WITH CHAP - Forgotten Books

SHORT HISTORYOF THE

WITH CHAPTERS ON THEIR RELIGIONDAILY LIFE

,ETC .

E . A . WALL ISS ometime S okolar of C/zrzst

’

s College, Cambridge , and TyrwhzttHeorew S cholar ; Keefier ofthe Departmen t of Egyptzan

and A ssyrian A ntiquities in the Britisk M useum

LONDON

Aldine House,Bedford Street

,W.C .

New Y ork E . P. DUTTON 69’CO .

PREFACE

THIS little book,like its fellow on Egyptian Literature , has

been written by request,and with the view of providing

beginners with a handy introduction to the study of EgyptianHistory . The first six chapters in it are devoted to a description of the country of Egypt and the Nile and theancient Egyptians

,and the principal facts of their history,

which covers a period of more than four thousand years .The next three chapters des cribe briefly the main outlinesof the Religion and Daily Life of this wonderful people ,and of their worship of the dead . Without some idea of

the Religion of the Egyptians , and of the very large partwhich the worship of the dead occupied in their daily life

,it

is impossible to understand their History . Our knowledgeof it is derived almost entirely from the tombs, temples , andother funerary monuments which the Egyptians built inconnection with the worship of their gods and their deifieddead . The Egyptians never wrote history in the modernsense of the word . The reason why so few dates are givenin the earlier part of the book will be apparent when theremarks on Egyptian chronology in Chapter X . have beenread . The limit laid down for this book precluded all

possibility of adding references or long footnotes and explanations

,but the curious or unsatisfied reader can verify

the facts given herein by consulting the authorities whosebooks are enumerated in the List of Egyptological Worksgiven on pp . 246—49.

E . A. WALLIS BUDGE .

BRITISH MUSEUM,

May 9. 1914

33031 0

CONTENTS

CHAP

I . THE COUNTRY OF EGYPT AND THE N ILE

II . THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANSOld S tone Age . New S tone Age

III . THE BEGINNINGS OF EGYPTIAN HISTORYDynastic HistoryThe Archaic PeriodFirst DynastyS econd and Third Dynasties

THE ANCIENT EMPIREThe Fourth DynastyThe Fifth DynastyThe S ixth DynastyThe S eventh and E ighth DynastiesThe N inth and Tenth DynastiesThe E leventh Dynasty

V . THE M IDDLE EMPIREThe Twelfth DynastyThe Thirteenth DynastyThe Fourteenth DynastyThe Fifteenth and S ixteenth Dynasties— theHyksosThe S eventeenthDynastyThe E ighteenth DynastyThe N ineteenth Dynasty

VII

viii A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTCHAP.

PAGE

VI . THE NEW EMPIREThe Twentieth DynastyThe Twenty first Dynasty. Kings ofThebes and

TanisThe Twenty-second DynastyThe Twenty-third Dynasty. Piankhi

’

s invasionofEgypt

The Twenty-fourth DynastyTwenty-fifth Dynasty— The Nubian kings of

EgyptThe Twenty-sixth DynastyThe Twenty-seventh Dynasty— PersiansThe Twenty-eighth DynastyThe Twenty-ninth DynastyThe Thirtieth DynastyThe Macedonians and PtolemiesThe Romans in Egyp tThe Arabs in Egyp tThe Turks in Egypt .

EGYPTIAN MAGIC AND RELIGIONGods ofEgyp tOsiris and IsisThe Judgment

VIII . THE DAILY L IFE OF THE EGY PTIANs

The KingThe PalaceThe AristocracyTh e Army and NavyTh e PriesthoodsThe TemplesTh e Home and Wife and FamilyMarriageEducation

, Schools, Colleges

AmusementsThe House

Writing

CONTENTSCRAP. PAGE

IX . EMBALM ING . TOMBS . FUNERARY CEREMONIES .

THE WORSHIP OF THE DEADX . EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY

L IST OF EGYPTOLOG ICAL WORKSL IST OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS OF EGYPTINDEx

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FOWL ING S CENE Frontispiece

MAP OF EGYPT Toface

PALETTE OF NARMER , A KING OF THE FIRST DYNASTYPLAQUE OF KING S EMTIS ECTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDV ISIT OF A COMPANY OF AAMU To EGYPT

THOTHME S III , K ING OF EGYPT Toface

AMEN-HETEP IV . DISTRIBUTING GIFTSRAME SES II KING OF EGYPT Toface

DEFEAT OF THE HITTITES AT THE BATTLE OF KADESHTHE CAM P OF RAMESE S II AT KADESHRAME SE S II IN HIS CHARIOT ATTACKING THE HITTITESRAME SES II RECEIVING TRIBUTE FROM THE SUDAN Toface

NETEK-AMEN,K ING OF MEROE, AND QUEEN AMENTAR IT

ROSETTA STONE

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE

EGYPTIAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER I

THE COUNTRY OF EGYPT AND THE NILE

IN primitive times there was Situated on the west bank of

the Nile,at a spot which is about twenty miles from the site

now occupied by Cairo, the capital of modern Egypt , a townof considerable Size, later known as

“ Memphis,” in which

the god Ptah was worshipped, together with other gods.The temple of Ptah occupied a prominent position in thetown

,and was dedicated to the Ka (ie . the double

or the vital strength,”as some now render the word) of the

god Ptah this temple was called Hekaptah or Houseof the Ka of Ptah .

”AS the power of the god was believed

to be greater than that of all the other gods in the town, thefame of his temple increased, and little by little the name ofthe temple began to include not only the temple estates ofthe god

,but also the entire district in their immediate neigh

bourhood .

'As this town was to all intents and purposes thefrontier town on the north of the southern division of thecountry

,its geographical position gave it great importance

,

and when the foreign traders who did business in the landwanted to refer to the upper country they spoke ofHekaptah ,

meaning thereby not only the capital, but the country thatlay to the south of it . This is easily understood if we remember that the town stood at the northern end of the Valley of

the Nile, not far from the place Where the flat open land of

2 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

the northern division of the country begins . By degrees theuse of the name Hekaptah for the whole country spreadfar and Wide, and the Greeks transformed the name intoAiguptos, and the Latins into

“ ZEgyptus from theseclassical forms our own form Egypt is derived. Thecommonest name for the whole land of Egypt among theancient Egyptians themselves was Kam ,

” a word thatmeans black

,dark-coloured,

” in allusion to the dark colourof its muddy soil ; Egypt was, in fact, the dark-cloddedcountry .

” This name was known to the Hebrews under theform of Khém,

” or Ham ,

” as it appears in the Bible,where

we read of the tabemacles of Ham (Psalm lxxviii . 5 1 ) andthe land of Ham ”

(Psalm cv . 23, 27 ; cvi . and theEgyptians were the sons of Ham, or the children of Ham .

The northern division of Egypt, or what is known to-day asthe Delta,

” appears to have been called Mizraim bythe Hebrews

,but what this name means has not yet been

satisfactorily explained .

The hieroglyphic inscriptions prove that , from the earliesttimes, the Egyptians themselves always called their countryas a whole the Two Lands,

” meaning the Land of theSouth and the Land of the North . The Land of the Southincluded the portion of the Valley of the Nile that lay betweenthe First Cataract and Memphis, or Gebel Silsilah and Memphis, and the Land of the North was formed by the wholeof the Delta . About 440 0 B.C. the Two Lands were unitedby a king called Mena, the Menes of the Greeks, and in thisbook the name Egypt always includes the two greatdivisions of the country, the southern and the northern .

The extent of Egypt has varied considerably at differentperiods. Under the Sixth dynasty Egypt consisted of theDelta and a portion of the Valley of the Nile as far south asAbu

, or the Island of Elephantine. Under the twelfthdynasty Egypt included a further portion of the Valley ofthe Nile about 250 . miles long, and Usertsen III fixed thesouthern frontier of his country at a rock barrier in the Nile

,

which is marked by two blocks of ancient Egyptian buildings

nowknown by the names of Semnah andKummah. Strictly

Map ofEgypt and the Egyptian Sudan.

EGYPT AND THE NILE 3

speaking,this portion of the Nile Valley forms a part of Nor

thern Nubia, and the Egyptians called the most northernpart of this Kash (the Cush of the Bible) . Under theeighteenth dynasty a further portion of Nubia was annexedby Egyp t , and Amenhetep III fixed the southern frontierofhis kingdom at Karai, or Napata, about 350 miles to thesoutli of the frontier fixed by Usertsen III . Under thetwenty-sixth dynasty the southern frontier of Egypt waswithdrawn to the Island of Elephantine, where it remaineduntil the time of the Roman occupation of Egypt . For afew centuries after the downfall of the Roman Power inEgypt the position of the frontier varied considerably, butunder the vigorous rule of the Arabs, the southern frontierwas fixed at Old Dongola (A .D . which lies about 1 0 0miles downstream of Napata. For about ten years (1 8731 884) the southern frontier town of Egypt was Gondokoro,about 2830 miles (by river) from Cairo . The limits of Egyp tat the present time may be thus stated. On the north theboundary is marked by the Mediterranean Sea

,and on the

south by the twenty-second parallel of N . latitude, whichcrosses the Nile at Gebel Sahébah , about 8 miles north ofthe camp at Wadi Halfah, 960 miles from the MediterraneanSea. On the east the boundary is marked by a line drawnfrom Ar-Rafah

,on the coast ofthe Mediterranean

,to the little

town of Tabah at the head of the Gulf of Akabah,and by the

eastern coast of the Peninsula of Sinai,and by the Red Sea.

The western boundary is marked by a line drawn from theGulf of Solum due south to a point a little to the south-westof the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon (Siwéh) , and then proceedingin a south-easterly direction to the twenty-second parallelof N . latitude near Wadi Halfah . The area of Egypt is estimated to be between and square miles .The land of Egypt has been made by the mighty riverwhich flows through it from south to north, the river Nile,and the old statement to the effect that all Egypt is thegift of the Nile is literally correct . In prehistoric timesthe Delta did not exist , and an arm of the sea extendedthrough that portion of the north-east shoulder of Africa


in which Egypt now lies as far as Esné, orAsnéi, that is tosay,to a place in the Valley ofthe Nile that is nearly 60 0 miles

from the Mediterranean Sea . In those times were depositedthe thick layers of sand and gravel upon which the soil ofEgypt now rests these layers are upon a bed of sandstone,which in turn lies upon igneous rocks .We have now briefly to consider how it came to pass

“

thatthe Nile made Egypt . The true source of the Nile is Victoria N ’yanza

,or Lake Victoria

,the greatest Lake in Central

Afn'

ca,which is 250 miles long and 20 0 broad it was dis

covered by Speke on August 3, 1 858 . This is the first reservoir of the Nile . The second and third reservoirs are AlbertN ’yanza and Albert Edward N ’yanza the former was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker in 1 864 , and the latter by SirH . M . Stanley in 1 875 . The portion of the Nile betweenthe Ripon Falls on Victoria N ’yanza and Albert N ’yanza is242 miles long, and is called the Victoria Nile,

” or theSomerset River.” The portion between Albert N ’yanza

and Lake NO is 580 miles long, and is called the Bahr alGebel or Upper Nile .

” At Lake NO the Gazelle Riverflows into the Upper Nile on its west bank

,and its waters

become filled with decaying vegetable matter. The portionofthe Nile between Lake N6 andKhartI

'

Im is about 70 0 mileslong

,and is called the White Nile .

” About 60 miles northofLake NO the Sobat River flows into the White Nile on itseast bank . At Khartiim the Blue Nile,

” which rises in themountains of Abyssinia and is 960 miles long, flows into theWhite Nile the river between Khartfim and the sea is calledthe Nile, without any distinguishing epithet . About20 0 miles north of Khartfim, the river Atbéré flows into theNile on its east bank, and from this point to the sea the Nilehas no other tributary. The Atbéira is about 80 0 miles long

,

and when in flood is very broad, with a swiftly flowing stream .

Its waters are heavily charged with volcanic dust,and it

provides the greater part of the rich fertilising mud whichthe Nile carries in flood. The total length of the Victoria

,

Upper, and White Niles is about 1 552 miles, and the lengthofthe Nile between Khartfim and the sea 1 91 3 miles thus

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to rise in Egypt at the end of June,and continues to rise until

the middle of September, when it remains stationary fortwo or three weeks . In October it rises again and reachesits highest level . From this time it begins to fall, and thoughit may rise again temporarily, it continues to sink steadilyuntil the month of June when it reaches its lowest level .Between the June of one year and the June of the nextthe Nile brings down into Egypt an immense quantityof mud and fertilising deposits of various kinds which itspreads all over the land covered by its waters . The Nileand its tributaries in fact bring down soil from Abyssiniaand from countries that are from 1 50 0 to 20 0 0 miles distantfrom Cairo and manure Egypt with it . It is this deposit ,which comes down yearly from these remote countries

,that

has formed the soil of Egypt . From calculations madeduring the last twenty years it has been reckoned that thebed of the Nile rises about four inches in a century . Thethickness of the

,

mud deposit over Egypt varies considerablythus at Cairo it is 58 feet , at GIz ah ,

a few miles distant, 66

feet,and at Z akaz ik it is 1 1 0 feet . The ancient Egyp tians

seem to have had no idea that the Nile flood was caused by theheavy rains that fell in the Sfidé

’

tn and Abyssinia,and there

is no evidence that they understood the great part playedby the Central African Lakes in the watering of their country.

At one time they thought that the sources of the Nile were intwo caverns under two mighty rocks that were situated inthe First Cataract 1 to the north of the Island of Philae, butat an earlier period they were content to assert that the Nilewas an incomprehensible mystery,

” and that the Nile-godcould not be described or depicted, or imagined by men andgods .The scenery ofE t is of two kinds . In the Delta theland is quite fiat, anfiIts surface 18 raised very little above

1 There are six great Cataracts on the Nile. The First is a little to thesouth ofAswan and is 3 miles long. The S econd begins a few miles to thesouth ofWadi Halfah and is 1 25 miles long. The Third begins at Karmahand is 4 5 miles long. The Fourth begins nearAbu Hamad and is 66 mileslong. The Fifth is 32 miles north ofAtbaré and is abo ut Ioo miles long.

The S ixth is at S hablfikah and is 56 miles north ofKhartfim.

EGYPT AND THE NILE 7

the level of the sea . Wherever the waters of the Nile can bebrought by canals the ground is exceedingly fertile

,and the

crops are luxuriant and abundant . Palms and trees abound,

and add great picturesqueness to the landscape, and cattle,sheep, and goats thn

'

ve everywhere in the Delta . The Nileforks at a place about fourteen miles north of Cairo, and itstwo great branches

,the Rosetta arm and the Dam ietta arm

,

the former flowing on the western side of the Delta and thelatter on the eastern Side

,carry its waters to the sea. In

classical times the Nile flowed into the sea through sevenmouths, but of these five have been choked . The lengthofthe Delta from south to north is 1 1 0 miles, and its breadthfrom Port Said to Alexandria is 1 56 miles . In the north of

the Delta,near the sea

,the scenery is bare and uninterest

ing. This is due to the presence of large sand dunes,which

extend from the sea inland to , in some places, a considerabledistance

,and several very large Shallow lakes

,which are

filled with fish,and the shores of which form the homes of

innumerable water-fowl of all kinds . The largest of theselakes, Manzalah and Bt

'

irlfis, together cover an area ofabout1 200 Square miles some of the smaller lakes

,e.g. Mareotis

and Abiikir, are being drained and the land used for agricultural purposes . The . scenery of Up er E t is entirelydifferent from that oftW W

‘TEpH

—

Izfiiito Cairo theNile flows between limestone hills in a comparatively narrowvalley

,and the towns and villages are built on the strip of

mud bank that lies on each side of it . In some places thehills on one side or the other come quite close to the river,and then the strip of mud bank available for cultivation isvery narrow in others they may be a mile, ormore, from theriver. About 60 miles from Cairo is the Fayyfim,

with itspeculiarly interesting scenery

,and its lake called Birket al

Kuriin,which

,in Spite ofthe denials of irrigation authorities

,

some still consider to be the remains of Lake Moeris . Inmiddle Egypt

,where the strip of mud bank is of considerable

width,trees and vegetation are abundant , and the farms

built among groves of date palms and other trees, with theirluxuriant crops and thriving flocks and herds

,and pigeon


houses, form delightful features ofthe landscape . At Luxorthe river lies at a considerable distance from the hills on theeast bank

,and cultivation is abundant . At Esna the char

acter of the scenery changes ; the strips of land availablefor cultivation are very narrow

,and here begins the layer of

sandstone that extends southward and covers nearly the wholeofNubia. At Edffi and at Kom Ombos are plains,

” whichare said to have been at one time Deltas formed by riversthat flowed down from the high lands near the Red Sea. AtAswén the hills on the west bank become bold and prominent, and we approach the First Cataract and its characteristicscenery. Here the formation of crystalline rocks invadesthe Valley of the Nile, and here are the famous granitequarries whence came most of the granite obelisks

,statues

,

and buildings made by the Pharaohs . The Cataract isstudded with small granite islands

,and mighty granite boul

ders, black and shining, are seen everywhere between thesethe Nile flows in innumerable small streams

,and every patch

ofmud is cultivated by the natives . Great granite rocks,

the remains of a natural barrier in the Valley of the Nile,and

huge boulders are met with again at Kalabshah , 36 milessouth of Aswan. The characteristic scenery on the Nile fromPhilae to Aba Simbel has entirely changed Since the buildingof the Great Dam across the First Cataract . Formerlythere were strips of cultivated land in places on both sidesofthe Nile, and many palm trees, but now during the winterseason this portion of the Nile is made into a huge lake

.

When we reach Wadi Halfah, which is a little to the southofthe southern boundary of Egypt

,the scenery again changes

,

and we once more find granite . Vast stretches of sandydesert appear on both Sides of the Nile

,and a few miles up

stream we enter the weird but picturesque reaches of theNile at the foot of the Second Cataract

.

CHAPTER I I

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

THE flint tools and weapons that have been found on theskirts of the desert at various places in Egypt , and that aregenerally admitted to be older than those of the NeolithicPeriod

,ie . the New Stone Age, render it extremely probable

that the country was inhabited by men in the PalaeolithicPeriod

, te . the Old Stone Age. The questions that naturallyarise in connection with them are : Who were they ? Towhat race did they belong P If they were immigrants, wheredid they come from ? In the limited space afforded by aSingle chapter it is impossible to enumerate even the mostimportant of the arguments ofwhich these questions haveformed the subj ects

,or the principal theories, Old and

new,of the origin of the Egyptians . Fortunately Egyptian

archaeology, even in its present imperfect state, supplies anumber of facts

,which will suggest answers to these questions

that are tolerably correct,and as time goes on

,and the results

Of further research are perfected,our knowledge of these

difficult questions may assume a decisive character. Thehuman remains that have been found in Neolithic graves inEgypt prove that the Egyptians of the Neolithic Period inUpper Egypt were Afri cans, and there is good reason forthinking that they were akin to all the other inhabitants ofthe Nile Valley at that time . When the great geologicalchange took place that turned into a river valley the arm ofthe sea that extended as far as Esna, and the Nile depositshad formed the soil of Egypt

,their ancestors migrated from

the south to the north and occupied the land made by theNile. Whether these facts apply equally to the Delta cannotbe said, for no Neolithic graves in the Delta are known .

9

1 0 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

Egyptian tradition of the Dynastic Period held that theaboriginal home of the Egyptians was Punt

,and though our

information about the boundaries of this land is of the vaguestcharacter, it is quite certain that a very large portion of itwas in Central Africa and it probablywas near the countrycalled in our times Uganda.

” There was in all periodsfrequent intercourse between Egypt and Punt

,and caravans

must have journeyed from one country to the other at leastonce a year. In the Dynastic Period several missions by seawere despatched to the port of Punt to bring back myrrhand other products of the country

,which were SO dear to

the heart of the kinsmen of the Puntites who were settled inEgypt .Now

,if the inhabitants of the southern portion of the Valley

of the Nile were attracted to the good and fertile land ofEgyp t , it follows as a matter of course that foreign peopleswho heard of this rich land would migrate thither in orderto partake of its products and to settle in it . The peopleson the western bank (Libyans) and the dwellers in the EasternDesert would intermarry with the native Egyptians, and thesame would be the case with the negro and half-negro tribes inthe Sadan . At a very early period, and certainly in Neolithictimes

,a considerable number of Semites must have made

their way into Egypt,and these came from the Arabian Penin

sula on the other side of the Red Sea,either for trading pur

poses or to settle in Egypt . Some of these crossed the RedSea in its narrowest part

,probably near the Straits ofBab al

Mandib at the southern end of it , and made their way intothe country where the comparatively modern town of Sennaarnow stands

,j ust as their descendants did some three to five

thousand years later. Here they would find themselves notonly in fertile land

,but they would also be in touch with the

tribes living in the region where,from time immemorial,

alluvial gold has been found in considerable quantities .Others of the Semites must have made their way into theWDelta by the Isthmus of Suez, and there is no doubt thatby intermarriage they modified the physical characteristicsofmany of the natives . Others , again, must have entered

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 1 1

Egypt by way of the very ancient caravan route throughthe Wadi Hammamat , which left the Red Sea near themodern town ofKusér and ended on the Nile near Kena inUpper Egypt . It is impossible to think that the Semites inArabia had no sea-going boats in which to cross the Red Sea

,3

and that those who lived on the coast half-way down theRed Sea would be obliged to go so far north as the IsthmusofSuez, or so far south as Bab ai-Mandib before they couldcross over into Africa .

In the case of the natives of the Delta foreign influencesofanother kind would be at work . Here would flock tradersof all kinds from the land that is now called Palestine

,and

from the Islands of the Mediterranean,and from the sea

coast and the countries inland to the west of Egypt . Somethink that even in the Neolithic Period there were manysettlers who had come from the southern countries of Europe .

If the above remarks are only approximately true,we are

justified in assuming that the population of the Valley ofthe Nile was even at this early period very much mixed .

It must,however, be noted that neither Libyans, nor Semites,

nor sea-faring folk of any kind,altered the fundamental

characteristics ofthe African dwellers on the Nile .

The Neolithic or Predynastic Egyptian was a man of nearlyaverage height , that is, his height was rather under thanover 5 feet 6 inches . The colour of his skin appears to havebeen of a reddish brown , a fact suggested as much by thedark red colour of the figures of Egyptian men in earlydynastic tombs as by the colour of the Skins of their remainsfound in their tombs . His skull was long and narrow,

andhe had a narrow

,oval face

,a small

,broad nose

,narrow fore

head and cheeks,a weak j aw, a pointed chin , a small, pointed

beard,very little hair on his upper lip

,and his eyes were

probably brown in colour. He wore his hair tolerably Shortit was more often black than brown

,and it was not woolly

like that of the negro . His teeth were of the average size .

He was slightly built and slim of body,and closely resembled

in his general am mall-bodied man of certain

parts'

of the Sfidan and Abyssinia at the present day. His


hands and feet were long and thin,and well adapted for the

weaving of flax and reed baskets,and his bones were sur

prisingly slender. The woman was about the average height ,but rather under than over 5 feet, her figure was slim

,her

hips tolerably solid,and her feet of moderate size. The

small,green slate obj ects of the period in the British Museum

prove that the Neolithic man was circumcised .

Corning now to the latest part of the Neolithic Period,and

the beginning of the Dynastic Period,we find that there

existed in Lower Egypt and the Delta a population thatpossessed physical characteristics very different from thoseof the Egyp tians of Upper Egypt , which have just beendescribed. These northern folk who offered such stubbornresistance to the kings of Upper Egypt had features of adistinctly Semitic typ e, and there seems to be little reasonfor doubting that they came from some part of the ArabianPeninsula. They must have existed in the Delta in considerable numbers and, for a time at least , formed the rulingclass there . Whether they invaded the Delta in large numbers suddenly, or whether they had settled there graduallycannot be said, but it is tolerably clear that they intermarriedfreely with the people who were already established in thecountry when they arrived there . ThW ts

were in trade,and they do not seem to have made theeixzilisa

an”m um -m imeformed the ruling class in Lower Egypt

were very different in body and in mind from the Egyptian ofUpper Egypt and the Egyptian of Lower Egypt with Semiticblood in his veins . In stature they were below the heightof the average Neolithic Egyptian , but their bodies weresolidly built

,and were large and broad, and capable of doing

hard work of a continuous character. The shape of theirheads was different

,and not only were they broader

,squarer

,

and flatter, W W W111W These short , large-limbed,_

bigheaded men wit wide faces

,good foreheads, black eyes,



ofevery kind, which must have taken heavy toll of the lives Ofmen in the Old Stone Age. Whether these men had any beliefin God ,

or in a future state, is difficult to say, but they probably possessed some dim idea that a Creator existed . Asfor their dead

,the greater number of them must have been

thrown out into the desert or bush, and devoured by wildanimals .From the graves of the men ofthe New Stone Age In Egyptwe may deduce muchw manners and customs ofthose who made them . The man of the early partofthis Age was not far removed from his ancestors of the OldStone Age

,but beforethe close of it he had become master

of the land ofEgypt, and had advanced many steps on theroad of civilisation . Men of this period lived in villages

,

circular in shape, and surrounded by a wall ; each largevillage possessed two roads, which ran through it from sideto Side and crossed in the middle of it at right angles . Thusa village had four entrances, and the main entrance wasprobably protected from the attacks of foes by obj ects placednear it which were supposed to afford magical protection .

The houses or huts were made of mud . Domestic animalslived in the clearing round the village. In selecting the sitefor a village advantage was taken of every bit of rising ground

,

so that the houses might be above the level of the annualflood of the Nile . Little by little the rank undergrowthand bush,

” which grew wherever the waters of the Nileflowed

,were cleared, and a kind of millet and barley was

grown on the land thus reclaimed. The wild animals thatinfested the bush were driven farther and farther away

,

but even under the new conditions innumerable holes in theground harboured scorpions and all kinds of small reptiles

,

and the country was full of venomous snakes. The Nileand its streams, and the large shallow lakes formed annuallyas the Nile flood ran off the land, were filled with crocodiles,and in Lower Egypt these monsters must have existed invery large numbers . In the swamps, which closely resembledthose on the Upper Nile, lived herds of hippopotami, as wellas the noxious insects that make life a burden in tropical

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS I 5

climates . The Egyp tian of this period hunted wild animalsas did his ancestors, and he must have been far more successful than they, for he had learned to make Spear-heads andarrow-heads of fl int

,and when fowling he used the boomer

ang . The waters were filled with fish, which he Speared orcaught with his hands

,and he must have learned to make

fish-traps at a very early period. In fishing and fowlingexpeditions he used Shallow boats made of reeds tied togetherby reed ropes at each end

,and in swimming across the Nile

he employed floats made of reeds, similar to those that arefound among the people in Nubia at the present day

,and that

are called 1507.

In the making of pottery he attained very great Skill .The potter used no wheel

,but shaped his pots

,and bowls

,

and j ars,many of them of very large size

,with his hands and

feet , as the potter in West and Central Africa does’

to-day .

At first he used the mud of the Nile, but later on he discoveredthat some kinds Of earths found in the hills made betterpottery , and used it freely . Many of his Shapes are verygraceful . AS he gained experience his vessels assumed afineness of texture that is quite surprising . Then he beganto decorate his pottery, and he drew on the yellowish drabkind figures of men , animals, birds, &c the red and blackkind he left undecorated . As a potter he was unrivalled

,

and none of the later Egyptians attained his Skill in thefictile art . Long before the Dynastic Period he learned toplait mats

,and to weave flax into linen . With him the mat

was the equivalent of the carpet among modern Easternnations

, and he used it as a bed , as well as a covering forparts of the floor of his hut , and the bodies of the dead weresometimes wrappedclothing for himself and his wife, and he ceased to be dependent ou the skins ofanimals for garments . The predynasticwomen wore necklaces of beads made of hard stone

,lime

stone,and shell

,and bracelets made of ivory, stone, and

sometimes of flint . The skill of the predynastic Egyptianin the working of flints was equal to his Skill in makingpottery

,and in both arts he has never been equalled. The


bone and ivory figures from the graves prove that he hadlearned to carve, and the beads Show that he possessedmeans for drilling holes in hard stone . He had also discovered how to make fire by means of the fire-drill.

Those of the Egyptians of the New Stone Age who were ofsufficient importance socially to deserve burial were buriedin shallow graves dug on the edge of the desert . The gravewas often irregular in shape, but it was usually oval, andthere was very little space between it and the grave nextto it . Often the body is found lying on the bare ground

,

on its left side, with its head usually towards the south .

The knees are bent up on a level with the top of the breast,

and the hands are placed before the face placed round aboutthe body are a number of pottery vessels, Often filled withofferings of food

,flint knives and weapons

,and other obj ects

that had been used by the deceased when he was alive.Some bodies were wrapped in reed mats, and others in skinsof animals . In some graves bodies that seem to have beenpartially burnt before burial are found, and in very manythe bones of the skeletons are found scattered about in suchconfusion that it has been thought that the bodies weredismembered before burial . A good deal of support for thisview is obtained from many passages in the Pyramid Textsand the various Recensions ofthe Book of the Dead

,in which

the deceased prays that his bones may be collected and hisflesh gathered together, and his head rej oined to his body.

But whatever may have been the cause for the scatteringof the bones, such prayers could never have been writtenunless it was generally believed that such disturbance of

the limbs of the body took place after death . In some casesbodies were buried in rough earthenware coffins of variousshapes and Sizes . In connection with certain of the burialsin the New Stone Age one fact stands out clearly

,namely

,

that the predynastic Egyptian believed in a future life .food in the graves of his kinsmen andthought they would need it on theirorld to the next, and he supplied them

with flint knives and instruments of various kinds because


he believed they would be useful to them when hunting or

warring with their foes . Of the gods and goddesses whomhe worshipped his graves tell us nothing, but a flint headof a cow now in the British Museum proves that the cult ofHathor was already established, and as we know that theoriginal home of her worship was in the South , this is notto be wondered at . Shu and Tefnut, a Southern god andgoddess whose original home was the region of Bukem inthe south-east of the Sfidan, were also known to him,

andto these we may add Net, or Neith, and certain other deities .Mod els or figures of these gods were probably made of mudor wood, and kept in shrines made of reeds and mud, andparts of the figures or all of them may have been painted.

Many of the symbols , which we know from dynastic inscriptions represent gods, were well known to the predynas tic Egyptians, and were to them the recognised symbolsof divine beings .The earliest weapons of the predynastic Egyptians weremade of flint

,and the later ones of stone ; they, like

their descendants,found also the heavy stick

,or cudgel

(the modern nabzzt) , a very effective weapon . Battle-axeswere made by tying pieces of stone to the ends of stickswith strips of leather, but the mace was perhaps the moreformidable weapon . The mace-head was usually made ofvariegated breccia (or plum-pudding stone or marble

,

which was perforated and was thus fitted on to the top ofthe handle . The mace-heads of Egypt are similar In shapeto those of Babylonia, a fact easily proved by comparingthe mace-head bearing in Babylonian characters the nameof Sargon I of Agade

,with the mace-head from a predynastic

tomb,both in the British Museum (No . 91 1 46 and N0 . 320 89)

This fact indicates either that there was communicationbetween Babylonia and Egypt at this period, and that thepeople of one country borrowed the mace-head from theother

,or that Babylonians and Egyptians borrowed it from

a source available to both .

In a few graves of this period small copper instrumentshave been found, and it is a reasonable question to ask

B


where they came from . There is no copper in Egypt,and

so far as we know there never was any,but there is copper

in the S iidan,and in modern times the mines have been

more or less worked . The c0pper mines nearest to thepredynastic Egyptians were situated in the Peninsula of

Sinai,and though they were worked by the Egyptians them

selves in the earliest dynasties, there is no evidence that thepredynastic Egyptians worked them . If the material ofthe copper instruments from the tombs came from Sinai itis clear that they were worked by the Semitic natives ofthe country

,and that Semitic traders brought the metal

to Egypt . If the copper came from some other country itmust have been brought to Egypt by the merchants ofthat country who traded with Egypt . In either case thepresence of copper in Egypt in the Predynastic Period provesthat the Egyptians had trade relations with some foreigncountry

,that country being, presumably, Arabia.

In the later part of the Neolithic Period the Egyptiansused for sealing purposes li ttle rollers made of wood orstone

,on which rude pictorial characters, probably repre

senting the names of their owners, were Cut, in fact , theywere acquainted with the cylinder seal . Now the cylinderseal is one of the most characteristic products of Babylonian

,

or perhaps,Sumerian

,civilisation, and it is diffi cult not to

think that the Egyptians borrowed it, as they probably didthe mace-head

,from the Babylonians, especially as the general

trend of the evidence supports this view. The cylinder sealwasmuch used in Egypt under the Ancient and Middle Empires

,

and there is an example in the British Museum bearing thename ofAmenhetep I , a fact that Shows it was used underthe eighteenth dynasty ; but after this period it fell into disuse. On the other hand, it was in general use in Babylonia,Assyria

,and Persia

,down to the fifth century before Christ .

The rudely cut pictorial characters on the cylinder sealsfound in the graves of the Neolithic Egyptians raise thequestion whether at that time the people of Egypt wereacquainted with the art of writing, and if so whether the artwas ofnative growth, or borrowed from some foreign nation.


That the Egyptians could at that time draw figures of animals,

men,birds

,&c.

,is proved by their decorated pottery, but

there is no evidence that they were able to arrange themin a group in such a way that we can rightly describe it asan inscription . Had they been able to form sentences withtheir pictorial characters we should certainly have foundthem cut in wood or stone in their graves . One thing quiteclear is that all the picture characters of this period werecopied from purely Egyptian obj ects, animate and in

animate ; in later times they may have been helped indeveloping their writing for royal and other business byborrowing ideas from the system of writing that was inuse among the Sumerians and Babylonians

,with whom

,

for trading purposes at least,they were in communication .

They borrowed the pronouns from some Semitic people at avery early date

,and it is impossible not to think that they

adopted a great many ideas from the peoples possessing ahigher class of civilisation than their own

,with whom they

had intercourse . Their debt to such peoples,Semites and

others, was undoubtedly very great .

CHAPTER III

THE BEGINN ING OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY

How long the general condition of things which has beenoutlined in the last chapter continued in Egypt cannot bestated

,but in Upper Egypt at least civilisation progressed

Slowly. Towards the end of the New Stone Age the Egyptians acquired the knowledge of working in copper

,and

with tools of this metal they found themselves able to domany things that were before impossible to them. Withcopper drills they perforated beads and hollowed out stonej ars and vessels

,and with copper knives and chisels they

sculptured stone figures of men, animals, &c. ,with a skill thatis truly wonderful . They had long known how to producefire

,and one of its principal uses among them was to smelt

copper. In many respects the state of Egypt at the closeof this period was not greatly unlike that in which weknow it to have been in the earliest part of the DynasticPeriod. It was divided roughly into districts

,or as we

might say,counties

,which at a later period were called

nomes by the Greeks . Each district had its own symbol,

which was generally that of its totem,and probably its own

god,or gods, who must have been served by some kind of

priest . The laws which men draw up for the protecting oftheir wives, cattle, and possessions generally, as soon as

they settle down in towns and villages,were

,no doubt

,admin

istered in the rough and ready way that has been commonamong African communities from time immemorial. Asystem of irrigation must have been in use at this time

,but

it is improbable that there was any central controllingauthority. The men of each district protected the part ofthe bank of the Nile that belonged to them, and made and

20



without difficulty. This, however, was fated not to go onindefinitely, for on one occasion at least, probably a centuryor two before the Dynastic Period began

,a host of men from

the south or south-east swept down upon Egypt . This invasion in many respects seems to have been similar to thatwhich took place under Piankhi, the king of Nubia, whosecapital was at Napt, or Napata, about 720 BC . but whilstPiankhi returned to Nubia, the southern folk and their leaderswho invaded Egypt towards the close of the PredynasticPeriod did not do so . If we take into account the effectof this predynastic invasion upon the civilisation of Egyptwe must assume that the invaders were more highly civilisedthan the people they conquered. And if we assume this wemust further assume that the invaders came from the countrynow called Abyssinia and the lands to the south of it . Theirroute was the old trade route known to-day as the BlueNile caravan route

,

” which has been chosen from time immemorial by the captains of caravans because it makes itunnecessary to traverse the first four Cataracts . Amongthe invaders who came by this route were natives of theEastern Desert , the remote ancestors of the Blemmyes andthe modern Hadenduwa and cognate tribes, and Semites,who had originally crossed the Red Sea from Asia to Africa .

We have no distinct record of this invasion , still less have weany details of it

,and we have no knowledge of the causes

that led up to it,but in an inscription of the Ptolemaic Period

cut on the walls of the temple of Edffi in Upper Egypt,

We certainly have a legendary account of it . In this inscription the victorious leader is accompanied by men who arecalled “

Mesniu,

” or Blacksmiths, who were arm ed withspears having heads of copper

,and who carried chains with

them to fetter their foes . Now there is copper in many partsof the Sfidz

’

in to the west of the Nile, and this fact seems tosuggest that the Blacksmiths ” came from the west of theNile

,te . from a country to the south of Egypt , and not from

a country to the south-east . This view agrees quite wellwith what is known of the history of the Dynastic Period,for the Pharaohs often had to fight hordes of enemies from

THE BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY 23

countries so far south as the White Nile and the Gaz elle and

JfirRivers, and their descendants were probably to be found inthe Nobadae who terrified the Romans, and the Baggarah

who fought under the Mahdi in our own times . There mayhave been a conquest of Egypt by the peoples to the west ofEgypt at one time

,and another by the people on the east at

another time, or the enemies of Egypt on both banks of theWhite and Blue Niles may have invaded the country together.In any case the purpo rt of the inscription , the contents ofwhich we will now describe

,is to Show that the king of the

South and his descendants first conquered Upper Egyptand then Lower Egypt .The Edta text sets forth that Ré-Harmakhis was king

of Ta-sti, the Land of the Bow,

”ie . the country of all

the peoples who fought with bows and arrows, or theEastern Sfidan. In the 363rd year of his reign he despatcheda force into Egypt , and overcoming all opposition , thisgod established himself and his followers at Edffi. Havingdiscovered that the enemy had collected in force to thesouth-eas t of Thebes

,

l Horns and his followers, or theBlacksmiths, armed with spears and chains, set out andj oined battle with them

,and utterly defeated them at

a place called Tchetmet. For the first time probably th enatives armed with weapons made offl int found themselvesin mortal combat with foreign enemies armed with metalweapons ; their defeat was unavoidable . Soon after thisbattle the natives again collected in force to the north-eastofDenderah

,about 50 miles north of Thebes, and they were

attacked and again defeated by Horus . Another battle tookplace a little later on at Heben

,about 1 50 miles south of

Memphis, and Horus cut up many of his defeated foes and

offered them to the gods . Horus then pursued the enemyinto the Delta

,and wherever he did battle with them he de

feated them . In one place the Arch-rebel Set appeared withhis followers and fought against Horus and his Blacksmiths,

” but Horus drove his spear into his neck, and fetteredhis limbs with his chain , and then cut offhis head, and the

1 Edffi is 60 miles south ofThebes.


heads of all his followers . Horus then sailed over the streamsin the Delta

,and slew the enemy in detail

,and made himself

master of the whole of the Delta, from the swamps on thewest of the left main arm of the Nile to the desert in the east .The text goes on to say that companies of the Blacksmithssettled down on lands given to them by Horus on the rightand left banks of the Nile and in what is now called MiddleEgypt thus the followers of Horus from the south effec

tively occupied the country . Horus returned to Edfii andmade an expedition against the people of Uauat (now Northern Nubia) , and punished their rebellion . He then sailedback to Edffi and established the worship of Horus of Edffi ,

and ordered a symbol of this god to be placed in every templeof Egypt . Now the symbol referred to is the winged solardisk

,with a serpent on each side of it, and the statement

suggests that Horus established the worship of a form of theSun-god in Egypt . If this be really so

,Horus and his fol

lowers must have come from the East, where sun-worshipwas common, and must have found that the Egyptianswerenot sun-worshippers . The Egyptians, like most of thepeoples in the Nile Valley, ancient and modern, only worshipped the sun under compulsion . On the other hand

,the

worship of the moon was universal and the native gods ofthe Egyptians were of a kind quIte different from thoseworshipped in the Eastern Desert and among the peoplesofArabia, Syria, and the Northern Delta .

The inscription of Edth makes it quite clear that in thePtolemaic Period the Egyptians believed that the victorioussouthemers settled themselves at Edfii, and that this townwas to all intents and purposes their capital . How long itremained SO cannot be said, but it cannot have been for long.

As soon as King Horus had consolidated his power at Edifi,he laid his hands on the very ancient town of Nekheb,

about1 2 miles to the north, on the east bank of the Nile, and onNekhen,

a town on the west bank almost opposite to Nekheb.

At Nekheb a very ancient native Egyptian goddess calledNekhebet was worshipped under the form of a vulture

,and

from first to last in Egyptian history every king of Egypt


claimed that his rule was sanctioned by this goddess. Insettling the country Horus found the support of the priesthood of Nekheb and Nekhen all-important . Another ancienttown of importance at this period was that known to-day bythe name of Gebelén, which lies on the west bank about1 6 miles south of Thebes . A natural barrier across the Nileseems to have existed here in very early times, but the riverbroke through it

,forming a small Cataract . From Gebelén

the kingdom of Horus in Egypt , which had presumably bythis time passed into the hands of his successors

,extended

northwards,and just before the beginning of the Dynastic

Period it included Abydos and all the country round about .We have already alluded to the comparatively advancedstate of the civilisation of the people of Upper Egypt at thisperiod

,and if proof be required we may point to the two

green Slate obj ects in the British Museum,

1 to which the nameof palettes has been given . In the centre of the morecomplete example is a circular hollow

,in which some thick

paint was rubbed down with stone mullers for applicationto the face of the figure of a god before the performance ofcertain ceremonies . This view is based upon the fact thatpalettes of somewhat similar shape were found at Abydos

,

together with fragments of antimony and the pebbles thatwere used in ancient days for powdering it . The scenerepresented on this example is a hunt

,and we see hares

,

ostriches,jackals

,antelopes, and lions being pursued by

huntsmen who are armed with double-headed stone axes,

maces, boomerangs, bows and arrows, the latter tippedwith flints spatular in shape, and spears , or j avelins. Thehunters wear feathers in their hair, and from the waist-belt oftheir short tunics hang the bushy tails of jackals or wolveseach wears the short characteristic African beard. Thereare two rows of huntsmen

,and the leader of each holds a

staff with the figure of a hawk on the top of it . The secondgreen slate obj ect is only a fragment

,and on it, sculptured

in relief, are figures of a prisoner ofwar being cast into thedesert to be devoured by lions and vultures . His hands are

1 S ee the Table Case L in the Third Egyptian Room.


tied behind his back, and a weight is suspended from his

neck . Figures of other prisoners being devoured are lyingabout . On the reverse is a part of a scene in which twogiraffes are eating the leaves of a palm tree. The work onthese obj ects is so good that they must represent long experience and great skill only acquired by practice on the partofthe workman who made them .

The successors of Horus continued to press more and morenorthwards , and to occupy the more northern parts of theNile Valley, and the time soon arrived when they began tofight with the robust dwellers in the Delta . These consistedof men from Arabia and Syria with Semitic blood in theirveins

,and Libyans from the Western Desert and North

Africa,and a considerable leavening of dwellers on the sea

coast . How long the struggle for the possession of LowerEgypt lasted is not known , but it is certain that the Northernconfederates were not easily conquered. They were strongmen

,and better armed than the Southern folk whom Horus

had overthrown ,and their civilisation stood at a higher level

than that of the successors of Horus. They probably exported wheat

,or exchanged it for the products of Syria and

the Islands of the Mediterranean , and they worshipped anumber of gods whose shrines even in those t imes wereancient . In the double city of Pe-Tep (later Buto) a Serpentgoddess was adored

,at Saut (later Sais) the cult of Net , or

Neth (Neith) , a goddess of war and the chase, flourished,and at Tet-t (later Busiris) there was worshipped a Naturegod

,whose symbo l afterwards became a prominent feature

in the religion of Osiris. The districts or counties of theDelta were not so well defined as those of Upper Egypt,because of the frequent changes in the position of theirboundaries that were caused by the Nile-flood annually.

DYNASTIC HISTORY— ARCHAIC PERIODAs the result

,however

,of one of the battles between the

forces of the South and North, which was fought probablynear Anu (later, Heliopolis) , the King of the South gained


the victory, and he was henceforth able to call himself Kingofthe South, King of the North . Who this mighty Uniterof the Two Lands really was is not known

, but the nativetradition, which was current at Abydos, and presumablythroughout Egypt , in the thirteenth century before Christ,stated that he was called MENA ; this tradition was alsoaccepted in the time of the Greek historian s

,for they all

agree in saying that the first King of Egypt was called MENES .

Now the monuments that have been found in the tombs Ofthe earliest dynastic kings of Egypt do not help us much inthis difficulty

,for on none of them do we find the name Mena

as it is given in the famous King-List drawn up for Seti I,

and cut upon a wall in a temple built by him at Abydos, or inthe King-List of the Turin Papyrus . But on a small woodentablet found at Nakadah ,

a few miles north of Thebes,we

have the name of Aha,cut within the rectangular panel

called sereleh,

l and surmounted by a hawk , and by the side ofthis

,written in an irregular oval, and under a hawk and a

serpent that form one of the king ’ s titles , is a Sign that hasbeen read men. Some authorities believe that this Sign menis the equivalent of the name Mena, and that it is the perSonal

,as opposed to the official, nam e of Aha. Others,

however,basing their opinion on a reading found on a frag

ment of the Stele of Palermo , think that the person_al nameofAha was Ateta,

and,if this opinion be correct , Aha was

certainly not Mena,orMenes. If the hawk and the serpent

mentioned above really form a title ofAha, he must have hadgreat authority in Lower Egypt , for the title is royal . OfAha but little is known , and the few inscribed remains ofhis reign are very difficult to understand . His tomb wasfound at Nakadah ,

and a small funerary monument was builtfor him at Abydos .About the time of Aha,

whether before or after is notabsolutely certain

,reigned the king called NARMER he

must undoubtedly be placed among the kings of the firstdynasty

,for his monuments prove that he was a King of

1 The word means literally “to make to know the sore/zit served the

purpose ofthe heraldic badge or cognizance amongWestern nations.


the South and King of the North . On one side of a largegreen slate palette which was found among the ruins ofNekhen (Hierakonpolis) in Upper Egypt , he is seen wearingthe crown of the South

,accompanied by his sandal-bearer.

His right arm is upraised,and in his hand he grasps a mace

with which he is about to brain a prisoner who is kneeling

Green Slate Palette ofNfirmer, a King ofthe First Dynasty.

before him . In front of him is a representation of a hawkholding in his left claw a cord or hook

,

1 one end of which isfastened to the nose of a barbarian prisoner behind are sixsymbols, which are supposed to give the number 60 0 0 . Thisscene has been thought to indicate that the Hawk

,ie . the

King, has captured 600 0 prisoners . Below the feet of the

1 Compare Isaiah xxxvn. 29, I put my hook in thynose and mybridlein thy lips.

”



on the green slate obj ects which we have described above,and on the mace-head is remarkable, and the ideas whichthey express prove that the Egyptians in the reign of

Narmer had reached a high state of religious and moraldevelopment . It may be argued that the god in the shrineis not Osiris

,but

,even if he is not , he must have been

some god whose powers and attributes were identical withthose of Osiris . That he was a god the centre of whosecult was at Abydos is quite clear, and whether he is calledOsiris or Khenti Amenti is of very little importance in comparison with the fact that at that time the Egyptians believedin a being

,part god and part man, who had risen from the

dead.

Of the length and of the events of the reign of Narmernothing is known

,but it is certain that he was one of the

earliest kings of the first dynasty, and that the centre of hisauthority was at Abydos

,the capital of the Thinite nome in

Upper Egypt . Many of his successors were buried here,

and Edta,the centre of the power of the Horus kings

,was

abandoned by them in favour of a more northern capital.

With the reigns of Aha and Narmer begins the first part ofthe Dynastic Period of Egyptian History, to which thename of ARCHAIC PERIOD has, for convenience

’ sake,been

given . The monuments of this period have revealed thenames of several kings

,but whether the list of them thus

supplied is complete is uncertain . The King-Lists drawn upby Egyptian scribes under the eighteenth and nineteenthdynasties only give selections of royal names

,and they con

tain proofs that those who compiled them possessed lessknowledge of the kings of the Archaic Period than

,thanks

to the discovery of the‘royal tombs at Abydos, is available

to-day. There is, fortunately, a source of information towhich we can apply for help

,namely

,the now famous King

List which, tradition says, was compiled in the third centurybefore Christ for Ptolemy I Philadelphus, one of the greatestbenefactors and patrons OPtolemy II , it seems, was most anxious to include in thislibrary a history of Egypt, and he commanded a priest of


S ebennytus1 called Manetho to compile one . In this History

ofEgypt Manetho gave a list of the kings of Egypt, whichhe divided into three parts

,each containing several groups

of kings which he called dynasties,”but it is not quite clear

what he meant by the word dynasty .

” His Historyis lost

,but four copies of his King-List are preserved in the

works of later writers . The oldest of these is that whichis said to have been written by Julius Africanus, in thethird century of our era, and is preserved in the Chronicleof Eusebius

,Bishop of Caesarea (born A D . 264 ,

and diedabout In this work Eusebius also gives a copy of theList of Manetho made by himself

,but the copy of Julius

Africanus agrees better with the results derived from themonuments which we now have than that of Eusebius .The dynasties of Manetho ’ s King-List that represent theArchaic Period are the first three . According to this

,

the kings of the First Dynasty were eight in number andreigned 263 years those of the Second Dynasty were ninein number and reigned 30 2 years ; and those of the ThirdDynasty were nine in number and reigned 21 4 years . TheFirst and Second Dynasties reigned at This (Abydos) , andthe Third Dynasty at Memphis . The original Egyptianforms of many of the royal names given by Manetho havebeen identified without doubt the identifications of a fewothers are nearly certain

,and about the remainder there

exist many different Opinions . Besides Aha and Nanner,orNarmer and Aha,

for the true order of these two kings isuncertain, the other impo rtant kings of the First Dynastywere

SEMTI,the fifth king of the dynasty, who was the first

to use the titleM ,tie. King of the South

,King of the

North (Nesu batz) . His name as the successor of Horuswas TEN , or DEN ,

and his personal name was Semti ; thehieroglyphs that form the latter name were for many yearsread Hesepti,

” and some authorities now read them Khas1 The capital of the Twelfth Nome of LowerEgypt, the modern town of

Samannfid .


kheti . Nothing is.

known of the events of his reign,but

example, the king’

s tomb was panelled with wood,two

stairways brought worshippers down into it,and its floor

was paved with blocks Of granite. The presence of graniteproves that the granite quarries of Aswan were alreadybeing worked, and that barges large and strong enough forthe transport of blocks of granite were in use on the river

.

In his tomb were found several inscribed wooden tablets recordingvarious important events that tookplace during his reign . On one ofthese, now preserved in the BritishMuseum , is cut a scene representingthe performance of one of the ceremonies ofthe Set Festival

,to which

p laque ofKing S emti . attention has already been calledin the paragraph dealing with the

mace-head ofNarmer. The scene represents the king Semti ,who has the crowns of the South and North on his head

,

and holds in one hand a whip and in the other a sceptre,

dancing before a god who is enthroned within a shrine seton the top of a flight of steps . The god wears the crownofthe South

,and is either Osiris or a figure

.

of the king,who

is supposed to be dead and deified . The ceremonies connected with the offering up of the victim who personifiedthe king are supposed to have been performed

,and the king

is dancing before the god as a mark of his gratitude for hisrebirth and the renewal of his life . The Set Festival mayhave been invented to prevent the slaughter of the kingwhen he became infirm, or old , or unpopular, but the fre

quency with which it was celebrated in each reign suggeststhat the Festival was celebrated whenever the king hadsuccessfully completed some work, with the view of strengthening him and continuing his life so that he might be ableto repeat his victories and successes .


Elsewhere on the wooden tablet ofSemti is a figure oftheHenu Boat

,which, in later times at least , played such a

prominent part in the ceremonies connectedwith the worshipof Seker, the Death-god of Memphis . A tradition of theeighteenth dynasty couples S emti’s name with the discovery

(literally finding of the shorter version of the LXIVthChapter of the Book of the Dead under the foundations ofthe shrine of the god Henu . A tradition of the twenty-sixthdynasty attributes the discovery of the CXXXth Chapterof the Book of the Dead also to his reign, and the contentsof these chapters suggest that elaborate ceremonies intendedto effect the resurrection of the dead were performed at thisperiod . In books of medicine the name of Semti also findshonourable mention , for the great medical papyrus in Leipzigcontains a copy of a prescription for healing the nkhedu

disease,which was discovered in the temple of Anubis of

S ekhem (Letopolis) in his reign . The inscriptions of Semtithat we possess make it somewhat difficult to accept thesestatements literally, but it is quite clear that the Egyptiansofthe NewEmpire believed this king to have been a religiousman and a patron of learning .

ATCHAB,or Antchab,

whose personal nam e was MERPEBA .

Of this king very little is known,but he must be mentioned

because the Egyptian King-List that is commonly known asthe Tablet of Sakka

'

trah begins with his name,and it is

somewhat remarkable to find the names of such importantkings as Narmer and Semti overlooked . He was buried atAbydos in a tomb, which was entered after descending a flightOf stairs, and was surrounded by a wall nearly five feet thick.

