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AHISTORY OFALL- NATIONS
I ROAVTHEEARLIEST TIMES
BEINGAVNIVERSALHIST -
ORICAL- LIBRARY BY DISH V
CA ISHED SCHOLARS ■ IN
TWENTY-FOVRVOLVMES
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E.J VST I
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PHSTEENSTRA
SAR AY STEVENSON
J. H.WRIGHT, General Editor
• (3hsj <*.
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Head of Seti I.
History of All Nations, Vol. I.— Frontispiece.
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA
IN ANTIQUITY
BY
FERDINAND JUSTI, PH. D.
PEOFESSOR OF COMPAKATI VE PHILOLOGY IX THE UNIVERSITY OF MARBURG,
AUTHOR OF A "HISTORY OF ANCIENT PERSIA," "HISTORY OK IRAN," ETC.
SARA YORKE STEVENSON, SC. D.
PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHEOLOGY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYL
VAMA, CURATOR OF THE EGYPTIAN AND MEDITERRANEAN SECTION OF THE
MDSEÜM OF SCIENCE AND ART, UNIVERSITY' OF PENNSYLVANIA
AND
MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH. D. (Leipzig,
PROFESSOR OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN PART TRANSLATED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
JOHN HENRY WRIGHT, LL. I).
PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE "AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, SECOND SERIES"
VOLUME I
OF
A HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS
LEA BROTHERS ,V COMPANY
PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK
■31029
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1905, by
LEA BROTHERS & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All rights reserved.
ELECTROTYPED BY PRESS OF
WESTCOTT a. THOMSON. PHILADA. WILLIAM J. ÜORNAN. PHILADA.
1
GENERAL PREFACE.
I
N the wonderful intellectual movement of the past half-century
historical science has shared in the advance made by all depart-
ments of human knowledge. New sources of information have been
opened in every part of the world, which have thrown fresh light on
the development of the race in all ages, from the prehistoric period
down to the present day. Excavations of buried cities have revealed
ancient and forgotten civilizations ; the study of the languages of the
East has given us a fairly accurate knowledge of the empires and
religions of Asia ; the enormous accumulation of inscriptions and the
discovery of manuscripts have furnished new insight into the histoiy
and institutions of Greece and Rome; the wealth of documentary
material respecting the Middle Ages has enabled students to recon-
struct the political and social history of the European commonwealths ;
while for modern times the throwing open of the archives of nearly
all nations has laid bare the secret springs of action which have
influenced the present and will mould the future. Everywhere there
has been untiring zeal of investigation, which lias accumulated an
enormous mass of materials unknown to the past generation. These
have been analyzed and the results co-ordinated in thousands of mono-
graphs.
This accumulation has led to a complete change in the manner of
treatment. History is no longer a merely superficial account of events
which are conspicuous on the surface, — battles and sieges and dynastic
changes. It seeks to trace the causes of event- ; it concerns itself not
only with political but also with social phenomena; it reconstructs
society, and explains the development of civilization as this follows the
changing fortunes of nations. It is no longer a more or less illusory
romance, but a science which deals with the highest interests of man-
kind, and teaches wisdom from the lessons of the past.
»Such being the modern aim- of history, and such the vast mass of
materials from which it is constructed, it follow- self-evidently that qo
single mind can grasp it in its entirety. lake all other sciences, it lias
v
vi GENERAL PREFACE.
become specialized, and only specialists are competent to treat of its
various sections. To write a general history of mankind, therefore,
requires the collaboration of scholars, each of whom has made a partic-
ular era the subject of his life-work. But not only has history become
specialized : with the widening of knowledge its broader relations*and
aspects have become more clearly discerned, and in particular the inter-
action of diverse nations, with their dissimilar civilizations, is understood
as never before. In place of the earlier special and detailed histories of
individual nations, each necessarily recounted with slight reference to the
others, there is now for the first time rendered possible a general and
comprehensive history of all nations, in which the progress of human
civilization is treated period by period, more like one mighty river than
as a multitude of separate streams. Such a history is far more signifi-
cant and instructive than the Avorks of the earlier type could ever be.
These are the conceptions that inspired the preparation of the Allge-
meine Weltgeschichte, of which the first nineteen volumes of the present
work are a carefully edited translation, slightly condensed, with addi-
tions. The remote antiquity of Egypt and the East has been entrusted
to the well-known Orientalist, Professor Ferdinand Justi of Marburg ;
Greece and Rome to the eminent historian of classical antiquity, Pro-
fessor G. F. Hertzberg of Halle ; the early Middle Ages to Dr. Julius
von Pflugk-Harttung of Berlin, and the later mediaeval period to Pro-
fessor Hans Prutz of Königsberg, both of whom are recognized as
leading authorities in these fields ; the period between the Reformation
and the French Revolution to Professor Martin Philippson, now of
Berlin, wdiose published works have manifested an absolute command
of his materials and practised skill in their use ; while Professor
Theodor Flathe of St. Afra, in Meissen, has contributed the history of
the agitated period which stretches from the French Revolution to the
close of the Franco-Prussian War (1871). Thus the history of the
Old World as here presented is a concentration within moderate space
of the best German learning and research on the subject.
Yet, in view of the daily additions to our knowledge of the past, it
has been felt that, to render the work fully representative of the existing
state of historical research, some additions to the original were requisite.
For the somewhat scattered references to Biblical history and literature
by Professor Justi, it has been thought desirable to substitute a more com-
plete and connected account, which has been supplied by the well-known
specialist in Hebrew, the Rev. Dr. P. H. Steenstra, Professor in the
Episcopal Theological School of Cambridge ; this account appears in the
GENERAL PREFACE. vii
second volume, in which also will be found an account of the most recent
developments concerning the ancient civilizations of Babylonia and
Assyria, and their connection with the history of Israel by Morris
Jastrow, Jr., Professor of Semitic languages in the university of Penn-
sylvania, as well as a review of the Empire of the Persians and India
by Dr. A. V. Williams Jackson, Professor of Indo-Iranian languages in
Columbia University. Similarly the omission from the original work of
an account of China and Japan in antiquity — an antiquity which in these
belated nations extends well into the nineteenth century — has been made
good by the addition, in the same volume, of three interesting chapters on
Chinese and Japanese history, which have been contributed by F. Wells
Williams, Professor of Modern Oriental History in Yale University.
The recent remarkable discoveries, illustrating the most ancient history
of Egypt, have required the rewriting of the section on that country in
Volume I., which has been performed by Mrs. Sara Yorkc Stevenson,
Curator of the Egyptian Section of the Museum of Science and Art of
the University of Pennsylvania, and similarly the investigations in
Crete and elsewhere which have revolutionized early Greek history have
been treated in Volume III. by William Nickerson Bates, Assistant
Professor of Greek in the University of Pennsylvania. To the fifth
volume has been appended a new chapter on late Roman literature and
education by George W. Robinson, A.B., of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Throughout the whole, but more especially in the earlier volumes, the
Editor has added paragraphs and notes wherever they seemed to be
called for.
To adapt the work more thoroughly to the wants of the American
reader the sections concerning the New World have been replaced with
three additional volumes, written by the late distinguished Professor
John Fiske, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has presented in them a
brilliant survey of the history of the Two Americas from their discovery
up to the time of his death, since when it has been continued by Pro-
fessor Henry Morse Stephens, of the University of California. A sepa-
rate volume has also been prepared, which brings the history of the three
Continents of the Old World down to the present century, embracing
the events which are destined to influence it greatly in the future, in the
rise of the Japanese Empire, and the expansion of the white races over
the earth. This volume has been contributed by Professor Charles M.
Andrews, of Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, and by William E.
Lingelbach, Assistant Professor of Modern European History in the
University of Pennsylvania, gentlemen w r hose special qualifications for
vin GENERAL PREFACE.
the task have been amply demonstrated. All this additional matter has,
of course, been designated as such, and it is confidently hoped that the
combined labor of so many eminent specialists will be found to have
brought before the reader the results öf the most recent research into
the history of mankind in all ages and in all lands.
This general "History of All Nations" consists, accordingly, of
twenty-four volumes: five on Antiquity, five on the Middle Ages, ten
on the Modern History of the Old World, and three on the Two
Americas, with a comprehensive Index volume to the whole.
In the effort to unite completeness with due condensation the aid
of illustrations has been lavishly invoked. Maps have been introduced
wherever necessary to aid in the comprehension of the text; and sources
of all kinds have been freely laid under contribution wherever they can
supplenicnt description or convey more definite impressions to the
understanding through the eye. In the selection of illustrative material
especial care has been exercised to give that which is authentic, whether
in the representation of persons and places, of monuments and works
of art, of documents and events, or of coins and inscriptions.
To facilitate the use of the History as a work of reference very full
analytical Tables of Contents have been furnished for each volume.
Chronological Tables seemed to be necessary for the History of An-
tiquity only, owing to the vastness of the periods of time passed in review
in the first five volumes. These Tables have been expanded and other-
wise modified in the light of most recent research, and are affixed to the
fifth volume. The Editor believes that the devotion of the whole final
volume to a General Index of the entire world's history in a single
alphabet is not only a fitting conclusion of this monumental series, but
also a unique feature which cannot fail to be of practical value to every
reader. This index includes not only proper names, but also important
topics.
Many American scholars have, as translators, revisers, and makers
of indexes, assisted the Editor in the preparation of this History for
American and English readers. James Hunter, A.M., of Philadelphia,
translated ten volumes wholly or in part; Rev. Joseph H. Myers, D.D.,
of Washington, two volumes entire and parts of two others; John K.
Lord, Ph.D., Professor of Latin in Dartmouth College, translated the
two volumes on Ancient Rome, and Charles Förster Smith, Ph.D., Pro-
fessor of Greek in the university of Wisconsin, translated the volume
on Ancient Greece. Louis Pollens, Ph.D., lately Professor of French
;it Dartmouth College, prepared the translation not only of the volume.
CENERAL PREFACE. ix
that treats of the Reformation, but also of a part of the following volume
(on the Counter-Reformation). Frank E. Zinkeisen, Ph.D., for a time
Professor of History in the University of Illinois, translated the vol-
umes on the Age of Feudalism and Theocracy and the Age of the Renais-
sance, besides assisting in other ways on other volumes. Herman W.
Hay ley, Ph.D., formerly Instructor at both Harvard and Wesleyan
Universities, was the translator of the volume on the Age of Charlemagne.
Professor William Wells Eaton, of Middlebury College, co-operated in
the translation of the first volume, and Nathan Haskell Dole, A.B.,
of Boston, in that of the second volume. The following scholars, who
have been or now are teachers of History at Harvard University,
assisted the Editor here and there in the revision of the translations and
in part in the preparation of the manuscripts for the press: George
Bendelari, A.B., Professor Charles Gross, Ph.D., Sidney Bradshaw
Fay, Ph.D., Henry E. Scott, A.M., and .lames Sullivan, Ph.D. Aid
in the indexing was rendered by Dr. Fay, Mr. Scott, Maurice W.
Mather, Ph.D., and the Rev. Charles F. Robinson. The Editor has
read and revised both manuscript and proofs of all the translated
volumes, and has prepared the analytical Tables of Contents that
accompany these volumes and the volumes on American history. In
all parts of his work he has had the able assistance of Mr. George W.
Robinson.
The Editor entertains the hope that the result of this united labor,
to which some of the foremost historical writers of the Old and New
Worlds have contributed, will furnish what has hitherto been lacking
in English, a trustworthy account, at once comprehensive and detailed,
of the history of mankind from the earliest times to the present day,
reflecting the latest investigations and presented in a form to excite the
interest of all intelligent readers.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
(For Analytical Contents, see Page 347.)
BOOK T.
EGYPT, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE SHEP-
HERD KINGS (ABOUT 1800 B.C.).
PAGE
INTRODUCTION— PREHISTORIC EGYPT. ... 1
CHAPTER I.
EAELIEST EGYPTIAN HISTOEY 19
CHAPTER II.
AET IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE 74
CHAPTER JIJ.
THE MIDDLE EMPIEE 117
BOOK II.
ASIA: THE BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY IX WESTERN
ASIA,— BABYLONIA, SYRIA, AND ASIA MINOR.
CHAPTER IV.
BABYLONIA (CHALDAEA) 145
CHAPTER V.
SYEIA AND ASIA MINOR 200
xii GENERAL CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
BOOK III.
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA: THE NEW EMPIRE IN
EGYPT AND THE RISE OF ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIEE TO SYRIA 251
CHAPTER VII.
ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE 288
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS 325
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS 347
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
"oukk PAGE
1. Prehistoric interment of the NTagadah type (El-Amrah) (After de Morgan,
' Recherches,' etc, | .......... 22
2. Prehistoric implements from N"agadah. Bucrania from Hu Originals in
Museum of the University of Pennsylvania 23
3. Door-socket, Hierakonpolis. Original in the Museum of the University of
Pennsylvania ............ 24
4. The Cataract at Assuan, in part ......... 25
5. Ebony tablet of Aha (Mena). Original in the Museum of the University
of Pennsylvania 31
6. The first and the second nomes in Upper Egypt. (From a list in the temple
of Rameses II. in Abydos, Nineteenth Dynasty, about 1350 B.C.) . . 32
7. Coin of the nome Ombites ......... 32
8. Small Island near Philae, at tin; upper end of the Cataracts of Assuan . 34
9. Nekhebt 35
10. Coins of the nome Hermonthites ......... 36
11. Ivory tablet from tomb of Den-Setui, showing oldest known sectional plan.
Original in Museum of the University of Pennsylvania ... 39
12. Horus. (Edfu.) 46
13. Khnum, the Lord of Elephantine 51
14. Sebek-Ra 51
15. List of Egyptian Kings from the tomb at Tun my at Sakkara ... 61
16. Sent and his wife. (Oxford) 62
17. King Khafra ............. 64
18. King Khafra (bust) 65
]'.». Monument of King Sahura at Wady-Maghara 66
20. Bas-relief of King Menkau-hor (Mencheres) 67
21. Facsimile of the oldest book in hieratic writing, the Prisse papyrus . . 68
22. Cabinet of Queen Mentu-hotep 72
23. A table of offerings 76
24. A granary, from the tomb of Ameny, Beni-Hassan. (After Maspero, 'Hist.
Anc. des Peup. de 1' Orient. ') TU
25. Stone sarcophagus 78
26. Portrait heads of the earliest date (Sepa and Nesa). Louvre ... 80
l'7. Statues of Ra-hotep and Nefert. (Gizeh Museum) 81
28. Bead of Ra-hotep. Head of Nefert 82
2'.». The Scribe (Louvre) 82
30. Portrait-statue of Ra-em-ka 83
31. Fanning scenes. Relief on a wall in the tomb of Ti at Sakkara ... 87
32. Shipbuilding. From the tomb of Ti 88
B3. The Pyramids of Gizeh, from the southwest 93
'!4. Entrance to the Pyramid of Kliufu 95
; J">. The Sphinx. Gizeh. (IVfore the excavations of Maspero) . . . . 100
xiii
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I.
FIGURE PAGE
36. The Temple of the Sphinx at Gizeh 101
87. Mastaba-el-Faraun 104
38. Pyramid of Medum 105
89. Sphinx of Tanis. (After Maspero) 120
40. The Ruins at Biahmu 121
41. The Pyramid of Illahun 122
42. Rock tombs of Beni-Hassan 124
43. 44. Paintings on the wall of a tomb at Beni-Hassan. Semitic family asking
admission into Egypt .......... 129
45. Bead of Seqenen-Ba-Ta-aa .......... 132
46. [nscription of Särgon [. and neo-Bahylonian business document. (To illus-
trate the cuneiform script) ......... 150
47. An Armenian town plundered. (Relief from Kouyunjik) .... 158
48. Ruins of the Temple of Mugheir (Ur) 1G2
49. The Wuswas ruins (Warka) 106
50. Adoration of Samas. Tablet from Sippar. (After Perrot) . . . . 172
51. Head of Gudea from Telloh 174
52. Statue of Gudea from Telloh 175
53. Statue of the god Nebo, found at Nimrud. Limestone. (British Museum) 176
54. Bronze Canephorus, from Bagdad. (Paris, Louvre) ..... 177
;j."). Statuette of Ishtar and child .......... 178
56. Relief of Marduk-nadin-akhe. (London, British Museum) .... 179
57. Seals of the Pharaoh Sabaco and the King of Assyria ..... 180
58. Cylinder of Mushezib-Ninib. (London, British Museum) . . . .181
59. Seal of Nebuchadnezzar 182
60. Daemon, or Genius, with Eagle's Head. (London, British Museum) . . 184
61. "Winged Daemon in an Offering. Alabaster relief from Khorsabad. About
10 feet in height. (London, British Museum) ..... 187
62. The god Ea (Oannes) 189
63. King Hammurabi before the sun-god ........ 196
64. An Armenian town stormed ; removal of prisoners. Marble relief. (After
Layard) 197
65. Lake Tiberius, or Gennesaret 201
66. Mouth of the river Anion, or Mojib 202
67. The salt columns at Uzdum 203
68. Bronze coin of Paphos. Emperor Caracalla (211-217 A.n.) . . . . 205
60. Bronze coin of the city Byblus. Emperor Macrinus (217, 218 a.d.) . . 208
70. Cedars of Lebanon 209
71. The sarcophagus of King Eshmuna'zar II. (Paris, Louvre) . . . 211
72. Sepulchral Monuments at Amrit 212
7:;. Tomb at Amrit 214
74. ' The Tomb of King Hiram ' of Tyre 216
75. Sphinx of the Palace Entrance at Euyuk 229
76. Double Eagle on the Door-posts of the Palace at Euyuk .... 231
77-8:!. A Ilittite Religious Procession of Men and "Women. (Relief at Pteria,
Boghaz-Keui) 232, 233
si. Relief from Boghaz-Keui 237
85. Cyclopean wall at Giaur-Kalesi, with two Ilittite warriors in relief . . 238
86. Belief from Ivris 239
87. Seal of Tarkondemoa 243
88. The Tomb of Midas 246
80. Tablet of Thothmes 1 253
90. Queen Hatasu 255
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA IX ANTIQUITY. XV
HM BS PAOE
91. Head of Amenhotep II 259
92. Head of Thothmea 1 260
93. Amenhotep I\'. and his family sacrificing to the Sun. Relief in a tomb
at Tel-el-Amarna 262
94. a, Deatb Mask. 6, Bas-relief portrait of Ehu-en-Aten, from original in
Museum of the University of Pennsylvania 263
95. King Khu-en-aten (Amenhotep IV.) 264
96. I Jameses II. as crown-prince. Relief in the temple at Abydos . . . 271
97. Mounl Tabor 27">
98. Rameses II. 277
99. Sandstone statue of Seti II. (A rain on his knees.) From Thebes. Lon-
don, British Museum .......... 278
100. Seti II 280
101. The captive Pulasati in the triumphal procession of Rameses III. . . 281
102. The Mummy of Rameses II. Gizeh Museum, Cairo 283
Hi:;. Head of Rameses II 285
104. Quarries at Tuna 289
105. The Obelisk of Heliopolis 292
106. The Vestibule, with the first Pylons, of the Great Temple at Karnak . . 293
107. Thothmes III. as Androsphinx 294
108. Relief at Karnak. Nekhebt, the Goddess of the South, conducting Kin«;
Seti [. to the throne of Amen. (Fourteenth century b.c.) . . . 296
109. King Horus approaching Amen. Bas-relief on the Pylon of Horus (south
of the Great Temple at Karnak) 299
110. The Holy Lake in the Middle Temple at Karnak 301
111. The Temple of Khuns (southwest of the Great Temple at Karnak) . . 302
112. Obelisk, seated statues of Rameses II., and Pylons of tin- Temple at Luxor. 304
11. i. View of the plain of Thebes, with the two Colossi of Memnon in the dis-
tance. From the Temple of Medinet-Abu 305
111. Ground-plan of the Memnonium of Rameses III., at Medinet-Abu . . 306
115. Vestibule of the Temple at Medinet-Abu 308
116. The Colossi of Memnon 309
117. Ground plan of the Memnonium of King Rameses II. .... 310
118. The Memnonium of King Rameses II. 311
119. S< t is Temple of the Dead at Gurnah 313
120. Columns of Rameses II. before the Hypostyle of the Temple of Seti at
Abydos 314
121. The arched hallways of Seti's temple at Abydos 316
122. Tiglath-Pileser 1 328
123. Statue of Asurnazirpal. From Nimrud. London, British Museum . . 332
124. Assyrian Battle-scene, from the Palace of Asurnazirpal at Calah (Nimrud).
Marble relief. London. British Museum :;:;:>
125. King Asurnazirpal. Relief from Nimrud. London, British Museum . 337
126 Ivory carved work, found in Nimrud. London. British Museum . :;n
127. Bel-Merodach and the Dragon (Tiamat). Relief from Nimrud. London,
British Museum 343
128. Portrait of a king. Relief from Nimrud. London, British Museum . . 345
129. Lion at the Portal of the Temple at Nimrud. London, British Museum . 346
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE OPP. PAGE
Frontispiece. Head of Seti I.
I. The Murchison Falls. (From a sketch by Sir Samuel Baker) . . 23
II. The Nile in the Tropics. (From a sketch by G. Schweinfurth) . 23
III. The Judgment of the Dead before the (Jod < »siris in the Ball of Jus-
tice in the Lower World. (From a Papyrus discovered at Thebes
containing the so-called Book of the Dead. Facsimile ; Half
original size) .......... 56
IV. Hieroglyphic Genealogy of the First Eighteen Dynasties of the
Kings of Egypt. Bas-relief from Abydos. British .Museum.
(After Diimichen) 59
V. a, Bracelets of King Teta's Queen Abydos. 6, Palette of King Narmer,
Hierakonpolis ..... .... 87
VI. Wall in the Tomb of Ptah-hotep at Sakkara 90
VII. The Pyramid of Steps at Sakkara. (After Lepsius) . . . . 102
VIII. The Rosetta Stone. (One-fourth actual size) 108
IX. Jewelry found at Dashur, Twelfth Dynasty. (After de Morgan) . 120
IX. — A. Monument of Naram-Sin with Superimposed [nscription of
Sutruk-nakhunte ......... 159
IX. — B. Oldest Statue found in Babylonia. (University of Chicago
expedition at Bismya) ........ 168
X. Arch of burnt brick (Nippur) 169
XL Temple of Bel at Nippur 169
XII. Inscribed Bas-relief of Naram-Sin at Diarbekir .... 169
XIII. E-annatum's campaign against the Gishbanites .... 169
XIV. Northwestern Faeade of the First Stage of Ur-Gur's Ziggurat at Nip-
pur 169
X V. Sarcophagi from Nippur . . . . . . . . . 171
XVI. Fr-Nina and his Family 175
XVII. Lion of Babylon 178
XVII. — A. Sarcophagus of the Greek Period found in Sidon . . . 210
XVII. — B. Hittite Monument found in Babylon 242
XVIII. Bas-relief on a Wall in the Temple at Der-el-Bahri. representing a
Fleet sent by Queen Hatasu to the Land of Punt. L. Arrival of
the Fleet at the Land of Punl (one-sixteenth the original size).
2. The Freighting of a Ship (one-ninth the original size) . . 254
XIX. Victory of Raineses II. over the Hittites. Storming of Dapur. Mu-
ral painting in the Temple of Rameses II. at Thebes . . . i'74
XX. Columns from the Great Temple at Karnak 290
XXI. Plan of the Three Temple Precincts at Karnak in the Northern Part
of Eastern Thebes. Based on Wilkinson. Lepsius, and Mari-
ette, with additions by J. Diimichen 294
xvii
LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME I
PLATE OPP
\.\I1. General View of the Greal Temple of Amen in the Middle Temple
Precinct of Karnak (from the south) ....
Will. The Ohelisk of Thothmes in the Greal Temple at Karnak
XXIV. Columns in the Great Temple al Karnak
XXV. The Terrace-Temple of Der-el-Bahri, before excavations by Naville
XXVI. Statue of the God Khuns. (After Legrain) ....
XXVII. The Rock Temple of Ahu-Simbel (Ipsambul) .
XXVIII. Head of Winged Figure from Nineveh. As type of the Assyrian
Race and Proof of Painting on Rock-sculptures. (After Lay ard)
XXIX. Fragment of an Assyrian Bronze Relief, from a Gate at Balawat
London, British .Museum
294
297
297
312
317
317
325
341
BOOK I.
EGYPT.
EGYPT.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE SHEPHERD KINGS
(ABOUT 1800 B.C.).
INTRODUCTION.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT.
Within the last few years remarkable discoveries in the
valley of the Nile have furnished material for a new chapter
of Egyptian history. Not only have the first dynasties of
Manetho — of which little was known beyond hypothetical
names — taken their places at the head of the monumental
record, but beyond them, through the penumbra of proto-
historic times, a large amount of material takes us back to the pre-
historic period.
The word 'prehistoric' is relative and conveys no definite idea of
time. Its value varies according to the development of the country or
of the men to whom it is applied. In America, for instance, ' prehis-
toric ' may mean pre-Columbian ; in Egypt it must mean at least six
thousand years ago.
The above remarks apply with even more force to the word ' stone-
age.' In some parts of the world the stone-age has continued to the
present time. It has notably survived through countless ages in Egypt,
where Mr. Maspero states that he saw a man who still shaved his head
with flint blades. When questioned, he said that flint razors wen- good
enough for his fathers, and surely must be good enough for him. The
man was eighty years old. He stated that in the days of his youth
the custom was still common in Egypt. He therefore covered his sore
head with fresh leaves to allay the irritation caused by the operation ;
but continued the process to the end of his life. Indeed, to this extra-
ordinary conservatism among the Egyptians are due many interesting
survivals from primitive times which are of great assistance in an
attempt at understanding many ideas and customs which have been
l
2 INTRODUCTION.
handed down from generation to generation since the dawn of civiliza-
tion.
However this may be, and notwithstanding the evidence implied
in so tenacious a survival, only a few years ago the existence of a stone-
age in the Nile valley was regarded by many as a problematic possi-
bilitv which could not be dealt with as a fact. The earliest remains
found at Gizeh revealed a high civilization already fully developed. A
few monuments, because of their archaism, often on their own merits,
were assigned to the Second or Third dynasty of Manetho, which
seemed hardly less legendary than his Divine Dynasties. History
proper opened with the monuments of Med urn and of Gizeh — i.e.,
with the Fourth Dynasty and King Seneferu. The beginnings of the
civilization which bequeathed to the world the great pyramids and the
granite temple were unknown, and its origins were a mystery.
The use of flint implements throughout the long period of Egyptian
history was calculated to cast a doubt upon the age of the specimens
offered to the scrutiny of scholars, none of which was found in undis-
turbed strata of an age determined by the presence of extinct fauna.
This uncertainty long seemed to make the hope of reaching any definite
conclusion upon the subject a remote one. The general physical condi-
tions of Egypt were such as to preclude any reasonable expectation of
finding vestiges of paleolithic man under such convincing geological
conditions as have conclusively established his presence in western
Europe and in other parts of the quaternary world. Nevertheless,
many distinguished scholars — Hamy, Arcelin, Lubbock, Pitt-Rivers,
and others too numerous to mention — labored to solve the problem, and
accumulated sufficient evidence to warrant a belief in his existence.
Among the most important of the earlier contributions to the
subject was that of General Pitt-Rivers, who, in 1881, found worked
flints of the paleolithic type imbedded in the indurated stratified gravel
between Biban-el-Moluk and Gurnah (Thebes), in which tombs of the
Eighteenth Dynasty had been cut. The locality lay along the bed of an
ancient stream, which once drained a side valley into the river, forming
as it reached it an estuary in the shape of a small delta. The gravel
is sixty yards away from the highest mark of the Nile flood ; and the
tombs are cut quite to the end of the gravel in parts facing the Nile.
At the mouth of the Wadi, between it and the line of the inundation,
is a cemetery which, of course, must have been buried beneath the
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 3
gravel had any been deposited since the graves were made. 1 Since
then, considerable corroborative evidence has been added, notably by
Mr. Petrie; and while it is impossible to tell at what geological period
paleolithic man entered the Xile valley, there can be no reasonable
doubt of his presence there.
The rocky formation of Egypt for some five hundred miles from
the coast is of eocene limestone. It belongs to the same formation as
the great masses of tertiary limestone found at Gibraltar, Malta,
Southern France, Athens, and Syria. In the neighborhood of ' Gebel-
Silsileh this formation gives place to Nubian sandstone, and at Assuan
this is again broken into by the great granite hills and rocks which —
before the construction of the dam recently thrown across the river at
this point — formed so picturesque a setting to the lovely island and
temples of Philae (see p. 34, Fig. 8). Here were the famous quarries
whence the materials were obtained by the Pharaohs for the obelisks
and noble monoliths which lent such imposing dignity to the art and to
the architecture of Thebes, Memphis, and other great Egyptian capital-.
At the close of the eocene period it would seem that the limestone
deposit was raised in a wide tableland, over which swept the drainage
of northeastern Africa. To the east this was, as it is now, bounded by
the high mountains of the eastern desert. Amid the masses of granite
and other crystalline rocks, some of which rise to a height of some six
thousand feet, were other important quarries, also used in historic rimes.
These mountain ranges barred any outlet to the Red Sea. In the
miocene period a further elevation of the eastern desert must have taken
place, causing a cleft from the old coast-line to Asiüt. The river fell
into this break, and it is regarded as probable that the surface basalts
of Khankah, north of Cairo, are the result of the water reaching the
heated strata below, thus causing a volcanic disturbance, resulting in
the hot springs which silicified the sandstone of Gebel-Ahmar, and the
trees of the petrified forest near Helawan.
It would also appear that in these ancient days a gulf — the outline
of which may roughly be full.. wed eastwardly along the foot of the
Libyan hills, the Gebel Mokattam, and the Gebel Geneffe, to the
present Suez Canal — stretched from the great inland sea at least as
far up as the sandy plateau above which to-day tower the pyramids
1 Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. \i.. -<>n the Discovery of Chert
Implements in Stratified Gravel in the Nile Valley, ' p. 389, 1882.
4 INTRODUCTION.
of Gizeh. To the east shallow straits united the Mediterranean with
the Red Sea, separating the African continent from Asia. 1 This gulf
was gradually filled up by the alluvial deposits, which already at the
opening of the historic period formed the wide plains of the delta, until
they reached a point where a strong eastward coast-current seized upon
them and swept them toward the frontier of Syria. 2
Since then, many thousand years have elapsed, but the coast-line of
the delta has remained practically unchanged. The interior, however,
is gradually rising and drying. The latest observations taken show
that the coast is by degrees lowering and diminishing near Alexandria,
while it is steadily rising in the neighborhood of Port-Said.
Herodotos avers that, according to Egyptian tradition, Mena, the
founder of the United Empire, found the lower part of the valley
under water ; the sea reaching to the Fayum ; and that in his day the
country north of Thebes was an unhealthful swamp.' 5 But while in
early historic times the delta must have been more swampy than it is at
present — a fact which may account for its later development and for
the small part which it appears to have played in earliest history 4 — the
general conditions and outline of the country have probably not
materially altered in . the historic period, and the tradition preserved
by the Greek historian could be but an echo of prehistoric memories.
During those remote ages the climate was moist and the rainfall
abundant. This is shown by the deep cuts, and by the denudation of
the cliffs and the wadis, in the now arid regions beyond the flood-line.
The country was wooded and probably resembled the present valley of
the Nile in the interior of Africa. Primeval forests covered its banks ;
luxurious weeds and rushes formed a thick undergrowth over swamps
1 Aristotle (Meteor. I. xiv.) states that the Red Sea. the Mediterranean, and the
space now occupied by the delta, once formed but one sea.
'-' Schweinfurth (Bulletin de l'Institut Egyptien, [ere Serie, xii., p. 206) .-ays : "U
a fallu environ deux cents siecles pour que le sol de l'Egypteait acquis la puissance que
nous constatons aujourd'hui." Others reckon that it took some seventy-five thousand
years for the Nile to form its estuary.
3 Herod. II., iv., v., and x«i\.
4 At the court of the pyramid builders, for instance, the ' great men of the South '
hold an important place; l>nt there i> no mention of any great men of the North.
M. Erman has also pointed out that the South is always mentioned first. The delta is
called tin- 'North Country.' while the South is simply 'the South.' Under the
.Middle Empire we meet with a 'Governor of the North Country,' and under the
Old Empire there was but one province in the delta. (Erman, 'Life in Ancient
Egypt,' pp. 80-83.)
PREHISTORIC EQ VIT 5
inhabited by the crocodile; and tin 1 hippopotamus, which has now
retreated to southern Nubia, was still hunted by the sportsmen of
Memphis as late as the days of Herodotos. The papyrus plant also,
now <>nlv met with under the ninth parallel, was then >till abundant.
The old surfaces of the desert plateau of Upper Egypt have
weathered dark brown from long exposure. And so have the flints
and waste flakes (rejects) of the paleolithic type found there. Flints
which, according to Mr. Petrie, are known to be seven thousand years
old, and are found under the same conditions of exposure, have hardly
become discolored. This may serve to gauge, in a general way, the
antiquity of these vestiges of man. 1
At that time there was a far higher river-bed than at present. The
heavy rainfall found its way to the river by the deep channelled cliffs.
The land also was lower and estuaries were formed. This may be gath-
ered from the large rolled gravels associated with mud deposits, such as
have been referred to as existing at Thebes, and which are found
at fifty feet or more above the present water-level. Water-worn flints
of the paleolithic type are found high up on the hills, and in the beds
of stream courses that once flowed from the high plateau. From the
time when the paleolithic Egyptian chipped his primitive implements
on the elevated tableland of the present desert — then possibly a fertile
moist region where he could find sustenance and minister to his simple
needs — to his next appearance on the misty horizon of prehistoric
investigation, an enormous lapse of time must have run its course.
Many geologic and climatic changes must have taken place. Who can
tell how many different tribes may have wandered into the fertile valley
and left their unrecognized impress upon its population '.' Tt is probable
that, among the innumerable deposits left by the primeval flint-worker-,
are the unidentifiable remains of intervening ages. 2 Be this as it may,
the next glimpse we get of human existence on the banks of the Nile
shows us a large population, dwelling in settlements in Upper Egypt,
under much the same conditions as prevail at the present «lay. Their
1 F<>r the entire subject of geological change? and climatic conditions, compare
FlindeiB-Petrie, 'History of Egypt,' vol. i., ch. i. ; Bfaspero, 'Hist. Am-, des
Peup. de l'Orient Classiq.,' vol. i. (Les Origines), ch. i. ; Erman, 'Aegypt und
A.egypt Leben,' vol. i.. ch. i. : Elie de Beaumont, ' Lecona de <;.'■..], >gie,' vol. i.. pp.
105-492; Oscar Fraas, 'Aus dem Orient,'voL i.. pp. 175, 17*:: Prof. Hull, 'Journal
of the Victoria Institute, 1890.
Maspero suggests ten thousand years ae a possible period for the development
of Egyptian civilization.
6 INTRODUCTION.
remains have been found in the last seven years by MM. de Morgan,
Petrie, Quibell, Reisner, and others, in the course of excavations con-
ducted among the debris of their villages and in many nekropoles
stretching over a territory of some one hundred miles or more, on both
sides of the river, from Silsileh to Sohag. Their skulls and skeletons
have been subjected to accurate measurement, and submitted to com-
petent study at the College of Surgeons at Oxford, 1 and at the Medical
School at Cairo, as well as by individual anatomists. 2 But while the
field of investigation has been widely extended, the question of ultimate
origin remains unsettled. The most recent conclusion based upon the
careful expert examination of the material lately collected, is that the
men to whom it belonged already were in the main fellahin. 3 There is,
however, no doubt that before the dawn of the historic period a domi-
nant Libyan element dwelt in the Nile valley. This is shown by the
results of the examination of the remains at Oxford. Moreover, the
evidence of the rudely carved figures found in 1887 at Ballas and
Nagadah by Mr. Petrie and M. Quibell, as well as that of the interest-
ing heads and fine ivory statuettes of early dynastic times obtained at
Hierakonpolis by the latter scholar (see ' Hierakonpolis,' Plate VI.,
i.-v.), and especially that of the remarkable portrait of a predynastic
king of Upper Egypt, discovered at Abydos in 1902 by Mr. Petrie
(Abydos IL, p. 38, Fig. 5), requires little comment. All these
introduce us to an orthognathous human type whose aquiline nose,
dome-shaped skull, and pointed beard show an affinity with the type
known and represented by the historic Egyptians themselves as the
Tehennu, — i.e., the western people of Libya, 4 — an affinity which is further
confirmed by important cultural similarities. 5 We may therefore rea-
1 The College of Surgeons at Oxford have pronounced the Nagadah men to be
allied to the white race which inhabited the Libyan region in earliest times.
2 Dr. Fouquet, who examined the material discovered by MM. de Morgan and
Amelineau, also identified their remains with those of the men of Cro-Magnon (doli-
chocephalic, with smooth hair, not infrequently light in color, and belonging in their
general character to the so-called Caucasian or white race). (Comp, de Morgan, ' ße-
cherches, ' etc., vol. ii., p. 50.)
:i I am indebted to M. Quibell for this information with regard to the result of the
study of the material at the Medical School of Cairo.
* Petrie, ' The Races of Early Egypt, ' Journal of the Anthropological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. xxxi., p. 248, etc., 1901.
6 Naville, 'Figurines Egyptiennes de 1'Epoque Archaique, ' Recueil de Travaux
Relatifs a la Philologie et ä 1' Archäologie Egyptiennes et Assyriennes, vol. xxi., p. -\'2,
1899, and xxii., p. 65, 1900.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 7
sonably conjecture that tliis so-called Caucasian or, properly speaking,
European type, extended along the littoral of the Mediterranean basin,
as far cast as Syria, where it is said to be represented by the Amorites.
Indeed the early population of northwestern Africa it.-elf* was mixed.
The geographical isolation which, in the historic period, has tended to
produce an amalgamation of the various ethnographic clement- into one
main type, was possibly much less great in prehistoric times. The
Sahara was probably not then the arid region which it has become; and
it apparently sustained a considerable population. This may be gathered
from the numerous stone implements found over the region, in parts of
the desert now quite uninhabitable. In prehistoric days lair-haired
men, classified by anthropologists with the widespread race of Cro-
Ma&rnon, lived in North Africa, which some authorities are inclined to
regard as the home of the race. The megalithic monuments which they
built seem older than those of Western Europe. Another light-skinned
but dark-haired and short-headed race also lived in North Africa and
in the Canary Islands when the fair-haired Europeans came there.
Their remains have been compared to those of the pre-Aryan Armenians,
and also display similarities with the pre-Aryans of Southern Europe.
Like the fair-haired Libyans, they probably sprang from some point
in the vicinity of the Mediterranean region. Out of the somewhat
complicated evidence one fact stands out clearly : that is, that the destiny
of the Northern Africans in the stone-age of their industrial develop-
ment was quite as closely linked with that of the other inhabitants of
the Mediterranean basin as it was iu later times. This inference is
strengthened by the affinity existing between the Nagadah culture and
that of the Mediterranean stations of the late neolithic age. In the
early Egyptian sepulchral deposits pottery has been found of a type
commonly met with in the transition, or aeneolithic stations of Spain,
Bosnia, Istria, Crete, the Aegaean Islands, and other points of the
Mediterranean area. On the other hand, it is worthy of remark that
a bowl of the black and red polished ware typical of the Egyptian pre-
dynastic pottery — now in the museum of the University of Pennsyl-
vania — was found by Dr. M. O. Richter in Cyprus, at the lowest
stratum of his copper-bronze age, to which — prior to the discoveries at
Nagadah — he independently assigned the approximate date 4000 B.C. 1
1 Other similar specimens are said to have been (bund — notably very recently at
Vasiliki, near Gournia (Crete), by the Philadelphia Expedition.
8 INTRODUCTION.
Mr. Petrie, as a result of his most recent researches, feels justified in
dividing the newly discovered prehistoric remains into sequences cover-
ing in the aggregate a period of two thousand years — beginning with a
population wearing goat skins and manufacturing the simplest pottery
— and running through the gradual stages of an elaborate and wealthy
civilization. This he regards as having reached a decadent stage when
it was overthrown and vitalized by the dynastic Egyptians. According
to his latest view, four racial types preceded the Libyan in Egypt ;
and the latter was the dominant race when the power of the dynastic
Egyptians asserted itself over the land.
^Yithout going into the interesting problems suggested by the above,
or even attempting here to follow Mr. Petrie in his effort to trace the
evolution of the primitive men of Nagadah, certain broad outlines of
their culture are sufficient for our present purpose.
They skilfully polished their maces and stone vessels, and the
regularity with which they flaked their flint blades, and obtained an
exquisitely fine serrated edge on their peculiar flint forked lance-heads,
was unsurpassed by any known people in the same stage of industry.
(See Fig. 2, p. 23.) Their flint bangles, cut out of a single stone and
worked down to a circlet one-eighth of an inch in thickness, are marvels
of stone-workmanship (ibid.). They buried their dead in square pits
dug out of gravel beds, roofed over with beams and brush. The better
tombs were faced inside with mud or mud brick-work and matting. The
preserved body, often wrapped in a hide or in a mat, lay on its left side.
The knees were drawn up, the hands were raised to the head, which
was placed to the south, facing the west. Green paint, on a slate
palette, was near the head and hands ; and this recalls the curious
practice of painting a band of green across the face and eyes, which is
observed on the statues of the early historic period. 1 They surrounded
their dead with food and other necessities of their simple life, which
they evidently believed was to continue in the grave ; and a mass of
fine hand-made pottery of various sizes and forms surrounded the body.
(See Fig. 1.) Pear-shaped maces, sharp-edged disks, flint forked lances,
and knives wen; their principal weapons. Bone spoons and ornamented
1 The tradition attached t<> the painting of the eyes survived throughout Egyptian
history. ' TJatit' or the •green painted eye' was the 'good' eye, the 'well' eye, a
belief which gave rise to the superstitious reverence fur the amulet, the 'sacred eye ' ;
the process of painting the eyes with ' mesd'emt ' being regarded as a cure for
ophthalmia.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 9
hair-combs are found. Exquisitely made vessels of granite, basalt,
porphyry, as well as the suiter alabaster, were skilfully polished with
crnery, Mocks of which attest the fact. Carnelian and blue-glazed
quartz-rock beads and shells were among their ornaments. Mud brick
was used ; and buerania — i.e., the skulls of horned animals — probably
furnished decoration for their buildings. At least, an ivory tusk of the
early historic period, found by M. Quibell at Hierakonpolis, gives the
facade of a low building over the four doors of which hang buerania;
and horned skulls, evidently prepared for the purpose of hanging to
a wall, have been found in later Libyan deposits. (Fig- -•) From
this style of decoration evidently originated the Ilathor heads which
formed so conspicuous and odd an architectural feature of many of
the later temples, and which already appear on the palettes of King
Narmer, whose archaic remains Mr. Petrie regards as pre-Menite.
(Plate V. 6.)
The Xagadah culture seems to put us in the presence of a very
archaic stage of Egyptian life and faith — humble, yet developing along
the lines of the later peculiar culture so familiar to us. On some of
the pottery found by Mr. Petrie in the prehistoric and early dynastic
interments, as well as through the entire course of Egyptian history,
are written characters or marks which have excited considerable in-
terest. According to Mr. Petrie and Arthur J. Evans, many of
these marks are identical with others found at various points of the
Mediterranean region, from the Spanish peninsula to Crete and to Asia
Minor. 1 The conclusion is drawn by these eminent scholars that from
a very remote time a signary was in use among those widely separated
peoples. But the whole subject is new and requires careful study.
Were these prehistoric Egyptians immigrants in the Nile valley ?
If so, who preceded them, and whence did they come? Did they
develop their own culture, gradually forming the petty states of Tpper
Egypl which eventually overcame the region of (lie delta and became
united into one empire? Or were they the victims of a conquest or of
conquests from the east? Confident answers have been given to all
these questions by more or less ingenious scholars; but they neverthe-
less must for the time remain matters of speculation. The discovery
1 For a comparative study "f the characters of the signaries found in Egypt,
Karia, Spain, Crete. Cyprus, see Petrie, ' Royal Tomhs,' i., p. 32; .-tl-" Arthur J.
Evans's ■ Cretan Pictographa and Pre-Phenician Script,' Tahles I. ami III.
10 INTRODUCTION.
of dwarfs among them has led to the suggestion that pigmies once
occupied the lower Nile valley; and steatopygous statuettes found with
their remains, taken in connection with the measurements of certain
skulls which approach the Hottentot type, have also given rise to
speculation with regard to a possible connection with those now distant
African tribes.
Many scholars have looked to Asia for the source of Egyptian
culture, if not for that of Egyptian origin. 1 Some of them have
brought the Egyptians over the Isthmus f others, by the more circuitous
route of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. 3 But so long as similar material,
in as complete a sequence and revealing identity of culture at the same
time or earlier, is not found in Asia, it must seem fruitless, interesting
as the subject may be, to step from the domain of fact to that of simple
hypothesis. Unlike most nations, the Egyptians themselves preserved
no traditional recollection of a migration, of a foreign conquest, or
even of the advent of a culture hero. There is nothing in their annals,
their legends, or their religious myths to indicate such events. Their
legendary wars were, as it were, local wars, in the course of which
brother was arrayed against brother ; the North against the South ;
Osiris and Horos against Set. Their hieroglyphs — as far as their exact
nature can be ascertained — all reproduce the fauna, the flora, and other
objects falling under the observation and the experience of the dwellers
in the Nile valley. The importation of a foreign animal or object from
time to time may be approximately dated by its use among the hiero-
glyphs. The ideogram for 'land' was a flat plain ; while the sign for
' foreign land' was a mountain chain. Their beliefs regarding life after
death, and their consequent burial customs, link them with the men of
the dolmens rather than with those of Babylonia, where the ancient
structures are temples and palaces, not tombs ; and where the latter
play no conspicuous part. So far, no fact that cannot otherwise be
1 De Rouge\ Brugsch, Ebers, Lauth, Lieblein, and others, seek the cradle of the
Egyptians in Asia. Hommel goes to the extreme of deriving their entire culture from
that of the Babylonians. (See ' Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens,' p. 12, etc. ; and
especially ' Der Babyl. Ursprung der Eg. Kultur,' 1892, where he seeks to show that
the Heliopolitan myths and the Egyptian religion are derived from those of Eridu. )
2 De Rouge, ' Recherches, ' etc. ; Brugsch, ' Geschichte Egyptens, ' p. 8 ; Wiede-
mann, ' Aeg. Geschichte,' p. 21.
3 Ebers, 'Aeg. und die Bücher Moses,' p. 48; Düniichen, 'Geschichte des alten
Aegyptens,' pp. 118, 119; Brugsch, 'Aeg. Beiträge zur Volkerkunde der ältesten
AVeit,' Deutsche K.'vue, 1881, p. 48.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 11
explained 1ms been brought forward to show that Egyptian civilization
was derived from Asia; and important cultural differences exist between
the two oldest civilized nations of the ancient world, which are best
accounted for by the theory of an independent development.
At least such seems to be the view held by the two highest authori-
ties in France and Germany, whose general scholarship, as well as
long-established reputation as Egyptologists, makes their opinion of
singular value. M. Maspero, in his monumental work, 1 says that if
one examines closely into the matter the theory of an Asiatic origin,
although attractive, is difficult to maintain. The mass of the Egyptian
population presents the characteristics of the peoples which at all times
have settled in the Libyan continent bordering on the Mediterranean.
They belong to North Africa, and came into Egypt from the west.
Such is also the view of the naturalists and of the ethnologists. On
the other hand, many of the word-roots of the Egyptian language seem
to belong to the Semitic group. Personal pronouns are constructed
with suffixes ; and the most simple and archaic tense of the conjugation
is formed with an affix ; indeed it may be said that most of the gram-
matical processes of the Semitic languages are found in a rudimentary
form in Egyptian. One might conclude therefrom that the Egyptians
and the Semites, after having belonged to one group, had early separated
at a time preceding that when their language became fixed, and that
under different surroundings the two families had independently de-
veloped what they possessed in common. The Egyptian first cultivated,
became first crystallized, the Semitic languages continued to develop.
This view seems to be shared by Dr. Erman, 2 who, moreover,
suggests, as an hypothesis in accordance with all the facts brought to
bear upon the question by ethnologists as well as by philologists, that a
Libyan invasion of the Nile valley gave its inhabitants its language ;
that a similar invasion of Syria and Arabia produced the Semitic
language; and that the latter regions later gave the same to East Africa.
He concludes, however, that these movements took place at so remote a
period "that we may conscientiously believe the Egyptians to be natives
1 Maspero, ' Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l'Orient elassique,' i., pp. 46, 46.
1 Erman, 'Aegyptens und Aeg. Leben,' 54, 55. Also compare Erman, 'Ver-
bältnisa des Aegyptischen zu den Semitischen Sprachen, ' in the Zeitschrift der Mor-
genlandischen Gesellschaft, xlvi., 85-129.
12 INTRODUCTION.
of their own country, children of their own soil, even if it should be
proved that their old language, like their modern one, was imported
from other countries."
M. Naville, 1 in a study of certain important cultural relations
existing between the Libyan populations and the Egyptians, as revealed
in the earliest known monuments, regards the North African character
of the Egyptian civilization as 'established.' And after going over
the question of the Semitic linguistic elements present in the Egyptian
tongue, he says: "No doubt there are in Egyptian Semitic elements ;
but there are also other elements ; and the more we penetrate into those
distant ages — of which we are beginning to perceive the length and the
remoteness — the fainter become the traces of the Semites, and of their
influence upon the culture and the language of Egypt."
That a mixture of races already existed at an early date is abun-
dantly proved. But in all ages Egypt has revenged itself upon intru-
ders and foreign invaders by absorbing them ; and it would seem as
though this capacity for assimilation had existed from the earliest time
to which we have access. The vicissitudes of the prehistoric Egyptians
were numerous and varied. This is revealed in the art of the Thiuite
kings at the very dawn of history. At Hierakonpolis, at Abydos, and
other sites; on the palettes of King Narmer, on the archaic fragments
in the Louvre and in the British Museum — such as those published by
Steindorff — as well as among the recent 'finds' at Abydos, are repre-
sentations which show at least two or perhaps more human types, other
than the Libyan to which we have already referred. 2 They appear as
warriors, some as conquering, some as conquered foes. One brandishes
a double battle-axe. And whatever their history, whether they came
1 Naville 'Figurines de l'Epoque Archaique,' 'Recueil de Travaux,' etc., 1900,
p. 78, PI. I.-III. M. Xaville regards the population as indigenous in Africa, with a
conquering element, such as the Turks appear to he among the Arabs, or as the Normans
arc among the British. The indigenous inhabitants are the ' Annu ' — the bearded
anlicr- of the slate-. The conquerors, according to his view, came from Bab-el-Mandeb
and Punt, and spoke a Semitic language, although they may not have been Semite-.
(' Recueil,' etc., vol. xxiv.. p. 120.) M. Petrie also brings the dynastic Egyptians
into Egypt over the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.
- Mr. Petrie thinks that he can detect -even. But. as he himself remark- ( ■ Races
cf Early Egypt,' in Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. xxxi.. 1901, p. 250),
some of them may well he the result of a mixture of the main types. In a lecture
recently delivered in London he claim- that live types of men preceded the dynasties,
the fifth of which is the Libyan.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 13
from the Mediterranean, the Red Sen, or the Libyan desert, each
probably contributed something to the population or to the culture of
the petty states which composed the United Empire of King Mena.
It may be gathered from the above that the glimpse qow obtained
of the inhabitants of the Nile valley at this remote period, if frag-
mentary and incomplete, is fairly clear. We see them living in a
transition .-taue of culture, acquainted with cupper, but commonly using
stone tools; navigating in their long river boats, and more or less in
touch with contemporary peoples in the same stage of industry. As
far back as modern research can reach, Egypt i> already playing its pari
among nations in conformity with its general surroundings, and working
out its destiny under conditions most favorable to the development of
civilization.
This civilization had already acquired most of its distinctive
features, and was far away from its early beginnings, when the historic
period opens under King Mena. In the last few years the once
legendary founder of the Egyptian United Empire, whose greater
exploits had been handed down by tradition through the Greek histo-
rians, has passed from the realm of myth to that of practical fact. In
1896, M. de Morgan, then Director of the Service of Antiquities uuder
the Egyptian government — and to whom belongs the credit of having
been the first to recognize the true nature of the Nagadah material —
made the discovery, in that locality, of a large panelled brick tomb
(190 ■ 50 cubits) of very archaic character. In this tomb, among
other sepulchral deposits, was found an ivory tablet bearing the standard
name ' Aha.' and also another name which he originally read Hesepti (see
p. 18), and therefore attributed to the fifth king of the First Dynasty ;
but which, subsequently, Dr. Borchardt identified with that of Mena.
While the reading of the name, and its consequent identification, at
first led to considerable discussion, and were resisted by some scholars,
subsequent researches based upon additional material discovered at
Abydos greatly strengthened its probability, and the identification is
generally accepted. A doubt, however, now c\i-t< as to the owner-
ship of the tomb itself. Another archaic tomb, forming one of the
group of royal tombs of the first dynasty found at Abydos, and
surrounded by thirty-four minor burials of contemporary retainer-, in
which were found many object- bearing Kin- Aha'- name, was opened
14 INTRODUCTION.
in L902 by Mr. Petrie. The presumption is, therefore, that the latter is
the Thiuite founder's tomb ; and that the isolated royal monument in
the nekropolis of Nagadah may be that of some other personage
connected with him — perhaps that of his queen, Neit-Hotep, whose name
is inscribed, not only upon several ivory labels found in it, but also on
objects found at Abydos. However this may be, the abundant material
contemporary with Mena and his early successors shows us at the
opening of history an advanced civilization. In addition to the fine
stonework of preceding generations — the progress of which is here
represented by superb vases of every obtainable kind of hard stone —
other arts and industries had been developed. Numerous ivory and
ebony inlays tell of artistic furniture. Copper and gold were used, 1
and the hieroglyphic system of writing had been evolved, and appears
in short sentences and in archaic forms.
From 1896 to 1899 the nekropolis of Abydos was excavated by
M. Amelineau ; and the scientific significance of the site burst upon the
learned world with dramatic effect, when among the many inscribed
fragments brought to Paris by the fortunate explorer after his two first
campaigns, Dr. Erman and Dr. Sethe recognized the names of some of
the kings of the first dynasty of Manetho.
In 1899 M. Amelineau retired, looking upon the nekropolis of
Abydos as exhausted (completement epuisee). Mr. Petrie then obtained
from the authorities the right to excavate there. This experienced field
archeologist, working from 1899 to 1902, was able to bring to light a
large amount of inscribed material, from which the attempt may be
made partly to reconstruct the two first dynasties of Manetho. Among
the royal names found, there are some the archaism of whose surround-
ings have led Mr. Petrie to regard as representing the Thinite dynasty
of ten kings, who, according to the Ptolemaic historian, were the
immediate predecessors of Menes. The practice of the Egyptian
kings of adopting a standard, or Horos name, upon their accession to
the throne, in addition to their personal and other titular names, makes
the identification of monumental names with those of the later official
1 Analysis by Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., shows practically pure copper, with 1 percent.
of manganese, and no tin. The gold is under King Zer (Mena's successor), 79.7 to
13.4 of silver; under King Mersckha = 84.82 to 13.5 of silver; under King Qa (the
seventh king of the First Dynasty), 84 to 12.95, with no iron or copper.
PREHISTORIC /•.'. )/"/'.
15
lists of extreme difficulty ; save in such cases as, fur instance, when
both names are found on the same object. It may well he that Mr.
Petrie's preliminary study may have to he revised as additional material
bearing upon the question comes to light; meanwhile his identifications
may be regarded as practically established lor the First Dynasty.
Pre-Menite Kings.
Ka, Zeser,
Nanner,
Sma.
First Dy
nasty.
Manetho.
Seti's List.
Tombs.
1. Menes.
Mena.
Aba-Men.
•2. Atllnthis.
Teta.
Zer-Ta.
3. Kenkenes.
Ateth.
Zet-Ath.
4. Uenephes.
Ata.
Den-Merneit.
5. Usafais.
Hesepti.
Den-Setui.
6. Biiebis.
Merbap.
Azab-Merpaba.
7. Semem pses.
Sememptah.
Mersekha-SbeinMi.
8. Bienekhes.
Qebh.
Ka-Sen.
Second
Dynasty.
1. Bokhos.
Bazau.
Hotep-Abaui.
2. Kaiekbos.
Kakau.
Baneb.
3. Binotbris.
Beneteren.
Neberen.
4. Tlas.
Uaznes.
Sekhemab- IVrabsen,
5. Srthenes.
Senda.
Kha-Sekbem.
."). Khaires.
Ka-lta.
7. Neferkheres.
Zaza.
Kha-Sekhemui.
It is deeply to be regretted that these important tombs should have
been often and ruthlessly ransacked in ancient, ami especially in modern
time-«. Only the refuse of this rich mine of precious information
remained to be collected. But even that refuse has furnished data for
the study of the earliest organized community of which we possess any
knowledge, and has set back the beginnings of authentic history some
five hundred years. Moreover, the connection between the close of the
prehistoric period and the rise of the dynastic power is established
through the means of the pottery; and its history may be followed in
the stratified ruins of the old town of Abydos. The prehistoric is
thus linked with reigns of the historic kings. On the other hand,
through the temple offerings, among which are some admirable ivory
carvings, the development of art can be traced. In Mr. Petrie's opinion
there is a difference between the art of the dynastic and that of the
prehistoric peoples, and he argues that the former were a conquering
16 INTRODUCTION.
race, whom he credits with the hieroglyphic system of writing. These,
according to his view, were endowed with an artistic sense, while the
prehistoric people were a mechanical race, from whose culture the con-
querors adopted some of the elements which became united with their
own. However this may be, tue early historic material consists of
stone fragments — of stelae and of vases — of jar sealings, inscribed with
royal names, of ivory, bone, and ebony tablets and labels giving in
brief inscriptions some all too scanty information concerning these
monarchs ; stone and alabaster vases — some of which are of huge
proportions — bearing royal names and titles ; others small, of rock
crystal, or of polished marble capped with gold and fastened with a
twisted gold wire the delicacy of which could not be surpassed to-day ;
games, ornaments, feet of furniture admirably carved in the shape of
those of hoofed animals ; fluted columns of ivory or of ebony, which
once formed parts of elegant caskets or of other articles of furniture ;
the great stelae of the kings, and the humble limestone epitaphs of
their servants — all these relics of the highest civilization reached by
man six or seven thousand years ago, teem with historic suggestion ;
but they are surpassed in human interest by the crowning discovery, in
1902, of the mummied arm of the queen of King Zer — the Teta of the
official lists, and the immediate successor of Mena. This arm had been
torn off from the body of the queen by early grave robbers, and had
been concealed in a hole in the wall of the tomb. The object of this
desecration of the queen's mummy became manifest as soon as the
prize was examined. On the arm were three bracelets of gold and
precious stones — turquoise, amethyst, and lapis-lazuli. These are now
in the museum at Cairo. (See Plate V.)
The most important result of the discoveries of the last few years
is the tying together of many hitherto loose and disconnected threads in
Egyptian culture. The day is forever past when serious scholars could
exclaim, with more eloquence than accuracy, that Egyptian civilization,
"like Pallas- Athene, had burst upon the world armed cap a pie at the
loot of the pyramids." From the prehistoric interments of Nagadah
to the reigrj of Aha-Mena; from the latter to the pyramids of Gizeh,
a natural sequence may be traced through the upward stages of a
laborious evolution. Even in the prehistoric age the original pit dug
out of the ground had been improved into a large sepulchral cham-
PREHISTORIC EGYPT. 17
her, lined with mats, roofed with timber and brush wood, ami fitted
with vases and other furniture. The early dynastic tombs were much
the same, only they were lined and floored with timber. The offerings
at first were dropped between the timber lining and the side of the pit.
Later regular cells were built for the offerings ; and, lastly, an elaborate
series of store-rooms was added. The tomb originally had an entrance.
Later a sloping hole led to it; in time a stairway was made; and at
last a long passage appears, such as is seen in the pyramids. A similar
evolution can be traced in the outer form of the tomb. At first tin-
sand was heaped over the pit or the chamber in a slightly raised
mound. Xext, this heap was walled in for the purpose of keeping in
the sand. Then the wall was gradually raised and became a brick
block (mastaba). At last this expanded and rose upward in a mass of
concentric coatings, which eventually reached the pyramidal shape, as
at Meduni, and culminated in the pyramids of Gizeh. The wood and
mud-brick styles of architecture furnish a clue to the peculiar technique
of the later stone work. The hard stone beads of the Nagadah stone-
workers, lead to the rich though bead-like jewelry of Teta's queen,
which [»recedes the elaborate goldsmithery of Dashur ; while their blue-
glazed quartz beads prepare us for the glazed vases of King Mena and
tli" large tiles which were used for wall decoration under the first
dynasties, as well as for the fine and varied glazes of later times. The
concisely inscribed tablets and labelled offerings of Mena's age fore-
shadow the gradually increasing use of writing, which grows on the
walls of the mastabas of Medum and of Gizeh, until under the sixth
dynasty the walls of the entire sepulchral chamber in the royal pyramids
of Sakkara are covered with long religious texts. Under Mena we
already see the king's earliest emblem, the mighty bull, as he charges
into nets, with a freedom which recalls the art of the pre-hellenic
Aegaean world. Neit, the Libyan goddess, is a prominent object of
worship among the first dynastic kings; and Up-Uatu — a form of the
jackal-headed god Anubis, the guardian of the nekropolis and the
'opener of the ways' (to the other world) — after Horos, i~ the special
protector of the kin--. On the tablet of Mena, in the Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania, the monarch is termed : -flic Horos Aha,
born of Up-Uatu,' and he is represented worshipping at the shrine of
Neit. (See Fig. 5.) From first to last the early Egyptians seem to
Vol. I.— 2
18
INTRODUCTION.
have steadilv pursued a consistent course of development ; and we may
well hold, with MM. Errnan and Maspero, that wheresoever may have
been the primeval home of their ancestors, and whatever contingent the
original North- Africans mav have received at various times from Asia,
whenever these settled in the Nile valley, the country conquered and
assimilated them ; and when the monumental record opens, the stamp
of Egypt's peculiar civilization is already set upon the Egyptian
people.
S. Y. S.
Ivory Tablet of Aha-Mena. (From de Morgan ' Recherches, ' etc. — Le grand tombeau
de Nagadah. )
CHAPTER I.
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
THE historical development of Africa has been controlled by its
physical geography. In the infancy of navigation the greater
part of the continent was cut off from intercourse with the outer
world by the ocean and by virtually impassable deserts. That por-
tion of its vast area was therefore limited to such civilization as
could be originated among its own populations, and was deprived of
the intercourse with other races which stimulates internal develop-
ment The indigenous Africans are doubtless capable of organizing
great political communities ; yet history can afford to be content with
the barest allusion, for example, to the empire of Ghana, destroyed
by the Mandingos in 1213 a.D., and to that of the Mandingos them-
selves, which was broken up by the attacks of the Tuariks, and by
lb.- discordant ambitions of its provincial governors. It was otherwise
with the Mediterranean littoral and the Nile valley. Their a<
bilitv to foreign influences led to an early development. Some four
millenniums before Homer sang of " Royal Thebes —
•• Egyptian treasure-house of countless wealth.
■ Who boasts her hundred gates, through each of which
• With bone and car two hundred warriors march " —
the inhabitants of the Nile Valley had laboriously built up a mighty
civilization. For many centuries Egypt remained a leading factor in
the world's history, and was the great school of the civilized world.
On the other hand, during the Punic wars the balance of universal
ciiij. ire for a time wavered between African Carthage and Koine.
These civilized portions of Africa were occupied by non-African
rait- belonging to the Mediterranean or Caucasian family, which by
many are regarded as immigrants ; they were the Libyan-, the Egyp-
tians, and the ( lushites. 1
1 Among the Libyans or Berbers are to be reckoned the Araazerks and the Shel-
Iooks, descendants of the Mauritania™, the most ancient inhabitants "t" Bfoi
19
20 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
The Egyptians regarded themselves as autochthones, the remem-
brance of an immigration, if one had taken place, having vanished from
their minds. 1 The name which they gave themselves was Romet ' men.'
Others might be Asiatic-, Libyans, Negroes — they were 'men' par
excellence; and they maintained that the God Horns had created them
in the valley of the Nile. The physiognomy of the dynastic Egyptians
is discernible in their sculptures, particularly in those of the Old Empire ;
in these, more than in those of later times, the artists aimed at realistic
reproduction. The face bears a mild, often melancholy, expression. The
forehead is low, the nose of moderate length, the lips full, the shoulders
are remarkably broad ; the legs are not powerful ; the feet are long.
The physical type of the ancient Egyptians bears a resemblance
to that of the Berbers. An inference has been drawn that the Berbers
or Libyans are immigrants from Europe. This inference is by no
means made improbable by the affinity which clearly exists between
the languages of the Egyptians, Berbers, and Cushites, — an affinity
which, though not so pronounced as that connecting the Sanskrit
and the Greek, is still indisputable, showing itself most evidently
in the structure of the language, and particularly in the pronoun.
The Semitic tribes who live adjacent to the Cushites, i. e., the Abys-
furthermore, the Kabyles, descendants of the Numidians, and other tribes in Algeria;
a few remains in Tunis and Tripoli, and also the dwellers in the oases at the
foot of the Atlas Mountains, in the oasis of Awdjila, south of Barca, and in
Siwah (the oasis of Amnion); moreover, the Imosharghs ( in Arabic Tuariks, 'night-
robbers'); probably the ancient Gaetulians; and finally the Guanches, upon the
Canary Islands, by whom one hundred years ago the Berber language was still spoken.
To the Cushites belong the Bedja, descendants of the Blemyes and of the Ethiopians
of Meroe, with the nearly related branches of the Bisharin in the desert east of the
Nile; the Ababdeh, dwelling to the north of them, the Zabadaeans of Ptolemy ; the
Shukurieh, east of Khartum; the Hamran upon the Setit. an affluent of the Atbara;
and the Hadendoa, east of the lower Atbara. After the Bedja follow the Dankali, on
the eastern margin of the region extending from the fifteenth degree of latitude to the
straits of Bab-el-Mandeb ; the Agau in western Abyssinia, with the Bogos, Falasha,
and Jewaressa; the Somali, inhabitants of the only peninsula in Africa; the Galla or
Ororao, with the Shoa and numerous subdivisions; and the Saho, northeast from
Axutn, perhaps a severed branch of the Galla tribe.
1 In 1894 Mr. Flinders-Petrie made excavations at Koptos, near Thebes, under
the belief thai the dynastic Egyptians entered the Nile Valley by the Kosseir-Koptos
road from the Red Sea und its southern shores. His discoveries at this point were
the first of the recent prehistoric 'finds.' At the lowest of several strata containing
remains of 35 reigns ranging from pre-dynastic times to the third century A. D., he
found crude statues of the God of Koptos — Min — roughly carved with shells and fish.
These establish an early connection with the Red Sea; hut their makers obviously
had little to contribute to Egypt's artistic or industrial life.
THE NILE TN EGYPT. 21
sinians, do not appeal' on the page of history before the Christian era,
though they seem to have immigrated from southern Arabia at an
earlier date; they once spoke the now extinct Language of the
Geez, of which the living representatives are the Tigre and Tigrina ;
the Amharic dialect, now the chief speech of A b\ ssiuia, though
related to that of the Gee/,, is not in the line of direct descent.
Egypt, QPmef, "the black," the land of the dark soil, 1 is, as Herod-
otus characterizes it, a gift of the Nile,- whose waters, fraught with
blessing, have not only created the diluvium of the Delta, but also
the fruitfulness of the rainless valley, which is immediately contigu-
ous to the rocky wilderness.
The regular recurrence of the Nile floods had its distinct influence
on the nature of the civilization of the people that inhabited these
regions. These people, from remotest times, were obliged to devise
manifold mechanical and useful arts by which to preserve the bless-
ings bestowed by the river.
Regulations relating to boundaries of property, and the mainte-
nance of all measures securing the profitable use of the water, issued
from the rulers and the cultivated classes; thus was developed the
sense of justice and order in the life of the state. The ease with
which it was possible to transport great burdens, as blocks of stone,
upon the water, gave occasion for navigation at an early day, and
caused it to be eagerly pursued. In order to form a conception of
the difficulties attending culture of the soil in Egypt, we must bear
in mind that the valley of the Nile was originally covered with
masses of reeds emitting noxious vapors, and lying between sandy
hillocks; that the river often changed its course; and that the inun-
dations left a large part of the valley untouched, while in other places
the water excavated the soil and formed standing lakes. The Delta
was a vast lagoon of islands of sand, upon which grew reeds, papyrus,
and lotus. The inhabitants were obliged to regulate the course of
the stream by dikes, and to construct canals to the remote parts of
the valley, in order to render the sand-flats also fertile.
1 In Hebrew, Assyrian, and Persian, Mizraim, MuQur, Mudraya, from which is
derived the Arabic Mirr now used, ' the land of fortresses' (originally the appella-
tion of a district east of the Delta).
- In Egyptian the Nile bad the sacred name Mapi, the profane, Aur; in Assyrian,
Jaru : in Persian, Pirav—lvom the Egyptian pi (article) and aur and in Hebrew
Jeor.
22
EARLIEST EGltPflAN BISTORT.
As Egypt is composed wholly of the broad openings in the valley
which are watered by the Nile, its population was necessarily homo-
geneous. There was no distinction between nomads and permanent
settlers, between robber mountaineers and industrious lowlanders.
Cultivating a soil of amazing fertility, the people obtained an opulence
which even in the early ages secured a luxury that was refined by the
arts and sciences which they had acquired. At the same time the sol-
diery who guarded and protected the provinces of Lower Egypt, which
enjoyed but a slight natural defence against Libya and Asia, were no£
Fig. 1. — Prehistoric interment of Nagadah type (from El Amrali), after de Morgan.
without occupation, and hence when the era of conquests began, they
were able to appear in the field endowed with surpassing military science.
The Nile is formed by two large streams, — the White and the
Blue Nile. 1 The former, which according to the geographer Ptolemy
comes from the Mountains of the Moon, or from the slopes of the
mountain-range whose highest peak is Kilimanjaro, under the equator,
Hows out of Lake Ukerewe or Victoria Nyanza (which receives trib-
utaries from the same mountains), and descending the great Murchison
i In Arabic. Bahr-el-Abiad and Bahr-eUAzrak.
PLATE I
The Murchison Falls.
(From a sketch by Sir Samuel Baker.)
History of All Nations, Vol. J page 23.
ü 5
•~* u
o. .-
o a
h |
z «
h -
THE DELIA.
23
Falls (Plate I.), after a short distance empties into the Qorthera
bay of Allien Nyanza; it then emerges from this lake, and dashes
down in the cataract of Gondokoro. Augmented by many affluents,
and especially by the waters of the Bahr-el-Ghazai, it reaches the
Egyptian Soudan after passing through boundless stretches of Cores!
and swamp ( Plate ll.j, and at Khartum unites with the Blue Nile,
which with the Atbara (Astaboras) and other Abyssinian tributaries
causes the inundation. The united stream, hereafter receiving no
Fig. 2. (a) Prehistoric implements from Nagadah. (Original- in Museum of
University of Pennsylvania.) [h\ Bucrania from Hu.
additional tributaries, separates at Cairo into two main branches, which
form the Delta or Lower Egypt (Figs. 1-3). The arable soil of the
Delta covers a plain of about G560 square miles (a little more
than Saxony, a little less than Wiirtemberg or New Jersey), while
the remaining territory below Assuan contains a cultivated area oi
about 5,163 square miles. The mouths of the Nile have changed
considerably since ancient times. In antiquity seven mouths or arms
were enumerated, namely, from west to east: the Canopic mouth
(west from Abukir Bay), the Bolbitine (at Rosetta), the Sebennytic
24
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HIS TORY.
(at the extreme end of the Lake of Burlos), the Phatnitic (at
Damietta), the Mendesian and Tanitic (on the borders of hake
Menzaleh), and the Pelusian (southeast of Port Said), the former
channel of which is now crossed by the Suez Canal. The first of
these, according to the account given by Herodotus, was artificially
diverted in its lower section from an older Canopic arm of the Nile ;
the latter, in the opinion of Aristotle, was the only natural mouth.
At the time before the Nile rises, when it is at the lowest point,
the Khamsin, the Egyptian Simoom, begins to blow. It comes from
Fig. 3. — Door socket, Hierakonpolis. (From original in Museum of the University
of Pennsylvania. )
the southeast ; and for fifty days from the end of April it continues,
charging the air as it were with electricity by the sand which it
carries along ; everything is covered with a hot and glowing stratum.
Set-Typhon (the god of evil) seems to have won the victory; but
si »on the Etesian wind rises in the west-north-west, and blows away
the dust, and, especially during the dog-days, mitigates the fierce heat
of the sun. In early June the rise of the Nile commences, and this,
like the preceding drought, is accomplished with such extraordi-
nary and impressive phenomena, that it is not surprising that the
awestruck people believed that they observed, in these changes,
the immediate intervention of beneficent and of destructive divinities.
THE INUNDATION OF THE NILE.
25
The inundation comes
from Abyssinia, in whose
highlands the rain falls in-
cessantly for three months,
and the river rolls an im-
mense mass of mud in
upon the lower valley of
the Nile. By the end of
June the flood reaches
Syene or Assuan ( Fig. 4 ),
by the beginning of July
it st likes the apex of the
Delta at Cairo. At the
close of September the wa-
ters remain for nearly a
month at the same eleva-
tion, but attain their high-
est point during the first
half of October. In the
first months of the follow-
ing year the water has
already retired from the
fields and the stream con-
tinues to subside until
June. In order to be best
suited to purposes of cul-
tivation, the waters must
have reached a height of
twenty-four feet; in our
day nearly nine feet ad-
ditional are necessary.
Moreover, the floods can-
not be suffered to work
as they will ; innumerable
canals and reservoirs must
be contrived, or yet more
simple arrangements, as water-wheels, to conducl the water to the
26 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
more elevated fields in order to cause the necessary deposit of mud
and its penetration by the moisture.
All appearances of nature and of human life, which with unvary-
ing uniformity begin and pass away, fulfilling their ends unerringly,
with a regularity denied to man, were conceived of by mankind
in the childhood of the race as divine acts. Even in the brutes, as
it seemed to the Egyptians, the certainty with which they effeeted
their- objects, the unchanging nature of their existence, the incom-
prehensible intuitive skill which without any instruction constantly
recurs in each individual, are a revelation of an immediate exercise
of divine power. Thus the Nile, which regulated the increase and
the fall of its waters in a true dependence upon heavenly manifesta-
tions, was a god named Hapi, to whom offerings were poured out,
and psalms were sung, as in a hymn composed by Enna in the time of
Merenptah, the son of Rameses II. :
" O overflowing of the Nile, to thee will offerings be brought ;
oxen will for thee be slain; in thine honor shall there be festivals ;
winged things to thee shall be offered ; wild beasts of the fields
rejoice ; pure flames shall be kindled to thee ; gifts such as men
bring to the gods shall they bring to the Nile; incense rises up to
heaven; oxen, bulls, and fowls shall be roasted; the Nile makes two
cavities in Thebais. 1 Full of mystery is his name in heaven ; he reveals
not his form ; vain are all images of him. No temple can contain
him, no counsellor can penetrate to his heart ; youth delights in thee,
thy children thou guidest as their king. Thy law prevails through-
out the land, in the presence of thy servants in the Northland ; he
drinks ( wipes away ) the tears from every eye, he provides for the
fulness of his blessings.""
At Gebel-Selseleh (in Egyptian, Khenu), where the Nile bursts
through the mountains with impetuous rush, the Pharaoh is por-
trayed as he is presenting offerings to the divine triad, Amen,
Mut, and Khuns. The inscription mentions the two festivals in
honor of the issuing forth of the stream out of its two cavities (by
Herodotus, the mountains in which these cavities lie are called
Crophi and Mophi), and in honor of the arrival of the water at
1 According to the Egyptian legend, the Nile issues from two caves in the south.
ESTABLISHMENT OF MONARCHY. 27
this place. In the firsl festival ( among the (necks called Neiloa ),
at the beginning of the rise of the Nile, there used to be offered,
according to the aceoiint ,^i\ en by the Arabians, a maiden, in any
event a wax puppet, in order to obtain a full inundation. Ever at
this day a clay image as a ■• bride " is placed on the dike, and this is
swept away by the flood before it has reached its highest point. The
present inhabitants of Egypt celebrate the * night of the tear-drop'
(June 17), on which a drop falling from heaven, according to the
ancient Egyptian faith a tear of the goddess Isis, causes the rise of
the water. They also celebrate the festival of the ' filling up of the
Nile' (August 19 ), after which there follows the cutting of the
embankment.
As early as the first Pharaoh, Menes (Mena), mention is made
of an undertaking relative to the Nile. This king, — the most ancient
dynastic ruler whose identity has been established by contemporary monu-
mental evidence, — according to tradition altered the course of the river,
and founded Memphis. He is also credited with having brought about
a serious political change — i. e., the consolidation of the principalities
then dividing the Nile Valley into one united Empire of the " two
lands" under the rule of the house of This.
This was a theocratic Empire, in so far that no separation was made
between the temple and the state. The chief alteration from the former
condition consisted in uniting the numerous provinces of Upper and
Lower Egypt under one absolute and sole authority. The king was
the rider in the name of God ; he was the son of God, and once estab-
lished on the throne, became his incarnation. The temple was the
domestic chapel of this earthly god, who shared his sanctuary with the
priesthood alone. The priesthood, in addition to its spiritual functions,
was invested with the most important secular offices, and was com-
posed largely of the dependents and relatives of the royal family.
Although it was possible for men, through education, to attain to
the highest positions, yet it was customary for sons to succeed their
fathers, and daughters their mothers, — the latter, for example, in
discharging the duties of priestesses and temple-women. The con-
sideration with which the Egyptian priesthood was treated was en-
hanced by the elaborate Bystem of rules that regulated the manner
of life of the priests. In externals they were distinguished from the
28 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
laboring classes by their dress of white linen, over which was thrown,
while they were performing priestly functions, a panther's skin ; their
heads were shaven, and they wore elaborate wigs ; they were required
to al »stain from fish, from the flesh of certain wild animals, from
beans, and from other food which was considered unclean. The
Greeks, — Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, Plato (in the Timaeus), — who
in the later periods of the monarchy visited the country, differed in
their enumeration of the several orders of society. It would seem that
the priests (with whom were included the learned men, authors, — the
libraries were in the temples, — high officials, and especially architects),
the soldiers, the merchants, the members of different trades, and the
peasants constituted distinct classes of society, marked off by sharp
dividing-lines. In their precepts, however, the Egyptian sages disclaim
arrogance, and allow for changes of condition resulting from life's
vicissitudes. There are instances of freedmen who advanced to high
places through their own efforts and the King's favor. Ti was a par-
venu who rose to a high estate and wedded a princess. The ancestors of
the great architect Sen-mut " were not found in writing " — and among
court officials were foreigners who may even have been slaves. For
instance, the First Speaker to his Majesty King Merenptah, whose duty
it was to take charge of all intercourse between the King and his attend-
ants, was a Canaanite — Ben Mat'ana, son of Yupa'a — from d'Arbarsana. 1
Among the government architects are also found the names of princes
and of officers who had intermarried with princesses. Brugsch has given
a genealogical list of twenty -five head architects, 2 which reaches back
from the time of Darius to the reign of Shishak I., whose architect was
named Hor-em-bes, and thence farther back to the time of Rarneses II.
and Seti I., in whose reigns the famous Bek-en-khuns, builder of the
Ramesseum and of many other splendid works, nourished ; his statue,
1 Comp. Erman, l<>o. cit., 10G. Also Mariette, Catalog. d'Abydos, No. 1136. and
Abydos, III. 90.
2 Such genealogies are valuable for ascertaining approximately chronological
studies. In these lists three generations are reckoned to a century, while the average
duration of the reigns of the several kings must be regarded as much shorter. An
architect was named Bek, whose father was Men ; the father of the latter, Hor-amu,
served under Amenhotep Ii I. as the superintendent of the sculptors ; the architect of
the latter, under whose direction was erected the colossal statue of Memnon, which
was brought from the quarry upon eight boats joined together, was Amenhotep, son
of Hapi, whose tomb is at Der-el-Bahri.
MEMPHIS 20
with an enumeration of the offices which he filled, and an account of
his labors as architect, is to be found in the Glyptothek at Munich.
