CHAPTER V

ORIGIN OF THE EGYPTIANS—POPULATION OF EGYPT AND OF THE WORLD OF OLD—HISTORY—THE KING—PRINCES—PRIESTS—THEIR SYSTEM—RELIGION—GODS—TRIADS—DRESSES AND MODE OF LIFE OF THE PRIESTS—SOLDIERS—ARMS—CHARIOTS—SHIPS AND NAVY—ENEMIES OF EGYPT—CONQUESTS.

HAVING mentioned those customs particularly connected with the private life of the Egyptians, I proceed to notice their early history, government, and institutions; as well as the occupations of the different classes of the community.

The origin of the Egyptians is enveloped in the same obscurity as that of most people; but they were undoubtedly from Asia; as is proved by the form of the skull, which is that of a Caucasian race, by their features, hair, and other evidences; and the whole valley of the Nile throughout Ethiopia, all Abyssinia, and the coast to the south, were peopled by Asiatic immigrations. Nor are the Kafirs a Negro race. Pliny is therefore right in saying that the people on the banks of the Nile, south of Syene, were Arabs (or a Semitic race) “who also founded Heliopolis.”

At the period of the colonization of Egypt, the aboriginal population was doubtless small, and the change in the peculiarities of the new comers was proportionably slight; little variation being observable in the form of the skull from the Caucasian original. Still there was a change: and a modification in character as well as conformation must occur, in a greater or less degree, whenever a mixture of races has taken place.

I may even venture to suggest that while the present races in Europe are all traceable to an Asiatic origin, they must there have found at the period of their immigration an indigenous population, which, though small, had its influence upon them. And this conclusion is confirmed by the fact, that while in N. America the people who have become its new inhabitants are (as they always will continue to be) essentially European, the Europeans are decidedly not Asiatics, and differ entirely from them in character, habits, and appearance. The difference between all Europeans and the Asiatics is as palpable, as the identity of the new American race and their European ancestors; and this is readily explained by the Asiatic tribes who peopled Europe having mixed with the indigenous races of our continent, while the Europeans who colonised America have kept themselves distinct from the aborigines. It is not necessary that the primitive Europeans should, as some have thought, be traceable in the Basques, or any other people, and the absorption of all of them is rather to be expected after so many ages.

The Egyptians probably came to the Valley of the Nile as conquerors. Their advance was through Lower Egypt southwards; and the extraordinary notion that they descended, and derived their civilisation, from Ethiopia has long since been exploded. Equally obsolete is the idea that the Delta occupies a tract once covered by the sea, even after Egypt was inhabited; and the argument derived from Homer’s “Isle of Pharos” having been a day’s sail “from Ægyptus” has failed before the fact of his “Ægyptus” being the name he applies to the Nile, not to the coast of Egypt; which being rock in that part, is exactly the same distance from the Pharos now as at any previous period, though the intermediate channel has been filled up by a causeway that unites it to the shore. The oldest towns, too, on the coast of the Delta occupy the same site, close to the sea, as of old; and whatever may be the accumulation of soil, it is counterbalanced by a sinking of the land, from subterraneous agency, along the whole of the northern coast of Egypt.

Though a country which played a distinguished part in the early history of the world, its extent was very limited; Egypt itself consisting merely of the narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and the first cataract, about seven degrees and a half of latitude. For, with the exception of the northern part about the Delta, the average width of the valley of the Nile, between the eastern and western hills, is only about seven miles, and that of the cultivable land scarcely more than five and a half, being in the widest part ten and three-quarters, and in the narrowest two miles, including the river. And that portion between Edfoo and Asouan, at the first cataract, is still narrower, barely leaving room for any soil, so that those sixty miles do not enter into the general average.

The extent in square miles of the northernmost district, between the Pyramids and the sea, is considerable; and that of the Delta alone, which forms a portion of it, may be estimated at 1976 square miles; for though it is very narrow about its apex, at the junction of the modern Rosetta and Damietta branches, it gradually widens on approaching the coast, where the base of this somewhat irregular triangle is eighty-one miles. And as much irrigated land stretches on either side E. and W. of the two branches, the northern district, with the intermediate Delta included, will be found to contain about 4500 square miles, or double the whole arable land of Egypt, which may be computed at 2255 square miles, exclusive of the Fyoom, a small province consisting of about 340.

The number of towns and villages reported to have stood on this tract, and in the upper parts of the valley of the Nile, appears incredible; and Herodotus affirms that 20,000 populous cities existed in Egypt during the reign of Amasis. Diodorus calculates 18,000 large villages and towns; and states that, under Ptolemy Lagus, they amounted to upwards of 30,000, a number which remained even at the period when he wrote, or about forty-four years before our era. But the population was already greatly reduced, and of the seven millions who once inhabited Egypt, about three only remained in the time of the historian; so that Josephus must overstate it when, in the reign of Vespasian, he still reckons seven millions and a half in the valley of the Nile, besides the population of Alexandria, which amounted to more than 300,000 souls. To such an extent has the population of Egypt diminished, that it now scarcely amounts to two millions; but this decrease is not peculiar to Egypt; and other countries, once more remarkable for their populousness, have undergone a similar change; while others, then scantily peopled, now teem with inhabitants. Indeed, the question suggests itself, whether the world, within historic times at least, has not always had the same amount of population as at the present day? Whatever increase has taken place in some parts of the globe, the total will not surpass that of olden times; and when we compare the populous condition of Assyria, and the neighbouring countries, Persia, India, Asia Minor, Syria, and Scythia, which, till Tartar times, spread its hordes over distant countries, we are led to the conviction that the inhabitants of the small continent of Europe, and the rising population of America, do not exceed the numbers that crowded the ancient world. This, however, is only a question I offer (with great deference) to those who are competent to decide it.

Besides the inhabitants of the country between the first cataract and the sea, Egypt included those of the neighbouring districts under her sway, who greatly increased her power; and in her flourishing days, the Ethiopians, Libyans, and others, united with her, and formed part of her permanent dominions.

The produce of the land was doubtless much greater in the earlier periods of its history than at the present day, owing as well to the superior industry of the people as to a better system of government, and sufficed for the support of a very dense population; yet Egypt, if well cultivated, could now maintain many more inhabitants than at any former period, owing to the increased extent of the irrigated land: and if the ancient Egyptians enclosed those portions of the uninundated edge of the desert which were capable of cultivation, the same expedient might still be resorted to; and a larger proportion of soil now overflowed by the rising Nile offers additional advantages. That the irrigated part of the valley was much less extensive than at present, at least wherever the plain stretches to any distance E. and W., or to the right and left of the river, is evident from the fact of the alluvial deposit constantly encroaching in a horizontal direction upon the gradual slope of the desert; and, as a very perceptible elevation of the river’s bed, as well as of the land of Egypt, has always been going on, it requires no argument to prove that a perpendicular rise of the water must cause it to flow to a greater distance over an open space to the E. and W.

Thus the plain of Thebes, in the time of Amunoph III., or about 1400 years before our era, was not more than two thirds of its present breadth; and the statues of that monarch, around which the alluvial mud has accumulated to the height of nearly seven feet, are based on the sand that once extended some distance before them. This at once explains why the ancient Egyptians were constantly obliged to raise mounds round the old towns, to prevent their being overwhelmed by the inundation of the Nile; the increased height of its rise, which took place after a certain number of years, keeping pace with the gradual elevation of the bed of the river. How erroneous, then, is it to suppose that the drifting ands of the encroaching desert threaten the welfare of this country, or have in any way tended to its downfall! and how much more reasonable is it to ascribe the degraded condition, to which Egypt is reduced, to causes of a far more baneful nature,—foreign despotism, the insecurity of property, and the effects of that old age which is the fate of every country, as well as of every individual, to undergo! For though the sand has encroached in a few places on the west side, from the Libyan desert, the general encroachment is vastly in favour of the alluvial deposit of the Nile.

Besides the numerous towns and villages in the plain, many were prudently placed by the ancient Egyptians on the slope of the desert, at a short distance from the irrigated land, in order not to occupy more than was necessary of the soil so valuable for its productions; and frequently with a view of encouraging some degree of cultivation in the desert plain; which, though above the reach of the inundation, might be irrigated by artificial ducts, or by water raised from inland wells. Mounds and ruined walls still mark the sites of those villages, in different parts of Egypt, and in a few instances the remains of magnificent temples, or the authority of ancient authors, attest the existence of large cities in similar situations. Thus Abydus, Athribis, Tentyris, parts of Memphis, and Oxyrhinchus, stood on the edge of the desert; and the town that once occupied the vicinity of Kasr Kharóon, at the western extremity of the Fyoom, was far removed from the fertilising influence of the inundation. This province, formerly the Nome of Crocodilopolis, or Arsinoë, was indebted entirely for its fertility to artificial irrigation; and a supply of water was conducted to it by a canal from the Nile, and kept up all the year in the immense reservoir made there by King Mœris.

The Egyptians seem at first to have had a hierarchical form of government, which lasted a long time, until Menes was chosen king, probably between 2000 and 3000 years before our era. Menes was of This, in Upper Egypt; and at his death, or that of his son, the country was divided into the southern and northern kingdoms, a Thinite and Memphite dynasty ruling at the same time. Other independent kingdoms, or principalities, also started up, and reigned contemporaneously in different parts of Egypt. The Memphite kings of the 3rd and 4th, who built the Pyramids, and Osirtasen I., the leader of the 12th, or 2nd Theban dynasty, were the most noted among them. The latter was the original Sesostris; but his exploits having been, many generations afterwards, eclipsed by those of Remeses the Great, they were transferred together with the name of Sesostris to the later and more glorious conqueror; and Remeses II. became the traditional Sesostris of Egyptian history. Osirtasen, who seems to have ruled all Egypt as lord paramount, ascended the throne about 2080 B.C.; but the contemporaneous kingdoms continued, till a new one arose which led to the subjugation of the country, and to the expulsion of the native princes from Lower, and apparently for a time from Upper Egypt also; when they were obliged to take refuge in Ethiopia. This dominion of the Shepherd kings lasted upwards of half a century. At length about 1530 B.C. Amosis, the leader of the 18th dynasty, having united in his own hands the previously divided power of the kingdom, drove the Shepherds out of the country, and Egypt was thenceforth governed by one king, bearing the title of “Lord of the Upper and Lower Country.” Towards the latter end of this dynasty, some “Stranger kings” obtained the sceptre, probably by right of marriage with the royal family of Egypt; (a plea on which the Ethiopian princes and others obtained the crown at different times,) and Egypt again groaned under a hateful tyranny. They even introduced very heretical changes into the religion, they expelled the favourite God Amun from the Pantheon, and introduced a Sun worship unknown in Egypt. Their rule was not of very long duration; and having been expelled, their monuments, as well as every record of them, were purposely defaced.

The kings of the 18th dynasty had extended the dominion of Egypt far into Asia, and the interior of Africa, as the sculptures of the Thothmes, the Amunophs, and others show; but Sethos and his son Remeses II., of the 19th, who reigned from about 1370 to 1270 B.C., advanced them still farther. The conquests of the Egyptians had been pushed into Mesopotamia as early as the reign of Thothmes III., about 1445 B.C.; the strong fortress of Carchemish remained in their hands nearly all the time till the reign of Necho; and whenever the Egyptians boasted, in after ages, of the power of their country, they referred to the glorious era of the 18th and 19th dynasties. Remeses III., of the 20th dynasty, also carried his victorious arms into Asia and Africa, about a century after his namesake; enforcing the tributes, previously levied by Thothmes III. and his successors, from many countries that formed part of the Assyrian empire. But little was done by the kings who followed him, until the time of Sheshonk (Shishak), who pillaged the temple of Jerusalem, and laid Judæa under tribute B.C. 971. The power of the Pharaohs was on the decline; and Assyria, becoming the dominant kingdom, threatened to wrest from Egypt all the possessions she had obtained during a long career of conquest. Tirhaka (Tehrak), who with the Sabacos composed the 25th Ethiopian dynasty, checked the advance of the Assyrians, and forcing Sennacherib to retire from Judæa, restored the influence of Egypt in Syria. The Saïte kings of the 26th dynasty continued to maintain it, though with doubtful success, until the reign of Necho; when it was entirely lost; for soon after Necho had defeated and killed Josiah, king of Judah, the “king of Babylon” “smote” his army “in Carchemish,” and took from the Egyptians “all that pertained to the king of Egypt,” from the boundary torrent on the Syrian confines “unto the river Euphrates.”

No permanent conquests of any extent were henceforth made, “out of his land,” by the Egyptian king; and though Apries sent an expedition against Cyprus, defeated the Syrians by sea, besieged and took Gaza and Sidon, and recovered much of the influence in Syria which had been taken from Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, these were only temporary successes; the prestige of Egyptian power had vanished; it had been found necessary to employ Greek mercenaries in the army; and in the reign of Amasis, another still greater power than Assyria, or Babylon, arose to threaten and complete the downfall of Egypt. In the reign of his son Psammenitus, B.C. 525, Cambyses invaded the country, and Egypt submitted to the arms of Persia.

Several attempts were made by the Egyptians to recover their lost liberty; and at length, the Persian garrison having been overpowered, and the troops sent to reconquer the country having been defeated, the native kings were once more established (B.C. 414). These formed the 28th, 29th, and 30th dynasties; but the las: of the Pharaohs, Nectanebo II., was defeated by Ochus, or Artaxerxes III., B.C. 340, and Egypt again fell beneath the yoke of Persia. Eight years after this, Alexander the Great liberated it from the Persians, and Ptolemy and his successors once more erected it into an independent kingdom, though governed by a foreign dynasty, which lasted until it became a province of the Roman Empire.

Though far better pleased with the rule of the Macedonian kings than of the Persians, the Egyptians were never thoroughly satisfied to be subject to foreigners, whose manners and customs were so different from their own; and, however much the Ptolemies courted their goodwill, consulted their prejudices, and flattered the priesthood, they never ceased to be discontented; and occasionally showed their impatience by sudden and ill-judged outbreaks. To the Romans they were equally troublesome; but they had then ceased to be the Egyptians of bygone days; and oppression under the Persians, and loss of independence, had changed their character, and introduced the bad qualities of cunning, deceit, perverseness, and insubordination; which a shrewd and vain people often have recourse to, as their offensive and defensive weapons against an unwelcome master.

Proud of the former greatness of their nation, they could never get over the disgrace of their fallen condition; and so strong was their bias towards their own institutions and ancient form of government, that no foreign king, whose habits differed from their own, could reconcile them to his rule. For no people were more attached to their own country, to their own peculiar institutions, and to their own reputation as a nation; and the sentiments of attachment that their ancestors had always felt for their kings never lost an opportunity of displaying themselves, as was shown by the repeated and almost hopeless efforts they made to expel the Persians, as well as by the delight they manifested in once more re-establishing a native dynasty.

The king was to them the representative of the deity; his name, Phrah (Pharaoh), signifying “the sun,” pronounced him the emblem of the god of light, and his royal authority was directly derived from the gods. He was the head of the religion and of the state; he was the judge and lawgiver; and he commanded the army and led it to war. It was his right and his office to preside over the sacrifices, and pour out libations to the gods; and, whenever he was present, he had the privilege of being the officiating high priest.

The sceptre was hereditary; but, in the event of a direct heir failing, the claims for succession were determined by proximity of parentage, or by right of marriage. The king was always either of the military or priestly class, and the princes also belonged to one of them. The army or the priesthood were the two professions followed by all men of rank, the navy not being an exclusive service; and the “long ships of Sesostris” and other kings were commanded by generals and officers taken from the army, as was the custom of the Turks, and some others in modern Europe to a very recent time. The law too was in the hands of the priests; so that there were only two professions. Most of the kings, as might be expected, were of the military class, and during the glorious days of Egyptian history, the younger princes generally adopted the same profession. Many held offices also in the royal household, some of the most honourable of which were fanbearers on the right of their father, royal scribes, superintendents of the granaries, or of the land, and treasurers of the king; and they were generals of the cavalry, archers, and other corps, or admirals of the fleet.

279.              Princes and Children. Thebes.

1. Head-dress of a prince. 2. and 3. Lock of hair worn by children. 4. Dress of a son of Remeses III. 5. Head-dress of a prince, Remeses.