SMERKHA, whose personal name was HU or NEKHT. During this reign the Egyptians worked the copper mines atWadi Magharah in the Sinaitic Peninsula

,and on a rock

at this place a scene is sculptured in which Hu is seen in theact of braining a native . These mines were probably workedby the Semites ofSinai long before this date, but from this

time onwards they were in the possession of the Egyptians .C


With the reign of QA,whose personal name was SEN (not

QEBH as the King-Lists have it) , the first dynasty came toan end.

SECOND AND THIRD DYNASTIE S

Under the second and third dynasties the balance of powerin Egypt shifted to the North, and Memphis, the foundingofwhich was ascribed by Greek tradition to Mena, orMenes ,gradually came to be regarded as the capital of the wholecountry. Some development in the worship of sacredanimals must have taken place under this dynasty, forManetho says that in the reign of Kaiechos (EgyptiKAKAU) , a king of the second dynasty, the Bull Apis inMemphis and the Bull Mnevis in Heliopolis and the Goat ofMendes were appointed to be gods . Aelian

,another writer

,

states that the worship ofApis was founded by Menes, butthe monuments afford no proof of this . Passing over thereigns of unimportant kings such as BETCHAU , HETEPSEKHEMU I, NEBRA,

KAKAU , ENNETER , SEKHEMAB, FERAESEN ,

and SENT, we come to KHASEKHEMU I , the first of thetwo great kings ofthis uncertain period .

KHAS EKHEMUI , whose personal name was BESH,made

Abydos the seat ofhis rule and built his tomb there . Thisbuilding was about 260 feet long, and contained at least

57 chambers . From a scene cut upon a granite vase foundin his tomb we learn that he was engaged in fierce war withthe people of the North, ie . Lower Egypt

,and that as a

result of his victory over them he was able to unite the TwoLands, t.e. the South and the North . Here we see Nekhebet

,

the great goddess ofNekheb and Nekhen, in the form Of avulture, standing with one claw on a Signet ring, within whichthe name of Besh is written, and with the other graspingthe stem of two plants, the lotus and papyrus, where theyare tied together to represent the union ofUpper and LowerEgypt . A hawk, wearing the crown ofthe South and standing on the serekk, on which the king

’ s Horus name Khasekhem, ale. thePower appeareth,

”iswritten,facesthevule


ture of Nekhebet . The king appears to have altered his namefrom Khasekhem to Khasekhemui, i.a. the Two Powersrise

,

” after his conquest of Lower Egypt . Among other veryimportant obj ects found in his tombwere a grey granite doorjamb bearing his Horus name, and limestone and slate seatedstatues of the king ; these are the earliest statues known .

Upon the bases, in front of the feet, is his Horus name, andround them are cut figures of slain enemies in attitudes ofagony, while a statement on the front sets forth that thenumber of enemies slain by Besh amounted to Hisqueen was called Enmaat-Hap .

Besh was succeeded by KHETNETER , whose personal namewas TCHESER. He was a mighty king, as his monumentstestify, and a tablet bearing his nam e out on a rock at WadiMagharah in the Sinaitic Peninsula suggests that he workedthe copper mines there as had done one, ormore, ofhis predecessors. Of his wars nothing is known

,but he seems to

have put down a rebellion in Northern Nubia. He followedthe example of his predecessors and built a fine tomb at BetKhallaf, a little to the north ofAbydos ; when it was excavated it was found to contain bowls and dishes of diorite

,

alabaster, and porphyry, copper irnplements, worked flints,&c. Its stairway passed under an arch and led down to aseries of underground chambers at a depth of 90 feet fromthe top of the tomb . This was his tomb as King of the South .

AS King of the North he built a tomb in the form of an oblongstone pyramid at Sakkarah ,

the necropolis of Memphis,and

he called it by his Horus name KHETNETER . This pyramidconsists of six steps, hence the name

“ Step Pyramid,

” bywhich it is commonly known

,and is nearly 200 feet high . The

length of its sides at the base are north and south 352 feet ,east and west 396 feet . Its internal arrangement is peculiarto itself, and the remains of some ofthe walls ofthe chambersprove that they must have been well decorated. In whichof these two tombs Tcheserwas buried is unknown , but thecontents of the tomb at Bet Khallaf suggest that he waslaid to rest in the southern tomb. Manetho states that he


was called Asclepios by the Egyptians because of his greatmedical knowledge, and that he built a house of hewn stones,and greatly patronised literature .” The house of hewnstones is, of course, the Step Pyramid. An inscription cutupon a rock on the Island of Sahal in the First Cataractstates that a seven years’ famine took place in the reign ofTcheser, and describes the endowments made by this kingto the temple of Khnemu, including a large portion ofthe territory of Northern Nubia . Hennekht, or Sanekht, abrother ofTcheser, also built a tomb at B

'

et Khallaf, but itis not certain that he was buried in it. His name is foundwith his brother’ s at Wadi Magharah, but whether this factindicates that he superintended work there for Tcheser, orwas himself king of Egypt after his brother’ s death

,is not

clear. Manetho includes three or four other kings afterTcheser in the third dynasty, but none of them was in anyway important .From what has been said above it is clear that

,in the in

terval that elapsed between the rise to power of Aha andthe death of Tcheser, the Egyptian civilisation developedvery greatly. At the end of the Archaic Period the Egyptians possessed metal weapons and tools, they were able tomake really good though small bas-reliefs, they worked thecopper mines and could smelt ore, they quarried granite,and used it in buildings

,they were skilful workers in limestone

,

wood,ivory

,and gold, they made pots and other vessels in

very hard stones, e.g. porphyry and diorite, and the StepPyramid shows that their knowledge of architecture wasconsiderable . Between the beginning of the first dynastyand the end of the third they also developed the art of writingin the true sense of the word, and though the examples oftheir earliest efforts that have come down to us are verydifficult to read, many parts of the inscriptions of Semti,the fifth king of the first dynasty, are comparatively easy tounderstand. As soon as the primitive Egyptians were ableto work stone and wood, and to cut notches and marks onreeds and palm sticks, they must have begun to make figuresof men, animals, sun, moon, stars, and the objects about


CHAPTER IV

THE ANCIENT EMPIRE— DYNASTIES Iv—xr

ACCORDING to the King-List of Manetho the period of theAncient Empire included the reigns of the kings of the firsteleven dynasties

,and as the first , second, and third dynasties

have already been treated of in the preceding chapter,we

may now consider the principal kings of dynasties four toeleven . The first king of the fourth dynasty was SENEFERU ,

a mighty warrior,and a builder of pyramids. He worked

the copper mines ofSinai,both for the sake of the metal and

the turquoises found in them, and in a large relief cut on therocks at Wadi Magharah this king is represented in the actof slaying a typical Semitic native of the country. A passageon the Stele of Palermo states that he raided the S iidan

,and

captured 70 0 0 men , and cattle, Sheep , and goats,and probably a large number of women and much gold ;he also sent a trading . fleet to Syria . The obj ect of theraid was to obtain men to carry out the great works in stonewhich he had already begun or contemplated beginning. AS

King of the South and King ofthe North he built two pyramid tombs

,one at Dahshr

‘ir and the other on the Site now

called Médfim . The latter is commonly called the Pyramidof Médfim,

” and the False Pyramid, and is over 1 20 feetin height it consists of three stages

,which are about 70 , 20 ,

and 30 feet high respectively, but it was never finished .

Round about the pyramid, which was called Kh'

a, are thetombs of several of S eneferu’

s Officials, including those of

Rahetep and his wife Nefert, and ofNefermaat and his wifeAtet . Quite close to it were also found a number of tombsin which the bodies had been buried in the contracted, orpredynastic, position , a fact that proves that the humble

38

THE ANCIENT EMPIRE 39

subj ects ofS eneferu preserved the funerary customs of theiran cestors . The Queen of S eneferu was called Mertitefes.

She survived her husband and married his great successorKhufu

,whom she also survived ; of her origin nothing is

known . Methen,a famous offi cial who became the governor

of a district and master of the royal hunt,flourished and

died in the reign of S eneferu .

KHUFU,the Souphis ofManetho and the Kheops of Hero

dotus,was a greater builder than fighter, and it seems doubtful

S ection ofthe Great Pyramid, showing the Po sitions ofthe Passages.

i f any military expeditions were undertaken during his reign .

At Wadi"

Magharah in Sinai there are two reliefs that havebeen commonly supposed to commemorate him in the onethe king is called Khufu, and in the other Khuem-Khufu .

These two names were thought to represent one and thesame person, but recently Khnem-Khufu has been held tobe the name of another king of the fourth dynasty. Khufubuilt for his tomb the Great Pyramid at Gizah

,and his name

will be remembered for ever as the builder of this mighty


monument . In its present state the Great Pyramid is about

I451 feet high, and the length ofeach of its four Sides at thebase is about 755 feet . Originally it was aboutand its sides were about 20 feet longer, but in the course ofcenturies several Of its outer layers of stone have been removed to Cairo and used as building material. The cubic

,

contents of the masonry are said to amount toyards

,and the pyramid covers an area of 1 27} acres . Khufu

called this pyramid Khut,

” Glory .

” In its originalstate the pyramid was cased with smooth slabs Of limestone

,

some of which bore inscriptions in hieroglyphs . The kingwas probably buried in a chamber in the body of the pyramid

,

and not in the chamber beneath it . On the north side of it ,immediately in front of the entrance

,there originally stood

a large funerary temple in which services for the benefit ofthe soul of the king were performed daily in one chamberof it were presented the offerings to the dead. The stoneused in the building of the pyramid and its temple wasquarried in the hills of Raan

,or Troj a, which lie nearly

opposite to the pyram id, about eight miles away . The blocksof stone were brought down a causeway made of earth tothe river

,and ferried in barges to the western bank, and then

dragged up another causeway, made of earth and severalmiles long

,to the rocky ledge on the skirts of the desert

where the pyramid is built . From to menare said to have been occupied for twenty years in buildingit . There is no evidence that elaborate mechanical applianceswere used in the construction of the pyramid

,and it is most

unlikely that the Egyptians possessed any things of the kind .

Some Simple means for raising the blocks from ledge to ledge,

or step to step, may have been in use, but the inclined planemade of dry mud and sand

,and Sledges, wedges, and short

levers were the principal means used in moving and fixingthe stones . The imaginations of many have run riot overthis pyramid

,and it has formed the subj ect of many theories .

It does not contain chambers filled with precious stones,

and .never did ; it was never one of Joseph’ s granaries, itbeing

,in fact

,wholly unsuitable for such a purpose it was

THE ANCIENT EMPIRE 4 1

never used as an astronomical instrument , and it was notbuilt by or for any of the patriarchs mentioned in HolyScripture . It is a tomb , and nothing but a tomb . Khufumarried Mertitefes, the widow of S eneferu, who survivedhim

,and he appears to have been succeeded by his brother

Khafra the length , of Khufu ’

s reign is unknown, but itcannot have been very much longer than the time which hispyramid is said to have taken in building, namely, twentyyears .

If RATETEF was really the immediate successor of Khufuhis reign was short and unimportant

,and we pass at once to

KHAPRA,the third of the great -kings of the fourth dynasty.

The chief event ofhis reign,which must have been shorter

than has been thought, was the building of his tomb, te . the

second of the great pyramids at G'

I'

z ah . His pyramid isabout 450 feet high, and the length of each side at the baseis about 700 feet like the pyramid of Khufu ,

it is enteredon the north side

,where stood the funerary temple of the

king. Khafra called his pyramid Ur,

”ie . Great .” No

military expedition during his reign is recorded ; accordingto the Turin Papyrus he reigned twenty-four years .In an inscription of Thothmes IV ,

cut upon a Slab ofgranite between the paws of the SPH INX

,mention is made

of Khaf[ra] , and it has been thought that he was the maker,or restorer, of this remarkable monument . Recently,

however, the genuineness of this inscription has been doubted,and some now think it to be a restoration of an ancientinscription , made not earlier than the end ofthe twenty-firstdynasty (about 900 B.C. ) by certain priests who wished tomagnify the importance of the god Ri -Harmakhis . Whetherthe name OfKhafra occurred in the original inscription ornot cannot be said, but if it did it shows that tradition inthe eighteenth dynasty associated this king with the Sphinx .

I f it did not, and was only inserted by priests of the twentyfirst dynasty or later, it shows at least that they associatedthe Sphinx with Khafra. If they only wanted to indicatethe great antiquity of their god they could quite well have


quoted the name of Khufu, or S eneferu, or of some otherearlier king. As to the Sphinx itself some believe it to bethe work of Amenemhat III , a king of the twelfth dynasty,but others disbelieve this . The Sphinx is a mighty manheaded lion

,hewn out of the living rock, and it has often

been repaired . The paws are 50 feet long, and the body isI 50 feet long the head is 30 feet long, the face 1 4 feet wide,and its height

,from the top of the head to the base

,is 70 feet .

Its face was originally painted red . The Egyptians calledthe Sphinx Hu,

” and it symbolised Ré-Harmakhis,a form

of the Sun-god ; when it was made, and when and how itcame to typify this god

,is unknown . We may note in passing

that in the name of Khafra and in that of his unimportantpredecessor Ratetef is included the name of Ra

,

” the Sungod of Heliopolis

,a fact that seems to suggest that the power

of the priests of this foreign god was gradually increasing,

and that those who were responsible for naming the successors of Khufu were influenced by it .

MENKAURA,better known by the classical form of his name

Mykerinos,or Mycerinus

,is said by Herodotus and Diodorus

to have been a son of Khufu,but the monuments yield no

information on the subj ect. Like his two great predecessd‘rs

he was no warrior and is famous chiefly as the builder of histomb

,the third pyramid at G

'

I'

zah . This pyramid he calledHer

,ie . High,

” but it is the smallest of these threepyramids

,for it was not completed. Its height tod ay is

a little over 2 1 0 feet , and the length of each side at the baseis only 350 feet it was originally faced with granite slabs

,

many of which are still visible, and it was entered on the northSide

,where stood the funerary temple . Traditions current

in the eighteenth dynasty state that Chapters XXXB andLXIV of the Book of the Dead were found during thereign ofMenkaura by Prince Herutataf

,a son of Khufu,

cut in hieroglyphs on a block of alabaster,the characters

being inlaid in blue paste made oflapis-laz uli . Thus it seemsthat some important work in connection with the Book of

the Dead was carried out with the knowledge and approval


ofMenkaura. He was succeeded by SHEPSESKAF, who builta pyramid tomb called e h

,

”i.e. Coolness or Refresh

ing with the reign of this king the fourth dynastypracticallycame to an end . The kings ofthis dynasty have been rightlynamed Pyramid Builders

,

” and indeed they appear to havedone nothing except build these mighty piles of stone for theirtombs . Whatever may have been the population of thecountry

,and whatever may have been its resources

,the

greatest possible strain must have been put on them to buildthese extraordinary monuments of human vanity. Roundabout them at G

'

I'

z ah are the tombs of many of the greatnobles and high officials who assisted these gods

,as the kings

were called,in compelling the wretched Egyptian peasant

to pass the best years of his life in forced labour. Manyof them are decorated with bas-reliefs and painted scenesof great beauty. Their fidelity to nature is surprising

,

and the skill with which they are executed,and their delicacy

ofdetail , mark them for all time as masterpieces of art andsculpture

,which the Egyptians under the later dynasties

rarely equalled and never surpassed. The force and vigourthat are in them seem to have disappeared from Egypt withthe close of the fourth dynasty

,for the later work of the kind

,

though in many respects much prettier,is weaker. The

painted portrait statues are often very beautiful works, and,when looking on some of their faces

,one feels that they are

speaking likenesses of great and able men .

The kings of the FIFTH DYNASTY,according to Manetho

,

came from Elephantine, ie . the region of the First Cataract,

but this statement is not suppo rted by the testimony of themonuments, which suggests that the kings of this dynastycame from Lower Egypt . An interesting legend preservedin a papyrus in Berlin throws some light on the origin ofthedynasty, and may be very briefly summarised thus : KingKhufu once ordered a magician at his court called Teta . to

bring him certain writings from Ann,or Heliopolis

,but he

refused to do so,saying that the eldest of three children

,to

whom Rut-tetet would give birth, should bring them . The


king asked who Rut-tetet was, and the magician told himthat she was the wife of Userra, a priest of Ra ofSakhabu

,

and that the three children were in fact the sons of Ra ;and that the eldest of them was to be high priest of Ra. Thisnews made the king very sad . When the three children wereborn the goddess Isis

,who was present there with the god

desses Nephthys, Meskhenet, and Heqet, and the god Khnemu,gave them the names ofUserkaf, Sahura, and Kakaa, and itwas prophesied at the same time that they would all be kings,and would all one day reign over Egypt

,one after the other.

Looking now at the King-Lists we find that the names of thefirst three kings of the fifth dynasty

,according to Manetho

,

were USERKAF,SAHURA and KAKAA ,

and thus the prophecyof the goddesses who attended the birth of the three sons ofRut-tetet seems to have been fulfilled. Their father Userrawas a priest of the Heliopolitan Sun-god Ra, and the nameof Ra formed part of the name of each of his sons

,either

directly or implied .

SAHURA,the second king of the dynasty

,is represented

on a bas-relief at Wadi Magharah clubbing a native ofSinai , as also is US ERENRA, whose personal name as theson of Ra was AN . In the reign of the latter flourishedthe high official Thi

,who married Princess Neferhetepes,

and built a tomb which is still filled with the most beautifulbas-reliefs. Among the priests of the Sun-temple of Userenra was Ptah-shepses, a very old man, who was born inthe reign of Menkaura

,and lived through eight reigns .

ASSA,the last king but one of the dynasty

,appears in a

bas-relief at Wadi Magharah, and his name is found on rocks

in the Valley of Rehenu,or

,as it is called by the Arabs

to-day,Wadi Hammamat . These facts may indicate that

this king really did work the copper mines of Sinai, and thatthe Old trade-route between the Nile and the Red Sea wasused by his officials for trading or mining purposes . Aninscription of the Sixth dynasty at Aswan, at the foot of theFirst Cataract

,states that Assa sent one of his officers called

Baurtet to the land of Punt to obtain and to bring back to



mamat . The pyramid which he built for his tomb is unlikethat of any of his predecessors, for the walls of its chambersand corridors are covered with a series of texts cut in hieroglyphs which are inlaid with green plaster. These textsdescribe the triumphs of the dead king in the Other Worldand his occupations, and are full of most valuable information about the curious beliefs ofthe early dynastic Egyptiansin respect of the life of the soul after death . The subj ectmatter belongs to different periods in Egyptian history

,and

many of the conceptions relating to the future life clearlybelong to the predynastic period. Side by side with magicalspells to be used against snakes, vipers, and reptiles of allkinds are found expressions of spiritual ideas which closelyresemble some of those found among Western nations to-day.

Many of the texts are very old, but the forms in which theyare found in the pyramid of Unas are due to the priests ofHeliopolis

,who made Rathe god ofthe Other World whereto

Unas had departed .

The kings of the S IXTH DYNASTY are said by Manetho to beof Memphite origin . The first ofthem, TETA,

built a pyramidSimilar to that of Unas

,with inscriptions of the same class

as those selected for Unas the second, US ERKARA, also builta pyramid

,the stone for which was brought from the Wadi

Hammamat . The third king, MERI RA PEPI I , was thegreatest king of this dynasty. His rule over Egypt was ofa very effective character

,and his reign was a period of great

industrial progress . He worked the mines in Sinai and thequarries of the Wadi Hammamat and Syene (the modernAswan) , and copper was so plentiful in his reign that a metalworker

,name unknown , made a life-size statue of the king

in copper,and another of his soul more than two feet high .

When the nomad tribes of the Sadan revolted Pepi determined to break their power

,and he sent Una, his able ad

ministrator,and

,apparently, soldier, to subdue them . Una

collected troops,not only from Egypt

,but also from many

parts of the Sudan and Libya, and he attacked the rebels,who were called Aamu and lived in the Eastern Sadan,


and vanquished them completely. On five separate occasionsUna conducted punitive expeditions into the Eastern St

'

idam,

and on one of these,when the resistance offered to him was

peculiarly obstinate, he slew every rebel to the last man .

It was high time that a strong king sat on the throne of Egypt,

for the kings of the fourth dynasty had Spent their energiesin building their own tombs, and those of the fifth dynastyin building Sun-temples to the foreign god Ra.

”Pepi I builthis tomb in the form ofa pyramid close to those of Unas andTeta

,and its chambers and corridors contain inscriptions

similar in character to the texts prepared for those kings .There are in them

,however, many passages that prove that

Osiris,a very ancient Egyptian god, was resuming his place

as the great god of the Other World, from which the priestsofRahad succeeded in driving him tempo rarily.

Pepi I was succeeded by MERENRA MEHTIEMSAF, his sonby his wife Ankhnesmerira, whose reign was very short ,and who is only of importance as the builder ofhis pyramidtomb

,which contained religious inscriptions similar to those

prepared for his father. The works begun by Pepi I werecontinued during the reign ofhis son, and the usual miningoperations went on undisturbed. The great official Una

,

who did such splendid service for Pepi I , was employed byMerenra to fetch granite doors and frames and altars fromthe quarries at Elephantine, and he brought his flotilla downto Memphis, escorted by one war-bo at only. SubsequentlyUna was sent by the king to the south to build seven largewooden boats

,which were to be loaded with blocks of granite

for the royal pyramid tomb . The boats were built with thehelp of the chiefs of the tribes in the neighbourhood

,and

loaded with granite,but then it was found to be impo ssible

to bring them through the First Cataract . Nothing daunted,

Una set his men to work, and they excavated five canals,through which the boats passed easily. In the fifth year ofhis reign Merenravisited Northern Nubia, and was hospitablyreceived by the Governors ofUauat, Matchai , and Arthet .

In this reign Herkhuf. the Shekh of the Caravans which


traded between Egypt and the countries on the Blue Nileand White Nile, visited various parts oft he Sudan threetimes, and brought back ivory, ebony, boomerangs, grain,panthers’ skins

,&c.

Merenra was succeeded by his half-brother NEFERKARAPEPI II , when, according to Manetho, he was only Six yearsold

,and he reigned until he had completed his hundredth

year . His‘

long reign was singularly uneventful, and besidesthe usual mining and building works there is very little tochronicle . He built a pyram id tomb, the walls of thechambers and corridors ofwhich were covered with religioustexts similar to those found in the pyramid of his fatherPepi I . During the reign of Pepi II the Shékh of the Caravansmentioned above made a fourth journey into the Sadan

,

and brought back many products of that region,including a

dwarf who knew how to dance the dance of the god.

” Having reported the success ofhis expedition to Pepi II , the kingshortly afterwards sent a despatch telling him to bring thedwarf to him at Memphis, and saying that if he did so he wouldbestow upon him honours greater than those which KingAssa bestowed upon the official Baurtet, who brought adwarf to his court . Herkhuf, of course, obeyed the royalcommand

,and he was so pleased with the king’ s despatch

that he had it cut on the front of his tomb. It is nowheresaid in the texts why Assa and Pepi II were so anxious tohave dwarfs near them, but it was probably because theyShared

,with many Oriental nations, the belief that a dwarf

could be used as a habitation or receptacle for the soul, or,in the case of the Egyptians, the KA or Double . When theking died his dwarf was killed and buried with him in histomb

,so that his spirit might go and carry the royal shadow

in the Other World as his body had carried the royal KA inthis . It is unlikely that such great trouble was taken toobtain dwarfs

,unless they were able to be of material use to

the king. During the long reign of Pepi II several otherchiefs of Elephantine made expeditions into the S iidan,

namely Pepinekht, Saben, and Mekhu. The last-named


died on one ofhis j ourneys,and Saben his son set out with

men and one hundred asses to bring back his father’ s bodyso that it might be mummified. He succeeded in his task,and when he had buried his father in Elephantine he journeyed to Memphis and gave to Pepi II the S iidani productsthat his father had collected.

The last two or three kings ofthe sixth dynasty were kingsonly in name

,for even when Pepi II died the royal house had

lost its grip on the country . There nowhappene’d in Egyptwhat has always happened there when the strong hand of avigorous king was wanting the central power at Memphishaving collapsed, disorder and confusion spread throughoutthe land . The kings of the fourth and fifth dynasties keptthe great nobles of the country at their courts on one pretextor another

,and when these died they were buried in tombs

round about their lords’ pyramids . The kings of the Sixthdynasty must have had quite different courts, for theirpyramids are not surrounded by the tombs of their noblesand high officials . In other words

,the great native chiefs

ofthe nomes of the South and North at this time appear tohave lived on their own estates, and to have ruled theirdistricts without much regard to the wishes of their kings.When Pepi II died

,the hereditary chiefs in many parts of

the country asserted their independence,the small local

governors began to quarrel and to usurp each other’ s possessions

,and the people naturally flocked to the successful

men,whether their claims were just or unjust . The offer

ings to the temples were diminished,their treasuries became

empty,the worship of the gods languished, and everyone did

what was right in his own eyes . Arts and crafts ceased tobe practised ,

for no one needed fine tombs,and poverty and

misery ruled the land. Of this period nothing is known, andno facts are available bywhich we can estimate its length .

According to Manetho,the SEVENTH DYNASTY consisted of70

kings who reigned 70 days, and the E IGHTH DYNASTY consistedof27 kings whose reigns lasted for 1 46 years, and both dynasties were ofMemphite origin. These statements may be correct , but they cannot be verified by the monuments .

D


This period of disorder was brought to an end, more orless

,by the chiefs ofHensu, or Hennsu, the Khanés of the

Bible (Isaiah xxx . and the He'

rakleopolis1 of the Greek

writers,who succeeded first in making themselves indepen

dent,and then in making themselves kings of Egypt . As

they made Hensu their capital it seems as if kings were stillpretending to rule Egypt from Memphis, but there is nodoubt that the chiefs of Hensu became, as Manetho says,the kings of the N INTH and TENTH DYNASTIES . One of theearliest of these was KHATI, the Akhthoes of Manetho, whosename is known from a bronze bowl and from an inscriptionin a quarry at Aswan

,and we may assume that for some time

after his accession the country had peace . When the peacewas broken is not known, but it is certain that the rule ofthe Herakleopolitans did not remain unchallenged by thedescendants of the lawful kings of Egypt who were livingat Memphis . Now, whilst the Herakleopolitan kings wereimposing their authority on the nomes to the south of them

,

the hereditary princes of Thebes were gradually becoming

powerful, and were imposing their authority upon the nomesto the north of them . At the same time the hereditaryprinces of Siut

,the modern Asyfit, about 250 miles south of

Cairo,had acquired considerable power, and their kings

who were called either KHATI or TEFABA,became inde

pendent . The Theban princes extended their dominions northwards

,and before long cam e into conflict with the princes of

Siut,whom they eventually conquered . They then advanced

on the HerakleOpolitans, who , after apparently a stubbornresistance

,were also conquered, and thus the Theban princes

became the kings of Egypt of the ELEVENTH DYNASTY.

The monuments seem to indicate that one of the importantancestors of the kings of the eleventh dynasty was ANTEFA

,

and that he was the first of the Theban princes who declaredhimself independent and made Thebes the centre of his rule

,

but he claimed no authority over the Kingdom of the North .

Of his reign nothing is known . An inscription in the BritishMuseum supplies the name of three kings of this period

,

1 The ruins ofthe town lie about 65miles to the south ofCairo .

THE ANCIENT EMPIRE 5:

namely ANTEF THE GREAT, whose Horus nam e was Uab

ankh, another ANTEE, whose Horus name was Nekhtneb

tepnefer,” and Menthuhetep , whose Horus name was

Sankhabtaui. At least three other Menthuheteps areknown

,namely

,NEBTAUIRA MENTHUHETEP, NEBHAPTRA

MENTHUHETEP,and SANKHKARAMENTHUHETEP, but opinions

differ as to the order of their reigns . According to Manetho,the kings of the eleventh dynasty were 1 6 in number, and theduration of the dynasty was 43 years . There is some mistake here

,for one king, NebhaptraMenthuhetep , must have

reigned for about 46 years . The general trend of the evidenceof the monuments suggests that the kings of this dynastywere not more than 8 in number, and that the dynastylasted for about 20 0 years . Such facts as are available areinterpreted in different ways by different authorities

,and

at present no satisfactory account of the dynasty as a wholecan be written . . The greatest of its kings was undoubtedlyNEBHAPTRA MENTHUHETEP, a mighty warrior who established his authority from one end of Egypt to the other.He marched into Nubia and crushed a revolt of the tribesof the Eastern Desert and the Aamu, and presumably laidthem under tribute . He built a pyramid at Dar al-Bahari,close to his magnificent funerary temple, the remains of whichhave been excavated in recent years . Judging by the fragments of the coloured bas-reliefs that remain

,this building

must have been beautifully decorated, and their style andfinish call to mind the characteristics of some of the bestwork of the fifth dynasty . These bas-reliefs were probablythe work of Mertisen, a famous sculptor, who says on hisstele now in the Louvre, I am a workman

,skilled in his

craft,who by reason of his knowledge hath risen above [all

others] . I know the water-flood ,and I understand the

rising of the scales in mak ing reckoning byweighing, and howto depict the motion ofa limb when it is extended and withdrawn to its place. I know [how to depict] the gait of a man,and the way in which a woman beareth herself

,and the two

arms of Horus, and the twelve abodes of the Monster, and howto gaze with that unequalled eye that striketh terror into the


fiends,and how to balance the arm in such a way as to smite

down the hippopotamus, and [how to depict] the stride ofhim that runneth. I know how to make the amulets thatwill enable us to go unharmed through every fire whatsoever

,

and that will keep us from being washed away by any waterwhatsoever. No man hath gotten skill in these matters,except myself and the eldest son of my body, unto whom Godhath decreed that he should advance in them . I have seenthe productions of his hands, and his beautiful work in preciousstones of every kind

,and in gold, and in silver, and in ebony .

”

The last king of the eleventh dynasty was SANKHKARA,

and the principal event of his reign was the despatch of anexpedition to Punt, under the command of a high offi cialcalled Hennu,

in the eighth year of his reign . He set outfrom the town of Coptos

,taking with him soldiers from the

nome of Thebes,and workmen, in all about 30 0 0 men . Water

for the entire force was carried in skins slung on poles,and

every man had to act as porter in turn . On the road to theRed Sea three wells were dug and the skins refilled from them

,

and when Hennu arrived on the coast of the Red Sea thankofferings were made to the gods . Hennu then built the boatsin which he and his men were to sail, and they embarked inthem and reached Punt safely. Here the chiefs loaded theboats with myrrh and other valuable products of Punt

,and

Hennu sailed back in peace . Being in the neighbourhoodof the famous diorite and porphyry quarries by the Red Sea

,

he went to them and made his men quarry a number of blocksof these valuable stones, which he took back with him toEgypt to be made into statues of the gods and of the king.

Punt could be reached by land as well as by sea,but from very

early times the Egyptians preferred to despatch their expeditions by sea,

for,in the first place, it was much easier travelling,

and,in the second place, the pillage by the tribes on both banks

of the Nile of the goods brought back was obviated. On thedeath of Sankhkaradisorder and confusion again broke outin Egypt , but it is not known how long anarchy lasted. Withthe accession to the throne of AMENEMHA’

I‘, a new dynasty,

and,according to Manetho, a new Regnal Period began .



The cult of the dead and the worship of ancestors were revived

, large selections of Chapters from an early Recensionof the Book of the Dead were copied on wooden sarcophagiand coffins, and the kings of the dynasty built pyramids fortheir tombs, only they were very much smaller than thoseof the fourth and fifth dynasties . The temple of Amen atKam ak, which must have been an insignificant building,made probably of wood

,was now rebuilt in stone

,and im

portant additions were made to the temple of Raat Heliopolisby Usertsen I , who set up in it a pair of red granite obelisksof a height and size previously unknown . The

‘

art andsculpture of the Middle Empire are developed directly fromthose of the Ancient Empire

,but have an increased tendency

towards realism .

AMENEMHAT I , the Ammenemes of Manetho,who reigned

about thirty years, ascended the throne after a period ofanarchy . From the Instructions which he compiled for hisson it seems that after he became king a conspiracy to kill himwas formed by certain of his officers or household. Theseattacked him as he lay asleep

,but the king managed to de

fend himself, and beat them off. He restored or rebuilt thetemples of Abydos

,Tanis

,and Bubastis, and refounded the

temple of Amen,a very ancient god of Thebes . He made

regulations for the irrigation service,and is said to have had

a survey made of the country, and to have delimited thefrontiers of each nome. He invaded Nubia and conqueredthe four chief tribes there

,and he added to Egypt the portion

of the country between Abu, or Elephantine, and the placecalled to-day Korosko . In his Instructions he says thathis power reached from the sea to the First Cataract . Headds

,I was a farmer

,and I loved the Harvest-god . The

Nile saluted me in every channel . During my years no mansuffered hunger or thirst , and men dwelt in peace through myacts .” He built a pyramid tomb at Lisht, 30 miles south ofCairo . In connection with the death of Amenemhat I reference must be made to the now famous STORY OF SANEHAT,

a son of Amenemhat I . This prince was, it seems, at the

“ THE MIDDLE EMPIRE 55

time of his father’ s death,engaged in an expedition against

the Libyans, and one day whilst the fighting was going ona messenger came to announce to Usertsen I , the heir to thethrone of Egypt

,the death of his father. Sanehat overheard

the messenger’ s words,and for some reason or other was

seized with a fit of terror at the idea that Usertsen mightput him to death

,and

,taking the earliest Opportunity that

Offered itself, he deserted from the army and took to flight .

There is no need to describe here the incidents of his flight ,and his subsequent good fortune

,for a translation of his

autobiography is given in the accompanying volume onEgyptian Literature .

USERTS EN I (or S enusert) , the SesonchOsis of Manetho,reigned at least 43 years . In the third year of his reign herebuilt and re-endowed the famous temple of the Sun-godat Ann ,

the On of the Bible,and the Heliopolis of Greek

writers,which had fallen into ruin during the troubled times

between the Sixth and twelfth dynasties . The new templewas dedicated to the Sun-god in his three characters

,which

bore the names of Horus,Ra

,and Temu

,the Sun-god in the

morning,at noon

,and in the late afternoon . Before the

temple Usertsen set up a pair of granite obelisks, the topsof which were covered with copper casings ; one of thesewas thrown down by the Muslims in the thirteenth centuryofour era

,and the other

, 65 feet high, is still standing . Be

fore they were set up the king performed the ceremonies ofthe Set Festival

,the Obj ect of which was the renewal of his

life . The obelisk is a mod ified form of the symbo l of the Sungod

,which was worshipped in the Sun-temples built by the

kings ofthe fifth dynasty . The reign ofUsertsen I was oneof great activity

,and work was carried on diligently in the

quarries to supply stone for the temples that were beingbuilt at Tanis

,Bubastis, Abydos, Karnak, and elsewhere,

and as the old copper mines of Wadi Magharah seemed to befailing, new ones were Opened at Sarabit al-Khadim,

alsoin the Sinaitic Peninsula . At Abydos Usertsen I built atemple to Osiris

,the director of the works being the official


Menthu-hetep . The cult of Osiris had become general inEgypt before the close of the Sixth dynasty, but nothing isknown of any of the temples which must have been builtin many parts of the country in his honour. At the sametime the king either repaired or rebuilt the casing of thefamous well at Abydos

,which was supposed to be connected

with an underground conduit by which the offerings made tothe dead were conveyed to the kingdom of Osiris in the OtherWorld. Usertsen I continued the practice of his father insending expeditions into Nubia in quest ofgold,

but he madeno serious attempt to occupy the country. The inscriptionof Ameni, a nobleman from the Oryx Nome, proves thatgold and gold only was the obj ect ofthe raids that he himselfmade into Nubia on behalf of his lord. At one time his forceconsisted of 40 0 men, and at another of 600 men, and withthese tr0 0ps he compelled the wretched natives in the goldproducing districts to give him what he wanted. About thistime the king appointed a Viceroy over Nubia, with the titleof Prince of Kash (Le. Cush) and Governor of theSouth.

”Usertsen I built his pyramid tomb at Lisht .

AMENEMHA’

I‘II was the son of Usertsen I , and he reigned

at least 35 years . His reign was peaceful and uneventful,and his attention was devoted to the development of thecountry . He built a temple to Hathor at Sarabit al-Khadimin Sinai

,over which country the goddess presided. He sent

Sa-Hathor to the Eastern Sadan to work the gold mines, theore being washed by the chiefs of the country on his returnSa-Hathor was despatched to the land of the Blacks, ie . theSouthern Sudan, to collect tribute for his lord. In the 28thyear ofhis reign the king despatched an expedition to Puntunder the command of Khentkhatur, who returned in peace,and anchored his boats at Sanu.

USERTSEN I I was the son of Amenemhat II, and his reignwas long and prosperous ; Manetho says that he reigned

48 years, but this statement lacks the support of the monuments. In the first year of his reign, as we learn from the


stele of Khnemu-hetep now at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, he established his monuments in the Land of theGod,

”i.e. he set up memorial stelae, and perhaps even build

ings of some kind on the Shores of the southern end of theRed Sea . On the same stele he is represented receivinglife from the god Sept

,a deity of the Eastern Delta and

the neighbouring countries on the east . All this suggeststhat the king paid special attention to the development ofthe Red Sea trade

,and encouraged traders from Punt and

Southern Arabia to do business in his country. Manethocalls him S esastris, and says that he conquered all Asiain nine years

,

”but the records ofhis reign now available do

not bear out this statement . From a wall-painting in thetomb of Khnemu-hetep ,

a nobleman of the Oryx Nome,we

learn that in the sixth year of the king ’ s reign a companyof37Aamu,

or Semites,visited Menat Khufu in Upper Egypt

,

and were received by Khnemu-hetep ,the Governor of the

Nome . The reason of their coming is unknown ,but it was

,

no doubt , to do business with the Egyptians, and, to makedealing easier

,they brought some mestchemet, or eye paint ,

which they were ready either to give or sell to the Governor.Usertsen II built his pyramid tomb at Al-Lahfin (Illahr

'

in)on a plan different from any other known . The base of it isthe living rock

,which has been dressed to a height of 40 feet

on this is a portion of the pyramid core with cross-walls,

built partly of stone and partly of brick . The whole of thefilling between the walls is mud brick . The sarcophagus isofred granite, and the chamber it stands in is Ofred granite .

USERTSEN III succeeded his father Usertsen I I , and hereigned at least 33 years . The greatest event in his reign wasthe conquest of the Sadan, which he occupied effectively asfar as the countries bordering on the Nile are concerned . Hemade at least four expeditions into the Northern Sfidan,

and gained much experience of the character of the peopleas well as of the geography of the country . Egypt neededgold in large quantities during his reign , and he realised that ifthe supply from the South was to be maintained

,the Egyp

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE 59

tians must be masters of Nubia, i.e. the land of gold . One

ofhis first works was to remake a canal in the First Cataractthrough which his war-boats could pass freely up and downthe river

,thus doing away with the necessity of the tranship

ment of goods and men,and the consequent delay . In the

eighth year of his reign this canal needed repairs, and whenthese had been carried out it was 250 cubits long, 20 wide,and 1 5 deep . The canal here referred to is probably thatwhich was made by the Official Una under the sixth dynasty .

Having repaired the canal , Usertsen III brought his troopsthrough it

,and sailed up the river to the Second Cataract

,

and built several forts in the district near the river to thesouth of the modern town of Wadi Halfah . He occupiedseveral of the islands in the river

,among them Jazirat al

Malik,and fortified them

,and at S emnah and Kummah

,

on the top of the high,rocky river banks

,he also built forts .

At the former place he set up a red granite boundary stone,on which Was cut a decree prohibiting the Blacks fromadvancing further to the north than that stone

,excepting

such as were actually traders and who had been in the habitof travelling to Egypt on business . No Nubian boat of anykind was permitted to pass that stone going northwards .Very soon after the king had returned to Egypt the Blacksrefused to bring tribute to the Egyptian forts

,and they

treated the decree cut in hieroglyphs,which they could not

read,with contempt . At length the king determined to

march against them,and in the sixteenth year of his reign he

and his army raided their country in all directions,killed

their cattle,carried offtheir women, and cut down and burnt

their crops of dhura (millet) . When he had squeezed all thegold he could possibly get out of the wretched natives

,he

returned to S emnah and set up another Slab of red graniteon which an account of his conquest of the country was cut .In his inscriptions he describes himself as a king who thinksand gives effect to his thoughts without delay. His attackis quick, and is pressed home with all his might his wrath isimplacable

,and to his enemies he is merciless . To Show mercy

is a Sign of weakness,which the enemy regards as cowardice

,


and any man who allows himself to be beaten on his ownground is a coward . He then goes on to describe the character of the Black A word frightens him,

and makes himhesitate ; meet his attack boldly and he will run away ;he has no courage

,and is a miserable and feeble creature

he is nothing but a stupid animalwithout sense and withoutintelligence . I have seen the Blacks

,

” says the king, andI swear by my father’ s life, and by my own life, that whatI am now saying is the truth

,and it cannot be gainsaid.

”

This inscription is the only one known wherein a king of Egyptdescribes the character of his foes with such arrogance andcontempt as the Nubians could not read it

,and the Egyptian

offi cials did not need to,the exact obj ect of the character

sketch of the Nubians is not clear . Usertsen III built achain of forts from Elephantine so far south as the rock on thewest bank of the Nile now called Gebel Dashah ,

and wasthus able to ensure the safe transport of gold from the S iidanto Egypt . He built a small temple at S emnah

,and he either

repaired or added to the great temples at Elephantine,Thebes, Abydos, HerakleOpolis, Tanis, Bubastis, &c. Inhis reign the ceremonies connected with the Miracle Playof the death and resurrection of Osiris were revived on avery large scale

,and a new figure of the god, made of lapis

lazuli, gold, and turquoise, was established in a new boatin his temple . The pyramid tomb in which the king wasburied is probably the more northerly of the two brickpyramids at Dakshfir round about this pyram id have beenfound several tombs of royal ladies

,who were the wives and

daughters of Usertsen III , and his tomb must have been nearthese.

AMENEMHA’

I‘III

,the son and successor of Usertsen III ,

was the greatest of the kings of the twelfth dynasty ; hereigned at least 44 years, and Egypt under his rule enj oyedgreat peace and prosperity. Art , sculpture, architecture,and trade of all kinds flourished

,and the remains of his build

ings and monuments proclaim the activity of all classes ofartificers during his reign . All the great quarries and mines



close to the pyramid,to the south ofit , he built a magnificent

funerary temple,which Greek writers called the Labyrinth .

”

The stone for this building was quarried in the Wadi Hammamat by20 0 0 men ,

who were sent there for the purpose bythe king in the nineteenth year of his reign . It must havebeen a very large building, and its area is calculated at

square feet . It must also have contained a verylarge number of chambers and corridors, each small chamberprobably representing a town , and each large one a districtor a nome . The whole building was dedicated to the Crocodile-god Sebek

,and

,according to Herodotus

,it contained

30 0 0 chambers, 1 50 0 being above and 1 50 0 below ground .

In one part of it were large monolithic pillars,and, according

to Pliny,there were in it figures of gods, statues of kings,

and effigies of hideous monsters,” and the greater part of

it was in total darkness.” Among other great works instone executed by Amenemhat III some would include theSphinx

,the features of which have been thought to resemble

those of this king but the evidence adduced in support ofthis theory is not conclusive . On the other hand

,the faces

of the Tanis sphinxes (see the cast of one of them in theBritish Museum) may well have been copied from the face .of

the great king .

Among the monuments of this reign is one of peculiarinterest

,because it helps us to understand how the king

was regarded by so great an official as S ehetepabra,a

director of works at Abydos. After enumerating certainworks which he carried out , and describing his own excellences

,he gives his children some good advice . He says

Worship the king,who liveth for ever

,in your inmost hearts

,

enshrine His Maj esty in your hearts ; he is the lord of wisdomin the heart . His eyes search the reins

,he is the Sun-god

and seeth by his light , he sheddeth more light on Egypt thanthe Sun-god, he maketh Egypt more fertile than a high Nile,he filleth Egypt with strength and life . Fight ye forhis name, sanctify yourselves by swearIng In his name .He whom the king loveth is prosperous . The man who isa foe of His Maj esty shall not be buried

,but his body shall


be cast into the water. Observe these things and your bodiesshall flourish

,and ye shall be ever radiant

AMENEMHAT IV,the last king of the twelfth dynasty

,

reigned for about nine years . His reign was unimportant,

and though the copper mines in Sinai and the stone quarrieswere worked

, his buildings were few. His name is found atKummah in connection with Nile levels, but there is noevidence that he occupied himself with irrigation works .SEBEK-NEFERUT-RA,

the sister of Amenemhat, was associated with her brother in the government of Egypt , either asco -regent or wife, and she is said to have reigned alone fornearly four years . Her reign was unimportant . In connection with the twelfth dynasty must be mentioned KingHER , who may have been a son of Usertsen III or ofAmenem

hat III , and a king called Usertsen, who is sometimes calledUSERTSEN IV.

With the end of the twelfth dynasty we reach anotherperiod of difficulty, and, in spite of all the facts that havebeen brought to light in recent years, no satisfactory, or evenapproximately final, account of it can be written . Themonuments supply the names of a considerable number ofkings who ruled between the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties

,

but several kings whose names are unknown must have livedduring that period . According to Manetho, the kings oftheTHIRTEENTH DYNASTY were 60 in number, they reigned 453years

,and their origin was Theban the kings of the FOUR

TEENTH DYNASTY were 76 in number, they reigned for 1 84 or

484 years, and they came from Aat-S ekhau in the Delta, theXo

‘is of the Greeks, and the Sakhaof the Arabs . The same

authority goes on to say that there were 43 kings in theFIFTEENTH

,S IXTEENTH , and SEVENTEENTH DYNASTIES

,who

reigned in all about 953 years to these kings he gives thename of Hyksos, or Shepherds .” Speak ing generally,the thirteenth dynasty represented the kings of Upper Egypt

,

and the fourteenth dynasty the kings of Lower Egypt,and

many of these must have been contemporaries . In fact,

Egypt was once again Split up into two kingdoms, and the


king of each kingdom strove continually for the po ssessionof the land of the other. Now the total of the years of thefive dynasties above-mentioned is 1 590 according to theshorter reckoning, and 1 890 according to the longer reckoning, but the known facts do not justify us in accepting eitherreckoning. It is possible that the total of 1 590 years or1 890 years represents the length of the reigns of the kingsat Thebes added to that of the reigns of those of the Delta.

It is tolerably clear that , except at rare intervals, betweenthe twelfth and eighteenth dynasties a king of the Northand a king of the South were always reigning at the sametime

,and that during the greater part of the period neither

was sufficiently strong to make himself master of the wholecountry. The general drift ofthe evidence derived from themonuments seems to indicate that the power of the Thebankings declined steadily at the beginning of the period, andthat as it declined the power ofthe nomad Semites from theeas t

,who are known as Hyksos or Shepherds

,

” increaseduntil the end of the period, when the Thebans became strongenough to make themselves masters of the whole country.

We may now mention the principal kings of this difficultperiod.

Passing KHU ’

I‘AUIRA, SEKHEMKARA

,AMENI-ANTEF

AMENEMHAT, and several other kings, we come to KHUTAUI-S EKHEM-RA SEBEK-HETE P, whose name is found onmonuments at Bubastis in the Delta, and on the rocks atS emnah in connection with Nile levels. These facts suggestthat his power extended from the Mediterranean Sea to theSecond Cataract . Sebek was a favourite deity with the kingsof the thirteenth dynasty, and many of them delighted toinclude his name in their names. Opinions differ as to theorder of the succession of the Sebek-heteps, therefore thename which each adopted as unifier of Egypt is given .

NEPER-HETEP was the son ofthe priest Haankhefand undertook the restoration of the temple of Osiris at Abydos. Hepaid a visit to Heliopolis, and searched through the papyrusrolls in the Library there for information about the formof the statue of Osiris and the details of his worship . He


returned to Abydos,and superintended the performance of

the Miracle Play of Osiris, and took part in the sacred procession from the river bank to the temple of the god.

KHANEFERRA SEBEK-HETEP (III seems to have carriedout some important works in connection with the templesofTanis and Abydos, but it is doubtful if he extended thesouthern frontier of Egypt to a place a little to the south ofthe head of the Third Cataract as the present writer andothers have asserted . The two statues in grey granite

,about

24 feet long, which now lie on the Island of Argo, and whichhave been adduced as proof that his territory extended abovethe Third Cataract

,were made, it is now said, at a much later

period . One of the last kings of the thirteenth dynasty wasprobably Aaab, whose name is mentioned on a stele now inthe British Museum .

Among the kings of the fourteenth dynasty,from Xo

'

isin the Delta

,may be mentioned SEBEKEMSAF

, who workedthe quarries in the Wadi Hammamat

,where on two reliefs

he is represented paying adoration to the god Menu OfCoptos .There is in the British Museum a beautiful green basaltscarab

,set in a gold plinth, inscribed with this king

’ s nameand parts of Chapters XXXB and LXIV of the Book oftheDead . This probably came from his tomb in WesternThebes. Of SEBEKEMSAUF, who may well have been thesuccessor of S ebekemsaf, very little is known . He built apyramid tomb for himself and another for his wife Nubkhasin the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes . In thesixteenth year of the reign Of Rameses IX the authoritiesat Thebes extracted

,by means of blows of the stick and

beatings upon their feet ,” a confession from eight thieves of

a gang who had broken into these pyramids and robbed them .

They tore off the gold from the mumm ies of the king andqueen

,and stole the king’ s two swords and his amulets and

necklaces,and then they set fire to the funerary swathings.

They collected all the fum iture in the tomb, including gold,Silver, and copper vases, and all the gold, &c from the two

E


mummies, and they divided it into eight lots, each thiefreceiving one-eighth ofthe Spoil . The remaining kings of thefourteenth dynasty are unimportant .

We have seen that at this time neither in Upper Egyptnor in Lower Egyp t was there a king sufficiently strong torule the whole country, or to defend it from the attack offoes. To the nations around this fact was clear

,and Egypt

was quickly invaded in the north, not by a single nation,but by a confederacy of nomad Semitic tribes, namely, theAamu and their kinsfolk, who flocked to the Delta

,by way

ofthe Isthmus ofSuez, and settled down there . They camefrom the Peninsula of Sinai and Arabia

,and from

'

Palestine

and Syria,and they entered Egypt without striking a blow,

the native Egyptians being powerless to resist the invasion .

When they arrived in the Delta they found many Semiteswho had been settled there for some time, and before a greatmany years had passed the newcomers were mas ters of LowerEgypt . To these settlers Manetho gave the name of Hyksos

,

” or Shepherds,” and their kings are now generally

known as Shepherd Kings . The name Hyksos repre

sents the Egyptian words Hequ Shasu,” the former meaning

chiefs,

” or governors, and the latter noma‘ds but

there is no proof that S ham had this meaning before thenineteenth dynasty, and Manetho probably‘only gives themeaning which the word had in later times . His statementis correct , however, for the Semites who overran Lower Egypttowards the end of the fourteenth dynasty were nomads . Theepithet applied to them by the Egyptians was Aat-t,

” whichhas been translated rebels,

” invaders,” plague-bearers

,

”

and even pestilence but its exact meaning to the mind ofthe Egyptians is unknown . It was certainly intended toexpress their hatred and contempt of the foreigner. Themonuments supply no account of the invasion of the Hyksos

,

but,thanks to the famous Jewish historian Flavius Josephus,

we have a description of it, and this agrees substantiallywith all the known facts . Josephus quotes this description

from the Second Book ofthe EgyptianHistory of Maneths.


who flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, andsays I will set down his very words (Le. Manetho ’ s) , asif I were to bring the very man himself into court for awitness .” The quotation then follows thus There wasa king of ours

,whose name was Tirnaus. Under him it came

to pass,I know not how

,that God was averse to us, and there

came,after a surprising manner

,men of ignoble birth out

of the eastern parts,and had bo ldness enough to mak e an

expedition into our country, and with ease subdued it byforce

,yet without our hazarding a battle with them . SO

when they had gotten those that governed us under theirpower

,they afterwards burnt down our cities, and demolished

the temples ofthe gods, and used all the inhabitants after amost barbarous manner nay, some they slew, and led theirchildren and their wives into Slavery. At length they madeone of themselves king, whose nam e was SALATIS ; 1 he alsolived in Memphis

,and made both the upper and lower

regions 2 pay tribute,and left garrisons in places that were

most proper for them . He chiefly aimed to secure the easternparts

, as foreseeing that the Assyrians, who had then thegreatest power, would be desirous ofthat kingdom and invadethem and as he found in the Saite (read S ethroite) Nome acity very proper for his purpose

,and which lay upon the

Bubastite channel,

3 but with regard to a certain theologicnotion was called Avaris,

’ this he rebuilt , and made verystrong by the walls he built about it , and by a most numerousgarrison of armed men whom he put into it to keepit . Thither Salatis came in summer time, partly to gatherhis corn and pay his so ldiers their wages, and partly toexercrse his armed men, and thereby to terrify foreigners .When this man had reigned 1 3 years, after him reignedanother

,whose name was BEON , for 44 years ; after him

reigned another, called APACHNAS , 36 years and 7 monthsafter him APOPHIS reigned 61 years, and then JONIAS 50 yearsand 1 month ; after all these reigned ASSIS 49 years and 2

months . And these sixwere the first rulers among them who

This is a form ofthe S emitic word SHALiT, z'

.e. Governor.

zle. Upperand LowerEgypt. 3t'

.e. the Damietta arm ofthe Nile.


were all along making war with the Egyptians,and were very

desirous gradually to destroy them to the very roots. Thewhole nation was styled Hycsos,

’ that is, Shepherd Kings .’

