Universal Brotherhood – November 1899

EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES: VII — Alexander Wilder

VII — The Brilliant Twelfth Dynasty — Lake Moeris and the Labyrinth — The Menti or Hyksos — The New Empire — The Queens.

Amunemha III. had supplemented the achievements of his predecessors by the provision which he had made for stable government by his magnificent system of canals and other public works. He had consolidated his dominion from the Sudan to the Mediterranean and had transformed the Fayum, which had been little more than a desert and field of marshes, into a region of fertility and abundance, making it the seat of power and influence in Egypt. The Labyrinth, with its numerous structures, pathways and thousands of apartments, was, doubtless, a place of assembly, where the representative priests, lesser kings and others who were of note amongst the people met in council to propose and discuss measures which were for the welfare of the Empire. Everything had been conducted upon a scale of grandeur and with reference to the general welfare.

The Twelfth Dynasty, like others, "came in with a lass and went out with a lass." And after its departure dense clouds began to obscure the glory of Egypt. With the exaltation of the Fayum and Middle Egypt and the introduction of a heterogeneous population, it is likely that the rulers of the other districts were excited by jealousy. There was probably, likewise, an increase of the public burdens. An analogous condition of affairs is described as recurring in Hebrew Palestine at a later period. King Solomon had also filled his dominion with costly buildings and "made silver as stones," (1) so that it was of no account for coinage or ornament. His people being overburdened beyond patient endurance, their representatives appealed to his successor for relief. Upon his refusal they promptly set the Dynasty of David aside.

Religion, even more than jealousy and political ambition, was likely to have a greater influence. The exaltation of the Fayum and increase of its influence naturally tended to bring the tutelary divinity of the Arsinoite district into greater distinction. The divinity, Sebek, the patron god of the inundation, had the crocodile for representative symbol, and homage was paid to it similar to that bestowed elsewhere upon the sacred ram at Mendes, the black Apis at Memphis and the white Mena at Heliopolis. Amunemha erected temples and obelisks to this divinity, and the name Sebek became a frequent constituent of the names of individuals belonging to the royal family and court. The King's own daughter, the last of his line, was Queen Sebek-neferu, and she was succeeded by Sebek-hetep I. of the Thirteenth Dynasty.

The history of this dynasty is involved in much obscurity. The Tablet of Abydos omits all mention of it, passing from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth as though continuous. The Chronicle of Manetho barely states that it consists of sixty Theban or Diospolite Kings, whose names are lost, and that of the Fourteenth nothing is known. The Turin Papyrus is badly tattered at this point. It enumerates eighty-seven kings, while, owing to its mutilated condition, there are about sixty more names that cannot be transcribed. Seven of these kings are recognized as bearing the name of Sebek-hetep, and Brugsch-Bey declares his conviction that the greater number of the kings of this family had the same designation. This name, implying homage and veneration for the Crocodile-God, appears continually till the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Then, as will be seen, there occurred other changes of vast importance.

The Kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty, the first of them at least, were duly invested with full royal authority in both the Egypts and in the subject-provinces, and their inscriptions have been found in Nubia, the Peninsula of Sinai and in several of the cities. Two statues of King Mermesha were found by Mariette-Bey at Tanis (Zoan), on which his name was distinctly inscribed. They had been set up in the great Temple of Ptah, and the names of Apapi of the Fifteenth Dynasty and Rameses II. had also been cut in them. The statues of Sebek-hetep IV. were so set up at Tanis, and those of Sebek-hetep V. were found at Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, and on the Island of Argo, in the Upper Nile. This shows that their power was recognized in Lower Egypt and undisputed in the South. Brugsch-Bey was of the opinion that the monarchs, beginning with Sebek-hetep III., and ending with Sebek-hetep VII., were connected with the most powerful families of the country and formed a separate series. They were inscribed under Thothmes III. in the Royal Tablets of the Chamber of Karnak.

