according to another, but it is impossible to accept either, and we must
therefore assume that the total of 1,590 or 1,290 years represents the
length of the reigns of the kings at Thebes, and of those who ruled in
the Delta. In fact it is clear that, except at rare intervals, between
the XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties a king of the North and a king of the
South were always reigning at the same time in Egypt, and that neither
was sufficiently strong to make himself master of the whole country. The
evidence derived from the monuments seems to indicate that the power of
the Theban kings declined steadily at the beginning of this period, and
that, as it declined, the power of the nomad Semites from the east, who
are known as =Hyksos= or =Shepherds=, increased until the end of the
period, when the Theban kings became strong enough to make themselves
masters of the whole country. The names of a considerable number of
kings, who may be assumed to have reigned during the XIIIth and XIVth
dynasties, are known from scarabs and larger monuments, but nothing is
known of their reigns.
Of the monuments of the period in the British Museum may be specially
noted: Red granite seated figure of =Sekhem-uatch-taui-Rā=, a king of the
XIIIth or XIVth dynasty. This is a fine piece of sculpture, and is unlike
any other statue in the gallery. The body lacks the heaviness of the
statues of the earlier period. On the throne are cut, in outline, figures
of two lions placed back to back. Above them are the signs _sa ānkh_ 𓎂𓋹,
_i.e._, the “fluid of life,” which the king derived from Rā, the Sun-god
(see =Plate XXVII=; Bay 1, No. =276=). Of interest also are three stelae
of private individuals, each of which mentions the name of a king, viz.,
=Sekhem-ka-Rā= (see =Plate XXVIII=), with the Horus name of Sānkh-taui
(Bay 2, No. =277=), =Sebek-ḥetep=, with the prenomen of Khā-nefer-Rā (Bay
5, No. =278=), and =Ȧb-ȧā= (Bay 5, No. =279=). To this period belongs the
=axe handle= of =Sekhem-uatch-taui-Rā= (Sebek-ḥetep) a king (Table-case
E, Third Egyptian Room, No. 104). To a somewhat later period belong the
interesting =memorial cone= of the scribe Sebek-ḥetep, who flourished in
the reign of =Sebek-em-sa-f= (see =Plate XXIX=), of the XIVth dynasty,
a unique object (Bay 1, No. =280=), and the royal inscribed green stone
=scarab, with a human face=, set in a gold plinth, which probably came
from the tomb of this king at Thebes (Table-case J, Fourth Egyptian Room,
No. 195). Of interest, too, are the =royal stele= of the little-known
king =Ȧp-uat-em-sau-f= (Bay 3, No. =281=); the stele of =Ḥetep-neteru=
and =Teḥuti-āa=, which mentions another hitherto unknown king (Bay 4,
No. =282=); the stele of Ptaḥ-sānkh, mentioning king =Rā-Ḥetep= (Bay 5,
No. =283=); and the slab from the temple of Osorkon II at Bubastis,
inscribed with the name of =Sekhem-khu-taui-Rā= (Bay 23, No. =284=).
To a great many stelae of private individuals, who flourished between the
XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties, it is difficult to assign exact dates,
for very few of them mention royal names, and the inscriptions cut on
them afford no clue. Fine examples of the transition period of funerary
sculpture, stelae, etc., are: Stele of =Nebȧ=, an inspector (Bay 1, No.
=285=); grey granite =portrait figure= of an official of Athribis (Bay
2, No. =288=); granite figure of =Nefer-ȧri=, from Bubastis (Bay 2, No.
=289=); stele of =Pai-neḥsi=, the store keeper of the gold which came
from the Sûdân (Bay 7, No. =299=); stele of =Ȧntef-Ȧqer-ānkh-khu= (Bay 7,
No. =301=); stele of Queen =Mer-seḳer= (Bay 9, No. =330=).
The =Hyksos=.—Comparatively soon after the downfall of the XIIIth
dynasty, the Delta and northern parts of Egypt were little by little
occupied by a confederation of Semitic nomad tribes to whose leaders,
on the authority of =Flavius Josephus=, the historian (who died about
A.D. 100), the name of =Hyksos= or =Shepherd Kings= has been given. The
word Hyksos is derived from two Egyptian words _Ḥequ-Shasu_ 𓋾𓈎𓀀𓏪𓆷𓄿𓇓𓅱𓏪,
_i.e._, the Shêkhs or Governors of the Shasu,[34] or nomadic tribes of
the Eastern Desert, Syria, etc. It is extremely unlikely that they fought
for the possession of Egypt; and we may assume that they migrated into
the Delta, and that, after a few generations, they found that their
power and numbers were sufficiently great to enable them to assume the
mastery of the whole country of Lower Egypt. The Hyksos, who had settled
in the Delta, adopted, little by little, the manners and customs of the
Egyptians; and at length their chiefs adopted the Egyptian language and
religion, and assumed the titles of the old Pharaohs, and became to all
intents and purposes Egyptian kings. They apparently worshipped several
gods, the chief of whom was =Sutekh= 𓇓𓏲𓏏𓐍𓀭, and him they identified
with =Set= 𓋴𓏏𓈜𓃩, or =Suti= 𓇓𓅱𓏏𓏭𓃩, the old Egyptian god of darkness and
evil.
[Illustration: Granite lion inscribed with the name of Khian, a Hyksos
king, about B.C. 1800.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 5, No. 340.]]
According to Josephus the chief kings of the Hyksos were: =Salatis=, who
reigned at Memphis, and fortified the city of =Avaris=, near Tanis, and
garrisoned it with 250,000 men; he reigned 13 years. He was succeeded by
=Beon=, who reigned 44 years, and =Apachnas=, who reigned 36 years and
7 months, and =Apophis=, who reigned 61 years, and =Jonias= who reigned
50 years and 1 month, and =Assis=, who reigned 49 years and 2 months. Of
the objects in the British Museum which belong to the =Hyksos Period=
may be mentioned: =1.= The famous =Mathematical Papyrus= (No. 10,058),
which was written in the reign of =Āa-user-Rā= 𓍹𓇳𓉻𓂝𓄊𓋴𓍺, or =Ȧpepȧ I=;
=2.= A red granite slab from the temple of Bubastis, inscribed with the
name of =Ȧpepȧ= 𓍹𓇋𓀁𓊪𓊪𓇋𓍺 (Bay 23, No. =339=); =3.= A scarab inscribed
=Āa-peḥ=, the prenomen of =Nubti=, a king whose cartouches appear on the
famous =Stele of 400 years=[35] (No. 32,368); =4.= The =granite= lion
(Bay 5, No. =340=) on the breast of which is cut the cartouche 𓊹𓄤𓍹𓇳𓋴𓈖𓍺
_Suser-en-Rā_, _i.e._, the prenomen of King =Khian= 𓍹𓐍𓇌𓄿𓈖𓍺. This lion
was purchased at Baghdad, but its _provenance_ is unknown. Besides these
the British Museum possesses a large number of =scarabs of the Hyksos
Period= inscribed with the names of kings and royal personages.
Another Hyksos king, =Āa-qenen-Rā Ȧpepȧ II=, is made known to us by
Sallier Papyrus II (No. 10,185), which shows that he was a contemporary
of one of the Theban kings called =Seqenen-Rā=. According to this
document there was enmity between Ȧpepȧ II and Seqenen-Rā, his vassal,
but as the papyrus is mutilated the result of their enmity is unknown.
