of the Khitan Princess; the king’s enormous domestic establishments
probably being in different places. There is a story, who can tell
whether it be founded on fact? that the king and queen, by the
treacherous dealing of one of the king’s relatives, were shut up in
a certain city which was then set on fire, the intriguer doubtless
intending to usurp the throne, and that at the queen’s suggestion some
of the king’s sons formed their bodies into a bridge by which he might
escape, some of them suffering death in consequence.
The great Thebes is said to have been as large as London. On the
Eastern bank, the Arabian side of the Nile, stand Karnak and Luxor. On
the western or Lybian bank, Goornah, the Rameseum and Medinet Haboo.
The Rameseum, a palace and temple combined, faces about half way
between Karnak and Luxor. Medinet Haboo is further to the south than
any building on the east side of the river. Behind the western group
is the great Theban Metropolis, along the Lybian range, further back
in radiating valleys, are the Tombs of the Kings. Between Karnak and
Luxor is a little less than two miles, from Medinet Haboo to Goornah
something under four.
The prostrate statue of Rameses II, near Memphis, so long covered
with Nile mud, repeats the lineaments of the Abou Simbel statue.
This colossus kept vigil at the gate of the temple and is serene
and dignified, even in its overthrow; it is of Syenite and probably
stood in front of the temple of Ptah, mentioned both by Herodotus and
Diodorus. Says a poetic writer, “I fancy the repose of that court in
a Theban sunset, the windless stillness of the air, and cloudlessness
of the sky. The king enters, thoughtfully pacing by the calm browed
statue, that seems the sentinel of heaven. In the presence of the
majestic columns, humanly carved, their hands sedately folded upon
their breasts—his weary soul is bathed with peace, as a weary body with
living water.” This statue is one of the most pleasing of the many
likenesses of Rameses II, and a cast of it has been taken. Mariette
said “the head modelled with a grandeur of style which one never tires
of admiring, is an authentic portrait of the celebrated conqueror of
the Nineteenth Dynasty.”
The pre-nomen of Rameses II was “Ra-usr-mat-setep-en-Ra,” “Sun strong
in Truth, approved of the Sun, son of the Sun, Beloved of Amon.” The
foot is eleven feet by four feet ten inches, and on the peristyle is
inscribed, “I am Osymandies, King of Kings. If any would know how great
I am and where I lie, let him excel me in any of my works.”
The passion for building, characteristic of many Egyptian kings, was
specially strong in the father and son, Seti I and Rameses II, and the
latter completed many structures begun by the former. To Seti I are
credited the grand temple of Osiris at Abydos, the temple and palace
of Karnak at Thebes, and his tomb, which is said to excel those of the
other Theban kings in its sculpture, colored decorations and alabaster
sarcophagi. But his Hypostyle Hall at Karnak exceeds them all.
To Rameses II are credited many architectural works along the Nile,
from the Delta to the capital of Ethiopia. The list comprises the
splendid rock temples at Abou Simbel, in Nubia, just described, the
Rammesium or Memnonium, called by Diodorus “the tomb of Osymandius,” on
the walls of which are sculptured the story of Rameses’ reign, large
portions of the temple palaces of Karnak and Luxor, before which last
stands the column whose mate is now in the Place de la Concorde in
Paris, a small temple at Abydos, and various works in the Fayum, at
Memphis and at Tunis, of which last he was especially fond. In nothing
apparently did he take more delight than in erecting gigantic statues
of himself.
To accomplish these great architectural designs required an immense
army of workmen and no monarch was more ruthless in his expenditure of
human life. Some have believed that to this period belongs in large
part the slavery of the Hebrews, whose cries reached the very ears of
Heaven and it is said that he deported whole tribes to accomplish his
purposes. History repeats itself; as in the earlier reigns, during
the structure of the pyramids, and Queen Nofritari Minimut, like
Queen Mertytefs, must have witnessed much suffering and viewed it
perhaps with a like indifference. Proud of her husband’s deeds and
accomplishments, what mattered the cost of such monuments. Of little
more value than an insect’s life was that of the innumerable slaves
that bowed, trembled and toiled at the great monarch’s command. We can
believe that the sound of the taskmaster’s whip woke no echo of pity in
that haughty breast. Devotion to the gods, exultation in her husband,
more or less passionate devotion to her children, these left no room
for the consideration of the life and sorrows of a slave.