These people kept possession ofEgypt 5 1 1 years .”

Of the names of the Hyksos kings given by Manetho twomay be identified from the monuments . Thus Apophis isclearly one of the kings whose personal name was APEP

,or

APEPA ,and Jonias, or Iannas, is KHIAN the identifications

proposed for the others are unsatisfactory . The principalHyksos kings whose names are recorded on stone obj ects

,

scarabs, and the like are AAUSERRAAPEPA,who carried on

building operations at Bubastis in the Delta his name hasbeen found at Gebelén in Upper Egypt . In the 33rd yearof his reign the famous papyrus in the British Museumknown as the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus was copied froman older papyrus, which probably dated from the reign ofAmenemhat III , a king of the twelfth dynasty. SUSERENRA

KHIAN is known from several monuments, both small andgreat . A portion of a colossal statue of this king was foundat Bubastis, and a small stone lion, which was purchased atBaghdad and is now in the British Museum , bears two of hisnames . The names of the following kings are found on scarabsSEMQEN, ANTHER, USERMERRA IQEBARH (P) , NUBTAUIRA,

AAHETEPRA,KHAMURA KHAUSERRA, SKHAENRA, MAA

ABRA ”

APEPA,AANETERRA,

IPEQHER , &c. One of the latestofthe Hyksos kings is AAQENRAAPEPA, whose name is foundon two black granite statues of King MERMASHAU , and on atable of offerings dedicated to the god Set . In his reignfighting took place between the two kingdoms of the Southand North

,and the Theban king SEQENNRA TAUAAQEN

was killed . Another late Hyksos king, AAPEHTI-SET, withthe personal name of NUBTI , is made known to us by theStele of Four Hundred Years,

” which was discovered atTanis. In the text on this stele it is stated that Nubtireigned 40 0 years before Rameses II . The monuments of

the latest Hyksos kings prove that the Hyksos had adopted,

little by little,the manners and customs of the Egyptians,

and that their chiefs, or shékhs, had at length adopted the



How long the struggle for supremacy between the Hyksosand Theban kings lasted cannot be said

,but towards the

end of the Hyksos rule it is quite certain that,in the words

ofManetho as quoted by Josephus, the Kings of the Thebai‘s

and of the other parts of Egypt made an insurrection againstthe Shepherds

,and there was a long and terrible war between

them .

” This war, he continues, was brought to an endby a native Egyptian king called Misphragmuthosis, orAlisphragmuthosis, who smote the Hyksos, and shut themup in a place called Avaris

,which had an area of acres.

This place the Hyksos had fortified strongly by means of avast and strong wall . Thurnmosis

,the son of Alisphrag

muthosis, besieged Avaris with men , and at the verymoment when he despaired of reducing the city the peopleinside it capitulated on the understanding that they wereto leave Egypt , and to be permitted to go whithersoeverthey pleased. These terms were agreed to

,and they departed

from Egyp t with all“ their families and effects

,in number

not less than and bent their way through the deserttowards Syria. Being afraid of the Assyrians

,they built

in the country called Judea a city of sufficient size tocontain this multitude of men , and they gave it the nameof Jerusalem .

” A great many of ‘the statements made inthe extracts above rest upon facts . A little more light isthrown upon the relations between the Hyksos kings andtheir Theban vassals by the First Sallier Papyrus in theBritish Museum . According to this, the Filthy ones

,

”

te . the Hyksos, were masters of Egypt , and there was neitherking nor lord in the land . The Heq or King of the Southwas called S eqennra, and the Hyksos King was called RaApepi the seat of the rule of the latter was Avaris

,and the

entire country paid tribute to him,and acknowledged his

overlordship . He had built himself a temple to the godSutekh ,

and worshipped therein daily both morning andevening with his nobles . One day he summoned his scribesand magicians

,and called upon them to assist him in fram

ing a despatch to S eqennra, ordering him to worship theHyksos god Sutekh , and to destroy the hippopotami in


the marshy land about Thebes,because the noises they made

prevented him from sleeping at night in his palace at Avaris .He promises also that if S eqennra will worship Sutekh hewill demand no further tribute from him,

and will not bowdown before any god save Amen-Ra, the king of the gods,of Thebes . What happened between the kings afterwardsis not known

,for the last portion of the papyrus is broken off,

but sufficient of the text remains to Show that the Hyksosking was the overlord of S eqennra. The Hyksos king iscalled Ra Apepi, and it is probable that he was eitherAAOENNRAAPEPA or AAPEHTI-SET NUBTI .

The fight between the Hyksos and the Thebans appearsto have taken a turn favourable to the latter under a smallgroup of kings who formed the SEVENTEENTH DYNASTY fromThebes . These were (1 ) SEQENNRA TAU-AA

,who built

himself a tomb in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes . (2)S EQENNRA TAU-AAAA

,who also built himself a tomb in the

same place . Both these tombs are mentioned in the AbbottPapyrus in the British Museum . (3) S EQENNRATAU AA-QEN .

Nothing is known of the reign of this last S eqennra,but he

was mummified, and buried, presumably in some tomb thathad been prepared for him . Subsequently his mummy wastaken from its tomb , and hidden with the mummies of manyof the great kings of the eighteenth

,nineteenth

,and twentieth

dynasties at Dar al-Bahari in Western Thebes . Here theywere discovered in 1 871 ,

and a few years~ later they were

removed to Cairo , where on June 9,1 886 , the mummy of

S eqennrawas unrolled . His head was turned round to theleft

,the skull was split

,the lower j awbone broken, the tongue

was bitten through,and there was the mark ofastab from a

dagger over the eye,it was probably this last injury that

ended the brave king ’ S life . All these wounds were no doubtreceived by the king In a fight with the Hyksos

,but whether

his troops were victorious or not is unknown . The strugglefor supremacy was carried on by KAMES

,the son of Seqennra,

and after his death by his brother S enekhtenra, but detailsof their Short reigns are wanting

,and how they died is not


known . The successor of Senekhtenra was his youngerbrotherAAHMES , who became the first king of the E IGHTEENTHDYNASTY . The mother of all three brothers was AAI—I-HETEP

,

the wife of S eqennra I , and, as the name of the Moon-godAAH forms part of her name

,it has been thought that

she must have been connected in some way with one Of thegreat families of the town ofKhemenu

,the HerInOpoliS of

the Greeks,where Thothwas worshipped both under the form

of an ibis and the Moon . In any case She was a moon-worshipper, and it is noteworthy that her son Kames calls himselfon his spear-head Son of the Moon

,born of Thoth .

”

THE E IGHTEENTH DYNASTY

AAHMES I , the AmOsis of Manetho, carried on the waragainst the Hyksos with great vigour, and it is probable thatnot more

,

than fifteen or twenty years elapsed between thedeath of his father on the field of battle and his conquestof them . The Thebans drove their former masters beforethem northwards

,and having captured the Hyksos strong

hold at Memphis, Aahmes marched on and attacked the chiefseat Of their power at Avaris . No inscription of Aahmes

tells us anything about these successes, but one of his Generals ofMarine, also called Aahmes, relates some importantfacts in connection with them in the inscription upon thewalls of his tomb at Al-Kab in Upper Egypt . This officerwas captain of a Ship called theBull, and he served on anothercalled the North. He loved fighting

,and he was appointed

to run after the king in his chariot . When the king wasbesieging Avaris

,his officer was serving in the ship called

Khaem-Mennefer,” and several times he slew foes and

brought back prisoners single-handed . After the fall ofAvaris

,and the flight of the Hyksos into Syria, the king

pursued them In his fifth year as far as the city of Sharhana

(the Sharuhen of Joshua xix . and he besieged this cityand took it . Meanwhile the Nubians had revolted, andAahmes

,taking his able general with him, marched into their

country and defeated the rebels with great slaughter when


he returned he was truly King ofUpper and King ofLowerEgypt . Shortly after this another revolt broke out in thesouth ; its leader was Aata, whose name means somethinglike Filthy one.” This rebel advanced northwards withhis troops

,and attacked and laid waste the shrines of some

of the Theban gods. His triumph was short-lived,for

Aahrr'

ms,with his two generals, Aahmes the son of Abana,

and Aahmes who was surnam ed Pennekheb,captured him

and his followers at a place on the Nile called Tenttaa. ThisAata was probably one of the Hyksos . Yet another revolt ,headed by one Tetaan , broke out, but was quickly suppressed.

Later in his reign Aahmes again marched into Nubia toextend the boundaries of Egypt , and on this occasion hecaptured many prisoners

,ie . he seized a large number of

men and brought them to Egypt to perform forced labour.In the 22nd year of his reign he reopened the quarries ofTurah Opposite Memphis

,and began to rebuild the temple

ofPtah at Memphis and the temple of Amen-Ra at Thebesthe hewing of the stone was performed by the Fenkhu,

i.e. foreigners,but at that time these were not the Phoe

nicians, as has been asserted. Aahmes reigned about twentyfive years

,and he will be renowned for all time as the deliverer

of his country from the yoke of the Hyksos . His mummy,

is preserved in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .

TCHESERKARA AMEN-BETEF (Amenophis I) succeededAahmes I and reigned about twenty-one years. From thefunerary Inscriptions of his generals called' Aahmes

,it is

clear that he marched into Nubia to extend the boundariesOfEgypt , and waged one or two wars against the Libyans,but his military expeditions were short and unimportant .To him belongs the credit of having realised that the Nubianscould not be made to pay their tribute, unless Egyptianofficials resided permanently in their country he thereforeappointed a governor over them with powers to collect andforward the tribute annually. His building operationswere on a considerable scale

,and he added to the temples

of Karnak and Dar al-Bahari, and built shrines to the


native goddess Sati at various places in Nubia. Perhapsthe most important act of his reign was performed in connection with the endowment of the priests ofAmen-Ra atThebes . There is no doubt that he was a princely benefactor of their order

,for on their coffins he appears as a

god, and his name is usually found on them in the mostprominent places . It was Amen-Ra who had given theThebans victory over the Hyksos

,and it was therefore the

duty of the Theban kings to consolidate his worship,and to

provide for its continuance in a temple worthy of the greatgod . The worship of Amen at Thebes was very ancient,but in the earliest times he was one of a group of Naturegods, and for centuries he was only of local importance .

His priests early in the eighteenth dynasty,wishing to

increase his importance,affixed to his name that of Ra, the

Sun-god of Anu (Heliopolis) , and bestowed upon him theattributes of gods who were far older than himself. Itseems as if the priests of Amen tried to make their godrepresent all the great gods of every great town of Egypt ,so that he might become a sort of universal god in thecountry . Amen-hetep I must have been a religious manand a generous giver to the religious institutions of his day,otherwise he would not have been worshipped so persistentlyfor hundreds of years . His mummy is preserved in the

"Egyptian Museum in Cairo .

AAKHEPERKARa TEHUTIMES (Thothmes I) , was the son

ofAmen-hetep I by his wife the lady S ENSENEB, who wasnot of royal rank, and he reigned about twenty-two years .He ascended the throne on the twenty-first day of the thirdmonth (=January 1 5—February 1 5) of the season Pert, andhe sent out a circular to all the nobles of the kingdom statingthis fact

,and announcing the forms of the royal names

and titles which he intended to adopt and use . On thedeath of his father the Nubians and other S iidani folkagain rebelled

,and Thothmes was obliged to invade their

country,called Khent Hennefer. He took Aahmes the

General with him,and as he was sailing up the river his


boats encountered many boats of the rebels sailing down .

A fierce fight ensued,and many of the Nubian boats were

rammed,and they capsiz ed and drifted to the bank . The

king growled at his foes like a leopard , and he hurled hisspear at their leader with such success that it pierced himthrough and through

,

’

and he fell down dead . Thereupona great Slaughter took place and the enemy was defeated

,

and manyprisoners were taken . Before Thothmes returnedto Egypt he tied the dead body of the rebel chief to thebows of his boat

,so that as he sailed down the river every

one on the banks might see it and tremble before him.

Where this fight took place is not known . Subsequently,perhaps in the third year Of his reign, Thothmes seems tohave traversed the whole district of the Second and ThirdCataracts

,for a long inscription of his is found on the Island

of Tombos,at the head of the Third Cataract

,near the

modern village of Karmah . Near this place he built somekind of strong building

,the offi cer in charge of which

would be instructed to collect tribute from the people on

the river banks,who cultivated the richest tract of land in

all Nubia . This tract is now known as the DongolaProvince

,

” and at the present time it yields a good revenue .

On his way back to Egypt Thothmes passed through thecanal in the First Cataract , which was made by Merenra

in the sixth dynasty, and repaired by Usertsen II I in thetwelfth dynasty.

The next scene of the king ’ s labours was Western Asia,

and he marched northwards through Palestine and Syriato the region of Rethenu

,which lies to the north-west of

Mesopotamia. He fought many fights with the various semiindependent peoples of this country

,and was victorious

everywhere ; he collected loot in abundance, and mademany prisoners . His Old servant Aahmes was with himin the land of Naharina

,ie . the “ land of the two rivers

,

”

or Mesopotamia, and captured a horse and chariot and cutoff twenty-one hands from the men he had slain . Wh ilstThothmes I was in this region he set up a stele to markthe limit of his empire in that direction

,and this stele was


seen in later days by Thothmes III . The building Operationsof Thothmes I were important . With the tribute from Nubiaand Western Asia he built a pylon and set up two obelisks,each about 76 feet high, at Karnak ; one is still standing.

He carried out many works in Western Thebes,built a temple

at Abydos, dedicated a chapel to Sati and Thoth at Primisin Nubia, and added buildings to the forts at Semnah .

AAKHEPERENRA TEHUTIME S (THOTHME S II) was theson and successor of Thothmes I

,and he reigned about

twelve years ; his mother was the Princess Maat-Nefert .

According to the testimony of the General Aahmes Pennekheb

,Thothmes sent an army into Nubia to put down

a revolt among the Nubians,who had not only refused to

pay tribute, but had begun to raid the cattle of Egyptianssettled in the country. The tribes of Palestine and Syriathat had been forced to pay tribute by Thothmes I alsorefused to pay

,and General Aahmes accompanied Thoth

mes II when he raided those countries and extortedtribute from the tribes of the Shasu . Considering the shortness of his reign Thothmes II carried out many importantworks on the temple at Kam ak on the right bank of the Nile,and on the temple of Madinat Habr

‘i on the left bank . His

names are found on the buildings that were begun inNubiaby his father and completed in his own reign . The mummyof Thothmes II is preserved in the Egyptian Museum inCairo, and was unrolled on July 1 , 1 886 , when it was foundto have been Opened and remade in the reign of Painetchem (twenty-first dynasty) . The experts who examined themummy stated that the king could not have been more thanthirty years of age. He had a low,

narrow forehead, andhis nose was deformed

,and the general appearance of his

remains suggests that his muscular development was imperfect , and that he suffered from some skin disease . Heleft one son,

who afterwards became Thothmes III ; themother of this son was the lady Aset, or Isis . Some thinkthat he married his half-sister Hatshepset .What happened exactly on the death ofThothmes II is



ofher two parents only her mother was mortal . The beliefthat every king of Egypt was a god who had become incarnate of a woman was very old, for the first king of Egyptwas begotten by Horus

,and the first ofthe sun-worshipping

kings who formed the fifth dynasty was begotten by Ra, asun-god from Western Asia

,and became incarnate of the

mortal woman Rut-tetet. Hatshepset was, so far as we

know, the first queen of Egypt to claim divine origin in thisway, and she herself seems to have seen the difficulty of applying to a woman the theory that from the very beginningwas supposed to concern the king of Egypt only. She calledherself Khnemet Amen,

” a name which indicated that Shewas of the very essence and being and bone and flesh ofthe god. One of the most important events in her reignwas the despatch, in the ninth year, of an expedition to Puntto fetch myrrh and the other products of this remote S iidaniland. Her fleet consisted of five ships, which reached Puntsafely

,and

,when the captain Nehsi had given to Parahu,

the Prince of Punt,the gifts which the queen had sent

,

the natives loaded her ships with gold, boomerangs, myrrh,ebony

,ivory

,precious woods and incense, dog-headed apes,

monkeys,Skins of animals, 810 . From a commercial point

of view this expedition was a great success . In the ninthyear of her reign Hatshepset made herself king of Egypt ,and in her bas-reliefs she appears in the form of a man , andwears male attire

,and wears the head-dress of a god and a

beard on her chin . As the builder of the beautiful templeofDar al-Bahari She has earned lasting fame She called itTcheser Tcheseru,

”ie . Holy ofHolies,

” and dedicatedit to Amen-Ra and Hathor. It had three stages, andone of the walls she decorated with bas-reliefs illustratingher expedition to Punt, and with sculptured scenes and textsillustrating and describing her divine birth and enthronement . Her architect was called S enmut. Besides thistemple he carried out a great many works at Karnak, including the setting up ofa pair of granite obelisks, about 98 feethigh

,in honour of her divine father Amen and her earthly

father Thothmes I . With the revenues which she derived


from the Sr'

idan and Syria she carried out the restorationthroughout the country ofmany of the temples and shrinesthat had been wrecked by the Semitic Aamu and by theHyksos and other foes. The monuments made during thetwenty-two years of the reign of Hatshepset make it quiteclear that her nephew, who was j oint ruler with her, had verylittle to do with the government of the country during herreign

,and that he was kept in the background. From the

career of conquest on which he embarked after her death itis certain that his tastes and abilities were wholly differentfrom hers .

MENKHEPERRA TEHUTIMES (Thothmes III) , the son of

Thothmes II and the lady Aset, reigned 54 years, 22 yearsas co -regent with Hatshepset , and 32 years as sole monarchof all Egypt . Shortly after he ascended the throne he foundhimself obliged to undertak e wars on a scale that had neverbeen dreamed of in Egypt

,for the people of Syria and Pales

tine and Nubia on the great Queen ’ s death promptly declaredthemselves independent

,and refused to pay tribute . They

had forgotten all about the conquests of Thothmes I , andapparently they never had any cause to fear Thothmes IIor Hatshepset in fact , the twenty-two years of the reignof the latter had enabled them to husband their resources

,

to make plots against Egypt , and to prepare for war. Shewas no warrior, and had no military instincts, and whilstshe was amusing herself with playing at bringing Punt toEgypt , and proclaiming her divine origin , the possessionsof Egypt in Western Asia and in the Sfidan were slippingaway from her control . Thothmes III realised that therewas no time to be lost

,and, with the skill, decision , and

bravery of a man who was naturally a great soldier,he col

lected his forces and made ready for serious war. He knewthat the tactics which the Egyptians usually displayedin dealing with savage S i

'

Idani tribes would be useless inSyria, among well-armed men , who were better trained,and who were in many respects more civilised than the Egyptians . During his reign he made seventeen expeditions


into Western Asia, Nubia, and other countries, and it is theAnnals of these campaigns, which he instructed his officerThaneni to prepare, that form our chief source of information about his splendid conquests .In his first campaign, which took place in the 22nd and

23rd years ofhis reign, he captured Megiddo, defeated all thetribes round about it, and obtained immense quantities ofSpoil . A diary of this war was kept , and the leather roll onwhich it was written was preserved in the temple of Amenat Thebes. In his 24th year he received tribute from thegovernors of Assyria and Rethenu . In his 25th year hereceived from Rethenu choice shrubs and plants, which hesent to Egypt . In his 28th year he marched again into Syria

,

and took possession of Methen (Mitan i) and Thenpu (Tunep) ,and obtained very rich spoil . On his way back to Egypthe captured Arvad and with it immense Spoil . In his 3othyear he captured the town of Kadesh on the Orontes

,which

was the centre of rebellion, and S irnyra, and made a secondattack on Arvad. On this occasion he carried back toEgypt several sons and brothers of the chiefs as hostages .Another expedition to the same region took place in his

31 st year, and when he came back to Egypt he found adeputation from Nubia, who presented him with gum,

cattle,

ivory,ebony, and Slaves . The expedition to Syria in his

33rd year was very important, for he conquered the wholeregion of Naharen (the Naharayim of the Bible) , and re

ceived tribute from all the important towns, as well as fromSinj ar and Babylon . Whilst he was in this region theHittites sent gifts to him, and, according to the informationsupplied by the General Amenemheb

, the king went to huntelephants, and slew one hundred and twenty of these anirnals.

On his return to Egypt he found awaiting him valuabletribute from Punt and from Northern Nubia (Uauat) . Inthe 34th year ofhis reign he received tribute of Copper, lead,&c. ,

from Cyprus,and tribute from Northern and Southern

Nubia.

Meanwhile the peoples of Naharen had made up their

minds to cast Off the yoke of the Egyptians if possible,

Head from a Colossal S tatue ofThothmes

III,King ofEgypt I 550 B.C., now in the

British Museum.

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE 8 1

and they revolted,their revolt taking the form of refusing

to pay tribute . Thothmes III promptly marched againstthem

,and utterly routed the allied tribes, who had sent

cavalry and infantry to bar his progress . The rebels wereslain

,and all their horses and chariots, and armour and

weapons,became the spoil of the Egyptians . The expedi

tions of the 38th , 39th , 4oth, and 4rst years of his reignproduced vast quantities ofspoil, and on his last expedition ,the seventeenth

,which took place in the 42nd year of his

reign , he attacked Kadesh and laid waste the cities of Tunep ,

Arkata,and the country around ; from these he obtained

an immense quantity of spoil of all kinds . The Annals ofThothmes III end with the 42nd year of his reign , but thereis little doubt that his expeditions did not cease then . Itis possible that seventeen campaigns had convinced thestubborn Nubians and peoples of Western Asia that it waseasier and cheaper to pay tribute than to fight Thothm

’

es III .On the other hand

,the king may have sent his son to collect

the tribute . In the 5oth year of his reign Thothmes IIImade some kind of expedition into Nubia, for he had the oldcanal in the First Cataract cleared out

,and his fleet of boats

passed through it to the south . Four years later he died,

and was buried in a rock-hewn tomb in the Valley of theRoyal Tombs . His mummy was found at Dar al-Bahari

,

and was unrolled at Cairo in July 1 881 it had been brokenin ancient days by tomb-robbers, and was wrapped in alinen swathing on which was inscribed a remarkable textfrom the Book of the Dead, now known as the CLIVthChapter.The expeditions of Thothmes III filled the treasury of

Egypt to overflowing, and never before had the countriesof Punt , Nubia, and Western Asia poured their treasures intoEgypt so often or so abundantly. The king ’ s liberality tothe temple of Amen was as great as his bravery, and theremains of his works prove that every great temple of Egyptprofited by his munificence. His captives supplied thelabour, and the decorations of every temple testified, bythe materials of which they were made, to the vast extent

F


of his conquests. At Heliopolis,Memphis

,Abydos

,Den

derah, and Coptos he carried out extensive works andadditions

,but his most splendid architectural works were

reserved for Thebes,the beloved city of Amen . Here he

added a colonnade with 40 granite columns and 32 pillars,and a pylon, on the walls of which he had cut the names ofall the peoples and tribes whom he had conquered. Onthe walls of a corridor leading to the shrine of Amen hisAnnals were cut

,and he built a small temple between two

of the pylons,and dug a sacred lake . At Elephantine he

built a temple to Khnemu, the god of the First Cataract ,and he founded the temple of S iilb (or Soleh) between theSecond and Third Cataracts . He set up at least four greatgranite obelisks at Karnak

,but not one of them now remains,

and two at Heliopolis,and ofthese one is in New York

,and

the other,commonly called Cleopatra’ s Needle

,

” stands onthe north bank ofthe Thames

,on the Thames Embankment .

Another of his obelisks,which was unfinished when he died

,

stands in the open space in front of St . John Lateran inRome. Another, but quite a small one,

’

is preserved in theEgyptian Museum of Alnwick Castle

,Northumberland ;

it was given by Muh ammad Ali,Pasha of Egypt, to Lord

Prudhoe,but what temple or town it came from is not

known .

AS Hatshepset was fortunate in her choice of the architectS enmut, so also was Thothmes I II fortunate in finding anumber of officials who were capable of understanding andcarrying out his great works . First and foremost was hiswaz ir

,or prime minister

,called Rekhmara, who ruled Egypt

during his king’ s absence,and adm inistered the affairs of

the kingdom during the latter half of his reign . He was awise man

,with sound

,shrewd judgment as to men and things

,

and a competent knowledge of everything that belonged tohis office he was j ust and honest , and the description of theduties of a waz ir

,which he had inscribed upon the walls of

his tomb,proves that he was one of the ablest Officials ever

known in ancient Egypt. Among the great building engineers

ofThothmes III must bementioned Pawn,who set up for


84 A SHORT HISTORY or EGYPT

(the modern Merawi) , at the foot of the Fourth Cataract .Here the wretched chief of. Takhisa was sacrificed to thelocal god, and his body was hung upon the city wall , so thatall men might know how futile it was to rebel against the Kingof Egypt . Neither Syrian nor Nubian rebelled during thelater years of the reign of Amen-hetep II , and he was free todevote himself to the repair and restoration of temples . Few

,

however, of his monuments remain . He was buried in atomb in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings in WesternThebes

,and his mummy

,lying in its sarcophagus

,may be

seen there to-day . Close by lie the bodies of some of the royalladies

,who either committed suicide or were killed when the

king died.

MENKHEPERURATEHUTIMES (THOTHME S IV) is thought tohave been the son of Amen-hetep II , and he reigned for eightornine years . He made one or more expeditions into WesternAsia

,apparently because the tribes had again revolted ,

and,according to the inscriptions in the tombs of some of

his officers and officials, he advanced to Naharen, reducedthe rebels to subj ection

,and brought back the usual gifts of

gold and silver in the form of vases,and copper. In the

eighth year of his reign he learned that the Nubians of Uauatwere about to invade Egypt

,and, after consulting his god, he

set out with an army to chastise the rebels and to collect theall-important tribute . His soldiers were successful, and hebrought back a large number of prisoners and much spoil .A relief on the Island of Konosso represents him in the act ofslaying two Nubians in the presence of the Nubian godsTetun and Ahu . He settled his prisoners

,bo th Syrians and

Nubians,in Thebes

,where they carried out forced labours

for the king. Though the name of Thothmes IV is foundin many places

,his buildings were few

,and the greatest of

his works was the erection of the fine granite obelisk whichThothmes III had ordered to be set up at Karnak

,

‘but whichdeath prevented him from finishing and erecting . Thothmes

IV added by the side of the dedication of Thothmes IIIinscriptions of his own

,and he tells us that the obelisk had


been lying on its side at Karnak for thirty-five years, when hehad his father ’ s dedication cut upon it, and set it up . Amongother facts it states that Thothmes IV brought back fromRethenu (Syria) cedar wood wherewith to make the sacredboat of Amen-Ré ,

called Userhat-Amen . The name ofThothmes IV is imperishably connected with the Sphinx atGizah. According to an inscription on a stele set up betweenthe paws of the Sphinx

,Thothmes IV was in the habit of

amusing himself by practising shooting with arrows at a target,

and in hunting lions and oryxes , and in chariot-driving withvery fleet horses . One day after hunting in the desert nearthe Sphinx

,he and his followers rested at midday under the

shadow of the Sphinx,and he fell asleep . During his sleep

Harmakhis-Kheper-Ré-Atem appeared to him, and promised to give him the double crown of Egypt if he wouldclear away the sand from the Sphinx, his image, and protecthis sanctuary . When the king awoke he took steps to carryout the god ’ s desire and, presumably, became king in consequence . The style of the language in which the inscriptionis written has given rise to the theory that the narrative isa priestly invention of a later date, but, even if this be so ,it is probable that the legend itself is as old as the timeof Thothmes IV . Hitherto the relations between the kingsofEgyp t and the chiefs of Syria, or Rethenu,

Naharen , or

Mitanni,had not been of a friendly character, for they had

consisted on the one side of demands for tribute,and on the

other of the payment of the same . Thothmes IV,however

inaugurated a new policy. How the matter came aboutis not clear

,but certain it is that he demanded in marriage

the daughter of Artatama,the king of Mitanni

,and we learn

from one of the Tell al-Amarnah tablets now in Berlin (No . 24)that he made his demand seven times, and that Artatama

only gave his consent to her marriage with Thothmes IV atthe seventh time of asking. The kingdom o f Mitanni wasruled at that time by kings who were of Aryan descent

,and

the documents written in the language which they introduced into the country with their rule cannot at present bedeciphered . The native name of the Mitannian princess who


married Thothmes IV is unknown, but she is, no doubt, tobe identified with the queen ofthis king who is called Mutemuaa.

NEBMAATRAAMEN-HETEP (AMENOPHIS III) , the MEMNON ofGreek writers

,was the son of Thothmes IV and the Mitannian

princess Mutemuaa,and he reigned about thirty-six years .

In the latter years of his reign,at least, it was stated in his

inscriptions that he was a veritable son of the god Amen-Ré ,

who had become incarnate in him by Queen Mutemuaa.

He ascended the throne probably before he was twenty yearsof age

,and during his reign he saw Egypt attain to a state

of greatness and prosperity almost beyond belief. Heenjoyed the fruits of the wars of his ancestors, and was freeto indulge in hunting expeditions, ofwhich he was passionately fond

,to cultivate friendship with Asiatic kings

,and to

gratify his taste in architecture and the fine arts . There isno evidence that he possessed great abilities as a warrior ;but he had no need of them,

for the only tributary peoplewho rebelled during his reign were the Nubians . Theirrevolt must have taken the usual form

,namely

,refusal to

pay tribute to Egypt,and in the fifth year of his reign Amen

hetep III sailed to the south at the head of a military expedition . The revolt in the country of Abbat was suppressedby Merimes, the Egyp tian general who was over Nubia, anda stele in the British Museum states that he cut off 31 2 handsofthe rebels

,and captured 740 prisoners . The king himself

marched much farther to the south than Abbat,and

,though

the position of the countries which he reached cannot beidentified with certainty

,it seems clear that he penetrated

the region to the south-east of Egypt through which theBlue Nile flows . There is no evidence that he made anyattempt to annex this remote country , or to impose eventhe most shadowy rule over it , and this part of the expeditionwas probably undertaken by him solely for the gratificationofhis love for exploring lands unknown to him,

and perhapsfor hunting purposes . In his reign the rule of Egypt was noteffective south of Karai

,or Napata, a large Nubian town



and a temple in honour of his wife, the great Queen Ti, atS adéngah in Nubia. Some 30 miles to the south of this,near the modern village of Sfilb, he built a very large templeof sandstone

,with two pylons, two courts, and two pillared

halls,large portions of which still remain it was about 30 0

feet long,and was the largest Egyptian temple ever built

in Nubia. It is possible that the two fine red granite lions,

which were found at Gebel Barkal at the foot of the FourthCataract

,and are now in the British Museum,

stood originally in the temple at Sulb both contain this king ’ s names

,

but one of them was made by the command of TutankhAmen

,a later king of the eighteenth dynasty

,probably to

replace one of the originals which had been broken,or de

stroyed by some means.Among the small monuments of the reign of Amen-hetep IIImust be mentioned a remarkable series of five scarabs

,which

were issued by the royal command to commemorate five important personal events in the king ’s reign . These eventswere — I . His marriage with Ti , a foreign lady from thecountry ofTchah . 2 . His making of a lake on which QueenTi could sail in a pleasure boat on the left bank of the Nilein or near Western Thebes . 3 . His marriage with Gilukhipa,

the daughter of Shutarna,king of Mitanni

,in the tenth year

of his reign . 4 . A famous wild-cattle hunt at some place inLower Egyp t , when the king slew about 75 beasts in twodays . 5 . His lion-hunts during which in the first ten yearsof his reign he slew 1 0 2 fierce lions with his own hands .These scarabs

,many specimens of which are nearly four

inches in length, were made in large numbers, and were distributed by the king among his officials and friends in manyparts of Egypt . Several fine specimens are exhibited in theBritish Museum .

Amen-hetep III continued and developed the friendshipthat existed between Egypt and certain of the kings ofWestern Asia

,and he married several of their daughters .

These facts we learn from the Tell al-Amarnah Tablets,a

remarkable collection of documents written in the Babylonianlanguage and in cuneiform characters, which were found in


1887 by a native woman in a chamber in the small build ingthat lies to the east of the palace built by Amen-hetep IVin his city of Khut-Aten

,the ruins of which are known by the

Egyptians as Tell al-Amarnah .

” The exact number of thetablets found is unknown , for several were broken intopieces by the men who bought the woman ’ s interest in thefind

,and several were lost on their way to Cairo, but the

total number of tablets found must have been between 30 0and 320 . The British Museum possesses 85 Tell al-AmarnahTablets and a portion of a mythological text, the RoyalMuseum in Berlin about 1 60 tablets and fragments, theEgyptian Museum in Cairo 54 ,

and a few are in private hands .The greater number of the tablets contain letters and despatches written to Amen-hetep III and his son Amen-hetepIV by kings and governors of the countries and districts inWestern Asia

,between 1 450 B.C. and 1 400 . They throw

great light on the relations that existed between Egypt andBabylonia

,Mitanni

,and Syria

,and supply much information

concerning their treaties and alliances, and their marriagecustoms

,religion

,intrigues, &c. ,

which is to be obtainednowhere else . They give us for the first time the names ofthe Mitannian kings Artatama

, Artashumara,and Tushratta.

According to these tablets Amen-hetep III married a sisterof Kadashman-Enlil

,king of Karaduniyash (Babylonia) ,

and one, if not two, of his daughters . He also married Gilukhipa, the daughter of Shutarna,

king of Mitanni,sister of

Tushratta, who succeeded Shutarna on the throne ofMitannithis lady arrived in Egypt in the tenth year of the reign of

Amen-hetep III , accompanied by a train of 31 7 of her principal ladies . And he married Tatum-khipa,

the daughterofTushratta, whose wedding gifts, tie. dowry, are enumeratedon a tablet

.

in Berlin . His chief wife,and mother of his heir

and successor to the throne ofEgypt,was TI

,the daughter

of Iuaa by his wife Thuaa her name appears side by sidewith that of Amen-hetep III , and it is quite clear that herpower was far greater than that usually enjoyed by queensof reigning monarchs in Egypt . Much has been writtenabout her origin, some holding the View that she was an


Egyptian and that her parents were Egyptian,and others

that She was of foreign extraction . An inscription on asmall porcelain bowl in the possession of a private collectorin England states that her father was a chief ofthe countryofTchah ,

a fact that Shows at least that she was not whollyof Egyptian origin . Opinions may differ as to the exactposition ofTchah and its boundaries, but it is quite certainthat this country was in Western Asia

,and that it was a part

ofthe region commonly known as Syria, and thus, accordingto the testimony of the bowl, Ti was the daughter of a manof Asiatic origin .

The monumental remains of Amen-hetep II I prove beyondall doubt that many great architects

,sculptors

,metal

workers,artists, and literary men of all kinds flourished

during his reign,and among these must be mentioned Amen

hetep ,the son of Hep

,a man of great learning and ability.

He was royal scribe to the king, and he possessed athorough knowledge of Egyptian literature. He presidedover the taxation of the country

,and managed the Inland

Revenue Department of Egypt with firmness and justice.He rectified the boundaries of public and private estates

,

and kept the claims of the desert tribes in check,and created

a service for the policing of the river Nile and its canals,

and the ports in the Delta. Finally he was appointedOverseer of Works by the king, who also made him his chiefarchitect

,and it was due to the genius of this great official

that Thebes became a great and beautiful city, full of dignified and splendid buildings . One of his greatest works wasthe building of the temple of Amen-hetep III , and it washe who made for it the colossal statue of the king

,which

was nearly 60 feet high . He also built a funerary temple,

which,by a Special decree issued in the 3I st year of his reign ,

the king ordered to be maintained out of the revenues of thetemple of Amen-Ra, and in an inscription set up in it the kingsolemnly cursed any of his successors who Should allow thistemple to fall into ruin . A copy of this decree

,cut in the

hieratic character,is preserved on a slab of sandstone now

in the British Museum (No . Amen-hetep was the



and Asiatic provinces,which had been won for her by the

great Thothmes III , and the story of the break-up of thegreat Egyptian Empire owing to his weakness and incapacityis almost the saddest page of Egyptian history . His alienblood

,derived from his mother and grandmother, caused to

develop in him a multitude of strange ideas about religion,art

,and government that were detestable to the Egyptians,

Amen-hetep IV, his Queen, and three Princesses distributing Gifts.

whose national characteristics he neither recognised norunderstood, and with whom he had no true sympathy.

When he ascended the throne he adopted a series of namesthat proclaimed to all Egypt that he held religious views ofa different character from those held by the majority of theEgyptians . Some of these resembled the doctrines of theSun-god as taught by the priests of Heliopo lis, but otherswere obnoxious to the Egyptians generally . His father andgrandfather probably held exactly the same religious views,


but if they did they took care not to allow them to disturbthe peace of the country

, or to interrupt the business of thestate . Amen-hetep IV proclaimed a new form of worshipand

,to all intents and purposes

,a new god, whom he called

Aten . Now Aten was well known to the Egyptians as thegod of the solar disk

,and they had been familiar with him

from the earliest period ; but Amen-hetep IV assigned tohim new attributes, which are very difficult to describe .

He taught that Aten was the unseen , almighty, and everlasting power that made itself manifest in the form of thesolar disk in the Sky,and was the source of all life in heavenand earth and the underworld . He ascribed to Aten aonotheistic characteror oneness, which he denied to everyother gOd,

But when we read the hymns to Aten of whichthe king approved, it is extremely difficult to understand thedifference between the

.oneness of Aten and the oneness of

Amen-Ra,or Ra,

or of any other great Egyptian god .

During the first four years of his reign Amen-hetep IVlived at Thebes, but during the whole of this period he wasquarrelling actively with the priests of Amen-Ra

,whose god

Amen was an abomination to him . AS king he had greatresources at his command, and besides building a sanctuarycalled Kern Aten at Thebes, he set up shrines to Aten atvarious places in Egypt , and also in the Sudan . The mostimportant in the latter country was Kem Aten

,which was

probably situated at or near Sadéngah , where his fatherhad built a temple in honour of Queen TI . Whilst this workwas going on Amen-hetep IV caused the name of Amen tobe hammered out from the inscriptions on existing monuments

,and he suppressed by every means in his power the

cults of the other gods . Such an intolerant religious fanaticwas never before seen in Egypt , and the king hated Amenand his name so thoroughly that he changed his own namefrom Amen-hetep to Khu-em-Aten,

” or Aakb-en-Aten,

’

fta name meaning spirit soul of Aten . Besides his fanaticism there was also a material reason for his hatred of Amen .

He saw the greater part of the revenues of the country beingabsorbed slowly but surely by the greedy priesthood of this


god,and he felt that their wealth made their power to be

actually greater than that of the king.

Of the d etails of the fight between the priesthoods of theOld gods of Egypt and

‘the king little is known , but it is clear

that the Egyptians found some effective way of showing theirresentment to the king

,for in the fifth year of his reign he

forsook Thebes,and founded a new capital, wherein Aten

alone was to be worshipped . The Site of the new capital,which was called Khut-en-Aten, or horizon of Aten ,

”was

on the east bank of the Nile, about 20 0 miles south of Memphis

,and is marked to day by the villages of Haggi Kandil ,

and Tell al-Amarnah . Here he built a large temple to Atenand two or three smaller sanctuaries for the private use ofthe ladies of his family. Near the temple was the palace

,

which was splendidly decorated and furnished with beautiful obj ects of every kind

,and the priests and high Officials

and nobles who had followed the king were provided withrock-hewn tombs in the mountain behind the new capital .A considerable space of ground about this capital was setapart as the property of Aten , and its confines were markedwith boundary stones, and the revenues of some of the oldsanctuaries were wrested from them by the king and appliedto the support of Aten . Amen-hetep IV and his followerslived in Khut-en-Aten for some twelve or fifteen years incomparative peace

,and the king occupied himself in playing

the priest, and in superintending the building operationsand the laying out of large and beautiful gardens by thecourt architect Bek . The high priest bore the title of thehigh priest of Heliopolis, and the form

’

of worship thereseems to have had much in common with the old solar cultof Heliopolis. The king composed one or two hymns whichwere sung in his temple, and copies of these were painted onthe walls of the tombs of his favourites.Meanwhile what was happening to Egypt and her Asiaticand Nubian provinces Fora time the kings of Mitanni andBabylonia sent despatches to Amen-hetep IV as they did to hisfather, and some of the chiefs of the neighbouring countriessent tribute to him as they did to his father. When

,how



married one ofhis daughters called Merit-Aten, and had probably assisted his father-in-law in his various religious undertakings . Saakararuled the town of Khut-en-Aten for two orthree years

,and was succeeded byTUT-ANKH-AMEN

,a son of

Amen-hetep III , who married a daughter of Amen-hetep IVcalledAnkhsenpaaten . Tut-ankh-Amen was undoubtedly supported by the priests of Amen , as the presence of the nameof the god in his name testifies, and his accession to thethrone marks the triumph of the priesthood of Amen overAten and his followers . He made h is wife change her nameto Ankhsen-Amen

,and removed the court to Thebes

,where

he at once set to work to repair portions of the great templesofAmen at Karnak and Luxor. Wherever it was possibleto do SO he restored the name and figure of the god Amen

,

which his father-in-law had attempted to obliterate . Hecarried out certain building Operations in the Sfidan and received tribute from the chiefs of the country, but he undertook no military expeditions into Syria

,and made no attempt

to renew the sovereignty of Egypt in Western Asia . WhenTut-ankh-Amen removed his court to Thebes

,he was quickly

followed by many of the nobles who had settled at Khuten-Aten

,and the capital of Amen-hetep IV began at once

to decline . The services in the temple languished, and thesculptors and artists who had designed their works inaccordance with the canons of art devised and approved byAmen-hetep IV found themselves without employmentthe working classes who had lived on the court left the town

,

which in a very few years became forsaken . The Atentemples were thrown down, and before many years hadpassed the town became a hea’p o fruins. Thus the triumphofAmen , the god who had delivered the Egyptians from theHyksos

,was complete.

The next king of Egypt wasAI, who succeeded to the thronebecause he married Ti , the nurse of Amen-hetep IV . Fora time he continued to worship Aten, but at length the influence of the priests of Amen prevailed

,and he abandoned

his former cult his reign was very Short , and details con


ceming it are lacking. Among the few really able men whofound a favourable reception at the court of Amen-hetep IVwas HERUEMHEB ,

the Harmai s of Manetho, a native of Hetsuten

,or Alabastronpolis, in Upper Egypt, whose forefathers

had fought in the wars of Thothmes I II . This distinguishedman possessed considerable influence in the district in whichhe lived

,and was held in great honour by all the people

and by those who had served in the army. He enteredpublic service in the Delta probably before the death ofAmen-hetep III , and was promoted from one high positionto another until at length he became the chief mouthand deputy governor of all Egyp t . His rule was acceptableto the priesthood of Amen

,and when the death or abdication

of Ai gave them the opportunity,they invited him to Thebes

,

so that Amen might make him king of Egypt . Heruemhebstraightway set out for Thebes , and his j ourney from histown to the capital was one triumphal progress . Here hemarried Mutnetchemet

,a sister of Amen-hetep IV,

and wascrowned king by Amen, and his official names and titles werethen and there decided .

His first act as king was to restore the worship of theold gods of the country

,and to rebuild the temples of Egypt

from the marsh-lands of the Delta to Nubia . He appointedpriests in every temple and endowed them

,and set apart

estates for the upkeep of the temples in which theyministered . He filled the shrines with new statues of thegods

,restored the festivals and religious processions

,and

spared no pains in obliterating every trace of the worship ofAten . In Thebes he pulled down the temple called KemAten, which Amen-hetep IV had built between Karnak andLuxor, and used the stones thereof in repairing the templeof Amen

,and he put no check upon those who went to

Khut-eu-Aten and wrecked the tombs of those who had beenassociated with Amen-hetep IV in the cult of Aten . Havingdone his duty to his gods Heruemheb attempted to form anhonest adm inistration in his country . He issued a seriesof just and humane laws

,and curbed the powers of the

dishonest tax-gatherers who ground the faces of the poor.G


On stated days he himself sat as judge in the courts andtried cases Slight offences he punished by beating, but somecriminals were not only banished to Tchar, a criminal settlement on the north-eastern frontier of the Delta, but hadtheir noses slit

, or perhaps entirely cut off. Many parts ofEgypt were visited byHeruemheb in person, and everywherehe righted wrong

,and as far as his power went he took care

that his officials did the same. Heruemheb added twopylons to the temple of Karnak, and had a small templehewn in the rock at Gebel Silsilah to commemorate a victoryover the Nubians . He seems to have made some attemptto revive the power ofEgypt in Syria, but if he did it canhardly have been very effective. Early in his career, andwhen he was, to all intents and purposes, King of LowerEgypt

,he caused a tomb to bemade for himself at Sakkarah

,

but when he was reigning over all Egypt he had anotherhewn for him in the Valleyjof the Tombs of the Kings inWestern Thebes

,and in this he was buried. The exact

length of his reign is unknown , but it probably exceededtwenty years . With the death of Heruemheb the eighteenthdynasty came to an end

,and Egypt never again enj oyed the

greatness and glory that had been hers under the great kingsof this dynasty.

THE N INETEENTH DYNASTY

The first king of the NINETEENTH DYNASTY was MENPEH;

TIRA RAME S SU (RAMESES I) . Nothing is known of his earlylife or career, but it is probable that he held high office duringthe period of the Aten heresy and also in the reign ofHeruemheb . If this be so he must have been well past middle agewhen he ascended the throne, and his reign must have beenvery short . His name suggests that he was a native of LowerEgypt , perhaps of Memphis or Heliopolis, but he must haveacknowledged the supremacy of Amen

,or the priesthood

of the god would never have consented to his succession tothe throne . Rameses seems to have suppressed a revolt inNubia, and he built a pylon atKarnak, but when he became


1 0 0 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

wonderful white alabaster sarcophagus, which is now preserved in Sir John Soane’ s Museum in Lincoln ’ s Inn Fields

,

London . This magnificent specimen of the work of thefunerary mason is covered with texts cut in hieroglyphs,and with scenes illustrating them, inlaid in blue lapis-lazulipaste

,and every one should see it . At Abydos he built the

splendid white limestone funerary temple which Strabo callsthe Memnonium . Its walls are covered with has-reliefs,which for delicacy of work and excellence of finish remainunequalled. This temple . contained seven shrines dedicatedto the gods Horus, Isis, Osiris, Amen, Harmakhis, Ptah, andSeti I . The most remarkable feature of this temple is thegreat KING -LIST OF ABYDOS , which is cut on the main wall ofa corridor at the Side of the main building. Here

,within car

touches,are cut the names of seventy-six predecessors of Seti

,

the first name being that of Mena; or Menes, in whose honourthe king held commemorative services, and for whose welfare in the Other World he prayed.

-In spite of the omissionsthis King-List is of the highest importance for the chronology and history of Egypt .Seti also built a temple at Radasiyah , a station on the

old desert road that ran from a point on the Nile oppositeto Edia

,or Utffi, to the emerald mines of Gebel Zabara,

near the later town of Berenice on the west coast of theRed Sea. Close to the temple was a well

,and it seems

to have been one of a chain of wells that were used bycaravans going to and from the Red Sea. Under Seti anattempt was made to work the gold mines in the desertto the east of Kubban, in Nubia, which were probablysituated in the district now called Wadi Ulaki. An inscription of Rameses II states that Seti I dug a well here

,but

failed to reach water. The trade in gold from the Sfidan wasprotected by Seti, and remains of temples built by him havebeen found near Karmah , at the head of the Third Cataract,and at S esebi, or Dulgo , about 60 miles further down the Nile .

Of the last years of the reign of Seti nothing is known,and

the length of it is uncertain some think he reigned fifteenand others twenty years. Hewas buried in hismagnificent

Rameses 11, King of Egypt about 1 330 B.C

ho lding a Whip and a S ceptre, Emblems of

S overeignty and Rule .

In tfze Britt'

s/z Museum.



horses and chariots . Besides these the princes of manyoutlying countries sent soldiers

,and the Hittite king found

himself at the head of a very large army . Rameses hadalso gathered together a very large army, among which wereSadani warriors, and dwellers on the sea-coast, and miscellaneous auxiliaries of all kinds . It is doubtful if evenThothmes III had ever commanded so many soldiers, andthe Hittites and their allies had never before put so manytroops in the field at one time . The Egyptian army containedfour divisions, viz . the division of Amen, the division of Ra,the division of Ptah ,

and the division of Sutekh .

For the account of the great battle between the Hittitesand the Egyptians we must have recourse to the officialaccount of it

,which is found on a stele at AbaSimbel in Nubia,

and the description of it copied upon papyrus by Pentaurt,the Court Scribe and Remembrancer of Rameses II . Accordmg to these documents Rameses set out with his army fromthe frontier city of Tchar in the fifth year of his reign

,and

marched northwards into Syria . When he and his advancedtroops came near Kadesh on the Orontes he was surprisednot to have found the enemy . At this time two natives whohad been sent to his camp byMuthenra, and ordered to supplyRameses with false information , allowed themselves to becaptured and brought into the Egyptian camp . When theywere brought into the presence of Ram eses, they gave him tounderstand that they had escaped from Muthenra’

s armyand that the Hittite king h

'

ad retreated before the advanceofthe Egyptian army

,and that he was at that moment near

Aleppo . Thinking this information true Rameses marchedat once on Kadesh and encamped his troops to the northwest oi the city. Whilst he was doing this Muthenra movedhis troops southwards, marching on the east bank of theOrontes on the east side of Kadesh, but the Egyptians knewnothing of this . Wh ilst this movement was being carriedout by the Hittites two of their spies were captured in theEgyptian camp

,and when they had been beaten

,and pro

bably tortured, they confessed that the enemy at that momentwere on the eastern Side of Kadesh , and quite close to the


Egyptians. Rameses promptly held a council of war, andbegan to discuss plans with his officers. He was in a difficult

The Defeat ofthe Hittites at the Battle ofKadesh .

position, for only two of his divisions were with him, and heknew not exactly how far to the south the other two were.


Whilst he was discussing thel

situation with his officers, thewhole of his camp was suddenly thrown into a state ofpanic,for large numbers of soldiers belonging to one of the two

The Camp ofRameses II before the City ofKadesh .

divisions which were marching to j oin him at Kadesh wereseen coming in full flight towards his camp

,hotly pursued

by the chariots and horsemen of the Hittites . The Hittites,who were watching on the bank of the Orontes

,had seen the


1 0 6 A SHORT HISTORY ‘

OF EGYPT

Egyptian troops of the third division marching in easy orderand quite unprepared to resist an attack, and they had crossedthe Orontes and fallen with sudden and terrific force uponthem . The Egyptians scattered in all directions and largenumbers of them were killed

,but a considerable number man

aged to reach the camp of Rameses,and these brought to

him the first tidings of the disaster which had fallen uponthe Egyptians . Before he could prevent them,

many ofthetroops in his own camp betook themselves to flight

,and the

pursuing Hittites occupied the portion of it which the terrorstricken Egyptians had vacated.

This was a critical moment for Rameses,for two of his

divisions were thus separated from the other two,but the

young king kept his presence of mind,and hastily collecting

his bodyguard and its officers,he mounted his chariot

,and

charging the oncoming Hittites again and again,he succeeded

in staying their onset . One of his charges was driven homewith such irresistible force that a large number of the Hittitetroops were thrust into the river

,where they were drowned.