Princes were distinguished by a badge hanging from the side of the head, which enclosed, or represented, the lock of hair emblematic of a “son;” in imitation of the youthful god “Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris,” who was held forth as the model for all princes, and the type of royal virtue. For though the Egyptians shaved the head, and wore wigs or other coverings to the head, children were permitted to leave certain locks of hair; and if the sons of kings, long before they arrived at the age of manhood, had abandoned this youthful custom, the badge was attached to their head-dress as a mark of their rank as princes; or to show that they had not, during the lifetime of their father, arrived at kinghood; on the same principle that a Spanish prince, of whatever age, continues to be styled an “infant.”

When the sovereign was a military man, it was his duty, as well as his privilege, on ascending the throne, to be instructed in the mysteries of the religion, and the various offices of a pontiff. He learnt all that related to the gods, the service of the temple, the laws of the country, and the duties of a king; and in order to prevent any intercourse with improper persons, who might instil into his mind ideas unworthy of a prince, it was carefully provided that no slave or hired servant should hold any office about his person, and that the children of the first families, who had arrived at man’s estate, and were remarkable for their ability and piety, should alone be permitted to attend him; from the per suasion that no monarch gives way to evil passions, unless he finds those about him ready to serve as instruments to his caprices, and to encourage his excesses. His conduct and mode of life were regulated by prescribed rules, and care was taken to protect the community from the caprices of an absolute monarch; laws being laid down in the sacred books, for the order and nature of his occupations. He was forbidden to commit excesses; even the kind and quality of his food were settled with precision; and he was constantly reminded of his duties, both in public and in private. At break of day public business commenced; all the epistolary correspondence was examined, and despatched; the ablutions for prayer were then performed, and the monarch, having put on his robes of ceremony, and attended by proper officers with the insignia of royalty, repaired to the temple to superintend the customary sacrifices to the gods of the sanctuary. The victims being brought to the altar, it was usual for the high priest to place himself close to the king, while the whole congregation present on the occasion stood round at a short distance from them, and to offer up prayers for the monarch, beseeching the gods to bestow on him “health, victory, power, and all other blessings,” and to “establish the kingdom unto him and his children for ever.” His qualities were then separately enumerated; and the high priest particularly noticed his piety towards the gods, and his conduct towards men. He lauded his self-command, his justice, his magnanimity, his love of truth, his munificence and generosity, and, above all, his entire freedom from envy and covetousness. He exalted his moderation in awarding the most lenient punishment to those who had transgressed, and his benevolence in requiting with unbounded liberality those who had merited his favours. These and other similar encomiums having been passed on the character of the monarch, the priest proceeded to review the general conduct of kings, and to point out those faults which were the result of ignorance and misplaced confidence. And it is a curious fact, that this ancient people had already adopted the principle, that the king “could do no wrong:” and while he was exonerated from blame, every curse and evil were denounced against his ministers, and those advisers who had given him injurious counsel. The idea, too, of the king “never dying” was contained in their common formula of “life having been given him for ever.”

The object of this oration, says Diodorus, was to exhort the sovereign to live in fear of the deity, and to cherish that upright line of conduct and demeanour, which was deemed pleasing to the gods; and they hoped that, by avoiding the bitterness of reproach, and by celebrating the praises of virtue, they might stimulate him to the exercise of those duties which he was expected to fulfil. The king then proceeded to examine the entrails of the victim, and to perform the usual ceremonies of sacrifice: and the hierogrammat, or sacred scribe, read those extracts from the holy writings which recorded the deeds and sayings of the most celebrated men.

These regulations were instituted by a cautious people, when the change took place which introduced the kingly form of government. The law could, if required, be repealed, to protect the country from the arbitrary conduct of a king; and even if he had the means of defying its power, there still remained a mode of avenging its dignity, for the voice of the people could punish the refractory tyrant at his death, by the disgrace of excluding his body from interment in his own tomb. It was, however, rather as a precaution that these laws were set forth: they were seldom enforced, and the indulgence of the Egyptians to their king gave him no excuse for tyranny or injustice. Nor were the rigid regulations respecting his private life vexatiously enforced; and though the quantity of wine he was allowed to drink, and numerous punctilious observances, were laid down in some old statute, he was not expected to regard them to the very letter, provided he benefited society by his general conduct. It was no difficult task for a king to be popular; the Egyptians were prone to look upon him with affection and respect; and if he had done nothing to obtain their approbation as prince, the moment he ascended the throne he was sure to be regarded with favour.

Nor did it require any great effort on his part to conform to the general rules laid down for his conduct: and by consulting the welfare of the country, he easily secured for himself that good will which was due from children to a parent; the whole nation being as anxious for the welfare of the king as for that of their own wives and children, or whatever was most dear to them. To this Diodorus ascribes the duration of the Egyptian state; which not only lasted long, but enjoyed the greatest prosperity, both at home, and in its wars with distant nations, and was enabled by its immense riches, resulting from trade and foreign conquest, to display a magnificence, in its provinces and cities, unequalled by that of any other country.

Love and respect were not merely shown to the sovereign during his lifetime, but were continued to his memory after his death; and the manner in which his funeral obsequies were celebrated tended to show, that, though their benefactor was no more, they retained a grateful sense of his goodness, and admiration for his virtues. And what, says the historian, can convey a greater testimony of sincerity, free from all colour of dissimulation, than the cordial acknowledgment of a benefit, when the person who conferred it no longer lives to witness the honour done to his memory?

On the death of every Egyptian king, a general mourning was instituted throughout the country for seventy days, hymns commemorating his virtues were sung, the temples were closed, sacrifices were no longer offered, and no feasts or festivals were celebrated during the whole of that period. The people tore their garments, and, covering their heads with dust and mud, formed a procession of 200 or 300 persons of both sexes, who met twice a day in public to sing the funeral dirge. A general fast was also observed, and they neither allowed themselves to taste meat nor wheat bread, and abstained, moreover, from wine and every kind of luxury.

280.              People throwing dust on their heads, in token of grief. Thebes.

In the mean time the funeral was prepared, and on the last day the body was placed in state within the vestibule of the tomb, and an account was then given of the life and conduct of the deceased.

The Egyptians are said to have been divided into castes, similar to those of India; but though a marked line of distinction was maintained between the different ranks of society, they appear rather to have been classes than castes, and a man did not necessarily follow the precise occupation of his father. Sons, it is true, usually adopted the same profession or trade as their parent, and the rank of each depended on his occupation; but the children of a priest frequently chose the army for their profession, and those of a military man could belong to the priesthood.

The priests and military men held the highest position in the country after the family of the king, and from them were chosen his ministers and confidential advisers, “the wise counsellors of Pharaoh,” and all the principal officers of state.

The priests consisted of various grades—as the chief priests, or pontiffs; the prophets; judges; sacred scribes; the sphragistæ, who examined the victims for sacrifice; the stolistæ, dressers, or keepers of the sacred robes; the bearers of the shrines, banners, and other holy emblems; the sacred sculptors, draughtsmen, and masons; the embalmers; the keepers of sacred animals; and various officers employed in the processions and other religious ceremonies; under whom were the beadles, and inferior functionaries of the temple. There was also the king’s own priest; and the royal scribes were chosen either from the sacerdotal or the military class.

Women were not excluded from certain offices in the temple, there were priestesses of the gods, of the kings and queens, and they had many employments connected with religion. They even attended in some religious processions; as well as at the funeral of a deceased relation; and an inferior class of women acted as hired mourners on this occasion. The queens, indeed, and other women of high rank, held a very important post in the service of the gods; and an instance occurs of the title “pourer out of libations” being applied to a queen, which was only given to the priests of the altar. They usually accompanied their husbands as they made offerings in the temple, holding two sistra, or other emblems, before the status of the deity. This was the office of those “holy women,” whose duties in the temple of the Theban Jupiter led to the strange mistake respecting the “Pellices Jovis,” or Pallacides of Amun; but its dignity and importance is sufficiently shown by its having been filled by women of the first families in the country, and by the wives and daughters of the kings. They were of various grades—the highest of them were the queens, princesses, and the wives and daughters of the high priests, who held the sistra; others praised the deity with various instruments; and from being often called “minstrels” of the god, their office seems to have been particularly connected with the sacred music of the temple. The institution may have been a sort of college, or convent; but as married women and even young children might belong to it, they were evidently not immured within the precincts of any place resembling a modern nunnery; and if they were obliged to take certain vows, and attend to the duties attached to their honourable office, nothing prevented their performing all others of a public and social kind. It was not forbidden to strangers naturalized in Egypt to belong to it; and one instance occurs on a papyrus of a “foreign” woman having the same holy office in the service of Amun.

281.              King offering, and the Queen holding two emblems. Thebes.

282.              Sacred offices held by women. Thebes.

The priests enjoyed great privileges. They were exempt from taxes; they consumed no part of their own income in any of their necessary expenses; and they had one of the three portions into which the land of Egypt was divided, free from all duties. They were provided for from the public stores, out of which they received a stated allowance of corn, and all the other necessaries of life; and we find that when Pharaoh, by the advice of Joseph, took all the land of the Egyptians in lieu of corn, the priests were not obliged to make the same sacrifice of their landed property, nor was the tax of the fifth part of the produce entailed upon it, as on that of the other people.

In the sacerdotal as among the other classes, a great distinction existed between the different grades; and the various orders of priests ranked according to their peculiar office. The chief or high priests held the first and most honourable station; but the one who offered sacrifice and libation in the temple had the highest post. He appears to have been called “the prophet,” and his title in the hieroglyphic legends is “Sem.” He superintended the sacrifice of the victims, the processions of the sacred boats or arks, the presentation of the offerings at the altar, and at funerals, and the anointing of the king; and the same office was held by the sovereign, when he presented incense and libations to the gods. He was marked by a peculiar dress; a leopard skin fitting over his linen robes; and the same was worn by the king on similar occasions.

The duty of the prophet was to be fully versed in all matters relating to religion, the laws, the worship of the gods, and the discipline of the whole order of the priesthood; he presided over the temple and the sacred rites, and directed the management of the priestly revenues. In the processions he bore the holy hydria, or vase, which the king also carried on similar occasions; and when any new regulations were introduced in matters of religion, the prophets with the chief priests headed the conclave.

283.              Priests clad in a leopard skin Thebes.

It was the great privilege of the priests to be initiated into the mysteries; though they were not all admitted indiscriminately to that honour; and “the Egyptians neither entrusted them to every one, nor degraded the secrets of divine matters by disclosing them to the profane; reserving them for the heir-apparent of the throne, and for such priests as excelled in virtue and wisdom.” The mysteries were also distinguished into the greater and the less;—the latter preparatory to a fuller revelation of their secrets. This, and the superior knowledge they possessed, gave the priests a great ascendency over the rest of the people; and though all might enjoy the advantages of education, some branches of learning were reserved for particular persons.

Diodorus says, “The children of the priests are taught two different kinds of writing,—what is called the sacred, and the more general; and they pay great attention to geometry and arithmetic. For the river, changing the appearance of the country very materially every year, causes many and various discussions among neighbouring proprietors, about the extent of their property; and it would be difficult for any person to decide upon their claims without geometrical proof, founded on actual observation.

“Of arithmetic they have also frequent need, both in their domestic economy, and in the application of geometrical theorems, besides its utility in the cultivation of astronomical studies; for the orders and motions of the stars are observed at least as industriously by the Egyptians as by any people whatever; and they keep a record of the motions of each for an incredible number of years, the study of this science having been, from the remotest times, an object of national ambition with them. They have also most punctually observed the motions, periods, and stations of the planets, as well as the powers which they possess with respect to the nativities of animals, and what good or evil influences they exert; and they frequently foretel what is to happen to a man throughout his life, and not uncommonly predict the failure or crops, or an abundance, and the occurrence of epidemic diseases among men and beasts: foreseeing also earthquakes and floods, the appearance of comets, and a variety of other things which appear impossible to the multitude.

“But the generality of the common people learn only from their parents, or relations, that which is required for the exercise of their peculiar occupations; a few only being taught anything of literature, and those principally the better classes of artificers.”

If the priests were anxious to establish a character for learning and piety, they were not less so in their endeavours to excel in the propriety of outward demeanour, and to set forth a proper example of humility and self-denial; and if not in their houses, at least in their mode of living, they were remarkable for simplicity and abstinence. They committed no excesses either in eating or drinking; their food was plain, and in a stated quantity, and wine was used with the strictest regard to moderation. And so fearful were they lest the body should not “sit light upon the soul,” and excess should cause a tendency to increase “the corporeal man,” that they paid a scrupulous attention to the most trifling particulars of diet; and similar precautions were extended even to the deified animals: Apis not being allowed to drink the water of the Nile, since it was thought to possess a fattening property.

They were not only scrupulous about the quantity, but the quality of their food; and certain viands were alone allowed to appear at their table. Above all meats, that of swine was particularly obnoxious; and fish both of the sea and the Nile was forbidden them, though so generally eaten by the rest of the Egyptians. And indeed, on the 9th of the month Thoth, when a religious ceremony obliged all the people to eat a fried fish before the door of their houses, the priests were not even then expected to conform to the general custom, and they were contented to substitute the ceremony of burning theirs at the appointed time. Beans they held in utter abhorrence; and Herodotus affirms that “beans were never sown in the country, and if they grew spontaneously, they neither formed an article of food, nor even if cooked were ever eaten by the Egyptians.” But this aversion, which originated in a supposed sanitary regulation, and which was afterwards so scrupulously adopted by Pythagoras, did not prevent their cultivation; nor were the people obliged to abstain from them; and they were allowed to eat them in common with other pulse and vegetables, which abounded in Egypt. Not only beans, but lentils, peas, garlick, leeks, and onions were forbidden to the priests; who were not permitted to eat them under any pretence. The prohibition, however, regarding them, as well as certain meats, was confined to the sacerdotal order; and even swine, if we may believe Plutarch, were not forbidden to the other Egyptians at all times: “for those who sacrificed a sow to Typho once a year, at the full moon, afterwards ate its flesh.”

It is a remarkable fact that onions, as well as the first fruits of their lentils, were admitted among the offerings placed upon the altars of the gods, together with gourds, figs, garlic, raphanus (or figl), cakes, beef, goose, or wild fowl, grapes, wine, and the head of the victim. Onions were generally bound in a single bundle, seldom presented singly; and they were sometimes arranged in a hollow circular bunch, which, descending upon the table or altar, enveloped and served as a cover to whatever was placed upon it. And the privilege of presenting them in this form appears to have been generally enjoyed by that class of priests who wore the leopard-skin dress.

284.              Fig. 1. A basket of sycamore figs.

2, 3, 4. Hieroglyphic signifying “wife,” apparently taken from it.

5, 6. Cucurbita Lagenaria, γ, or Karra-toweél. 7. Garlic (?)

8. Raphanus sativus var. edulis, or figl. 9. Onions.

285.              Mode of tying up the onions for some offerings. Thebes.

In general, “the priests abstained from most sorts of pulse, from mutton, and swine’s flesh; and in their more solemn purifications even excluded salt from their meals;” but some vegetables were considered lawful food, being remarkable for their wholesome nature; and many of the leguminous productions and fruits of Egypt represented on the tables placed before priests, as part of the inferiæ, or offerings to the dead, must have been acceptable to them while living.

In their ablutions, as in their diet, they were equally severe, and they maintained the strictest observance of numerous religious customs. They bathed twice a day, and twice during the night; and some who pretended to a more rigid observance of religious duties, washed themselves with water which had been tasted by the ibis, supposed in consequence to bear an unquestionable evidence of purity; and shaving the head and the whole body every third day, they spared no pains to promote the cleanliness of their persons, without indulging in the bath, as a luxury. A grand ceremony of purification took place, previous and preparatory to their fasts, many of which lasted from seven to forty-two days, and sometimes even a longer period: during which time they abstained entirely from animal food, from herbs and vegetables, and from all extraordinary indulgences.