“By the Nile the sacred river
I can see the captive hordes
Bend beneath the lash and quiver
At the long papyrus cords;
While in granite wrapt and solemn
Rising over roof and column
Amen-Hotep dreams or Rameses,
Lord of Lords.”
So the curtain drops over the queen in the zenith of her powers, and we
hear the tinkle of her sistrum, faintly, faintly down the centuries.
Priestess, queen, wife, mother, statue, shadow—thus she stands smiling
stonily, yet sweetly, on succeeding ages. Rich in this world’s goods,
beloved of Heaven. Yet did she, too, exclaim with Solomon, “Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity!” Who can tell?
CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.
UR-MAA-NOFRU-RA.
The many wived Rameses II, if so he was, did not adopt Blue Beard’s
plan of despatching one before he espoused another, but merely set
up separate establishments for each, and so preserved the peace. The
king could do no wrong in those days, his divine right never being
questioned, and it may be doubted whether the first wife was surprised
at, or even objected to, the arrangement. It was an early form of
Mormonism and accepted without protest.
While Queen Nofritari-Minimut was, there is little question, first
and chief wife, and probably had been so for many years, and also
the mother of a number of children, the Keetan princess, and perhaps
others, shared the honor of being legal consort.
We know little about the marriage ceremonials of the Egyptians,
compared to our very full knowledge of their funeral rites, but a late
writer thus describes a wedding which may in part resemble that used by
the kings. “At the temple the people remained outside the walls, while
the bride and groom, the pharaoh and dignitaries, entered the hall of
columns. There Hebron (the bride) burned incense before the veiled
statue of Amon, priestesses performed a sacred dance and Tutmosis (the
groom) read the following act from a papyrus:
“‘I, Tutmosis, commander of the guard of his holiness Rameses XIII,
take thee, Hebron, daughter of Antefa, the monarch of Thebes, to wife,
as wife—I give thee now the sum of ten talents, because thou hast
consented to marry me. For thy robes I designate to thee three talents
yearly, and for household expenses one talent a month. Of the children
which we may have the eldest son will be heir to the property, which I
possess now, and which I may acquire hereafter, if I should not live
with thee, but divorce myself and take another wife, I shall be obliged
to pay thee forty talents, which sum I secure with my property. Our son
on receiving his estate is to pay thee fifteen talents yearly. Children
of another wife are to have no right to the property of our first-born
son.’
“The chief judge appeared now and read an act in which the bride
promised to give good food and raiment to her husband, to care for his
house, family, servants, slaves and cattle, and to entrust to that
husband the management of the property which she had received, or would
receive, from her father.
“After the facts were read Herhor gave Tutmosis a goblet of wine. The
bridegroom drank half, the bride moistened her lips with it, and then
both burned incense before the purple curtain.
“Leaving the temple of Amon the young couple and their splendid retinue
passed through the avenue of sphinxes, to the pharaoh’s palace. Crowds
of people and warriors greeted them with shouts, scattering flowers on
their pathway.”
The experience of this same Khitan or Chetan princess, who adopted the
name of Ur-maa-nofru-ra, or, as given in other places, Noferura-Urmda
and Ra-maa-nofre, “Sun, Truth, Beautiful exceedingly,” reminds one of
that of Maria Louisa of Austria, who became the wife of Napoleon First
of France. The father of each had to bow the neck to the conqueror, the
daughter became in a sense the hostage, she paid the penalty of defeat.
There could not but have been a sense of bitterness at such a fate, in
which love could have had no share. How far did ambition, the feeling
of being the wife of the greatest monarch of the then known world,
satisfy the empty heart?
Among Rameses II’s numerous children his favorites are known to have
been his son, Khamus, and his daughter, Bint-Antha, both perhaps the
children of Nofritari-Minimut, though one writer gives Isemofer,
probably not a legal consort, as the mother of Khamus. We do not
know the names of the children of the Khitan princess or even if she
had any. A picture of a number of his sons and daughters, with names
attached, the sons with fans, the daughters with sistra, is between
Elephantine and Abou Simbel.
Among the pictures of his children are those of the Ramessium at
Thebes, where Khamus, his favorite son, is represented in a battle.
There are two processions of his children and in one, two princesses.
The eldest son of the Pharaoh was called “Prince of Cush,” as the
eldest son of the king of England is now called “Prince of Wales.”
