenormant, "Lett. Assyr." +2, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_469_469" id="Footnote_469_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_469_469"><span class="label">[469]</span></a> Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. G." 7, 474; 10, 63; 11, 472; Lenormant, +<i>loc. cit.</i> 279; Caussin, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1, 113; Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_470_470" id="Footnote_470_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_470_470"><span class="label">[470]</span></a> Krehl, "Religion der Araber," 8, 24; Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. +G." 7, 473 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_471_471" id="Footnote_471_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_471_471"><span class="label">[471]</span></a> Osiander, <i>loc. cit.</i> 7, 487. On a stone image we find a cow and a calf +with the inscription "Uzza."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_472_472" id="Footnote_472_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_472_472"><span class="label">[472]</span></a> Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 73, 78. On the seven black stones +of the planets at Erech.—"W. A. J." 2, 50. On the stones of the +Kaabah, Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 2, 120 ff.; Caussin, "Hist. des +Arabes," 1, 165, 176 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_473_473" id="Footnote_473_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_473_473"><span class="label">[473]</span></a> Strabo, p. 784; Suid. Θεὸς Ἄρης; Steph. Byz. +Δουσαρή.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_474_474" id="Footnote_474_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_474_474"><span class="label">[474]</span></a> Krehl, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 49. See <i>ibid.</i> on the worship of Alful, Sahd, and +Sahid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_475_475" id="Footnote_475_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_475_475"><span class="label">[475]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 330 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_476_476" id="Footnote_476_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_476_476"><span class="label">[476]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Inschrift. des Mesa," s. 6. The amalgamation of Astarte +with Camus, like the amalgamation with Melkarth among the Phenicians +presupposes the separate worship of the goddess.—G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," +p. 283.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE CANAANITES.</h3> + + +<p>Between the basin of the Euphrates and Tigris and +the Mediterranean rise the mountains of Syria, an +elevated plateau which ascends gradually from the +right bank of the Euphrates and descends steeply on +the sea-coast. A peculiar depression, known as Hollow +Syria,<a name="FNanchor_477_477" id="FNanchor_477_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_477_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a> divides this region in its entire length from +north to south—from the Taurus to the <span class="smcap">N.E.</span> point of +the Red Sea, and separates the plateau into an eastern +and a western half. The bed of the narrow valley +reaches its greatest elevation in the neighbourhood of +the city of Baalbec (Heliopolis). From this point +the Orontes flows towards the north and irrigates +the green gardens of Emesa and Hamath, till it turns +westward and finds a way toward the sea at Antioch; +the Leontes and the Jordan flow towards the south. +Between steep walls of rock the Jordan hurries down +the gorge, and passes in a rapid course through the +lakes of Merom and Kinneroth (Gennesareth), which +are formed by the streams from the mountains on +either side. The deeper the bed of the valley the more +valuable are the fruits growing in the tropic atmo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>sphere. +The country round Jericho, the city of palms, +sheltered from the winds of the table-land and heated +by the rays refracted from the walls of rock, produces +grapes and figs for ten months in the year; its wealth +in dates and balsam was rated high in antiquity.<a name="FNanchor_478_478" id="FNanchor_478_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_478_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a> +The course of the Jordan ends in the Dead Sea, the +surface of which is about 1,300 feet below the level +of the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>Out of Hollow Syria rises on the east like a wall of +rock the plateau of Aram,<a name="FNanchor_479_479" id="FNanchor_479_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_479_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a> in naked, wild, and broken +ridges, which, in Antilibanus, the highest point, +reaches 9,000 feet. On the back of the mountains +we find at first green pastures overshadowed by +forests of oak, but further towards the east the +heights become bald and desolate, until the land, as +it sinks towards the Euphrates, gradually assumes +the character of the deserts, which are broken only +by the fruitful depressions of Damascus, Hieropolis +(Membidsh), and Tadmor (Palmyra).</p> + +<p>On the west of the fissure the land is differently +shaped. The coast is a narrow strip of land, which +only extends into small plains at the mouths of the +mountain streams; it is hot, moist, and unhealthy, +but of great fertility. Soon the white and yellow +limestone rocks of the mountains begin to rise. On +these heights the air is purer and cooler, and terraces +planted with myrtles and oleanders, with pines, fig-trees, +and mulberries, alternate with vineyards. On +the broad slopes of the loftier mountain ridges rise +splendid forests of tamarisks, planes, cypresses and +nut-trees, and above all magnificent cedars. Even +now some trees are found here forty feet in girth and +ninety feet in height.<a name="FNanchor_480_480" id="FNanchor_480_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_480_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a> Just in front of the highest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +ridges of rock lie green slopes, on which feed numerous +flocks of black goats, disturbed by jackals, bears, and +lions, dwelling in the desolate gorges. Between the +mouth of the Orontes and the promontory of Carmel, +which runs out far into the sea, this mountain wall, +which stretches out to the sea, reaches its greatest +height in the peaks of Libanus (over 10,000 feet) of +which Tacitus remarks with astonishment that they +retained the snow even in that hot climate.<a name="FNanchor_481_481" id="FNanchor_481_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_481_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a> Rising +above the green pastures and forests, the cultivated +and watered fields, this ridge with its white mantle of +snow gives the appearance of a winter landscape above +perpetual spring. Southward of Carmel the mountains +become lower, and at the same time less precipitous +and picturesque. The coast is broader and more +sandy, flatter, and with fewer harbours. In the place +of the steep ridges is a grassy depression (Esdraelon, +Galilee), overtopped by one or two peaks only, like +Tabor (1,700 feet). Then parallel ridges again form +valleys, broad and fruitful and overshadowed by +forests (Samaria), until the land between the Dead +Sea and the coast assumes a severer and wilder +character. There the table-land is rough and bare, +the valleys are narrow and deep clefts, the soil is +stony. From Libanus the eye looks out on the most +various groups of wooded promontories and a smiling +coast, but in Judæa the landscape exhibits none but +severe and simple outlines. On the wide expanses +only a few bushes of pale olives arise, or transparent +groups of a few palm-trees. The grassy plains have +made way for steppes or downs, and even the bed of +the valleys is covered with fresh green only in the +brief rainy season. The region round the Dead Sea +is wholly desolate. Springs of sulphur and beds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +of bitumen point to a volcanic origin; the large +proportion of salt contained in the water makes it +impossible for fish to live in the lake, and the deposits +of salt which cover the country round restrict the +vegetation.</p> + +<p>In contrast to the vast and uniform regions of the +Tigris and Euphrates and Arabia, the western mountains +of Syria exhibit change and variety. The +narrowness of the coast forces the inhabitants upon +the sea, the luxuriant fertility of the deeper valleys +invites to cultivation of the land and the planting +of vines and orchards, while the upland valleys and +mountain slopes permit nothing but pastoral life, +combined with a little agriculture. There is no +central district from which these numerous and for +the most part secluded mountain cantons can be +brought into unity and governed. In the place of +the uniform development of large masses of people we +have here to expect a variety of modes of culture; +in the place of one huge despotic kingdom, and the +uniform movement of wandering tribes a more independent +and unfettered development of small communities; +sharp contrasts appear in the place of a +general civilisation. At the same time these Syrian +coasts by the sea and mountain air, by life on the +ocean and among the hills, compensate to a great +degree the enervating influences of the Eastern sun, +and thus the elements are combined which are wont to +keep fresh and vigorous the life and power of the +inhabitants. As the sea attracted the inhabitants to +distant regions, and trained upon its waves a mobile, +enterprising, active population, so on the other hand +did the severe formation of the hills and the seclusion +of the valleys lead to a uniform unchanging mode +of life and a desire to retain what was customary and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +traditional. The nearer these opposites approached +each other the more energetic must have been their +mutual operation, the more lively the process of +intellectual life, and the more productive its results.</p> + +<p>The mountain district extending on the west of the +fissure from Mount Hermon and the sources of the +Orontes southward as far as the desert which divides +Syria from Egypt was by its inhabitants called Canaan. +We met with this name already in the inscriptions of +Sethos I. It means lower land, and has obviously been +transferred from the coast to the interior. Among the +Greeks the southern strip of coast was named Palæstina, +after the Philistines (the Pelishtim) who possessed +it; the northern part, from Carmel to the Eleutherus +(Nahr-el-Kebir) was Phenicia; among the Egyptians +the coast was known as Kaft; the tribes of the +interior, and more especially those of Northern Syria, +were known as Retennu.<a name="FNanchor_482_482" id="FNanchor_482_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_482_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a></p> + +<p>The oldest information about these districts which +has come down to us is contained in the statements +about the campaigns which Kudur-Lagamer and +Kudur-Mabuk of Elam are said to have undertaken +against Syria (<a href="#Page_251">p. 251</a>). If we might regard the kings +of Elam, who extended their power over Babylonia, +and then forced their way to Syria, as belonging to +the fourth dynasty of Berosus, the campaign of Kudur-Lagamer +and Kudur-Mabuk could be placed about +the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small> When Babylonia under Sarrukin +and Hammurabi shook off the supremacy of Elam, +Sarrukin is said to have advanced towards Syria as +far as the "Western Sea" (<a href="#Page_260">p. 260</a>). Three centuries +later Syria was attacked from the western or opposite +side. As soon as the kings of Upper Egypt had +succeeded in expelling the Hyksos from the land, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +carried their arms towards Syria, and in these campaigns +repeatedly touched the Euphrates. In the +times of Tuthmosis I. (1646-1625 <small>B.C.</small>) we are told +that he traversed Syria towards the north, advanced +as far as the Euphrates, and set up a column there. +Tuthmosis III. (1591-1565 <small>B.C.</small>) marched seven +times against Syria; in the fourth campaign (1580 +<small>B.C.</small>) he reached and crossed the Euphrates; then he +appears to have advanced through Mesopotamia +as far as the Tigris, and to have collected tribute +there.<a name="FNanchor_483_483" id="FNanchor_483_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_483_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a> More than one hundred and fifty years later +Sethos I. (1439-1388 <small>B.C.</small>) fought against the Schasu, +<i>i. e.</i> the Shepherds, "who extend as far as Canana," +the Cheta (Hittites), and the Retennu, <i>i. e.</i> the +Syrians. Ramses II. (1388-1322 <small>B.C.</small>) invaded +the land of Kaft, and caused memorials of his +victories to be engraved upon the rocks at Nahr-el-Kelb, +in the neighbourhood of Berytus, fought +against the Hittites and their allies from the Euphrates, +the prince of Karchemish, and then concluded +peace and entered into friendship with the +prince of the Cheta (<a href="#Page_150">p. 150 ff</a>). The campaigns of +Ramses III. (1269-1244 <small>B.C.</small>) were also directed +against the Schasu, the Cheta, whose prince he took +alive, the Amari (the Amorites) and the Pulista (the +Philistines, <a href="#Page_164">p. 164</a>).</p> + +<p>The inscriptions of these Pharaohs prove that the +tribes of Syria, even as early as the sixteenth century +<small>B.C.</small>, had arrived not only at a settled mode of life, +but at a vigorous trade and a civilisation far from +contemptible. The princes of Syria met Tuthmosis +III. with numerous war-chariots, of which in the +battle of Megiddo they lost 924 (<a href="#Page_132">p. 132</a>). If +Tuthmosis can mention 107 cities from Hamath in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +the north to Gaza in the south which he had +subjugated, the population must have been already +more numerous and the land more thickly inhabited. +The names quoted prove that Gaza (Kazatu), Damascus +(Tamesku), Hamath (Hamtu), Joppa (Japu), Berothai +(Berytus), Kades (Kadeshu), Ashtaroth Karnaim +(Astartu), and many cities frequently mentioned at +a later date, were already in existence: several of +them are represented to us on the monuments of the +Pharaohs, as situated on heights and surrounded by +strong walls.</p> + +<p>The tribute received by Tuthmosis III. from Syria +is sufficient evidence that the valleys of Canaan were +well cultivated, that extensive trade relations had +already been formed, and that metals were in use +to a considerable amount. Syria contributed to +Tuthmosis not wine only, honey and dates, but also considerable +quantities of spices. The Retennu contributed +at one time 1,718 minæ of sweet wine. The Hittites +contributed 8 silver rings, weighing in all 301 Egyptian +pounds, and 93 Egyptian pounds of gold; the +Retennu paid 40 bars, and afterwards 80 bars (bricks) +of iron; on one occasion they contributed 761 Egyptian +pounds, and in another year 1,495 pounds of +silver and 55 pounds of gold.<a name="FNanchor_484_484" id="FNanchor_484_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_484_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a> It was remarked +above (<a href="#Page_304">p. 304</a>) that these tributes also prove that the +measures and weights of Babylon were already in +use in Syria at that time.</p> + +<p>The monuments of the Pharaohs also prove that +the land was divided into independent districts, +governed by hereditary princes. The leading and +most powerful tribe at the time of the Ramessids was +that of the Hittites in the south of Canaan. In the +fourteenth century <small>B.C.</small> this tribe, with its confede<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>rates, +could place 2,500 war chariots in the field. We +have already seen (<a href="#Page_152">p. 152</a>) that the king of the +Hittites, the son of Maursar and grandson of Sepalulu, +entered into an alliance and compact with Rameses II., +as one power with another. In the records of the +Egyptians the court and army of the Hittites are +found well arranged. Generals of the cavalry, masters +of the horse, and scribes are mentioned, and the +sculptures of the Pharaohs exhibit the Hittites in +their chariots in magnificent clothing and armour. +The inscriptions of Rameses II. mention Baal and +Astarte as gods of the Hittites—deities which we +have already found at Babylon under the names of +Bel and Istar. We have less information of the land +of Kaft, of the Amari, and finally of the Pulista, who +are first mentioned under Rameses III., and of the +tribes of the Retennu to the north of the Cheta. As +was remarked above, the Pharaohs did not succeed in +establishing a lasting supremacy over Syria. Even +Tuthmosis III., who achieved the greatest successes, +did no more than force the Syrian princes to pay him +tribute for a short series of years.</p> + +<p>Thus the beginnings of settled life, of agriculture, +of cities and trade in Canaan cannot be placed later +than the year 2,000 <small>B.C.</small>, and this result is confirmed +by the tradition of the Hebrews. According to +Genesis, Ham, the second son of Noah, begat Canaan, +and Canaan begat Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and +Amori, and Hivi, and Arvadi, and Hamathi, and +afterwards the families of the Canaanites were spread +abroad.<a name="FNanchor_485_485" id="FNanchor_485_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_485_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a> Hence, with the Hebrews, the Sidonians +passed for the oldest Canaanites. The name means +Fishcatcher, and a tribe limited to a narrow strip +of coast may soon have betaken themselves to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +sea. The primogeniture of the Sidonians was afterwards +explained to mean that the origin of their +city, Sidon, belonged to the oldest period. That the +second city of this tribe, Sor (Tyre), "the daughter of +Sidon,"<a name="FNanchor_486_486" id="FNanchor_486_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_486_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a> was proud of her great antiquity, we learn +from other sources. When Herodotus was there, and +inquired about the erection of the most sacred temple +in the city, the temple of Melkarth, he received the +answer that this shrine had been built, together with +the city, about 2,300 years before his time, i.e. about +the year 2,750 <small>B.C.</small> Lucian also assures us that the +temples of Phenicia and the temple of Melkarth at +Tyre were founded not much later than the oldest +Egyptian temples.<a name="FNanchor_487_487" id="FNanchor_487_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_487_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a></p> + +<p>Northward of Sidon, at the mouths of the Nahr +Ibrahim and the Nahr-el-Kelb (Adonis and Lycus), +was settled the tribe of the Giblites, <i>i. e.</i> the +mountaineers, whose cities were Gebal (Byblus) +and Berothai (Berytus). Byblus claimed to be +the oldest city in the land—older than Sidon—and +to have been built by El, the supreme deity. +At any rate, as we have already seen, it was in +existence at the time of Tuthmosis III., whose inscriptions +also mention the city of a third tribe, that of +Arvadi, <i>i. e.</i> the Arvadites, whom the Hebrews mention +among the sons of Canaan. This tribe was in possession +of a considerable district to the north of Byblus, on the +mouth of the Nahr-el-Kebir (Eleutherus), and of a rocky +island off the coast, on which lay their city Arvad, the +Aratu of the Egyptians, the Aradus of the Greeks.</p> + +<p>The tradition of the Hebrews derived the Hittites +from Heth, the second son of Canaan. The centre +of their land, which stretched from the coast to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +Jordan, was formed by the bare and stony mountains +round Hebron. Here, according to Hebrew story, +giants once dwelt—the Anakim—whose father and +chief was Arba; after this prince, Hebron was formerly +called Kirjath-Arba. To this city also the +Hebrews ascribe a great antiquity; it was built seven +years earlier than Zoan (Tanis) in Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_488_488" id="FNanchor_488_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_488_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a> We do +not know the date of the building of Zoan, but the +name occurs as early as the inscriptions of Sesurtesen +I., whose reign we must place about the year +2,350 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_489_489" id="FNanchor_489_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_489_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a> With the Hittites of Hebron the +Hebrew Scriptures represent their own forefathers +as living in peaceful and friendly intercourse in the +century 2100-2000 <i><small>B.C.</small></i> We have already seen +what a sustained resistance the disciplined forces of +the princes of the Hittites were able to make against +the attacks of Egypt for two centuries—from the +middle of the fifteenth to the middle of the thirteenth +century <small>B.C.</small> War against the Cheta is a standing +item in the inscriptions of the Ramessids.</p> + +<p>Northward of the Hittites lay the tribes which +the tradition of the Hebrews derives from Hivi +and Amori, the younger sons of Canaan, the Hivites +and Amorites—the former in the beautiful mountain +valleys round Gibeon and Sichem, northwards as +far as Mount Hermon; the latter, a numerous and +powerful tribe, outside the land of Canaan, north-east +of Jordan, from the Jabbok in the south to +Hermon in the north.<a name="FNanchor_490_490" id="FNanchor_490_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_490_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a> The Amorites, as we may +venture to assume, were the Amari of Egyptian +inscriptions. Furthest to the north, in the valley of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +the Orontes, were the Hamathites, whom the Hebrews +also reckon among the sons of Canaan.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the Damascenes, the northern +neighbours of the Amorites, whose city is mentioned +by the Egyptians with Hamath as early as the sixteenth +century, and who in the ninth and eighth +centuries <small>B.C.</small> were the centre of the most powerful +community in the Syrian interior, were not reckoned +by the Hebrews among the sons of Canaan; and the +inscriptions of the Assyrians also place the Damascenes +among the Arimi, <i>i. e.</i> Aramaeens. Nor are the +old inhabitants of the valley of the Jordan included +by Hebrew tradition among the Canaanites, which +is here associated with the principalities of Sodom +and Gomorrah, of Adamah, Zeboim, and Zoar, and +the names of the princes who once fought against +Kedor Laomer in the valley of Siddim. But Jehovah +caused fire and brimstone to rain upon Sodom and +Gomorrah owing to the sins of the inhabitants, and +destroyed these cities and the whole region. The +Philistines also, whom we find in possession of the +coast from Gaza in the south to Carmel in the north, +were not counted by the Hebrews among the sons of +Canaan. It has been remarked that the name occurs +for the first time in Egyptian inscriptions in the first +half of the thirteenth century <small>B.C.</small> The Hebrews tell +us that the Philistines marched from Caphtor and overcame +the Avites, who dwell "in villages as far as +Gaza." By Caphtor we should probably understand +the eastern sea coast of Egypt, the north-east of the +Delta, where a Semitic population may have established +itself firmly from the time of the Hyksos, and may have +been able to maintain themselves after their expulsion. +Yet there is nothing to contradict the assumption<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +that, at the time of their expulsion by Amosis and the +Tuthmosis, a part of the Hyksos turned towards Syria, +and that the Philistines were sprung from these. We +may remember that Manetho terms the Hyksos Phenicians, +or kinsmen of the Phenicians, and tells us that +they retired in the direction of Syria, and Herodotus +represents the shepherd Philitis as pasturing his flocks +at Memphis.<a name="FNanchor_491_491" id="FNanchor_491_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_491_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a> In the eleventh century <small>B.C.</small> we find +the Philistines under the dominion of the princes of +the cities of Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. +The princes had their palaces; the cities were protected +by walls and towers, and possessed extensive +temples, in which were images of wood and iron, and +rich offerings. The five cities formed a federation, +their princes (Seranim) sat in a common council, led +out their armies in common, and in common offered +thankofferings for the victories won. They could +bring into the field a splendid army of chariots, +horsemen, heavy-armed soldiers, and bowmen; the +soldiers were divided into troops of hundreds and +thousands.<a name="FNanchor_492_492" id="FNanchor_492_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_492_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a></p> + +<p>Towards the middle of the thirteenth century a +considerable alteration took place in the interior of +Canaan, between the coast of the Philistines and the +valley of the Jordan. The Amorites advanced towards +the south over the Jabbok, and subjugated the +Moabites, who dwelt in this district to the east of +the Dead Sea, as far as the Arnon. They spread +westwards over the Jordan, and overthrew the ancient +federation of the Hittites. These were either sub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>jugated +or driven out; only in some mountain cantons +did the Hittites maintain themselves. In their place +the Amorites ruled between the coast and the Dead +Sea, and this district was now known as the "Mountain +of the Amorites."<a name="FNanchor_493_493" id="FNanchor_493_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_493_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a></p> + +<p>Northwards also the Amorites pressed forward +against the Hittites, and took possession of their +land as far as Lake Merom.<a name="FNanchor_494_494" id="FNanchor_494_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_494_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a> It was only in Gibeon +and the surrounding districts that the Hivites held +their own;<a name="FNanchor_495_495" id="FNanchor_495_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_495_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a> and all the Hittites and Hivites who +refused subjugation and slavery were compelled to +retire to the coast. It must have been a heavy blow +that could shatter the power of the Hittites; while +the collection of a numerous population on the coast, +which was caused by the new supremacy of the +Amorites, was in its turn of important consequence +for the cities of Phenicia. But the new masters of +the southern land did not form a consolidated power, +like the Hittites before them; they were broken up +into separate tribes, so that among them, and the +remnants of the Hittites and Hivites, there were +about thirty small principalities. The ancient power +of the Hittites must have been important enough to +leave behind a very lasting impression. The Book of +Joshua uses the expression "land of the Hittites," for +the whole region from the sea to the Euphrates, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +the Assyrian inscriptions of the ninth, eighth, and +seventh centuries include beside the land of Arimi, +<i>i. e.</i> of the Aramæans the whole of Canaan from +Hamath to the sea and southwards as far as Egypt, +under the name of the "land of Chatti."<a name="FNanchor_496_496" id="FNanchor_496_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_496_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_477_477" id="Footnote_477_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_477_477"><span class="label">[477]</span></a> Strabo, p. 756. "It is true that the whole land from Seleucis to +Egypt and Arabia is also called Hollow Syria, but strictly speaking the +name is given only to the land between Libanus and Antilibanus."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_478_478" id="Footnote_478_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_478_478"><span class="label">[478]</span></a> Strabo, p. 763.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_479_479" id="Footnote_479_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_479_479"><span class="label">[479]</span></a> Genesis xxxi. 20-24; Strabo, pp. 627, 784.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_480_480" id="Footnote_480_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_480_480"><span class="label">[480]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 396.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_481_481" id="Footnote_481_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_481_481"><span class="label">[481]</span></a> Tacit. "Histor." 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_482_482" id="Footnote_482_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_482_482"><span class="label">[482]</span></a> Ebers, "Ægypten und die Bücher Mose's," s. 131 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_483_483" id="Footnote_483_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_483_483"><span class="label">[483]</span></a> De Rougé, "Annales de Toutmes;" cf. <i>supra</i> p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_484_484" id="Footnote_484_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_484_484"><span class="label">[484]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 80, 92.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_485_485" id="Footnote_485_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_485_485"><span class="label">[485]</span></a> Genesis x. 15-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_486_486" id="Footnote_486_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_486_486"><span class="label">[486]</span></a> Isaiah xxiii. 3; Justin, 18, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_487_487" id="Footnote_487_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_487_487"><span class="label">[487]</span></a> Herod. 2, 34; Lucian, "De dea Syria," 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_488_488" id="Footnote_488_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_488_488"><span class="label">[488]</span></a> Judges i. 10; Joshua xiv. 12, 15; xv. 13, 14; Numbers xiii. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_489_489" id="Footnote_489_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_489_489"><span class="label">[489]</span></a> Ebers, "Ægypten," s. 188.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_490_490" id="Footnote_490_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_490_490"><span class="label">[490]</span></a> Genesis xv. 16; xxxiv. 2; Joshua iii. 10; xi. 3; Jud. iii. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_491_491" id="Footnote_491_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_491_491"><span class="label">[491]</span></a> Above, <a href="#Page_127">p. 127</a>; Gen. x. 13, 14; Amos ix. 7; Deut. ii. 23; Jeremiah +xlvii. 4; Stark, "Gaza," s. 104 ff. Ebers explains Kaphtor by <i>Kaft-ur</i>, +<i>i. e.</i> Great Kaft, Great Phenicia. To Ai-Kaphtor the Egyptian Aa-Kaft, +<i>i. e.</i> island and coast land, curved coast land would correspond.—"Ægypten," +s. 131 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_492_492" id="Footnote_492_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_492_492"><span class="label">[492]</span></a> Stark, "Gaza," s. 132-136, 318 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_493_493" id="Footnote_493_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_493_493"><span class="label">[493]</span></a> Deut. i. 7, 20, 44; Joshua x. 5, 6; xi. 3. The Jebusites who +possessed the Jerusalem of later times were a tribe of the Amorites. +They and their king are expressly mentioned as Amorites.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_494_494" id="Footnote_494_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_494_494"><span class="label">[494]</span></a> In the book of Joshua, as well as in the prophet Amos, it is the +Amorites whom the Hebrews have to contend against, mingled with +scanty remnants of the Hittites and Hivites. Besides this, the advance +of the Amorites against the Moabites is sufficiently proved (<i>vide</i> Exodus, +Numbers, and Deuteronomy), and the migration of the Hittites by their +settlement in Cyprus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_495_495" id="Footnote_495_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_495_495"><span class="label">[495]</span></a> Joshua ix. 7, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_496_496" id="Footnote_496_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_496_496"><span class="label">[496]</span></a> Joshua i. 4; Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test," s. 30.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES.</h3> + + +<p>Our knowledge of the religious conceptions of the +Canaanites consists of scattered and meagre statements. +Yet these statements are enough to show +with certainty that the ideas of the Syrians about the +powers of Heaven rested on the same basis as the +worship of the Babylonians. But the sensual and +lascivious side of this worship, no less than the cruel +and bloody side, is more strongly and broadly developed +in Syria than in Babylonia, while, on the other +hand, the complete development of the star-worship, +as we found it on the lower Euphrates, is unknown in +Syria. The gods who were regarded as alien and +hostile to natural life were worshipped by the Canaanites +with severe abstinence and harsh asceticism, +with self-mutilation and human sacrifices; while the +deities of procreation and birth, who were considered +favourable to life, were worshipped with the most +shameless prostitution and the most unbridled debauchery. +Indeed these rites, distinguished by sensual +excess and bloody asceticism, were united by that +mysterious link which in the human breast brings +debauchery and pain into close connection; and hence +this worship is a true copy of the Semitic mode of feeling, +which wavers between luxurious enjoyment and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +fanatical destruction, between cringing servility and +stiff-necked obstinacy, between effeminate retirement +in the harem, and bold achievements in the battle-field.</p> + +<p>The Phenicians are said to have possessed sacred +scriptures of very great antiquity. In Babylonia we +found a city to which the sacred scriptures were +specially allotted, Sepharvaim on the Euphrates; in +Canaan, Debir, in the neighbourhood of Hebron, was +at one time called Kiriath Sepher, <i>i. e.</i> "city of +scriptures." The scriptures of the Phenicians are +said to be derived from Esmun one of their gods, or +from a series of hierophants, Thabion, Isiris, Sanchuniathon +and Mochus. According to the evidence of +Poseidonius, Mochus lived before the Trojan war.<a name="FNanchor_497_497" id="FNanchor_497_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_497_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a> +Sanchuniathon also, a Sidonian according to some, +according to others a Syrian, and to others a Berytean, +is said to have lived before or during the time of the +Trojan war. He is said to have collected his writings +from the archives of the Phenician cities, from the +records in the temples, and a document of Hierombal +which had been placed by the latter before Abelbaal, +king of Berytus, and had met with approval, and it is +maintained from the catalogue of the Phenician kings +that Hierombal and Sanchuniathon lived before the +Trojan war.<a name="FNanchor_498_498" id="FNanchor_498_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_498_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a> Of the writings of Sanchuniathon, Philo +of Byblus, who wrote in the first half of the second +century, <small>B.C.</small>, is said to have given a Greek translation +in his <i>History of the Phenicians</i>. Of this supposed +translation of a supposed original, discovered after much +research by Philo, besides which he pretended to have +made use of the sacred scriptures of the Egyptians, the +Books of Thoth, some excerpts and fragments have come +down to us. Scanty and unconnected as these are, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +show us at once that Philo, whatever his original may +have been, was far removed from any mere repetition +of old religious views, that the syncretistic culture of +his time had exercised a strong influence on his own +ideas, and that his whole point of view belongs to that +kind of enlightenment which pretended to find in the +gods a number of deified kings, who had once ruled +over the land in ancient days. Yet Philo also allowed +that, over and above these, the sun, moon, planets, +and certain elements were worshipped as gods.<a name="FNanchor_499_499" id="FNanchor_499_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_499_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a></p> + +<p>Following the cosmogonic systems, as they may +have been drawn out with greater definiteness after the +Hellenistic period, Philo assumes as the beginning of +all things an obscure and moving atmosphere, and a +dark and melancholy chaos. When the wind of his +Beginning felt the yearning of love, a mixture took +place, and this combination was named Desire. Desire +is the beginning of all things. From the union of the +wind with itself arose Mot, which some explain as +mud, others as putrefaction of a watery mixture. Out +of this arose the seeds of all and the origin of all +things. Mot was fashioned after the form of an egg. +"And then shone forth the sun and moon, and the +great constellations. As the air now sent forth a fiery +glow, winds and clouds arose from the kindling of the +sea and the earth, and vast tempests of rain streamed +down; and when all this dashed together, there +followed thunderings and lightning, by which the +creatures were awaked, and on the earth and in the +sea the male and the female elements began to move.<a name="FNanchor_500_500" id="FNanchor_500_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_500_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a> +And from the wind Kolpia and his wife Baau, which +means night, Aeon and Protogonus, mortal men, were +begotten. Aeon discovered the nourishment obtained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +from trees. And Aeon and Protogonus begot Genos +and Genea, who dwelt in Phœnicia; and when the +fierce heat came they stretched out their hands to the +sky and the sun. As they regarded the sun as the +only lord of the sky, they called him Belsamen, which +among the Phenicians means lord of the sky, and +among the Greeks Zeus." But Aeon and Protogonus +had also begotten children, called by the names +of Phos (light), Pyr (fire), and Phlox (flame). These +discovered fire by rubbing two pieces of wood +together, and taught the use of fire, and begot children +who surpassed all others in size and stature. The +names of these giants were given to the mountains of +which they possessed themselves, to Casius, Libanus, +Anti-libanus, and Brathy (Tabor?). The giants begot +Samemrumus, who is also called Hypsuranius, and +Usous. These made a traffic of their mothers, for it +was the custom in those days for the women to +associate with any one. Samemrumus lived at Tyre, +and discovered the art of making huts out of reeds +and sedge, while Usous invented clothing made of the +skins of the beasts which he knew how to slay. +Samemrumus rebelled against Usous, but the latter +took a tree and divested it of the branches, and was +the first who went on board a vessel. Then he dedicated +two pillars to the fire and the wind, and offered +to these the blood of the beasts which he had taken. +When the brothers were dead, prayers were offered to +the pillars, and each year a festival was celebrated in +honour of them. And for a long time afterwards +Agreus (the hunter) was among the descendants of +Usous, and Halieus (the fisher) among those of +Samemrumus. From these sprung two brothers, of +whom the one was Chusor, <i>i. e.</i> Hephaestus, who discovered +the working of iron, and the other, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> +invented the fish-hook and was the first navigator, +was named Zeus Meilichius;<a name="FNanchor_501_501" id="FNanchor_501_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_501_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a> and the two together +discovered the building of walls by bricks. From +these came Agros (the field), and Agrotes (the husbandman), +who was worshipped in Phœnicia as a god, +and was called the greatest god in Byblus. From +these sprung Misor and Sydyk; from Sydyk came the +Cabiri, who invented the ship.</p> + +<p>About this time Eljon, named "the Highest," was +born, and a woman of the name of Beruth; and these +two dwelt at Byblus. They begot Uranus and Ge, +and when "the Highest" fell in conflict with wild +beasts, he was worshipped by his children as a god +with libation and sacrifices. But Uranus succeeded +his father in the kingdom, and took his sister Ge to +wife, and with her begot El, who is also called +Cronus, Dagon, who, after discovering corn and the +plough, was called Zeus Arotrius, and Atlas. But as +Uranus begot children with other women, El, when +he was grown up, determined to revenge the slight +put upon his mother. He provided himself with a +sickle and a lance of iron, attacked Uranus, drove him +from his throne, expelled him from the land, and took +the kingdom for himself. He surrounded his house +with a wall, and built Byblus, the first city of the +Phenicians. His brother Atlas, whom he suspected, +he threw into the abyss, and covered him with earth; +his son he slew with the sword, and cut off his +daughter's head. When in the thirty-second year of +his reign he had laid an ambush for his father Uranus +in the interior of the land, and in this way had got +him into his power, he cut off his genitals, close by +some springs and rivers. The blood flowed into these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> +springs and streams, and this place became sacred, and +is shown even at the present day. At the wish of +El, "Astarte the Great," the daughter of Uranus, and +Zeus Demarus, the son of Uranus by a concubine, and +Adodus "the king of the gods," ruled over the land. +As a symbol of her supremacy, Astarte placed the +head of an ox on her own head, and when she had +wandered over the whole earth she found a star fallen +from heaven, took it, and dedicated it at Tyre on the +sacred island. But when a pestilence came, and a +mortality, El burnt his only son in royal robes as a +sacrifice to Uranus on the altar which he had erected, +and circumcised himself and forced his comrades to do +the same. The city of Byblus he handed over to the +goddess Baaltis, Berytus to the sea-god, to the Cabiri, +and to the descendants of Agrotes (the husbandman) +and of Halieus (the fisher), and when El came into the +land of the South, he gave all Egypt over to Taauthus +to be a royal habitation for him. To El, after his +death, was consecrated the star named after him.<a name="FNanchor_502_502" id="FNanchor_502_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_502_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a></p> + +<p>We should indeed be in an evil case if we were +restricted for our knowledge of Canaanitish rites to +these fragments, which carry so plainly on the front +of them their late origin, their fictitious genealogical +combinations, into which the gods are brought, their +over-subtle Euhemerism, and their mixture with Greek +and Egyptian ideas. That threads of various systems +of cosmogony intertwine and cross each other in +these fragments is proved by the derivation of the +origin of the world, first from the wind, and next +from chaos, and then from Kolpia and Baau, and by +the repetition even to the third time of the discovery +of hunting, agriculture, and navigation. Happily there +are other sources of information which allow us to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> +bring the statements of Philo into some sort of order, +and to supplement them in very essential points. We +saw that the highest god of the Babylonians was El. +If Philo tells us that the star known by his name, <i>i. e.</i> +the planet Saturn, was consecrated to king El after +his death, and if this king allows Astarte, Demarus, +and even Adodus, the king of the gods, to rule after +his death,—if he apportions cities and provinces to +Baaltis and the Cabiri,—it becomes clear enough that +for the Canaanites also El was the ruling god, and +that in Syria also the planet Saturn belonged to him. +But from the contest of El with Uranus, <i>i. e.</i> with the +sky-god, in Philo, we may also with certainty conclude, +that among the Canaanites also the highest place was +allotted to Baal-Samim, <i>i. e.</i> to the lord of the sky, as +Philo rightly explains that name; Philo denotes him +as the god worshipped by the earliest generations of +mankind. Among the Greeks also there was a myth, +borrowed no doubt from the East, that Zeus (Baal) had +once striven with El-Cronus.<a name="FNanchor_503_503" id="FNanchor_503_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_503_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a> As the god of Saturn, +the El of the Canaanites would have to be placed +beside the Adar of the Eastern Semitic nations. +The inscriptions of Ramses II. have already mentioned +Baal as the god of the Cheta. We also saw that the +nomads of the peninsula of Sinai consecrated their +highest mountain summit to the god of this name. +The Moabites invoked Baal on Mount Peor. In +Canaan also the mountain summits were sacred to +this deity; in the south of the land the lonely peak +of Casius on the Serbonian lake, then Carmel, Tabor, +and Hermon. The Philistines worshipped him at +Ekron; the names of numerous places in Canaan,—Baal +Hamon, Baal Hazor, Baal Meon, Baal Gad, Baal +Perazim, Baal Tamar, Baalath, Baalbec, &c.,—give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> +us sufficient proof of the widespread worship of Baal +in Canaan. We shall not go wrong if we regard him +as the deity of the beneficent operation of the sun. +If El cuts off the genitals of Uranus, <i>i. e.</i> of Baal-Samim, +and the blood flows into the springs and +streams, the meaning of the myth is without doubt +that the beneficent god has imparted his life-giving, +creating power to the fertilising water. Among the +Phenicians springs and streams were sacred. The +Carthaginian Hannibal swore to his compact with +Philip king of Macedonia before "the rivers, meadows, +and waters," and the Zeus Demarus of Philo must be +explained as Baal Tamar, <i>i. e.</i> Baal in the procreative +power. Northward of Sidon there falls into the sea a +river especially sacred to Baal Tamar, which the +Greeks called Tamyras (now Nahr Damur). It marks, +no doubt, the spot where the act in the myth was +localised, which, as Philo observes, was still pointed +out. Pliny tells us that with the Belus, <i>i. e.</i> Baal +(Sihor Libnath of the Hebrews), a mountain stream +falling into the sea southward of Sidon, after a brief, +and in the plain, a sluggish course from the parent +lake, customs of a very sacred nature were connected.<a name="FNanchor_504_504" id="FNanchor_504_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_504_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a></p> + +<p>The goddess whom the Syrians invoked, beside +the sun-god, had various names. According to +the fragments of Philo, El had handed over the +government of the city of Byblus to Baaltis, <i>i. e.</i> to +Bilit, the "mistress." At Ascalon she was known as +Derceto, at Hierapolis (Bambyke, Membidsh) as +Atargatis;<a name="FNanchor_505_505" id="FNanchor_505_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_505_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a> the Hebrews call her Ashera. Herodotus +calls the goddess of Ascalon Aphrodite Urania; +he also denotes her as the goddess of the sexual im<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>pulse +and of procreation, and mentions the temple at +Ascalon, as the oldest temple of this goddess which +he knew; "from this comes the shrine of Urania in +Cyprus, as the Cyprians themselves said; and the +Phenicians, who also belonged to Syria, founded the +temple of Urania on Cythera." Pausanias observes +that the Assyrians had been the first among men to +worship Urania, and after the Assyrians came the +Paphians in Cyprus, and the Phenicians at Ascalon.<a name="FNanchor_506_506" id="FNanchor_506_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_506_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a> +Hence we may conclude that Baaltis, in nature or in +name, was not far removed from the Bilit or Mylitta +of the Babylonians, and this conclusion is sufficiently +confirmed by all that we know of the worship of +Baaltis. Cinyras, the first king of Byblus, is said +to have erected shrines to Aphrodite at Byblus and in +Cyprus, and his daughters are said to have paid +service to the goddess with their persons. The +maidens of Byblus waited for strangers in the market-places, +just as the maidens of Babylon waited in the +temple (<a href="#Page_269">p. 269</a>), and the price of compliance was paid, +as in Babylon, to Aphrodite.<a name="FNanchor_507_507" id="FNanchor_507_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_507_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a> Of the maidens of +Cyprus we are told that they went down to the sea +shore in order to sell themselves to the sailors on +landing.<a name="FNanchor_508_508" id="FNanchor_508_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_508_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a> We also find that sacred servants, male +and female, who dedicated themselves to this form of +worship, were always to be found in the temples of the +Syrian goddess, and even married women entered +their ranks at certain times.<a name="FNanchor_509_509" id="FNanchor_509_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_509_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a> The Hebrews tell us +that the women wove tents for Ashera, and that paramours, +male and female, were in her sanctuaries.<a name="FNanchor_510_510" id="FNanchor_510_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_510_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a> In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +shady groves, on green hills, and among the mountain +forests of Libanus, sacrifice was offered to this goddess. +The lofty trees, the terebinth, the evergreen +pine and the cypress were sacred to her; the pomegranate, +the symbol of fruitfulness, was her peculiar +fruit. The ram, the he-goat, and the dove, especially +the white dove, animals of vigorous procreation and +reproduction, were dedicated to her, and formed the +most welcome offerings. In the temples of the +goddess before the cell in which she was worshipped +under the form of conical stones or upright pillars of +wood, were dove-cotes and pools of water.<a name="FNanchor_511_511" id="FNanchor_511_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_511_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a> Fish +also were dedicated to this goddess; and certain kinds +of fish were sacred among the Syrians. These were +not to be injured, and enjoyed divine honours.<a name="FNanchor_512_512" id="FNanchor_512_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_512_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a> +Beside the rich and ancient temple of Derceto at +Ascalon was a lake abounding in fish. At Hierapolis +the image of Atargatis, which had a dove on the head, +was carried down to the lake near the temple. This +image of "the Assyrian Urania" was also carried +down to the sea, amid a great crowd collected from +Syria, Arabia, and Mesopotamia.<a name="FNanchor_513_513" id="FNanchor_513_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_513_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a> The image of +Derceto at Ascalon, on the shore of the sea, in that +temple which was the oldest of Urania, known to +Herodotus, was a woman as far as the waist, but +from the thighs downwards she had the body of a +fish.<a name="FNanchor_514_514" id="FNanchor_514_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_514_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a> From the custom of carrying the image of the +goddess to pools of water, and the form of the goddess +at Ascalon, has arisen the legend of the Greeks, +that at Ascalon or Hierapolis she threw herself into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> +the water, and was changed into a fish. The colonies +of the Phenicians worshipped a Venus Marina, and +the goddess of Berytus is said to have come from the +sea; with the Greeks the goddess of Cyprus and +Cythera is said to have risen from the sea.<a name="FNanchor_515_515" id="FNanchor_515_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_515_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a> Appian +remarks that the goddess of Hierapolis was regarded +by some as Aphrodite, by others as Hera, and by +others again as the source and spring of all that +came out of moisture.<a name="FNanchor_516_516" id="FNanchor_516_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_516_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a> Hence the Bilit (Baaltis) +of Byblus, the Derceto of Ascalon, the Atargatis of +Hierapolis, the Ashera of the Hebrews, was a deity +favourable to birth and fertility, the power of nature +which creates from moisture and water.</p> + +<p>A male deity also, who gave fruit and increase +from water, was worshipped by the Canaanites. At +Gaza and Ashdod, the cities of the Philistines, and +near the coast, at Beth-Dagon, and Kaphar-Dagon, the +god Dagon was invoked, whom Philo mentioned as +the Zeus Arotrius, the Zeus of the field, the god of +nourishment. His temple at Gaza was the pre-eminent +shrine of the Philistines, the centre of their +federation. The image of Dagon in his temple at +Ashdod had the face and hands of a man, the body +of a fish, and again the feet of a man.<a name="FNanchor_517_517" id="FNanchor_517_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_517_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a> Philo's +account denotes Dagon as the discoverer of the plough +and the god of nourishment, as the giver of corn and +protector of the field, and therefore he must in any +case have been a spirit of increase and fertility. +We found the name of this god in Babylonian inscriptions +of the time of Hammurabi, and before it, +his image, and that of his priests, among the monuments +of Assyria. We saw that his name designated +him as a fish-god, and know that Babylonian legends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> +connected him with the sea, and represented him as +arising from the sea (<a href="#Page_272">p. 272</a>).</p> + +<p>By the side of the deities of the beneficent powers +of nature and of birth, the Canaanites placed severe +and gloomy deities, who were averse and hostile to +the bloom of nature, the life and generation of mankind. +These were Moloch and Astarte. The first +is known to the Greeks under the name of Cronus, +and from Philo's account of El we must deduce the +relation of this god to Saturn. The Moloch of the +Canaanites is the cruel destroying god of war; fire in +its consuming, though also in its purifying properties, +was his element. He is said to have been represented +in the form of a bull or with a bull's head or +horns.<a name="FNanchor_518_518" id="FNanchor_518_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_518_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a> Among the booty which Sethos I. (1439-1388 +<small>B.C.</small>) brought back from his campaigns against the +Cheta and Retennu we may see, in the sculptures at +Karnak (<a href="#Page_150">p. 150</a>), the image of a bull.<a name="FNanchor_519_519" id="FNanchor_519_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_519_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a> The Canaanites +offered human sacrifices to Moloch. If we remember +that the Sepharvites of Babylonia offered up men +to Adrammelech, <i>i. e.</i> "to king Adar," the spirit of the +planet Saturn, we may venture to regard the Moloch +of the Canaanites as the god of Saturn, without excluding +the possibility that the burning glow of the +midsummer sun may have lain at the root of the +Canaanite conception of this god.<a name="FNanchor_520_520" id="FNanchor_520_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_520_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a> Not only were +captives, often to the number of thousands, sacrificed +to Moloch in gratitude for the victory bestowed;<a name="FNanchor_521_521" id="FNanchor_521_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_521_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a> but +also at the beginning of an important undertaking, or +the opening of a campaign, his favour was sought by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> +human sacrifices. These were indispensable in order +to appease his wrath, and turn destruction from all +upon the head of a few.<a name="FNanchor_522_522" id="FNanchor_522_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_522_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a> If the crops withered, or a +pestilence devastated the cities, or great reverses fell +upon the land in war, human victims were burned as +expiatory offerings.<a name="FNanchor_523_523" id="FNanchor_523_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_523_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a> Such offerings could only be +taken from among the native families. Pure victims +as yet undefiled by sexual intercourse, children and +youths, were, as it seems, the most welcome sacrifice. +The dearest possession was the most powerful expiation. +The best beloved children, the firstborn or +only son, must be offered to the god "as a ransom."<a name="FNanchor_524_524" id="FNanchor_524_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_524_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a> +We have seen above (<a href="#Page_356">p. 356</a>), how Philo represents +El himself as performing this sacrifice of a son. Only +the surrender of what was dearest could touch the +cruel feeling of the relentless god, and turn his wrath +upon the enemy so that he laid his curse upon him. +Thus it came to pass that the eldest son of the king +was clothed with purple and burned to Moloch in the +place of the ruler of the land. When Joram, king of +Israel, had shut up the king of Moab in Kir Harosheth, +"the Moabite took his firstborn son, who would have +been king in his place, and sacrificed him as a burnt +offering upon the wall. Then there was great indignation +against Israel, and Israel turned back to his own +land."<a name="FNanchor_525_525" id="FNanchor_525_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_525_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a> Hamilcar, Hanno's son, burnt himself in the +year 480 <small>B.C.</small>, when the battle of Himera went against +the Carthaginians; and when Himilco, in the year +406 <small>B.C.</small>, besieged Agrigentum, and a pestilence came +upon the army, he sacrificed a boy to Cronus, in order +to stay the plague.<a name="FNanchor_526_526" id="FNanchor_526_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_526_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a> When Agathocles of Syracuse,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> +after landing in Africa had defeated the Carthaginian +army, and encamped under the walls of Carthage, the +Carthaginians believed that they had brought the +anger of the god upon them because of late, instead +of sacrificing the children of the noblest citizens, they +had secretly purchased and substituted other children. +Inquiry showed that this had been done in some +cases. In expiation, 200 boys of the first families +were selected as victims, and the families, who were +suspected of previously withdrawing their children +from the god, now spontaneously brought forward +300 children. "In Carthage," so Diodorus, who +tells us this incident, continues, "there was an iron +image of Cronus, which held out the hands in a +downward position, so that the victim placed upon +them rolled into a cavity filled with fire."<a name="FNanchor_527_527" id="FNanchor_527_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_527_527" class="fnanchor">[527]</a> The +cries of the victims, Plutarch tells us, were drowned +by the noise of drums and flutes; the mothers were +compelled to stand by without lamentation or sighing. +If a sigh or a tear escaped them, they were regarded +as dishonoured; but the child was burnt just the +same. A Roman poet gives an invocation to the +"paternal gods" of Carthage, whose temples are +cleansed by murder, and who rejoice in being +worshipped by the agony of mothers.<a name="FNanchor_528_528" id="FNanchor_528_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_528_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a></p> + +<p>The inscriptions of Ramses II. mentioned Astarte +as the goddess of the Hittites; the name of their +city Astaroth we have already found in the form +of Astartu in the inscriptions of Tuthmosis III. +(<a href="#Page_343">p. 343</a>). The Philistines worshipped Astarte; for +the Sidonians, the "great Astarte" was the goddess +of their city. "A virgin-goddess"<a name="FNanchor_529_529" id="FNanchor_529_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_529_529" class="fnanchor">[529]</a> she ruled over +the fortune of battle; she is the goddess of war,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> +bringing death and destruction, the goddess of death. +Coins of Sidon represent her with a spear in her +hand. As the goddess of war she carried a spear +in her temples in Cyprus and Cythera.<a name="FNanchor_530_530" id="FNanchor_530_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_530_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a> In her +temple on the ancient fortress of Carthage, she was +represented riding on a lion, with a spear in her +hand. The Istar of the Babylonians and Assyrians +carried the bow (<a href="#Page_270">p. 270</a>). When the Philistines +carried off the armour of Saul, king of Israel, they +dedicated it in the house of Astarte. If Astarte, +according to Philo, consecrates a star on the island +of Tyre, we have already seen (<a href="#Page_270">p. 270</a>) that Venus +when rising was the star of Istar at Babylon. Yet +the Astarte of the Syrians stood in a closer relation +to the moon. Philo told us that she carried on her +head the head of an ox. The monuments of Sethos +display, beside the bull's image of Baal, a cow's head +with a segment of the moon; and on Carthaginian +stones we find the full moon between the horns of +an ox. With the horns of the moon the goddess +is known as Astaroth Karnaim, <i>i. e.</i> the horned +Astarte. The priests of Astarte were pledged to +continence and celibacy, and on the priestesses of +the "heavenly maiden," the "maiden of the sky,"<a name="FNanchor_531_531" id="FNanchor_531_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_531_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a> +virginity was imposed. No married woman could +enter her temples. In her temples, as in those of +Moloch, burned the eternal fire.<a name="FNanchor_532_532" id="FNanchor_532_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_532_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a> Like Moloch, Astarte +also received human sacrifices. To the virgin-goddess +the youthful were offered, and maidens and +women were burned.<a name="FNanchor_533_533" id="FNanchor_533_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_533_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a> As in the worship of Ashera +the Syrians attempted to transfuse themselves into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> +the nature of the goddess, to sink and pass into her +being, so also the worship of Astarte required that +they should become like the goddess, and that lust +should be killed in them. It was the highest and +most acceptable sacrifice, if priests and laymen made +themselves eunuchs in honour of the virgin-goddess. +During the festival of Astarte it was the custom, +while the congregated people were thrown into +excitement and frenzy by the sound of cymbals, +drums, and double pipes, for young men to spring +forward, seize the ancient sword which lay on the +altar of the goddess, and therewith to mutilate +themselves.<a name="FNanchor_534_534" id="FNanchor_534_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_534_534" class="fnanchor">[534]</a> At a later time there were thousands +of eunuch-attendants in the temples of Astarte, while +others went about through the land in female clothing, +their faces painted after the manner of women, begging +and mortifying their flesh. To the sound of drums +and pipes they whirled round with wild movements +and contortions of the body, and bent their heads +to the ground, so that their hair trailed in the mire. +At the same time they bit their arms and cut themselves +with swords. The most frenzied began to +moan and prophesy. At last he bewailed his sins, +took up the knotted whip, and beat himself on the +back till the blood ran down. When the dancing +and the scourging was ended, the eunuchs collected +subscriptions from the bystanders. Some gave money; +others, milk, wine, cheese, and meal. These they +hastily gathered together in order to compensate, +by a hearty meal at evening in their retreat, for +the torments of the day.<a name="FNanchor_535_535" id="FNanchor_535_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_535_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a></p> + +<p>These friendly and hostile, creative and destructive, +natural and supernatural powers stood mutually op<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>posed +in the religious consciousness of the Syrians. +Just as the Egyptians went forward, and saw in the +myth of Osiris the beneficent deity as the conqueror +of the evil god in the process of vegetative life and +in the revolution of the year, so did the Semitic +nations unite the beneficent and destructive powers +of heaven in the same deities, who in turn dispensed +blessing and destruction, and by themselves and in +themselves overcame the destructive element. This +combination is obvious in the form of Baal of Tyre, +whom the Tyrians invoked as the king and protector +of their city under the name of Melkarth,<i> i.e.</i> city-king.<a name="FNanchor_536_536" id="FNanchor_536_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_536_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a> +The Greeks identified this god with their own +Heracles; but as the protector of navigation and the +god of the sea, they are acquainted with Melkarth, +under his native name of Melicertes. Herodotus +was astonished at the splendour of the ancient +temple of this god at Tyre, at the richness and beauty +of the votive offerings, and the two rectangular pillars +in the temple, the one of pure gold, the other of +emerald, and so large that it shone by night.<a name="FNanchor_537_537" id="FNanchor_537_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_537_537" class="fnanchor">[537]</a> Hiram, +king of Tyre, had dedicated the first about the year +1,000 <small>B.C.</small> to Melkarth. To the Phenicians Baal +Melkarth was a labouring and conquering deity, who +creates new life out of destruction, vanquishes the +baneful signs in the zodiac, brings back the sun +from perigee and apogee, from excessive heat and +wintry cold, to beneficial operation, whose life is +seen in the sun's course.<a name="FNanchor_538_538" id="FNanchor_538_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_538_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a> When the sun burned +with the fiercest glow, and stood in the sign of +the lion, then the good sun-god must vanquish the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +lion or symbol of fiery heat; he pressed the lion +to his own breast, forced back into himself the fiery +beams, and consumed himself in his own heat. The +good sun-god must overcome the evil sun-god, or +he must consume himself, so that with renewed youth +he may again secure gentler warmth for the earth. +When the sun appeared most remote from the earth, +Baal of Tyre had gone on a journey or was asleep. +In the Phenician colonies in the West, in Crete, Sicily, +and at Gades, in the distant land of the setting sun, +were pointed out the resting-places of the deity, from +which he arose with the vernal sun to new activity +and life. At the end of February or the beginning +of March the festival of the awakening of the god +took place;<a name="FNanchor_539_539" id="FNanchor_539_539"></a><a href="#Footnote_539_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a> and if the Greeks tell us that Iolaus +awoke the god, Iolaus is merely a Grecised form of +Jubal, <i>i. e.</i> the beauty of Baal, and therefore only a +mythical expression for the god himself as re-awakening +with the beautiful vernal sun.<a name="FNanchor_540_540" id="FNanchor_540_540"></a><a href="#Footnote_540_540" class="fnanchor">[540]</a> From these ideas +of strife and conquest Melkarth could become in the +eyes of the Phenicians a warrior-hero, who was thought +to have wandered over the earth, as the sun revolves +round it, in order to set it free from hostile powers. +With this conception may be connected the story that +the procreative power was taken from Uranus and +transferred to the springs and rivers, and that El's +brother Atlas, <i>i. e.</i> Atel, a name which perhaps may +be explained as meaning darkness, is overthrown +and cast into the abyss. In the legends of the +Phenicians it was Melkarth who reduced the barbarous +tribes of the distant coasts, who founded the +ancient colonies of the Phenicians on the western +coasts of the Mediterranean, and set up, as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> +boundary stone of his wanderings, the two great +pillars at the end of the earth, the rocks of Calpe +and Abyle on the Straits of Gibraltar. As the restrainer +of the burning heat, of the lion, and of giants, +Melkarth is the Heracles of the Greeks; as a wandering +god who gives order to the life of mankind, +he bears, in Greece, the names Minos and Cadmus +(the name Kadmon means, "the man of the East"), +by which forms they expressed not the deity only, +but the old supremacy of the Phenicians, and their +settlements on their islands and coasts. The Hebrews +tell us that once, when a great drought attacked +the land, the priests of Baal assembled at Carmel and +invoked the god to consume with his rays the bull +which they placed as a sacrifice on the billets of +the altar. But the god heard them not. Then +Elijah, the prophet of the Jews, mocked them. +"Call louder," he said: "perhaps he is meditating +or hath a pursuit; he is on a journey, or perhaps +he is asleep and will wake up again." The priests +called louder, and became frantic, and cut themselves +with knives and lancets, so that the blood gushed out.<a name="FNanchor_541_541" id="FNanchor_541_541"></a><a href="#Footnote_541_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a></p> + +<p>As Baal and Moloch, the beneficent and the baneful +powers, were united in Baal of Tyre, and in the form +of Melkarth, so also was the goddess of reproduction, +of birth, and procreation amalgamated with the +warrior goddess, the maiden who brought death. It +was this deity which in turn gave blessing and +destruction, sensual enjoyment and war, birth and +death. She inspired consuming sensual passion, and +then caused death to overtake her lover, even if she +did not slay him herself. Thus a Roman poet can +put into the mouth of a Carthaginian the invocation, +"Goddess Astarte, power of gods and men, life and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> +safety, and again destruction, death, and dissolution."<a name="FNanchor_542_542" id="FNanchor_542_542"></a><a href="#Footnote_542_542" class="fnanchor">[542]</a> +We find that the Venus of Tyre was called Astarte, +that at Ashtaroth Karnaim, the ancient seat of the +worship of the horned Astarte, the maiden with the +horns of the moon, there was a sanctuary of Atargatis,<a name="FNanchor_543_543" id="FNanchor_543_543"></a><a href="#Footnote_543_543" class="fnanchor">[543]</a> +and that fire-festivals were celebrated at Hierapolis in +the sanctuary of Atargatis, which festivals belonged +to Astarte; that the Urania, <i>i. e.</i> the birth-goddess, of +Ascalon, Cyprus, and Cythera became an Aphrodite +Areia, <i>i. e.</i> a warlike Aphrodite;<a name="FNanchor_544_544" id="FNanchor_544_544"></a><a href="#Footnote_544_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a> that after Cinyras, +the king of Byblus, whose daughters paid service to +the goddess of Byblus with their bodies, Pygmalion +became king, and he regarded with abhorrence the +unchaste daughters of Cinyras, and worshipped the +pure goddess of heaven, and taught how to appease +her anger by human sacrifices.<a name="FNanchor_545_545" id="FNanchor_545_545"></a><a href="#Footnote_545_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a> At Carthage a good +goddess of the sky (<i>bona cœlestis</i>) was worshipped +beside an evil one (<i>inferna cœlestis</i>). If human sacrifices +were here burnt to the goddess Dido, just as the +supposed foundress of Carthage is said to have burnt +herself,<a name="FNanchor_546_546" id="FNanchor_546_546"></a><a href="#Footnote_546_546" class="fnanchor">[546]</a> her sister Anna, <i>i. e.</i> the charming one, was +worshipped with cheerful rites. Other accounts mention +that the two sisters Dido and Anna were one +and the same goddess. Without doubt they are right. +We saw that with the Babylonians the planet Venus, +when rising, was the war-goddess Istar, and, when +setting, she was Mylitta, the goddess of love (<a href="#Page_270">p. 270</a>).</p> + +<p>The relation of the Tyrian goddess Astarte to the +moon has already been touched upon. As goddess +of the moon, she was a changing, wandering deity. +With the waning light of the moon she retired into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> +the gloom of the west, the region of the setting sun; +and on the disappearance of the goddess on the "bad +evening," the Tyrians performed rites of mourning. +As a "wandering goddess,"<a name="FNanchor_547_547" id="FNanchor_547_547"></a><a href="#Footnote_547_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a> Astarte was called among +the Phenicians Dido, <i>i. e.</i> the rover, and among the +Westerns Europa, <i>i. e.</i> the dark one.<a name="FNanchor_548_548" id="FNanchor_548_548"></a><a href="#Footnote_548_548" class="fnanchor">[548]</a> With the retirement +of the goddess was connected the legend how +her destructive power was overcome; it showed how +Astarte could be worshipped in Tyre as the wife of +Melkarth, as Milkath (Melecheth, <i>i. e.</i> queen).<a name="FNanchor_549_549" id="FNanchor_549_549"></a><a href="#Footnote_549_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a> The +wandering sun-god went in search of the lost goddess. +At length he found her in the remote distance, and +loosed her girdle; the goddess surrendered herself to +him, and sacred marriage changed the warlike goddess +into the friendly deity favourable to procreation, +Astarte into Ashera, Dido into Anna, Artemis or +Athena into Atargatis. The "maiden of the sky" +is now the wife of the god of Tyre, the Hera of the +sky, the Ada (Athe) of the Syrians. From the embraces +of Melkarth and Astarte, the sun-god and the +moon-goddess, and the conquest of the cruel goddess +of war, spring life, order, and law. The sacred +marriage is said to have taken place in the West, at +Samothrace, and further still, on the Cadmeia, the +citadel of Cadmus,<a name="FNanchor_550_550" id="FNanchor_550_550"></a><a href="#Footnote_550_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a> <i>i. e.</i> of the searching Melkarth, +and finally beyond the pillars of the god, on the +happy islands of the Western Sea, where all fruits of +every kind grew spontaneously, especially the apples<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +of life, the pomegranates of Ashera, the apples of the +Hesperides,—the pledge of love, the symbol of life +and light returning out of darkness. Here also Melkarth +sank down to rest in the streams of the Western +Sea, which his beams had warmed.<a name="FNanchor_551_551" id="FNanchor_551_551"></a><a href="#Footnote_551_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a></p> + +<p>The Syrians did not remain content with combining +the beneficent and destructive powers into one form +only, into Baal-Melkarth and Astarte-Ashera. While +searching for the unity of the divine powers and the +divine nature, they also combined the male and +female deities into one figure, and the creative and +receptive powers were amalgamated in one and the +same form. As the combination of mighty heroic +power with luxurious sensuality is the practical ideal +of the East, so in theory also the highest union of the +powers of nature and divine being, the amalgamation +of male and female is attained by the same combination. +When Astarte had become Ashera, and had +surrendered herself to the god, the god in turn +surrendered himself to the goddess. He plied female +tasks, she carried the weapons. But even their nature +became one, their forms were combined. Astarte and +the Baal placed at her side became one deity. The +male deity of the Moabites was Camos. When Mesha, +king of Moab, took Nebo from the Israelites, he dedi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>cated +it to Ashtor-Camos.<a name="FNanchor_552_552" id="FNanchor_552_552"></a><a href="#Footnote_552_552" class="fnanchor">[552]</a> At Carthage Dido-Astarte +was represented with the beard of Melkarth.<a name="FNanchor_553_553" id="FNanchor_553_553"></a><a href="#Footnote_553_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a> At +Paphos there was a standing image of the bearded +Aphrodite, which was worshipped as a great divinity. +It is this unification which lies at the root of the +legends of Heracles (Melkarth) and Omphale (perhaps, +mother<a name="FNanchor_554_554" id="FNanchor_554_554"></a><a href="#Footnote_554_554" class="fnanchor">[554]</a>), of Semiramis and Sardanapalus. At certain +festivals of Baal the priests and worshippers of the +androgynous deity appeared in red transparent female +garments, and were otherwise dressed as women, while +the women were dressed as men, and carried swords +and lances.<a name="FNanchor_555_555" id="FNanchor_555_555"></a><a href="#Footnote_555_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a> The law of the Jews strictly forbids the +erection of Astartes and pillars, the bringing of the +hire of the harlot or the pay of the fornicator into the +house of Jehovah, the tearing of the skin, or the +cutting of the hair (which was customary among the +Syrians in different ways as the symbol of the worship +of certain deities), and insists that no eunuch shall +come into the people of Jehovah, that no woman shall +wear a man's clothes, and no man the clothes of a +woman.<a name="FNanchor_556_556" id="FNanchor_556_556"></a><a href="#Footnote_556_556" class="fnanchor">[556]</a></p> + +<p>Philo told us above (<a href="#Page_355">p. 355</a>) that Eljon of Byblus, +who was called the Highest, was slain in conflict with +wild beasts, and was worshipped by after generations +with libations and sacrifice. In Byblus, under the +name Adonis (Adon, <i>i. e.</i> Lord), a god was worshipped, +who was thought to have disappeared, or to have +been carried off in the bloom of youth. Eljon and +Adonis are one and the same form. When the +maritime river named after this deity, the Adonis +(now Nahr Ibrahim), near Byblus, began to run red<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> +in July (Thammuz), owing to the red earth washed +down from the mountains, then it was believed that +the beautiful Adonis was slain on Libanus by the +savage boar of the war-god. With lamentations and +cries the women sat in the shrine at Byblus; or lingered +by the wayside lamenting the death of Adonis. +They cut off their hair, tore their breasts, and cried +out—Ailanu, ailanu (woe to us). Adonis was lost, and +was now called Thammuz (the Departed).<a name="FNanchor_557_557" id="FNanchor_557_557"></a><a href="#Footnote_557_557" class="fnanchor">[557]</a> A time of +lamentation was observed, during which his wooden +image was washed and anointed, and laid upon a bier, +which the priests carried about with their garments +rent and beards shorn. But the god appeared again; +he came to life again, as it seems, with the new spring. +And as the lamentations for his death had been excessive, +so also was the sensuality with which his return +to life was celebrated.<a name="FNanchor_558_558" id="FNanchor_558_558"></a><a href="#Footnote_558_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a> Hence we must assume that +in Adonis was personified the vernal sun, the bloom +of vegetation, which so soon begins to droop. If it +was the boar of the war-god, <i>i. e.</i> of Moloch, which +slew Adonis, as one account maintains, then in the +minds of the Syrians the destructive sun-god, the +glow of the midsummer sun which makes vegetation +wither, was the cause of the death of Adonis.</p> + +<p>Philo further told us of the two sons of the giants, +the brothers Samemrumus and Usous, at Tyre (<a href="#Page_354">p. 354</a>). +The name Samemrumus means the High One of the +Sky, a meaning which is clearly confirmed by the +Greek attribute Hypsuranius. Hence Samemrumus +was the god, the Baal of Tyre, Baal Melkarth. That +Usous also was a god of Tyre is clear from the +observation of Eusebius, that Usous, a man of little +account, had been deified at Tyre beside Melicertes.<a name="FNanchor_559_559" id="FNanchor_559_559"></a><a href="#Footnote_559_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> +Usous, who knew how to catch and destroy wild +animals, and clad himself in their skins, the ancestor +of hunters, reminds us of the Esau of Hebrew tradition. +Compared in point of language the names +of Usous and Esau coincide: "Usous" (Usov) means, +like "Esav," the hairy one. Completely reversing +the natural connection, Philo ascribes to Usous the +erection of the pillars which belong to his brother, +and represents the hunter as embarking on the earliest +ship, whereas Samemrumus, the father of the fisherman, +must have embarked on the first ship. We saw +that the name Sidon means "fish-catchers" (<a href="#Page_344">p. 344</a>). +Hence the legends of the Phenicians carried back the +origin of the Sidonians, to whom not only the city of +Sidon but also Tyre belonged, to Baal Melkarth. From +this god the tribe of the Sidonians, as it seems, pretended +to have sprung. At a later period the mariners +of the coast, <i>i. e.</i> the population of the harbour towns, +looked down with scorn on the shepherds and hunters +of the mountains, although they could not refuse to +recognise the greater antiquity of this mode of life. +Usous, therefore, must be regarded as the elder brother, +the hunter of the mountains, like the Esau of the +Hebrews, while the younger Melkarth takes up his +abode in Tyre. That Usous is the firstborn is clear +from Philo's remark, that Samemrumus rebelled against +his brother. The contrast between the two brothers +is marked by the statement of Eusebius, that Usous +was of little account, more strongly than in Philo. +From this we may perhaps conclude that Usous, the +older god, was originally looked upon as a hostile +power, as Baal Moloch; while in Samemrumus the +friendly, helpful, beneficent power of the deity was +personified as Baal Melkarth. An obscure trace of +the contrast of the two gods is to be found also in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> +name Surmubel, <i>i. e.</i> Opponent of Baal, in Philo, which +seems to belong to Baal Melkarth in opposition to +Baal Moloch.<a name="FNanchor_560_560" id="FNanchor_560_560"></a><a href="#Footnote_560_560" class="fnanchor">[560]</a></p> + +<p>The gods, whom the various cities of the Phenicians +worshipped as their tutelary deities, were placed +side by side as soon as the feeling of community in +the cities became more lively, and intercourse between +them more vigorous. Hence it came about that a +common worship was also paid to these tutelary +deities. Beside their significance in the natural and +moral world, there resided from antiquity in certain +deities peculiar relations to hunting and agriculture, +and it was natural that as naval occupations, trade, +and industry developed in the cities, the gods should +be brought into relation to these spheres of activity +also. In the same degree as it was felt that trade and +commerce could only prosper amid internal peace and +security in the cities, and under the protection of law +and justice, the gods who maintained order in the +world must become the protectors of order and law +in the cities. In this feeling, and starting from conceptions +of this kind, the priests of the Phenicians +brought the gods of their cities into a connected +system which, following the sacred number seven, +included seven gods. The deities brought into this +circle were known by the collective name Cabirim, i.e. +the "Powerful," the "Great." Among the descendants +of the "field" and the "husbandman," Philo +has already mentioned Misor, <i>i. e.</i> Sydyk (justice). +As powers ruling in justice, law, and equity, and +maintaining order in the cities, the Cabiri are the +children of Sydyk. The Greeks call them children of +the sun-god, <i>i. e.</i> of Baal Samim; and if others connect +the Cabiri with Ptah, the god of light among the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> +Egyptians, the conclusion to be drawn is, that it +was Baal Samim who, in his relation to the +Cabiri, was denoted by the name of the Just, the +supreme champion of justice. From the hunter and +the fisher Philo derives Chusor, who discovered the +working of iron; he calls him Hephæstus (<a href="#Page_354">p. 354</a>). +Chusor, so far as we can tell, was the foremost deity +within the circle of the Cabiri. Phenician coins exhibit +him with a leather apron, hammer, and tongs; +the name seems to denote "arranger." He was the +tutelary god of the life of the cities occupied in navigation +and handicraft. Next to Chusor came a female +deity, Chusarthis, also called Turo (Thorah, law), +whom the Greeks call by the name Harmonia. As +the same deity is also called the goddess of the moon, +we cannot doubt that Chusarthis is Astarte, which is +also sufficiently clear from other evidence; only in the +new system the severe goddess was connected in a +definite manner with the upholding of justice and +preservation of law. Next to Astarte in the series of +the Cabiri comes Baal Melkarth of Tyre, who is known +to the Greeks under the name of Cadmus. He is +regarded as the discoverer of mining and masonry and +the inventor of writing. He searches for the lost +Harmonia, and with her when found celebrates the +sacred marriage. Hence Cadmus could be worshipped +in this system as a life-awakening, phallic god, as well +as the tutelar god of marriage. A peculiar reverence +was enjoyed among the Cabiri by the deity who was +added as an eighth to these seven; his name was +Esmun, <i>i. e.</i> the Eighth. In this form it seems that +the peculiarities of the seven gods were taken up and +gathered together. At any rate in Carthage the +temple of Esmun stood in the Byrsa, and on the +highest part of it. In this temple the holiest relics<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> +of the city were preserved and the most important deliberations +held. The Greeks call Esmun by the name +of Asclepius, but also add that he was different from +the Greek Asclepius. He was, it appears, a healing, +<i>i. e.</i> an appeasing deity, like Jasion in the Cabiric +mysteries of Samothrace. Esmun is also compared +and confounded with Hermes, as with the Thoth of the +Egyptians. Just as Thoth revealed the sacred books +of the Egyptians, did Esmun reveal the sacred books +of the Phenicians. Esmun was represented with a +serpent in his hand as the serpent-holder (Ophiuchus), +and his head as surrounded by eight rays. The forms +of the eight tutelar gods were carved by the Phenicians +on the prows of their ships; it was the Cabiri, +as Philo told us, who discovered the ship. Even now +Phenician coins exhibit the Cabiri in that dwarfed and +distorted form in which the Phenicians loved to +represent the nature and superhuman power of the +gods.<a name="FNanchor_561_561" id="FNanchor_561_561"></a><a href="#Footnote_561_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a></p> + +<p>From the circumstance that the Greeks, when +settling in Lemnos, Imbros, Samothrace, and Rhodes, +found the worship of the Cabiri in existence, and +adopted it, though not without certain alterations, we +may conclude that the Cabiric system was established +before the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small> In the tutelary gods of the +sea-loving nation of the Phenicians the Greeks recognised +and worshipped the deities favourable to mariners, +and from this side they combined them with their +own Dioscuri. On the other side the myth of Melkarth +and Astarte, who were adopted into this circle +of divinities, the myth of Melkarth, who discovers the +lost moon-goddess in the land of gloom, and returns +thence with her to new light and life, and who wakes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +to new life after the slumber of the winter, gave the +Greeks an opportunity of connecting with the mysteries +of the Cabiri those conceptions of the life after +death, which grew up among them after the beginning +of the sixth century.</p> + +<p>When the great deities had been combined with the +circle of the Cabiri, the subordinate spirits followed in +their course. By degrees a scheme of thrice seven was +reached, a scheme of twenty-one or rather twenty-two +deities, since an eighth was added to the seven +Cabiri. These, beginning with El, were arranged +according to the twenty-two letters of the Phenician +alphabet, and stood in a certain relation to them. +From this number of deities, their various names, and +the order of succession, various schemes of the origin +of the gods were developed, and with the help of +these genealogies certain systems of theogony and +cosmogony were formed, of which the dislocated and +confused fragments were found in Philo; and the +chief of them I have given above. The wind Kolpia +(<a href="#Page_353">p. 353</a>) modern research would explain by Kol-pyah, +<i>i. e.</i> "breath of the month;" Baau, the wife of this +wind, by Bohu, <i>i. e.</i> Chaos, the Tohu-wa-Bohu of the +Hebrews. The more abstract the potentialities with +which these systems begin, the later we may assume +their origin to be.</p> + +<p>Like the Arabs, the Syrians originally worshipped +their gods upon the mountains and in stones; then +they erected pillars of wood and stone to them, and +images, figures of bulls, or shapes combined from the +forms of men and fish. They also erected statues +male and female, or androgynous. At the great +festivals the sacred tents and chests in which ancient +symbols and tokens of the deities were preserved, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> +the images of the gods, were carried round in solemn +procession.<a name="FNanchor_562_562" id="FNanchor_562_562"></a><a href="#Footnote_562_562" class="fnanchor">[562]</a> Of the festival in the temple of Atargatis, +at Hierapolis, we have already spoken (<a href="#Page_360">p. 360</a>); of +the fire-festival which the Tyrians held in the spring, +Lucian tells us: "They trim great trees, set them up +in the court of the temple, and bring goats, sheep, +birds, and other victims. These they fasten to the +trees, and in addition, clothes and gold and silver +jewellery. After these preliminaries they carry the +images of the gods round the trees; the pyre is then +kindled, and all consumed."<a name="FNanchor_563_563" id="FNanchor_563_563"></a><a href="#Footnote_563_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a></p> + +<p>As we may conclude from Lucian's account and +from ruins, the temples were on a tolerably extensive +scale. There were two or three courts, one after the +other, either rectangular as at Paphus and Marathus, +or oval, as at Malta and Gaulus, surrounded by strong +walls, and furnished with pillars, altars, and pools of +water. With these was connected a narrow and small +shrine, containing the sacred stone or image. The +tithes belonged to the gods. Every year, at the +festival of Melkarth, in Tyre, an embassy appeared +from Carthage which offered to the god of the mother +city the tenth of the revenue of their state, and after +great victories the Carthaginians probably sent a tenth +of the spoil to the gods of Tyre.<a name="FNanchor_564_564" id="FNanchor_564_564"></a><a href="#Footnote_564_564" class="fnanchor">[564]</a> The number of +priests was great; we often find hundreds engaged in +a single sacrifice,<a name="FNanchor_565_565" id="FNanchor_565_565"></a><a href="#Footnote_565_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a> and the ritual was complicated. +The human sacrifices, mutilation, and prostitution, by +which the Syrians sought to win the favour of their +deities, we have already heard of. At a later time +at all the great sanctuaries there were thousands of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> +male and female servants beside the priests. The +priests lived on the tithes, the temple lands, and +the part which fell to them in the sacrifices. The +ritual distinguished burnt offerings, offerings of +purification, expiatory offerings, and offerings of the +first fruits; besides animals and the firstlings of the +field, sacrificial cakes were frequently offered. The +bull was the most acceptable victim; cows were not +sacrificed, nor the flesh eaten. Beside bulls, rams +and he-goats, and of birds, the dove, the partridge, +the quail, and the goose were offered. The animals +were required to be pure, without blemish, of the +male sex, and capable of procreation. To guard +against the offering of unclean beasts, the priests of +Hierapolis refused to sacrifice any but those bought +from themselves.<a name="FNanchor_566_566" id="FNanchor_566_566"></a><a href="#Footnote_566_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a> Two Phenician inscriptions of +Massilia and Carthage have come down to us from +the fourth century <small>B.C.</small>, containing the edicts of the +Carthaginian Suffetes about the part of the sacrifice +belonging to the priests, the fee to be paid for the +sacrifice, and finally the price of the victims purchased +of the priests. The Carthaginian inscription lays +down the rule that of a bull, a ram, or a goat, offered +as a burnt-offering, the skin was to be the property of +the priests and the inwards the property of the person +presenting the victim. Moreover, of every victim +offered, the cut and roasted flesh went to the priests. +On the other hand, the inscription of Massilia gives +the skin to those who present the victim (the law of the +Hebrews also gives the skin of a burnt-offering to the +man who offers the victim), but according to this +decree the victims must be bought from the priests. +For a bull ten shekels were to be paid to them, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> +though the tariff at Carthage lays upon the sacrificer +a fee of only 2 <i>sus</i> for each head of fowl sacrificed, +the inscription of Massilia raises the fee to 3/4 of a +shekel and 2 sus.<a name="FNanchor_567_567" id="FNanchor_567_567"></a><a href="#Footnote_567_567" class="fnanchor">[567]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_497_497" id="Footnote_497_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_497_497"><span class="label">[497]</span></a> In Strabo, p. 756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_498_498" id="Footnote_498_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_498_498"><span class="label">[498]</span></a> Philo. Frag. 1. ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_499_499" id="Footnote_499_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_499_499"><span class="label">[499]</span></a> Philon. frag. 1, 6, 7, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_500_500" id="Footnote_500_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_500_500"><span class="label">[500]</span></a> <i>Loc. cit.</i> 2, 1-4, ed. Müller; cf. Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 257 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_501_501" id="Footnote_501_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_501_501"><span class="label">[501]</span></a> Such is obviously the meaning of this passage.—Baudissin, "Abh. +z. semit. Relig." s. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_502_502" id="Footnote_502_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_502_502"><span class="label">[502]</span></a> Fragm. 2, 4, 5, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_503_503" id="Footnote_503_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_503_503"><span class="label">[503]</span></a> Pausan. 5, 7, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_504_504" id="Footnote_504_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_504_504"><span class="label">[504]</span></a> "Hist. Nat." 36, 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_505_505" id="Footnote_505_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_505_505"><span class="label">[505]</span></a> Athar-ath, <i>i. e.</i> Astarte-Athe; Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 431. Diod. +2, 4, 30. 2 Maccab. xi. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_506_506" id="Footnote_506_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_506_506"><span class="label">[506]</span></a> Herod. 1, 105. Pausan. 1, 14, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_507_507" id="Footnote_507_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_507_507"><span class="label">[507]</span></a> Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 16. The cutting off of the hair which +Lucian mentions is also a vicarious custom.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_508_508" id="Footnote_508_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_508_508"><span class="label">[508]</span></a> Justin. 18, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_509_509" id="Footnote_509_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_509_509"><span class="label">[509]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." Encycl. v. Ersch. s. 388, ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_510_510" id="Footnote_510_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_510_510"><span class="label">[510]</span></a> 2 Kings xxiii. 7. Ezek. xxiii. 40, ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_511_511" id="Footnote_511_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_511_511"><span class="label">[511]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 1, 197, 579; Munter, "Tempel der Göttin von +Paphos," and the Syrian coins in De Luynes, "Numismatique," pl. 1. +Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 13, 28. On the pillars of Marathus and Paphos, +Gerhard, "Kunst der Phœniker," s. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_512_512" id="Footnote_512_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_512_512"><span class="label">[512]</span></a> Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 4; Diod. 2, 4; Lucian, <i>loc. cit.</i> 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_513_513" id="Footnote_513_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_513_513"><span class="label">[513]</span></a> Lucian, <i>loc. cit.</i> 33, 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_514_514" id="Footnote_514_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_514_514"><span class="label">[514]</span></a> Stark, "Forschungen," s. 248, ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_515_515" id="Footnote_515_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_515_515"><span class="label">[515]</span></a> Avien. "Ora maritima," v. 305.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_516_516" id="Footnote_516_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_516_516"><span class="label">[516]</span></a> De Bell. Parth. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_517_517" id="Footnote_517_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_517_517"><span class="label">[517]</span></a> Judges xiv. 23; 1 Samuel, v. ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_518_518" id="Footnote_518_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_518_518"><span class="label">[518]</span></a> Gesenius, "Monum. Tab." 25. Silius Ital. Pun. 3, 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_519_519" id="Footnote_519_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_519_519"><span class="label">[519]</span></a> Osborne, "Egypt," p. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_520_520" id="Footnote_520_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_520_520"><span class="label">[520]</span></a> Baudissin ("Jahve et Moloch," p. 47) regards the amalgamation of +Moloch and Adar as of later origin; to me the connection between Saturn +and the sun (Diod. 2, 30) appears of later origin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_521_521" id="Footnote_521_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_521_521"><span class="label">[521]</span></a> <i>e. g.</i> Diod. 20, 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_522_522" id="Footnote_522_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_522_522"><span class="label">[522]</span></a> Justin. 18, 6. 19, 1; Plin. "H. N." 36, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_523_523" id="Footnote_523_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_523_523"><span class="label">[523]</span></a> Curtius, 4, 15, ed. Mützell; "Porphyr. de Abstinentiâ," 2, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_524_524" id="Footnote_524_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_524_524"><span class="label">[524]</span></a> Euseb. "Præcept. Evang." 4, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_525_525" id="Footnote_525_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_525_525"><span class="label">[525]</span></a> 2 Kings iii. 27; see below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_526_526" id="Footnote_526_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_526_526"><span class="label">[526]</span></a> Diod. 13, 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_527_527" id="Footnote_527_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_527_527"><span class="label">[527]</span></a> Diod. 20, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_528_528" id="Footnote_528_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_528_528"><span class="label">[528]</span></a> Plut. "De Superstitione," p. 171; Sil. Ital. 4, 767.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_529_529" id="Footnote_529_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_529_529"><span class="label">[529]</span></a> Numen virginale; virgo cælestis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_530_530" id="Footnote_530_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_530_530"><span class="label">[530]</span></a> De Luynes, "Numism." pl. v.; Hockh. "Kreta," 1, 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_531_531" id="Footnote_531_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_531_531"><span class="label">[531]</span></a> Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 4, 32; Augustin, "De Civitate Dei," 2, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_532_532" id="Footnote_532_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_532_532"><span class="label">[532]</span></a> Movers, "Religion der Phœn." s. 605, 611, 621 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_533_533" id="Footnote_533_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_533_533"><span class="label">[533]</span></a> Procop. "De bello Persico," 2, 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_534_534" id="Footnote_534_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_534_534"><span class="label">[534]</span></a> Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 15, 27, 43, 50, 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_535_535" id="Footnote_535_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_535_535"><span class="label">[535]</span></a> Movers, "Religion der Phœn.," s. 681.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_536_536" id="Footnote_536_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_536_536"><span class="label">[536]</span></a> "Our Lord Melkarth, Baal of Tyre," as he is called in an inscription +found at Malta.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_537_537" id="Footnote_537_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_537_537"><span class="label">[537]</span></a> Herod. 2, 44; Plin. H. N. 37, 75; Theophr. "De Lap." 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_538_538" id="Footnote_538_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_538_538"><span class="label">[538]</span></a> Thus Virgil says of the minstrel of Dido: "Canit errantem lunam, +solisque labores," Æn. 1, 742.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_539_539" id="Footnote_539_539"></a><a href="#FNanchor_539_539"><span class="label">[539]</span></a> Joseph. Ant. 8, 53; Movers, "Religion der Phœnizier," s. 150.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_540_540" id="Footnote_540_540"></a><a href="#FNanchor_540_540"><span class="label">[540]</span></a> Athen. p. 392; Movers, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 536.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_541_541" id="Footnote_541_541"></a><a href="#FNanchor_541_541"><span class="label">[541]</span></a> 1 Kings xviii. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_542_542" id="Footnote_542_542"></a><a href="#FNanchor_542_542"><span class="label">[542]</span></a> Plaut. "Merc." 4, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_543_543" id="Footnote_543_543"></a><a href="#FNanchor_543_543"><span class="label">[543]</span></a> Cic. "De Nat. Deorum," 3, 23; 1 Macc. v. 43; 2, xii. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_544_544" id="Footnote_544_544"></a><a href="#FNanchor_544_544"><span class="label">[544]</span></a> Pausan. 3, 23, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_545_545" id="Footnote_545_545"></a><a href="#FNanchor_545_545"><span class="label">[545]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 230.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_546_546" id="Footnote_546_546"></a><a href="#FNanchor_546_546"><span class="label">[546]</span></a> Sil. Ital. 4, 81, 819; Justin. 18, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_547_547" id="Footnote_547_547"></a><a href="#FNanchor_547_547"><span class="label">[547]</span></a> Virg. "Æn." 1, 742.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_548_548" id="Footnote_548_548"></a><a href="#FNanchor_548_548"><span class="label">[548]</span></a> Hesychius: +"Εὐρωπὸν σκοτεινόν, +πλατύ. Εὐρώπη ἡ χώρα +τῆς δύσεως ἤ σκοτεινή." +That Europe is Astarte follows from Hesychius: +"Ἑλλωπία, ἑορτὴ +Εὐρώπης ἐν Κρήτῃ." +The "Etymolog. Mag." pp. 232, 333, says: "Europa was anciently called Hellotia, +'ὅτι οἱ φοίνικες +τὴν παρθένον +Ἑλλωτίαν καλοῦσιν.'" +Eloth signifies "goddess."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_549_549" id="Footnote_549_549"></a><a href="#FNanchor_549_549"><span class="label">[549]</span></a> Jeremiah vii. 18; xliv. 17-23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_550_550" id="Footnote_550_550"></a><a href="#FNanchor_550_550"><span class="label">[550]</span></a> Pindar, "Pyth." 3, 90; Cic. "De Nat. Deor." 3, 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_551_551" id="Footnote_551_551"></a><a href="#FNanchor_551_551"><span class="label">[551]</span></a> Appian, "De Reb. Hisp." c. 2; Movers, "Kolonieen der Phœnizier," +s. 63 ff. We shall see below what a conglomeration of fables the Greeks +have gathered round the wandering Astarte, who rides on a bull and is +represented with the crescent of the moon, and a cow's horns. With +them she is not only Europe whom the Bull-Zeus carries from Phœnicia, +who is sought by Cadmus the son of Phœnix. In her crescent and cow's +horns they also recognise their Argive Moon-goddess, Io, and represent her +as wandering to Phœnicia and Egypt, where Isis, who here again wears the +cow's horns or head, or is entirely represented as a cow, becomes their +Io. The wanderings of Dido-Astarte then became confused with the +stories of Helena, with the wanderings and fortunes of the foundress of +Carthage, and the travels of Æneas, the favourite of Aphrodite, were +directed to the most famous seats of the worship of Ashera.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_552_552" id="Footnote_552_552"></a><a href="#FNanchor_552_552"><span class="label">[552]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_553_553" id="Footnote_553_553"></a><a href="#FNanchor_553_553"><span class="label">[553]</span></a> Serv. ad Æn. 2, 632; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phœniker," s. 36, 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_554_554" id="Footnote_554_554"></a><a href="#FNanchor_554_554"><span class="label">[554]</span></a> According to Lenormant, <i>um-pali</i>, "mother of the sword."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_555_555" id="Footnote_555_555"></a><a href="#FNanchor_555_555"><span class="label">[555]</span></a> Joh. Lyd. "De Mensibus," 4, 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_556_556" id="Footnote_556_556"></a><a href="#FNanchor_556_556"><span class="label">[556]</span></a> Lev. xix, 27-29; Deut. xiv. 1; xxii. 5; xvi. 21; xxiii. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_557_557" id="Footnote_557_557"></a><a href="#FNanchor_557_557"><span class="label">[557]</span></a> Ezek. viii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_558_558" id="Footnote_558_558"></a><a href="#FNanchor_558_558"><span class="label">[558]</span></a> Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 8; Strabo, p. 755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_559_559" id="Footnote_559_559"></a><a href="#FNanchor_559_559"><span class="label">[559]</span></a> "De Laudib. Constant." c. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_560_560" id="Footnote_560_560"></a><a href="#FNanchor_560_560"><span class="label">[560]</span></a> Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 1, 379.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_561_561" id="Footnote_561_561"></a><a href="#FNanchor_561_561"><span class="label">[561]</span></a> Herod. 3, 37; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phœnicker Taf." 4, 5; Movers, +"Phœnizier," 2, 87-99; "Phœniz." in Ersch. s. 391 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_562_562" id="Footnote_562_562"></a><a href="#FNanchor_562_562"><span class="label">[562]</span></a> Jerem. x. 5; Baruch, vi. 3, xxv. 26; Diod. 20, 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_563_563" id="Footnote_563_563"></a><a href="#FNanchor_563_563"><span class="label">[563]</span></a> Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_564_564" id="Footnote_564_564"></a><a href="#FNanchor_564_564"><span class="label">[564]</span></a> Polyb. 31, 20; Diod. 20, 14; Just. 18, 7; Curt, 4, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_565_565" id="Footnote_565_565"></a><a href="#FNanchor_565_565"><span class="label">[565]</span></a> 1 Kings xviii. 17-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_566_566" id="Footnote_566_566"></a><a href="#FNanchor_566_566"><span class="label">[566]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." in Ersch. s. 419.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_567_567" id="Footnote_567_567"></a><a href="#FNanchor_567_567"><span class="label">[567]</span></a> Movers, "Opferwesen der Karthager," s. 8; Blau, "Opfertarif von +Karthago;" Zeitschrift d. d. M. G. 16, 438.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS.</h3> + + +<p>The tradition of the Hebrews of the early history and +fortunes of their people previous to the settlement in +Canaan is contained in the books of the Pentateuch. +After they had settled in that land and had passed +beyond the loose combination of their tribes to the +unity of civic life, after a monarchy had been established, +and under it a metropolis and a centre for the +national religion had been founded, the priesthood +engaged in this worship began to collect together +ritualistic observances and customs of law, and to +write them down in combination with anything still +living about their early history in the traditions +of their families. The Hebrews had found existing +in Canaan that ancient and many-sided civilisation +the nature and extent of which we have already +attempted to describe. Of their own history they +could have preserved nothing but prominent facts and +decisive crises. Songs of praise and victory which +celebrated the great events of the Hebrew past, such +as the exodus from Egypt and the victories won over +the Canaanites, of which some were already written +down,<a name="FNanchor_568_568" id="FNanchor_568_568"></a><a href="#Footnote_568_568" class="fnanchor">[568]</a> forms of blessing, genealogies,<a name="FNanchor_569_569" id="FNanchor_569_569"></a><a href="#Footnote_569_569" class="fnanchor">[569]</a> isolated frag<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>ments +of the moral law, or time-honoured sacrificial +custom, or ancient rules of justice,<a name="FNanchor_570_570" id="FNanchor_570_570"></a><a href="#Footnote_570_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a> and finally narration +of the wars,<a name="FNanchor_571_571" id="FNanchor_571_571"></a><a href="#Footnote_571_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a> constituted fixed points of connection +in this tradition. At the new centre of religious +worship the whole stock of existing ritual and custom +had to be brought under review, and from hence +provision made for the use of the true and acceptable +kind of sacrifice, and sentence of law. The consideration +of the marvellous lot which had fallen to +the Hebrews, the rise of a feeble shepherd tribe under +the powerful protection of Egypt, the liberation from +the dominion of this great kingdom, the conquest of +Canaan, the capture of ancient and strongly-fortified +cities, "of fields which they had not tilled, of vineyards +and olive-gardens which they had not planted, of wells +which they had not dug, of cities which they had not +builded," caused the Hebrews to recognise in the favour +which had attended them the direct guidance of their +deity. This grace would remain with them if they continued +to worship the god of their fathers according to +his will, in the way acceptable to him. Thus to the +priests, who undertook the task of writing down the +tradition, the nation appeared as a chosen people from +the beginning, to whom their god had early given +his blessing. In return for such grace and beneficence +the Hebrews had to obey his law. This is the +"covenant" which Jehovah has made with them.<a name="FNanchor_572_572" id="FNanchor_572_572"></a><a href="#Footnote_572_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a> This +law, therefore, must be carefully recorded, in order that +it may be obeyed exactly in every particular by the +priests themselves, as by the judges and all the nation.</p> + +<p>On the basis of this tradition, these songs and +poems, genealogies and ancient records, and under the +guidance of the views just pointed out, there arose at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> +Hebron, in the first decade of the reign of David, +within the circle of a priestly family, which apparently +claimed to be sprung from Aaron, the brother of +Moses, the Judæan text of the Pentateuch, and the +Book of Joshua.<a name="FNanchor_573_573" id="FNanchor_573_573"></a><a href="#Footnote_573_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a> Composed as annals, this text deals +primarily with the connection and course of the +fortunes of Israel; the central point is the covenant +between Jehovah (Elohim) and Israel, Israel and +Jehovah, and the law, which is the body of this +covenant.<a name="FNanchor_574_574" id="FNanchor_574_574"></a><a href="#Footnote_574_574" class="fnanchor">[574]</a> The unity of religious worship and the +centralisation of it at one place and one only is +brought prominently forward, and this could not have +happened till political unity had been obtained, a +metropolis founded, and a seat erected there for the +worship of the whole nation, or at least contemplated, +if not erected. The law for the priests, the minute +details of ritual which make up the chief part of this +text, were, in the view of the priests, given at that +mighty time when Moses led the people; though, as +a matter of fact, only a few of the fundamental +precepts reached so far back (see below). The centralisation +of the worship also at one place of sacrifice, +the command to have a common place of worship, was +thought to have been in existence as early as the time +of Moses, and to have been prescribed even when the +Hebrews were in the desert. And the priests were +more inclined to believe that the ideal sought after +for their religion, for Church and State, belonged to +the time of Moses, because in those days of piety and +exaltation the true ordinances must have been in +existence, and certain sacrificial institutions, certain +principles of law and morality, actually came down +from that period.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p> + +<p>Not long after this first text arose a second, which, +however, can hardly have been composed in priestly +circles, and certainly did not come from Judah. +With the author of this second text, it is not the +collection and establishment of the law, and the +desire to insist on the obedience to it, which is the +main point. It is rather the personal fortunes of the +fathers of the race, in which the divine guidance is +shown, the manifestations of the deity in their favour, +the revelations made to them by divine messengers, +the importance of old customs and old names, on +which he lays especial weight. He also availed +himself of older written sources.<a name="FNanchor_575_575" id="FNanchor_575_575"></a><a href="#Footnote_575_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a> The language and +style of this second text are more lively, versatile, +and distinct than those of the first; and the importance +which he ascribes to the fortunes of Joseph and +the tribes of Ephraim confirms the assumption that +the author belonged to this tribe. The origin of this +second text falls in the second half of Solomon's reign, +or immediately after it—in the decades from 970 to +950 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_576_576" id="FNanchor_576_576"></a><a href="#Footnote_576_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a></p> + +<p>About a hundred years later, towards the middle of +the ninth century <small>B.C.</small>, both these texts were combined +and transformed into one work. The author of +this combined text (the Jahvist) was guided by the +feelings and views of the prophets. He is superior to +the authors of the two texts in versatility, in reflection, +and vivid power of imagination. Not only +did he work up the two texts into one and insert +into the whole his own views, but he has added +some sections, the materials of which must have +been furnished partly by tradition and partly by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +written records.<a name="FNanchor_577_577" id="FNanchor_577_577"></a><a href="#Footnote_577_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a> In this shape were the first four +books of the Pentateuch, the beginning and the end +of the fifth book, and the book of Joshua, at the time +of the prophets Amos and Hosea. The "Second +Law," <i>i. e.</i> the main portion of the fifth book of the +Pentateuch,<a name="FNanchor_578_578" id="FNanchor_578_578"></a><a href="#Footnote_578_578" class="fnanchor">[578]</a> on the other hand, was not written till +the time of king Josiah, about 625 <small>B.C.</small>, and was then +added to the rest. The author of this second law +also revised the book of Joshua.<a name="FNanchor_579_579" id="FNanchor_579_579"></a><a href="#Footnote_579_579" class="fnanchor">[579]</a></p> + +<p>If we compare the Hebrew account of the Creation +with the cosmogonies of Berosus and Philo (pp. <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, +<a href="#Page_353">353</a>), and the narrative of Noah's deluge with the +description of the flood on the Assyrian tablets and in +Berosus (<a href="#Page_240">p. 240 ff.</a>), we see at the first glance how far +asunder the conceptions lie—with what clearness and +vigour the Hebrews have succeeded in purifying and +exalting the rude fancies of the nations so closely +akin to them—the ancient common possession of the +Eastern Semitic tribes, from whom the Hebrews were +sprung. This power—the patient labour, the serious +and thoughtful effort to deepen the traditions of the +past into an ethical significance, to sublimate legends +into simple moral teaching, and transplant the myth +into the region of moral earnestness and moral purpose—to +pass beyond the rude naturalism of their +kinsmen into the supernatural—from the varied +polytheism of Babel and Canaan to monotheism—this +it is which gives to the Hebrews the first place, and +not among Semitic nations only, in the sphere of +religious feeling and development. At a later period +the Greeks understood how to breathe life, beauty +and nobility into the gods of the Phenicians, whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> +rites came over to Hellas; they could change Ashera-Bilit, +the goddess of prostitution, into the youthful +Aphrodite, the goddess of blooming grace, and the +highest charm of love; but the Hebrews practised the +severer, sterner, and loftier task of carrying religious +feeling beyond the life of nature, of conceiving the +highest power as morally in opposition to natural +impulses and forces, of publishing the supremacy of +the intellectual and moral over the natural being.</p> + +<p>Adam begot Seth, so we are told in the first book +of the Pentateuch, and Seth begot Enos, and Enos +begot Kenan, and Kenan begot Mahalaleel, and +Mahalaleel begot Jared, and Jared begot Enoch, and +Enoch begot Methuselah, and Methuselah begot +Lamech, and Lamech begot Noah, and Noah begot +Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth was full of +evil, but Noah walked with God. Then God said to +Noah: Make for thyself an ark of gopher-wood, 300 +cubits in length, 50 cubits in breadth, and 30 cubits +in height. For I will send a flood upon the earth to +destroy under the heaven all flesh wherein is the +breath of life. But with thee I make my covenant; +and thou shalt go into the ark, thou and thy three +sons and thy wife, and the three wives of thy sons +with thee. And of all living creatures thou shalt +bring two into the ark, male and female shall they +be. And Noah did as God commanded him. When +Noah was 600 years old, in the second month, on +the seventeenth day of the month, the fountains +of the deep were broken up, and the windows +of heaven were opened, and there was rain on the +earth for forty days and forty nights, and the +waters rose and lifted the ark. And the flood was +mighty, and all the high mountains that are under +heaven were covered; the water rose fifteen cubits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> +above the tops of the mountains. For 150 days the +flood was mighty on the earth. Then God caused a +wind to blow, and the waters sank. And in the +seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, +the ark rested on the mountains of the land of Ararat; +and in the tenth month, on the first day, the tops of +the mountains appeared. It came to pass after forty +days, that Noah opened the window of the ark, and +sent out a raven; but it flew to and fro. Then he +sent out a dove, to see whether the water had retired +from the earth. But the dove found no place of rest, +and returned to the ark. And Noah remained seven +days more, and again sent out the dove. Then the +dove came to him at evening, and lo! a fresh olive-branch +was in her mouth. And he remained yet +seven days, and again sent out the dove, but she +returned to him no more. Then Noah opened the +door of the ark and looked out, and lo! the earth was +dry. And in the second month, on the seventeenth +day of the month, the earth was dry. And Noah +went out of the ark, and his sons, and his wife, and +the wives of his sons, and he built an altar to Jehovah, +and took of all clean beasts and birds and offered a +burnt sacrifice upon the altar. After the flood sons +were born to the sons of Noah. The sons of Shem +were Elam and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud and +Aram. Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. +Eber had two sons, the name of the one was Peleg, +and the name of the other Joktan. Peleg begot Reu, +and Reu begot Serug, and Serug begot Nahor, and +Nahor begot Terah.</p> + +<p>Terah dwelt in the land of his nativity at Ur in +Chaldæa, and his sons were Abraham, Nahor, and +Haran. Haran begot Lot and Milcah and Iscah, and +died before his father at Ur in Chaldæa. Nahor took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> +Milcah to wife, and Abraham took Sarah. And Terah +went with Abraham his son, and Lot the son of +Haran, from Ur in Chaldæa to Haran and dwelt there. +But Jehovah said to Abraham: "Go from thy land, +and thy home, and thy father's house, to a land which +I will show thee." Then Abraham took Sarah his +wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their goods, +and the souls born to them in Haran, and went forth +from Haran. He came unto the land of Canaan as +far as Sichem and to the oak Moreh, and there he +built to Jehovah an altar; and afterwards he went +towards the mountain and pitched his tent between +Bethel and Ai, and there he built an altar to Jehovah, +and journeyed towards the south. And when the +famine was sore in the land, Abraham, and Lot with +him, went to Egypt, and Pharaoh, for Sarah's sake, +gave Abraham sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants, +and maid-servants, and she-asses, and +camels. But Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great +plagues, so that he let Abraham and Sarah go, and +bade men guide him.</p> + +<p>Then Abraham dwelt again at Bethel, and was very +rich in flocks, in silver and gold. Lot also had tents +and sheep and oxen, and there was a strife between +the shepherds of Abraham and the shepherds of Lot. +Then Abraham said to Lot: "Let there be no strife +between my shepherds and thine, for we are brethren. +If thou wilt go to the left hand, I will go to the +right." Then Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw the land +of Jordan, that it was watered as a garden of the +Lord; and he set forth at morning, and pitched his +tents at Sodom. But Jehovah said to Abraham: "Lift +up thine eyes; the whole land which thou seest I will +give to thee and thy seed for ever; rise up and go +through the length and breadth of the land, for I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +give it to thee." And Abraham pitched his tents +under the oaks, which are at Kirjath-Arba (Hebron), +and there built an altar to Jehovah.</p> + +<p>For twelve years the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, +of Adamah, Zeboiim and Zoar, had served Kedor-Laomer, +king of Elam. Then they rebelled; and in +the fourteenth year Kedor-Laomer, and the kings who +were with him, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Tidal +and Arioch of Elassar, smote the Rephaims at +Ashtaroth-Karnaim, the Zuzims at Ham, and the +Emims at Shaveh-Kiriathaim, and the Horites on +their mountain of Seir, and smote the whole land of +the Amalekites and Amorites. The kings of Sodom +and Gomorrah also, of Adamah, Zeboiim and Zoar, +who had drawn out against them in the valley of +Siddim, were put to flight, and fled to the mountains, +and all the goods and all the food in Sodom and +Gomorrah were taken, and they also took Lot and his +goods. When Abraham heard that his brother's son +was carried away, he set forth with his servants, 318 +in number, and fell upon them by night at Dan, and +pursued them as far as Hobah, which is to the west of +Damascus, and brought back all the goods and Lot +and the people that were captured. The king of +Sodom came to him and said: Give me the souls, and +take the goods for thyself. But Abraham said: I +lift up my hand to Jehovah that I will take nothing +of thee, save what my servants have eaten.</p> + +<p>Abraham dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, +but his wife bore him no son. But he had an +Egyptian maid-servant whose name was Hagar. Her +Sarah gave him to wife, and Hagar was with child, +and the angel of Jehovah announced to her that she +should bear a son who would be like a wild ass, and +his hand would be against every man and every man's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +hand against him, and he would dwell to the east of +his brethren. And Hagar bore Abraham a son, and +Abraham named him Ishmael. Then he received the +promise that Sarah also should bear a son, "from +whom should arise kings and nations;" and when he +was 100 years old, and in the south between Kadesh +and Sur, Sarah bore him a son. Abraham named +him Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight +days old. The year before he had circumcised +Ishmael, for God had said: This is the covenant +which thou shalt keep between me and thee, and thy +seed after thee, that every male shall be circumcised.</p> + +<p>When Isaac grew up and Sarah saw the son of the +Egyptian woman, she said to Abraham: Thrust out +this woman and her son; Ishmael shall not be heir +with Isaac. Then Abraham gave Hagar bread and a +bottle of water on her shoulders, and sent her forth +with her child. She wandered into the desert of +Beersheba, i.e. the well of the seven, and when +the water was spent, and the child was fainting with +thirst, she laid him down under a bush, and sat down +a bow-shot from him, and said: "Let me not see the +death of the child." Then Jehovah heard the voice +of the child, and His angel called to Hagar out of +heaven: "Fear not, rise up, and take the boy in thy +hand, Jehovah will make him a great people." And +Jehovah opened her eyes, and she saw a well of +water, and filled the bottle, and gave her child +drink. And Jehovah was with him; he grew up +in the desert, and was an archer, and dwelt in the +desert of Paran, and his mother took him a wife +out of Egypt, and Ishmael begot Nebajoth, and +Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and +Dumah, and Massa, and Hadar, and Tema, and +Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah, twelve princes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +And Ishmael died 137 years old, and his descendants +dwelt to the east of his brethren from Shur, which +lies before Egypt, to Havilah, and towards Asshur.</p> + +<p>Abraham abode a long time in the land of the +Philistines. And God tempted Abraham, and bade +him sacrifice his only son Isaac, in the land of Moriah, +as a burnt offering. But when Abraham had built +the altar on the top of the mountain, and laid the +wood upon it, and bound Isaac and laid him on +the altar, and taken the knife and stretched forth +his hand to slay his son, the angel of Jehovah called +from heaven, saying: Lay not thine hand on the +lad, for now I know that thou fearest God; thou +hast not refused Him thine only son. And Abraham +saw a ram caught in the thicket, and he sacrificed +him.</p> + +<p>When Sarah died at Hebron, Abraham spoke to +the Hittites among whom he dwelt: I am a stranger +and a sojourner among you; give me a burying-place +for my people among you, that I may put away my +dead from me. Speak for me with Ephron, the +son of Zohar, that he give me the cave of Machpelah +which is his, at the corner of his field; let him give +it to me for a burying-place at its full worth in +money. Ephron agreed, and Abraham weighed the +money to Ephron, four hundred shekels of silver, +current money with the merchant. And thus the +field of Ephron at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, +that is Hebron, the field and the cave, and all the +trees on the field and round it, were given to Abraham +before the eyes of the Hittites, and the eyes of all +who went into the gates of the city. And Abraham +buried Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah.</p> + +<p>Then Abraham took another wife, whose name was +Keturah, and she bore him Zimram, and Jokshan,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> +and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. +But Isaac had grown a man, and Abraham said +to his servant, the oldest in his house, Eliezer of +Damascus: Lay thy hand under my thigh; I charge +thee that thou take not to my son a wife from +the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom we +dwell; to my fatherland and my home thou shalt +go, and there seek a wife for Isaac. Then the servant +took ten camels from the camels of his master, and +goods of every kind, and passed over the Euphrates +towards Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, the brother +of Abraham. To Nahor his wife Milcah, the daughter +of Haran, had borne eight sons. The youngest was +Bethuel, and Bethuel's son was Laban, and his +daughter Rebekah. Eliezer came to the city of +Nahor at evening, and halted his camels at the well +outside the city. Then came a maiden, fair to behold, +with her pitcher on her shoulder, to the well. When +she had filled her pitcher and come up from the well, +the servant went to her and said: Bend down thy +pitcher and let me drink a little water. Drink, my +lord, she answered, and quickly took the pitcher in +her hand, and gave him to drink. Then she said: +I will draw also for thy camels, and stepped down +again to the well. Eliezer marvelled at her; and +when all the camels had drunk, he took a golden +ring, half a shekel in weight, and two golden bracelets, +ten shekels in weight, and put the ring in her nose, +and the bracelets on her arm, and then inquired whose +daughter she was, and whether there was room in her +father's house to shelter him and the camels. And +she answered: I am Rebekah, the daughter of +Bethuel, the son of Nahor; straw and fodder is +in abundance with us, and room for the camels. +And her brother Laban came to the well, and led<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> +Eliezer to the house, and Laban took the saddles +from the camels, spread straw for them, and gave +them fodder and brought water for his guest to +wash his feet, and food. But Eliezer said: I will +not eat till I have given my message. I am the +servant of Abraham, and Jehovah has blessed my +master, so that he has become great, and he has +given him sheep and oxen, and silver and gold, and +men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels and +asses. And Sarah has borne a son to my master +in his old age, and I have sworn to seek a wife +for his son from his home and his own people; and +Jehovah led me in the right path in order to take +the granddaughter of the brother of my master for +his son. If ye are willing to plight troth and love +with Abraham, say it. Then said Bethuel, Rebekah's +father, and Laban her brother: Behold, the maiden +stands before thee, take her and go. Then Eliezer +brought forth gold and silver ornaments, and garments, +and gave them to Rebekah; to her brother also and +her mother he gave gifts. And when Laban and his +mother sent away Rebekah with her nurse Deborah, +and Abraham's servant Eliezer, they blessed Rebekah, +and said: Become a thousand times a thousand, and +may thy seed possess the gate of thy enemies. When +Eliezer returned home, he told all that he had done, +and Isaac received Rebekah into the tent of his +mother, and she became his wife, and he loved her. +And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but +to Ishmael and the sons of Keturah he gave gifts, +and sent them away from his son Isaac into the +land to the East. Then Abraham, after he had lived +175 years, died at a good old age, and his sons Isaac +and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah.</p> + +<p>These narratives show that the Hebrews derived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> +the origin of their nation from the land of the +Euphrates and Tigris. We remarked above that +the legend of the Deluge could only have arisen in +river valleys, exposed to severe inundations (<a href="#Page_245">p. 245</a>). +If we set aside the additions made in the prophetic +revision, the narrative of the flood belongs to the +first text; in this text therefore the nations of +the earth were derived from the sons of Noah. The +revision adds that the descendants of Noah, in their +journey from the East, found a plain in the land +of Shinar, i.e. Babylonia, and dwelt there, and erected +a city and a tower, intended to reach to heaven. +Then Jehovah confounded their language and scattered +them over the earth.<a name="FNanchor_580_580" id="FNanchor_580_580"></a><a href="#Footnote_580_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a> But it is the first text +which gives the genealogy of Abraham, according +to which the descendant of Noah, Terah, the father +of Abraham, dwells in the land of his nativity, at Ur +in Chaldæa. We found that Ur lay on the lower +Euphrates, where the ruins of Mugheir mark its site, +that the oldest buildings in Babylonia belong to +this place, and the oldest sovereigns on the Euphrates +called themselves kings of Ur (<a href="#Page_259">p. 259</a>). From Ur +Terah, according to the first text, journeyed with +his family to Haran.<a name="FNanchor_581_581" id="FNanchor_581_581"></a><a href="#Footnote_581_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a> Haran lies in a wide plain +surrounded by hills on the Skirtos, a tributary of +the Belik, at no great distance from the Euphrates; +it is the Carrhae of western writers. From Haran +Abraham turns towards Canaan; but his brother's +tribe remains in Haran. Hence, as the oldest +writings of the Hebrews without any doubt derive +the progenitors of the nation from Ur and Carrhae +in the land of the Euphrates, so later authorities +maintain, as an absolute certainty, that "the fathers +dwelt beyond the river," <i>i. e.</i> the Euphrates. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> +the "second law" Abraham is called a "wandering +Aramæan," and Ezekiel calls Chaldæa "the birthplace +of the Hebrews."<a name="FNanchor_582_582" id="FNanchor_582_582"></a><a href="#Footnote_582_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a> The name "Hebrews" +confirms this statement and view. Heber means +"that which is beyond," "those who dwell beyond." +The Hebrews call themselves the sons of Israel; +the name of Hebrews they received from the Canaanites, +into whose land they forced a way, though the +Canaanites, no doubt, meant no more by the name +than that the sons of Israel dwelt on the other side +of the Jordan, before they set foot in Canaan.</p> + +<p>But the genealogy of the Hebrews goes far beyond +Carrhæ and Ur. After enumerating the ten patriarchs +from Adam, <i>i. e.</i> from the man "formed of earth" +(adama) to Noah, and giving the age of these patriarchs +in hundreds of years (the highest age is 969, and +the lowest is the seventh, 365), the first text enumerates +another set of ten patriarchs from the sons of Noah +down to Abraham, and of these the age gradually +dwindles from 600 to 175 years.<a name="FNanchor_583_583" id="FNanchor_583_583"></a><a href="#Footnote_583_583" class="fnanchor">[583]</a> The head of this +series, Shem, the eldest son of Noah, the friend of +God, is the immediate progenitor of the Hebrews. +That the recollection and feeling of the relationship +with the inhabitants of the land of the two streams, +and with the population of Aram, <i>i. e.</i> of the upper +land between the Tigris and Euphrates, the Euphrates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +and the Jordan, and with portions of the inhabitants +of Arabia and Asia Minor, was alive and present in +the minds of the Hebrews, is clear from the fact that +these nations, akin in tribe and blood and language, +were carried back to Shem. From Arphaxad, the +third son of Shem, sprang the fathers of the Hebrews; +the two first sons Elam and Asshur, we already know +as the progenitors of the Elamites and Assyrians. From +Lud and Aram, the fourth and fifth sons of Shem, the +Lydians and Aramæeans were derived, a genealogy +which certainly belongs to the Ephraimitic, if not +to the Judæan text. In Arphaxad, the name of the +third son, we cannot mistake the name of a district +any more than in the names of the other sons. +Arphaxad is a mountain canton of South Armenia, +between the lakes of Van and Urumiah,—the Arrapachitis<a name="FNanchor_584_584" id="FNanchor_584_584"></a><a href="#Footnote_584_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a> +of the Greeks, the Alpak of the Armenians, +the modern Albak—and lies more than 6,000 feet high, +at the source of the Great Zab, which also flows +through it.<a name="FNanchor_585_585" id="FNanchor_585_585"></a><a href="#Footnote_585_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a> The son of Arphaxad is Salah, <i>i. e.</i> +"leaving," "departure," and the son of Salah is Eber, +in whom we have the later name of the Israelites, +transformed into a patriarch. To Eber two sons are +allotted. The name of the elder, Peleg, means +division, "because in his time the earth was divided." +From this we may draw the conclusion that the +division of the descendants of Noah and the separation +of the nations was transferred to the fifth generation +after him. But another meaning may also be given on +linguistic grounds to the name Peleg (Phaleg), and at +the juncture of the Chaboras and the Euphrates we +find a place of the name of Phalga.<a name="FNanchor_586_586" id="FNanchor_586_586"></a><a href="#Footnote_586_586" class="fnanchor">[586]</a> Joktan, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> +second son of Eber, we know already as the father of +those Arabian tribes who dwell from Mesha to +Dshafar, and in Kachtan we have already found his +name in Arab tradition (<a href="#Page_326">p. 326</a>). The descendants +of Peleg, the elder son of Eber, are Reu, and Serug the +son of Reu. The name Serug appears to have been +retained in the district of Serug, and the modern +Serudsh, south-west of Edessa, in the neighbourhood +of the Euphrates. Western writers speak of the +district of Osrhoene, and give this name to the south-west +of Mesopotamia.<a name="FNanchor_587_587" id="FNanchor_587_587"></a><a href="#Footnote_587_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a> Serug's son is Nahor, <i>i. e.</i> +"the river," the Euphrates. Nahor is followed by +Terah, who had his home at Ur.</p> + +<p>If this series of the first text preserved a genuine +historical recollection, a portion of a Semitic tribe, +settled in the mountains of South Armenia, or even +the whole tribe—the sons of Arphaxad—journeyed to +the south, after leaving nothing but their name in the +mountain valley. The separation from their kindred +was signified by the name Salah, <i>i. e.</i> "leaving." At +first the sons of Arphaxad pastured their flocks at +Serudsh, in the north-west of Mesopotamia, and from +thence they passed to Ur on the lower Euphrates, +while another branch, the sons of Joktan, turned away +from the mouth of the Euphrates in the direction of +Arabia. At a later time the sons of Arphaxad settled +at Ur must again have marched up the Euphrates to +Carrhae. Then followed a second division; one +portion, the Nahorites, <i>i. e.</i> the people of the river, +remained at Carrhae, while others, the Abrahamites, +wandered to Canaan, or rather into the deserts bordering +on Canaan. Moreover, since the first text denotes +Abraham's eldest son Ishmael, as the progenitor of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> +Ishmaelites, <i>i. e.</i> of a considerable number of tribes of +North and Central Arabia, and since the revision +derives the Midianites, who wandered on the peninsula +of Sinai, and further in the East, and other Arabian +tribes, from the sons of Keturah, the younger sons +of Abraham (pp. <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>), it follows that on the +borders of Canaan a portion of the Abrahamites must +again have broken off, and passed on to the peninsula +of Arabia.</p> + +<p>However this may be, the kinship of the Hebrews +with the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Aramæans, the +derivation of their tribe from the river-land of the +Euphrates and Tigris, is beyond a doubt, and we +must regard the districts of Arphaxad and Serug, +of Ur and Carrhæ, as the original home of the +tribe, which afterwards grew up to be the Hebrews. +In any case it is clear from this genealogical table that +the Hebrews considered themselves closely allied to +the Nahorites of Haran, but more especially to a +considerable number of the Arabian tribes, or +Ishmaelites, <i>i. e.</i> the Nebajoths, the Kedarites, the +Temanites, the Jeturites, and finally the Midianites. +This is proved, not only by the derivation of the +Ishmaelites from the eldest son of Abraham, but also +by the close relationship in which the Edomites, the +brothers of the Hebrews, are represented as standing +to the Ishmaelites. The names Ishmael and Israel are +similarly formed; the first means "God (El) hears," +the second, "God strives," or "God rules."</p> + +<p>Within this circle of kindred nations, the Hebrews +occupy the foremost place. The Ishmaelites are +descended, it is true, from the eldest son of Abraham; +but not from a legitimate or equal marriage; the +mother of their tribe is a maid-servant and an +Egyptian. Ishmael's wife also came from Egypt, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>, +in this there may linger a dim recollection of the +ancient supremacy of the Hyksos in Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_588_588" id="FNanchor_588_588"></a><a href="#Footnote_588_588" class="fnanchor">[588]</a> The +Midianites, on the other hand, spring from a younger +branch than the Hebrews; and they too are not born +from the true wife of Abraham, and hence are not his +genuine heirs. To the Moabites also, who pastured +their flocks to the east of the Dead Sea, and the +Ammonites, whose land lay to the north-east of this +sea, the Hebrews held themselves akin. These tribes +are the descendants of Lot, Abraham's brother's son; +and therefore they, like the Hebrews themselves, +spring from those who had moved from Carrhae to +the West. But Lot had separated from Abraham, and +chosen the region of Jordan. And when Jehovah +rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, +because the sins of their inhabitants were grievous, and +overthrew these cities, and the whole land around +them, Lot with his two daughters escaped towards +the East; but because all the men of Sodom were +destroyed, there was no man to dwell with Lot's +daughters. Then they gave their father wine to +drink, and lay with him, and the elder bore Moab, +and the younger Ammon. Thus although the +Moabites and Ammonites are closely allied to the +Hebrews, and are of the pure stock—they were +begotten in incest. A dark stain rests on their +origin. Obviously the bitter hostility which afterwards +prevailed between the Hebrews, and the +Moabites and Ammonites, and the severe wounds +which the Hebrews suffered from the attacks of these +nations, have had their influence in forming and +moulding the story of their origin. The Judæan text<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> +narrated quite simply the separation of Abraham and +Lot, the choice of the land of Jordan, the destruction +of the cities, and Lot's escape.<a name="FNanchor_589_589" id="FNanchor_589_589"></a><a href="#Footnote_589_589" class="fnanchor">[589]</a> The broader details +and motives given in the narrative are the work of the +prophetic revision, to which the account of the origin +of the Moabites and Ammonites exclusively belongs.</p> + +<p>To the Hebrews, the wanderings and fortunes of +their forefathers appeared compressed into the lives of +the patriarchs, whose mighty forms are also to them +the patterns of morality, piety, and a life pleasing to +God, the expression of the genuine national character. +The name Abraham means, in the form ab-ram, "high +father;" in the form ab-raham, "father of the multitude." +Sarah means "princess." Their right to the +possessions, which they won in Canaan by the sword, +they saw in the command given to their ancestors to +go thither, and in the promise that the land should +belong to his seed, which is given to Abraham, even in +the first text. Moreover, the purchase which Abraham +concluded with the Hittites of Hebron of a burying-place +for his wife and himself in the cave of Machpelah—this +narrative is a part of the Judæan text—and the +services rendered by Abraham to Canaan gave to his +descendants a claim to the possession of Canaan. +Abraham planted the trees at Beersheba, and dug +wells; he defended Canaan against Kedor-Laomer, and +recovered from the kings of the east the booty taken, +without keeping back any for himself. These services +of the progenitor also constituted a claim for his +descendants.</p> + +<p>The accounts in Genesis<a name="FNanchor_590_590" id="FNanchor_590_590"></a><a href="#Footnote_590_590" class="fnanchor">[590]</a> of campaigns of Elamite +rulers towards the west, and the supremacy of a king +of Elam, one of the Kudurids, over Syria, are founded +on events and circumstances which occurred about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> +the year 2000 <small>B.C.</small>, as has been already pointed +out in detail (<a href="#Page_251">p. 251</a>). The connection into which +Abraham is brought with them is the work of the +Hebrews, and belongs to the Ephraimitic text.<a name="FNanchor_591_591" id="FNanchor_591_591"></a><a href="#Footnote_591_591" class="fnanchor">[591]</a> The +account which puts the Horites, who occupied Mount +Seir before the Edomites, among the nations conquered +by the Elamites, and beside these certain extinct and +mythical tribes—the Rephaites, Susites, and Emites—shows +plainly that the events must belong to a very +distant past.</p> + +<p>When the rights of the Hebrews to Canaan had +been proved, when at the same time it was ascertained +that the kindred tribes of Moab and Ammon could +establish no claim to the land, after the voluntary +renunciation of their progenitor, it remained to be +shown that the ancient inhabitants of the land, the +Canaanites themselves, had been from the first +destined to give way to the Hebrews. We found that +the Canaanites, like the Hebrews, belonged to the +great family of the Semitic nations; but they were +distinguished from them in character, in dialect, and +religious conceptions. Hence they were not derived +from Shem, but from Noah's second son, Ham; and +they were also burdened with the curse of Noah—a +trait which the prophetic reviser has added to the +narrative.<a name="FNanchor_592_592" id="FNanchor_592_592"></a><a href="#Footnote_592_592" class="fnanchor">[592]</a> After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, +and he became drunken, and uncovered +himself in his tent; and Ham, the father of Canaan, +saw the nakedness of his father, but Shem and Japhet +went backwards and covered him. And when Noah +heard what Ham had done, he said, "Cursed be Ham; +a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span></p> + +<p>Abraham passed through the length and breadth of +Canaan, the land which his descendants were destined +to possess. At Shechem and Hebron, and then in the +south, at Kadesh (Barnea) and Shur, he abode longest; +at Hebron, and between Bethel and Ai, he built +an altar to Jehovah. The presence of the patriarchs +consecrated the places where his descendants were +to dwell; among the Hittites and the Canaanites +Abraham remained true to the God who had led +him into Canaan; he rendered a willing obedience +even to the harshest command. At the places where +Abraham had set up altars, and where he had offered +sacrifice, we find at a later period centres of Hebrew +worship: by Abraham's sacrifices they were already +consecrated. The Judæan text places the abode of +Abraham mainly in the south of Canaan, at Hebron; +the south belonged mainly to the tribe of Judah, and +Hebron was David's royal abode till he conquered +Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The Ephraimitic text +placed Abraham mainly at Shechem, the chief city of +the tribe of Ephraim, and gives especial prominence +to the sacred place at Bethel. The wandering of +Abraham from the south of Canaan to Egypt, where +the Pharaoh, warned by plagues from Jehovah, sends +him away with valuable presents and in peace, is the +work of the reviser. It is an anticipation of the +later sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt, and forms at +the same time a contrast to the widely different +circumstances of their exodus.</p> + +<p>After long waiting, the true son is at length born +to the patriarch from his wife, of the blood of his +fathers in Haran.<a name="FNanchor_593_593" id="FNanchor_593_593"></a><a href="#Footnote_593_593" class="fnanchor">[593]</a> In order to preserve the blood +of the Hebrews pure, a wife is not taken from +Canaan for this son, Isaac, but the care of the father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> +provides a wife from among his kindred, the tribe of +the Nahorites, on the Euphrates. The first text tells +us quite briefly, "Isaac was forty years old when he +took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the +Aramæan of Mesopotamia, the sister of Laban the +Aramæan."<a name="FNanchor_594_594" id="FNanchor_594_594"></a><a href="#Footnote_594_594" class="fnanchor">[594]</a> The lively description of the journey +and the suit of Eliezer is the work of the reviser of +the two original texts. After thus providing for the +continuance of the pure stock, when the oldest son, +the child of Hagar, and the younger sons, the children +of Keturah, had been sent away with presents, as +the law of the Hebrews afterwards ordained for the +sons of concubines, and directed to the East, when +he had given everything into the hand of Isaac, +Abraham died full of years and blessings.</p> + +<p>Isaac was now sixty years old—such is the account +given in Genesis—and his wife Rebekah, the daughter +of Bethuel, the sister of Laban, had borne him no son. +Then Isaac besought Jehovah for his wife, and Jehovah +heard him. Rebekah became with child, and lo! there +were twins in her womb, and the children strove in +her womb; and Jehovah said to her: Two nations are +in thy body, and two people shall separate from thy +bosom. The first boy was red in colour, and hairy, +and she called him Esau; and afterwards his brother +came out, and his hand was upon Esau's heel, and he +was called Jacob, <i>i. e.</i> "one that holds the heel." And +the boys grew; and Esau was a hunter, but Jacob +abode in the tents, and his mother loved him. Once +Esau returned weary from hunting, as Jacob was +making a mess of pottage. And Esau said: Give me +to eat. And Jacob replied: Sell me first thy birthright, +and pledge it to me. And Esau swore, and +sold his birthright, and ate and drank, and went his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> +way. Thus Esau despised his birthright; and when he +was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, the daughter +of Beeri the Hittite, and Basmath (Bashemath), the +daughter of Elon the Hittite, and afterwards Mahalath, +the daughter of Ishmael, Nebajoth's sister.</p> + +<p>There was a famine in Canaan, and Isaac went to +Gerar in the land of the Philistines, and there dwelt, +and sowed in that land, and received a hundredfold, +for Jehovah blessed him. He became more and more +mighty, and had sheep, and oxen, and many servants. +And Isaac dug out the wells which Abraham's servants +had made, and which the Philistines had filled +up after the death of Abraham. And the shepherds of +Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, and Isaac +called the name of the wells Esek (contention) and +Sitnah (hatred); but to the third, for which the +shepherds of Gerar had not striven, he gave the name +Rehoboth (room). From thence he went to Beersheba, +and there he set up an altar.</p> + +<p>When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he +said to Esau: Take thy bow and quiver, hunt venison +for me, and make a savoury dish such as I love, that +I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die. +Esau went forth, but Rebekah, who had heard Isaac's +speech, said to Jacob: Go to the flock and bring me +two kids. I will prepare them for a savoury dish for +thy father, that he may bless thee instead of Esau. +Jacob obeyed, and Rebekah put on him the clothes of +Esau, and placed on his neck and hands the skins of +the kids, that his father, if he touched him, might not +know Jacob by his smooth skin. Then Jacob went in +to his father, and said: I am Esau, thy firstborn; eat +of my venison. How hast thou found it so quickly, +my son? asked the father. Jehovah, thy God, put +it into my hand, he replied. The voice is the voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> +of Jacob, the father said, but the hands are the +hands of Esau. He ate, and Jacob brought him wine, +and he drank. Then Isaac said: Come near, and +kiss me, my son. God give thee the dew of heaven, +and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn +and wine. Be thou lord over thy brethren, and let +the sons of thy mother bow before thee. Cursed be +they who curse thee, and blessed be they who bless +thee. And when Jacob had gone away from his +father with this blessing, Esau came with his venison. +Isaac trembled and said: Thy brother has come with +subtilty, and taken away thy blessing. Then Esau +lifted up his voice and wept, and said: My birthright +has he taken from me, and now thy blessing also. +Bless me, even me also, O my father. What can I do +for thee? answered Isaac. Lo! I have made him thy +lord, and all his brethren I have given him for servants, +and I have given him corn and wine. Hast +thou but one blessing? said Esau, and wept. Then +Isaac said: Thy dwelling shall be without the fatness +of the earth and the dew of heaven. By thy sword +thou shalt live; thou shalt serve thy brother, but his +yoke thou shalt break from off thy neck.</p> + +<p>Esau was at enmity with Jacob, because he had +deceived him in his father's blessing; and Esau said +in his heart: The days of mourning for my father will +come, for I will slay Jacob. Then Rebekah said +to Jacob: Arise and flee to Laban, my brother, in +Haran, till the anger of thy brother is turned away. +And Rebekah spoke to Isaac, that Jacob should not +take a wife from the daughters of the Hittites; and +Isaac bade Jacob go to Mesopotamia, to the house of +Bethuel, the father of his mother, and there take a +wife from the daughters of Laban. Then Jacob went +from Beersheba to Haran. And when he abode for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> +the night at the city of Luz, he put a stone under his +head, and there rested. Then in a dream he saw a +ladder placed upon the earth, the end of which touched +heaven, and the angels of God went up and down +upon the ladder. Jehovah stood over it, and said: I +am the God of Abraham thy father and of Isaac; the +land whereon thou sleepest I will give to thee and thy +seed. And in the morning Jacob arose, and set up +the stone which he had placed under his head for a +sign, and poured oil on the stone, and called the +name of the place Bethel.</p> + +<p>In the land of the children of the east Jacob saw +a well, round which lay three flocks of sheep. Then +Jacob said to the shepherds: Whence are ye, my +brethren? They answered, From Haran. Jacob +asked again: Know ye Laban, Nahor's son? And they +said: We know him; it is well with him, and lo! +there is Rachel, his daughter, with the sheep of +her father. And Jacob rolled away the great stone, +which lay at the mouth of the well, and watered +Rachel's sheep; and Laban came, and took his sister's +son into his house. Laban had two daughters: Leah +the eldest had dim eyes, but Rachel was fair to +look upon; and Jacob said to Laban: I will serve +seven years for Rachel. And these seven years were +as seven days in Jacob's eyes, because he loved +Rachel. When the time was past, Laban gathered +together all the people of the place, and made a +feast. But in the dark of the evening he brought +Leah instead of Rachel to Jacob, and it was not till +the morning that Jacob knew Leah. Why hast thou +deceived me? Jacob asked of Laban; have I not +served thee seven years for Rachel? Laban answered, +It is not so done in our country, to give the younger +daughter before the firstborn. Serve me yet seven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> +years, and thou shalt have Rachel also to wife. So +Jacob abode seven years more with Laban, and +gained Rachel for his second wife, and he kept +Laban's flock for six years more, and the sheep +increased under Jacob's hand.</p> + +<p>Leah bore Jacob four sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, +and Judah. But Rachel was barren and bore not. +Then Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob, and +Bilhah bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah also +gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob, and she bore Gad and +Asher. Then Leah bore Issachar and Zebulon; and +Jehovah heard Rachel, and sent her a son, whom she +called Joseph. When Joseph was born, Jacob said to +Laban: For twenty years I have been with thee; thy +sheep and thy goats have not cast their young, and +the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. Let me +depart that I may go to my own land, with my wives +and children, and give me my hire. What shall I +give thee? asked Laban. Set aside all that are +striped and spotted among thy sheep and goats, and +whatever is afterwards born striped or spotted among +thy sheep and goats, that shall be my hire, said Jacob. +And Laban said: Be it according to thy word. Then +Jacob set apart the coloured sheep and goats; and +when the time of generation came, he took fresh +wands of maple and almond-wood, and made white +strips in them, by peeling off the bark, and cast them +into the wells and runnels, where Laban's sheep and +goats were watered; and everything was born spotted, +and fell to Jacob's share, so that he became mighty, +and gained many sheep and camels, and asses, and +maid-servants, and men-servants. But Laban's countenance +was not towards him as heretofore; and +Laban's sons were angry and said: He has got his +wealth from that which is our father's. Then Jacob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> +arose, when Laban was gone to the shearing, and set +forth secretly with his wives and children, and flocks; +and Rachel took the images from the house of her +father, and carried them with her, and Jacob fled over +the river, and set his face towards Mount Gilead. +Then Laban hastened after him, and came up with +him on Mount Gilead, and said: "Why art thou fleeing +secretly before me, so that I cannot accompany thee +with drums, and music, and singing? why hast thou +not allowed me to kiss my daughters, and why hast +thou taken my gods?" Jacob answered: "I was +afraid, for I thought thou wouldest take thy daughters +from me." And Jacob set up a stone on Mount Gilead, +and they made a heap of stones, and offered sacrifice +on the heap, and Laban said: "The God of Abraham +and the God of Nahor be judge between us, and guardian +that thou do not afflict my daughters, or take +other wives to them; and this heap be witness that I +go not after thee for evil, nor shalt thou come beyond +this sign after me for evil." And Jacob swore by him, +whom his father feared, and offered sacrifice on the +mountain. And the heap of stones was called Galeed +(heap of witness), and Mizpah (watch tower), because +Laban had said that Jehovah should be guardian if +they were separated one from the other.</p> + +<p>And Jacob sent messengers before him to appease +his brother Esau, to Mount Seir, with 200 ewes, and +20 rams, and 200 she-goats, and 20 he-goats, and 30 +camels with their colts, and 40 cows, and 10 bulls, +and 20 she-asses, and 10 asses, as a gift to Esau; and +he divided his flocks into two parts, that the one might +escape, if Esau came against the other; for he was +sore afraid. He rose in the night and took his two +wives, and his two maids, and his eleven children, and +carried them through the ford of the Jabbok, but he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> +himself remained behind. Then a man wrestled with +him till the morning broke, and smote the socket of +his hip, and Jacob's hip was out of joint. And he +said: "Let me go, for the morning is breaking." +But Jacob said: "I will not let thee go, till thou +blessest me." Then he said: "Thy name shall be +Jacob no longer, but Israel; for thou hast striven with +God, and with men, and hast overcome," and he +blessed him there. And Jacob named the place +Peniel (God's visage), and the sun arose as he passed +beyond Peniel.</p> + +<p>Jacob lifted up his eyes, and lo! Esau came, and +with him four hundred men. Then Jacob assigned +his children to Leah and Rachel and the two maids, +and the maids and their children he put in the front, +and next Leah and her children, and last of all Rachel +with her son. He went before them and bowed +himself seven times before his brother. But Esau +embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. The +present of cattle Esau would not accept. "I have +enough, my brother," he said, "keep what is thine." +But Jacob urged him to take them as a proof that he +had found grace in his eyes. Then Esau took them +and parted in peace from his brother, and on the same +day turned back on his way to Mount Seir. But +Jacob went to Shechem, and bought the field where he +had pitched his tent, and there set up an altar; and +from Shechem he went to Bethel, and there also he built +an altar; and from Bethel Jacob returned to Hebron +to his father Isaac.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, the Arabs and Phenicians believed +that the power and might of the gods was present +in certain stones, which they worshipped in their +sanctuaries (pp. <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>). The Hebrews also were +acquainted with this worship. The first text tells us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> +that God appeared to Jacob when he returned out of +Mesopotamia, that He blessed him, and said: Henceforth +Israel shall be thy name. And God went up from +the place where he had spoken with him, and Jacob +set up a stone as a sign on the place, and poured oil on +it, and called the name of the place Bethel (house of +God).<a name="FNanchor_595_595" id="FNanchor_595_595"></a><a href="#Footnote_595_595" class="fnanchor">[595]</a> In the older mode of conception, the stone +was itself the house of God. The Ephraimitic text +represents Jacob as resting on the stone when he went +to Mesopotamia, and as seeing in a dream the ladder +on which the angels went up and down;<a name="FNanchor_596_596" id="FNanchor_596_596"></a><a href="#Footnote_596_596" class="fnanchor">[596]</a> the appearance +of Jehovah at the top of the ladder, as well as +the form of the blessing, belongs to the revision.<a name="FNanchor_597_597" id="FNanchor_597_597"></a><a href="#Footnote_597_597" class="fnanchor">[597]</a> +The change of the name Jacob into Israel is referred +by the Ephraimitic text to a definite occasion. To +the Hebrews, in the old time, the god of their tribe +was a jealous and fearful deity, averse to the life of +nature,—a god who exercised dominion above in the +highest heaven, who rode on the clouds, and announced +himself in thunder and lightning, and earthquakes, who +appeared in flames of fire, whom the eye of mortal man +could not behold and live.<a name="FNanchor_598_598" id="FNanchor_598_598"></a><a href="#Footnote_598_598" class="fnanchor">[598]</a> The supernatural God<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> +can in the first instance be conceived and regarded +only in contrast to nature, and the life of nature. But +inasmuch as the natural life can only come into being +and continue to exist by his permission, and with his +consent, that life must be redeemed and purchased. +Hence according to the primitive conception of the +Hebrews, everything that was brought to the birth +belonged to their god, the firstlings of the field, and +of beast, the first-born male of the woman. Abraham +was ready to sacrifice the firstborn son of his wife, +the son of his own heart. But he was not permitted +to slay him. He had already offered the sacrifice, +inasmuch as he was resolved to sacrifice what was +dearest, in obedience to the bidding of God. So runs +the Ephraimitic text. As Jacob was returning from +the Euphrates he came upon a place in Gilead, known +as "God's visage." Here, in the dark of the night, +a man wrestled with Jacob till the morning broke, +and Jacob would not let him go till he had blessed +him; "Thou hast striven with God and men, and +overcome; therefore, henceforth thy name shall be +Israel."<a name="FNanchor_599_599" id="FNanchor_599_599"></a><a href="#Footnote_599_599" class="fnanchor">[599]</a> In the myth of the Phenicians, the power +of destruction is taken from the hostile god, when the +friendly god wrestles with him. The Hebrews changed +the wrestling between the hostile and friendly deities, +into a wrestling between the servant and the master,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> +between the patriarch of the tribe and his god, a +struggle from which the former does not let the god +go till he has obtained a pledge, that he will spare +him and his tribe, and send increase and blessing to +him and his tribe. The contrast of hostile and friendly +deities, and their struggle with each other, the Hebrew +conceives as the work, the toil, the struggle of men, +<i>i. e.</i> strenuous wrestling to win the blessing of God. +Jacob carried away the injury to his thigh, but he +won the blessing of Jehovah.</p> + +<p>With this conception of the Hebrews, that the First-born +belonged to Jehovah, is connected the ordinance +that a ransom must be offered for him. Moreover, in +every spring the Paschal lamb was offered as a sin-offering +for the redemption of the house, along with +the firstlings of the field. The use of circumcision +also, as it seems, stood with the Hebrews in close +connection with the idea that the life of boys must +be ransomed by a bloody sacrifice. Jehovah is said +to have commanded Abraham to circumcise his family +in token of the covenant which he had made with +him and his seed (<a href="#Page_392">p. 392</a>). This custom was also in +use among the Edomites and certain other Arabian +and Syrian tribes.<a name="FNanchor_600_600" id="FNanchor_600_600"></a><a href="#Footnote_600_600" class="fnanchor">[600]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span></p> + +<p>According to the genealogy of the Hebrews we had +to assume that the Semitic tribes from Arphaxad first +went to Serug, and afterwards to Ur in Chaldæa; +and that these immigrants, or a branch of them, passed +from Ur to Haran. While the Nahorites remained +behind at Haran, the Abrahamites turned towards +the southern border of Canaan, where the Ammonites +and Moabites, the Ishmaelites and Midianites, separated, +and took possession of the centre of Arabia, +the peninsula of Sinai, and the land eastward of the +Jordan. From the narrative of Isaac, Esau, and +Jacob, it further follows that not only those nations +but also the sons of Esau, the Edomites, were descendants +of Abraham, and the Hebrews were a branch +of the Edomites who had separated from them. Hence +the Hebrews were the youngest scion of the stock +which once came from the mountains of Arphaxad +to Ur, to Mesopotamia, and then into the deserts of +Arabia and Syria. If, however, we allow that the +genealogies of the Hebrews express the position which +they took up or wished to take up towards the kindred +Semitic nations, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, +the Arabians, Midianites, Moabites, and +Ammonites, and did not attempt to place facts of +history beyond doubt, yet we must not refuse to +recognise a definite historical basis in the relation +of the Hebrews to the Edomites. The Edomites +possessed Mount Seir, which runs from the southern +extremity of the Dead Sea to the north-east corner +of the Red Sea. Before them the Horites possessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> +this mountain (<a href="#Page_403">p. 403</a>).<a name="FNanchor_601_601" id="FNanchor_601_601"></a><a href="#Footnote_601_601" class="fnanchor">[601]</a> According to the Hebrew +tradition the patriarch of the Edomites was Esau. +He "was red in colour and hairy." Though this is +not the meaning of the name Esau, the name Edomites +does actually mean the "red people," and the name +of their mountain Seir means, "to be hairy," a name +which could very well be given to a mountain covered +with briars and brushwood. The Edomites were fond +of the chase and of war; their progenitor is a hunter +and warrior; and to this, his eldest son, Isaac foretells +that his dwelling should be without the fatness of the +earth; by his sword should he live. Only a slight +advantage in age is allowed to Esau: he is merely +the firstborn of twins; and even at birth his brother +Jacob held him by the heel. The pre-eminence which +Isaac gives to the younger son is explained in the +Judæan text merely by the fact, that Esau had taken +wives from the Hittites. "And when Esau saw that +Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Mesopotamia +in order to take a wife from thence, Esau saw that the +daughters of Canaan displeased his father, and he +went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath, the daughter +of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth, +to wife to his other wives."<a name="FNanchor_602_602" id="FNanchor_602_602"></a><a href="#Footnote_602_602" class="fnanchor">[602]</a> All the further details +of the relations between the two brothers, the sale of +the birthright, the obtaining of the blessing, and the +form of the blessing, belong to the revision. This +text and this only could make Isaac say to Esau, +"Thou shalt serve thy brother, but shalt break his +yoke from off thy neck." Saul conquered, and David +subjugated the Edomites; it was not till the time +of Joram, king of Judah, in the first half of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +ninth century <small>B.C.</small>, that they recovered their independence.</p> + +<p>The description of the journey of Jacob to the +Euphrates, his service with Laban, and his flight, +come from the Ephraimitic text: the revision has +only extended the introduction, and here and there +inserted an interpolation. To the same text belongs +the peaceful departure from the Nahorites, the setting +up of a token on the east of Jordan to fix how far the +borders of the Israelites, beyond which the Nahorites +were not to go, were to extend in this direction, and +finally Jacob's reconciliation with Esau. With the +daughters of Canaan whom he took to wife, Esau +could only beget an impure race, and even with the +daughter of Ishmael his race would not be wholly +pure, while Jacob served patiently for fourteen years +in order to obtain wives of the genuine blood. By +this, and by the blessing of Isaac, the pre-eminence +of the younger Israelites is established over the +Edomites; but the brothers parted in peace. Esau +received rich gifts. Thus they separated on the ford +of the Jabbok at the sacred place of Peniel. The one +went to Seir, the other to Shechem in Canaan. Hence +the Edomites had no reason to cherish resentment +against the sons of Jacob.</p> + +<p>Isaac and Jacob abode in Canaan at Hebron, +Beersheba, and Shechem. Here Isaac again dug out +the wells which Abraham's servants had previously +made. The quarrel of his servants about the wells +with the Philistines of Gerar is based on the severe +battles afterwards fought between the Philistines and +Israel. As Abraham had set up pillars, so does Isaac +build an altar at Beersheba,<a name="FNanchor_603_603" id="FNanchor_603_603"></a><a href="#Footnote_603_603" class="fnanchor">[603]</a> and Jacob sets up a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> +sacred stone at Bethel. As Abraham, according to +the first text, buys the burying-place at Hebron, so +Jacob, according to this same text, bought the field +at Shechem, where he had pitched his tent. Thus +Isaac and Jacob also have acquired possessions in +Canaan, and have rendered services to the land; +they also have prepared the way for the rule of their +descendants in Canaan, and have consecrated the +places at which the Hebrews were destined to worship +the gods of their fathers.</p> + +<p>The three patriarchs strictly carry out the commands +of Jehovah, from which their descendants swerved +often and long. To the Hebrews they are patterns +of the purity of their race; their descendants did +not always keep themselves free from mixture with +the Canaanites. But they are not only patterns of +the fear of God, and piety, of correct faith and right +dealing with the Canaanites; they also exhibit to the +Hebrews the moral ideal of their conduct. Abraham +is distinguished by the virtues of faithfulness, of unselfishness, +and friendliness to his brother's family, +and, in return, the blessing of Jehovah rests upon +him. Other virtues are brought into prominence by +the tradition in Jacob, the most immediate ancestor +of the Hebrews. If Abraham knew how to raise +the sword, and Esau lived a wild hunter's life, Jacob +is a peaceable, faithful shepherd, who patiently +endures heat and cold, who is ever wide awake, +under whose hand the flocks increase, and whose care +prevents the sheep and goats from casting their young. +When Jacob had served fourteen years for his wives, +he still continued to serve six years for hire. Among +the Hebrews the life of a hired servant is not considered +a degradation; and continuance in service +for the sake of hire is not looked down upon with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> +contempt. Jehovah rewards the industrious servant, +the active workman. With his staff in his hand +Jacob passed over the Euphrates; but he returned +rich in flocks and goods, blessed with wife and child. +In his pliancy, his quiet, peaceful trust in God, +his wrestling for the blessing of God, Jacob is the +genuine warrior of God (Israel), who is rescued, +and gains the victory. Beside these stand realistic +traits peculiar to the East and the Hebrew character. +Jacob is a cunning man, who knows how to invent +clever devices. With the help of his mother he +gains from his brother the blessing of the firstborn. +At first Laban outwits him, but in the end Jacob's +cunning is victorious. He knows how to pacify +his brother by subjection. To bow before the mighty +in order to save property and life has not always +appeared dishonourable to the Oriental.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_568_568" id="Footnote_568_568"></a><a href="#FNanchor_568_568"><span class="label">[568]</span></a> Numbers xxi. 27; Joshua x. 14; Genesis xlviii. 20, 22. In proof +that Genesis xlix. belongs to the time of the judges, cf. Ewald, "Gesch. +Israel's," 1, 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_569_569" id="Footnote_569_569"></a><a href="#FNanchor_569_569"><span class="label">[569]</span></a> Gen. xxxvi. 1; xlvi. 8 ff.; Exod. vi. 14 ff.; Numb. iii. 17-21; xxvii. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_570_570" id="Footnote_570_570"></a><a href="#FNanchor_570_570"><span class="label">[570]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_571_571" id="Footnote_571_571"></a><a href="#FNanchor_571_571"><span class="label">[571]</span></a> Numb. xxi. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_572_572" id="Footnote_572_572"></a><a href="#FNanchor_572_572"><span class="label">[572]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_573_573" id="Footnote_573_573"></a><a href="#FNanchor_573_573"><span class="label">[573]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 316, 317.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_574_574" id="Footnote_574_574"></a><a href="#FNanchor_574_574"><span class="label">[574]</span></a> Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," s. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_575_575" id="Footnote_575_575"></a><a href="#FNanchor_575_575"><span class="label">[575]</span></a> Gen. x. 14; Exod. xv. 1-11; Numb. xxi. 14-18; cf. De Wette-Schrader, +"Einleitung," s. 319.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_576_576" id="Footnote_576_576"></a><a href="#FNanchor_576_576"><span class="label">[576]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 318.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_577_577" id="Footnote_577_577"></a><a href="#FNanchor_577_577"><span class="label">[577]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," 320, 321.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_578_578" id="Footnote_578_578"></a><a href="#FNanchor_578_578"><span class="label">[578]</span></a> Chap. iv., 44—c. xxviii, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_579_579" id="Footnote_579_579"></a><a href="#FNanchor_579_579"><span class="label">[579]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 303 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_580_580" id="Footnote_580_580"></a><a href="#FNanchor_580_580"><span class="label">[580]</span></a> Gen. xi. 1-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_581_581" id="Footnote_581_581"></a><a href="#FNanchor_581_581"><span class="label">[581]</span></a> Gen. xi. 10-32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_582_582" id="Footnote_582_582"></a><a href="#FNanchor_582_582"><span class="label">[582]</span></a> Ezek. xxiii. 15; Deut. xxvi. 25; Joshua xxiv. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_583_583" id="Footnote_583_583"></a><a href="#FNanchor_583_583"><span class="label">[583]</span></a> These are the numbers in the Hebrew text; in the Samaritan and +Septuagint they are altered.—Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 112. To +the first text, chap, ii., 4-24 and iii., were added by the reviser; he inserted +another genealogical table below the series of patriarchs in the +original text from Adam to Noah (iv. 17 ff), and this table does not run +like the first: Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, +Methusalah, Lamech, Noah, but gives the following order: (Enos) Adam, +Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mahajael, Methusael, Lamech. To Lamech this narrator +attached the origin of the shepherds, players on instruments, and workers +in brass. Bunsen ("Ægypten," 5, 2, 62 ff), has drawn from this the conclusion +that the Hebrews had really only seven patriarchs before the flood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_584_584" id="Footnote_584_584"></a><a href="#FNanchor_584_584"><span class="label">[584]</span></a> Ptolemy. 6, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_585_585" id="Footnote_585_585"></a><a href="#FNanchor_585_585"><span class="label">[585]</span></a> Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akademie," 1859, s. 200.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_586_586" id="Footnote_586_586"></a><a href="#FNanchor_586_586"><span class="label">[586]</span></a> Stephan. Byz. s. v. from Arrian; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_587_587" id="Footnote_587_587"></a><a href="#FNanchor_587_587"><span class="label">[587]</span></a> Buttmann, "Mythol." 1, 235; Procop. "De Bell. P." 1, 17; Ewald, +"Gesch. der V. Israel," 1, 358, 380; Bunsen, "Ægypten," 4, 450.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_588_588" id="Footnote_588_588"></a><a href="#FNanchor_588_588"><span class="label">[588]</span></a> The narrative of Hagar (Gen. xvi.) belongs to the first text; the additions +to the revision; the account of the expulsion of Ishmael (Gen. +xxi.) is from the Ephraimitic text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_589_589" id="Footnote_589_589"></a><a href="#FNanchor_589_589"><span class="label">[589]</span></a> Gen. xiii. 5, 11, 12; xix. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_590_590" id="Footnote_590_590"></a><a href="#FNanchor_590_590"><span class="label">[590]</span></a> Gen. xvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_591_591" id="Footnote_591_591"></a><a href="#FNanchor_591_591"><span class="label">[591]</span></a> Gen. xiv. De Wette-Schrader thinks the derivation from a written +source probable ("Einleitung," s. 319).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_592_592" id="Footnote_592_592"></a><a href="#FNanchor_592_592"><span class="label">[592]</span></a> Gen. ix. 20-27; Schrader, "Studien und Kritiken," s. 166 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_593_593" id="Footnote_593_593"></a><a href="#FNanchor_593_593"><span class="label">[593]</span></a> Gen. xxv. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_594_594" id="Footnote_594_594"></a><a href="#FNanchor_594_594"><span class="label">[594]</span></a> Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," p. 313.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_595_595" id="Footnote_595_595"></a><a href="#FNanchor_595_595"><span class="label">[595]</span></a> Gen. xxxv. 9-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_596_596" id="Footnote_596_596"></a><a href="#FNanchor_596_596"><span class="label">[596]</span></a> Gen. xxviii. 11, 12, 17-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_597_597" id="Footnote_597_597"></a><a href="#FNanchor_597_597"><span class="label">[597]</span></a> Gen. xxviii. 13-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_598_598" id="Footnote_598_598"></a><a href="#FNanchor_598_598"><span class="label">[598]</span></a> Exod. xxiv. 17, "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like +devouring fire." Exod. xix. 16, 18, "There were thunders and lightnings, +and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding +loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And +mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon +it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and +the whole mount quaked greatly." Exod. xl. 38, "For the cloud of the Lord +was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night;" cf. Numbers +ix. 15, 16. Deut. iv. 15, "On the day that the Lord spake unto you in +Horeb out of the midst of the fire." Job i. 16, "The fire of God is fallen +from heaven and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed +them." Numb. xvi. 35, "And there came out a fire from the Lord +and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." Lev. +x. 2, "And there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them, and +they died before the Lord." Exod. xxxiii. 3, "I will not go up in the midst +of thee lest I consume thee in the way." Exod. xxxiii. 20, "Thou canst +not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." Deut. v. 26, +"Who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God +speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived." Lev. xvi. 2, +"Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy +place ... that he die not." Exod. xix. 21, "Charge the people, lest they +break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish." Exod. +xx. 19, "Let not God speak with us, lest we die." Judges xiii. 22, "We +shall surely die, because we have seen God." 1 Sam. vi. 19, "And he smote +the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the +Lord."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_599_599" id="Footnote_599_599"></a><a href="#FNanchor_599_599"><span class="label">[599]</span></a> Gen. xxxii. 24-32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_600_600" id="Footnote_600_600"></a><a href="#FNanchor_600_600"><span class="label">[600]</span></a> Exod. iv. 24; xii. 1-18; xiii. 2, 12-14; xxxiv. 19; xxx. 11-16. +From the sacrifice of Isaac, the redemption of the firstborn and the +Paschal offering, the conclusion may be drawn that in the oldest times +human sacrifices were not unknown to the Hebrews. If such took place +they were not offered in the same manner as the Moloch-offerings of the +Canaanites. If Jehovah appears in fire, the fire is not, to the Hebrews, +his essence, but only a form or mode of appearance. Sacrifices like those +offered to Moloch were forbidden by the earliest text (Levit. xviii. 22; +xx. 2) under pain of death. The narrative of Jephthah's daughter lays +especial stress on the sanctity of the vow. Of the other passages which +come into consideration only one or two deal with sacrifices; the remainder +have reference to executions. In Numbers xxv. 4, we find, "Take all the +heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, +that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel." +Jephthah vowed his daughter and sacrificed her, Judges xi. 30, 34. "And +Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal," 1 Samuel xv. 33. +In 2 Samuel xxi. 6-9, the Gibeonites say, "Give us seven men of his +sons that we may hang them before the Lord in Gibeah. And they hanged +them up on the mountain before Jehovah."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_601_601" id="Footnote_601_601"></a><a href="#FNanchor_601_601"><span class="label">[601]</span></a> Gen. xiv. 6; Deut. ii. 12, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_602_602" id="Footnote_602_602"></a><a href="#FNanchor_602_602"><span class="label">[602]</span></a> Gen. xxviii. 1-9; Gen. xxxvi. 3, 10, calls the daughter of Ishmael, +Basmath; cf. <i>supra</i>, pp. 317, 406.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_603_603" id="Footnote_603_603"></a><a href="#FNanchor_603_603"><span class="label">[603]</span></a> Gen. xlviii. 1. On the places of worship at Beersheba and the "heights +of Isaac" in Amos, cf. A. Bernstein, "Ursprung der Sagen," s. 14, 15.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT.</h3> + + +<p>When the progenitors of the Hebrews had come from +the Euphrates to Canaan, and had taken up their +abode there at Hebron and Shechem, when Jacob and +Esau had parted in peace, and the latter had gone +to Mount Seir, Jacob, with all his sons, went to +Egypt.</p> + +<p>Jacob dwelt at Hebron—so runs the narrative—when +he sent Joseph, the son of Rachel, to his elder brethren +in Shechem, to see if all was well with them and their +flocks. But his brethren hated Joseph, because his +father loved him more than them; and when they +saw him coming, they said: We will slay him. But +the eldest, Reuben, said: Shed no blood, but throw +him into the pit yonder. This they did; they took +from Joseph the coat which his father had made +for him, and thrust him into the pit. Then there +came a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead; their +camels carried spices, balsam, and myrrh to Egypt. +And his brethren took Joseph again out of the pit, +and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels +of silver. Then they slew a goat, and dipped the +coat in the blood, and brought it to their father. +Jacob knew the coat, and cried: An evil beast +has eaten my son, and torn his garments; and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> +would not be comforted, but said: In sorrow will +I go down to the grave to my son. But Joseph +was carried away to Egypt, and was bought by +Potiphar, an Egyptian in the service of the king, +and captain of the body-guard, from the Ishmaelites. +Joseph found grace in the eyes of his master; and +as everything which he undertook prospered, Potiphar +set him over his house. Joseph was goodly to look +upon, and the wife of his master cast her eyes upon +him. But he resisted her, and when she caught him +by his garment, he left his garment in her hand, +and fled out. Then she kept Joseph's garment by +her till Potiphar returned, and said to him: The +Hebrew servant, whom thou has brought to us, came +to me to mock me; and when I lifted up my voice, +he fled away and left his garment. Then Potiphar +was angry, and took Joseph and cast him into the +house of bondage, where were the prisoners of the +king. And it came to pass that the chief butler and +the chief baker sinned against the king, and Pharaoh +put them in prison. Each of these had a dream in +the night, and Joseph interpreted the dreams; and +it came to pass, as he foretold, that the chief baker was +hanged, but the chief butler was restored by Pharaoh +to his office, on his birthday, so that, as before, he +gave the cup into his hand. Two years afterwards, +the king of Egypt saw in a dream seven fat kine +come up out of the Nile, and after them seven lean +kine, and the lean kine ate up the fat. As none of +the interpreters and wise men of Egypt could interpret +this dream, the chief butler bethought him of the +young man of the tribe of the Hebrews, who had +interpreted his own dream in the prison, and told +Pharaoh what had befallen him. Then Pharaoh +sent, and Joseph was quickly brought out of prison,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> +and shaved himself, changed his garments, and came +before Pharaoh and said: Seven years of abundance +will come in the land of Egypt, and after them seven +years of famine. Let Pharaoh collect food in the +good years, and gather together corn, and keep it +against the years of famine, that the land be not +destroyed. Then Pharaoh took his ring from his +hand and placed it on the hand of Joseph, and +clothed him in garments of linen, and placed a +golden chain upon his neck, and said: I place thee +over the whole land of Egypt, only by my throne +will I be above thee. And Pharaoh called Joseph +Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter +of the priest at On, to wife, and caused him to ride +in his second chariot, and the people cried before him: +Bow the knee. When the seven years of abundance +came, Joseph collected food, and gathered up corn +in the cities, without number, as the sand of the +sea. And when the years of famine came, there +was no bread in the land, and the people were compelled +to buy bread from the granaries of Pharaoh; +and when their money failed, they brought their +horses, cattle, sheep, and asses to buy food from +Joseph, and all the cattle in the land came to the +king. And when they had no cattle left to buy +corn, they gave their land and fields. Thus Joseph +bought the land for Pharaoh, and the country became +Pharaoh's, and Joseph said: Here is seed for you; +sow your fields, and at the time of harvest, give the +fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own for +food, for yourselves and your children, and those in +your houses. Thus Joseph laid on the land of the +Egyptians a tax of the fifth, until this day.</p> + +<p>The famine was sore in all lands, and in the land +of Canaan, and when Jacob saw that there was corn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> +in Egypt, he said to his sons: Go down and buy +for us there, that we die not. Then the brethren of +Joseph went down; but Benjamin, whom Rachel had +borne after Joseph, Jacob sent not with them, for he +feared that some evil might happen to him. Joseph, +who sold corn to the people, knew his brethren when +they bowed themselves to the earth before him, and +remembered how he once dreamed at Hebron that he +was binding sheaves with his brethren in the field, +and his sheaf stood upright, and the sheaves of his +brethren bowed before it; and that the sun, moon, +and eleven stars bowed before him. The interpreter +was between them, and he dealt roughly with his +brethren, and said: Ye are spies, who are come to +see the weakness of the land. No, my lord, they +answered, we are true men, twelve brethren, the sons +of one father in the land of Canaan. The youngest +has remained with our father, and one is not. Then +Joseph took Simeon, and bound him and said: Take +corn for the need of your house, and then bring your +youngest brother with you, that I may see that +ye are not spies; then will I give you back your +brother, and ye shall deal in our land.</p> + +<p>When Jacob heard this, he said to his sons: Ye +make me childless; Joseph is no more, and Simeon is +no more, and Benjamin ye would take from me. All +these things are against me. But when the corn was +eaten which they brought out of Egypt, he sent his +sons a second time to buy food; and Benjamin was +with them. Judah had promised his father to be +surety for him. Joseph caused them to be brought +into his house, and gave them water to wash their +feet, and food for their asses, and restored Simeon to +them, and bade them eat at his table. And food was +placed for the brethren by themselves, and for Joseph<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> +and the Egyptians by themselves. And Joseph caused +presents to be given to them, and Benjamin's present +was the largest; and they were drunken in his house. +Then Joseph caused his steward to fill the sacks of +the strangers with corn, and to replace the purchase +money in each sack, and in Benjamin's sack to place +his own cup of silver. When the morning came, and +the brethren went forth from the city with their sacks +and their asses, Joseph's steward overtook them not +far from the city, and demanded the silver and gold +which they had stolen, and found the cup in Benjamin's +sack. The brethren rent their garments and turned +back, and cast themselves on the earth before Joseph. +But he said: With whomsoever the cup was found he +shall be my servant; the rest may go in peace. Then +Judah came forward and said: When we set forth our +father said, If ye take Benjamin also from me, and +any evil happen to him, ye will bring my grey hairs +with sorrow to the grave. If then we go back to +our father, thy servant, and the boy is not with us, +he will die, for his soul hangs upon him; let me +remain here in his place, and be thy servant, that I +may not see the sorrow of my father. Then Joseph +could no longer restrain himself: he caused the Egyptians +to go out from his presence, and lifted up his voice +with tears, and said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom +ye sold. Hasten, and go to my father, and tell him +of all my glory. Bid him come to me, and you +shall dwell here with your possessions. But Jacob +did not believe the words of his sons, till he saw the +chariots which Pharaoh had sent to carry him to +Egypt. And Jacob set out with his sons, their wives +and their children, seventy souls, with his flocks, and +his goods, to Egypt; and Joseph came to meet him in +his chariot, and wept long on the neck of his father,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +and gave to his kindred food, and a dwelling-place in +the land of Goshen. When Jacob's days came to a +close, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: Thy +two sons, born to thee in the land of Egypt, shall be +mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me as +Reuben and Simeon. And he laid his right hand on +Ephraim, and named Ephraim the younger before +Manasseh, and said: In thee shall Israel bless and +say: God make thee like Ephraim and Manasseh. And +thus Jacob blessed his other sons also, and to Judah +he said: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, +nor the staff of the ruler from between his feet; he +shall bind his ass to the vine, and the colt of his she-ass +to the choice vine; he shall wash his garment in +wine, and his robe in the blood of the grape; his +eyes are red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. +But Joseph is the son of a fruit-tree by a well. The +branches ran over the wall; the archers provoke +and follow him, but his bow remains firm, and the +strength of his hands is supple. So he blessed them, +and said to Joseph: Bury me not in Egypt; bury me +with my fathers in the cave which Abraham bought +of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham, and Sarah, +and Isaac, and Rebekah are buried, and where I +buried Leah. Then Joseph fell on the face of his +father and wept, and the Egyptians mourned seventy +days for Jacob, and Joseph carried the body with +Pharaoh's servants, and the elders of Pharaoh's house +and of all Egypt, and with all his brethren, and the +whole house of Jacob to Canaan, and buried him in +the cave of Machpelah. But Joseph dwelt in Egypt +till his death, and he saw the sons of Ephraim till the +third generation, and the sons of Machir, the son of +Manasseh, were born on his knees. Joseph died 110 +years old, and they embalmed him, and placed him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> +in a sepulchre in Egypt. And all Joseph's brethren +died. But their sons were fruitful and increased, and +the land was full of them.