The tombs at Siut or Lycopolis belong to this period and may yet disclose more. Eratosthenes has recorded but three names as ruling in Thebes, namely: Siphoas or Si-Ptah, Phuron or Phi-iaro (Neilos), and Amuthantseos or Amun-Tima-o. This last name is memorable as belonging to a prince in whose reign took place an event that was destined to change the fortunes of Egypt.

"There was a King Hemin-timaos (or Amuntimao)," says Manetho. "Under this monarch God became angry, I know not why, and there came unexpectedly out of the regions of the East men of an insignificant race, who marched boldly over the country and easily took possession of it by force without resistance. And having overpowered those who ruled in it, they not only savagely burned the cities, but they likewise overthrew the sanctuaries of the Gods. They also in various ways ill-treated the inhabitants, putting some to death and leading others into bondage with their wives and children."

In fact the lowland regions of Northern Egypt had already for many centuries attracted colonies from Asia. The country east of San or Tanis and the Tanitic Branch of the Nile had already been peopled by inhabitants of Phoenician descent and was named in their dialect Zar and Ma-zor (Zoan (2)), "the region of fortresses."

In the Hebrew writings the southern realm was called Pa-to-ris or Pathros, "the southern country," and Northern Egypt was also presently termed Keft-or or Kaptor, the country of Kefts or Kephenians, which was a designation of the Phoenicians and Palestinians. The plural term, Mizraim, became a name for Upper and Lower Egypt. This was probably after the foreign Prince or Salit had fortified his dominion.

The newcomers, whom Manetho has described so unfavorably, were denominated in the monumental records "Men-ti," or Easterners. The country from which they came was known in subsequent periods as Asher, and Rutennu, or Lutennu, and to us as Syria and Palestine. They were the same peoples evidently as are designated in the Hebrew books as Anakim, Amorites and Philistines. They were afterward styled Sos or Shasu, the appellations also of the Amalekites, Idumeans and the Bedouins of Arabia. Hence the Menti Kings are now known in history as Hyk-Sos or Arabian Princes.

An ancient tradition informs us that Shed ad, the son of Ad, conquered Egypt and the whole of Northern Africa, and founded a dynasty with its capital at Avaris, or Pelusium, which continued more than two hundred years.

Whether the invaders whom Manetho described were Arabians or emigrants from Palestine is a debatable question; but as they found the region in the Eastern Lowlands already occupied by Phoenicians and perhaps other people of the Semitic family, it is probable that the latter gave the newcomers a fraternal welcome.

It seems evident, however, that their emigration was prompted by apprehension of an invasion of their own country by hostile hordes from Middle Asia. They came to Egypt originally as colonists, but the country afforded an opportunity of which they took advantage. Brugsch-Bey declares that "the history of Egypt at this period consisted chiefly of revolts and insurrections, of murders and assassinations of various princes, in consequence of which their lives and reigns were not governed by the ordinary conditions of the duration of human existence."

In such a state of affairs the Kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty found it difficult to maintain their regal authority. This made it easy for the new lords of the alien peoples in the Egyptian Lowlands to supersede them in one tract of territory after another and to hold possession by the right of conquest.

The history of the Fourteenth Dynasty is yet to be brought to light. The Chronicle represents it as consisting of seventy-six Kings belonging to Xois or Sakha, a city in the Delta of the Nile, and as having continued four hundred and eighty-four years. Manetho seems in this statement to recognize actual kings, with no question of their legal title. The Tablet of Abydos, more tenacious of technical rights, ignored their existence altogether. Owing to the mutilated condition of the Turin Papyrus, their names are not yet ascertained, but it is certain that few of them reigned for any considerable length of time. Whether this Dynasty succeeded to the Thirteenth or was only contemporary with it, and whether it held dominion over any considerable part of Egypt are questions which are still debated. It will suffice, however, to say: "It once existed; it was!"

It is hardly probable, however, that the Menti seized on the sovereign power in the way of conquest. They may have been invited by some of the under-Kings of Egypt who had become disgusted with the prevalent misrule and feeble administration to accept the suzerainty. Perhaps their princes had intermarried with the families of some of the native rulers and so obtained a claim to supreme power that was not without valid foundation.