These “numerous religious observances,” as well as the dependence of all classes upon them for instruction, and the possession of secrets known only to themselves, gave them that influence they so long possessed; but they had obtained a power, which, while it raised their own class, could not fail to degrade the rest of the people; who, allowed to substitute superstition for religion, and credulity for belief, were taught to worship the figures of imaginary beings, while they were excluded from a real knowledge of the Deity, and of those truths which constituted “the wisdom of the Egyptians.” It was to liberate mankind from the dark superstition, in which the selfish views of the priesthood of those days had kept the world, that Moses received his grand and important mission. Men were by him taught to offer their prayers directly to the Deity, without the necessity of depending on a frail mortal, like themselves, for his pretended intercession with One equally accessible to all; and they learnt that heaven was not to be purchased by money paid to the cupidity of a privileged class, whose assumed right of pronouncing against a man his exclusion from future happiness was an unwarrantable assumption of divine authority, and an attempt to fabricate a judgment in this world, which alone belonged to the Deity.

Privilege and power the priests certainly did enjoy, when they could reach a man after his death, by refusing him a passport to eternal happiness, and could still force his family to pay them for pretended prayers for their deceased relative; and nothing could be better devised to enforce obedience to their will. It must, however, be allowed that they deserved credit for setting a good example by their abstinence and moral conduct; their wisdom was shown by their tact and good policy in giving no occasion for scandal and discontent; and they did not affect to be superior to the world by disregarding all social ties. Thus while performing the affectionate duties of fathers and husbands, they still kept up their influence over society, and ruled a flourishing country, without prostrating its resources, or checking the industry of the inhabitants; and, though we may censure an artful piece of priestcraft, we must remember that it was established long before mankind enjoyed the advantages of a thorough revelation.

The long duration of their system, and the feeling with which it was regarded by the people, may also plead some excuse for it; and while the function of judges and the administration of the laws gave them unusual power, they had an apparent claim to those offices, from having been the framers of the codes of morality, and of the laws they superintended. Instead of setting themselves above the king, and making him succumb to their power, like the unprincipled Ethiopian pontiffs, they acknowledged him as the head of the religion and the state; nor were they above the law; no one of them, nor even the king himself, could govern according to his own arbitrary will; his conduct was amenable to an ordeal of his subjects at his death, the people being allowed to accuse him of misgovernment, and to prevent his being buried in his tomb on the day of his funeral.

But though the regulations of the priesthood may have suited the Egyptians in early times, certain institutions being adapted to men in particular states of society, they erred in encouraging a belief in legends they knew to be untrue, instead of purifying and elevating the religious views of the people, and committed the fault of considering their unbending system perfect, and suited to all times. Abuses therefore crept in; credulity, already shamefully encouraged, increased to such an extent that it enslaved the mind, and paralyzed men’s reasoning powers; and the result was that the Egyptians gave way to the grossest superstitions, which at length excited universal ridicule and contempt.

The religion of the Egyptians is a subject of too great extent to be treated fully in a work of limited dimensions: little more can therefore be given of it than a general outline.

The fundamental doctrine was the unity of the Deity; but this unity was not represented, and He was known by a sentence, or an idea, being, as Jamblichus says, “worshipped in silence.” But the attributes of this Being were represented under positive forms; and hence arose a multiplicity of gods, that engendered idolatry, and caused a total misconception of the real nature of the Deity, in the minds of all who were not admitted to a knowledge of the truth through the mysteries. The division of God into his attributes was in this manner. As soon as he was thought to have any reference to his works, or to man, he ceased to be quiescent; he became an agent; and he was no longer the One, but distinguishable and divisible, according to his supposed character, his actions, and his influence on the world. He was then the Creator, the Divine Goodness, (or the abstract idea of Good,) Wisdom, Power, and the like; and as we speak of Him as the Almighty, the Merciful, the Everlasting, so the Egyptians gave to each of his various attributes a particular name. But they did more: they separated them; and to the uninitiated they became distinct gods. As one of these, the Deity was Amun; probably, the divine mind in operation, the bringer to light of the secrets of its hidden will; and he had a complete human form, because man was the intellectual animal, and the principal design of the divine will in the creation. As the “Spirit of God” that moved on the face of the waters, the Deity was Nef, Nû, or Nûm; over whom the asp, the emblem of royalty and of the good genius, spread itself as a canopy, while he stood in his boat. As the Creator he was Pthah; and in this character he was accompanied by the figure of Truth,—a combination of it with the creative power which recalls this sentence in the Epistle of St. James, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.” As the principle of generation he was Khem, called “the father of his own father”—the abstract idea of father; as the goddess Maut was that of mother,—who consequently “proceeded from herself;” and other attributes, characters, and offices of the Deity held a rank according to their closer, or more distant, relation to his essence and operations.

In order to specify and convey an impression of these abstract notions to the eyes of men, it was thought necessary to distinguish them by some fixed representation; and the figures of Pthah, Osiris, Amun, Maut, Neith, and other gods or goddesses, were invented as the signs of the various attributes of the Deity. But it did not stop there; and as the subtlety of philosophical speculation entered into the originally simple theory, numerous subdivisions of the divine nature were made; and at length anything which appeared to partake of, or bear analogy to it, was admitted to a share of worship. Hence arose the various grades of deities: and they were known as the gods of the first, second, and third orders. But Herodotus is quite right in saying that the Egyptians gave no divine honours to heroes.

The Egyptian figures of gods were only vicarious forms, not intended to be looked upon as real personages; and no one was expected to believe that a being could exist with the head of an animal joined to a human body; but credulity will always do its work; the uneducated failed to take the same view of them, as the initiated portion of the community; and mere emblems soon assumed the importance of the divine personages to which they belonged. These abuses were the natural consequences of such representations; and experience has often shown how readily the mind may be drawn away from the most spiritual worship to a superstitious veneration for images, whether at first intended merely to fix the attention, or to represent some legendary tale or abstract idea. The religion of the Egyptians was a pantheism rather than a polytheism; and their admitting the sun and moon to divine worship may rather be ascribed to this than to any admixture of Sabæism. The sun was thought to possess much of the divine influence in its vivifying power, and its various other effects; and it was not only one of the grandest works, but was one of the direct agents, of the deity. The moon was in another similar capacity; and, as the regulator of time and the messenger of heaven, was figured as the Ibis-headed Thoth, the god of letters, and the deity who registered man’s actions and the events of his life.

They not only attributed to the sun and moon, and to other supposed agents, a participation in the divine essence, but even stones and plants were thought to have some portion of it; and certain peculiarities were often discovered in the habits or appearance of animals, which were supposed to bear a resemblance to the divine character. Even a king was sometimes represented making offerings to another figure of himself in the temples, signifying that his human did homage to his divine nature.

They also represented the same deity under different names and characters; Isis, from the number of her titles, was called “Myriônymus,” or “with ten thousand names.” A god or goddess was also worshipped as residing in some particular place, or as gifted with some peculiar quality; like the Minerva Polias, and various Minervas, the several Venuses, the Jupiters, and others; and modern custom has made a variety of Madonnas from the one Virgin.

Among other remarkable theories of the Egyptians, was the union of certain attributes into triads; the third number of which proceeded from the other two; and in every city one of these combinations was the triad of the place. The first members were not always of the first order of gods, nor was it necessary they should be; and an attribute of the deity might be combined with some abstract idea to form a result.

This notion had been held by them at the earliest periods of the Egyptian monarchy; it is, therefore, an anachronism to derive this, and other Egyptian doctrines, from the peninsula of India, in which part of the country the Hindoos did not settle till long after the age of the 18th dynasty, when they gradually dispossessed, and confined to certain districts, those original populations, who are supposed to be of Scythian origin; and if there is any connexion between the two religions of Egypt and India, this must be ascribed to the period before the two races left Central Asia.

Certain innovations were introduced in early days into the religion of Egypt, but they were partial, and such as might be expected from the progress of superstition; and if instances occur of sudden and positive changes, there is reason to believe they were brought about by the influence of strangers; as the banishment of Amun from the Pantheon for a short time, through the usurpation of the Stranger kings, towards the end of the 18th dynasty.

The expulsion of Seth, or Evil, seems also to have been the result of foreign influence. The children of Seb and Netpe (Saturn and Rhea) were Osiris, Seth, Aroeris, Isis, and Nepthys. Osiris and Seth (or Typho) were brothers; the former represented “good,” the latter “evil.” In early times they were both adored as gods throughout Upper and Lower Egypt, and were considered part of the same divine system. For Evil had not yet been confounded with sin or wickedness; and this last was figured as Apôp (Apophis) “the giant,” who, in the form of the “great serpent,” the enemy of gods and of mankind, was pierced by the spear of Horus, Atmoo, and other deities. Osiris and Seth were even placed synonymously in the names of some kings at the same period, and on the same monument; the latter was figured instructing the monarch in the use of the bow, being a cause of evil; and Seth’s pouring from a vase, in conjunction with Horus, the emblems of life and power over the newly-crowned king, was intended to show that good and evil affected the world equally, as a necessary condition of human existence.

As soon as the change was resolved upon, the name and figure of the square-eared Seth were everywhere hammered out; he was branded as the enemy of Osiris; not merely opposed as a necessary consequence, but as if it were from his own agency, as Ariman to Ormusd, or the Manichæan Satan to God. The exact period when he was “expelled from Egypt” is uncertain. It may have been at the time of the 22nd dynasty; and if Seshonk (Shishak), and the other kings of that dynasty, were Assyrians, as Mr. Birch supposes, the reason of it may be readily explained.

The conflict of wickedness and goodness was not, however, a novel theory with the Egyptians, as is shown by the most ancient representations of the snake-giant Apôp, the symbol of sin; nor was the peculiar office of Osiris a late introduction, after Seth (or Typho) had been banished from the Pantheon. The unphilosophical innovation was, in Seth being converted from evil into sin, and made the enemy, instead of the necessary antagonistic companion, of good.

The peculiar character of Osiris, his coming upon earth for the benefit of mankind, with the titles of “manifester of good and truth,” his being put to death by the malice of the evil one; his burial and resurrection, and his becoming the judge of the dead, are the most interesting features of the Egyptian religion. This was the great mystery; and this myth and his worship were of the earliest times, and universal in Egypt. He was to every Egyptian the great judge of the dead; and it is evident that Moses abstained from making any very pointed allusion to the future state of man, because it would have recalled the wellknown Judge of the dead, and all the funeral ceremonies of Egypt, and have brought back the thoughts of the “mixed multitude,” and of all whose minds were not entirely uncontaminated by Egyptian habits, to the very superstitions from which it was his object to purify them. Osiris was to every Egyptian the great deity of a future state; and though different gods enjoyed particular honours in their respective cities, the importance of Osiris was admitted throughout the country.

Certain cities and districts were appropriated to certain gods, who were the chief deities of the place; and while Amun had his principal temple at Thebes, Memphis was the great city of Pthah, as Heliopolis of Re or the Sun, and other cities of other divinities; no two neighbouring districts, or chief cities, being given to the same god. But although Amun was the great god of Thebes, as Pthah was of Memphis, it is not to be supposed that their separate worship originated in two parts of Egypt, or that the religions of the Upper and Lower country were once distinct, and afterwards united into one. They were members of the same Pantheon.

“A balance of power,” as of honour, was thus established for the principal gods; minor deities being satisfied with towns of minor importance. Other divinities shared the honours of the sanctuary; and different triads, or single gods, were admitted to a post in the various temples of Egypt: thus Pthah had a suitable position in a Theban adytum; Amun, and Nef, or the triads of Thebes and of the Cataracts, of which they were respectively the first persons, were figured on the temples at Memphis; and none were necessarily excluded, provided room could be found for them, except purely local deities. Those of a neighbouring town were more readily admitted to a place among the contemplar gods; it was at least a neighbourly compliment; and it suited the convenience of the priests, quite as much as the gods themselves. Many minor divine beings, whose worship was ordained for some particular object, and certain emblems, or sacred animals, were admitted in one and excluded from another place. Thus the reverence for the crocodile, encouraged in some inland town, in order that the canals might be properly kept up, was found unnecessary in places by the river side, where he was probably held in abhorrence; and the same animal, which was highly regarded in one district, was a symbol of evil in another.

Still all was part of the same system; and however changed and perverted it afterwards became, the original composition of the Pantheon dates from the most remote periods of Egyptian history; and the few innovations introduced in early times occasioned no real alteration in the principle of the religion itself. Changes certainly took place in the speculations of the Egyptians, as in their mode of representing them; and some foreign deities were occasionally admitted into their Pantheon; yet the original progress of their ideas may readily be traced, from the one God, to the Deity in action under various characters, as well as numerous abstract ideas made into separate gods. Of these last, two are particularly worthy of notice, from being common to many other religions; which have treated them according to their peculiar views. They are the Nature gods; sometimes represented as the sun and earth, by people who were inclined to a physical rather than an ideal treatment of the subject; but which the speculative Egyptians considered as the vivifying or generative principle, the abstract idea of “father,” and the producing principle of nature, or “mother;” both consequent upon the creative action. Of these, the latter was originally (as one of the great deities) only the abstract idea of “mother,” Maut, whose emblem was a vulture; and if another—Isis (sometimes identified with Athor, the Egyptian Venus), holding the child Horus, her offspring—was a direct representation of the maternal office, she may be considered an offset of the myth. Two other goddesses also belonged to it, the one of parturition (Lucina), and the other of gestation; the former connected with the maternal idea by having the vulture as her emblem, the latter related to Isis as the “mother of the child;” and thus the analogies and relationships of various deities were kept up on one side, while on the other the subdivisions and minute shades of difference increased the number and complication of these ideal beings. Thus too the relationship of deities in many mythologies may be recognised; representing as they do the same original idea; and the Alitta, or Mylitta (i. e., “the child-bearing” goddess) of the Arabs and Assyrians, the Anaitis of Persia, the Syrian Astarte, and Venus-Urania, Cybele, and “the Queen of heaven,” the “Mother of the child” found in Western Asia, Egypt, India, ancient Italy, and even in Mexico, the prolific Diana of Ephesus, and others, are various characters of the Nature goddess.

The dress of the priests was simple; but the robes of ceremony were grand and imposing; and besides the leopard-skin dress of the prophet were other peculiarities of costume, that marked their respective grades. Necklaces, bracelets, garlands, and other ornaments were also put on, during the religious ceremonies in the temple. The material of their robes was linen; but they sometimes wore cotton garments; and it was lawful to have an upper one of wool as a cloak; though they were not permitted to enter a temple with this last, nor to wear woollen garments next the skin. Nor could any body be buried in bandages of that material.

The dresses of the priests consisted of an under garment, like the usual apron worn by the Egyptians, and a loose upper robe with full sleeves, secured by a girdle round the loins; or of the apron, and a shirt with short, tight sleeves, over which was thrown a loose robe, leaving the right arm exposed. Sometimes a priest, when officiating in the temple, laid aside the upper vestment, and was satisfied to wear an ample robe bound round the waist, and descending over the apron to his ankles (which answers to the dress of the Stolistes mentioned by Clemens, “covering only the lower part of the body”); and occasionally he put on a long full garment, reaching from below the arms to the feet, and supported over the neck with straps. Others again, in the sacred processions, were entirely covered with a dress of this kind, reaching to the throat, and concealing even the hands and arms.

286.              Dresses for Priests. Thebes.

8, 9. Hierogrammat, or sacred scribe.

The costume of the hierogrammat, or sacred scribe, consisted of a large kelt or apron, either tied in front, or wound round the lower part of the body; and the loose upper robe with full sleeves, which, in all cases, was of the finest linen. He had sometimes one or two feathers on his head, as described by Clemens and Diodorus. Those who bore the sacred emblems wore a long, full apron reaching to the ankles, tied in front with long bands; and a strap, also of linen, passed over the shoulder to support it. Sometimes a priest, who offered incense, was clad in this long apron, and the full robe with sleeves, or only in the former; and the dress of the same priest varied on different occasions. Their sandals were made of the papyrus and palm-leaves, and the simplicity of their habits extended to the bed they slept upon, which was sometimes a skin stretched on the ground, or a sort of wicker bedstead of palm branches, covered with a mat or a skin; and their head was supported by a wooden concave pillow.

The same mode of resting the head was common to all the Egyptians, and a considerable number of these stools have been found in the tombs of Thebes: generally of sycamore, acacia, or tamarisk wood; or of alabaster, not inelegantly formed, and frequently ornamented with coloured hieroglyphics. In Abyssinia, and in parts of Upper Ethiopia, they still adopt the same support for the head; and the materials of which they are made are either wood, stone, or common earthenware. Nor are they peculiar to Abyssinia and the valley of the Nile: the same custom prevails in far distant countries; and we find them used in Japan, China, and Ashantee, and even in the island of Otaheire (Tahiti), where they are also of wood, but longer and less concave than those of Africa.