</p> + +<p>Then there arose a new king in Egypt who knew +not Joseph, and he said: The children of Israel are +mighty; we shall be wise to prevent their increase, +that they join not with our enemies if a war arise. +And the Egyptians put taskmasters over the children +of Israel, in order to oppress them with burdens. The +children of Israel were compelled to perform heavy +tasks in the field, and taskwork in clay and bricks; +and they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of +Pithom and Ramses, and Pharaoh commanded all +his people to throw into the Nile all the male children +born to the Israelites, but to let the daughters live.</p> + +<p>It is no longer possible to discover what motives +were given in the Judæan text for the settlement of +Jacob and his sons in Egypt. In it the land thus +apportioned to the Hebrews is not called Goshen, but +Ramses. Yet it is clear that even in that account it +was Joseph who procured a habitation and possessions +for his father and brethren in Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_604_604" id="FNanchor_604_604"></a><a href="#Footnote_604_604" class="fnanchor">[604]</a> The reasons +given for the change in the narrative, as it now stands, +are taken from the Ephraimitic text, which describes +in the most lively manner, the virtues and glory of +the ancestor of this tribe. The prophetic revision +only added a few details, and sharpened a few of +the traits. The second text represented Joseph as +falling into the hands of Midianite merchants, the +revision added Ishmaelites. According to the second +text, Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar, +in whose house as captain of the body-guard the +butler and baker of Pharaoh were imprisoned, and +there Joseph interpreted their dreams. The revision<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> +inserts the temptation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife, +and makes him, owing to her false accusation, a fellow-prisoner +of the butler and baker.<a name="FNanchor_605_605" id="FNanchor_605_605"></a><a href="#Footnote_605_605" class="fnanchor">[605]</a> Thus it was able to +exalt Joseph, not from servitude only, but from the +misery of imprisonment to the steps of the throne.</p> + +<p>The ethical traits of the narrative, the national and +religious views underlying it, are obvious. The evil +of which his brothers are guilty towards Joseph, +without any offence on his part, he bears with submission. +In the service of the Egyptian he shows +himself a faithful slave; he withstands the most +enticing temptation. In return for this faithful +honesty he is compelled again to suffer innocently. +After long endurance he receives the highest exaltation; +from prison he is summoned to be ruler of the +land, and second only to Pharaoh. As he had been +a faithful steward to Potiphar in small things, he is +now a faithful servant to Pharaoh in great things; +all the events, which he correctly foresaw, he knew +how to turn to the advantage of his master. When +he has shown his brothers, in order to touch their +consciences for the evil they had done to him, how +men may innocently fall into suspicion, punishment, +and misfortune, he generously pardons them. In +this pardon, this rescue of the whole tribe by the man +whom they had attempted to destroy, rests the true +punishment laid upon the brothers. It is the wonderful +guidance of Jehovah which assists the innocent out +of misery and distress, which turns the evil, which the +brothers had committed against Joseph, in such a +direction that in the grievous years of famine the +race of Jacob finds a helper and protector near the +throne of Egypt, who is able to give food and a +habitation to that tribe, and allot to their flocks the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> +magnificent pastures of the land of Goshen. The +carrying of the corpse of Jacob to Hebron is intended +to signify that Canaan, and not Egypt, was to be the +lasting abode of the posterity of Jacob. At the same +time the tradition of the Hebrews shows the benefits +which a man of their race conferred upon the Egyptians +in a time of evil; it marks how Egypt, owing +to his foresight, was saved from destruction, in order +at the same time to show how little the Egyptians +regarded these benefits, and how great is the contrast +presented by their subsequent conduct towards the +Hebrews.</p> + +<p>The description of Egypt corresponds exactly to +the circumstances of the land as we have found them +before. Both the author of the Ephraimitic text and +the reviser were well acquainted with the life and +customs of Egypt. We have found captains of the +body guard in the retinue of Pharaoh (<a href="#Page_190">p. 190</a>), a +chief baker is also to be seen on the monuments, and +although we cannot point to any butler of the king +upon them, we know that in Egypt wine was not +wanting at the table of Pharaoh, any more than +among his workmen.<a name="FNanchor_606_606" id="FNanchor_606_606"></a><a href="#Footnote_606_606" class="fnanchor">[606]</a> In the whole of the East, and +demonstrably in Egypt, great importance was attached +to dreams.<a name="FNanchor_607_607" id="FNanchor_607_607"></a><a href="#Footnote_607_607" class="fnanchor">[607]</a> By knowing how to explain their +meaning more correctly than the wise men and interpreters +of Egypt—<i>i. e.</i> than the prophets, and temple-scribes +of the Egyptian priesthood<a name="FNanchor_608_608" id="FNanchor_608_608"></a><a href="#Footnote_608_608" class="fnanchor">[608]</a>—Joseph is +liberated from prison, and raised to the position of +grand vizier. The robes of byssus, in which Joseph +is now clad, we have found to be the prescribed dress +of the priests (<a href="#Page_197">p. 197</a>), and if Pharaoh puts a golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> +chain round his neck, we have already met with an +instance of this kind of distinction (<a href="#Page_131">p. 131</a>). That +the Pharaohs regarded themselves as proprietors of +the soil, that they collected a land-tax, and that the +fields would require to be measured in order to collect +this tax, has been already stated (<a href="#Page_194">p. 194</a>). This +tax, so surprising to them, the Hebrews explained by +assuming that the Egyptians sold their plots to +Joseph in the time of the famine, which were then +given back to the proprietors in return for a fifth of +the yearly produce. Hereby the services of Joseph to +the throne are placed in the clearest light. We saw +above that it was the first object of Pharaoh and his +ministers to provide Egypt with life and sustenance +(pp. <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>). Joseph's wisdom and providence +put Pharaoh in a position to attain this object, even in +the years of the famine. The names also quoted in +the Hebrew narrative seem to correspond to the +ancient Egyptian. The name Potiphar may be explained +by Petphra, <i>i. e.</i> "dedicated to Ra," or by +Puti-phra, <i>i. e.</i> "given by Ra." The name of the +daughter of the priest at On (Heliopolis), Asenath, +whom Joseph took to wife, can be explained by +As-neith, and the Egyptian name of Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah, +by Zpentpouch, <i>i. e.</i> "creator of life" (in +the time of famine).<a name="FNanchor_609_609" id="FNanchor_609_609"></a><a href="#Footnote_609_609" class="fnanchor">[609]</a></p> + +<p>Setting aside these points in the narrative, what +historical value can be given to the tradition that the +children of Jacob went from the south of Canaan to +the east of Egypt, that they remained there 430 years, +according to the older text, and in this period +increased into a mighty people?<a name="FNanchor_610_610" id="FNanchor_610_610"></a><a href="#Footnote_610_610" class="fnanchor">[610]</a> The district given +to the children of Jacob for their abode lies, as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> +tradition plainly shows, in the lower country east of +the Nile, beyond the Eastern or Tanitic mouth. The +name Goshen, given in the Ephraimitic text, appears +to correspond to Keshem, the name of a province in +Lower Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_611_611" id="FNanchor_611_611"></a><a href="#Footnote_611_611" class="fnanchor">[611]</a> The chain of mountains running on +the east of the Nile, sinks down between the Tanitic +arm and the north-west corner of the Arabian Gulf, +and on the slopes nearer the river presents a flat +extent of pasture land. In Egypt a tribe of shepherds +could have no share in the regular system of +cultivation, and the fixed order of Egyptian life; +a district suitable for the maintenance of their flocks +would be allotted to them, and nothing more. On the +north of this district, the nearest of the great cities of +Egypt was Tanis (Zoan), on the south, Heliopolis (On, +Anu), with which we have become acquainted as a +great centre of religion, and the seat of the worship +of the sun god Ra, and the god of life Bennu-Osiris +(pp. <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>). Hence with perfect consistency, the +Hebrew tradition narrates that the daughter of a +priest of Heliopolis was given to Joseph to wife.</p> + +<p>But what could induce the children of Jacob to go +to Egypt, or the Egyptians to give them a pasture-land +on their north-eastern border? We arrived +above at the conclusion that the tribe of Jacob was a +branch of the Edomites, whose dwelling-place is fixed +by tradition in the mountains between the north-east +point of the Arabian Gulf and the Dead Sea, +where in fact we find them in historical times. This +tribe, therefore, both at the time when in union with +the Edomites it passed along the eastern and southern +borders of Canaan, and after separating from the +Edomites—who may have already taken Mount Seir +from the Horites, or have pastured their flocks in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> +vicinity—was at no great distance from Egypt. When +divided from the Edomites, the fear of the stronger +part of the tribe from which they had separated, and +the desire to find more fruitful pastures in the neighbourhood +of the Nile, or want of corn, as the tradition +says, might have induced the sons of Jacob to leave +the borders of Canaan for the borders of Egypt. The +tribes, or families of shepherds, who pastured their +flocks in the neighbourhood of Canaan, may have +been accustomed to purchase corn when their own +cultivation was insufficient, from the corn-growers in +Canaan. A blight in Canaan would therefore compel +them to turn to the abundance of corn in Egypt. And +to a shepherd tribe, which sought her protection, and +submitted voluntarily to her rule, Egypt would be the +more inclined to give up the pastures beyond the +Nile, if this tribe was in unfriendly or hostile relations +to the Semitic tribes in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>If we attempt to fix the date at which the tribe of +Jacob may have exchanged the pastures on the border +of Canaan for the more fruitful regions on the Tanitic +arm of the Nile, it soon becomes clear that the +accounts of the Hebrews cannot be maintained. The +older text puts 215 years between the time when +Abraham entered Canaan and the arrival of the sons +of Jacob into Egypt, and exactly twice this amount +between their arrival in and exodus from Egypt. The +fixed proportion between the two numbers, and the +further circumstance that tradition can only mention +a few generations of the sons of Jacob,<a name="FNanchor_612_612" id="FNanchor_612_612"></a><a href="#Footnote_612_612" class="fnanchor">[612]</a> leads to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> +conclusion that those numbers do not spring from any +record or actual remembrance, but have been invented +upon reflection. The date of the exodus also is fixed +by a round sum; from the exodus to the building of +the temple 480 years are said to have elapsed.<a name="FNanchor_613_613" id="FNanchor_613_613"></a><a href="#Footnote_613_613" class="fnanchor">[613]</a> The +Hebrews reckoned 40 years to the generation; hence +they put twelve generations between the exodus and +the building of the temple, and fixed the interval on +this computation; yet their scriptures could only +mention by name nine or ten generations in this +period.<a name="FNanchor_614_614" id="FNanchor_614_614"></a><a href="#Footnote_614_614" class="fnanchor">[614]</a> Hence the dates 2140 <small>B.C.</small>, and 1925 <small>B.C.</small>, +which are deduced from the older text for the entrance +of Abraham into Canaan, and of Jacob into Egypt, if +the beginning of the building of the temple is fixed +according to traditional assumption in the year 1015 +<small>B.C.</small>, must be given up, as well as the year 2115 <small>B.C.</small> +for the entrance of Abraham into Canaan, and the +year 1900 <small>B.C.</small> for the settlement of Jacob in Egypt, +which results from the fixing the beginning of the +building of the temple in the year 990 <small>B.C.</small> The +only fact in the ancient tradition which admits of an +approximate date is the campaign of Kudur-Lagamer +of Elam, mentioned in the Ephraimitic text. This +campaign we ventured to place about the year 2000 +<small>B.C.</small> Genesis represents him as defeating the nations +on the east and south of Canaan, and the Horites on +Mount Seir, while at the separation of Esau and Jacob +Mount Seir is no longer the abode of the Horites, but +of the tribe of Esau. But we must contest the claim +of tradition to bring the history of Abraham into +connection with this campaign of the Elamites to the +west. On the other hand we may regard it as settled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> +that the tribe of Jacob did not arrive in Egypt at the +time when the valley of the Nile was under the dominion +of the Hyksos, <i>i. e.</i> in the period from 2101 <small>B.C.</small> +to 1591 <small>B.C.</small>, which we have assumed for this dominion, +and that during this time it did not dwell in Egypt. +The tradition of the Hebrews was not likely to forget +that their ancestors came to the Nile, not as fugitives, +but as kinsmen of the ruler of Egypt, or that their +race had once shared in the rule over Egypt, and thus +they might have dropped the slavery and imprisonment, +and the position of Joseph in Pharaoh's service. +And if these grounds are not held to be sufficient—if +the tribe of Jacob was in Egypt under the dominion +of the Hyksos, it must have been involved in their +overthrow and expulsion.</p> + +<p>Thus it may be assumed as proved that the admission +of the sons of Jacob into Egypt did not take place +till after the complete expulsion of the Hyksos, <i>i. e.</i> till +Tuthmosis III. had forced the shepherds to leave the +region to which they were at last confined, <i>i. e.</i> till after +the year 1591 <small>B.C.</small> And it can hardly have taken +place immediately after this event. We cannot suppose +any inclination among the Egyptians, immediately +after the expulsion of foreign shepherd tribes, to admit +shepherds of the same nationality to the Nile. But +when Tuthmosis III. had carried his weapons as far as +the Euphrates, and received yearly tribute from the +Syrians, the Cheta, and the Retennu, there would be +no scruples felt about allotting pastures on the edge +of the desert to an inconsiderable shepherd tribe. +Hence the settlement of the sons of Jacob in Goshen +may be placed about the middle of the sixteenth +century <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>The tradition of the Hebrews informed us that their +ancestors were compelled to build the two treasure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span>-cities +Pithom and Ramses for Pharaoh. This statement +is in the Ephraimitic text, while the Judæan text +calls the land given to the Hebrews Ramses.<a name="FNanchor_615_615" id="FNanchor_615_615"></a><a href="#Footnote_615_615" class="fnanchor">[615]</a> The +ruins of Pithom and of Ramses we found on the +canal which Sethos I. and Ramses II. intended to carry +from the Nile at Bubastis into the Arabian Gulf, and +which was completed as far as the Lake of Crocodiles +(<a href="#Page_157">p. 157</a>). The depression of the Wadi Tumilat, which +the canal followed, crosses the land of Goshen. Cities +could not be founded here till the canal from the Nile +had provided water in sufficient quantity. A city of +the name of Pa-Rameses, <i>i. e.</i> abode of Ramses, could +only be founded by a prince of that name. Being +situated on the canal of Ramses II. and further to the +east than Pithom, the city could only have been built +by the prince whose reign we have placed from 1388 +<small>B.C.</small> to 1322 <small>B.C.</small> As a fact his image is found here on +a block of granite in the ruins between the gods Ra +and Tum, and the bricks in the remains of the outer +walls are mixed with cut straw, the use of which in +moulding the bricks for these buildings is mentioned +by the revision.<a name="FNanchor_616_616" id="FNanchor_616_616"></a><a href="#Footnote_616_616" class="fnanchor">[616]</a> This city of Ramses must have been +of considerable importance for the district allotted to +the Hebrews, as the whole region was called after it. +Hence the sons of Jacob were in the land of Goshen in +the reign of Ramses II. The tradition allows them +to remain unmolested in Egypt for a long time—"not +till the land was full of them," so runs the older +text, without ascribing any other motive, "did the +Egyptians force the children of Israel to work in clay +and brick, and in the fields."<a name="FNanchor_617_617" id="FNanchor_617_617"></a><a href="#Footnote_617_617" class="fnanchor">[617]</a> In the former class of +works comes the building of these two cities. Hence +the Israelites must have reached Goshen before the +time of Ramses II.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span></p> + +<p>The desired evidence of the presence of the children +of Jacob in Egypt could be obtained from Egyptian +writings and monuments if it were certain that a name +used in them referred to the Hebrews. On a hieratic +papyrus (now at Leyden) an officer intreats his +superiors to give him corn "for the soldiers and the +Apuriuu who drag stones to the great fortress of the +house of Ramses, beloved of Ammon," <i>i. e.</i> king Ramses +II.<a name="FNanchor_618_618" id="FNanchor_618_618"></a><a href="#Footnote_618_618" class="fnanchor">[618]</a> In other places in the same papyrus the name +occurs as Apruu. Another papyrus observes under date +of Ramses III. (<a href="#Page_163">p. 163</a>)—"2083 Apruu at this place" +<i>i. e.</i> at Heliopolis.<a name="FNanchor_619_619" id="FNanchor_619_619"></a><a href="#Footnote_619_619" class="fnanchor">[619]</a> In an inscription in the quarries +at Hamamat it is said that 800 Apuriu or Apriu are +mentioned as workmen.<a name="FNanchor_620_620" id="FNanchor_620_620"></a><a href="#Footnote_620_620" class="fnanchor">[620]</a> But is the Egyptian name +of the Hebrews really Apru or Apuriu? The wife of +Potiphar, it is true, calls Joseph "the Hebrew servant" +(<a href="#Page_421">p. 421</a>); but did the sons of Jacob really bear +the name of Hebrews—<i>i. e.</i> men of the other side—when +they came to Egypt? Does not the meaning of +the name in the places quoted seem rather to be of a +general kind, than to denote any one particular stock?</p> + +<p>The kings Sethos I. and Ramses II. (1439-1322 <small>B.C.</small>) +were engaged in battle, as we have seen, with the +Schasu, <i>i. e.</i> the shepherd tribes between Egypt and +Canaan, with the Hittites, who possessed the south +of Canaan, and other tribes of Syria (<a href="#Page_150">p. 150</a>). Even +though they obtained successes over these nations, +and Sethos I. once forced his way to the Euphrates, +and Ramses II. as far as the coasts of the Phenicians, +yet the Schasu, like the Cheta, continued to be +dangerous enemies of Egypt. If this were not so, +why should Sethos have hit upon the plan of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span> +protecting the eastern frontier from Pelusium to +Heliopolis, by a vast fortification? What induced +Ramses, after several campaigns in Syria, to conclude +a peace with the Cheta in the year 1367 <i><small>B.C.</small></i> (<a href="#Page_152">p. 152</a>), +in which the advantage was not with Egypt? Ramses +III. had again to fight with the Schasu, the Hittites, +the Amorites, and the Philistines (<a href="#Page_164">p. 164</a>). But if +Egypt had to take measures to keep off the shepherds +and the Syrians, they would hardly suffer doubtful +subjects of the same nation within their own borders; +in the peace just mentioned it was expressly stipulated +that neither party should receive the subjects coming +to him from the other side (<a href="#Page_153">p. 153</a>). Under such +circumstances it was necessary to take measures that +the Hebrews should "not join with the enemies," as +the second text says.<a name="FNanchor_621_621" id="FNanchor_621_621"></a><a href="#Footnote_621_621" class="fnanchor">[621]</a> The attempt had to be made +to settle and assimilate them, and make them +Egyptians. The fortifications from Pelusium to +Heliopolis included just the region allotted to the +Hebrews. These works required hands to build +them. There was also the project of the canal from +the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. As the fortification +surrounded Goshen, so the canal ran athwart it, +from Bubastis to the Lake of Crocodiles. If this +canal, as well as the fortifications, required a great +number of hands—and naturally those who were +nearest would be first employed—the water brought +by the canal made it possible to change the pastures +along the canal into arable land, and to build cities +upon it. From all this it is not improbable that the +oppression of which the Hebrews speak commenced +under the reign of Sethos I. continued under Ramses +II, and was increased by the building of those two +cities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span></p> + +<p>The tradition of the Hebrews maintains that the +Hebrew nation arose in Egypt; in that country the +family became a nation. The Egyptians could endure +a tribe of shepherds on their borders, but not a +powerful nation. With seventy souls, according to +the first text, Jacob came into Egypt, and at the end +of their sojourn the Hebrews, according to the same +authority, had increased to 600,000 men, besides +women and children.<a name="FNanchor_622_622" id="FNanchor_622_622"></a><a href="#Footnote_622_622" class="fnanchor">[622]</a> Supposing the seventy to be +a sacred number, and reckoning into the total "a +number of strangers," who according to the revision +joined the Hebrews, it is still quite impossible, even if +the tribe which, as we assume, exchanged the pastures +of the south of Canaan for those on the Nile about +the middle of the sixteenth century numbered its +thousands at the time of the change, that they should +have increased to 600,000 full-grown men, <i>i. e.</i> to more +than two millions of souls, within the given period of +something less than the 250 years, to which the length +of their settlement on the Nile will be shown to be +limited. Even if we assume that the strangers +made up a third of the whole total, this is impossible. +At a much later time the number of the fighting +men among the Hebrews can scarcely be reckoned +higher than from two to three hundred thousand. +Even if we regard the total as including the whole +population, and not confined to the fighting men, it +still appears very high. Granting, too, that an +enumeration was not in itself impossible (the Hebrews +had long had before them the pattern of the enumerations +in Egypt), yet a closer examination shows, that +the total is founded upon an average of 50,000 souls +for each of the twelve tribes. This total therefore must +be given up as a mere attempt to glorify the ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> +times.<a name="FNanchor_623_623" id="FNanchor_623_623"></a><a href="#Footnote_623_623" class="fnanchor">[623]</a> The events which follow show that the +Israelites did really increase from a tribe to a nation +under the protection of Egypt, and could put in +the field from fifty to sixty thousand warriors,—a +growth and increase which in their old pastures, the +proximity of the far more powerful Edomites, Hittites, +Midianites, and Amalekites, could hardly have allowed +sufficient space.</p> + +<p>The twelve tribes, into which the nation of the +Hebrews was divided, were carried back to the sons +of Jacob, who were thought to be their ancestors. +This fact has obviously influenced the number and +position of these sons in the tradition. The tribes +which claimed to be the oldest must have sprung +from the oldest sons of Jacob; those who boasted of +the purest descent must have for their progenitors +sons born in lawful marriage; those whose blood was +less pure were derived from sons born to Jacob by the +handmaids of his wives. We found above (<a href="#Page_409">p. 409</a>) +that Leah, sprung from the true blood of the fathers, +while yet in Haran, had borne Reuben, Simeon, +Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon. The oldest +families of the Hebrews were named after Reuben. +These, "the sons of Reuben," were "brave men who +carried the sword and the shield, and drew the bow, +and were skilful in war;"<a name="FNanchor_624_624" id="FNanchor_624_624"></a><a href="#Footnote_624_624" class="fnanchor">[624]</a> but even in later times +they still pursued the old pastoral mode of life in the +mountain glades on the east of Jordan, and hence +had no important influence on the development of the +nation. This remarkable insignificance of the oldest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> +tribe is accounted for in the revision by a sin of the +ancestor, who lay with Bilhah, his father's handmaid.<a name="FNanchor_625_625" id="FNanchor_625_625"></a><a href="#Footnote_625_625" class="fnanchor">[625]</a> +According to the same prophetic authority, Simeon +and Levi also had done an unclean deed, and Judah +had once been equally guilty.<a name="FNanchor_626_626" id="FNanchor_626_626"></a><a href="#Footnote_626_626" class="fnanchor">[626]</a> It is for his account +of Judah only that we must make this narrator +entirely responsible. For the deeds of Reuben, +Simeon, and Levi, he has merely developed hints +contained in the "Blessings of Jacob," a poem of the +time of the Judges, which he found existing in the +Ephraimitic text.<a name="FNanchor_627_627" id="FNanchor_627_627"></a><a href="#Footnote_627_627" class="fnanchor">[627]</a> That poem says expressly that +Reuben, though the firstborn, was not to have the +pre-eminence; and Simeon and Levi, "because in +their anger they slew a man, and in their passion +lamed a bull," were to be scattered in Israel, <i>i. e.</i> +were to have no district specially their own. In +contrast to the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, +this poem celebrated the tribe of Joseph—under +which name the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh +were included—whose praise has been already given, +and it brings into prominence the tribe of Judah. +The strength of the nation rested on the tribes of +Ephraim and Judah; they had done the best service +at the conquest of Canaan, and were the foremost in +defending the land. The tribe of Ephraim was first +in battle, and it retained this superiority for centuries. +The tribe was not sprung from the oldest, but +from the most beloved son of Jacob, the late-born son +of Rachel. Ephraim was the younger of the two sons +born to Joseph by the Egyptian woman, but Jacob +had placed his right hand on the head of the younger +son, and said, "By thee shall Israel bless."<a name="FNanchor_628_628" id="FNanchor_628_628"></a><a href="#Footnote_628_628" class="fnanchor">[628]</a> Such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> +is the account of the Ephraimitic text. In the +Judæan Jacob is made to say, "Ephraim and Manasseh +shall be as my two firstborn."<a name="FNanchor_629_629" id="FNanchor_629_629"></a><a href="#Footnote_629_629" class="fnanchor">[629]</a> The fathers +of the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher +were considered to have been born to Jacob by his +handmaids.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_604_604" id="Footnote_604_604"></a><a href="#FNanchor_604_604"><span class="label">[604]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_605_605" id="Footnote_605_605"></a><a href="#FNanchor_605_605"><span class="label">[605]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_606_606" id="Footnote_606_606"></a><a href="#FNanchor_606_606"><span class="label">[606]</span></a> Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 430; "Ægypt. und die Bücher Moses," +s. 330, 323 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_607_607" id="Footnote_607_607"></a><a href="#FNanchor_607_607"><span class="label">[607]</span></a> Ebers, "Ægypt. und die Bücher Moses," s. 321, 322.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_608_608" id="Footnote_608_608"></a><a href="#FNanchor_608_608"><span class="label">[608]</span></a> Above p. 196; Ebers, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 347.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_609_609" id="Footnote_609_609"></a><a href="#FNanchor_609_609"><span class="label">[609]</span></a> Lepsius, "Chronol." s. 382; Ebers, "Ægypten und die Bücher +Moses," s. 296; Lauth, "Moses," s. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_610_610" id="Footnote_610_610"></a><a href="#FNanchor_610_610"><span class="label">[610]</span></a> Exod. xii. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_611_611" id="Footnote_611_611"></a><a href="#FNanchor_611_611"><span class="label">[611]</span></a> Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 505 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_612_612" id="Footnote_612_612"></a><a href="#FNanchor_612_612"><span class="label">[612]</span></a> Generally only two or three. The longest genealogy is that of +Joshua: Ephraim, Beriah, Rephah, Telah, Tahan, Laadan, Ammihud, +Elishama, Nun (1 Chron. vii. 20 ff; cf. Numb. xxvi. 35; vii. 48; x. 22), +from which, if it were to be regarded as certain (Ewald, "Gesch. Israel's," +1, 490, thinks that it is certain), it would follow that the Hebrews were over +200 years in Egypt, assuming 25 years as the length of a generation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_613_613" id="Footnote_613_613"></a><a href="#FNanchor_613_613"><span class="label">[613]</span></a> 1 Kings vi. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_614_614" id="Footnote_614_614"></a><a href="#FNanchor_614_614"><span class="label">[614]</span></a> Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 365. On the possible twelve representatives +of those twelve generations, Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 190.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_615_615" id="Footnote_615_615"></a><a href="#FNanchor_615_615"><span class="label">[615]</span></a> Exod. i. 11; Gen. xlvii. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_616_616" id="Footnote_616_616"></a><a href="#FNanchor_616_616"><span class="label">[616]</span></a> Exod. v. 6-11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_617_617" id="Footnote_617_617"></a><a href="#FNanchor_617_617"><span class="label">[617]</span></a> Exod. i. 7, 13, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_618_618" id="Footnote_618_618"></a><a href="#FNanchor_618_618"><span class="label">[618]</span></a> Chabas, "Mélang. égypt." pp. 2, 42 ff. That <i>lutu</i> means "Egyptians," +as Ebers ("Ægypt." s. 96) thinks, is by no means certain.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_619_619" id="Footnote_619_619"></a><a href="#FNanchor_619_619"><span class="label">[619]</span></a> Ebers, "Durch Gosen." p. 494.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_620_620" id="Footnote_620_620"></a><a href="#FNanchor_620_620"><span class="label">[620]</span></a> Lauth, "Moses," s. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_621_621" id="Footnote_621_621"></a><a href="#FNanchor_621_621"><span class="label">[621]</span></a> Exod. i. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_622_622" id="Footnote_622_622"></a><a href="#FNanchor_622_622"><span class="label">[622]</span></a> Exod. xii. 37. Numb. i. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_623_623" id="Footnote_623_623"></a><a href="#FNanchor_623_623"><span class="label">[623]</span></a> "With 600,000 men, besides the children," Exod. xii. 37, 38. Numbers +i. 22-46, enumerates 603,550 fighting men, who could take the field, in +the total sum, and in the totals for the several tribes, to which must be +added 22,000 male Levites, men and boys, Numb. iii. 39. The question +seems to me to be settled by Nöldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. 117).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_624_624" id="Footnote_624_624"></a><a href="#FNanchor_624_624"><span class="label">[624]</span></a> 1 Chron. vi. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_625_625" id="Footnote_625_625"></a><a href="#FNanchor_625_625"><span class="label">[625]</span></a> Above, <a href="#Page_409">p. 409</a>; Gen. xxxv. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_626_626" id="Footnote_626_626"></a><a href="#FNanchor_626_626"><span class="label">[626]</span></a> Gen. xxxiv. 13, 25-30, xxxviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_627_627" id="Footnote_627_627"></a><a href="#FNanchor_627_627"><span class="label">[627]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 280, n. 54.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_628_628" id="Footnote_628_628"></a><a href="#FNanchor_628_628"><span class="label">[628]</span></a> Gen. xlviii, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_629_629" id="Footnote_629_629"></a><a href="#FNanchor_629_629"><span class="label">[629]</span></a> Gen. xlviii. 5; above, <a href="#Page_425">p. 425</a>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS.</h3> + + +<p>The oppression which, according to the Pentateuch, +the Egyptians exercised upon the sons of Jacob when +settled in the land of Goshen, by field-labour and +tasks of building, may be regarded as a historical +fact. It is proved by the position of Egypt and her +relations to her neighbours on the north-east in the +fourteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, and it agrees with the arrangements +and aims entertained and carried out in +this border-land by Sethos I. and Ramses II. It +must have been a grievous burden for the Hebrews +to pass from the easy life of shepherds to the work of +agriculture, and abandon the old life with their flocks. +In addition there were the heavy tasks of the fortifications, +the canal, and the new cities. Were they to +give up the memory of their fathers, and their attachment +to their customary mode of life, in order to +perform taskwork for the Egyptians and become +Egyptians? Was it possible to escape this grievous +oppression? How could they be freed from the +mighty power of the Pharaohs? Could the Hebrews, +a peaceful nation and without practice in war, venture +to resist the numerous, disciplined, and drilled +armies of Egypt?</p> + +<p>The Hebrew tradition gives the following account<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span> +of the liberation of their forefathers, connecting it +with the supposed command of Pharaoh to throw into +the Nile all the male children born to the Israelites, +and to allow the daughters only to live. The son of +Levi, the son of Jacob, was Kahath, and Kahath's +son was Amram. Amram had a son born to him by +his wife Jochebed. When Jochebed saw that the boy +was fair, she hid him for three months; and when she +could hide him no longer, she took an ark of reeds and +daubed it with resin and pitch, and placed the boy in +it, and put the ark in the reeds on the bank of the +Nile, and the boy's sister was placed near to see what +would come to pass. Then Pharaoh's daughter came +with her maidens to bathe in the river. She saw the +ark, and caused it to be brought to her, and when she +opened it the boy wept. It is one of the children of +the Hebrews, she said, and had pity on it. Then the +sister came and offered to find a nursing-woman from +among the Hebrews, and brought her mother. When +the child grew up, Pharaoh's daughter took him for +her son, and called him Moses. One day Moses went +out to his brethren and saw their burdens, and when +an Egyptian smote a Hebrew, and Moses perceived +that no one was at hand, he slew the Egyptian, and +fled before Pharaoh into the land of Midian. And as +he rested at a well, the seven daughters of Jethro came +to water the sheep of their father, but the other shepherd +prevented them, and drove them away. Then +Moses came to their help, and watered their sheep, +and their father Jethro took him in, and Moses found +favour in his eyes, and took Zipporah, one of his +daughters, to wife, and kept Jethro's sheep. After +many days the king of Egypt died, and the sons of +Israel sighed by reason of their burdens; and God +heard their complaint, and thought of his covenant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> +with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses, as +he was keeping the flocks of Jethro, and led them +behind the desert, and came to Mount Horeb, saw a +bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. +And Moses approached, and Jehovah spoke +to him out of the bush, and said: I am the God of +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; come not near; put +thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where thou +standest is holy ground. Then Moses veiled his face, +for he was afraid to look upon God. Then Jehovah +said: I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, +and I will deliver them. Thou shalt go to Pharaoh +and lead my people away to Canaan, to a land flowing +with milk and honey. Moses answered: O my Lord, +I am not a man of words; I cannot speak to the +children of Israel, for I am dull of speech and heavy +of tongue. Go, said Jehovah, I will be with thy lips, +and will teach thee what to say; and Aaron thy +brother, the priest, can speak. Then Moses took his +wife and his sons and put them upon the ass, and +turned back to Egypt, and Aaron his elder brother +met him in the desert. Moses told him the commands +of Jehovah, and they gathered the elders of +Israel together, and the people believed their words.</p> + +<p>Then Moses and Aaron came into the presence of +the king of Egypt, and said: Let us go with our +people three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice +to our God Jehovah, that He may not visit us with the +pestilence or the sword. The king answered: Would +ye free the people from their tasks? Go to your +work. And he ordered the taskmasters and the overseers +to increase the work of the Israelites, and make +their service heavier, and to give them no more straw +for their bricks, so that they might be compelled to +gather straw for themselves. But the daily tale of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span> +bricks remained the same, and the chiefs of the +Israelites were beaten because they could not make +up the sum. Then Moses and Aaron went again to +Pharaoh, and Aaron threw down his rod before the king, +and lo! it became a serpent. Then the wise men and +magicians of Egypt cast their rods down, and they also +became serpents, but Aaron's serpent consumed the +rest. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters +of Egypt, and the water in the stream was turned +into blood, and the fish died, and the water became +foul and noisome. But the magicians of Egypt did +the same by their art. Then Aaron stretched out his +hand over the stream, and the frogs came up over the +fields, into the houses, the chambers, the beds, the +ovens and kneading-troughs. Then Pharaoh called +Moses and Aaron to take away the frogs from +him and his land; he was willing to let them go. +And the frogs died away out of the houses, the courts, +and the fields. But when Pharaoh was delivered he +hardened his heart, and would not let the Hebrews +go. Then Aaron turned the dust of the earth into +flies, and Moses and Aaron took at Jehovah's bidding +ashes of the oven and sprinkled them in the air, +and the dust of the ashes became boils and blains, +breaking out on man and beast, on the magicians, +and all the Egyptians. And Moses stretched out his +hand to heaven, and Jehovah caused it to thunder +and hail, and fire came down, and the hail smote +all that was in the field, man and beast, and all the +herbs of the field; and all the trees were destroyed; +only in the land of Goshen there was no hail. And +Moses stretched out his hand over all Egypt, and +Jehovah brought the east wind, and in the morning +the east wind brought swarms of locusts, and they ate +up all that the hail had left in the field: there was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span> +nothing green in the field and in the trees. And +Moses stretched his hand towards heaven, and there +was a thick darkness in the land of Egypt for three +days. And now the king was willing to let Israel +go, but their flocks and herds must remain behind. +Moses answered that not a single hoof should remain, +and went in wrath from the presence of Pharaoh. +But to the Israelites he said: At midnight Jehovah +will go forth and smite all the firstborn of Egypt, +from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the +woman behind the mill, and all the firstborn of cattle. +But they were to slay a yearling lamb without blemish +for each household, and to eat it roast, with unleavened +bread and bitter herbs. With loins girded, with shoes +on their feet, and staff in hand, they were to keep the +feast. With the blood of the lamb they were to strike +the door-posts and the lintel of their houses, that +Jehovah might see the blood and pass by their doors. +In the morning there was not a house of the Egyptians +in which there was not one dead. There was a +great cry in Egypt, and the king called Moses and +Aaron and said: Depart with your people, your flocks, +and your herds.</p> + +<p>Then the children of Israel set forth from Ramses +to Succoth—600,000 men on foot, besides children. +And with them went a number of strangers, and many +flocks and herds. And they went from Succoth, and +encamped at Etham, on the edge of the desert; and +from Etham they went to Pihahiroth, and encamped +over against Baalzephon. But Pharaoh was grieved +that he had let the people go from their service; he +pursued them with all his chariots, his horsemen, and +his army, and found them encamped on the sea at +Pihahiroth, over against Baalzephon. But Moses +stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span> +caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind +through the whole night, and made the sea into dry +land, and the Israelites passed through the midst of +the sea, and the waters were a wall upon their right +hand and a wall upon their left. And the Egyptians +pursued and came after them with their chariots and +their horsemen into the sea. Then Moses again +stretched out his hand, and the sea returned towards +morning into its bed, and covered the chariots and +the horsemen of Pharaoh, so that not one of them +was left.</p> + +<p>And Moses and the children of Israel sang: I will +sing of Jehovah, for he is glorious; the horses and +chariots he whelms in the sea; Jehovah, the God of +my father, will I praise. Jehovah is a man of war; +Thy right hand, O Jehovah, shatters the enemy. The +chariots of Pharaoh and his might he threw into the +sea; his chosen charioteers were drowned in the reed-sea. +The floods covered them; like stones they sank +in the pit. At the breath of Thy nostrils the waters +rose in a heap; the floods stood like a bank; the +floods ran in the midst of the sea. The enemy said: +I will pursue, and overtake, and divide the spoil; I +will satisfy my lust upon them; I will draw my sword, +and destroy them with my hand. Thou didst blow +with Thy mouth, O Jehovah, and the sea covered +them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. +Who among the gods is like unto thee, Jehovah?<a name="FNanchor_630_630" id="FNanchor_630_630"></a><a href="#Footnote_630_630" class="fnanchor">[630]</a></p> + +<p>The older text narrated in a simple manner, that the +Hebrews multiplied greatly in Egypt, and the Egyptians +vexed them with heavy burdens, and God heard their +cry, and thought of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, +and Jacob. Then God spoke to Moses: he would +take Israel for his people, and lead them out of Egypt,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span> +and Moses spoke to the children of Israel, but they did +not listen to him. Then the command came to Moses +to speak to Pharaoh, and Aaron was to speak for him. +Afterwards came the plagues (to which the revision has +added the hail, the locusts, and the darkness),<a name="FNanchor_631_631" id="FNanchor_631_631"></a><a href="#Footnote_631_631" class="fnanchor">[631]</a> the +slaying of the firstborn, the march through the sea as +described.<a name="FNanchor_632_632" id="FNanchor_632_632"></a><a href="#Footnote_632_632" class="fnanchor">[632]</a> The text of the tribes of Joseph is far +better instructed, or, at any rate, far more detailed in +its account of Moses, no less than in that of Joseph. +To it belongs the command of Pharaoh to slay the +children of the Hebrews, the rescue of Moses, the +history of his youth, his flight into the desert, his +connection with Jethro, the appearance of God on +Sinai, and certain traits in the dealings with Pharaoh, +and the direct action of God in the march through +the sea and the desert.</p> + +<p>Of both these narratives the tendency is the same, +it is only more strongly marked and broadly realised +in the second. The God of the Hebrews has pity on +the sufferings of his people. He provides and arouses +their leader. To him and to Aaron he imparts the +power of working miracles which the magicians of +Egypt can only imitate up to a certain point. Yet +the power of working miracles given to Moses and +Aaron is not enough to overcome Pharaoh. The +decisive stroke is given by Jehovah himself, inasmuch +as he smites the firstborn among the Egyptians of +man and beast. And when Pharaoh hastens after the +Hebrews Jehovah causes the sea to retire before them, +and finally buries Pharaoh and his host under the +returning waves. Thus has Jehovah led his people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span> +out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched +arm.</p> + +<p>The narrative of the slaying of the firstborn of the +Egyptians and the mode in which the Hebrews protected +themselves from the visitation are borrowed from +the Hebrew ritual. We saw above that the firstlings +of the fruits, and "all that first opens the womb, man +or beast," belonged to the God of the Hebrews.<a name="FNanchor_633_633" id="FNanchor_633_633"></a><a href="#Footnote_633_633" class="fnanchor">[633]</a> This +firstborn must be sacrificed, or ransomed by a vicarious +sacrifice. In the spring the sacrifice of the firstfruits +was offered from an ancient period, and unleavened +bread eaten, as was usual with shepherds.<a name="FNanchor_634_634" id="FNanchor_634_634"></a><a href="#Footnote_634_634" class="fnanchor">[634]</a> The +spring, the time when nature has borne anew, was also +the right time to offer the sacrifice for the redemption +of the house. The head of the family at the spring +festival slew a lamb without breaking any bone, and +with the blood he smeared the lintel and door-posts. +Hence the offering in the spring was also the festival +of redemption and purification—the passover, the +<i>passah</i> of Jehovah, who had spared the house for the +lamb. To this old spring sacrifice, which was +celebrated in the month Nisan, the first month of the +Hebrew year (it was the year of the Babylonians), at +the time of the full moon, when the sun was in the +Ram, the first text has already attached a historical +background and meaning. It was in the night following +this sacrifice that the exodus from Egypt took +place. The unleavened bread of the ancient custom +was explained by the haste of the exodus; and as +signs of the readiness to go forth, the girdle round the +loins, the shoes upon the feet, and the staff in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> +hand were added to the old ritual; the smearing of +the lintel with the blood was done in order that the +angel of Jehovah might distinguish the doors of the +Israelites from those of the Egyptians. Tradition +turned the spring festival and sacrifice into a feast of +thanksgiving for the protection of the firstborn of the +Israelites while Jehovah carried off those of the +Egyptians, a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the +nation out of Egypt.</p> + +<p>The lofty calling of the man whom Jehovah +summoned to be the instrument of the deliverance +is shown in the Ephraimitic text by the marvellous +fortune which attended him even in his earliest years. +The daughter of Pharaoh himself, disregarding her +father's commands, rescues the boy, brings him up, +takes him for her son, and gives the name to the man +who is destined to liberate the Hebrews and bring so +much misfortune upon Egypt. Amid the kindness +shown to him by the Egyptians Moses does not forget +the people to whom he belongs. The sight of the +oppressions which his people suffer kindles his heart. +A rash action, by which he avenges the ill-treatment +of a Hebrew, compels him to fly into the desert. Here +he founds a family by taking a Midianitish woman, +a daughter of the desert, to wife. In the second text +the father of his wife is called Jethro, in the revision +Reuel.<a name="FNanchor_635_635" id="FNanchor_635_635"></a><a href="#Footnote_635_635" class="fnanchor">[635]</a> When he has begotten sons here, and is +advanced in years, his mission is revealed to him on +the mountain of God. In both texts he hesitates to +undertake it, but finally carries it resolutely to the end.</p> + +<p>As in the narrative of Joseph, so here, all that is +said of Egypt agrees with what we know from other +sources of that country. As the Hebrews were settled +to the east of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, the locality of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span> +the exposure in the meaning of the Ephraimitic text +must be sought in the neighbourhood of Tanis. We saw +above that Ramses II. erected considerable buildings +in this district (<a href="#Page_134">p. 134</a>). The name Moses, which the +king's daughter is said to have given to the rescued +boy, may be connected without violence with the +Egyptian messu, <i>i. e.</i> the child. The plagues too which +tradition represents as coming upon Egypt are suited +to the nature of the land. Even now the water of the +Nile becomes at times red and disagreeable in smell; +often after the inundation swarms of frogs cover the +fields, and at the same time myriads of marsh-gnats +and flies rise out of the mud, and locusts from time +to time in thick devastating swarms cover the fields +in the valley of the Nile.<a name="FNanchor_636_636" id="FNanchor_636_636"></a><a href="#Footnote_636_636" class="fnanchor">[636]</a> Eruptions of the skin also +occur after the inundation, and sometimes grow into +large boils. Storms of hail, though not entirely +unknown, are yet extremely rare in Egypt, and storms +from the south-west, which in the spring blow over +the great desert, are one of the worst plagues in +Egypt; they bring with them violent heat and thick +dust, which darkens the sky.</p> + +<p>If we attempt to ascertain the historical value of +these narratives, it follows from the helpless position +of the Hebrews in regard to the Egyptians which we +have already described, that the idea of rescuing them +from the dominion of Egypt could only have been +entertained by a resolute spirit, and the undertaking +begun by a leader who was prepared to make the +highest venture in order to preserve the highest +prize—nationality and religion. Among the Hebrews +there could be no other thought but to leave the +borders of Egypt in order to resume the old mode of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> +life in the deserts of Syria, and there to worship their +old God in the old manner. In harmony with the +situation the Ephraimitic text represents the resolution +to make an exodus as growing up after long hesitation +and grave thought in the soul of a man who, owing to +the oppression of his people, had come into the sharpest +conflict with Egypt, had fled into the desert in order +to save his life, and there had again seen and lived +the free life of the kindred tribes. If the Hebrews +intended to leave Egypt it was necessary to know +certainly that the tribes of the desert, or at least a +part, would receive them, and that they would not +one and all oppose them. By combination with the +Midianites the conditions most needed for the exodus +could be supplied. If of the Midianites and the +Amalekites, the desert tribes who dwelt nearest to +Egypt, the first were gained for the Hebrews, and from +them support, assistance, and alliance in repulsing +an Egyptian attack might be expected, then it was +possible to hope for success in the venture. The +Ephraimitic text represents the Hebrews as choosing +that moment for carrying out the exodus in which +there was a change of the succession in Egypt, and it +is obvious that a change of this kind, the commencement +of a new and perhaps contested dominion, secured +better prospects for the Hebrews than an established +rule when obedience was unchallenged.</p> + +<p>According to the older text the Israelites gathered +together near the city of Ramses (Abu Kesheb) for +the exodus. We have seen that this city was built on +the canal, nearly in the middle of the district allotted +to the Hebrews; it was therefore the natural place for +meeting. From this the Israelites took a southern +direction towards the north-west point of the Arabian +Gulf, which is known to the Hebrews as the reed-sea.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> +This was the shortest way of reaching the deserts +of the peninsula of Sinai and the pastures of the +Midianites, and on this line the Hebrews had the +Bitter Lakes at hand, from which could be obtained +what water was absolutely necessary. When they had +passed Succoth, Etham, Pihahiroth, and had reached +the corner of the reed-sea, as the first text describes, +the pursuit overtook them, which Pharaoh had begun +with a hastily-collected force. Southward of the +extreme point of the reed-sea, in the neighbourhood of +Suez, there are firths which can be crossed at the ebb, +especially if a strong north-east wind drives back the +waves to the south-west. By a strong east wind, blowing +through the whole night, Jehovah caused the sea +to retire, and turned it into dry land; and the water +became a wall on the right hand and the left, as we +learnt from the oldest account. The extreme point of +the reed-sea, <i>i. e.</i> the sea on the left of the firth, is +too deep to be crossed, on the right the wind and the +ebb kept the waters back.<a name="FNanchor_637_637" id="FNanchor_637_637"></a><a href="#Footnote_637_637" class="fnanchor">[637]</a> Thus it was not in itself +impossible that the Hebrews reached the other shore, +<i>i. e.</i> the peninsula of Sinai, by passing through the +firth and cutting off the extreme point of the sea; and +not impossible that the Egyptian army in their eagerness +to overtake the Hebrews, or afraid that the marshes at +the head of the sea would detain them so long that +they could not come up with them before the desert +made pursuit very difficult, attempted to cross the sea +when the water had already returned. The narrative +is supported to some extent by the ancient song of +victory (<a href="#Page_446">p. 446</a>). This song, it is true, cannot be +proved to belong to that period, but it is nevertheless +of very ancient origin.<a name="FNanchor_638_638" id="FNanchor_638_638"></a><a href="#Footnote_638_638" class="fnanchor">[638]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span></p> + +<p>The account which the Egyptians and Manetho give +of the exodus of the Hebrews has been already related. +According to it the Hebrews are impure and leprous +Egyptians whom Pharaoh had banished to the quarries +east of the Nile, and made to work there, like other +Egyptians employed in that task. That the Hebrews +are Egyptians, and leprous Egyptians, in the Egyptian +tradition, need excite no astonishment; white leprosy +was a disease from which the Israelites frequently +suffered. We cannot contest the number of the lepers, +which Manetho puts at 80,000, though we have +already seen that the Hebrews at the time of the +exodus could hardly have approached this number of +men capable of work. The Hebrew tradition in both +texts represents the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, +the descendants of Joseph and an Egyptian woman, as +growing up during the settlement in Egypt; the +revision adds that a "number of strangers" left Egypt +with their forefathers. Moses, the leader of the lepers, +is described by Manetho as an Egyptian priest of +Heliopolis, of the name of Osarsiph. We saw that +Heliopolis was the nearest centre of Egyptian religious +worship to the land of Goshen, and that the second +text gives the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis to +Joseph to wife. According to this text also Moses is +brought up by the Egyptians, and the revision calls +him an "Egyptian."<a name="FNanchor_639_639" id="FNanchor_639_639"></a><a href="#Footnote_639_639" class="fnanchor">[639]</a> Hence we can at once accept +the statement of Manetho that the leader of the +Hebrews was skilled in the wisdom of the Egyptian +priests.<a name="FNanchor_640_640" id="FNanchor_640_640"></a><a href="#Footnote_640_640" class="fnanchor">[640]</a> On the other hand the more detailed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span> +narrative of Manetho is in itself far more improbable, +more full of contradictions and impossibilities, than +the account of the Hebrews. It does not agree with +the tenor of Manetho's narrative when we find +Pharaoh giving over the fortified city of Avaris to +the leprous Egyptians whom he had banished to the +stone quarries. In that city the lepers rebel, there +they make the priest of Heliopolis, Osarsiph, their +leader, and Osarsiph gives them the law, to worship +no god, to eat the most sacred animals, and to have +dealings only with their confederates. From hence +he summons the Hyksos, who had been driven out of +Avaris a long time before, and had meanwhile built +Jerusalem. Pharaoh goes with an army of 300,000 +of the best warriors of Egypt against the conspirators, +80,000 unclean persons and 200,000 shepherds, yet +turns back voluntarily, and flies towards Ethiopia, +while the confederates desolate Egypt without pity for +thirteen years. It is hardly credible that a king of +Egypt should abandon his kingdom without a struggle +to lepers and the descendants of the Hyksos. And if +anyone is inclined to assume that the Hebrews did +actually combine, not with the supposed Hyksos of +Jerusalem, but perhaps with the Midianites, and +conquer Egypt and force the king into Ethiopia, and +so rule over Egypt for thirteen years—their tradition +would not have forgotten or suppressed such a glorious +achievement of the nation, such a proof of the power<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span> +of Jehovah. Compared with this wholly purposeless +exile of the king, the account of the Hebrews seems +far more credible—that Pharaoh did make the +attempt to stop the migration, but that the attempt +was without success.</p> + +<p>It remains to fix the date at which the Hebrews +succeeded in escaping from the dominion of Egypt, +and resuming their old mode of life in the deserts of +Syria. It has already been proved that Sethos I. and +Ramses II. were the Pharaohs who oppressed the +Hebrews; and it is in harmony with the whole situation +to assume that the attempt to escape from this oppression +would be made under a less powerful successor. +If, as is shown above (<a href="#Page_159">p. 159</a>), the Pharaoh of +Manetho, who banished the lepers and retired before +them, was Menephta, the son and successor +of Ramses II., it would be Ramses II. before whom +Moses fled into the desert, and after his death he +would have returned and carried out against his son +the attempt he could not have ventured upon against +so powerful a ruler as Ramses II. Menephta's rule +falls in the years 1322 to 1302 <small>B.C.</small> Hence the exodus +of the Hebrews must be placed in this period, about +the year 1320 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_641_641" id="FNanchor_641_641"></a><a href="#Footnote_641_641" class="fnanchor">[641]</a> The immigration into the land +of Goshen, we found that we might place about the +year 1550 <small>B.C.</small> (<a href="#Page_433">p. 433</a>). Hence they dwelt there about +230 years, and this lapse of time corresponds pretty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> +closely to the eight generations which the table of +the leader under whom the Hebrews afterwards conquered +Canaan gave for the sojourn in Egypt (<a href="#Page_431">p. 431</a>). +When the Hebrews, after retiring from Egypt, wished +to give up the peninsula of Sinai, and settle themselves +in the east of Jordan, they besought "the king of +Edom," according to the second text, for a free +passage through his country. The first text knows +and mentions eight kings who had ruled over Edom +"before kings ruled over Israel." As the monarchy +was established in Israel about the year 1050 <small>B.C.</small> (see +below), eight generations would carry us two centuries +beyond the date of Saul, king of Israel, if this list +could be regarded as historical, but the two first names +in it seem of a mythical rather than a historical kind.<a name="FNanchor_642_642" id="FNanchor_642_642"></a><a href="#Footnote_642_642" class="fnanchor">[642]</a></p> + +<p>The oldest accounts of western writers of the +fortunes of the Hebrews date from the time of the +successors of Alexander of Macedon. They were +founded partly on accounts of the Egyptians, and +partly on accounts of the Hebrews themselves. The +narrative of Hecataeus of Abdera, who was in Egypt +in the time of Ptolemy I., and wrote an Egyptian +history, gives us the most unprejudiced account, composed +from the widest point of view, and connects +the emigration of the Hebrews, whom he does not +consider Egyptians, with the supposed emigration +from Egypt to Greece. "Once, when a pestilence had +broken out in Egypt, the cause of the visitation was +generally ascribed to the anger of the gods. As +many strangers of various extraction dwelt in Egypt, +and observed different customs in religion and sacrifice, +it came to pass that the hereditary worship of the +gods was being given up in Egypt. The Egyptians, +therefore, were of opinion that they would obtain no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span> +alleviation of the evil unless they removed the +people of foreign extraction. When they were driven +out, the noblest and bravest part of them, as some +say, under noble and renowned leaders, Danaus and +Cadmus, came to Hellas; but the great bulk of +them migrated into the land, not far removed from +Egypt, which is now called Judæa, and was at that +time without inhabitants. These emigrants were led +by Moses, who was the most distinguished among +them for wisdom and bravery. When he had settled +in the land he built several cities, among them +Jerusalem, which is now the most famous. He +also built the most celebrated temples, taught the +worship of the God, and the ritual, and arranged +the constitution, and gave laws. He divided the +people into twelve tribes, because this number is +the most complete, and corresponds to the number of +the months which make up the year. The most +handsome men, who could also at the same time guide +the united people best, he made priests, and arranged +that they should concern themselves with all that was +sacred, the religious worship and the sacrifices, and +at the same time he made them judges in the most +important matters, and put into their hands the +preservation of the laws and customs. He erected no +images of the gods, because he did not believe that +God had the form of men; he rather believed that +the heaven which surrounds the earth was alone god +and lord of all things. The sacrifices, too, and manner +of life he arranged unlike those of other people; +owing to their own banishment, he introduced among +them a misanthropic and inhospitable life. At the +end of his laws is written: This Moses has heard +from God, and tells it to the Jews. This lawgiver +also made provision for war, and compelled the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> +men to exercise themselves in strength and manliness, +and the endurance of privations. He undertook +campaigns against the neighbouring nations, and +divided the conquered land by lot, and gave to the +priests larger lots than to the rest. But no one was +permitted to trade with his lot, in order that none +might from avarice buy up the lots and drive away +the more needy (by this is meant no doubt the +Hebrew year of Jubilee). He forced the people also +to bring up their children, and as it was possible to +do this with little cost, the tribes of the Jews were +always numerous. About their marriages and their +burials he laid down quite different laws from those +in use among other nations."<a name="FNanchor_643_643" id="FNanchor_643_643"></a><a href="#Footnote_643_643" class="fnanchor">[643]</a></p> + +<p>When Antiochus Sidetes besieged Jerusalem in the +year 134 <small>B.C.</small>, and began to treat with the city, the +greater part of the counsellors of the king (so +Diodorus tells us) were of opinion that the Jews +ought to be destroyed, for of all nations they were +the only one who had no community with others, and +contracted no marriages with them, and regarded them +all as enemies. Their forefathers had been banished +out of the whole of Egypt as godless men, and +abhorred of heaven. At that time all who had white +leprosy, and scales upon the body, were collected as +being under a curse and sent over the border in +order to purify the land. The expelled persons had +then gathered together and formed the nation of the +Jews; they had taken the districts round about +Jerusalem, and propagated their hatred of mankind. +Hence they had adopted wholly different laws from +others. They were not to eat with strangers at one +table, or bear them any friendly feeling. When +Antiochus Epiphanes conquered the Jews (167 <small>B.C.</small>),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span> +he went into the innermost shrine of the temple, +which only the priests might enter, and there he +found the stone image of a man with a long beard, +who was riding on an ass with a book in his hand. +This statue he took for an image of Moses, who had +founded Jerusalem, gathered the people together, and +given the wicked and misanthropic laws.<a name="FNanchor_644_644" id="FNanchor_644_644"></a><a href="#Footnote_644_644" class="fnanchor">[644]</a></p> + +<p>Strabo remarks that southern Syria "was inhabited +by mixed tribes of Egyptian, Arabian, and Phenician +origin, but the prevailing legend of the temple at +Jerusalem called the ancestors of the Jews Egyptians. +For Moses, one of the Egyptian priests, who occupied +a part of this land, and was dissatisfied with his +condition, removed from that country, and many who +worshipped the deity emigrated with him, and Moses +told them and taught that the Egyptians were +not right in representing the divinity as a wild or +domesticated animal, nor the Libyans, nor were the +Hellenes wise in giving gods the form of men. For +only the One was God which surrounds us all and the +earth and the sea, and who was called Uranus and +Cosmos, and the nature of things. How could any +reasoning creature venture to make an image which +should truly represent this nature? All making of +images must be cast aside, a sacred place must be +marked off, and a temple erected, and prayers offered +without any image. In order to have fortunate +dreams it was needful to sleep in the sanctuary, and +those who were wise and lived with justice could +always expect signs and gifts from God. By such +doctrines Moses convinced not a few men of reason, +and led them to the place where Jerusalem now is. +He easily obtained possession of the land, because +it was not sufficiently valuable for anyone to fight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span> +vigorously for it. It is rocky, and the district round +the city is without water. At the same time he +pretended to take it for the sake of the sanctity of +the place, and the deity for whom he sought a +dwelling, and established such a ritual and such +sacrificial customs, that the worshippers were not +compelled to undergo great expense, or vex themselves +by any ecstasies, contortions of the body, or vile occupation. +As this was well received, Moses established no +unimportant dominion, for those who dwelt round +about were induced by his speeches and promises to +join him. But at a later time superstitious and even +tyrannical men acquired the priesthood, and from +superstition the abstinences from food, circumcision, +and mutilation and other things of the kind became +law, and are observed even to this day. The capricious +nature of the ruling power ended in robbery, for the +insurgents plundered the land. But those who were +with the rulers subjugated even the border territories, +and conquered a good deal of Syria and Phœnicia. +Yet the fortress, which, instead of treating it as a place +of confinement they worshipped as a temple, retained +a certain dignity."<a name="FNanchor_645_645" id="FNanchor_645_645"></a><a href="#Footnote_645_645" class="fnanchor">[645]</a></p> + +<p>Better acquainted with the traditions of the Hebrews, +Nicolaus of Damascus tells us that Abraham came with +an army out of Chaldæa, which lies beyond Babylon, +and ruled over Damascus. Not long after he again +set out from this place with his people, and established +himself in the land which was then called Chananæa, +and afterwards Judæa. Here he dwelt and his +numerous posterity. "The name of Abraham is still +praised in the region of Damascus, and a village is +pointed out which is called Abraham's dwelling, after +him."<a name="FNanchor_646_646" id="FNanchor_646_646"></a><a href="#Footnote_646_646" class="fnanchor">[646]</a> This account, of which the continuation in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span> +the writings of Nicolaus is lost, was used, as it seems, +by Trogus Pompeius. His account survives only in +the excerpt of Justinus. "The Jews," so we find in +this excerpt, "derive their origin from Damascus, the +most famous city of Syria. This city took its name +from king Damascus, in whose honour the Syrians +revered the tomb of his wife Astarte as a temple, and +worshipped her as a goddess in the most sacred manner. +After Damascus, Azelus reigned, then Adores, then +Abraham, and lastly Israhel. Israhel became more +famous than his predecessors, for he had ten sons +to help him. So he left the nation divided into ten +kingdoms to his sons, and called them after the name +of Juda, who died after the division, Judæans, and +commanded that his memory should be held in +honour by all, because his share had profited all +the others. The youngest of the brothers was +Joseph. The others were afraid of his pre-eminent +gifts, and secretly they got him into their power, and +sold him to foreign merchants. By these he was +carried to Egypt, and as he gave his mind eagerly to +the magic arts of the place, he was soon in high estimation +even with the king. For he was the most acute +expounder of signs and wonders, and first founded +the interpretation of dreams. Nothing in divine or +human ordinances seemed hidden from him; he even +foresaw the unfruitfulness of the land many years before +it came. The whole of Egypt would have been +destroyed by famine had not the king, at Joseph's +suggestion, ordered corn to be laid by for many years +previously, and he gave such proofs of his wisdom +that his answers seemed to be those of a god and not +of a man. His son was Moses, who in addition to +the inheritance of his father's wisdom, received also +great beauty of person. But at the bidding of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span> +oracle the Egyptians banished him, because they were +afflicted with scab and leprosy, with all the diseased +persons beyond their borders, so that he might not +infect more. Chosen to be leader of the exiles, Moses +took from the Egyptians their sacred things. The +Egyptians rose to recover them by force of arms, +but were compelled to return by storms. Then +Moses as he turned towards his old fatherland, +Damascus, settled on Mount Syna. As he came there +with his people exhausted after seven days' privations +in the deserts of Arabia, he consecrated each +seventh day a fast for all time. After the manner of +the people this day was called Sabbata, because it had +put an end to the hunger and wandering. And when +they remembered that they had been driven out of +Egypt from fear of contamination, they were careful +that they should not be hated by the inhabitants +from the same causes and had no dealings with them, +which rule in time became a strict custom and +religious observance. After Moses, his son Arvas +became priest of the Egyptian sacred things, and was +soon after chosen to be king. Since then it became a +custom among the Jews that their priests should be +at the same time kings, and their duties as judges, +combined with the worship of the god, held the nation +uncommonly close together."<a name="FNanchor_647_647" id="FNanchor_647_647"></a><a href="#Footnote_647_647" class="fnanchor">[647]</a></p> + +<p>The most marvellous story is that of Lysimachus +of Alexandria, who brings down the exodus of the +Jews to the eighth century <small>B.C.</small> "At the time of +king Bocchoris, unclean and leprous men had come +into the temples to beg for food. Hence there was +a blight in the land; and Bocchoris received a +response from Ammon, that the temples must be +purified. The lepers, as if the sun were angry at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span> +their existence, were to be plunged into the sea, +and the unclean were to be driven out of the land. +Hence the lepers were tied to plates of lead, and +thrown into the sea; but the unclean were driven +out helpless into the desert. These met together in +council; in the night they lit fires and lights, and +called, fasting, upon the gods to save them. Then +a certain Moses advised them to go through the +desert till they came to inhabited regions, but at +the same time required them to show kindness to no +man, to advise every one for the worst, and to destroy +all altars and temples upon which they came. The +exiles approved, and after many hardships came +through the desert to an inhabited land, and after +treating the men cruelly, robbing and burning the +temples, they established a city Hierosyla (temple-plunder) +in Judæa, and afterwards, to lessen the +disgrace, the name was slightly altered into Hierosolyma +(Jerusalem)."<a name="FNanchor_648_648" id="FNanchor_648_648"></a><a href="#Footnote_648_648" class="fnanchor">[648]</a></p> + +<p>Even this narrative was accepted and believed. +Tacitus first enumerated the different views of the +writers on the origin of the Jews, in order finally +to agree in all essential points with the narrative +of Lysimachus. "According to the view of some," +Tacitus says, "the Jews were descendants of the +Ethiopians, whom fear and disinclination compelled, +at the time of king Kepheus, to change their dwelling; +others say that a horde coming from Assyria +gained possession of a part of Egypt, and soon after +passed into the neighbouring parts of Syria, and +inhabited the Hebrew land and cities." The latter +statement obviously confounds the immigration of +the Hyksos and the Jews, and makes them a +mingled horde of Assyrians, but still is nearest the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span> +truth. "Others, again," Tacitus continues, "are of +opinion that under the rule of Isis in Egypt, the +number of men became too great, and the superfluous +multitudes were settled under the leadership +of Hierosolymus and Judah in the neighbouring +lands. But most authorities agree that under king +Bocchoris a contagious disease raged in Egypt, and +the oracle of Ammon bade them purify the kingdom +and remove the diseased persons out of the land +as a race hated by the gods. Hence the unclean +were collected and left behind in the desert. Amid +their idle lamentations one of the exiles, Moses, +warned them that they had no assistance to expect +from gods or men, for they were abandoned by both, +but they were to trust to him as a heavenly leader +by whose assistance they might be rescued from their +present calamities. To this they agreed, and in +complete ignorance struck out a path at random. +The want of water distressed them most, and almost +at death's door they sank upon the ground, when +a herd of wild asses ran from the pasture to a rock +covered with trees. Moses followed them, and found +copious streams of water. This saved them, and after +a march of six days they came on the seventh day +to a region where, when they had expelled the inhabitants, +they founded a city and a temple. In +order to strengthen the nation and establish his own +supremacy, Moses gave them new customs, quite +opposed to the usages of the rest of the world. What +we consider sacred, they regard as profane; and what +is permitted to us is forbidden to them. The image +of the animal which had shown them an escape from +their wanderings, and put an end to their thirst, they +placed in the innermost shrine, after they had slain +a ram. in order, as it were, to throw contempt upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span> +Ammon. They abstained from swine's flesh in remembrance +of the misery which the leprosy, to which +this animal is subject, had once brought upon them. +The long hunger which they then endured they still +avow by frequent fasts; and as a proof of the +fruits once stolen, their bread is unleavened. On +the seventh day they rest, because the seventh day +brought them to an end of their labours; the seventh +year also, induced by their laziness, they have given +up to inaction. Others are of opinion that this is +done in honour of Saturn, because Saturn completes +the highest circle of all the seven stars which rule +the fortunes of men, and is of pre-eminent power, +and most constellations accomplish their influence and +their orbits by the number seven.</p> + +<p>"Other abominable customs have come into force +owing to their vile corruption. For all the worst +of men, despising their hereditary religions, brought +money and contributions to them; and because among +them stiffnecked belief and ready assistance was to +be found, and deadly hatred towards the rest of the +world, their power increased. They do not eat with +strangers or make marriages with them; and this +nation, otherwise most prone to debauchery, abstains +from all strange women. They have introduced +circumcision in order to distinguish themselves +thereby; and those who have adopted their customs +follow this practice. The first lesson learnt by their +youth is to hate the gods, to despise their country, to +disregard parents, children, and brothers. Yet they +take considerable care to increase their numbers. +It is a sin to slay a kinsman, and the souls of +all slain in battle and by execution they consider immortal. +Hence they have a lively impulse to beget +children, and they hold death in contempt. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span> +custom of burying the dead, instead of burning +them, they have borrowed from the Egyptians; on +the other hand, the Jews alone worship in the spirit +a single deity, while the Egyptians offer prayer +to many animals and composite images. They +also consider it profane to make any images of God +out of perishable material in the form of men, for +the deity is the Highest, the Eternal, the Unchangeable +and Imperishable. Hence in their cities and +temples there are no images. As their priests +use the music of flutes and drums, and wear crowns +of ivy, and a golden vine was found in the temple, +some have thought that they worshipped the conqueror +of the East, the god Bacchus. But the rites +are widely different. Bacchus inaugurated blithe +and merry festivals; but the customs of the Jews +are absurd and melancholy.<a name="FNanchor_649_649" id="FNanchor_649_649"></a><a href="#Footnote_649_649" class="fnanchor">[649]</a>"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_630_630" id="Footnote_630_630"></a><a href="#FNanchor_630_630"><span class="label">[630]</span></a> Exod. xv. 1-11; cf. Joshua xxiv. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_631_631" id="Footnote_631_631"></a><a href="#FNanchor_631_631"><span class="label">[631]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_632_632" id="Footnote_632_632"></a><a href="#FNanchor_632_632"><span class="label">[632]</span></a> Exod. i. 1-7, 13, 14; ii. 23, 24; vi. 2-7, 9-27; vii. 8-13, 19-22; +viii. 1-4, 12-15; ix. 8-11; xii. 1-23, 37, 40-51; xiii. 20; +xiv. 8, 9, 15-17, 21-23, 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_633_633" id="Footnote_633_633"></a><a href="#FNanchor_633_633"><span class="label">[633]</span></a> Exod. xiii. 2; xxii. 29, 30; xxxiv. 19, 20. "The firstborn of thy sons +thou shalt give to me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and thy +sheep. All that openeth the matrix is mine, all thy cattle that is male. +All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem." Cf. Exod. xxx. 11-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_634_634" id="Footnote_634_634"></a><a href="#FNanchor_634_634"><span class="label">[634]</span></a> Ewald, "Alterthümer des Volkes Israel," s. 358 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_635_635" id="Footnote_635_635"></a><a href="#FNanchor_635_635"><span class="label">[635]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader. "Einleitung," s. 282, 284, 290.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_636_636" id="Footnote_636_636"></a><a href="#FNanchor_636_636"><span class="label">[636]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 46, 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_637_637" id="Footnote_637_637"></a><a href="#FNanchor_637_637"><span class="label">[637]</span></a> Ebers. "Durch Gosen." s. 101 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_638_638" id="Footnote_638_638"></a><a href="#FNanchor_638_638"><span class="label">[638]</span></a> Nöldeke. "Untersuchungen," s. 47. According to De Wette-Schrader, +from the second text ("Einleitung," 283), verses 11-17 may be an addition; +verses 19-21 obviously come from the revision.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_639_639" id="Footnote_639_639"></a><a href="#FNanchor_639_639"><span class="label">[639]</span></a> Exod. ii. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_640_640" id="Footnote_640_640"></a><a href="#FNanchor_640_640"><span class="label">[640]</span></a> Büdinger ("Akad. d. Wissenschaft zu Wien," Sitzung vom, 15 October, +1873) regards Moses and Aaron as of Egyptian origin, as Egyptian priests, +and finds the tribe of Levi in the leprous Egyptians who went out with +the Hebrews. Lauth ("Moses der Hebraeer," and "Zeitsch. d. d. M. G." +1871, s. 135 ff) inclines to recognise Moses in the mohar, sotem (scribe) +and messu of the papyrus Anastasi I., who would thus have been one +of the Egyptian scholars, and employed by Ramses II. in matters of state +and war. This view is opposed by Pleyte ("Zeitschr. f. aeg. Sprache," +1869, s. 30, 100 ff.); he reads the name Ptah-messu. Lauth, at the same +time, refuses to derive the name Osarsiph from Osiris; he considers it to +be Semitic, and explains it as a-sar-suph, <i>i. e.</i> "rush-basket."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_641_641" id="Footnote_641_641"></a><a href="#FNanchor_641_641"><span class="label">[641]</span></a> Lepsius, "Königsbuch der Ægypten," s. 117-150. Maspero objects +that Egypt in the time of Menephta was still too powerful for the Israelites +to carry out their exodus. Such a plan was possible for the first time in +the last years of Sethos II. (above, <a href="#Page_150">p. 150</a>), or shortly after his death +("Hist. Ancienne," p. 259). These considerations are of too general a +nature to allow any definite conclusions to be founded upon them; and +if Josephus or his copyist changed the Menephtes of Manetho into the +much better known Amenophis, or mistook one for the other, a similar +interchange cannot so easily be assumed for the names Sethos and +Menephtes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_642_642" id="Footnote_642_642"></a><a href="#FNanchor_642_642"><span class="label">[642]</span></a> Gen. xxxvi. 31-39; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_643_643" id="Footnote_643_643"></a><a href="#FNanchor_643_643"><span class="label">[643]</span></a> Diod. 40, frag. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_644_644" id="Footnote_644_644"></a><a href="#FNanchor_644_644"><span class="label">[644]</span></a> Diod. 34, frag. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_645_645" id="Footnote_645_645"></a><a href="#FNanchor_645_645"><span class="label">[645]</span></a> Strabo, p. 760, 761.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_646_646" id="Footnote_646_646"></a><a href="#FNanchor_646_646"><span class="label">[646]</span></a> Fragm. 30, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_647_647" id="Footnote_647_647"></a><a href="#FNanchor_647_647"><span class="label">[647]</span></a> Justin. "Hist." 36, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_648_648" id="Footnote_648_648"></a><a href="#FNanchor_648_648"><span class="label">[648]</span></a> Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_649_649" id="Footnote_649_649"></a><a href="#FNanchor_649_649"><span class="label">[649]</span></a> "Hist." 5, 2-5.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT.</h3> + + +<p>The fortunes and achievements of the Israelites +after leaving Egypt and escaping the pursuit of the +Egyptians, are narrated in the second, third, and +fourth books of the Pentateuch in the following +manner. From the reed-sea the Israelites marched +into the wilderness of Shur, and for three days found +no water. When they came to Marah, they could +not drink the water there, because it was bitter. +Then Jehovah showed Moses a piece of wood, and +he threw it into the water, so that the water became +sweet. From Marah they came to Elim, where were +twelve wells and seventy palm-trees, and they encamped +there by the water. From Elim they came +into the wilderness of Sin, and the people murmured +against Moses, because there was no food to be found; +but at evening Jehovah caused swarms of quails to rise +which covered the camp, and in the morning manna +had fallen, which lay like hoar frost upon the ground, +and the people were allowed to gather manna for six +days, but on the seventh they were not allowed to +gather it. And Israel set forth from the wilderness +of Sin and encamped at Rephidim. There there was +no water to drink, and the people were angry with +Moses; but Jehovah said to Moses: Take thy staff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span> +with which thou didst smite the Nile; thou shalt +smite the rock, and the water shall flow forth. And +Moses did so before all Israel, and they called the +name of the place Massah and Meribah. And Amalek +came and strove with Israel in Rephidim, and was +smitten down with the edge of the sword. And +Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of +Moses, came and advised Moses to choose valiant +men for his helpers, as overseers over the people +and judges for the matters of smaller moment. And +Moses did so.</p> + +<p>In the third month after the exodus from Egypt, +the Israelites set forth from Rephidim, and came into +the desert of Sinai, and encamped over against the +mountain. The people were commanded to purify +themselves and wash their garments, and Moses +forbad any one to approach the mountain. On the +third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and +lightning, and a thick cloud stood upon the mountain, +and there was a mighty sound of trumpets. And all +the people heard the thunder and saw the flames and +the smoking mountain, and the mountain quaked, and +all trembled. But Moses led them to meet Jehovah +at the foot of the mountain. And Jehovah came down +to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. For +forty days and forty nights Moses was on the mountain, +and Jehovah revealed to him his laws, and the +finger of God wrote them on two stone tables. And +Jehovah spoke to Moses out of the darkness, and told +him all the ordinances which he should lay upon the +people. But the cloud covered the mountain, and the +glory of Jehovah was a consuming fire on the top of +the mountain.</p> + +<p>When the people saw that Moses delayed to come +down from the mountain, the people said to Aaron:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span> +We know not what has happened to the man who led +us out of Egypt; make us a god to go before us. And +Aaron said to them: Take off the golden rings which +are in the ears of your wives, your daughters, and +your sons. They brought him the rings, and he made +of them a golden calf, and built an altar before the +calf. Then they said: That is the god, who led us +out of Egypt; and Aaron caused a festival to be +proclaimed to Jehovah, and they brought a thank-offering +to the calf, and the people ate and drank +and stood up to dance. But when Moses came down +from the mountain with the stone tablets in his hand, +and heard the singing and shouting, and saw the calf +and the dancing, his anger was kindled. He cast the +tables out of his hand, and broke them at the foot of +the mountain, and took the calf, and burned it with +fire, and ground it to dust, and strewed it on the +water, and made the children of Israel drink it. And +Moses came into the entrance of the camp and cried: +Come to me, all who belong to Jehovah. Then the +descendants of Levi gathered round him. Take everyone +his sword at his side, he said to them; go from +one gate of the camp to the other, and slay every +man his brother, his friend, and his neighbour. And +there fell on that day about 3,000 men of the people.</p> + +<p>On the next morning Moses said: Ye have sinned +a great sin; I will go up to Jehovah, perhaps I can +appease him for your sin. And Jehovah said to +Moses: Hew two stone tables like the others, and +be ready in the morning, and appear before me on +the top of the mountain. And Moses was there with +Jehovah forty days and forty nights, and ate no +bread, and drank no water, and he wrote on the +tables the ten commandments. Then he came down +with the two tables of the law in his hand, and told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span> +the people the commandments which Jehovah had +given him, and the laws; and the people answered: +All that Jehovah has commanded we will do. Then +Moses built an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve +tribes. And the young men slew burnt-offerings and +thank-offerings, and the half of the blood Moses +sprinkled on the altar, and with the other half he +sprinkled the people, and said: This is the blood of +the covenant which Jehovah makes with you over +all laws.</p> + +<p>Then Moses set up the tent of the assembly for a +sanctuary of Jehovah, that He might dwell in their +midst, as Jehovah had commanded, with planks of +acacia wood on silver feet, and fastened them with +silver bars; and on them he placed a cover of woven +cloth of byssus, of a purple colour, and over this a +second roof of red sheep-skins and seal-skins, and +divided the tent by a curtain of blue and red purple, +and carmine, and byssus, with cherubs woven upon it. +And in the tent behind the second curtain he placed +the ark of the law, as Jehovah had commanded, of +acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and placed the +law in the ark. Then Moses made a table of acacia +wood, overlaid with pure gold, and placed bowls of +pure gold upon it for the drink-offerings, and laid +the sacrificial bread upon the table. And he made +a candlestick of pure gold, with seven lamps, three +on the one side and three on the other side of the +candlestick. Then he made the altar of incense of +acacia wood, overlaid with gold; and the altar of +burnt sacrifice of acacia wood, as Jehovah commanded, +and overlaid it with copper; and made the curtains +for the court and the poles for the curtains of copper. +The Israelites brought what was necessary for the +erection and adornment of the shrine, and gave their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span> +nose-rings, ear-rings, seals, and ear-drops. And Moses +made Aaron and his sons priests, and anointed the +altars and all utensils with holy ointment, and sanctified +the fire on the altar, and offered burnt-offerings. +But two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, brought +strange fire before Jehovah; then fire went forth +from Jehovah and consumed them, and they died +before Him. And the glory of Jehovah filled His +habitation, and the cloud covered the tent of assembly; +and when the cloud rose, the children of +Israel set forth, and by night there was fire in the +cloud.</p> + +<p>In the second year after the exodus from Egypt, in +the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, +the cloud rose from the dwelling of the law, and the +children of Israel set forth on their march out of the +desert of Sinai, from the mountain of Jehovah, and +they went three days' journey, and the cloud halted +in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah bade Moses +send men to search out the land of Canaan—one for +each tribe from among the leaders. And from Ephraim +Moses sent Joshua the son of Nun; and from the tribe +of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Then the +twelve princes set forth at the time of the first +grapes, and came to Hebron and to the valley of +Eshcol, and there cut a bunch of grapes and a vine, +and carried them on a pole between two; and they +also took of the pomegranates and the figs. After +forty days they returned, and said to the people: +The land into which you sent us flows with milk and +honey, and these are its fruits. But the people is +mighty, and their cities are large and fortified, and +Amalek dwells in the land to the south, and the +Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell on the +mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span> +on the side of Jordan. And Caleb said: We will +go up and overpower them; but the others said: +We cannot go up against that people, for they are +mightier than we; and the sons of Israel cried: Why +should we fall by the sword, and our wives and children +fall into the hand of the enemy; is it not better to +return to Egypt? Then Jehovah said to Moses: All +those who have murmured against me shall not enter +into the land wherein I have lifted up my hand to +cause you to dwell. Your bodies shall lie in the +desert, save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, +the son of Nun; and your children shall pasture their +flocks in the desert forty years: forty years shall my +face be turned from you. And Moses told these +words to the children of Israel. But the Israelites +ventured to rise up and went to the heights of the +mountains on the way towards Atharim. But the +Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt on the mountains +came down and smote them, and scattered them +as far as Hormah.</p> + +<p>And Korah of the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and +Abiram of the tribe of Reuben, and two hundred and +fifty of the foremost men, heads of families and +officers of the community, assembled themselves +against Moses and Aaron, and said: Why do ye lift +yourselves up against the people? And to Moses they +said: Is it not enough that thou hast led us out of +Egypt, to slay us in the desert? Wilt thou also make +thyself a ruler over us? But the earth opened her +mouth and swallowed them up. On the next morning +the people murmured in the assembly against Moses +and Aaron, and said: Ye have slain them. But +Jehovah said to Moses: Go out from this company; +I will destroy them suddenly. Then the plague +began. At Moses' command Aaron took the censer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span> +of incense and offered incense to purify the children +of Israel; and he stood between the living and the +dead, and the plague was stayed. But there died +fourteen thousand and seven hundred.</p> + +<p>The children of Israel came into the wilderness of +Sin, and Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom, +saying: Let us pass through thy land; we will go +along the highway, and turn neither to the right +hand nor to the left. But Edom went to meet them +with mighty hosts and a powerful hand, and Israel +retired before him, and went from Kadesh to Mount +Hor, and from Mount Hor to the reed-sea. Then the +people became impatient on the way, and murmured +against Moses, and Jehovah sent the serpents, the +saraphs, among the people, and many died. Then +the Israelites saw that they had sinned, and Moses +prayed for the people and made a serpent of copper, +and set it up on a pole, and all who were bitten by +the serpents and looked upon the image of copper +were saved. From the reed-sea the Israelites went +again to the north, towards Oboth and Beer, to the +well which the princes dug. Then Israel sang: +"Rise up, O fountain, meet him with songs; O well +which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people +hollowed out with their sceptre and their staves." +And from Beer they went to Bamoth, and from +Bamoth to Pisgah, which rises over the desert. And +Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in his city at +Heshbon, gathered all his people and went to meet +Israel in the desert, and came towards Jahaz, and +strove with Israel. Then Israel smote him with the +edge of the sword, laid waste the land, and took the +cities. And Israel sang: "Fire went forth from +Heshbon, and flames from the city of Sihon; we shot +at them, we laid waste the land to Nophah, we burnt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span> +it with fire to Medeba." Then the Israelites turned +and went up against Og, the king of the Amorites of +Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth Karnaim, and smote +him at Edrei, and his sons and all his people, and his +cities were taken, and not a fugitive escaped. From +Bashan Israel went southwards, and encamped in the +plains of Moab at Shittim; and they began to commit +whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and served +Baal Peor. And Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, +pierced with his spear Zimri, a captain of the tribe of +Simeon, as he lay with a Midianitish woman, and +slew both with one thrust through the belly. And +Jehovah said to Moses: Go up to Mount Abarim and +see the land which I have given to the children of +Israel, and when thou hast seen it, thou shalt be +gathered to thy people. Take Joshua, the son of +Nun, and lay thy hand on him, and place him before +Eleazar the priest (the son of Aaron), and before all +the people, so that all may obey him; and Eleazar +shall inquire of Jehovah for him, and as he commands +he shall go out and in. And Moses did as Jehovah +commanded. And the sons of Reuben and Gad said +to Moses: The land which Jehovah has smitten before +Israel is a land for flocks, and thy servants have +flocks; and to them, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, +Moses gave the land of Gilead. And Moses +went up from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, +over against Jericho, and Jehovah caused him to see +the whole land from Gilead to Dan, and from Jericho +to Zoar. And there Moses died, a hundred and +twenty years old. But his eyes were not dim, nor had +his strength forsaken him. The Israelites mourned for +Moses thirty days in the plains of Moab, and henceforth +there was no prophet in Israel like Moses; and +to this day no man knows the grave of Moses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span></p> + +<p>In those portions which deal with the abode and +fortunes of the Hebrews in the desert, the two texts +were less closely combined, and the contradictions are +more numerous, than in the other parts. The two +narratives are interpolated each into the other, and +the additions of the reviser are more prominent than +elsewhere. An ancient record, embodied in the first +text, gives a list of the places where the Israelites +pitched their tents between Egypt and the Jordan. +The statements do not agree with the narrative in its +present condition. In the first text the Midianites +manifestly dwell to the east of the Jordan. It represents +the Israelites as taking vengeance upon them, +because they had seduced Israel to a heathenish ritual; +first by the act of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, +whose seed in consequence received "the everlasting +covenant of the priesthood," and then by the war which +cost the Midianites a vast booty of sheep, oxen, +asses, and thousands of prisoners.<a name="FNanchor_650_650" id="FNanchor_650_650"></a><a href="#Footnote_650_650" class="fnanchor">[650]</a> In the Ephraimitic +text the Midianites dwell on Sinai; hither Moses +fled to the Midianites from Egypt; he married the +daughter of the priest of the Midianites, and stands +in most friendly relations with them. This text represents +the seduction of the Israelites as the work +not of the Midianites, but of the Moabites; and +subsequently narrates the victories over the Moabites +of Heshbon and Bashan. How the first text described +the conquest of the land of Gilead we cannot any +longer ascertain; that it dealt with the subject is +beyond question.<a name="FNanchor_651_651" id="FNanchor_651_651"></a><a href="#Footnote_651_651" class="fnanchor">[651]</a></p> + +<p>The setting up of the golden calf at Sinai is inconceivable +in the connection in which the narrative +places it. While Jehovah's glory is visible on Sinai,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span> +and proclaims itself in thunder and lightning, would +the people, and Aaron at their head, have required an +image of God, and offered prayer to it? When after +the death of Solomon the ten tribes founded their +independent kingdom Jehovah was worshipped among +them in the form of a bull, in contrast to the +worship of the kingdom of Judah. To stigmatise +this worship, wherein priests of the family which +claimed to be derived from Aaron may have taken +part from the first, as objectionable, the prophetic +revision has interpolated the adoration of the golden +calf and the punishment of such idolatry; and +from this the second ascent of Sinai by Moses came +into the narrative. The account of the saraphs +and the setting up of the brazen serpent belongs to +the Ephraimitic text.<a name="FNanchor_652_652" id="FNanchor_652_652"></a><a href="#Footnote_652_652" class="fnanchor">[652]</a> At Jerusalem there was a +serpent of brass, which was thought to have come +down from Moses.<a name="FNanchor_653_653" id="FNanchor_653_653"></a><a href="#Footnote_653_653" class="fnanchor">[653]</a></p> + +<p>It was the fixed belief of the Hebrews that it was only +by the immediate help of Jehovah that their forefathers +had been able to escape the power of Egypt. And +this was not the only thing done for their fathers; +they had afterwards gained abodes to the east and west +of the Jordan, and from the wilderness they had come +into a land flowing with milk and honey. Here, also, +the help of Jehovah had been shown forth mightily +for his people, against the old and powerful cities, +and the mountain fortresses of Canaan. Obviously +Jehovah had delivered his people out of Egypt, in +order to give them this beautiful and rich land for a +dwelling. But why had he not at once led them +thither? Why did the Israelites remain so long in +the miserable wilderness? The Israelites—so the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span> +text explains this delay—received the account of the +spies with fear. This cowardly generation, therefore, +must die out. We saw above that the Hebrews +reckoned the length of a generation at forty years, +and so the first text puts the sojourn in the desert at +forty years. We shall see below that this period is +too short by some decads of years. Moses and Aaron +also did not reach Canaan, because, as the first text +says, "they sinned against Jehovah at the water +of strife, at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Sin," because +"they rebelled against his command at the water," +an obstinacy which cannot be any longer found in the +revised narrative of this occurrence.<a name="FNanchor_654_654" id="FNanchor_654_654"></a><a href="#Footnote_654_654" class="fnanchor">[654]</a> If Joshua and +Caleb are exempted from this decree, if they alone +reach Canaan, it was certain that Joshua had undertaken +and carried out the attack upon Canaan, that +Caleb conquered Hebron and subjected the surrounding +district; his descendants were living there even +in David's time in princely wealth.</p> + +<p>In the desert also Jehovah had taken care of his +people; he had not allowed them to perish there; he +had sent quails and given them manna. Even now +long lines of quails pass over the Syrian steppes and +the wilderness of Sinai, and in the neighbourhood of +Firan, manna, i.e. the juice running from the branches +and leaves of the tamarisk, is still gathered.<a name="FNanchor_655_655" id="FNanchor_655_655"></a><a href="#Footnote_655_655" class="fnanchor">[655]</a> Nor +had Jehovah allowed water to fail in the midst of the +desert. Moses changed a bitter spring into sweet +water. The story rests, no doubt, on the name of the +spring. Marah means bitter. At another spring of +the name of Meribah, <i>i. e.</i> strife (here Jehovah bade +the rocks give water), the rebellion of Moses and +Aaron is said to have taken place. The well of Beer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span> +which the princes dug, cannot be any other than the +well of Beer Elim, <i>i. e.</i> the well of the strong,<a name="FNanchor_656_656" id="FNanchor_656_656"></a><a href="#Footnote_656_656" class="fnanchor">[656]</a> and the +song which tradition connects with this place (<a href="#Page_473">p. 473</a>) +is certainly very old, if not contemporary.</p> + +<p>The law made known to Moses on Sinai forms the +main portion of the second, third, and fourth books +of the Pentateuch. It not only contains the fundamental +moral rules, the ordinances of the law of +family and blood-feud, and the rubrics for the national +worship; it is rather a law for the priesthood, +given in systematic detail, which fixes their position, +rights, and honours, the dress of their office, and the +fees for the sacrifice—a wide collection of regulations +for the ritual of sacrifice, descending into the smallest +minutiæ, the place of worship, the instruments +of sacrifice, the celebration of festivals, and the +arrangement of life in the future dwellings of the +tribes. Could tribes wandering in the desert have +made rules for the celebration of the festivals of sowing, +of harvest, and of the vintage? Could they have +settled what part of the produce of the field should be +given to the priests, and how they should deal with +the fallow time of the seventh year of rest, and the +reversion of the alienated land in the year of Jubilee? +Could dwellers in tents make regulations about +receiving the stranger in their gates, about cities of +refuge and cities of the Levites? And even if this +had really taken place, how are we to explain the fact +that whole groups of arrangements for worship and +life which these laws prescribe were demonstrably not +in existence among the Hebrews in the centuries +following their wandering? Laws are never created +except in connection with definite circumstances; no +lawgiver can anticipate the relations which the future<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span> +will bring into existence, and answer, <i>à priori</i>, the +questions which will then arise.</p> + +<p>It is therefore beyond doubt that views and tendencies +of later development and the results of a long course of +growth have been transferred to early times, the times +of the exodus from Egypt. Those early days had been +an era of original piety, and the time of the exodus +had been a period in which the God of the fathers had +guided and led them with a mighty hand, in which +he had announced to them his will directly and +without deception. The condition of religious service +and life, therefore, which was held to be the true and +proper kind must have been prescribed in those early +days and have existed then; the ideal after which +men were to strive, and in the pursuit of which +every hindrance was to be removed, must have +already existed in those days of direct divine guidance. +Thus ordinances and usages which arose successively +after the settlement in Canaan, were amalgamated +with older customs and rules, and united into one +system, which seemed to the priests the necessary +system, appointed by God and pleasing to him. The +position which the first text ascribes to Aaron, and +which the laws attached to that text, give to the +priests and Levites the prominence of a centralised, +rich, and even splendid ritual, and of a single place +for the worship of Jehovah, display the tendency +which was active in the priesthood, to concentrate the +worship of Jehovah on a single spot, and to obtain +power in the state for the chief priests. The gorgeous +tabernacle erected near Mount Sinai with the portable +altars for burnt sacrifice and incense, the implements +of sacrifice and the candlestick of seven branches, can +only have been taken from the tabernacle erected by +David, and afterwards from the temple of Solomon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span> +and its glory, the sacred pattern of which ought +to be recognised in the movable sanctuary already +erected by Moses on Mount Sinai. At the same time +the rich adornment of this pattern by the voluntary +offerings of the Israelites proved how ready the +nation was at that time to honour their God and +dedicate their property to him. For these descriptions +there was a historical foundation in the fact that the +Israelites had carried their national sanctuary, the +sacred ark, the Ark of the Covenant, into the desert, +that it had been placed under a movable tent, and +before the tent the heads of the tribes and the nation +had gathered for sacrifice and counsel. In the position +of Aaron and his family we have a pattern which +brings clearly into light the attributes and advantages, +the rights and honours, which belonged to the chief +priests and priests in contrast to the Levites or +servants of the temple. The fearful punishments +which awaited offences against ritual and neglect of +the priestly rules were strongly marked. Even two +sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, die because they +approach Jehovah with unconsecrated fire; and when +the Levite Korah, and Dathan and Abiram of the +tribe of Reuben, rebel against Moses and Aaron, they +were swallowed up by the earth, and Jehovah smites +the people who follow them.<a name="FNanchor_657_657" id="FNanchor_657_657"></a><a href="#Footnote_657_657" class="fnanchor">[657]</a> It is the ideal picture +of the priesthood, and arrangement of the Church, +which those laws exhibit, and transfer to that mighty +time when Jehovah spoke to the Israelites through +Moses.</p> + +<p>The intention of the Israelites in the exodus from +Egypt could not at first go further than the attempt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span> +to escape from the dominion of Egypt, and resume +the old free life in the desert. That the line of march +at first attempted to pass along the western shore of +the reed-sea, and reach the south of the peninsula of +Sinai, in order to get as far as possible from Egypt, +place the whole length of the protecting arm of the +sea between the emigrants and Egypt, and reach the +pasture lands of the apparently friendly Midianites, +corresponds to the situation. Nor can it in any way +surprise us that the Amalekites, as the Ephraimitic +text states, opposed the Hebrews, <i>i. e.</i> contested the +possession of the pasture-lands and oases of the +wildernesses of Shur and Paran, with the new-comers. +The Israelites obtained the victory. So they arrived +at Sinai, the sacred mountain of the wilderness of +Sin. Between the two bays with which the sea +encloses this peninsula, that mountain rises, a naked +granite ridge, with five steep peaks, united into a +mighty crown, above the plateau of sandstone which +occupies the whole peninsula. The height is 8,000 +feet, and the wild and rugged mass overlooks in +sublime solitude the broad and desert flats in the +north, and the waves of the sea in the south. The +beautiful oasis at the foot of the mountain (Wadi +Firan) affords nourishment for a large number of men +and beasts.<a name="FNanchor_658_658" id="FNanchor_658_658"></a><a href="#Footnote_658_658" class="fnanchor">[658]</a> On the old and sacred mountain the +Israelites might believe that they approached nearer +to their deity; that here thanksgiving and sacrifice for +their happy deliverance could best be offered to him. +Then the Israelites would pasture their flocks on the +slopes and glades of the peninsula. But they may +have found but scanty food beside the flocks of the +Midianites, and the security from Egypt would be +greater, if they removed to a greater distance from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span> +that country. On the southern borders of Canaan, +at Kadesh and Hormah, they sought better pastures. +Yet they were driven back, and pursued as far as +Hormah. After this misadventure, the Israelites, +according to the Ephraimitic text, besought the king +of Edom to allow them a peaceful passage through +Edom, "on the road of the king, they would not turn +either to the right or the left." Hence the defeat +must have been a serious one.<a name="FNanchor_659_659" id="FNanchor_659_659"></a><a href="#Footnote_659_659" class="fnanchor">[659]</a> The object of this +march through Edom can only have been to find new +pasture-lands in the Syrian steppes beyond Mount +Seir on the east. The wide extent of the Syrian +desert would certainly supply sufficient pastures, +and the distance from the Nile was a good protection +from Egypt. As the Edomites refused the +demand, and showed themselves prepared to resist +the march by force of arms, the Israelites did not +venture to give battle; they preferred to retire to the +south, and make a long circuit round the territory of +the Edomites, by marching through the whole length +of the valley of Arabah southward to Elath, as far +as the north-east point of the reed-sea. From this +point they passed to the other side of Mount Seir, past +Punon and Oboth, towards the Arnon, which falls +into the Dead Sea. If they could at first maintain +themselves on the east, in the desert, the uplands on +the left bank of the Jordan were far better than the +steppes of the desert. The arms of the Israelites +were here more fortunate than on the other side of +the Dead Sea. The Amorites of Heshbon, eastward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span> +of the Dead Sea, were defeated at Jahaz, and their +cities taken. The song which celebrates this victory +(<a href="#Page_473">p. 473</a>) is old, and above suspicion. From this point, +out of the newly-conquered land, from the top of +Pisgah—a mountain near Heshbon—Moses is said to +have seen the promised land. A second victory over +the Amorites lying to the north beyond the Jabbok, +the people of Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, opened +ample pasture-lands to the Israelites, and also some +well-watered valleys on the wide plateau to the east of +the Jordan. Their territory now reached from the +Arnon northwards to the Jarmuk. Here the nation +remained; the greater part tended their flocks as +hitherto, the lesser part applied themselves to agriculture +in exceptionally fruitful valleys.</p> + +<p>Though a peaceful race of shepherds and unused to +arms, the Hebrews had bidden defiance to the strong +arm of Pharaoh; with bold resolution they had successfully +delivered themselves from a cruel slavery; +and had preserved their freedom, their national +character, and their religion. Beyond the borders of +Egypt and the reed-sea, the lively perception of their +liberation, and the recovery of their ancient mode of +life, and of the visible protection of their God, must +have aroused a mighty impulse, especially in their +great leader. It was a moment of great elevation. +Together with the valley of the Nile, they had left +behind the gods of Egypt; and they returned to the +worship of their old deity with strengthened and +deepened feelings. Thus on Sinai Moses could inculcate +the exclusive worship of Jehovah—a worship without +images—and the consecration of the seventh day.<a name="FNanchor_660_660" id="FNanchor_660_660"></a><a href="#Footnote_660_660" class="fnanchor">[660]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span> +These were commands consciously and diametrically +opposed to the multitude of Egyptian gods, the +variety of their forms and modes of worship, and the +times of their festivals. In connection with these +commands, and the customs of sacrifice in use among +the Israelites, regulations were given for purification, +and rules, telling how to proceed at the erection +of altars, at purifications and expiations, at burnt-offerings, +thank-offerings, and offerings of corn and +meal; rules which were preserved and developed in +the family of Aaron.<a name="FNanchor_661_661" id="FNanchor_661_661"></a><a href="#Footnote_661_661" class="fnanchor">[661]</a> Even for the establishment of +this ritual the contrast to the Egyptian was not +without influence. This contrast was in fact so strong +that what was best in the Egyptian religion—the +belief in the existence of the soul after death, and in +its awaking from death to a new life, was not adopted +by the Israelites. Of the care shown to the corpses +of the dead in Egypt, we find no trace.</p> + +<p>We saw what a long series of moral rules were +set up in Egypt. For his people Moses collected +the foundations of moral and religious law into a +simpler, purer, deeper, and more earnest form, in the +Ten Commandments.<a name="FNanchor_662_662" id="FNanchor_662_662"></a><a href="#Footnote_662_662" class="fnanchor">[662]</a> In connecting the moral law +with the worship of Jehovah, its inseparable foundation, +and setting it up with passionate earnestness +as the immediate command of the God of Israel, +Moses imparted to his people that character of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[Pg 485]</a></span> +religious earnestness, and ethical struggling, which +distinguishes their history from that of every other +nation. With the decalogue were connected the +regulations for peace in the nation, the law of the +family, and the avenging of blood. One who curses +father or mother must be put to death. One who +strikes father or mother must be put to death. One +who strikes a man so that he dies must be put to +death. One who has slain a man without intention, +by misadventure, must flee to the altar. But if +anyone sins against another so as to slay him by +craft, thou shalt take him from the altar that he +may die. If men strive with one another, and one is +injured, thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth +for tooth, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise. +If any man strike his man-servant or his maid-servant +with his staff, and they die under his hand, vengeance +must be taken. If thou buyest a Hebrew servant, he +shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go +free. The long service in Egypt was still held in +lively remembrance.<a name="FNanchor_663_663" id="FNanchor_663_663"></a><a href="#Footnote_663_663" class="fnanchor">[663]</a></p> + +<p>Just as the ordinances of Moses for religious worship +again brought into prominence the ancient customs +of the Hebrews, purified and developed them, so his +regulations for peace, for revenge, and expiation, for +injury to the person, and theft, were connected with +ancient customs of the children of Jacob, which could +hardly have been entirely forgotten in Egypt. As +Moses attached his law to the old customs, permeating +them with the depth of his own ethical point of view, +a certain stock of sayings must have been formed, +which were preserved and further developed by the +decisions of the heads of the tribes, the leaders of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[Pg 486]</a></span> +families, and the elders and the priests. The code +in Exodus is taken from an old document, though +apparently first inserted by the revision.<a name="FNanchor_664_664" id="FNanchor_664_664"></a><a href="#Footnote_664_664" class="fnanchor">[664]</a></p> + +<p>The Israelites had risen from a tribe into a nation, +which stood in need of organisation when it was no +longer under Egyptian dominion. This arrangement +must be founded upon the connection of families and +races, on respect for the tie of blood, and reverence +for age. No other political division was known but +community of family and descent. Affinities and +races were in existence which carried back their origin +to one patriarch, they followed the head of the +oldest family, from whom the rest were derived, or +thought that they were derived, and usually obeyed +his decision. Some of these races carried their pedigree +back to Jacob and his sons. After the pattern +of these connections, and by adopting and adding +to them, the whole nation was brought into ties +of relationship. Strangers and families without a +name must have here been in part allotted to the +affinities already in existence, and partly formed into +new corporations, and new affinities, so that in the +total there were some seventy groups of families. +Those derived from the old stocks, who carried their +origin back to the same son of Jacob, formed together +a large community, or tribe, and were accustomed to +obey the nearest descendant of the patriarch, the son +of his oldest son, from first-born to first-born, and +thus the head of the oldest family in the whole community, +as their tribal prince and leader by birth. In +the same manner, also, the new groups of families +became amalgamated into tribes, and older families +were put at their head as chiefs of the tribe, in such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span> +manner that from three to ten groups of families +formed a tribe.<a name="FNanchor_665_665" id="FNanchor_665_665"></a><a href="#Footnote_665_665" class="fnanchor">[665]</a> Thus twelve tribes were formed. Even +the nations most closely allied to the Hebrews, the +Nahorites, and Ishmaelites, were divided into twelve +tribes; the Edomites were apparently divided into +sixteen. The tribes already in existence were derived +from definite progenitors, the sons of Jacob; and also +for the new tribes one of the sons of Jacob, the +number of whom has thus been fixed, was allotted as +a patriarch. Reuben, Simeon, and Judah, were Jacob's +eldest sons, borne by Leah his first wife in lawful +marriage. From these three the oldest groups were +derived. With the tribes of Issachar and Zebulon +families were connected, whose antiquity did not go +so far back, and thus Issachar and Zebulon were held +to be younger sons of Jacob by the same wife. The +tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, were not +considered equally pure; perhaps because additional +families had been incorporated in them: hence, as we +saw, their progenitors are said to be the sons of Jacob +by his handmaids. The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, +and Benjamin, are marked as of later origin by the +fact that they are carried back to Jacob and Rachel; +and if Joseph begot his sons Ephraim and Manasseh +with the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, this +leads to the conclusion that the families incorporated +into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh had grown +up in Egypt, and had Egyptian blood in their veins. +But Ephraim was at the same time the strongest +tribe, which in numbers and bravery outstripped the +rest, and the later origin is compensated by the +importance of Rachel and Joseph. The Egyptian +element which Ephraim and Manasseh introduced +among the Hebrews cannot have been of any im<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span>portance, +for neither the language nor the ideas of the +Hebrews incorporated elements from Egypt. Only +a few external touches in the dress of the priests can +be carried back with certainty to Egyptian influence. +Of the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh is the elder, +Ephraim the younger. Hence the groups of families +incorporated into the first, must have been considered +the older, or the tribe of Manasseh must at one time +have had precedence of Ephraim, which may have +been the case about the time of Gideon.</p> + +<p>If in the place of Joseph, the eleventh son of +Jacob, two grandsons are adopted into the number of +the patriarchs, room is made by excluding Levi, a son +of Jacob's first marriage, from the series of the +tribes. Tradition places him among the oldest sons, +between Simeon and Judah. But the tribes deduced +from this ancestor won no territory like the rest: +they were scattered among the other tribes. We may +assume that the priestly families, who from antiquity +had discharged the sacred duty at the main seats of +worship, the race of Kohath (to which belonged the +sons of Aaron), with the priestly families of the other +altars (the races of Gershom and Merari), and the +families of the temple-servants connected with them, +were not combined into a tribe till a late period. The +name "Levi" may mean "bound," <i>i. e.</i> bound to a +shrine, and hence a temple-servant. The separation +of this tribe from the rest, and its dedication to the +sacred service, is brought forward with great emphasis +in the first text, which was composed from the point +of view of the priests. Jehovah takes the Levites in +the place of the first-born of Israel, and this same +text allots to the Levites forty-eight cities of Canaan +which they never possessed, and never inhabited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span> +either exclusively or in preponderant numbers.<a name="FNanchor_666_666" id="FNanchor_666_666"></a><a href="#Footnote_666_666" class="fnanchor">[666]</a> But +while in this text the adoption of the Levites by +Jehovah, and their "possession of the sacrifice" in the +place of a territory, is regarded and extolled as a +privilege of this tribe, we found above (<a href="#Page_439">p. 439</a>) that +an old poem spoke of the "division of the Levites in +Jacob and their scattering in Israel" as the punishment +of the sin which their progenitor had once +committed. Hence we must assume that the groups +of races, to which the foremost families of the priests +belonged, once formed a connected tribe like the rest, +and the breaking up of this tribe was brought about +after the settlement in Canaan by causes unknown +to us.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_650_650" id="Footnote_650_650"></a><a href="#FNanchor_650_650"><span class="label">[650]</span></a> Numb. xxiv. 13, c. xxxi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_651_651" id="Footnote_651_651"></a><a href="#FNanchor_651_651"><span class="label">[651]</span></a> Numb. xxxii. 4; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_652_652" id="Footnote_652_652"></a><a href="#FNanchor_652_652"><span class="label">[652]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 292; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_653_653" id="Footnote_653_653"></a><a href="#FNanchor_653_653"><span class="label">[653]</span></a> 2 Kings xviii. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_654_654" id="Footnote_654_654"></a><a href="#FNanchor_654_654"><span class="label">[654]</span></a> Numb. xx. 1-13, 22-29; Deut. xxxii. 48-52.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_655_655" id="Footnote_655_655"></a><a href="#FNanchor_655_655"><span class="label">[655]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 245.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_656_656" id="Footnote_656_656"></a><a href="#FNanchor_656_656"><span class="label">[656]</span></a> Isaiah xv. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_657_657" id="Footnote_657_657"></a><a href="#FNanchor_657_657"><span class="label">[657]</span></a> On the mutual interpolations of the narratives, both in regard to +the rebels and the mode of their destruction, see Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 79, 131.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_658_658" id="Footnote_658_658"></a><a href="#FNanchor_658_658"><span class="label">[658]</span></a> Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 341.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_659_659" id="Footnote_659_659"></a><a href="#FNanchor_659_659"><span class="label">[659]</span></a> Numb. xxxiii. 40 (the first text); Numb. xxi. 1-3, and xiv. 44, 45, +belong to the second text; De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 291; +Deut. i. 44; Joshua xii. 14; Judges i. 17. Cf. Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 85, on the tenacity with which unsuccessful battles are remembered in +these districts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_660_660" id="Footnote_660_660"></a><a href="#FNanchor_660_660"><span class="label">[660]</span></a> Nöldeke explains Exod. xx. 23-26 and xxi. 1-xxiii. 19, as in substance +and in part a composition of great antiquity, "Untersuchungen," +s. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_661_661" id="Footnote_661_661"></a><a href="#FNanchor_661_661"><span class="label">[661]</span></a> Nöldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. 62 ff.) proves that Levit. i.-xxvi. +2, and xxvii., with the exception of a few additions, especially cc. xviii.-xx. +belong to the first text; and De Wette-Schrader ("Einleitung," +s. 286 ff.) proves the same for nearly the whole book. Moreover, he +shows at length, pp. 265, 266, that many of the ceremonial ordinances and +the faith of the land in general goes back to Moses, or the Mosaic times.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_662_662" id="Footnote_662_662"></a><a href="#FNanchor_662_662"><span class="label">[662]</span></a> The Mosaic origin of the decalogue (Exod. xx. 1-17; Deut. v. 6-21) +is proved in De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 284. The original +form of it, it is true, is no longer in existence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_663_663" id="Footnote_663_663"></a><a href="#FNanchor_663_663"><span class="label">[663]</span></a> So the old codex, Exod. xxi. 1-6. The priestly law on the other +hand puts off the liberation till the year of Jubilee, Levit. xxv. 39 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_664_664" id="Footnote_664_664"></a><a href="#FNanchor_664_664"><span class="label">[664]</span></a> On Exod. xxi.-xxiii. 19, cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 285, +286, and Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 51, 63 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_665_665" id="Footnote_665_665"></a><a href="#FNanchor_665_665"><span class="label">[665]</span></a> Gen. xlvi. 8-27 Numb. ii 3-31; 1 Chron. ii 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_666_666" id="Footnote_666_666"></a><a href="#FNanchor_666_666"><span class="label">[666]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 103, 109, 128.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN.</h3> + + +<p>When the Israelites had delivered themselves from +the dominion of Egypt, they pastured their flocks on +the peninsula of Sinai. Afterwards they wandered +further to the north-east into the Syrian desert, and +at length, as the oases in this district were few, and +the wells insufficient, they threw themselves upon the +rich uplands on the east of the Jordan. From the +table-land, which they had conquered, they saw before +them the happy valley of the Jordan, the fig-trees +and pomegranates, the vines and green glades in the +valleys beyond it. The sight roused the greater +portion of the Israelites to descend into the valley, +and invade the land beyond the river, in order to win +settled abodes where milk and honey were said to +flow.</p> + +<p>We have already examined the circumstances of +Canaan. The Amorites had destroyed the power of +the Hittites; and in conjunction with the remnants +of the Hittites and Hivites, they possessed the land. +They lived separately in the various mountain cantons, +under small princes from thirty to forty in number. +But their cities were old and well fortified; the +nature of the land was in favour of defence, and on +the coasts lay the strong cities of the Phenicians and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span> +the Philistines. It was no light undertaking. The +Israelites had left Egypt a nation of peaceful shepherds, +but the sixty or seventy years which they subsequently +passed in the desert, and on the uplands +beyond the Jordan, had hardened them and made +them into warriors. The successes which they gained +against the Amalekites, the Amorites of Heshbon, and +Bashan must have roused their courage. If they combined +in an attack on the isolated cantons of Canaan, +they might hope to become masters even of the fortified +walls, and perhaps they even found assistance +among the Hittites and Hivites, who lived under the +oppressive rule of the Amorites. About the middle +of the thirteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, the greater part of the +Israelites marched towards the Jordan. Joshua, the +prince of the tribe of Ephraim, led the army. The +tribes of Reuben and Gad, and a part of the tribe of +Manasseh, remained behind on the other side of the +Jordan.<a name="FNanchor_667_667" id="FNanchor_667_667"></a><a href="#Footnote_667_667" class="fnanchor">[667]</a></p> + +<p>The book of Joshua gives the following account of +the conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews: It came to +pass after the death of Moses, that Jehovah spoke to +Joshua the son of Nun: Up, cross over Jordan, thou +and all the people, into a land which I will give thee. +Then Joshua commanded the leaders of the people: +Go through the camp and say, Make ready your pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span>visions; +in three days ye shall cross the Jordan. When +the people set out from their tents at Shittim, and +reached the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark +before them, and the feet of the priests, who carried +the ark, touched the water of Jordan, the water which +flowed from above stood up, and the water which flowed +downwards to the Dead Sea parted from the upper +water, till the ark of Jehovah and the people of Israel +had passed over on dry land. And the people encamped +at Gilgal, on the tenth day of the first month, +and Joshua made sharp knives and circumcised the +children of Israel, the whole nation that was born in +the desert, and kept the passover on the fourteenth +day of the month at evening in the plain of Jericho. +And Jehovah said to Joshua: See, I have given +Jericho and her king into thy hand. Go round the +city for six days, and let seven priests carry seven +trumpets before the ark, and on the seventh day ye +shall go round the city seven times, and the priests +shall blow upon the trumpets. And when ye hear +the sound of the trumpets, all the people shall make +a great cry, and the walls of the city will fall down, +and the people shall pass over them, every man straight +before him. Joshua fulfilled the command of Jehovah, +and when the people marched round the walls of +Jericho for the seventh time on the seventh day, +Joshua said: Cry aloud, for Jehovah has given the +city to you, and it shall be sacred, it and all that is +in it, to Jehovah, and all the silver and gold, and +all the vessels of copper and iron shall belong to +Jehovah, and shall go into his treasury. When the +people heard the sound of the trumpets, they made a +great cry, and the walls fell down, and the people +went up into the city and took it. And they set +apart all that was in the city from the man to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span> +woman, from the boy to the old man, from the oxen +to the sheep, and slew them with the edge of the +sword.</p> + +<p>Then Joshua sent spies to Ai. When they returned +they said to Joshua: Let not the whole people go up; +two or three thousand men can smite Ai, for they are +few. Joshua sent three thousand, but the men of Ai +overcame them, and pursued them as far as Shebarim, +and smote them on the slope of the mountain. Then +Joshua rent his garments and fell upon his face. But +Jehovah said to him: Israel has taken of the forbidden +spoil; the children of Israel cannot stand before their +enemies, if that which is forbidden is not destroyed +from their midst. They must come forth according +to their tribes, races, and houses, and the house, +which Jehovah shall choose, shall come forward man +by man. And whoever shall be found with that +which is forbidden, shall be burnt with fire and all +that belongs to him. Joshua caused Israel to come +forward, according to their tribes, and the lot fell on +the tribe of Judah, and race of Serah; and in the +race of Serah the lot fell upon the house of Sabdi, +and of the men of the house of Sabdi the lot fell upon +Achan, the son of Charmi. Then Achan confessed +that he had taken a beautiful mantle of Shinar, and +200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in +weight, and had hidden them in his tent. And +Achan the son of Charmi was led out "with his sons +and daughters, his oxen and asses, his tent and all +that he had, and all Israel stoned them, and they +burnt them with fire, and covered them with stones, +and then erected there a great heap of stones." But +Joshua set out towards Ai, with all the people, and +chose 5,000 men of war, and sent them out in the +night, and said to them: Go ye and lie in ambush at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span> +the back of the city, between Ai and Bethel. I and +all the people that is with me will draw near towards +the city, and if they come out to meet us, we will fly +before them. Then be ye ready and rise up out of +your ambush and set fire to the city. When Israel +went forth towards Ai, the king of Ai came to meet +them for battle; but Joshua turned with his people +and fled, and all the people of Ai pursued them, and +left the city open. Then the men in ambush rose, +and set fire to the town; and when the men of Ai +looked behind them, the smoke of their houses rose to +heaven; and Israel turned upon their pursuers and +slew the men of Ai, who were between the Israelites +on this side, and the Israelites on that side, so that +none remained beside the king whom they took alive. +Afterwards the women and children in Ai were put +to the sword, and of the slain on this day there were +12,000. And Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a +tree till evening. Then they took the corpse down +from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate, +and erected over it a great heap of stones till this +day: but the city remained a heap of desolation.</p> + +<p>When the men of Gibeon—a great city like one of +the king's cities, it was greater than Ai, and all the inhabitants +were men of war—and the men of Chephirah, +Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, heard what Joshua had +done, they sent to him, and the messengers put old +shoes and clouted on their feet, and old clothes on +their bodies, and took old sacks on their asses, and +patched wine skins, and the bread of their provisions +was old and mouldy. Thus they came into the camp +of Israel at Gilgal, and said to Joshua: We are +come from a far country to make a covenant with +thee; behold, the wine skins are torn which we filled +new, our bread is dry and mouldy, our clothes and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span> +our shoes are old by reason of the length of the way. +And Joshua made a covenant with them to let them +live, and the princes of the people made an oath with +them. But when the children of Israel set forth from +Gilgal, they came on the third day to their cities. +Then Joshua called them and said: Why have ye +deceived us and said, we are far from you. Be ye now +accursed, and may ye never cease to be servants, and +drawers of water, and hewers of wood for the house +of my God. Thus he did to them, and saved them +from the hand of the children of Israel that they slew +them not.</p> + +<p>Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, heard what Joshua +had done to Jericho and her king, and to Ai and her +king, and that Gibeon had made peace with Joshua. +He sent to Hoham, king of Hebron; and to Piram, +king of Jarmuth; and to Japhia, king of Lachish; +and to Debir, king of Eglon, and they gathered +themselves and went forth, five kings of the Amorites, +and encamped against Gibeon. Then Joshua set forth +from Gilgal, and all the men of war with him. And +Jehovah caused the Amorites to flee before the children +of Israel, and Joshua cried: Sun, stand thou still +upon Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. +And the sun stood still, and the moon waned not, till +the people took vengeance on their enemies, and before +this was no day like it, nor after it. And the five +kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah; +and when it was told to Joshua, that the kings +were hidden there, he said: Roll great stones before +the cave, and set men there to watch it. But do ye +halt not, but pursue your enemies, and smite the rear +guard, and let them not come into the cities. And +Israel accomplished the slaughter, and turned back +to the camp at Makkedah. And Joshua caused the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span> +five kings to come forth out of the cave, and called to +the leaders of his warriors and said: Come forward +and set your feet on the necks of these kings. And +when this had been done, Joshua smote the kings, and +hanged them on five trees, and they hung on the trees +till evening. Then Joshua commanded to take them +down, and they cast them into the cave, and laid +great stones on the mouth of the cave till this day.</p> + +<p>Then Joshua took Makkedah, and Libnah, and +Lachish, and smote them with the edge of the sword, +and let no fugitive escape in Makkedah, Libnah, and +Lachish; and did to the kings of Makkedah and +Libnah as he had done to the king of Jericho. +Horam, king of Gezer, went out to help Lachish, +but Joshua defeated him and went from Lachish +against Eglon, and from Hebron against Debir; and +he set apart Eglon, and Hebron, and Debir, all the +souls that were therein, and smote the kings of +Hebron and Debir with the edge of the sword, and +returned to the camp at Gilgal.</p> + +<p>But Jabin, king of Hazor, gathered together the +kings of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, and the kings +of the north, who dwell towards the midnight, on the +mountain and in the plain, and they encamped a +great nation as the sands on the shore of the sea +in multitude, with chariots and horses on Lake Merom. +Then Joshua with all his men of war fell upon them +suddenly, and smote them, and pursued them as +far as Sidon, and to the valley of Mizpeh, and lamed +their horses, and burned their chariots with fire. +Then he took Hazor, the chief city of all these kingdoms, +and smote their king with the sword, and all +the souls that were therein; and all the booty of these +cities, and all the cattle, the Israelites took for spoil. +For a long time Joshua made war with all these kings,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[Pg 497]</a></span> +and he expelled the Anakites from the mountains of +Hebron, from Debir and Anab, from the mountain of +Judah and the mountain of Israel; with their cities +he destroyed them. And there was no city which +surrendered peacefully to the Hebrews except that of +the Hivites of Gibeon.</p> + +<p>Joshua was old and stricken in years, and Jehovah +said to him: Divide this land among the nine tribes +and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And Eleazar the +priest and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chiefs +of the tribes of the children of Israel divided the +land by lot. And the lot of the children of Judah +was in the south, as far as the wilderness of Sin and +the brook of Egypt, and in the east as far as the +Dead Sea and to the end of Jordan, and in the north +the border was Gilgal and the valley of Ben Hinnom, +and Beth Shemesh, and the western border was the +Great Sea. And the lot came forth for the children +of Joseph, and their borders on the south ran from +the water of Jericho over toward Bethhoron, and +from Bethhoron toward the sea. The land toward +the south fell to Ephraim, and the land toward +the north to Manasseh. And the whole community +of the children of Israel were gathered together +at Shiloh, and there they set up the holy tent, and +Joshua spake to the seven tribes, whose possessions +were not yet allotted: Choose three men out of each +tribe to write down the land, for I will cast lots for +you here at Shiloh before Jehovah. And so the men +went and wrote down the land according to the cities, +in seven parts, and Joshua cast lots at Shiloh, and +divided the land to the children of Israel according +to their divisions. But Jehovah commanded Joshua +that he should speak to the children of Israel, and tell +them to fix the cities of refuge, to which the homicide<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[Pg 498]</a></span> +was to fly who slew a man in misadventure, in order +that the elders of the city might receive him, and if +the avenger pursued him, they were not to deliver +him into his hand till he had been brought before +the people. And they consecrated Kadesh, and +Shechem, and Hebron, and Bezer, and Ramoth in +Gilead, and Golan. And the chiefs of the tribe of +the Levites went to Eleazar the priest and Joshua +the son of Nun, and asked for cities to dwell in, +and land for their cattle; and the Israelites gave +them forty-eight cities and their land for their +possession. And Joshua gathered the elders of +Israel, and his leaders and judges, and gave law +and justice at Shechem; and he died one hundred +and ten years old, and they buried him in the land +of his possession at Timnath-serah, on the mountain +of Israel; and the bones of Joseph, which the children +of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried at +Shechem, on the piece of the field which Jacob bought +(pp. <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>), and the children of Joseph kept the +place for a possession. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, +died, and they buried him in Gibeah, the city of +Phinehas, his son, which was given to him on the +mountain of Ephraim.</p> + +<p>The conception of the covenant between Jehovah +and Israel, and of the arrangement of law, as it +existed in complete perfection in later times, dominates +the two texts of the Pentateuch and the +book of Joshua, no less than the prophetic revision +of these texts (<a href="#Page_386">p. 386</a>), and could not but exercise +an influence on the narrative of the conquest of +Canaan, <i>i. e.</i>, the fulfilment of the prophecies. Even +in the first text it is the direct command of Jehovah +which leads Joshua to set out towards the Jordan; +and it is the priestly ideas of this text which come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[Pg 499]</a></span> +out strongly in the feast of the passover and the +circumcision before the conquest of Jericho. The +miraculous passage of the Jordan is a repetition of +the passage through the reed-sea. This narrative +belongs, as it seems, to the second text, and is further +amplified by the reviser.<a name="FNanchor_668_668" id="FNanchor_668_668"></a><a href="#Footnote_668_668" class="fnanchor">[668]</a> The overthrow of the walls +of Jericho, when the priests had blown their trumpets +and the people raised the war-cry, is briefly narrated +in the first text; here also the details are the work +of the reviser. If the walls of Jericho were mounted +at the first onset, tradition might well recount the +story that they were broken down before the war-cry +of Israel; and from this the farther account could +be framed. The law of the priests ordained: "All +that is devoted (<i>cherem</i>), what every man dedicates +to Jehovah from all that is his, from men, or cattle, +or the field of his possession, that cannot be bought +or redeemed. All that is devoted is holy to +Jehovah."<a name="FNanchor_669_669" id="FNanchor_669_669"></a><a href="#Footnote_669_669" class="fnanchor">[669]</a> Joshua had devoted Jericho and all that +was in the city to Jehovah. But one of the nation +had taken something for himself from this devoted +spoil. The punishment comes upon the whole people, +and the first attempt on Ai is a failure. The more +complete is the victory when that transgressor and +his house is stoned to death. By this narrative the +observance of the command was deeply impressed on +all. When it was found long after the settlement +in Canaan what pernicious results for life, morals, +and religious worship followed from the fact that +portions of the old population were allowed to remain +among them, it appeared to the priestly mind that +the due regulation and purity of the Hebrew nature +required the extinction of the earlier inhabitants, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[Pg 500]</a></span> +even before they took possession of Canaan, Jehovah +must have given the command to make neither covenant +nor marriage with the Canaanites, to destroy +their altars and images, and to extirpate the nation.<a name="FNanchor_670_670" id="FNanchor_670_670"></a><a href="#Footnote_670_670" class="fnanchor">[670]</a> +Without doubt, at the time of the conquest a considerable +number of the old population were not +only driven out, but were put to death; and it is +certain that when cities were taken by storm their +inhabitants "from man to woman, from child to +old man," were slain with the edge of the sword; +but a systematic extirpation did not take place. Of +the four cities of the Hivites—Gibeon, Chephirah, +Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim—Gibeon, two good hours +north-west of Jebus, was the most important. These +four cities joined the Hebrews against the ruling +Amorites,<a name="FNanchor_671_671" id="FNanchor_671_671"></a><a href="#Footnote_671_671" class="fnanchor">[671]</a> and combined with them. The craft of +the Gibeonites, by which they succeeded in deceiving +Joshua about their Canaanitic descent, is intended to +explain the sparing of such an important part of the +old population in opposition to the pre-dated command +of extirpation. And if to this is added the fact that +Joshua, when he had once sworn to grant their lives, +made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for +the whole community, this, no doubt, rests on the fact +that at a later time king Saul, "in his zeal for Israel," +intended to extirpate all the Gibeonites, and did +extirpate part, "though Israel had sworn to them;" +that David favoured them, but Solomon made "all +that was left of the Amorites, Jebusites, Hittites, +Perizzites, and Hivites bond-servants to this day."<a name="FNanchor_672_672" id="FNanchor_672_672"></a><a href="#Footnote_672_672" class="fnanchor">[672]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[Pg 501]</a></span> +The king Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, who, startled +by the fall of Jericho and Ai, and "the peace which +Gibeon had made with Joshua," brings about the +league of the Amorite princes in the south against +the invasion of the Hebrews, belongs to the prophetic +revision; in the first text the Jerusalem of later times +is still the city of the Jebusites. The description of +the great battle and of the miracle at Gibeon against +the Amorites belongs to the second text. The miracle +is founded merely on the poetical expression in the +Israelite song of victory, "the sun stood still and +the moon stayed till the people had punished their +enemies," which meant no more than that the day +had been long enough, and the moon had shone long +enough, to allow them to achieve a great defeat of +the Amorites, and to pursue them a considerable +distance. After this day Joshua is said to have +taken Hebron, Debir, Libnah, and Lachish, to have +conquered the kings of Northern Canaan in a great +battle, and to have gained their cities, including +Hazor. This narrative with its particulars, according +to which the conquest of Canaan took place +in consequence of the battle of Gibeon and a second +great victory of the Israelites at Lake Merom, belongs +to the revision,<a name="FNanchor_673_673" id="FNanchor_673_673"></a><a href="#Footnote_673_673" class="fnanchor">[673]</a> and is open to serious difficulties. +In the first place we are told that Joshua, for a long +time, had fought against all the kings; but Hazor, +the abode of Jabin, which Joshua had attacked, we +find shortly after as again the abode of Jabin. A +large number of places which Joshua is said to have +taken are subsequently not in the hands of Israel, +and both in the Book of Joshua and the Book of +Judges mention is made of separate battles of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[Pg 502]</a></span> +tribes among which the battle about Hebron, which +the tribe of Judah obtained, is the most conspicuous.<a name="FNanchor_674_674" id="FNanchor_674_674"></a><a href="#Footnote_674_674" class="fnanchor">[674]</a></p> + +<p>It was the view of both texts that the whole land +was promised and plighted to the Hebrews. They +did not dwell on particulars in order to bring out +more definitely and clearly the community of the +tribes, the divinely-arranged and righteous division +of the land among them. After the war, in the traditional +account, had continued about five years, +and Joshua was eighty-five years old, he and Eleazar, +the son of Aaron, divide by lot the territory gained +on this side of the Jordan. The first text here defines +the portion of the tribe of Judah with special minuteness, +the second dwells upon the importance of the +tribe of Ephraim. Last of all, the forty-eight cities, +on an average four in each tribe, were set apart for +the Levites. Of these forty-eight thirteen are mentioned +as allotted to the families of the priests of +the tribe of Levi. These lie entirely in the territory +of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, while the ark of +the covenant evidently was placed at Shiloh in the +territory of Ephraim. In the neighbourhood of this +sanctuary, therefore, the priests must have had their +dwellings. On the other hand, Nob, which in Saul's +time was called a city of the priests,<a name="FNanchor_675_675" id="FNanchor_675_675"></a><a href="#Footnote_675_675" class="fnanchor">[675]</a> was not among +these thirteen cities. And among the thirty-five +cities which are said to have been given to the +Levite ministers, several are found which were not +conquered by the Israelites, such as Taanach, Gezer, +Jibleam, and Nahalal. Of the thirteen towns of the +priests and the six cities of refuge, which were partly +cities of the priests and partly of the temple-servants, +Hebron, the first-mentioned, was, as has been already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[Pg 503]</a></span> +remarked, conquered later on, and not by Joshua. +These arrangements have arisen out of ideals; there +never were Levite cities in Israel, and the right of +asylum in the cities of refuge was not recognised till a +later time. Even if we set aside the sacerdotal scheme +for the distribution of the land, we cannot repose complete +confidence in an apparently ancient enumeration +of the conquered kings and cities given in the Book of +Joshua. Allowing that it belonged to one of the two +original texts, it has been altered and interpolated.<a name="FNanchor_676_676" id="FNanchor_676_676"></a><a href="#Footnote_676_676" class="fnanchor">[676]</a> +Cities are mentioned as conquered which are not mentioned +in the preceding narrative; others are quoted as +subjugated which evidently remained long after in the +hand of the Canaanites, like Taanach and Megiddo.<a name="FNanchor_677_677" id="FNanchor_677_677"></a><a href="#Footnote_677_677" class="fnanchor">[677]</a></p> + +<p>Adopting, therefore, as our principal basis the +accounts which are in existence about the battles of +the various tribes, we shall have to assume that the +course of affairs was somewhat of this kind. The +two tribes of Reuben and Gad and the greater part of +the tribe of Manasseh preferred to remain on the east +of the Jordan. The fertile depression round Jericho +naturally formed the first object of attack. Jericho was +taken. But the destruction of the city can hardly +have been completely carried out; for not very long +after we find it again inhabited.<a name="FNanchor_678_678" id="FNanchor_678_678"></a><a href="#Footnote_678_678" class="fnanchor">[678]</a> That the Hebrews +after taking Jericho established themselves at Gilgal, +and from this place undertook flying campaigns against +the cities of the Amorites, are statements which, as +to the fact, need not excite any doubts. The covenant +with the neighbouring four cities of the Hivites, +which was appealed to even in the time of the +kings, proves evidently that these cities united with +the Israelites and fought on their side against the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[Pg 504]</a></span> +Amorites. In order to defend Gibeon against the +Amorites, who wished to punish their defection, the +great battle against the Amorites took place near this +city, which is proved to be a fact by the old song of +victory. By this overthrow the power of the Amorites +seems to have been broken. Their defence henceforth +is confined to each of the cities maintaining itself. But +the attacking party also lost their unity. The various +tribes of the Israelites attempted to conquer the districts +which pleased them; and the campaign of conquest +broke up into local conflicts. The tribe of Ephraim, +accompanied by the greater part of the remaining +tribes, turned northwards to the green heights and +shady valleys of Shiloh and Shechem. Here, on "the +mountain of Ephraim," the Ephraimites settled; +the sacred ark was placed at Shiloh, and here at +Timnath-Serah, "which he had sought from the +people and had obtained," Joshua took up his abode, +and built the city and dwelt therein. Round the +fortress of the prince the best part of the tribe +must have settled. On the same mountains lay the +portion of land which belonged to the priest of the +sacred ark, Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron.<a name="FNanchor_679_679" id="FNanchor_679_679"></a><a href="#Footnote_679_679" class="fnanchor">[679]</a> Near a +sanctuary at Shechem, under the oak, the priests and +elders of the tribe assembled for the administration of +law and justice. The Ephraimitic text represents the +sons of Joseph as saying to Joshua that they were a +numerous people, and that Mount Ephraim was too +narrow for them. Joshua replied, Go up to the forest, +and hew out for yourselves there in the land of the +Perizzites and Rephaims, if Mount Ephraim is too +narrow for you. They answered: The mountain will +not be gained by us; there are iron chariots among all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[Pg 505]</a></span> +the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley at +Beth-shean, and in the valley of Jezreel. But Joshua +said: The mountain shall belong to thee. It is forest, +hew it down, and the outgoings shall belong to thee. +Thou shalt drive out the Canaanites.<a name="FNanchor_680_680" id="FNanchor_680_680"></a><a href="#Footnote_680_680" class="fnanchor">[680]</a></p> + +<p>The tribes of Judah and Simeon turned to the south +after the battle of Gibeon, and settled in the mountain +land of Hebron; here they succeeded in acquiring a +considerable territory. But it was only by slow +degrees, through long and severe battles, that the two +tribes advanced. The tribe of Judah first overcame +the king of Bezek, and took him prisoner. From the +king as from the rest of the prisoners the thumbs and +the great toes were cut off. Then the king of Bezek +said: Three score and ten kings having their thumbs +and their great toes cut off gathered what fell from +my table; now I have been requited.<a name="FNanchor_681_681" id="FNanchor_681_681"></a><a href="#Footnote_681_681" class="fnanchor">[681]</a> Of more importance +was it that Caleb the son of Jephunneh +established himself in Hebron, the old metropolis of +the land of the south (<a href="#Page_346">p. 346</a>), and independently subjugated +the surrounding territory.<a name="FNanchor_682_682" id="FNanchor_682_682"></a><a href="#Footnote_682_682" class="fnanchor">[682]</a> To the man who +should conquer Debir he promised his daughter +Achsah to wife, and Othniel his brother's son gained +the city and the woman. From Debir the tribe of +Judah pressed on to the south, and conquered Zephath +and Hormah. "And Jehovah"—so we find it in the +Book of Judges—"was with Judah, and he took the +mountain and possessed it, but could not drive out the +inhabitants of the low ground because they had chariots +of iron."<a name="FNanchor_683_683" id="FNanchor_683_683"></a><a href="#Footnote_683_683" class="fnanchor">[683]</a> The inhabitants of the low ground are the +Philistines on the coast, whose power was undoubtedly +superior to that of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. +The Simeonites, a tribe by no means numerous,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[Pg 506]</a></span> +settled themselves under the tribe of Judah, and had +to be content with the least fertile districts on the +southern border.</p> + +<p>The tribe of Manasseh, so nearly related to Ephraim, +had in part remained beyond the Jordan; the other +part settled under the Ephraimites, on their northern +border in the region from Hadad Rimmon to the +mouth of the Kishon, but they were unable to gain +the mastery over the greater number of the cities of +the Canaanites situated in this district. The little +tribe of Benjamin had settled round Gibeon, perhaps +immediately after the battle, between Bethhoron and +Jericho, on the southern border of Ephraim. The +tribes of Issachar and Zebulon, Asher and Naphtali +were the last to acquire settled abodes. Issachar conquered +the heights of Tirzah and Gilboa, as far as +Tabor; Zebulon planted himself between the right +bank of the Kishon and the lake of Kinneroth, in the +region of Jokneam and Beth Arbel. Westward of the +lakes of Kinneroth and Merom lay the tribes of Naphtali +and Asher; the first was nearest to the lake of +Merom, in the district of the northern Kadesh; Asher +was further to the west, on the borders of the land of +Tyre. The tribe of Dan attempted to gain the spurs +of the mountain westward of Benjamin towards the +sea. For a long time it encamped against the Amorites +and the northern cities of the Philistines, Ekron +and Gath, but though occasionally supported by +Ephraim and Judah, it never gained territory enough +for its numbers. When the others had long been +fixed in settled abodes, a part of the Danites, finding it +impossible to advance to the coast, set out to the north, +and took the city of Laish, northward of Kadesh and +the land of Naphtali, which belonged to the Sidonians,<a name="FNanchor_684_684" id="FNanchor_684_684"></a><a href="#Footnote_684_684" class="fnanchor">[684]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[Pg 507]</a></span> +gave it the name of Dan, and here, as they had become +more warlike than the rest, owing to their prolonged +battles, maintained the northernmost point of the +land of Israel.</p> + +<p>The conquest was completed. In the middle of the +thirteenth century <small>B.C.</small> the Israelites had broken the +power of the Amorites in Canaan, and gained a considerable +territory (about 10,000 square miles), of which +one-half lay on the nearer and the other on the farther +side of the Jordan. But this land, divided by the +Jordan, was neither a whole united from within, nor +protected by natural boundaries from without. As +the Israelites immediately after their first successes +became again disunited, and the attack became less +powerful at every step in advance, the Canaanites +maintained themselves in independence, in separate +valleys or heights difficult of approach, and in strong +fortresses. Remnants of the Canaanites remained +everywhere among and between the Israelites. Beside +the Benjamites the Jebusites (a tribe of the Amorites) +maintained themselves, and at Gibeon, Kirjath-jearim, +Chephirah, and Beeroth were the Hivites, who had +made peace with the Israelites. In the land of +Ephraim the Canaanites held their ground at Gezer +and Bethel, until the latter—it was an important +city—was stormed by the Ephraimites.<a name="FNanchor_685_685" id="FNanchor_685_685"></a><a href="#Footnote_685_685" class="fnanchor">[685]</a> Among +the tribe of Manasseh the Canaanites were settled +at Beth Shean, Dan, Taanach, Jibleam, Megiddo +and their districts,<a name="FNanchor_686_686" id="FNanchor_686_686"></a><a href="#Footnote_686_686" class="fnanchor">[686]</a> and in the northern tribes the +Canaanites were still more numerous. It was not till +long after the immigration of the Hebrews that they +were made in part tributary.<a name="FNanchor_687_687" id="FNanchor_687_687"></a><a href="#Footnote_687_687" class="fnanchor">[687]</a> The land of the Israelites +beyond the Jordan, where the tribe of Manasseh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[Pg 508]</a></span> +possessed the north, Gad the centre, and Reuben the +south as far as the Arnon, was exposed to the attacks +of the Ammonites and Moabites, and the migratory +tribes of the Syrian desert, and must have had the +greater attraction for them, as better pastures were +to be found in the heights of Gilead, and the valleys +there were more fruitful. To the west only the tribe +of Ephraim reached the sea, and became master of a +harbourless strip of coast. The remaining part of the +coast and all the harbours remained in the hands of +the powerful cities of the Philistines and the Phenicians. +No attempt was made to conquer these, +although border-conflicts took place between the tribes +of Judah, Dan, and Asher, and Philistines and Sidonians. +Such an attempt could only have been made +if the Israelites had remained united, and even then +the powers of the Israelites would hardly have sufficed +to overthrow the walls of Gaza, Ascalon, and Ashdod, +of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblus. Yet the invasion of the +Israelites was not without results for the cities of the +coast: it forced a large part of the population to +assemble in them, and we shall see below how rapid +and powerful is the growth of the strength and importance +of Tyre in the time immediately following +the incursion of the Israelites, <i>i. e.</i> immediately after +the middle of the thirteenth century. As the population +and in consequence the power of the cities on +the coast increased, owing to the collection of the +ancient population on the shore of the sea, those +cities became all the more dangerous neighbours for +the Israelites.</p> + +<p>It was a misfortune for the new territory which the +Israelites had won by the sword that it was without +the protection of natural boundaries on the north and +east, that the cities of the Philistines and Phenicians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[Pg 509]</a></span> +barred it towards the sea, and in the interior remnants +of the Canaanites still maintained their place. Yet +it was a far more serious danger for the immigrants +that they were without unity, connection, or guidance, +for they had already given up these before +the conflict was ended. Undoubtedly a vigorous +leadership in the war of conquest against the +Canaanites might have established a military +monarchy which would have provided better for the +maintenance of the borders and the security of the land +than was done in its absence. But the isolated defence +made by the Canaanites permitted the attacking +party also to isolate themselves. The new masters of +the land lived, like the Canaanites before and among +them, in separate cantons; the mountain land which +they possessed was much broken up, and without any +natural centre, and though there were dangerous +neighbours, there was no single concentrated aggressive +power in the neighbourhood, now that Egypt +remained in her borders. The cities of the Philistines +formed a federation merely, though a federation far +more strongly organised than the tribes of the +Israelites. Under these circumstances political unity +was not an immediately pressing question among the +Israelites; but owing to the dispersion in which they +lived, and the open borders of their new kingdom, the +question seriously arose whether they could enjoy in +peace the land they had won. Whatever the weight +with which the want of internal concentration and +external repulsion might be felt, whatever the difficulties +arising from the remnant of Canaanites left in +the land, and however unsatisfactory the maintenance +of the borders of the land, these political drawbacks +were only so many advantages for the development +of the religious and moral life of the Israelites.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_667_667" id="Footnote_667_667"></a><a href="#FNanchor_667_667"><span class="label">[667]</span></a> That the chronological statements in the book of Judges afford no fixed +point for deciding the date of the invasion of Canaan by the Hebrews is +proved by Nöldeke ("Chronologie der Richterzeit"). The genealogical +tables give only six or seven generations down to Eli and Samuel, and +these cannot fill a longer space than of 150 to 175 years. As Ramses III. +whose reign according to Lepsius falls in the years 1269-1244 <small>B.C.</small> fought +against the Pulista, Cheta, and Amari, <i>i. e.</i> the Philistines, Hittites, and +Amorites, within the first nine years of his reign (<a href="#Page_164">p. 164</a>) without +meeting the Hebrews among them, we may assume that their settlement +in Canaan did not take place till after the year 1260 <small>B.C.</small>, about the middle +of the thirteenth century, <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_668_668" id="Footnote_668_668"></a><a href="#FNanchor_668_668"><span class="label">[668]</span></a> Cf. Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 95.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_669_669" id="Footnote_669_669"></a><a href="#FNanchor_669_669"><span class="label">[669]</span></a> Lev. xxvii. 28, 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_670_670" id="Footnote_670_670"></a><a href="#FNanchor_670_670"><span class="label">[670]</span></a> In the form of a vow, Numb. xxi. 1-3, from the second text; in the +form of a command, Exod. xxiii. 32, 33; xxxiv. 12, from the revision.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_671_671" id="Footnote_671_671"></a><a href="#FNanchor_671_671"><span class="label">[671]</span></a> If the Hivites are counted in 2 Samuel xxi. 22 among the Amorites, +the reason is to be sought in the comprehensive meaning here given to +the name Amorites.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_672_672" id="Footnote_672_672"></a><a href="#FNanchor_672_672"><span class="label">[672]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxi. 1-10; 1 Kings ix. 20; cf. Joshua xvii. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_673_673" id="Footnote_673_673"></a><a href="#FNanchor_673_673"><span class="label">[673]</span></a> De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 304, 305; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_674_674" id="Footnote_674_674"></a><a href="#FNanchor_674_674"><span class="label">[674]</span></a> Joshua xi. 1, 10, 13; xii. 19; xix. 36; Judges iv. 2, 17; 1 Sam. +xii. 9</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_675_675" id="Footnote_675_675"></a><a href="#FNanchor_675_675"><span class="label">[675]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxi. 1-6; xxii. 11-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_676_676" id="Footnote_676_676"></a><a href="#FNanchor_676_676"><span class="label">[676]</span></a> Joshua xii.; Nöldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_677_677" id="Footnote_677_677"></a><a href="#FNanchor_677_677"><span class="label">[677]</span></a> Judges i. 27-30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_678_678" id="Footnote_678_678"></a><a href="#FNanchor_678_678"><span class="label">[678]</span></a> Judges i. 16; iii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_679_679" id="Footnote_679_679"></a><a href="#FNanchor_679_679"><span class="label">[679]</span></a> Joshua xix. 49, 50; xxiv. 33, both from the first text; Joshua xvii. +14-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_680_680" id="Footnote_680_680"></a><a href="#FNanchor_680_680"><span class="label">[680]</span></a> Joshua xvii. 14-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_681_681" id="Footnote_681_681"></a><a href="#FNanchor_681_681"><span class="label">[681]</span></a> Judges i. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_682_682" id="Footnote_682_682"></a><a href="#FNanchor_682_682"><span class="label">[682]</span></a> Judges i. 12-15, 20; Jesus, 46, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_683_683" id="Footnote_683_683"></a><a href="#FNanchor_683_683"><span class="label">[683]</span></a> Judges i. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_684_684" id="Footnote_684_684"></a><a href="#FNanchor_684_684"><span class="label">[684]</span></a> Joshua xix. 47; Judges xviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_685_685" id="Footnote_685_685"></a><a href="#FNanchor_685_685"><span class="label">[685]</span></a> Judges i. 22, 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_686_686" id="Footnote_686_686"></a><a href="#FNanchor_686_686"><span class="label">[686]</span></a> Judges i. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_687_687" id="Footnote_687_687"></a><a href="#FNanchor_687_687"><span class="label">[687]</span></a> Judges i. 30-35.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[Pg 510]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR.</h3> + + +<p>The peninsula of Asia Minor is a table-land of +about 750 miles in length by 400 in breadth, lying +between the Black Sea, the Ægean, and the Mediterranean. +This table-land reaches its highest level +in the south; here run along the Mediterranean, +from east to west, parallel ranges of mountains, the +chain of Taurus, and under the snow-clad heights lie +green Alpine pastures, while the slopes are filled +with the most beautiful wood. Under these mountains +on the sea we find here and there narrow and +hot but fruitful plains, which are separated into +several sharply-divided districts by the spurs of the +Taurus, which run athwart them into the sea. Northward +of the peaks of Taurus the soil gradually sinks +to the Black Sea, so that while the southern coast +possesses only short streams, with the exception of +the Sarus and Pyramus, the larger arteries of the land +empty into the Black Sea—the Iris, the Halys, the +Billæus, the Sangarius, and the Rhyndakus. These +rivers take their course, partly through rocky districts, +partly through extremely fruitful valleys. The centre +of the land, from the middle course of the Halys to +the Sangarius in the west, is taken up with a wide +treeless desert, the great Salt-steppe, the edges of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[Pg 511]</a></span> +which are formed by a mass of volcanic craters, by +deep ravines and large lakes. Further to the west +the waters streaming from the table-land find their +way to the Ægean, down a series of mountain terraces, +so that the valleys of the Mæander and the Hermus +are at the same time the highways which connect the +coast with the interior. These terraces sometimes +advance to the western shore, with steep limestone +rocks and precipitous promontories running out into +the bright blue sea; at other times they approach the +coast with softer outlines; in one place broader, in +others narrower plains are left, which, owing to the +great fertility of the soil, are covered with orchards +and vineyards. Further inland, on the rising heights, +is a splendid forest of oaks, firs, and planes, broken by +mountain pastures, over which rise the jagged rocks +of Ida, Tmolus, Messogis, and Latmus; in the far +distance the snow-capped peaks of Taurus fill the +horizon. On the western coast the proximity of the +ocean softens the heat of summer and the cold of +winter; and the combination of sea and mountain, of +ocean breezes and upland air, the connection opened +to the table-land on the east by the Hermus and +Mæander and the calm sea on the west, which forms +a passage to a number of adjacent islands—make these +districts on the shore of the Ægean Sea the favoured +home of civilisation in Asia Minor.</p> + +<p>On the north-east, where the peninsula joins the +broad mountain land of the isthmus between the +Black Sea and the Caspian, around the sources of the +Euphrates and Tigris, on the course of the Araxes, +which falls into the Caspian Sea, and the high table-land +of Lake Van, lay the home of the Armenians. +According to Strabo, their customs were like those of +the Medes, who were the neighbours of the Armenians,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[Pg 512]</a></span> +to the east of the Lake of Urumiah, and at the mouth +of the Araxes. And if, according to the same evidence, +the Armenians paid the greatest reverence to +the goddess Anaitis,<a name="FNanchor_688_688" id="FNanchor_688_688"></a><a href="#Footnote_688_688" class="fnanchor">[688]</a> the goddess Anahita held a +prominent position in the worship of the nations of +the table-land of Iran. Moreover, even in modern +Armenian, the affinity with the Iranian languages is +predominant; and there is therefore no doubt that +the Armenians belong to the Indo-Germanic stock, +and are a nation of Aryan descent.</p> + +<p>On the southern slope of the group of mountains +which they possessed south-east of the Lake of Van, on +the upper course of the Great Zab, lay the district +of Arphaxad, with which we have already become +acquainted from Semitic sources; south of the lake lay +the Carduchi, whom the later Greeks call the Gordyæans +and Gordyenes; but among the Armenians +they were known as Kordu, among the Syrians as +Kardu.<a name="FNanchor_689_689" id="FNanchor_689_689"></a><a href="#Footnote_689_689" class="fnanchor">[689]</a> These are the ancestors of the modern +Kurds, a nation also of the Aryan stock, whose +language is even nearer to those of Iran than the +Armenian. Westward of the Carduchi, at the confluence +of the two streams of the Euphrates, we again +meet with a Semitic race.<a name="FNanchor_690_690" id="FNanchor_690_690"></a><a href="#Footnote_690_690" class="fnanchor">[690]</a> The north-western slope +of the Armenian mountains, as far as the Phasis and +the Black Sea, was the home of the Muskai of the +Assyrian inscriptions, the Mesech of the Hebrews, the +Moschi of the Greeks. Beside them, further to the +west, on the coast, were the Tabal of the Assyrians, +the Tubal of the Hebrews, the Tibarenes of the +Greeks; westward from these, as far as the mouth +of the Iris, were the Chalti of the Armenians, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[Pg 513]</a></span> +Chalybians (Chaldæans) of the Greeks. Of the origin +and language of the Moschi and Tibarenes we know +nothing further; the genealogies of the Hebrews +placed Mesech and Tubal among the sons of Japhet.</p> + +<p>The territory of the Armenians round Lake Van +lies 5,000 feet high. The only extensive plain +among the mountains which are the home of the +Armenians is the valley on the middle course of the +Araxes, which is separated from the district of the +Van by the range of the Masis (Ararat). The highest +peak of this range, a mighty cone of dark rock, veiled +by wide glaciers, rises to a height of 16,000 feet. +Only the valley of the Araxes allowed agriculture on +any extensive scale; it only brought forth abundant +produce. Other more protected and warmer depressions, +though small in extent, on the southern slopes, +permitted the culture of the vine. The inhabitants of +the heights followed a pastoral life, and the mountain +pastures supported splendid horses and mules.</p> + +<p>Moses of Chorni (Khorene), who wrote the history +of Armenia in the years 460-480 of our era,<a name="FNanchor_691_691" id="FNanchor_691_691"></a><a href="#Footnote_691_691" class="fnanchor">[691]</a> tells +us as follows:—Japhet, the third son of Noah, had +a son Gomer; Gomer's son was Thiras; Thiras had +a son Thorgom; Thorgom's son Haik, together with +his son Armenak and all his family, emigrated +from Babylon to the plain of Airarat, in order to +escape the tyranny of Belus, the king of Babel. This +plain Haik then left to Cadmus, his grandson, the son +of Armenak, and himself, with Armenak, passed on to +the west, and founded Haikashen. But when the +army of the Babylonians marched out to attack +Airarat, Haik came to the assistance of his grandson, +and defeated Belus on the shore of Lake Van. Then +Armenak marched eastwards from Haikashen into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[Pg 514]</a></span> +plain at the foot of the Aragazd, where at a later time +Armajis, the son of Armenak, built the city of +Armavir. The son of Armajis was Amasiaj, and of +Amasiaj, Arast. The grandson of Arast was Aram, +who undertook distant campaigns, and subjugated +Syria and Cappadocia to his rule. With him Ninus, +king of Assyria, out of respect to his power and +bravery, made a league. Aram's son and successor was +Araj, whose beauty inflamed Shamiram (Semiramis), +the queen of Assyria. When Araj resisted her +inclinations, Shamiram, at the head of her army, +invaded Armenia, but, before the battle, she bade her +soldiers spare Araj. The Armenians were defeated, +and in spite of the command of Shamiram, Araj was +slain in the <i>mêlée</i>, and she attempted in vain to +resuscitate the corpse by magic arts. Then Shamiram +caused builders to come from Assyria to Armenia, and +with the help of these she erected a splendid city, +Shamiramakert (city of Semiramis), on the shore of +the lake of Van, in order to dwell in the cool air of +the mountains during the heat of the summer months; +and the throne of Armenia she gave to Cardus, the +son of Araj. But he rebelled against her, fought +without success, and, like his father, fell in battle. +At last the Medes rebelled against Shamiram, and +after defeat she fled to Armenia. On the shores of +Lake Van she was overtaken by her pursuers, and +when she had thrown her necklace and her ornaments +into the water, she was slain. Then her son Zames +(Ninyas) ascended the throne of Assyria, and for +twenty-six generations the descendants of Cardus +were vassals of the kings of Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_692_692" id="FNanchor_692_692"></a><a href="#Footnote_692_692" class="fnanchor">[692]</a> After these +twenty-six kings, whose names are given by Moses, +when Nineveh had fallen, Barbakis (Arbaces) the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[Pg 515]</a></span> +Mede, crowned Baroir king of Armenia, and his +descendants ruled as independent princes. The ninth +successor of Baroir was Tigran (Tigranes). He conquered +Azdahag (Astyages), the king of the Medes, +and pierced him through with his lance in the battle. +Owing to Tigran's bravery and victory, the prince of +the Persians became the lord of the Medes.<a name="FNanchor_693_693" id="FNanchor_693_693"></a><a href="#Footnote_693_693" class="fnanchor">[693]</a></p> + +<p>We can trace the elements out of which this +account has arisen. The names Japhet, Gomer, and +Thiras are borrowed from the Hebrew scriptures, from +the genealogy of the Japhetic nations in Genesis; +but the order of succession is altered. To the same +book belongs Thorgom, the son of Thiras, and father +of Haik; in the Hebrew his name is Torgarmah. +Torgarmah was the name of Armenia among the +Syrians;<a name="FNanchor_694_694" id="FNanchor_694_694"></a><a href="#Footnote_694_694" class="fnanchor">[694]</a> the Hebrews appear to have used the word +to denote the district of Van. The native name of the +Armenians was Haikh, and of the land, Haiastan. +From these names is derived Haik, the son of +Thorgom, the progenitor of the race. The emigration +from Babylon is no doubt an invention arising out of +some early contact, out of the trade of Armenia with +Babylonia, and intended to give the Armenians a +share in the splendour of that ancient centre of the +civilisation of Hither Asia, from which, as a fact, they +derived such important elements of culture as their +system of writing. Eastward of Lake Van Haik +defeats the Babylonians, for here lay Haik's fortress; +in Armenian Haikabjerd, <i>i. e.</i> fortress of the Armenians, +and Hajots-dsor, <i>i. e.</i> valley of the Armenians. Northeast +of this lake lies the canton of Harkth, <i>i. e.</i> the +fathers, the canton of the fathers;<a name="FNanchor_695_695" id="FNanchor_695_695"></a><a href="#Footnote_695_695" class="fnanchor">[695]</a> and in this, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[Pg 516]</a></span> +the Eastern Euphrates, is Haikashen, <i>i. e.</i> Haik's +building, which Haik is said to have founded, and +where his grave was reported to be. As the name of +Haik, <i>i. e.</i> the name of the nation, clings especially to +the neighbourhood of Lake Van, so are the names of +his supposed successors, his son Armenak, and grandsons +Cadmos and Amajis, attached to the district of +Airarat, to Mount Aragadz, and the city of Armavir. +The land of Airarat, <i>i. e.</i> the fruitful plain, on the +middle course of the Araxes, was, as we have heard, +the first object of the immigrants, who must have +come, not from the south, as the story represents, but +from the east, from Media, and must have reached the +valley of the Araxes from the shore of the Caspian Sea. +As Haikh is the name by which the Armenians called +themselves, so Armenak is obviously formed from the +name Armina, which the Medes and Persians gave +to the Armenians. Cadmus, the son of Armenak, is +inserted in the story; and has been borrowed, as +the form of the name shows, from Grecian sources, +perhaps to represent the Semitic population in the +South of Armenia. That in this learned construction +of the Armenian myth the eastern, and not the +southern, district of Armenia is given to Cadmus, is +due, no doubt, to the fact that the Semitic word +<i>kedem</i> could hardly have any other meaning than +that of "the East." Armenak's grandson and great-grandson, +Amasiaj and Arast, represent respectively +the mountain chain of Masis and the river Araxes; +in old Armenian the name of the latter was Eras'ch.<a name="FNanchor_696_696" id="FNanchor_696_696"></a><a href="#Footnote_696_696" class="fnanchor">[696]</a></p> + +<p>The division of the two centres of the Armenian +land and Armenian life—the land in the East and the +land in the West, the land of Ararat on the Araxes, +and the district of Van—is strongly marked in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[Pg 517]</a></span> +tradition, and not less so in the Assyrian inscriptions +and the scriptures of the Hebrews. The first text of +the Pentateuch represents Noah's ship as landing +on Mount Ararat, and this text or the second mentions +Togarmah beside Gomer. The prophet Ezekiel +speaks of the horses and mules which came from +Togarmah, the land of mountain pastures, to Tyre.<a name="FNanchor_697_697" id="FNanchor_697_697"></a><a href="#Footnote_697_697" class="fnanchor">[697]</a> +The Assyrian inscriptions mention the land of Van +(<i>mat vannai</i>) beside the land of Urarti, <i>i. e.</i> Ararat; +each is ruled by its own prince.</p> + +<p>King Aram represents the land of Aram, the +Aramæans, whose neighbours the Armenians were, +and with whom they came into frequent contact. +The oldest historical recollections of the Armenians +might perhaps go back to the times when the kings +of Assyria made an inroad into their mountains and +reduced their princes to tribute and obedience. But +when Moses of Chorni tells us of the meetings of +Aram, Araj, and Cardus with Ninus, Semiramis, +and Ninyas, of the twenty-six kings who governed +under Assyrian dominion, and of the liberation of +the land by Arbaces, these supposed names of the +Assyrian riders are enough to prove that the narratives +were framed upon the accounts of the Greeks, +especially the Greek chronographers.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the story of the city of Semiramis +on Lake Van is grounded upon the Assyrian +images and ruins, which are still found in various +parts of Armenia, especially at Van, Bitlis, Karkar, +Egil, and Achlat, as also upon monuments of the +Persian kings, and Xerxes in particular; but no doubt +it is due in the greatest extent to the monuments +of the native princes, of whom inscriptions are in +existence belonging to the end of the seventh and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[Pg 518]</a></span> +sixth century <small>B.C.</small> Later historians knew nothing +of these princes, and were unable to read the inscriptions. +The long list of Armenian kings in Moses of +Chorni does not contain a single name of the Armenian +princes mentioned in the inscriptions of the +Assyrian kings, or in the native inscriptions of these +princes.</p> + +<p>The narrative of king Tigran appears to be of an +earlier date than the rest of the material from which +Moses of Chorni compiled his history of Armenia +in the older period. Tigran is said to have ruled +over Armenia at the time of Cyrus, with whom he +entered into a league; he overcame Astyages (Azdahag) +of Media in battle, and slew him in single combat. +The first wife of Astyages and a number of his children, +together with other captives, Tigran then conducted +to Armenia, and there he settled them in the neighbourhood +of Koghten. In the songs of the people +of Koghten the descendants of Astyages are "allegorically" +spoken of as the descendants of the dragon, +"for Azdahag," Moses adds, "signifies a dragon in +our language."<a name="FNanchor_698_698" id="FNanchor_698_698"></a><a href="#Footnote_698_698" class="fnanchor">[698]</a> Hence it is clear that the Armenians +claimed the glory of having conquered the +Medes and overthrown their supremacy. And if +they called the descendants of Astyages the descendants +of the dragon, they obviously contracted the +old cloud-demon of the Avesta, Azhi-dahaka, into +Azdahag, and confounded him with Astyages. Xenophon +in his romance of Cyrus calls Tigranes the son +of the king of Armenia, and represents him as paying +the most considerable services to Cyrus. It may +have been the case that Xenophon in his march +through Armenia, when he crossed the snowclad +heights of this mountain region, and entered the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[Pg 519]</a></span> +mud huts of the mountaineers, and was hospitably +entertained by them with barley-wine, <i>i. e.</i> with beer, +heard the name and deeds of Tigranes.<a name="FNanchor_699_699" id="FNanchor_699_699"></a><a href="#Footnote_699_699" class="fnanchor">[699]</a></p> + +<p>The kings of Assyria at an early period turned their +arms to the North. On the Zibene-su, the eastern +source of the Western Tigris, the likeness of Tiglath +Pilesar I. (1130-1110 <small>B.C.</small>) has been found engraved +on the rocks at Karkar. The inscription tells us that +he had overcome the land of Nairi, <i>i. e.</i> in all probability +the land of the rivers (Euphrates and Tigris), +and that he had defeated the Muskai (<a href="#Page_512">p. 512</a>), who +had not paid their tribute for fifty years, and had +invaded Kumukh (Commagene). More than 200 +years later, Tiglath Adar II. (889 to 883 <small>B.C.</small>) +caused his image to be hewn in the rocks here beside +that of the first Tiglath Pilesar. Tiglath Adar's +successor, Assurnasirpal (883-859 <small>B.C.</small>), made repeated +campaigns against the Nairi, destroyed 250 +of their towns, slew many of their princes, and set +up his image beside those of Tiglath Adar and +Tiglath Pilesar. In his tenth campaign he took +Amida (Diabekr) on the Tigris. Below this city, +at Kurkh, there is a second image of this king. His +successor also, Shalmanesar II. (859-823 <small>B.C.</small>), fought +against the Nairi, set up his image at the source of +the Tigris, and in the year 843 defeated the king of +Urarti. In the year 831 his troops again defeated +a king of Urarti, of another name than the first; in +the year 828 <small>B.C.</small> they laid waste the land of king +Udaki of Van, and in the following campaign fifty +places in Urarti were burnt. Bin Nirar III., king +of Asshur (810-781 <small>B.C.</small>), marched twice against +the district of Lake Van, and seven times against +the Nairi; he boasts that he has taken possession<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[Pg 520]</a></span> +of the land of the Nairi throughout its whole extent.<a name="FNanchor_700_700" id="FNanchor_700_700"></a><a href="#Footnote_700_700" class="fnanchor">[700]</a> +Shalmanesar III. (781-771 <small>B.C.</small>) led his army six +times against Urarti. Then Tiglath Pilesar II. +(745-727 <small>B.C.</small>), in the year 742, defeated king +Sarda, or Sarduri, of Urarti, with his confederates; +in the year 728 <small>B.C.</small> removed Vassarmi from Tubal, +and placed Chulli on the throne in his stead. +In the time of Sargon of Assyria (722-705 <small>B.C.</small>), +Aza, the prince of the land of Van, who, like his +predecessor Iranzu, was a tributary to Assyria, was +murdered. His brother Ullusun, whom Sargon put +in his place, combined with Urza, prince of Ararat, +and the prince of Mount Mildis against Assyria. +Sargon was victorious; Ullusun submitted (716 <small>B.C.</small>); +but Urza maintained himself in Ararat, and although +Sargon boasts to have burnt fifty of his townships, +he combined with Urzana of Musasir, <i>i. e.</i> probably +of Arsissa on Lake Van, with Mita, prince of the +Moschi, with Ambris, prince of Tubal, the son of +Chulli, whom Sargon had allowed to succeed his +father on the throne of the Tibarenes, and to whom +at the same time he had entrusted the sovereignty +over Cilicia, and had given his daughter in marriage.<a name="FNanchor_701_701" id="FNanchor_701_701"></a><a href="#Footnote_701_701" class="fnanchor">[701]</a> +The confederates were defeated; Ambris was carried +prisoner to Assyria, a part of his nation were transplanted +to Assyria, and Assyrians settled at Tubal +in his place. Mita submitted. Arsissa was captured; +20,000 prisoners, their treasures, the gods Haldia (?) +and Bagamazda (?), with the holy vessels, were +carried away. When Urza perceived this, he took +away his own life (714 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_702_702" id="FNanchor_702_702"></a><a href="#Footnote_702_702" class="fnanchor">[702]</a> In the seventh century<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[Pg 521]</a></span> +Esarhaddon of Assyria had to fight against the +Cilicians, the Tibarenes, and the Mannai; the last +name seems to denote the Armenian district of +Minyas, on the upper course of the Eastern Euphrates, +of which the chief city was Manavazakert; Manavaz, +the son of Haik, is said to have built this city.<a name="FNanchor_703_703" id="FNanchor_703_703"></a><a href="#Footnote_703_703" class="fnanchor">[703]</a> +Against the Mannai, or the Minni of Ezekiel, Esarhaddon's +successor, Assurbanipal (668-626 <small>B.C.</small>), +also directed his weapons. In the course of this +war Asheri, the prince of the Minni, was slain by +his own dependents, and his son Ualli submitted; +the previous tribute of the Minni was raised by thirty +horses; and Mugalla, king of Tubal, and Sandasarmi +of Cilicia voluntarily submitted to Assurbanipal.<a name="FNanchor_704_704" id="FNanchor_704_704"></a><a href="#Footnote_704_704" class="fnanchor">[704]</a></p> + +<p>The mountains of Armenia, as these narratives +prove, were divided into several principalities. The +Assyrians first attacked the land to the south of +the high mountain-range, <i>i. e.</i>, in the first instance +the land of Ararat, the most powerful of these +Armenian principalities. On either side of the +mountain, in the basin of Lake Van, and in the +valley of the Araxes, the Armenians made a vigorous +resistance, so that the obedience of the Armenian +chieftains never seemed to be secured for any length +of time. In spite of this resistance, the civilisation +of the Assyrians exercised great influence on the +Armenians. This is not merely shown in the +adoption of the system of cuneiform writing on the +part of the Armenians; Sargon caused the capture +of Arsissa to be represented in his palace at Khor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[Pg 522]</a></span>sabad. +If these reliefs are true representations, the +style of architecture and the plan of the Armenian +temples were not essentially different from the Assyrian. +The altars also, the ornaments, and the weapons +appear to be similar.<a name="FNanchor_705_705" id="FNanchor_705_705"></a><a href="#Footnote_705_705" class="fnanchor">[705]</a> On the other hand it would +admit of no doubt that the Armenians, in spite of +this influence, retained the worship of their Iranian +gods without any foreign admixture, if the name of +that Armenian deity Bagamazda, <i>i. e.</i> the great god, +were read correctly. That deity would at the same +time afford a new proof that the deities of Iran were +worshipped in Armenia also. Strabo, as already +(<a href="#Page_512">p. 512</a>) remarked, gives an account of the worship +of Anaitis, the water-giving goddess, the Anahita +of the Iranians, among the Armenians; and the name +of this goddess is found, in the form "Anaid," in the +cuneiform inscriptions of the Armenian princes. +Unfortunately these inscriptions, which mainly belong +to the land of Van, have not as yet been sufficiently +deciphered. The names of the kings, from which +they come, are read as Bagridur, Isbuinis, Minuas, +Argistis II. and Bagridur II.