When the Egyptians who had fled saw what their king haddone they rallied, and, returning to their camp, they attackedthe Hittites, who were occupied in pillage, and slew them all .Heartened bythis further success, the Egyptians attacked themain body of the Hittites

,and

,led by Rameses and his officers,

they inflicted such serious losses on the enemy that they weredriven back up to the very walls of Kadesh, and nightfallput an end to the battle . Though the power of the Hittiteswas not broken

,they made no attempt to continue the fight,

for both they and the Egyptians sorely needed time to recoverfrom the serious losses which they had suffered. Ramesesreturned to Egypt

,disheartened no doubt by the fact that

he had neither added new territory to his empire, nor evenrecovered the lands which his predecessors had held and hehad no tribute or gifts to Show to his subj ects.The natives of Palestine and Syria realised more quicklythan the Egyptians that Rameses had suffered a moral defeatat the hands of the Hittites and their allies, and as soon asRameses was in Egypt they rebelled against the rule of

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE 1 0 7

Egypt . In the eighth year of his reign Rameses againmarched into Syria

,and for three full years he was engaged

in reducing the tribes to submission . Ultimately he suppressed all the revolts in Palestine, and he claims to havereconquered the city of Tanep, the region of Nahrén, and allthe neighbouring districts

,but there is reason to believe

that as soon as he turned his back revolts again broke out inall these lands . The struggle between the Hittites and Egyptians lasted for at least eight years longer

,probably as long

as the Hittite King Muthenra lived, but no decisive battletook place . Both peoples were weary of fighting, and soonafter Khetasar

,the new king of the Hittites

,had ascended

the throne,he and Rameses determined to make a treaty

and to come to an arrangement as to the frontiers of theirrespective kingdoms. The terms of this treaty were discussed , and when they were done into writing, a copy of theHittite text was cut upon a tablet of silver

,which was brought

to Rameses at Tanis in the twenty-first year of his reignby Taratisebu

,the Hittite ambassador. Two copies of the

Egyptian translation of the treaty are extant (they are cuton the walls of the temple of Karnak and the Ramesseum) ,and a copy of the original form ofthe treaty written in cuneiform characters was found at Boghaz-koi in 1 90 7. The treatyfirst mentioned the friendly relations that had existed between the two countries in ancient times

,and declared that

these were now re-established, and that peace Should existbetween the two countries for ever. Neither king was toattempt the conquest of the territory belonging to the other

,

and each king was( to abide by the old treaty between Sapa

ruru and Amen-hetep III . Each king was bound to assistthe other in repelling the attacks of enemies in Syria eachwas to assist the other in maintaining peace and order inthat country and each was to assist needy subj ects of theother, and to help to bring criminals to justice . Then followthe names of the gods and goddesses who are witnesses tothe treaty, and a curse on him that shall break the treaty,and a blessing on him that shall observe it . On the Silvertablet were impressed seals, Le. figures

,of the gods Sutekh


and Ra, and the seals ofKhetasar, king of the Hittites , andPukhipa, the Queen of the Hittites . Rameses added to thetreaty a clause providing for the safety of the persons andproperty of Egyptians, probably malefactors, whose returnto Egypt was demanded by the Law of Egypt . It is noteworthy that the treaty does not define the boundaries of eitherking ’ s territories in Syria

,and its clauses prove that the king

ofthe Hittites regarded himself as the equal in every respectof the king of Egypt . Thirteen years after the conclusion ofthe treaty, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign

,Ram

eses married a Hittite princess called Urmaaneferura, and theking her father, accompanied by the king of Keti in Syria,visited Egypt and assisted at her marriage . On a stele atAht

'

i Simbel She is depicted in Egyptian attire,whilst her

father wears the characteristic Hittite coat-like garment andthe conical hat . This marriage is referred to in the storyof the Possessed Princess of Bekhten (see the accompanyingvolume, pp . 92 whose father is said to have despatched anembassy to Ram eses asking him to send a physician to expela devil that had taken possession of Bentresht his daughter.The physician was sent

,but failed to heal the princess in

answer to a second request a statue of the god Khensu wassent to Bekhten, and the power of this god cast out the devil,and the princess was healed .

After the conclusion of the treaty of peace with the Hittites Rameses devoted hirnself to the completion of thebuildings which his father had begun

,and when these were

finished he began a series of buildings on his own account .He was indeed a mighty builder

,but his name is found on

buildings and monuments of every kind from one end ofEgypt to the other

,to the making of which he contributed

very little . On many of the buildings which he repaired hecaused his names to be cut on the walls

,door posts, lintels,

&c. ,in such a way that it appeared as if these edifices, from

foundation to roof,had been built by him . He added

columns of texts laudatory of himself and his actions to theobelisks Ofhis predecessors at Thebes, and ordered his namesto be cut upon the statues

,sphinxes, &c. , of earlier kings.



In some cases he caused existing monuments to be re-worked,

and, the names of their makers disappearing in the process,he made them his own by cutting his names on them . Ashe advanced in years his vanity increased

,and before his

death he seems to have believed that he alone was the creatorof Egypt .The greatest of his works is undoubtedly the famous rockhewn temple at Aba Simbel in Nubia, which he dedicated toAmen of Thebes, Ra-Harmakhis of Heliopolis, and Ptah ofMemphis . This temple is nearly 20 0 feet long

,and the front

of it is 1 0 0 feet‘wide and 90 high, and on each Side of the

entrance are two seated colossal statues of Rameses, each60 feet high . Close by it is the temple of

‘

Hathor with S ix

statues,each 30 feet high ; four are statues of himself and

two of his wife Nefert-ari . The temple of Abii Simbel wasmade to commemorate his wars against the Hittites

,and the

inscriptions in and near it prove that he claimed the victoryover them . AS a matter of fact he and his army narrowlyescaped annihilation at the battle of Kadesh, but the easyoptimism of Rameses and his natural conceit enabled himto banish the recollection of this unpleasing incident fromhis mind, and to believe that he was a great warrior and con

queror, as his courtiers declared he was . At Bat al-Walinear Kalabshah ,

about 30 miles south of Philae, he made alittle rock-hewn temple to commemorate his victories in theLibyan war in the early years of his reign . At Thebes hecarried out many great works . He finished the Hall ofColumns at Karnak, adding to it fifty-four columns he builta pylon there

,and a small temple and a colonnade

,and en

closed the temple oi Amen with a wall . He added to thewalls at Karnak reliefs illustrating his wars, and a list of thecountries and towns that he claimed to have conquered,and the text of the account of the battle of Kadesh . Headded two courts

, one with a colonnade and one with apo rtico, and a pylon to the temple of Am en-hetep III , and heset up there two large red granite obelisks and Six colossalstatues of himself, two seated and four standing . He finishedthe temple of Seti I in Western Thebes, repaired several of


the temples there, and built the temple called the Ramesseum,

” which he dedicated to Amen-Ra. Here he set up acolossal statue of himself in granite, which was at least 60feet high, and cannot have weighed less than 885 tons . AtAbydos he finished his father’ s temple and built one to Osiris

,

and in it he set up reliefs illustrating his wars, and a KingList , a large portion of which is now in the British Museum .

He also carried out repairs of temples at Silsilah,Kom Ombos

,

and Elephantine in Upper Egypt, chiefly because these townswere the places of arrival and departure for the caravans thattraded between Egypt and the Sadan . Rameses developedthe gold-mining industry in the Eastern Desert

,and sank

at least one well there, and it is probable that the gold wasshipped on the Nile at one of the three above-mentionedplaces.The chief interest ofRameses as the descendant of a family

whose place of origin was Lower Egypt was in the Delta,

and here he carried out many great works. He allowed nobuilding in Memphis

,the oldest capital of the country

,to

fall into ruin,and he repaired some of the temples of Helio

polis, but the town which he loved of all others was Tanis

(the Zoan of the Bible, the site of which is marked by themodern village of San) , which he rebuilt and turned into agreat and beautiful city, with splendid temples, lofty obelisks,and spacious gardens with lakes and streams of water runningthrough them, and groves of trees and flowering Shrubs .The importance of Tanis at this time was very great, for fromit Rameses watched the progress of events in Palestine andSyria . Though the Hittites loyally observed the treatywhich they had made with him, he was never certain whenthe tribes living to the north and north-east of the Egyptianfrontier would revolt . On or quite near to the old caravanroad that ran from Syria to Egypt he built the towns of PerAtem

,or Pithom, and Per-Ramessu, or Raamses

,

” whichserved at once for provision centres and for fortresses thatguarded the road into Egypt . This road passed near themodern stations of Al-Kantarah and Ismailiyah on the SuezCanal, and ran into Bubastis (the modern Tell Bastah) in



of Sutekh and Baal and other Syrian gods and goddesses ,whether personal or official, won him many friends and supporters among the Semites settled in the Delta and theirkinsmen in Palestine and Syria, but it destroyed the prestigeof the ancient gods ofEgypt, and the Old religion died, itsplace being taken by magical cults and superstitions of allkinds . The Egyptians became corrupted by Asiatic luxury,and were content to serve Asiatic foreigners, many of whomheld high offi ce in Egypt .

Rameses II was succeeded by his thirteenth son calledMERENRA HETEPHERMAAT (MENEPHTHAH) , who had beenco -regent with his father for twelve years, and he reignedfrom eight to twelve years when he succeeded Rameses hemust have been well past middle age . Hardly had he ascended the throne when widespread revolt broke out inPalestine and Syria, and he was obliged to lead an armyinto those countries to reduce the rebels to submission . Thisdone he returned to Egypt

,presumably with a certain amount

of spoil,and then he discovered that the whole of the western

Side of the Delta was in revolt . This portion of the Deltawas filled with dwellers who were kinsmen of the tribesin the western desert and the northern coast of Africa

,and

tak ing advantage of the king’ s absence in Syria, the Thehenuand the Libyans, with their allies from the northern coast ofthe Mediterranean , namely, the Mashuashau, or Maxyes, theSharatenu,

or Sardinians,‘

th‘e Shakalshu, the Akuashu,or

Achaeans, the Leku, or Lycians, and the Turshau,or Tyr

Senians, invaded Egypt and advanced nearly as far as Heliopolis. The leader of the enemy was Meraiai, the son of Tit,the king of the Libyans, and his army was very large, andcontained thousands of well-armed men . Menephthah beganto fortify Memphis and Heliopolis, but before he had finishedthe work

,it was reported to him that Meraiai and his troops

had already occupied the town of Per-art . Menephthah

collected his troops, and, heartened by a dream in which thegod Ptah appeared to him and spoke words of encouragement to him,

attacked the enemy in the fifth year of his reign

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE 1 1 3

with such fury and vigour that large numbers of the allieswere slaughtered and the rest utterly routed. The battleraged for Six hours

,and when Meraiai saw that the day was

lost he cast away his weapons and fled, and seeing that hewas being pursued he stripped off his clothes and escapednaked . About 6359 Libyans were slain and mutilated, 9376prisoners and 1 26 horses were captured, and aboutswords and other weapons were collected by the Egyptianson the battlefield . Menephthah and the Egyptians rej oicedgreatly at their victory

,and the king commanded a hymn

of triumph to ' be cut on the back of a huge granite stele ofAmen-hetep III , which was found in the Ramesseum atThebes in 1 896 . The descriptions of Menephthah

’

s conquests of the Syrians and Libyans are treated in a highlypoetical manner, but the general accuracy of the historicalfacts described is beyond question . The following passage

,

which sums up these facts, reads, The princes are cast downand cry for peace. None of the Nubians can lift up his head

,

Thehenu is laid waste, Kheta hath been pacified, Canaan isruined by every kind ofcalamity, Ascalon hath been carriedaway its people deported) , Gezer hath been captured,Inuamam hath been reduced to a state of not being

,the

Israelites have been ravaged and their seed destroyed,Syria

hath become a widow of Egypt, all lands together are atpeace .

” Here then is a distinct mention of the Israelites,

who in the reign of Menephthah must have had sufficientterritory and power to justify their mention with the Hittites,Canaanites

,Syrians, and others .

Menephthah repaired the fortresses along the old caravanroute from Syria to Egypt

,and added one or more to them .

He carried on building operations at Tanis,where

,copying

his father’ s example,he had his name out upon statues and

sphinxes that had been made by earlier kings . At Thebeshe destroyed many buildings and colossal statues of his predecessors to obtain stone for his temple, for he was too old toundertake works in the quarries on a large scale . He hada tomb prepared in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings

,

the walls of which were covered with religious texts . HisH


mummy was found in the hiding-place ofthe royalmummiesat Daral-Bahari in 1 880 ,

and is now in the Egyptian Museumin Cairo . Owing to a misreading of the name on one of thebandages it was at first thought to be that of the hereticking,

” Amen-hetep IV. Some authorities hold that theExodus described in the Bible took place in the reign ofMenephthah, and it is very probable that the Semites in theeastern Delta

,who had been reduced to a state bordering on

slavery,took the Opportunity to rej oin their kinsmen in

Palestine during the disturbed period in the latter part ofthe reign of Menephthah .

On the death of Menephthah the peoples of Syria and theLibyans again revolted, and a period of anarchy followed .

Menephthah appears to have made no choice of a successor,and we find two claimants of the throne

,namely

,AMEN

MESES , who called himself Governor of Thebes,and

MEREN-PTAH SA-PTAH . Whether these reigned in successionor Simultaneously is not known

,but each seems to have ruled

some part of the country, after a fashion, for a few years .Either before or after them reigned SETI (II) MERENPTAH,

who appears to have lived at Tanis, and to have attemptedto keep in an effective state the fortresses on the high roadfrom Egypt to Syria. His buildings were unimportant

,

and he added his name to monuments that he never made,

as did Menephthah and Rameses II . He built a tomb inthe Valley of the Royal Tombs

,but his mummy was found

in the tomb of Amen-hetep II in 1 898 , and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo . The transcript on papyrus of thefamous Tale of the Two Brothers

,now in the British Museum

,

was made during his reign by the scribe Annana.

The length of the reigns of the three kings mentionedabove is unknown . After their deaths disorder and confusion became general in the country, and every man did ashe pleased . The governors of the nomes claimed power towhich they had no right

,and oppressed their people in char

acteristic Oriental fashion, extorting taxes by beatings and

torturings. The nobles and descendants of ancient feudal


CHAPTER VI

THE NEW EMPIRE— DYNASTIES xx—xxx

STRICTLY speaking , the kings Amenmeses, Sa-ptah, Seti II ,and S etnekht belong to the New Empire, for the nineteenthdynasty ended, to all intents and purposes, with the deathofRameses II , but, as Manetho makes his third division ofkings begin with Rameses III , he is here regarded as the firstking of the TWENTIETH DYNASTY. USERMAATRA MERI AMENRAMESES

,Governor of Anu (Heliopolis) the son of S etnekht,

was crowned king immediately after hlS father’ S death ; hereigned a little over thirty one years . Very soon

.

after heascended the throne the Libyans and their allies from NorthAfrica and from the northern Shores of the Mediterranean

,

and from the Islands of Crete, Sicily, &c. ,namely

,the Shar

tana,the t au

,the Tanunau (or Danaoi) , the Thekru,

the Purestau,or Philistines , the Uasheshu of the sea,

theMashuashau ,

and many other Libyan tribes,made a league

together,and under the leadership of Tit

,Mashkan, Meraiai,

and Thamar, began to attack Egypt . The attack wasdelivered Simultaneously by sea and by land in the fifth yearof his reign, but Rameses was prepared, and as a result ofthe fight that followed the allies lost over twelve thousandkilled

,and a large number of them were made prisoners

,

who were employed in forced labour for the king of Egypt .Three years later Egypt was threatened by an invasion ofenemies from Northern Syria, who included among themcontingents from Cyprus and Crete

,and from peoples in

Asia Minor,and they were supported by a well-equipped fleet

manned by sea-robbers and pirates from the Shores andislands of the eastern Mediterranean . As they marchedsouthwards by land their fleet co-operated with them by sea,

1 1 6

THE NEw EMPIRE 1 1 7

and in a very Short time all the Syrian. ports and the chiefinland towns would have been in their possession . Rameses

,

however,collected his fleet , and having sent detachments

of ships to the Syrian seaports to await the enemy,he set

out from the front ier city of Tchar,and marched into Pales

tine,his army

,no doubt

,keeping in touch with his fleet . In

due course he found the enemy,and fought and defeated them

,

and then marched to some place on the coast,where a fight

was in progress between the hostile fleets. Victory favouredthe Egyptians

,and in the bas-reliefs which Rameses had made

to illustrate this naval engagement we see the enemy transfixed by the Egyptian archers

,their Ships being capsized or

sunk,and the fugitives from them being intercepted and Slain .

Whilst Rameses was thus occupied the Libyan allies madeanother attempt to invade the Delta, and this time they wereled by Kapur

,the chief of the Mashuashau ,

and his son

Mashashara. They were defeated, for, in the words of theEgyptian annalist the king “ fell upon their heads like agranite mountain 21 75 of their men were slain , and 1 205men

,1 52 officers, 1 31 boys, and 558 women and girls were

made prisoners . The Spoil consisted of 239 swords, 603 bows,231 0 quivers, 93 chariots, 93 spears, 1 83 horses and asses,and a large number of cattle . Meanwhile the peoples inPalestine and Syria became restless, and, though it is notknown in what form they Showed their disaffection

,Rameses

felt it to be necessary to march once more into these countries.He advanced some distance to the north, laying waste townsand villages

,setting fire to the standing corn

,and cutting

down fruit trees as he went . His march was a poor imitation of the triumphal progress of Thothmes III , but manyof the tribes brought him gifts, and when these arrived withthe army returning to Egypt

,the natives thought that the

glorious days of the eighteenth dynasty had come again .

This was far from being the case,for it is clear that in spite

of his victories by land and sea Rameses III only just succeeded in appearing as the conqueror of Palestine and Syria,and that his power was taxed to the utmost to stave offaninvasion of the peoples of these countries .


When his wars were ended Ram eses devoted himself ina whole-hearted fashion to develop the commerce of thecountry, and he was apparently the first Egyptian king torealise the great importance of sea-power to Egypt . Thevalue of his navy had already made itself evident in his seafights with hostile fleets, and he now built a fleet of largeboats

, which were manned by foreign seamen and nativeskilled bowmen, and which were actively engaged in commerceon the Phoenician coast . He kept another fleet in the RedSea

,and some of its Ships were engaged in the transport of

Copper from the mines of Sinai,and others brought the pro

ducts of Punt and Southern Arabia to the port on the westernside of the Red Sea, now called Kusar, where they were disembarked and transported on the backs of asses to Coptos onthe Nile . From this point the caravans that traded withcountries in the west and south obtained their supplies ofOriental goods. The sea-carrying trade under Rameses II Imust have attained considerable proportions

,and the king

Spared no pains in rendering the trade routes of his countrysafe. Every time goods were handled” byhismerchants profitaccrued to his treasury, and at that time Egypt was one of therichest countries of the world. Curiously enough, the sailorsand soldiers were chiefly mercenaries

,and the most success

ful commercial men were Semites and foreigners . Ramesessays in his great papyrus in the British Museum ,

“4 I covered

the whole country with flowering trees, I made the peopleto Sit in their Shade . I made it possible for a woman to walkfearlessly wheresoever She pleased, with none to molest her.I made the horsemen and bowmen of the Shartana and t aqto dwell in their quarters ; they lay on their backs withoutfear

,for there was no fighting with Nubians or with Syrians.

Their bows and weapons were piled in their guard-houses,

they were filled with meat and drink,their wives and children

were with them,and they looked not behind them

,for their

hearts were glad.

” Every man , rich or poor, was free, theking pardoned the evil-doer, relieved the oppressed, anddid good to god s and men .

With the wealth produced by his commercial enterprises



moment in the confusion that would result Rameses was tobe killed

,and the successor chosen by the conspirators set upon

the throne . Not content with this plan a certain magiciancalled Hui was prevailed upon by them to attempt to bewitchthe king by spells and to produce in him Sickness and death .

The plot was, however, discovered by the king, and he insisted on the conspirators being tried for conspiracy and hightreason in the law courts of Thebes . All the ringleaderswere found guilty and condemned to death, and some of thejudges who were found to have been concerned in the plotwere degraded

,tortured, and subsequently put to death .

Some highly placed personages were allowed to commitsuicide. During the last few years of his life Rameses wasassisted in ruling the country by one of his sons . He diedin the beginning of the thirty-second year of his reign, and wasburied in a tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kingshis mummy, which was found with the other royal mumm iesat Dar al-Bahari, is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .

Rameses III was succeeded by US ERMAATRA SETEPEN

AMEN RAMESES (Rameses IV) his reign was Short , and didnot exceed five or six years . The chief event of his reign wasthe despatch of 8368 men to the Wadi Hammamat to obtainstone, probably for building operations at Thebes . Heworked the copper mines in Sinai

,but with what success is

uncertain . He built a large tomb in the Valley of the Tombsofthe Kings, and was buried in it his mummy is now in theEgyptian Museum in Cairo . The reign of RAMESES V wasShort and unimportant . In the reign of RAMESES VI theEgyptians still had authority in Nubia

,and an official there

called Pennut dedicated the revenue derived from a parcelof land near Ibrim to the maintenance of the worship of theking’ s statue . The reigns of RAMESES VII and RAMESESVIII were very short and unimportant . Rameses V ,

RamesesVI

,and Rameses VII built tombs in the Valley of the Tombs

of the Kings. During the reigns ofthese kings the conditionofthe poorer classes became lamentable, for all the revenuesavailable were handed over to the treasury ofthe priesthood

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 21

of Amen,who were Slowly but surely becoming the masters

of the country . The kings their nominees were their puppets

,and the welfare of Upper Egypt , at least , was wholly

sacrificed to the glorification of Amen-Ra and his priesthood .

To help themselves out of their difficulties the poor peoplebegan to plunder the tombs for the sake of the gold

,j ewellery

,

and obj ects of value which they contained . The mummiesofmany wealthy nobles, as well as those of royal persons,were wrapped in shrouds of gold before they were laid intheir coffins

,and the tomb robbers stripped these off the

mummies,and even broke the mummies in pieces in their

search for gold rings,chains

,amulets, &c. In the fourteenth

year ofhis reign Rameses IX made his government prosecutea number of the thieves who had been caught

,and a commis

sion was appointed to report upon the state in which the royaltombs then were . Eight ofthe thieves were brought beforethe court , and one of them turned king ’ s evidence

,and

described in detail how he and his friends had robbed a tomb.

They broke open the coffin of S ebekemsaf, and found twodaggers lying by his mummy . They tore off his neck hischains of gold and the amulets, and the gold covering offhishead . His inner coffin was lined with gold and Silver anddecorated with precious stones

,and the outside of it was

covered with gold. These coverings they tore off, theystripped the king of every piece of gold they found on him

,

and when they had tom the mummy of Queen Nubkhas topieces

,and taken her ornaments and amulets

,they burnt the

linen swathings in the tomb . They next collected all thevessels of gold, Silver, and bronze, and then they divided theWhole of the spoil into eight parts, each thief taking one part .During the trial it became clear that the cemetery officialshad connived at robberies of this kind

,and that many highly

placed officials had been bribed by the thieves . The resultof the trial is unknown

,but it is quite certain that the robbery

of the royal tombs went on .

The high priest of Amen in the reign of Rameses IX wasone Amen-hetep , son of Rameses-nekht, high priest of Amen,whose power over the king was absolute. In the inscription


describing the repair of certain buildings of Usertsen I thework of restoration is attributed not to the king but to thehigh priest . Not content with this Amen-hetep describesthe building of a new house for himself

,and the setting up

of a statue to each of the high priests of Amen . Finally theastute high priest obtained from the king the power to levytaxes on the people for the support of Amen and his priesthood ; in Short , the actual king of Egypt was Amen-hetep ,

high priest of Amen . Rameses IX made a tomb in the Valleyof the Tombs of the Kings

,and was buried in it . In the

sarcophagus chamber are some very interesting religioustexts the other chamber contains texts from the Bookof praISing Ra and fromthe Theban Recension of the Bookof the Dead.

In the reign of NEFERKAURA SETEPENRA RAMESES (RAMESES X) a prosecution of tomb robbers took place, and somesixty people were charged with robbing the tombs ofSeti Iand Rameses II

,at the instance of the high priest of Amen .

Once again the complicity ofmany scribes and oflicials ofthe Government was proved, and the robbery of the tombswent on as before. The reign of RAMESES XI was unimportant

,and during the reign of his successor

,RAMESES XII

,

Her-Heru,high priest of Amen, who had succeeded Amen

hetep ,boldly proclaimed himself king. He appointed him

self general of the army,and thus he was master of things

temporal as well as of things spiritual in Egypt . Now whilstthe weak and unworthy successors of Rameses III wereoccupied with the building of their tombs, and neglectingthe business of their country, the old enemies of Egypt inPalestine and Syria threw off the yoke of Egypt , declaredthemselves independent

,and began to threaten to invade

Egypt . After the death of Rameses IV they ceased to paytribute to Egypt

,and it was this fact that accounted for the

emptiness of the treasury of Amen,and for the action of the

high priest of Amen,who forced Rameses IX to give him

authority to levy taxes. Meanwhile the people ofNorthernEgypt viewed with alarm the growing power of the Syrian



described as the divine wife of Amen,the daughter of the

king (tie. princess) , royal wife, eldest daughter of the Lordofthe Two Lands

,

” married a son of Paiankh called Painetchem (I) , and there was peace between the Tanite king andthe high priest of Amen . The three sons of this marriage,Painetchem,

Masahertu or Masaherth , and Menkheperra,became

,each in turn

,high priest of Amen .

USERMAATRA AMENEMAPT succeeded Pasebkhanut atTanis

,and during his reign Menkheperra, high priest of

Amen, began to assume the title of King of the South andof the North,

” and to enclose his name in a cartouche .

NETERKHEPERRA SA-AMEN succeeded Amenemapt at Tanis,and during his reign Menkheperra, high priest of Amen, wassucceeded in his office by a kinsman called Painetchen

(II) . HETCHHEQRA PASEBHKANUT (PASEBKHANUT II) wasthe last of the Tanite kings of the twenty-first dynasty. Thelast of the high-priest kings at Thebes seems to have beenTAAKHEPERURA PASEBKHANUT ; at all events he was thelast of them to write his name in a cartouche . The durationof the twenty-first dynasty is given by Manetho at 1 1 4 or1 30 years, and the latter figure is probably near the truth .

Of the historyof Egypt during the rule of this dynastyhardlyanything is known , but it is quite certain that under its kingsEgypt lost once and for all the little authority in Palestineand Syria that remained to her. The Tanite kings had noarmy

,no money

,and no means of filling their coffers with

tribute from foreign nations . The occurrence of their nameson the buildings of Tanis or Memphis seems to indicate thatthey carried out the repairs of the chief temples that wereabsolutely necessary, but they built no large temple and inaugurated no new works on a large scale . At Thebes thepriest kings were occupied chiefly with the cult of Amen

,

and in proclaiming his glory and the power of his priests .The successors of Amen-hetep , the first high priest of Amenwho assumed royal rank, followed his example, and increasedtheir pretensions . They invented for themselves great andhigh sounding titles, or strong names

,as if they had been

THE NEw EMPIRE 1 25

the descendants of the Pharaohs, and several ofthem enclosedtheir names in cartouches . They assumed the generalshipof the soldiers and claimed the sovereignty of Nubia

,with

the tribes of which country they managed to keep on friendlyterms . Their whole existence seemed to have becomemerged in that of their god Amen , whose words they feignedto believe

,or perhaps really did believe

,ruled the whole

world . They paid no heed to the events that happened outside their small world o i Thebes, and so long as the demandsof their god were satisfied nothing disturbed their arroganceand self-complacency .

The narrative (see the accompanying volume) of ajourney undertaken by an official of Thebes called Unuamen in the reign of Her-Heru illustrates the ignorance of thehigh priest of Amen of the true state of affairs in Syria andPalestine

,and the contempt in which the Egyptian king

was held at that time in these countries . The high priestwished to make a new barge for Amen , and sent Unuamen

to Byblos to obtain beams of cedar for the purpose . He provided him with a totally inadequate supply of money topurchase this wood

,and gave him a figure of Amen to bring

him luck on his j ourney. Unuamen arrived in Tanis,and

was well received by Nesubanebtet, and in due course set

out for Byblos . On his way thither he was robbed of hismoney

,but after robbing some one else of some Silver

,he

arrived at Byblos . Here he had to wait several days beforethe Governor Zeker-Baal would receive him , and when hedid he flatly refused to supply the timber. Unuamen toldhim that Lebanon and all the cedars on it belonged to Amen ,but in reply Zeker-Baal made it quite clear that he neitheracknowledged the claims of Amen , nor owed fealty to theruler of Egypt . Moreover, he treated Unuamen as an impostor

,and the production of the image of Amen by him did

nothing towards helping him to get the timber. It was onlywhen the messengers whom Unuamen sent to Egypt returnedwith vases of gold and silver, hides, linen , &c.

, together withproofs that he was the duly accredited messenger of the rulerof Egypt

,that Zeker-Baal ordered the trunks of cedar to be


loaded on the Ships in the harbour for transport to Egypt .Unuamen,

thanks to Zeker-Baal, succeeded in leaving Byblosand in escaping from a hostile fleet that pursued him withthe view of seizing him because, as their captains alleged,he had stolen Silver from one of their number. He wastherefore more fortunate than the messengers who had beensent to Byblos in the reign ofRameses IX, and who had beenkept in prison there by Zeker-Baal for seventeen years

,and

had finally died there.

Mention has been made of the robbery of the royal tombsat Thebes during the reigns of the kings of the twentiethdynasty

,and

,j udging by the action taken by the high priests

ofAmen under the twenty-first dynasty, the prosecutionsof the thieves in the reigns of Rameses IX and Rameses Xdid not abate this evil . Her-Heru decided that the onlycertain way of preserving the royal mummies from desecra

tion was to take them from their tombs . He removed themummies of Rameses I , Seti I , and Rameses II to the tombof Queen Anhep , and two of them he rebandaged . Painet

chem repaired the mummies of Amen-hetep I , Thothmes II ,Rameses II

,Rameses III , and carefully hid the mummies of

Amasis I and Sa-Amen . Masaherth rebandaged the mummyof Amen-hetep I , the founder and great benefactor of thepriests of Amen . Menkheperrabanished many of the tombrobbers to the Great Oasis (Khargah) , but, owing to the outbreak oi a serious riot in Thebes, he was obliged to allow thebanished to return . These facts suggest that the high priestsofAmen took other precautions to preserve the mummies oftheir royal benefactors .The power of the high priests ofAmen and of the kings ofthe twenty-first dynasty at Tanis collapsed about 950 B.C. ,

andsoon after this date the Libyans, who had for many years beensteadily acquiring territory and power both in Upper andLowerEgypt

,seized the opportunity ofmaking themselves masters

of the whole country. The rule of the Libyan kings who,according to Manetho

,formed the TWENTY-SECOND DYNASTY

,

lasted till about 750 B.C. or 740 . The first ofthese was



ofGebel Silsilah whence the stone for his works at Karnakwas obtained. Shishak also carried on building operationsat several places in Lower Egypt . In his reign the robberyofthe royal tombs was continued

,and it was found that the

thieves had discovered the hiding-place in the tomb of Amenhetep I , to which Pasebkhanut, high priest of Amen ,

hadtransferred them . Auapet decided to find another hidingplace for them, and he chose the tomb at Dar al-Baharithat had been made for Astemkhebit, wife of the high priestMenkheperra,

for this purpose . To the mummy chamberof this tomb Auapet removed many of the royal mummies,together with their papyri and funerary furniture, and thenhe walled up the entrance of the corridor leading to it , an dfilled up the shaft with stones ; there they remained in safetyuntil 1 872 , when they were discovered by the brothers AbdAr-rasfil. These natives of Western Thebes took out of thetomb on various occasions numbers of rolls of inscribedpapyri

,and other valuable obj ects

,and sold them to travel

lers . After eight or nine years of successful robbery therobbers were brought to justice

,and as a result of the beatings

and torturings suffered by them,they revealed to the autho

rities the source of their plunder. The Government then hadthe tomb at Dar al-Bahari cleared out, and all the royalmummies, &c. , brought to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,where they now are .

Shishak I was succeeded by KHERPKHEPERRA USARKEN

(OSORKON I) , who reigned for about fifteen years . According to Champollion he is to be identified with Zerah (Heb .

Z erakh) the Ethiopian (see 2 Chron . xiv. 9)'

who invadedJude a with an host of a thousand thousand and threehundred chariots

,

” and was defeated by Asa king of Judah .

Osorkon I was succeeded by TEKLETH I who reigned twentythree years ; he was succeeded by USERMAATRA U SARKEN

(OSORKON II) , who reigned twenty-nine years, and is famousas the builder of the Hall of the Set Festival (see above, p . 29)at Bubastis. The texts on the walls describe him as theconqueror of Nubia and Syria, but the revolts that broke out

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 29

in Upper Egypt during his reign, and the advan ce of ShalmaneserII , King of Assyria, 860 B.C. to 825 , into Syria provethis statement to be incorrect . There is also no foundationfor the assertion that Osorkon II sent 1 0 0 0 men to assistAhab , king of Israel, Irkhulini king of Hamath, and Benhadad king of Damascus, who were fighting the king of

Assyria. Of the reign of SE SHE SHKHEPERRA SHASHANQ

(SHISHAK II) nothing is known . His successor,HETCH

KHEPERRA THEKLETH (TEKLETH II) , reigned about fifteenyears

,and married Karamama, a lady who was of royal

Theban descent . He lived for a time at Thebes, but thispolicy did not please his subj ects at Bubastis

,and as he had

little to give to the priests ofAmen the Thebans cannot havewelcomed his arrival

,unless they hoped that he would sup

press any revolt that might arise in Nubia,for the Nubians

were at that time threatening to become troublesome . SHI

SHAK III,his successor

,is said to have reigned over fifty years

,

and he made large gifts to Amen in the eleventh, twentysecond

,and twenty-fifth years of his reign

.PAMAI, his

successor, reigned about two years and was succeeded byAAxHEPERRA SHASHANQ (SH ISHAK IV) , who is said to havereigned nearly forty years . He was the last of the kings whoreigned at Bubastis. When the twenty-second dynastycame to an end (about 750 B.C.) there was no central government in Egypt

,for in all parts of the country the local chiefs

had acquired much power,and each of them did much as he

pleas ed. The priests of Amen had been driven from Thebes,and appear to have sought asylum at Napata, a town at thefoot of the Fourth Cataract , and in other parts of Nubia,where Egyptian officials, both civil and military, had beenstationed for several centuries . They j oined themselves tothe priesthood of Amen already established in Nubia, andencouraged the rulers of the provinces to look forward toand to prepare for the time when Amen would be able toreassert his ownership of Egyp t.


THE TWENTY-THIRD DYNASTY AND THE INVAS ION

OF EGYPT BY PIANKHI ,

'

KING OF NUBIA

Among the local chiefs of Lower Egypt who succeeded inestablishing their claims to rule the country were SEHERABRAPETABAST,

AUPUT, and AAKHEPERRA USERKENA (OSORKONIII) these form the TWENTY-THIRD DYNASTY . The first ofthem is said by Manetho to have reigned .forty (or twentyfive) years . During the reign of Osorkon III there reignedat Thebes a Nubian king or prince, who seems to haveleg alized his claim to the throne bymarrying a princess fromthe north . He had two sons, Piankhi and Shabaka and hemade the former king, or perhaps Viceroy, of Nubia, probably between 750 B .C. and 740 . It was to him that thepriests of Amen in Nubia looked for the restoration of thesupremacy of their god . When Piankhi had been reigningabout eighteen years at Napata news was brought to himthat Tafnekht, a powerful chief ofSais in the Western Delta,had seized a number of towns near him

,and had sailed

southwards with a large army to take possession of the wholecountry . All the large cities as far south as Herakleopolishad opened their gates and submitted to him in sheer fright

,

and he was at that time besieging Herakleopolis, about 85miles south Of Memphis, which seems to have formed thenorthern frontier city of Piankhi in Egypt . In answer tothis report Piankhi did nothing. Meanwhile other governorsof great towns submitted to Tafnekht, and when this factwas reported to Piankhi, he ordered Puarma and Lasmer

Sekni, his generals in Egypt, to attack Hermopolis, and sentsoldiers to help them .

Soon after this Piankhi arrived in Egypt and found HerakleOpoliS besieged, and Tafnekht supported by Nemareth,

king of Hermopolis, Auapeth, the chief of the Mashuasha,Shishak of Busiris, Tchetamenafankh of Mendes, and manyother chiefs. On his way down the Nile Piankhi met a fleetofwar-boats of Tafnekht . In the fight that followed he wasvictorious. and his slaughter of the enemy was greats A



camp at Kaheni in the nome of Athribis, and hither cameat least fifteen local princes to tender their submission tohim. They brought rich gifts, and Petaast, prince of Athribis, begged him to come to his stables and stud farm and takefrom them any and every horse he wished for. Piankhi was,like all S t

'

idani men, a great lover ofhorses, and this Petaastknew well . Meanwhile Tafnekht did his utmost to make thepeople in the west revolt , and when all his efforts had failedhe sent an envoy to Piankhi and begged for pardon . Hedescribed his wretched state, saying that he was Sick andmiserable

,and that his anxieties had made him bald. He

was in rags, and he had taken no pleasure in his food, or inmusic

,and the beer-hall, because of his terror of Piankhi,

and he said, Take everything I have, only forgive me, andsend me a messenger with forgiveness . I will go into thetemple of Neith in Sais, and .

swear allegiance to thee .

” Inanswer to his petition Piankhi sent his general Puarma toreceive the gifts ofTafnekht, and a priest to hear him take hissolemn oath of allegiance in the temple ofNeith . One byone all the chiefs and princes who had been allies ofTafnekhtcame and swore fealty to Piankhi, and among them was

Nemareth . Having loaded his fleet with rich gifts of allkinds Piankhi sailed up the river ' to Thebes, and finally re

turned to Napata, his capital, where, with the Spoil obtainedin Egypt

,he enriched the temple ofAmen-Ra.

After the return of Piankhi to Nubia Tafnekht assertedhis former pretensions to the sovereignty of the Delta, andreigned at Sais for several years . He must have enj oyed considerable power, for it was his son Uahkara BAKENRENEFwho became the first king of the TWENTY-FOURTH DYNASTY

,

and not a son or member of the family of Osorkon III ofBubastis. This son of Tafnekht, whose name the Greeksgive as Bocchoris, is said by Diodorus the Sicilian to havebeen one ofthe six great lawgivers ofEgypt

,and to have

been a wise and prudent man, many of whose sayings wereremembered for centuries afterhis death . The same writer

states that in his reign a lamb was born with eight legs, two

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 33

heads,two tails

,and four horns

,and the faculty of human

speech . According to a legend preserved in demotic thisanimal portended danger to Egypt from Assyria, and thatthe period of calamity through which Egypt was to pass wouldlast for 900 years . There are no monuments of Bocchorisextant , and he appears to ha

’ve been the only king of thetwenty-fourth dynasty.

THE NUBIAN KINGS OF EGYPT

The kings of the TWENTY-FIFTH DYNASTY were Nubians,the first of them being NEFERKARA SHABAKA , the son of

Nubian kin M ofPi-

ankhi,the conquEror of Egypt ; he reigned about" twelve years,but for several years before he became king he acted ascommander-in chief of the Egyptian army,

and was king toall intents and purposes. He is now generally regarded asthe S o of the Bible (2 Kings xvii . He is said to haveburned

,or flayed, Bocchoris alive. When he obtained com

mand of the army of Egypt the Assyrian king was the overlord of

’

the kings and princes of Palestine and Syria, andShabaka detested the Assyrian rule as much as they did ,for it d id away with any hope that he may have cherishedofone day regaining possession for Egypt of these countrieswhich had been in olden days tributary to her. 1 Shabakatherefore stirred up the tribes on his north-eastern frontierto revolt against the Assyrians, and he seems to have promisedhelp to Hoshea

,the last king of Israel, to throw off the As

syrian yoke. "Relying on Shabaka and the army of EgyptHoshea neglected to send tribute to Shalmaneser IV, the kingofAssyria

,who promptly marched against him, and shut

him up, and bound him in prison ,” and ravaged his country.

Two years later,or in the ninth year of Hoshea (2 Kings

xviii . 1 0 ) (722 B.C. Samaria was taken , and the Israeliteswere carried away by Sargon from their native land to Assyriaand Media. Shabaka did not profit by this example of whathappened to those who rebelled against Assyria, but continuedto foment revolt in Palestine. About two years later he


joined his forces to those ofHanunu of Gaza,and the princes

of the Philistines, and the Israelites, and assisted the kingofDamascus in his attempt to throw off the yoke of Sargon II

,

who had succeeded Shalmaneser IV (721 Sargon setout for Palestine as soon as his war against his enemies inthe south permitted, and he was everywhere victorious . Hecrushed the Syrian rebels in the battle of Karkar, and, marching southwards

,defeated Hannun

,the king of Gaza

,and his

allies, among them being a contingent of Egyptians, at thebattle of Rapihu, or Raphia, about 720 B.C. The Egyptians,from whom Hanunu had expected so much, were routedwith great slaughter

,and Shabaka their leader fled back to

Thebes For some reason Sargon did not invade Egypt,

but contented himself with the gifts which the Egyptianking sent to him

,and which he regarded as tribute . The

Pharaoh who sent gifts to Sargon may have been Bocchoris,

the son of Tafnekht,and it was probably for this reason that

Shabaka burnt or flayed him alive when he returned to thenorth as king of all Egypt a few years after his flight . c Bothas commander-in-chief and king Shabaka fomented revoltin Palestine, but he was too weak to defy Assyria independently.

Sargon was succeeded bbyén

ison Sennacherib (705

and four years after his eS Sion

Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah ,

local princes in a revolt against Sennacherib,who marched

against/ th ern and,after a victorious progress, gave battle tothe allies at Altaqu, or Elt w

ekeh ,and defeated them utterly

and the town of Ekron fell into hisW

hands. The weakness ofthe Egypgigns was again shown , and even the support ofShabaka

’

s Nubian troops was not sufficient to enable them tostand against the Assyrians . Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem

,and he only raised the Siege when Hezekiah its king sent

to him the gold which he had stripped off the temple . Sennacherib thereupon returned to Nineveh, but two years later,owing to a further refusal of Hezekiah to pay tribute, he againmarched into Palestine and besieged Lachish, which he took.

He then sent to Jerusalem from Lachish messengers, viz .



and practically nothing is known about his reign . Anancient tradition says that he reigned twelve years

,and that

he was taken prisoner and put to death by Taharq, or Tirhaé

kah (688 who was in command of the Egyptian troops

70 1 B.C.

The opening years of the reign of NEEERTEMKHURATABARQA were peaceful, and he had nothing to fear fromSennacherib who was occupied with wars on various frontiers .He seems to have been made king ofNapata In Nubia when hewas about twenty years of age

,and up to

'

that time he helpedhis father to farm the family estate. Events, of whichnothing is known, made it necessary for him to go to Egypt,and on his arrival there he became king. On a stele fromTanis he tells us that he sent and fetched his mother Akalukafrom Napata to witness his coronation in Thebes and Tanis,and that he heaped honours upon her as the mother ofAmen’ sson on earth, i.e. himself. flDuring the early part of his reignhe built a rock-hewn funerary temple, 1 20 feet long, at GebelBarkal (Napata) , and ornamented the front of it with statuesof the S iidani god Bes ;

'

he also repaired two temples nearhis own one of them being the temple of Piankhi. A At Thebeshe repaired many of the temples and added to them, and atTanis various restorations of buildings were undertaken byhim. The two seats of the cult ofAmen, Thebes, and

.

Napata,

and his capital Tanis were the only cities of Egypt in which

and it was notuntil some years after the murder of Sennacherib (681and the accession of his sonW that rumours ofwars in Syria andPalestine reached Esarhaddon attackedAbdi Milkutti, king of S idgn; in 676 , and destroyed his city,and about three yearslater he seems to have sent an armyinto Palestine for some purpose, but he made no advance onEgypt . In 670 héM ieged Baal, king of Tyre

,who had

entered into a league with Tirhakah, and when he had reducedthat city he determined to punish Egypt . He marched fromAphek to Rapihu (Raphia) in fifteen days, and he chased

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 37

the Egyptians across the frontier,fought three or four battles

with them, and pursued them to Memphis, which he captured . Th is city was sacked by

’

the Assyrians in a thoroughr'

fi'

anner. Tirhakah fled to the south, and Esarhaddon _ap

pointed twenty governors to rule,each

’

itom his own city,the various provinces of Egypt . As soon as Esarhaddonhad left Egypt for Nineveh

,these governors entered into

negotiations with Tirhakah ,‘who in a very Short time had

returned, and who slew the Assyrian garrison in Memphis,depo sed Esarhaddon’

s governors,and had himself declared

king of Egypt . On hearing of this Esarhaddon set out forEgypt to crush Tirhakah, but died on the road thither

(668 B. and was succeeded by his son Ashurbanip al, who* q Q

at once took steps to carry'

out the campaign begun by hisfather. On his way through Syria and Palestine Ashurbanipal received the submission of twenty-two kings of thesea-coast , among them being Manasseh ofJudah . He foughta battle with the Egyptians at Karbanit and defeated them,

and thenmarched into Egypt and occupied Memphis . Tirbakah fled to Thebes

,and when he found that the Assyrians

were sailing up after him he fled to Napata. On his returnto the Delta Ashurbanipal reappointed the governors whohad been chosen by his father and deposed byTirhakah , andreturned to Nineveh . He had hardly left the country whenNecho of Sais, Paqrer of Persept, and Sharruludari of Tanis,began to write letters to Tirhakah inviting him to returnto Egypt , but the letters were intercepted by the Assyriansin Egypt

,and Necho and Sharruludariwere sent in chains to

Nineveh. The former Ashurbanipal pardoned, and restoredto his governorship , and the latterwas probably put to death .

After this Tirhakah lost all his influence in Egypt .

Tirhakah was succeeded by the Nubian BAKARA TANUTAMEN , the Tandamanie of the Assyrian inscriptions, wh o hadalready served his country as co -regent ; he was a son of

Shabaka and probably began to reign in the year in whichm ars}? died (665 or 663 B.C . P) . In the first year of hisreign , as the result of a dream In which he beheld himself king


ofEgypt , Tanutamen set out from Napata for Egypt, withand having been well received at Elephan

tine and Thebes he proceeded to Memphis, which, after afierce fight , he took . He again embarked in his boat

,and set

out to attack the Princes of the North,but they hid in their

towns like rats in their holes and refused to fight afterwaiting several days for them to appear Tanutamen returnedto Memphis . A little later a body of the Princes of the North

,

led by Paqrer, the governor of Persept, came to Memphis,and prayed for pardon, and they were allowed to go and bringgifts to Tanutamen . Meanwhile the news of these doingshad been carried to Nineveh, and Ashurbanipal set out atonce for Egypt . On his arrival the Princes of the Northsubmitted to him and kissed his feet

,and Tanutamen fled

from Memphis to Thebes,where he was followed by the

Assyrians. He then fled to e qepa (Kipkip) , and Ashurbanipal captured Thebes . The Assyrians sacked the citythoroughly

,and stripped the temples and palace of every

thing of value in them,including two pillars -

or obelisks thatwere plated with gold . They seized all the costly clothingand furniture and horses, and then apparently set fire to thecity. Not content with this , Ashurbanipal deported a largenumber of men and women

,after the usual Assyrian fashion .

This was the greatest calamity that had ever fallen uponEgypt

,and Thebes never recovered its former greatness and

splendour. Ashurbanipal returned'

to Nineveh With a fullhand and well satisfied with the conquest of Egypt . Tanutam en seems to have returned to Thebes, and to have livedthere for a few years

,but he made no further attempt to defy

the power of Assyria. The city ofNapata, which the Nubiansregarded as a second Thebes, began also to decline, for thepeoples who lived to the south of the Atbara River, on theIsland of Meroé, little by little gained possession of thecountry round about Napata, and finally of the city itself. Asthe Nubians of Napata imitated the manners and customsof the Theban Egyptians, so the founders of the MeroiticKingdom on the Island ofMeroé imitated those of the Nubiansof Napata.



and rites were revived, and a"

new Recension of the Book ofthe Dead was made. The texts of the Ancient Empire werecopied on coffins and tombs, the old funerary paintings werecopied

,and the rich were buried with all the pomp and cere

mony of'

the nobles of the earlier dynasties . The art of thisperiod possesses characteristics peculiar to itself, a resultdue to foreign influence . In this reign there came intogeneral use the modified form of hieratic writing

,which is

now commonly called demotic .” Psammetichus died about6 1 2 B.C . and was buried in a chapel that he built near thetemple of Neith in Sais .

UHEMABRA NEKAU (NEGHO) , the son of Psammetichus I ,reigned about fifteen years . On his accession he built a fleetfor use in the Mediterranean and another for use in the RedSea

,and he attempted to join the Nile and the Gulf of Suez

by means of a canal ; though he employed men inthis work, the canal was not finished . Necho is said to havesent some Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa, whoreturned after three years, thus proving that Libya, orAfrica

,was surrounded

'

by water. He invaded Palestineand Syria with a large army of mercenaries

,and Josiah

,

king of Judah, attempted to stop his advance, butwas mortally wounded in the Valley of Megiddo (2 Kingsxxiii . 29 2 Chron . xxxv. 21 Necho continued hismarch

,but when he arrived at the Euphrates he found no

Assyrian army to do battle with, and he set out for Egypt .On his way back he found that Jehoahaz had been madeking of Judah, and he put him in chains in Riblah, andfined his people 1 00 talents of silver and 1 talent of gold . Hethen appointed Eliakim

,another son of Josiah, whose name

he changed to Jehoiakirn,king of Judah, and he took Jeboa

haz to Egypt, Where he died (2 Kings xxiii . 31 In the

year 607 or 606 Nineveh was taken and destroyed by Cyaxares

,king of the Medes, and Nabfipalusur, king of Babylon

the latter,in order to assert his supremacy over Syria and

Palestine,sent an army against Necho . This army was led

by Nabfikudurusur, or Nebuchadnezzar II , the son of Naht‘i

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 4 1

palusur.

'

The Babylonians met the Egyptians and theirallies at Karkemish, and in the battle that followed (605604 B.C .) the forces of Necho were utterly defeated ; he himselfretreated with great rapidity to Egypt , pursued byNebuchadnez z ar, Who received tribute from Jehoiakim on the way

(2 K ings xxiv. In 604 Nabfipalusurdied, and Nebuchadnez zar was obliged to return to Babylon, and defer the invasion ofEgypt for a few years . Jehoiachin succeeded hisfather Jehoiakim in the Opening years of the Sixth centuryB.C.

,and very soon after his accession provoked the wrath

ofNebuchadnez z ar. In 596 Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem ,

seized all the treasures in the Temple and in the'

king ’s house,

and carried them away, together with the king, and all hisfam ily

,and all the people

,save the poorest sort of the

land (2 Kings xxiv. to Babylon . Mattaniah,the uncle

of Jehoiachin , was appointed king of Judah by Nebuchadnez zar, who changed his name to Zedekiah . Thus Palestinebecame a province of Babylon , and Necho laid no furtherclaim to any part of it . Necho was buried in Sais, and wassucceeded by Psammetichus I I .

NEEERABRA PSEMTHEK (PSAMMETICHUS II) reigned aboutsix years . He is said to have invaded Nubia with a host ofGreek mercenaries, and a record of an invasion is preservedin the form of a Greek inscription , which is cut upon thebroken colossal statue ofRameses II in front of the templeof Abii Simbel . The appearance of the name of Psammeti

chus II in the quarries ofGebel Silsilah, the Wadi Hammamat, and Tt

'

irah suggests that be repaired some of the templesat Karnak, Memphis, and Heliopolis, where his name is alsofound.

HAAABRA UAHABRA,the Pharaoh HOPHRA of Jeremiah

xliv. 30 , and the AFRIES ofthe Greeks, succeeded Psammeti

chus II about 590 B.C. and reigned for about twenty-fiveyears . Soon after his accession to the throne the kings ofTyre and Sidon

,and Z edekiah , king ofJudah, revolted, and

H0phra made a league with them against Nebuchadnez zar.


In the ninth year of the reign ofZ edekiah (2 Kings xxv. 1 )a Babylonian force appeared before Jerusalem (587 B .C.

but the greater part of Nebuchadnezzar’ s army camped atRiblah . AS Hophra was attacking Tyre and Sidon by sea,Nebuchadnezzar seems to have expected him to land a forcesomewhere on the Syrian coast , with the obj ect of attackingthe Babylonians . ThisHOphra did not do, but he returned toEgypt

,and made an attempt to raise the Siege of Jerusalem

by land. This was unsuccessful, for when the Babyloniansmarched against him he retreated, leaving Jerusalem to itsfate. The Babylonians then prosecuted the siege with vigour,and in a short time fam ine compelled the city to surrender.Zedekiah tried to escape , but was caught in the plains ofJericho “

and taken to the king’s camp at Riblah . Nebuchad

nez z ar had the sons of Zedekiah Slain before him ,and had

his eyes put out , and bound him with fetters of brass, andtook him to Babylon (2 Kings xxv. 1 Hophra made nofurther attempt to regain the lost possessions in Palestineand Syria

,but devoted himself to developing the commerce

of his country trade increased, and the Egyptians becamevery wealthy . His reign was brought to an end in a curiousmanner. He despatched a force of Egyptians against theCyrenians who were settled to the west of the Delta, becausethey had been quarrelling with the Libyans . This force wasdefeated with great loss by the Cyrenians, and the Egyptians thought they had been specially sent byHophra becausehe wished them to be killed. They therefore rebelled , andHOphra sent an officer called Aahmes, or Amasis, to quelltheir revolt , with the result that they elected him to be theirking instead of HOphra. Amasis then ruled for two or threeyears with Hophra, who lived at Sais and was treated withall honour. At length Hophra managed to leave Sais, andhaving collected an army, he led it against Amasis, who defeated him . According to an inscription of AmasisHophrawas killed by some of his own men whilst he was Sitting ina boat

,but others say that he was slain by the emissaries of

Amasis (about 560 who was looking on from the riverbank . However this mayhave been, Amasis states that he



dus. Amasis died about 526 and was succeeded by his sonPsammetichus III .

ANKHKAENRA PSEMTHEK (PSAMMETIGHUS III) reigned forabout Six months, and the few monuments bearing his nameadd nothing to the history of the period what is known of

it is derived from Greek sources . Amasis II had provokedthe wrath of Cyrus

,king ofPersia, by making alliances with

Croesus, king ofLydia, and other kings who were the enemiesof Persia

,and when Cambyses succeeded Cyrus he deter

mined to conquer Egypt . With the assistance of the deserttribes who supplied his soldiers With water he ‘marched onEgypt

,and met the army which Psammetichus had collected

at the frontier city of Pelusium the Egyptians were defeatedand the remnant of the army retreated to Memphis, whichthey fortified. A little later Cambyses sent an ambassadorup the river to Memphis in a boat manned by 20 0 Greeksto propose terms of surrender ; when the boat entered thecanal leading to the city the Egyptians attacked the crewand slew them and broke up the boat . Cambyses then wenton to Memphis, took the city, and avenged the murder ofhis ambassador. On the whole he treated Psammetichus

with consideration , for he took him to live with him in hispalace for a time, and it was only when he discovered thatPsammetichus was plotting against him that he put him to

death. Thus perished the last king of the twenty-Sixthdynasty

,and Egypt became a Persian province .