287.              Alabaster pillow for the head. Alnwick Museum.

Next in rank to the priests were the military. To them was assigned one of the three portions into which the land of Egypt was divided by an edict of Sesostris, in order, says Diodorus, “that those who exposed themselves to danger in the field might be more ready to undergo the hazards of war, from the interest they felt in the country as occupiers of the soil; for it would be absurd to commit the safety of the community to those who possessed nothing which they were interested in preserving.” Each soldier, whether on duty or no, was allowed 12 arouræ of land (a little more than eight English acres) free from all charge; and another important privilege was, that no soldier could be cast into prison for debt; Bocchoris, the framer of this law, considering that it would be dangerous to allow the civil power the right of arresting those who were the chief defence of the state. They were instructed from their youth in the duties and requirements of soldiers, and trained in all the exercises that fitted them for an active career; and a sort of military school appears to have been established for the purpose.

Each man was obliged to provide himself with the necessary arms, offensive and defensive, and everything requisite for a campaign; and he was expected to hold himself in readiness for taking the field when required, or for garrison duty. The principal garrisons were posted in the fortified towns of Pelusium, Marea, Eileithyias, Hieraconpolis, Syene, Elephantine, and other intermediate places; and a large portion of the army was frequently called upon, by their warlike monarchs, to invade a foreign country, or to suppress those rebellions which occasionally broke out in the conquered provinces.

The whole military force, consisting of 410,000, was divided into two corps, the Calasiries and Hermotybies. They furnished a body of men to do the duty of royal guards, 1000 of each being annually selected for that purpose; and each soldier had an additional allowance of “five minæ of bread, with two of beef, and four arusters of wine,” as daily rations, during the period of his service.

The Calasiries (Klashr) were the most numerous, and amounted to 250,000 men, at the time that Egypt was most populous. They inhabited the nomes of Thebes, Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes, Sebennytus, Athribis, Pharbæthus, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anysis, and the Isle of Myecphoris, which was opposite Bubastis; and the Hermotybies, who lived in those of Busiris, Saïs, Chemmis, Papremis, the Isle of Prosopitis, and the half of Natho, made up the remaining 160,000. It was here that they abode while retired from military service, and in these nomes their farms or portions of land were situated, which tended to encourage habits of industry, and keep up a taste for active employment.

Besides the native corps they had mercenary troops, who were enrolled either from the nations in alliance with the Egyptians, or from those who had been conquered by them. They were divided into regiments, sometimes disciplined in the same manner as the Egyptians, though allowed to retain their arms and costume; but they were not on the same footing as the native troops; they had no land, and merely received pay, like other hired soldiers. Strabo speaks of them as mercenaries; and the million of men he mentions must have included these foreign auxiliaries. When formally enrolled in the army they were considered a part of it, and accompanied the victorious legions on their return from foreign conquest; and they sometimes assisted in performing garrison duty in Egypt, in the place of those Egyptian troops which were left to guard the conquered provinces.

The strength of the army consisted in archers, whose skill contributed mainly to the successes of the Egyptians; as of our own ancestors; and their importance is shown by the Egyptian “soldier” being represented as an archer kneeling, often preceded by the word “Klashr,” converted by Herodotus into “Calasiris.” They fought either on foot or in chariots, and may therefore be classed under the separate heads of a mounted and unmounted corps; and they constituted a great part of both wings. Several bodies of heavy infantry, divided into regiments, each distinguished by its peculiar arms, formed the centre; and the cavalry (which, according to the Scriptural accounts, was numerous) covered and supported the foot.

288.              Allies of the Egyptians. Thebes.

Though Egyptian horsemen are rarely found on any monuments, they are too frequently and positively noticed in sacred and profane history to allow us to question their employment; and an ancient battle-axe represents a mounted soldier on its blade.

289.              Disciplined troops of the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty. Thebes.

At Jacob’s funeral a great number of chariots and horsemen are said to have accompanied Joseph; horsemen as well as chariots pursued the Israelites on their leaving Egypt; the song of Moses mentions in Pharaoh’s army the “horse an his rider;” Herodotus also represents Amasis “on horseback” in his interview with the messenger of Apries; and Diodorus speaks of 24,000 horse in the army of Sesostris, besides 27,000 war chariots. Shishak, the Egyptian Sheshonk, had with him 60,000 horsemen when he went to fight against Jerusalem; and mention is made of the Egyptian cavalry in other parts of sacred and profane history; as well as in the hieroglyphics, which show that the “command of the cavalry” was a very honourable and important post, and generally held by the most distinguished of the king’s sons.

The Egyptian infantry was divided into regiments, very similar, as Plutarch observes, to the λοχοι and ταξεις of the Greeks; and these were formed and distinguished according to the arms they bore. They consisted of bowmen, spearmen, swordsmen, clubmen, slingers, and other corps, disciplined according to the rules of regular tactics; and the regiments being divided into battalions and companies, each officer had his peculiar rank and command, like the chiliarchs, hecatontarchs, decarchs, and others among the Greeks, or the captains over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, among the Jews. When in battle array, the heavy infantry, armed with spears and shields, and a falchion, or other weapon, was drawn up in the form of an impregnable phalanx;* and the bowmen as well as the light infantry were taught either to act in line, or to adopt more open movements, according to the nature of the ground, or the state of the enemy’s battle. But the phalanx once formed was fixed and unchangeable, and the 10,000 Egyptians in the army of Crœsus could not be induced to oppose a larger front to the enemy, being accustomed always to form in a compact body, having 100 men in each face. Such was the strength of this mass that no efforts of the Persians could avail against it; and Cyrus being unable to break it, after he had defeated the rest of Crœsus’s army, gave the Egyptians honourable terms, assigning them the cities of Larissa and Cyllene, near Cumæ and the sea, for an abode; where their descendants still lived in the time of Xenophon. In that battle the phalanx had adopted the huge shields, reaching to the soldiers’ feet, and completely covering them from the enemy’s missiles, which some of the Egyptian infantry are represented to have used at the period of the VIth Dynasty.

290.              Phalanx of heavy infantry Thebes.

Each battalion, and indeed each company, had its particular standard, which represented a sacred subject,—a king’s name, a sacred boat, an animal, or some emblematic device; and the soldiers either followed or preceded it, according to the service on which they were employed, or as circumstances required. The objects chosen for their standards were such as were regarded by the troops with a superstitious feeling of respect; and being raised, says Diodorus, on a spear (or staff), which an officer bore aloft, they served to point out to the men their respective regiments, encouraged them to the charge, and offered a conspicuous rallying point in the confusion of battle.

The post of standard-bearer was at all times of the greatest importance. He was an officer, and a man of approved valour; and in the Egyptian army he was sometimes distinguished by a peculiar badge suspended from his neck, which consisted of two lions, the emblems of courage, and other devices.

Besides the ordinary standards of regiments were the royal banners, and those borne by the principal persons of the household near the king himself. The peculiar office of carrying these, and the flabella, was reserved for the royal princes, or the sons of the nobility. They had the rank of generals, and were either despatched to take command of a wing, or a division, and remained in attendance upon the monarch; and their post during the royal triumph, the coronation, or other grand ceremonies, was close to his person. Some bore the fans of state behind the throne, or supported the seat on which he was carried to the temple; others held the sceptre, and waved flabella before him; and the privilege of serving on his right, or left, hand depended on the grade they enjoyed. A wing was called “horn,” as by the Greeks and Romans.

291.              Egyptian standards. Thebes.

292.              Officers of the household. Thebes.

The troops were summoned by sound of trumpet instrument, as well as the long drum, used by the Egyptians at the earliest period; and the trumpeters are represented in the battle-scenes of Thebes either standing still, and summoning the troops to form, or in the act of leading them to the charge.

The offensive weapons of the Egyptians were the bow, spear, two species of javelin, sling, a short and straight sword, dagger, knife, falchion or ensis falcatus, axe or hatchet, battle-axe, pole-axe, mace or club, and the lissán,—a curved stick similar to that still in use among the modern Ethiopians. Their defensive arms consisted of a helmet of metal, or a quilted headpiece; a cuirass, or coat of armour, made of metal plates, or quilted with metal bands, and an ample shield. But they had no greaves; and the only coverings to the arms were a part of the cuirass, forming a short sleeve, and extending about half way to the elbow.

The soldier’s chief defence was his shield, which, in length, was equal to about half his height, and generally double its own breadth. It was most commonly covered with bull’s hide, having the hair outwards, sometimes strengthened by one or more rims of metal, and studded with nails or metal pins, the inner part being a wooden frame. It was on this account that the shields of the Egyptians, who had fallen in the battle between Artaxerxes and the younger Cyrus, were collected by the Greeks for firewood, together with arrows, baggage-waggons, and other things made of wood.

293.              Shields. Thebes.

In shape, the Egyptian shield resembled the ordinary funereal tablets found in the tombs, circular at the summit and squared at the base, frequently with a slight increase or swell towards the top; and near the upper part of the outer surface was a circular cavity in lieu of a boss, the use of which is not easily explained. To the inside of the shield was attached a thong, by which they suspended it upon their shoulders, as described by Xenophon, and an instance occurs of a shield so supported, which is shown to be concave within; like that used in Assyria. It appears that the handle was so made that they might pass their arm through it and grasp a spear: but this may only be another mode of representing the shield slung at their back. The handle was sometimes placed horizontally, across the shield, sometimes vertically; but the latter was its more usual position.

294.              Boss of the shield. Thebes.

295.              Thong inside the shield. Thebes.

296.              Concave shield. Thebes.

297.              Mode of carrying the shield. Thebes.

298.              Handle of shield. Thebes.

Some lighter bucklers, furnished with a wooden bar, placed across the upper part, which was held with the hand, are represented at Beni-Hassan; but these appear to have belonged rather to foreigners than to Egyptian soldiers.

299.              Bucklers of unusual form. Beni Hassan.

Some Egyptian shields were of extraordinary dimensions, and varied in form from those generally used, being pointed at the summit. They were of very early date, having been used before the Shepherd invasion; and were the same that the Egyptian phalanx carried in the army of Crœsus, and again in that of Artaxerxes, mentioned by Xenophon. But they were not generally adopted by the Egyptian troops, who found the common shield sufficiently large, and more convenient.

The Egyptian bow was not unlike that used in later times by European archers. The string was either fixed upon a projecting piece of horn, or inserted into a groove or notch in the wood, at either extremity, differing in this respect from that of the Koofa, and some other Asiatic people, who secured the string by passing it over a small nut which projected from the circular ends of the bow.

300.              Large shield of early time O’Suot

301.              String of bow belonging to the Koofa. Thebes.

The Ethiopians and Libyans, who were famed for their skill in archery, adopted the same method of fastening the string as the Egyptians, and their bow was similar in form and size to that of their neighbours.

The Egyptian bow was a round piece of wood, from five to five feet and a half in length, either almost straight, and tapering to a point at both ends; some of which are represented in the sculptures, and have even been found at Thebes; or curving inwards in the middle, when unstrung, as in the paintings of the tombs of the kings; and in some instances a piece of leather or wood was attached to or let into it, above and below the centre.

302.              Egyptian bows. Thebes.

In stringing it, the Egyptians fixed the lower point in the ground, and, standing or seated, the knee pressed against the inner side of the bow, they bent it with one hand, and then passed the string with the other into the notch at the upper extremity; and one instance occurs of a man resting the bow on his shoulder, and bracing it in that position. While shooting, they frequently wore a guard on the left arm, to prevent its being hurt by the string; and this was fastened round the wrist, and secured by a thong tied above the elbow. Sometimes a groove of metal was fixed upon the fore knuckle, in which the arrow rested and ran when discharged; and the chasseur, whose bow appears to have been less powerful than those used in war, occasionally held spare arrows in his right hand, while he pulled the string. (Woodcut 306.)

303.              Usual mode of stringing the bow. Thebes and Beni Hassan.

304.              Stringing a bow. Beni Hassan.

305.              A guard worn on the wrist. Thebes.

Their mode of drawing it was either with the forefinger and thumb, or the two forefingers; and though in the chase they often brought the arrow merely to the breast, (—a sort of snapshooting adopted in the buffalo hunts of America—), their custom in war, as with the old English archers, was to carry it to the ear, the shaft of the arrow passing very nearly in a line with the eye.

The Egyptian bow-string was generally of catgut; and so great was their confidence in the strength of it and of the bow, that an archer from his car sometimes used them to entangle his opponent, whilst he smote him with a sword.

306.              Carrying spare arrows in the hand. Thebes.

307.              Arrows made of reed.

308.              Salt’s Collection.

Their arrows varied from twenty-two to thirty-four inches in length; some were of wood, others of reed; frequently tipped with a metal head; and winged with three feathers, glued longitudinally, and at equal distances, upon the other end of the shaft, as on our own arrows. Sometimes, instead of the metal head, a piece of hard wood was inserted into the reed, which terminated in a long tapering point; but these were of too light and powerless a nature to be employed in war, and could only have been intended for the chase; in others, the place of the metal was supplied by a small piece of flint, or other sharp stone, secured by a firm black paste; and though used occasionally in battle, they appear from the sculptures to have belonged more particularly to the huntsman; and the arrows of archers are generally represented with bronze heads, some barbed, others triangular, and many with three or four projecting blades, placed at right angles, and meeting in a common point. Stone-tipped arrows were not confined to an ancient era, nor were they peculiar to the Egyptians; the Persians and other eastern people frequently used them, even in war; and recent discoveries have ascertained that they were adopted by the Greeks themselves, several having been found in places unvisited by the troops of Persia, as well as on the plain of Marathon, and other fields of battle where they fought.

309.              Metal heads of arrows. Alnwick Museum and Thebes.

Fig. 4 had its shank (a) let into the hollow end of the shaft, and the projection above b acted as a stop.

Each bowman was furnished with a capacious quiver, about four inches in diameter, and consequently containing a plentiful supply of arrows, which was supported by a belt, passing over the shoulder, and across the breast, to the opposite side. Their mode of carrying it differed from that of the Greeks, who bore it upon their shoulder, and from that of some Asiatic people, who suspended it vertically at their back, almost on a level with the elbow; or at their thigh; the usual custom of the Egyptian soldier being to fix it nearly in a horizontal position, and to draw out the arrows from beneath his arm. Instances also occur in the sculptures of the quiver placed at the back, and projecting above the top of the shoulder; but this appears to have been only during the march, or at a time when the arrows were not required. It was closed by a lid or cover, like the quiver itself, highly decorated; and, when belonging to a chief, surmounted with the head of a lion, or other ornament; and this, on being thrown open, remained attached by a leather thong.

They had also a case for the bow, intended to protect it against the sun or damp, and to preserve its elasticity; which was opened by drawing off a moveable cap of soft leather sewed to the upper end. It was always attached to the war-chariots; and across it, inclined in an opposite direction, another large case, containing two spears and an extra supply of arrows; and, besides the quiver he wore, the warrior had frequently three others attached to his car.

Archers of the infantry were furnished with a smaller sheath for the bow, of which it covered the centre, leaving the two ends exposed; and, being of a pliable substance, probably leather, it was put round the bow, as they held it in their hand during a march. Besides the bow, their principal weapon of offence, they, like the mounted archers who fought in cars, were provided with a falchion, dagger, curved stick, mace, or battle-axe, for close combat when their arrows were exhausted; and their defensive arms were the helmet, or quilted headpiece, and a coat of the same materials; but they had no shield, that being an impediment to the free use of the bow.

The spear, or pike, was of wood, between five and six feet in length, with a metal head, into which the shaft was inserted and fixed with nails. The head was of bronze or iron, often very large, and with a double edge; but the spear does not appear to have been furnished with a metal point at the other extremity, called σαυρωτηρ by Homer, which is still adopted in Turkish, modern Egyptian, and other spears, in order to plant them upright in the ground; as the spear of Saul was fixed near his head, while he “lay sleeping within the trench.” Spears of this kind may sometimes come under the denomination of javelins, the metal being intended as well for a counterpoise in their flight as for the purpose above mentioned; but such an addition to those of the heavy-armed infantry was neither requisite nor convenient.