“Sutem-hemt” was the royal wife, “Sutem-Mut,” the royal mother, as
such in the prime of life we see Queen Nofritari-Minimut. Queen
Urm-maa-nofru-ra appears only in her beautiful youth, as the bride;
she herself, says one inscription, “knew not the impression her beauty
made on the heart of the king.” In a novel founded on this part of
Egyptian history a queen is thus described, “her eyes were the color
of her hair, a rich sunny brown, like Syriac women of Damascus. On
her head the double diadem of Thebes and Memphis, the inner crown a
graceful conical bonnet of white silk, terminating in a knob like a
pomegranite bud. Outside a rich band of gold and lined with red silk;
red, the special color of Lower, as white was of Upper Egypt; this was
open at the top and worn over the other. Then a necklace of precious
stones, with a clasp of a vulture, his neck encircled by an asp, emblem
of the goddess, Maut. She wore a white vestment of gauzy Persian silk,
enriched with gold and blue needlework below the waist, and secured by
a girdle blazing with diamonds. A long royal robe from the Damascus
looms descended to her feet.” Some such outline perhaps conveys an idea
of the new queen. Not an exact portrait, but a mere suggestion, helpful
in filling in our mosaic.
Beautiful we may believe her to have been, and much the junior of
the man she must needs accept for a husband. She was never allowed
to forget the cost at which her honors were bought, however; on many
walls of temples and perhaps palaces also, the painted record stared
her in the face. Yet did the conqueror regard his adversary, Khitazar
or Khitasar, king or prince of the Khitans (by some believed to be
the Hittites of the Scriptures or, accord to others, the Aramaeans),
as no mean foe and the compact of peace between them, which was
engraved on a silver tablet, was honorable to both. King Khitazar
seems to have inspired Rameses II with more respect than some of his
adversaries, on whom he looked down with the utmost contempt. It is
said that he refused an offer of marriage for one of his daughters
from a Mesopotamian prince or king, stating that he would not give his
daughter to a “nobody.”
The vanquished Kitazar offered his daughter to the victor, who accepted
this marriage as a means of cementing the alliance between them.
Rameses had married Nofritari-Minimut, who is spoken of as the “great
princess, of every grace in her heart, the beloved palm, mistress of
both lands, beloved of the king and united with the ruler,” before the
death of his father, Seti I, Ur-maa-nofru-ra years after. The queen’s
establishments were far apart, probably they seldom or never met, but
doubtless Queen Nofritari-Minimut held proudly to her position as first
consort. Both queens must have had some acquaintance with the king’s
singular and dangerous pet, the lion, who fought with him in his battle
against the Khita, one of which is named in the picture in which he
accompanied the king, “Smaru-khef-tu-f,” “the tearer in pieces.”
According to most authorities the marriage of Rameses II and
Ur-maa-nofru-ra took place in the fifth year of the king’s sole reign.
Near the temple of Abou-Simbel there is a passage in the rocks, where
there is a picture of Rameses II, sitting under a canopy, between two
gods, while before him appears the Khitan princess, followed by her
father, Kitazar, in the dress of his country. The princess’ name is
enclosed with that of Rameses II in a royal cartouche, which shows her
to have been his legal consort. The stele celebrating this event was
probably put up in the 34th year of his reign, a number of years after
the marriage.
Perhaps the most ancient international treaty in the world, which
differs little from those of modern times, is this concordat
established between Rameses II and Kitazar, which was intended to put
an end to the wars between the Egyptians and Asiatics. On the side
wall of the temple of Amon at Karnak it is given in an inscription. It
is dated 21st Tybi, in 21st year of Rameses II Miamun, in the town of
Tanis and was engraved on a silver tablet and brought by ambassadors
of peace. After speaking of the fact that there had been peace between
their ancestors at one time, it goes on to say, “Khetasar, prince of
the Khita, unites with Rameses Miamun, the mighty king of Egypt, to
cause to exist between them good peace and good alliance, from this
time on forever. He shall be allied with me, he shall be at peace with
me. And I, I shall be allied with him, and I, I shall be at peace
with him forever.” Many pictures of the battles which preceded this
agreement of peace are also to be seen on the temple walls.