During one portion of the Hyksos Period a group of petty kings, or
chiefs, each of whom was called =Ȧntef-āa=, ruled either at Thebes or
Coptos, and a few of their monuments have come down to us. In the British
Museum are: =1.= Stone memorial =pyramid of Ȧntef-āa Ȧp-Maāt= (Vestibule,
South wall, No. =341=); =2.= Slab sculptured with a figure of =Ȧntef
Nub-kheper-Rā= (Bay 4, No. =342=); =3.= Gilded =coffin of Ȧntef-āa=
(Wall-case 2, First Egyptian Room).
It has been said above that there was enmity between Ȧpepȧ II and
Seqenen-Rā, but the monuments prove that there were three kings who
bore the =Seqenen-Rā= prenomen, and it seems that all three waged war
against the Hyksos in the north; their full names were =Seqenen-Rā=
(=I=), =Tau-āa=, =Seqenen-Rā= (=II=), =Tau-āa-āa=, =Seqenen-Rā= (=III=),
=Tau-āa-qen=. The greatest warrior of the three was undoubtedly the
last named, and it was he who determined to throw off the yoke of the
foreigner. He was supported by all classes of Egyptians, for the Hyksos
were hated, and especially by the priests of Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes, who
regarded the demand of the Hyksos king that Seqenen-Rā III should worship
the god Sutekh as a grave insult to their god Ȧmen-Rā. Seqenen-Rā III
refused to worship Sutekh, and proclaimed his independence. Of the
battles which were fought during the war that followed nothing is known,
but it is clear that in one of them the brave leader in the struggle for
national independence was slain. When his mummy was unrolled at Cairo,
in 1886, it was seen that the lower jaw-bone was broken and the skull
split; there were also large wounds in the side of the head and over the
eye, and one ear had been hacked away. Tau-āa-qen was succeeded by his
son (?) =Ka-mes=, whose reign was, however, short. To him belonged the
fine =bronze axe-head= inscribed with his names and titles exhibited in
Table-case B in the Third Egyptian Room (No. 5), and the =spear head=,
similarly inscribed, of which see a cast in the same case (No. 191).
Ka-mes had several children by his wife Ȧāḥ-ḥetep, and some of their sons
may have ruled for a short time; but the country was very unsettled, and
the first to succeed in restoring law and order was =Ȧāḥmes=, or =Amāsis
I=, the founder of the XVIIIth dynasty.
CHAPTER XII.
THE NEW EMPIRE.
The Eighteenth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1600.
Under this dynasty Egypt formed her empire in Western Asia, and conquered
and occupied the Egyptian Sûdân, probably so far south as the Baḥr
al-Ghazâl. The Hyksos were expelled from Egypt by the first kings of
the dynasty, and the peoples in the Eastern and Western Deserts were
held in check with a firm hand. King after king made frequent raids on a
large scale into Syria and the Sûdân, and on each occasion brought back
untold spoils, a considerable proportion of which was expended on the
building of great temples like those of Karnak, Luxor, and Dêr al-Baḥarî.
Trade developed to an unprecedented extent, and riches increased; and
the king and his priests and nobles were able to gratify their love of
splendid temples, colossal statues, lofty obelisks, large palaces, fine
houses and gardens, decorated furniture, elaborate jewellery, costly
tombs, etc. Under the patronage of the priesthood and the temple-schools
education prospered, literature, art, painting and sculpture flourished,
and the vast works which were undertaken by the Government encouraged
handicraftsmen of every kind in the production of the best work. Among
the kings of this dynasty were the greatest and most powerful sovereigns
that ever ruled Egypt, viz., Thothmes III and Ȧmen-ḥetep III.
[Sidenote: B.C. 1600.]
The first king of the dynasty was =Ȧāḥmes=, or =Amāsis I=, who carried on
the war against the Hyksos which Seqenen-Rā had begun. He captured the
city of Avaris, the stronghold of the Hyksos, and turned the enemy out of
the country, and in the fifth year of his reign he captured the city of
Sharuhen (mentioned in Joshua xix, 6), in Syria. He subsequently invaded
Nubia and compelled the tribes to pay tribute. Among the monuments of his
reign are the massive granite =altar= inscribed with his name (Bay 16,
No. =343=); the head of a seated figure of =Nefert-ȧri=, his wife (Bay
12, No. =344=); the =ushabti= figure of the king (Wall-case 84, Second
Egyptian Room, No. 129); and the =portrait= of the Queen (Case 1, Third
Egyptian Room, No. 3).
[Illustration: Statue of Ȧmen-ḥetep I, B.C. 1600, in the form of Osiris,
wearing the Crown of the South.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 3, No. 346.]]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep I=, the son of Amāsis I, continued the war in Nubia, and
the rebuilding of the temple of Ȧmen and other sanctuaries; he was
the founder of the great brotherhood of the =Priests of Ȧmen=. From
a building made by him at Dêr al-Baḥarî came the magnificent painted
limestone =statue of the king=, in the mummied form and with the White
Crown of Osiris, exhibited in the Northern Egyptian Gallery (No.
=346=), and the stele on which are sculptured figures of =Neb-Ḥapt-Rā
Menthu-ḥetep= and =Ȧmen-ḥetep I= (Bay 9, No. =347=). Other interesting
monuments of this reign are: the stele of =Pa-sheṭ=, a judge, who is seen
adoring the king and queen (Bay 7, No. =348=); and a stele with figures
of the king and queen (Bay 9, No. =349=). The inscriptions and scenes on
several stelae show that Ȧmen-ḥetep I and his queens were included among
the gods; see the stelae of =Ḥui= (Bay 8, No. =352=), =Pa-ren-nefer= (Bay
8, No. =353=), =Ȧmen-em-Ȧpt= (Bay 10, No. =354=), =Ȧmen-men= (Bay 10, No.
=355=), and =Ḥui=, son of Nefert-ithȧ (Bay 11, No. =357=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1550.]
=Teḥuti-mes I=, or =Thothmes I=, the son of Ȧmen-ḥetep I, made Napata,
at the foot of the Fourth Cataract, the border of his kingdom to the
south; and he waged war in Northern Syria. He added to the temple of
Ȧmen, and set up obelisks at Karnak. Among objects bearing his name are
two =bricks= and a =steatite vase= inscribed with his prenomen and name
(Wall-cases 150 and 175 in the Fourth Egyptian Room).
=Thothmes II=, the son of Thothmes I and Mut-Nefert, married his
half-sister Ḥātshepset; during his short reign, war was carried on in
Syria and Nubia, and many temples in Egypt and forts in Nubia were
repaired or rebuilt. Among the monuments of this reign may be mentioned
the =scarabs= in Table-case D (Fourth Egyptian Room) and a portion of a
slab inscribed with his Horus name (Third Egyptian Room, Wall-case 103,
No. 937).
After the death of Thothmes II, his widow =Ḥātshepset= reigned alone
for some years, and she built the famous =temple of Dêr al-Baḥarî=, the
walls of which she decorated with reliefs illustrating her =Expedition
to Punt=. The temple was called “Tcheser-Tcheseru,” _i.e._, “Holy of
Holies,” and the architect was Senmut; it was built close to the temple
of Menthu-ḥetep Neb-ḥap-Rā, and was ranged in three terraces. It was
enclosed by a wall, and was approached by an avenue of sphinxes, which
led to the pylon at the entrance, where stood two obelisks. She also set
up two great granite obelisks in honour of her father Thothmes I. About
twenty years before her death she associated her nephew Thothmes III
with her in the rule of the kingdom. Many =scarabs=, a gold =ring=, a
wooden =cartouche=, and an alabaster =vase=, inscribed with her names and
titles, are exhibited in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Table-cases P and J
and Wall-case 139).