Pharaoh Mena was ;t native of Tini, the ancient capital of the
province of Thinitis j at a later day this place was overshadowed by
the neighboring Abydos. Near this spot was found, some years ago,
a tomb with two lions resembling those at Mycenae j which according
to an inscription belonged to a family sepulchre in existence since the
age of .Mena. We have seen (Introduction, pp. 13-18) that Menu's
tomb, and perhaps that of his Queen Neit-hotep, have been recently dis-
covered j and that, in some thirty-four contemporary burials of retainers,
a large number of objects inscribed in his name have been found. There
is now, therefore, an abundance of material to prove the identity of the
until now semi-legendary personage, who henceforth must stand unchal-
lenged at the threshhold of History. His worship continued throughoul
the ages ; and his priesthood is on record as late as the reign of Psam-
metichus. According to tradition, he was killed by a hippopotamus —
perhaps an allusion to some rebellion of Set-worshippers, to whom that
animal was sacred. Mena introduced the pomp and ceremony of royalty,
and the laws which he established were revealed to him by the god
Thoth. His most important work was the building of Memphis. 1
Herodotus relates that he erected a dike to protect the town from
the overflow of the river. The flood had formerly swept close by
the Libyan range of mountains ; but the king, by means of the dike
constructed a hundred stadia higher up, had compelled the stream to
flow in the new bed as it is to-day, so that the town came to lie
on the west bank ; and by excavating a lake, the town was protected
also on the west, (This dike was discovered by Linant Bey. about
thirteen miles south of Memphis.) The town extended from the
present Bedrashen, beyond Mitrahineh and Sakkara ('the temple
of Sokar '), as far as Abusir ('the temple of Osiris'). It existed
until the end of the kingdom, although at one time it suffered
greatly from the Shepherd Kings, after whose expulsion it was
rebuilt. It was again much injured by the Persians, and finally losl
its importance by the founding of Alexandria ( 332 B.C. >. When in
638 A.D., upon the site of ancient Babylon, on the right bank of the
Nile opposite the island Roda, the modern Old Cairo, and, later,
1 Men-no-fer, 'the good dwelling,' or Nw-ptah (Hebrew Noph), 'the town of Heph-
aestus' ; in the lists of the provinces it is styled the 'town of the white wall.'
30 KARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
Cairo itself, were built, the ancient city of Memphis ceased to exist.
The stones of the monuments of the temple of Ptah, of the 'white
wall ' or castle, and of the seat of the princes of the provinces or nom-
archs, as well as those of many Grecian edifices, were appropriated
and used for new foundations ; so that at the time of Abdul-Atif
(who died in 1232) there remained only one monolithic apartment
or naos of green stone, with figures of beasts (sphinxes) and of men
of immense size, together with a mass of wonderful ruins, inhabited
by bands of robbers who drove a traffic in the ransacked treasures
of antiquity. In our day the heaps of rubbish at Mitrahineh are
overgrown with palm-trees ; and there remains only a statue of
Rameses IL, about fifty-three feet in height, formed of a single piece
of limestone, which lies on the right side, having fallen to the
ground ; it was set up by this Pharaoh in front of the pylon of the
temple of Ptah, of which a few pieces of the foundation remain.
One might well conceive that the Pharaoh who introduced mon-
archy also brought about a division of the land into districts or nomes l
in order to lighten the labor of administration. It is more likely, how-
ever, that the petty states brought together to form Mena's Empire
were simply turned into its provinces, each retaining its original limits,
as well as its nobility, its militia, and its special standard. At least,
these standards appear on the earliest monuments, such, for instance,
as are found at Abydos and at Hierakonpolis. Furthermore, the
forty-two judges of the other world, who, according to the " Book of the
Dead," were summoned from the chief cities of the kingdom to form
a tribunal, stand in evident agreement with the number of the nomes,
and this connection of the nomes with the ancient doctrine of Hades
attests their great antiquity. In the division of the country into
Domes, use was probably made of pre-existent conditions. The in-
habitants were anciently doubtless divided into numerous clans, each
with a patriarch as chief, who also served as priest of the deity of the
tribe. With the change from the nomadic to a settled manner of life,
effected by their new relations to the soil, the bonds of kindred were
relaxed as the territorial tie strengthened. The patriarch was trans-
formed into a chieftain or prince, his tent became a temple, and he fell
into the possession of the best land and largest herds. Thus arose small
1 Greek, nomos ; in sacred Egyptian, hesp ; in profane, p-tosh.
THE NOMES.
31
cantons with their several deities, which in later ages were at times
in antagonism. When one princely house gained ascendancy over
the others, and stood at the head of the united kingdom, it gave the
preference to its own district, and sought to exalt its local deity
above other gods.
It would seem that Upper Egypt annexed the 'North Country. 1
The 'two lands' never were quite merged into one. They were
united. And as the evidence of this union, the Pharaohs wore a
double crown; the southern white, the northern red, blended in a single
one, the pshent. The Government remained twofold. Public lands
and state property were divided ; and high administrative officials were
Treasurers or Supervisors of ' the two houses' of silver, or of grain,
etc.
Fig. 5. — Ebony tablet of Aha (Mejja). (From original in Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania. )
Besides occasional mention of the names of the provinces, we pos-
sess, certainly from the date of the New Empire down to the times
of the Romans, records of the provinces or nomes, from which it
appears that the division remained the same for thousands of years.
The apparent differences in the several lists are explained by the
existence of subordinate nomes, mentioned perhaps between two
32
KAULIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY
principal nomes. Every province bad its capital (md) with a local
deity, whose worship was performed by chosen or by hereditary
priests. This was the seat of the hereditary ruler (hik), the head
of the administration and of the military department, to whom was
also intrusted the collection of the tribute ; under him were toparchs
ffl
TV
Fig. 6. — The first and the second nomes in Upper Egypt. (From a list in the
temple of Kameses II. in Abydos, Nineteenth Dynasty, about 1350 b.c.)
or subordinate rulers. In every nome a distinction was made between
arable land and land where at high water were formed swamps in which
were reared water-fowl, lotus, and papyrus, and which, when dry, was
used for pasture. Finally there were the principal canal (mer) for
purposes of irrigation and navigation, and the side
canals. The god of the nome from which the reign-
ing house took its origin, acquired a preferred position.
In turn Ptah, Ra, Amen, assumed the highest rank
among the gods. The influence of the Sacred Colleges
Fig. 7. — Coin was also an important factor in the religious evolution
of the nome Om- v , , rp , TT ,. ,. i tt i-
bit ot the people. thus Heliopolis ana ilermopolis,
while in the historic period they furnished no reign-
ing house, made a powerful impression on the religions thought of
tlic people; and their gods and doctrine played an important part in
Egyptian intellectual life. A nome might include a number of minor
provinces. For instance, the first, south of Assuan, possessed a longer
or shorter portion of the Nubian valley of the Nile, according to the
TUF. NOMES.
greater or less extent of the power of Egypt Among ancient non-
Egyptian writers, Herodotus first names eighteen nomes up to the two
lying together in the Delta occupied as their allotment by the warrior
(hisses, — the Hermotybies and Calasiries (in Egyptian, Kelashes).
Diodorus relates that Sesostris established thirty-six: nomes; and the
same number is given by Strabo, who assigns ten to the Thebais,
the same number to the Delta, and sixteen to Middle Egypt The
latter region contained at times .mly seven nomes, and hence was
called Heptanomis; afterwards an eighth was added, the nome of
Arsinoe (Fayum; in Coptic, P'o-ibm, 'lake-land'). Pliny mentions
forty-four nomes, and Ptolemy, in the Delta alone, twenty-four. The
names that occur are in part borrowed from the popular or demotic
Egyptian, as Pathyrites (Egyptian, Porhatkor) ; in part they are-
Greek paraphrases, as Apollonopolites (from Apollo, or Ilor-hut,
whose temple was in the chief town), or Lycopolites, of • the city of
the wolves' (jackals), where the sacred animal of Anubis was wor-
shipped. Brugsch has fully treated of the lists of the nomes in
speaking of geographical inscriptions. In these (see Fig. 6) the rep-
resentation of a nome appears in the form of a human figure, a woman,
or a form partaking of the attributes of both sexes hearing in hand
the principal products of the locality. Upon the head is the ideo-
gram of the nome, and above this the device for the ' standard ' ;
the latter is also often found alone. Four lists of the times of
the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Thirtieth Dynasties are preserved,
but are so far injured that they show very imperfectly the names
of the nomes. Two only, belonging to the age of Seti I. and
Rameses, which were found by Brugsch at Abydos, present a
larger series of names, and, as a supplement, add a complete list
of the towns, which are grouped under their appropriate nomes. Of
the period of the Macedonian Ptolemies there are six lists, of which
the fullest had its origin at Edfu in the age of Ptolemy IX.. (known
also as Alexander I.). The king is represented in each nome as
offering or presenting the nome to the god Ilor-hut. Finally there
are five lists of the period of the Roman Empire. The situation of
the nomes or provinces we ascertain by comparing together the
names on the Egyptian monument-, those given in the lists of
Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy, modern name- of places, and
Vol. I. 3.
34
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY
especially the later provincial coins. In this investigation great
credit, is due to Brugsch, de Rouge, Dümichen, Maspero, Erman,
Müller, Griffith, and others, and yet the subject is by no means ex-
hausted, particularly with regard to the nornes of the Delta.
The province of Nubia appears on the lists as the southernmost
nome, to which also was assigned all the conquered region south of the
limits of Egypt proper. Here lies the island of Philae (Fig. 8),
the frontier island ; opposite to it the island Senem (Bigeh) ; and on
the northern limit of this province, opposite Sun (Syene ; in Arabic,
Assuan), the island of Ab (Elephantine), on which were situated the
Fro. 8. — Small Island near Philae, at the upper end of the Cataracts of Assuan.
chief town and the temple of the god Khnum. Here also is found
the famous Nilometer, a staircase leading down to the surface of the
river, having on it marks to indicate the height of the water ; this
was disused at an early day, but in the year 1870 was discovered and
again put to use. Farther down are situated Ombos (Fig. 7), with
the temple of Sebek-Ra, a god with a crocodile's head ; and Khenu (in
Arabic, Selseleh), where the stream is so narrowed by sandstone rocks
that the people say it could be closed in old times by chains (seise-
THE NOMES.
35
AA). Of the quarries and the monuments existing there, much has
been written. The second province is that of Apollinopolis Magna,
or Edfu, 1 where, amid the walls of a very ancient sanctuary, stands a
completely preserved temple of the age of the Ptolemies, dedicated to
Horns, who is recognized by his hawk's head and double crown. The
third province is that of Latopolis, or Esneh (Egyptian, Seni), whose
inhabitants regarded the fish latus as sacred, and did not venture to eat
it; in the Old Empire Xekhebt (El-Kab) was the capital. The Gov-
ernors of its great fortress were equal in rank with the princes of the
blood. At this place, Nekhebt (Eileithyia), the patron goddess, repre-
sented as a vulture or as an asp, wearing the white crown of Upper
Egypt, was worshipped (Fig. i>). The fourth nome is the Pathyritic,
or that of western Thebes, called also Diospolites, on account of Amen
(Zeus), who was here held in special reverence, or Hermonthites from
the town of Hermonthis (Er-
ment). Koptos, the capital of
the fifth nome, where the ithy-
phallic Min, — the Pan, or Pria-
pus, of the Egyptians, — was wor-
shipped, had a temple which goes
back to prehistoric times. 2 This
town was the place where the
valley approached nearest to the
Arabian Gulf, and east of it
several roads united at Laketa ?
from which the two lines of traffic
branched off to Berenice, and past the famous porphyry quarries of
Hamamat to Kosseir (Leucos limen). The Tentyritic nome possessed
at its capital, Denderah, a noble temple of Hathor, built in the times
of the Romans, which, like the temple at Edfu, was erected on the site
and according to the plan of a more ancient sanctuary. The seventh
province, that of Diospolis Parva (Egyptian, Ha), was so called be-
cause in the chief town, together with the nome deity [sis-Hathor,
the god Amen of Thebes received worship. In the province of Aby-
dos was said to be the tomb of Osiris, a famous resort of pilgrims,
1 Edfu, in Egyptian, A/hu, 'the place of the stabbing,' namely, of Typhon by
Horus, which took place here. 2 See note t" page 20.
Fig. 9. — Nekheht.
36 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
where wealthy Egyptians were buried near the God. In 1898 Ameli-
neau discovered at Abydos — in a tomb which turned out to be that
of King Zer (Teta) of the First Dynasty — a granite cenotaph of Osiris
of late date. Certain peculiarities of the tomb and the presence of
votive offerings make it probable that this was the so-called tomb of
the God, where, in the New Empire, pilgrimages were made. (See above,
p. 62.) The ninth province, Panopolites,
with its capital Khemmis (Akhmin),
where the God Min was worshipped,
was formerly the seat of the wool in-
dustry. The tenth province was Aph-
Fig. 10.— Coins of thenome roditopolites (in Egyptian, Tebu, now
Herinonthites. ,. . T _ . , '
called Ittu), where Hathor-lsis was
worshipped ; and to the east lay the eleventh nome, or Antaeopolites.
Here was the town of Tuka (in El-Kebir), the abode of Antaeus, who
is identical with the Asiatic-Egyptian war-god Reshpu, and, in
the latest Osiris myth, with Horus. At a later day the province of
Aphroditopolis disappears from the lists ; and in its place is found the
province of Shet, in which Aphroditopolis on the west, and Antaeopolis
on the eastern shore of the Nile, are included ; to them was added, in
the time of the Caesars, Hisopis (Egyptian, Shotep). The deity of
this province is Khnum. The twelfth nome, Tu-hef, or that of the
' snake mountain ' (in Greek, Hypselites) had for its capital Hierakon,
' the town of the hawk.' The ancient temple and nekropolis were exca-
vated in 1898 by Quibell, who found there important remains of the
early dynasties (see Introduction, pages 6—12, also Plate V. and Fig. 3),
and among other valuable objects of the Old Empire, a large copper
statue of Pepi I Meri-Ra, and a superb golden hawk. The thirteenth
and fourteenth provinces are the two Lycopolites, lying south and north
of Siüt, in which Anubis, having the head of a jackal (the wolf of
Egypt), was worshipped. The northern province had Kesi (Cusae)
for its capital, and Hathor was its deity. Under Hadrian this province
was divided between the thirteenth and fifteenth ; and for the fourteenth
a new province was created on the west bank, which, after the town
Antinoiipolis, built by him in memory of his favorite Antinoiis, was
1 In Egyptian, Tiniai ; the town is so called upon the Berberini obelisk, reared by
Jiudrian.
THE NOMES. 37
named Antinoites ; this town, opposite Ashmunen or Hennopolis, was
built in Roman style. The fifteenth province or nome is Soutb Her-
rnopolites, and its capital was Ashmunen, when- Ilermes-Thoth, the
ibis-headed god of learning, was worshipped; in it lie the ruin- and
tombs of Tel-el- Amarna and the rocky grottos of El-Bersheh. The latter
were systematically studied (1892-94) by Messrs. F. LI. Griffith and
1\ E. Newberry on behalf of the ' Archaeological Survey of Egypt.' At
the frontier town of Temta, where duties on imports coming from the
south were levied, and where the great canal branched off from the
Nile, flowing as far as the Fayum, we reach, with the sixteenth nome, the
northern provinces of Upper Egypt; these provinces of Middle Egypl
are called the Heptanomis. The metropolis of this nome, also known
as Xorth Hermopolites, w r as Ha-bennu — that is, the 'town of the
phoenix,' and Horus was the provincial deity. Several celebrated
rock-tombs, especially those of Beni-Hassan, belong to this nome.
The province of Cynopolites derives its name from the jackal-headed
god Anubis, which here was worshipped. The capital is the modern
Kais (Egyptian, Kasa). The eighteenth province is West Oxyrhyn-
chites, or Alabastropolis, on account of the quarry of alabaster found
at Shas. Its capital w r as Ha-Suten, and Anubis-Sep was its deity.
The capital of the nineteenth nome was Oxyrynchus (Behnesa), where
MM. Grenfell and Hunt recently discovered a mine of valuable Graeco-
Roman papyri. These include, among a mass of business and persona]
documents, important fragments from the classics and the early Chris-
tians; and in both classes of MSS. furnish the earliest examples
extant. The town was founded by Unas, the last king of the Fifth
Dynasty, and it is probable that Herodotus refers to this province in
speaking of the nome Anysius. Its inhabitants had the chief part
of the commercial intercourse with the oases in the Sahara, Kenem
(Khargeh), Testes (Dache!), and Ta-ah (Farafrah), and brought about
importations from them to the valley of the Nile; but this connection
with the desert appeared as an influence of Typhon, and it i- related
in the myth of Osiris that here a contest arose whereby he lost a part
of a leg; that is, a part of the desert was rent off by the inundation
through the canal Bahr-Jusuf. The twentieth province, Herakleopo-
lites Magnus, had as its deity Har-Shefl, who received divine honor-
in the town of Ha-Khenen-su, the modern Annas (in Coptic, Hennes).
81029
38 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
The twenty-first province was divided into two parts, the eastern
situated on the Nile, the western constituting the Faymn ; at a later
day the former was added to the twentieth province. The capital
was called Pa-Sebek, the habitation of the god Sebek, to whom the
crocodile was sacred ; hence the place was named in Greek, Croco-
dilopolis. It was named Arsinoe, after the queen of Ptolemy
Philadelphia (284-246 B.c.), and is to-day called Medinet-el-Fayum.
The last province of Upper Egypt is Aphroditopolites, so named
from Tepahe ; that is, the town of the cow-headed Isis-Hathor, — the
modern Atfi.
The provinces of Lower Egypt, respecting some of which there
still exist many doubts, begin with Memphites, the nome of Memphis,
in which is the seat of government again to-day (Cairo) as it was six
thousand years ago. The second nome, Letopolites, had as its chief
town Sokhem, perhaps on the site of the village of Usim, which lies
on the west bank of the river, a short distance below Cairo. The
god of this nome was Horus, and the goddess, Bast, or Leto. The
capital of the province of the West was on the southern point of the
Lake Mareotis ; its ruins are not as yet discovered. Its deity was
Hathor, in the form of a cow lying down. The vicinity of the Natron
Lakes and the Oasis of Amen (Siwah) were regarded as belonging
to this province ; and hence it was called by Strabo, Nitriotes, and
by Pliny, Hammoniacus. To this province we may also refer the
district which is specially called Mareotis by Pliny and Ptolemy,
from the town Marea (in Egyptian, Meri), on the south shore of
Lake Mareotis. Lying between this and Alexandria was the nome
Menelaites, so-called. The more recently constituted nome of Alex-
andria, which was established in place of Rhacotis, might jmss for an
adjunct to the third, perhaps also to the fifth province. The fourth
nome, Prosopites, had for its capital town Teka, probably modern
Tükh, southwest from Tanta ; the Greek appellation is derived from
the town of Prosopis, which Dümichen has identified with the town
of Pa-ari-shep, situated in the southern part of the western Delta.
The fifth province is Saites (now Sa-el-Hugar), with the sanctuary
of the goddess Neith, or Net. As a part of the same is to be re-
garded the nome of Temi-en-hor (' the fortress of Horns '), situated
west, and now called Damanhfir. The sixth province, called Xoites,
THE NOMES.
39
had Khasuu (now Sakha) as its capital, and lay northeasi from Sais.
The capital of the seventh province was Pa-neha (now Benha), lying
on the southern part of the Damietta branch. Pa-tum was the capital
of the eighth province, lying to the east. This is Pithom, mentioned
in the Bible, its profane name being Succoth. This town was exca-
vated by Naville in 1883. The region is full of interest as the
scene of the Exodus. It was situated at the entrance of the Wady-
Tümllät, originally a desert tract, which Hanieses II. convened
into a fruitful region by constructing the eanal from the Pelusian
Fig. 11. — Ivory tablet from tomb of King Den-Setui. showing oldest known
sectional plan of building. (From original in Museum of the University <>f
Pennsylvania. )
branch of the Nile, in the vicinity of Bubastis fat Zagazig), as far
as Crocodile (Timsäh) Bay. The district near the entrance to the
Wady was low, and was fruitful; it was desirable for herdsmen,
and was known as the land of Goshen (in Egyptian, Kesem).
The ninth province is that of Busiris (in Egyptian, Pa-usiri, ' the
home of Osiris'), to-day Abusir, midway on the Damietta branch;
the tenth was that of Athribis ( in Egyptian, Hat-her-ab,' the midland
dwelling'), whose ruins lie thickly at Benha. Here worship was
paid to a Horns. The eleventh province is Lycopolites, at the west
of the two former. The name of the capital, Lycopolis, is, on the
40 E A U LIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
Rosetta stone, Pa-mak, 'house of the Evil One," or Typhon : several
lists name Sheten as the capital, which is identified with the modern
village of Shenit, north of Horbet, in the neighborhood of Abu-
Kebir ; but Horbet is the ancient Pharbaethus, mentioned by Herod-
otus as a separate nome (in Egyptian, Pa-ari-hebi). The twelfth
province is Sebennytes (in Egyptian, Teb-nuter, ' the town of the
holy calf,' the modern Semennud), on the Damietta branch of the
Nile, where in ancient times the Sebennytic Nile flowed. Here also
was the scene of a victory of Horus (Anher) over Set, whence he was
represented on the coins as a warrior. The thirteenth nome has for its
capital the celebrated Heliopolis (An, or On), with the sanctuary of
Ra. The capital of the fourteenth province was the city of Zan, from
which the hosts of the Pharaohs were accustomed to set forth for Asia.
Its site, excavated by Petrie in 1883—4, is strewn with fragments of
colossi, obelisks, and other monuments which date from the Old Empire
down to later times. Horus was here worshipped in the form of a lion,
in which he pursued Typhon amid the forests of the neighboring hills.
This is the nome that by the Greeks and Romans was called Tanites ;
its capital was Tanis (Biblical Zoan, modern San). Many remains of
the Hyksos have been found there. The fifteenth or Hermopolitic
province had Pa-Tehuti (' the house of Thoth ') for its capital, which
must have been situated northeast of Bahr-es-Sughaiyir, in the region
of the village El-Megnune. The sixteenth was the province of Mendes
(in Egyptian, Pa-Ba-neb-ded), where the Sacred Ram — as the soul of
Osiris — was worshipped, and whose ruins lie east of El-Mansurah on
the Damietta Nile. The seventeenth province extended along the Dami-
etta branch ; and its capital was Pachnamunis (Egyptian, Pakhen-en-
amen), or Diospolis, situated below Damietta. Bubastis was the eigh-
teenth province. Its capital, where was held the great festival of the
cat-headed goddess Bast, was on the site of the modern Tel-Basta.
Its temple was excavated by Naville (1889-90). The capital of the
nineteenth province was named Am, and its guardian goddess of
the north, the snake-headed Uazit or Buto, was revered here. This
province is the most eastern of all ; for Am is the city which the
Hebrews called Sin, and the Greeks Pelusium, the latter thus trans-
lating Egyptian am (' dirt,' ' mud '), although am, the name of the
city, is said to mean ' eyebrows,' because the brows of the murdered
THE NOMES. 41
Osiris were venerated there as sacred relic-. The site of Pelusium
is indicated by the modern village of Gerizet el-Faramah. To
this province belonged also Sanilmt, now Tel-es-semmüt, on the
old road to Syria, which is the Magdolus of Secataeus and of the
Itinenn-iiiiii Ardonini of the fourth century. The last and twen-
tieth province is the Arabian, with Phacusa as its capital (Kesem,
Goshen). Sepd (a form of Horns) was its god. Here was the
land of Goshen, in which, according to the Bible, the Hebrew- i'vi\
their flocks. At the extreme point arose Hat-uar, the fortress of
the Hyksos. The boundaries of the Domes in the Delta are to some
extent difficult to be ascertained ; and their number, originally
few, appears to have increased in later times. Herodotus, besides
some of those already mentioned, names also the nome Aphthites,
which is not known ; Onuphites, which is mentioned by Pliny
also, and by Ptolemy, and must have extended between Thmuites
and Athribites ; moreover, Myecphorites, which lay opposite Bu-
bastis upon an island formal by the Tanitic and Pelusian branches
of the Nile; the province of Khemmis, by which Herodotus could
not have intended Panopolites the ninth nome of Upper Egypt,
but rather the region of the island town Khebi, on Lake Burins,
a lagoon in the northernmost part of the Delta ; also the nome
Papremites, whose capital lay between Damietta and Menzaleh ; and
the nome Natho, called by Ptolemy Neut, in Egyptian, Na-athu
('the papyrus marshes'), as the water districts of Menzaleh were
called, the chief town being Pane phy sis. The province of Metelites
had for its capital Metelis (Egyptian, Senti-nofer, the modern I'ua >,
on the lower part of the Rosetta branch. The province of Phag-
roriopolis Brugsch places in the Wady-Tümilät. The province
Heroöpolites possessed the eastern part of this valley, and was named
after Heroöpolis, or Hero, the profane name of the city Rames
Ani, Anekhtu (• the strength of the mighty one'). This city was
brought to light by Naville in 1883; the uame Ero castra of the
Romans was according to him derived from the Egyptian "/•". 'store
chamber,' since here were situated the great corn magazines, whose
walls, ten feet thick, ami doorways are still standing. To-day the
place is named Tel-el-Mashüta. Sethroites (in Egyptian, Set-ro-
luitu) lay between the nome Tanites and the southeastern part of
42 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
Lake Menzaleh; here probably was situated one of the three places
which bore the Semitic name Succoth (' tents '), for here lived
Semitic nomads. Here were the nome Ptenethu (of Pliny), Phthe-
notes (of Ptolemy), in which lay the city of Buto, on the lower
Sebennytic branch ; the nome Menelaites, which is between the prov-
inces of Mareotis and Alexandria, and on its coins presents the
image of Harpocrates; here also the nomes Andropolites and
Gynaecopolites, according to Brugsch west of Sais, and Caba sites
(in Egyptian, Kahebes), east of Metelites ; the nome Naucratites,
the capital of which was near the modern Nebireh, on the Rosetta
branch; and Leontopolites, which Brugsch places south of Mendes.
As we have already shown, division of the land in Egypt was
connected with religion in so far that several provinces contributed
their local gods to the Egyptian pantheon. The fundamental religious
ideas were the same throughout all Egypt ; and in general attributes
the several deities bore much resemblance one to another. This was
natural owing to the common temperament of the Egyptians, and
to the similar conditions of life existing in the entire valley of the
Nile. The most important source of knowledge with regard to the
Egyptian religion is the ' Book of the Dead/ a collection of prayers
and formulae for the use of the deceased in the other world. Copies
of selected portions of these forms were deposited with every mummy.
Parts of the book were very ancient, but others were of later date.
The text of the Turin papyrus was first published by Lepsius. (See
Plate III.) Naville has edited a text based on a comparison of more
than eighty copies, and many other scholars have made contributions
to the subject. The texts discovered at Sakkarah in 1884 in the Pyra-
mids of Kings of the V. and VI. Dynasties, furnish archaic chapters of
similar import, and have proved invaluable for the study of Egyptian
beliefs. A large amount of religious literature — hymns, litanies, prayers,
myths, magic formulae, etc. — has also survived.
The oldest form of religion in Egypt was Animism. In this form
of primitive religious consciousness the mind sees living entities in all
visible objects, and regards that which we style the forces of nature
as depending on the free activity of spirits or souls. These spirits,
either of their own free motion or under the spell of human incanta-
tion, mingle in the affairs of man. They are regarded as taking up
RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS. 43
their abode cither temporarily or permanently in certain objects, and
from these entering into intercourse with men. Thus a distinction
may be made between a worship of nature, — of hills, streams, tree-, —
as being physiolatry; a worship of animals, zoölatry ; and fetishism,
or a superstitious worship of lifeless objects. Idolatry is a more or
less artistic development of fetishism. According to the faith of the
ordinary believer, the spirit inhabiting the form is so far in man's
power that by good or bad treatment he can control it to his advantage ;
and it is also possible for him to inflict injury on a distant enemy by
obtaining possession of his image and piercing or harming it. This aspeel
of fetishism, or witchcraft, survived through millenniums. In European,
as well as in Egyptian history, serious legal proceedings were based upon
the official recognition of the power of man thus to vicariously control
another, and even to murder him, either by sticking pins into his image,
or, if of wax, by melting it before a fire. Totemism, 1 a designa-
tion suggested by Lubbock from an Indian word, marks a step in
advance of fetishism. A specific individual thing is not now deified,
but a sacred character is imparted to all individuals of the same species ;
thus, by elevating a bear to become a totem, a mysterious relationship
of all bears to the men who venerate him is established. These totems
are beings to which man feels himself subordinated, and whose favor
it is advantageous for him to acquire. At this stage of human devel-
opment the worship of the sun appears. This is the most conspicuous
feature of the religion of Egypt in historic times, and in connection
with ancestor worship it constituted the fundamental doctrine of the
faith of Heliopolis, which eventually influenced the local worships of
the entire land. To this stage also belongs the worship of the animal
species; for the reason that the more powerful spirits have taken up
their abode in animals on account of their innate superior energies, and
in contrast with the more imperfect existence of plants and lifeless ob-
jects. Animals noted for their beauty and strength, for their value to
man, for the terror which they inspired, or for certain well-defined in-
stincts which seemed to establish a relation between them and some
deified aspect of nature, led man to the belief that he must seek by
worship for the favor of their indwelling spirit-, and musl thus avert
the evil that might be inflicted by them. The several provinces of
1 The word in the Algonquin language isotem, <■. '4., kitotern, 'a family mark.'
44 THE EMU, I EST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
Egypt had their escutcheons or standards, on which appeared the ani-
mal or object sacred to the locality ; and we find in the sanctuaries of the
temple sacred animals fed by the priests and honored as divine. There
is, however, no indication that the Egyptians ever claimed kinship with
or attempted to trace their descent from the local 'totem.' Deities
were represented with the heads of animals whose conspicuous qualities
seemed to present some analogy to the special attributes with which they
were credited by their worshippers. To Kaiechos, the second Pharaoh
of the Second Dynasty, was anciently ascribed the introduction of the
worship of the Memphian Apis, of the Heliopolitan Mncvis, and of
the Mendesian ram, from which perhaps is to be understood that
official recognition was given by this king to the ancient faith of these
localities. It should be remembered that traces of a primitive animal-
worship maybe found among other nations — notably among the Greeks.
It is difficult not to see in the eagle of Zeus, the serpent of Asklepios,
the owl of Athene, for instance, a dim reminiscence of a remote stage
of the people's religious evolution, when the Spirit of the Heavenly
Power seemed to dwell in the eagle, and when the owl and the ser-
pent were regarded as the embodiments of Athene and Asklepios. The
Egyptian priests maintained, even down to the latest times, a shrewd
policy, according to which, while they were advancing toward an
esoteric monotheism, they encouraged among the people the exoteric
practices of the most unbridled fetishism.
The nome from which the first sovereign came was also the birth-
place of the best-known and most important myth respecting the
gods. Not far from Thinis lies Abydos, whose priesthood originated
the Osiris myths, which rendered their sanctuary one of the most
famous. The triumph of life over death lies at the foundation of
this myth. ( )siris and Isis are the children of Nut (' space ') and
of Seb (' earth,' which is constantly renewed and yet remains im-
perishable, and thus is a symbol of time). They in turn engendered
in a mysterious way before their birth their child Horus. Next to
these stands another pair, a brother and sister, Set (Typhon) and
Nephthys, the former originally a god of evil, or of nature's fiercest
powers, represented in the form of a fabulous animal with a sharp
mouth, erect ears, and a forked tail ; also in human form with the head
of the same animal. He puts to death Osiris, having induced him by
osiris. 45
deceit to lie in a coffer, which he then shut and threw into the Nile.
The coffer floats down the Nile, and on the third day is found by
Isis and concealed. While she is with her son I loins at Unto,
Typhon discovers the dead body, cuts it into fourteen pieces, which
he casts about in different parts of the country. The severed mem-
bers are the branches of the Nile in the Delta. The place when- the
Delta begins is called the ' dividing of Osiris ' (Kerk-asar) ; and on
the extreme western and eastern months of the Nile lie the towns of
the right and of the left Leg, Hauar-ament on the Canopic branch,
and Ilauar (Avaris) on the Pelusian. Isis builds a tomb lor each
member. Osiris, abiding in the underworld, joins himself after
the burial to Horns, in order to aid him in the conflict with Typhon.
This conflict followed in different places, since Typhon after every
struggle came to life again; but it was finally crowned with victory.
Typhon here appeals as the serpent Ape pi. 1 in the water, as, for
example, at Ombos ; sometimes also in human form, as on the portico
of the great temple at Philae.
The meaning of this myth is obvious. Osiris, originally a God of
the Dead, under the influence of the religion of Heliopolis becomes the
sun, which every evening dies beneath the power of Typhon, the night.
Commiserated by Isis, he wakes every morning as Horus, who, as
avenger of his father, vanquishes the darkness. The contest takes
place in the twilight hidden from the eyes of men, who behold only the
l'esult of the victory, — the rising of the new sun. In like manner the
earth wakes by night, and Sirius also, the heavenly warder ; and the
moon rises up as a substitute for the sun, and as the pledge of its resur-
rection. Thus also Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis, is styled the soul of
Osiris, since he brings the light to its manifestation. Since the sun and
the light are the original source of life, Osiris represents also the
humidity out of which light produces all life: this finds in the god
Hapi, the Nile, its visible expression. Typhon, with his sewnty-
two officials, represents the seventy-two days of drought, during
which Isis, the fruitful earth, languishes and seeks her spouse,
until her son lias subdued the demon of drought, and the stream
pours forth its waters anew. In this manner Osiris finally be-
comes life, Typhon death, Isis nature (in which both powers partici
i Darkness, in Coptic, is hof, ' serpent ; ' aphoph is 'giant.'
46
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
pate), and Horns is the resurrection. Horus the elder is probably the
most ancient god of the Egyptians. There is reason to believe that,
before he came to personify the rising sun, he was originally a heaven
god who — as Maspero has happily put it — became transformed into a
god in heaven. His eye was the sun, his embodiment was the hawk ;
' a hawk issued out of the sun ' — (the heavenly abyssus), says the
Book of the Dead (lxxi. 1. c). His name 'Her' means 'the above,'
the 'Superior,' the ' Most High.' If we may judge by the coins of the
nomes, as studied by Jacques de Rouge (' Monnaies des Nomes '), he
was worshipped as local deity in at least half of the nomes. As light-
god he is identified with the sun-god Ra. Both are depicted with the
head of the hawk. Ra-Harmachis is represented with the sun-disk
and a serpent, but Horus with the double royal crown
upon the hawk's head. The greatest exploit of Horus
is his victory over Set, to whom he was opposed as
the winged sun-disk, Hor-Behüdti. In this form he
was venerated in the temple of Edfu, for here was
one of the chief scenes of conflict with Typhon (Fig.
12). The foes (Titans) were cast down from heaven,
and appeared at Edfu as crocodiles and hippopotami,
but were overcome by means of iron bars, and bound
with chains. Horus in the form of a winged disk
enters into the bark of Ra, and calls to his aid the
goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt in the form of
the two uraeus-serpents (which also adorn the royal crown), who with
their fiery breath consume his foes. In memory of this victory the
winged sun-disk is conspicuous over all temple doors as a protection
against evil. Still other scenes of conflict are mentioned. The myth
is evidently to be understood as relating to the subduing of desert lands
through the construction of canals. Plutarch (120 A.D.), who describes
the Osiris myth as related in his day, adds several features not found in
the earlier conceptions ; for instance, he states that the coffer containing
the corpse of Osiris was carried through the Tauitic branch as far as
Byblos in Phoenicia. The Tanitic branch is mentioned because Tanis
under the Shepherd Kings was a centre of Typhon-worship. Byblos
is given as the place where the body was found, because the Adonis
myth originated there, and was regarded as closely related to the Osiris
Fig. 12. — Horus
(Edfu.)
OSIRIS AND NEPHTHYS. 17
myth. However this may be, Osiris — 'Lord of Abydos,' the 'good
being/ ' Lord of life,' ' Lord of Eternity' — becomes the type of perfect
humanity. He is the Judge before whom all must appear after death.
He is the Lord of Amenti (the West), where Maat, the goddess of
Truth, holds a conspicuous place. On his head he wear- the white
crown of Upper Egypt, adorned with the two 'Feathers of Truth.'
He holds in his hands the flail and the crook, insignia of supreme
power. Before him the dead are brought and, if not found wanting,
they become united in him, they partake of his divinity, and may "go
out by day " in the Bark of Ra.
Nephthys, sister and spouse of Typhon, yet not hostile to the
light-god Osiris, but the one who brought up young Horus, is only
another form of Isis, and is likewise originally a deity of the earth.
It was said that Osiris had taken her in the dark for Isis, and had
begotten Anubis from her, which signifies, according to the Language
of myths, that in some places she was worshipped as the wife of Osiris.
She weeps for dead Osiris, since she is the earth, the mistress of the
house (nebt-ha), who compassionately takes the deceased under her
protection, and hence is styled the goddess of death. Pier son Anubis
is the ' ruler,' or ' guide ' (of the dead). We have already seen (Introd.,
p. 17) that, in his form of Up-Uatu, he was worshipped at the very
beginning of history. He is the god of mummies and of embalming,
the guardian of the tomb, and the one who leads in the supposed path
to heaven over which the departed travel. Upon his jackal head he
wears the royal crown, pshent. Sirius, who in heaven watches over
the dead body of Osiris, is his star. As Nephthys is only a form of
Isis, so are also many other female deities identifiable with mother-earth
and with the receptive and productive forces of nature. These forms
are only local variations of the same divine being. They are so nearly
related that they are confounded, and the same activity is ascribed imw
to one and now to another of them. Isis wears the reduced figure of a
throne upon her head, and often wears a disk and cow's horns. As
Ilathor she is represented with the head of a <-n\v. She appears as
Hathor ('house of Horns'), as mother of Horus, inasmuch as this
being the child of the sun, rises out of the womb of the earth, the
underworld. As goddess of love and joy, of music and feasts, she
appears as a dancer with the tambourine. In the story of the two
48 HA I! LIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
brothers and of the doomed princes (given on a papyrus belonging to
the British Museum and translated by Brugsch and others), there
appear seven Hathors as fairies or fates determining the future. Even
the cow, Methuer, is the motherly goddess, the spouse of Tlioth, on
whose horns the young god Ra sits and holds fast. The golden
light, which in heaven and on earth with enchanting play of colors
accompanies the ascent of the sun-god, as well as his victorious going
down, encompasses the goddess, who greets the god in both parts
of the heavens. Especially in later times did the worship of Isis and
Hathor become very popular. Gorgeous temples at Denderah and
Philae are proofs of this which still survive. Even in Rome they
had a sanctuary, and among the heaps of its ruins interesting excava-
tions have been made. The chisel of Greek sculptors carved statues
of Isis, and the picture of Isis nursing the child Horus hecame the
lovely original of the Madonna with the child. Mut ('mother') is
also a child-bearing goddess; her sacred animal is the vulture, of
which it was fabled that it occurs only as a female bird. As a
vulture she hovers protectingly over the Pharaoh, and on the cenV
ing of the temple-halls a vulture's crest adorns the heads of the
mother-goddesses. Sue coincides in several respects with Nekhebt,
who likewise as a vulture hovers with her wings over Osiris and
Pharaoh as well as over the source of the sacred river. As guard-
ian genius of the southern country she is portrayed in the form
of a serpent, — the serpent which devours noxious creatures in the
garden where she lives in summer. But the maternal goddess also
lightens the pains of labor, in which capacity she received divine
honors at Eileithyia (El-Kab). Neith (i.e., 'the one who is'), or
Nebun, worshipped at Sais, in the western Delta, is a form of Isis. She
is regarded as a Libyan goddess, and her worship goes back at least to
the time of Mena, who mentions her shrine, and whose queen's name
was Xeit-hotep. The feline goddess — as lioness (Sekhet), consort of Ptah
and mother of Imhotep or Nefer-Tum ; as cat (Bast), the tutelary deity
of Bubastis — typifies, in its various aspects, the fierce or beneficent action
of the sun. The Greeks identified her with Artemis.
Tlioth is the local god of the fifteenth nome of Upper Egypt
and of the city of Shmun (Ashmunen), the city of the eight pri-
meval gods, or four pairs of personified elemental forces. He is the
Til or 1 1 AND HA. 49
moon-god, to whom the white ibis is sacred, and therefore he wears
on his ibis-head the moon-disk. As light-god he has a place in the
sun's bark ; as the god of time he bears in his hand the palm-branch
symbolizing the year, and on it he records the most important events,
the course of the moon lying at the foundation of the most ancient
division of the year. Yet later his province as moon-god disappears;
and he now appears only in the capacity of scribe, which constitutes
him god of the sciences pertaining to the priests. These begin with
the observation of the heavenly bot lie s, and the regulation of the
reckoning of time. He is the author of all sacred writings, the
founder of libraries, over which his consort Safekh in especial pre-
sides. She is a kind of Clio, who records immortalized names on
the fruits and leaves of the sacred persea-tree. He is lawgiver, vin-
dicator of souls before the court of the dead, for which reason that
shrewd animal the ape, or cynocephalus, sacred to him, sits on the
tongue of the balance in which the heart of the dead is weighed.
With the advance of mental cultivation, whose protector he is, there
increased also the veneration paid to Thoth. From great, he became
'twice' and ' thrice great,' and, known as Hermes trismegistus, was
the centre of a kind of theosophy which was not without influence in
giving form to Christianity in its earliest days.
A second series of myths, allied to those concerning Osiris, origi-
nated at Heliopolis. It symbolized the conflict of light and darkness.
Ra is the creator of the world; his eyes enlighten the universe ; he
is the liearei' of light and the awakener of all life, and with numerous
hosts under the command of Horns, he wars against the serpent
Apepi, or darkness. As young Harmachis (Har-em-khu, 'Horus
of the horizon') be moves onward in the sacred bark, and passes
over the ocean of heaven in an eternal course, attended by the
Shesu-hor or servants of Horus, the souls of men from a sinless
golden age, which preceded the existing period of the world. One
Horus manages the rudder, another stands before him on the bark
and watches for Apepi, in order to pierce him with a lance. He is
Ka as the midday sun. At the setting sun he is Tum, or the god
who in the shades of the underworld hovers above the waters, and
who, as forerunner of the sun's rising, is a god of the resurrection.
At this point Nut, the goddess of the heavens, receives him, and the
Vol. I. 4.
50 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
bark floats in the stream of the underworld (the back of the dragon-
snake, Ape pi), upon which it is drawn with a rope by spirits, from
west to east. Here he rises up every day sitting upon a lotus-flower,
new-born from the mistress of the underworld, Hathor, in the form
of a cow ; at the end of every solar year Ape pi is transfixed and cast
into the sea ; but the conflict is continually renewed. Ra is the same
deity with whom, on account of the universal presence of the sun,
who goes down into the night of Hades, were connected very ingeni-
ously certain esoteric religious doctrines. This is ascertained from
the Hymn to Ra, which was discovered at the entrance of the kings'
tombs, and forms a kind of introduction to the sculptured representa-
tions of the inner apartments with regard to the course of Ra through
the universe. In this hymn, which has been translated by Naville,
we find an advanced pantheism.
The hymn to Amen-Ra in the temple at El-Khargeh, of the
time of Darius, is also pantheistic. The sacred animal of Ra is the
white bull Mnevis ; Ra is also represented with a hawk's head, as
Harmachis. The bird Bennu, a heron (Ardea garzetta), is the Phoenix
of the Greeks. Its name means ' that which revolves ' or ' turns
back.' It symbolized the morning sun arising out of the fiery glow of
dawn, and as such was the bird of Ra. But, as the dead sun was held
to have become an Osiris, and as the new sun was regarded as arising
from the dead body of the old — the Bennu was also sacred to Osiris.
The planet Venus, in a text, is called ' the Bennu of Osiris ' — or the
' Star of Osiris.' The Phoenix, as the type of resurrection, belongs to
a very early date. Even in texts of the Old Empire the deceased is
likened unto a Bennu.
The ram-headed god Khnum (Kneph), who wore a special crown,
Atef, was the god of Elephantine (Fig. 13). As time went on, he
was combined with Ra. At A baton, near Philae, the sacred Ram, by
a play upon words — ' Ba' meaning both ' ram ' and ' soul ' — was called
' the soul of Ra.' At Heliopolis he corresponded to Osiris and was
worshipped as his soul. Moreover, as mediator between drought and
fertility, Khnum became the lord of the inundation ; and at the first
cataract, where the Nile enters Egypt, he was worshipped. As creator,
it was he who placed upon the potter's wheel the world-egg prepared
for him by Ptah out of primeval matter, and created man. Sebek
l'TMi
51
also (Fig. 14) was venerated at Selseleh, in the region of the cataract,
and in the Fayuni, as the god of the inundation ; in Ombos he was
nnit.d with Hathor and Khuns in a triad; he is known by his crocodile
head. Shu was recognized as the son of Ra, the personification of
wind and air; he is the < upright,' who separates and raises the heaven-
goddess Nut, each day, from Keb, the earth god.
Fig. 13. Khnum, the Lord ot hilephautine.
Fig. 14
Among the local gods who came to occupy a prominent place in
the Egyptian Pantheon was Ptah, the god of Memphis. He was a
creator god, 'the Opener/ who, as the formative power, was developed
out of the primeval water, Nun. In Memphis, where he led the divine
Triad, he was hailed as Creator of the World, and also as the tir-t ruler
of Egypt. He was the " Creator of his own image, lie who created
himself, who establishes truth, king of the two lands, ' >rd of Heaven."
To him the scarabaeus was sacred.
The sacred scarabaeus (khepera) with the sun-disk, the principle of
light, and the creative power who gave fire to man, deposits in thi<
original matter the germs of all that should come into existence. This
insect, Ateuckm sacer, i> a great beetle, which, after the subsidence of the
inundation, creeps forth and rapidly propagate- itself; its habits gave
rise to the belief that it came into being without having been begotten ;
and as its cg<rs are rolled about in the mud and are hidden in the ball
thus produced, it was thought that it kepi it- progeny securely in the
ball, and it thus became an image of the world containing in itself the
germ of all living thing-. Since the creator gives form to the germ-
52 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
deposited by the scarabaeus, breaking the world-egg of which heaven
and earth arc the shells, and from whose inward part his children,
the elements, come forth, the beetle was sacred to Ptah ; the pygmy
figures of Ptah-Sokari-Osiris are often found represented with a scara-
baeus on their heads. The beetle served as a symbol of the sun at its
meridian ; therefore it was represented in association with the sun-disk ;
and Hor-behüdti, as Agathodaemon, is figured as a winged disk of the
sun, or as a scarabaeus with the disk between his feet.
The beetle, as an embodied manifestation of creative and mascu-
line power, was portrayed on terracotta or stone, and was worn as an
amulet or inserted in ornaments. The scarabaeus, inscribed with the
necessary formulae from the Book of the Dead, was used to replace
the heart of the mummy. It was also placed among the wrappings
upon its breast. It is often represented in a bark, with Isis and
Nephthys worshipping at its side. On the outer cases of the mum-
mies these beetles appear with winged disks or hawks. On the
rough surfaces the scarabaei are polished for the reception of orna-
ments, images of the gods and inscriptions, commonly with the
escutcheon or cartouche of the reigning Pharaoh. At times also one
finds the name of a Pharaoh on specimens of different ages.
Ptah, the framer of the world, had seven architects under him,
the.Kabiri of the Phoenicians, with whose help he prepared for
Ra the elements of creation. As lord of the laws of growth, as
the unerring, intelligent fashioner of all things, as lord of the Egyp-
tian measure of length, he was the lord of law and justice. As
a new-born child or a pygmy, that is, as the god of the creation
of the universe, as the god that gives unchanging and eternal life,
Ptah is represented as a mummy, having, it is true, his hands free
in order to hold the sceptre, the rule, and the ringed cross, the
symbol of existence ; a cap is on his head, such as is worn
by smiths. As embodiment of the fire hidden in the world, he
imparts, in his capacity of Ptah-Sokari-Osiris, to the sun-god who
has gone below, and to the mummy of the departed, the power of
resurrection. .Since the mind of the deity works upon matter, and
out of this activity a third existence, a cosmos, arises, there is com-
monly a triad of gods, which appear as father, mother, and son, in
the language of men. Thus Ptah, with Sekhet and Imhotep (As-
I'tmi. 53
klepios), or Nefer-Tüm, forms a trinity, in which the son is bul the
father returning again to life, and hence is, in mystic speech, theconsorl
of the mother. These triad- spread from Egypl over the ancient
world: among the Greeks they appear in the mysteries, which are
of Oriental origin; in the Theogony of Hesiod seven triads are found,
which, however, at a later day are unknown. Triple deities were
recognized in the oldest religions formulas of Italy. There was the
Q.uirinal triad of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva; among the Umbrians,
Poimonus, Vesona, and Tursa, and the god Cerfus Mortius, with
Prestita and Tursa. Etruscan temples had three cells King - i < 1 « • by
side for designated groups of the gods, and the cells at the side- were
to the middle in the ratio of three to lour. There was also the triad
of the Kabiri, Axierus, Axiocersa, and Axiocersus. The sacred animal
of Ptah was the bull Apis (Hapi), the eternally creative power of the
deity. The white cow, impregnated by a ray from the moon, gave
birth to him ; his skin Mas black ; he had a white spot on his forehead ;
on his back a winged disk or eagle, and under the tongue an excrescence
in the shape of the beetle. After his death he became Osiris; and it is
in this form of Asar-Hapi that he later became an object of worship t<>
the Greeks. Under the name of Serapii whom they endowed with
some of the attributes of Pluto and Asklepios — he became a semi-Greek
deity to the Alexandrians, and his fame spread far and wide in Ptolemaic
times.
Among other deities might also be mentioned the god Bes r appar-
ently belonging to the land of Punt. 1 He goes through the world
as a pilgrim, dispensing mild manners, peace, and jollity ; he appears
also on mirrors ami objects of the toilet, as the toilet-god. He is
always portrayed as a grotesque dwarf in a dancing posture; his hands
rest upon his hips, and he bears on his head, which is large and thick,
a lofty ornament of feathers. lie appears again among the Phoenicians
as Baal Markod ('god of the dance').
The death and resurrection of Ra, which took place each day,
was a pledge that his creature- should not forever dwell in the
shades of death. Faith in immortality, or continued existence alter
1 "The Egyptian Ophir," Bays Brugsch i Ktr_ r . Trans., vol. i.. p. 1 1 t . "without
doubt tin- <-<>;i-t of the Somali Lund in Bight of Arabia, but separated from it by t he
Bea. — Tk.
54 EA RL TEST EG YPTIA S H1ST0R ) '.
death, was so strong with the Egyptians that the numerous obliga-
tions imposed by the dogmas connected therewith were fulfilled with
an energy which seems to recognize the inflexible character of natural
law. In fact, the careful preservation of dead bodies demanded by
religion was for the Egyptians an imperative obligation. The poison-
ing of the river by casting into it the bodies of dead men and animals
would in a short time have rendered the existence of man impossible.
The Greeks also, inspired in this respect by the noblest and loftiest
thought, taught the continued existence of the soul, and burned the
body, which was of no further use. Other nations believe in a resur-
rection of the body, but leave to God the formation of the heavenly
body out of the decayed particles of the corpse ; thus the Jews
have imagined that the bodies of the dead will be reconstructed by
God out of the bone luz (os sacrum). A higher piety, at least a
stronger confirmation of the Egyptian's belief in continued existence,
is manifested by the patience and devotion with which for thousands
of years he excavated sepulchres, sometimes labyrinths and palaces
of rock, adorned with splendid decorations (hidden as in the dark-
ness of the night), as the abode after death of kings and priests and
millions of the departed. The belief in immortality was as old in
Egypt as the kingdom itself ; but it appears in the most ancient times
as a mere continuation of earthly life in the grave — a far more simple
and harmless form than later, when a complicated system of retribution
and other inventions awakening dread were connected with it by a
priesthood intent upon increasing its influence.
According to the Egyptian belief, man was composed of different
parts which at death became released and must be returned to him in
order that he might survive. The ' Kha,' or corpse, written with the
hieroglyph of a dead fish — the ideogram for anything putrid — must
be preserved and made into a mummy — an Osiris — when it became
a Sähü — i. e., the empty form of himself which having been re-
ceived from the godhead might return to it. Besides the body,
there were moral and intellectual, as well as quasi material parts,
which must be restored. The ' Ba,' or soul, was represented as a
human-headed bird provided with hands. At death it flew to the
gods. While approaching our own conception, the ' Ba ' was not
immaterial, and its survival depended upon proper sustenance.
RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS.
DO
There arc representations of the Soul-bird fluttering over the
mummy holding to its nostrils the cross (Life) or the Sail (' net'' or
Breath). For the Breath must be returned to the mummy; also his
power — ' Sekhem ' ; his shadow ' Khaib' ; and his intelligence — ' Kim '
the ' luminous ' — which suggests 'the divine spark.' The heart 'Ab'
was also indispensable to his well-being. But that which plays the
most conspicuous part in the torn!) is the 'Ka' or double. Jt was
the personality — probably suggested by the image, which is limited
neither by time nor space, and which can be evoked in one's dreams
and thoughts, or by a likeness. At death, man ceased to be ; his ' Ka '
received the benefit of the offerings ; and when it returned to the
mummy and ' lived in its coffin ' they together enjoyed the same exist-
ence as on earth. All living things had ' Kas,' even the gods. The
name 'Ken' was also essential. It was man's supreme desire that his
name might live. In early times, however, it would seem that power-
over a man might be obtained by the knowledge of his name, and
means were taken to protect it.
Many of these ideas were, no doubt, developed from a simpler
philosophy. The ' Ka,' the 'Osiris,' and the ' Sahü ' may represent
different local expressions of the same prehistoric conception, later amal-
gamated into one doctrine. Contradictory views also existed regarding
the after-life: While an elaborate ritual provided for man's comfort
in his 'eternal abode' by opening his eyes and mouth, that he might
see his possessions and taste the viands provided for him, we find the
Qsirian dead preparing to till the fields of Aalu ; or achieving apotheosis
by identification with the gods ; or traveling by day in the Solar-Bark.
Diversity also existed with regard to the fate of the wicked ; hut what-
ever their preliminary ordeals, it seems tolerably certain that they ulti-
mately became annihilated. If there was confusion as to these matters,
there was no doubt in the ordinary Egyptian mind as to the possibility
of* attaining immortality, if proper methods were used : An ancient epi-
curean might sing : " Follow thy heart's desire so long as thou livesi on
earth . . . for no one carries away his goods with him and no one returns
again"; but nevertheless, he carefully prepared his tomb; supplied his
' Ka ' with statues to serve as artificial bodies should his mummy be
destroyed ; provided for its sustenance, real and artificial, for all age- t"
come; and courted popularity in order that his fellows might look after
56 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
his future welfare, feed bis ' Ka,' keep his memory green, and help his
' name to flourish.' When the end came and the funeral rites had been
performed, the soul appeared before the throne of Osiris in the under-
world. (Plate III. 1 ) There, in the Hall of the Two Truths
(Truth and Justice), in the presence of forty-two gods, each of whom
presided over a mortal sin, the defunct was brought by Anubis to vin-
dicate himself. Maat, the Goddess of Truth, bore witness. His heart
was weighed in her scales against the feather of Truth by Horos and
Anubis. Thoth, the divine Scribe, recorded the result. If not found
wanting, his heart was returned to him; the immortal parts of his
being were restored to him ; and once more he was made a living man —
but now to live eternally. He seems to have been free to assume what
divine shapes he might wish. 2 That of the sacred hawk, of the Bennu
(phoenix), of the asp, of the swallow — that is, probably, of the gods
of which these are the embodiments. This should not, however, be
mistaken for the pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis — or the
transmigration of souls — as the animals or objects into which the
beatified soul thus passed were sacred to certain gods and represented
a process of apotheosis, which apparently could be undertaken at will.
The religious views of the Egyptians may be studied, not only in their
sepulchral texts, such as the Pyramid texts and the Book of the Dead ;
but also in minor works : ' The Book of Breathings ' ; ' the Book of
Wandering through Eternity ' ; ' The Book of what there is in Hades ' ;
' The Book of Transformations ' ; the Book of ' That my name may
flourish,' and others. Their high ethical standards appear in the 125th
1 Description of Plate III.
Plate III. reproduces, in reduced facsimile, a page from a papyrus containing
the so-called "Book of the Dead." The scene selected represents the judgment of
the dead before the god Osiris. Osiris, the judge of the Lower World, is seen seated
upon an altar in a temple supported by columns. Opposite, Ma, the goddess of truth
and justice, is conducting the dead man into the temple. In the centre stands a bal-
ance; in one of the scales rests a handled cup, in the other a feather, the symbols of
the heart and of truth, respectively. Horus and Anubis, the sons of Osiris, closely
watch for the inclination of the balance. Upon it the dog-headed II a pi sits, as the
symbol of measure. Before the balance stands the ibis-headed Thoth, the secretary
of the gods, and indicates the result of the weighing on a papyrus. Between him and
Osiris is seated a female hippopotamus, Amam, called the Devourer. She acts as
accuser of the dead man. Thoth justifies him, if he has led a righteous life. In the
upper section of the hall the dead prays to the forty-two judges of the dead, each of
whom bears on his head the feather of truth, and has jurisdiction over some one par-
ticular sin, of which in the text the dead man has professed himself guiltless.
2 ' Le Livre des Transformations, ' G. Ledrain, Paris, 1870.
4 THE LOWER WORLD,
i.)
(See page 56.)
THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD BEFORE THE GOD OSIRIS, IN THE HALL OF JUSTICE IN THE LOWER WORLD
(From the Papyrus discovered at Thebes, containing the so-called Book of the Dead.)
c
THE FUTURE LIFE. 57
chapter of the ' Book of the Dead,' which contains the ' Negative Con-
fession' of the defunct before tha tribunal of Osiris. The code of
morals therein revealed includes, not only the decalogue, hut many
rules governing good feeling and gentlemanly breeding. Tin staging
of Hades is represented in a similar manner among other nations ; and
as opinions concerning the underworld are often derived from burial
regulations, the ease with which religious ideas are interchanged
renders the influence exercised by Egyptian conceptions as natural
as it is indisputable. The Greeks borrowed directly from the Egyp-
tians, as they themselves acknowledged. Diodorus, in describing the
burial of Apis, draws attention to this matter, und says that the con-
ductor of souls, Hermes (i.e., Thoth), brings the mummy of Apis to
a certain place, where it is received by a shape with the mask of
Cerberus (probably Anubis); that the ocean over which, according to
Homer in the Odyssey, the dead pass, is the Nile; that the Aspho-
del-meadow is in the vieinity of Memphis on the Acherusian lake (in
Egyptian called the " Fields of Aalü " or " Aaru "), which is surrounded
by meadows and ponds covered with reeds and lotus flowers. Here
the bodies were carried by the Egyptians across the river and lake in
a boat called baris; the ferryman Charon 1 receives an obolus tor
the passage, as the Egyptians placed in the mouth of the mummy
small pieces of gold; furthermore, here stood the temple of gloomy
Hecate (Hathor), and the gate of Cocytus and Lethe with its brazen
hinges. In the Iliad (viii. 15) the iron gates and the bronze thresh-
old of Hades are mentioned ; likewise in the Old Testament, in
''the writing of Hezekiah " (Isaiah xxxviii. 10; Job xvi. 1(3). The
Assyrians, too, imagined that before "the land where; man seeth
naught" lies a slimy stream, the Acheron ; and they held that this
land, or rather the vast palace, is encompassed by sevenfold walls,
and shut in by gates. Thus also the Egyptian dead, passing through
a chasm in the mountain near Abydos <>n its way to Amenti, went
through the brazen gates of twelve pylons, which stood for the twelve
hours of the night. These were watched over by serpents — the guar-
dians of the temple and the genii of the earth. The sarcophagi of the
New Empire are valuable as showing the manner in which were ex-
pressed these beliefs regarding Hades. It is noteworthy that the entire
1 Horus steers the sun-bark in tin 1 underworld.
58 }'■ I RLIEST EG ) I'TI. I V HISTORY.
structure of immortality rested, in Egypt, upon the preservation of the
body or the providing of substitutes. The Egyptians never conceived
of a soul independent of the body. The doctrine of the resurrection is
also foreign to the Egyptian religion ; but it readily connects with the
Egyptian belief in the possibility of the soul's reunion with the pre-
served body.
Embalming and interment, as practised by the Egyptians, were
most perfectly accomplished. Individuals were so preserved as to be
recognizable after thousands of years, and could be destroyed only by
the hand of violence. The art reached its highest development under
the XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties — and the mummified head of
King Seti I. (see Frontispiece) is a fine example of the degree of per-
fection attained by the embalmers of Thebes. It still preserves some of
the beauty and all the dignity of life. The discovery that dead bodies
could be preserved was probably brought about by observing that
bodies buried in sand impregnated with natron and other salts re-
mained dry and incorrupt. Herodotus points out that the simplest
method of preserving the entire body is to place it in natron after
some preceding injections. This process of embalming is described
in detail by Herodotus and by Diodorus.
The successors of Mena upon the throne of Egypt are named
in the series of kings given by the Sebennytic priest and temple
scribe, Manetho. He prepared, by command of Ptolemy II. (284-
240 B.c.), a history of Egypt from the historical books preserved
in the temples. Of his work only fragments and lists of names are
extant. These were preserved partly by Flavius Josephus (born
87 A.D.), who probably did not derive his materials directly from
Manetho, but from Alexandrian extracts, and in part by the Byzan-
tine monk, Gregory Syncellus, who at the end of the eighth century
composed synchronistic tables. The latter availed himself of extracts
made by Julius Africanus and Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (who
died about -340 a.D.). There has also been preserved from the
chronological work of Eratosthenes, librarian in Alexandria, b.c.
276-194, a list of thirty-eight kings. These invaluable catalogues
of kings are in part supplemented and in part confirmed by a number
of inscriptions and other memorials found at Abydos, Ivarnak, and
Sakkara ; by the Turin papyrus, and by genealogical testimonies
PLATE I \
r- "••••^■j ■■■ -■' i'< ■■•'■ -J. ■:-''_--!ji'_!'-JLJi^'j::_:' _ :i ": '2 <^"/'j':< ".;„•■; -.' "3 -i "'_.■■-< ■: :
3'
vT 1
-x "ii y "f -p -f -.» y ■
llll_ 1111
Hieroglyphic Genealogy or ihe first eighteen Dynasties of the Kings of Egypt.
Bas-relief from Abydoe. Bridal Museum, (After Dümichen.)
c
THE KINGS OF EGYPT, 59
on the monuments. The table of kings known as the Abydos list
(Plate IV.) exhibits Seti I. with his son Rameses venerating thru-
royal ancestors. The reader will lind in the subjoined illustration
the cartouches or escutcheons of the following kings: 1. Mena. 2.
Teta. 3. Atet. 4. Ata. 5. Ilesepti. 6. Merbapa. 7. Sem-en-
ptah. 8. Kebhu. (Nos. 1-8 of the First Dynasty.) :». Bezau. In.
Kakau. 11. Ba-en-neter. 12. Uaznes. 1:). Senta. (Nos. 9 L3 oi
the Second Dynasty.) 14. Zazai. 15. Nebka. 16. Zeser. IT.
Teta. 18. Sezes. 19. Neferka-Ra. (Nos. 11-1!) of the Third Dy-
nasty.) 20. Snefru. 21. Khufu. 22. Ratetf. 2:;. Khafra. 24.
Menkaura. 25. Shepseskaf. (Nos. 14-25 of* the Fourth Dynasty.)
26. Userkaf. 27. Sahu-Ra. 28. Kaka. 29. Nefer-Ra. 30. Ra-en-user.
31. Menkau-Hor. 32. Tetka-Ra. 33. Unas. (Nos. 26-33 of the Fifth
Dynasty.) 34. Teta. 35. Userka-Ra. 36. Meri-Ra. 37. Meren-Ra.
38. Neterka-Ra. 39. Meren-Ra-Mehtiemsal*. ( Nos. 34-39 oi" the Sixth
Dynasty.) 40. Neferka-Ra. 41. Menka-Ra, 12. Neferka-Ra. 13.
Neferka-Ra Nebi. 44. Tetka-Ra Shema. 45. Neferka-Ra Klient. i.
46. Mer-en-Hor. 47. Sneferka. 48. Ra-en-ka. 49. Neferka-Ra-Tererl.
50. Horneferka. 51. Neferka-Ra Pepi Seneh. 52. Neferka-Ra A nun.
5:5. Menkau-Ra. 54. Neferkau-Ra. 55. Horkau-Ra. 56. Neferarka-Ra.
57. Nebkher-Ra. 58. Sankhka-Ra. (Nos. 40-58 of the Seventh to
Eleventh Dynasties. ) 59. Sehetepab-Ra (Amenemhat I.), 'i't. Khe-
perka-Ra (Usertesen I.). 61. Nubkau-Ra (Amenemhai EI.). 62.
Khakheper-Ra (Usertesen II.). 63. Khakau-Ra (Usertesen III.). 64.
Maät-en-Ra (Amenemhat III.). 65. Maä-Kheru-Ra (Amenemhai
IV.). (Nos. 59-65 of the Twelfth Dynasty.) 66. Nebpehuti-Ra
(Aahmes). 67. Zeser-Ka-Ra (Anienhotep I.). 68. Aa-Kheper-Ka-Ra
(Thothmes I.). 69. Aa-Kheper-en-Ra (Thothmes II.). 7<». Men-
kheper-Ra (Thothmes III.). 71. Aa-Kheperu-Ra (Amenhotep II.).
72. Menkheperu-Ra (Thothmes IV.). 7.°,. Neb-Maat-Ra (Amenhotep
III.). 74. Razerkhepern Setpenra (Horemheb). (No-. 66 7 1 of the
Eighteenth Dynasty.) 75. Ramenpehuti (Rameses I.). 76. Maamen-
Ra (Seti I.). The last row shows nine times repeated the double name
of Seti: Maamen-Ru Merenptah Seti.
The table of kings from the tomb of Tunury at Sakkara gives
the following names. For comparison with the Abydos lisl we con-
nect the numbers of the latter with the several nam.-, whence it re-
60
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN lUSTORV.
stilts that the names of the Twelfth Dynasty stand in an inverted
order. The nanu- begin below on the left (see Fig. 15): Merbapen
6, Kebhu 8 (First Dynasty); Neterbau 9, Kakau 10, Baneteren 11,
Uaznes 1-, Sent 13, Neferkara (wanting in the Abydos list; in
Manetho's, Nephercheres) (Second Dynasty); Sekerneferka (want-
in«.- in Abydos, Manetho's Necherophes), Zefk (wanting in Abydos,
Manetho's Tosorthros), Bebi (Abydos, Zazai 14), Zeser 16, Zeserteta
17, Nebka-Ra (Manetho's Sephuris?), Huni (the same as 19 on Abydos
list) (Third Dynasty); Snefru 20, Khufuf 21, Ratetf 22, Khafra
23, Menkaura 24, four cartouches without names (Fourth Dynasty);
(Jserkaf 26, Sahu-Ra 27, Neferarka-Ra (Abydos, Kaka 28), Shepses-
Ka-Ka (wanting in Abydos, in Manetho's Sisires), Khanefer-Ra 29 ; in
tlic upper row : Menka-Hor 31, Maaka-Ra (Abydos, Tetka-Ra 32), Unas
33 ( Fifth Dynasty) ; Teta 34, Pepi (the same as 36 on Abydos list),
Meren-Ra 37, Neferka-Ra 38 (Sixth Dynasty); Sebekka-Ra (a king
before the Eleventh Dynasty, but nowhere else named) ; Makheru-Ra 65,
Ma-en-Ra 64, Khaka-Ra 63, Khakheper-Ra 62,Nubkha-Ra 61, Kheper-
Ka-Ka 60, Sehetepab-Ra 59 (Twelfth Dynasty) ; Sankhka-Ra 58, Neb-
kher-Ra 57 (Seventh to Eleventh Dynasty) ; Nebpehu-Ra 66, Zeser-
Ka-Ra 67, Aa-kheperka-Ra 68, Aa-kheperen-Ra 69, Menkheper-Ra 70,
Aa-kheperu-Ra 7 1 , Menkheperu-Ra 72, Maaneb-Ra 73, Zeserkheperu-Ra
Setpenra 74 (Eighteenth Dynasty) ; Menpehuti-Ra 75, Maamen-Ra 76,
Usermaa-Ra Setpenra (Rameses IL). The fundamental work devoted
to the restoration of these tables was published by Lepsius at Berlin
in 1858, with the title of 'Book of the Kings of Ancient Egypt.'
Since then, however, considerable new material has been recovered.
There is an enormous difference of opinion among competent authori-
ties with regard to the date of the foundation of the United Empire.
Many hold that Manetho's dynasties reigned contemporaneously ; others,
that he only recorded such dynasties as were consecutive. A third group
of scholars effect a compromise; and, piecing together the ever-increasing
oa< mental record, regard some dynasties as consecutive and others as
contemporaneous. The highest date proposed for Mena is about b.c.
1777. The lowest is about B.c. 3200. The latter is not based upon
any chronological fact, but is simply the minimum date at which Mena
could have lived. 1 Occasionally, statements are discovered in pre-
1 Erman Life in Eg., L894; Ed. Meyer Geech. .Irs Altm /Eg., 1887, giving 2830
B.c. for Fourth Dynasty.
THE EARLIEST KINGS.
• II
served documents which tempt
scholars to use them as fixed points
on which to base a chronology.
But it is only from the beginning
of the New Empire that firmer
ground is reached. We may, how-
ever, roughly assume as approxi-
mate dates — B.c. 4000 for Menu ;
from b.c. 2500 to 2000 for the
Middle Empire; and b.c. 1550 for
the New Empire. The now famous
Palermo Stone is a valuable guide
for the early kings ; and Petrie has
tentatively restored the First Dy-
nasty, comparing the Egyptian and
Manethönian lists with the monu-
mental evidence of Abydos. (See
Introduction, p. 15.)
The great archaic tombs of
Abydos were marked by two stelae
set upright to the east of each. In
time these fell. The nekropolis
was forgotten. Nothing is found
there of the pyramid period or of
the Middle Empire. But with the
New Empire interest was again
awakened in the ancestors. Royal
lists were compiled. It is note-
worthy that Seti's list at Abydos
is the most correct for this early
period. Offerings now were made
at the royal tombs — ignorantly —
as appears from the heaping of
offering's at Enzaza's tomb — a mere
official of the Sixth Dynasty — while
those of Kings Mer-neit and Azab
were overlooked. This ignorance
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/•;. I RL IKS T EG } l'TI. 1 N HISTORY.
accounts for the great tomb of Zer being taken for that of Osiris, whose
granite cenotaph was sei in it. Priesthoods of Mona and of Teta con-
tinued until Ptolemaic times ; and, according- to tradition, Teta built a
palace at Memphis and caused medical works to be written. This is not
the only trace of literary activity at this early period. The sixty-fourth
chapter of the Book of the Dead is said to have been discovered under
the reign of Hesepti — the fifth king of the First Dynasty — King Den-
Set ui of Abydos — and the medical papyrus of Berlin states that it was
iiiiii.iHiiiimiiiuitiiiiiMiiumiiiiiiiiiimH
T-TT ,
n-n
Fh;. 10. — Shera and his wife. (Oxford.)
composed under Hesepti and revised under King Sent (Second Dynasty).
The tomb of a librarian of Memphis, in the Sixth Dynasty, has been
found. This library, according to Galen, still flourished in Roman
times, and was consulted by Greek physicians. Several of the early
kings appear in popular tales of later times; for instance, in the stories
preserved in the Westcar papyri. Tombs and monumental remains of
the Second and Third Dynasties have also been found at Abydos, but
their identification with the lists is less clear. A tablet in Oxford,
of very great antiquity, names a priest Shera as presiding over
the worship of Sent (Fig. L6). Tefa also, the second king of the
Third Dynasty, is said to have been a physician.
The most ancient medical art consisted of incantations; diseases
were attributed to the pernicious influence of demons. Only after
centuries had passed were drugs employed in addition to these formulae.
THE FUTURE DYNASTY
Zeser (Tosorthros of the Third Dynasty) left a record as a greal phy
sician. He promoted literature and erected s< buildings. \ ,d-
mg to Manetho, in the reig ' Boethos, the founder of the Second
Dynasty, a chasm opened near Bubastis. Petrie regards the statement
as probable, as Bubastis is near Abu Zabel, the region of plutonic
action.
The third king of the Second (Thinitic) Dynasty, according to
Manetho, established female succession to the thru,,,. A Dumber of
Horos-names found inscribed on archaic monuments at Abydos and
elsewhere, although difficult to identify with their equivalents on ,1,,
lists, probably belong tu these dynasties. Such are • Mer-sed, 5 • Kha-
Sekhemui,'<Per-ab-sen,' whose tombs have be,,, found, and several
others which appear on various objects— notably Neter-K ha, who is
identified with the Step-Pyramid of Sakkara. The unclassified archaic
King Narmer, and the great heiress-queen Ne-maat-hap (Second
Dynasty), also stand out with historic distinctness.
The first king of the Fourth (Memphite) Dynasty, Snefru, erected
on the frontiers of the Delta fortresses against the Asiatics or Amu.
He conquered the peninsula of Sinai, and set men to work the
mines of Sarbut-el-khadem, in the Wady-Süwik (north-northwesl from
Serbäl) in search of copper and turquoise. As lair as the Twentieth
I >ynasty these mines were worked: and one may see to-day a great
enclosing wall within which are sixteen pillars, or slabs of stone, bear-
ing inscriptions by the overseers of the mines, and making mention
of the Pharaohs whom they served, and of their activity and exploits.
The same Snefru in Wady-Maghara, southwest of Sarbütel-khädem,
not far from the coast, caused men to dig for copper, malachite, and
turquoise (which, however, are impure and lose color). Snefru is
portrayed on a relief (which unfortunately is nearly ruined) in the
act of slaving with a battle-axe a barbarian prostrate upon the
ground before him. His pyramid at Medum was excavated by Petrie
(1891).
The succeeding Pharaohs, Khufu and Khafra (between whom the
tables of Abydos and Sakkara insert Ratetf, probably an elder brother
of Khafra), and also Menkaura (Mycerinus), are rendered famous by
the pyramids of Gizeh. The accounts of the tyranny and cruelty of
64
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
Cheops (Khufu) and Chephren (Khafra) related by Greek authors,
proceeded from the reflection that works of those kings, such as the
Pyramids, could not have been accomplished without severe enforced
service and abuse of human strength. It was not considered that
many other rulers who have erected similar stupendous structures have
not been godless tyrants. The monuments bear witness that both rulers
uriv venerated as divine as late at least as the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
Of Khufu, an ivory statuette found in 190.'} by Petrie has preserved
the features. It reveals intelligence and force. Seven diorite and green
basall statues of Khafra were found in a shaft of
the granite temple at Gizeh (Figs. 17 and 18).
They are now in the Gizeh Museum. The bearing
of the head, overshadowed by the wings of the
divine hawk (Fig. 18), and the dignity of the pose,
convey an impression of majesty.
The son of Menkaura, Hor-tutef, appears to
have played an important part in religious, history.
He i- praised as a man of learning,
and it is reported that he was sent
by his father Cor the purpose, partly
of increasing, and partly of restoring,
the temples. Thus it came to pass
that he found in Hermopolis the
thirtieth and sixty-fourth chapters
of the ' Book of the Dead,' in-
scribed upon an alabaster
plate lying at the feet of
the deity (Thoth) ofthat
city. This rediscovery
of hooks commonly sig-
nifies that the finder was
the author, for by their casual discovery in the temple the character of
a divine revelation is imparted to them. The successor of Menkaura,
A.seskaf (Asychis), erected, according to Herodotus, several struc-
tures near the porch of the temple of Ptah. Diodorus attributes to
bim the origin of astronomy and geometry, as well as the regulation
Fig. 17. — King Khafra.
THE FIFTH DYNASTY.
of the service of the deity, and styles him one of the five great law-
givers who ordained rules govern in- transactions in loans.
A memorial of victory in honor of Sahura, the second king of tin-
Fifth Dynasty, still remains in the Wady-Maghara, winch is so rich
Pig. 18. —King Khafra (bust).
in sculptures. This monarch is portrayed in the act of smiting and
killing with a battle-axe the nomadic Mentu (Fig. 19). Sahura
founded the town of Pa-Sahura, south of Esneh (the modern Sahera i.
and built in Memphis the temple of Sekhet It is Dot altogether
certain in what order his successors an- to be arranged, since the
monuments give more names than Manetho's li-t. ^ e may suppose
either that we have doublets of gome of these name- op the ttionu-
VOL. I. 5.
C6
EABLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTOHY.
merits,— the Pharaohs being designated not onty by their throne
names, but also by other names, as Ra-en-nser (Rathures) in Manetho
is the praenomen of An, — or that Manetho omitted some names
which seemed to him unimportant, perhaps because the rulers reigned
for a sin nt period.
This An, like his predecessor Sahura, is portrayed in Wady-Ma-
ghära as a conqueror. Of the successor of An, Menkau-hor (the
Mencheres of Manetho), a portrait (Fig. 20) is preserved upon a
block of stone built into the Serapeum, which probably came from
Fig. 19. — Monument of King Sahura at Wad y-MagMra.
tin- tniiil>-chapel of his pyramid; the chapel itself has not yet been
discovered. The composition of the most ancient book in the world
must be referred to the reign of Assa, the last Pharaoh but one of
the Fifth Dynasty; it is the papyrus which Prisse acquired at Thebes
and presented to the Bibliotheque Nationale, and of which a facsimile
was first published by him. The manuscript (Fig. 21) was written at
the time of the Twelfth Dynasty, about 2450 B.c., and contains at the
opening a moral treatise by a certain Kakemne, who lived under Snefru.
The last fifteen pages form a philosophico-moral essay by the nomarch
Ptah-hotep, a prince of the blood, contemporary with the Fifth Dynasty.
PORTRAIT OF MENKAV EOR.
~
Via. 20. — Bas-relief of King Menkau-hor (Meneheres)
68
/•:. 1 R L I ES T EG YP TL I N HIS TORY.
FlG. 21. — Facsimile of the oldest book in hieratic writing, the Prisse papyrus.
It is a collection of moral precepts, many of which might be followed
to-day. In substance, style, and even occasional verbal expression, it
recalls certain biblical texts, such, for instance, as Ecclesiastes, He
THE SIXTH />) .Y.I.S7T gg
was a very old man: Light failed, the ears "had stopped, lips were
mute, taste and smell were gone"; but he sought t«, convey his worldly
knowledge for the well-being of men. With bis collection of moral
sayings he blends profitable rules of life and conduct for most varied
circumstances. This work has often been studied and translated.
The last Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty erected a temple to
Hathor in Memphis, and founded the town Unas, which was named
for him. The first king of the Sixth Dynasty, Aii or Teta (in
Manetho, Othoes), is supposed to have met with a violent death,
being murdered by a servant. Maspero conceives that in the reign
of the Teta (by Wiedemann taken to be Othoes) of the monuments,
who reigned in Memphis, there arose at AJbydos a kin- Aii
(Othoes); and although this king was murdered, the royal authority
of the successors in the Fifth Dynasty, to which Teta belonged,
passed over to Ati's son, Meri-Ra Pepi. Pepi — whose pyramid has
been identified — like the earlier kings, gained a victory over the Mentu
of the Wady-Maghara, who were constantly renewing their attempts
to break up the working of the mines in that region. There is also
an inscription concerning Pepi in the stone-quarries of Selseleh, as
well as in those at Hamamät (on the road from Coptos tu the Red
Sea), where, too, are found inscriptions relating to more ancient rulers.
Pepi undertook the erection of buildings at Tanis, and renewed the
temple of Denderah according to an old plan found by him, — a plan
which was precisely that of Khufu, and of which Thothmes ill. sub-
sequently availed himself for his work of restoration, it is said,
however, that the plan found by Pepi had existed before the time of
Mena. Pepi waged a war against Asiatics with regard to which
an inscription in honor of Una, commander of tin' host, gives more
exact information. This inscription, one of the oldest historical
documents, and in which for the first time negroes, or Nebesi, are
mentioned, has often been translated. For this war lai
forces were raised, among other places, in the country ^>( Wawa, from
whence the Egyptians obtained their silver, an indication of the great
extent of the kingdom under Pepi. The people attacked by Pepi's
army were called Amu and Herusha (that is, • those living upon the
sandy shore '), but their dwelling-place is not clearly described. < )n
the so-called poetic stela of Thothmes III. at Karnak, the Herusha
7(1 EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
are spokeD of next to ' the people at the head of the waters," that is,
the lagoons of the Nile. After five destructive invasions, whereby
cultivated lands and vineyards were laid waste, the Herusha re-
treated to Takhba (Terehbah or Tatepba), whither Una sailed in
ships, and there overcame them. As the highest mark of distinction
for his services, Una obtained leave not to put off his sandals in the
king's palace, and even in the presence of the king. He was also
honored with a dignity not previously conferred, that of viceroy of
Upper Egypt.