THE PERS IAN KINGS OF EGYPT

When ME SUTRA KAMBATHET (CAMBYSES ) became king of

Egypt,the first king of the TWENTY-SEVENTH DYNASTY, he

adopted the same po licy of religious toleration which hisfather Cyrus showed towards the Babylonians, Hebrews, andothers

,and assumed a Horus-name (Smataui, the uniter

oftheTwo Lands,”i.e. Egypt) like a Pharaoh

.

ofold , and hadhis other names written in cartouches . Regarding Sais asthe capital of Egypt he marched thither, and was received

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 45

by the nobleman Utchaheruentresu, who was probably akinsman ofAmasis II . On the green basalt statue of thisofficial, now preserved in the Vatican, is an inscription that

Netek-Amen and his Queen Amentarit worshipping theirgod .

From the Temple ofNagaa in the Sadan .

mentions the adoption by Cambyses of the title Mesut Raand his visit to Sais . During the course of his conversationwith the king Utchaheruentresu described the antiquity of

K


Sais and the power of its goddess Neith,and told him how

aliens had seized her revenues and taken possession of hertemple . Cambyses gave him authority to expel the aliensand restored to the goddess her revenues . And when thetemple had been purified he went there and poured out alibation to the goddess

,and made gifts to her temple . Cam

byses next planned the conquest of the Carthaginians , andof the dwellers in the Oasis ofJupiter Ammon (the Siwah ofthe Arabs) , and of the Nubians, and then seems to havedeparted into Upper Egypt . His plan for the conquest ofCarthage fell through

, because the Phoenician sailors refusedto fight against their kinsmen in Carthage . When he arrivedat Thebes he despatched a force of men to the Oasisof Siwah . They arrived safely at the Oasis of Khargah orthe Oasis of Dakhlah

,which was on the old caravan road to

S'

I'

wah , but after they started from this place they were nevermore heard of, and it was said that t hey were all destroyedby a sand storm . The probability is that they were overwhehned by one of the hills of sand

,which to this day move

from south to north and north to south according to the timeof the year .From Thebes or some place farther to the south Cambysesdespatched another force to conquer the Nubians and toseize their capital Napata, Where at that time reigned theMeroitic king NASTAS EN ,

the son,probably, of Herusatef.

Before the Persians had gone very far they had eaten all theirprovisions, and their transport animals also , and starvationstared them in the face . Nastasen says in his inscriptionthat his men attacked Kambasutent, and defeated him .

I f this was so Cambyses must have been attacked at someplace in the region of the Second and Third Cataracts, thenorthern part of which is so full of rocks and stone that it iscalled Batn al-Hagar

,

” or Stone-belly . In any caseCambyses had to retreat to Memphis

,and his loss of men

must have been appalling. The Greek writers say that whenhe returned to Egypt he committed many sacrilegious acts,that he smote the Apis Bull in the thigh, and gave the animal

a wound of which he died, that he had many mummies



tians in the Delta began to conspire against the rule of thePersians . In 486 a serious revolt, headed by KHABBASHA,

broke out, and in the following year Darius, when on his wayto Egypt to crush the rebels, died . He was succeeded byhis son Xerxes .

XERXES the Great suppressed the revolt ofKhabbasha,

who called himself beloved of Ra, and who seems actuallyto have reigned for ashort time and to have adopted a thronename

,which he wrote within a cartouche, like one of the

Pharaohs of Old . Khabbasha carried out a kind of surveyofthe Delta that was of public utility, and was a great benefactor oi the temple of Buto (Pe-Tepl his conduct is contrasted , to his advantage, with that of Xerxes, who robbedthat temple of its possessions and revenues . Xerxes reignedabout twenty years

,but, having no sympathy with the Egyp

tians, he neither honoured their gods nor repaired theirtemples .He was succeeded by his son ARTAXERXES , who reigned

for about forty years,and followed his father ’ s example

in treating the religion of Egypt with contempt . Inthe early years of his reign a revolt broke out, headed byInarOs, a Libyan , who expelled the Persian tax-gatherers,and then collected an army.

'LWith the help ofthe Athenians,who sent 30 0 Ship

'

s,he fought a battle at Papremis against

the Persians, in which they were defeated and their general,Akhaemenes, was In 460 the Persians attacked theEgyptians with myriads of men, and InarOs, seeing thatresistance was useless

,gave himself up on the understanding

that his life Should be Spared . He was taken to Persia byMegabyz us, where he lived for five years, but at the end ofthat time, at the instigation of Amestris, the mother ofAkhaemenes, the dead general, InarOS was impaled, andthen, having been stretched on three crosses

,flayed alive .

Thannyras his son was permitted to inherit his estates inLibya and to rule as a vas sal ofPersia .

Artaxerxes was succeeded byDARIUS II , surnamed Nothus,who began to reign in 423, and reigned nineteen years .

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 49

His name is found in several places on the walls of thetemple of Darius I in the Great Oasis (Khargah) and atEdft

'

i ; he is the last of the Persian kings who left anymemorial of himself in Egypt . The last king of the dynastyof Persians was ARTAXERXES II in his reign the Egyptiansregained a measure of independence .

According to Manetho the TWENTY-EIGHTH DYNASTY, fromSais

,contained only one king, whom he calls AMY RTAIOS

he is said to have reigned six years,but nothing is known

of his life and acts. The kings of the TWENTY-N INTH DYNASTYwere from the town of Mendes in the Delta ° their nameswere NE EAARUT,

HAKER,and PSAMUT. Their reigns were

unimportant,their total length being only about twenty-one

years . The kings of the THIRTIETH DYNASTY were fromS ebennytus. The first of them was NExHTHERHEB, theNEKTANEBES of Manetho, who began to reign about 378 ,and reigned eighteen years . Under him Egypt enjoyedpeace and a temporary prosperity

,and many of the

ancient temples were repaired by him ; his name is foundon the temple of Darius I at Khargah . His massive stonesarcophagus

,covered with hieroglyphic texts

,is In the

British Museum, and is one of the most important monuments

of his reign . He successfully defended his country againstthe attacks of the Persians

,and drove them from its Shores.

He was succeeded by TCHEHER , the Teos of Manetho andTachos of Diodorus, who reigned for two or three years.He was succeeded by KHEPERKARA NEKHTNEBEF, theNektanebos of Manetho

,who reigned for about seventeen

years . He repaired many of the old temples,some of

which he re-endowed,and his name is found in many places

in Egypt . To provide stone for his works he opened a newquarry at Tfirah . The art of the period is interesting, butin detail it is delicate

,if not weak . In the reign of Nekht

nebef the Persians,under Artaxerxes III OchuS , attacked

Egypt with an overwhelming force,and Pelusium having been

captured, all the other towns in the Delta opened theirgates , and the Egyptians, laying down their arms, sub


mitted . From Memphis Nekhtnebefwatched the progressof the Persians

,and when he saw their triumph he deter

mined not to venture on a struggle with them . Accordingto Greek writers he quietly abdicated, and gathering togethermuch treasure

,fled into Ethiopia. Artaxerxes advanced,

demolished the fortifications that had been raised againsthim

,and appointed a Viceroy called Pherendates. He

collected a large quantity ofgold and silver from the temples,and

,taking with him all the records and writings found in

them,returned to Babylon laden with spoil . Thus ended

the rule of the last native king of Egypt, about 340 B.C.

THE MACEDON IANS AND PTOLEMIE S

The rule of the Persians over Egypt lasted for a few yearslonger

,but was brought to an end by ALEXANDER THE

GREAT (born 356 B .C.,died who defeated the Persians

at the Battle of Issus (332 The result of his victorywas that Egypt , which had been a province of the PersianEmpire for nearly a hundred and fifty years

,passed into the

possession of the Greeks (Macedonians) . When Alexanderarrived at Pelusium the Egyptians welcomed him withgreat enthusiasm, for they were weary of the cruelty andextortion of the Persian governors and tax -collectors

,and

they hated the Persians for the insults which some of theirkings had heaped upon the gods of Egypt and her religion .

Alexander marched direct to Memphis,where he received

the submission of the satrap , or governor, Maz akes, andwhere he was crowned king of Egypt in the temple ofPtah .

He adopted the Egyptian titles beloved of Ra,” chosen of

Amen “ lord of the Two Lands (i.e. Egypt) , lord of diadems

,like a Pharaoh of old, and had his name written within

a cartouche. The Persians had shown great wisdom inassuming the titles of the Pharaohs, and in adopting Egyptiancustoms

,but Alexander went further than they

,for he

determined to show the Egyptians that he was a veritableson of Amen, and that the blood of the god ran in his veins .To carry out this determination he marched, not to Thebes,


1 52 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTsons ofAmen-Ra. Philip was succeeded by Alexander IVofMacedon

,or ALEXANDER I I of Egypt , the son of Alex

ander the Great by his wife Roxana he reigned about twelveyears

,and was strangled by Glaukias, governor of Amphi

polis, by the order of Cassander, 305 B.C. Works werecarried out at Karnak in his name, and a fine granite statue

,

nine feet high,of the young king was set up in the temple

of Amen-Ra. A granite temple was also built in his nameat Elephantine. A stele dated in the seventh year of hisreign states that he restored to the temple of Buto certainlands which had been given to it by Khabbasha and hadbeen stolen by Xerxes, and that Ptolemy had a copy of theoriginal title-deeds made, and took care that Horus of Butoreceived his full rights .

On the death of Alexander II of Egypt Ptolemy ruled thecountry in his own name, and he inaugurated the policyunder which Egypt became the richest country in the world.

This result was brought about, not by Nubian or Asiaticwars

,but by a steady development ofthe trade of the country.

Under the influence of the shrewd and business-like abilitiesofthe Ptolemies Egypt became a kind of central market andclearing-house for all the commerce of East Africa, SouthernArabia

,the Red Sea, the Egyptian Sadan, Palestine and Syria,

Cyprus and the Islands and coasts ofthe eastern half of theMediterranean . The Jews were encouraged to settle inAlexandria, and the merchants contributed largely to makingthat port the most important in the world at that time. AJewish colony existed at Elephantine long before the ruleof the Ptolemies, and when the Macedonians established astrong and settled government in Egypt Jewish merchantswere to be found in the markets of all the large towns in thecountry. The Ptolemies employed a wise policy in respectof the Egyptians. They adopted the rank and style of thePharaohs

,assumed ancient Egyptian titles, made use of

hieroglyphic writing on certain occasions, and had theirnames written in hieroglyphs and enclosed within cartouches.They worshipped Egyptian gods and made offerings to them,

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 53

and they devoted no small Share of the revenues of the countryto the maintenance and rebuilding of the Egyptian temples .They, their court , and their army Spoke Greek, but the language of the priesthood and people continued to be purelyEgyptian . They administered the country on Greek lines,and permitted no interference with this their fixed policy,

but they always took care to disguise their rule under Egyptian form s. They imitated the Egyptians in marrying,officially at least

,their sisters

,for among the Greeks such

marriages were detested. As time went on the influence ofthe Greek in Egypt was felt more and more, and little by littlethe knowledge of the Greek language became general in thecountry . It is doubtful if even under the eighteenth dynastythe bulk of the population could read the hieroglyphic inscriptions which the Thothmes and the Amen-heteps hadcut on the temple walls

,but in Ptolemaic times it is quite

certain that only the priests and students could read theEgyptian texts of the decrees that were imued .

PTOLEMY I,SOTER I , or PTOLEMY LAGUS , was born about

367 B.C. and began to rule in 305 or 304 . He founded thetown of Ptolemai

’

s in Upper Egypt , and another town in theDelta, and he developed Alexandria greatly. He foundedthe MUSEUM and the famous ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, and hisliberal policy induced the Jews to settle in Alexandria and inmany other parts of the country. The worship of Hades,the Greek god of the Other World

, was introduced into Egyptby Ptolemy

,and as the attributes of Osiris and Apis were

transferred to him the new god was called SERAPIS , andformed an important link between the Greek and EgyptianReligions . Ptolemy was a brave soldier, a prudent general,and a Wise, sympathetic, and tolerant administrator ; hewas humane and generous

,and his geniality made him

popular with all classes.Ptolemy II , Philadelphus, the son of Ptolemy I by Bere

nice, was born 30 8 B.C. ,and reigned from 286 to 247, when

he died . He pursued a peaceful policy,and took care to

maintain friendly relations with the Romans, who were becoming a powerful people . He added largely to the Alex


andrian Library, which in his day was said to containor volumes, and among the staff of the Libraryand Museum were many grammarians, philosophers, andmathematicians. In his reign the Pharos, or lighthouse ofAlexandria

,was built by S ostratus it is said to have been

400 cubits high and was one of the Seven Wonders of theworld. The revenue which Ptolemy derived from tradewith the Sadan and Arabia and with Mediterranean peopleswas very large, and his gifts to the temples of Egypt wereon a royal scale. His buildings at Karnak, Philae, Mendes,Pithom

, &c. , were of considerable importance, and he foundedthe towns ofBerenice and Arsinoe, the former on the RedSea, and the latter in the Fayyfim. He dug new canals anddredged old ones in connection with the waterway betweenthe Nile and the Red Sea, with the obj ect of increasing thetrade between Egypt and the East . In his reign MANETHOof S ebennytus compiled his Egyptian History in Greek, of

which only the King-List is extant,and the Greek version

of the Hebrew Scriptures called the SEPTUAGINT was made.Eleazar

,the high priest of Jerusalem,

is said to have lentPtolemy a Hebrew manuscript for the purpose

,and to have

selected Six learned elders from each tribe to translate it .PTOLEMY III

,EUERGETES I , son of Ptolemy II , was born

about 282 B.C.,and reigned from 247 or 246 to 222 . He was

a patron of the arts and literature,and a great benefactor of

the temples of Egypt . He built a sanctuary at Esna (Latopolis) in Upper Egypt , and he began to build on the Site ofan old Egyptian temple the temple of Editi, 237 B.C thiswas finished byPtolemy XIII, 57 B.C. He also made additionsto Karnak and Phila ,

and he added largely to the Library ofAlexandria

,which at that time was under the direction of

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (born 276 B .C.,died He is said

to have marched to Babylon and Susa (the Shushan of theBible

,and the modern Shushter) , and to have brought back

from the latter city 250 0 images of Egyptian gods that hadbeen carried there by Cambyses. The great benefits whichhe had conferred upon the priesthoods ofEgypt induced themto assemble at Canopus in the ninth year of the reign of



also the power of Egypt in Palestine and Syria declined,

and the weakness and vicious life of the king made himgenerally unpopular. He was succeeded by his son PTOLEMYVI , EUPATOR , who reigned for less than one year.PTOLEMY VII , PHILOMETOR ,

succeeded to the kingdomwhen a child, and the early years of his reign were troubledby his brother Ptolemy Physcon,

who disputed the thronewith him . Ultimately Ptolemy VII referred the matterto Rome

,and the Senate re-established him on the throne

of Egypt , and made his brother king of Cyrene . In'

his reign ,as a result of the persecution of Antiochus IV, Onias the Jewsettled in Egypt with a large number of his co -religionists,and built the town of Onion in the Delta ; its ruins are calledTell al-Yahiidiyyah . Ptolemy VII repaired many of thelater temples at Karnak , Daral-Madinah, Esna, Kom Ombo,and Philae, and at the last-named place he founded thetemple of Hathor. He also restored a part of the templethat had been built at Parembole in Nubia by Arqmen,

the Ergarnenes of the Greeks. Ptolemy VII died througha fall from his horse 1 46 B.C.

PTOLEMY VIII , EUPATOR ,or NEos PHILOPATOR, was pre

vented from reigning by the Romans, who gave the throneto his uncle, Ptolemy IX ; he was murdered in the sameyear in which his mother proclaimed him king.

PTOLEMY IX, EUERGETES II , began to reign 1 47 B.C . ,and

died in 1 1 7. He repaired some temples, and built smalladditions to others at Karnak (the temple of Apet) andMafi nat Haba, and he finished the building of the temple ofEdffi (1 42 During the next century the Ptolemiesmade additions to it, and the last gift to it by a memberof their dynasty was a brass-mounted door, which wasdedicated to the temple by Cleopatra Tryphaena, 57 B.C.

Ptolemy IX rebuilt the hall of the temple of Kom Ombo,

and restored the temple of Isis at Philae ; he also made additions to some of the Nubian temples .PTOLEMY X , LATHYRUS , began to reign 1 1 7 B.C. He conferred great benefits on the priesthoods of Upper Egypt

,

and he carried out repairs on the temples at Thebes,

THE NEW EMPIRE 1 57

Madinat Habt'

i, Denderah, Philae , Kalabshah , and in theGreat Oasis .PTOLEMY XI , ALEXANDER I , and PTOLEMY XII , ALEX

ANDER II,were murdered in 87 B.C. and 81 respectively .

With the death of Ptolemy XII the legitimate line of thePtolemies came to an end. Some authorities state thatbefore his death he bequeathed Egypt and all his possessionsto the Senate of Rome, but whether this be so or not theRomans made no attempt to occupy the country .

PTOLEMY XIII , surnamed AULETES , or the flute player,

was a son of Ptolemy X he was born about 95 B.C .,and he

became king ofEgypt about 80 B.C . , and died in 5 1 . Theexcessive taxation which he imposed made the Egyptiansrise against him, and in 58 he fled to Rome and claimedthe protection of the Senate, saying that he had been expolled from Egypt . The Romans decided to restore tohim his kingdom, but took no steps to give effect to theirdecision ; he then departed from Rome to Ephesus, wherehe lived in the temple of Diana. Gabinius, governor ofSyria, was induced to favour his claims, and after defeatingthe Egyptians in three battles he restored Ptolemy XIII tothe throne (55 During the latter years of his reignriots were frequent . He repaired several of the templesat Kom Ombo, Edia, and Karnak, but undertook no greatwork . Ancient writers state that he was addicted to vice anddebauchery, and all agree in giving him a very bad character.He was a skilled player on the flute

,and competed with

professionals for the prize at public concerts . He left hiskingdom by will to his daughter Cleopatra and his sonPtolemy XIV, surnamed Dionysos, who was to marry hissister, and brother and sister were to reign together. In

48 Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV quarrelled, and the formerleft the country. Caesar sent troops to support Cleopatra’ sclaims, and they defeated Ptolemy

’ s forces with greatSlaughter ; Ptolemy himself was drowned in crossing ariver. In 47 Cleopatra married her second brother, agedeleven , and he reigned with her as PTOLEMY XV for twoyears, when he was murdered by . Cleopatra, who wished


PTOLEMY XVI or CE SARION, her son by Julius Caesar, tobe her co -regent .CLEOPATRA was born about 69 B.C and after the death

of her father Ptolemy XIII , Auletes , became virtuallysole monarch of Egypt . She visited Rome with Caesarand her son Caesarion and Ptolemy XV, and stayed thereuntil Cmsar was murdered 44 B.C. In 4 1 Mark Antonydemanded from her an explanation of the part She had takenin the recent war, but having been entertained by her ata sumptuous banquet he fell entirely under her influence

,

and obeyed all her commands . At length he proclaimedpublicly that Cleopatra was queen of Egypt , and then theRomans declared war against her. The forces of Antonyand Cleopatra were utterly defeated, and, seeing this, Antonystabbed himself with his sword, and died from the wound,and Cleopatra caused herself to be bitten by an asp ,

anddied from the effects of its poison . Cleopatra is said tohave been able to speak eight languages, and her love forliterature and interest in learning are shown by the factthat she made Antony give her the Library of Pergamum ,

and then transferred the rolls which it containedto the Library of Alexandria. Cleopatra built a smalltemple at Hermonthis (the modern Armant, a few miles tothe south of Thebes) , and decorated the walls of the smallchamber attached to it with reliefs in which the birth andrearing of her son Caesarion were represented . In theseCleopatra, under the form of Isis, is visited by Amen-Ra,who becomes the father of CaesaTiOn, j ust as he was ofAmen-hetep III and of Hatshepset fourteen or fifteen centuriesearlier. The obj ect ofthese reliefs was to make the Egyptiansbelieve that Caesarion was a son of Amen-Ra, and thereforethe legal heir to the throne . On the death of CleopatraEgypt became a province of the Roman Empire, and wasgoverned by Roman Prefects .The first Prefect of Egypt was CORNELIUS GALLUS (30

26 who quelled a serious rebellion in Upper Egypt andLower Nubia. He was succeeded by GAIUS PETRON IUS ,under Whose rule the Nubians captured Phila , Elephantine,



to Constantinople. About A .D . 550 Nubia adopted Christianity as the national religion ; its first Christian king wasS ilko , who made Dongola his capital .Early in the seventh century the Persians took Egypt ,and occupied it for ten years they were expelled by HERAcLIUS (A .D . 6 1 0—640 ) in 629. In 639 the Arabs capturedPelusium,

and defeated the Romans at Heliopolis ; theyoccupied Memphis and;then laid Siege to Babylon, which wastaken by the Arab general AMR IBN AL-Asi on April 9, A .D .

64 1 . Close to Babylon Amr founded the city of FUSTAT,which after 664 became the capital of Egypt . Thus Egyptbecame a province of the Empire of the Arabs. The yearfollowing the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs the Nubian sinvaded Egypt and laid waste the country

,but in 652 the

Arabs drove them out of Egypt and advan ced to Dongola,which they destroyed. The Nubians sued for peace, and theirking Koleydoz o agreed to pay the annual Baki, or tribute, of

365 Slaves this tribute was paid for about 60 0 years,although the Nubians frequently tried to evade it . In 969(August 5) Jawhar, the general ofthe KhalifahMuiz z , foundeda new capital

,and

,because at the moment the planet Mars

was in the ascendant , called it Al-Kahirah,i.e. the

Victorious ” ; from this title the name“ Cairo is derived.

Salah ad -Din or Saladin (A .D . 1 1 69—1 1 93) conquered Syria

and annexed Mesopotamia, and in 1 275 the Mamlt’

Ik SultanBabars (1 260—1 277) annexed the Egyptian Sfidan. In 1 31 7a mosque was dedicated at Dongola, and the bulk of thepopulation ofNubia was Mohammadan ; the Christian kingdom founded by S ilko had come to an end

,and Christianity

was practically dead all over the Egyp tian Sfidan .

The rule of the Arab Khalifahs and the Mamliiks, or

Slave Sultans,

” came to an end on April 1 4 , 1 51 7, when theTurks under SALiM occupied Cairo

, and hanged the Sultan,Al-Ashraf Taman Bay. Thus Egypt became a province ofthe Turkish Empire

,which

.

it has remained ever since,for it

is now stated officially to be a pashalik ofTurkey in thetemporary occupation ofthe British .

”

CHAPTER VII

EGYPTIAN MAGIC AND RELIGION

ABOUT the spiritual ideas or religious beliefs ofthe Egyptiansof the Old Stone Age nothing Is known . But because theyhaveleft few records ofthemselves, and none oftheir religion ,we must not assume that they had none . For it Is impossibleto think that even the first men on the earth were whollydestitute of some kind of dim idea of the existence of somebeing who possessed qualities and powers greater than theirown , and whom they feared and whose good will they soughtto obtain . InEgypt , as in many parts of Africa at the '

present day, the origin of the worship of God must be soughtfor in the cult of the ancestor, or great father,

” of the tribeor community. He was first adored whilst he was alive onearth, and subsequently when he was dead and In the OtherWorld he became an obj ect of worship . As the intellectOfthe primitive Egyptian developed he grafted on this earlycult the idea of the ancestor in a spirit form

,i.e. as a soul

,

and SO the beginnings of the later idea of immortality cameinto being . As a man the father was regarded by his descendants as the source of their life, and to him their

‘

adoration'

was due as a spirit he was appealed to by them for help"

and guidance in the diffi culties of life, and they expected him'

to be their defender and protector. And ultimately they||ascribed to him the powers ofa god . The idea of the fathergod persisted unchanged until a comparatively late periodin the history of Egypt

,and under the eighteenth dynasty

the Egyptians addressed their prayers to Father Osiris andto Father Amen

,

’

i, as their ancestors in primitive times hadaddressed theirs to their father-god and g randfather-god .

Religion, in the sense in which we use the word, did not"1 61 1,


. exist among the primitive Egyptians, but the cult of the .

ancestor was an integral part oftheir daily lives and of theirvery existence

,and round it grew up every belief which we

are accustomed to associate with religion .

The Egyptians of the New Stone Age, 9 1 thewN£0111:tPerio Jeeséri/ed carefully all the essentials of the old cultof the ancestor, and With it they combined many beliefsthat grew up among them both as the result of their naturaldevelopment and ofthe changed surroundings in which theylived . Of the details of the form of the cult of the ancestorin use among them little is known , but some informationabout their religious beliefs has been obtained from theirgraves .

m m nvfi m in a form which needed foodfor its sustenance, and that they would use the flint weaponsin slaying their enemies, or in killing animals to eat . Theyknew from experience that the dead men never left theirgraves

,and they must therefore have been certain that they

had possessed when alive a something, which we call soul ordid, live after their bodies were dead .

death in the formbody to which it belonged, and ate the soul, or Spirit,material food that had been placed in the grave

,and

he souls,or Spirits, of the flint weapons in war or the

chase. In order to ensure the continuity of the life of thissomething men began to make offerings of food at the gravesOf their dead, and out of this custom grew the elaboratesystem of funerary offerings, which is the chief characteristic of the worship of the dead as practised in the DynasticPeriod . The life of the Spirit an cestor had to be maintainedat all costs

,for if he were allowed to die his descendants

jwould have no protector, no helper, and no guardian of theirinterests . At a very early period a member of each familyof position, perhaps the eldest son, or a grandson, was setapart to minister to the needs of the Spirit-ancestor, and in

the Dynastic Period this ministrant is represented by the



was regarded as the dwelling-place of the goddess Hathoror Nut , and the oldest form of the Tet , Which was in latertimes merged in the symbol ofOsiris ofBusiris in the Delta

,

was a tree trunk, or a tree with unusually shaped branches .The antiquity of stone-pillar worship is indicated by thepopularity of the obelisk among the Dynastic Egyptians,and the stones venerated in the temples of Ra, after theintroduction of his cult from the East , were probably re

presentatives of stones of a ruder shape that had been adoredfrom time immemorial .When we come to the Dynastic Period, about 40 0 0 B.C. ,

we find that the Egyptians possessed a well-Organised system'

of worship of divine powers, and that every town of anyimportance had its own god, or obj ect ofworship, animateor inanimate . The gods of the Eastern Delta were different from those of the Western Delta, and those of thenorthern part of Egypt different from those ofUpper Egypt .Certam by this time there had grown up in the minds ofthe Egyptians a vague and dim idea of a great Creator whoseems to have been called Pautti,

” and who was quitedistinct . at that time from the ancestor god, and from thebeings who were styled gods .” They believed him tobe almighty and eternal, and to be just and righteous, but

that he was too(I to concern him

men . These were underthe directions of a long series of gods and goddesses,

”

whose dispositions were on the whole considered to be friendlytowards man , and ofa long series of devils, demons, fiends,and evil Spirits

,who were naturally disposed to be un

friendly or even directly hostile to man . The gods wereenemies of the devils

,and the devils of the gods both

gods and devils,though possessing knowledge and powers

superior to those ofmen , resembled men in many respects,for they grew old and died

,and loved and hated, and were

amenable to flattery,and loved gifts and offerings . The

gods typified physical and moral good, and the demons

physical and -moral evil, and the strife between them in

EGYPTIAN MAGIC AND RELIGION 1 65

nature and in the minds of men was perpetual . When thestrife took a very acute form the leader of the godscollected his hosts

,and waged war against the leader of the

demons,i.e. the Devil, who, according to the Egyptians, was

always defeated and put to flight , but never destroyed ,and was

,after a time

, always ready to renew his attack .

A final lasting triumph of the leader of thenever imagined

,and from the earliest to the

this dualism,this belief in the existence of tw

powers, the one good, the other evil , was onepersistent characteristics of the Egyptian Religion .

The names of the gods of the Old and New Stone Agesseem to have perished . Most of those of the period immedi

ately preceding dynastic rule in Egypt are unknown , butit is probable that a few of them have survived, e.g. Sebek,the crocodile god ; Apet, the hippopotamus-goddess ; Nu andNut ; Net (Neith) , the goddess of Sais ; Tet , the tree-god, orpillar-god of Busiris Hep (Hapi) , or Hepr, the Nile-god,&c. The most important gods and goddesses were thefollowing : NU and NUT

,the sky-god and sky

-goddesses ;KHEPERA

,the creator of the universe ; HERU-UR

, or

KiHorus the Great , an ancient form of the Sun-god TEM, orATEM, ATEN and RA,

gods of the Sun ; TEHUTI (Thoth)and KHENSU

'

fgods of"

themoon ; KEB,TANEN , TATANEN ,

earth-gods ‘HEP, or HAP,or HAPI, the Nile-god KHNEMU

and PTAH , who assisted Khepera'

in building up the materialuniverse <SHU , the god of the air, light, and dryness, andTEFNUT

, His“

female counterpart,goddess of rain and

moisture ; SET, the god of the desert and of all evil, physicaland

'moral ; MAAT, goddess of order, law,right , truth and

wisdom, and SESHETA,goddess of drawing

,design

,painting,

&c. , who , with MAAT, was as sociated with Thoth in bringingorder into the world ; NEKHEBET, the goddess of NEKHEB,

the ancient capital ofUpper Egypt ; UATCHET,the goddess

of the ancient capital of Lower Egypt ; NET (Neith) theancient goddess of Sais ; BAST, the ancient goddess of

Bubastis ; SEKHMET, a fire-goddess of Memphis, and herson NEPER-TEM AUSASET,

goddess of Heliopolis ; SEKER,

V


Ithe Death-god of Memphis AMEN,a very ancient

god, Whose later form was called Amen-Ra and hicounterpart MUT, who became the World-mother MENTHU ,

an ancient war-god of Upper Egypt ME SKHENET,a birth

and RENNET, a harvest-goddess ; ASAR, or SARking of the Other World and Judge of the dead ;SET ( Isis ), sister and wife of Osiris SET,

brother ofOsiris NEPHTHYS , Sister of Osiris and wife of SET HORUS ,brother or son of Osiris ; MESTA,

or KESTA, HEP, QEBH

SENUF,and TUAMUTEF

,the four sons of Horus ; A

Z

NPU andUPUAT, guides ,

of the deal to the Other World, t e latterM al—n“

belonging to Upper, and the former to Lower, EgyptIMHETEP

,the physician-god

,&c.

The goddess Hathor, who is represented both as a cow andas a woman with the ears of a cow, and the god SHU and thegoddessTEFNUTwere introduced into Egypt from the countryof Bakem, in the south-east S t

'

Idar'

I . From the northernS iidan came BE S , the god of music, singing and dancing,and j ollity and war. From Nubia came the gods TETUN

,

AHU,and MERUL,

and the goddesses ANOET and SATET.

From Syria and the country to the south of it and the easternDelta came SEPT

,MENU , a god of generation and reproduc

tion ; RE SHPU , god of lightning and thunder ; BAR ,or BAAL

,

a war-god and the goddesses ANTAT, ASTHARTHET, or ASHTORETH, KETSHET,

KENT,BARATA, the counterpart of Baal

Zephon ; and from the land of the Hittites came the godS UTEKH and the goddess Anthrata.

The,

princi SACRED ANIMALS were : the Apig Bull ofMemphis

,the Mnevis

h

Bq of Heliopolis,the Bakha Bull ,

the Ram of Mendes, the Rainfl

of-Anrnen, the Hippopotamus

of Taurt , Rerut, Apet, and Sheput, the Lion and Lionesscalled Mahes

,Pekheth , &c. , theCow of,Hathor, the Cat of

Bast,the Lynx, the Ichneumon, the Shrew-mouse, the Dog

or Jackal of Anubis, the Wolf of Upuat, the horned animalofKhnemu (the kudu P) . The principal SACRED BIRDS werethe benu,

or phoenix, a bird of the heron class, the vulture,three kinds of hawks

,the ibis, the swallow, the goose . The

“N .

principal SACRED REPTILES and insects were : the turtle,



Egypt, and his temple was the largest, richest , and mostbeautiful in the land for nearly one thousand years . Onthe other hand

, Ra of Heliopolis, a form of the Sun-godworshipped by the Semites and the peoples near the easternfrontier of the Delta

,was under the fourth and fifth dynasties

one of the greatest gods in Lower Egypt , and his priestsclaimed that his power was supreme in the Other World .

But under the sixth dynasty Osiris became the chief god ofthe Other World

,and in the centuries that followed the down

fall ofthat dynasty the great renown of Ra suffered eclipse .

When Heliopolis became once again a great city under theeighteenth dynasty, the priesthood of Ra flourished and

their god assumed a new importance, but he was secondto Amen

,and when his name appears with that ofAmen

in the compound god Amen-Ra, it follows and does notprecede it .It is tolerably certain that when once the Egyptians had

formed triads,and enneads

,and larger companies of gods

,

the priests began to wonder how the gods came into beingand to mak e theories about them . In all such religiousspeculation each body of priests must have tried to satisfyfirst his own mind

,and then the minds of the followers of

his chief god,that this god was the creator of the universe

and man,and that he was the father ofall the gods and god

desses known to them . We know that the priests of Memphistried to prove that their god Ptah was the most importantof all the gods

,for a copy of the document in which one of

them tried to Show this is cut upon a black stone slab in theBritish Museum . Similarly the Pyramid Texts (Sixth dynasty) and later documents Show that the priests of Heliopolisbelieved that their god Tem was the self-existent and eternalgod

, and that he produced from the emanations of his bodythe god Shu and the goddess Tefnut, in fact that Tern, Shu,and Tefnut formed the FIRST TRIAD, or trinity. These threenames represent three aspects of one god ; it was only inlater times that they were personified . And the priests ofthe goddess Net (Neith) of Sais, ofwhom four aspects weredistinguished, held the View that she was self-begotten and


self-produced,that She was the mother of the Sun-god, and

at the Same time a perpetual virgin-goddess .Although there is much that is uncertain in the texts that

describe these opinions,one feet-“r clear— all the great

priesthoods believed In the& Istence of one great , ahmghty,

eternal inscrutable, incomprehensible, and self existent god,who existed somewhere when there was neither heaven nor }earth, and befored S.men,

animals,and death had come

into being . He was called in different parts of Egypt Tern ,

Khepera,Ptah

, Ra, Khnemu,Aten , Amen, Herukhuti, &c. ,

but the god referred to in each of these names is the same,and these are only different names, or, as the Egyptians said,different aspects or forms of him .

Though the Egyptians conceived of the existence of thisgreat unknown god

,they were wholly unable to describe his

form,

-or to say where and how he lived . The texts suggest

that he must have lived for ages by himself in a state ofinactivity in the great watery mass, which the Egyptiansdeified and called Nu .

” The CREATION of the heavensand the earth by him they explained thus . When he hadbeen living in Nu for some time he decided for some unknownreason to create the heavens and the earth . Before he didso he fashioned in his mind the similitude of everything whichhe intended to create

,and according to the design thus

evolved every material thing that exists was made. He usedhis name as a word of power, and produced from himselfShu and Tefnut, or heat and light and moisture . Earth

(Keb) and Sky (Nut) were next created, and by the union ofthese the animal and vegetable creations were produced . Menwere formed from the water that fell from the eyes of the godupon his body, and among thesewere Osiris and his brother Set ,and his Sisters Isis and Nephthys

,and his son Horus . The sun

and the moon became the two eyes of the creator, and theygoverned the world . Many other explanations of the creationand the form ation of man must have existed in Egypt

,but

we do not know what they were. At a very early period theEgyptians evolved a theory to account for the alternationof day and night , and to explain the waning of the moon,


and eclipses, and storms . They thought that Set, the godand symbol of all physical and moral evil

, produced the’

Storms which caused Sickness in the right eye of Horus,the Sky-god, and obscured its light , and that it was he whobit offand devoured a portion of the moon each day duringits season of waning

,until he had swallowed the whole of it .

This disturbance of the orders of creation was put an end toby the creator, who deputed Thoth, a personification of hismind and its powers

,to act as judge between the two

fighters,” Set and Horus. Thoth stopped the fight , and made

Set disgorge the moon which he had eaten,and put a limit

to his power to do evil . He could not prevent him fromcreating storms and eclipses

,but once and for all he made

it impossible for him to destroy the light of the sun andmoon . The decision of Thoth was so j ust that he wasever after called the righteous judge and the pacifier ofthe two fighters. Other legends about the gods havebeen described elsewhere

,

1 and they need not therefore bediscussed here .

It has already been stated that the principals cult gf the

predynastic Egyptians was that,of the ancestor, and we

know that it continued to be so in the beginning of the'

dyr'

i'

as

tic period . Before the ru le of the first dynasty; however,there seems to have sprung into importance in some districtnear Abydos in Upper Egypt the cult of a god called ASAR,or SAR ,

the Osiris of the Greeks. There is no reason for supposing that Osiris was a new god, for he was a very ancientone, and if we knew his complete history we should probablyfind that he was one of the oldest of Egyp tian gods. Inone ofhis early forrfis he was a Water-god , and the thickmuddy waters of the Nile

,on which the fertility of Egypt

,

‘depended, were said to flow from his body ; they were, in

ifact, the essence of the god. Because this essence germinated and grew up on the land in the form of millet, barley,Wheat , and other food-stuffs, and dates, figs, grapes, and fruitof all kinds, Osiris was regarded as a god of vegetation .

When the Nile fell and returned to its winter level, and when1 S ee the vo lume on 7718 L iterature of the Egyptians , p . 71 .


1 72 A SHORT HISTORY ' OF EGYPT

evil, .and h is_followers ; __and Set hated Osiris with a deadlyhatred

,and Ch

i

mpaSSOd his death, though by exactly whatmeans is not clear. According to one ancient authorityOsiris was drowned

,and according to another he was killed

by Set,either in a duel

,or during a general fight . ‘Plutarch

states that Set induced Osiris to lie down in a box,and whenhe had done so ,

Set and his allies fastened down the coverof the box

,and threw it into the river, Osiris, of course, being

drowned. When Isis heard of the murder she at once set

out with Nephthys in search of the body, which, accordingto the Pyramid Texts

,the two Sisters found lying near Aby

dos, at a place called Netat . They had the body broughtinto Abydos (according to the local tradition) , and there withthe help of Anubis

,a very ancient god of embalming and medi

cine, they embalmed it . Some of the texts state that Isiswas assisted by Horus and his four sons

,who performed very

elaborate ceremonies over the body of the god. Osiris wasburied at Abydos

,and a tree grew up near his body, and en

veloped it with its branches ; among the reliefs at Abydosis one in which this tree is represented growing by the tomb.

When the body .of Osiris had been in its tomb for a Shorttime Isis, assisted by Thoth and Horus, began to performceremonies with the view of restoring Osiris to life. Sherecited the words of power which She had learned fromThoth, and Horus, having performed many ceremonies overthe mummy of Osiris, at length took out his own eye and gaveit to Osiris

,who swallowed it

,and thereby regained his life .

Thus Osiris rose from the dead,and became the king and god

of all the beings in Amenti,or

'

the Other World. Thus heconquered Death and defeated Set and all his powers of decayand corruption, for, according to the texts, the flesh of fatherOsiris suffered no corruption

,and his mortal body neither

decayed nor became food for worms . At Busiris in the Deltain the earliest times, and later at Abydos, his tomb becamethe abode of life, and long before the reign of Mena, orMenes,he had become the recognised symbol of the resurrection ofthe dead and the lord in ..whose hands was the power of unmortality.


When Set saw that all his evil plans had miscarried, andthat he had only succeeded in making Osiris the heir to aheavenly kingdom, he was filled with fury, and once againhe attempted to overthrow his brother Osiris . He ap

proached the gods, and laid before them such serious chargesagainst Osiris that they ‘decided to let him state his case

,

and to adjudicate upon it . A full court of the gods assembled

,either in heaven itself or in the Great Hall in Helio

polis, and Osiris and Set appeared before them Osirisentrusted his defence to Thoth, the great and learned scribeof the gods, and the Maati goddesses, i.e. the two goddessesof Truth, were present at the trial. We have no detailsof the charges which Set brought against Osiris

,or of the

counter-charges of Osiris against Set, but it is quite clearthat Osiris

,aided by Thoth, succeeded in proving his inno

cence, and in showing that Set had Slain him without cause,and that he had never forfeited his right to his kingdomthrough misrule or injustice on his part . When the godshad heard the evidence of Osiris, and the speech of Thoth,they were satisfied that Set was a liar and a murderer

,and

that Osiris was innocent (mad-kheru) of the charges whichSet had brought against him . They therefore ordered thatOsiris Should succeed to the throne of his father Keb

,

and that he should be henceforth king of all the gods inAmenti

,i.e. the Other World. And in their presence Set

was dragged forward, and Osiris was made to Sit upon hisback as a Sign of his conquest of him . Set , however, in nowise disheartened by his defeat , transferred his hatred fromOsiris to Horus

,the son of Osiris and Isis, who had been

begotten by his father after death . From a legend cut onthe Metternich Stele we find that , owing to the persecutionof Set

,Isis was obliged to flee to the Delta, and that She hid

herself in the papyrus swamps at Khemmis and broughtforth her child there . One ’ day, during her absence, Set senta scorpion to the place where the child was hidden , and itstung him to death . When Isis returned and found the boydead , She broke out into weeping and lamentations which were

heard all over the neighbourhood, and she was stricken by


bitter grief. Her Sister Nephthys, seeing what had happened, appealed to the Sun-

god , who stopped his boat ,and sent Thoth to instruct Isis in the words which wouldexpel the scorpion

’ s power from his body, and restore Horusto life . Isis, having learned the words, recited them overHorus

,and the child came to life again, because the scorpion

’ spoison flowed out of him and fell to the ground. WhenHorus grew to manhood he fought a great fight with Set ,whom he defeated

, and in consequence was called Horus,the avenger of his father ” (Heru-netch-tefef) . In latertimes this fight was confused with the far earlier fightbetween Horus the Great (Herueur) and Set , wherein Setwounded Horus in the eye, and Horus cut off one of theforelegs of Set

,who had fought in the form of an animal.

The of the legends ofOsiris described above cannot bestated,

but it is certain that they were current throughoutEgypt before the Dynastic Period . The characteristics of thekinn m

‘

o ver“wh iéh Siris reigned prove that the earliest

home of his cult was in the Delta, probably at Busiris, whereit seems to have superseded the cult of a still earlier treegod . From there it seems to have Spread southwards, andto have localised itself at Abydos, where it also supersededthe cult of the southern god Khenti Amentiu, whose namemeans Prince of those in Amenti .

” The priests of Osiristaught that the body of man was a sacred thing, and discouraged cannibalism,which was probably tolerably commonin those days . Their doctrine of the resurrection of the

the Sixth dynasty the position of Osiris as chief god ofthe dead was assured Under the twelfth dynasty he

gradually assumed the character Of the universal Ancestorgod

,and his authority in the Other World was absolute.

men placed their hope of resurrection and immor

he was the one god-man who had suffered pain(1 risen from the dead inreigning over a n ever

ending kingdom . Moreover, by virtue of his own innocenceand truth, he had the powerto confer everlasting life upon



stale, nor their wine sour, and that they sat by the side ofalake and ate the wood of life,

”i.a. wheat , which was at

once the symbol of Osiris and the god himself. In thisstate of happiness the blessed lived for ever and ever.For the enemies of Osiris a terrible fate was reserved.

According to the BOOK OF GATES and the Book AM TUAT,the judgment of souls took place at midnight each day, andthose who had treated the god with contempt during theirlives and had been his declared enemies

,then received their

punishment . They were handed over to the headsman of

Osiris called Shesmu, who , with the help of his assistants,hacked them limb from limb, and chopped up their flesh

,

which was then thrown into pits of fire. Before thismutilation took place their hearts and other organs weretorn out of their bodies, and were devoured by an awfulmonster who kept himself invisible . The pits of fire werepresided over by goddesses

,who produced a continuous

supply of liquid fire from their bodies . The enemies ofbothOsiris and Ra were quickly and utterly destroyed

,th ere Is

no idea of everlasting punishment in the texts . The headsman Shesmu was occupied each day, and the pits of firewere used each day, but this was because a new batch of theenemies of Osiris was condemned daily .

The history of Osiris, apart from its purely religiousaspect

,greatly impressed the Egyptians of all periods

,and

at Abydos,and probably in every great sanctuary of the

god,a sort of miracle play was performed annually. The

scene of his murder was reproduced as far as circumstancespermitted

,and ceremonies representing the bringing of his

body from Netat , which place was always assumed to benear Abydos, its embalrnment, its restoration to life, hisenthronement as king of the Other World, the attack madeupon Set and his followers, and many other incidents wereperformed with great zeal and precision . The grief of

Isis,and the loving care which She showed in ministering to

her lord,living and dead, appealed strongly to the popular

imagination,and, in later times at least , the recital of the

compositions in which s he and her S ister were supposed


to give expression to their woe formed a very importantfeature ofthe festival of the commemoration ofOsiris

,which

took place in December. On these occasions the parts ofIsis and Nephthys were taken by two young and beautifulwomen

,who held vases of water in their right hands and

Memphis cakes in their left hands * on the arm of one wasa bandlet bearing the name Isis, and on the arm of theother"was a bandlet bearing the name Nephthys . Certainsections were sung by the women alternately, and some byboth together. The following extracts from a papyrus mBerlin illustrate these Lamentations,

” Isis saithCome to thy temple, come to thy temple, 0 god An ,

come to thy temple thine enemy existeth not . 0 beautiful

god Ahi, come to thy temple, let me see thee . I am thybeloved sister, go not away from me . 0 beautiful Youth

,

come to thy temple, immediately, immediately. I see theenot

,my heart is sorrowful, mine eyes search for thee, I

wander about to see thee. It is a good thing to see thee,to see thee, 0 An, it is good to see thee . Come to the womanwho loveth thee, who loveth thee, O Un-Nefer, whose wordis true . Come to thy sister. Come to thy wife, to thywife

, 0 thou whose heart is still. Come to the lady of thyhouse (i.e. thy chief wife) . I am thy Sister by thy mother,be not thou far from me . Gods and men [turn] their facesto thee

,and they weep for thee at the same time . I cry out

to thee with tears into the height of heaven, thou hearkenestnot to my voice, I thy sister who was beloved by thee onearth do this . Thou canst love no other woman exceptmyself

,my brother, my brother.

”

Nephthys saith : 0 beautiful king, come to thy temple,let thy heart rej oice, all thine enemies exist not . Thy twosisters are near thee, by thy bier, they cry out to theeshedding tears . Turn thou thyself on thy bier, look thouat thy fair women , speak to us, 0 King our Lord . Destroythe sorrow which is in our hearts . Thy sisters and the godsand men [long] to see thee ; turn thou thy face to them,

0 King our Lord . Our faces live in seeing thy face .

Ourhearts will rejoice at the Sight of thee, 0 beautiful king.

M


I am Nephthys thy Sister whom thou didst love . The Sebafiend is overthrown

,he no longer existeth I am with thee

,

and I will protect thy members for ever.The following passage

,which was sung by both goddesses

,

is quoted from the Festal Songs of Isis and Nephthys in theBritish Museum Hail, beautiful god Ahi, come to thytemple . I am the woman who defendeth her brother,I am thy wife

,thy sister by thy mother. Come, come,

hasten to me,O Strong-Heart . Let me see thy face, for I

do not see thee . My heart burned [as] with fire atthy escape from the Fiend, even as it burneth with fire whenthou turnest thyself to me ; would that thou didst neverremove thyself from me I seek to see thee becauseof my love for thee. I am in the great city with themighty walls, and I am overcome by my love for thee ;come thou to me . I hid myself [from Set] among thebushes in order to conceal thy son, so that he might speakon thy behalf. And at the time when the great calamitycame upon thee, did not I gather together thy membersfor thee I advanced being alone

,and I ran about in the

bushes when a huge crocodile was pursuing thy son,and it

had its face directed towards the boy. Verily, I and the godAnpu knew this. And I travelled about on the roads wandering backwards and forwards in my search for my brother

,

and I defended him against the Fiend, and the hearts ofhundreds of thousands of people burned with anxiety withinthem . Come to me in thine own form , come in peace,in peace, 0 king of the North, 0 Prince, come in peace . 0

let us see thy face again, as of old , for I love to look uponthee.”

when thewgrship ofgsiris

_the ged

were written, but none ofthem describes so fully the exalted

position which he held in heaven and on earth as the following text which is cut upon a stele preserved in Paris

,which

is to all—

intents and purposes the confession of faith of theofficial for whom it was composed. It readsHomage to thee, Osiris, lord of eternity, king of the gods,



offerings to him,the lord who is commemorated in heaven

and in earth . Many are the cries of j oy made to him in theUak festival

,and together the Two Lands hail him with

shouts of gladness .He is the eldest and first ofhis brethren, the oldest god of

the company of the gods . He hath stablished right throughout the world . He hath placed his son upon the GreatThrone of his father Keb (the Earth-god) . He is the darlingofhis mother Nut . Mighty of strength, he hath overthrownSeba (a form of Set) . He rose up and slew his enemy, he setthe fear of himself in his foe . He brought back the boundaries. Stable of heart , his legs stand firm . He is theheir ofKeb and of the kingdom ofEgypt . Keb perceivedhis glorious abilities, and conferred upon him the directionofthe world so long as time shall last , and placed in his handthis earth

,its water, its winds, its vegetation, all its cattle,

all its birds, all its fowls, its creeping things, and the animalsof the desert became a gift to the son of Nut, and the TwoLands were satisfied to [see him] ascend the throne of hisfather like Ra, when he riseth on the horizon and giveth lightin the darkness. He illumineth [heaven] with the light ofhis plumes

,he floodeth the Two Lands with light , like the

Disk (Athen) each day. His White Crown pierceth theheight of heaven , it reacheth the stars . He is the leader ofevery god

,perfect in command and word, praised by the

Great Company of the gods, beloved by the Little Companyof the gods . His sister protected him, driving away [his]enemies, turning aside from him calamities, strong of speechwith the spells of her mouth, Skilled of tongue

,making no

mistake in speech, making perfect command [and] word,Isis

,the glorious Spirit , the avenger of her brother. She

sought him untiringly, she went round about th is land sor

rowfully,She would not have alighted had She not found

him . She made light with her feathers, She made air to bewith her wings, [as] she uttered wailings for her brother.She raised up the inert members of him whose heart was still,She absorbed his essence, she conceived an heir, She nursedthe child in loneliness, unknownwas the place wherein hewas.


He flourished,his arm became mighty in the House of Keb

(i.a. the earth) . The company of the gods rej oiced, rej oiced,at the coming of Horus, son of Osiris, stable of heart , true ofword, son of Isis, heir of Osiris . The Chiefs of Maat , the company of the gods

,and Nebertcher himself gather themselves

together to him,and the Lord of Truth joineth them . Verily

those who destroyed Sin rej oice in the House of Keb at thetransfer of the royal dignity to its owner, and of the sovereignty to him whose it is by right .The cult ofOsiris flourished from the earliest times untilabout the beginning of the twentieth dynasty, and duringthe latter part ofthis period theworship of the god at Abydosmust have been conducted on a magnificent s cale . Aboutthis time the belief became common that the actual tomb of

Osiris had been discovered there, and a massive stone bier,with the figure of the god sculptured upon it , was made andplaced in the tomb of one of the kings of the first dynasty,and was held in reverence as the actual funerary bed ofOsiris . Under the twenty-first dynasty the power of thepriests of Amen became predominant in Upper Egypt , andan attempt was made by them to make Amen assume thesovereignty of the kingdom of the dead . From the twelfthdynasty onwards Osiris was generally regarded as theAncestor-god of all Egyp t , and when we nineteenth dynasty we fi

w d thea ncient cult oft he ancestor .had

been absorbed In the worship ofOsiris. Under the twentyand following dynasties the worship of Osiris declined

gradually, and only at rare intervals were attempts made torevive the former Splendour of his worship . g lhei tolema

'

I'

c Period the introduction of the cult of SERAPIS , a compound

“ god of the dead,part Egyptian and part Greek,

hastened the decayof the cult ofOsirIs, and .the adoration

paid to him was generallytransferred to Horus, the son of

Isis . AS the popularity of Osiris declined, that of Isis grew,

fi d'

men began to worship her son as the personification oflife and strength . When the Egyptians embraced Christianity they saw nothing strange , in identifying her with theVirgin Mary, and her son Horus with the Babe Christ .