They were not fairly described by Manetho. It is not probable that they governed the country with any uncommon harshness. They may have treated the worship of Egypt with little respect and suffered the temples to go to decay without attempt to repair them. The same thing had taken place in former periods, and more religious monarchs of later Dynasties had devoted themselves to rebuilding them, as Herod rebuilt the Temple at Jerusalem. Ancient religion, however, was more domestic and less a public matter. In archaic times every household, clan and tribe had an eponymous divinity, an altar or hearth, and a religious rite that were all its own; and for a stranger to take part or even be present at the worship was considered a profanation. Likewise, under the different dynasties, the various divinities, Ptah, Khem, Menthu and Sebek, had in turn received the principal worship. The Menti Kings had their own tutelary, Baal, called also Sutekh or Sedek, "the Just One." It is probable that they considered him as clearly allied to Ptah, the Demiurgos, and that they also identified him with Seth or Typhon, who was worshipped by the Egyptians in the same region. Indeed, the distinct individuality of several gods is not to be too much counted upon. There was a concept of their actual oneness behind them all, but there is no trustworthy evidence that the newcomers when in supreme power interfered with the local worship or destroyed any edifice that was regarded as sacred. The obelisks and monuments of the earlier kings, the tombs and other structures were not meddled with. Little innovation was made upon existing customs. The new rulers actually adopted the manners of the Egyptians and made use of the Egyptian manners and writing. The order and etiquette of the Royal Court were arranged as they had been before. Even their first monarch, as he was named by Manetho, was designated simply by an official title — the Salit, (3) or Sultan.

He is said to have made his official residence at Memphis, to have filled the region with garrisons and to have collected taxes and tribute from both Lower and Upper Egypt. As he apprehended a possible attack from Assyria, then in full career of conquest, he fortified the eastern frontier against invasion. At the east of the river, in the Saitic or Sethroite nome, or district, was the old town of Havar, or Avaris, which had its name from a theologic tradition. (4) The Salit perceived that it was a point of superior strategic importance and rebuilt it with strong fortifications. He placed a strong garrison in it and spared no effort to place his dominion in complete defense. It may be that this was the occasion of giving it the name "Mizraim," or fortified regions.

There were six kings enumerated by Manetho under the title of "Phoenician Foreigners" in the Fifteenth Dynasty. Their names are given as follows: Saites or the Salit, Benon, Apakhnan, Staan or Apapi, Anan or Arkhles and Azeth. Manetho adds that "they carried on war constantly, as though they were desirous to root out the whole population of Egypt."

The Sixteenth Dynasty is described as consisting of thirty-two Hellenic Kings, shepherds or Shasus, who reigned five hundred and eighteen years. There is no good reason for describing them as Greeks. They were patrons of art, and under their direction the artists of Egypt erected statues and monuments, procuring the stone from the quarries of the South. In these statues they reproduced, the foreign characteristics, the physiognomy, the peculiar arrangement of the beard, head-dress and other variations. The number of these monuments, however, is limited, and the inscriptions have been obliterated by the chisels of their adversaries of later time.

The foreigners brought to Egypt many arts and much new knowledge. The winged Sphinx or Cherub, characteristic of Assyrian sculpture, was introduced by them and became a feature in their temples. Egypt from this time on was famous for horses and the chariot, or war-car. Before this the steeds of Libya had not been common, but afterward the horses of Egypt were equal to those of Africa and Arabia, and became famous in commerce and warlike expeditions. (5) In no way did these Menti Kings actually impoverish Egypt. They added to the resources and the military power of the country.

One of the kings, probably of the Sixteenth Dynasty, but this is not certain, introduced a new era into Egyptian calculations, which was employed in the later centuries. An inscription found on a memorial stone of Rameses II., at Tanis, bears the date of the fourth day of the month Mesori, "in the year 400 of King Set Apehuti-Nub, the friend of the god Hormakhu." This fact is significant of the influence which the alien monarchs exerted on the future of Egypt.