=Thothmes III=, the son of Thothmes II and the lady Ȧset, was the
greatest of all the kings of Egypt; he reigned for about 53 years, 21
years as co-regent with Ḥātshepset, and 32 years alone. Soon after he
became sole ruler of Egypt he began a series of campaigns in Palestine,
Syria and other countries of Western Asia, and his arms were everywhere
victorious. In the first campaign he captured the city of Megiddo, in
Syria, and brought back an immense quantity of spoil. Subsequently he
undertook some fifteen campaigns into different parts of Western Asia;
and towards the close of his reign he appears to have raided the Sûdân.
The vast wealth which he drew from Asia enabled him to be a generous
friend of the priesthood, and to repair, rebuild and enlarge and found
sanctuaries for the great gods of Egypt. He carried on extensive building
operations at Heliopolis, Memphis, Abydos, Denderah, Coptos, Dêr
al-Baḥarî, Madînat Habû, Hermonthis, Esna, Edfû, etc.; but his greatest
work was the colonnade which he built in the temple of Ȧmen at Karnak,
150 feet long, 50 feet wide, with 50 columns and 32 rectangular pillars
(see =Plate XXX=). He founded the temple of Ṣulb (Soleb) near the Third
Cataract, and dedicated a temple at Semnah to Usertsen III. At Karnak and
elsewhere he set up magnificent granite obelisks, one of which, commonly
called =Cleopatra’s Needle=, now stands on the Thames Embankment. He
was buried in the valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes; and his
mummy was wrapped in a linen sheet inscribed with the text of the CLIVth
Chapter of the Book of the Dead, and extracts from the Litany of Rā.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX.
The Hall of Columns in the great temple of Ȧmen-Rā, at Karnak.]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI.
Head from a colossal granite statue of Thothmes III, B.C. 1550.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 2, No. 360.]]
Among the many monuments of Thothmes III and his reign may be mentioned:
=1.= The magnificent =head=, in red granite, from a colossal statue of
the king, found by Belzoni at Karnak (No. =360=, Northern Gallery; see
=Plate XXXI=); the total height of the head and crown is 9 ft. 5 in.,
and the width of the face is 2 ft. 7½ in. =2.= Massive granite monument
with figures of the god Menthu-Rā and Thothmes III in relief (Bay 2, No.
=363=). =3.= Fragment of the obelisk set up by the king at Heliopolis
(Bay 12, No. =364=); and a door jamb from a temple of Thothmes III at
Wâdî Ḥalfah (Bay 10, No. =365=). Of interest, too, are the cast of a
granite =sphinx= bearing the name of Thothmes III on its breast (Northern
Gallery, No. =366=); the cast of the famous granite stele inscribed with
an =address to the king by Ȧmen-Rā=, in which the god describes the
exploits of Thothmes III (Central Saloon, No. =367=); portion of a stele
dated in the 35th year of Thothmes III (Bay 11, No. =368=); slab with
scenes of =Ȧmen-ḥetep I= and =Thothmes III= adoring the gods (Bay 12, No.
=369=). Among smaller objects inscribed with his name may be mentioned
the =glass jug=, gold =rings=, =razor= (?), tools and =weapons in
bronze=, and =bricks= made of Nile mud, exhibited in the Third and Fourth
Egyptian Rooms. There are also the stele of =Messnȧu=, a priest in his
temple (Bay 8, No. =372=), and the statue of =Netchem=, who prayed to the
royal _Ka_ of Thothmes III 𓇓𓏏𓈖𓂔𓍹𓇳𓏠𓆣𓍺 (Bay 9, No. =373=). To the joint
reign of Thothmes III and Ḥātshepset belongs the =statue of Ȧnebni=,
the master of the armoury, which was set up to his memory by his august
master and mistress (Bay 9, No. =374=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1500.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep II= fought in Syria, and penetrated the Sûdân as far as Wâd
Bâ-Nagaa, about 80 miles north of Kharṭûm; he caused the body of one
of the chiefs whom he had slain in Syria to be sent to Napata (Gebel
Barkal), and hung upon the city walls to strike terror into the Nubians.
Of monuments of his reign may be noted: The royal =ushabti figure= in
diorite (Wall-case 84, Second Egyptian Room, No. 7); the =glass= and
=alabaster= vessels (Table-case H in the Third Egyptian Room), and the
=axe-head= in Table-case B in the Fourth Egyptian Room; the stele of
=Ȧthu=, second priest of the king (Bay 4, No. =375=); and the portion of
the bowl dedicated by the scribe Teḥutimes (Bay 12, No. =376=).
The reign of =Thothmes IV= was short and unimportant. He made one or more
raids into Nubia, an expedition into Syria; and in the first year of his
reign he set up a tablet between the paws of the =Sphinx= stating that
the =god of the Sphinx=, Ḥerukhuti-Kheperȧ-Rā-Temu, appeared to him one
day before he was king, and bade him remove the sand which had closed
him in on all sides, and promised him that he should become king if he
obeyed. Thothmes undertook the work, and in due course became king. His
inscription mentions king =Khāf-Rā= (Chephren) in connexion with some
work (probably a clearing of the sand) performed for the Sphinx. Among
the monuments of his reign may be noted the =stele of Ȧmen-ḥetep=, an
officer who accompanied the king into Western Asia and the Sûdân (Bay 11,
No. =377=); and the stele of =Nefer-ḥāt=, overseer of the works in the
Temple of Abydos (Bay 8, No. =378=). Thothmes IV married a lady named
=Mut-em-uȧa=, who became the mother of Ȧmen-ḥetep III. The =granite boat=
which was dedicated to the queen as the counterpart of the goddess Mut,
is exhibited in the Northern Gallery (Bay 7, No. =379=). For a portion of
the head of her seated figure from the boat see Bay 7, No. =380=. Some
think that Mut-em-uȧa is to be identified with the daughter of Artatama,
king of Mitani.[36]
[Sidenote: B.C. 1450.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep III=, the =Memnon= of the Greeks, declared himself to be an
incarnation of the god Ȧmen-Rā; he reigned about 36 years. In the fifth
year of his reign he marched into the Sûdân and crushed a rebellion at
Abhat, taking 750 prisoners. He subsequently travelled in many parts
of that country, and built a magnificent temple there, near the modern
village of Ṣulb (Soleb), which he dedicated to himself as the god of the
Sûdân. He made many expeditions into Western Asia, and whilst there he
enjoyed lion-hunting on a large scale; on the large =scarabs= exhibited
in Table-case D (Fourth Egyptian Room) he states that he shot with his
own hand one hundred and two fierce lions during the first ten years of
his reign. His frequent visits to Western Asia enabled him to continue
the friendly personal relations with the kings and rulers which his
father inaugurated; and he married several of their daughters, _e.g._, a
daughter of Kadashman-Bêl, king of Karaduniyash; a daughter of Shutarna,
king of Mitani; and a daughter of Tushratta, king of Mitani. He also
married a sister of Tushratta called Gilukhipa, who arrived in Egypt
with three hundred and seventeen of her principal women. The greatest
and best beloved of his wives, however, was =Thi=, who must also have
been of foreign extraction. Judging by the appearance of the mummies of
her father, Iuȧa and her mother Thuȧa, which have recently been found,
it seems that the former was not an Egyptian, but a native of some part
of the Eastern Desert or Southern Syria, while the latter was a native
Egyptian woman. Their daughter Thi was a very remarkable woman in every
way, and it seems beyond question that her son Ȧmen-ḥetep IV derived from
her the monotheistic views which he held.