<a name="FNanchor_706_706" id="FNanchor_706_706"></a><a href="#Footnote_706_706" class="fnanchor">[706]</a> These kings reigned +successively; each calls himself the son of his predecessor. +An older Argistis of Ararat is mentioned +after the time of Urza in an inscription of Sargon, +king of Assyria, belonging apparently to the year +708 <small>B.C.</small> The inscriptions of the kings of Armenia +from the first to the second Bagridur are filled with +the wars which they carried on, the numbers of the +slain, of the captives, the cattle in the spoil, the +towns and temples destroyed. As Asshur is mentioned +in the inscriptions of Argistis II., and in those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[Pg 523]</a></span> +of his successor Bagridur II. a war against Babylon +is narrated,<a name="FNanchor_707_707" id="FNanchor_707_707"></a><a href="#Footnote_707_707" class="fnanchor">[707]</a> these two kings must have been contemporaries +of the last ruler of Assyria, Assuridilili +(626-606 <small>B.C.</small>), and Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon +(604-568 <small>B.C.</small>), and their three predecessors contemporaries +of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Assurbanipal.</p> + +<p>The central plain of the table-land of Asia Minor, +from the valley of the Halys and the great salt lake +to the Cadmus and the Mysian Olympus, north-westwards +as far as the coasts of the Propontis, was +inhabited by the Phrygians. According to Herodotus +the Thracians asserted that the Phrygians had once +dwelt in their land under the name of Briges. Hence +they had passed through Thrace to Asia, though a +part, who still preserved the name of Briges, had +remained behind in Thrace. Of those who arrived in +Asia, some passed still further to the east; and the +Armenians were colonists of the Phrygians.<a name="FNanchor_708_708" id="FNanchor_708_708"></a><a href="#Footnote_708_708" class="fnanchor">[708]</a> In +Strabo also the Phrygians are immigrants, and come +from Thrace.<a name="FNanchor_709_709" id="FNanchor_709_709"></a><a href="#Footnote_709_709" class="fnanchor">[709]</a> In any case the Bithynians, who were +settled on the lower course of the Sangarius from the +mouth of this stream westward as far as the Bosporus, +were of Thracian descent; they are said to have +emigrated from the Strymon to Asia.<a name="FNanchor_710_710" id="FNanchor_710_710"></a><a href="#Footnote_710_710" class="fnanchor">[710]</a> On the other +hand, the Phrygians themselves maintained that they +were not an offshoot from the Thracian Briges, but the +Briges in Thracia had emigrated from them.<a name="FNanchor_711_711" id="FNanchor_711_711"></a><a href="#Footnote_711_711" class="fnanchor">[711]</a> If the +affinity of the Armenians, the Phrygians, and Thracians +is established, the Phrygians must be considered in +the right. These migrations could not have pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[Pg 524]</a></span>ceeded +from the Strymon, they must rather have +taken place from the east to the west, from Armenia +to Thrace, and the Thracians rather than the +Armenians were the last link in this emigration. As +the modern science of language finds Indo-Germanic +roots in the slight remains of the Phrygian language +which have come down to us,<a name="FNanchor_712_712" id="FNanchor_712_712"></a><a href="#Footnote_712_712" class="fnanchor">[712]</a> we must assume that +the progenitors of the Phrygians and Thracians passed +from the Armenian mountains in the east towards the +west. The ancestors of the Phrygians remained on +the table-land of Asia Minor, those of the Thracians +went further to the north-west, towards Bithynia, over +the Bosporus, which the Greeks named after the +Thracians; and beyond the strait they inhabited the +land under the Balkan from the Black Sea to the +shores of the Adriatic. The character of the language +of the Thracians and Illyrians, remains of which are +preserved in Rumanisch and Albanian, places it in +the Indo-Germanic family.</p> + +<p>The Phrygians are said to have been a very ancient +nation.<a name="FNanchor_713_713" id="FNanchor_713_713"></a><a href="#Footnote_713_713" class="fnanchor">[713]</a> According to the accounts of the Greeks, the +legends of the Phrygians began the history of their +country with Gordius and Midas. Gordius, it was +said, was a poor farmer, who possessed only two yoke +of oxen. At that time the Phrygians were divided by +factions, and in order to restore peace, the deity +commanded that they should elect as king the man +whom they first met on a waggon on the way to the +shrine of Zeus. Then they met Gordius on his waggon +and greeted him as king. Gordius built the city of +Gordium at the confluence of the Scopas and Sangarius, +and dedicated in the temple of Zeus on the citadel of +Gordium the chariot which carried him to the throne. +After Gordius's death the throne descended to his son<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[Pg 525]</a></span> +Midas, to whose lips, when a boy, ants had carried +grains of corn. Midas is said to have founded the +city of Gordiutichus in the south of the land, on the +borders of Phrygia, and Ancyra in the north: at +Pessinus on the slope of Mount Agdus he built a +temple to the goddess of Phrygia and established +the sacrifices.<a name="FNanchor_714_714" id="FNanchor_714_714"></a><a href="#Footnote_714_714" class="fnanchor">[714]</a> He was the richest king who ever +lived. Everything that he touched turned to gold. +Once he bathed in the Pactolus, and ever since the +sands washed down by the river became sands of gold. +When Pan blew his shepherd's pipe, and Apollo +touched his lyre, Midas preferred the music of Pan. +In revenge, Apollo caused asses' ears to grow upon +Midas, and he covered them with a tall cap. But the +barber of Midas knew the secret, and told it into a +pit; and some rushes grew in the pit, and whispered +"Midas has asses' ears."<a name="FNanchor_715_715" id="FNanchor_715_715"></a><a href="#Footnote_715_715" class="fnanchor">[715]</a></p> + +<p>The gold of Midas and his power of changing +everything into that metal comes from the Greeks, +whose legends desired to celebrate and explain the +ancient wealth of the kings of Phrygia. From the +same source are the asses' ears and the whispering +rushes. The use of the pan's pipe, though not of the +shepherd's pipe, was learnt by the Greeks through their +colonists in Asia Minor from the Phrygians. The +reed (or flute) was called "eleg" among the Armenians: +its notes first accompanied the Elegies of Callinus of +Ephesus, and Archilochus of Paros, to which it gave +the name. Among the Greeks many judges, and +those by no means of the least reputation, gave +the most decided preference to the music of the +cithara, the lyre of Apollo, over the flute. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[Pg 526]</a></span> +same feeling which prompted this judgment, the +want of taste in finding the tones of the flute more +beautiful than those of the cithara is visited by a +punishment which at the same time is intended to +explain the origin of the tall Phrygian cap. The +reeds belong to a brook in the vicinity of Celænæ +in Phrygia, which the Greeks called "the flute-spring" +(Aulokrenê) because the reeds growing on the shores +were used as wind-instruments. There is another +story in which the Greeks have expressed the +contrast between the quiet and composed tones of +the cithara, and the wild music of the Phrygian +flutes—the Phrygian harmonies to which they +ascribed the power of rousing the feelings into a +passionate excitement of pain or delight.<a name="FNanchor_716_716" id="FNanchor_716_716"></a><a href="#Footnote_716_716" class="fnanchor">[716]</a> The music +of the flute was introduced into choric poetry in the +first half of the sixth century by Polymnestus of +Colophon, and Sakadas of Argos. Among the +Phrygians, Marsyas, a faithful and chaste companion +of their national goddess, was the genius of flute-music.<a name="FNanchor_717_717" id="FNanchor_717_717"></a><a href="#Footnote_717_717" class="fnanchor">[717]</a> +A brook which flowed into the Mæander through +the city Apamæa Cibotus, in the neighbourhood of +Celænæ, was named after Marsyas. The Greeks had +a story that their god Apollo had overcome with his +cithara the flute-player of the Phrygians, and had +flayed him in punishment for his presumption in +entering on the contest. At Celænæ a bottle of +Marsyas was exhibited, on which the story of the +flaying of Marsyas may have been founded.<a name="FNanchor_718_718" id="FNanchor_718_718"></a><a href="#Footnote_718_718" class="fnanchor">[718]</a></p> + +<p>After removing the fictions and additions of the +Greeks, the characteristic trait of the Phrygian story +still remains, that their monarchs arose out of the +agricultural class, that grains of corn were carried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[Pg 527]</a></span> +into the lips of the son of the first ruler, and that +the king of Phrygia loved the pan's pipe of the +shepherds. Elsewhere also the respect of the +Phrygians for the agricultural life is brought into +prominence. Nicolaus of Damascus tells us of a law +of the Phrygians by which the slaughter of the +ploughing ox, or the theft of agricultural implements, +was punished with death.<a name="FNanchor_719_719" id="FNanchor_719_719"></a><a href="#Footnote_719_719" class="fnanchor">[719]</a> In the fourth century <small>B.C.</small> +the waggon of Gordius was still standing on the citadel +of Gordium. The yoke was bound so fast to the pole +with the bark of dog-wood—the knot is reported to +been tied by Gordius himself—that it was said in +Phrygia that the man who should untie this knot +would rule over all Asia. The name Gordius should +apparently be traced back to the Armenian "gords," +i.e. labour, or "day labour."<a name="FNanchor_720_720" id="FNanchor_720_720"></a><a href="#Footnote_720_720" class="fnanchor">[720]</a> That side by side with +these traits the national tradition ascribed the erection +of the ancient cities and temples, the building of +Gordium, Gordiuteichus, and Ancyra to the earliest +princes, is only natural. The names of the cities +Manegordum (near Ancyra) and Midaëum also point +to these.</p> + +<p>The Phrygians obeyed a dynasty which saw its +ancestors in the kings Gordius and Midas, and called +themselves alternately by these names. The first king +of whom we have any more definite information was +Midas, the son of Gordius, who ascended the throne +of Phrygia in the year 738 <small>B.C.</small> according to the date +of Eusebius. His wife was Damodice, the daughter of +Agamemnon, the king of the Greek city of Cyme, who +is said to have been a woman distinguished by beauty +and wisdom.<a name="FNanchor_721_721" id="FNanchor_721_721"></a><a href="#Footnote_721_721" class="fnanchor">[721]</a> The seat on which he used to dispense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[Pg 528]</a></span> +justice, a work well worth seeing, as Herodotus says, +he consecrated at Delphi. When Phrygia was attacked +by the first great invasion of the Cimmerians, +he took away his own life by drinking bull's +blood (693 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_722_722" id="FNanchor_722_722"></a><a href="#Footnote_722_722" class="fnanchor">[722]</a> Of a third Midas, who reigned +apparently about a century later, we learn that his +tomb was adorned with the image of a maiden in +brass, and that a Greek poet composed as an inscription +for this monument the following verses:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I am a maiden of brass,<br /> +I lie on the tomb of Midas;<br /> +While waters flow, and tall trees grow,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On Midas' tearful tomb I lie.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I say to every passer by,</span><br /> +'Here Midas sleeps in earth below.'"<a name="FNanchor_723_723" id="FNanchor_723_723"></a><a href="#Footnote_723_723" class="fnanchor">[723]</a><br /> +</p> + +<p>With the descendants of this Midas, Gordius and his +son Adrastus, this dynasty came to an end in the +sixth century <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_724_724" id="FNanchor_724_724"></a><a href="#Footnote_724_724" class="fnanchor">[724]</a></p> + +<p>Between Prymnessus and Midaëum (Jazili Kaja +and Sidi Ghazi), in the valley of Doganlu, lie the +tombs of these kings, sepulchral chambers, which are +hewn in the perpendicular walls of red sandstone. On +the face of the rock there is no trace of any entrance; +and the corpses must have been lowered down +behind the exterior front. The walls of rock are +changed into sculptures, in imitation of the outlines +and rudiments of a light wooden building. In low<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[Pg 529]</a></span> +relief a framework of beams is sketched, and over this +a low-pitched gable rises. Such are the simplest of +these façades, which apparently we must also consider +the oldest. Others display a frieze of palm leaves in the +upper field of the framework. Others again put the +figures of animals in the gable, <i>e. g.</i> two horses, between +which is an obelisk, and exhibit traces of Hellenic +influence, while another presents a perfect imitation of +the Doric arrangement of pillars. Among these sepulchres +may once have been the tomb with the maiden +of brass. The inscriptions found on some, or in the +neighbourhood, are Phrygian, but written in Greek +characters. The most important tomb is that of a +more ancient Midas at Kümbet. The façade of this +monument, which is in framework of the Phrygian +style, covers about sixty square feet of the hundred feet +of the rock. The space in the field of the framework +is entirely filled up with rectangular ornaments and +a kind of scroll, while the tympanum of the gable is +covered with a key pattern.<a name="FNanchor_725_725" id="FNanchor_725_725"></a><a href="#Footnote_725_725" class="fnanchor">[725]</a></p> + +<p>Other remarkable remains of buildings are found +in Phrygia. Strabo tells us of a tribe on the borders +of Cilicia who lived in the arches and hollows of the +rocks above the fruitful valley which they cultivated; +till conquered by the Romans the tribe was considered +invincible, and Vitruvius remarks that the Phrygians +excavated the natural hills, cut passages in them, and +extended the spaces into dwellings as far as the nature +of the place allowed.<a name="FNanchor_726_726" id="FNanchor_726_726"></a><a href="#Footnote_726_726" class="fnanchor">[726]</a> On the Rhyndakus, in the district<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[Pg 530]</a></span> +of the ancient Prymnessus, at Beibazar, on Lake +Egerdir, to the east near Iconium, numerous habitations +are found excavated in the rocks, so that it really +seems that the Phrygians dwelt in the walls of their +mountains.<a name="FNanchor_727_727" id="FNanchor_727_727"></a><a href="#Footnote_727_727" class="fnanchor">[727]</a> Lofty walls of rock, thousands of isolated +cones, and some mighty mountain summits are excavated +into dwellings, into rock cities—a task which +was rendered easier by the softness of the stone +(peperino and tufa). Steep and at times wonderfully +jagged rocks, overhanging picturesque valleys, are +chiselled out for one or two hundred feet in height in +such a manner that several galleries of habitations lie +one upon the other. These are lighted by openings in +the front, and connected with each other by shafts +and staircases: of seats, hearths, or couches there is no +trace whatever—only niches and recesses are found. +Yet in some of the rock cities an advance may be +observed. In these the entrances to some extent +exhibit indications of pillars, architraves, portals, and +the like, so that the habitations of this kind seem +to have been built at a later period. The ruins of +the cities of the Phrygians, the remains of Gordium, +Midaëum, Pessinus, Prymnessus, and Ancyra allow +us to see the so-called Cyclopian style.<a name="FNanchor_728_728" id="FNanchor_728_728"></a><a href="#Footnote_728_728" class="fnanchor">[728]</a></p> + +<p>Our knowledge of the religious rites of the Phrygians +is extremely scanty. They are said to have +invoked the god Men, or Manes under various titles,<a name="FNanchor_729_729" id="FNanchor_729_729"></a><a href="#Footnote_729_729" class="fnanchor">[729]</a> +and the names of the cities Manegordum and Manesium +seem to go back to this deity. Whether this is +the god whom the Greeks called the Phrygian Zeus +is not clear. The goddess, whom the Greeks called +Rhea or Cybele, Dindymene, Agdistis, after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[Pg 531]</a></span> +mountains sacred to her, is said to have been called +Amma by the Phrygians.<a name="FNanchor_730_730" id="FNanchor_730_730"></a><a href="#Footnote_730_730" class="fnanchor">[730]</a> The chief home of her +rites was that sanctuary on Mount Agdus near +Pessinus, which the first Midas is said to have dedicated +to her (<a href="#Page_525">p. 525</a>). Here she was worshipped in +a shapeless stone of no great size, not larger than a +man could lift. At the side of her statue in the +temple lions and panthers are said to have stood.<a name="FNanchor_731_731" id="FNanchor_731_731"></a><a href="#Footnote_731_731" class="fnanchor">[731]</a> +Her priests were eunuchs, who waited on the goddess +in gaily coloured vestments. The chief priest +at Pessinus, or Archigallus, is afterwards found +holding a princely position. At the festivals of the +goddess, which were celebrated every year, it was +the custom for young men to make themselves +eunuchs with a sharp shell, crying out at the same +time, "Take this, Agdistis." Then they went round +the country asking alms in the name of the goddess, +and they were known to the Greeks as "Metragyrtes," +<i>i. e.</i> "beggars of the mother;"<a name="FNanchor_732_732" id="FNanchor_732_732"></a><a href="#Footnote_732_732" class="fnanchor">[732]</a> for the +goddess, whose priests were eunuchs, and whose +service demanded the sacrifice of sex, was called by +the Greeks the "Great Mother," the "Mountain +Mother," the "Nourishing Earth," the "Giver of +all." She must, therefore, have been regarded as +the maternal power of the earth, the power of nature, +which gives life. It is especially stated that she +gave increase to the flocks,<a name="FNanchor_733_733" id="FNanchor_733_733"></a><a href="#Footnote_733_733" class="fnanchor">[733]</a> and since she was named +after different mountains we may assume that high +places and mountains were the chosen seats of her +worship. In Greek and Roman art the Phrygian +goddess is represented as sitting on a chariot drawn +by lions and panthers, with a cymbal in her hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[Pg 532]</a></span> +and wearing on her head the mural crown as the +goddess of the earth which supports cities.</p> + +<p>By the side of the Great Mother stands the god +Atys, whom Herodotus calls a son of Manes.<a name="FNanchor_734_734" id="FNanchor_734_734"></a><a href="#Footnote_734_734" class="fnanchor">[734]</a> He +grew up with the shepherds among the goats of the +forest. The goddess loved him, but he fled away +into the mountains, and there, under a fir-tree, into +which his spirit passed, he made himself an eunuch. +In search of him Amma roams over the hills in frantic +grief, and carries into her cave the tree into which +his spirit passed. The emasculation and death of +Atys, as also his resurrection, were celebrated by the +Phrygians.<a name="FNanchor_735_735" id="FNanchor_735_735"></a><a href="#Footnote_735_735" class="fnanchor">[735]</a> At these festivals a fir-tree was felled, +crowned with violets, twined with garlands, and +carried into the sanctuary of the goddess. Afterwards +Atys was sought in the mountains with wild music +and frenzy, as Amma had sought him. The third +day of the festival was "the day of blood," i.e. of the +mutilation and death of Atys, who was bewailed with +despairing grief, amid rending of the hair and beating +of the breast. Then followed a happier scene, the +festival of "the resurrection," and the washing of the +stone of the goddess.<a name="FNanchor_736_736" id="FNanchor_736_736"></a><a href="#Footnote_736_736" class="fnanchor">[736]</a> We learn further that Atys +was also called Papas among the Phrygians. He is +also entitled the goat-herd and neat-herd; the plastic +art of Greece and Rome represents him as a youthful +shepherd with the Pan's-pipe, and by his side is a pine +and a ram. According to later accounts he was the +"shepherd of the bright stars."<a name="FNanchor_737_737" id="FNanchor_737_737"></a><a href="#Footnote_737_737" class="fnanchor">[737]</a> Hence we must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[Pg 533]</a></span> +assume that in Atys the Phrygians personified the +youthful bloom of nature, the bloom of the spring, +and they mourned the disappearance of this, just as, +according to the Greeks, they sang a piercing wail—the +Lityerses—at the time of corn-cutting. They +lamented the death of the spring, and the fall of +the fruit; the youthful god had resigned his own +power; the creative vigour continued only to exist in +the tree of Atys, the ever-green fir. In the spring +time it awoke again; this was the day of the resurrection +with its joy and pleasure. This orgiastic +worship, and roaming with wild cries over the heights +and in the ravines of the mountains, sometimes in +wailing and lamentation, sometimes in joy, is peculiar +to the religion of the Phrygians.</p> + +<p>The central point of the Phrygian kingdom lay +westwards of the great salt plain in the region between +Gordium and Ancyra, between Midaëum and +Pessinus in the valley of the Sangarius, on whose +banks the Homeric poems place the Phrygians, who +are the possessors of "well-walled cities."<a name="FNanchor_738_738" id="FNanchor_738_738"></a><a href="#Footnote_738_738" class="fnanchor">[738]</a> If the +majority of the Phrygians remained farmers and +shepherds, they nevertheless arrived at an early date +at a monarchy, and under this they reached a civilisation +by no means contemptible, a national culture, +with an architecture and music of their own. On +the religion of the Phrygians the rites of their Semitic +neighbours on the north and south no doubt exercised +a strong influence. The combination of the creative +power and the power hostile to procreation into one +deity, and the custom of mutilation, are conceptions +and rites unknown to the Aryan nations. But they +are closely connected with the forms and worship of +Astarte-Ashera, just as Atys resembles the Adonis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[Pg 534]</a></span> +of the Syrians. On the other hand, as was remarked +above, the Phrygians adopted the Greek alphabet on +their monuments, and Greek verses were composed +for the tomb of Midas (<a href="#Page_528">p. 528</a>). In return the Greeks +adopted the Phrygian flute, and along with it the +form of the elegy and the Phrygian harmonies. Nor +were these all. The wild roaming, the unchecked +sorrow and joy, the tambourines and drums of the +Phrygian festivals passed without doubt in the first +instance to the Greek colonies in the Propontis, and +more especially to Cyzicus, and from thence to the +mother country at the celebration of certain festivals +of Demeter and Dionysus. "Take," says Euripides in +the <i>Bacchæ</i>, "take the drums, the invention of the +Phrygians and the mother Rhea. Long ago the Corybantes +(the attendants of the Great Mother) devised +the mighty circle of the stretched hide and placed in +Rhea's hand, with the loud, sweet-sounding tone of +Phrygian flutes, the thunder for the festal song."<a name="FNanchor_739_739" id="FNanchor_739_739"></a><a href="#Footnote_739_739" class="fnanchor">[739]</a></p> + +<p>Towards the east, the south coast of Asia Minor +was inhabited by the Cilicians and the Solymi. To +the former belonged the slopes of Taurus and the +coast to the right bank of the Kalykadnus. Towards +the west came the Solymi, in a wild and broken +mountain country. They took their name from the +Solyma mountains (<i>sallum</i> = steps), which they inhabited, +and according to Chœrilus of Samos, they +spoke the language of the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_740_740" id="FNanchor_740_740"></a><a href="#Footnote_740_740" class="fnanchor">[740]</a> "The pass," so +Xenophon tells us, "which leads to Cilicia (from the +interior of Asia Minor) is very steep, and only broad +enough for a single waggon. On descending from it +you come into a well-watered plain by the sea, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[Pg 535]</a></span> +is inclosed from one end to the other by lofty and +precipitous mountains. But the plain itself is large and +beautiful, and filled with trees of every kind, and with +vines. It produces much sesame, wheat, millet, and +barley."<a name="FNanchor_741_741" id="FNanchor_741_741"></a><a href="#Footnote_741_741" class="fnanchor">[741]</a> In addition to these advantages the slopes +of Taurus offered splendid pastures for horses, and on +the coast were excellent harbours. The inhabitants +of this favoured land, known in Assyrian inscriptions +as Chillakai, and on the coins of the district from the +Persian times as Chelech,<a name="FNanchor_742_742" id="FNanchor_742_742"></a><a href="#Footnote_742_742" class="fnanchor">[742]</a> belonged, like their neighbours +on the Orontes and on the Upper Euphrates, to +the Semitic stock. This is proved by the names of +their districts and places of their gods, and by the +inscriptions on their coins. The Semitic stamp of +names of places like Amanus (<i>amana</i>, firm), Adana +(<i>eden</i>, delight), Mallus (<i>maa'la</i>, height), Tarsus +(<i>tars</i>, dry) is beyond a doubt.<a name="FNanchor_743_743" id="FNanchor_743_743"></a><a href="#Footnote_743_743" class="fnanchor">[743]</a> Herodotus tells us +that the Cilicians wore woollen clothes, and peculiar +helmets of ox-leather, and carried swords and spears +like the Egyptians, and he maintained that they were +descended from Cilix, the son of Agenor, a Phenician. +Their princes were always styled Syennesis.<a name="FNanchor_744_744" id="FNanchor_744_744"></a><a href="#Footnote_744_744" class="fnanchor">[744]</a> This +standing name was, without doubt, the title given by +the princes of Cilicia to themselves: it must have +been <i>schu'a nasi</i>, <i>i. e.</i> "noble prince."<a name="FNanchor_745_745" id="FNanchor_745_745"></a><a href="#Footnote_745_745" class="fnanchor">[745]</a> Hellanicus +tells us that of the two kings of the name of Sardanapalus, +who ruled over Assyria, one had built the +two cities of Tarsus and Anchiale in Cilicia in one +day.<a name="FNanchor_746_746" id="FNanchor_746_746"></a><a href="#Footnote_746_746" class="fnanchor">[746]</a> On the other hand Berosus informs us that +Sennacherib (705-681 <small>B.C.</small>) had heard in Assyria<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[Pg 536]</a></span> +that an army of Greeks had landed in Cilicia; against +this he marched and defeated it, but with heavy +loss. As a memorial of this victory he caused his +image to be set up there, and afterwards the city +of Tarsus was built in such a way that the Cydnus +flowed through the middle of it. The temple at +Anchiale (west of Tarsus, on the sea) was also +founded by Sennacherib.<a name="FNanchor_747_747" id="FNanchor_747_747"></a><a href="#Footnote_747_747" class="fnanchor">[747]</a> When Alexander of +Macedonia reached Cilicia his attendants found +that the circuit and towers of the walls of Anchiale +proved that the city was planned on a large scale. +Near the walls they saw the statue of an Assyrian +king. His right hand was raised, and the inscription +in Assyrian letters is said to have called him Sardanapalus, +the son of Anakyndaraxes.<a name="FNanchor_748_748" id="FNanchor_748_748"></a><a href="#Footnote_748_748" class="fnanchor">[748]</a></p> + +<p>No king of the name of Anakyndaraxes or Sardanapalus +ever ruled over Assyria, unless perhaps by +the latter is meant Assurbanipal (Assurbanhabal), the +son of Esarhaddon. On the other hand, the inscriptions +of Shalmanesar II. of Asshur (859-828 <small>B.C.</small>) +mention the fact that he had overcome "Pikhirim the +chief of the land of Chilakku (Cilicia)," and Sargon, king +of Assyria (722-705 <small>B.C.</small>), tells us that the Cilicians +had not been subject to his father, and that he had +transferred the dominion over Cilicia to Ambris, king +of Tubal. Hence Cilicia must have become subject to +Sargon in the earliest years of his reign. In consequence +of the revolt, which Ambris undertook with +Urza of Ararat, and Mita, the king of Moschi, as +we saw above (<a href="#Page_520">p. 520</a>), Ambris was taken captive +and dethroned in the year 714 <small>B.C.</small> Sennacherib, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[Pg 537]</a></span> +successor of Sargon (705-681 <small>B.C.</small>), informs us that +in the very first years of his reign he had caused +rebellious Cilicians to be removed: the inscriptions of +the later years of his reign remark that the cities of +the Cilicians were destroyed and burnt, and the Cilicians +in the forests were reduced. After this the inscriptions +of Esarhaddon (681-668 <small>B.C.</small>) assure us that +he reduced the Cilicians; and Assurbanipal recounts +that Sandasarmi of Cilicia, who had not submitted to +the kings his fathers, and fulfilled their commands, +sent his daughter with many presents to Nineveh for +the harem of Assurbanipal, and kissed his feet.<a name="FNanchor_749_749" id="FNanchor_749_749"></a><a href="#Footnote_749_749" class="fnanchor">[749]</a></p> + +<p>The fall of the Assyrian kingdom restored their +freedom to the Cilicians, and they appear to have +maintained it till the times of Cyrus. After that +time the princes of Cilicia were merely the viceroys +of the kings of Persia. To these sovereigns Cilicia +paid each year 500 Babylonian talents of silver and +360 selected horses. The harbours, which carried on +a lively trade, were able, at the beginning of the fifth +century <small>B.C.</small>, to equip and man a hundred ships of +war (triremes).<a name="FNanchor_750_750" id="FNanchor_750_750"></a><a href="#Footnote_750_750" class="fnanchor">[750]</a></p> + +<p>The coins which have come down to us from the +supremacy of the Persians allow us to form some conclusions +about the religious rites of the Cilician cities. +They represent Baal, the sun-god of the Syrians, on +the throne, with grapes and ears of corn in his right +hand, and sometimes an eagle at his side. Others +exhibit Heracles attacking a lion with his club. The +inscriptions name the god thus represented Bal Tars, +<i>i. e.</i> Baal of Tarsus. A coin of Mallus also exhibits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[Pg 538]</a></span> +Heracles strangling the lion, i.e. the beneficent sun-god +who overcomes the terrible sun-god in the sign of +the lion, the consuming glow of the sun. On other +coins we can trace the war-goddess, on others the +birth-goddess of the Syrians, or her cow; some coins +of Celenderis exhibit the goat of this goddess.<a name="FNanchor_751_751" id="FNanchor_751_751"></a><a href="#Footnote_751_751" class="fnanchor">[751]</a></p> + +<p>The land of the Cilicians must at one time have +stretched northwards over the Taurus range to the +inner table-land as far as the sources of the Sarus, +to the watershed between the Mediterranean and the +Black Sea, or even further. Sargon could not have +transferred the sovereignty over Cilicia to the king of +Tubal if his territory was not contiguous to Cilicia. +And if we assume that the land of Tubal reached at +that time as far as the Taurus, we are met by the +objection that even Herodotus represents the Halys as +passing through the land of the Cilicians on its way +from Armenia.<a name="FNanchor_752_752" id="FNanchor_752_752"></a><a href="#Footnote_752_752" class="fnanchor">[752]</a> Hence the land afterwards called +Cataonia, between Taurus and Antitaurus and the +northern spur of the latter range, must, even in the +time of Herodotus, have belonged to Cilicia.</p> + +<p>On the north-western slope of the Armenian mountains +toward the Black Sea we have already found the +Moschi and Tibarenes, whom the Hebrews counted +among the sons of Japhet. The western neighbours +of the Tibarenes on the coasts of the Black Sea were +the Chalybians. It is the land of the Chalybians of +which the Homeric poems speak, when they mention +the city of Alybe—"where is the birth of silver."<a name="FNanchor_753_753" id="FNanchor_753_753"></a><a href="#Footnote_753_753" class="fnanchor">[753]</a> +But it is not only the obtaining of silver that is +ascribed by the Greeks to the Chalybians; they are +also the discoverers of the working of iron; and steel, +which the Greeks obtained from this coast, was named<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[Pg 539]</a></span> +after the Chalybians. Æschylus calls the Chalybians +"barbarous workers in brass, men averse to foreigners."<a name="FNanchor_754_754" id="FNanchor_754_754"></a><a href="#Footnote_754_754" class="fnanchor">[754]</a> +In the scriptures of the Hebrews Tubal-cain, +a name of which the first part seems to denote the +Tibarenes, is the father of the smiths in brass and iron. +Hence it is clear that the mines of ore and iron in the +land of the Tibarenes and Chalybians must have been +opened at a very early period. As a fact the ore lies +at a very slight depth in the mountains. Even now +large masses of copper are discovered along the coast +to the west of Trebizond; beside copper, the mines +of Gümüsh Khane, two days' journey in the interior +from Trebizond, even now yield lead containing +silver, which is also found in the mines of Baibut +and Tokat, further to the south.<a name="FNanchor_755_755" id="FNanchor_755_755"></a><a href="#Footnote_755_755" class="fnanchor">[755]</a> Hence these districts +could furnish not only iron and steel, but +silver also; elsewhere silver was only to be got in +the mines on Mount Ida till the Phenicians imported +this metal in large quantities from Tartessus.</p> + +<p>Westward of the Chalybians on the Thermodon, +the Iris, and the lower course of the Halys, dwelt a +population which, setting aside any later admixture, +were of Semitic origin. Herodotus calls the inhabitants +of the land which reaches from Armenia on the east to +the Halys on the west, from the coast of the Black Sea +southwards as far as Cilicia, Syrians, and remarks that +this was the name of the people in use among the +Greeks.<a name="FNanchor_756_756" id="FNanchor_756_756"></a><a href="#Footnote_756_756" class="fnanchor">[756]</a> Pindar speaks of "a spear-armed Syrian +host" on the mouth of the Thermodon.<a name="FNanchor_757_757" id="FNanchor_757_757"></a><a href="#Footnote_757_757" class="fnanchor">[757]</a> The Greek +colony of Sinope west of the mouth of the Halys is +said to have been founded in the land of the Syrians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[Pg 540]</a></span> +of noble stock.<a name="FNanchor_758_758" id="FNanchor_758_758"></a><a href="#Footnote_758_758" class="fnanchor">[758]</a> A promontory running into the sea +to the north of Sinope is called Syrias.<a name="FNanchor_759_759" id="FNanchor_759_759"></a><a href="#Footnote_759_759" class="fnanchor">[759]</a> The +Greeks derived the people in this district from +Syrus, a son of Apollo.<a name="FNanchor_760_760" id="FNanchor_760_760"></a><a href="#Footnote_760_760" class="fnanchor">[760]</a> Scylax of Caryanda names +the coast of the Black Sea, from the Chalybians +to Armene, westward of the promontory of Syrias, +Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_761_761" id="FNanchor_761_761"></a><a href="#Footnote_761_761" class="fnanchor">[761]</a> Strabo states that these Syrians, who extended +from the Taurus northwards as far as the +Pontus, were named Leuco-Syrians, <i>i. e.</i> white Syrians, +to distinguish them from the true Syrians, and that +the Cataonians (<a href="#Page_538">p. 538</a>) spoke the same language with +them.<a name="FNanchor_762_762" id="FNanchor_762_762"></a><a href="#Footnote_762_762" class="fnanchor">[762]</a> The coins struck at Sinope (Sanab), Side and +Kotyora (Gazir), in the fourth century <small>B.C.</small>, have +Aramaic legends, and we can trace on them the name +and form of the god Baal.<a name="FNanchor_763_763" id="FNanchor_763_763"></a><a href="#Footnote_763_763" class="fnanchor">[763]</a> The Persians called these +people Cappadocians (Katapatuka), and extend the +name to Cilicia also. If the Phrygians when marching +westwards from Armenia not only traversed but +took possession of the land, the Phrygians who remained +in the country must have retired to the west +before the Semitic tribe, which forced its way from +Cilicia and the Upper Euphrates, or have been absorbed +by them.</p> + +<p>In the eighth century <small>B.C.</small> the Syrians between +the Lower Halys and Armenia received a peculiar +admixture. "On the shore of the Pontus, where the +Scythians now dwell"—such is the account of Herodotus—"it +is said that the territory of the Cimmerians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[Pg 541]</a></span> +lay, and in Scythia the Cimmerian Bosporus and +Cimmerian walls and harbours remain, and a region +which is called Cimmeria. When the Scythians who +once dwelt in the east were driven out by the Massagetes +or the Issedones, they came into the land of the +Cimmerians. The latter took counsel on the river +Tyras, and one part were inclined with the kings to +fight against the Scythians, but the others wished to +abandon the land. Thus a strife arose between the +two parties, and those who wished to retire from the +land defeated the king and all who were of the same +opinion with him, and buried the slain on the Tyras, +where their grave is still to be seen. Then the remainder +fled before the Scythians along the sea to +Asia, and settled on the peninsula, where Sinope, the +city of the Greeks, is now built. But the Scythians +took their land in possession, and, led by their king +Madyas, they pursued the retreating Cimmerians, but +missed them, as they took the upper road, which is +far longer, and keeps the Caucasus on the right."<a name="FNanchor_764_764" id="FNanchor_764_764"></a><a href="#Footnote_764_764" class="fnanchor">[764]</a></p> + +<p>We shall return to the Scythians again; for the +present we may leave them out of the question. In +Homer the Cimmerians, "miserable men, who are +veiled in cloud, darkness, and night, and are never +illuminated by the sun," dwell "at the end of earth +and Oceanus, where is the opening of the entrance +into the under-world."<a name="FNanchor_765_765" id="FNanchor_765_765"></a><a href="#Footnote_765_765" class="fnanchor">[765]</a> As guardians of the under-world +Aristophanes calls them after the dog of Hades, +Cerberians.<a name="FNanchor_766_766" id="FNanchor_766_766"></a><a href="#Footnote_766_766" class="fnanchor">[766]</a> Following the guidance of the Homeric +poems, the Cimmerians were sought in the west, +where the sun sinks, and the entrance to the under-world +was supposed to be; they were placed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[Pg 542]</a></span> +neighbourhood of the Italic Kyme.<a name="FNanchor_767_767" id="FNanchor_767_767"></a><a href="#Footnote_767_767" class="fnanchor">[767]</a> When the +Milesians, about the middle of the eighth century, +discovered the north shore of the Black Sea, they +found in the extreme north, at the end of the earth, a +nation whom the Greeks called Cimmerians. Thus +the entrance into Lake Mæotis obtained among the +Greeks the name of the Bosporus of the Cimmerians, +in contrast to the Bosporus of the Thracians. At a +later time the Cimmerians were identified with the +Germanic Cimbri and the Celtic Kymri.</p> + +<p>Hence the decision would seem to be correct that +the Cimmerians ought to be struck out of history as +a mythical nation and a mythical name, which was +perhaps intended to correspond to the misty, wintry +nature of some remote lands, did not the poet Callinus +of Ephesus, whose date falls about the year 700 <small>B.C.</small>, +speak of "the approaching army of the Cimmerians, +who achieved mighty deeds:" did not Herodotus +himself tell us that the expelled Cimmerians "settled +on the peninsula at the place where the Greek city +of Sinope now stands"; and also narrate that the +Cimmerians, while king Ardys ruled over the Lydians +(654-617 <small>B.C.</small>), invaded Lydia, and captured Sardis, +the metropolis, except the citadel; and that Alyattes +king of Lydia (612-563 <small>B.C.</small>) first expelled the +Cimmerians entirely out of Asia Minor:<a name="FNanchor_768_768" id="FNanchor_768_768"></a><a href="#Footnote_768_768" class="fnanchor">[768]</a> did not +Aristotle tell us that the Cimmerians had been settled +for a hundred years in Antandros, on the Trojan coast, +and Scymnus of Chius, that the Milesian Abron, +who founded Sinope, was said to have been slain by +the Cimmerians, that Coes and Cretines founded the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[Pg 543]</a></span> +city anew, "after the Cimmerians, when their array +traversed Asia"?<a name="FNanchor_769_769" id="FNanchor_769_769"></a><a href="#Footnote_769_769" class="fnanchor">[769]</a></p> + +<p>The Cimmerians then were not a legendary fiction: +the Cimmerian Bosporus really owed its name to a +people who called themselves, or were known to the +Greeks, by this name, as also the hamlet of Cimmerikum +on the Crimea, and Cimmerium on the peninsula +of Kertch. Strabo, the best authority on the Eastern +districts of Asia Minor, of which he was a native, +says: "The wanderings of the Scythian Madys (it is +the Madyas of Herodotus) and of Kobos the Trerian +are unknown to most people. The Cimmerians, who +are called Treres,<a name="FNanchor_770_770" id="FNanchor_770_770"></a><a href="#Footnote_770_770" class="fnanchor">[770]</a> or a tribe of them, dwelt on the +gloomy Bosporus. They came from a far distant +region, and are said to have been driven out by +the Scythians. They have often attacked the right +side, <i>i. e.</i> the eastern side of the Pontus, and fought +against the Cappadocians, Paphlagonians, and Phrygians;<a name="FNanchor_771_771" id="FNanchor_771_771"></a><a href="#Footnote_771_771" class="fnanchor">[771]</a> +they crossed the Halys, and forced their way +as far as the Ionian cities.<a name="FNanchor_772_772" id="FNanchor_772_772"></a><a href="#Footnote_772_772" class="fnanchor">[772]</a> Their first invasion is +placed by the chronologers in the time of Midas, who +put an end to his life by drinking bull's blood, <i>i. e.</i> +as we saw above (<a href="#Page_528">p. 528</a>) in the period from 738 to +693 <small>B.C.</small>, or according to others, in the time of Homer, +or shortly before him.<a href="#Footnote_772_772" class="fnanchor">[772]</a> But Lygdamis, with a horde of +his own, forced his way to Lydia and Ionia, and conquered +Sardis, though he remained in Cilicia.<a name="FNanchor_773_773" id="FNanchor_773_773"></a><a href="#Footnote_773_773" class="fnanchor">[773]</a> Callisthenes +says that Sardis was first taken by the Cimmerians, +then by the Treres, and finally by Cyrus. The +first capture is also proved by Callinus. At length<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[Pg 544]</a></span> +the Treres, under Kobos, are said to have been +driven out by the Scythians under Madys."<a name="FNanchor_774_774" id="FNanchor_774_774"></a><a href="#Footnote_774_774" class="fnanchor">[774]</a></p> + +<p>From this account it is clear that the Cimmerians, +or a part of them, were called Treres, a name also given +to a Thracian tribe between the Skomius and Hebrus, +on the Bistonian Lake;<a name="FNanchor_775_775" id="FNanchor_775_775"></a><a href="#Footnote_775_775" class="fnanchor">[775]</a> that they made at least two +invasions into the west of Asia Minor; that the second +of these, which in Strabo is undertaken under the +command of Lygdamis, is the same as the invasion of +the Cimmerians which Herodotus places in the time +of king Ardys of Lydia. In both writers this invasion +extends to Sardis and to some of the Greek cities +on the coast, and Plutarch expressly establishes the +identity of the invasion of the Treres under Lygdamis +with that of the Cimmerians in Herodotus, on ancient +authorities.<a name="FNanchor_776_776" id="FNanchor_776_776"></a><a href="#Footnote_776_776" class="fnanchor">[776]</a> Justin calls the Cimmerians a part of +the Scythians, who, owing to their internal contentions, +migrated under the leadership of Ilinus and Scolopitus, +and established themselves on the coast of +Cappadocia.<a name="FNanchor_777_777" id="FNanchor_777_777"></a><a href="#Footnote_777_777" class="fnanchor">[777]</a></p> + +<p>The incursion of the Scythians into Media, with +which Herodotus has combined the migration of the +Cimmerians, took place, as we shall show from +Herodotus' own statement, about the year 630 <small>B.C.</small> +But if Alyattes of Lydia was the first to expel the +Cimmerians from the west of Asia Minor after they +had been settled for a century in Antandros, these Cimmerians +must have been in Asia at least as early as +663 <small>B.C.</small>, since Alyattes reigned till 563 <small>B.C.</small> Further,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[Pg 545]</a></span> +if Herodotus only mentions the destruction of Sardis, +which took place about 630 <small>B.C.</small>, and is wholly silent +on the first destruction by the Cimmerians, this first +capture must have taken place before the time from +which he commences his accurate account of Lydian +history, <i>i. e.</i> before the accession of Gyges in the year +689 <small>B.C.</small>, or, according to the data of Herodotus, even +before 719 <small>B.C.</small> This capture of Sardis is the only +one which could have been known to Callinus. +Further, the Cimmerians are said to have invaded +Phrygia at the time of that Midas who put himself +to death in the year 693 <small>B.C.</small> Hence they must have +been in Asia Minor before this year, and if they +overpowered Phrygia, they could easily at the same +time have forced their way as far as the western +coast. Moreover, Strabo remarks that the Milesians +built Sinope, when they had become acquainted with +the favourable position of the place and the weakness +of the people, but the people were not weak after +the Cimmerians had occupied the mouth of the +Halys. The first foundation of Sinope under Abron +must therefore be placed before the arrival of the +Cimmerians in Asia Minor. The ancient Sinope +founded the city of Trapezus in the year 756 <small>B.C.</small>,<a name="FNanchor_778_778" id="FNanchor_778_778"></a><a href="#Footnote_778_778" class="fnanchor">[778]</a> and +therefore that city must have been founded at least ten +years earlier, and its destruction by the Cimmerians +must be placed after the year 756 <small>B.C.</small> Hence the +Cimmerians might have reached the mouth of the +Halys about 750 <small>B.C.</small>, though they cannot have come +along the coast from Colchis, but over the sea. With +this agrees the statement that the Cimmerians forced +their way into Asia Minor in the year 782.<a name="FNanchor_779_779" id="FNanchor_779_779"></a><a href="#Footnote_779_779" class="fnanchor">[779]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[Pg 546]</a></span></p> + +<p>From this investigation it follows that the Cimmerians +once possessed the north shore of the Black Sea +on the straits from Kaffa, westward perhaps as far as +the mouth of the Danube. Since the Treres, a Thracian +nation, are always mentioned in connexion with the +Cimmerians, and it is ascertained that Thracian tribes +possessed the western coast of Pontus from the Thracian +Bosporus northwards as far as the mouth of the Danube, +and as the Agathyrsi in Transylvania are also called +Thracians, there can hardly be any doubt remaining +that the Cimmerians were of Thracian origin, or at +least nearly related to the Thracians. According to +the account of Herodotus the Cimmerians held a +consultation on the Tyras (Dniester), their kings were +said to have been killed there, and in confirmation +of the story he appeals to the tumuli which were still +to be seen on the Dniester. The only certain conclusion +to be drawn from this statement is that +mounds on the Dniester were shown to Herodotus +as coming down from an older population of those +districts. The Cimmerians, who arrived in Asia +Minor (the Tauri, on the peninsula which was named +after them, appear to be a remnant of this nation, +who maintained their old settlements, and the modern +name Crimea goes back to the Cimmerians), must +have been a numerous and martial people, if they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[Pg 547]</a></span> +were able not only to establish themselves firmly in +the East on the Halys, but also to force their way to +the western coast, there to settle down in several +places and maintain themselves in these, and to +capture twice the fortified metropolis of the Lydians, +the most warlike nation in Asia Minor.</p> + +<p>According to the genealogy in Genesis, Gomer is +the eldest son of Japhet. This name is without doubt +the Semitic term for the population on the north +shore of the Pontus, who were known to the Greeks +as Cimmerians. In the sixth century <small>B.C.</small> the prophet +Ezekiel mentions Gomer beside Togarmah.<a name="FNanchor_780_780" id="FNanchor_780_780"></a><a href="#Footnote_780_780" class="fnanchor">[780]</a> Esarhaddon, +king of Assyria (681-668 <small>B.C.</small>), tells us +that Tiuspa from the distant land of the Cimmerians +(Gimirai) submitted to him with his army. +Assurbanipal (668-626 <small>B.C.</small>) relates: "The Cimmerians +were not afraid of my fathers or of me, and +would not take the yoke of my sovereignty. Gugu +(Gyges), king of Ludi (Lydia), a land beyond the sea, +a distant region, of which my fathers had not heard +the name, sent a messenger into my presence, in order +to implore my friendship and kiss my feet. From +the day on which he accepted my yoke, he took +Cimmerians, desolators of his land, alive in the battle +with his own hand. From the number of the +captured leaders he bound two with strong fetters +of iron, and sent them with numerous presents to +Nineveh, the city of my dominion. He constantly +sent messengers to ask for my friendship. He +omitted to do so when he disregarded the will of +Asshur, the god, my creator, trusted to his own +power, and hardened his heart. He sent his forces to +aid Pisamilki (Psammetichus), king of Egypt, who had +thrown off the yoke of my sovereignty. I heard this,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[Pg 548]</a></span> +and prayed to Asshur and Istar thus: May his body +be cast out to his enemies, and his servants be carried +away captive. Asshur answered me: His body shall +be cast out to his enemies, and his servants carried +away captive. The Cimmerians, whom he had brought +under his feet by the renown of my name, conquered +and laid waste his whole land. His son (Ardys) sat +upon his throne. He sent to me and received the +yoke of my supremacy, saying thus: I am thy subject +and servant, and my people will do all thy will."<a name="FNanchor_781_781" id="FNanchor_781_781"></a><a href="#Footnote_781_781" class="fnanchor">[781]</a></p> + +<p>Thus the account of the Greeks is completely +established. To be subjugated by Esarhaddon the +Cimmerians must have been in Asia Minor in the +first decades of the seventh century <small>B.C.</small>, they must +also have got the upper hand here to such a degree that +Gyges, king of Lydia, found it impossible to defend +himself against them without the help of the Assyrians. +The first capture of Sardis must have taken place +before the accession of Gyges, on that campaign which +the Cimmerians made in the year 693 <small>B.C.</small> to Phrygia. +On the other hand it may be that the Cimmerians had +got possession of the city of Antandrus in the reign +of Gyges. When Gyges had repulsed the Cimmerians +he thought that he had no longer any need of +Assyria. For this, according to Assurbanipal, he +was punished by a second invasion of the Cimmerians, +who desolated his land; he lost his life in the +battle, of which the Greeks know nothing, and his +son and successor Ardys was again forced to submit +to Assyria. That Ardys had to fight severe +battles with the Cimmerians is proved by the second +capture of Sardis, which took place in his reign +about the year 630 <small>B.C.</small> While the Cimmerians +were thus engaged in the West, the city of Miletus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[Pg 549]</a></span> +or some exiled Milesians, seized the opportunity to +re-found Sinope. Alyattes succeeded in forcing back +the Cimmerians and attacking them with such vigour +that they were no longer able to undertake any +invasions to the West. Even Sinope had no more +to fear from them, although their settlements lay in +the neighbourhood of this city. At a subsequent +period in the third century <small>B.C.</small> the invading Celts +threw the whole of Asia Minor into a panic, and +plundered it, until they were confined to Galatia; +and the invasion of the Cimmerians appears to have +taken a similar course. The Celts, however, maintained +themselves within a limited district; the +Cimmerians disappeared so entirely among the Cappadocians, +that Syncellus calls Gomer the progenitor +of the Cappadocians, and the Armenians denote the +Cappadocians by the name Gamir.<a name="FNanchor_782_782" id="FNanchor_782_782"></a><a href="#Footnote_782_782" class="fnanchor">[782]</a></p> + +<p>In Cappadocia also, rock tombs, sculptures, and +fragments of buildings have been discovered, the +authors of which and the date of their erection we +cannot ascertain even approximately. Near Amasia, +on the middle course of the Iris, we find graves hewn +in the rocks, of which those lying nearest the city +may have belonged to the first kings of Pontus. +Near Aladja also the façade of a large rock-tomb may +be seen. Near Uejük, on an elevated terrace, are the +ruins of a palace, the lower part of which is formed by +great blocks worked and joined in the Cyclopian +style, and the blocks are in part covered with +sculptures. In the middle of the south front is a +spacious doorway guarded by two pairs of lions; one +pair is detached, the other is worked out of the stone +posts of the doorway, like the protecting figures in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[Pg 550]</a></span> +the palaces of Nineveh.<a name="FNanchor_783_783" id="FNanchor_783_783"></a><a href="#Footnote_783_783" class="fnanchor">[783]</a> Near Boghaskoi, which is +perhaps the site of the ancient city of Pteria, at the +foot of a lofty limestone plateau, overhung by cones +of rock, in the fork of a mountain stream which flows +northward to the Halys, are the remains of a building +about 200 feet in length and 140 feet in breadth. A +broad staircase leads from the river to a terrace, on +which rises the palace surrounded by a wall. As at +Uejük, the lower part of the structure consists of +Cyclopian blocks of fifteen to twenty feet in length, +and some six feet in depth. About thirty chambers, +greater or smaller, surround the court of this structure. +The ground plan is like that of the palaces of Nineveh; +in the sculptures a resemblance has been traced to the +reliefs of the buildings of the Achæmenids. Pteria +was afterwards the abode of a Persian commander. On +the rocky plateau over the palace we see the remains +of two citadels, surrounded by lines of fortification, of +which the Cyclopian foundations may still be traced.<a name="FNanchor_784_784" id="FNanchor_784_784"></a><a href="#Footnote_784_784" class="fnanchor">[784]</a> +Two miles and a half to the north-west of the ruins +of the citadels, in the rocks surrounding the plateau, +remarkable sculptures have been discovered. In a +deep recess of the rocks the rough walls, which +have been but slightly hewn and smoothed, are +covered with reliefs. There are two rows of figures +which meet each other. They advance from the +outer curve of the niche along the side-walls, on the +right and left, towards the back wall. While the +figures in these rows are only from two to three feet +high, the shapes on the back wall, which form the +centre of the picture, are of the size of life, and indeed +the main figure is even larger. All the figures are in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[Pg 551]</a></span> +profile. The main figure, which moves from left to +right, as does the long row of figures following it on +the left side of the niche, is a bearded warrior, who +steps over, or even upon, two bending figures with +high and pointed caps, falling over in front, and in +garments which fall in folds from the girdle. In his +right hand he carries a sceptre, the left hand, which is +not very distinct, holds a flower out of which peers a +circle, or an oval ring. His doublet hardly reaches to +the knee; the head is covered with a tall conical cap, +and on the feet are pointed shoes. He is followed by +two male figures suitably clothed, who stand on mountain +summits; then between two winged genii are two +figures with round caps, who carry bowls, and behind +them a form in a long garment, with a bent staff in +his hand, and a winged circle on his head. Then +follow warriors armed with sabres, or clubs, in the +same short doublet and the same pointed shoes as the +three leaders, and between them are two demons, the +only figures presenting a full face, with round, broad +faces, who carry two segments of a circle, one upon +the other. They were followed by warriors and two +priests with pointed caps falling over in front. The +end of the row on the left entrance is formed by a +series of twelve warriors, who march on without +armour, close together, and with even step. On the +right side of the niche is another row, coming to +meet the row described. Opposite the leader of the +warriors, in the middle of the north wall, is a large +female figure, who advances from the right to the +left on a lion or leopard, whose feet rest on four +mountain summits. She wears a long robe falling in +folds to her ankles; her hair streams down, and upon +it is a cylindrical head-dress; the right hand carries +a staff, while the left, which holds something similar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[Pg 552]</a></span> +to the ring already mentioned, is held out towards +the outstretched left hand of the leader of the +warriors. Behind her, on a smaller scale, but also +riding on a lion with the feet resting on mountain +summits, is a youthful warrior, without a beard, in +the clothing of the main figure; the head is covered +with a lofty pointed cap, the shoes are also pointed; +in the girdle is the two-edged bill, in the left hand +a long battle-axe, and in the right a staff. He is +followed by two female figures above a double eagle, +in the dress of the main female figure; behind them +come thirteen more female figures of a similar kind, +with staves or harps in their hands. The whole picture +contains more than sixty figures. In a niche receding +to the back we find, beside a demon of remarkable +shape, a young beardless man with an exceedingly tall +conical cap; in his outstretched right hand he appears +to carry the picture of a temple; and with his left +he embraces the neck of a very youthful female form, +whose head-dress and robe fall down in numerous +folds. Beside them march twelve warriors with lower +caps than those in the main recess, and scythe swords +in their right hands; the left arm is raised as high as +the shoulder, since they are treading on the left heel, +and the top of the right foot.<a name="FNanchor_785_785" id="FNanchor_785_785"></a><a href="#Footnote_785_785" class="fnanchor">[785]</a></p> + +<p>If this great rock picture is not intended to +represent some act of religious worship, it might +depict the conclusion of a treaty between two nations. +In this case it might belong to the period in which +Media, under Cyaxares, extended her borders to the +Halys, and came into fierce conflict with the Lydians. +This war was brought to an end by a treaty of peace, +accompanied by the betrothal of the daughter of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[Pg 553]</a></span> +Alyattes of Lydia to the son of Cyaxares. The +picture might be explained in reference to this treaty +and betrothal, did not the style and manner appear +closely allied to the figure near Smyrna (<a href="#Page_151">p. 151</a>), +and a relief not far from Ancyra.<a name="FNanchor_786_786" id="FNanchor_786_786"></a><a href="#Footnote_786_786" class="fnanchor">[786]</a></p> + +<p>As to the religious rites of the Cappadocians, we +know that they worshipped the god Men, who is +called a moon-god, and a female deity, Mene, or Ma. +On the Lycus, an affluent of the Iris, at Cabeira, +stood the sanctuary of Men in the middle of large +precincts; the sanctuary of Mene was at Comana, on +the Iris, and was the oldest, richest, and most important +sanctuary in the land. Ma, or Mene, was a war-goddess +whom Greeks and Romans called Enyo and +Bellona; to Strabo she is known as Artemis, and this +name is evidence of her relation to the moon, no less +than of her position as a war-goddess. That relation is +confirmed by further evidence. Comana, says Strabo, +is thickly populated; but the inhabitants are effeminate; +the greater part are fanatics or religious maniacs, +and there is also a number of women who serve the +goddess with their bodies, of whom the greater part +are dedicated to the temple. Here, twice in the year, +the "Exodus of the Goddess" was celebrated. To +this festival pilgrims, male and female, came from +every side, and in frenzy and ecstasy performed +certain sacred customs, which consisted partly in +wounding themselves with swords, and partly in +sensual excesses. In the south of Cappadocia, on the +upper Sarus, there was a second city of Comana, +which also possessed a sanctuary of Ma. Here, as at +Comana on the Iris, six thousand servants are said to +have attended upon Ma.<a name="FNanchor_787_787" id="FNanchor_787_787"></a><a href="#Footnote_787_787" class="fnanchor">[787]</a> We know the tendencies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[Pg 554]</a></span> +of the Syrian worship, to bring man, by means of +certain services, nearer to the deity to whom the +services are performed, and make him resemble the +peculiar nature of the deity whom he worships. The +maidens who served the maiden goddess in her +temples on the Pontus carried weapons like the +goddess, and honoured her by dancing in armour.</p> + +<p>Out of these armed maidens in the temples of Ma +there grew up among the Greeks a peculiar and +widely-developed legend—the legend of the warlike +tribe of the Amazons. When the Greek colonists +landed on the western coast of Asia Minor, they +found, in the land of the Lydians, where they built +Smyrna, Cyme, and Ephesus, seats of the worship of +a goddess whom they compared to their Artemis, and +whose attendants were eunuchs and armed maidens +(<a href="#Page_556">p. 556</a>). They next perceived that similar seats of +worship were to be found in the East also, on the +coasts of the Pontus. Thus the Homeric poems +already placed the "Amazons equal to men" on the +east of the Phrygians, and represented king Priam as +meeting them with his men on the banks of the +Sangarius.<a name="FNanchor_788_788" id="FNanchor_788_788"></a><a href="#Footnote_788_788" class="fnanchor">[788]</a> As natives of Asia Minor the Amazons +must have fought with the Trojans against the Greeks. +Arctinus represented the Amazons as coming to Troy +after the death of Hector, and distressing the Greeks +till Achilles slew their queen, the beautiful "Penthesilea, +the daughter of the dread, manslaying +Ares." The cyclic poets knew the abode of the +Amazons more accurately than Homer; they place +them at Themiscyra, on the Thermodon;<a name="FNanchor_789_789" id="FNanchor_789_789"></a><a href="#Footnote_789_789" class="fnanchor">[789]</a> and at this +place Pindar represents them as drawing up their +army. Æschylus also places the Amazons on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[Pg 555]</a></span> +Thermodon;<a name="FNanchor_790_790" id="FNanchor_790_790"></a><a href="#Footnote_790_790" class="fnanchor">[790]</a> according to Pherecydes the war-god +begot the Amazons with Harmonia on the Thermodon.<a name="FNanchor_791_791" id="FNanchor_791_791"></a><a href="#Footnote_791_791" class="fnanchor">[791]</a> +We have seen that the Greeks gave the +name Harmonia to Astarte, the moon-goddess of the +Phenicians. When the Greeks at the time of Arctinus +had founded Sinope and Trapezus in those +regions, they believed that they were in the land of +the Amazons; and Sinope was thought to have been +previously inhabited by the Amazons.<a name="FNanchor_792_792" id="FNanchor_792_792"></a><a href="#Footnote_792_792" class="fnanchor">[792]</a> The places at +which the Greeks here founded a new home were +thought to have been named and sanctified long +before their arrival, not only by the voyage of the +Argonauts, for Heracles, Theseus, and Peirithous were +said to have set foot there, in order to perform their +mighty deeds against the Amazons. At the command +of Eurystheus Heracles had been compelled to bring +the girdle from Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons, +for Admete. Theseus and Peirithous had carried off +Antiope. Among the Phenicians, as we have seen, +Baal-Melkarth looses the girdle of the moon-goddess; +the Greeks transferred the legend of Melicertes to +their Heracles. Even as early as the thirteenth or +twelfth century <small>B.C.</small> the ships of the Phenicians had +probably brought the worship of the warlike moon-goddess +to the coast of Attica. At any rate, at a +later time, tombs of the Amazons, <i>i. e.</i> abandoned +seats of the worship of the Artemis of Syria and +Asia Minor, were shown there. After the Attic +territory was united under the rule of a military +monarchy, of which, among the Ionians, Theseus was +the embodiment, the Phenicians were driven back +from the coasts of the Greeks: Theseus was said to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[Pg 556]</a></span> +have conquered the Minotaur and the Amazons. In +order to establish the existence of Amazons in Attica, +Theseus was said to have carried off Antiope. To +avenge this wrong, the Amazons marched from their +distant home on the Thermodon to Attica; and the +Athenians considered it one of their greatest services +towards their common fatherland that they had conquered +the Amazons, "an enemy who threatened all +Hellas."<a name="FNanchor_793_793" id="FNanchor_793_793"></a><a href="#Footnote_793_793" class="fnanchor">[793]</a></p> + +<p>Out of these elements the Greeks framed a circumstantial +history of the Amazons. Even among the +historians, their home is the land of the Thermodon. +Here the Amazons dwelt, according to Herodotus, +Diodorus, and Strabo, and here, as Diodorus tells us, +they offered splendid sacrifices to Ares and Artemis +Tauropolus. Their first queen is said to have been +the daughter of Ares, and she built the great city of +Themiscyra; the second queen extended the dominion +of the Amazons as far as Syria; and finally queen +Myrina reduced the whole of Syria, and received the +voluntary submission of the Cilicians.<a name="FNanchor_794_794" id="FNanchor_794_794"></a><a href="#Footnote_794_794" class="fnanchor">[794]</a> It is obvious +that the Amazons founded all the cities where the +worship of the maiden war-goddess flourished or had +ever existed. Roused by the crime of Theseus, they +marched to the west, founded the sanctuary of +Ephesus, where "they set up the image of the goddess +under the trunk of an elm, and, armed with shields, +danced the war-dance, so that their quivers sounded."<a name="FNanchor_795_795" id="FNanchor_795_795"></a><a href="#Footnote_795_795" class="fnanchor">[795]</a> +Then they marched to the north, and founded Smyrna, +Myrina, and Cyme.<a name="FNanchor_796_796" id="FNanchor_796_796"></a><a href="#Footnote_796_796" class="fnanchor">[796]</a> Analogous rites proved that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[Pg 557]</a></span> +were also in Lesbos and Samothrace. Through Thrace +and Thessaly, and finally across Eubœa, they are said +to have marched to Attica; tombs of the Amazons +were shown at Scotussa and Cynoscephalæ, in Thessaly, +and at Chalcis, in Eubœa.<a name="FNanchor_797_797" id="FNanchor_797_797"></a><a href="#Footnote_797_797" class="fnanchor">[797]</a> After returning home, the +Amazons next marched to the aid of the Trojans, and +were conquered by Achilles. When the Greeks had +founded Cyrene on the coast of Attica, and found, +among the Libyan tribes of the surrounding district, +the worship of a female war-goddess—when they +found the Libyan women wearing corslets of goatskins, +they came to the conclusion that the Amazons +once dwelt on the Tritonian lake in Libya.<a name="FNanchor_798_798" id="FNanchor_798_798"></a><a href="#Footnote_798_798" class="fnanchor">[798]</a></p> + +<p>A nation of heroines was certainly never found by +the Greeks on the Thermodon. On the other hand, +they received accounts of the warlike queens of the +Saces and Massagetæ, of Zarinæa, Sparethra, and +Tomyris, who fought against the Medes and Persians; +and on the coasts of the Black Sea, in the colonies of +the Milesians, they heard of the riding, the archery, +and hunting of the women of the Sauromatæ. Hence +the Greeks resolved to make the Amazons the ancestors +of the Sarmatians. They were represented as +taking ship from the Thermodon across the Black Sea +to the coast of the Mæotis, because here, in the +Crimea, on the "promontory of the maiden," a cruel +maiden goddess, who was also called Artemis Tauropolus +by the Greeks, was worshipped. Herodotus, +and after him Ephorus, tells us that the Amazons fled +over the Pontus from the Thermodon, and landed on +the shore of the Mæotis. Here they took the young +men among the Scythians, who, according to Herodotus, +were settled between the mouths of the Danube<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[Pg 558]</a></span> +and the Don, as their husbands, and with them +marched eastwards over the Tanais (Don), beyond +which river and north of the Caucasus lay, according +to Herodotus, the dwellings of the Sauromatæ, whom +later writers call the Sarmatians. Hence the Sarmatian +women still preserved the customs of the +Amazons; they carried bows and javelins, and wore +the same clothing as the men, sat on horseback, and +rode with or without their husbands to the chase or +to battle, and no maiden married till she had slain an +enemy; "so that some never married at all, because +they were unable to satisfy this rule." The language +of the Sauromatæ was the same as the language +of the Scythians, but they spoke it badly, because +the Amazons had never perfectly learned it. These +statements, and especially the assertion that the +Sarmatian women fought as long as they were +maidens, were repeated by Greek writers—in other +respects very trustworthy—in the fifth and fourth +century <small>B.C.</small> Others also maintained that the women +were rulers among the Sarmatians.<a name="FNanchor_799_799" id="FNanchor_799_799"></a><a href="#Footnote_799_799" class="fnanchor">[799]</a> Poetry and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[Pg 559]</a></span> +plastic art had stamped the legend of the Amazons +so firmly on the Greeks that they could not break +loose from it. Several of the historians of Alexander +of Macedon tell us that the queen Thalestris, with +300 Amazons, sought out Alexander from a great +distance, and made a proposal of marriage to him, +on his return from Hyrcania,<a name="FNanchor_800_800" id="FNanchor_800_800"></a><a href="#Footnote_800_800" class="fnanchor">[800]</a> a story which has +perhaps arisen out of the fact that the satrap Atropates +of Media sent 100 mounted women to Alexander.<a name="FNanchor_801_801" id="FNanchor_801_801"></a><a href="#Footnote_801_801" class="fnanchor">[801]</a> +When at a later time Pompey fought in the +Caucasus, and women were found among the wounded, +it was thought that the real Amazons were at last +found;<a name="FNanchor_802_802" id="FNanchor_802_802"></a><a href="#Footnote_802_802" class="fnanchor">[802]</a> and the story was now told that the Amazons +dwelt northward of the Gelen (in Ghilan), on the +southern foot of the Caucasus. In order to solve the +difficulty of their propagation of the race, the story +was invented that for two months in the spring +they met the Gargareans—a neighbouring tribe—on +the mountains by night, and associated with them, +as accident might determine. The boys were then +sent to the Gargareans, who brought them up in +common; the daughters were retained by the +Amazons.<a name="FNanchor_803_803" id="FNanchor_803_803"></a><a href="#Footnote_803_803" class="fnanchor">[803]</a> In order to explain the name Amazon, +which in Greek can mean "without a breast," the +story was invented that they burnt off the right breast +of the maidens, so that they might use the right arm +better, and draw the bow—a story which Hippocrates +had already told about the daughters of the Sarmatians.<a name="FNanchor_804_804" id="FNanchor_804_804"></a><a href="#Footnote_804_804" class="fnanchor">[804]</a> +On the monuments of plastic art the Amazons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[Pg 560]</a></span> +have both breasts; the older period represents them +with a broad girdle, an ample robe, and a Phrygian +cap, a crescent shield (the symbol of the moon-goddess), +a bow, and a battle-axe. In later sculptures +the Amazons, when they had been connected with +the Scythians and the Sarmatians, were generally +represented on horseback, in a Doric tunic, with naked +arms and thighs, a helmet on the head, and a spear +in the hand.</p> + +<p>On the western slopes of the table-land of Asia +Minor, in the river valleys of the Hermus and +Mæander, the Lydians were settled. Their land +reached from the sources of the Hermus in Mount +Dindymon to the Ægean sea, from Messogis and +Cadmus in the south to the Temnus range in the +north. The valley of the Hermus was exuberantly +fertile, and still more luxuriant was the vegetation +in the district round the Gygæan lake. The mountain +pastures supported herds of powerful horses and +numerous flocks of sheep. The Pactolus brought +sands of gold down from Tmolus; in the rocks of +this range and its western continuation, Sipylus, +rich veins of gold are said to have been found.<a name="FNanchor_805_805" id="FNanchor_805_805"></a><a href="#Footnote_805_805" class="fnanchor">[805]</a></p> + +<p>But little has been preserved of the legendary +accounts of the Lydians about their rulers in the +earliest times. About the middle of the fifth century +<small>B.C.</small> the Lydian Xanthus, the son of Candaules, wrote +the history of his people in four books, in the Greek +language. Of this some fragments have come down +to us, which can here and there be supplemented by the +statements of Herodotus. From both we learn that +the Lydians traced back the origin of their royal +house to the gods. Atys, the son of the god Manes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[Pg 561]</a></span> +was the first sovereign of the Lydians; after him came +his son Lydus, who gave the name to the people. +From the brother of Lydus, whom Xanthus calls +Torrhebus, and Herodotus Tyrsenus, the tribe of the +Torrhebians or Tyrsenians was derived. The territory +of the Torrhebi lay on the upper Cayster. From +Asius, the son of Cotys, the son of Atys, sprang +the tribe of the Asionæans, who inhabited the Asian +meadow.<a name="FNanchor_806_806" id="FNanchor_806_806"></a><a href="#Footnote_806_806" class="fnanchor">[806]</a> From Atys, their progenitor, the first +king, his successors, the first house of Lydian kings, +were called Atyads. Among the successors of Lydus +the most pious and just was Alkimus. During his +reign there was peace and quiet in Lydia; every man +lived securely and without fear, and all things prospered. +After him reigned king Akiamus, who sent +Ascalus with an army to Syria. There Ascalus +founded the city of Ascalon. After this, as Herodotus +narrates, a lion was born to king Meles from his +concubine, and this lion, in obedience to an oracle, +he caused to be carried round the walls of Sardis, +his metropolis, in order that they might be impregnable.<a name="FNanchor_807_807" id="FNanchor_807_807"></a><a href="#Footnote_807_807" class="fnanchor">[807]</a> +According to Xanthus, Meles, who was a +tyrannous and cruel king, was overthrown by Moxus, +a very just and brave man, after he had vowed to +the gods that, in gratitude for their deliverance, the +Lydians should henceforth offer to them a tenth of +all their animals. Then Moxus marched to Syria, and +there took Atargatis captive, with her son Ichthys +(fish). As a punishment for her rebellion she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[Pg 562]</a></span> +thrown into the lake of Ascalon, and eaten by the +fish. Then king Cambletes reigned, who sacrificed +his wife, and ate her, and then slew himself with his +sword before all the people. After him Jardanus, +who had been an enemy of Cambletes, ruled over +Lydia.<a name="FNanchor_808_808" id="FNanchor_808_808"></a><a href="#Footnote_808_808" class="fnanchor">[808]</a> Jardanus was followed by his daughter +Omphale.<a name="FNanchor_809_809" id="FNanchor_809_809"></a><a href="#Footnote_809_809" class="fnanchor">[809]</a> To avenge the insult which had been +paid to her before she ascended the throne of Lydia, +she compelled the maidens of the land to give themselves +up to the slaves at an appointed place, and +slew the strangers whom she entertained, when she +had lain with them.<a name="FNanchor_810_810" id="FNanchor_810_810"></a><a href="#Footnote_810_810" class="fnanchor">[810]</a> After Omphale, Tylon reigned, +who died from the bite of a snake, but was again +restored to life by a marvellous herb.<a name="FNanchor_811_811" id="FNanchor_811_811"></a><a href="#Footnote_811_811" class="fnanchor">[811]</a> But with the +slave-girl of Jardanus, according to Herodotus, or, +according to others, with Omphale, Heracles begot +Alcæus; the son of Alcæus was Belus; the son of +Belus was Ninus, and the son of Ninus was Agron. +With the accession of Agron the dominion of the +Atyads came to an end, and that of the Heracleids +commenced, who then continued to rule over Lydia +for 505 years.<a name="FNanchor_812_812" id="FNanchor_812_812"></a><a href="#Footnote_812_812" class="fnanchor">[812]</a></p> + +<p>Manes and Atys are already known to us as deities +of the Phrygians; they must therefore have been +worshipped by the Lydians also. Lydus, the second<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[Pg 563]</a></span> +king of the land, is taken from the name of the +nation. The prosperous, peaceful reign of the good +king Alkimus is no doubt founded on some conception +of an early happy age. The story of the lion of Meles +obviously goes back to the relations in which the lion +was placed, in the religious rites of the Syrians, to the +sun-god, who was also worshipped with zeal by the +Lydians. We learn from a Lydian that the name +Sardis was given to the city in honour of the sun-god.<a name="FNanchor_813_813" id="FNanchor_813_813"></a><a href="#Footnote_813_813" class="fnanchor">[813]</a> +The coins of Sardis which have been preserved +regularly present the image of a lion and a bull.<a name="FNanchor_814_814" id="FNanchor_814_814"></a><a href="#Footnote_814_814" class="fnanchor">[814]</a> The +vow of Moxus is intended to explain the blood-tithe, +which we have already found in use among the tribes of +Syria. Still more definite are the references to Syrian +rites in the supposed marches of Moxus and Ascalus +to Syria, and the prominent position of Atargatis<a name="FNanchor_815_815" id="FNanchor_815_815"></a><a href="#Footnote_815_815" class="fnanchor">[815]</a> and +the temple of Ascalon, and the children of Atargatis, +the fish. We know Atargatis, the Astarte of the +Assyrians, as transformed into Hera, and the temple +at Ascalon, the city of the Philistines, as the oldest +and most famous sanctuary of the Syrian goddess +of fertility. The name of the king Jardanus does +not differ from "jarden" (river), and if Omphale +is said to have forced the maidens of the land to +prostitute themselves at a fixed place, we have +already found this prostitution in the worship of +the Syrian goddess of birth and the Babylonian +Mylitta. The new dynasty which ascends the throne +of Lydia after the Atyads with Agron is again +derived from a god, according to the accounts of +the Greeks, from Heracles and Omphale. The Greeks +narrated that Omphale carried the lion's skin and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[Pg 564]</a></span> +club of Heracles, and that she clothed the hero in +a transparent female robe of scarlet, and caused him +to card wool and spin as her slave.<a name="FNanchor_816_816" id="FNanchor_816_816"></a><a href="#Footnote_816_816" class="fnanchor">[816]</a> Lydian coins +exhibit a female form with the lion's skin and the +bow.<a name="FNanchor_817_817" id="FNanchor_817_817"></a><a href="#Footnote_817_817" class="fnanchor">[817]</a> It was shown above that the Greeks connected +Melkarth (Melicertes) with their Heracles, and that +according to the mythus of the Syrians, the sun-god +finds and overpowers the moon-goddess; that after +the holy marriage, the god on his part succumbs to +the goddess, and changes his nature with her; he +assumes the female nature, she the male; she carries +the weapons, while he performs woman's work. We saw +that the Syrians symbolised the pre-eminent nature, +the unity of the deity, in this amalgamation of the +sexes—this female manhood and male womanhood. +Johannes Lydus tells us that the Lydians worshipped +the sun-god under the name Sandon, and adds, that +because Sandon had lived as a woman, the men at the +mysteries of the god clothed themselves in women's +clothes, and put on transparent crimson garments, +coloured with vermilion.<a name="FNanchor_818_818" id="FNanchor_818_818"></a><a href="#Footnote_818_818" class="fnanchor">[818]</a> Thus the Greeks put their +hero in the place of the Lydian sun-god, who overwhelms +the lion, and changes his nature with the +goddess; and if they farther tell us that Omphale gave +her love to strangers, but also slew all who lay with +her, this also is a trait which had already met us in +the Syrian Astarte, in the nature of Ashera-Astarte, +which at one time grants the enjoyment of love, and +at another brings destruction.</p> + +<p>The result of these considerations proves that the +traits of the Lydian legends, which have been pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[Pg 565]</a></span>served, +present us with very little beyond mere +mythical elements. The connection of the Lydian +worship with the worship of the Syrians comes +plainly to the surface, and this connection is confirmed +by all that we know from other sources of the +rites of the Lydians. The name of their sun-god +Sandon<a name="FNanchor_819_819" id="FNanchor_819_819"></a><a href="#Footnote_819_819" class="fnanchor">[819]</a> recurs on Assyrian monuments, where it +appears as Sandan.<a name="FNanchor_820_820" id="FNanchor_820_820"></a><a href="#Footnote_820_820" class="fnanchor">[820]</a> In the Semitic languages the +word means "helper," and is used as an attribute of +the god Adar, with whom we are already acquainted +as the god of the planet Saturn.<a name="FNanchor_821_821" id="FNanchor_821_821"></a><a href="#Footnote_821_821" class="fnanchor">[821]</a> It is obvious that +the title "helper" could be given not to Adar only, +but to any other god, from whom special favour and +assistance might be expected. The Lydians gave the +title to the good sun-god, who vanquishes the glowing +heat—the terrible sun-god—who looses the girdle of +the moon-goddess, and changes his nature with her. +When the Greek colonists landed on the coast of +Lydia, they at first recognised their own Apollo, i.e. +their god of light, in the Lydian god. They allowed +the sanctuary of the Lydian god at Miletus to remain in +the hands of a family of native priests, the Branchidæ. +As god of the country and protector of the coast, the +Homeric poems give to Apollo the foremost place +among the deities who defend Troy. The Lydians +also on their side recognised the connection between +their sun-god and the Apollo of the Greeks; Gyges +and Crœsus send rich presents to Delphi. But when +the Greeks of the coast became more accurately +acquainted with the nature and the myths of the +Lydian sun-god, that side which chiefly corresponded +to their Heracles, and the image of Heracles developed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[Pg 566]</a></span> +under the influence of the Phenician Melkarth, came +into prominence. The nature of the female goddess +also, whom the Lydians chiefly worshipped, is +beyond doubt. Herodotus tells us that all the +daughters of the Lydians sold themselves, and in +this way collected their dowries; others narrate +that they received slaves or foreigners in the groves +and porticoes of the temples.<a name="FNanchor_822_822" id="FNanchor_822_822"></a><a href="#Footnote_822_822" class="fnanchor">[822]</a> As we have seen, +tradition connects this prostitution with the rule of +Omphale, and Johannes Lydus assures us that the +goddess Blatta worshipped in Lydia was the same as +the Mylitta of the Babylonians. Hence the worship +of Bilit, the Ashera of the Syrians, prevailed also +among the Lydians, a fact which the campaigns +(already mentioned) of Ascalus and Moxus to the +shrine of Derceto at Ascalon also prove. That this +goddess of the Lydians was not without her destructive +side—the power and nature of Astarte—we could +already infer from the bloody acts of Omphale (<a href="#Page_562">p. 562</a>). +At the mouths of the Cayster and the Hermus the +Greeks found the shrines of a goddess, whose priests +were eunuchs, and who was at the same time honoured +with dances in armour by maidens, as the moon and +war-goddess of the Cappadocians.<a name="FNanchor_823_823" id="FNanchor_823_823"></a><a href="#Footnote_823_823" class="fnanchor">[823]</a> This goddess of +the coasts of Lydia was called by the Greeks Artemis, +and this name distinguishes her as at once a maiden +goddess and the goddess of the moon and of war. +And if at the same time the image of Artemis of +Ephesus was represented with large breasts, the +obvious conclusion is that in the goddess of Lydia, +as in the goddesses of Babylonia and Syria, the +two opposites, of continence and sensual enjoyment, +of fertility and of destruction, were united.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[Pg 567]</a></span></p> + +<p>The forms of religious worship also would appear to +have been in all essentials the same among the Lydians +and the Syrians. Mutilation (which we know was +practised very widely among the Lydians),<a name="FNanchor_824_824" id="FNanchor_824_824"></a><a href="#Footnote_824_824" class="fnanchor">[824]</a> and the +prostitution of girls, were common to both countries. +We found above that the Arabs and Syrians believed +their gods to be present in stones, and prayed to them +in that shape. Not far from Magnesia on Sipylus, +a stone, some twenty feet in height, juts out of a wall +of marble, and this in ancient times must have been +regarded with veneration as the idol of a native +goddess. Even in the Homeric poems we find mention +of this stone, and the legend connected with it +by the Greek colonists. "I have seen the stone of +Niobe on Sipylus," said Pausanias. "At a near view +it is a fragment of stone, which does not look like a +woman or a person weeping; but from a distance you +might believe that you saw a weeping and mourning +woman."<a name="FNanchor_825_825" id="FNanchor_825_825"></a><a href="#Footnote_825_825" class="fnanchor">[825]</a></p> + +<p>The essential result of the examination of Lydian +legend and Lydian worship is the obvious and very +close relationship between the Lydian and Syrian +deities and rites. Moreover, the mountain range +which bounds the valley of the Mæander to the +south, bears the Semitic name of Cadmus, <i>i. e.</i> "the +Eastern;" and at the foot of the range lies the city +of Ninoë (Nineveh, <i>i. e.</i> "to dwell.")<a name="FNanchor_826_826" id="FNanchor_826_826"></a><a href="#Footnote_826_826" class="fnanchor">[826]</a> Again, from one +side the languages of the Phrygians and Lydians are +said to be distinctly different; on the other hand, +most of the Lydian words which have been preserved +to us by the Greeks—it is true they are not numerous—can +be traced back to Semitic roots;<a name="FNanchor_827_827" id="FNanchor_827_827"></a><a href="#Footnote_827_827" class="fnanchor">[827]</a> and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[Pg 568]</a></span> +national genealogy of the Hebrews enumerates Lud +among the sons of Shem, together with Elam, Asshur, +Arphaxad, and Aram. Yet, so far as the Lydian +language allows us to form an opinion, elements of a +different character are not entirely wanting. The +gods Manes and Atys, from whom the first royal +house was derived, and after whom it was named, the +goddess Cybele, whose temple stood at Sardis,<a name="FNanchor_828_828" id="FNanchor_828_828"></a><a href="#Footnote_828_828" class="fnanchor">[828]</a> do not +belong to the circle of Semitic deities. Manes, as well +as Atys, we found in Phrygia. Hence, looking back +at the connection between the Armenians, Phrygians, +and Thracians, already brought into prominence +we may suppose that the original population of the +river valley of the Hermus was Phrygian, and that +Semitic invaders from the east subjugated these +Phrygians and absorbed them; but not without +adopting on their part some elements of the Phrygian +language and worship.</p> + +<p>That a monarchy was in existence among the Lydians +before the first Heracleid ascended the throne cannot be +doubted. In the time of the Heracleids we find +mention made of the descendants of Tylon (<a href="#Page_562">p. 562</a>), a +king who is said to have belonged to the family of the +Atyads. The foundation and fortification of Sardis +also seem to belong to the period before the Heracleids, +the period of the Atyads. Herodotus tells us that the +second dynasty, the supposed descendants of Sandon-Heracles, +gave twenty-two sovereigns to the Lydians, +who ruled over Lydia for 505 years.<a name="FNanchor_829_829" id="FNanchor_829_829"></a><a href="#Footnote_829_829" class="fnanchor">[829]</a> However<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[Pg 569]</a></span> +astonishing the pedigree which Herodotus gives to +these Heracleids (the son of Heracles, Alcæus, begets +Belus, Belus begets Ninus, and Ninus Agron),<a name="FNanchor_830_830" id="FNanchor_830_830"></a><a href="#Footnote_830_830" class="fnanchor">[830]</a> we +may regard his statement of the period for which +this dynasty lasted, of which several later members +are established, as historical. And since, after the +Heracleids, the family of Gyges ruled for 140 years +down to the time when Cyrus took Sardis, and since +the taking of Sardis fell in the year 549 <small>B.C.</small>, the +Heracleids must have ascended the throne of Lydia +645 years previously, <i>i. e.</i> in the year 1194 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_831_831" id="FNanchor_831_831"></a><a href="#Footnote_831_831" class="fnanchor">[831]</a> +What degree of civilisation had been reached by the +Lydians about the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small> we can only conclude +from the fact that the Greek settlers on their +coasts found money already coined by the Lydians, +and therefore ascribe to them the invention of the art +of coining.<a name="FNanchor_832_832" id="FNanchor_832_832"></a><a href="#Footnote_832_832" class="fnanchor">[832]</a> The art of dying wool also was, in the +opinion of the Greeks, an invention of the Lydians; and +games at ball as well as at dice were thought to have +been learnt from the Lydians by the Greeks.<a name="FNanchor_833_833" id="FNanchor_833_833"></a><a href="#Footnote_833_833" class="fnanchor">[833]</a> That +the Greeks made use of the Lydian flute, and subsequently +of the Lydian cithara (both the cithara with +three strings and that with twenty strings), and the +Lydian harmonies to enrich their own music, is an +established fact.<a name="FNanchor_834_834" id="FNanchor_834_834"></a><a href="#Footnote_834_834" class="fnanchor">[834]</a> The Homeric poems describe the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[Pg 570]</a></span> +Lydians (Mæonians) as an "armed equestrian people," +and mention their trade and wealth.<a name="FNanchor_835_835" id="FNanchor_835_835"></a><a href="#Footnote_835_835" class="fnanchor">[835]</a></p> + +<p>North of the Lydians, in the river valleys of the +Caïcus Macestus and Rhyndacus, were settled the +Mysians. According to Strabo, they spoke a language +of mixed Phrygian and Lydian elements.<a name="FNanchor_836_836" id="FNanchor_836_836"></a><a href="#Footnote_836_836" class="fnanchor">[836]</a> It was +apparently the Mysian legend which told of king Tantalus, +who possessed the greatest treasures, who slew +his son and offered him for a banquet, <i>i. e.</i> for a sacrifice +to the gods. His grave was shown on Sipylus.<a name="FNanchor_837_837" id="FNanchor_837_837"></a><a href="#Footnote_837_837" class="fnanchor">[837]</a> Before +the Greek colonists took the coasts from them, the +Mysians may have risen to the first elements of +civilisation; but when they were debarred from the +sea, they remained within the limits of their mountains, +pursuing an agricultural and pastoral life. +About the year 500 <small>B.C.</small> their armour was still a small +round shield and javelins, the points of which were +hardened in the fire.<a name="FNanchor_838_838" id="FNanchor_838_838"></a><a href="#Footnote_838_838" class="fnanchor">[838]</a> In spite of these miserable +weapons they gave a good deal of trouble to the +satraps of the Persian king, and even at a later time +desolated the fruitful plains on the coasts by marauding +inroads. Of their worship we only know that the +Greeks found the rites of a god of light on the coasts +at Thymbra, Chryse, and Cilla, who was invoked +under the title Smintheus, a word which is said to +mean the expeller or destroyer of field-mice;<a name="FNanchor_839_839" id="FNanchor_839_839"></a><a href="#Footnote_839_839" class="fnanchor">[839]</a> and +that a goddess of procreation and fertility was worshipped +on Ida.<a name="FNanchor_840_840" id="FNanchor_840_840"></a><a href="#Footnote_840_840" class="fnanchor">[840]</a> In the Homeric poems it is Aphrodite, +by the side of Apollo, who protects Ilium, and +favours Capys and the sons of Priam in the dells +of Ida.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[Pg 571]</a></span></p> + +<p>The coast of Asia Minor, to the south of the +Lydians, was in the possession of the Carians. Herodotus +tells us that, according to the legends of the +Cretans, the Carians were, in the most ancient times, +called Leleges, and inhabited the islands of the Ægean +at the time when Minos reigned in Crete. They +were compelled to man the fleet of Minos. A long +time afterwards they were driven out of the islands by +the Ionians and Dorians, and migrated to Asia Minor. +But the Carians themselves maintained that they had +always lived in the land which they possessed.<a name="FNanchor_841_841" id="FNanchor_841_841"></a><a href="#Footnote_841_841" class="fnanchor">[841]</a> We +cannot hesitate to give the preference to the assertion +of the Carians. From the numerous harbours of their +coast they could easily cross to the neighbouring +islands, and thus they could populate Rhodes Samos +and Chios.<a name="FNanchor_842_842" id="FNanchor_842_842"></a><a href="#Footnote_842_842" class="fnanchor">[842]</a> Advancing from one to another in the +numerous islands of this sea, they reached the +Cyclades and settled there. The most ancient population +of Crete, called by the Greeks Eteocretes, may +very likely have consisted of Carians only, as is +proved by the position which Greek legend gives to +the Carians in reference to Minos, as well as by other +evidence. This occupation of the islands of the +Ægean Sea by the Carians must be placed about the +year 1500 <small>B.C.</small> For when the Phenicians colonised +these islands in the thirteenth century, they were +occupied by Carians. The Carian population became +dependent on the Phenicians. Subsequently, about +the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small>, the Hellenes landed on the islands +of the Ægean, and drove out the Carians. The +Carians lost even Samos and Chios; they were again +confined to their old home, and they could not even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[Pg 572]</a></span> +maintain themselves in that, for the best harbours of +their coasts passed into the hands of the Greeks. Yet +the Carians continued to be seamen and pirates. They +lay in wait, as before, for the merchants, and overran +the rich coast land. Even in the seventh century we +meet with Carian pirates and mercenaries, and these +not only on the mouths and banks of the Nile; and +the Chronographers mention, apparently, a hegemony +of the Carians on the sea, which is placed in the +interval from the year 731 to the year 670 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_843_843" id="FNanchor_843_843"></a><a href="#Footnote_843_843" class="fnanchor">[843]</a></p> + +<p>The Carians had no monarchy embracing the whole +of their territory. But here also, so far as we can +see, princes stood at the head of the various cities. A +kind of confederation united the several places. +About the year 500 we hear of assemblies of Carians +on the banks of the Marsyas near the white pillars, +and afterwards we find common sacrifices of the +Carian cities, and days of meeting in the temple of +Zeus Chrysaor, which was situated in the neighbourhood +of Mylasa (now Milas) at Lagina (now Leïna).<a name="FNanchor_844_844" id="FNanchor_844_844"></a><a href="#Footnote_844_844" class="fnanchor">[844]</a> +Among the Carians the Greek colonists found a style +of armour superior to their own, and they adopted it. +The "Catalogue of ships," in Homer, represents the +leader of the Carians as going into battle decked with +gold.<a name="FNanchor_845_845" id="FNanchor_845_845"></a><a href="#Footnote_845_845" class="fnanchor">[845]</a> In Alcæus "the Carian helmet laments," and +Anacreon speaks "of putting the hand upon the well-fitted +Carian haft." Herodotus tells us that the +Greeks learned from the Carians to wear plumes upon +their helmets, to paint devices upon their shields, and +to furnish them with fixed handles,—in Homer the +shields are carried over the shoulder by straps. Greaves +also are said to have been invented by the Carians.<a name="FNanchor_846_846" id="FNanchor_846_846"></a><a href="#Footnote_846_846" class="fnanchor">[846]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[Pg 573]</a></span></p> + +<p>We are unable to tell with certainty the origin or +the national characteristics of the Carians, though +Herodotus maintains that the Lydians, Mysians, and +Carians spoke the same language. Of the religious +worship of the Carians he tells us that they were the +only nation who worshipped Zeus as a warrior. +Mylasa was the centre of their worship. On the +heights which tower over the plain of Mylasa, in a +forest of plane-trees, near Labranda, lay the temple +of "Zeus Stratius." The image of the god is said to +have carried the double axe. Carian coins of the +fourth century <small>B.C.</small> display the image of a god with a +double axe.<a name="FNanchor_847_847" id="FNanchor_847_847"></a><a href="#Footnote_847_847" class="fnanchor">[847]</a> The same axe is also found on the +remains of Carian altars. The Greeks even maintain +that the god was named after this axe, that his national +name was Labrandeus, and that in Lydian and Carian +<i>labrys</i> meant a battle-axe. Plutarch says:—Arselis, +the Carian of Mylasa, marched to the aid of Candaules, +king of Lydia (he ruled about the year 700 <small>B.C.</small>), and +afterwards he left the sacred axe of the kings of +Lydia to the god of Labranda.<a name="FNanchor_848_848" id="FNanchor_848_848"></a><a href="#Footnote_848_848" class="fnanchor">[848]</a> This giving up of +the battle-axe to the god of the battle-axe allows us +to suppose that the god of Mylasa is meant by the +Carian of Mylasa; and that Arselis may have been +the name or attribute of this god—a supposition +which is changed into a certainty by the fact +that in Semitic languages, Chars-el means "axe of +El," "axe of God."<a name="FNanchor_849_849" id="FNanchor_849_849"></a><a href="#Footnote_849_849" class="fnanchor">[849]</a> Beside this warrior Zeus, a warlike +Aphrodite was also worshipped at Mylasa,<a name="FNanchor_850_850" id="FNanchor_850_850"></a><a href="#Footnote_850_850" class="fnanchor">[850]</a> and if +Strabo calls the goddess of Leïna Hecate, the reason +of the name may be the death-bringing power of the +goddess Astarte-Ashera. The sacred fish who were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[Pg 574]</a></span> +to be found in a pool at Mylasa, with gold rings +round the neck, would then be evidence of the +bountiful, increase-giving side of the nature of this +goddess.<a name="FNanchor_851_851" id="FNanchor_851_851"></a><a href="#Footnote_851_851" class="fnanchor">[851]</a></p> + +<p>East of the Carians, on the south coast, in the +valley of the Xanthus, were the settlements of the +Lycians. The range of Taurus, which here rises to a +height of 10,000 feet, sinks down in fields of snow and +Alpine pastures to the course of the Xanthus. The +sides of this valley, Mounts Kragus and Anti-Kragus, +are beautifully wooded, and traversed by sounding +rills. The view extends from the upper course of the +river over the luxuriant vegetation of the plain down +to the sea.</p> + +<p>Herodotus tells us that this district was once known +as Milyas, and that the Lycians, who were originally +called Termilians, immigrated from Crete. Sarpedon +and Minos contended for the throne, and as Minos got +the upper hand, Sarpedon went with the Termilians to +Asia, and took possession of Milyas. Afterwards +Lycus, the son of the Attic king Pandion, when driven +out by his brother Aegeus, came to Sarpedon, and +from him the Termilians got the name of Lycians. +Their laws were Cretan and Carian. They wore hats +adorned with feathers, goat skins round their +shoulders, sickle-shaped swords and daggers, coats of +mail, greaves, bows, and arrows of reeds. They were +named after the mother, and not after the father, and +spoke of the mothers of their mothers as their ancestors. +The son of a free woman and a slave was free and +passed for a well-born man; but if a free man, even +the first among them, begot children with a foreign +woman or a concubine, these were outlaws.<a name="FNanchor_852_852" id="FNanchor_852_852"></a><a href="#Footnote_852_852" class="fnanchor">[852]</a> Heraclides +of Pontus extends these statements so far as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[Pg 575]</a></span> +assert that the Lycians from ancient times had been +under the dominion of their wives; Nicolaus, of +Damascus tells us that the daughters of the Lycians, +and not the sons, took the inheritance.<a name="FNanchor_853_853" id="FNanchor_853_853"></a><a href="#Footnote_853_853" class="fnanchor">[853]</a></p> + +<p>In the Homeric poems, Prœtus, king of Argos, +sends Bellerophontes of Ephyra (Corinth) to the king +of the Lycians, to be put to death. The king bade +him slay the Chimæra, a monster which was a lion in +front, a goat in the middle part, and a dragon behind, +and when he succeeded in this he sent him to +fight against the Solymi and the Amazons. But +afterwards he gave him half his kingdom and his +daughter, who bore him Hippolochus and Laodameia. +The son of Hippolochus was Glaucus, and the son of +Laodameia was Sarpedon, the chieftains who led the +Lycians to the aid of the Trojans.</p> + +<p>Beside the supposed immigration of the Lycians +from Crete and the poetry of Homer we know nothing +of the history of the Lycians beyond the fact that they +did not submit to the army of Cyrus without a most +obstinate resistance. And even under the supremacy +of the Persians the Lycians managed their internal +affairs independently. They formed a federation +which was in existence at Strabo's time, and then +included twenty-three places. Each city was represented +at the assembly; the six larger cities had three +votes each, the next largest had two, and the smaller +cities had one.<a name="FNanchor_854_854" id="FNanchor_854_854"></a><a href="#Footnote_854_854" class="fnanchor">[854]</a></p> + +<p>The name Milyas, which, according to Herodotus, +was borne by the valley of the Xanthus, clung even in +later times to the spur under the ridge of Mount +Taurus, which runs out eastward towards Mount +Solyma. Hence the Lycians could easily be repre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[Pg 576]</a></span>sented +as in conflict with the Solymi. The name +Chimæra is given to a high mountain valley on +Mount Kragus.<a name="FNanchor_855_855" id="FNanchor_855_855"></a><a href="#Footnote_855_855" class="fnanchor">[855]</a> If the Greeks call the inhabitants +of the valley of the Xanthus Lycians, the name has +not arisen among them from the supposed Lycus, the +brother of Ægeus, but rather from the Grecian god +of light, Apollo Lyceus. According to the mythus of +the Greeks, Apollo Bellerophontes (who was worshipped +at Corinth), dashes down from his cloud-horse and +with his crown of rays breaks through the thick clouds +which obscure the sun; he overcomes Bellerus, the +spirit of darkness. In the mind of the Greeks, Lycia +was free from the clouds of winter; and, as a fact, the +climate of the valley of the Xanthus is excellent. Into +this bright land, therefore, the god was thought to +have marched when he had become a hero; here he +overcame the Chimæra, the creature of mist and +cloud. The Greeks went still further in this conception. +The east, the land of sunrise, was in itself the +land of light, of the god of light, Lyceus. The god +of light was thought to pass the winter in the +brighter east, in the home of the sun. When the +Greek colonists had settled on the western coasts of +Asia Minor, they regarded the valley of the Xanthus +as the eastern land of light, they gave it this name, +and supposed that Apollo passed the winter in Lycia, +and gave oracles during the six winter months at +Patara in Lycia.<a name="FNanchor_856_856" id="FNanchor_856_856"></a><a href="#Footnote_856_856" class="fnanchor">[856]</a> In spite of the eastern situation +and the climate of Lycia, this idea would hardly have +taken root had not the Lycians at Patara, and probably +at other places in Lycia, worshipped a god in whom +the Greeks could recognise their own god of light.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[Pg 577]</a></span> +The Homeric poems place the Lycians in the closest +connection with the Teucrians. There is a Xanthus +in Lycia and in the Troad, and the name Tros seems +to be identical with the name of the Lycian city of +Tlos, which lies high up in the valley of the Xanthus +under Taurus. In any case, from this close combination +of the Teucrians and Lycians in Homer, we may +conclude that with the Greeks of the coast the +Lycians passed for a tribe who had already been for a +long time in possession of their settlements. None +but native Asiatic tribes could be represented as +fighting beside the native Teucrians as their closest +confederates.</p> + +<p>The Lycians developed a peculiar civilisation and +a peculiar art, of which numerous monuments, and +many of them accompanied by inscriptions, have +come down to us. The alphabet in these inscriptions +closely resembles the Greek. With the aid of +some inscriptions written in the Greek and Lycian +languages, scholars have succeeded in fixing the value +of the Lycian letters—of which there are ten for +vowels and diphthongs, and twenty for consonants.<a name="FNanchor_857_857" id="FNanchor_857_857"></a><a href="#Footnote_857_857" class="fnanchor">[857]</a> +By this means we have become acquainted with the +name by which the Lycians called themselves. They +were not merely called Termilians, as Herodotus supposed, +in the most ancient times, but even in their own +inscriptions they call themselves Tramele. The city +which the Greeks calls Xanthus is in the language of +the Tramele, Arna; the city of Patara is Pttarazu; +Pegasa is Begssere.<a name="FNanchor_858_858" id="FNanchor_858_858"></a><a href="#Footnote_858_858" class="fnanchor">[858]</a> In fixing the character of the +Lycian language, it was at first supposed that the +Lycians might have been a branch of the Phrygians, +who had forced their way over the Taurus to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[Pg 578]</a></span> +south coast—an assumption which seems to be supported +by the fact that the Lycian monuments +resemble the Phrygian in plan and style; and that +the Lycians, like the Phrygians, loved to excavate +walls of rock and that in Lycia, as in Phrygia, +the influence of the Greeks was felt at an early time. +But the Lycian idiom, so far as the remains of it have +been examined at present, was distinctly different +from the Phrygian language. While some of our +scholars find in the Lycian language words and inflexions +allied to the Albanian, <i>i. e.</i> to the remains +of the language of the ancient Illyrians, others are +more inclined to place the Lycian in close connection +with the Iranian languages.<a name="FNanchor_859_859" id="FNanchor_859_859"></a><a href="#Footnote_859_859" class="fnanchor">[859]</a> In either case the +Lycians, like the Armenians and Phrygians, belong to +the Indo-Germanic stock, and not only the Armenians +and Phrygians, but along with them the forefathers +of the Lycians came into Asia Minor from the north-east.</p> + +<p>The Lycians were settled in a region of strong +natural boundaries, and of a very defined and picturesque +form. The position of their land, protected +as it was by strong natural boundaries, secured for +them a more undisturbed development than was +possible to the other tribes of Asia Minor. Their +cities and towers, Xanthus, Phellus, Myra, Telmissus, +Patara, Pinara, and Tlos were surrounded by strong +walls of Cyclopian architecture, and the splendid +remains are evidence of great skill in masonry. The +noble ruins of Xanthus, not far from the mouth of +the river of the same name, still proclaim, even at a +distance, the ancient metropolis of the Lycians. How +far back the monuments of Lycia extend cannot be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[Pg 579]</a></span> +determined as yet. The oldest of which the date +can be fixed go back to the reign of Darius II., the +Itariayush of Lycian inscriptions. The reliefs exhibit +the Chimæra, as described in Homer; and they repeatedly +exhibit a lion slaying a bull.<a name="FNanchor_860_860" id="FNanchor_860_860"></a><a href="#Footnote_860_860" class="fnanchor">[860]</a> The Lycians +themselves are represented in long garments, just as +in works of Greek art; and even to this day the +peasants on the Xanthus are to be seen in the caftan.<a name="FNanchor_861_861" id="FNanchor_861_861"></a><a href="#Footnote_861_861" class="fnanchor">[861]</a> +Pictures of battles, of agricultural and pastoral occupations +are frequent on the monuments; but so far as +the inscriptions have been deciphered at present, they +afford no single instance in support of the statement +of Herodotus that the Lycians were not named after +the father, but after the mother.<a name="FNanchor_862_862" id="FNanchor_862_862"></a><a href="#Footnote_862_862" class="fnanchor">[862]</a> The most important +remains are the tombs, which are evidence of the great +industry and care which the Lycians devoted to the +repose and memory of the dead. A considerable +number of these tombs lie within the walls of the +city, and are surrounded by the ruins of other +buildings. Hence the dwellings of the dead and of +the living were not separated among the Lycians. +Besides sarcophagi, made of blocks brought for the +purpose, we also find detached rocks, which are +changed into great sarcophagi, rocky peaks transformed +into sepulchres, and extensive walls of rock, +in which grave-chambers have been cut. The face of +the rocky wall, thus hollowed out for tombs, is provided +with façades which rise up in rich variety to +the number of many thousands, over and alongside of +each other, sometimes advancing, sometimes receding, +according to the nature of the rock. The style of +these tombs, which is for the most part very delicate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[Pg 580]</a></span> +and slender, is an imitation of a kind of wooden structure, +which must have been common in Lycia in +ancient times, and the simplest forms of which are +still in use among the peasants of the region which +corresponds to Lycia;<a name="FNanchor_863_863" id="FNanchor_863_863"></a><a href="#Footnote_863_863" class="fnanchor">[863]</a> sometimes the structure is +simpler, at others more complicated, and the effect is +strengthened by delicate and luxuriant ornamentation. +The faces of the rock-tombs sometimes end with a flat +framework of beams, at others with a gable in low +relief. The detached sepulchres exhibit the same +imitation of a wooden building. Many of these +sepulchres are obviously intended for three corpses; +in the single chamber included in them are generally +found two stone benches in the sides and at the back +a receptacle for a corpse in a recess.<a name="FNanchor_864_864" id="FNanchor_864_864"></a><a href="#Footnote_864_864" class="fnanchor">[864]</a> The detached +sarcophagi are the most numerous. On a sub-structure, +or immediately on the ground, stands a long +stone coffin, closed by a high massive cover, the +section of which exhibits a Gothic pointed arch. On +these sarcophagi also the ornamentation is almost +always rich, and carried out with neatness even to +the smallest detail. Beside the sarcophagi we also +find pillars and obelisks among the ruins. The tympana, +friezes, and surfaces of all these monuments are +covered with reliefs, which represent with much +truth and liveliness the life of animals as well as +the life of men. Evident remains of colouring on all +the monuments show us that a layer of lively and even +startling colours was laid upon these buildings. The +reliefs also were painted, and some are treated almost +as pictures. The inscriptions upon the tombs prove +that the Lycians erected these tombs in their lifetime +for themselves, wives, and children, and that this was +done by several families in common; they invoke the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[Pg 581]</a></span> +anger of a goddess Phate—whom the Greeks call Leto—on +those who might dare to violate them. From +the nature and solidity of these tombs and sarcophagi, +it is clear that the Lycians were almost at as much +trouble to give a secure resting-place to their dead as +the Egyptians were to give rest to their mummies, +while the ornaments show that the Lycians must have +regarded the life after death as a state of peaceful +repose; the sculptures on the tombs invariably represent +friendly scenes of family life, of occupation in +the country, of social life or festal enjoyment. We +see mothers with their children, carriage journeys, +riders, processions, banquets, and feasts, and finally +battle-pieces, in which the combatants are partly +armed as Lycians and partly as Greeks. Nothing, +not even in the pictures of battles, reminds us of the +horrors of death, or of a judgment in the under +world. The monuments of Lycia prove that the +supremacy of the Persians did not interrupt the progress +of Lycian art. But the creations of the later +period enable us to see that Greek art, in her +bloom, obtained and exercised the strongest influence +over the Lycians. The most beautiful monument of +Lycia, the tomb of Harpagus, the Persian satrap, +which belongs to the first half of the fourth century, +exhibits a preponderance of Greek forms.</p> + + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_688_688" id="Footnote_688_688"></a><a href="#FNanchor_688_688"><span class="label">[688]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 525, 530, 532, 559.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_689_689" id="Footnote_689_689"></a><a href="#FNanchor_689_689"><span class="label">[689]</span></a> Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 238.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_690_690" id="Footnote_690_690"></a><a href="#FNanchor_690_690"><span class="label">[690]</span></a> Kiepert, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 239.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_691_691" id="Footnote_691_691"></a><a href="#FNanchor_691_691"><span class="label">[691]</span></a> Von Gutschmid, "Sächs. Gesell. d. W." 1876, p. 5, <i>seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_692_692" id="Footnote_692_692"></a><a href="#FNanchor_692_692"><span class="label">[692]</span></a> Mos. Chor. 1, 10-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_693_693" id="Footnote_693_693"></a><a href="#FNanchor_693_693"><span class="label">[693]</span></a> Mos. Chor. 1, 23-30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_694_694" id="Footnote_694_694"></a><a href="#FNanchor_694_694"><span class="label">[694]</span></a> Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 222.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_695_695" id="Footnote_695_695"></a><a href="#FNanchor_695_695"><span class="label">[695]</span></a> Kiepert, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 236.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_696_696" id="Footnote_696_696"></a><a href="#FNanchor_696_696"><span class="label">[696]</span></a> Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 226.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_697_697" id="Footnote_697_697"></a><a href="#FNanchor_697_697"><span class="label">[697]</span></a> Jer. li. 27; Ezek. xxvii. 14; xxxviii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_698_698" id="Footnote_698_698"></a><a href="#FNanchor_698_698"><span class="label">[698]</span></a> Moses Chor. c. 24-30, in Le Vaillant's translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_699_699" id="Footnote_699_699"></a><a href="#FNanchor_699_699"><span class="label">[699]</span></a> Anab. 4, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_700_700" id="Footnote_700_700"></a><a href="#FNanchor_700_700"><span class="label">[700]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Monarch.," 2, 64, 79; Ménant, "Annal.," pp. 49, +64, 73, 82.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_701_701" id="Footnote_701_701"></a><a href="#FNanchor_701_701"><span class="label">[701]</span></a> G. Smith, "Zeit. fur. ægypt. Sprache," 1869, s. 9-13, 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_702_702" id="Footnote_702_702"></a><a href="#FNanchor_702_702"><span class="label">[702]</span></a> Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonid.," p. 22, <i>et seq.</i>, 37; "Inscript. de DurSarkayan", +pp. 14, 21. G. Rawlinson, "Monarchies," 2, 188. According +to Oppert's reading the two gods of Arsissa were called Haldia and +Bagabarta.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_703_703" id="Footnote_703_703"></a><a href="#FNanchor_703_703"><span class="label">[703]</span></a> Joseph. "Antiq.," 1, 3, 6; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," +1869, s. 236.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_704_704" id="Footnote_704_704"></a><a href="#FNanchor_704_704"><span class="label">[704]</span></a> G. Smith, "Assurb.," 61, 75, 84 <i>seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_705_705" id="Footnote_705_705"></a><a href="#FNanchor_705_705"><span class="label">[705]</span></a> Botta, "Monum. de Ninive," 2, pl. 140, 141.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_706_706" id="Footnote_706_706"></a><a href="#FNanchor_706_706"><span class="label">[706]</span></a> Lenormant, "Lettr. Assyr." 1, 121, 142, reads Belitdur and Menuas +Hincks read Niriduris and Kinuas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_707_707" id="Footnote_707_707"></a><a href="#FNanchor_707_707"><span class="label">[707]</span></a> Mordtmann, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 26, 484 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_708_708" id="Footnote_708_708"></a><a href="#FNanchor_708_708"><span class="label">[708]</span></a> Herod. 7, 73; 8, 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_709_709" id="Footnote_709_709"></a><a href="#FNanchor_709_709"><span class="label">[709]</span></a> Strabo, p. 471.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_710_710" id="Footnote_710_710"></a><a href="#FNanchor_710_710"><span class="label">[710]</span></a> Herod. 7, 75; Thucyd. 4, 75; Xenoph. "Anab." 6, 4, 2; Strabo, +p. 541, 542.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_711_711" id="Footnote_711_711"></a><a href="#FNanchor_711_711"><span class="label">[711]</span></a> Otto Abel, "Makedonien," s. 57 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_712_712" id="Footnote_712_712"></a><a href="#FNanchor_712_712"><span class="label">[712]</span></a> Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 369 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_713_713" id="Footnote_713_713"></a><a href="#FNanchor_713_713"><span class="label">[713]</span></a> Herod. 2, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_714_714" id="Footnote_714_714"></a><a href="#FNanchor_714_714"><span class="label">[714]</span></a> Justin, "Hist.," 11, 7; Plut. "Alex.," c. 18; Arrian, "Anab.," 2, 3; +Steph. Byzant, Γορδίειον; Pausan. 1, 4, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_715_715" id="Footnote_715_715"></a><a href="#FNanchor_715_715"><span class="label">[715]</span></a> Aristoph. "Plut.," 287; Ovid, "Metamorph.," 11, 146.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_716_716" id="Footnote_716_716"></a><a href="#FNanchor_716_716"><span class="label">[716]</span></a> Arist. "Pol." 8, 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_717_717" id="Footnote_717_717"></a><a href="#FNanchor_717_717"><span class="label">[717]</span></a> Diod. 3, 59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_718_718" id="Footnote_718_718"></a><a href="#FNanchor_718_718"><span class="label">[718]</span></a> Herod. 7, 26; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 2, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_719_719" id="Footnote_719_719"></a><a href="#FNanchor_719_719"><span class="label">[719]</span></a> Fragm. 128, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_720_720" id="Footnote_720_720"></a><a href="#FNanchor_720_720"><span class="label">[720]</span></a> A communication from Kiepert.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_721_721" id="Footnote_721_721"></a><a href="#FNanchor_721_721"><span class="label">[721]</span></a> Pollux, 9, 83; Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 11, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_722_722" id="Footnote_722_722"></a><a href="#FNanchor_722_722"><span class="label">[722]</span></a> Euseb. "Chron." 2, 82, ed. Schöne.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_723_723" id="Footnote_723_723"></a><a href="#FNanchor_723_723"><span class="label">[723]</span></a> [Plato, "Phaedr." 264 D. (Jowett.)]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_724_724" id="Footnote_724_724"></a><a href="#FNanchor_724_724"><span class="label">[724]</span></a> Diog. Laert. 1, 89; Simonid. Fragm. 57, ed. Bergk; Herod. 1, 14, +35; Strabo, p. 61; "Bergk-Griech. Litteratur-Gesch." 1, 779. The date +of the second Midas is fixed by the observation of Herodotus that the +dedicatory offerings of Midas were older than those of Gyges, and by the +date of the first invasion of the Cimmerians, which will be ascertained +below: the second invasion of the Cimmerians took place far later, in the +time of Ardys of Lydia, <i>i. e.</i> at a time when monarchy was no longer in +existence in the Greek cities. Hence I believe that the Midas of the +tomb must be distinguished from the Midas of the dedicatory offering.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_725_725" id="Footnote_725_725"></a><a href="#FNanchor_725_725"><span class="label">[725]</span></a> The upper inscription of this tomb is as follows: "Ates arkiaevos +akenanogavos Midai lavaltaie vanaktei edaes;" the lower is: "Baba +memavais proitavos kphizan avozos sikeman edaes."—Leake, "Asia Minor," +p. 22-36; Barth, in Petermann "Geog. Mittheilungen," 1860, s. 91-93; +Lassen, in "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 372. For "lavaltaie" R. Stuart reads +"na-" or "gavaltaie."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_726_726" id="Footnote_726_726"></a><a href="#FNanchor_726_726"><span class="label">[726]</span></a> Strabo, p. 569; Vitruvius, 2, 1, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_727_727" id="Footnote_727_727"></a><a href="#FNanchor_727_727"><span class="label">[727]</span></a> Perrot, "Exploration," pp. 218, 224.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_728_728" id="Footnote_728_728"></a><a href="#FNanchor_728_728"><span class="label">[728]</span></a> Hamilton, "Asia Minor," 1, 95-98, 401, 451; 2, 233-252.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_729_729" id="Footnote_729_729"></a><a href="#FNanchor_729_729"><span class="label">[729]</span></a> Lucian, "Jup. Trag." c. 8. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_730_730" id="Footnote_730_730"></a><a href="#FNanchor_730_730"><span class="label">[730]</span></a> Etym. Magn. Ἄμμα.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_731_731" id="Footnote_731_731"></a><a href="#FNanchor_731_731"><span class="label">[731]</span></a> Diod. 3, 59; Livy, 29, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_732_732" id="Footnote_732_732"></a><a href="#FNanchor_732_732"><span class="label">[732]</span></a> Arist. "Rhet." 3, 2; Ovid. "Fast." 4, 265; Arnoh. "Adv. Gent." +9, 5, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_733_733" id="Footnote_733_733"></a><a href="#FNanchor_733_733"><span class="label">[733]</span></a> Diod. 3, 59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_734_734" id="Footnote_734_734"></a><a href="#FNanchor_734_734"><span class="label">[734]</span></a> Herod. 1, 94. In Hippolytus ("Philosoph." 5, 9, p. 118, ed. Miller) +Atys is called the sun of Rhea. Agdistis appears to have been androgynous; +Paus. 7, 17, 5. Hesych. Ἄγδιστις. The chief priests at Pessinus +were always called Atys, according to the inscriptions of Sivrihissar, cf. +Polyb. 22, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_735_735" id="Footnote_735_735"></a><a href="#FNanchor_735_735"><span class="label">[735]</span></a> Plut. "De Isid." 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_736_736" id="Footnote_736_736"></a><a href="#FNanchor_736_736"><span class="label">[736]</span></a> Arnob. "Adv. Gent." 5, 16; Herodian, 1, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_737_737" id="Footnote_737_737"></a><a href="#FNanchor_737_737"><span class="label">[737]</span></a> Hippolyt. <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_738_738" id="Footnote_738_738"></a><a href="#FNanchor_738_738"><span class="label">[738]</span></a> "Il." 3, 187; Hym. Ven. 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_739_739" id="Footnote_739_739"></a><a href="#FNanchor_739_739"><span class="label">[739]</span></a> "Bacch." 55 ff., 120 ff.; Diod. 3, 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_740_740" id="Footnote_740_740"></a><a href="#FNanchor_740_740"><span class="label">[740]</span></a> Herod. 1, 173, and H. Stein <i>ad loc.</i>; Chœrilus in "Joseph. c. Apion." +1, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_741_741" id="Footnote_741_741"></a><a href="#FNanchor_741_741"><span class="label">[741]</span></a> "Anab." 1, 2, 21 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_742_742" id="Footnote_742_742"></a><a href="#FNanchor_742_742"><span class="label">[742]</span></a> Blau, "Num. Achaem. Aram-persic," p. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_743_743" id="Footnote_743_743"></a><a href="#FNanchor_743_743"><span class="label">[743]</span></a> Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 385.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_744_744" id="Footnote_744_744"></a><a href="#FNanchor_744_744"><span class="label">[744]</span></a> Herod. 7, 91; 5, 118; 7, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." 7, 8, 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_745_745" id="Footnote_745_745"></a><a href="#FNanchor_745_745"><span class="label">[745]</span></a> H. Stein, on Herodotus, 1, 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_746_746" id="Footnote_746_746"></a><a href="#FNanchor_746_746"><span class="label">[746]</span></a> Hellan. fragm. 158, ed Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_747_747" id="Footnote_747_747"></a><a href="#FNanchor_747_747"><span class="label">[747]</span></a> Berosi Fragm. 12, ed. Müller; Abyd. Fragm. 7, ed. Müller. That +Anchialensium should be read instead of Atheniensium need not be +proved at length.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_748_748" id="Footnote_748_748"></a><a href="#FNanchor_748_748"><span class="label">[748]</span></a> Arrian, "Anab." 2, 5; Athen. p. 529; Steph. Byz. +Ἀγχιάλη.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_749_749" id="Footnote_749_749"></a><a href="#FNanchor_749_749"><span class="label">[749]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." pp. 107, 228, 231, 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," +p. 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_750_750" id="Footnote_750_750"></a><a href="#FNanchor_750_750"><span class="label">[750]</span></a> Æsch. "Persae," 326; Herod. 3, 90; 7, 91, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." +1, 2, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_751_751" id="Footnote_751_751"></a><a href="#FNanchor_751_751"><span class="label">[751]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 348 ff., 354, 497 ff., 574.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_752_752" id="Footnote_752_752"></a><a href="#FNanchor_752_752"><span class="label">[752]</span></a> 1, 72; cf. 5, 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_753_753" id="Footnote_753_753"></a><a href="#FNanchor_753_753"><span class="label">[753]</span></a> "Il." 2, 857.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_754_754" id="Footnote_754_754"></a><a href="#FNanchor_754_754"><span class="label">[754]</span></a> "Prom. Vinct." 613-617.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_755_755" id="Footnote_755_755"></a><a href="#FNanchor_755_755"><span class="label">[755]</span></a> Sandwich, "Siege of Kars," p. 35 of translation. On the Murad Tshai, +near Charput, the best iron is still procured.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_756_756" id="Footnote_756_756"></a><a href="#FNanchor_756_756"><span class="label">[756]</span></a> Herod. 1, 72; 7, 72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_757_757" id="Footnote_757_757"></a><a href="#FNanchor_757_757"><span class="label">[757]</span></a> Fragm. incert. 150, ed. Bergk.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_758_758" id="Footnote_758_758"></a><a href="#FNanchor_758_758"><span class="label">[758]</span></a> Scymn. Ch. 943.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_759_759" id="Footnote_759_759"></a><a href="#FNanchor_759_759"><span class="label">[759]</span></a> "Peripl. P. E." c. 20, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_760_760" id="Footnote_760_760"></a><a href="#FNanchor_760_760"><span class="label">[760]</span></a> Plut. "Lucull," 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_761_761" id="Footnote_761_761"></a><a href="#FNanchor_761_761"><span class="label">[761]</span></a> C. 89, 90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_762_762" id="Footnote_762_762"></a><a href="#FNanchor_762_762"><span class="label">[762]</span></a> Strabo, p. 533, 544, 737; cf. Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1, 948.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_763_763" id="Footnote_763_763"></a><a href="#FNanchor_763_763"><span class="label">[763]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," 308, 427; Blau, "Phœniz. Münzkunde," 2, +12, 19. These, and the reasons given above, seem to me sufficient to +prevent my agreeing to Lassen's opinion ("Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 377) +that the Cappadocians were an Indo-Germanic tribe.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_764_764" id="Footnote_764_764"></a><a href="#FNanchor_764_764"><span class="label">[764]</span></a> Herod. 4, 1, 10-12; 1, 103, 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_765_765" id="Footnote_765_765"></a><a href="#FNanchor_765_765"><span class="label">[765]</span></a> "Odyss." 11, 14-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_766_766" id="Footnote_766_766"></a><a href="#FNanchor_766_766"><span class="label">[766]</span></a> "Ranae," 187.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_767_767" id="Footnote_767_767"></a><a href="#FNanchor_767_767"><span class="label">[767]</span></a> Scym. Ch. 239, 240; Strabo, 244; Virgil, "Aen." 3, 441; Plin. +"Hist. Nat." 3, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_768_768" id="Footnote_768_768"></a><a href="#FNanchor_768_768"><span class="label">[768]</span></a> Callinus, apud Strabo, 648; Herod. 1, 6, 15, 16; 4, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_769_769" id="Footnote_769_769"></a><a href="#FNanchor_769_769"><span class="label">[769]</span></a> Aristot. apud Steph. Byz. Ἄντανδρος: Scymn. Ch. 941.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_770_770" id="Footnote_770_770"></a><a href="#FNanchor_770_770"><span class="label">[770]</span></a> Τρῆρες.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_771_771" id="Footnote_771_771"></a><a href="#FNanchor_771_771"><span class="label">[771]</span></a> Strabo, p. 61, 552, 494. On p. 647 we find "The Treres, a Cimmerian +nation."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_772_772" id="Footnote_772_772"></a><a href="#FNanchor_772_772"><span class="label">[772]</span></a> Strabo, p. 552.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_773_773" id="Footnote_773_773"></a><a href="#FNanchor_773_773"><span class="label">[773]</span></a> Strabo, p. 20, 149, 573.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><span class="label">[A]</span> Strabo, p. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_774_774" id="Footnote_774_774"></a><a href="#FNanchor_774_774"><span class="label">[774]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 627, 647, 61. That in this passage, where Madys is +mentioned a second time with the epithet: the Cimmerian, +Σκύθης must be +read instead of Madys, as Madys has been mentioned just before, is self-evident.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_775_775" id="Footnote_775_775"></a><a href="#FNanchor_775_775"><span class="label">[775]</span></a> Thuc. 2, 96; Strabo, p. 59; Theopomp (Fragm. 313, ed. Müller) +call them Trares.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_776_776" id="Footnote_776_776"></a><a href="#FNanchor_776_776"><span class="label">[776]</span></a> Herod. 1, 6; Plut. "Marius," 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_777_777" id="Footnote_777_777"></a><a href="#FNanchor_777_777"><span class="label">[777]</span></a> Justin. 2, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_778_778" id="Footnote_778_778"></a><a href="#FNanchor_778_778"><span class="label">[778]</span></a> Strabo, p. 545; Euseb. "Chron." ann., 1260; Syncell. p. 401, ed. +Dind. Cf. Xenophon, "Anab." 4, 8; Steph. Byzant. +Τραπεζοῦς.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_779_779" id="Footnote_779_779"></a><a href="#FNanchor_779_779"><span class="label">[779]</span></a> Orosius, 1, 21: "Anno ante urbem conditam tricesimo" (Orosius +follows the Catonian era), "tunc etiam Amazonum gentis et Cimmeriorum +in Asiam repentinus incursus plurimam diu lateque vastationem et stragem +edidit." Grote ("History of Greece," 3, 334) objects that if this statement +is allowed to hold good for the Cimmerians, we are justified in making the +same conclusions for the Amazons, who would thus become historical. +The Amazons are connected with the Cimmerians because the land round +Sinope was the abode of the Cimmerians, and it was in this place that +the Amazons were said to have dwelt. I too should be inclined to give +the less weight to the testimony of Orosius, as the number 30 may be a +corruption for 300. But the other evidence given is enough to prove that +the Cimmerians immigrated into Asia Minor in the period between 750 +and 700 <small>B.C.</small>, and settled round the Halys at the mouth of the river.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_780_780" id="Footnote_780_780"></a><a href="#FNanchor_780_780"><span class="label">[780]</span></a> Above, <a href="#Page_517">p. 517</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_781_781" id="Footnote_781_781"></a><a href="#FNanchor_781_781"><span class="label">[781]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." p. 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 64-72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_782_782" id="Footnote_782_782"></a><a href="#FNanchor_782_782"><span class="label">[782]</span></a> Syncell. "Chron." p. 49; Kiepert, "Monatsber. Berl. Akad." 1859, +p. 204.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_783_783" id="Footnote_783_783"></a><a href="#FNanchor_783_783"><span class="label">[783]</span></a> Perrot, "Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," pp. 339, 340, 371.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_784_784" id="Footnote_784_784"></a><a href="#FNanchor_784_784"><span class="label">[784]</span></a> H. Barth, "Reise von Trapezunt nach Skutari," s. 42 ff; Perrot, <i>loc. +cit.</i> p. 328 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_785_785" id="Footnote_785_785"></a><a href="#FNanchor_785_785"><span class="label">[785]</span></a> Barth, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akad." 1859, s. 142 ff.; Perrot, +"Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," pp. 330 ff. 352-356.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_786_786" id="Footnote_786_786"></a><a href="#FNanchor_786_786"><span class="label">[786]</span></a> Perrot, "Explor. Archéol. de la Galatie," p. 157.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_787_787" id="Footnote_787_787"></a><a href="#FNanchor_787_787"><span class="label">[787]</span></a> Diod. 3, 57; Strabo, pp. 535-537, 557, 559; Plut. "Sulla," c. 9; +Hirt. "Bell. Alex." 66.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_788_788" id="Footnote_788_788"></a><a href="#FNanchor_788_788"><span class="label">[788]</span></a> "Il." 3, 184-190.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_789_789" id="Footnote_789_789"></a><a href="#FNanchor_789_789"><span class="label">[789]</span></a> Pausan. 1, 2, 1; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_790_790" id="Footnote_790_790"></a><a href="#FNanchor_790_790"><span class="label">[790]</span></a> "Prom. Vinct." 723, Suppl. 287. In other passages, following the +later view, he places them in Scythia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_791_791" id="Footnote_791_791"></a><a href="#FNanchor_791_791"><span class="label">[791]</span></a> Frag. 25, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_792_792" id="Footnote_792_792"></a><a href="#FNanchor_792_792"><span class="label">[792]</span></a> Strabo, p. 505.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_793_793" id="Footnote_793_793"></a><a href="#FNanchor_793_793"><span class="label">[793]</span></a> Herod. 9, 27; Plut. "Menex." p. 239; Isocr. "Panegyr." 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_794_794" id="Footnote_794_794"></a><a href="#FNanchor_794_794"><span class="label">[794]</span></a> Diod. 2, 45, 46; 3, 55; Strabo, p. 505; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2, +949.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_795_795" id="Footnote_795_795"></a><a href="#FNanchor_795_795"><span class="label">[795]</span></a> Callim. "in Dian." 237.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_796_796" id="Footnote_796_796"></a><a href="#FNanchor_796_796"><span class="label">[796]</span></a> "Il." 2, 814; Ephori Fragm. 87, ed. Müller; Pausan. 7, 2, 7. According +to Diodorus, Priene and Pitane were also founded by the Amazon +Myrina, 3, 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_797_797" id="Footnote_797_797"></a><a href="#FNanchor_797_797"><span class="label">[797]</span></a> Plut. "Thes." 27, 28; Pausan. 2, 32; 3, 25; Diod. 4, 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_798_798" id="Footnote_798_798"></a><a href="#FNanchor_798_798"><span class="label">[798]</span></a> Herod. 4, 189; Diod. 3, 52-55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_799_799" id="Footnote_799_799"></a><a href="#FNanchor_799_799"><span class="label">[799]</span></a> Herod. 4, 110-117; Plato, "Legg." p. 804; Hippocr. "De aere," c. 17; +Ephor. fragm. 78, 103, ed. Müller; Ctes. fragm. 25-28, ed. Müller. +Justinus (2, 4), as remarked, represents Ilinus, and Skolopitus, as making +their way from Scythia to the Thermodon, and when these Scythians had +for many years plundered their neighbours from this centre, they were attacked +and cut down by the conspirators among their neighbours. Their +wives remained; they seized the weapons, and founded a female kingdom. +In order to preserve the race, they came together with the neighbouring +people, but they slew all the male children. Marpesia and Lampedo, who +called themselves daughters of Mars, ruled over this female kingdom. +Then Lampedo with a part of the Amazons marched out and founded +Ephesus, and many other cities; over those who remained behind, when +Marpesia was slain, Antiope and Oreithyia reigned; and in their time +Heracles and Theseus came and carried off two sisters of Antiope. To +avenge this act Oreithyia marched against Athens, supported by the +Scythian king Sagillus, and his son Panasagorus. After Oreithyia, Penthesilea +reigned; after her reign the power of the Amazons declined. Cf. Steph. +Byzant, <i>s. v.</i> Ἀμαζόνες, +where the story which Herodotus (4, 1-4) tells of +the returning Scythians of Madyas is turned to the advantage of the Amazons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_800_800" id="Footnote_800_800"></a><a href="#FNanchor_800_800"><span class="label">[800]</span></a> Plut. "Alex." 46; Curtius, 6, 5; Diod. 17, 77; Strabo, p. 505; +Justin, 2, 4; 12, 3. Cf. Arrian, "Anab." 4, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_801_801" id="Footnote_801_801"></a><a href="#FNanchor_801_801"><span class="label">[801]</span></a> Arrian, <i>loc. cit.</i> 7, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_802_802" id="Footnote_802_802"></a><a href="#FNanchor_802_802"><span class="label">[802]</span></a> Plut. "Pompeius," c. 35; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." c. 103.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_803_803" id="Footnote_803_803"></a><a href="#FNanchor_803_803"><span class="label">[803]</span></a> Strab, pp. 503-505, 547, 550, 552.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_804_804" id="Footnote_804_804"></a><a href="#FNanchor_804_804"><span class="label">[804]</span></a> Hippoc. "De aere," c. 89, 91. If the name Amazon were Greek, it +could only have been invented in a contrast to +πολύμαζος, "with many +breasts," the epithet of the Ephesian Artemis, as the goddess of birth, to +denote the maidens devoted to chastity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_805_805" id="Footnote_805_805"></a><a href="#FNanchor_805_805"><span class="label">[805]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 591, 680.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_806_806" id="Footnote_806_806"></a><a href="#FNanchor_806_806"><span class="label">[806]</span></a> Herod. 1, 7, 94; 4, 45; Dion. Hal. 1, 27, 28; "Il." 2, 461; Strabo, +p. 627; Steph. Byz. Ἀσία.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_807_807" id="Footnote_807_807"></a><a href="#FNanchor_807_807"><span class="label">[807]</span></a> Herod. 1, 84; Xanth. Fragm. 10; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 26, 29, +ed. Müller. The legend of Meles is obviously connected with the founding +of Sardis. This Meles therefore cannot be identified with the Heracleid +(the last but two) of the same name. In Nicolaus, Moxus is the successor +of Meles; Fragm. 24, 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_808_808" id="Footnote_808_808"></a><a href="#FNanchor_808_808"><span class="label">[808]</span></a> Xanth. Fragm. 11, 12; Nicol. Dam. Fragm. 25, 28, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_809_809" id="Footnote_809_809"></a><a href="#FNanchor_809_809"><span class="label">[809]</span></a> Diod. 4, 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_810_810" id="Footnote_810_810"></a><a href="#FNanchor_810_810"><span class="label">[810]</span></a> Ephor. Fragm. 9; Pherecyd. Fragm. 3, 4; Mæandri Mil. Fragm. 8; +Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 8, ed. Müller; Apollod. 2, 6, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_811_811" id="Footnote_811_811"></a><a href="#FNanchor_811_811"><span class="label">[811]</span></a> Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 25, 5. Cf. Nicol., Dam. Fragm. 49, ed. Müller, +where Sadyuttes and Lixus are mentioned in the place of the Heracleidæ +as the successors of Tylon, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 382, 384.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_812_812" id="Footnote_812_812"></a><a href="#FNanchor_812_812"><span class="label">[812]</span></a> Herod. 1, 7. According to Apollodorus (2, 7, 8), the son of Omphale +and Heracles was Agelaus; according to Diodorus (4, 31) Heracles first +begot Cleodæus with a slave, and then Lamus with Omphale. Others call +the son of Omphale and Heracles Meleus (Meles). Others again represent +Sandon, the son of Heracles, as the father of Damalisandus, or Dalisandus, +by Damalis. Cf. Müller, on Nicol. Fragm. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_813_813" id="Footnote_813_813"></a><a href="#FNanchor_813_813"><span class="label">[813]</span></a> Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 3, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_814_814" id="Footnote_814_814"></a><a href="#FNanchor_814_814"><span class="label">[814]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 168, 386.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_815_815" id="Footnote_815_815"></a><a href="#FNanchor_815_815"><span class="label">[815]</span></a> Hesych. +Ἀτταγάθη Ἀθάρη +παρὰ τῷ Ξανθῷ. +The native name Athar-ath +is found on a coin of Bambyke, in Brandis, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 431.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_816_816" id="Footnote_816_816"></a><a href="#FNanchor_816_816"><span class="label">[816]</span></a> Joh. Lyd. "De Mag." 3, 64; Plut. "Quæst. Graec." c. 45; "An +seni resp." c. 4; Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 6, ed. Müller; Ovid. "Heroid." +83-118; "Fast." 2, 325.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_817_817" id="Footnote_817_817"></a><a href="#FNanchor_817_817"><span class="label">[817]</span></a> Hupfeld, "Res Lyd." pp. 55, 63, 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_818_818" id="Footnote_818_818"></a><a href="#FNanchor_818_818"><span class="label">[818]</span></a> Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 4, 46; Lucian. "Dial. Deor." 13, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_819_819" id="Footnote_819_819"></a><a href="#FNanchor_819_819"><span class="label">[819]</span></a> Compare the Lydian names Sandonis and Sandoces in Herod. 1, 71; +7, 194.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_820_820" id="Footnote_820_820"></a><a href="#FNanchor_820_820"><span class="label">[820]</span></a> Oppert, "Expéd. en Mesopot." 2, 337.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_821_821" id="Footnote_821_821"></a><a href="#FNanchor_821_821"><span class="label">[821]</span></a> E. Schrader, "Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 330.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_822_822" id="Footnote_822_822"></a><a href="#FNanchor_822_822"><span class="label">[822]</span></a> Herod. 1, 93; Athen. pp. 515, 516.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_823_823" id="Footnote_823_823"></a><a href="#FNanchor_823_823"><span class="label">[823]</span></a> Strabo, p. 641; Paus. 7, 2, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_824_824" id="Footnote_824_824"></a><a href="#FNanchor_824_824"><span class="label">[824]</span></a> Herod. 3, 48; 8, 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_825_825" id="Footnote_825_825"></a><a href="#FNanchor_825_825"><span class="label">[825]</span></a> Paus. 1, 21; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte d. Berl. Akademie," 1866, +s. 298.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_826_826" id="Footnote_826_826"></a><a href="#FNanchor_826_826"><span class="label">[826]</span></a> Steph. Byz. <i>s. v.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_827_827" id="Footnote_827_827"></a><a href="#FNanchor_827_827"><span class="label">[827]</span></a> Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 382 ff; cf. G. Curtius, "Grundzüge."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_828_828" id="Footnote_828_828"></a><a href="#FNanchor_828_828"><span class="label">[828]</span></a> Herod. 5, 102.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_829_829" id="Footnote_829_829"></a><a href="#FNanchor_829_829"><span class="label">[829]</span></a> Herodotus (1, 7) says twenty-two generations. But as these, according +to the length which he assumes for a generation, would give a much +longer interval than 505 years, he can only mean twenty-two sovereigns. +That lists of kings existed in Lydia is proved by the considerable number +of names of Atyadæ given in Xanthus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_830_830" id="Footnote_830_830"></a><a href="#FNanchor_830_830"><span class="label">[830]</span></a> Cf. H. Stein on the passages of Herodotus quoted; in one class of +MSS. Alcæus, Belus, and Ninus are not found. The city of Ninoë has +been already mentioned (<a href="#Page_567">p. 567</a>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_831_831" id="Footnote_831_831"></a><a href="#FNanchor_831_831"><span class="label">[831]</span></a> The year 549 <small>B.C.</small>, the year of the capture of Sardis, will be proved +below. I believe that we ought to maintain this statement. Herodotus' +total of 170 years for the dynasty of Gyges is untenable in the face of +the Assyrian monuments. According to them Gyges and Ardys were +contemporaries of Assurbanipal, who reigns from 668 to 626 <small>B.C.</small> Hence +for the 170 years of Herodotus we must adopt the number given by +Eusebius, which is 30 years less, and the separate dates of the latter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_832_832" id="Footnote_832_832"></a><a href="#FNanchor_832_832"><span class="label">[832]</span></a> Bœckh, "Metrologie," s. 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_833_833" id="Footnote_833_833"></a><a href="#FNanchor_833_833"><span class="label">[833]</span></a> Herod. 1, 94.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_834_834" id="Footnote_834_834"></a><a href="#FNanchor_834_834"><span class="label">[834]</span></a> Plut. "De Mus." 6; Steph. Byz. +Ἀσιάς.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_835_835" id="Footnote_835_835"></a><a href="#FNanchor_835_835"><span class="label">[835]</span></a> "Il." 18, 291; 10, 431.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_836_836" id="Footnote_836_836"></a><a href="#FNanchor_836_836"><span class="label">[836]</span></a> P. 572.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_837_837" id="Footnote_837_837"></a><a href="#FNanchor_837_837"><span class="label">[837]</span></a> Pausan. 2, 22, 3; 5, 13, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_838_838" id="Footnote_838_838"></a><a href="#FNanchor_838_838"><span class="label">[838]</span></a> Æsch. "Pers." 52; Herod. 7, 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_839_839" id="Footnote_839_839"></a><a href="#FNanchor_839_839"><span class="label">[839]</span></a> Strabo, p. 604, 605, 612; Pausan. 10, 12, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_840_840" id="Footnote_840_840"></a><a href="#FNanchor_840_840"><span class="label">[840]</span></a> Strabo, p. 469; Plut. "De Fluviis," c. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_841_841" id="Footnote_841_841"></a><a href="#FNanchor_841_841"><span class="label">[841]</span></a> Herod. 1, 171; 5, 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_842_842" id="Footnote_842_842"></a><a href="#FNanchor_842_842"><span class="label">[842]</span></a> Thuc. 1, 8; Isoc. "Panath." p. 241. On the Carians in Samos and +Chios, see Diod. 5, 84; Strabo, p. 457, 633-637, 661; Paus. 7, 2, 5, +8, 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_843_843" id="Footnote_843_843"></a><a href="#FNanchor_843_843"><span class="label">[843]</span></a> Archiloch. Fragm. 23, ed. Bergk; Euseb. "Chron." 1, 321, ed. +Auch.; cf. Bunsen, "Ægypten," 5, 4, 5, s. 427.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_844_844" id="Footnote_844_844"></a><a href="#FNanchor_844_844"><span class="label">[844]</span></a> Herod. 5, 118, 119; Strabo, p. 660.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_845_845" id="Footnote_845_845"></a><a href="#FNanchor_845_845"><span class="label">[845]</span></a> "Il." 2, 872.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_846_846" id="Footnote_846_846"></a><a href="#FNanchor_846_846"><span class="label">[846]</span></a> Alcæus and Anacreon in Strabo, p. 661; Herod. 1, 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_847_847" id="Footnote_847_847"></a><a href="#FNanchor_847_847"><span class="label">[847]</span></a> Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 338.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_848_848" id="Footnote_848_848"></a><a href="#FNanchor_848_848"><span class="label">[848]</span></a> "Quæst. Græcæ," c. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_849_849" id="Footnote_849_849"></a><a href="#FNanchor_849_849"><span class="label">[849]</span></a> Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 381.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_850_850" id="Footnote_850_850"></a><a href="#FNanchor_850_850"><span class="label">[850]</span></a> Bœckh, "Corp. Inscript." 26, 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_851_851" id="Footnote_851_851"></a><a href="#FNanchor_851_851"><span class="label">[851]</span></a> Ælian, "Hist. Anim." 12, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_852_852" id="Footnote_852_852"></a><a href="#FNanchor_852_852"><span class="label">[852]</span></a> 1, 173; 7, 92.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_853_853" id="Footnote_853_853"></a><a href="#FNanchor_853_853"><span class="label">[853]</span></a> Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 15; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 129, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_854_854" id="Footnote_854_854"></a><a href="#FNanchor_854_854"><span class="label">[854]</span></a> Strabo, p. 664.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_855_855" id="Footnote_855_855"></a><a href="#FNanchor_855_855"><span class="label">[855]</span></a> Strabo, p. 665.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_856_856" id="Footnote_856_856"></a><a href="#FNanchor_856_856"><span class="label">[856]</span></a> Herod. 1, 182; Serv. ad Æneid, 4, 143. Pausanias (1, 19, 3) +says that the Lyceum at Athens was a sanctuary of Apollo Lyceus; the +"Iliad" (5, 171) represents Lycaon as ruling in Lycia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_857_857" id="Footnote_857_857"></a><a href="#FNanchor_857_857"><span class="label">[857]</span></a> Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 335 ff; Blau, <i>ibid.</i> 17, 667.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_858_858" id="Footnote_858_858"></a><a href="#FNanchor_858_858"><span class="label">[858]</span></a> Steph. Byzant., +Ἄρνα: Fellowes, "Lyc. Coins," pl. 12, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_859_859" id="Footnote_859_859"></a><a href="#FNanchor_859_859"><span class="label">[859]</span></a> Blau ("Z. d. d. M. G." 17, 649 ff) sustains the first view, Savelsberg +and M. Schmidt the second; M. Schmidt, "Lyc. Inscript."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_860_860" id="Footnote_860_860"></a><a href="#FNanchor_860_860"><span class="label">[860]</span></a> Fellowes, "Account," p. 174, 194; "Lyc. Coins," pl. x. 1, 2, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_861_861" id="Footnote_861_861"></a><a href="#FNanchor_861_861"><span class="label">[861]</span></a> Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_862_862" id="Footnote_862_862"></a><a href="#FNanchor_862_862"><span class="label">[862]</span></a> Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 348.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_863_863" id="Footnote_863_863"></a><a href="#FNanchor_863_863"><span class="label">[863]</span></a> Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_864_864" id="Footnote_864_864"></a><a href="#FNanchor_864_864"><span class="label">[864]</span></a> Ross, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 35.</p></div> +</div> + + + +<div class="bbt"> +<h4>THE END.</h4> +</div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[Pg 582]</a></span></p> +<h5>LONDON:<br /> +R. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) + +Author: Max Duncker + +Translator: Evelyn Abbott + +Release Date: January 26, 2012 [EBook #38677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY. + + + + THE + HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY. + + FROM THE GERMAN + OF + PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER, + + + BY + EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., + _FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD._ + + + VOL. I. + + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. + 1877. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. + + +Fifty years ago, the opinion was held by some that we could watch, in +the tradition of the most ancient realms of the East, the first awkward +steps in the childhood of the human race, while others believed that it +was possible to discover there the remnants of an original wisdom, +received by mankind at the beginning of their course immediately from +the hand of heaven. The monuments of the East, subsequently discovered +and investigated by the combined labour of English, German, and French +scholars, have added an unexpected abundance of fresh information to the +Hebrew Scriptures and the narratives of the Greeks, which, till then, +were almost our only resource. No one can any longer be ignorant that +Hither Asia at a very remote period was in possession of a rich and +many-sided civilisation. The earliest stages of that civilisation in the +valley of the Nile, of the Euphrates and the Tigris, on the coasts and +in the interior of Syria are, it is true, entirely hidden from our +knowledge; even the far more recent culture of the Aryan tribes we can +only trace with the help of the Veda and the Avesta back to the point at +which they were already acquainted with agriculture, and possessed +considerable artistic skill. + +Our object in regard to the ancient East is not to retrace the beginning +of human civilization, but rather to understand and establish the value +and extent of those early phases of civilisation to which the entire +development of the human race goes back. The way to this aim is clearly +sketched out for us. A minute comparison of tradition with the results +of the successful advance of Oriental studies, a conscientious +examination of the one by the other, opens out to us the prospect of +discerning more precisely the nature of those ancient constitutions and +modes of life. + +To this purpose I have undertaken to contribute by a descriptive +treatment of the subject. Such an attempt appeared to me indicated by +the consideration that the fragments of our knowledge--and more than +fragments we do not at present possess, and never shall possess, even +though we assume that the number of monuments be considerably +increased--if conscientiously brought together, would produce the most +effective impression by exhibiting the connection of all the various +sides of those ancient civilisations--and if to this collection were +added the conclusions that can be drawn from it and from the monuments +about the political life, the religion, the manners and laws, the art +and trade of those nations. + +How to offer in a general survey the sum total of these fragments of the +ancient East is a problem attended with difficulties which I have felt +at every step in my work. There are not many corner-stones immovably +fixed; the outlines are often to be drawn with a wavering pen; the +unavoidable explanations of the gaps to be filled up admit of a variety +of opinions. Hence it is often--only too often--necessary to interrupt +the narrative by comments, in order to support the view taken by the +author, or refute other views, or arrive at the conclusion that there is +no sufficient evidence for a final decision. The best mode of remedying +these disagreeable interruptions was first to state the tradition, which +is generally closely connected with the peculiar nature of the people +whose fortunes it narrates, and if not actually true, is nevertheless +characteristic of the manners and views of the nation, and then to +examine this tradition in and by itself, and in conjunction with the +monuments; to state the opposite interpretations; and, finally, to give +the results thus obtained. In this way narrative and investigation are +combined in such a manner that the reader is enabled to pursue the +inquiry. The data and the critical examination of them, and lastly the +results obtained, are put before him for his own decision. + +The objections, made of late to the results of Assyrian researches, +touch certain points only, in which over-hasty conclusions have +prematurely declared the enigma to be solved. Whatever doubts may still +remain, I have felt the more confidence in following the main results, +because wherever Asshur and Israel come into contact the Hebrew +Scriptures agree with the records of the kings of Asshur. Who could +understand the meaning of the verses of Nahum (iii. 8-10), of the fate +of "No-Ammon, to whose aid came Ethiopians, Arabians, and Libyans," till +G. Smith discovered the document of Assurbanipal relating to the capture +of Thebes? Who could explain the words of Ezekiel about the grave of +Elam (xxxii. 27) till the tiles of Babylonia and Assyria told us of the +ancient supremacy and power of this kingdom, and of its battles with the +Assyrians, and subjugation by their arms? If, in chronology, I have +given the preference to the tablets of the Assyrian Archons over the +Books of Kings, I have done so, not because I hold the former to be +infallible, but because the chronological dates in the Books of Kings +prove, by more than one contradiction, that they have not come down to +us intact. + +My narrative embraces those independent civilisations of the ancient +East which came to exercise a mutual influence on each other. First we +follow the realm on the Nile and the kingdoms of Hither Asia as far as +the point where the nations of Iran began to influence their destinies. +Then I attempt to set forth the peculiar development of the Aryan tribes +in the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges, down to the times of +Tshandragupta and Asoka. Then follows the history of the Bactrians, the +Medes, and the Persians, until the period when the nations of the +table-land of Iran were united by Cyrus and Darius with the countries +of Western Asia, when Aryan life and Aryan civilisation gained the +supremacy over the whole region from Ceylon to the Nile and the +Hellespont. The forms of life at which the great empires of Asia had +arrived are finally brought face to face with the more youthful +civilisation attained by the Hellenes in their mountain cantons. This +new development we follow down to the first great shock when East and +West met in conflict, and the Achaemenids sought to crush the Hellenes +under the weight of Asia. With the failure of this attempt my history of +the ancient world concludes. + + MAX DUNCKER. + +BERLIN, _March_, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK I. + +_EGYPT._ + + CHAPTER I. PAGE + THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 1 + + CHAPTER II. + THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 15 + + CHAPTER III. + THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS 42 + + CHAPTER IV. + THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS 84 + + CHAPTER V. + THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM 122 + + CHAPTER VI. + THE HOUSE OF RAMSES 142 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES 167 + + CHAPTER VIII. + LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS 183 + + +BOOK II. + +_THE SEMITIC NATIONS._ + + CHAPTER I. + THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON 233 + + CHAPTER II. + THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDAEANS 264 + + CHAPTER III. + THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA 287 + + CHAPTER IV. + THE ARABS 307 + + CHAPTER V. + THE CANAANITES 337 + + CHAPTER VI. + THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES 351 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS 383 + + CHAPTER VIII. + THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT 420 + + CHAPTER IX. + THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS 441 + + CHAPTER X. + THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT 467 + + CHAPTER XI. + THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN 490 + + CHAPTER XII. + THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR 510 + + + + +ERRATA. + + + Page 14, line 3 from bottom, _for_ "chalk rock" _read_ "lime-stone." + " 51, " 3 " _for_ "sun-globe" _read_ "sun-mountain." + " 81, " 2 " _for_ "horologe" _read_ "sun-mountain." + " 140, " 10 " _for_ "_savans_" _read_ "_savants_." + + + + +BOOK I. + +EGYPT. + + + + +EGYPT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. + + +History knows nothing of her infancy. The beginning of the development +of the human race lies beyond the sphere of memory, and so also do the +first steps in that development. The early stages of culture--whether in +nations or individuals--are unconscious, and unobservant of self; they +are therefore without the conditions which make remembrance possible. +The original forms of social life in the family and in the tribe, the +movement of wandering hunters and shepherds, the earliest steps in +agriculture, could leave behind them neither monuments nor records. It +is true no gifted or favoured nation, which has raised itself above +these beginnings to civic life and independent culture, has neglected to +cast a backward glance upon the history of its past. Everywhere the +attempt has been made to present the past from the later point of +culture. Whether the memory reaches but a little way, or goes back far +into the past, it is always enriched by ideas taken from religious +conceptions, or national pride, from reflection or theory. Such +reconstructions are significant of the nature and character of the +people for whom they replace the history of their youth, but they have +no claim to represent the actual course of their development. The case +is different when the growing culture of a people is observed by nations +already at a higher grade of civilisation. The Romans were in a position +to leave behind a picture of the youthful German tribes; the Byzantines +could inform us of the movements of the Slaves; modern Europe could +observe the tribes of America, the nomadic shepherds of Asia, and the +islanders of the South Sea from a higher and riper point of development. + +The oldest kingdoms of which tradition and monuments preserve any +information passed unobserved through the earliest stages of their +culture. Tradition and the earliest monuments present them already in +the possession of a many-sided and highly-developed civilisation. In +what way these nations, the oldest representatives of the culture of +mankind, arrived at their possession, we can only deduce from such +evidence as is before us anterior to tradition and independent of +it--from the nature of the regions where these civilisations sprung up, +from the physical character and constitution of the nations which +developed them, from their languages and their religious ideas. + +The history of antiquity is the description of the forms of culture +first attained by the human race. If it is impossible to discover the +origin of these forms historically, and the attempt is made to indicate +their preliminary stages, so far as the recorded elements allow +connected conclusions, it becomes the chief object of such a history to +recover from the fragments of monuments and tradition the culture of the +ancient East, and of the Hellenes so closely connected with the East: +to reconstruct from isolated relics and myths the image of that rich and +ample life which filled the East in religion and state, in art and +industry, in research and commerce, in political struggles and intense +religious devotion, long before the time when Solon gave laws to the +Athenians, and the army of Cyrus trod the shore of the AEgean Sea. + +The oldest civilisation, the oldest state grew up on that quarter of the +globe which seems least favourable to the development of mankind. On +either side of the equator, Africa stretches out in huge land-locked +masses. A vast table-land occupies the whole south of the continent, and +in the north sinks down to a plain more impassable even than the broad +seas which wash the coasts of Africa on the west, south, and east. This +plain--the bed of a dry sea--lies in the burning sun without vegetation. +Only where springs water the thirsty soil do fruitful islands rise out +of the moving sand, the lonely waste of ravines, the craggy ridges, and +bald platforms of rock. + +As the sea nowhere indents the coasts of Africa with deep bays, the +rivers cannot excavate broad and fruitful valleys, and provide means of +access to the interior. The high table-land is surrounded by a steep +rampart of mountains, which descend in terraces to the coast, and here, +almost without exception, leave narrow strips of low and marshy land. +Through the barrier drawn around them by this rampart the rivers must +force their path in a violent course, in waterfalls and rapids, in order +to fall into the sea after a short, and proportionately more sluggish +course through the narrow strip on the shore. + +The table-land, its rampart of mountains, and the long lines of coast, +are, with the exception of the southern apex and the Alpine territory +of Abyssinia in the east, the dwelling-places of the black race--the +negro. However great the number of negro nations and tribes, however +much they differ in physical form and in dialect--living as they do +beneath a vertical sun, in regions difficult of access--they have never +risen beyond the infancy of human civilisation--a rude worship of gods. +Wherever they have not been powerfully affected by the introduction of +foreign elements, generation has followed generation without remembrance +or essential alteration. + +The north coast of Africa is of a different character to the rest of the +continent. While the western coast looks to the broad Atlantic Ocean, +and the waves which break on the southern apex lead to the ice of the +pole, the north coast is separated from the neighbouring shores by a +basin of moderate extent. It is a mountainous district which fills up +the space between the Sahara and the Mediterranean. Towards the west the +peaks of Atlas reach, even in this climate, to the region of eternal +snow; on the east, towards the mouths of the Nile, the hills gradually +sink down, and the plain of Barca rises little more than 1,000 feet +above the sea level. Numerous chains of hills, at one time pressing +close upon the sea, at another leaving more extensive plains upon the +coast, cover the northern edge, which along the deep valleys of the +mountain streams exhibits that vigorous and luxuriant vegetation so +characteristic of Africa when not checked by want of water, although +even these fruitful valleys are again in their turn broken by droughty, +and therefore bare, table-lands and depressions. + +On this northern coast, toward the Mediterranean, opens the valley +which, in extent of fruitful territory, is the largest in the whole +continent. It occupies the north-east corner of Africa, which is only +separated from Arabia by a narrow strip of sea, and carries its gleaming +waters through the wide space from the subsidence of the table-land down +to the coast, where for almost its whole remaining breadth the continent +is filled up with the desert of Sahara. + +From the north-east spur of the table-land, out of vast lakes (Ukerewe), +fed from the glaciers and snows of huge mountains lying under the +equator, and passing through the lower lake Mwutan, flows the western +arm of the Nile, the White Nile, Bahr-el-Abiad. After bursting through +the terraces of the mountain, it reaches, at the foot, a woody morass, +filled with thickets of tamarisks and sycamores, of bamboo and reeds and +tall creepers, inhabited by the elephant and rhinoceros, the +hippopotamus and the crocodile, the zebra and hyena, by antelopes and +snakes. Then the stream passes into broad savannas, covered here and +there with tropic forests, and while flowing through a mountainous +district of moderate elevation, it unites with the eastern arm, the Blue +Nile, Bahr-el-Azrak, which, rising further to the east out of the +Abyssinian plateau, brings down a far smaller bulk of water from the +Alpine glades of the snowy mountain Samen. Combined into one stream, +these waters flow through a broad expanse of rock and desert, covered +with conical stones of volcanic origin. The lines of hills running +parallel to the terraces of the mountain rampart lie athwart the river; +and through this barrier it breaks in numerous cataracts. Only in the +depressions between them can the soil, refreshed with water, support +vegetation. Finally, at Syene the Nile passes through the last cataract. +Henceforward the structure of the mountains is changed. A fissure in +the rock about 750 miles long opens on the Mediterranean; and through +this the mighty river--at the last cataract it is 3,000 feet in +breadth--can flow onward in undisturbed peace to the ocean. + +Out of this fissure the Nile has created a narrow strip of fruitful +soil--the valley is not more than three or four hours in breadth on an +average--which is secured by the heights on the west from the moving +sand and the storms of the great desert, and is separated by the +mountain on the east from the rocky crags, the desolate flats, and sandy +dunes which fill up the space between the valley of the river and the +Red Sea. To this valley the mighty river not only gives a refreshing +coolness and moisture by the mass of its waters, it fertilises and +manures it from year to year by its overflow. At the summer solstice, +when the snow on the peaks of the lofty mountains, in which the two arms +of the Nile take their rise, is melting, and the tropical rains fall +upon its upper course, the waters of the river slowly and gradually +rise. Towards the end of July it passes over the banks and overflows the +whole valley as far as the enclosing lines of hills, so that towards the +end of September it stands more than twenty feet above the lowest water +level. Falling as gradually as it rose after more than four months it +sinks back to the ordinary level. Wherever the overflowing waters have +covered the land, there is left behind a fertilising mud or slime. This +is the soil which the two rivers before uniting have washed from the +upper hills. Carried down by the stream, it is deposited by the gentle +flow of the waters on the surface of the valley. The refreshment of the +earth by the inundation, the fertilisation by this slime, and the +cooling of the air by the immense body of water, are the essential +advantages which Egypt owes to her river, and hence, even as early as +Herodotus, Egypt seemed to be the gift of the Nile. The watering of the +soil and the cooling of the air just in the very hottest months of the +year, are the more invaluable because the blue and gleaming sky of the +upper valley is never darkened by rain clouds, while the heat is severe, +and the storms from the south-west occasionally carry the sand and the +dust over the Libyan hills into the Nile. In the Delta, the region along +the lowest course of the Nile, showers occasionally rise from the +neighbouring sea; and through eight months of the year the whole valley +opening on the Mediterranean is fanned by refreshing winds from the +north, which also facilitate navigation against the stream. + +This river-valley, the like of which in nature and formation is not to +be found in the whole globe, offered in its seclusion a peculiarly +favoured spot. It was a small green oasis of luxuriant fertility and +grateful coolness in the midst of boundless deserts. The dwellers in a +land whose soil was every year newly manured by nature, which brought +forth abundantly almost without labour, must very soon have abandoned a +pastoral life for agriculture, and in consequence have acquired fixed +abodes and settled possessions. But the yearly inundation compelled them +also at an early period to protect their flocks from the water, to +secure their habitations, to observe the periods of the rising and +falling of the stream. The long duration of the overflow made it +necessary to provide for the support of man and beast. They had to learn +how to carry on their dealings with each other upon the water, when the +whole valley was still filled with the river, and to mark out firmly the +limits of their plots, so that they might again take possession of them +after the inundation. In Nubia the cataracts stopped the navigation of +the river, and the lines of rock and strips of desert made intercourse +difficult, and confined the life of the tribes within the limits of the +native valley to their separate possessions. In Egypt, within the two +lines of hills, land and river created no hindrance. A region so +concentrated could not but carry the tribes beyond the limits of +separate existence; the very land forced them to live a life more in +common. There was only a slight natural distinction between the more +secluded upper valley and the lower opening in the Delta about the +mouths of the Nile; and this could merely have a stimulating effect upon +the development of culture, without interfering in any way with its +unity. Nevertheless the community of life in the valley of the Nile was +not caused solely by the nature of the land. The tribes of the deserts +around this long and narrow oasis must have had all the more lively a +sense of the charm of the favoured valley owing to the difficulty with +which they procured their own subsistence. Against these plundering +neighbours, and their attempts to force themselves into the valley of +blessing and abundance, the inhabitants of Egypt had to combine their +forces. They needed a strong centralized command, a warlike monarchy, to +which here, earlier than elsewhere, the patriarchal government of the +tribes would therefore give way. + +Egypt kept her inhabitants secluded within hard and fast limits; beyond +the hills began the desert. With the increasing number of inhabitants +the attempt must have been made to set low-lying marshy districts free +from the excess of water, and to make fruitful the higher parts of the +valley beyond the reach of the inundations by bringing the water upon +them. Experience quickly taught that the plot produced the most abundant +fruits on which the inundation had continued longest, and consequently +had time to deposit the thickest layer of mud. Hence the attempt was +made to keep the water longer on the soil by means of dykes. These +objects, in regard to which the interests of the several districts +differed, and which required the combination of large masses of +operatives to carry them out, must have made the need of a supreme +decisive and executive power felt earlier in Egypt than in other lands. + +The inhabitants of Egypt found themselves surrounded by a solemn +landscape, before fixed and unchanging forms and outlines, in the midst +of natural phenomena, recurring with invariable regularity and always in +the same succession. Such surroundings and impressions must have stamped +on the young life of a ripening nation a settled, stern, and unvarying +character. When the original unity and society of life, which comprises +all members of the family and in the tribe, has been broken +through--when at the beginning of their settled life some have turned +their attention to agriculture and cattle, others to hunting and war, +others again to the fulfilment of religious duties--the sons are wont to +carry on the vocation of the fathers. This is the rule often in far more +advanced periods; and simpler conditions of life compel the son to carry +on the life of the father, in whose occupation he has grown up. In such +times there is no mode of teaching and instruction but through the +family. In this way the tribes and the nation part into separate +circles, which carry on as an inheritance the mode of life derived from +their forefathers. These divisions of occupation, of vocation, and mode +of life could be carried out earlier and with greater sharpness in +Egypt than in other lands. + +As life becomes more settled and developed, there are always found +families with an especial liking for war. They are enriched by the spoil +which is the fruit of their bravery, and protect the agricultural and +pastoral part of their tribe from the attacks of plunderers. Every +nation gives willing honour to the brave warriors among them, and gladly +recognises the superiority of a mode of life which puts life to the risk +over other occupations. And when, from the early simple stage, in which +every head of a family approaches the gods with his offerings in trust +and confidence, religion has developed into a body of usages and customs +which must be performed and followed out if any share is to be obtained +in the grace of the gods, the exact knowledge of these can only be +handed down from father to son. And if the mass of the population gives +honour to the warriors, how much more readily will it bow down before +those who, by their prayers, libations, and offerings, can bring them +the fruits of the field and the blessing of the gods--protection in this +world and salvation in the next! Moreover, if the families of warriors +and priests, filled with the conviction of their own higher worth, +disdain the occupations of the rest of the people; if they are convinced +that they are of a better kind than the rest, that only from the noble +and good can the noble and good arise--that better blood gives better +feelings, and better birth better men--then in this feeling, so natural +to a primitive era, they allow their occupation to be shared only by +those who belong to their race; they take wives from their own class +only, not from others; they give their daughters in marriage to their +own people only. Thus the various modes of life and orders which +naturally come into existence end in castes. + +The more fruitful the land of Egypt, the richer the products of the +soil, and the more frequent the necessity of repelling the plundering +inroads of the desert tribes, the more rapidly did the distinction +between the agricultural and military orders spring up. And the greater +the pride with which the inhabitants of this favoured land might and did +look down upon the miserable tribes of the desert, the more grateful +were the looks turned towards the gods, who had given them so beautiful +and productive a land in the midst of the desert, who supplied them with +water, fertilised their soil, cooled the heat of the atmosphere and gave +them life and plenty, while all around them reigned desolation and +death. To these beneficent powers the inhabitants of the valley of the +Nile could not refuse an earnest service of thanksgiving for blessings +so rich and so ceaselessly renewed; by their piety they had also to +provide that the gods would graciously preserve these blessings to them. +It is obvious that a tone and feeling like this, arising in the +population from the very nature of the land, must have been in a high +degree conducive to the rise of a priestly order in Egypt. + +Egypt had excellent natural boundaries. If the forces of the land were +once united in a single hand, there could be no difficulty in repelling +the tribes of the desert. Thenceforward there would be little reason to +fear an enemy on this side of the boundary hills. No rival power could +arise in the neighbouring deserts, and should any victorious state arise +at a distance, the deserts checked the advance of their armies. It was +much more probable that the united forces of the river-valley should +subjugate the tribes of the surrounding desert. Hence the position of +their land allowed the inhabitants of the valley to develop undisturbed. +The culture once obtained could be quietly transmitted to others, and +constantly extended. This circumstance, in connection with the domestic +peace of the country under a monarchy, allowed the priesthood to extend +their lore in unbroken tradition from generation to generation, while +quietly amassing stores of knowledge; and with the increase of the +population all the hands not required for agriculture--and in Egypt this +claims but a small amount of labour--had to devote themselves to trade +and manufacture. And even these arts were likely to attain the greater +excellence in so far as the artisans and tillers of the ground were less +disturbed by war and military service. The more distinct the boundaries +of the land, the less to conquer and occupy outside them, the more +industrious, amid the growing population, must have been the culture of +the ground and the irrigation of it, the more actively must the artisans +have pursued their trade, and industry must have developed with a +greater vigour as the number of mouths requiring food increased. + +So far as our knowledge reaches, the northern edge of Africa, like the +valley of the Nile as far as the marshes at the foot of the Abyssinian +hills, was inhabited by nations who in colour, language, and customs +were sharply distinguished from the negro. These nations belong to the +whites: their languages were most closely allied to the Semitic.[1] From +this, and from their physical peculiarities, the conclusion has been +drawn that these nations at some time migrated from Asia to the soil of +Africa. They formed a vast family, whose dialects still continue in the +language of the Berbers. Assisted by the favourable conditions of their +land, the tribe which settled on the Lower Nile quickly left their +kinsmen far behind. Indeed the latter hardly rose above a pastoral life. +The descendants of these old inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, in +spite of the numerous layers which the course of centuries has +subsequently laid upon the soil of the land, still form the larger part +of the population of Egypt, and the ancient language is preserved in the +dialect of the Copts.[2] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Bunsen, "AEgypten," 5, 1, 75 ff.; Ebers, "AEgypten and die Buecher +Moses," p. 43; Renan ("Histoire generale et systeme compare des langues +Semitiques") will not admit this close connection. + +[2] Brugsch ("Histoire d'Egypte," pp. 5, 6) explains the name Egypt by +_ha-ka-ptah_, _i.e._ "the precinct of Ptah." As Ptah was more especially +the god of Memphis, this name would have come from Memphis. The attempt +has been repeatedly made to derive the civilisation of Egypt from +Ethiopia and Meroe. But the problem of the origin of a given +civilisation is not solved by removing it from the locality where it +exists in full bloom to another, and as a rule more unknown, district. +In the case before us this assumption is met by the peculiar difficulty, +that the culture of Egypt is influenced essentially by the nature of the +land, and therefore can hardly have had an external origin. It cannot be +removed from a highly favoured locality into a district extremely hot, +and fruitful only in detached oases, without making the explanation of +its origin much more difficult. Moreover, the lower valley of the Nile +has always ruled over the upper: even in mediaeval and modern times. The +inscriptions of Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), mention the king +of Meroe (Miluhhi); those of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) tell us, "The +kings of Egypt have summoned the archers, the chariots, the horses of +the king of Miluhhi." The inscriptions of Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.) +speak of the "King of Egypt and Miluhhi," whom they also name "King of +Egypt and Cush;" and the successor of Esarhaddon directed his first +campaign against "Tarku" (Thirhaka) "of Egypt and Miluhhi." The word +Meroe, therefore, as the name of a kingdom lying above Egypt on the +Nile, must have been in use in Syria, even in the eighth century B.C. +Hence the Greeks denote by this name an island, and also a city of the +Upper Nile. According to Herodotus (2, 29) the great city Meroe, "which +ought to be the chief city of the rest of the Ethiopians" (_i.e._ of +those of whom the Egyptians were not the immediate neighbours), was +forty days' journey and twelve days' sail (_i.e._ over 15,000 stadia) +above Syene. Later authorities, Eratosthenes, Artemidorus, Strabo, +Pliny, Ptolemy reduce the distance by nearly one-half; they regard the +distance between Meroe and Syene as nearly equal to the distance from +Syene to Alexandria, and fix the whole distance from Alexandria to Meroe +at 10,000 to 12,000 stadia. As the town and island of Meroe must be +south of the junction of the Astaboras (Atbara), (Strabo, p. 786), we +must look for the island between the Atbara and the Blue Nile, and for +the city in the ruins at the modern Begerauieh. Yet the chief town of +the kingdom of Meroe, when it takes an active part in history, is not +Begerauieh. King Thirhaka's residence lay near the modern Meraui under +Mount Barkal. The name in inscriptions is Neb, and, consequently, in +Greek and Latin Napata. Even under the Sesurtesen and Amenemha, Egypt +ruled over Nubia as far as Semne and Kumna, under Amenophis III. as far +as Soleb, and under Ramses II. as far as Mt. Barkal. The oldest ruins at +this spot belong to a temple dedicated by this king to Ammon (Lepsius, +"Reisebriefe," s. 238); next come the ruins of the buildings of +Thirhaka, which differ as little from Egyptian buildings as those which +he and his two Ethiopian predecessors erected in Egypt. Moreover, the +later ruins found at Napata, especially some twenty small pyramids, are +feeble imitations of Egyptian art. The same character of imitation is +stamped upon the monuments of Begerauieh, though here it is mingled with +foreign elements. This place, further removed from Egypt, and therefore +more secure, was beyond doubt the residence of the kings of Meroe, at +least from the time of Cambyses, and it was named after the country. +Herodotus points out that Zeus and Dionysus, _i.e._ Osiris, were +worshipped here, and that the oracle of Zeus, _i.e._ of Ammon, extended +its authority over the Ethiopians: the further accounts which Diodorus +preserves of this priesthood give a poor idea of their cultivation (3, 3 +ff. Strabo, pp. 827, 828). At the time of the second Ptolemy, this +priesthood was destroyed by the King, Ergamenes, whose name (Arkamen) +Lepsius has discovered on ruins at Mt. Barkal, as well as Begerauieh, +and an independent monarchy was established. Hence we must entirely give +up the idea of deriving the supposed supremacy of the priesthood in +Egypt, a supremacy which never existed here, from the priesthood formed +at Begerauieh after the time of Thirhaka and Psammetichus (in the days +of Psammetichus, Herodotus tells us that a king of the Ethiopians +received strangers without an oracle, and gave them land, 2, 30); that +is, in the sixth century B.C., which continued to exist till 250 B.C. +Still less reason is there to suppose that the so-called Indian +supremacy of the priesthood came through Meroe into Egypt. Rather we may +feel ourselves justified in assuming that the elements of civilisation +which took root on the middle Nile passed from Egypt to that district. +In the inscriptions of Begerauieh the name Meroe occurs as Meru, and +Merua, _i.e._ "White rock"; Lepsius, _l. c._ 205-232. As the banks of +the Nile, here and also at Mt. Barkal, consist of whitish-yellow chalk +rocks, the name of the land and its southern metropolis, of which the +existence since the sixth century B.C. is demonstrated, may have been +named from this peculiarity of the land. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. + + +In the eighteenth century B.C., according to their reckoning, the +tradition of the Hebrews presents us with a complete picture of court +and civic life in the valley of the Nile, and it tells us of the +building of cities in the east of the Delta, which, according to the +same computation, must have been founded about the year 1550 B.C. The +Homeric poems contain accounts of the land of AEgyptus, of the +fair-flowing Zeus-born river of the same name, of the very beautiful +fields and cities of Egypt, of princes who fought from their chariots, +and finally of "Egyptian Thebes, where in the palaces lie the greatest +treasures; a city with a hundred gates, from each of which go forth two +hundred men with horses and chariots." They also add "that the fruitful +earth bears abundance of drugs in Egypt, some mingled for good, others +for evil, and there every one is a physician and has acquaintance with +men; they are all sprung from the god of healing."[3] + +According to the account given by the Greeks the Egyptians boasted to be +the oldest of mankind, and to possess the most ancient traditions.[4] +Their priests believed that they could compute the history of Egypt by +thousands of years. When Herodotus was in Egypt about the middle of the +fifth century B.C., the priests at Thebes read to him from a book the +names of 331 kings who had reigned from Menes, the first ruler of Egypt, +and the founder of Memphis, down to Moeris inclusive; among these were +eighteen Ethiopians, and one queen; the rest were Egyptians. After +Moeris came Sesostris, Pheron, Proteus, Rhampsinitus, Cheops and +Chephren, Mycerinus, Asychis, Anysis, Sabakon, and Sethos, so that from +Menes to Sethos 341 kings had reigned over Egypt in as many generations. +Herodotus remarks that the priests assured him that they had an accurate +knowledge of what they said, for the years were always enumerated and +put down. To convince him they carried him into the great temple at +Thebes and showed him there 345 wooden colossi of the chief priests who +had presided over the temple through as many generations, in regular +succession from father to son; for every chief priest placed his statue +here during his own life-time. Before these kings and chief priests the +gods had ruled over Egypt; first the Eight Gods, then the Twelve, then +Osiris the Greek Dionysus, after him Typhon, and, last of all, Horus. +From the time of King Amasis (570-526 B.C.) to the time of Osiris 15,000 +years had passed, but from the time of the Twelve Gods to Amasis 17,000 +years.[5] + +Herodotus does not conceal the doubts raised in his mind by the high +antiquity claimed in these accounts by the priests. He found an especial +difficulty in the fact that Dionysus Osiris, who, according to his +computation, was born 1,600 years at the most before his own time +(_i.e._ about 2050 B.C.), must have lived more than 15,000 years +earlier, according to the assertion of the Egyptians. By their account +341 kings reigned from Menes to Sethos; and on this basis Herodotus +reckoned the duration and commencement of the Egyptian kingdom. He took +33-1/3 years as the length of a generation, and thus Menes must have +begun to reign 340 generations, or 11,340 years before the accession of +Sethos. Further, Herodotus placed over 150 years between the accession +of Sethos and the death of Amasis, and thus according to his data we get +the enormous total of 11,500 years for the duration of the Egyptian +kingdom from Menes till its overthrow by the Persians. Menes therefore +must have ascended the throne before the year 12000 B.C.; the rule of +Osiris commenced 15500 B.C.; and that of the Twelve Gods 17500 B.C. + +If we leave the gods out of the question, and reduce the length of a +generation, which Herodotus has put too high, to its real average of +twenty-five years, the 340 generations with those of Sethos, +Psammetichus, Necho, Psammetichus II., Apries, and Amasis, make up 8,650 +years, and since the Persians took Egypt in 525 B.C., the beginning of +the reign of Menes still falls in the year 9175 B.C. This incredible +fact is not made more credible because Plato represents an Egyptian +priest asserting to Solon that the annals of Sais reached back 8,000 +years; or speaks in the "Laws" of works of Egyptian art, ten thousand +years old.[6] + +Four hundred years after Herodotus, Diodorus travelled to Egypt.[7] He +tells that, according to some fabulous accounts, gods and heroes first +ruled over Egypt for something less than 18,000 years. The last of +these was Horus, the son of Isis. After these came 470 native kings, of +whom the first was Menes, before the time of the Macedonian and Persian +rule, and also four Ethiopian kings and five queens. The Ethiopians did +not immediately succeed each other, but at intervals, and their united +reigns amounted to a little less than thirty-six years. "Of all these +kings the priests have sketches in their holy books, handed down through +successive generations from extreme antiquity, showing how tall each +king was, what he was like, and what he accomplished in his reign." If +we place the reign of Menes 479 generations before Cambyses, this +computation, on the reckoning of Herodotus, would place the accession of +Menes in the year 16492 B.C.; taking a shorter average length for the +generations, we may bring it to the year 12500 B.C. But Diodorus shows +from other accounts that this mode of computation is inadmissible. He +tells us that the priests of Egypt numbered about 23,000[8] years from +the reign of Helius or Hephaestus, who, according to other priests, was +the first of the gods to reign,[9] till the entrance of Alexander into +Asia (334 B.C.). If of this total we allow about 18,000 years to the +gods, the accession of Menes would have to be placed about the year 5300 +B.C.[10] But as Diodorus also says that something less than 5,000 years +had elapsed since the first human king to his arrival in Egypt, Menes' +reign would fall about the year 5000 B.C. Diodorus fixes the accession +of this king even more closely when he remarks, in a third passage, that +the Egyptians assured him that, "for more than 4,700 years, kings, +mostly natives, had ruled, and the land had prospered greatly under +them."[11] With this agrees the further account given by Diodorus, that +according to some the largest pyramid was built 3,400 years before his +time. According to this Menes cannot be carried back further than 4,800 +years B.C. + +If Menes founded the kingdom of Egypt 4,800 years B.C., it continued for +4,275 years under native kings; and if in this period 346 kings ascended +the throne, as Herodotus says, or 479, as Diodorus, the average duration +of each reign would be in the first case more than twelve years, in the +second less than nine, which contradicts all credible history. The +lowest average of oriental reigns is fifteen years. + +Still, from these accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus it is clear that +the priests of Egypt possessed lists of the kings in long series, and +that, according to their view, gods and demigods had ruled over Egypt +for thousands of years before the earliest of these kings. After Greek +princes had ascended the throne of the Pharaohs, and Egypt with its +monuments and writings was opened to the research of the Greeks, +Eratosthenes, who was the head of the library at Alexandria in the +second half of the third century B.C., studied the history of these old +kings--at "the royal request," as Georgius Syncellus tells us--in the +old annals and lists of the Egyptians, and transcribed these lists in +the Hellenic language.