The javelin, lighter and shorter than the spear, was also of wood, and similarly armed with a strong two-edged metal head, of an elongated diamond, or leaf shape, either flat, or increasing in thickness at the centre, and sometimes tapering to a very long point; and the upper extremity of its shaft terminated in a bronze knob, surmounted by a ball with two thongs or tassels, intended both as an ornament and a counterpoise to the weight of its point. It was used like a spear, for thrusting, being held with one or with two hands; and occasionally, when the adversary was within reach, it was darted, and still retained in the warrior’s grasp; the shaft being allowed to pass through his hand till stopped by the blow, or by the fingers suddenly closing on the band of metal at the end; a custom still common among the modern Nubians and Ababdeh. They had another javelin, apparently of wood, tapering to a sharp point, without the usual metal head; and a still lighter kind, armed with a small bronze point, which was frequently four-sided, three-bladed, or broad and nearly flat; and, from the upper end of the shaft being destitute of any metal counterpoise, it resembled a dart now used by the people of Dar-Foor, and other African tribes, who, without any scientific knowledge of projectiles, and of the curve of a parabola, dexterously strike their enemy with its falling point.

310.              Javelin and spear heads. Thebes.

310 a.              Berlin Museum.

311.              Heads of small javelins. Alnwick Museum and Thebes.

Another inferior kind of javelin was made of reed, with a metal head; but this can scarcely be considered a military weapon, nor would it hold a high rank among those employed by the Egyptian chasseur, most of which were of excellent workmanship.

The sling was a thong of leather, or string plaited; broad in the middle, and having a loop at one end, by which it was fixed upon and firmly held with the hand; the other extremity terminating in a lash, which escaped from the finger as the stone was thrown: and when used, the slinger whirled it two or three times over his head, to steady it and increase the impetus.

312.              Slingers. Beni Hassan and Thebes.

It was an arm looked upon by many of the Greeks with great contempt; but, when exposed to the missiles of the Persians, the “Ten thousand” found the necessity of adopting it; and the leaden bullet of the Rhodian slingers proved, by its greater range, its superiority over the large stones thrown by the enemy. Other Greeks were also skilful with the sling, as the Achæans and Acarnanians; but the people most renowned for it were the natives of the Balearic Islands, who considered the sling of so much importance that the principal care of a parent was to instruct a boy in its use; and he was not permitted to have his breakfast, until he had dislodged it from a beam with the sling. This unpleasant alternative does not appear to have been imposed on the more fortunate sons of an Egyptian family, nor was the same consequence attached to the sling as to the bow and many other weapons.

Most Greeks, who used the sling, threw leaden plummets of an elongated spherical shape, or, rather, like an olive pointed at each end;—proving that the principle of “the pointed ball” was not unknown to them; and, indeed, all boys have long since found that an oval-shaped stone goes farther than a round one. Some had a thunderbolt represented upon them; and others bore the name of the person to whom they belonged, or a word, as ΑΓΩΝΙΣ, or ΔΕΞΑΙ—“Take that.”

The Achæans, like the Egyptians, loaded their sling with a round pebble; and a bagful of these hung from a belt over the shoulder.

The Egyptian sword was straight and short, from two and a half to three feet in length, having generally a double edge, and tapering to a sharp point. It was used for cut and thrust. They had also a dagger, the handle of which, hollowed in the centre, and gradually increasing in thickness at either extremity, was inlaid with costly stones, precious woods, or metals; and the pommel of that worn by the king in his girdle was frequently surmounted by one or two heads of a hawk, the symbol of Phrah, or the Sun, the title given to the monarchs of the Nile. It was much smaller than the sword: its blade was about ten or seven inches in length, tapering gradually in breadth, from one inch and a half to two-thirds of an inch, towards the point; and the total length, with the handle, only completed a foot or sixteen inches. The blade was bronze, thicker in the middle than at the edges, and slightly grooved in that part; and so exquisitely was the metal worked, that some retain their pliability and spring after a period of several thousand years, and almost resemble steel in elasticity. Such is the dagger of the Berlin collection, which was discovered in a Theban tomb, together with its leathern sheath. The handle is partly covered with metal, and adorned with numerous small pins and studs of gold, which are purposely shown through suitable openings in the front part of the sheath; but the upper extremity consists solely of bone, neither ornamented nor covered with any metal casing. Other instances of this have been found; and a dagger in Mr. Salt’s collection, now in the British Museum, measuring 11½ inches in length, had the handle formed in a similar manner.

313.              Daggers in their sheaths, with inlaid handles. Thebes.

314.              Stabbing an enemy. Thebes.

315.              Mode of wearing the dagger. Thebes.

316.              Dagger, with its sheath. Berlin Museum.

317.              Egyptian dagger, 11½ inches. British Museum.

I have the blade of a smaller dagger, also of bronze, bearing the Amunoph II., 5¼ inches long, found at Thebes; and a knife, apparently of steel, is represented in the paintings, which had a single edge.

There was also a falchion called Shopsh, or Khopsh; resembling in form and name the κοπις of the Argives, reputed to be an Egyptian colony. It was more generally used than the sword, being borne by light as well as heavy armed troops; and that it was a most efficient weapon is evident, as well from the size and form of the blade as from its weight; the back of this bronze or iron blade being sometimes cased with brass.

Officers as well as privates carried the falchion; and the king himself is frequently represented in close combat with the enemy, armed with it, or with the hatchet, battle-axe, pole-axe, or mace. A simple stick is more usually seen in the hand of officers commanding corps of infantry; but they had also other weapons; and, in leading their troops to the charge, they were armed in the same manner as the king when he fought on foot.

318.              Axes and hatchets. Thebes, and Salt’s Collection.

The axe, or hatchet, was small and simple, seldom exceeding two, or two feet and a half, in length: it had a single blade, and no instance is met with of a double axe resembling the bipennis of the Romans. It was of the same form as that used by the Egyptian carpenters; and served for close combat as well as for breaking down the gates of a town, and felling trees to construct engines for an assault. Independent of the bronze pins which secured the blade, the handle was bound in that part with thongs of hide, in order to prevent the wood, grooved to admit the metal, from splitting, when a blow was struck.

The axe was less ornamented than other weapons: some bore the figure of an animal, a boat, or fancy device, engraved upon the blade; and the handle, frequently terminating in the shape of a gazelle’s foot, was marked with circular and diagonal lines, representing bands, as on the projecting torus of an Egyptian temple, or like the ligature of the Roman fasces. The soldier, on his march, either held it in his hand, or suspended it at his back with the blade downwards; but it does not appear from the sculptures to have been covered by a sheath, nor is any mode of wearing a sword indicated by them, except as a dagger in the girdle, the point sloping to the left.

The blade of the battle-axe was, in form, not unlike the Parthian shield; a segment of a circle, divided at the back into two smaller segments, whose three points were fastened to the handle with metal pins. It was of bronze, and sometimes (as the colour of those in the paintings shows) of steel; and the length of the handle was equal to, or more than double that of, the blade. In the British Museum is a portion of one of these weapons. Its bronze blade is thirteen inches and a half long, and two and a half broad, inserted into a silver tube, secured with nails of the same metal. The wooden handle once fixed into this tube is wanting; but, judging from those represented at Thebes, it was considerably longer than the tube, and even protruded a little beyond the extremity of the blade, where it was sometimes ornamented with the head of a lion or other device, receding slightly, so as not to interfere with the blow. The total length of these battle-axes may have been from three to four feet, and sometimes much less; and their blades varied slightly in shape.

319.              3, 4, 5, 6. Battle-axes, from the sculptures. Thebes and Beni Hassan.

The pole-axe was about three feet in length, but apparently more difficult to wield than the preceding, owing to the great weight of a metal ball to which the blade was fixed; and required, like the mace, a powerful as well as a skilful arm. The handle was generally about two feet in length, sometimes much longer; the ball four inches in its greatest diameter, and the blade varied from ten to fourteen inches, by two and three in breadth.

320.              Pole-axe. Thebes.

The mace was very similar to the pole-axe, without a blade It was of wood, bound with bronze, about two feet and a half in length, and furnished with an angular piece of metal, projecting from the handle, which may have been intended as a guard, though in many instances they represent the hand placed above it, while the blow was given.

321.              Maces. Thebes.

They had another mace, similar in many respects to this, without the ball, and, to judge from its frequent occurrence in the sculptures, more generally used, and evidently far more manageable; but the former was the most formidable weapon against armour (like that used for the same purpose by the Memlooks, and the modern people of Cutch); and no shield, helmet, or cuirass, could have been a sufficient protection against the impetus given it by a powerful arm. Neither of these was peculiar to the chiefs: all the soldiers in some infantry regiments were armed with them; and a charioteer was furnished with one or more, which he carried in a case attached with the quiver to the side of his car. A club has also been found, and is now in the British Museum, armed with wooden teeth, similar to those in the South Sea Islands; but it was probably of some rude, foreign people, and is not represented on the monuments.

In ancient times, when the fate of a battle was frequently decided by personal valour, the dexterous management of such arms was of great importance; and a band of resolute veterans, headed by a gallant chief, spread dismay among the ranks of an enemy.

They had another kind of mace, sometimes of uniform thickness through its whole length, sometimes broader at the upper end, without either the ball or guard; and many of their allies carried a rude, heavy club; but no body of native troops was armed with this last, and it cannot be considered an Egyptian weapon.

The curved stick, or club (now called lissán “tongue”), was used by heavy and light-armed troops as well as by archers; and if it does not appear a formidable arm, yet the experience of modern times bears ample testimony to its efficacy in close combat. To the Bisharieen it supplies the place of a sword; and the Ababdeh, content with this, their spear, and shield, fear not to encounter other tribes armed with the matchlock and the yatagán. In length it is about two feet and a half, and is made of a hard acacia wood.

322.              Curved stick or club. Thebes.

The helmet was usually quilted; and though bronze helmets are said to have been worn by the Egyptians, they generally adopted the former, which being thick, and well padded, served as an excellent protection to the head, without the inconvenience of metal in so hot a climate. Some of them descended to the shoulder, others only a short distance below the level of the ear; and the summit, terminating in an obtuse point, was ornamented with two tassels. They were of a green, red, or black colour; and a longer one, which fitted less closely to the back of the head, was fringed at the lower edge with a broad border, and in some instances consisted of two parts, or an upper and under fold.* Another, worn by the spearmen, and many corps of infantry and charioteers, was also quilted, and descended to the shoulder with a fringe; but it had no tassels, and, fitting close to the top of the head, it widened towards the base, the front, which covered the forehead, being made of a separate piece, attached to the other part.

There is no representation of an Egyptian helmet with a crest, but that of the Shairetana, once enemies and afterwards allies of the Pharaohs, shows they were used long before the Trojan war.

323.              Helmets or head-pieces. Thebes.

The outer surface of the corslet of mail, or coat of scale-armour, consisted of about eleven horizontal rows of metal plates, well secured by bronze pins; and at the hollow of the throat a narrower range of plates was introduced, above which were two more, completing the collar or covering of the neck. The breadth of each plate or scale was little more than an inch, eleven or twelve of them sufficing to cover the front of the body; and the sleeves, which were sometimes so short as to extend less than half way to the elbow, consisted of two rows of similar plates. Many, indeed most, of the corslets were without collars; in some the sleeves were rather longer, reaching nearly to the elbow, and they were worn both by heavy infantry and bowmen. The ordinary corslet may have been little less than two feet and a half in length; it sometimes covered the thighs nearly to the knee; and in order to prevent its pressing heavily upon the shoulder, they bound their girdle over it, and tightened it at the waist. But the thighs, and that part of the body below the girdle, were usually covered by a kelt, or other robe, detached from the corslet; and many of the light and heavy infantry were clad in a quilted vest of the same form as the coat of armour, for which it was a substitute; and some wore corslets, reaching only from the waist to the upper part of the breast, and supported by straps over the shoulder, which were faced with bronze plates. A portion of one is in Dr. Abbott’s collection. It is made of bronze plates (in the form of Egyptian shields), overlapping each other, and sewed upon a leathern doublet; two of which have the name of Sheshonk (Shishak), showing it either belonged to that king, or to some great officer of his court.

324.              Fig. 1 Corslet, worked in colours.

Fig. 2. Corslet, with metal scales. Tomb of Remeses III. Thebes.

324 a.              Plates of scale-armour.

Fig. 1. With the name of Sheshonk.

Among the arms painted in the tomb of Remeses III., at Thebes, is a corslet made of rich stuff, with the figures of lions and other animals worked upon it, and edged with a neat border, terminating below in a fringe; evidently the same kind of corslet, “ornamented with animals embroidered upon it,” which was sent by Amasis as a present to Minerva in Lindus. (Woodcut 324, fig. 1.)

Heavy-armed troops were furnished with a shield and spear; some with a shield and mace; and others, though rarely, with a battle-axe, or a pole-axe, and shield. They also carried a sword, falchion, curved stick or lissan, simple mace, or hatchet; which may be looked upon as their side-arms.

The light troops had nearly the same weapons, but their defensive armour was lighter; and the slingers and some others fought, like the archers, without shields.

The chariot corps constituted a very large and effective portion of the Egyptian army. Each car contained two persons, like the diphros (διφρος) of the Greeks. On some occasions it carried three, the charioteer or driver and two chiefs; but this was rarely the case, except in triumphal processions, when two of the princes accompanied the king in their chariot, bearing the regal sceptre, or the flabella, and required a third person to manage the reins. In the field each had his own car, with a charioteer; and the insignia of his office being attached behind him by a broad belt, his hands were free for the use of the bow and other arms. The driver generally stood on the off-side, in order to have the whiphand free; and this interfered less with the use of the bow, than the Greek custom of driving on the near-side; which last was adopted in Greece as being more convenient for throwing the spear. When on an excursion for pleasure, or on a visit to a friend, an Egyptian gentleman mounted alone, and drove himself, footmen and other attendants running before and behind the car; and sometimes an archer used his bow and acted as his own charioteer.

325.              Egyptian soldiers of different corps. Thebes.

326.              The royal princes in their chariots. Thebes.

In the battle scenes of the Egyptian temples, the king is represented alone in his car, unattended by any charioteer; with the reins fastened round his body, while engaged in bending his bow against the enemy; though it is possible that the driver was omitted, in order not to interfere with the principal figure. The king had always a “second chariot,” in order to provide against accidents; as Josiah is stated to have had when defeated by Necho; and the same was in attendance on state occasions.

327.              The son of King Remeses with his charioteer. Thebes.

The cars of the whole chariot corps contained each two warriors, comrades of equal rank; and the charioteer who accompanied a chief was a person of confidence, as we see from the familiar manner in which one of them is represented conversing with a son of the great Remeses. (Woodcut 327.)

In driving, the Egyptians used a whip, like the heroes and charioteers of Homer; and this, or a short stick, was generally employed even for beasts of burden, and for oxen at the plough, in preference to the goad. The whip consisted of a smooth round wooden handle, and a single or double thong: it sometimes had a lash of leather, or string, about two feet in length, either twisted or plaited; and a loop being attached to the lower end, the archer was enabled to use the bow, while it hung suspended from his wrist.

328.              Whips. Thebes.

When a hero encountered a hostile chief, he sometimes dismounted from his car, and substituting for his bow and quiver the spear, battle-axe, or falchion, he closed with him hand to hand, like the Greeks and Trojans described by Homer: and the lifeless body of the foe being left upon the field, was stripped of its arms by his companions. Sometimes a wounded adversary, incapable of further resistance, having claimed and obtained the mercy of the victor, was carried from the field in his chariot; and the ordinary captives, who laid down their arms and yielded to the Egyptians, were treated as prisoners of war, and were sent bound to the rear under an escort, to be presented to the monarch, and to grace his triumph, after the termination of the conflict. The hands of the slain were then counted before him; and this return of the enemy’s killed was duly registered, to commemorate his success, and the glories of his reign.

329.              Whip suspended from the wrist of the archer. Thebes.

The Egyptian chariots had no seat; but the bottom part consisted of a frame interlaced with thongs or rope, forming a species of network, in order, by its elasticity, to render the motion of a carriage without springs more easy: and this was also provided for by placing the wheels as far back as possible, and resting much of the weight on the horses, which supported the pole.