[Illustration: The Temple of Luxor, built by Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450.]
The building operations of Ȧmen-ḥetep III were on a very large scale,
and extended from one end of Egypt and Nubia to the other. He built
the =Apis chapels= at Ṣaḳḳârah; at Thebes he built a pylon; at Karnak
the temple dedicated to the Theban triad, Ȧmen-Rā, Mut and Khensu; in
the Southern Ȧpt (_i.e._, Luxor), a temple to =Menthu=, and a temple to
the goddess Mut, from which come the series of =statues of Sekhet=, a
fire-goddess, exhibited in the Northern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. =381-410=.
All these buildings were on the east bank of the Nile. On the west bank
he erected a great temple, the =Memnonium=, and in front of it set up
two huge statues of himself which are generally known as the =Colossi
of Memnon= (see =Plate XXXIII=). The northern statue was said to emit a
sweet, sad note daily at sunrise, and for this reason was known as the
“vocal statue of Memnon”; the sound was never heard after the statue was
repaired by the Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211). Ȧmen-ḥetep
III also built a temple at Al-Kâb, and another to the god Khnemu at
Elephantine, and at Saddênga in the Sûdân he built a temple in honour of
his wife Thi, who was also probably worshipped there, as the king himself
was worshipped in his temple at Ṣulb, which has already been mentioned.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII.
Colossal seated statue of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 8, No. 412.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII.
The statues of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450, commonly known as “The
Colossi.” The statue on the right is the famous “Colossus of Memnon,”
from which a sound was said to issue at dawn.]
The reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III was long and prosperous, and his kingdom
extended from the city of Nî, on the Euphrates, to Karei, in the Sûdân.
He developed the gold mines of the Sûdân to an unprecedented extent,
and exported gold to the countries of Western Asia. The monuments of
this reign are numerous; among them may be specially mentioned: =1.=
A tablet inscribed with an account of the crushing of the =revolt in
Nubia= in the fifth year of his reign, set up by =Meri-mes=, governor
of the Sûdân (Bay 6, No. =411=). =2.= Two colossal =seated statues of
Ȧmen-ḥetep III= (see =Plate XXXII=), from the Memnonium (Bay 8, No.
=412=; Bay 9, No. =413=). =3.= Upper portion of a colossal statue (Bay
6, No. =415=), and two heads from colossal sandstone statues of the
king (Bay 4, No. =416=; Bay 5, No. =417=). =4.= Head from the granite
=sarcophagus= of the king (Central Saloon, No. =418=). 5. Grey =granite
column= from a temple built by him at Memphis (?). It was repaired
by =Menephthah I= under the XIXth dynasty, and about 100 years later
=Set-nekht= inscribed his cartouches upon it (Bay 7, No. =419=). The
monuments of his officials are also numerous. The most interesting are:
=Granite coffin of Meri-mes=, governor of the Sûdân (Bay 12, No. =420=);
stele of =Sururu=, a high official (Bay 7, No. =422=), seated figure of
=Kames=, a =king’s messenger= (Bay 5, No. =423=); a slab, with cornice,
from the tomb of =Pa-ȧri=, an overseer of the granaries of Ȧmen-Rā
at Thebes (Bay 10, No. =424=); stele of =Ȧpni=, a master of transport
(Bay 11, No. =425=); painted statue of =Pa-ser=, an Erpā, from Dêr
al-Baḥarî (Bay 13, No. =427=); granite statue of =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, an Erpā,
from Bubastis (Bay 12, No. =428=), etc. Of special interest are the two
fine =red granite lions=, which were found in the ruins of a temple at
Gebel Barkal, at the foot of the Fourth Cataract. No. =430= dates from
the reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, and appears to have been made by him for
the temple of Ṣulb; No. =431= was, according to the inscription, made
by =Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen=, a later king of the XVIIIth dynasty, who “repaired
the monuments of his father Ȧmen-ḥetep” (see =Plate XXXVI=). The name
of a late Nubian king, =Ȧmen-Ȧsru=, is found on each lion, and it is
possible that he may have brought both lions to Napata from Ṣulb, and
placed them in his own temple. Stelae Nos. =432= (Bay 10) and =433= (Bay
9) are of a most unusual character. No. 432 is a late (Ptolemaïc) copy,
written in hieratic, of the =deed of endowment= of the funerary chapel
of =Ȧmen-ḥetep, the son of Ḥāp=, the famous architect who built the
=Colossi=, dated in the thirty-first year of the reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III.
No. 433 is inscribed with a series of addresses which can be read both
perpendicularly and horizontally. Among smaller objects inscribed with
the names of Ȧmen-ḥetep III and Queen Thi may be noted the bronze =menȧt
amulet=, stamp, vase, =brick=, =stibium pot=, plaque, =scarabs=, etc.,
which are exhibited in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms.
[Illustration: Scarab of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, recording the names of the
parents of Queen Thi.
[No. 29,437.]
Scarab of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, recording the slaughter of 102 lions by the
king in the first ten years of his reign.
[No. 12,520.]]
Of the greatest importance for the history of this reign are the =Tell
al-Amarna Tablets=, a fine collection of which is exhibited in Table-case
=F= in the Babylonian Room. They consist of a series of letters and
despatches, etc., written chiefly to Ȧmen-ḥetep III and his son
Ȧmen-ḥetep IV, by kings and governors of countries, provinces, and towns
in Western Asia. Nearly all are written in a Semitic dialect, and in the
cuneiform character. They were found in a chamber to the east of the
palace of Ȧmen-ḥetep IV, in the city of Khut-Ȧten, near the modern Tell
al-Amarna. Among the =royal letters= in the British Museum are: =Draft=
of a letter from =Ȧmen-ḥetep III to Kadashman-Bêl=, king of Karaduniyash
(No. 29,784); a letter from =Kadashman-Bêl to Ȧmen-ḥetep III= (No.
29,787); letters from =Tushratta=, king of Mitani, to Ȧmen-ḥetep III
(Nos. 29,792, 29,791); letter from =Burraburiyash= to Ȧmen-ḥetep IV (No.
29,785); letter from =Tushratta to Thi=, queen of Egypt (No. 29,794);
etc.[37] (see =Plates XXXIV=, =XXXV=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1400.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep IV= was the son of Ȧmen-ḥetep III and Queen Thi, and reigned
about 20 years. In his youth he became a warm devotee of the god =Ȧten=,
whose visible symbol was the solar disc, and rejected the cult of Ȧmen,
or Ȧmen-Rā, the king of the gods. During the first few years of his
reign he lived at Thebes, and built there a Benben 𓃀𓈖𓃀𓈖𓉐, or shrine,
dedicated to Harmachis; and it seems that this was regarded by the
priests with disfavour. The pretensions of the priests of Ȧmen were
unbearable to him, and he therefore decided to leave Thebes and build a
royal capital elsewhere. The site chosen by him was on the east bank of
the Nile, near the modern villages of Ḥaggi Ḳandîl and Tell al-Amarna.