[12] This compilation of Eratosthenes contained +the names and reigns of thirty-eight kings of Thebes. Syncellus repeats +the list, and adds: "Here ended the rule of the thirty-eight kings who +were called Theban in Egypt, whose names Eratosthenes collected out of +the sacred books of Thebes and translated into the Hellenic language. +The names of the fifty-three Theban kings who followed these have been +also preserved by Apollodorus; but we consider it superfluous to add +them, for even the list of the first is of no use."[13] Thus the +researches of the Alexandrine Greeks had brought together a list of +ninety-one kings, ninety successors of Menes, out of the writings of the +priests of Thebes. As early as the time of Eratosthenes the Egyptians +assisted the researches of the Greeks. About the middle of the third +century B.C., that is, in the time of the second and third Ptolemy, an +Egyptian named Manetho (_Ma-n-thoth_ = "loved by Thoth"), of Sebennytus, +and apparently scribe to the temple at Thebes,[14] composed in Greek a +work on the history of Egypt in three books. "Obviously possessed of +Hellenic culture"--so we find it in Josephus--"Manetho wrote the history +of his country in Greek, translating it, as he tells us, from the sacred +writings; he undertook to interpret Egyptian history from the sacred +writings."[15] This work of Manetho was lost at an early period; all +that remains is the list of the dynasties, a third part of the names of +the kings, and a few fragments; and even these remnants we possess only +in excerpts by a second or third hand. Manetho begins his history of +Egypt with the rule of the gods. First came Ptah, the creative god of +light, and the great gods, then the demigods, and Manes. After these had +ruled over Egypt for 24,857 Egyptian years, according to the excerpt of +Africanus, that is for 24,820 Julian years, the rule of human kings +begins with Menes, and these continued through thirty dynasties for +5,366 years. As Manetho closes his list of the kings of Egypt with the +last year of Nectanebos, who rebelled against Artaxerxes Ochus--_i.e._ +with the year 340 B.C.--Menes must have founded the kingdom in the year +5706 B.C., or rather, if we reduce the Egyptian years of Manetho's +reckoning to Julian years, in the year 5702 B.C.[16] This statement +carries us back to a far less remote antiquity than the computation of +the date of Menes by 346 generations previous to Cambyses; on the other +hand, it goes 900 years higher than the date which we deduced from +Diodorus. + +What amount of authority should be ascribed to the lists of Manetho? Did +the priests really possess sketches of kings and accounts of their +reigns reaching back more than 5,000 years? In order to believe this, +must we not allow that at such a remote time as the reign of Menes, or +soon after it, writing was known and in use in Egypt? And granting this, +must not the first beginning of culture in Egypt be carried back at +least 500 years before Menes? Moreover, the lists do not correspond with +the number of the kings given by Herodotus, or by Diodorus. Herodotus, +as we said, put 346 generations before the time of Cambyses, Diodorus +gave 479 kings before the same date. The excerpt of Africanus from +Manetho, even if we substitute the smaller numbers given in the excerpt +of Eusebius in all the dynasties, of which only the total sum of the +rulers is stated, still gives us 388 kings from Menes to Cambyses.[17] +If these discrepancies awaken the suspicion that the number and the +succession of the kings was not agreed upon even by the priests +themselves, the suspicion is increased by the fact that the lists do +not tally in the various excerpts in which they have come down to us. +What weight can be given to a list which, in the excerpt from Africanus, +allows 953 years (or 802 at the least) to the rule of the Hyksos, and in +the excerpt of Eusebius allows 103 years, and again 511 years in the +excerpt of Josephus? Still greater discrepancies appear if we compare +the list of Eratosthenes with the names and numbers handed down to us +from Manetho's work. Both lists begin with Menes; both allow him a reign +of sixty-two years; but Eratosthenes describes his thirty-eight kings as +of Theban origin or race, while in Manetho the first Theban dynasty +began to reign 2,240 years after Menes.[18] Nevertheless the names of +the first three or four rulers in Eratosthenes agree with those in +Manetho. Then the coincidence breaks off till the fifteenth, sixteenth, +and seventeenth names in Eratosthenes, to which corresponding names are +found in Manetho's list, but in the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and +thirtieth places; and from this point to the end of the list of +Eratosthenes there are only two or three names to which corresponding +names are found in Manetho, and these occur at far greater intervals in +the series. The last name in Eratosthenes nearly corresponds to the name +of the king, in Manetho, under whom the invasion of the Hyksos took +place. If, therefore, we assume that the list of Eratosthenes was +intended to enumerate the kings who ruled over Egypt to this date, we +find thirty-eight kings who must have reigned through 1076 years; and, +as parallel to these, we find in Manetho fourteen dynasties with at +least 241 kings, occupying a period of 3,084 years. + +Scarcely less striking are the contradictions in the monuments +themselves. In the temple of Ammon at Karnak, which was extended on a +magnificent scale by Tuthmosis III. (1591-1565 B.C.),[19] the king is +delineated twice in a colossal form on the back wall of a chamber. +Between the two pictures sit sixty-four kings in four rows one over the +other. The inscription, "A royal offering for the kings of both Egypts," +as well as the position of Tuthmosis, shows that he is offering prayer +and sacrifice to his predecessors in the kingdom. Of these sixty-four +kings, three are the immediate predecessors of Tuthmosis, Tuthmosis I., +II., and Amosis. Before Amosis this table puts fifty-seven kings; the +name of Menes is wanting; but in Manetho's list there are nevertheless +no fewer than 284 kings,[20] from Menes to Amosis, with whom, in the +excerpt of Africanus, the eighteenth dynasty begins. In the great temple +built by Sethos I. (1439-1388, B.C.) at Abydus in honour of Osiris, this +prince, with his son Ramses, may be seen on the wall of a passage +offering prayer and incense to his predecessors in the kingdom. There +are seventy-six shields with names, beginning with the shield of Menes. +The last is the shield of Sethos, who in this way is represented as +offering prayer to himself, among the rest. Down to Amenemha IV., the +close of the twelfth dynasty (2179-2171 B.C.), there reigned, according +to Manetho's list 104 kings, but the table of Sethos gives sixty-five +shields for the interval from Menes to Amenemha IV. From this king to +Sethos, the first prince of the nineteenth dynasty, Manetho's list gives +193 kings, excluding the shepherd kings, whereas the table of Sethos +shows only ten shields for this interval.[21] Nothing in the way of +explanation is to be obtained from the monuments of this kind belonging +to the time of Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.) On the wall of the portico +between the first and second court of the Ramesseum, the great temple +built by Ramses II. at Thebes, on the left bank of the Nile, there is a +picture in which the statues of thirteen predecessors in the kingdom are +carried in procession before the king. There are eleven kings up to +Amosis; before him is the figure of Mentuophis; then Menes. In the +little temple built by Ramses II. at Abydus in honour of Osiris, there +is a tablet, on which Ramses is represented offering adoration to the +manes of his predecessors. On this we can make out fifty shields, but +only about thirty are sufficiently uninjured to be legible; so far as we +can tell this table is only a repetition of the table of Sethos in the +great temple of Abydus. A third series of the kings of this period has +been discovered in the tombs at Sakkarah. In the tomb of Tunari, the +kings' scribe and architect, there is a representation of the sacrifice +of Ramses II. for the deceased kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. Here we +find fifty-seven shields; immediately before Ramses II. is Sethos, +Ramses I., and Horus, then six illegible names; and before these Amosis. +Before Amosis are forty-six shields, of which the first can perhaps be +compared with the king mentioned in the sixth place after Menes in +Manetho's list.[22] + +The variations of these tables from the lists may be explained by +assuming that it depended on the particular view and peculiar object of +the kings who erected these monuments, which of their predecessors they +wished to honour, and which they wished to exclude. But even a +manuscript list of kings, which has come down to us, exhibits numerous +and very considerable variations from Manetho's lists. This list is a +papyrus, now in Turin, supposed to belong to the period 1500-1000 B.C. +It begins with the rule of the gods; then follow the names of the kings, +with the length of their reigns in years, months, and days, down to the +time of the Tuthmosis; and thus it includes the first seventeen +dynasties of Manetho's list. It has been much damaged, and therefore we +can only discover that about 240 names were given, of which, however, +about 100 are entirely gone; and of the others the lesser half at least +is hardly legible. As has been remarked, Manetho numbers at least 284 +kings to the eighteenth dynasty. Moreover, the papyrus does not agree +with Manetho in the division of the dynasties; at certain places, which +do not coincide with the sections of Manetho, totals are given of the +preceding reigns. The first king after the gods is Mena (Menes), but of +the names which follow only a few agree with those in Manetho, and a few +more with those of the tables of Karnak, Abydus, and Sakkarah.[23] But +here also the same names occupy different places in the series. + +If in addition to all these variations and discrepancies we add the fact +that even in the contemporary monuments and inscriptions which have come +down to us there is no lack of contradictions to Manetho's +statements--if too these monuments have not been erected or preserved in +sufficient continuity, nor are of a sufficiently ample kind, to form an +adequate check upon the papyrus of Turin, or the tables of kings or the +list of Manetho--we must give up the hope of ascertaining the antiquity +and course of Egyptian history on such data. One thing only comes out +clear and irrefragable from the tables of Karnak, Abydus, and Sakkarah, +no less than the Turin papyrus. Long before Herodotus was in Egypt, long +before Manetho wrote his Egyptian history, in the fifteenth century B.C. +Menes was considered the first king of Egypt. Even then lists of the +kings were in existence, and the priests had made a sketch of the +history of their land, in which the rule of the gods preceded the rule +of human kings. + +Modern research has attempted in various ways to find the key to the +puzzle of these long and confused series of kings made by the Egyptian +priests. Assuming that the names of the kings and the length of their +reigns, and the number of reigns belonging to each dynasty, has been +handed down correctly by Manetho, but that some of these dynasties were +contemporaneous, the attempt has been made to give such a selection from +the dynasties of Manetho as would supply a continuous thread for +Egyptian history. Thus from the dynasties expressly marked as Memphitic, +or Theban, a series may be formed which shortens the calculation of +Manetho by at least 1,000 years. We might proceed further in this +direction, and reduce Manetho's list by 2,000 or 3,000 years. According +to the separate items in the excerpts preserved, Manetho's thirty +dynasties include a series of 5,366 Egyptian years (from the year 5702 +to the year 340 B.C.); nevertheless, Syncellus, in a passage of his +Chronology, has observed that the whole period of history treated by +Manetho in his three books covered 3,555 years.[24] This observation +has been used to prove that Manetho himself arranged several dynasties +contemporaneously; and thus, by taking the whole total of years given by +Syncellus as a basis, the year 3892 B.C. has been fixed as the first +year of the reign of Menes. No doubt a selection may be made from the +dynasties of Manetho in such a way that the sum total of the reigns +included in it will carry us no farther back than this year.[25] But it +is clear from the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus that the series of +kings made by the Egyptian priests were strictly successive; and this +fact is abundantly confirmed by the Turin papyrus and the excerpts +preserved from Manetho himself. The 3,555 years which Syncellus brings +forward cannot, in the face of his own excerpt, be taken as a number +really derived from Manetho, and with this number all the calculations +founded upon it fall to the ground.[26] + +A second path, which has lately been struck out for the reduction of +Manetho's dynasties, is based upon the list of Eratosthenes. The +thirty-eight kings enumerated in this list are placed beside the first +fourteen dynasties of Manetho. It is assumed that only the names quoted +in Eratosthenes are the names of real monarchs, and that we must look +for similar names in the list of Manetho. By this assumption, it is +true, we are compelled to set aside several of Manetho's dynasties, and +even to throw away the greater part of the kings of the dynasties which +are allowed to count in the series.[27] But even when we have overcome +all the difficulties in the way of this system, we are still without the +means to define accurately the duration of the rule of the alien kings, +which, as has been already remarked, according to the various excerpts +from the list of Manetho, continued 953, or 511, or 103 years; nor is +there any fixed point immediately before the alien monarchy to enable us +to succeed in establishing the antiquity and commencement of the +Egyptian series of kings. + +All attempts to arrive at the antiquity of the civilisation and history +of Egypt by these means are the more doubtful, because in Egypt there is +no fixed era to form a basis for calculation. The time is reckoned by +the reigns of the kings. In such a case even the most cautious inquiry +of the priests could hardly have arrived at a satisfactory chronology +for the oldest period. Though they had before them far more numerous +monuments than we have, and though the lists of the various dominant +families began to be kept at a very early period, it was no longer +possible at the time when the lists of the Turin papyrus were made out, +to discover in what order the families came, or which ruled +contemporaneously before the time of the alien kings. The mere +arrangement of our materials in the order of succession cannot fail to +give an entirely false picture of the history of Egypt, while on the +other hand the national pride of the Egyptians, and the vanity of the +priests, found a great satisfaction in exaggerating the antiquity of +their history by such enumerations, even where it was known that any +families of kings were contemporaneous. With what pride and complacency +would they exhibit this endless list of kings to the travelling +strangers from Greece! + +Besides the want of a fixed era, and the insufficient knowledge of the +ancient period, and of the alien monarchy--besides the motives of +national vanity, there was another remarkable circumstance connected +with the priests of Egypt which was calculated to lead them far away +from historical truth. The Egyptians measured time by a solar year of +360 days, divided into twelve months of thirty days. It was early +observed that this year did not correspond to the sun's orbit; and +therefore five additional days were added. The decisive event of the +Egyptian year was the inundation. The Nile began to rise at the time of +the summer solstice, and was coincident with the rising of the Dog-star +(Sothis), the brightest star in the Egyptian sky. The Dog-star +proclaimed the approach of the inundation and the new fertilization of +the soil, and by proclaiming caused it. Thus to the Egyptians this star +Sothis was "the Lady of the Beginning." The rising of the star denoted +the new year; which therefore must have begun on the 20th July, the +first of Thoth in the Egyptian calendar. But since, in the Egyptian +year, a quarter of a day was wanting, in spite of the additional five +years, to make up the true astronomical year, the beginning of every +fourth year must have been a day in advance of the true year, and the +seasons, of which the Egyptians made three of four months each, the +months, and the festivals anticipated more and more the true time of the +year. This advance could not have escaped the priests; they must soon +have observed that a period of 1,461 Egyptian years must elapse in order +to allow the Egyptian year to coincide with astronomical time. For in +1,460 Egyptian years the additional quarter of a day in the astronomical +year would amount to 365 whole days--_i.e._ to an Egyptian year; and at +the end of this year the beginning of the next was again coincident with +the rising of the Dog-star, as seen from Lower Egypt, and the +commencement of the inundation. Thus in a period of 1,461 years the year +was again brought to its true beginning.[28] Since the fruitfulness and +life of the Egyptian land depended on the inundation, and the inundation +began with the rising of the Dog-star, the history of Egypt must also +have begun with a similar rising. If after 1,461 Egyptian years the +rising of the Dog-star again coincided with the beginning of the civic +year, the priests would regard this restoration of the natural order as +the completion of a great cycle of events. The Dog-star brought the +inundation, and with it the fruits and life of Egypt. It was the +awakener of life. It must therefore have brought life to the world also; +time must have begun with the rising of Sirius. Porphyrius tells us that +to the Egyptians the rising of the Dog-star was the beginning of the +world.[29] Hence the periods of the world must proceed according to a +number of periods fixed by the Dog-star. It seems that the priests +comprised the whole duration of the world in twenty-five Sothis periods, +_i.e._ in 36,525 Egyptian years. Regarded in this light, the Sothis +periods of the priests of Egypt must lead to a cyclic treatment of their +history, to which also the want of any definite era was forcing them, +while the antiquity and number of the lists of kings offered abundant +material for it. The history of Egypt must comprise a definite number of +Sothis periods. It was known that in the fourteenth century B.C. such a +period ended, and a new one commenced; the difficulty was to fill up two +or three periods anterior to this. Before the Sothis period of the +kings, the gods had ruled over Egypt, to whom, therefore, a number of +Sothis cycles, naturally more extensive than those given to the rule of +men, was allotted. Thus the priests of Thebes were able to tell +Herodotus that, from the time when the Twelve Gods ruled over Egypt, +down to the days of King Amosis, 17,000 years had passed; that from +Menes, down to Sethos, 341 kings ruled in succession over Egypt, and +that in this space of time the sun had four times risen in an unusual +way--it had twice risen where it then set, and had twice set where it +then rose; and nothing in Egypt had been changed by this, either in the +gifts of the earth or the river, in sickness or in mortality.[30] This +change of the rising and setting of the sun is nothing more than the +symbolical astrology of the priests, who must have expressed the +completion of the movable solar year by the opposite quarters of the +sky; and it means no more than that two Sothis periods had elapsed +between Menes and Sethos; but to Herodotus the statement as given +naturally appeared quite incredible.[31] What the priests told +Herodotus, Manetho, following far older authorities, had already fixed +in a systematic form before Diodorus found that the gods ruled 18,000 +years, and the human kings had begun to reign 4,700 years before his +arrival in Egypt. To the gods and demigods Manetho allows twelve Sothis +periods, _i.e._ 17,520 Julian years. Then follows the history of the +men, the beginning of which Manetho places in the commencement of that +period of the Dog-star which begins with the year 5702 B.C. From this +point the series of kings runs through three complete Sothis periods +down to Menephta; in the fourth period Manetho closed the lists of his +thirty dynasties with the last native ruler in 340 B.C., the 984th year +of the fourth Sothis period of the human kings. Thus it would be +possible to make the scheme clear on which the priests of Egypt dealt +with the history of their land, and the lists of Manetho would then lay +claim to complete historical credibility for the ancient periods in +isolated items, though certainly not in their combination as a whole. + +With this result before us the only course open is to seek for external +evidence, and attempt to ascertain the antiquity of the civilisation of +Egypt independently of the priests and their traditions. The first fixed +point in Egyptian chronology is given by the campaign of Pharaoh Sisak +against Judah and Jerusalem. Sisak caused a sketch of his enterprise to +be delineated on the wall of a structure erected by him in the temple at +Karnak. According to Manetho's list, Sisak (Sesonchis), the first ruler +of his twenty-second dynasty, begins his reign in the year 934 B.C.[32] +But the chronology of the Hebrews, which from the establishment of the +monarchy downwards coincides within a few insignificant variations with +the Assyrian records, proves that Sisak must have been king in the first +half of the tenth century B.C. The campaign against Judah falls in the +middle of this century. From Sisak to the expulsion of the Hyksos there +was an interval of at least 500 years, as we may maintain approximately +from the names of kings and their reigns recorded on monuments. If +therefore we accept the excerpt from Manetho's history given in Josephus +(and that excerpt was made precisely for this period, and has come down +to us in the best shape), and allow 511 years for the reign of the +Hyksos, we arrive at the year 2000 B.C. as the end of the old monarchy. +From this monarchy numerous monuments have come down to us belonging to +the Amenemha, and Sesurtesen, the twelfth dynasty of Manetho; and again +to the time preceding these princes belong the greatest monuments in +Egypt, the pyramids of Memphis, which, according to Manetho's list, are +the work of the fourth dynasty. These pyramids therefore may have been +built about the year 2500 B.C. The plan and execution of these monuments +presuppose a very long practice in the treatment and preparation of +materials; the size, permanence, and solidity of the construction were +impossible without great experience in the use of stone; and their +massive form requires an acquaintance with the principles of +architecture which can only be obtained in the course of centuries. And +independently of the advanced state of architecture exhibited by these +monuments at the first sight, their erection is a proof of a condition +of social and civic life far removed from primitive tribal communities. +So long as tribes few in number and isolated from each other possessed +the valley of the Nile, under the rule of their tribal chiefs, such +structures were impossible. They presuppose a settled population, +accustomed to work, and skilled in it. And more than this. The whole +population could not any longer be occupied in agricultural work; there +must have been a considerable amount of superfluous labour, living upon +the productions obtained from the earth by others. Such structures +required the united force of many thousands, the continued efforts of +long years. And as the use of complex machinery for moving and raising +the heavy materials was unknown to the Egyptians, and remained unknown, +as we see from the monuments, a still greater force of men and beasts of +draught were necessary to move such huge squares and blocks by means of +a simple lever and rollers. Finally, the combination and continued +employment of such forces presupposes that society has been subordinated +to a superior direction and power, which could apply those forces as it +chose; in a word, it presupposes an economical, political, and technical +civilisation, removed by at least 500 years from pastoral life and +patriarchal rule. If therefore we may assume that the great pyramids +were erected about the year 2500 B.C., the beginning of higher +civilisation in the valley of the Nile must not be placed later than the +year 3000 B.C. + +This assumption is confirmed by the fact that the oldest monuments of +Egypt--and they are also the oldest in the world--exhibit the Egyptians +in possession of the art of writing. All writing proceeds from pictures. +The writing of the Egyptians and Babylonians, like that of the Chinese, +Mexicans, and the tribes of North America, was in the first instance no +more than speaking pictures. The Egyptians engraved on the stone of +their rocks pictures of the objects and events of which they wished to +preserve the remembrance. As this use of pictures to assist the memory +became more common and more regular, from external no less than internal +reasons, it quickly acquired certain abbreviations and combinations. The +frequent repetition of a picture led to its abbreviation. The picture of +a house dwindled into a square; water is not so much sketched as +indicated by waved lines; instead of a forest we have the outline of a +tree--in Egypt we find the sycamore, the most common tree in the +country. Thus from actual imitative pictures we arrive at indicatory +pictures. But how could the various kinds of fluid, for instance, be +represented in these indicatory pictures? The three waved lines +indicating water were retained, but beside them was sketched a wine-jar +or water-pot, and thus the desired end was attained. By adding the +picture of a god to the square, a temple was distinguished from a house. +By such means the objects of the visible world could be reproduced in +pictures more or less abbreviated. Even the actions and conditions of +men which do not come immediately under the eye could be represented in +this abbreviated metaphorical manner. Giving could be represented by an +outstretched arm with a loaf; opening, by a door; going, by a road +planted with trees; travelling, by a walking bird; battle, by an arm +equipped with shield and lance; binding and fastening, by a coiled rope; +destruction, by a prostrate man. It was more difficult to represent +conditions which do not show themselves to the eye, as, for instance, +hunger and thirst. To express thirst the Egyptians chose the symbol of +water and a calf running to it; hunger they represented by a hand +conveyed to the mouth, and this was also the symbol of eating. But the +most difficult task for this picture-writing was the description of +objects transcending sense, and abstract ideas. For the gods, it is +true, popular notions and the fancy of the priests had supplied fixed +forms which only required to be abbreviated for the picture-writing. The +picture of the sky-goddess served as a symbol for the sky. The Egyptians +regarded the sky as arched over the earth; the feet of the goddess +rested on one extremity, and her hands on the other. Instead of the +complete figure of the goddess in this arched attitude, they drew a line +of a similar kind, and this was the abbreviated picture of the sky. If +the sun or a star was combined with this line, the picture represented +the day and the night. But the abstract ideas of law and justice, truth, +protection, good, evil, life, &c., could only be represented in this +picture-writing by sensuous images. In Egypt power was represented by a +brandished whip, or poleaxe; justice, by the cubit, or symbol of equal +measurement; good, by the symbol of sound, in order perhaps to indicate +harmony; evil, by the picture of an unclean fish; truth, by an ostrich +feather--the feathers of this bird are said to remain unchanged; +protection, by a soaring vulture, &c., &c. + +Though the possession of such indicatory or symbolic pictures enabled +men to describe a series of objects and conditions, and even certain +classes of conceptions--this picture-writing was nevertheless far +removed from the expression of a definite and intelligible speech. It +was a great step in the Egyptian writing when to their simple +metaphorical and symbolical pictures phonetic pictures were added. From +the actual picture by means of abbreviation, by indicatory signs and +symbols, they had arrived at picture-signs, and had succeeded in +expressing a certain feeling by means of figures; but now the indication +of the sound was added to the representation of the sense. The +picture-writing could only go to these picture-signs in order to borrow +the symbols for sound. Hence the sound A was denoted by a symbol which +signified an object of which the name began with A; for this in Egypt +the symbol of an eagle (_achem_), or of a reed (_ak_), might be, and was +selected. Thus in order to express words which could not be made plain +by picture-signs and images of sense, the plan was adopted of adding to +the picture-signs already in use for such words, one or more phonetic +symbols, a complete or incomplete phonetic supplement. Hence arose a +class of mixed pictures, made up of the picture of the object, with the +addition of the sounds of the words of which the picture was intended to +express the meaning. To make the meaning yet more clear, it was found +necessary to add key-signs, indicating the class and nature of the word +in question. Thus with the pictorial and phonetic signs for day and hour +was combined the sign of the sun, and to the names of countries and +rivers the sign for land and water. Moreover these key-signs showed +whether the word symbolised by a sound or a picture denoted an animal, a +plant, a kind of stone, or belonged to a particular class of conditions +and actions. Yet in this combination of real and phonetic pictures, it +always remained uncertain whether a picture or symbol was to be taken +for its real meaning, or was to be regarded as a phonetic symbol. + +This, then, is the difficult writing of the Egyptians; these are the +hieroglyphics as presented even on those great monuments. Even here we +find this method of writing applied in the same forms, and with the same +mixture of pictorial and phonetic signs, which it retained in Egypt, +with slight modifications (see below). Without doubt, the development of +this complicated system was the work of centuries. In the infancy of +history, special insight and capability is obtained and handed down only +within the limits of certain circles. There could be no regular +application and development of this system of writing before the +formation of a priestly order. And again, the separation of such an +order from the rest of the people could only take place gradually; it +must go through a number of stages to raise it above the primitive +conditions of life. When this point of culture was reached, a +considerable space of time was still needed in order to bring the +picture-writing, even within the priestly class, to the form in which we +see it on the pyramids. In those nations whose progress we can follow +with greater accuracy, centuries must pass before the indefinite and +floating notions entertained of the gods are fixed in rigid forms. Yet +in Egypt this change had already taken place before the date of the +oldest hieroglyphics: for even in these we find typical forms in use for +the gods, with sharply drawn and abbreviated outlines. In the +picture-writing itself there is a wide interval between the delineation +of an incident, or object, and the representation of a definite +feeling; and a yet wider interval before the expression of ideas, of +definite speech, is attained. An advanced stage of reflection and +abstraction is required in order to step from the picture of an +occurrence to picture-signs and images of sense, and again from these to +phonetic symbols. The symbols for an incident, and for an idea and a +sound, are separated by a wide gulf. Independently of these internal +requirements for the advance of picture-writing, the external form in +which the oldest hieroglyphics are represented, their even, harmonious, +clearly-cut and unalterable forms, are evidence not only of an +industrious and careful application of these signs, but also of a +tolerably long use. The oldest hieroglyphics of the date of the great +pyramids are for the most part embossed; but even the engraved work of a +date very little more recent is not surpassed by later times in artistic +excellence, in sharpness and neatness of execution. + +The study of the calendar of Egypt, no less than the use of writing upon +the great monuments, carries us back to an early date for the beginning +of Egyptian civilization. We saw that the priests, by adding five days +to the old year of 360 days, had come tolerably near to the natural +year, and had fixed the beginning of their year by the rising of Sirius. +Monuments of the age of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen show that even then +the rising of Sirius had been observed and noted. Nevertheless, the +beginning of their short civic year tended to anticipate the natural +year; and thus the Egyptian year was always in advance of the solar. But +if it was observed and noted down by the Egyptians, that in the year of +their reckoning, corresponding to the Julian year 1322 B.C., the +beginning of the year had again fallen on the right day, that is, on +the rising of Sirius, so that the first day of Thoth in the movable year +coincided with the first day of Thoth in the solar year, which was the +20th of July, it follows that the fixing of the beginning of the year on +July 20, and of the length of the year at 365 days, had taken place +1,460 years (p. 30) before the date 1322 B.C., _i.e._ in the year 2782 +B.C. This conclusion is supported by another consideration. Our +astronomers have calculated that it was only in the two or three +centuries preceding and following the year 3285 B.C. that the rising of +Sirius so exactly coincided with the summer solstice and the rise of the +Nile; and therefore in this epoch only could the observation have been +made that Sirius brought the inundation. Hence in this period only could +the beginning of the year have been fixed at the rising of Sirius. But +if the Egyptians could set aside an old calendar and introduce a new +arrangement requiring attention and long-continued observations, +somewhere about the year 2800 B.C., it is clear that the beginnings of +higher culture in Egypt cannot be later than 3000 B.C.[33] + +Valuable as this result is, we are nevertheless carried back to +hypotheses and combinations in order to fix the various epochs, and more +especially before the reign of the Hyksos. And as an arrangement of +history is impossible without chronology, divisions must be assumed here +and there where it is impossible to establish them satisfactorily. The +arrangement of Egyptian chronology proposed by Lepsius has for the first +time introduced a well-considered system into the whole. Hence, in spite +of the objections already brought forward against the basis of this +arrangement, and the proved uncertainties and contradictions of +tradition and the monuments, which the progress of inquiry into the +older periods may indeed lessen but cannot remove, I follow the data +given by Lepsius for the epochs of Egyptian history, and the duration of +the reigns which come under our notice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] "Il." 9, 381; "Od." 4, 230 ff. 477, 581. 14, 257, 264 ff. 17, 426. + +[4] Herod. 2, 2; Diod. 1, 10, 50; Plat. Tim. p. 23. + +[5] Herod. 2, 100, 142, 143. + +[6] Plato, "Tim." p. 23; "De Leg." p. 657. + +[7] Diodorus, 1, 44, 45, Olympiad 180, _i.e._ between 60 and 56 B.C. + +[8] Or, according to another version, more than 10,000 years from Osiris +to Alexander. More than 10,000 years had passed, according to the +Egyptians, since the creation of the first man.--Diod. 1, 23, 24. + +[9] Diod. 1, 13, 14. + +[10] Ibid. 1, 69. + +[11] Diod. 1, 63. + +[12] Syncell. p. 91, ed. Goar. + +[13] Syncell. p. 12. + +[14] Boeckh, "Manetho," p. 395. + +[15] "C. Apion." c. 14, 26. + +[16] Boeckh, "Manetho," p. 769 ff. + +[17] Reinisch reckons 389 kings from Menes to Cambyses, "Zeitschrift d. +d. M. Ges." 15,251; Brugsch's table gives 334 royal shields from Menes +to Cambyses. + +[18] According to Boeckh's "Kanon des Africanus." + +[19] This, like the following dates, is from Lepsius, see below. + +[20] Not including the thirty-eight shepherd kings; if these are added +the number reaches 322. + +[21] Duemichen and Lepsius, "Zeitschrift fuer Aegyptische Sprache," 1864, +p. 81 ff. Deveria and Mariette, "Revue Archeolog." 1865, p. 50 ff; 1866 +(13), p. 73 ff. + +[22] Mariette in "Revue Archeolog.," 1864 (10), p. 170. + +[23] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 20, 44, 72; Deveria, _loc. cit._ p. +58 ff. + +[24] P. 98. + +[25] Gutschmid in the "Philologus," 10, 672. + +[26] The number of 113 generations, which Syncellus gives as +contemporaneous, does not in the least agree with the accounts of +Manetho; moreover, Gutschmid has shown from what items the number 3,555 +in Syncellus has arisen in "Beitraege zur Geschichte des alten Orients," +s. 9. + +[27] On this rests the difference of the systems of Lepsius and Bunsen. +Taking the total given by Syncellus from Manetho of 3,555 years before +Nektaneboes, Lepsius arrives at the years 3,892 B.C. Bunsen also +considers the number 3,555 to be from Manetho, but without historical +value. He insists on this number because he allows Manetho to reckon +1,286 years for the new monarchy, 922 years for the Hyksos, and 1,347 +years for the old monarchy; but for these 1,347 years he substitutes the +1,076 years of Eratosthenes, in order to fix the historical accession of +Menes. According to this, Menes began to reign in the year 3284 B.C. +From this, Reinisch ("Zeitschrift der Deutschen morgenl. Gesell." 15, +251 ff.) has attempted to reconcile the systems of Bunsen and Lepsius. +He retains the total of 3,555 years, and the year 3,892 B.C. for Menes; +to the 1,076 years given by Eratosthenes for the old monarchy he adds +four years for Skemiophris, thus making 1,080 years, fixes the middle +monarchy--the Hyksos--at 1,088 years, or down to the era [Greek: apo +Menophreos] at 1,490, and the new monarchy down to Nektanebos at 985 +years. + +[28] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 411; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 148 ff. Th. +Martin "Mem de l'Acad. d'Inscr," 1869 (8), 265 ff. + +[29] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 404. In the decree of Kanopus, belonging to +the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, _i.e._ to the year 238 +B.C., we find as follows (Lepsius, "Das Bilingue Decret von Kanopus"): +"In order that the seasons of the year may continue to observe their +time according to the present arrangement of the world, and that feasts +which ought to be celebrated in winter may not be celebrated in summer, +because the star advances one day in every four years, while others +which are celebrated in summer will in later times be celebrated in +winter, as has already happened, and will happen again, if the year is +to be composed of 360 days, and the five days usually added, from +henceforth a day shall be kept as the festival of the Divi Euergetes, +every fourth year after the intercalary days, before the new year." That +the discovery of the want of a quarter of a day was made before the time +of Ptolemaeus Euergetes I., and that for a long time computations were +made by the fixed year with an intercalary cycle every fourth year, as +well as by the movable year, is beyond doubt. The decree did not become +of universal application till 26 B.C. + +[30] Herod. 2, 142. + +[31] Boeckh, "Manetho," s. 36; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 193. + +[32] According to Boeckh's "Kanon des Africanus." + +[33] Lepsius, "Koenigsbuch," s. 118. Biot, "L'Annee vague," p. 57; cf. +however H. Martin, "Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscript." 1869, pp. 1, 8, 265. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS. + + +Next to its language the oldest possession of a nation is its religion. +Living in a country of very distinct outlines and characteristic forms, +where the regularity of external life is brought more prominently before +the view than in other countries, the Egyptians at an early period +arrived at a fixed expression of their religious feelings and of the +forms of their gods. Their original conceptions are unknown to us. The +oldest monuments, our earliest sources of information, present us with a +numerous assemblage of gods, and the conclusions drawn from these carry +us back to views far removed from primitive forms of worship. They +indicate a system already developed in the circle of the priests. We can +only attempt from the fragments of that system preserved in inscriptions +and manuscripts, and the very late accounts of the Greeks, to deduce +conclusions concerning the religious notions which originally +predominated. + +The distinction in the nature of the upper and lower valley, already +referred to, cannot have been without influence upon the direction of +civic life among the Egyptians, and the formation of their religious +ideas. So far as we can tell, these developed independently at the same +time in the upper and lower country. In both districts peculiar forms +were retained at the most prominent centres of religious worship, until +after the union of the country they became amalgamated in all essential +points. + +Memphis worshipped the god Ptah. The great sanctuary of the god at that +city was held to be as ancient as the city itself. So far back as our +knowledge extends, the Pharaohs were occupied with the extension and +adornment of this temple. Among the Greeks the god of Memphis was known +as Hephaestus: they tell us he was represented in the temple by a +dwarf-like image; and that similar images of the children of Ptah stood +in a part of the temple only entered by the priests.[34] The name +Hephaestus, and the further statement of the Greeks, that this god was +the father of the Sun-god, prove that in Ptah the Egyptians worshipped +not only fire, but the spirit of warmth and light generally; and that +they must have regarded him as the origin and source of light. + +Manetho puts Ptah at the head of the dynasties of the gods. He ruled for +9,000 years before the other gods. Inscriptions name Ptah "the lord of +truth," the "father of truth," the "ruler of the sky," "the king of both +worlds." As the god of the light which shows everything in its true +form, he is the spirit of truth; as the spirit of the light in the sky, +he is the lord of heaven. The inscriptions also say that Ptah "moves the +egg of the sun and the moon;" he is called "the weaver of the +beginnings," the "god who rolls his egg in the sky." Consequently, to +the Egyptians Ptah was the mover of the luminaries, a formative, +creative spirit, and as he is called in the inscriptions "the father of +the father of the gods," he must have been to them the first and oldest +god, the beginning of the gods and of all things. + +The Egyptians believed that a kind of beetle peculiar to their country +(_scarabaeus sacer_) was propagated without the female sex; they saw the +mode of its reproduction in the balls of dung which the beetles +occasionally pushed before them. Hence they consecrated this insect to +their god of beginning and creation, and on monuments and records we +find the god Ptah with a beetle on his shoulders, in the place of a +human head. As the god of the beginning he appears on monuments in the +shape of a child or dwarf; and again, as the unchangeable god, he is +wrapped in the casings of a mummy, with the symbols of dominion, the +whip and sceptre, or the so-called Nile-gauge, a ring with parallel +cross bars, in his hand, in order to denote him as the god who gives to +all things measure, order, and law. He is also coloured green, to +signify, as it would seem, that lie is a god favourable to vegetation, +and possessed of a fertilising power. + +Thus Ptah was one of the forms under which the Egyptians invoked the +creator, the highest god. On a pillar of Memphis, now in the Berlin +Museum, belonging to the time of the nineteenth dynasty, he is called +"the only unbegotten begetter in the heaven and on the earth," "the god +who made himself to be god, who exists by himself, the double being, the +begetter of the first beginning." Other inscriptions and records denote +him as "the creator in heaven and on earth, who has made all things, the +lord of all that is, and is not."[35] + +Below Memphis lay On, the city of the sun (Heliopolis). Here the spirit +of the sun, Ra, was the pre-eminent god. In Manetho's list Ra succeeds +Ptah in the kingdom. "The Egyptians," says Plutarch, "regard the sun as +the body of the beneficent power, the visible form of a being only +comprehensible to thought. The morning sun they represented as a +new-born child seated on a lotus leaf, and thrice each day--at sunrise, +noon, and sunset--they offered incense to Helius."[36] We also find that +the Egyptians represented the sun of the winter months as a little +child, the sun of the vernal equinox as a youth, that of the summer +solstice as a bearded man, and again, the sun of the autumnal equinox as +an old man.[37] Hence they looked at the yearly course of the sun under +the allegory of human life. Plutarch's remark about the morning sun +shows that they regarded the daily course of the sun from the same point +of view, and when he tells us that according to Egyptian story, Apopis +made war against the god of the sky,[38] his statements are confirmed by +the monuments. According to the inscriptions Ra is "revealed in the +abyss of the sky," he is throned "in the orb of the sun," "he moves his +egg." "A Supplication to Ra"--such are the words of a prayer--"who each +day by himself brings himself to a new birth. Ra has created all that is +in the abysses of the sky."[39] In the tombs of the Ramesids, at Thebes, +the course of the sun is represented by the hour of the day and night. +On the form of the blue outstretched goddess of the sky appears the boat +of the sun, for the Egyptians conceived the sun as navigating the air in +a skiff, as they navigated the Nile; and in the boat is Ra, a child with +finger in mouth at the first hour of the morning. As the day goes on the +child increases in size, and at every hour the spirits who lead the boat +are changed. In the hours of the afternoon the evil serpent, Apep, the +darkness, the Apopis of Plutarch, attempts to swallow the sun, but +twelve spirits draw the serpent by ropes to the side. In the hours of +the night the sun-god is inclosed in his shrine on the boat, which is +carried along by spirits changing every hour over the waters of the +under world to the east--just as the boats on the Nile are drawn against +the stream--so that he may again shine out in the east on the next +morning. The hieroglyphics accompanying the navigation of the night +hours contain seventy-four invocations of Ra in Amenti, _i.e._ in his +concealment. In a similar way the monuments of Edfu exhibit the growth +of the sun-god through the twelve hours of the day from a child to a +youth and a man, and an old man bowed with age, leaning upon a staff. +This last is called in the inscriptions, "The old man who becomes again +a child."[40] + +The monuments exhibit Ra in red, with the sun's orb on his head, a +sceptre in one hand, and the symbol of life in the other. The cat, the +tawny bull, and the hawk are the chosen creatures of Ra; often he is +found on the monuments with the head of a hawk in the place of the human +head, or as a hawk carrying the sun's orb. All the entrances of the +temple and the pylons display the symbolical form of the deity, the +sun's orb, supported by two wings. From the sun-god the kings of Egypt +derived their might and power. They generally call themselves "the sons +of Ra," and they rule over Egypt as Ra rules over the world. + +Hence we can assume that to the minds of the priests Ptah was +essentially the deity of beginning, the first originator of creation. Ra +again was the propagating and sustaining power of the divinity embodied +in the sun. + +At Hermopolis (Ashmunein), besides Thoth, whom the Greeks compared to +their Hermes, and the inscriptions name the "Lord of divine truth," the +"scribe of truth," to whom the white Ibis with black neck and beak is +sacred, the "children of Ptah" were worshipped. These were eight gods in +four pairs. Owing to this worship Hermopolis was known to the Egyptians +as Pe-sesennu, _i.e._ "the city of reverence." These children of Ptah +seem to have been spirits of the elements. In an inscription at Edfu we +find, "The eight gods, the very great, who are from the beginning, +created before the gods, the children of Ptah, arising through him, +begotten of him, to take possession of the south and the north, to +create in the Thebaid, and fashion in the land of Memphis. When they +arose the stream flowed out from the young waters, the child of the +lotus flower rose up in the boat, the beautiful one, making this earth +bright by his beams."[41] + +At Sais, at Buto, on the Sebennytic mouth, and at Bubastis (Tel Basta), +on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, female goddesses were worshipped. To +the feast of the goddess of Sais, whom the Greeks called Athene, the +Egyptians came from the whole country, as Herodotus tells us, to Sais, +and lighted lamps on the appointed night, and even those who did not +come to Sais lit lamps, so that lamps were burning throughout all +Egypt.[42] Jamblichus and Proclus tell us that the goddess of Sais, the +Neith of the Egyptians, was the mother of the sun-god; the inscriptions +call Neith "the cow which bore the sun," "ancient mother of the sun," +"mother of the gods." Hence we may assume that Neith was associated with +Ptah, whose green colour she shares on the monuments; and that the +creative power of nature was personified in her under a female form. The +feast of lamps may have symbolised the birth of light, and its rise from +the darkness.[43] The goddess of Buto, who was also worshipped at +Letopolis, near Memphis, was compared by the Greeks with their goddess +Leto, whose child was Apollo, the spirit of light, because at Buto the +victorious god of light of the Egyptians, of whom we shall speak below, +was said to have grown up.[44] + +The sanctuary of the goddess at Bubastis was, according to Herodotus' +account, the most delightful, though not the largest or most costly, in +the whole of Egypt. It was situated in the middle of the city, and could +be seen from every side. "Beyond the market-place a paved road, about +forty feet in width, leads to the shrine, which is overshadowed by trees +on both sides. The precincts, a place of about a stadium square, is +surrounded with a trench one hundred feet broad; this is connected with +the Nile, and also planted with trees. The portico is ten fathoms high, +and adorned with statues six cubits in height, and well worth +description. On the external walls pictures are everywhere engraved, and +the temple in which the statue of the goddess stands is also surrounded +by very lofty trees. At the festival of the goddess the Egyptians from +all the land go down in boats to Bubastis: in every boat is a number of +men and women; some of the men blow the flute; some of the women have +castanets, and strike them; the rest sing and clap their hands. The boat +touches at every city on the river bank; and here also the women sing +and strike their castanets, while others follow the women of the city +with shouts and raillery; others, again, dance; others expose +themselves. On arriving at Bubastis, they bring large offerings to the +goddess, and drink more wine at this festival than in all the rest of +the year. According to the accounts of the Egyptians, about 700,000 men +and women are collected at this festival, without counting children.[45] + +Herodotus calls the goddess of Bubastis Artemis: her Egyptian name was +Bast and Pacht; and the city was called after her Pa-Bast, _i.e._ "abode +of Bast." On monuments this goddess has the sun's disk upon her head, +or, in the place of a human head, the head of a cat, which animal was +sacred to her. At Heliopolis there was a picture of Ra in the form of a +he-cat;[46] and in the inscription Pacht is called the daughter of Ra. +Ra was invoked to come to the help of his daughter, the holy she-cat, +who was panic-stricken by the snake which approached heaven in order to +tread upon the path of the sun-god, and to defile the limbs of the holy +she-cat.[47] In the sketches in the "Book of the Dead" we find a +she-cat, with the right forefoot upon the head of a serpent, and in the +left a broad knife, with which she is cutting off the head of the +serpent.[48] The account given by Herodotus of the customs observed at +the festival are confirmed from other sources. The monuments exhibit +musicians, whose music is accompanied by the audience with clapping of +the hands; and Plutarch describes the castanets of the Egyptians adorned +with the figure of a human-headed she-cat, the sound of which was +intended to scare away the evil spirit.[49] + +In the upper country other deities were worshipped. At Thebes, Amun, +known to the Greeks as Ammon, took the place occupied by Ptah at +Memphis. Hecataeus of Abdera relates that the Egyptians identified their +supreme god with the universe, but the god was invisible and +concealed.[50] Amun, as a fact, signifies "the concealed" or "veiled." +The monuments of Thebes exhibit him as a creative god with the Phallus, +as a ruling deity either standing or sitting on a throne; on his royal +head-dress are two upright feathers, which to the Egyptians were the +symbol of dominion over the upper and under world, and in his hand are +the sceptre and the symbol of life. His colour is blue. By his side +stands the goddess Mut; the "mother," the "lady of darkness," as the +inscriptions[51] style her. She wears on her head the vulture, or the +crown of Upper Egypt. She is also found on inscriptions with the head of +a vulture, the bird sacred to her, instead of a human head; and in +pictures of battles the vulture of Mut hovers over the Pharaoh as the +symbol of protection. The son of Ammon and Mut is Shu (Sosis, Sos), the +spirit of the atmosphere, "the bearer of heaven," as the inscriptions +name him.[52] This (Thinis) and Abydus were the chief seats of his +worship. In Manetho's list the reign of Shu follows on those of Ptah and +Ra. + +In the place of Ammon we often find another divinity, Tum (Atmu.) This +was the sun-god in a special form. In Upper Egypt the spirit of the sun +was invoked under the names Tum and Mentu. Of these names the first +signified the declining sun, the sun of the west, the sun of +concealment, the sun in the under world; the second the rising sun, the +sun of the east, the sun of the day, the bright sun-god. Tum also wears +the double crown, and the two feathers of Ammon, or in the place of them +the two royal serpents round his head-dress; he also is lord of both +kingdoms. Like Ptah, he is "the father of beginnings, who begot +himself," "the father of the gods;" like him also he is formed with the +beetle in the place of the human head; as the creative god he is the +creator of his name, _i.e._ of his properties; he is the primaeval night, +the darkness of the beginning, before light existed. To him also +belonged the primaeval water. According to Plutarch, the Egyptians +believed that the sun arose out of moisture, that it sprang up out of +water, and was nourished by it, and therefore water was the beginning +and origin of things. This account is confirmed by the monuments. As +light in the process of production, Tum is called "Ra in his egg;" and +as the spirit of light arising out of darkness and water, the horologe +and the sun-dial are his insignia.[53] + +At Coptus, in Upper Egypt, a phallic god was worshipped under the name +Chem, whom the Greeks compared to their god Pan, and at the falls of +Syene a ram-headed god, Chnum (Chnemu, Chnuphis, Kneph), who in +inscriptions is named the lord of the "inundations," of the "outpouring +of the waters."[54] As a giver of fruits, the colour of his pictures on +the monuments is generally green. In the eyes of the inhabitants of +Upper Egypt Chnum was, according to the account of Plutarch, an +uncreated eternal spirit.[55] We must therefore regard him as a peculiar +form of the life-giving god. Chnum was often united with Ammon, inasmuch +as the latter assumes the attributes of Chnum, the ram's horns or even +head.[56] As the worship of Ammon passed beyond Egypt up the Nile as far +as Meroe, so the worship of Ammon-Chnum spread westward in the Libyan +desert as far as the oasis of Siwa, where the inhabitants were called by +the Greeks Ammonians. Here, even now, in the vicinity of a clear pool +surrounded by lofty palms, the remains of a considerable temple are to +be seen, with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and the picture of the +ram-headed deity.[57] + +The worship of the goddess Hathor was widely diffused both in Upper and +Lower Egypt. The most renowned seats of the cultus were Aphroditopolis, +near Memphis; Edfu and Dendera, in Upper Egypt. She is called in the +inscriptions "the lady of the dance and revel," and is represented on +the monuments with fetters and a tambourine in her hands. From this and +from her Grecian name we may conclude that she was the Egyptian goddess +of love, of the enchaining passion; but though we find in her form +hints of a more individual and lively fancy, the natural power of +maternity in general is by far the most prominent conception. She is +represented with the horns of a cow--her sacred animal--on her head, and +between them the moon's disk; or entirely as a cow. In the rock-temple +at Abusimbel, which the wife of Ramses II. dedicated to Hathor, she is +represented as a cow in a boat, over which water-plants meet in arches. +To this cow the king and queen offer flowers and fruits.[58] In the +temple at Edfu, a structure of the Ptolemies, 360 local forms of Hathor +are said to have been enumerated and among these seven were especially +prominent. + +It was the beneficent, creative, and life-giving powers of nature which +the Egyptians worshipped in these divinities--water, light, the clear +heaven, the sun, the powers of reproduction and birth. But the phenomena +and the powers presented by nature were not in every case beneficent. +Night swallowed up day, and death swallowed up life. Beside the waters +and the black fruitful soil of Egypt lay the boundless yellow desert, +from which storms blew the sand into the green valley. In the hot +months, the sun blazed with a devouring and scorching heat, the flowers +withered; and the powers of nature failed in the winter. Thus in the +life of nature there was a strife between malignant and beneficent +powers, a strife in which nevertheless the beneficent powers always +gained the upper hand. Out of night arose a new day; out of the death of +nature in winter blossomed forth new increase, fruitfulness, and life. +Through this conception of a strife raging between the healing and +destructive powers of nature, by regarding nature as moving in a +circular course from life to death, and death to life, the Egyptians +succeeded in making a great advance in their religious ideas. They +personified this strife in certain divine forms. The beneficent power, +the divinity of life was allowed to succumb, and then to rise from +apparent death into a new life. Only for a moment could the evil powers +vanquish the good; the eternal victory remained with the gods of +beneficence. + +After Helius, Hephaestus, Ammon, and Hermes, says Diodorus,[59] Cronos +and his sister Rhea ruled. These became the parents of Isis and Osiris, +of Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite. Plutarch tells us that, according to +the legend of the Egyptians, Rhea and Cronos were the parents of Osiris +and Isis, of Typhon and Nephthys. Osiris ruled happily over Egypt; but +Typhon conspired against him with seventy-two associates; they inclosed +Osiris in a chest and threw it into the Nile, and the stream carried it +down to the sea. When Isis heard of it, she put on mourning, and sought +with lamentation the body of Osiris. At last she found the chest in the +neighbourhood of Byblus, where the sea had cast it up; she mourned over +the corpse and carried it back to Egypt. And when Horus, the son of Isis +and Osiris, who grew up in Buto, came to his full strength, he prepared +to avenge the wrong which Typhon had done to his father and mother. +Thrice he fought with Typhon; the battle raged for many days, and Horus +conquered.[60] + +According to the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, Osiris (Dionysus) +and Horus (the Apollo of the Greeks) were the last rulers of the divine +race.[61] In the list of Manetho, Ptah was followed in the kingdom by +Ra and Shu (or, according to the Theban account, by Ammon, Tum, and +Shu), Cronos, Osiris, Typhon, and Horus. These then are the younger +gods; the evidence of the monuments shows that they were connected by +race with each other, but not akin to the three gods who ruled before +them. And as we also find that the five supplementary days added in the +Egyptian year to the original number of 360 (p. 29) were dedicated to +these gods, the first to Osiris, the second to Horus, the third to +Typhon, the fourth to Isis, the fifth to Nephthys--the natural +conclusion is that these gods were of later origin.[62] On the other +hand it is clear that the belief in Osiris and his power had already +arisen at the time when the great pyramids were erected. + +The two gods at the head of this circle, whom Diodorus and Plutarch call +Cronos and Rhea, were known to the Egyptians under the names Seb and +Nut.[63] They are the spirits of the earth and sky. Osiris himself in +the inscriptions and records is called "the king of the gods," "the lord +of unnumbered days," "the king of life," "the regulator of eternity." +The inscription on the lid of a coffin runs thus--"Ra gave thee the +richly streaming light which gleams in thy eyes. Shu gave thee the +pleasant air which in thy lifetime was inhaled in thy nostrils. Seb gave +thee all fruits whereon thou livest. Osiris gave thee the Nile-water +whereon thou livest."[64] As a life-giving god, the colour of Osiris is +green; his sacred tree is the evergreen tamarisk; and his sacred bird a +kind of heron, distinguished by two long feathers at the back of the +head. Osiris is always represented in a human form, and with a human +head. + +The chief seats of the worship of Osiris were Philae and Abydus, in Upper +Egypt. In the temple on the island of Philae, formed by the Nile above +Syene, the history of the god was represented.[65] On a little island +close by, where only the priests might tread, lay the grave of Osiris, +overshadowed by tamarisks;[66] here were libations offered to him, and +Diodorus tells us that in Upper Egypt no more sacred form of oath was +known than the oath by Osiris who rests at Philae.[67] In the temple of +Osiris at Abydus (Arabat-el-Medfuneh) the wealthy Egyptians sought to be +buried, that they might rest in the vicinity of the god's grave. In +Lower Egypt Osiris[68] was worshipped in the cities of Memphis, +Sais,[69] and Busiris. At Busiris (the name Pe-osiri meant "abode of +Osiris"), on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, in the middle of the +Delta--it was the chief city of the district of Busiris--was situated +the largest temple of Isis, as we learn from Herodotus, and here also, +according to other evidence, the grave of Osiris was to be found.[70] +Here the whole land worshipped this god and goddess.[71] Thousands of +men and women assembled, according to Herodotus, made lamentation for +Osiris, and brought an offering to the greatest goddess (Isis). Amid +prayers the bull was flayed, the thighs and other parts cut out, and a +part of the belly filled with bread, honey, and incense; these were +drenched plentifully with oil, and set on fire, and so long as the +sacrifice burned the people lamented. When the lamentation ended, the +remainder of the sacrifice was eaten.[72] Plutarch says that with Osiris +the Egyptians lamented the receding of the Nile, the ceasing of the cool +north wind, the death of vegetation, and decrease in the length of the +day. On the 17th Athyr, the day on which Typhon slew Osiris (on this day +the sun passes through the Scorpion), the priests instituted rites of +lamentation, and, among other things, as a sign of the sorrow of Isis, +they exhibited for four days a gilded cow, covered with a black veil of +byssus--for the cow was the Egyptian symbol of this goddess. On the +19th Athyr, in the night, they went down to the sea, and the priests +brought out the chest, and the congregation cried, "Osiris is +found!"[73] Moreover, according to Plutarch, the holy rites represented +the burial of Osiris: in these the wood was cut for the chest, the linen +torn for cerements, and libations poured. A serpent was also slain in +effigy.[74] About the time of the winter solstice, as Plutarch tells us +in another place, the Egyptians carried "the cow," _i.e._ Isis, seven +times round the temple, and this procession was called the search for +Osiris.[75] On the monuments the Isis worshipped with Osiris appears +generally in a youthful shape, with the horns of a cow on her head, the +moon's disk between the horns, with the flower-sceptre and symbol of +life in her hands. The inscriptions denote her as the "royal consort," +the "great goddess." An image in which she was represented in the form +of a cow was seen by Herodotus in the royal palace of the last Pharaohs +at Sais. "In a beautifully-adorned chamber lay the wooden image of a +cow, resting on her knees, not larger than a full-grown cow. The body +was covered with a purple robe; on the neck and head could be seen the +thick gilding, and between the horns a golden disk. Every day incense +was burned before the image; and at night a lamp was kindled before it. +Once a year," continues Herodotus, "this cow was carried out into the +open, when the Egyptians lamented the god, whose name I do not think +proper to mention now."[76] + +Osiris and Isis, the spirits of blessing and life, were attacked by +Typhon. Plutarch observes that the Egyptians called Typhon Set,[77] and +this statement is confirmed by the inscriptions. The colour of Set was +burning red,[78] like the glowing sun in the dust of the desert; the ass +was the sacred animal of this god, and a peculiarly-formed animal his +symbol on the monuments. In poisonous serpents also the Egyptians saw +this destructive deity, and they brought the crocodile and hippopotamus +into association with him. The third of the five additional days of the +year (p. 29), which belonged to Set, was to the Egyptians an unlucky +day.[79] On a papyrus he is called "the almighty destroyer and +blighter,"[80] and with this agrees the statement of Plutarch, that +Typhon, according to the Egyptians, had filled the whole earth and +sea--which they call "the foam of Typhon"--with evils; and they +considered all animals, trees, and vegetables, all incidents of a +harmful and destructive nature to be works, parts and actions of +Typhon.[81] + +The evil god can limit and overcome the beneficent power of nature, but +not for ever. Osiris had left behind a young son, who could hold Typhon +in check, though unable to suppress him entirely. Horus, as Plutarch +tells us, was born about the time of the winter solstice, and the +festival of the delivery of Isis was celebrated at the time of the +vernal equinox.[82] On the monuments we find Horus (Har), "the avenger +of his father Osiris," as the inscriptions call him, represented as a +naked child, with finger on lip, sitting on a lotus-leaf, or on a crook, +the symbol of dominion. Hence he is the young Horus, the Harpocrates of +the Greeks, the Harpechruti--_i.e._, "Har, the child"--of the Egyptians. +Then, according to the legend, he grows up at Buto; he becomes a +handsome youth, the strong Horus (Har-ver, Arveris of the Greeks), the +"great helper," the "pillar of the world." In the temple at Philae we see +him pouring libations before the bier of Osiris; on other monuments he +guides the sun's bark through the hours of the day.[83] At Hermopolis, +as Plutarch tells us, a hippopotamus was to be seen, on which a +hawk--the sacred bird of Horus, in which form the god is often +represented--fought with a serpent; and, according to the belief of the +Egyptians, Typhon escaped from Horus in the shape of a crocodile.[84] +The monuments represent Horus on the sun-boat in the act of stabbing a +serpent with a human head,[85] _i.e._, Apopis, the serpent Apep; or +standing on crocodiles with serpents in his hands; or as a winged sun's +disk contending with a hippopotamus. In an invocation of Horus, +belonging to the fourth century B.C., we find the following: "Come to me +quickly on this day to guide the holy bark (the sun's-boat), to force +back all lions to the land of Egypt, and all crocodiles into the Nile. +Shamelessness and sin (?) come and appear upon earth; but when Horus is +invoked he destroys them. All mankind rejoice when they see the sun. +They praise the son of Osiris, and the serpent turns back."[86] Hence to +the Egyptians Horus was the triumphant god of light (Har-phre, +Horus-sun), who subdues gloom, and winter, and drought. As a victorious +god arousing fresh life, he gives to the kings of Egypt life and +victory. The Greeks called the Egyptian Ra Helius, and Horus Apollo; and +these names correspond to the Egyptian conception of these deities. The +chief seats of the worship of Horus were the two cities which the Greeks +called the great and little cities of Apollo (Edfu and Kus) and Ombus. +At Edfu Hathor was worshipped beside Horus (p. 52). + +Plutarch tells us that Isis, in the minds of the Egyptians, was the +female receptive part of nature. Osiris was the light, Typhon the +darkness, the obscuration of the sun and the moon; Osiris was the +fruit-giving Nile-water, Typhon the salt and barren sea; Osiris was +moisture, Typhon drought, the parching wind, which overcomes and +consumes moisture; Osiris was health, Typhon disease; Osiris was the +orderly, unchanging; Typhon the passionate, irrational, and giant-like; +disturbances, blight, and tempest.[87] It is incorrect, Plutarch +observes, in conclusion, to call water, the sun, or the earth and sky +Osiris and Isis; and not less so to call the glowing sun and hot wind +Typhon. If we merely ascribe to Typhon all that is immoderate or +irregular in these, whether in the way of excess or defect, and hold in +reverence and honour all that is orderly and good and useful as the work +of Isis, as the image, likeness, and essence of Osiris, we shall hardly +go wrong.[88] + +Thus there can be little doubt about the meaning of the myth. When the +Nile receded and the sirocco from the south drove back the refreshing +north wind, when the hot days--for these are the seventy-two +fellow-conspirators of Typhon--parched up the soil; then had Typhon +struck down Osiris. Then, as Plutarch says, "the Egyptians bewailed the +decay of the fruits, and prayed the gods to send new in the place of +those that were gone, and allow them to spring forth again." When the +seed was cast into the ground, the Egyptians buried Osiris: but the +sacred rites were an imitation of the sufferings of Isis, and the +incidents which occurred when the body was deposited in the tomb. The +progressive decay of productive power towards the north during the hot +days, and the winter, which was indicated in the myth by the carrying of +the corpse of Osiris to the sea, and the custom of carrying the chest to +the coast (p. 57), is part of the Egyptian conception; that Isis +discovers the body at Byblus on the Phenician coast is probably an +invention of the Greeks, who confounded the Phenician horned goddess +Astarte, Ashtaroth Karnaim, with Isis. When Egypt was again fertilised +by the inundation, when the days began to lengthen after the winter +solstice, when the sun shone with fresh brightness, and the new fruit +budded forth, then Horus, the child born about the winter solstice, +waxed strong at Buto in the north of Egypt--then he overcame Typhon. The +renewed power of the sun, the returning life of nature, the fresh +blessings of the new year--these are the avenging son of Osiris. + +When the creative and receptive powers of nature had thus been +comprehended in the forms of Osiris and Isis, the divinities in whom +creative power and receptivity had hitherto been perceived naturally +coalesced with these forms to a greater or less degree. Thus Ptah of +Memphis, Tum of Thebes, the sun-god of Heliopolis, are combined with +Osiris (the title Ptah-Osiris is not uncommon in the inscriptions,) +though they are also retained as separate deities. Thus also Isis is +identified with Neith of Sais, with Mut of Thebes, with Hathor, with +Bast,[89] the goddess of Bubastis. Horus, again, is identified with Chem +and Ra, though at the same time his personality as the youthful, +vigorous spirit of light is strongly marked. Plutarch is certainly right +in his remark that the Egyptians regard Osiris as the personification of +everything in heaven and the under world.[90] All the other deities were +transfigurations and manifestations of Osiris, mere modifications of his +nature. When Osiris is called the soul of Ra,[91] this can hardly have +any other meaning but this, that the appearance of the sun-god in the +visible world is an incarnation of the invisible nature of Osiris. + +The Egyptians often represented their deities with the heads, or in the +shape of, the animals sacred to them; that is, they recognised the +nature of the deities who were primarily conceived under the form of +men, in the races of the beasts which they allotted to them. To the +Egyptians these animals must have appeared so closely and intimately +connected with the deity to which they belonged, that the nature of the +deity was better expressed and made more visible in the shape of the +beast than in the shape of man. We must assume that the predominance of +a distinct mark or characteristic property in the races of animals, that +their simple, uniformly instinctive life created this conception in the +mind of the Egyptians, to whom a fixed and unalterable course of action, +an unchanging and typical nature, was the ideal. The force of nature, +the regular recurrence of certain phenomena, coalesced in the Egyptian +mind with the blind, unchanging action of animals. Yet animals were also +seen to possess freedom and movement, and an individual existence. This +combination of the type and the individual must have seemed to the +Egyptians to correspond to the nature of their deities. The mystery of +life, the natural law, which lay at the base of their worship, must for +them have reached its most distinct and lively realisation in these +animals. + +The bull is the sacred animal of the creative gods: the cow of the +goddesses of birth and receptivity; the ram is sacred to Chnum; the hawk +and the cat to the deities of light and the sun; the beetle to Ptah; a +kind of heron to Osiris; the vulture to Ptah and Isis; a kind of ibis to +Thoth; the dog-ape to Anubis, the "ruler in the west;[92]" the crocodile +to the god Sebek, who was worshipped at Arsinoe, &c., &c. Herodotus +tells us that when a cat died in a house, all the inhabitants shaved +their eyebrows; and that at conflagrations the Egyptians directed all +their attention to saving the cats, not to quenching the flames, and if, +in spite of their efforts, a cat leapt into the flames and was burnt, +the Egyptians made a great lamentation.[93] "To each of the races of the +sacred animals," says Diodorus, "a certain piece of land is consecrated, +the products of which suffice for the food and tending of the race. +Those entrusted with the care of each race have to feed them. To feed +the hawks they cut up pieces of flesh, and call loudly to the birds till +they come and take their food. The cats they coax by giving them bread +and milk, or chopped fish from the Nile, and thus provide them with +suitable food. These duties they do not scruple to perform before the +whole people; on the contrary, they are proud of them as of the highest +offices which they can attain to in the service of the gods. With +special symbols to distinguish them, they proceed through town and +country, and as it is known from the symbols what animal it is whose +servants are approaching, all who meet them bow the knee and pay homage. +If one of the animals dies, it is wrapped in a costly covering, and, +amid loud lamentations and beating of the breast, it is carried away to +embalment. Steeped in oil of cedar, or any other kind remarkable for its +scent and powers of preservation, the corpse is then buried in the holy +sepulchres. Anyone who intentionally kills a sacred animal is punished +with death; and everyone who has caused the death of an ibis or a cat, +intentionally or unintentionally, must die, and is often killed in the +most cruel manner, without any sentence passed upon him, by the +collected mob. So deeply rooted is the reverence for sacred animals in +the feeling of the people, so persistently does everyone cling to the +worship of them, that even at the time when Ptolemy was not yet declared +an ally by the Romans, and the nation was most anxious to pay respect to +visitors from Italy, and to give no cause for war, when a Roman had +unintentionally killed a cat, the mob gathered at his house, and neither +the officers sent by the king to quiet them, nor the prevailing awe of +the Romans, could protect him from their vengeance. This fact I have not +received from hearsay: I was in Egypt and saw the occurrence. But what +is done for the animals which are kept in the temples is easy to +narrate, but difficult for anyone to believe who has not seen it."[94] + +Among the races of animals which, according to Egyptian belief, shared +in the nature of the deities to which they were sacred, were certain +pre-eminent specimens. These were recognised by certain signs by the +priests, and passed for a special incarnation of the deity. They were +brought into his temple, and there worshipped and prayed to as his +manifestation. The most sacred among these selected animals was Apis, +the bull, in the temple of Ptah, at Memphis. According to the account of +Herodotus, the Egyptians believed that a ray of light from heaven had +impregnated the cow, which brought forth an Apis: by Plutarch, the +impregnation is said to take place by a ray of the moon.[95] The priests +recognized Apis in a black bull, which had a triangular white spot on +the forehead, a fleshy growth under the tongue in the form of the sacred +beetle of Ptah, white spots on his back in the shape of an eagle, and +bi-coloured hairs in the tail.[96] When an Apis was found, he was, says +Diodorus, in the first place brought for forty successive days to the +meadow of the "city of the Nile" (Nilopolis), where women were shown to +him, who were afterwards excluded from the sight of the Apis. Then he +was conveyed on a boat in a golden shrine like a god to the temple of +Ptah, at Memphis. There he was bathed in the holy place, and anointed, +and the most precious frankincense was constantly burned before him. He +received the most beautiful garments, the richest bedding-places, and +the most handsome cows as his "bed-fellows"; the most distinguished men +provided him with the best food at a very great expense. When the Apis +died of old age he was honoured with a splendid funeral. "When, on the +death of Alexander, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, made himself master of +Egypt, it happened that the Apis died, and the person entrusted with his +care not only spent his own large fortune upon his burial, but borrowed, +in addition, fifty talents from Ptolemy. Even in my own times certain +feeders of the sacred animals have spent not less than one hundred +talents on a single funeral."[97] + +"The Egyptians," Diodorus remarks, "are of opinion that the soul of the +dead Osiris passed into this bull, and thus continues among them, and +will so continue among their descendants." Plutarch says that the Apis +at Memphis was an image of the soul of Osiris. According to the usual +account of the priests, Osiris and Apis were one; for they taught that +the Apis was to be regarded as a fair image of the soul of Osiris. +Strabo tells us, "The bull Apis, which is revered as a god, is the same +as Osiris. The temple in which the Apis was kept stands beside the +temple of Hephaestus (Ptah). There is also a temple of Serapis in that +city, before which we saw sphinxes, buried in the sand, some to the +middle, some to the neck."[98] Evidence from other sources, no less than +the monuments, confirms these accounts of Diodorus and Plutarch. The +monuments exhibit the Apis with the sun's disk and the royal serpent +between his horns, and Greek papyri tell us that the keeper with whom +the Apis was placed was known as the "Herdman of Osorapi," _i.e._ of +Osiris-Apis (Osarhapi).[99] We may assume that this Osorapi was the +Serapis or Sarapis of the Greeks, and the temple of Serapis a temple of +Osorapi. The sphinxes buried in sand at Memphis have been discovered on +the plateau on which the inhabitants buried their dead to the west of +the ruins of this city. They are found here in two rows as often before +the entrance of temples between Abusir and Sakkarah. It is by following +this path of sphinxes that the discoverers were recently enabled to find +the ruins of the temple of Serapis, _i.e._ the temple of the grave of +Osiris-Apis, and the sepulchral chambers of the Apis-bulls hewn in the +rocks around it. The oldest of the tombs hitherto opened belongs, +according to the inscriptions, to an Apis buried in the time of +Amenophis III. (1524-1488 B.C.). Above ground rises a massive structure, +truncated at the top, and decorated with reliefs. This is the mortuary +chapel. A sloping passage, the entrance to which lies before this +structure, leads beneath the earth to a sepulchral chamber, where stands +a sarcophagus with the mummy of the Apis. The relief on the structure +above exhibits the king bringing a drink-offering to the Apis. Beside +the picture of the bull we read, "The living Osiris, the lord of the +sky: he is Tum (p. 51): his feathers are upon him: he gives life for +evermore." On the sarcophagus of an Apis buried in a similar tomb in the +reign of Horus (1455-1443 B.C.), we read:--"Apis-Osiris, the great deity +who dwells in Amenti, the ever-living lord." King Ramses II. (1388-1322 +B.C.), in the second half of his reign, caused a broad gallery to be +excavated under the rock, on both sides of which chambers of about +twenty feet high were subsequently cut out as occasion required; in +these were placed the remains of the dead Apis-bulls in sarcophagi of +basalt or granite. When the gallery of Ramses was no longer sufficient, +Psammetichus I. caused a gallery still larger and more beautiful to be +excavated, and provided with handsome cells. After Darius had extended +this second gallery, the bodies of the bulls were buried in the chambers +of it down to the times of the latest Ptolemies. As yet sixty-four tombs +in all have been discovered; but of these only four were uninjured. All +the rest had been already opened by the Arabs, plundered, and in part +destroyed. The inscriptions on the tombs in the galleries give the same +representation of the Apis as the older sepulchres. He is "the Osiris +again restored to life," the "revived Apis of Ptah," "the living Apis, +which is Osiris abiding in Amenti," the "second Ptah." On a sarcophagus +we read:--"Here is Osiris Apis, who dwells in Amenti, the great God, the +eternal Lord, the ruler for all time." Another inscription remarks "that +he had been sought for three months in the valleys of Upper Egypt, and +on the islands of Lower Egypt. When found he had been brought to his +throne in the temple, to his father Ptah, in such and such a year, on +such and such a day. The happy duration of his life had been +six-and-twenty years; then the deity had been carried to burial, as he +had established himself in the good Amenti in order to unite himself on +his eternal throne with the house of centuries." Or, as it is said in +another inscription, "the holiness of Apis has been brought to unite +himself with the good Amenti."[100] + +By this constantly renewed incarnation in the form of a bull, the emblem +of generation, the god of life gave the Egyptians a guarantee for the +continuance of his grace, and the perpetuation of their life in this +world and the next. Whether other forms of incarnation beside this were +ascribed to the god cannot be determined. + +At the time when the Nile began to rise, or shortly before it, there +appeared in Egypt from year to year a peculiar kind of heron, +distinguished by two long feathers on the back of the head.[101] This +was known to the Egyptians as Bennu. This bird, which announced or +caused the fertilisation or new life of the land, could not but belong +to the god of life. The whole race, or a select specimen, appears in +special connection with Osiris, and the temple at Heliopolis. In the +oldest portions of the Book of the Dead, which belong to the time of the +Amenemha and Sesurtesen, we find, "I am that great Bennu of On" +(Heliopolis); and the commentary adds, "Bennu is Osiris, viz., the +Osiris in On."[102] The inscriptions say of the great Bennu that "it was +self-begotten," that "it caused the divisions of time to arise."[103] +This production of himself signifies the creative power of Osiris, and +the origin of the seasons might well be attributed to the bird which +regularly appeared announcing the return of the period of fertilization. +With the cultus of the Bennu at Heliopolis is connected the story of the +phoenix. Herodotus tells us that he was informed by the inhabitants of +Heliopolis that a bird, which, if it resembled the pictures, was +gold-coloured and red, and like an eagle in shape and size, came from +Arabia to their city once in every 500 years, and buried the corpse of +his father in myrrh in the sanctuary of the sun-god.[104] From later +accounts we learn that the phoenix, on reaching the age of 500 years, +prepared a funeral pile of spices, and burned himself upon it; then he +recreated himself, and carried the remains of his old body to +Heliopolis.[105] Tacitus says: "In the consulship of Paulus Fabius and +Lucius Vitellius (_i.e._ in the year 34 A.D.) after a lapse of +centuries, the phoenix appeared in Egypt. This bird, which was sacred +to the sun, returned after an interval of 500 years, according to the +most common accounts; according to others after an interval of 1461 +years. The first phoenix appeared in the reign of Sesostris; the +second under Amasis; the third in the time of the third Ptolemy; and as +there was only a lapse of 250 years between this Ptolemy and the reign +of Tiberius, some regarded the last phoenix as a spurious one."[106] +AElian remarks: "The Egyptians are not agreed when the 500 years are +completed; and the priests were at variance whether the bird would +appear then or later, and when he ought to come; but amid their +dissensions the bird suddenly appeared at the right time."[107] Pliny +informs us that the cycle of the great year was connected with the life +of this bird, and with his return the stars came again into their old +position.[108] Horapollo maintains that the phoenix was a symbol of +the sun, and signified one who returned after a long time from a far +country.[109] There is no doubt, therefore, that the alleged appearance +of the phoenix signified to the Egyptians the close of an astronomical +period. On the monuments the planet Venus is described as the "star of +Bennu-Osiris." As the morning star announced the day, the light +returning out of darkness, it could easily be appropriated to Osiris, +and that period might be connected with the cycles of the planet +Venus.[110] + +The selected cats of the sun-god and his daughter, the goddess of +Bubastis, the hawk of Horus, the ibis of Thoth, the vulture of Mut, were +regarded by the Egyptians with no less veneration than the bulls of +Osiris. In a hymn to a male cat, which was kept for Ra at +Heliopolis--the hymn is to be found on a memorial pillar of the fourth +century B.C.--we read: "Thy head is the head of the sun-god; thy nose is +the nose of Thoth, the twice mighty lord of Hermopolis. Thy ears are the +ears of Osiris, who hears the voice of all who call upon him; thy mouth +is the mouth of the god Tum, the lord of life, he has preserved thee +from every stain. Thy heart is the heart of Ptah; he has purified thee +from every stain of evil in thy members: thy teeth are the teeth of the +god Chunsu (the moon-god). Thy thighs are the thighs of the god Horus, +the avenger of his father Osiris, who has retaliated upon Set the +mischief he purposed against Osiris."[111] Selected crocodiles--and even +the crocodile was worshipped, at least in some regions, as in the +Thebais and around the lake of Moeris--were to be found at Thebes and +Arsinoe. "For both these animals," says Herodotus "(and they are so tame +that they allow themselves to be touched), the priests put ornaments of +glass and gold in their ears, and bracelets on their fore-feet, and give +them the best of food both of meal and from the sacrifices, and attend +to them with the utmost care. When they die they are embalmed, and +buried in the sacred tombs."[112] Strabo, who travelled through Egypt +more than four hundred years later than Herodotus, narrates that a +sacred crocodile was kept in the lake of Moeris, which was tame to the +priests. He was fed with the bread, wine, and flesh brought to him by +visitors. "Our host," Strabo continues, "a man of distinction at +Arsinoe, who showed us the sacred things of the city, took cakes, roast +meat, and a drink mixed with honey, and went with us to the lake. On the +shore lay the crocodile; the priests went up to him, two of them opened +his jaws; and the third put in first the cakes, then the meat, and last +of all he gave him the drink. Then the crocodile ran into the water and +swam to the opposite bank. Another stranger came with similar presents: +the priests took them, ran round the lake and offered them to the +crocodile, when they had found him, in the same manner as before."[113] +Clement of Alexandria describes the glory of the Egyptian temples, and +then continues thus: "The innermost shrine is veiled with a curtain of +cloth of gold; when the priest removes the veil you see a cat, a +crocodile, or a serpent of the land rolling on a purple coverlet." + +According to the account of Herodotus, the dead cats were embalmed in +sacred tombs at Bubastis, the hawks at Buto, the ibis at +Hermopolis.[114] Mummies of cats have been discovered at Thebes and +Sheikhassan; mummies of bulls, cows, jackals, dogs, and vultures at +Thebes and Sioot; of hawks and ibises at Thebes, Hermopolis, Abydus, and +Memphis; of crocodiles at Thebes and Manfalut.[115] + +This reverence for beasts, the excessive regard for the nourishment of +the sacred kinds and the preservation of their bodies, the offering of +prayers to them, the worship of bulls, birds, and crocodiles as living +gods, the royal honours with which these selected examples were buried, +would of necessity be regarded as a very rude superstition or degraded +fetichism, hardly compatible with the general level of civilisation and +culture in the country, had not the Egyptians united a deeper feeling +with their worship of animals. In the living and yet typical forms of +beasts as contrasted with the deadness of nature, they saw not only +creations of the deities, but manifestations of the divine life itself. +The consecrated race of animals participated in the nature of the god to +whom it belonged, and the specimens in the temples were an unbroken +series of incarnations of the deity. + +In a different sense from the sacred animals, man also was in the eyes +of the Egyptians a manifestation of the divine life and nature. If we +set aside the position of the kings (see below), we find no indication +that man was regarded as the incarnation of particular deities or their +attributes. Yet man had a share in the immortality of the gods; and he +who studied and desired the divine was thought by his bodily death to +arrive at a complete divine existence. The primary result of this +feeling was that the body must be preserved as the vehicle of +personality even when life and soul have left it; it must be protected +from decay and ruin and any external disturbance by nature or man. +Beyond the reach of beasts of prey, safe from the enemy and the +destroyer, the corpses must rest uncorrupted and uninjured in cool, +secure, inaccessible, unpolluted, indestructible graves. No nation has +devoted so much care and labour to the preservation of the corpses, +whether of men or of sacred animals, as the Egyptians. It was almost the +first duty of the living to attend to the dead. And with his body must +be preserved all that the deceased person had done or acquired in life: +his occupation, his actions must live on in the grave, like his corpse. +Pictures in his tomb must represent his life, and inscriptions must give +an account of it. "The Egyptians," says Diodorus, "speak of the +dwellings of the living as a lodging; but of the tombs of the dead as +eternal habitations, because the dead pass an endless time in Hades. +Hence they bestow less toil upon their houses; but their tombs they +furnish in a most extraordinary manner."[116] + +The tombs are always turned towards the west, and are deeply hollowed +out in soil, or hewn in the rocks of the Libyan mountains. Those of the +wealthier sort generally consist of two chambers, an upper and a lower, +or a front and a back one. The upper or front chamber is furnished with +a description of the life of the dead person, his possessions, his +office, his occupation, and the most important results of his life +exhibited in relief and pictures. It served as a chapel in which the +offerings to the dead were made. In the lower or hinder chamber lay the +corpse. The corpses of the poorer inhabitants found their resting-place +in the common sepulchres. The preservation of the corpse was +accomplished in various ways. Either the entrails were taken out through +an aperture and placed in separate vessels, or the corpse was protected +against corruption by the injection of various substances; or finally it +was allowed to lie for a considerable time in saltpetre. + +Like the embalmment and the tomb, the cerements and the coffin were more +or less costly, according to the rank and wealth of the deceased. The +dead person was placed in a receptacle adapted to the shape of the +corpse, provided with a mask to represent his face, and adorned with +inscriptions and pictures. On the breast was generally depicted the +beetle of Ptah, or an open eye, the symbol of Osiris. This receptacle +was then placed in two or more coffins, each inclosing the other, which +were made of more or less costly wood. Rich persons added to their +coffins the stone sarcophagus, a hollow block of granite, the heavy lid +of which was then made so fast to the lower part that it could not be +opened without destroying the whole. + +The sarcophagus was carried to the sepulchre in solemn procession, led +by the temple-servants, with the necessary implements, and the bull +destined for sacrifice to the dead. Next were seen the implements used +by the deceased in his lifetime; the insignia of his order, if he had +been a priest, or in any office; or, if he had held any military +command, his chariot followed. After this came the waiting-women, hired +for this purpose according to the custom of the East; and men with +palm-branches, the servants of the dead, and the priests; last of all +followed the sarcophagus on a boat--for the soul of the dead passed +like the sun-god on a boat to the under world. This boat was on rollers, +and drawn by oxen. The procession was closed by the mourners of the +family and the friends. When the bull had been sacrificed and +frankincense burned to the gods, libations were poured in honour of the +dead. He was praised, as Diodorus assures us, not because he was born of +a noble race, but because he had been carefully educated and well +instructed, because he had been pious towards the gods, and had lived a +just and sober life. Then the kinsfolk implored the gods to receive the +dead into the society of the good. The accompanying multitude joined in +the prayer, and extolled the faith of the deceased, who now would for +ever pass his life in the company of the good.[117] The coffin was then +brought into the upper chamber, and from thence, when the ceremonies +were completed, it was carried to its proper resting-place, and placed +on the west side of it; the place was then closed and sealed. + +According to the Egyptian story, Osiris was not slain by Typhon. He did +not die; he was only taken away from men, as Diodorus says;[118] he +descended into the under world; he passed away into the invisible +region, while in the visible world he continued to live and work in the +vigorous strength of his son Horus. In the shape of Horus, or Ra, Osiris +wandered through the visible world. He changed only his name and shape +when, every evening, he went back to his distant home in order to be +alone. Thus, by descending from earth and dying, he had received the +sovereignty of the lower world, and left to the youthful Ra, his son +Horus, the empire of this world. As the sun goes down every evening, +and every morning awakes to new life, as the vegetation dies away in +the heat of summer and in autumn, and again in the spring attains to new +life, so to the minds of the Egyptians death, in all its shapes, was +only death in appearance, in reality it was a transition to a new life. +And as Osiris remained alive in death, and was the source of new life, +so through him and in him the soul of man was aroused out of death to a +new life. The sacred animals and men were of divine nature and origin; +they could not, therefore, end with death; death could only carry them +back to their divine origin, to that other world, from which they had +come; and in that other world they must awake to a new life. + +Owing to this power of awakening life out of death, Osiris became to the +Egyptians the special god of the human soul. As lord of the under world, +Osiris is often found on the monuments in the shape of a mummy. His +colour was in this case black, like his bull in Memphis; his clothing +was white;[119] his symbol, a wide-open eye, signifying the second +beholding of light. In this form of Osiris the Greeks recognised the +Dionysus of their Mysteries, whom they could also compare with Osiris as +the giver of fruits.[120] + +The Egyptians, says Herodotus, were the first to maintain that the soul +of man was immortal.[121] Plutarch, as we have already seen, informs us +that to the Egyptian Osiris was the embodiment not only of all that is +in heaven, but also of all that is in the under world. "His soul," he +continues, "was regarded by the Egyptians as eternal and indestructible, +and, according to the doctrine of the priests, Osiris ruled over the +dead, as Hades and Pluto among the Greeks. In reality, he was free and +untouched by everything subject to change and death. When men are +delivered from the body, and from pain, and pass into the eternal and +invisible world, where pain is unknown, then Osiris becomes their king +and leader. They are his retainers, who desire him, and are spectators +of a beauty inconceivable and inexpressible to men. This is the +explanation of the story most suitable to the deities."[122] + +The inscriptions on the sarcophagi, the wraps round the corpses, but +above all a papyrus roll placed in the coffin with the dead body, the +so-called "Book of the Dead," enable us to ascertain with considerable +accuracy the views of the Egyptians on the fate of the soul after death. +The greater part of the known manuscripts of this book belong to the +seventh or sixth century B.C. The contents show that rubrics and prayers +of the same purport, but differently drawn up, proceeding from different +times, and with different commentaries, are collected together in order +to provide the dead person with everything he can want in the next +world. All the prayers and invocations for that world are also given, in +order that the most effective may be at hand, just as at the end of +these manuscripts all the names under which Osiris can be invoked--and +they are more than a hundred--are gathered together. But fragments of +this Book of the Dead, or, more strictly, this Book of the Resurrection, +which forms the core of the Egyptian doctrine of the world to come, are +found hewn in sarcophagi--already with a triple commentary--which belong +to a date previous to the year 2000 B.C. + +After death the soul of man descends with the setting sun under the +earth into the nether world. Here, on the day of the "valuation of +words," the day of "justification," the soul is examined, and its +actions weighed in the hall of double justice, _i.e._ the justice which +rewards and the justice which punishes. Osiris, with a crown upon his +head, and holding in his hand a crosier and a whip, sits upon a throne +surrounded by the water of life, out of which spring up lotus-flowers. +Beside him sit forty-two spirits; Anubis, the god with a jackal's head, +the leader and keeper of the dead, and Horus, with a hawk's head, are +busied with a balance; in one scale is the heart of the deceased, in the +other an ostrich-feather, the symbol of truth and justice. The god with +the head of an ibis, the scribe of truth, takes down the result of the +weighing. As Osiris, according to the legend, was once justified by +Horus and Thoth, so is every human soul justified by those deities. The +deceased assures them that he has committed no sins; he enumerates +forty-two errors into which he has not fallen. He has done no +wickedness; he has not stolen, nor slain any one intentionally; he has +not allowed his devotions to be seen; he has not been guilty of +hypocrisy, or lying; he has not stolen the property of the gods, or the +sacrificial food; he has not calumniated any one, or fallen into +drunkenness or adultery; he has not turned away his ear from the words +of truth; he has been no idle talker; he has not slighted the king or +his father; he has not contemned the gods, or torn from the dead their +linen wraps. + +The departed spirit was not allowed to enter the other world in +ignorance: he must know what awaits him there; the path which he has to +tread, and the prayers which opened for him the gates of the various +regions, which gave him power to overcome whatever spirits and monsters +might meet him in the way and attempt to hold him back; he must know +the charm which will at last unlock for him the fields of Ra. He must +know and recognise the gods to whom he returns; the nature from which he +has sprung, and which he now again assumes. As in him divinity has been +made human, so is he now in turn deified. To secure this knowledge for +the dead, the book is placed in his coffin, the important passages were +written on the wraps, and engraved on the coffin. + +If the heart of the dead man was not found too light and his soul was +pure,[123] he was acquitted in the other world, he received back from +the gods his heart and members renewed and deified, and the goddesses of +life and the sky--Hathor and Nut--poured out upon him the water of life. +His prayer opened for him the gates of the dwellings in the world to +come; he was enabled to strike with his lance the evil spirits and +monsters, the crocodiles, snakes, tortoises, the two vipers, and the +serpent Apep, to keep at a distance all impurity, and finally to reach +the fields of the sun-god.[124] Here the blessed planted the heavenly +wheat--of which the ears were two cubits in length--wandered at will in +shady avenues with odours in their hair, and bathed in pools of water. + +Arrived among the gods, the soul receives the power of assuming various +existences--that is, apparently, of entering into the bodies of men and +beasts, and returning finally into the divine substance from which it +sprang. Hence to the Egyptians death is the "going up to heaven," the +"entrance into heaven," the "entrance into the place of the gods."[125] +The first chapter of the Book of the Dead was to be pronounced by the +deceased on the day of his burial when going forth from the grave at the +western gate of the under-world, in order to find immediate entrance +there. "By learning this chapter when on earth," so runs the close of it +in the book, "or by setting it forth in writing on his tomb, he will +emerge on the day, and on entering into his dwelling he will not be +thrust back. Food and drink will be given to him, much flesh also on the +table of Ra; he will work in the fields on the plain of Aanro +(Paradise), where corn and wheat will be given to him; he will live +happily as he lived upon earth." On the day of justification, the dead +has to say: "I am one of the initiated; thy name I know; I know the +names of thy forty-two gods, who dwell with thee in the hall of twofold +justice." Then comes the answer: "Enter! thou knowest us."[126] On a +sarcophagus of the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen the deceased +utters the following words, which are found detailed at greater length +and commented upon in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of the Dead. +"I am Tum (p. 51), a being, which I alone am. I am Ra in his first +sovereignty. I am the great self-existing god, the creator of his name, +the ruler of all gods, whom none of the gods restrains. I was yesterday; +I know the morrow. When I spoke a battle-field was prepared for the +gods. I know the name of that great god who is there. Glory of Ra is his +name. I am the great Bennu which is worshipped in On. I am Chem in his +manifestation; on me have been placed the two feathers on my head; I +have arrived at my land, I have arrived at my dwelling-place."[127] "The +sun-mountain (horizon) of his father Tum is meant,"--so run the +commentaries, both old and late, and at the same time they remark that +the great god, existing by his own power, is Osiris; and the great Bennu +also is Osiris (p. 69). By Chem is meant Chemhor, _i.e._, the Horus, who +by his own power renews his own youth every day. On the cover of the +sarcophagus we find the formula, "When this chapter has been pronounced, +he (the dead man) enters into the western land at the time of his +resurrection: if entirely unacquainted with it, he cannot enter; for +him, as for one uninitiated, there is no resurrection."[128] + +Thus we must assume that the Egyptians believed in man's return to his +divine origin in the sense that a soul which was not found wanting in +weight, and was conscious of its own true nature, was not only received, +after the completion of the proper cycle, into the bosom of the godhead, +and allowed to be absorbed into the divine power, but was so far deified +that it could adopt divine attributes and power, and even assume a +divine title. + +According to the account of Herodotus, the Egyptians believed that the +soul of the dead passed into an animal, born at the time; from this it +wandered into all the other animals on earth, in the air and the sea, +and after 3,000 years it was again born with a human body.[129] That +this account is incorrect is proved by the records already quoted; it +may perhaps have arisen from the Egyptian conception that the soul of +the justified obtained the power to assume every shape. But a +purification of the unclean and ignorant soul by passing through the +bodies of all kinds of animals could never have been assumed by the +Egyptians, since the sacred races were pre-eminent manifestations, and +the selected animals continuous incarnations, of the gods. If a +pilgrimage through the bodies of beasts was really regarded by the +Egyptians as a course of punishment and amelioration, the beasts meant +can only be such as were not sacred. But as yet the examination of the +monuments and records has by no means completely cleared up the relation +of the soul to the body it has left, nor has it attained to any result +on the fate in store for the souls which were found wanting when weighed +in the balance. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[34] Herod. 3, 37. + +[35] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1860, 1, 357. + +[36] "De Isid." c. 51, 52; "De Pyth. Oraculis," p. 400. + +[37] Macrob. "Sat." 6, 18. + +[38] "De Isid." c. 36. + +[39] De Rouge, "Zeitsch. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," after a sepulchral +pillar in the Berlin Museum, 4, 375. + +[40] Champollion, Monuments, pl. 123 _seq._ Duemichen, +"Tempelinschriften." 1, 24. Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte des Todtenbuchs," +s. 13. + +[41] Lepsius, "Die Goetter der vier Elemente;" Duemichen, in "Zeitsch. fuer +aegyptische Sprache," 1869 s. 7. + +[42] Herod. 2, 61. + +[43] Plut. "De Isid." c. 38. + +[44] The identification of Neith with Athene (Herod. 2, 62; Plat. "Tim." +p. 21) rests on the similarity of the name, on the torch-races in honour +of Pallas at Athens, and the feast of lamps at Sais. Gutschmid, +"Beitraege zur Geschichte des alten Orients," s. 39, 45 ff., has shown +that Neith and Athene cannot be brought into agreement in points of +language. The inscription on the throne of Neith at Sais, given by +Plutarch ("De Isid." c. 9), "I am all that has been, is, will be, and no +mortal has lifted my robe," does not in the first part of it contradict +certain applications of the oldest text of the "Book of the Dead" (see +below). On the other hand, the second part is doubtful. In any case, the +fact that the _peplos_ has not been raised does not refer to the +inconceivable nature of the goddess, but to seclusion from sexual +intercourse. It can only mean that Neith was born from her own creative +force. + +[45] Herod. 2, 60, 137, 138. + +[46] Horapoll. 1, 10. + +[47] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. morgenland. Gesellschaft," 10, 683. + +[48] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1860, 1, 339. + +[49] Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 63; cf. Eber's "Gosen," s. 484. + +[50] Plut. "De Isid." c. 9. + +[51] Bunsen, "AEgypten," I, 446. + +[52] Lepsius in "Zeitschrift fuer aeg. Sprache," 1868, s. 127. + +[53] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 42, 48, 52; "Goetterkreis," s. 31-43. + +[54] Plut. "De Isid." c. 11. + +[55] Ibid. c. 21. + +[56] Wilkinson, 4, 237, 242, 246. + +[57] Parthey, "Abh. der Berl. Akademie," 1863; Minutoli, "Reise zum +Tempel des Ammon;" cf. Herod. 4. 181. + +[58] Bunsen, "AEgypten," 1, 470; Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 105. + +[59] Diod. 1, 13. + +[60] Plut. "De Isid." c. 12-20. + +[61] Herod. 2, 144; Diod. 1, 25, 44. + +[62] Compare the beautiful explanation given by Lepsius of the game at +dice between Hermes and Selene, narrated in Plutarch, _loc. cit._ + +[63] Lepsius, "Chronol." 1, 91. As to the meaning of Seb, I should be +inclined to give the preference to the view of Brugsch. + +[64] Brugsch and Lepsius in "Zeitschrift fuer aeg. Sprache," 1868, s. 122 +ff. + +[65] Wilkinson, "Ancient Egypt," 4, 189. + +[66] Lepsius, "Goetterkreis," s. 35; "Briefe," 106-111. + +[67] Diod. 1, 22. + +[68] Plut. "De Isid." c. 20 + +[69] Plut. _ib._ 12-20; Strab. p. 803. + +[70] Herod. 2, 59; Plut. _loc. cit._ 21; Diod. 1, 88. + +[71] Busiris was the name of several towns in Lower Egypt; we must +assume that the chief town of the district of this name was the scene of +the festival. How the Greeks turned the name of this town into a king +Busiris who used to slay strangers, I cannot explain. Eratosthenes in +Strabo, p. 802, says: "There never was a king Busiris; the story may +have been invented owing to the inhospitality of the inhabitants of +Busiris;" and Diodorus observes: "It was not a king who was called +Busiris, but the grave of Osiris was so named in the native language" +(1, 88), which is near the truth. + +[72] Herod. 2, 40, 42, 144. + +[73] Plut. "De Isid." c. 35, 39. + +[74] Plut. _loc. cit._ 12, 21, 42. + +[75] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 52. The inscriptions on the temple at Dendera +prescribe a seven days' lamentation for Osiris, beginning on the 24th +Choiak, and give full directions for the burial. Lauth, in the +"Zeitschr. f. aeg. Sprache," 1866, s. 64 ff. + +[76] Herod. 2, 41, 132. + +[77] "De Isid." c. 42. + +[78] Diod. 1, 88. + +[79] Plutarch, _loc. cit._ c. 12. + +[80] Lepsius, "Goetterkreis," s. 53. + +[81] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 32, 40, 50. + +[82] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 65. + +[83] Parthey, on Plut. "De Isid." c. 12. + +[84] Plut. _loc. cit._ 50. + +[85] Wilkinson, _loc. cit._ 4, 436. + +[86] Brugsch in the "Zeitschr. d. d. m. Gesellschaft," 9, 10, 68 c. ff. + +[87] Plut. "De Isid." c. 33, 39, 40, 49, 53, 65, 71. + +[88] Plut. "De Isid." c. 64. + +[89] Diod. 1, 27; Plut. "De Isid." c. 9, 56, 63. + +[90] Plut. _loc. cit._ c. 61. + +[91] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 46. + +[92] Birch. "Gall." 1, 24, 44. + +[93] Herod. 2, 66. + +[94] Diod. 1, 83, 84. + +[95] Plut. "De Isid." c. 43. + +[96] Herod. 3, 28; AElian ("De Nat. Anim." 1, 10) speaks of twenty-nine +marks of Apis; cf Plin. "Hist. Nat." 8, 184. + +[97] Diod. 1, 84, 85. + +[98] Diod. 1, 85; Plut. "De Iside." c. 29; Strabo, p. 807. + +[99] "Mem. pres. a l'Acad. des Inscript." ser. 1, 2, p. 15. + +[100] Mariette, "Bulletin de l'Athen-Francais," Oct. 1856, p. 75; Juill. +Nov. 1855, pp. 67, 96, 98. + +[101] "Ardea purpurea;" Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 50. + +[102] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 43, 46, 51. + +[103] Brugsch in "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff. + +[104] Herod. 2, 73. + +[105] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 10, 2; cf. 13, 9; Pompon. Mela. 3, 8. + +[106] "Annal." 6, 28. + +[107] "De Nat. Anim." 6, 58. + +[108] "Hist. Nat." 10, 5. + +[109] Ibid. 1, 34, 35. + +[110] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 651 ff.; Lepsius, "Aelteste +Texte," s. 51; De Rouge, "Bulletin de l'Athen. Francais," 1856, p. 25 +_seqq._ + +[111] Brugsch, "Zeitschr. d. d. m. G." 10, 683. + +[112] Herod. 2, 69. + +[113] Strabo, p. 811. + +[114] Herod. 2, 65-67. + +[115] Wilkinson, "Egypt," 5. 117, 123, 230 ff. + +[116] Diod. 1, 51, cf. 92. + +[117] Diod. 1, 92; Wilkinson, "Egypt," sec. ser. 2, 411. + +[118] Diod. 1, 25. + +[119] Plut. "De Iside," c. 33, 78. + +[120] Herod. 2, 42; Diod. 1, 11, 13, 25. + +[121] Ibid. 2, 123. + +[122] "De Iside," c. 54, 61, 79, 80. + +[123] Pierret, "Traduct. du Chap. I. du Livre des Morts;" "Zeitsch. fuer +aeg. Sprache," 1869, s. 135; 1870, s. 18 ff. + +[124] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1860, p. 79 ff. + +[125] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 4. + +[126] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 6, 9. + +[127] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s. 30 ff. + +[128] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 25. + +[129] Herod. 2, 123. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE KINGDOM OF MEMPHIS. + + +The lists of the Egyptians place Menes (Mena) at the head of their +series of kings. They describe him as a native of This, a place in the +neighbourhood of Abydus, below Thebes, a district which Diodorus +considers the oldest part of Egypt. Menes passes for the founder of the +kingdom and the builder of Memphis (Mennefer); he is said to have taught +the Egyptians the worship of the gods and the offering of +sacrifice.[130] Herodotus informs us that he learnt from the Egyptian +priests that Menes had thrown a dam across the Nile about 100 stades +above Memphis, and thus forced the stream which previously flowed at the +foot of the Libyan chain of hills to leave its ancient channel, and flow +at an equal distance between the two ranges. When the land thus gained +by the dam had become firm, he built upon it the city, now called +Memphis, and still situated in the narrow part of Egypt. Towards the +north and west sides of the city, Menes had excavated a lake, and filled +it with water from the river--which was itself a protection to the city +on the east,--and in the city he built the greatest and most remarkable +temple of Hephaestus (Ptah).[131] Diodorus observes:--The founder of +Memphis, the most splendid city in Egypt, selected the most suitable +site by founding the city in the place where the Nile separates into +several arms, so that the city, lying on the pass, commanded the +navigation up the Nile. He also obtained for the place a wonderful +advantage and security by throwing a huge dam in front of it towards the +south, as the Nile at the time of inundation overflows the district. +This dam was a protection against the rising water, and at the same time +served as an acropolis and defence from the attack of enemies. On all +the other sides of the city he caused a large and deep lake to be +excavated, which received the overflow of the water and afforded the +strongest protection for the city. The circuit of the city he placed at +150 stades, and owing to the excellence of the situation, Memphis was +generally chosen by the kings as their place of residence.[132] The +situation, just a little above the place where the river-valley, +hitherto enclosed between the two ranges of hills, opens out into the +Delta, was certainly the best adapted to form the centre of an empire +extending over the narrow valley of the upper river and the broader +district of the Delta, with its wealth of corn-land and meadows, and to +check the entrance of enemies who came from the north-west or the +north-east into the upper valley, even when it was no longer possible to +maintain the Delta against them. About fifteen miles above Memphis, at +Kafr-el-Yat, the Nile makes a considerable bend to the east, and modern +investigations claim to have discovered traces showing that this curve +is due to the hand of man. + +Menes, whose accession, according to the arrangement of Lepsius, would +fall in the year 3892 B.C., was followed on the throne by King Athotis +(Ateta), who was said to have built the citadel at Memphis. Next came +Kenkenes, whose successor was Uenephes, to whom is ascribed the erection +of the pyramids. We have seen what care and labour the Egyptians devoted +to their tombs, their "everlasting houses." The west, where the sun +sets, and the desert spreads out in boundless expanse beyond the Libyan +range, belonged in their minds to the gods of night, of the under-world, +and of death. About ten miles to the west of Memphis there rises a +desolate and barren plateau of rock, which for many miles runs parallel +to the river, about 100 feet above the blooming and animated valley +through which the Nile takes its course. In that rocky soil, which +separates the fruitful land from the desert, the bodies of the dead were +placed in chambers, either hewn in the solid stone, or, where the soil +was less firm, built of masonry, and thus secured even from the overflow +of the river. Even the kings sought their resting-places on this plateau +of rock. They, above all, gave attention to the solidity and durability +of their tombs; and in death, as in life, they wished to be kings. The +place where a king rested must be marked as royal, and visible from a +distance; the grave of a king must tower over the rest; his chamber must +be of all most difficult to open. Thus at first blocks of stone were +rolled upon the closed burial-place of a king, or a mound of earth was +raised over it, if sand and soil were to be obtained in the +neighbourhood. The strong winds which blew from the desert made it, +however, necessary to secure these mounds, and cover them with stone. +Hence by degrees the sepulchral heaps acquired a definite shape: they +were rectangular structures, lessening toward the apex; then, by +extending the base and sharpening the gradient, they were brought into +the form of pyramids, and thus obtained the greatest possible firmness +and solidity. For a similar reason the core, or central part, was no +longer made of earth, but of brick; where blocks of stone could be +obtained they were fitted into the core with more and more regularity, +until at last these structures were completed within and without of +rectangular hewn blocks of stone in regular layers, and artificial +mountains of stone towered over the sepulchral chambers of the kings. + +"At a distance of forty stades from Memphis," Strabo tells us, "is a +range of hills, on which stand the pyramids, or sepulchres of the kings. +Among these, three are especially deserving of notice. Rectangular in +shape, they are about one stadium high; and the height is slightly less +than the length of either side. The sides are not equal, one is a little +longer than the other, and near the middle of the longer side is a +stone, which can be taken out. Behind this a winding, hollow passage +leads to the tomb. Two of these pyramids stand close to each other on +the same level; at a distance, on a higher level, rises the third, +which, though much smaller, has been erected at much greater cost." +"Like mountains," says Tacitus, "the pyramids have been raised amid +impassable quicksands by the emulation and power of the kings."[133] + +About seventy of these structures, which rise in a long line on the +plateau of Memphis, from Abu Roash to Dahshur,[134] remain as witnesses +of the rulers of the old kingdom of Memphis and their dependants, of the +artistic skill and laborious industry of their nation. Of some only the +bases and a few fragments are in existence; of the largest, the points, +and at least a part of the casing, are either decayed, fallen down, or +broken off; for at a later time the Arabs used these monuments as +quarries. Three pyramids which stand in the neighbourhood of the modern +Abusir are formed of rough blocks of stone, both in the cores and in the +passages to the sepulchral chambers; and these blocks are fastened +together by mud from the Nile poured in between them; their casings, now +decayed, were of lime-stone blocks, and in height they extended from 150 +to 200 feet. Others, originally at least, of an equal height, of which +the core was regularly built of brick, are found farther to the south +near Dahshur. The architecture of these remains shows that the kings of +Memphis commenced building their tombs soon after their accession. They +began, it would seem, with a core of moderate size, and in this they +probably constructed a sort of temporary chamber. If time sufficed, the +first plan was overlaid with new strata, and thus it gradually increased +in size. Should the builder die before the whole was completed, the +casing of the structure thus raised in the form of steps was left to the +successor.[135] Between seven smaller pyramids, built regularly of stone +blocks, which are about 150 feet in height, and of similar plan and +structure, rise the three largest at Gizeh; the highest was originally +480 feet in height, though now it measures only 450 feet; the next +greatest, standing south-west of the highest, is now 447 feet, and was +originally 457 feet in height; the third measures but 218 feet. The +second largest, originally twenty-three feet lower than the largest, is +on a slightly higher level, the masonry is inferior to the largest, and +the chamber lies immediately under the area of the structure. The +largest measures 716 feet, or 500 Egyptian cubits,[136] on each side of +the area; the height along the slope is 574 feet, and the structure +contains about ninety million cubic feet of masonry. Fifty feet above +the original area, now covered with the sand of the desert, in the +middle of the north side, there commences a gradually descending +passage, about three feet broad and four feet high, leading to a chamber +hewn deep in the foundation rock. This chamber lies more than one +hundred feet below the level of the pyramid, exactly 600 feet under the +apex, and in a perpendicular line with it; it is thirty-six feet above +the level of the Nile. From this passage to the chamber there branches +off, just behind the entrance, a horizontal shaft, and from this rises +an ascending passage leading to two chambers, one over the other, which, +like the sepulchral chamber below, lie in the axis of the pyramid. The +third and smaller pyramid--its sides measure 333 feet, and the height of +the slope is 262 feet--being built upon looser soil, required a greater +substructure, on which it rose in five or six perpendicular and +gradually diminishing stories, the spaces between being filled up with +bevelled masonry. Up to a considerable height the casing consists of +polished slabs of granite. Under this structure in the native rock lies +a larger chamber, and behind this the sepulchral chamber. + +When Herodotus visited Egypt about the middle of the fifth century B.C., +and questioned his interpreter and guide about the builders of these +three pyramids, he was told in answer that they were built by Cheops, +Chephren, and Mycerinus. He was told that Cheops first caused a road to +be made from the stone quarries in the Arabian chain of hills--the range +east of the Nile--down to the river, and again from the west side of the +river to the high ground above Memphis. The road was built of smoothed +stones five stades in length, ten fathoms broad, and at the highest +places thirty-two fathoms high; and it was intended to convey the +materials from the Arabian side of the river. In making this road and +building the subterranean chamber for the grave of Cheops ten years were +consumed, although 100,000 men were constantly employed upon it by +spaces of three months, when they were relieved by an equal number of +fresh workmen. Twenty years were then spent upon the pyramid, of which +each side and the height measured 800 feet; it was built in such a +manner that the structure was carried out by landings and steps, like a +staircase. When the proper height was reached, the landings were covered +from top to bottom with smoothed and carefully-fitted stones, and no +stone is less than thirty feet. Under the surface was a canal carried in +masonry from the Nile round the subterranean chamber. "It is also +inscribed on the pyramid," Herodotus continues, "what the workmen +consumed in radishes, onions, and garlic, and on these, as I well +remember, the interpreter who read the letters told me, 1,600 talents of +silver were spent. If this is true, what must have been expended upon +iron for the tools, and on food and clothing for the workmen?" When +Cheops had reigned fifty years he was succeeded by his brother Chephren, +who also built a pyramid, though not equal in size to the other, and +without any chamber or subterranean canal. "Both pyramids stand on the +same elevation, of about one hundred feet; but the second is forty feet +lower than the first; the lower stratum is built of vari-coloured +Ethiopian stone." When Chephren had reigned fifty-six years, he was +followed by Mycerinus, the son of Cheops. This king also left a pyramid +behind him, "but his pyramid was much smaller than that built by his +father: the sides are only 280 feet in length; the lower half is built +of Ethiopian stone."[137] + +The account of Diodorus is as follows:--King Chemmis of Memphis reigned +fifty years, and built the largest of the three pyramids, which in +height measures more than six plethra, and along the sides more than +seven plethra. It is entirely constructed of solid stone, very difficult +to work, and therefore of endless durability. Even now, although not +less than a thousand, or as some say even more than 3,400, years have +passed, the structure is uninjured, and the joints of the stones +unloosened. Besides, we are told that these stones were brought from a +considerable distance out of Arabia, and the structure was carried to +its present height by means of mounds of earth. Most wonderful of all, +no traces of these mounds, no fragments from the hewing and smoothing of +the stones remain; so that it would seem that this work was not +accomplished gradually by the hand of man, but was planted complete by a +god in the midst of the surrounding sand. Though it is said that 360,000 +men bestowed their labour on the structure, the work can hardly have +been finished in twenty years, and the number of men who erected it must +also have removed the mounds of earth and excavated material, and put +everything in its original condition. Chemmis was followed by his +brother Kephren, who reigned fifty-six years. Other accounts tell us +that the kingdom descended on his son, Chabryes, and not on his +brother. But all agree that he built the second pyramid, which resembles +the first in the art of the execution, though much inferior in size, +since on the sides it measures only one stadium (or, according to recent +measurement, exactly 700-1/2 Greek feet). And while the money spent in +radishes and garden herbs for the builders is inscribed on the larger +one, the smaller remains without any inscription. Though both these +kings had destined these tombs for their place of burial, neither is +buried there. Roused by the burden of their labours, the cruelty and +violence of these kings--and in Herodotus also Cheops and Chephren +appear as wicked and godless kings--the people threatened to take their +bodies out of their graves and insult them. Terrified by this threat, +each of the kings in his last moments bade his relations bury him +privately in a secret place. After Kephren reigned Mycerinus, whom +others call Mencherinus, the son of Chemmis. He built the smallest +pyramid. Though less in size, it surpasses the others in the excellence +of the work and the beauty of the stone; up to the fifteenth layer it +consists of black stone resembling the stone of Thebes; from thence to +the top the stone is the same as in the other pyramids. On the north +side is written the name of the builder, Mycerinus. Abhorring the +cruelty of his predecessors, Mycerinus, as we learn, sought to make his +rule moderate and beneficent to his subjects, and did everything to gain +the affections of the nation. He paid great attention to the +administration of justice; and to the common people who had not received +from the tribunals such a sentence as seemed just to him, he made +presents. "But as to the building of the pyramids, there is no agreement +either among the Egyptians or their historians; some ascribe them to +the kings I have mentioned; some to other kings."[138] + +The accounts given by Herodotus and Diodorus of the structure of the +largest pyramid are completely confirmed by modern researches. Even now +it is thought that traces can be recognised of the causeway which served +for the transport of the materials from the left bank of the Nile to the +plateau.[139] The pyramid itself is built in large regular steps +constructed of squares of granite. The yellow lime-stone of the casing +must also have been really brought from the Arabian side of the Nile, +because better stone of that kind was found there.[140] On the other +hand, the account of a subterranean canal round the grave chamber is +merely a legend of the people, who desired to adorn with new marvels the +structure already so marvellous; it is impossible, simply because the +lower chamber, and not only the area of the pyramid, is above the lower +level of the Nile. The 100,000 workmen of Herodotus, changed every three +months, and the 360,000 of Diodorus--a number formed from the days in +the old Egyptian year--have arisen out of the free invention of later +times, although the building must certainly have occupied more than a +decade of years. Inscriptions are not found now on the external side of +the pyramid. If such were in existence at the time of Herodotus, they +certainly contained other things than those which the interpreter +pretended to read there. The interpreters who served as guides to the +travellers of that day in Egypt, as the dragoman does now, could hardly +have read the hieroglyphics; they contented themselves with narrating +the traditions and stories popularly connected with the great monuments +of past time, not without certain exaggerations and additions.[141] + +But the names of the builders of the three largest pyramids, which these +interpreters mentioned to the Greeks, are confirmed by the monuments. In +the deep chamber of the largest pyramid there is no sarcophagus; in the +upper of the two chambers which lie in the axis of the pyramid there has +been found, it is true, a simple sarcophagus of red granite, but it +bears no inscription. Above these chambers, however, there are certain +small spaces left open, with a view no doubt of diminishing the pressure +of the stone-work upon them, and on the walls of these spaces is written +the name, Chufu, Chnemu Chufu, in hieratic characters.[142] The same +name frequently recurs in the tombs surrounding this pyramid, in which, +according to the inscriptions, the wives, sons, officers, and priests of +Chufu were buried; and among them the scribe of the buildings of the +kings and the priest of Apis, who was at the same time keeper of the +gates and of the palace. In this inscription the pyramid of Chufu is +called "Chut." On a monumental stone found in the Apis tombs--now in +Cairo--we read, "The living Horus, the King of Egypt, Chufu, has built a +temple to Isis near the temple of the Sphinx, north of the temple of +Osiris, and has erected his pyramid beside the temple of Isis."[143] +Chufu himself is not found in Egypt, but in the peninsula of Sinai he is +pictured in relief on the rocks in the Wadi Maghara. He is represented +as lifting his war-club against an enemy whom he has forced upon his +knee and seized by the head-dress with the left hand.[144] In an +inscription in the same valley, the oldest which we possess, his +predecessor Snefru claims to have subjugated these regions. + +In the second pyramid, in the chamber under the surface, a sarcophagus +of granite has been discovered on the floor without any inscription. But +in the inscriptions on the graves, especially on the grave of the +architect of King Chafra, his pyramid is mentioned as "the great +pyramid." Between the paws of the Sphinx which stands to the north of +the second pyramid, hewn out of the living rock, is a monumental stone, +on which is read the name Chafra,[145] and in the ruins of a temple +lying near the Sphinx--the same without doubt which is mentioned in the +stone at Cairo--seven statues have been exhumed, the inscriptions on +which prove that they represent "the Master and Gold Horus, Chafra, the +good god, the lord of the crown," _i.e._, King Chafra himself.[146] And +lastly, the inscriptions on the tomb of a woman whose name is read as +Mertitef, prove that she was the chief favourite of Snefru and of Chufu, +and had been united to Chafra.[147] Hence Chafra must have succeeded +Chufu, and the "great" pyramid built by him can hardly have been any +other than that which now holds the second place. + +In the sepulchral chamber of the third pyramid, it is known in the +inscriptions as "Har," _i.e._, "the supreme," the sarcophagus of King +Menkera with his mummy has been discovered. It is made of blue basalt, +and bears the following inscription:--"O Osiris, King Menkera, ever +living one; begotten of the sky, carried in the bosom of Nut, scion of +Seb (p. 55). Thy mother Nut is outstretched over thee, in her name of +the mystery of the sky may she deify thee and destroy thy enemies, King +Menkera, ever living one."[148] + +It is therefore an ascertained fact that Chufu, Chafra, and Menkera were +the builders of the three great pyramids. In the mouth of the Greeks the +name Chufu passed into Cheops, and by a farther change into Suphis. The +name Chemmis in Diodorus has arisen out of the name Chnemu in the form +Chnemu Chufu; from Chafra naturally arose Chephren, Kephren, and +Chabryes. In the list of kings in Eratosthenes, the fourteenth successor +of Menes is Saophis; Eratosthenes allows him a reign of twenty-nine +years. His successor, who has a reign of twenty-seven years, bears the +same name. The second Saophis is followed by Moscheres with a reign of +thirty-one years. Manetho's list gives the name Suphis to the +twenty-seventh king after Menes, and he is said to have reigned +sixty-three years. Then follows a second Suphis, with a reign of +sixty-six years, and this king is succeeded by Menchres, who reigned +sixty-three years. On the first Suphis in Manetho's list the excerpt of +Africanus remarks: "This king built the largest pyramid, which Herodotus +assigns to the time of Cheops;" in the excerpt of Eusebius, both in the +Greek text and the Armenian translation, this remark is made on the +second Suphis. Hence we can have no hesitation in identifying the Cheops +and Chephren of Herodotus, the Chemmis and Kephren of Diodorus, with the +first and second Saophis and Sufis of the lists, the Chufu and Chafra +of the inscriptions; and the Mycerinus of Herodotus and Diodorus is +beyond doubt the same as the Moscheres of Eratosthenes, the Mencheres of +Manetho, and the Menkera of the sarcophagus in the third pyramid. In the +national tradition of the Egyptians, as received by the Greeks, Cheops +and Chephren were called brothers, and this is no doubt mainly due to +the fact that the monuments of these two kings surpassed all the other +pyramids, and were of nearly the same height and size. It is impossible +that Cheops should have reigned fifty years, and his brother Chephren +who succeeded him, fifty-six years, as Herodotus and Diodorus tell +us--the inscription quoted above makes the same woman the favourite of +the predecessor of Chufu, of Chufu, and Chafra also; even more +impossible is it that the first Suphis should have reigned sixty-three +years, and the second sixty-six, as given in the list of Manetho, if +they were brothers; or that Mycerinus, whom Herodotus as well as +Diodorus calls the son of Cheops, should have succeeded Chephren with a +reign of sixty-three years, as Manetho tells us. Like their brotherhood, +the wickedness of Cheops and Chephren is due to the popular legends of +later times. The sight of the enormous structures forced on later +generations the reflection what labour, what stupendous efforts must +have been necessary for their erection. This reflection united with +certain dim memories, and gathered round the rule of the strangers, the +shepherd-tribes, which for a long time afflicted Egypt, as is clear +enough from a trait in the narrative of Herodotus. He assures us that +the Egyptians could scarcely be induced to mention the names of the +kings who built the great pyramids: they spoke of them as the works of +the shepherd Philitis.[149] In the eyes of the Egyptians of the olden +time, tombs would never have appeared to be works of impiety and +wickedness, realising as they did in such an extraordinary degree the +object most eagerly desired, a secure and indestructible resting-place +for the dead: with them they would rather pass as works of singular +piety. Without doubt it is the older tradition, that of the priests, +which meets us in the observation appended in the list of Manetho and +the excerpt of Africanus to the first Suphis, and in the excerpt of +Eusebius, both in the Greek text and Armenian translation, to the second +Suphis, in which we are told that this king had composed a sacred book, +and the Egyptians regarded it as a very great treasure. + +According to the inscription, Chufu had erected a temple to Isis by the +side of the temple of the Sphinx, and therefore the latter temple must +have been already in existence. And as a fact the ruins still found +beside the great Sphinx give evidence of very ancient workmanship. There +was a court, the ante-court of the temple, which surrounded a portico +supported on twelve square pillars; next came a hall supported on +monoliths, the temple itself, and finally the Holy of Holies, surrounded +by small chambers. The material used in building was limestone and +granite. The symbolic form of the deity, to whom the temple belonged, +was the enormous Sphinx, 190 feet in length, hewn out of the rock, with +the body of a lion and the head of a man. From the memorial stone before +it we learn that it symbolized the god Harmachu (Armachis of the +Greeks), _i.e._ Horus in Splendour (_har-em-chu_).[150] From the +inscription on this stone, which dates from the time of Tuthmosis IV., +it seems to follow that it was Chafra, who caused this shape to be hewn +out of the rock and consecrated it to the god. Other inscriptions inform +us that the pyramids were regarded as sepulchral temples, and that there +were priests for the service of the princes who were buried there, and +had attained to a divine nature, and these services were still in +existence at the time of the Ptolemies. One of the tombs at Gizeh +belongs to a priest, a relation of Chafra, whose duty it was to "honour +the pyramid Uer (the Great) of king Chafra;" another is found at +Sakkarah belonging to "a priest of Chufu, and Chafra."[151] On a +monumental stone of the time of the Ptolemies (found in the Serapeum, +and now in the Louvre) mention is made of the temple of Harmachu on the +south of the house of Isis, and of a certain Psamtik, the prophet of +Isis, of Osarhapi (p. 67), of Harmachu, of Chufu and Chafra.[152] + +The temples of Osiris and Isis, near the three great pyramids, and the +inscription on the sarcophagus of king Menkera are evidence that the +cultus of Osiris, the belief in his rule in the next world, in the +return of the soul to her divine origin, and her deification after +death, was already in existence at the time when these monuments were +erected. The use not of hieroglyphics only, but also of the hieratic +alphabet, in red and black colours, in the pyramid of Chufu, and the +graves around it, in the sculptures of which writing materials and rolls +of papyrus are frequently engraved, the forms of domestic and household +life, of agriculture and the cultivation of the vine, of hunting and +fishing, preserved on the tombs of Gizeh, are evidence of the long +existence and manifold development of civilisation, no less than those +great monuments, or even the graves themselves with their artistic mode +of construction, their severe and simple style of execution, and the +pleasing forms of their ornaments. Of the seven statues of Chafra, +discovered in the temple of the Sphinx, one, chiselled out of hard green +and yellow basalt, has been preserved uninjured. The king is represented +sitting, and naked, with the exception of a covering on the head and a +girdle round the loins. The lower arms rest on the thighs, the left hand +is outstretched, the right holds a fillet. The sides of the cube, on +which Chafra is seated, are formed by lions, between the feet of which +are stems of papyrus. On the high back of the chair, behind the head of +the king, sits the hawk of Horus, whose wings are spread forwards in an +attitude of protection. The execution of the statue of the king is a +proof of long practice in sculpture. The natural form is truly and +accurately rendered, and though even here Egyptian art displays its +characteristic inclination to severity, and correctness in the +proportions of the body, to repose and dignity, yet in the head there is +an unmistakable attempt to individualize an outline already fixed--an +attempt not without success. Still more distinctly individual are two +statues found near the pyramids of Meidum, from the reign of the +predecessor of Chufu, a wooden statue, and certain pictures in relief +from the tombs near the great pyramids. The architecture, no less than +the sculpture, of these most ancient monuments, displays a high degree +of experience and a knowledge of the principles of art, a conscious +purpose and effort existing together with a fixed obedience to rule. + +We learnt from Diodorus that the great pyramids were erected 1,000, or, +according to some, 3,400 years before his time. According to the list +of Manetho, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus belonged to the fourth +dynasty. If we accept the incredible reigns of sixty-three, sixty-six, +and again, sixty-three years, which Manetho allows to those three kings, +they reigned over Egypt, according to Lepsius' dates, from the year 3095 +B.C., to 2903 B.C. + +At a period subsequent to these kings the list of Manetho speaks in the +sixth dynasty of a king Phiops, who came to the throne as a child in his +sixth year, and lived to be 100 years old. The list of Erastosthenes +mentions a king Apappus, who reigned for 100 years. The monuments show +us a king Pepi, in whom we recognise Phiops and Apappus, and in +consequence a reign of ninety-five years is assigned to him (2654-2559 +B.C.). Yet hitherto the sixteenth year is the highest found on the +monuments for the reign of Pepi; and in the inscription on a tomb at +Abydus, now in the museum at Cairo, a man of the name of Una declares +that he had filled the highest offices in the kingdom under Teta, the +predecessor of Pepi, under Pepi, and again under his successor, Merenra. +If one person could be the minister of three successive rulers, it is +clear that the second of these reigns could not have lasted 95 or 100 +years. Under the reign of Pepi, as well as his immediate predecessors +and successors, _i.e._, in the sixth dynasty of Manetho, the development +of Egypt must have undergone a certain change. The kings, previous to +this family, are represented on the monuments with a cap falling to one +side, or with a tall head-dress; Pepi is represented on one relief with +this head-dress, but on another with one of a lower shape. The tall +white cap is the crown of Upper Egypt, the lower red one is the crown +of Lower Egypt. It is no longer on the plateau of Memphis, and among the +tombs there, but in Middle Egypt, near El Kab, and in the valley of +Hamamat, which leads from Coptus to the Red Sea, that we find the +monuments of Pepi and his race, and the tombs of their priests and +magistrates are at Abydus. Under this dynasty, therefore, the central +point of the kingdom appears to have been moved from Memphis in the +direction of Middle Egypt. On the west coast of the peninsula of Sinai, +in the Wadi Maghara, Pepi is seen striking down an enemy; and from the +inscription on the tomb of Una, it is clear that Pepi's kingdom extended +up the Nile as far as the negroes, that his successor caused dockyards +to be built in Nubia, and that Una had to procure blocks of fine stone +for the sarcophagus of Pepi and his successor, and also for the pyramid +of the latter.[153] + +The removal of the centre of the kingdom from Memphis, which is +noticeable under the family of Pepi, was completely carried out under a +later house, which is stated in the lists to belong to Thebes--the +eleventh and twelfth dynasty of Manetho. Upper Egypt became the seat of +the royal power; Thebes (the No-Amon, _i.e._ possession of Ammon, of the +Hebrews) took her place beside Memphis. The princes of this new dynasty +are no longer called in the monuments the lords of Upper and Lower +Egypt, but the "lords of both lands;" they always wear both crowns. +Hence it is possible that this royal house in the first instance ruled +over Upper Egypt only from Thebes, and that for a long time Upper and +Lower Egypt existed side by side independently, till the kings of Thebes +succeeded in reducing Lower Egypt under their dominion. + +Of Amenemha, the first king of this house, who ruled over Upper and +Lower Egypt (2380-2371 B.C.), a colossal figure of red granite is still +in existence, which was discovered in Lower Egypt at Tanis (San), not +far from Lake Menzaleh.[154] His power must have extended up the Nile +over the adjacent part of Nubia, for a pillar discovered there informs +us that he intrusted an officer with the superintendence of the gold +mines in Nubia.[155] His successor, Sesurtesen I. (2371-2325 B.C.), +erected a temple to Ammon at Thebes, and set up obelisks, _i.e._ pointed +monolithic pillars, dedicated to the sun-god, in Lower Egypt, in Fayum, +and at Heliopolis. The obelisk at Fayum, not far from the ancient +Arsinoe, was about forty feet in height; it has been broken by the fall +into two pieces. The obelisk of Heliopolis is sixty feet in height; it +still towers over the ruins of this city, near the village of Matarieh. +It is not the first obelisk erected in Egypt, for the inscriptions of +Chufu mention an obelisk erected by that king, but it is the oldest +which has come down to our time. The inscription, repeated on all four +sides, runs thus:--"Horus, the life of that which is born, the child of +the sun, Sesurtesen, who is beloved by the spirits of Heliopolis, who +will live for ever, the golden hawk, the life of that which is born, +this gracious god has erected this obelisk at the beginning of the great +festival. He has erected it who assures us of life for ever."[156] That +this king also ruled in Nubia, and forced his way far up the Nile above +Egypt, is proved by a monument in Nubia on the cataracts of the Wadi +Halfa; a pillar, on which is depicted Sesurtesen, representing Nubians +and negroes, the prisoners of eight nations or tribes, to the god +Horus.[157] In the rock tombs of Beni Hassan is buried an officer of +this king, Amenj, overseer of the canton of Hermopolis (Ashmunein). The +inscription tells us that Amenj had served the king when on a campaign +to destroy his enemies; that he had approached the land of Cush, and +reached the limits of the earth. The king had returned in peace after +the overthrow of his enemies. Afterwards Amenj with 600 warriors had +conveyed the produce of the goldmines from the canton of Hermopolis to +the stronghold of Coptus. He had loved his canton; and all the works +required for the house of the king he had carried out in his canton by +his own arm, and had paid in the tribute. He had laboured, and the +canton had been in full activity. He had not afflicted the children, or +ill-treated the widows; he had not disturbed the fishermen, or hindered +the herdsmen. Famine had never prevailed, because every plot had been +planted. He had caused the inhabitants to live, had given gifts without +regarding the great before the small.[158] The fragment of a seated +colossus of Sesurtesen I., of black granite, is to be seen in the museum +at Berlin; his colossus of red granite is at Tanis. A third statue of +this king has been found at Abydus.[159] + +Amenemha II. and Sesurtesen II. carried on the campaigns of the first +Sesurtesen in the south of Egypt. A monument in the valley of Hamamat +exhibits battles with the Punt, _i.e._ with the tribes of the Arabians +and the negroes.[160] Sesurtesen III., who succeeded Sesurtesen II., +completed the subjugation of Lower Nubia. To protect the new border +of the kingdom, he caused fortresses to be erected a little above +the falls of the Wadi Halfa, at Semne and Kumne, about 250 miles +south of Syene. A pillar discovered in this district has the following +inscription:--"Southern border; erected in the eighth year, under the +rule of his holiness King Sesurtesen III., who gives life for all +eternity. No negro shall pass over it on his way, except the boats +laden with the oxen, goats, and asses of the negroes."[161] + +The third Sesurtesen was followed by the third Amenemha (2221 to 2179 +B.C.). Inscriptions in the Wadi Maghara, in the peninsula of Sinai, tell +us that Amenemha III. caused the copper to be conveyed from the mines +there by 734 soldiers, in the second year of his reign; and inscriptions +in the valley of Hamamat show that the quarries there were frequently +used by this king.[162] Near the fortifications of his predecessor, on +the rocks of Semne and Kumne, are found numerous records of the height +reached by the Nile in the reign of Amenemha III. Here we read--"Level +of Hapi (the Nile) in the fourteenth, sixteenth, thirtieth years, &c., +under his holiness King Amenemha III., who lives for ever." From these +observations we find that the average height of the inundations at that +time was more than twenty-four feet higher than at present; and the +greatest height reached under Amenemha III. was twenty-seven feet above +the greatest height of modern times.[163] + +Herodotus tells us the following story;--Among the successors of Menes, +Moeris carried out some remarkable works; he built the north gateway in +the temple of Hephaestus, excavated a great lake, and erected pyramids +in it. "The priests told me that under the rule of Moeris, the Nile +overflowed the land below Memphis, although it had only risen to the +height of eight cubits, but now the water does not cover the land unless +it reaches a height of sixteen or at least fifteen cubits; and it seems +to me that if the land were raised again in the same proportion, the +Egyptians who live in the Delta below the lake of Moeris would be in +distress. The circuit of the lake of Moeris is about 3,600 stades, or +sixty schoenes, and the depth in the deepest place about fifty fathoms. +The lake extends from north to south. That it was the work of human +hands, is clear from the nature of it. About the middle are two +pyramids, each of which rises about fifty fathoms out of the water, and +on each is a stone colossus seated on a throne. The water of the lake +does not arise from springs, for the whole district there is entirely +without water, it is introduced by a canal from the Nile. For six months +the water flows from the Nile into the lake, and again for six months +from the lake into the Nile. While it runs out the fishery brings in a +talent of silver a day for the King's treasury; but when the water flows +into the lake the product is a third of a talent only.[164]" + +Diodorus tells us that king Moeris erected the north gateway at Memphis, +the splendour of which excelled all others; and above the city at about +ten schoenes distance he excavated a lake of marvellous utility and +incredible size. The circuit was 3,600 stades, and the depth in most +places was fifty fathoms. "Who would not ask, when contemplating the +vast extent of this work, how many myriads of men were required to +complete it, and for how many years? But no one could ever speak in +worthy terms of the utility of the lake and the advantage it is to the +inhabitants of Egypt and the wise prudence of the king in making it. As +the Nile does not rise evenly, and the fruitfulness of the land depends +on the evenness of the overflow, Moeris excavated this lake to receive +the superfluous water, in order that an excessive inundation might not +create marshes and morasses, or a deficiency of water imperil the +fruitfulness of the soil. He carried a canal 300 feet in breadth from +the river for eighty stades (about ten miles) to the lake, through which +he first admitted the superfluous water and then drew it off. In this +way he procured for the tillers of the soil the desired medium in the +water, since the mouth of the canal was sometimes closed, sometimes +opened, which was both a difficult and costly thing to do. The lake has +remained to our time, and is still called by the name of the +constructor, the lake of Moeris. In the middle, the king who excavated +it left a place on which he built his own tomb, and two pyramids. One +was erected for himself, the other for his wife. On these he placed +stone statues of himself and his wife, sitting on thrones, in the +impression that by means of this work he would be for ever held in +grateful remembrance."[165] + +Of the lake above Memphis, Strabo gives the following account:--"The +canton of the city Arsinoe, which was formerly known as the City of +Crocodiles, surpasses all others in the beauty of its appearance, in +fruitfulness, and also in the wonders to be seen there. It alone is +covered with green and large olive trees, whereas there are no olives +in the rest of Egypt; it produces a considerable amount of wine, and +corn, and pulse, and many other cereals. In it also lies the wonderful +lake of Moeris, which in size and colour is like a sea, and has shores +like the shores of the sea. Owing to its size and depth this lake is +able to receive the superfluous water at the time of the inundation, so +that it does not overflow the inhabited and planted districts. On the +other hand, when the river begins to subside, after it has poured the +overflow into one of the two mouths of the canal, the lake and the canal +together retain the water required for irrigation. This takes place in +the natural course of things, but there are also artificial sluices at +both mouths of the canal, by which the persons in charge regulate the +rise and fall of the water." Tacitus also mentions "the excavated lake +which receives the overflow of the Nile."[166] + +From these accounts the object of the work is clear. It was intended to +regulate the inundation by a large reservoir, and so to increase its +beneficent effects upon the soil of Egypt. The inundation was to be +reduced for the Delta by drawing off a part of the water, which had +risen into this basin in the neighbourhood of Memphis, in order that the +land in this district might not be rendered swampy, and the marshes +might have time to dry. This basin could also retain a portion of water +in the superabundant years of excessive inundation, in order to supply +the deficiencies of other years when the water did not reach the highest +plots. Further, the reservoir might be used to irrigate the arable land +in the neighbourhood during the waterless months, when there was no +inundation. + +A few miles above Memphis the Libyan range is divided by a depression. +This cleft leads from the Nile into a spacious urn-shaped valley, now +called Fayum, of which the western part is filled by a large lake. On +the ruins near this lake, the name of King Amenemha III. is frequently +read. If we remember that the careful observations of the rise of the +Nile from the reign of this king tend to show that he was busily engaged +with the irrigation of the land, that the Egyptians call this lake the +lake of inundation (_meri_), and that the king Moeris of the Greeks +owes his name to this title (_suten en meri_), we may regard Amenemha +III. as the author of the wonderful hydraulic structures at Fayum. The +great reservoir, which he constructed, is no longer in existence, but +the remains of it can be traced in dams and in the modern lake of Fayum, +the Birket-el-Kerun. The urn-shaped valley of Fayum offered a situation +for a basin near the Nile, which might receive and preserve part of the +inundation, and the depression in the Libyan range secured a natural +path for the canal, required to feed the basin from the Nile, and the +Nile from the basin. For the site of the basin the nearest part of the +valley was selected; it was enough that the bed of the reservoir was not +lower than the lowest level of the Nile. No deep excavations were +needed; all that was required was to enclose a large part of the valley +with strong dams; and the earth necessary for erecting these could be +taken out of the enclosed space. These dams must have been massive +enough to retain a large body of water, and prevent it from breaking out +into the western, and far lower part of the valley, and at the same time +of sufficient height to prevent any overflow even in the times of the +highest inundations. At the eastern entrance into Fayum we find running +from the valley of the Nile the remains of long, rectilinear, and very +massive banks, in which modern research has recognised the original +enclosure of the lake of Moeris. The breadth of the dams appears to have +been carried to 150 feet; whereas the height can hardly have exceeded +thirty feet.[167] When Herodotus tells us that the depth of the basin in +the deepest part was fifty fathoms, it is obvious that the statement +rests on the computation that the two pyramids in the middle of the lake +were of the same height under as above the surface. The same authority +allows a circuit of about 450 miles for the lake, but from the remains +we cannot allow a greater circuit than 150 miles.[168] The Egyptians +were sufficiently skilled in the erection of strong dams, and structures +of such an extent could not be in excess of the resources of a country +which had erected the great pyramids. Finally, when Herodotus asks what +had become of the earth dug out of this great lake, the answer is that +there was no complete excavation, but merely the enclosure of a certain +space of land, and what was taken out of this was at once applied to the +construction of the dams. + +The statement of the priests about the height of the inundation in the +reign of Moeris, which Herodotus has preserved for us, and from which he +has drawn the conclusion that the soil of Lower Egypt must have risen +since that reign from seven to eight cubits in height, is much +exaggerated. The deposit of mud in consequence of the inundation raises +the soil only about four inches in 100 years, that is, about +three-and-a-quarter feet in 1,000 years. Supposing the basin of Amenemha +to have been completed 1,500 years before Herodotus travelled in Egypt, +the difference in the required height of the inundation might reach +three or four cubits, but not seven or eight. Yet the raising of the +soil, and more especially of the bed of the great basin, which rose far +more rapidly than the surface of the land, brought about the decay, and +at last the ruin, of this reservoir. The bed of the basin in which the +water remained the whole year through, and not for three or four months +only, must have been raised by the deposit at a peculiarly rapid rate; +at the present time it shows a height of eleven feet as compared with +the land outside the remains of the dams.[169] With this rise in the +bed, the value of the basin diminished in proportion as the amount of +water which the reservoir was capable of receiving was lessened. It was +useless to raise the height of the dams, for the influx of the water +from the Nile depended on the level of the bed of the connecting canal, +and of the basin. These causes along with the disaffection of later +times must have brought about the decay of the reservoir, the value of +which Diodorus places so high, and which was in existence in the time of +Tacitus. At a later period the dams must have been neglected, so that at +the time of some extraordinary inundation, a breach was made towards the +west, which filled the western and lowest part of Fayum with water. This +is the origin of the Birket-el-Kerun, the water of which is still +sufficient to convert the largest part of Fayum into one of the most +fertile and blooming districts of Egypt. The level of the +Birket-el-Kerun is seventy feet lower than the canal which once +connected the reservoir with the Nile.[170] + +"A little above Lake Moeris," Herodotus tells us, "at the so-called City +of the Crocodiles, is the labyrinth. I have seen it, and it outdoes its +reputation. If any one were to put together the walls and buildings of +the Hellenes, he would find that they were surpassed in labour and cost +by this labyrinth alone, although the temples at Ephesus and Samos are +certainly well worth speaking of. The pyramids are indeed beyond all +description, and each of them is equivalent to many of the greatest +works of Hellas, but the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids. It +contains twelve roofed courts, abutting on each other, the entrances to +which are opposite, six to the north and six to the south. Externally +they are all included in one wall. The chambers are of two kinds, some +are under the ground, others visible above it; of each kind there are +1,500. Those above ground I have passed through, and can speak of them +from eyesight; those under the ground the Egyptian overseers could not +be induced to show me, because, as they said, they contained the +sepulchres of the kings who built the labyrinth, and of the sacred +crocodiles. Of these, therefore, I can only speak from hearsay: but the +chambers above ground, which I saw, are a superhuman work. The entrances +through the covered spaces, and the windings through the courts are very +complicated, and excite infinite wonder, as you pass from the courts +into the chambers, and from the chambers into colonnades, and from these +into other covered spaces, and from the chambers into other courts. On +all these spaces lies a roof of stone, similar to the walls; the walls +are covered with carved pictures, and each court is surrounded on the +inside with pillars of white stones, excellently fitted together. In the +angle where the labyrinth ends there is a pyramid forty fathoms high, +with large figures cut into it. The entrance to this is under the +surface."[171] + +Diodorus says:--"One of the old kings, named Menas, built on the lake of +Moeris, the City of Crocodiles, a tomb for himself, a square pyramid, +and the marvellous labyrinth." In another passage he says: "King Mendes, +whom some call Marrhus, was not distinguished by any military +achievements, but he built for his tomb the so-called labyrinth, which +is marvellous not so much for its size as for the inimitable art of the +structure. Without a thoroughly competent guide, it would not be easy +for any one to find his way out." And in a third passage we are told: +"The labyrinth at the entrance into Lake Moeris is a square +structure--each side measuring a stadium--built of the most beautiful +stone, unsurpassed in the sculptures and the art bestowed upon it." +"Passing through the enclosure, you see a house surrounded with pillars, +forty on each side, and with a roof of a single stone, adorned with +mullions in relief, and various paintings. It also contains the +monuments of the twelve provinces of Egypt of their sacred relics and +sacrifices, all represented in the most excellent pictures."[172] + +Strabo's account is as follows:--"At the sluices (of the canal +connecting the basin and the lake) is the labyrinth, a work as great as +the pyramids, and moreover the grave of the king who built it. About +thirty or forty stades above the mouth of the canal is a table-land, on +which lies a hamlet and a palace made up of as many palaces as there are +districts in Egypt. For so many in number are the colonnaded courts, +adjoining each other in a row, and abutting on a partition against which +they are built as against a long wall.[173] The entrances which lead to +them are over against the wall. Before these entrances lie dark +chambers, long in shape, and numerous, which are connected with each +other by winding passages, so that without a guide it is impossible for +the stranger to find the entrance or exit belonging to each court. The +most marvellous thing is that the roof of each chamber consists of a +single stone. Even the dark passages (before the entrances into the +courts) are covered with slabs of a single stone, from side to side, +without use of wood or other support, and these slabs are of +extraordinary size. If you go out on the roof, and as there is but one +story, it is not high, you find before you a plateau of stones of this +kind. If from this point you look again into the courts, you see them +twenty-seven in number in a row, supported by pillars of a single stone. +The walls also are of stones not less in size. This number of courts are +said to have been erected because it was the custom for all the +districts to assemble here by their representatives, with their priests +and animals for sacrifice, in order to offer sacrifice and decide +matters of the greatest importance. Each district thus met in its own +court. At the end of the structure, which extends over more than a +stadium (in the square), lies the tomb, a square pyramid, of which each +side is about a plethron in length and the same in height. The king +buried there is called Ismandes."[174] + +"The labyrinth," remarks Pliny, "is still existing in Egypt, though it +is said to have been erected more than 3,600 years. Lykeas calls it the +tomb of Moeris; some authorities assert that it is a shrine of the +Sun-god, and this is the general belief. The entrance was built of +Parian marble, which is astonishing to me, the remainder of joined +blocks of granite, which centuries have not been able to destroy, +albeit assisted by the inhabitants of Heracleopolis, who regard this +structure with the greatest detestation, and treat it accordingly. The +plan of the whole and the various parts it is impossible to describe. It +is divided according to the districts and prefectures, which they call +nomes; these are twenty-five in number, and their names are given to an +equal number of large buildings. Besides this it contains a temple of +all the gods of Egypt, and includes above 1,500 small buildings. The +chambers are lofty, and each colonnade is ascended by a flight of ninety +steps. Within are pillars of porphyry, images of the gods, statues of +the kings, and monstrous shapes. Through the greater part you pass in +darkness. From the wing attached to the labyrinth, passages lead through +the rock to underground chambers, and there is also a pyramid belonging +to it."[175] + +As we have seen, Diodorus in one passage ascribes the building of the +labyrinth to the ancient king Menas, and in another to king Mendes, whom +other authorities call Marrhus, and at last he says that the twelve +kings, who reigned in Egypt after the dominion of the Ethiopians, built +the labyrinth for their common sepulchre. Four hundred years before his +time Herodotus had stated that the twelve kings built it as a common +memorial of their reign. Lykeas mentioned king Moeris as the builder, +and Strabo told us that the king buried in it was Ismandes, a name which +would agree with the Mendes of Diodorus. According to the lists of +Manetho, it was the fourth ruler of the twelfth dynasty--Lacharis in the +excerpt of Africanus, and Lamaris in that of Eusebius--who built the +labyrinth in the province of Arsinoe for his own sepulchre. + +The Menas of Diodorus may be an abbreviation of Amenemha, and this +supposition becomes the more probable because the king called Moeris by +the Greeks is mentioned as a builder of the labyrinth. The remains of +the building, on the north side of which the pyramid is still standing, +raise this supposition into a certainty. At the entrance to this +pyramid, on the pillars and architraves in the ruins, the name of +Amenemha III. is repeatedly found.[176] + +We must assume, therefore, that in the district which he had recovered +from the desert by means of his large reservoir, king Amenemha built a +large national temple close to the basin, and in this temple it was +intended that all the provinces of Upper and Lower Egypt should see the +deities of their land reproduced in separate courts and temples. Then +the Egyptians may have ascribed a restoration of this imperial temple, +this pantheon, to the supposed twelve kings who were thought to have +reigned after the Ethiopian dominion. This tradition is obviously at the +bottom of the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, who carry the building +back to the seventh century B.C. The ruins of the labyrinth lie near the +modern village of Hauara, among orchards and palm groves, beside rose +gardens and sugar plantations, surrounded by fruitful fields, in a +district which is still flourishing and covered with villages, bounded +to the west by naked ridges of rock and the sand of the desert. They +consist of blocks of granite and dazzling white limestone, which +explains the supposed Parian marble in Pliny, the remains of walls and +the capitals of pillars. The extent of the structure reaches 600 feet in +length and 500 in width; the traces of numerous chambers, some large +and some very small, but all rectangular, are still visible both above +and under the ground. In the centre is a clear space, once perhaps +filled by the courts, of which Herodotus enumerates twelve and Strabo +twenty-seven. The pyramid consists of a core built of bricks, and was +cased with sculptures, of which, however, there are very slight remains; +each side measured 300 feet in length. It was the sepulchre of Amenemha; +here, among his great creations, he lay at rest. + +In addition to the monuments in Nubia, and this great building, the lake +which ripples against the labyrinth is a most eloquent witness of the +prosperity to which this dynasty of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen raised +Egypt. The population must have been already very numerous when it came +to recovering fresh land from the desert, and attention was turned +towards increasing and improving the rich fertilization which nature +every year secured for Egypt. The picture of the richly developed +cultivation, of which these structures exhibit the highest point, is +supplemented by the insight into the details of the circumstances of the +country permitted by the rock tombs of Beni Hassan, Bersheh, and Sioot +(in Central Egypt), which belong to this period of Egyptian history. At +Beni Hassan, where the tombs go back to the reign of the first +Sesurtesen, we see the entire process of agriculture. Oxen or slaves are +drawing the ploughs, of which five different kinds are in use. Sheep and +goats tread the seed into the ground. The corn when cut is gathered into +sheaves, trodden out by oxen, measured, and carried in sacks to the +granary. The flax is packed upon the backs of asses, the lotus, the +vintage, and the figs are gathered in. The vintage is partly trodden +out, partly squeezed in a press moved by a lever; the wine is poured +into jars, and carried into a cellar. We see the irrigation of the +fields, the planting of the gardens, the cultivation of onions, the +overseer and his clerks. The overseer passes sentence on the lazy and +negligent slaves: when he has heard the complaint and the answer, he +orders the bastinado to be applied to the culprits, and hands to his +master the written account of the matter. With equal minuteness we can +follow the breeding of cattle. We see fine herds of oxen, cows, and +calves, asses, sheep, and goats in the stalls or at pasture with their +keepers; we see the cows milked, the butter and cheese prepared. The +fowl-yards are filled with a multitude of different ducks and geese. In +the same way by following the pictures on the graves at Beni Hassan we +can obtain an accurate view of the process of the various manufactures. +We see the spinners and weavers at work; we can follow the potter +through all the stages of his work, from the first kneading of the clay +to the burning of the finished jar. The carpenter and joiner, the +currier, the shoemaker, the smith and goldsmith, the mason and painter, +pursue their occupations before our eyes. We see rudders, lances, +javelins, bows and arrows, clubs and war-axes preparing: and lastly we +have the manufacture of glass, even the blowing, in all the various +operations before us. With similar minuteness we can see the interior of +the Egyptian house, simply or splendidly furnished, with all the movable +goods, the dogs, cats, and apes belonging to the inhabitants; there are +the servants at their work, and the operations of the kitchen in great +detail. Further we find soldiers of every rank, and with all kinds of +weapons; we see them exercising military drill; the battle, the siege, +the ram, which is brought up against the walls of the enemy, the roof +of shields under which the besieging army advanced to storm the +wall--all these are before us. Birding is carried on by means of traps +and nets, angling by hooks and spears of two or three tines; there is +hunting in its various modes. Long rows of wrestlers exhibit all the +various positions of their sport, which seems to have been much in +vogue; along with this various games exhibiting strength or endurance +were carried on; among others, games of ball and mora. We see dancers, +male and female, in various and sometimes very intricate positions; +harps and flutes of very different shapes are played upon. A singer is +accompanied by a musician on a harp, and the concert is completed by two +choruses, one of men, the other of women, who clap their hands. The +better class are depicted in gaily-coloured skiffs and palanquins, +surrounded by numerous servants, among whom may be observed a +considerable number of negroes. Dwarfs and deformed persons are also +found in their train. + +The most splendid tomb at Beni Hassan belongs to Chnumhotep, the son of +Nehera, who, as the inscriptions tell us, was a minister of Amenemha II. +and Sesurtesen II. Like Amenj before him, he was the overseer of the +province of Hermopolis (Ashmunein). A picture on his tomb exhibits a +huge portrait of Chnumhotep, with a staff in his hand, and a scribe at +his side; before him are a number of smaller figures, who, to judge from +their shape and clothing, are foreigners. The chief among the +foreigners, clad in a gay garment, leads forward an antelope and makes a +reverential obeisance before the minister. His companions are more +simply clad, and armed with lances and bows; one of them is striking a +lute with the plectrum. Four women follow, in long gaily embroidered +garments, with their heads veiled. An ass driven by a boy with a lance +carries two children, and a second ass arms and utensils. The leaf of +papyrus, which the scribe of Chnumhotep is handing to his master informs +us that Abusa (Abscha) with thirty-six companions from the nation of the +Aamu (nomads of the East), had brought presents to the minister of the +province of Hermopolis in the sixth year of Sesurtesen III.[177] + +If we compare the works of that epoch, which saw the erection of the +great pyramids, in technical and artistic value with the remains which +have come down from the time of the Amenemha and Sesurtesen--according +to the chronology of Lepsius the two periods are separated by an +interval of six centuries--we find in the great monuments of the first +epoch, in their passages and chambers, a dexterity in the use of stone +for building, which has never been surpassed. The sculptures exhibit +broader and stouter forms, with more strongly-marked but well-shaped +muscles. The ornaments consist of simple, straight lines, besides which +scarcely any other adornment is found beyond the lotus leaf. The style +is composed and full of repose; it remains nearer nature than in the +later works. In the monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha +the ornamentation has already become far richer. The pillars are +massive, fluted, and crowned by a simple cube. The sculptured forms are +taller and thinner; the work in relief, carried out with much industry +and delicacy, displays at times very happy moments of natural grace and +truth of expression, although perspective is entirely left out of +sight. Such work is always carefully painted. The statues of limestone +are also painted throughout; in those of granite, only the clothing, the +eyes and the hair are coloured.[178] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[130] Diod. 1, 12, 45. + +[131] Herod. 2, 99. + +[132] Diod. 1, 50. He ascribes the foundation of the city to a later +king, whom he calls Uchoreus. + +[133] Strabo, p. 808; Tac. "Ann." 2, 6. + +[134] Lepsius asserts that he found traces and remains of sixty-seven +pyramids. "Briefe aus AEgypten," s. 65. + +[135] Lepsius, "Abh. der Berl. Akad." 1843, s. 177 ff. + +[136] Boeckh, "Metrologie," s. 236. + +[137] Herod. 2, 124-127, 134. + +[138] Diod. 1, 63, 64. + +[139] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 35. + +[140] Cf. Strabo. p. 809. + +[141] Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 248, 302. Gutschmid has supported the +Herodotean inscription on the strength of papyri from the times of +Ramses Miamen in Philologus, 10, 644; the "talents" in any case must be +left for the dragoman. + +[142] Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II. + +[143] De Rouge, "Monuments des six premieres dynasties; Memoires de +l'Institut," 1856, 25, 265 ff. + +[144] Lepsius, "Denkmale," 3, 2, plate II. + +[145] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 113. + +[146] Brugsch, "Zeitschrift fuer aegyptische Sprache," 1864, s. 61. + +[147] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ p. 257. + +[148] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ pp. 282, 283. + +[149] Herod. 2, 128. M. Buedinger ("Zur aegypt. Forschung Herodot's." s. +24) identifies this Philitis with the shepherd-king Salatis; cf. infra. + +[150] Cf. above, p. 59. Mariette, "Revue archeol." 1860, p. 18. + +[151] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ pp. 281, 307. + +[152] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ p. 267. + +[153] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ p. 328 ff. + +[154] "Revue archeolog." 1862, p. 279. + +[155] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 53. + +[156] Rosellini, "Monumenti storici," 3, 33. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +p. 54. + +[157] Rosellini, _loc. cit._ 1, 38. + +[158] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 55, 56. + +[159] "Revue archeolog." 1862, p. 297; 1864, p. 69. + +[160] Bunsen, "AEgypt." 2, 323; Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 287. + +[161] Lepsius, "Briefe aus AEgypten," s. 259. On the fortifications, De +Voguee, "Athen. franz." Sept. 55, p. 84. + +[162] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 68, 69. + +[163] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s, 81; Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 67. + +[164] Herod. 2, 13, 101, 149. + +[165] Diod. 1, 51, 52. "This is what the Egyptians tell of Moeris." + +[166] Strabo. p. 809-811. Tac. Annal. 2, 61. + +[167] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 81. + +[168] Linant, "Memoire sur le lac Moeris." + +[169] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ + +[170] Linant, _loc. cit._ + +[171] Herod. 2, 148. + +[172] Diod. 1, 89, 66, 61. + +[173] Strabo. p. 811; for [Greek: teichous mikrou] we must obviously +read [Greek: makrou], and for [Greek: echontes, echontos]. + +[174] Strabo. p. 811; cf. 813. + +[175] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 36, 19. As the building was actually not more +than a stadium square, the statement of Herodotus that there were 1500 +chambers above the earth--quite irrespective of the 1500 underground--is +inexplicable, unless the chambers were very small. In Pliny we must read +1500 for 15,000. + +[176] Lepsius, "Briefe aus AEgypten," s. 74 ff. + +[177] Brugsch, "Histoire d'Egypte," p. 63; Ebers, "Die Buecher Mose's," +s. 98. + +[178] De Rouge in Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 69. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HYKSOS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM. + + +In spite of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, and the extension of the +Egyptian dominion up the Nile as far as Semne and Kumne, the kingdom of +the pyramids, of the lake of Moeris, and the labyrinth succumbed to the +attack of a foreign enemy. According to Josephus, Manetho, in the second +book of his Egyptian History, gave the following account: "There was a +king Amyntimaeus. In his reign the divine power, I know not why, was +ungracious. From the East came an unexpected swarm of men belonging to a +tribe of no great reputation, with a bold resolution of taking the +country. This they succeeded in doing without much trouble. They made +themselves masters of the ruling princes, ruthlessly set fire to the +cities, and destroyed the shrines of the gods. Towards the inhabitants +they behaved in a most hostile manner; some they put to the sword, from +others they carried away their wives and children into slavery. At last +they made one of their own number, by name Salatis, their king. He took +up his abode at Memphis, collected tribute from the Upper and Lower +country, and placed garrisons in the most suitable places. The eastern +districts were fortified most strongly, since he foresaw that the +Assyrians, who were then growing in power, would be seized with the +desire of invading his country. In the Saitic (Sethroitic) province he +found a city excellently adapted for his purpose, lying eastwards of the +river from Bubastis, and called Avaris, from some old legend or another. +This he surrounded with the strongest walls, filled it with inhabitants, +and placed there the bulk of his armed soldiers, 240,000 men, as a +garrison. In the summer he visited this stronghold to measure the corn, +pay his soldiers, and exercise his troops in order to strike fear in +those who dwelt beyond the fortress. After a reign of nineteen years +Salatis died. After him reigned a king of the name of Beon, for +forty-four years, then Apachnas for thirty-six years and seven months, +then Apophis for sixty-one years, and Annas for fifty years and one +month, and finally Assis for forty-nine years and two months. These six +were their first rulers, and they sought more and more to destroy Egypt +to the very root. The whole tribe was called Hyksos, _i.e._ shepherd +kings. For in the sacred language _hyk_ means 'king,' and _sos_ in the +ordinary dialect is 'a shepherd,' and from composition of the two comes +the word Hyksos. Some authorities say that they were Arabs." "The +shepherd kings named above and their descendants are supposed by Manetho +to have ruled over Egypt for 511 years. Yet he afterwards tells us that +kings arose in the district of Thebes and the rest of Egypt, between +whom and the shepherds there was a long and severe struggle. In the +reign of a king named Misphragmuthosis the shepherds were defeated by +the king, driven out of Egypt, and confined in one place, 10,000 arourae +in extent, the name of which was Avaris. This space, as Manetho tells +us, the shepherds surrounded with a great and strong wall, in order to +preserve their possessions and their booty in security. But Tuthmosis, +the son of Misphragmuthosis, attempted to take Avaris by force, and led +out 480,000 men before the walls. When he found that the investment made +but little way, he came to terms with the shepherds, permitting them to +leave Egypt uninjured and go whither they would. On these terms they +departed from Egypt with their families, and goods, not less than +240,000 strong, and went into the Syrian desert, and through fear of the +Assyrians, who were then the great power in Asia, they built a city in +the land now called Judaea, large enough to contain their numbers, and +named it Jerusalem." + +The short excerpts made by Africanus and Eusebius from the Egyptian +History of Manetho only tell that "there were certain foreign kings, +Phenicians, who took Memphis, and built a city in the Sethroitic +province, from which they went forth and subdued the Egyptians." +Africanus gives six, Eusebius four, names of these foreign kings, which +are somewhat the same in sound as those in Josephus, only in Africanus +Apophis is the last in the list, not last but two.[179] + +If Josephus has transcribed and reproduced Manetho correctly there is an +obvious contradiction in his narrative. The first shepherd king, +Salatis, fortified and peopled Avaris, and placed there a garrison of +240,000 men, for protection against the Assyrians. Then after a lapse of +511 (or according to the excerpt of Africanus of 953) years, when the +shepherds had lost Egypt they were shut up in a place containing 10,000 +arourae, _i.e._ a square of twenty-five miles, of the name of Avaris, +which they surrounded with a strong wall in order to keep their +possessions and booty in security. At last they were compelled to +retire even from this, and march out in just the same strength as the +garrison which Salatis had placed so long before at Avaris, towards +Judaea, and here they founded a second city of Jerusalem, also for +protection against the Assyrians. + +We may leave the Assyrians out of the question, and assume that the +reference to them has been transferred by Manetho from the later +position which Assyria took up towards Syria and Egypt in the eighth and +seventh centuries B.C. to those earlier times; we may also regard the +turn of the narrative, which makes the shepherds the ancestors of the +Jews and builders of Jerusalem, as a combination invented by Manetho, +for in the tradition of the Hebrews there is no hint that their +ancestors had once ruled over Egypt for centuries, and Jerusalem down to +the time of David was merely the stronghold of a small tribe, the +Jebusites. Still it remains inexplicable that these shepherds, who, +after they had taken Egypt, or, in order to take it, fortified Avaris, +and garrisoned it with 240,000 men, should fortify Avaris a second time +centuries later, in order to maintain their last possession in Egypt, +and at last march out of Avaris in exactly the same numbers as the +garrison originally settled there. Shepherds, _i.e._ nomads, do not make +war by building fortresses as a base of operations for extending their +conquests; they had nothing to gain by conquering Egypt for the mere +purpose of shutting up the whole or the greater part of their numbers +with their flocks in a fortified place. On the other hand, it might have +seemed advisable to them, when they had subjugated Egypt, to possess a +fortified place on the eastern border, in order to keep up a connection +with their tribe; and it was natural that the shepherds, when the +Egyptians had risen against them with success, and they were no longer +able to hold the Delta, should attempt to maintain themselves in the +flats and swamps of the Eastern Delta; and when forced to act on the +defensive should fortify their camp at Avaris in this district. + +In the narrative of Manetho we can accept no more than the facts that +Egypt succumbed to the attack of the shepherds, and that they, to take +the lower estimate, ruled over Egypt for five centuries. Herodotus also +learnt in Egypt that the shepherd Philitis had once pastured his flocks +at Memphis. There is nothing wonderful in such an occurrence. Nomad +tribes dwelt in the deserts on the east and west of Egypt, to whose +poverty and scanty means of subsistence the abundance and cultivation of +Egypt must have presented a continual temptation. That temptation would +increase in force when the tribes became more numerous, when unusual +heat diminished the springs in the oases, and robbed these shepherds of +the produce of their scanty agriculture. The tradition of the Hebrews +tells us that their ancestor Abraham went to Egypt when "there was a +famine in the land," and the sons of Jacob bought corn in Egypt. + +According to Manetho's account, the tribes from whom the attack +proceeded were not famous, and he regarded the invaders as coming from +the east. The peninsula of Sinai, Northern Arabia, and the Syrian desert +sheltered in the Amalekites, Horites, Edomites, and Midianites, tribes +who were rendered hardy and warlike by life in the desert, tribal feuds, +and raids for plunder; and these may very well have united in +considerable number under some leader of military genius, and attempted +the invasion of the rich river-valley in their neighbourhood. According +to Manetho, the invaders were Phenicians or Arabians. The name of the +shepherd Philitis, given by Herodotus, points to a Semitic tribe, and +one immediately bordering on Egypt on the Syrian coast--the Philistines +(Pelischtim), from whom the whole Syrian coast was called by the Greeks +Palaestina. The name of the stronghold of the shepherds, Avaris, or +Abaris, recurs in Hauara, a town of Arabia on the shore of the Red +Sea.[180] If the shepherds who conquered Egypt had not been Semitic, and +closely related to the Hebrews, Manetho would not have made them the +ancestors of the Hebrews and founders of Jerusalem after their expulsion +from Egypt. + +After the conquest, the chiefs of the shepherds ruled over Egypt. The +inscriptions on the monuments repeatedly denote certain tribes in the +east of Egypt by the name Schasu, which in the later language is +contracted into Sos. _Schasu_ means shepherds. Moreover, in old +Egyptian, the head of a family, a tribe, and a province is called _hak_, +and Hyksos thus can be explained by _Haku-schasu_, chiefs of the +shepherds, shepherd kings, as Josephus, Eusebius, and Africanus render +it.[181] What Manetho tells us of the destruction of the cities and +shrines, the slaughter and enslaving of the Egyptians may be correct for +the time of the war and conquest. But this hostility and destruction +cannot, as he intimates, have gone on for centuries, for, on the +restoration of the Pharaohs, we find ancient Egypt unimpaired in +population, unchanged in language, customs, and manners, in civilisation +and art. If the national development was interrupted and repressed by +the Hyksos, it still remained uninjured at the core, so far as we have +the means of judging. + +When at a subsequent period the kings of Ethiopia subjugated Egypt, the +warrior caste, the soldiers settled in the country by the Pharaohs, were +deprived of their lands. The same thing may have taken place on the +irruption of the shepherds. The warriors of the Pharaohs fell in battle, +were carried away as prisoners, or deprived of their weapons; and in +their place came the victorious army of the shepherds. Of these many +would soon return home laden with the booty of Egypt, others pitched +their tents in the conquered land, and settled in the greenest meadows, +more especially in the eastern provinces of the Delta, nearest their own +home, on the Tanitic and Pelusiac arms of the Nile, and Lake Menzaleh. +The chief of the immigrants became the head of the conquerors and the +conquered. The latter would render the same abject homage to their new +masters as they rendered before and after to their native kings; and the +power which the conquered willingly acknowledged in the chief would +exalt his position even among the conquerors. As time went on, the +culture and civilisation of Egypt had their natural effect on the +barbarous invaders, and when the storm of conquest was over, we may +assume that Egypt was no worse off under the rule of the shepherd kings +than at later periods under the rule of the Persians, the Ptolemies, and +the Romans. + +That the new princes, soon after the conquest, attempted to approximate +their position as much as possible to that of the ancient Pharaohs may +be concluded from the mere fact that Manetho was in a position to give a +catalogue of their reigns by years and months. But this is proved more +definitely still by certain monuments. In the neighbourhood of Lake +Menzaleh, among the ruins of the ancient Tanis, the modern San, two old +statues have been discovered, the forms and lineaments of which exhibit +a physique different from the Egyptian. In the heads of four sphinxes, +discovered in the same place, it is thought that we may recognise the +portraits of four shepherd kings, and a colossus discovered at Tel +Mokdam is said to bear the following inscription:--"The good god, the +star of both worlds, the child of the sun, Sel Salati, beloved by +Sutech, the lord of Hauar.[182]" + +The six shepherd kings enumerated by Josephus from the Egyptian History +of Manetho reigned, according to the dates given by the latter, for 260 +years, _i.e._ from the year 2101 B.C., in which, on Lepsius's +arrangement, the irruption of the shepherds took place, till the year +1842 B.C. Their successors must therefore have ruled over Egypt for 251 +years more, _i.e._, down to the year 1591 B.C. But in the time of the +later shepherd kings, native princes again arose in Upper Egypt, +although subject to tribute. A papyrus of the British Museum tells us: +"It so happened that the land of Egypt became the possession of her +enemies, and when this took place there was no king. And behold Raskenen +became king of the country in the south. The enemy were in possession +of the fortress of Aamu (p. 120), and their chief, Ra Apepi was at +Hauar. The whole land paid tribute to him, and rendered service of all +kinds, and brought to him the produce of Lower Egypt. King Apepi chose +Sutech as his lord, and served no other god, and built him a temple of +firm and lasting structure."[183] + +The power of the native princes at Thebes must have been gradually +strengthened till the successors of Raskenen were in a position to press +forward towards Lower Egypt, and place limits on the sway of the +shepherd kings, and finally to drive them entirely out of Egypt. +Josephus has already told us from Manetho that the princes of Thebes and +the rest of Egypt rose up against the shepherds, and in consequence a +long and severe struggle took place between them. In Manetho's list the +series of shepherd kings is followed by Amosis of Thebes (1684-1659 +B.C.). Hence we may assume that it was under this prince that the +kingdom of Thebes got the upper hand, and the power of the shepherd +kings was restricted to the Eastern Delta. + +This conclusion is established by the evidence of monuments. There +Amosis is again mentioned as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, and two +inscriptions of the twenty-second year of Amosis (1662 B.C.), in the +quarries of Massara, inform us that these quarries were opened to +restore the temples at Memphis and the temple of Ammon at Thebes.[184] +Hence by this time Amosis had again rescued the old capital, Memphis, +from the shepherds; that he also forced his way beyond Memphis, and +attacked the shepherds at Avaris, is proved by the inscription of a tomb +at El Kab, in Upper Egypt. It is the tomb of Aahmes, the son of Abuna, +the chief of the steersmen. The inscription tells us that, at the time +of Amosis, Aahmes, with his father on the boat, had ministered to "the +calf." He had not yet seen any woman, and wore the clothing of the young +men, when Hauar was attacked. When he had won a hand, he received the +king's commendation, and the golden necklace in token of his bravery. In +a second and third battle at Hauar he had again won a hand, and made a +prisoner, and he received the chain for the second and third time.[185] + +From the accounts given in Josephus and the excerpts of Africanus and +Eusebius, Avaris lay eastward of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, in the +province of Sethroe. Consequently we must look for this fortified camp +of the shepherds on the eastern shore of the Lake Menzaleh, perhaps on +the site of the later Pelusium. In the lists of kings Amosis is followed +by Amenophis I., then follows Tuthmosis I., then Tuthmosis II. and III., +under the regency of Misphra (1625-1591 B.C.). From this connection has +arisen the king Misphragmuthosis, who, in Josephus, defeats the +shepherds, drives them out of the rest of Egypt, and shuts them up in +Avaris. Hence it must have been Tuthmosis III., after the rise of the +independent monarchy (1591-1565), who led the great host of 480,000 men +against the shepherds in Avaris, and failing to enter the place by +storm, allowed them to depart unharmed, whereupon the strangers, to the +number of 240,000, retired into the Syrian desert (1591 B.C.). Yet the +inscriptions do not agree with this account. From the inscription of +Aahmes already quoted, it seems more probable that Amosis had already +taken Avaris, and that Tuthmosis I. had marched through Syria to +Naharina, _i.e._ to Mesopotamia, a fact which is confirmed by the +inscriptions of Tuthmosis III., though here also there are accounts of +battles fought by Tuthmosis II. against the Schasu, or shepherds.[186] + +However this may be, after a long subjection to foreign rulers, and +weary struggles against them, the whole land of Egypt was again governed +by native kings. These battles must have invigorated the military +strength of the Egyptians; and the happy result could not but increase +the self-confidence of the new dynasty to which Egypt owed her +liberation. The mighty impulse thus given carried the kingdom quickly to +the height of its power and greatness. Tuthmosis III. caused an +enumeration to be made of the conquests which he won from the +twenty-second to the forty-second year of his reign, and the tribute +which he received in this period. In this enumeration sixteen or +seventeen campaigns are mentioned. In the twenty-third year the king +marched against the Retennu (Syrians). From Kazatu (Gaza) beyond Taanaka +(Taanach) he reached Maketi (Megiddo). Here, on the twenty-ninth of the +month Pachor he defeated his enemies. The conflict was not sanguinary. +Only eighty-three of the enemy were slain. The king made 340 prisoners, +but took at the same time 924 chariots and 2,132 horses. Megiddo +surrendered, and Tuthmosis was able to lead back 2,500 prisoners into +Egypt. After this 117 cities and places in Syria surrendered, Kadeschu +(Kades), Tevekhu (Tibshath on the Orontes), Maram (Merom), Tamesku +(Damascus), Atara (Ataroth), Hamtu (perhaps Hamath), Kaanu (Kanah), +Masaar (Misheal), Astartu (Astaroth Karnaim), Hutar (Hazor), Kennarut +(Kinneroth), Aksap (Achshaph), Bar Semas (Beth Shemesh), Atuma (Adamah), +Ranama (Rimmon), Japu (Joppa), Harar (Har El), Rabbau (Rabbah), Baratu +(Berothai, Berytus), Sarta, &c.