In the thirteenth year of Pepi the end of a period of the star
Sirius is reported to have occurred; this sovereign must therefore
have begun to reign in the year 2795 B.c. A second Pepi was the
son of the first, and a younger brother of Mer-en-Ra. Both of these
are noteworthy for the length of their lives. The second Pepi, ac-
cording to Manetho, reigned one hundred years, and over ninety
according to the Turin papyrus (the name is wanting here). From
this it appears that his elder brother died a young man after a reign
of seven (in the Turin papyrus fourteen) years, and Pepi when a
child succeeded him. The elder brother was found in 1881, in the
sepulchral chamber of his pyramid at Sakkara, his skin having a natural
appearance, the nose sunken, the lower jaw missing (see p. 73) ; the
body has been removed to the Gizeh museum. The last prince of this
dynasty was murdered, having reigned but one year. His legendary
sister and consort, Net-akerti (Nitocris), caused an extensive apartment
to be constructed under ground, and at its consecration invited those
who were principally concerned in the murder. She turned in upon
thein the water of the river and drowned them; thereupon she threw
herself, in order to escape revenge, into a room filled with red hot
ashes, and thus ended her life. Many tales are related by the Greeks
concerning her, since she was confounded to some extent with the
wife of Psammetichus III., of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. One of
these stories is important to the student of folk-lore : it presents the
oldest version of the story of Cinderella and the glass slipper. Rho-
dopis ( • the rosy-cheeked '), — so was Nitocris called, Manetho giving
her flaxen hair and rosy cheeks — was a hetaera ; she was bathing in
the Nile, when an eagle carried off one of her sandals, which he
dropped upon the knee of the king, who was then holding a court of
SEVENTH TO ELEVENTH DYNASTIES. 71
justice in the open air. Enraptured with the beautiful Pool to which
the sandal must belong, the king sen! messengers throughout the
laud in search of Rhodopis, and made her his queen.
After Nitocris there commences a dark period. The Lists of
Manetho give only the total number of the rulers in each dynast)
with the years during which they reigned. The Seventh (Memphite)
Dynasty continued, according to Manetho, for only 66 days; accord-
ing to another version, it embraced 70 kings. Eusebiua (in Syncellus)
gives it five rulers and 75 years. The Eighth Dynasty (Memphite)
is reported to have had 27 kings, reigning in all 14<l years. The
Ninth Dynasty (of Herakleopolis), whose founder was the tyrant
Achthoes, had 17 kings with 409 years (in Syncellus there wen- four
kings and 100 years). The Tenth Dynasty (of Herakleopolis) num-
bered 17 kings, whose reigns lasted ISO years. Finally the Eleventh,
with which the importance of Thebes arose, had Hi king-, and con-
tinued only 43 years. The brief duration of these dynasties and the
dearth of monuments encourage the belief in a period of internal -trite.
While the Memphite power weakened, the princes of Herakleopolis
grew in prosperity. Khati I., Meri-ab-Ra (Akhthoes) founded the
Ninth Dynasty. His name is found at the first cataract. It is likely
that this dynasty was contemporaneous with the early Theban Antefs.
These grew in power and rebelled. The kings of the Tenth Herakleo-
politan Dynasty endeavored to .-uppress them — as appears from the
tombs of the lords of Siüt who fought for them. Eventually the Thc-
bans prevailed and established the Eleventh Dynasty. Several Antefs
appear on the lists and the monuments. One of these bequeathed the
crown to a vounger brother, who built for him a wooden coffin overlaid
with gold, which was deposited in Gurnah, the chief necropolis of Thebes,
and is now in the Louvre; the tomb of his wife has also been discov-
ered in Gurnah. Of this queen the Berlin Museum pofi
wooden coffer with an arched cover (Fig. 22). In it there is a small
box made of the inner bark of reeds, in which is a basket of tine straw
upon a stand. This last contains live alabaster flasks, and one of ser-
pentine, containing medicines. Near it lie two spoons and a small
dish, and a large number of medicinal roots. A gilded coffin of an-
other Antef is in the British Museum: and his silver diadem, over-
laid with gold, is at Leyden. The tomb of a third Antef contains a
72
/•;. 1 /,' L I ES T EG YP TIAN HIS TOE Y.
status with an inscription made in the fiftieth year of his reign; the
coffin of a fourth Antef, also from Gurnah, is preserved at Berlin.
At this court a poem was composed, passages of which are also found
in the tombs at Thebes. It commands a cheerful manner of life,
since with death all joy ceases. It thus illustrates the description
given by Herodotus of Egyptian banquets. We read, among other
things, in this song : " Lay of
the house of king Antef, the
departed, which is composed
by the harper. Hail to the
good prince. The good des-
tiny is fulfilled. The bodies
pass away and others remain
behind. Since the days of the
ancestors, the gods (i.e., the
kings) who have been before
time, rest in their pyramids.
There have they built houses,
whose place is no more, thou
seest what has become of them.
I heard the words of Imhotep
and Hardataf, who both spoke
thus in their sayings : ' Behold
the dwellings of those men,
their walls fall down. Their
place is no more. They are as
though they had never existed.'
Who tells us how it goes with
them ? Who nerves our hearts
until you approach the place
whither they are gone? With joyful heart, forget not to glorify thyself,
and follow thy heart's desire, so long as thou livest. Put myrrh on
thy head, clothe thyself in fine linen, anointing thyself with the true
marvels of God. Adorn thyself as beautifully as thou canst and let
not thy heart be disci »uraged. Follow thy heart's desire and thy pleasures
so long as thou livest on earth. Let not thy heart concern itself until
there comes to thee that day of mourning. Yet he whose heart is at
Fig. 22. — Cabinet of Queen Mentu-hotep.
TUE ELEVENTE DYNASTY.
rest hears not their complaint. And he who lies in the tomb, under-
stands not their mourning. With beaming face celebrate a joyful day,
and rest not therein, for no one carries his goods with him. Yea, do
one returns again who is gone thither."
Three kings of the name of Mentu-hotep are mentioned. One of
them lived between two of the live Antefs, and his name is given upon
the list at Karnak. Of one of these is an inscription, made in the
forty-sixth year of his reign; he is also shown by the monuments to
have been sovereign of Upper and Lower Egypt. These kin-- have
left many traces, not only at Thebes, but at Koptos, Assuan, Sakkara,
and at other sites. The last king of the Eleventh Dynasty appears to
have been Sankh-ka-ra, who led a great expedition to the land of Punt,
the coasts in the vicinity of the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, the region of
Yemen and of Somali. An army went with him and many laborers
from Koptos and Kosseir ; they dug on the way four artesian wells.
They finally reached Arabia, and brought to Egypt the products of that
country — spices, frankincense, precious stones, and the like ; a fact
which gives a conception of the power and enterprising spirit manifesting
itself in these last-named Pharaohs. Manetho assigns Ammenemes t"
the Eleventh Dynasty, who, on account of genealogical relation to the
Twelfth Dynasty, has been commonly placed at the head of the latter
dynasty.
Mummied head of Meren-Ra M-Kii- i
CHAPTER IL
ART IX THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
IF we review the political record of the Old Empire, we are struck
with its insignificance. A few raids in the South, some repressive
campaigns against the encroachments of Asiatic tribes on the eastern
frontier, cover Egypt's military record. If there were great wars, they
have left no traces. We find, however, ample compensation for this in
the completeness with which the private life and mode of thought of the
Egyptians is unfolded in their art and architecture. The oldest of the
dated structures in Egypt are the great tomb of Nagadah and the
royal tombs of Abydos. These architecturally stand as a link between
the pre-dynastic pit-tombs (see Introduction, p. 8) and the mastabas of
the nekropolis of Gizeh. Each of these archaic tombs was practically a
large square or oblong pit. Some are as large as 100 X 50 cubits.
They are lined with brick- work, roofed over and floored with wood,
and closely surrounded by rows of small chambers — the tomb of King
Kha-Sekhemui (Second Dynasty) has fifty-seven — which, in the earlier
examples — as in the tombs of Zer and Zet — open from it, but which,
by King Mer-neit, were built separately around the main tomb. By
Den-Setui, an entrance passage and a stairway were added, which Qa-
Sen turned to the north. Petrie has pointed out that, at this stage
— i.e., the end of the First Dynasty — we are within reach of the early
mastabas and pyramids. By substituting stone for brick-work and
wood, and by removing the tombs of retainers further away, the type of
rn:i>t aba-pyramid of Snefru is obtained. And the latter is the archi-
tectural link with the true pvramid.
The nekropolis of Memphis, in expressive Egyptian language
styled the 'Land of Life' (änkh-ta), is a vast cemetery, which
stretches from Abu-Roash, opposite Cairo, as far as Dashur, south-
west of Memphis, a distance of ten hours. In it are several groups
of pyramids, at Abu-Roash, Gizeh, Tsawiyet-el- Aryan, Abusir, Sak-
74
TOMBS.
40
kara, and Dashur. The embalmed bodies of millions of Egyptians
rest here in the sand and rock of the desert, which at this pint
borders directly npon the valley of the Nile. In external form pri-
vate sepulchres arc rectangular structures extending from north to
south with side-walls somewhat inclined. The Arabs call these sep-
ulchres mastabah. They are made of brick, at first yellow. Later of a
dusky color, or of limestone. The east side, turned toward the Nile,
is commonly the facade, decorated by a niche near the north corner;
near the south corner is the entrance. The more modest mastabas
have sometimes no interior work apart from the mummy-pit, except
Fig. 23. — A Table of unwinds.
only a deep recess with a tablet. When the door is on the north.
there is a vestibule in front with two square pillars: this is also the
case when the door is placed on the south side, yet here, too, the con-
struction of the east side may occur. In a tomb at Gizeh there is t,.
be seen an actual column with a calyx-shaped capital, and quart»]
round moulding below. The entrance is never on the west* side
Within there is an apartment or chapel, which, as a rule, is adorned
with sculptures and paintings; some sepulchres contain vaulted c
ings of separate blocks. A necessary feature is the tablet built into
the western wall, upon which thenan.es and titles of the de,
are engraven, as well as the ritual which secures to htm the enjoy-
76
ART TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
in. Mit of ilu' objects set apart for him (Fig. 23); here the survivors,
mi visiting the tomb, read or repeated the ritual. Often before the
tablet in the wall stands a sacrificial table of granite. The chapel is
also decorated with scenes of funeral festivities accompanied by musical
performances. On both .-ides of the niche are sometimes placed portraits
of the deceased, with a front view in high-relief, as, for example, in
the tomb of Ur-khun, built during the reign of Neferarkara (third
king of the Fifth Dynasty) in Sakkara, and at Gizeh in the tomb of
khafia-ankh (Fourth Dynasty). Another part of the interior is the
serdäb, a hollow place which for the most part is connected with the
chamber only by a hole an hand-breadth wide. Since it was not
beyond the bounds of possibility that the mummy might be destroyed
or removed, the Egyptians took care, by depositing statues of the
dead in these serdabs, to provide a material support for the spirit.
These 'Ka' statues might be indefinitely multiplied. "With such an
object in view, it was natural that attention should be paid to the exact
reproduction of the features. Realism, not attractiveness, was aimed
at. We also understand why old age was never represented. The
portrait upon which the spirit must depend in all ages to come always
represented the original in the vigor of life. Through the small opening
in the serdab the soul could glide, and the stone image could inhale the
sacrificial vapor of the offerings to the dead. In a sepulchre at Gizeh
the chamber is of considerable length, and upon a long rear wall one
observes under the ceiling four square holes, and below, at half the
height of the wall, four other slit-like holes ; all these eight holes
Pig. 24. Granary from the tomb of Ameny, Beni-Hassan. (After Ma pero.)
open upon four long serdabs, and in conformity to the interior of the
latter the slits become wider. Finally, every mastaba has a pit some-
times forty, often more than sixty feet in depth, which is excavated
out of earth, cither from the external platform of the mastaba through
TOMBS.
the wall, — as is most commonly «lone, -or (as i., the richly con-
structed mastaba of Ti) from the soi] of the rock chamber. The pit
opens below into a passage which Leads to the tomb; in a comer of
the latter was placed the stone sarcophagus. This inclosed the painted
wooden coffin, in the shape of a mummy with a human countenance ;
it was often gilded. In this coffin lay the mummy. The entrance of
the passage to the tomb, as well as the opening of the j.it upon il„-
platform or in the chapel, was walled up after the completion of the
offering to the dead ; the pit was filled with rubbish, among which in
the tombs of the Middle Empire sometime- are found the fragments of
a wooden bark in which the deceased journeyed through the under-
world. The tomb is always placed in the same axis as the upper
room or chapel. The mastaba tombs show as vet no amulet- or statu-
ettes of ushabtis, but only two or three pointed vessels for water
placed against the wall, and also bones of bulls which had been
offered to the deceased as nourishment. The slaying of the bull is
often represented pictorially in the upper chamber. In the interior
of the sarcophagus may be found furniture, consisting of a foot sujh
porting a crescent-shaped head-rest, such as it was the custom to place
under the head when sleeping (instead of our pillows), and a num-
ber of vessels made of alabaster. The coffin ( Fig. -■'> ) is rectangular,
with perpendicular corners ; the lid. except a part at the two small
ends, is rounded off in the direction of its length: the lid is so
arranged that a part of its lower rim fits into ;) groove in the upper
edge of the coffin, and the seam is filled with cement The decoration
of the stone coffin is borrowed from the architecture of the wooden
dwelling-house. A beautiful example is the syenit ■ coffin of Khufu-
ankh (Gizeh museum). The tomb is the eternal abode, the dwelling
is but the shelter for the brief pilgrimage on the earth. In the vicinity
of the pyramids at Gizeh tombs are found which are not built up. but
chiselled out of the wall of rock ; they consisl of several chambers
with sculptures, and the pit excavated in the -oil, a type richly devel-
oped in later times in the Theban aekropolis. We may. therefore,
follow step by step the evolution of Egyptian sepulchral architecture
from prehistoric times to the New Empire.
With the architecture of the tombs sculpture i< very closely con-
nected. We have seen that in consequence of the belief- with regard
7s
ART TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
to the relation of the soul to the mummy, the Egyptians came to de-
posit statu.- of the departed, known as < Ka '-statues, in the serdab or
inner chamber ; and that in order to facilitate for the soul the identifi-
cation of its former abode, the resemblance of the image to the living
subject must be rendered as exact as possible. The artist to whom
wa.- intrusted the making of these statues was therefore compelled to
conform to nature. This is a most salutary restraint for an artist,
since it guards him against sinking into mannerism and an unnatural
treatment, 'flic works of Egyptian artists are therefore distinguished
%
L
r^"
L
mu^rn'mmm
m0S$W^m^m
llliii
Fig. 25. — Stone sarcophagus.
by tin- highest skill in portraiture, and by realistic representation.
The admiration excited by these ancient specimens of statuary has
often suggested the inquiry as to the kind of technique adopted by
the sculptor. Although traces of iron have been discerned even in
the time of the Fourth Dynasty, yet the manufacture of steel at that
period has not been demonstrated. It is admitted that by some
unknown process a hardness approaching that of iron was imparted
to bronze. Had steel been in use, there would have been discovered
in the oldest pieces of work very sharp edges and deep cuttings,
as in later art which employed steel; but there is no instance of the
PORTRAIT v/' 1/7 Es
79
kind. Flinders-Petrie, after a thorough examination of slabs of
stone worked with the saw, has proved that sawa of bronze were
used, and that these were tipped with hard crystals, probably corun-
dum. The investigations of Entile Soldi, directed to objects of art,
as well as scenes upon Egyptian reliefs representing the restoration
of statues, have brought to Light the methods of tin- artist With
the punch, struck by long hammers, blocks of hard stone. Buch ;is
granite, were split, and were engraved with figures cut into the
stone; the shaping followed with a pick-hammer and chisel, hut the
latter came into use late and was seldom employed, as for instance,
in order to draw the sharp outlines of the hieroglyphics, as well as
their straight and crooked edges. All granite statues are polished,
not indeed by file and rasp, but by means of moist sandstone powder,
which is spread over them with a kind of brush, and is rubbed over
the surface by curved pieces of wood or by flat stones. Emery must
have been imported from Naxos at an early «lay, for without the use
of this it is impossible to account for many very smooth suit
The danger of dislocation in restoring the more delicate parts, as the
neck and the extremities, was obviated by the fact that the artist
did not separate these from the general mass ; the neck up to the
head adheres to the back of the chair, or to the pillar on which the
figure leans. For the same reason, the beard on the chin is not
arated from the neck. The mediocre character of the granite Btatues
is caused by the material and the technique, us has been explained by
G. Semper; whilst wooden figures and bronze vessels, and even many
limestone statues, show that the artists understood very well how to
fashion the extremities separately, and how to give the impn
of physical activity, as in the reliefs and pictures. In order tolo
immense blocks of granite in the quarry from the native rock, the
stone-cutters introduced wooded wedges, which expanding on being
wet split off the stone, or with pointed crowbars they drew furrows
around the block, and finally separated it by many blows applied at
the same time. It should be noted that the sculptor of reliefs not
only drew lines with red paint, forming squares upon the flal Burface
in order to outline the figures in their just proportions, but also that
statues were copied from models previously prepared.
Herodotus relates that King M yccrinus had Bet up in a hall of
80
A B T IX TU /•: ANCl EN T EMPIRE.
his palace about twenty wooden portrait>statues of his wives, and
had also caused a hollow wooden image of a cow to be made, in
which he put the body of his deceased only daughter. Though the
objeci of these works of art is here erroneously explained, the artistic
development of Egypt in his day cannot be questioned.
Fig. 26. — Portrait heads of early date (Sepa and Nesa). Louvre.
Ancient works of art, which appear to belong to the period of the
Second Dynasty, are the somewhat clumsily executed statues of Sepa
and his wife Nesa (Fig. 26). They are distinguished by the fact
that the lower eyelid is marked by a green stripe ; the palettes and
green paint found in the burials of the Nagadah period show this prac-
tice to have belonged to prehistoric times. It was probably ritualistic.
(See Introduction, p. 8, note.) The statues of Ra-hotep and of Ne-
fert (Figs. 27, 28) are famous ; they were found at Medum in a tomb
of the reign of Snefru. They are so life-like that they startled the
superstitious Arabs who first saw them into the belief that they were
spirits guarding the tomb. Both figures and a high chair, together
with the seat, are worked out from a block of limestone, a little
less than four feet in height. The man has a round face, hair
cut short, ,i dark, straight beard, full lips; his clothing consists
simply of an apron covering the upper part of the thighs; round his
neck hangs a cord with a small round talisman; the left arm rests
upon the thigh, the right is somewhat raised, and its closed hand is
placed upon the he-art; the legs are parallel; it is noticeable that
Portrait sta tues.
81
the second toe is longer than the first, and thai the small toe has its
proper shape. In other civilized nations it usually appears misshapen
from wearing a shoe. Nefert has thick hair above the eyes, parted
from the top of the head; at the sides of the lace artificial hair falls
down upon the shoulders; the head is encircled by a diadem. The
countenance is full, and preserves in the beautiful eyes thai somewhat
melancholy expression which frequently at this day one observes
Fig. 27. — Statues of Ita-hotep and Nefert. (Gizeh Museum.)
in the faces of Egyptian women. The thick garment like a tunic,
reaching to the feet, clings to the form. The arms, which are
hidden by it, are placed one above the other, and the hands lie be-
neath the breasts. The neck is adorned with jewellery richly
wrought, and garnished with bands of gold.
All statues were painted. The naked parts of the body in men
are painted a reddish brown, in women a yellow colm ; the hair i
always black. The eyes receive a specially careful treatment The
Vol. I. 6,
82
.1/,"/' TN TUE ANCIENT KM PI HF.
so-calied Scribe (Fig. 29), from a tomb of the Sixth or Seventh
Dynasty, who, according to Oriental custom, is seated upon the
ground clothed only in the gown-like apron (shenti), and who seems
Head of Ra-hotep.
Fro. 28.
Head of Xefert.
to be writing off words dictated to him by a judge or other official,
is indebted for the effect produced — aside from the excellent treat-
ment of the parts of the body — above all else to the eyes. They
are bordered by a bronze plate forming the lids and lashes, and con-
sist of a piece of opaque quartz, in
which the apple of the eye, made of
transparent rock-crystal, is inserted by
means of a polished metallic pin. Simi-
lar eyes has also the life-like wooden
statue of Ra-em-ka in the Gizeh Mu-
seum, the so-called Sheikh-el-Beled, 1 or
Town-elder (Fig. 30) — which repre-
sents this dignitary with a staff in his
hand. The head of his wife is per-
haps even finer, and both are por-
trayed in a manner pre-eminently true
to nature. These wooden portraits were
covered before painting with line linen glued to them, and which
Pig. 29. — The Scribe (Louvre).
1 The Arabs who were excavating were struck by his resemblance to their town
elder.
PORTRAIT STA 11 ES
i
was intended to support the stucco; litis received the paint, mid
was at the same time used for a finer kind of modelling. The
statue of Ti is yet to be mentioned, one of the mos! valuable
objects in the Gizeh .Museum. Ti was a distinguished function-
ary in the time of An (Fifth Dy-
nasty), by birth one of the people,
but married to a daughter of the
royal house. The gown-like apron,
the only garment of this privy-coun-
cillor and high-priest, appears
to stand out stiff with starch and
ironing, as is often shown in the rep-
resentation of royal robes. The
naturalness of these pieces of statu-
ary is so great that we are ready to
believe that in the fellahs of Upper
Egypt and their wives in our day we
find their very models ; the dress of
modern Egyptian women consists of
the same kind of tunic as that seen
in those ancient statues. According
to Semper, these Egyptian portrait-
statues are not inferior to the Aegine-
tan in technique, and far excel them
in the lifelike expression of counte-
nance. The tomb-statues are made
of limestone and wood, and
sometimes of bronze, and
eyes are inserted also in the
bronze statues. The ap-
pearance of bronze in the
time of the Fifth and Sixth
Dynasties is of importance with regard to the history of this metal
lie composition. The Egyptians called the native bronze 'dark
IchomlJ and this seems to have been impure copper: hut tor bronze
castings, however, only the foreign bronze, khomt, could have been
used. The most ancient bronze statue in Chaldaea, a canephore,
emwMWft
Fig. 30. Portrait statue of Ra-ein-ka.
84 ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
was found at AfVaj on the Euphrates, not far from Bagdad, and
furnishes us with the name of a very ancient king, Kudur-mabuk.
The Egyptian bronzes, however, are older by far; a bronze handle
from the staff of Ratetf (Fourth Dynasty) is in private possession;
another of King Pepi is in the British Museum ; Flinders-Petrie
found pieces of bronze in the pyramid of Abu-Roash. A bronze
statue of Pepi, of ancient date (at Paris), bears an inscription with
the names upon it of the Shasu, Semitic Bedouins dwelling northeast
of Egvpt. Inasmuch as the beginnings of civilization coincide with
the use of metals, it is noteworthy that copper is as ancient as Egyp-
tian civilization. 1 The tombs of the earliest dynasties and even
of prehistoric times yield tools of practically pure copper. (See In-
troduction, p. 14.) However this may be, the appearance of bronze
in Egypt where there was an utter want of tin, of which an alloy of
nine per cent, with copper produces bronze, presupposes intercourse
with a neighboring people at that time who possessed tin. Since it
is highly probably that the Egyptians acquired the prepared bronze
by barter, there must have been in that country the necessary build-
ings for smelting and forging. This unknown people also furnished
bronze to the Chaldaeans. Tin is found in but few places on the
earth at the utmost, — in the mines of Perak in Malacca ; in Banka
and Biliton, near Sumatra; also in Britain ('tin islands'), whence,
according to Borlase, it was brought as early as the fourteenth or at
least the twelfth century b.c., by the enterprise of the Phoenicians,
to the emporium of Gades (Cadiz), and to the countries lying upon
the Mediterranean. All ancient bronzes, including the Brazen Sea
and the oxen in Solomon's temple, contained tin from Cornwall.
Tin was found also in Iberia in the Caucasus. According 1 to Dio-
dorus, tin was produced in the island of Panchaea, on the eastern
coast of Arabia, but was not exported. Tin for the bronze found in
the Troad perhaps came from Crete ; it is now found in Mount
Sphacia. Whether Egypt obtained her tin from Crete, or whether it
was brought to her overland from the Caucasus through the interven-
tion of the Shasu, must, in the present state of our knowledge on the
subject, remain a matter of pure speculation. The original method of
manipulating bronze was by incrustation or empaestic ; that is, a core
1 Petri'- in L904 found an iron wedge in a Sixth Dynasty deposit (b.c. 3400).
GENRE PICTURES.
of wood or clay was covered with the metal ; in this manner bronzewaa
handled by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Then followed thehollow-
hammered work (sphyrdaton), such as was practised by the G
very ancient times; the pieces were riveted together, and at a later
day soldered. Finally the art of casting was invented. It i- remark-
able that the oldest Egyptian bronzes show the most recent step in
technique, — the hollow casting.
Finely carved ivory statuettes found recently attest Eg} ptfs artistic
development under the first dynasties, and the art displayed in reliefs
in the mastabas of the Old Empire is of the highest order. The charac-
teristic difference between the execution of the earlier and the later
reliefs consists in this: In the first the figures are made to stand out
with a moderate elevation from a smooth surface. Theban art, ou the
other hand, forms hollow reliefs (en creux) ; that is to say, the work
is in such a depression that the plane of the whole outside surface is
in a line with the relief. The latter, however, gains distinctness through
the depressions around the outlines of the figure. Besides stone reliefs,
we also find wooden ones, as in the tomb of Hesi at Sakkara. These
probably are older than the pyramids of Cheops. Thev serve to mask
four false doors, and represent a scribe who carries his writing imple-
ments in his hand, or hanging over his shoulder.
Beside the statues of the occupant of the tomb, there are frequently
found figures of servants, who, employed as when alive, are intended
to surround the dead with the daily life on earth. There are attractive
genre pictures, — a naked boy with a sack on his shoulder and a nosegay
in his right hand; another is sitting on the ground, and thrusts hia
right hand into a tall pitcher which he is holding with his left : a girl
kneading dough in a vessel placed upon the ground is remarkably real-
istic ; a dwarf by the name of Khnum-hotep, inhabitant of a beautiful
tomb at Sakkara, reminds one of the dwarfs of Velasquez.
The reliefs on the tombs, in their varied forms, furnish a glimpse
into the life of the Egyptian people, such as is obtained of n<> other
people (see Fig. 24). The art of Telloh, which alone approaches it in
age — no sculptures of any serious importance having as vet r> en I
ered at Nippur — is military or hieratic. Even Grecian art. rich and
varied as it is, is not so manifold as the Egyptian. This direction of art,
as has been shown, received its impulse from the religious conviction
86
ART IS THE A SCI EST EMPIRE.
that the deceased, as a shade, has sensuous perceptions, especially at
those moments when the < Ba ' or the < Ka ' put themselves into com-
munication with him for a time, and that one is bound to enliven the
solitude of the tomb by reproductions of the happy earthly life.
It has already been remarked that the human figure is always
represented in profile. The eye, however, is not fore-shortened, but
represented in its full length, as it appears de face, while the arms
again arc portrayed from the side. The legs are represented in pro-
file, with one stepping out before the other. In stooping figures, only
one shoulder is to be seen ; and this is so far falsely drawn that it pro-
jects in front of the neck, for the artist did not know how to over-
come the difficulties of perspective, which are doubled in reliefs.
Persian art was the first to achieve complete success in this respect.
There are, however, here and there, correct drawings, as in the tomb
of Ra-ases at Sakkara. So vast was the amount of work to be done
that the laborers were directed merely to follow a fixed rule; and
the evident offences against perspective were richly compensated
by the invariably skilful treatment, and the vividness and distinct-
ness shown in all movements of the human body. The artist's mean-
ing is clear, aside from the hieroglyphic explanations accompanying
the drawings. The representations of country life (Fig. 31) show
the plough drawn by oxen, the peasant leaning upon the plough-
handle, and the driver with his whip ; near by rows of laborers are
loosening the soil with hoes, and the sower is scattering seed from a
basket, several of which are standing close at hand. The reapers seize
their bundles of corn, and cut with the sickle; the grain is winnowed;
linn take it with a three-pronged fork or pole from the store piled
upon a frame, and deliver it to the women, who winnow it and
smooth the rising heaps ; the threshing of the grain is done by the
hoofs of the asses and oxen. Scribes who have reeds in their hands,
and others behind the ear, are reckoning up the results of the harvest,
sitting before the closed granaries, from which heaps of grain rise up
at the top; or they are registering the number of animals in the herds
of rams, goats, asses, cattle, gazelles (at that time domestic animals),
geese, rabbits (never hens); and they are taking account of that
which had been sold, after careful weighing, from the produce re-
ceived. They also dictate punishments for the idle or evil-doers,
*c <^
&
S L_
3 ^r
fe
GENRE PICTUliES.
*7
who are dragged forward by the overseers. Herds of cattle are
driven to the watering-place ; the cows are milked, their Core- and
hind-feet being chained together, or a person holds the cow by one
fore-foot. Here are seen cowherds whose, faces Bhow black whiskers
and a physiognomy different from the Egyptian type; and there is
not wanting a cow which, with the assistance of the veterinary sur-
geon, is bringing forth a calf. Shepherds are Bitting near their
sheep-folds, and with them dogs with pointed ear-. We see also
olive-trees whose fruit men arc gathering. Estates personified as male
or female servants, whose names are written between the hieroglyphica]
figures, often recur. They are seen approaching in Ion«; row-, bearing
their produce on their head, — fruits, liquors, and poultry, — which they
are bringing to their lord. 1
Fn;. 31. — Farming scenes. Relief on a wall in the tomb of Ti atSakkara.
rows, bearing their produce on their heads, -fruits, liquors, and
poultry, — which they are bringing to their lord. 1 ( PLATE V. »
Ajnong the trades, bakeries appear in which dough is kneaded
and bread or cake is made: butchers' establishments are very often
represented, in conne* tion with the pictures of offerings of hulls in
the chambers of the tombs; the ox is brought in by means of a rope
placed over the hack in such a manner that our fore-fool is drawn up.
From the dead animal, placed on its hack, the skin is stripped off
with sharp knives, one of which is whetted by a hoy standing near;
and beside it lie ribs, thighs, and other parts. Ajitelopes also arc
1 Manv of the scenes described in this paragraph are Sgun
and "ii Plate V 1-
88
ART TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
offered in like manner ;
and the pieces are pre-
sented to the dead,
together with fowls,
vegetables, and roast
meats. The process of
wine-making appears :
the grapes are poured
into a sack which is
fastened to sticks at
both ends ; two men
turn the sticks in dif-
ferent directions so that
the sack is wrung out
like wet linen, and the
juice falls into a tub.
In the same sepulchre
are also represented car-
penters and joiners with
all things fabricated by
them, together with
their tools, saws, axes,
augers, drills, and
planes. In the tomb
of Ti one can see (Fig.
32) a ship in process of
building, a pottery fac-
tory with patterns of dif-
ferent vessels, archi-
tects, and glassmakers.
Among the possessions
of the dwellers in the
mastaba are to be found
skiffs made of papyrus,
and large Nile-boats ;
the last provided with
masts, sails, and mats
EGYPTIAN BOMB-LIFE.
of various styles and colors for protection against the sun, and
having twenty to thirty rowers at their seats on each Bide, while
six steersmen with poles stand in the stern. A man is sounding the
depth of the water with a pole. The crew, which are to go on board
the vessel, carry with them all that is necessary for a fishing-expe-
dition, — harpoons, poles, rudder, anchor; also supplies of food, with
small boxes and poultry. The master often causes the men to steer
him close to a thicket of bulrushes, which is filled with water-fowl,
kept there, and flying about in many spots between the reeds and
the lotus-plants, or brooding over their nests; a yellow ichneumon,
or a gray, dark-speckled civet, climbs up the swaying cane-brake,
and steals from the nest the young birds anxiously fluttering their
little wings. The master catches fish, among which are plainly
recognized kinds known in natural history; the crew harpoon a hip-
popotamus (behemoth). Very often fishing with wicker baskets or
nets is depicted ; and when a great repast is to be prepared, <j;yc<,>- are
taken with trailing nets from the ponds bordered with beautiful
shrubs. The artist follows wholly his observation of nature, and
does not forget to interweave pleasing incidents, as when those pull-
ing on the net travel so far forwards that on the slackening of the
line they are all thrown one upon another on their hacks.
From the paintings in the tombs we may gain an accurate knowl-
edge of the home-life of the Egyptians. The nekropolis in that happy
time was not yet darkened and filled with fearful phantasms as it became
in the later period of priestly and bureaucratic rule. A delight in
life beams upon us from the pleasing picture of elegant tables full of
various dishes, — long rows of fat geese suspended on poles; cutlets,
hams, pastries, and the like, are shown in the sepulchre of Ti. The
survivors gladden the shade of tin- dead by recalling happy days in
painting or in marble; perhaps it was for the marriage of the rich
man with the beautiful lady in scarlet apparel that the servants are
bringing to the slaughter-bench wild goats and antelopes by the
horns, bulls with ropes around the neck, struggling calves with a
gripe at the throat and hind-quarter, helping them to a brisker pace.
and carrying the fluttering fowls by the neck. The pleasures of the
table are heightened by the spectacle of a dame with the accompani-
ment of the harp and flute. In one picture people are amusing
£0 .i/,"/' IN TUE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
themselves with games at draughts and ball, the latter a kind oi
roulette, in which balls are rolled to fixed points in the middle
through a great number of spiral channels. Funeral offerings on a
magnificent scale are represented in the tomb of Ptah-hotep at
Sakkara (Plate VI.). 1
We have yet to cast a glance at the architectural and many-
colored adornments of these ancients tombs, which, although they be-
long to an early period of human history, excel many later works of
ancient art in other countries on account of their coloring, without
which a picture is only as it were a skeleton or outline. That the
tot ul is had their origin in the architecture of wooden buildings and
carpenter work is a fact which at once strikes the eye. Under the
upper sills of the gates and lattice-doors there is a heavy cylindrical
beam of stone, in imitation of the wooden roller over which in dwell-
ing-houses a piece of carpet or matting hung, which, when the door
was open, was let down as a protection against the rays of the sun.
The deep channels separating the door from other parts of the wall
are copied above the pins with which the turning of the roller is
effected by means of a cord. The bordering of the door, the decora-
tion of the lattices and the walls, so far as these are not occupied by
pictures, show board- and lathe-work, which is plastered and painted
in very bright colors. In this respect one is reminded of the most
ancient style of Chaldaic decoration, palm branches of stone, and
high wooden frames of polished tiles placed one within another, cov-
1 Explanation of Plate VI.
The deceased is figured twice, as his name shows ; it stands above his right arm.
His son holds his father's staff by the right hand, in his left a fowl.
<>n the left division of the wall, Ptah-hotep is viewing scenes similar to those
familiar to him while alive; papyrus plants are gathered at the water's edge; young
men are engaged in gymnastic sports; grapes are plucked, trodden in the wine-press,
and strained in a bag; gazelles and other game are hunted; a lion, to which a heifer
has been offered as bait, is attacked by the hounds; finally fishing-scenes, and scenes
where geese are taken from a lake.
The four vertical columns of hieroglyphics inform us that Ptah-hotep had been
priest at the pyramids of Kings Assa, Ra-en-user, and Hor-men-ka. On the right
division of the wall, servants of the dead priest are represented in a procession bring-
ing animals and cattle, to be used, as the inscription declares, in the cult of the dead.
The procession is headed by youths, who by their gymnastic feats lend it life; then
follow greyhounds and dogs, smaller animals in baskets, caged lions, ibexes, ante-
lopes, cows with their calves, oxen, swans in number 1225; geese, 11,210, ditto 121,200
«twice); finally young seese 111,020, doves 121,022, small geese 120,000 in number, and
storks. The numbers are probably much exaggerated.
SEPULCHRAL ARCHITECTURE. \\\
ered with stucco, as in the Wuswas nuns at Warka. In a Theban
tomb of a Later age this very ancient motif is employed as the orna-
ment of a frieze, and it alternates here with figures which remind one
vividly of the Grecian frieze with its triglyphs. Sometimes the imita-
tion of woodwork is very simple, as in Tenta's tomb at Gizeh, where
narrow depressions are enclosed on both sides by borders which are
barred above by two cross-planks, so that the impression is well-nigh
made of a small pillar with a square abacus. A diagonal beam, Buch
as we have in our northern wooden houses, is never found. Between
the laths of the house-wall, flowers were placed in the interstices, ami
these appear in the lattice-work of the mastaba as two blended petals
of the lotus beneath the calyx, an arrangement that suggested the
idea of a peculiar kind of pillar with which we shall become ac-
quainted. The space between the door and the support of the ceil-
ing appears embellished with a matting having a checkered pattern in
green and red colors. The astragals are blue, yellow, white, ami red,
but always painted with a single color, and on the panels are pat-
terns of webbing; for instance, a double row of zigzag lines forming
a lozenge-shaped panel; or an embroidery pattern with similar
motif; a checkered pattern of ribbons interlaced, or plaited straw
(mats), in checkered and reticulated form with diversified colors. A
row of patterns of five kinds shows gay-colored straw plaiting, as in
the wall painted with figures behind the throne of Ra-ases (reign of
An, Fifth Dynasty). The upper parts of the wall also show vividly
colored cross-stripes of blue, yellow, and green, enclosed by broad
dark lines. The borrowing from the embroideries of the dwelling-
rooms is so naive that even the rings are copied, through which are
thrust the cords for holding the embroidery frame, as in the tomb of
Ptah-hotep at Sakkara. The entire lattice-door is. at the sides and
above, bordered by an astragal moulding on which the cords running
hither and thither are painted, and which in all periods of Egyptian
architecture remained the model for encompassing the angles of the
temples and pylons, and was also employed as a welcome aid in
joiners' work to cover and hold together the seams of the wooden
corners that were cut obliquely. The chain of the basket-maker,
executed by the smith, is also imitated in colors upon the small inter-
vening spaces between the side-posts. All lh.se patterns, of an
92 ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
irreproachable taste, which are naturally connected with the arts
of embroidery, weaving, and plaiting, appear among many ancient
peoples, and we need not maintain that one nation borrows from
another. So is it with regard to the Chaldaeans, Assyrians, Etrus-
cans, Greeks, and the rifled tombs of Ancona in Peru. We need
only transfer these stone facades of the mastabas into wood, in order
to be able to form for ourselves a correct conception of the most
ancient wooden dwellings of the Egyptians.
The different parts of the mastaba, and especially the tomb-
chamber, the pit, and the place for the coffin, are repeated in the
pyramid or royal sepulchre. Here, however, the tumulus, which
ancient nations built up to their heroes and kings, suggests the type.
The round tumulus of heaped-up earth was exchanged for a four-
square pyramid as soon as men undertook to construct it of brick;
since not a round but an angular form results from the use of brick,
and from the cutting out of stone in blocks for building-. Further-
more, the rectilineal shape made it easy to place the structure in con-
formity with astronomical ideas. The pyramids are oriented according
to the quarters of the heavens ; and when one considers the importance
of the western wall of the mastaba as representing Amenti (Hades), it
would seem impossible that the edge of the wall should be made into
a curve. This tumulus, as a pyramid, taking its shape from the
square fomidation stones, gave form also to the sunken pit that leads
to the sepulchre. The chamber of the mastaba, together with the
chapel, was separated from the pyramid, and the east side of it was
placed at some distance. The pyramid, like the pit of the mastaba,
was hermetically sealed, and with regard to the bodies contained in
ii no worship of the dead was possible. These temples of the dead
have been demolished, and only in a few pyramids are their founda-
tions still discernible. They were of no great extent. Theban art
first removed them from the neighborhood of the royal sepulchres which
were dug in the mountain ranges, placed them near the river, and
erected them as independent monuments of vast extent and splendor.
Neither in the pyramid nor in the ruins of the temple that lay before
it have any certain traces of the ' serdab ' been found. Perhaps men
then believed the mummy of the god-king to be sufficiently safe
from violation, partly on account of incessant watchfulness, and partly
THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH.
c )4 ART TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
on account of religious fear. The burial chamber of the pyramid lies
sometimes in the body of the latter, and sometimes is sunk into the
rock on which the building rests; the former occurs in the case of the
pyramid of Cheops, where the tomb is plaeed at one-third of the height
above the rock foundation. The latter plan is followed in the third,
the pyramid of Mycerinus, where the main chamber lies some thirty
feet below the rocky floor. The many passages and apartments of the
older Pyramid of Steps at Sakkara are entirely excavated in the rock.
The Pyramid of Medum — the next oldest to that of Sakkara — was
originally a square mastaba. Its entrance was in the lower part of the
north face. To enlarge it, a coating of masonry was added and the
original mass was carried upward. This process was repeated seven
times until it became a pyramid of steps. A smooth casing was then
added at an angle of 11 or 14 degrees. It is the oldest known pyramid,
as that of Sakkara never received an outer coating.
The pyramids clearly show that what we regard as the beginning of
Egyptian history was only the end of a long previous development.
They are not masses of stone roughly heaped up, but the greatest and
most enduring structures devised by man. The necropolis of Mem-
phis contains nearly eighty pyramids. The most famous are the three
great pyramids situated at Gizeh (Fig. 33). The largest of these
occupies a space on which two edifices like St. Peter's at Rome could
be placed, and is of such a height that even after the flattening of the
top it exceeds the elevation of St. Stephen's at Vienna by about twenty-
live i'eet ; it contains 83,000,000 cubic feet of stone, and its outer
casing of polished stone, which under Mameluke rule w-as gradually
torn off by the Arabs to furnish building-materials for the neighboring
town, represented 7,000,000 cubic feet more. The impression pro-
duced by these structures is so powerful that from the remotest times
travellers have found no words in which to express their admiration.
The scenery surrounding the city of the dead is also unequalled ; a
sharp line separates the green, fruitful land watered by the Nile and
its canals, with its palm-shaded villages and gorgeous Cairo, from the
sandstone plateau upon whose rocky surface mighty waves of yellow
miikI are beating in sublime monotone, and are pitilessly pouring over
the works of man's hand.
Like all the others, the entrance to the great pyramid of Khuf'u
THE PYRAMID OF Kin ir
(Cheops) is on its north face. It was named Khufu-khut, < Khnfu's
shining throne,' from the polished granite coping which covered it on
all four sides, and whose thickness can be estimated by the joints
made ... the surrounding rocks. Over the opening there lies a block
Fig. 34. — Entrance to t
whose weight has been reckoned at 13,000 bundredweighl ; above
it are two blocks placed opposite each other in the position of
rafters to relieve the pressure n|»>ii it. A gallery descending ob-
liquely, about 100 yards long, terminates in a chamber in the pyramid,
96 ABT TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
the use of which is unknown. Before it enters into the rock, it comes
to a spot where an immense block of granite bars further progress.
The Arabs, by boring into the mass of stone, built a gallery around
this block which mocked their efforts, and through it they reached an
obliquely ascending continuation of the first passage. This space
suddenly expanded into a hall a little more than six feet wide,
twenty-six feet high, and 174 feet in length. This hall is con-
structed of square blocks of polished limestone from the Mokattam
quarries, put together without mortar, and in such a manner that of
the five upper layers, out of seven, one always projects above the
other, whereby the gradual narrowing of the space above forms a
kind of arch. Moreover, since the joints are scarcely visible, the
sides of the stones lying upon one another must have been polished.
On both sides of the hall there are projecting ridges or panels twenty
inches in height; in these holes were cut, in which wooden posts were
placed to support the rollers arranged beneath, probably for the pur-
pose of conveying the sarcophagus above. In front of the en-
trance to the hall a horizontal passage branches off which leads into
the so-called " Queen's Chamber," perhaps originally designed for the
sepulchral chamber of the Pharaoh. At the upper end of the great
hall, 138 feet above the foundation of the pyramid, there follows a
horizontal passage which widens into a vestibule ; here were placed
four portcullises of granite, which with one exception have been de-
molished by the Arabs. This vestibule is situated directly beneath
the apex of the pyramid, whilst the queen's chamber lies north, and
the king's south, of the vertical line. The passage terminates in the
northeast corner of the sepulchre. The latter extends lengthwise at
right angles to the direction of the corridor; it is very roomy, the
small cast and west walls are seventeen feet long, the two others
thirty-four, with a height of nineteen feet. The hall, built entirely
of polished granite, has a covering of nine granite slabs, whose length
and breadth correspond to the proportions of the walls which they
span. In order to relieve the pressure upon this covering, five
spacesare contrived above it, of which the highest, by means of blocks
set obliquely upon one another in the shape of a roof, diminish the
pressure of the superincumbent mass. The lowest of these vacant
spaces was discovered in 1763, the others in 1837 and 1838, One
THE PYRAMID OF KHUFU. '.'7
can enter only by Lying on the ground and crawling into them; they
are inhabited by hats, living images of the flitting Bhadesof the dead
(Odyssey xxiv. 6). In the two uppermost r s the name of Kim! u
and Klinuin-Klitil'ii is found, not chiselled into the -tour, bul as a
mark written with red paint by the head architecl in the quarry before
the blocks were put into position ; this finally establishes what was
already known through tradition. The sarcophagus in front of the west
wall of the chamber was long ago broken open, and i- empty. It is
to be added that Yyse discovered two small air- passives by which the
chambers were ventilated while the lahorers were at work in them.
By the construction of the outer coping these passages were closed.
This coping, according to Philo, in his work on the Seven Wonders of
the World, was composed of various stones, — marble (white lime-
stone from Mokattam), black Ethiopian stone (basalt), hematite
(perhaps porphyry), and green Arabian stone (/•</•,/,< mil !<■<> ); prob-
ably these stones formed alternate colored layers of this costly deco-
ration. Flinders-Petrie, who examined the pyramids with the besl
measuring-instruments, believes that several depressions in the
passages and in the chambers must he attributed tu the action of an
earthquake; and also that two periods in the construction are dis-
tinguishable, the later of which, beginning somewhere near the centre
of the building, is characterized by greater negligence, and by the
use of inferior material.
To the pyramid belongs a second gigantic work of Khut'n : viz.,
the stone causeway which was constructed from the Nile to this spot
in order to provide for the conveyance of the Mocks of st< from
the quarries at Mokattam. Herodotus regard- this work, which in hi-
day was >\\\\ in existence, as a wonder equal to the pyramid-. He esti-
mates its length as five stadia (over 3000 feet), and its surface was
made of polished stone. It served also to aid in the civ, t i < * 1 1 of the
second pyramid, while tor the third a social road was built, which is
yet preserved, and with interruptions reaches to the village ot
Knin-el-Aswad: it contains blocks t went v-!ive to thirty feel in length.
In front of the cast side of the pyramid, and facing the southern
half, are three small pyramids, of which tl Q6 farthest south i*
that of Hent-sen, a daughter of Khufu; and near the pyramid,
particularly on its west side and north of the aecond pyramid,
V.M.. I. 7.
og ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
are situated many mastabas of the period of the Fourth and Fifth
Dynasties.
The second pyramid was built by Khafra (Chephren), and was
called Ur (' the great '). It stands near that of Khufu on the south-
west ; and was attributed to him by ancient writers, such as Herodotus
and Diodoros. In the ruins of the temple, near its east side, frag-
ments of a marble mace-head have been discovered inscribed with
the name of Khafra. This pyramid appears to be higher than that
of Khufu, because the rocky bottom has a greater elevation. But
it is thirty feet lower, and is inferior in accuracy, as well as in material.
The rock, having an irregular surface, was cut away to level the foun-
dation, and thus a kind of passage was formed on the north and west
sides. The stone here used constituted a mass of over 4,300,000
cubic feet. The top of the pyramid still displays a piece of the
polished coping of stone which formerly covered the entire surface.
The lowest course was of red granite, and the entrance passage was of
the same material; though one can with difficulty conceive that it
could have utterly disappeared from such structures as the steps of
the pyramids, yet such an amount of strength and time was expended
on this work of destruction as almost equalled that required for cutting
out the stone in the quarries and for transportation of the material.
The coping appears to have been the essential thing in the entire
enclosure of the tomb, as being especially the bearer of the names and
titles of the ruler at rest within. The king's chamber of the second
pyramid lies in the rock, but roofed over with slanting limestone slabs.
The sarcophagus was of granite. The lid was secured by undercut
grooves in which it slid. It was held by bolts which fell into holes
and were caught with resin, traces of which still remain. When
Belzoni found it, it was sunk into the floor, its lid lay over it. Now
the floor is destroyed.
The third pyramid, only 203 feet high and inferior in accuracy,
was built by Menkaura (Mycerinus), and was called Her (< the
high '). The shelving rock of the foundation w r as walled up with
gigantic blocks. The wall of the pyramid was covered below with
polished slabs of granite, farther up with rough stones ; yet this
royal coping, though not rent off, was so damaged that the shelving
ground on which the heart of the building was erected is visible
THE SPHINX
99
well nigh throughout. On the east side are remains of the tomb-
temple. This was built of vast blocks, which were at first supposed
to be the rock itself, until the mortar was discovered. The descending
gallery in the pyramid is lined with granite; it enters into the rock
and shortly becomes almost horizontal. It widens into a room which
was whitewashed, and is obstructed by a huge block and three port-
cullises of stone. Under the apex of the building is situated a
large chamber in which a second passage terminates obliquely, and
in which was a beautiful sarcophagus of bluish basalt sunk into the floor.
A pit with granite projections at the sides is exposed to view j this
was concealed by the plaster of the apartment. It terminates in a
horizontal gallery which leads to the king's sepulchre. It- -ides
were composed of granite slabs which were placed as rafter-, and ao
prepared that they formed an arched vault with an even surface. Tin-
basalt sarcophagus was about 35 inches in height, 37 in width, and !•»;
in length. Like the coffins in the mastabas, it was carved in the form
of a wooden house with an astragal at the corners under the light
cornice. The flat roofing was ornamented like lattice-doors. This
sarcophagus was removed by Vyse and sent to England. On its way
it was lost with the ship off Cartagena. In the upper chamber of the
Pyramid was found a wooden coffin-lid with an inscription of Men-
Kau-Ra and part of a skeleton, probably of later date. These are in
the British Museum.
Themost striking monument in this part of the necropolis is the
Sphinx (Fig. 35). Much has been written about it.- great antiquity.
It has even been attributed to prehistoric times. Such a view, how-
ever, is not in accordance with the evidence. There i- not a single
mention or figure of a sphinx, or of its priesth 1 during the <>ld
Empire. Its probable date i- more likely to be the period between the
Old and the Middle Empire, to which there i- a growing tendency
among scholars to assign the sphinxes formerly attributed to the
ITvksos period. The sphinx is the image of a god, a lion couchant
with the head of a man. It is Harmachis or Har-em-khu, Bonis on
the horizon, the rising sun-god. He i- the symbol of the victorious
kin-, and therefore bear- on bis head the royal insignia, a- do the
statues of Khafra ; and he lies on the margin of the desert as guardian
.spirit of the nekropolis. The iconoclastic Arab- have destroyed the
100
ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
nose ; but writers who saw it when uninjured extol its beauty. The
face was incrusted with stucco painted red. Between the paws of the
sphinx Thothmes IV. built a chapel, approached by a stairway. A
long inscription relates that Thothmes IV., while upon a hunting-
expedition, sleeping beneath its shadow, saw the sphinx in a dream,
who obtained from the king the promise to free him from the sand.
The inscription is carved on a grand door lintel of red granite, which
seems to have been robbed from the neighboring temple of Khafra.
Southeast of the sphinx, and entirely buried in the sand, lies the above-
mentioned granite temple (Fig. 36) excavated by Mariette, who discov-
ered it. It has been called the Temple of the Sphinx, but in reality had
no connection with it. It was probably built under Khafra. In work-
esso
IA
Fk
The Sphinx. Gizeh. (Before the excavations of Maspero.)
manship it belongs to the Fourth Dynasty. The lower story inside is
perfectly preserved, and retains the peculiar recessing decoration attrib-
uted to a survival of the original brick- or woodwork used in early times.
The massive style of building, which reminds one of the megalithic
monuments of prehistoric times, is entirely different from these in regard
to the masterly workmanship with which both the granite of the mono-
lithic square pillars and the alabaster of the architrave and the Avails
TEMPLE OF THE SPHINX.
101
are treated is unsurpassed. A Long corridor leads from the wesl
to the northwest corner of a hull which extends from oorth 1<>
south, and contains a row of six granite columns sixteen feel in
Fig. 36. — The so-called Temple of the Sphinx at Gizeh.
height. In the southwest corner of the firsl hall a passage "jK-ns
into a room, from which six spaces in two rows, one above the other,
enter into the wall, the design of which is n.»t clear. In the middle
of the east wall of the first hall a passage terminates in a narrow
room, witli which on both sides small square chambers are connected.
102
Art ix Tin: axcu:\t empire.
In this long room there is a well or subterranean chamber in which
seven statues of Khafra were discovered. The great diorite statue (Fig.
17) is striking. The commanding expression of the king, no less than
the technical ability of the artist to overcome so resisting a material,
impress one with his power. Another, in which the divine hawk is
imparting his life and protection to the king, is even finer in expression.
North of Gizeh lie the pyramids of Abu-Roash, which are greatly
damaged, and also those of Abusir. These are the burial places of the
kings of the Fifth Dynasty. In 1898-1901, MM. Borchardt and
Schäfer, in the course of excavations undertaken under the auspices of
the Orient Geselschaft, examined this group and discovered the pyra-
mid of King User-en-Ra (Ne-woser-Re). The fact that sun-worship
acquired special official recognition and popular prominence under the
Fifth Dynasty — which claims direct descent from Ra — made these
excavations of singular interest. And the most sensational result of
the work at Abusir was, accordingly, the bringing to light of one of
the monuments peculiar to this time — i.e., a combined pyramid and
obelisk dedicated to Ra or Ra-Harmachis — hitherto only known
thr< mgh inscriptions ▲ ofthat epoch, relating to priesthoods attached
to their temples. ^L It is a pyramidal platform of brick sur-
monnted by an J^^^ obelisk. The accompanying temple «if the
sun-god was also cleared, as well as an older structure designated by Dr.
Borchardt as the older palace. Many minor objects were recovered,
among which may be mentioned some superb reliefs now at Berlin. The
pyramid of King Nefer-Ka-Ra was also examined, as well as many tombs.
The nekropolis of Memphis, situated near the village of Sakkara, is
rich in interest. The monument which dominates the entire field of
the dead is the Pyramid of Steps (El-Haram-el-Medarraga). (Plate
VII.) Manetho says that Uenephes, the fourth king of the First
I >y nasty, erected pyramids at Kokhome (or ' the black bull '). Mariette,
who refers this statement to the Pyramid of Steps, believed that we
should recognize in this pyramid the most ancient burial-place of the
Apis-bulls. The bones of a bull are reported to have been discovered
in it previously, and the words of the inscription on the door, "The great
god Ra-nub," also found on a tablet of the Serapeum erected later in
the vicinity and first used under Amenhotep III., supports this view.
The existence of thirty rock-chambers complicates the problem ; but they
>
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<
J
a
PYRAMID OF STEPS ] (i;;
may well have served for a n>w of Apis-mummies. The tradition thai
Kakau (second king of the Second Dynasty) introduced the worship
of Apis, Mnevis, and the ram from Mendes, mighl be regarded as in-
dicating that the erection of this Apis-mausoleum and of similar build-
ings at Heliopolis and Mendes had given occasion to this report. Be-
sides, the name Ea-nub is known both as the name of a Pharaohand
also of an Apis. The pyramid consists of six inclined ascending steps,
in all nearly 1!>7 feet high, of which cadi retreats -i\ and one-half
feet behind the next; each also decreases in height, so thai the lowest
step is 38 feet, and the uppermost scarcely -!'.< feel high. The easl and
wot sides are 42 feet longer than the two others, so that the base forms
a rectangle. The layers of stone arc not placed, as usual, horizontally,
but slope toward the centre of the building. The slabs were broughl
from the neighboring limestone rocks. In a vertical line an immense
pit is open, whose sill lies 131 feet below the surface of the plateau.
Around this, and at different elevations, is a complicated system of
horizontal galleries, with not less than thirty rock-chambers, which are
accessible, not from the pyramid, but from pits that open externally.
It is worthy of note that one chamber is incrusted with convex cylin-
drical sections formed of glazed pumice-stone or of an infusible earth,
and in such a manner that the wall seems to be encircled with low
pilasters closely joined together. These are covered with a greenish-
blue glazing, while strips of another color are drawn over them. The
pieces of which these bands consist are bedded in lime, and are made
firm by an ear through which passes a metallic wire. Other apart-
ments are inlaid with pieces of clay, Egyptian porcelain, glazed with
green, black, red, and purple, forming a soil of tile mosaic. Tin- i-
regarded by many as later work, although glazing was done in Egypl
in prehistoric days. Many indications, however, poinl to the altering
and remodeling of the pyramid in later time-, and new passages were
made in it probablymore than once.' On the door, which was removed
from the pyramid and is now in Berlin, are panels of limestone, and
alternating with these, glazed tile- inscribed with the Floras name* x
Kha.' The name of the same king is found in Sinai, near a Fourth-
Dynasty inscription, and is associated with Kin- Zeserl I'lnnl Dynasty)
on an inscription at Sehel. A gilded skull and a gilded Bole of a fool
1 See Petrie, ' History , etc , I., p
104
ART TN TUE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
belonging to a mummy, together with other treasures brought from
Egypt by Minutoli, were sunk off the mouth of the Elbe.
Numerous remains of pyramids lie together in different groups.
Southwest of the Pyramid of Steps lies the Pyramid of Unas (last
king of the Fifth Dynasty), examined by Maspero in 1881 ; this is
named Nofer-us (' the very beautiful '). Northwest, but very near the
Pyramid of Steps, a pyramid of stone is situated. At a little distance
south appears once more a group of three great pyramids, of which
that lyiug farthest to the southwest, Kha-uefer (' the beautiful rising '),
belongs to the third kiug of the Sixth Dynasty, Mer-en-Ra, son of
Pepi, whose mummy, as we have already seen, was found there.
This is the earliest royal mummy that, so far, has come to light.
The chamber contained two sarcophagi. It was broken open by
grave-robbers, who had driven a shaft in the stone-work near the
Fig. 37.— Mastaba-el-Faraun.
portcullis. The pyramid in this neighborhood, situated to the north-
east, is that of his father, named Men-nefer, ' the beautiful dwelling '
(the same word as Memphis). The corridors of this pyramid are
covered with inscriptions, hieroglyphics painted green. The cham-
ber of Pepi consists of two divisions ; the coping is a pointed roof
of huge blocks of limestone, shaped like rafters, placed upon one
another; the interior is painted like the mighty heavens, in dark
colors and with yellow stars. The sepulchre has been despoiled by
robbers. In 1881, before the opening occurred, Brugsch found some
line wrappings of a mummy and one of the hands of Pepi. Further-
more, Brugsch observed that the stones of a more ancient monument,
containing inscriptions and pictures, had been used in the construction.
PYRAMIDS OF DASHUR
105
In this vicinity lies the Pyramid of Teta, called Dad-aset, 'the very
firm.' The Mastaba-el-Faraun (Fig. 37), 'the mound of Pharaoh,' is
the tomb of Nefer-Ka-Ra, brother of Mer-en-Ra, and was styled in the
inscriptions Men-ankh, 'House of Life.' This structure is built upon
a rectangular foundation of great blocks of freestone, in length 338
feet, in width 236 feet ; the sides have an Inclination, but this ceases
at a height of 65 feet. The granite sarcophagus was in g I condi-
tion. The lid had not been thrown off, but was pushed on tu the ledge
of the brickwork, prepared in all these pyramids, between the sarcoph-
agus and the wall, to hold the lid until needed to close. The walls
of the sepulchral chamber, like those of the tombs of Unas, Pepi I.,
and Mer-en-Ra, are covered with religious texts — written, however, in
Fig. 38. — Pyramid of Medum.
smaller characters. Many monuments remain of this reign, which
began when Nefer-Ka-Ra was about six year- old. At Wadi-Maghara
is a fine stela of his second year. His mother is mentioned promi-
nently, with her titles, as though formally regent. Ajiother interesting
mention of his second year occurs in the tomb of Herkhuf, at A— nan.
who tells of a pigmy dancer, 'Denga,' brought by that officer to the
king, on his return from a southern expedition. Nefer-Ka-Ra's monu-
ments are found at Elephantine, at Koptos, where he built in the temple,
and at the quarries of Hat-Nub. He is also mentioned in ;i number of
contemporary tomb-.
To the nekropolis of Memphis, also, belong the pyramids of Dashur,
beyond which is the boundary of the province of Memphis. These
IQQ ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
pyramids were the tombs of the kings of the Middle Empire. Oppo-
site to Dashur, to the south of Turah, were the old alabaster quarries
of the Wadi Gerraui — discovered in our time by Dr. Schweinfdrth —
a three or four hours' journey from the valley. Ruins of workmens'
huts announce their vicinity. A great stone wall, 30 feet high, 140
feet thick, and 21(3 feet long, dammed the valley at this point, storing
water for the use of men and beasts. The weathering of the stones,
which is similar to that of the oldest stone monuments, attests the an-
tiquity of this work.
The Pyramid of Medum (Fig. 38) has already been described (see
page 94). It was the tomb of Snefru — the first king of the Fourth
Dynasty — and was the oldest true pyramid of the group. It is also the
first that meets the eye of the traveler as he comes down the Nile from
Upper Egypt, upon the confines of which it stands, opposite to Atfih
(Aphroditopolis). In its present condition it resembles a tower stand-
ing upon a platform. Hence, the Arabs call it El Harani el Kaddab,
' the false pyramid.' Against its eastern face was a courtyard and
chambers, forming a small sepulchral temple, built of limestone. Here
stood an altar, between two tall stelse, rounded at the top, like those of
the First Dynasty, but uninscribed. The walls were perfectly plain.
They were built in the rough, but were trimmed afterwards. A perib-
olos wall enclosed both the temple and the pyramid. It was reached
by a causeway, walled on either side, leading up from the plain. 1 From
a neighboring tomb came the fine statues of Ra-nefer and Nefert. In
that of Nefer-mat, an officer of Snefru, we are introduced to a new
style of decoration — square depressions filled with colored paste —
which produce the effect of mosaic and prepare us for the ' cloisonne '
technique of the Twelth Dynasty jewels. It is worthy of notice that,
under the Sixth Dynasty, at Abydos, the true arch appears in a tomb
discovered by Mariette. The arch is unfinished. It rests upon two
limestone slabs, closed by a wedge-shape stone. Bricks of ordinary
form are used, between which stones are forced. 2 At one time the
Etruscans were regarded as inventors of the keystone. Subsequently,
how ever, older Grecian arches were found ; and others still more ancient
l See Flinders-Petrie 'Medum,' 1890; also ' History of Egypt, vol. i (1899),
Scribner.
-'Sec Perrol and Chipiez, 'Histoirede I'Art,' 4, nil. i.
INVENTION OF WRITING. l0?
were brought to light by the excavations at Nineveh, where was dis-
covered at the city gate of Khorsabad an arch with a spaa fourteeu to
fifteen feet in width. None of the early Babylonian arches are key-
stone arches, and oowhereare the bricks fashioned bo as to lit in the radial
scheme of the arch (voussoirs). A fine arch of elliptical form has been
found at Telloh, near the palace of [Jr-Nina (b.c. 1000). Ii is regular
and is composed throughout of the plano-convex bricks typical of the
pre-Sargonic period, the date of which is still a subject of controversy.
It cannot well be later than b.c. 3000, however, and may be much
earlier. It is not a keystone arch. Its top is formed of broken
bricks filled into the space between the las! two bricks. According to
Mr. Clarence Fisher, the architect of the expedition senl by the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania to conduct excavations al Nippur— the site of
ancient Calneh — the arch discovered in that locality isof about the same
size as the Telloh specimen — viz.: 30 inches high by 20 inches wide
— inside measurement — and is finished in the same manner. It is
rougher, and of inferior construction, and extend- about three feet, con-
necting with a finely built water conduit. A small secti f a four-
inch pipe was found inserted. A .-mailer arch also occurs al Fara. All
were outlets for drains.
The examination of the buildings, monuments, and other work- of
the early empire force- upon ns the conclusion that the Egyptians of
the First Dynasty had already attained a degree of culture very many
centuries removed from the beginnings of civilization. Indeed, earliest
Egypt marks the close of a long epoch in the history of the human
race, the best legacy of which is the ancient Egyptian monuments.
The peculiar nature of the soil demanded a vast amount of' labor in
order to render possible the existence and the subsistence of so numer-
ous a population, and effected here a more rapid advancement than else-
where. Still Egyptian civilization, even at it< dawn, had so tar ad-
vanced beyond that which would have sufficed for the mere protection
of existence, that between such an epoch and the beginning of the
dynasties a considerable space «if time must have elapsed. This we
can perhaps estimate by reflecting how long a period man requires in
order to go forward from building a day lint to the erection of an
edifice of granite. The existence of a system of writing even in the
most ancient time so perfected that, apart from such improvement-
IQg ABT IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE
■\< will arise in every human invention, it remained the same through
millennium.-, and showed itself adapted to the preservation of a rich
literature, leads us to conjecture that its origin long preceded Mena, and
must be si >ught for during the proto-historie period. The graphic system
of the Egyptians passed very anciently beyond its primitive stages.
It- relation to other systems of writing, and especially to the Phoenician
alphabet, once gave rise to much learned discussion. The additional
material furnished by the discovery of a written script used in very
early time- throughout the Mediterranean area has complicated, rather
than cleared, the problem which remains unsolved. Without entering
upon these difficult inquiries, a brief sketch of the Egyptian system
may properly be introduced at this place.
In the last year of the eighteenth century a French engineer, in
erecting a redoubt at Rosetta, found an inscribed black stone, known
as " the Rosetta Stone" (Plate VIII.). It was to be taken to Paris ;
but after the victory of the English under Nelson it fell into their
hands, and is now in the British Museum. The stone consists of
three divisions : in the uppermost, which is more damaged thau the
others, are the hieroglyphics; then follows the demotic part, which
is best preserved, and below this the Greek text. This invaluable
tablet contains a decree of the priests' college at Memphis of March
27, 195 B.c., in honor of King Ptolemy V., Epiphanes, on account of
his merits respecting the prosperity and protection of the country,
ordering that a statue, a shrine of gold, and an image of the king, be
erected in every temple, and on feast-days be adorned and venerated;
that this decree should be set up in every temple of the first and
second class, engraved upon a tablet in hieroglyphic, demotic, and
Greek characters. As it was already known from the study of the
obelisks at Rome that the specific signs of the kings' names appear
enclosed in a kind of ellipse or cartouche, comparison was made of
the names of the kings occurring in the Greek text with the car-
touches ( royal shields) of the hieroglyphic text, and thus it was pos-
sible to determine a series of signs. Thus was the key furnished for
deciphering; but to ascertain the meaning of many hundred hiero-
glyphic signs, and to connect the known with the unknown, was still
a difficult task, demanding genius and patience. The Egyptian lan-
guage survived even into the first Christian century, and was then
>
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^ ^ »Vd «)< "
HIEROGLTPHU ]n ( .»
perpetuated in the Coptic, in which the translation of the Bible and
a Christian literature have come down to us. The daughter tongue
thus afforded valuable aid in the translation of the ancient b
The merit of bringing the hieroglyphical system to the know!
of the modern inquirer, and thus acquiring again the art, un-
known since the death of the last priest of the religion of ancient
Egypt, of writing and reading hieroglyphics, belongs bo the younger
ChampoUion (1790-1832).
The foundation of the Egyptian system of writing, as also of the
Chinese, of the cuneiform, of the Hittite, and of all others, is picture-
writing. The Chinese and the cuneiform lost their distinctness, and
became conventionalized by abbreviation. It is characteristic of Egyp-
tian conservatism, however, that although, from early time, the signs
were cursively rendered for current use, it preserved to the end picture-
writing, so that the writer had to be at the same time an artist The
manner in which abstract conceptions are rendered i- remarkable :
'seeing 5 is naturally represented by two eye- or pupil-, <2>--<£i«-oo ;
1 fighting ' by two arms, one of which is equipped with a shield, and
the other with a battle-axe, QA ; 'king' by a bee, VgC since it live-
in a monarchical state. Some signs are compound ; for example,
'silver 5 is represented by a crucible, which is the symbol of gold,
combined with the sign of a white onion ^, so that the united
DO*
sign suggests the conception, 'white gold.' It is common to hear
'hieratic' writing spoken of as distinct from hieroglyphic writing;
but the two are as identical as are our own written and printed charac-
ters. < )ne was the cursive form of the other. Two styles of ' hieratic '
writing, however, may be noted. One, formal, like our engrossing;
the other a rapid cursive in which all the letter- of a word are linked
together. It was from the latter that the Demotic of later times was
evolved. The entire list of some two thousand hieroglyphs, of which
about five hundred were in common use, may be divided into three
classes: First, phonetic signs which, whether alphabetic or syllabic,
represent sounds. Second, ideograms, which represent certain woi
ideas, and which often serve to represenl homonyms. Third, determi-
natives — that is, Bigns placed after the word to indicate it- meaning.
To the Egyptian- writing was of divine origin. The god Thoth
110 ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
had taught it to the men of the Nile Valley. There is reason to believe
that in prehistoric times it passed through an earlier stage when it was
purely phonetic. At least, according to Erman— the highest authority
od Egyptian philology — only the consonants of the words were written,
as is the case in Semitic languages, where the vowels are added as a
rule to indicate the grammatical forms. To use Erman's own illustra-
tion : in the Arabic word 'qatala/ ne killed, the meaning of 'killing'
rests on the three consonants q 1 1. The vowels representing only the
active tense. The passive form is ' qutila '; the imperfect is ' qutl '; the
imperative 'qtul'; the participle 'qätil.' Only the consonants are
invariable, and they alone are written. According to this system, the
original Egyptian alphabet consisted of twenty-one consonants.
j> I, C, b, g, d, h, h, <mi, f, h, t, k, m,
, „ * " To these must be added two
ii, », y, u, k, r, s, i.
secondary signs ü tt — i' and y. Each of these signs stands for a
i and y
short word with similar sound, from which it derives its phonetic value.
Thus a = t is probably ' ta,' a loaf; <-~=^, d, a hand, ' dot '; a/nwa, n =
water, ' nu '; <z>, r, the mouth, ' ro,' and so on. Only in cases
when the vowel was important to the correct reading of the word did
the Egyptians try to indicate the same in their writing. For this
purpose they used three consonants, ^(1 y\, i 1 , i, and n\ Not satisfied
with this simple system, the Egyptians, even in prehistoric times, began
to develop it by the use of ideograms, in order to add to the clearness
and brevity of the writing. These, in time, often superseded the
purely phonetic form of the word. For instance, □ , pr, the house,
came to be written CTZj , the house itself. Many abstract words could
not be drawn — i.e., 'good,' 'son,' etc. They therefore used for the
purpose homonyms. To write ' nefer ' «^ = good, they used J
' nefer,' a lute ; and for 'sa,' a son, they used sa %\*, a goose. These,
and such adapted signs practically lost their original concrete values.
H1ER0QLYPICS.
Ill
and became mere conventional syllabics — purely suggestive of sound.
As an illustration: The picture of a checker-board with the fig :
ures tüüü is called men j but it expresses also the syllable men in
the name of the god Amen, A ^a ; here the original objecl was
lost sight of and 'men' came to represent mainly the Byllable.
A word can be written in several different ways; for example, the
word änkh ('life') can be expressed by the hieroglyphic mark,
a cross with a ring ■¥■, symbolizing life; or this mark can be
applied acrologically — that is, one may designate therewith only
the letter a, and must then add n and kh Q"£* ; moreover, the
alphabetical sign ä might be placed before nkh — ° . Again, the
o o
form of writing, <1< änkh, kh also is used, fl T" in which the middle
sign stands for the n ; or finally, a, //. änkh — o^-, wliere the ideo-
gram stands for kh, and by itself represents the sound änkh. Some-
times the first sound is doubled, that is to say. the hieroglyphic is
first given as a figure, and then again the sound with which it com-
mences ; for example, the conception "god** is rendered by the
figure of an axe ], and pronounced neter ; again, one may write axe,
t, r, ^J^L,, where in like manner the axe represents only the sound
n; or axe, ?i, f, r, as if n (der) n t r | < ^ => - This diversity in the
manner of notation would be misleading were it not limited by usage
which tori lids many combinations.
With regard to the syllabic signs that have been mentioned there
is an additional difficulty to be considered, in the fact that the greater
part of them are polyphonous, that is, they may have various sound
values. Thus, for instance, the circle with a point O has the sound
of ra ('sun'); but it may also, as a sign used by metonomy, be read
hru ('day'). Although in many cases the connection of the sentence
leaves no doubt with regard to the choice between such different sounds,
yet for greater clearness the so-called phonetic-complements, or
supplements by means of sounds added, were invented. Thus there
is a hieroglyphic which originally represented a metallic bracelet in
spiral form "czf"); it has the meanings • to encompass; a fold or curve;
a pound' (for in place of the coined money of to-day, rings and other me-
tallic pieces, which were originally weighed, were used), and may be pro-
112 ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
nounced in three ways: rer, heb, ten. If after the hieroglyphic the
letter r <: —- ) is written, the combination can be read only rev (not
heb or teii). But when b or n is written after it, it can be read only
heb "T—^) 0, orten c= -' □• Since rev is a verb, one finds besides
/WW .
tlu> hieroglyphic J\ formed of two striding legs, which indicates the
category of the verb. If the word " pound " is meant, a square
( ' weight ') is subjoined as an explanatory figure. Hence the syllabic
signs can be used singly, or connected with one or more alphabetic
signs ; and indeed in the latter case they may be put before, after,
and between the alphabetical signs.
Very frequently the hieroglyphic figures appear only as determina-
tives ; that is, a word is given phonetically, and for greater clearness
to the eye a picture is also added ; for example, ' diseased ' is mhi-t ;
men, the syllabic sign, is written ; n, the phonetic-complement, t, the
article, and then the picture of the determinative of evil : ' ' <&=_ .
Again, 'bread' is äq ; this is written with a swan, the syllabic sign <lq,
to which is added the alphabetical sign q, in order to secure the proper
pronunciation ; the word is then further determined by the figure of
a long loaf, so that no doubt can exist either as to sound or as to
meaning, -|> . This picture of bread is a special determi-
native. In addition to these there are general determinatives, or such
as designate entire categories of words ; for instance, all conceptions
that in any way stand connected with the mouth, to which belong not
only eating and drinking, but also numerous other conceptions, includ-
ing such as suggest a motion of it, as to speak, to know, to judge, etc.;
this determinative is represented by a man sitting, who lays his hand
on his mouth g) ; for example, swrl, ' to drink,' is written p ^^ (] &
s, rv y r, T, determinative. Similarly, the active voice of the verb re-
ceives as determinative an arm with a club, which is also the deter-
minative for ' strength ' £ r\ . Likewise a bark ^^ upon the water
is employed as determinative of ' ship,' ' navigation,' and ' voyage ' ;
the sail 3^3 determines the words for 'wind,' 'coolness.' A roll of
papyrus tied together ,-^-, is the determinative for expressions re-
ferring to writing, books, painting, and for all abstract conceptions.
The Egyptian language itself, such as we know it, is related to the
LITERATURE. I ,..
Semitic languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic) to the Ka-t African lan-
guages (Bishari, Galla, Somali, etc) and to the Berber languag«
North Africa. But its affinities with other tongues, whatever they may
be, are sufficiently distant and nidimentary to warrant the belief thai
Egyptian belongs to a philological understratum, and became separated
from other linguistic groups at a period so remote thai it acquired its
own individuality, and early became crystallized, while the other- pur-
sued their evolution. However this may be, the old Egyptian of early
days continued as the literary language of Egypt well into the Roman
period. Its most archaic forms may best be studied in the pyramid
texts — sepulchral inscriptions, prior to that epoch, being shori state-
ments or brief invocations. The so-called 'Middle Egyptian' is the
popular language of the Twelfth or Thirteenth Dynasties ; and the • late
Egyptian ' is the popular language of the New Empire. Demotic ig
the language of the Graeco-Roman epoch. To these Linguistic forms,
long dead as spoken languages, the key is furnished by the Coptic — the
language of Christian Egypt — written in Greek characters. It only
died out three hundred years ago, and furnishes the only attainable
information with regard to the structure and vocalization of the mother
tongue. Authorities are divided as to- the transliteration of Egyptian.
The French school -till adheres to its own system, while the German
school is generally followed by English and American scholars.
Most of the literature preserved is written in the hieratic .-cript.
Such is the Prisse papyrus, which date- of the Twelfth Dynasty B.C.
2500), although the maxims which it contains were written in the Fifth
Dynasty. Many papyrus manuscripts exist containing prose and poet-
ical literature. We have elegies of the Nineteenth Dynasty; hymn- to
the god-, as that to tin- Nile, composed by Enna in the tit f Merenp-
tah, some passagesfrom which were quoted abovej mid to the Pharaoh,
wherein it is said : "Let well-being, life and strength he the kin-'-!
This call comes to the ears of the king, to the royal hall of the friend
of truth, to the great heavens in which he is the sun. I bar me, thou
sun, who liftest up thyself; enlighten the earth with goodness, thou
sun-disk of men, who dost fright away the darkness from Egypt : thou
art as the image of thy father, the sun-god, who exalteth himself in
the heavens. Thy rays reach down to hell. No place i- without thy
goodness. Thy speech i- law for every land. When thou art at rest
Vol. I.— 8
2J4 ART TN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
iu thy palace thou hearest the speech of all lands. Thou hast millions
of ears. Shining is thine eve above the stars of heaven, able to look
into the sun-disk. When something is spoken with the mouth even in
Hades, it comes into thine ears. That which also is done in secret,
thine eve seeth it. () Ba-en-ra Meri-Amen ('soul of Ra, friend of
Amen, Merenptah,') gracious Lord, creator of life." Further, we have
the lament of Isis and Xephthys over the dead Osiris (in the time of
the Ptolemies). A " Praise of Wisdom" describes the different occu-
pations and their several drawbacks, in order to place the vocation of
the scribe, that is, of the learned, above all others (composed during
the Sixth Dynasty). Also we have narratives, preserved in a late form
in the demotic writing of the first century before Christ, from the hand
of Setnau, wherein appear the dead, who are called back into life by
means of a book kept in seven coffers at Coptos, and guarded by ser-
pents ; the description of a journey into Syria ; the voyage to the land
of frankincense and to the isles of the blessed. In the 'History of
the Two Brothers,' likewise composed by Enna, and belonging to the
library of Seti IL, the wife of the elder brother calumniates the younger
brother in the same manner as the wife of Potiphar did Joseph ; and the
innocent man is obliged to flee before the dagger of the deceived hus-
band. We commonly associate the Egyptians with religious fervor and
with the grave ; but besides hymns and epitaphs there also exist medical
and magical treatises, maxims, fairy tales, official and personal corre-
spondence, reports and accounts, school texts, epics, popular songs, etc.
The following is from a collection of love songs (Harris 500) :
" The voice of the dove speaks, she says :
' The world is light, observe it.' Thou, thou bird dost entice me.
Then I find my brother in his room, and my heart is joyful . . .
I will not turn from thee, my hand remains in thy hand,
When I go out with thee in beautiful places." —
And again :
..." All the birds of Arabia flutter over Egypt, anointed with myrrh :
The one that comes first seizes my worm. He brings fragrance from Arabia.
His claws are full of incense. My heart longs for thee,
That w» may open the >nare together, I with thee alone.
How beautiful i- he ftrho comes in the field because one hives him."
Among the sciences fostered by the Egyptians, their astronomy
has at all times awakened admiration. Though the famous Zodiac,
constructed at the temple at Denderah under the Romans (in Paris
A 3TRON03fT. 1 1."
since the year 1822), is not so ancient as it was firsl supposed to be,
the achievements of the Egyptians even in very early times are
highly memorable. The calendar which we use, "the most famous
relk- <>!' ancient times that has exerted influence in the world," was
brought from Egypt by Julius Caesar, and by him introduced into
the Roman Empire. While other nations connected childish notions
with the stars, the Egyptians even at the beginning recognized the
distinction between the planets and the fixed stars, and assigned to
the former the names of the gods, as we are still doing. It appeals
also that they observed the retrograde motion of Mars, which lasts
some seventy days, and even the movement of the earth, that i<. its
character as a planet. They observed the rising ami setting of the
stars for many centuries continuously; and if one possessed no further
proof with regard to the extent of their astronomical knowledge,
the numberless dates in their writings show what importance was
attributed to the careful reckoning of time. The astronomy of the
Greeks had its development at Alexandria, where doubtless Egyptian
tables supplied the basis for all computations. Among the fixed
stars, in the foremost rank stand the 36 or 37 stars of the Equator,
which correspond to the 36 decades of the year; every second year has
37, on account of the twice five intercalary days. We possess cata-
logues of stars in which are found among others Sopd (Sothis, Sirius,
or Dog-star): Sah (Osiris. Orion); Art (the Hyades) ; Khan (the
Pleiades). The solar year contains 36") days; but the Egyptians
perceived that its proper astronomical length was 36ÖJ days. At
the theoretical commencement of the year. Sirius should rise at the
same time as the sun (heliacally), and indicate the beginning of the
inundation. In the progress of time the diff rence would be con-
stantly increasing between the astronomical year, that is. between two
heliacal risings of the star Sirius and the civil year. In forty years
it would amount to ten days, until at the end of the 1460th astro-
nomical year it would include the civil year 1461. As now the
commencement of the civil year again coincided with that of the
astronomical year, the civil year began once more on the first day
of the first month (Thoth), at the moment of the heliacal rising
of Sirius. Accordingly the period of 1 160 astronomical or 1 4*51 civil
years forms the Sirius (Sothis) or Dog-star period. Such a period
116
ART IN THE ANCIENT EMPIRE.
ended or began on July 20, 1322 b.c., and the next on July 20,
139 A.i». In a tomb at Beni-Hassan (Twelfth Dynasty) mention is
made of the celebration of a festival commemorating the rising of
Sothis. Since it was only in the two or three centuries before or after
the year 3285 that the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided so exactly
with the summer solstice that this concurrence could be observed, it
is evident that this determination of the beginning of the year must
have existed as early as the fourth millennium B.c. At the present
time, however, the rising of Sirius, on account of the further recession
of the equinoxes (precession) takes place two and a half months later
than it did 5000 years ago. With regard to the reform of the calen-
dar under Ptolemy III., Euergetes I. (238 B.c.), the so-called de-
cree of Canopus (found at Tanis) gives information. It sought to
remove the inconvenience occasioned by the fact that on account of
the difference between the astronomical and the civil year, the reli-
gious festivals lost in the latter constantly about one day in every
four years, and by degrees lost the entire year.