There he built a temple to Ȧten, a palace for himself, and houses for his
officials. As the new capital grew, so the enmity between the king and
the priests of Ȧmen increased. This can hardly be wondered at, for he
caused the name and representations of the god to be obliterated from the
monuments. Having moved to his new city, which he called =Khut-Ȧten=, he
abandoned his name of Ȧmen-ḥetep, because it contained the name of the
god he despised, and adopted the new name of =Khu-en-Ȧten=, _i.e._, the
“Spirit of Ȧten.” In his new capital he established a new form of the
ancient =cult of Ȧten=, as he understood it, in the temple Ḥet-Benben;
and the new worship was carried on with the forms and ceremonies which
had been in use in Heliopolis for some two thousand years. Incense was
burnt on the altars, offerings of all kinds were made, but no bloody
sacrifices were offered up; on certain occasions the king himself
officiated. The =followers of Ȧten= declared that their god was almighty;
and that he was the =sole creator= of the universe; they ascribed to him
a =monotheistic character=, or oneness, =which denied the existence of
any other god=. Their god was “One Alone,” and different in nature from
any of the other gods of Egypt. It was the =intolerance= of the followers
of the cult of Ȧten as formulated by Ȧmen-ḥetep IV which made them hated
by the priests of Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIV.
Letter from Ȧmen-ḥetep III, king of Egypt, to Kadashman-Bêl, king of
Karaduniyash.
[No. 1, Table-case F, Babylonian and Assyrian Room.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXV.
Letter from Tushratta, king of Mitani, to Ȧmen-ḥetep III, king of Egypt.
[No. 8, Table-case F, Babylonian and Assyrian Room.]]
The palace and houses of the new city were beautiful, and were richly
decorated. Art developed in a new direction, and was characterized by a
freedom and a naturalism which are never met with, before or after, in
Egyptian history. It sanctioned the use of new colours and new designs.
The reliefs and pictures of the king prove that his features were unusual
in character. He had a high, narrow, receding forehead, a large aquiline
nose, a thin mouth, projecting chin, a slender neck, rounded chest, and
his figure in many respects resembled that of a woman (see Wall-case 105,
Third Egyptian Room, Nos. =213= and =214=). Whilst the king was playing
the priest in his new city, and making arrangements for building shrines
to Ȧten in the Sûdân, his Asiatic Empire was breaking up. The Tell
al-Amarna letters show how rapidly the desert tribes began to harass the
Egyptian garrisons in Syria and Palestine, and to hem them in. Ȧmen-ḥetep
IV made no attempt to maintain his authority in Asia, or to keep what
his fathers had won in battle, and there is no record of any military
expedition during his reign. Shortly after his death Egypt had lost her
Asiatic Empire, his new city was destroyed, the cult of Ȧten died out,
and the shrine of Harmachis which he built at Thebes was pulled down,
and the stones rebuilt into the temple of Ȧmen. Ȧmen and his priests had
prevailed.
Among the monuments of this reign may be mentioned: =1.= Base of a
=statue= of =Ȧmen-ḥetep IV=, inscribed with the names and titles of
Khu-en-Ȧten; his cartouche as Ȧmen-ḥetep IV has been mutilated (Bay 13,
No. =435=). =2.= Base of a statue inscribed with the names of Khu-en-Ȧten
and his wife =Nefertith= (Bay 13, No. =436=). =3.= Stele of =Ptaḥ-māi=,
inscribed with prayers to Ȧten and Rā (Bay 10, No. =438=). The Tell
al-Amarna letters to Ȧmen-ḥetep IV will be found in Table-case F in the
Babylonian Room; the =scarabs=, =rings=, etc., in Table-cases D and J;
and a fine porcelain =boomerang= in Wall-case 150, in the Fourth Egyptian
Room. (For a rough outline drawing of Queen Nefertith (?) see Table-case
C in the Third Egyptian Room, No. 4.)
The last kings of this dynasty were =Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen=, =Ȧi=, and
=Ḥeru-em-ḥeb=; the first two of these married members of the family of
Ȧmen-ḥetep IV. Ḥeru-em-ḥeb was a wise and just king, and his reign was
long and prosperous. Of the monuments of these reigns may be mentioned:
the red =granite lion= inscribed with the name of Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen (Bay 10,
No. =431=; see =Plate XXXVI=); the stele of =Thuthu=, a steward of Ȧi
(Bay 12, No. =439=); the granite =statue of Ḥeru-em-ḥeb= (Bay 13, No.
=441=), and the statues of Ḥeru-em-ḥeb and the =god Menu=, or Ȧmsu (Bay
12, No. =442=); the =stibium tube= of Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen and his wife Queen
Ānkh-sen-Ȧmen (Wall-case 183, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 23).
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI.
Granite lion dedicated to Ȧmen-ḥetep III by Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen, about B.C.
1400.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 10, No. 431.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVII.
Seated statues of a priest, or high official, and his wife.
XVIIIth or XIXth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 18, No. 565.]]
The statues, stelae, etc., of the XVIIIth dynasty are numerous, and
many of them are of great interest as illustrating the perfection to
which art attained under the patronage of wealthy kings and the priests
of Ȧmen. Among them may be noted the following: Figure and stele
of =Nekht-Menu= or Nekht-Ȧmsu, holding a stele (Bay 2, No. =443=);
figures of =Ȧri-neferu= and his wife =Ȧpu= (Bay 3, No. =444=); stele of
=Ȧmen-em-ḥāt=, inscribed with adorations to Osiris (Bay 5, No =447=);
granite figure of =Kamesu=, a scribe (Bay 7, No. =452=); stele of
=Pasheṭ=, guardian of the northern lake and northern pillars of Ȧmen
(Bay 8, No. =455=); stele of =Nefer-renpit=, sculptured with a scene
representing the ceremony of Opening the Mouth (Bay 8, No. =456=); stele
of =Teḥutimes=, captain of the guard of the city gate of Memphis (Bay 8,
No. =460=); stele of =Ḥeru-em-ḥeb= a high official, and two door-jambs
inscribed with a hymn to the Sun-god (Bay 8, Nos. =461-463=); stele of
=Neb-Rā=, on which are sculptured four eyes and two ears 𓁻𓁻𓁻𓁻𓄔𓄔 (Bay
9, No. =467=); stele of =Ban-āa=, a royal scribe (Bay 9, No. =474=);
stele of =Ḥeru= and =Sutui=, twin brothers, architects and clerks of the
works at Thebes early in the XVIIIth dynasty (Bay 9, No. =475=); stele of
=Pasheṭ= inscribed with praises of the Syrian god =Reshpu= (Bay 10, No.