[187] Thus the coast of Syria and the +mountain district as far as Damascus and Hamath on the Orontes would +have become subject to the Pharaohs. This subjection, however, does not +seem to have gone beyond payment of tribute. The following campaigns of +the king were again for the most part directed against the Retennu; a +battle was fought at Aratu (Aradus). The sums which Tuthmosis received +in tribute from the Cheta (Hittites) are enumerated. Afterwards the king +made repeated expeditions against Naharina (Arem Naharaim), _i.e._ +against the land of the two rivers, Mesopotamia, and here also he levied +tribute. Then the tribute is given in the list, which the king received +from the Punt (the Arabians). That Lower Nubia, as far as the old +boundary at Semne, was subject to Tuthmosis III. is beyond a doubt. An +inscription found at Ellesieh in Nubia informs us that Nahi, the +governor of Nubia, has sent the tribute of the lands of the south to the +king in gold, ebony, and ivory,[188] and the list quoted mentions 115 +tribes or places subdued by Tuthmosis in the south of Egypt.[189] Of +Amenophis II., the successor of Tuthmosis III. (1565-1555 B.C.), +inscriptions at Amada in Nubia declare that he fought against the +Retennu (Syrians), and slew seven kings, and that in the south he +forced his way as far as Napata, _i.e._ up the Nile as far as Mount +Barkal.[190] + +His successor, Tuthmosis IV., appears on monuments of the island +Konosso, near Philae, as victorious over the negroes.[191] And after him +Amenophis III. (1524-1488 B.C.) again directed his arms in his first +campaign against the negroes; a memorial stone at Semne tells us that he +traversed Abha, the land of the negroes. That the power of Amenophis +III. extended to the south far beyond Semne is proved by the ruins of a +temple which he built at Soleb on the Nile, "to his image living upon +earth," _i.e._ to the copy or manifestation of his divine nature, his +own divinity,[192] and inscriptions on certain scarabaei assure us that +Amenophis ruled from Naharina, _i.e._ Mesopotamia, to the land of Karu +in the south.[193] + +Thebes was the point from which the liberation of the land began. Here +the new dynasty who had restored the kingdom, driven out the enemy, and +carried the arms of Egypt far to the south and east, took up their +lasting abode, and this city became the brilliant centre of the new +kingdom. Here, also, the new Pharaohs glorified themselves by mighty +works, as the old kings had done in the city of Memphis and the +burial-place adjacent. And along with the warlike vigour displayed by +the people, the art and civilisation of Egypt, under the series of kings +extending from Amosis to Amenophis III. (1684-1488 B.C.), reached the +highest perfection which the position and character of the nation +permitted. + +On the right bank of the Nile, on a terrace near the modern village of +Karnak, the first Sesurtesen (2371-2325 B.C.), built a temple of +moderate size to Ammon (p. 102). To this Tuthmosis I. (1646-1625 B.C.) +added a splendid gateway, a lofty gate between two broad wings, which +rise in the form of truncated pyramids, and behind this gateway he built +an oblong court, encircled by a portico supported on pillars. Against +these pillars leaned karyatids, images of Osiris, with the hands, in +which is the cross with handles, crossed upon the breast. Of these four +remain still uninjured. Before the entrance of the gateway he erected +two obelisks of red granite, of which one, sixty-nine feet in height, is +still standing. The inscription runs thus:--"The mighty Horus, the +friend of truth, the king Tutmes, the mighty sun, which is given to the +world, whom Ammon establishes, has erected this firm structure in honour +of his father Ammon Ra, the protector of the world, and has placed two +large obelisks before the double gates."[194] The queen Misphra +(Ramake), who was regent for Tuthmosis II., and in the early years of +Tuthmosis III. (1625-1591 B.C.), erected in the oblong court of +Tuthmosis I. the two second largest obelisks known. Of these also one is +still uninjured, and stands ninety feet high, the other has fallen, and +lies on the ground. The inscription tells us that the queen whom Ammon +himself had placed on the throne and chosen as the protectress of Egypt, +had resolved in her heart to erect two great obelisks, the tops of which +should reach to heaven, in honour of the god Ammon and in remembrance of +her father Tuthmosis I., in order that her name might continue in the +temple of Ammon for ever and ever. Each obelisk was to be of a single +stone of red granite. Her holiness had commenced the work in her +fifteenth year, and completed it in her sixteenth, seven months after +the work was commenced in the mountain quarry.[195] + +To this court Tuthmosis III. added a gateway towards the south, and +surrounded the ancient sanctuary of Sesurtesen with a circle of huge +buildings. These consisted of two halls, each of twelve pillars, to the +right and left of the entrance, on which abut chambers, great or small +as the walls which surround the old temple allow. On the walls which +close these halls and chambers towards the old building, the king +recorded the events of his reign from the twenty-second to the +forty-second year, from which everything has already been given which up +to this time can be regarded as certain. The two largest obelisks also, +of which the largest is now standing in Rome before the Lateran, and the +other is destroyed, were erected by Tuthmosis III., and placed, as it +would seem, before the entrance into the old temple of Sesurtesen. The +obelisk now at Constantinople is also a work of this prince. The +inscription says that Tuthmosis III. "extended his dominion from Mount +Apta (in the south) to the uttermost habitations of Mesopotamia."[196] +On the east side of the enlarged temple of Sesurtesen, he built a +splendid hall, the roof of which is supported by fifty-six pillars. +Besides this he built additions to the temple of Ra at Heliopolis, +restored the temple at Dendera, apparently after a plan sketched on a +goatskin, which, belonging to the time of Chufu (p. 94) was rediscovered +under king Phiops (p. 101),[197] and finally he erected shrines to the +sun-god Mentu at Hermonthis, near Thebes, the god Sebek at Ombos, Chnum +at Letopolis (Esneh), and on the island of Elephantine. In Nubia he +erected temples at Pselchis, Korte, Amada, and Semne. The temple at +Semne he consecrated to Chnum and Sesurtesen III., who extended the +borders of Egypt to this point (p. 105), in order that "the king might +live again in this memorial."[198] + +Before the great sphinx, near the second pyramid, Tuthmosis IV. erected +the memorial stone already mentioned (p. 94); it represents the king +worshipping the sphinx. In the inscription the sphinx addresses the +king, and says, "I, thy father Harmachu, give thee the dominion, the +world in all its length and breadth, rich tribute from all nations, and +a long life of many years."[199] + +The buildings of Amenophis III. are not inferior to those of Tuthmosis +III. in extent or magnificence. Half an hour southward of the gateways, +court, and porticoes of the temple at Karnak, close on the right bank of +the Nile, at the modern village of Luxor, Amenophis built a second +temple to Ammon, the god of Thebes. In a court surrounded by colonnades, +the "court of sacrifice" joined the antechamber of the temple, or outer +temple, then came the temple with the Holy of Holies, built in the form +invariably used in Egypt after the restoration.[200] Only the spacious +antechamber, a hall with a roof supported on pillars and lighted by +windows in the wall, or by the spaces between the front pillars, could +be entered by laymen. The inner temple, reserved for the priests, to +which a second gate led from the antechamber, was a smaller hall of the +same kind, which received only a moderate light through openings made +high up in the side walls. From this half-darkened room the Holy of +Holies was again separated by a court, and the entrance was through a +door. Two other doors led by means of a passage running round the Holy +of Holies into the chamber surrounding it. The Holy of Holies, together +with the chambers abutting upon it, was surrounded by a high wall and +formed a separate temple of small dimensions. The masonry is heavy, and +narrows toward the top. Here in the gloom dwelt the hidden spirit of the +god. The heavy, solemn, mysterious character of the Egyptian temple +naturally makes itself most strongly felt in these spaces or rooms. On +the inner walls of the temple the sacrifices and worship rendered by the +king are represented, on the outer walls we see his achievements in war. +What still remains of the building of Amenophis--and it was subsequently +enlarged--allows us only to conjecture upon the original plan. Yet about +200 pillars and shafts still rise out of the ruins. The reliefs on the +outer walls of the temple, and in the chambers round the Holy of Holies, +are in the best state of preservation. On the walls of one of these +chambers we see the scribe of heaven, Thoth, announcing to Mutemua, the +mother of Amenophis, the birth of her son. Then the ram-god and the +goddess Hathor lead the queen into the lying-in chamber; another goddess +supports the queen during the birth. Then four heavenly spirits, the two +spirits of the south and the two spirits of the north, carry Amenophis, +already grown into a youth, to a throne in the presence of Ammon Ra, who +anoints him king. Then the gods promise gifts, honour, and power to the +new king. They declare that the Retennu, the "nine nations," _i.e._ the +nations bordering on Egypt, and all people, shall be subject to +him.[201] + +Far fewer--not more than a great heap of ruins with a few pillars and +memorial stones--are the remains of a second great work of Amenophis +III., which he built opposite the temple of Karnak on the west bank of +the Nile not far from the modern village of Medinet Habu. We learn +from Pliny that it was a temple of Serapis, _i.e._ of Osarhapi, +Osiris-Apis.[202] We have already mentioned the shrine of the same +goddess, which was situated among the tombs near Memphis (p. 67), +and we know that in the view of the Egyptians the west belonged to the +setting sun, the sun of the under world. The statement of Pliny is also +confirmed by two memorial stones among the ruins, from which we gather +that Osiris and Ammon Ra were the lords of the temple; and it is not +strange that the tutelary god of Thebes should be associated with +Osiris. Before the entrance to this sanctuary Amenophis caused two +statues to be erected, which still rise like steep cliffs above the flat +level of the bank by the side of a palm forest. They are two seated +figures, and the inscriptions tell us that both represent Amenophis. +The king is in a quiet attitude, the hands rest on the knees. The front +parts of the throne are formed by statues of the mother and wife of +Amenophis, which reach up to the knees of the king. The statues were +chiselled out of a single block, as also the bases. The height of the +whole is towards sixty feet.[203] + +The power to which Tuthmosis III. and Amenophis III. exalted Egypt +appears to have declined under their successors, or at least it did not +advance. The monuments prove to us that Amenophis IV. (1488-1476 B.C.) +began certain religious innovations. He paid excessive or exclusive +reverence to the sun-god, and attempted to found a new capital in the +neighbourhood of the modern Amarna, in Central Egypt, which was no doubt +intended to be the centre of the new cult. If, at the same time, as the +monuments show, he was able, like his predecessor, to build at Soleb, in +Dongola, it follows that the supremacy of Egypt was maintained, at any +rate in the south. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[179] Joseph. c. Apion 1, 14; cf. 1, 26; Afric. et Euseb. ap. Sync., p. +61, 62; Schol. Plat. 2, 424, ed. Bekker. + +[180] Caussin de Perceval, "Hist. des Arab." 1, 13, 19. That the +tradition of the Arabs about the Amalika is worthless has been proved by +Noeldeke ("Ueber die Amalekiter"). + +[181] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 77. + +[182] Ebers, _loc. cit._ s. 88, 202; Mariette, "Revue archeol." 1861, p. +337 ff.; 1862, p. 300 ff. From a memorial-stone discovered at Tanis we +find that 400 years before a certain year, which is not named, in the +reign of Ramses II. _i.e._, about 1750 B.C. (according to Lepsius's data +for Ramses II.), the shepherd king Nubti held sway; that he introduced +certain regulations in Egypt for the province of Tanis, the special home +of the shepherds; and that Ramses II. when erecting his buildings, which +in any case were sufficiently durable, at Tanis (see below), referred +back to this king. Further conclusions, which have been deduced from the +inscription on this stone, have been completely overthrown in my opinion +by Mariette.--"Revue archeol." 1865, 11, 169 ff. + +[183] De Rouge, "Athen. Franc." 1854, p. 532; Brugsch, in the "Zeitschr. +d. d. M. G." 9, 200 ff.; "Hist. d'Eg." p. 78. Brugsch assumes that Ra +Apepi was a later Apophis, and not the Apophis who is the fourth +shepherd king in Josephus, and sixth in Africanus, for according to the +inscription on the tomb of Aahmes, Amosis followed Raskenen. On the +inscription Apepi on a colossus of Ramses II., cf. _infra._ + +[184] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 85. + +[185] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 80-90. + +[186] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 81, 87; De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." +1860, 2, 310 ff. + +[187] De Rouge, "Divers Monuments de Tutmes;" "Revue archeol." 1861, 4, +196 ff. 344 ff. + +[188] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 107. + +[189] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1861, 1, 345. + +[190] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 111. + +[191] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 114. + +[192] Lepsius, "Briefe aus AEgypten," s. 216; Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. +118. + +[193] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 114. + +[194] Rosellini, "Monumenti Storici," 3, 1, 29, 114 ff. + +[195] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 92, 93: cf. Rosellini, "Monumenti +Storici," 3, 1, 332, 146, and Lepsius, "Koenigsbuch," s. 38. + +[196] Brugsch, _loc cit._ pp. 108, 109. + +[197] Duemichen, "Bauurkunde von Dendera;" Chabas in "Zeitschr. fuer +aegypt. Sprache," 1865, s. 91 ff. + +[198] Lepsius, "Briefe aus AEgypten," s. 113; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," +pp. 65, 66. + +[199] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 113. + +[200] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1865, 11, 354 ff.; Duemichen, +"Bauurkunde von Edfu;" Brugsch, "Bau und Masse des Tempels von Edfu;" +"Zeitschr. fuer aegypt. Sprache," 1870, s. 153 ff; 1871, s. 25, 32 ff. + +[201] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 210; Rosell. M. St. 1, 219, 223, 236, +248. + +[202] "Hist. Nat." 35, 11. + +[203] Rosell. _loc. cit._ 3, 1, 216. The Greeks regarded the northern +colossus as the statue of Memnon. The ruins of this temple, and other +buildings on the west bank of the Nile, were called by them +"Memnoneia."--Diod. 1, 47; Strabo, pp. 813, 816. The name is strictly +limited to the temples and palaces on the west bank. Yet even the +fortress of Susa is called "the Memnonia."--Herod. 5, 53, 7, 151; +Strabo, p. 728; Diod. 2, 22; Paus. 10, 31. The name as applied to the +Egyptian monuments may be a corruption of Amenophis, so that the name of +the buildings of Amenophis has given the analogy for other similar +structures. Still, it is more probable that the connection of these +buildings with the divinity of the under world, and the death of Osiris, +to which the death of Memnon was compared, is at the root of this +nomenclature of the Greeks. The story of the Ethiopian Memnon, the son +of the Morning, _i.e._ of the East, who came to aid the Trojans and +found an early death before Troy, is known to the Odyssey (11, 522, 4, +187), the Homeric hymns ("In Ven." 219-239) and the Theogony (l. 984), +and was treated in detail by Arktinus of Miletus about 750 B.C. In +Homer's view the Ethiopians dwell in the far East, at the rising of the +sun, beyond the Amazons, whose abode was on the Thermodon. Hence the +ancient Susa, far in the East, the subsequent capital of the Achaemenids, +might have been the dwelling of the son of the East. When it was known +that the Ethiopians inhabited the Upper Nile, and the name Memnon was +found in Egypt, the Greeks, after the time of Herodotus, began to search +for the Homeric Ethiopians and Memnon, in and above Egypt. That the name +is given to the northern colossus only is due to the following reasons. +In the year 27 B.C. an earthquake broke this northern colossus and threw +the upper parts to the ground. Then the pedestal and trunk occasionally +gave forth a metallic sound at sunrise.--Tac. "Annal." 2, 61. This, in +the poetic minds of the Greeks, was the greeting of the son to his +divine mother, the Morning, while she in her sorrow for the early death +of her son moistened the statue every morning with tears of dew. Greek +inscriptions on the pedestal from the time of Nero give the names of +witnesses who had heard the sound. Pausanias, who was of this date, +tells us, _loc. cit._--"At Thebes, in Egypt, is the sounding statue of a +seated man, whom most authorities call Memnon, and say that he forced +his way from Ethiopia to Egypt and Susa. The inhabitants of Thebes, +however, deny that it is Memnon. They regard it as the statue of +Phamenoph, a native Egyptian." Ph-Amenoph is Amenophis with the Egyptian +article. The sounding statue was long regarded as a fable, until the +_savans_ of the French expedition, in the early morning, when the hot +sunbeams followed on the cool of the night, as is usual in the climate +of Africa, perceived in the great Egyptian buildings a small whispering, +or singing tone, which must be due to those physical influences. This +phenomenon may have been especially striking in the mutilated statue of +Amenophis. In the time of Septimius Severus, when the colossus was +restored--the upper parts are now composed of four pieces--the +inscriptions and the marvel came to an end. The new weight placed upon +the pedestal appears to have checked the vibrations. At present no sound +is heard.--Letronne, "La Statue vocal de Memnon." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE HOUSE OF RAMSES. + + +The Greeks inform us that Sesostris, or Sesosis, was the greatest +warrior among the kings of Egypt. Herodotus was told by the priests that +he was the first who set out with ships of war from the Arabian Gulf, +and reduced the dwellers by the Red Sea, until he was checked by waters +which were too shallow for navigation. On his return from this +expedition, Sesostris, as the priests said, gathered together a great +army, invaded the continent, and reduced every nation in his path. In +the conquered lands he set up pillars, on which were inscribed his name +and country, and that he had reduced the nation by his power. Wherever +he found but little resistance he also caused female emblems to be +engraved on the pillars. "So he passed from Asia into Europe, and +reduced the Scythians and Thracians. Beyond these the Egyptian army did +not, in my opinion, pass; for in the country of the Thracians the +pillars of Sesostris are found, but not farther. The greater number of +these pillars are no longer in existence; yet in Syrian Palestine I have +myself seen them with the inscriptions and emblems. In Ionia also there +are two images of this king hewn in the rock, one on the way from +Ephesus to Phocaea, the other on the way from Sardis to Smyrna. At both +places there is the figure of a man, 4-1/2 cubits high, with a spear in +the right hand and a bow in the left, armed partly as an Egyptian and +partly as an Ethiopian. Across the breast, from one shoulder to the +other, run Egyptian sacred letters, saying: 'I have conquered this land +with my arms.' Who he is and from whence he comes, Sesostris does not +tell us here, but on the other pillars. When Sesostris returned, he +brought with him many prisoners from the tribes, and his brother, to +whom Sesostris had entrusted Egypt, gave him a hospitable reception at +Pelusium. But round the house in which Sesostris was with his wife and +children he caused wood to be heaped, and set on fire. Then the queen +cried out to Sesostris to take two of her six sons, throw them on the +burning wood, and pass over their bodies as over a bridge. This was +done. The two sons were burnt, but the others with their father escaped. +After taking revenge on his brother, Sesostris employed the masses of +prisoners in drawing enormous stones to the temple of Hephaestus, and in +digging all the canals which now intersect Egypt. By these the land, +hitherto an open field for chariots and horses, was made less +accessible. The king's object in making them was that the cities which +were not on the river should have more water at the time when the floods +were not out. Then Sesostris is said to have divided the arable land of +Egypt into equal rectangular portions, and to have allotted to every man +an equal portion. And if the inundation washed away any part of this +allotment, the king returned the owner a corresponding part of his tax. +Sesostris was the only king of Egypt who also ruled over Ethiopia. As a +memorial of his reign, he left six large statues before the temple of +Hephaestus--images of himself, his wife, and his four sons; the two +first are thirty, the four last twenty cubits high. Long after, when +Darius wished to place his own statue in front of these, the priest of +Hephaestus forbade him, because Darius had not achieved such mighty deeds +as Sesostris. He had reduced the Scythians, whom Darius had failed to +reduce. This indignity, they say, Darius pardoned."[204] + +Diodorus assures us that Sesostris had surpassed the greatest and most +glorious deeds of his predecessors. "But inasmuch as not only the Greek +writers are far from agreeing in their accounts of this king, but even +the Egyptian priests, and those who sing of his deeds are at variance, +we shall attempt to give the most probable account and that which is +most in agreement with the monuments still existing in Egypt." When +Sesosis was born, his father gathered together all the boys born on the +same day, more than 1700 in number, and caused them to be brought up in +the same manner as his own son, in the impression that they would thus +become his most loyal and bravest comrades in battle. With these +companions he first despatched him against the Arabs, and Sesosis +subjugated the whole country of the Arabs, which no one had ever +subjugated before. In the next place, his father sent him against the +tribes in the west, and Sesosis, although still quite young, subjugated +a great part of Libya. On the death of his father, Sesosis, relying on +the results of previous campaigns, formed the resolution of subjugating +the whole earth. Having gained the good will of the Egyptians by +gentleness, remission of punishments, and presents, he gathered together +a great army of the mightiest men, an army of 600,000 infantry, 24,000 +cavalry, and 27,000 chariots. The various divisions of this great host +he placed under the command of those who had been educated with him, to +whom at the same time he allotted the most fruitful lands in Egypt. With +this host Sesosis first reduced the Ethiopians, who dwelt in the south, +and imposed upon them a tribute of gold, ebony, and ivory. Then he sent +a fleet of four hundred ships into the Red Sea--he was the first +Egyptian to build ships of war--and by means of these he subjugated to +his dominion all the islands and sea-coasts, as far as India. Meanwhile +he marched out in person with his army, and reduced the whole of Asia. +He crossed the Ganges and passed through India to the ocean. Then he +subjugated the nations of Scythia as far as the Tanais, which divides +Europe and Asia. In the same manner he reduced the rest of Asia, and +then passed into Europe. But in Thrace he was in great danger of losing +his army through want of food and the severity of the climate. So he put +an end to the campaign in Thrace, after erecting pillars at many places +in the countries he had subjugated. On these was engraved, in the +character which the Egyptians called sacred, the following +inscription:--"This land Sesosis, the king of kings and lord of lords, +conquered with his arms." At some places also he set up his own statue +in stone, with a bow and lance, four cubits and four hands high, for +this was his own height. After completing these campaigns in nine years, +Sesosis returned with his prisoners and untold spoil. When at Pelusium, +his brother formed a plan for his destruction. He invited Sesosis to a +banquet, and in the night, when all were asleep after their wine, he +heaped up reeds round the king's tent and set them on fire. When the +flames suddenly sprang up, the retinue, heavy with wine, could render +little service, but Sesosis lifted up his hands and besought the gods +to save his wife and children, and with them he happily escaped from the +flames. In gratitude for this rescue he honoured the gods with +dedicatory statues, more especially the god Hephaestus, as it was by him +that he was saved. In his temple at Memphis he placed statues of himself +and his wife, monoliths of thirty cubits high, and also statues of his +four sons, twenty cubits in height. The princes whom he placed over the +conquered nations, or allowed to retain their thrones, came with +presents to Egypt at the appointed time. Sesosis received them with +honour and distinction. But whenever he went into a temple or a city he +caused his horses to be unyoked from his chariot, and in their place the +princes and rulers were yoked four abreast, in order to show to all that +he was the mightiest and had conquered the bravest, so that no one was +his equal in valour. Having ended his wars, Sesosis began to erect great +works for his own glory and the security of Egypt. In every city he +erected a temple to the divinity chiefly worshipped there. On these +works no Egyptian was employed; they were entirely completed by his +prisoners. Moreover, for the cities which lay too low Sesosis caused +many large dams to be made, to which he transferred the cities, so that +they were secure from the inundations of the Nile. From Memphis +downwards he carried a number of canals through the whole land, partly +to facilitate commerce, partly to make invasion more difficult to the +enemy. Up to this time the best part of Egypt was an open field for the +movements of cavalry and chariots; after this it became almost +impassable, owing to the number of canals. In addition the king built a +wall 1,500 stades in length, from Pelusium to Heliopolis, as a security +against inroads from Syria and Arabia. To the god held in chief honour +at the city of Thebes he presented a ship of cedar wood, 280 cubits in +length, of which the visible part was overlaid on the inside with silver +and on the outside with gold, and in his honour he also erected two +obelisks of hard stone, 120 cubits high, on which he caused to be +inscribed the greatness of his power, the number of the subjugated +nations, and the amount of his income. When he had reigned thirty-three +years his eyesight began to fail, and he voluntarily put an end to his +own life. Many generations after, when Darius wished to set up his own +image in front of Sesosis, the high priest forbade him in the assembly +of priests, and explained that Darius had not surpassed the deeds of +Sesosis. So far from being enraged, Darius was pleased at his freedom, +and said that he would henceforth make it his object, should an equal +length of life be given him, to fall below Sesosis in no respect.[205] + +Strabo says: Sesostris appears first of all to have conquered the land +of the Ethiopians and Troglodytes; on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, +between the harbour of the Protectress and the Elephant-hunt, there +stood on a hill a temple built by Sesostris in honour of Isis. He +succeeded in reaching the land of cinnamon, where pillars and +inscriptions are shown as monuments of his campaign. Then he crossed +over to Arabia, and it is said that in the narrow part of Ethiopia +towards Arabia, on the promontory of Dire, there was a pillar giving an +account of his crossing. From Arabia he went on to invade the whole of +Asia, and even forced his way into Europe. In many places ramparts and +temples of the Egyptian style are shown as the work of Sesostris. In +Egypt he undertook the construction of a canal from the Nile into the +Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea.[206] + +When Germanicus, the son of Drusus, travelled in Egypt, he saw large +remains of ancient Thebes. On the mighty walls, so Tacitus continues, +the Egyptian inscriptions still remained, telling of their former +magnificence. One of the older priests was bidden to translate the +Egyptian inscriptions, and he informed them that once there had been +700,000 men of military age in the kingdom, and with this army Ramses +had subjugated Libya and Ethiopia, the Medes, Persians, Bactrians, and +Scythians, and in addition to these had ruled over the lands from the +Bithynian to the Lycian Seas, which are inhabited by the Syrians, the +Armenians, and their neighbours, the Cappadocians. The amount of tribute +also imposed upon the nations was read, the weight of silver and gold, +the number of weapons and horses, the presents of ivory and frankincense +for the temples, and how much each nation had to contribute in corn and +goods--an amount no less than that which is now imposed by the power of +the Parthians or the Romans.[207] + +Josephus, on the authority of Manetho's Egyptian History, tells us that +Sethosis, who was called Ramesses, possessed a great force in cavalry +and ships. After leaving his brother Armais as governor of Egypt, and +placing the royal power in his hands,--with the restrictions that he was +not to wear the crown, or do any injury to the queen-mother and her +children, or approach the king's concubines,--he marched against Cyprus +and the Phenicians, and afterwards against the Assyrians and the Medes, +and subjugated them all, some by his arms, others by the fear of his +great power. Fired with ambition by these successes, he pressed boldly +onward to reduce the cities and lands of the east. Thus his absence was +prolonged, and his brother Armais, without the least shame, disregarded +all the restrictions laid upon him. He violated the queen, lay with the +concubines of the king, allowed himself to be persuaded by his friends +into wearing the crown, and rebelled against his brother. But the person +who was in authority over the sanctuaries of Egypt wrote to the king and +disclosed all that his brother had done against him. Sethosis at once +turned back to Pelusium, and established himself again in possession of +the dominion which belonged to him.[208] + +Thus, according to the accounts of Tacitus and Josephus, the warrior +whom Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo call Sesostris or Sesosis, was +known to the Egyptians as Ramses, Ramesses, or Sethosis. Let us now +inquire whether the monuments present us with princes and achievements +which confirm the narratives of the Greeks, the account of Manetho, and +the evidence of Tacitus. According to these it may be assumed that Horus +(Hor, 1455-1443 B.C.) whom the sculptures of a temple hewn in the rock +in the valley of the Nile at Selseleh represent as a conqueror over the +negroes,[209] was succeeded by Ramses I. (1443-1439 B.C.) who was +followed by Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.). Of him we are told in the +inscriptions on the outer wall of the great colonnade which he erected +at Karnak (p. 169) that in the first year of his reign he had attacked +the Schasu, from the fortress of Tar as far as Kanana;[210] his holiness +had startled them like a lion, and made a great slaughter. On a mountain +fortress to which the defeated enemy fled is read, "Fortress of the +land of Kanana (Canaan)." After this there were expeditions against the +Schasu, and the tribute which they paid to Sethos is mentioned. The +Schasu are the nomad tribes in the desert between Egypt and Canaan, +which had previously conquered and ruled over Egypt. The inscriptions +also remark that Sethos had twice desolated the land of Cheta with fire, +and had taken Kadeshu (Kades).[211] The Cheta are the Chittim, or +Hittites, who possessed the south of Canaan. Then the sculptures +represent the victory of the king over the Retennu, _i.e._ over the +tribes of Syria, and inscriptions celebrate the victories which Sethos +had gained over the "nine nations,"[212] _i.e._ over all the nations +bordering on Egypt. On the Upper Nile also Sethos had fought and +established his dominion, as is proved by the ruins of a temple on Mount +Sese in Dongola above the buildings of Amenophis II. and III. at +Soleb.[213] The representations of the achievements of Sethos at Karnak +are brought to a close by the victorious return of the king with +"innumerable" prisoners and rich booty, and by two enormous figures of +the king, in each of which he is holding nine prisoners. The list of the +conquered nations first mentions the tribes of Cush, _i.e._ of the +south; then follow the Schasu, the Cheta, and Naharina (the inhabitants +of Mesopotamia), and last of all the "Punt," _i.e._ the tribes of +Arabia. These names are followed by the observation;--"This is the list +of the nations of the south and the north, which his holiness has +subdued: the number of prisoners conveyed into the temple of Ammon Ra +cannot be given."[214] From these monuments we gather that Sethos +carried on a number of successful campaigns which begin with battles +against the nomad tribes on the eastern borders of Egypt, then extend to +the south and north of Syria, and finally to Mesopotamia, while in the +other direction he reduced the tribes of Arabia, and carried the sway of +Egypt beyond Dongola, farther to the south than before. + +Sethos was followed by his son Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.).[215] We +learnt from Herodotus that Sesostris had set up pillars in the conquered +lands in remembrance of his campaigns: in Syrian Palestine Herodotus had +himself seen such pillars, and in Ionia there were two figures of this +king hewn in the rock. As a fact a rock half way between Smyrna and +Sardis to this day presents a relief of an armed warrior. In style and +attitude it is certainly not Egyptian, and therefore cannot have been +the work of a Pharaoh. On the other hand, the rocks on the Phenician +coast which run into the sea at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, near the +ancient Berytus, the modern Beyrout, have Egyptian sculptures upon them. +These are three figures of Ramses II. In one he is carrying an enemy +into the presence of Ammon. In the two others he is striking down an +enemy before the gods Ptah and Ra. Though to a great extent destroyed, +the inscriptions still show that the achievements, of which these +sculptures are intended to immortalise the memory, belonged to the +second and fourth year of Ramses II. His arms had therefore reached the +coast of Phenicia, northward of Tyre and Sidon, and he maintained his +ground so far or so long, that he could set up this memorial of his +victory. In the ruins of a temple built or restored by Ramses at Tanis +(San), we find an inscription which ascribes to him the subjugation of +the land of Kaft, _i.e._ of Phenicia, of Nebinai, which is explained to +be Cyprus, and lastly of the Upper Retennu, _i.e._ of eastern +Syria.[216] Inscriptions on the building of Ramses II. at Karnak, near +Medinet Habu (the so-called Ramesseum), and in his rock temple at Abu +Simbel in Nubia, inform us that he again fought in Syria in the fifth +year of his reign. Eighteen nations, tribes, or cities are mentioned +which were opposed to the Egyptians. Here, also, the Cheta, _i.e._ the +Hittites, are first mentioned, then the Karkisa (perhaps the +Girgasites),[217] Kadeshu (Kades, either Kadesh Barnea in the south, or +Kadesh in the north of Canaan), Aratu (Aradus), Chirbu (perhaps Chelbon, +Aleppo), Kirkamisha (Karchemish), and Naharina (Mesopotamia). At Kadesh +Ramses was victorious and thence he returned to Egypt.[218] In the +eighth year of his reign he was again in Canaan. He took Maram (Merom), +Dapurr (perhaps Debir), in the land of the Amari (Amorites), and +Salam,[219] and on the walls of the Ramesseum, as also on a large +memorial stone in the ruins of Karnak, there is a treaty of the +twenty-first year of Ramses II., between "Ramses, the son of the great +prince Sethos the brave, the son of the great prince Ramses I." and +"Chetasar (_i.e._, the prince of the Cheta), son of the great prince +Maursar the brave, son of the great prince Sepalulu." It is concluded +"on good terms for eternal peace and friendship, that this may be a +beginning for all eternity according to the intention of the great king +of Egypt." After reference to former treaties, the great king of the +Cheta pledges himself never to invade Egypt to inflict injury, and a +similar promise is made by Ramses. Both kings are to send back those of +their subjects who wish to take service with the other. Either is to +help the other when attacked by enemies. The treaty is ratified by oaths +on either side; and Sutech (Baal) appears as the tutelary god of the +Cheta.[220] + +Such is the information we can gain from monuments of the achievements +of Ramses II. in Syria. His campaigns in the south appear to have been +attended by more important results. Sculptures in the temple at Abu +Simbel display the king sitting on his chariot, and leading back as +prisoners red figures, which here are probably Nubians, and negroes with +ropes round their necks: both tribes have no other garments but the +skins of wild animals. In another temple hewn in the rock of the western +bank at Beth-el-Walli, a little above Syene, we see Ramses II. standing +alone upon his war chariot, rushing with drawn bow on a crowd of +negroes, who are armed with very long bows, but clothed only with skins. +They fall before the horses of the king. Thus defeated, they fly to +their villages, which lie in a valley shadowed by cocoa-palms, in the +tops of which apes are climbing. Women and children come forth in +distress to meet the fugitives. The prisoners and the booty are brought +before the king, chieftains in fetters, and negroes carrying elephants' +tusks and ebony; others lead lions, panthers, antelopes, gazelles, +ostriches, and a giraffe, the animal of Central Africa.[221] Besides +this Ramses II. founded the furthest monument of Egyptian dominion up +the stream of the Nile, so that he must have ruled further to the south +than his father Sethos. Beyond Soleb, under the steep spur of Mount +Barkal, 400 miles or more above Syene, lie the ruins of a temple which +Ramses built in honour of Ammon.[222] Symbolical representations of the +temple already mentioned at Abu Simbel on the right and left of the +entrance collect all the victories which Ramses won. Before the god +Ammon, who hands to the king the scythe of battle, Ramses is brandishing +his club upon a crowd of kneeling enemies, whom he has seized by the +forelock. Among these are three negroes, three red and beardless men, +and four forms which are yellow and bearded. Ammon speaks thus: "I give +thee the scythe, slay with it; I give thee the south for subjection, and +the north for conquest, and to put to flight all the tribes of the +perverse nations, and to extend the fabric of thy dominion to the +pillars of the sky."[223] + +On this evidence we find that the narratives of the Greeks of the deeds +of Sesostris, with whom tradition has amalgamated Sethos and Ramses II., +and also Manetho's account of the exploits of Ramses, and what the +priest read about them to Germanicus at Thebes, are all violent +exaggerations. Of the battles in the north-east and in Asia, we find in +the inscriptions only the battles fought by Sethos against the +shepherds, between Egypt and Syria, against the Schasu, against the +Hittites, against the Retennu, and finally a campaign to Mesopotamia, or +at least battles against princes of the Euphrates. Of Ramses II. we find +that he forced his way as far as Berytus in Syria, and fought against +Syrian tribes and cities, with whom Karchemish on the Euphrates, and +other princes of the Euphrates (Naharina) are said to have been united. +Even as early as Tuthmosis I. and III., and Amenophis III., the +inscriptions mention campaigns to Mesopotamia. They tell us that +Tuthmosis III. forced his way into the interior of Mesopotamia, and +enumerate the regions which he compelled to pay tribute. With regard to +Ramses II. the monuments prove no more than that he temporarily reduced +Syria, including the Phenician cities and the island of Cyprus, which +was probably already dependent upon them. The subsequent battles and the +treaty of Ramses II. with the Cheta, prove how slight were the successes +so highly extolled in the inscriptions. If the Hittites were never +reduced to obedience, all the more distant campaigns into Syria, and all +attempts against Mesopotamia had only a momentary result, and could +hardly have been more than mere raids. In the inscriptions, every +Pharaoh, from Amosis onward, is found fighting against the same nations, +the Schasu, the Cheta, the Retennu, the Punt, the Cushites, &c., and +each time we are assured that the "eight" or "nine nations," "the lands +of the north and south," the earth from one end to the other has been +subdued. It is by no means remarkable that the recollections of the +campaigns of the third Tuthmothis and Amenophis, of the achievements of +Sethos, and of Ramses II. and of Ramses III., of which we have still to +speak, supported as they were by the flattery and exaggeration of the +inscriptions, should combine in the tradition of the Egyptians into a +monarch who subdued the whole earth, of whom certain accounts and these, +as Diodorus says, by no means accordant, passed to the Greeks. And +Diodorus observes expressly that these contradictions were not due to +the Greeks, but to the Egyptian priests and those who sang of the +exploits of Sesostris. + +As we have seen, this tradition lays especial weight on the achievements +of Sesostris in Ethiopia, in the Red Sea, and in Arabia. Herodotus +tells us that the priests assured him that the king--at first sailing +with ships of war out of the Arabian Gulf--had subjugated the +inhabitants of the Red Sea. He was, they said, the only king who had +ruled at once over Egypt and Ethiopia. In Diodorus we find that he first +reduces the whole of Arabia, which had never before been conquered, and +the greater part of Libya, and the Ethiopians in the south of Egypt. +Afterwards he--first of the Egyptians--built ships of war, and sent them +into the Red Sea, and with these reduced all the coasts and islands as +far as India. In Strabo Sesostris first marches against Ethiopia, forces +his way as far as the land of Cinnamon, then crosses the Straits of +Bab-el-Mandeb, reduces Arabia, and commences the digging of a canal from +the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. The monuments confirm the statement that +Sethos fought with the Punt, _i.e._ the Arabs, that he pushed farther +than his predecessors into the territory of the negroes, and that Ramses +II. (in whose reign the monuments mention governors of Ethiopia)[224] +established a lasting supremacy as far as Mount Barkal. + +Thus it is established that the dominion of Egypt under Ramses II. +extended beyond Nubia and Dongola, and reached the territory of the +negroes, while at the same time the tribes of the Arabian peninsula may +have been to a great extent reduced to pay tribute; and from this we may +draw the conclusion that the attention of Sethos and Ramses was mainly +directed to these regions. The products which they could obtain by +tribute or by trade with these tribes--slaves, gold, ebony, ivory, +frankincense, spices, gum--were of great value for Egypt, and ships of +war were needed both to keep in submission the tribes which may have +been subjugated on the coasts of Arabia, and to maintain the trading +stations settled on the east coast of Africa. For the fleet of Ramses +Herodotus refers to the evidence of the priests. Such a fleet is, as a +fact, exhibited on the monuments of Ramses III., and the tradition of +the Hebrews tells us of trading ships which, about the year 1000 B.C., +sailed from Elath out of the Arabian Sea, and reached the mouth of the +Indus, no doubt on routes the Egyptian trade had already laid down to +the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and the southern coast of Arabia. In +connection with these efforts, directed towards the establishment of +trade and authority on the Arabian Sea, it seems intelligible that +Sethos and his son Ramses should have entertained the idea of +establishing a water communication between the Nile and this sea, and +should have actually commenced the work. Remains of a canal, beginning +on the Nile at Bubastis, above the city, ran through the valley of +Tumilat, a depression of the Arabian hills towards the east, in the +direction of the Lake of Crocodiles and the Bitter Lakes. On these +remains at Tel-el-Kebir and Abu Kesheb are the ruins of Egyptian +buildings. At the second place an image of Ramses II. has been found, +worshipping Tum and Ammon. We may assume that the ruins at Tel-el-Kebir +are those of the city of Pithom (Patumos, _pa-tum_, _i.e._ habitation of +Tum), which we learn from Herodotus lay on this canal, and those at Abu +Kesheb are the ruins of the city of Ramses (_pa-rameses_), names +preserved to us in the tradition of the Hebrews, and that Sethos and +Ramses II. had built both these cities.[225] The Hebrews, whose +forefathers had broken off from the Edomites, the settlers on Mount +Seir, which runs from the north-east point of the Red Sea to the Dead +Sea, and pastured their flocks on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile under +Egyptian protection, have a tradition that it was they who were +compelled to build Pithom and Ramses for the Pharaoh. The canal remained +unfinished; at that time it apparently reached only to the Lake of +Crocodile. Seven hundred years later Necho carried it as far as the +Bitter Lakes; it was finished by King Darius and the Ptolemies, who +completed what the Pharaohs were unable to carry out. + +The tradition of the mighty deeds of Sesostris in Asia contradicts +itself in the most glaring manner, inasmuch as it likewise tells us that +he dug a number of canals from Memphis downwards to the sea, in order to +fortify the land and make the approach difficult for enemies. The +eastern side of Egypt also he fortified against the inroads of Arabians +and Syrians, by building a wall of about 1,500 stades long through the +desert from Pelusium to Heliopolis. And the inscriptions on the building +of Sethos at Karnak are believed to tell us that this prince had erected +"the double walls against the lands of the impure."[226] No line of +fortification was required against the nomads on the eastern border, if +these were sufficiently held in check by the Egyptian arms, or had been +thoroughly subjugated. This great fortification which passed beyond the +protecting arm of the Nile from Bubastis in a slanting direction through +the desert, from the sea to Heliopolis, along a line of about 1,500 +stades, may very likely have been connected with the making of the +canal. The trade on the canal would be protected against predatory +attacks, and the territory rescued from the desert by its construction, +and the cities adjacent would be protected. The city which Ramses built +on the canal and named by his own name apparently belonged to those +fortifications. It was a border fortress against the desert and the +attacks of Syrian tribes. + +Of Menephta, _i.e._ beloved of Ptah (1322-1302 B.C.), the son and +successor of Ramses II., Josephus, following Manetho, gives us the +following account:--"Like Horus, who had been king before him, Menephta +desired to see the gods. This wish he confided to a wise prophet, the +son of Papius. The prophet told him that he would see the gods if he +cleared the whole land of leprous and unclean persons. Then the king +collected out of Egypt all who were diseased in their bodies, to the +number of 80,000, and threw them into the stone quarries east of the +Nile, that they might labour there along with the other Egyptians +condemned to similar toil. But as among the diseased persons were +certain men of learning and priests who had been attacked by leprosy, +the son of Papius feared the anger of the gods would descend upon +himself and the king if holy men were forced into slavish tasks, and he +foresaw that others would come to the aid of these impure persons, and +rule over Egypt for thirteen years. He did not venture to tell this to +the king, but wrote it down, and then put an end to his own life. Filled +with anxiety, when the lepers had suffered long enough in the stone +quarries, the king gave them Avaris, the city abandoned by the +shepherds, as a refuge and protection. But according to the old +mythology this city belonged to Typho. When the unclean persons came to +Avaris, and were in possession of a centre to support any disaffection, +they chose Osarsiph, one of the priests at Heliopolis, as their leader, +and swore to obey him in everything. The first law he gave them was to +offer prayer to no god, and to abstain from no animal held sacred in +Egypt, but to sacrifice them all and eat them, and to hold communion +with none but those who had taken the oath. After giving these and many +other laws, diametrically opposed to the Egyptian customs, Osarsiph bade +them fortify the city, and arm themselves against Menephta, while he +took counsel with certain priests and infected persons, and sent an +embassy to Jerusalem, to the shepherds driven out by Tuthmosis. He told +them what an outrage had been done to him and his associates, and called +on them to march against Egypt with the same intentions as himself. +Avaris, the city of their forefathers, would first open its gates to +them and give freely whatever they needed, and whenever necessary he +would fight at their head and easily subdue the land for them. Delighted +at the message, the shepherds all set out with eagerness, about 200,000 +strong, and were soon in Avaris. When Menephta heard of their approach, +he was seized with alarm, for he bethought him of the prophecy of the +son of Papius. It is true he gathered together about 300,000 of the +flower of the Egyptian army, but when the enemy met him, he would not +join battle, fearing to fight against the gods. After taking counsel +with his officers, he gave orders for the sacred animals, which were +held in especial honour, to be brought to him, and bade the priests +secure the images of the gods with the greatest care; and when he had +placed his son Sethos, now five years old, in security with a friend, he +turned back to Memphis. Then he took Apis and the other sacred animals, +which the priests had brought to Memphis, with him, and retired with his +army and the bulk of the Egyptians to Ethiopia. The king of Ethiopia, +who was under a debt of gratitude to Menephta, received him and the +multitude with him, provided for the Egyptians, and allotted them cities +and villages sufficient to support them for the thirteen years, and +caused the Ethiopian army to keep watch on the borders of Egypt. But the +men of Jerusalem and the unclean invaded Egypt, and displayed such +impious rage against the Egyptians, that to those who witnessed their +wickedness their dominion seemed the worst of all. They were not content +with burning cities and villages, with plundering the sanctuaries, and +destroying the images of the gods, they even compelled the priests and +prophets to sacrifice and strangle the sacred animals, and then they +thrust them naked out of the temples, and ate the animals if at all good +for food. But in time Menephta returned with a great host from Ethiopia, +and his son Ramses also with an army. Both attacked the unclean and the +shepherds, and overcame them. Many they slew, and the rest they pursued +as far as the borders of Syria. It is said that the priest who gave them +their constitution and laws, a native of Heliopolis, and called +Osarsiph, from Osiris, the god worshipped there, changed his name from +Osarsiph to Moses."[227] + +From the tradition of the Hebrews we learn that their ancestors, after +pasturing their flocks for a long time, under Egyptian protection, on +the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, in the land of Goshen, became weary of +the task-work imposed upon them, and set forth out of Egypt, in order to +feed their flocks in freedom in the peninsula of Sinai, to the east of +the Dead Sea. The oppression of these shepherds by Egypt may, of course, +be connected with the fortification of the border towards Syria, the +construction of the canal, and the erection of the cities for trade, and +the border fortresses on this canal. Accordingly there seems no reason +to contest the tradition of the Egyptians that the exodus of the Hebrews +took place under Menephta. That the Egyptian tradition regards these +Hebrews as leprous and unclean Egyptians is of no importance. The +cession of Avaris and invitation of the Hyksos is mere imagination, +arising from the somewhat analogous event of former times. The most +improbable fact is the voluntary departure of Menephta to the allied +king of the Ethiopians, and the abandonment of Egypt without a struggle +to her fiercest foe. Under Ramses II., as we have seen, Ethiopia, as far +as Mount Barkal, became an Egyptian province. Far more credible is the +tradition of the Hebrews that the army of the Pharaoh met with a heavy +reverse in the attempt to check the exodus of the Hebrews, and their +union with the hostile tribes of the desert. It is possible that, in +consequence of this disaster, a king was set up in opposition to +Menephta, and that Menephta retired before him to Ethiopia, from whence +he afterwards recovered Egypt. In the excerpt of Eusebius we find, after +the name Menephta, a king Amenemes, and on the monuments Amenemessu, +whose shields, though chiselled out, can still be recognised.[228] + +Of all these things the monuments of Menephta know nothing. On the +contrary, a long inscription in the small court, on the southern wall of +the temple at Karnak, tells us of a victory which Menephta had obtained +over the Libyan tribes. These are the Lubu (Libyans), Maschawascha (who +may be explained as the Maxyans, a tribe which, as Herodotus tells us, +dwelt near Lake Triton, on the north coast of Africa), the Kesak, and +from the "regions on the sea," the Tuirscha, Sakalascha, Schardaina, +Akaiwascha, and Leku. They had crossed the western border and forced +their way, not into the land only, but down to the river, and had +pitched their camp in the territory of the city Paali. The king was +obliged to protect the city of Tum and the sanctuary of Ptah Tatamen +(perhaps Memphis). On the first of Epiphi--the year of the reign of +Menephta was not given, or at any rate is not found now--a battle took +place. Of the Lubu 6,359 were slain; of hands belonging to the +Sakalascha 250 were counted, and 790 belonging to the Tuirscha. Fourteen +pairs of horses were taken, belonging to the chief of the Leku and his +sons, and 9,111 swords of the Maschawascha.[229] + +Menephta was succeeded by Sethos II. and Menephta II. Then followed +Ramses III. (1269-1244 _B.C._). The warlike exploits which this king has +commemorated on his temple at Medinet Habu appear from the inscriptions +to have been hardly inferior to those of Sethos I. and Ramses II. In the +reliefs of this temple is seen an Egyptian fleet and the engagement +with the ships of the enemy. On a picture on a wall are collected all +the campaigns of the king; the chiefs of the conquered tribes are +represented by fourteen figures, and the accompanying hieroglyphics give +us the names of their tribes. Two of these names are destroyed, and a +third is illegible. The first figure is the chief of the "evil land of +Cush." Two of the figures are negroes, and their tribes are mentioned. +Then follow the lord "of the hostile Schasu," _i.e._ the shepherds of +the Syrian border, the "evil chief of the Cheta," against whom the +inscription observes that he was taken alive, the "evil chief of the +Amari" (Amorites), the sovereign of the Lubu (Libyans), the sovereign of +the Maschawascha, the coast-land Tuirscha, the coast-land Schardaina, +and the "lord of the hostile Zakkarj."[230] The first Menephta, as we +have seen, had been compelled to fight against the Lubu, Maschawascha, +Tuirscha, and Schardaina. The remaining figures prove that Ramses III. +carried on war on the Upper Nile against the Nubians and Negro tribes, +and in the north-east he had to contend with the Schasu, _i.e._ the +descendants of the Hyksos, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the old +enemies against whom his forefathers took the field. To these the +Pulista, _i.e._ the Philistines, who are here mentioned for the first +time, are added in a list of the nations reduced by the king in the +eighth and ninth years of his reign, inscribed on the right wing of the +gateway which leads into the second court of the temple. In the second +court four pictures represent the achievements of the king in the fifth +year of his reign against the Lubu (Libyans), and ten pictures on the +outer side of the north wall give the achievements of the eighth and +ninth years. First there is a great slaughter of the Temhu, apparently +the general name under which the Egyptians comprehended the Libyan +tribes. The enumeration of hands and members gives a total of 12,535 for +each, and the scribe on the picture is taking this down. On the eighth +picture the Egyptian ships, with beaks ending in lions' heads, and +mastheads manned by archers, are manoeuvring with sails and oars to +thrust the enemy's ships upon the shore, on which is drawn up the +Egyptian army with arrows also directed against the hostile ships. The +inscriptions tell us that these are the ships of the Zakkarj. At a +fortress over which is written Magadil (Migdol?) the captive Zakkarj are +brought before the king. This is on the ninth picture; on the tenth the +king celebrates his return to Thebes.[231] + +Ramses III. was followed by eleven kings of the same name (1244-1091 +_B.C._). But the days of warlike expeditions were over. The inscriptions +which have come down to us from these rulers only prove that their +sovereignty was maintained over Nubia, and tell us of certain buildings +which these princes also erected at Memphis.[232] Of Ramses XII. a +memorial stone found in the temple of the moon-god Chunsu at Karnak--a +deity to whom the house of Ramses paid especial honour--informs us that +he elevated the daughter of the lord of the land of Buchten (or Bachtan) +to be Queen of Egypt. When afterwards another daughter of the chief fell +ill, he besought the king of Egypt for a wise man to cure her. The +priest, whom Ramses sent, found the king's daughter possessed by a +spirit, but he was too weak to contend with it. Then the chief of +Buchten besought Ramses to send him a god to overcome the spirit. And +Ramses sent the image of the god Chunsu from the temple at Thebes in a +large boat, accompanied by five small boats and a chariot. The spirit +gave way before the god, and the chieftain was in great joy, and refused +to allow the god to return to Egypt, until in a dream he saw a golden +hawk, which spread out its wings to fly to Egypt. On awaking he found +himself seized by an illness. So he allowed the god to return to Egypt +after he had kept him three years and nine months, and gave him many +rich presents for the journey.[233] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[204] Herod. 2, 102-110. + +[205] Diod. 1, 53, 58. + +[206] Strabo, pp. 38, 686, 769, 770, 790, 804. + +[207] Tac. "Annal." 2, 60. + +[208] Joseph. "C. Apion." 1, 15; Euseb. "Arm." ed. Aucher, p. 230; +"Sethos qui et Rameses." + +[209] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 124. + +[210] Ebers, "AEgypten," s. 78. + +[211] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 132. + +[212] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 320 ff. + +[213] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 136. + +[214] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 1, 315 ff.; Bunsen, "AEgypten," 4, 171; +Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 128 ff.; cf. Brugsch, "Recueil," p. 59. + +[215] The lists allow him a reign of 61, 66, or 68 years. According to a +memorial-stone discovered by Mariette at Abydus he reigned 67 years; cf. +p. 160, note 1. + +[216] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 373, and "Monatsberichte des Berl. Akad." +1866, s. 294, 297 ff. + +[217] Gen. 10, 16; Joshua 24, 11. + +[218] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1867, 16, 36. + +[219] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ pp. 145, 146. + +[220] De Rouge, "Revue archeolog." 1866, 13, 269; Brugsch, "Hist. +d'Egypte," p. 147. + +[221] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 10-12, 24. + +[222] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 239. + +[223] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 1, 93, 94. + +[224] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151. + +[225] Herod. 2, 158; Aristot. "Metereol." 1. 14; Lepsius, "Chronolog." +s. 349 ff. 357; Ebers ("Durch Gosen," s. 496) finds Pithom in Abu +Soliman. + +[226] Rosell. "Mon. Stor." 3, 340 ff.; Ebers ("AEgypten," s. 781), +relying on the Berlin papyrus I., regards the fortification as much +older, and carries it as far as Suez. + +[227] Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 26, 27; Lepsius ("Chronologie," s. 323, +330) has sufficiently proved that we ought to read Menephtes instead of +Amenophis and Menophis. A similar story is in Chaeremon, a contemporary +of Aelius Gallus.--Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 32. + +[228] Bunsen, "AEgypten," 4, 211. Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. 178, +179. + +[229] De Rouge, "Revue Archeolog." 1867, 16, 38 ff., 81 ff; Lauth, +"Sitzungsberichte" of the Academy at Munich, 1867, 2, 528 ff. The +explanation of the Tuirscha as Tyrsenians, of the Sakalascha as Sikels, +of the Schardaina as Sardinians, and the Akaiwascha as Achaeans, appears +to me very doubtful. The locality points to Libyan tribes. Brugsch +("Hist. d'Egypte," p. 172) reads Qairdina for Schardaina, Qawascha for +Akaiwascha. On the weapons and features of the Schardaina, see Rouge, +_loc. cit._ pp. 90,91. + +[230] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte." p. 191. + +[231] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 183 ff. + +[232] Brugsch, _loc. cit._ p. 203; Mariette, "Ath. Franc." 1855, Oct. p. +86. + +[233] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 206. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MONUMENTS OF THE HOUSE OF RAMSES. + + +More than ten centuries seem to have elapsed from the founding of the +kingdom of Memphis before Egypt ventured beyond her natural borders. The +peninsula of Sinai, the shores of the Red Sea opposite Thebes, and Semne +in Nubia were the extreme limits in the times of the kings who built the +pyramids, of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha. The impulse given by the +successful war of liberation carried Egypt beyond these boundaries. When +Amosis and Tuthmosis III. had restored the kingdom, it reached the +summit of its greatness and splendour under the latter and Amenophis +III., Sethos I., and Ramses II., while Ramses III. strengthened anew and +maintained the position which his great forefathers had obtained for +Egypt. Four centuries of glory and victory had now passed over Egypt +(1650-1250), the victorious arms of the Pharaohs had been carried to +Nubia and Dongola, to the Negroes, to Libya and Syria in repeated +campaigns; more than once the Euphrates had seen the Egyptian armies. In +these centuries Egypt was the first kingdom in the ancient world, not in +civilisation merely, or in art, but in military power, though her +lasting acquisitions were limited to the Upper Nile. For yet another +century and a half the successors of Ramses III. could enjoy undisturbed +the fruits of the exertions of their ancestors. + +As the new kingdom surpassed the old in power, so did the new capital +Thebes eclipse the older Memphis. None of these princes neglected to +offer his booty to Ammon of Thebes; from the time of Tuthmosis I. to +Ramses III. no king omitted to adorn Thebes with new buildings. The city +must have presented a most marvellous appearance when the works of the +Tuthmosis and Amenophis, of Sethos, of Ramses II. and III. stood erect +and rose up from the earth solid and massive as rocks on either bank of +the Nile, while the multitude of obelisks and colossi towered up like a +forest of stone. Fancy might imagine that she looked upon a city built +by giants. The houses of the people also, though built of brick only, as +Diodorus tells us, were three or four stories high. Diodorus fixes the +circuit of the city at more than fifteen miles; for us it is still +marked by the remains of the temples of Karnak, Luxor, Gurnah, and +Medinet Habu.[234] + +We have spoken above of the buildings erected by Tuthmosis I. and III. +at Karnak, and Amenophis III. at Luxor and Medinet Habu. It was Sethos +I. who on the west of the oblong court, the gateway, and obelisks of +Tuthmosis I. at Karnak, added a hall on the most magnificent scale, the +entrance to which is also formed by a gateway. This hall, the most +splendid monument of Egyptian architecture, is 320 feet long, and over +160 feet broad; the roof rests on 134 pillars, which on each side +towards the north and south form seven naves, each of nine pillars. The +central space, supported on either side by six pillars of 12 feet in +diameter and 68 feet in height, rises higher than the naves at the side. +On the external wall of this hall are displayed the triumphs of Sethos +over the Schasu, the Cheta, and the Retennu; there are recorded the +campaigns already mentioned against the tribes of Cush, the Punt, and +the Naharina. Opposite Karnak, on the left bank of the Nile, north east +from the colossi of Amenophis III., at the village of Gurnah, he built a +temple to Ammon, and at Abydus a large sanctuary to Osiris.[235] + +None of the Pharaohs undertook such numerous works and left behind so +many monuments as Ramses II. He completed the hall of his father at +Karnak,[236] and extended on a magnificent scale the temple of Amenophis +III. at Luxor, by adding on the north-east a second court, and adorning +the entrance to it by a lofty gateway. Before this he placed two seated +colossi, statues of himself--at present, like the lower parts of all the +ruins at Luxor, they are covered to a considerable height with sand--and +two obelisks of red granite, of which one still rises in splendour to +the blue sky, and displays the long, sharply-cut rows of the +hieroglyphics in all the brightness of the uninjured polish. The other +is at Paris, in the Place de la Concorde. On the left bank of the Nile, +between the colossi of Amenophis III. and his father's temple, a little +further to the west, and immediately at the foot of the Libyan range, he +built a large temple. A massive gateway rises on a slightly elevated +terrace, leading to a rectangular court. This is surrounded by a double +row of pillars supporting the portico, of which two only are now +standing. On this follows a second court, of which the portico is +supported on the right and left by double pillars, on the front +transverse side by single pilasters, and on the back by double +pilasters, against the first row of which lean colossal images of +Osiris. At the entrance from the first into the second court, on the +left, was the greatest of all the detached colossi in Egypt, the seated +statue of Ramses, hewn out of a block of red granite from Syene. Sixty +feet in height, this statue once overlooked both courts; now it lies +prostrate on the ground. The length of the middle finger is four feet. +There was apparently a second colossus on the other side of the entrance +corresponding to this. From the second court, in which are the remains +of two smaller colossi, three gates of black granite led into a great +hall, built on a higher level. The roof of this, the remains of which +exhibit a blue ground with gold stars, was supported by sixty pillars in +ten rows. Of these rows four are still standing; the pillars are 35 feet +in height and six feet in diameter. On this great hall adjoin three +smaller ones, on both sides of which lay chambers, and the roof of one +is adorned with a large astronomical painting. The back part of the +building was formed by vaulted porticoes of brick, and each brick is +stamped with the name-shield of Ramses II.[237] + +The inscriptions on the second court and in the hall tell us, "that the +gracious god, _i.e._ the king, erected this great structure in honour of +his father Ammon-Ra, the king of the gods: by his own arm he has erected +it, the royal sun, the champion of justice, established by Ra, the child +of the sun, Ramses, beloved of Ammon, beloved of the goddess Mut." On +the walls of the portico between the first and second court is +represented a great procession to the altar of Ammon. Two rows of men +carry the statues of thirteen predecessors of Ramses on their shoulders +(p. 24). Further on the king, with a sickle, is cutting a sheaf of corn +from the field, a priest receives this from the hand of the king, and +offers it to a white bull. Then the priest bids the four geese belonging +to the four spirits of the quarters of the sky to fly south, north, +east, and west, in order to announce to the gods of each quarter, "that +Horus the son of Osiris, that king Ramses, established by Ra, has put on +the double crown."[238] The sculptures of the front side of the gateway +exhibit the king in intercourse with the gods, and symbolise the divine +expressions of favour towards Ramses. Gods lead him to the greater gods. +The god Tum places him before Mentu (p. 51). Mentu takes the hand of the +king, and says, "Come to the heavenly mansions, to behold thy father the +king of the gods, who will bestow upon thee length of days, to rule over +the world and reign upon the throne of Horus." Mentu leads the king to +Ammon, over whose figure we read, "Ammon-Ra, king of the gods, who +dwells in Ramses' house at Thebes, speaks thus: Beloved son of my race, +Ramses, lord of the world, my heart is glad in that I behold thy good +works; thou hast built me this house; I grant thee a pure life to live +upon the throne of Seb" (p. 55). In the hall Ammon is holding the crook +from his throne towards the king, and says, "I certify that thy building +shall continue as the heavens." The goddess Bast (p. 49) lifts her right +hand to the head of the king, and says, "I have prepared for thee the +diadem of the sun, that this helmet should remain upon thy brow, where I +have placed it." On another sketch in this hall Ammon is giving to +Ramses the scythe, the whip, and the crook (the symbols of dominion), +and says, "Take the scythe of battle to subdue the nations without, and +to smite off the head of the unclean; take the whip and the crook to +rule over Chemi (Egypt)." On the exterior of the wings of the gateway +are represented the wars which in the fifth year of his reign Ramses +carried on against the Cheta, and in the eighth year against Maram, +Dapur, and Salam (p. 152). In one of the side chambers of the hall +Ramses and his consort, together with the moon-god, Chunsu, and the +goddess Mut, are carried to Ammon by the priests. The goddess Mut says: +"I come to pay worship to the king of the gods, that he may secure long +years to his son, to king Ramses, who loves him." Chunsu says: "We come +to honour thee, Ammon, king of the gods; grant to thy son who loves +thee, the king of the world, a safe and pure life." The king and queen +also speak to Ammon; Ramses says: "I come to my father escorted by the +gods whom he at all times allows in his presence." And over the queen we +read: "Behold what the divine consort says, the royal mother, the mighty +mistress of the world:--I come to worship my father Ammon the king of +the gods; my heart is gladdened by thy favour. O thou who hast +established the seat of thy power in the dwelling of thy son Ramses, +lord of the world, grant to him a safe and pure life, and let his years +be numbered by the periods of the festivals." Finally, Ramses is +represented under an arbor vitae (Persea) before the throne of Tum. Tum +and Thoth write the name of the king on leaves of the arbor vitae, and +Tum says to Ramses: "I write thy name for a series of days that it may +be upon the divine tree." In another chamber we find the figures of the +children of Ramses; twenty-three sons and more than thirteen daughters +are mentioned in the inscription.[239] + +This is the structure of which Diodorus gives the following account, +though he had not seen the work himself. "The entrance to the monument +of the king whom they call Osymandyas--such is the account in +Diodorus--was formed by a gateway covered with sculptures, 200 feet +broad, and forty-five cubits in height; through this you passed into a +rectangular court surrounded by pillars, measuring 400 feet on each +side, but in the place of pillars are statues sixteen cubits high, each +hewn in the antique style out of a single block. The roof of the portico +is two fathoms in width; it also is built of monoliths painted with +stars upon a blue ground. Behind this court there is a second gateway +similar to the first, but adorned with still richer sculptures. At the +entrance stand three monolithic statues. The middle one is the seated +image of Osymandyas, the largest in all Egypt, for the feet are more +than seven cubits in length; the two others, on the right and left, +which represent the wife and daughter of the king, are inferior in +height. This statue is not only remarkable for the size, but also for +the excellence of the art and the nature of the stone. In spite of the +enormous size, a chip or split is not to be found in it. There, too, is +the statue of the mother of Osymandyas, twenty cubits high, and also a +monolith. Behind this gateway is a second court, more marvellous even +than the first, in which various sculptures represent the war against +the Bactrians. This nation had revolted from the king, but with 400,000 +foot and 20,000 horse he marched out against them, divided his army into +four parts, and put each under the command of one of his four sons. On +the first wall we see the king fighting at the head of his army against +a fortress surrounded by a river; a lion is seen at his side assisting +him (as a fact in the picture of the great battle against the Cheta on +the gateway a lion is found beside the chariot of the king.) On the +second wall the prisoners are brought forward: they are without their +hands and members, in order to indicate that they fought without spirit. +The third wall contains reliefs of various kinds and sketches +representing the king's sacrifice of bulls, and his triumphant return. +In the middle of the court stands an altar of marvellous size and +workmanship. Before the fourth wall are two seated colossi 27 cubits +high, and beside these three entrances lead into a colonnade, of which +the sides measure 200 feet. In this hall are a number of statues of wood +representing men in expectation of the decision of their law-suits, and +looking towards the judges. These, thirty in number, are engraved on one +of the walls; in their midst is the chief judge, on whose neck hangs a +picture of truth with closed eyes; beside him lie a great quantity of +books. Then you pass into a space intended for walking, where are +represented many of the most delicate kinds of food. Here also the image +of the king is engraved, and brightly coloured, showing how he offered +to the god the gold and silver which came to him year by year from the +mines of Egypt, and the total is written down close by; estimated in +silver, it amounted to 320,000 minae. Then follows the sacred library, +and after this the images of all the gods of Egypt, and of the king, who +offers to each god the appropriate gifts, in order as it were to show to +Osiris and his assessors in the under world that the king had lived a +life just towards men and pious towards the gods. On the walls of the +library abuts another building, in which are twenty couches, the images +of Zeus and Hera, and the images of the king. In this chamber the king +appears to be buried. In a circle round this chamber are yet many other +rooms containing very beautiful pictures of all the animals worshipped +in Egypt. Through these chambers we reach the top of the sepulchre, a +golden circle 365 cubits in circumference, and one cubit thick. On this +circle are marked divisions for every day in the year, and in each is +noted the rising and setting of the stars, and the influence which the +Egyptian astrologers attributed to these constellations."[240] + +The temple built by Ramses II. to Ammon, in Dongola, on Mount Barkal, +has been mentioned before (p. 154). A memorial stone discovered at +Dakkeh tells us that he caused wells to be dug in Ethiopia.[241] In +Nubia also, five or six days' journey to the south of Dakkeh, at Abu +Simbel, on the left bank of the Nile, a small valley with almost +perpendicular walls of rock breaks at right angles the ridge running by +the river side. In these walls of brownish yellow sandstone two temples +have been cut. The northern and larger is dedicated to Ra by Ramses; the +smaller, on the opposite side, is dedicated by Ramses' wife, Nefruari, +to the goddess Hathor. Before the temple of Hathor are six colossi, +three on either side of the entrance. In each triad the middle statue +represents the queen, the two others the kings. Before the temple of +Ramses are four seated colossi, with the arms upon the hips, hewn out of +the natural rock. All are statues of Ramses, and in height are over +sixty, or, counting the thrones, over seventy feet. The breadth across +the shoulders is twenty-five feet; from the elbow to the tip of the +finger measures fifteen feet. Seen from a distance, these statues are +very impressive, owing to their severe and calm beauty, and the +correctness of the proportions, notwithstanding the enormous scale. The +entrance to the temple lies deep down between the thrones of the +colossi. First we pass into a spacious portico, of which the roof is +supported by eight pillars, against which lean as many standing colossi +about 30 feet high, with arms crossed, the whip and the symbol of life +in their hands. All are images of Osiris. From this portico, out of +which doors open on either hand into side halls, we arrive through two +chambers into the sanctuary of the goddess, which lies 200 feet deep in +the rock. The whole excavation consists of fourteen chambers. The +sculptures, painted throughout, are uninjured still, and of the most +brilliant colours. The most striking pictures among them have been +mentioned above (pp. 153, 154). Below Abu Simbel, at Derr Sebua and Gerf +Hussein, on the Nile, Ramses II. built temples to Ra, Ammon, and Ptah. +Here, as at Abu Simbel, new cities rose round the temples.[242] Further +downwards at Beth-el-Walli, a temple was hewn in the rocks at the west +side of the Nile, the sculptures of which exhibit the exploits of Ramses +II. against the Negroes, and the booty of these campaigns--gazelles, +ostriches, giraffes (p. 153); while the ruins of the temple which he +built beside the larger one of his father to Osiris at Abydus, is +evidence of the honour which he paid to his predecessors in the kingdom +(pp. 24, 169). + +Herodotus and Diodorus told us that Sesostris had set up before the +temple of Hephaestus (_i.e._ of Ptah) at Memphis statues of himself, his +wife, and his sons, on a colossal scale (p. 146). In the ruins of +Memphis (at the village of Mitrahinneh) there lies, surrounded by green +turf and tall palms, in a depression, the prostrate statue of Ramses II. +hewn out of a single block. The feet are wanting, the head wears the +crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; in the middle of the girdle are engraved +the words Mi Amun Ramses, _i.e._ Ramses beloved of Ammon. From the knees +upwards the fragment measures thirty-five feet; on this scale the total +height must have reached forty-two or forty-three feet. At Tanis in the +Delta, Ramses II. built or restored a great temple, and erected +obelisks. The inscriptions on the ruins speak of his victories in Syria. +Here also lies a prostrate and shattered colossus; the name-shields on +the back of the throne are those of the second Ramses.[243] Of the +buildings of this king for the sepulchral chambers of the Apis bulls at +Memphis, the fortification of the border towards Syria, and the canal, +we have spoken above (pp. 68, 157). + +On the left bank of the Nile, westwards of the temple and the two +colossi of Amenophis III., at Medinet Habu, Ramses III. built a splendid +temple. A magnificent gate flanked by broad wings sixty-six feet in +height leads from the east to the first ante-court, which, as always, is +surrounded by a portico, partly supported by massive pillars, and partly +by statues of Osiris. From this court a second somewhat smaller gateway +leads into a second court; the portico surrounding this is supported to +the right and left on strong columns, of seven feet in diameter, the +capitals of which are formed by lotus-leaves, and on each of the other +sides by eight Osiris pillars. The columns and pillars, in spite of +their massiveness, do not seem too heavy to support the blocks which +form the roof of the portico. In this court we find the four pictures +which represent the war of Ramses III. against the Libyans (p. 164). The +ante-temple, to which the entrance lay between the Osiris pillars just +mentioned, the inner temple, and the shrine, are in ruins; the bases +only and the foundations can still be traced. In the ten reliefs +mentioned above the external wall of the second court displays in the +most brilliant colours the warlike achievements of Ramses III. against +the Temhu and Zakkarj (p. 165). About 120 steps to the south-east of the +first gateway are the ruins of another structure of this king, which +appears to have been his palace. Two obliquely rising towers enclose a +court, surrounded by a building several stories high. The rooms still +remaining are paved with slabs; the windows are square. The reliefs +represent the king surrounded by his wives, and then at draughts, the +instruction which his children receive in reading and writing from a +priest, and other household matters. On the right bank of the Nile at +the south-west edge of the terrace of Karnak, Ramses III. began to build +a temple to the moon-god Chunsu, which was completed by Ramses IV.; and +at Karnak itself, in the court before the great hall of Sethos I., he +erected a smaller temple, cutting the southern portico of this temple at +right angles, which he dedicated to "Ammon Ra, his father," to whom the +whole sanctuary belonged.[244] + +As at Memphis, so also at Thebes, great care was taken for the dead. Not +far from the city, in the first Libyan range of hills, which here rise +300 feet out of the plain, lie the tombs of the inhabitants of Thebes, +running on into these hills for two hours' distance in an unbroken +series of catacombs. The graves, and the passages which lead to them, +are all hewn in the rock, sometimes to a considerable depth. Several +rows of chambers lie one over the other. In the lower rows, where the +richer class are buried, the chambers are larger and more handsome; +those in the upper rows are simpler, smaller, and meaner. Staircases, +straight or winding, connect these stories and chambers with each other. +Galleries, gangways, and perpendicular shafts break the rows of +excavations, and give to this city of the dead the features of an +inextricable labyrinth. These catacombs, with their thousands of +mummies, innumerable chambers full of papyrus rolls and amulets buried +with the corpses, with their sculptures and frescoes on the walls and +roofs, which are for the most part preserved in marvellous brilliancy +and represent in the truest and most varied manner the occupation of +every person buried there of the higher orders, are an almost +inexhaustible source for the knowledge of the life and the habits of +that distant time. + +Separated from the first range of hills by a lonely and desolate ravine, +there rises further to the west a second wall of rock, which the Arabs +call Biban-el-Moluk, _i.e._ the gates of the kings. In this lie the +largest and most richly-furnished tombs. The kings of the old monarchy +heaped mountains of stone over their graves at Memphis, and in like +manner the princes of the new kingdom caused vaults and porticoes to be +hewn in the rocks for their sepulchral chambers. Here in antiquity forty +tombs were enumerated,[245] and the latest investigations have confirmed +this enumeration. Spacious, but often barred, passages lead sometimes +only fifty, sometimes 360 feet into the rock. The greater part of the +tombs consist of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels for the +offering of sacrifices to the dead; these are followed by the sepulchral +chamber, where rests the sarcophagus, sometimes in a deep niche. The +Pharaohs of Thebes appear to have carried on their work upon these +burying-places in the same manner as the princes of the old kingdom +proceeded with the building of their pyramids. They commenced with the +entrance, the ante-chapel (a broad and not very long portico, generally +supported on pillars), and a small chamber, the real sepulchre.[246] If +the length of the reign sufficed, a new passage was driven deeper into +the rock from the chamber, a new and larger ante-chapel, a wider and +higher sepulchral chamber was excavated. All the graves as yet opened +and examined in this wall of rock are entered by square doors of uniform +shape, with simple ornamentation. At one time they were provided with +wings for security in closing. Behind them the corridor descends +somewhat rapidly into the deep rock. As a rule the sculptures on the +inner walls begin from the doors immediately behind this entrance. The +colouring is still lively, not to say harsh. + +The oldest tombs lie to the north-east; but as yet only two chambers +have been opened here, one of which is large in size and adorned with +beautiful, though very much injured sculptures, the grave of Amenophis +III.[247] The tombs of the Tuthmosis have not yet been found. Next, on +the south-west, lies the tomb of Ramses I. The rock chamber and the +granite sarcophagus, which is still standing there, are without any +ornament whatever except a few pictures on the walls, in which the god +Tum and the goddess Neith, the great mother, the lady of heaven, the +queen of the deities, lead the king before Osiris. The king speaks, "I +have come to thee, lord of the gods, mighty god, master of the sky," +while Neith says to the king, "I secure to thee the throne of Osiris, on +which thou shalt sit for ever."[248] The grave of his successor, Sethos +I., consists of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels. A corridor +leads to a staircase, which ends in a chamber; from this a second +staircase leads to a portico, on which abuts a great hall, the roof of +which is supported by four pillars. A third staircase leads from this +hall on the left into one similarly adorned, of which the pictures +remain unfinished, and on the right into a broad vaulted portico sunk +more than 300 feet deep into the rock. The roof of this portico is +supported by six pillars. Here the corpse of the king rested in a +sarcophagus of alabaster, which is covered with sculptures. The +sarcophagus, now in the British Museum, was empty when found, and the +cover was broken. The sculptures of the first hall display on every side +of the pillars the king and a deity. Those on the walls represent the +stations of the nightly course of the sun and the hindrances thrown in +the way of the sun by the serpent Apep (p. 46), the judgment in the +under world, the reward of the good, the punishment of the bad, the +constellations of the sky, the five planets in their boats, and the four +tribes into which the Egyptians divided mankind. Each tribe is +represented by four figures. + +Of the grave of Ramses II. but few chambers have as yet been +opened.[249] The grave of his son Menephta presents nothing more than a +picture referring to the under world. Beside Menephta, Amenmessu (p. +162) and Menephta's son, Sethos II., found their resting places in these +rocks, which also conceal Menephta II. (p. 163). The grave of Sethos II. +is distinguished by paintings and sculptures. The sarcophagus of red +granite is intended to exhibit on the lid the image of the king, but +this remained unfinished.[250] The grave of Ramses III. comes nearest to +that of Sethos I. in size and splendour of adornment. Galleries +following one upon the other, on the side of which are small chambers, +lead to a large portico in which rests the sarcophagus. The sculptures +in these chambers exhibit scenes of court life, of agriculture, of the +banquet, musicians, boats, and weapons; those of the galleries and the +portico represent scenes of the under world and existence beyond the +grave. The grave of Ramses IV., far smaller and incomplete, still +contains the shattered sarcophagus of granite.[251] On the other hand, +the tomb of Ramses V., one of the most handsome, displays on the arching +of the roof of the great portico, where the sarcophagus stood, the +outstretched form of the goddess of the sky, in which are enclosed the +stars. On the walls are depicted the fortunes of the soul in the next +world, and the king in the boat of the sun-god. These representations of +the judgment in the under-world, which recur perpetually in the tombs at +Biban-el-Moluk, and of the life to come, are wholly unknown to the +pyramids and the tombs surrounding them, the burying-places of the +ancient kingdom. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[234] Diod. 1, 45; Strabo, p. 816. + +[235] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 256; Mariette, "Revue Arch." 1860, 2, 21; +_cf. supra_, p. 23, 56. + +[236] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s. 273, 274. + +[237] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 286; "Denkmale aus AEgypten und Nubien," 1, +2, 7, 82; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 161. + +[238] Rosell. "Monum. Stor." 1, 123, 136. + +[239] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 263-283; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," pp. +163-165. + +[240] Diod. 1, 47-49. + +[241] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 151. + +[242] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 112-115, 263, 403, 414. + +[243] As this statue bears on the right shoulder the shield Ra Apepi, or +Apepa, it has been thought to be the statue of the shepherd king Apepi +(p. 130). Lepsius regards it as a statue of Ramses II.--"Koenigsbuch," s. +44. + +[244] Brugsch, Hist. d'Egypte, pp. 197, 198. + +[245] Strabo, p. 816, puts the number of the royal sepulchres at forty. +Diodorus, on the authority of the sacred records, speaks of forty-seven +graves. At the time of Ptolemy I. only seventeen were in existence +(Diod. 1, 46), and of these, at the time when Diodorus travelled in +Egypt, the greater part were destroyed. Lepsius gives twenty-five graves +of kings, and fifteen graves of the wives of the kings ("Briefe," s. +270). + +[246] Brugsch, "Reiseberichte," s. 324. + +[247] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 288. + +[248] Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 128. + +[249] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 266; Rosellini, "Mon. Stor." 3, 2, 284. + +[250] Bunsen, "AEgypten," 4, 213. + +[251] On the sketch of this tomb on a Turin papyrus, cf. Lepsius, "Abh. +der Berl. Akad." 1867. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. + + +We have already called attention to the peculiar features in the +position and nature of their country which favoured the development of +the Egyptians. The shape of the land, so conducive to unity, must have +led at an early time to a community of life; the protection of this +favoured valley against the plundering tribes of the desert must have +called into existence a military monarchy. But it is no longer in the +form of a patriarchal rule or military chieftainship that the monuments +and tradition display the government of Egypt. It is the form of +despotism peculiar to the East, which meets us at the threshold of +history, meets us, too, in a very sharply-defined form. Herodotus says +that the Egyptians could not have lived without a king, and Diodorus +tells us that the Egyptians worshipped their kings, and prostrated +themselves before them as though they were really gods. Of men who could +confer such great blessings as their kings the Egyptians assumed that +they partook of the nature of gods.[252] As a fact, we see on the +monuments not only the commanders and magistrates of the districts, but +even the priests, in the dust before the kings. It is true that it was +the universal custom in the East to approach the ruler kneeling, as one +on whose nod depended the life and death of every subject at every +moment of his existence; but the Egyptians, led by their peculiar +religious views, have gone further than any other nation in the +exaltation of the power of the monarch; they worshipped their kings as +the deities of the land. As in the beginning, according to the teaching +of the priests, the gods ruled over Egypt, so in subsequent times the +Pharaohs occupy the place of the gods. They do not merely spring from +the gods; they are themselves gods of the land. They are not only called +children of the sun; but to their subjects they are the "sun itself, +which is given to the world," which beams over the land and gives +blessing and increase; they are the "outpourers of life," like the gods. +Like the gods, they are lords of truth and justice; they preserve order, +punish the bad, and reward the good, and keep away the unclean enemies; +through their care it is that their subjects share in the fruits of the +earth, hence they cause Egypt to live. The king of Egypt is called, and +is, "the mighty Horus," the god who gives blessing to the land. If to +the Egyptians animals and men were the manifestations of the divine +nature, must they not recognise such manifestations in peculiar potency +in the life of the king, in the ruling, arranging, and sustaining power +of the king over the whole land? This conception of the king as a god on +earth has been already brought before us in the inscription on the +statue of Chafra, the builder of the second largest pyramid, which +describes him as the "good god, the master and gold Horus" (p. 95). It +continues unchanged to the last centuries of the kingdom, and even +survives the independence of Egypt. In the inscriptions of the temples +the Ptolemies and Roman Caesars are named by the same solemn titles as +the ancient Pharaohs.[253] + +We saw that priests were allotted to the spirits of the buried kings (p. +99). In the ruins at Luxor, spirits of heaven are carrying Amenophis +III. into the presence of Ammon, who consecrates him king (p. 138). In +the Ramesseum and in the palace at Medinet Habu we have pictures of the +coronation of Ramses II. and Ramses III. In both, the four geese of the +four spirits of heaven are bidden by the priest to announce to the +spirits of the east and west, of the north and the south, that the king +has put on the double crown. In the rock temple at Selseleh (p. 149), +the goddess Anuke gives her breast to king Horus, who is depicted as +already grown into a youth; in the rock temple at Beth-el-Walli, Isis +and Anuke allow Ramses II. to suck at their breasts. In the Ramesseum, +Ramses II. is led by the gods Mentu and Chunsu and the goddess Mut +before Ammon (p. 171). These pictures, in which gods bring the kings +before Ammon, and worship him, that he may bestow life and purity on the +princes presented by them, are constantly recurring. On the monuments +the kings are found sacrificing, not only to their divine forefathers, +but also to themselves and their own divinity (p. 24). Tuthmosis III. +dedicated a temple to the god Sesurtesen III., and ordained regular +sacrifices to him; and Amenophis III. built a temple in Nubia to his own +divinity (pp. 134, 137). + +Nowhere do we find a trace to show that the kings stood in need of the +intervention of the priests in order to approach the gods, and without +such intervention there can be no supremacy of the priests over the +sovereigns of the state. Everywhere the kings come independently before +the gods. Everywhere we find the sacrifices of the kings, not of the +priests, offered. It is the kings who consecrate temples to the gods, in +order that the king may obtain "lasting life and purity." It is the +Pharaohs and not the priests who represent the state and people before +the gods. The kings are at the same time the high priests, and stand at +the head of religion as at the head of the state; their sons and +grandsons, their mothers, wives, and daughters, are, according to the +inscriptions, the priests of this or that god or goddess. The kings, as +Diodorus assures us, were not waited upon by slaves, but by the sons of +the most distinguished priests; by priests only could the ruling god of +the country be served--and the priests did not omit to mention on their +tombs, even at a very early period, the king in whose service they were +prophets, scribes, and minstrels. In a word, the Pharaoh was not merely +the head of the state, but also of the church, if such an expression may +be allowed, and the power of the priests, without any real and +ceremonial support, does not extend beyond the moral influence which +religion exercised upon the heart of the king. Finally, it is the kings +who are celebrated as the lawgivers of the land, and this excludes any +thought of a supremacy of priests. Yet the influence of religion and of +the priesthood on the king is not to be contested, although, under the +military princes who governed Egypt after the expulsion of the Hyksos, +the priests had to share their influence with the leaders of the army. +Not till the time of Menephta, do we observe a more influential position +assumed by the high priests at Thebes. This influence goes on increasing +under the weak successors of Ramses III., and reaches its summit under +the first princes of the dynasty of Tanis. Then it declined, and +afterwards only came into operation under foreign supremacy. + +If further proof were needed for the unlimited power of the kings than +their representation of Ra and Horus, and the menial position of the +priests, we should find it in the gigantic structures which the Pharaohs +left behind them. To carry out works of this kind is impossible unless +the monarch has absolute disposal of the labour of his subjects. But +these buildings were undoubtedly the main interest and the main +occupation of the kings. In this they follow the characteristic traits +of the whole nation. In building temples and erecting images, their +object was just as much to confer honour on the gods as to preserve the +remembrance of the homage which they had offered to them. The +preservation of their own actions and names, which these buildings in +the eyes of the Egyptians "caused to live," is the main object of the +structure, and along with the sacrifices of the kings, and the evidence +of the favour of the gods, the sculptures on the temples display the +martial exploits of the kings. If the kings erected pyramid tombs, it +was in order that their corpses might rest in security, and the tumulus +"cause their name to live" in the generations to come. If they built +temples, it was that the gates, walls, frescoes, and inscriptions might +preserve their acts for posterity. The buildings of the Pharaohs are the +history of their reigns written in stone. + +The ceremonial which surrounded the life of the Pharaohs is described by +Diodorus. In the morning the king first read the communications received +from every quarter; then he performed his ablutions, put on his robes, +and offered sacrifice to the gods. While the sacrificial animal was +being led to the altar the high priest offered prayer to the gods, +beseeching them to grant life and all good things to the king, as he was +a righteous ruler. He was pious to the gods, gentle towards men, strong, +just, and courageous, an enemy of lies, a sharer of his goods with +others, and master of his desires; one who did not punish the wicked so +severely as they deserved, and gave to the good more than their +proportionate share. Then the priest laid the punishment of any error +into which the king might have fallen on his servants, and urged him to +a pious life, "not by reproaches," as Diodorus expressly observes, "but +by commendations." When the sacrifice was finished, the priest read to +the king the apothegms and achievements of distinguished men, that is, +no doubt, of previous kings, out of the sacred books. We know that poems +of considerable extent on historical subjects were in existence.[254] In +the same way the remaining part of the day was allotted to definite +occupations. For walking, for bathing, even for sleeping with the queen, +definite hours were appointed. The king might only eat the flesh of +calves and geese--the food of the priests--and take a fixed portion of +wine. Diodorus regards it as wonderful that the kings should have +subjected themselves to this ceremonial. In this he leaves out of sight +the fact that the god of the land was expected to lead the life of a +god, and also, a thing which could not indeed be so obvious to him, that +all periods present proofs to what oppressive rules of state and +etiquette rulers are willing to subject themselves in order to exhibit +their dignity and majesty. Yet this was not the object chiefly held in +view in the regulation of the king's life, nor was it the love of the +Egyptians for systematic and fixed arrangements. The king was at the +same time the first priest of the land; and therefore the regulations of +the priestly life applied to him also. Moreover, the Egyptians were +extremely careful to keep themselves pure from the unclean, in order by +such purity to preserve life and salvation. With this object, priests +and laity alike regulated all their actions, their eating and drinking, +feeding and clothing, by a minute ritual. It was the first duty of the +king to protect the purity of Egypt. He was the Horus of the land, who +had struck down disorder, impurity, and evil, and therefore, like the +victorious god, he must shine out in the brightness of unsullied purity. +Thus the king had to lead the pure life of a priest; he could eat none +but the priestly food, and every duty must be performed at a favourable +moment, for the Egyptians were under the dominion of a widespread +astrological superstition. This system further required that every fault +he might happen to commit should be taken from him and laid upon others. +It is probably the plan sketched by the priests for the king's life, of +which Diodorus has preserved some traces; we know that among the sacred +books those of the minstrels contained regulations for the life of the +king. Whatever flattery and homage was thus intended for the great and +gracious king, the Pharaohs no doubt observed so much as seemed +suitable to them. Of a later king, Amasis, we are told that he +emancipated himself from the customary ceremonial, and when business was +over, gave himself up to relaxation and enjoyment. Yet his reign was a +long one, and regarded with affection by the Egyptians. + +The Pharaohs were surrounded with all the state of Oriental despots. On +the picture of the coronation, the assumption of the Pschent by Ramses +III. at Medinet Habu, the procession is led by trumpeters, who are +followed by commanders and magistrates. Twenty-two priests lead the +statue of Ammon, who is followed by a priest with incense, and a scribe +who appears to read a proclamation. The king is then carried in by +twelve richly-attired men on a throne under a canopy. Beside the throne +walk certain officers, who cool the king with large fans; others carry +the weapons of the king and the insignia of his power. Behind follow the +captains of the army and the body-guard. Then a white bull is led in the +procession by priests, and the whole closes with priests carrying the +name-shields of the predecessors of the king. On descending from the +throne the king makes a libation towards Ammon, burns incense to him, +and cuts off some ears of corn with a golden sickle.[255] The court was +numerous: fan-bearers on the right, and fan-bearers on the left, bearers +of the parasol, keepers of the king's bow, captains of the body-guard, +overseers of the palace, overseers of the buildings in Upper and Lower +Egypt, overseers of the horses, books, and music, stewards of the +granaries in Upper and Lower Egypt, stewards of the royal flocks, +treasurers, butlers of the palace, and other officers are +mentioned.[256] According to the monuments, the king's household +furniture was profuse in silver and gold. The gondolas were gilded, with +variegated sails, the trappings of the horses were splendidly +ornamented, the stuffed seats curiously carved and richly decked; and of +the complicated occupations of the royal kitchen, of the number of +people employed, of cup-bearers and master cooks, as well as of the +preparation of the food--the monuments give us a very complete idea. + +The death of the king was mourned for seventy days, like the death of an +Apis. During this time everyone had to abstain from baths, from flesh +and wine, until the son of the ruler, who had entered into Amenti, +ascended the throne as a new Horus and giver of life to the land, and +the visage of the new lord again "beamed like a sun over both the lands +of Egypt" after the days of lamentation. The succession, so far as we +can see, was not infrequently broken by usurpations, which have always +been inseparable from the despotic form of government.[257] + +It is characteristic of the all-absorbing power of the monarchy in Egypt +that tradition can scarcely mention a single eminent person beside the +names of the kings. We hear nothing of generals or statesmen, and +scarcely of priests. All stood in equal subjection to the king. Though +families may have at one time arisen from the nation, which were in a +position, from wealth and inclination, to undertake the defence of the +valley of the Nile against the tribes of the desert, and though the +monarchy may have arisen out of the ranks of this military nobility, +which in bygone times united the valley of the Nile into a kingdom, +still, so far as the monuments allow us to see, there is no trace left +of the eminent position of any nobility, whether military or hereditary. +The military order, as presented to us on the monuments, and by the +tradition of the Greeks, no longer consisted of wealthy landowners who +went to war at the bidding of the king with their chariots and horses +and retainers; they are merely soldiers--families, who for a certain +portion of land given to them by the state are pledged to service in +war, and who receive their weapons from the armouries of the state. Such +are the warriors on the monuments even in the times of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, and also under Ramses III. Herodotus tells us that each +family of warriors possessed twelve measures of good land, free of +taxes, the measure being 100 Egyptian cubits in length and breadth. This +would make the allotment more than twelve acres. These families, +according to Herodotus, could, even about the middle of the fifth +century B.C., put in the field 400,000 men, although two hundred years +before, under Psammetichus I., a large number of them, it is said more +than 200,000, migrated into Ethiopia. The military order was divided +into two classes: the Hermotybians, numbering at most 160,000 men, and +the Kalasirians, about 250,000 strong. In the time of Herodotus, the +first were settled in Upper Egypt in the province of Chemmis, and mainly +in the western Delta; the Kalasirians were in the province of Thebes, +and in the central and eastern Delta.[258] Each division furnished +yearly 1,000 men for the bodyguard of the king, who were handsomely +provided for, and the garrisons in the border towns and strongholds, +which were also relieved year by year. From the masses of the two +divisions so many may have been told off for field duty as were +considered necessary. From the numbers which Herodotus gives it is not +impossible that the armies of Sethos and Ramses II., when all the +soldiers were called out, were, if not 700,000, yet from 400,000 to +500,000 strong. Under Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) the army of +Egypt was estimated at 240,000 men. + +The monuments prove that even at the time of the Sesurtesen and +Amenemha, war was scientifically carried on, and the soldiers regularly +drilled. From the royal armouries the infantry were provided with bows, +helmets, shields, lances, and crooked knives, and were divided into +battalions, each carrying its own ensign. The heavy infantry moved in +ranks to the sound of trumpets. Attacks were not made on fortified +cities without the ram, and sheds to protect the attacking party. +Instead of cavalry, which never occur on the monuments, we find, though +not till after the time of the Hyksos, numerous war-chariots in use. +Those who fought in the chariots, as the kings, who are invariably +represented as fighting from a chariot, made use of bows. The monuments +often exhibit practice in archery. With the Egyptians, as with the whole +of the East in antiquity, the bow was the favourite weapon. + +To the priestly order Egypt owed the growth and establishment of her +cultus, the peculiar turn of her religious conceptions, her moral law, +her writings, her art, and her science. The piety of the people and the +kings had amply endowed the temples. "The priests eat nothing of their +own," says Herodotus; "sacred bread is daily baked for them, and they +obtain vegetables, geese, calves' flesh, and wine in sufficient +quantities."[259] Diodorus tells us that the land in ancient Egypt was +divided into three portions, of which a third belonged to the kings, a +third to the priests for their support and the maintenance of the +sacrifices and festivals, and another third to the military order, and +that all the farmers in Egypt held on leases;[260] and we have already +seen that at any rate a part of the land, though by no means so much as +a third, was really allotted to the soldiers, who could scarcely have +leased their small patches, but must have cultivated them in person if +they wished to live upon them with their families. Another part of the +land was marked off for the maintenance of the priests and the expenses +of public worship; but it appears that this land also belonged to the +king, for Herodotus speaks of the incomes of the priests as gifts +received from the king;[261] and the Hebrew Scriptures also tell us that +"the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their +portion which Pharaoh gave them."[262] From these data--even if the +statement of Herodotus, that Sesostris (Ramses II.) had given an equal +square of land to every Egyptian, must be limited to a measurement of +the land, in order to regulate the taxes[263]--it appears that the +Pharaohs looked on themselves as the proprietors of the soil--a view by +no means strange to the despotisms of the East--and in consequence they +allotted to the soldiers so much as was necessary, and of the rest +allowed a great portion, which was estimated at a third of the whole, to +pay taxes to the temples, while the remainder contributed to themselves. +According to the statements of the Hebrews the taxes amounted to a fifth +of the produce,[264] and hence all the farmers could with justice be +considered leaseholders, or at any rate as having copyhold estates. It +is expressly observed that only the farms of the soldiers were free from +taxes,[265] and that the land which was taxed for the temples +contributed nothing to Pharaoh.[266] At the same time it is easily +intelligible that the piety of the subjects provided additional incomes +for the priests, and that, so far as it was possible to make any +arrangements of the kind, land and revenues were presented to the +temples.[267] + +The maintenance which they derived from the incomes and contributions of +the temple-lands, in corn, wine, and animals for sacrifice, enabled the +priests to live for their religious duties, for the complete +performance of their customs in regard to purification and food, and +for the study of the holy scriptures. They were divided into various +classes and corporations. In every temple there was one upper +priest,--the head of the temple--the prophet,[268] a temple scribe, who +was especially skilled in writing, and managed the temple property, a +chamberlain, who took care of the clothing of the images, the +sacrifices, and the ritual, an astronomer, who had to observe the +heavens, and a minstrel. In the processions the prophet carried the jar +of water for purifications; the chamberlain carried the cubit of justice +and a basin for sprinkling water; the scribe can be recognised by the +feather in his head-dress, the roll of books in one hand, and the pen in +the other; the astronomer by an hour-glass and a palm branch, the symbol +of the seasons among the Egyptians. These higher classes of the +priesthood were followed by the lower; the pastophors, who carried the +images in the processions, and practised medicine, the attendants, male +and female ("the nurses"), of the sacred animals, the persons whose duty +it was to select and seal the animals for sacrifice, the embalmers, and +lastly, the temple-servants, who were responsible for the purifications. +The first sanctuaries in Egypt were the temples of Ammon at Thebes, of +Ptah at Memphis, and of Ra at Heliopolis. The colleges at these temples +were the most important centres of priestly life and doctrine. So long +as Thebes was the metropolis of the kingdom, the high priest of Ammon at +Thebes was the first priest in the land. Herodotus tells us from the +lips of the priests of Thebes that the office of high priest descended +from father to son, and Diodorus maintains that the same was the case +with all the officers of the temples.[269] These statements are +contradicted by the inscriptions. They mention five places in the +temples through which all "fifth priests" must pass. From a memorial +stone of a priest, Bakenchunsu, we learn that for fifteen years he was +third priest, and for twelve years second priest of Ammon at Thebes; +then he became first priest of this god, and continued to be so to the +end of his life. + +The priests had to lead a holier and purer life than the laity. The +ritual, the rules for purification and food, which the priests laid upon +themselves, were stricter than those expected from the rest of the +people. The priest must wash twice in each day and each night. Every +third day he must shave his whole body, more especially his eyebrows and +beard. He might only wear linen clothing (byssus), and shoes of papyrus. +Any other clothing, and especially the hair and skins of beasts, defiled +a priest; though on monuments the priests of Osiris wear leopard skins, +especially at the ceremony of the burial. The flesh of sheep, swine, and +most other animals was forbidden to the priests; they might never touch +fish. Pulse they might not eat, and beans were not even to be looked at. +They observed frequent fasts. From time to time they underwent certain +mortifications, which in one instance continued for forty-two days, in +order to destroy in themselves the forty-two deadly sins. Finally the +priests could only marry one wife; while the laity were allowed to have +other wives beside the first. The kings had more than one wife, and this +was the rule among the wealthier class in Egypt.[270] + +We are not informed how sharply the different orders in Egypt were +separated, or how far the different occupations were distinguished among +the labouring or trading population in addition to the classes of +priests and soldiers. We do not know, for instance, in what degree the +tiller of the soil was distinguished from the artizan. We are only told +that the people were divided into husbandmen, artizans, and shepherds, +and the shepherds were regarded as the lowest class. But we learn that +no one was allowed to follow any other occupation than that derived from +his father.[271] The inscriptions tell us that the same office, as for +instance that of architect, remained in the same family for twenty-three +generations;[272] and in the seventh century B.C. a kind of caste grew +up out of a number of Egyptian boys, whom Psammetichus handed over to +his Ionian mercenaries. Hence we may conclude that the impulse to +perpetuate types and lock up occupations in hereditary circles and fixed +families was very strong, as was natural enough with the fixed and +conservative character of the Egyptians. But however strong the impulse, +however deeply rooted the custom for the son to follow the father's +profession, there was in Egypt no caste in the strict sense of the term. +Marriages between the orders were not forbidden, and it is exclusiveness +in this point which completes the idea of caste. Moreover in Egypt there +were adoptions and transitions from one order to another. The sepulchral +pillars never lay any weight on birth in a certain order, but rather +show that members of the same family had belonged to different +orders--that a man could be at once a priest and a soldier, and Diodorus +remarks that in Egypt all were regarded as of equally honourable birth. +The statement that the shepherds were held in the least estimation is +probably correct, for the reason that their unrestrained occupation was +least adapted for subjection to fixed rules of life and a strict ritual; +but that statement, like the assertion in Genesis that "cowherds were an +abomination to the Egyptians," is not to be taken in reference to the +breeders of oxen and the care of flocks, which was carried on with great +vigour among the Egyptians, but to the nomadic tribes who wandered with +their flocks on the broad marshes of the Delta, or on the pastures of +the Libyan and Arabian ranges, and were wholly strangers to all settled +life. When we are told that the swineherds were held in especial +contempt, we must remember that to the Egyptians the swine was an +unclean animal.[273] Hence we may consider it as certain that custom +required the Egyptian to follow the trade of his father, and caused the +father to live again in his son, but no law of religion or state turned +the orders into castes, and that the various classes of trades and +professions were neither haughty and exclusive, nor servile and +submissive towards each other, but all lived together on a tolerable +equality. + +Beside the respect and weight which the religious importance of their +order, their general knowledge and science gave to the priests, it was +to them more especially that the honour of serving the king fell. We +cannot doubt that the public officers were mainly taken from the order +of priests, which was also the order of scribes. Egypt was not, like the +great monarchies of the ancient East, a state founded by conquest, in +which the lord of the victorious people was master of the conquerors and +the conquered also, and in which it was all-important to retain the +conquered nation in subjection; it was a compact district inhabited by +the same tribe. Here, if we make an exception in favour of the +transitory conquests in Nubia and Arabia, there were no extensive and +distant provinces to be held in check. The departments in the land were +small, their number reached forty-four;[274] the officers, whom the king +set over them, were in his sight, they could not assume the position of +refractory pashas. They were nominated out of the members of the royal +house (the monuments furnish instances), the priests, the soldiers, and +also out of the people. Royal scribes and judges, "scribes of justice," +were allotted to these prefects. As the Egyptians early arrived at a +written law, as religion and justice were closely connected, and the +priests were acquainted with the art of writing, the prefects of the +provinces were without doubt assisted by men from the priestly order in +the exercise of their judicial duties. Besides the maintenance of the +peace and the administration of justice, it was their duty to provide +for the cultivation of the land, the collection and transmission of the +taxes to the king. Even the soldiers settled in the provinces seem to +have been subject to their rule. The gold and copper mines on the Upper +Nile and in Sinai appear to have been put under the care of special +officers, and the products were conveyed under military protection to +the treasury of the king (p. 105). + +The officers of the central government surrounded the person of the king +(p. 190). Even the administration of justice, according to Diodorus, was +centred in a supreme court, consisting of thirty judges, ten of the best +men from Heliopolis, ten from Memphis, and ten from Thebes. Without +doubt these judges belonged to the three priestly colleges of Memphis, +Thebes, and Heliopolis. From these thirty the president was chosen, and +on his breast, attached to a golden chain, he wore a shield of precious +stones, beautifully wrought, which the Egyptians named "Truth" (p. 174). +This court of the thirty no doubt gave very honourable decisions, and in +accordance with law, unless the king were interested in the result, or +preferred to pass sentence himself. Diodorus further informs us that the +laws of the Egyptians were collected in eight books, and were always +kept at hand by the judges. The first written laws were given by Menes +to the Egyptians, who declared that he had received them from the god +Thoth. These laws had been enlarged by "Sasychis," who at the same time +left the most accurate rubrics for the service of the gods, discovered +geometry, and taught astronomy. Then Sesosis (Sesostris) laid down the +laws for the kings, and the army. Finally the kings Bocchoris and Amasis +completed the laws of Egypt. Herodotus praises a king "Asychis," whom he +places after Menkera (p. 16), as the giver of the laws of mortgage. From +Diodorus we also learn, and the monuments confirm his statement, that a +written process went on before the court, that plaint and answer, +rejoinder and reply, were given in, in writing; and this custom, +considering the delight of the Egyptians in writing, did not appear for +the first time in the later period of legal administration. The +contracts and bills of sale found in tombs of the time of the Ptolemies +are drawn up with the most circumstantial accuracy, and furnished with +the signatures of many witnesses.[275] What Diodorus tells us of the law +of Egypt with respect to _meum_ and _tuum_ gives evidence of a certain +gentleness and humanity. The interest was never to exceed the amount of +the capital. Slavery for debt was not allowed; the sons of all the wives +shared equally in the inheritance. The murder of a slave was punished +with death, just as the murder of an Egyptian. Perjury was threatened +with the same penalty. Anyone who falsified documents or measures had +his hand cut off. In the confession which the souls made before Osiris +(p. 79), especial emphasis is laid on the fact that the dead man had +not falsified measures or seals, that he had practised no deceit in the +law court, and had lent no money upon usury. The punishments inflicted +on the guilty are characteristic of the East: the stocks, compulsory +labour at the mines and quarries, loss of the nose, excision of the +tongue, and mutilation were the usual penalties.[276] + +Beside the law of the state stood the law of religion, of the priests. +It was not sufficient to offer bread, and geese, and thighs of bulls, to +pour drink-offerings of milk and wine, and "all things whereon the +divine nature lives," to burn frankincense before the images of the +gods, to offer the firstlings of the fruits, figs, onions, and flowers, +to set up in the temples dedicatory offerings, small statues, crowns, +and rings, to celebrate in honour of the gods of the district the great +and small festivals, to honour the dead and bring sacrifice to them at +the beginning and end of the year, at the festivals of the great and the +little heat, on the monthly and fortnightly festivals (the calendars of +the festivals on the monuments exhibit an almost unbroken series of +sacrifices), to attend to the animals of the sacred kinds and bury them +handsomely, "to give bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes +to the naked, and shelter to the wanderer"--the whole life must be a +religious service. In their favoured land the Egyptians considered +themselves a favoured people. Full of gratitude to the gods who had +given them this land and this life, they looked with contempt on the +unclean and perverse nations who dwelt beyond the valley of the Nile. To +keep themselves clean from the unclean is the essential task of their +lives. To the merely superficial view, cleanliness of body and clothing +seems cleanliness of soul and life. But this purity, which the law of +the priests required from every Egyptian, and above all and in an +especial degree from the priests, was not limited to simple and natural +cleanliness. There were beneficent life-giving gods, and there were also +evil and destructive deities. To these belonged the side of nature which +seemed to correspond to their being. Contact with this side of nature is +not only displeasing to the good and pure gods, it gives the evil +influences power over the men contaminated by it. Hence for the +salvation of men such contact must be shunned. Certain things must be +avoided for clothing and others for nourishment, certain impulses must +not be satisfied, or must at any rate be limited. + +This conception introduced certain usages and customs, which were +developed by the priests into a system of rules for purification and +food. Herodotus says, "the Egyptians are the most religious of all men; +they have a severe and strict service, and many sacred customs." The +boys were circumcised. Beans, rye, and barley might not be eaten; the +flesh of many animals and many kinds of fish was forbidden. It was not +lawful to eat the head of any animal. The animals for sacrifice must +first be examined by the priests, to see that they did not belong to the +sacred kinds--to sacrifice these was an inexpiable offence--and whether +in other respects they were without blemish and pleasing to the gods. +This examination was the duty of the class of temple-servants already +mentioned, and it devolved on them to mark the animals found to be clean +with a seal, which in bulls was placed on the horns. The Egyptians never +ate at the same table with strangers, nor used a cup from which a +stranger had drunk, nor ate flesh cooked in the vessel of a stranger +and cut with a stranger's knife; all strangers and their utensils were +unclean. Nothing woollen might be taken into a temple or a tomb. The +Egyptians always wore newly-washed under-clothing of linen; they were +obliged frequently to wash their bodies, and for three days in each +month they used means of evacuation, clysters and emetics, in order to +cleanse the body internally.[277] These statements are confirmed by +papyrus rolls containing medicinal precepts. If the king, a sacred +animal, or a member of the family died, no one was allowed to wear white +or bright-coloured clothes; he must shave his eyebrows, and abstain from +intercourse with his wife and from baths. Men and women threw dust on +their heads and faces, and the women ran to and fro wailing with bare +breasts.[278] + +If an Egyptian had not committed murder, theft, or adultery, if he had +not defamed the gods nor the king, nor those in authority over him, nor +his own father, if he were not guilty of lying or slandering, if he had +deceived neither gods nor men, nor oppressed his workmen in their daily +tasks, nor drawn off the water, if he had allowed no one to be hungry, +and caused no one to weep, if he were not slothful and idle in his +occupation, if he sacrificed to the gods at the appointed time, and +poured libations and observed all the regulations for cleanliness, then +he might hope to find grace in the presence of the twenty-four judges +before Osiris on the day of judgment in Amenti (p. 79). In order to gain +by such conduct and careful observation of the laws of cleanliness and +the ritual, a long life in this world, rest in the grave, and eternal +life in the fields of the sun-god, the Egyptians worshipped their gods +with unwearied zeal, while their kings raised temple upon temple of +enormous blocks in honour of the life-giving powers of heaven. + +We cannot rate the knowledge and science of the Egyptians very low, +however absurd and singular much in it appears to be. The early +discovery of writing, however unwieldy the form, gave them the means of +preserving not only invocations and incidents, but also the results of +observation and experience, and of increasing slowly and surely their +stock of knowledge. They made an unusually extensive use of writing. The +walls of the temples are covered with inscriptions, which often enough +only repeat once more what has been repeated already innumerable times. +Even in the tombs at Beni Hassan from the time of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, we find scribes engaged in numbering the flocks and +ticketing the sacks of corn. The scribes of the king registered the game +obtained in hunting, the number of hands hewn off after a victory, and +of prisoners, and calculated the amount of the booty. The temple-scribes +are seen in the processions with pen in hand, and on the monuments the +gods note down the years of the kings on the leaves of the arbor vitae. +Everything is to be enumerated, registered, and entered. Even ornaments +and utensils are covered with inscriptions. As the hieroglyphics on the +walls explained the images in the temples, and the hieroglyphics on the +sides of the sepulchral chambers recorded the race and achievements of +eminent persons and officers, so did the priests write down their +wisdom, and private people their documents on a lighter material, the +leaves of the papyrus, a tall reed growing in abundance in the swamps of +Egypt. + +Notwithstanding this extensive use, the system of writing among the +Egyptians continued to the end a clumsy and difficult system, partly +owing to the number of pictures and symbols, and partly to the variety +of the phonetic pictures. The unchanging character of the Egyptians, the +symbolical and mystic sense concealed in the hieroglyphics, the +religious character of these old and sacred signs, stood in the way of +the change to a more simple and phonetic mode of writing. Yet the effort +to obtain such a system is unmistakable. After the year 1300 B.C. a +number of picture symbols were used as phonetic symbols, which up to +that time had no phonetic value, and this change becomes more and more +frequent in the last centuries B.C. The habit of writing the +hieroglyphics on the papyrus had early led to abbreviation in writing; +the pictures were represented by simple outlines more adapted to the +hand; and hence arose a cursive mode of writing the hieroglyphics, the +so-called "hieratic" writing, which we already (pp. 90, 94) found in use +on the pyramids under the old kingdom, and which was in use on an +extensive scale at the time when the new kingdom was at its height. +Finally, from the hieratic writing arose a third and more abbreviated +kind, the demotic, which represented the language of ordinary +intercourse and the national dialect. This was in existence when +Herodotus travelled in Egypt. Here we see the most marked effort to +avoid the ideographic element and picture signs, and to extend the use +of the phonetic symbols. Beside the remains of the picture symbols, the +demotic writing employs seventeen simple phonetic symbols and some fifty +symbols of syllables. The hieroglyphic and hieratic modes of writing are +called on the monuments the "writing of the gods," the demotic is "the +writing of the books." For us the difficulty of the hieroglyphics is +materially increased by the fact that the Coptic language in the form +accessible to us is removed by thousands of years from the form of words +represented by the hieroglyphics of the old and new kingdom. The forms +which we obtain from the records preserved in the demotic writing are +about midway between those in the hieroglyphics and the forms retained +in the Coptic translation of the Scriptures, and in some books of +liturgies, which belong to the first centuries A.D.[279] + +In the circles of the priests the traditional invocations of the gods, +the rules for the proper conduct of sacrifices and feasts, for the pure +conversation which is the way to life and salvation in this world and +the next, were without doubt committed to writing at a very early +period. When gradually extended and continued, those writings grew into +a liturgical canon and ecclesiastical codex of religious and moral law, +and a comprehensive collection of all the wisdom known to the priests. +We learn that the Egyptian priests possessed forty-two sacred books. +Regarded as a collection of religious rules in every department of +civilisation and life, as the measure of holy and upright conversation, +and as rules of civil law, these books passed as the writings of the god +Thoth, the scribe of heaven, the god of truth and justice. The civil law +also was grounded upon the rules and axioms of religion; from these it +arose, and the books of civil law without doubt formed a part of the +sacred law, and of the books of the priests. Of these forty-two books +ten belonged to the high priest, of which eight may have been the eight +books of civil law (p. 202). In that case the two others would contain +the doctrine concerning the gods, and the instruction of the priests. +Ten other books belonged to the temple-scribe. Of these the first +contained the rules for the sacred writing; the second the geography +and cosmogony; the third and fourth the arrangement of the sun, moon, +and five planets; the fifth and sixth the description of Egypt and the +Nile; the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, the weights and measures, +the mode of registering the temple furniture and property. Again, ten +books belonged to the chamberlain. These taught the ritual and the +liturgy, the offering of first-fruits and sacrifices, hymns and prayers, +together with the conduct of festivals and other things of the kind, +and, finally, discipline and the rules for examining the animals for +sacrifices. The two books of the minstrel contained the hymns and the +contemplation of the life proper for a king (p. 188). The four books of +the astrologer concluded the narrower circle of the sacred writings. Of +these, the first contained the arrangement of the fixed stars; the +second and third the coincidences of the orbits of the sun and moon; the +fourth, the rising of the constellations. Besides these sacred books the +pastophors (p. 196) had six books which taught the principles and +practice of medicine;[280] for the art of healing, _i.e._ of preserving +life, also belonged to the priests. The medicine of the Egyptians is +commended as early as the Homeric poems (p. 15). Herodotus assures us +that in Egypt every kind of sickness had a special physician, and +Diodorus states that the art was carried out strictly according to the +written principles, _i.e._ no doubt, according to these six sacred +books. A hieratic papyrus on the subject of medicine has been recently +found at Thebes, which is supposed to belong to the first centuries of +the restoration of the monarchy. A section of this deals with diseases +of the eye.[281] Egyptian physicians were much sought after in the East +(the founder of the Persian kingdom, Cyrus, procured an oculist from +Egypt), until the fame of the Greek medicine about 500 B.C. threw +Egyptian physicians into the shade.[282] + +In the sacred books of the priests was drawn up the religious system +into which the original conceptions of the gods were shaped and +developed in the circles of the priests. The gods who passed for the +greatest and mightiest in the various districts out of which Egypt was +made up, the protecting deities of the separate localities, were here +arranged in definite ranks and classes. And if, nevertheless, +considerable differences can be observed in the teaching of the priests +of Memphis and Thebes, they are sufficiently explained by the mode in +which religion and state were developed in Egypt, and the rival position +of the two great centres of ecclesiastical life. According to the +doctrine of Memphis the seven highest deities were Ptah, the creative +god of light of the lower country; Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis; and +Shu (Sosis, p. 50), the deity of the clear air; these three were +followed by the forms belonging to the Osiris circle, on whose nature +rested the moral basis of the life of the Egyptians; Seb, the father of +Osiris; Osiris himself; then his opposite, Typhon; and lastly, Horus, +the conqueror of Typhon.[283] The doctrine of Thebes placed Ammon at the +head instead of Ptah, and in the place of Ra stood the two sun-gods of +Upper Egypt, Tum (Atum, p. 51) and Mentu; these were followed by Shu, +and the gods of the Osiris circle. To the seven or eight great gods was +appended a circle of twelve gods, and among these Thoth and Anubis. The +twelve were followed by a number of spirits, genii and demigods. With +this system of gods the doctrine of the priests was connected. Even from +the attributes of Ptah, Neith, and other deities, it is clear that there +was among the priests a strong tendency to gather up the divine powers +into the forms of Ptah, Tum, Osiris, and Ra. The teaching of the priests +evidently desired to grasp the connection of life, and attain to a +theogony and a theory of creation. It has been already pointed out on +the authority of documents belonging to the times of the Amenemha and +Sesurtesen, that the priests in their doctrine were at pains to discover +the unity of the divine spirits, and to conceive the forms of the gods +as manifestations of one being. They regarded the animals as the +manifestations of special characteristics of the gods, and men as +phaenomena of a divine origin and nature, who would return to the place +whence they came. To go further and grasp the heart of the system is +impossible in the present condition of our researches. Conceptions and +inferences of the Graeco-Egyptian speculation of the time of the +Ptolemies and the first centuries after Christ cannot be accepted as the +true form of the old Egyptian religion, or as the doctrine of the +priests of ancient Egypt. + +With the Egyptians, as with other nations, poetry probably arose out of +the invocations of the gods and hymns of praise and thanksgiving. +Religious poetry had a fixed canon in the books of the minstrels. That +national songs were also in vogue is shown by the monuments (p. 222). +Diodorus told us above that the achievements of Sesostris were +celebrated in poetry (p. 144). The description of a deed of arms of +Ramses II. which he must have regarded as of considerable importance +has been preserved. The battle he fought with the Cheta in the fifth +year of his reign (p. 152), he caused to be represented in the rock +temple at Abu Simbel and in the Ramesseum, and a description of it is +engraved in these temples, as at Luxor and Beth-el-Walli, and in the +walls of the great temple at Karnak. It is found in still greater detail +in a papyrus of the British Museum.[284] At the end is the observation +that the scribe Pentaur composed it in the seventh year of the reign of +Ramses II. In this poem we are told that the chief of the Cheta had come +with his archers and chariots, three men on each chariot. North-west of +Kadesh they lay in ambush. The king, urging on his chariot, pressed into +the midst of the miserable Cheta. He found himself surrounded by 2,500 +chariots. "My bowmen and my chariots have abandoned me, this is what the +king said; none of them is here to fight beside me. What is the will of +my father Ammon? Is he a father who denies his son? Or have I followed +my own thoughts? Did I not set forth at thy command; has not thy mouth +led my armies, and thy counsel guided them? Have I not celebrated many +brilliant festivals, and filled thy house with booty? Thirty thousand +bulls I have sacrificed with odorous herbs and perfumes of all kinds. I +have built thee temples of stone, I bring obelisks from Elephantine, and +cause the everlasting stones to be carried down. For thee--the great +ships swim upon the sea, to bring thee the tribute of the nations. Has +the like been done before? Ruin on him who opposes thee: salvation to +him who comprehends thee, Ammon. On thee I call. I am alone before thee +in the midst of unknown nations. My bowmen and chariots left me when I +called; no one heard me when I cried for help. But I choose Ammon before +thousands of bowmen and millions of chariots. The devices of men are +nothing; Ammon will deliver from them. These words echoed in Hermonthis. +Ra comes to him who calls upon him. He reaches to thee his hand. He +flies to thee, Ramses Miamun. I am with thee, I am thy father, the sun, +and my hand is with thee. Their hearts shall waver in their breasts and +all their limbs shall fail. They shall not shoot their arrows; their +lances they shall not be able to hold. The chief of the Cheta sent +princes, the prince of Aratus (Aradus) and the prince of Kirkamischa +(Karchemish). My charioteer was weak, and a great terror came upon his +limbs. He said, Brave king, hold, and let us save the breath of our +lives. What can we do, noble lord, Ramses Miamun? Mark what his majesty +answered to his charioteer. Courage! Stablish thine heart, my +charioteer. Like the divine hawk, I will swoop into their midst, they +shall be overthrown and hewn down into the dust. Ammon were no god if he +glorified not my face before their countless hosts. The king pressed +into the midst of the miserable Cheta, six times he pressed into their +midst. My bowmen and charioteers came at the hour of evening from their +camp: they found the whole region covered with dead bathed in their +blood. His holiness answered his army and the captains who had not +fought. Ye did not well to leave me alone in the midst of the enemies. I +have fought, I have beaten back thousands of enemies, and I was alone. +The horses which drew me were 'Might in Thebes,' and 'Rest in the upper +land.' As soon as I am within my royal gates, I command that they have +corn every day before the god Ra. When the earth again became light, he +began the conflict again; he dashed into the battle like a bull, which +hurls himself upon geese, and with him the mighty lion beside his +horses. Rage inflamed all his limbs. They were hewn in pieces before his +mares. The chief of the miserable Cheta sent to call upon the great name +of his majesty. Thou art the sun, the god of both worlds, thou art +Sutech the great conqueror, the son of heaven. Baal is in all thy limbs. +Terror is upon the land of Cheta; thou hast possessed thyself of their +inwards for ever. The slave said, as he spoke to Pharaoh: Since Ammon +has granted to thee that Egypt and the nation of the Cheta shall be +slaves at thy feet, and Ra has granted thee the dominion over them, thou +canst slay thy slaves; they are in thy power; we lie bowed to the earth, +ready to obey thy command. O brave king, delight of the warriors, grant +us the breath of our lives! The king summoned his generals in order to +hear the message and write an answer, and toward midday he took ship. He +returned in peace with his army to Egypt. The whole earth has subjected +itself to his name, and the princes, lying on the ground, worship his +countenance."[285] + +Not only certain turns in this description, but passages in invocations +which have come down to us, show that in expressing themselves, the +Egyptians, in spite of the predominant vein of reflection, were not +without force of imagination, or striking figures, or largeness and +vigour of conception. That they are not free from bombast, foolish +exaggeration, and incessant repetition, any more, or even so little, as +the other nations of the East, is proved more especially by the +inscriptions in the temples recording the mighty deeds of the kings. Our +knowledge of the manuscripts does not as yet allow us to pass a more +definite judgment. Yet it is beyond doubt that even in the centuries +immediately preceding the irruption of the Hyksos, under the Sesurtesen +and Amenemha, they were in possession of a written literature, that even +then the oldest parts of the "Book of the Dead" were not only in +existence, but already commentated upon, and that after the restoration +of the kingdom, beside the comprehensive books of the priests, and +manuscripts on medicine (p. 209), there was at any rate after the +fourteenth century B.C., and the reign of Ramses II., a literature of a +considerable extent. There is a second papyrus in existence by the +author of the description of the battle, of which the title runs, +"Beginning of the Rudiments of the Art of Letter-writing by the Scribe +Pentaur, composed in the 10th year of Ramses II."[286] The fifth letter +of this collection is addressed by Ameneman, the head of the keepers of +the archives of the treasure of the king, to Pentaur; it is said that +Pentaur has turned his back on the sacred writings, and applied himself +to agriculture. The farmer has to fear grubs and rats, sparrows and +locusts for his crops; and thieves too. Implements and horses wear out. +The scribes come and demand the taxes, and the neighbours are away and +busy with the harvest. On the other hand, the work of the scribe is the +highest of all, and the scribe has no taxes to pay.[287] On a third +papyrus a hymn, addressed by Ramses III. to Ammon, is said to have been +found.[288] A fourth has the name-shields of Sethos II. (p. 163). It is +a composition by a scribe of the name of Enna, and contains the story of +the fate of two brothers.[289] A fifth papyrus, which is also +attributed to the time of successors of Ramses II., has preserved a +collection of apothegms.[290] In a country which placed such importance +on preserving every incident, on enumerating, recording, and registering +everything, care must have been taken to record the series of the kings. +When the shepherds were driven out, the liberation from foreign dominion +would give a strong impulse toward the attempt to keep firmly before the +eyes the old days of independent Egypt. At the same time these attempts +must have met with serious hindrances. The destruction which came upon +numerous records and monuments of those old times, and the want of any +definite aera of chronology, made it difficult to obtain a really correct +order of succession, or a historical picture of the ancient period. The +historical truth of the writings, which, in spite of these difficulties, +were undertaken, as is shown by the monuments mentioned above, and the +Turin papyrus (p. 25), was still more seriously impaired by the fact +that the views of the priests were governed by the conception that the +course of certain periods was allotted to the world by the gods, and in +these periods the fortunes of Egypt had reached their fulfilment, and +would continue to reach it. We have already become acquainted with this +Sothis period (p. 29 ff). From the gods came life and the world. So the +gods were said to have reigned in person over Egypt, before the kings, +their divine successors, ruled over men. Hence the priests of Lower +Egypt commenced the reign of the seven great gods with the beginning of +a Sothis period. The seven great gods were followed by the twelve gods +of the second rank, Thoth, Anubis, Chunsu, &c., in reigns of gradually +diminishing length through a certain number of Sothis periods. According +to the scheme still preserved, Ptah reigned 9,000 years, and the last of +the gods only seventy years, so that on an average each occupies exactly +half a Sothis period, or 730 of our years. These nineteen gods were +followed by thirty demigods; to each of whom was allotted the twelfth +part of a Sothis period for a reign, so that the whole period of the +reign of the gods takes up twelve Sothis periods, or 17,520 years. After +this, according to some authorities, began the period of human rulers; +others allotted four Sothis periods, _i.e._ 5840 years, to another set +of demigods. Then followed, beginning like the rest with the beginning +of a Sothis period, the rule of human kings. This Sothis period +commenced either in the year 5702 B.C., or, according to the arrangement +of Lepsius, with the year 4242 B.C. This year, therefore, was the first +of the history of Egypt. To Menes the priests attached the long list of +names in one continuous series, without in the least regarding whether +the dynasties were contemporaneous or successive, whether they ruled in +Upper or Lower Egypt, over the whole land, or in certain districts only. +If we calculate the rule of the human kings from the first of the dates +given, the first Sothis period of men came to an end, according to the +canon of Manetho, in 4242 B.C.; the second in 2782 B.C. The third ended +in the time of Menephta I., in whose reign as a fact the Egyptian year +did again coincide with the natural year.[291] + +The Egyptians were devoted more than other nations to the contemplation +of the heavens. The constellations announced to them the approach of the +inundation, its height, and its decline. Moreover, their religion was to +a great extent a worship of light and the sun, and as they plainly +perceived the influence of the stars on the country in the rise and fall +of the water, the increase and abatement of the heat, &c., it was +natural that they should ascribe to the constellations and the movements +of the heavenly bodies similar influences on the life and growth, the +happiness and misery, of mankind; and this belief must in turn have +contributed to the assiduous and accurate observation of the heavens. +"If anywhere," says Diodorus, "it is in Egypt that the most accurate +observation of the position and movements of the stars have been made. +Of each of these they have records extending over an incredible series +of years, the courses and positions of the planets also they have +accurately observed, and they can accurately predict the eclipses of the +sun and the moon."[292] Astronomical pictures are not uncommon on the +monuments belonging to the period after the expulsion of the Hyksos. +Fragments of a calendar of festivals from the time of Ramses II. are +found on a gateway of the Ramesseum. The outer walls of the temple at +Medinet Habu give a complete calendar of the festivals from the time of +Ramses III. In the tomb of Sethos I. are pictures and names of the five +divinities of the planets known to the Egyptians, Mercury, Venus (the +star of the Bennu, p. 69), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; the same picture +is found on the roof of the astronomical hall in the Ramesseum at +Thebes, and on two pictures in the tombs of Ramses V. and IX. The +painting in the Ramesseum--though the circle of 369 cubits, which, +according to Diodorus, was once on the roof of the Ramesseum (p. 175), +is wanting, being removed by Cambyses--presents a complete map of the +Egyptian sky. The pictures in the tombs of the two kings give the rising +of the stars at intervals of a fortnight. In the tomb of Ramses IV. the +thirty-six Decan stars are given together with their deities.[293] The +importance placed by the Egyptian priests on the knowledge of the sky is +shown not only by the monuments, but also by the four books of the +astrologer, and the third and fourth books of the temple scribe; and +that their astronomical science was by no means slight is sufficiently +proved by their early establishment of a solar year of 360, and then of +365 days, and by the observation and establishment of the Sothis +periods. This fact is confirmed by the lists of the rising of the stars +already mentioned. Yet the astronomical knowledge of the priests of +Egypt cannot be placed beside that of the Babylonians. Representations +of the zodiac are not found on the monuments till the time of the +Ptolemies,[294] and Ptolemy, himself an Egyptian, has preserved for us +observations of the Chaldees, but none made by his own countrymen. The +greater part of the attention which the priests of Egypt bestowed upon +the heavens was given in the interests of astrology rather than +astronomy. As the months in the year belonged to certain gods, the first +to Thoth, the third (Athyr) to Hathor, the last to Horus, so the days +of the month had their deities. The first day belonged to Thoth, the +second to Horus, the third to Osiris, &c.; and lastly, every hour of the +day was allotted to a special influence. From the importance thus given +to the days and hours the astrologers could foretell the fortune of +life; they could ascertain what issue awaited any enterprise--whether +the day and hour were favourable or not for this or that occupation or +undertaking. For this object they possessed tables worked out in +extensive detail. For instance, anyone born on the 14th of Athyr, the +day when Typhon was said to have slain Osiris, had to expect a violent +death; anyone born on the 23rd of Phaophi was doomed to be killed by a +crocodile; and anyone born on the 27th of the same month, by a serpent. +On the other hand, a child born on the 9th of Phaophi might look forward +to a long life. In the tables of the hours we find for a given +day--first hour, Orion is lord of the left elbow; second hour, the Twins +have influence on the left ear; fifth hour, the Pleiads(?) are sovereign +over both chambers of the heart; tenth hour, the feet of the Swine +predominate over the left eye, &c.[295] + +In the achievement won by Egyptian art the priests took a leading part. +The buildings of the temples and the tombs of the kings could only be +erected after their designs; for in these essentially sacred things, +sacred measures and numbers, were concerned, and, like architecture, +sculpture and painting were primarily employed in the service of +religion. As we might expect from the character of the people, the +architecture of the Egyptians aimed at the firm and durable. The +structures rise up simple in their lines, like the ridges of rock which +are the boundaries of Egypt, broad and massive. The pyramids, with great +simplicity of form, were found to display a considerable skill in +dealing with and uniting large masses of stone. Following this path, the +architecture of Egypt has always preserved a severity and simplicity of +outline even when employing richer forms and ornaments. Among the +Egyptians sculpture and painting never attained independence; it was +their vocation to support architecture, and assist her in preserving in +the stream of time the picture of the king, his sacrifices, and his +achievements, and this or that incident of his reign. The sculpture of +the Egyptians exhibits a vigorous attempt to grasp the forms in a naive, +but prosaic and merely intellectual manner; it preserves them free from +any fanciful use of symbols, and conceives the human form in fixed +proportions and characteristic expression of movement, while it is still +more happy in the form and character of the animals. Like architecture, +sculpture prefers to work in the hardest and most lasting material. But, +as in all other departments of life, so here; the type when once fixed, +the canon of proportion when once discovered, the mode of treatment and +the law of form is rigorously retained. With complete accuracy of +execution in the most difficult material, sculpture constantly repeats +the same figures, geometrical rather than natural in form. Yet in spite +of this typical character, in sculpture and painting, as in +architecture, a considerable development took place. The statues of the +times of the pyramids, the Amenemha and Sesurtesen, exhibit, +comparatively speaking, very correct forms, lively energy in the +expression of action, and a strong treatment of the muscles; but the +sculptures of the new kingdom are distinguished by greater variety of +forms, a larger wealth of lines, and a delicacy of outline; the drawing +of the figures is far more slender, and there is considerable grace in +the treatment of massive pillars and capitals. The Tuthmosis and +Amenophis, the Sethos, and the earliest Ramses, imposed upon Egyptian +art an almost oppressive number of tasks, and in performing them she +touched her highest point. But the amount of work must of itself have +introduced a more and more conventional treatment within the limits of +the typical circle in which sculpture moved; and at last this treatment +was content with mere precision of outlines. This is the character of +the sculpture of the times of Ramses III. down to the days of +Psammetichus, in which, by a truer imitation of nature, and greater +grace in the form of the bodies, it once more attained to a beautiful +after-growth. + +The industry and skill with which the cultivation of the land and of the +vine, and the breeding of cattle and sheep, was carried on in Egypt even +before the invasion of the Hyksos, has been already seen on the +monuments of the time of the Sesurtesen and Amenemha (p. 118). The +fields were tilled with ploughs drawn by oxen, or with the hoe. It was +not in every case necessary to make furrows. In December and January, +when the water had run off, the seed was cast into the moist ground and +trodden in, as we see from the monuments, by sheep and goats. Everywhere +the overseer is in the field with the labourers and herdmen. By the end +of March harvest was ready; wheat and maize were cut with the sickle, +and then the grain was trodden out by oxen. Meanwhile the thrasher sang, +according to the inscription on a rock tomb at El Kab (above Thebes), +"Thrash for yourselves, oxen, thrash for yourselves; thrash bushels for +your masters."[296] Diodorus remarks that it was marvellous with what +care and skill the herds were tended by their keepers in Egypt, what +knowledge of healing plants and of food was to be found in these +keepers, how their occupation came to them from their forefathers, with +a large stock of experience and manual skill; and how their knowledge +increased to an incredible degree the propagation of the animals.[297] +On the monuments we find not only great herds of cattle, asses, sheep, +and goats, but also whole droves of hens, ducks, and geese. +Poultry-sellers and depots of poultry are often found. These sculptures +confirm the statements of Diodorus of the careful tending of the +animals; they also show us the medicinal treatment of ailing animals. +Beside this wealth of cattle, there was an abundance of fish, provided +by the Nile. These were caught partly with hooks, and partly with large +nets. The upper classes fished for pleasure. Yet most kinds of fish were +forbidden food: the priests, as we have seen, were not allowed to taste +fish at all. + +The monuments also teach us that hunting was not neglected by the +Egyptians. Hares, foxes, antelopes, gazelles, hyaenas, buffaloes, and +lions were driven into inclosures surrounded by nets, or chased with the +bow and arrow and dogs, or with the chariot and hounds. Gazelles and +buffaloes were also taken with the lasso; traps were set for the hyaenas; +the hippopotamus was attacked with a spear from a boat.[298] + +Of the industry of the Egyptians in trade we have already had striking +evidence in the monuments of the old kingdom. There we saw all kinds of +manufactures in the various stages; we found on them the simple +weaver's loom, which produced the robes of byssus, so highly valued in +antiquity,--the lasting fabric which may still be examined in the +clothing of mummies. The early development of technical skill meets us +more especially in the pictures of the preparation of glass on the tombs +at Beni Hassan. Glass cups and vessels are frequently found in the +tombs, and Strabo observes that the earth required for making glass is +among the products of Egypt.[299] The working of the copper mines in the +mountains of Sinai goes considerably further back than the date of the +tombs at Beni Hassan. They were open as early as the times of Snefru and +Chufu.[300] Yet by far the greatest proportion of hands must have been +employed upon the buildings of the kings and the tombs of the wealthy. +On the monuments we see the masons in all their various occupations; +painters and statuaries also are represented there in the different +moments of their work; and the tables of proportion which they followed +are still preserved. + +Even before the invasion of the Hyksos, as we saw from the tombs at Beni +Hassan, the life of the wealthy Egyptian was surrounded by considerable +elegance (p. 118). The houses of the rich, built, according to the +pictures on the monuments, in a light and graceful style, in contrast to +the heavy structure of the temples, had several stories, and were +provided with the galleries and terraces still usual in the East. Houses +in the country had shady avenues of trees, planted in exact rows, and +neat beds of flowers, graceful pavilions, and fountains of water. The +common national dress was a linen shirt, and over it a woollen cloak; +the labourer and the lowest class had only an apron round the body; but +the clothing of the higher classes was choice and delicate. The women, +who enjoyed considerable freedom in Egypt, wore various +ornaments--necklaces, eardrops, and bracelets; rings of the most various +shape adorned almost every finger. Their hair was carefully dressed; +they bathed frequently, and made a considerable use of ointments. Life +was sociable in ancient Egypt. In the tombs at Beni Hassan we find men +carried in a palanquin to a social meeting; and in the tombs at Thebes +they are driving in chariots to a similar gathering. Gaily-dressed men +and women meet and converse with each other in the hall; slaves, +light-coloured and black, in part handsomely-dressed, hand them garlands +and cups. The table is spread. Bread, figs, and grapes are set out in +baskets, wine in glass bottles; vegetables and poultry are also there. +The solid food was eaten with the hand, liquids were taken with spoons. +At these banquets the Egyptians do not seem to have been very moderate. +Herodotus tells us that a small wooden image of a mummy was carried +round at their entertainments, with the exhortation, "Look on this, +drink and be merry. When dead, thou wilt be as this is!"[301] This +admonition was not without its results. In the pictures on monuments we +find not only men, but women, throwing up the surfeit of food and wine; +others are carried away home by their servants. Indeed, excess and +drunkenness are quoted among the forty-two chief sins of the Egyptians. +During the meal dancers were introduced, and bands of musicians, male +and female, who played on harps, guitars, and flutes; among which was +mingled the sound of the tambourine. A chorus also sang to the harp. The +company also played and danced.[302] We have already seen that games of +ball and mora were played under the old monarchy. Among the recreations +of the new monarchy draughts are found. We often find on the monuments +sketches of men and women who exhibit contortions of their bodies and +feats of strength. Sham-fights at sea also occur, and wrestling matches +are very common. + +Proudly as the Egyptians, in the consciousness of their purity and +culture, looked down on "the unclean and perverse" nations outside their +land, and rarely as they travelled into other countries, Egypt was +nevertheless the centre of a considerable trade. China and Japan also +for a long time shut themselves up from the outer world, yet their trade +was considerable, though permitted only at certain fixed places. The +Egyptians also caused the products which they needed to be brought, +without themselves going to seek them. Egypt required wood for the +building of houses and ships, brass, ivory, slaves, and incense. Even +before the year 1500 B.C., Arabian caravans carried the products of the +south coast of Arabia to Syria and Egypt.[303] The wandering tribes of +Libya, Syria, and Arabia required corn, weapons, utensils, and +implements, which they could buy in Egypt. Then at a later period came +the trade of the Phenicians with Egypt. They could bring wood from the +forests of Lebanon--wine, oil, slaves, amber, and tin, and exchange them +for the manufactures of Egypt; for retail goods, glass, drugs, which +Egypt produced in great quantities, fish, Egyptian fabrics, linen, and +material prepared from the papyrus. The Greeks called fabrics made from +this plant, "byblian," from the city Byblus, a proof that they first +became acquainted with these Egyptian wares through the Phenicians, and +mainly through the ships of Byblus, and received them from this quarter. +Horses, also, and chariots were brought as articles of trade from Egypt +to Syria about the year 1000 B.C.; at that time a chariot cost in Egypt +600 shekels, and a horse 150.[304] So far as we can gather from the +legends of the Greeks, the trading ships could only enter the Canopic +mouth of the Nile, and intercourse with foreign merchants could only +take place on the little island of Pharos, opposite the city of Thonis. +Here the mariners of that day, the Phenicians, and with them, and after +them, the Ionians, carried on their trade with the Egyptians. On land +the only entrance was by Pelusium; and here as also at Pharos, an +entrance-tax had apparently to be paid. From the Homeric poems we may +conclude that there was then a trade with Egypt, and not only piratical +descents upon the coasts; but when the Ionians, about the middle of the +eighth century, began to enter into dangerous competition with the +Phenicians, the latter seem to have succeeded in getting the Greeks +excluded from Egypt, and obtaining for themselves the monopoly of the +sea--a privilege which, however, they did not maintain for more than a +century.[305] + +Such was ancient Egypt, the land of marvel, whose richly developed +civilization lies on the threshold of historical life. Excellently +furnished by nature, and placed in a peculiarly favoured land, the Copts +have transferred to their own lives and civilization the grave and +solemn character of their sky and their country. Their conservative +feeling is directed towards fixed and unalterable order; the sons +repeat the lives of their fathers, and the nation is divided into +various classes and corporations, which carry on the same occupations +from generation to generation. The beneficent powers of nature, the +mystery of life, the life returning out of death--these are the forces +and laws which the Egyptians worshipped as their good gods, whose +creation is the fruitful world, who manifest themselves in good +creatures, whose unchangeable nature they seemed to recognise as +embodied in the instinctive and unalterable life of certain animals. The +life of the nation adapts itself also to priestly rules, which operate +without alteration, like the laws of nature. + +As the heart of this people was set upon the continuance of the race and +occupation, on rule and law, so also was it their desire to prolong the +existence of the individual. This impulse towards the preservation of +self operated so strongly that the Egyptians busied themselves with the +future quite as much as with the past. It was this trait in their +character which caused the Egyptians to rescue their dead from +corruption, and occupied the living with the construction of "eternal +dwellings for the dead." This it was which made them a nation of +scribes, builders, painters and sculptors. These efforts culminate in +the buildings of the kings, who could command the whole powers of the +land in preserving their names. The Egyptians were loath to end with +death. It was the true vocation of every man worthily to build and +"adorn his tomb;" and the essential object of life is--not to lose the +everlasting life after death by unclean and unlawful conversation--to +win a return to the divine origin of life. + +With the simple confidence of childhood, with the patient endurance of +a man, and with iron perseverance, the Egyptians attempted to redeem the +existence of man from destruction and decay, and rescue his life from +oblivion. The power of the Egyptians exhausted itself in this toil after +continuance of life. But however eager a man might be to preserve his +own individuality, he loses it in the presence of his ruler, who gathers +up in his own person the whole political life of the nation, and +exhausts it. Like a god, or an incarnate Destiny, the Pharaoh stands in +absolute supremacy over the land; "His countenance beams over Egypt as +the sun;" before him all distinctions fade away, and all bow down in +equal obedience. But even though the perishable was preserved, and made +as lasting as the rocks of the land--though in the ceremonial, the +ritual, and the rules of life the same unalterable constancy prevailed +as in the laws of nature, there was still room beside fixed prescription +and the will of the divine ruler for the vigorous pursuit of an industry +which was not far behind that of modern Europe, for an enjoyment of life +in the Oriental manner, which was not only social, but even luxurious +and sensual. + +The efforts of the Egyptians to preserve themselves and their actions, +and to cause their names to live in the mouths of the generations after +them, have not been without a result. What the Greeks and Romans knew of +their history were traditions attached to the great monuments. Before +our researches the Egyptian nation has literally risen from the tomb; +the pyramids tell us the history of the old monarchy, and the temples at +Thebes the history of the new. Without these monuments the kings of +Manetho would have remained an empty and unintelligible echo. These +mountains of stone at the threshold of history, these chronicles of +hieroglyphics, this nation of mummies proclaim, beyond contradiction, +that nations do succeed in outliving themselves by their works, but also +that their life reaches only so far as their development. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[252] Diod. 1, 90. + +[253] Thus, _e.g._ in the Rosetta inscription the order is given that in +every temple an image is to be set up to the "god Epiphanes, the avenger +of Egypt," to whom the principal deity of the temple presents the arms +of victory. Three times in every day the image of Epiphanes is to be +worshipped, and on the great festivals the same honours are to be paid +to him as to the rest of the gods. In addition, a special festival is +solemnized every year to the god Epiphanes, and a special order of +priests established for him. This resolution of the collected priests +was ordered to be engraved on hard stone and set up in all the temples +of the first, second, and third class. The full title of Epiphanes is: +"Son of Ptah, Beloved of Ammon and Ra, the Child of the Sun, the +Eternal." + +[254] Diod. 1, 53; Plut. "De Isid." c. 6, 9; and below, p. 211 ff. + +[255] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," Suppl. Pl. 76; Champollion, +"Lettres," p. 344 ff. + +[256] In the inscriptions of the graves and sarcophagi of the Berlin +Museum; cf. Ebers, "AEgypten," s. 300. + +[257] What Synesius (Op. p. 94) tells us of the election of the kings is +so astounding that it can hardly have been part of any plan of the +priests; the whole history of Egypt contradicts an elective monarchy of +such a kind. These supposed elections were said to have taken place on +the Libyan mountains, near Thebes; the priests mentioned the names of +the candidates for whom the votes were to be given. The votes of the +prophets had the value of one hundred, those of the lower priests of +twenty, of the servants of the temple of ten, and of the warrior class +of one. + +[258] Kalasiris was the name given by the Egyptians to a linen coat, +with fringe round the thighs (Herod. 2, 81). The name Hermotybian has +been derived from [Greek: hemitybion], a kind of apron. + +[259] Herod. 2, 37. + +[260] Diod. 1, 73, 74. + +[261] Herod. 2, 37, 168. + +[262] Genesis xlvii. 22, 26. + +[263] Herod. 2, 109 _supra_, p. 143. + +[264] Genesis xlvii. 24, 26. + +[265] Herod. 2. 168. + +[266] Genesis xlvii. 26. + +[267] Even the land which the Pharaohs allotted to the temples with a +tax of a fifth belonged to them in a certain sense. We have tolerably +ancient records on papyrus, on which are given the incomes of the +temples, with the names of the tax-payers, and the things given in +taxation. When the Ptolemies ruled over Egypt the land which paid to the +temples belonged actually to the temples as property, but as property +revocable at will, and the kings on their side taxed the temples just as +the Islamite princes are accustomed to tax their mosques. In the Rosetta +inscription, under date March 27, 196 B.C., the prophets, upper priests, +chamberlains, pastophors, and scribes, explain that the king (Ptolemy +Epiphanes) had given an order that the incomes of the temples and the +land-taxes paid to them yearly, and the portions reserved for the gods +in the vineyards and other property, should continue to be paid. At the +same time we see from the sequel of this inscription, as well as from +other sources, that these incomes were not sufficient to keep the +temples in good order, and the king was compelled to make additions. +Yet, in any case, the Ptolemies by their state taxes withdrew from the +temples a portion of their incomes. From every plot of corn-land +([Greek: aroura]) the temples were to pay to the king an _artabe_ of +corn, and from every plot of vineyard an amphora of wine. Besides this, +they had to pay a money-tax and a certain amount of byssus cloth. + +[268] Clemens ("Strom." p. 757 ff. ed. Pott) expressly says that the +prophet was the overseer of the temple; on the other hand, in the +inscription of Rosetta, the high priests and prophets stand side by +side. + +[269] Herod. 2, 37, 143; Diod. 1, 73. + +[270] Diod. 1, 80; Herod. 2, 37, 81; Diog. Laert. 8, 27; Porphyr. "De +abst." 4, 7. + +[271] Diod. 1, 74, 92. + +[272] Lepsius, "Briefe." s. 309, 310; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 259. + +[273] Herod. 2, 47; Aelian, "De Nat. An." 10, 16. As Herodotus tells us +that the swineherds married in their own order only, it follows that the +other orders married with each other. The attempt has often been made to +explain the so-called divisions of the Egyptians into castes by the +immigration of foreign tribes. This conception places in mechanical +layers what is really an organic development. In India such an +assumption has a certain historical foundation. There, there was a +servile class (the Sudra) under three superior classes; the first was +composed of the original inhabitants, the others of the Aryan +immigrants. This kind of division is wholly wanting in Egypt, and not +less so any historical or physiological foundation for the immigrations. +Strabo knows three orders only in Egypt; the priests, the soldiers, and +the population engaged in work or trades. Diodorus (1, 74) speaks of +five orders; _i.e._ in addition to the first two, husbandmen, artizans, +and shepherds. Plato ("Timaeus," p. 21) mentions priests, soldiers, +artizans, shepherds, and hunters; Herodotus mentions priests, warriors, +cowherds, swineherds, merchants, interpreters, and mariners. In Plato +and Diodorus we miss the merchants, who certainly were not wanting in +Egypt, and in Herodotus the husbandmen and artizans. Nothing therefore +remains but the natural assumption that the labouring masses were +chiefly divided into shepherds, artizans, and husbandmen; and these were +again broken into many divisions according to their different vocations, +and each of our authorities has brought into prominence those +distinctions which especially came under his notice. As Herodotus +especially notices cowherds, we must suppose that those herdsmen are +probably meant who derived a living from the buffalo herds, which they +pastured in the swampy flats of the Delta, on the border of Egypt, and +lived in huts of reeds.--Diod. 1, 43. + +[274] The number of provinces in Egypt under the old kingdom appears to +have been twenty-seven, according to the myth of the hewing of the body +of Osiris into twenty-seven pieces, and the distribution of them to all +the priests of the land for burial, which Diodorus has preserved. From +this may be derived the number of twenty-seven courts in the labyrinth +given by Strabo, p. 811, and twenty-five in Pliny, pp. 113, 114; as a +fact the building had only twelve courts. Yet Strabo mentions thirty-six +provinces (p. 787). Later coins give forty-six provinces, and Ptolemy +forty-seven. Forty-four nomes, twenty-two for Upper Egypt and as many +for Lower Egypt, can be established, together with their +names.--Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypte," p. 9. + +[275] Diod. 1, 73, 75, 94; Herod. 2, 136; Plut. "De Isid." 10; Chabas, +"Mel." 3, 10. + +[276] Diod. 1, 77 ff. + +[277] Herod. 2, 37, 38, 39, 65; Genesis xliii. 32. + +[278] Herod. 2, 77, 85; Diod. 1, 84, 91. + +[279] Lepsius, "Aelteste Texte," s. 10; Brugsch, "Grammaire demotique." + +[280] Clem. Alex. "Strom." p. 758, ed. Pott; cf. Diod. 1, 49. + +[281] Ebers, "Augsburger Allg. Zt." 1873. On a papyrus of a medicinal +character of the period from the twentieth to the twenty-second dynasty, +see Birch, "Zeitschrift fuer aegyptische Sprache," 1871, s. 61. + +[282] Herod. 2, 84, 3, 1. + +[283] Lepsius, "Goetterkreis," s. 30; Bunsen, "AEgypten," 5, 1, 189 ff. + +[284] Papyrus, Sallier III. + +[285] De Rouge, "Recueil de Travaux," 1, 3 ff.; Chabas, "Revue Archeol." +1875. + +[286] On the papyrus Sallier I.; "Revue Archeol." 1860, 2, 241. + +[287] Goodwin-Chabas, _loc. cit._ 1861, 4, 118 ff. + +[288] _Loc. cit._ 1860, 1, 357. + +[289] De Rouge, _loc. cit._ 1852. On another very marvellous narrative +on a papyrus in the demotic character, see Brugsch, _loc. cit._ 1867, +16, 161 ff. This papyrus Brugsch, on paleographical grounds, places in +the third or second centuries B.C. + +[290] Lauth, "Sitzungsberichte der Akademie, zu Muenchen," 1872, 347 ff, +and his "Abhandlung ueber den papyrus Sallier II. und Anastasi III.;" +_ibid._ p. 29 ff.; cf. Chabas, "Voyage d'un Egyptien," and Goodwin, +"Saneha." + +[291] Boeckh, "Manetho und die Hundsternperiode;" Lepsius, +"Chronologie," s. 470 ff. and _supra_, p. 40. + +[292] Diod. 1. 81. + +[293] Brugsch, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. S." 10, 662 ff. + +[294] The Egyptians then compared certain constellations in their +spheres with the signs of the zodiac. The Crab they denoted by the +scarabaeus, the Lion by the knife, the Scales became the "sun-mountain," +the Scorpion became the snake. The Kid was with them "the life," the +Ram "the slain" &c.--Brugsch, _loc. cit._ + +[295] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 239; Lepsius, "Chronologie," s. 109, +110; cf. _supra_, p. 58. + +[296] Champollion, "Lettres," p. 196. + +[297] Diod. 1, 74. + +[298] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 3, 4. + +[299] Strabo, p. 758; cf. p. 147. + +[300] _Supra_, p. 94; Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 135 ff. + +[301] Herod. 2, 78. + +[302] Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs," 2, 132. + +[303] Cf. _infra_, Book II. cap. 3. + +[304] 1 Kings x. 28, 29; 2 Chronicles i. 16, 17; ix. 28. + +[305] "Od." 14, 288; 4, 225, 355; 17, 448; Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 70. + + + + +BOOK II. + +THE SEMITIC NATIONS. + + + + +THE SEMITIC NATIONS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF BABYLON. + + +The neighbours of Egypt on the east were the Syrians and Arabians. +Herodotus gives the name of Syrians to the inhabitants of the Syrian +coasts and Mount Lebanon, the settlers on the Euphrates and Tigris, and +the population of the eastern districts of Asia Minor. In Xenophon the +Babylonians speak Syriac. Strabo remarks that the Syrians and Arabians +are closely related in language, mode of life, and physique--that +Syrians dwelt on both sides of the Taurus--that the same language was +spoken on both sides of the Euphrates--that Babylon and Nineveh were +cities of the Syrians--that the Assyrian kingdom was a kingdom of +Syrians, and that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Babylon and Nineveh +were called Syrians by their own historians.[306] As a fact tribes +closely related in language and nature--which we denote by the general +term Semitic--invaded with their armies the broad steppes of Arabia, and +the Syrian desert, occupied the coasts of Syria and a part of Asia +Minor, and inhabited the district of the Euphrates and Tigris, from the +mountains of Armenia to the Persian Gulf on the south, and the tableland +of Iran on the east. The languages of the Arabians, the Semitic tribes +of the south, the Aramaeans and Canaanites in the west, and the +Babylonians and Assyrians in the east, are three ramifications springing +from one and the same stem of language, which spreads from the Black Sea +and the Mediterranean to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs. Living under +different conditions, the Semitic nations attained to different degrees +of civilization. The tribes of the desert did not go beyond the simplest +and most primitive forms, at which point a considerable portion of them +still remain; but the inhabitants of more favoured districts developed +independently, and in the course of time these developments operated on +each other, and thus led to a far more varied, and, in certain +directions, far more vigorous culture, than the isolated, exclusive, and +self-concentrated civilization of Egypt. + +The two rivers which determine the character and nature of the +depression between the Syrian plateau and the tableland of Iran rise at +no great distance from each other on the mountains of Armenia. The +Euphrates rises to the north, the Tigris to the south. After leaving the +mountains of Armenia--the Euphrates, by a broad circuit to the west, the +Tigris by a direct course to the south--both rivers enter a tolerably +lofty steppe, where the uniform surface is broken by ridges of rock, by +ranges of hills, pastures, and fruitful strips of land, while the banks +of the rivers are overgrown with forests of plane-trees, tamarisks, and +cypresses, and shut in by meadows. As the soil becomes more level, these +fruitful depressions by the rivers become somewhat broader, but the land +between the streams becomes more sterile and treeless, and supports +only nomad tribes and herds of wild asses, ostriches, and bustards.[307] +When the Euphrates has left behind the last spurs of this desolate hill +country, at the place where the two rivers approach each other most +nearly--about 400 miles from their mouths--there commences a plain of +brown rich soil. Through this the Euphrates passes with a quiet stream, +but the Tigris hurries to the sea down a bed which is both narrower, and +often inclosed by rocks, while at the same time the river is increased +by copious additions from the western edge of the tableland of Iran. In +spite of the excellent soil this flat would remain unfruitful unless the +two rivers, year by year, when the snow melted on the Armenian +mountains, overflowed their banks, and thus irrigated the land for the +summer. In the Tigris the inundation commences about the beginning of +June, in the Euphrates, whose sources lie far higher, about the +beginning of July. But this inundation does not take place nearly so +calmly and regularly as that in the Nile. Instead of fertilising water, +the Tigris often sends down destructive floods over the plain, and +changes it, down to the marshy Delta at the mouth, into a broad and +rolling sea. + +By its simple structure and the absence of any internal limitations, +this low-lying land on the Euphrates and Tigris was favourable to the +development of great kingdoms, and was hardly behind the Nile in +incentives and instigations to a civilised life. The writers of +antiquity celebrate the fruitfulness and natural wealth of these flats. +While on the other side of the Euphrates, so writes a Babylonian +historian of his own home, the land as far as Arabia is without water +and fruits, and on the other side of the Tigris the land is indeed +fruitful but rocky; in the land between the streams wheat and barley, +linseed beans and sesame grow wild; both in the marshes and the reeds of +the river nourishing roots are found in abundance, as valuable for food +as barley. Besides these there are dates, and apples, and other +different fruits, and abundance of fish and birds in the marsh and on +the land. Herodotus commends the wealth of the land in wheat and palms +in the strongest terms; Xenophon speaks in admiration of the size and +beauty of the dates.[308] Even now the palm-forests which run without +interruption along the lower course of both rivers produce dates in +abundance, and with their slender forms and lofty tops give a +picturesqueness to the otherwise uniform landscape. This vigorous +vegetation, together with the peculiar character of the land, must have +early incited a capable population to a regular cultivation and a higher +civilization. The protection of the land against the rapid overflow, the +conducting of the water to the higher districts, and the removal of +water from the marshes, must have led to measures calculated to produce +and develop a fertility of technical resources. Basins were required of +more considerable extent, longer canals, and stronger dams against the +violent inundations, and more extensive conduits, in order to convey the +water into the middle of the land, than were necessary in Egypt. Long +before Egypt had reached the height of her power and prosperity under +the Tuthmosis and Amenophis and the early Ramessids, the inhabitants of +this plain had attained to a peculiar culture and civilisation. + +The accounts which the Greeks have handed down to us of the fortunes of +these districts in ancient times are meagre and defective. The power of +the Semitic empires on the Euphrates and Tigris had fallen long before +inquisitive Greeks penetrated the East, and the Persians, who were the +rulers at that time, had little interest in instructing the Greeks in +the former splendour of their opponents and ancient masters. Herodotus +intended to write the history of the Assyrians; if ever composed, it has +not come down to our times. On the other hand, he has described the +land, manners, and customs of the Babylonians; of their history, +however, he only tells us that many kings and two queens ruled over +Babylon.[309] Aristotle remarks that in Babylon astronomical +observations were said to exist extending back 31,000 years from the +time of Alexander the Great.[310] Diodorus tells us that the priests of +Babylon declared that they had observed the heavens for 473,000 years. +Cicero speaks of the shamelessness of the Chaldaeans in boasting that +they possessed records for more than 470,000 years. Julius Africanus +gives 480,000 years, and Pliny even 720,000 years as the period for +which observations of the heavens burnt upon tiles were in +existence.[311] + +About the time when Manetho compiled his list of Egyptian sovereigns, +under the rule of Antiochus Soter (281-262 B.C.) Berosus, a priest of +the temple of Bel at Babylon, composed a history of his country in Greek +in three books.[312] Only a few fragments of this work have come down to +us. Berosus commenced with the creation of the world. "Once all was +darkness and water. In this chaos lived horrid animals, and men with +two wings, and others with four wings and two faces, and others again +with double organs male and female. Others had the thighs of goats, and +horns on their heads; others had horses' feet, or were formed behind +like a horse and in front like a man. There were bulls with human heads, +and horses and men with the heads of dogs, and other animals of human +shape with fins like fishes, and fishes like sirens, and dragons, and +creeping things, and serpents and wild creatures, the images of which +are to be found in the temple of Bel. Over all these ruled a woman of +the name of Omorka. But Bel divided the darkness and clove the woman +asunder, and of one part he made the earth, and of the other the sun and +moon and planets, and he drew off the water,[313] and apportioned it to +the land, and prepared and arranged the world. But those creatures could +not endure the light of the sun, and became extinct. When Bel saw the +land uninhabited and fruitful, he smote off his head and bade one of the +gods mingle the blood which flowed from his head with earth, and form +therewith men and animals and wild creatures, who could support the +atmosphere. A great multitude of men of various tribes inhabited +Chaldaea, but they lived without any order, like the animals. Then there +appeared to them from the sea, on the shore of Babylonia, a fearful +animal of the name of Oan. Its body was that of a fish, but under the +fish's head another head was attached, and on the fins were feet like +those of a man, and it had a man's voice. Its image is still preserved. +The animal came at morning and passed the day with men. But it took no +nourishment, and at sunset went again into the sea, and there remained +for the night. This animal taught men language and science, the +harvesting of seeds and fruits, the rules for the boundaries of land, +the mode of building cities and temples, arts and writing, and all that +pertains to the civilisation of human life."[314] + +The first sovereign of Babylon was Alorus, a Chaldaean of the city of +Babylon, whom the god had himself pointed out to the nation as a +shepherd. His reign continued for 36,000 years. After the death of +Alorus, his son Alaparus ruled for 10,800 years. He was succeeded by +Almelon from the Chaldaeans, of the city of Sippara, for 46,800 years, +and Almelon by Ammenon, a Chaldaean of the same city for 43,200 years. +Under his rule there came out of the sea an animal, combining, like Oan, +the shape of a fish and a man, and called Idotion.[315] After Ammenon +came Amegalarus, of the city of Sippara, for 64,800 years, and after him +Daonus, also from Sippara, for 36,000 years. In his reign there again +appeared from the Red Sea four animals in the shape of men and fish. +These were Euedokus, Eneugamus, Eneubulus, and Anementus. Daonus was +followed by Edorankhus, from Sippara, who ruled for 64,800 years, and in +his time appeared another monster of the same kind, named Odakon. These +explained in detail what Oan had given in the sum. After Edorankhus came +Amempsinus, a Chaldaean of Larancha for 36,000 years,[316] and after him +Otiartes (Ubaratulu),[317] a Chaldaean of the same city for 28,000 years. +Otiartes was followed by his son Xisuthrus who reigned 64,800 years. + +From the first year of Alorus to the last year of Xisuthrus 432,000 +years had elapsed. "In this year the god Bel revealed to Xisuthrus in a +dream that in the fifteenth year of the month Daesius there would be a +great storm of rain, and men would be destroyed by the flood of waters. +He bade him bury all written records, the ancient, mediaeval, and modern, +in Sippara, the city of the sun, and build a ship and embark in it with +his kindred and nearest friends. He was also to take food and drink into +the ship, and carry into it all creatures winged and four-footed. +Xisuthrus did as he was bidden, and built a boat fifteen stadia +long,[318] and two stadia in breadth, and placed in it his wife and +child, his relations and friends. Then the inundation came. When the +rain ceased, Xisuthrus sent out some birds, but they returned back to +the ship, as they could find nothing to eat and no place of rest. After +a few days he sent out other birds. These also returned, but with mud on +their feet. Then Xisuthrus sent yet others, and they never returned. +Xisuthrus knew that the earth had appeared. He took out a part of the +roof of his boat, and perceived that it had settled down on a mountain. +Then he went out with his wife and daughter and the architect of the +boat. He worshipped the earth, and built an altar, offered sacrifice to +the gods, and then disappeared together with those whom he had brought +out of the boat. When his companions, whom he had left in the boat, had +gone out, and were in search of Xisuthrus, his voice called to them out +of the air, saying that the gods had carried him away in reward for his +piety; that he with his daughter and the architect were dwelling among +the gods. But the others were to return from Armenia, where they then +were, to Babylon, and, in obedience to the command of the gods, dig up +the books buried at Sippara, and give them to mankind. They obeyed these +instructions. They sacrificed to the gods, and returned by land to +Babylon. They dug up the sacred books, erected many cities and temples, +and rebuilt Babylon. On the Gordyaean mountains, where it settled, +remains of the boat of Xisuthrus were in existence for a long time +afterwards.[319] In Lucian Xisuthrus is called Sisythes; and he with +wives and children is said to have escaped, in the great ark, the flood +which destroyed everything else. + +After the flood Euexius reigned over the land of the Chaldaeans for 2,400 +years. He was followed by his son Chomasbelus, who reigned 2,700 years; +and after him came eighty-four kings, who, if we reckon in the reigns of +Euexius and Chomasbelus, ruled for 34,080 years.[320] Then the Medes +gathered together an army against Babylon, and took the land, and set up +tyrants from among their own people. These, eight in number, reigned +over Babylon for 234 years. After that eleven kings reigned for 248 +years; then followed the Chaldaeans, with forty-nine kings, who ruled +over Babylon for 458 years. These were followed by nine Arabian kings +for 245 years, and then came forty-five Assyrian kings for 526 years. +These were followed by Sennacherib, Asordan, Samuges, and his brother, +and afterwards by Nabopolassar. After Nabopolassar, Nabukudurussar +(Nebuchadnezzar) and his successor reigned for sixty-seven years.[321] + +Such is the essential information contained in the fragments of Berosus +which have come down to us. They give us a tolerably clear view of the +system of cosmogony set up by the priests of Babylon, of the way in +which order and civilisation arose among men by successive revelations +from divine creatures coming out of the sea, and a sketch, though a very +meagre one, of the dynasties which reigned over Babylon down to the time +of Cyrus. The enormous number of 432,000 years, which the fragments +allot to the ten rulers of the first dynasty, and the 34,080 years of +the second dynasty, which came immediately after the flood, show that +the statements of Diodorus, Cicero, and Pliny are not mere imagination, +though these totals are perhaps scarcely intended to give the period +during which observations were made by the Chaldaeans, but the antiquity +ascribed by the Babylonian priests to the existence of the world before +and after the flood. + +Accounts of the great flood are also to be seen on tablets, copied from +old Babylonian originals, which have been discovered in the ruins of the +palace of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria. Disregarding the strange +beginning, and still stranger close, we find on these tablets that the +god Hea had commanded Sisit (Xisuthrus) of Surippak to build a ship, so +many cubits in length, breadth, and height, and to launch it on the +deep, for it was his intention to destroy sinners. "When the flood +comes, which I will send, thou shalt enter into the ship, and into the +midst of it thou shalt bring thy corn, thy goods, thy gods, thy gold +and silver, thy slaves male and female, the sons of the army, the wild +and tame animals, and all that thou hearest thou shalt do." Sisit found +it difficult to carry out this command, but at last he yielded, and +gathered together all his possessions of silver and gold, all that he +had of the seeds of life, and caused all his slaves, male and female, to +go into the ship. The wild and tame beasts of the field also he caused +to enter, and all the sons of the army. "And Samas (the god of the sun) +made a flood, and said: I will cause rain to fall heavily from heaven; +go into the ship, and shut to the door. Overcome with fear, Sisit +entered into the ship, and on the morning of the day fixed by Samas the +storm began to blow from the ends of heaven, and Bin thundered in the +midst of heaven, and Nebo came forth, and over the mountains and plains +came the gods, and Nergal, the destroyer, overthrew, and Adar came forth +and dashed down: the gods made ruin; in their brightness they swept over +the earth. The storm went over the nations; the flood of Bin reached up +to heaven; brother did not see brother; the lightsome earth became a +desert, and the flood destroyed all living things from the face of the +earth. Even the gods were afraid of the storm, and sought refuge in the +heaven of Anu; like hounds drawing in their tails, the gods seated +themselves on their thrones, and Istar the great goddess spake. The +world has turned to sin, and therefore I have proclaimed destruction, +but I have begotten men, and now they fill the sea, like the children of +fishes. And the gods upon their seats wept with her. On the seventh day +the storm abated, which had destroyed like an earthquake, and the sea +began to be dry. Sisit perceived the movement of the sea. Like reeds +floated the corpses of the evil-doers and all who had turned to sin. +Then Sisit opened the window, and the light fell upon his face, and the +ship was stayed upon Mount Nizir, and could not pass over it. Then on +the seventh day Sisit sent forth a dove, but she found no place of rest, +and returned. Then he sent a swallow, which also returned, and again a +raven, which saw the corpses in the water, and ate them, and returned no +more. Then Sisit released the beasts to the four winds of heaven, and +poured a libation and built an altar on the top of the mountain, and cut +seven herbs, and the sweet savour of the sacrifice caused the gods to +assemble, and Sisit prayed that Bel (El) might not come to the altar. +For Bel (El) had made the storm and sunk the people in the deep, and +wished in his anger to destroy the ship and allow no man to escape. Adar +opened his mouth and spoke to the warrior Bel (El): Who would then be +left? And Hea spoke to him: Captain of the gods, instead of the storm, +let lions and leopards increase, and diminish mankind; let famine and +pestilence desolate the land and destroy mankind. When the sentence of +the gods was passed, Bel (El) came into the midst of the ship and took +Sisit by the hand and conducted him forth, and caused his wife to be +brought to his side, and purified the earth, and made a covenant, and +Sisit and his wife and his people were carried away like gods, and Sisit +dwelt in a distant land at the mouth of the rivers."[322] + +The correspondence to the Hebrew tradition of the flood, the coincidence +of certain points, and striking contrast of others, both in the +narrative of Berosus and in this account of the great flood, need not be +pointed out. In number, at any rate, the ten kings whom Berosus places +before the flood correspond to the ten patriarchs from Adam to +Noah.