Scribe of Gizeh. (After Maspero. )
CHAPTER III.
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
DURING the last period of the Ancienl Empire 1 the cenl
government had been already transferred to Thebes in Upper
Egypt. From this point the Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty
guided with a powerful hand the destinies .it' the nation. 15 v the
successful repulse of Libyan and Asiatic foes, and of those also who
menaced them on the south, by means of long-continued commercial
relations with Arabia, by the abundant revenue resulting from the
richness of the soil of Egypt, — to which must be added the products
of the mines in the Sinaitic peninsula, — and by gorgeous structures
which they had reared, they had led the country onward to enjoy an
increased prosperity. At Korosko, about midway between the firsl
and second cataracts, an inscription of Amenemhat L has been found,
which announces the conquest of the Nubian Wawa, in the vicinity
of Assuan. Here the power of Egypl extended far toward the South.
We learn l>y inscriptions at BenirHassan, on the tomb of a local gov-
ernor, that Usertesen III. pushed the frontier forward as far as
Seinneh in the land of Ileh, beyond the second cataract, and there
built fortresses on both steep rocky banks of the river. These for-
tresses arc built of square brick tiles with beams of wood embedded ;
they are high, the walls on the ground are thirty to thirty-three feet
thick, and have towers, moats, and glacis. Near the stream stands the
west fortress immediately over the precipitous rocky shore, while the
east fortress, also near the river, has a glacis at the side. The Latter
1 The reader is reminded that the Ancient Empire closed with the kings <>f tin-
Eleventh Dynasty, the history of Dynasties VI. XI. being somewhat obscure. The
Middle Empire comprised the reigns of the kings of the famous Twelfth (beginning
with Amenemhat I. ) :wid <>f tin- Thirteenth Fourteenth Dynasties; then folio
second period of obscurity, within which fell the dominion of the B
Kings, which continued over five hundred years. The New Empire begins with the
Eighteenth Dynasty and extends through the Twentieth.- Ed
117
118 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
has a squaif form with buttresses; the ground plan of the other is
shaped like an L with the lowest line near the river. In the work
of Perrot and Chipiez a view in perspective of the latter fort is
given, drawn according to the measurements of Lepsius and de Saulcy.
Usertesen III. also set up a pillar to designate the boundary, with an
inscription in which that country is called Aken. Brugsch recog-
nized in this name the Acina mentioned by Pliny, in the time of Nero,
as lying south of Primi (Kasr-Ibriin, west of Korosko). Neverthe-
less, l'.-ertesen III. was obliged at different times subsequently to con-
tend with the negroes. His successes as conqueror secured his eleva-
tion later to a local divinity, and Thothmes III. (Eighteenth Dynasty)
erected for him, as such, a temple at Semneh. Amenemhat III. like-
wise established a fortress opposite Pselcis ; there are found at Semneh
numerous records of his time with regard to the height of the Nile on
the rocks at that point, from which the state of the river in Egypt
proper could be estimated. This Pharaoh gave special attention to the
regulation of the canal works, and generally of the waters of the Nile.
The accounts given respecting the height of the Nile are therefore of
interest, since they show that the Nile rose over twenty-seven feet
higher at that time than it does to-day, for then it had not broken
through the rocky barrier at Selseleh and lowered its level. There is
also a series of small monuments bearing the name of Amenemhat I.,
in the northern parts of the kingdom ; and on the spot where at a
later day the great temple of Karnak (Thebes) was reared a group of
statues and an altar inscribed in his name have been discovered.
Several papyri belonging to the later period of this king's reign, when
he had established Usertesen I. as co-regent, are preserved. One of
these contains the instructions of the king himself to his son. Others
relate the interesting experiences of a shipwrecked sailor on a fabulous
island ; and those of Sa-nehat, an Egyptian nobleman who, probably
for political reasons, fled to the land of Edom. Another tells the his-
tory of a peasant who was robbed of his ass by a tyrannical officer,
and who brought his complaint before King Nebkara (the last king
of the Third Dynasty).
The chronological sequence of this Dynasty is satisfactorily estab-
lished. Rut its date is difficult to determine. Recently Dr Borchardt,
basing his calculation upon an astronomical date found in a papyrus
MONUMENTS OF THE FAYX 1/ ] , : ,
from Kahun, obtained the date b.c. 1 s 7 ( ; , for the Beventh pear "'"
Usertesen III. But much difference of opinion -till exists with regard
to the matter. Approximately we may place the beginning of the
Twelfth Dynasty, with the powerful administration of A.menemhat I.,
between ij.c. 2500 and 2000. The successor of Usertesen [., Araen-
emhat II., was for two years co-regent ; and three years before he was
murdered by eunuchs lie appointed his son Usertesen 111. to be bis
own co-regent, of whom the Louvre possesses a statue of carnelian.
He has often shared with Rameses II. the honor of being identified
with the Sesostris of Manetho, of Herodotus, and of other classics.
Tacitus reports that under Sesostris a Phoenix-period closed. Bui
he means by this a Sirius-period ; since from his statement that the
Phoenix-period according to some laste 500 years, and according to
others 14G1 years, it follows that one of these epochs occurred in
the reign of Sesostris, and the other in that of Amasis (Ö72 B.C.);
yet these two rulers do not lie 500 years apart, hut even still farther
than a Sirius-period, — a proof of the slight dependence that can be
placed on chronological reckonings of this description. Under User-
tesen III., whose statue is in the Berlin Museum, the building of the
Labyrinth was begun; it was completed under his successors. Hi-^
son, Amenemhat IV., married his own sister Sebek-neferu (Scemi-
ophris). The Labyrinth and Lake Moeris weir; the chief monuments
of the Twelfth Dynasty; and these works have been fully described
by admiring Greek and Roman writers. Loth are situated at the
entrance of the 'lake land,' or Fayum, an oasis in the Libyan desert,
separated from the valley of the Nile only by rising grounds of mod-
erate elevation. 'Joseph's canal' (in Arabic, Bahr-Yüsuf) li
the Nile at Siüt ( Lycopolis), and goes northward, piercing the hills
at its entrance into the Fayum, and by numerous ramifications water-
ing; a region renowned to-day ami in ancient times for it- climate ami
the abundance of its splendid fruit-trees, cereals, and rose gardens.
In the deepest part of this depression lie- ;l great lake, the Birket-el-
Kiirnn. at whose southern extremity stands a temple (in Arabic,
Kasr-Karün) of the Roman period; behind it rise the mountains of the
Sahara. The present chief town of the Fayum, Medlnet-el-Favum,
lie- a little south of the ancient city..)' Pa-sebek, or Crocodilopolis
(from the worship of the crocodile, and of Sebek, the crocodile-beaded
120
THE MIDDLE KMI'IHE.
god of the inundation); and a mosque of the modern chief town,
with many Corinthian pillars of marble, was built out of material of
the age of the Ptolemies, when the city was called Arsinöe. Farther
north lie the ruins of Biahmu (Fig. 40), in which search has been
made for the pyramids of which Herodotus speaks as standing in the
middle of Lake Moeris, i. e., two platforms of stone surmounted by
seated colossi of Amenemhat III., monoliths of quartzite, thirty-nine
feet in height, some fragments of which are now in the Ashmolean
Museum at Oxford. On the margin of the Fayurn, north of the mouth
of the Bahr-Yüsuf, lies the brick pyramid of Hawära. It was the
tomb of Kiug Amenemhat III. Adjoining it are the ruins of the
Fig. 39. — Tanis Sphinx. (After Maspero.)
Labyrinth, an immense building 1000 by 800 feet, built by Amen-
emhat and his daughter and successor, Sebekneferu. Its axis extends
directly from north to south. On the south side of the pyramid there
is a court, formerly covered, as is probable, with colonnades, nearly sixty
acres in extent ; and on three sides this is encompassed by a bewilder-
ing mass of brick walls. At the present time a canal runs through the
ruins. Herodotus says that the Labyrinth was vast beyond all descrip-
tion ; that what the Greeks had brought to pass in the erection of
walls and of various buildings would not equal, if taken together, the
Labyrinth in cost and labor ; the temples of Ephesus and Samos were
worthy to be mentioned, but the pyramids surpass all description ; and
PLATE IX.
f n 1 1 1 1 1 i i j t [ w\r
JEWELRY FROM DASHUR. XII. DYNASTY. GIZEH MUSEUM.
AFTER DE MORGAN.
History of All Nations. Vol. I., page 120.
THE LABYRINTH,
121
any one of them outweigha a multitude of the besi Grecian works,
while the Labyrinth still excels the pyramids. Hi- description Beeros
less credible than that of Strabo, who represents the Labyrinth as
a royal palace, in which the governors of the Egyptian provinces
assembled, t.» each of whom belonged a special court-room and cham-
ber; all the courts were encircled by colonnades, and the corridors
were so numerous and complicated that a Btranger could nol go in or
out without a guide. The pyramid, examine.) by Mr. Petrie, is peculiar :
The passages to the central chamber are elaborately complex, and pro-
vided with gigantic trap-doors in the roof, leading to other passages
and to dumb chambers. The only access to the Bepulchral chamber
was obtained through its roof. This was funned by three immense
Fig. 40. — The Ruins ;it Biahma.
blocks, one of which, weighing forty-five tons, was dropped into place
on closing the pyramid. The chamber itself is a marvel. It is hol-
lowed of one block "of glass-hard yellow quartzite cut and polished
with exquisite truth." It is 22 l>y 8 feel inside and i- over t\\"
thick, weighing 210 tons. A trace of these building activities occurs al
Hamamat, in an inscription of the ninth year of Amenemhal II.. re-
cording that, under the supervision of the head architect I serl
9tones were brought thence tor the building in the Fayum, and a Bitting
statue of the kin-, five cubits high, was carried thence for the temple
of Sebek. The Moeris (in Egyptian "" <\ 'a lake*: or /unit, 'the
water that flows off ') covered the western pari of the Fayum; it !•
at the Labyrinth, and extended to the vicinity of Medinet, while it
122
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
spread far to the north and south. The aim which Amenemhat sought
and attained by diking Lake Moeris was to secure an outflow of the
water into this reservoir when the inundation was high, and, on the
other hand, when the inundation was scanty, to draw off the gathered
water from the lake to the land that was not overflowed ; moreover some
twenty thousand acres of fertile land were thus rescued from the lake.
The sluices necessary for regulating this were placed at Illahun (in
Egyptian, la-hunt, 'the mouth' of the Moeris) in the neighborhood
of the city of Pa-ra-sekhem-khafer (the city of Osorkon I.), by the
Greeks called Ptolemais. These sluices were arranged to prevent the
further outflow of the waters from the Bahr-Yüsuf into Lake Moeris,
The Pyramid of Illahun.
and to cause them to run off into the extension of this canal in the
region of Memphis. At Illahun is situated the pyramid (Fig. 41)
of Usertesen IL, excavated by Mr. Petrie in 1889-1890. The lower
part of the pyramid is of unmoved rock, isolated by a deep cutting.
On it arise walls of large blocks between which is filled in a brick
pyramid. This consists of a framework of brick walls carefully con-
structed, which from each of the four sides run inwardly, and are
connected within with two diagonal walls which cross each other. The
whole was then filled up with stones, and cased with great slabs.
Even at this day the circuit of the former lake-basin can be
accurately determined by depressions in the soil and the remains of
TOMBS AT ABYDOS. 1 23
ancient dykes at differenl places. The western shore reaches from
Crocodilopolis to the modern Tulün; mid the uorthwesl margin forms
with it an obtuse angle, and extends to the vicinity of Sele. In
Gizeh there is a papyrus containing a plan of Lake Moeris, together
with the towns and temples on its shores; in the plan of the Laby-
rinth it confirms Strabo's statement by specifying with regard t •
each room for what province of Lower or Upper Egypt it was
apart. The same manuscript confirms what was Long ago conjectured
respecting the relation of the myth of Osiris and Set to the blessing-
bearing floods of the Nile and to the deserl ; since it designates
several places where the canal was Led through portions of the deserl
as scenes of conflict between Horus and Set. in which the good
by a victory preserved the benefits conferred by his father Osiris.
At the present time the water-works at Lake Moeris are ao Longer in
existence ; but engineering works of great magnitude arc being carried
on with a similar purpose by the British at Assuan and at Sim.
At Abydos, Mariette found, in great numbers, private I »mbs
belonging to the period of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dyna
They arc very much injured, yet their type can be completely estab-
lished. They consist of a square substructure, com li ning a vault for
the mummy. Upon this foundation rises a pyramid which has a
hollow space within ; this inns up to a hollow, pointed cupola, which
is formed by every row of bricks projecting over that immediately
below; hence the vertical section exhibits a pointed arch. Before
the entrance is a small hill used as a tomb-chapel; this is often
wanting, and in this case a table is constructed for the worship of
the dead in the wall of the building, such as we have already Been in
the mastabas at .Memphis. Before this table the prescribed cere-
monies were performed under the open sky. Evidently the outer
surfaces of the building, which conn ily is bul sixteen to twenty
feet high, were covered with stucco and painted whit«-. Sometimes
the tomb-chamber is sunk into the soil. This kind of tomb, with the
chamber for the mummy and the chapel, either it» front of the same
or built upon it in the shape of a shrine with ascending wall
surmounted by a pyramidal I »p, is found also in the tin. : the
Empire and very generally at Thebes. In some Apis tombs of the
Eightheenth Dynasty, the corners arc adorned with columns ; and they
124
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
remind us of the Lykian type of sepulchre, to be described hereafter.
The sarcophagi retain the usual shape of a ehest, which is still treated
as a house ; and often its evolution from wooden architecture is indi-
cated by painted depressions in the stone. There are also sarcophagi
in which the stone carving exhibits the deceased partly as he was in
life, with rich clothing, and partly as a mummy, i. e., the body swathed
in mummy wrappings up to the head, and the extremities not visible.
Far more interesting are the tombs originating in the time of the
Twelfth Dynasty, which were excavated in great numbers from the
rocks above Beni-Hassan (in Egyptian, Panubtj in Greek, Speos
Fig. 42. — Rock-tombs of Beni-Hassan.
Artemidos). The richer of these grottos consist of a vestibule in
the rock, which has two pillars and a substitute for the architrave
and cornice, that is seemingly supported by a row of columns ; it
opens outwardly, and in the middle at the rear is shown the entrance
to a larger hall for the worship of the dead. The ceiling of this hall
is supported by scattered columns, and, like that of the vestibule, is
often carved into the form of a flattened arch. In the rear of the
hall, which receive- lighi only through the door, there opens commonly
a niche or chamber in which is placed the statue of the dead. In one
part of the hall the pit descends into the sepulchre. Some porticos of
BENI-HASSAN. ,.,-
these rock grottos, at a distance, forcibly remind the spectator of Doric
columns; near at hand, this resemblance is muri, lessened, for the
columns at Beni-Hassan stand on a low, round socket, and have
neither echinus nor, strictly speaking, abacus. Therefore, they have
been called Proto-Doric. Here again we meel with a survival in -i ■
of the wooden architecture of primitiv.: days. The pillar was the
wooden prop that supported the roof. Where it rested on the ground
clay was heaped to give it solidity, and where the roof-beam rested on
it a board was added to divide the weight. Both features were retained
in the Egyptian column ; they constituted the round base and the
square abacus. The Egyptian column originated from a square pillar ;
and this, diminishing in diameter hut a very little from bottom to top,
is cut obliquely at the four corners, so that a stagonal body results.
The corners cut in this manner lessen the mass of the pillar, and hence
give freer admission to the light. The original form of the pillar i-
still indicated by a low quadrangular intermediate piece between the
column and the architrave, which is of the same diameter as the column
at its base, yet does not project, like the Greek abacus, hut lira in the
same plane as the architrave. The latter issmooth, without the distinc-
tion of parts which characterizes the Doric entablature, and it p
into a moulding which we may regard as a cornice. In the inner hall
of a sepulehre the octagonal column is once more cut oblique!
that it has sixteen angles, and besides, in order to render the play of
light and shade more effectual, the fiat spaces between tic an
being somewhat deepened and rounded, were fluted. Two or four of
these fluted interspaces were then brought together to form a broad,
smooth surface, in order that hieroglyphics might I ngraved upon
it in a vertical direction ; here the effort to make architecture every-
where subservient to figures and writing destroyed the aesthetic
effect of the columns. In the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty this
pillar appears, with its sixteen faces, in the western portico of the
temple at Semneh, as also elsewhere. Here a polygonal pillar is
used, the anterior part of which is entirely employed as a surface for
inscriptions. Above it is displayed a mask of Hathor, that is. the
head of a woman, with cow's horns, broad tresses of hair, and a
diminutive temple on her head, in BUch a manner that at a di-tanc-
it gives the impression of a mummy standing erect "r that "i the
126
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
CaryatideSj thai is, of human bodies bearing up the architrave. 1 While
the original pillar, as it appears in the Temple of the Sphinx, and also
in a tomb at Sakkara, where, however, a low socle is placed beneath to
prevent the sinking of the pillar, is transformed into the column, on
the other hand, the pillar retains its primitive character, and is covered
with sculptures. Besides the square socle a square capital is added
| Karnak). The facade is then adorned with these columns, the fronts of
which are wrought into colossal figures, representing the royal founder
as < >siris (Abu-Simbel). These figures, however, do not architecturally
support the architrave, as do the Grecian Atlantes and the Caryatides
of the Erechtheum. With these changes in the pillar there was devel-
oped a column which in the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty appears
standing isolated, perhaps as the support of a movable piece of decora-
tion ; its capital lias the form of a bell, but it represents in stone an
elegant metallic rod, the head of which passes through a ring. More
richly developed are the columns which grew immediately from the
architecture in wood. In very ancient paintings appear representations
of canopies of wood supported by wooden posts. These last are
surrounded by canes and papyrus stems, which are fastened together
with ribbons, and adorned with wreaths, a motif that is shown also
in the mastabas, as before mentioned, while here between the rods
of the lath decoration, the fasciated lotus-stems with their over-
hanging coronals of flowers serve as ornaments to the niches and
the stone sarcophagi. Sometimes in such pictures there are also
separate flowers tied together by ribbons under the masses of buds
pendent from these reeds, and their stems are inserted in the spaces
between the several rods, and their flowers are blended with the
calyx; of the capital. As simple decoration of one face of these
columns this massing of lotus flowers appears in the tomb at Zawi-
jet-el-Meitin (Sixth Dynasty). The imitation of the flowers with
the ends of their leaves turned inwards presents a conventional de-
sign, which, according to some authorities, suggested the Ionian
volute. As Egyptian art did not adopt this motive in stone, the
volute remained in use simply as a decoration on a flat surface ;
it is thus often seen on the handles of mirrors and on many metallic
implements.
1 A- b< tin- antiquity of the Hathor head, see Introduction, page 9.
BENI-HASS I \
This covering of the supporting w len post was copied in
stone, and it formed the lotus coluinu with the capital buds which
occurs in a tomb at Beni-Hassan. [nstead of buds, the unfolded
blossoms can now come forth as the coronal of the reeds wind, arc
hound together, and then arc transformed into the so-called calyx
capital, which takes the form of a decided and beautiful curve; but it
departs from the original conception in so far thai the stems, which are
bound together, have each ool one but many buds at the top, as at
Philae and Esneh, where the capital is entirely composed of a great
profusion of flowers. Over this capital the early inner wooden post of
the prototype is still visible as an impost of stone. The effect is
confusing. The posts, which formed the shaft of the column, bound
together beneath the capital, are now encompassed with a cylindrical
covering, so that the section of the shaft forms a circular line. Above
the soele, where the column .-hows a considerable enlargement (entasis),
we see indications of the derivation of the column from reed stems in
the painted bulrush leaves used a- a decoration. It has been pointed
out, and too much stress cannot he laid upon it. that the form- and
details of Egyptian architecture, as we know them, were rarely orig-
inally intended lor the use made of them. These delicate Btems, buds,
and Mower- could never have been meant to hi' executed in stone with a
diameter of twelve feet and a height of sixty feet. '1 'lie entire scheme
of Egyptian architectural decoration betrays its development from wood
and brick material.
The first tomb of Beni-Hassan concealed the mummy of the
nomarch Khnum-hotep. The Inscriptions here relate numerous ex-
periences in the life of the deceased, ami an' of great importance for
the history of the Twelfth Dynasty. The princes of the provinces,
the Egyptian feudal nobility, had endeavored to extend their author-
ity, after the passing away of the most ancient ami powerful royal
houses and during the decline of the central government in the time
of the Seventh and subsequent Dynasties. The royal power was,
however, again strengthened; and they were thereby confined to the
circuit of their several mmies, and were obliged to content them-
selves with lilling the highest position next to the Pharaoh. We
learn from the inscriptions that Khnum-hotep was appointed (con-
firmed) by Amenemhat I. as nomarch and hereditary prince of the
128 THE MIDDLE EM PI HE.
sixteenth nome. Tins principality had, however, come to his father,
Nehera, son of Sebek-ankh, as the dowry of Beket, his wife, who
after the death, without children, of her brother Nakht, was the
Innrer of the dignity of hereditary ruler. The father of Beket had
been called by Amenemhat I. to the nomarchy of the province of
Mah (Sah); and under Usertesen I. his brother had become gov-
ernor of Mena-t-khufu (the modern Minieh), a dignity which belonged
to the oldest princes of the house, before they succeeded their fathers as
nomarchs. Khnum-hotep died in the eighteenth year of Usertesen I.,
after holding the office for twenty years. He had married Kheti, an
heiress, who brought him as her dowry the seventeenth nome (Cynopo-
lites). His son, the offspring of this marriage, who was named Nakht,
was confirmed by Usertesen II. in the nomarchy of the seventeenth
province, his mother's heritage; and he obtained the dignity of gov-
ernor of all the provinces lying between Thebes and Aphroditopolis.
Ameni, another son, inherited the Nome of the Gazelle. A full record
of his life appears in his tomb at Beni-Hassan in an inscription dated
the forty-third year of the king. He enumerates the warlike services
which he had rendered to his king, whom he followed in his raids in
Nubia, returning laden with gold, and extols the excellence of his
administration, telling how he had cared for the entire nome, and
had held all the inhabitants to labor, so that no one could be found
who suffered from hunger ; how he had sought to be friendly to
every one, had brought sorrow to no child, had oppressed no widow.
Making all due allowance for the egotism of these statements, as
well as for their grandiloquence, their substantial truth is cor-
roborated by the activity and industry manifested by all classes
of society in their occupations, as is clearly and abundantly shown
by the figured descriptions in the sepulchre at Beni-Hassan. Such
a development is possible only in a flourishing country, and with a
population at once energetic and skilful, and living under a peace-
fid rule. Our conception of the high degree to which the moral
feelings and humanity of the Egyptians were cultivated is enhanced
when we compare inscriptions of this kind with those by leaders or
kings of other nations, who with rude complacency portray the
horrors of the, wars waged by them, and yet for this count upon the
approval of heaven. The painted reliefs in the tomb of Khnum-
WALL PAINTIN08.
129
YuL. I. 1»,
130 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
hotep show the farmer with his cattle in various kinds of labor, the
gardener engaged in setting out his shrubs and other plants, the
vine-dressers, the hand-craftsmen, the joiners, the currier, the saddler
(with the semi-circular knife for cutting pieces of leather), shoe-
makers, potters, glass-makers, and women employed in weaving and
cooking. The remarkable representation — now unfortunately much
,1,. faced— of the arrival of a Semitic family (Amu), who having left
their home, ask to be received by the nomarch (Figs. 43, 44), although
it has frequently been published and commented upon, cannot be
overlooked when dealing with this tomb. The company is introduced
by the scribe Nefer-hotep, who delivers to the nomarch a tablet with
the following inscription : " In the sixth year of king Ra-kha-kheper
(Usertesen II.) is the account rendered concerning the Amu who
bring to the princely son Khnum-hotep the mesd'emt, a green paint
for the eyes. Their number amounts to thirty-seven." The third
figure in the painting is, according to the inscription, the prince
(Heq Setu) Absha. The second is Khiti, an officer who is con-
ducting them before the nomarch, who awaits them with dignity,
accompanied by his son and three dogs. The chief delivers to the
nomarch a wild goat from Sinai. The representation is important in
the history of art ; since it is the most ancient picture of the Semites,
and shows their costume in its peculiar colors, — blue, white, and
red. The chief and a number of the men, as well as all the women,
wear the sleeveless tunic, which extends over the left shoulder, and
leaves the right arm bare. A number of the men wear merely a
fringed gown reaching from the hips to the knees ; the chief also has
fringe on his dress ; the white woollen stuff of his coat is orna-
mented with stripes running vertically, between whose waving lines
run lines shaped like bars and scales separated by dots ; the white
dress of a woman shows also green waving stripes (meander pat-
tern). Their weapons are spears, bows, and a kind of club or
boomerang. The chief is barefooted, as also the women; but the
bitter have rings on their ankles. A man is playing on a harp or
cithern with a plectron in the right hand, and with the fingers of the
left hand. The asses led along with them carry, among other things,
peculiar vessels, with feet, double mouths, and horizontal handles ;
these contained the mesd'emt. We saw that the most ancient tomb-
TOMB OF THOTH-HOTEP. 131
statues have a green streak under the eyes; thie unguenl has been
found used as early as the prehistoric period ; and the Semites beyond
the isthmus prepared it at this time. In the same tomb appear also
swarthy men with red hair, carrying lance-, and boomerangs; they
are performing mock combats; one of these men ig also Ggured
in the tomb of Set i I. (Nineteenth Dynasty). According to Newberry,
who last studied Beni-Hassan (1890j, these men are Libyans.
Among the many representations of Egyptian life, there is found
in the tomb of the nomarch Thoth-hotep, — the Bon of Kai and grand-
son of Nehera, that is, the nephew of Khnum-hotep at Bersheh
(Antinoe, in the nome of Hermopolites) the picture of the transpor-
tation of a granite statue of a kino-, in a sitting posture; it belongs
to the time of Amenemhat II. This statue is placed on a suit of
sledge, and is made fast by means of a great metallic, ring and ropes
that are drawn in different directions around the colossus ; mats are
carefully arranged beneath, in order to protect the polished Burface of
the granite from being rubbed by the cords. By means of four ropes
made fast to a ring the sledge is drawn by four rows of men, consist-
ing of twenty-one (three times seven) pairs, and one special pair in
advance of them all, thus in all 172 men. The commander of the
men who are at the ropes stands upon a knee of the colossus ; the
cords and the planks over which the sledge is moved, an- wetted to
prevent their igniting. Seven rows of eleven men each may I»
bearing palm-branches in their hands, thus giving a festal character
to the procession. This recall- a similar -••cue depicted on a bas-
relief at Kuyunjik (Nineveh). Indeed, Layard reports that he em-
ployed this same method of transportation in removing an Assyrian
colossus.
To the time of the Twelfth Dynasty belongs the oldest eztanl
monument of Eeliopolis, the city of IIa. The -canty remain- of
An (the -On' of the Bible) lie at the village of Afatarieh, northeasl
of Cairo. Here in early time- was the centre of the worship
of the Sun. Tum, the evening -mi ; Eta, the hawk-headed sun
in the fulness of its power; Ra-Harmachis (' the rising -un'i: Sim,
and Tefnut were the principal lt< »< 1 - - Th-- sacred hull of Ra, Mnevis,
with his black cows; lions also, beasts with shining -kin. and
symbols of the greatest strength of the sun's heat ; and finally the
132
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
bird Bennu (the phoenix) formed the zoological pantheon of this city
of the Sun. The numerous company of priests connected with the
sanctuary, on whom, as sons of Ra, gifts were lavished by the
Pharaohs, maintained also a school of a high order, which enjoyed
a great renown in ancient times, and was resorted to by many Greeks.
Here Plato, Eudoxus, Thales, Archimedes, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras,
and Chrysippus, as the Greeks themselves have testified, derived much
of their wisdom. Amenemhat I. restored the temple of Turn, and
founded the temple of the Sun. The site of the latter is at this day
indicated only by the most ancient of the great existing obelisks (sixty-
eight feet high) which was erected in front of the temple by Usertesen
Fig. 45. — Head of Seqenen-Ka Ta-a-qen (Seventeenth Dynasty).
I. From the position of the obelisk the conclusion may be drawn
that it occupied the space before the pylon or gateway of the temple,
as later in the New Empire, and that the arrangement of the great
temple in the Ancient Empire was the same as at a later period. This
is also confirmed by many building-plans that have been preserved,
in conformity to which edifices were erected in subsequent times.
The Arabs tell also of numerous other colossal statues, the products
of marvellous labor. The polished obelisks (in Egyptian tehen, later
men, 'standing erect') were dedicated to the sun; upon them, as
OBELISKS IN EOTPT. \ .;.;
on shining pillars, the vault of heaven seems to rest They are at
the same time symbols of the generative power of the Sun-god, Amen
in Thebes, Ra in Heliopolis. Apparently the obelisks, the tips of
which were touched with gold, were regarded furthermore as light-
ning conductors: »they break the storms of heaven " ( Inscription in
the temple of Edfu) ; and something similar is reported of the masts
with their pendent streamers upon the pylons. We have seen that
there was one type of monument « sisting of a substructure, and a
short obelisk standing upon it. Several of the obelisks which have
been transported from Egypt had their origin at Heliopolis (Egyptian
On), around which centred Sun-worship. It was called ' the house of
Ra,' Per-Ra, and als.» the 'house of obelisks,' ' Hat-Benben.' In texts
of the Old Empire, Heliopolis is rarely mentioned. Yet the great
temple of Ra, which dates of the Twelfth Dynasty — if we believe a
leathern manuscript at Berlin — was not the first sanctuary there erected,
and a temple of Turn was enlarged at the same time. Under Ram« ses
III. the temple of Ra was at the height of its renown, 12,963 persons
were attached to its service. And Herodotos and Strabo praise the
learning of its priests even in their day. The obelisk of Usertesen
stood until the thirteenth century. The same Pharaoh erected the
obelisk of Ebgig (Fayum), which has two narrow sides and two that
are wider; the last are arched in the shape <>t" a roof whose gable ends
are formed from the tops of the narrow sides rounded off. The broad
sides do not present the usual columns of hieroglyphics, but five rows
of figures; a notch at the summit serves to tasten a metallic top-piece.
In the time of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, nearly all the
Pharaohs set up obelisks, especially at Thebes ami Tanis. At Karnak
there is a pair of obelisks erected by Thothmes I., between the sanctuary
and the great pillared hall ; the one now overthrown was -till standing
in the middle of the last century. A second pair of similar monoliths
was erected by his daughter, Hatshepsut Makara; but of the-.- also
only one is now .-landing. It i- the highest (109 feet . although
one is mentioned which is -aid to have measured 200 feet (120
cubit.-); according to the inscription on the socle seven months
were expended upon ELatshepsut's obelisk, and it came from the
quarries at Svene. The tops were overlaid with the metal
(electrum — gold mixed with silver — but in this case probably a -ort of
13-1 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
brass). Thothmes III. caus.ed many obelisks to be erected at Heli-
opolis, especially the two brought to Alexandria at a later day, which
became famous under the name of Cleopatra's Needles. One of these
was conveyed some years since to London, the other was brought to
New York. The central column of inscriptions shows the name of
Thothmes III. ; on two sides Rameses II. also has engraved columns
of writing. On the top is represented the god Turn, to whom
Thothmes III., in the form of a sphinx, is presenting a drink-offer-
ing, with the words : " The gift of fresh water of the good god, the
lord of the two lands, Ra-men-kheper " (' giver of eternal life,' that
is, Thothmes III.). Beneath the sphinx stands " the mighty bull,
crowned in Uas (western Thebes), son of the sun, Thothmes." On
another side of the obelisk is placed the wine-offering. On the
third side, not Turn, but Ra-Harmachis, is depicted ; and the offering
consists of frankincense. The fourth side of the obelisk repre-
sents Thothmes as a sphinx on the pylon, making two offerings of
incense. In 1877 it was discovered that the obelisk now in New
York was placed upon four bronze crabs, only one of which remained,
the others being replaced by stone. This crab has a Greek and Ro-
man inscription, according to which the obelisk was erected in the
year 13-12 B.c., in front of the Caesareum, or Sebasteum at Alex-
andria. The middle column runs as follows : " The royal Horus,
wearer of the crown, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the golden
hawk, who smote the kings of all lands that approached him,
according to the command of Ra. Victory over the whole world,
and strength of the sword are there when he openeth his hand for the
extension of the bounds of Egypt ; son of the sun, Thothmes the lif e-
bestower." " The royal Horus, the mighty bull, crowned in Thebes,
lord of the diadem, whose kingdom is far extended as that of the
sun. Beloved of Turn, the Lord of Heliopolis, son of his loins;
Thoth created him, Thothmes. In the perfection of their members
they created him, in the great dwelling-place, so that he has estab-
lished an extended dominion for hundreds of years. The king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-kheper, beloved of Tum, of the great
god, and of the gods of his circle, bestowing all life, joyfulness, feli-
city, immortal as is the sun." From Thothmes III. came also the
obelisk which was set up, in the year 1588, before the Lateran in
OBELISKS IN EGYPT. |:;/,
Rome; it was brought by Constantine to Alexandria, and by Con-
stantius t.) Rome, where it served in the spina of the I ircus
nms. The second obelisk belonging to him was broughl bj Theodo-
sius to Constantinople, and placed in the Hippodrome. A., ol
of Amenhotep II. is to be found at SioD House, the count
the Duke of Northumberland at Brentford. From Seti I. came the
obelisk on the Piazza del Popolo at Rome, originally set up by Au-
gustus on. the spina of the Circus Maximus. From Rameses II. are
derived the two obelisks of Luxor (Thebes), one of which, separated
from its companion, has stood in the Place de La Concorde in Paris
since 1833. This splendid square, on account of its great size, seri-
ously lessens the effect naturally produced by the height of this gran-
ite needle, which was brought from Egypt and erected here at a cost
of three million francs. In Tanis eleven obelisks of the time of
Rameses II. are lying in ruins on the ground. From this Pharaoh
came also the obelisk in the Boboli Gardens, behind the I'itti P
in Florence. The obelisk in front of St. Peter's in Rome originated
with Merenptah, the son of Rameses II. Caligula caused it to be
carried from Heliopolis, and set up in the court of the Vatican. The
obelisk in the Piazza della Minerva, which Bernini, in 1667, placed
on the back of an elephant, was made under Ho]. Ihm (Twenty-sixth
Dynasty). Augustus ordered a similar one. of Psammetichus [I., to
be removed : it now stands in the Piazza di Monte Citorio. In tin-
Piazza Navona is the so-called Pamfili obelisk, and an obelisk of
Nectanebo I. is in the British Museum. The obelisk of latest date
is the Barberini obelisk, on the Pincian Hill, on which occur the
names of Hadrian, of the Empress Saltina. and of Ajitinoiis. The
obelisks, as is known, are polished granite monoliths, which
worked out in the quarry, then separated from the rock, and trans-
ported on a ship to their position. The difficulty of setting up such
a stone may be perceived from the fact that modern engineers have
been obliged to avail themselves of all the resources of their art in
order to remove and re-erect the obelisks.
The dwellings of the priests that encircle the inner sanctuai
Ivarnak wert; due to Usertesen I. They were restored at a later day.
To the same ruler are traced also the fragments of columns which are
identical with those at Beni-Hassan, having sixteen fa mite
136 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
statue also from the same site is now at Luxor. The Middle Empire
was an era of great literary activity. The first attempt at alliteration
and at tales of adventure appear. Art also received a strong impulse, as
well as architecture and engineering. The colossal granite statues, no
less than minor works, are highly finished. In 1894, M. de Morgan
attacked the north brick Pyramid of Dashur, which proved to be the
tomb of Usertesen III. At the corners of its peribolos walls were
wells connected by passages and burial chambers of royal personages :
Henut-taui, a ' royal wife ' — probably of Usertesen III. — and two
' king's daughters,' Sent-s-Seneb and Sat-Hathor, whose splendid
jewels enclosed in a casket had been overlooked by former grave
robbers. In similar connection with the south brick Pyramid of
Dashur Avas found the burial place of a king, Hor-aua-ab-Ra, who has
no place in the official lists of this dynasty. A box of his sepulchral
deposits, however, sealed with the undisturbed stamp of Amenemhat
III., was found. Near-by was buried a princess of King Amenemhat's
family, wearing the asp and vulture of queens ; and with her another
set of wonderful jewels was found. Pectorals, inlaid with precious
stones and colored paste, pendants, two beautiful crowns of the most
delicate and elaborate workmanship, gold, amethyst, emerald beads attest
the splendor as well as the artistic goldsmithery of the period. (Plate
IX.) Two large galleys, some thirty feet long, were also found. They
were richly painted and well preserved. They, no doubt, are specimens
of the funeral barges, often portrayed on the walls of the Egyptian
tombs, in which the defunct was conveyed from the eastern to the
western side of the Nile on the first part of his journey to ' Amenti.'
After the Twelfth Dynasty there follows an obscure period, which
continued until the accession of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Manetho
assigns to the Thirteenth Dynasty (at Thebes) and the Fourteenth (at
Xois), together, 136 kings; the Turin papyrus has 130-159 names of
sovereigns, unfortunately for the most part illegible, and, so far as the
numbers are preserved, giving brief reigns. In the Thirteenth Dynasty
the name of Sebek-hotep occurs about ten times. The duration of 500
years, which was formerly accepted, is so short for the period indicated
that, if it comprehends only the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties,
every ruler would have reigned a little less than three years. The
monuments of several of the reigns are spread over all Egypt.
Tili: HYKSOS
137
Furthermore, some kings of the Shepherd Dynasties (Hyksos) thai fol-
lowed also left monuments in all Egypl ; they therefore could not have
reigned contemporaneously with the former.
The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties are those of the Hyk
or Shepherd Kings. Manetho alone gives an account of their first
appearance and of their rule; but the fragments of his writings bearing
on this subject were >i» worked over by Josephus (who has pre»
them for us), through his desire to enhance the high antiquity and
nobility of the Jewish nation, that for a long time they misled the
judgment of scholars, and confirmed the opinion that the Hyksos, who
are named Aatn in the Sallier papyrus, where their final expulsion is
alluded to, must have been of Semitic stock, a sort of Bedawin Arabs.
It has been suggested that the Hyksos invasion was the indirect result
of the Elamite and Chaldean military movements of the late third
millennium b.c. But who they were, whence they came, is still
doubtful, although no historical problem ever aroused more interest
among scholars. They have in turn been identified with Semite-,
Cushites, Mongols, Hittites, and others. To the Egyptians themselves
they were'Shasu' — pillagers — a word applied by them to the Bedawin ;
or 'Sheman' — strangers (under Queen Hatshepsut), or -Aatn' —
scourges. They were nomadic tribes which wert' attracted to Egypt by
its fertility and wealth, and in whose wake it is probable that many
different Asiatic tribes followed. Among them, perhaps, the Beni-
[srael. Be that as it may, they -wept over the [sthmus, estab-
lished their stronghold at Hat' oar (Avaris) in the eastern ex-
tremity of the Delta, and thence conquered, or dictated term- to the
entire country. That this had become possible, although only after
stubborn conflicts in which the strangers showed all their barbar-
ous cruelty, confirms the supposition that the Dynasty <>\' Xois,
weakened perhaps by internal dissensions, and contests of the feudal
nobility with the crown, were easily thrust from the throne. Accord-
ing to the narrative of Manetho, it was at the time when Timacus
(Timios) was reigning, that God, for unknown causes, was unfavor-
ably disposed toward the Egyptians. Suddenly a people of inglori-
ous origin seized the land, and conquered it with little difficulty,
without determined opposition. Tin- rulers were taken captive, cities
were burnt, and the sanctuaries of the gods laid waste: of the male
138 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
population a portion were slain, the wives and children of another
part were dragged into slavery. The king of these foreigners was
named Salatis. He chose Memphis for his capital, and occupied the
towns with large garrisons ; in Avaris (Pelusium), west of the Bu-
bastic-Pelusian mouth of the Nile, he established a great encamp-
ment, and there kept his troops in training. His five successors,
Bnon, Apachnan, Aphobis, Annas, and Asseth, reigned for a long
time ; in fact, the sway of these six Hyksos kings lasted 260 years.
During this long period the Hyksos gradually yielded to the influences
of Egyptian culture. They became Egyptianized. They adopted the
protocols of the Pharaohs ; and, notwithstanding the supremacy of
their god Sutekh, these ' princes of the desert ' (Heq Setu) became
known as ' sons of Ra ' and ' divine Horuses.' A mathematical papyrus
is dated the twenty-third year of Apepi IL, who also bestowed a
scribe's palette (Berlin Museum) upon one Atu. Traces of Khian occur
from Gebeleu to the Delta and even in Crete. A granite socle in the
Louvre bears thirty-six names of conquered Nubian provinces, and
inscriptions attest their control of the Assuan quarries. They, there-
fore, ruled over all Egypt and held the Theban princes in subjection.
The Sallier papyrus No. 1, however, shows us the latter ready to shake
off the yoke. A command, the sense of which is obscure, issued by
Apepi II. to the ' prince of the south/ Seqenen-Ra, with regard to a
certain canal ; and in which the worship of the god Sutekh is mixed
up, seems to have precipitated the crisis. The Avar of independence
followed ; and we know that King Seqenen-Ra Ta-a-qen was probably
killed on the battle-field. To this, his hastily mummified body, found in
1881, bears eloquent testimony. (See Fig. 45.) A battle-axe had
opened his left cheek exposing his teeth and breaking the jaw. A second
blow had fractured his skull. A spear had pierced his forehead above
the right eye, which is covered with brain matter that oozed from the
wound. How long he remained on the field uncared for no one can
tell ; but when embalmed his features were set. They still express the
rage that filled his soul. The brow is contracted below his thick
matted hair ; the lips are drawn over the gums ; and the tongue is
caught between the teeth. He must have been forty years old when he
died. Tall, vigorous, he resembles the Berber type. The fact that his
body was preserved seems to imply victory for the Egyptians — which
THE SEVENTEENTH DYNASTY. \:\\s
Aähmes I., his successor, brilliantly followed up. A long and grievous
war followed, which finally ended with the deliverance of Egypt Of
the kings constituting the Seventeenth Dynasty, the names of eleven are
known; several names are supplied from a very peculiar source, the
Abbott papyrus in the British Museum. This contains the record of a
suit at law against tomb-robbers in the time of the Twentieth Dynasty
(Ramescs IX.). After investigations made by engineers, record is
made of the tombs at Thebe — which the culprits had robbed, and
which they had spared. Four tombs of the Eleventh Dynasty, those
of Antef-äa, of An-antef, of An-aä, and of Neb-Kher-Ra Mentu-hotep,
were not robbed at that time. On the other hand, the tomb of Sebek-
em-saf (Thirteenth Dynasty) and that of Seqenen-Ra 1. (Seventeenth
Dynasty) were robbed. Again, there were found to he unopened the
sepulchres of Seqeneu-La IL, of Karnes, of Aähmes-sa-pa-ar, and of
Amenhotep L, who was buried by the side of the Pharaohs of the Sev-
enteenth Dynasty. The gilded sarcophagus of the third sovereign of
the Seventeenth Dynasty, Seqenen Ra Ta-aa III., together with the
mummy, was found in the year 1881, at Der-el-Bahri, when the pit
that was completely filled up with a collection of royal bodies was
laid open, as already mentioned. A costly sarcophagus of Af.h-
hotep, the consort of the fourth Pharaoh, and mother of Aähmes, the
founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, was disinterred by Marietta at
Thebes, and is now in the Gizeh Museum. The whole sarcophagus,
having the shape of a mummy with face and wide, opened eyi
gilded; the margins of the eyes are encircled with gold: the white
of the eyes consists of quartz, the pupil is of Mack enamel. Beneath
the painted jewelry around the neck were found a serpent and a vul-
ture, the insignia of sovereignty over Upper and Lower Egypl ; the
hieroglyphics give the name of the queen. The body was not envel-
oped with bandages, but only lightly wrapped in pieces of cloth.
Upon it were found two hundred and thirteen ornaments, the head
being adorned with a rich diadem, consisting of tu- golden sphinxes
that guarded the cartouche of AäJimes (he,- son, who had provided
for her burial). There were jewels on the upper part of the arm.
bracelet- of gold with the name of Aähmes wroughl into the gold
with pearls, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and enamel; a necklace, and a
representation of Amen and La. who are sprinkling Aähmes m±
140 THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
living water as he is standing in a sanctuary upon a bark, and
adorned with golden bees. A gold chain of nearly a meter in
length, with heads of geese at both ends, on which the names of
Aähmes is legible, bears a splendid scarabaeus, whose breast and
wines are woven of gold threads and blue enamel. Numerous
objects are between the linen cloths and on the floor of the sar-
cophagus : a golden poniard ; a hatchet with a gilded cedar handle,
the edge of bronze inlaid with gold and otherwise decorated; a lion's
head of gilded bronze ; nine silver and gold meter with the name of
Karnes (the father of Aähmes), symbols of nine principal gods ; a black
rod covered with gold plate ; an ebony fan of similar workmanship ;
and finally, besides many other jewels, a golden bark with the car-
touche of Karnes, having twelve silver marines, and a steersman, the
ship's captain, and a third figure in gold.
Aähmes I., the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, reaped the
benefit of the efforts of his predecessor. His part in the liberation of
Egypt seems to have been finally to drive the oppressor from the Delta.
Captain Aähmes, to whose inscription at El Kab we are indebted for
full information with regard to this stage of the struggle, fought in the
war and commanded the Nile flotilla. His father, Abana, before him,
had served under Seqenen-Ra. On the walls of Aähmes' tomb is given
an account of the taking of Hat'uar — the last Hyksos stronghold.
He also claims to have served in the southern campaigns under-
taken by Amenhotep I. and Thothmes I., and in the Syrian war of
the latter's reign.
Monuments attributed to the Hyksos have been found in great num-
bers at Tanis by Mariette, and more recently by Petrie. Naville also
discovered works attributable to the same school of art at Bubastis.
Tanis (the biblical Zoan, Arabic San), on the Tanitic branch of the Nile,
through which, according to myth, the body of Osiris was carried into
the sea, had among its inhabitants in a remote antiquity Semites (Amu),
who in that place worshipped their gods. In the book of Numbers (xiii.
22) it is said that Hebron was built seven years before Zoan, an enig-
matical declaration which may, perhaps, be interpreted to mean that
the Hyksos, seven years before their irruption into Egypt, where they
made Tanis their special residence, had founded that city in Pales-
tine. Wiedemann supposes here a connection with the ' era of Tanis,
MONUMENTS OF THE HYKSOS. Ill
which dates from Nubti, the third king of the Second Hyksos Dy-
nasty, as we learn from a monument of Rameses II. al Tanis, which
speaks of the 400th year of the Nubti Dynasty. This would give,
as a date for Nubti, about the eighteenth century b.c. Colossal
statues of the Middle Empire attest it- importance al thai time.
After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Tanis was neglected for a long
time, but was again favored by the Nineteenth Dynasty. It appears
in the writings of Isaiah and Ezekiel as an important place. It was
conquered by the Assyrians, and in later times declined because
other cities in the Delta became flourishing. A hieratic papyrus
describes it as a splendid city, filled with all the delights of life.
The great temple rose upon a beautiful terrace ; its sit.- i- indicated
by the broken shafts of granite columns, more than ten obelisks,
sphinxes, colossi, and among them one of granite with remains of
polychromy. The greater part of these belong to tin- age of Rameses
II. Here were found in 1884 the remains of a figure in red granite
of this Pharaoh — once erect — supposed to be ninety-eighl feel in
height, and thus higher by far than any other existing statues. Tunis
is made interesting to us, not only by these ruins, but also by the
decree of Canopus in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes, brought to light
by Lepsius, executed in three languages, and of importance for decipher-
ing hieroglyphics, being the duplicate of the copy in the Louvre.
Amoncr the remarkable monuments which have been attributed t" the
Hyksos is a huge sphinx of black marble, inscribed in the name of the
Hyksos king, Apepi II. The face is very different from the Egyptian :
the eyes are small with strongly marked, under-lids, the oose i- very
large and flat, cheek-bones and chin projecting, but especially notice-
able are heavy whiskers framing in the face. Maspero, however, think-
that he has found under the cartouche on the breast of the sphinx a
more ancient figure chiselled out, which renders it doubtful whether
the work should not be assigned to an earb'er date. Three other
sphinxes, preserved in a fragmentary shape, -how the Bame type of
countenance. A very remarkable work represents Nile gods before a
high, narrow structure, like a double altar, on which fish are lying,
and from which fish, waterfowl, and lotus -talk- are hanging. T
lower parte of the arm- of the men lie on the sides of the altar, and
are adorned at the wrist with long pendant-; especially striking are
142
T1IK MIDDLE EMPIRE.
the heavy beards on cheek and chin, while the mustache is wanting as
on the sphinxes, and the flowing hair is parted like a long periwig over
the shoulders, and falls down to the breast and behind to the shoulder-
blades. The work was long attributed to the Hyksos; and it was
thought that Psusennes (second king of the Twenty-first Dynasty) had
caused his name to be engraved on the statue. But M. Maspero now
regards it as belonging to the Twenty-first Dynasty. Another piece of
sculpture belonging to the Hyksos has been found in the capital of the
Favuni, a statue of gray granite, with the same type of face as the
statue at Tanis ; over the shoulder hangs a panther's skin. There is
also a head in the Ludovisi Villa in Rome, which is considered to be
the head of a Hyksos king. And the colossal heads found at Bubastis
are striking examples of the type which has been attributed to that
period. Lately, however, much doubt has been cast upon the origin
of the entire series. Mr. Golenischeff sees in them works of the
Twelfth Dynasty, while Ed. Meyer regards them as belonging to
invaders of Egypt in the obscure period between the Seventh and Tenth
Dynasties, and as having been appropriated by the Hyksos kings. The
fact remains, however, that the type which they represent differs from
any of those with which Egyptian art has familiarized us. A type
which, it is said, still may be detected among the modern inhabitants
of the lake region in the Delta.
Hyksos head and woman of the Delta. (After Maspero.)
BOOK IL
ASIA.
143
ASIA.
THE BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY IN WESTERN AM A
(BABYLONIA, SYRIA, AND Asia MINOR).
CHAPTER IV.
BABYLONIA.
TEERE is every reason to believe thai as early ai lead as WOO
b.c. civilization had developed to a high degree in the southern
part of the region embraced by the Euphrates and Tigris, and which
may conveniently be termed the Euphrates Valley. The chronology,
however, beyond 2500 B.c. is still so uncertain that when we reach
the period of 3000 b.c. we can deal in very general statements only.
If reliance could be placed upon a date which the la-t k i 1 1 lt of Baby-
lonia, Nabonidus (555—539 b.c.), has preserved for u~ ii e of bis in-
scriptions where he -peaks of having found the foundation -tone of
the temple to the sun-god Samas at Sippar that revealed the name
of Naram-Sin (the son of Sargon), who reigned, as he states, 3200
years ago, we would have a most important guide for the early chro-
nology, but apart from the suspicion, naturally aroused by the round
figure, there are serious difficulties in the way of accepting so high a
date as 3750 b.c. for Naram-Sin. I'p to the present, at all events,
there are not enough rulers known to warrant as in going farther
back than some centuries beyond 3000 B.c. for the oldest of those
whose names have been read on the monuments (and there are some
older than Naram-Sin), so that the figures famished to Nabonidus
by his scribe- may be some 600 or even 800 year- out of the way.
At the same time, in view of the tact that the oldesl Babylonian
inscriptions reveal a developed form of writing, a fully organized form
of government, an elaborate cult, a flourishing condition of com-
mercial activity, it is quite Bafe to fix the beginnings of the culture
Vol. I. 10. L45
14 ß BABYLONIA.
in the Euphrates Valley at a period earlier than 4000 b.c. The
political picture unfolded by the inscriptions that belong to the oldest
peri,,.! is that of a series of states in the Euphrates Valley, each with
its own centre, with now the one, now the other exercising a larger
or smaller measure of control over the others. In a general way, it
may he said that the course of political supremacy, like the course of
culture, is from south to north, so that centres like Uruk, Ur, Isin,
Lagash (or Shirpurla), Larsa, and Nippur represent the older centres
of importance as against Sippur, Agade, and Babylon, which belong to
a later period or which come to the front at a later time, though it
must he home in mind that this principle has only a general applica-
tion and must not he too rigidly pressed.
The origin of the Euphratean culture is even obscurer than its
early history. So much, however, may be stated definitely that the
Euphrates Valley appears to have been at all times a natural meet-
ing place for two distinct waves of migrations of peoples, the one
entering the valley from the east and northeast, the other coming
from the south and southwest. The peoples represented by these
two waves belong to different subdivisions of mankind, and adopting
the common though unsatisfactory nomenclature, the former represent
the Turanian type, while those issuing from Arabia are Semites. The
Euphratean culture in the oldest form known to us bears distinct
evidence of being a mixture of non-Semitic with Semitic elements,
with such a preponderance of the latter already at the period when
historical certainty begins that if, as seems likely, the non-Semitic
element represents the older stratum to which the beginnings of culture
were due, its significance during the entire historical period known
to u- is largely theoretical and limited to the traces that remained of
it in the script, in the language, in the cult, and in the forms of
political and social life. At the same time, these traces are not of
such a character or sufficiently pronounced to warrant any attempt
parating the Euphratean or Babylonian culture into Semitic and
non-Semitic components. Granting the non-Semitic origin of the
culture in the Euphrates Valley, the Semitic conquerors so thoroughly
adopted the earlier culture — including the script — to their peculiar
method of thought and expression and imparted to it such a distinc-
tively Semitic character that, as intimated, the non-Semitic traces
EARLIEST RACES IN ASIA. ^7
represent a qua id it r neglig&tbk in any general view of the civilization
with which we have to deal.
It must not be supposed, however, that all the Semites came to the
Euphrates Valley at one time. Indeed, we may distinguish several
distinct waves of migrations from Arabia, each one of which was
fraught with political consequences of a more or less violent character,
and which contributed certain elements further modifying the aspects
of the Euphratean civilization. The oldest of these waves known to
us belongs to the period before 3000 b.c., and evidence of its strength
is to be seen in the establishment of a north-Babylonian state with
Agadc as its centre, followed about 2700 b.c. by the supremacy of Ur,
whose rulers indicate by the title king of Sinner and Akkad their
jurisdiction over northern and southern Babylonia. This supremacy
lasted till c. 2400 B.C. By this time the first migratory wave had
spent its force, and there becomes manifest a disposition of a return
toward the earlier condition of independent states. The old centres
like Lagash, Isin, Nippur regain their independence until a new
unifying force appears, brought about by a fresh wave of Semitic
migration. As a designation for this second wave the name " Cana-
anitic" has been suggested because the special type of Semitism
represented by it bears a close resemblance to that which we afterward
find in Phoenicia and in the interior of Palestine. The political centre
shifts first from Ur to Sippar, where until the days of Hammurabi
(c. 2250 B.c.) the members of the " Canaanitish " dynasty appear to
have established themselves, and then during the reign of Hammurabi
definitely to the city of Babylon, which with some interruptions retains
its supremacy as the chief political centre in the Euphrates Valley,
while its religious predominance outlasts the political career of the
newly formed Babylonian pow'er.
While thus establishing a state larger in extent and more definite
in control than the older kingdom of Ur, the "Canaanitish" wave
likewise spent its force, and the first dynasty of Babylon (as it is called)
after furnishing eleven kings who ruled about 300 years is succeeded
by one that appears to have come from the extreme south, known as
the "sea land," and whose eleven kings maintained themselves for a
period of more than 350 years. About 1750 b.c. Babylonia is con-
quered by a people coming from the east and north-east known as the
148
BABYLONIA.
Cassites. For 576 years these Cassites ruled Babylonia, absorbing
the old culture and retaining, after some vacillation, the city of Babylon
as their political and religious centre. During the period of their
supremacy a third distinct wave of Semitic migration enters Babylonia,
and for which Winckler has suggested the name "Aramaean." Its
most striking result is the formation of a new political centre much
farther north, leading to the establishment of the Assyrian kingdom
which was destined to become the arbiter of Babylonia's fate. Assyria,
a far greater military state than any established in Babylonia, paid the
penalty of her greater activity by exhausting her vitality before her
southern rival, although at various periods Babylonian rulers had to
submit to the humiliation of acknowledging their dependence upon
Assyrian rulers. In 606 b.c. Assyria fell by a combination of her
enemies in the south and east, Babylonia and Elam, aided by the
advance of hordes from the north known rather indefinitely as Cimme-
rians ("Scythians"), while a new Babylonian empire is established by
the " Chaldaean " Nebopolassar in 625 b.c. This empire, due to the
advance of the district in southern Babylonia known as " Chaldaea "
and which for some centuries had given Babylonian rulers considerable
trouble, revives though only for a short period the glories of the last,
and under Nebuchadnezzar II. (604-561 b.c.) the past is even eclipsed
to such an extent that the term " Chaldaea " symbolizes for western
peoples the sum and substance of the entire Mesopotamia^ culture and
history. Nebopolassar, though largely occupied with making his rule
secure, found time to embellish his capitol, Babylon, and to undertake
the rebuilding of temples in Sippara and elsewhere. It was left, how-
ever, to his son Nebuchadnezzar II. to make the city of Babylon, by
its palaces, its temples, its gates, its gardens, and canals, one of the
marvels of antiquity. The political strength of the new empire was,
however, soon exhausted, and in 539 b.c. Cyrus entered Babylon, and
with scarcely a struggle the city yielded to the conqueror, whose coming
meant also the triumph of Elam over her old rival Babylonia.
In so far as climatic phenomena help to explain the origin
of culture and the course taken by it, it is of importance to note
that the scene in which this history of almost 3000 years is en-
acted lies in a district along both sides and between the two rivers
Euphrates and Tigris, in which we encounter natural conditions
THE CUNEIFORM 8CRIPT. 149
similar to those in Egypt Here, too, the people were obliged t«.
contend with the mighty waters with which the streams, when
swollen by the snow melting in the highlands, destroyed the works
of their hands. The waters of the floods, which begin in April and
subside in June, must be conducted in canals, the Bwamps must be
drained, and the towns protected b) terraces. This was especially
necessary in the southern portions of the country. In the northern
portions numerous streams, belonging to the system of the Chaboras,
Water the intermediate country; hut in the south the lands between
the streams must be irrigated, mostly by artificial means, from this
region, formed by alluvial deposits, arose the oldest Semitic civiliza-
tion; although for centuries it hail been exposed t" the elements, and
had been occupied by nomadic tribes opposed to culture. When
the tribes, however, made for themselves a fixed abode, a desire for
extensive buildings was awakened: hut these had to he built of
dried or burnt clay from the plain on account of the entire absence
of stone. These vast walls of dried brick were protected by a cover-
ing of stucco. This in turn stimulated an artistic activity, just as
the knowledge of surveying and levelling had occasioned the division
of the year and the observation of the heavenly bodies, naturally con-
nected with it. The necessity of recording tin- measurement and
division of the fields led to the invention of a writing, which at first
consisted of pictures, hut which was at last developed into syllabic
script As the early records, which were made upon the bricl
clay tablets while they were still moist, were scratched with wood or
metal, the original pictures lost somewhat of their distinctness. This
caused the characters to become angular and to have straight lilies;
and since the sharp instrument was applied with great force the nail-
shaped impressions of the cuneiform writing met with in Babylonia
and Assyria resulted (Fig. I''»). The Persian writing, which was
engraved upon stone, has, however, characters that are longer and
slenderer, of a wedge-shape, on account of the use of the chisel.
In the case of the cuneiform writing of Babylonia and Assyria it
must be remembered that, like the Egyptian, it was originally pictorial
in character, and on some of the oldest inscriptions this pictorial form
is well preserved, though not in the case of all the ugns. 80 it is
easy to see that the 3 ign for house, which finally becomes merely a
150
Fig. 46. — A, Inscription of Sargon I., king of Agade (old Babylonian characters).
B, Business document dated in the 5th year of Darius (420 b.c.) (neo-Baby Ionian
characters). [Reproduced by permission from Clay — Business Documents of Murashü
Sons (Philadelphia, 1904).]
series of four perpendicular strokes preceded by two short horizontal
ones, was originally the picture of a hut made of reeds placed horizon-
tally and perpendicularly. Various complicating factors appeared iu
THE CUNEIFORM SCRIPT.
]:,\
the course of development from a pictorial method of writing to a
genuine script, only sonic of which can be described here. The
Babylonian scribes, like the Egyptians, used compound groups also;
tor example, the ideograph for vault of heaven arose from the group«
for star and vault, both of which hieroglyphics mean ' night ' in Egypt,
From the groups for light and gold arose the combined group for
'silver.' Since every writing with pictures was Bpoken by tin- reader,
every picture gradually awakened the idea of a definite sound, or group
of sounds, and every figurative or symbolic sign, which had heretofore
been only an ideograph, received a fixed pronunciation : thus tin-
sound alone began to he represented. The first step From the writ-
ing of ideas to that of sounds was made in this wa\ : tie- -.»und
which a definite ideograph had was expressed in similarly sounding
words or syllables by one and the same ideograph, although tic-
meanings might be different; just as if one should use the -;i
picture for 'veil' and 'vale.' A dissyllabic word wasalso reproduced
by two ideographs, one of which generally sounded like the first and
the other like the second syllable, as one would express 'manhood'
in a rebus by a 'man' and a 'hood.' The cuneiform writing of the
Babylonians and Assyrians is syllabic, but it has preserved many
ideographs from an earlier stage of development If by means of
italics we should distinguish the ideographs from the words written
with syllabic characters, an inscription of Saigon would read as
follows: 'Palace of Sargon, great king, mighty langt ,: '"!' "' ,1 "'
universe, king of the l<m<l of Ashur (/<i,„l).' Only the name Sargon
(SharruMnu), the expressions 'palace' (ekallu), 'mighty' (dannu), and
'universe' (Jcishshatz) are represented by phonetic symbols. Theendings
expressing variation in declension are represented by phonetic sym-
bols attached to the ideographs. The ideograph for 'land/ which
occurs after A-hur as will as before it. is nol t" be pronounced, and
only indicates that the name of a land precedes. The sign Y> ul,i,,M
stands before Ashur, with the meaning 'land.' i- the ideograph for
'land/ 'go/ and 'take.' It also, however, Btands for the word ahadü,
'mountain,' and judging from it- form it has underg • but Blight
changes in the course of the millennium- covered by the cuneiform
script; it still suggests a series of mountain peak-, so that the meaning
'mountain' is apparently older than that of « land."
152 BABYLONIA.
Such a circumstance might be regarded as an indication that the
inventors of the Babylonian writing came from some mountainous
district. Various devices were introduced to avoid the ambiguity
resulting from the use of the same sign for ' land ' and ' mountain,'
but despite this, in many cases, especially in names of temples, where
the sign in question — to be pronounced kur — frequently enters, a doubt
remains as to the interpretation to be preferred.
The name of the city Babylon was written upon the bricks of
Nebuchadnezzar in ideographs, li , I ^j^- ► | J T Xjl^ • These,
which were originally pictures, are signs of 'Gate of (the) god of
(the) region '; this group of pictures, according to their phonetic
value in Sumerian, should be pronounced kä-an-(ra)-ki. The As-
syrians, however, said bdb-ilu ('gate of El'), and wrote in phonetic
symbols, XH~~T tÖLLfP ^M" KjS^ > ba-bi-lu-(M). They allowed the
last sign to remain, but did not pronounce it, since it only shows
that the name of a district precedes. In the writing of polysyllabic
words, a principle similar to that in the Egyptian prevailed. The
sign that indicated 'shine' was pronounced ar in the non-Semitic (Su-
merian) language ; but the same sign was used in the name Artax-
xerxes, although the first syllable of this had nothing to do with
' shine.' The second ideograph in the name of Babylon means
' heaven,' or ' god ' (dingir, an) ; but in the name of the land Mitanni
(iiii-i-it-t<i-an-ni) it represents only the sound an. In this syllabic
writing there is the disadvantage that frequently the signs were very
different for the different forms of one and the same word ; for
example, in Assyrian ' mistress ' is be-lit, written V -*~^ » (be-lit),
but the plural, be-li-e-ti, is written >-< »— ^-£?T T ^Ty ^T^ >
so that only the first sign remains the same. 'I place' is ashkun
t J Z ^tLj tTT? ((ixh-hi-un) ; but ' we place ' is nish-kun * ry ^ff
►^p^n^H (ni-ish-kttn), so that the singular and the plural of the same
stem, shakd n ", consist of very different signs. If we compare with this
state of things the Hebrew or Arabic, in which only the consonants
of the root are brought before the eye, and there remain unchanged
in all the inflections, while the vowels are not indicated at all or
only by small points placed over or under the consonants, we recog-
THE CUNEIFORM SCRIPT ,
LOo
nize that the writing of the Hebrews and Arabians was adapted to
the genius of their language. The Babylonian* certainly did not
invent their own writing, but musl have derived it from a people
who formed their language very differently, and for whom the diffi-
culties mentioned did not exist, inasmuch ae the) appear to luve
expressed the varying shades of thoughl by prefixes and suffixes,
without any internal change of the word. The Babylonians, bow-
ever, continued to employ this complicated writing as a hieratic one;
and not till later times did they begin to use to a limited extent
as endorsements upon legal records or up bjects in common ose,
like weights, the Phoenician writing, which had begun to spread
about 800 b.c.
Another clement — the use of phonetic complement — oughl to be
mentioned, since it favors the idea that the cuneiform writing was
adopted by the Semitic settlers, and was not an original invention on
their part. Since it was possible to pronounce one and the same
ideograph in different ways, there could always be a doubl which
pronunciation was intended by the writer. The picture of the r I
disk of the sun, which was represented in the older form of the characters
by a parallelogram <^"\. because made l>v a stylus in the clay, or
in the abridged form ^S[ , could have differenl pronunciations accord-
ing to its ideographic meaning; for example, sham-ski, 'sun,' and Hmu,
' dav.' These two word- could be more exactly expressed by placing
after the first word the syllable shi, and after the second urn ; thus
^ST^T^ — j, sham-shi, aj£i [. dm-um. It does not follow from this
that ^T has the phonetic value sham, <»r tf, for in these cases it has no
phonetic value, hut rather represents a meaning. On the other hand,
sometimes it is used nol to represenl the meanings 'sun,' or 'day,
but as the phonetic symbol of a large number of syllables other than
those mentioned, such as id, tarn, par, bir, khiah, lakh, zal. However,
such a polyphonous character has only one phonetic value, if u is used
as a simple syllable, thai is, consists of a vowel and consonant, or a
consonant and vowel ; if the character mentioned forms with the
character mu the syllable mvi (mu-vt), it musl be pronounced ui, not
also tarn, />"/•, etc.
j54 BABYL0X1A.
A complete discussion of the cuneiform writing cannot be given
here; but one other peculiarity should be mentioned, which occurs
also in the old Armenian, Pehlevi, or Parthian-Sassanian, Japanese,
and other languages : this is the occurrence of one sound-value for
another. The Assyrian language has foreign words derived from
the old Sumerian, or Akkadian. The Assyrians retained the foreign
character, but substituted an Assyrian word. It is just as if we should
read ' in an instant' when 'in a moment' is written, or as the English
write <l, which was originally the sign for denarius, but read 'penny.'
Thus the word for 'overflow,' 'blessing,' is written by means of two
signs with the phonetic values khc-uun, but which are to be read in
Assyrian as nukhshu.
The Babylonians and Assyrians themselves felt the difficulty
and frequent ambiguity of this system of writing. They therefore
prepared syllabaries, which fortunately have been discovered in
Nineveh in the library of clay tablets of king Asurbanipal, and
are now in the British Museum. Many of these have been published
in two series of cuneiform texts issued by the British Museum, and
by means of these syllabaries the phonetic values and meanings of
almost all the signs used in the text have been determined or confirmed.
These syllabaries, prepared by Babylonian and Assyrian scribes thou-
sands of years ago as a practical means of teaching the language and
the script to the students of those days, still serve their purpose to-day,
and have been invaluable in unlocking the secrets of Babylonian lexi-
cography, besides proving of great help in the decipherment of the
texts. Various kinds, consisting of two, three, and four columns,
are to be distinguished. In some, the syllabic values and what
appears to be the names by which the series are known are furnished,
the sign itself being placed in the second column with the syllabic
values in the first and the name in the third column. Others furnish
the syllabic values and the word or words for which the sign stands,
while another class is formed by a combination of syllabic and ideo-
graphic values together with the name. In a general way, we may
safely assert that the phonetic value of the ideograph must represent
the word which the inventors of the writing used for it in their
speech. If the character d means 'penny,' but is an abbreviation for
denarius, a people which used denarius in their language must have
THE < im: 1 1 ORM S< RIPT.
introduced d. So the ph itic values of the Assyrian ideographs must
belong to a language in which the sound of the ideograph corresponded
with the meaning. Of this view, which required the presence in
Babylonia of a people not related to the Babylonians or Semites in lan-
guage, acute and learned critics have arisen, who regard the non-Semitic
or Sumerian elements of the cuneiform writing as simply an hieratic
or cryptic form of the Assyrian. A long controversy has been v
among Assyriologists in < ■> -i u i< iction with this question, which involves,
not only the origin of the cuneiform writing, but also the origin of the
culture that arose in the Euphrates Valley. The leader of the anti-
Sumerian party, which contends for tin- Semitic origin of the script, is
Prof. Joseph Halevy of Paris, who has defended hi- views with pro-
found learning and greal acuteness of reasoning, lie has gained from
time to time adherent-, bul the greal majority of scholars have per-
sistently clung to the view that we must perforce assume the existence
of a non-Semitic language al the bottom <>f the phonetic values attached
tu the cuneiform characters, and tin- supposition carries with it the con-
clusion that the inventors of the cuneiform writing were not Semites. < >n
the other hand, thanks to Halevy and hi- followers, a reaction ha- been
brought about against the extreme views formerly held by the adherents
of the Sumerian theory, who claimed that the entire syllabary was non-
Semitic. There can he loubt, indeed, that many of' the phonetic
value- of the signs represent truncated Semitic word-. Tim-, if the sign
which is read rabü, 'great,' has the value gal, it i- impossible t" discon-
nect this from a Semitic -tent djaUa, which occurs in Arabic in the sense
of 'great,' and in the same way there are at least one hundred syllabic
values that represent parts of genuine Semitic word- or stems, h
follow-, therefore, thai if the Semite- adopted the cuneiform writing
from a non-Semitic people, they also adapted the system so thoroughly
to their purposes as to give the syllabary to a large extent a Semitic
character; and it must also be admitted that many of the texts which
appear t<> he ' Smnerian ' in form represent translations or rather
transliterations of Semitic texts into the older 'ideographic' method
of composition. Such factors complicate the problems connected with
the study of the origin and development of this carious ->
and it is not possible, on account of our lack of knowl< solve
them all; and it will perhaps never be possible to separate the ..on-
1 56 BABYLONIA.
Semitic from the Semitic elements in the culture that developed in the
Euphrates valley, but the existence of Sumerian cauuot be doubted in
view of the hundreds of genuine bilingual inscriptions that have been
found, in which the syntactical constructions in the one text differ in toto
from those which characterize a Semitic language. It is claimed by
manv scholars that dialectic differences have been discovered within
Sumerian itself. The two chief dialects recognized derive their names
Sumerian and Akkadian from the country Sumer, or Southern Baby-
lonia, and Akkad, or Northern Babylonia. The older Sumerian dialect
is spoken of in the texts as the ' women's language.' The term has
not yet been satisfactorily explained, but meanwhile it is interesting
to note that ' women's languages ' are found elsewhere. Thus the
women's language in the South American and Polynesian languages
is caused by taboo, which prescribes that certain words are to be
changed, or omitted altogether ; thus the women among the Chiquitos
are allowed to use only the feminine forms of the pronouns, while the
men use both the masculine and the feminine. A special study of
these dialects was made by Prof. Haupt, who has shown that the
Sumerian often has m where the Akkadian has^; thus ma? and gal
('to be'), or m&r and ger, 'foot'; ng and mm are also interchangeable,
as in dingir and dimmir (' god '). This appears to show that the name
Sumer, which may have been Sungir in the older dialect, is the same
as the Shinar of the Bible, the region in which Babel, Erech, Calneh,
and Accad were situated.
Between the mountains and the northern portion of the Persian
Gulf there is an extended plain, which was in part covered by the sea
even within historic times. Formerly, the Euphrates and Tigris, as
well as the rivers of Susiana, emptied their waters into the gulf by
separate mouths, without uniting with one another. The country
along the coasts of Khuzistan and on the Shatt-el-Arab was called
Gambul in the Assyrian inscriptions, and the principal city Sapi-Bel,
while the region in which Susa was situated, toward the mountains,
was called Cissia. Toward the north and east were the Luristan
Mountains, among which Cassites dwelt, who bore the same name
as the mountains, and of whose language some traces have been
preserved ; still farther north the Guti lived. Antigonus, in late
antiquity, on his way from Eulaeus, near Susa, to Ecbatana, was
obliged to go through Cassite territory. These people •■■ had a
town od the site of the present Mai Amir, which was called [dhaj
in the Middle Ages. There are several mounds of ruins at this
point of the plain, one of which is as high as that at Susa, and dates
from the old Persian period. In the surrounding rocb there are
caves, one of which contains tw< lossal figures cut in the rock, as
well as a cuneiform inscription of thirty-three lines in the language
spoken in this district, and to which the name Elamitic or old-Elamitic
is now generally given. Inscriptions arc also found in the valleys
and ravines through which the main road from Susiana leads south-
ward. The Atabegi road, a very ancient one paved with large stones,
ascends from the plain into the i intainsj ;it Telät the mad divide-,
and one may branch off for Ispahan and Persepolis. This road
was restored in the Middle Ages, as its name shows. A- early as
the so-called Diadochi there was a paved road in the Klimax Megale
('great stairway ') leading from Susa t<» Persis; hence it cannot have
been built later than the time of the Achaemenides. Numerous ruin-
in the neighborhood of Mai Amir have been described by de Bode, but
most of them date from the time of the Sassanids.
Supplementing the inscriptions of Mai-Amir, but belonging to a con-
siderably older period, are numerous brick- and tablets found of recent
years at Susa, 1 which, containing dedicatory inscriptions of Elamitic
rulers, chiefly of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and r< rds of com-
mercial transaction-, have made it possible to distinguish various periods
in the development of the language spoken in Elam and Burr iding
district. The first attempt- at a decipherment of the text- of Mai-Amir
were made by Sayce and Guyard, but their results have been considera-
bly modified by the researches of Hüsing, who, following in the foot-
steps of Heinrich Winkler, is inclined to place the old-Elamitic lan-
guage in the Caucasian group, and also maintains that there is a
relationship between Elamitic and the language spoken by theCassites,
The later form of the Elamitic i- represented in the monuments of the
Achaemenides, who accompanied their Persian inscriptions with a Baby-
lonian and what we may call a Susianian or neo-Elamitic translation,
and which ha- been deciphered through the labors chiefly of Norris,
Oppert, and Weissbach. The kin-- mentioned in them belong t- both
-
158
BABYLONIA.
PLATE IX.-.I.
Monument of Naram-Sin, King of Agade, with Superim-
posed Inscription of Sutruk-Nakhunte, King of Elam.
History of All Nations, Vol I., page 159.
SI SIA VIA \ EMPIRE , v ,
very early and late periods. Thus Sargon II. (721 705 B.c.) speaks
of one of then, Sutruk-Nakhunte, and of him (c. i . , many
monuments have been found al Susa, II«' calls himself the - f
Khallutush and the fcworite of the chief god of Susa, I wn as Shu-
shinak. It was this ruler, it appears, who brought the remarkable
scries of inscriptions found on monuments, as well as the code of
Hammurabi from Babylonia as trophies to his capital at Susa, where
they were found by the French Expedition in 1897 1902; on one of
these monuments, a handsome stele of Naram-Sin (before 3 1
this same Sntriik-Xakhniite has added an inscription stating thai be
brought this monument which originally recorded Naram-Sin'e vic-
tories from Sippar. (Plate IX. A.)
As a result of these excavation-., supplementing those conducted by
Dieulafoy in another part of the city of Susa which contained the palaces
and remains of the Persian or Achaemenidian period, we non know
that a close contact existed from the earliesi days between Elara and
Babylonia, and we can follow the history of Elam in a general way from
before 3000 b.c. The old king of Agade, Naram-Sin, and various rulers
of the Ut dynasty, devoted themselves to the embellishment of the tem-
ples to the gods in Susa. Babylonian deities are nut with Inn' by tin-
side mC Elamiticgods and goddesses. The Elamitic rulers of this early
period are not called kings on their inscriptions, but patent, a title
which indicate- a dependency upon Babylonia. Almut 2300 b.c.,
however, the Elamites made themselves free, and from this time on
their ruler-, setting up their inscriptions in their own language, claim
to he kings. The time came, though not for almosl a millennium,
when the Elamites in turn overran Babylonia and earri.d away some
of her splendid monuments, including, besides those already refi
to, a statue of the goddess Nana, which the Assyrian king Lsurbanipal
boasts of having recaptured 1635 years later. I'm though after 'J
Elam did not have anything t" fear from the Babylonians, :i formidable
foe arose in the Cassites, who, coming from a district t" tin east and
northeast of Elam proper, brought Elam :i- well a- Babylonia nnder
their subjection. In Babylonia the Cassite rule lasted for
(,.. 1780-1200 b.c.), and Elam likewise does not appear to have had
any independent ruler- till the close of tin- period. When, bow«
her independence was regained ßhe rapidly rose in power and Mice
](3() BABYLONIA.
in maintaining herself for five centuries even against the onslaughts
of the mighty Assyrian empire; even Sennacherib, although he was
victorious, did not conquer the country. The conquest was not accom-
plished till the time of Asurbanipal, who was almost the last Assyrian
king. Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib, conquered the Dakkuri,
a Chaldaean people who dwelt upon the borders of the desert of
Babylon and made incursions into the Babylonian territory, captured
their leader, and burned him alive ; he subjugated also Bel-ikisha
of Gambul, which was, as has been mentioned, the part of Elam in
the lowlands, and fortifying his principal city, made it a bulwark
against Susiana. Nevertheless, this same prince, in the year 650
B.c., was an ally of Urtaki of Elam against Babylon. When Asur-
banipal came to the throne, in 668, Elam was afflicted with a famine,
and Elamites fled to Assyria. Although the Assyrians received
them, and gave them protection till the return of rain, Urtaki
began hostilities against them upon the advice of his general Marduk-
shum-ibni ; he secured the aid of the prince of Gambul and an Assyr-
ian governor in Chaldaea. Asurbanipal approached, and the allies
took to flight. In the following year Urtaki took his own life;
and Bel-ikisha, f r< >m his concealment in the marshes, engaged in
plundering Elam, which had become Assyrian. Later he was taken
prisoner, and put to death. Asurbanipal made a second expedition,
and chastised Gambul, destroying its chief city.
Susa, the ancient royal residence, was also the real capital of the
empire in the time of Persian sovereignty, and did not decline until
the neighboring cities, Gondi-Shahpur, Sinister (Sosirate), and also
Ctesiphon had become powerful ; coins are still extant which were
struck in Susa in 709. The ruins of the city form a mound, largely
composed of bricks, which is three miles and a half in circumfer-
ence ; and it is within this area that the successful excavations of the
Frenchmen Dieulafoy and de Morgan have been conducted. Reserv-
ing an account of the former's work until we reach the Persian empire,
upon which it exclusively bears, let us come to Babylonia and Chaldaea
proper, where the first ancient site to be thoroughly explored was,
Telloh, situated on a branch of Shatt-el-Hai, not far from Zerghul.
With rare devotion the French consul at Basra, M. Ernest de Sarzec,
spent no less than twenty years (1877-1000) at these mounds, and to
MUOHEIR, OR i ft ]r>]
him we owe our first definite knowledge of the construction of an
ancient Babylonian city. Telloh represents 8hirpurla or Lagasb, the
importance of which at one time maybe gleaned from th<
of several distinct quarters, each with its own special patron deity.