In connection with the cult of the ancestor the primitiveEgyptians performed many rites and ceremonies ; some ofthese were purely symbolic in character, but others weremagical

,and were intended to influence the gods and spirits,

and to secure their friendship for the dead . However farwe go back we find MAG IC flourishing side by side with religion

,and it is hard to say which is the old

magic seems. religion . Be this aswere

'

at'

all times in use ifiW wo kinds oflawful and the other unlawful , or, as _wemagicf

’

,and The

peoples) . Theform er directed the affairs of the kingdom and conductedwars

,and the latter, who was supposed to be in perpetual

communication with the ancestral spirits, the god s of a laterage

,dealt exclusively with all Spiritual matters

,and informed

the king whether his acts and deeds were in accordance withthe wishes of the celestial powers . The title of this greatmagician was Kher-heb,

” and his power was very great .He knew all the names and words of power, he composedspells, he cast out devils, hesent dreams to sleeping folk

'

and

interpreted dreams,he produced and stilled storms

,he fore

told the future,he raised the dead

,he laid ghosts

,he possessed

the secret of reciting the words of the liturgy in such a waythat material offerings became changed into the spirit foodof the god. He was, of necessity, a learned man , and heknew the magical and religious literature thoroughly andof course he could write ; these abilities commanded therespect and fear of the people to whom the written wordwas always sacred. No one questioned his power, becauseall believed that it was obtained direct from the gods andSpirits

,and as very few of the people were able to read or

write,they were not in a position to verify his interpreta

tions of the books of magic, which formed one of the chief

[sources of his power. Moreover, as the people never thoughtbut matters with which he was familiar, they were obligedto accept, practically, everything he said. Little by little



need ofwater or food, or in danger from noxious beasts or

averted All large Copies of the Book of the Dead containmany

"

such"

S’

pellS, and theireffi cacy wasfi rmlyfrom the earliest to the latest Thus when he neededair in the tomb he said, I am Shu,

” and air was providedfor him ; when he needed water he said, I am the GreatNile (Hep-ur) , and water was provided. When he wasthreatened with being scalded or burned with fire in theOther World

,he said, I am the oar of Rawhich the god

used when ferrying the gods ’ images over the Lake of Fire,

and he became proof against fire and against boiling water

(Chap . LIII) . These spells belong to different periods, andsome of them, according to modern ideas, render the repetition of others unnecessary. Thus in Chap . XLII the deceased says

,There is no member of my body which is noL

the member of’

soine god .

” ‘He‘t h‘

éfi Says he is with Ra andunder the protection of

’

Thoth, that he is Khepera and livesin the eye of the sun

,that he is Horus and the one who

proceedeth from the only one,” that he is the Sprout of Nu

,

and that his mother is Nut . But the Egyptian never omittedany spell which he thought might be of the smallest use tohim ; his fathers had used it, therefore it must benefit himin some way.

The importance of spells in the mind of the Egyptian iswell illustrated by a passage in the Harris Magical Papyrus

,

in which it is said that Ra gave men spells which put lionsand enemies to flight , which shut the mouths of lions, leopards,wolves

,and panthers

,and muzzle the goddesses Pakht,

Sekhmet,&c. , and the men of every kind who speak evil

things . These spells cause men ’ s limbs to become helplessand diseased

,and make their flesh to separate from their

bones and shrivel up . To obtain the best possible resultfrom a spell it was necessaryw

to recite it four times, i.a.oncefor each ofthe four quarters ofthe earth .

Often the written Spell was accompanied by the use of amagicaf picture. Thus if the Spell, in Which a man claimed


to be Raand Shu seated in the eye ofhis father, were recitedfour times by a man holding a drawing ofthe Eye of Rawitha figure of Anheri Sitting inside it, the power of the god

’ sname would rend the river bank , and cause the earth to breakout into fire, and would make the North to become the South,and the South the North . The Theban and Saite Recensionsof the Book of the Dead are full of Spells accompanied bymagical drawings . Thus the Chapter of the Ladder and adrawing of it would secure for the deceased the use of thefamous ladder

,whereby Osiris had climbed up from earth

into heaven . The Chapter of the Ferry-boat and a pictureof it would provide a boat for the deceased when he wishedto sail across the Nile of the Other World. Each part oftheboat possessed a magical name, which is given in the textofthe spell

,and when all the names ofthe parts were properly

pronounced by the deceased the boat would sail to any placeto which he wanted to go .

represented to the initiated thtruths in the religion of Osiris , was, to ta magical picture drawn on funerary papyriof making the gods declare those for whom it wasto be truth-Speakers . I f drawings of Osiris, Ra, Isis,Nephthys, the four gods ofthe winds, were painted on a coffin ,they would enable its occupan t to enter each of the fourquarters of heaven . The Spells that had to be recited werea great mystery, which was beyond the understandingof the foreigner and the unlettered man . One drawing ofthe god Menu over the heart , two drawings of a god with aram ’s head over each Shoulder

,and one over each breast ,

enabled the deceased to drink from the celestial stream andto shine like the stars in heaven . According to an ancienttradition a certain amount ofheat remained in the head of

the deceased until his resurrect ion if a drawing of the Eyeof the Sun-god were made and placed under the head ofthemummy in its coffin it was believed to keep that heat in thehead undiminished.

heb used freely,magical figures made ofvarious substances,


for transmitting good and evil to theIn very early times

were anx10us to avoid the performance of work in th eOther World, and a spell was provided in the Book of th eDead (Chap . V) to enable them to do so . For some reasonor other this spell was considered insufficient to free themfrom agricultural labours in the Kingdom of Osiris

, so anotherwas composed (Chap . VI) . The second spell was cut uponthe figure (shabti) of a man holding a hoe in each hand andcarrying a bag on his back

,which was placed in the tomb

with the dead man,and when the dead man recited the

Spell this figure became changed into a full-grown field

labourer ready to , do any work in the fields of Osiris whichhe might be called on to do . As many as 365 such figureshave been found in one tomb

, so the deceased in this caseenj oyed the services of a fresh labourer each day of theyear. These figures were intended to take the places ofthe slaves who in early times were killed when a great mandied, and thrown into his tomb , so that their spirits mightgo into the Other World with the spirit of their lord, andminister to its needs there as their bodies had served himhere. The magical figure also played a prominent part incertain ceremonies that were performed in the temple ofAmen-Ra at Thebes to effect the destruction of Aapep , a

form of Set, the god of evil, who fought daily against theSun-god The priests recited this series of prescribedspells Get back

,Devil

,an end to thee"I Shoot flame

at thee,I destroy thee, I damn thee"An end to thee, an

end to thee. Taste death"An end to thee ; thou shaltnever rise up again . Thy face is on the block of slaughterwhere Ra spitteth . Thou, thy soul, thy body, thy offspring,thy hands

,thy limbs

,thy members, thy bones, thy Spells,

thy mouth,thy form

,thy attributes

,thy creations, thy skin ,

thy possessions,thy substance

,thy seat, thy abode , thy

tomb,thy den

,thy paths

,thy going in, thy coming out ,

thy steps,thy motion

,and thy rest Shall cease to exist .”

The priests went so far as to threaten the gods with penaltiesif they attempted to assist Aapep . These spells were said



drawn from English books might be quoted to prove theuse of magical wax figures with the view of causing thedeath of the persons represented by them, and the customof sticking pins in wax figures and hearts, and placingthem in niches in the chimneys to melt away gradually,is not unknown in some parts of England at the presentday .

Besides spells, magical drawings, and magical figures,the magician was called upon to provide AMULETS 1 for theliving who wished to carry about with them the protectionof the gods, spirits, and sacred animals, and to benefit bytheir power, and also for the dead. The earliest amuletsused in Egypt were probably the po rtions of the bodiesof great ancestors that were most directly connected withthe propagation of the race

,and to this day in many parts

ofAfrica the most potent element in fetish medicine is asmall bone

,or an eye-ball

,or member

,or emanation from the

body of an ancestor. Among the Egyptians two of the most

important amulets were the Tet , or Dedfi, and the Tetthe former represented a part of the backbone of Osiris ,and gave the wearer virility

,and the latter a part of the

body of Isis, and gave the wearer the strength of the bloodand power and spells of Isis . The Rubrics in the Book ofthe Dead (Chaps . CLV, CLVI) say that the Osiris amuletis to be made of gold

,which was identified with the fluid of

life of Ra, and the Isis amulet of carnelian , or of some stonethe colour of blood. The populaIity of these amulets isattested by the large numbers of them that are to be seenin all our great Museums, and the importance of them isproved by the fact that on very many coffins they are seenheld in the hands over the breasts . (Zahew werful amuletswere the Tw as preservmde

'

a'

d'

t-

lieh

powers of“

the.

natural organ and took its place inthe body. To protect it seven prayers or spells werecomposed

,the most popular being that which is called

1 The word amulet is derived froman Arabicwordmeaning somethingworn or carried on the person.

”


Chapter XXXB of the Theban Book of the Dead. Thisprayer is very old

,and said to have been in existence in the

first dynasty,when it was recited over a green stone scarab

to effect the opening of the mouth of the deceased ata later period it was cut upon heart scarabs made ofgreen stone it continued in use down to the Roman Period .

The CARAB,or BEEIDE ,

symbolmofnew life and virility andresurrection, associated

-“

withi

fi ew

god'

Khepe'

ra, or

t he"

R oflen”" who ‘rolled

'

the“

ball of the sun

across the Sky. Having prepared a ball of matter to serveas food for its offspring, the female b eetle rolled it into ahole in the ground in which it had laid one egg, and whenthe young beetle was hatched out it fed upon it . _With thiseggwas associated the idea of“ only-begotten ,

” and the beetleamulet gave to the wearer the protection ofthe only-begottenson of the primeval Egyptian god. This idea was

'

current inmuch later times, for one Christian writer , who was acquaintedwith the fact that the beetle of this class only laid one egg,

on the Cross . The Frog was the symbol ofnewtion

,and resurrection ; in Christian times figures

found on lamps, and are emblematic of re-birth .

gave the dead the power to lift up their hevented them from falling off their bodies . Other amuletsmentioned in the Book of the Dead are the VULI LLRE ,

givingthe protection of Isis (Chap . CLVI) , the COLLAR (Chap .

CLVIII) , the PAPYRUS-SCEPTRE , giving youth and vitality

(Chap . CLIX , CLX) , the Cow of Hathor, giving warmth

(Chap . CLXII) , the UTCHATS or Eyes of Horus, giving life,strength, and immortality (Chap . CLXIII) , &c. Two veryancient amulets were the LADDER and the TWO FINGERS(index and medius) the former enabled the deceased toclimb up into heaven , and the latter supported him in hisefforts, and gave him the strength ofthe two fingers of Horus,who assisted his father Osiris therewith when he climbedup into heaven . Common amulets are the NEFER ,

whichgave good luck and happiness

,the SERPENT’ S HEAD

,a pro

tection against the bites of snakes of an kmdsfand the


w which gave power and virility. A figure of anyand every god and sacred animal became a powerful amulet ,provided the Kher-heb had recited the necessary words ofpower over it .

early times also a physician,and as

patient he assisted theirand incantations

,and

Sicknesses and diswhen these were exor

cised the patients recovered . In all such cases the magicianhad to discover the name of the Spirit that was causing thesickness this once found the treatment was easy. Sometimesthe Sickness was caused by a hostile person who had reciteda series of spells whilst he tied knots in a piece of cord, andso rendered his victim spell-bound . In such cases the magician healed the sickness by untying knots in a piece of cord,and reciting as he did so very potent spells coupled withmighty magical names . It is easy to see that all such magicalpractices could be used equally well to injure and to benefitthe living and the dead, and that the use to which magicwas put depended on the character and obj ect of the magician .

The chief magicians ofthe temples were men ofgreat learningand ability, which they used disinterestedly and with loftypurpose . Before performing the most sacred ceremoniesconnected with the worship of the gods and the cult of thedead they abstained from the eating of meat and fish, andmade themselves ceremonially pure by ablutions and censings

,and they spared no pains to make themselves acceptable

to the gods,between whom and men they were the authorised

s of this class and the astrologers, soothsayers,ellers

,necromancers, casters of nativities, and sor

all kinds, who flourished in Egypt from the reign ofI I onwards . The latter class of magicians were

impostors who deceived the people and professed to readthe future by the help of absurd tricks and ceremonies

,to

foretell dreams,to transform men into animals and reptiles

,

to heal the sick, to bring the Spirits of the dead back to this


CHAPTER VIII

THE DAILY LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS

ACCORDING to Egyptian tradition the country of Egypt wasin the earliest times ruled by the gods, who lived upon theearth, and went about among men , and mixed themselvesup in the affairs of the people, Their reigns lasted for a verylong time

,and they did many great and mighty things

,but

at length a time came when they decided to withdraw toheaven

,and Horus, the last king of the divine dynasty,

appointed his son by a woman living on the earth to succeedhim . Thus it happened that the first human king of Egyptwas part god and part man, and from the earliest to thelatest times the king was worshipped as a god

,and his statues

had a place by right among those of the gods. He receivedEgypt from the gods as his lawful inheritance

,and every

man,woman , and child in the country were his Slaves, and

only existed to work for him and to do his pleasure . Thegold in the bowels of the mountains and in the rivers

,the wild

animals of the desert , the birds of the air, the fish in the rivers,the cattle

,and the crops in the fields were allhis, for they lived

by and through him, and at his word they died. He, beingdivine , was the source of all wisdom and knowledge, his powerwas absolute, his authority illimitable, his decision on everysubj ect final, his person sacred, and the man who spokeagainst him was guilty not

t

only of treason, but of Sin, andpaid for his boldness with his life . No man owned anythingabsolutely ; he only used what he had at the pleasure of theking, and he gave up land, house, cattle, wives, and childrenwhen his lord needed them . These ideas concerning the kingare purely African , and the earliest kings of Egypt were exactcounterparts of the kings of Dahomey, Congo-land, DarFI

'

ir,

192

DAILY LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS 1 93

Unyoro , Uganda, &c. , described in the Travels ofSkertchley,

Burton , Stanley, Speke, Baker, Johnston ,and others

,and

there is little doubt that they were of Sadani origin . The

king who ruled Upper Egypt had the signs swim , or nesu,

placed before his name, and the king who ruled Lower Egypt

had bati ; the former wore the White Crown 4, and

the latter the Red Crowny. After the union of the North

and the South the king of the Two Egypts placed both

Signs before his name thus and he wore the double

crown <4 . Before the union of the kingdoms of the North

and South kings had only one name, e.g. Seka, Kheut , Besh,&c. after the union the king ofthe Two Egyp ts took anothername on his accession to the throne, and a little later twomore — one as the Horus of gold, and the other as the Lordof the Vulture and Uraeus Crowns, which signified his sovereignty over Nekheb, the ancient capital in the South, andover Per-Uatchet (Buto) , the ancient capital in the North .

Under the influence of the priests of Rathe kings of the fourthdynasty

,who were said to be sons of Ra, adopted a fifth name

as sons of Ra. In early dynastic times the personal nameof the king and his name as King of the South and King of

the North were written in an ovalQ ’ which is now

called a cartouche, a word meaning cartridge . Thisname was given to the oval by the Frenchman Champollion ,but nowadays the word cartouche is often used to express boththe oval and the royal name which it contains . The kinghad many titles, and the most extravagant epithets wereapplied to him by his court scribes, but the title by which hewas best known in the countries outside Egypt was Pharaoh

,which represents the Egyptian PER-AA ,

i.a. GreatHouse .

” The Great House was literally the royal palace,but the Egyptians used the words to indicate the king , j ustas the Turks and Arabs speak ofthe Sublime Porte,

” andN


Europeans of the Porte, when they refer to the Sultanand his Government .In the earliest times the dress of the king consisted of a

loin-cloth and a girdle orbelt , to which was attached the tailof an animal or a piece of bast to resemble a tail, Similar tothat worn by chiefs in some parts ofthe Stidamat the presentday. Additions were made to the loin-cloth later, and itbecame a sort of short tunic . His beard was carefullytrimmed to the traditional Shape of that worn by the menofPunt . When he was seated in state he held in his handsa sceptre in the Shape of a pastoral crook , and a whip , andprobably a large flint knife

,for which In later days a bronze

Sickle Shaped weapon was substituted. On his head wasthe Simple

,high crown , made probably ofreeds covered with

skin, and about his neck was a collar. When officiating inthe temple he wore various kinds of robes and crowns, thelatter being decorated with figures of cobras, metal disks,ostrich feathers, and horns ; his sandals on such occasionsWere turned up at the toes . He was, as a god, entitled towear the characteristic dress of the gods, and, like them,

heheld the symbol of life in one hand . When fighting hisprincipal weapon was a club made of a stone fastened toone end of a Short stick, or a stone-headed axe in later dayshe carried a bronze battle-axe and a bronze dagger. Histhrone was set on a platform, with one or two steps in front ,beneath a canopy which rested on four poles it differed butslightly from the shrines in which the primitive figures of thegods were placed. All so rts ofmagical obj ects were attachedto the poles of the canopy to protect the king from enemiesand malign influences. Beneath the royal seat or chair ofstate a reed mat was placed . In later times

,when Egypt

was filled with the riches of Western Asia and the gold of theSfidan, the throne and its canopy were made of costly woodsinlaid with precious stones, and gold, silver, and copper wereused lavishly in their decoration .

Theoretically the prosperity of all Egypt depended uponthe existence ofthe king in this world, and its prolongationwas prayed for daily by himself and all his people . He



annually is not known , but it is probable that a considerableshare of all revenues found its way into the hands of hisstewards . But royal tombs like the Pyramids of Gizahcould never have been built out of any royal Civil List,however large, and the greater part of the country

’ s incomemust have been spent for two or threescore years in building these mighty piles . The royal estates were worked byforced labour, and were probably situated in the most fertileparts of the country .

The royal palace was divided into several parts, and therewere in it a court in which great state ceremonies tookplace

,and a hall in which the king gave audiences and tried

cases of high importance, and a suite of rooms for hisprivate use, and the quarter set apart for the queen andher personal attendants and for the use of the princes andprincesses

,and the quarters of the ladies of his karim. The

first wife of the king, i.e. the queen, was usually of royalbirth

,and she shared the king ’ s honours, and her name,

like his, was enclosed within a cartouche. The names ofvery few of the earlier queens are known, and the monuments supply no details of their lives. A king sometimesmarried the widow of his predecessor

,e.g. Khufu,

or Cheops,

who married Mertitefs, the very delightful widow of

Seneferu . Provision was made for widowed queens andtheir sons and daughters, and the greatest honours were

paid to them .

/

1

Kingsusually married Egyptian or Nubian

women,but some of them selected their queens from foreign

nations. Thus Thothmes IV married a Mitannian lady,to Whom he gave the name of Mutemuaa, and his son

Amen-hetep III married Ti and several other ladies fromWestern Asia, and to their influence was due, ultimately,the downfall of the eighteenth dynasty. Rameses II alsomarried a Hittite princess . Theoretically all the kings ofEgypt were descended from Horus, but some claimed Raas their ancestor, and others claimed Amen ; as a matterof fact several kings of Egypt had not a drop . of Egyptian blood, either divine or human, in their veins . Two of

the sovereigns of the eighteenth dynasty, Hatshepset and


Amen-hetep III , claimed to have been begotten by Amen-Rahimself

,and Alexander the Great , to strengthen his hold

on Egypt,also claimed to be the son of this god.

The king was supposed to govern Egypt directly— to makethe laws

,to control the finance, to appoint the governors

of districts,nomes

,and towns, to direct the army, and to

know everything that went on in his territend of Egypt to the o ther. But , as is the case in mostOriental countries

,his actual knowledge of the details of

his government must have been very Slight indeed, and hedepended almost entirely upon his chief officials for information

,counsel

,and guidance . Upper Egypt and Lower

Egypt were ruled each by a governor,who was assisted by

chiefs of towns and cities, heads of villages, and a staff ofhighly trained scribes

,who superintended the

of the taxes, kept the government registers, andthe land and assessed the dues upon it . Judgestant judges sat in the law courts in all large towns to tryimportant cases, but in some trials judgment could only begiven after consultation with the king, or his high court ofjudges which sat in the capital . All cases of petty peculation

,theft

,robbery, burglary,

cattle-stealing, &c. , in thecountry generally were dealt with by the local mayors ormagistrates

,who performed all the functions of the kadis,

maamfirs, and omdahs in Egypt in our own days . Theancient Egyptians loved litigation as much as do theirdescendants to-day

,and we may rest assured that bribery

and corruption were as prevalent then as now. The fate oflitigants lay in the hands of the scribes of the courts, fortheydrafted the pleas and defences

,and they alone knew the laws

and precedents . Whatever may have been the feelings ofjudges

,it was not in the interests of the scribes or the

officers of the court to have cases decided summarily.

Stubborn Witnesses and those suspected of lying were madeto tell the truth by beating on the soles of the feet (bastinado) , and witnesses who were silent after this treatmentsometimes suffered the loss of their nose or ears .The Egyptian aristocracy consisted of the old feudal


chiefs, the lesser nobles, the high offi cers of state, the royalscribes, the great priesthoods, the men who had been ennobledby the king

,and the royal relatives . The feudal chiefs were

to all intents and purposes petty kings, and their powerswere only kept in check by strong kings . Egypt never possessed an ARMY in the modern sense ofthe word, for theEgyptians of the lower classes were neither fighting men norsoldiers by nature . In the earliest times the king drew hislevies from all parts ofthe country, and the weapons ofmostof these consisted of large stout sticks, like the modernnabzit, and clubs. The great nobles sent contingents ofmenarmed with bows and arrows

,the latter tipped with flint ,

shields, and rough battle-axes . At a later period such soldiersand those maintained by the king were armed with bowsand arrows

,bronze spears

,swords, daggers, and battle-axes .

As early as the Sixth dynasty Blacks from the Sadan wereemployed in fighting Pharaoh’ s battles

,and under the New

Empire many of the regular troops were Nubians. The armyofRameses III was composed of mercenaries

,for the natives

were no match for the well-armed and well-drilled foes whothreatened Egypt on all her boundaries . Egyptian peasantsand merchants made poor fighting men

,and after the death

ofRameses III the masters of Egypt were in turn the arm iesofthe Libyans

,the Blacks

,the Persians

,the Greeks

,and the

Romans . The greater number of the so-called wars of theEgyptians, beginning with Seneferu

’

s invasion of the S I‘idan,

were nothing but raids pure and simple, for the obj ect oftheirkings was loot

,slaves

,cattle

,gold

,&c. ,

which was diguified by the name of tribute . When Pharaoh extendedhis borders in any country the extension was followed bySlaughter, and wholesale destruction of property, and theburning oftowns and villages . The only Egyptian campaignwe know of that seems to have been conducted on any definiteplan was that ofRameses II against the Hittites in NorthernSyria . The Egyptian fought best behind walls, a fact wellunderstood by Usertsen III , who built the great forts in theSecond Cataract

,and by the kings who built the first forts

on the north-east frontier to guard the old caravan road



and powerful organisations,and to all intents and purposes

they directed the government ofthe country. Theoretically,as we have seen

,the king ’ s power was absolute, but practi

cally he carried out the will of the priests,for their leaders

saw the gods face to face, and talked with them, and were themediums through which they gave their commands to theirson the Pharaoh . Moreover, the priests were the reposi

tories of the learning and wisdom ofEgypt ; they composedthe liturgies and the religious texts 'wherein were enshrinedthe beliefs and mysteries of the Egyptian faith, they werethe trustees of the property of the gods

,they administered

the revenues of the temples,they superintended the mummi

fication of the dead, they devised the elaborate system offunerary ceremonies in the tomb

,and they were the stewards

of all the mysteries of heaven and earth . The high priestswere beyond doubt able and learned men

,and the religious

literature of Egypt testifies to their high moral instinctsand to their spiritual-mindedness . They practised asceticism and prepared themselves for important duties by fastingand prayer, and by abstaining from fleshly lusts, and theycleansed their bodies by sprinkling themselves with waterin which natron

,&c. , had been dissolved, and by drinking

the same and by censings with Specially prepared incense.This they did because they realised that they were the tem

porary abodes of the spirit of the Creator of the world, andthe means of communication between the gods and ancestralSpirits and the living. The high priest of Memphis

,the

Urkherphemu, or Great director of the artisans,

” and thehigh priest of Heliopo lis, the Urmau,

or Great Seer,

” andthe high priest of Thebes became

,they thought

,during the

performance of their most sacred duties,counterparts of the

gods Ptah, Temu-Ra, and Arnen .

Apart from these great temple oflicials we find attached

and a copyist of the books used in the temple services.In very large temples there were very many other priests


Who kept the apparel of the gods and dressed theirstatues on days of festival, priests of the altar, divinefathers

,

” priests of the first , second, and third order, &c.

Certain duties seem to have been performed in some of thetemples by members of the laity who were called priestsof the hour

,

” but what these duties were is not clear. Probably in the earliest times every citizen of a certain positionin his town served as watchman , or keeper, ofthe temple inhis turn for an hour.” The son of a priest was alwayselected by the colleagues of his father to a priestly office,but not necessarily to the office which his father had held.

The daughters ofthe old feudal lords of the Ancient Empirewere always priestesses ofHathor

,just as their fathers were

always priests of the local gods,but their oflice was honorary .

Under the eighteenth dynasty the services in the temple ofO Amen were augmented by many hymns

,litanies, choruses,

&c., which were sung by the shemc

'

it, or women Singers, whoaccompanied them with the rattling of sistra. These skemcitincluded all the well-bo rn women in Thebes

,and they formed

a sort of sacred karz‘

m belonging to the god Amen-Ra, thehead of which was the queen

,or first wife of the king. Dur

ing the rule of the Priest-kings of Thebes under the twentyfirst dynasty some of the ladies of the har

‘

z‘

m possessed verygreat power, and filled many offices . Thus Nesi-Khensuis actually described as the Viceroy of Nubia

,and is called

the wife of Amen-Ra and mother of the god Khensu theChild, and priestess of Amen-Ra, Nekhebet , Osiris, Hornsand Isis, and Hathor. Her daughter Nesitanebtashru heldthe position of official copyist and arranger of the hymns andmusic in the temple of Amen-Ra

,and she was also a Singer

,

perhaps a so loist,in the temple of Mut

,the female counter

part ofAmen-Ra. Her copy of the Book of the Deadis probably the work of her own hands

,and as several ofthe

compositions found in the latter part of it are not foundelsewhere, we may assume that they were composed by her.In later times the chief lady of the hae of Amen

, Whoseofficial title was neter tuat, actually usurped the functionsof the high priest of Amen

, so that the chief ecclesiastical


oflicer of the god was a woman In her was vested all thevast property of Amen

,and her influence and authority were

very great .Under the early dynasties many ofthe priests lived in thesame way as other gentlemen of their class

,and wore much

the same kind of dress, but the high priests of some of thelarge temples wore the Special insignia of their offices whenperforming very solemn or very important ceremonies .Under the New Empire the dress ofthe priests became moreelaborate and varied, but even so some of them wore tunics&c. , which were Similar in shape to those of the priests of theAncient Empire . In the papyri of the Book of the Deadthe Sem priest usually wears the leopard Skin

, or pantherSkin , which seems to have been in some way symbolic of hisoffice . In the Papyrus of Ani (Chap . XVIII) we see theSamerefand Anmutefpriests also wearing the leopard Skin .

Under the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties the priesthoods ofAmen of Thebes and RaofHeliopolis became verywealthy, owing chiefly to the rich spoil which the victorious Pharaohs brought back from ' Syria

,and the gold

which was poured into Egypt from the Sadan . But besidesthe substantial Share of the spoil which was set apart fortheir gods

,the priests made large sums of money by burying

the dead . The embalming of the dead was carried out byprofessional embalrners who were attached to the temples,and all the various obj ects employed in furnishing the tombswere provided by workmen who were directly under thecontrol of the priests . Their carpenters made the coffins,the Sledges

,the ushabtiufigures

,the coffers for the Canopic

j ars,&c. their weavers made the linen in which the dead

were swathed ; their stone masons hewed the tombs in thecemetery in the hills on the western bank their scribeswrote the funerary papyri and drafted the Inscriptions forthe coflins and the sepulchral stelae ; their metal workerssupplied the bronze vessels and figures ; their

'

lapidariescut the alabaster vases and amulets ; their farms suppliedthe beasts for sacrifice ; their apothecaries supplied theincense

,scents

,drugs

,unguents

,and oilsused in the funerary



girl. It is unlikely that the marriage ceremonies wereelaborate ; indeed it is very doubtful if there was anyceremony at all beyond a formal handing over of the girlto her future husband, and the utterance on his part of

some such simple phrase as I have taken thee,in the

presence of the parents and relatives . A feast,more or

less elaborate according to the means ofthe parents,followed

,

and then came Singing and dancing to reed-pipes and somekind of drum , in which everybody j oined, and the drinkingof very much beer. In late times

,after the influence of

the Greeks had spread throughout Egypt , the well-to-dofamilies insisted on wedding contracts being drawn upwhen their sons and daughters married.

It was more common among families who possessedestates for a man to marryn hiss ister or his niece, than astranger. The marriage of brother WIth Sism abhorrentto us, but this was not so in Egypt . One of the oldesttraditions in the land made the primitive Osiris marry hisSister Isis

,and he was said to be the father of Anubis by his

other Sister,Nephthys . The primary obj ect of brother and

sister marriages was to keep the property in the family,and

in Egypt at the present time the marriage of first cousinsis highly approved of

,because when the two fathers are

brothers it avoids the undue division of the family and thescattering of the property. Some such idea was probablyin the minds of the Ptolemies

,all of whom married either a

Sister,sometimes more than one, or a niece, for the Greeks

hated the marriage of brother and Sister. The conditionsunder which women were obtained in marriage by workmen

,

artisans,and farm labourers are unknown, but it is pro

bable that they were to all intents and purposes boughtand sold . Wealthy men maintained on their establishmentsbands ofpretty young women who were skilled dancers andplayers on the harp and pipes, and who amused theirmasters during their leisure hours with dances, songs, andinstrumental music. Sometimes members of these bandsbecame secondary Wives oftheir masters, or employers, andsometimes merely concubines. But there also existed com

DAILY LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS$05

panies of such young women who could be hired for anyentertainment where Singing and dancing were required,and about them gathered disorderly folk of both sexes .When unoccupied professionally in the houses of their hirersthey drifted to the quarter of the town where the beerhouses and eating-houses were situated, and consorted withmen of all classes .The married woman who was the mother of childrenenj oyed the greatest freedom . She ruled her house andfam ily with benevolent but despotic power, and her influenceextended far beyond the walls of her dwelling . She wentabout freely in the towns and villages, conversed with menas well as women, and, unlike the modern Egyptian woman ,she wore no veil . A son respected his father

,but he loved

his mother,and the sages of Egypt impressed upon every

boy that it was his bounden duty never to cause her painor anxiety. In the Precepts ofKhensu-hetep it is writtenWhen thou art grown up, and art married, and hast a house,never forget the pains which thou didst cost thy mother

,

nor the care which she bestowed upon thee. Never giveher cause to complain of thee, lest she lift up her hands toGod in heaven , and He hearken to her cry [and punishthee] . Similarly the husband is exhorted to treat his wifewell

,and in the Precepts of Ptahhetep (about 320 0 B .C . ) it

is written If thou wouldst be a wise man, rule thy house,and love thy wife wholly and constantly. Feed her andclothe her, love her tenderly, and fulfil her desires as longas thou livest , for she is an estate which conferreth greatreward upon her lord. Be not hard to her, for She will bemore easily moved by persuas ion than by force . Observewhat she wisheth, and that on which her mind runneth ;thereby shalt thou make her to stay in thy house . If thouresistest her will it is ruin . The honour in which the motherwas held is attested by many monuments . Thus on innumer

able sepulchral stela the nam e ofthe mother of the deceasedis given, but not that of the father, and a man was proud totrace his descent from his mother’ s side ofthe family .

It is probable that girls were betrothed when they were

20

?A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

onlya few years old , and we may assume that in all classesthey were married before they were fifteen years of age.The birth ofa child was celebrated with rejoicings, and if itsparents were well-to-do they made a feast and there weremusic and dancing . A child received a name soon afterbirth, and the day on which his name was bestowed uponhim was frequently celebrated by him in later years withrej oicings . Names were of many kinds . Sometimes thename was that of an ancestor, or of a god, and sometimesthe name of a god or king formed a part of it . Twins weresometimes called by the names of twin-gods, ag. Heru andSuti

, i.a. Horus and Set . The name often described somephysical characteristic, thus a boy was called Nekht i.a.

Strong,

” or a girl Netchemet,”i.e. Sweet pet names

were also used, ag. Mai-Sheri , i.a.

“ little cat , or Pussy .

”

Two neighbouring children might have the same name, ag.

Teta,

” but one of them would be called Teta ki,”i.e.

the other Teta.

” Often, however, the same name wasgiven to several children in the same family, or to fatherand son for several generations, and much confusion was theresult . The Egyptians attached the greatest importanceto the preservation of the name, which was considered tobe an integral part of a man, and therefore it was the dutyofevery son to take care that his father’ s name was carefullypreserved on his funerary stele and other monuments, andin his tomb . On many statues dedicated by sons to theirfathers we find cut on the pedestals, His son made hisname to live,

” and in some funerary inscriptions the deadman in enum erating his virtues states that he repaired thebroken letters in the inscription on his father’ s tomb . Toobliterate the name of a man on his monuments wasequivalent to condemning him to destruction, for no oneand no thing had being if it had no name . Hence arosethe custom of cutting out from inscriptions the namesof enemies : thus Thothmes III obliterated Hatshepset ’ sname on her monuments, and, with the View

‘

of destroyingthe god Amen , the fanatical King Amen-hetep IV had hisname out out from an untold numberofmonuments.



heats of summer, and from the glare of the waters of theinundation, and from the bitter cold of the winter morninghours between midnight and three o ’clock . It is doubtfulwhether girls in any class learned to read or to write as ageneral rule.The boys of the well-to-do were sent to school, because

most fathers hoped that their sons would become scribes,

and perhaps even rise to positions in the king’ s service.There appear to have been local village schools in Egypt ,where the elements of education were taught

,and to which

a mother sometimes brought her boy ’ s allowance for the daythree bread-cakes and two vessels of beer. The pupils workedfrom early morning until noon

,and the master never Spoiled

by sparing the rod any boy who came late persistently,or

who was lazy or inattentive . Masters and parents knew wellthat the wits of some boys could only be sharpened by theapplication of the palm stick to their backs . It is tolerablycertain that in these elementary schools the pupils learnedto read and perhaps to draw hieroglyphs, and to take downfrom dictation passages from works dealing with moralityand inculcating respect to their seniors . Whether they weremade to learn by heart passages from some standard religiousbook

,like the modern Egyptian children, who for the past

twelve hundred years have learned passages from the Kuran,is not known

, but it is very probable . Personal cleanlinessand diligence and obedience, as being acceptable to gods andmen

,were certainly taught . From the elementary schools

boys passed on to those that were maintained by the greattemples

,and perhaps also by the Government , and in these

they studied the subj ects which would qualify them foroccupation in the Civil Service of their country or in thetemples . Those who wished to be employed in the publicdepartments learned arithmetic, book-keeping, geometry,mensuration

,and for all such the possession of good hand

writing was absolutely necessary. A good knowledge notonly of hieroglyphs was required, but also of the cursive handin which accounts were kept and reports written . The pupillearned, to Writewell and to spell correctly by copying out on,

DAILY LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS 209

papyrus, or on slices of limestone or white-washed boards,

with a reed dipped in ink made oflamp black, extracts fromthe Precepts of the sages of olden time, which the masterconsidered suitable for the improvement of his mind

,morals

,

and manners . Certain passages or texts were selected forcopying with the View of improving his composition and eularging his vocabulary, and he was urged to employ oldmetaphors and allusions and archaic words, and high-flownSimiles as much as possIble. The art of letter-writing wascarefully studied also

,as well as the drafting of reports .

Students of theology, who wished to be employed in thetemples

,in addition to making themselves expert scribes,

were obliged to study the ancient works on magic, religion,mythology, medicine, astrology, &c. In bo th the elementaryschools and the secondary schools the pupils spent a gooddeal of time in gymnastics and in playing games, and it goeswithout saying that , in a country like Egypt with its greatriver and canals, most boys were good swimmers . TheEgyptian had a very real respect for learning, but it IS almostcertain that very few of the general public could either readorwrite . The art of writing he regarded with almost superstitious reverence, for it savoured of magic in his opinion .

The profession of the scribe was at all times greatly esteemed,not so much for the learning which it represented as for thewealth, and power, and high position which a truly expertscribe enj oyed.

The DRESS of the Egyptians, both of men and women, wasmade chiefly of linen for woo l was considered to be unclean .

The simplest form of dress common in the earliest periodwas the loin-cloth it was worn by all classes, and by bothsexes

,and its early form was preserved in religious cere

monial apparel down to the latest times . Attached to itsupper edge was a border which resembled a girdle or belt,and from this there hung down behind an animal ’ s tail , oran imitation of one made ofbast or leather. As time wenton the loin-cloth developed into a short shirt resembling akilt

,which sometimes proj ected in a peak above the knees .

Later the shirt was lengthened and made to cover a larger0

A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

portion of the body, and finally it reached from the breastto the knees . Sometimes a shirt was worn over the loincloth and a loose flowing garment over both, its size and

the rank or occupation of thempire the garments of the women

classesdency to wear much clothing .

arge loose sleeves and capesthe well-to-do classes . Muchvery light brown colour when

d was moderately thick, but the linen used by themust have been of exceedingly fine texture

,and

,

by the pictures of the priestesses given in papyri,

have been semi-transparent . In some periods theoth was ornamented with bands of blue or greenThe W ea r-HemEgyptians knew of some process ofhot pressing or

ironing.M

I,

Both men and women wore WIGS of various forms andshapes

,some being very full and heavy, and some relatively

short . Some men and women shaved their hair off, and someonly cropped it and cultivated masses of short curls ;many women let their hair grow and wore it in a large numberof long plaits, with or without fringes at the ends . In orderto make their hair appear more abundant than it was

,some

ladies plaited locks of goats’ hair with their own,and then

frizzed it out all round their heads . Some Sadani women atthe present day load their hair with mud mixed with castoroil and goats’ hair, and from a distance their heads look likelarge

,round baskets . As a rule men of the upper classes

Shaved their beards and moustaches, but they wore, on certainceremonial occasions, false beards, made in the characteristicpointed form , turned up in front , so dear to all Africans .The form of the heard was traditional , and was derived fromPunt

,the ancestral home of the Egyptians . AS a rule the

Egyptians wore nothing on their feet, and the use of theSANDALS only became common at a comparatively late ~

period. They were perhaps worn ceremonially by kings


A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

and lips , and allwomen ofposition stained the nails oftheirfingers and toes a reddish yellow with the juice of a plantwhich the Arabs call kinnc

'

i (henna) . The importance at

tached to the artificial beautifying of the body is proved bythe fact that after embalmment the faces ofwomen of highrank were often rouged

,and their eyelids and eyebrows

painted with antimony . A MIRROR and a FAN were carriedby ladies of fashion

,Roughnesses of the skin were removed

by rubbing with a piece ofstone something like pumice stone,

and small hairs,and probably grey hairs also

,were extracted

Eébytweezers .

he FOOD of the poorer classes consisted of coarse bread,

onions , and other vegetables , and salt . The bread was madeofmillet

,barley

,and wheat , which were ground in a hand

mill or crushed on stones the dough was made into thick,

flat cakes of various sizes,which were baked in hot ashes

or on hot stones . The commonest vegetables were onions,

beans,peas

,lentils

,cucumbers , radishes , water melons ,

leeks,garlic

,spinach

,the egg-plant

,and edible roots of the

turnip and carrot class . The straw of the millet and barleyserved as fuel . The peasants and Slaves in the Delta atevarious kinds of fish

,both fresh water and Salt water

,but in

some periods the eaters of fish were regarded as unclean ;the people of Upper Egypt probably salted and potted thelittle fish that were found in the irrigated basins

,j ust as they

do tod ay . The well-to-do classes ate animal food, i.a. theflesh of the goat , cow,

ox , gazelle , &c which was boiled or

roasted,and eaten with boiled grain or vegetables . The

water-fowl of the marshes , several kinds of geese , pigeons ,doves

,&c. ,

were commonly eaten . Animals intended forfood and geese were fattened artificially

,and the trade in

geese must have been very large . Milk was drunk in largequantities

,and cheese was a common article of food . Native

fruits were figs, dates , mulberries , grapes , &c. , and in thegardens of the wealthy foreign fruits were probably found .

Rock salt was obtained from the Western Desert , and a coarsekind came from the salt lagoons in the Delta seeds of arom atic plants probably were stewed with the meat , and made


seasoning other than salt unnecessary . The common DRINKof the country was BEER ,

of which many kinds were known .

Many kinds of wine were drunk, ag. wines made from grapes ,

dates,and honey

,and under the New Empire several foreign

wines were imported . The Egyptians must have known thatstrong intoxicants could be made from dates and grain steepedin water

,and fermented

,and as these drinks were easily

made they must have been drunk by the poorer classes inconsiderable quantities . At certain festivals all men wereexpeéted to get riotously drunk ,

and there is little doubt thattheyidid S0 . The poor man squatted on the ground and atehis food , and the rich man either lay on a mat or cushion ,or eat on a low stool . Joints and birds were torn to pieceswith

"the hand

,each man tearing off as much as he wanted .

Grain and boiled vegetables were scooped up by the righthand

,and were eaten from it . Fingers were wiped on very

thin round bread-cakes,made as large as a small pocket

handkerchief . Cakes made very rich with honey andfat

,and sometimes stuffed with aromatic seeds

,served as

sweets,

” and when the meal was ended water from a vesselwas poured over the hands of the eaters by the servants .

Water, cooled by being placed in the wind in a porous vessel,was drunk from an earthenware bottle

,and wine and beer

from bowls .The poor man had few amusements . He began his workat dawn and ended it at sunset

,and the peasant farmer was

always busy with his land . On public festivals and holidays ,ofwhich there were many

,he probably enjoyed some relaxa

tion , and then he sat in his village , played draughts , drankbeer , and talked to his friends and neighbours The Egyptian gentleman amused himself in fishing

,fowling

,and hunt

ing, and in those days when Sportsmen were few,the deserts

,

the marshes , and the river must have yielded large quantitiesofgame and fish . DANCING was a very popular amusementamong all classes , and in the village dances at least nearlyeveryone j oined . It is clear from the scenes on the monuments that several kinds of dances were known , but it isinlpossible to describe them,

for all details are wanting.


In the large towns many amusements were to be found,for

in them the population as a whole did not go to bed at sundown . On festival days acrobats of various kinds gaveexhibitions of their skill

,and professional dancers

,both male

and female,musicians

,wrestlers

,j ugglers

,conjurors

,and

every kind Of public performer vied with one another in theirefforts to please the public and gain a living .

I" The Egyptian OUSE was usually built of mud . Theof the peasant an farm labourer was a mere mud hut

,

roofed with palm leaves plastered with mud . It probablyhad an Opening high up in one of the walls to let out theacrid smoke of the cow-dung fire

,and an opening in another

that served as a doorway . The small farmhouse containedtwo or three small rooms

,one of which was used for storing

grain . The large farmhouse stood in a courtyard,along one

Side of which was a se ries of small chambers that were usedas grain bins . A flight of mud steps led to the flat roof onwhich the owner Slept on hot nights

,and on the south Side

of it was a small chamber, facing the north ,in which the

farmer sat in the evening and enjoyed the cool breeze . Thecourtyard was surrounded on all Sides by a mud wall

,in which

was a stout door that swung in a stone socket and co'

uld befastened by the pushing of a strong bolt into a deep cavityofthe wall . In the courtyard the large water-j ars were kept ,and here the grain was ground

,and the bread-cakes were

made and baked . The farmhouse itself was a one-storeyed,long

,low

,rectangular building

,the walls of which sloped

inwards towards the top . The house of the nobleman wasusually built in two storeys among trees , each flOor consisting of two series of rooms

,with the doors and openings for

light all towards the north . Sometimes the rooms occupiedthree sides of a courtyard, and a large , shady portico formedthe fourth side ; all the openings for light were near theceilings

,and wind Shafts were built in the roof. The sleep

ing rooms were in the upper storey. Near the house werethe wine and oil presses

,the store chambers for grain

,fruit ,

and vegetables,the beer-house

,the stable

,and the cattle

byres,and huts forthe use ofthe servants . In the grounds



eight inches high,which was placed under the neck

,and

which kept the head well above the cushion,in what we

should think a most uncomfortable position . In veryearly times several low stands on which to place waterbottles

,food

,&c.

,were found in good houses

,but later these

were superseded by tables of different Sizes and heights .Cavities cut in the wall were used sometimes as cupboards ,

but clothing,j ewellery

,ornaments

,and valuables generally

were kept in boxes,which served the p urpose of both

wardrobes and safes .

It has already been said that the Egypt ian regardedWRITING with almost superstitious reverence

,and this is

literally true,for he was taught that hieroglyphs were

invented by the god Thoth,in other words

,that they were

invented by one of his divine ancestors . Though theearliest written Egyptian characters known to us belong tothe predynastic period

,it was some time after the beginning

of the dynastic period before the Egyptians were able toarrange their characters in such a way as to form inscriptions . Egyptian writing exists in three forms, called HIEROGLYPHIC , HIERATIC , and DEMOTIC . Tho oldest of these ishieroglyphic or picture-writing

,which was sacred and of

divine origin,because it was used in writing down the

words of the gods . It remained in use in all periods , andwas employed chiefly for monumental purposes

,i.e. for

inscriptions on the walls of temples,tombs

,obelisks

,statues

,

sepulchral stelae,&c. Hieroglyphic writing was found to

be too elaborate for ordinary purposes,and the scribes first

modified the pictorial characters,and then abbreviated

them,and in course of time produced the cursive form of

writing called hieratic .

”Later still the scribes

,between

a thousand and six hundred years before Christ,invented

a purely conventional system of signs,based upon the

hieratic,which is called demotic .

” During the first threecenturies of the Christian Era the hieroglyphic and hieraticsystems of writing fell into disuse

,and demotic writing was

employed for most purposes . When the Egyptians embraced Christianity they decided to have written in Greek

The Rosetta S tone in the British Museum.


A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTword-sign was originally SYLLABIC . An ALPHABETIC HIEROGLYPH is a picture of an obj ect to which the sound of thefirst letter of the syllabic word-sign was given as its phoneticvalue thus the sign for mouth

,

” the syllabic word-signfor which was ra,

was called 7,and the a was dropped

,and

the Sign for mouth became the alphabetic hieroglyph withthe value of r . Alphabetic and syllabic hieroglyphs areoften used together in writing a word

,without any regard

to their ideographic values , and in such cases a pictureindicating the meaning of the word is placed after them .

Thus in the word sfent a knife,

” we use the pictures of achair-back

,a reptile

,a wave

,and a hand

,and these are

followed by a picture of a knife . The picture that followsthe word is a DETERMINATIVE

,but some pictures that

follow words determine sounds,and others determine mean

ings . The fundamental words of the Egyptian languageare African In orggjph But at a very early pen od, several

th'

éfl

wor‘dS personal pronouns m

from some Semitic*m 0 “

peOple:and-

The names of certain obj ects which they in?

A good general idea of the average Egyptian can be derivedfrom the monuments and writings that have come down tous. In the first place he was aJLQIYWLQLiElQBS man . Heworshipped God and his deified ancestors

,offera sacrifices

and offerings to the dead,and prayed at least twice daily

,

i.a. morning and evening . He believed in the resurrection

lived with '

Osiris in -

hES YPP ».and that the wicked on earth

with annihilation in the next world . Hisdeep-seated interest in religion had a veryp ractical object,“ a c “ :m m

of his spirit-body“ _ad s

“ ‘d l‘fl w v-h . Ir‘a an. “ _v fl — u r “ . v - W W 1

fut‘

urei

happiness in heaven . His conscIence was well deveJ

Ob’

eyA

Teligious, moral, and civil lawswithout question a breach of any of these he atoned for

,

not by repentance , for whiéfi therem

ié no word Ina . “ M m -‘h

DAILY LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS 2 1 9

but by the makin of offerin In all religious matters hewas sfrongly conservative, and his conservatism led himto hold at the same time beliefs that were not only inconsistent with each other

,but sometimes flatly contradictory .

In reality his religious books are fi lled with obsolete beliefs,

many of which were contradicted by his religious observances . He had a keen sense of humour and was easilypleased . He loved eating and drinking, music and dancing, andfestivals and processions

,and display of all sorts and kinds

,

and he enj oyed himself whenever an Opportunity offered .

Over and over again the living are exhorted to eat anddrink and enj oy themselves . His morality was of thehighest kind

,and he thoroughly understood his duty towards

his neighbour . He was kindly and humane, he fed thehungry

,gave drink to the thirsty

,lent a boat to the ship

wrecked man,protected the widows and orphans

,and fed

the starving animals of the desert . He loved his villageand his home

,and rej oiced when he was “ loved by his

father,praised by his mother

,and beloved by his brothers

and sisters .” He was a hard worker,as the taxes wrung

from him by tax-gatherers and priests in all periods testify .

He was intensely superstitious,and was easily duped by the

magician and the medicine man,who provided him with

Spells and incantations and amulets of all kinds . He wasslow to anger and disliked military service and war . Hisidea of heaven was the possession of a homestead in a fertiledistrict

,with streams of water and luxuriant crops of wheat

,

barley,fruit

,&c. ,

wherein he would live a life of leisuresurrounded by all those whom he had known and lovedupon earth . He had no wish to enlarge the borders of

Egypt,except for the loot which raids brought in ; he never

sought to bestow the blessings of Egyptian civilisationupon other lands

,and he never indulged in missionary

enterprises of any kind . His religious toleration was great .

He was content to serve God and Pharaoh, and he wishedabove all things to be allowed to till his land and do his ownbusiness in his own way in peace . The ideas ofthe modernfree and independent young Egyptian were unknown

220 SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

to him,and he had no national spirit

,and yet the

influence of his beliefs and religion,and literature

,and arts

and crafts on the civilisation of other nations can hardlybe overestimated . In one ofthe least known periods of theworld ’s history: hem proclaImed the deathlessness of the

”

human soul,and his country has rightly been named the

m o .‘fi fl

immortality.

”



new body, which was to live in the kingdom of Osiris . NOprocess of embalmment , however Simple, was unattended withexpense, and therefore the bodies of slaves and of the poorerclasses of the people were disposed of in the old manner.Under the third and fourth dynasties the art of embalmingdeveloped, and the dead were no longer laid on their leftsides

,but stretched out at full length on their backs . As

soon as the embalmer began to bandage the body with stripsof linen

,instead of wrapping it up in a reed mat , or in the skin

of an animal, the contracted position became impossible andhad to be abandoned.

During dynasties IV—VI the kings, and certain membersof their families, and some of the highest officials were elaborately embalmed and swathed with linen bandages beforeburial. These facts are proved by the fragmentary remainsof Menkaura (fourth dynasty) now in the British Museum ,

and by the royal mumm ies that were found in some of thePyramids of Sakkarah , and that used to be exhibited in theEgyptian Museum at Biilak in Cairo , and by the followingstatement that is cut on the front of the tomb of Sabna atAswan . Sabna

’

s father,who was called Mekhu, died, or was

killed, when he was on a mission in Nubia in the reign ofPepi II . When Sabna learned this, he set out with soldiers,and one hundred asses, and gifts for the Nubian chiefs, andin due course he reached the place where his father died

,

and found his body. He made a coflin for it , and broughtit back to Aswan, where he found the messengers , whom hehad sent to inform the king of what had happened , returningfrom Memphis with embalmers and the chief Kher-heb (seep . and with holy oil and linen , and all the materialsnecessary for embalming Mekhu

’

s body . Thus we havedefinite proof that under the Sixth dynasty there existed atMemphis a body of professional embalmers of the dead

,and

,

as they went to remote Aswan by the king’ s orders to embalm

Mekhu, we may conclude that they went to other parts of

the country to embalm the bodies of the royal friends towhich the king was pleased to grant burial . And we maynote the filial piety that made Sabua to travel far into Nubia

FUNERARY CEREMONIES 223

and bring back his father’ s body for embalmment, whereondepended its resurrection .

Under the twelfth dynasty the art of embalming reacheda very high pitch of perfection . They found a way of removing the flesh from the body so thoroughly that themummies 1 of this period often consist of little more thanbones and sinews . The internal organs, which in the earliesttimes seem to have been thrown away, or wrapped in linencloths smeared with preservative unguents, &c.

, were at thisperiod carefully embalmed and placed in four vessels

,com

monly called Canopic j ars ,” made of stone, or earthenware,

orwood . Each j ar represented one of the four sons of Horus,who embalmed his father Osiris, and had a cover made inthe form of the head of that god these four sons of Horuswere confounded with four very much older Horus-gods

,

who presided over the four quarters of the world and represented the four cardinal points . The four embalm ing godswere called Mesta, Hapi , Tuamutef, and e hsenuf, and hadthe heads of a man , a dog-headed ape , a j ackal , and a hawkrespectively . The organsplaced in the j ars were the stomachand large intestines

,the small intestines , the heart and lungs,

and the liver and gall bladder. When the j ars were filledthe covers were fastened on , and all four were put in a boxthat contained four cavities and was mounted on a sledge.The goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Serqet were associated with the four sons of Horus in protecting the contentsof the four j ars, and copies of the spells which they recited,and which are often cut in hieroglyphs on the j ars

,form part

ofthe CLIst Chapter of the Theban Book of the Dead . Thebox containing the Canopic j ars is often seen in pictures ofthe funeral procession being drawn along behind the coffin .