[323] In Berosus the boat of Xisuthrus lands in Armenia on the +mountains of the Gordyaeans; Noah's ark landed on the mountains of the +land of Ararat. Like Sisit, Xisuthrus builds an altar and offers +sacrifice; when he has left the boat he disappears, and bids his +followers return to Chaldaea. They obey, and rebuild Babylon. Noah, after +leaving the ark, builds an altar to the Lord and offers burnt sacrifice, +and concludes the new covenant with Jehovah. Then Noah became a +husbandman, and lived for three hundred and fifty years after the flood; +but when the generations of his sons "journeyed from the East, they +found a plain in the land of Shinar, _i.e._ in Babylonia, and there they +dwelt and built the city called Babylon."[324] It is clear that these +legends formed an ancient common possession of the Semitic tribes of the +lands of the Euphrates and Tigris. In the Scriptures of the Hebrews we +find this in a purified and deepened form. The reason for the legend of +the flood is found in the nature of the land of Babylon. As has been +remarked, it is inundated yearly; it is also occasionally desolated by +fierce floods, which change the whole of the lower land as far as the +sea into a broad sheet of water. Similar legends are found in all +regions exposed to floods, in Armenia, Thessaly, Boeotia, and in +India. + +Let us now attempt to ascertain what may be gained historically from the +fragments of Berosus. The seven Fish-men rise out of the sea of +Babylonia, i.e., out of the Persian Gulf. They teach language, +agriculture, the building of temples and cities, and writing; and what +the first gave in general terms the others expound in detail. Hence it +would appear that civilisation, culture, and writing came to the +Chaldaeans from the south, from the shore of the Persian Gulf. The +sevenfold revelation points to the seven sacred books of the priesthood, +of which the last six explained by special rules the doctrine contained +in the first. The fragments lay especial weight on the fact that the +sacred books were already in existence before the flood, were saved from +it, and again dug up at Sippara. Pliny remarks that the mysteries of the +Chaldaeans were taught at Sippara.[325] Beside this city (the site is +marked by the mounds at Sifeira, above Babylon, on the Euphrates) the +fragments mention Larancha and Babylon. The first two kings before the +flood were Chaldaeans of Babylon, the next five, Chaldaeans of Sippara, +the last three, Chaldaeans of Larancha. If we set aside the time before +the flood, we find that the first dynasty of eighty-six kings after the +flood reigned for 34,080 years; more than 5,000 years are allotted to +the first two kings; and about 29,000 are left for the remaining +eighty-four. Looking at these numbers, and remembering that the +Babylonians reckoned by certain cycles of years, sosses of 60 years, +neres of 600, and sares of 3,600, we may suppose that the priests +brought the times before and after the flood into a certain number of +sares. The 432,000 years before the flood make up 120 sares (the 720,000 +years of Pliny would make 200 sares). The period after the flood may +have been fixed at a tenth part of that sum, _i.e._, at 12 sares, or +43,200 years. The 34,080 years allotted to the first dynasty after the +flood do not come out in any round number of sares. If we suppose that +these cycles were first instituted after Babylon had succumbed to the +attack of Cyrus, and that the fall of Babylon before his arms coincided +with the end of the tenth sarus after the flood, then of the 36,000 +years, which, according to the opinion we ascribe to the Babylonian +priests, had elapsed from the flood to the conquest of Babylon in the +year 538 B.C., 34,080 belong to the mythical dynasty after the flood, +and 1,920 years are left for the historical times down to this date. The +taking of Babylon is a known date, and if to it we add 1,920 years, we +get the year 2458 B.C. as the first year of the historical period. The +first ruler of the third dynasty of Berosus began to reign in the year +2458 B.C.[326] The same result and number of years comes out if we add +up the separate items in the dynasties, given in the fragments, from the +year 538 B.C. to the first king of the third dynasty, and leave out of +sight the very striking fact that the fragments break off the Assyrian +dynasty before Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Samuges, who certainly +belong to it, and fill up the chasm thus made in the succession of +dynasties by the 140 years which the canon of Ptolemy show to have +preceded the accession of Nebuchadnezzar--a canon which has no +historical object in view, no dynasties to tabulate, but is merely +intended to fix the years from which observations made by the Chaldaeans +were in existence. If this is the right method[327] of ascertaining the +first established starting-point for the history of the lower land upon +the two streams, the beginnings of civilisation in these districts may +be placed not much below the year 3000 B.C. Life must have become richer +in Babylonia before the tribes of the Iranian uplands were roused to +obtain the sovereignty of that country. Still it remains a remarkable +fact that the history of Babylonia begins with the dominion of +strangers, and that the native tradition, as we can show from the +fragments of it remaining to our times, had nothing to place before the +strangers, except the two mythical dynasties of Babylonian princes +before and after the flood. In the fragments the first native dynasty of +historical times, the dynasty of the Chaldaean princes, comes in the +fifth place; according to the calculation given above, their supremacy +began in the year 1976 B.C., and already in 1518 B.C. it gave place +first to the nine Arabian, and then to the Assyrian kings. The statement +of the fragments, that forty-nine native kings reigned, in the 458 years +from 1976 B.C. to 1518 B.C., is also remarkable, since it allows for the +reign of each of the kings of this dynasty the brief average of a little +more than nine years. + +But perhaps the Scriptures of the Hebrews, and the monuments of +Babylonia and Assyria, present sufficient material to supplement these +meagre results in the way of confirmation or contradiction? According to +Genesis, the sons of Shem, the eldest son of Noah, were "Elam and +Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram." And the eldest son of Ham, +Noah's second son, was Cush, and Cush begat Nimrod; the same "began to +be a mighty one in the earth, and the beginning of his kingdom was +Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."[328] +From this we see not only the close relationship between the Hebrews and +the population of Mesopotamia, but also the precedence in high antiquity +allowed by the Hebrews to the tribes of the Tigris and Euphrates. The +Hebrews derived their own origin from Noah, Shem, and Arphaxad; but +before Arphaxad they place the two elder sons of Shem, Elam and Asshur. +The first is the representative of the nation and land of Elam on the +lower Tigris, while Asshur represents the Assyrians of the upper Tigris. +But, strangely enough, the Babylonians were not reckoned in the +generations of Shem, although, as we know perfectly well, the Chaldaeans +were Semitic, and spoke a Semitic language closely resembling Hebrew. On +the contrary, the founding of the kingdom of Babylon is ascribed to +another stock, the eldest son of Cush, and grandson of Ham. As Genesis, +like the Hebrews of later date, includes under the name of Cush the +nations dwelling to the south, the Nubians, Ethiopians, and tribes of +South Arabia, we may here take the son of Cush, who founded Babylon, to +represent a southern tribe, dwelling perhaps on the shore of the Persian +Gulf. Thus as the fragments of Berosus derive the civilisation of +Babylon from the south sea and the south, so also does Genesis point to +a southern origin for Babylonia. And at the same time Genesis calls a +tribe dwelling on the lower Tigris, between the river and the mountains +of Iran, the Elamites, the oldest son of Shem. Among the Greeks the land +of the Elamites was known as Kissia, and afterwards as Susiana, from the +name of the capital. It was also called Elymais, and, in the +inscriptions of the Achaemenids, Uwazha. The Greeks describe this +district as a hot but very fruitful plain, well watered by the +tributaries of the Tigris from the mountains of Persia. There the land +brought forth two or even three hundredfold. According to Strabo the +land was inhabited by two tribes, the Kissians and Elymaeans. The chief +city, Susa, lay between the Shapur and Dizful.[329] With the Greeks it +passed as the fortress of Memnon, the son of the Dawn, who came to the +aid of the Trojans in their distress--"the ancient mighty city," as +AEschylus calls it.[330] The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings give us +some information of the fortunes of the kingdom of Elam, which is not +contradicted by such isolated indications as we can gather from the +inscriptions of Babylonia. This evidence shows that in Elam from the +year 2500 B.C. a political constitution was in existence, and that the +kings of Elam invaded Babylonia before the year 2000 B.C., and about +this time ruled over Babylonia and Mesopotamia as far as Syria. Hence +before the year 2000 B.C. there was some kind of constitution in +Babylonia, and, as we shall see, it was accompanied by a certain amount +of culture. The dominion of Elam over Babylon was of short duration, and +Babylon soon recovered her independence. When, about the year 1500 B.C., +Assyria rose into an independent state, and her power, after 900 B.C., +became dangerous to the neighbouring states--when Babylonia, after the +middle of the eighth century B.C., was no longer a match for +Assyria,--Elam continued to maintain her independence in spite of +numerous attacks from the Assyrians. + +It was not till the subjection of Babylonia was complete that the +Assyrian king Assurbanipal succeeded in reducing Elam, and in +taking and destroying Susa, the ancient metropolis of the country. +In his inscriptions this king of Assyria informs us that King +Kudur-Nanchundi[331] of Elam laid his hand on the temples of Accad (p. +257); two neres, seven sosses, and fifteen years,--_i.e._, 1,635 years +previously, he carried away the image of the goddess Nana. He +(Assurbanipal) brought her back; on the first of the month Kisallu +(Kislev) the goddess was conducted back to Erech (p. 237); in Bithiliana +he built for her a lasting sanctuary. As Elam was not completely subdued +by Assurbanipal till the year 645 B.C., we may place the recovery of the +statue of Nana in this year.[332] Hence the date of Kudur-Nanchundi of +Elam, whom an inscription of Susa calls the son of Sutruk-Nanchundi, +would fall in the year 2280 B.C., and if about this time it was possible +to carry away images of gods from Babylonia, we cannot place the +beginnings of civilisation in Babylonia later than the year 2500 B.C. +Tiles found at Mugheir, at no great distance from the mouth of the +Euphrates in Babylonia, belong to a second king with a name of similar +formation--Kudur-Mabuk. His inscriptions tell us that Kudur-Mabuk, lord +of the west-land (martu), had erected a shrine to the god "Sin, his +king, for prolonging his own life and that of his son, Zikar-Sin."[333] +On a statuette of bronze, now in the Louvre, we also read the name of +Kudur-Mabuk and his son. Babylonian inscriptions speak of battles of +Hammurabi king of Babylon against Kudur-Mabuk and against Elam.[334] The +tradition of the Hebrews tells us that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, +the kings of Adama, Zeboiim, and Zoar, _i.e._ the princes of the land +of Jordan, whose names are quoted, had served Kedor-Laomer, king of +Elam, for twelve years, and when they revolted, Kedor-Laomer and the +princes with him, Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch and Tidal, had come down +and conquered the Horites, the Amalekites, and the Amorites, _i.e._ the +tribes of the Syrian desert, the land of Aram between Sinai and Hermon; +and the kings of Jordan were defeated in the valley of Siddim. The first +part of the name Kedor-Laomer corresponds to Kudur in the name +Kudur-Nanchundi and Kudur-Mabuk. The second part recurs in the name +Lagamar, which is the name of a god worshipped by the Elamites.[335] +According to this, the Kudurids, or kings of Elam, of whom Sutruk and +Kudur-Nanchundi, Kudur-Mabuk, and Kudur-Lagamar are known by name, first +attacked Babylonia, then became rulers of Babylonia, and at one time +extended their dominion to the west as far as Syria. According to the +computations of the Hebrews, the campaign of Kedor-Laomer to Syria would +take place about the year 2100 B.C. The inscription would carry the +beginning of the rule of the Kudurids in Elam to the year 2500 B.C., and +consequently the beginning of a political constitution in Elam may be +assumed to be prior to the year 2300 B.C., and the sovereignty of the +Kudurids over Babylon and in the west may be placed about the year 2000 +B.C. + +If Elam was once more powerful than Babylon it may have been also +older--as among the Hebrews Elam is the eldest son of Shem--the +civilisation of the Elamites may have developed earlier than that of the +Babylonians. But although a number of names of kings have been handed +down to us on Assyrian tablets, which also tell us of ceaseless battles +with Elam, we are in almost total darkness about the nature and +direction of the civilisation of Elam. Our first notice is the Assyrian +account of the fall of the kingdom and the capture of the capital, and +from this we learn that the conditions and mode of life in the capital +of the Elamites were not very different from those of Babylon and +Nineveh. A picture of the city (found in the palace of Assurbanipal), +shows it to us between the two rivers (p. 249), oblong in shape, and +surrounded by high walls with numerous towers. Outside the city, between +the walls and the rivers are palms, and some dwelling-houses.[336] +Assurbanipal narrates: "Shushan, the great city, the abode of their +gods, the seat of their oracle, I took. I entered into their palaces and +opened their treasure-houses. Gold and silver, and furniture, and goods, +gathered together by the kings of Elam in times past and in the present, +the brass and precious stones with which the kings of Accad, Samuges, +and those before him had paid their mercenaries--the treasures on which +no enemy before me had laid a hand, I brought forth to Assyria. I +destroyed the tower of Shushan. The god of their oracles, who dwelt in +the groves, whose image no man had seen, and the images of the gods +Sumudu, Lagamar and the others (nineteen are mentioned), which the kings +of Elam worshipped, I conveyed with their priests to Assyria. Thirty-two +statues of the kings in silver, brass, and alabaster, I took from +Shushan. Madaktu and Huradi, and the statues of Ummanigas, of +Istar-Nanchundi, Halludus, and Tammaritu the younger, I carried to +Assyria. I broke the winged lions and bulls which guarded the temple, +and removed the winged bulls which stood at the gates of the temples of +Elam. Their gods and goddesses I sent into captivity."[337] More than a +hundred years after this time the Elamites had not forgotten their +independence, and they attempted to recover it by repeated rebellions +against the Persians. + +The inscriptions in which the kings of Persia spoke to the nations of +their wide empire are of a triple character. Three different kinds of +cuneiform writing repeat the same matter in three different languages. +The first gives the inscription in the Persian language, the language of +the king and dominant people, the third repeats it in the +Babylonian-Assyrian language. The second, we may suppose, gives the +inscription in the language of Elam, for the Persian kings resided in +Susa, and in the enumeration of the subject territories, Susiana and +Babylonia as a rule come after Persia. The forms of the language in +cuneiform inscriptions on bricks and tiles discovered in the ruins of +Susa are closely related to the language of the cuneiform inscriptions +of the second kind in the inscriptions of the Achaemenids.[338] So far as +these have been deciphered the language contained in them seems for the +most part to be closely related to the Turkish-Tatar languages,[339] +while the names of the Elamite gods preserved in Assyrian inscriptions, +although different from those of Babylonia and Assyria, and also the +names of the kings of Elam, have more of a Semitic than a Turkish-Tatar +sound. + +On Assyrian tablets, beside the Assyrian and Babylonian names of the +month, which are also the Hebrew names, we find names in another +language unknown to us;[340] and the symbols of the Assyrian cuneiform +writing are not only explained by the addition of the phonetic value and +actual meaning, but before the substantives, verb-forms, and declensions +of the Babylonian-Assyrian language are placed the corresponding words +and inflections of another language, which is decidedly of a non-Semitic +character, and also seems to belong to the Turkish-Tatar branch of +language.[341] If it was considered necessary in Babylonia and Assyria +to place another language before or beside their own, the relation of +this language to that spoken by the Babylonians and Assyrians must have +been very close. The most probable supposition is that it was the +language of the ancient population of the land about the lower course of +the two streams, which afterwards became subjected to Semitic +immigrants. Whatever be the value of this supposition, we may in any +case assume that the Semitic races found older inhabitants and an older +civilisation on the lower Euphrates and Tigris. This older population +was even then in possession of a system of writing, and this +civilisation and writing was adopted by the Semitic races, just as at a +later time the Armenians, Medes, and Persians borrowed their cuneiform +writing from the inhabitants of Babylonia, Assyria, and Susiana. + +The precedence of Elam in Hebrew tradition, the statement of Berosus +that civilisation came from the Persian Gulf, the ancient supremacy of +Elam over Babylonia, which we can discover from the Hebrew tradition, +and more plainly from the inscriptions, are so many proofs that the +oldest seats of culture in the lower lands of the Euphrates and Tigris +lay at the mouths of the two rivers. And this conclusion receives +further support from the fact that the oldest centres of the Babylonian +state were nearer the mouth of the Euphrates. Perhaps we may even go a +step further. The Hebrews ascribe the foundation of the Babylonian +kingdom to a son of the south. The language and religious conceptions of +the Babylonians and Assyrians show a close relationship with the +language and religion of the tribes of South Arabia; some of these +tribes are in Genesis variously enrolled among the descendants of Shem +and of Cush. Hence we may perhaps assume that Arabian tribes on the +sea-shore forced their way eastward, to the land at the mouth of the +Euphrates and Tigris, and then, passing up the stream, settled in the +valley of the two rivers, as far as the southern offshoots of the +Armenian mountains.[342] Of these Semitic tribes those which remained on +the lower Tigris and subjected the old population of Susiana, could not +absorb the conquered Kissians (p. 249). The old language retained the +upper hand, and developed; and the ruling tribe, the Semitic Elamites, +were amalgamated with the ancient population. It was otherwise on the +lower Euphrates, where the Semitic immigrants succeeded--probably in a +long process of time, since it was late and by slow degrees that they +gained the upper hand--in absorbing the old Turanian population, and +formed a separate Semitic community, when they had borrowed from their +predecessors the basis of civilisation and the system of cuneiform +writing which was invented for another language. + +In the fragments of Berosus the inhabitants of Babylonia are called +Chaldees, a name which Western writers give especially to the priests of +Babylon, though even to them a district on the lower Euphrates is known +as Chaldaea.[343] The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings name the whole +land Kaldi, and the inhabitants Kaldiai.[344] To the Hebrews, as has +been observed (p. 248), Erech, Accad, and Calneh were the beginning of +the kingdom of Nimrod. In the fragments of Berosus, Babylon, the Bab-Ilu +of the inscriptions, _i.e._ "Gate of Il (El)," Sippara and Larancha are +supposed to be in existence before the flood. Erech, the Orchoe of the +Greeks, and Arku of the inscriptions, is the modern Warka, to the south +of Babylon on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, where vast heaps of +ruins remain to testify to the former importance of the city. The site +of Calneh and of the Larancha mentioned in the fragments cannot be +ascertained, unless the latter city is the same as the Larsam mentioned +in the inscriptions. In these the name Accad occurs very frequently. The +kings of Babylon, and after them the kings of Assyria, who ruled over +Babylon, called themselves kings of Babel, of Sumir, and Accad, names +which are used to denote the districts (perhaps Upper and Lower +Babylonia) and their inhabitants. Sippara, the city of the sacred books +and mystic lore of the Chaldaeans (p. 246), is called by the Hebrews, +Sepharvaim, _i.e._ "the two Sepher." Sepher means "writing." It was +therefore the Babylonian City of Scriptures. The Hebrews were aware +that this city worshipped the gods Adar and Anu, Adrammelech and +Anammelech. The inscriptions also mention two cities of the name of +Sippara, or as they give the word, Shipar; they distinguish the Shipar +of the god Anu from the Shipar of Samas, the sun-god. The cuneiform +symbol for Sippara means "City of the sun of the four quarters of the +earth," and the Euphrates is denoted by a symbol which means "River of +Sippara."[345] From this it is clear what position this city once took +in Babylonia. The Ur Kasdim, _i.e._ "Ur of the Chaldaeans" in the Hebrew +Scriptures, is the modern Mugheir, south-east of Babylon; on +clay-tablets discovered in the ruins of this place we find cuneiform +symbols, which are to be read as "Uru."[346] The Kutha and Telassar of +the Hebrews also recur in the Kuthi and Tel Assur of the inscriptions. +In his inscriptions Sennacherib boasts that in the year 704 B.C. he took +eighty-nine fortified cities and 820 places in Babylonia, beside Babylon +itself.[347] + +The tumuli covering the ruins of these cities and the Assyrian +inscriptions have preserved for us the names of more than fifty of the +kings who once ruled over Babylon. The fragments of Berosus limit the +period of the independence of Babylon to the 458 years from 1976 B.C., +to 1518 B.C. (p. 248), and after the Chaldaean kings of this period they +place Arabian kings down to 1273 B.C., who in turn are followed by the +Assyrian kings. These statements are flatly contradicted by the +inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria. We have already seen that in the +period from about the year 2300 B.C. to 2000 B.C., Elam had the +preponderance, and in part the sovereignty, over Babylonia. Afterwards +Babylon became independent, and maintained her position even against +Assyria, until, after the ninth century before Christ, the latter gained +the upper hand; and then, from the beginning of the seventh century, for +a period of seventy or eighty years, the independence of Babylon was +entirely destroyed. + +As yet it is not possible to arrange the names preserved in the +inscriptions in a definite order. We can only perceive that in the +oldest period Babylon was not yet the capital of the kingdom. Erech, Ur, +and Nipur, _i.e._ cities lying to the south, were the seat of +government. We find also that the power of the ancient princes must have +extended to the mouth of the Euphrates, and afterwards over a part of +Mesopotamia, and over the Assyrian district on the upper Tigris, till +Assyria, about the year 1500 B.C., became an independent kingdom. That +the region of the upper Euphrates did not belong to Babylonia, but was +the seat of independent princes, more especially at Karchemish, is shown +by the campaigns of the Pharaohs against Naharina, _i.e._ Mesopotamia, +which fall in the period between 1650 B.C. and 1350 B.C., and the +assistance which was rendered at this time by the princes of the upper +Euphrates to the Syrians against the Egyptians.[348] Afterwards the +Assyrians forced their way over the upper Euphrates towards Syria, +without coming in conflict with the Babylonians. At a later period the +lower part of Chaldaea separated from Babylon, and independent princes +established themselves on the lower Euphrates--a fact which obviously +was of great assistance to the Assyrians in gaining the upper hand over +Babylon. + +Among the ancient princes of Babylon one of the first places must be +allotted to a king whose name is read as Urukh. On tiles discovered at +Warka (Erech) we find that the "king of Ur, king of Sumir and Accad, has +built a temple to his Lady, the goddess Nana;" on tiles discovered at +Mugheir (Ur), it is said that "Urukh has built the temple and fortress +of Ur in honour of his Lord, the god Sin;" and finally on an inscription +of Nabonetus, the last king of Babylon, which he had surrendered as far +as Ur, we are told that Urukh began to build a temple here to the great +goddess, and that his son Ilgi completed it. At Nipur (Niffer), Urukh +built temples to Bel and Bilit, and a temple to the god Samas at the +modern Senkereh.[349] On a cylinder of Urukh we find three beardless +forms, apparently the king, his son, and the queen, holding up their +hands to an aged long-bearded and seated figure, which the new moon +visible above him denotes as the moon-god Sin; the inscription, written +in the older form of cuneiform writing (see below), runs thus: "Of +Urukh, the mighty Lord, the King of Ur,..." Another cylinder belongs to +the time of his son Ilgi. It bears the inscription: "For saving the life +of Ilgi, from the mighty Lord, the king of Ur, son of Urukh. May his +name continue!" Inscriptions on tiles inform us that he built a temple +at Mugheir.[350] King Ismidagon (_i.e._ "Dagon hears"), whose name is +also found on tiles of Mugheir, is entitled on them, "Lord of +Nipur,[351] king of Sumir, and Accad." Of king Sarruk (_i.e._ "strong +is the king") an inscription tells us that he built the city of Agane, +and the tablets of prognostication announce to him, that he will conquer +Elam, and subjugate the whole of Babylonia and Syria.[352] The +inscriptions of king Hammurabi (_i.e._ "the sun-god is great") +discovered at Babylon, Zerghul, and Tell Sifr, tell us that the gods El +and Bel had delivered the inhabitants of Sumir and Accad to his +dominion, that he had overthrown Elam, and conquered Mabuk (p. 251), and +that he had caused the river Hammurabi (_i.e._ the canal of that name) +to be dug for the benefit of the Babylonians, and had provided a +constant supply of water for Sumir and Accad. At the command of Merodach +he had erected a fortress on this canal, of which the towers were as +high as mountains, and had named it after the name of his father +Dur-Ummubanit.[353] + +Hammurabi is the first who, according to his inscriptions, resided at +Babylon. If Sarrukin and he succeeded in breaking down the supremacy of +Elam, we must put Hammurabi at the head of the dynasty which reigned +over Babylon, according to Berosus, from 1976-1518 B.C. (p. 248). In an +Assyrian list of the kings of Babylon, belonging to the times of +Assurbanipal, we find, after Hammurabi, the names of more than fifteen +kings, and opposite the last of these, king Binsumnasir of Babylon, two +kings of Assyria, Assurnirar and Nabudan, are placed as contemporaries +(between 1500 and 1450 B.C.; see below).[354] Then Karatadas, of +Babylon, makes an alliance with Assurbel-nisi, king of Assyria, and the +friendship was continued under their successors, Purnapuryas of Babylon, +and Busurassur of Assyria (about 1450 to 1400 B.C.) Assuruballit, the +successor of Busurassur, made war upon Nazibugas, the usurper who +succeeded Purnapuryas, and raised to the throne in his place Kurigalzu, +a son of Purnapuryas (about 1400 B.C.) Tiles at Senkereh inform us that +Purnapuryas, "king of Babylon, of Sumir and Accad," restored the great +temple which Urukh had built for the sun-god Samas. Tiles are found at +Ur (Mugheir) with the name Kurigalzu; and the fortress Dur-Kurigalzu +(Akerkuf), which is often mentioned in later Assyrian inscriptions, and +spoken of as "the key of Babylonia," was built, as is proved by the +stamp on the tiles, in the reign of this king.[355] An ornament, now in +the British Museum, has the inscription: "Kurigalzu, son of Purnapuryas, +king of Babel."[356] The grandson of Kurigalzu was Merodach-Baladan +(Marduk-habaliddina, _i.e._ "Merodach presented the son").[357] Then +about the year 1300 B.C., Tiglath Adar (Tuklat Adar), of Assyria, +attacked the Babylonians, at first, as it seems, with success, but at +last he lost his seal in this war, and for 600 years it was preserved in +the treasury at Babylon. Still more unfortunate was Belkudurussur of +Assyria in his attempt on Babylon. He was defeated, and fell himself in +the battle (about 1200 B.C.); his successor also, Adarpalbitkur, barely +succeeded in defending himself from the attacks of the Babylonians. When +afterwards the first Nebuchadnezzar (Nabukudurussur) of Babylon twice +invaded Assyria, Assur-ris-ilim, king of Assyria (between 1150-1130 +B.C.), succeeded in repulsing him, and Nebuchadnezzar lost forty +war-chariots and a standard. Tiglath Pilesar I. (Tuklat-habal-assar, +about 1120 B.C.), the successor of Assur-ris-ilim, fought against the +Babylonians, and, like Tiglath Adar, he was at first successful. +Assyrian tablets boast that in two successive years he had taken +Dur-Kurigalzu, both Sipparas (p. 257), and even Babylon. But the result +of the war was that Marduknadinakh, king of Babylon, about the year 1110 +B.C., carried off images of gods from Assyria to Babylon.[358] +Assur-bel-kala of Assyria (1110-1090 B.C.) had to fight against another +Marduk of Babylon. Two hundred years later Nebubaladan of Babylon +repulsed the attacks of Assurnasirpal of Assyria (883-859 B.C.) Then +Shalmaneser II. of Assyria made such excellent use of a contention for +the throne of Babylonia, that in the year 850 B.C. he offered sacrifice +at Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha. But it was not till the year 703 or 689 +B.C. that the seal of Tiglath Adar and the images lost by Tiglath +Pilesar I. were carried back to Assyria. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[306] Xenoph. "Cyrop." 7, 5; Strabo, pp. 41, 84, 544, 736, 737. + +[307] Strabo, p. 748; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 5, 1 ff.; G. Hertzberg, +"Feldzug der Zehntausend," s. 139 ff. + +[308] Beros. ap. Sync. p. 28; Herod. 1, 193; "Anab." 2, 3. + +[309] Herod. 1, 178-200. + +[310] "De Coelo," p. 503. + +[311] Diod. 3, 31; Cic. "De Divin." 1, 19; Jul. Afric. ap. Syncell. p. +17; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 7, 57; cf. H. Martin, "Revue Archeol." 1862, 5, +243. + +[312] Between 280-270 B.C. Clinton, "Fasti Hell." ad ann. 279. + +[313] Abydeni Fragm. 9, ed. Mueller. + +[314] Berosi Fragm. 1, ed. Mueller. + +[315] Abyd. Fragm. 1, 2, ed. Mueller; Berosi Fragm. 5. + +[316] In the Armenian Eusebius, p. 10, ed. Schoene, the name is +Lancharis. + +[317] G. Smith, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 531. + +[318] So in the Armenian Eusebius; in Syncellus it is five stadia, +_i.e._ 3,000 feet long. + +[319] Eusebius, p. 14, ed. Mai; Syncell. p. 30; Abydeni Fragm. 3 ed. +Mueller; Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 12. + +[320] Eusebius gives 33,091. As Syncellus enumerates the sares, neres, +and sosses, the number given in the text is the correct one, or must be +replaced by 34,091. The basis of the calculation which Syncellus has +adopted in the four first dynasties of Berosus has been thoroughly +established by Lepsius ("Chronol. der AEgypter," s. 78). + +[321] The period of the fourth dynasty, the eleven kings, is filled up +to 248 years from the marginal note on the Armenian manuscripts of +Eusebius. + +[322] G. Smith, "Assyrian Discoveries," p. 185-195. I retain the reading +"Sisit" as against Hasisadra because of the "Sisythes" of Lucian. + +[323] According to Bunsen, "AEgypt." 5, 2, 61 ff., the Hebrews originally +were acquainted with only seven patriarchs before the flood; see below. + +[324] Gen. ix. 20, 28; xi. 2-9. + +[325] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 30. Hipparenum can be nothing but +Sipparenum, or Sipparenorum. + +[326] If the number 34,091 be correct (p. 241, note 2), the year 2447 +B.C. would be the first year of the historical era. + +[327] It is pointed out by Von Gutschmid in the Rhein. Mus. 8, 252. + +[328] Gen. x. 22; x. 8, 10. + +[329] Menke, "Jahrb. fuer classiche Philologie," 1862, s. 545. + +[330] Aesch. "Pers." 16. + +[331] The name Nanchundi occurs also in the compounds Istar-Nanchundi, +p. 253. + +[332] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 200, 234-236, 249-251. As in two +passages 1,635 years are given with quotation of the Neres and Sosses, +this number must be kept in the third passage instead of 1,535 years. +The conquest of Susa did not follow immediately on the conquest of +Babylon, in the year 647; see below. + +[333] Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, 479; Oppert, "Empires de Chaldee et +d'Assyrie," p. 27. + +[334] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 234; "Early Hist." p. 58. + +[335] Genesis, xiv. 1-12; G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 228. + +[336] Also in Menant, "Les Achemenides," p. 136. + +[337] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 224, ff. + +[338] Sayce, "Transact. Bibl. Arch." 3, 465, 485. + +[339] So Rawlinson, Norris, Mordtmann, "Zeitschrift d. d. M. G." 1870, +s. 7, 76, and Sayce, _loc. cit._ + +[340] Norris, "Dict." I. 50. + +[341] Such is also the opinion of Eberhard Schrader. + +[342] Schrader, "Abstammung und Ursitze der Chaldaeer," s. 405 ff., 416 +ff. + +[343] Strabo, p. 735, 765, 767; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 6, 23, 27. 5, 20. + +[344] On the correct interpretation of the passage, Isaiah xxiii. 13, +see Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 269; on the Armenian +Chaldaeans, the Chalybian Chaldaeans, Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldaeer," +s. 399, 400. The former are to be sought for in the valley of the Lycus, +and are known to the Armenians as Chalti: Kiepert, "Monats-Berichte der +B. Akad. d. W." 1869. Arphaxad, _i.e._ the high mountain district Albak +(Kiepert, _loc. cit_. s. 200), on the Upper Zab, was on the other hand +undoubtedly colonised by Semitic tribes; but these probably came from +Mesopotamia and Assyria. Arphaxad is the younger brother of Elam and +Asshur. Where to look for Kir, whence, according to Amos ix. 7; i. 5, +the Syrians came, we do not know. + +[345] Schrader, "Assyrisch-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 382, 18, 42, 165, +225. + +[346] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 383. + +[347] Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonides," p. 55 ff. + +[348] Above, pp. 132, 151, 152. From Naharina Tuthmosis III. received, +among other things, forty-seven tiles of lead, forty-five pounds of +gold, eighty-one mana (minae) of spice.--De Rouge, "Notice," pp. 16, 18. + +[349] Oppert, "Empires," pp. 16, 17; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," 1, +63, 64, 137; Menant, "Babylone," pp. 74, 75, 254. + +[350] G. Smith, "Early History," p. 36; G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," +pp. 69, 94, 157 ff. + +[351] Oppert, "Empires," p. 21. + +[352] Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test." s. 47; "Assyrisch-babylonische +Keilschriften," s. 162; Sayce, "Zeitschrift fuer aegypt. Sprache," 1870, +s. 151; Menant, "Babylone," p. 98. + +[353] Oppert, "Empires," p. 36. + +[354] Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 1, 249. + +[355] Oppert, "Empires," p. 28; Menant, "Babylone," pp. 118, 121. + +[356] G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," pp. 169, 170. + +[357] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 236 ff., gives a deed of gift of +Merodach-Baladan, the son of Milihiru, the grandson of Kurigalzu. + +[358] Menant, "Babylone," pp. 127, 128. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE RELIGION AND SCIENCE OF THE CHALDAEANS. + + +In the period from 2000 to 1000 B.C., Babylonia under Hammurabi, +Nebuchadnezzar, and Marduknadinakh, was already the foremost state of +Hither Asia in power, science, and skill in art. Her civilisation had +developed without external assistance. If the first foundations were +borrowed, and not laid by the Babylonians, they certainly were not due +to the Egyptians. The religious views of the Babylonians and the +Egyptians rest on an entirely different basis. In Egypt the heavens were +carefully observed; but the Chaldaeans arrived at a different division of +the heavens, of the year, and month, and day, and the results of their +astronomy were far clearer and more exact. In Egypt, weights and +measures were regulated by the priests; the Chaldaeans established a much +more accurate and consistent system, which prevailed far beyond the +borders of Babylonia. The Egyptians reached the highest point that could +be reached by the art of building in stone; but the buildings of the +Chaldaeans in brick are unsurpassed in size, strength, and height by any +nation or period. To what antiquity the hydraulic works of the Chaldaeans +reached we do not know (the canal of Hammurabi has been mentioned +above); but we find that in size and variety they were not behind those +of Egypt. Their sculpture cannot be compared with the Egyptian in +artistic finish; but the few fragments which remain exhibit a style +which, while thoroughly independent, is more vigorous and complete, and +shows a greater freedom of conception than the Egyptian. + +The Babylonians, as we learn from Diodorus, worshipped twelve gods as +lords of the sky. To each of these a sign in the zodiac and a month in +the year were dedicated.[359] These statements are supported by the +inscriptions. The supreme god of the Babylonians was El (Il), after whom +they named their capital, Babel, "Gate of El." After El came the gods +Anu, Bel (Bil), Hea, Sin, Samas, and Bin; and after these the gods of +the planets; Adar, Merodach, Nergal, Istar, and Nebo. Of El we only know +that he was the supreme god, who sat enthroned above the other gods. +What peculiar importance and power is ascribed to him is the more +difficult to ascertain, as the name of the third deity, Bel, simply +means "lord," and by this title not only Bel himself, but El and other +gods also are invoked. In his inscription, king Hammurabi says "that El +and Bel have given over to his rule the inhabitants of Sumir and Accad." +In the story of the flood, quoted above, El is called "the prince of the +gods," "the warrior." In Assyrian inscriptions he is the "lamp of the +gods," "the lord of the universe." The Greeks give us accounts of the +great temple of Belus at Babylon, and represent the Babylonians as +swearing "by the great Belus."[360] In the fragments of Berosus it was +Belus who smote asunder the primaeval darkness, and divided Omorka, and +caused the creation of men and beasts; while according to the clay +tablets of the flood, El was unwilling to save even Sisit. Of the god +Hea we can at present ascertain no more from the inscriptions than that +he is the "lord of the earth," "the king of rivers;" and that it is he +who announced the coming flood to Sisit, and pointed out the means of +safety. Anu, the god who follows next after El, was sovereign of the +upper realms of the sky. In the narrative of the flood given on the clay +tablets the gods fled horror-stricken before the storm into the heaven +of Anu. In Assyrian inscriptions the god has frequently the epithet +Malik (_i.e._ "king"). As the Hebrews inform us that the men of +Sepharvaim worshipped Anammelech, it is obvious that Anumalik and +Anammelech are one and the same deity. The creature, who brought the +first revelations of language and writing, is called in Berosus Oan, by +others, Yan.[361] As these revelations reached Sepharvaim, and the +sacred books were preserved there (p. 245), we may venture to assume +that the Oan of Berosus and the Anu of the inscriptions are the same +god. The nature of the next deities, Sin, Samas, and Bin, is more +intelligible. Sin is the god of the moon. On monuments the new moon is +often found beside his bearded image. The inscriptions provide him with +"white-beaming horns." The main seat of his worship is Ur (Mugheir), +where, as we have seen, Urukh built him a temple, and Nabonetus, the +last king of Babylon, prays this god "to plant in the heart of his +first-born a reverence for his great divinity, that he might not yield +to sin, or favour the unfaithful."[362] The sun-god Samas is +distinguished by sign of the circle; according to the inscription he +illuminates "heaven and earth," and is the "lord of the day." Beside +Sin and Samas the Babylonians worshipped a deity of the heaven, Bin, the +god who "thunders in the midst of the sky," who holds "a flaming sword +in his hand," "who holds the lightning," "who is the giver of abundance, +the lord of fertility."[363] + +At the head of the five spirits of the planets stands the lord of Saturn +(the Kaivanu of the Babylonians), the most distant and highest of all. +This is the god Adar, _i.e._ "the sublime." His name was given to the +last month in the Babylonian year. In the inscriptions the epithet Malik +is often joined to Adar; Sakkut Adar also is a name given in the +inscriptions to this god. The Hebrews tell us that the men of Sepharvaim +worshipped Adrammelech; and this can hardly be any other deity than the +Adar-Malik of the inscriptions. They also add that children were burned +to Adrammelech,[364] and hence we may conclude that the Adar of the +Babylonians was a harsh and cruel deity, averse to generation, whose +wrath had to be appeased by human sacrifice. When the prophet Amos +announces to the Israelites that they would "carry Siccuth their king, +and Kewan (Chiun) their star-god, their images which they had +made,"[365] Sichuth-Melech can be no other god than Sakkut-Malik, _i.e._ +Adar, and by Kewan is meant the Kaivanu (Saturn) of the +inscriptions.[366] Nebo (Nabu), the god of Borsippa, was the lord of the +planet Mercury. According to the inscriptions of Babylonia, he ruled +over the hosts of heaven and earth. His image on the cylinder of Urukh +has been mentioned above (p. 259). Statues of Nebo with long beard and +hair, and a robe from the breast downwards, have been found in the +ruins of Nineveh. Assyrian inscriptions entitle him the "prince of the +gods." His name means the "revealer," and what we learn from western +writers about a special school of Chaldaic priests at Borsippa agrees +very well with this. The lord of Mars, Nergal, was worshipped at the +city of Kutha. The inscriptions name him the "king of the battle," the +"ruler of the storm," or simply the "lion-god."[367] Hence the winged +lions with a human head at the temples and palace gates of Susa and +Nineveh (p. 253) were his images, and stood no doubt at Babylon and +Kutha also, while the winged bulls must have been the images of Adar. In +the narrative of the flood on Assyrian tablets, it is Adar who +overthrows and Nergal who destroys (p. 243). After the restoration of +the Babylonian kingdom, the kings are named after Nebo and Nergal. Yet +the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II. celebrate above all other deities +the lord of Jupiter, Merodach, as Belrabu, i.e. the "great lord," the +"highest god," the "lord of heaven and earth."[368] + +To this circle of planet-gods belongs also the female deity, whom the +Babylonians worshipped with much zeal--the goddess Bilit, _i.e._ "Lady," +the Mylitta of Herodotus. Her star is Venus. The inscriptions name her +"Queen of the Gods," "Mother of the Gods." As she is also called the +"Lady of Offspring," it is clear that she was regarded by the +Babylonians as the goddess of fertility and birth. They recognised the +power of the goddess in the charm and beauty of vegetative nature. +Within the wall of her temple at Babylon a grove afforded a cool shade, +and a cistern reminded the worshippers of the mistress of the +fertilizing water. The creatures sacred to her were fish, as the +inhabitants of water, and remarkable for vigorous propagation, and the +dove.[369] According to the account of Herodotus the maidens of +Babylonia had to worship the goddess by the sacrifice of their +virginity; once in her life each was expected to sell her body in honour +of the goddess, and thus to redeem herself. Hence on the festivals of +Mylitta the maidens of Babylon sat in long rows in the grove of the +goddess, with chaplets of cord upon their heads. Even the daughters of +the wealthy came in covered cars with a numerous body of attendants. +Here they had to remain till one of the pilgrims, who came to worship +the goddess, cast a piece of gold into their laps, with the words, "In +the name of Mylitta." Then the maiden was compelled to follow him, and +comply with his wishes. The money thus earned she gave to the +temple-treasury, and was henceforth freed from her obligation to the +goddess. "The good-looking and graceful maidens," adds Herodotus, +"quickly found a pilgrim, but the ugly ones could not satisfy the law, +and often remained in the temple three or four years."[370] The Hebrew +scriptures confirm the statements of Herodotus. They tell us of the +Babylonians, "that their women, with cords about them (they were bound +to the goddess), sat by the wayside, and burnt bran for perfume, and she +who was drawn away by the passer-by reproached her fellow that she had +not been thought worthy of the honour, and that her cord was not +broken."[371] The goddess Nana, whose image, as we have seen, was +carried away at an ancient period from Erech to Susa, and to whom it is +Nebuchadnezzar's boast that he built temples at Babylon and +Borsippa,[372] was hardly distinguished from Bilit or Mylitta. + +Opposed to the goddess of fertility, procreation, and birth, stood +Istar, the goddess of war, of ruin, and destruction. She is often +mentioned in inscriptions as "the Queen of Babylon;" according to +Assyrian inscriptions she carries a bow, and western writers tell us of +the worship of Artemis by the Babylonians. That this goddess united with +Bilit, and sent alternately blessing and fruit, death and ruin, is +placed beyond doubt, by the analogous worship of Baltis, Ashera, and +Astarte by the Syrians, and more especially by the Phoenicians and +Carthaginians. Moreover the planet Venus belonged to this goddess in +both her forms. In the tablets of the flood, Istar boasts that men owed +their existence to her (p. 243), and an Assyrian syllabarium tells us +that "the star of Venus (Dilbat, the Delephat of the Greeks), at +sunrise, is Istar among the gods; the same star at sunset is Bilit among +the gods."[373] On Assyrian tablets is found a narrative of the journey +of Istar to the under-world. She determines to go down to the house of +the departed, to the abode of the god Irkalla, to the house which has no +exit, to the road which leads not back, to the place where the entrance +is without light, where dust is their nourishment and mould their food, +where light is not seen, where they dwell in darkness, where the arches +are filled with spirits like birds; over the gate and the panels dust is +strewed. "Watchman of the waters," said Istar, "open thy gate, that I +may enter. If thou openest not, I will break thy gate, and burst asunder +the bars; I will shatter the threshold and destroy the doors." The +watchman opened the gate, and as she passed through he took the great +crown from her head; and when she passed through the second gate he took +the rings from her ears; and when she passed through the third gate he +took the necklace from her neck; and when she passed through the fourth +gate he took the ornaments from her breast; and when she passed through +the fifth gate he took the girdle of her robe; and when she passed +through the sixth gate he took the rings from her arms and legs; and +when she passed through the seventh gate he took the mantle from her +neck and said, "Thus does Ninkigal to those who come to her." Arrived in +the under-world, Istar was grievously afflicted in the eyes, on the +hips, feet, heart, head, and whole body. But the world above could not +bear the loss of Istar, "the bull sought not the cow, nor the male ass +the female," and the god Hea sent a message to Ninkigal, the Lady of the +under-world, to set her free. Ninkigal caused the water of life to pour +out over Istar. Then the seven doors of the under-world were again +opened for her, and before each she received back what had been taken +from her at her entrance.[374] + +In the fragments of Berosus the last of the fish-men is called Odakon +(p. 239). Inscriptions of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon +mention a god Dakan, or Dagani; and we also meet the name of this god in +the name of the king Ismidagon, whom we found it necessary to place +before the year 2000 B.C. Assurbanipal of Assyria boasts of the favour +of Anu and Dagon. These two gods appear in the same connection in other +inscriptions. Sargon, king of Assyria, calls himself "the apple of the +eye of Anu and Dagon."[375] Male figures, with a horned cap on the head, +and ending in a fish, and priests with fishskins hung above them, are +often found on the monuments of Nineveh. As the word Dag means "fish," +we may with confidence find in the god Dakan the fish-god of the +Babylonians; the god who out of moisture gives plenty, fertility, and +increase. That the Canaanites also worshipped Dagon is proved by the +names Beth-Dagon and Kaphar-Dagon, which occur near Joppa and Sichem. +The Philistines also on the coast of the Mediterranean invoked the same +god. His image in the temple at Ashdod had the face and hands of a man, +the body of a fish, and the feet of a man (see below). The seven +fish-men who rose out of the Persian Gulf were therefore seven +manifestations, or revelations, of the gods Oan and Dagon, Anu and +Dakan. + +The chief seats of the religious worship of the Babylonians were Babylon +itself, when it had become the metropolis of the land, Borsippa and +Kutha. The kings of Assyria, who succeeded in entering Babylonia, or in +subjugating it, remark more than once that they have sacrificed at +Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha, to Bel, Nebo, and Nergal, and Assurbanipal +tells us that his rebellious brother, the viceroy of Babylon, had +purchased the help of the Elamites with the treasures of the temple of +Bel at Babylon, of Nebo at Borsippa, and Nergal at Kutha.[376] Hence +these temples must have been the most considerable, and the treasures in +them the largest. Beside these temples, as has been remarked, Erech was +of importance, as the seat of the worship of Nana, Ur contained the +temple of the moon-god, and Sepharvaim was the abode of Anu and Samas, +and the city of the sacred scriptures. + +The relation of the deities to the luminaries of the sky occupied a very +prominent place in the minds of the Babylonians. The powerful operation +of the sun was due to the god Samas; the moon, as we have seen, belonged +to Sin, Saturn to Adar, Jupiter to Merodach, Mercury to Nebo, Mars to +the war-god Nergal, Venus to Istar-Bilit. From the inscriptions of +Nebuchadnezzar II. we learn that there existed at Borsippa, the seat of +the worship of Nebo, an ancient temple to "the seven lamps of the +earth." The horizon of the Babylonian plain was very extensive; the more +uniform and boundless the expanse of earth, the more did the eye turn +upwards towards the changes, movements, and life of the sky. In the +clear atmosphere the eye followed the regular paths of the planets, and +discovered each morning new stars, while others disappeared every +evening. With the higher or lower position of the sun, or of this or +that star, a new season commenced, or changes took place in the natural +world; the inundation rose, and vegetation began to awaken or decay. On +the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars, the life of +mankind, their waking and sleeping, their vigour and weariness, +depended; the seasons of budding and ripening fruit, of favourable or +unfavourable navigation, commenced with the appearance of certain stars +and ended with their disappearance. It was natural, amid such +conceptions, to believe that the whole life of nature and man depended +on the luminaries of the sky, and that the earth and mankind received +their laws from above, from the gleaming paths of the constellations. +The good or evil effect which these stars were thought to exercise upon +the life of nature, applied also to their influence on the life of man. + +Within the circle of such conceptions the planets naturally occupied a +prominent place. The Greeks inform us that the Chaldaeans called these +stars "interpreters," as proclaiming the will of the gods.[377] Among +them Jupiter and Venus (Merodach and Istar-Bilit) passed with the later +astrologers as luck-bringing powers. Jupiter was supposed to bring the +beneficent and genial warmth of the atmosphere, while Venus, the star of +evening (Bilit), poured forth the cool fructifying dew. Saturn (Adar) +was an unlucky star, the Great Evil; and this confirms the conclusion +already drawn that Adar was thought to be a god averse to generation, +and hostile. Mars (Nergal) was also a pernicious planet: his fiery glow +brought scorching heat, and he is the Lesser Evil of astrologers. +Mercury, the moon, and the sun, _i.e._ Nebo, Sin, and Samas, stood +midway between the good and evil stars; they were of an intermediate +undefined character.[378] + +But according to the Chaldaeans the planets also assumed the influence +and character of the constellations in which they passed over the earth. +They divided the path of the sun into twelve stations or houses, +according to the constellations which it passes through in its course. +The sun's proper house was its highest position in the sign of Leo. The +paths of the planets were divided in a similar way; and to the Chaldaean +these "houses of the planets" became divine powers, because they altered +and defined the character and operation of the planets. Hence they even +call them "lords of the gods."[379] On the other hand thirty other fixed +stars are "counselling gods," because they were thought to exercise +only a secondary influence on the planets; and lastly, twelve fixed +stars in the northern sky, and twelve in the southern were called the +"judges." Of these twenty-four stars, those which were visible decided +on the fortunes of the living, and those which were invisible on the +fortunes of the dead.[380] The inscriptions also distinguish two classes +of twelve stars each; of which one is named "the stars of Accad," the +other "the stars of the West."[381] Each month of the year belonged to a +god; the first to the god Anu: the seven days of the week belonged to +the sun, moon, and five planets; after the moon came Mars, then Mercury, +then Jupiter, then Venus, and last of all Saturn. The day belonged to +the planet to which the first hour after midnight was allotted; in the +next hour the planet ruled which came next in proximity to the sun; and +in the same way followed the remaining planets, first in a solar, then +in a lunar series. + +Thus the Chaldaeans worshipped "the sun, and the moon, and the zodiac;" +thus they offered incense, as the Hebrews say, to the "houses of the +planets, and the whole host of heaven."[382] This lore was the work of +the priests, who accordingly understood how to read the will of the gods +in the constellations of the sky, and to foretell the fate of life from +the hour of birth, and from the ever-changing position of the stars to +fix the suitable moment for commencing any task or undertaking. How the +stars passed through the sky, how they approached each other, or +diverged, imparted or withdrew their operation, were found in equipoise +or opposition--on this depended the prosperity or misfortune of the +kingdom, the king, the year, the day, the hour. Moreover it was of +importance at what season of the year, and in what quarter of the sky +the stars rose, or disappeared, and what colours they displayed.[383] To +the east belonged withering heat, to the south warmth, to the west +fertilising moisture, and to the north cold; and the planets exercised +greater or less power as they stood higher or lower.[384] Tablets +discovered at Nineveh allow us a closer insight into the system of these +constellations. On some of these we find written as follows:--"If +Jupiter is seen in the month of Tammuz, there will be corpses." "If +Venus comes opposite the star of the fish, there will be devastation." +"If the star of the great lion is gloomy, the heart of the people will +not rejoice." "If the moon is seen on the first day of the month, Accad +will prosper." One tablet supplies information for all the periods of +the day and night in the 360 days of the year, telling us what day and +what period is favourable or unfavourable for commencing a campaign, or +a siege, for storming the enemy's walls, or for defence.[385] + +Such was the faith and doctrine of the Babylonians. In the original +conception of El as lord of the sky, and Adar as the highest of the star +gods, there may have been nobler and simpler traits, yet even these +early views were not without their harshness and cruelty, as we are +forced to conclude from the Hebrew accounts of the sacrifices offered to +Adar. Such traits are also more than outweighed by the licentious +worship of Mylitta, in which the sensual elements of the Semitic +character are seen in all their coarseness. With the growth of the +kingdom, and the consequent effeminacy and luxury of life in Babylonia, +this side of their religion must have become predominant, while, on the +other hand, the great conception of a world ruled and governed by the +movements of the stars tended in time to degenerate into mere +astrological computations and fortune-telling. + +Our knowledge of the life and position of the priests of Babylon is +scanty. The Greeks tell us that they took the same place as in Egypt. +Their rank was hereditary; the son was instructed by the father from an +early age. Some occupied themselves with the offerings and +purifications; others strove to avert existing or threatening evils by +expiations and charms; others explained any miraculous phenomena of +nature, interpreted dreams, and prophesied from the flight of birds. The +Hebrew scriptures speak of interpreters of stars and signs, magicians +and prophets.[386] According to the accounts of Western writers, the +priests at Babylon inhabited a special quarter of the city, and there +were schools of priests at Sippara.[387] The fragments of Berosus +pointed out Babylon, Sippara, and Larancha (p. 239) as centres of +priestly wisdom even before the flood, inasmuch as they attribute to +these places special revelations of the gods Anu and Dakan. They speak +of the sacred books saved in Sippara from the flood. These books they +divide into ancient, mediaeval, and modern. By the "ancient" books we +must understand the announcements which the god Anu caused to be made to +the two earliest kings, Alorus and Alaparus, of Babylon. Under the +"mediaeval" are comprised the revelations received by Ammenon and Daonus +of Sippara, and lastly, under the "modern" the mysteries disclosed by +Dagon to Edorankhus of Sippara (p. 239). Hence we may assume that the +priests of Babylon arrived at an early age at a code which included +their creed and ritual, as it would seem, in seven books (p. 245). How +high the cosmogonies go, of which the most essential traits were found +in the fragments of Berosus (p. 238), we cannot decide. In the +conception which lies at the base of them the forces of nature are seen +pouring forth in wild confusion. The name of the woman who rules these +forces, or of this chaos inhabited by monsters, Omorka, has been +explained as "Homer-Kai," _i.e._, "material of the egg," the world-egg, +but more recently by "Um Uruk," _i.e._ "the mother," the "great goddess +of Erech." In the cosmogony of Berosus we can see, though in a very rude +and contradictory shape, the opposition of a material and intellectual, +a natural and supernatural principle, and later accounts maintain that +the Babylonians regarded the world as arising out of fire and water, +that Chaos and Love were the parents of Life and Contention, and of Life +and Contention Bel was the son.[388] + +More important and far more valuable than these abstractions, to which +the Babylonians obviously attained only at a late period, and in all +probability under the influence of Greek ideas, are the results which +their knowledge and acuteness gained in other fields. The cuneiform +writing, according to the conclusions we have already been compelled to +draw, was borrowed by the Elamites and Babylonians from the earlier +inhabitants of the lower districts. It was originally a picture-writing, +which, like the Egyptian, passed from real pictures to indicatory and +symbolic pictures or picture-signs. The necessity of abbreviating and +compressing the picture-signs was here far more keenly felt than in +Egypt, quite irrespective of the fact that the strong pictorial +tendency of the Egyptians was probably wanting on the Lower Tigris. The +stones and slabs on which the Egyptians engraved their hieroglyphics +were not to be found in the plains of the two rivers, and the slabs of +mud, clay, and brick on which they were compelled to write (the pictures +and symbols were written on the soft slabs with the style, and these +were then burnt), were ill-adapted for sketches. Such obstinate material +made the abbreviation of the symbols an imperative necessity; and it was +by sharp and straight strokes that the signs could be most easily traced +upon slabs of mud and clay. The oldest bricks in the ruins of Mugheir, +Warka, and Senkereh display pictures in outline; then beside bricks with +inscriptions of this kind we find others repeating the same inscription +in cuneiform signs, which now form a completely ideographic system of +writing. The immediate comprehension of picture signs by the senses died +away owing to abbreviations of the kind mentioned, and the +picture-writing became symbolic writing. This writing, which consisted +of groups of cuneiform symbols, attained a higher stage of development +when a phonetic value was attributed to a part of the cuneiform groups, +whether used to signify nouns or verbs and adjectives, or new groups +were formed for this purpose. By cuneiform groups both simple and +compound syllables are expressed. For simple syllables, _i.e._ for those +consisting of a single consonant with a vowel before or after it in +order to give the consonant a sound, the cuneiform writing of Babylon +and Assyria possesses about one hundred groups, and several hundred +groups for compound syllables, _i.e._ for those which have more than one +consonant. Side by side with this syllabic writing the old abbreviated +picture-writing was retained. Certain words of frequent occurrence, as +king, battle, month, were always represented by picture signs, or +ideograms, and so also were the names of deities and most proper names. +The greater number of the cuneiform groups were then used in a phonetic +as well as an ideographic sense, and without any correlation between the +phonetic and actual meaning. Thus the symbol for the word "father" had +the phonetic value of the syllable _at_, but "father" in the Babylonian +language is _abu_. In Babylon this system of writing became even more +complicated by the fact that different meanings and different phonetic +values were ascribed to the same cuneiform groups. There are symbols +which have four different phonetic values and four different +meanings.[389] In order to lessen to some degree the great difficulty in +understanding the meaning which was caused by the varying use of the +same symbol as an ideogram and a sound, and the multiplicity of meanings +and sounds attached to certain signs--key-symbols were placed before the +names of gods, lands, cities, and persons, and occasionally one or more +syllables were attached to ideograms of more than one meaning, which +formed the termination of the word intended to be expressed by the +ideogram in the particular instance. + +Complicated and difficult as this writing was, it was applied on a +considerable scale in Assyria and Babylonia, and it remained in use even +after the fall of the Babylonian empire, as is shown by bricks and +tablets of the time of Cyrus, Cambyses, Artaxerxes I., and the +Seleucidae.[390] These are principally records of business or legal +matters, of which, in this way, a selection has come down to us +extending from the times of Hammurabi (p. 261) to the first century B.C. +The Armenians adopted this system from the Babylonians and Assyrians; +and they also made it shorter and simpler. In the same way the Medes and +Persians borrowed it. But in the Persian inscriptions of the Achaemenids +it has already become a mere phonetic mode of writing but little removed +from an ordinary alphabet. Beyond doubt the Babylonian system was known +to the Western Semitic tribes; it even passed over from Syria to Cyprus, +where we find it assuming a peculiar form, and displaying throughout the +character of a syllabic mode of writing. At the same time among the +Syrians and Phenicians a cursive method was developed, just as in Egypt +the hieratic writing grew up beside the hieroglyphic. This cursive +writing of the Western Semitic nations has not, however, arisen out of +the cuneiform symbols, but out of the hieratic writing of the Egyptians. +The Phenicians must claim the merit of having abbreviated still further, +for their own use, the cursive writing of the Egyptians. But the +picture-symbols of the hieratic writing were not merely contracted and +simplified; the mixture of pictorial, syllabic, and alphabetic +symbols--beyond which the Egyptians did not rise--was abandoned, and +then for the first time an alphabet was discovered. This Phenician +alphabet was in use in Syria as early as the year 1000 B.C.[391] In +Babylonia also this alphabetic writing was in use beside the cuneiform. +We find it in Babylon side by side with the corresponding cuneiform on a +weight, of which the inscription tells us: "Thirty minae of standard +weight: the palace of Irba Merodach (Marduk) king of Babylon." The exact +date of this king cannot be ascertained: we only know that he must have +belonged to the old kingdom. Assyrian weights with inscriptions in the +Phenician alphabet, beside the cuneiform inscriptions, are found of the +eighth century B.C., the time of King Tiglath Pilesar II., Shalmanesar +IV., and Sennacherib.[392] + +"It can be maintained with good reason," says Diodorus, "that the +Chaldaeans are far before all other nations in their knowledge of the +heavens; and that they devoted the greatest attention and labour to this +science." At an early period, by comparing the course of the sun with +that of the moon, they had perceived that the sun returned to the same +position after passing through about twelve cycles of the moon; hence +they fixed the year at twelve months of thirty days, which they, by +intercalations of various kinds, brought into harmony with the +astronomical year of 365-1/4 days.[393] The observation, that the sun +after a course of twelve months returns to the same constellation, led +them on to determine the changing position of the sun in the other +months by constellations. Thus the Babylonians marked off the +constellations which seemed to touch nearest upon the course of the sun, +and arrived at the signs of the ecliptic or zodiac. Each of these twelve +stations through which the sun passed they again divided into thirty +parts. The week they fixed at seven days by the course of the moon; to +the day they allotted twelve hours, to correspond to the twelve months +of the year; the hours they divided into sixty parts, and each of these +sixtieths was again subdivided into sixty parts. Their measures were +also duodecimal. The cubit was twenty-four finger-breadths; and on the +same system, their numerals were based upon the _sossus_, or sixty,--a +derivative from twelve, and the _sarus_, or square of the _sossus_. When +they attempted to fix the position and intervals of the stars in the +sky, the basis taken for their measurements was the diameter of the sun. +They divided the daily course of the sun, like the ecliptic, into 360 +parts, and then attempted to measure these at the equinox. At the moment +when the sun was seen in the sky on the morning of the equinox, a jar +filled with water was opened. From this the water was allowed to run +into a second small jar, till the orb of the sun was completely visible; +then it ran into a third and larger jar, till the sun was again seen on +the horizon on the following morning. They concluded that the diameter +of the sun must stand in the same proportion to the cycle it passed +through as the water in the small jar stood to the water in the large +one. Hence they found that the diameter of the sun was contained 720 +times in its course, and this diameter they fixed at 1/30 of an +hour.[394] The observation that an active foot-courier could accomplish +a certain distance in the thirtieth part of an equinoctial hour, and +thirty times as much in the whole hour, supplied the Chaldaeans with a +longitudinal measurement on the same basis. The measure of the hour was +the parasang (3/4 of a geographical mile), and the thirtieth part of the +parasang was the stadium. Till we obtain help from the inscriptions we +must remain acquainted only with the Persian name of the first measure +and the Greek name of the second. At the equator the sun was supposed in +every hour to traverse a distance of thirty stadia. On this system also +the Chaldaeans fixed the length of their cubit. The stadium was divided +into 360 cubits, and the sixth part of the stadium, or plethron, into +sixty cubits, and the foot was fixed at 3/5 of this cubit. Consequently +the Babylonian cubit was fixed at twenty-one inches of our measure (525 +millimeters).[395] + +From this division of the sphere the Babylonians, though aided by very +simple instruments, the polus and gnomon,[396] arrived at very exact +astronomical observations and results. They discovered a period of 223 +months, within which all eclipses of the moon occurred in a similar +number and equal extent. By means of this period they fixed the average +length of the synodic and periodic month with such accuracy that our +astronomers here found the first to be too large by four seconds only, +and the last by one second. Their observations of ten lunar eclipses, +and three conjunctions of planets and fixed stars, have come down to us. +The oldest of these observations is that of a lunar eclipse of the year +721 B.C., which took place "a good hour after midnight." The second took +place in 720 B.C., "about midnight;" the third in the same year "after +the rising of the moon." In these observations also our astronomers have +found but little to correct. + +As the Chaldaeans brought their measures of the sphere, of time and +length into correlation, so also they attempted to preserve the same +relation in their cubic measures and weights. For their weights and +cubic measures the division of the units into sixtieths (minae, _i.e._ +parts) was retained. The quadrantal, or _Maris_, contained one +Babylonian cubic foot, and the sixtieth part of this was the _Log_. The +weight in water of a Babylonian cubic foot was, according to the +statistics of our physicists, about sixty-six pounds (32,721 +kilogrammes), but the Chaldaeans reckoned it at only 60-3/5 pounds +(30,300 kilogrammes).[397] + +The weight of the cubic measure was also the standard for imperial +weight in Babylonia. The oldest weight which we know dates from the time +of Ilgi, king of Ur. The stone, which in shape is not unlike a duck, has +the inscription: "Ten minae of Ilgi."[398] There was a heavy talent +(Kikkar, _i.e._ "orb") arranged to weigh twice as much as the +quadrantal. Hence it weighed 121-1/5 pounds (60,600 kils.), and the +sixtieth, or mina, weighed over two pounds. The light talent weighed one +quadrantal, according to the estimate of the Chaldaeans, _i.e._ 60-3/5 +pounds, and the mina was a little heavier than a pound of our weight. +But in weighing the precious metals, the Chaldaeans used units, which +differed from the imperial weights in use for all other purposes. They +calculated by little circular pieces, or rings, or bars (tongues) of +silver and gold, and the smallest of these was equivalent to the shekel, +or sixtieth part of the mina of the heavy talent. These shekels were the +commonest and most indispensable measure of value. It was found easier +to reckon by units of 3,000 shekels, than by units of 3,600. And so it +came about that the mina contained fifty shekels instead of sixty, and +the talent 3,000 shekels instead of 3,600. The three thousand shekels as +a whole, no longer weighed 121-1/5 pounds, but only 101 pounds, and the +mina, or sixtieth part, instead of weighing fully two pounds, weighed +only about 1-3/5 pounds.[399] + +This weight, or the half of it (50-1/2 pounds), was retained for the +heavy and light gold talent. In the weight of silver trade caused a +further deviation. It was necessary to exchange gold and silver, and in +the East in antiquity the value of gold and silver was estimated at +13 : 1, or more accurately 13-1/3 : 1.[400] By making the silver shekel +(_i.e._ the fiftieth part of the silver mina), which corresponded to the +weight of the light gold talent, a little heavier, a silver coin was +obtained which stood to the fiftieth of the light gold mina, nearly in +the ratio of 10 : 1. Ten silver shekels of this weight could therefore +without any further trouble be exchanged for the fiftieth of the gold +mina, or gold shekel of the light gold talent. Hence arose a silver +talent of 67-1/3 pounds (33,660 kil.), a silver mina of 1-1/10 pound, +and a silver shekel of about eleven milligrammes. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[359] Diod. 2, 30. + +[360] Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 9, 10, ed. Mueller. + +[361] Pindari Fragm. adesp. 83, ed. Bergk. + +[362] Schrader, "Assyr.-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 123; "Keilschriften +und Alt. Test." s. 280. + +[363] G. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," p. 130. + +[364] 2 Kings xvii. 31. + +[365] Amos v. 26. + +[366] Eberhard Schrader, "Theologg. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 324 +ff. + +[367] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 167, 272; +"Assyr.-babyl. Keilschriften," s. 88, 129, 140. + +[368] Menant, "Babylone," pp. 201-203. + +[369] Munter, "Religion der Babylonier," s. 28. + +[370] Herod. 1, 199. + +[371] Baruch, vi. 42, 43 (Ep. Jerem.); cf. Genesis xxxviii. 14 ff. + +[372] Menant, "Babylone," p. 204. + +[373] Schrader, "Abstammung der Chaldaeer," s. 405. So, too, Istar of +Agane is opposed to Istar of Erech. + +[374] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 220; Schrader, "Hoellenfahrt," p. 15 ff. + +[375] Schrader, "Keilschriften und Alt. Test." s. 69, 85, 86. + +[376] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 201. + +[377] Diod. 2, 30. + +[378] Plutarch, "De Isid." c. 48. + +[379] Diod. 2, 30. + +[380] Diod. 2, 31. + +[381] Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." 3, p. 137. + +[382] 2 Kings xxiii. 5-7. + +[383] Diod. 2, 31. + +[384] Stuhr, "Die Religionsysteme der Voelker des Orients," 1, 424. + +[385] Sayce, "Bibl. Archaeol." 3, p. 153. + +[386] Diod. 2, 30, 31; Daniel 4, 4. + +[387] Above, p. 268; Strabo, p. 739. + +[388] Movers, "Religion der Phoenizier," 2, 262, 275. + +[389] Schrader, "Assyrisch. Babyl. Keilschriften," s. 105. + +[390] G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 387, 388; Menant, "Les Achaemenides." +Recently a tablet has been found, supposed to belong to the time of +Caesar. + +[391] De Rouge, "Sur l'Origine Egyptienne de l'Alphabet Phenicien;" +Lauth, "Sitzungsber. d. Bair. Akad. d." 10, 1867, pp. 84-124. The +inscription of Mesha, king of Moab, proves by the formation and use of +the letters that this alphabet had been known for a long time. + +[392] The Basalt duck of Irba Marduk--no doubt a piece of Babylonian +booty--was found at Nineveh.--Layard, "Discoveries," p. 601; Schrader, +"Assyr. Babyl. Keilschrift," s. 175; De Vogue, "Rev. Arch." 11, 366. + +[393] Ideler, "Handbuch der Chronologie," 1, 207; Sayce, "Bibl. Arch." +3, p. 160. + +[394] Ideler, "Sternkunde der Chaldaer," s. 214. + +[395] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 20 ff. + +[396] Herod. 2, 109. + +[397] Brandis, "Muenzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 36 ff. + +[398] George Smith, "Records of the Past." 3, 11. + +[399] These statements are founded on the more recent forms established +by Brandis, "Muenzwesen Vorderasiens," s. 158, ff. + +[400] Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 85. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ART AND TRADE OF BABYLONIA. + + +Like the Pharaohs, the rulers of Babylon sought their fame in +magnificent buildings. But their works have not been able to withstand +the ravages of time with the same durability as the stone mountains and +porticoes on the Nile. The lower Euphrates does not lie, like the Nile, +between walls of rocks, from which the most beautiful and hardest stone +could be obtained. The plain of Babylonia afforded nothing but earth for +the bricks, which were sometimes burnt, sometimes dried in the sun; and +excellent mortar was to be obtained from the large asphalt pits on the +Euphrates, especially at Hit. Hence it was necessary to unite the walls +more strongly. In the palaces, and temples, the walls of brick were +covered with slabs of gypsum, or limestone, which must often have been +brought from a distance, and these slabs were then covered with +sculptures, like the stone walls of the Egyptian buildings. But more +commonly the ornaments on the inner walls, and occasionally even those +on the outer walls, consist of bricks coloured and glazed. Though the +material in Babylonia was more fragile than the granite of Egypt, the +extent, scale, and splendour of these buildings were so great, that +remains even of the oldest have come down to our time. The upper +portions of the brick walls have fallen down, and the ruins of the +Babylonian cities have thus for the most part become unsightly enough; +but not the less do they point out the positions of the old buildings, +and under the heaps are hidden the most valuable remains of those +ancient periods. + +As has been already remarked, the cities in the south of Babylonia are +the first to emerge in the progress of the country. The oldest princes +call themselves kings of Ur and Nipur; they build at Ur, at Nipur, at +Erech, and at Senkereh, between Erech and Ur. Not till the time of +Hammurabi, and perhaps through his power, did Babylon become the centre +and metropolis of the kingdom. He and his successors built at Babylon, +Borsippa, Sippara, and Kutha, as well as in the southern cities. The +universal characteristic of these buildings, so far as the remains allow +us to pass any judgment, is the extraordinary strength of the walls and +the obvious effort to obtain, by placing one story of solid masonry upon +another, higher positions, better air, and a more extensive view in the +level plain. The temples seem almost universally to be built in this +tower-like style, either in order to be nearer the gods in the purer and +higher air, or because the gods, as spirits of the heaven, and as bright +luminaries of the sky, received the sacrifices here offered to them, and +the prayers hence addressed to them with greater favour. On the inside +their structures were built of square bricks three or four inches in +thickness, and on the outside these bricks are lined with burnt tiles. +The tiles almost invariably carry in the middle the impression of the +stamp of the king who used them. + +The ruins of Ur (Mugheir), on the western bank of the Euphrates, occupy +a considerable space, shut in by the remains still traceable, of a +wall, running in an oval shape, and from three to four miles in +circumference. Amid these ruins rises, to the north-west, a heap of +bricks and broken tiles, which is even now about 70 feet above the +surface of the plain. On a plateau about 20 feet in height is a +rectangular building, with the four sides directed exactly to the four +quarters of the sky. The two longer sides are about 200 feet in length, +the shorter sides are about 130 feet. It was a solid mass of brick, +joined with bitumen, about 27 feet high; the outer walls, of burnt +tiles, are about 10 feet thick. Buttresses of eight feet in breadth +surround the whole story at short distances. The centre of the structure +is pierced by narrow air-passages extending from one side to the other. +On this story is a second, 120 feet in length by 75 feet in breadth, and +even now about 17 feet high. The ruins lying on this point to a third +story, which may have contained the actual temple. There are traces +still remaining of the entrance, which led up from the outside. The +tiles of the lower story bear the stamp, "Urukh, king of Ur, has erected +the temple of the god Sin;" on those of the upper story we find, "Ilgi, +king of Ur, king of Sumir, and Accad." This building was, therefore, the +temple of Sin, which Urukh commenced and his son Ilgi continued and +completed--a fact which is further proved by the inscriptions of +Nabonetus, the last king of Babylon, which were found in these ruins. To +the south-east of this structure lies a platform, faced with tiles, 400 +feet in circuit, which probably supported another temple or a palace. +The foundation walls of various chambers can still be traced. Similar +structures are found in the ruins of Abu Shahrein, south of Mugheir on +the Euphrates. From a wide platform rises a square structure surrounded +by a wall, in which are the remains of decorated chambers. North of Ur, +on the east bank of the Euphrates, the remains of Senkereh form a +circular plateau, not quite five miles in circumference; the ruins rise +gradually towards the centre, which is marked by the remains of a +structure 320 feet long and 220 broad, the walls of which, on one side, +still rise 70 feet over the plain. In these and the other ruins of +Senkereh inscriptions are found in considerable numbers, which give us +the names of kings from Urukh to Cambyses. + +In the ruins of Erech (Uruk, Warka), above Senkereh, on the eastern bank +of the Euphrates, are found the remains of an outer wall, broken by +semicircular towers open to the city. This wall forms an irregular +circle of more than five miles in circumference. Here and there the +ruins are still about 40 feet high. Within the wall are three heaps of +ruins. On the highest, which forms an exact square of more than 200 feet +at the base, we may trace the ruins of a second story. This heap is +about 100 feet in height. It consists of bricks alternating with layers +of reeds at intervals of four or five feet in height. Here also there +are buttresses, in which the tiles are cemented with bitumen. To the +west lie the remains of an oblong structure of double the size. The +ruins of Nipur are sixty miles to the north of Erech, in the land +between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Here are several rounded heaps, +but they are of less extent than the remains of Ur, Senkereh, and Erech. + +The heaps of ruins which rise out of the plains some miles to the +south-west of Babylon--the Arabs call them Birs Nimrud, _i.e._ "the +fortress of Nimrod"--exhibit the same plan of structure as the ruins of +the temples at Ur and Erech. Within a square wall, on a platform of +brick, rises a square story, 272 feet on every side, and 26 feet in +height; over this is a second story, of the same height, but forming a +square of 230 feet only, and not placed exactly in the middle of the +lower story, but in such a manner that on one side it recedes 12 feet +only, but on the other 30 feet from the edge of the lower plateau. In +the same way the third and still smaller story rests on the second. It +is of the same height as the others. The fourth story is only 15 feet in +height. The loose mass of ruins does not allow us to trace any more +stories. Hence the building in all probability consisted of seven +stories. It appears that these ruins, like the extensive heaps of +remains lying to the east of them (Tel Ibrahim), mark the site of the +ancient Borsippa. The tiles of the stories, which lie one over the +other, bear the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar II., and in the angles of the +building cylinders have been discovered,[401] on which Nebuchadnezzar +relates that the temple of the seven lamps of the earth, the tower of +Borsippa, which an earlier king had commenced but not completed, and +which had fallen into decay for many years, was again erected by him, +and the pinnacles covered with copper. In his great inscription of +Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar further tells us that he "restored the marvel of +Borsippa, the temple of the seven spheres of the sky and of the earth, +and covered the pinnacles with copper." In the same inscription it is +said that Nebuchadnezzar built temples at Borsippa to the goddess Nana, +to Adar, Bin, and Sin, and that he restored and completed Beth-Sida, +_i.e._ the chief temple of Nebo at Borsippa; nevertheless we may be +certain, from the cylinders actually found in the ruins, that the +remains are those of the temple of the seven lamps.[402] + +Turning from Borsippa to Babylon, we find Herodotus describing the +largest temple of the city in the following manner:--"The sanctuary of +Zeus Belus--it is in existence still--forms a square of two stadia on +every side, and is furnished with iron gates. In the midst is a massive +tower, a stadium in the square. Over this tower stands another, and +again another, till there are eight towers, one over the other. They are +ascended from the outside, and the ascent goes up round all the towers. +Half-way up there is a resting-place, and seats for those who are +ascending. On the highest tower is a large temple, and in the temple a +large and beautifully-prepared bed, and beside it a golden table. There +is no image there, nor does anyone watch there through the night except +a woman of the country, whom, as the Chaldaean priests say, their god has +chosen out of all the land. They also declare, though I do not believe +it, that the god sometimes comes into the temple and rests on the bed. +In this sanctuary there is also another temple below, and in this there +is a great image of the seated Zeus, of gold, and a large golden table; +the footstool and seat are also of gold; and altogether, as the +Chaldaeans say, the amount of gold used is 800 talents. Outside this +temple is a golden altar, on which only sucking creatures may be +sacrificed, and also a larger altar, where the full-grown animals are +sacrificed. On this the Chaldaeans burn in every year 1,000 talents of +incense when they celebrate the festival of the god. Here was another +golden image of the god, 12 cubits high. But this I did not see; I only +repeat what the Chaldaeans told me. This image Xerxes had taken away. +Such were the adornments of the temple, and besides these there were in +it many dedicatory offerings given by individuals."[403] + +Diodorus, who wrote four hundred years later than Herodotus, +relates:--"In the middle of the city was the sanctuary of Zeus, whom the +Babylonians call Belus. But as the writers give different accounts of +the temple, and the structure has fallen from age, it is not possible to +say anything certain about it. Yet they agree that it was extremely +high, and that the Chaldaeans here made their observations of the stars, +as the height of the building enabled them to observe accurately their +rising and setting. The whole building is said to have been constructed +of burnt brick and bitumen, with great skill and much ornament. On the +top were three statues of Zeus, Hera, and Rhea, of beaten gold. The +statue of Zeus represented him standing and advancing. It was 40 feet +high and 1,000 Babylonian talents in weight. Of the same weight was the +statue of Rhea, in which the goddess was seated on a golden throne. +Beside her knees were two lions, and close at hand two very large +serpents of silver, each weighing 30 talents. The standing figure of +Hera weighed 800 talents; in her right hand she held a serpent by the +head, and in the left a sceptre studded with precious stones. Before +these statues was a common table of beaten gold, 40 feet long and 15 +feet broad, and 500 talents in weight. On the table were two chalices, +each 30 talents in weight. There also were two vessels for incense, each +30 talents in weight, and three great jars, of which that consecrated to +Zeus was 1,200 talents in weight, and the two others 600 talents +each."[404] Strabo contents himself with the remark: "The now ruined +grave of Belus was a square pyramid of burnt bricks. It was a stadium in +height, and a stadium on every side. Alexander intended to rebuild it, +but the work was enormous, and required a long time; the removal of the +debris alone employed 10,000 workmen for two months, so that he could +not bring it to an end, for soon after he fell sick and died."[405] What +Diodorus tells us of the many thousand talents of gold, of the statues +and utensils on the top of the temple-tower, is borrowed from Ctesias, +and belongs to the romance or poetry of the East from the time of the +empire of the Medes. But we cannot doubt that there was a considerable +amount of gold in the greatest sanctuary at Babel. The seated image of +gold in the lower temple, which Herodotus saw, weighed, according to the +Chaldaeans, 800 talents, _i.e._, on the light imperial scale, 50,000 +pounds. + +It was this magnificent temple at Babylon to which the tradition of the +Hebrews has attached the account of the building of that tower in the +plain of Shinar of which the top should reach heaven. The mighty men, +the giants of the ancient days, desired to climb heaven. Their insolence +and wicked purpose was punished by the confusion of language and the +dispersion of mankind. Josephus makes Nimrod, as the founder of the +kingdom of Babylon, the promoter of this wicked scheme. Nimrod intended +the tower to be so high that a second flood could not reach the top, and +thus men would be able to bid defiance to the gods, and yet be secure +against a second destruction.[406] + +Let us now inquire what conclusions, if any, can be derived from the +inscriptions about the great temple of Babylon. From ancient times there +was at this place a sanctuary of the name of Beth-Sagall, or +Beth-Saggatu, _i.e._ "House of the Height." Whether this was erected as +early as Hammurabi is doubtful; but an inscription of his successor +tells us that he set up the image of the god Merodach (Marduk) in +Beth-Sagall.[407] These inscriptions of king Esarhaddon, who ruled over +Assyria and Babylonia from 681 B.C. to 668 B.C., tell us that "he caused +tiles to be made in Babylon for Beth-Saggatu, the temple of the great +gods."[408] After the restoration of the Babylonian empire +Nebuchadnezzar always calls himself in his inscriptions, "Supporter of +Beth-Saggatu, and Beth-Sida." Beth-Sida, _i.e._ "House of Prosperity," +or "House of the Right Hand," was the name of the rich temple of Nebo at +Borsippa. "Like a pious man," says Nebuchadnezzar in one of his +inscriptions, "I have dealt towards Beth-Saggatu, and towards Beth-Sida. +I have magnified the splendour of the god Merodach, and the god Nebo, my +lords: I have completed Beth-Sida, the eternal house, where Nebo and +Nana are enthroned, at Borsippa."[409] "I have set up Beth-Saggatu, and +beautified it; Beth-Sida I have completed."[410] On the cylinders found +in the ruins of the temple of the seven lamps, Nebuchadnezzar says: +"Beth-Saggatu is the temple of the Heaven and the Earth, the dwelling of +Merodach, the lord of the gods, and with pure gold have I caused the +temple to be covered, where his splendour rests; the temple of the +foundations of the earth, the tower of Babylon, I have restored, with +tiles and copper I have completed it, and raised its summit."[411] The +chief inscription on the stone of black basalt relates at greater length +how Nebuchadnezzar adorned the sanctuary in Beth-Saggatu, where Merodach +rested; how he set up the marvel of Babylon, the temple of the +foundations of the heaven and the earth; how he raised the summit with +tiles and copper. The description of this erection concludes with the +satisfaction felt in seeing that Beth-Saggatu was now completed.[412] +And not only does Nebuchadnezzar boast of the care and attention +bestowed by him on Beth-Sida and Beth-Saggatu. The prince before whose +arms the creation of Nebuchadnezzar, the restored kingdom of Babylon, +was overthrown--Cyrus, the Persian, calls himself on the stamp of a tile +at Senkereh, "Kuru, supporter of Beth-Saggatu and Beth-Sida, son of +Kambuzija."[413] + +This series of evidence shows that the lofty temple of Belus, which +Herodotus has described for us above, was to the Babylonians "the House +of the Height," the temple of Bel Merodach (p. 268), and that it was the +first of the three temples in which the kings of Assyria sacrificed when +they trod the soil of Babylon at the head of their victorious armies, +or as sovereigns; and that of these three rich temples, _i.e._ the +temple of Nergal at Kutha, Beth-Sida, the temple of Nebo at Borsippa, +and Beth-Saggatu, the temple of Merodach at Babel, the latter was +certainly the most wealthy. Moreover, the inscriptions show that the +foundation goes back as far as the times of king Hammurabi, whose +accession we found it possible--on hypothesis only, it is true--to place +in the year 1976 B.C. But even the Hebrew narrative of the building of +the Tower of Babel, which must have been written down before 1,000 B.C. +(below, chap. vii.) proves, in this respect harmonising with the +inscriptions, that long before this time there must have been in Babylon +a structure of great height, but unfinished. + +Herodotus, in his description of Babylon, tells us that the Tower of +Belus was on one side of the Euphrates, and the royal castle on the +other. On which side each of these lay, he does not state. Xenophon +speaks of the palace of Babylon, and beside this of special +castles.[414] From the accounts of those who accompanied Alexander, it +is clear that there were two royal castles in Babylon, one on the right +hand and one on the left of the Euphrates, which certainly were not +built under the Achaemenids. Berosus tells us that Nebuchadnezzar built +himself a palace beside that of his father Nabopolassar. The +inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar speak repeatedly of the continuation of +the palace at Babylon which his father had begun.[415] As the two great +heaps of ruins on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, El Kasr and Amran +ibn Ali, exhibit on the tiles found there the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar, +this palace of the ruler of the restored kingdom must have lain on the +east bank of the Euphrates. Diodorus describes the two castles of +Babylon, of which one was on the east and the other on the west bank of +the river; while both were adorned with various ornaments. "That in the +part lying towards the west" had a circuit of sixty stades, inclosed by +lofty and costly walls. These were followed by a second circular wall, +on the rude bricks of which various kinds of animals were stamped, and +brought into a resemblance with the reality by the painter's art. The +circumference was forty stades in length, and the wall was three hundred +bricks in thickness; the height, according to Ctesias, was fifty +fathoms, and the tower rose to sixty fathoms. The third interior wall +which surrounded the buildings was twenty stades in circuit, but in +height and thickness it surpassed the middle wall. On this and the +towers belonging to it animals of all kinds were depicted with +considerable skill in form and colour. The whole exhibited a chase, full +of many different animals, which were of more than four cubits in size. +Among these was a queen on horseback, who threw her dart at a panther; +and at hand was the king, who thrust at a lion with his lance. This +palace surpassed both in size and beauty the palace on the other side of +the Euphrates. Here the exterior wall of burnt tiles was only thirty +stades in circumference, and instead of the numerous animals were bronze +statues of a king and a queen and of governors, and also a bronze statue +of Zeus, whom the Babylonians call Belus. But in the interior were +military evolutions and hunting scenes of every kind, which gave varied +amusement to the spectator.[416] Ctesias, whom Diodorus followed in +his description of the palace on the west bank, as in his account of the +treasures in the Tower of Belus (p. 293), has also borrowed, in his +description of this castle, the erection of which he ascribes to Ninus, +from the Medo-Persian Epos, and this, as I shall show below, endeavoured +to place the glory of Ninus and Semiramis in the most brilliant light. +Hence, though here, as in the account of the treasures, considerable +deductions are to be made, we can nevertheless recognise the fact that +the castle of the ancient kings of Babylon on the western bank of the +Euphrates was of considerable size, magnificent, and well fortified, +although the remains now in existence are fewer and far smaller than +those of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar on the eastern bank of the +Euphrates, where the painted and glazed tiles also confirm what Diodorus +says of the battle and hunting scenes of this palace. If the ancient +royal castle lay on the western bank, the Tower of Belus rose opposite +it on the eastern bank. This is proved by an inscription of +Nebuchadnezzar, in which we are told:--"In order to protect Beth-Saggatu +more strongly, and secure it from the attack of the enemy, I have +erected a second wall, the wall of the rising sun, which no king had +built before me."[417] Hence we may with certainty affirm that the most +northern of the heaps on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, the heap of +Babil, the summit of which still rises 140 feet above the river, is the +remains of the great tower of Bel Merodach. + +The ancient kings of Babylon, Hammurabi and his successors, not only +built temples and palaces, but also fortresses. Hammurabi has himself +already told us, that he built the fortress of Ummubanit, "the towers +of which were as high as mountains." Kurigalzu built the fortress of +this name (Akerkuf, p. 262). Of the extensive walls of Ur and Erech we +have already spoken, and Sennacherib could boast of having taken +eighty-nine fortresses in Babylonia (p. 258). + +Herodotus observes that in Babylonia the river (Euphrates) does not +overflow into the fields spontaneously, as in Egypt. It is not so active +as the Nile, and the water has to be raised artificially by hand, and by +wheels.[418] The provision of a sufficient supply of water for the land +was not neglected by the kings. We have already seen (p. 261) that king +Hammurabi boasted to have supplied Sumir and Accad with water for ever. +The canal system of Babylonia began about 150 miles above the +metropolis.[419] The main object was to protect the plain from the rapid +floods of the Euphrates by dams, and to moderate the flow of the +inundation. Reservoirs were required to receive the water of the +overflow, and preserve it against the time of drought. It was also +necessary to carry the water as far as the middle of the plain, which in +ordinary years it failed to reach, to form a network of canals to convey +water from the Euphrates even when there was no inundation, and finally +to dig trenches to remove the water from districts where it lay too +long, and to drain the broad marshes on the lower river near the mouth +of the Euphrates. From the inscription of Hammurabi, and the numerous +remains of dams and canals, we may conclude that the kings of Babylon +constructed large and comprehensive works of this kind, which were of +use not in agriculture only, but for commerce also. The brief duration +of the later restoration of the kingdom could not allow time to complete +the greater part of the vast structures and conduits, of which traces +and ruins are still in existence. The canal Naarsares, which was carried +from the Euphrates above Babylon toward the west, and ran parallel to +the stream till within a short distance of the mouth; the canal +Pallakopas, which was derived from the main stream 100 miles below +Babylon, and emptied into the Chaldaean lakes, in order to convey to them +the excess of water from the Euphrates; and three junction canals above +Babylon between the Euphrates and Tigris, from which trenches branched +off for irrigation, appear to belong to the time of the ancient kingdom +(see below). These labours of the princes, the numerous dams and "waters +of Babylon," attained their object. Babylonia was a garden where the +land brought forth more abundant fruits than in Egypt. + +Very few relics are left of the sculpture of the Babylonians. If we set +aside a few sketches on cylinders and seals, we have no means of knowing +at first hand the images of their gods. The form of the god Nebo on the +cylinder of Urukh has been already mentioned (p. 260). The finished +statues cannot have been very different from the images of the Assyrian +gods and the statues of Nebo (p. 267). The remains of the ornaments of +the friezes in the palaces of Babylon are scarcely to be distinguished +from Assyrian sculptures. They are bearded, long-haired heads of serious +expression, with tall, upright headdresses. Beyond these only a few +figures in clay have been preserved, which are not without a certain +truth of nature, though exaggerated, and a rude though powerful lion of +stone standing over a prostrate man, from the ruins of Babylon. Whether +we regard it as unfinished, or as belonging to the infancy of art, this +work is all that we possess of full figures in stone, except a duck, +intended for use as a weight (p. 282). The human forms on the numerous +seal cylinders are often sketched in rude, childish outlines. On the +other hand, the single relief of a king of Babylon hitherto discovered, +though massive, is of artistic and neat workmanship. The king wears a +long and very richly-adorned robe with close sleeves, which are fastened +by bracelets round the knuckles. The robe reaches to the ankles, over +which come the richly embroidered shoes. The head is covered by a tall, +upright tiara, on which are horses with wings and horns. The king has a +bow in his left hand, and two arrows in his right; in his girdle is a +dagger. It appears to be an image of Mardukidinakh, the opponent of +Tiglath Pilesar I. of Assyria (p. 262). The forms of the animals in the +reliefs, and the cylinders, are lively in conception and vigorous in +workmanship; they consist of dogs, birds, apes, deer, and antelopes. +Humorous sketches of animals in caricature are also found on cylinders, +and the earrings and ornaments, found in the ruins, are, in part, of +delicate workmanship. + +The most remarkable remains in the ruins of Ur and Erech are the tombs. +At Ur, outside the wall already mentioned, there is a broad band of +sepulchres encircling the ruins of the wall. The tombs are chambers of +seven feet in length, three to four feet in breadth, and five feet in +height. The roofs are formed by tiles projecting in successive layers +over the walls, and thus gradually approaching each other. The floors +are also covered with tiles. On the tiles lay a mat of reeds, and on +this the corpse was placed, generally turned to the left side, with the +head on a brick; the right arm, laid towards the left over the breast, +rests the fingers on the edge of a copper saucer. Clay vessels for food +and drink are found on the walls. In the ruins of Erech the whole space +between the three prominent heaps of ruins and the external walls is +filled with tombs, bones, and relics of the dead. The coffins here are +receptacles partly oval, made of burnt clay in a single piece, about +seven feet long, two and a half broad, and two to three feet high, +contracting towards the top; and partly narrow funnel-shaped vessels of +clay rounded off at both ends and united in the middle, in which the +body was closely fitted. The position of the skeletons and objects round +them are the same in the oval coffins as in the brick vaults. As a rule +these coffins are not found under the surface, but in raised brick +buildings. They lie thickly together, and often in several rows, one +upon the other. Relics of weapons, necklaces, and bracelets, gold and +silver rings for the fingers and toes, and other ornaments, are found in +these sepulchres.[420] + +The industry of the Babylonians quickly attained great skill and wide +development. They were famous for their weaving in wool and linen. The +nations of the West agree in acknowledging the excellence of the cloths +and coloured stuffs of Babylonia. Their pottery was excellent and the +manufacture active; the preparation of glass was not unknown; the +ointments prepared in Babylon were famous and much sought after, and the +stones cut there were highly valued. The products of Babylonian skill +and industry were first brought to their kinsmen in Syria, who could +offer oil and wine in exchange. In the Hebrew scriptures we find +Babylonian cloaks in use in Syria before the immigration of the Hebrews +into Canaan.[421] How active the commerce between Babylonia and Syria +was even before that date is proved by the circumstance that the tribute +which in the sixteenth century B.C. was received by Tuthmosis III. from +Syria is put down on the inscriptions at Karnak (p. 135) in part in +weight by the mina, and in part, when reduced from the Egyptian to the +Babylonian weight, gives round sums corresponding to the Babylonian +weight, from which the conclusion can be drawn that the imperial +Babylonian weight and the Babylonian money weight were already in use in +Syria about this time. That the trade mina of the Syrians was the +sixtieth part of the heavy (weight) talent of the Babylonians is +ascertained; but the heavy and light gold talent, as well as the silver +talent of 67-1/3 pounds, must, according to these deductions, have been +known to the Syrians about this date.[422] Afterwards the Hebrews put +their gold shekel, on the basis of the heavy gold talent of Babylon, at +the fiftieth part of the mina of this talent. Besides the silver talent +of Babylonia, there was also a heavy silver talent of about ninety +pounds (44,760 kil.) in use in Syria. This came into existence because +in Syria fifteen, and not ten, silver pieces (fiftieths of the mina) +were equal to the fiftieth of the heavy gold mina (1-3/5 pounds), +(p. 285).[423] Along with their weights the Syrians also adopted the +cubic measures of the Babylonians. + +The rough material required by Babylonian industry was supplied in the +first place by the Arabs, who exchanged their animals, skins, and wool +for corn and weapons. Wine, and more especially wood, of which there was +none in Babylonia, were brought by the Armenians from their valleys in +the north down the Euphrates to Babylon.[424] Before 1500 B.C. the +commerce of the Arabs brought the products of South Arabia, the spices +of Yemen, and even the products and manufactures of India, especially +their silks, which reached the coasts of Southern Arabia (see below), to +Babylon. The Babylonians required the perfumes of Arabia and India to +prepare their ointments. In order to prepare the best or royal ointment, +twenty-five of the most precious perfumes were mixed together.[425] When +the cities of Phenicia became great centres of trade which carried the +wares of Babylonia by sea to the West in order to obtain copper in +exchange, the trade between Babylonia and Syria must have become more +lively still. It was the ships of the Phenicians which brought the cubic +measure, and the weights, and the cubit of Babylonia to the shores of +Greece, and caused them to be adopted there. In the ninth or eighth +century B.C. the Greeks completely dropped their old measures of length +and superficies, and fixed their stadium at 360 Babylonian cubits, their +plethrum at the length and the square of sixty Babylonian cubits, and +regulated the Greek foot by the Babylonian at a measure from 308 to 315 +millimeters, and made their cubit equal to one and a half of these +feet.[426] The light Babylonian talent became known in Greece under the +name of the Euboeic talent, while the Greek city Phocaea, on the +shores of Asia Minor, struck the oldest Greek coin, the Phocaean stater, +at the value of a fiftieth of the heavy gold mina of Babylon (1-3/5 +pounds). Chios, Clazomenae, and Lampsacus followed the heavy Syrian +silver talent in their coinage; and lastly, Croesus made his gold +stater equal to the fiftieth part of the mina of the light Babylonian +gold talent (50-1/2 pounds), and his silver stater equal to the fiftieth +part of the mina of the Babylonian silver talent of 67-1/3 pounds.[427] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[401] H. Rawlinson, "Journ. Asiat. Soc." 1861, 18, 2 ff. + +[402] The assumption that the Birs Nimrud is the temple Beth-Sida at +Borsippa is contradicted by the inscriptions. The measurements of the +temple give no support for such a theory, even if the forty-two cubits +of the cylinders of Rawlinson are interpreted with Norris, "Dict." p. +280, by Amatgagar; for we do not know the value of this measure exactly. +I cannot regard Borsippa as a part of Babylon in the teeth of the direct +testimony of Strabo (p. 728), Justin (12, 13), and Ptolemy (5, 20). The +inscriptions of the Assyrians, and, not least, those of Nebuchadnezzar +himself, always mention Borsippa beside Babylon. If it be maintained +that in spite of this Nebuchadnezzar might have included Borsippa in the +walls of Babylon, the theory is contradicted by Berosus (Joseph, "c. +Apion." 1, 20), according to whom Cyrus besieges and takes Babylon while +Nabonetus is blocked up in Borsippa, and by Nebuchadnezzar himself, who, +after speaking of the great walls of Babylon, adds:--"I also laid the +foundations of the walls of Borsippa, the Tabi-subur-su" (Menant, +"Babylone," p. 205). + +[403] Herod. 1, 181-183. + +[404] Diod. 2, 9. + +[405] Strabo, p. 738. + +[406] "Antiq." 1, 4. + +[407] G. Smith, "Records of the Past," 5, 69, 73. + +[408] Aberdeen inscription in Menant, "Annal." p. 248. + +[409] Cylinder Phillips in Menant, "Babylone," pp. 210, 211. + +[410] Cylinder of the British Museum in Menant, p. 212. + +[411] Menant, "Babylone," p. 216. + +[412] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 202. + +[413] "Transactions Bibl. Arch." 2, 148. + +[414] "Cyr. Inst." 7, 5. + +[415] Cylinder Grotefend, in Oppert, "Exped." 1, 232. Chief inscription +in Menant, p. 206. + +[416] Diod. 2, 8. + +[417] Cylinder Phillips, in Menant, "Babylone," p. 210. + +[418] Herod. 1, 193. 2, 11. + +[419] Xen. "Anab." 1, 7; Ammian, 24, 3; Strabo, p. 748, puts the borders +of Babylon at a canal, 18 schoenes, _i.e._ 135 miles above Seleucia, +and Seleucia was somewhat higher than Babylon. + +[420] W. K. Loftus, "Warka, its Ruins and Remains;" "Transactions of the +Royal Society," 2, 6, 1-64. + +[421] Joshua, vii. 21. + +[422] Brandis, "Muenzwesen." s. 93. + +[423] Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 105 ff. + +[424] Herod. 1, 194. + +[425] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 103. + +[426] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 21 ff. + +[427] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 71, 107, 121. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE ARABS. + + +The Arabian peninsula is a repetition of Africa on a smaller scale and +in more moderate proportions, without a river-valley like that of the +Nile. The centre is occupied by a table-land, which presents a few +well-watered depressions lying under a burning sky between naked +deserts, plains of sand, cliffs, and bald peaks. Thus, in spite of the +great extent of the country (more than 1,000,000 square miles), there +are few districts in the interior of Arabia suitable for agriculture. +But towards the south, on the Indian Ocean, the plateau sinks down to +the sea in broad mountain terraces. Here are extremely fertile valleys, +and the most valuable fruits grow on the terraces in the tropic +atmosphere, which is cooled by the elevation of the mountains and the +winds blowing from the ocean. This is the land of frankincense, of the +sugarcane and coffee-tree, of pomegranates, figs, and dates, of wheat +and maize. + +Herodotus, who follows all antiquity in extending the name Arabia to the +deserts of Syria and Sinai, gives us but few notices of the inhabitants +of this wide district. "The Arabs," he tells us, "wear long garments, +and on the right side carry large bows, which can be strung on either +side, and travel on swift camels. They have only two gods--Dionysus, +whom they call Urotal; and Urania, whom they call Alilat. Urania is +known to the Babylonians as Mylitta, to the Arabs as Alilat. Bargains +are struck in the following manner. A third person makes an incision in +the hand near the thumb of each of the two persons who wish to enter +into the compact, and with the blood he smears seven stones lying +between them; calling at the same time on Urotal and Alilat. These +compacts are observed with a sanctity unknown to any other nation."[428] +Eratosthenes tells us that the Arab tribes lying next to the Syrians and +Jews were agricultural, but beyond them lay a sandy and poor soil, with +nothing but a few palms, acacias, tamarisks, and wells of water. This +district, as far as the Euphrates, was inhabited by the Nabataeans, +Agraeans, and Chaulotaeans, tribes who kept camels and lived in +tents.[429] Artemidorus of Ephesus calls Arabia rich in cattle, lions, +panthers, wolves, wild asses, and camels; the inhabitants were wandering +herdmen, who gained a subsistence from their camels; on them they rode, +from them they fought, and on their milk and flesh they lived. The names +of the Arabian tribes he is unwilling to mention, because of their +insignificance and harsh sound.[430] Diodorus also tells us that the +inhabitants of the part of Arabia towards Syria lived by agriculture and +trade, but with the Nabataeans the land began to be arid and barren; and +they led the life of robbers, plundering their neighbours far and wide; +no one had succeeded in conquering them.[431] The interior of Arabia, +and the western side, were occupied by plains of sand of enormous +extent. On these it was only possible to travel as on the sea, by taking +the Great Bear as a guide. In the whole of the interior there were no +cities, but only dwellers in tents, and the most part of the Arabian +tribes led a nomadic life, for Arabia was very rich in animals of +various kinds, so that the Arabs could easily live on them without +cultivating corn. They had large herds of cattle, and with these they +wandered over immeasurable plains. In conclusion, Diodorus praises the +fertility and beauty of a well-watered palm-grove in the peninsula +between the northern bays of the Arabian Sea, which the barbarians had +very justly consecrated to the gods, as it lay in the midst of a very +hot and desert land, surrounded by a wilderness. There was an old altar +there of hard stone inscribed with very ancient letters, which no one +could read. A man and woman presided for life as priests over this holy +palm-grove, and every four years the neighbouring Arab tribes sacrificed +hecatombs of goodly camels there.[432] Pliny observes: "Strange to say, +the Arabs live about equally on plunder and on trade; what they get from +their forests (by which is meant the products of the date-palms and the +fruit-trees of South Arabia) and from the sea they sell; but they +purchase nothing in return."[433] "The Arabs," says Ammianus +Marcellinus, "extend from the Euphrates to Egypt. They are half-naked, +with only a coloured apron round the body reaching to the middle. Every +man is a warrior. On their swift fine-limbed horses and their camels +they ride in every direction. They do not continue long in any one +place: without settled abodes they wander to and fro, and their whole +life is nothing but a flight. Of bread and wine the most part of them +know nothing whatever."[434] + +Of the southern coasts of Arabia the accounts are different. It is a +remark of Herodotus that the fairest blessings are allotted to the +extreme limits of the earth; and among other places to Arabia, the +southern extremity of the inhabited world. Here only, in all the earth, +grow frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and ladanum; here are sheep with such +thick tails, that carriages have to be fastened behind them. But the +frankincense trees are watched by winged serpents, and the cassia by +bats. Cinnamon does not grow in Arabia, but large carnivorous birds of +prey brought branches of cinnamon for their nests,--from which direction +the Arabs could not tell.[435] Heraclides of Cyme gave an account of the +wealth of the king of the land of frankincense. He pretended to know +that the expenses for the king, his wife, and friends, amounted each day +to the sum of fifteen Babylonian talents. Living an effeminate and +luxurious life, he always remained in the palace; he did nothing, and +was never seen by the people; but if anyone went into the palace to +complain of a decision at law, the king himself passed sentence.[436] +Through the trade connection of Alexandria Eratosthenes obtained better +information on these districts, and was enabled to mention the tribes +who possessed the south. "In the extreme end of Arabia next the sea +dwell the Minaeans, whose metropolis is Karna; after these come the +Sabaeans, whose metropolis is Mariaba; further to the west, as far as the +corner of the Arabian Gulf, are the Cattabani, whose kings dwell at +Thamna; finally, the Chatramites are furthest to the east, and their +city is Sabbatha. Each of these four districts is larger than the Delta +of Egypt; they have rain in the summer, and rivers which lose +themselves in the plains and lakes. Hence the land is so fruitful that +seed is sown twice in the year. The land of the Cattabani supplies +incense, the Chatramites produce myrrh; but elsewhere also fruits of +every kind are plentiful and cattle abundant. From the Chatramites it is +a journey of forty days to the Sabaeans; from the Minaeans the merchants +go in seventy days to Aela (Elath). The cities of the Chatramites, +Cattabani, Sabaeans, and Minaeans are rich, and adorned with temples and +royal palaces."[437] The Sabaeans, the most numerous tribe of Arabia, +according to Agatharchides, who wrote in the second half of the second +century B.C., inhabited the so-called Arabia Felix. Here grew the most +beautiful fruits without number; here was an inexhaustible abundance of +animals of every kind. In the strips of land by the sea grew balsam and +cassia, and another plant most beautiful to the eye. In the interior +were thick forests of tall frankincense and myrrh-trees, and also +cinnamon-trees, palm and calmus, and trees of a similar kind, which, +like the others, send forth the sweetest odour. Owing to the innumerable +multitude, it is not possible to name and describe every species. The +perfume is divine and beyond all words. Even those who go past on the +coast, at a distance from the land, enjoy this perfume, if the wind is +blowing off shore. For there the spices are not cut and old and stored +up, but in fresh vigour and bloom, so that those who sail along the +coast believe that they are enjoying ambrosia, since no other word can +express the extraordinary power and strength of the odour. The monarchy +among the Sabaeans is hereditary. Their chief city, Mariaba, lies on a +mountain; here lives the king, who pronounces justice for the people, +but he is never allowed to leave his palace. If he acts otherwise, he is +stoned by the people, in obedience to an ancient oracle. The Sabaeans are +the richest people in the world. For a few goods silver and gold are +brought in quantities, and flow in from every side; while, owing to +their remote situation, they have never been conquered by any one. +Hence, especially in the metropolis, they have a number of vessels of +silver and gold and couches, and porticoes, the pillars of which are +gilded in the shaft, and the capitals are adorned with silver ornaments, +while the architraves and doors are finished with gold and precious +stones. On these structures they bestow great care and industry.[438] +Artemidorus of Ephesus, who wrote somewhat later than Agatharchides of +Cnidus, represents the king of the Sabaeans and his court as living at +Mariaba, which lay on a wooded mountain, in effeminate luxury. Owing to +the abundance of fruit the people were lazy and inactive, and reclined +on the roots of the spice-trees. For fire-wood they used cinnamon and +cassia. The occupation of the people was partly agriculture, and partly +trade in spices, both native and imported from the opposite coast of +AEthiopia (Africa), whither the Sabaeans passed over the inlet of the sea +in boats of skins. The neighbouring tribes received the wares from the +Sabaeans, and then passed them on to their neighbours, till they reached +Syria and Mesopotamia.[439] Pliny tells us that the Sabaeans were the +most famous of the Arabians, owing to their frankincense, and their land +reached from sea to sea. Their cities lay on the sea and in the +interior, the chief city being Mariaba. One portion of the Sabaeans were +called the Chatramites, and their chief city, Sabbatha, had sixty +temples within its walls; further to the east were the Cattabani, whose +city, Thamna, could enumerate sixty-five temples. The Minaeans lay in the +interior beyond the Chatramites. The frankincense was collected and +brought to Sabbatha, and could not be purchased and taken away by +strangers till the priests had set apart a tenth for the god of +Sabbatha. The only passage for exportation was through the land of the +Cattabani, to the king of which imposts had to be paid. The priests also +and the scribes of the king received presents, and the doorkeepers, +bodyguard, and escort. Thamna, the chief city of the Cattabani, was +distant seventy-five days' journey from Gaza. And as payments had to be +made, at one place for pasturage, at another for water, at a third for +the stage, and again for the convoy, the cost for each camel as far as +the Syrian desert amounted to 688 denarii.[440] + +According to the Hebrew Scriptures the Sheba, _i.e._ the Sabaeans, "a +distant people, rich in frankincense, spices, gold, and precious +stones," were to be sought in the south of Arabia.[441] The tribe or +locality of Uzal, which Genesis and Ezekiel mention beside the Sabaeans, +is the older name of the later Sanaa. The chief city of the Sabaeans, +which Western writers call Mariaba, is the Maryab of the inscriptions. +To the east of the Sabaeans, on the south coast, were situated the +Hazarmaweth of the Hebrews, the Chatramites of the Western nations, in +the district of Hadramaut, which still preserves the name. The Rhegmaeans +of the Western nations, the sons of Rama among the Hebrews, are to be +sought in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, in Oman, the south-east +of Arabia. Further to the north-east, on the shore of this Gulf, were +the Dedanites; and yet further to the north-east the Havila appear to +have dwelt, who are perhaps the Chaulotaeans, whom Eratosthenes places +towards the Lower Euphrates. The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly mention +the Hagarites, the Nebajoth (the Agraeans and Nabataeans of Eratosthenes), +and further towards the interior of Arabia the Kedarites and Temanites; +and lastly, on the peninsula of Sinai, and on the borders of Canaan, the +Amalekites, Edomites, and Midianites. The Hebrews mention two chiefs of +the Midianites, whose names were "Wolf" and "Raven," the leather tents +of this people, the number of their dromedaries, and the moons which +their camels carried as ornaments. Next are mentioned the flocks of the +Nebajoth, the black tents of the Kedarites, their wealth in cattle +(large and small), and their brave bowmen.[442] + +The inscriptions of Egypt from the time of the Tuthmosis and the first +Ramses celebrate achievements performed, as it is said, by these +Pharaohs against the Punt, _i.e._ against the Arabs; but with one +exception, they do not supply any information of the land and the tribes +of this people. A daughter of Tuthmosis I., queen Misphra (Hatasu, +Ramake), who was regent first for her brother Tuthmosis II., and during +a considerable time for Tuthmosis III. (1625-1591 B.C.), wished to +become acquainted with "the land of Punt, as far as the uttermost end +of To-Neter." She equipped a fleet on the Red Sea, and led it in person +to the coast of Arabia. The inhabitants of the coast on which she landed +submitted, and she returned to Egypt with rich spoil, in which were +thirty-two spice-trees.[443] The inscriptions of the kings of Asshur +supply further information: among the tribes of the Arabians they +mention in the first place the Pekod, the Hagarites, whom they place in +the neighbourhood of the lands of Hauran, Moab and Zoba, the Kedarites, +Thamudenes, Nabataeans, and finally the Sabaeans. The Hebrew Scriptures +bring the queen of Sheba to Solomon at Jerusalem, and represent her as +offering rich presents in gold and frankincense, and similarly +Tiglath-Pilesar II., king of Assyria, tells us that in the year 738 B.C. +he had received tribute from Zabibieh, the queen of Arabia (Aribi), and +in the year 734 B.C. he had taken from Samsieh, queen of the Arabs, +30,000 camels and 20,000 oxen, and further, that he had subjugated the +people of Saba, the city of the Sabaeans. Sargon boasts that he had +subdued the people of Thammud (the Thamudenes), Tasid, Ibadid, Marsiman, +Chayapa, the distant Arbaeans, and the inhabitants of the land of Bari, +"which was unknown to the learned and to the scribes," and that he +received the tribute of Samsieh, queen of the Arabs, and of Yathamir, +the Sabaean (Sabahi) in gold, spices, and camels (in the year 715 B.C.). +He mentions the land of Agag, "on the borders of the Arabs toward the +rising sun," _i.e._ the Eastern Arabs.[444] King Sennacherib took from +the Pekod, the Hagarites, Nabataeans, and some other tribes, 5,330 camels +and 800,600 head of small cattle (703 B.C.), and in the time of +Assurbanipal (about 645 B.C.) Adiya, the queen of the Arabs, and +Ammuladin, the king of the Kedarites, were brought in chains to Nineveh; +the "innumerable troops" of another prince, Uaiti, were defeated and his +tents burnt. Abiyateh also, who was leagued against Assyria, first with +Uaiti, and then with Nadnu (Nathan), the king of the Nabataeans, was +conquered, together with these allies, and the worshippers of Atar +Samain (Istar). Assurbanipal tells us that out of the booty of this +campaign he distributed camels like sheep, and that at the gate of +Nineveh camels had been sold for half a silver shekel (from 1_s._ 6_d._ +to 2_s._).[445] + +The position of Arabia, between the valleys of the Nile and the +Euphrates and Tigris, where agriculture and civilisation came into bloom +at an early period, and which were the oldest seats of trade and +industry, brought the Arab tribes who wandered along the borders of +these river valleys into connection with Egypt and Babylon. Barter had +to supply all that could not be obtained by freebooting. The nomads +required corn, implements, and weapons; Egypt and Babylon were in need +of horses, sheep, goats, and camels. The Arabians, therefore, could +exchange their animals for corn, weapons, and implements, and supply the +industry of Babylon and Egypt with a part of the necessary raw products, +more especially skins and wool. The tradition of the Hebrews represents +Abraham as going to Egypt, and the sons of Jacob buy corn in Egypt when +"there was a famine in the land." On the other hand, Egypt, as has been +already remarked, had already, under Snefru, the predecessor of Chufu, +_i.e._ about the year 3000 B.C., fixed herself in the peninsula of +Sinai, and when, a thousand years later, nomad tribes of the north-west +of Arabia obtained the supremacy in the valley of the Nile, and +maintained it for centuries (p. 123), their supremacy could only develop +further the trade between Egypt and the Arabs, between the ruling tribe +in Egypt and their kinsmen at home, and thus the contact with the +civilisation of Egypt and Babylonia was not without effect on the Arabs. +This contact increased their wants, and therefore increased their +trading intercourse. The Arabs could offer not merely the products of +their herds, they could exchange the costly spices and perfumes from the +southern coast of their land with each other, and so convey them to the +Egyptians and Babylonians. The Hebrew Scriptures make Keturah, _i.e._ +"Incense," the wife of Abraham, and from this connection spring the +Midianites and the Dedanites; to Esau, the son of Isaac, the progenitor +of the Edomites, they give a wife of the name of Basmath, _i.e._ +"Perfume,"[446] and in the twentieth century B.C., according to their +reckoning, we find a caravan of Ishmaelites, with camels, carrying +spices, balsam, and ladanum, and Midianites going for purposes of trade +to Egypt. + +The trade of Egypt and Babylonia with the south of Arabia, through the +medium of the Arab tribes, certainly goes back to the year 2000 B.C., if +the attempt was made in Egypt about the year 1600 B.C. to reduce +Southern Arabia. Not long after his campaigns in Syria and Mesopotamia, +Tuthmosis III. imposed on the Syrians a tribute of 828 minae, and on the +Naharina a tribute of 81 minae of spices;[447] hence such spices must not +only have found their way into these districts at this time, but must +have been already known as ordinary articles of trade. How strongly +Egypt felt her need of the products of South Arabia is most strikingly +shown by the fact that the Egyptians were very anxious to obtain these +products by the direct route over the Arabian Gulf; the canal which +Ramses II. began to make towards the gulf (p. 146) could have no other +object in view than to facilitate the communication between the Nile and +the coast of South Arabia and East Africa, by the Red Sea. Under Ramses +III. (1269-1244 B.C.) a great fleet is said to have sailed for a second +time to To-Neter, and to have returned to Coptus with the tribute of +these lands and a rich freight.[448] The need of incense was not less in +Babylon than in Egypt. We saw that the preparation of ointments was a +main branch of Babylonian industry, and Herodotus tells us that at the +feast of Belus, at Babylon, a thousand talents of incense, which +according to the light Babylonian weight is more than 60,000 pounds, was +burnt on the altar of the great temple. As the Temanites, Kedarites, +Nebajoth, and Midianites formed the medium of trade between South Arabia +and Egypt, so were the Rhegmaeans and Dedanites the communicating link +between South Arabia and Babylonia. Among the Sabaeans the Babylonian +talent was current.[449] + +This carrying trade between South Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia +must have increased when the cities of the Phenicians on the Syrian +coast became centres of trade which carried the manufactures of +Babylonia, as well as the products of their own industry, over the sea +to the West, and when the tribes of Greece and Italy began to desire the +incense and spices of Arabia. And it was not only the products of South +Arabia which the Arabs brought to Syria, Egypt, and Babylonia, but also +those of the south coast of Africa, and even of India. Artemidorus told +us that the Sabaeans crossed the Arabian Gulf on boats of skins in order +to bring back the products of Ethiopia. Though it was possible to cross +the narrow basin by these means of transit, the mouths of the Indus and +the coasts of Malabar were beyond the reach of such skiffs. If in the +course of time Indian wares reached Syria through the Sabaeans, they must +have been brought by the Indians themselves to the coasts of the +Sabaeans. At the beginning of the second century B.C. the island +Dioscoridis, off the coast of Somali, which was known to the West as the +Land of Cinnamon, formed the centre of the trade between Egypt, South +Arabia, and India. To this island the ships of the Indians brought the +products of their land. + +In the first instance the Arabs transported the goods from South Arabia +to the Euphrates and the Nile on their camels, and afterwards it lay +with them to permit or refuse a passage for the caravans of the +Babylonians and Phenicians. First one tribe and then another lay in wait +for the caravans, plundered them, or allowed them to buy a passage, +convoy, or guide.[450] Eratosthenes has already told us that the +merchants took seventy days in going from the Minaeans to Aela, _i.e._ to +Elath, on the north-east point of the Arabian Gulf, and Pliny fixes the +distance from Gaza to Thamna, the chief city of the Cattabani, at +seventy-five days' journey. Of the caravan road which led from the +Sabaeans, _i.e._ in all probability from Maryab to Elath, we only know +that it ran along the coast, then passed from Elath by Sela and Bosra +into the mountains of the Edomites, then divided the land of the +Moabites and Ammonites, passed by Kir Moab (Charak Moab) and Rabbat +Ammon, Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, through the land of the Jeturites, +to Damascus, and finally, from this place reached the cities of the +Phenicians. A second road led apparently past the Oasis of Duma (Dumaetha +of Ptolemy, Dumat-el-Dshandal) straight to Damascus. In the east the +Dedanites brought the products of South Arabia through the desert, by +the land of the Temanites and Kedarites, to the Lower Euphrates.[451] +The goods not required for Babylonia then passed up the Euphrates to +Harran (Charrae). From this point the caravans turned to the west, and in +twenty days arrived through the desert at the coasts of the +Phenicians.[452] + +How active the trade with the land of frankincense was is shown by the +words of the Hebrew prophet, who proclaims to the new Jerusalem: "A +multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and +Ephah (see below); all they from Shebah shall come; they shall bring +gold and incense. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together +unto thee; the rams of Nebajoth shall minister unto thee."[453] The +Arabs, when conquered by the Persians, were compelled to pay a yearly +tribute of 1,000 talents of incense,[454] _i.e._ at least 60,000 pounds. +This they could only obtain from South Arabia, and to Western nations +the connection between Damascus and South Arabia appeared so close, that +they represented the Sabaeans as colonists of the Egyptians, Ninus and +Semiramis having sent colonies from Damascus to Arabia Felix. + +Though the Phenicians could receive the products of South Arabia and the +Somali coast by the high road of Elath, and from the Euphrates by +Harran, they were nevertheless eager to have a connection by sea with +these regions. They availed themselves of the relations in which they +stood to Solomon, king of Israel, in order to send ships from Eziongeber +down the Arabian Gulf, to Ophir, as far as the mouth of the Indus. These +ships brought back sandalwood, apes, peacocks, and gold. This trade fell +with the decline of the kingdom of Judah, after the time of Jehoshaphat. +But when Amaziah of Judah again subjugated the Edomites, about the year +790 B.C., and after him his son Uzziah again advanced the borders of +Judah to the Red Sea, the Phenicians also resumed their connection with +the kings of Judah and the trade to Ophir.[455] Afterwards Pharaoh Necho +gave them an opportunity for a short time to set out upon their voyages +in the Arabian Gulf, not, indeed, from the north-east, but from the +north-west corner of the Red Sea. But immediately afterwards +Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, by subduing the Dedanites and planting +Babylonian centres of trade on the coast of Dedan and at the mouth of +the Euphrates, succeeded in transplanting the marine trade with South +Arabia to the Persian Gulf, while the conquest of the Kedarites also put +him in a position to strike a road across the desert from Babylon to +Sela (in the land of the Edomites, see below). Darius or the Ptolemies +were the first to succeed in the attempt made by Rameses II. and Necho, +and concentrated in the Bay of Heroonpolis the trade of Egypt and Syria +with South Arabia. + +Soon after the year 2000 B.C.--so we must conclude--the tribes of South +Arabia delivered their spices to the Egyptians, Syrians, and +Babylonians, and their incense, which Eastern nations, and in time +Western nations also, burned upon the altars of their gods. Then they +imported the products of the opposite shore of Africa, a region no less +fruitful than South Arabia, and at length the ships of the Indians +brought to them the products of the Indus and the Ganges. Thus South +Arabia not only exported her own fruits, she became the central mart of +East African and Indian products, the point of connection between +Eastern and Western Asia. Owing to the fertility of their valleys and +terraces, and their old and extensive trade, the tribes of the South +soon acquired a more fixed form of constitution and a more advanced +civilisation. Numerous remains of magnificent stone structures, ruins of +aqueducts, canals, basins, and dams, built with the object of preserving +and collecting the water which streamed down the terraces of the +mountains and in the valleys, still excite the astonishment of our +travellers for the excellence of the plan as well as for the strength of +the masonry. The ruins of Nedshran, Sirwah, Ghorab, Nakb-el-Hadshar, and +Misenat, and those of Maryab, the old metropolis of the Sabaeans, confirm +what Western writers and Arab tradition tell us of the glorious palaces +of the ancient time and the mighty dams built in the valley of +Maryab.[456] The remains of the dams prove that South Arabia, like Egypt +and Babylonia, was far better cultivated in those distant times than +now; that there also the greatest importance was attached to irrigation, +and the inhabitants understood how to preserve and use the water from +the mountain-streams on the terraces. The natural assumption that at one +time the cultivation of valuable fruits was far more extensive in South +Arabia than at present can hardly be incorrect. The inscriptions found +in those ruins and elsewhere in the south-west of Yemen, though they do +not, so far as is at present ascertained, go back beyond the year 120 +B.C.,[457] give us some insight into the nature of the civilisation of +these tribes and the ancient form of the South Arabian language and +alphabet, which must have grown out of the Phenician at an early date, +and then have developed independently beside it.[458] Of a still more +recent date, from the first century A.D., we find in the opposite +north-west corner of Arabia numerous inscriptions on the rocks in the +region of Sinai, written in the North Arabian language and +alphabet.[459] + +The Hebrew Scriptures divide the tribes of the Arabs into four +groups--the Joktanites, among whom tribes of the south and east take the +lead; the Keturites, among whom are tribes of Western and Eastern +Arabia; the Ishmaelites, including tribes of the table-land of the +interior and North Arabia; and finally, the group of tribes who settled +and wandered on the eastern borders of Canaan--the Amalekites, Moabites, +Ammonites, and Edomites. The Hebrews derive the origin of the Arabs from +the progenitors from whom they were themselves sprung. To Shem, the son +of Noha, so Genesis tells us, Arphaxad was born, and "Arphaxad begat +Salah, and Salah begat Eber, and Eber begat Peleg and Joktan. And Joktan +begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth (the Chatramites, in +Hadramaut, p. 314), and Jerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal (Sanaa), and +Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba (the Sabaeans), and Ophir and +Havilah (the Chaulotaeans), and Jobab (the Jobarites of Ptolemy, on the +south coast), and their dwelling was from Mesha (Maishan, Mesene on the +Euphrates) towards Sephar (Dshafar, to the south of Sanaa and Maryab), a +mount of the East." Peleg, the elder brother of Joktan, was the father +of Reu, Reu, of Serug; then followed Nahor and Terah. Terah's sons were +Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. To Abraham Hagar, his Egyptian bond-servant, +bore Ishmael. Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael into the deserts of +Beersheba, but "God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the +wilderness of Paran, and was an archer, and his mother took him a wife +from the land of Egypt, and his first-born was Nebajoth (the Nabataeans, +p. 314), and his sons were Kedar (the Kedarites) and Adbeel, and Mibsam, +and Mishma, and Dumah (p. 320), and Massa (the Masanians of Ptolemy), +and Hadar, and Thema (the Themanites, p. 314), and Jetur (the Jeturites, +near Damascus, p. 320), and Naphish, and Kedemiah, twelve princes; and +the descendants of Ishmael dwelt from Shur, which is before Egypt, and +from Havilah (p. 314) to Asshur." "And again Abraham took a wife, whose +name was Keturah, and she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and +Midian (the Midianites) and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Joksham begat Dedan, +and the sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher (p. 320). And Abraham gave +them gifts and sent them away into the east country."[460] Abraham's son +was Isaac, Isaac's oldest son was Esau, the father of the Edomites, and +Esau's grandson, Amalek, was the progenitor of the Amalekites.[461] +Haran, the brother of Abraham, begat Lot, and Lot's sons were Moab and +Ammon (the Moabites and Ammonites). From these genealogies it is clear +that the Hebrews looked on the Arabs almost without exception as kinsmen +of their own,[462] and as kinsmen of a more ancient branch, for the +Hebrews were descended from the second son of Isaac. The place nearest +to themselves they give to the Ishmaelites, who were divided into twelve +tribes, the descendants of the twelve princes, the sons of Ishmael--and +next in order came the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites. + +The native tradition of the Arabs is without historical value. Their +recollections hardly go back as far as the beginning of the Christian +era, and all that their historians who began to write after Mohammed +knew of the older fortunes of their race is either borrowed from the +Hebrews or mere imagination. The Amalekites, whom they found in the +Hebrew Scriptures, they took for their original stock, and represented +them as dwelling in Canaan and Damascus, as well as in the land of Mecca +and Oman, and even as ruling over Egypt. These Amalekites--the Tasmites +and Dshadi, the A'adites and Dshorhomites--they consider as the genuine +Arabs; to whom God had taught Arabic after the confusion of speech. But +the Tasmites and Dshadi are as little historic as Amalek in the Arabian +tradition; their names signify "the extinct" and "the lost;" the +A'adites are a purely fabulous nation, and the Dshorhomites (near Mecca) +are a tribe of no great antiquity.[463] The progenitor of the southern +tribes of Yemen is, in the Arabian tradition, Kachtan, the son of Eber, +and great-grandson of Noah. This is the Joktan of Genesis. Kachtan's +son, J'arab, founded the monarchy of the Kachtanids, in South Arabia; +Abd-Shams-Sabah, the grandson of J'arab, built the city of Mareb, the +chief city of the Sabaeans, according to the Greeks. This founder of the +monarchy of the Sabaeans left two sons, Himyar and Kachlan. The first was +the progenitor of the Himyarites, who are mentioned even by Western +writers, but not till the first century A.D., and then on the south +coast between Mareb and Hadramaut. The name Himyarites includes the +tribes of the Chatramites, the Codaa, the Kinana, the Dshoheina, &c. +Kachlan founded Dshafar (p. 324), and was the progenitor of the +Kachlanids, _i.e._ the Hamdanids, the Badshila, the Odthan, the Chozaa, +and other tribes. To the kingdom of Mareb, founded by Abd-Shams-Sabah, +the Arab tradition ascribes a long list of princes. But even if we +ascribe a period of more than thirty years to every name in this series, +the date of Kachtan is not carried back beyond 700 B.C.[464] +Abd-Shams-Sabah is said to have built not only Mareb, but also a great +dam for the irrigation of the country. The excellent dams, canals, and +sluices at Sanaa (the Uzal of the Hebrews, westward of Mareb) are said +to have been built by Asad.[465] The castles of Sahlin and Bainun (at +Sanaa) are said to have been built by demons at the bidding of Solomon +for Belkis, queen of Shebah. Besides these the Arabs talk of numerous +castles and fortresses in the south. Towards the year 100 B.C. Harith, a +descendant of Himyar, obtained the throne of the Sabaeans; and the place +of the Sabaeans is taken by the Himyarites, the Homerites of Western +nations, who henceforth are the ruling nation in Yemen, a change for +which Arab tradition prepares the way by making Himyar the son and +successor of Abd-Shams-Sabah. Harith's successors fixed their residence +first at Dshafar (Dhu Raidan), then at Mareb, and finally at Sanaa.[466] + +The tribes of the high land of the interior, whom the Arabs call Neshd, +_i.e._ "the high people," and certain tribes of Hidyaz, are derived by +tradition from Adnan, a grandson of Ishmael. When Ibrahim (Abraham) had +sent away Hagar and her son, and Hagar was about to perish in the +desert, the child Ishmael struck the earth with his foot, and from it +sprang the fountain of Zamzam, close to Mecca. Amalekites, in search of +their lost camels, found the spring, settled down beside it, and +worshipped Ishmael as the lord of the spring. Then came tribes from the +South, the Dshorhomites and Katura, to the fountain; and Ishmael married +the daughter of the chief of the Dshorhomites and begot Nabit (the +Nebajoth) and Kaidar (the Kedarites). The Amalekites and Katura were +then driven away, and the Dshorhomites remained alone in possession of +the fountain of Zamzam. Kaidar's son was Adnan. From Adnan sprang the +Benu Bekr, the Taghlib, the Temim, the Takif, the Gatafan, &c. If we +ascend the genealogies which Arab tradition gives to the princes of the +tribes sprung from Ishmael, in twenty generations, ending with Adnan, +the grandson of Ishmael, we only arrive at the end of the second +century B.C., even if we allow thirty years for each generation.[467] + +The few facts which we can make out about the religious worship of the +southern Arabs (they belong almost exclusively to the period in which +the Himyarites obtained the supremacy in South Arabia) exhibit a certain +connection with the worship of the Babylonians; but we cannot ascertain +whether this coincidence, like the close relationship of the South +Arabian and Babylonian languages (p. 256), is due to original unity or +later intercourse. The Byzantines tell us that the Himyarites worshipped +the sun, the moon, and certain demons of the land. The tradition of the +Arabs mentions Abd-Shams-Sabah as the founder of the kingdom of the +Sabaeans, and the name Abd-Shams signifies the servant of the sun-god, +and hence in the eyes of the Arabs the worship of the sun-god must have +occupied a very prominent place in the religion of the Sabaeans--a fact +which is confirmed by the inscriptions. They mention the sun-god (Shams, +Shamas), the moon-god Al-makak, and the gods Aththor, Haubas, and Dhu +Samavi.[468] The Himyarites are said to have worshipped the sun under +the form of an eagle (Nasr), and the Hamdanids (who dwelt to the north +of Sanaa and Mareb) under the form of a horse; a third tribe in Yemen +are said to have worshipped him in the form of a lion.[469] + +The accounts which we have of the religion of the tribes who in the +second century of our era, in consequence of the bursting of a great dam +at Mareb, according to Arab tradition, migrated to the North, and by +this migration destroyed or drove out or amalgamated with the new-comers +a considerable number of the old tribes of this region, prove that the +immigrants worshipped certain stars as their protecting deities. The +Tadshi immigrants from the South, who pastured their flocks on the oasis +of Duma (p. 320), worshipped Canopus; the Lachmites, who were driven +towards Hira, on the lower Euphrates, worshipped the fortunate star +Jupiter; and the Chozaa, who settled to the north of Mecca, worshipped +Sirius.[470] + +With regard to the religious rites of the tribes derived by the Arabs +from Adnan, we learn that the Benu Bekr, who forced their way from Neshd +towards the Euphrates, worshipped the god Audh, _i.e._ the burning one; +an ancient form of oath used by this tribe runs as follows--"I swear by +the blood streams round Audh and the stones set up beside Suair." The +Kinana and the Benu Gatafan in Hidyaz worshipped the goddess Uzza, a +name which is said to signify "the mighty one" in a sacred tree.[471] +The tribe of the Takif (near Taif, southward of Mecca) worshipped the +goddess Allat, in whose name we can, without difficulty, recognise the +Alilat of Herodotus: Alilahat means "the goddess." Among the palms of +the valley of Nachlah rose the mighty tree of the goddess, "presented +with sacred offerings;" but the Takif also prayed to this goddess under +the form of a white stone. A third goddess, of the name of Manat, held +sway in the district of Medinah; she was worshipped in a black +shapeless stone. The Kuraish swore by Allat, Uzza, and Manat.[472] Among +other tribes of the desert the goddess Halasah, or Venus, was +worshipped. According to the Western writers the Nabataeans are said to +have worshipped the sun and the war-god Dusares.[473] "His image is a +black, undressed, rectangular stone, four feet high and two feet broad, +on a pedestal of beaten gold. To this stone they offer sacrifice and +pour libations with the blood of the victims; such are their libations; +the whole temple is filled with gold and votive offerings." Modern +scholars identify this god Dusares with the Du'sharah of Arabian +writers.[474] Herodotus has already told us that on the conclusion of +agreements the stones between the two parties were smeared with blood; +and, as according to this evidence, the idols also were sprinkled with +the blood of the victims, we can explain the oath of Benu Bekr by the +bloodstreams round Audh. The statement of Herodotus that the Arabs +worshipped Urotal and Alilat only, and the statements of Strabo and +Arrian that they worshipped Zeus, and Dionysus, and the sky, must +apparently be limited to the migratory tribes of the north. + +Of the gods worshipped by the tribes bordering on Syria we have more +definite knowledge. The Midianites and Amalekites who possessed the +sandstone plateau of Sinai, and the deserts of Shur in the north, and +Sin in the south, worshipped on the highest peaks of that district +which the Hebrews called Horeb and Sinai (_i.e._ the Sinian), the god +Baal, who was also worshipped by the Syrians. At the foot of Sinai there +still remains the well-watered palm grove, with its rich black earth, of +which Agatharchides and Diodorus told us above (p. 309). It is the oasis +of Firan, and from the palms the mountain above it is still called +Serbal, _i.e._ "the palm forest of Baal."[475] The Moabites invoked Baal +on Mount Peor, and in times of distress appeased his wrath by human +sacrifices. In the same way the Ammonites worshipped their god Milkom; +the female deity of the Moabites was Astor, the Astarte of the Syrians, +who was also worshipped by the Kedarites.[476] That the Baal of Sinai +was a god who gave fruits and water in the desert is clear from the fact +that Herodotus could compare the god of the Arabs with Dionysus, and +Strabo and Arrian could ascribe the worship of Dionysus to the Arabs. + +From a general view of these scanty notices it becomes clear that the +basis of the religious conceptions current among the Semitic tribes of +Arabia was not widely different from that of the Semitic tribes by the +Euphrates and Tigris, or in Syria, which will be found to be connected +with each other. It is easy to understand that the rites of the tribes +bordering on Syria were nearer to the rites of the Syrians, and it has +been already remarked that the worship of the southern tribes appears to +be most closely allied to the rites of the Babylonians. Here, as there, +we find the worship of Astarte; Herodotus expressly calls the goddess +of the Arabs by the name of Mylitta, the Bilit of the Babylonians, whom, +as we shall see, the Canaanites also worshipped with much zeal. We saw +that in Babylon her power was recognized in the evening gleam of the +planet Venus, that all young things, fountains, and pools, belonged to +this goddess; and we shall find her worshipped in Syria on the shady +heights of Lebanon. The tribes of the Arabian deserts also consecrated +lofty trees to this goddess, their Allat, or Halasah; and just as they +believed that the power of this, as of other deities, was present in +stones, so shall we find a similar custom prevailing among the Syrians. +That the tribes of the deserts should pay especial reverence to the +deities of the stars--we have seen how systematised was the worship of +stars in Babylon--cannot surprise us. With the refreshing dew of evening +not Venus only or the moon, but the whole glory of the starry heaven met +the eye and touched the spirit of the Arabs. High above the tents and +resting flocks, above the nocturnal ride and waiting ambuscade, and all +the doings of men the stars passed along on their glittering courses. +They guided the Arabs on their way through the deserts; certain +constellations announced the wished-for rain, others the wild storms, +the changes of the seasons, the time for breeding in their herds and +flocks. As these stars at one time brought abundance and good pastures +for their flocks, and at another dried up the springs and scorched the +meadows, so could they also bring joy and happiness or trouble and pain +to men. Hence to the tribes of the desert especially brilliant stars +appeared as living spirits, as rulers over nature and the fortunes of +mankind. + +The life of the roving tribes in the interior whom the Arabs denote by +the general name of Badawi (Bedouins), _i.e._ "sons of the desert," has +undergone few changes; at the present day but slight deviations have +been made from the customs and conditions of the ancient time. Their +life was regulated according to their descent in patriarchal forms, and +the basis of it was the natural affection of the family. At the head of +the tribe stood the chief of the oldest family, from which the rest +derived their origin. All descendants of the patriarch who had given the +name to the tribe gave a willing obedience to his nearest descendants, +for the claims of primogeniture were sacred. The wealth in horses of +excellent breed, camels, and cattle is the pride of these tribal chiefs +and the symbol of their supremacy. Surrounded by the council of the +elders, the heads of the other families, the chiefs maintained peace in +the tribe, settled quarrels, led out the youth of the tribe on +plundering expeditions and in feuds, and divided the spoil. They alone +had the right to assemble the tribe, to carry the standards under which +the tribe fought, and give the command in battle. In rare instances the +remembrance of a common origin keeps several tribes together in a kind +of union under the chief of the oldest tribe, from which the others have +branched off, but as a rule the tribes hold proudly aloof and are +hostile to each other. They attack each other, plunder the tents, carry +off the women, children, and servants, and drive away the flocks. When a +feud has once broken out and members of a tribe have been slain, it is +incumbent on the family and tribe to which the dead belonged to revenge +the fallen, and kill at least as many members of the hostile tribe. +This duty of revenge is hereditary on either side, and descends from +generation to generation until the chief of a third tribe is chosen to +decide the quarrel and become a peace-maker by fixing a fine of cattle +or other property. + +In such a mode of life, which, in its general features, has remained +unchanged for thousands of years, the Arabs of the desert exercised the +virtues of reverence, piety, and attachment to their tribal chiefs; thus +there grew up among them a steadfast, manly character; they were true to +their promise when once given, and displayed a noble hospitality. If any +one came in peace to their tents, drink was given to him by the +daughters of the tribe from the fountains, the men took him as a friend +into their tents and shared their store of dates with him, or +entertained him with a sheep from the flock. When the stranger had once +set his foot in the tent, the host guaranteed his safety with his own +life. When the night came on with her refreshing coolness, the stranger +was required to sit in the starlight in the circle of the tribesmen. He +was expected to tell of his origin, his race, and tribe; and then the +hosts also told the fame of their ancestors and sang the deeds of their +fathers and themselves, the feuds and encounters in which their tribe +had been victorious, the virtues of their favourite horses, and the +swiftness of their camels. + +Poetry was the only form of intellectual life known to the tribes of the +desert. The Bedouins had a lively sense of the incidents which broke the +simple loneliness of their lives, and gave them a vigorous and even a +fiery expression. The artless song was the expression of feelings deeply +stirred by sorrow or joy. Such songs were equally adapted for calling +to mind their own deeds and fortunes or those of the tribe, and for +moral exhortation. They were "occasional" pieces. Lament for the dead, +praise of the noblest warrior, the battles and exaltation of the tribe, +the generosity and courage of their own tribe or hatred of the hostile +tribe, derision of the enemy, hunting, weapons, rides through the +desert, horses and camels, are the subjects of this poetry, which is +expressed in short iambic verses. Tradition mentions Lokman as the +oldest poet. He is supposed to be a contemporary of David; and round his +name is gathered a number of proverbs, gnomes, and fables. The short +poems lived on in the tribe, they were sung again and again, extended +and recast. At a later time there were also rhapsodes who could repeat a +store of such poems. + +The Arabs have developed in the most healthy and marked manner the +characteristic features of the Semitic race. Their roving life in the +deserts under the burning sun and amid tempests and whirlwinds of sand +has strengthened and hardened them. Surrounded in pathless isolation by +beasts of prey and hostile tribes, every one was dependent on his own +watchfulness and keenness, on his courage and resolution, on his horse +and his lance. On a frugal and scanty sustenance the body became lean +and thin, but supple, muscular, and capable of endurance; and in these +hardy bodies dwelt a resolute spirit. Thus the Arabs display a freer +attitude, a more steadfast repose, a more haughty pride, a greater love +of independence, and a more adventurous boldness than their kinsmen. +Their land and their mode of life have saved them from the greedy +avarice, from the luxury and debauchery, into which the Semitic nations +on the Euphrates and Tigris, as on the Mediterranean, often fell, +though they share in the cruelty and bloodthirstiness common to their +race. It was the Arabs on whose virgin strength a new Semitic empire and +civilization was able to be founded in the Middle Ages, when Babel and +Asshur, Tyre and Carthage, Jerusalem and Palmyra had long passed away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[428] Herod. 3, 7; 1, 131; 7, 69, 86. + +[429] Eratosthenes in Strabo, p. 767. + +[430] Strabo, p. 777. + +[431] Diod. 2, 48; 3, 44. + +[432] Diod. 2, 48, 50, 54; 3, 42, 43. The accounts of the grove are +taken from Agatharchides.--Strabo, p. 777. + +[433] "Hist. Nat." 6, 32. + +[434] Amm. Marcell. 14, 4. + +[435] Herod. 3, 107-113. + +[436] Heracl. Cuman. Fragm. 4. ed. Mueller. + +[437] Apud Strabon. p. 768 ff. + +[438] Agatharch. "De Mari Erythr.;" apud Diod. 3, 45-48, and the excerpt +of Photius in Mueller, "Geogr. Gr. Min." 1, 111 ff.; cf. Strabo, p. 778. + +[439] Strabo, p. 778. + +[440] "Hist. Nat." 12, 32; 6, 32 seq. + +[441] The queen of Sheba, who brings such large gifts of gold and spices +to Solomon, must in any case be regarded as the queen of the rich spice +land, and with this account agree other passages in which Sheba is +mentioned. To the Seba, who are mentioned in Psalm lxxii. 10, 15, as +rich in gold along with the Sheba, and are described in Isaiah as people +of great stature (xlv. 15; cf. xliii. 3), and are placed in Genesis x. 7 +among the children of Cush, I cannot assign any place. Prideaux assumes +that the two nations became amalgamated; "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 2. + +[442] Isaiah xxi. 13, 14, 17. + +[443] Duemichen, "Die Flotte einer aegyptischen Koenigin." + +[444] G. Smith, "Assyr. Discov." p. 286; Schrader, "Keilschriften und +Alt. Test." s. 56, 143, 163. + +[445] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 264, 265, 275. + +[446] Gen. xxv. 1-11; xxvi. 34; xxxvi. 11. + +[447] Birch, "The Annals of Tutmes III.;" "Archaeolog." vol. xlv. + +[448] Papyrus Harris in Chabas, "Recherches sur la Dynastie 19," p. 59. + +[449] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 302. + +[450] Strabo, p. 756; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 12, 32. + +[451] Isaiah xxi. 13, 14. + +[452] Movers, "Phoenizier," 2, 3, 293. + +[453] Isaiah lx. 6. + +[454] Herod. 3, 97. + +[455] 1 Kings xxii. 49; 2, xiv. 7, 22; 2 Chronicles xvii.; 2, xxvi. 6, +7. Under Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, Elath was again lost.--2 Kings +xvi. 6. + +[456] Caussin de Percival, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 16, 17; Wellsted, +"Reisen in Arabien, von E. Roediger," 1, 307. + +[457] Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 19. + +[458] D. H. Mueller, "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 1876, s. 522 ff. + +[459] Osiander in the "Zeit. d. d. M. Gesellschaft," 10, 17-73; +Praetorius, _loc. cit._ 26, 417 ff; Gildemeister and Levy, _loc. cit._ +24, 188. + +[460] Genesis xxv. 1-6. + +[461] Genesis xxxvi. 12-16. + +[462] The table in Genesis x. 7, places Ramah, Shebah, Dedan, Havilah, +among the sons of Cush, but in the genealogy of the Arabs (c. xxv.) +Shebah and Dedan are given to Joktan and Midian. + +[463] Noeldeke. "Ueber die Amalekiter," s. 23 ff. + +[464] Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49, arrives at the year 794 for +the birth of J'arab, by allotting thirty-three years to each generation. +Wuestenfeld, in his genealogical tables, gives from thirty to thirty-four +generations between Kachtan and Mohammed, and thus, though he allows +forty years for each generation, cannot reach beyond the year 700 B.C. +for Kachtan. + +[465] Osiander, in "Zeitschr. d. d. Morgen. Gesellschaft," 10, 27. + +[466] Caussin, "Histoire des Arabes," 1, 49-60; Prideaux, "Trans. Bibl. +Arch." 2, 10. + +[467] Caussin, "Hist. des Arabes," 1, 166 ff. Wuestenfeld ("Genealogische +Tabellen") reaches higher, because, as already remarked, he allows forty +years for a generation. + +[468] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 41, 30; Lenormant, "Lett. Assyr." +2, 10. + +[469] Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. G." 7, 474; 10, 63; 11, 472; +Lenormant, _loc. cit._ 279; Caussin, _loc. cit._ 1, 113; Prideaux, +"Trans. Bibl. Arch." 2, 18. + +[470] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," 8, 24; Osiander, "Zeitschr. d. d. M. +G." 7, 473 ff. + +[471] Osiander, _loc. cit._ 7, 487. On a stone image we find a cow and a +calf with the inscription "Uzza." + +[472] Krehl, "Religion der Araber," s. 73, 78. On the seven black stones +of the planets at Erech.--"W. A. J." 2, 50. On the stones of the Kaabah, +Lenormant, "Lettres Assyr." 2, 120 ff.; Caussin, "Hist. des Arabes," 1, +165, 176 ff. + +[473] Strabo, p. 784; Suid. [Greek: Theos Ares]; Steph. Byz. [Greek: +Dousare]. + +[474] Krehl, _loc. cit._ s. 49. See _ibid._ on the worship of Alful, +Sahd, and Sahid. + +[475] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 330 ff. + +[476] Noeldeke, "Inschrift. des Mesa," s. 6. The amalgamation of Astarte +with Camus, like the amalgamation with Melkarth among the Phenicians +presupposes the separate worship of the goddess.--G. Smith, +"Assurbanipal," p. 283. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CANAANITES. + + +Between the basin of the Euphrates and Tigris and the Mediterranean rise +the mountains of Syria, an elevated plateau which ascends gradually from +the right bank of the Euphrates and descends steeply on the sea-coast. A +peculiar depression, known as Hollow Syria,[477] divides this region in +its entire length from north to south--from the Taurus to the N.E. point +of the Red Sea, and separates the plateau into an eastern and a western +half. The bed of the narrow valley reaches its greatest elevation in the +neighbourhood of the city of Baalbec (Heliopolis). From this point the +Orontes flows towards the north and irrigates the green gardens of Emesa +and Hamath, till it turns westward and finds a way toward the sea at +Antioch; the Leontes and the Jordan flow towards the south. Between +steep walls of rock the Jordan hurries down the gorge, and passes in a +rapid course through the lakes of Merom and Kinneroth (Gennesareth), +which are formed by the streams from the mountains on either side. The +deeper the bed of the valley the more valuable are the fruits growing in +the tropic atmosphere. The country round Jericho, the city of palms, +sheltered from the winds of the table-land and heated by the rays +refracted from the walls of rock, produces grapes and figs for ten +months in the year; its wealth in dates and balsam was rated high in +antiquity.[478] The course of the Jordan ends in the Dead Sea, the +surface of which is about 1,300 feet below the level of the +Mediterranean. + +Out of Hollow Syria rises on the east like a wall of rock the plateau of +Aram,[479] in naked, wild, and broken ridges, which, in Antilibanus, the +highest point, reaches 9,000 feet. On the back of the mountains we find +at first green pastures overshadowed by forests of oak, but further +towards the east the heights become bald and desolate, until the land, +as it sinks towards the Euphrates, gradually assumes the character of +the deserts, which are broken only by the fruitful depressions of +Damascus, Hieropolis (Membidsh), and Tadmor (Palmyra). + +On the west of the fissure the land is differently shaped. The coast is +a narrow strip of land, which only extends into small plains at the +mouths of the mountain streams; it is hot, moist, and unhealthy, but of +great fertility. Soon the white and yellow limestone rocks of the +mountains begin to rise. On these heights the air is purer and cooler, +and terraces planted with myrtles and oleanders, with pines, fig-trees, +and mulberries, alternate with vineyards. On the broad slopes of the +loftier mountain ridges rise splendid forests of tamarisks, planes, +cypresses and nut-trees, and above all magnificent cedars. Even now some +trees are found here forty feet in girth and ninety feet in height.[480] +Just in front of the highest ridges of rock lie green slopes, on which +feed numerous flocks of black goats, disturbed by jackals, bears, and +lions, dwelling in the desolate gorges. Between the mouth of the Orontes +and the promontory of Carmel, which runs out far into the sea, this +mountain wall, which stretches out to the sea, reaches its greatest +height in the peaks of Libanus (over 10,000 feet) of which Tacitus +remarks with astonishment that they retained the snow even in that hot +climate.[481] Rising above the green pastures and forests, the +cultivated and watered fields, this ridge with its white mantle of snow +gives the appearance of a winter landscape above perpetual spring. +Southward of Carmel the mountains become lower, and at the same time +less precipitous and picturesque. The coast is broader and more sandy, +flatter, and with fewer harbours. In the place of the steep ridges is a +grassy depression (Esdraelon, Galilee), overtopped by one or two peaks +only, like Tabor (1,700 feet). Then parallel ridges again form valleys, +broad and fruitful and overshadowed by forests (Samaria), until the land +between the Dead Sea and the coast assumes a severer and wilder +character. There the table-land is rough and bare, the valleys are +narrow and deep clefts, the soil is stony. From Libanus the eye looks +out on the most various groups of wooded promontories and a smiling +coast, but in Judaea the landscape exhibits none but severe and simple +outlines. On the wide expanses only a few bushes of pale olives arise, +or transparent groups of a few palm-trees. The grassy plains have made +way for steppes or downs, and even the bed of the valleys is covered +with fresh green only in the brief rainy season. The region round the +Dead Sea is wholly desolate. Springs of sulphur and beds of bitumen +point to a volcanic origin; the large proportion of salt contained in +the water makes it impossible for fish to live in the lake, and the +deposits of salt which cover the country round restrict the vegetation. + +In contrast to the vast and uniform regions of the Tigris and Euphrates +and Arabia, the western mountains of Syria exhibit change and variety. +The narrowness of the coast forces the inhabitants upon the sea, the +luxuriant fertility of the deeper valleys invites to cultivation of the +land and the planting of vines and orchards, while the upland valleys +and mountain slopes permit nothing but pastoral life, combined with a +little agriculture. There is no central district from which these +numerous and for the most part secluded mountain cantons can be brought +into unity and governed. In the place of the uniform development of +large masses of people we have here to expect a variety of modes of +culture; in the place of one huge despotic kingdom, and the uniform +movement of wandering tribes a more independent and unfettered +development of small communities; sharp contrasts appear in the place of +a general civilisation. At the same time these Syrian coasts by the sea +and mountain air, by life on the ocean and among the hills, compensate +to a great degree the enervating influences of the Eastern sun, and thus +the elements are combined which are wont to keep fresh and vigorous the +life and power of the inhabitants. As the sea attracted the inhabitants +to distant regions, and trained upon its waves a mobile, enterprising, +active population, so on the other hand did the severe formation of the +hills and the seclusion of the valleys lead to a uniform unchanging mode +of life and a desire to retain what was customary and traditional. The +nearer these opposites approached each other the more energetic must +have been their mutual operation, the more lively the process of +intellectual life, and the more productive its results. + +The mountain district extending on the west of the fissure from Mount +Hermon and the sources of the Orontes southward as far as the desert +which divides Syria from Egypt was by its inhabitants called Canaan. We +met with this name already in the inscriptions of Sethos I. It means +lower land, and has obviously been transferred from the coast to the +interior. Among the Greeks the southern strip of coast was named +Palaestina, after the Philistines (the Pelishtim) who possessed it; the +northern part, from Carmel to the Eleutherus (Nahr-el-Kebir) was +Phenicia; among the Egyptians the coast was known as Kaft; the tribes of +the interior, and more especially those of Northern Syria, were known as +Retennu.[482] + +The oldest information about these districts which has come down to us +is contained in the statements about the campaigns which Kudur-Lagamer +and Kudur-Mabuk of Elam are said to have undertaken against Syria (p. +251). If we might regard the kings of Elam, who extended their power +over Babylonia, and then forced their way to Syria, as belonging to the +fourth dynasty of Berosus, the campaign of Kudur-Lagamer and Kudur-Mabuk +could be placed about the year 2000 B.C. When Babylonia under Sarrukin +and Hammurabi shook off the supremacy of Elam, Sarrukin is said to have +advanced towards Syria as far as the "Western Sea" (p. 260). Three +centuries later Syria was attacked from the western or opposite side. As +soon as the kings of Upper Egypt had succeeded in expelling the Hyksos +from the land, they carried their arms towards Syria, and in these +campaigns repeatedly touched the Euphrates. In the times of Tuthmosis I. +(1646-1625 B.C.) we are told that he traversed Syria towards the north, +advanced as far as the Euphrates, and set up a column there. Tuthmosis +III. (1591-1565 B.C.) marched seven times against Syria; in the fourth +campaign (1580 B.C.) he reached and crossed the Euphrates; then he +appears to have advanced through Mesopotamia as far as the Tigris, and +to have collected tribute there.[483] More than one hundred and fifty +years later Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.) fought against the Schasu, _i.e._ +the Shepherds, "who extend as far as Canana," the Cheta (Hittites), and +the Retennu, _i.e._ the Syrians. Ramses II. (1388-1322 B.C.) invaded the +land of Kaft, and caused memorials of his victories to be engraved upon +the rocks at Nahr-el-Kelb, in the neighbourhood of Berytus, fought +against the Hittites and their allies from the Euphrates, the prince of +Karchemish, and then concluded peace and entered into friendship with +the prince of the Cheta (p. 150 ff). The campaigns of Ramses III. +(1269-1244 B.C.) were also directed against the Schasu, the Cheta, whose +prince he took alive, the Amari (the Amorites) and the Pulista (the +Philistines, p. 164). + +The inscriptions of these Pharaohs prove that the tribes of Syria, even +as early as the sixteenth century B.C., had arrived not only at a +settled mode of life, but at a vigorous trade and a civilisation far +from contemptible. The princes of Syria met Tuthmosis III. with numerous +war-chariots, of which in the battle of Megiddo they lost 924 (p. 132). +If Tuthmosis can mention 107 cities from Hamath in the north to Gaza in +the south which he had subjugated, the population must have been already +more numerous and the land more thickly inhabited. The names quoted +prove that Gaza (Kazatu), Damascus (Tamesku), Hamath (Hamtu), Joppa +(Japu), Berothai (Berytus), Kades (Kadeshu), Ashtaroth Karnaim +(Astartu), and many cities frequently mentioned at a later date, were +already in existence: several of them are represented to us on the +monuments of the Pharaohs, as situated on heights and surrounded by +strong walls. + +The tribute received by Tuthmosis III. from Syria is sufficient evidence +that the valleys of Canaan were well cultivated, that extensive trade +relations had already been formed, and that metals were in use to a +considerable amount. Syria contributed to Tuthmosis not wine only, honey +and dates, but also considerable quantities of spices. The Retennu +contributed at one time 1,718 minae of sweet wine. The Hittites +contributed 8 silver rings, weighing in all 301 Egyptian pounds, and 93 +Egyptian pounds of gold; the Retennu paid 40 bars, and afterwards 80 +bars (bricks) of iron; on one occasion they contributed 761 Egyptian +pounds, and in another year 1,495 pounds of silver and 55 pounds of +gold.[484] It was remarked above (p. 304) that these tributes also prove +that the measures and weights of Babylon were already in use in Syria at +that time. + +The monuments of the Pharaohs also prove that the land was divided into +independent districts, governed by hereditary princes. The leading and +most powerful tribe at the time of the Ramessids was that of the +Hittites in the south of Canaan. In the fourteenth century B.C. this +tribe, with its confederates, could place 2,500 war chariots in the +field. We have already seen (p. 152) that the king of the Hittites, the +son of Maursar and grandson of Sepalulu, entered into an alliance and +compact with Rameses II., as one power with another. In the records of +the Egyptians the court and army of the Hittites are found well +arranged. Generals of the cavalry, masters of the horse, and scribes are +mentioned, and the sculptures of the Pharaohs exhibit the Hittites in +their chariots in magnificent clothing and armour. The inscriptions of +Rameses II. mention Baal and Astarte as gods of the Hittites--deities +which we have already found at Babylon under the names of Bel and Istar. +We have less information of the land of Kaft, of the Amari, and finally +of the Pulista, who are first mentioned under Rameses III., and of the +tribes of the Retennu to the north of the Cheta. As was remarked above, +the Pharaohs did not succeed in establishing a lasting supremacy over +Syria. Even Tuthmosis III., who achieved the greatest successes, did no +more than force the Syrian princes to pay him tribute for a short series +of years. + +Thus the beginnings of settled life, of agriculture, of cities and trade +in Canaan cannot be placed later than the year 2,000 B.C., and this +result is confirmed by the tradition of the Hebrews. According to +Genesis, Ham, the second son of Noah, begat Canaan, and Canaan begat +Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and Amori, and Hivi, and Arvadi, and +Hamathi, and afterwards the families of the Canaanites were spread +abroad.[485] Hence, with the Hebrews, the Sidonians passed for the +oldest Canaanites. The name means Fishcatcher, and a tribe limited to a +narrow strip of coast may soon have betaken themselves to the sea. The +primogeniture of the Sidonians was afterwards explained to mean that the +origin of their city, Sidon, belonged to the oldest period. That the +second city of this tribe, Sor (Tyre), "the daughter of Sidon,"[486] was +proud of her great antiquity, we learn from other sources. When +Herodotus was there, and inquired about the erection of the most sacred +temple in the city, the temple of Melkarth, he received the answer that +this shrine had been built, together with the city, about 2,300 years +before his time, i.e. about the year 2,750 B.C. Lucian also assures us +that the temples of Phenicia and the temple of Melkarth at Tyre were +founded not much later than the oldest Egyptian temples.[487] + +Northward of Sidon, at the mouths of the Nahr Ibrahim and the +Nahr-el-Kelb (Adonis and Lycus), was settled the tribe of the Giblites, +_i.e._ the mountaineers, whose cities were Gebal (Byblus) and Berothai +(Berytus). Byblus claimed to be the oldest city in the land--older than +Sidon--and to have been built by El, the supreme deity. At any rate, as +we have already seen, it was in existence at the time of Tuthmosis III., +whose inscriptions also mention the city of a third tribe, that of +Arvadi, _i.e._ the Arvadites, whom the Hebrews mention among the sons of +Canaan. This tribe was in possession of a considerable district to the +north of Byblus, on the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kebir (Eleutherus), and of +a rocky island off the coast, on which lay their city Arvad, the Aratu +of the Egyptians, the Aradus of the Greeks. + +The tradition of the Hebrews derived the Hittites from Heth, the second +son of Canaan. The centre of their land, which stretched from the coast +to the Jordan, was formed by the bare and stony mountains round Hebron. +Here, according to Hebrew story, giants once dwelt--the Anakim--whose +father and chief was Arba; after this prince, Hebron was formerly called +Kirjath-Arba. To this city also the Hebrews ascribe a great antiquity; +it was built seven years earlier than Zoan (Tanis) in Egypt.[488] We do +not know the date of the building of Zoan, but the name occurs as early +as the inscriptions of Sesurtesen I., whose reign we must place about +the year 2,350 B.C.[489] With the Hittites of Hebron the Hebrew +Scriptures represent their own forefathers as living in peaceful and +friendly intercourse in the century 2100-2000 _B.C._ We have already +seen what a sustained resistance the disciplined forces of the princes +of the Hittites were able to make against the attacks of Egypt for two +centuries--from the middle of the fifteenth to the middle of the +thirteenth century B.C. War against the Cheta is a standing item in the +inscriptions of the Ramessids. + +Northward of the Hittites lay the tribes which the tradition of the +Hebrews derives from Hivi and Amori, the younger sons of Canaan, the +Hivites and Amorites--the former in the beautiful mountain valleys round +Gibeon and Sichem, northwards as far as Mount Hermon; the latter, a +numerous and powerful tribe, outside the land of Canaan, north-east of +Jordan, from the Jabbok in the south to Hermon in the north.[490] The +Amorites, as we may venture to assume, were the Amari of Egyptian +inscriptions. Furthest to the north, in the valley of the Orontes, were +the Hamathites, whom the Hebrews also reckon among the sons of Canaan. + +On the other hand, the Damascenes, the northern neighbours of the +Amorites, whose city is mentioned by the Egyptians with Hamath as early +as the sixteenth century, and who in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. +were the centre of the most powerful community in the Syrian interior, +were not reckoned by the Hebrews among the sons of Canaan; and the +inscriptions of the Assyrians also place the Damascenes among the Arimi, +_i.e._ Aramaeens. Nor are the old inhabitants of the valley of the +Jordan included by Hebrew tradition among the Canaanites, which is here +associated with the principalities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Adamah, +Zeboim, and Zoar, and the names of the princes who once fought against +Kedor Laomer in the valley of Siddim. But Jehovah caused fire and +brimstone to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah owing to the sins of the +inhabitants, and destroyed these cities and the whole region. The +Philistines also, whom we find in possession of the coast from Gaza in +the south to Carmel in the north, were not counted by the Hebrews among +the sons of Canaan. It has been remarked that the name occurs for the +first time in Egyptian inscriptions in the first half of the thirteenth +century B.C. The Hebrews tell us that the Philistines marched from +Caphtor and overcame the Avites, who dwell "in villages as far as Gaza." +By Caphtor we should probably understand the eastern sea coast of Egypt, +the north-east of the Delta, where a Semitic population may have +established itself firmly from the time of the Hyksos, and may have been +able to maintain themselves after their expulsion. Yet there is nothing +to contradict the assumption that, at the time of their expulsion by +Amosis and the Tuthmosis, a part of the Hyksos turned towards Syria, and +that the Philistines were sprung from these. We may remember that +Manetho terms the Hyksos Phenicians, or kinsmen of the Phenicians, and +tells us that they retired in the direction of Syria, and Herodotus +represents the shepherd Philitis as pasturing his flocks at +Memphis.[491] In the eleventh century B.C. we find the Philistines under +the dominion of the princes of the cities of Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, +Gath, and Ekron. The princes had their palaces; the cities were +protected by walls and towers, and possessed extensive temples, in which +were images of wood and iron, and rich offerings. The five cities formed +a federation, their princes (Seranim) sat in a common council, led out +their armies in common, and in common offered thankofferings for the +victories won. They could bring into the field a splendid army of +chariots, horsemen, heavy-armed soldiers, and bowmen; the soldiers were +divided into troops of hundreds and thousands.[492] + +Towards the middle of the thirteenth century a considerable alteration +took place in the interior of Canaan, between the coast of the +Philistines and the valley of the Jordan. The Amorites advanced towards +the south over the Jabbok, and subjugated the Moabites, who dwelt in +this district to the east of the Dead Sea, as far as the Arnon. They +spread westwards over the Jordan, and overthrew the ancient federation +of the Hittites. These were either subjugated or driven out; only in +some mountain cantons did the Hittites maintain themselves. In their +place the Amorites ruled between the coast and the Dead Sea, and this +district was now known as the "Mountain of the Amorites."[493] + +Northwards also the Amorites pressed forward against the Hittites, and +took possession of their land as far as Lake Merom.[494] It was only in +Gibeon and the surrounding districts that the Hivites held their +own;[495] and all the Hittites and Hivites who refused subjugation and +slavery were compelled to retire to the coast. It must have been a heavy +blow that could shatter the power of the Hittites; while the collection +of a numerous population on the coast, which was caused by the new +supremacy of the Amorites, was in its turn of important consequence for +the cities of Phenicia. But the new masters of the southern land did not +form a consolidated power, like the Hittites before them; they were +broken up into separate tribes, so that among them, and the remnants of +the Hittites and Hivites, there were about thirty small principalities. +The ancient power of the Hittites must have been important enough to +leave behind a very lasting impression. The Book of Joshua uses the +expression "land of the Hittites," for the whole region from the sea to +the Euphrates, and the Assyrian inscriptions of the ninth, eighth, and +seventh centuries include beside the land of Arimi, _i.e._ of the +Aramaeans the whole of Canaan from Hamath to the sea and southwards as +far as Egypt, under the name of the "land of Chatti."[496] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[477] Strabo, p. 756. "It is true that the whole land from Seleucis to +Egypt and Arabia is also called Hollow Syria, but strictly speaking the +name is given only to the land between Libanus and Antilibanus." + +[478] Strabo, p. 763. + +[479] Genesis xxxi. 20-24; Strabo, pp. 627, 784. + +[480] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 396. + +[481] Tacit. "Histor." 5, 6. + +[482] Ebers, "AEgypten und die Buecher Mose's," s. 131 ff. + +[483] De Rouge, "Annales de Toutmes;" cf. _supra_ p. 136. + +[484] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 80, 92. + +[485] Genesis x. 15-19. + +[486] Isaiah xxiii. 3; Justin, 18, 3. + +[487] Herod. 2, 34; Lucian, "De dea Syria," 2, 3. + +[488] Judges i. 10; Joshua xiv. 12, 15; xv. 13, 14; Numbers xiii. 23. + +[489] Ebers, "AEgypten," s. 188. + +[490] Genesis xv. 16; xxxiv. 2; Joshua iii. 10; xi. 3; Jud. iii. 3. + +[491] Above, p. 127; Gen. x. 13, 14; Amos ix. 7; Deut. ii. 23; +Jeremiah xlvii. 4; Stark, "Gaza," s. 104 ff. Ebers explains Kaphtor +by _Kaft-ur_, _i.e._ Great Kaft, Great Phenicia. To Ai-Kaphtor the +Egyptian Aa-Kaft, _i.e._ island and coast land, curved coast land +would correspond.--"AEgypten," s. 131 ff. + +[492] Stark, "Gaza," s. 132-136, 318 ff. + +[493] Deut. i. 7, 20, 44; Joshua x. 5, 6; xi. 3. The Jebusites who +possessed the Jerusalem of later times were a tribe of the Amorites. +They and their king are expressly mentioned as Amorites. + +[494] In the book of Joshua, as well as in the prophet Amos, it is the +Amorites whom the Hebrews have to contend against, mingled with scanty +remnants of the Hittites and Hivites. Besides this, the advance of the +Amorites against the Moabites is sufficiently proved (_vide_ Exodus, +Numbers, and Deuteronomy), and the migration of the Hittites by their +settlement in Cyprus. + +[495] Joshua ix. 7, 10. + +[496] Joshua i. 4; Schrader, "Keilsch. und Alt. Test," s. 30. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE CANAANITES. + + +Our knowledge of the religious conceptions of the Canaanites consists of +scattered and meagre statements. Yet these statements are enough to show +with certainty that the ideas of the Syrians about the powers of Heaven +rested on the same basis as the worship of the Babylonians. But the +sensual and lascivious side of this worship, no less than the cruel and +bloody side, is more strongly and broadly developed in Syria than in +Babylonia, while, on the other hand, the complete development of the +star-worship, as we found it on the lower Euphrates, is unknown in +Syria. The gods who were regarded as alien and hostile to natural life +were worshipped by the Canaanites with severe abstinence and harsh +asceticism, with self-mutilation and human sacrifices; while the deities +of procreation and birth, who were considered favourable to life, were +worshipped with the most shameless prostitution and the most unbridled +debauchery. Indeed these rites, distinguished by sensual excess and +bloody asceticism, were united by that mysterious link which in the +human breast brings debauchery and pain into close connection; and hence +this worship is a true copy of the Semitic mode of feeling, which wavers +between luxurious enjoyment and fanatical destruction, between cringing +servility and stiff-necked obstinacy, between effeminate retirement in +the harem, and bold achievements in the battle-field. + +The Phenicians are said to have possessed sacred scriptures of very +great antiquity. In Babylonia we found a city to which the sacred +scriptures were specially allotted, Sepharvaim on the Euphrates; in +Canaan, Debir, in the neighbourhood of Hebron, was at one time called +Kiriath Sepher, _i.e._ "city of scriptures." The scriptures of the +Phenicians are said to be derived from Esmun one of their gods, or from +a series of hierophants, Thabion, Isiris, Sanchuniathon and Mochus. +According to the evidence of Poseidonius, Mochus lived before the Trojan +war.[497] Sanchuniathon also, a Sidonian according to some, according to +others a Syrian, and to others a Berytean, is said to have lived before +or during the time of the Trojan war. He is said to have collected his +writings from the archives of the Phenician cities, from the records in +the temples, and a document of Hierombal which had been placed by the +latter before Abelbaal, king of Berytus, and had met with approval, and +it is maintained from the catalogue of the Phenician kings that +Hierombal and Sanchuniathon lived before the Trojan war.[498] Of the +writings of Sanchuniathon, Philo of Byblus, who wrote in the first half +of the second century, B.C., is said to have given a Greek translation +in his _History of the Phenicians_. Of this supposed translation of a +supposed original, discovered after much research by Philo, besides +which he pretended to have made use of the sacred scriptures of the +Egyptians, the Books of Thoth, some excerpts and fragments have come +down to us. Scanty and unconnected as these are, they show us at once +that Philo, whatever his original may have been, was far removed from +any mere repetition of old religious views, that the syncretistic +culture of his time had exercised a strong influence on his own ideas, +and that his whole point of view belongs to that kind of enlightenment +which pretended to find in the gods a number of deified kings, who had +once ruled over the land in ancient days. Yet Philo also allowed that, +over and above these, the sun, moon, planets, and certain elements were +worshipped as gods.[499] + +Following the cosmogonic systems, as they may have been drawn out with +greater definiteness after the Hellenistic period, Philo assumes as the +beginning of all things an obscure and moving atmosphere, and a dark and +melancholy chaos. When the wind of his Beginning felt the yearning of +love, a mixture took place, and this combination was named Desire. +Desire is the beginning of all things. From the union of the wind with +itself arose Mot, which some explain as mud, others as putrefaction of a +watery mixture. Out of this arose the seeds of all and the origin of all +things. Mot was fashioned after the form of an egg. "And then shone +forth the sun and moon, and the great constellations. As the air now +sent forth a fiery glow, winds and clouds arose from the kindling of the +sea and the earth, and vast tempests of rain streamed down; and when all +this dashed together, there followed thunderings and lightning, by which +the creatures were awaked, and on the earth and in the sea the male and +the female elements began to move.[500] And from the wind Kolpia and his +wife Baau, which means night, Aeon and Protogonus, mortal men, were +begotten. Aeon discovered the nourishment obtained from trees. And Aeon +and Protogonus begot Genos and Genea, who dwelt in Phoenicia; and when +the fierce heat came they stretched out their hands to the sky and the +sun. As they regarded the sun as the only lord of the sky, they called +him Belsamen, which among the Phenicians means lord of the sky, and +among the Greeks Zeus." But Aeon and Protogonus had also begotten +children, called by the names of Phos (light), Pyr (fire), and Phlox +(flame). These discovered fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, +and taught the use of fire, and begot children who surpassed all others +in size and stature. The names of these giants were given to the +mountains of which they possessed themselves, to Casius, Libanus, +Anti-libanus, and Brathy (Tabor?). The giants begot Samemrumus, who is +also called Hypsuranius, and Usous. These made a traffic of their +mothers, for it was the custom in those days for the women to associate +with any one. Samemrumus lived at Tyre, and discovered the art of making +huts out of reeds and sedge, while Usous invented clothing made of the +skins of the beasts which he knew how to slay. Samemrumus rebelled +against Usous, but the latter took a tree and divested it of the +branches, and was the first who went on board a vessel. Then he +dedicated two pillars to the fire and the wind, and offered to these the +blood of the beasts which he had taken. When the brothers were dead, +prayers were offered to the pillars, and each year a festival was +celebrated in honour of them. And for a long time afterwards Agreus (the +hunter) was among the descendants of Usous, and Halieus (the fisher) +among those of Samemrumus. From these sprung two brothers, of whom the +one was Chusor, _i.e._ Hephaestus, who discovered the working of iron, +and the other, who invented the fish-hook and was the first navigator, +was named Zeus Meilichius;[501] and the two together discovered the +building of walls by bricks. From these came Agros (the field), and +Agrotes (the husbandman), who was worshipped in Phoenicia as a god, +and was called the greatest god in Byblus. From these sprung Misor and +Sydyk; from Sydyk came the Cabiri, who invented the ship. + +About this time Eljon, named "the Highest," was born, and a woman of the +name of Beruth; and these two dwelt at Byblus. They begot Uranus and Ge, +and when "the Highest" fell in conflict with wild beasts, he was +worshipped by his children as a god with libation and sacrifices. But +Uranus succeeded his father in the kingdom, and took his sister Ge to +wife, and with her begot El, who is also called Cronus, Dagon, who, +after discovering corn and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrius, and +Atlas. But as Uranus begot children with other women, El, when he was +grown up, determined to revenge the slight put upon his mother. He +provided himself with a sickle and a lance of iron, attacked Uranus, +drove him from his throne, expelled him from the land, and took the +kingdom for himself. He surrounded his house with a wall, and built +Byblus, the first city of the Phenicians. His brother Atlas, whom he +suspected, he threw into the abyss, and covered him with earth; his son +he slew with the sword, and cut off his daughter's head. When in the +thirty-second year of his reign he had laid an ambush for his father +Uranus in the interior of the land, and in this way had got him into his +power, he cut off his genitals, close by some springs and rivers. The +blood flowed into these springs and streams, and this place became +sacred, and is shown even at the present day. At the wish of El, +"Astarte the Great," the daughter of Uranus, and Zeus Demarus, the son +of Uranus by a concubine, and Adodus "the king of the gods," ruled over +the land. As a symbol of her supremacy, Astarte placed the head of an ox +on her own head, and when she had wandered over the whole earth she +found a star fallen from heaven, took it, and dedicated it at Tyre on +the sacred island. But when a pestilence came, and a mortality, El burnt +his only son in royal robes as a sacrifice to Uranus on the altar which +he had erected, and circumcised himself and forced his comrades to do +the same. The city of Byblus he handed over to the goddess Baaltis, +Berytus to the sea-god, to the Cabiri, and to the descendants of Agrotes +(the husbandman) and of Halieus (the fisher), and when El came into the +land of the South, he gave all Egypt over to Taauthus to be a royal +habitation for him. To El, after his death, was consecrated the star +named after him.[502] + +We should indeed be in an evil case if we were restricted for our +knowledge of Canaanitish rites to these fragments, which carry so +plainly on the front of them their late origin, their fictitious +genealogical combinations, into which the gods are brought, their +over-subtle Euhemerism, and their mixture with Greek and Egyptian ideas. +That threads of various systems of cosmogony intertwine and cross each +other in these fragments is proved by the derivation of the origin of +the world, first from the wind, and next from chaos, and then from +Kolpia and Baau, and by the repetition even to the third time of the +discovery of hunting, agriculture, and navigation. Happily there are +other sources of information which allow us to bring the statements of +Philo into some sort of order, and to supplement them in very essential +points. We saw that the highest god of the Babylonians was El. If Philo +tells us that the star known by his name, _i.e._ the planet Saturn, was +consecrated to king El after his death, and if this king allows Astarte, +Demarus, and even Adodus, the king of the gods, to rule after his +death,--if he apportions cities and provinces to Baaltis and the +Cabiri,--it becomes clear enough that for the Canaanites also El was the +ruling god, and that in Syria also the planet Saturn belonged to him. +But from the contest of El with Uranus, _i.e._ with the sky-god, in +Philo, we may also with certainty conclude, that among the Canaanites +also the highest place was allotted to Baal-Samim, _i.e._ to the lord of +the sky, as Philo rightly explains that name; Philo denotes him as the +god worshipped by the earliest generations of mankind. Among the Greeks +also there was a myth, borrowed no doubt from the East, that Zeus (Baal) +had once striven with El-Cronus.[503] As the god of Saturn, the El of +the Canaanites would have to be placed beside the Adar of the Eastern +Semitic nations. The inscriptions of Ramses II. have already mentioned +Baal as the god of the Cheta. We also saw that the nomads of the +peninsula of Sinai consecrated their highest mountain summit to the god +of this name. The Moabites invoked Baal on Mount Peor. In Canaan also +the mountain summits were sacred to this deity; in the south of the land +the lonely peak of Casius on the Serbonian lake, then Carmel, Tabor, and +Hermon. The Philistines worshipped him at Ekron; the names of numerous +places in Canaan,--Baal Hamon, Baal Hazor, Baal Meon, Baal Gad, Baal +Perazim, Baal Tamar, Baalath, Baalbec, &c.,--give us sufficient proof +of the widespread worship of Baal in Canaan. We shall not go wrong if we +regard him as the deity of the beneficent operation of the sun. If El +cuts off the genitals of Uranus, _i.e._ of Baal-Samim, and the blood +flows into the springs and streams, the meaning of the myth is without +doubt that the beneficent god has imparted his life-giving, creating +power to the fertilising water. Among the Phenicians springs and streams +were sacred. The Carthaginian Hannibal swore to his compact with Philip +king of Macedonia before "the rivers, meadows, and waters," and the Zeus +Demarus of Philo must be explained as Baal Tamar, _i.e._ Baal in the +procreative power. Northward of Sidon there falls into the sea a river +especially sacred to Baal Tamar, which the Greeks called Tamyras (now +Nahr Damur). It marks, no doubt, the spot where the act in the myth was +localised, which, as Philo observes, was still pointed out. Pliny tells +us that with the Belus, _i.e._ Baal (Sihor Libnath of the Hebrews), a +mountain stream falling into the sea southward of Sidon, after a brief, +and in the plain, a sluggish course from the parent lake, customs of a +very sacred nature were connected.