Beneath the remains of a palace of Seleucidian days, de Sarzec came
across a series of nine magnificent statu«- of diorite covered with
inscriptions in the old Babylonian Btyle of cuneiform writing. These
statues represented a fai is ruler of Shirpurla, whose name was Gudea
(c. 2800 b.c.), who, however, no Longer occupies an entirely indepen-
dent position, but owes allegiance to the Ur dynasty. The chief
sanctuary at Shirpurla was known as E-ninnu, * House of Fifty/ and
was sacred to N"in-girsu, who is identical with the god generally known
as Ninib. Two large cylinders of Gudea containing accounts of bis
deeds, are of inestimable value in the reconstruction of the history of
this early period, while the discovery of an exceedingly extensive business
archive, containing upwards of 30,000 tablets recording temple and
private business transaction- from a period that may be roughly defined
as c. 3000 to 2300 b.c., illustrates the< imercial activity of th
A feature of the temple area was a stage-tower of -even Btories, known
as E-pa, ' the summit house.' A large Dumber of clay cones and stat-
uettes with entire inscriptions were found, and among the bjects a
tablet representing CJr-Ninä, a ruler older than Gudea, aiding in the
construction of a sacred edifice, and accompanied by hi- eight children
and chief officers, is noteworthy (Plate XVI.); and -till more remark-
able is a monument, unfortunately only partially preserved, furnishing a
pictorial illustration of the campaign of E-annatum against the Gish-
banites, his victory over his enemies, and the burial of hi- own warriors
who fell in battle. A.coompanying the monument i- an inscriptioi
ting forth the details of the campaign. (Plate XIII.) The excava-
tions at Telloh an' now being continued l»y M. Cros.
At some distance —nth of the Euphrates i- the min Mugheir, the
ancient Ur, winch in high water form- an island (Fig. I v • I he rum
is about half a mile in diameter, and consists of a collection of hillocks
composed of rubbish. These arc Burrounded by numerous
which form an oval around them. Mugheir, which means
with bitumen,' is made of bricks united with bitumen. It i-
largest northern ruin, on a hill about BeYfJDtj fee« high. Like
Vot.1. iL
162
BABYLONIA.
Babylonian structures, it is placed with the angles toward the four
cardinal points. Rarely is a building placed with the sides toward
these points. Therefore it was not customary to remove the corner-
stone ; and later kings, when they restored a building, gave the assur-
ance in inscriptions that it had not been disturbed. These records
in regard to the building were inscribed upon ellipsoidal bricks, which
were built into the corner of the temple. The long side, toward the
southwest, is 198 feet long, and has nine pilasters, while the short
side, toward the northwest, has only six ; the other sides are as yet
Fig. 48. — Ruins of the Temple of Mugheir (Ur).
uncovered. The lower story is twenty-seven feet high ; and its top
is reached by a stairway eight feet wide, which ascends within. The
second terrace is 16 feet high, 119 feet long, and 75 feet broad.
This is not placed centrally upon the lower terrace, since it is much
nearer the northwest side than the southeast ; it contains a vaulted
passage-way, and is covered on top with the debris of bricks, vessels,
and lamps. A second stairway with balustrades, leading from the
lower terrace to the top of the second, occupied the whole of the
southeast side. Here we have a typical example of a temple in
stages (zigguraV) \ the first staircase was within, in order that the
EXCA VATI0N8 M l R (,;.;
line of the wall might not be broken; die Becond und third story
were reached by a stairway which was without upon the ten
Upon the bighesl storj the little shrine was situated, Dot in the
middle of the rectangular spare, bul nearer the northern end, for the
stairway required more room at the southern end. The brick coating
of this temple of the moon, called E-gieh-ehirga] in the inscriptions of
Nal idns, is ten feci thick ; the massive interior consists of burnl
and dried bricks. Taylor found an inscription at the south corner
and duplicates of it at the other corners. The Arabians assert that
half a eentniy ago a chamber still existed on the top of the second
story; and this is also indicated by the enamelled I. rick- which
formerly adorned the interior of it, and which lie scattered about
Upon the bricks, imbedded in the bitumen, i- -tamped the inscription:
<Ur-gur, king of l'r, builder of the temple of Sin (the moon).' This
kin-', as well as other- of the l'r dynasty, i- well known to n- from
inscriptions found at Nippur, over which these rulers once claimed
control and where they were actively engaged in rebuilding ami enlarg-
ing the ziggurat or stage-tower in honor .if Bel. The bricks "l' the
upper story of the ziggurat at [Jr, which were laid in a cement composed
of lime and ashes, hear the inscription ; • Dungi, the mighty hero king
of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad.' The sanctity of tin- /i:_ r L r urai i-
illustrated by the anxiety of the last king of Babylonia, Nabonidus
(555—539 b.c.), to re-tore it. The reign of ür-gur is probably to be
assigned to about '_!7<>o b.c. Bricks found in Warka, Senkereh, ami
Zerghul also hear his name as well a- that of other members of this
dynasty, which is noteworthy a- representing the oldest attempt in
the Euphrates Valley, so far a- known to us, of the establishment of a
kingdom uniting all of north and south Babylonia under one rule,
several centuries this empire maintained itself, though it would appear
that the ruler- during thi- time represented Beveral dynasties, Ham-
murabi's policy of uniting uorth and south Babylonia was in a measure a
continuation of that pursued by the kin-- of I lr. < opposite »he soul
end of the temple of l'r was a Becond building with projecting «
adorned without with perpendicular i The bricks have the name
of Ishme-Dagan, meaning 'Dagan has heard/ stamped upon them, tie-
mains of beams of the roof, made of the palm-tree, -till exist. x
the centre of the ruin- i- a large mound with graves, provided with a
l,;i BABYLONIA.
system of drainage. The graves of different families are separated from
one another by long strips of masonry. The dead bodies lie upon a
pavement eight feet below the surface, and have over them a cover
of clay shaped like a dome, or oval like a boat. The body always
rests upon one side, with the fingers of the right hand reaching into
a copper vessel, which contains the food for the dead, and is sup-
ported by the left hand. Usually an inscribed cylinder rested upon
the arm. In the graves of the women ornaments of gold and copper
were found, agates, rings for the ears and toes, bracelets and shells.
The successive layers of brick project, and approaching each other
at the top form the vault, while the ends are closed by a wall. The
whole ruin was a great city of the dead, for there are no traces of
dwellings. There is also an inscription of King Gungunu, son of
Isme-Dasran. The latter is also the name of one of the oldest rulers
of the city of Ashur (c. 1850 b.c.), a fact of importance for the extent
at one time of the cult of Dagan. The date of the Assyrian Isme-
Dagan can be fixed by a statement in an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser
I., living in the twelfth century B.c., that he restored a temple which
was built 641 years before by Samsi-Adad, a governor of this city,
and a son of Isme-Dagan. In the southeastern portion of Ur, Bur-
Sin seems to have erected buildings ; and he is also mentioned in con-
nection with Xippur and Abu-Shahrein. In this last place, covering the
site of the ancient city of Eridu, two stages of a temple of Ea are ex-
posed to view ; and on the southeast side is a marble stairway. There
is evidence that a shrine existed upon the second terrace ; for various
ornaments have been discovered, such as agates, alabaster, marble, small
gold plates, and copper nails with gold heads for fastening the gold
plates to the shrine. At the foot of the staircase stand two columns
composed of alternate layers of sandstone, obtained from the neighbor-
ing hills, and marble slabs. The columns thus formed are incrusted
with several layers of clay. Among the ancient relics are numerous
longish clay cones, whose bases are enamelled with different colors.
They were embedded in the cement of the wall with the bases ex-
posed, so that they furnished an ornamentation of various colors ;
besides, there are knives made of flint for cutting inscriptions, chisels
of stone with straight edges, and of clay with semi-circular edges,
stone rivets, also flat, pear-shaped punches made sharp at the edge
.\\< u:\ V SITES
\>y means of flint and benl adzes of burnl clay. The use of -and
and granite in the construction of ziggural of Eridu Lb quil
tional in the buildings of ancient Babylonia. In Tel-el-Lahn, which
is three hours south of Suq-esh-shujuch, clay coffins were found, con-
sisting of two jars fastened together with bitumen. The mound
ghul, situated near Nasshajet on the left lank of the Shatt-el-Hai, and
the mound El-Hibba sb miles distant, are noticeable chiefly as forming
an ancient necropolis, the exploration of which in 1887 by two Gi rman
scholars lias thrown much light upon the Babylonian methods of burial.
About twenty miles further south upon the Euphrates stands Senkereh,
the site of the ancient city of Larsa, and one of the chief centres of sun-
worship in Babylonia. The temple at this place, dedicated to the worship
of Samas, and known, like thai at Sippar (see page 170), as E-barra,
1 the brilliant house,' dates hack to the old kingdom of LJr, and while
Larsa played an important political part lor a limited period only, it
was one of the last places to succumb to Hammurabi in hi- attempt to
mute the old states of northern and southern Babylonia under one rule.
Nebuchadnezzar [I. built the surrounding wall and the upper portion of
the temple, and from the inscriptions of Nabonidus, the last king of Baby-
lonia who, in his devotion to the temple- in the old religious centi
the country,also restored the sacred edifice at Larsa, we learn that Ham-
murabi (e. 2250 b.c.) and the Cassite ruler Burnaburiash (c. 1 150
were among those who devoted themselves in earlier day- to the en!
mein of the same temple and tower. Numerous clay tablets that turned
out to be business contracts were found in portions of the mound where
the dead were buried, from which it would appear that after
period, when the city had perhaps been abandoned, the site wi
a necropolis.
Farther up the Euphrates, upon the left bank, i- an elevation
about six miles in circumference, which i- surrounded
during the larger pot of the year, upon I the imp
ruins of Warka, or link, called Erech in the Bible, and known to
Greeks, who were acquainted with the astronomical school t
as Orchoe. Near the centre, is the chief ruin. Buwarijeh, •
mat " bo called, because reeds were th<
the bricks against the weather. The walla
in many Babylonian buildings, by pila mented w
166
BABYLOXIA.
Upon it is the stage-tower and temple of the goddess Nana. Several
names are preserved in inscriptions : that of Ur-gur (2700 b.c.) of the
Ur dynasty is found on bricks on the southeast side ; that of Singashid,
who ruled somewhat later, is inscribed on the foundation of the shrine.
The second building, west of the first, is called Wuswas, said to have
received its name from a negro, who searched for treasures here,
and disappeared in a mysterious manner. It encloses a rectangle
650 feet long and 500 feet broad. In the eastern part of this is
a court with two gateways, and to the north is also a smaller one.
The southwestern portion of the building, which was perhaps built
by Nebuchadnezzar, exhibits a very ancient style of panel orna-
mentation (Fig. 49) ; it is derived from the work of a joiner or
carpenter, as seen upon doors, for example on a stone door at Sidon.
The upper part of the facade has narrow but tall niches ; many of
these consist really of two or three niches, one within the other,
decreasing in size as they recede from the surface. Under these
are groups of seven vertical half cylinders in imitation of a block-
house. In the somewhat broad spaces on either side of each group
of niches and half cylinders are depressions extending to the top
of the wall, and like the niches having two different depths. This
facade, incrusted with stucco two inches thick, has been repeatedly
copied from the original woodcut given by Loftus. The tower
wifli stages, at Khorsabad, dating from the eighth century, is a
good example of this style.
Reliefs in Nineveh, which represent houses and towers, re-
peatedly give this style of ornamentation. The Sassanian palace
of Firuzabad in Persis has only single depressions in the face of the
WARKA. 167
wall; on both sides of the pilasters, however, double oi
the top by an arch. Tak-Kesra in < tesiphon, dating from the sixth
century after Christ, has something similar. In Asasif, near '11
is a long wall, enclosing graves belonging to the Twenty-
Dynasty; it presents an alternation of two vertical depressions and
of two similar ones surrounded 1>\ a depression receding from the
surface like a frame, in the same manner as the niches described
previously. This style of decoration is, however, mel with in the
time of the pyramids in the facades of the mastabas. Th<
another building which is ornamented with the clay cones, which
have red, white, and black bases, arranged in lozenges, zigzag, and
in straight lines. Near Wuswas stands a kind of a tower, which
is decorated differently; it has the appearance of wickerwork;
between several layers of tiles arc three rows of jars embedded in
cement with their liases, which arc pointed, in the wall and tin-
openings outward.
Warka is the largest necropolis in Chaldaea; to it the «lend
bodies were brought tor burial from all directions, even as late as the
time of the Parthians. Several style- of coffins are here found;
some like those in Mugheir, others consisting of two jars or urns
with their mouths cemented together, and others still of a peculiar
kind, made of clay and resembling a slipper, or more exactly the
swaddling-clothes of a child. (('('. Plate XV., sarcophagi of this
form, from Nippur). The glazing on the outside is green (oxide
of copper) and on the inside blue. The threads are carefully imi-
tated. That these graves belong to a late period is shown by the
Parthian decoration on the surface of the garments, also by the I'
tlnan coins found near the coffins, and by small figures, as for exam-
ple of a reclining warrior, some of which have a Grecian char.:
The collins are placed above one another in greal numb« i
separated only by thin layers of sand. Loftus, who conducted ex<
tions at Warka in 1854, also found --me terra-cotta figurines, some
inscribed clay cones, and to the east of Buwarijeb some forty con!
tablet- with the name- ..I' Nabopalassar, Ncbuehadi.. . \ iU.ni.lu-.
and Cambyses. He also found eight tablets containing many im]
sions of seals, representing very varied objects, and cuneiform writing,
in which Greek names, like Seleucus and Antiochus, occur. At the
1(38 BABYLOMA.
same place was a vaulted tomb with an Himyaritic (South-Arabian)
inscription.
To the northeast is Bismya, where Dr. Banks is conducting exca-
vations for the University of Chicago, and which have already resulted
in the excavation of an exceedingly ancient temple with a statue of a
ruler who appears to belong to an earlier period than any as yet discovered.
( Plate IX. — B.) There are still other extensive ruins here, some of
which have been hastily examined, and others only seen from a distance.
To the north is Nuffar, the Assyrian Nippur ; it is situated at the
point where the Shat-en-Nil is lost in the Affej marsh. The canal,
which branches off from the Euphrates near Babylon, formerly ran
beyond this marsh, and emptied into the Shat-el-Kahr. The most con-
spiciious feature of the imposing series of mounds at this place is a
cone-shaped eminence rising to a height of about ninety-five feet, and
called by the natives Bint-el-Amir (' Daughter of the Princess '). An
examination of the ruins was made by Layard in 1851, but it was left
for an American expedition to explore them thoroughly.
In 1888, Dr. J. P. Peters, at the time connected with the University
of Pennsylvania, organized an expedition, and for two years directed
excavations at Nippur. The funds for the expedition were provided
by a number of public-spirited citizens of Philadelphia. Dr. Peters'
work, especially during the second year, was eminently successful, and
was continued by J. H. Haynes as director, to whose endurance we
owe most of the discoveries, including that of the temple archive, made
at N ippur. With an interval of only two years Haynes continued the
excavations alone until 1900, in which year he was joined for a few
months by Prof. H. V. Hilprecht, of the University of Pennsylvania.
To this institution belongs the credit of having unearthed one of the
oldest and largest temple-aveas in ancient Babylonia, and the inscrip-
tions and discoveries made in the mounds throw much light on the
oldest period of Babylonian history.
The material results of these labors of Peters and Haynes at the
mounds may be summed up as follows : Upward of 50,000 clay tablets
of various sizes have been taken out of the ruins from that section of
the temple area which harbored the archives, both the official business
records of the temple organization, the judicial archives in which copies
of contracts, commercial transactions, and judicial decisions were de-
PLATE IX— tf.
Oldest Statue found in Babylonia. Um ago
Expedition at Bismya.)
History of AU Nations, Vol 1 . ,
PLATE X
A r-< • 1 1 i>r i.nr ni Brick laid In clay mortar' (Nippur).
| 1 c>- 1 • t < •< 1 1 it < -i I bj permiuHionfroni Hilpi , ecbt,0/d Babylonian Inscriptions, chiefly from Nippur."]
i / , page 189,
PLAT E XI
Ekur, the Temple of Bel at Nippur. (First attempt at a
restoration by Hilpreeht and Fisher.)
[Reproduced by permission from Hilpreeht, Explorations in Bible Lands,
Philadelphia, 1902.]
1. Stage-tower with shrine on the top. 2. The temple proper. 3. "House for honey, cream,
and wine." 4. "Place of the delight of Bur-Sin." 5. Inner wall (Imgur-Marduk). 6. Outer
wall (Nimlt-Marduk).
History <tf AU Nations, Vol I., page 169
PLATE XII
Inscribed Bas-relief of Naram-Sin.
Vations, Vol. I . pagt 169.
PLATE XIII
Eannatum's Campaign against the Gishbanites.
History of All Nations, Vol, l.,page 161.
PLATE XIV.
North western Facade of the first stage of Ur-Gur's Ziggurat ( Nippur).
[Reproduced from Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, chiefly from Nippur.]
History of All Nations, Vol. L, page 169.
EXCA VATIONS AT NIPPI 1;
posited, und tlu- literary collections— the incantation texts, hymns,
ritualistic texts, and astronomical-astrological computation — winch in
the course of many centuries were gathered by the priests of Bel. tn
addition, about 20 Bo-called door-sockets with inscriptions of the
Babylonian rulers extending from the earliest period well down into
the rule of the Cassites in Babylonia, Sargon [.and bis boh Naram-Sin
(see Plate XII.) are represented by numerous bricks stamped with
their names and titles, and particularly noteworthy i- a long inscription
of Lugalzaggisi, who belongs to a .-till earlier period than Sargon, and
which has been skilfully pieced together by Prof. Hilprecht ..in of a
large number of vase-fragments. Beneath the sanctuary remains of a
remarkably constructed arched (Plate X.) tunnel have been found
which apparently served for purposes of drainage. The construction
is interesting as the oldest specimen known of the true arch in archi-
tecture. Its date cannot he accurately fixed, hut there is every reason
to believe that it belongs to the period before Naram-Sin. Votive
inscriptions to Bel, Belit, Ninib, Nusku, dating chiefly from the < assite
period (c. 1780-1200 b.c.), furnish the proof for die devotion to the
cult of Nippur shown by these foreign rulers, and the University of
Pennsylvania's Expedition has satisfactorily shown that the sanctity
of Nippur was maintained up to the Assyrian period. Asurbanipal
-626 B.c.)appears among the restorers of the ziggural or Btage-tower
of IM, and in. Iced after the conquest of the Euphrates Valley by the
Greeks, Nippur continued to play a role, though the ..Id temple of Bel
and the stage-tower are converted int.. a Parthian citade. and replaced
by Parthian palace-. From what has been -aid it will have become
clear that the chief work ..f the Nippur expedition ha- been confined
to the temple ana, and within tin-; area to the Btage-tower, which
appears to date hack to the day- of Sargon. (PLATE \I\. '1 he
accompanying plan of restoration, on the basis of the excavations at
Nippur (Plate KL), will furnish a general idea of the tempi«
known from the chief Banctuary a- K-kur — i.< .. 'Mountain House.'
Of the epigraphies! material two volumes of historical and votive
inscriptions have been published by Prof. Hilprecht, and two volumes
of business documents of the Persian period (c •">"
Pn.f. A. T. clay, of the university of Pennsylvania, forming part of
:, series issued by that institution.
170 BABYLONIA.
Farther north, where the Tigris and Euphrates approach the
nearest, arc several large places in ruins. The most prominent of these
is Babylon, which, although dating back beyond the days of Hammu-
rabi (c. 2250 B.C.), and perhaps in existence already in the days of
Sargon (c. 3000 b.c.), was so thoroughly rebuilt after its destruction by
Sennacherib (689 B.C.) that an account of the ruins and excavations
here may be postponed till we reach the neo-Babylonian empire (Vol.
II., p. 128). The modern ruin, Tel-Ibrahim, is probably Cutha, which
is often mentioned in connection with Babylon and Borsippa. It is
situated northeast of Babylon, on the Habl-Ibrahim canal; this con-
nect- the canal El-Muth, which flows along the road from Bagdad to
Babylon, with the Shatt-en-Nil. Shalmaneser, as the Bible relates
(2 Kings xvii. 24, 30), carried from here to Samaria certain colonists
who worshipped the god Nergal, a destructive war-god.
On the canal Habl-es-Süq, or Nahr-Malka, which connects the
Euphrates with the Tigris at Seleucia, is the ruin of the celebrated city
Sippar, now called Abu-Habba, According to Berosus, the god Ea
here announced to Xisuthrus (i.e. Khasisatra, 'the very wise one') 1
the approach of the Deluge, and commanded him to bury the tablets
containing the divine law and the oldest memorials of men. The
mounds here measure 1422 yards long by 875 yards wide, or about
250 acres, of which about 39| acres are taken up by the temple area
alone.
There was another city of the same name near by, and to distinguish
between the two, the one was called Sippar-sha-Samas, ' Sippar of the
Sun-god '; the other Sippar-sha-Anunit, or ' Sippar of the goddess
Anunit.' The identification of the place was due to Hormuzd Rassam,
who began excavations here in January, 1881, and soon came across
inscriptions of Xabonidus, the last king of Babylonia, in which he tells
us of his finding the foundation stone of the old temple E-barra or
E-babbarra (' brilliant House ') sacred to the Sun-god at Sippar, bearing
the name Naram-Sin, and of his satisfaction in coming upon a founda-
tion stone of the temple E-ul-mash, dedicated to Anunit, — a form
of Ishtar, — with the name of the Cassite ruler Shagarakti-shuriash
(e. L300), i hough the latter could not have been the first builder of the
1 One of the epithets of the hero of the Babylonian Flood, generally known as Ut-
nivpishtim (see p. 188).
.§,
Z-
- I
Tili: f: \r.) i ONIAN Sl V QOD 171
sanctuary. In a hall containing a large altar he found und. •
fl °or an earthen chest. In the chest laj a tablet made by Kabupal id-
din (c. 880-840 b. c), a cuneiform inscription and a representation
of the Sun-god, having a long beard and a high tiara, in a long
menl with wavy folds, sitting upon a sorl of Btool (Fig. 50 , H<
under a bcUdaehino, which rests upon wooden columns. Upon th<
of the stool Gilgamesh, the hero of the great Babylonian epic, and bis
companion Eabani, are represented in relief; from the baldachino,
which serves also for the sky, two gods are lowering the disk of the
sun by cords upon an altar. The inscription over the image of Samas
run-: 'Image of Shamash the greal lord who dwells in E-barra at -
par.' A worshipper — probably the king himself — is being led into the
presence of the god by a priest, and behind the worshipper is a per-
sonage intended perhaps also to represenl a priest Before Shamash
stands an altar on which the sun-disk rests, held by means of ropes
by two attendants. The inscription itself, alter recording the disap-
pearance of the former image of the Sun-god from bis temple during
a period when nomadic trihes ravaged parts of Babylonia, commends
Nabupaliddin for hi- efforts in having a new image mad.' alter ancient
models that fortunately were found. The king also bestows rieh . .tar-
ings of food-stuffs ami garments for the service "!' Samas and for the
support of the priests in attendance at the temple of Sippar. Rassam
was fortunate enough to find a part of the business archives of the
temple with several thousand tablets containing records ■■:' com mi
transactions. The work of Rassam was continued in 1894 in a ra<
by an eminent Kreuch scholar, Vincent Scheil, win« concentrated his
labors on the temple, and more particularly on that portion of it which
contained the archive-. A series of rooms, in which numei
labaries and other texts, clearly Berving a purpose like modern text-
I k- for teaching the cuneiform script and Ian- S beil concluded
represented the ancient scl 1 of the temple Tombs of various p- riods
were also found in other portions of the mound, Bom< in winch the
dead were placed in large jars, others containing coffin* of slipper
and bath-tub Bhape, similar to those found at Nippur -■• Plati
XV.), while in some cases vault- were built to .-..main the human
remains.
1 Si • 164.
172
BABYLONIA.
East of Bagdad is situated Tel-Mohammed, where Layard found
Babylonian bronzes and utensils of clay. Hit (Is) on the Eu-
phrates, celebrated for its bitumen, which was used as a cement in the
buildings of Babylon, serves as a natural boundary between Chaldaea
(Babylonia) and Assyria ; north of a line running from this point
to Samarra on the Tigris the country is slightly undulating, while
south of it is a plain of alluvial formation, once the bed of the sea.
In this plain are numerous mounds of ruins still unexplored, where
Fig. 50. — Adoration of Samas. Tablet from iSippara (after Perrot).
long ago there was a dense population and fruitful cornfields of
great extent, and along the river fine groves of palms. To-day the
date-palm extends no farther up the Euphrates than Anah ; and the
country, traversed by Arabian shepherds, has become a desolate
tract through a lack of irrigation and by reason of robber hordes.
Above the ruins rises in each case a tower-like temple, and we can
picture to ourselves its former appearance by means of the remains
still at hand and by the Assyrian reliefs. It is generally a shape-
less mass; for the upper portions have fallen in, and destroyed its
distinctive features, and the rains have also washed away much.
BABYLONIA V TEMF 17',
Although there were pipes and channels to carry off the w
yd, unless -real care was exercised, tin- verj severe th ler storms
injured the outside covering, and theo the moisture desto
(lie inside, which was made "I" crude bricks. Diodorus, upon the
authority of Ctesias, reports that the temple of Mardulc in Babylon,
which Nebuchadnezzar built, was ruined'in this a in
the Persian period; ami Strähn represents that it was completely
destroyed in the time of Augustus.
The st}'U' of the buildings was determined Largely by tin- char-
acter of the materials which were available. Since stone could be
obtained only from a great distance, it was used only for ornamental
work, such as statues, the facing of the walls ami dooi
To strengthen the building, ami to resist the Lateral pressure,
strong- brick walls were built with arches. The abundance of
metals found in the mountain range on the other Bide of the I
which was rich in silver, copper, iron, and lead, was the cause
style appropriate to metal : not only the architectural portions oi the
interior of the palace, hut even the furniture, was covered with ;i
Layer of metal. The furniture was mad.' of «rood, and then metal
plates were fastened on; and this style of applied metal work con-
tinued to be dominant even after the practice of casting metals had
come in vogue. Kven the columns were designed more for furniture
than for architectural purposes; for they did not
of architrave and roof, hut as pillars of pavilions and holdei
censers and garlands. Tables, chairs, baldachins, and chari
similarly treated. It was very different in Egypt; for there the
character of th.- wooden furniture was determined by tl
the cabinet-maker, whereas the articles in metal, as elm
n,,! exhibit the influence of the old repom*e\ work, but had a
Btyle determined by the fact that the metals W
The Babylonian temples proper, as well as the -•
massive terrace: and therefore in the case of the latter the staii
or inclined ways, which 1-d to the upper dun..-, were placed npoa the
outside. An altar stood at the fool of the tower, and on the l< : .
story th.re was a -mall Bhrine. There was no uniformity in the nam-
berofthe stages; sometimes th.re were three, corresponding t.. the
three divisions of the oniverse, sometimes ßve, a- in Oalah,
j 74 BABYLONIA.
of the five planets; and sometimes seven, as in Borsippa, where the
sun and moon were added to the preceding five. In the tower at
Mugheir the ascent was made by staircases, in the tower at Khorsabad
by a spiral inclined way. At present there remain at Khorsabad only
four stories ; but the panel and pilaster ornament is still preserved, also
the balustrade of the inclined way and the coloring of the stories.
V. Place represents the order of the colors, beginning at the bottom,
to be white, gray (black), red, and blue.
The palaces in Chaldaea do not furnish us a clear idea of their
appearance, since they are so much in ruins ; but as Assyrian art
is derived from Babylonian, we can
think of the Babylonian princes as
living in palaces similar to those of
Assyria, although in Babylonia the
stucco walls, with frescoes, took the
places of the alabaster slabs which
lined the walls in Nineveh. Perhaps
the ruins of Arban on the Chaboras,
which are older than those of Nimrud
(ninth century), exhibit the transi-
tion. The portals on both sides of
Fig. 51. — Head of Gudea from a statue
found at Telloh (Shirpurla). the palace are covered with stone
tablets, on which winged bulls are
chiselled in archaic style. The walls, which were built of dried
bricks, are destroyed. A lion found in the centre of the mound
resembles the Hittite lion at Ancyra, which will be spoken of later.
Hittite art is a branch of the Old Babylonian, not of the Assyrian.
The heads of the sphinxes have thick lips and broad noses ; quartz
and metal are inserted to represent the pupils of the eyes. The
clay coffins found in Arban resemble the Babylonian, although the
inscription on the winged bulls found there is written in neo-Assyrian
characters. The Egyptian scarabaei of the Eighteenth Dynasty, which
Layard here found, were secured in the expeditions of Thothmes and
Amenophis, rather than later by exchange in trade. It was later than
this that the region on the lower Chaboras, where Arban is, was
conquered by the Assyrians, and apparently by governors partially
independent.
PLATE XVI.
Ur-Nina and his Family.
History oj 4« Notion«, Vol l.,pagt >'■'■■
BABTLONIAN SCULPTURE
We obtain an excellent idea of the oldest sculpture from the ol
found bydeSarzec inTello: namely, the reliefs, and from th, I
ofkingGudea. (Compare Plates XIII. and XVI.,and I
That they belong to the earliest times is shown by the very ancient
cuneiform writing, arranged in vertical columns, as in Efeypt, and l.v
the names of the kings mentioned in it The statues are mad
the hardest diorite from the coun-
try Magan, which is to be sought, gjfjl
as Winckler has shown, in Ara-
bia. Of the heads only two have
been found, and on these unfor-
tunately the inxe is injured. The
eye. as compared with the almond-
shaped Assyrian, may be called
round, while the brows are st rongly
arched. There is no beard ; and
the head is shaven, and covered
with a close-fitting cap. which
has a turban-like brim, and is
shown to he a wig by its rows
of round ringlets. The bands
are longer than the Assyrian, and
are made with great care. A
long garment, reaching to the feet,
leaves the right arm bare. Lof-
tus found similar statues of black
basalt at Sam man and the neigh-
boring Jocha. "With this statue
of the older period may be com-
pared the Assyrian art in the statue of the god Nebo, found in
Nimrud (Fig. 53). The Bitting statue of Gudea holds upon \\-
lap a detailed architectural plan ; beside the tablet a metal stylus
is represented, Buch as was u^-A for writing in clay, and on th<-
front edge of the plan is a measuring-scale divided into
parts ) this is of very great importance for met
inscription, which is placed at the lower part, at tl
on the hack of the Btatue, begins: 'In the tempi« I N
from Telloh
IT«
BABYLONIA.
king, is erected the statue of
Gudea, governor (patesi) of Shir-
purla, who has built the temple
of E-ninnu. 1 ha of drink, 1
ha of food, \ ka of flour, | ka
of crushed (?) barley shall con-
stitute the fixed offerings.' These
offerings were to be made to the
statue of the ruler to whom in
this way divine honors were ac-
corded ; and, indeed, we find in
the days of the later rulers of Ur,
Gudea designated as a god, just
as the sign for god appears in
an inscription of Sargon I. be-
fore the ruler's name, as well as
before the names of quite a
number of the members of the
Ur dynasty. Upon the right
bank of the Tigris, above its
junction with the Little Zab, at
Kalah Shergat (Assur), a sit-
ting statue of Shalmaneser II.
(859-825) was found, which
is similar to these oldest Chal-
daean statues. Still the Assyr-
ians do not seem to have
developed this type any fur-
ther. These statues remind
one of those of the Sacred
Way of Branchidae, near Mile-
tus, which date from about the
year 536 b.c. The Egyptian
statues of this kind are supe-
rior to the Chaldaean and Io-
nian; for the former represent
Fig. 53. — Statue of the god Nebo, found at
Nimrnd. Limestone. (British Museum.) the body naked, while the latter
BABYLONIAN ABT.
177
have a garment reaching to the feet, which is very still, and without
folds. This same defecl causes the numerous Babylonian
ures to have a clumsy appearance, especiallj as the heads an
large. The bach of these clay figures was flat, as they were made
in a mould consisting of <>nl\ one piece; while the Assyrian
formed in a double mould, or were modelled \>\ hand. Then
also Babylonian bronzes, of which a basket-
bearer, found at Bagdad and now preserved
in the Louvre, is especially interesting < Fig.
54). It holds the basket upon its head with
both hands, only the Lower portion of the
figure is clothed with a kind of a case, which
is ornamented not with designs, bu1 an in-
scription of Kiidiinnabiik, an Elamite king
of the sixteenth century, etc. De Sarzec
found, in cubical sockets, and packed in
sand, remarkable earthen rivets, with figures
of the god Bel, of a basket-bearer, and of an
ox. Articles of this sort were placed in the
sand under the thresholds of houses, and on
graves, in order to avert evil. Of later
origin are the Babylonian «lay statuettes
of the mother goddess Iditar, who i- repre-
sented sometimes as placing the hands upon
the breast, and sometimes as suckling a
child. The statuette-, of the goddess, with
a tiara and a long fringed garment, are ruder
and more infrequent There i> a Babylo-
nian clay figure of this goddess-mother.
The mother holds in her arms her child,
which rests it- little head upon her breast i :
which arc only four or five inches high, ana especially a«
with the dead, and are therefore frequently met with in \V
other cemeteries. Thej gave rise to a wide)
works of art. which exhibited the same indecent
the rites of tins goddess. Schliemann discovered in the second
at Ilissarlik. a lead idol of the same
Vol. I. 13.
phom
178
BABYLONIA.
llittite mark of the swastika upon the private parts. Similar figures
were found in Cyprus by Di Cesnola, and in graves in Attica and
the Cyclades. The Greek sculptor was the first to transform the
vulgar attitude of the Asiatic Venus into one of gracious modesty.
From the twelfth and later centuries we have a number of stone
reliefs of Babylonian origin. Among these is a representation of
Marduk-nadin-akhe, now in the British Museum (Fig. 50). This
Babylonian ruler conquered Tiglath-Pileser in the year 1112 b.c.,
though subsequently he was obliged to succumb to
the Assyrian king. He is crowned with a tiara,
cylindrical in shape, upon which a tree pattern
appears to be embroidered between two sphinxes ;
around the top runs a crown of feathers, and at the
bottom a band with rosettes. The clothing consists
of a double tunic, of which the under one has long,
close-fitting sleeves, and reaches with its fringe down
to the feet; the outer one is thrown over the shoul-
ders like a mantle, and extends with its border of
tassels nearly to the knee. Both garments are richly
embroidered with rosettes, sacred trees, rows of half-
circles, and a network of hexagonal form. The king
has two daggers in his girdle, two long arrows in his
right hand, and a bow in his left. The shoes, which
envelop the feet and look like felt slippers, together
with the garment, which resembles a sort of dressing-gown, prevent
the figure from having a royal appearance.
As a specimen of the later glazed-tile work, the lion recently found
in Babylon (Plate XVII.) may serve as an example. It dates from
the days of Nebuchadnezzar II. (604-562 B. a).
Babylonia is highly important for the history of the art of engrav-
ing precious stones, since thousands of seals in hard half-precious
stones were manufactured by Babylonian lapidaries. In the East it
has never been customary to subscribe one's name, but to use a seal,
formerly upon clay and wax, now also with ink. Some of these
Babylonian seals are cylinders, which were rolled over the clay or
wax by means of a copper axle, and others are stones set in rings.
Great numbers of the seals themselves and the clay impressions have
Fig. 55. — Statu.
ette of Ishtar
and child.
>
X
w
<
J
Ol
BABYLONIAN A irr.
179
been found; and on them we find the nam.- of the owner and of I.
father, and often of the
god honored by him.
There is an impression
in clay of a double seal
w hich is highly interest-
ing ; one of these seals is
Assyrian, and the other
that of Pharaoh Sabaco
(Fig. 57). These seals
may have belonged to
an agreement struck be-
tween Eg\]>t and Assyr-
ia. In the seals the
writing is reversed, and
should be read in the
impression or in a look-
ing-glass; but there are
talismans with direct
writing. Among the
Babylonians, as the
priest-physician mut-
tered sacred formulas to
avert sickness, so cer-
tain stones were thought
to have the virtue of
warding off certain evils:
hematite was a safeguard
against hemorrhage; to-
paz against hemor-
rhoids; while the dia-
mond prevented the
execution of plans of
murder, preserved tin'
reason, and repelled wild
animals ; agate averted
i p.
danger, and brought •„ .
130 BABYLONIA.
power and reputation ; amethyst gave wisdom and prevented drunk-
enness. All the ancients believed that stones had a certain secret
power, especially if mystic figures were also engraved upon them.
In the Middle Ages there were books treating of stones, and this
superstition is preserved even to recent times in medical books.
These talismans were worn next the body as amulets, being sus-
pended about the neck, just as is the custom to-day among the
Arabs and in Southern Europe. The ancient Greeks received their
cut stones from Egypt and Babylonia. The first attempts that the
Greeks and Etruscans made to imitate Asiatic work were rude.
Success crowned their efforts only a short time before Alexander.
Except in the case of seals containing the names of rulers, it is
impossible to determine exactly the age of the cylinders, since
they are undated, though the general style and the character of the
writing furnish a relative chronology.
The oldest are made largely of black
serpentine or of black and green
jasper; also of hematite, which was
a favorite in all periods, because it
was so easily Avorked. They are
easily recognized by means of the
garments, which are wrapped spi-
Fig. 57. — Seals of the Pharaoh Sabaco n j ,, «
and the King of Assyria. ral1 ^ ar0Und the % ures > as U P on
the cylinders of Ur-gur and Dungi,
kings of the Ur dynasty, which are, however, preserved only in
copies. The invention of the turning-wheel or lathe, furnished
with a drill, divided the Assyrian work into two periods. In the
first the hand-drill was used, which was turned by means of a
handle, while the stone remained still. To make a straight line,
holes were drilled at the ends, and a connecting line was drawn by
means of a diamond point. After the introduction of the wheel,
the precious stone, fastened in a wooden handle, was held by the
left hand in contact with a small wheel, which was set in rapid
motion by a large wheel moved by the foot. The tools for engrav-
ing were fastened to the little wheel ; and the stone was cut more
or less deeply, according as it was moved forth and back. The
instruments used were a burin with round point, and saw, or
BABYLONIA V QLYP1
181
sort of file with a sharp point By means of Ü hand the
tool' was moistened from time to time mth diamond du
olive-oil; formerly emery was used, h was impossible to make
curved lines before the use of the wheeL The new Babylonian
stones exhibit more life ; a house or a tree indicates il, ,,,„1.
The art of engraving stones reached its highes« point in tl,
period. The red carnelian was no* used for the first time, bul
yeUow not till h.tcr under the Sassanids. The Persian cum
writing upon them Bhows that the stones belong to this period . and
other characteristics, such as the drapery, and the turban instead of
Fig. 58. — Cylinder of Mushexib-Ninib (London, British M
the tiara, distinguish them from the Babylonian. The Babylonian
work differs from the Assyrian in representing the forms a* more
slender, and in not betraying the life and movement bo well. A
sitting goddess, t<> whom another person is conducting a woman,
is frequently seen < n> the Babylonian cylinders; the turbans <
have two bent horns. The objects represented on the -
various. Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, is eery common, -tr.m-
gling the lion, '>r as a winged genius grasping by die Deck outi
('cruel birds of the wildern« --.' Lamentations iv. 3); this is I
on the jasper of K in_r CJrzana of Muaurir, south of Van. The
chief god of the later pantheon, Bel-Marduk, in contest with the
dragon; Sin. the moon-god, riding upon a bull; A-dad wit'
thunderbolt, [shtar, and other deities; and offering
182 BABYLONIA.
figured. The sacred tree is especially frequent, resembling at once
the palm and a kind of pine. Associated with this are winged genii, or
bulls, and worshipping kings, as is shown upon the cylinder of Mushe-
zib-Xinib (Fig. 56), whose name is found in Arban ; and surround-
ing these are winged horses, goats, and imaginary animals. This tree
reappears as the Persea tree of the Egyptians, the Hauma, or paradise
tree, of the Persians, which gives perpetual life, the Tübä and Sidret-
el-muntahä of the Arabians, and was employed in all imaginable
ways, upon furniture, dress, weapons, and religious reliefs. With
endless variations, as a motive for decoration it extended over Asia,
and by means of Arabian craftsmen was carried to Sicily and the
rest of Europe. Even in antiquity it came through Hittite art to
Greece, where it appeared first in the celebrated lions ov^r the gate-
way of the citadel at Mycenae. Later, cones containing the seal
in their bases took the place of the cylinders. Intaglios were used
much more than cameos. There is a cameo of Sargon II. from
Khorsabad, and in the Vaini Cabinet one of Nebuchadnezzar
(Fig. 59) ; the head of the latter is given in
profile, with a round, low-crested helmet. One
is reminded somewhat of the helmet in the
sculpture at Bayazid ; the head also resembles
that of Seleucus I., represented on his silver
coins as Heracles. The technique strongly
suggests Greek art. It cannot be regarded
Fig. 59.— Seal of as a modern forgery, since it was discovered
Nebuchadnezzar. . ..
long before the cuneiform script was known
to the modern world. It is barely possible, however, that it was
made a short time after Alexander, when the cuneiform writing
was still used.
The deities in whose honor the great ziggurats or stage-towers had
been built were in part the same which the Semites worshipped in
other lands ; but there long persisted a primitive belief in many
demons, coming from earlier times, which was being transformed
into polytheism. The characteristics of this belief in spirits can be
ascertained partly from the names of the higher beings, and from
the use, in the ancient incantation rituals which we have in late
Assyrian copies, and partly from the fact that those beings represent
RELIGION.
religious ideas different from those with which we are familiar in
Semitic religions. The Semitic influence subsequent
this foreigD element, or assimilates it; for n is generally true thai
gions which fail to advance fromabelief m spirits and specta
overpowered by the more highly developed on.
in the ease of the Kheta | Hittites), among whom only Sj rian
mentioned. This con-Semitic people anciently bad its own peculiar
beliefs, which perhaps only bad to dp with spirits of the air and
mountain goblins, beings similar to the Dactyli and Telchines of the
Greeks, like those still found in Caucasian fairy tales. Winn they
came into contact with the Syrians, and became acquainted with a
religion which was more perfect and more imposing, their own
superstition may have seemed so childish that they left it to the
common people, while they adopted the foreign religion as the official
one.
There are numberless evil spirit- in the Babylonian- Aseyriau re-
ligion, which, dwelling in the air, upon the earth, and under the earth,
cause misfortune, bring on the pestilence (Ira), produce oil manner of
diseases, take up their abode in the possessed, and cause bad dream«.
These numerous spirits could not he warded off except by mighty
power-, whose friendly aid must be secured by worship. At the head
of these stands a triad composed of Aim. god of the heavens; Kn-lil
or lie], god of the world inhabited by man ; ami Ea, god of the «
These three gods, originally local deities whose worship was a
with certain centres, Ann with I'ruk. Bel with Nippur, and I", i with
Eridu, underwent a symbolizing process through the theoloj
ancient Babylonia, who developed an elaborate coemological-astrolopail
system based on the general principle that the events on the earth ore
paralleled by occurrences in the heavens. A second triad was com-
posed of Sin, the in -god; Samas, the sun-god; A.dad, th.
of the thunder-storm; while at time- [shtar i- associated with this
triad and Nin-lil or Belit or Nin-khar-eag, the < sort of En-lil, i-
added to the first triad. Of the other chief gods, Ninib i
the morning or spring-time Bun and N. rgal the noon-day and sumnx
solstice sun. The latter i- also chief of the world of th.- dead and
the god of destruction and of war. In many of the incantation
which were compiled into elaboran M luk who, as the •
184
BABYLONIA.
Fig. 60. — Daemon, or Genius, with Eagle's Head. (London, British Museum.)
i:\ iL SPIRl i
god of Babylon, becomes the bead of the pantheon, is introduced as
the mediator between man seeking relief from the evil spiril
who is vi.wcd as the god of mankind par excellence. Froi
Marduk seeks advice when invoked by sufferers, and thi
generally involving purification rites with various other oeremoni
also bound nj> with the recital of certain magic formulas. In
rituals, the chief pari is played by Girru, the god of fire, the guardian
of the hearth and of the family, who is invoked as the one without
whom no sacrifices to the gods can l>e brought, since fire consumes 1 ii<
sacrifice. In his name, therefore, magic rites and formulas an
scribed; for fire, both in nature and in the hands of man, is a most
effective instrument. A religion can nave no grand ceremonial which
has not given definite forms t<> it- gods; in thai case the religious
will consist mainly of incantation-; representations of the demon*
thrown into the fire, and .it the same time wishes are expressed that the
evil influence may be destroyed as the object was burned. G
numbers of such magical series and rituals have been found in Assur-
banipal's library and published. At the entrances of cities and pa
it was customary to place winged bulls and lions with human heads, —
representations of the most powerful daemons, — which should Berve to
prevent the other destructive spirits from entering, frightening them
by their fearful appears ((Figs. 60, 61). As a specimen of one of
diese incantation formulas the following may Buffice:
The Utukku 1 of the field, the Utukku >>f ih<- mountain,
The Utukku of the Bea, the Utukku that Bits in pi
The bad Shedu, the shining Shed/u,
The evil wind thai knows no f«-:i r.
The bad Utukku, which has torn the -kin from ■ man,
By the -pirii< of heaven and earth !><■ ye foresworn.
The Utukku thai seixee bold of man,
The Ekimmu* thai aeiaee bold of man,
The Ekimnui thai creates evil,
The Utukku thai en atee evfl.
Frequently attache,] to these formulas, however, are most impi
sive prayers to gods and goddesses which, full of loft}
conceptions, illustrate the survival of primitive ritee and beliefs
beyond the age which had outgrown them.
1 Name of a class of daemon*
1 Shade of the dead -conceived as a daemon or evil apirit
186 BABYLONIA.
The cosmological legends and the mythological traditions of the
Babylonians are also preserved in Assyrian copies, which have been
brought in thousands of fragments from the library in Nineveh,
and deposited in the British Museum. It has been necessary to ex-
ercise great care in arranging and combining these, since they had
fallen from an upper story in Nineveh, and had broken in pieces,
and were in great confusion. There are several accounts of the
Creation ; and, besides many other legends, there is also an account
of a destructive Flood, which appears to be older than the accounts
of creation. The translations are in many points still uncertain. The
story of the creation begins as follows : " When above heaven was not
named, and below the earth had no name (the name is the sign of
existence), there was Apsu ('the deep') the primaeval begetter,
Mummu (the son of Apsu and of) Tiamat (' the waters ' or < seas ') the
mother that bore them all — their waters were united. No field was
formed, no marsh was seen. When none of the gods were in existence,
none bore a name and destinies were not determined ; then the gods
were created in the midst of heaven ; Lakhmu and Lakhamu were
called into being . . . ; The gods Anshar and Kishar were then
created (according to Damascius, Assorus, and Kissare, ' the upper and
lower space ') ; and long days afterward . . . the gods Ami, Bel, and
Ea . . . (according to Damascius, Anos, Illinos, and Aos or Ao)."
The story passes over into an account of two conflicts, one with Apsu
and Mummu in which Ea is the hero, and a second and much more
significant one in which Marduk overcomes the great monster Tiamat,
the symbol of primaeval chaos, pictured at a time when the waters
covered everything and were in unrestrained control. After the over-
throw of Tiamat, order is established in the universe, the dry earth
appears, vegetation ensues, and man is created. This creation myth,
related in a series of seven tablets, and consisting of about 1000 lines,
bears a sufficient resemblance to the Biblical story of creation to
warrant us in tracing both to a common source. Even in the present
entirely transformed form of the old tale as found in the first chapter
of Genesis, there are certain features that point to Babylonia as the
original scene of action, and the same applies to the Biblical story of
the Flood, where the Babylonian system of metrology is the basis
of the measures of Noah's ark. The Babylonian story of the Flood is
on '■■ i V/-V// epic
introduced incidentally in connection withagreal epi.
tablets detailing the achievements of a Bemi-mythioal bei G m< -I,
who lives alife full of strange adventures, and to whom
Fig. 61. — Winged Daemon in an « offering. Alabaster r.-ii.-f from Ki
in [eel in height. (London, British Museum I
personage, stories belonging t>> others (in some
tached. and who is broughl into connection with other myths thai
were currenl in Babylonia. He exercises a tyrannical rule in Trnk.
Inn :i rival Ea-bani, especially created b) the goddess Arum t<>
jgg BABYLONIA.
Gilganiesh's audacity and power, becomes his intimate friend. To-
gether they proceed against Khumbaba, who is appointed as the watch-
man over a sacred cedar forest. Khumbaba is slain, and Gilgamesh's
next adventure is with the goddess Ishtar who has fallen in love with
him. The hero rejects Ishtar's suit, and in her rage she asks her father
Ami, the god of heaven, to send a divine bull to kill Gilgamesh and
his friend. Instead, however, the bull is killed. The pair return to
Uruk and are received with demonstrations of joy as heroes. So far
the six tablets of the epic. The second half of the epic is sad and
sombre in character. Ea-bani is stricken with disease and dies. Gil-
gamesh bewails his friend, and begins a series of wanderings in which
lie encounters lions and scorpion-men, enters a wonderful park and
reaches the sea. The goddess Siduru-Sabitu at first tries to hinder the
approach of Gilgamesh, but yields to the hero's threats, and after a long
dialogue between the two, in which Gilgamesh, fearing lest Ea-bani's
fate may also be in store for him, asks how he may proceed to a certain
Ut-napishtim, who alone of human beings has escaped death. The
goddess tells him to reach his goal, which after much difficulty he
attains. Face to face with Ut-napishtim, Gilgamesh inquires how he
came to secure immortal life, and in reply Ut-napishtim tells the story
of a great flood which the gods had brought on, and from which he and
his wife were saved through the intervention of Ea. Ut-napishtim
and his wife try by various magical manipulations to impart to Gilga-
mesh the power to resist death, and finally direct him to a plant
" Restorer of the aged to youth," which grows at the bottom of the
water. Gilgamesh secures the plant, but on his way to Uruk comes to
a cistern, at which he halts to wash himself. A serpent comes and
snatches the plant out of Gilgamesh's grasp. The hero's fate is thus
sealed. He returns to Uruk and must look forward to death. In
the last tablet of the epic we once more find Gilgamesh wandering, this
time to find out what has become of his friend Ea-bani. The god Ea
grants him a sight of Ea-bani's shade, and from the latter he learns of
the sadness and gloom that prevail in the world of the dead. An
honorable death and proper burial, however, secure for the dead at least
rest and comfort, while he who is unburied and for whom no one
provides endures hunger and discomfort. The same gloomy view of
the life after death appears in the story of Ishtar's descent into the
Tin:
lower world, a nature myth based on the change of season*
goddess is represented as proceeding to the « land when,
return':
"To the house of darkness, the dwelling of b-kalla,
To the house whence le issues who bason i entered it,
To the toad whence there is no return when ■«■ i, I, ,. been trodden,
To the house whose inhabitants are deprived of light,
The place where dust is their nourishment, their food clay;
They have no light, dwelling in darkn
They are clothed like birds in garments of feat!
Over gate and bolt dust is scattered."
Ishtar passes through seven gates, leaving some of her garments and
ornaments at each until when she reaches the nether world
entirely naked. This pari of the story
symbolizes decay of vegetation ; while the
second half, in which, after being sprinkled
with the waters of life, she passes through
the seven gates again, receiving at each
the apparel and ornaments she had lefl
there, and emerging in her lull glory,
marks the return of the spring and sum-
mer season. The religious literature oi
the Babylonians abounds in Buch stories,
in which myths of a popular origin and
other tales are taken up and made the
medium for illustrating doctrines and
views developed by the priests in the
various religious centres of the Euphrates
Valley.
A Fish-god, who is represented on
monuments, is none other than Ea, and
he again is identical with Oannes,of whom
Berosus relates a myth which makes Ea-
Oannes the deity who Instructed mankind
in all the arts and gave then, laws and laid the foundation of I
Ionian civilization (Kg. 61). The Babylonian godfl m
potent in opposing the hostile forces of natare, and wen wore!
190 BABVLOXIA.
in order that their aid might be secured. The Assyrians, however,
were warlike in their character, and were constantly busied with mili-
tary preparations ; and therefore most of their gods had a warlike stamp.
The seven planets were the abode of the great gods : Mercury, of Nebo,
the Babylonian Hermes ; Venus, of Ishtar ; Mars, of Nergal ; Jupiter,
of Marduk; Saturn, of Ninib ; the moon, of Sin; and the sun, of
Shamash. This belief, however, was not a popular superstition, but an
integral part of an astronomical and astrological system devised by the
priests, of which the outcome is to be seen in the extensive reports,
records, and calculations of movements and phenomena of the heavenly
bodies — the sun, moon, and stars — found in Asurbanipal's library at
Nineveh. On the basis of this system an elaborate science of oracular
lore and portents grew up. The fact that there were seven planets
gave rise to the sacredness of the number seven, to the division of the
week, which is a quarter of a month, into seven days, and to the seven
chief demons. Every hour of the day has a planet as its tutelary god,
as also every day has that planet that marked its opening hour. This
is the origin of the names of the days of the week that are now used
by us, the names being derived from the gods.
Numerous allusions in religious texts, of which some illustrations
have above been given, reveal to us the views held by the Babylonians
in regard to existence after death. They conceived of a shadowy
existence in the next world, similar to that which other Semites held.
Such beliefs, however, as we find alluded to in the story of Ishtar's
journey to the better world, did not prevent the rise of a more earnest
religious feeling and of true reverence for the gods, as is manifest in
the numerous hymns which, though frequently forming part of incanta-
tion rituals, are not only couched in impressive and fervent diction, but
also marked by elevated thought. The flower of the Babylonian- Assyrian
religious literature appears in the so-called penitential psalms, some of
which are worthy of a place by the side of Biblical religious poetry.
As far back as our history extends, the Semites dwelt near the
Sumerians and Akkadians, and it must have been in an earlier period
that these latter had exclusive possession of the land. It is generally
supposed that the Semites originated in southern Arabia, and this view
is now gaining the preference among scholars over the one which
advocated Mesopotamia as the original abode.
CHRONOLOQl .,,,
Among the Semites we may distinguish two broad and
divisions,— -the southern and the northern; to the former I
Arabians, with numerous nations and races; and the latter«
several groups, the Babylonians and Assyrians, the Aram*
retained the name of Syrians), and the people of Canaan. The northern
Semites were conquered, and carried away in auch large mm, I,
first by the Assyrians, that they Lost their peculiarities of i
through the c [ue'sl of [slam the territory of the Arabic Ian.
was extended over the north Semitic Lands, bo that on]
and there not subject to Mohammedanism, like th< N
Mandaeans, preserved the Aramaic language. The Chaldaean popu-
lation of Babylonia is the result of the union of the S
the oldest inhabitants oi the land: and it would seem that the
had the greater influence in the earlier periods, while in the
Babylonian empire Mesopotamia can be regarded as a Semitic land.
Many names of the earliest rulers are Semitic, while others
Sumerian. The inscriptions furnish many names of kings,
whom it is impossible to arrange chronologically with any • •
Berosus, a priesl of Bel, win» was born at Babylon about bu
and win) in the time of Aiitioehns Soter ( 280 263 i w rote appan
in Greek a work- upon Babylonian history, is supposed t<> have made
use of old records. Vitruvius, Seneca, and Pliny mention him
only as an astronomer. Eusebius, whom we have already be
acquainted with as the one who preserved the fragment* tho,
quotes from the Babylonian history; he thus not, however, kn«>w
it in its original form, but only through an extract oi \
hist U-. win i lived in Rome in the time of Sulla. Since other osi
quotations from Berosus are made only through Ü
fragments in Eusebius and Josephus that treal of the i reation
mythology are not a reliable source. The fragments •
Eusebius, however, contain, in addition, a list of Babylonian V
likewise probably derived from Alexander Polyhist
cited in various works, and has given rise to ing<
It he-ins with the mvthical kings, who were both l>efore and
the Hood, and whose reigns are arranged chronologically. The I
before the flood reigned 182,000 thai is tweh
.,•,/,-,■, a saw being 3,600 years, or twelve solar i
192 BABYLONIA.
between two complete returns of the equinoxes. The others reigned
39,180 years, or twelve periods of 1805 years, or lunar periods of
22,325 synodical months (21,660 years or 361 sosses), together with
twelve Sothis-periods of 1160 years (17,520 years or 292 sosses).
The time from the flood to the birth of Abraham is 292 years (origi-
nally sosses), and there are 361 years from that time till the end of
Genesis, making in all 653 years instead of sosses, which would
make 39,180 years. Then follow the seven historical dynasties ; but
the chronology of these is not certain, since the duration of two is
not given. The only two established dates are B.c. 717, marking the
beginning of the Sixth Dynasty and also the era of Nabonassar, and
539, which marks the end of the Seventh Dynasty, coinciding with
the capture of Babylon by Cyrus.
In the inscriptions chronological data are occasionally given,
which assign some of the old rulers to a definite period, but com-
plete reliance cannot be placed upon them. The Babylonians had a
system of reckoning time, and had fixed the length of the year, but
they had no long period like an era. They reckoned their years
from the beginning of the reign of their kings or from some impor-
tant event. On the other hand, we find for a considerable space of
time perfectly reliable chronology indicated by the Assyrian limmu,
or eponymous years. Every year received the name of a high
officer, a city prefect, and one that of the king. In one place
the list mentions the eclipse of the sun which occurred June 15,
763 B.c. ; and by means of this date we can complete the series of
years forwards and backwards, from 893 to 666. Moreover, the
years from the 26th of February (1 Thoth), 747, the era of Nabo-
nassar, to the time of the Ptolemies, are made entirely certain by the
so-called Canon of Ptolemy (the geographer), who lived in the first
half of the second century. This important record was derived from
the tables which were added to the Almagest, an astronomical work,
in order that the eclipses mentioned in it might be easily taken
into account. From Nabonassar, who probably introduced the
reckoning of time by solar years, the canon gives twenty Babylonian
kings, ten Persian, thirteen Ptolemies, and the Roman emperors
down to its own time, with the exact number of years of each reign.
Lists of the early Babylonian rulers, arranged according to the
ce^es in which the rulers lived, «rill be found in the recent hi«,
of l; "-«' ,v : '"<1 Radau, l.nt i„ many ,,..,„,.,. , }, — i;_,. ,,,. Bti „
regarded as provisional, and will be modified and extended bj fu
discoveries and researches. I. ig not worth the while I
Lists, though ii may be of interesl to Bupplemenl the general
the earlier periods of Babylonian history at the beginning of this
chapter by further data selected here and there from the histo
records now at our disposal.
A Babylonian ruler of Elamitic origin i- Kudurmal.uk, boo of
Simtishilkhak j he calls himself king of Sumer and Akkad (south and
north Babylonia), ruler of Martu or • Westland ' and of Kmutbal, that
is, Susiana. This would indicate thai he extended his sway o
He had a son Eriaku (or Rim-Sin), who succeeded to the empire of bis
father. With this should be connected the aarrative preserved in I
xiv. 1—10, which is ■ of th«' later elements of the Pentateuch. The
kings Ajnraphel of Shinar, Arioch (Eriaku) of Bllasar (Larsa), Ched-
orlaomer of Elam, and Tidal, king of the < ■• > i i 1 1 1 (who have been
idcntifieil with the Guti, north of the Cossaeans), made war with the
kings <>t' Bera of Sodom (this name is .-till applied to the mountain
CJzdum at the southwestern corner of the Dead Sea . Birsha ol
morrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and with the king
of Bela, which is there called /oar. They did this in order to bring
them into subjection ; for these had rebelled against Chedorlaoi
who had subdued them twelve years earlier. The Canaanitish i
were defeated in the vale of Siddim (which i- probably the mod
southern portion of the Dead Sea. where there are marshy lowlands
covered at times with water), and their cities were captured and
plundered. Amraphel may be identical with the famous Hammurabi,
though this is by no mean- certain. Chedorlaomei at of the
god Lagamar') was, perhaps, an ally of Kudur-mnl.uk: Lagamai
the name of a goddess, which Asurbanipal captured ii 9
Of this important period in which Kudur-nial.uk lived we DOW
have eon~i.lrral.le .lata through the historical and votive inscription*
of his contemporary Hammurabi (c. 2250 b.< , . through official l<
of this same ruler and of oth.r members of the dynasty t-. which be
belonged, and through a mos! valuable chronicle which, -
served, records many event- in the n igns of the first ten member* of this
v.u.. I. 13
194 BABYLONIA
so-called first Babylonian dynasty. It was still customary in the (lavs
of this dynasty to use as a date some event in the reign of the king,
and since this method is followed in the business documents of this
period, of which now many hundreds are known, it is clear that the
chronicle in question was drawn up to serve as a guide in determining
the year to which a date in a business document refers. So, for exam-
ple, it is from this chronicle as well as from the corresponding indica-
tions in no less than four contract tablets that we learn of the conquest
of Emutbal, over which Kudurmabuk once claimed control in the thirty-
first year of the reign of Hammurabi. As a specimen of such a method
of dating, an example from one of the tablets in question may serve :
"The year of Hammurabi the King, in which with the help of
Anu and Bel, he established his good fortune and his hand subdued
the land of Emutbal and Rim-Sin (or Eri-aku the son of Kudur-
mabuk) the king."
Ordinarily, however, the dating formula is much briefer. Thus in
a document of the reign of Sin-idinnam, the contracting parties swear
by the name of the god of Ur and of the king Nur-Adad ; and the date
is expressed as follows : " Month Tebet (December), of the year in
which he adorned with gold a high throne for the god Shamash." In
the contract tablets dating from the time of Rim-Sin, who built a
fortification around the city Larsa, together with a tower, and also
constructed and restored several temple buildings, the capture of the
city Apirak is mentioned ; thus, " Month Tishri (September), thirtieth
day, in the nineteenth year after Apirak had been captured by the ruler
Rim-Sin, who is still alive." This event was of sufficient importance
to mark the beginning of an era. The site of Apirak has not yet
been determined ; but it was apparently important that a dynasty
should possess it, for it is announced that Naram-Sin, one of the oldest
rulers, captured Apirak. The capture of cities like Kish and Dur-Ilu
in Babylonia is used in the same way to indicate a date. Upon one
tablet the year is mentioned in which the Tigris, the river of the gods,
was connected with the sea ; that is, a canal was constructed connecting
it with the Persian Gulf. The building of temples was also used as a
basis for dating, and thus by merely placing dates together we obtain
considerable historical material for this early period.
It is not surprising that when we pass beyond the age of the first
vi/.'." \ AND NA RA M-S1N
dynasty which ruled in the city of Babylon our knowledge should be
less precise, for even to the Babylonians of later tim< irlier
period appeared in a half-legendary light This \ tided
from the story about Sargon I. found on a tablel of A*urbanipa)'ii
library, in which we find the Bame motif as in the stories about M
( !yrus, and Romulus. The tablet so far as pn -• I- ■
•• I am Sargon the mighty king, the king of \
My mother was of uoble birth (?) ; my father was unknown. M .
father's brother used to dwell in the highlands, ami my oativ<
was Azupiranu, which lies on the banks of the Euphrafc -. My mother,
of noble birth (?), iceived me, and bore me in Beeret She put me
in a basket of sAur, and closed up the opening with bitumen. She
cast me into the river, which did m>i flow over me [71. The river
carried me along to Akki, the irrigator. Akki, the irrigator, t.x.k
me up. Akki. the irrigator, reared me as his child. Akki. the
irrigator, made me a gardener. WTiile I acted as gardener, l-litar
showed me favor. Forty-five years(?) I ruled over the black-h
race (i.e., the Babylonians): I . . . axes of bronze, . . . : [I ruled] the
upper land, I governed [the kings] of the lower land. . . ."
remainder of the inscription is incomplete, and hardly intelligible: it
seems to refer to the conquest of Dur-ilu on the borders of Elai
of Dilmun, the island city in the Persian Gulf.
Again, events in Sargon's reign became f>r later times th<
for ili'' interpretation of omen — an indication likewLse of the " sym-
bolical " aspect acquired by the remote age in which he was pi
This tablel that recounts the deeds of Sargon i.s divided into
sections, each of which gives at the beginning the condition of tin-
moon. From thi^ we learn that Sargon made an expoditioi
Elam, and thai in an expedition which lasted three y< irs, I.
the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Re also repulsed an enei
besieged him in Agade, and al last the kingdom
from which he carried 1 ty back to lii- capital. II
Sin, i- called " King of the four regions" 1 1 j ►• • 1 1 ai
w.i- found in Babylon, and which i- described as a pico nl b
n i Arabia).
1 A phnwe in
kn-.w from the inacri|
196 BABYLONIA.
Next to Sargon, the name t 1 -\i made the deepest impression upon
the memories of the Babylonians was that of Hammurabi — the sixth
member of the first dynasty of Babylon — who ruled for forty-two years
(c. 2300-2250 b.c.). It was under Hammurabi, preeminent alike as a
military leader and statesman, that Babylon, the origin of which may
indeed go as far back as the days of Sargon, rose to political supremacy.
From this time the title " king of Babylon " generally replaces the
older one of " king of Sumer and Akkad "• and amid the frequently
changing fortunes of the succeeding fifteen hundred years, the city of
Babylon with only rare intervals and short interruptions maintained
itself as the centre of the entire Euphrates Valley. The union of
Euphratean states thus brought about ■ by Hammurabi was of a more
permanent character than the earlier one represented by the Ur dynasty,
and even after it was dissolved through the rise of the independent
state of Chaldaea in the extreme south, its effects were felt throughout
the period of Babylonian history ; and when, after the fall of Assyria,
a Chaldaean dynasty succeeded in erecting the neo-Babylonian empire,
not only was Babylon chosen as the political centre, but the example
of Hammurabi evidently influenced the neo-Babylonian kings, notably
Nebuchadnezzar IL, who even imitated in his inscriptions the style of
the cuneiform characters current in Hammurabi's days.
Besides a large number of tablets from Hammurabi to his officials
and to contemporary chieftains, and of inscriptions which enable us to
penetrate even into the details of occurrences during his long reign,
in which he succeeded in making all of Babylon and Elam subject to
him, we have records of his many undertakings, such as the cutting
of canals for the internal improvement of the country, and of his
activity in embellishing the temple of Marduk and of other gods
worshipped in Babylon. Most precious of all, however, is a mag-
nificent monument of diorite, over seven feet high, found in 1902
by the French expedition at Susa, and which proved to be an elab-
orate code of laws set up by Hammurabi for the government of his
empire (Fig. 63). The monument stood originally in the temple to
Shamash — the sun god — at Sippar, and was carried as a trophy to
Elam probably by Sutruk-nakhunte, of wliom we have spoken above
(p. 159). The design at the top shows Hammurabi in an attitude
of adoration before the sun god — who is the god of justice and right-
4>v ..
Pio. 63. King Hammurabi of Babylon b
s
WAR.
197
. r
Fig. til. An Armenian town stormed; r<
I after i ayard.)
198 BABYLONIA.
eousness par excellence — and in accord with this sentiment Hammurabi
in the body of the inscription calls himself king of righteousness,
impelled by consideration for the welfare of his subjects to draw up
laws that might ensure justice to all and to establish peace and security
throughout the land. The laws themselves, consisting of about 300
paragraphs, represent a combination of customs derived from primitive
days, with regulations that are the outcome of more advanced social
conditions. While the punishments meted out for offenders — theft,
fraud, assaults — are exceedingly severe, great precautions are taken
against miscarriage of justice. Parental authority is recognized as
paramount, but the son is protected against an unwarranted exercise of
tins authority, and similarly the wife is protected against neglect on the
part of her husband. The lex talionis is in full force, but the era of
"blood-avenge" — so characteristic of primitive Semitic society^is
past. 1
The exact relationship of this code of Hammurabi to the Penta-
teuchal codes has not been ascertained, but so much is clear that con-
ditions prevailing in Babylonia as reflected in Hammurabi's code, as
well as specific stipulations, exercised considerable influence on the
Hebrews and on their leaders, to whom we owe the Hebrew codes
embodied in the Pentateuch, and that date from various periods from
the ninth to the fifth centuries.
The dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged was succeeded about
c. 2150 b.c. by a series of eleven rulers who appear to have come from
the extreme south of Babylonia, known as the " Sea land," and to have
secured control of the city of Babylon. A more serious change is
represented by the Cassite invasion of Babylonia, which took place
about 1780. Of the 36 kings, extending over a period of 576 years
— as a Babylonian chronicle informs us — only about a dozen are
known to us through inscriptions — chiefly boundary stones and small
votive tablets — but our knowledge of the period is somewhat enlarged
by the records of rulers of Assyria, which during the reign of the
Cassites forges to the front, while the archaeological interest of the last
king of Babylonia, Nabonidus, prompts him to mention several of the
1 For a full translation of the code, see Johns, "The Oldest Code of Laws in the
World" (Edinburgh, 1902), also in the same author's "Babylonian and Assyrian
Laws, Contracts, and Letters" (New York, 1904), and K. F. Harper, "The Code of
Hammurabi" (Chicago, 1903).
CAS8ITE EULER8. 199
Cassite rulers whose nam.- he finds .>n records of the templea which he
i- engaged in enlarging and rebuilding.
At first the relations between the Cassites and Assyrians seem to
have been friendly, though if, as has been supposed, the district of
Kliani whence Agumkakrime brings back the captured Btatue of
Marduk and his consorl Sarpanit, is a pari of Assyria, it would
that hostilities had broken out between the south and the uorth in the
seventeenth century. Afterward, however, we hear of treaties and
alliances between the Cassite and Assyrian rulers in the days of Kara-
indash and Burnaburiash I., while a little later (c. 1500) a Cassite king,
Kara-eharda-di, marries Muballit-sherua, the daughter of the Assyrian
king Ashur-uhallit. The alliance, however, was also fraught with
danger, for when, after the murder of Kara-chardash, unsettled condi-
fcions prevailed in Babylonia, it was through Ashur-uballit's interference
that (e. 1400 b.c.) his great-grandson, Kurigalzu II.. was placed on
the throne. Bel-nirari, the successor of Ashur-uballit, begins the
hostile attitude toward the south which finally had-, under Tukulti-
Xinih I. (c. 1300), in the practical subjection of Babylonia to Assyria,
A revolt against Tukulti-Ninib in Assyria is followed by the temporary
decline of the Assyrian power, but when a new period of strength and
military glory sets in under Tiglathpileser [. (c. 1130), Babylonia too
is involved, and soon thereafter the Cassite rule comes to end, and
dynasties of various origin, though more or less under control of
Assyria, followed, until in the eighth century the ruler- of Babylonia
became practically viceroys in the service of Assyrian kings,
CHAPTER V.
SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
BEFORE we begin to describe the struggles of the Egyptians
with the various peoples of Syria, it will be well to speak of
the geographical and ethnographical characteristics of the latter coun-
try, as well as to give some of the more salient points in its history.
In order to present the subject connectedly, it will be necessary to
touch upon many things which really occurred later than these strug-
gles. It will also be necessary to discuss the oldest Assyrian his-
tory later, although it is connected with events touched upon at
the close of the preceding chapter.
Syria is the country lying between the Mediterranean Sea, the
Arabian Desert, and the Euphrates River. It is traversed by moun-
tain ranges running north and south, which touch Mount Taurus
iu the north. The chief rivers of the country run in the valleys
between these mountain ranges. As the land is the highest at the
centre, some of them, as the Orontes, flow to the north, and some,
as the Litany and Jordan, to the south ; the Orontes flows through
Coele-Syria, and after passing Antioch empties into the sea; the
Litany, turning to the west, flowing through a valley, enters the
sea north of Tyre. At the foot of Mount Hermon are three foun-
tains, whose waters unite with smaller streams, and form the Lake
Hüleh, from which the Jordan flows into the Lake of Gennesaret,
or Sea of Tiberias (Fig. 65). The Jordan, soon after leaving this
lake, enters a broad, barren valley, which has a tropical climate. At
first it is a small volume of water ; but its waters are soon increased
by the Yarmuk, which comes from the region of Bozrah, and by the
Jabbok, which flows through Gilead, rich in forest and grass. The
waters of the Dead Sea, into which the Jordan empties, are increased
by still other streams, as the Arnon in Moab (Fig. 66). East of
the Jordan the land is well watered, but on the west it is to a large
200
GEOGRAPH!
201
extent barren and unfruitful. The race of Lot, whom the genea-
logical history of the Bible represents as the nephew of Abraham,
must he located in Moab. Lotan was a chieftain in the mountains
of Edom(l Chron. i. 38 ; Gen. xxxvi. 20). The well-known legend
of the sensual conduct of Lol musl have arisen out of hatred
felt toward Moab, who was s;ud to be a descendant of Lot; the
pillar of salt into which his wife was transformed stands above the
Dead Sea at its southwestern extremity, at I /dum ( Fig. 67 }. This
lake is remarkable from the fact thai us waters are strongly impreg-
Fig. 65. Lake Tiberias, or Gennesaret
uated with minerals ; and <>n this account uo fishes can live in it.
It varies greatly in depth, being in its northern portion 1,082
deep, while in the southern portion it is less than 1" feet Its Bur-
face is nearly 1,300 feet below tin- level of the Mediterranean.
The narrow strip of land lying along the shore oi th.- Mediter-
ranean, between it and the mountains, is yerj fertile, being visited
by frequent rains. The Philistines occupied the southern portion,
— a warlike people who emigrated from the island Caphthor, prob-
ably Cyprus, and lived in a confederacy of u- ander princes
(Seranim). Three of these cities were on t! ast, with
th.- temple of Zeus Mamas, that is, -our lord:" Ashdod, with a tem-
ple of Dagon; and Ascalon, with the temple of Derceto and her
202
SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
daughter Astarte. In the interior were Ekron, now called Akir,
east of Jebna (Jabneel), and Gath, probably the modern Tel-es-
Safie, situated between Beth Jibün and Ekron.
Farther north along the coast dwelt the Phoenicians: they oc-
Fig. 66. — Mouth of the river Arnon, or Mojib.
cupied the fruitful region, bordered by splendid forests and moun-
tains abounding in metals, which extends from a point in the north
opposite Cyprus to Carmel on the south ; Carmel is the boundary of
the plain of Jezreel, through which the river Kishon flows. The
rinn: skia vs.
original home of the Phoenicians is still a matter of uncertainty.
Herodotus preserves a tradition thai they came from the Erythraean
Sea (Persian Gulf). This is possible only mi the supposition that
centuries were occupied in the migration, and that it was aided
by colonics established for purposes of trade. The Greek name
;
Fig. 67. The salt oolamnsal i Baum.
of the people ( Phoenices) Beems to luve been derived from phoinix,
the date palm. Their native name, Poeni, or Puni, was used by
t |„. Romans to designate the Phoenician Carthaginians. They must
,„,, be confounded with Punt named ou Egyptian monument«, which
designates the district along the southeastern coast of Arabia and the
corresponding strip on the African coast whose inhabitant!) established
204 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
a close intercourse between Africa and Arabia. The langnage of the
Phoenicians became the prevailing speech of the country. It is identi-
cal with the Moabite, Hebrew, and other dialects of Palestine. The
Phoenician religion is a type of the old Canaanitisli nature worship,
modified by Babylonian and Egyptian elements. The sun, moon, and
planets were worshipped, being regarded as living, intelligent
forces, having the power to influence the will and fate of men.
The male creative power of the sun is personified by Baal, while
Ashtoreth represents the productive power of the universe. The
scorching heat of the sun is represented by Moloch, who is portrayed
as a bull, or as a man with a bull's head. The wild boar, which is
made furious by the summer's heat, is sacred to him ; he is there-
fore only a form of Baal, and they sought to appease him by burn-
ing children alive. The Phoenicians had the idea that the angry
god should receive the best of their possessions as a sacrifice ; and
this primitive rite prevailed among them, notwithstanding their
high culture, even till a very late period, as, for example, in Car-
thage. Similar sacrifices were offered to Moloch by the Ammonites
and Jews : Solomon built a shrine to Moloch upon the Mount of
Olives (1 Kings xi. 7) ; Ahaz caused his son to be offered up (2
Kings xvi. 3) ; and it was not till the time of Josiah that the service
of Moloch was abolished in the valley of Hinnom (2 Kings xxiii.
10 ; Jeremiah vii. 31, 32). Baal was worshipped under many forms,
as Baal Shamirn, or ' god of heaven ' ; Baal Hamon, or ' Sun-god ' ;
Baal Berith, or ' god of the covenant ' (at Shechem) ; also as Baal
Gad, or 'god of good luck.' This god was worshipped at the
foot of Hermon, and therefore was also called Baal Hermon. In
Ekron of the Philistines he was called Baal Zebub, ' the god that
wards off flies.' Other names were derived from the places where he
was worshipped, as Baal Peor from Mt. Peor in the northern part of
Moab ; Baal Meon, from a place (likewise in Moab) now called
Main, where stone altars are found. The name of the god appears in
composition in many Jewish names, as Baal-iada, a son of David (1
Chron., xiv. 7), though in the parallel passage (2 Sam. v. 16) El-iada
occurs, in which El is substituted for the objectionable Baal. It would
appear, therefore, that at one time the Hebrew god Jahveh was also
known as Baal.
ASTARTE. 205
Another deity was Astarte, the Hebrew Ashtoreth, honored U\
•all the Syrian peoples as the productive power of nature, the Assyr-
ian Ishtar, the Arabian Attar, win, is represented also as a male,
and is, therefore, androgynous, as the god is represented with the
attributes of the goddess and the reverse, symbolized al the festivals
by tlir exchange of garments (cf. Dent. wii. 5). This goddess was
called Derceto by the Philistines, and was honored as Atargatia in
the celebrated temple at Hierapolis (Membidj) near the Euphrates.
The lion is sacred to her; and she Is represented as standing upon
one, or in the form in which she appears anion-- the Greeks, as riding
in a wagon drawn by a lion. Her worship was attended with licen-
tiousness, and her women turned over their ill-gotten gains to the
temple treasury. Such temple slaves are frequently mentioned in
the Old Testament, and were distinguished by their peculiar attire.
The Phoenician merchants and sailors had such women everywhere
in their colonies. The symbol <>!' Astarte (Ashtoreth) was the
asherah, a trunk of a tree with a meaning similar to the 'idol ' of
1 Kings x\. 1:'), a priapus, like the emah of the Babylonians
(Jer. 1. 38). The animals sacred to her are those distinguished for
their generative power, — the ram, he-goat,
doves, and fishes. In the temple of Aphro-
dite, at Paphos (Fig. 68), a cone-shaped stone
siood between two pillars in a cells ; before
it there was a cage for doves, and a fish-pond
in each of the two courts. Such a house lor
doves is still preserved in the temple of Gozzo,
where there are several rows of rectangular kl-. <:-. ironxe
holes, one above the other, for the doves : in Paphos. Empe
racalla (211 217 i.D. ,
front of it there was a hendi or stone table
on which the food was strewn. A coin of Antoninus Tins repre-
sents such a dove-house; the fish-pond is also often seen on coins
of Cyprian cities. Tin' festivals of Ashtoreth were accompanied by
many Btrange rites which her devotees practised in an ecstatic state
amid the din of drums, cymbals, and pipes. The goddess herself,
according as the ecstasy or remorse that attends Bensual ex< — ••- had
sway, was viewed either as the voluptuous or as the chaste goddess,
Did,., or Elissa, in Carthage, the pure Artemis, goddess of the
206 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
chase, or the Magna Mater, at Ephesus. The Amazons, who were
hostile to men, were her servants, and danced in arms at her fes-
tivals.
The Phoenicians had another god, Melkarth, or Baal, of Tyre, called
also Cadmus, and by the Greeks identified with Hercules, a mediator
between the world and the real Baal; mythically viewed as the
champion of the god. Out of ruin he brings new life, destroys the
injurious influences of the twelve signs of the zodiac (the Labors of
Heracles), and tempers the winter's cold and the summer's heat (that
is, kills the lion). During the winter he remains asleep, or is far
away in Gades, near the Pillars of Hercules, where was his resting-
place (1 Kings xviii. 27). He was a god who wandered over the
earth, established Phoenician colonies, and delivered them from de-
structive forces. He was the first to wear the purple, and to direct
the affairs of nations ; he appeared as Minos in the Phoenician colo-
nies. Herodotus saw a temple to him in Tyre, in which were two
columns of gold and emerald (green glass) ; and in Gades there were
two columns of bronze in his temple ; the god himself had erected
for his own honor pillars in the mountains of Calpe and Abyla, and
the Phoenician workmen of Solomon placed the pillars of Jachin and
Boaz before the temple.
Tammuz, who was called Zerach (' the appearing one ') in north-
ern Syria, was worshipped in Byblus. He is a god of spring, a
beautiful youth, who is killed while in his prime by the boar of
Ares, and is mourned by Baaltis (Baalat) ; he is also known
as Adonis — a title which has the force of ' lord.' The Adonia were
celebrated in the month which was named after him. The boar
symbolizes the summer's heat and the rainy season, during which
the sun is not seen. The river of Byblus, the Adonis (Nahr-Ibra-
him), becomes swollen in the autumn ; and its waters are colored
by the red soil, which indicates Adonis's death in the mountains.
The image of Adonis was carried about and bewailed by women
with the lamentation hoi adon we hoi Jiodoh, ' Woe Adonis, woe
his splendor.' They prepared the Adonis gardens, consisting of
vessels filled with quickly fading flowers ; but upon the approach
of spring the resurrection of the god was celebrated with many ex-
cesses. In the plain of Jezreel, at Hadadrimmon, south of Megiddo,
PHOENICIAN GODS. 207
where a lamentation for Adonis Likewise was made, this lamenta-
tion was transferred at a Later time to King Josiah, who fell there
in 608 b.c. (Zech. xii. 11 ; 2 Chron. \\w. -J."», cf. Ezek. viii. 1 \ ,.