That the chariot was of wood is sufficiently proved by the sculptures, wherever workmen are seen employed in making it and the fact of their having more than 3000 years ago already invented and commonly used a form of pole, only introduced into our own country between forty and fifty years, is an instance of the truth of Solomon’s assertion, “there is no new thing under the sun,” and shows the skill of their workmen at that remote time.

330.              Making the pole and other parts of a chariot. Thebes.

The body of the car was exceedingly light, consisting of a painted wooden framework, strengthened and ornamented with metal and leather binding, like many of those mentioned by Homer: the bottom part rested on the axle-tree and lower extremity of the pole, which was itself inserted into the axle, or a socket attached to it; and some chariots are shown by the monuments to have been “inlaid with silver and gold, others painted;”—the latter, as might be expected, the most numerous, 61 of them being mentioned to 9 of the former. The upper rim of its front was fastened to the pole by a couple of thongs or straps, to steady it, like the straps at the back of our modern chariots and coaches; and when the horses were taken out, the pole was supported on a crutch, or the wooden figure of a man, representing a captive, or enemy, who was considered fitted for this degrading office.

The greater portion of the sides, and the whole of the back, were open; the latter indeed entirely so, without any rim or framework above; and the hinder part of the lateral framework commenced nearly in a line with the centre of the wheel, and rising perpendicularly, or slightly inclined backwards, from the base of the car, extended with a curve, at the height of about two feet and a half, to the front, serving, as well for a safeguard to the driver, as a support for his quivers and bow-case. To strengthen it, three thongs of leather were attached at either side, and an upright of wood connected it with the base of the front part immediately above the pole, where the straps before mentioned were fastened.

The bow-case, frequently richly ornamented, with the figure of a lion or other devices, was placed in an inclined position, pointing forwards; its upper edge, immediately below the flexible leather cover, being generally on a level with the summit of the framework of the chariot; so that when the bow was drawn out, the leather cover fell downwards, and left the upper part on an uninterrupted level. In battle this was of course a matter of no importance; but in the city, where the bow-case was considered an elegant part of the ornamental hangings of a car, and continued to be attached to it, they paid some attention to the position and fall of the pendent cover, deprived, as it there was, of its bow; for, as I have observed, the civilised state of Egyptian society required the absence of all arms, except on service. The quivers and spear-cases were suspended in a contrary direction, pointing backwards; sometimes an additional quiver was attached close to the bow-case, with a mace and other arms, and every war chariot containing two men was furnished with the same number of bows.

331.              A war chariot, with bow-cases and complete furniture. Thebes.

332.              Chariot of the Rot-ǹ-n. Thebes.

The processes of making the pole, wheels, and other parts of the chariot are often represented, and even the mode of bending the wood for the purpose. In the ornamental trappings, hangings, and binding of the framework and cases, leather was principally used, dyed of various hues, and afterwards adorned with metal edges and studs; and the wheels, strengthened at the joints of the felly with bronze or brass bands, were bound with a hoop of metal. The Egyptians themselves have not failed to point out what parts were the peculiar province of the carpenter, and of the currier. The body and framework of the car, the pole, yoke, and wheels, were the work of the former; the cases for the bows and other arms, the saddle and harness, the binding of the framework, and the coverings of the body, were finished by the currier; and lest it should not be sufficiently evident that they are engaged in cutting and bending the leather for this purpose, the artist has distinctly pointed out the nature of the substance they employed, by figuring an entire skin, and the soles of a pair of shoes, or sandals, suspended in the shop; and we find a semicircular knife used by the Egyptians to cut leather precisely similar to our own, even in the remote age of king Amunoph II., who lived 14 centuries before our era.

333.              Cutting leather, and binding a car. Thebes.

334.              Bending and preparing the wood-work of a chariot. Thebes.

In war chariots, the wheels had six spokes, generally round; in many curricles, or private cars, employed in towns, only four; and the wheel was fixed to the axle by a small linch-pin, sometimes surmounted with a fanciful head, and secured by a thong which passed through the lower end.

The harness of curricles and war chariots was nearly similar; and the pole in either case was supported on a curved yoke fixed to its extremity by a strong pin, and bound with straps or thongs of leather. The yoke, resting upon a small well-padded saddle, was firmly fitted into a groove of metal; and the saddle, placed upon the horses’ withers, and furnished with girths and a breastband, was surmounted by an ornamental knob; and in front of it a small hook secured the bearing-rein. The other reins passed through a thong or ring at the side of the saddle, and thence over the projecting extremity of the yoke; and the same thong secured the girths, and even appears in some instances to have been attached to them. In the war chariots, a large ball, placed upon a shaft, projected above the saddle, which was either intended to give a greater power to the driver, by enabling him to draw the reins over a groove in its centre; or was added solely for an ornamental purpose, like the fancy head-dresses of the horses, and fixed to the yoke immediately above the centre of the saddle, or rather to the head of a pin which connected the yoke to the pole.

335.              Chariots in perspective, from a comparison of different sculptures.

The traces were single, one only on the inner side of each horse, fastened to the lower part of the pole, and thence extending to the saddle; but no exterior trace was thought necessary: and no provision was made for attaching it to the car. Indeed the yoke sufficed for all the purposes of draught as well as for backing the chariot; and being fixed to the saddle, it kept the horses at the same distance and in the same relative position, and prevented their breaking outwards from the line of draught. In order to render this more intelligible, I shall introduce a pair of horses yoked to a chariot according to the rules of European drawing, derived from a comparison of the numerous representations in the sculptures, omitting only their housings and head-dress, which may be readily understood in an Egyptian picture. I have also followed the Egyptian fashion of putting a chesnut and a grey together, which was thought quite as correct in ancient Egypt, as it now is in England.

On grand occasions the Egyptian horses were decked with fancy ornaments: a rich striped or checkered housing, trimmed with a broad border and large pendent tassels, covered the whole body; and two or more feathers inserted in lions’ heads, or some other device of gold, formed a crest upon the summit of the head-stall. But this display was confined to the chariots of the monarch, or the military chiefs; and it was thought sufficient, in the harness of other cars, and in the town curricle, to adorn the bridles with rosettes, which resemble those used in England at the present day.

They had no blinkers; but the head and upper part of the neck were frequently enveloped in a rich covering similar to the housing, trimmed with a leather fringe; and the bridle consisted of two check pieces, a throat-lash, head-stall, and the forehead and nose straps.

No instance occurs of Egyptian chariots with more than two horses; nor is there any representation of a carriage with shafts drawn by one horse; but a pair of shafts have been found, with a wheel of curious construction, having a wooden tire to the felly, and an inner circle, probably of metal, which passed through, and connected, its six spokes a short distance from the nave (A A). The diameter of the wheel was about 3 ft. 1 in. The felly was in six pieces, the end of one overlapping the other; and the tire was fastened to it by bands of raw hide passing through long narrow holes made to receive them (B B). It is uncertain whether the carriage they belonged to had two or four wheels; for though an instance does occur of an Egyptian four-wheeled car, it is a singular one, and it was only used for religious purposes, like that mentioned by Herodotus.

335 a.              An Egyptian car and horses in perspective, designed from a comparison of different sculptures.

336.              Fig. 1. Wheel; 3 ft. 1 in. diameter. In the Collection of Dr. Abbott.

Fig. 4. Shafts; 11 feet in total length.

337.              Singular instance of a four-wheeled carriage, on the bandages of a mummy, belonging to S. d’Athanasi.

The travelling carriage drawn by two oxen was very like the common chariot; but the sides appear to have been closed. It had also one pair of wheels with six spokes, and the same kind of pole and harness. An umbrella was sometimes fixed over it when used for women of rank, as over the king’s chariot on certain occasions; and the bow-case with the bow in it shows that a long journey from Ethiopia required arms; the lady within being on her way to pay a visit to the Egyptian king. She has a very large retinue with her, bringing many presents: and the whole subject calls to mind the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon.

The chariots used by contemporary Eastern nations, with whom the Egyptians were at war, were not dissimilar in their general form, or in the mode of yoking the horses (even if they differed in the number of persons they contained, having usually three instead of the two in Egyptian and Greek cars); as may be seen from that which is brought, with its two unyoked horses, as a present to the Egyptian monarch, by the conquered people of Rot-ǹ-n, and one found in Egypt, and now in the museum at Florence. This last is supposed to have been taken in war from the Scythians; but it appears rather to be one of those brought to Egypt with the rest of a tribute, as a token of submission, being too slight for use.

338.              An Ethiopian princess travelling in a plaustrum or car drawn by oxen sort of umbrella. 3. An attendant. 4. The charioteer or driver

Over her is a Thebes.

339.              Car and bow, in the collection at Florence (from the great work of Professor Rosellini).

In Solomon’s time chariots and horses were exported from Egypt, and supplied Judæa, as well as “the kings of the Hittites, and of Syria;” but in early times they appear not to have been used in Egypt, and they are not found on the monuments before the eighteenth dynasty. For though the Egyptian name of the horse was hthor, the mare was called, as in Hebrew, “sûs,” (pl. “susim;”) which argues its Semitic origin; fáras, “the mare,” being still the generic name of the Arab horse; and if its introduction was really owing to the invasion of the Shepherds, they thereby benefited Egypt as much, as by causing the union of the whole country under one king.

The Egyptians sometimes drove a pair of mules, instead of horses, in the chariots used in towns, or in the country; an instance of which occurs in a painting now in the British Museum.

The Egyptian chariot corps, like the infantry, were divided into light and heavy troops, both armed with bows: the former chiefly employed in harassing the enemy with missiles, and in evolutions requiring rapidity of movement; the latter called upon to break through opposing masses of infantry, after having galled them during their advance with a heavy shower of arrows; and, in order to enable them to charge with greater security, they were furnished with a shield, which was not required for the other mounted archers, and a long spear was substituted on these occasions for the missiles they had previously employed. The light-armed chariot corps were also supplied with weapons adapted to close combat, as the sword, club, and javelin; but they had neither spear nor shield. The heavy infantry, and light troops employed in the assault of fortified towns, were all provided with shields, under cover of which they made approaches to the place; and so closely was the idea of a siege connected with this arm, that a figure of the king, who is sometimes introduced in the sculptures, as the representative of the whole army, advancing with the shield before him, is intended to show that the place was taken by assault.

In attacking a fortified town, they advanced under cover of the arrows of the bowmen; and either instantly applied the scaling-ladder to the ramparts, or undertook the routine of a regular siege: in which case, having advanced to the walls, they posted themselves under cover of testudos, and shook and dislodged the stones of the parapet with a species of battering-ram, directed and impelled by a body of men expressly chosen for this service: but when the place held out against these attacks, and neither a coup de main, the ladder, nor the ram, were found to succeed, they used the testudo for concealing and protecting the sappers, while they mined the place; and certainly, of all people, the Egyptians were the most likely to have recourse to this stratagem of war, from the great practice they had in underground excavations, and in directing shafts through the solid rock.

The testudo was of frame-work, sometimes supported by poles having a forked summit, and covered, in all probability, with hides; it was sufficiently large to contain several men, and so placed that the light troops might mount upon the outside, and thus obtain a footing on more elevated ground, apply the ladders with greater precision, or obtain some other important advantage; and each party was commanded by an officer of skill, and frequently by those of the first rank.

They also endeavoured to force open the gates of the town, or hew them down with axes; and when the fort was built upon a rock, they escaladed the precipitous part by means of the testudo, or by short spikes of metal, which they forced into the crevices of the stone, and then applied the ladder to the ramparts.

340.              Use of the testudo. Beni Hassan.

341.              Assault of a fort. The testudo and scaling ladder. Thebes.

They had several other engines for sieges not represented in the sculptures; and the bulwarks used by the Jews, on their march to the promised land, were doubtless borrowed from those of Egypt, where they had lived until they became a nation. The bulwarks, or moveable towers, were of wood, and made on the spot during the siege, the trees of the neighbouring country being cut down for the purpose: but the Jews were forbidden to fell a fruit-tree for the construction of warlike engines, or any except those which grew wild, or in an uncultivated spot.

The northern and eastern tribes, against whom the Egyptians fought, were armed in many instances with the same weapons as the disciplined troops of the Pharaohs, as bows and spears; they had besides long swords, rude massive clubs, and knives; and their coats of mail, helmets, and shields varied in form according to the custom of each nation. They also used stones, which were thrown with the hand, while defending the walls of a besieged town; but it does not appear that either the Egyptians, or their enemies, threw them on any other occasions, except with a sling.

The most distinguished peculiarities of some of the nations at war with the Egyptians were the forms of the head-dress and shield. One of these, the Shairetana, a people inhabiting a country of Asia, near a river, a lake, or a sea, wore a helmet ornamented with horns, projecting from its circular summit, and frequently surmounted by a crest, consisting of a ball raised upon a small shaft; which is the earliest instance of a crest, and shows that it really had an Asiatic origin.

The Shairetana were also distinguished by a round shield, and the use of long spears and javelins, with a pointed sword; they were clad in a short dress, and frequently had a coat of mail, or rather a cuirass, composed of broad metal plates overlaying each other, adapted to the form of the body, and secured at the waist by a girdle. Some allowed their beards to grow; and they very generally adopted a custom, common to most early nations, of wearing large ear-rings. Layard supposes them to be the Sharutinians (near the modern Antioch) mentioned among the conquests of the Assyrian king at Nimroud.

342.              Some of those people with whom the Egyptians were at war. Thebes.

343.              Carts of the Tokkari, at the time of their defeat. Thebes.

Their features were usually large, the nose prominent and aquiline; and in their complexion, as well as their hair, they were of a far lighter hue than the Egyptians. At one time they were the enemies, at another the allies, of the Pharaohs: and they assisted Remeses II. against the Khita.

The Tokkari wore a helmet, in form and appearance very similar to those represented in the sculptures of Persepolis. It appears to have been made of a kind of cloth, marked with coloured stripes; the rim adorned with a row of large beads or other ornamental devices, and it was secured by a thong or riband tied below the chin. They had also a round shield and short dress, frequently with a coat of armour similar to that of the Shairetana; and their offensive weapons consisted principally of a spear, and a large pointed knife, or straight sword. They sometimes, though rarely, had a beard, which was still more unusual with the chiefs: their features were regular, the nose slightly aquiline: and whenever the Egyptian artists have represented them on a large scale, their face presents a more pleasing outline than the generality of these Asiatic people. They fought, like the Egyptians, in chariots; and had carts or waggons, with two solid wheels, drawn by a pair of oxen; which appear to have been placed in the rear, as in the Scythian and Tartar armies, and were used for carrying off the old men, women, and children, in defeat. They were also at one time allies of the Pharaohs, and assisted them in their long wars against the Rebo.

Another people, whose name is lost, were distinguished by a costume of a very Oriental character, consisting of a high fur-cap, not unlike one worn by the ancient Persians and that of the modern Tartars; a tight dress, with the usual girdle; and a short kelt, common to many Asiatic nations, which, apparently divided and folding over in front, was tied at the bottom with strings. Round their neck, and falling upon the breast, was a large round amulet, very similar to those of agate worn by the dervishes of the East, in which they resembled the Assyrian captives of Tirhakah, represented on the walls of Medeenet Haboo. Their features were remarkable; and though in the sculptures they occasionally vary in appearance, from the presence or the absence of a beard, the strongly defined contour of the face and the high bridge of their prominent nose sufficiently distinguish them from other people, and show that the artist has intended to convey a notion of these peculiar characteristics.

Their arms consisted of two javelins, a club, and falchion, and a shield like that of the Egyptians, with a round summit. They were on terms of friendship with the third Remeses, and assisted him in his wars against the Rebo; and though they occur among the foreigners who had been conquered by the arms of Egypt, the same feeling of inveterate enmity, arising from a repeated succession of conflicts, did not exist towards them as towards many other Asiatic tribes. The same remark applies to another people, represented at Medeenet Haboo, as allies of the Egyptians, whose name has been unfortunately lost: they were clad in a short tight dress, and carried a shield, like the former, with a bow and a heavy club; but of their features we have little or no knowledge, owing to the imperfect state of the sculptures.

Among the most formidable Asiatic enemies encountered by the Egyptians were the Rebo, with whom they had frequent and severe contests.