=478=); stele of =Qaḥa= (Bay 10, No. =483=); stele of =Māḥu=, captain of
the king’s bow (Bay 10, No. =487=); stele of =Anna= (Bay 11, No. =503=);
stele of =Sebek-ḥetep=, scribe of the wine-cellar (Bay 12, No. =513=);
sepulchral monument of =Thuthu=, with pyramidal top and libation basin
attached (Bay 13, No. =549=); granite figure of =Qen-nefer=, a high court
official (Central Saloon, No. =556=); three small inscribed =pyramids=
(Bay 18, Nos. =558-560=); painted =shrine of Ani=, a gardener (Bay 18,
No. =561=), etc. To the period of the XVIIIth dynasty may probably
be attributed the seated statues of a priest, or high administrative
official, and his wife in Bay 18, No. =565= (see =Plate XXXVII=). This
monument is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful examples of Egyptian
sculpture in the British Museum. Here, too, must be noted a very rare
object, viz., a =complete wooden door=, from the tomb of =Khensu-ḥetep=
at Thebes, on which is cut a scene representing the deceased making
offerings to Osiris-Khenti-Ȧmenti, in the presence of Hathor, lady of
Ȧmentet (Vestibule, North Wall, No. =566=).
Nineteenth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1370.
=Rameses I=, the first king of this dynasty, appears to have ascended
the throne when he was an elderly man. He made an attempt to enter into
friendly relations with Sapalul, the chief of the Kheta, or Hittites;
and he seems to have raided the Sûdân. Monuments of his reign are few
(see the =scarabs= inscribed with his name in Table-case D in the Fourth
Egyptian Room).
The early years of the reign of =Seti I=, the son and successor of
Rameses I, were spent in fighting. He attacked the Shasu, or nomad tribes
of the Eastern Desert and of Palestine and Syria, and defeated them with
great slaughter, and advanced to the city of Kadesh, on the Orontes,
and conquered it. He returned to Egypt laden with spoil, including cedar
wood from Lebanon for making a new barge for Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes. He made
raids in the Sûdân, and forced the natives to assist him in reworking
the old gold mines and opening up new ones. He reopened the copper mines
in Sinai, and all the large quarries, for he needed much stone for his
buildings. He began to build a great temple at Abydos, but did not live
to finish it: the walls and pillars are ornamented with religious scenes
and figures of the gods, and the sculptures and reliefs are among the
most beautiful of Egypt. In one of the corridors is the famous King
List, or =Tablet of Abydos=, which contains the names of 76 kings, the
first name being that of Menȧ or Menes. At Karnak he added 79 columns to
the =Hall of Columns= (see =Plate XXX=); at Ḳurnah (Thebes) he finished
the temple begun by his father Rameses I; and he built a splendid tomb
in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings (see page 174). From this tomb
came his magnificent alabaster =sarcophagus= which is now preserved in
Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Seti I built a temple
at Dulgo, near the Third Cataract, probably in connexion with the gold
trade carried on by the government; he opened up roads to the gold
deposits in the Wâdî Ulâḳî, in the Eastern Desert; and he built a temple
at Radassîyah on the old caravan road which ran from Edfû to the emerald
mines of Gebel Zâbarâ, near Berenice, on the Red Sea; and dug wells at
many places in the desert. His reign was comparatively short, 10 or 15
years at most, and he was succeeded by his second son Rameses II, whom he
had made co-regent. Among the monuments of his reign are: Large =wooden
Ka-figure of Seti I=, found in a chamber in his tomb (Central Saloon, No.
=567=); three painted slabs from the tomb of Seti I (Central Saloon, Nos.
=568-570=); and a grey =granite clamp= from a wall in Seti’s temple at
Abydos, inscribed with his prenomen 𓍹𓇳𓏠𓁦𓍺, (Bay 18, No. =572=). Among
smaller objects may be noted the =scarabs=, glazed =vase=, and =ushabtiu
figures= of the king exhibited in the Second and Fourth Egyptian Rooms
(Wall-cases 78, 79, 150 and 152). A stele set up by him at Wâdî Ḥalfah in
the first year of his reign is in Bay 13 (No. =574=), and the stele of
=Rumā=, a scribe and priest in his temple at Abydos, is in Bay 11 (No.
=573=). The beautifully illustrated =Papyrus of Hunefer= was written in
this reign (No. 9901).
[Illustration: Kneeling statue of Rameses II holding a tablet for
offering.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 17, No. 584.]]
=Ramessu=, or =Rameses II=, the =Sesostris= of the Greek writers, the son
of Seti I, was associated with his father in the rule of the kingdom at
an early age; he was probably between 20 and 30 years old when he became
sole king of Egypt. He reigned 67 years, and died aged about 100 years.
He married many wives, among them being some of his own near relatives,
and was the father of about 111 sons and 51 daughters. During the first
two or three years of his reign he made war on the tribes of the Sûdân,
and his victories over them were commemorated by the rock-hewn temple at
Bêt al-Walî, near Kalâbshah. Reproductions in plaster of the scenes of
the paying of tribute to him are exhibited on the North and South walls
of the Fourth Egyptian Room. In the fourth year of his reign Rameses was
fighting in Syria, and so began the series of battles with the Kheta
and their allies which lasted for fifteen or sixteen years. In the end
neither side was victorious, and finally Rameses was obliged to make a
treaty with the prince of the Kheta, in which it was agreed that Egypt
was not to invade Kheta territory, and that the Kheta were not to invade
Egypt. The Kheta admitted the sovereignty of Rameses over all territory
south of the Nahr al-Kalb, or Dog River, near Bêrût, in Syria, and the
region north of it was to be Kheta territory for ever. The most important
among the long series of battles was the Egyptian attack on Kadesh, on
the Orontes; it was temporarily successful, but it cost Rameses dear.
During the struggle, Rameses had charged among the enemy far ahead of
his troops, who had either been killed or had run away. When the king
realized his position, he found that he was surrounded by the foe, and
was in the greatest danger of being slain. Undaunted, however, he girded
on his armour, and in the strength of the gods Menthu and Bāl (Baal,
𓃀𓂝𓂋𓏤) he turned on his foes, and cut his way through them, slaying
large numbers as he escaped from their midst. “I was,” said the king, “by
myself, for my soldiers and my horsemen had forsaken me, and not one of
them was bold enough to come to my aid.” This episode was treated in a
highly poetical manner in a composition generally known as the =Poem of
Pentaurt=. As a matter of fact Pentaurt was not the author, but merely
the scribe who made the fullest copy of the work known, namely, that
in the British Museum Papyrus, Sallier III. Thirteen years after the
conclusion of the treaty with the Kheta, _i.e._, in the thirty-fourth
year of his reign, Rameses II married the daughter of the prince of the
Kheta, whose Egyptian name was Maā-Rā ur-neferu.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII.
Front of the rock-hewn temple built at Abû Simbel by Rameses II, B.C.
1330, to commemorate his victory over the Kheta.]
Rameses was a great builder; his name is found everywhere on monuments
and buildings in Egypt, and he frequently usurped the works of his
predecessors and inscribed his own name on statues, etc., which he did
not make. The smallest repair of a sanctuary was sufficient excuse for
him to have his name inscribed on pillars, architraves, door-jambs, and
every prominent part of the building. His greatest works were: =1.= The
rock-hewn =temple of Abû-Simbel=, dedicated to Ȧmen, Rā-Harmachis and
Ptaḥ (see =Plate XXXVIII=); its length is 185 feet, its height 90 feet,
and the four colossal statues of the king in front of it are each 60 feet
high. In the large hall are eight square pillars, each 30 feet high, each
with a colossal figure of Osiris, 17 feet high, standing against it. =2.=
The rock-hewn =temple of Bêt al-Walî= at Kalâbshah. =3.= The =Ramesseum=
at Thebes, called by Diodorus the “Tomb of Osymandyas,” and by Strabo
the “Memnonium.” The granite statue of the king which stood before the
second pylon was 60 feet high, and weighed about 900 tons. He completed
the =Hall of Columns= at Karnak; added to the temple of Ȧmen-ḥetep III at
Luxor; and set up several statues of himself and two granite obelisks,
each about 80 feet high. In the Delta he rebuilt =Tanis=, which became
a city of the first importance, and he built the city of Pa-Temu, the
=Pithom= of Exodus i, II, which is now called =Tall al-Maskhûṭah=; from
the latter place came the statue of the “Recorder of Pithom” (Bay 21, No.