A Later version of the Osiris myth joined Adonis with Osiris, and
represented the dead body of the Latteras driven about in a chest,
but at last found by Isis.
The different gods of the Phoenicians, as worshipped in their
cities, arc grouped together in the sacred aumber of Beven, as < !abiri,
( ' the greal ' ). They are called also Titans, or children of Kl. Bene
Elohlni, represented as elementary or cosmogonic spirits in the form
of children. Eshmun is added as an eighth ; and all are called chil-
dren of Sidduk, Mhc righteous,' that i-, of Baal Shamim. The
Greeks, who found their worship in Lemnos, Samothrace, and
Rhodes, regarded them as children of the sun-god, or of the Egyptian
Ptah-Hephaestus, and adopted into their own worahipwith the mys-
teries of the Cabiii, secret teachings in regard to the idea of life after
death, which treat of the discovery of the wandering goddess of the
moon Ashtoreth by Melkarth, and of the marriage of the two. The
chief of the Cabin was Chusor, the director of the world, the
inventor of navigation and of the manufacture of iron. His image i>
represented upon the coins as Hephaestus, with hammer, tongs,
and leathern apron. Chusartis, or Harnionia, the personified law or
ThaurÖ (Hebrew Torah), is a female (alma: she is alike moon-
goddess, or Ashtoreth, and spouse of Melkarth. or Cadmus. There-
fore this Cadmus was also reckoned among the Cabiri. He broughl
writing to the Greeks, taught- them the 'science of mining, and
established marriage after he had found Harmonia. The god
Eshmun of Sidon unite- in himself the qualities of the seven others.
He is, in the myth, their chief, or Adon; in philosophic conception
the order, the cosmos, of the other-. Upon Phoenician coins eighl
rays encircle his head, and. Like Aesculapius, he hear- a snake, which
on account of its annual change of -kin i- the symbol of recovery
from disease.
Philo Byblius who in the second century of the Christian
translated an historical work of Sanchuniathon, claimed to he Phoe-
nician, fragments of which have keen preserved by Eusebius
garded Gebal, the Byblus of the Greeks, now called Jebei, a- the
208 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
oldest city of Phoenicia. Near the little city is a Phoenician bury-
ing-place. Near Kassuba, not far from the sea, Renan discovered
the foundation of a great temple, probably that of Adonis, and
besides, in different places in the vicinity, many gravestones with
steplike ornaments, grottos containing beautiful stone sarcophagi,
Egyptian antiquities, the winged disk of the sun formed in Phoeni-
cian style, and peculiar funnel-shaped wine-presses provided with
stone covers. The temple of Baalat is represented upon a coin of
Macrinus, 217-218 A.D.(Fig. 69). There is a court open to the sky,
in which arises a pyramid or cone ; also a
porch containing an altar for offerings with
its flame of fire. Upon a stele of King Jehu-
melek (first half of the fifth century) this
brazen altar (mizbach) is mentioned, as well
as the pyramid ; the space where this was
entered from the porch by a golden door
Fl the 6 ^ By°bius C0 Em- (P atach ^ with golden uraeus-serpents (art) on
peror Macrinus (217, the sun-disk (ateri) above the door. Unfortu-
nately the goddess is represented here wholly
as Egyptian, as Isis-Hathor, and not as Phoenician.
Passing southward, before one reaches Beirut, he must cross the
Nahr-el-Kelb (' dog's river ') with its bridge. The paved way
among the .rocks above the sea was constructed during the latter
part of the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who died 180 A.D.
Still higher up is an older path, which is adorned with ancient sculp-
tures, both Egyptian and Assyrian. The Egyptian tablets are all
flat at the top, and the Assyrian rounded. The first tablet, as one
comes from Beirut, was cut by Rameses IL, who made short ex-
cursions into Syria in the second and fourth years of his reign, before
the great war against the Hittites broke out. The second tablet is
supposed to be that of Asur-rish-ishi ; the third that of his son,
Tiglath-Pileser I. (about 1130 B.c.). Higher up, where this older
path enters the Roman road, is the fourth tablet, facing the north-
west, of Asurnazirpal, the builder of the northwest palace at Nimrud,
and as a companion to this is the tablet of Shalmaneser II., both of
which date from the ninth century, B.c. The sixth and eighth tab-
lets were the work of Rameses IL, while the seventh was made by
BEIRUT.
20!)
Sennacherib. His son, Esarhaddon, caused the Last to be cut in 670
b.c., after the conquest of KingTirharkaof Egypt The road ascended
from the coast, passing over Lebanon to the smith of the celebrated
cedar groves in the vicinitj of Bsherre (Fig. 70), and then con-
tinued northward in the valley of the Orontes. In the uppei n
of the Nahr-el-Kelb are the nuns KalatrFakra, two graves in the
form of pyramids. One of these is now merely a heap of stones,
but the other is preserved. The base of the pyramid has vertical
faces; but above the structure is broken into steps, and ends at the
Fig. tu. Cedars of Lebanon.
top with a platform twenty-five feet square, which is adorned with a
moulding. The interior contains the grave and long galleries. There
are pyramids similar to this in Greece, between A.rgos and
damns, ai Lessa wesl of the latter, at Cenchreae upon the Isthmus,
and upon the Laconian coast opposite the island Elaphonesus.
The city of Beirul is situated upon a magnificent bay, with the
snow-capped heights of Sannin rising behind it. It is mentioned along
with Gebal (Gubla) in the Tel-el-Amarna Tal. In- (c. II"" B.c.
acquired prominence under Roman rule; to-day it i- th<- busiest port
of Syria. The only thing thai recalls its antiquity is the foun-
dation and fragments of the columns of a temple near the convent
Vol. I. ii.
210 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR
(Der) El-Kaa in a southeasterly direction, situated above the Nahr-
Beirut in a ravine ; an inscription says that the temple was sacred
to Baal Markod, the lord of the festival of dancing.
Sidon, now called Saida, was the chief of the Phoenician cities
from the seventeenth to the twelfth century. It appears to be older
than its rival Tyre, and it founded Aradus in the eighth century. The
political and commercial importance of Sidon made the name at one
time a designation for Phoenicia in general. The city had two har-
bors between the mainland and a rocky promontory and cliffs for-
merly built up with large blocks of stone. The southern one was
the Egpytian ; but to-day the Arabian boats use only the northern
one, the entrance of which is guarded by a citadel belonging to the
Middle Ages ; this is upon a cliff, which is joined to the mainland
by a bridge with nine pointed arches. The oldest sepulchres of the
necropolis, situated southeast of the city, are entered by shafts ten
or twelve feet long, in the walls of which holes are cut to aid in
descending. Below are several chambers, but they are seldom con-
nected. The arched grottos, entered by means of steps, and having
rectangular cavities for the bodies, are of a later date. Besides the
richly sculptured sarcophagi, they contain mummy-like chests made
of stone, after Egyptian models. An example of this work, with an
inscription, was found in 1855, and is now in the Louvre ; it is the
coffin of king Eshmunazar II. (Fig. 71), son of Tabnit and of Am-
Astarte, daughter of Eshmunazar I. and priestess of Astarte. He died
in 386 b.c., after a reign of fourteen years. In the inscription he says,
among other things, that the lord of kings (i.e. Artaxerxes Mnemon)
gave to him as a reward for his deeds Dor (north of Caesarea), Joppa,
and the land of Dagon in the plain of Sharon. Magnificent sar-
cophagi of the Greek period have also been found at Sidon. (Plate
XVII. — A.) Upon the sea-shore near where the dead are buried are
mounds of muscle-shells, which accumulated from the manufacture
of purple. One of these, nearly 400 feet long and 25 to 30 feet
high, consists of the shells of the murex trunculus. These shell-fish
were opened by a blow upon the side with an axe, treated with salt,
and macerated. The coloring material consisted of azure cyanic
acid and red purple oxide, yielding an amethyst purple. The wool
was colored by being brought into contact with the color-glands in
PLATE XVII I
Sarcophagus of the Greek Period found In Sidon
SIDON.
211
the throat of the fish. Other mounds are formed of the shells of the
murex brandaris and purpura haenuutoma. The former were caught
in the Adriatic Sea, ami furnished the yellowish-red, or Tyrian pur-
ple; the latter, the Bo-called Graetulian purple. The manufacture "i
Sidonian glass was carried on in Sarepta (Sarafend), smith of
Sidon. Nearer Sidon, in the mountains above the Nahr-Senlk, a.
stairway 330 feet long, cut in the rock, leads toacastle of the Middle
Ages, near which is a rock} grotto, formerly a temple of Ashtoreth,
and now a chapel to the Virgin Mary.
The >arcophay
In the year b.c. "ill a portion of the Inhabitants of Sidon, in
consequence of party-strife, left the city, and established thema
at Arvad (Aradus), now called Rufid, which controlled a considerable
territory along the shore, ami had great importance in the time
of the Seleucids. Upon the hewen rocks along the Bhore arc the
remains of the Phoenician wall-. Between the shore an. I the island
there was a spring of fresh water, which was collected in a bell-
like receiver and conducted above the Burfaoe of the sea by a
copper pipe. Somewhat farther south along the shore i- Marathus,
212
SYRIA AND ASIA MINOli.
now Amiit, already in ruins in Strabo's time. Among the numerous
Phoenician monuments, a temple (El-Maabetl) is prominent, having
the form of a cube, open in front, and covered with a large stone ;
it is in a court, which is enclosed upon three sides by rock, and
Fig. 72. —Sepulchral Monuments at Amrit.
which once formed in part a holy pond, with the ark, or theba, of
the deity. The necropolis east of the temple contains a large num-
ber of graves, still in a good state of preservation, which have been
sunk into the rock, and are generally surmounted by a large cippus,
or monument (Fig. 72). By means of stairs or inclined passage-
QUA VE-MONUMl ■_•].;
ways, one reaches a chamber, into which From the rear one or ■•
what long rooms open aa receptacles for the dead. Somel
the chamber is connected, by means of a shaft, with r is still
Lower down. One ol these monuments has a square base, on which
rests a pedestal with so-called Roman contours; from tin-
cylindrical column about -!1 feet high, which is rounded off at the
top, and around which runs an Assyrian moulding resembling Btair-
cases. At each of tin- four corners of tin- pedestal, there stands
forth the forward part of a lion, which is Grecian in Btyle. Tin-
date of the monument cannol lie determined, as there is no inscrip-
tion. There is no doubl that the meaning of this column is the
same as that of the phallus stones upon the Tantalis -ras.
Smyrna, ami upon the mound of Alyattes at Sardis; it was to
give expression to the thought that new lit,- springs from the mould
of the grave. Similar monuments are found in Etruria, as at Tar-
quinii, and upon the island .Minorca (the Talayot); from the round
towel's arose the \\ an t bs, Such as that of ( aecilia Metella and
of the Tossia family (St. Helena) in Rome, and that of Theodoric
in Ravenna; on the other hand, the tomb of Esther in Hamadan is
similar to that of Amrit. Different styles are represented in other
tombs: some have a square base, from which arises a cylindrical
or a cubical pediment, both capped with a pyramid. (Fig. 78.)
This is illustrated in the ' Tomb of Absalom,' at Jerusalem, which
is adorned with Ionian columns, Dorian architraves, and Egyptian
cornices. These architectural types often repeat themselves in
distant lands and times. Another example is Been in the tomb
of ii sheikh in Ua-A/ani, in Assyria. In this case, Upon a large
Cubical stone, rots an octagonal one, from which rises a cylindrical
surmounted by a fluted pyramid. In other cases the pyramid
rests immediately upon a Large cube, which contains an upper
and a lower chamber with niches. This arrangement is tin-
as is seen on the pyre of the coins 1. 1 Tarsus, on the * Tomb ol
Zachariah,' at Jerusalem, and on the tomb of Mashaka, which is
adorned with an encircling row of columns. This type can be
traced hack to Egyptian 1 lels, such as are preserved upon the
heights west of Thehcs. Still other tombfl re: and the
space within, which is reached by deep openings on thi
21 I
SYRIA A XI) ASIA MINOR.
is contracted at the top into a flue, and is covered with a stone
slab.
The city of Tyre arose later than Sidon. It was called in He-
brew, Tsör: in Egyptian, Tar as early as an inscription of Thothmes
Fig. 73. — Tomb at Amrit.
III.; in Latin, Tyrus (from the Greek), and Sarra ; and its present
name is Cur. Since the name means ' rock,' the first settlement
must have been upon the island, and not upon the mainland, which
has been regarded as the site of the older town, but which is by no
means rocky. Therefore the Papyrus Anastasi, from the time of
GllA Vi: MONI Ml \ i 21*)
Ramesea II., km. us only of the island town. King Hiram, son of
Abibaal, is said to have connected the double island with the main-
land by a dyke and an aqueduct The small outer island, upon
which a temple stood, forma now th< southwestern portion o! the
island town. I " |»< .n the large island was the royal citadel, the
temples of Baal (Agenor), and of Ashtoreth, and the market-place.
I pon the highest point stood the temple of Melkarth. The town
was besieged at difierenl times, once without success l>v Shalmai
II.: but Nebuchadnezzar, alter a thirteen years' Biege, captured and
destroyed it in 585 b.c. Alexander destroyed the town upon the main-
land, using tlu- ruins to construct a dyke aboul •J"" feel wide, with
which he approached the island-town and besieged it. This dyke
was gradually increased by alluvial deposits, and the island became
permanently united with the mainland. Antigonus also besieged it
fifteen months. The harbor is the old Sidonian, or northern one:
old remains of buildings with large blocks can still l>e seen. An
amient aqueduct, which furnished the city on the mainland with
water, can be traced as far south as Ras-el-Ain, where there is a large
reservoir. Beyond thisaqueducl are mounds formed from the./
of an old suburb and the numerous ruins of a burying-place. On the
road to the southeast, toward (ana. are many ancient remains ; and at
the distance of an hour and a quarter from Tyre is the ' Tonil» of
Hiram' ( Kabr-Hiram, Fig. 74). This tomb is undoubtedly Phoenician;
the base consists of large blocks about thirteen feet long, upon which
rests an immense flat stone. Upon this rests the sarcophagus, which
is closed li\ a large stone, making the whole aboul twenty feet high.
In front of this, steps lead into a rectangular chamber in the rock.
whose cross-section represents an irregular oval.
At quite a distance south of Tyre, the promontorj Ras-en-Xaku-
rah, 'the Staircase of the Tyrians,' c\ tends out into the sea.
this Kenan found ruins of a citadel, which received the name I nim-
el-Awämid, -Mother of the Columns,' on account of its Grecian col-
umns. Some sphinxes were found here, and also stone coffins,
of which is rectangular and about six feel long; on the front side is
a small altar, and the cover is shaped like a roof, with horns at the
four corners. Other coffins have the form of mummiei long
StOlie receptacles, showing the outline of the head and shoold
216
SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
these coffins resembling a human form are not older than the time
of the Achaemenid.es and Macedonians. An inscription which has
been much discussed states that Abd-elim, son of Ma tan, the son of
Abd-elim, the son of Baal-Shomer, made a tomb-door in fulfilment
of a vow to Baal-Shamim.
If one proceeds southward along the shore he comes to Ecdippa,
;i town mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions, and then to Acca
(Acre, or Ptolemais), at the northern end of the plain of Megiddo,
which is bounded on the south by Carmel. Under the Persians and
Fig. 74. — ' The Tomb of Kins Hiram ' of Tyre.
the Diadochi the town flourished, but it did not attain its greatest
prosperity till the time of the Crusades. Sailing around the prom-
ontory, one comes to Tantüra, the ancient Dör, the last Phoenician
town; its ruins, though of no great importance, extend quite a
distance along the shore.
The Phoenicians, having even in early time directed their atten-
tion to navigation and trade, secured wealth and power. In the
large cities kings ruled with the aid of counsellors selected from
the oldest families, and of an influential order of priests. The cities
became the centres of business in the trade carried on with the East,
which introduced both Phoenician and imported goods and products
COM \IEHCJ 217
into the interior of Asia. The Phoenicians wereassured of thi
passage of the caravans by means of agreements »nth the rulers, and
warehouses were established along ihr roads. The Phoenicians
aid ed in this by the facl thai in man} cases ihr roads p
through the territory of related peoples. The) furnished purple
woollen goods to the whole ancienl world, and tin- manufactun
was so prominent among them that they an- s;.i<l to have invented it.
In Egypt there are very ancienl representations of glass-making
(grotto of Beni-Hassan ), and glass vessels have been found in gi
dating even from the Fifth Dynasty. Ii is reasonable to mi;
that a people like the Phoenicians, who were in ihr lnd.it of seeing
slag constantly in the preparation of ores, should even in very early
times discover glazing for their pottery, and then should make ■_
itself. The Egyptians of the Eighteenth Dynasty mention among
their booty Mesopotamian glass} flux, khesbet, or artificial lapis lazuli.
Dr. Schliemann discovered in the second city of Hissarlik and in
.Mycenae glass halls and buttons of Phoenician and Egyptian manu-
facture; and Phoenician glass halls have been found even in the pile-
houses of Switzerland and among the old Britons.
The shores of the Mediterranean, even as far wesl as the Straits
of Gibraltar, were occupied by Phoenician colonies and trading-
stations, which hail the greatest influence upon the Bpread of the
early Asiatic culture. The Phoenicians hail warehouses in the lvj\|>-
tian delta in Tanis. Mendes, Bubastis, >ai>. ami Memphis. Their
first effort at colonization whs in Cyprus, which was celebrated in
all antiquity for its abundance of wood, metals (especially copper),
fruit-trees, and vines: it was also very active in trade, and ex-
ported its carpets, clothing, leather-work, and ointments everywhere.
Although the island was subsequently colonized l»\ the Greeks, and
experienced various vicissitudes, yel recently very ma:
have been opened, which have revealed wonderful treasun
fcorical and artistic work, in \ri\ rarly times, Paphos was founded
hv citizens of Byblus ; and >iih>n and Tyre likewise aent out colo-
nies. Larnaka stands upon the necropolis of Citium. In the Bible
( '\prus is called Kitt im : and there Di ( oiiola found more than 2
graves, most of them belonging to the last four centuri • the
Christian era, a Phoenician and a Greek temple: in the former
218 SYRIA AND Asia MINOR.
fragments of marble vessels and bowls with inscriptions of consecra-
tion to Melkarth and other gods; also a marble coffin with a head in
high relief, Egyptian alabaster vases with Phoenician inscriptions.
In Dali (Idalium), 15,000 graves were found, mostly Phoenician,
with thousands of figures in terra-cotta, belonging to a very early
period. In Golgi, also, there was a necropolis containing two ruined
brick temples; in one of these were found about a thousand statues
of Egyptian work and bas-reliefs of Assyrian. At Salamis no
remains of antiquity were found ; since its materials were used for
the construction of Constantia and Famagusta, in the time of the
Lusignans. In Curium, upon the southern coast of the island,
Di Cesnola discovered a treasure-house with several underground
chambers, from which he obtained an incredibly rich treasure, which
had probably been secreted there in time of war ; it is now deposited
in the Metropolitan Museum at New York. It contains all kinds
of valuable works made of silver, gold, bronze, precious stones, ala-
baster, and clay, which the Phoenicians manufactured in Egyptian
and Assyrian style. This furnishes the richest information in
regard to this transitional tendency in art.
Hittites, also, as well as Phoenicians, formed a portion of the
population of Cyprus. This is embodied in the Greek tradition,
which tells of the coming of Cinyras, son of Sandacus, from Cilicia.
This Hittite population becomes of great importance in the history
of the culture of the island ; and it may be that they gave it a writing,
which existed beside the Phoenician, and was employed by the Greeks,
in Cyprus after the eighth century- In it the word basileus (' king')
was not written with the eight letters forming the word, but with
five syllabic signs, ba-si-le~v(e\-s(e) ; in the genitive, basi-Ie-vo-s^e).
The Hittite monuments of the mainland have hieroglyphs, or picture-
writing, which has not been deciphered. It is supposed, however,
that the alphabet of the Cyprian Greek inscriptions may have been
derived from those hieroglyphs. Fifty-five characters have some
resemblance to them, though no conclusions can be drawn from this
circumstance until the Hittite inscriptions shall have been satisfactorily
deciphered.
After the occupation of Cyprus, the Phoenicians settled in the
islands of the Aegean Sea and upon the coast of Asia Minor, where
COLONIES. 219
they exchanged their manufactures for Blaves, skins, and
worked the mines, and collected the snails which furnished the pur-
ple. This intercourse was of incalculable importance to the (in
who at the beginning of the colonization, about the twelfth century
B.c., were still in a primitive Btate, but who were also very qui
adopt new conditions. Thus both in the arts and in trade the
Greeks became acquainted with the products of a culture cenl
old, and copied them, and were enabled to interchange their thoughts
by means of the Phoenician writing. The Phoenician mythology
also played an important part in the religious belief of the G
indeed, it can be shown that Phoenician sculpture on metal howls
was the occasion of the composition of mythological | ms by the
Greeks.
There were also Phoenician colonies in Crete, at Itanos, I., ben,
and Araden. The coast of Sicily was dotted with their trading-
stations, as Catana, Ortygia (Syracuse), Pachynus, Camarina, Mi
or R-üs-Melkarth (Heraclea Minoa), Mazara, Metya, Eryx, Makhanath
(Panormus, now Palermo). The Tyrian cities of the wesl coast as
well as Selinus, Himera, and A.grigentum, were subject t" Carthngi 1
(from c. 410). This circumstance brought on the Punic war-, in which
two mighty powers, Carthage and Rome, contended with one another.
The struggle was between the Semitic Orient, under the Leadership
of one of the greatest of soldiers, and the ancient Graeco-Roman civi-
lization, whose overthrow would have caused incalculable conse-
quences in the history of Europe.
The Phoenicians at a very early period occupied the islands
Malta and Gozo, also Sardinia, which became partially subject to
Carthage; they even went beyond Gibraltar, and founded Gadea
(Cadiz); and in company with the Iberian Turdetani and the Libyo-
Phoenician agriculturists established a civilized empire in southern
Spain, in the rich valley of the Baetis. This was fi ' thage
in the third century, and after long struggles yielded to Rome.
Sidon and Tyre established numerous colonies in Airii
Leptis, Hippo, Hadrumetum, Ruspina, Thapsus, Utica, and especially
Carthage. These, in turn, extended their influence to coasts still
more distant and into the interior of the land, establishing many
towns, until Africa from Cyrene t«. the Atlantic Ocean became Bub-
■2-20 SYRIA AXD ASIA MINOR.
ject to them. They had commercial intercourse even with Cornwall
in England, which furnished the countries bordering on the Med-
iterranean with tin, and amber was brought by them from the shores
of the Baltic.
The influence of the Phoenician colonies was not limited to the
extension of intellectual culture of various kinds. The Phoenicians
brought with them from the Syrian coast to Europe plants designed
for use and ornament. Victor Helm has shown that the flora of the
countries bordering on the Mediterranean, especially Italy, is totally
different from that prevalent originally. This people succeeded in
acclimatizing in more northern countries a great number of excellent
fruit-trees and nut-bearing plants, which belonged to the sub-tropical
region extending to the 34th degree of latitude. The cypress, intro-
duced at an early period from eastern Iran into Babylonia and
Canaan, the pomegranate, laurel, myrtle, olive-tree, fig, vine, — ori-
ginally an Armenian plant, — cedar, quince, crocus, and numerous
evergreen plants were carried beyond the Phoenician settlements to
the west and north. These plants were connected in the mythology
with the gods, who were likewise wholly or in part of Asiatic origin ;
and these wanderings of the plants, as well as the colonization, were
treated mythologically, in that they were represented to have been
effected by the sons of beneficent gods. Asiatic plants even from
other portions of Asia continued to spread long after the Phoeni-
cians gave place to the Greeks and Romans. Animals also accom-
panied their masters as they journeyed over the sea; only the donkey
need be mentioned, which betrays its Phoenician origin in its name
( asinus).
The tribes or clans who inhabited Palestine before the advent
of the Israelites are enumerated many times in the Old Testament.
The lists vary considerably, however, in the number of names
included. That in Gen. xv. 18-21 contains ten, and even then
omits one (that of the Hivites) found in nearly all the others.
Several give only five or six. That which is perhaps the oldest of
all names ' seven nations ' — Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites,
Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites (Josh. iii. 10 ; cf. Dent. vii. 1).
Our knowledge concerning them is very scanty and fragmentary.
The Jebusites were a small but energetic and warlike clan, who
PALESTINIAN TRIM 221
maintained their independence until the time oi David. Their
stronghold Jebus is repeatedly Identified with Jerusalem (Jud. L 21 ;
xix. 10). Until recently .Jehus was supposed to be the older name
of Jerusalem; but the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, discovered in 1887,
show that the latter name, in the form Urusalim, is the more
ancient When those tablets were written, about a centurj l>
the exodus, Palestine was subjecl to the king of Egypt, and ruled h\
satraps <>r viceroys of his appointment, who sometimes were the
native princes. Such was evidently the governor of Urusalim, of
whom a number of Letters to the Egyptian sovereign are preserved
in these tablets. There is no trace of Jebus or Jebusites in them;
whence it follows that the Jebusite possession of Jerusalem was
future. When and how it began, it is impossible to sa\ ; but it
lasted several centuries. The Jebusites al last succumbed to David
el Sam. v. 6 ff.), and seem to have become incorporated into Israel
(Zech. ix. 7). Concerning the Girgashites, we only know that the}
dwelt west of the .Ionian. They appear in only a few of the lists,
and would seem to have been of small importance. The Hivitesare
met with in more places than one at Shechem, Gibeon, and at tho
foot of .Mount Hermon. If, as many think, their name originally
signified -dwellers in tent-towns,' it had certainly become Inappro-
priate long before we meet with them. The Perizzites are the
1 villagers,' peasants dwelling in unfortified places. The name
would suggest a peaceable people, devoted to agriculture. The
Ilittites are named in all the lists, hut are little heard of Othei
One of David's 'mighty men,' who shamefully betrayed Uriah,
whose wife became the mother of Judah's royal line, and Ahimelech,
one of David's companions when hiding from Saul, are both si
Hittites. The narrative of the late. Bo-called priestly, writei
p. \~:\) concerning tin- purchase of a sepulchre by Abrahan
hihits the Hittites. or -Sous of Heth.' as settled inhabitants
district near Hebron. Whether that was in part their Location i>
a (piesti if less interest than another which scholars find it diffi-
cult to answer satisfactorily. This concerns the relation oi
Hittite tribe to the North Syrian peoples of somewhat advanced civi-
lization, and bearing what appears t<> 1»- the s ;1 name, known
from Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions, and through raonui
222 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
of their own (cf. below, pp. 226 ff\). Were the Palestinian Hittites
a division or offshoot of this great Syrian nation? That view is
favored b}- passages of the Old Testament in which the name, with-
out any closer definition, seems clearly to be applied to the larger,
far more powerful group (1 Kings x. 29 ; 2 Kings vii. 6). But it
is opposed by the fact that, so far as we know at present, the two
peoples did not speak the same language. The Palestinian Hittites
are classed by the table of nations in Genesis (x. 15-18) among
the descendants of Canaan, Sidon being the elder brother of Heth.
They must therefore have had the same general family marks, and
have spoken the same language, as the Phoenicians, which we know
was very nearly identical with Hebrew. The proper names of
Hittites found in the Old Testament — Ephron, Zohar, Uriah, Ahi-
melech, Beeri, and Elon (the fathers of Judith and Basemath, wives
of Esau) — agree with this, being all of decidedly Semitic, in fact
Hebrew, type. On the other hand, although t it is impossible at
present to determine the actual ethnic relations of the Syrian Hit-
tites, it is tolerably clear that they were not Semites nor spoke a
Semitic tongue. All things considered, the most plausible con-
jecture is, that the Palestinian Hittites, having long been separated
from the main body, had become Semitized, or what is the same
thing Canaanized, and yet, contrary to what usually happens in such
cases, had retained their separate clan existence (like some remnants
of Indian tribes in the eastern part of the United States), leading
later times, oblivious of their true origin, to include them among
the Canaanite tribes. The two remaining names of our list, Canaan-
ites and Amorites, are both used as collectives, to denote the whole
pre-Israelite population, — the former by one (J), the latter by two
others (E and D) of the chief writers whose works form the basis
of the first six books of the Old Testament, and by later writers
after them. Primarily, however, both names must have denoted
particular tribes. No writer would include either one or two names
of the whole in an enumeration of the parts, unless they were also
j »art-names. But the difficulty in many places of determining
whether the names are intended to carry the larger or the more
limited sense, makes it nearly impossible to gain any information
concerning the particular tribes. Reasonings based on etymological
I; 1.1. A TlOXSHIl'
interpretations are frequently precarious and misleading; and there is
uothing to justify the view formerly held that Canaanite meant «low-
lander' and that Amorite signified 'mountaineer/ tl gh such a
distinction agrees with statements in the Old Testament. The Amo-
rites are said to 'dwell in the mountains/ and the Canaanites ' by the
sea and by the side of Jordan' (Num. xiii. 29). No doubt the two
tribes illustrated the general rule- of history : the lowlander, especially
when seated by the sea, always surpasses the highlander in all the arts
and pursuits of civilization.
Far more important than anything we can learn concerning the
individual tribes, is the fact that they were all members of one
approximately homogeneous group of nations, the same to which
the Phoenicians and the Israelites themselves also belonged. Ac-
cording to the Genesis table of nations, Sidon (the representatä
the Phoenicians) and the llittites. the Jebusites, the Amorites, the
Girgashites, the Unites, and others who d<> not concern us here,
were all descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. This statement
asserts what we may call the homogeneity, i.e.. the essential like-
ness, notwithstanding all diversities, of the tribes specified. h
seems, indeed, to go hack of the tact, and to explain its existence
upon the theory of physical descent and kinship; but that is mere
form. At all events, the simple fact of homogeneity, however broughl
about, is all we here need: ami as to that, all the evidence
ble at this late date is favorable to it. All these tribes Bpoke a com-
mon Language. Their religion, notwithstanding marked differences,
resulting from different degrees of culture and peculiar historical
or local influences, was essentially the same. Their political consti-
tutions and institutions had. in general, the same character. And
all this applies to the Israelites also, except in BO far as their religion
was nearer the nomadic type. It is true, the table derives them, not
from Canaan the son of Ham, but from Shem ; but this unwarranted
separation of the Hebrews from the Canaanitish group* i- di
political history, which is illustrated in the curse pronounced upon
•Ham fche father of Canaan' by Noah as related at the clo«
Chapter IX. of Genesis (w. 25-28). The curse originally appl*
Canaan, and when the term Ham came into use as a kind of ethno-
1 purgatory, Canaan wa- made a * son ' of Ham. Incontestable
2-2-i SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
facts warrant the inclusion of Phoenicians, Canaanites, Israelites,
Aramaeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, and other less prominent peo-
ples, into one great group of nations, distinguished from all others
by many common features ; and that, while it is convenient to call
them Semites, it is not intended thereby to assert that all must have
sprung from a common ancestry. It follows that the Israelites,
when they entered their promised land as permanent settlers, did
not, like the settlers of North America, come into contact with bar-
barous tribes of entirely alien speech and wholly strange institutions
and manners. They encountered a civilization whose radical char-
acter was like their own, only in most respects much farther ad-
vanced. Their own religion was, indeed, greatly superior ; but in its
central features so recently received as to be scarcely more than put
on, while that of the people of the land was akin to what had been,
and so far as the mass of the people was concerned, practically still
was their own. These are facts of great significance, and explain
much in their subsecpuent history.
The Canaanites were not the aborigines of Palestine. The}"
were preceded by a people of large stature and strength, who were
known to the Israelites as Rephaim and Anakim. The list in Gen.
xv. 19-21 names only the former, probably because it was a general
term including the latter. The English version sometimes obliter-
ates the name Rephaim by rendering it 'giants' (cf. Deut. ii. 11,
iii. 11, 13). They appear to have been most numerous on the east
of the Jordan, but were also found on the west side. The Emim,
Zamzummim, Zuzim, were clans or local communities of them. Of
their race relations nothing can be stated with certainty. The Israel-
ites seem to have come into contact with mere remnants of them.
The feelings of mystery and awe, and the legendary exaggerations
that pervade Israelitish references to them, look more like the out-
come of stories told about them by the Canaanites, than of Israel's
own experiences transformed by tradition. These earlier popula-
tions may have been largely absorbed by the Canaanites, or they may
have faded away before their superior civilization.
The list in Genesis speaks also of Kenites, Kenizzites, and Kad-
monites. The last named are mentioned nowhere else, unless it be
in Gen. xxv. 15 (Kedemah). Their name signifies ' Eastrons,' and
ED0M1 1
may denote Ishmaelites (cf. Gen. xw. 6). Two [shraaelil
Nebaioth and Kedar, were at borne in northern Arabia. The Keniz-
zites were an Edomite tribe, a clan of which, represented by Caleb,
the companion of Joshua (Num. \x.\ii. L2), and OthnieJ t In- deliv-
erer of Israel from Mesopotamian oppression (Jud. iii. 9 f.),
Incorporated Into the tribe of Judah. The interesting Kenite clan
also called Kain (Jud. Lv. 11, R. V. margin), is by some Old I
tament passages connected with the Midianites, an Aral» fcrib
considerable attainments in the arts of civilized lit'«-. Other aol
(1 Sam. xv. 6; Num. xxiv. 21 f.) suggesl relationship with the
Amalekites, an old and prominent Bedouin tribe of the Sinaitic
peninsula. Perhaps the greater weight of critical opinion favors the
latter view; but a decision is difficult. The Kenites were nomads.
According to [sraelitish tradition, Moses married int<> the ehm. A
part of them cast in their fortunes with Israel, and entered Canaan
with them. We meet them in the pasture Lands of the south of
Judah as late as the time of David. At an earlier day some of them
are found far to the north, near Kadesh-Naphtali. They had adopted
both Israel and the religion of Israel, and were passionately attached
to one and the other. For one part of this statement, see Jud
eh. iv. ; the other depends mi the accuracy (which there is n<> sutli-
cient reason to doubt) of 2 Chron. ii. 55, according to which the
Rechabites of later days were Kenites (cf. 2 Kings x. 15 ff.). There
is nothing t<> show that either of these three tribes or clans held lands
in Canaan before the advent of the Israelites, as the G
seems to imply. The list is of a comparatively late date.
The immediate, permanent neighbors of Israel, besides th< 1'
nicians and Philistines, already spuken of < pp. 201 ff.),
nations, who were in possession of their respectivi
before Israel's settlement in Canaan. The Edom ipied the
mountainous region between the Dead Sea and the (in nah.
Their country, ill adapted for agriculture, made them a peopli
hunters, traders, and marauders, quite after the type of their re]
ancestor Esau. Of their religion nothing is known with certainty;
yet there is some reason t" believe that it resembled tl
Israel (in its popular form) more nearly than any oth
Moabites, on the contrary, were devoted to th< I
Vol. I. !•">.
226 STRIA AND ASIA MINOJi.
cinn religion, in its softer, sensual form, though not without occa-
sional recourse to its severer features, as exhibited in human sacrifices
(2 Kings iii. 27). Their land, the northern boundary of which
varied at different times, lay along the eastern side of the Dead Sea.
It was mountainous, suitable for pasture ground, yet also largely
arable, fruitful, and fairly well watered. The Mesha stone with its
inscription, belonging to the ninth century before Christ (discovered
in 1868), evinces a good degree of literary culture among the Moa-
bites of that early day. The Ammonites were near relations of the
Moabites. Their territorial possessions are less certainly definable.
They seem never to have touched the Jordan or the Dead Sea, but to
have lain east and northeast of Moab. Rabbath-Ammon, the capital
city, was situated near the southernmost sources of the Jabbok, in a
district suitable for agriculture. The main body of the people were
keepers of herds and flocks. They were less civilized than the Mo-
abites, and in religion leaned more to the severer form. Their Baal
was Milcom, or Moloch, the most terrible of all the Semitic gods, to
■whom human sacrifices, especially children, were offered.
Farther to the north and northeast we meet the Aramaean Sem-
ites, holding the broad plains that stretch from Mount Hermon and
Iturea (Jetur and Geshur), by way of Damascus, to the Euphrates
and beyond it into Mesopotamia, where a fusion took place with
earlier inhabitants of the land between the two great rivers. Only
in later days did the Aramaeans spread also into the Lebanon region
and the Taurus lands, where formerly the Hittites and their allies
bore sway. 1
Concerning the Hittites, to whom we are thus led back, very
many and reliable notices are contained in Egyptian and Assyrian
inscriptions. The former name them Kheta, the latter C'hatti. The
conjecture that the inscriptions of Hamath on the Orontes were
Hittite memorials has been confirmed by the fact that hieroglyphic
writing similar to that in Hamath was found in excavations at
Jerablus on the Euphrates, which Assyrian inscriptions declare to
have been the site of Carchemish, the chief city of the Hittites. A
similar style of writing, subsequently discovered upon monuments in
: The six paragraphs preceding (pp. 220-226), on the Palestinian tribes, are by
Rev. Professor I'. FT. Steenstra. and replace material in the German original.
THE UITTITES
Syria and Ana Minor, has led to the inference thai the U»rm Hittite«
was employed t < > denote groups of peoples who spread i
and a greal pari of A.sia Minor. The fad thai the Assyrians did
not succeed in getting lasting possession of the righl bank of the
Euphrates until after BeveraJ centuries of conflicl goe* to prove the
existence of a large Hittite kingdom. Egyptian m iments prove
thai the Pharaoh- also regarded the conflicl with the Kheta
matter of grave importance, and the Tel-el-Amarna tablets dating from
the fifteenth century show thai at this time the Hittites already played
a considerable role in Syria. Some of the Hittite monuments are
accompanied by inscriptions, so thai we have become acquainted with
the characteristics of Hittite art, ami are enabled to recognize it
when we come across monuments without inscriptions. A brief review
of some of these antiquities will give the nadir a clearer idea of the
extent of the power of this group'
Ilaniath on the < >rontes is the most southerly place wh<
monuments have been found. This city was at the head of a small
kingdom extending from the water-shed between the Orontes
Leontes to Jisr-hadid, where the Orontes turns westward. Burck-
hardt was the first to make known (in 1 s 1 _ | the five inscriptions
imbedded in the wall of the bazaar. The} are now in Constanti-
nople, and casts were brought to England in 1863. Burton and
Drake gave an incomplete copy of them. Wrighl and Ward
the first to call them Hittite.
At Aleppo a stone was found built into the mosque, upon which
was a figure with a partially effaced Hittite inscription consisting ol
two lines. Carchemish, now called Jerablus, lat 36 ■•". formed
with its walls the half of a circle, which was < pie ted by the
curved line of the Euphrates. The citadel is in the northern part
*.n an elevation. Fragments of Hittite sculpture were found hi
a lion and human figures, among whieh was a very well pre»
of a king. Hi- shoes are turned up in front, which i- a marked
characteristic of the Hittite attire, a- well as of the Etrurian. The
nine inscriptions from Carchemish, now in the British Museum, are
still among the -t important of the Hittite remains, though dis-
coveries <'f inscriptions elsewhere have added material for the
of the Hittite language.
228 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
Birejik (Assyrian Tel-Barsip) is farther uj) the Euphrates than
Carchemish, at an important crossing, where the road through Meso-
potamia begins, used in the time of the Parthians as also to-day.
The paved slope and artificial elevation of rock, upon which the cita-
del stands, are of Hittite origin. Within are arched passages; even
in Pococke's time (1740) this was equipped with catapults and other
Roman instruments of defence. There is a stone in the British
Museum with the figure of a praying king, having the high Hittite
tiara, from which a wig descends behind, and shoes with pointed
toes ; over the whole the winged disk of the sun.
Marmier found a relief in Rum-Kalah, a neighboring place. It
represents a man with a long robe, tightly bound with a girdle, hold-
ing a kind of club in the right hand, while a cylindrical object (per-
haps a wallet) is suspended from the arm; the left hand holds an
object which has not yet been explained; perhaps a sort of shep-
herd's flute.
Still farther north is the territory of Kummukh (Commagene),
the chief city of which in later times was Samosata. This city had
control of a road which crossed the Euphrates at this point, on its
way from southeastern Cappadocia to Edessa and Haran (Carrhae).
In the southern portion of this kingdom, which was closely connected
with that of the Hittites, was Doliche, now called Dulluk, north of
Aintab. Gargar is an inaccessible cliff on the Euphrates, where the
river breaks through a rocky gorge with great force. There is a
footpath cut in the rock, and in a niche the relief of a king with an
inscription. Farther in the mountains, on the Kiachta River, at
Nemrud-Dagh, is a monument with a Greek inscription, erected by
Antiochus of Commagene in honor of his ancestors and of certain
gods, including the patron goddess of the district. Near by the
Bolan-su is crossed by a Roman bridge, which has an inscription
of Septimius Severns, in which the river is called Chabinas. In
Marash, Puchstein found four reliefs and a lion, some of which
had inscriptions; and farther south, in Saktshe-gözü, a lion-hunt
upon three smoothed rocks. Inland from Alexandretta, which is
on the bay of Issns, sculpture was found upon the rocks by an Eng-
lish officer. This region belonged to the Patinai, allies of the Hit-
tites, as did also the region of Arpad, now called Tel-Erfad, north
/// / ii ri \i<> xi \i i;\ r>
<>i Aleppo, where stones are met with having ornament* like tin
( 'aivlit'iiiisli.
The largest monuments are in Cappadocia. Vlilid (Melitei
the southeastern portion of this district, where the Tabal, I
Fig. 70 Sphlnn of the Pala<
reni, anciently lived. Here in .1 ravim
(Tochma-su), which flows into the Euphrates I M
naka, now called Gurun, where there are two II I
The Cappadocian sculptures have .1 somewhat different »I
230 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
those in Carchemish, in that the attire «lifters more from the Baby-
lonian, and there is more movement. Between Amasia on the Iris,
where there are ancient royal sepulchres in the steep mountain-side
above the city, and Amisus on the coast, Ramsay found two stones
with rude sculptures, representing a king with servants in Hittite
dress, while prisoners in Phrygian dress are conducted before him.
There is a cuneiform writing above the scene ; the characters of the
inscription upon a second stone are wholly unknown. Sehrader has
shown that the first representation is in imitation of a knoAvn relief
in Kouyunjik (Nineveh), upon which Jewish prisoners from Lachish
are being conducted before Sennacherib. Not far to the northeast
of Alaja, where there is a Hittite tomb, is the village Euyuk. It
has a gateway, with a wall fourteen feet long on each side. The
doorposts (Fig. To) are monoliths twelve feet high, representing
sphinxes with wings, the claws of lions, and human heads, whose
locks are arranged as in the Egyptian masks of Hathor. The reliefs
cut upon the lowest course of the wall are a god, having an altar
before him, and a priest bringing a goat, followed by three oxen; also
a man with a stringed instrument, a snake-charmer, a flute-player,
and two men with the plan of a palace. There is a remarkable
double-headed eagle carved upon the inside of the eastern door-post
(Fig. 76). It is the bird of the Thunderer, originally the winged
lightning or thunderbolt, as wielded by the god Bel-Mardnk, and
as represented also upon the Greek coins of Eli's and Sicily. The
Seljuks, after their conquest of Cappadocia and Lycaonia, in 1217
A.D., adopted this ancient symbol, and stamped it upon their copper
coins.
Boghaz-keui is situated upon the road from Adaja to Juzgat,
southwest of Alada and north of Nefez-keui, which is thought to be the
city Tavia. It is a village lying 3,150 feet above the sea, on the site
of the ancient Pteria, which Croesus destroyed upon the approach of
the Persians. The ravine, through which a stream flows that empties
into the Halys, expands near this village into a plain. The mountains
remain near the river on the right bank; but on the opposite side
they recede toward the north in terraces, which were occupied by the
ancient city. The walls are high upon the mountain, and have a cir-
cumference of from three to three and one-half miles. Near the little
/// III II. MONUMENTS.
river the ground-plan of n building | palace) can still h
it oonsists of a large hall about 89 feel long and 7o le, in
front of which is a double porch with three gateways. About thirty
r scan be distinguished, upon the side awa} from the town, a
broad stairwa) led to a platform 160 feet long. I: ol thi>
structure are often sixteen to twenty fe< i long, and are dovetailed
together like wood-work, instead of being placed side by side as in
Persepolis. The stone is marble (limestone), but the porch i
(■'ii ; 76, Double Eagle on the Door-pogta of the Pi
chyte or basalt. The upper portion of the walls, which
probably of sun-dried brick, were destroyed by Croesus. A throne
ornamented with lions was found upon the platform. An under-
ground room extends from the brook toward the t I
to the west has hern prepared for a walk: to the south a portion of
the wall of rock has l.eeii cut at a Blight inclination, -
divided into sections by means of ten bands with ;
Upon the side of the hill away »Vom the brook are tl
ancient fortifications; within and without the wall
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234 SYRIA AM) ASIA MINOR.
points occupied by walls, and the wall was also protected by a trench
and a sloping glacis. Within arc passages, which open into the
trench. One of these, under the highest part of the enclosing wall,
consists of five courses of rough stones. These project from both
sides; and the space, which is closed at the top by inserted blocks,
has the appearance of a vault having straight, instead of curved,
sides. A very similar passageway is found in Tiryns; the Cyclo-
pian walls, which are frequent in Asia Minor, Greece, and Etruria,
and served for walls and substructions of long rows of buildings,
were perhaps of Hittite origin. This Hittite citadel was destroyed
more than 2-100 years ago ; but there are natural caves in the rocks,
called Jazili-Kaja (' inscribed rock '), which are just as remarkable.
They are about forty minutes distant from the citadel, and have their
entrance upon that side. The rocks surrounding this space form a
perpendicular wall 80-50 feet high. A rock projecting from the
eastern wall marks the entrance. Immediately upon entering, one
rinds himself in the broadest part of the room. Near the ground a
seat has been hewn out, which is still visible in some places. Upon
a smoothed surface, some feet from the ground, are sixty-five figures
in relief (Figs. 77-83) ; the largest, representing the chief persons,
are five feet high, their attendants three and a half feet, and the rest
only two and a half feet. The whole design, which is a very re-
markable one, is covered with a yellowish stucco. There are two
processions, which start at the entrance, and meet at the rear of the
room, the one passing around to the right and the other to the left.
The procession upon the right consists of women, all of whom wear
long garments fastened about the waist with girdles, ear-rings, and
high mural crowns, from which long hair falls down behind. There
is only one male figure. The woman heading the procession, and at
the rear of the hall, stands upon a lion, as do Ishtar and Atargatis;
and by her side the forward part of a leaping gazelle or chamois is
visible. Pier left hand is extended, and contains an ornament re-
sembling a plant. The Hittite inscriptions show that this is the ideo-
graph or hieroglyph representing her name. She wears beak-shaped
shoes, as Juno of Lanurium had calceoli repandi. Behind this god-
dess follows a god, who stands upon a leopard (?), just as the Cilician
Sandon is represented upon the coins of Tarsus as standing upon a
11 ITT ill: \lo\T \H \ i s
lion. The god, as well as almosl ..II the human li-
high, pointed, fluted tiara, which rises from a Borl oi h Um helmet
This is also worn by later princes of Cappadocia and Comma
such as Ariaramnes of Cappadocia, Mithradates oi Commagene, and
Saiues of Samosata. His dress, as well as that of the remaining male
figures, consists of a short robe (apron); in his lefl hand he holds a
double axe with a cross at the end, and in his right a Btaff en
at the end. The hilt of a llittii«- sword is seen at his side. In front
of him is the hieroglyph representing his name. Behind him are
two women, under whom the eagle with two heads is poised. Some
of the women that follow also cany in their hands characters repre-
senting their names, and the resl hold bent staves turned downward.
In the corner next the entrance, that is, at the end oi the j
of women, is a priest : one can determine this l>v means of the
litnus which he holds in his Left hand, pointed downwards. The
occurrence of this in Asia Minor, in the neighborhood of Lydia, and
among the Roman-Etrurian augurs, as well as much else, shows the
connection of Asia Minor with Etruria. lie wears a mantle
his under-garment, thrown back over his shoulder, and a tight-fitting
cap, like that of the Kheta on the Egyptian sculptures. He >•
upon a mountain, and holds in his right hand a peculiar symbol,
which can scarcely be a hieroglyph indicating his rank or office. It
consists of a .somewhat reduced temple or shrine, with a winged disk
of I unite style for its covering; above which there is still another;
and upon the sides are the supporting columns, with volutes clearly
marked; within these end-columns are two high objects, which may
be regarded as caryatides; and in the middle the representation of
the goddess, with wings instead of arms, can be seen. Tl
sentation is repeated, hut on a >mallcr scale. Turning now to the
opposite side, to tin- procession of men. at the end we find a ;
above whose head is the winged disk: in his right hand the lituus.
and in his left the hieroglyph indicating deity. This procession is
more varied than that of the women. The figures ate in pi
except that we have a front view of the breast and should.-:
order that there may be a fiver movement of the arn !
of the women are entirely in profile, so that of the right arm onl\
the hand is visible; and the left arm. which is raised, the
236 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
breast. The male figure at the head of the procession, who there-
fore meets the goddess in the rear of the hall, is standing with his
feetupon two slaves. He has a beard, and carries a club in his right
hand. He is shown to be a god by the hieroglyph held in his left
hand. A horned animal is springing forth near him. Behind him
are two figures standing upon a rock, which are also bearded, as well
as the last one before the priest. This one has wings; and upon the
upper part of the tiara, or of the high helmet, cone-shaped points like
the shairetana of the Egyptian art. A group of thirteen running or
darning youths remind one strongly of the Egyptian groups which
accompany the sitting colossal figures as they are transported. At
quite a distance in front of the rocky hall, in a recess of the rock,
are two human figures with the heads of a dog and a Hon, and ap-
parently with wings, perhaps to frighten demons away from the
procession. Southeast of this, and adjoining it in a somewhat long
rocky chamber, are twelve armed warriors cut in the rock, and oppo-
site them a Mylitta, curiously carved ; upon her head is a high tiara ;
her shoulders consist of lions' heads, her sides and belly are formed
by two outstretched lions with head down; and the body terminates
like a Greek Henna. In front is a god (Fig. 84), who holds in
his extended right hand a hieroglyph, resembling a child with a large
head, and whose left arm is thrown about the neck of a priest, who
reaches up to his shoulder. He is conducting this priest into the
presence of the goddess. Above the figures at the right is the
winged disk. It is difficult to conjecture what gods are represented.
The goddess related to Astarte maybe Anat, the goddess of Kadesh ;
and the god Rezeph, or the Phoenician- Hittite war-god, who is called
Baal-Sutekh in the treaty of peace between the Hittites and Egyp-
tians, which is to be mentioned later.
Cappadocia was probably the place from which the Hittite power
spread. 1 The country is called Ivhammanu in the Assyrian inscrip-
tions: but in the northeastern section of it there lived the Kaskai,
and in the direction toward Melitene, the Mnskai. Later the Phry-
gian-Armenian races crowded in from the west, and drove back the
1 Professor W. M. Ramsay maintains that the Hittites merely inherited, but did
not originate, the art of Cappadocia, and that the ancient people of Cappadocia were
accordingly of a very different stock. —Ed.
ill ill 1 1; HONl '■;
Muskai, together with the TabaJ in Milid, toward the nortln
where thr ancienl writers became acquainted with them
mountain tribes under the nam.- of < olchians, Mo» In, and I
Other Hittite races dwelt farther south, as far as the < ilici
an«! even Cicero mentions a part of the Tabal, under the name I
barani, in Pindenissus on .Mt. Ajnanus, above the b I
In Kaisariyeh (Mazaca), at the foot ot Erjisli-dagh i \ ■
Ramsay found five clay tablets with Cappadocian cum
together with ;i scarabaeus and a terra-cotta whorl, aimil
represented in Schliemann's Ilios as No. 1490. I '
and Guillaume found a lion built into the wall ol
238
STRIA AX J) ASIA MINOR.
the gutes of Angora, which is like the one discovered by Layard in
Arban. In Gianr-Kalesi, nine hours southwest of this place, upon
the old road from Cappadocia to Pessinns and Sardis, there are Cy-
clopian walls made of polygonal stones, prepared upon the surface
and at the joints; and upon the rocks below are two Hittite warriors
(Fig. 85). These are on the very ancient military road leading to
the western part of Asia Minor. A second road farther south ran
westward from Cilicia, upon which also Hittite monuments are found.
The so-called tomb of Sardanapalus, at Tarsus, is perhaps of Hittite
Fin. 85. — Cyclopean Avail at Giaur-Kalesi, with two Hittite warriors in relief.
origin. Ancient Tyana, now Kiz-hissar, in Cataonia, whence the
descent was made over the Cilician passes to Tarsus, was built,
according to Strabo, upon a terrace, by Semiramis : and it was there-
fore in existence even in the Assyrian period. Ramsay discovered
inscriptions which were not in raised relief like the rest, but sunken.
Southwest of here, between Tshifteh-khan and the silver mines of
Bulghar, is an inscription almost effaced by the weather: and near it,
in relief, are a god and two small figures with an inscription. In
Bulghar-Maden itself, Davis found some hieroglyphs. He also dis-
covered the great relief in Ivris, three hours southeast of Cybistra,
or Heracleia, on the borders of Lycaonia. The place lies under the
RELIEF FROM 1 1 /.
chain of the Bulghar-dagh, in a ravine watered In
abounding in fine nut-trees. There is a bridge from I i the
stream; and a canal runs along at the foot oi a rock, w\
front bears the relief. About eight or nine feel from the w ■
figure twenty feet tall < Fig. 86), the god of Cilicia. II
upon his chin; and his head is covered with a pointed bat, around
which twigs with projecting points are wound. Iliv garment
Fi< el from I
not reach the knees; the legs are very muscul
ares; the shoes are high and pointed, like those no\i used I
natives. In his Left hand, which is uplifted, the ;, r <<d h<
of wheat with bearded heads; in hi^ right hand a vine with i
of grapes; he is like Aptuchos, the Libyan g< tility, up
carnelian in the Deraidoff collection, and Baal U) I
coins of Tarsus, with the legend Baal larz.
grain and the face are hieroglyphics. The smaller figure h
god is a |)riest(?), who is holding his hand t«> his
^40 STBIÄ AND ASIA MINOR.
adoration. He has a beard, «hoes with pointed tips, and a long gar-
ment girt at the waist, which has the Hittite pattern of squares with
points in the centre. The mantle covers the left arm, and hangs
down at the side ; and on the edge of the skirt in front there is a
tassel. Behind him are four lines of hieroglyphics. Lower down,
just above the water, there is a third inscription. Not far from
h lis, in the neighborhood of Frahtin, other Hittite sculptures have
been found.
In Iflatun-Bunnar, in Lycaonia, west of Iconium, near Lake Bei-
shehr (Lake Carillis), there is, upon a building constructed with
large blocks of stone, a group of ten figures ; one of these is that
of a god wearing a small hat, to the right of whom is a goddess,
who has her hair dressed in a peculiar manner, like the sphinx of
Euvuk. On the road from Chonos, south of the ancient Colossae,
to Isbarta, north of Sagalassus, is Lake Jarishli. Upon this lake, on
the site of ancient Lysinia, are sculptures, which are probably of
Hittite origin. Only a short distance west of this, at Kara-atlu,
are two weather-beaten figures. Hittite sculptures seem to have
been found also northeast of Cibyra.
From Sardis, where the two great roads mentioned come to-
gether, only one continues to Smyrna. The influence of Hittite
power and culture reached even this place; for here are the sculp-
tures of the so-called Sesostris and Niobe (Cybele), which have
been known since the earliest times. The figure of Sesostris has
improperly received this name through the influence of Herodotus
(ii. 106). Half an hour south of the road running from Smyrna
to Sardis, and southeast of Nimfi (Nif), in the Karabel ravine be-
tween Nif-dagh (Olympus) and Mahmüd-dagh (l)racon), there is
the figure of a Hittite prince in relief represented as walking in the
direction of Ephesus. It is high up on the face of the rock, in
a shallow niche, which becomes somewhat contracted at the top.
Here we have the pointed tiara, the short robe, and the peaked
shoes. The left hand is extended, and holds an upright spear; the
risrht, a bow: and the hilt of a short sword is visible in front, in the
girdle. There are hieroglyphics in front of the face, which Sayce
has copied. Ten minutes distant, and just above the path, is a
second figure, very much injured, upon a rock between the present
Ill II 111-: MONUME ■ •• I 1
road and the small river Karasu. It resembles the other, onh there
is less energy of movement; its face is turned toward - This
figure appears to be the one described bj Herodotus; but, as the
present road runs behind the rock, Humann was the first to dii
it in 187Ö. At Ali-agha, in the plain of the Hermus, southe
tli«' ancient Cyrene, is a pre-Hellenic fortification with Cyclopian
walls; and near it is a relief similar to the one ai Nimfi. Farther
<>n are the mounds known as tin- Tombs ol Tantalis; they are
round, and an- surmounted with pyramids. Texicr describes one
which was constructed in this way: walls radiate Crom (he centre
to the circular enclosing wall, and the intervening Bpaces arc filled
with refuse stones. The chamber is vaulted over with a pointed arch;
but this is not constructed with keystones, hut is hewn out of the
ruck. The stylobate of the tumulus, the chamber, in fact the whole
character of the tomb, are the same which the cemeteries at <
or Tarquinii, in Italy, exhibit. Near Magnesia, on Mount Sipylus,
is a figure of Cybele, which is probably the oldest work "f art in
Minor; but it has been greatly injured by the weather, and its artis-
tic qualities have been almost concealed by incrustation. It is more
than twenty feet high, and is in a sitting posture, like the Athena
in Troy (Iliad, vi. -'.i~i ). The figure is cot in relief, like those
previously described, hut half round. This peculiarity may indicate
that here in a vciy ancient Lydian kingdom, from which tl I
tradition has preserved the names of Tantalus and Pelops, and which
later developed into the kingdom of Sardis, we have forms of A \\
differing somewhat from the Hittite. This city upon Mount S
lus. in whose circuit these monuments are found, w
Tansanias says, by a divine judgment, and swallowed up in the
marshy lake of Saloe. This stagnant body of water is two hours
distant from Magnesia, and the statue of Cybele is visible about
a hundred feet above its surface. The throne of Pelops is said to
stand above the statue; and Humann there found remains ol tic I
talids, -rock houses, and cisterns shaped like bottles. Th<
southern block of stone has been hewn out in the ahap
enough to form a seal for a man. h i- i laimed that the t
.f the goddess Cybele still shows that it had a diadem a:
head. Dennis discovered hieroglyphs on the if:'
Voi . i. ia.
242 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
the head. Gollob distinguished two other inscriptions under the
Hittite one ; namely, a cartouche of Rameses II., and a second Hit-
tite inscription. The Egyptian characters are not made very cor-
rectly ; but their existence here indicates that the coast of Asia
Minor had begun to feel the Egyptian influence, and causes us to
assign this work, with some probability, to the time of the Pharaoh
mentioned; that is, to the fourteenth century B.c. About 1600 feet
eastward is a vast fissure (Turkish, Jarikkaja, ' the rent rock'), more
than three hundred feet wide in places, whose walls rise five hun-
dred feet high. This is the Achelous of the Iliad (xxiv. 616),
where Niobe mourned after being changed into a stone. It has
been thought that the figures of Cybele and of Niobe were one and
the same, but Pausanias speaks of two. One is that of Cybele, the
Mother of the Gods, upon the rock of Coddinus, near Magnesia,
which, according to Pausanias, is the oldest sculpture found on Grecian
soil, and which Broteas, the son of Tantalus, made ; the other is the
fio-ure of Niobe, which near by looks like a natural stone, but at a
distance appears to be the bowed form of a woman weeping. Upon
the northern slope of Sipylus, about ten minutes east of the figure
of Cvbele, is a cone-shaped stone (phallus) with a niche on both sides,
which also belongs to the pre-Hellenic period. Of special interest are
two Hittite inscriptions found in Babylon, an inscribed bowl, and a
magnificent stele of diorite found by the German Expedition in
August, 1899, with a picture of the Hittite storm god Teshup, together
with an inscription of a little over six lines. The monument must
have been carried to Babylon as a trophy from some Hittite centre.
(Plate XVII.— B.)
Besides the monuments which have been referred to, and which
are still in position, and none of which are later than the eighth cen-
tury, because the Hittite kingdom was at that time destroyed by the
Assyrians, there are many smaller antiquities, more particularly seal
cylinders. Especially worthy of mention is an embossed seal (Fig.
87), made from a thin plate of silver in the form of a segment of a
sphere ; it was attached to the hilt of a staff or dagger. This came
to light in Smyrna, but disappeared again after an electrotype copy
had been made for the British Museum. On each side of the figure
of the Hittite prince are six hieroglyphs, corresponding to one an-
PLATE XVII. fl
Hittite Monun
■
Ill 111 //: 8EALS.
other and having the same meaning, which is evidently reproduced
in the Assyrian cuneiform writing running around th< i I I
begins opposite the Left hand with the perpendicular wedge; thii
wedge indicates thai a proper name follows; the three following
wedges read tar, the next nine qu, then dim follows, expressed l>\
live wedges, then me is expressed by a vertical wedge with a small
out- upon its side: the next six form the ideograph for 4 king/ the
next three w itli their points together mean • land ; ' the next five read
er; then the syllable me occurs again; and the last are e. The
meaning of the whole is Tarkudimme, king of (tiie) land Erme. From
this one would judge that the I unite characters within the field
should be interpreted as follows : the head of the animal represent*
Tarku; the figure under it dimnu ; tin- obelisk would indicate 'king';
the double mountain, 'land'; and the
two remaining characters would he
er-me. The first part of the name
of the killer appears to he thai of a
god, Tarku ; and this occurs also in
Tarkhulara, the name of a king of
Gurgum, and in Tarkhunazi, that of
the king of Meliddu. It is worthy
of notice that this Ilittite name ap-
pears several time-, even in late an-
tiquity ; ihr example, in the time of
Augustus there lived the princes Tar-
condimotus and Tarcondarius. Plutarch mentions a Tan lemus.
A tribe in Mylasa in Caria was called Tarcondareis ; and there was
a Tarcodimatus, bishop of Aegae in Cilicia. The land Ernie was
perhaps that of the Arimi, wl Strabo locates in southern Cilici
the lower Calycadnus. While certain conclusions n> be drawn fi
study of this seal are of considerable importance, they do not buA
solve the mystery of the Ilittite script.
Various work- of a Ilittite character have been found. In the
brick library of Asurbanipal at Nineveh, eight clay imprei
Ilittite seals were found, hut four of them are identical. 'II..- pre
ence of these in the Assyrian capital can 1- explained by the mar-
riage of the Assyrian king with the daughter of -
Fig. K7 Seal "i fan
1>44 SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
Cilicia. Also eighteen clay impressions of seals, which Schlumberger
secured in Constantinople, should be mentioned. Upon one of these
there is a god upon a lion, having in his right hand a bow, as in the
relief of Nimfi ; there are also five stone seals in Berlin. A large
number of hematite cylinders were found in Cappadocia, the Taurus,
and Northern Syria, which have figures resembling those in Boghaz-
keui. In Naples there is a gold seal-ring with the figure of a Hittite
warrior raising up a hare. Di Cesnola found a seal in Cyprus, con-
taining a figure resembling that of Nimfi, which represents a gazelle
contending with a dog, and a hunter thrusting his spear into the
neck of the gazelle ; the inscription upon one side consists of two
Hittite hieroglyphs, that upon the other of the two Cyprian syllabic
signs ja and po. Various antiquities from Asia Minor have Cyprian
characters, and these cannot therefore be regarded as Hittite memori-
als ; still, they show that the Greeks as well as Lycians, Carians, and
others before the adoption of the Phoenician alphabet made use of a
script, — called by some ' Asian,' — which is derived from the Hittite
hieroglyphs. This was employed a long time, especially in Cyprus.
The letters which were lacking in the Phoenician alphabet were sup-
plied in the writing of Asia Minor from the ' Asian ; ' the arrange-
ment of the lines, running alternately from left to right, and right to
left (bvmtrophedori) is Hittite, as the hieroglyphs upon the stones
of Hamath clearly show. It also appears that a mystical sign, which
Mas widely diffused, and which has been designated by a Sanskrit word
swastika, is of Hittite origin. It consists of a cross, the four ends of
which are bent toward the side. It is thought that it really repre-
sents the oldest means of striking fire ; namely, two pieces of wood,
which were rubbed at their intersection by a third, until the wood
ignited. As in the mythological picture-language conceptions were
frequently united, so the generation of fire is united with fertility,
life, and good fortune. Countless examples of this sign are found
upon vessels in Asia Minor and in the Greek islands, also upon ob-
jects from Schliemann's Troy. The sivastika occurs much later in
India ; it passed thence, with Buddhism, to Tibet and Eastern Asia,
even to Japan, where it forms the coat-of-arms of the Daimio family
Hachisuka.
The eastern portion of Asia Minor was occupied by Hittites and
MONUMENTS TN PHRYQIA, 245
cognate peoples, who in the earliest period ruled the whole peninsula.
The Lydian dynasty of the Heraclidae seem to have been o\ llittitu
origin. The western portion, however, gradually passed from uudei
their influence, because independent kingdoms arose which became
hostile to Asia« especially after tin- Ilittite kingdom was desti
by the Assyrians, and after the Median power spread beyond Ar-
menia. The chief people of western Asia Minor were the Phrygians,
who crossed over the Hellespont from Europe. The monuments
found in Phrygia probably belong to the llittin- period, for Greek
art had not yet made its influence felt bo far inland: but they are
later in time, for the inscriptions upon them are in a writing derived
in tin- eighth century B.c. from the Ionian, and containing also some
Phrygian characters. Here belong the monument called I >«• li k.-
tash ('the excavated stone'), at I lannanjik, upon the Rhyndacus;
and the graves at Doganlu, south of Dorylaeum (Eski-Shehr), upon
one of which (Fig. ss ) is the nana- of Midas. At the latter place
is an entire citadel, which, together with its approaches, is cut out
of the solid rock. These n nnieiits show a close connection with
the Cappadocian. The outside of the tomb presents a large tl.it
facade, ahove which runs a geometric embroidery pattern. The
pediment is also flat, ami ornamented with rows oi squares, and is
crowned at the top with spirals. These decorations were colored,
as appears on the Deliktash. This latter is covered in man) places
with stucco, and shows still black, red, and white coloring. The
cap-piece of the door was adorned with led rings, and its under side
is decorated with beautiful foliage. The facade has the appearance
of a wall hung with Phrygian carpets. There appears t.. be a door
at the bottom near tin' ground; hut it is not a leal one. for the
entrance is from the top. But the opening of the shaft is cono
by the growth of plants, so that it has been found only in the
of a single grave.
The ancients affirm that the Mv-dans, who w.-iv ;, w.mik.
the north of Lydia, spoke a Language between the Phryg
Lydian. Although the statements of th< G - upon Lingu
matters cannot he relied upon, since they did not treat ol t 1
lationshipof Languages upon scientific principles, yet this
perhaps be regarded as correct, as it i 1 by tie-
246
STRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
position of the people. The Carian language is also believed to be
related to the Lydian, although the Carians in many respects occu-
pied a peculiar position. Cognate with the Lydians and Carians
were the Leleges, to whom many Cyclopian walls and pre-Hellenic
Fi<;. «8. — The Tomb of Midas.
fortifications are ascribed. Adjoining the Lydians are the inhab-
itants of the Troad ; adjoining the Phrygians are the Bithynians,
the Mariandyni and Paphlagonians, who, like them, came from
Thrace. The Thracians built the lowest city of Hissarlik, the
pottery and stone remains of which are the same as those discovered
in the so-called Hill of Protesilaus on the European shore of the
LYCIA VS
247
Hellespont, which belong to the stone age of the Ajryan race. The
Phrygian is an Aryan language, which is connected on the one hand
with the Thiacian and Lithuanian, and upou the other with the
Armenian. Ii is probable thai the Cappadocians, whose Dame does
not appear till the inscriptions of the Achaemenides, is thai portion
of the Aryans which conquered the old Hittite Khammanu. h can
be assumed tint many [ndo-European peoples entered into \
Minor even in very ancient time, jn-t as the Cimmerians did later.
mingled with the earlier inhabitants, and adopted the culture of Asia
Minor. The origin of the Lycians, whose native name was Termil,
is wholly uncertain. Greek tradition -ays that they are related t<> the
Rhodians and Cretans. Their numerous inscriptians, many of which
have a Greek translation, show that the language was nol Indo-
European. Their civilization became later wholly Hellenized; and
only their language, and the rock architecture of the graves, which
will be treated of later, are pure Lycian.
Asia Minor lay at the centre of the ancient world, and
adapted to commerce because it is washed on three sides bj the
sea; its rieh soil and line climate fitted it to be the home of an early
civilization. The lack of a great river, or of a large plain, such as
Mesopotamia and Egypt possessed, prevented the formation of a
central power, to unite the different nations and the countries, which
are to some extent separated by mountains difficult to i
The chief significance of Asia Minor in the history of the human
race lies in the fact that it was the transmitter pf the civilization
and culture of Asia to Greece and thus to Europe.
until, however, the Hittite inscriptions, of which we now have
some thirty of a substantial character, besides single Hittite signs on
many seal cylinders or clay impressions of seals, -hall have been satis-
factorily deciphered, many of the problems presented by the history
of Asia Minor, and more particularly the relationship of the various
groups in this district to one another, cannot be solved. Despite some
progress made in the letermination of some signs and in tl
pictorial interpretation, chiefly by Save,.. Jensen, and M- — r-hmidt.
the key to the language has nol yet been found A solution pro|
by Jensen in 1894 has nol bed, accepted by scholars, and one proj
by Sayce in 1903 still remains to be tested
BOOK III.
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA.
THE NKW" EMPIRE IN EGYPT AND THE RISE
ASSYRIA.
240
EGYPT AND WESTERN A STA
THE .\'i:\V EMPIRE l\ EGYPT AM» THE RISE OF
ASSYRIA.
CHAPTEB VI.
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
THE Egyptians in earlier times had business relations with
foreign peoples, and were also often obliged I :<■ in
war with Libyans and roving Asiatic races. The» wars, however, had
for their main object the defence of Lower Egypt. Onl) toward
the smith was the kingdom extended by conquest. W ith the Eigh-
teenth Dynasty there sei in weightier campaigns against the gi
powers in Asia to vindicate Egypt's greatness, and to enrich the land
by spoils, as well a- to gain workmen for the great architectural
works from the captives taken in war. Aähmes (Amasis [.), the
first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty (seventeenth to fifteenth cen-
tury B.c.), had, with the aid of the Ethiopians, driven forth the
Hyksos. The Inscription on the grave, already referred to (p. 1 V
the king's namesake, < faptain Aahmes, found at El-Kab, gives full dV tails
of the Biege of Avaris, the Hyksos 1 fortress. We learn from it that
the attack was made botfc by land and water. ■■ W ■
Avaris, and I had to fighl on foot before lli- Holii
raoh ). I was conveyed on board the ship Kha-en Menn< fer(* K
in .Memphis - ): we foughl on the canal Pazet-ku
won i a prize. I carried off a hand, which was commui
tlll . chronicler of the king. For my valor the golden chain
given me \ fighl took place at Takem, south i I '
W here I captured a man alive. I went into the « him
with me. To avoid the stive,, of the citj I with him thi
252 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO STRIA.
water. . . . We took Avaris. I took thence, as captives, one man
and three women, which I presented to His Holiness as slaves.
We besieged the city of Sharnhen in the sixth year of his reign, and
His Holiness captured it. I took with me two women as captives,
and carried off a hand. . . ." Sharuhen (Joshua xix. 6) lay on the
road to Gaza. We know from the inscription of another officer —
Aähmes-pur-Nekhbet — that Aähmes I. pursued the Hyksos to Phoenicia.
After capturing Avaris, the king, hurried against the mountaineer of
Khent-nefer in Nubia, and scarcely were these subdued, when a still
mightier southern foe appeared. This also was conquered. The gen-
eral, Aähmes, captured the ship of the commander, and was rewarded
by large possessions. After bringing his wars and two rebellions to a
successful issue, the king devoted himself to the enlargement and deco-
ration of temples. Prisoners from the northeast frontier — among
them the Fenkhu, a foreign coast-people in the eastern Delta —
were employed in the quarries of Turra. From this time for-
ward, Thebes came more to the foreground than under the Seven-
teenth Dynasty, and saw a series of great structures arise. Mem-
phis, in virtue of its commerce and its being the seat of government
for the Delta, remained a city of high importance ; but the days of
its glory were departed. During the last dynasties, however, the
seat of empire was again transferred to Lower Egypt.
The portrait of Aähmes is preserved on a stele in Turin. His
well-preserved mummy shows him to have been about fifty when he
died. The head is small, the hair is thick and wavy. Erman has
pointed out that the entire organization of the country changed as the
result of the war of independence. The invasion had weakened the old
feudal houses. The territory recovered fell into the hands of the crown.
Egypt had become a military power. Army chiefs stepped into ancient
civil offices, replacing the feudal aristocracy. The crown, the priest-
hood, and the army divided the wealth of the land. Aähmes married
his sister, Aähmes-Nefertari, through whom descended the rights of the
pure solar line. For centuries she was worshipped on a par with the
great Theban gods as the ' great ancestress.' In her coffin — over ten
feet high — the mummy of Rameses III. had been secreted along with
her own. The Mahdi war that followed upon the find of royal bodies
caused these to remain neglected until 1886. It then was found
TABLET OF TH0THM1 S
fcrr^i^L^f^^t^tt^t'i/^it-u;^^».--'^',
JSjaLgggi AWMKWHm'CZAA'^JZlZMte
i%mr^A^^mkTS&&ziLzt*mrj<*#-
£LWVXt±^lW~tmi*M1zm%ZH-n i- £ ff r^lA
^M^^i^^xM^UUL!l//"/^il^^/A^-^U
tj&Arr:, WX*X&£iA'S~ m A"A" xAZt C/f£ BtfrS^S
fcMr^-r^^/]tTf^^i^^tft4^^i^'liv<A v.
, JP&tfM'11/Ü^?r;"^^6^r.' .^^Uy^fr: Z!T/y fi | / V
~a ;:^g *kt^a?rmi ^/^£u-?£m^~ -. . v.
, ^/^^4^^fito// m x ,, C , A , <<^fc=ttArffl ^r!fcfl
ttfi/^gaiMrafe i, fi^u^r^i»° | itsi:i^^M'tAT>i[
^B^Tg^5^r^>gl?7fitA2^A^^^^5Yfe"MtAT>ll
fcÄSÄAf^^lTfHMfcf^^t:
5> ^ii£^L^iratfcH^tA5r'^/isg^ä:ii"- »it t »
CZ^sfM^M-tft'.
^
ftAK^SJ
; L
Pie. B9. TttoM <•[ Thothmei I
954 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA
thai the mummy of Nefertari — after having survived 3500 years — was
decomposing, and, in Mr. Maspero's absenoe 3 she was hastily buried
anew.
Amenhotep I., son of Aahmes, reigned at first jointly with his
mother. He fought in Nubia and in Asia. 1 The dominions which
he left to his son extended from Nubia to the Euphrates. Thothmes
I. (Fig. 92) vanquished the Nubians of Khent-nefer, and set up
a monument at Kerman, opposite the island of Tombos (Fig. 89).
He then entered Asia, marched through the land of the Kutenuu
into northern Palestine and Syria, and erected memorial-stones at
Niy on the Euphrates. The hoary hero, Aahmes, the king's lieu-
tenant, appeared for the last time here in the field, and captured a
battle-chariot. The victories in Asia did not secure for Egypt any
real sovereignty in these parts. Tribute only was required, without
any change in the political relations. On the other hand, the con-
quered Nubian possessions were practically incorporated into the
kingdom by the establishment of strong places, the introduction of
Egyptian culture, and the appointment of the Prince of Cush as
governor, an office often filled by the crown-prince. Thothmes II.
married his sister, Queen Ma-ka-Ra Khnumt-Amen Hatshepsut
(Fig. 90), whom Erman and Edward Meyer suspect of doing away
with him. The feebleness of his frame, however, and the ravages of
the disease, still visible on his skin, sufficiently explain his early demise.
The relationship of the Thothmeses is still a matter for discussion. But
whether Thothmes III. was a brother or nephew of Hatshepsut, as is
generally believed, or, as recently suggested, was an usurper and her
consort, Hatshepsut' s right to the throne is unquestioned. She organ-
ized a great commercial maritime expedition to the land of Punt
whose details are represented in a series of very beautiful reliefs, with
descriptive inscriptions, in the temple at Der-el-Bahri, in Thebes.
(Plate XVIII.) Parihu, the Prince of Punt, appears as an old man
of dark-brown skin ; his wife and daughter, portrayed with realistic
humor, are anything but slender beauties. The freighting of home-
ward-bound vessels, on some of which men are already giving the
1 In the reign of this king the lmr.se first appears on Egyptian monuments.
—Ed.
s The coffin and the mummy of Thothmes I. were found at Der-el-Bahri. The
bead bears a strong likeness to that of Thothmes II. — Ei>.
PLAT]
1. Arrival of the Fie
(One-sixteent
Iliatunj of All Nations. Vol. I., ixiae S-'L.
2. The Freiglr
(One-ninth 1
Bas-relief on a wall in the temple at Der-el-Bahri, repri
XVIII
at the Land of Punt.
lie actual size.)
ig of a Ship.
ctual size.)
ing a fleet sent by Queen Eatasu to the land of Punt.
QUEEN HATSHEPSUT.
25!
sails to the wind and moving the rudder, is represented on the
Lower part of our plate. The fish in the water are depicted so truly
that it is possible to determine their species. The wares are enu-
merated in the inscriptions. Among them we find frankincense
plants, ivory, etc.; also apes (kafu, Hindostanee kapi\ peacocks
(aanau), and other foreign animals, as well as thirty-two fragrant
shrubs, which were acclimated in Thebes. The leader can recog-
nize many of the names in the subjoined determinatives, or eluci-
datory picture-signs, on the plate.
In Thebes their arrival was cele-
brated by a festival, and the car-
goes were consecrated and entered
in the temple-books. The god
Thoth, a n< I Safekh, the goddess of
libraries, record the weight, and
number the articles. In the one
scale of a balance held by Hor
are thirty-one metal rings (coins) ;
in the other, the 'tens' or pound-
weights in the form of ox-heads
or gazelles ( rock-goats). The queen
reigned twenty years. Her empty
coffin has recently been found.
With Hatshepsut the legitimate
line seems to have come to an end ;
for Thothmes III. nowhere men-
tions his mother, liest, her name
appearing only on the mummy-bands of hie corpse. Scarcely was
the queen Ma-ka-Ra, descended <V<>m the queen of Aähmes, dead,
when he avenged the indignities he had t<» endure from her. and his
banishment to Buto in the Delta at her dictation, by causing her
name to be chiselled mit from all the monuments and replaced by
his own. 1 Tin reign of Thothmes III., covering nearly fifty-three
years, is glorious, both by reason of his SUCCeSS in amis and the
1 AVo are told thai during her lifetime Eatshepsul wore male attire, and put on
the robes and ornaments thai belong to kin--. She honored the memory of her father.
Thothmes I., by erecting t.. bim two magnificent granite obelisks at Karnak.— Ed
Pig. 90. Queen Hat
256 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
nol.U> works of art raised by him. But his name has been probably
kept more vividly before posterity than that of any other of the
Pharaohs, from the fact that he himself had his annals first inscribed
on a leathern roll, preserved in the archives of the temple of Thebes,
and, from that, engraved on the stone walls of the great hall that
encloses the sanctuary. Here they have suffered by restorations;
yet, in connection with the splendid pictorial illustrations, they
furnish priceless information touching the deeds of this Pharaoh,
and the degree of civilization then attained by the countries of
Asia. On a stele of black grämte, now at the Gizeh Museum,
the victories won by Thothmes are celebrated in lofty diction, and
the subdued nations enumerated. Another original source of in-
formation for this reign is the inscription on the grave of the
commander Amen-em-heb, discovered by Ebers in Gurnah. The
sculptures are remarkable for their life; in the battle pictures one
looks down, as from a bird's-eye point of view, on the whole
action, the combatants being arranged in rows one over the other.
Some passages of the text consist only of names of the conquered
peoples and cities ; these names appearing on shields or cartouches,
over which are seen the half-length figures of the inhabitants with
their arms bound behind them. These shields, arranged in rows
one over the other, are fastened on cords, and are being presented
by the Pharaoh to Amen and the other gods.
As under Thothmes I., so in this reign, the Rntenim appear
as the dominant people of Syria. Immediately after the victory
over this people, there came from Asia to Egypt numerous works
of highly developed art-industry, which exercised a very distinct
influence on Egyptian art. These exhibit a style of ornamentation
mainly motived by the metal (bronze) in which they are worked,
whereas, before this time, Egyptian decorations were based on tex-
tiles and on work in wood, as well as on the imitation of natural
objects.
The annals of Thothmes III. report that, in the twenty-second
year of his reign, when he appears as sole ruler, he marched by way of
Gaza to the fortress Yehem, where tidings were secretly brought him
that the hostile prince of Kadesh (northwest of Merom, or Bahr-Huleh)
had garrisoned Megiddo, rightly conceiving it to be the key to northern
CAMPAIGNS OF TIIOTJ/M/.s ///.