Another result of the presence of foreigners was the adopting of Semitic terms in place of Egyptian. We have experienced in our own English speech the discarding of good homespun words, indigenous to our language, for others of Latin and French origin almost to the alienizing of our entire literature. The educated Egyptians, the priests and temple-scribes contracted the similar habit of interlarding their compositions with Semitic terms, like ras for head, sar for neter, or king, beth for house, bob for door or gate, keten for nub or gold, ram for high, barakh for bless, salam for greet, etc. The introduction of the Semitic designations of sus for hall, kamal for camel, abri for a particular race of oxen, show whence these animals came. Indeed, in the eastern Lowlands, which the foreign rulers and colonists occupied, there was an interblending of the two peoples, till Northern Egypt had a large composite population. Even the towns had Semitic names, like Azala, Pi-Bailos or Byblos, Koheni or Priest-town, Adirama, Namurad, Pet-baal.

The Seventeenth Dynasty, Manetho represents as consisting of forty-three alien kings, the Shepherds, and forty-three Thebans, or Diospolitans, who reigned at the same time for one hundred and fifty-one years. The names of the Easterners are not given, but as the family name of Apapi was also frequently adopted by native Egyptians, we may presume that it was also borne by some of these kings; one, at least, having the official designation of Ra-a-kenen, also the name Apapi.

Time gradually weakened the energy of their dominion. They ruled for five centuries, and perhaps longer, in Northern Egypt and held the whole country tributary. Now, a dynasty came into existence at Thebes, which, though subordinate for a long period, was becoming able to dispute the title to supreme power. It was a bitter struggle and for many years the issue was uncertain.

THE SALLIER PAPYRUS.

A brief account of the beginning of the contest is given in the Sallier Papyrus; but owing to the mutilated condition of the document, an imperfect version only can be made.

It came to pass that the land of Khemi fell into the hands of the lepers. (6) There was no one king over the whole country. There was, indeed, a king, Se-kenen-Ra, but he was only a hyh or prince in the Southern region. The lepers occupied the region of Amu (or the Semitic tribes), and Apapi was supreme king (uar) at the city of Avaris. The whole country brought him its productions; the Northern region also brought him the valuable product of Ta-mera. (7) "And the King Apapi chose the God Sutekh as his god and neglected to serve any other god in the whole land that was worshipped.

"And he built him a temple of goodly workmanship that should last for ages. And Apapi observed festivals, days for making offerings to Sutekh, with all the rites that are performed in the Temple of Ra-Hormakhu.

"Many days after this Apapi [sent a message] to King Sekenen-Ra [requiring that he should also establish the worship of Sutekh in Upper Egypt. (8)]

["To this Sekenen-Ra made answer that] he would not assent [to worship] any other of the gods that were worshipped in the whole land except Am-un-Ra, King of the gods alone.

"Many days after these events King Apapi sent to the ruler of the Southern country this message, which his scribes had drawn up for him. [It related to the stopping of a well.]

"And the messenger of King Apapi came to the ruler of the South. And he was brought before the ruler of the South.

"And he said to the messenger of King Apapi: 'Who sent thee hither to the City of the South? Why hast thou come to spy out our domain? (9)

"And the messenger said to him: 'King Apapi sent me to give this message concerning the well for cattle which is near the city. Verily, no sleep came to me day or night while on this journey.'

"And the ruler of the Southern country was for a long time troubled in mind, and he knew not what to answer the messenger of King Apapi. [The Papyrus is here mutilated. It is a demand for supplies for some purpose.]

"And the messenger of King Apapiarose and went back to the place where his royal master was abiding.

"Then the Prince of the Southern Country called to him his great men and chief officials, and likewise his captains and higher military officers, and he repeated to them all the messages that King Apapi had sent to him.

"But they were full of dismay and were silent, all of them, with one mouth, for they knew not what to say to him, either good or bad."

amunoph

Dr. Samuel Birch construes this somewhat differently. "It is stated," he says, "that the Shepherd King sent a herald or ambassador to demand workmen and materials of the Egyptian Prince to build the Temple of Sutekh or Set. The King assembled his Council and refused."