Rameses II’s reign was also something of an Elizabethan age in Egyptian
literature. A number of old works on papyrus have been found, left by
a galaxy of Theban writers. History, divinity, practical philosophy,
poetry and tales are among them. A list of temple scribes is given,
naming Bek-en-tah, Qu-ge-bu, Hor Anna, Mer-Em-aput, Amen-em-api,
Pan and Pentaur. The victorious campaign of Rameses II against the
Ethiopians is described by Herodotus, who perhaps derived his authority
from some of these sources. Pentaur, sometimes spoken of as the
jovial poet, was easily laureate of this reign. In high, joyful, but
martial strains, he celebrated, in heroic verse, the achievements
of his master. He glorifies his every deed and makes him a demi-god
rather than a man. Again and again Rameses II had Pentaur’s poem, the
so-called Iliad of the Egyptians, inscribed on the temple walls. To the
east of the southern door, near the great Hall of Columns at Karnak,
the poem is to be found. At Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, the Ramessium, on
the inner face of the pylon at the Ramessium, and at the Memnonium or
tomb of Osymandeus and Abou-Simbel the same familiar scene of Rameses
fighting alone is pictured or described. The king is shown in a chariot
with prancing horses, and again on a throne with the inscription,
“Victory for Thebes.” Four of these copies of the poem are perfect, at
Abydos, Luxor and Abou-Simbel, a fifth, without illustration, is on the
wall of the temple of Karnak and a fragment at the temple of Deir in
Nubia.
“Where art thou, O father Amon!” prays the king, “Does a father forsake
his son? Not one of my generals, not one of my captains is with me.”
“I hasten to thine aid, O Rameses, my son, beloved of Amon,” answers
the god and singly and alone enables him to perform prodigies of valor.
“My soldiers have abandoned me, my horsemen have fled,” cries the king.
“I am more to thee than hundreds of thousands,” comes the response and
again, “the youthful king with his bold hand has not his equal. His
arms are powerful, his heart is firm. His courage is like that of the
god of war.” Again the king speaks. “The diadem of the royal snake
adorns my head. It spits fire and glowing flame in the face of my
enemies. They cried out to one another, ‘Take care! Do not fall, for
the powerful snake of royalty has placed itself on his horse.’” The
great temple of Abou-Simbel is said by some to have been made in honor
of his first victory over the Khitans, years before his marriage with
the princess. “The freshness of the statues there,” says Curtis, “is
startling. It is sublime.”
All these laudations gratified the king’s pride, for the little queen
there must have been in it all something of a trial. But it was not a
time distinguished for consideration of the feelings of others. For her
the old life was probably closed; there was not likely to have been
much intercourse, merely for her pleasure, between her and her family.
For purposes of war, and perhaps for hunting, they went far afield,
but we can well believe that few trips to a distance, solely for the
pleasure of the ladies, were undertaken.
Innumerable are the pictures and statues of Rameses II. Alone, with
Queen Nofritare-Minimut and his sons and daughters, and in one or two
places with his wife, the Khitan princess. At Gibel Silsileh, on a
tablet, is a picture of the king, Queen Nofritari Minimut, Queen Tuaa
or Ti, the king’s mother, and the princess Bint-antha, all appear in a
bas-relief. Again the king appears before the gods Ptah and Nefertum.
A stele in the third year of the reign of Rameses II gives the route
to the gold mines which Rameses had worked. In the rock temple of Gerf
Husen the king appears as a founder and god to be worshipped. In the
half rock temple of Sebuah is a large statue of him. At the temple of
Deir there is another picture of him. On the stele of a certain General
Amenti, near Abou-Simbel appears Prince Seti, named, of course, for the
father of Rameses II, the king’s mother and the Princess Bint Antha.
There are, or were, enormous statues of the king at Karnak, Tanis, and
elsewhere.
To the British Museum and other places in Europe some of these statues
have been removed, and among those in this country may be named one in
the museum of the University of Pennsylvania. In the museum of Gizeh is
a red granite figure of Rameses II, life size, as a youth, at eighteen
or twenty, crowned with an elaborate Osirian helmet, issuing from a
diadem, encircled by uraei; this known as the atef-crown.
The Hebrews, some believe to have been the slaves who built for Rameses
II the treasure cities of Pithon and Rameses, the Pa-Tum and Pa-Rameses
of the inscriptions, and bricks made with stubble, or no straw, have
been found, confirming, it is thought, the Bible record. The Egyptian
kings, bent on leaving behind them such mammoth structures, all worked
with a reckless expenditure of the lives of their slaves and captives.