25\
Syria, This city occupied the site of the meiern Khan-Legum (from
the Latin Legion), near which Tel-Mutessellim indicates the old fort.
Thothmes approached Megiddo through the Wadi-Kanah, on which
he rested his right wing, while the left extended itself northwest
of the town. The enemy was defeated and the fort stormed, which
later, under the supervision of Egyptian architects, was made a
point of support for future campaigns. The booty captured in
Megiddo, and that taken from the petty kings who made their suh mis-
sion, is detailed in the inscription: living prisoners, 340; bands
(cut from the fallen), 83; horses, 2,041; fillies, 191; bulls, 6; a
war-chariot inlaid with gold; a gilded chest ; a royal gilded chariot ;
892 other war-chariots; a bronze suit of armor; the armor of the
king of Megiddo; 200 suits of bronze armor; 502 bows; 7 silver-
plated tent-poles; innumerable cattle, goats, etc. The Pharaoh
captured and razed the fortress of Kadesh on the Orontes, where
Amenemheb broke through a newly erected wall and performed
other feats, and then entered the land of the Rutennu, when- he
strengthened three captured fortresses, — Anaugasa, Herenkal, Ine-
naa. The Egyptian arms were carried still farther, to Naharena
(Mesopotamia); and mention is made of a land, Afrit, lying behind
Niy, where Thothmes erected boundary pillars. On one Inscription,
mention is made of the tribute (homage-gift) of the king of the
Kheta (Hittites), consisting of 96 pounds and 2 ounces of gold ( the
pound, or 'ten,' is 10 ounces; the ounce, 14') grains apothecary
weight), 8 negro slaves, 13 boys as servants, oxen. In continua-
tion, there are cited as booty from Syria. Remenen, ami Naharena :
silver and gold; vessels of Phoenician (Zahi) work: silver rings
(used as money or for ornament ). <S of which weighed -"''»l Egyptian
pounds; gold rings (the weight only, not the number, told): green
stones (malachite); lapis lazuli; turquoises (real, and artificial of
blue glass from Babylon); bronzes: iron articles; lead; emery;
bitumen; silver goblets; white vases mounted in gold: 'Adonis-
gardens ' (vessels with flowers); wine amphorae: vases of felspar;
chariots, some inlaid with silver and gold, and plated and painted;
armor of leather and bronze: battle-axes with stone head- ; of living
beings, male and female slaves, horses, asses, bulls, oxen, goats,
foreign birds, geese, — nay, in one representation the Rutennu
Vol. I. IT.
258 'r" i: RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
bring aot only a bear, but an elephant, probably from the plain of
the Euphrates ; of natural products and articles of food — bread and
cakes corn, barley, meal, grape- and date-wine, honey, figs, balsam,
teak (t'<»r chariots), fauteuüs of cedar or acacia («es) and other fine
woods, tent-poles beset with bronze and precious stones, colors, and
the like.
The campaigns were soon renewed. In the twenty-ninth year
of his (Thothmes III.) reign the fortress of Tunep was taken. It was
afterward destroyed. From this point Amenemheb, the Pharaoh's
general, made a sally against Carchemish, on the Euphrates — the
capital of the Hittite kingdom — and then followed his lord toward
Aradus, on the Mediterranean, overtaking him at Tyre. There seemed
to be no limit to the conqueror's activity. The annals of his reign are
very full, and show him extending Egypt's power from the banks of
the Tigris to the mountains of Armenia and those of Abyssinia. There
are records of his wars from his twenty-second to his fifty-fourth
year. Almost each year marks a new warlike enterprise. After
placing under tribute the nations of Phoenicia, Northern Syria, Meso-
potamia, Cyprus, Punt, and Ethiopia, in his forty-second year, he dedi-
cated the long inscription at Karnak, commemorative of his exploits.
Bis fiftieth year saw him in Ethiopia. At this time he cleared the
canal of the cataract. He was a great builder. He must have been
over sixty when he died. His mummy and coffin have survived. He
was short, robust, and his features recall those of Thothmes I. and of
Thothmes II. (p. 287). The forehead is low, the eye deep-set, the jaw
heavy, the lips thick, with high cheek bones. His type is that of the
fellah — " coarse of fibre and expression, but vigorous." The long list
of conquered peoples and places has been studied by various scholars
from Mariette and Brugsch to W. M. Müller and Breasted, and furnish
valuable clues to the ancient world, about b.c. 1500. Never was respect
for Egypt so widespread over distant regions as under Thothmes III.
Yet the constant repetition of the campaigns proves that the van-
quished provinces were unsubdued.
Amenhotep II., son of Thothmes, was obliged to march to Meso-
potamia to enforce payment of the overdue tribute. His mummy was
found in 1898 by Loret (Fig. 91). His tomb had served as hiding-place
for other royal mummies — among others for that of King Merenptah.
AMENHOTEP III OR MEMNON.
259
Thothmes IN'., 1 immediate successor of ALinenhotep II., also
maintained the boundaries established by his ancestors. A.menhotep
III. (Fig. 92), the Memnon of the Greeks, was a worthy successor
<»f the great Thothmes. II«' conducted expeditions in Asia which
seem more like triumphal progresses than like war-. Ami he main-
tained Egypt's supremacy over Tunep, Kadesh, Carchemish, and
Northern Mesopotamia. lie made raids in tin' south till all the land
to Ethiopia was subject to him. His edifices reach even to the city of
Fig. 91. — Mummyof A.menhqtep II. (From Annates du Service des Antiquitee, iii.
2e fuse. )
Napata, on the mountain Barkal, above the great southern bend of the
Nile. In the history of art he Is famed through hi- erection of the
magnificent south-temple of Thebes, where Luxor ii. <•.. tin- 'palaces')
now stands, and of another on the western bank, "I' which nothing now
1 He i- interesting t" us as repairer of the Sphinx :it Gizeh. A tablet set up by
him between the paws of the Sphinx relates thai in an afterdinner sleep Han
appeared t" him promising the crown of Egj pi it* he should clear hi« image — i.e., the
Sphinx — from the sand. This be <li'l in the tir-t year "f his reign.— Ed,
260
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
remains but the Memnon colossi. The latter are blocks of stone
nearly seventy feet high, in the form of gigantic sitting figures, por-
traits of the king as the representative of the god. The features are
dilapidated ; but one can reproduce them from several still existing
likenesses, as, e. g., that in his tomb.
Four important events in the life and reign of this king are
recorded on some large steatite scarabs. One celebrates his lion-hunts,
where he is said to have slain 102 lions with his own hands — perhaps
in Armenia; another records the coming to Egypt of Kilgipa, the
Fig. 92. — Head of Thothmes I.
daughter of an Asiatic father, Sutarna, son of Artatama, king of Mitani,
with 317 of her women ; another, his marriage with Tyi ; and the last,
the building for his queen of a large lake near the town Tarukha. The
Tel-el-Amarna tablets prove that Amenhotep had as his wife not only
Queen Tyi, but also a sister and a daughter of Kallima-sin, king of
Babylon, as well as Gilukhipa and Satumkhipa, princesses of Mitani
(Armenia), and the sister and daughter of Dushratta, king of Mitani,
while the son of the Egyptian king — i. e., Khu-en-Aten — married Tadu-
khipa, Dushratta's daughter, whom Petrie identifies with Nefertiti.
RELIGIOUS REFORMS UNDER AMENHOTEP IV. 261
Under Amenhotep TV. a religious schism took place. The Learned
priesthood hud reached an intellectual plane from which the multiplicity
of Egyptian gods seemed but the manifold manifestations of the divine
essence. In different localities various Dames tnighl be given to the
Supreme Power. But by the process known as henotheism, each deity
was endowed with the attributes of all. Of this amalgamation of
divine types, the sun-god was the central point. If they did not reach
monotheism, it was because in this, as in all other branches of their
civilization, the Egyptians progressed without abandoning the ancient
teaching, upon which they engrafted the new. Amen, the 'hidden'
one — originally a harvest-god, the local god of Thebes during the
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties — had reached supremacy in the
pantheon. His priesthood had become all-powerful. Amen became
the invisible god who manifests himself in the sun — i. e., Amen-Ra.
But around him — albeit often identified with him — were still grouped
the entire plurality of the gods. Amenhotep III. had ruled in the
old faith, although, in the light of subsequent events, ii is significant
that the bark in which he sailed on the artificial lake which he con-
structed at Zaru for his bride, Queen Tyi, was named \< fer-Aten —
' the beauties of the disk.' This betrays in his mind the leaning
toward Aten, which his son, later, developed. At his death, Amen-
hotep IV. began his reign in the old faith. While he announced bis
intention to erect at Thebes, in honor of IJa-I Iarmakhi — A ten, a Ilai-
Benben or 'house of obelisks' like the temple of Heliopolis, a tomb
was begun at Thebes in which he appears in the conventional way.
But during the process of construction thing- reached a crisis : at least,
in part of the mausoleum he assumes the name of Khu-en-Aten —
' splendor of the disk.' The fact that it remained unfinished attests the
political as well as the religious revolution that took place ["he local
cultus was too deeply rooted into the very life of the people of each
locality to be changed. It might readily be added t<>. but it never
could be supplanted. Breaking with the Theban priestl I, Khu-en-
Aten left Thebes. He established his conn in Middle Egypt, at Tel-el-
Amarna, where he erected a new capital — Pa-Aten. The god i- here
represented as a disk, shedding upon the world its beneficent ray-, each
of which terminates with a hand, often holding the Bign of life (Fig. 93).
If this form was original, however, the Aten itself was UO new or
•>,;•> THE RELATIONS OE TUE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
foreign god. His worship had long existed at Heliopolis. What was
oew to Egypt was the intolerance which its worshippers evinced toward
Other gods. 'The doctrine,' as it was called, taught adoration of "the
living sun-disk, beside whom there is no other"; and its converts erased
the names of other gods, directing their special fury against Amen.
( )nlv Maat, the goddess of truth, found favor in their eyes, while Aten
Fig. 93. — Amenhotep IV. and his family, sacrificing to the Sun. Relief in a tomb at
Tel-el-Amarna.
alone was worshipped. The remains of the palace, the temple, and
other structures of Khu-en-Aten have been found (Petrie, 1891). The
temple was called Hat-Benben. In the refuse heap of the palace much
A.egaean pottery and glass was obtained ; and amid the rubbish in the
palace, probably left by those who carved his statues, the death-mask
of the king — now in the Gizeh Museum — and an unfinished relief-
portrait were found. The latter, now in the Museum of the University
of Pennsylvania, still retains after 3400 years the ink-tracings of the
AMENHOTEP 71'
263
artist where the Btone is uncut A block found at Gurob, also in the
last-mentioned museum, represents the disk in the Assyrian style, a- a
rosette from which depend short, straight, arrow-like rays. The con-
ventional art of this interesting period represents the kin- a- quite
altered from his former self, [ndeed, every man and woman i- por-
trayed in the .same unattractive as well as unegyptian form, which, as
Wiedemann has wisely suggested, belongs to the peculiar Bchool of art
of the time. The early likenesses of the kin- show him with a normal
body and the features of his race. A great hymn to Aten has been
Pig. 94, — ", Mask <>t" Khu-en-Aten (Gizefa Museum). >>. Relief portrait of Khu-en-
Aten (Museum of the University of Pennsylvania).
preserved. It has been published by Bouriant and also by Breasted.
It is worthy of remark that in this invocation to the sun-god all trace
of the old Heliopolitan anthropomorphism, a- well as of polytheism,
has disappeared : . . . "Thou erratest the earth according to thy will,
when thou wast alone. .Men. herd-, flocks, all that is apou earth
and goeth upon feet, all that is on high and flieth with win--. The
lands of Syria, of Kush, of Egypl ; thou Bettest .ach in it- place ; thou
providest each with that which pertaineth t" it. . . . Their forms arc
according to the color of their skins. . . . Thou makest the Nile, . . .
that it may give life to men whom thou hast mad.' for thyself. Lord
264
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
of all. . . . Thou art the Only One, when thou risest in thy form, as
the living Aten, splendid, radiant, fair shining. Thou createst the
tonus of the beings who are in thee. Thou art the Only One. . . .
All behold thee in their midst, for thou art the Aten of day, above the
earth. . . ." Most of the inseriptions of Khu-en-Aten breathe the
same religious fervor. In some of them, however, he lays aside con-
ventionality and appears as a loving husband and father. His tomb
was unfinished, his sarcophagus destroyed, and only fragments of
mummy wrappings exist of this strange monarch.
The close relations with Asia resulting from
the treaties and marriages that followed upon
the great wars of the preceding reigns, had
led Asiatics to flock to the Egyptian court.
At the new capital there were scribes in charge
of the correspondence conducted in cuneiform
script with the tributary or allied Asiatic
princes, as well as with Egypt's lieutenants in
Syria. In 1887, at Tel-el-Amarna, some
three hundred and twenty cuneiform tablets
forming a portion of these archives were found
in the loose sand at the foot of the hills back
of the village by a peasant woman in search
of antiquities. The Semitic dialect used is
Assyrian, and — in some important details — is
related to the Hebrew of the Old Testament.
The tablets are of the clay peculiar to the vari-
ous localities represented. They were written
from about b.c. 1500 to 1450. They are in-
scribed on both sides, and are annotated in red ink and in hieratic by the
Egyptian scribe. They vary in length from two to twelve inches. At
present, they are distributed between the British Museum (82), the Berlin
Museum (160), and the Gizeh Museum. The tablets are, for the most
part, letters written to Amenhotep III. and Araenhotep IV. by their sub-
ject princes or deputies in Syria and Palestine, and by the friendly rulers
of Babylon, and are either diplomatic messages, friendly communications,
or official reports. The correspondence with Babylon consists of eleven
/etters, the principal subjects of which are matrimonial alliances ; three
Fig. 95. — KingKlm-n-aten
(Amenhotep IV.)-
TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS. 265
from Kallima-sin, king of Karaduriyash (Northern Babylonia, nearesl
to Assyria), to Amenhotep III. j one, perhaps a firel draft, from the
latter to the former; and seven from Burraburiyash of Babylon to
Amenhotep IV. As a specimen of this correspondence, we quote a
part of the letter from Amenhotep III. Kallima-sin bad been asked
to send Snkharti, his daughter, to the harem of the Pharaoh, and had
replied that since the marriage of his own Bister to the king of Egypt,
she had never been seen, and that it was nol known whether Bhe was
alive. To these and other objections Amenhotep III. replies: "To
Kallima-sin, king of Karaduriyash, my brother, thus saith Amenhotep?
the great king, the king of Egypt thy brother: 'I am well, may it be
well with thee, with thy government, with thy wives, with thy children,
with thy nobles, with thy horses, and with thy chariots; and may
there be great peace in thy land,'" etc. The king then states that he
has understood the message concerning Snkharti. II»' replies that none
of the members of the embassy sent by Kallima-sin for news of bis
sister were acquainted with her: ''Since thou sayest'my messengers
cannot identify her/ I answer: Who can? And I ask further, Why
dost thou not send a wise man who might give thee a trustworthy
account of thy sister here? . . . and see for himself the honor in which
she is held by the king." He calls upon the great god-, to witness
that "the kings of the land of Egypt" are not wont to aet deceit-
fully. Kallima-sin had stated that it was his custom to give his
daughters to the " kings of Karaduriyash," who treated their escorts
with generous hospitality and sent back handsome gifts. Amenhotep
answers that he possesses and will give more than they. 1 Another
letter (Berlin No. 3) shows Kallima-sin complaining that when be asked
for the hand of an Egyptian princess the king had answered that " the
daughters of the king of the land of Egypt have never been given to a
nobody." He asks : "Why not? Thou art king, and if thou givest
who shall say a word?" The matter must have Wren adjusted finally
to their mutual satisfaction, for another letter (Gizeh N". I) shows
Kallima-sin writing to Amenhotep: "With reference to thy request
that my daughter Sukharti be given thee to wife, she has now reached
1 See Bezold-Budge, 'The Tel-el-Amarna Tablets in the British Museum';
Winckler-Abel, 'Der Thontafelfund von El-Amarna ' ; Delattre, 'Lettre« de Tel-el»
Amarna,'inProc. Soc. Bib. Arch., 1890-91, vols, riii., w.. L89fc-98. Bayoeandothen
have also contributed to the elucidation of the Bubject
266 T1IK RELATIONS OF THE SEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
the proper age. If thou wilt write unto mo, she shall be brought unto
thee." None of the>c Asiatic princesses, however, was acknowledged
queen of Egypt. Tyi alone was described as "royal daughter, royal
mother, royal wife, great lady, mistress of the North and South." Her
portrait shows her fair with blue eyes. Her father was Yuaa, and her
mother, Thuaa — and she was the mother of Khu-en-Aten, the 'Napk-
huriya ' of the El-Amarna tablets — a transliteration of his throne name,
Nefer-Kheperu-Ra. 1 According to a tablet (No. 3, British Museum),
the hitter's daughter married a son of Burraburiyash. It has been
suggested that this was Karakhardash, who succeeded his father on the
throne of Karaduriyash in the time of Ashur-uballit, king of Assyria.
An interesting tablet gives the terms of a commercial treaty between
Kallima-sin and Amenhotep III., according to which any Mesopotamian
travelling in Egypt with merchandize shall pay certain duties to the
king of Egypt. Should the traveller refuse, the duty may be forcibly
exacted. Among dutiable articles are mentioned gold, silver, oil, cloth-
ing, and other commodities. So far, this is the oldest commercial treaty
of which the terms are officially recorded. Burraburiyash in a letter
(No. 2, British Museum) alludes to a treaty of offensive and defensive
alliance made between his father, Kurrigalzu, and the king of Egypt.
In all these transactions astonishing stress is laid upon the respective
value of the presents exchanged, and in return for Asiatic bronze,
rock-crystal, lapis-lazuli, and chariots, gold, oxen, oils, furniture, or
men are expected. The longest letter — of 518 lines — in the whole
collection is from Dushratta, king of Mitani (Armenia), and relates
to the marriage of his daughter (Sadukhipa) to Amenhotep IV. (Khu-
en-Aten). We have already seen that the sister, and another daughter
of Dushratta, had married Amenhotep III., whose throne name, Neb-
Maat-Ra, is translated ' Nimmuriya.' 2
Besides the letters from Babylonia, Assyria, and Armenia, already
referred to, there are others from remote regions; several from a prince
of Alashia (Cyprus and perhaps the adjacent coast), and one from
'Several scholars have identified Queen Tyi with one of these Asiatic princesses.
Wiedemann, 'Aegypten Geschichte,' p. 393, and Ed. Meyer, 'Geschichte des alten
Aegyptens,' p. 260, however, look upon her as a Lihyan. Maspero sees in her an
Egyptian.
2 On the suhject of the Asiatic marriages, see Erman, Winckler, and others in the
Zeitschrift fur Aegyptologie, xxviii., etc.
77.7.-/:/.-. i 1/ f/:\ i v \BLETS. 2ü7
Tarkhundara, lord of Arzapi (Rezeph), a region held by tin Hittit - t"
the north <>f Palmyra.
A second group of letters, in some respects the st Interesting,
as they are the most numerous, there being over two hundred of
them, consists of letters to tln-ir Egyptian suzerain, Amenhotep IV..
from his viceroys and captains in Syria and Palestine, Covering a
period of only five or six years. In the reign of this Pharaoh the hold
of Egypt upon Asia had been very much relaxed. |',\ reason of his
fanatical devotion to religious reform, the 'heretic' king has made a
political failure at home, and suffered Loss and humiliation abroad.
These letters from Syria and Palestine reveal a painful condition of
demoralization and disintegration, destined to be arrested only at a
much later time by the conquests of Seti L, and his great son
Rameses II. Garrisons and outposts are neglected : allied princes,
in the court of each one of whom was the Egyptian paka, or resi-
dent, fail to receive needed succor from Egypt. Yel it was im-
portant to Egypt to maintain her sovereignty in southern Syria
and Palestine, not as an end in Itself, since these states were not at
this time especially wealthy or powerful, but rather because through
these regions passed the great trade-routes from Egypt to the north
and to the powerful empire of Babylonia in the east ; and it is note-
worthy that the chief struggles arc at points mi or near the line of
these trade routes, and not in the remoter inland regions. The main
route led along the .Mediterranean shore from Zoan (Tanis) to
Gaza; thence to Ascalon (Ashkelon), Joppa, Accho, Tyre. Sidon,
Beirut, and Gebal (Byblus). It continued to the cities of Arka
and Simyra. or each side of the river Eleutherus. North of Simyra
the shore route becomes difficult, and the road turns inland, passing
through the plains of Kmesa and Kadesh on the Orontes. The
valley of the Orontes was held by the chariots of Egypt; and the
main highway was continued as far to the north, under Egyptian
protection, as Tunep »now Tenneb), an important station, ami
Doliche (now Aintab), which was a great city of the Hittites.
Here the route turned eastward, descending a river valley to
Zeugma on the Euphrates. A more direct route t,. th<
country struck out from Tunep to Carchemish, the capital of the
llittite kingdom, farther south on the Euphrates. Here the Egyp-
268 THE EELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
tians intersected the great trade highways, branching off northeast or
east, to Edessa, Armenia, Nineveh, and Babylon. This royal road,
on which embassies passed two and fro, was, from Zoan to the Eu-
phrates, about six hundred English miles long. There were side
routes to Damascus, which, with the parts adjacent to the Sea of
Galilee (Gennesaret), appears to have been held in the interest of
Egypt. The A mania tablets contain official letters from many of these
important posts and from places near, — Ascalon, Lachish, Gezer, Joppa,
Jerusalem, Accho, Hazor, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Gebel, Tunep, while
other familiar names are referred to in the text. From this correspond-
ence, which is largely made up of anxious pleas for aid from the repre-
sentatives of Egyptian power, it is possible to reconstruct with much
detail the main features of a great war of rebellion.
The war began with a league between the Hittites, Cassites, and
other tribes with whom some of the governors of the Syrian tributary
provinces like Zimridi, 1 governor of Sidon and Lachisch appear to have
joined. It is obvious throughout the correspondence that the attack
was seriously complicated by the rivalries and jealousies of the local
governors. Among the earliest operations was an assault on Damascus
by Aidugama, the Hittite king of Kadesh, on the Orontes ; the whole
country of Damascus was ravaged. Simultaneously with these opera-
tions, as we gather from the letters of Rib-Adda of Gebel and other
loyal provincial governors, the Amorites descended upon the rich
Phoenician cities on the shore road. Simyra was first taken ; then in
quick succession Arka and Tripoli. Gebel, however, held out for five
years, and fell only after a protracted siege. The war was also carried
on at sea. The fleets of Arvad aided the Amorites, while the ships of
Sidon and Beirut succored Gebel. During the blockade of Gebel
the Amorites moved southward, and joining forces with the Hittites,
who moved west, took Sidon by treachery, and beleaguered Tyre, cut-
ting off its water-supply. As a result of this great war, the Egyptians,
owing to a feeble foreign administration, must have lost some of their
hold on Palestine and Syria ; though friendly relations were maintained
with the Mitani and with the Babylonians. Abd-Ashirti — the rival of
Rib- Adda, who describes him as the arch-rebel — while protesting his
loyalty to the king, adds that in the days of old the Hittites were
1 On the Bite of Lachiscli (Tel-el-Hesy) Dr. Bliss found a cuneiform tablet written
to Zimridi.
LAST KINGS OF EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY.
269
vassals of Egypt, but now they destroyed its cities, seized its gods, and
made its liegemen prisoners (No. 36, British Museum). The indepen-
dence of the Hittites, before their final conquest by Rarnea - II..
to be implied in the language of the treaty of Rameses with Kheta-
Sar, king of Kadesh.
Amenhotep JY. left do male beirs ; but in conformity with the law
of succession in the female line, in the absence of male beirs, be was
succeeded by several of his sons-in-law. Of Saa-ka-Ra, husband of
Mert-Amen, little is known. Of Tut-ankh-amen, husband of Ankh-
sen-pa-Aten, then- remain monumental trace-. In the grave of Hui
(Ai), prince of Cush, at Thebes, besides the seated king stand Bui and
Amen-hetep, governors of Ethiopia. A brown princess, whose hair
is interwoven with golden threads, rides on a chariot drawn by oxen,
and surrounded by negro and Abyssinian servants, who bring gifts
to the Pharaoh. Among these are thick gold tings ( serving as coin >.
gold-dust in bags, leopard skins, cattle, fans, elephants* tusks, a gold
pyramid standing on a gold enamelled pedestal, also a great cabinet
on a table hung with skins and carpets, and resting on a golden col-
umn enamelled in the Egyptian style. Two golden pyramids stand
on the table, one on either side, also a giraffe under a palm-tree, at-
tended by three negroes, all of gold. Some of the men are ruddy
brown, others white, with black beard- and hair. They appear in a
parti-colored woollen dress wound spirally round the body. Their
white-skinned, black-eyed slaves, wearing only an apron, bring white
horses, magnificent vessels, and lapis lazuli. A- shown by hi- name,
Tut-ankh-amen returned to Amen-worship. Even the queen's name
become- A 1 1 k 1 1 - -en- A men. Hi- successor, Ay, married Tyi, who i- styled
the great heiress. After building two tomb- at bJ-A mania, on return-
ing to Thebes, he built another, in which he revert- to the ' Ka' for-
mula — which under Khu-en-Aten had been abandoned. With Borem-
heb (Armais) we reach firmer ground. Hi- wife, Nezero-Mut, was an
'heiress,' and his splendid tomb at Sakkara -how- him to have been
genera] and nomarch of Ba-Suten (Alabastron) before King A
him for his successor. Be zealously destroyed all vestiges of the Ann
heresy, restored order, waged war in Ethiopia and Asia, and concluded
a treaty with the llittite king, Sapalulu, which, however, did not last
longer than his life. Boremheb erected numerous structures, particu-
970 J'" i: RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
larly at the temple of Karnak. A tablet speaks of the twenty-first
year of his reign. With him the dynasty expired ; although his suc-
cessor, Rameses L, the founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty, appears to
have been related to him ; but his elaini to the succession is unknown.
Rameses I. ruled but a short time. At his death, Southern Syria
was in open rebellion. Among the records of Seti I. we learn of an
advance of the Shasu upon the fortress Zal, which Aahmes had erected
for defence against Asia, after the destruction of the Hyksos city,
Avaris. Egypt's internal difficulties under the last kings of the
Eighteenth Dvnasty had emboldened its neighbors. Along with the
Rutennu, the Kheta (Hittites) now appear as a leading power. At the
time when Horemheb made a treaty with their king, Sapalulu, they
already occupied the region between the Mediterranean, the Lebanon,
and the Euphrates. Their king in Seti's time was Mutnara, who fought
against Rameses II. in the fifth year of the latter's reign. Later his
brother Kheta-Sar appears. The father of both was named Mar-Sar,
son of Sapalulu. The fortress Kadesh was again captured ; and the
march was continued through Lebanon back along the coast to Egypt.
Seti is figured presenting the captives in triumph to Amen. Among
them are the Kheta, the people of Naharena (Mesopotamians), the
Upper Rutennu from the hill-land of Syria, the Lower Rutennu w T ho
inhabited the land between that and the Euphrates, the Senzar (i.e.,
' Double Tyre/ from the second or insular Tyre), and many other
Syrian and Canaanitish nations. A treaty was concluded with the
Hittites, each country retaining its possessions. More decisive was
Seti's victory over the Libyans, against whom he afterward turned
his arms, and of whom henceforth nothing was heard for many years.
The south also felt the edge of the Egyptian sword; and the king is
named, in an inscription of the temple of Redesieh, l conqueror of four
negro peoples.' Four tablets on the hill Sese (near lat. 20°) show the
limit of Seti's power. After these exploits, Seti became "the jackal
that lurks about the land to guard it," rather than " the fascinating
lion marauding along the hidden roads of four countries," i. e., he
peacefully devoted himself to the administration of the empire and
to the election of superb edifices at Abydos, Luxor, Gurnah, etc.
His highest claim to fame is the erection at Karnak of the marvellous
Hypostyle Hal] — his father's grandiose dream — executed by him. His
R AMESES If.
271
tomb, discovered by Belzoni (1818), is a palace cul in the living rock
and covered with elaborate paintings. The calm dignity of his face
(see Frontispiece) shows him to have been "every inch a king."
Fig. 96. — Kameses II. as crown-prince. Kelief in the temple at Abydos.
While yet alive, Seti associated hi- son, Rameses II. (Fig. 96), t-.th»-
throne. From the accumulation of the heroic deeds of many Pharaohs laid
by the Greeks on his person, a whole cycle of legends has clustered around
•>7l> THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
him, which ascribe to him asSesostris mythical campaigns, reaching to the
ends of the world. His sixty-seventh year is on record. His likeness is
known to us from many statues ; and his admirably preserved mummy is
at Gizeh. Rameses was in Ethiopia when his father's death left him
sole ruler. He promptly returned, and alter the prescribed ceremonies,
turned his attention to the most pressing needs of the Empire. The grow-
ing importance of Syrian affairs since the increase of the Hittite mon-
archy, and the aggressive movements of the Mediterranean and Libyan
peoples, drew his attention to the Delta. Thebes was too remote from
the centre of these political activities. A new royal residence was
erected as an advance-post near the isthmus, and called 'Rameses.'
Passing over the usual raids into the south, as well as an inroad of
the Libyans with their allies, the Shardana and Tulsha, we notice as
the principal event in his reign the war in Syria. As early as the sec-
ond and fourth years of his rule, small expeditions had been made to
the Syrian coast, which are recorded on the before-mentioned rock-
tablets at Xahr-el-Kelb, near Beirut. In the fifth year of his reign,
the Hittite king Mutnara, the son of Marsar and the grandson of
Sapalulu, warned of the approaching storm by the young Pharaoh's
preliminary campaigns, made on a formidable scale his preparations
to meet the threatening danger. Calling his allies to his aid, he
summoned his forces from Babylonia to Lykia, from the Mediter-
ranean to Cilicia. Rameses, warned in time, marched out to meet
him. The armies came together on the Orontes south of Kadesh,
where was fought a great battle. A minute account of it is given in
an epic preserved in the Sallier Papyrus No. III. in the British
Museum, transcribed by the scribe Pentaur, and in one of the Raifet
papyri in the Louvre. The text was engraved on the walls of Karnak,
Luxor, Abydos — and another account of the war appears at Abu-
Simbel, where the scene of the battle is given, as it is also on the
walls of the Ramesseum (Thebes). Kadesh occupied the site of the
present mound Tel-Nebi-Mend. The old name is still attached to
the lake. Jakut, the learned traveller and geographer (died A.D. 1179),
names it Buhairat Kadasa. The relief shows us the camp of the
Egyptians, surrounded by the shields of the warriors, as well as all
the soldiers, Egyptians and Shardana, the camp-followers and ani-
mals, the tent of the Pharaoh whence he issued his orders, the troops
BATTLE OF KADESH. 273
od the march, — a truly impressive scene. In the fight the Eittites
appear on horseback, or in threes in chariots, the warrior being
attended by a driver and shield-bearer. Their garments are long,
their beard- -haven, and their skins of a clear red hue, l>v which
they are distinguished from the yellow, black-bearded Semites, as
also from the Assyrians. The Hittites bad dominion over diverse
lands in Asia, while others followed their lead. In the catalogue of
their allies, we therefore have hand- of Lykians (Leka), Maeonians
(Manna), Mysians (Masu), people from Pedasa in Karia, or from
Pedasos in the Troad (Patasu), who had joined the army of the Kluta.
The names Kirkamash (Carchemish), Khirbu (Aleppo), Artn (Aradus),
Xaharena (the plain of the Euphrates), are also familiar; other identi-
fications are less certain.
The Egyptian army was divided into four columns, named after
the gods, Amen, Ra, Ptah, and Sutekh, a fact observed by Diodorus
in his description of the Ramesseum. The division Amen was
under the leadership of the Pharaoh, who approached the city of
Kadesh, while Kheta-Sar lay in ambush to the northwest. On a
sudden the latter dashed forth in an attack, which was foiled by the
personal valor of Rameses, although only the van of the Egyptians
was engaged. This moment is depicted in the official poem in
the most extravagant style. Rameses, in his extremity, pray- to
Amen; for he stands alone, opposed to 2Ö00 chariot-. " II«' reaches
his hand to me, ... he calls from behind me : ' Thoo art not alone, I
am with thee — I, thy father Ra — my hand i- with thee. I am worth
more to thee than hundreds of thousands together. T am the Lord of
Victory.' I take heart. ... I am as Monthu — I shoot right and left.
I am like Ba'al, as a plague among them." Accompanied by his lion,
Smam-Kheftu-f ('Render of his enemies'), he bursts through bis
deadlv foe in his chariot drawn by the two steeds, ' Victory in Thebes'
and ' Valor is satisfied.' After he effected a junction with hi- main
force, the attack on the Kh.-ia was renewed, and they were cut to
pieces : " Behold none of them are able to fight before me, th. ir hearts
melt in their bodies. ... I make them rush into the river even as
crocodiles rush into water. They fall over each other, and I -lay them
according to my will. Not one of them turn- around. He who falls
riseth not again." The garrison of th«' city made a -ally, and bn
Vol. i.— 18
■ »7 1 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
the fugitives within their walls. Next day Mutnara sued for peace.
On the west side of the pylon of the Ramesseum, in Thebes, the battle
is depicted in a very animated manner — half as a battle-plan, half as a
picture, executed as a flat decoration, in low relief. Originally it had
been overlaid with stucco, and painted; but all this has disappeared.
The Kheta, with horses and chariots, are driven into the Orontes.
Across the river lies the city with its defenders. Instructed by the
descriptive catalogue, we recognize, in the turmoil of the chariot-fight,
Kemayis, prince of the Hittite phalanx, slain, probably by the Pharaoh,
who storms forward over his body, darting his arrows as swiftly as a god.
Farther off we see Khirep-Sar, the king's annalist; Targatas, captain
of the archers; Grabatus, master-of -horse for the Kheta. On the
other bank the king of Khilpu (Aleppo) is being dragged out of the
water, and placed on his head, so as to discharge the water he has
swallowed. Still farther off the king of the Kheta is seen, standing
in his chariot, and surrounded by his guards, praying for mercy.
The northern half of the west side shows the pursuit into the river.
Here the lists name Tetar, chief of domestics, brother of the king
Masrima; Rebasununa, prince of the people of Anunas ; and Suaas,
prefect of Tanis, who is being drawn from the water. On the water-
girt fortress are inscribed the words " the Fortress Kadesh." Eventually,
Mutnara, by a truly Oriental euphemism, 'succumbed to his destiny' — i.e.,
was probably murdered by his brother Kheta-Sar, w T ho succeeded him.
In the eighth vear of Rameses II. Galilee revolted, and the follow-
ing year the rebellion spread to Sephelah. A relief in the columned
hall of the Ramesseum represents the capture of the fortress Dapur
( Plate XIX.). This stood on Mount Tabor (Fig. 97), in Galilee,
at the foot of which lies Daburiyeh. Down to the time of Antiochus
the Great (218 B.c.) a city stood on the summit of the mount ; and even
in a.D. 67 Vespasian caused it to be besieged by Placidius, when it was
surrendered, owing to want of water. On our relief the fort of the
Kheta i- besieged ; and the Egyptians, recognizable by their red skins,
storm it. Among them the reader discerns the six sons of Rameses,
distinguished by the princely lock of hair. According to the accom-
panying hieroglyphic explanation, the princes are Kha-em-uas, Ment
(-ber-khepsh-ef), Men-amen, Amcn-em-ua, Seti, Sotep-en-ra. The
first of these, nearest the Pharaoh, was born of the queen Hes-t-
Wir*
mi
VICTORY OF RAMESES II. OVER
Mural painting in the Temj
3 OF D-
of Rameses II. at Thebes.
TREATY WITH THE HITTITES.
nefer, who was also mother of the fatal
elder brothers died before their father. (Barnes - -
51 daughters, of whom a list is in existeo
- - I . 3. Kha-em- -
Memphis, was a priest of the royal | .
ver the celebration of the great solemn
brilliant, were evidently
for fifteen ca mp aigns fter the battl« _ -
in his fifth year, before the tinul treaty of peao • -
twenty-first year of his g Its terms are an all:
. based upon a perfect equality and
" - Mount Tabor.
fir-t named, and Barnes - fter him. Sar s in the
rir-t : - - i the thinJ : it i- then
not dictated by the latter. T! -
Hittite, on a silver plate.
The Egyptian re: lering alone
of this treaty — the -' f which th» -
history — Barneses, when it was oondo - in the
meri-amen in the Delta. Two herald —
276 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
the silver tablet, which was set up under the protection of the
thousand divinities, male (warlike) and female, of the lands of
Kheta and Egypt, — Sutekh of Tunep, of Kheta, and of Arnema;
Zaaranta, Pilka, Khisasap, Sarfu, Khilpu, Sarpaina; also of Astarte
of Kheta, of the god of Zayatkherri, of the gods of the land, hills,
and rivers of Kheta, of the gods of the land of Kazauatana ; on the
other hand, of the Egyptian gods Amun, Ra, Sutekh, of the male
and female gods of Egypt, of the earth, sea, winds, and storms —
all of whom were invoked to protect the observers, and punish the
infringers, of the treaty. It established a league between both great
powers forever, as well as an agreement for the extradition of run-
away laborers and criminals.
The god Sutekh, who appears in this remarkable document as
Hittite, is the same whom the Hyksos king, Apepi, made the one
supreme divinity, and to whom Rameses's son Merenptah founded at
Avaris a cult, as god of strangers. He is represented with the high
Hittite tiara, and the band hanging down behind, as one can see on
the pedestal of the statue of Usertesen I. in the Berlin Museum,
where a royal prince prays to him. Through the identification of
this form of the Baal Zephön with the Egyptian Set-Sutekh, this
divinity acquired the character of the Egyptian evil genius Typhon.
Astarte (Ash tore th), whom, like Sutekh, the Hittites had borrowed
from the Phoenician pantheon, was also worshipped in the Delta,
where from an early period Canaanitish people were settled. She
was represented as a lion-headed female warrior, guiding her chariot.
On a stele in the British Museum, she is shown brandishing a battle-
axe, and holding a shield and lance, like the war-god Rezeph (by the
Greeks named Antaeus, also Apollo).
The treaty of peace was yet further confirmed by the marriage of
Rameses with the daughter of Kheta-Sar. A relief in the temple of
Abu-Simbel, dating from the thirty-fourth year of this king, depicts
the Hittite king wearing the high tiara, and accompanied by the
Prince of Keti (perhaps Cataonia), leading his child, in the attire of
an Egyptian princess, to the Pharaoh. The daughter of Rameses
appears to have married a Syrian prince; for on the granite statue
which her father erected as a pendent to his own before the second
pylon of the temple of Luxor, she is distinguished by a Syrian name,
EULOGIUM OF RAMESES II.
BantrAnat ('daughter of the goddess Anat'). Similarly tin- Ilittite
wife of Rameses received the Egyptian name, Ra-mäa-ar-nefru. A
tablet between two pillars of the first hall of the temple of Abu-
Simbel bears a eulogium of Rameses, in the form of an addre
the god Ptah-Totunen. It was
also engraved on the pylon of
the temple of Rameses III. at
Medinet-Abu. Among other
things it says : — " King Rameses,
I have exalted thee through so
wonderful gifts, that heaven and
earth leap for joy, and those who
are therein extol thy being.
Mountains, waters, and the stone
walls of the earth quake at thy
name ; for they have seen what I
have accomplished for thee, namely,
that the land of Kheta is subju-
gated to thy house. I have seen
into the hearts of its inhabitants,
that they come before thee with
obedience in the bringing of their
gifts. Their princes are captives ;
all their possessions are the tribute
of their dependence on the living
king. The royal daughter
conies at their head to soften
the heart of Rameses. Her
charms are wonderful, but
she knows not yet the
goodness of thy heart.
Thy name is blessed for-
ever. The successful issue of thy victories is a wonder, which men
hope for, but such as from the time of the gods was never seen, a
hidden remembrance in the house of the books from the time oJ Ra
till the reign «»f life, health, and strength (i.e. of your Majestj ). It
was unheard of that Kheta-land should he at accord with Egypt;
Fig. 98. Ram - 1 1
■11 8 TUE RELATIONS OF TUE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
Fig. 99. — Sandstone statue of Seti II. (a ram on his knees). From Thebes. London.
British Museum.
THE PEOPLES OF THE SEA.
279
and lo ! I have struck it down under thy feet, in order thai thy name
may live forever, King Rameses."
Rameses continued Seti's works at Karnak and elsewhere, and
erected many monuments. In his thirtieth year he chose as co-regent
and heir Kha-em-uas, his son by his sister [sis-Nefert Kha-em-uas won
fame as priest and magician, and built the Serapeum of Memphis. Be
died before his father, who then selected as heir Mereuptah II., his
thirteenth son. He was over sixty, when, after having been for twelve
years co-regent, he succeeded his father. Merenptah's relations with his
Syrian provinces remained peaceful. But in his fifth year the powerful
king of the Libyans, Marayu, son of Titi, swept into the western Delta,
and threatened Heliopolis. Mereuptah caused Memphis, Eeliopolis,
and other cities to be fortified forthwith ; for this was no ordinary raid.
The Libyans had effected a great confederation of 'the peoples of the
Sea.' These were the Libyan Mashuasha (the Matshiya of the Persians
or Maxyans of Herodotus), the Tamehu and Kehak ; besides the
Shardana, Shakarusha, Akainsha (Akauasha), Lekn, and Tulsha (Tur-
sha), piratical Mediterranean coast peoples, " who marched fighting to
daily fill their mouths."
The Lebu, who, along with the Tamehu and Mashuasha, went
under the common name of Tehennu (the western neighbors of the
Egyptians up to the Abyssinian frontier), were tall and fair, with crisp,
light, curly hair, ornamented by two feathers ; and a side-luck hanging
down to the shoulder. Like the Tuaregs or the Kabyles, they were
tattooed. Some of them practised circumcision. Their arms were
similar to those of the Egyptians. The Pharaoh's army completely
overthrew the allies at Per-er-shepes (Prosopis). Great was the rejoic-
ing. The paean of victory that sounded throughout Egypt was carved
in stone and set in the temples. The great Mack stela found by Petrie
(1896) at the Ramessenm is especially interesting, a- it mentions [srael
among the Syrian peoples in whom the victory .-truck terror: " \" one
raises his head among the foreigners. Tehennu is destroyed ; Kheta is
quiet; Kanaan is rid of all evil ; Ascalon is sacked : Gezer is captive;
Ianoam is crushed ; Israel is laid waste and Beedless : Kliaru i- as a
widow to the land of Egypt. The entire earth is quiet."
Mereuptah has been regarded as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. But
scholars differ on the subject; and the above-quoted passagi — by
280
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
showing Israel, in his reign, already established in Syria — has further
complicated the problem. On the other hand, excavations in the
Eastern Delta have proved that the construction of ' Rarneses ' and of
Pi-tum dates from the Ramessids. This tends to confirm the view which
sees in Rarneses II. the Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph." However
this may be, Seti II. (Figs. 99 and 100) did not come peacefully into his
own ; and although lie left monumental traces, his tomb remained unfin-
ished. A high priest of Ptah usurped the royal titles. A Semite, Ersu or
Arizu, ruled " in the years of famine." . . . For a period " Egypt was
governed by princes who killed
each other in pride and arro-
gance, and did after their own
pleasure, for they had no chief."
The Harris papyrus (133 feet
long) gives much information
on this period. Amenmeses
followed ; then Si-ptah Mer-
enptah, who " ascended the
throne of his father," thanks
to his marriage with the heiress
Ta-usert. His sixth year has
been found ; and he seems to
have held the country and
maintained its foreign relations.
At last Set-nekht established
order and ushered in the Twen-
tieth Dynasty. Under Rarneses III. (Rhampsinitus) Egypt once more
enjoyed thirty-three years of glorious prosperity. He won over the
priesthood by gifts and edifices — "he restored truth, destroyed un-
truth " ; reorganized mining interests and commercial intercourse with
Punt. Asia recognized his authority. 1 The Libyans alone were
inimical. Again, with the 'peoples of the Sea' (the Akayasha, the
Bikana, the Kehaka, the Sabati) they had invaded the Delta to the
canopic mouth of the Nile. Set-nekht dared not oppose them. Rarn-
eses, before doing so, reorganized his army, improved its equipment and
discipline, and enlisted mercenaries. In his fifth year the crisis came.
1 W. M. Müller, 'Asien und Europa,' p. 27G.
Fig. 100. —Seti IL
THE HARRIS PAPYRUS.
281
The struggle was terrific; 12,525 dead were recorded by the conqueror,
who scattered the vanquished in military colonies along the Ml«' valley.
These formed a military east called Mashuasha (the name of the
dominant Libyan nation). The Delta to the Natron Lakes was re-
covered; but Libya remained powerful, 1 for Rameses had to face a
more serious danger.
Migratory European hordes had been pouring into A-ia Minor.
They had overrun Northern Syria. The immigrants came in ox-carts
or in ships with their families. The names of many had already
Pig, ioi. — The captive Pulasati in the triumphal pr ssion of Rameses 111.
appeared in the Egyptian annals. But the Takekar, the Daen-euna,
the Uashash, the Pulasati (Philistines) are now named for the fire!
time. The latter represent the group of people whom the classics
vaguely describe as Karians, who-«' ship- scoured the Mediterranean.
The Pulasati wore a feathered head-gear, sandals, the long copper
-word of the north, -trapped on the left side. They carried twodag
two javelins, and, like the Hittites, used war-chariot-. The Turusha
(Tyrseni) came next in numbers, then came the Z akkal a (Sikels*); tl"'
i In the eleventh year of Rameses III. they again had to be repelled.
" W. M. Müller, loc. .-it.. pp. 862-386, regards them as a Lykian tribe
282 TIIK DELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
Shakarusha, who wore the woollen cap still used by tbe sailors of the
archipelago, the Shardanes, the Daen-euna, the Leku, the Uashasha,
were nations of Asia Minor. Their ships resembled those of Egypt,
but had no spur. "The islands had shuddered and thrown up their
nations in one single effort." Khati, Godi, Karkhemish, Aradu,
Alashiya, had been swept down. The empire of Kheta-Sar had crum-
bled before them. In the land of the Amurru they entrenched a camp,
in which they established their families. Then they attacked the Egyp-
tian provinces. Barneses arrived at Zar in his eighth year, and defeated
them near Sephelah. They fled to the coast, and joining his fleet near
Jaffa, Rameses again defeated them at sea. He then established the
Polasati at Sephelah, the Zakkala between Carmel and Dor, and erected
migdols (watch-towers) to control and protect them, thus creating a
bulwark between the Delta and Asia. These triumphs are immor-
talized on the walls of Medinet-Abu. After this, he devoted himself
to the erection of superb edifices, and a ' renaissance ' followed. But,
if Egypt prospered, Rameses had troubles of his own. Pentaurt, his
son by a secondary wife, plotted to secure the succession to the exclu-
sion of his sons by Queen Tyi. The ' Great Judiciary Turin Papyrus '
gives the proceedings of the trial. A certain Pa-hi-ben had made waxen
images, some intended to excite hatred of the king, others to cause him
to waste away. Denounced, the conspirators — six women and forty
men — were executed. The extreme penalty was given to the leaders
and Pentaurt : " They died themselves " ; and Maspero believes this to
mean that they were mummified alive, and that Pentaurt may be the
"Anonymous Prince" found among the royal mummies of Der-el-Bahri.
His viscera were not removed, but he was outwardly thickly coated
with natron. The bands are tightly drawn. The limbs are stretched
and the hands and feet are twisted as if in unspeakable agony, while
the horrible expression of the face, as well as the contortion of the
entire body, reveal atrocious suffering. Nameless, he was also doomed
to annihilation. Rameses III. was followed by one of his eighteen
sons, Rameses IV. His reign and those of the eight Rameses who
composed the Twentieth Dynasty were of little importance. The
influence of the priesthood had grown so powerful as to overshadow
the throne. At length the high-priest of Amen, Herhor, seized the
THE DER-EL-R I 11 Ul DISl '0 I SERIES.
crown and established the Twenty-
first Dynasty. The Abbott, Salt,
Amherst, Mayor, and Liverpool papyri
contain reports of commissioners ap-
pointed to examine the royal tombs,
and to secure the royal mummies
againsi grave-robbers. Herhor and
his grandson Pinozem, unable t<> secure
their safety, had them removed, until
they were finally concealed in a pit
southwest of Der-el-Bahri. Here they
were discovered by Arabs, who ex-
ploited the rich mine and sold royal
objects to tourists — until, in 1881, they
quarrelled and one turned evidence.
Emil Brugsch Bey was the first to
enter the pit. It is impossible to do
justice to his description of his feel-
ings when — after crawling down a
shaft about 39 feet and through a
gallery 243 feet long — he entered a
chamber 23 X 12 feet, and found him-
self in the presence of the august dead.
Here lay pele-mele the coffins of some
thirty royal personages of historic fame.
It seemed like a fantastic dream.
Wherever he turned to apply his
light, lie read names that had filled
the ancient world with wonder :
Seqenen-Ka, Aähnies, Seti, Kane - -.
Thothmes III. (p. 287) — there were
their very bodies. The garlands on
that of Amenhotep I. were in such a
state of preservation that they are
exhibited as an herbarium at theGizeh
Museum. Along with the flowers was
found a wasp that, allured by the odor,
M
A
1 ig 102 I ■ Mummy i
11.. Gizeh .M useun I
284 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
had become shut in when the king's mummy was placed in its
wrappings, and uow came once more to light a mummy 3000 years
old. The enamelled and gilded coffin of Thothmes I. was also
found, but in it was the mummy of Pinozem II. That of Thothmes
II., containing its proper mummy, and that of Thothmes III.,
with a body only five feet one inch long, had been broken and
plundered. On the bands appear passages from the "Book of
the Dead" and litanies to the Sun. Of Queen Maka-Ka, there
was found only her liver embalmed in a casket. The name of
Rameses I. was inscribed on a woman's coffin, probably because the
robber had shattered the proper one. The mummy of Rameses I.
was not found at first, but w T as identified later. Further, there were
found the coffin of Seti I. (the stone sarcophagus remained in the
original grave at Biban-el-Moluk) ; those of Rameses II. (Figs. 102,
103), III., and XII., of Pinozem I. and II., and of Masaherta. In
addition to these remains of royal personages, there were found cof-
fins and mummies of Ansara; of Aahmes-nef ertari, : spouse of the
liberator of Egypt (beside whom were found four vases of the dead) ;
of Aah-hotep, sister and spouse of Amenhotep I. (not the ancestress
of the Eighteenth Dynasty) ; of Queen Hent-meh, spouse of Aahmes,
and of Mes-hent-meh, probably their daughter, whose mummy had
been apparently replaced, after an earlier robbery, by a block en-
veloped by bands ; of the young princess Sat-amen and the prince
Sa-amen, infant children of Aahmes ; the coffin of the priest Sonu,
chamberlain of the queen, but with the mummy of the princess
Merit-amen, sister of Amenhotep I. ; coffins and mummies of Queen
Notemit, spouse of Herhor ; of Queen Hen-ta-ui, spouse of Pinozem ;
of Queen Hest-em-sekhet, spouse of her uncle, Ra-men-kheper, and
daughter of Masaherta. By the side of the mummy of this princess,
in her threefold coffin, lay a wooden image of Osiris, with a copy
of the " Book of the Dead," bronze and clay articles, but especially
a leather baldachino after the Assyrian pattern, decorated with Asi-
atic painted ornaments, and inscribed with religious texts. Yet fur-
ther were found the mummy of the princess Nesi-khuns ; the coffin
containing the Queen Maka-Ra, spouse of Pinozem, and Mut-em-hat,
1 This mummy, inscribed with the name of Nefertari, when unwrapped in 1886
proved tu l<e that of Rameses 111., ami was in an excellent state of preservation. — Ed.
MUMMY OF RAMESES Till: GREAT,
their daughter; likewise the coffins of some private persons con-
nected with the royal fondly. In all, this heterogeneous resting,
place of princely bodies yielded a treasure of 6000 separate objects,
Fig. 103
which were conveyed in solemn procession, under charge of the
natives, across the plain, laden on a Nile steamer, and brought to
Bulak, whence they were transferred to the Museum at Gizeh. The
Mahdi war, which broke out soon alter this remarkable discovei
a time engrossed official attention, and it was only on June •'•. l vv| i.
that the unwrapping of the bodies of Rameses II. and Rameses III.
took place with greal ceremony before the Khedive, who enjoyed
the unique privilege of gazing upon the face of his illustrious and
286 THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
Wendary predecessor across a chasm of more than three millenniums,'
History with all her tragedies can furnish none more impressive than
the spectacle of the mightiest monarch of the ancient world — whose
devotion to the gods, attested by countless magnificent monuments, was
to secure to him a happy eternity — set up on exhibition as an archaeo-
logical curiosity, No. 5253, in the very heart of his ancestral empire.
Some years after this, another sepulchral hiding-place yielded eighty
mummies of the high priests of Thebes. Since then other similar,
though partial, Minds' have been made. One of the most important
of these was made by Loret, who, in 1898, discovered the tomb of
Amenhotep II., where, in addition to that monarch's body, other royal
mummies were found, notably that of King Merenptah.
Herhor's successor was his grandson Pinozem, son of the high-
priest Piankhi. His name is not given as a royal cartouche, as are
those of his wife and their little daughter Mut-em-hat, who died
shortly after being born. The king nominally married this child in
1 The following extract is from Maspero's report:
" The mummy (No. 5.253), first taken out from its glass case, is that of Kameses II.,
Sesostris, as testified by the official entries bearing date the sixth and sixteenth years
of the reign of the High Priest Her-hor-se-amen, and the High Priest Pinozem I.,
written in black ink upon the lid of the wooden mummy-case, and the further entry
of the sixteenth year of the High Priest Pinozem I., written upon the outer winding-
sheet of the mummy over the region of the breast. The presence of this last in-
scription having been verified by His Highness the Khedive, and by the illustrious
personages there assembled, the first wrapping was removed, and there were suc-
cessively discovered a band of stuff [sir,] 20 centimeters in width rolled round the
body; then a second winding-sheet sewn up, and kept in place by narrow bands
placed at some distance apart; then two thicknesses of small bandages; and then
a piece of fine linen reaching from the head to the feet. A figure representing the
goddess Nut, one meter in length, is drawn upon this piece of linen, in red and white,
as prescribed by the ritual. The profile of the goddess is unmistakably designed
after the pure and delicate profile of Seti I., as he is known to us in the bas-relief
sculptures of Thebes and Abydos. Under this amulet, there was found another
bandage; then a layer of pieces of linen folded in squares, and spotted with the bitu-
minous matter used by the embalmers. This last covering removed, Pameses II. ap-
peared. . . The jawbone is massive and strong; the chin very prominent; the mouth
small, but thick-lipped, and full of some kind of black paste. This paste being partly
cutaway with the scissors, disclosed some much-worn and very brittle teeth, which,
however, are white and well preserved. . . . The hairs are white, like those of the
head and eyebrows, but are harsh and bristly, and from two to three millimetres in
length. . . . The expression is unintellectual, perhaps slightly aninuil ; but even under
the somewhat grotesque disguise of mummification, there is plainly to be seen an air
of sovereign majesty, of resolve, and of pride. The rest of the body is as well pre-
served as the head. . . . The corpse is that of an old man, but of a vigorous and robust
old man. We know, indeed, that Rameses II. reigned for sixty-seven years, and that
he must have been nearly 100 years old when he died." ,
THE TWENTY-SECOND DYS A STY.
287
order to secure his title, thus avoiding possible future political compli-
cations. Pinozem's successor was Pa-seb-kha-nen. A second Pa-seb-
kha-nen had two daughters, one of whom married Osorkon (Twenty-
second Dvnasty), conveying to him thereby the righl to the throne.
Rameses III.'s policy of establishing military colonies of mercenaries
had resulted in the development of a military aristocracy, Shardana
or Mashuasha, which grew in power until, under King Sheshonk, even
high priests of Thebes and of Memphis were Libyans
From the Twenty-first Dynasty Egypt had indeed become 'two
lands': Theban Egypt, ruled by a theocracy— retiring more and more
from cosmopolitan influence and the new civilization of the Mediterra-
nean — and Northern Egypt, which had never lost touch with Europe
and Asia. A struggle was shortly to begin between the two, in the
course of which Ethiopia conquered Egypt, and in turn succumbed to
its northern neighbor. Soon Ethiopia was to gtruggle with Assyria for
the possession of Libyanized Egypt, and Persian, Greek, and Roman
conquerors were to follow.
Head of Thothmea 111. (Aftei Ma ,
CHAPTER VII.
ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
THE art of the New Empire has longer been known than that of
the Ancient Empire. It is only since the time of the modern
excavations in the necropolis of Memphis that we have been enabled
to study the latter satisfactorily, while the gigantic remains of the
temples of the New Empire, with their obelisks and granite figures,
have, from very early times, attracted the admiration of mankind.
The more ancient art is unquestionably closer to nature than the later.
It did not show such technical dexterity in the handling and working
great masses of the hardest stones, nor in overlaying its productions
with durable stucco painted in colors ; but it was guided by a truer and
better instinct. Yet art reached a high degree of perfection, especially
under the Eighteenth Dynasty. There are single pieces of sculpture
of that period which are equal, if not superior, to anything in Egypt.
The so-called head of Tai'a (see p. 324) and that of Khuns (Plate
XXVI.) — the first for grace of expression, the second for depth of
meaning — will bear comparison with any work of man. Nothing
could be more realistic than the female acrobat of the Turin Museum,
Her supple activity is such that — as Maspero has remarked — " one
almo.-t expects her to turn over and finish her caper." If we lose
sight of such excellence, it is perhaps owing to the artistic exuberance
of the period, and to the abundance of the more ordinary material
preserved, in the mass of which such masterpieces are lost. The
colossal statues grew out of the necessity to keep pace with the enormous
proportions of the buildings. But these architectural colossi of sixteen
and twenty metres, carved of the hardest substance, were as carefully
proportioned as though they had been of natural size. Egyptian
sculpture always retained certain archaisms. A statue, unless of wood,
was never free. The back always rested on a pillar and the legs were
not -eparated, and were badly modelled; the hands also were crude.
288
EGYPTIAN TEMPLES.
Ono must be accustomed to Egyptian art to fairly judge of it- merits.
Certain peculiarities of dress, symbolism, and traditional rule often
interfere with our correct appreciation of the work. Bui the masterful
way in which the Egyptian artist managed his materia] musl be plain
to all.
Tlu- statements of the inscriptions Lead to the inference that, in
the New Empire, the ground-plans of the older temples were utilized
for the later. In order to realize the full effect of these edifices, it
is best that we should set out from a consideration of their ele-
ments in detail.
Fig. ii>4. Quarries at Torra.
The walls of the temples are chiefly built of sandstone and
limestone, seldom of granite. Brick we find only in the subsidiary
buildings and in the outer wall enclosing the whole sacred precinct
Even the operation of quarrying the stones is regarded as worthy of
perpetuation: and the officials tell us. in the inscriptions on their
graves, with how much care they had watched over the transporta-
tion of great blocks. The quarries were worked in shafts, the hill
Vol. I. 19,
290 -1/."/' UNDER THE .VAU' EMPIRE.
being bored till the proper stone was reached; and we still see at
Turra (Fig. 104), near Cairo, the oblong quadrangular cavities in
the rocks due to the excavation of the immense square blocks for
the pyramids. The opening of a new shaft was solemnly recorded
in a writing meant for posterity.
The pillars and columns are the most important elements of
the temple. Some remarks on their history will be found on p.
12"). The so-named proto-Doric columns occur but seldom in the
New Empire. We see them of an octagonal form in Medinet-Abu,
with sixteen sides in Karnak, Der-el-Bahri, and Temneh ; with
twenty-four in Kalabshe (Talmis, in Nubia), where, however, four
were left smooth for inscriptions. The calyx columns consist in
Luxor of eight stalks clustered together, bound round three times by
a quintuple band. The under part of the capital is enveloped ; and
immediately over the neck the bud is bent strongly outwards, and
tapers in straight lines to a point at the abacus, which is not broader
than the upper circumference of the bud. The shaft is usually sunk
into the socle, so that the reed-leaf ornamentation gives it a bellied
appearance. This column is either fluted, so that its original form is
still plain, or it is covered with a round coating, enriched with orna-
ments or painted. The column with opened calyx is distinguished
from the other only by its capital. On both sides royal cartouches
run round the body like a garland. The open calyxes are only
painted with reed leaves, from which stalks with crowns of blossoms
arise. In Karnak we see, in the portions originating from Thoth-
mes III., columns with inverted bell-shaped capitals (Plate XX.) ;
but this unlovely motive has found no imitators. The open-calyx
capital shows, later, plastic elements. In Soleb, in the time of Amen-
hotep III., it is modelled into eight palm-branches with painted leaves.
Papyrus-blossoms also serve as motives, and suggest the Greek acan-
thus leaves. A striking feature is the disregard of proportion be-
tween the inter-columnar distances and the height and thickness of
the pillars, a matter which in Greek art was governed by strictest
rule. Thus in the same temple pillars of the same diameter and en-
tirely similar character are found of different heights. Similarly we
find columns of different character, some with the bud. others witli
the calyx capital, in close juxtaposition ; and although they are of the
I
COLUMNS FROM THE GR
i and 3, Columns of the middle rows of the Great Halls of Seti and Rameses.
of the outer Hall of Thothmes III.
Plate XX
I
I'M
, " 111 " 1 "" ■■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 11
*V'*""-.,.
T TEMPLE AT KARNAK.
One of the 122 remaining Columns of the anterior Hall. 4 and 5, Columns
Column from an adjoining Room. (See page 290.)
EG Y I'll A x TEMPLES. 291
same diameter, sometimes the one sort, sometimes tl fcher, is the
higher. On (lit- other hand, again, there are columns of different
character in the same edifice, of similar heighl and thickness.
Finally, columns entirely alike are found with different inter-colum-
nar spaces: so thai the bearing-beam, or architrave, which is more
prolonged over the wider spaces, is higher in one place than another,
a circumstance to be frequently observed in the middle rows of col-
umns of the hypostyle, which stand farther apart than the others.
The entablature consists of the architrave, which is smooth, and
affords a surface for sculptures, and the trochilus, with leaf orna-
ments. These are divided by the astragal, which, as we saw in the
mastabas, has its motive from the embroidery-frames od which
the decorations of carpets were covered. The cornice rises above
the end, and thus constitutes a sort of breastwork. The gateways
of the outer enclosing-wall are very high and deep, so that they jut
out over the wall, both outside and in. On their far-projecting
entablatures and cornices, as well as on all the doors, is seen the
winged solar disk, the symbol of Horus <<t' Kdt'n. Bbr-Behüdti
(see p. 46). It was formerly overlaid with metal. The enclosing-
wall is built of Nile bricks, and has, therefore, merlons in place
of a cornice. The passage hence to the temple-buildings proper
was bordered by avenues of sphinxes. Before the temple-gate were
erected colossi of the builder in a sitting posture, also two obelisks
(Fig. 1".">). The temple-gate was flanked by pylons, that j-. by
quadrangular tower-like structures with plane surfaces inclined in-
wards, whose longer sides constitute the facades. An astragal
covers the corners of the pylons, and runs under the has.- of the
entablature. Stone rings project from its surfaces, to hold masts
on which pennants were displayed. Passing through the gate we
enter the fore-court, which on both sides, as well as on the third, i-
surrounded by colonnades. The spaces between the pair- ol mid-
dle columns of the third side are ver} wide, so a- not to contract
the entrance to the first hall, or usekhei ('the breadth'), which lie-
some steps higher, and is supported by pillars. The hypostyle, or
vestibule, is followed by the sanctuary, where in a separate Bhrine,
often worked out of a single granite block, the statue of th-
stands, or the animal sacred to him is kept The Banctuarj could
292
ART UNDER THE .VAU' EMPIRE.
be entered only by the Pharaoh and the higher priests, and the
tabernacle could be opened only by him and the high priest. The
Lower classes awaited in the vestibule the appearance of the god.
The latter was earned around the temple-bounds in a procession
formed in the hypostyle, either in a consecrated vessel, — the bark
thai sails the heavenly ocean — or in a shrine borne on the shoulders
of priests. Round the sanctuary lay various chambers, mainly dark,
designed for religions purposes and for keeping the temple-treasures;
Fig. 105. --The Obelisk of Heliopolis.
also chapels and the lodgings of the priests. Farthest back of all
was often an opisthodomus, or hall of columns, which, but for
little openings in the ceiling, would have been quite dark. Cande-
labra were used to light dark rooms, one of which is represented
at Tel-el-Amarna. The outside walls of all these apartments consti-
tute one unbroken surface, only that, beside the pylons, admission is
given to the fore-court by little side-doors, in the thickness of whose
wmII lies the entrance to the small passage, in the interior of the
pylons, that leads to the root's. This uniform wall-surface, that gives
to the temple the appearance of a colossal chest, is everywhere cov-
GREA I TEMPLE A T KAIiNAK.
294 ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
ered by sculptures. The horizontal is here the dominant line, as it
is iu Egyptian landscape. The edifice is shut oft' entirely from the
outside, and allows no glance into its interior, in conformity with the
character of the land, in which man flees from the glare of the sun,
as well as with the genius of the Egyptian religion, that enveloped
itself, for the initiated, in the gloom of mystery. The temples in
Nubia were hewn out of the living rock, partly because the Nile
valley is occasionally too narrow to afford room for great structures,
partly because, owing to the distance from Egypt, it was desirable
to complete them very expeditiously ; and a rock temple required
neither foundations nor the tedious operations of quarrying and pre-
paring great blocks of stone. In several instances the pylon and
fore-court are built, and only the pillared hall and the sanctuary
worked out of the rock. At the great temple of Abu-Simbel, the
pylon and the sitting forms of the colossi before it constitute one
immense rock sculpture.
The temples of Egypt are, as a rule, constructed on one uniform
plan, which is most completely exhibited in the great national tem-
ple of Ivarnak in eastern Thebes (see Plan,
Plate XXL, with the following descrip-
tion). This great Temple of Amen (Plate
XXII.) stretches to the length of 1180
feet, and is at once the most magnificent
structure in the valley of the Nile, and the
greatest religious edifice the world has seen.
It was begun in the period of the first
Theban dynasty, and completed in the age
of the Ptolemies. Some 450 androsphinxes
(Fig. 107), symbols of Harmakhis, and of
FiG.m-ThothmesIII., { ()r ramg i • ß ( animals
as Androsphinx. j i j & i
sacred to the fertilizing sun-god, and em-
blem- of generation), border the various sacred avenues; while
in the southwest a long street of sphinxes is added, leading
to the temple of Luxor. On this passage, 6500 feet long, must
have stood nearly 1000 sphinxes; for those still extant stand
thirteen feet apart. When we approach the temple from the bank
of the Nile, in the direction of its axis, — namely, from north-
it
n
iU
:eal
>i>
^LATE XXI
Temple Precincts at Karnak.
r
THE TEMPLES AT KARNAK.
west to southeast,— we pass through a little gateway of Seti II..
where formerly two obelisks Btood, into an avenue of rams, laid
"" l by Rameses II., and leading to well-preserved pylons of
tll( ' tilll( ' of the Ptolemies, 360 feel broad and I 15 feel high.
These lie in the range of the enclosing-wall of the temem
temple-area. The wall itself, 7500 to BOOO feel in circumference,
and built of Nile bricks, is destroyed, and can be traced only by
the mounds of fragments. Passing through the portal between
the pylons, we enter an open court Before this was Laid out,
a pair of pylons of the time of Rameses I., n»» constituting it-
back wall hut overthrown, were the facade of the temple. Before
these pylons there stood, on either side of the entrance, statues "i
Rameses II. in tin- act <A' walking. Over against these, there arose
under Seti II.. outside the buildings then existing but now enclosed
within tlir fore-court, a sanctuary, consisting of three halls, of which
little more than the foundation walls are preserved. Still closer t<>
the facade, lmt with its axis at right-angles t<» that of the great tem-
ple, stood a temple founded by Rameses II.. with pylons, fore-court,
h\ jiostylc. and sanctuary, as well as representations of the heroic
deeds of this kiii;.;'. When, afterwards, the presenl great fore-court
was formed, it enclosed the sanctuary of Seti [I., above mentioned,
and so impinged en the temple of Rameses III. that the pylon of the
latter intruded mi the court The court-wall bears no inscription;
only between the temple and the pylon "f the next hypostyle are
statues ami inscriptions of Shishak I., relating t" his campaigns in
Syria. In the middle of the court was an avenue of five or six
columns, 70 feet high, laid out under Taharka ami Psammetichus II..
in the beginning of the sixth century b.c. Only one of the columns
is now erect. This avenue served for laying poles across during the
processions, on which great carpets and baldachins were fixed to
shade those taking part in them in their passage through the court
One <>f our illustrations (Fig. 106) affords a view <>t' the back of
the Ptolemaic pylon, t<> which the colonnade of the fore-court i-
joined. Farther t<> the hit appear the pylons of the temple of
Ranieses III. and the two columns (of one of which only the halt" is
standing) belonging t" the middle avenue. In the background t->
the right we catch a glimpse "I' the Temple of Khuns t" be later
296 ÄRf UNDER THE ÜEW KM I'l HE.
noticed), and, on the left, of the pylons of Thothmes. These last,
as we shall see, bound the great temple-court, whose axis is nearly
Fii.. L08. — Relief at Karnak. Nekhebt, the Goddess of the South, conducting King
Seti I. to the Throne of Amen. (Fourteenth century B.C.)
at right-angles to that of the chief temple. The extent of this fore-
court — 295 feet broad and 330 feet loner, and large enough to be
PLATE XXIII
The Obelisk of Thothmes in the Great Temple at Karnak.
History of All Kations, Vol. I., page S97.
PLATE XXIV.
Columns in the Great Temple at Karnak.
History of All Xations, Vol. I., page 207.
The Temples at K'arxa&
tne ~ i,r of a respectable cathedral— prepares us for the impression
made by the hypostyle. No words have ever been found to adequately
describe this impression. It can only be computed in figures. Tins
hall, though over thirty centuries old, has a roof supported by 134
columns, whose gigantic proportions leave far behind all thai even
Egypt has elsewhere produced of a similar kind. An avenue formed
by six pairs of columns with unfolded calyx capitals passes through
the centre of the hall. On both sides of this are .-even rows of nine
columns with bud capitals. The columns of the middle ave • are
i>7 feet high, 11| feel in diameter, and 33 feet in circumference. The
remaining 122 columns are only 26 feet lower. The hall, therefore,
has a lofty central nave, as the middle passage carries a stone roof
which i- "_'»; feet higher than the roofs of the aisles on either side, and
which rests upon a wall 2<i feet high, borne up by the two adjoining
rows of lower pillars. In this wall are window- in the form of small
stone crosses. This arrangemenl is to I"- -ecu in the two accompanying
illustrations, of which the one (Plate KXIII.) gives a view of the part
next in succession, where the obelisk of Thothmes stands ; while in the
other (Plate XXIV.) we look towards the transverse axis of the
temple, so thai the gateway in the next-following portion is visible
on the right. In several temples a similar mode of lighting
upper side-lights is observed. On the Hat roof, immediate!} over
the inner pillars, there rises a sort of attica, or clerestory, through
openings in the walls of which light falls into the interior. Konrad
Lange has shown that this arrangemenl of the hall of Karnak
high middle nave with windows ami two side-naves or aisles — is
the prototype of the Greek megarort^ and of the Greek, Roman, and
also of the Western, basilica. Since the middle columns of the hall
stand thirty-three feet apart, the stone beams of the roof are i i
sarily of the same length, while the others imewhal ovei
teen feet long. How the Egyptians elevated these stone beams, and
the great Hags lying on thcin (whose weight has been estimated to
be about ninety tons) is unknown. All the walls, architraves, and
ceilings are covered with colored pictorial representations, the
walls chiselled in Hat relief. I »named of l>y Rameses I., the hall
was executed l>\ Set i I., and it- western half was erected under
298 ART UNDER THE SEW EMI' I RE.
Rameses II., who also completed the sculptural ornamentation. On
October 3, 1899, eleven columns crashed down and several more were
damaged. Some 1700 tons of stone had to be removed by Mr. Legrain
before anything could be done toward repairing the damage. The
catastrophe which inflicted so serious a loss upon the civilized world is
attributed to the action of infiltrations of water saturated with saltpetre.
While clearing and strengthening the temple of Khnns, which also
seemed threatened, Mr. Legrain found among other valuable monuments
the superb gray granite statue of the god Khuns — unquestionably the
finest piece of sculpture of the New Empire. (Plate XXVI.) In
its execution it recalls the chisel which carved the beautiful head of
< Xaia ' — now regarded as the portrait of the queen of Horemheb (see
p. 324). Both evidently belong to the Eighteenth Dynasty, and Mas-
pero suggests that the statue of the god was a portrait of the king, while
the queen was represented as the goddess Mut. However this may be,
the school of art which produced those masterpieces represents the highest
plane to which Egyptian taste ever rose. The Khuns is not merely a
clever piece of modelling — it embodies an ideal. The back wall of the
hypostyle adjoins the pylon of Amenhotep III., which is followed by that
of Thothmes I. Between them stand the obelisks of Thothmes I. and
III., the former overthrown. Behind it is a headless statue of Queen
Aähmes-Nefertari. On the left this space is open ; for here, on the
outside, lie some lesser erections of the Twenty -sixth Dynasty, and
farther off, near the opposite door of the outer wall of the temple area,
a small Ptah-temple of Thothmes III., in front of which Sabaco and
the Ptolemies placed porticoes. The right side is, on the contrary,
shut in by a wall whose gate gives entrance to the system of courts of
the time of Thothmes, already referred to. On the inner wall of the
pylon of Thothmes III., a series of statues represents the king as
Osiris ; and on it, also, the elevation of Maka-Ba to be co-regent with
her father is delineated. Behind this pylon lies a columned hall, in
which the highe t obelisk (seen to the right in Plate XXII.) rises.
This was erected by Queen Maka-Iia-Hatshepsut ; its counterpart is
overthrown. The inscription tells that the upper part of the obelisk
was incrusted with asem (either elect rum, or a sort of bronze), and
that it was prepared in seven months. Obelisks were worked in the
quarry, and then sawn out. Behind a second pylon of Thothmes I.,
KING HORUS
.).,,,
Fig. loa King Horus approaching Amen Bas-reliel on the I
of the cireut Temple at Carnak».
300 ART UNDER TUE NEW EMPIRE.
comes, in a sadly ruinous condition, a mass of halls, apartments,
and corridors, in the midst of which a great quadrangular structure
(colored black in PLATE XXI.) of the time of the Ancient Empire
is recognizable, its ruins comprising a number of priests' chambers.
We find here the cartouches of Antef, Amenemhat, Usertesen, and
Sebek-hotep. The old sanctuary (restored by Thothmes III.) no
longer exists, but is replaced by a new one constructed entirely of
mighty squares of granite, of the time of Philip Arrhidaeus, who
was raised to the monarchy after Alexanders death, b.c. 323, but
was murdered b.c. 317. Two isolated pilasters of red granite, with
lotus capitals, of the time of Thothmes III., still stand before the
sanctuary (Plate XX.). The most of these ruins, among them
those of a hall surrounded by thirty-two pillars, and having its roof
borne on fifty-two piers, are of the time of Thothmes III. Some,
however, were begun by Amenhotep I., and completed by Thothmes.
Among the latter were found a pair of granite sphinxes, now in
Cairo, and an interesting inscription consisting of a sort of building-
contract. According to the inscriptions on the wall south of the
sanctuary, there were, among these portions owing their origin to
Thothmes III., halls decorated with silver and bronze. They con-
tained statues of this monarch and older kings, sacrificial tables, a
harp incrusted with silver and precious stones, a chapel hewn out of
one block of stone, cedar doors inlaid with gold and other metals,
three large gates decorated with silver, and a great granite shrine
whose interior was plated with gold. The inscription makes mention
also of temple-servants, among them children of the Rutennu and
Ivhent-nefer in Nubia. This whole portion of the temple was sur-
rounded by a wall by Rameses IL, and, through additions, extended
by him to the outer enclosing-wall, in which, at this point, Nectanebo
II., the last Pharaoh, inserted a gate.
Between the pylons of Amenhotep II. and Thothmes I. lies a
free space, which divides the whole temple into two parts, and at
the same time points to a complex of courts whose axes were at
right angles to that of the main temple. A first court was cut off
by pylons of Thothmes III.; a second, with two colossi of this
monarch at its entrance, has in its fore part pylons of Thothmes
I., before whose exterior sides stand two colossi of Thothmes II.,
THE SACRED LAKE.
301
and one each of Thothmes III. and IV. A gate in the easl wall
of this second court gives entrance tn a little temple of alabaster.
At, some distance follows a third court, with two gates flanked l>\
pylons of Horns, the one restored by Rameses II., the other erected
bv Ainenhotep II. In the eastern enclosing wall of this court lies
a temple of Thothmes III., consisting of ;i portico in front of the
facade, and a hall with twenty columns and side chambers. An
avenue of sphinxes' heads leads from the outer gate of this court
to the southern temple hounds. Between the principal temple ami
Fig. no The Holj Lake in the Middle Temple al Karnak .
the courts of Thothmes lies the sacred lake (Fig. 11"> User-ha,
where the bark of Amen floated on festival days. It- embank-
ments date from the reign of Thothmes III. A temple of con-
siderable si/.e on its southern side has disappeared, excepl the
foundation-stone. On the other side of the court of Thothmes
lies, among the houses of Karnak. a greal temple of the orach
Khuns (Fig. 111). with its pylons facing the southwest, so that
their backs are towards the great temple. The -ate of Ptoleni)
Euergetes, one of the most beautiful memorials of his time, is all
that is left of the pylon structure and lies in the outmost
302
ART UNDER TUE NEW EMPIRE.
of the middle enclosure. An avenue of Rameses III., bordered
by sphinxes, leads to the temple proper, which, again, opens through
pylons on a court whose three colonnades are borne on twenty-
eighl columns in double rows. To the eight-columned hypostyle,
lying a few steps higher, succeeds the Sanctuary of Khuns. The
Pharaoh worships him here under the two forms of Khuns-neb-
zam ( Khuns of the Thebaid), and of Khuns-nefer-hotep, or the
moon-god. The temple was erected by Rameses III., and, in its
good state of preservation, is an instructive example of a temple of
Fig. 111. — The Temple of Khuns (southwest of the Great Temple at Karnak).
simple, uniform design. Beside it stands a square temple, of the
time of the Ptolemies, sacred to Apet, the goddess of birth, who
appears in the form of a pregnant hippopotamus. In the illustra-
tion (Fig. Ill), the pylon of the Temple of Khuns is seen in the
foreground, and farther back the Temple of Apet ; while the houses
of Karnak stand in the background under palms. In the other
illustration (Fig. 110), we have a view of the Temple of Khuns
in the background, on the farther side of the sacred lake; while
to the light and left, in the middle distance, the ruined pylons of
Thothmes and Horns (Horemheb) show themselves. At a consid-
REMAINS IN WESTERN THEBES.
erable distance northward of the chief temple lies the them
temple with its surroundings, found.'. I l>\ Amenhotep III., with res-
torations of the lime of the Ptolemies, and decorated with colossi
by Rameses II. The outmost pylon, ami a side-temple on the
west, date from tin; time of the Greek monarchs. Besides the
above, other Pharaohs endeavored to perpetuate their names by
lesser contributions, which have, however, all fallen int.» ruin. To
the south, on the other side, lies a greater congeries of temples,
dedicated to Mut, likewise due to A menhotep III., but now, with
its later additions, entirely destroyed. In the fore-court, on both
sides of an avenue of ten columns, stood a great many statu«
the lion-headed goddess, part of which have found their way to
European collections. Westward, and close to the boundary-wall
of the grounds, lies a little temple of Rameses III. A semicircular
sacred lake runs round the hack of the temple.
This temple-city, constructed by the sacred ait of Egypt in the
course of two thousand years, constitutes only a part, though the
most impressive one, of the capital of Upper Egypt. A glance at
a general map of Thebes shows that the Nile Valley, especially
westward towards the mountains, is covered with its ruins. \
ond temple, — ' the temple of Amen, in southern Ap.t,' formerly
separated from that we have been describing by the main mae
dwellings, including those of the kings and priests, lies on a terrace
overlooking the Nile, and near the village of Luxor. The facade
faces karnak. whereas all the other temples look towards the Nile.
In front of the pylon sit four statues of Rameses II. and his daugh-
ter, forty feet high, hut deeply sunk in the sand ( fig. 11'-!». B<
these stood two obelisks, one of whi.h is now in Paris (see p. 135).
The pylons are decorated with representations of the Hittite War.