Such is the account given by the monuments of the immediate cause of the uprising of the Egyptians against the dominion of their foreign over-lords. It seems, however, hardly credible that an authority which had been in power for centuries would be the occasion of so much animosity. Yet the attempt to foist a strange worship on an individual or people has generally been resented far more than actual oppression. (10) It was considered equivalent to a requirement to commit suicide or become outlawed.

The Theban Kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty had been, like the other under-kings of Egypt, vassals or tributaries of the foreign monarchs in the North. The last of the line consisted of three monarchs by the name of Taa. The first of them, bearing the official name of Sek-enen-Ra, was succeeded by Sekenen-Ra II., or Taa the Great. The third of the name was Taa Ken, or Taa the Bold. He was the king who ventured to brave the Overlord when those around him were quailing in terror. He possessed the zeal and fortitude of a Maccabee and now prepared for the conflict. A flotilla of vessels was built and placed on the Nile. The command was given to Baba, a relative of the King and an officer of superior ability. He had often held important commissions and performed them with perfect acceptance.

The inscription on his tomb at El-Kab, or Eileithy-opolis, sets forth his rank, character and services, and likewise contains a very significant statement. It describes him first as "Baba, who has risen again, the chief of the table of the sovereign."

"I loved my father, I honoured my mother," he declares. "My brothers and my sisters loved me.

"I went out of my house with a benevolent heart; I stood there with a refreshing hand; splendid were my preparations of what I had collected for the Festal Day * * *

"My words may seem absurd to the gainsayer; but I called the God Menthi to witness that what I say is true.

"I had all this prepared in my house. In addition, I put cream in the storeroom and beer in the cellar in a more-than-sufficient number of hin-measures.

"I collected corn as a friend of the harvest-god; I was watchful at the time of sowing.

"And when a famine arose, lasting many years, I provided corn for each hungry person in the country during each year of the famine."

It does not appear that any important conflicts took place or advantages were obtained during the time of Taa the Great. The famine, lasting for years, was the principal event.

The Eighteenth Dynasty began with a prince bearing the official name of Aahmes. (11)

It would seem, however, that he was not of the recognized royal blood. The divinity that hedged about kings appears to have been wanting. His name was accordingly omitted from the number inscribed on the walls of the Temple of Thebes. His successor, Amun-hetep, or Amun-oph, heads the list. (12)

Aahmes prosecuted the war of liberation with energy. Making the son of Baba, who was also his own namesake, his commander-in-chief, he led an expedition down the Nile and besieged the enemy in his own capital. Avaris fell after a long siege. Hostilities were continued without intermission till the Menti had abandoned Egypt for Palestine. (13) The City of Sheruhan (14) was captured in the sixth year of the reign of Aahmes, and the land of Khemi was restored evermore to the possession of its natural rulers.

The conquerors followed up their victories by acts similar to those which Manetho imputed to their adversaries. The cities Avaris and Tanis suffered severely from their revengeful fury. The monuments of the alien kings were defaced, their inscriptions were obliterated and those of the victors engraved in their place. The vandalism and destructiveness appear to have exceeded the worst which the enemies had inflicted. Owing to this fact it had been thus far impossible to ascertain the history of the three Menti Dynasties.

Aahmes had a task before him similar to that afterward encountered by Dareios Hystaspis after the overthrow of the Magian King in Persia. He found many of the princes of the nomes disaffected and unwilling to submit to his authority. It took him many years to bring them into subjection and settle the affairs of Egypt.

The subject-tribes of Nubia had taken advantage of the state of affairs to throw off the Egyptian yoke. Accompanied by his faithful general, Aahmes, the new king marched thither and succeeded in reducing the insurgents to submission, with an immense slaughter. A large number of prisoners were taken and given to his followers for slaves. (15) The record of this expedition is the first account that we have of the employing of horses and war-cars by the Egyptians.