Some of the pictures on tombs give representations of conquered
peoples, such as the brown and coal black people of the Soudan, their
princess in a chariot drawn by oxen and shaded by an umbrella, her
attendants with feathers in their hair and a kind of hood, like that
worn by some wild tribes in the present day.
Rameses II instituted several festivals, among which may be mentioned
that of the Nile and that of Seknet and the goddess Bast at Bubastis,
where joyous and licentious festivals, like those of Hathor, at
Denderah, were held. At the former festival the king was seated on
a throne, borne by twelve nobles, adorned with feathers, the throne
having the back and feet of a lion. The king wore a war helmet and
carried a staff. Behind were the court officials, warding off the
sun’s rays, with the long-handled flabellium, while the lower order of
priests, the Kherheb, carried and swung censors of incense. Trains of
captives followed and the king was hailed as “Rameses Miamun, who loves
the Nile, the father of the gods, his creator.”
As the Nile rose lights were lighted like beacon fires at different
points, till the whole country was a blaze of joyful illumination. To
the inhabitants the rising of the Nile meant in great degree life,
health and happiness. A hymn sung to celebrate this desired event is
vouched for by Glovatski, who has evidently made a close study of
his subject, as authentic. “Be greeted, O Nile, sacred river, which
appearest on this country! Thou comest in peace to give life to Egypt.
O hidden deity, who scatterest darkness, who moistenest the fields to
bring food to dumb animals, O thou precious one, descending from heaven
to give drink to the earth, O friend of bread, thou who gladdenest our
cottages! Thou art the master of fishes; when thou art in our fields
no bird dares touch the harvest. Thou art the creator of grain and the
parent of barley; thou givest rest to the hands of millions of the
unfortunate and for ages thou securest the sanctuary.” In some such
words as these rose to the blue heavens the praise and acclaim of the
grateful people.
In the month Paofi, the second half of July, the waters are rising as
much as two hands a day, so that the waves in a continuous murmur may
be heard plashing over soil dry in the morning, while the color changes
from greenish white to a ruddy tint. Then growing darker, as in the
month Hator, including part of August, it has reached half its height,
and where men previously walked they now travel in boats from the
middle of September to the middle of October, the month Cheoeak, the
waters at their height began to fall, while trees blossomed a second
time, and fruits were gathered in the gardens. For the next month,
Tobi, the waters would continue to fall disclosing more and more of the
rich and fructified earth. While the winter season, the most delightful
in Egypt, was beginning, the heat rarely going beyond 70 Fahrenheit.
As the month Mechir advanced more and more land appeared and flowers
of varied hue sprang up amid the emerald green of the fresh grass. By
Phaenoth, part of December, and January, the whole land was abloom. No
wonder the heavens rang with the acclaim of the people who witnessed
this daily miracle.
Bubastis was the goddess Aphrodite of foreigners, represented with the
head of a lion or cat. The cat was sacred to this goddess and said to
have honorable burial here. Indeed a regular cat cemetery, filled with
the remains of mummied felines, has been found. The feast was held at
what corresponds to our Christmas time, and Herodotus thus describes
it. “When the Egyptians travel to Bubastis they do it in this manner.
Men and women sail together and in each boat there are many persons of
both sexes. Some of the women make a noise with rattles and some blow
pipes during the whole journey, while the other men and women sing
and clap their hands. If they pass a town on the way they lay to and
some of the women land and shout and mock at the women of the place,
while others dance and make a disturbance. They do this at every town
that lies on the Nile and when they arrive at Bubastis they begin
the festival with great sacrifices and on this occasion more wine is
consumed than during the whole of the rest of the year. All the people
of both sexes, except children, make a pilgrimage thither, 700,000
persons in all, as the Egyptians assert.” In these festivals both
queens probably, separately or together, took a share.
Amen-Ra was the patron deity of Rameses II, but he also paid homage
to Sutech in honor probably to his Khitan wife, as this was chiefly
confined to Tanis, where we may believe Ur-maa-nofru-ra resided. The
god is represented with the head-dress of a Khitan prince. Whatever
travelling she may have done, whatever her experiences, Tanis was home
to this queen, while the city grew in magnificence and she watched the
erection of a grand temple to the god of her fathers, some proof at
least that she held a high place in Rameses’ affection and regard.