The present Thebans, with their huts, nestle in the interior and on
the roof of the temple. The relatively unimportant city that Thebes
wa-, at the opening ot' the Ki-lite. nth I >\ na-ty, had spread into an
immense town of splendid monument- and sumptuous edifices. It had
absorbed most of the neighboring villages. Suburbs Btretehed wulun
the walls of enclosures ; and avenues of sphinxes connected the prin-
cipal quarters composing the capital. Everywhere were the monotous
clusters of gray huts and muddy i Is, where animal- drank and
304
.17,"/' UNDER TEE NEW EMPIRE.
the people obtained water. Markets and bazars, dwellings of the
well-to-do enelosed in blank walls and reserving what comfort and
charm they might possess for their occupants — such was the Thebes
of the people. The population might reach one hundred thousand
souls. Many were foreigners — Syrians, Libyans, Negroes, Mesopota-
mians. The nobles lived outside the town, each residence forming a
small settlement. The conquests of the New Empire had brought
streams of gold into Egypt. Although barter remained the funda-
mental principle of trade, a change took place : rings and plates of
Fig. 112. — < »belisk, seated statues of Rameses II., and Pylons of the Temple at Luxor.
gold, silver, and copper of standard weight (Tabeun) were used in
exchange for goods, stimulating commerce.
The buildings on the opposite shore, in Western Thebes, faced the
Nile and the eastern city. Here lay 'the West-land of the buried.'
Here, too, was practised the ancestor-cult of the kings, in great tem-
ples, which served the same purpose as the temples before the pyramids
and as the chambers of the mastabas.
In the extreme southwest lies Medinet-Abu, and near it the im-
posing temple of Barneses JH., in a tolerably good condition (Figs.
HEM. 1 / AN A T MELI NE T ABl '.
113, 114). We reach
first a propylae urn struc-
ture of the time of An-
toninus 1'ius. It gives
entrance to a very grace-
ful temple of Thothmes
I II.. mi whose pylon tin-
Pharaoh Taharka had
his victory over the
.lews engraved. Beside
this temple, and ap-
proached through a free-
standing gate, erected
at its side by the archi-
tect Petamenap, stands
a tower-like structure of
Rhampsinitus, a build-
ing quite peculiar of
its kind. On coming
up from the plain, one
finds before him two
small pylons of a par-
terre and two stories,
crowned with curved
merlons. Their walls
are a little higher than
the inner court wall,
while this latter con-
tracts towards the hack
on both sides : so that
we have a wider fore-
court and a somewhat
narrower second court.
The buildings sur
rounding tin- couj t
open upon the greal
temple. Where the
Vol. I. 2a
306
ART UNDER TUE NEW KM Pill F..
Fig. 114. -Ground-plan of Memnoniuin oi' Rameses III., ;it Medinet Abu.
TEMPLE 1 /' MED1 VET I III'. 301
court narrows, Lie the stairs to the first and second Btories. These
were formerly divided by a w len ceiling, while the top storj is
covered by ;i stone ceiling with beautiful Lozenge-shaped orna-
ments. A broad frieze runs between this and the upper cornice
of the windows, on which we see Lotus-flowers, vases, pomegran-
ates. Inder this is a hand covered with hieroglyphics, and, Lowest
of all, a series of nraeus-serpents, symbols of the kingl) dignity.
Among the sculptures we see some thai represent the king amus-
ing himself with his wives and at chess. From two places in
the southern wall, there project the breasts, propped-up arms, and
heads of four prone male figures, on which rests the bedding-
slab of a horizontal stone tablet let into the wall. This * pavilion '
may probably be regarded as a triumphal gateway, in which, at
the same time, chambers were contained for the king and part ot
his court, to be used by him in preparing for the festival pageants,
while it might also serve as a sort of tribune for the spectator
at the temple processions. The great temple consists of two fore-
courts each behind pylons. In Fig. 115 the Latter are seen tower-
ing in the background. The colonnade on the north Bide ol the
first court was borne on seven Osiris pillars; that of the south side
on eight columns. The second court has eight Osiris pillars on its
east side, arranged along the pylon, and an equal number stand
opposite them. Behind the latter, eight columns arise, whose -ode.
stand on a dais. The other sides have each five columns. Tin»
tine hypaethral hall is decorated with sculptures, painted in lively
colors, and representing a greal coronation procession, as well as the
victories over the Phoenicians and Libyans, carefully indicating the
great booty captured. The Coptic community has restored this hall
as a church, and set in it live fine Corinthian columns. They had,
at the same time, coated the wall with plaster, on which are depicted
figures of Christian saints: whereby the old sculptures are main-
tained in excellent preservation. The view of the interior , I
11Ö) shows the hypostyle in the foreground, also a large second
chamber, and on the left the adjoining chambers. On the Bout* side
lie the treasure chambers of the temple, whose vanished contents
are commemorated by pictures on the walls. The gifts >\>;\u,r
Amen consist of -old in grams and dust, silver bars, perfect mom
308 Airr UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
tains of precious stones and metals, frankincense, statues, ornaments,
spoils captured in the campaigns against the Syrians and negroes
all accompanied by devout dedicatory inscriptions.
Northeast of Medinet-Abu stood once a great temple of Amen-
hotep 111., probably the Memnonium of Strabo, of which only the
foundation walls remain, covered by the soil which now lies several
Fig. ll.'). —Vestibule of the Temple at Medinet-Abu.
meters deep over the temple site. As in Luxor, four colossi were
reared in front of the vanished pylons, of which only two now stand
upright, — the world-renowned vocal statues of Meinnon. These
own their origin to Amenhotep III. A large portion of the third
colossus lies at a distance of 11Ö paces. The figures are of coarse,
hard ffril stone, mixed with chalcedonies, difficult to work. That on
the north was broken by an earthquake, and its upper half re-erected
In Alexander Severus, During the process of its decay, musical
THE COLOSSI OF \IKMM<>\
300
notes were elicited fron, it by the «Imps of earl} dew fulling into the
ll " !rs '" ,1 "' st ":"'- which the ancients fancied to be the morning
greeting of the Sun to his divine mother, Eos. Seventy-two inscrip-
tions appear on the leg of the Memnon, engraved between the times
uf Nero and Septimius Severus, by strangers who had heard its
tones. One of these is l>\ the Emperor Hadrian and ln> wife
MO
a irr UNDER mi-: NEW EMPIRE.
Sabina. The statues consist of two pieces, of which one forms the
socle, the other the figure, which must have heen lifted on to its
pedestal. What this means will be understood when it is considered
that the shoulders are nearly twenty feet broad, the middle finger
lour and one-half feet long, the tibia eighteen feet, and the foot (now
lost) ten feet. The whole mass, pedestal and statue, according to
the calculation of French engineers, must weigh nearly 2400 tons.
The architect who erected the temple, and superintended the setting
up the statues, bore the same name as his king, Amenhotep, and
was the son of Ilapi. Behind the ruined temple lies a second, in a
similar condition, and also by Amenhotep. Near it are traces of
elections of Thothmes IV. Deeper amongst the rocks are the graves
of Guruet-Murai, and, in a ravine behind these, a Ptolemaic temple
o o o o o o ti . ! U- , ■;■-,-■? Y r— 1~~, r~~ I
• • •• • •
;l c '-.t ° 1 i~n
v - v < *, i -— I
Fig. 117. — Ground plan of the Memnonium of King Kaineses II.
of Hathor (Hekate) — Der-el-Medinet — in full preservation. Farther
in the hills lies the so-called Tombs of the Queens. The nearest
Large, and partially preserved, temple is the famed Ramesseuni or
Memnonium (Figs. 117, 118), designed by Rameses II. for his cult
when dead, and by the Greeks termed the grave of Osymandyas
( i.e.. User-ma-ra, the premomen of Rameses). The first court had
colonnades on both sides, each of eleven Osiris-pillars, with columns
standing behind, the most of which are destroyed. It is strewn with
blocks of stone, among them parts of a sitting colossus of the
builder, and the sepulchral statue, which in old times was concealed
in the serdab. The pedestal stands on the back wall, near the en-
trance to the second court. The figure was 56 feet high, and, like
the Colossi of Meninon. worked out of a single block of syenite, and
THE STA TUE OF OSYMA NDYAS.
■ ;i !
towered over the court. Head, breast, and anus lie now in •
solid fragment on the ground. 1 It is much the largest statue in
Egypt, and when perfect must have weighed over 1000 tons. Un-
doubtedly gunpowder was the agenl employed l>\ the wretch who
shattered this work of art. On the other side of the porta] stands a
second, and smaller, pedestal for the statue of the queen. Although
Diodorus, following the statement <>| Hecataeus, speaks "i the statue,
it is doubtful whether it was ever sei up. Certainly no debris in-
Fig. LIS. The Menu
dicating its presence is to be found. On the north face and pro-
pylaea of the second court is represented the war with the Kheta
■ I littitfs ), and the storming of their stronghold, Kadesh. In the
1 I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trnnkless legs of ~t"n-
stand in the desert. Near them on the sand
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and si r <>f < -* »1 « 1 command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions n
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless thii
The hand that mock - . I them and the heart thai fed;
And on the pedestal these words ap ear:
"Mj name is Ozymandias, king of kinj
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the d<
Of that colossal wreck, bo Hess and bare,
he lone and level sands stretch fai away.
312 ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
second court (the Osiris-pillars of which with high columns are visi-
ble in the background of Fig. 118) stand two pedestals for statues
nearly twenty feet in height, now lying in fragments. All of the
hypostyle is destroyed save the four middle columns. Like the hall
of Karnak. it consisted of a high nave with lower aisles. The col-
umns are regarded as the most beautiful of any of the New Empire.
Tin- rear portion of the temple is covered with debris. The reliefs
on the base of one of the doors show Thoth as ' Lord in the hall of
hooks/ and behind him, the eye as God. Opposite is Safekh, as
'Mistress in the hall of books, 5 and behind her the ear as divinity.
Conformable with this is Diodorus's statement that the library, as
'hospital of the soul,' was situated here. Alongside of and behind
the temple lie numerous vaulted brick buildings, the bricks bearing
the impress of the name of Rameses, a practice exceedingly ancient,
and customary also in Babylon. Next follow the ruins of a temple
of Thothmes III. and Rameses III. \ and behind, in the hills, numer-
ous lock sepulchres near Sheikh Abd-el-Gurnah, and in the north
and south Asasif, where are graves of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
A vast and peculiar congeries of structures presents itself on the
angle of the range of rocks near Der-el-Bahri (Plate XXV.), and
at tin' foot of a strep declivity over which a path leads to the
Tombs of the Kings. In conformity with the contour of the ground,
the temple of Der-el-Bahri, lately excavated by Xaville, stands on
four terraces, some 300 feet broad, rising one above another, and
each constituting a court. Traces of some 200 sphinxes, belonging
to the avenue of sphinxes, were still visible in the end of the last
century. Of the pylons we find only scanty remains. A street, in
continuation of the avenue of sphinxes, intersects the whole place.
Coming from the direction of the Nile, it here forms a junction with
an avenue of sphinxes from Karnak, and ascends from one terrace to
another by means of staircases. In the background of the second
terrace the remains of a colonnade were discovered: on the third,
close to the cliff, is a hall of columns, through which there is access
to a niche in the rocks. The back part of this terrace shows double
rows of pillars. On the fourth platform stands a mighty gateway of
granite: and last of all follows the sanctuary, lying among the rocks,
anil dedicated by Thothmes to his wife Aalimes, to which the whole
PLATE XXV.
The Terrace-Temple of Der-el-Bahn (from the south).
(Prior to the excavation« of Naville. )
History of AM Nations, Vol. I., v n e - 51t -
SETPS TEMPLE .1 '/' GUUNAlf.
313
of this most peculiar temple-system constitutes, as it were, only so
many fore-courts. <)n both sides of the third terrace, also, la) rock-
temples. The illustration Shows, in the middle distance, in the
shade, the long hall of tin- southern hall of columns, which termi-
nates the third terrace. Before the wall lie the fragments of the
double row of pillars. Quite behind are still seen the broad roof-
flags. The strongly lighted wall in the foreground, with a pillar
before it, separates the hall of eoliiiims from the southern side-
temple, which opens by a gate on its portions lying in the rock.
Under the high brick tower, belonging to the Coptic convenl Der-el-
Bahri (' the north convent*), is seen the wall of the fourth platform,
and on the light, elose to it. the granite portal, on the farther side of
which rubbish covers the northern half of the grounds.
Fig- Hi
mile of the 1 >ead at < kurnah.
The most northern ruin of Thebes is Seti's Temple of the Dead
at Gurnah, dedicated by this king to his father Rameses I., and the
gods Osiris. Ilathor. and the Tin-ban triad, hut not completed till
the time of Rameses II. ( Fig. 1 L9 >. < >f the sphinx avenues and the
propylaea, only the pylons remain. The temple itself has a portico
of ten columns with hud capitals, standing between antae. The
middle and two outmost pairs of columns stand wider apart than the
others; for behind these lie the three entrances into the hypostyle
and two adjoining apartments, which, with their numerous chamber»,
each decorated with sculptures, are grouped in quite unique fashion
The temple at A.bydos, also begun by Seti and completed h\ his
son, is peculiarly arranged ( Fig. 120 }. Passing between two ,
314
ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
TEMPLE OF KHNUM AT I. i.i.ril a s 1 1 \ i .;]■',
erected by the latter, we reach a row of twelve vasl pillars deco
with religious scenes, standing before the hypostyle. Behind the in
lie seven entrances, of which, however, five are buill up owing to
their in >t harmonizing with the twelve pillars; bo thai only the mid-
dle entrance and the most westerly remain open. Hie base ol sev-
eral of the walls of tlir hypostyle consists of a socle-frieze, on which
are depicted the symbolical figures of the Egyptian nomes, with
their colors and escutcheons above their heads. This hall is borne
up by a double row of twelve columns; and od its back wall there
are seven entrances into a second hypostyle, in which are three rows
of twelve columns, the third row somewhat higher than the other
two. Here, again, we have seven openings in the hack wall, which
give admission into seven Longish sanctuaries dedicated to II
[sis, Osiris, Amen, Harmachia, Ptah, and King Seti. These apart-
ments have vaulted root's, without, however, any keystone, hut
formed by layers of stone reaching inwards from both sides, ami fin-
ished with roof-plates rounded out on the inner side by hewing
121). As in the mastabas, the hack walls are treated as
Only in the sanctuary of Osiris is there a door leading into the
opisthodomus. On the south side an out-building of the same pe-
riod joins on to the temple, which for this reason shows peculiar
arrangement, as this necessitated a lateral entrance from the chief
temple. One of the two doors of the second hypostyli
into a small passage, in which Dümichen, in L 864, found the
list of the kings, already given <>n p. 59. The relief shows Seti and
his son adoring the cartouches of seventy-five kings. Another list
of thirteen names, now in the Louvre, had already been disco
in 1818. A second temple in Abydos, built by Liameses II.. is
hopelessly destroyed. The dSbris of granite and alabaster gives
denee of surpassing magnificence. Here was found a geographica]
list enumerating the Egyptian cities. It has been interpreted by
Brugsch.
The beautiful edifice of Amenhotep III., at Elephantine,
;,,, example of the arrangement of the smaller temples, or chapels.
This was demolished, in 1822, by the Turkish governor of Assuan;
but, fortunately, it i< minutely described in th< 'Description de
Pfigypte.' It consisted only of a long oella in honor of Khnum,
316
ART UNDER THE XEW EMPIRE.
with a colonnade running round it, and a so-called peripteros, or
exterior colonnade, such as we see in the little temple of Thoth-
mes III. in Medinet-Abu. Along the longer sides stood seven
pillars without pedestal or capital ; the transverse sides had two
columns with bud capitals between their corner pillars. The pillars
and interior were sculptured. The whole stood upon. a substructure
of stylobate, with cornice ; and, on the front, steps led upwards be-
Fig. 121. — The arched hallways of Seti's temple at Ahydos.
tween balustrades. This little temple reminds us forcibly of Greek
architecture.
The numerous grottoes, or rock-temples, took their origin from
the rulers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties. Of later
date we have only the temple in Mount Barkal, erected by Taharka ;
and even it is only a copy of the older. The most northern is prob-
ably that near Beni-Hassan, dedicated to Sekhet (Artemis). Others
lie in Upper Egypt, e.g., the grotto of Selseleh, founded by Horem-
heb; the most arc in Nubia. The largest, that of Ipsambul, com-
PLATE XXVI
Status of the God Khuns, found at Karnak by Mr.
Legrain, 1900.
History of All Nations, Vol. T.,pagt 817
ROCK TEMPLE OF Mil S1MBEL. 317
in. .nly known as Abu-Simbel (Plate XXVII.) maj be described as
a specimen. The place where this astonishing work lies was called
Pirnas, or Pimsa, of which the Greeks made Psam-polis; the Arabs,
Ipsambul. The pylons are here hewn oul of the face of the cliff;
and the colossi, which the founders were wont to set up before these
members, are themselves part of the living rock, either of one piece
with the pylons, or in close contact with them. The breadth of the
facade at the base is 120 feet; its height, 93 feet. It is crowned
by a concave moulding, bearing the cartouches of the kings, each
surrounded by the uraeus-serpent. Above sits a row of twenty-two
dog-headed apes, sacred to Thoth, each nearly eight feet high; and
under the astragal of the entablature runs a hand of votive inscrip-
tions. Close up to this hand, their kingly crowns towering aloft,
their hands resting on their knees, and their eyes directed towards
the far distance, sit four kings on thrones, whose arms are borne up
by female figures. The last of the statues is half buried in the
sand. Over the gates, which, with their cornices, reach to the
elbows of the statues, stands, in a niche, the statue of Ra-Harmachis,
with the solar disk over his hawk's head, with the royal builder in
the act of adoration on both sides. A deep gateway gives entrance
to the first hall, whose roof is home up by two rows of four pillars.
Before these stand statues of the king, thirty-three feel high, painted
red, and wearing the white and red double crown. In his ■■;
arms is borne the crook of the shepherd of his people, and the
scourge, the symbol of supreme power. His garment is a plaited
yellow loin-cloth, or kilt, striped with red ami blue. Several side-
chambers issuing from this hall penetrate into the rock. A second
hall is supported 1>\ four pillars, and to this, behind a broad pa--
follows a third of the same breadth, but of very limited depth. Fi-
nally comes the sanctuary, in whose extreme niche, I s " feet from
the portal, sit the four statues of Amen. Ptah. I larmachis. mid
Kameses II. All the walls and pillars are decorated with so
from the wars in Nnhia, Lyhia. and Syria.
A sec 1 ami lesser temp!.- lies in the immediate neighborhood.
lis facade has. in the centre, a broad pilaster, whose upper half
shows the two cartouches of Kameses. while the lower i< pit'
by the door. To right and left, on each side, stand thre<
318 -I/.''/' UNDER THE SEW EMPIRE.
figures, thirty-three feel high, in high relief, and separated by narrow
pilasters. The middle ones represent Nefertari, spouse of Rameses;
the four others Rameses himself. The portal gives entrance into a
great hall, with six pillars, showing, in the upper part of their front
sides, huge heads of Hathor, under which three vertical fillets with
inscriptions run down the pillar. In a niche in a second hall is the
image of the cow of Hathor. Other temples of Nubia are only half
grottoes ; thus in the temple of Gerf-Hussein (or Girsheh, on the
cast bank), not only the fore-halls, but the hypostyle, are built out-
side the rock, only the sanctuary lying in the hill.
A characteristic feature of the New Empire are the hypogaea, or
cavities penetrating far into the rock, consisting of several halls or
chambers, to which long galleries give admission. A noteworthy
work was discovered by Maspero in 1883, near Der-el-Bahri, on the
hill-path leading to the Tombs of the Kings. This had belonged to
a man named Hor-hotep, of the time of the Eleventh Dynasty. As
the rock is brittle, the architect had lined the grave with limestone
slabs, which he painted. The pictures exhibit the whole arrange-
ments of the household of the deceased. The coffin is not, as usual,
monolithic, but constructed of blocks cemented together. The grave
had been plundered ; still, there were found an excellent arm of a
wooden statue and a portion of a wooden bark. In respect of
decoration, both chambers and the coffin bore the greatest similarity
to those of the Sixth Dynasty graves near Memphis ; so this grave
forms a connecting link between the ancient mastaba and the rock-
vault of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The Pharaohs have rock-tombs
at various points in Western Thebes, the most renowned being the
twenty-five tombs of the Eighteenth (Amenhotep III. and Ai, suc-
cessors of Tufrankh-amen, and Rameses I.), the Nineteenth, and
Twentieth Dynasties, in Biban-el-Moluk (' Gates of the Kings ').
This is a gorge to which entrance is gained through a narrow pass
or rock-gate, partially widened by art. and so entirely shut in by
naked walls that it is never swept by the wind nor filled with the
mid-day heat. Each of the graves opening into the ravine on either
side has a great vault, called, after the yellow ground on which the
pictures arc arranged, the 'Golden Hall/ and lying in a range of
corridors, niches, and chambers extending to the length of over 100
• BELZONI'S TOMB.' :\\\\
yards. The granite sarcophagi are mostly decorated with figures
outside and in. The mos1 elaborate tomb is thai of Seti I., known
as 'Belzoni's Tonil»." after the name of its discoverer. Its entrance,
as that of all others, was blocked up after the Bepulture of ihr king,
and covered with sand. Over it is Men die yellow disk in which
sits the ram-headed god, — the setting sun adored by the kin-: to
the right is Nephthys; to the left [sis, representing the terminal
point of the sun's course in the upper hemisphere. Beside the sun
sits the beetle, the symbol of the second birth, lake the sun, the
king descends in the wot into the under-world, to reappear again
in the east, and after his wanderings through Hades to arrive at the
bosom of the divinity. In the corridor nearest the entrance is
engraven the litany to the god Ra, which is noteworthy on account
of its esoteric character. It constitutes an introduction to the
numerous representations on the walls of the tomb typical of the
course of the sun during the hours of darkness. A part of this
litany is preserved in the Book of the Dead. Ra is here the greatest
power in the universe : all gods are assimilated to him ; ami through
him. whose various forms of manifestation the} represent, they exist.
•■Adoration to thee, supreme power; exalted mighty one. that com-
passes the place of light : whose form is that of the spirit who com-
prehends the all; who conceals his form in himself: who lives in
his eye (the solar-disk) and illumines the coffin ; the invisible en-
genderer, who makes the spheres and creates bodies; from wle.s.-
person, emanating from himself, those have come forth that are and
are not. the dead, the ^>A>. the souls: the mysterious hidden one.
whom the spirits follow as he leads them : the eternal element
permeating the heavens, in whose presence in Amenta (Hades) the
spirits rejoice in the heaven of light : the prince oi the powers in
the sacred spheres: the hark of heaven: the gate of the sphen
light: the wanderer, the revolving illuminator, who causes dar!
to follow his lighl ; the lord of souls, who sits on his obelisk." I
lowing an oblique downward-sloping passage, which at one point
obviously with the view of precipitating grave-robbers to destruction
sinks suddenly and unsuspectedly int.. a deep pit. leaving only
hare room for walking close to the wall, one reaches, at a distal
It:! feet from the entrance a great hall with tour rock pi!.
320 ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
fifty-six feet under the level of the threshold. In this hull Horas
is figured as leading the natives of Egypt and of foreign countries in
four groups, of three representatives each. The Egyptians (Romet,
i. e., < men ') are depicted with skins of red hue and wearing white
loin-cloths; the yellow Aamu, or Semites, with black beards, and loin-
cloths striped blue, white, and red; the black Nehesu, or negroes,
with white apron, over which falls a rohe of diaphanous material,
kept in place by a red embroidered girdle and shoulder-band ; finally
the Temehu, or Libyans, of white, partially tattooed, skins. This hall
joins on to another; but the way to the tomb leads, not through this
last, but down a steep stair, and through three other apartments.
The golden hall consists of a vestibule with pillars and various
side-chambers (in one of which is a noteworthy representation, with
descriptive text, of the destruction of mankind by Ra and the gods),
then of the main apartment, lying somewhat deeper, but with a
flatfish vaulting rising higher into the rock. On the left a door
gives admission into a terminal hall with a row of four pillars. The
sarcophagus is formed of a block of translucent aragonite, over nine
feet long and three broad, and is now in the Soane Museum, Lon-
don. The figures and hieroglyphics, filled in with blue, describe
the voyage of the bark of the sun through the underworld, through
twelve gates (the hours of night). Near it, on the left, but lower,
arc seen the damned: on the right, the blessed. On the inside of
the cover are inscribed passages from the Book of the Dead. Behind
the side of the coffin, there opens a slanting shaft, which has been
followed for over 300 feet, without reaching the end. Here we are
180 feet under the level of the entrance, and 470 feet distant from
it. In the course of excavating this and all other hypogaea, the
rubbish must have been carried forth, along narrow, suffocating,
ascending passages, whose heat was tempered by no breath of air.
The whole surface is covered with fine, highly colored sculptures,
all executed by torch-light, and under the conviction that they
would be seen only by the dead, who, in virtue of the transforma-
tion of the images into actual existences effected by the prayers of
those left behind, would revive and enjoy them. From the living
they were believed to be hidden in everlasting night.
High officials also had elaborate rock-tombs. The tomb of
GRAVES OF THE SACRED BULLS. 32]
the priest Pet-amen in El-Wutrel-Khorkah, eastward of Sheikh Abd-
el-Gurnah, scarcely yields in number of apartments to the grav<
kings; many royal sepulchres are indeed much simpler. II,
pulchral statues of the Ancient Empire occur als«, in fch e Theban
tombs; but under the influence of religious ideas such images came
to be, more and more, mere miniature imitations of fche mummies in
enamelled clay, and, as such, lost all value as works of art
A peculiar variety of sepulchral architecture is constituted by the
graves of the sacred bull Apis. The Apis became, after it- decease,
an Osiris, whence came its name of Asar-hapi, Greek Serapis, and
that of its shrine, Serapeum. From the time of Amenhotep III.,
these animals were interred in separate tombs, consisting of cham-
bers worked out of the rock, to which access was given l»v an en-
closed path. Immediately over the tomb was an under-ground sub-
structure, on which was placed a dado with columns at its angles,
and over all was a pyramidal roofing. The son of Rameses II.,
Kha-em-uas, a learned high priest of Ptah (see |>. *_'7Ö) who resided in
Memphis, and died before his father, laid out the renowned Apis
graves. The exterior temple of the dead above ground has disap-
peared; but Mariette found the Greek Serapeum, which lav to the
east of the Egyptian one, and was connected with it by an avenue
of sphinxes. Here, in the necropolis of Sakkara, lived enthusiast
devotees, who, in the service of Serapis, shut themselves out from
the world, and in gloomy cells, into which food could be introduced
only through air-holes, gave up their lives to the practices and
visions of asceticism. To these recluses we have to look for the
origin of Egypto-Greek and Christian monachism.
The subterranean Serapeum (or Apis-mausoleum), consists of a
gallery 650 feet in length, tunnelled into the rock, on each side of
which were spacious and lofty wainscoted chamber-. After the
dead Apis had been deposited in one of these, enclosed in an enormous
cofhn of granite or "limestone, it was walled up. under Psammeti-
chus I., some of the vaultings of the older Apis-graves sunk in. and
this new gallery was begun, whose of vaults are now visited by tour-
ists. These contain 24 sarcophagi, of an average Length oi 1-'
breadth of 7 feet 6 inches, and height of 11 feet On the «lis,
of the coflins, only two were found unplunderecL The most impor-
Vm,.. i. 21.
322 ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
taut objects contained in these catacombs of the sacred bulls are the
numerous stelae, or tablets, which it was permissible to set up in the
chamber, or before it, a certain number of years after the Apis had
been laid to rest. These are now mostly in the Louvre, and contain
dates of the highest value in determining the length of the reigns of
the Pharaohs from the time of Psammetichus. On each of three
coffins is an inscription of the times of Amasis IL, Cambyses, and
Khabash, respectively. The first is short, and says simply that the
King Amasis had ' caused this mighty stone chest to be made out of
red granite for the living Apis,' the word « living ' having reference
to the life beyond the grave. A stela belonging to the coffin tells
that this Apis was born and died in the reign of Amasis. He was
born in the fifth year of his reign (b.c. 567), on the seventh day of
the month Thoth (June- July) ; installed in Memphis, eighteenth
Payni (March- April) the same — Egyptian — year ; died sixth Pha-
nienoth (December-January) of his 23d year (549) ; was deposited
in his tomb on the fifteenth Pathon (February-March) of the same
year. This Apis lived, therefore, 18 years 6 months, an age ex-
ceeded by other Apides. The sarcophagus dedicated under Khabash,
owing to unforeseen circumstances occurring during his interregnum
(between Darius and Xerxes) of only two years, was never set up,
and stands to this day in a corridor, while its cover lies on the
ground in the main gallery.
The dwellings of the Egyptians were constructed of brick and
wood, and have entirely perished. Yet one gains a tolerably clear
conception of them from the architecture of the tombs, which was
borrowed from that of the dwelling-house, from little models that
have come down to us, as well as from drawings and plans, both on
papyrus and on the walls. One such plan found in Tel-el- Amarna,
Chipiez has made the basis of a perspective bird's-eye view. This
wooden house consisted of vertical and horizontal (never diagonal)
oeams, mortised, with the intermediate spaces panelled. Pavilions
were wont to be erected on the flat roofs, under whose covering of
carpets or matting the night was passed in the hottest season. The
cleaving and twisting of the wood-work was remedied by lattice-
work of small rods, from which originated handsome geometric de-
signs, as is the case in all warm countries. Concerning the furniture
DRESS OF TUE EGYPTIANS. ■-, 3
also of the private houses, the monuments afford the fullesl Informa-
tion. Couches, chairs, stools— massiv«- yel elegant, w it li carved animal's
feet and other ornamentation— were u<<-d. The walls were hung with
variegated carpets or variously patterned straw plaiting. We can trace
the dress of the Egyptians in all its forms, from the primitive loin-cloth
up to the diaphanous robe of byssus. This loin-cloth, or kilt, is the
dress not only of the peasants and workmen, hut it is also the sacred
vestment in which the king is shown in relicts and statues. People
pride themselves in having it richly finished ; they starched and plaited
it, and, bringing it up in front, folded it hack on itself, so thai it-
ends, decorated with colored stripes and ornaments, fell down over the
girdle. In the case of women it was lengthened both upward and
downward into a petticoat, which was held up by Bhoulder-straps ;
but these were sometimes replaced by a scarf or sash, which was tied
in a large knot before the breast, under which the corners of the
garment were tucked. Such a robe is worn by the goddess [sis;
and even the noble granite statue of Rameses II., in Turin, is thus
attired. Over this kilt a shirt-like garment of linen was worn, under
which the under dress and the body appeared. Above all was occa-
sionally thrown a sort of wrap, or calasiris. Generally people wenl
barefoot, the rich only wearing sandals. The head was shorn, and
protected from the heat by a sort of cap of cloth. It would lead us
too far were we to detail all the articles of the toilet, especially th
of the female sex.
On an earlier page, in the account of the famous discoveries of
royal mummies at Der-el-Bahri, mention was made of the fad thai the
enamelled and gilt coffin of Thothmes I. was found, but that in it was
the mummy of Pino/em. In 1899 Luret discovered the actual tomb
of Thothmes, from which the coffin had been stolen. It is in the
Valley of the King9 al Thebes. This chapter on the art and manners
and customs of the New Empire may well conclude with a detailed
description 1 of this tomb, the original burial-place of one of the great-
est monarchs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. "This Pharaoh appears to
have been the tiiv-t to make his tomb in the rock of the valley instead
of building it in the plain. The tomb is a Bmall one and contains bul
1 American Journal of Archaeology, 1900, pp. 843, -'H
324
ART UNDER THE .VAIC KM IURE.
two chambers. In the tomb were a papyrus containing texts from the
' Book of the Dead' with colored pictures finely executed, a draught-
board with a full set of draughtmen, some garlands, thirteen large
earthen beer jars, and a large number of other vessels, weapons, two
beautiful arm-chairs, and remains of food. The most remarkable piece
of all is a large and beautifully preserved couch, consisting of a quad-
rangular wooden frame overspread with a thick rush mat, over which
were stretched three layers of linen, with a life-size figure of the god
of death, Osiris, drawn upon the outer layer. The figure itself was
smeared with some material intended to make the under layer water-
proof. ( )ver this, mingled with some adhesive substance, soil had been
spread in which barley was planted. The grains had sprouted and had
grown to the height of from two and one-half to three inches. The
whole therefore represented the couch whereon the dead Osiris lay,
figured iu greensward."
Taia, probably the Queen of Horemheb (Eighteenth Dynasty).
Plate XXVIII
■. -.-•;
•■•*»
HEAD OF WINGED FIGURE FROM NINEVEH.
As type of the Assyrian Race and Proof of Painting on the Rock-sculptures.
(After Layard. )
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
DURING the most flourishing period of the New Empire in Egypt,
there was maturing in the Upper Mesopotaraian valley a
powerful nation which ultimately became dominanl in Western Asia
and gave decisive direction to the subsequent developmenl of civiliza-
tion, — the kingdom of Assyria.
Assyria was the region watered by the Greater and Lesser
Zab, — streams that empty into the Tigris, aboul two hundred
and three hundred and fifty miles northward from Babylon. Its
kings gradually extended their sway — on the south towards the
Adliem and Diyala; on the west, over the plains watered by the
Chaboras and its tributaries; on the north, to the upper coursi
the Euphrates. Thus they came into collision with the Babylonian
empire, with the Aramaeans, and with the Ilittitcs ami their allies.
The conflicts with their various neighbors continued down t" the
last days of the Assyrian people, so that their history is little more
than a record of wars. The earliest seat of the Assyrian kings was
Assur, the ruins of which now hear the name of Kaloh Shergat On
the right bank of the Tigris, somewhat above the mouth of the Lower
Zah, an immense terrace rears itself, with the ruins of ;i temple in
platforms or stages, now covered by drifted -and. An excavation
of these ruins is now being made by a German expedition which
has already made notable discoveries. In the districl of Assyria,
on the left bank of the Tigris, and above the mouth of the Zab, lie
numerous ruin-mounds of ancient cities, in particular oi Nineveh,
over against Mosul. Here are two rubbish-mounds, of which the
southern, Nebi Yunus, is occupied by buildings: hut. as the prophet
Jonah is said to be here buried, excavations cannot he made.
tain trials with the spade, at the angle of the mound, revealed that
an Assyrian palace lay here interred; and fragments of the annals of
325
326
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
Sennacherib, and bricks of the times of Adad-nirari III. 1 (811-783)
and Esarhaddon, were picked up. The northern mound, Kouyunjik
(Turkish, ' the lambkin '), has been thoroughly ransacked, and found
to be the ruins of a palace of Sennacherib and Asurbanipal, in the
condition it was left by the Medes, who demolished it over twenty-
five centuries ago. Nineveh is a very ancient city, but it does not
appear as the capital till the later times of Assyrian history. Here
stood a temple of Ishtar, which, as early as the nineteenth century
b.c., was restored by Samsi-Adad, and, 400 years later, again by
Ashur-uballit. A head of Ishtar, with a broad diadem around the curled
hair, was found by George Smith. Shalmaneser I. (about 1320) and
his son Tukulti-Ninib had here a palace. Several of their successors
were diligent builders. At the end of the reign of Shalmaneser II.
(859-825), his son Asur-danin-apal revolted in Nineveh, but was over-
thrown by his brother Samsi-Adad IV., whose son Adad-nirari III.
(811) built a temple of Nebo and Merodach, in the spot where the
mound Nebi Yunus lies. With Sennacherib began Nineveh's period
of highest prosperity, which lasted scarcely over a century.
Jerraiyah is a ruin-mound close to Nineveh, on the south, at a
little distance from which irregular traces of walls are discernible,
high over the Tigris, at Selamiye. Near here lies Calah (Kalhu),
the modern Nimrud, at present at some distance from the river, but
reached by it in floods. Northeast of Nimrud lies the ruin-mound
of Balawat, and, somewhat farther off, Karämlais. Also on the farther
side of the Zab was Arbela (Arba-ilu, ' the city of four gods '), an
important Assyrian city lying on an artificial terrace, with ruins of
vaults and galleries. More to the south, and across the Lower Zab,
lies Kerkuk, in the district of Garamaea, the ancient Mennis (where
Curtius locates the naphtha-springs), the Karkha-de-Bet-Selukh of the
Syrians. The most important place to the north of Nineveh is
Khorsabad, east of which is Ba-azani. Towards the north is Sherif-
khan (Assyrian, Tarbisi), with a group of lesser mounds of rubbish.
Everywhere, at the points mentioned, are to be found traces
of Assyrian cities or of royal strongholds. Furthermore the whole
1 The reading Adad-nirari, instead of Ramman-nirari, is now accepted by scholars,
and therefore also Adad for the 'god of thunder and storms' (see Vol. II., p. 82), instead
of Ramman.
ASSYRIAN 8IT1 :;■_<:
country is strewn with ruin-mounds, easily recognizable by their
Arabian and Turkish prefixes, Tel and Tepeh. Outside of Assyria
proper we find of more important cities, lirst. on the Babylonian
frontier, Opis (Assyrian, Upi), menti d b\ Tiglath-Pileser I.
(about 1200). Its rains Lie opposite the i ith of the Adhem
(Physcus), and are now called Tel-Dhahab-Manjur. Formerly tin-
Tigris flowed past the west of the city; and at this poinl of its
old bed, now named ShatrAidha, the remains of an ancienl bridge
are still extant. Westward of Nineveh, the Sin jar hills run trans-
versely across Mesopotamia. West of Lake Khatuniyah, the range
is broken through by the Chaboras (the Araxes of Kenophon),
which, taking its rise in numerous springs in the neighboih I of
Resaina (Ras-el-ain), and flowing past several small towns, falls into
the Euphrates near Karkisiyah (Circesium). It receives numerous
tributaries from Mt. Masius (Tur-Abdin). On the Jakhjakhah
(Mygdonius) lies Nisibis (i.e., 'the stone columns,' from an early
stone-cult), the most famed city in this region, which continued t<»
be an important fortress till the times of the Parthians and the
Sassanidae. Farther to the west lies Barren (Carrhae), with a shrine
of Sin (the moon-god), on the Balikh ( J i« 1 i; i - j , that fall- into the
Euphrates at Thapsacus. To the northeast lie- Edessa ; \>> the west,
Serug (Batnae). Some four miles to the south were found two Assyrian
lions of basalt.
The inscription found at Kalah Shergal by tin German Expedition
reveal as the earliest ruler of the city, Dshpia, win» i- called 'a priest of
the god Ashur/ and was designated as the founder of A shur'e temple in
that place. His date may be fixed at al t 2200 B.C. Of other
early rulers we also have short inscriptions -tly dealing with Ashur's
temple, known as "The Mountain of the Lands," and with the help
of a recently found inscription of Shalmaneser I., consisting of 168
line-, which gives dato for various of hi- predecessors, we are able \<<
fix the time of Samsi-Adad I. at <•. 1900 B.c. (580 year- before Shal-
maneser I.), and of Erishnm at 1 "i ! ' year- before Samsi-Adad — i.e.,
c. 2060. Among other of the earlier rulers of Assyria, Adad-nirari I.
(c. 1350) i- represented by a detailed inscription furnishing hi- gi nealogy
and telling of his work on the temple of Ashur at Kalah Shergat, while
of his .-on, Shalmaneser I. (c. L320), we know that he founded the
328
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
city of Calah, where his successors long resided. We may well sup-
pose that the conquest of Babylonia was not effected in one cam-
paign. The kings say nothing of their defeats ; but casual notices
point to a long series of struggles, with varying success. Thus
Sennacherib reports that the seal of Tukulti-Ninib I. of Assyria was
found by him in Babel (Babylon) 600 years after it had been
carried off. This presupposes a Babylonian advance on the Assyrian
capital about 1300. Also in the reign of Bel-kudur-sur, who came to
the throne c. 1250, the Babylonions revolted, their Assyrian governor at
their head, and the king himself fell in the conflict. Not the less
they were reduced to subjection by the son of the fallen monarch.
Assyrian governors and native independent kings of Babylonia often
endeavored to free themselves from Assyrian supremacy.
Of Tiglath-Pileser I. (Fig. 122), who reigned about 1200, we pos-
sess much information, derived partly from the bricks of the palace
at Kalah Shergat, but especially from four
octagonal clay prisms which were deposited
at the corners of this edifice. Further
details appear on a relief-sculpture at the
sources of the Tigris, and on an obelisk
from Kalah Shergat, found at Koyunjik.
Sennacherib reports that the Babylonians
— warring against Tiglath-Pileser — had
taken the city Ekallat, and carried off two
images of gods, which he himself brought
back. These facts are not mentioned by
Tiglath-Pileser, who was, however, more
successful in a second campaign. He now
captured the cities of Marduk-nadin-akhe,
Dur-Kurigalzu (Akarkuf), Sippar, Babel,
and Opis. Tiglath-Pileser extended his
sway on the west and north, and the fact that he could undertake cam-
paigns in these directions proves that he had subdued the Babylonians
effectively. We have already become acquainted with the conflicts of
the Egyptians with the Kheta (Hittites), and seen that the kingdom
of the latter fell apart into various petty monarchies, which, however,
combined with each other and with the cognate tribes of the Arme-
wffi» » -«m i nim i» 1 "ii
Fig. 122. — Tiglath-Pileser I
TIGLA I'll PILESER I.
man highlands when it was necessarj to make comm jause against
the grasping Assyrians. When Tiglath-Pileser carried his arms westr
ward, some sixty years had elapsed sine- the time of Ramesee III.
(p. 281). lie reports that the Moschi, who for fifty years had held
the land Alzi and Puru-kuzzi (between the eastern Euphrates and
the Tigris-sources, and tributary to the god Ash ur), and who never
before were subdued by any monarch, had descended 20,000 strong
under live kings upon the Land of Kummukh (Commagene). With-
out doubt this movement was connected with the invasion of Egypt
of the Mediterranean races, which was repulsed by Kam.-- III. On
the fall of the Hittites probably followed the advance of the Philis-
tines into their later settlements ; while the Hebrews took advai
of the commotion to press forward into the land west of the Jordan,
Tiglath-Pileser collected his battle-chariots and warriors, marched
through the mountain land Kashyara (northwest Sophene), ami. >\t-
scending like a thunder-storm, shattered the Moschi in Kummukh.
Their heads he carried off as trophies, while their carcasses were
cast into the ravines. He levelled their strong places, carried off
captives with their goods and chattels, and made those who sin-d for
peace subject to him. As they of Kummukh were friends of the
Moschi, their land, too, was spoiled. They threw themselves into
the strong city, Sirisi (Strabo's Sarisa, the city of the Gordyaeans\
which lay on the east bank of the Tigris. This fortress musl
have lain somewhere between Diarbekir ami Engil. The Assyrians
took it, and, defeating the troops that had hurried from Kurkhi
(western Kurdistan) to its relief, captured their king Kiliteshub.
Among the spoils were found vessels of copper and iron, and gold
and >ilver idols. The victor- passed -till farther on, ami, entering
Kurkhi, captured its chief city Urartinash, its prince, Shaditeshub, sub-
mitting himself.
Titrhth-Pileser boasts of having subjugated Kummukh ; but,
later, he himself gives the Euphrates as the boundary of hi- empire.
Further, the inscription reports that he defeated a bod} of 1000
warriors, composed of Kaski (Colchians), then settled in Asia
Minor between the upper Halys ami the Euphrates, and of I'rn-
maya, who, in the service of the Chatti (Hittites), were Btriving to
defend Shnbari, that part of western Mesopotamia inhabited by the
330
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINOS.
Aramaeans. He then turned once more against Kummukh, and,
as he states, incorporated it with his empire. The campaign against
Kurkhi also was renewed. The mountaints barred the advance
of his war-chariots; but he overcame the difficulties, and after a
bloody struggle took twenty-five places in the district of Kharia.
An attempt on Milidia, in Khanigalmit (Malatia), miscarried. The
city Carchemish, in the land of the Chatti, is first mentioned in the
account of an expedition against the Aramaeans in Sukhi (in Job
ii. 11, Bildad is a Sh unite) ; and in the report of a hunt of oxen,
there occurs the name of Araziki, a city of the Hittites on the Euphrates,
somewhat above Balis.
We find in Tiglath-Pileser' s inscriptions reports of various other
expeditions, or, rather, forays ; as those into the land Murattash
and Saradaush (probably the mountain region east of Kerkuk), and
the land of the Nairi iu Arzanibiu, between Diarbekir and Surt,
where he triumphed over sixty chiefs of the Nairi with their allies
from the Upper Sea, burned their towns, and carried off their goods
and cattle. Iu an expedition to the land of Muzri, in the district
of Khorsabad, he assailed the city Arini, at the foot of Mount Aisa,
whither the Kumani had hastened in aid ; but " they seized my feet ;
I spared the city, took hostages, and imposed tribute." Probably
he was defeated ; for shortly after he had to turn again against
the Kumani, whom he conquered, burning their city Khunusa. A
memorial of the king — his statue with inscriptions — was found at
the sources of the Subnat (Sebeneth-su), a stream falling into the
Tigris at a place named Karkar (Armenian, Anzit), near Egil. There
his successors, Tukulti-Ninib I. and Shalmaneser I., caused stelae also
to be set up. These sculptures are interesting as furnishing us the
earliest likeness of an Assyrian king.
Under the successors of Tiglath-Pileser, the power of the empire
seems to have waned. The mere absence of boastful inscriptions
leads to this inference, while an inscription of Shalmaneser II. reports
that he had taken Pethor (Pitru) on the Sagura (Sajur), on the far
side the Euphrates, and recaptured Mutkinu, on the Assyrian side,
after it had been surrendered by Asur-erbi (about 1000) to the king
of Aram (Syria). Our knowledge of Assyrian history, however, for
the two centuries after Tiglath-Pileser is as yet very meagre.
ASURNAZIRP 1/ ;; ;|
r l he firs! monarch who again made conquests was Asurnazirpal
(884-860), son of Tukulti-Ninib II. (who reigned only six years), and
grandson of Adad-nirari II. His inscriptions are extensive, and
were found on his statue of limestone ( Fig. 1 23 >, und in the temple
at Calah. The statue represents him with a sickle, or crook, in his
right hand as defender of the husbandman, and with a club in his
Left as crusher of his foes. His head is withoul a diadem ; the right
arm is hare, the left covered by the richly fringed mantle, which is
thrown twice round the body. The greal inscription, frequently
translated, is engraved, in condensed form, on a tablel showing a
likeness of him making a libation, und is repeated more than a hun-
dred times on stones of his palace. Especially important are the
wars against the northern mountain tribes, whose districts, however,
can only rarely be determined. Tims, in the rery beginning of the
inscription, the mountain region Xninnii (between Arzanias and
Lake Van) is named, which no Assyrian had before entered. From
Numrni he descended into the land of kin mi. where he received
tribute from Gilzan, on the north of Lake CJrumiah, and from Khu-
bushkia, in the upper region of the Zab, now inhabited by the Hek-
kari. He then marched by way of Kirkhi, and captured, among
other mountain holds, a rock fortress, Nishtun, whose commandant
was carried prisoner to Arhela, and there Hayed alive, hi- -kin being
spread «nit on the city wall. From Nineveh, Asurnazirpal -et out
for Syria, passing through the cities at the Tout of Mts. Nibur
and Pasatu (Tur-Abdin), so as to cross the Tigris somewhere near
Diarbekir, and fall upon Kummukh, — probably the ßrst attempt on
the Chatti (Hittites). Bui he had at •<■ to turn hack: for, behind
him, the governor he had set over Snri, in the district of I'.it-Kha-
lupe on the Chaboras — a stranger (Vom Hamath — had been .-lain.
and, in place of him, a man from Bit-Adini (the region between the
Euphrates and the Belikh, and hostile to Assyria) had been «ailed
to be kino-. In Kummukh he had attained no success : and this
misadventure the rebels had to expiate. Many were Beized, among
them the new king, and carried oft' to Calah, along with a rich booty
in silver, gold, copper, alabaster vases, iron utensils, women and
maidens, war-chariots, horses, cattle, sheep, woollen and linen rai-
ments, furniture of cedar-wood, and cat pet--. I hie walls
832
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
Fig. 123. —Statue of Asurnazirpal. From Nimrud. London, British Museum.
ASURNAZIRPAVS CA KPAIGN8.
erected before the gate, in which some of the captives were immured
alive; others were impaled on stakes set up on the walls; other,
and among them the king, were flayed, and their skins spread on
the walls. All this was done in the presence of the king. Further
expeditions brought the Assyrians into the land of Nirbu, adjoining
"" th " one side > ""• district of the Nairi, between the Tigris the
1 PP er Eu ptrates, and Lake Van, and, on the other, Kashiyari the
southwestern Sophene. Here eight cities had combined, and forti-
fied Ispihbria, an inaccessible height The Assyrians seem to have
effected I,,,thil1 - ^ey devastated, indeed, various parte of the
C ir y (,f the Nairi > ;|II(1 «lew innumerable people; but new expedi-
tions were ever necessary, for these brave mountain races remained
unsubjugated. Only by the erection of fortresses were the latest
kings enabled to keep then, in check. As little was gained by the
destruction of Pethor as had been by the flooding the land of Kum-
mukh with war. Asurnazirpal marched als,, towards tin- southeast,
and, crossing the Lower Zab and Radanu (Upper Adhem), pun
the Armenian, Ameka into the mountains in the direction of Sulei-
manieh. The Assyrian power came here nearly into collision with
that of Babylon. The kin- advanced southwards by the Hirmas,
which conducts th.- waters of the Tur-Abdin to the Chaboras, the
cities on which, and among them Bit-Khalubie, purchased forbear-
ance by tribute. Passing Khindani on th.- Euphrates, and Anat
(Anatho), he readied Suri, when- Shadudu, governor -I' Sukhi, stood
in array against him. A two-days' fight ensued : th.- enemj tied
over the Euphrates, and their city was taken. lb- conquered ab,, ;1
Babylonian host under Nabu-bal-iddin and bis brother Sabdanu. > . |
he did not venture to follow up his success on Babylonian soil, hut
returned to Calah. Scarce had he arrived when he received tidings
that the hosts of Sukhi had recrossed the Euphrates. Once more
the Assyrian conqueror set forth, but this time he did not inarch so
far down the stream as formerly; hut, destroying the cities as he
ascended the river, he crossed the Euphrates at kharidi, and de-
feated the armies of the Aramaeans, the Sukhi. ami Lakai. i
cities were founded not tar from Bit-Adini ; viz.. Kar-Asurnazirpal
on the north hank of the Euphrates, and Nibarti-Asur ('ford of
Asur'), on the southern. Akhuni, ruler of Bit-Adinij «ras com-
334 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
pelled to pay tribute; and the king boasts of having taken from
San-mra, king of the Chatti, in Carchemish, 20 talents of silver,
gold, bracelets, and sword-sheaths of gold (gilded bronze), 100
talents of copper, 250 talents of iron utensils, the inventory of the
palace, elegant furniture, costly woods, many slaves (women), robes
of woollen and linen, black woollen and purple cloths, precious
stones, buffalo-horns, chariots ornamented with ivory, gold idols
with their carpets, the chariots and war-engines of the captain of
Carchemish. Hence the king set out for Labnana (Lebanon), pass-
ing through several districts and cities mentioned in his inscriptions,
and reached the boundaries of the Lebanon at the city Aribua. On
the seacoast of Amurri (the western part of Phoenicia) an offering
was made to the gods. On his return, cedars and other woods were
carried away from Amanus. The Hittite land, Patin, stretched
hence from the Gulf of Alexandretta pretty far inland, having
Phoenicia for its southern boundary. The prince of Kummukh at
this time was named Katazili ; he, too, is said to have sent tribute.
This expedition, also, was more showy than successful or useful.
Of actual conquests there is no mention.
These and similar expeditions extended undoubtedly the bound-
aries of the empire, and won respect for its power ; but we turn with
pleasure from the record of them — always monotonous, and often
revolting by reason of the admixture of bigotry and horrible cruelty
— to listen to the rough soldier when he tells of the buildings he
erected. Yet even here he was actuated more by his thirst for glory
than any true feeling for art. The walls of the palace served their
highest purpose in affording room for pictures of his heroic deeds
and inscriptions explaining them. Asurnazirpal built anew the city
of Calah (Kalhu), founded by Ins forefather Shalmaneser I., and led
a canal from the Zab, which he termed 'The Bearer of Fruitfulness,'
and its banks he decorated with flowers and shrubs. " I founded a
palace for my royal dwelling, and for an everlasting seat of my
sovereignty. I decorated and beautified it, filled it with many
bronzes (as lining for the walls and on the furniture). Great gates
of sandal (?) wood I caused to be put together with bronze pins,
and to be placed at the entrances. Thrones of cedar and other
costly woods, cunningly carved ivory as ornaments, heaps of silver,
ASSYRIAN i:.\ I III-; 8CE v/-/.
336 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
gold, lead, copper, and iron, the spoils of the peoples whom I sub-
dued by my strength — all these treasures laid I therein." The
inscription closes with a blessing for him who maintains the palace
and the inscriptions, and a curse on him who shall be so godless as
to efface the latter.
The structure here referred to lies on the northwest terrace of
Nimrud, and is the oldest Assyrian palace whose plan we can follow
in detail, and whose sculptures are preserved. The buildings in the
royal city are so laid out — in conformity with the direction of the
walls, in whose southwest corner they He — that not their angles,
but their sides, are directed towards the quarters of the heaven, while
their facades must have looked out on the Tigris, which then flowed
at the base of the terrace. In the distance the ruin-mound on the
corneal summit of the staged tower is to be recognized. The royal
city contains the remains of the edifices erected by Asurnazirpal,
Shalmaneser II. (859), Samsi-Adad IV. (824), Adad-nirari (811),
Tiglath-Pileser III. (745), Esarhaddon (680), and Asur-etil-ili
(625). The palace of Asurnazirpal consists of a suite of long,
narrow apartments grouped around a court. The main facade is
directed toward the ziggurat, or temple with platforms. There are
two gates, which were decorated with cherubim in the form of
winged lions with human fore-quarters. These figures strikingly
resemble the Greek centaurs when the wings are wanting, as in a
relief of this king. The gates, whose massive bronze hinges were
still extant, led into a hall of great length, at whose eastern end
traces of a dais for the throne are discernible. The walls were
decorated with limestone tablets (now in the British Museum),
showing relief-figures in greater than life-size, in which the king
appears, surrounded by his court, as offering sacrifice, or in triumph
(Fig. 124), or as a slayer of wild bisons.
The king has on his head the tiara — which reminds us of the
Turkish fez — enwound by a broad band or shawl, and is bedecked
with ear-rings, arm-rings, and bracelets (Fig. 125). He wears the
woollen tunic, with an over-garment (chlanidiori) of finest wool,
resembling the cashmere shawl, bound round the waist with a richly
fringed scarf, whose ends hang down at his side. The royal clothing
is inwrought with manifold embroideries, that on the breast-piece
KING ASÜRNAZ1RPAL
Fig. 12ö. — King AsurnazirpaL
Vol. I. 22.
»lief from Niiurud. Lyu'lon, British M
338 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
very especially rich. Here genii group themselves on both sides
around a central figure, — often the sacred tree under the winged
disk, — the whole being encircled by a round band of conventional
plants, and fillets of mythological figures, — winged genii or animals,
gazelles, winged horses, lions beside the sacred tree or beside the
king, — winch, following the direction of the arms and the lower part
of the neck, are partially concealed by the beard. The sandals come
high up behind around the heel ; the short sword, with shoulderless
hilt, is in a sheath covered aid decorated with bronze or gold rosettes
or other ornaments. Its extremity is generally tipped with a ferule
in the form of a lion. The blade of the royal weapon was probably
embellished. In possession of Colonel Hanbury is a sword with a
curved bronze blade (an acinaces~), on which, under the hilt, is a
gazelle resting, and on the back an- inscription picked out in gold.
The inscription shows the name of Pudilu, son of Bel-nirari (towards
the middle of the fourteenth century). Ornamentation also appears
on two bronze cubes seemingly used as weights ; the inlaid scar-
abaeus here points to an Egyptian origin. Behind the king stand
his umbrella-bearer, fly-fanner, and other court officials. The vizier
is apparelled like the king, his head being encircled by a diadem,
instead of the tiara. The servants wear only the under-garment,
with the scarf round the waist. All present who are not playing on
instruments or bearing something stand with their hands folded over
their breasts. The despot must feel secure that they bear nothing
inferring danger to him. Pleasing friezes and wall-bands full of
delicate designs— chamois standing on cliffs, winged bulls on rosettes,
and the like — frequently alternate with warlike scenes. A gate
decorated with bulls, between the middle of the throne-room and
the east wall, leads into a second and shorter room. The reliefs here
consist of winged genii Avith eagle's heads, who, on both sides of the
tree of life, strew aromatic grains out of a basket upon its leaves.
From this hall we pass into the court, and from that toward the left,
into a suite of rooms stretching from north to south. Here we find
sculptures that were never surpassed afterwards. Also on the south
side the rooms are similarly distributed. The west side, destroyed by
floods, was provided with stairs toward the stream, as Layard shows
on his plan. This palace has, however, still numerous and highly
ASSYRIAN ARCKITECl I
elegant decorations. Pari of these are painted on stucco-friezes,
divided into several hands, and showing kneeling bulls, colored blue,
between charming rosettes in blue, white, and ted, on a white ground;
under this, on a yellow -round, blue, white, und black ornaments of
circles, chevroned Leaves, and inward-cambered borders, also alternat-
ing with rosettes both surmounted by crenated ornamentation.
Another part consists of enamelled claj panelling, over which is a
frieze of circles with entangled rims, bordered on both sides by rows
of flower-cups, resembling the honeysuckle or carnation, pin.-.
and bell-flowers. The colors are mineral, the prevailing blue being
prepared from Lapis lazuli, procured commercially from Central
Reliefs were painted with the same colors: In Khoraabad, Flandin
found everywhere a coating of ochre. When the sculpt Nim-
rud were exhumed, the hair, eyes, sandals, bows, the tongues of the
eagle-headed genii, the diadems with their rosette ornaments, still
retained their coloring. In Khorsabad the colors were best preserved
on clothing, crowns, flowers, arms, chariots, and trees. The flami
burning houses and the torches of the warriors maintained their bright
red hue. Under the palace, as well as in other places of the platform,
Layard found vaulted outlets for the water. The upper part of the
palace, as well as the structure generally, is destroyed ; yet, from the
arched fragments found amongst the rubbish, the exceeding narrow-
ness of the apartments in proportion to their Length, and the unwonted
strength of their walls, ii is not difficult to infer that man\
closed in with vaulted roofs. The inscriptions make frequent men-
tion of cedar-beams for carrying flat roofs, upon which were laid an
arched covering of earth. Wood was used for other purposes in
the interiors : for, as we see from the vie* of an Armenian city in
one of the reliefs, Low upper-chambers or attics used to
the roofs.
The main gate of the palace, as well as the doors of the Beveral
rooms, were spanned, by arches, the from archwa) being embelli
with panels of enamelled «day. On each side of the entrana
colossi in high relief stood extended along its walls, their
quarters projecting free, in the full round. The ch a
portal was heightened by its contrast with the dead fl
resl of the exterior; while th< doors of cedar-* I.
340 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
bronze, and sometimes, at least, partially gilded, contributed to its
brilliancy. Such bronzed doors were found by Hormuzd Rassam, in
1878, at Balawat, a square terrace on whose eastern side stood a
temple of Asurnazirpal. At the entrance lay a chest of alabaster,
wherein were three tablets bearing inscriptions giving in condensed
form the great Nimrud inscription, with the additional information
that the king had changed the name of the city to Imgur-Bel (' May
Bel bless '), and had set up the image of the god Makhir in the
temple; that he had caused the roof to be formed of cedar of
Lebanon; the cedar doors to be mounted with copper, and that
he had taken the bricks of the temple from the ruins of an older
palace. On the west side of the mound lay the stone slabs which
formed the threshold of the great bronze gates set up by Asur-
nazirpal's successor, Shalmaneser II. We may, however, infer that
these doors are not the first work of the kind ; for the technic of the
plates, first hammered and punched out and then finished with the
graving-tool, bespeaks an advanced mode of treatment. The wood
was three inches thick, the height of the gates twenty-two feet, and
the breadth of each leaf six. Both doors turned on round posts, a
foot thick, fastened to the wall by a ring, and crowned with bronze
balls. Their cone-shaped ends revolved in holes cut into the stone
of the threshold. Bronze corner-pieces defended the doors where
they closed on each other. The whole flat surface of the wood, as
well as the round posts, had horizontal bronze bands attached with
nails on which warlike subjects were delineated (Plate XXIX.). 1
The figures are from two to three inches high, and between the
1 Description of Plate XXIX.
In the upper band is represented a sacrifice made by Shalmaneser on the shore of
Lake Van in Armenia. The relief does not contain the figure of the king himself.
Beginning at the right, we see, first, a candelabra ; next a tripodal altar ; then two
disks, erected on poles sustained on pedestals. Next follows a stele placed upon a
rock, as was Shalmaneser's wont in all countries conquered by him. Farther to the
left, two soldiers throw the limbs of the sacrificial animals into the lake, in order to
propitiate its divinity. Among the inhabitants of the lake, who greedily snap up the
fragments, we recognize a large fish, a tortoise, and a quadruped, perhaps an otter.
The lower band represents an Assyrian army on the march. The circle at the
left is an encampment strengthened by towers. Within this is an arched bridge, over
which a horse is passing with noticeable caution. Possibly the whole scene may rep-
resent a fortified bridge-head. To the right are two archers ; beyond them, war-
chariots, whose drivers keep a tight rein on the horses, which are also led by footmen,
appear to be approaching a difficult and dangerous country. (After Perrot.)
v 7 N * ft
IVORY TN ARCHITECTURE.
341
panels run bronze bands with rosettes formed of the heads of die
nails. Here we recognize the original of the rosette ornament
the stone doors of the rock-graves and the borders of inscription
tablets. A similar smaller door, as well as the Larger one in the
British Museum, show hunting-scenes. Besides bronze deeoxati
the palace had also ivory ornaments, like the houses oi ivoi
Fig. 126. — Ivory carved work, found m Nimrud. London, Unti-li ftfuMOm.
Ahab (Amos iii. 15; 1 Kings x\ii. 39), the ivory palaces of Psalms
xlv. 8, and the Homeric hall of Menelaus, in which bronze, gold,
silver, amber, and ivory adorned the walls (Odyssey iv. l-\). The
discoveries at Nimrud illustrate tin- employment <>f ivory
decoration of walls; for instance, the front view of a female head
seen over a balustrade, environed by a frame with many compart-
342 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
merits (Fig. 126). From tire repeated occurrence of this head, we
conclude that a number of such were associated in a frieze. On
the Assyrian sculptures we see elephants' tusks brought as tribute ;
and Layard found fragments of ivory. An ivory tablet from Nim-
rud appears to be an essay of an Assyrian artist ; for the figure is
habited as an Assyrian, although the attitude, as well as the lotus-
stalk standing on the double volute, are Egyptian. Other pieces show
o-ood Assyrian work ; still the wall-piece mentioned above, as well as
the most of the ivory objects, bear the unmistakable stamp of Egyp-
tian origin. Thus a well-known ivory tablet from Nimrud shows the
cartouche of Aubenura, a Pharaoh of the Thirteenth Dynasty: so, if
the work is not an imitation, it dates back to between 2000 and 3000
years B.c., and therefore was, in the time of the Assyrian monarch
of whom we now write, quite a respectable relic of antiquity. We
may, on the whole, conclude that there was a native art of working
in ivory, the material being brought from India, while Egypto-
Phoenician works were in addition imported. The Egyptians de-
rived their ivory from Ethiopia, by way of the harbor Adulis ; later
by way of Ptolemais Theron, on the Red Sea. The Phoenicians
were skilled workers in ivory. Tyrian artists incrusted the throne
of Solomon with ivory and gold (1 Kings x. 18; 2 Chrom ix. 17);
the 'white throne' is the seat of the Judge in the Apocalypse (Rev.
xx. 11). The Phoenicians even laid the benches of their ships with
ivory (Ezek. xxvii. 6) ; moreover, these docile pupils of the Egyp-
tians brought ivory to Troy, where it appears in the First City.
Layard found ivory ornaments, in conjunction with bronze plates,
in the form of a lion, both derived from thrones, where they had been
attached to the smaller surfaces between the incrustations of metal.
If we might indulge in conjecture, we would suggest that the cor-
nices had been utilized as shelves for metal utensils, — bronze plates,
basins, etc., — beautiful specimens of which, with Egypto-Phoenician
embossed figures, inscribed with Phoenician names, are preserved in
the British Museum.
North of the palace of Nimrud lies the ziggurat, or stage-temple,
cased to the height of some twenty-two feet from the ground with
stone slabsr The upper stages or platforms, on which the sanctuary
must have stood, are no longer extant. To this larger temple are
BEL AXT) TUE DRAGON.
annexed, on the east, two little temples, between which a stair Led
from the terrace to the plain. The apartments consist of a cella,
incrusted with glazed til,-, and a little Banctuary. To one of the
temples there was also annexed an unter with a se\
344 THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
entrance. The sanctuary had, as its floor, a single slab of alabaster,
twenty-one feet long, sixteen and a half feet broad, and a foot thick.
This is covered with a great historical inscription of the same im-
port on both upper and under sides. The one of the two gates on
the east side of the great temple was ornamented with two winged
lions with human heads, their height being sixteen and a half feet and
their length fifteen feet. Each of its door-frames was decorated, in
addition, with three winged genii, standing one over the other. On
both sides stand stone pedestals, which undoubtedly carried free-
standing columns. The threshold between the genii was covered
with cuneiform writing. The second gate showed on the outer wall
figures of priests; on the inner was Marduk, with the thunder-
bolt and sword, represented as driving the dragon — ■ that is, chaos,
or darkness, or the evil principle — out of the temple (Fig. 127).
The dragon has open, wolf-like jaws, pointed ears, the body and
haunches of a lion, and is winged. In the interior of the temple,
the mythological figures repeat themselves ; e.g., the fish-god, a hu-
man figure with the skin of a fish as an outer covering and head-
dress (page 189). The roof of the temple was supported by cedar
beams, as we learn from the inscription, and as the remains found
by Layard show. In the ruins lay numerous cameo-like objects, in-
cluding a relief miniature of Ishtar of blue enamelled clay ; an eye
of black marble, with ivory ball ; and other objects probably derived
from a wooden idol. Right before the portal was a triangular altar,
with a round slab, hollowed out for the reception of the blood ; be-
hind this was a stele of limestone, on which a relief figure of the
king was chiselled, for here offerings were made to him as to a god.
The side surfaces and the back are covered with inscriptions. The
portal of the lesser temple was flanked by lions entirely covered with
inscriptions, one of the lions being in the British Museum (Fig.
129). In this temple, also, a monohth, covered on both sides with
the inscription, constituted the flooring of the sanctuary ; and in the
rubbish lay the already mentioned statue of the king, three feet in
height, with an inscription on the breast (see Fig. 128).
On the southeast of the platform lies the debris of a structure
by Asur-etil-ili in the last years of the empire ; and beside it
are the relics of an older staged tower by Shalmaneser II. (859),
A8S1 in a \ i,
;;i.
■
¥fc
»SK
\.
Fig. 128. -Portrait of a king. ReUef from Nimrud. London, I
346
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS.
along with a temple of Nebo by Adad-nirari III. (811-783), before
whose portal two statues of the god were found, one of which is
figured on p. 176 (Fig. 53).
^>
Fio. 129. — Lion at the Portal of the Temple at Nimrud. Londou, British Museum.
Under the successor of Asurnazirpal, Assyria begau to have re-
lations with Palestine ; and we now, therefore, take up again the
history of this land.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
(Fob General Index, see Voli mi \ \ I \
BOOK I.
EGYPT, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE SHEP-
HERD KINGS (ABOUT L800 B.C.).
INTRODUCTION.
PREHISTORIC EGYPT.
Prehistoric Egypt
Survival of the Stone Age
Paleolithic Remains near Thebes
Stone Quarries whence came the Obelisks
Topographical Changes near the Coast Line
Climatic Changes in Egypt
Libyan Element Dominant in the Nile Valley
European Types in the Mediterranean Littoral
Ethnographic Elementsof Northern Africa .
Culture of the Primitive Inhabitants
Burial Customs
Early Pottery and Mural Decorations .
Dwarfs in the Nile Delta
The Question of a Migration from Asia .
Egyptian and Semitic Languages Compared .
The Races of Early Egypt .
Opening of the Historic Period with King Mem
Important Excavations at Abydoa .
The First and Second Dynasties
Queen Teta's Mummy
Recent Discoveries Regarding Early Culture .
Evolution of the Burial Chamber .
Evidences of Consistent Development
CHAPTER I.
EARLIEST EGYPTIAN HISTORY.
The Physical Geography of Africa . • • • •
Caucasian Races in Urica: Libyans, Egyptians, and Cuahites
Origin and Physical Type of the Egyptians
The Berbers or Libyans perhaps Immigrants from Europe .
1
1
1
6
7
7
•
10
10
11
12
13
11
15
16
16
17
18
348 ANALYTICAL CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
PAGE
The Cushites and the Abyssinians 20
' The Land of the Dark Soil ' 21
Egypt a Gift of the Nile 21
Influence of the Nile Floods on Civilization ........ 21
Homogeneous Population of Egypt 22
The Nile in Central Africa and Nubia 22
The Nile in Egypt ; the Delta 23
The Khamsin and the Rise of the Nile .24
Enna's Hymn to the Nile 26
The Festivals of the Nile 26
Pharaoh Mena Founds the Egyptian Monarchy 27
The Priesthood 27
Classes of Society 28
Egyptian Architects 28
Mena Builds Memphis, the 'Town of the White Wall' 29
The Ruins of Memphis ; Statue of Rameses II 30
The Provinces or Nomes of Egypt 30
Antiquity of the Nomes ; their Origin 30
Organization ; Principal and Subordinate Nomes 31
The Pharaohs Double Crown . . 31
Local Deities 32
Lists of the Nomes 33
The Nubian Nome ; the Nilometer 34
Other Nomes of Upper Egypt 35
Middle Egypt (the Heptanomis) 37
Provinces of Lower Egypt .......... 38
Religion; the "Book of the Dead" 42
Religious Conceptions : Physiolatry, Zoölatry, Fetishism ..... 43
Totemism . .............. 43
The Worship of Animals ; Esoteric and Exoteric Doctrines ..... 44
The Myth of Osiris 44
Struggle between Horus and Set (Typhon) 45
Interpretation of the Myth 45
Female Deities : Nephthys, Isis, and Hathor ........ 47
Anubis the Jackal-headed God 47
Hathor, Mut, and Neith 48
Thoth, the God of Sciences 48
Ra, the Sun God ; the " Hymn to Ra"; Pantheism 49
Amun-Ra and Kbnum ............ 50
Ptah, the Most Ancient of the Gods 51
The Divine Triads 52
Bes, the God of Merriment .53
The Belief in Immortality ........... 53
The Judgment of the Soul 56
Egyptian and Greek Ideas of the Future Life. ....... 57
Embalming and Interment 58
The Lists of the Kings of Egypt 59
Chronology of the Earliest Dynasties . ........ 60
Literature ; the Art of Medicine 62
Snefru and his Mining Enterprises 63
Kliufu and Khafra ; the Pyramids of Gizeh 63
I lor-tutef finds Chapters of the ' Book of the Dead' 64
EGYPT AND WESTERN Asia is ANTIQUITY.
Sahura and his Ware and" Buildings.
The Most Ancient Book in the World .
The Sixth Dynasty
Wars of Pepi against the Asiatics
Queen Nitocris and the Story of Cinderella
The Seventh to the Eleventh Dynasties .... 71
Lay of the House of Antef
Expedition to the Land of Punt -■■
CHAPTER II.
AKT IN THE ANCIENT EMPIB1
Insignificance of Political Occurrences of the An<
Material for the Study of Private Life .
The Tombs of Ancient Egypt ....
The Necropolis of Memphis, the ' Land of Life'
Rectangular Private Sepulchres or Mastabas .
Pictorial Representations in the Mastabas
Influence of Religious Ideas on Art.
Portrait Statues
Life-like Statues of Ra-hotep and Nefert .
The Use of Bronze
Reliefs in the Mastabas .....
Genre Pictures and Egyptian Life .
Representations of Country Life
Trades and Industries .....
Egyptian Home-Life; the Pleasures of the Table
Adornments of the Tombs ....
Sepulchral Architecture
The Pyramid or Royal Sepulchre .
The Pyramids of Gizeh
The Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) .
Khufu's Stone Causeway
The Pyramid of Chafra
The Pyramid and Mummy of Menkaura
The Sphinx
The So-called Temple of the Sphinx at ( Jizeh
The Pyramids of Abu-Roash and Ahusir
The Pyramid of Steps
Other Pyramids ; the Mastaba-el-Faraun
Pyramid of Medum
Ruins at Abydos; Earliest Use of the Keystone
Great Antiquity of Egyptian Civilization
The Invention of Writing ....
The Rosetta Stone
Picture-Writing and Hieroglyphics .
The Egyptian Systems of Writing .
Early Egyptian Literature; Hymns and Romane«
The Hieratic Writing ....
Love Songs
Egyptian Astronomy .
!)• I
\rch
ipil
71
9]
100
102
KM
III
111
350 ANALYTICAL CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER III.
THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.
PAGE
Thebes the Capital of Egypt 117
The Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty 117
Wealth and Power of Egypt under this Dynasty 117
Conquests in the South ; the Nubian Wawa 117
The Inscriptions at Beni-Hassan 117
The Brick Fortresses at Semneh .......... 117
Conquests and Temples of Usertesen III. ........ 118
Amenerahat III. Measures the Rise of the Nile ....... 118
Literary Papyri from the Reign of Amenemhat I. . . . . . . . 118
Chronology of the Twelfth Dynasty 119
Usertesen III. Begins the Building of the Labyrinth ...... 119
The Labyrinth and Lake Moeris the Chief Monuments of the Twelfth Dynasty . 119
The Fayum and its Monuments . . . . . . . . . .120
The Ruins of the Labyrinth ; its Immensity ........ 120
Lake Moeris and its Value as a Reservoir ........ 121
The Pyramid of Illahun 122
Private Tombs of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties 123
The Rock-tombs of Beni-Hassan 124
The Egyptian Column and Pillar 125
Tomb of Khnum-hotep and its Inscriptions ........ 127
Humanity of the Egyptians 128
Tomb of Thoth-hotep at Bersheh 131
Heliopolis, City of Ra, and its Zoological Pantheon 131
The Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis 132
The Obelisk Symbolical of the Rays of the Sun 133
Obelisks of Usertesen, Thothmes I., and Hatshepsut Makara 133
Obelisks of Thothmes III. ; Cleopatra's Needles 134
Obelisks of Amenhotep IL, Seti I., Rameses II 135
Literary Activity of the Period of the Middle Empire 136
Splendid Jewels from the Pyramid of Dashur 136
The Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Dynasties 136
< >bscurity of this Period 136
The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings 137
Egypt Conquered by Barbarians 137
Manetho's Story of the Conquest 137
King Salatis and his Successors, the First Hyksos Dynasty 138
The Hyksos Submit to the Influences of Egyptian Culture 138
The Princes of Thebes Rise against the Hyksos 138
Mummy of King Seqenen-Ra Ta-a-qen 138
Tomb Robbers ; Sarcophagus of Aah-hotep 139
The Hyksos are Driven from Egypt ......... 140
Monuments of the Hyksos 140
Remains at Tanis ; Statuary 141
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA IN ANTIQUITY,
351
BOOK II.
ASIA: THE BEGINNINGS OF BISTORT l\ WESTERN
ASIA,-BABYLONIA, SYRIA, AM) AS] A MINOR.
CHAPTEB IV.
BABYLON] \
Early Babylonian History .
The Ancient Inhabitants of Babylonia
The Cuneiform Script .
Elam, its People and their Language
Kuinsof Cities, Works of Art, and Name of Barb
Excavations at Telloh, Sippar, and Nippur .
Babylonian Architecture. Temples and Palaces .
Sculptures and Seals
Religion and Mythology ....
The Gods and Spirits .....
Creation Story, Gilgamesh Epic, and Religious Beliefe
Chronology and Chronicles .....
The Early Kings of Babylonia (Saigon I., Naram-Sin, Hammurabi)
CHAPTER V.
SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR.
Physical Geography of Syria
The Dead Sea and its Legends
The Philistines: a Confederacy of Five Cities ....
The Phoenicians and their Country
Origin and Religion of the Phoenicians
Baal, Ashtoreth, Moloch
The Worship of Astarte ( Ashtoreth)
The Tyrian Melkarth ; Adonis .......
The Cabiri, the Seven Gods of the Phoenicians ....
Sanchuniathon ; Philo Byblius
The Great Temple at Byblus
Nahr-el-Kelb
Beirut ; the Temple of Baal Markod
Sidon; its Sepulchres and Grottos
The Manufacture of Purple
Remains at Aradus and Marathus
Architectural Types in Tombs
Tyre; the ' Tomb of Hiram'
The 'Staircase of the Tynans' and the ' Mother of the < olumns' .
Ecdippa and Tantura
Phoenician Navigation and Trade, Wealth and Power .
Phoenician Warehouses and Colonies
Cyprus; the Explorations of Di Cesnola
Ilittites in Cyprus ; Cinyras
Hittite Hieroglyphics and Inscriptions
148
it:
I 19
i-.i
i:-;
176
!»•_'
I'M
194
201
201
•Jo l
207
210
•Jll
216
•J 17
352 ANALYTICAL CONTENTS OF VOLUME L
PAGE
The Phoenicians in the Islands of the Aegean 218
Intercourse between the Phoenicians and the Greeks 219
Phoenician Colonies in Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and Africa .... 219
Voyages to Cornwall and the Baltic 220
Useful Plants Introduced into Europe by the Phoenicians 220
Tribes of Palestine before the Advent of the Israelites 220
Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites . 220
The Jebusites Conquered by King David 221
The Girgashites ; the Hivites at Shechem and Gibeon 221
The Perizzites or ' Villagers ' 221
The Hittites of Canaan and of Northern Syria 221
The Canaanites and Amorites 222
The Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Israelites essentially Homogeneous . . .223
Ethnic Kelations of Hamites and Semites 223
Israelitish and Cannanitish Civilization 224
Early Inhabitants of Canaan : Rephaim and Anakim 224
Kenites, Kenizzites, and Kadmonites 224
Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites 225
The Aramaeans or Syrians 226
The Northern Hittites (Kheta) 226
Hittite Monuments, Inscriptions, and Sculptures 227
Hittite Reliefs in Commagene 228
The Cappadocian Sculptures ; Remains at Euyuk 229
The Reliefs at Boghaz-keui 230
Cyclopean "Walls at Giaur-Kalesi • • • 238
The Great Relief at Ivris 238
Hittite Monuments in Western Asia Minor 240
Hittite Seals ; the Seal of Tarkondemos 242
The Phygians ; Deliktash ; the Graves at Doganlu 245
Mysians, Carians, and Leleges ........... 245
Bithynians, Mariandyni, Paphlagonians ......... 246
Extensive Worship of the Syrian Deities 247
The Lycians (Termil) 247
Asia Minor Transmits the Culture of Asia to Greece 247
BOOK III.
EGYPT AND WESTERN ASIA : THE NEW EMPIRE IN
EGYPT AND THE RISE OF ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RELATIONS OF THE NEW EMPIRE TO SYRIA.
PAGE
Wars of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Asia 251
Aahmes ; Queen Aahmes-Nefertari 252
Conquests of Thothmes III. in Syria 256
Amenhotep II. 258
Amenhotep III. Conquers Ethiopia 259
EGYPT AND WESTERN Asia i.x ANTIQUITY.
Anienhotep IV., or Khu-en-aten, and his Attempts at & ligioui I:.
The Tel-el-Amarna Tablets and their Historical Significam
Conflicts between the llittitrs and the Egyptians
Barneses 1. and the Kings of the Nineteenth Dynasty; Seti I.
Barneses II., his Portraits, PentauVs Epic Poem on the Wu with the Uitliu
The Battle of Kadesh
Prayer of Barneses II. for Victory
Bevolt of ( uililee
The Family and Achievements of Barneses U., Peace w
Mediterranean Peoples invade Egypt
Asia Invaded by Migratory European Bordes
Mineptah I., Barneses III. The Twenty-first Dynasty
Discoveries of Royal Mummies at Der-el Bahri
Mummies of Rameses II. and other Pharaohs
tli the Ultlilea
272
-•71
-
CHAPTER VII.
ART UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE.
Egyptian Temples, their Structure, an. I Ornamentation .
The Egyptian Column
The Temple at Karnak
Statue <>t' the God Khuns .......
Expansion of Thebes
The Monuments of Western Thebes .....
The Colossi of Memnon . .......
Temples at Abydos; at Elephantine; Bock Temples Abu-Simbel
Belzoni's Tomb .........
The Serapeum ..........
The Dwellings of the Egyptians: Article- of 1'oilet
804
[>A'j
KM
CHAPTER VIII
THE EARLIEST ASSYRIAN KINGS
Ancient Cities of Assyria ....
The Earliest Kings ....
Tiglath-Pileser 1. and his Conquests .
Tiglath-Pileser I. Wars with the Hittites
Asurnazirpal .
The Monuments of Nimrud
Bel-Marduk and the Dragon
8-J7
Vol. I.— 23
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
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