[504] + +The goddess whom the Syrians invoked, beside the sun-god, had various +names. According to the fragments of Philo, El had handed over the +government of the city of Byblus to Baaltis, _i.e._ to Bilit, the +"mistress." At Ascalon she was known as Derceto, at Hierapolis (Bambyke, +Membidsh) as Atargatis;[505] the Hebrews call her Ashera. Herodotus +calls the goddess of Ascalon Aphrodite Urania; he also denotes her as +the goddess of the sexual impulse and of procreation, and mentions the +temple at Ascalon, as the oldest temple of this goddess which he knew; +"from this comes the shrine of Urania in Cyprus, as the Cyprians +themselves said; and the Phenicians, who also belonged to Syria, founded +the temple of Urania on Cythera." Pausanias observes that the Assyrians +had been the first among men to worship Urania, and after the Assyrians +came the Paphians in Cyprus, and the Phenicians at Ascalon.[506] Hence +we may conclude that Baaltis, in nature or in name, was not far removed +from the Bilit or Mylitta of the Babylonians, and this conclusion is +sufficiently confirmed by all that we know of the worship of Baaltis. +Cinyras, the first king of Byblus, is said to have erected shrines to +Aphrodite at Byblus and in Cyprus, and his daughters are said to have +paid service to the goddess with their persons. The maidens of Byblus +waited for strangers in the market-places, just as the maidens of +Babylon waited in the temple (p. 269), and the price of compliance was +paid, as in Babylon, to Aphrodite.[507] Of the maidens of Cyprus we are +told that they went down to the sea shore in order to sell themselves to +the sailors on landing.[508] We also find that sacred servants, male and +female, who dedicated themselves to this form of worship, were always to +be found in the temples of the Syrian goddess, and even married women +entered their ranks at certain times.[509] The Hebrews tell us that the +women wove tents for Ashera, and that paramours, male and female, were +in her sanctuaries.[510] In shady groves, on green hills, and among the +mountain forests of Libanus, sacrifice was offered to this goddess. The +lofty trees, the terebinth, the evergreen pine and the cypress were +sacred to her; the pomegranate, the symbol of fruitfulness, was her +peculiar fruit. The ram, the he-goat, and the dove, especially the white +dove, animals of vigorous procreation and reproduction, were dedicated +to her, and formed the most welcome offerings. In the temples of the +goddess before the cell in which she was worshipped under the form of +conical stones or upright pillars of wood, were dove-cotes and pools of +water.[511] Fish also were dedicated to this goddess; and certain kinds +of fish were sacred among the Syrians. These were not to be injured, and +enjoyed divine honours.[512] Beside the rich and ancient temple of +Derceto at Ascalon was a lake abounding in fish. At Hierapolis the image +of Atargatis, which had a dove on the head, was carried down to the lake +near the temple. This image of "the Assyrian Urania" was also carried +down to the sea, amid a great crowd collected from Syria, Arabia, and +Mesopotamia.[513] The image of Derceto at Ascalon, on the shore of the +sea, in that temple which was the oldest of Urania, known to Herodotus, +was a woman as far as the waist, but from the thighs downwards she had +the body of a fish.[514] From the custom of carrying the image of the +goddess to pools of water, and the form of the goddess at Ascalon, has +arisen the legend of the Greeks, that at Ascalon or Hierapolis she threw +herself into the water, and was changed into a fish. The colonies of +the Phenicians worshipped a Venus Marina, and the goddess of Berytus is +said to have come from the sea; with the Greeks the goddess of Cyprus +and Cythera is said to have risen from the sea.[515] Appian remarks that +the goddess of Hierapolis was regarded by some as Aphrodite, by others +as Hera, and by others again as the source and spring of all that came +out of moisture.[516] Hence the Bilit (Baaltis) of Byblus, the Derceto +of Ascalon, the Atargatis of Hierapolis, the Ashera of the Hebrews, was +a deity favourable to birth and fertility, the power of nature which +creates from moisture and water. + +A male deity also, who gave fruit and increase from water, was +worshipped by the Canaanites. At Gaza and Ashdod, the cities of the +Philistines, and near the coast, at Beth-Dagon, and Kaphar-Dagon, the +god Dagon was invoked, whom Philo mentioned as the Zeus Arotrius, the +Zeus of the field, the god of nourishment. His temple at Gaza was the +pre-eminent shrine of the Philistines, the centre of their federation. +The image of Dagon in his temple at Ashdod had the face and hands of a +man, the body of a fish, and again the feet of a man.[517] Philo's +account denotes Dagon as the discoverer of the plough and the god of +nourishment, as the giver of corn and protector of the field, and +therefore he must in any case have been a spirit of increase and +fertility. We found the name of this god in Babylonian inscriptions of +the time of Hammurabi, and before it, his image, and that of his +priests, among the monuments of Assyria. We saw that his name designated +him as a fish-god, and know that Babylonian legends connected him with +the sea, and represented him as arising from the sea (p. 272). + +By the side of the deities of the beneficent powers of nature and of +birth, the Canaanites placed severe and gloomy deities, who were averse +and hostile to the bloom of nature, the life and generation of mankind. +These were Moloch and Astarte. The first is known to the Greeks under +the name of Cronus, and from Philo's account of El we must deduce the +relation of this god to Saturn. The Moloch of the Canaanites is the +cruel destroying god of war; fire in its consuming, though also in its +purifying properties, was his element. He is said to have been +represented in the form of a bull or with a bull's head or horns.[518] +Among the booty which Sethos I. (1439-1388 B.C.) brought back from his +campaigns against the Cheta and Retennu we may see, in the sculptures at +Karnak (p. 150), the image of a bull.[519] The Canaanites offered human +sacrifices to Moloch. If we remember that the Sepharvites of Babylonia +offered up men to Adrammelech, _i.e._ "to king Adar," the spirit of the +planet Saturn, we may venture to regard the Moloch of the Canaanites as +the god of Saturn, without excluding the possibility that the burning +glow of the midsummer sun may have lain at the root of the Canaanite +conception of this god.[520] Not only were captives, often to the number +of thousands, sacrificed to Moloch in gratitude for the victory +bestowed;[521] but also at the beginning of an important undertaking, or +the opening of a campaign, his favour was sought by human sacrifices. +These were indispensable in order to appease his wrath, and turn +destruction from all upon the head of a few.[522] If the crops withered, +or a pestilence devastated the cities, or great reverses fell upon the +land in war, human victims were burned as expiatory offerings.[523] Such +offerings could only be taken from among the native families. Pure +victims as yet undefiled by sexual intercourse, children and youths, +were, as it seems, the most welcome sacrifice. The dearest possession +was the most powerful expiation. The best beloved children, the +firstborn or only son, must be offered to the god "as a ransom."[524] We +have seen above (p. 356), how Philo represents El himself as performing +this sacrifice of a son. Only the surrender of what was dearest could +touch the cruel feeling of the relentless god, and turn his wrath upon +the enemy so that he laid his curse upon him. Thus it came to pass that +the eldest son of the king was clothed with purple and burned to Moloch +in the place of the ruler of the land. When Joram, king of Israel, had +shut up the king of Moab in Kir Harosheth, "the Moabite took his +firstborn son, who would have been king in his place, and sacrificed him +as a burnt offering upon the wall. Then there was great indignation +against Israel, and Israel turned back to his own land."[525] Hamilcar, +Hanno's son, burnt himself in the year 480 B.C., when the battle of +Himera went against the Carthaginians; and when Himilco, in the year 406 +B.C., besieged Agrigentum, and a pestilence came upon the army, he +sacrificed a boy to Cronus, in order to stay the plague.[526] When +Agathocles of Syracuse, after landing in Africa had defeated the +Carthaginian army, and encamped under the walls of Carthage, the +Carthaginians believed that they had brought the anger of the god upon +them because of late, instead of sacrificing the children of the noblest +citizens, they had secretly purchased and substituted other children. +Inquiry showed that this had been done in some cases. In expiation, 200 +boys of the first families were selected as victims, and the families, +who were suspected of previously withdrawing their children from the +god, now spontaneously brought forward 300 children. "In Carthage," so +Diodorus, who tells us this incident, continues, "there was an iron +image of Cronus, which held out the hands in a downward position, so +that the victim placed upon them rolled into a cavity filled with +fire."[527] The cries of the victims, Plutarch tells us, were drowned by +the noise of drums and flutes; the mothers were compelled to stand by +without lamentation or sighing. If a sigh or a tear escaped them, they +were regarded as dishonoured; but the child was burnt just the same. A +Roman poet gives an invocation to the "paternal gods" of Carthage, whose +temples are cleansed by murder, and who rejoice in being worshipped by +the agony of mothers.[528] + +The inscriptions of Ramses II. mentioned Astarte as the goddess of the +Hittites; the name of their city Astaroth we have already found in the +form of Astartu in the inscriptions of Tuthmosis III. (p. 343). The +Philistines worshipped Astarte; for the Sidonians, the "great Astarte" +was the goddess of their city. "A virgin-goddess"[529] she ruled over +the fortune of battle; she is the goddess of war, bringing death and +destruction, the goddess of death. Coins of Sidon represent her with a +spear in her hand. As the goddess of war she carried a spear in her +temples in Cyprus and Cythera.[530] In her temple on the ancient +fortress of Carthage, she was represented riding on a lion, with a spear +in her hand. The Istar of the Babylonians and Assyrians carried the bow +(p. 270). When the Philistines carried off the armour of Saul, king of +Israel, they dedicated it in the house of Astarte. If Astarte, according +to Philo, consecrates a star on the island of Tyre, we have already seen +(p. 270) that Venus when rising was the star of Istar at Babylon. Yet +the Astarte of the Syrians stood in a closer relation to the moon. Philo +told us that she carried on her head the head of an ox. The monuments of +Sethos display, beside the bull's image of Baal, a cow's head with a +segment of the moon; and on Carthaginian stones we find the full moon +between the horns of an ox. With the horns of the moon the goddess is +known as Astaroth Karnaim, _i.e._ the horned Astarte. The priests of +Astarte were pledged to continence and celibacy, and on the priestesses +of the "heavenly maiden," the "maiden of the sky,"[531] virginity was +imposed. No married woman could enter her temples. In her temples, as in +those of Moloch, burned the eternal fire.[532] Like Moloch, Astarte also +received human sacrifices. To the virgin-goddess the youthful were +offered, and maidens and women were burned.[533] As in the worship of +Ashera the Syrians attempted to transfuse themselves into the nature of +the goddess, to sink and pass into her being, so also the worship of +Astarte required that they should become like the goddess, and that lust +should be killed in them. It was the highest and most acceptable +sacrifice, if priests and laymen made themselves eunuchs in honour of +the virgin-goddess. During the festival of Astarte it was the custom, +while the congregated people were thrown into excitement and frenzy by +the sound of cymbals, drums, and double pipes, for young men to spring +forward, seize the ancient sword which lay on the altar of the goddess, +and therewith to mutilate themselves.[534] At a later time there were +thousands of eunuch-attendants in the temples of Astarte, while others +went about through the land in female clothing, their faces painted +after the manner of women, begging and mortifying their flesh. To the +sound of drums and pipes they whirled round with wild movements and +contortions of the body, and bent their heads to the ground, so that +their hair trailed in the mire. At the same time they bit their arms and +cut themselves with swords. The most frenzied began to moan and +prophesy. At last he bewailed his sins, took up the knotted whip, and +beat himself on the back till the blood ran down. When the dancing and +the scourging was ended, the eunuchs collected subscriptions from the +bystanders. Some gave money; others, milk, wine, cheese, and meal. These +they hastily gathered together in order to compensate, by a hearty meal +at evening in their retreat, for the torments of the day.[535] + +These friendly and hostile, creative and destructive, natural and +supernatural powers stood mutually opposed in the religious +consciousness of the Syrians. Just as the Egyptians went forward, and +saw in the myth of Osiris the beneficent deity as the conqueror of the +evil god in the process of vegetative life and in the revolution of the +year, so did the Semitic nations unite the beneficent and destructive +powers of heaven in the same deities, who in turn dispensed blessing and +destruction, and by themselves and in themselves overcame the +destructive element. This combination is obvious in the form of Baal of +Tyre, whom the Tyrians invoked as the king and protector of their city +under the name of Melkarth,_ i.e._ city-king.[536] The Greeks identified +this god with their own Heracles; but as the protector of navigation and +the god of the sea, they are acquainted with Melkarth, under his native +name of Melicertes. Herodotus was astonished at the splendour of the +ancient temple of this god at Tyre, at the richness and beauty of the +votive offerings, and the two rectangular pillars in the temple, the one +of pure gold, the other of emerald, and so large that it shone by +night.[537] Hiram, king of Tyre, had dedicated the first about the year +1,000 B.C. to Melkarth. To the Phenicians Baal Melkarth was a labouring +and conquering deity, who creates new life out of destruction, +vanquishes the baneful signs in the zodiac, brings back the sun from +perigee and apogee, from excessive heat and wintry cold, to beneficial +operation, whose life is seen in the sun's course.[538] When the sun +burned with the fiercest glow, and stood in the sign of the lion, then +the good sun-god must vanquish the lion or symbol of fiery heat; he +pressed the lion to his own breast, forced back into himself the fiery +beams, and consumed himself in his own heat. The good sun-god must +overcome the evil sun-god, or he must consume himself, so that with +renewed youth he may again secure gentler warmth for the earth. When the +sun appeared most remote from the earth, Baal of Tyre had gone on a +journey or was asleep. In the Phenician colonies in the West, in Crete, +Sicily, and at Gades, in the distant land of the setting sun, were +pointed out the resting-places of the deity, from which he arose with +the vernal sun to new activity and life. At the end of February or the +beginning of March the festival of the awakening of the god took +place;[539] and if the Greeks tell us that Iolaus awoke the god, Iolaus +is merely a Grecised form of Jubal, _i.e._ the beauty of Baal, and +therefore only a mythical expression for the god himself as re-awakening +with the beautiful vernal sun.[540] From these ideas of strife and +conquest Melkarth could become in the eyes of the Phenicians a +warrior-hero, who was thought to have wandered over the earth, as the +sun revolves round it, in order to set it free from hostile powers. With +this conception may be connected the story that the procreative power +was taken from Uranus and transferred to the springs and rivers, and +that El's brother Atlas, _i.e._ Atel, a name which perhaps may be +explained as meaning darkness, is overthrown and cast into the abyss. In +the legends of the Phenicians it was Melkarth who reduced the barbarous +tribes of the distant coasts, who founded the ancient colonies of the +Phenicians on the western coasts of the Mediterranean, and set up, as +the boundary stone of his wanderings, the two great pillars at the end +of the earth, the rocks of Calpe and Abyle on the Straits of Gibraltar. +As the restrainer of the burning heat, of the lion, and of giants, +Melkarth is the Heracles of the Greeks; as a wandering god who gives +order to the life of mankind, he bears, in Greece, the names Minos and +Cadmus (the name Kadmon means, "the man of the East"), by which forms +they expressed not the deity only, but the old supremacy of the +Phenicians, and their settlements on their islands and coasts. The +Hebrews tell us that once, when a great drought attacked the land, the +priests of Baal assembled at Carmel and invoked the god to consume with +his rays the bull which they placed as a sacrifice on the billets of the +altar. But the god heard them not. Then Elijah, the prophet of the Jews, +mocked them. "Call louder," he said: "perhaps he is meditating or hath a +pursuit; he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up +again." The priests called louder, and became frantic, and cut +themselves with knives and lancets, so that the blood gushed out.[541] + +As Baal and Moloch, the beneficent and the baneful powers, were united +in Baal of Tyre, and in the form of Melkarth, so also was the goddess of +reproduction, of birth, and procreation amalgamated with the warrior +goddess, the maiden who brought death. It was this deity which in turn +gave blessing and destruction, sensual enjoyment and war, birth and +death. She inspired consuming sensual passion, and then caused death to +overtake her lover, even if she did not slay him herself. Thus a Roman +poet can put into the mouth of a Carthaginian the invocation, "Goddess +Astarte, power of gods and men, life and safety, and again destruction, +death, and dissolution."[542] We find that the Venus of Tyre was called +Astarte, that at Ashtaroth Karnaim, the ancient seat of the worship of +the horned Astarte, the maiden with the horns of the moon, there was a +sanctuary of Atargatis,[543] and that fire-festivals were celebrated at +Hierapolis in the sanctuary of Atargatis, which festivals belonged to +Astarte; that the Urania, _i.e._ the birth-goddess, of Ascalon, Cyprus, +and Cythera became an Aphrodite Areia, _i.e._ a warlike Aphrodite;[544] +that after Cinyras, the king of Byblus, whose daughters paid service to +the goddess of Byblus with their bodies, Pygmalion became king, and he +regarded with abhorrence the unchaste daughters of Cinyras, and +worshipped the pure goddess of heaven, and taught how to appease her +anger by human sacrifices.[545] At Carthage a good goddess of the sky +(_bona coelestis_) was worshipped beside an evil one (_inferna +coelestis_). If human sacrifices were here burnt to the goddess Dido, +just as the supposed foundress of Carthage is said to have burnt +herself,[546] her sister Anna, _i.e._ the charming one, was worshipped +with cheerful rites. Other accounts mention that the two sisters Dido +and Anna were one and the same goddess. Without doubt they are right. We +saw that with the Babylonians the planet Venus, when rising, was the +war-goddess Istar, and, when setting, she was Mylitta, the goddess of +love (p. 270). + +The relation of the Tyrian goddess Astarte to the moon has already been +touched upon. As goddess of the moon, she was a changing, wandering +deity. With the waning light of the moon she retired into the gloom of +the west, the region of the setting sun; and on the disappearance of the +goddess on the "bad evening," the Tyrians performed rites of mourning. +As a "wandering goddess,"[547] Astarte was called among the Phenicians +Dido, _i.e._ the rover, and among the Westerns Europa, _i.e._ the dark +one.[548] With the retirement of the goddess was connected the legend +how her destructive power was overcome; it showed how Astarte could be +worshipped in Tyre as the wife of Melkarth, as Milkath (Melecheth, +_i.e._ queen).[549] The wandering sun-god went in search of the lost +goddess. At length he found her in the remote distance, and loosed her +girdle; the goddess surrendered herself to him, and sacred marriage +changed the warlike goddess into the friendly deity favourable to +procreation, Astarte into Ashera, Dido into Anna, Artemis or Athena into +Atargatis. The "maiden of the sky" is now the wife of the god of Tyre, +the Hera of the sky, the Ada (Athe) of the Syrians. From the embraces of +Melkarth and Astarte, the sun-god and the moon-goddess, and the conquest +of the cruel goddess of war, spring life, order, and law. The sacred +marriage is said to have taken place in the West, at Samothrace, and +further still, on the Cadmeia, the citadel of Cadmus,[550] _i.e._ of the +searching Melkarth, and finally beyond the pillars of the god, on the +happy islands of the Western Sea, where all fruits of every kind grew +spontaneously, especially the apples of life, the pomegranates of +Ashera, the apples of the Hesperides,--the pledge of love, the symbol of +life and light returning out of darkness. Here also Melkarth sank down +to rest in the streams of the Western Sea, which his beams had +warmed.[551] + +The Syrians did not remain content with combining the beneficent and +destructive powers into one form only, into Baal-Melkarth and +Astarte-Ashera. While searching for the unity of the divine powers and +the divine nature, they also combined the male and female deities into +one figure, and the creative and receptive powers were amalgamated in +one and the same form. As the combination of mighty heroic power with +luxurious sensuality is the practical ideal of the East, so in theory +also the highest union of the powers of nature and divine being, the +amalgamation of male and female is attained by the same combination. +When Astarte had become Ashera, and had surrendered herself to the god, +the god in turn surrendered himself to the goddess. He plied female +tasks, she carried the weapons. But even their nature became one, their +forms were combined. Astarte and the Baal placed at her side became one +deity. The male deity of the Moabites was Camos. When Mesha, king of +Moab, took Nebo from the Israelites, he dedicated it to +Ashtor-Camos.[552] At Carthage Dido-Astarte was represented with the +beard of Melkarth.[553] At Paphos there was a standing image of the +bearded Aphrodite, which was worshipped as a great divinity. It is this +unification which lies at the root of the legends of Heracles (Melkarth) +and Omphale (perhaps, mother[554]), of Semiramis and Sardanapalus. At +certain festivals of Baal the priests and worshippers of the androgynous +deity appeared in red transparent female garments, and were otherwise +dressed as women, while the women were dressed as men, and carried +swords and lances.[555] The law of the Jews strictly forbids the +erection of Astartes and pillars, the bringing of the hire of the harlot +or the pay of the fornicator into the house of Jehovah, the tearing of +the skin, or the cutting of the hair (which was customary among the +Syrians in different ways as the symbol of the worship of certain +deities), and insists that no eunuch shall come into the people of +Jehovah, that no woman shall wear a man's clothes, and no man the +clothes of a woman.[556] + +Philo told us above (p. 355) that Eljon of Byblus, who was called the +Highest, was slain in conflict with wild beasts, and was worshipped by +after generations with libations and sacrifice. In Byblus, under the +name Adonis (Adon, _i.e._ Lord), a god was worshipped, who was thought +to have disappeared, or to have been carried off in the bloom of youth. +Eljon and Adonis are one and the same form. When the maritime river +named after this deity, the Adonis (now Nahr Ibrahim), near Byblus, +began to run red in July (Thammuz), owing to the red earth washed down +from the mountains, then it was believed that the beautiful Adonis was +slain on Libanus by the savage boar of the war-god. With lamentations +and cries the women sat in the shrine at Byblus; or lingered by the +wayside lamenting the death of Adonis. They cut off their hair, tore +their breasts, and cried out--Ailanu, ailanu (woe to us). Adonis was +lost, and was now called Thammuz (the Departed).[557] A time of +lamentation was observed, during which his wooden image was washed and +anointed, and laid upon a bier, which the priests carried about with +their garments rent and beards shorn. But the god appeared again; he +came to life again, as it seems, with the new spring. And as the +lamentations for his death had been excessive, so also was the +sensuality with which his return to life was celebrated.[558] Hence we +must assume that in Adonis was personified the vernal sun, the bloom of +vegetation, which so soon begins to droop. If it was the boar of the +war-god, _i.e._ of Moloch, which slew Adonis, as one account maintains, +then in the minds of the Syrians the destructive sun-god, the glow of +the midsummer sun which makes vegetation wither, was the cause of the +death of Adonis. + +Philo further told us of the two sons of the giants, the brothers +Samemrumus and Usous, at Tyre (p. 354). The name Samemrumus means the +High One of the Sky, a meaning which is clearly confirmed by the Greek +attribute Hypsuranius. Hence Samemrumus was the god, the Baal of Tyre, +Baal Melkarth. That Usous also was a god of Tyre is clear from the +observation of Eusebius, that Usous, a man of little account, had been +deified at Tyre beside Melicertes.[559] Usous, who knew how to catch +and destroy wild animals, and clad himself in their skins, the ancestor +of hunters, reminds us of the Esau of Hebrew tradition. Compared in +point of language the names of Usous and Esau coincide: "Usous" (Usov) +means, like "Esav," the hairy one. Completely reversing the natural +connection, Philo ascribes to Usous the erection of the pillars which +belong to his brother, and represents the hunter as embarking on the +earliest ship, whereas Samemrumus, the father of the fisherman, must +have embarked on the first ship. We saw that the name Sidon means +"fish-catchers" (p. 344). Hence the legends of the Phenicians carried +back the origin of the Sidonians, to whom not only the city of Sidon but +also Tyre belonged, to Baal Melkarth. From this god the tribe of the +Sidonians, as it seems, pretended to have sprung. At a later period the +mariners of the coast, _i.e._ the population of the harbour towns, +looked down with scorn on the shepherds and hunters of the mountains, +although they could not refuse to recognise the greater antiquity of +this mode of life. Usous, therefore, must be regarded as the elder +brother, the hunter of the mountains, like the Esau of the Hebrews, +while the younger Melkarth takes up his abode in Tyre. That Usous is the +firstborn is clear from Philo's remark, that Samemrumus rebelled against +his brother. The contrast between the two brothers is marked by the +statement of Eusebius, that Usous was of little account, more strongly +than in Philo. From this we may perhaps conclude that Usous, the older +god, was originally looked upon as a hostile power, as Baal Moloch; +while in Samemrumus the friendly, helpful, beneficent power of the deity +was personified as Baal Melkarth. An obscure trace of the contrast of +the two gods is to be found also in the name Surmubel, _i.e._ Opponent +of Baal, in Philo, which seems to belong to Baal Melkarth in opposition +to Baal Moloch.[560] + +The gods, whom the various cities of the Phenicians worshipped as their +tutelary deities, were placed side by side as soon as the feeling of +community in the cities became more lively, and intercourse between them +more vigorous. Hence it came about that a common worship was also paid +to these tutelary deities. Beside their significance in the natural and +moral world, there resided from antiquity in certain deities peculiar +relations to hunting and agriculture, and it was natural that as naval +occupations, trade, and industry developed in the cities, the gods +should be brought into relation to these spheres of activity also. In +the same degree as it was felt that trade and commerce could only +prosper amid internal peace and security in the cities, and under the +protection of law and justice, the gods who maintained order in the +world must become the protectors of order and law in the cities. In this +feeling, and starting from conceptions of this kind, the priests of the +Phenicians brought the gods of their cities into a connected system +which, following the sacred number seven, included seven gods. The +deities brought into this circle were known by the collective name +Cabirim, i.e. the "Powerful," the "Great." Among the descendants of the +"field" and the "husbandman," Philo has already mentioned Misor, _i.e._ +Sydyk (justice). As powers ruling in justice, law, and equity, and +maintaining order in the cities, the Cabiri are the children of Sydyk. +The Greeks call them children of the sun-god, _i.e._ of Baal Samim; and +if others connect the Cabiri with Ptah, the god of light among the +Egyptians, the conclusion to be drawn is, that it was Baal Samim who, in +his relation to the Cabiri, was denoted by the name of the Just, the +supreme champion of justice. From the hunter and the fisher Philo +derives Chusor, who discovered the working of iron; he calls him +Hephaestus (p. 354). Chusor, so far as we can tell, was the foremost +deity within the circle of the Cabiri. Phenician coins exhibit him with +a leather apron, hammer, and tongs; the name seems to denote "arranger." +He was the tutelary god of the life of the cities occupied in navigation +and handicraft. Next to Chusor came a female deity, Chusarthis, also +called Turo (Thorah, law), whom the Greeks call by the name Harmonia. As +the same deity is also called the goddess of the moon, we cannot doubt +that Chusarthis is Astarte, which is also sufficiently clear from other +evidence; only in the new system the severe goddess was connected in a +definite manner with the upholding of justice and preservation of law. +Next to Astarte in the series of the Cabiri comes Baal Melkarth of Tyre, +who is known to the Greeks under the name of Cadmus. He is regarded as +the discoverer of mining and masonry and the inventor of writing. He +searches for the lost Harmonia, and with her when found celebrates the +sacred marriage. Hence Cadmus could be worshipped in this system as a +life-awakening, phallic god, as well as the tutelar god of marriage. A +peculiar reverence was enjoyed among the Cabiri by the deity who was +added as an eighth to these seven; his name was Esmun, _i.e._ the +Eighth. In this form it seems that the peculiarities of the seven gods +were taken up and gathered together. At any rate in Carthage the temple +of Esmun stood in the Byrsa, and on the highest part of it. In this +temple the holiest relics of the city were preserved and the most +important deliberations held. The Greeks call Esmun by the name of +Asclepius, but also add that he was different from the Greek Asclepius. +He was, it appears, a healing, _i.e._ an appeasing deity, like Jasion in +the Cabiric mysteries of Samothrace. Esmun is also compared and +confounded with Hermes, as with the Thoth of the Egyptians. Just as +Thoth revealed the sacred books of the Egyptians, did Esmun reveal the +sacred books of the Phenicians. Esmun was represented with a serpent in +his hand as the serpent-holder (Ophiuchus), and his head as surrounded +by eight rays. The forms of the eight tutelar gods were carved by the +Phenicians on the prows of their ships; it was the Cabiri, as Philo told +us, who discovered the ship. Even now Phenician coins exhibit the Cabiri +in that dwarfed and distorted form in which the Phenicians loved to +represent the nature and superhuman power of the gods.[561] + +From the circumstance that the Greeks, when settling in Lemnos, Imbros, +Samothrace, and Rhodes, found the worship of the Cabiri in existence, +and adopted it, though not without certain alterations, we may conclude +that the Cabiric system was established before the year 1000 B.C. In the +tutelary gods of the sea-loving nation of the Phenicians the Greeks +recognised and worshipped the deities favourable to mariners, and from +this side they combined them with their own Dioscuri. On the other side +the myth of Melkarth and Astarte, who were adopted into this circle of +divinities, the myth of Melkarth, who discovers the lost moon-goddess in +the land of gloom, and returns thence with her to new light and life, +and who wakes to new life after the slumber of the winter, gave the +Greeks an opportunity of connecting with the mysteries of the Cabiri +those conceptions of the life after death, which grew up among them +after the beginning of the sixth century. + +When the great deities had been combined with the circle of the Cabiri, +the subordinate spirits followed in their course. By degrees a scheme of +thrice seven was reached, a scheme of twenty-one or rather twenty-two +deities, since an eighth was added to the seven Cabiri. These, beginning +with El, were arranged according to the twenty-two letters of the +Phenician alphabet, and stood in a certain relation to them. From this +number of deities, their various names, and the order of succession, +various schemes of the origin of the gods were developed, and with the +help of these genealogies certain systems of theogony and cosmogony were +formed, of which the dislocated and confused fragments were found in +Philo; and the chief of them I have given above. The wind Kolpia (p. +353) modern research would explain by Kol-pyah, _i.e._ "breath of the +month;" Baau, the wife of this wind, by Bohu, _i.e._ Chaos, the +Tohu-wa-Bohu of the Hebrews. The more abstract the potentialities with +which these systems begin, the later we may assume their origin to be. + +Like the Arabs, the Syrians originally worshipped their gods upon the +mountains and in stones; then they erected pillars of wood and stone to +them, and images, figures of bulls, or shapes combined from the forms of +men and fish. They also erected statues male and female, or androgynous. +At the great festivals the sacred tents and chests in which ancient +symbols and tokens of the deities were preserved, or the images of the +gods, were carried round in solemn procession.[562] Of the festival in +the temple of Atargatis, at Hierapolis, we have already spoken (p. 360); +of the fire-festival which the Tyrians held in the spring, Lucian tells +us: "They trim great trees, set them up in the court of the temple, and +bring goats, sheep, birds, and other victims. These they fasten to the +trees, and in addition, clothes and gold and silver jewellery. After +these preliminaries they carry the images of the gods round the trees; +the pyre is then kindled, and all consumed."[563] + +As we may conclude from Lucian's account and from ruins, the temples +were on a tolerably extensive scale. There were two or three courts, one +after the other, either rectangular as at Paphus and Marathus, or oval, +as at Malta and Gaulus, surrounded by strong walls, and furnished with +pillars, altars, and pools of water. With these was connected a narrow +and small shrine, containing the sacred stone or image. The tithes +belonged to the gods. Every year, at the festival of Melkarth, in Tyre, +an embassy appeared from Carthage which offered to the god of the mother +city the tenth of the revenue of their state, and after great victories +the Carthaginians probably sent a tenth of the spoil to the gods of +Tyre.[564] The number of priests was great; we often find hundreds +engaged in a single sacrifice,[565] and the ritual was complicated. The +human sacrifices, mutilation, and prostitution, by which the Syrians +sought to win the favour of their deities, we have already heard of. At +a later time at all the great sanctuaries there were thousands of male +and female servants beside the priests. The priests lived on the tithes, +the temple lands, and the part which fell to them in the sacrifices. The +ritual distinguished burnt offerings, offerings of purification, +expiatory offerings, and offerings of the first fruits; besides animals +and the firstlings of the field, sacrificial cakes were frequently +offered. The bull was the most acceptable victim; cows were not +sacrificed, nor the flesh eaten. Beside bulls, rams and he-goats, and of +birds, the dove, the partridge, the quail, and the goose were offered. +The animals were required to be pure, without blemish, of the male sex, +and capable of procreation. To guard against the offering of unclean +beasts, the priests of Hierapolis refused to sacrifice any but those +bought from themselves.[566] Two Phenician inscriptions of Massilia and +Carthage have come down to us from the fourth century B.C., containing +the edicts of the Carthaginian Suffetes about the part of the sacrifice +belonging to the priests, the fee to be paid for the sacrifice, and +finally the price of the victims purchased of the priests. The +Carthaginian inscription lays down the rule that of a bull, a ram, or a +goat, offered as a burnt-offering, the skin was to be the property of +the priests and the inwards the property of the person presenting the +victim. Moreover, of every victim offered, the cut and roasted flesh +went to the priests. On the other hand, the inscription of Massilia +gives the skin to those who present the victim (the law of the Hebrews +also gives the skin of a burnt-offering to the man who offers the +victim), but according to this decree the victims must be bought from +the priests. For a bull ten shekels were to be paid to them, and though +the tariff at Carthage lays upon the sacrificer a fee of only 2 _sus_ +for each head of fowl sacrificed, the inscription of Massilia raises the +fee to 3/4 of a shekel and 2 sus.[567] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[497] In Strabo, p. 756. + +[498] Philo. Frag. 1. ed. Mueller. + +[499] Philon. frag. 1, 6, 7, ed. Mueller. + +[500] _Loc. cit._ 2, 1-4, ed. Mueller; cf. Bunsen, "AEgypten," 5, 1, 257 +ff. + +[501] Such is obviously the meaning of this passage.--Baudissin, "Abh. +z. semit. Relig." s. 14. + +[502] Fragm. 2, 4, 5, ed. Mueller. + +[503] Pausan. 5, 7, 10. + +[504] "Hist. Nat." 36, 65. + +[505] Athar-ath, _i.e._ Astarte-Athe; Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 431. +Diod. 2, 4, 30. 2 Maccab. xi. 26. + +[506] Herod. 1, 105. Pausan. 1, 14, 7. + +[507] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 16. The cutting off of the hair which +Lucian mentions is also a vicarious custom. + +[508] Justin. 18, 3. + +[509] Movers, "Phoeniz." Encycl. v. Ersch. s. 388, ff. + +[510] 2 Kings xxiii. 7. Ezek. xxiii. 40, ff. + +[511] Movers, "Phoeniz." 1, 197, 579; Munter, "Tempel der Goettin von +Paphos," and the Syrian coins in De Luynes, "Numismatique," pl. 1. +Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 13, 28. On the pillars of Marathus and Paphos, +Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoeniker," s. 23. + +[512] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 4; Diod. 2, 4; Lucian, _loc. cit._ 14. + +[513] Lucian, _loc. cit._ 33, 39. + +[514] Stark, "Forschungen," s. 248, ff. + +[515] Avien. "Ora maritima," v. 305. + +[516] De Bell. Parth. 28. + +[517] Judges xiv. 23; 1 Samuel, v. ff. + +[518] Gesenius, "Monum. Tab." 25. Silius Ital. Pun. 3, 104. + +[519] Osborne, "Egypt," p. 144. + +[520] Baudissin ("Jahve et Moloch," p. 47) regards the amalgamation of +Moloch and Adar as of later origin; to me the connection between Saturn +and the sun (Diod. 2, 30) appears of later origin. + +[521] _e.g._ Diod. 20, 65. + +[522] Justin. 18, 6. 19, 1; Plin. "H. N." 36, 4. + +[523] Curtius, 4, 15, ed. Muetzell; "Porphyr. de Abstinentia," 2, 56. + +[524] Euseb. "Praecept. Evang." 4, 26. + +[525] 2 Kings iii. 27; see below. + +[526] Diod. 13, 86. + +[527] Diod. 20, 14. + +[528] Plut. "De Superstitione," p. 171; Sil. Ital. 4, 767. + +[529] Numen virginale; virgo caelestis. + +[530] De Luynes, "Numism." pl. v.; Hockh. "Kreta," 1, 98. + +[531] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," 4, 32; Augustin, "De Civitate Dei," 2, 26. + +[532] Movers, "Religion der Phoen." s. 605, 611, 621 ff. + +[533] Procop. "De bello Persico," 2, 28. + +[534] Lucian, "De Dea Syr." 15, 27, 43, 50, 51. + +[535] Movers, "Religion der Phoen.," s. 681. + +[536] "Our Lord Melkarth, Baal of Tyre," as he is called in an +inscription found at Malta. + +[537] Herod. 2, 44; Plin. H. N. 37, 75; Theophr. "De Lap." 25. + +[538] Thus Virgil says of the minstrel of Dido: "Canit errantem lunam, +solisque labores," AEn. 1, 742. + +[539] Joseph. Ant. 8, 53; Movers, "Religion der Phoenizier," s. 150. + +[540] Athen. p. 392; Movers, _loc. cit._ s. 536. + +[541] 1 Kings xviii. 28. + +[542] Plaut. "Merc." 4, 6. + +[543] Cic. "De Nat. Deorum," 3, 23; 1 Macc. v. 43; 2, xii. 26. + +[544] Pausan. 3, 23, 1. + +[545] Movers, "Phoeniz." 2, 230. + +[546] Sil. Ital. 4, 81, 819; Justin. 18, 6. + +[547] Virg. "AEn." 1, 742. + +[548] Hesychius: "[Greek: Europon skoteinon platy. Europe he chora tes +dyseos e skoteine."] That Europe is Astarte follows from Hesychius: +[Greek: "Hellopia, heorte Europes en Krete]." The "Etymolog. Mag." pp. +232, 333, says: "Europa was anciently called Hellotia, '[Greek: hoti hoi +Phoinikes ten parthenon Hellotian klousin].'" Eloth signifies "goddess." + +[549] Jeremiah vii. 18; xliv. 17-23. + +[550] Pindar, "Pyth." 3, 90; Cic. "De Nat. Deor." 3, 23. + +[551] Appian, "De Reb. Hisp." c. 2; Movers, "Kolonieen der +Phoenizier," s. 63 ff. We shall see below what a conglomeration of +fables the Greeks have gathered round the wandering Astarte, who rides +on a bull and is represented with the crescent of the moon, and a cow's +horns. With them she is not only Europe whom the Bull-Zeus carries from +Phoenicia, who is sought by Cadmus the son of Phoenix. In her crescent +and cow's horns they also recognise their Argive Moon-goddess, Io, and +represent her as wandering to Phoenicia and Egypt, where Isis, who here +again wears the cow's horns or head, or is entirely represented as a +cow, becomes their Io. The wanderings of Dido-Astarte then became +confused with the stories of Helena, with the wanderings and fortunes of +the foundress of Carthage, and the travels of AEneas, the favourite of +Aphrodite, were directed to the most famous seats of the worship of +Ashera. + +[552] Noeldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa." + +[553] Serv. ad AEn. 2, 632; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoeniker," s. 36, 38. + +[554] According to Lenormant, _um-pali_, "mother of the sword." + +[555] Joh. Lyd. "De Mensibus," 4, 46. + +[556] Lev. xix, 27-29; Deut. xiv. 1; xxii. 5; xvi. 21; xxiii. 1. + +[557] Ezek. viii. 14. + +[558] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 8; Strabo, p. 755. + +[559] "De Laudib. Constant." c. 13. + +[560] Bunsen, "AEgypten," 5, 1, 379. + +[561] Herod. 3, 37; Gerhard, "Kunst der Phoenicker Taf." 4, 5; Movers, +"Phoenizier," 2, 87-99; "Phoeniz." in Ersch. s. 391 ff. + +[562] Jerem. x. 5; Baruch, vi. 3, xxv. 26; Diod. 20, 65. + +[563] Lucian, "De Dea Syria," c. 49. + +[564] Polyb. 31, 20; Diod. 20, 14; Just. 18, 7; Curt, 4, 13. + +[565] 1 Kings xviii. 17-24. + +[566] Movers, "Phoeniz." in Ersch. s. 419. + +[567] Movers, "Opferwesen der Karthager," s. 8; Blau, "Opfertarif von +Karthago;" Zeitschrift d. d. M. G. 16, 438. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT OF THE HEBREWS. + + +The tradition of the Hebrews of the early history and fortunes of their +people previous to the settlement in Canaan is contained in the books of +the Pentateuch. After they had settled in that land and had passed +beyond the loose combination of their tribes to the unity of civic life, +after a monarchy had been established, and under it a metropolis and a +centre for the national religion had been founded, the priesthood +engaged in this worship began to collect together ritualistic +observances and customs of law, and to write them down in combination +with anything still living about their early history in the traditions +of their families. The Hebrews had found existing in Canaan that ancient +and many-sided civilisation the nature and extent of which we have +already attempted to describe. Of their own history they could have +preserved nothing but prominent facts and decisive crises. Songs of +praise and victory which celebrated the great events of the Hebrew past, +such as the exodus from Egypt and the victories won over the Canaanites, +of which some were already written down,[568] forms of blessing, +genealogies,[569] isolated fragments of the moral law, or time-honoured +sacrificial custom, or ancient rules of justice,[570] and finally +narration of the wars,[571] constituted fixed points of connection in +this tradition. At the new centre of religious worship the whole stock +of existing ritual and custom had to be brought under review, and from +hence provision made for the use of the true and acceptable kind of +sacrifice, and sentence of law. The consideration of the marvellous lot +which had fallen to the Hebrews, the rise of a feeble shepherd tribe +under the powerful protection of Egypt, the liberation from the dominion +of this great kingdom, the conquest of Canaan, the capture of ancient +and strongly-fortified cities, "of fields which they had not tilled, of +vineyards and olive-gardens which they had not planted, of wells which +they had not dug, of cities which they had not builded," caused the +Hebrews to recognise in the favour which had attended them the direct +guidance of their deity. This grace would remain with them if they +continued to worship the god of their fathers according to his will, in +the way acceptable to him. Thus to the priests, who undertook the task +of writing down the tradition, the nation appeared as a chosen people +from the beginning, to whom their god had early given his blessing. In +return for such grace and beneficence the Hebrews had to obey his law. +This is the "covenant" which Jehovah has made with them.[572] This law, +therefore, must be carefully recorded, in order that it may be obeyed +exactly in every particular by the priests themselves, as by the judges +and all the nation. + +On the basis of this tradition, these songs and poems, genealogies and +ancient records, and under the guidance of the views just pointed out, +there arose at Hebron, in the first decade of the reign of David, +within the circle of a priestly family, which apparently claimed to be +sprung from Aaron, the brother of Moses, the Judaean text of the +Pentateuch, and the Book of Joshua.[573] Composed as annals, this text +deals primarily with the connection and course of the fortunes of +Israel; the central point is the covenant between Jehovah (Elohim) and +Israel, Israel and Jehovah, and the law, which is the body of this +covenant.[574] The unity of religious worship and the centralisation of +it at one place and one only is brought prominently forward, and this +could not have happened till political unity had been obtained, a +metropolis founded, and a seat erected there for the worship of the +whole nation, or at least contemplated, if not erected. The law for the +priests, the minute details of ritual which make up the chief part of +this text, were, in the view of the priests, given at that mighty time +when Moses led the people; though, as a matter of fact, only a few of +the fundamental precepts reached so far back (see below). The +centralisation of the worship also at one place of sacrifice, the +command to have a common place of worship, was thought to have been in +existence as early as the time of Moses, and to have been prescribed +even when the Hebrews were in the desert. And the priests were more +inclined to believe that the ideal sought after for their religion, for +Church and State, belonged to the time of Moses, because in those days +of piety and exaltation the true ordinances must have been in existence, +and certain sacrificial institutions, certain principles of law and +morality, actually came down from that period. + +Not long after this first text arose a second, which, however, can +hardly have been composed in priestly circles, and certainly did not +come from Judah. With the author of this second text, it is not the +collection and establishment of the law, and the desire to insist on the +obedience to it, which is the main point. It is rather the personal +fortunes of the fathers of the race, in which the divine guidance is +shown, the manifestations of the deity in their favour, the revelations +made to them by divine messengers, the importance of old customs and old +names, on which he lays especial weight. He also availed himself of +older written sources.[575] The language and style of this second text +are more lively, versatile, and distinct than those of the first; and +the importance which he ascribes to the fortunes of Joseph and the +tribes of Ephraim confirms the assumption that the author belonged to +this tribe. The origin of this second text falls in the second half of +Solomon's reign, or immediately after it--in the decades from 970 to 950 +B.C.[576] + +About a hundred years later, towards the middle of the ninth century +B.C., both these texts were combined and transformed into one work. The +author of this combined text (the Jahvist) was guided by the feelings +and views of the prophets. He is superior to the authors of the two +texts in versatility, in reflection, and vivid power of imagination. Not +only did he work up the two texts into one and insert into the whole his +own views, but he has added some sections, the materials of which must +have been furnished partly by tradition and partly by written +records.[577] In this shape were the first four books of the Pentateuch, +the beginning and the end of the fifth book, and the book of Joshua, at +the time of the prophets Amos and Hosea. The "Second Law," _i.e._ the +main portion of the fifth book of the Pentateuch,[578] on the other +hand, was not written till the time of king Josiah, about 625 B.C., and +was then added to the rest. The author of this second law also revised +the book of Joshua.[579] + +If we compare the Hebrew account of the Creation with the cosmogonies of +Berosus and Philo (pp. 257, 353), and the narrative of Noah's deluge +with the description of the flood on the Assyrian tablets and in Berosus +(p. 240 ff.), we see at the first glance how far asunder the conceptions +lie--with what clearness and vigour the Hebrews have succeeded in +purifying and exalting the rude fancies of the nations so closely akin +to them--the ancient common possession of the Eastern Semitic tribes, +from whom the Hebrews were sprung. This power--the patient labour, the +serious and thoughtful effort to deepen the traditions of the past into +an ethical significance, to sublimate legends into simple moral +teaching, and transplant the myth into the region of moral earnestness +and moral purpose--to pass beyond the rude naturalism of their kinsmen +into the supernatural--from the varied polytheism of Babel and Canaan to +monotheism--this it is which gives to the Hebrews the first place, and +not among Semitic nations only, in the sphere of religious feeling and +development. At a later period the Greeks understood how to breathe +life, beauty and nobility into the gods of the Phenicians, whose rites +came over to Hellas; they could change Ashera-Bilit, the goddess of +prostitution, into the youthful Aphrodite, the goddess of blooming +grace, and the highest charm of love; but the Hebrews practised the +severer, sterner, and loftier task of carrying religious feeling beyond +the life of nature, of conceiving the highest power as morally in +opposition to natural impulses and forces, of publishing the supremacy +of the intellectual and moral over the natural being. + +Adam begot Seth, so we are told in the first book of the Pentateuch, and +Seth begot Enos, and Enos begot Kenan, and Kenan begot Mahalaleel, and +Mahalaleel begot Jared, and Jared begot Enoch, and Enoch begot +Methuselah, and Methuselah begot Lamech, and Lamech begot Noah, and Noah +begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth was full of evil, but Noah +walked with God. Then God said to Noah: Make for thyself an ark of +gopher-wood, 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in breadth, and 30 cubits +in height. For I will send a flood upon the earth to destroy under the +heaven all flesh wherein is the breath of life. But with thee I make my +covenant; and thou shalt go into the ark, thou and thy three sons and +thy wife, and the three wives of thy sons with thee. And of all living +creatures thou shalt bring two into the ark, male and female shall they +be. And Noah did as God commanded him. When Noah was 600 years old, in +the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the fountains of +the deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and +there was rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and the +waters rose and lifted the ark. And the flood was mighty, and all the +high mountains that are under heaven were covered; the water rose +fifteen cubits above the tops of the mountains. For 150 days the flood +was mighty on the earth. Then God caused a wind to blow, and the waters +sank. And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the +ark rested on the mountains of the land of Ararat; and in the tenth +month, on the first day, the tops of the mountains appeared. It came to +pass after forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark, and sent +out a raven; but it flew to and fro. Then he sent out a dove, to see +whether the water had retired from the earth. But the dove found no +place of rest, and returned to the ark. And Noah remained seven days +more, and again sent out the dove. Then the dove came to him at evening, +and lo! a fresh olive-branch was in her mouth. And he remained yet seven +days, and again sent out the dove, but she returned to him no more. Then +Noah opened the door of the ark and looked out, and lo! the earth was +dry. And in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the +earth was dry. And Noah went out of the ark, and his sons, and his wife, +and the wives of his sons, and he built an altar to Jehovah, and took of +all clean beasts and birds and offered a burnt sacrifice upon the altar. +After the flood sons were born to the sons of Noah. The sons of Shem +were Elam and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud and Aram. Arphaxad begot +Salah, and Salah begot Eber. Eber had two sons, the name of the one was +Peleg, and the name of the other Joktan. Peleg begot Reu, and Reu begot +Serug, and Serug begot Nahor, and Nahor begot Terah. + +Terah dwelt in the land of his nativity at Ur in Chaldaea, and his sons +were Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot and Milcah and Iscah, +and died before his father at Ur in Chaldaea. Nahor took Milcah to wife, +and Abraham took Sarah. And Terah went with Abraham his son, and Lot the +son of Haran, from Ur in Chaldaea to Haran and dwelt there. But Jehovah +said to Abraham: "Go from thy land, and thy home, and thy father's +house, to a land which I will show thee." Then Abraham took Sarah his +wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their goods, and the souls +born to them in Haran, and went forth from Haran. He came unto the land +of Canaan as far as Sichem and to the oak Moreh, and there he built to +Jehovah an altar; and afterwards he went towards the mountain and +pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, and there he built an altar to +Jehovah, and journeyed towards the south. And when the famine was sore +in the land, Abraham, and Lot with him, went to Egypt, and Pharaoh, for +Sarah's sake, gave Abraham sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants, +and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels. But Jehovah smote Pharaoh +with great plagues, so that he let Abraham and Sarah go, and bade men +guide him. + +Then Abraham dwelt again at Bethel, and was very rich in flocks, in +silver and gold. Lot also had tents and sheep and oxen, and there was a +strife between the shepherds of Abraham and the shepherds of Lot. Then +Abraham said to Lot: "Let there be no strife between my shepherds and +thine, for we are brethren. If thou wilt go to the left hand, I will go +to the right." Then Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw the land of Jordan, +that it was watered as a garden of the Lord; and he set forth at +morning, and pitched his tents at Sodom. But Jehovah said to Abraham: +"Lift up thine eyes; the whole land which thou seest I will give to thee +and thy seed for ever; rise up and go through the length and breadth of +the land, for I will give it to thee." And Abraham pitched his tents +under the oaks, which are at Kirjath-Arba (Hebron), and there built an +altar to Jehovah. + +For twelve years the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Adamah, Zeboiim and +Zoar, had served Kedor-Laomer, king of Elam. Then they rebelled; and in +the fourteenth year Kedor-Laomer, and the kings who were with him, +Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Tidal and Arioch of Elassar, smote the +Rephaims at Ashtaroth-Karnaim, the Zuzims at Ham, and the Emims at +Shaveh-Kiriathaim, and the Horites on their mountain of Seir, and smote +the whole land of the Amalekites and Amorites. The kings of Sodom and +Gomorrah also, of Adamah, Zeboiim and Zoar, who had drawn out against +them in the valley of Siddim, were put to flight, and fled to the +mountains, and all the goods and all the food in Sodom and Gomorrah were +taken, and they also took Lot and his goods. When Abraham heard that his +brother's son was carried away, he set forth with his servants, 318 in +number, and fell upon them by night at Dan, and pursued them as far as +Hobah, which is to the west of Damascus, and brought back all the goods +and Lot and the people that were captured. The king of Sodom came to him +and said: Give me the souls, and take the goods for thyself. But Abraham +said: I lift up my hand to Jehovah that I will take nothing of thee, +save what my servants have eaten. + +Abraham dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, but his wife bore him no +son. But he had an Egyptian maid-servant whose name was Hagar. Her Sarah +gave him to wife, and Hagar was with child, and the angel of Jehovah +announced to her that she should bear a son who would be like a wild +ass, and his hand would be against every man and every man's hand +against him, and he would dwell to the east of his brethren. And Hagar +bore Abraham a son, and Abraham named him Ishmael. Then he received the +promise that Sarah also should bear a son, "from whom should arise kings +and nations;" and when he was 100 years old, and in the south between +Kadesh and Sur, Sarah bore him a son. Abraham named him Isaac, and +circumcised him when he was eight days old. The year before he had +circumcised Ishmael, for God had said: This is the covenant which thou +shalt keep between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, that every male +shall be circumcised. + +When Isaac grew up and Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian woman, she said +to Abraham: Thrust out this woman and her son; Ishmael shall not be heir +with Isaac. Then Abraham gave Hagar bread and a bottle of water on her +shoulders, and sent her forth with her child. She wandered into the +desert of Beersheba, i.e. the well of the seven, and when the water was +spent, and the child was fainting with thirst, she laid him down under a +bush, and sat down a bow-shot from him, and said: "Let me not see the +death of the child." Then Jehovah heard the voice of the child, and His +angel called to Hagar out of heaven: "Fear not, rise up, and take the +boy in thy hand, Jehovah will make him a great people." And Jehovah +opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and filled the bottle, and +gave her child drink. And Jehovah was with him; he grew up in the +desert, and was an archer, and dwelt in the desert of Paran, and his +mother took him a wife out of Egypt, and Ishmael begot Nebajoth, and +Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, and +Hadar, and Tema, and Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah, twelve princes. +And Ishmael died 137 years old, and his descendants dwelt to the east of +his brethren from Shur, which lies before Egypt, to Havilah, and towards +Asshur. + +Abraham abode a long time in the land of the Philistines. And God +tempted Abraham, and bade him sacrifice his only son Isaac, in the land +of Moriah, as a burnt offering. But when Abraham had built the altar on +the top of the mountain, and laid the wood upon it, and bound Isaac and +laid him on the altar, and taken the knife and stretched forth his hand +to slay his son, the angel of Jehovah called from heaven, saying: Lay +not thine hand on the lad, for now I know that thou fearest God; thou +hast not refused Him thine only son. And Abraham saw a ram caught in the +thicket, and he sacrificed him. + +When Sarah died at Hebron, Abraham spoke to the Hittites among whom he +dwelt: I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a +burying-place for my people among you, that I may put away my dead from +me. Speak for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he give me the cave +of Machpelah which is his, at the corner of his field; let him give it +to me for a burying-place at its full worth in money. Ephron agreed, and +Abraham weighed the money to Ephron, four hundred shekels of silver, +current money with the merchant. And thus the field of Ephron at +Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, that is Hebron, the field and the cave, +and all the trees on the field and round it, were given to Abraham +before the eyes of the Hittites, and the eyes of all who went into the +gates of the city. And Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of +Machpelah. + +Then Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah, and she bore him +Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. But +Isaac had grown a man, and Abraham said to his servant, the oldest in +his house, Eliezer of Damascus: Lay thy hand under my thigh; I charge +thee that thou take not to my son a wife from the daughters of the +Canaanites, among whom we dwell; to my fatherland and my home thou shalt +go, and there seek a wife for Isaac. Then the servant took ten camels +from the camels of his master, and goods of every kind, and passed over +the Euphrates towards Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, the brother of +Abraham. To Nahor his wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, had borne +eight sons. The youngest was Bethuel, and Bethuel's son was Laban, and +his daughter Rebekah. Eliezer came to the city of Nahor at evening, and +halted his camels at the well outside the city. Then came a maiden, fair +to behold, with her pitcher on her shoulder, to the well. When she had +filled her pitcher and come up from the well, the servant went to her +and said: Bend down thy pitcher and let me drink a little water. Drink, +my lord, she answered, and quickly took the pitcher in her hand, and +gave him to drink. Then she said: I will draw also for thy camels, and +stepped down again to the well. Eliezer marvelled at her; and when all +the camels had drunk, he took a golden ring, half a shekel in weight, +and two golden bracelets, ten shekels in weight, and put the ring in her +nose, and the bracelets on her arm, and then inquired whose daughter she +was, and whether there was room in her father's house to shelter him and +the camels. And she answered: I am Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the +son of Nahor; straw and fodder is in abundance with us, and room for the +camels. And her brother Laban came to the well, and led Eliezer to the +house, and Laban took the saddles from the camels, spread straw for +them, and gave them fodder and brought water for his guest to wash his +feet, and food. But Eliezer said: I will not eat till I have given my +message. I am the servant of Abraham, and Jehovah has blessed my master, +so that he has become great, and he has given him sheep and oxen, and +silver and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels and +asses. And Sarah has borne a son to my master in his old age, and I have +sworn to seek a wife for his son from his home and his own people; and +Jehovah led me in the right path in order to take the granddaughter of +the brother of my master for his son. If ye are willing to plight troth +and love with Abraham, say it. Then said Bethuel, Rebekah's father, and +Laban her brother: Behold, the maiden stands before thee, take her and +go. Then Eliezer brought forth gold and silver ornaments, and garments, +and gave them to Rebekah; to her brother also and her mother he gave +gifts. And when Laban and his mother sent away Rebekah with her nurse +Deborah, and Abraham's servant Eliezer, they blessed Rebekah, and said: +Become a thousand times a thousand, and may thy seed possess the gate of +thy enemies. When Eliezer returned home, he told all that he had done, +and Isaac received Rebekah into the tent of his mother, and she became +his wife, and he loved her. And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; +but to Ishmael and the sons of Keturah he gave gifts, and sent them away +from his son Isaac into the land to the East. Then Abraham, after he had +lived 175 years, died at a good old age, and his sons Isaac and Ishmael +buried him in the cave of Machpelah. + +These narratives show that the Hebrews derived the origin of their +nation from the land of the Euphrates and Tigris. We remarked above that +the legend of the Deluge could only have arisen in river valleys, +exposed to severe inundations (p. 245). If we set aside the additions +made in the prophetic revision, the narrative of the flood belongs to +the first text; in this text therefore the nations of the earth were +derived from the sons of Noah. The revision adds that the descendants of +Noah, in their journey from the East, found a plain in the land of +Shinar, i.e. Babylonia, and dwelt there, and erected a city and a tower, +intended to reach to heaven. Then Jehovah confounded their language and +scattered them over the earth.[580] But it is the first text which gives +the genealogy of Abraham, according to which the descendant of Noah, +Terah, the father of Abraham, dwells in the land of his nativity, at Ur +in Chaldaea. We found that Ur lay on the lower Euphrates, where the ruins +of Mugheir mark its site, that the oldest buildings in Babylonia belong +to this place, and the oldest sovereigns on the Euphrates called +themselves kings of Ur (p. 259). From Ur Terah, according to the first +text, journeyed with his family to Haran.[581] Haran lies in a wide +plain surrounded by hills on the Skirtos, a tributary of the Belik, at +no great distance from the Euphrates; it is the Carrhae of western +writers. From Haran Abraham turns towards Canaan; but his brother's +tribe remains in Haran. Hence, as the oldest writings of the Hebrews +without any doubt derive the progenitors of the nation from Ur and +Carrhae in the land of the Euphrates, so later authorities maintain, as +an absolute certainty, that "the fathers dwelt beyond the river," _i.e._ +the Euphrates. In the "second law" Abraham is called a "wandering +Aramaean," and Ezekiel calls Chaldaea "the birthplace of the +Hebrews."[582] The name "Hebrews" confirms this statement and view. +Heber means "that which is beyond," "those who dwell beyond." The +Hebrews call themselves the sons of Israel; the name of Hebrews they +received from the Canaanites, into whose land they forced a way, though +the Canaanites, no doubt, meant no more by the name than that the sons +of Israel dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, before they set foot in +Canaan. + +But the genealogy of the Hebrews goes far beyond Carrhae and Ur. After +enumerating the ten patriarchs from Adam, _i.e._ from the man "formed of +earth" (adama) to Noah, and giving the age of these patriarchs in +hundreds of years (the highest age is 969, and the lowest is the +seventh, 365), the first text enumerates another set of ten patriarchs +from the sons of Noah down to Abraham, and of these the age gradually +dwindles from 600 to 175 years.[583] The head of this series, Shem, the +eldest son of Noah, the friend of God, is the immediate progenitor of +the Hebrews. That the recollection and feeling of the relationship with +the inhabitants of the land of the two streams, and with the population +of Aram, _i.e._ of the upper land between the Tigris and Euphrates, the +Euphrates and the Jordan, and with portions of the inhabitants of +Arabia and Asia Minor, was alive and present in the minds of the +Hebrews, is clear from the fact that these nations, akin in tribe and +blood and language, were carried back to Shem. From Arphaxad, the third +son of Shem, sprang the fathers of the Hebrews; the two first sons Elam +and Asshur, we already know as the progenitors of the Elamites and +Assyrians. From Lud and Aram, the fourth and fifth sons of Shem, the +Lydians and Aramaeeans were derived, a genealogy which certainly belongs +to the Ephraimitic, if not to the Judaean text. In Arphaxad, the name of +the third son, we cannot mistake the name of a district any more than in +the names of the other sons. Arphaxad is a mountain canton of South +Armenia, between the lakes of Van and Urumiah,--the Arrapachitis[584] of +the Greeks, the Alpak of the Armenians, the modern Albak--and lies more +than 6,000 feet high, at the source of the Great Zab, which also flows +through it.[585] The son of Arphaxad is Salah, _i.e._ "leaving," +"departure," and the son of Salah is Eber, in whom we have the later +name of the Israelites, transformed into a patriarch. To Eber two sons +are allotted. The name of the elder, Peleg, means division, "because in +his time the earth was divided." From this we may draw the conclusion +that the division of the descendants of Noah and the separation of the +nations was transferred to the fifth generation after him. But another +meaning may also be given on linguistic grounds to the name Peleg +(Phaleg), and at the juncture of the Chaboras and the Euphrates we find +a place of the name of Phalga.[586] Joktan, the second son of Eber, we +know already as the father of those Arabian tribes who dwell from Mesha +to Dshafar, and in Kachtan we have already found his name in Arab +tradition (p. 326). The descendants of Peleg, the elder son of Eber, are +Reu, and Serug the son of Reu. The name Serug appears to have been +retained in the district of Serug, and the modern Serudsh, south-west of +Edessa, in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates. Western writers speak of +the district of Osrhoene, and give this name to the south-west of +Mesopotamia.[587] Serug's son is Nahor, _i.e._ "the river," the +Euphrates. Nahor is followed by Terah, who had his home at Ur. + +If this series of the first text preserved a genuine historical +recollection, a portion of a Semitic tribe, settled in the mountains of +South Armenia, or even the whole tribe--the sons of Arphaxad--journeyed +to the south, after leaving nothing but their name in the mountain +valley. The separation from their kindred was signified by the name +Salah, _i.e._ "leaving." At first the sons of Arphaxad pastured their +flocks at Serudsh, in the north-west of Mesopotamia, and from thence +they passed to Ur on the lower Euphrates, while another branch, the sons +of Joktan, turned away from the mouth of the Euphrates in the direction +of Arabia. At a later time the sons of Arphaxad settled at Ur must again +have marched up the Euphrates to Carrhae. Then followed a second +division; one portion, the Nahorites, _i.e._ the people of the river, +remained at Carrhae, while others, the Abrahamites, wandered to Canaan, +or rather into the deserts bordering on Canaan. Moreover, since the +first text denotes Abraham's eldest son Ishmael, as the progenitor of +the Ishmaelites, _i.e._ of a considerable number of tribes of North and +Central Arabia, and since the revision derives the Midianites, who +wandered on the peninsula of Sinai, and further in the East, and other +Arabian tribes, from the sons of Keturah, the younger sons of Abraham +(pp. 324, 393), it follows that on the borders of Canaan a portion of +the Abrahamites must again have broken off, and passed on to the +peninsula of Arabia. + +However this may be, the kinship of the Hebrews with the Babylonians, +Assyrians, and Aramaeans, the derivation of their tribe from the +river-land of the Euphrates and Tigris, is beyond a doubt, and we must +regard the districts of Arphaxad and Serug, of Ur and Carrhae, as the +original home of the tribe, which afterwards grew up to be the Hebrews. +In any case it is clear from this genealogical table that the Hebrews +considered themselves closely allied to the Nahorites of Haran, but more +especially to a considerable number of the Arabian tribes, or +Ishmaelites, _i.e._ the Nebajoths, the Kedarites, the Temanites, the +Jeturites, and finally the Midianites. This is proved, not only by the +derivation of the Ishmaelites from the eldest son of Abraham, but also +by the close relationship in which the Edomites, the brothers of the +Hebrews, are represented as standing to the Ishmaelites. The names +Ishmael and Israel are similarly formed; the first means "God (El) +hears," the second, "God strives," or "God rules." + +Within this circle of kindred nations, the Hebrews occupy the foremost +place. The Ishmaelites are descended, it is true, from the eldest son of +Abraham; but not from a legitimate or equal marriage; the mother of +their tribe is a maid-servant and an Egyptian. Ishmael's wife also came +from Egypt, and, in this there may linger a dim recollection of the +ancient supremacy of the Hyksos in Egypt.[588] The Midianites, on the +other hand, spring from a younger branch than the Hebrews; and they too +are not born from the true wife of Abraham, and hence are not his +genuine heirs. To the Moabites also, who pastured their flocks to the +east of the Dead Sea, and the Ammonites, whose land lay to the +north-east of this sea, the Hebrews held themselves akin. These tribes +are the descendants of Lot, Abraham's brother's son; and therefore they, +like the Hebrews themselves, spring from those who had moved from +Carrhae to the West. But Lot had separated from Abraham, and chosen the +region of Jordan. And when Jehovah rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom +and Gomorrah, because the sins of their inhabitants were grievous, and +overthrew these cities, and the whole land around them, Lot with his two +daughters escaped towards the East; but because all the men of Sodom +were destroyed, there was no man to dwell with Lot's daughters. Then +they gave their father wine to drink, and lay with him, and the elder +bore Moab, and the younger Ammon. Thus although the Moabites and +Ammonites are closely allied to the Hebrews, and are of the pure +stock--they were begotten in incest. A dark stain rests on their origin. +Obviously the bitter hostility which afterwards prevailed between the +Hebrews, and the Moabites and Ammonites, and the severe wounds which the +Hebrews suffered from the attacks of these nations, have had their +influence in forming and moulding the story of their origin. The Judaean +text narrated quite simply the separation of Abraham and Lot, the +choice of the land of Jordan, the destruction of the cities, and Lot's +escape.[589] The broader details and motives given in the narrative are +the work of the prophetic revision, to which the account of the origin +of the Moabites and Ammonites exclusively belongs. + +To the Hebrews, the wanderings and fortunes of their forefathers +appeared compressed into the lives of the patriarchs, whose mighty forms +are also to them the patterns of morality, piety, and a life pleasing to +God, the expression of the genuine national character. The name Abraham +means, in the form ab-ram, "high father;" in the form ab-raham, "father +of the multitude." Sarah means "princess." Their right to the +possessions, which they won in Canaan by the sword, they saw in the +command given to their ancestors to go thither, and in the promise that +the land should belong to his seed, which is given to Abraham, even in +the first text. Moreover, the purchase which Abraham concluded with the +Hittites of Hebron of a burying-place for his wife and himself in the +cave of Machpelah--this narrative is a part of the Judaean text--and the +services rendered by Abraham to Canaan gave to his descendants a claim +to the possession of Canaan. Abraham planted the trees at Beersheba, and +dug wells; he defended Canaan against Kedor-Laomer, and recovered from +the kings of the east the booty taken, without keeping back any for +himself. These services of the progenitor also constituted a claim for +his descendants. + +The accounts in Genesis[590] of campaigns of Elamite rulers towards the +west, and the supremacy of a king of Elam, one of the Kudurids, over +Syria, are founded on events and circumstances which occurred about the +year 2000 B.C., as has been already pointed out in detail (p. 251). The +connection into which Abraham is brought with them is the work of the +Hebrews, and belongs to the Ephraimitic text.[591] The account which +puts the Horites, who occupied Mount Seir before the Edomites, among the +nations conquered by the Elamites, and beside these certain extinct and +mythical tribes--the Rephaites, Susites, and Emites--shows plainly that +the events must belong to a very distant past. + +When the rights of the Hebrews to Canaan had been proved, when at the +same time it was ascertained that the kindred tribes of Moab and Ammon +could establish no claim to the land, after the voluntary renunciation +of their progenitor, it remained to be shown that the ancient +inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites themselves, had been from the +first destined to give way to the Hebrews. We found that the Canaanites, +like the Hebrews, belonged to the great family of the Semitic nations; +but they were distinguished from them in character, in dialect, and +religious conceptions. Hence they were not derived from Shem, but from +Noah's second son, Ham; and they were also burdened with the curse of +Noah--a trait which the prophetic reviser has added to the +narrative.[592] After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, and he became +drunken, and uncovered himself in his tent; and Ham, the father of +Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, but Shem and Japhet went +backwards and covered him. And when Noah heard what Ham had done, he +said, "Cursed be Ham; a servant of servants shall he be to his +brethren." + +Abraham passed through the length and breadth of Canaan, the land which +his descendants were destined to possess. At Shechem and Hebron, and +then in the south, at Kadesh (Barnea) and Shur, he abode longest; at +Hebron, and between Bethel and Ai, he built an altar to Jehovah. The +presence of the patriarchs consecrated the places where his descendants +were to dwell; among the Hittites and the Canaanites Abraham remained +true to the God who had led him into Canaan; he rendered a willing +obedience even to the harshest command. At the places where Abraham had +set up altars, and where he had offered sacrifice, we find at a later +period centres of Hebrew worship: by Abraham's sacrifices they were +already consecrated. The Judaean text places the abode of Abraham mainly +in the south of Canaan, at Hebron; the south belonged mainly to the +tribe of Judah, and Hebron was David's royal abode till he conquered +Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The Ephraimitic text placed Abraham mainly +at Shechem, the chief city of the tribe of Ephraim, and gives especial +prominence to the sacred place at Bethel. The wandering of Abraham from +the south of Canaan to Egypt, where the Pharaoh, warned by plagues from +Jehovah, sends him away with valuable presents and in peace, is the work +of the reviser. It is an anticipation of the later sojourn of the +Hebrews in Egypt, and forms at the same time a contrast to the widely +different circumstances of their exodus. + +After long waiting, the true son is at length born to the patriarch from +his wife, of the blood of his fathers in Haran.[593] In order to +preserve the blood of the Hebrews pure, a wife is not taken from Canaan +for this son, Isaac, but the care of the father provides a wife from +among his kindred, the tribe of the Nahorites, on the Euphrates. The +first text tells us quite briefly, "Isaac was forty years old when he +took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramaean of +Mesopotamia, the sister of Laban the Aramaean."[594] The lively +description of the journey and the suit of Eliezer is the work of the +reviser of the two original texts. After thus providing for the +continuance of the pure stock, when the oldest son, the child of Hagar, +and the younger sons, the children of Keturah, had been sent away with +presents, as the law of the Hebrews afterwards ordained for the sons of +concubines, and directed to the East, when he had given everything into +the hand of Isaac, Abraham died full of years and blessings. + +Isaac was now sixty years old--such is the account given in Genesis--and +his wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the sister of Laban, had +borne him no son. Then Isaac besought Jehovah for his wife, and Jehovah +heard him. Rebekah became with child, and lo! there were twins in her +womb, and the children strove in her womb; and Jehovah said to her: Two +nations are in thy body, and two people shall separate from thy bosom. +The first boy was red in colour, and hairy, and she called him Esau; and +afterwards his brother came out, and his hand was upon Esau's heel, and +he was called Jacob, _i.e._ "one that holds the heel." And the boys +grew; and Esau was a hunter, but Jacob abode in the tents, and his +mother loved him. Once Esau returned weary from hunting, as Jacob was +making a mess of pottage. And Esau said: Give me to eat. And Jacob +replied: Sell me first thy birthright, and pledge it to me. And Esau +swore, and sold his birthright, and ate and drank, and went his way. +Thus Esau despised his birthright; and when he was forty years old, he +took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basmath +(Bashemath), the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and afterwards Mahalath, +the daughter of Ishmael, Nebajoth's sister. + +There was a famine in Canaan, and Isaac went to Gerar in the land of the +Philistines, and there dwelt, and sowed in that land, and received a +hundredfold, for Jehovah blessed him. He became more and more mighty, +and had sheep, and oxen, and many servants. And Isaac dug out the wells +which Abraham's servants had made, and which the Philistines had filled +up after the death of Abraham. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with +the shepherds of Isaac, and Isaac called the name of the wells Esek +(contention) and Sitnah (hatred); but to the third, for which the +shepherds of Gerar had not striven, he gave the name Rehoboth (room). +From thence he went to Beersheba, and there he set up an altar. + +When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he said to Esau: Take thy bow +and quiver, hunt venison for me, and make a savoury dish such as I love, +that I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die. Esau went +forth, but Rebekah, who had heard Isaac's speech, said to Jacob: Go to +the flock and bring me two kids. I will prepare them for a savoury dish +for thy father, that he may bless thee instead of Esau. Jacob obeyed, +and Rebekah put on him the clothes of Esau, and placed on his neck and +hands the skins of the kids, that his father, if he touched him, might +not know Jacob by his smooth skin. Then Jacob went in to his father, and +said: I am Esau, thy firstborn; eat of my venison. How hast thou found +it so quickly, my son? asked the father. Jehovah, thy God, put it into +my hand, he replied. The voice is the voice of Jacob, the father said, +but the hands are the hands of Esau. He ate, and Jacob brought him wine, +and he drank. Then Isaac said: Come near, and kiss me, my son. God give +thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance +of corn and wine. Be thou lord over thy brethren, and let the sons of +thy mother bow before thee. Cursed be they who curse thee, and blessed +be they who bless thee. And when Jacob had gone away from his father +with this blessing, Esau came with his venison. Isaac trembled and said: +Thy brother has come with subtilty, and taken away thy blessing. Then +Esau lifted up his voice and wept, and said: My birthright has he taken +from me, and now thy blessing also. Bless me, even me also, O my father. +What can I do for thee? answered Isaac. Lo! I have made him thy lord, +and all his brethren I have given him for servants, and I have given him +corn and wine. Hast thou but one blessing? said Esau, and wept. Then +Isaac said: Thy dwelling shall be without the fatness of the earth and +the dew of heaven. By thy sword thou shalt live; thou shalt serve thy +brother, but his yoke thou shalt break from off thy neck. + +Esau was at enmity with Jacob, because he had deceived him in his +father's blessing; and Esau said in his heart: The days of mourning for +my father will come, for I will slay Jacob. Then Rebekah said to Jacob: +Arise and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran, till the anger of thy +brother is turned away. And Rebekah spoke to Isaac, that Jacob should +not take a wife from the daughters of the Hittites; and Isaac bade Jacob +go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of his mother, +and there take a wife from the daughters of Laban. Then Jacob went from +Beersheba to Haran. And when he abode for the night at the city of Luz, +he put a stone under his head, and there rested. Then in a dream he saw +a ladder placed upon the earth, the end of which touched heaven, and the +angels of God went up and down upon the ladder. Jehovah stood over it, +and said: I am the God of Abraham thy father and of Isaac; the land +whereon thou sleepest I will give to thee and thy seed. And in the +morning Jacob arose, and set up the stone which he had placed under his +head for a sign, and poured oil on the stone, and called the name of the +place Bethel. + +In the land of the children of the east Jacob saw a well, round which +lay three flocks of sheep. Then Jacob said to the shepherds: Whence are +ye, my brethren? They answered, From Haran. Jacob asked again: Know ye +Laban, Nahor's son? And they said: We know him; it is well with him, and +lo! there is Rachel, his daughter, with the sheep of her father. And +Jacob rolled away the great stone, which lay at the mouth of the well, +and watered Rachel's sheep; and Laban came, and took his sister's son +into his house. Laban had two daughters: Leah the eldest had dim eyes, +but Rachel was fair to look upon; and Jacob said to Laban: I will serve +seven years for Rachel. And these seven years were as seven days in +Jacob's eyes, because he loved Rachel. When the time was past, Laban +gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in +the dark of the evening he brought Leah instead of Rachel to Jacob, and +it was not till the morning that Jacob knew Leah. Why hast thou deceived +me? Jacob asked of Laban; have I not served thee seven years for Rachel? +Laban answered, It is not so done in our country, to give the younger +daughter before the firstborn. Serve me yet seven years, and thou shalt +have Rachel also to wife. So Jacob abode seven years more with Laban, +and gained Rachel for his second wife, and he kept Laban's flock for six +years more, and the sheep increased under Jacob's hand. + +Leah bore Jacob four sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. But Rachel +was barren and bore not. Then Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob, and +Bilhah bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah also gave her maid Zilpah +to Jacob, and she bore Gad and Asher. Then Leah bore Issachar and +Zebulon; and Jehovah heard Rachel, and sent her a son, whom she called +Joseph. When Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: For twenty years I +have been with thee; thy sheep and thy goats have not cast their young, +and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. Let me depart that I may go +to my own land, with my wives and children, and give me my hire. What +shall I give thee? asked Laban. Set aside all that are striped and +spotted among thy sheep and goats, and whatever is afterwards born +striped or spotted among thy sheep and goats, that shall be my hire, +said Jacob. And Laban said: Be it according to thy word. Then Jacob set +apart the coloured sheep and goats; and when the time of generation +came, he took fresh wands of maple and almond-wood, and made white +strips in them, by peeling off the bark, and cast them into the wells +and runnels, where Laban's sheep and goats were watered; and everything +was born spotted, and fell to Jacob's share, so that he became mighty, +and gained many sheep and camels, and asses, and maid-servants, and +men-servants. But Laban's countenance was not towards him as heretofore; +and Laban's sons were angry and said: He has got his wealth from that +which is our father's. Then Jacob arose, when Laban was gone to the +shearing, and set forth secretly with his wives and children, and +flocks; and Rachel took the images from the house of her father, and +carried them with her, and Jacob fled over the river, and set his face +towards Mount Gilead. Then Laban hastened after him, and came up with +him on Mount Gilead, and said: "Why art thou fleeing secretly before me, +so that I cannot accompany thee with drums, and music, and singing? why +hast thou not allowed me to kiss my daughters, and why hast thou taken +my gods?" Jacob answered: "I was afraid, for I thought thou wouldest +take thy daughters from me." And Jacob set up a stone on Mount Gilead, +and they made a heap of stones, and offered sacrifice on the heap, and +Laban said: "The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor be judge between +us, and guardian that thou do not afflict my daughters, or take other +wives to them; and this heap be witness that I go not after thee for +evil, nor shalt thou come beyond this sign after me for evil." And Jacob +swore by him, whom his father feared, and offered sacrifice on the +mountain. And the heap of stones was called Galeed (heap of witness), +and Mizpah (watch tower), because Laban had said that Jehovah should be +guardian if they were separated one from the other. + +And Jacob sent messengers before him to appease his brother Esau, to +Mount Seir, with 200 ewes, and 20 rams, and 200 she-goats, and 20 +he-goats, and 30 camels with their colts, and 40 cows, and 10 bulls, and +20 she-asses, and 10 asses, as a gift to Esau; and he divided his flocks +into two parts, that the one might escape, if Esau came against the +other; for he was sore afraid. He rose in the night and took his two +wives, and his two maids, and his eleven children, and carried them +through the ford of the Jabbok, but he himself remained behind. Then a +man wrestled with him till the morning broke, and smote the socket of +his hip, and Jacob's hip was out of joint. And he said: "Let me go, for +the morning is breaking." But Jacob said: "I will not let thee go, till +thou blessest me." Then he said: "Thy name shall be Jacob no longer, but +Israel; for thou hast striven with God, and with men, and hast +overcome," and he blessed him there. And Jacob named the place Peniel +(God's visage), and the sun arose as he passed beyond Peniel. + +Jacob lifted up his eyes, and lo! Esau came, and with him four hundred +men. Then Jacob assigned his children to Leah and Rachel and the two +maids, and the maids and their children he put in the front, and next +Leah and her children, and last of all Rachel with her son. He went +before them and bowed himself seven times before his brother. But Esau +embraced him, and kissed him, and they wept. The present of cattle Esau +would not accept. "I have enough, my brother," he said, "keep what is +thine." But Jacob urged him to take them as a proof that he had found +grace in his eyes. Then Esau took them and parted in peace from his +brother, and on the same day turned back on his way to Mount Seir. But +Jacob went to Shechem, and bought the field where he had pitched his +tent, and there set up an altar; and from Shechem he went to Bethel, and +there also he built an altar; and from Bethel Jacob returned to Hebron +to his father Isaac. + +As we have seen, the Arabs and Phenicians believed that the power and +might of the gods was present in certain stones, which they worshipped +in their sanctuaries (pp. 329, 360). The Hebrews also were acquainted +with this worship. The first text tells us that God appeared to Jacob +when he returned out of Mesopotamia, that He blessed him, and said: +Henceforth Israel shall be thy name. And God went up from the place +where he had spoken with him, and Jacob set up a stone as a sign on the +place, and poured oil on it, and called the name of the place Bethel +(house of God).[595] In the older mode of conception, the stone was +itself the house of God. The Ephraimitic text represents Jacob as +resting on the stone when he went to Mesopotamia, and as seeing in a +dream the ladder on which the angels went up and down;[596] the +appearance of Jehovah at the top of the ladder, as well as the form of +the blessing, belongs to the revision.[597] The change of the name Jacob +into Israel is referred by the Ephraimitic text to a definite occasion. +To the Hebrews, in the old time, the god of their tribe was a jealous +and fearful deity, averse to the life of nature,--a god who exercised +dominion above in the highest heaven, who rode on the clouds, and +announced himself in thunder and lightning, and earthquakes, who +appeared in flames of fire, whom the eye of mortal man could not behold +and live.[598] The supernatural God can in the first instance be +conceived and regarded only in contrast to nature, and the life of +nature. But inasmuch as the natural life can only come into being and +continue to exist by his permission, and with his consent, that life +must be redeemed and purchased. Hence according to the primitive +conception of the Hebrews, everything that was brought to the birth +belonged to their god, the firstlings of the field, and of beast, the +first-born male of the woman. Abraham was ready to sacrifice the +firstborn son of his wife, the son of his own heart. But he was not +permitted to slay him. He had already offered the sacrifice, inasmuch as +he was resolved to sacrifice what was dearest, in obedience to the +bidding of God. So runs the Ephraimitic text. As Jacob was returning +from the Euphrates he came upon a place in Gilead, known as "God's +visage." Here, in the dark of the night, a man wrestled with Jacob till +the morning broke, and Jacob would not let him go till he had blessed +him; "Thou hast striven with God and men, and overcome; therefore, +henceforth thy name shall be Israel."[599] In the myth of the +Phenicians, the power of destruction is taken from the hostile god, when +the friendly god wrestles with him. The Hebrews changed the wrestling +between the hostile and friendly deities, into a wrestling between the +servant and the master, between the patriarch of the tribe and his god, +a struggle from which the former does not let the god go till he has +obtained a pledge, that he will spare him and his tribe, and send +increase and blessing to him and his tribe. The contrast of hostile and +friendly deities, and their struggle with each other, the Hebrew +conceives as the work, the toil, the struggle of men, _i.e._ strenuous +wrestling to win the blessing of God. Jacob carried away the injury to +his thigh, but he won the blessing of Jehovah. + +With this conception of the Hebrews, that the First-born belonged to +Jehovah, is connected the ordinance that a ransom must be offered for +him. Moreover, in every spring the Paschal lamb was offered as a +sin-offering for the redemption of the house, along with the firstlings +of the field. The use of circumcision also, as it seems, stood with the +Hebrews in close connection with the idea that the life of boys must be +ransomed by a bloody sacrifice. Jehovah is said to have commanded +Abraham to circumcise his family in token of the covenant which he had +made with him and his seed (p. 392). This custom was also in use among +the Edomites and certain other Arabian and Syrian tribes.[600] + +According to the genealogy of the Hebrews we had to assume that the +Semitic tribes from Arphaxad first went to Serug, and afterwards to Ur +in Chaldaea; and that these immigrants, or a branch of them, passed from +Ur to Haran. While the Nahorites remained behind at Haran, the +Abrahamites turned towards the southern border of Canaan, where the +Ammonites and Moabites, the Ishmaelites and Midianites, separated, and +took possession of the centre of Arabia, the peninsula of Sinai, and the +land eastward of the Jordan. From the narrative of Isaac, Esau, and +Jacob, it further follows that not only those nations but also the sons +of Esau, the Edomites, were descendants of Abraham, and the Hebrews were +a branch of the Edomites who had separated from them. Hence the Hebrews +were the youngest scion of the stock which once came from the mountains +of Arphaxad to Ur, to Mesopotamia, and then into the deserts of Arabia +and Syria. If, however, we allow that the genealogies of the Hebrews +express the position which they took up or wished to take up towards the +kindred Semitic nations, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, the +Arabians, Midianites, Moabites, and Ammonites, and did not attempt to +place facts of history beyond doubt, yet we must not refuse to recognise +a definite historical basis in the relation of the Hebrews to the +Edomites. The Edomites possessed Mount Seir, which runs from the +southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the north-east corner of the Red +Sea. Before them the Horites possessed this mountain (p. 403).[601] +According to the Hebrew tradition the patriarch of the Edomites was +Esau. He "was red in colour and hairy." Though this is not the meaning +of the name Esau, the name Edomites does actually mean the "red people," +and the name of their mountain Seir means, "to be hairy," a name which +could very well be given to a mountain covered with briars and +brushwood. The Edomites were fond of the chase and of war; their +progenitor is a hunter and warrior; and to this, his eldest son, Isaac +foretells that his dwelling should be without the fatness of the earth; +by his sword should he live. Only a slight advantage in age is allowed +to Esau: he is merely the firstborn of twins; and even at birth his +brother Jacob held him by the heel. The pre-eminence which Isaac gives +to the younger son is explained in the Judaean text merely by the fact, +that Esau had taken wives from the Hittites. "And when Esau saw that +Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Mesopotamia in order to take a +wife from thence, Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his +father, and he went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath, the daughter of +Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth, to wife to his +other wives."[602] All the further details of the relations between the +two brothers, the sale of the birthright, the obtaining of the blessing, +and the form of the blessing, belong to the revision. This text and this +only could make Isaac say to Esau, "Thou shalt serve thy brother, but +shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." Saul conquered, and David +subjugated the Edomites; it was not till the time of Joram, king of +Judah, in the first half of the ninth century B.C., that they recovered +their independence. + +The description of the journey of Jacob to the Euphrates, his service +with Laban, and his flight, come from the Ephraimitic text: the revision +has only extended the introduction, and here and there inserted an +interpolation. To the same text belongs the peaceful departure from the +Nahorites, the setting up of a token on the east of Jordan to fix how +far the borders of the Israelites, beyond which the Nahorites were not +to go, were to extend in this direction, and finally Jacob's +reconciliation with Esau. With the daughters of Canaan whom he took to +wife, Esau could only beget an impure race, and even with the daughter +of Ishmael his race would not be wholly pure, while Jacob served +patiently for fourteen years in order to obtain wives of the genuine +blood. By this, and by the blessing of Isaac, the pre-eminence of the +younger Israelites is established over the Edomites; but the brothers +parted in peace. Esau received rich gifts. Thus they separated on the +ford of the Jabbok at the sacred place of Peniel. The one went to Seir, +the other to Shechem in Canaan. Hence the Edomites had no reason to +cherish resentment against the sons of Jacob. + +Isaac and Jacob abode in Canaan at Hebron, Beersheba, and Shechem. Here +Isaac again dug out the wells which Abraham's servants had previously +made. The quarrel of his servants about the wells with the Philistines +of Gerar is based on the severe battles afterwards fought between the +Philistines and Israel. As Abraham had set up pillars, so does Isaac +build an altar at Beersheba,[603] and Jacob sets up a sacred stone at +Bethel. As Abraham, according to the first text, buys the burying-place +at Hebron, so Jacob, according to this same text, bought the field at +Shechem, where he had pitched his tent. Thus Isaac and Jacob also have +acquired possessions in Canaan, and have rendered services to the land; +they also have prepared the way for the rule of their descendants in +Canaan, and have consecrated the places at which the Hebrews were +destined to worship the gods of their fathers. + +The three patriarchs strictly carry out the commands of Jehovah, from +which their descendants swerved often and long. To the Hebrews they are +patterns of the purity of their race; their descendants did not always +keep themselves free from mixture with the Canaanites. But they are not +only patterns of the fear of God, and piety, of correct faith and right +dealing with the Canaanites; they also exhibit to the Hebrews the moral +ideal of their conduct. Abraham is distinguished by the virtues of +faithfulness, of unselfishness, and friendliness to his brother's +family, and, in return, the blessing of Jehovah rests upon him. Other +virtues are brought into prominence by the tradition in Jacob, the most +immediate ancestor of the Hebrews. If Abraham knew how to raise the +sword, and Esau lived a wild hunter's life, Jacob is a peaceable, +faithful shepherd, who patiently endures heat and cold, who is ever wide +awake, under whose hand the flocks increase, and whose care prevents the +sheep and goats from casting their young. When Jacob had served fourteen +years for his wives, he still continued to serve six years for hire. +Among the Hebrews the life of a hired servant is not considered a +degradation; and continuance in service for the sake of hire is not +looked down upon with contempt. Jehovah rewards the industrious +servant, the active workman. With his staff in his hand Jacob passed +over the Euphrates; but he returned rich in flocks and goods, blessed +with wife and child. In his pliancy, his quiet, peaceful trust in God, +his wrestling for the blessing of God, Jacob is the genuine warrior of +God (Israel), who is rescued, and gains the victory. Beside these stand +realistic traits peculiar to the East and the Hebrew character. Jacob is +a cunning man, who knows how to invent clever devices. With the help of +his mother he gains from his brother the blessing of the firstborn. At +first Laban outwits him, but in the end Jacob's cunning is victorious. +He knows how to pacify his brother by subjection. To bow before the +mighty in order to save property and life has not always appeared +dishonourable to the Oriental. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[568] Numbers xxi. 27; Joshua x. 14; Genesis xlviii. 20, 22. In proof +that Genesis xlix. belongs to the time of the judges, cf. Ewald, "Gesch. +Israel's," 1, 91. + +[569] Gen. xxxvi. 1; xlvi. 8 ff.; Exod. vi. 14 ff.; Numb. iii. 17-21; +xxvii. 33. + +[570] Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 64. + +[571] Numb. xxi. 14. + +[572] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273. + +[573] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 316, 317. + +[574] Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," s. 11. + +[575] Gen. x. 14; Exod. xv. 1-11; Numb. xxi. 14-18; cf. De +Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 319. + +[576] De Wette-Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 318. + +[577] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," 320, 321. + +[578] Chap. iv., 44--c. xxviii, 69. + +[579] De Wette-Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 303 ff. + +[580] Gen. xi. 1-9. + +[581] Gen. xi. 10-32. + +[582] Ezek. xxiii. 15; Deut. xxvi. 25; Joshua xxiv. 2. + +[583] These are the numbers in the Hebrew text; in the Samaritan and +Septuagint they are altered.--Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 112. To the +first text, chap, ii., 4-24 and iii., were added by the reviser; he +inserted another genealogical table below the series of patriarchs in +the original text from Adam to Noah (iv. 17 ff), and this table does not +run like the first: Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, +Methusalah, Lamech, Noah, but gives the following order: (Enos) Adam, +Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mahajael, Methusael, Lamech. To Lamech this narrator +attached the origin of the shepherds, players on instruments, and +workers in brass. Bunsen ("AEgypten," 5, 2, 62 ff), has drawn from this +the conclusion that the Hebrews had really only seven patriarchs before +the flood. + +[584] Ptolemy. 6, 1. + +[585] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akademie," 1859, s. 200. + +[586] Stephan. Byz. s. v. from Arrian; Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 16. + +[587] Buttmann, "Mythol." 1, 235; Procop. "De Bell. P." 1, 17; Ewald, +"Gesch. der V. Israel," 1, 358, 380; Bunsen, "AEgypten," 4, 450. + +[588] The narrative of Hagar (Gen. xvi.) belongs to the first text; the +additions to the revision; the account of the expulsion of Ishmael (Gen. +xxi.) is from the Ephraimitic text. + +[589] Gen. xiii. 5, 11, 12; xix. 29. + +[590] Gen. xvii. + +[591] Gen. xiv. De Wette-Schrader thinks the derivation from a written +source probable ("Einleitung," s. 319). + +[592] Gen. ix. 20-27; Schrader, "Studien und Kritiken," s. 166 ff. + +[593] Gen. xxv. 19. + +[594] Dillmann-Knobel, "Genesis," p. 313. + +[595] Gen. xxxv. 9-15. + +[596] Gen. xxviii. 11, 12, 17-22. + +[597] Gen. xxviii. 13-16. + +[598] Exod. xxiv. 17, "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like +devouring fire." Exod. xix. 16, 18, "There were thunders and lightnings, +and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding +loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And mount +Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in +fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the +whole mount quaked greatly." Exod. xl. 38, "For the cloud of the Lord +was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night;" cf. +Numbers ix. 15, 16. Deut. iv. 15, "On the day that the Lord spake unto +you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire." Job i. 16, "The fire of God +is fallen from heaven and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, +and consumed them." Numb. xvi. 35, "And there came out a fire from the +Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." +Lev. x. 2, "And there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them, +and they died before the Lord." Exod. xxxiii. 3, "I will not go up in +the midst of thee lest I consume thee in the way." Exod. xxxiii. 20, +"Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." +Deut. v. 26, "Who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of +the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and +lived." Lev. xvi. 2, "Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at +all times into the holy place ... that he die not." Exod. xix. 21, +"Charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and +many of them perish." Exod. xx. 19, "Let not God speak with us, lest we +die." Judges xiii. 22, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God." +1 Sam. vi. 19, "And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had +looked into the ark of the Lord." + +[599] Gen. xxxii. 24-32. + +[600] Exod. iv. 24; xii. 1-18; xiii. 2, 12-14; xxxiv. 19; xxx. 11-16. +From the sacrifice of Isaac, the redemption of the firstborn and the +Paschal offering, the conclusion may be drawn that in the oldest times +human sacrifices were not unknown to the Hebrews. If such took place +they were not offered in the same manner as the Moloch-offerings of the +Canaanites. If Jehovah appears in fire, the fire is not, to the Hebrews, +his essence, but only a form or mode of appearance. Sacrifices like +those offered to Moloch were forbidden by the earliest text (Levit. +xviii. 22; xx. 2) under pain of death. The narrative of Jephthah's +daughter lays especial stress on the sanctity of the vow. Of the other +passages which come into consideration only one or two deal with +sacrifices; the remainder have reference to executions. In Numbers xxv. +4, we find, "Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before +the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be +turned away from Israel." Jephthah vowed his daughter and sacrificed +her, Judges xi. 30, 34. "And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord +in Gilgal," 1 Samuel xv. 33. In 2 Samuel xxi. 6-9, the Gibeonites say, +"Give us seven men of his sons that we may hang them before the Lord in +Gibeah. And they hanged them up on the mountain before Jehovah." + +[601] Gen. xiv. 6; Deut. ii. 12, 22. + +[602] Gen. xxviii. 1-9; Gen. xxxvi. 3, 10, calls the daughter of +Ishmael, Basmath; cf. _supra_, pp. 317, 406. + +[603] Gen. xlviii. 1. On the places of worship at Beersheba and the +"heights of Isaac" in Amos, cf. A. Bernstein, "Ursprung der Sagen," s. +14, 15. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT. + + +When the progenitors of the Hebrews had come from the Euphrates to +Canaan, and had taken up their abode there at Hebron and Shechem, when +Jacob and Esau had parted in peace, and the latter had gone to Mount +Seir, Jacob, with all his sons, went to Egypt. + +Jacob dwelt at Hebron--so runs the narrative--when he sent Joseph, the +son of Rachel, to his elder brethren in Shechem, to see if all was well +with them and their flocks. But his brethren hated Joseph, because his +father loved him more than them; and when they saw him coming, they +said: We will slay him. But the eldest, Reuben, said: Shed no blood, but +throw him into the pit yonder. This they did; they took from Joseph the +coat which his father had made for him, and thrust him into the pit. +Then there came a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead; their camels +carried spices, balsam, and myrrh to Egypt. And his brethren took Joseph +again out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels +of silver. Then they slew a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood, and +brought it to their father. Jacob knew the coat, and cried: An evil +beast has eaten my son, and torn his garments; and he would not be +comforted, but said: In sorrow will I go down to the grave to my son. +But Joseph was carried away to Egypt, and was bought by Potiphar, an +Egyptian in the service of the king, and captain of the body-guard, from +the Ishmaelites. Joseph found grace in the eyes of his master; and as +everything which he undertook prospered, Potiphar set him over his +house. Joseph was goodly to look upon, and the wife of his master cast +her eyes upon him. But he resisted her, and when she caught him by his +garment, he left his garment in her hand, and fled out. Then she kept +Joseph's garment by her till Potiphar returned, and said to him: The +Hebrew servant, whom thou has brought to us, came to me to mock me; and +when I lifted up my voice, he fled away and left his garment. Then +Potiphar was angry, and took Joseph and cast him into the house of +bondage, where were the prisoners of the king. And it came to pass that +the chief butler and the chief baker sinned against the king, and +Pharaoh put them in prison. Each of these had a dream in the night, and +Joseph interpreted the dreams; and it came to pass, as he foretold, that +the chief baker was hanged, but the chief butler was restored by Pharaoh +to his office, on his birthday, so that, as before, he gave the cup into +his hand. Two years afterwards, the king of Egypt saw in a dream seven +fat kine come up out of the Nile, and after them seven lean kine, and +the lean kine ate up the fat. As none of the interpreters and wise men +of Egypt could interpret this dream, the chief butler bethought him of +the young man of the tribe of the Hebrews, who had interpreted his own +dream in the prison, and told Pharaoh what had befallen him. Then +Pharaoh sent, and Joseph was quickly brought out of prison, and shaved +himself, changed his garments, and came before Pharaoh and said: Seven +years of abundance will come in the land of Egypt, and after them seven +years of famine. Let Pharaoh collect food in the good years, and gather +together corn, and keep it against the years of famine, that the land be +not destroyed. Then Pharaoh took his ring from his hand and placed it on +the hand of Joseph, and clothed him in garments of linen, and placed a +golden chain upon his neck, and said: I place thee over the whole land +of Egypt, only by my throne will I be above thee. And Pharaoh called +Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of the +priest at On, to wife, and caused him to ride in his second chariot, and +the people cried before him: Bow the knee. When the seven years of +abundance came, Joseph collected food, and gathered up corn in the +cities, without number, as the sand of the sea. And when the years of +famine came, there was no bread in the land, and the people were +compelled to buy bread from the granaries of Pharaoh; and when their +money failed, they brought their horses, cattle, sheep, and asses to buy +food from Joseph, and all the cattle in the land came to the king. And +when they had no cattle left to buy corn, they gave their land and +fields. Thus Joseph bought the land for Pharaoh, and the country became +Pharaoh's, and Joseph said: Here is seed for you; sow your fields, and +at the time of harvest, give the fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall +be your own for food, for yourselves and your children, and those in +your houses. Thus Joseph laid on the land of the Egyptians a tax of the +fifth, until this day. + +The famine was sore in all lands, and in the land of Canaan, and when +Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons: Go down +and buy for us there, that we die not. Then the brethren of Joseph went +down; but Benjamin, whom Rachel had borne after Joseph, Jacob sent not +with them, for he feared that some evil might happen to him. Joseph, who +sold corn to the people, knew his brethren when they bowed themselves to +the earth before him, and remembered how he once dreamed at Hebron that +he was binding sheaves with his brethren in the field, and his sheaf +stood upright, and the sheaves of his brethren bowed before it; and that +the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed before him. The interpreter was +between them, and he dealt roughly with his brethren, and said: Ye are +spies, who are come to see the weakness of the land. No, my lord, they +answered, we are true men, twelve brethren, the sons of one father in +the land of Canaan. The youngest has remained with our father, and one +is not. Then Joseph took Simeon, and bound him and said: Take corn for +the need of your house, and then bring your youngest brother with you, +that I may see that ye are not spies; then will I give you back your +brother, and ye shall deal in our land. + +When Jacob heard this, he said to his sons: Ye make me childless; Joseph +is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin ye would take from me. +All these things are against me. But when the corn was eaten which they +brought out of Egypt, he sent his sons a second time to buy food; and +Benjamin was with them. Judah had promised his father to be surety for +him. Joseph caused them to be brought into his house, and gave them +water to wash their feet, and food for their asses, and restored Simeon +to them, and bade them eat at his table. And food was placed for the +brethren by themselves, and for Joseph and the Egyptians by themselves. +And Joseph caused presents to be given to them, and Benjamin's present +was the largest; and they were drunken in his house. Then Joseph caused +his steward to fill the sacks of the strangers with corn, and to replace +the purchase money in each sack, and in Benjamin's sack to place his own +cup of silver. When the morning came, and the brethren went forth from +the city with their sacks and their asses, Joseph's steward overtook +them not far from the city, and demanded the silver and gold which they +had stolen, and found the cup in Benjamin's sack. The brethren rent +their garments and turned back, and cast themselves on the earth before +Joseph. But he said: With whomsoever the cup was found he shall be my +servant; the rest may go in peace. Then Judah came forward and said: +When we set forth our father said, If ye take Benjamin also from me, and +any evil happen to him, ye will bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the +grave. If then we go back to our father, thy servant, and the boy is not +with us, he will die, for his soul hangs upon him; let me remain here in +his place, and be thy servant, that I may not see the sorrow of my +father. Then Joseph could no longer restrain himself: he caused the +Egyptians to go out from his presence, and lifted up his voice with +tears, and said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold. Hasten, and go +to my father, and tell him of all my glory. Bid him come to me, and you +shall dwell here with your possessions. But Jacob did not believe the +words of his sons, till he saw the chariots which Pharaoh had sent to +carry him to Egypt. And Jacob set out with his sons, their wives and +their children, seventy souls, with his flocks, and his goods, to Egypt; +and Joseph came to meet him in his chariot, and wept long on the neck of +his father, and gave to his kindred food, and a dwelling-place in the +land of Goshen. When Jacob's days came to a close, he called his son +Joseph, and said to him: Thy two sons, born to thee in the land of +Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me as Reuben and +Simeon. And he laid his right hand on Ephraim, and named Ephraim the +younger before Manasseh, and said: In thee shall Israel bless and say: +God make thee like Ephraim and Manasseh. And thus Jacob blessed his +other sons also, and to Judah he said: The sceptre shall not depart from +Judah, nor the staff of the ruler from between his feet; he shall bind +his ass to the vine, and the colt of his she-ass to the choice vine; he +shall wash his garment in wine, and his robe in the blood of the grape; +his eyes are red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. But Joseph is +the son of a fruit-tree by a well. The branches ran over the wall; the +archers provoke and follow him, but his bow remains firm, and the +strength of his hands is supple. So he blessed them, and said to Joseph: +Bury me not in Egypt; bury me with my fathers in the cave which Abraham +bought of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and +Rebekah are buried, and where I buried Leah. Then Joseph fell on the +face of his father and wept, and the Egyptians mourned seventy days for +Jacob, and Joseph carried the body with Pharaoh's servants, and the +elders of Pharaoh's house and of all Egypt, and with all his brethren, +and the whole house of Jacob to Canaan, and buried him in the cave of +Machpelah. But Joseph dwelt in Egypt till his death, and he saw the sons +of Ephraim till the third generation, and the sons of Machir, the son of +Manasseh, were born on his knees. Joseph died 110 years old, and they +embalmed him, and placed him in a sepulchre in Egypt. And all Joseph's +brethren died. But their sons were fruitful and increased, and the land +was full of them. + +Then there arose a new king in Egypt who knew not Joseph, and he said: +The children of Israel are mighty; we shall be wise to prevent their +increase, that they join not with our enemies if a war arise. And the +Egyptians put taskmasters over the children of Israel, in order to +oppress them with burdens. The children of Israel were compelled to +perform heavy tasks in the field, and taskwork in clay and bricks; and +they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of Pithom and Ramses, and +Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile all the male +children born to the Israelites, but to let the daughters live. + +It is no longer possible to discover what motives were given in the +Judaean text for the settlement of Jacob and his sons in Egypt. In it the +land thus apportioned to the Hebrews is not called Goshen, but Ramses. +Yet it is clear that even in that account it was Joseph who procured a +habitation and possessions for his father and brethren in Egypt.[604] +The reasons given for the change in the narrative, as it now stands, are +taken from the Ephraimitic text, which describes in the most lively +manner, the virtues and glory of the ancestor of this tribe. The +prophetic revision only added a few details, and sharpened a few of the +traits. The second text represented Joseph as falling into the hands of +Midianite merchants, the revision added Ishmaelites. According to the +second text, Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar, in whose +house as captain of the body-guard the butler and baker of Pharaoh were +imprisoned, and there Joseph interpreted their dreams. The revision +inserts the temptation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife, and makes him, +owing to her false accusation, a fellow-prisoner of the butler and +baker.[605] Thus it was able to exalt Joseph, not from servitude only, +but from the misery of imprisonment to the steps of the throne. + +The ethical traits of the narrative, the national and religious views +underlying it, are obvious. The evil of which his brothers are guilty +towards Joseph, without any offence on his part, he bears with +submission. In the service of the Egyptian he shows himself a faithful +slave; he withstands the most enticing temptation. In return for this +faithful honesty he is compelled again to suffer innocently. After long +endurance he receives the highest exaltation; from prison he is summoned +to be ruler of the land, and second only to Pharaoh. As he had been a +faithful steward to Potiphar in small things, he is now a faithful +servant to Pharaoh in great things; all the events, which he correctly +foresaw, he knew how to turn to the advantage of his master. When he has +shown his brothers, in order to touch their consciences for the evil +they had done to him, how men may innocently fall into suspicion, +punishment, and misfortune, he generously pardons them. In this pardon, +this rescue of the whole tribe by the man whom they had attempted to +destroy, rests the true punishment laid upon the brothers. It is the +wonderful guidance of Jehovah which assists the innocent out of misery +and distress, which turns the evil, which the brothers had committed +against Joseph, in such a direction that in the grievous years of famine +the race of Jacob finds a helper and protector near the throne of Egypt, +who is able to give food and a habitation to that tribe, and allot to +their flocks the magnificent pastures of the land of Goshen. The +carrying of the corpse of Jacob to Hebron is intended to signify that +Canaan, and not Egypt, was to be the lasting abode of the posterity of +Jacob. At the same time the tradition of the Hebrews shows the benefits +which a man of their race conferred upon the Egyptians in a time of +evil; it marks how Egypt, owing to his foresight, was saved from +destruction, in order at the same time to show how little the Egyptians +regarded these benefits, and how great is the contrast presented by +their subsequent conduct towards the Hebrews. + +The description of Egypt corresponds exactly to the circumstances of the +land as we have found them before. Both the author of the Ephraimitic +text and the reviser were well acquainted with the life and customs of +Egypt. We have found captains of the body guard in the retinue of +Pharaoh (p. 190), a chief baker is also to be seen on the monuments, and +although we cannot point to any butler of the king upon them, we know +that in Egypt wine was not wanting at the table of Pharaoh, any more +than among his workmen.[606] In the whole of the East, and demonstrably +in Egypt, great importance was attached to dreams.[607] By knowing how +to explain their meaning more correctly than the wise men and +interpreters of Egypt--_i.e._ than the prophets, and temple-scribes of +the Egyptian priesthood[608]--Joseph is liberated from prison, and +raised to the position of grand vizier. The robes of byssus, in which +Joseph is now clad, we have found to be the prescribed dress of the +priests (p. 197), and if Pharaoh puts a golden chain round his neck, we +have already met with an instance of this kind of distinction (p. 131). +That the Pharaohs regarded themselves as proprietors of the soil, that +they collected a land-tax, and that the fields would require to be +measured in order to collect this tax, has been already stated (p. 194). +This tax, so surprising to them, the Hebrews explained by assuming that +the Egyptians sold their plots to Joseph in the time of the famine, +which were then given back to the proprietors in return for a fifth of +the yearly produce. Hereby the services of Joseph to the throne are +placed in the clearest light. We saw above that it was the first object +of Pharaoh and his ministers to provide Egypt with life and sustenance +(pp. 104, 184). Joseph's wisdom and providence put Pharaoh in a position +to attain this object, even in the years of the famine. The names also +quoted in the Hebrew narrative seem to correspond to the ancient +Egyptian. The name Potiphar may be explained by Petphra, _i.e._ +"dedicated to Ra," or by Puti-phra, _i.e._ "given by Ra." The name of +the daughter of the priest at On (Heliopolis), Asenath, whom Joseph took +to wife, can be explained by As-neith, and the Egyptian name of Joseph, +Zaphnath-paaneah, by Zpentpouch, _i.e._ "creator of life" (in the time +of famine).[609] + +Setting aside these points in the narrative, what historical value can +be given to the tradition that the children of Jacob went from the south +of Canaan to the east of Egypt, that they remained there 430 years, +according to the older text, and in this period increased into a mighty +people?[610] The district given to the children of Jacob for their abode +lies, as the tradition plainly shows, in the lower country east of the +Nile, beyond the Eastern or Tanitic mouth. The name Goshen, given in the +Ephraimitic text, appears to correspond to Keshem, the name of a +province in Lower Egypt.[611] The chain of mountains running on the east +of the Nile, sinks down between the Tanitic arm and the north-west +corner of the Arabian Gulf, and on the slopes nearer the river presents +a flat extent of pasture land. In Egypt a tribe of shepherds could have +no share in the regular system of cultivation, and the fixed order of +Egyptian life; a district suitable for the maintenance of their flocks +would be allotted to them, and nothing more. On the north of this +district, the nearest of the great cities of Egypt was Tanis (Zoan), on +the south, Heliopolis (On, Anu), with which we have become acquainted as +a great centre of religion, and the seat of the worship of the sun god +Ra, and the god of life Bennu-Osiris (pp. 44, 69). Hence with perfect +consistency, the Hebrew tradition narrates that the daughter of a priest +of Heliopolis was given to Joseph to wife. + +But what could induce the children of Jacob to go to Egypt, or the +Egyptians to give them a pasture-land on their north-eastern border? We +arrived above at the conclusion that the tribe of Jacob was a branch of +the Edomites, whose dwelling-place is fixed by tradition in the +mountains between the north-east point of the Arabian Gulf and the Dead +Sea, where in fact we find them in historical times. This tribe, +therefore, both at the time when in union with the Edomites it passed +along the eastern and southern borders of Canaan, and after separating +from the Edomites--who may have already taken Mount Seir from the +Horites, or have pastured their flocks in the vicinity--was at no great +distance from Egypt. When divided from the Edomites, the fear of the +stronger part of the tribe from which they had separated, and the desire +to find more fruitful pastures in the neighbourhood of the Nile, or want +of corn, as the tradition says, might have induced the sons of Jacob to +leave the borders of Canaan for the borders of Egypt. The tribes, or +families of shepherds, who pastured their flocks in the neighbourhood of +Canaan, may have been accustomed to purchase corn when their own +cultivation was insufficient, from the corn-growers in Canaan. A blight +in Canaan would therefore compel them to turn to the abundance of corn +in Egypt. And to a shepherd tribe, which sought her protection, and +submitted voluntarily to her rule, Egypt would be the more inclined to +give up the pastures beyond the Nile, if this tribe was in unfriendly or +hostile relations to the Semitic tribes in the neighbourhood. + +If we attempt to fix the date at which the tribe of Jacob may have +exchanged the pastures on the border of Canaan for the more fruitful +regions on the Tanitic arm of the Nile, it soon becomes clear that the +accounts of the Hebrews cannot be maintained. The older text puts 215 +years between the time when Abraham entered Canaan and the arrival of +the sons of Jacob into Egypt, and exactly twice this amount between +their arrival in and exodus from Egypt. The fixed proportion between the +two numbers, and the further circumstance that tradition can only +mention a few generations of the sons of Jacob,[612] leads to the +conclusion that those numbers do not spring from any record or actual +remembrance, but have been invented upon reflection. The date of the +exodus also is fixed by a round sum; from the exodus to the building of +the temple 480 years are said to have elapsed.[613] The Hebrews reckoned +40 years to the generation; hence they put twelve generations between +the exodus and the building of the temple, and fixed the interval on +this computation; yet their scriptures could only mention by name nine +or ten generations in this period.[614] Hence the dates 2140 B.C., and +1925 B.C., which are deduced from the older text for the entrance of +Abraham into Canaan, and of Jacob into Egypt, if the beginning of the +building of the temple is fixed according to traditional assumption in +the year 1015 B.C., must be given up, as well as the year 2115 B.C. for +the entrance of Abraham into Canaan, and the year 1900 B.C. for the +settlement of Jacob in Egypt, which results from the fixing the +beginning of the building of the temple in the year 990 B.C. The only +fact in the ancient tradition which admits of an approximate date is the +campaign of Kudur-Lagamer of Elam, mentioned in the Ephraimitic text. +This campaign we ventured to place about the year 2000 B.C. Genesis +represents him as defeating the nations on the east and south of Canaan, +and the Horites on Mount Seir, while at the separation of Esau and Jacob +Mount Seir is no longer the abode of the Horites, but of the tribe of +Esau. But we must contest the claim of tradition to bring the history of +Abraham into connection with this campaign of the Elamites to the west. +On the other hand we may regard it as settled that the tribe of Jacob +did not arrive in Egypt at the time when the valley of the Nile was +under the dominion of the Hyksos, _i.e._ in the period from 2101 B.C. to +1591 B.C., which we have assumed for this dominion, and that during this +time it did not dwell in Egypt. The tradition of the Hebrews was not +likely to forget that their ancestors came to the Nile, not as +fugitives, but as kinsmen of the ruler of Egypt, or that their race had +once shared in the rule over Egypt, and thus they might have dropped the +slavery and imprisonment, and the position of Joseph in Pharaoh's +service. And if these grounds are not held to be sufficient--if the +tribe of Jacob was in Egypt under the dominion of the Hyksos, it must +have been involved in their overthrow and expulsion. + +Thus it may be assumed as proved that the admission of the sons of Jacob +into Egypt did not take place till after the complete expulsion of the +Hyksos, _i.e._ till Tuthmosis III. had forced the shepherds to leave the +region to which they were at last confined, _i.e._ till after the year +1591 B.C. And it can hardly have taken place immediately after this +event. We cannot suppose any inclination among the Egyptians, +immediately after the expulsion of foreign shepherd tribes, to admit +shepherds of the same nationality to the Nile. But when Tuthmosis III. +had carried his weapons as far as the Euphrates, and received yearly +tribute from the Syrians, the Cheta, and the Retennu, there would be no +scruples felt about allotting pastures on the edge of the desert to an +inconsiderable shepherd tribe. Hence the settlement of the sons of Jacob +in Goshen may be placed about the middle of the sixteenth century B.C. + +The tradition of the Hebrews informed us that their ancestors were +compelled to build the two treasure-cities Pithom and Ramses for +Pharaoh. This statement is in the Ephraimitic text, while the Judaean +text calls the land given to the Hebrews Ramses.[615] The ruins of +Pithom and of Ramses we found on the canal which Sethos I. and Ramses +II. intended to carry from the Nile at Bubastis into the Arabian Gulf, +and which was completed as far as the Lake of Crocodiles (p. 157). The +depression of the Wadi Tumilat, which the canal followed, crosses the +land of Goshen. Cities could not be founded here till the canal from the +Nile had provided water in sufficient quantity. A city of the name of +Pa-Rameses, _i.e._ abode of Ramses, could only be founded by a prince of +that name. Being situated on the canal of Ramses II. and further to the +east than Pithom, the city could only have been built by the prince +whose reign we have placed from 1388 B.C. to 1322 B.C. As a fact his +image is found here on a block of granite in the ruins between the gods +Ra and Tum, and the bricks in the remains of the outer walls are mixed +with cut straw, the use of which in moulding the bricks for these +buildings is mentioned by the revision.[616] This city of Ramses must +have been of considerable importance for the district allotted to the +Hebrews, as the whole region was called after it. Hence the sons of +Jacob were in the land of Goshen in the reign of Ramses II. The +tradition allows them to remain unmolested in Egypt for a long +time--"not till the land was full of them," so runs the older text, +without ascribing any other motive, "did the Egyptians force the +children of Israel to work in clay and brick, and in the fields."[617] +In the former class of works comes the building of these two cities. +Hence the Israelites must have reached Goshen before the time of Ramses +II. + +The desired evidence of the presence of the children of Jacob in Egypt +could be obtained from Egyptian writings and monuments if it were +certain that a name used in them referred to the Hebrews. On a hieratic +papyrus (now at Leyden) an officer intreats his superiors to give him +corn "for the soldiers and the Apuriuu who drag stones to the great +fortress of the house of Ramses, beloved of Ammon," _i.e._ king Ramses +II.[618] In other places in the same papyrus the name occurs as Apruu. +Another papyrus observes under date of Ramses III. (p. 163)--"2083 Apruu +at this place" _i.e._ at Heliopolis.[619] In an inscription in the +quarries at Hamamat it is said that 800 Apuriu or Apriu are mentioned as +workmen.[620] But is the Egyptian name of the Hebrews really Apru or +Apuriu? The wife of Potiphar, it is true, calls Joseph "the Hebrew +servant" (p. 421); but did the sons of Jacob really bear the name of +Hebrews--_i.e._ men of the other side--when they came to Egypt? Does not +the meaning of the name in the places quoted seem rather to be of a +general kind, than to denote any one particular stock? + +The kings Sethos I. and Ramses II. (1439-1322 B.C.) were engaged in +battle, as we have seen, with the Schasu, _i.e._ the shepherd tribes +between Egypt and Canaan, with the Hittites, who possessed the south of +Canaan, and other tribes of Syria (p. 150). Even though they obtained +successes over these nations, and Sethos I. once forced his way to the +Euphrates, and Ramses II. as far as the coasts of the Phenicians, yet +the Schasu, like the Cheta, continued to be dangerous enemies of Egypt. +If this were not so, why should Sethos have hit upon the plan of +protecting the eastern frontier from Pelusium to Heliopolis, by a vast +fortification? What induced Ramses, after several campaigns in Syria, to +conclude a peace with the Cheta in the year 1367 _B.C._ (p. 152), in +which the advantage was not with Egypt? Ramses III. had again to fight +with the Schasu, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Philistines (p. +164). But if Egypt had to take measures to keep off the shepherds and +the Syrians, they would hardly suffer doubtful subjects of the same +nation within their own borders; in the peace just mentioned it was +expressly stipulated that neither party should receive the subjects +coming to him from the other side (p. 153). Under such circumstances it +was necessary to take measures that the Hebrews should "not join with +the enemies," as the second text says.[621] The attempt had to be made +to settle and assimilate them, and make them Egyptians. The +fortifications from Pelusium to Heliopolis included just the region +allotted to the Hebrews. These works required hands to build them. There +was also the project of the canal from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf. As +the fortification surrounded Goshen, so the canal ran athwart it, from +Bubastis to the Lake of Crocodiles. If this canal, as well as the +fortifications, required a great number of hands--and naturally those +who were nearest would be first employed--the water brought by the canal +made it possible to change the pastures along the canal into arable +land, and to build cities upon it. From all this it is not improbable +that the oppression of which the Hebrews speak commenced under the reign +of Sethos I. continued under Ramses II, and was increased by the +building of those two cities. + +The tradition of the Hebrews maintains that the Hebrew nation arose in +Egypt; in that country the family became a nation. The Egyptians could +endure a tribe of shepherds on their borders, but not a powerful nation. +With seventy souls, according to the first text, Jacob came into Egypt, +and at the end of their sojourn the Hebrews, according to the same +authority, had increased to 600,000 men, besides women and +children.[622] Supposing the seventy to be a sacred number, and +reckoning into the total "a number of strangers," who according to the +revision joined the Hebrews, it is still quite impossible, even if the +tribe which, as we assume, exchanged the pastures of the south of Canaan +for those on the Nile about the middle of the sixteenth century numbered +its thousands at the time of the change, that they should have increased +to 600,000 full-grown men, _i.e._ to more than two millions of souls, +within the given period of something less than the 250 years, to which +the length of their settlement on the Nile will be shown to be limited. +Even if we assume that the strangers made up a third of the whole total, +this is impossible. At a much later time the number of the fighting men +among the Hebrews can scarcely be reckoned higher than from two to three +hundred thousand. Even if we regard the total as including the whole +population, and not confined to the fighting men, it still appears very +high. Granting, too, that an enumeration was not in itself impossible +(the Hebrews had long had before them the pattern of the enumerations in +Egypt), yet a closer examination shows, that the total is founded upon +an average of 50,000 souls for each of the twelve tribes. This total +therefore must be given up as a mere attempt to glorify the ancient +times.[623] The events which follow show that the Israelites did really +increase from a tribe to a nation under the protection of Egypt, and +could put in the field from fifty to sixty thousand warriors,--a growth +and increase which in their old pastures, the proximity of the far more +powerful Edomites, Hittites, Midianites, and Amalekites, could hardly +have allowed sufficient space. + +The twelve tribes, into which the nation of the Hebrews was divided, +were carried back to the sons of Jacob, who were thought to be their +ancestors. This fact has obviously influenced the number and position of +these sons in the tradition. The tribes which claimed to be the oldest +must have sprung from the oldest sons of Jacob; those who boasted of the +purest descent must have for their progenitors sons born in lawful +marriage; those whose blood was less pure were derived from sons born to +Jacob by the handmaids of his wives. We found above (p. 409) that Leah, +sprung from the true blood of the fathers, while yet in Haran, had borne +Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon. The oldest families +of the Hebrews were named after Reuben. These, "the sons of Reuben," +were "brave men who carried the sword and the shield, and drew the bow, +and were skilful in war;"[624] but even in later times they still +pursued the old pastoral mode of life in the mountain glades on the east +of Jordan, and hence had no important influence on the development of +the nation. This remarkable insignificance of the oldest tribe is +accounted for in the revision by a sin of the ancestor, who lay with +Bilhah, his father's handmaid.[625] According to the same prophetic +authority, Simeon and Levi also had done an unclean deed, and Judah had +once been equally guilty.[626] It is for his account of Judah only that +we must make this narrator entirely responsible. For the deeds of +Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, he has merely developed hints contained in the +"Blessings of Jacob," a poem of the time of the Judges, which he found +existing in the Ephraimitic text.[627] That poem says expressly that +Reuben, though the firstborn, was not to have the pre-eminence; and +Simeon and Levi, "because in their anger they slew a man, and in their +passion lamed a bull," were to be scattered in Israel, _i.e._ were to +have no district specially their own. In contrast to the tribes of +Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, this poem celebrated the tribe of +Joseph--under which name the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were +included--whose praise has been already given, and it brings into +prominence the tribe of Judah. The strength of the nation rested on the +tribes of Ephraim and Judah; they had done the best service at the +conquest of Canaan, and were the foremost in defending the land. The +tribe of Ephraim was first in battle, and it retained this superiority +for centuries. The tribe was not sprung from the oldest, but from the +most beloved son of Jacob, the late-born son of Rachel. Ephraim was the +younger of the two sons born to Joseph by the Egyptian woman, but Jacob +had placed his right hand on the head of the younger son, and said, "By +thee shall Israel bless."[628] Such is the account of the Ephraimitic +text. In the Judaean Jacob is made to say, "Ephraim and Manasseh shall be +as my two firstborn."[629] The fathers of the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, +Gad, and Asher were considered to have been born to Jacob by his +handmaids. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[604] Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 32. + +[605] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 273 ff. + +[606] Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 430; "AEgypt. und die Buecher Moses," s. +330, 323 ff. + +[607] Ebers, "AEgypt. und die Buecher Moses," s. 321, 322. + +[608] Above p. 196; Ebers, _loc. cit._ s. 347. + +[609] Lepsius, "Chronol." s. 382; Ebers, "AEgypten und die Buecher Moses," +s. 296; Lauth, "Moses," s. 77. + +[610] Exod. xii. 40. + +[611] Ebers, "Durch Gosen," s. 505 ff. + +[612] Generally only two or three. The longest genealogy is that of +Joshua: Ephraim, Beriah, Rephah, Telah, Tahan, Laadan, Ammihud, +Elishama, Nun (1 Chron. vii. 20 ff; cf. Numb. xxvi. 35; vii. 48; x. 22), +from which, if it were to be regarded as certain (Ewald, "Gesch. +Israel's," 1, 490, thinks that it is certain), it would follow that the +Hebrews were over 200 years in Egypt, assuming 25 years as the length of +a generation. + +[613] 1 Kings vi. 1. + +[614] Lepsius, "Chronolog." s. 365. On the possible twelve +representatives of those twelve generations, Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," +s. 190. + +[615] Exod. i. 11; Gen. xlvii. 11. + +[616] Exod. v. 6-11. + +[617] Exod. i. 7, 13, 14. + +[618] Chabas, "Melang. egypt." pp. 2, 42 ff. That _lutu_ means +"Egyptians," as Ebers ("AEgypt." s. 96) thinks, is by no means certain. + +[619] Ebers, "Durch Gosen." p. 494. + +[620] Lauth, "Moses," s. 1. + +[621] Exod. i. 10. + +[622] Exod. xii. 37. Numb. i. 46. + +[623] "With 600,000 men, besides the children," Exod. xii. 37, 38. +Numbers i. 22-46, enumerates 603,550 fighting men, who could take the +field, in the total sum, and in the totals for the several tribes, to +which must be added 22,000 male Levites, men and boys, Numb. iii. 39. +The question seems to me to be settled by Noeldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. +117). + +[624] 1 Chron. vi. 18. + +[625] Above, p. 409; Gen. xxxv. 22. + +[626] Gen. xxxiv. 13, 25-30, xxxviii. + +[627] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 280, n. 54. + +[628] Gen. xlviii, 20. + +[629] Gen. xlviii. 5; above, p. 425. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LIBERATION OF THE HEBREWS. + + +The oppression which, according to the Pentateuch, the Egyptians +exercised upon the sons of Jacob when settled in the land of Goshen, by +field-labour and tasks of building, may be regarded as a historical +fact. It is proved by the position of Egypt and her relations to her +neighbours on the north-east in the fourteenth century B.C., and it +agrees with the arrangements and aims entertained and carried out in +this border-land by Sethos I. and Ramses II. It must have been a +grievous burden for the Hebrews to pass from the easy life of shepherds +to the work of agriculture, and abandon the old life with their flocks. +In addition there were the heavy tasks of the fortifications, the canal, +and the new cities. Were they to give up the memory of their fathers, +and their attachment to their customary mode of life, in order to +perform taskwork for the Egyptians and become Egyptians? Was it possible +to escape this grievous oppression? How could they be freed from the +mighty power of the Pharaohs? Could the Hebrews, a peaceful nation and +without practice in war, venture to resist the numerous, disciplined, +and drilled armies of Egypt? + +The Hebrew tradition gives the following account of the liberation of +their forefathers, connecting it with the supposed command of Pharaoh to +throw into the Nile all the male children born to the Israelites, and to +allow the daughters only to live. The son of Levi, the son of Jacob, was +Kahath, and Kahath's son was Amram. Amram had a son born to him by his +wife Jochebed. When Jochebed saw that the boy was fair, she hid him for +three months; and when she could hide him no longer, she took an ark of +reeds and daubed it with resin and pitch, and placed the boy in it, and +put the ark in the reeds on the bank of the Nile, and the boy's sister +was placed near to see what would come to pass. Then Pharaoh's daughter +came with her maidens to bathe in the river. She saw the ark, and caused +it to be brought to her, and when she opened it the boy wept. It is one +of the children of the Hebrews, she said, and had pity on it. Then the +sister came and offered to find a nursing-woman from among the Hebrews, +and brought her mother. When the child grew up, Pharaoh's daughter took +him for her son, and called him Moses. One day Moses went out to his +brethren and saw their burdens, and when an Egyptian smote a Hebrew, and +Moses perceived that no one was at hand, he slew the Egyptian, and fled +before Pharaoh into the land of Midian. And as he rested at a well, the +seven daughters of Jethro came to water the sheep of their father, but +the other shepherd prevented them, and drove them away. Then Moses came +to their help, and watered their sheep, and their father Jethro took him +in, and Moses found favour in his eyes, and took Zipporah, one of his +daughters, to wife, and kept Jethro's sheep. After many days the king of +Egypt died, and the sons of Israel sighed by reason of their burdens; +and God heard their complaint, and thought of his covenant with +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses, as he was keeping the flocks of +Jethro, and led them behind the desert, and came to Mount Horeb, saw a +bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses +approached, and Jehovah spoke to him out of the bush, and said: I am the +God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; come not near; put thy shoes from off +thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. Then Moses +veiled his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Then Jehovah said: +I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I will deliver them. +Thou shalt go to Pharaoh and lead my people away to Canaan, to a land +flowing with milk and honey. Moses answered: O my Lord, I am not a man +of words; I cannot speak to the children of Israel, for I am dull of +speech and heavy of tongue. Go, said Jehovah, I will be with thy lips, +and will teach thee what to say; and Aaron thy brother, the priest, can +speak. Then Moses took his wife and his sons and put them upon the ass, +and turned back to Egypt, and Aaron his elder brother met him in the +desert. Moses told him the commands of Jehovah, and they gathered the +elders of Israel together, and the people believed their words. + +Then Moses and Aaron came into the presence of the king of Egypt, and +said: Let us go with our people three days' journey into the desert and +sacrifice to our God Jehovah, that He may not visit us with the +pestilence or the sword. The king answered: Would ye free the people +from their tasks? Go to your work. And he ordered the taskmasters and +the overseers to increase the work of the Israelites, and make their +service heavier, and to give them no more straw for their bricks, so +that they might be compelled to gather straw for themselves. But the +daily tale of bricks remained the same, and the chiefs of the +Israelites were beaten because they could not make up the sum. Then +Moses and Aaron went again to Pharaoh, and Aaron threw down his rod +before the king, and lo! it became a serpent. Then the wise men and +magicians of Egypt cast their rods down, and they also became serpents, +but Aaron's serpent consumed the rest. And Aaron stretched out his hand +over the waters of Egypt, and the water in the stream was turned into +blood, and the fish died, and the water became foul and noisome. But the +magicians of Egypt did the same by their art. Then Aaron stretched out +his hand over the stream, and the frogs came up over the fields, into +the houses, the chambers, the beds, the ovens and kneading-troughs. Then +Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to take away the frogs from him and his +land; he was willing to let them go. And the frogs died away out of the +houses, the courts, and the fields. But when Pharaoh was delivered he +hardened his heart, and would not let the Hebrews go. Then Aaron turned +the dust of the earth into flies, and Moses and Aaron took at Jehovah's +bidding ashes of the oven and sprinkled them in the air, and the dust of +the ashes became boils and blains, breaking out on man and beast, on the +magicians, and all the Egyptians. And Moses stretched out his hand to +heaven, and Jehovah caused it to thunder and hail, and fire came down, +and the hail smote all that was in the field, man and beast, and all the +herbs of the field; and all the trees were destroyed; only in the land +of Goshen there was no hail. And Moses stretched out his hand over all +Egypt, and Jehovah brought the east wind, and in the morning the east +wind brought swarms of locusts, and they ate up all that the hail had +left in the field: there was nothing green in the field and in the +trees. And Moses stretched his hand towards heaven, and there was a +thick darkness in the land of Egypt for three days. And now the king was +willing to let Israel go, but their flocks and herds must remain behind. +Moses answered that not a single hoof should remain, and went in wrath +from the presence of Pharaoh. But to the Israelites he said: At midnight +Jehovah will go forth and smite all the firstborn of Egypt, from the +firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the woman behind the mill, and +all the firstborn of cattle. But they were to slay a yearling lamb +without blemish for each household, and to eat it roast, with unleavened +bread and bitter herbs. With loins girded, with shoes on their feet, and +staff in hand, they were to keep the feast. With the blood of the lamb +they were to strike the door-posts and the lintel of their houses, that +Jehovah might see the blood and pass by their doors. In the morning +there was not a house of the Egyptians in which there was not one dead. +There was a great cry in Egypt, and the king called Moses and Aaron and +said: Depart with your people, your flocks, and your herds. + +Then the children of Israel set forth from Ramses to Succoth--600,000 +men on foot, besides children. And with them went a number of strangers, +and many flocks and herds. And they went from Succoth, and encamped at +Etham, on the edge of the desert; and from Etham they went to +Pihahiroth, and encamped over against Baalzephon. But Pharaoh was +grieved that he had let the people go from their service; he pursued +them with all his chariots, his horsemen, and his army, and found them +encamped on the sea at Pihahiroth, over against Baalzephon. But Moses +stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah caused the sea to go +back by a strong east wind through the whole night, and made the sea +into dry land, and the Israelites passed through the midst of the sea, +and the waters were a wall upon their right hand and a wall upon their +left. And the Egyptians pursued and came after them with their chariots +and their horsemen into the sea. Then Moses again stretched out his +hand, and the sea returned towards morning into its bed, and covered the +chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh, so that not one of them was left. + +And Moses and the children of Israel sang: I will sing of Jehovah, for +he is glorious; the horses and chariots he whelms in the sea; Jehovah, +the God of my father, will I praise. Jehovah is a man of war; Thy right +hand, O Jehovah, shatters the enemy. The chariots of Pharaoh and his +might he threw into the sea; his chosen charioteers were drowned in the +reed-sea. The floods covered them; like stones they sank in the pit. At +the breath of Thy nostrils the waters rose in a heap; the floods stood +like a bank; the floods ran in the midst of the sea. The enemy said: I +will pursue, and overtake, and divide the spoil; I will satisfy my lust +upon them; I will draw my sword, and destroy them with my hand. Thou +didst blow with Thy mouth, O Jehovah, and the sea covered them; they +sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like unto +thee, Jehovah?[630] + +The older text narrated in a simple manner, that the Hebrews multiplied +greatly in Egypt, and the Egyptians vexed them with heavy burdens, and +God heard their cry, and thought of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, +and Jacob. Then God spoke to Moses: he would take Israel for his people, +and lead them out of Egypt, and Moses spoke to the children of Israel, +but they did not listen to him. Then the command came to Moses to speak +to Pharaoh, and Aaron was to speak for him. Afterwards came the plagues +(to which the revision has added the hail, the locusts, and the +darkness),[631] the slaying of the firstborn, the march through the sea +as described.[632] The text of the tribes of Joseph is far better +instructed, or, at any rate, far more detailed in its account of Moses, +no less than in that of Joseph. To it belongs the command of Pharaoh to +slay the children of the Hebrews, the rescue of Moses, the history of +his youth, his flight into the desert, his connection with Jethro, the +appearance of God on Sinai, and certain traits in the dealings with +Pharaoh, and the direct action of God in the march through the sea and +the desert. + +Of both these narratives the tendency is the same, it is only more +strongly marked and broadly realised in the second. The God of the +Hebrews has pity on the sufferings of his people. He provides and +arouses their leader. To him and to Aaron he imparts the power of +working miracles which the magicians of Egypt can only imitate up to a +certain point. Yet the power of working miracles given to Moses and +Aaron is not enough to overcome Pharaoh. The decisive stroke is given by +Jehovah himself, inasmuch as he smites the firstborn among the Egyptians +of man and beast. And when Pharaoh hastens after the Hebrews Jehovah +causes the sea to retire before them, and finally buries Pharaoh and his +host under the returning waves. Thus has Jehovah led his people out of +Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. + +The narrative of the slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians and the +mode in which the Hebrews protected themselves from the visitation are +borrowed from the Hebrew ritual. We saw above that the firstlings of the +fruits, and "all that first opens the womb, man or beast," belonged to +the God of the Hebrews.[633] This firstborn must be sacrificed, or +ransomed by a vicarious sacrifice. In the spring the sacrifice of the +firstfruits was offered from an ancient period, and unleavened bread +eaten, as was usual with shepherds.[634] The spring, the time when +nature has borne anew, was also the right time to offer the sacrifice +for the redemption of the house. The head of the family at the spring +festival slew a lamb without breaking any bone, and with the blood he +smeared the lintel and door-posts. Hence the offering in the spring was +also the festival of redemption and purification--the passover, the +_passah_ of Jehovah, who had spared the house for the lamb. To this old +spring sacrifice, which was celebrated in the month Nisan, the first +month of the Hebrew year (it was the year of the Babylonians), at the +time of the full moon, when the sun was in the Ram, the first text has +already attached a historical background and meaning. It was in the +night following this sacrifice that the exodus from Egypt took place. +The unleavened bread of the ancient custom was explained by the haste of +the exodus; and as signs of the readiness to go forth, the girdle round +the loins, the shoes upon the feet, and the staff in the hand were +added to the old ritual; the smearing of the lintel with the blood was +done in order that the angel of Jehovah might distinguish the doors of +the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. Tradition turned the spring +festival and sacrifice into a feast of thanksgiving for the protection +of the firstborn of the Israelites while Jehovah carried off those of +the Egyptians, a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the nation out of +Egypt. + +The lofty calling of the man whom Jehovah summoned to be the instrument +of the deliverance is shown in the Ephraimitic text by the marvellous +fortune which attended him even in his earliest years. The daughter of +Pharaoh himself, disregarding her father's commands, rescues the boy, +brings him up, takes him for her son, and gives the name to the man who +is destined to liberate the Hebrews and bring so much misfortune upon +Egypt. Amid the kindness shown to him by the Egyptians Moses does not +forget the people to whom he belongs. The sight of the oppressions which +his people suffer kindles his heart. A rash action, by which he avenges +the ill-treatment of a Hebrew, compels him to fly into the desert. Here +he founds a family by taking a Midianitish woman, a daughter of the +desert, to wife. In the second text the father of his wife is called +Jethro, in the revision Reuel.[635] When he has begotten sons here, and +is advanced in years, his mission is revealed to him on the mountain of +God. In both texts he hesitates to undertake it, but finally carries it +resolutely to the end. + +As in the narrative of Joseph, so here, all that is said of Egypt agrees +with what we know from other sources of that country. As the Hebrews +were settled to the east of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, the locality +of the exposure in the meaning of the Ephraimitic text must be sought +in the neighbourhood of Tanis. We saw above that Ramses II. erected +considerable buildings in this district (p. 134). The name Moses, which +the king's daughter is said to have given to the rescued boy, may be +connected without violence with the Egyptian messu, _i.e._ the child. +The plagues too which tradition represents as coming upon Egypt are +suited to the nature of the land. Even now the water of the Nile becomes +at times red and disagreeable in smell; often after the inundation +swarms of frogs cover the fields, and at the same time myriads of +marsh-gnats and flies rise out of the mud, and locusts from time to time +in thick devastating swarms cover the fields in the valley of the +Nile.[636] Eruptions of the skin also occur after the inundation, and +sometimes grow into large boils. Storms of hail, though not entirely +unknown, are yet extremely rare in Egypt, and storms from the +south-west, which in the spring blow over the great desert, are one of +the worst plagues in Egypt; they bring with them violent heat and thick +dust, which darkens the sky. + +If we attempt to ascertain the historical value of these narratives, it +follows from the helpless position of the Hebrews in regard to the +Egyptians which we have already described, that the idea of rescuing +them from the dominion of Egypt could only have been entertained by a +resolute spirit, and the undertaking begun by a leader who was prepared +to make the highest venture in order to preserve the highest +prize--nationality and religion. Among the Hebrews there could be no +other thought but to leave the borders of Egypt in order to resume the +old mode of life in the deserts of Syria, and there to worship their +old God in the old manner. In harmony with the situation the Ephraimitic +text represents the resolution to make an exodus as growing up after +long hesitation and grave thought in the soul of a man who, owing to the +oppression of his people, had come into the sharpest conflict with +Egypt, had fled into the desert in order to save his life, and there had +again seen and lived the free life of the kindred tribes. If the Hebrews +intended to leave Egypt it was necessary to know certainly that the +tribes of the desert, or at least a part, would receive them, and that +they would not one and all oppose them. By combination with the +Midianites the conditions most needed for the exodus could be supplied. +If of the Midianites and the Amalekites, the desert tribes who dwelt +nearest to Egypt, the first were gained for the Hebrews, and from them +support, assistance, and alliance in repulsing an Egyptian attack might +be expected, then it was possible to hope for success in the venture. +The Ephraimitic text represents the Hebrews as choosing that moment for +carrying out the exodus in which there was a change of the succession in +Egypt, and it is obvious that a change of this kind, the commencement of +a new and perhaps contested dominion, secured better prospects for the +Hebrews than an established rule when obedience was unchallenged. + +According to the older text the Israelites gathered together near the +city of Ramses (Abu Kesheb) for the exodus. We have seen that this city +was built on the canal, nearly in the middle of the district allotted to +the Hebrews; it was therefore the natural place for meeting. From this +the Israelites took a southern direction towards the north-west point of +the Arabian Gulf, which is known to the Hebrews as the reed-sea. This +was the shortest way of reaching the deserts of the peninsula of Sinai +and the pastures of the Midianites, and on this line the Hebrews had the +Bitter Lakes at hand, from which could be obtained what water was +absolutely necessary. When they had passed Succoth, Etham, Pihahiroth, +and had reached the corner of the reed-sea, as the first text describes, +the pursuit overtook them, which Pharaoh had begun with a +hastily-collected force. Southward of the extreme point of the reed-sea, +in the neighbourhood of Suez, there are firths which can be crossed at +the ebb, especially if a strong north-east wind drives back the waves to +the south-west. By a strong east wind, blowing through the whole night, +Jehovah caused the sea to retire, and turned it into dry land; and the +water became a wall on the right hand and the left, as we learnt from +the oldest account. The extreme point of the reed-sea, _i.e._ the sea on +the left of the firth, is too deep to be crossed, on the right the wind +and the ebb kept the waters back.[637] Thus it was not in itself +impossible that the Hebrews reached the other shore, _i.e._ the +peninsula of Sinai, by passing through the firth and cutting off the +extreme point of the sea; and not impossible that the Egyptian army in +their eagerness to overtake the Hebrews, or afraid that the marshes at +the head of the sea would detain them so long that they could not come +up with them before the desert made pursuit very difficult, attempted to +cross the sea when the water had already returned. The narrative is +supported to some extent by the ancient song of victory (p. 446). This +song, it is true, cannot be proved to belong to that period, but it is +nevertheless of very ancient origin.[638] + +The account which the Egyptians and Manetho give of the exodus of the +Hebrews has been already related. According to it the Hebrews are impure +and leprous Egyptians whom Pharaoh had banished to the quarries east of +the Nile, and made to work there, like other Egyptians employed in that +task. That the Hebrews are Egyptians, and leprous Egyptians, in the +Egyptian tradition, need excite no astonishment; white leprosy was a +disease from which the Israelites frequently suffered. We cannot contest +the number of the lepers, which Manetho puts at 80,000, though we have +already seen that the Hebrews at the time of the exodus could hardly +have approached this number of men capable of work. The Hebrew tradition +in both texts represents the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the +descendants of Joseph and an Egyptian woman, as growing up during the +settlement in Egypt; the revision adds that a "number of strangers" left +Egypt with their forefathers. Moses, the leader of the lepers, is +described by Manetho as an Egyptian priest of Heliopolis, of the name of +Osarsiph. We saw that Heliopolis was the nearest centre of Egyptian +religious worship to the land of Goshen, and that the second text gives +the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis to Joseph to wife. According to +this text also Moses is brought up by the Egyptians, and the revision +calls him an "Egyptian."[639] Hence we can at once accept the statement +of Manetho that the leader of the Hebrews was skilled in the wisdom of +the Egyptian priests.[640] On the other hand the more detailed +narrative of Manetho is in itself far more improbable, more full of +contradictions and impossibilities, than the account of the Hebrews. It +does not agree with the tenor of Manetho's narrative when we find +Pharaoh giving over the fortified city of Avaris to the leprous +Egyptians whom he had banished to the stone quarries. In that city the +lepers rebel, there they make the priest of Heliopolis, Osarsiph, their +leader, and Osarsiph gives them the law, to worship no god, to eat the +most sacred animals, and to have dealings only with their confederates. +From hence he summons the Hyksos, who had been driven out of Avaris a +long time before, and had meanwhile built Jerusalem. Pharaoh goes with +an army of 300,000 of the best warriors of Egypt against the +conspirators, 80,000 unclean persons and 200,000 shepherds, yet turns +back voluntarily, and flies towards Ethiopia, while the confederates +desolate Egypt without pity for thirteen years. It is hardly credible +that a king of Egypt should abandon his kingdom without a struggle to +lepers and the descendants of the Hyksos. And if anyone is inclined to +assume that the Hebrews did actually combine, not with the supposed +Hyksos of Jerusalem, but perhaps with the Midianites, and conquer Egypt +and force the king into Ethiopia, and so rule over Egypt for thirteen +years--their tradition would not have forgotten or suppressed such a +glorious achievement of the nation, such a proof of the power of +Jehovah. Compared with this wholly purposeless exile of the king, the +account of the Hebrews seems far more credible--that Pharaoh did make +the attempt to stop the migration, but that the attempt was without +success. + +It remains to fix the date at which the Hebrews succeeded in escaping +from the dominion of Egypt, and resuming their old mode of life in the +deserts of Syria. It has already been proved that Sethos I. and Ramses +II. were the Pharaohs who oppressed the Hebrews; and it is in harmony +with the whole situation to assume that the attempt to escape from this +oppression would be made under a less powerful successor. If, as is +shown above (p. 159), the Pharaoh of Manetho, who banished the lepers +and retired before them, was Menephta, the son and successor of Ramses +II., it would be Ramses II. before whom Moses fled into the desert, and +after his death he would have returned and carried out against his son +the attempt he could not have ventured upon against so powerful a ruler +as Ramses II. Menephta's rule falls in the years 1322 to 1302 B.C. Hence +the exodus of the Hebrews must be placed in this period, about the year +1320 B.C.[641] The immigration into the land of Goshen, we found that we +might place about the year 1550 B.C. (p. 433). Hence they dwelt there +about 230 years, and this lapse of time corresponds pretty closely to +the eight generations which the table of the leader under whom the +Hebrews afterwards conquered Canaan gave for the sojourn in Egypt (p. +431). When the Hebrews, after retiring from Egypt, wished to give up the +peninsula of Sinai, and settle themselves in the east of Jordan, they +besought "the king of Edom," according to the second text, for a free +passage through his country. The first text knows and mentions eight +kings who had ruled over Edom "before kings ruled over Israel." As the +monarchy was established in Israel about the year 1050 B.C. (see below), +eight generations would carry us two centuries beyond the date of Saul, +king of Israel, if this list could be regarded as historical, but the +two first names in it seem of a mythical rather than a historical +kind.[642] + +The oldest accounts of western writers of the fortunes of the Hebrews +date from the time of the successors of Alexander of Macedon. They were +founded partly on accounts of the Egyptians, and partly on accounts of +the Hebrews themselves. The narrative of Hecataeus of Abdera, who was in +Egypt in the time of Ptolemy I., and wrote an Egyptian history, gives us +the most unprejudiced account, composed from the widest point of view, +and connects the emigration of the Hebrews, whom he does not consider +Egyptians, with the supposed emigration from Egypt to Greece. "Once, +when a pestilence had broken out in Egypt, the cause of the visitation +was generally ascribed to the anger of the gods. As many strangers of +various extraction dwelt in Egypt, and observed different customs in +religion and sacrifice, it came to pass that the hereditary worship of +the gods was being given up in Egypt. The Egyptians, therefore, were of +opinion that they would obtain no alleviation of the evil unless they +removed the people of foreign extraction. When they were driven out, the +noblest and bravest part of them, as some say, under noble and renowned +leaders, Danaus and Cadmus, came to Hellas; but the great bulk of them +migrated into the land, not far removed from Egypt, which is now called +Judaea, and was at that time without inhabitants. These emigrants were +led by Moses, who was the most distinguished among them for wisdom and +bravery. When he had settled in the land he built several cities, among +them Jerusalem, which is now the most famous. He also built the most +celebrated temples, taught the worship of the God, and the ritual, and +arranged the constitution, and gave laws. He divided the people into +twelve tribes, because this number is the most complete, and corresponds +to the number of the months which make up the year. The most handsome +men, who could also at the same time guide the united people best, he +made priests, and arranged that they should concern themselves with all +that was sacred, the religious worship and the sacrifices, and at the +same time he made them judges in the most important matters, and put +into their hands the preservation of the laws and customs. He erected no +images of the gods, because he did not believe that God had the form of +men; he rather believed that the heaven which surrounds the earth was +alone god and lord of all things. The sacrifices, too, and manner of +life he arranged unlike those of other people; owing to their own +banishment, he introduced among them a misanthropic and inhospitable +life. At the end of his laws is written: This Moses has heard from God, +and tells it to the Jews. This lawgiver also made provision for war, and +compelled the young men to exercise themselves in strength and +manliness, and the endurance of privations. He undertook campaigns +against the neighbouring nations, and divided the conquered land by lot, +and gave to the priests larger lots than to the rest. But no one was +permitted to trade with his lot, in order that none might from avarice +buy up the lots and drive away the more needy (by this is meant no doubt +the Hebrew year of Jubilee). He forced the people also to bring up their +children, and as it was possible to do this with little cost, the tribes +of the Jews were always numerous. About their marriages and their +burials he laid down quite different laws from those in use among other +nations."[643] + +When Antiochus Sidetes besieged Jerusalem in the year 134 B.C., and +began to treat with the city, the greater part of the counsellors of the +king (so Diodorus tells us) were of opinion that the Jews ought to be +destroyed, for of all nations they were the only one who had no +community with others, and contracted no marriages with them, and +regarded them all as enemies. Their forefathers had been banished out of +the whole of Egypt as godless men, and abhorred of heaven. At that time +all who had white leprosy, and scales upon the body, were collected as +being under a curse and sent over the border in order to purify the +land. The expelled persons had then gathered together and formed the +nation of the Jews; they had taken the districts round about Jerusalem, +and propagated their hatred of mankind. Hence they had adopted wholly +different laws from others. They were not to eat with strangers at one +table, or bear them any friendly feeling. When Antiochus Epiphanes +conquered the Jews (167 B.C.), he went into the innermost shrine of the +temple, which only the priests might enter, and there he found the stone +image of a man with a long beard, who was riding on an ass with a book +in his hand. This statue he took for an image of Moses, who had founded +Jerusalem, gathered the people together, and given the wicked and +misanthropic laws.[644] + +Strabo remarks that southern Syria "was inhabited by mixed tribes of +Egyptian, Arabian, and Phenician origin, but the prevailing legend of +the temple at Jerusalem called the ancestors of the Jews Egyptians. For +Moses, one of the Egyptian priests, who occupied a part of this land, +and was dissatisfied with his condition, removed from that country, and +many who worshipped the deity emigrated with him, and Moses told them +and taught that the Egyptians were not right in representing the +divinity as a wild or domesticated animal, nor the Libyans, nor were the +Hellenes wise in giving gods the form of men. For only the One was God +which surrounds us all and the earth and the sea, and who was called +Uranus and Cosmos, and the nature of things. How could any reasoning +creature venture to make an image which should truly represent this +nature? All making of images must be cast aside, a sacred place must be +marked off, and a temple erected, and prayers offered without any image. +In order to have fortunate dreams it was needful to sleep in the +sanctuary, and those who were wise and lived with justice could always +expect signs and gifts from God. By such doctrines Moses convinced not a +few men of reason, and led them to the place where Jerusalem now is. He +easily obtained possession of the land, because it was not sufficiently +valuable for anyone to fight vigorously for it. It is rocky, and the +district round the city is without water. At the same time he pretended +to take it for the sake of the sanctity of the place, and the deity for +whom he sought a dwelling, and established such a ritual and such +sacrificial customs, that the worshippers were not compelled to undergo +great expense, or vex themselves by any ecstasies, contortions of the +body, or vile occupation. As this was well received, Moses established +no unimportant dominion, for those who dwelt round about were induced by +his speeches and promises to join him. But at a later time superstitious +and even tyrannical men acquired the priesthood, and from superstition +the abstinences from food, circumcision, and mutilation and other things +of the kind became law, and are observed even to this day. The +capricious nature of the ruling power ended in robbery, for the +insurgents plundered the land. But those who were with the rulers +subjugated even the border territories, and conquered a good deal of +Syria and Phoenicia. Yet the fortress, which, instead of treating it +as a place of confinement they worshipped as a temple, retained a +certain dignity."[645] + +Better acquainted with the traditions of the Hebrews, Nicolaus of +Damascus tells us that Abraham came with an army out of Chaldaea, which +lies beyond Babylon, and ruled over Damascus. Not long after he again +set out from this place with his people, and established himself in the +land which was then called Chananaea, and afterwards Judaea. Here he dwelt +and his numerous posterity. "The name of Abraham is still praised in the +region of Damascus, and a village is pointed out which is called +Abraham's dwelling, after him."[646] This account, of which the +continuation in the writings of Nicolaus is lost, was used, as it +seems, by Trogus Pompeius. His account survives only in the excerpt of +Justinus. "The Jews," so we find in this excerpt, "derive their origin +from Damascus, the most famous city of Syria. This city took its name +from king Damascus, in whose honour the Syrians revered the tomb of his +wife Astarte as a temple, and worshipped her as a goddess in the most +sacred manner. After Damascus, Azelus reigned, then Adores, then +Abraham, and lastly Israhel. Israhel became more famous than his +predecessors, for he had ten sons to help him. So he left the nation +divided into ten kingdoms to his sons, and called them after the name of +Juda, who died after the division, Judaeans, and commanded that his +memory should be held in honour by all, because his share had profited +all the others. The youngest of the brothers was Joseph. The others were +afraid of his pre-eminent gifts, and secretly they got him into their +power, and sold him to foreign merchants. By these he was carried to +Egypt, and as he gave his mind eagerly to the magic arts of the place, +he was soon in high estimation even with the king. For he was the most +acute expounder of signs and wonders, and first founded the +interpretation of dreams. Nothing in divine or human ordinances seemed +hidden from him; he even foresaw the unfruitfulness of the land many +years before it came. The whole of Egypt would have been destroyed by +famine had not the king, at Joseph's suggestion, ordered corn to be laid +by for many years previously, and he gave such proofs of his wisdom that +his answers seemed to be those of a god and not of a man. His son was +Moses, who in addition to the inheritance of his father's wisdom, +received also great beauty of person. But at the bidding of an oracle +the Egyptians banished him, because they were afflicted with scab and +leprosy, with all the diseased persons beyond their borders, so that he +might not infect more. Chosen to be leader of the exiles, Moses took +from the Egyptians their sacred things. The Egyptians rose to recover +them by force of arms, but were compelled to return by storms. Then +Moses as he turned towards his old fatherland, Damascus, settled on +Mount Syna. As he came there with his people exhausted after seven days' +privations in the deserts of Arabia, he consecrated each seventh day a +fast for all time. After the manner of the people this day was called +Sabbata, because it had put an end to the hunger and wandering. And when +they remembered that they had been driven out of Egypt from fear of +contamination, they were careful that they should not be hated by the +inhabitants from the same causes and had no dealings with them, which +rule in time became a strict custom and religious observance. After +Moses, his son Arvas became priest of the Egyptian sacred things, and +was soon after chosen to be king. Since then it became a custom among +the Jews that their priests should be at the same time kings, and their +duties as judges, combined with the worship of the god, held the nation +uncommonly close together."[647] + +The most marvellous story is that of Lysimachus of Alexandria, who +brings down the exodus of the Jews to the eighth century B.C. "At the +time of king Bocchoris, unclean and leprous men had come into the +temples to beg for food. Hence there was a blight in the land; and +Bocchoris received a response from Ammon, that the temples must be +purified. The lepers, as if the sun were angry at their existence, were +to be plunged into the sea, and the unclean were to be driven out of the +land. Hence the lepers were tied to plates of lead, and thrown into the +sea; but the unclean were driven out helpless into the desert. These met +together in council; in the night they lit fires and lights, and called, +fasting, upon the gods to save them. Then a certain Moses advised them +to go through the desert till they came to inhabited regions, but at the +same time required them to show kindness to no man, to advise every one +for the worst, and to destroy all altars and temples upon which they +came. The exiles approved, and after many hardships came through the +desert to an inhabited land, and after treating the men cruelly, robbing +and burning the temples, they established a city Hierosyla +(temple-plunder) in Judaea, and afterwards, to lessen the disgrace, the +name was slightly altered into Hierosolyma (Jerusalem)."[648] + +Even this narrative was accepted and believed. Tacitus first enumerated +the different views of the writers on the origin of the Jews, in order +finally to agree in all essential points with the narrative of +Lysimachus. "According to the view of some," Tacitus says, "the Jews +were descendants of the Ethiopians, whom fear and disinclination +compelled, at the time of king Kepheus, to change their dwelling; others +say that a horde coming from Assyria gained possession of a part of +Egypt, and soon after passed into the neighbouring parts of Syria, and +inhabited the Hebrew land and cities." The latter statement obviously +confounds the immigration of the Hyksos and the Jews, and makes them a +mingled horde of Assyrians, but still is nearest the truth. "Others, +again," Tacitus continues, "are of opinion that under the rule of Isis +in Egypt, the number of men became too great, and the superfluous +multitudes were settled under the leadership of Hierosolymus and Judah +in the neighbouring lands. But most authorities agree that under king +Bocchoris a contagious disease raged in Egypt, and the oracle of Ammon +bade them purify the kingdom and remove the diseased persons out of the +land as a race hated by the gods. Hence the unclean were collected and +left behind in the desert. Amid their idle lamentations one of the +exiles, Moses, warned them that they had no assistance to expect from +gods or men, for they were abandoned by both, but they were to trust to +him as a heavenly leader by whose assistance they might be rescued from +their present calamities. To this they agreed, and in complete ignorance +struck out a path at random. The want of water distressed them most, and +almost at death's door they sank upon the ground, when a herd of wild +asses ran from the pasture to a rock covered with trees. Moses followed +them, and found copious streams of water. This saved them, and after a +march of six days they came on the seventh day to a region where, when +they had expelled the inhabitants, they founded a city and a temple. In +order to strengthen the nation and establish his own supremacy, Moses +gave them new customs, quite opposed to the usages of the rest of the +world. What we consider sacred, they regard as profane; and what is +permitted to us is forbidden to them. The image of the animal which had +shown them an escape from their wanderings, and put an end to their +thirst, they placed in the innermost shrine, after they had slain a ram. +in order, as it were, to throw contempt upon Ammon. They abstained from +swine's flesh in remembrance of the misery which the leprosy, to which +this animal is subject, had once brought upon them. The long hunger +which they then endured they still avow by frequent fasts; and as a +proof of the fruits once stolen, their bread is unleavened. On the +seventh day they rest, because the seventh day brought them to an end of +their labours; the seventh year also, induced by their laziness, they +have given up to inaction. Others are of opinion that this is done in +honour of Saturn, because Saturn completes the highest circle of all the +seven stars which rule the fortunes of men, and is of pre-eminent power, +and most constellations accomplish their influence and their orbits by +the number seven. + +"Other abominable customs have come into force owing to their vile +corruption. For all the worst of men, despising their hereditary +religions, brought money and contributions to them; and because among +them stiffnecked belief and ready assistance was to be found, and deadly +hatred towards the rest of the world, their power increased. They do not +eat with strangers or make marriages with them; and this nation, +otherwise most prone to debauchery, abstains from all strange women. +They have introduced circumcision in order to distinguish themselves +thereby; and those who have adopted their customs follow this practice. +The first lesson learnt by their youth is to hate the gods, to despise +their country, to disregard parents, children, and brothers. Yet they +take considerable care to increase their numbers. It is a sin to slay a +kinsman, and the souls of all slain in battle and by execution they +consider immortal. Hence they have a lively impulse to beget children, +and they hold death in contempt. The custom of burying the dead, +instead of burning them, they have borrowed from the Egyptians; on the +other hand, the Jews alone worship in the spirit a single deity, while +the Egyptians offer prayer to many animals and composite images. They +also consider it profane to make any images of God out of perishable +material in the form of men, for the deity is the Highest, the Eternal, +the Unchangeable and Imperishable. Hence in their cities and temples +there are no images. As their priests use the music of flutes and drums, +and wear crowns of ivy, and a golden vine was found in the temple, some +have thought that they worshipped the conqueror of the East, the god +Bacchus. But the rites are widely different. Bacchus inaugurated blithe +and merry festivals; but the customs of the Jews are absurd and +melancholy.[649]" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[630] Exod. xv. 1-11; cf. Joshua xxiv. 7. + +[631] Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 40. + +[632] Exod. i. 1-7, 13, 14; ii. 23, 24; vi. 2-7, 9-27; vii. 8-13, 19-22; +viii. 1-4, 12-15; ix. 8-11; xii. 1-23, 37, 40-51; xiii. 20; xiv. 8, 9, +15-17, 21-23, 29. + +[633] Exod. xiii. 2; xxii. 29, 30; xxxiv. 19, 20. "The firstborn of thy +sons thou shalt give to me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and +thy sheep. All that openeth the matrix is mine, all thy cattle that is +male. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem." Cf. Exod. xxx. +11-16. + +[634] Ewald, "Alterthuemer des Volkes Israel," s. 358 ff. + +[635] De Wette-Schrader. "Einleitung," s. 282, 284, 290. + +[636] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 46, 47. + +[637] Ebers. "Durch Gosen." s. 101 ff. + +[638] Noeldeke. "Untersuchungen," s. 47. According to De Wette-Schrader, +from the second text ("Einleitung," 283), verses 11-17 may be an +addition; verses 19-21 obviously come from the revision. + +[639] Exod. ii. 19. + +[640] Buedinger ("Akad. d. Wissenschaft zu Wien," Sitzung vom, 15 +October, 1873) regards Moses and Aaron as of Egyptian origin, as +Egyptian priests, and finds the tribe of Levi in the leprous Egyptians +who went out with the Hebrews. Lauth ("Moses der Hebraeer," and +"Zeitsch. d. d. M. G." 1871, s. 135 ff) inclines to recognise Moses in +the mohar, sotem (scribe) and messu of the papyrus Anastasi I., who +would thus have been one of the Egyptian scholars, and employed by +Ramses II. in matters of state and war. This view is opposed by Pleyte +("Zeitschr. f. aeg. Sprache," 1869, s. 30, 100 ff.); he reads the name +Ptah-messu. Lauth, at the same time, refuses to derive the name Osarsiph +from Osiris; he considers it to be Semitic, and explains it as +a-sar-suph, _i.e._ "rush-basket." + +[641] Lepsius, "Koenigsbuch der AEgypten," s. 117-150. Maspero objects +that Egypt in the time of Menephta was still too powerful for the +Israelites to carry out their exodus. Such a plan was possible for the +first time in the last years of Sethos II. (above, p. 150), or shortly +after his death ("Hist. Ancienne," p. 259). These considerations are of +too general a nature to allow any definite conclusions to be founded +upon them; and if Josephus or his copyist changed the Menephtes of +Manetho into the much better known Amenophis, or mistook one for the +other, a similar interchange cannot so easily be assumed for the names +Sethos and Menephtes. + +[642] Gen. xxxvi. 31-39; Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 87. + +[643] Diod. 40, frag. 3. + +[644] Diod. 34, frag. 1. + +[645] Strabo, p. 760, 761. + +[646] Fragm. 30, ed. Mueller. + +[647] Justin. "Hist." 36, 2. + +[648] Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 34. + +[649] "Hist." 5, 2-5. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HEBREWS IN THE DESERT. + + +The fortunes and achievements of the Israelites after leaving Egypt and +escaping the pursuit of the Egyptians, are narrated in the second, +third, and fourth books of the Pentateuch in the following manner. From +the reed-sea the Israelites marched into the wilderness of Shur, and for +three days found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink +the water there, because it was bitter. Then Jehovah showed Moses a +piece of wood, and he threw it into the water, so that the water became +sweet. From Marah they came to Elim, where were twelve wells and seventy +palm-trees, and they encamped there by the water. From Elim they came +into the wilderness of Sin, and the people murmured against Moses, +because there was no food to be found; but at evening Jehovah caused +swarms of quails to rise which covered the camp, and in the morning +manna had fallen, which lay like hoar frost upon the ground, and the +people were allowed to gather manna for six days, but on the seventh +they were not allowed to gather it. And Israel set forth from the +wilderness of Sin and encamped at Rephidim. There there was no water to +drink, and the people were angry with Moses; but Jehovah said to Moses: +Take thy staff with which thou didst smite the Nile; thou shalt smite +the rock, and the water shall flow forth. And Moses did so before all +Israel, and they called the name of the place Massah and Meribah. And +Amalek came and strove with Israel in Rephidim, and was smitten down +with the edge of the sword. And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the +father-in-law of Moses, came and advised Moses to choose valiant men for +his helpers, as overseers over the people and judges for the matters of +smaller moment. And Moses did so. + +In the third month after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set forth +from Rephidim, and came into the desert of Sinai, and encamped over +against the mountain. The people were commanded to purify themselves and +wash their garments, and Moses forbad any one to approach the mountain. +On the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, +and a thick cloud stood upon the mountain, and there was a mighty sound +of trumpets. And all the people heard the thunder and saw the flames and +the smoking mountain, and the mountain quaked, and all trembled. But +Moses led them to meet Jehovah at the foot of the mountain. And Jehovah +came down to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. For forty days +and forty nights Moses was on the mountain, and Jehovah revealed to him +his laws, and the finger of God wrote them on two stone tables. And +Jehovah spoke to Moses out of the darkness, and told him all the +ordinances which he should lay upon the people. But the cloud covered +the mountain, and the glory of Jehovah was a consuming fire on the top +of the mountain. + +When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, +the people said to Aaron: We know not what has happened to the man who +led us out of Egypt; make us a god to go before us. And Aaron said to +them: Take off the golden rings which are in the ears of your wives, +your daughters, and your sons. They brought him the rings, and he made +of them a golden calf, and built an altar before the calf. Then they +said: That is the god, who led us out of Egypt; and Aaron caused a +festival to be proclaimed to Jehovah, and they brought a thank-offering +to the calf, and the people ate and drank and stood up to dance. But +when Moses came down from the mountain with the stone tablets in his +hand, and heard the singing and shouting, and saw the calf and the +dancing, his anger was kindled. He cast the tables out of his hand, and +broke them at the foot of the mountain, and took the calf, and burned it +with fire, and ground it to dust, and strewed it on the water, and made +the children of Israel drink it. And Moses came into the entrance of the +camp and cried: Come to me, all who belong to Jehovah. Then the +descendants of Levi gathered round him. Take everyone his sword at his +side, he said to them; go from one gate of the camp to the other, and +slay every man his brother, his friend, and his neighbour. And there +fell on that day about 3,000 men of the people. + +On the next morning Moses said: Ye have sinned a great sin; I will go up +to Jehovah, perhaps I can appease him for your sin. And Jehovah said to +Moses: Hew two stone tables like the others, and be ready in the +morning, and appear before me on the top of the mountain. And Moses was +there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights, and ate no bread, and +drank no water, and he wrote on the tables the ten commandments. Then he +came down with the two tables of the law in his hand, and told the +people the commandments which Jehovah had given him, and the laws; and +the people answered: All that Jehovah has commanded we will do. Then +Moses built an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes. And the +young men slew burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, and the half of the +blood Moses sprinkled on the altar, and with the other half he sprinkled +the people, and said: This is the blood of the covenant which Jehovah +makes with you over all laws. + +Then Moses set up the tent of the assembly for a sanctuary of Jehovah, +that He might dwell in their midst, as Jehovah had commanded, with +planks of acacia wood on silver feet, and fastened them with silver +bars; and on them he placed a cover of woven cloth of byssus, of a +purple colour, and over this a second roof of red sheep-skins and +seal-skins, and divided the tent by a curtain of blue and red purple, +and carmine, and byssus, with cherubs woven upon it. And in the tent +behind the second curtain he placed the ark of the law, as Jehovah had +commanded, of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and placed the law +in the ark. Then Moses made a table of acacia wood, overlaid with pure +gold, and placed bowls of pure gold upon it for the drink-offerings, and +laid the sacrificial bread upon the table. And he made a candlestick of +pure gold, with seven lamps, three on the one side and three on the +other side of the candlestick. Then he made the altar of incense of +acacia wood, overlaid with gold; and the altar of burnt sacrifice of +acacia wood, as Jehovah commanded, and overlaid it with copper; and made +the curtains for the court and the poles for the curtains of copper. The +Israelites brought what was necessary for the erection and adornment of +the shrine, and gave their nose-rings, ear-rings, seals, and ear-drops. +And Moses made Aaron and his sons priests, and anointed the altars and +all utensils with holy ointment, and sanctified the fire on the altar, +and offered burnt-offerings. But two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, +brought strange fire before Jehovah; then fire went forth from Jehovah +and consumed them, and they died before Him. And the glory of Jehovah +filled His habitation, and the cloud covered the tent of assembly; and +when the cloud rose, the children of Israel set forth, and by night +there was fire in the cloud. + +In the second year after the exodus from Egypt, in the second month, on +the twentieth day of the month, the cloud rose from the dwelling of the +law, and the children of Israel set forth on their march out of the +desert of Sinai, from the mountain of Jehovah, and they went three days' +journey, and the cloud halted in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah +bade Moses send men to search out the land of Canaan--one for each tribe +from among the leaders. And from Ephraim Moses sent Joshua the son of +Nun; and from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Then the +twelve princes set forth at the time of the first grapes, and came to +Hebron and to the valley of Eshcol, and there cut a bunch of grapes and +a vine, and carried them on a pole between two; and they also took of +the pomegranates and the figs. After forty days they returned, and said +to the people: The land into which you sent us flows with milk and +honey, and these are its fruits. But the people is mighty, and their +cities are large and fortified, and Amalek dwells in the land to the +south, and the Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell on the +mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and on the side of +Jordan. And Caleb said: We will go up and overpower them; but the others +said: We cannot go up against that people, for they are mightier than +we; and the sons of Israel cried: Why should we fall by the sword, and +our wives and children fall into the hand of the enemy; is it not better +to return to Egypt? Then Jehovah said to Moses: All those who have +murmured against me shall not enter into the land wherein I have lifted +up my hand to cause you to dwell. Your bodies shall lie in the desert, +save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun; and your +children shall pasture their flocks in the desert forty years: forty +years shall my face be turned from you. And Moses told these words to +the children of Israel. But the Israelites ventured to rise up and went +to the heights of the mountains on the way towards Atharim. But the +Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt on the mountains came down and smote +them, and scattered them as far as Hormah. + +And Korah of the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of +Reuben, and two hundred and fifty of the foremost men, heads of families +and officers of the community, assembled themselves against Moses and +Aaron, and said: Why do ye lift yourselves up against the people? And to +Moses they said: Is it not enough that thou hast led us out of Egypt, to +slay us in the desert? Wilt thou also make thyself a ruler over us? But +the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up. On the next morning +the people murmured in the assembly against Moses and Aaron, and said: +Ye have slain them. But Jehovah said to Moses: Go out from this company; +I will destroy them suddenly. Then the plague began. At Moses' command +Aaron took the censer of incense and offered incense to purify the +children of Israel; and he stood between the living and the dead, and +the plague was stayed. But there died fourteen thousand and seven +hundred. + +The children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, and Moses sent +messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Let us pass through thy land; we +will go along the highway, and turn neither to the right hand nor to the +left. But Edom went to meet them with mighty hosts and a powerful hand, +and Israel retired before him, and went from Kadesh to Mount Hor, and +from Mount Hor to the reed-sea. Then the people became impatient on the +way, and murmured against Moses, and Jehovah sent the serpents, the +saraphs, among the people, and many died. Then the Israelites saw that +they had sinned, and Moses prayed for the people and made a serpent of +copper, and set it up on a pole, and all who were bitten by the serpents +and looked upon the image of copper were saved. From the reed-sea the +Israelites went again to the north, towards Oboth and Beer, to the well +which the princes dug. Then Israel sang: "Rise up, O fountain, meet him +with songs; O well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people +hollowed out with their sceptre and their staves." And from Beer they +went to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to Pisgah, which rises over the desert. +And Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in his city at Heshbon, +gathered all his people and went to meet Israel in the desert, and came +towards Jahaz, and strove with Israel. Then Israel smote him with the +edge of the sword, laid waste the land, and took the cities. And Israel +sang: "Fire went forth from Heshbon, and flames from the city of Sihon; +we shot at them, we laid waste the land to Nophah, we burnt it with +fire to Medeba." Then the Israelites turned and went up against Og, the +king of the Amorites of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth Karnaim, and smote +him at Edrei, and his sons and all his people, and his cities were +taken, and not a fugitive escaped. From Bashan Israel went southwards, +and encamped in the plains of Moab at Shittim; and they began to commit +whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and served Baal Peor. And Phinehas, +the grandson of Aaron, pierced with his spear Zimri, a captain of the +tribe of Simeon, as he lay with a Midianitish woman, and slew both with +one thrust through the belly. And Jehovah said to Moses: Go up to Mount +Abarim and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel, +and when thou hast seen it, thou shalt be gathered to thy people. Take +Joshua, the son of Nun, and lay thy hand on him, and place him before +Eleazar the priest (the son of Aaron), and before all the people, so +that all may obey him; and Eleazar shall inquire of Jehovah for him, and +as he commands he shall go out and in. And Moses did as Jehovah +commanded. And the sons of Reuben and Gad said to Moses: The land which +Jehovah has smitten before Israel is a land for flocks, and thy servants +have flocks; and to them, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses gave +the land of Gilead. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to the top +of Pisgah, over against Jericho, and Jehovah caused him to see the whole +land from Gilead to Dan, and from Jericho to Zoar. And there Moses died, +a hundred and twenty years old. But his eyes were not dim, nor had his +strength forsaken him. The Israelites mourned for Moses thirty days in +the plains of Moab, and henceforth there was no prophet in Israel like +Moses; and to this day no man knows the grave of Moses. + +In those portions which deal with the abode and fortunes of the Hebrews +in the desert, the two texts were less closely combined, and the +contradictions are more numerous, than in the other parts. The two +narratives are interpolated each into the other, and the additions of +the reviser are more prominent than elsewhere. An ancient record, +embodied in the first text, gives a list of the places where the +Israelites pitched their tents between Egypt and the Jordan. The +statements do not agree with the narrative in its present condition. In +the first text the Midianites manifestly dwell to the east of the +Jordan. It represents the Israelites as taking vengeance upon them, +because they had seduced Israel to a heathenish ritual; first by the act +of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, whose seed in consequence received +"the everlasting covenant of the priesthood," and then by the war which +cost the Midianites a vast booty of sheep, oxen, asses, and thousands of +prisoners.[650] In the Ephraimitic text the Midianites dwell on Sinai; +hither Moses fled to the Midianites from Egypt; he married the daughter +of the priest of the Midianites, and stands in most friendly relations +with them. This text represents the seduction of the Israelites as the +work not of the Midianites, but of the Moabites; and subsequently +narrates the victories over the Moabites of Heshbon and Bashan. How the +first text described the conquest of the land of Gilead we cannot any +longer ascertain; that it dealt with the subject is beyond +question.[651] + +The setting up of the golden calf at Sinai is inconceivable in the +connection in which the narrative places it. While Jehovah's glory is +visible on Sinai, and proclaims itself in thunder and lightning, would +the people, and Aaron at their head, have required an image of God, and +offered prayer to it? When after the death of Solomon the ten tribes +founded their independent kingdom Jehovah was worshipped among them in +the form of a bull, in contrast to the worship of the kingdom of Judah. +To stigmatise this worship, wherein priests of the family which claimed +to be derived from Aaron may have taken part from the first, as +objectionable, the prophetic revision has interpolated the adoration of +the golden calf and the punishment of such idolatry; and from this the +second ascent of Sinai by Moses came into the narrative. The account of +the saraphs and the setting up of the brazen serpent belongs to the +Ephraimitic text.[652] At Jerusalem there was a serpent of brass, which +was thought to have come down from Moses.[653] + +It was the fixed belief of the Hebrews that it was only by the immediate +help of Jehovah that their forefathers had been able to escape the power +of Egypt. And this was not the only thing done for their fathers; they +had afterwards gained abodes to the east and west of the Jordan, and +from the wilderness they had come into a land flowing with milk and +honey. Here, also, the help of Jehovah had been shown forth mightily for +his people, against the old and powerful cities, and the mountain +fortresses of Canaan. Obviously Jehovah had delivered his people out of +Egypt, in order to give them this beautiful and rich land for a +dwelling. But why had he not at once led them thither? Why did the +Israelites remain so long in the miserable wilderness? The +Israelites--so the first text explains this delay--received the account +of the spies with fear. This cowardly generation, therefore, must die +out. We saw above that the Hebrews reckoned the length of a generation +at forty years, and so the first text puts the sojourn in the desert at +forty years. We shall see below that this period is too short by some +decads of years. Moses and Aaron also did not reach Canaan, because, as +the first text says, "they sinned against Jehovah at the water of +strife, at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Sin," because "they rebelled +against his command at the water," an obstinacy which cannot be any +longer found in the revised narrative of this occurrence.[654] If Joshua +and Caleb are exempted from this decree, if they alone reach Canaan, it +was certain that Joshua had undertaken and carried out the attack upon +Canaan, that Caleb conquered Hebron and subjected the surrounding +district; his descendants were living there even in David's time in +princely wealth. + +In the desert also Jehovah had taken care of his people; he had not +allowed them to perish there; he had sent quails and given them manna. +Even now long lines of quails pass over the Syrian steppes and the +wilderness of Sinai, and in the neighbourhood of Firan, manna, i.e. the +juice running from the branches and leaves of the tamarisk, is still +gathered.[655] Nor had Jehovah allowed water to fail in the midst of the +desert. Moses changed a bitter spring into sweet water. The story rests, +no doubt, on the name of the spring. Marah means bitter. At another +spring of the name of Meribah, _i.e._ strife (here Jehovah bade the +rocks give water), the rebellion of Moses and Aaron is said to have +taken place. The well of Beer, which the princes dug, cannot be any +other than the well of Beer Elim, _i.e._ the well of the strong,[656] +and the song which tradition connects with this place (p. 473) is +certainly very old, if not contemporary. + +The law made known to Moses on Sinai forms the main portion of the +second, third, and fourth books of the Pentateuch. It not only contains +the fundamental moral rules, the ordinances of the law of family and +blood-feud, and the rubrics for the national worship; it is rather a law +for the priesthood, given in systematic detail, which fixes their +position, rights, and honours, the dress of their office, and the fees +for the sacrifice--a wide collection of regulations for the ritual of +sacrifice, descending into the smallest minutiae, the place of worship, +the instruments of sacrifice, the celebration of festivals, and the +arrangement of life in the future dwellings of the tribes. Could tribes +wandering in the desert have made rules for the celebration of the +festivals of sowing, of harvest, and of the vintage? Could they have +settled what part of the produce of the field should be given to the +priests, and how they should deal with the fallow time of the seventh +year of rest, and the reversion of the alienated land in the year of +Jubilee? Could dwellers in tents make regulations about receiving the +stranger in their gates, about cities of refuge and cities of the +Levites? And even if this had really taken place, how are we to explain +the fact that whole groups of arrangements for worship and life which +these laws prescribe were demonstrably not in existence among the +Hebrews in the centuries following their wandering? Laws are never +created except in connection with definite circumstances; no lawgiver +can anticipate the relations which the future will bring into +existence, and answer, _a priori_, the questions which will then arise. + +It is therefore beyond doubt that views and tendencies of later +development and the results of a long course of growth have been +transferred to early times, the times of the exodus from Egypt. Those +early days had been an era of original piety, and the time of the exodus +had been a period in which the God of the fathers had guided and led +them with a mighty hand, in which he had announced to them his will +directly and without deception. The condition of religious service and +life, therefore, which was held to be the true and proper kind must have +been prescribed in those early days and have existed then; the ideal +after which men were to strive, and in the pursuit of which every +hindrance was to be removed, must have already existed in those days of +direct divine guidance. Thus ordinances and usages which arose +successively after the settlement in Canaan, were amalgamated with older +customs and rules, and united into one system, which seemed to the +priests the necessary system, appointed by God and pleasing to him. The +position which the first text ascribes to Aaron, and which the laws +attached to that text, give to the priests and Levites the prominence of +a centralised, rich, and even splendid ritual, and of a single place for +the worship of Jehovah, display the tendency which was active in the +priesthood, to concentrate the worship of Jehovah on a single spot, and +to obtain power in the state for the chief priests. The gorgeous +tabernacle erected near Mount Sinai with the portable altars for burnt +sacrifice and incense, the implements of sacrifice and the candlestick +of seven branches, can only have been taken from the tabernacle erected +by David, and afterwards from the temple of Solomon and its glory, the +sacred pattern of which ought to be recognised in the movable sanctuary +already erected by Moses on Mount Sinai. At the same time the rich +adornment of this pattern by the voluntary offerings of the Israelites +proved how ready the nation was at that time to honour their God and +dedicate their property to him. For these descriptions there was a +historical foundation in the fact that the Israelites had carried their +national sanctuary, the sacred ark, the Ark of the Covenant, into the +desert, that it had been placed under a movable tent, and before the +tent the heads of the tribes and the nation had gathered for sacrifice +and counsel. In the position of Aaron and his family we have a pattern +which brings clearly into light the attributes and advantages, the +rights and honours, which belonged to the chief priests and priests in +contrast to the Levites or servants of the temple. The fearful +punishments which awaited offences against ritual and neglect of the +priestly rules were strongly marked. Even two sons of Aaron, Nadab and +Abihu, die because they approach Jehovah with unconsecrated fire; and +when the Levite Korah, and Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben, +rebel against Moses and Aaron, they were swallowed up by the earth, and +Jehovah smites the people who follow them.[657] It is the ideal picture +of the priesthood, and arrangement of the Church, which those laws +exhibit, and transfer to that mighty time when Jehovah spoke to the +Israelites through Moses. + +The intention of the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt could not at +first go further than the attempt to escape from the dominion of Egypt, +and resume the old free life in the desert. That the line of march at +first attempted to pass along the western shore of the reed-sea, and +reach the south of the peninsula of Sinai, in order to get as far as +possible from Egypt, place the whole length of the protecting arm of the +sea between the emigrants and Egypt, and reach the pasture lands of the +apparently friendly Midianites, corresponds to the situation. Nor can it +in any way surprise us that the Amalekites, as the Ephraimitic text +states, opposed the Hebrews, _i.e._ contested the possession of the +pasture-lands and oases of the wildernesses of Shur and Paran, with the +new-comers. The Israelites obtained the victory. So they arrived at +Sinai, the sacred mountain of the wilderness of Sin. Between the two +bays with which the sea encloses this peninsula, that mountain rises, a +naked granite ridge, with five steep peaks, united into a mighty crown, +above the plateau of sandstone which occupies the whole peninsula. The +height is 8,000 feet, and the wild and rugged mass overlooks in sublime +solitude the broad and desert flats in the north, and the waves of the +sea in the south. The beautiful oasis at the foot of the mountain (Wadi +Firan) affords nourishment for a large number of men and beasts.[658] On +the old and sacred mountain the Israelites might believe that they +approached nearer to their deity; that here thanksgiving and sacrifice +for their happy deliverance could best be offered to him. Then the +Israelites would pasture their flocks on the slopes and glades of the +peninsula. But they may have found but scanty food beside the flocks of +the Midianites, and the security from Egypt would be greater, if they +removed to a greater distance from that country. On the southern +borders of Canaan, at Kadesh and Hormah, they sought better pastures. +Yet they were driven back, and pursued as far as Hormah. After this +misadventure, the Israelites, according to the Ephraimitic text, +besought the king of Edom to allow them a peaceful passage through Edom, +"on the road of the king, they would not turn either to the right or the +left." Hence the defeat must have been a serious one.[659] The object of +this march through Edom can only have been to find new pasture-lands in +the Syrian steppes beyond Mount Seir on the east. The wide extent of the +Syrian desert would certainly supply sufficient pastures, and the +distance from the Nile was a good protection from Egypt. As the Edomites +refused the demand, and showed themselves prepared to resist the march +by force of arms, the Israelites did not venture to give battle; they +preferred to retire to the south, and make a long circuit round the +territory of the Edomites, by marching through the whole length of the +valley of Arabah southward to Elath, as far as the north-east point of +the reed-sea. From this point they passed to the other side of Mount +Seir, past Punon and Oboth, towards the Arnon, which falls into the Dead +Sea. If they could at first maintain themselves on the east, in the +desert, the uplands on the left bank of the Jordan were far better than +the steppes of the desert. The arms of the Israelites were here more +fortunate than on the other side of the Dead Sea. The Amorites of +Heshbon, eastward of the Dead Sea, were defeated at Jahaz, and their +cities taken. The song which celebrates this victory (p. 473) is old, +and above suspicion. From this point, out of the newly-conquered land, +from the top of Pisgah--a mountain near Heshbon--Moses is said to have +seen the promised land. A second victory over the Amorites lying to the +north beyond the Jabbok, the people of Edrei and Ashtaroth Karnaim, +opened ample pasture-lands to the Israelites, and also some well-watered +valleys on the wide plateau to the east of the Jordan. Their territory +now reached from the Arnon northwards to the Jarmuk. Here the nation +remained; the greater part tended their flocks as hitherto, the lesser +part applied themselves to agriculture in exceptionally fruitful +valleys. + +Though a peaceful race of shepherds and unused to arms, the Hebrews had +bidden defiance to the strong arm of Pharaoh; with bold resolution they +had successfully delivered themselves from a cruel slavery; and had +preserved their freedom, their national character, and their religion. +Beyond the borders of Egypt and the reed-sea, the lively perception of +their liberation, and the recovery of their ancient mode of life, and of +the visible protection of their God, must have aroused a mighty impulse, +especially in their great leader. It was a moment of great elevation. +Together with the valley of the Nile, they had left behind the gods of +Egypt; and they returned to the worship of their old deity with +strengthened and deepened feelings. Thus on Sinai Moses could inculcate +the exclusive worship of Jehovah--a worship without images--and the +consecration of the seventh day.[660] These were commands consciously +and diametrically opposed to the multitude of Egyptian gods, the variety +of their forms and modes of worship, and the times of their festivals. +In connection with these commands, and the customs of sacrifice in use +among the Israelites, regulations were given for purification, and +rules, telling how to proceed at the erection of altars, at +purifications and expiations, at burnt-offerings, thank-offerings, and +offerings of corn and meal; rules which were preserved and developed in +the family of Aaron.[661] Even for the establishment of this ritual the +contrast to the Egyptian was not without influence. This contrast was in +fact so strong that what was best in the Egyptian religion--the belief +in the existence of the soul after death, and in its awaking from death +to a new life, was not adopted by the Israelites. Of the care shown to +the corpses of the dead in Egypt, we find no trace. + +We saw what a long series of moral rules were set up in Egypt. For his +people Moses collected the foundations of moral and religious law into a +simpler, purer, deeper, and more earnest form, in the Ten +Commandments.[662] In connecting the moral law with the worship of +Jehovah, its inseparable foundation, and setting it up with passionate +earnestness as the immediate command of the God of Israel, Moses +imparted to his people that character of religious earnestness, and +ethical struggling, which distinguishes their history from that of every +other nation. With the decalogue were connected the regulations for +peace in the nation, the law of the family, and the avenging of blood. +One who curses father or mother must be put to death. One who strikes +father or mother must be put to death. One who strikes a man so that he +dies must be put to death. One who has slain a man without intention, by +misadventure, must flee to the altar. But if anyone sins against another +so as to slay him by craft, thou shalt take him from the altar that he +may die. If men strive with one another, and one is injured, thou shalt +give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot for foot, burn +for burn, bruise for bruise. If any man strike his man-servant or his +maid-servant with his staff, and they die under his hand, vengeance must +be taken. If thou buyest a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and +in the seventh he shall go free. The long service in Egypt was still +held in lively remembrance.[663] + +Just as the ordinances of Moses for religious worship again brought into +prominence the ancient customs of the Hebrews, purified and developed +them, so his regulations for peace, for revenge, and expiation, for +injury to the person, and theft, were connected with ancient customs of +the children of Jacob, which could hardly have been entirely forgotten +in Egypt. As Moses attached his law to the old customs, permeating them +with the depth of his own ethical point of view, a certain stock of +sayings must have been formed, which were preserved and further +developed by the decisions of the heads of the tribes, the leaders of +families, and the elders and the priests. The code in Exodus is taken +from an old document, though apparently first inserted by the +revision.[664] + +The Israelites had risen from a tribe into a nation, which stood in need +of organisation when it was no longer under Egyptian dominion. This +arrangement must be founded upon the connection of families and races, +on respect for the tie of blood, and reverence for age. No other +political division was known but community of family and descent. +Affinities and races were in existence which carried back their origin +to one patriarch, they followed the head of the oldest family, from whom +the rest were derived, or thought that they were derived, and usually +obeyed his decision. Some of these races carried their pedigree back to +Jacob and his sons. After the pattern of these connections, and by +adopting and adding to them, the whole nation was brought into ties of +relationship. Strangers and families without a name must have here been +in part allotted to the affinities already in existence, and partly +formed into new corporations, and new affinities, so that in the total +there were some seventy groups of families. Those derived from the old +stocks, who carried their origin back to the same son of Jacob, formed +together a large community, or tribe, and were accustomed to obey the +nearest descendant of the patriarch, the son of his oldest son, from +first-born to first-born, and thus the head of the oldest family in the +whole community, as their tribal prince and leader by birth. In the same +manner, also, the new groups of families became amalgamated into tribes, +and older families were put at their head as chiefs of the tribe, in +such a manner that from three to ten groups of families formed a +tribe.[665] Thus twelve tribes were formed. Even the nations most +closely allied to the Hebrews, the Nahorites, and Ishmaelites, were +divided into twelve tribes; the Edomites were apparently divided into +sixteen. The tribes already in existence were derived from definite +progenitors, the sons of Jacob; and also for the new tribes one of the +sons of Jacob, the number of whom has thus been fixed, was allotted as a +patriarch. Reuben, Simeon, and Judah, were Jacob's eldest sons, borne by +Leah his first wife in lawful marriage. From these three the oldest +groups were derived. With the tribes of Issachar and Zebulon families +were connected, whose antiquity did not go so far back, and thus +Issachar and Zebulon were held to be younger sons of Jacob by the same +wife. The tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, were not considered +equally pure; perhaps because additional families had been incorporated +in them: hence, as we saw, their progenitors are said to be the sons of +Jacob by his handmaids. The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, +are marked as of later origin by the fact that they are carried back to +Jacob and Rachel; and if Joseph begot his sons Ephraim and Manasseh with +the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, this leads to the conclusion +that the families incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh +had grown up in Egypt, and had Egyptian blood in their veins. But +Ephraim was at the same time the strongest tribe, which in numbers and +bravery outstripped the rest, and the later origin is compensated by the +importance of Rachel and Joseph. The Egyptian element which Ephraim and +Manasseh introduced among the Hebrews cannot have been of any +importance, for neither the language nor the ideas of the Hebrews +incorporated elements from Egypt. Only a few external touches in the +dress of the priests can be carried back with certainty to Egyptian +influence. Of the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh is the elder, Ephraim the +younger. Hence the groups of families incorporated into the first, must +have been considered the older, or the tribe of Manasseh must at one +time have had precedence of Ephraim, which may have been the case about +the time of Gideon. + +If in the place of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, two grandsons are +adopted into the number of the patriarchs, room is made by excluding +Levi, a son of Jacob's first marriage, from the series of the tribes. +Tradition places him among the oldest sons, between Simeon and Judah. +But the tribes deduced from this ancestor won no territory like the +rest: they were scattered among the other tribes. We may assume that the +priestly families, who from antiquity had discharged the sacred duty at +the main seats of worship, the race of Kohath (to which belonged the +sons of Aaron), with the priestly families of the other altars (the +races of Gershom and Merari), and the families of the temple-servants +connected with them, were not combined into a tribe till a late period. +The name "Levi" may mean "bound," _i.e._ bound to a shrine, and hence a +temple-servant. The separation of this tribe from the rest, and its +dedication to the sacred service, is brought forward with great emphasis +in the first text, which was composed from the point of view of the +priests. Jehovah takes the Levites in the place of the first-born of +Israel, and this same text allots to the Levites forty-eight cities of +Canaan which they never possessed, and never inhabited either +exclusively or in preponderant numbers.[666] But while in this text the +adoption of the Levites by Jehovah, and their "possession of the +sacrifice" in the place of a territory, is regarded and extolled as a +privilege of this tribe, we found above (p. 439) that an old poem spoke +of the "division of the Levites in Jacob and their scattering in Israel" +as the punishment of the sin which their progenitor had once committed. +Hence we must assume that the groups of races, to which the foremost +families of the priests belonged, once formed a connected tribe like the +rest, and the breaking up of this tribe was brought about after the +settlement in Canaan by causes unknown to us. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[650] Numb. xxiv. 13, c. xxxi. + +[651] Numb. xxxii. 4; Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 90. + +[652] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 292; Noeldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 86. + +[653] 2 Kings xviii. 4. + +[654] Numb. xx. 1-13, 22-29; Deut. xxxii. 48-52. + +[655] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 245. + +[656] Isaiah xv. 8. + +[657] On the mutual interpolations of the narratives, both in regard to +the rebels and the mode of their destruction, see Noeldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 79, 131. + +[658] Lepsius, "Briefe," s. 341. + +[659] Numb. xxxiii. 40 (the first text); Numb. xxi. 1-3, and xiv. 44, +45, belong to the second text; De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 291; +Deut. i. 44; Joshua xii. 14; Judges i. 17. Cf. Noeldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 85, on the tenacity with which unsuccessful battles +are remembered in these districts. + +[660] Noeldeke explains Exod. xx. 23-26 and xxi. 1-xxiii. 19, as in +substance and in part a composition of great antiquity, +"Untersuchungen," s. 51. + +[661] Noeldeke ("Untersuchungen," s. 62 ff.) proves that Levit. i.-xxvi. +2, and xxvii., with the exception of a few additions, especially cc. +xviii.-xx. belong to the first text; and De Wette-Schrader +("Einleitung," s. 286 ff.) proves the same for nearly the whole book. +Moreover, he shows at length, pp. 265, 266, that many of the ceremonial +ordinances and the faith of the land in general goes back to Moses, or +the Mosaic times. + +[662] The Mosaic origin of the decalogue (Exod. xx. 1-17; Deut. v. 6-21) +is proved in De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 284. The original form +of it, it is true, is no longer in existence. + +[663] So the old codex, Exod. xxi. 1-6. The priestly law on the other +hand puts off the liberation till the year of Jubilee, Levit. xxv. 39 +ff. + +[664] On Exod. xxi.-xxiii. 19, cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. +285, 286, and Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 51, 63 ff. + +[665] Gen. xlvi. 8-27 Numb. ii 3-31; 1 Chron. ii 10. + +[666] Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 103, 109, 128. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE HEBREW INVASION OF CANAAN. + + +When the Israelites had delivered themselves from the dominion of Egypt, +they pastured their flocks on the peninsula of Sinai. Afterwards they +wandered further to the north-east into the Syrian desert, and at +length, as the oases in this district were few, and the wells +insufficient, they threw themselves upon the rich uplands on the east of +the Jordan. From the table-land, which they had conquered, they saw +before them the happy valley of the Jordan, the fig-trees and +pomegranates, the vines and green glades in the valleys beyond it. The +sight roused the greater portion of the Israelites to descend into the +valley, and invade the land beyond the river, in order to win settled +abodes where milk and honey were said to flow. + +We have already examined the circumstances of Canaan. The Amorites had +destroyed the power of the Hittites; and in conjunction with the +remnants of the Hittites and Hivites, they possessed the land. They +lived separately in the various mountain cantons, under small princes +from thirty to forty in number. But their cities were old and well +fortified; the nature of the land was in favour of defence, and on the +coasts lay the strong cities of the Phenicians and the Philistines. It +was no light undertaking. The Israelites had left Egypt a nation of +peaceful shepherds, but the sixty or seventy years which they +subsequently passed in the desert, and on the uplands beyond the Jordan, +had hardened them and made them into warriors. The successes which they +gained against the Amalekites, the Amorites of Heshbon, and Bashan must +have roused their courage. If they combined in an attack on the isolated +cantons of Canaan, they might hope to become masters even of the +fortified walls, and perhaps they even found assistance among the +Hittites and Hivites, who lived under the oppressive rule of the +Amorites. About the middle of the thirteenth century B.C., the greater +part of the Israelites marched towards the Jordan. Joshua, the prince of +the tribe of Ephraim, led the army. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and a +part of the tribe of Manasseh, remained behind on the other side of the +Jordan.[667] + +The book of Joshua gives the following account of the conquest of Canaan +by the Hebrews: It came to pass after the death of Moses, that Jehovah +spoke to Joshua the son of Nun: Up, cross over Jordan, thou and all the +people, into a land which I will give thee. Then Joshua commanded the +leaders of the people: Go through the camp and say, Make ready your +provisions; in three days ye shall cross the Jordan. When the people +set out from their tents at Shittim, and reached the Jordan with the +priests carrying the ark before them, and the feet of the priests, who +carried the ark, touched the water of Jordan, the water which flowed +from above stood up, and the water which flowed downwards to the Dead +Sea parted from the upper water, till the ark of Jehovah and the people +of Israel had passed over on dry land. And the people encamped at +Gilgal, on the tenth day of the first month, and Joshua made sharp +knives and circumcised the children of Israel, the whole nation that was +born in the desert, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the +month at evening in the plain of Jericho. And Jehovah said to Joshua: +See, I have given Jericho and her king into thy hand. Go round the city +for six days, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets before the ark, +and on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times, and the +priests shall blow upon the trumpets. And when ye hear the sound of the +trumpets, all the people shall make a great cry, and the walls of the +city will fall down, and the people shall pass over them, every man +straight before him. Joshua fulfilled the command of Jehovah, and when +the people marched round the walls of Jericho for the seventh time on +the seventh day, Joshua said: Cry aloud, for Jehovah has given the city +to you, and it shall be sacred, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah, +and all the silver and gold, and all the vessels of copper and iron +shall belong to Jehovah, and shall go into his treasury. When the people +heard the sound of the trumpets, they made a great cry, and the walls +fell down, and the people went up into the city and took it. And they +set apart all that was in the city from the man to the woman, from the +boy to the old man, from the oxen to the sheep, and slew them with the +edge of the sword. + +Then Joshua sent spies to Ai. When they returned they said to Joshua: +Let not the whole people go up; two or three thousand men can smite Ai, +for they are few. Joshua sent three thousand, but the men of Ai overcame +them, and pursued them as far as Shebarim, and smote them on the slope +of the mountain. Then Joshua rent his garments and fell upon his face. +But Jehovah said to him: Israel has taken of the forbidden spoil; the +children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, if that which is +forbidden is not destroyed from their midst. They must come forth +according to their tribes, races, and houses, and the house, which +Jehovah shall choose, shall come forward man by man. And whoever shall +be found with that which is forbidden, shall be burnt with fire and all +that belongs to him. Joshua caused Israel to come forward, according to +their tribes, and the lot fell on the tribe of Judah, and race of Serah; +and in the race of Serah the lot fell upon the house of Sabdi, and of +the men of the house of Sabdi the lot fell upon Achan, the son of +Charmi. Then Achan confessed that he had taken a beautiful mantle of +Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in +weight, and had hidden them in his tent. And Achan the son of Charmi was +led out "with his sons and daughters, his oxen and asses, his tent and +all that he had, and all Israel stoned them, and they burnt them with +fire, and covered them with stones, and then erected there a great heap +of stones." But Joshua set out towards Ai, with all the people, and +chose 5,000 men of war, and sent them out in the night, and said to +them: Go ye and lie in ambush at the back of the city, between Ai and +Bethel. I and all the people that is with me will draw near towards the +city, and if they come out to meet us, we will fly before them. Then be +ye ready and rise up out of your ambush and set fire to the city. When +Israel went forth towards Ai, the king of Ai came to meet them for +battle; but Joshua turned with his people and fled, and all the people +of Ai pursued them, and left the city open. Then the men in ambush rose, +and set fire to the town; and when the men of Ai looked behind them, the +smoke of their houses rose to heaven; and Israel turned upon their +pursuers and slew the men of Ai, who were between the Israelites on this +side, and the Israelites on that side, so that none remained beside the +king whom they took alive. Afterwards the women and children in Ai were +put to the sword, and of the slain on this day there were 12,000. And +Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree till evening. Then they took the +corpse down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate, and +erected over it a great heap of stones till this day: but the city +remained a heap of desolation. + +When the men of Gibeon--a great city like one of the king's cities, it +was greater than Ai, and all the inhabitants were men of war--and the +men of Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, heard what Joshua had +done, they sent to him, and the messengers put old shoes and clouted on +their feet, and old clothes on their bodies, and took old sacks on their +asses, and patched wine skins, and the bread of their provisions was old +and mouldy. Thus they came into the camp of Israel at Gilgal, and said +to Joshua: We are come from a far country to make a covenant with thee; +behold, the wine skins are torn which we filled new, our bread is dry +and mouldy, our clothes and our shoes are old by reason of the length +of the way. And Joshua made a covenant with them to let them live, and +the princes of the people made an oath with them. But when the children +of Israel set forth from Gilgal, they came on the third day to their +cities. Then Joshua called them and said: Why have ye deceived us and +said, we are far from you. Be ye now accursed, and may ye never cease to +be servants, and drawers of water, and hewers of wood for the house of +my God. Thus he did to them, and saved them from the hand of the +children of Israel that they slew them not. + +Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, heard what Joshua had done to Jericho +and her king, and to Ai and her king, and that Gibeon had made peace +with Joshua. He sent to Hoham, king of Hebron; and to Piram, king of +Jarmuth; and to Japhia, king of Lachish; and to Debir, king of Eglon, +and they gathered themselves and went forth, five kings of the Amorites, +and encamped against Gibeon. Then Joshua set forth from Gilgal, and all +the men of war with him. And Jehovah caused the Amorites to flee before +the children of Israel, and Joshua cried: Sun, stand thou still upon +Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood +still, and the moon waned not, till the people took vengeance on their +enemies, and before this was no day like it, nor after it. And the five +kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah; and when it was +told to Joshua, that the kings were hidden there, he said: Roll great +stones before the cave, and set men there to watch it. But do ye halt +not, but pursue your enemies, and smite the rear guard, and let them not +come into the cities. And Israel accomplished the slaughter, and turned +back to the camp at Makkedah. And Joshua caused the five kings to come +forth out of the cave, and called to the leaders of his warriors and +said: Come forward and set your feet on the necks of these kings. And +when this had been done, Joshua smote the kings, and hanged them on five +trees, and they hung on the trees till evening. Then Joshua commanded to +take them down, and they cast them into the cave, and laid great stones +on the mouth of the cave till this day. + +Then Joshua took Makkedah, and Libnah, and Lachish, and smote them with +the edge of the sword, and let no fugitive escape in Makkedah, Libnah, +and Lachish; and did to the kings of Makkedah and Libnah as he had done +to the king of Jericho. Horam, king of Gezer, went out to help Lachish, +but Joshua defeated him and went from Lachish against Eglon, and from +Hebron against Debir; and he set apart Eglon, and Hebron, and Debir, all +the souls that were therein, and smote the kings of Hebron and Debir +with the edge of the sword, and returned to the camp at Gilgal. + +But Jabin, king of Hazor, gathered together the kings of Madon, Shimron, +and Achshaph, and the kings of the north, who dwell towards the +midnight, on the mountain and in the plain, and they encamped a great +nation as the sands on the shore of the sea in multitude, with chariots +and horses on Lake Merom. Then Joshua with all his men of war fell upon +them suddenly, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Sidon, and to +the valley of Mizpeh, and lamed their horses, and burned their chariots +with fire. Then he took Hazor, the chief city of all these kingdoms, and +smote their king with the sword, and all the souls that were therein; +and all the booty of these cities, and all the cattle, the Israelites +took for spoil. For a long time Joshua made war with all these kings, +and he expelled the Anakites from the mountains of Hebron, from Debir +and Anab, from the mountain of Judah and the mountain of Israel; with +their cities he destroyed them. And there was no city which surrendered +peacefully to the Hebrews except that of the Hivites of Gibeon. + +Joshua was old and stricken in years, and Jehovah said to him: Divide +this land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And +Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chiefs of the +tribes of the children of Israel divided the land by lot. And the lot of +the children of Judah was in the south, as far as the wilderness of Sin +and the brook of Egypt, and in the east as far as the Dead Sea and to +the end of Jordan, and in the north the border was Gilgal and the valley +of Ben Hinnom, and Beth Shemesh, and the western border was the Great +Sea. And the lot came forth for the children of Joseph, and their +borders on the south ran from the water of Jericho over toward +Bethhoron, and from Bethhoron toward the sea. The land toward the south +fell to Ephraim, and the land toward the north to Manasseh. And the +whole community of the children of Israel were gathered together at +Shiloh, and there they set up the holy tent, and Joshua spake to the +seven tribes, whose possessions were not yet allotted: Choose three men +out of each tribe to write down the land, for I will cast lots for you +here at Shiloh before Jehovah. And so the men went and wrote down the +land according to the cities, in seven parts, and Joshua cast lots at +Shiloh, and divided the land to the children of Israel according to +their divisions. But Jehovah commanded Joshua that he should speak to +the children of Israel, and tell them to fix the cities of refuge, to +which the homicide was to fly who slew a man in misadventure, in order +that the elders of the city might receive him, and if the avenger +pursued him, they were not to deliver him into his hand till he had been +brought before the people. And they consecrated Kadesh, and Shechem, and +Hebron, and Bezer, and Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan. And the chiefs of +the tribe of the Levites went to Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son +of Nun, and asked for cities to dwell in, and land for their cattle; and +the Israelites gave them forty-eight cities and their land for their +possession. And Joshua gathered the elders of Israel, and his leaders +and judges, and gave law and justice at Shechem; and he died one hundred +and ten years old, and they buried him in the land of his possession at +Timnath-serah, on the mountain of Israel; and the bones of Joseph, which +the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, +on the piece of the field which Jacob bought (pp. 411, 418), and the +children of Joseph kept the place for a possession. And Eleazar, the son +of Aaron, died, and they buried him in Gibeah, the city of Phinehas, his +son, which was given to him on the mountain of Ephraim. + +The conception of the covenant between Jehovah and Israel, and of the +arrangement of law, as it existed in complete perfection in later times, +dominates the two texts of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, no +less than the prophetic revision of these texts (p. 386), and could not +but exercise an influence on the narrative of the conquest of Canaan, +_i.e._, the fulfilment of the prophecies. Even in the first text it is +the direct command of Jehovah which leads Joshua to set out towards the +Jordan; and it is the priestly ideas of this text which come out +strongly in the feast of the passover and the circumcision before the +conquest of Jericho. The miraculous passage of the Jordan is a +repetition of the passage through the reed-sea. This narrative belongs, +as it seems, to the second text, and is further amplified by the +reviser.[668] The overthrow of the walls of Jericho, when the priests +had blown their trumpets and the people raised the war-cry, is briefly +narrated in the first text; here also the details are the work of the +reviser. If the walls of Jericho were mounted at the first onset, +tradition might well recount the story that they were broken down before +the war-cry of Israel; and from this the farther account could be +framed. The law of the priests ordained: "All that is devoted +(_cherem_), what every man dedicates to Jehovah from all that is his, +from men, or cattle, or the field of his possession, that cannot be +bought or redeemed. All that is devoted is holy to Jehovah."[669] Joshua +had devoted Jericho and all that was in the city to Jehovah. But one of +the nation had taken something for himself from this devoted spoil. The +punishment comes upon the whole people, and the first attempt on Ai is a +failure. The more complete is the victory when that transgressor and his +house is stoned to death. By this narrative the observance of the +command was deeply impressed on all. When it was found long after the +settlement in Canaan what pernicious results for life, morals, and +religious worship followed from the fact that portions of the old +population were allowed to remain among them, it appeared to the +priestly mind that the due regulation and purity of the Hebrew nature +required the extinction of the earlier inhabitants, and even before +they took possession of Canaan, Jehovah must have given the command to +make neither covenant nor marriage with the Canaanites, to destroy their +altars and images, and to extirpate the nation.[670] Without doubt, at +the time of the conquest a considerable number of the old population +were not only driven out, but were put to death; and it is certain that +when cities were taken by storm their inhabitants "from man to woman, +from child to old man," were slain with the edge of the sword; but a +systematic extirpation did not take place. Of the four cities of the +Hivites--Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim--Gibeon, two +good hours north-west of Jebus, was the most important. These four +cities joined the Hebrews against the ruling Amorites,[671] and combined +with them. The craft of the Gibeonites, by which they succeeded in +deceiving Joshua about their Canaanitic descent, is intended to explain +the sparing of such an important part of the old population in +opposition to the pre-dated command of extirpation. And if to this is +added the fact that Joshua, when he had once sworn to grant their lives, +made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole community, +this, no doubt, rests on the fact that at a later time king Saul, "in +his zeal for Israel," intended to extirpate all the Gibeonites, and did +extirpate part, "though Israel had sworn to them;" that David favoured +them, but Solomon made "all that was left of the Amorites, Jebusites, +Hittites, Perizzites, and Hivites bond-servants to this day."[672] The +king Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, who, startled by the fall of Jericho and +Ai, and "the peace which Gibeon had made with Joshua," brings about the +league of the Amorite princes in the south against the invasion of the +Hebrews, belongs to the prophetic revision; in the first text the +Jerusalem of later times is still the city of the Jebusites. The +description of the great battle and of the miracle at Gibeon against the +Amorites belongs to the second text. The miracle is founded merely on +the poetical expression in the Israelite song of victory, "the sun stood +still and the moon stayed till the people had punished their enemies," +which meant no more than that the day had been long enough, and the moon +had shone long enough, to allow them to achieve a great defeat of the +Amorites, and to pursue them a considerable distance. After this day +Joshua is said to have taken Hebron, Debir, Libnah, and Lachish, to have +conquered the kings of Northern Canaan in a great battle, and to have +gained their cities, including Hazor. This narrative with its +particulars, according to which the conquest of Canaan took place in +consequence of the battle of Gibeon and a second great victory of the +Israelites at Lake Merom, belongs to the revision,[673] and is open to +serious difficulties. In the first place we are told that Joshua, for a +long time, had fought against all the kings; but Hazor, the abode of +Jabin, which Joshua had attacked, we find shortly after as again the +abode of Jabin. A large number of places which Joshua is said to have +taken are subsequently not in the hands of Israel, and both in the Book +of Joshua and the Book of Judges mention is made of separate battles of +the tribes among which the battle about Hebron, which the tribe of +Judah obtained, is the most conspicuous.[674] + +It was the view of both texts that the whole land was promised and +plighted to the Hebrews. They did not dwell on particulars in order to +bring out more definitely and clearly the community of the tribes, the +divinely-arranged and righteous division of the land among them. After +the war, in the traditional account, had continued about five years, and +Joshua was eighty-five years old, he and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, +divide by lot the territory gained on this side of the Jordan. The first +text here defines the portion of the tribe of Judah with special +minuteness, the second dwells upon the importance of the tribe of +Ephraim. Last of all, the forty-eight cities, on an average four in each +tribe, were set apart for the Levites. Of these forty-eight thirteen are +mentioned as allotted to the families of the priests of the tribe of +Levi. These lie entirely in the territory of Judah, Simeon, and +Benjamin, while the ark of the covenant evidently was placed at Shiloh +in the territory of Ephraim. In the neighbourhood of this sanctuary, +therefore, the priests must have had their dwellings. On the other hand, +Nob, which in Saul's time was called a city of the priests,[675] was not +among these thirteen cities. And among the thirty-five cities which are +said to have been given to the Levite ministers, several are found which +were not conquered by the Israelites, such as Taanach, Gezer, Jibleam, +and Nahalal. Of the thirteen towns of the priests and the six cities of +refuge, which were partly cities of the priests and partly of the +temple-servants, Hebron, the first-mentioned, was, as has been already +remarked, conquered later on, and not by Joshua. These arrangements have +arisen out of ideals; there never were Levite cities in Israel, and the +right of asylum in the cities of refuge was not recognised till a later +time. Even if we set aside the sacerdotal scheme for the distribution of +the land, we cannot repose complete confidence in an apparently ancient +enumeration of the conquered kings and cities given in the Book of +Joshua. Allowing that it belonged to one of the two original texts, it +has been altered and interpolated.[676] Cities are mentioned as +conquered which are not mentioned in the preceding narrative; others are +quoted as subjugated which evidently remained long after in the hand of +the Canaanites, like Taanach and Megiddo.[677] + +Adopting, therefore, as our principal basis the accounts which are in +existence about the battles of the various tribes, we shall have to +assume that the course of affairs was somewhat of this kind. The two +tribes of Reuben and Gad and the greater part of the tribe of Manasseh +preferred to remain on the east of the Jordan. The fertile depression +round Jericho naturally formed the first object of attack. Jericho was +taken. But the destruction of the city can hardly have been completely +carried out; for not very long after we find it again inhabited.[678] +That the Hebrews after taking Jericho established themselves at Gilgal, +and from this place undertook flying campaigns against the cities of the +Amorites, are statements which, as to the fact, need not excite any +doubts. The covenant with the neighbouring four cities of the Hivites, +which was appealed to even in the time of the kings, proves evidently +that these cities united with the Israelites and fought on their side +against the Amorites. In order to defend Gibeon against the Amorites, +who wished to punish their defection, the great battle against the +Amorites took place near this city, which is proved to be a fact by the +old song of victory. By this overthrow the power of the Amorites seems +to have been broken. Their defence henceforth is confined to each of the +cities maintaining itself. But the attacking party also lost their +unity. The various tribes of the Israelites attempted to conquer the +districts which pleased them; and the campaign of conquest broke up into +local conflicts. The tribe of Ephraim, accompanied by the greater part +of the remaining tribes, turned northwards to the green heights and +shady valleys of Shiloh and Shechem. Here, on "the mountain of Ephraim," +the Ephraimites settled; the sacred ark was placed at Shiloh, and here +at Timnath-Serah, "which he had sought from the people and had +obtained," Joshua took up his abode, and built the city and dwelt +therein. Round the fortress of the prince the best part of the tribe +must have settled. On the same mountains lay the portion of land which +belonged to the priest of the sacred ark, Phinehas, the grandson of +Aaron.[679] Near a sanctuary at Shechem, under the oak, the priests and +elders of the tribe assembled for the administration of law and justice. +The Ephraimitic text represents the sons of Joseph as saying to Joshua +that they were a numerous people, and that Mount Ephraim was too narrow +for them. Joshua replied, Go up to the forest, and hew out for +yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaims, if Mount +Ephraim is too narrow for you. They answered: The mountain will not be +gained by us; there are iron chariots among all the Canaanites who +dwell in the land of the valley at Beth-shean, and in the valley of +Jezreel. But Joshua said: The mountain shall belong to thee. It is +forest, hew it down, and the outgoings shall belong to thee. Thou shalt +drive out the Canaanites.[680] + +The tribes of Judah and Simeon turned to the south after the battle of +Gibeon, and settled in the mountain land of Hebron; here they succeeded +in acquiring a considerable territory. But it was only by slow degrees, +through long and severe battles, that the two tribes advanced. The tribe +of Judah first overcame the king of Bezek, and took him prisoner. From +the king as from the rest of the prisoners the thumbs and the great toes +were cut off. Then the king of Bezek said: Three score and ten kings +having their thumbs and their great toes cut off gathered what fell from +my table; now I have been requited.[681] Of more importance was it that +Caleb the son of Jephunneh established himself in Hebron, the old +metropolis of the land of the south (p. 346), and independently +subjugated the surrounding territory.[682] To the man who should conquer +Debir he promised his daughter Achsah to wife, and Othniel his brother's +son gained the city and the woman. From Debir the tribe of Judah pressed +on to the south, and conquered Zephath and Hormah. "And Jehovah"--so we +find it in the Book of Judges--"was with Judah, and he took the mountain +and possessed it, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the low +ground because they had chariots of iron."[683] The inhabitants of the +low ground are the Philistines on the coast, whose power was undoubtedly +superior to that of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. The Simeonites, a +tribe by no means numerous, settled themselves under the tribe of +Judah, and had to be content with the least fertile districts on the +southern border. + +The tribe of Manasseh, so nearly related to Ephraim, had in part +remained beyond the Jordan; the other part settled under the +Ephraimites, on their northern border in the region from Hadad Rimmon to +the mouth of the Kishon, but they were unable to gain the mastery over +the greater number of the cities of the Canaanites situated in this +district. The little tribe of Benjamin had settled round Gibeon, perhaps +immediately after the battle, between Bethhoron and Jericho, on the +southern border of Ephraim. The tribes of Issachar and Zebulon, Asher +and Naphtali were the last to acquire settled abodes. Issachar conquered +the heights of Tirzah and Gilboa, as far as Tabor; Zebulon planted +himself between the right bank of the Kishon and the lake of Kinneroth, +in the region of Jokneam and Beth Arbel. Westward of the lakes of +Kinneroth and Merom lay the tribes of Naphtali and Asher; the first was +nearest to the lake of Merom, in the district of the northern Kadesh; +Asher was further to the west, on the borders of the land of Tyre. The +tribe of Dan attempted to gain the spurs of the mountain westward of +Benjamin towards the sea. For a long time it encamped against the +Amorites and the northern cities of the Philistines, Ekron and Gath, but +though occasionally supported by Ephraim and Judah, it never gained +territory enough for its numbers. When the others had long been fixed in +settled abodes, a part of the Danites, finding it impossible to advance +to the coast, set out to the north, and took the city of Laish, +northward of Kadesh and the land of Naphtali, which belonged to the +Sidonians,[684] gave it the name of Dan, and here, as they had become +more warlike than the rest, owing to their prolonged battles, maintained +the northernmost point of the land of Israel. + +The conquest was completed. In the middle of the thirteenth century B.C. +the Israelites had broken the power of the Amorites in Canaan, and +gained a considerable territory (about 10,000 square miles), of which +one-half lay on the nearer and the other on the farther side of the +Jordan. But this land, divided by the Jordan, was neither a whole united +from within, nor protected by natural boundaries from without. As the +Israelites immediately after their first successes became again +disunited, and the attack became less powerful at every step in advance, +the Canaanites maintained themselves in independence, in separate +valleys or heights difficult of approach, and in strong fortresses. +Remnants of the Canaanites remained everywhere among and between the +Israelites. Beside the Benjamites the Jebusites (a tribe of the +Amorites) maintained themselves, and at Gibeon, Kirjath-jearim, +Chephirah, and Beeroth were the Hivites, who had made peace with the +Israelites. In the land of Ephraim the Canaanites held their ground at +Gezer and Bethel, until the latter--it was an important city--was +stormed by the Ephraimites.[685] Among the tribe of Manasseh the +Canaanites were settled at Beth Shean, Dan, Taanach, Jibleam, Megiddo +and their districts,[686] and in the northern tribes the Canaanites were +still more numerous. It was not till long after the immigration of the +Hebrews that they were made in part tributary.[687] The land of the +Israelites beyond the Jordan, where the tribe of Manasseh possessed the +north, Gad the centre, and Reuben the south as far as the Arnon, was +exposed to the attacks of the Ammonites and Moabites, and the migratory +tribes of the Syrian desert, and must have had the greater attraction +for them, as better pastures were to be found in the heights of Gilead, +and the valleys there were more fruitful. To the west only the tribe of +Ephraim reached the sea, and became master of a harbourless strip of +coast. The remaining part of the coast and all the harbours remained in +the hands of the powerful cities of the Philistines and the Phenicians. +No attempt was made to conquer these, although border-conflicts took +place between the tribes of Judah, Dan, and Asher, and Philistines and +Sidonians. Such an attempt could only have been made if the Israelites +had remained united, and even then the powers of the Israelites would +hardly have sufficed to overthrow the walls of Gaza, Ascalon, and +Ashdod, of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblus. Yet the invasion of the Israelites +was not without results for the cities of the coast: it forced a large +part of the population to assemble in them, and we shall see below how +rapid and powerful is the growth of the strength and importance of Tyre +in the time immediately following the incursion of the Israelites, +_i.e._ immediately after the middle of the thirteenth century. As the +population and in consequence the power of the cities on the coast +increased, owing to the collection of the ancient population on the +shore of the sea, those cities became all the more dangerous neighbours +for the Israelites. + +It was a misfortune for the new territory which the Israelites had won +by the sword that it was without the protection of natural boundaries on +the north and east, that the cities of the Philistines and Phenicians +barred it towards the sea, and in the interior remnants of the +Canaanites still maintained their place. Yet it was a far more serious +danger for the immigrants that they were without unity, connection, or +guidance, for they had already given up these before the conflict was +ended. Undoubtedly a vigorous leadership in the war of conquest against +the Canaanites might have established a military monarchy which would +have provided better for the maintenance of the borders and the security +of the land than was done in its absence. But the isolated defence made +by the Canaanites permitted the attacking party also to isolate +themselves. The new masters of the land lived, like the Canaanites +before and among them, in separate cantons; the mountain land which they +possessed was much broken up, and without any natural centre, and though +there were dangerous neighbours, there was no single concentrated +aggressive power in the neighbourhood, now that Egypt remained in her +borders. The cities of the Philistines formed a federation merely, +though a federation far more strongly organised than the tribes of the +Israelites. Under these circumstances political unity was not an +immediately pressing question among the Israelites; but owing to the +dispersion in which they lived, and the open borders of their new +kingdom, the question seriously arose whether they could enjoy in peace +the land they had won. Whatever the weight with which the want of +internal concentration and external repulsion might be felt, whatever +the difficulties arising from the remnant of Canaanites left in the +land, and however unsatisfactory the maintenance of the borders of the +land, these political drawbacks were only so many advantages for the +development of the religious and moral life of the Israelites. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[667] That the chronological statements in the book of Judges afford no +fixed point for deciding the date of the invasion of Canaan by the +Hebrews is proved by Noeldeke ("Chronologie der Richterzeit"). The +genealogical tables give only six or seven generations down to Eli and +Samuel, and these cannot fill a longer space than of 150 to 175 years. +As Ramses III. whose reign according to Lepsius falls in the years +1269-1244 B.C. fought against the Pulista, Cheta, and Amari, _i.e._ the +Philistines, Hittites, and Amorites, within the first nine years of his +reign (p. 164) without meeting the Hebrews among them, we may assume +that their settlement in Canaan did not take place till after the year +1260 B.C., about the middle of the thirteenth century, B.C. + +[668] Cf. Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 95. + +[669] Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. + +[670] In the form of a vow, Numb. xxi. 1-3, from the second text; in the +form of a command, Exod. xxiii. 32, 33; xxxiv. 12, from the revision. + +[671] If the Hivites are counted in 2 Samuel xxi. 22 among the Amorites, +the reason is to be sought in the comprehensive meaning here given to +the name Amorites. + +[672] 2 Sam. xxi. 1-10; 1 Kings ix. 20; cf. Joshua xvii. 12. + +[673] De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 304, 305; Noeldeke, +"Untersuchungen," s. 98. + +[674] Joshua xi. 1, 10, 13; xii. 19; xix. 36; Judges iv. 2, 17; 1 Sam. +xii. 9 + +[675] 1 Sam. xxi. 1-6; xxii. 11-18. + +[676] Joshua xii.; Noeldeke, "Untersuchungen," s. 98. + +[677] Judges i. 27-30. + +[678] Judges i. 16; iii. 13. + +[679] Joshua xix. 49, 50; xxiv. 33, both from the first text; Joshua +xvii. 14-18. + +[680] Joshua xvii. 14-18. + +[681] Judges i. 7. + +[682] Judges i. 12-15, 20; Jesus, 46, 11. + +[683] Judges i. 19. + +[684] Joshua xix. 47; Judges xviii. + +[685] Judges i. 22, 29. + +[686] Judges i. 27. + +[687] Judges i. 30-35. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE NATIONS OF ASIA MINOR. + + +The peninsula of Asia Minor is a table-land of about 750 miles in length +by 400 in breadth, lying between the Black Sea, the AEgean, and the +Mediterranean. This table-land reaches its highest level in the south; +here run along the Mediterranean, from east to west, parallel ranges of +mountains, the chain of Taurus, and under the snow-clad heights lie +green Alpine pastures, while the slopes are filled with the most +beautiful wood. Under these mountains on the sea we find here and there +narrow and hot but fruitful plains, which are separated into several +sharply-divided districts by the spurs of the Taurus, which run athwart +them into the sea. Northward of the peaks of Taurus the soil gradually +sinks to the Black Sea, so that while the southern coast possesses only +short streams, with the exception of the Sarus and Pyramus, the larger +arteries of the land empty into the Black Sea--the Iris, the Halys, the +Billaeus, the Sangarius, and the Rhyndakus. These rivers take their +course, partly through rocky districts, partly through extremely +fruitful valleys. The centre of the land, from the middle course of the +Halys to the Sangarius in the west, is taken up with a wide treeless +desert, the great Salt-steppe, the edges of which are formed by a mass +of volcanic craters, by deep ravines and large lakes. Further to the +west the waters streaming from the table-land find their way to the +AEgean, down a series of mountain terraces, so that the valleys of the +Maeander and the Hermus are at the same time the highways which connect +the coast with the interior. These terraces sometimes advance to the +western shore, with steep limestone rocks and precipitous promontories +running out into the bright blue sea; at other times they approach the +coast with softer outlines; in one place broader, in others narrower +plains are left, which, owing to the great fertility of the soil, are +covered with orchards and vineyards. Further inland, on the rising +heights, is a splendid forest of oaks, firs, and planes, broken by +mountain pastures, over which rise the jagged rocks of Ida, Tmolus, +Messogis, and Latmus; in the far distance the snow-capped peaks of +Taurus fill the horizon. On the western coast the proximity of the ocean +softens the heat of summer and the cold of winter; and the combination +of sea and mountain, of ocean breezes and upland air, the connection +opened to the table-land on the east by the Hermus and Maeander and the +calm sea on the west, which forms a passage to a number of adjacent +islands--make these districts on the shore of the AEgean Sea the favoured +home of civilisation in Asia Minor. + +On the north-east, where the peninsula joins the broad mountain land of +the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian, around the sources of +the Euphrates and Tigris, on the course of the Araxes, which falls into +the Caspian Sea, and the high table-land of Lake Van, lay the home of +the Armenians. According to Strabo, their customs were like those of the +Medes, who were the neighbours of the Armenians, to the east of the +Lake of Urumiah, and at the mouth of the Araxes. And if, according to +the same evidence, the Armenians paid the greatest reverence to the +goddess Anaitis,[688] the goddess Anahita held a prominent position in +the worship of the nations of the table-land of Iran. Moreover, even in +modern Armenian, the affinity with the Iranian languages is predominant; +and there is therefore no doubt that the Armenians belong to the +Indo-Germanic stock, and are a nation of Aryan descent. + +On the southern slope of the group of mountains which they possessed +south-east of the Lake of Van, on the upper course of the Great Zab, lay +the district of Arphaxad, with which we have already become acquainted +from Semitic sources; south of the lake lay the Carduchi, whom the later +Greeks call the Gordyaeans and Gordyenes; but among the Armenians they +were known as Kordu, among the Syrians as Kardu.[689] These are the +ancestors of the modern Kurds, a nation also of the Aryan stock, whose +language is even nearer to those of Iran than the Armenian. Westward of +the Carduchi, at the confluence of the two streams of the Euphrates, we +again meet with a Semitic race.[690] The north-western slope of the +Armenian mountains, as far as the Phasis and the Black Sea, was the home +of the Muskai of the Assyrian inscriptions, the Mesech of the Hebrews, +the Moschi of the Greeks. Beside them, further to the west, on the +coast, were the Tabal of the Assyrians, the Tubal of the Hebrews, the +Tibarenes of the Greeks; westward from these, as far as the mouth of the +Iris, were the Chalti of the Armenians, the Chalybians (Chaldaeans) of +the Greeks. Of the origin and language of the Moschi and Tibarenes we +know nothing further; the genealogies of the Hebrews placed Mesech and +Tubal among the sons of Japhet. + +The territory of the Armenians round Lake Van lies 5,000 feet high. The +only extensive plain among the mountains which are the home of the +Armenians is the valley on the middle course of the Araxes, which is +separated from the district of the Van by the range of the Masis +(Ararat). The highest peak of this range, a mighty cone of dark rock, +veiled by wide glaciers, rises to a height of 16,000 feet. Only the +valley of the Araxes allowed agriculture on any extensive scale; it only +brought forth abundant produce. Other more protected and warmer +depressions, though small in extent, on the southern slopes, permitted +the culture of the vine. The inhabitants of the heights followed a +pastoral life, and the mountain pastures supported splendid horses and +mules. + +Moses of Chorni (Khorene), who wrote the history of Armenia in the years +460-480 of our era,[691] tells us as follows:--Japhet, the third son of +Noah, had a son Gomer; Gomer's son was Thiras; Thiras had a son Thorgom; +Thorgom's son Haik, together with his son Armenak and all his family, +emigrated from Babylon to the plain of Airarat, in order to escape the +tyranny of Belus, the king of Babel. This plain Haik then left to +Cadmus, his grandson, the son of Armenak, and himself, with Armenak, +passed on to the west, and founded Haikashen. But when the army of the +Babylonians marched out to attack Airarat, Haik came to the assistance +of his grandson, and defeated Belus on the shore of Lake Van. Then +Armenak marched eastwards from Haikashen into the plain at the foot of +the Aragazd, where at a later time Armajis, the son of Armenak, built +the city of Armavir. The son of Armajis was Amasiaj, and of Amasiaj, +Arast. The grandson of Arast was Aram, who undertook distant campaigns, +and subjugated Syria and Cappadocia to his rule. With him Ninus, king of +Assyria, out of respect to his power and bravery, made a league. Aram's +son and successor was Araj, whose beauty inflamed Shamiram (Semiramis), +the queen of Assyria. When Araj resisted her inclinations, Shamiram, at +the head of her army, invaded Armenia, but, before the battle, she bade +her soldiers spare Araj. The Armenians were defeated, and in spite of +the command of Shamiram, Araj was slain in the _melee_, and she +attempted in vain to resuscitate the corpse by magic arts. Then Shamiram +caused builders to come from Assyria to Armenia, and with the help of +these she erected a splendid city, Shamiramakert (city of Semiramis), on +the shore of the lake of Van, in order to dwell in the cool air of the +mountains during the heat of the summer months; and the throne of +Armenia she gave to Cardus, the son of Araj. But he rebelled against +her, fought without success, and, like his father, fell in battle. At +last the Medes rebelled against Shamiram, and after defeat she fled to +Armenia. On the shores of Lake Van she was overtaken by her pursuers, +and when she had thrown her necklace and her ornaments into the water, +she was slain. Then her son Zames (Ninyas) ascended the throne of +Assyria, and for twenty-six generations the descendants of Cardus were +vassals of the kings of Assyria.[692] After these twenty-six kings, +whose names are given by Moses, when Nineveh had fallen, Barbakis +(Arbaces) the Mede, crowned Baroir king of Armenia, and his descendants +ruled as independent princes. The ninth successor of Baroir was Tigran +(Tigranes). He conquered Azdahag (Astyages), the king of the Medes, and +pierced him through with his lance in the battle. Owing to Tigran's +bravery and victory, the prince of the Persians became the lord of the +Medes.[693] + +We can trace the elements out of which this account has arisen. The +names Japhet, Gomer, and Thiras are borrowed from the Hebrew scriptures, +from the genealogy of the Japhetic nations in Genesis; but the order of +succession is altered. To the same book belongs Thorgom, the son of +Thiras, and father of Haik; in the Hebrew his name is Torgarmah. +Torgarmah was the name of Armenia among the Syrians;[694] the Hebrews +appear to have used the word to denote the district of Van. The native +name of the Armenians was Haikh, and of the land, Haiastan. From these +names is derived Haik, the son of Thorgom, the progenitor of the race. +The emigration from Babylon is no doubt an invention arising out of some +early contact, out of the trade of Armenia with Babylonia, and intended +to give the Armenians a share in the splendour of that ancient centre of +the civilisation of Hither Asia, from which, as a fact, they derived +such important elements of culture as their system of writing. Eastward +of Lake Van Haik defeats the Babylonians, for here lay Haik's fortress; +in Armenian Haikabjerd, _i.e._ fortress of the Armenians, and +Hajots-dsor, _i.e._ valley of the Armenians. Northeast of this lake lies +the canton of Harkth, _i.e._ the fathers, the canton of the +fathers;[695] and in this, on the Eastern Euphrates, is Haikashen, +_i.e._ Haik's building, which Haik is said to have founded, and where +his grave was reported to be. As the name of Haik, _i.e._ the name of +the nation, clings especially to the neighbourhood of Lake Van, so are +the names of his supposed successors, his son Armenak, and grandsons +Cadmos and Amajis, attached to the district of Airarat, to Mount +Aragadz, and the city of Armavir. The land of Airarat, _i.e._ the +fruitful plain, on the middle course of the Araxes, was, as we have +heard, the first object of the immigrants, who must have come, not from +the south, as the story represents, but from the east, from Media, and +must have reached the valley of the Araxes from the shore of the Caspian +Sea. As Haikh is the name by which the Armenians called themselves, so +Armenak is obviously formed from the name Armina, which the Medes and +Persians gave to the Armenians. Cadmus, the son of Armenak, is inserted +in the story; and has been borrowed, as the form of the name shows, from +Grecian sources, perhaps to represent the Semitic population in the +South of Armenia. That in this learned construction of the Armenian myth +the eastern, and not the southern, district of Armenia is given to +Cadmus, is due, no doubt, to the fact that the Semitic word _kedem_ +could hardly have any other meaning than that of "the East." Armenak's +grandson and great-grandson, Amasiaj and Arast, represent respectively +the mountain chain of Masis and the river Araxes; in old Armenian the +name of the latter was Eras'ch.[696] + +The division of the two centres of the Armenian land and Armenian +life--the land in the East and the land in the West, the land of Ararat +on the Araxes, and the district of Van--is strongly marked in this +tradition, and not less so in the Assyrian inscriptions and the +scriptures of the Hebrews. The first text of the Pentateuch represents +Noah's ship as landing on Mount Ararat, and this text or the second +mentions Togarmah beside Gomer. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the horses +and mules which came from Togarmah, the land of mountain pastures, to +Tyre.[697] The Assyrian inscriptions mention the land of Van (_mat +vannai_) beside the land of Urarti, _i.e._ Ararat; each is ruled by its +own prince. + +King Aram represents the land of Aram, the Aramaeans, whose neighbours +the Armenians were, and with whom they came into frequent contact. The +oldest historical recollections of the Armenians might perhaps go back +to the times when the kings of Assyria made an inroad into their +mountains and reduced their princes to tribute and obedience. But when +Moses of Chorni tells us of the meetings of Aram, Araj, and Cardus with +Ninus, Semiramis, and Ninyas, of the twenty-six kings who governed under +Assyrian dominion, and of the liberation of the land by Arbaces, these +supposed names of the Assyrian riders are enough to prove that the +narratives were framed upon the accounts of the Greeks, especially the +Greek chronographers. + +On the other hand, the story of the city of Semiramis on Lake Van is +grounded upon the Assyrian images and ruins, which are still found in +various parts of Armenia, especially at Van, Bitlis, Karkar, Egil, and +Achlat, as also upon monuments of the Persian kings, and Xerxes in +particular; but no doubt it is due in the greatest extent to the +monuments of the native princes, of whom inscriptions are in existence +belonging to the end of the seventh and the sixth century B.C. Later +historians knew nothing of these princes, and were unable to read the +inscriptions. The long list of Armenian kings in Moses of Chorni does +not contain a single name of the Armenian princes mentioned in the +inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, or in the native inscriptions of +these princes. + +The narrative of king Tigran appears to be of an earlier date than the +rest of the material from which Moses of Chorni compiled his history of +Armenia in the older period. Tigran is said to have ruled over Armenia +at the time of Cyrus, with whom he entered into a league; he overcame +Astyages (Azdahag) of Media in battle, and slew him in single combat. +The first wife of Astyages and a number of his children, together with +other captives, Tigran then conducted to Armenia, and there he settled +them in the neighbourhood of Koghten. In the songs of the people of +Koghten the descendants of Astyages are "allegorically" spoken of as the +descendants of the dragon, "for Azdahag," Moses adds, "signifies a +dragon in our language."[698] Hence it is clear that the Armenians +claimed the glory of having conquered the Medes and overthrown their +supremacy. And if they called the descendants of Astyages the +descendants of the dragon, they obviously contracted the old cloud-demon +of the Avesta, Azhi-dahaka, into Azdahag, and confounded him with +Astyages. Xenophon in his romance of Cyrus calls Tigranes the son of the +king of Armenia, and represents him as paying the most considerable +services to Cyrus. It may have been the case that Xenophon in his march +through Armenia, when he crossed the snowclad heights of this mountain +region, and entered the mud huts of the mountaineers, and was +hospitably entertained by them with barley-wine, _i.e._ with beer, heard +the name and deeds of Tigranes.[699] + +The kings of Assyria at an early period turned their arms to the North. +On the Zibene-su, the eastern source of the Western Tigris, the likeness +of Tiglath Pilesar I. (1130-1110 B.C.) has been found engraved on the +rocks at Karkar. The inscription tells us that he had overcome the land +of Nairi, _i.e._ in all probability the land of the rivers (Euphrates +and Tigris), and that he had defeated the Muskai (p. 512), who had not +paid their tribute for fifty years, and had invaded Kumukh (Commagene). +More than 200 years later, Tiglath Adar II. (889 to 883 B.C.) caused his +image to be hewn in the rocks here beside that of the first Tiglath +Pilesar. Tiglath Adar's successor, Assurnasirpal (883-859 B.C.), made +repeated campaigns against the Nairi, destroyed 250 of their towns, slew +many of their princes, and set up his image beside those of Tiglath Adar +and Tiglath Pilesar. In his tenth campaign he took Amida (Diabekr) on +the Tigris. Below this city, at Kurkh, there is a second image of this +king. His successor also, Shalmanesar II. (859-823 B.C.), fought against +the Nairi, set up his image at the source of the Tigris, and in the year +843 defeated the king of Urarti. In the year 831 his troops again +defeated a king of Urarti, of another name than the first; in the year +828 B.C. they laid waste the land of king Udaki of Van, and in the +following campaign fifty places in Urarti were burnt. Bin Nirar III., +king of Asshur (810-781 B.C.), marched twice against the district of +Lake Van, and seven times against the Nairi; he boasts that he has taken +possession of the land of the Nairi throughout its whole extent.[700] +Shalmanesar III. (781-771 B.C.) led his army six times against Urarti. +Then Tiglath Pilesar II. (745-727 B.C.), in the year 742, defeated king +Sarda, or Sarduri, of Urarti, with his confederates; in the year 728 +B.C. removed Vassarmi from Tubal, and placed Chulli on the throne in his +stead. In the time of Sargon of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), Aza, the prince +of the land of Van, who, like his predecessor Iranzu, was a tributary to +Assyria, was murdered. His brother Ullusun, whom Sargon put in his +place, combined with Urza, prince of Ararat, and the prince of Mount +Mildis against Assyria. Sargon was victorious; Ullusun submitted (716 +B.C.); but Urza maintained himself in Ararat, and although Sargon boasts +to have burnt fifty of his townships, he combined with Urzana of +Musasir, _i.e._ probably of Arsissa on Lake Van, with Mita, prince of +the Moschi, with Ambris, prince of Tubal, the son of Chulli, whom Sargon +had allowed to succeed his father on the throne of the Tibarenes, and to +whom at the same time he had entrusted the sovereignty over Cilicia, and +had given his daughter in marriage.[701] The confederates were defeated; +Ambris was carried prisoner to Assyria, a part of his nation were +transplanted to Assyria, and Assyrians settled at Tubal in his place. +Mita submitted. Arsissa was captured; 20,000 prisoners, their treasures, +the gods Haldia (?) and Bagamazda (?), with the holy vessels, were +carried away. When Urza perceived this, he took away his own life (714 +B.C.).[702] In the seventh century Esarhaddon of Assyria had to fight +against the Cilicians, the Tibarenes, and the Mannai; the last name +seems to denote the Armenian district of Minyas, on the upper course of +the Eastern Euphrates, of which the chief city was Manavazakert; +Manavaz, the son of Haik, is said to have built this city.[703] Against +the Mannai, or the Minni of Ezekiel, Esarhaddon's successor, +Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C.), also directed his weapons. In the course of +this war Asheri, the prince of the Minni, was slain by his own +dependents, and his son Ualli submitted; the previous tribute of the +Minni was raised by thirty horses; and Mugalla, king of Tubal, and +Sandasarmi of Cilicia voluntarily submitted to Assurbanipal.[704] + +The mountains of Armenia, as these narratives prove, were divided into +several principalities. The Assyrians first attacked the land to the +south of the high mountain-range, _i.e._, in the first instance the land +of Ararat, the most powerful of these Armenian principalities. On either +side of the mountain, in the basin of Lake Van, and in the valley of the +Araxes, the Armenians made a vigorous resistance, so that the obedience +of the Armenian chieftains never seemed to be secured for any length of +time. In spite of this resistance, the civilisation of the Assyrians +exercised great influence on the Armenians. This is not merely shown in +the adoption of the system of cuneiform writing on the part of the +Armenians; Sargon caused the capture of Arsissa to be represented in his +palace at Khorsabad. If these reliefs are true representations, the +style of architecture and the plan of the Armenian temples were not +essentially different from the Assyrian. The altars also, the ornaments, +and the weapons appear to be similar.[705] On the other hand it would +admit of no doubt that the Armenians, in spite of this influence, +retained the worship of their Iranian gods without any foreign +admixture, if the name of that Armenian deity Bagamazda, _i.e._ the +great god, were read correctly. That deity would at the same time afford +a new proof that the deities of Iran were worshipped in Armenia also. +Strabo, as already (p. 512) remarked, gives an account of the worship of +Anaitis, the water-giving goddess, the Anahita of the Iranians, among +the Armenians; and the name of this goddess is found, in the form +"Anaid," in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Armenian princes. +Unfortunately these inscriptions, which mainly belong to the land of +Van, have not as yet been sufficiently deciphered. The names of the +kings, from which they come, are read as Bagridur, Isbuinis, Minuas, +Argistis II. and Bagridur II.[706] These kings reigned successively; +each calls himself the son of his predecessor. An older Argistis of +Ararat is mentioned after the time of Urza in an inscription of Sargon, +king of Assyria, belonging apparently to the year 708 B.C. The +inscriptions of the kings of Armenia from the first to the second +Bagridur are filled with the wars which they carried on, the numbers of +the slain, of the captives, the cattle in the spoil, the towns and +temples destroyed. As Asshur is mentioned in the inscriptions of +Argistis II., and in those of his successor Bagridur II. a war against +Babylon is narrated,[707] these two kings must have been contemporaries +of the last ruler of Assyria, Assuridilili (626-606 B.C.), and +Nebuchadnezzar II. of Babylon (604-568 B.C.), and their three +predecessors contemporaries of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and +Assurbanipal. + +The central plain of the table-land of Asia Minor, from the valley of +the Halys and the great salt lake to the Cadmus and the Mysian Olympus, +north-westwards as far as the coasts of the Propontis, was inhabited by +the Phrygians. According to Herodotus the Thracians asserted that the +Phrygians had once dwelt in their land under the name of Briges. Hence +they had passed through Thrace to Asia, though a part, who still +preserved the name of Briges, had remained behind in Thrace. Of those +who arrived in Asia, some passed still further to the east; and the +Armenians were colonists of the Phrygians.[708] In Strabo also the +Phrygians are immigrants, and come from Thrace.[709] In any case the +Bithynians, who were settled on the lower course of the Sangarius from +the mouth of this stream westward as far as the Bosporus, were of +Thracian descent; they are said to have emigrated from the Strymon to +Asia.[710] On the other hand, the Phrygians themselves maintained that +they were not an offshoot from the Thracian Briges, but the Briges in +Thracia had emigrated from them.[711] If the affinity of the Armenians, +the Phrygians, and Thracians is established, the Phrygians must be +considered in the right. These migrations could not have proceeded from +the Strymon, they must rather have taken place from the east to the +west, from Armenia to Thrace, and the Thracians rather than the +Armenians were the last link in this emigration. As the modern science +of language finds Indo-Germanic roots in the slight remains of the +Phrygian language which have come down to us,[712] we must assume that +the progenitors of the Phrygians and Thracians passed from the Armenian +mountains in the east towards the west. The ancestors of the Phrygians +remained on the table-land of Asia Minor, those of the Thracians went +further to the north-west, towards Bithynia, over the Bosporus, which +the Greeks named after the Thracians; and beyond the strait they +inhabited the land under the Balkan from the Black Sea to the shores of +the Adriatic. The character of the language of the Thracians and +Illyrians, remains of which are preserved in Rumanisch and Albanian, +places it in the Indo-Germanic family. + +The Phrygians are said to have been a very ancient nation.[713] +According to the accounts of the Greeks, the legends of the Phrygians +began the history of their country with Gordius and Midas. Gordius, it +was said, was a poor farmer, who possessed only two yoke of oxen. At +that time the Phrygians were divided by factions, and in order to +restore peace, the deity commanded that they should elect as king the +man whom they first met on a waggon on the way to the shrine of Zeus. +Then they met Gordius on his waggon and greeted him as king. Gordius +built the city of Gordium at the confluence of the Scopas and Sangarius, +and dedicated in the temple of Zeus on the citadel of Gordium the +chariot which carried him to the throne. After Gordius's death the +throne descended to his son Midas, to whose lips, when a boy, ants had +carried grains of corn. Midas is said to have founded the city of +Gordiutichus in the south of the land, on the borders of Phrygia, and +Ancyra in the north: at Pessinus on the slope of Mount Agdus he built a +temple to the goddess of Phrygia and established the sacrifices.[714] He +was the richest king who ever lived. Everything that he touched turned +to gold. Once he bathed in the Pactolus, and ever since the sands washed +down by the river became sands of gold. When Pan blew his shepherd's +pipe, and Apollo touched his lyre, Midas preferred the music of Pan. In +revenge, Apollo caused asses' ears to grow upon Midas, and he covered +them with a tall cap. But the barber of Midas knew the secret, and told +it into a pit; and some rushes grew in the pit, and whispered "Midas has +asses' ears."[715] + +The gold of Midas and his power of changing everything into that metal +comes from the Greeks, whose legends desired to celebrate and explain +the ancient wealth of the kings of Phrygia. From the same source are the +asses' ears and the whispering rushes. The use of the pan's pipe, though +not of the shepherd's pipe, was learnt by the Greeks through their +colonists in Asia Minor from the Phrygians. The reed (or flute) was +called "eleg" among the Armenians: its notes first accompanied the +Elegies of Callinus of Ephesus, and Archilochus of Paros, to which it +gave the name. Among the Greeks many judges, and those by no means of +the least reputation, gave the most decided preference to the music of +the cithara, the lyre of Apollo, over the flute. In the same feeling +which prompted this judgment, the want of taste in finding the tones of +the flute more beautiful than those of the cithara is visited by a +punishment which at the same time is intended to explain the origin of +the tall Phrygian cap. The reeds belong to a brook in the vicinity of +Celaenae in Phrygia, which the Greeks called "the flute-spring" +(Aulokrene) because the reeds growing on the shores were used as +wind-instruments. There is another story in which the Greeks have +expressed the contrast between the quiet and composed tones of the +cithara, and the wild music of the Phrygian flutes--the Phrygian +harmonies to which they ascribed the power of rousing the feelings into +a passionate excitement of pain or delight.[716] The music of the flute +was introduced into choric poetry in the first half of the sixth century +by Polymnestus of Colophon, and Sakadas of Argos. Among the Phrygians, +Marsyas, a faithful and chaste companion of their national goddess, was +the genius of flute-music.[717] A brook which flowed into the Maeander +through the city Apamaea Cibotus, in the neighbourhood of Celaenae, was +named after Marsyas. The Greeks had a story that their god Apollo had +overcome with his cithara the flute-player of the Phrygians, and had +flayed him in punishment for his presumption in entering on the contest. +At Celaenae a bottle of Marsyas was exhibited, on which the story of the +flaying of Marsyas may have been founded.[718] + +After removing the fictions and additions of the Greeks, the +characteristic trait of the Phrygian story still remains, that their +monarchs arose out of the agricultural class, that grains of corn were +carried into the lips of the son of the first ruler, and that the king +of Phrygia loved the pan's pipe of the shepherds. Elsewhere also the +respect of the Phrygians for the agricultural life is brought into +prominence. Nicolaus of Damascus tells us of a law of the Phrygians by +which the slaughter of the ploughing ox, or the theft of agricultural +implements, was punished with death.[719] In the fourth century B.C. the +waggon of Gordius was still standing on the citadel of Gordium. The yoke +was bound so fast to the pole with the bark of dog-wood--the knot is +reported to been tied by Gordius himself--that it was said in Phrygia +that the man who should untie this knot would rule over all Asia. The +name Gordius should apparently be traced back to the Armenian "gords," +i.e. labour, or "day labour."[720] That side by side with these traits +the national tradition ascribed the erection of the ancient cities and +temples, the building of Gordium, Gordiuteichus, and Ancyra to the +earliest princes, is only natural. The names of the cities Manegordum +(near Ancyra) and Midaeum also point to these. + +The Phrygians obeyed a dynasty which saw its ancestors in the kings +Gordius and Midas, and called themselves alternately by these names. The +first king of whom we have any more definite information was Midas, the +son of Gordius, who ascended the throne of Phrygia in the year 738 B.C. +according to the date of Eusebius. His wife was Damodice, the daughter +of Agamemnon, the king of the Greek city of Cyme, who is said to have +been a woman distinguished by beauty and wisdom.[721] The seat on which +he used to dispense justice, a work well worth seeing, as Herodotus +says, he consecrated at Delphi. When Phrygia was attacked by the first +great invasion of the Cimmerians, he took away his own life by drinking +bull's blood (693 B.C.).[722] Of a third Midas, who reigned apparently +about a century later, we learn that his tomb was adorned with the image +of a maiden in brass, and that a Greek poet composed as an inscription +for this monument the following verses:-- + + "I am a maiden of brass, + I lie on the tomb of Midas; + While waters flow, and tall trees grow, + On Midas' tearful tomb I lie. + I say to every passer by, + 'Here Midas sleeps in earth below.'"[723] + +With the descendants of this Midas, Gordius and his son Adrastus, this +dynasty came to an end in the sixth century B.C.[724] + +Between Prymnessus and Midaeum (Jazili Kaja and Sidi Ghazi), in the +valley of Doganlu, lie the tombs of these kings, sepulchral chambers, +which are hewn in the perpendicular walls of red sandstone. On the face +of the rock there is no trace of any entrance; and the corpses must have +been lowered down behind the exterior front. The walls of rock are +changed into sculptures, in imitation of the outlines and rudiments of a +light wooden building. In low relief a framework of beams is sketched, +and over this a low-pitched gable rises. Such are the simplest of these +facades, which apparently we must also consider the oldest. Others +display a frieze of palm leaves in the upper field of the framework. +Others again put the figures of animals in the gable, _e.g._ two horses, +between which is an obelisk, and exhibit traces of Hellenic influence, +while another presents a perfect imitation of the Doric arrangement of +pillars. Among these sepulchres may once have been the tomb with the +maiden of brass. The inscriptions found on some, or in the +neighbourhood, are Phrygian, but written in Greek characters. The most +important tomb is that of a more ancient Midas at Kuembet. The facade of +this monument, which is in framework of the Phrygian style, covers about +sixty square feet of the hundred feet of the rock. The space in the +field of the framework is entirely filled up with rectangular ornaments +and a kind of scroll, while the tympanum of the gable is covered with a +key pattern.[725] + +Other remarkable remains of buildings are found in Phrygia. Strabo tells +us of a tribe on the borders of Cilicia who lived in the arches and +hollows of the rocks above the fruitful valley which they cultivated; +till conquered by the Romans the tribe was considered invincible, and +Vitruvius remarks that the Phrygians excavated the natural hills, cut +passages in them, and extended the spaces into dwellings as far as the +nature of the place allowed.[726] On the Rhyndakus, in the district of +the ancient Prymnessus, at Beibazar, on Lake Egerdir, to the east near +Iconium, numerous habitations are found excavated in the rocks, so that +it really seems that the Phrygians dwelt in the walls of their +mountains.[727] Lofty walls of rock, thousands of isolated cones, and +some mighty mountain summits are excavated into dwellings, into rock +cities--a task which was rendered easier by the softness of the stone +(peperino and tufa). Steep and at times wonderfully jagged rocks, +overhanging picturesque valleys, are chiselled out for one or two +hundred feet in height in such a manner that several galleries of +habitations lie one upon the other. These are lighted by openings in the +front, and connected with each other by shafts and staircases: of seats, +hearths, or couches there is no trace whatever--only niches and recesses +are found. Yet in some of the rock cities an advance may be observed. In +these the entrances to some extent exhibit indications of pillars, +architraves, portals, and the like, so that the habitations of this kind +seem to have been built at a later period. The ruins of the cities of +the Phrygians, the remains of Gordium, Midaeum, Pessinus, Prymnessus, +and Ancyra allow us to see the so-called Cyclopian style.[728] + +Our knowledge of the religious rites of the Phrygians is extremely +scanty. They are said to have invoked the god Men, or Manes under +various titles,[729] and the names of the cities Manegordum and Manesium +seem to go back to this deity. Whether this is the god whom the Greeks +called the Phrygian Zeus is not clear. The goddess, whom the Greeks +called Rhea or Cybele, Dindymene, Agdistis, after the mountains sacred +to her, is said to have been called Amma by the Phrygians.[730] The +chief home of her rites was that sanctuary on Mount Agdus near Pessinus, +which the first Midas is said to have dedicated to her (p. 525). Here +she was worshipped in a shapeless stone of no great size, not larger +than a man could lift. At the side of her statue in the temple lions and +panthers are said to have stood.[731] Her priests were eunuchs, who +waited on the goddess in gaily coloured vestments. The chief priest at +Pessinus, or Archigallus, is afterwards found holding a princely +position. At the festivals of the goddess, which were celebrated every +year, it was the custom for young men to make themselves eunuchs with a +sharp shell, crying out at the same time, "Take this, Agdistis." Then +they went round the country asking alms in the name of the goddess, and +they were known to the Greeks as "Metragyrtes," _i.e._ "beggars of the +mother;"[732] for the goddess, whose priests were eunuchs, and whose +service demanded the sacrifice of sex, was called by the Greeks the +"Great Mother," the "Mountain Mother," the "Nourishing Earth," the +"Giver of all." She must, therefore, have been regarded as the maternal +power of the earth, the power of nature, which gives life. It is +especially stated that she gave increase to the flocks,[733] and since +she was named after different mountains we may assume that high places +and mountains were the chosen seats of her worship. In Greek and Roman +art the Phrygian goddess is represented as sitting on a chariot drawn by +lions and panthers, with a cymbal in her hand, and wearing on her head +the mural crown as the goddess of the earth which supports cities. + +By the side of the Great Mother stands the god Atys, whom Herodotus +calls a son of Manes.[734] He grew up with the shepherds among the goats +of the forest. The goddess loved him, but he fled away into the +mountains, and there, under a fir-tree, into which his spirit passed, he +made himself an eunuch. In search of him Amma roams over the hills in +frantic grief, and carries into her cave the tree into which his spirit +passed. The emasculation and death of Atys, as also his resurrection, +were celebrated by the Phrygians.[735] At these festivals a fir-tree was +felled, crowned with violets, twined with garlands, and carried into the +sanctuary of the goddess. Afterwards Atys was sought in the mountains +with wild music and frenzy, as Amma had sought him. The third day of the +festival was "the day of blood," i.e. of the mutilation and death of +Atys, who was bewailed with despairing grief, amid rending of the hair +and beating of the breast. Then followed a happier scene, the festival +of "the resurrection," and the washing of the stone of the goddess.[736] +We learn further that Atys was also called Papas among the Phrygians. He +is also entitled the goat-herd and neat-herd; the plastic art of Greece +and Rome represents him as a youthful shepherd with the Pan's-pipe, and +by his side is a pine and a ram. According to later accounts he was the +"shepherd of the bright stars."[737] Hence we must assume that in Atys +the Phrygians personified the youthful bloom of nature, the bloom of the +spring, and they mourned the disappearance of this, just as, according +to the Greeks, they sang a piercing wail--the Lityerses--at the time of +corn-cutting. They lamented the death of the spring, and the fall of the +fruit; the youthful god had resigned his own power; the creative vigour +continued only to exist in the tree of Atys, the ever-green fir. In the +spring time it awoke again; this was the day of the resurrection with +its joy and pleasure. This orgiastic worship, and roaming with wild +cries over the heights and in the ravines of the mountains, sometimes in +wailing and lamentation, sometimes in joy, is peculiar to the religion +of the Phrygians. + +The central point of the Phrygian kingdom lay westwards of the great +salt plain in the region between Gordium and Ancyra, between Midaeum and +Pessinus in the valley of the Sangarius, on whose banks the Homeric +poems place the Phrygians, who are the possessors of "well-walled +cities."[738] If the majority of the Phrygians remained farmers and +shepherds, they nevertheless arrived at an early date at a monarchy, and +under this they reached a civilisation by no means contemptible, a +national culture, with an architecture and music of their own. On the +religion of the Phrygians the rites of their Semitic neighbours on the +north and south no doubt exercised a strong influence. The combination +of the creative power and the power hostile to procreation into one +deity, and the custom of mutilation, are conceptions and rites unknown +to the Aryan nations. But they are closely connected with the forms and +worship of Astarte-Ashera, just as Atys resembles the Adonis of the +Syrians. On the other hand, as was remarked above, the Phrygians adopted +the Greek alphabet on their monuments, and Greek verses were composed +for the tomb of Midas (p. 528). In return the Greeks adopted the +Phrygian flute, and along with it the form of the elegy and the Phrygian +harmonies. Nor were these all. The wild roaming, the unchecked sorrow +and joy, the tambourines and drums of the Phrygian festivals passed +without doubt in the first instance to the Greek colonies in the +Propontis, and more especially to Cyzicus, and from thence to the mother +country at the celebration of certain festivals of Demeter and Dionysus. +"Take," says Euripides in the _Bacchae_, "take the drums, the invention +of the Phrygians and the mother Rhea. Long ago the Corybantes (the +attendants of the Great Mother) devised the mighty circle of the +stretched hide and placed in Rhea's hand, with the loud, sweet-sounding +tone of Phrygian flutes, the thunder for the festal song."[739] + +Towards the east, the south coast of Asia Minor was inhabited by the +Cilicians and the Solymi. To the former belonged the slopes of Taurus +and the coast to the right bank of the Kalykadnus. Towards the west came +the Solymi, in a wild and broken mountain country. They took their name +from the Solyma mountains (_sallum_ = steps), which they inhabited, and +according to Choerilus of Samos, they spoke the language of the +Phenicians.[740] "The pass," so Xenophon tells us, "which leads to +Cilicia (from the interior of Asia Minor) is very steep, and only broad +enough for a single waggon. On descending from it you come into a +well-watered plain by the sea, which is inclosed from one end to the +other by lofty and precipitous mountains. But the plain itself is large +and beautiful, and filled with trees of every kind, and with vines. It +produces much sesame, wheat, millet, and barley."[741] In addition to +these advantages the slopes of Taurus offered splendid pastures for +horses, and on the coast were excellent harbours. The inhabitants of +this favoured land, known in Assyrian inscriptions as Chillakai, and on +the coins of the district from the Persian times as Chelech,[742] +belonged, like their neighbours on the Orontes and on the Upper +Euphrates, to the Semitic stock. This is proved by the names of their +districts and places of their gods, and by the inscriptions on their +coins. The Semitic stamp of names of places like Amanus (_amana_, firm), +Adana (_eden_, delight), Mallus (_maa'la_, height), Tarsus (_tars_, dry) +is beyond a doubt.[743] Herodotus tells us that the Cilicians wore +woollen clothes, and peculiar helmets of ox-leather, and carried swords +and spears like the Egyptians, and he maintained that they were +descended from Cilix, the son of Agenor, a Phenician. Their princes were +always styled Syennesis.[744] This standing name was, without doubt, the +title given by the princes of Cilicia to themselves: it must have been +_schu'a nasi_, _i.e._ "noble prince."[745] Hellanicus tells us that of +the two kings of the name of Sardanapalus, who ruled over Assyria, one +had built the two cities of Tarsus and Anchiale in Cilicia in one +day.[746] On the other hand Berosus informs us that Sennacherib (705-681 +B.C.) had heard in Assyria that an army of Greeks had landed in +Cilicia; against this he marched and defeated it, but with heavy loss. +As a memorial of this victory he caused his image to be set up there, +and afterwards the city of Tarsus was built in such a way that the +Cydnus flowed through the middle of it. The temple at Anchiale (west of +Tarsus, on the sea) was also founded by Sennacherib.[747] When Alexander +of Macedonia reached Cilicia his attendants found that the circuit and +towers of the walls of Anchiale proved that the city was planned on a +large scale. Near the walls they saw the statue of an Assyrian king. His +right hand was raised, and the inscription in Assyrian letters is said +to have called him Sardanapalus, the son of Anakyndaraxes.[748] + +No king of the name of Anakyndaraxes or Sardanapalus ever ruled over +Assyria, unless perhaps by the latter is meant Assurbanipal +(Assurbanhabal), the son of Esarhaddon. On the other hand, the +inscriptions of Shalmanesar II. of Asshur (859-828 B.C.) mention the +fact that he had overcome "Pikhirim the chief of the land of Chilakku +(Cilicia)," and Sargon, king of Assyria (722-705 B.C.), tells us that +the Cilicians had not been subject to his father, and that he had +transferred the dominion over Cilicia to Ambris, king of Tubal. Hence +Cilicia must have become subject to Sargon in the earliest years of his +reign. In consequence of the revolt, which Ambris undertook with Urza of +Ararat, and Mita, the king of Moschi, as we saw above (p. 520), Ambris +was taken captive and dethroned in the year 714 B.C. Sennacherib, the +successor of Sargon (705-681 B.C.), informs us that in the very first +years of his reign he had caused rebellious Cilicians to be removed: the +inscriptions of the later years of his reign remark that the cities of +the Cilicians were destroyed and burnt, and the Cilicians in the forests +were reduced. After this the inscriptions of Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.) +assure us that he reduced the Cilicians; and Assurbanipal recounts that +Sandasarmi of Cilicia, who had not submitted to the kings his fathers, +and fulfilled their commands, sent his daughter with many presents to +Nineveh for the harem of Assurbanipal, and kissed his feet.[749] + +The fall of the Assyrian kingdom restored their freedom to the +Cilicians, and they appear to have maintained it till the times of +Cyrus. After that time the princes of Cilicia were merely the viceroys +of the kings of Persia. To these sovereigns Cilicia paid each year 500 +Babylonian talents of silver and 360 selected horses. The harbours, +which carried on a lively trade, were able, at the beginning of the +fifth century B.C., to equip and man a hundred ships of war +(triremes).[750] + +The coins which have come down to us from the supremacy of the Persians +allow us to form some conclusions about the religious rites of the +Cilician cities. They represent Baal, the sun-god of the Syrians, on the +throne, with grapes and ears of corn in his right hand, and sometimes an +eagle at his side. Others exhibit Heracles attacking a lion with his +club. The inscriptions name the god thus represented Bal Tars, _i.e._ +Baal of Tarsus. A coin of Mallus also exhibits Heracles strangling the +lion, i.e. the beneficent sun-god who overcomes the terrible sun-god in +the sign of the lion, the consuming glow of the sun. On other coins we +can trace the war-goddess, on others the birth-goddess of the Syrians, +or her cow; some coins of Celenderis exhibit the goat of this +goddess.[751] + +The land of the Cilicians must at one time have stretched northwards +over the Taurus range to the inner table-land as far as the sources of +the Sarus, to the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, +or even further. Sargon could not have transferred the sovereignty over +Cilicia to the king of Tubal if his territory was not contiguous to +Cilicia. And if we assume that the land of Tubal reached at that time as +far as the Taurus, we are met by the objection that even Herodotus +represents the Halys as passing through the land of the Cilicians on its +way from Armenia.[752] Hence the land afterwards called Cataonia, +between Taurus and Antitaurus and the northern spur of the latter range, +must, even in the time of Herodotus, have belonged to Cilicia. + +On the north-western slope of the Armenian mountains toward the Black +Sea we have already found the Moschi and Tibarenes, whom the Hebrews +counted among the sons of Japhet. The western neighbours of the +Tibarenes on the coasts of the Black Sea were the Chalybians. It is the +land of the Chalybians of which the Homeric poems speak, when they +mention the city of Alybe--"where is the birth of silver."[753] But it +is not only the obtaining of silver that is ascribed by the Greeks to +the Chalybians; they are also the discoverers of the working of iron; +and steel, which the Greeks obtained from this coast, was named after +the Chalybians. AEschylus calls the Chalybians "barbarous workers in +brass, men averse to foreigners."[754] In the scriptures of the Hebrews +Tubal-cain, a name of which the first part seems to denote the +Tibarenes, is the father of the smiths in brass and iron. Hence it is +clear that the mines of ore and iron in the land of the Tibarenes and +Chalybians must have been opened at a very early period. As a fact the +ore lies at a very slight depth in the mountains. Even now large masses +of copper are discovered along the coast to the west of Trebizond; +beside copper, the mines of Guemuesh Khane, two days' journey in the +interior from Trebizond, even now yield lead containing silver, which is +also found in the mines of Baibut and Tokat, further to the south.[755] +Hence these districts could furnish not only iron and steel, but silver +also; elsewhere silver was only to be got in the mines on Mount Ida till +the Phenicians imported this metal in large quantities from Tartessus. + +Westward of the Chalybians on the Thermodon, the Iris, and the lower +course of the Halys, dwelt a population which, setting aside any later +admixture, were of Semitic origin. Herodotus calls the inhabitants of +the land which reaches from Armenia on the east to the Halys on the +west, from the coast of the Black Sea southwards as far as Cilicia, +Syrians, and remarks that this was the name of the people in use among +the Greeks.[756] Pindar speaks of "a spear-armed Syrian host" on the +mouth of the Thermodon.[757] The Greek colony of Sinope west of the +mouth of the Halys is said to have been founded in the land of the +Syrians of noble stock.[758] A promontory running into the sea to the +north of Sinope is called Syrias.[759] The Greeks derived the people in +this district from Syrus, a son of Apollo.[760] Scylax of Caryanda names +the coast of the Black Sea, from the Chalybians to Armene, westward of +the promontory of Syrias, Assyria.[761] Strabo states that these +Syrians, who extended from the Taurus northwards as far as the Pontus, +were named Leuco-Syrians, _i.e._ white Syrians, to distinguish them from +the true Syrians, and that the Cataonians (p. 538) spoke the same +language with them.[762] The coins struck at Sinope (Sanab), Side and +Kotyora (Gazir), in the fourth century B.C., have Aramaic legends, and +we can trace on them the name and form of the god Baal.[763] The +Persians called these people Cappadocians (Katapatuka), and extend the +name to Cilicia also. If the Phrygians when marching westwards from +Armenia not only traversed but took possession of the land, the +Phrygians who remained in the country must have retired to the west +before the Semitic tribe, which forced its way from Cilicia and the +Upper Euphrates, or have been absorbed by them. + +In the eighth century B.C. the Syrians between the Lower Halys and +Armenia received a peculiar admixture. "On the shore of the Pontus, +where the Scythians now dwell"--such is the account of Herodotus--"it is +said that the territory of the Cimmerians lay, and in Scythia the +Cimmerian Bosporus and Cimmerian walls and harbours remain, and a region +which is called Cimmeria. When the Scythians who once dwelt in the east +were driven out by the Massagetes or the Issedones, they came into the +land of the Cimmerians. The latter took counsel on the river Tyras, and +one part were inclined with the kings to fight against the Scythians, +but the others wished to abandon the land. Thus a strife arose between +the two parties, and those who wished to retire from the land defeated +the king and all who were of the same opinion with him, and buried the +slain on the Tyras, where their grave is still to be seen. Then the +remainder fled before the Scythians along the sea to Asia, and settled +on the peninsula, where Sinope, the city of the Greeks, is now built. +But the Scythians took their land in possession, and, led by their king +Madyas, they pursued the retreating Cimmerians, but missed them, as they +took the upper road, which is far longer, and keeps the Caucasus on the +right."[764] + +We shall return to the Scythians again; for the present we may leave +them out of the question. In Homer the Cimmerians, "miserable men, who +are veiled in cloud, darkness, and night, and are never illuminated by +the sun," dwell "at the end of earth and Oceanus, where is the opening +of the entrance into the under-world."[765] As guardians of the +under-world Aristophanes calls them after the dog of Hades, +Cerberians.[766] Following the guidance of the Homeric poems, the +Cimmerians were sought in the west, where the sun sinks, and the +entrance to the under-world was supposed to be; they were placed in the +neighbourhood of the Italic Kyme.[767] When the Milesians, about the +middle of the eighth century, discovered the north shore of the Black +Sea, they found in the extreme north, at the end of the earth, a nation +whom the Greeks called Cimmerians. Thus the entrance into Lake Maeotis +obtained among the Greeks the name of the Bosporus of the Cimmerians, in +contrast to the Bosporus of the Thracians. At a later time the +Cimmerians were identified with the Germanic Cimbri and the Celtic +Kymri. + +Hence the decision would seem to be correct that the Cimmerians ought to +be struck out of history as a mythical nation and a mythical name, which +was perhaps intended to correspond to the misty, wintry nature of some +remote lands, did not the poet Callinus of Ephesus, whose date falls +about the year 700 B.C., speak of "the approaching army of the +Cimmerians, who achieved mighty deeds:" did not Herodotus himself tell +us that the expelled Cimmerians "settled on the peninsula at the place +where the Greek city of Sinope now stands"; and also narrate that the +Cimmerians, while king Ardys ruled over the Lydians (654-617 B.C.), +invaded Lydia, and captured Sardis, the metropolis, except the citadel; +and that Alyattes king of Lydia (612-563 B.C.) first expelled the +Cimmerians entirely out of Asia Minor:[768] did not Aristotle tell us +that the Cimmerians had been settled for a hundred years in Antandros, +on the Trojan coast, and Scymnus of Chius, that the Milesian Abron, who +founded Sinope, was said to have been slain by the Cimmerians, that Coes +and Cretines founded the city anew, "after the Cimmerians, when their +array traversed Asia"?[769] + +The Cimmerians then were not a legendary fiction: the Cimmerian Bosporus +really owed its name to a people who called themselves, or were known to +the Greeks, by this name, as also the hamlet of Cimmerikum on the +Crimea, and Cimmerium on the peninsula of Kertch. Strabo, the best +authority on the Eastern districts of Asia Minor, of which he was a +native, says: "The wanderings of the Scythian Madys (it is the Madyas of +Herodotus) and of Kobos the Trerian are unknown to most people. The +Cimmerians, who are called Treres,[770] or a tribe of them, dwelt on the +gloomy Bosporus. They came from a far distant region, and are said to +have been driven out by the Scythians. They have often attacked the +right side, _i.e._ the eastern side of the Pontus, and fought against +the Cappadocians, Paphlagonians, and Phrygians;[771] they crossed the +Halys, and forced their way as far as the Ionian cities.[772] Their +first invasion is placed by the chronologers in the time of Midas, who +put an end to his life by drinking bull's blood, _i.e._ as we saw above +(p. 528) in the period from 738 to 693 B.C., or according to others, in +the time of Homer, or shortly before him.[772] But Lygdamis, with a +horde of his own, forced his way to Lydia and Ionia, and conquered +Sardis, though he remained in Cilicia.[773] Callisthenes says that +Sardis was first taken by the Cimmerians, then by the Treres, and +finally by Cyrus. The first capture is also proved by Callinus. At +length the Treres, under Kobos, are said to have been driven out by the +Scythians under Madys."[774] + +From this account it is clear that the Cimmerians, or a part of them, +were called Treres, a name also given to a Thracian tribe between the +Skomius and Hebrus, on the Bistonian Lake;[775] that they made at least +two invasions into the west of Asia Minor; that the second of these, +which in Strabo is undertaken under the command of Lygdamis, is the same +as the invasion of the Cimmerians which Herodotus places in the time of +king Ardys of Lydia. In both writers this invasion extends to Sardis and +to some of the Greek cities on the coast, and Plutarch expressly +establishes the identity of the invasion of the Treres under Lygdamis +with that of the Cimmerians in Herodotus, on ancient authorities.[776] +Justin calls the Cimmerians a part of the Scythians, who, owing to their +internal contentions, migrated under the leadership of Ilinus and +Scolopitus, and established themselves on the coast of Cappadocia.[777] + +The incursion of the Scythians into Media, with which Herodotus has +combined the migration of the Cimmerians, took place, as we shall show +from Herodotus' own statement, about the year 630 B.C. But if Alyattes +of Lydia was the first to expel the Cimmerians from the west of Asia +Minor after they had been settled for a century in Antandros, these +Cimmerians must have been in Asia at least as early as 663 B.C., since +Alyattes reigned till 563 B.C. Further, if Herodotus only mentions the +destruction of Sardis, which took place about 630 B.C., and is wholly +silent on the first destruction by the Cimmerians, this first capture +must have taken place before the time from which he commences his +accurate account of Lydian history, _i.e._ before the accession of Gyges +in the year 689 B.C., or, according to the data of Herodotus, even +before 719 B.C. This capture of Sardis is the only one which could have +been known to Callinus. Further, the Cimmerians are said to have invaded +Phrygia at the time of that Midas who put himself to death in the year +693 B.C. Hence they must have been in Asia Minor before this year, and +if they overpowered Phrygia, they could easily at the same time have +forced their way as far as the western coast. Moreover, Strabo remarks +that the Milesians built Sinope, when they had become acquainted with +the favourable position of the place and the weakness of the people, but +the people were not weak after the Cimmerians had occupied the mouth of +the Halys. The first foundation of Sinope under Abron must therefore be +placed before the arrival of the Cimmerians in Asia Minor. The ancient +Sinope founded the city of Trapezus in the year 756 B.C.,[778] and +therefore that city must have been founded at least ten years earlier, +and its destruction by the Cimmerians must be placed after the year 756 +B.C. Hence the Cimmerians might have reached the mouth of the Halys +about 750 B.C., though they cannot have come along the coast from +Colchis, but over the sea. With this agrees the statement that the +Cimmerians forced their way into Asia Minor in the year 782.[779] + +From this investigation it follows that the Cimmerians once possessed +the north shore of the Black Sea on the straits from Kaffa, westward +perhaps as far as the mouth of the Danube. Since the Treres, a Thracian +nation, are always mentioned in connexion with the Cimmerians, and it is +ascertained that Thracian tribes possessed the western coast of Pontus +from the Thracian Bosporus northwards as far as the mouth of the Danube, +and as the Agathyrsi in Transylvania are also called Thracians, there +can hardly be any doubt remaining that the Cimmerians were of Thracian +origin, or at least nearly related to the Thracians. According to the +account of Herodotus the Cimmerians held a consultation on the Tyras +(Dniester), their kings were said to have been killed there, and in +confirmation of the story he appeals to the tumuli which were still to +be seen on the Dniester. The only certain conclusion to be drawn from +this statement is that mounds on the Dniester were shown to Herodotus as +coming down from an older population of those districts. The Cimmerians, +who arrived in Asia Minor (the Tauri, on the peninsula which was named +after them, appear to be a remnant of this nation, who maintained their +old settlements, and the modern name Crimea goes back to the +Cimmerians), must have been a numerous and martial people, if they were +able not only to establish themselves firmly in the East on the Halys, +but also to force their way to the western coast, there to settle down +in several places and maintain themselves in these, and to capture twice +the fortified metropolis of the Lydians, the most warlike nation in Asia +Minor. + +According to the genealogy in Genesis, Gomer is the eldest son of +Japhet. This name is without doubt the Semitic term for the population +on the north shore of the Pontus, who were known to the Greeks as +Cimmerians. In the sixth century B.C. the prophet Ezekiel mentions Gomer +beside Togarmah.[780] Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (681-668 B.C.), tells +us that Tiuspa from the distant land of the Cimmerians (Gimirai) +submitted to him with his army. Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C.) relates: +"The Cimmerians were not afraid of my fathers or of me, and would not +take the yoke of my sovereignty. Gugu (Gyges), king of Ludi (Lydia), a +land beyond the sea, a distant region, of which my fathers had not heard +the name, sent a messenger into my presence, in order to implore my +friendship and kiss my feet. From the day on which he accepted my yoke, +he took Cimmerians, desolators of his land, alive in the battle with his +own hand. From the number of the captured leaders he bound two with +strong fetters of iron, and sent them with numerous presents to Nineveh, +the city of my dominion. He constantly sent messengers to ask for my +friendship. He omitted to do so when he disregarded the will of Asshur, +the god, my creator, trusted to his own power, and hardened his heart. +He sent his forces to aid Pisamilki (Psammetichus), king of Egypt, who +had thrown off the yoke of my sovereignty. I heard this, and prayed to +Asshur and Istar thus: May his body be cast out to his enemies, and his +servants be carried away captive. Asshur answered me: His body shall be +cast out to his enemies, and his servants carried away captive. The +Cimmerians, whom he had brought under his feet by the renown of my name, +conquered and laid waste his whole land. His son (Ardys) sat upon his +throne. He sent to me and received the yoke of my supremacy, saying +thus: I am thy subject and servant, and my people will do all thy +will."[781] + +Thus the account of the Greeks is completely established. To be +subjugated by Esarhaddon the Cimmerians must have been in Asia Minor in +the first decades of the seventh century B.C., they must also have got +the upper hand here to such a degree that Gyges, king of Lydia, found it +impossible to defend himself against them without the help of the +Assyrians. The first capture of Sardis must have taken place before the +accession of Gyges, on that campaign which the Cimmerians made in the +year 693 B.C. to Phrygia. On the other hand it may be that the +Cimmerians had got possession of the city of Antandrus in the reign of +Gyges. When Gyges had repulsed the Cimmerians he thought that he had no +longer any need of Assyria. For this, according to Assurbanipal, he was +punished by a second invasion of the Cimmerians, who desolated his land; +he lost his life in the battle, of which the Greeks know nothing, and +his son and successor Ardys was again forced to submit to Assyria. That +Ardys had to fight severe battles with the Cimmerians is proved by the +second capture of Sardis, which took place in his reign about the year +630 B.C. While the Cimmerians were thus engaged in the West, the city of +Miletus, or some exiled Milesians, seized the opportunity to re-found +Sinope. Alyattes succeeded in forcing back the Cimmerians and attacking +them with such vigour that they were no longer able to undertake any +invasions to the West. Even Sinope had no more to fear from them, +although their settlements lay in the neighbourhood of this city. At a +subsequent period in the third century B.C. the invading Celts threw the +whole of Asia Minor into a panic, and plundered it, until they were +confined to Galatia; and the invasion of the Cimmerians appears to have +taken a similar course. The Celts, however, maintained themselves within +a limited district; the Cimmerians disappeared so entirely among the +Cappadocians, that Syncellus calls Gomer the progenitor of the +Cappadocians, and the Armenians denote the Cappadocians by the name +Gamir.[782] + +In Cappadocia also, rock tombs, sculptures, and fragments of buildings +have been discovered, the authors of which and the date of their +erection we cannot ascertain even approximately. Near Amasia, on the +middle course of the Iris, we find graves hewn in the rocks, of which +those lying nearest the city may have belonged to the first kings of +Pontus. Near Aladja also the facade of a large rock-tomb may be seen. +Near Uejuek, on an elevated terrace, are the ruins of a palace, the lower +part of which is formed by great blocks worked and joined in the +Cyclopian style, and the blocks are in part covered with sculptures. In +the middle of the south front is a spacious doorway guarded by two pairs +of lions; one pair is detached, the other is worked out of the stone +posts of the doorway, like the protecting figures in the palaces of +Nineveh.[783] Near Boghaskoi, which is perhaps the site of the ancient +city of Pteria, at the foot of a lofty limestone plateau, overhung by +cones of rock, in the fork of a mountain stream which flows northward to +the Halys, are the remains of a building about 200 feet in length and +140 feet in breadth. A broad staircase leads from the river to a +terrace, on which rises the palace surrounded by a wall. As at Uejuek, +the lower part of the structure consists of Cyclopian blocks of fifteen +to twenty feet in length, and some six feet in depth. About thirty +chambers, greater or smaller, surround the court of this structure. The +ground plan is like that of the palaces of Nineveh; in the sculptures a +resemblance has been traced to the reliefs of the buildings of the +Achaemenids. Pteria was afterwards the abode of a Persian commander. On +the rocky plateau over the palace we see the remains of two citadels, +surrounded by lines of fortification, of which the Cyclopian foundations +may still be traced.[784] Two miles and a half to the north-west of the +ruins of the citadels, in the rocks surrounding the plateau, remarkable +sculptures have been discovered. In a deep recess of the rocks the rough +walls, which have been but slightly hewn and smoothed, are covered with +reliefs. There are two rows of figures which meet each other. They +advance from the outer curve of the niche along the side-walls, on the +right and left, towards the back wall. While the figures in these rows +are only from two to three feet high, the shapes on the back wall, which +form the centre of the picture, are of the size of life, and indeed the +main figure is even larger. All the figures are in profile. The main +figure, which moves from left to right, as does the long row of figures +following it on the left side of the niche, is a bearded warrior, who +steps over, or even upon, two bending figures with high and pointed +caps, falling over in front, and in garments which fall in folds from +the girdle. In his right hand he carries a sceptre, the left hand, which +is not very distinct, holds a flower out of which peers a circle, or an +oval ring. His doublet hardly reaches to the knee; the head is covered +with a tall conical cap, and on the feet are pointed shoes. He is +followed by two male figures suitably clothed, who stand on mountain +summits; then between two winged genii are two figures with round caps, +who carry bowls, and behind them a form in a long garment, with a bent +staff in his hand, and a winged circle on his head. Then follow warriors +armed with sabres, or clubs, in the same short doublet and the same +pointed shoes as the three leaders, and between them are two demons, the +only figures presenting a full face, with round, broad faces, who carry +two segments of a circle, one upon the other. They were followed by +warriors and two priests with pointed caps falling over in front. The +end of the row on the left entrance is formed by a series of twelve +warriors, who march on without armour, close together, and with even +step. On the right side of the niche is another row, coming to meet the +row described. Opposite the leader of the warriors, in the middle of the +north wall, is a large female figure, who advances from the right to the +left on a lion or leopard, whose feet rest on four mountain summits. She +wears a long robe falling in folds to her ankles; her hair streams down, +and upon it is a cylindrical head-dress; the right hand carries a staff, +while the left, which holds something similar to the ring already +mentioned, is held out towards the outstretched left hand of the leader +of the warriors. Behind her, on a smaller scale, but also riding on a +lion with the feet resting on mountain summits, is a youthful warrior, +without a beard, in the clothing of the main figure; the head is covered +with a lofty pointed cap, the shoes are also pointed; in the girdle is +the two-edged bill, in the left hand a long battle-axe, and in the right +a staff. He is followed by two female figures above a double eagle, in +the dress of the main female figure; behind them come thirteen more +female figures of a similar kind, with staves or harps in their hands. +The whole picture contains more than sixty figures. In a niche receding +to the back we find, beside a demon of remarkable shape, a young +beardless man with an exceedingly tall conical cap; in his outstretched +right hand he appears to carry the picture of a temple; and with his +left he embraces the neck of a very youthful female form, whose +head-dress and robe fall down in numerous folds. Beside them march +twelve warriors with lower caps than those in the main recess, and +scythe swords in their right hands; the left arm is raised as high as +the shoulder, since they are treading on the left heel, and the top of +the right foot.[785] + +If this great rock picture is not intended to represent some act of +religious worship, it might depict the conclusion of a treaty between +two nations. In this case it might belong to the period in which Media, +under Cyaxares, extended her borders to the Halys, and came into fierce +conflict with the Lydians. This war was brought to an end by a treaty of +peace, accompanied by the betrothal of the daughter of Alyattes of +Lydia to the son of Cyaxares. The picture might be explained in +reference to this treaty and betrothal, did not the style and manner +appear closely allied to the figure near Smyrna (p. 151), and a relief +not far from Ancyra.[786] + +As to the religious rites of the Cappadocians, we know that they +worshipped the god Men, who is called a moon-god, and a female deity, +Mene, or Ma. On the Lycus, an affluent of the Iris, at Cabeira, stood +the sanctuary of Men in the middle of large precincts; the sanctuary of +Mene was at Comana, on the Iris, and was the oldest, richest, and most +important sanctuary in the land. Ma, or Mene, was a war-goddess whom +Greeks and Romans called Enyo and Bellona; to Strabo she is known as +Artemis, and this name is evidence of her relation to the moon, no less +than of her position as a war-goddess. That relation is confirmed by +further evidence. Comana, says Strabo, is thickly populated; but the +inhabitants are effeminate; the greater part are fanatics or religious +maniacs, and there is also a number of women who serve the goddess with +their bodies, of whom the greater part are dedicated to the temple. +Here, twice in the year, the "Exodus of the Goddess" was celebrated. To +this festival pilgrims, male and female, came from every side, and in +frenzy and ecstasy performed certain sacred customs, which consisted +partly in wounding themselves with swords, and partly in sensual +excesses. In the south of Cappadocia, on the upper Sarus, there was a +second city of Comana, which also possessed a sanctuary of Ma. Here, as +at Comana on the Iris, six thousand servants are said to have attended +upon Ma.[787] We know the tendencies of the Syrian worship, to bring +man, by means of certain services, nearer to the deity to whom the +services are performed, and make him resemble the peculiar nature of the +deity whom he worships. The maidens who served the maiden goddess in her +temples on the Pontus carried weapons like the goddess, and honoured her +by dancing in armour. + +Out of these armed maidens in the temples of Ma there grew up among the +Greeks a peculiar and widely-developed legend--the legend of the warlike +tribe of the Amazons. When the Greek colonists landed on the western +coast of Asia Minor, they found, in the land of the Lydians, where they +built Smyrna, Cyme, and Ephesus, seats of the worship of a goddess whom +they compared to their Artemis, and whose attendants were eunuchs and +armed maidens (p. 556). They next perceived that similar seats of +worship were to be found in the East also, on the coasts of the Pontus. +Thus the Homeric poems already placed the "Amazons equal to men" on the +east of the Phrygians, and represented king Priam as meeting them with +his men on the banks of the Sangarius.[788] As natives of Asia Minor the +Amazons must have fought with the Trojans against the Greeks. Arctinus +represented the Amazons as coming to Troy after the death of Hector, and +distressing the Greeks till Achilles slew their queen, the beautiful +"Penthesilea, the daughter of the dread, manslaying Ares." The cyclic +poets knew the abode of the Amazons more accurately than Homer; they +place them at Themiscyra, on the Thermodon;[789] and at this place +Pindar represents them as drawing up their army. AEschylus also places +the Amazons on the Thermodon;[790] according to Pherecydes the war-god +begot the Amazons with Harmonia on the Thermodon.[791] We have seen that +the Greeks gave the name Harmonia to Astarte, the moon-goddess of the +Phenicians. When the Greeks at the time of Arctinus had founded Sinope +and Trapezus in those regions, they believed that they were in the land +of the Amazons; and Sinope was thought to have been previously inhabited +by the Amazons.[792] The places at which the Greeks here founded a new +home were thought to have been named and sanctified long before their +arrival, not only by the voyage of the Argonauts, for Heracles, Theseus, +and Peirithous were said to have set foot there, in order to perform +their mighty deeds against the Amazons. At the command of Eurystheus +Heracles had been compelled to bring the girdle from Hippolyte, the +queen of the Amazons, for Admete. Theseus and Peirithous had carried off +Antiope. Among the Phenicians, as we have seen, Baal-Melkarth looses the +girdle of the moon-goddess; the Greeks transferred the legend of +Melicertes to their Heracles. Even as early as the thirteenth or twelfth +century B.C. the ships of the Phenicians had probably brought the +worship of the warlike moon-goddess to the coast of Attica. At any rate, +at a later time, tombs of the Amazons, _i.e._ abandoned seats of the +worship of the Artemis of Syria and Asia Minor, were shown there. After +the Attic territory was united under the rule of a military monarchy, of +which, among the Ionians, Theseus was the embodiment, the Phenicians +were driven back from the coasts of the Greeks: Theseus was said to +have conquered the Minotaur and the Amazons. In order to establish the +existence of Amazons in Attica, Theseus was said to have carried off +Antiope. To avenge this wrong, the Amazons marched from their distant +home on the Thermodon to Attica; and the Athenians considered it one of +their greatest services towards their common fatherland that they had +conquered the Amazons, "an enemy who threatened all Hellas."[793] + +Out of these elements the Greeks framed a circumstantial history of the +Amazons. Even among the historians, their home is the land of the +Thermodon. Here the Amazons dwelt, according to Herodotus, Diodorus, and +Strabo, and here, as Diodorus tells us, they offered splendid sacrifices +to Ares and Artemis Tauropolus. Their first queen is said to have been +the daughter of Ares, and she built the great city of Themiscyra; the +second queen extended the dominion of the Amazons as far as Syria; and +finally queen Myrina reduced the whole of Syria, and received the +voluntary submission of the Cilicians.[794] It is obvious that the +Amazons founded all the cities where the worship of the maiden +war-goddess flourished or had ever existed. Roused by the crime of +Theseus, they marched to the west, founded the sanctuary of Ephesus, +where "they set up the image of the goddess under the trunk of an elm, +and, armed with shields, danced the war-dance, so that their quivers +sounded."[795] Then they marched to the north, and founded Smyrna, +Myrina, and Cyme.[796] Analogous rites proved that they were also in +Lesbos and Samothrace. Through Thrace and Thessaly, and finally across +Euboea, they are said to have marched to Attica; tombs of the Amazons +were shown at Scotussa and Cynoscephalae, in Thessaly, and at Chalcis, in +Euboea.[797] After returning home, the Amazons next marched to the aid +of the Trojans, and were conquered by Achilles. When the Greeks had +founded Cyrene on the coast of Attica, and found, among the Libyan +tribes of the surrounding district, the worship of a female +war-goddess--when they found the Libyan women wearing corslets of +goatskins, they came to the conclusion that the Amazons once dwelt on +the Tritonian lake in Libya.[798] + +A nation of heroines was certainly never found by the Greeks on the +Thermodon. On the other hand, they received accounts of the warlike +queens of the Saces and Massagetae, of Zarinaea, Sparethra, and Tomyris, +who fought against the Medes and Persians; and on the coasts of the +Black Sea, in the colonies of the Milesians, they heard of the riding, +the archery, and hunting of the women of the Sauromatae. Hence the Greeks +resolved to make the Amazons the ancestors of the Sarmatians. They were +represented as taking ship from the Thermodon across the Black Sea to +the coast of the Maeotis, because here, in the Crimea, on the "promontory +of the maiden," a cruel maiden goddess, who was also called Artemis +Tauropolus by the Greeks, was worshipped. Herodotus, and after him +Ephorus, tells us that the Amazons fled over the Pontus from the +Thermodon, and landed on the shore of the Maeotis. Here they took the +young men among the Scythians, who, according to Herodotus, were settled +between the mouths of the Danube and the Don, as their husbands, and +with them marched eastwards over the Tanais (Don), beyond which river +and north of the Caucasus lay, according to Herodotus, the dwellings of +the Sauromatae, whom later writers call the Sarmatians. Hence the +Sarmatian women still preserved the customs of the Amazons; they carried +bows and javelins, and wore the same clothing as the men, sat on +horseback, and rode with or without their husbands to the chase or to +battle, and no maiden married till she had slain an enemy; "so that some +never married at all, because they were unable to satisfy this rule." +The language of the Sauromatae was the same as the language of the +Scythians, but they spoke it badly, because the Amazons had never +perfectly learned it. These statements, and especially the assertion +that the Sarmatian women fought as long as they were maidens, were +repeated by Greek writers--in other respects very trustworthy--in the +fifth and fourth century B.C. Others also maintained that the women were +rulers among the Sarmatians.[799] Poetry and plastic art had stamped +the legend of the Amazons so firmly on the Greeks that they could not +break loose from it. Several of the historians of Alexander of Macedon +tell us that the queen Thalestris, with 300 Amazons, sought out +Alexander from a great distance, and made a proposal of marriage to him, +on his return from Hyrcania,[800] a story which has perhaps arisen out +of the fact that the satrap Atropates of Media sent 100 mounted women to +Alexander.[801] When at a later time Pompey fought in the Caucasus, and +women were found among the wounded, it was thought that the real Amazons +were at last found;[802] and the story was now told that the Amazons +dwelt northward of the Gelen (in Ghilan), on the southern foot of the +Caucasus. In order to solve the difficulty of their propagation of the +race, the story was invented that for two months in the spring they met +the Gargareans--a neighbouring tribe--on the mountains by night, and +associated with them, as accident might determine. The boys were then +sent to the Gargareans, who brought them up in common; the daughters +were retained by the Amazons.[803] In order to explain the name Amazon, +which in Greek can mean "without a breast," the story was invented that +they burnt off the right breast of the maidens, so that they might use +the right arm better, and draw the bow--a story which Hippocrates had +already told about the daughters of the Sarmatians.[804] On the +monuments of plastic art the Amazons have both breasts; the older +period represents them with a broad girdle, an ample robe, and a +Phrygian cap, a crescent shield (the symbol of the moon-goddess), a bow, +and a battle-axe. In later sculptures the Amazons, when they had been +connected with the Scythians and the Sarmatians, were generally +represented on horseback, in a Doric tunic, with naked arms and thighs, +a helmet on the head, and a spear in the hand. + +On the western slopes of the table-land of Asia Minor, in the river +valleys of the Hermus and Maeander, the Lydians were settled. Their land +reached from the sources of the Hermus in Mount Dindymon to the AEgean +sea, from Messogis and Cadmus in the south to the Temnus range in the +north. The valley of the Hermus was exuberantly fertile, and still more +luxuriant was the vegetation in the district round the Gygaean lake. The +mountain pastures supported herds of powerful horses and numerous flocks +of sheep. The Pactolus brought sands of gold down from Tmolus; in the +rocks of this range and its western continuation, Sipylus, rich veins of +gold are said to have been found.[805] + +But little has been preserved of the legendary accounts of the Lydians +about their rulers in the earliest times. About the middle of the fifth +century B.C. the Lydian Xanthus, the son of Candaules, wrote the history +of his people in four books, in the Greek language. Of this some +fragments have come down to us, which can here and there be supplemented +by the statements of Herodotus. From both we learn that the Lydians +traced back the origin of their royal house to the gods. Atys, the son +of the god Manes, was the first sovereign of the Lydians; after him +came his son Lydus, who gave the name to the people. From the brother of +Lydus, whom Xanthus calls Torrhebus, and Herodotus Tyrsenus, the tribe +of the Torrhebians or Tyrsenians was derived. The territory of the +Torrhebi lay on the upper Cayster. From Asius, the son of Cotys, the son +of Atys, sprang the tribe of the Asionaeans, who inhabited the Asian +meadow.[806] From Atys, their progenitor, the first king, his +successors, the first house of Lydian kings, were called Atyads. Among +the successors of Lydus the most pious and just was Alkimus. During his +reign there was peace and quiet in Lydia; every man lived securely and +without fear, and all things prospered. After him reigned king Akiamus, +who sent Ascalus with an army to Syria. There Ascalus founded the city +of Ascalon. After this, as Herodotus narrates, a lion was born to king +Meles from his concubine, and this lion, in obedience to an oracle, he +caused to be carried round the walls of Sardis, his metropolis, in order +that they might be impregnable.[807] According to Xanthus, Meles, who +was a tyrannous and cruel king, was overthrown by Moxus, a very just and +brave man, after he had vowed to the gods that, in gratitude for their +deliverance, the Lydians should henceforth offer to them a tenth of all +their animals. Then Moxus marched to Syria, and there took Atargatis +captive, with her son Ichthys (fish). As a punishment for her rebellion +she was thrown into the lake of Ascalon, and eaten by the fish. Then +king Cambletes reigned, who sacrificed his wife, and ate her, and then +slew himself with his sword before all the people. After him Jardanus, +who had been an enemy of Cambletes, ruled over Lydia.[808] Jardanus was +followed by his daughter Omphale.[809] To avenge the insult which had +been paid to her before she ascended the throne of Lydia, she compelled +the maidens of the land to give themselves up to the slaves at an +appointed place, and slew the strangers whom she entertained, when she +had lain with them.[810] After Omphale, Tylon reigned, who died from the +bite of a snake, but was again restored to life by a marvellous +herb.[811] But with the slave-girl of Jardanus, according to Herodotus, +or, according to others, with Omphale, Heracles begot Alcaeus; the son of +Alcaeus was Belus; the son of Belus was Ninus, and the son of Ninus was +Agron. With the accession of Agron the dominion of the Atyads came to an +end, and that of the Heracleids commenced, who then continued to rule +over Lydia for 505 years.[812] + +Manes and Atys are already known to us as deities of the Phrygians; they +must therefore have been worshipped by the Lydians also. Lydus, the +second king of the land, is taken from the name of the nation. The +prosperous, peaceful reign of the good king Alkimus is no doubt founded +on some conception of an early happy age. The story of the lion of Meles +obviously goes back to the relations in which the lion was placed, in +the religious rites of the Syrians, to the sun-god, who was also +worshipped with zeal by the Lydians. We learn from a Lydian that the +name Sardis was given to the city in honour of the sun-god.[813] The +coins of Sardis which have been preserved regularly present the image of +a lion and a bull.[814] The vow of Moxus is intended to explain the +blood-tithe, which we have already found in use among the tribes of +Syria. Still more definite are the references to Syrian rites in the +supposed marches of Moxus and Ascalus to Syria, and the prominent +position of Atargatis[815] and the temple of Ascalon, and the children +of Atargatis, the fish. We know Atargatis, the Astarte of the Assyrians, +as transformed into Hera, and the temple at Ascalon, the city of the +Philistines, as the oldest and most famous sanctuary of the Syrian +goddess of fertility. The name of the king Jardanus does not differ from +"jarden" (river), and if Omphale is said to have forced the maidens of +the land to prostitute themselves at a fixed place, we have already +found this prostitution in the worship of the Syrian goddess of birth +and the Babylonian Mylitta. The new dynasty which ascends the throne of +Lydia after the Atyads with Agron is again derived from a god, according +to the accounts of the Greeks, from Heracles and Omphale. The Greeks +narrated that Omphale carried the lion's skin and club of Heracles, and +that she clothed the hero in a transparent female robe of scarlet, and +caused him to card wool and spin as her slave.[816] Lydian coins exhibit +a female form with the lion's skin and the bow.[817] It was shown above +that the Greeks connected Melkarth (Melicertes) with their Heracles, and +that according to the mythus of the Syrians, the sun-god finds and +overpowers the moon-goddess; that after the holy marriage, the god on +his part succumbs to the goddess, and changes his nature with her; he +assumes the female nature, she the male; she carries the weapons, while +he performs woman's work. We saw that the Syrians symbolised the +pre-eminent nature, the unity of the deity, in this amalgamation of the +sexes--this female manhood and male womanhood. Johannes Lydus tells us +that the Lydians worshipped the sun-god under the name Sandon, and adds, +that because Sandon had lived as a woman, the men at the mysteries of +the god clothed themselves in women's clothes, and put on transparent +crimson garments, coloured with vermilion.[818] Thus the Greeks put +their hero in the place of the Lydian sun-god, who overwhelms the lion, +and changes his nature with the goddess; and if they farther tell us +that Omphale gave her love to strangers, but also slew all who lay with +her, this also is a trait which had already met us in the Syrian +Astarte, in the nature of Ashera-Astarte, which at one time grants the +enjoyment of love, and at another brings destruction. + +The result of these considerations proves that the traits of the Lydian +legends, which have been preserved, present us with very little beyond +mere mythical elements. The connection of the Lydian worship with the +worship of the Syrians comes plainly to the surface, and this connection +is confirmed by all that we know from other sources of the rites of the +Lydians. The name of their sun-god Sandon[819] recurs on Assyrian +monuments, where it appears as Sandan.[820] In the Semitic languages the +word means "helper," and is used as an attribute of the god Adar, with +whom we are already acquainted as the god of the planet Saturn.[821] It +is obvious that the title "helper" could be given not to Adar only, but +to any other god, from whom special favour and assistance might be +expected. The Lydians gave the title to the good sun-god, who vanquishes +the glowing heat--the terrible sun-god--who looses the girdle of the +moon-goddess, and changes his nature with her. When the Greek colonists +landed on the coast of Lydia, they at first recognised their own Apollo, +i.e. their god of light, in the Lydian god. They allowed the sanctuary +of the Lydian god at Miletus to remain in the hands of a family of +native priests, the Branchidae. As god of the country and protector of +the coast, the Homeric poems give to Apollo the foremost place among the +deities who defend Troy. The Lydians also on their side recognised the +connection between their sun-god and the Apollo of the Greeks; Gyges and +Croesus send rich presents to Delphi. But when the Greeks of the coast +became more accurately acquainted with the nature and the myths of the +Lydian sun-god, that side which chiefly corresponded to their Heracles, +and the image of Heracles developed under the influence of the +Phenician Melkarth, came into prominence. The nature of the female +goddess also, whom the Lydians chiefly worshipped, is beyond doubt. +Herodotus tells us that all the daughters of the Lydians sold +themselves, and in this way collected their dowries; others narrate that +they received slaves or foreigners in the groves and porticoes of the +temples.[822] As we have seen, tradition connects this prostitution with +the rule of Omphale, and Johannes Lydus assures us that the goddess +Blatta worshipped in Lydia was the same as the Mylitta of the +Babylonians. Hence the worship of Bilit, the Ashera of the Syrians, +prevailed also among the Lydians, a fact which the campaigns (already +mentioned) of Ascalus and Moxus to the shrine of Derceto at Ascalon also +prove. That this goddess of the Lydians was not without her destructive +side--the power and nature of Astarte--we could already infer from the +bloody acts of Omphale (p. 562). At the mouths of the Cayster and the +Hermus the Greeks found the shrines of a goddess, whose priests were +eunuchs, and who was at the same time honoured with dances in armour by +maidens, as the moon and war-goddess of the Cappadocians.[823] This +goddess of the coasts of Lydia was called by the Greeks Artemis, and +this name distinguishes her as at once a maiden goddess and the goddess +of the moon and of war. And if at the same time the image of Artemis of +Ephesus was represented with large breasts, the obvious conclusion is +that in the goddess of Lydia, as in the goddesses of Babylonia and +Syria, the two opposites, of continence and sensual enjoyment, of +fertility and of destruction, were united. + +The forms of religious worship also would appear to have been in all +essentials the same among the Lydians and the Syrians. Mutilation (which +we know was practised very widely among the Lydians),[824] and the +prostitution of girls, were common to both countries. We found above +that the Arabs and Syrians believed their gods to be present in stones, +and prayed to them in that shape. Not far from Magnesia on Sipylus, a +stone, some twenty feet in height, juts out of a wall of marble, and +this in ancient times must have been regarded with veneration as the +idol of a native goddess. Even in the Homeric poems we find mention of +this stone, and the legend connected with it by the Greek colonists. "I +have seen the stone of Niobe on Sipylus," said Pausanias. "At a near +view it is a fragment of stone, which does not look like a woman or a +person weeping; but from a distance you might believe that you saw a +weeping and mourning woman."[825] + +The essential result of the examination of Lydian legend and Lydian +worship is the obvious and very close relationship between the Lydian +and Syrian deities and rites. Moreover, the mountain range which bounds +the valley of the Maeander to the south, bears the Semitic name of +Cadmus, _i.e._ "the Eastern;" and at the foot of the range lies the city +of Ninoe (Nineveh, _i.e._ "to dwell.")[826] Again, from one side the +languages of the Phrygians and Lydians are said to be distinctly +different; on the other hand, most of the Lydian words which have been +preserved to us by the Greeks--it is true they are not numerous--can be +traced back to Semitic roots;[827] and the national genealogy of the +Hebrews enumerates Lud among the sons of Shem, together with Elam, +Asshur, Arphaxad, and Aram. Yet, so far as the Lydian language allows us +to form an opinion, elements of a different character are not entirely +wanting. The gods Manes and Atys, from whom the first royal house was +derived, and after whom it was named, the goddess Cybele, whose temple +stood at Sardis,[828] do not belong to the circle of Semitic deities. +Manes, as well as Atys, we found in Phrygia. Hence, looking back at the +connection between the Armenians, Phrygians, and Thracians, already +brought into prominence we may suppose that the original population of +the river valley of the Hermus was Phrygian, and that Semitic invaders +from the east subjugated these Phrygians and absorbed them; but not +without adopting on their part some elements of the Phrygian language +and worship. + +That a monarchy was in existence among the Lydians before the first +Heracleid ascended the throne cannot be doubted. In the time of the +Heracleids we find mention made of the descendants of Tylon (p. 562), a +king who is said to have belonged to the family of the Atyads. The +foundation and fortification of Sardis also seem to belong to the period +before the Heracleids, the period of the Atyads. Herodotus tells us that +the second dynasty, the supposed descendants of Sandon-Heracles, gave +twenty-two sovereigns to the Lydians, who ruled over Lydia for 505 +years.[829] However astonishing the pedigree which Herodotus gives to +these Heracleids (the son of Heracles, Alcaeus, begets Belus, Belus +begets Ninus, and Ninus Agron),[830] we may regard his statement of the +period for which this dynasty lasted, of which several later members are +established, as historical. And since, after the Heracleids, the family +of Gyges ruled for 140 years down to the time when Cyrus took Sardis, +and since the taking of Sardis fell in the year 549 B.C., the Heracleids +must have ascended the throne of Lydia 645 years previously, _i.e._ in +the year 1194 B.C.[831] What degree of civilisation had been reached by +the Lydians about the year 1000 B.C. we can only conclude from the fact +that the Greek settlers on their coasts found money already coined by +the Lydians, and therefore ascribe to them the invention of the art of +coining.[832] The art of dying wool also was, in the opinion of the +Greeks, an invention of the Lydians; and games at ball as well as at +dice were thought to have been learnt from the Lydians by the +Greeks.[833] That the Greeks made use of the Lydian flute, and +subsequently of the Lydian cithara (both the cithara with three strings +and that with twenty strings), and the Lydian harmonies to enrich their +own music, is an established fact.[834] The Homeric poems describe the +Lydians (Maeonians) as an "armed equestrian people," and mention their +trade and wealth.[835] + +North of the Lydians, in the river valleys of the Caicus Macestus and +Rhyndacus, were settled the Mysians. According to Strabo, they spoke a +language of mixed Phrygian and Lydian elements.[836] It was apparently +the Mysian legend which told of king Tantalus, who possessed the +greatest treasures, who slew his son and offered him for a banquet, +_i.e._ for a sacrifice to the gods. His grave was shown on Sipylus.[837] +Before the Greek colonists took the coasts from them, the Mysians may +have risen to the first elements of civilisation; but when they were +debarred from the sea, they remained within the limits of their +mountains, pursuing an agricultural and pastoral life. About the year +500 B.C. their armour was still a small round shield and javelins, the +points of which were hardened in the fire.[838] In spite of these +miserable weapons they gave a good deal of trouble to the satraps of the +Persian king, and even at a later time desolated the fruitful plains on +the coasts by marauding inroads. Of their worship we only know that the +Greeks found the rites of a god of light on the coasts at Thymbra, +Chryse, and Cilla, who was invoked under the title Smintheus, a word +which is said to mean the expeller or destroyer of field-mice;[839] and +that a goddess of procreation and fertility was worshipped on Ida.[840] +In the Homeric poems it is Aphrodite, by the side of Apollo, who +protects Ilium, and favours Capys and the sons of Priam in the dells of +Ida. + +The coast of Asia Minor, to the south of the Lydians, was in the +possession of the Carians. Herodotus tells us that, according to the +legends of the Cretans, the Carians were, in the most ancient times, +called Leleges, and inhabited the islands of the AEgean at the time when +Minos reigned in Crete. They were compelled to man the fleet of Minos. A +long time afterwards they were driven out of the islands by the Ionians +and Dorians, and migrated to Asia Minor. But the Carians themselves +maintained that they had always lived in the land which they +possessed.[841] We cannot hesitate to give the preference to the +assertion of the Carians. From the numerous harbours of their coast they +could easily cross to the neighbouring islands, and thus they could +populate Rhodes Samos and Chios.[842] Advancing from one to another in +the numerous islands of this sea, they reached the Cyclades and settled +there. The most ancient population of Crete, called by the Greeks +Eteocretes, may very likely have consisted of Carians only, as is proved +by the position which Greek legend gives to the Carians in reference to +Minos, as well as by other evidence. This occupation of the islands of +the AEgean Sea by the Carians must be placed about the year 1500 B.C. For +when the Phenicians colonised these islands in the thirteenth century, +they were occupied by Carians. The Carian population became dependent on +the Phenicians. Subsequently, about the year 1000 B.C., the Hellenes +landed on the islands of the AEgean, and drove out the Carians. The +Carians lost even Samos and Chios; they were again confined to their old +home, and they could not even maintain themselves in that, for the best +harbours of their coasts passed into the hands of the Greeks. Yet the +Carians continued to be seamen and pirates. They lay in wait, as before, +for the merchants, and overran the rich coast land. Even in the seventh +century we meet with Carian pirates and mercenaries, and these not only +on the mouths and banks of the Nile; and the Chronographers mention, +apparently, a hegemony of the Carians on the sea, which is placed in the +interval from the year 731 to the year 670 B.C.[843] + +The Carians had no monarchy embracing the whole of their territory. But +here also, so far as we can see, princes stood at the head of the +various cities. A kind of confederation united the several places. About +the year 500 we hear of assemblies of Carians on the banks of the +Marsyas near the white pillars, and afterwards we find common sacrifices +of the Carian cities, and days of meeting in the temple of Zeus +Chrysaor, which was situated in the neighbourhood of Mylasa (now Milas) +at Lagina (now Leina).[844] Among the Carians the Greek colonists found +a style of armour superior to their own, and they adopted it. The +"Catalogue of ships," in Homer, represents the leader of the Carians as +going into battle decked with gold.[845] In Alcaeus "the Carian helmet +laments," and Anacreon speaks "of putting the hand upon the well-fitted +Carian haft." Herodotus tells us that the Greeks learned from the +Carians to wear plumes upon their helmets, to paint devices upon their +shields, and to furnish them with fixed handles,--in Homer the shields +are carried over the shoulder by straps. Greaves also are said to have +been invented by the Carians.[846] + +We are unable to tell with certainty the origin or the national +characteristics of the Carians, though Herodotus maintains that the +Lydians, Mysians, and Carians spoke the same language. Of the religious +worship of the Carians he tells us that they were the only nation who +worshipped Zeus as a warrior. Mylasa was the centre of their worship. On +the heights which tower over the plain of Mylasa, in a forest of +plane-trees, near Labranda, lay the temple of "Zeus Stratius." The image +of the god is said to have carried the double axe. Carian coins of the +fourth century B.C. display the image of a god with a double axe.[847] +The same axe is also found on the remains of Carian altars. The Greeks +even maintain that the god was named after this axe, that his national +name was Labrandeus, and that in Lydian and Carian _labrys_ meant a +battle-axe. Plutarch says:--Arselis, the Carian of Mylasa, marched to +the aid of Candaules, king of Lydia (he ruled about the year 700 B.C.), +and afterwards he left the sacred axe of the kings of Lydia to the god +of Labranda.[848] This giving up of the battle-axe to the god of the +battle-axe allows us to suppose that the god of Mylasa is meant by the +Carian of Mylasa; and that Arselis may have been the name or attribute +of this god--a supposition which is changed into a certainty by the fact +that in Semitic languages, Chars-el means "axe of El," "axe of +God."[849] Beside this warrior Zeus, a warlike Aphrodite was also +worshipped at Mylasa,[850] and if Strabo calls the goddess of Leina +Hecate, the reason of the name may be the death-bringing power of the +goddess Astarte-Ashera. The sacred fish who were to be found in a pool +at Mylasa, with gold rings round the neck, would then be evidence of the +bountiful, increase-giving side of the nature of this goddess.[851] + +East of the Carians, on the south coast, in the valley of the Xanthus, +were the settlements of the Lycians. The range of Taurus, which here +rises to a height of 10,000 feet, sinks down in fields of snow and +Alpine pastures to the course of the Xanthus. The sides of this valley, +Mounts Kragus and Anti-Kragus, are beautifully wooded, and traversed by +sounding rills. The view extends from the upper course of the river over +the luxuriant vegetation of the plain down to the sea. + +Herodotus tells us that this district was once known as Milyas, and that +the Lycians, who were originally called Termilians, immigrated from +Crete. Sarpedon and Minos contended for the throne, and as Minos got the +upper hand, Sarpedon went with the Termilians to Asia, and took +possession of Milyas. Afterwards Lycus, the son of the Attic king +Pandion, when driven out by his brother Aegeus, came to Sarpedon, and +from him the Termilians got the name of Lycians. Their laws were Cretan +and Carian. They wore hats adorned with feathers, goat skins round their +shoulders, sickle-shaped swords and daggers, coats of mail, greaves, +bows, and arrows of reeds. They were named after the mother, and not +after the father, and spoke of the mothers of their mothers as their +ancestors. The son of a free woman and a slave was free and passed for a +well-born man; but if a free man, even the first among them, begot +children with a foreign woman or a concubine, these were outlaws.[852] +Heraclides of Pontus extends these statements so far as to assert that +the Lycians from ancient times had been under the dominion of their +wives; Nicolaus, of Damascus tells us that the daughters of the Lycians, +and not the sons, took the inheritance.[853] + +In the Homeric poems, Proetus, king of Argos, sends Bellerophontes of +Ephyra (Corinth) to the king of the Lycians, to be put to death. The +king bade him slay the Chimaera, a monster which was a lion in front, a +goat in the middle part, and a dragon behind, and when he succeeded in +this he sent him to fight against the Solymi and the Amazons. But +afterwards he gave him half his kingdom and his daughter, who bore him +Hippolochus and Laodameia. The son of Hippolochus was Glaucus, and the +son of Laodameia was Sarpedon, the chieftains who led the Lycians to the +aid of the Trojans. + +Beside the supposed immigration of the Lycians from Crete and the poetry +of Homer we know nothing of the history of the Lycians beyond the fact +that they did not submit to the army of Cyrus without a most obstinate +resistance. And even under the supremacy of the Persians the Lycians +managed their internal affairs independently. They formed a federation +which was in existence at Strabo's time, and then included twenty-three +places. Each city was represented at the assembly; the six larger cities +had three votes each, the next largest had two, and the smaller cities +had one.[854] + +The name Milyas, which, according to Herodotus, was borne by the valley +of the Xanthus, clung even in later times to the spur under the ridge of +Mount Taurus, which runs out eastward towards Mount Solyma. Hence the +Lycians could easily be represented as in conflict with the Solymi. The +name Chimaera is given to a high mountain valley on Mount Kragus.[855] If +the Greeks call the inhabitants of the valley of the Xanthus Lycians, +the name has not arisen among them from the supposed Lycus, the brother +of AEgeus, but rather from the Grecian god of light, Apollo Lyceus. +According to the mythus of the Greeks, Apollo Bellerophontes (who was +worshipped at Corinth), dashes down from his cloud-horse and with his +crown of rays breaks through the thick clouds which obscure the sun; he +overcomes Bellerus, the spirit of darkness. In the mind of the Greeks, +Lycia was free from the clouds of winter; and, as a fact, the climate of +the valley of the Xanthus is excellent. Into this bright land, +therefore, the god was thought to have marched when he had become a +hero; here he overcame the Chimaera, the creature of mist and cloud. The +Greeks went still further in this conception. The east, the land of +sunrise, was in itself the land of light, of the god of light, Lyceus. +The god of light was thought to pass the winter in the brighter east, in +the home of the sun. When the Greek colonists had settled on the western +coasts of Asia Minor, they regarded the valley of the Xanthus as the +eastern land of light, they gave it this name, and supposed that Apollo +passed the winter in Lycia, and gave oracles during the six winter +months at Patara in Lycia.[856] In spite of the eastern situation and +the climate of Lycia, this idea would hardly have taken root had not the +Lycians at Patara, and probably at other places in Lycia, worshipped a +god in whom the Greeks could recognise their own god of light. The +Homeric poems place the Lycians in the closest connection with the +Teucrians. There is a Xanthus in Lycia and in the Troad, and the name +Tros seems to be identical with the name of the Lycian city of Tlos, +which lies high up in the valley of the Xanthus under Taurus. In any +case, from this close combination of the Teucrians and Lycians in Homer, +we may conclude that with the Greeks of the coast the Lycians passed for +a tribe who had already been for a long time in possession of their +settlements. None but native Asiatic tribes could be represented as +fighting beside the native Teucrians as their closest confederates. + +The Lycians developed a peculiar civilisation and a peculiar art, of +which numerous monuments, and many of them accompanied by inscriptions, +have come down to us. The alphabet in these inscriptions closely +resembles the Greek. With the aid of some inscriptions written in the +Greek and Lycian languages, scholars have succeeded in fixing the value +of the Lycian letters--of which there are ten for vowels and diphthongs, +and twenty for consonants.[857] By this means we have become acquainted +with the name by which the Lycians called themselves. They were not +merely called Termilians, as Herodotus supposed, in the most ancient +times, but even in their own inscriptions they call themselves Tramele. +The city which the Greeks calls Xanthus is in the language of the +Tramele, Arna; the city of Patara is Pttarazu; Pegasa is Begssere.[858] +In fixing the character of the Lycian language, it was at first supposed +that the Lycians might have been a branch of the Phrygians, who had +forced their way over the Taurus to the south coast--an assumption +which seems to be supported by the fact that the Lycian monuments +resemble the Phrygian in plan and style; and that the Lycians, like the +Phrygians, loved to excavate walls of rock and that in Lycia, as in +Phrygia, the influence of the Greeks was felt at an early time. But the +Lycian idiom, so far as the remains of it have been examined at present, +was distinctly different from the Phrygian language. While some of our +scholars find in the Lycian language words and inflexions allied to the +Albanian, _i.e._ to the remains of the language of the ancient +Illyrians, others are more inclined to place the Lycian in close +connection with the Iranian languages.[859] In either case the Lycians, +like the Armenians and Phrygians, belong to the Indo-Germanic stock, and +not only the Armenians and Phrygians, but along with them the +forefathers of the Lycians came into Asia Minor from the north-east. + +The Lycians were settled in a region of strong natural boundaries, and +of a very defined and picturesque form. The position of their land, +protected as it was by strong natural boundaries, secured for them a +more undisturbed development than was possible to the other tribes of +Asia Minor. Their cities and towers, Xanthus, Phellus, Myra, Telmissus, +Patara, Pinara, and Tlos were surrounded by strong walls of Cyclopian +architecture, and the splendid remains are evidence of great skill in +masonry. The noble ruins of Xanthus, not far from the mouth of the river +of the same name, still proclaim, even at a distance, the ancient +metropolis of the Lycians. How far back the monuments of Lycia extend +cannot be determined as yet. The oldest of which the date can be fixed +go back to the reign of Darius II., the Itariayush of Lycian +inscriptions. The reliefs exhibit the Chimaera, as described in Homer; +and they repeatedly exhibit a lion slaying a bull.[860] The Lycians +themselves are represented in long garments, just as in works of Greek +art; and even to this day the peasants on the Xanthus are to be seen in +the caftan.[861] Pictures of battles, of agricultural and pastoral +occupations are frequent on the monuments; but so far as the +inscriptions have been deciphered at present, they afford no single +instance in support of the statement of Herodotus that the Lycians were +not named after the father, but after the mother.[862] The most +important remains are the tombs, which are evidence of the great +industry and care which the Lycians devoted to the repose and memory of +the dead. A considerable number of these tombs lie within the walls of +the city, and are surrounded by the ruins of other buildings. Hence the +dwellings of the dead and of the living were not separated among the +Lycians. Besides sarcophagi, made of blocks brought for the purpose, we +also find detached rocks, which are changed into great sarcophagi, rocky +peaks transformed into sepulchres, and extensive walls of rock, in which +grave-chambers have been cut. The face of the rocky wall, thus hollowed +out for tombs, is provided with facades which rise up in rich variety to +the number of many thousands, over and alongside of each other, +sometimes advancing, sometimes receding, according to the nature of the +rock. The style of these tombs, which is for the most part very +delicate and slender, is an imitation of a kind of wooden structure, +which must have been common in Lycia in ancient times, and the simplest +forms of which are still in use among the peasants of the region which +corresponds to Lycia;[863] sometimes the structure is simpler, at others +more complicated, and the effect is strengthened by delicate and +luxuriant ornamentation. The faces of the rock-tombs sometimes end with +a flat framework of beams, at others with a gable in low relief. The +detached sepulchres exhibit the same imitation of a wooden building. +Many of these sepulchres are obviously intended for three corpses; in +the single chamber included in them are generally found two stone +benches in the sides and at the back a receptacle for a corpse in a +recess.[864] The detached sarcophagi are the most numerous. On a +sub-structure, or immediately on the ground, stands a long stone coffin, +closed by a high massive cover, the section of which exhibits a Gothic +pointed arch. On these sarcophagi also the ornamentation is almost +always rich, and carried out with neatness even to the smallest detail. +Beside the sarcophagi we also find pillars and obelisks among the ruins. +The tympana, friezes, and surfaces of all these monuments are covered +with reliefs, which represent with much truth and liveliness the life of +animals as well as the life of men. Evident remains of colouring on all +the monuments show us that a layer of lively and even startling colours +was laid upon these buildings. The reliefs also were painted, and some +are treated almost as pictures. The inscriptions upon the tombs prove +that the Lycians erected these tombs in their lifetime for themselves, +wives, and children, and that this was done by several families in +common; they invoke the anger of a goddess Phate--whom the Greeks call +Leto--on those who might dare to violate them. From the nature and +solidity of these tombs and sarcophagi, it is clear that the Lycians +were almost at as much trouble to give a secure resting-place to their +dead as the Egyptians were to give rest to their mummies, while the +ornaments show that the Lycians must have regarded the life after death +as a state of peaceful repose; the sculptures on the tombs invariably +represent friendly scenes of family life, of occupation in the country, +of social life or festal enjoyment. We see mothers with their children, +carriage journeys, riders, processions, banquets, and feasts, and +finally battle-pieces, in which the combatants are partly armed as +Lycians and partly as Greeks. Nothing, not even in the pictures of +battles, reminds us of the horrors of death, or of a judgment in the +under world. The monuments of Lycia prove that the supremacy of the +Persians did not interrupt the progress of Lycian art. But the creations +of the later period enable us to see that Greek art, in her bloom, +obtained and exercised the strongest influence over the Lycians. The +most beautiful monument of Lycia, the tomb of Harpagus, the Persian +satrap, which belongs to the first half of the fourth century, exhibits +a preponderance of Greek forms. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[688] Strabo, pp. 525, 530, 532, 559. + +[689] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 238. + +[690] Kiepert, _loc. cit._ s. 239. + +[691] Von Gutschmid, "Saechs. Gesell. d. W." 1876, p. 5, _seqq._ + +[692] Mos. Chor. 1, 10-22. + +[693] Mos. Chor. 1, 23-30. + +[694] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 222. + +[695] Kiepert, _loc. cit._ s. 236. + +[696] Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," 1869, s. 226. + +[697] Jer. li. 27; Ezek. xxvii. 14; xxxviii. 6. + +[698] Moses Chor. c. 24-30, in Le Vaillant's translation. + +[699] Anab. 4, 5. + +[700] G. Rawlinson, "Monarch.," 2, 64, 79; Menant, "Annal.," pp. 49, 64, +73, 82. + +[701] G. Smith, "Zeit. fur. aegypt. Sprache," 1869, s. 9-13, 98. + +[702] Oppert, "Inscript. des Sargonid.," p. 22, _et seq._, 37; +"Inscript. de DurSarkayan", pp. 14, 21. G. Rawlinson, "Monarchies," 2, +188. According to Oppert's reading the two gods of Arsissa were called +Haldia and Bagabarta. + +[703] Joseph. "Antiq.," 1, 3, 6; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte der B. Akad.," +1869, s. 236. + +[704] G. Smith, "Assurb.," 61, 75, 84 _seqq._ + +[705] Botta, "Monum. de Ninive," 2, pl. 140, 141. + +[706] Lenormant, "Lettr. Assyr." 1, 121, 142, reads Belitdur and Menuas +Hincks read Niriduris and Kinuas. + +[707] Mordtmann, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 26, 484 ff. + +[708] Herod. 7, 73; 8, 138. + +[709] Strabo, p. 471. + +[710] Herod. 7, 75; Thucyd. 4, 75; Xenoph. "Anab." 6, 4, 2; Strabo, p. +541, 542. + +[711] Otto Abel, "Makedonien," s. 57 ff. + +[712] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 369 ff. + +[713] Herod. 2, 2. + +[714] Justin, "Hist.," 11, 7; Plut. "Alex.," c. 18; Arrian, "Anab.," 2, +3; Steph. Byzant, [Greek: Gordieion]; Pausan. 1, 4, 5. + +[715] Aristoph. "Plut.," 287; Ovid, "Metamorph.," 11, 146. + +[716] Arist. "Pol." 8, 55. + +[717] Diod. 3, 59. + +[718] Herod. 7, 26; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 2, 8. + +[719] Fragm. 128, ed. Mueller. + +[720] A communication from Kiepert. + +[721] Pollux, 9, 83; Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 11, ed. Mueller. + +[722] Euseb. "Chron." 2, 82, ed. Schoene. + +[723] [Plato, "Phaedr." 264 D. (Jowett.)] + +[724] Diog. Laert. 1, 89; Simonid. Fragm. 57, ed. Bergk; Herod. 1, 14, +35; Strabo, p. 61; "Bergk-Griech. Litteratur-Gesch." 1, 779. The date of +the second Midas is fixed by the observation of Herodotus that the +dedicatory offerings of Midas were older than those of Gyges, and by the +date of the first invasion of the Cimmerians, which will be ascertained +below: the second invasion of the Cimmerians took place far later, in +the time of Ardys of Lydia, _i.e._ at a time when monarchy was no longer +in existence in the Greek cities. Hence I believe that the Midas of the +tomb must be distinguished from the Midas of the dedicatory offering. + +[725] The upper inscription of this tomb is as follows: "Ates arkiaevos +akenanogavos Midai lavaltaie vanaktei edaes;" the lower is: "Baba +memavais proitavos kphizan avozos sikeman edaes."--Leake, "Asia Minor," +p. 22-36; Barth, in Petermann "Geog. Mittheilungen," 1860, s. 91-93; +Lassen, in "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 372. For "lavaltaie" R. Stuart reads +"na-" or "gavaltaie." + +[726] Strabo, p. 569; Vitruvius, 2, 1, 5. + +[727] Perrot, "Exploration," pp. 218, 224. + +[728] Hamilton, "Asia Minor," 1, 95-98, 401, 451; 2, 233-252. + +[729] Lucian, "Jup. Trag." c. 8. 42. + +[730] Etym. Magn. [Greek: Amma.] + +[731] Diod. 3, 59; Livy, 29, 14. + +[732] Arist. "Rhet." 3, 2; Ovid. "Fast." 4, 265; Arnoh. "Adv. Gent." 9, +5, 4. + +[733] Diod. 3, 59. + +[734] Herod. 1, 94. In Hippolytus ("Philosoph." 5, 9, p. 118, ed. +Miller) Atys is called the sun of Rhea. Agdistis appears to have been +androgynous; Paus. 7, 17, 5. Hesych. [Greek: Agdistis]. The chief +priests at Pessinus were always called Atys, according to the +inscriptions of Sivrihissar, cf. Polyb. 22, 20. + +[735] Plut. "De Isid." 69. + +[736] Arnob. "Adv. Gent." 5, 16; Herodian, 1, 10. + +[737] Hippolyt. _loc. cit._, p. 119. + +[738] "Il." 3, 187; Hym. Ven. 112. + +[739] "Bacch." 55 ff., 120 ff.; Diod. 3, 57. + +[740] Herod. 1, 173, and H. Stein _ad loc._; Choerilus in "Joseph. c. +Apion." 1, 22. + +[741] "Anab." 1, 2, 21 ff. + +[742] Blau, "Num. Achaem. Aram-persic," p. 5. + +[743] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 385. + +[744] Herod. 7, 91; 5, 118; 7, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." 7, 8, 25. + +[745] H. Stein, on Herodotus, 1, 74. + +[746] Hellan. fragm. 158, ed Mueller. + +[747] Berosi Fragm. 12, ed. Mueller; Abyd. Fragm. 7, ed. Mueller. That +Anchialensium should be read instead of Atheniensium need not be proved +at length. + +[748] Arrian, "Anab." 2, 5; Athen. p. 529; Steph. Byz. [Greek: +Anchiale]. + +[749] Menant, "Annal." pp. 107, 228, 231, 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," +p. 62. + +[750] AEsch. "Persae," 326; Herod. 3, 90; 7, 91, 98; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, +2, 12. + +[751] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 348 ff., 354, 497 ff., 574. + +[752] 1, 72; cf. 5, 62. + +[753] "Il." 2, 857. + +[754] "Prom. Vinct." 613-617. + +[755] Sandwich, "Siege of Kars," p. 35 of translation. On the Murad +Tshai, near Charput, the best iron is still procured. + +[756] Herod. 1, 72; 7, 72. + +[757] Fragm. incert. 150, ed. Bergk. + +[758] Scymn. Ch. 943. + +[759] "Peripl. P. E." c. 20, ed. Mueller. + +[760] Plut. "Lucull," 23. + +[761] C. 89, 90. + +[762] Strabo, p. 533, 544, 737; cf. Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1, 948. + +[763] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," 308, 427; Blau, "Phoeniz. Muenzkunde," 2, +12, 19. These, and the reasons given above, seem to me sufficient to +prevent my agreeing to Lassen's opinion ("Zeit. d. d. M. G." 10, 377) +that the Cappadocians were an Indo-Germanic tribe. + +[764] Herod. 4, 1, 10-12; 1, 103, 104. + +[765] "Odyss." 11, 14-19. + +[766] "Ranae," 187. + +[767] Scym. Ch. 239, 240; Strabo, 244; Virgil, "Aen." 3, 441; Plin. +"Hist. Nat." 3, 9. + +[768] Callinus, apud Strabo, 648; Herod. 1, 6, 15, 16; 4, 12. + +[769] Aristot. apud Steph. Byz. [Greek: Antandros]: Scymn. Ch. 941. + +[770] [Greek: Treres]. + +[771] Strabo, p. 61, 552, 494. On p. 647 we find "The Treres, a +Cimmerian nation." + +[772] Strabo, p. 552. + +[773] Strabo, p. 20, 149, 573. + +[A] Strabo, p. 61. + +[774] Strabo, pp. 627, 647, 61. That in this passage, where Madys is +mentioned a second time with the epithet: the Cimmerian, [Greek: +Skythes] must be read instead of Madys, as Madys has been mentioned just +before, is self-evident. + +[775] Thuc. 2, 96; Strabo, p. 59; Theopomp (Fragm. 313, ed. Mueller) call +them Trares. + +[776] Herod. 1, 6; Plut. "Marius," 11. + +[777] Justin. 2, 4. + +[778] Strabo, p. 545; Euseb. "Chron." ann., 1260; Syncell. p. 401, ed. +Dind. Cf. Xenophon, "Anab." 4, 8; Steph. Byzant. [Greek: Trapezous]. + +[779] Orosius, 1, 21: "Anno ante urbem conditam tricesimo" (Orosius +follows the Catonian era), "tunc etiam Amazonum gentis et Cimmeriorum in +Asiam repentinus incursus plurimam diu lateque vastationem et stragem +edidit." Grote ("History of Greece," 3, 334) objects that if this +statement is allowed to hold good for the Cimmerians, we are justified +in making the same conclusions for the Amazons, who would thus become +historical. The Amazons are connected with the Cimmerians because the +land round Sinope was the abode of the Cimmerians, and it was in this +place that the Amazons were said to have dwelt. I too should be inclined +to give the less weight to the testimony of Orosius, as the number 30 +may be a corruption for 300. But the other evidence given is enough to +prove that the Cimmerians immigrated into Asia Minor in the period +between 750 and 700 B.C., and settled round the Halys at the mouth of +the river. + +[780] Above, p. 517. + +[781] Menant, "Annal." p. 242; G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," pp. 64-72. + +[782] Syncell. "Chron." p. 49; Kiepert, "Monatsber. Berl. Akad." 1859, +p. 204. + +[783] Perrot, "Explor. Archeol. de la Galatie," pp. 339, 340, 371. + +[784] H. Barth, "Reise von Trapezunt nach Skutari," s. 42 ff; Perrot, +_loc. cit._ p. 328 ff. + +[785] Barth, "Monatsberichte der Berl. Akad." 1859, s. 142 ff.; Perrot, +"Explor. Archeol. de la Galatie," pp. 330 ff. 352-356. + +[786] Perrot, "Explor. Archeol. de la Galatie," p. 157. + +[787] Diod. 3, 57; Strabo, pp. 535-537, 557, 559; Plut. "Sulla," c. 9; +Hirt. "Bell. Alex." 66. + +[788] "Il." 3, 184-190. + +[789] Pausan. 1, 2, 1; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." 78. + +[790] "Prom. Vinct." 723, Suppl. 287. In other passages, following the +later view, he places them in Scythia. + +[791] Frag. 25, ed. Mueller. + +[792] Strabo, p. 505. + +[793] Herod. 9, 27; Plut. "Menex." p. 239; Isocr. "Panegyr." 19. + +[794] Diod. 2, 45, 46; 3, 55; Strabo, p. 505; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2, +949. + +[795] Callim. "in Dian." 237. + +[796] "Il." 2, 814; Ephori Fragm. 87, ed. Mueller; Pausan. 7, 2, 7. +According to Diodorus, Priene and Pitane were also founded by the Amazon +Myrina, 3, 55. + +[797] Plut. "Thes." 27, 28; Pausan. 2, 32; 3, 25; Diod. 4, 28. + +[798] Herod. 4, 189; Diod. 3, 52-55. + +[799] Herod. 4, 110-117; Plato, "Legg." p. 804; Hippocr. "De aere," c. +17; Ephor. fragm. 78, 103, ed. Mueller; Ctes. fragm. 25-28, ed. Mueller. +Justinus (2, 4), as remarked, represents Ilinus, and Skolopitus, as +making their way from Scythia to the Thermodon, and when these Scythians +had for many years plundered their neighbours from this centre, they +were attacked and cut down by the conspirators among their neighbours. +Their wives remained; they seized the weapons, and founded a female +kingdom. In order to preserve the race, they came together with the +neighbouring people, but they slew all the male children. Marpesia and +Lampedo, who called themselves daughters of Mars, ruled over this female +kingdom. Then Lampedo with a part of the Amazons marched out and founded +Ephesus, and many other cities; over those who remained behind, when +Marpesia was slain, Antiope and Oreithyia reigned; and in their time +Heracles and Theseus came and carried off two sisters of Antiope. To +avenge this act Oreithyia marched against Athens, supported by the +Scythian king Sagillus, and his son Panasagorus. After Oreithyia, +Penthesilea reigned; after her reign the power of the Amazons declined. +Cf. Steph. Byzant, _s. v._ [Greek: Amazones], where the story which +Herodotus (4, 1-4) tells of the returning Scythians of Madyas is turned +to the advantage of the Amazons. + +[800] Plut. "Alex." 46; Curtius, 6, 5; Diod. 17, 77; Strabo, p. 505; +Justin, 2, 4; 12, 3. Cf. Arrian, "Anab." 4, 15. + +[801] Arrian, _loc. cit._ 7, 13. + +[802] Plut. "Pompeius," c. 35; Appian, "Bell. Mithrid." c. 103. + +[803] Strab, pp. 503-505, 547, 550, 552. + +[804] Hippoc. "De aere," c. 89, 91. If the name Amazon were Greek, it +could only have been invented in a contrast to [Greek: polymazos], "with +many breasts," the epithet of the Ephesian Artemis, as the goddess of +birth, to denote the maidens devoted to chastity. + +[805] Strabo, pp. 591, 680. + +[806] Herod. 1, 7, 94; 4, 45; Dion. Hal. 1, 27, 28; "Il." 2, 461; +Strabo, p. 627; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Asia]. + +[807] Herod. 1, 84; Xanth. Fragm. 10; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 26, 29, ed. +Mueller. The legend of Meles is obviously connected with the founding of +Sardis. This Meles therefore cannot be identified with the Heracleid +(the last but two) of the same name. In Nicolaus, Moxus is the successor +of Meles; Fragm. 24, 49. + +[808] Xanth. Fragm. 11, 12; Nicol. Dam. Fragm. 25, 28, ed. Mueller. + +[809] Diod. 4, 21. + +[810] Ephor. Fragm. 9; Pherecyd. Fragm. 3, 4; Maeandri Mil. Fragm. 8; +Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 8, ed. Mueller; Apollod. 2, 6, 3. + +[811] Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 25, 5. Cf. Nicol., Dam. Fragm. 49, ed. Mueller, +where Sadyuttes and Lixus are mentioned in the place of the Heracleidae +as the successors of Tylon, _loc. cit._ p. 382, 384. + +[812] Herod. 1, 7. According to Apollodorus (2, 7, 8), the son of +Omphale and Heracles was Agelaus; according to Diodorus (4, 31) Heracles +first begot Cleodaeus with a slave, and then Lamus with Omphale. Others +call the son of Omphale and Heracles Meleus (Meles). Others again +represent Sandon, the son of Heracles, as the father of Damalisandus, or +Dalisandus, by Damalis. Cf. Mueller, on Nicol. Fragm. 28. + +[813] Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 3, 14. + +[814] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 168, 386. + +[815] Hesych. [Greek: Attagathe Athare para to Xantho.] The native name +Athar-ath is found on a coin of Bambyke, in Brandis, _loc. cit._ s. 431. + +[816] Joh. Lyd. "De Mag." 3, 64; Plut. "Quaest. Graec." c. 45; "An seni +resp." c. 4; Clearch. Sol. Fragm. 6, ed. Mueller; Ovid. "Heroid." 83-118; +"Fast." 2, 325. + +[817] Hupfeld, "Res Lyd." pp. 55, 63, 67. + +[818] Joh. Lyd. "De Mens." 4, 46; Lucian. "Dial. Deor." 13, 2. + +[819] Compare the Lydian names Sandonis and Sandoces in Herod. 1, 71; 7, +194. + +[820] Oppert, "Exped. en Mesopot." 2, 337. + +[821] E. Schrader, "Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 1874, 2, 330. + +[822] Herod. 1, 93; Athen. pp. 515, 516. + +[823] Strabo, p. 641; Paus. 7, 2, 7. + +[824] Herod. 3, 48; 8, 105. + +[825] Paus. 1, 21; Kiepert, "Monatsberichte d. Berl. Akademie," 1866, s. +298. + +[826] Steph. Byz. _s. v._ + +[827] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 382 ff; cf. G. Curtius, "Grundzuege." + +[828] Herod. 5, 102. + +[829] Herodotus (1, 7) says twenty-two generations. But as these, +according to the length which he assumes for a generation, would give a +much longer interval than 505 years, he can only mean twenty-two +sovereigns. That lists of kings existed in Lydia is proved by the +considerable number of names of Atyadae given in Xanthus. + +[830] Cf. H. Stein on the passages of Herodotus quoted; in one class of +MSS. Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus are not found. The city of Ninoe has been +already mentioned (p. 567). + +[831] The year 549 B.C., the year of the capture of Sardis, will be +proved below. I believe that we ought to maintain this statement. +Herodotus' total of 170 years for the dynasty of Gyges is untenable in +the face of the Assyrian monuments. According to them Gyges and Ardys +were contemporaries of Assurbanipal, who reigns from 668 to 626 B.C. +Hence for the 170 years of Herodotus we must adopt the number given by +Eusebius, which is 30 years less, and the separate dates of the latter. + +[832] Boeckh, "Metrologie," s. 76. + +[833] Herod. 1, 94. + +[834] Plut. "De Mus." 6; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Asias]. + +[835] "Il." 18, 291; 10, 431. + +[836] P. 572. + +[837] Pausan. 2, 22, 3; 5, 13, 7. + +[838] AEsch. "Pers." 52; Herod. 7, 74. + +[839] Strabo, p. 604, 605, 612; Pausan. 10, 12, 6. + +[840] Strabo, p. 469; Plut. "De Fluviis," c. 13. + +[841] Herod. 1, 171; 5, 119. + +[842] Thuc. 1, 8; Isoc. "Panath." p. 241. On the Carians in Samos and +Chios, see Diod. 5, 84; Strabo, p. 457, 633-637, 661; Paus. 7, 2, 5, 8, +9, 10. + +[843] Archiloch. Fragm. 23, ed. Bergk; Euseb. "Chron." 1, 321, ed. +Auch.; cf. Bunsen, "AEgypten," 5, 4, 5, s. 427. + +[844] Herod. 5, 118, 119; Strabo, p. 660. + +[845] "Il." 2, 872. + +[846] Alcaeus and Anacreon in Strabo, p. 661; Herod. 1, 171. + +[847] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 338. + +[848] "Quaest. Graecae," c. 45. + +[849] Lassen, "Zeit. d. d. M. G.," 10, 381. + +[850] Boeckh, "Corp. Inscript." 26, 93. + +[851] AElian, "Hist. Anim." 12, 30. + +[852] 1, 173; 7, 92. + +[853] Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 15; Nicol. Damasc. Fragm. 129, ed. Mueller. + +[854] Strabo, p. 664. + +[855] Strabo, p. 665. + +[856] Herod. 1, 182; Serv. ad AEneid, 4, 143. Pausanias (1, 19, 3) says +that the Lyceum at Athens was a sanctuary of Apollo Lyceus; the "Iliad" +(5, 171) represents Lycaon as ruling in Lycia. + +[857] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 335 ff; Blau, _ibid._ 17, 667. + +[858] Steph. Byzant., [Greek: Arna]: Fellowes, "Lyc. Coins," pl. 12, 7. + +[859] Blau ("Z. d. d. M. G." 17, 649 ff) sustains the first view, +Savelsberg and M. Schmidt the second; M. Schmidt, "Lyc. Inscript." + +[860] Fellowes, "Account," p. 174, 194; "Lyc. Coins," pl. x. 1, 2, 3. + +[861] Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 57. + +[862] Lassen, "Z. d. d. M. G." 10, 348. + +[863] Ross, "Kleinasien," s. 51. + +[864] Ross, _loc. cit._ s. 35. + + + + THE END. + + + LONDON: + R. 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