Having finally established his authority in Egypt and its dependencies, Aahmes found opportunity to set about the restoring of "the temples that had fallen into decay since the times of the ancestors." In the twenty-second year of his reign, as the inscriptions declared in the caves of Toura and Messarra, near Memphis. "His Holiness gave the order to open the rock-chambers anew and to cut out thence the best white stone of the hill-country of An for the houses of the gods — for the divine Ptah in Memphis, for Amun, the gracious god, in Thebes, and for other buildings and monuments."

axe

The stone was drawn from the quarries by oxen, six to a sledge, and "delivered over to the foreign people of the Fenekh" (16) to be wrought. These works were begun on a scale so extensive as not to be completed till many centuries had passed.

Manetho has named Ivhebron as the successor of Aahmes, but neither the Tablet of Abydos nor the other monumental records recognize a monarch of that name. As Amunoph I. was at tender age at the death of his father, it may be that such a person was regent, but Brugsch-Bey suggests that Nefert, the Queen-mother, exercised that office. He confined his military operations to the African Continent. He retained Aahmes as his general, and an expedition against the Nubians was crowned with success. For his valor on this occasion Aahmes was exalted to the dignity of Khartot, or "warrior of the king." (17) He also served under Thothmes I. both in Nubia and likewise in Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia. Doubtless the love of conquest was stimulated by the purpose to continue the war which had been waged so long in Egypt.

Amunoph was content to secure his dominions in Africa without going beyond the Sea of Suph and papyrus-reeds. He devoted his energies more directly to the building of temples. As he was the son of a royal mother, he was acceptable to the nobility and priest-caste and needed no military achievements to give strength to the throne.

Famous as was the Eighteenth Dynasty for the achievements of its kings, its history derives much of its distinction from its queens. Aah-hetep, the consort of Kames, was of royal descent. Her tomb was opened many years ago by some peasants and the coffin, with its contents, was deposited in the museum at Bulakh. On its cover was depicted a likeness at full length of the Queen, with the royal asp on her brow, and the white and red crowns, the symbols of sovereignty of the Upper and Lower Egypt. In the coffin were both weapons and ornaments, daggers, a golden axe, a chain with three large golden beads, bangles and a breastplate. (18) There were also bronze axes and little ships. On these were tablets with the official name of King Kames, her husband; but the richest of the ornaments displayed the shield of Aahmes, the first King of the Eighteenth Dynasty. She may have been a regent after the death of her husband, and hence an important agent in bringing about the accession of Aahmes to the throne. He gave her in his turn a magnificent burial and the significant title of "Royal Consort."

queen

A higher distinction, however, be longed to the illustrious Queen Nefert. Although the walls of the Theban sanctuaries have no record or mention of Aahmes, the caves in the rocks near Memphis, where his greater achievements were performed have perpetuated the memories of the deeds which the tablets of the later metropolis had ignored. They have not only preserved his memorial to the present time, but they have joined with his in honorable mention the name of Ne-fert-ari-Aahmes, "the beautiful spouse of Aahmes." Not only the grottoes near Memphis, but the public monuments and the tombs in the Necropolis of Thebes had inscriptions recording her name and praising her virtues. She was lineally descended from Mentu-hetep of the Eleventh Dynasty, and thus added a certain warrant of validity to the pretensions of Aahmes, and likewise the "divine right" to their successors. She was accordingly venerated as herself a divine personage, and her image was placed with the statues of the deified kings of the "New Empire." Piers is the oldest portrait extant of an Egyptian queen. She sits enthroned at the head of them all, as their parent and the foundress of the dynasty, and she was acknowledged as "daughter, sister, wife and mother of a king." She also had her place in the sacerdotai order as "wife," or Chief Priestess of Amun, the tutelary God of the Thebaid.

bronze

The hieroglyphics describe him as "the Horus, loving the World; the King beloved of the Svin: Moeris, the gracious god, the lord of the two worlds." This cylinder is especially interesting as one of the few memorials of one of the most celebrated kings before the Hyksos invasion.

(See Universal Brotherhood for September.)