=776=). At Memphis, Abydos, and every important city of Egypt and Nubia,
he carried on building operations; and he dug wells in Wâdî Ulâḳî, in
the desert to the east of Dakkah, and worked the gold mines there. His
reign was one of great material prosperity, and he lived long enough to
carry out every work of importance which he planned. He was not a great
soldier like Thothmes III, or a great administrator and diplomatist like
Ȧmen-ḥetep III; and the glory and power, and the territory of Egypt were
not so great as in the days of those kings. Few of the works carried out
by Rameses can be compared with those of the great kings of the XVIIIth
dynasty in beauty of design, finish, and solidity.
[Illustration: Façade of the Ramesseum in Western Thebes.
About B.C. 1330.]
[Illustration: Statue of Rameses II, with the name of Mer-en-Ptaḥ I cut
on the shoulders and breast.
[Central Saloon, No. 577.]
Upper part of a statue of Rameses II. Found on the Island of Elephantine.
[Central Saloon, Bay 14, No. 582.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.
Upper portions of a colossal statue of Rameses II, B.C. 1330.
[Central Saloon, No. 576.]]
The monuments of this reign are very numerous, and among them may be
noted the following: Wooden =Ka-figure= of Rameses II, from his tomb at
Thebes (Central Saloon, No. =575=). Upper portion of a colossal granite
=statue of Rameses II=, which was originally painted red, and was one
of a pair that stood in the Ramesseum in Western Thebes (see =Plate
XXXIX=); weight about 7 tons 5 cwt. (Central Saloon, No. =576=). Colossal
=statue of Rameses II=, on the shoulders and breast of which are cut the
prenomen and name of =Seti Mer-en-Ptaḥ= (Central Saloon, No. =577=).
Statue of Rameses II from Elephantine (Bay 14, No. =582=). Kneeling
statue of Rameses II, holding before him a tablet of offerings (Bay 17,
No. =584=). Portion of a statue of Rameses II; on one side of the plinth
is sculptured a figure of a favourite wife called =Batau-ānth=: from
Ṣarâbît al-Khâdim in the Peninsula of Sinai (Central Saloon, No. =587=).
With these should be compared the =cast= of the head of a colossal
statue of the king which was set up before the temple of Ptaḥ at Memphis
(Central Saloon, No. =588=), and the =cast= of another colossal statue of
the king at Abû-Simbel (Vestibule, No. =589=). The width of the face of
the latter is 8 feet 9 inches, and the length from brow to chin is 9 feet
8 inches. From the temple built by Rameses at Abydos comes the famous
King List, or =Second Tablet of Abydos=, which, when complete, contained
the prenomens of 52 of his predecessors on the throne of Egypt (Bay 6,
No. =592=); from Athribis (Benha) comes the =granite lion= (Bay 14, No.
=593=); from Abû-Simbel the interesting pair of =hawk-headed sphinxes=
(Bay 15, Nos. =594=, =595=); from Pithom the =granite hawk= (Central
Saloon, No. =596=); and from Memphis the =fist= of a colossal statue (Bay
16, No. =597=).
Of considerable interest, too, are the =granite columns= (Nos. =598=,
=599=). The first is from the temple of Bubastis, and on it, in places,
are seen the names of =Osorkon II=; its total height is 20 feet 8 inches
and its weight about 11 tons 5 cwt. The second is monolithic and is from
the temple of Ḥeru-shefit, the Arsaphes of the Greeks at Herakleopolis;
in places the names of =Menephthah I= have been added. Its height is 17
feet 2 inches, and its weight about 6 tons 12 cwt. The =altar= of Rameses
II is in Bay 16 (No. =600=). In connexion with the colossal statues of
this period may be noted the upper portions of two =statues of Queens= or
goddesses, in the Central Saloon, Nos. =601=, =602=. They were found by
Belzoni at Abû-Simbel, and most probably represent wives of Rameses II.
The art of the reign of Rameses II is illustrated by several small
objects bearing his name, _e.g._, the =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth
Egyptian Room); =gilded vase= for eye-paint (Wall-case 143, Fourth
Egyptian Room); a scribe’s =palette= (Table-case C, Third Egyptian Room);
a beautiful =glazed bowl= inscribed with the king’s names and titles
(Wall-case 151, Fourth Egyptian Room); =model= for a relief, with a
figure of the =goddess Qeṭesh= (Table-case C, Third Egyptian Room);
glazed =boomerang= (Wall-case 151, Fourth Egyptian Room); bronze figure
of the king (Wall-case 191, same room), etc.
[Illustration: Statue of Khā-em-Uast, son of Rameses II.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 18, No. 615.]]
The statues and stelae of officials of Rameses II are numerous, and
the inscriptions on them supply much information about the works and
administration of the country. Thus we have: the statue of =Paneḥsi=, the
scribe and director of the storehouse of gold from the Sûdân (Central
Saloon, No. =603=); the kneeling figure of =Paser=, a Governor of the
Sûdân (Central Saloon, No. =604=); the stele of =Ȧmen-em-ȧnt=, a scribe
of the soldiers, who held several high offices (Bay 11, No. =607=); the
stele of =Setau=, another Governor of the Sûdân (Bay 17, No. =608=); the
stele of =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, a king’s messenger (Bay 19, No. =610=); the stele
of =Ptaḥ-em-uȧa=, keeper of the king’s stables (Bay 20, No. =611=); and
the stelae of =Bakāa= and =Nefer-ḥrȧ=, who died in the thirty-eighth and
sixty-second years of the king’s reign respectively (Bay 19, No. =612=;
Bay 20, No. =613=). The inscribed statue of =Khā-em-Uast= (Bay 18, No.
=615=), a son of Rameses II, is of great interest, both historically and
linguistically. Khā-em-Uast was a _Sem_ priest in the temple of Ptaḥ of
Memphis, and a man of great learning, and he was held in high repute as
a magician. He managed the affairs of the country for about twenty-five
years before his death, which took place in the fifty-fifth year of the
reign of his father.
[Illustration: Statue of Seti II Mer-en-Ptaḥ II, king of Egypt, B.C.
1266, holding a shrine surmounted by a head of the ram of Ȧmen.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 616.]]