Under the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties the art ofembalming the dead culminated . The wealth of Egyp t wasat this time so great , and all classes of people were so prosperons, that many were able to afford the luxury of embalmment for their relatives . The mummies of kings and high

1 The word mummy is derived from the name ofthe substance,mz'

imya,i.a. bitumen, which in late times was used in embalming the body.


officials were made and bandaged with great skill, and the factthat many mummies ofthis period have come down to uS inthe most perfect state ofpreservation proves how efficient theembalmers were thirty-five centuries ago . If a good specimen be unrolled it will be found that every toe and everyfinger has been bandaged separately, and that from first tolast the amount of linen required for swathings, pledgets,pads

,and sheets for the final coverings is very large indeed .

The unguents and the spices, e.g. myrrh, cassia, &c.,which

were brought from foreign parts , were very expensive items,and it is clear that only the wealthy could pay for high-classembahning, to say nothing of the elaborate funerary fum iture for the tomb and the tomb itself. Herodotus mentionsthree kinds of embalming, and Diodorus, who also refers tothree kinds

,says that the first cost a talent of Silver (about

the second twenty minae (about and that thecost of the third kind was nominal. In the first kind thebrain was extracted through the nose, and the viscera wereremoved through a hole cut in the left Side of the body thechoicest unguents and medicaments were then used in treating the body

,which , having been sewn up , was steeped in

natron for seventy days, and then bandaged and put in acoffin . In the second kind the treatment of the body wasmuch less elaborate, and very few expensive medicamentswere used in the third kind little more was done to the bodythan steep it in natron for seventy days . There must havebeen many poor folk who could not afford even this treatment for their dead ; for these the evisceration and dryingof the body in the sun would probably suffice . Under thelater dynasties bodies were embalmed by being steeped inbitumen

,and instances are recorded of the dead being pre

served in honey,e.g. Alexander the Great . The Greek and

Roman settlers in Egypt often had their dead embalmed inthe Egyptian way, as had some of the Egyptian Christians,or Copts, who also preserved many of the funerary customsoftheir non-Christian ancestors . It is doubtful if embalmingwas generally practised after the third century A .D .

Whatever may have been the views held by the Egyptians



Changed greatly in the minds of the Egyptians,and it then

seems to have been regarded as a sort ofbenevolent guardianangel. The BA was

, the heart or animal-soul,and the

KHU was the spirit-soul, and together they formed thedual-soul, the original conception of which is African . Theseat of the Ba was the heart , and it possessed a KHAIBIT,

or Shadow another essentially African conception,and

was very intImately connected with the KA . The Shadowleft the body with the Ka and the dual-soul

,and Shared the

fate of the Ba. The Ba returned to the earth and oftenvisited the body in the tomb ; this is proved by severaldrawings on funerary papyri in which the Ba, in the formof a man-headed hawk, is seen flying down the pit of thetomb and hovering over the mummy. Often it perched ona tree

,which was probably planted specially for its use , as

we see from the following extract from the Stele of NekhtMenu May they (the gods) permit me to go into andcome out from my tomb . May my maj esty refresh itsSHADOW. May I drink water out ofmy cistern each day .

May allmy limbs flourish . May the Nile give me bread andgreen herbs of every kind in their season . May I pass overmy estate daily . May my Ba alight upon the branches ofthe trees which I have planted . May I refresh myself undermy sycamore-fig trees and eat of the food which they give .

May I possess my mouth wherewith to speak like'

theShemsu Heru (i.a. the Followers of Horus) . May I comeforth out of heaven and descend upon the earth . Let menot be imprisoned by the way. Let there not be doneunto me what my Ka hateth, and let not my Ba be heldin restraint .”

Often the Ba used the inscribed stele in the tomb as aresting-place, and the Egyptians may have thought , likethe Chinese

,that souls lived in the stelae. A good example

ofthe Ba resting on the stele is supplied by a painted woodenfunerary tablet in the British Museum (No . Severalof the pyramids at Meroe still exhibit the little cavity, witha stone ledge

,which in one face, near the top, was specially

made forthe soul ofthedead kingtoslight UPC?" it same


to visit its body under the pyramid . In many parts of

Africa at the present day the natives, when making a tomb ,make a small shaft leading to the surface from the actualcavity in which the body lies, so that the soul may pass upand down it whenever it pleases .What forms were taken by the Ba and the Khu in theOther World is not known . The Ba, as we have seen

,

is represented as a man-headed hawk,and the Khu by a

bird of the heron class , but they cannot have appeared inheaven in these forms . In papyri and on stelae the blessedare given the forms of human beings

,and are arrayed in

fine apparel , and wear necklaces, pectorals , armlets, bracelets

,and anklets, and white sandals . This proves that

the Egyptians believed that the form of body given to theblessed at their resurrection was that of the mortal bodywhich they had had in this world . But Whether the resurrection body was believed to be a transformed mortalbody, or an emanation from it , the texts do not help us todecide . That the future life of a man was believed todepend upon the preservation of the physical body in acomplete form is beyond question .

Whilst the body of a royal personage or man or womanof high rank was being embalmed a p riest stood by andwatched the process . As each bandage was applied and ateach anointing of the limbs he recited a spell , or, as weshould say,

prayer, the obj ect of which was to place themembers under the protection of the gods and goddesses

,

and to make the spirits of the Oils and drugs operate withthe best possible results .1 The names of the divine protectors of the members of the dead are enumerated in

.

Chapter XLII of the Book of the Dead . In addition tothese prayers the various parts and internal organs of thebody were protected by a series of amulets, each of whichhad its appointed place . These were made of gold, gildedwood or wax

,valuable stones of various kinds, ag. carnelian ,

lapis-lazuli, haematite, mother-oi-emerald, porcelain , glass

1 S pecimens Ofthese will be found in the companion work on EgyptianLiterature, p. 104 .

228 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTpaste, &c. , and were placed either directly on , or inside, .

the body, or laid between the folds of the linen swathings.

The number of amulets so employed varies . Frequentlythey are four in number, and consist of figures of the foursons of Horus made of wax, or porcelain

,or glass . From

the twentieth dynasty onwards as many as forty amuletsare found on one mummy, and in the Ptolemaic Period atradition was current that the body of Os iris had been protected by one hundred and four amulets . Perhaps themost important of all such amulets was the large greenbasalt scarab , on the base of which was cut Chapter XXXBof

‘

the Book of the Dead, which was placed inside the bodyunder the breast, or upon it outside . In many cases asimple scarab mounted in a ring, and worn on one of thefingers of the left hand, took the place of the large heartscarab .

” Sometimes a long roll of papyrus inscribed withnumerous chapters from the Book of the Dead was placedby the side of the body or laid between its legs before thefinal bandaging, and such a roll was regarded as a verygreat protection for the dead. The bandages of many ofthe kings of the eighteenth dynasty, eg . Amen-hetep I andThothmes III , were covered with texts from the Book of

the Dead written in black ink , and the mummy of thepriestess Hent-meht, now in the British Museum, whenfound was wrapped entirely in papyrus swathings inscribedwith a hieratic version of the Book of the Dead.

The decorating ofmummies began under the influence ofthe priests of Amen . In olden times the outer covering of

a mummy consisted of a sheet of flaxen cloth, or linen of

rather fine texture,which was kept in its place by one per

pendicular and three horizontal linen bands in later timesa sheet of salmon-coloured cloth formed the final covering.

Under the twentieth or twenty-first dynasty mummies beganto be enclosed within cases made of linen stiffened with limeplaster

,which were moulded to the outlines of the mummy,

and then laced up the back . On the fronts were p aintedreligious and mythological scenes, in which the deceased isseen adoring the gods or Sitting with them, magical symbols,



large portions of these works were incorporated. Sometime between the twelfth and the eighteenth dynasties itbecame customary to make coffins in the form of a man

,

and to provide them with models of human faces . Thecoffins of the eighteenth dynasty are usually brightlypainted and decorated , and those of the priests and priestessesofAmen are covered with religious and mythological scenes

,

many of them being of great interest . The mummies of

some kings,queens

,and people of high rank were provided

with a stone or wooden sarcophagus and two inner woodencoffins ,

usually covered inside and out with characteristiccoloured drawings and texts . Some of the inner coffinsare beautifully inlaid with hieroglyphs made of colouredglass paste, and with figures of the gods also made of glasspaste . Many of the inner coffins of the priests and priestessesofAmen bear on the front the prenomen, or throne name, ofAmen-hetep I , the founder of the priesthood of Amen , andone of the greatest benefactors of the order. The coffins ofthe twenty-first dynasty do not exhibit such good workas that of the three preceding dynasties, but their decoration is quite characteristic, and illustrates the influence of

the cult of Amen upon funerary artistic work . During thefollowing dynasties the art of coffin making and decoratingdecayed, and We no longer find the careful workmanship ofan older period . The form of the cohin is much less exact

,

the colours are more crude, and the artistic work is of apoor character. Many coflins have a plinth up the backto resemble the Tet of Osiris, and on the insides large figuresof the goddesses Nut , Hathor, and Amentet are painted"

.

All man-Shaped coffins intended for the mummies of menhad beards attached to the faces all the beards were moreor less pointed, and were intended to represent the characteristic beards of those traditional ancestors of the Egyptianswho cam e from Punt in the Egyptian Sudan . After thetwenty-sixth dynasty wooden coffins are very large andbadly made, and it is evident that the painted scenes andinscriptions were executed by unskilled workmen in a hurry.

On the other hand, many handsome well-cut and polished


limestone and granite man-shaped coffins of this periodprove that some skilled funerary masons still survived . Themassive stone sarcophagi of this period, which have beenfound chiefly in Lower Egypt

,are very fine , and those

intended for royal personages,or great priestly officials,

are beautifully decorated on the inside with large numbersoffigures of the gods carefully cut and polished , and on theoutsides with scenes and hieroglyphic texts from the BookAm Tuat . In the Graeco-Roman period coffins are rectangular in shape , and the texts upon them are usually extracts from late funerary compositions based upon the Bookof the Dead . A new kind of sarcophagus also came intouse . A large rectangular board was prepared, about 7 or 8

feet long and 2 or 3 feet broad, and having been painted withfigures of the gods and sacred symbols

,the mummy was

laid upon it . Over it was then placed a deep, rectangularvaulted cover

,with an upright post at each corner

,and the

ends of the four uprights sank into holes specially cut forthem in the board on which the mummy lay. The outsideofthe cover was painted with figures ofthe god s and sacredanimals worshipped at this period, and on the frameworkhieroglyphic inscriptions were cut . The coffins and sarcophagi of this period had to be made very large, becausethe art of making small

,well-proportioned mummies had

died out , and the large, shapeless bundles which mummieshad now become would not fit coffins of the ordinary size .

In the early centuries of the Christian era the inscriptioncontaining the name and genealogy of the deceased is oftenin Greek , and among the figures ofthe gods are to be foundthose of the gods of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, and of

the Thirty-six Dekan Stars , besides several which have notbeen satisfactorily identified .

Having briefly described the making of various kindsofmummies, and the principal kinds of coflins in which theywere placed

,the kinds of graves and tombs to which they

were finally consigned must now be mentioned . The earliestgraves in Egypt are shallow hollows dug in the ground, largeenough to hold the skeleton or the body

,whether buried


lying at full length on its back, or on its side with the kneesup to the chin ; the offerings made to the dead in theearliest times were probably laid on the grave . What theearliest royal tombs were like is not known , but the kingsof the first dynasty were buried in tombs of very considerable size . Thus the tomb of King Ah a at Nakadah in UpperEgypt was 1 75 feet long and 88 feet wide it contained twentyone chambers

,and the middle chamber of the middle row

was probably the mummy chamber. It was built of unbakedbricks

,and mud was used for mortar. Among its ruins

were broken marble and earthenware vessels, flints, redware vases, and many miscellaneous obj ects, among thembeing the inscribed ivory plaque that has been said to contain the original form of the name of~ Mena (Menes) , thefirst dynastic king of Egypt . A remarkable royal tomb of

the third dynasty is that of King Tcheser at Bét Khallaf inUpperEgypt . The portion of the building above ground is26 feet high , 278 feet long, and 1 46 feet wide ; from thetop of it stairs lead down to the chambers, which are 80feet below the surface of the ground, and which , whenexcavated

,were found to contain wine j ars and large

numbers of broken stone vessels of various shapes andkinds . This same king built another tomb for himself atSakkarah in the form of an oblong pyramid, with six steps,about 20 0 feet high, the north and south sides at the basebeing each 352 feet long, and the east and west Sides beingeach 396 feet long. It contains many chambers

,several

ofwhich were beautifully decorated, but the king’s mummy

was not buried in this pyramid .

Under the fourth dynasty the most stupendous of allthe Egyptian Royal Tombs were built , namely, the pyramidsofKhufu, Khafra,

and Menkaura, commonly known as thePyramids of Gizah . The stones for build n them wereobtained in the quarries of Tarah , on the east bank of theNile

,about eight miles from the site of the pyramids . They

were taken down to the Nile and ferried across in large,flat

bottomed barges,and having been unloaded from the barges

,

theywere dragged on Sledges up the road to the rocky plateau



of sandstone or alabaster, and two obelisks, or two standsfor offerings . Hewn in one of the walls is a long

,narrow

hollow called a serdab, in which the Ka statue of the deadman was placed ; it communicates with the chamber bymeans of a very narrow passage

,through which the smell

of the offerings and sacrifices was supposed to reach thisfigure . The depth of the pit in the mastabah tomb variesfrom 40 to 80 feet . The insides of the walls of the mastabah chambers are often decorated with painted scenesillustrating events in the life of the dead man

,agricultural

Operations on his estates,the performance of funeral cere

monies, the celebration oi religious festivals,the transport

of funerary offerings to the tomb,&c. These scenes were

painted, no doubt , during the lifetime of the owner of thetomb, and they are most valuable sources of informationabout the manners and customs of the people in thatremote epoch . The art of building both pyramids andmastabahs attained its highest level under the fourthdynasty

,but shortly afterwards decay set in, and sepulchral

work of all kinds became inferior both as regards designand execution . Under the sixth dynasty pyramids becamesmall relatively, and few -which contain religious texts,with the exception of those of Unas

,Teta

,Pepi I

, Merenra,and Pepi II , are of interest .In all succeeding periods the tombs made for kings andnoblemen consist of a hall for offerings, a pit or corridorleading directly to the mummy chamber, and a mummychamber. Under the twelfth dynasty the tombs of thewealthy often took the form of a small pyramid about 30feet high

,which rested on a brick base a few feet in height

the mummy was buried either in a cavity in the masonry,or in a small chamber under the building . Sometimes thepyramidal part of the tomb rests upon a rectangularchamber with walls Sloping inwards

,after the manner of a

mastabah . In some places, e.g. Beni Hasan and Aswan,large and fine tombs were hewn by feudal fam ilies high upin the sides of the limestone or sandstone hills, tier abovetier

,and each of these consisted of the offering chamber,


the pit , and the mummy chamber. The coffins and sarcophagi were dragged

_up an inclined plane made of stones

with steps running up the middle of it from bottom to topfor the use of those who did the hauling ; on each sideof the steps the face of the inclined plane was carefullysmoothed so that Sledges might move along upwards withoutdifficulty. The only complete example of such a stairway now in Egypt is found at Aswan. Many tombs ofthis period are decorated with long series of scenes in whichthe principal events in the lives ofthose for whom they weremade are represented

,and these throw great light upon the

manners and customs ofthe Egyptians . Many of them alsocontain biographies of the dead, cut or painted in hieroglyphs

,which are of the greatest value because of the

historical information contained in them .

The tombs of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties,both royal and private, have all the essential characteristicsof those of the earlier periods, but in detail they vary verymuch . The largest and finest of them all are the tombs ofthe kings that lie in two valleys ofWestern Thebes, and theoldest royal tomb is that of Thothmes I . As the wealthof the dynasty increased the tombs grow larger and larger,and the mummy chamber is hewn deeper and deeper in themountain . The corridors are of increased length, and tothem are added numerous chambers, the exact purpose ofwhich is not very clear, but many of them must have beenused by the priests when performing the ceremonies connected with the worship of the dead kings . The walls ofthe corridors and chambers are decorated with figures of

gods, often beautifully drawn and painted , and with thescenes and descriptive texts of two illustrated guidesto the Other World, viz . , the Book AM TUAT and the BOOKOF GATES . In the Hall of the tomb of Thothmes II I acomplete Copy of the text of the former work written inhieratic covers the walls . In the tomb ofSeti I the greater

portion of each of these works is given , as well as the textof the Praisings of Ra,

” and of several mythologicallegends, all in hieroglyphs, and large coloured figures of the


gods . In the tomb of Amen-hetep II are still to be seen thebod ies of two of the wives of the king, who either werestrangled or committed suicide when their lord was laidin the tomb .

The tombs of the nobles of the period,

' though not so

large, are equally interesting, and many of them supplymost valuable historical information . The wall paintingsillustrate events of importance in the lives of the men forwhom they were made

,especially those that were calculated

to impress the visitor to the tombs with a sense of theirgreatness and power. Thus the officer who was over thetribute is seen receiving gold

,silver

,precious stones

,leo

pard Skins,chairs, beds, ostrich feathers, &c. from the

Sadani envoys, and gifts of vases and other products of

the craftsman’s skill from the envoys from Western Asia .

The inscriptions in some tombs are far more valuablethan the pictures, especially those that describe the worksof the great architects, sculptors, and overseers of works .

who planned the buildings,and decorated the temple -oi

Amen with gold,silver

,bronze

,and precious stones, and

set up the magnificent obelisks and statues, and madeThebes under the eighteenth dynasty one of the mostsplendid cities in the world . AS the wealth of Thebesdeclined funerary art declined also , and though royal andprivate tombs on a large scale were built under the nineteenthand twentieth dynasties the work of both sculptor andpainter is poor and careless . The spirit of Egyptianfunerary art was dead

,and the gracefulness of the hiero

glyphic characters had departed . Under the twenty-Sixthdynasty when

,through the influence of the Saite kings,

attempts were made to revive the art ofthe early dynasties,numerous tombs were built according to ancient plans, butthey and the sarcophagi and other furniture in them lackthe Simplicity and dignity of the ancient models. In theGraeco Roman Period the general plan and arrangement ofthe tomb changed greatly, the result probably ofbeliefs thatwere not of Egyptian origin .

We may now return to the mummy. When the embalm



had been slaughtered, and the heart and right fore leg of

the bull (or ox or cow) were presented to the mouth of themummy . Various kinds ofWines, beers, and other articlesoffood were next presented and the words which the priestpronounced as he presented each were supposed to transform it into the hidden and secret body of Osiris, on whichthe gods and the spirits and souls of the righteous lived.

When the dead man had partaken of these offerings bymeans of some mysterious and magical process

,the resur

rection of his spirit-body was supposed to have been effected.

And when his family and kinsmen ate it this transformed food became to them a means of communion withtheir ancestors and with all the divine beings among whomthey lived ; and for a season at least it made themdivine also .

When all the ceremonies were ended the mummy waslaid in the coffin and taken into the tomb and placed in thesarcophagus already there

,and very Special means were

taken to protect it and to provide its KA with food . Oneof the most important ceremonies performed to protect itis described in Chapter CXXXVIIA of the Theban Recensionof the Book of the Dead . Four figures

,each ofwhich had

one of the names of the Four Pillars,or Sons

,of Horus

written upon its shoulder,held in their hands lighted torches

made of a special kind of cloth dipped in Libyan unguent,and after they had been burning for some time each wasextinguished in an earthenware vessel that was filled withthe milk of a white cow . The obj ect of this ceremony wasto make the dead man imperishable, and to make hisheart soul to come forth from his body

,and to strengthen

the Spirit soul,and to make it to flourish like Osiris for

ever and ever,and to make the dead man to assume the

form of Osiris in the eyes of all the dwellers in the OtherWorld . When this ceremony was performed no one exceptthe ministrant was to be present , save perhaps the fatheror son of the dead man

,for it was an exceedingly great

mystery of Amentet,” and it was a type of the mysteries

of the Land of the God .

” In each wall ofthe tomb was a


cavity,wherein was placed a powerful amulet that prevented

hostile fiends and devils from approaching the walls . Inthe west wall a crystal Tet

,mounted on a mud brick

,was

placed,facing the east . In the east wall a figure of Anubis

,

made of mud and incense and mounted on a mud brick,

was placed,facing the west . In the south wall a reed

filled . with incense,and smeared with pitch and lighted

,

and mounted on a mud brick,was placed

,facing the north .

In the north wall a palm-wood figure of a man seven fingershigh

,mounted on a mud brick

,was placed

,facing the south .

Each brick was inscribed with a special formula,and when

the four bricks,&c. had been placed in their places the

cavities were walled up . This ceremony was only effectualwhen performed by a holy man

,who was ceremonially

clean,and who had eaten neither meat nor fish

,nor had had

intercourse with women . The rubric referring to the palmwood figure orders the priest to open its mouth

,

”i.a. to

perform on it on behalf of the dead the very ancient ceremony that was believed to restore to him all the naturalfunctions of the body .

The offerings of meat,drink

,fruit

,flowers , unguents, &c. ,

which the living were obliged to bring regularly to the tomb,were provided

,in the case of kings and members of royal

families and the old feudal lords and noblemen , by endowments, and in early times the revenues of certain lands andfarms were settled upon tombs in perpetuity . But suchendowments were often alienated

,and often came to an

end through some perfectly legitimate cause, and then thekinsfolk of the dead were obliged to provide the offeringsnecessary at their own expense . Every pious man felt itto be his duty to do all in his power to maintain the livesof his ancestors in the Other World ,

and this could onlybe done by presenting offerings to their tombs . Moreover,the giving of offerings procured for the giver the favourof the gods

,and he not only accumulated credit in heaven

by his piety,but received the gifts ofhealth and prosperity

upon earth . And what a man did for his father his son

would do for him . Now experience Showed the Egyptian


that very large numbers of tombs were soon neglectedthe living

,who not only failed to bring offerings to

dead,but who also allowed the funerary chapels to fall

into ruin . To avoid the terrible effects of such n eglectthe help of religious magicians was called in . The priestcomposed a formula in which the Earth-god Keb, or Anpu

(Anubis) , or Osiris, or any other god who at that time wasconsidered to be a god of the dead

,was called upon to

provide the dead man with cakes and'

ale,and oxen and geese,

and unguents, in short , with every thing which he needed .

This formula was cut or painted on sepulchral stelae in all

periods and on the wooden figures , coffers, &c that wereplaced in the tomb . When the dead man in the tombfound that offerings were not brought to him

,it was in

tended . that this formula should be recited by him as aword of power

,and as he recited it men believed that the

offerings mentioned in the spell actually appeared in thetomb. The same result was supposed to be brought aboutby any visitor to the tomb who recited the formula thatwas written on the stele in it . The collective name forsepulchral offerings was pert kkeru ,

i.a. things whichappear at the word .

” The formula mentioned above wasfrom the fourth dynasty onwards preced ed by the wordsNesu ta hetep,

meaning the King gives an offering .

” Theywere cut in tombs and on stelm first of all when the kinggave permission for the bodies of his friends to be buriedin tombs

,and when he sent an offering as a contribution

towards the funeral feast . As time went on and burialsin tombs became common in all parts of Egypt

,it was

obvious that the king could not send gifts for every funeralfeast celebrated in the land . But the innate conservatismofthe Egyptian made him continue to prepare his sepulchralword of power with the wordsN8314 ta hetep for many centuriesafter they had ceased to have any meaning .

The worship of the dead was one of the chief characteristics of the Egyptian Religion

,and it expressed itself

by the gift of funerary offerings . The worship of the gods

seems to have been of secondary importance, for all the


CHAPTER X

EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY

THE primitive inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile probablydivided the year into two seasons

,Summer and Winter .

As time went on they found it to be absolutely necessaryfor successful agricultural operations to know the periodsofthe year in which to expect the inundation

,and with this

obj ect in View they probably tried to make use of the periodof the moon . They soon discovered,

however,that the

moon was very little or no use for this purpose,because her

periods do not divide the year with exactitude . At someperiod

,probably before the rule

'

of the dynastic kings , theycame to the conclusion that the year contained 360 days ,which they divided into twelve months

,each containing

30 days, and so made a calendar . Some think that theadoption of this calendar by the Egyptians took placeabout 4241 B .C . A little experience showed the Egyptiansthat the year of 360 days was too short , and they thereforeadded five days more to it

,thus making their year to contain

365 days . The year of 360 days was divided into threeseasons called Akhet, Pert , and Shemu ,

which began aboutour July 1 9,

November 1 5, and March 1 5 respectively.

The five days added yearly were called the 5 days overthe year . But as the true year contains nearly 36si daysthe Egyptians found that their year was practically a dayShort of the true year every fourth year . And as time wenton their year would work backwards until at length thesummer of their calendar would coincide with the winterof the true year, and the winter with the summer . TheEgyptians were far too skilful agriculturists to allow the

242

EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY 243

shortness of their year of 365 days to upset their farmingplans

,and it is only fair to assume that they had some

rough-and-ready,though sure

,ways of knowing the right

time for sowing their fields . Some think that they wereacquainted with the SOTHIC YEAR, t.e. the year whichbegan on the day when Sothis, or the Dog Star (Sirius) ,rose with the sun

,i.a. on July 1 9 or 20 ,

but there is no evidencethat the early dynastic Egyptians knew anything about theSothic Period (i.e. the length of time between two risingsof Sothis with the sun

,or 1 460 Sothic years , each con

taining 3651 days , or 1 46 1 true, i.e. solar years) , or thatthey ever made

,or were capable of making , the elaborate

calculations which the use of the Sothic Period would havenecessitated .

Whether the Egyptians were acquainted with the SothicPeriod or not matters little

,for this Period is useless in

assisting us to assign a date to the beginnings of Egyptiancivilisation

,and the existing Egyptian monuments do not

help us, as the following facts will Show . The King-List

ofAbydos contains 76 names of kings , but we know thatmany other kings reigned during the first eighteen dynastiesbesides those it mentions . The Tablet of Sakkarah contains

50 names , and, like the King-List of Abydos, it does notgive the lengths of the reigns of the kings whose namesoccur on it . The Royal Papyrus of Turin (written about1 500 B .C.) contained about 30 0 names of kings , and thenumber of years of the reign of each

,but

,as many parts of

it are wanting,it does not enable us to arrive at a definite

conclusion as to the total of the years of the reigns of thekings whose names appeared in it . Manetho ’s King-Listis only known from copies ofit made hundreds of years afterhis death

,and these copies do not agree in their statements .

Thus one version says that 561 kings reigned in 5524 years ,and another gives the number of kings as 36 1 ,

and theirtotal length ofreigns as 4480 or 4780 years l So long as thenumber of kings is unknown

,and the order in which each

succeeded is unknown , and the number of years which eachreigned is unknown

,it will be impossible to make up a


complete scheme of Egyptian Chronology,and this is the

state of the case . The reason is that the Egyptians neverwrote history in our sense ofthe word .

In predynastic times several kings probably reigned atthe same time

,each in his own district or petty kingdom .

After the union of the South and the North under the kingwhom the Greeks called Menes

,there were long intervals

during which Egypt had only one king , but as soon as astrong king died

,or a dynasty came to an end

,one king , or

more,at once appeared in each of the two great divisions

of the country,and in times of anarchy the events of the

predynastic period repeated themselves,for the great

nobles promptly assumed the title of king,and every petty

chief asserted his independence, and made war on h isneighbour how and when he pleased . It is quite impossibleto write the history of Dynasties VII—X,

and DynastiesXIII—XVII

,although the names of scores of kings of these

dynasties are known,and every system ofchronology dealing

with these periods is purely theoretical. Even the order ofsuccession of some ofthe best-known kings is uncertain , andthis must always remain so

,for very few kings of Egypt

cared to perpetuate in any way the memory of the deedsof their predecessors .

' There was“

no common era by whicheither king or subj ect reckoned each king made his own era

,

and every event was dated by the years ofhis reign .

At the present time the dates proposed by Egyptologistsfor the reign of Menes

,or the first dynastic king of Egypt

,

whatever his name may have been , are 5869, 570 2 , 561 3,

50 04 , 440 0 ,and 331 5 B .C. ,

that is to say,there is a difference

of more than 250 0 years between the highest and the lowestcomputations With these facts before them many readerswill no doubt be inclined to distrust any and every statementthey read on Egyptian chronology

,but this is unnecessary

,

for all these computations are quite arbitrary . All theevidence now available goes to Show that the civilisation of

Egypt is very,very ancient

,and that , from its beginning

to the time when we have certain knowledge of it, manycenturies must have elapsed . And, as indicating the exist


WORKS ON EGYPTIAN HISTORY,

RELIGION,ETC.

AMELINEAU , E .—Les nouvelles Fouilles d

’

Abydos . 4 vols .Paris, 1 899 .

Tombeau d ’

Osiris . Paris, 1 899 .

BIRCH, S .—His ed ition of Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians.

London, 1 878 .

BIS SUNG , F. W. VON .—Geschichte Aegyptens im Umriss .

Berlin, 1 90 4 .

Der Antheil d er aegyptische Kunst am Kunstleben derVolker . Munich, 1 9 1 2 .

DenkmalerAegyptisches S ku lptur. Le ipzig, 1 90 8 .

BORCHARDT, L .— D ie Aegyptische Pflanz ensaule . Berlin, 1 897 .

BREASTED, H.-A History of Egypt . London, 1 90 6 .

A History of the Ancient Egyptians . London,1 9 1 2 .

Ancient Records— Egypt . Ch icago, 1 90 6 .

BRUGSCH,E . and BOU R IANT, U .

— Le L ivre d es Rois . Cairo, 1 887 .

BRUGSCH, H.— Geschichte Aegyptens . Leipzig, 1 897 . [English

translation, A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs .London,

D ictionnaire Géograph ique . Le ipzig, 1 879 .

D ie Aegyptologie . L eipzig,1 89 1 .

Religion and Mythologie . Le ip z ig, 1 885 .

BUDGE , E . A .W.— A History ofEgypt . 8 vols . London

, 1 90 2 .

Th e Book ofthe Kings ofEgypt . London, 1 90 8 .

The Egyptian Sudan . 2 vols . London, 1 90 7.

Annals ofNubian Kings . London, 1 9 1 1 .

Th e Gods of the Egyptians . London, 1 90 4 .

Osiris and the Egyp tian Resurrection . London, 1 9 1 1 .

Egyp tian Religion . London, 1 899 .

Egyptian Magic. London, 1 899 .

Legends of the Gods . London, 1 9 1 1 .

246

WORKS ON EGYPTIAN HISTORY, ETC.

CAPART, J .— Les Debuts de l’Art en Egypte . Brussels, 1 90 9 .

L’

Art Egyptien . Brussels, 1 90 9 .

CHOISY, A .

—L’

Art de batir chez les Egyptiens . Paris, 1 90 4 .

DIODORUS S ICULU S .— Th e section on Egyp t .

DUEM ICHEN , E .— Geograph ie d es altenAegyptens . Berlin, I 887 .

ELL IOT SMITH, G .— Archaeological Survey of Nubia . Cairo,

1 9 1 0 .

Th e Ancient Egyptians . London, 1 9 1 1 .

ERMAN,AD .

—Aegypten und Aegyptischen Leben im Altertum ,

Tiibingen ,1 885 . [English translation byH. M . T irard .

London,D ie aegyptische Religion . Berlin, 1 90 5 . [English transla

tion byA . S . Griffith . London,FIRTH, C. M .

— Archaeological Survey ofNubia. Cairo, 1 9 1 2 .

FOUCART, G .—Histoire d es Religions . Paris, 1 9 1 2 .

Histoire de l’ordre lotiforme . Paris, 1 897 .

GAUTHIER, G .— Le L ivre des Ro is d ’Egypte. Cairo, 1 90 7 .

GRIFFITH, F . LL .

—Karan0g. London, 1 9 1 2 .

HALL , H. R .— AncientHistory ofthe Near East . London, 1 9 1 3 .

HERODOTU S .— The S econd Book . Egyp t .

HOPFNE R, T.

— DerThierkult der alten Aegypter. Vienna, 1 9 1 4 .

JEQU IER ,G .

— Histo ire de la C ivilisation Egyptienne . Paris[no date] .

Decoration Egyptienne . Paris, 1 9 1 1 .

LEFEBURE , E .— Rites Egyptiens . Paris, 1 890 .

LEPS IU S, R .— KOnigsbuch . Berlin

,1 858 .

L IEBLE IN , J .—Recherches sur l

’Histo ire de l ’ancienne Egypte .

Le ipzig, 1 9 1 0— 1 1 .

Recherches sur la Chronologie . Christiania, 1 873 .

LORET, V .— L

’Egypte au temps des Pharaons . Paris, 1 889 .

MAHAFFY, J . P .— The Ptolemaic Dynasty. London, 1 899 .


MASPERO, G .— Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l

’

Orient .

6th ed ition . 1 90 4 .

Au Temps de Ramses . Paris, 1 9 1 0 .

Histo ire Ancienne des Peuples de l ’orient Classique1 . Les Origines (Egypt and Chaldea) . Paris, 1 895 .

2 . Les Premieres Melees . Paris, 1 897.

3 . Les Empires . Paris, 1 899 .

English translations of the above by M . L . McClure underthe titles of The Dawn of Civilisation , The S truggle ofthe Nations and The Passing of the Empires, appearedin London In 1 894 , 1 896 ,

1 90 0 ,respectively.

L’

Archéologie Egyp tienne . Paris, 1 90 6 .

Egyp te (in Ars Una series) . Paris, 1 9 1 2 .

Etudes de Mythologie . Paris, 1 893.

MEYER, E .—Geschichte des alten Aegyptens . Berl in, 1 887 .

Aegyptische Chronologie . Berlin, 1 90 4 .

Geschich te des Altertums. S tuttgart, 1 90 9 .

M ILNE, J. G .— Egypt under Roman Rule . London, 1 898 .

MORET, A .

— Egyp te an temps d es Pharaons . Paris, 1 90 8 .

Caractere Religieux de la Royauté Pharaonique . Paris,

1 90 2 .

Le R ituel du Culte D ivin joumalier. Paris, 1 90 2 .

Mysteres Egyptiens . Paris, 1 9 1 3 .

Rois et D ieux d ’Egypte . Paris, 1 9 1 1 .

MORGAN, J . DE .-Recherches sur les Origines de l’Egypte .

Paris, 1 896 , 1 897.

Les Premieres Civilisations . Paris, 1 90 9 .

MULLER, W. M .—Asien und Europa nach Aegyptischen Denk

malern . Leipzig, 1 893 .

NAVILLE , E .— La Religion des Anciens Egyptiens. Paris

, 1 90 6 .

NEWBERRY, P . and GARSTANG, G .— A Short History ofAncient

Egypt . London, 1 90 4 .

PERROT, G . and CHIPIE z , C.—Histoire de l’Art— Egypte . Paris,

1 882 .

PETRIE , W. M . Fl— History ofEgypt . 3 vols . London, 1 894 .

Royal Tombs . London, 1 90 0— 1 .

Abydos . London, 1 90 2—3.


LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS

OF EGYPT

PREDYNASTIC PERIODFROM THE STELE OF PALERMO

6 . Neheb

7 . Uatchnar

8 . Mekha

1 0 . ffwanting

DYNASTIC PERIOD

FIRST DYNASTY, 440 0 B .C.

5 . Ten,or Semti (Hesepti)

6 . Atab (Antchab)7 . Hu (P)8 . Qaor Sen

SECOND DYNASTY

1 . Hetepsekhemui 4 . Sekhemab

2 . Nebra 5 . Perabsen

3 . Enneter 6 . Sent

THIRD DYNASTY

Khasekhem 4 . SantBesh 5 . Neferka

Tcheser 6 . Seneferu 2

The numerals do no t always indicate the order ofsuccession.

He may have been the first king ofthe fourth dynasty.

250

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS OF EGYPT 251

FOURTH DYNASTY, 370 0 B .C.

1 . Sharu 4 . Khafra (Khephren)2 . Khufu (Kheops) 5 . Menkaura

3 . Tetefra 6 . Shepseskaf

FIFTH DYNASTY

1 . Userkaf 5 . Nuserra

2 . Sahura 6 . Menkauheru

3 . Neferarikara-Kakaa 7 . Tetkara-Assa

4 . Neferkara-Shepseskara 8 . Unas

SIXTH DYNASTY

SEVENTH AND EIGHTH DYNASTIES

[Ofthese nothing is known .]

NINTH AND TENTH DYNASTIES

[These ruled at Herakleopolis ; the names of some of thekings are given in the King-List ofAbydos ]

THE ERPA ANTEP, GOVERNOR OF THEBES

ELEVENTH DYNASTY

Uahankh

Nekhtnebtepnefer

Sankhabtaui

Nebtauira

Antef-aa

Antef

MenthuhetepMenthuhetepMenthuhetepMenthuhetepMenthuhetep .

252 SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPT

TWELFTH DYNASTY, 2400 B.C.

Sehetepabfa

KheperkaraNubkauraKhakheperraKhakauraMaatenraMaakheruraSebekneferurra.

THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH DYNASTIES

FIFTEENTH , SIXTEENTH , AND SEVENTEENTH DYNASTIES

HYKSOS , or SHEPHERD KINGS

EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY,1 600—1 40 0 B.C.

Nebpehtira

Tcheserkara

Aakheperkara

Aakheperenra

Maatkara

MenkheperraAakheperura

Menkheperura

Nebmaatra

Neferkheperura

1 1 . Ankhkheperura1 2 . Nebkheperurra

‘

1 3 . Kheperkheperura-arimaat1 4 . Tcheserkheperura

-setepenra

Amenemrhat I

Usertsen (or, Senusert) IAmenemhat IIUsertsen IIUsertsen IIIAmenemhat II IAmenemhat IV

Aahmes I .

Amenhetep I .

Tehutimes I .

Tehutimes II .

Hatshepset (Queen) .Tehutimes III .Amenhetep II .

Tehutimes IV.

M enhetep III .

Amenhetep IV(Khuenaten,

orAakhuenaten) .Saakara-tcheserkheperu.

Tutankhamen .

Ai .



B. Reigning at Tanis

1 . Hetchkheperra-Setepenra Nesbanebtet (Smendes) .2 . Taakheperura

-setepenra Pasebkhanut I .

3 . Usermaatra-setepenra Amenemapt .

4 . Neterkheperra-setepenamen Saamen .

5 . Aakheperra-Setepenamen Pasebkhanut II .

TWENTY-SECOND DYNASTY, 966—7 50 B.C . (about)

Buiuaua,a Libyan ,

founder ofthe dynasty .

Hetchkheperra-setepenraSekhemkheperra-setepenra

Usermaatra-setepenamen

Usermaatra-setepenamenSekhemkheperra-Setepenamen

Hetchkheperra-setepenra

Usermaatra-setepenraUsermaatra-setepenamen

Aakheperra Shashanq IV .

TWENTY -THIRD DYNASTY, 750—733 B.C.

1 . Seherabra Petabast .

2 . Aakheperra-setepenamen Usarken III .

3 . Usermaatra Thekleth III .About this time Piankhi, king ofNubia, invaded Egyptand conquered it .

TWENTY-FOURTH DYNASTY, 733 B.C.

UahkaraBakenrenef (Bocchoris) .

Shashanq (Shishak) I .

Usarken (Osorkon) I .

Thekleth I .

Usarken II . Sa-Bast .

Shashanq II .

Thekleth II .

Shashanq III .

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS OF EGYPT 255

TWENTY-FIFTH DYNASTY,

’ NUBIANS , 70 0 B .C .

Kashta (P)NeferkaraMeriamen Shabaka (Sabaco )Tetkhaura Shabataka.

Khuneferratem Tabarqa (Tirhakah) .Bakara Tanutamen .

TWENTY-SIXTH DYNASTY , 666—527 B .C.

Uahabra Psemthek (Psammetichus) I .

2 . Uhemabra Nekau (Necho) .Neferabra Psemthek (Psammetichus) II .Haaabra Uahabra (HOphra) .Khnemabra Aahmes (Amasis) II .

6 . Ankhkaenra Psemthek (Psammetichus) III .

TWENTY-SEVENTH DYNASTY, PERSIANS , 527 B .C.

MesutraKambathet (Cambyses) .SetutraAntriush (Darius) .Khshiarsha (Xerxes) , the Great Pharaoh .

Artakhshashes (Artaxerxes) , the Great Pharaoh .

Userkhepesh Meri-Amenra-neb-Hebt-neter-aa .Antriusha

(Darius) I I .

TWENTY-EIGHTH DYNASTY

Amyrtaios (on the authority of Manetho) .

TWENTY -NINTH DYNASTY, 399 B .C.

Baenrameri-neteru Naifaarut .

Khnemmaatra-5etepenkhnemu Haker .Userptah

-setep-en-Ra Psamut .


THIRTIETH DYNASTY, 378 B.C .

1 . Senetchemabra-Setepenamen Nekhtheruheb (Nektanebus I) .

2 . Arimaatenra Tcheher (Teos) Setepenanher.

3 . Kheperkara Nekhtnebef (Nektanebus II) .

MACEDONIANS , 340 B .C .

1 . Setepenra-meri-amen

2 . Userkara-meri-amen

3 . Haaabra-setepenamen

PTOLEMIES I—XVI 305—30 B.C .

ROMANS , 30 B .C .

—A .D . 378 (Theodosius I) .BYZANTINES , A D . 395 (Arcadius)—6 1 0 (Heraclius I) .PERS IANS take Egypt 6 1 9 are expelled 629.

ARABS , A .D . 640- 1 51 7 .

TURKS , 1 51 7 .

1 798 . Napoleon Bonaparte occupied Egypt .1 805 . Muhammad Ali Pashaof Egypt .

1 882 . Battle of Tell al-Kab'

ir , and occupationEgypt by the British .

Alexander the Great , the son

ofAmen .

Philip Arrhidaeus .

Alexander II (of Egypt) .


258 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTAlexandrian L ibrary, 30 , 1 53Alisphragmuthosis, 70Al-Kab

, 72Al-Kah irah

,1 60

Al-Kantarah , 1 1 0

Al-Lahfin, 58

Alnwick Castle,82

Alphabet, Egyp tian, 2 1 7Altaqi

'

I,1 34

Altar, 4 5 priests of, 20 1

Amadah,83

Amasis I,1 26

I I)1 42 ) 1 437 I 4S I 1 4 7

Amen, god of Thebes, 53, 54 , 74 ,

8 1,82

, 96 , 9 8 , 1 0 0,1 0 2

,1 0 9 ,

1 1 1,1 20

,1 22

,1 24 , 1 25 , 1 29 ,

1 30 , 1 50 ,1 5 1 , 1 66

,1 6 7, 1 6 9 ,

1 8 1,2 0 0

,20 1

,2 0 2

,20 6

,228

,

230

figure of,as amulet

,1 25

h is name obliterated, 93 priest

hood of,20 3 ; temp le of, flooded ,

1 23Amen ofHebt

,1 47

Amenartas,1 35

Amenemapt , King, 1 24Amenemhat I

, 52 , 53, 54I I

, 56

I II, 42 , 6 0 , 63, 6 8

IV,6 3

Amenemheb,80

Amen-hetep I , 1 8 , 73, 74 , 77, 1 26 ,

I I,83 fi .

,1 1 4 , 1 1 5 , 236

III.86

.87. 88. 89. 96 . 9 7.

1 0 7, 1 0 9. 1 1 3. 1 23. 1 58 , 1 96 ,I 97. 24 I

IV.89

—95. 96 . 9 7. 1 1 4 , 20 6

Amen-hetep ,son ofHep , 90

h igh priest, 1 2 1 , 1 22Ameni

, 56

Ameni-Antef-Amenemhat,6 4

Arnenisenb,69

Amenmeses, 1 1 4 , 1 1 6

Amenoph is II , 83Amen-Ra

, 7 1 , 73, 74 a 78 : 80 : 82:

1 32 , 1 5 1 , 1 52 , 1 58, 1 66,1 6 8

,

Amen-Ra,hymn to , 1 47 ; iucar

nations of, 77Amen-Ra

,Mut

,and Khensu,

triadof, 1 6 7

Amentarit, 1 45

Amentet, 230 , 238

Amenti,1 72 , 1 73

Amestris,1 4 8

Ammenemes, 54

Am-mit,1 75

Amasis, 72

Amphipolis, 1 52Amr ibn al-asi

,1 6 0

Am Tuat,Book of

, 9 1

Amulet,20 7

Amulets,1 2 1

,1 88 f.

,20 2

,2 1 1

,

227— the 1 0 4 ofOsiris

,228

Amusements,2 1 3

Anastasius, 1 59Ancestor

, 54 , 1 6 1 , 1 70

Ancestor-god , 1 74 , 1 8 1Anen

, 77Angel, guardian ,

225Anhep ,

Queen, 99 , 1 26

Anberi,1 85

Ani,Papyrus of, 20 2

Animal soul,226

Animals, domestic, 1 4 ; sacred,

1 63, 1 66 ; veneration of,1 63

Ankarib,2 1 5

AnkhkaenraPsemthek,1 44

Ankhnesmerira, 4 7

Ankhsenamen, 96

Ankhsenpaaten , 96

Anklets, 2 1 1Anmutef

, 20 2

Annals,2 1 ofThothmes II I

,80

,

8 1

Annana,1 1 4

Annih ilation ,2 1 8

Anpu , 1 66 , 1 78, 240

Anqet , 1 66

Ant fish,1 6 7

Antariush , 1 47Antat

,1 66

Antchab, 33Autet I

,69

II , 6 9I II

,6 9

Antefs, 53

Antefa, 50S IAntef-aa

Autet Nekhl

tnebf, 5 1

Antelop es, 25Anther, 6 8Anthrata, 1 66

INDEX 259

Antimony, 25 , 29 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 2Antinoopolis, 1 59Antiochus the Great

,1 55

IV,1 56

Antony, Mark, 1 58Anu

.26

. 43. 55. 74 . 1 1 5. 1 79Anu-resu

, 53Anubis

, 33, 1 66,1 72 , 1 75, 20 4 ,

Apachnas, 6 7Ape, d og

-headed, 78 , 223

Apep , 6 8

Apepa I, 6 8II

,6 8

I I I,6 8

Apet, 1 56 , 1 65 , 1 6 6

Aphek, 1 36Ap is Bull

. 34 . I 43. 1 53. 1 66

S lain by Cambyses, 1 46Apophis, 6 7, 6 8Apo thecaries, 20 2Apparel ofgods, 20 1Apries, 1 4 1

Arabia,1 1

,1 8

,24 , 26

, 45 , 58 ,6 6

,1 1 8

,1 52 , 1 54 , 1 99 ; Penin

Sula of,1 0

,1 2

Arabs, 3, 6 3, 1 46 , 1 6 0 , 1 93, 2 1 2

Aradus,1 0 1

Archaic Period, 30

Archers,1 1 7

Argo , Island of, 6 5Aristocracy, 1 98Arithmetic

, 20 8

Arkata,8 1

Armant, 53, 1 88

Army, the, 1 98Army ofRameses II

,1 0 2

Arqamen,1 56

Ar-rafah, 3

Arrhidaeus,1 5 1

Arrow-heads,1 5

Arrows,23 flint-tipped , 25

Arsinoe Town ,1 54

Arsu, the Syrian ,

1 1 5Artashumara, 89Artatama

,85 , 89

Arthet, 4 7

Artaxerxes I,1 48 , 1 49

II)1 4 9

III,1 49, 1 50

Arvad,80

,1 0 1

,1 47

Asa,1 28

Asar, 1 66 , 1 74

Ascalon, 95, 1 1 3

BA,225 , 226 , 227

Baal,1 1 2 , 1 36 , 1 6 6

Baal-Zephon ,1 66

Bab al-Mandib, 1 0 , 1 1Babylon ,

80,1 4 1 , 1 42, 1 50 , 1 5 1 ,

I 54. 1 59. 1 6 0

Asclep ios, 36Aset

,mother of Thothmes I II

,

76 . 79Aset

, goddess . S ee Ast and IsisAshtoreth

,1 6 6

Ashurbanipal , 1 37, 1 38 , 1 39Asia

,1 3, 22 , 58 , 76 , 1 1 1

Asia Minor,1 1 5

Asia,Western

, 75 , 80

Asiatics, 57. 58 . 95

Asna, 4Ass transport, 1 1 8Assa.

,44 . 4 5. 4 8

ASSYI’

la,1 8

)80

)1 29 ) 1 33, 1 39

Assyrians. 6 7.7c, 1 33. 1 34 ,Ast

,1 66

Astab, 45

Astabtaui, 45Astemkhebit

,1 28

Astharthet,1 66

Astro logers, 1 90Astro logy,

20 9Aswan

.6.8. 32. 44 . 46 . 50 . 1 43.

Asyfi t, 5 0

At (fish ) , 1 6 7Atbara, 4 , 5 , 1 38 ; flood of, 5Atchab (Antchab) , 33Atem

,1 6 5 , 1 6 7

Aten, 96 , 1 6 5 , 1 69Clllt Of

: 93 ) 97city of

, 94heresy, 98

Atet, 38

Ateta, 27

Ath enians,1 48

Athitaui, 53

Athribis,1 32

Ati.I 79

Auapet , 1 27, 1 28

Auapeth , 1 30

Auletes,1 57, 1 58

Auput, 1 30

Ausaset , 1 6 8

Auxiliaries,1 0 2

Avaris.6 7. 70 . 7 1 . 72

Axes,two-headed , 25

260 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTBabylonia. I 7. 1 9. 89. 94Babylonians, 1 8 , 1 4 1 , 1 42, 1 44Babylonian writing, 1 8

language. 1 47Backbone ofOsiris, 1 88Baggarah , 23Baghdad , 6 8Bahr al-Gebel

, 4BakaraTanutamen

,1 37

Bakem,1 6 6

,1 6 7

Bakenrenef, 1 32

Baker,S ir S .

, 4 , 1 93Bakers

,20 3

Bakha Bull, 1 66Bakt

,1 6 0

Balance,the Great, 1 75

Bankes,Mr.

,2 1 7

Bar,1 66

Barata,1 66

Bardes, 1 47Bardiya, 1 47Barges, 32

Barley, I 4 , 1 70 , 1 75 , 2 1 2Bas-reliefs, 36Bast, 1 6 5Bastinado , 1 97Batn al-Hagar, 1 46Battle-axe, 1 7Baurtet, 44 , 4 8

Beads,1 6

,20

Beadwork, 229Beans, 2 1 2

Beard , 1 9 4 the African,25

Beards, false, 2 1 0Beasts for sacrifice, 20 2Babars, 1 6 0

Bedstead , 2 1 5Beer

,2 0 4 , 2 1 3

Beer-cellar, 2 1 4Beer-houses, 20 5Beetle, 1 6 7, 1 89Bek

. 94Bekhten,

1 0 8

Beliefs, religious, 2 1 9Belt, 20 9Benhadad , 1 29Beni Hasan ,

234Bentresht , 1 0 8

Benu ,1 6 6

Beon ,6 7

Berenice, 1 00,1 53, 1 55 town,

I 54 , 1 59Bes , 1 36 , 1 66

Besh. 34. 35. 1 93

Bet al-Wali,1 0 9

Betchau, 34Bet Khallaf

, 35, 36 , 232Betrothal, 206Bewitchment

,1 20

Beyrfit. 95Bier ofOsiris

,1 8 1

Birds, sacred, 1 6 6Birket al-Kurfin, 7Birth goddess, 1 66BitterLakes

, 1 1 1

Bitumen,223, 224

Black River, 5

Blacks, 1 98 character of,6 0

decree against, 59 land of, 56

Blacksmiths,22

,23, 24

Blemmyes, 22 , 1 59Blessed, the

, apparel of, 227

state of,1 75

Blood renewing life, 29of Isis

,1 88

sacrifice, 4 5

Blue N ile, 23 , 4 5 , 48 , 85caravan route

, 22

Boat-building at Syene , 4 7Boat of Amen

,1 25 of

'

Amen

Ra,85

Boats ofreeds,1 5

Bocchoris,1 32 , 1 33, 1 34

Bo dy, resurrection of,22 1

the transformed,1 74

Bodyguard , 1 0 6Boghaz KOi, 1 0 7Book Am Tuat

,1 76 , 23 1 , 235

Bookkeeping, 20 8Book ofAapep ,

1 83Of the Dead

, 33» 4 2 , 54 ) 6 5 )

ofGates,1 76 , 235

ofpraising Ra, 1 22 , 235ofthe Two Ways, 229

Books ofmagic, 1 82Boomerang, 1 5 , 25 , 48, 78

Boussard,1 55

Bowmen,1 1 8

Bows,23, 25

Brace lets, 2 1 1Brain

,224

Bread,2 1 2 ; imperishable, 1 75

Bread cakes, 2 1 3

Breccia,1 7

Bribery.1 97

Bubastis. 54. 55. 6 0 . 64. 6 7. 6 8.