One of the principal military events in the glorious reign of the great Remeses was his success against them; and three victories gained over the Rebo by Remeses III., about a century later, were great triumphs for the Egyptians.

From the style of their costume, and the lightness of their complexion, it is evident they inhabited a northern as well as an Asiatic country, very distant from Egypt, and of a far more temperate climate. Their dress consisted of an under garment, with the usual short kelt, and a long outer robe, highly coloured, and frequently ornamented with fancy devices, or a broad rich border, which descended to the ankles, and was fastened at the neck with a large bow, or by a strap over the shoulder, the lower part being open in front. Beneath this they wore a highly ornamented girdle, the end of which, falling down in front, terminated in a large tassel; and so fond were they of decorating their persons, that besides earrings, necklaces, and trinkets, common to Asiatic and other tribes, the chiefs decked their heads with feathers, and some painted or tattooed their arms and legs.

They were evidently a people of consequence, being selected as the type of Asia, or of the nations of the East, in the tombs of the kings at Thebes.

Their hair was not less singular than their dress: it was divided into separate parts, one of which fell in ringlets over the forehead, and the other over the back of the head; and a plaited lock of great length, passing nearly over the ear, descended to the breast, and terminated in a curled point. In features they were as remarkable as in costume; and the Egyptians have not failed to indicate their most striking peculiarities, as blue eyes, aquiline nose, and small red beards. Their arms consisted principally of the bow, and a long straight sword, with an exceedingly sharp point; and it is probable that, to their skill in the use of the former, we may attribute their effectual resistance to the repeated invasions of the Egyptians.

Another Eastern nation, with whom the Egyptians were already at war in the remote age of Amun-m̀-he II., nearly 2000 years before our era, was the Pount; who were tributary to Egypt in the reign of the third Thothmes.

Their features were less marked than those of many Oriental people represented in the sculptures: they shaved their beards, and wore their hair enveloped in a large cap, bound with a fillet, like many of the tribes of the interior, and the Syrians who bordered upon Egypt. Their dress consisted chiefly of a short kelt, secured with the usual girdle: and they appear to have inhabited a region lying more to the south than the Rot-ǹ-n, or the Koofa, who were also tributary at the same period to Thothmes III. They probably lived on the borders of Arabia; and some suppose there was one tribe of this name in Africa, and another in Asia. Among the presents brought by them to the Egyptian monarch were some gold, with a little silver, the ibex, leopard, baboon, ape, ostrich eggs and feathers, dried fruits and skins, baskets full of a brown substance called ana (?), with two obelisks made of it, and a red mineral (?), called “min” (apparently minium, “red lead,” or vermilion); and exotic shrubs, with ebony and ivory, seem to prove that they lived in a cultivated country as well as a warm climate.

The Shari were another Asiatic people, against whom the Egyptians waged a successful war, principally in the reigns of Osirei (or Sethos) and his son, the great Remeses. I am inclined to think them a tribe of Northern Arabia, or Shur; and their name seems to agree with that of the Arabian Gulf, called by the Egyptians “the Sea of Shari.” Their features were marked by a prominent aquiline nose and high cheek bones: they had a large beard; and their head-dress consisted either of a cap bound, like that of the Pount, with a fillet, or a skull-cap fitting loosely to the head, secured by a band, and terminating at the end, which fell down behind, in a ball or tassel. Their dress consisted of a long loose robe reaching to the ankles, and fastened at the waist by a girdle, the upper part furnished with ample sleeves. The girdle was sometimes highly ornamented: men as well as women wore earrings; and they frequently had a small cross suspended to a necklace, or to the collar of their dress. The adoption of this last was not peculiar to them; it was also appended to, or figured upon, the robes of the Rot-ǹ-n; and traces of it may be seen in the fancy ornaments of the Rebo, showing that this very simple device was already in use as early as the 15th century before the Christian era.

344.              Prisoners of Tirhaka. Thebes.

Some wore a sort of double belt, crossing the body, and passing over each shoulder, which, together with the pointed cap, resembles the dress of Tirhaka’s captives. Their principal arms were the bow, spear, two javelins, and a sword or club; and their country was defended by several strongly fortified towns.

The Rot-ǹ-no, or Rot-ǹ-n, were a nation with whom the Egyptians waged along war, commencing at least as early as, and perhaps prior to, the reign of the third Thothmes. Their white complexion, tight dresses, and long gloves, decide them to have been natives of a much colder climate than Egypt or Southern Syria; and the productions of their country, which they bring as a tribute to the victorious Pharaoh, pronounce them to have lived in the East. These consist of horses, and even chariots, with four spoked wheels, (very similar to the Egyptian curricle,) rare woods, ivory, elephants and bears, a profusion of elegant gold and silver vases, with rings of the same precious metals, porcelain, and jars filled with choice gums and resins used for making incense, as well as bitumen, called “zift,” the common name for “pitch” in Arabic and Hebrew. And it is a curious fact that one of the same kind of jars is now in the British Museum, having on it the word “tribute.” Their country was in the vicinity, or part, of Mesopotamia, and consisted of an “Upper and Lower” province; and in the record of the tributes paid to Thothmes III. at Karnak, the Rot-ǹ-n are mentioned with Nahrayn (Mesopotamia), Neniee (Nineveh), Shinar (Singar), Babel, and other places.

Their features were regular, without the very prominent nose that characterises some Eastern people represented in the sculptures; and they were of a very light colour, with brown or red hair, and blue eyes. Their long dress, usually furnished with tight sleeves, and fastened by strings round the neck, was either closed or folded over in front, and was sometimes secured by a girdle. Beneath the outer robe they wore a kelt; and an ample cloak, probably woollen, like the modern herám, or blanket, of the coast of Barbary, was thrown over the whole dress; the head being generally covered with a close cap, or a fuller one, bound by a fillet.

The women wore a long garment secured by a girdle, and trimmed in the lower part with three rows of flounces; the sleeves sometimes large and open, sometimes fastened tight round the wrist; and the hair was either covered with a cap, to which a long tassel was appended, or descending in ringlets was encircled by a simple band.

The Toersha, a people who lived near a river or the sea, are also mentioned among the enemies of Egypt, and their close cap, from whose pointed summit a crest of hair falls to the back of the neck, readily distinguishes them from other Eastern tribes. Their features offer no peculiarity; and we know them only by being introduced among the tribes conquered by the third Remeses. The same applies to the Mashoash, another Asiatic nation; who resemble the former in their general features, and the shape of their beards; but their head-dress is low, and rather more like that of some of Tirhaka’s prisoners, descending in two points at the side and back of the head, and bound with a fillet.

345.              Other enemies of the Egyptians. Thebes.

The people of Kufa (Koofa) were also an Asiatic race; and their long hair, rich dresses, and sandals of the most varied form and colour, render them remarkable among the nations represented in Egyptian sculpture. In complexion they were much darker than the Rot-ǹ-n, but far more fair than the Egyptians; and to judge from the tribute they brought to the Pharaohs, they were a rich people, and, like the Rot-ǹ-n, far advanced in the arts and customs of civilised life. This tribute, which is shown to have been paid to the Egyptians as early as the reign of Thothmes III., consisted almost entirely of gold and silver, in rings and bars, and vases of the same metals. Many of the latter were silver, inlaid with gold, tastefully ornamented, of elegant form, and similar to those already in use among the Egyptians; and from the almost exclusive introduction of the precious metals, and the absence of animals, woods, and such productions as were brought to Egypt by other people, we may suppose the artist intended to convey a notion of the great mineral riches of their country; where silver seems to have been even more abundant than gold. They are occasionally represented carrying knives or daggers, beads, a small quantity of ivory, leathern bottles, and a few bronze and porcelain cups. Their dress was a simple kelt, richly worked and of varied colour, folding over in front, and fastened with a girdle; and their sandals, which, being closed like boots, differed entirely from those of the Egyptians, appear to have been of cloth or leather, highly ornamented, and reaching considerably above the ankle. Their long hair hung loosely in tresses, reaching more than half way down the back; and from the top of the head projected three or four curls, either of real or artificial hair. (Woodcut 347, fig. 1.)

The Khita, or Sheta, were a warlike people of Asia, who had made considerable progress in military tactics, both with regard to manœuvres in the field, and the art of fortifying towns; some of which they surrounded with a double fosse, crossed by bridges. But whether these were supported on arches, or simply of wooden rafters resting on piers of the same materials, we are unable to decide, since the view is given as seen from above, and is therefore confined to the level upper surface. Their troops were disciplined; and the close array of their phalanxes of infantry, the style of their chariots, and the arms they used, indicate a great superiority in military tactics, compared with other Eastern nations of that early period. The wars waged against the Khita by the Egyptians, and the victories obtained over them by the great Remeses, are pictured on the walls of his palace at Thebes, and are again alluded to in the sculptures of Remeses III., at Medeenet Haboo, where this people occurs in the list of nations conquered by the Pharaohs. Their arms were the bow, sword, and spear; and their principal defence was a wicker shield, either rectangular, or concave at the sides and convex at each end, approaching in form the Theban buckler.

346.              Phalanx of the Sheta, drawn up as a corps de réserve, with the fortified town, surrounded by double ditches, over which are bridges (figs. 2 and 3). Thebes.

Their dress consisted of a long robe, reaching to the ankles, with short sleeves, open or folding over in front, and secured by a girdle round the waist; but though frequently made of a very thick stuff, and perhaps even quilted, it was by no means an effectual substitute for armour, nor could it resist the spear or the metal-pointed arrow. They either wore a close or a full cap; and their arms were occasionally decked with bracelets, as their dresses with brilliant colours. Their cars were drawn by two horses, like those of Egypt, but they each contained three men, and some had wheels with four instead of six spokes; in both which respects they differed from those of their opponents. They had some cavalry: but large masses of infantry, with a formidable body of chariots, constituted the principal force of their numerous and well-appointed army; and if, from the manner in which they posted their corps de réserve, we may infer them to have been a people skilled in war, some idea may also be formed of the strength of their army from the numbers composing that division, which amounted to 24,000 men, drawn up in three close phalanxes, consisting each of 8000.

The nation of Khita seems to have been composed of two distinct tribes, both comprehended under the same name. They differed in their costume and general appearance; one having a large cap, and the long loose robe, with open sleeves or capes covering the shoulders, worn by many Asiatic people already mentioned, a square or oblong shield, and sometimes a large beard; the other the dress and shield before described, and no beard. They both fought in cars, and used the same weapons; and we find they lived together, or garrisoned the same towns.

347.              Other enemies of the Egyptians. Thebes.

They were evidently in the vicinity of Mesopotamia, or “Nahrayn;” and the strong fort of Atesh, or Kadesh, belonged to them. It is supposed that they were the Hittites.

Several other nations and tribes, who inhabited parts of Asia, are shown by the monuments to have been invaded and reduced to subjection by the arms of the Pharaohs; and in the names of some we recognise towns or districts of Syria, as in Asmaori (Samaria?), Lemanon, Kanana, or Kanaan, and Ascalon. The inhabitants of the two first are figured with a round full headdress, bound with a fillet: and those of Kanaan are distinguished by a coat of mail and helmet, and the use of spears, javelins, and a battle-axe similar to that of Egypt. (Woodcut 347, figs. 6, 7, 8.)

The country of Lemanon is shown by the artist to have been mountainous, inaccessible to chariots, and abounding in lofty trees, which the affrighted mountaineers are engaged in felling, in order to impede the advance of the invading army. Having taken by assault the fortified towns on the frontier, the Egyptian monarch advances with his light infantry in pursuit of the fugitives, who had escaped, and taken refuge in the woods; and sending a herald to offer terms on condition of their surrender, the chiefs are induced to trust to his clemency, and return to their allegiance; as are those of Kanaan, whose strongholds yield in like manner to the arms of the conqueror.

These two names seem to point out the inhabitants of Mount Lebanon and Canaan, since the campaign is said to have taken place in the first year, or soon after the accession, of Osirei, or Sethi, the father of the great Remeses; and the events which previously occurred in Egypt, during the rule of the Stranger kings, may have given an opportunity to these people, though so near Egypt, to rebel, and assert their independence.

Many black nations were also conquered by the early monarchs of the 18th and 19th dynasties, as the Toreses, the Tareao, the Cush, or Ethiopians, and others.

The Blacks, like the Ethiopians, wore short aprons of bulls’ hides, or the skins of wild beasts, frequently drawn by the Egyptian artists with the tail projecting from the girdle, for the purpose of adding to their grotesque appearance: the chiefs, decked with ostrich and other feathers, had large circular gold earrings, collars, and bracelets; and many of the Ethiopian grandees were clad in garments of fine linen, with leathern girdles highly ornamented, a leopard skin being occasionally thrown over their shoulder. The chief arms of the Ethiopians and Blacks were the bow, the spear, and club: they fought mostly on foot, and the tactics of a disciplined army appear to have been unknown to them.

The Ethiopian tribute consisted of gold, mostly in dust, a little silver, shishm perhaps “antimony,” ostrich feathers, skins, ebony, ivory, apes, oxen of the long-horned breed still found in Abyssinia, lions, oryxes, leopards, giraffes, and hounds; and they were obliged to supply the victors with slaves, which the Egyptians sometimes exacted even from the conquered countries of Asia.

When an expedition was resolved upon against a foreign nation, each province furnished its quotum of men. The troops were generally commanded by the king in person; but in some instances a general was appointed to that post, and intrusted with the sole conduct of the war. A place of rendezvous was fixed, in early times generally at Thebes, Memphis, or Pelusium; and the troops having assembled in the vicinity, remained encamped there, awaiting the leader of the expedition. As soon as he arrived, the necessary preparations were made; a sacrifice was performed to the gods whose assistance was invoked in the approaching conflict; and orders having been issued for their march, a signal was given by sound of trumpet; the troops fell in, and with a profound bow each soldier in the ranks saluted the royal general, and prepared to follow him to the field. The march then commenced, as Clemens and the sculptures inform us, to the sound of the drum; the chariots led the van; and the king, mounted in his car of war, and attended by his chief officers carrying flabella, took his post in the centre, preceded and followed by bodies of infantry armed with bows, spears, or other weapons, according to their respective corps.

On commencing the attack in the open field, a signal was again made by sound of trumpet. The archers drawn up in line first discharged a shower of arrows on the enemy’s front, and a considerable mass of chariots advanced to the charge; the heavy infantry, armed with spears or clubs, and covered with their shields, moved forwards at the same time in close array, flanked by chariots and cavalry, and pressed upon the centre and wings of the enemy, the archers still galling the hostile columns with their arrows, and endeavouring to create disorder in their ranks.

348              A body of archers. Thebes.

Their mode of warfare was not like that of nations in their infancy, or in a state of barbarism; and it is evident, from the number of prisoners they took, that they spared the prostrate who asked for quarter: and the representations of persons slaughtered by the Egyptians, who have overtaken them, are intended to allude to what happened in the heat of action, and not to any wanton cruelty on the part of the victors. Indeed in the naval fight of Remeses III., the Egyptians, both in the ships and on the shore, are seen rescuing the enemy, whose galley has been sunk, from a watery grave; and the humanity of that people is strongly argued, whose artists deem it a virtue, worthy of being recorded among the glorious actions of their countrymen.

Those who sued for mercy and laid down their arms, were spared and sent bound from the field; and the hands of the slain being cut off, and placed in heaps before the king, immediately after the action, were counted by the military secretaries in his presence, who thus ascertained and reported to him the amount of the enemy’s slain. Sometimes their tongues, and occasionally other members, were laid before him in the same manner; in all instances being intended as authentic returns of the loss of the foe: for which the soldiers received a proportionate reward, divided among the whole army: the capture of prisoners probably claiming a higher premium, exclusively enjoyed by the captor.

The arms, horses, chariots, and booty, taken in the field or in the camp, were also collected, and the same officers wrote an account of them, and presented it to the monarch. The booty was sometimes collected in an open space, surrounded by a temporary wall, indicated in the sculptures by the representation of shields placed erect, with a wicker gate, on the inner and outer face of which a strong guard was posted, the sentries walking to and fro with drawn swords. It was forbidden to the Spartan soldier, when on guard, to have his shield, in order that, being deprived of this defence, he might be more cautions not to fall asleep; and the same appears to have been a custom of the Egyptians, as the watch here on duty at the camp-gates are only armed with swords and maces, though belonging to the heavy-armed corps, who, on other occasions, were in the habit of carrying a shield

349              A guard at the gates of an encampment. Thebes.

The sculptures at the Memnonium in Thebes show their mode of encamping on the field, when they had been victorious and no longer feared an attack; but the permanent station, or regular encampment, was constructed with greater attention to the principles of defence, and furnished with ditches and a strong efficient rampart.