Of Aahetep, the consort of Amunoph I., and Aahmes, the Queen of Thothmes I., there is little to record. But the famous daughter of the latter, Queen Hashep or Hatasu, the kingly one, made history for herself and for Egypt that outshines the annals of whole dynasties. The envious chisel obliterated her name from the monuments, but the memories of her rule have been preserved. She reigned with an iron will and governed with a strong hand.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Chronicles, II., ix., 20-27. (return to text)

2. Tyre was named in Hebrew Sur or Zur, and is so called by the Arabs at the present time. The initial letter, ts, is the same as that of Sidon, but was changed to T by the Greeks from their hatred of sibilants, yet the region of Aram was named Syria, or the country of Tyre. (return to text)

3. In the story of Joseph, as given in the Book of Genesis, he is denominated the salit, or governor. (Chap. xlii. 6.) He is also designated the Zaphnath-paaneah, or, as the hieroglyphic inscriptions render it, Za-p-u-nt p-aa-ankh, "Governor of the Region of Life"; i.e., the Sethroite district, which was occupied by a Semitic population. Others have translated the title "Governor of the Phoenician district." (return to text)

4. This term is defined as meaning the "place of the Leg." The Eastern branch of the Nile was designated the Var, or leg of Osiris. In the legend of Isis and Osiris, which constituted the basis of the Sacred Drama of the Lesser Rite, it is set forth that after Isis had recovered the body of Osiris from Pi-Balis or Byblos, it was again found by Seth or Typhon, cut into 14 pieces, and scattered over Egypt. She searched again, and buried each part where it was found. The right leg was in this way assigned to Avaris, and the others, the Havar Amenti, to Edfu, on the Westernmost branch of the Nile. (return to text)

5. Kings I., x., 28, 29. "And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt; ... a horse for 150 shekels, and so for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria did they bring them out by their [the merchants] means."

Isaiah, xxxi., 1. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses and trust in its chariots, because they are very strong." (return to text)

6. It was the practice to distinguish adversaries by opprobrious epithets. The social and often hypocritical amenities of our modern civilization were not in fashion in former times. (return to text)

7. Lower Egypt. (return to text)

8. This is an attempt to supply a lacuna with a statement which is the substance of the omitted matter. This arbitrary attempt to enforce uniformity of worship and its results are very similar to the decree of Antiokhos Epiphanes that all his subjects should discard their local religions and adopt that of the royal court. Resistance was made in Judea, and after long combat, national independence was secured. (return to text)

9. Compare Genesis xlii., 9: "And Joseph remembered . . . .and said unto them: 'Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land are ye come.' " (return to text)

10. An example is afforded in the execration of King David, when himself leading the life of a freebooter. Sam. I., xxvi., 19: "Cursed be they before Yava; for they have driven me out from abiding in the inheritance of Yava, saying: 'Go serve other [i.e., foreign] Gods.' " (return to text)

11. It will be observed that many of the kings after this period had for names the title of a god with the suffix, which is variously rendered, according to taste — mes, meses, mases or moses. It is equivalent to ides in Greek nouns, and signifies a child. Aahmes or Amasis is the child of the moon-god. Thothmes or Thothmoses, the child of Thoth; Ramases, the child of Ra, etc. (return to text)

12. The suffix signifies beloved, joined, affiliated. It is written Hotep, Hetep, Opht, Epht. Thus the name of the Egyptian Aesculapius. Imhetep, is also written Imopht, Emeph, etc. (return to text)

13. Jer., xlvii., 4: "The day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper that remaineth; for the Lord will spoil the Philistines — the remnant of the country of Caphtor." (return to text)

14. Nubia was called Khen-Nefer, the "good servant." The best servants in Egypt at this time were Nubians. (return to text)

15. In the book of Joshua, xix. 6, Sheruhan is named as a city in the territory of the tribe of Simeon. (return to text)

16. Phoenicians. They were the skilled mechanics and artisans of former time, and are accredited with building' the temple of Solomon. (return to text)

17. The "magician"' of the Book of the Exodus. (return to text)

18. Dr. Schliemann found ornaments in the royal tomb at Mykenae in Argolis, which closely resembled those of the Egyptian Queen. There were daggers, a golden axe, bracelets, and a golden chain with three grasshoppers attached. (return to text)



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