Coppermines in S fidan, S inai , &c.,

Copper statue, 46Coptos, 52 , 6 5 , 6 9, 82 , 1 1 8

,1 59 ,

224Cornbins

, 2 1 4Com -mill

,2 1 2

Cornelius Gallus,1 58

Corvée,1 96

Couches,2 1 5

Cow, 1 63 ; ofHathor,1 66

,1 89

wh ite,238

Cow-goddess, 29

Cowhead,flint

,1 7

Creation,1 6 9

Crete,1 1 5

Crocodiles,1 4 , 1 63, 1 78

Crocodile-god , 53, 6 2 , 1 6 5Croesus

,1 4 4

Crook,1 94

Cross,the

,229

Crowbar,233

Crown,various kinds of, 1 93, 1 94

Crowns of S outh and North, 32

Cucumbers,2 1 2

Curl on the head,20 7

Cush, 3

Cushions,2 1 5

Cyaxares, 1 4 0

Cylinder seal , 1 8Cyprus, 80 , 1 1 6 , 1 52

Cyrene, 1 54 , 1 56

Cyrenians, 1 42Cyrus. 1 44

DAGGE R,1 2 1 , 1 94Dahomey,1 92

Dah shfir,6 0 Pyramids of,Dakh lah

,1 46Dakkah

,1 55

Dam at Aswan,8

Damascus,1 29 , 1 34

Damietta, 6 7arm ofN ile

, 7Danaoi, 1 1 5Dance of the god , 4 8Dancers, 1 7 1 , 2 1 4Dancing, 32 , 2 1 3, 2 1 9Dancing-god , 1 6 6Daphnae, 1 39Dar Ffir, 1 92

Darius I,1 4 7, 1 49

I I,1 4 8

Date palms, 7

Dates, 69 , 1 70 , 2 1 2David,1 27

Day,1 69Dead , resurrection of

,1 71 wor

sh ip of, 54 , 22 1 , 225 , 24 0Death

,conquest of

,1 72Death-

god , 33, 1 66Decipherment,1 55 , 2 1 7Decius

,1 59

Ded,1 88

Dee,Dr. John

,1 87

Degradation ofan o fficial,69

Deification ofmembers,1 84Dekans

,the Thirty-Six,

231Delta.2. 3. 7. 9. 1 0

.2 1

.23. 24 .

26. 45. 63. 6 4 . 65. 6 6 . 6 8. 6 9 .

90 . 97. 98. 1 1 0.1 1 2

,1 1 4 , 1 1 5 .

1 1 7, 1 23. 1 30 . 1 32. I 37. 1 39 .1 42 , I 4 S . I 49 . 1 5 1 . 1 53, I 56 .1 6 4 , 1 6 6

,1 6 8

,1 72, 1 73, 1 74 ,

I 7S . 1 99 . 2 1 2

population ,1 2

Deltas in Upper Egypt, 8Demons,1 6 4Demotic writing, 1 4 0 ; language,

Denderah,23, 82 , 1 57

Der al-Bahari, 5 1 , 7 1 , 73, 78 , 8 1 ,

Der al-Madinah ,1 55 , 1 56Desert-god ,

1 6 5Design, goddess of, 1 6 5Determinative , 2 1 8Devil, 1 65 , 1 86 casting out ofa,

Devils,1 6 4Diana

,temp le of

,1 57Dictation

,20 8

Diligence, 20 8Diocletian,1 59

Dio dorus, 4 2 , 6 1 , 1 32, 1 47, 1 49 ,

224Dionysos, 1 57Diorite, 35 , 36 , 52Disk,winged , 24Diviner, 9 1

Divine fath ers,20 1

Dog-god ,1 6 6

Do lls, 20 7Dongo la, 1 60 ; Old , 3 ; Province,75Door, false, 229 ; granite, 47Double

,th e, 225

Double dealing, 1 75

INDEX

Dover, 2 1 2, 229Dowry,89

Draughts, 2 1 3Drawing-goddess, 1 65Dream ofTanutamen,1 37Dreams

,1 82

Dress,20 9 ff.

Drills,20

Drinks,intoxicating, 2 1 3Drugs, 20 2Drum

, 20 4Drunkenness, 2 1 3Dualism

,1 6 5Dulgo , TooDust

,vo lcanic

, 4Dwarf. 45. 4 8Dynasties, history of

,26

, 31

EARR INGS,2 1 1

Ears,slit

, 98

Earth -god , 1 65 , 1 71 , 1 80 , 240

Earthquake,87

Eastern Desert,1 0

,22

,24 , 1 59

S fidan,23

Eater ofthe Dead,1 75

Eating-houses, 20 5Ebcny. 4 8. 52. 78 . 80

E clipses, 1 70Edffi

,8,22 , 23, 24 , 30 , 1 0 0

,1 49 ,

Effigy, 225Egg p lant, 2 1 2Egypt, area of

, 3 boundariesof

, 3 ; communication of,with

Babylon,1 7 gift ofthe N ile , 3

origin of name of,2 ; scenery

of.6. 7

Egyptians, character of,

2 1 8

pre-dynastic, 1 1 fl sons of

Ham,2

E ight gods, 1 47Ekron

,1 34

E leazar,1 54

E lephant hunts, 80E lephantine, Island of, 2 , 3, 43, 4 7,4 8 . 49. 54 . 6 0 . 82. 87. N O

.1 38.

I 39 . 1 52. 1 58

E liakim,1 35 , 1 4 0

E lizabeth,Queen

,1 87

E ltekeh,1 34

Embalmers,20 2

,222

Embalming, 22 1 three kinds of,

224Embalmment, 1 76

263

Emerald mines,1 0 0

Emeralds,1 5 1

Enmaat-Hap , 35Endowments

,1 1 5 , 239

Ennead,1 6 7

Enneter, 34

Ephesus, 1 57Epiphanes, 1 55Era ofthe martyrs, 1 59Eratosthenes

,1 54

Ergamenes,1 55 , 1 56

E sarhaddon,1 36 1 37

E shmfinen,1 4 7,

E snfi. 4 . 8 . 9 . 1 54 . 1 56

Essence ofOsiris,1 70

E th iop ia, 1 50 1 59E thiop ians, 1 27Euergetes I , 1 54

I I,1 56

Eupator, 1 56

Euphrates, 1 40Eusebius

, 31

Evil eye , 20 7Evil

, god of,1 65 , 1 70

Evisceration,224

Exodus,1 1 4

Exorcisms,1 90

E xtradition,1 0 7

Eye-ball

,1 88

Eye

8

0fHorus,1 72, 1 85 amulets

,

I 9Eye paint, 2 1 1 , 2 1 2Eyes of the creator

,1 6 9

FALS E Pyramid , 38Famine,seven years , 36

Fan,2 1 2

Farmhouse,2 1 4Fasting, 20 0Father Amen,1 6 1

Father-god ,1 6 1 Great Father,

1 6 1

FatherOsiris,1 6 1

Fayyfim.7. 1 54Feathers In haIr,25

Fenkhu, 73Ferry-boat, 1 85Festal songs, 1 78Festival, 2 1 , 2 1 9

Fetish,1 88

Fiends,1 6 4Fighters, the Two , 1 70Figs, 1 70 , 2 1 2Figures, magical, 1 85

264 A SHORT HISTORY OF E GYPT

Fillet,2 1 1

Fingerrings, 2 1 1Fingers, amulet ofthe two , 1 89Fire

,1 6

, 20

Fire-drill,1 6

Fire-p its, 1 76Fish, 7, 1 5 , 1 1 9 , 2 1 2 ; sacred

,1 67Fish-

ponds, 2 1 5Fish-traps, 2 1 3Fish ing, 2 1 3Flaying, 1 4 8Fleet, 38 Mediterranean

,1 1 8

,

1 40 ; R ed S ea,1 1 8

,1 40

Flints,1 3 worked

, 35 workers,

1 5Flint too ls

, 9Floats

,1 5

Fluid of th e god , 1 95Flute-p layer, 1 57Fo llowers ofHorus,226

Food,2 1 2 animal

,2 1 2

Foreigners, influence of,1 1 1

Fort S t . Julien,2 1 7Forts

,chain of

,1 1 1

,1 1 3 in

Sadan, 5gFortune-tellers

,1 90

Forty-two judges, the, 1 75Fowling, 1 5 , 2 1 3FTog, 1 6 7, 1 89Fruit

,1 1 9 , 1 75

Furniture, 2 1 5Fustat

,1 6 0

Future L ife , 1 6

GABIN IU S,I 57

Gaius Petronius, 1 58Gall bladder

,223

Game,2 1 3 games

,20 9

Gardens,1 1 0

,2 1 5

Garlic,2 1 2

Gaumata,1 47

Gaza,T34

Gazelle River, 4 , 5 , 23Gebel Barkal

,88

,1 36

Doshah , 6 0

S ahabah, 3

S ilsilah,2,87, 98 , 1 28 , 1 4 1

Zabara,1 0 0

Gebelen,25 , 6 8 , 1 23

Geese,2 1 2 fattening of, 2 1 2

Generation, god of, 1 66

Genius,225

Geometry, 20 8Gezer, 95 , 1 1 3

Ghosts,1 82

Gilukhipa, 88 , 89Giraffes

,26

Girdle,20 9

Gizah,6, 39, 4 1 , 85 ; Pyramids

of, 40

-

42

Glass, 227

Glaukias,I 52

Goat ofMendes, 34

Goats, 7

Go d,2 1 9 ; names of

,1 69 ; origin

ofbelief In ,1 6 1 ; god man,

1 74Goddesses, 1 6 4Gods

,1 64

° dressing of, 20 1

woi ship of, 240

Go ld,1 0

, 52 , 56 , 5 8, 78 ,1 88

,227

Go ld mines,mining, 99 , 1 1 0

-,shrouds 1 2 1

trade,1 0 0

,1 0 1

transport, 6 0Gondokoro

, 3Goose-god , 1 66Goshen

,land of

,1 1 1

Government,1 97

Grandfather-god , 1 6 1GranIte

, 32 8 8 quarries,8

Grapes,Grasshopper, 1 6 7Gravel, 4Graves, 231 neolithic, 9, 1 0 , 1 6Great Father, 1 6 1

Hall,I 73

House (Pharaoh) , 1 93Oasis

,1 26 , 1 47, 1 49 , 1 57

Greek,1 53

°

alphabet, 2 1 7 ; Ianguage, 1 53, 1 55

°

on coffins,

231 ; religion ,1 53

Greeks,2, 20 , 72 , 1 32 , 1 39 , 1 4 1 ,

I 43. 1 44 , 1 47. 1 50 . I 56 . I 70 .

Green water, 5

Groves, 1 1 0Guard-houses, 1 1 8Gulf ofS o lum , 3

ofSuez,1 40

Gum,80

Gymnastics, 20 9

HAAABRA,1 4 1

Haankhef, 64Had enduwa, 22Hades

,1 53


266 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTHo ly Ghost , 229Ho ly ofHo lies

, 78Homage, 1 95Home life

,20 3

Honey, 1 1 9 , 2 1 3, 224Hophra, 1 4 1 , 1 42 , 1 43Horizon ofAten , 94Horse and chariot, 75Horses

,1 32

HOI‘U S,23 ) 24 , 26 , 55 , 78 , 1 0 0

)

1 6 6,1 73, 1 8 1

,1 83, 1 84 , 1 94 ,

1 96 , 20 1,

237 ; stung by a

scorp ion ,1 73 the four sons

of,1 72 , 223, 238

and S et,the fighters, 1 74

as Christ,1 8 1

name, 4 5

last divine king, 1 92ofButo

,1 52

ofEdfu,24

ofgo ld name, 4 5 , 1 93

the Great,1 65 , 1 74

Ho shea,1 33

Ho stages, 80House

,2 1 4 , 2 1 5

House of the Ka ofPtah,1

Hu, 33

Hu =S phinx, 42

Hui,1 20

,1 87

Humour,Egyp tian , 2 1 9

Hundred years’

peace , 1 59Hunt

,25 ; of lions

,88 ; of wild

cattle,88 royal, 39

Hunting, 86 , 2 1 3Huts

,mud

,1 4

Hycsos, 6 8Hyksos, 63, 6 6 , 6 9 , 70 , 74 , 79 ,96 , 1 6 7 attacked by Amasis I ,72 expulsion of

, 73Hymn ,

20 1 o i Menephthah , 1 1 3

IANNAS,6 8

Ibis, 72 , 1 66

Ibrim,1 20

Ichneumon-god , 1 66

Ideograph ,2 1 7

Ido l,225

IHahfin, 58

Images ofgods from Persia,Imhetep , 9 1 , 1 66 , 1 6 7Immortality, 1 72 , 1 74 , 2 1 8Impalement

,1 4 8

Inarcs, 1 48Incantation, 86 , 1 63, 1 90

Incense, 78, 20 2 , 206 , 237Ink

, 20 9Insects, 1 4 ; sacred

,1 6 6

Instructions ofAmenemhat, 54

Inuaman,1 1 3

Inundation, the, 5 , 6 1 , 71 , 20 8

Ionian,1 39

Ipeqher, 6 8

Iqebarh 6 8

Irkhulini,1 29

Irrigation , 20 , 54 , 6 1Isaiah

, 50 ,1 35

Isis, 4 4 , 1 0 0

,1 55 , 1 56 , 1 58 , 1 66 ,

1 69 , 1 71 : 1 72 ; I 73, I 74 ) 1 76 »I 77» 20 1

,20 4 , 223, 237 : as

Virgin Mary,1 8 1 raises Osiris,

1 80, 1 8 1 worship of

,sup

Pressed , 1 59Ismailiyah ,

1 1 0

Israel,1 27, 1 29

Israelites,1 1 3, 1 33, 1 34

Island ofKonosso,84

ofMeroe,1 38

ofPharo s,1 5 1

ofTombo s, 75

Islands ofBlessed,229

of the Mediterranean,1 1

, 26 ,1 52

Issus,1 50

Isthmus ofSuez,1 0

,1 1

,66

Iuaa,89

Ivory, 1 5 , 36 , 48 , 78 , 80

JACKAL , 25 , 223Jackal-god ,

1 66

Jars, stone, 20Javelins

,25

Jawhar,1 6 0

Jazirat al-Malik, 59Jehoahaz , 1 40Jeho iach in, 1 4 1Jeho iakim,

1 40 , 1 4 1

Jeremiah,1 4 1

Jericho , 1 42Jeroboam,

1 27Jerusalem, 70 , 1 27, 1 34 , 1 35 , 1 42 ,

1 54ewellers, 20 3ews

,1 52 , 1 53

oab,1 35

ohnston,S irH.

,1 93

onias,6 7, 6 8

INDEX

Josiah,1 40

Judaea, 70 , 1 28

Judge ofthe Dead , 1 66Judges, 1 97Judgment of souls

,1 76

Judgment scene,1 85

Jugglers, 2 1 4Julius Africanus

, 3 1

Jup i

l

t

fir Ammon

, 3, 1 46

ur ver,23

Justinian,1 59

KA, 4 8 , I 79 ; 225: 238

Ka-chapel, 225servant

,1 6 3, 225

Kadashman Enlil,89

Kadesh,80—8 1

,83, 1 0 1 , 1 0 2 , 1 0 4 ,

1 0 6,1 0 7, 1 09Kagera, 5

Kaheni,1 32

Kaiechos, 34Kakaa

, 44Kakau, 34

Kalabshah,8,1 0 9 , 1 57

Kam, 2

Kambasutent,1 46

Kambathet,1 4 4Kames

, 7 1Kamt, 77Kapur, 1 1 7

Karaduniyash ,89

Karai, 3 , 83, 86

Karamama,1 29

Karamat,1 27

Karbanit, 1 37Karkar

,1 34

uKarkemish,1 0 1

,1 4 1

JKarmah,6 , 75 , 1 0 0Karnak

, 54 , 55 , 73, 76 , 78 , 82 , 83,84 , 96 , 9 7, 9 8 , 99 , 1 0 7, 1 0 9 ,1 1 9 , 1 27, 1 28

,1 35 , 1 4 1 , 1 43,

avenue , 8 7Kash, 3 , 56

Kashta,1 33

Kau,1 79

Keb, 1 65 , 1 69 , 1 71 , 1 73, 1 79 , 1 80 ,

Kem Aten, 93, 97 ; in Sudan, 93Kena

,1 1

Kent,1 66

Kesta,1 6 6

Keti,1 0 1

,1 08

267

Ketshet,1 66

Kha,a pyramid , 35

Khabbasha,1 4 8 , 1 52Khabiri

, 95Kha em Mennefer

, 72Khaira, 4 1 , 232

Khaibit , 226Khalifahs

,1 6 0

Kham, 2

Khamuast,1 1 1

Khamura, 6 8

Khaneferra,6 5

Khanés, 50

Khargah ,1 26

,1 46 , 1 47, 1 49Khartum

, 4 , 5 , 6

Khasekhem, 35

Khasekhemui, 34 , 35

Khasekheti, 31

Khat, 225

Khati, 50

Khauserra,6 8

Khemenu, 72 , 1 47, 1 79Khemmis, 1 73

Khensu,87, 1 65 , 1 67 ; goes

to Bekhten,1 0 8

Khensu Hetep ,20 5

Khensu the Ch ild , 20 1Khent

,1 93

Khent Hennefer, 74

Khenti Amenti, 30 ,

1 74Khentkhatur, 56Khentcher

,6 9

Khw ps, 39Khepera, 1 6 5 , 1 69 , 1 84 , 1 89Kh eperr, 1 89Kh eperkara, 1 49Kh eraha

,1 3 1Kh er-heb,1 82 , 1 90 , 20 0 ,

222,237

Kherpkheperra, 1 28Kheta, 95 , 99 , 1 0 1 , 1 0 7, 1 1 3Khetasar

,1 0 8

Khetneter, 35Kh ian

,6 8

Khnemabra,1 43

Khnemet Amen, 78

Khnem-Khufu, 39Khnemu

, 36 , 44 , 82, 87, 1 65, 1 6 6 ,1 69

Khnemu-hetep , 57, 58

Khu,225 , 226 , 227

Khuenaten , 93Khufu

, 39, 40 , 4 1 , 42 , 43, 9 1 , 1 96 ,232

Khut, 40


Khut Aten,89

Khutaui S ekhemra,64

Khutauira,6 4

Khutenaten, 94 , 96 , 97Kilt, 2 1 0

King, 1 92 ff. dancing, 32

greatness of,6 2 his great

names, 4 5 po sition of

,1 82

worship of,24 1King-L ist, 27 33, 1 54 ; L ists, 30

ofAbydos, 1 0 0 ; ofRameses

Kings, pre-dynastic, 2 1Kipkip , 1 38Kissing the foot, 1 95Knives

,20 ; flint, 1 6Knots and spells, 1 90

Koleyd o z o , 1 6 0Kom Ombo

,1 56 , 1 57

Kom Ombos,8,1 1 0

Konosso,84Koro sko

, 54Kubban

,1 0 0

,1 0 1

Kudu,1 6 6

Kummah,2, 59, 63Kuran

, 20 8

Kurnah,83, 99

Kuser,1 1

,1 1 8

,1 99

Kush,1 35

LABOUR,forced

,1 96

Labourers,field

,1 86

Labyrinth ,6 2

Lach ish, 95 , 1 34

Ladder,1 85

amulet,1 89

Lake Abukir, 7

Bfirh‘is, 7

made for Ti,88

Manzalah, 7

Mareotis, 7

Moeris, 7, 6 1

N 6, 4

ofFire, 1 84Tanganyika, 5Victoria, 4

Lakes in Delta, 7Lamb

,eight-legged, 1 32

Lamentations of Isis, 1 77Lamersekni, 1 30

Lamp black, 2 0 9Land ofgo ld (Nubia) , 59

of the Blacks, 56of the Bow,

23

Land of the God, 238

of the North,2

ofthe S outh , 2

Lap is-lazuli, 42 , 6 0 , 227Lasso

,29

Lathyrus, 1 56

Latins, 2Latopolis, 1 54Lawgivers ofEgyp t, 1 32Law-

goddess, 1 6 5Laws

,20 civil and religious, 2 1 8

Lead,80

,2 1 1

Leap-Year, 1 55

Learning, 20 9Lebanon,

1 25Leeks

, 2 1 2

Leka,1 1 2

Lentils, 2 1 2Leopard , 75 , 1 84 ; skins

,20 2

Letopo lis, 33, 1 79Letter-writing, art of, 20 9Lever

, 40 , 233Libationer, 20 0Libre

gry of Alexandria, 1 53, 1 54 ,

1 5ofAmen

,1 87

ofHeliopo lis, 6 4ofPergamum,

1 58

L ibyan allies,1 1 7

L ibyans, 1 0,1 1 , 26

, 55 , 73, 1 0 1,

1 1 2,1 1 3, 1 1 4 , 1 1 5 , 1 26

,1 27,

Life,renewal ceremonies

,29

symbo l of, 1 94Light-god , 1 65 , 1 6 9Lighthouse of Alexandria

,1 54

L ightning-god , 1 66L imestone

, 36

Linen,1 5 , 20 2 , 2 1 0 , 222 apparel ,

I 7SLion from Baghdad , 6 8

god , 1 6 6 ; goddess, 1 6 0Lion-hunt

,88

L ions,25, 88 , 1 84

Lisht, 54 , 56L itanies, 20 1Liver, 223Lo in-cloth , 1 94 , 209Loot

,2 1 9

Lo tus, 34

Luli,1 34

Lungs, 223Luxor, 7, 8 , 96 , 97 temple of, 87


270

Mercenaries, 1 1 8 , 1 39 , 1 4 1 , 1 98Merenptah ,

1 1 1 S a-Ptah,1 1 4

Merenra, 234Mehtiemsaf

, 47Hetephermaat

,1 1 2

Merimes,86

Meri RaPep i I , 46Merit Aten , 96

Mermashau,6 8

Meroe, 1 38 , 226 ; kingdom of,1 38

Merpeba, 33Mertisen , 5 1

Mertitefes, 39 , 4 1 , 1 96

Merul,1 6 6

Meskhenet , 44 , 1 66

Mesopotamia, 75 , 1 6 0Mesmin,22

Mesta,1 6 6 , 223

Mestchem, 57, 58

Mesutra, 1 44Metal workers, 20 2Methen

, 39 , 80

Metternich S tele, 1 73Milk

,2 1 2 , 238

Millet,1 4 , 59 , 1 70 , 2 1 2

Minyah , 53Misphragmuthosis, 70

Miracle Play,6 0

,65 , 1 76

Miracles,1 90

Mirror,2 1 2

Mitanni,80

,85 , 88, 89 , 94

Mizraim, 2

Mnevis Bull, 34 , 1 6 6Mo isture goddess, 1 69Monkeys, 78Monotheism, 93Monster, 5 1Moon

,

'

72 , 1 69 ; phases of, 1 70

god ’ 72: I 7 I

worship , 24Morality, 1 75 , 2 1 9Masque at Dongo la,1 6 0

Mother, the, 20 5 po sition of,20 3

Mother-of-emerald,227

Mud , 4 deposit of, 6Muhammad Ali, 82Muiz z

,1 6 0

Mulberries, 2 1 2Mummification, 49Mummy, 223 decorations of

,

228 ; of Osiris,1 72 chamber,

234Museum at Alexandria, 1 53, 1 54in Cairo , 1 0 1

A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTMuseum

, S ir J . S oane’

s,1 0 0

Music,2 1 9

Music-god , 1 6 6Musicians

,2 1 4Muslims

, 55Mut

,87, 1 66 , 1 67, 20 1

Mutemhat,1 23

Mutemuaa,86

,1 96

Muthenra,1 0 1 , 1 0 2 , 1 0 7Mutilation ofwicked

,1 76

Mutkhanefer, I 35

Mutnetchemet, 97Mycerinus, 42Myrrh , 78, 224Mytho logy, 20 9

NABONIDU S,1 43

Nabfikudurusur, 1 40

Nabiipalusur, 1 40 , 1 4 1

Nabfit,1 7, 1 98

Nagaa, Temp le of, 1 45Naharayim,

80

Naharen,80

,84 , 85

Naharina, 75

Nahren,1 0 7

Nakadah , 27, 232Name

,the

, 206 the hidden,1 83

Names ofpower, 1 82of the king, 1 93

Napata, 3, 22 , 83, 86 , 1 29 , 1 32 ,

Napt, 22N51

,1 6 7

N irmer. 27, 29, 30 , 32 , 33, 1 59Nart

,1 79

Nativities,1 90

Natron,20 0

,224 ; water of, 23 1

god , 26

Naucratis,1 43

Navy,1 99 ; founded, 1 1 8

Nebertcher,1 8 1

Nebhaptra, 5 1

Nebmaatra,86

Nebra, 34

Nebtauira, 5 1

Nebti name, 4 5 1 93Nebuchadnezzar II , 1 40 , 1 4 1 , 1 43Necho , 1 39 , 1 40 , 1 4 1

of Sais, 1 37Necklaces

,1 5 , 2 1 1

Necromancers,1 90

Necromancy, 1 82Neck-weight, 26Nefaarut, 1 49

INDEX 271

Neteramulet , 1 89Neferabra, 1 4 1

Neferarikara,1 9 5

Nefer-hetep ,King, 64

scribe, 57

Neferhetepes , 44NeferkaraPep i I I , 48

Shabaka,1 33

Neferkaura,1 22

Neferkheperurauaenra, 9 1

Nefermaat, 38

Nefert, 38

Nefertari, 1 0 9Neier-Tem

,1 6 5

Nefertemkhura, 1 36Nefertithi, 9 1

Negro tribes, 1 0Neheb

,2 1

Nehsi, 78

Neighbour, duty to , 2 1 9Neith

,1 7, 26 , 1 32 , 1 40 , 1 43, 1 46 ,

1 4 7, 1 65 , 223 ; four aspects of,1 6 8

ekau,1 39

Nekheb,24 , 25 , 34 , 1 6 5 . 1 93

Nekhebet, 24 , 34 , 35 , 1 6 5 , 20 1Nekhen

,24 , 25 , 28 , 34

Nekht, 33, 206

Nektanebes,1 49

Nektanebo s, 1 49Nekhtherheb

,1 49

Nekhtmenu,226

Nekhtnebef, 1 49 , 1 50

Nekhtnebtepnefer, 5 1

Nemareth ,1 30 , 1 3 1 , 1 32

Nemart , 1 27Neo lithic Egyp tians, 9 , 1 4Neos Philopator, 1 56

Nephthys, 4 4 , 1 66 , 1 69 , 1 72 , 1 74 ,

Nero,1 59

Nesi Khensu, 20 1

Nesitanebashru,20 1

Nasubanebttet , 1 23, 1 25Nesutahetep , 240

Net (Neith ) , 1 7, 26 , 1 65 , 1 6 8Netaqert , 1 39Netat, 1 72 , 1 76Netchemet

,2 0 6

Netekamen,1 45

Neterkheperra sa Amen,1 24

Neter-tuat, 20 1Ni

,83

N ight, 1 69

N ile, 3 ff” 20 , 24 , 44 , 54 , 58 , 73 ,

87, 94 : 1 0 0,1 1 8

, 1 30 , 1 3 1 ,1 40 , 1 47, 1 54 , 1 59 , 1 70 , 1 84 ,

barrier, 25 ; bed of,6 ; the

Celestial,1 85 ; floo d , 5 , 2 1 , 26

heights of,

2 1 fork of, 7

length of, 4 , 5 ; levels, 6 1 , 6 3 ,

6 4 ; N ile R ed S ea Canal,1 59

reservo irs, 4 sources of

,6

god ,6,1 6 5

N ineveh,1 34 , 1 35 , 1 37, 1 38 , 1 39 ,

1 40

Nitocris,1 39

Nobadae, 23, 1 59Nomes

,20

Nome symbo l , 20N orth

,a sh ip , 72

Noses,slit

, 98

Nothus, 1 48

Nu,1 6 5 , 1 6 9

Nubia,8,22

,24 , 35 , 36 , 4 7, 5 1 ,

53, 56 , 59 , 73 , 74 , 75, 76 , 79 , 8 0 ,8 1

,83 , 87, 8 8 , 97, 9 8 , 1 0 0 , 1 0 1 ,

1 0 2,1 0 9 , 1 1 1

,1 1 9 , 1 20

,1 23,

1 25 , 1 28,1 29 , 1 30 ,

1 36 , 1 4 1 ,1 55 , 1 56 , 1 58 , 1 6 0

,1 6 6

,1 6 7,

1 99 , 20 1 , 222 , 24 1 ; four greattribes of

, 54 ; Northern, 3Nubians, 6 0 , 72 , 74 , 76 , 8 1 , 84 ,86

, 98 , 1 0 1 , 1 1 3, 1 1 8,1 29 , 1 3 1 ,

1 33 , 1 38 , 1 46 , 1 58 , 1 59 , 1 96 ;embrace Christianity, 1 6 0 turnMuslims

,1 6 0

Nubkhas,6 5 , 1 2 1

Nubtauira,6 8

Nubti,6 8

Nut,1 6 4 , 1 6 5 , 1 69 , 1 80 , 1 84 , 230

OAR ofRa,1 84

Oasis ofDakh lah,1 46

ofKhargah ,1 46 , 1 47

S iwah (Jup iter Ammon) , 3,

Obedience, 20 8Obelisk

, 4 5 , 55 , 1 6 4 ; obelisks,8

in tombs , 234Obelisks ofAmenhetep III , 87

ofHatshepset, 78Rameses II , 1 1 0Thothmes I

, 76

I II,82

IV,84

Ochus, 1 49

272 A SHORT H ISTORY OF EGYPTOfferings, 2 1 8 , 2 1 9 , 232 ; inner

ary,1 62 ; transmutation of,

238 ; chamber of, 235

Oil,ho ly, 222balls

,2 1 1

press, 2 1 4Oils, 20 2 , 2 1 1Ointments

,medicated

,2 1 1

Omdah,1 98

(Du. ss

Oneness ofAmen and Aten, 93

Onias,1 56

Onion,1 56

Onions,2 1 2

Only-begotten ,1 89

Opening the mouth,1 63, 237

Orchards, 1 1 9Orontes, 80 , 83 , 1 0 1

,1 0 2

,1 0 4 ,

Oryxes, 56Oryx nome

, 58

Osiris, 26,29 , 32, 4 7, 55 , 56 , 6 4 ,

6 9 , 1 0 0 ,1 1 0

,1 53, 1 6 4 , 1 6 6

,

1 6 8,1 69 , 1 70 , 1 76 , 1 83, 1 85 ,

1 9 1 , 20 1,2 0 4 , 22 1 , 238 , 240 ;

the 1 0 4 amulets of, 228 ; as

moon,1 7 1 ; abode of

,1 75 ; com

memoration of,1 77 ; drowned ,

1 72 ; miracle p lay of, 6 0 ; tried

by gods, 1 73Osorkon I , 1 28

I I,1 28

,1 29

I I I,1 30 , 1 31 , 1 32

Ostrich ,25 ; feath er, 1 94

OtherWorld , 47, 56 , 99 , 1 0 0 ,1 53,

1 6 1,1 6 6

,1 6 8

,1 72 , 1 74 , 1 84 ,

Overseerofworks, 239

PAGAN S , persecution of, 1 59

Paiankh ,1 24

Painetehem I , 1 24I I

,1 24

Painting, goddess of, 1 65Pakanana, 1 1 9Pakht , 1 84Palace, 1 96 , 2 1 5Palaeo lithic Egyptians, 9 , 1 3Palermo S tone, 2 1Palestine ) H , 4 5 ; 6 6 , 75 ) 76 , 79 ;

95 , 99 , 1 0 1 , 1 0 6 , 1 0 7, 1 1 0 , 1 1 2 ,1 1 4 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 7, 1 1 9 , 1 22

,1 24 ,

1 27, 1 33 ) 1 34 ) 1 36 ) 1 37 ) 1 39 )

magical,

Palettes, 25Palms

, 7Pamai , 1 29Panelling, wood , 32Panopo lis, 229Panthers

,1 84 skins of

, 48Papremis, 1 4 8Papyrus, 34 ; rollof, 228 ; sceptre,

1 89 ; swamp , 1 73Papyri , funerary, 20 2 ;

1 83Paqrer, 1 37, 1 38

Parahu, 78

Parembole, 1 56Pasebkhanut I , 1 23, 1 24

II,1 24 , 1 27

Pashalik,1 6 0

Paste, 227Pautti, 1 6 4 , 1 79Peas

,2 1 2

Pectorals,2 1 1

Pekheth,1 66

Pelusium,1 39 , 1 44 , 1 49 , 1 50 , 1 51 ,

1 60

Pendants, 2 1 1Pennekheb, 73Pennut

,1 20

Pentaurt , 1 0 2 , 1 1 9Pep i 1 , 46 , 47, 4 8 , 234

I I, 4 8 , 2 22 , 234

Pepinekht, 4 8

Peraa,1 93

Perabsen , 34Per-art

,1 1 2

Per-Atem ,1 1 0

Pergamum ,1 58

Per-Ramessu ,1 1 0

Per-S ept, 1 37 , 1 38Persia, 1 8

,1 44 , 1 47, 1 6 0 lan

guage of, 1 47Persians, 1 46 , 1 48 , 1 49 , 1 50 , 1 59,

1 98

Person , 225Pert Kheru , 240

Per-Uatchet,1 93

Petaast, 1 32

Petabast,1 30

Pe-Tep , 26 , 1 48

Petronius,1 58 , 1 59

Pharaoh , 95 , 1 34 , 1 44 , 1 47, 1 4 8,

Pharaohs, 8 , 22 , 6 9 , 1 99 , 20 2

Pharos, 1 5 1 , 1 54Pherendates, 1 50



Pyramid ofUsertsen I , 56ofUsertsen II

, 58

ofUsertsen II I,6 0

Pyramids of Gizah, 39 , 40 , 1 96 ,

232

Pyramid Texts, 1 83, 229

e h, 34 , 43

e hsenuf, 1 66 , 223

t aq,1 1 8 p ipes,

.

20 4

t au,1 1 6 Regeneration, 1 890

1

1

38 fie

ifinu

’

34su z e mar 2

Queen,

’

1 96

Quilts, padded , 2 1 5

Quivers, go lden, 1 27

1 6 4 , 1 65 , 1 6 8,1 69 , 1 76 , 1 83,

1 84 , 1 85 , 20 2 , 24 1 ; priests of,

1 93 ; soul of,1 79 of

“

Sak

habu, 44

Raamses, 1 1 0Ré -A e i

, 70 , 7 1

RaauP4g

Rabsaris, 1 35Rab-shakeh , 1 35Radasiyah , 1 0 0

Radishes,2 1 2

R 5. Harmakhis,23, 4 1 , 42 ,

1 0 9

Rahetep , 38

Raids,1 98

Rain-goddess, 2 1 5

Rains in S fidan, 5

Rakote, 1 5 1

Rams ofAmen and Mendes, 1 6 6Rameses I

, 98 , 99 , 1 26

1 0 0,1 0 1 , 1 1 2 , 1 1 4 , 1 26 ,

I II,

1 1 5 {f.,1 20 , 1 26

,1 87,

IV,1 20

V,1 20

VI,1 20

VII,1 20

VIII,1 20

IX,65 , 1 26

X,1 22 , 1 26

XI,1 22

XII,1 22

Rameses-nekht , 1 2 1

R amesseum,1 0 7, 1 1 0 ,

1 1 3Ramessu

,1 0 1 . S ee Rameses .

Ramp , 233Raphia, 1 34 ,Rapihu,

1 34 , 1 36

Ratetef, 4 1 , 42

Reading, 20 8Rebirth

,29 , 32 , 1 89 , 1 95

R ed sea) 3 ) 8 ) I O, 1 1 ) 22 : 44 ) 52 ) 5sa

Reed, 20 9 mat

,222 ofincense

,

Rennet,1 66

Repentance, 2 1 8Reproduction , god of

,1 6 6

Reptiles, sacred , 1 66R eret

,1 66

Reshpu,1 66

Resurrection, 33, 1 89 ,

2 1 8,225 ; body of

,225 , 227

R ethenu, 75 ,

Rewards, 2 1 8

Rhind Papyrus, 6 8Riblah

,1 1 42

Riches of‘Egypt , 1 1 8Righteous, 2 1 8Ring, 228Riots in Egypt, 1 57Ripon Falls, 4 , 5Rites

,1 82

Robbery, 1 9 7 ; of tombs,6 5

Ro cks, 4 , 8

Romans,23, I 53, 1 56 , 1 57, 1 58 ,

Rome, 1 56 , 1 57, 1 58Rosetta

,1 55 ; S tone

,1 55 , 2 1 7 ;

arm of the Nile, 7Rouge, 2 1 1Roxana

,1 52

Rugs, 2 1 5Rut-tetet, 43, 4 4 , 78

S RAKARA, 95

a-Amen, 99, 1 24 ,

aben, 48 , 49

S abna, 222

S acrifices,2 1 8

Sadéngah ,8 8

ah,1 79

aha] , 36

INDEX

Sa-Hathor, 56Sahura, 44Sailors, 1 99 ; Phoenicians, 1 40S t . John Lateran,

82

26)1 30 ; 1 32 ) 1 371 1 39 ) 1 40 )

I 4 1 , I 42 , I 43, I 44 , 1 45 , 1 46 ,I 47, 1 49 , 1 6 5

Saites,6 7

Sakha, 63S akhabu, 44Sakkarah

, 35 , 87, 98 , 229 , 232

Pyramids of, 222Tablet of, 33Saladin

,1 6 0

S alah ad -Din,1 6 0

S alatis,6 7

S al

ui

in,£6 0

S a er a us I , 70Salt

,2 1 2

pyr

S amannud, 3 1

S amaria, 1 33S ameref, 20 2

8 511 , 1 1 0

Sand, 4dunes

, 7 ; hills , 1 46storm,

1 46

inclined p lane of, 233stone

, 4Sandals, 1 75 , 1 84 , 2 1 1

Sandal-bearers, 28 , 29S anehat

, 54 , 55Sanekht

, 36

Sankhabtaui, 5 1

S énkhkara, 5 1 , 52, 53

S aparuru, 99 , 1 0 7S a-Ptah

,1 1 4 , 1 1 5

S ar, 1 66 , 1 70S arabit al Khadim, 55 , 56

Sarcophagus, 229 ; chamber,S ardinians

,1 1 2

S argon

II)1 331 1 34

Satet,1 66

Sati, 74 , 76S aut, 26Sauu, 56

S calding, 1 84S carab,

1 89 green basalt, 228

on the wood , 1 89 scarabs of

Amenhetep II I , 88Scarabaeus sacer

,1 6 7

S cents, 20 2S ceptre, 32 , 1 94Schoo l

, 20 8

275

Schoo ls, e lementary, 20 8 secondary, 20 9 ; temp le, 20 8 ; village ,20 8

S corp ion,1 4 , 1 6 7, 1 73

oribe, pro fession of,20 8

S cribes,royal, 1 9 8

S criptures, Egyptian translationof

,2 1 7

S eals,1 8

S eamen,1 1 8

S ea-coast , 22 Kings of, 1 37power, 1 1 8robbers

,1 1 5

S eba,1 78 , 1 80

S ebek, 53, 6 2 , 1 45

S ebekemsaf, 6 5 , 1 2 1S ebekemsauf, 6 5S ebekhetep ,

6 4II I

,6 5

S ebek-neferut-Ré , 6 3S ebennytus, 3 1 , 1 49 , 1 54S eherabra, 1 30

S ehetepabra, Official , 6 2S eka, 2 1 , 1 93S eker, 33, 1 6 5Sekhem , 33, 1 79S ekhemab, 34S ekhemkara, 6 4S ekhet-hetepet , 1 75S ekhmet

,87, 1 6 5 , 1 6 7, 1 84

S emites , 1 0 ,1 1 , 1 9 , 22 , 33, 6 4 , 66 ,

S emnah ,2 , 59 , 6 0 , 6 1 , 64 , 76

.

S em priest, 20 2emqen , 6 8

S emti , 3 1 , 33, 36 ; tomb of, 32

S en, 34

S enate ofRome,1 56 , 1 57

S eneferu, 38 , 39 , 42 , 1 96 , 1 98 , 1 99S enekhtenra

, 7 1 , 72

S enmut , 78 , 82S ennaar, 1 0

S ennacherib, 1 34 , 1 35, 1 36S enseneb, 74S ent, 34S enusert , 55S ept, 58 , 1 6 6S eptimius S everus, 87, 1 59S eptuagint, 1 54S eqennra I , 6 8 , 70 , 7 1 , 72

II , 7 1III

, 7 1

276 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTSerdab, 234S erekh , 27, 34 ; name

,1 93

Serpent amulet, 1 89S erqet, 223S esebi, 1 0 0

S esheshra I , 69I I , 69

S esheta, 1 65S esonchOsis, 55S eso stris, 58S et, 23, 6 8 , 1 65 , 1 66 , 1 69 , 1 70 , 1 7 1 ,

1 72 , 1 73, 1 76 , 1 78 , 1 86 ; the

liar,1 73 2 his mutilation, 1 74

S et and Horus, 1 70S et (Isis) , 1 66S et Festival, 29 , 32, 55, 1 95S etetu Antariush , 1 47S ethro

’

ites, 6 7S eti I , 2 7, 99 , 1 0 0 , 1 0 1 , 1 09 , 1 22,

II,1 1 4 , 1 1 5

S et-nekh t,1 1 5

S even Wonders, 1 54S habaka,

1 30 , 1 33, 1 37S habataka, 1 35S hablukah

,6

Shabti figure, 1 86S hadow, 226

S hakalshu,1 1 2

S halmaneser, 1 29, 1 33S haratenu,

1 1 2

S harhana, 72

S harruludari, 137S hartana, 1 1 5 , 1 1 8

S haruken, 72

Shashete 1 79S hasu, 6 76 ,Shaving, 2 1 0S hebna, 1 35Sheep , 7S hemat, 20 1S hemshu Atum,

83Heru,

226

S hepena t, 1 39 ,S hepher s, 63, 66 , 6 8 , 70

S hepseskaf, 43, 1 95S heput, 1 6 6S hesmu, 1 76Shields, 1 27S hips, 1 1 9 , 1 99 ; of Amen, 20 3S hirt, 2 1 0

S hishak I , 1 27I I , 1 29III

, 1 29

,S hishak IV, 1 29S hishak ofBusiris

, 1 30S hoes

,2 1 1

S hrew-mouse, 1 66

S hrine, 29 ; on steps, 32Shrines, primitive, 1 7S hrubs, 2 1 5 ; flowering, 1 1 0S hu

,1 7, 1 6 9 , 1 84 , 1 85

Shushan,1 54

S hushter,1 54

S hutarna, 88 , 89

S icily, 1 1 5S ickness, cure of, 1 90S idon,

1 36 , 1 4 1 , 1 42S ignet ring, 34S i ns, alphabetic and syllabic, 37S

’

k, 1 60 , 229

S ilsilah,1 1 0

S ilver, 52 ; treaty tablet of, 1 0 7S imyra, 80Swan , 3 , 1 8 , 33, 38 , 39 , 46 ,

53, 56 , 6 1 , 63, 66 , 87, n o ,

I 6 7, 1 99S ingers, 1 71S inging, god of, 1 66

women, 20 1

S injar, 80S ins

, the forty-two , 1 75S istermarriage, 1 53S ister-wife

, 1 71

S istra in temp le, 20S iut, princes of, 5 0S iwah

, 3, 1 46 , 1 5 1Skertchley, Mr.

, 1 93Skhaenra, 6 8S kin

,treatment of, 2 1 2

S kins ofanimals, 1 5 , 78S ky

-god ,

Sky-goddess, 1 65S laves, 80 , 1 0 1 ; killed at deathofch ief, 1 86 ; of temples, 1 1 9

S lave S ultans, 1 6 0S ledge, 223, 233, 235 , 237S ledges, 40 ; forbier, 20 2Smend es, 1 23Smerdis, 1 4 7Smerkha, 33S nakes, 1 4 ; sacred , 1 6 7

S oane,S ir John,

1 0 0

Sobat River, 4 , 5So fa, 2 1 5S o ldiery, how armed , 1 98S oleb

,82


278 A SHORT H ISTORY OF EGYPTTanutamen

,1 37, 1 39 invades

Egyp t, 1 38Target shoo ting, 85Taratisebu

,1 0 7Tartan

,1 35

Ta-sti,23

Tatanen,1 65

Tatu,1 79Tatum-khipa, 89

Tau,2 1

Tau-51a, 7 1

Tau-aaaa, 71

Tau-ia-qen,6 8

, 7 1Taurt,1 6 6

Tausert, 1 1 5Taxation, 9 0 , I 57Taxes

, 1 1 5 , 1 22Tax-gatherers, 1 1 5 , 1 4 8Tchah

,8 8

, 90Tchar, 98 , 99 , 1 0 2 , 1 1 7

Tcheher, 1 49Tcheser, 35 , 36 , 232Tcheserkara, 73TcheserTcheseru , 78Tchetamenafankh

,1 30

Tchetmet, 23Tefaba, 50Tefnut, 1 6 6

,1 6 9

Tehuti, 1 65Tehutimes . S ee Tho thmes .

Tekleth I , 1 28I I , 1 29

Tel] al-Amarnah , 85 , 89 , 94tablets of, 88 , 95al-Yahudiyah , 1 1 9 , 1 56Bastah , 1 1 0

Tem,Temu, 1 6 5 , 1 6 7, 1 6 8, 1 69

Temp le of Jerusalem , 1 27, 1 4 1Temp les , great wealth of,1 1 9

staff of, 200Tem, Shu, and Tefnut, 1 6 8Temu

, 55 , 1 1 9Temu R 1,2 1 0

Ten, 31

Ten Tribes, 1 27Tenttaa, 73Teos, 1 49Tet

,1 64 , 1 65 , 1 88 ; ofOsiris, 230crystal , 239Teta, 47, 234 ; pyramid of

, 46

the magician, 43ofCoptos, 69Tetaan, 73

Teta Ki, 20 6

Teti, 1 83Tetkaura

,1 35

Tet-t,26

Tetu, 1 83Tetun ,

84 , 1 66Thamar,1 1 5

Thaneni,80

Thannyras, 1 4 8Theba’

is, 70

Thebans, 72 , 1 29 and Hyksos, 7 1Thebes, 23, 25 , 27, 52 , 53, 54 , 6 0 ,

94 , 96 , 97, 1 0 8,1 0 9 , 1 1 2

,H 3,

1 86, 20 0 ,

2 0 1 , 20 2 , 236

Thebes and Thothmes II I , 82 ;princes of, 50 sack of

, byAssyrians, 1 38 ; triad of

,1 6 7

°

Western, 76 , 98 , 1 0 1Theft

,1 97

Thehenu,1 1 2, 1 1 3

Thekru,1 1 5

Thenpu, 80Thentsepeh ,

1 27Theo logy, 20 9Thesh

, 2 1

Thi,official, 4 4This, 3 1

Thmuis,1 43Thoth , 72, 76 , 1 65 , 1 6 7, 1 70 , 1 72

1 73, 1 74 , 1 75 , 1 83, I S4 , 2 1 6

spirit of, 9 1Thothmes 1

, 74 , 75 , 76 , 77, 78 , 79235I I

, 76 ) 77: 79 , 1 26

111, 76 , 77, 79 ft ,83, 92, 9 7 ,

IV, 4 1 , 84 , 9 1 H.

,1 96

Throne, 1 94Thuaa,

89Thurnmosis, 70Thunder-god , 1 6 6Ti , Queen,

88, 89 , 9 1 , 93, 1 96

Ti, nurse, 96Tiles, glazed , 1 1 9

Timaus,6 7

Timber,1 99

Tirhakah , 1 35 , I 36 , 1 37, 1 39Tit

,1 1 2

,1 1 5

Tof, 1 5To leration, 2 1 9Tomb

,the Egyptian, 22 1 , 231

INDEX

Tombs,

endowments of,

239robberies of

,1 2 1

,1 26 ; of the

Kings, 6 5Tombos

, 75Torches

,the Four

, 238

Totem,20

,1 63, 225Toys, 20 7Trade

,1 52 , 1 54 ; development of

,

1 39 ; routes, , 4 4 , 1 1 8Trajan

,1 58

Transformations,1 90

Treachery,1 30Treason

,6 9

Treaties,89

Treaty,Hittite-Egyptian,

1 6 7Tree-god , 1 65Tree ofOsiris

,1 72Trees

, 7 ; worsh ip of,1 63

Triads,1 6 7Tribute,1 98

Trinity, the first, 1 6 8Tro ja, 4 0Truth,1 75 ; goddess of, 1 6 5 , 1 73

Tuaa,Queen

,1 0 1

Tuamutef,1 6 6

,223

Tuat,1 79

Tunep ,80

,8 1

,1 0 7Tunic

,25 , 1 94Tarah

, 73, 87, 1 4 1 , 1 49 , 232Turin Papyrus, 27, 4 1Turks,1 93 ; take Cairo ,

1 6 0

Turnip ,2 1 2

Turquo ise, 38 , 6 0Turshan

,1 1 2

Tushratta,89

Tutankhamen, 76 , 8 8Tweezers

,2 1 2

Two Kingdoms, 2 1

Lands,Tyre , 95 , 99 , I 34 , 1 36 , I 4 1 ,

1 42

Tyrsenians, 1 1 2

UAHABRA,1 39

Uahankh, 5 1

Uahkara,1 32

Uak festival, 1 80Uasheshu

,1 1 5

Uatchet,1 6 5

Uatchnar,2 1

Uauat, 24 , 4 7, 80 ,

Uganda, 1 0 , 1 93hemabra

,1 46

Ukhedu, 33

279

Una, 47, 59Unas

, 4 7, 234Unguents , 20 2 , 2 1 1 , 220Union ofTwo Lands

,2 7

Un-Neier,1 77

Unyoro ,1 93

Unuamen,1 25 , 1 26

Upmaat, 6 9UpperNile, 4Upuat, 1 6 6

Ur pyramid , 4 1Urmus crown

,1 93

Urkherphem, 20 0

Urmaaneferura,1 0 8

Urmau, 20 0

Userenra, 4 4

Userhat-Amen, 85Userkaf

, 44 , 45Userkara

, 46

UsermaatraAmenemapt, 1 24Meri Amen,1 1 5

S etepenamen,1 20

S etepenra, 1 0 1

Usarken, 1 28

Usermerra, 6 8

Userra, 44

Usertsen I, 55 , 69 , 1 22

II, 56

I II:2) 3) 58 ) 59 1 75 ) I 98

IV,6 3

Ushabtiu figures, 20 2Utchaheruentresu,

1 45Utchats

,1 89

Uttu, 1 0 0Utu fish

,1 6 7

VALLEY of the Nile ; 1 , 2, 4Valley ofTombs ofKings, 7 1 , 84 ,9 1 , 98 , 99 , 1 1 1

,1 1 3, 1 1 4 , 1 20

,

1 22

Vases, alabaster, 20 2 ; gold , 84silver

,84

Vatican,1 45

Vegetables, 1 1 9 , 1 75 , 2 1 2 , 2 1 3Vegetation , 7 go d of

,1 70

Viceroy ofNubia, 56

Victim,29 , 32 , 4 5

Victoria N ’

yanza, 4Village, 1 4Vine

,1 7 1

Vineyards, 1 1 9Virgin goddess, 1 6 9Virility, 1 88 , 1 89

280 A SHORT HISTORY OF EGYPTViscera

, 224 pro tection of, 227

Vulture, 34 , 1 66 amulet

,1 89

crown, 1 93 goddess, 24

WADiHALFAH, 3, 6 , 8 , 59Hammamat: 1 1 ) 44 7 45 1 46 )

Magharah , 35 , 36 , 38 , 39 , 44 ,Sabua

,1 1 1

Ulaki,1 0 0

Tfimilat, 1 1 1Waist belt

,25

Warboat, 4 7, 59, 1 70 , 1 97

god ,1 66

Washing ofhands, 2 1 3

Waterbottles,2 1 6

Waterfowl, 7, 1 1 9 , 2 1 2

Water-god ,1 70

jars, 2 1 4skins

, 52

ax,figures in,

1 87 gilded , 222used in magic, 1 86Weapons, flint, 1 7 ; metal , 23 XERxE s

,1 48 , 1 52

Wedges, 4 0 , 233 Xoi's, 63 , 65Well at Abydos, 56Wells

, 1 0 0 ,1 0 1

,1 1 9 YELLOW River, 5

Wheat,26

,1 70 , 1 71 , 1 75 , 1 76 , 2 1 2 Young, Dr. T.

,1 55 , 2 1 7

Whip , 32 ,1 94

Wh ite Nile, 4 , 5 , 23, 48

Wicked, the, 2 1 8 punishment of,

1 76

Widows,1 96

Wife, precepts concerning, 20 5

Wigs, 2 1 0WildWinds

, god s of, 1 85

Printed by BA LLA N'

rvuu, HA N S ON 6 ? CO.

at Paul’

sWork, Ed inburgh

Wine, 2 1 3 ; imperishable, 1 76coo lers, 21 3press, 2 1 4

Winter,1 7 1

Wisdom, goddess of, 1 6 5

Witch doctor, 1 82Wo lf-god ,

1 6 0

Wolves,1 84

Women,wailing, 237

Wood, 36 ; of life, 1 76

Woods, precious, 78

Word ofpower, 1 69 , 1 72 , 1 82Word sign,

2 1 7, 2 1 8

Work, spe ll to avo id

,1 86

World mo ther, 1 60Worship ofanimals, 34

daily,ofking, 1 95

pume, 24 1

Wrestlers,2 1 4

Writing, 1 82 ; art of,1 8

, 36 , 20 9three kinds of, 2 1 6boards, 20 9

Z ARAz iK,6

Zedekiah,1 4 1

—2

ZekerBaal,1 25 , 1 26

Zerah ,1 28

Z erakh,1 28

Zoan ,1 1 0

Zobah,1 27

Zodiac,Twelve S igns of, 23 1

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