A system of regular fortification was adopted in the earliest times. The form of the fortresses was quadrangular; the walls of crude brick 15 feet thick, and often 50 feet high, with square towers at intervals along each face. These were generally the same height as the walls, and when they only reached part of the way up they were rather buttresses; and sometimes the whole wall was doubled by an outer casing, leaving a space between the two, filled in here and there by a solid buttress, which strengthened and united them, and prevented any one passing freely round the inner wall when the outer one was broken through. The towers, like the rest of the walls, consisted of a rampart and parapet, which last was crowned by the usual round-headed battlements, in imitation of Egyptian shields, like those on their stone walls. But a singular arrangement was followed in the position of the towers at the corners, two being placed not upon, but at each side of the very angle, which remained recessed between them, and was slightly rounded off. Whenever it was possible, the fortress was square, with one or occasionally two entrances; but generally with one, and a sally-port, or a water-gate, if near the river: and, when built on an irregularly-shaped height, the form of the works was regulated by that of the ground.

One great principle in the large fortresses was to have a long wall, on the side most exposed to attack, projecting from 70 to 100 feet, at right angles from, and at the same height as, the main wall, upon which the besieged were enabled to run out and sweep the faces, or curtains, by what we should call a “flanking fire.” But the great object was, of course, to keep the enemy as far from the main wall as possible. This was done by raising it on a broad terrace or basement, or by having an outer circuit, or low wall of circumvallation, parallel to the main wall, and distant from it, on every side, from 13 to 20 feet; and a tower stood at each side of the entrance, which was towards one corner of the least exposed face. This low wall answered the purpose of a second rampart and ditch; it served to keep the besiegers’ moveable towers and battering rams at a distance from the main wall, who had to carry the outer circuit before they could attempt a breach in, or an assault on, the body of the fortress; while, from the lowness of the outer circuit, they were exposed to the missiles of the besieged.

Another move effectual defence, adopted in larger fortifications, was a ditch with a counterscarp, and in the centre of the ditch a continuous stone wall, parallel to the face of the curtain and the counterscarp (—a sort of ravelin, or a tenaille), and then came the scarp of the platform on which the fortress stood. Over the ditch was a wooden bridge, which was removed during a siege.

Occasionally, as at Semneh, there was a glacis of stone, sloping down from the counterscarp of the ditch towards the level country; so that they had in those early days some of the peculiarities of our modern works, the glacis, scarps, and counterscarps, and a sort of ravelin (or a tenaille) in the ditch. But though some were kept up after the accession of the 18th dynasty, the practice of fortifying towns seems to have been discontinued, and fortresses or walled towns were not then used, except on the edge of the desert, and on the frontiers where large garrisons were required. To supply their place, the temples were provided with lofty pyramidal stone towers, which, projecting beyond the walls, enabled the besieged to command and rake them, while the parapet-wall over the gateway shielded the soldiers who defended the entrance; and the whole plan of an outer wall of circumvallation was carried out by the large crude brick enclosure of the temenos, within which the temple stood. Each temple was thus a detached fort, and was thought as sufficient a protection for itself and for the town as a continuous wall, which required a large garrison to defend it; and neither Thebes nor Memphis, the two capitals, were walled cities.

The field encampment was either a square, or a parallelogram, with a principal entrance in one of the faces; and near the centre were the general’s tent, and those of the principal officers. The general’s tent was sometimes surrounded by a double rampart or fosse, enclosing two distinct areas, the outer one containing three tents, probably of the next in command, or of the officers on the staff; and the guards slept or watched in the open air. Other tents were pitched outside these enclosures; and near the external circuit, a space was set apart for feeding horses and beasts of burthen, and another for ranging the chariots and baggage. It was near the general’s tent, and within the same area, that the altars of the gods, or whatever related to religious matters, the standards, and the military chest, were kept; and the sacred emblems were deposited beneath a canopy, within an enclosure similar to that of the general’s tent.

To judge from the mode of binding their prisoners, we might suppose they treated them with unnecessary harshness and even cruelty, at the moment of their capture, and during their march with the army. They tied their hands behind their backs, or over their heads, in the most strained positions, and a rope passing round their neck fastened them to each other; and some had their hands enclosed in an elongated fetter of wood, made of two opposite segments, nailed together at each end; such as are used for securing prisoners in Egypt, at the present day. In the capture of a town some were beaten with sticks, in order to force from them the secret of the booty that had been concealed; many were compelled to labour for the benefit of the victors; and others were insulted by the wanton soldiery, who pulled their beards and derided their appearance. But when we remember how frequently instances of harsh treatment have occurred, even among civilized Europeans, at an epoch which deemed itself much more enlightened than the fourteenth century before our era, we are disposed to excuse the occasional insolence of an Egyptian soldier; and the unfavourable impressions conveyed by such scenes are more than counterbalanced by the proofs of Egyptian humanity, as in the sea-fight above mentioned. Allowance is also to be made for a licence of the sculptors, who, as Gibbon observes, “in every age have felt the truth of a system, which derives the sublime from the principle of terror.”

350.              A captive secured by a handcuff. Thebes.

Indeed, when compared with the Assyrians, and other Asiatic conquerors, the Egyptians hold a high position among the nations of antiquity from their conduct to their prisoners; and the cruel custom of flaying them alive, and the tortures represented in the sculptures of Nineveh, show the Assyrians were guilty of barbarities, at a period long after the Egyptians had been accustomed to the refinements of civilized communities.

The captives, too, represented on the façades of their temples, bound at the feet of the king, who holds them by the hair of the head, and with an uplifted arm appears about to immolate them in the presence of the deity, are merely an emblematical record of his successes over the enemies of Egypt; as is shown by the same subject being represented on monuments erected by the Ptolemies and Cæsars.

The sailors of the “king’s ships,” or royal navy, were part of the military class, a certain number of whom were specially trained for the sea; though all the soldiers were capable of handling galleys, from their constant practice at the oar on the Nile. The Egyptian troops were therefore employed on board ship by Xerxes, in his war against Greece, “being,” as Herodotus says, “all sailors.” And as ships of war then depended on the skill of their crews in the use of the oar, the employment of the Egyptian soldiers in a sea fight is not so extraordinary. Many, too, of the Nile boats were built purposely for war, and were used in the expeditions of the Pharaohs into Ethiopia; officers who commanded them are often mentioned on the monuments; and chief, or captain, of the king’s ships is not an uncommon title.

Herodotus and Diodorus both mention the fleet of long vessels, or ships of war, fitted out by Sesostris on the Arabian Gulf. They were four hundred in number; and there is every reason to believe that the trade, and the means of protecting it by ships of war, existed there at least as early as the 12th dynasty, about two thousand years before our era.

The galleys, or ships of war, used in their wars out of Egypt differed from those of the Nile. They were less raised at the head and stern; and on each side, throughout the whole length of the vessel, a wooden bulwark, rising considerably above the gunwale, sheltered the rowers, who sat behind it, from the missiles of the enemy; the handles of the oars passing through an aperture at the lower part.

The ships in the sea fight represented at Thebes fully confirm the statement of Herodotus that the Egyptian soldiers were employed on board them; as their arms and dress are exactly the same as those of the heavy infantry and archers of the army; and the quilted helmet of the rowers shows they also were part of the same corps. Besides the archers in the raised poop and forecastle, a body of slingers was stationed in the tops, where they could with more facility manage that weapon, and employ it with effect on the enemy.

351.              War galley; the sail being pulled up during the action. Thebes.

a. Raised forecastle, in which the archers were posted. c. Another post for the archers

and the pilot d. e. A bulwark, to protect the rowers. f. Slingers, in the top.

On advancing to engage a hostile fleet, the sail was used till they came within a certain distance, when the signal or order having been given to clear for action, it was reefed by means of ropes running in pulleys, or loops, upon the yard. The ends of these ropes, which were usually four in number, dividing the sail as it rose into five folds, descended and were attached to the lower part of the mast, so as to be readily worked, when the sail required to be pulled up at a moment’s notice, either in a squall of wind or on any other occasion; and in this respect, and in the absence of a lower yard, the sail of the war galley greatly differed from that of the boats on the Nile. Having prepared for the attack, the rowers, whose strength had been hitherto reserved, plied their oars; the head was directed towards an enemy’s vessel, and showers of missiles were thrown from the forecastle and tops as they advanced. It was of great importance to strike their opponent on the side; and when the steersman, by a skilful manœuvre, could succeed in this, the shock was so great that they sank it, or obtained a considerable advantage by crippling the oars.

The small Egyptian galleys do not appear to have been furnished with a beak, like those of the Romans, which being of bronze sharply pointed, and sometimes below the water’s surface, often sank a vessel at once; but a lion’s head fixed to the prow supplied its place, and being probably covered with metal, was capable of doing great execution, when the galley was impelled by the force of sixteen or twenty oars. This head occasionally varied in form, and perhaps served to indicate the rank of the commander, the name of the vessel, or the deity under whose protection they sailed; unless indeed the lion was always chosen for their war galleys, and the ram, oryx, and others, confined to the boats connected with the service of religion.

Some of the war galleys on the Nile were furnished with forty-four oars, twenty-two being represented on one side; which, allowing for the steerage and prow, would require their total length to be about 120 feet. They were furnished, like all the others, with one large square sail; but the mast, instead of being single, was made of two limbs of equal length, sufficiently open at the top to admit the yard between them, and secured by several strong stays, one of which extended to the prow, and others to the steerage of the boat. Over the top of the mast a light rope was passed, probably intended for furling the sail, which last, from the horizontal lines represented upon it, appears to have been like those of the Chinese, and is a curious instance of a sail, apparently made of the papyrus.

This double mast was common of old, during the 4th and other early dynasties; but it afterwards gave place entirely to the single one, with bars, or rollers, at the upper part, serving for pulleys, over which the ropes passed; and sometimes rings were fixed to it, in which the halliards worked.

352.              Large boat with sail, apparently made of the papyrus, a double mast, and many rowers. In a tomb at Kom Ahmar, above Minieh.

In this, as in other Egyptian boats, the braces were fixed to the end of the yard; which being held by a man seated in the steerage, or upon the cabin, served to turn the sail to the right and left; they were common to all boats; and at the lower end of the sail (which in these boats had no yard) were the sheets, which were secured within the gunwale. The mode of steering is different from that usually described in the Egyptian paintings; and instead of a rudder in the centre of the stern, or at either side, it is furnished with three on the same side: a peculiarity which, like the double mast and the folding sail, was afterwards abandoned as cumbrous and imperfect. This boat shows satisfactorily their mode of arranging the oars, while not required during a favourable wind: they were drawn up, through the ring or band in which they turned, and they were probably held in that position by a thong or loop passing over the handle. The ordinary boats of the Nile were of a different construction; which will be mentioned in describing the boat-builders, one of the members of the fourth class of the Egyptian community.

On returning from war, the troops marched according to the post assigned to each regiment, observing the same order and regularity as during their advance through the enemy’s country: and the allies who came with them occupied a position towards the rear of the army, and were followed by a strong corps of Egyptians. Rewards were afterwards distributed to the soldiers, and the triumphant procession of the conqueror was graced by the presence of the captives, who were conducted in bonds beside his chariot.

On traversing countries tributary to, or in alliance with, Egypt, the monarch received the homage of the friendly inhabitants, who, greeting his arrival with joyful acclamations and rich presents, complimented him on the victory he had obtained; and the army, as it passed through Egypt, was met at each of the principal cities by a concourse of people, who, headed by the priests, and chief men of the place, bearing bouquets of flowers, green boughs, and palm branches, received them with loud acclamations, and welcomed their return. Then addressing themselves to the king, the priests celebrated his praises; and, enumerating the many benefits he had conferred on Egypt by the conquest of foreign nations, the enemies of his country, they affirmed that his power was exalted in the world “like the sun” in the heavens, and his beneficence only equalled by that of the deities themselves.

Having reached the capital, preparations commenced for a general thanksgiving in the principal temple: and suitable offerings were made to the presiding deity, the guardian of the city, by whose special favour and intercession the victory was supposed to have been obtained. The prisoners were presented to him, as well as the spoils taken from the enemy, and the monarch acknowledged the manifest power of his all-protecting hand, and his own gratitude for so distinguished a proof of heavenly favour to him and to the nation. And these subjects, represented on the walls of the temples, not only served as a record of the victory, but tended to impress the people with a religious veneration for the deity, towards whom their sovereign set them so marked an example of respect. The troops were also required to attend during the performance of the prescribed ceremonies, and to return thanks for the victories they had obtained, as well as for their personal preservation; and a priest offered incense, meat offerings, and libations, in their presence.

The captives, being brought to Egypt, were employed in the service of the monarch, in building temples, cutting canals, raising dykes and embankments, and other public works: and some, who were purchased by the grandees, were employed in the same capacity as the Memlooks of the present day. Women slaves were also engaged in the service of families, like the Greeks and Circassians in modern Egypt, and other parts of the Turkish empire; and from finding them represented in the sculptures of Thebes, accompanying men of their own nation, who bear tribute to the Egyptian monarch, we may conclude that a certain number were annually sent to Egypt from the conquered provinces of the North and East, as well as from Ethiopia. It is evident that both white and black slaves were employed as servants: they attended on the guests when invited to the house of their master; and from their being in the families of priests, as well as of the military chiefs, we may infer that they were purchased with money, and that the right of possessing slaves was not confined to those who had taken them in war. The traffic in slaves was tolerated by the Egyptians; and doubtless many persons were engaged, as at present, in bringing them to Egypt for public sale, independent of those who were sent as part of the tribute; and the Ishmaelites, who bought Joseph from his brethren, sold him to Potiphar on arriving in Egypt. It was the common custom in those days: the Jews had their bondsmen bought with money; the Phœnicians, who traded in slaves, sold “the children of Judah and Jerusalem” to the Greeks; and the people of the Caucasus sent their boys and girls to Persia as the modern Circassians do to that country and to Turkey.

353.              Women of the Rot-ǹ-n sent to Egypt. Thebes.

354.              Black slaves, with their women and children. Thebes.

Diodorus, in mentioning the military punishments of the Egyptians, says that they were not actuated by any spirit of vengeance; but solely by the hope of reclaiming an offender, and of preventing for the future the commission of a similar crime. They were, therefore, averse to making desertion and insubordination capital offences: the soldier was degraded, and condemned publicly to wear some conspicuous mark of ignominy, which rendered him an object of reproach to his comrades; and, without fixing any time for his release, he was doomed to bear it, till his subsequent good conduct had retrieved his character, and obtained for him the forgiveness of his superiors. “For,” says the historian, “by rendering the stigma a more odious disgrace than death itself, the legislator hoped to make it the most severe of punishments, at the same time that it had a great advantage in not depriving the state of the services of the offender; and deeming it natural to every one, who had been degraded from his post, to desire to regain the station and character he had lost, they cherished the hope that he might eventually reform, and become a worthy member of the society to which he belonged.” For minor offences they inflicted the bastinado, which was commonly employed for punishing peasants and other people; but the soldier who treacherously held communication with the enemy was sentenced to the excision of his tongue; in accordance with the ancient practice of punishing the offending member.

This brief outline of the military customs of Egypt suffices to show that the monuments contain abundant records of those early days; and though many others have long since perished, some belonging to the most glorious periods have fortunately been preserved; and the sculptures of Thothmes III., of the Amunophs, of Sethos, of the Second and Third Remeses, and other kings, confirm the testimony of historians respecting the power of ancient Egypt.

355.              Egyptian arms. Collections of S. D’ Athanasi and Mr. Salt, and from Thebes.

Fig. 1. Hatchet, 1 foot 5 inches in length. Fig. 7. Dagger, 10½ inches long.

4 and 5. Slings, from the sculptures. 8. Head of dart, 3 inches.

6. Dagger, 15½ inches in length. 9. Javelin head, 14 inches long.