Mer-en-Ptaḥ, or =Menephthah=, was associated with his father in the rule
of the kingdom for about twelve years before he became sole king. In the
fifth year of his reign Egypt was attacked by a confederation of tribes
from Libya, and by certain peoples from the northern shores and islands
of the Mediterranean. Menephthah fortified his towns and collected an
army, and in the fierce battle which followed he was victorious. The
Libyan king barely escaped with his life; but six of his brothers and
sons and over 6,000 of his soldiers were slain, and 9,000 were taken
prisoners. It is probable that the =Exodus= took place during the early
years of this reign. In the year of his victory he caused a Hymn of
Triumph to be cut upon the back of a stele of Ȧmen-ḥetep III at Thebes,
and among the peoples of Palestine whom he conquered are mentioned
the =Israelites=, 𓇌𓊃𓏭𓂋𓇋𓄿𓂋𓏤𓌙𓀀𓁐𓏪. His mummy was found in the tomb of
Ȧmen-ḥetep II at Thebes, and is now in Cairo. Like his father he caused
his names to be cut on monuments which he had not made, _e.g._, the lion
of Ȧmenemḥāt III (No. 173), the pillar of Ȧmen-ḥetep III (No. 419), and a
statue (No. 577) and pillar of his father (No. 599). Among the monuments
of his reign may be mentioned the =door-jamb= from his temple at Memphis
(No. =1169=). The remaining kings of the XIXth dynasty were:—
=1.= =Seti II Mer-en-Ptaḥ.= See his =statue= holding a shrine with a head
of Ȧmen (Bay 21, No. =616=), a slab from his tomb at Thebes (Central
Saloon, No. =617=), and a =plaque= and a =scarab= in the Third and Fourth
Egyptian Rooms (Wall-case 124 and Table-case D). The D’Orbiney Papyrus in
the British Museum containing the =Tale of the Two Brothers= was written
during the reign of this king. =2.= =Ȧmen-mes=, of whose reign nothing is
known. =3.= =Sa-Ptaḥ=, of whom many reliefs are found at various places
in Egypt. On his death a period of anarchy followed, and nothing like
order prevailed in the country until =Set-nekht=, a relative of Rameses
II, obtained supreme power.
The smaller monuments of the XIXth dynasty in the British Museum are
very interesting, and, though the work of the sculptor and engraver
is not so good as that of the XVIIIth dynasty, it is important for
illustrating the methods employed at a time when quantity was more valued
than quality. The inscriptions too are valuable, for they afford much
information on minor points of the Egyptian religion. Among the statues
and stelae of this period may be noted: a finely sculptured relief from
the tomb of =Mes=, a priest of the =KA= (Bay 17, No. =635=); the stele
of =Ȧmen-Rā-mes=, a priest of the statue of King =Mer-en-Ptaḥ= (Bay
20, No. =636=); the painted limestone statues of =Māḥu= and his wife
=Sebta=, fine work (Central Saloon, No. =637=); the granite figure of
=Rui=, high-priest of Ȧmen (Central Saloon, No. =638=); the stele of
Ptaḥ-mes, the comptroller of the grain supply of Egypt (Central Saloon,
No. =642=); the stele of =Pa-ser=, the scribe and master mason of all
Egypt (Central Saloon, No. =643=); the seated figure of =Pa-mer-ȧḥau=,
a commander-in-chief (Central Saloon, No. =644=); the stele of the
superintendent of all the priests and all the gold workers of the Sûdân,
from Wâdî Ḥalfah (Central Saloon, No. =645=); the stele of =Qaḥa=, a
master craftsman, on which are sculptured figures of the Syrian deities
=Kent= and =Reshpu= and =Ānthȧt= (Ȧnaitis), and the Egyptian god Menu,
an important monument (Bay 10, No. =646=; see =Plate XL=); the stele of
the god =Reshpu= (Bay 17, No. =647=); stele of =Ḥeru=, painted with a
scene of the worship of =Kent=, or =Qeṭesh=, =Reshpu= and Menu (Bay 17,
No. =650=); the stele of =Ṭāṭā-āa=, an overseer of scribes (Bay 12, No.
=652=); the granite coffin of a =high-priest of Memphis= (Bay 17, No.
=654=).
[Illustration: PLATE XL.
Sepulchral stele of Qaḥa, sculptured with figures of the foreign deities
Kent, Reshpu, and Ānthȧt, and the Egyptian god Menu.
XIXth dynasty.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 10, No. 646.]]
Twentieth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1200.
We learn from the great papyrus of Rameses III that after the downfall of
the XIXth dynasty the land of Egypt fell into a state of anarchy, every
man acting according to his own judgment, and no one holding supreme
authority for many years. The country was in the hands of the nobles and
the governors of the cities who fought against each other. This continued
for some years, and then “years of want” succeeded, and a certain Syrian
called =Ȧrsu= 𓇋𓀀𓁹𓂋𓇓𓏲𓌙𓀀, rose to power. Gathering his followers about
him, he levied tribute and seized the goods of the people. As he paid
no honour to the gods of Egypt and did nothing for their temples, they
in due course set him aside and placed on the throne =Set-nekht=, who
brought the country into order, and re-established the worship of the
gods, and provided the temples with offerings. His reign was short,
and he was succeeded by =Rameses III=, the chief event of whose reign
of 31 years was the victory of the Egyptians over a confederation of
peoples from Philistia, Cyprus, Crete, and the northern shores of the
Mediterranean, who attacked Egypt by land and sea. Rameses III collected
an army and a fleet, and in the battle which followed on the coast of
Southern Palestine, his forces were victorious. Multitudes of the enemy
were slain on land, and those who succeeded in reaching their ships
could not escape, for the fleet of the Egyptians hemmed them in, and a
great slaughter ensued. Rameses then marched through Syria, and having
collected much spoil, returned to Egypt. Soon afterwards the Libyans
attacked Egypt on the west, but they were quickly defeated and spoiled.
Rameses appears to have kept one fleet in the Mediterranean and one in
the Red Sea, for trading purposes, and this “sea-power” was probably
the source of the great material prosperity of Egypt under his reign.
The peace and security of the country were such that he could boast:
“I made it possible for an Egyptian woman to walk with a bold and free
step whithersoever she pleased, and no man or woman among the people
of the land would molest her.” Rameses built the so-called “Pavilion”
and the great Temple of Madînat Habû at Thebes, and a small palace at
Tell al-Yahûdîyyah (see the glazed tiles, etc., from it in the Fourth
Egyptian Room), and he richly endowed the temples of Heliopolis, Memphis,
and Thebes, and gave them gifts of an almost incredible amount.[38] Lists
of all his benefactions and a valuable summary of his reign are preserved
in the great =Papyrus of Rameses III=, the longest Egyptian papyrus in
the world (see page 74). Among the monuments and small objects bearing
his name may be mentioned: The base of a pillar from a =shrine of Rameses
III= (Bay 18, No. =716=); a slab from one of his buildings at Ṣaḳḳârah
(Central Saloon, No. =717=); and the royal =ushabtiu= figures (Wall-case
85, Second Egyptian Room, Nos. 12, 13).
On the death of Rameses III the power of Egypt began rapidly to decline,
and the succeeding kings of the dynasty, each of whom bore the name of
Rameses, found their authority more and more usurped by the high-priests
of Ȧmen, the great god of Thebes. Among the objects inscribed with the
name of =Rameses IV= are =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room),
a fragment of an =alabaster vase= (Wall-case 137, same room), and the
stele of =Ḥeru-ȧ=, a royal scribe (Bay 24, No. =719=).
Under the rule of =Rameses V-VIII= the people of Thebes became poor,
and the living were driven to plunder the tombs of kings and queens for
the sake of the gold ornaments on the mummies and in the coffins. Under
=Rameses IX= the government undertook a prosecution of the principal
thieves, and appointed a commission to report upon the extent of the
=robberies of the royal tombs=. Part of the statement of the examination
of the tombs is preserved in the Abbott Papyrus in the British Museum
(No. 10,221). During the course of the enquiry a number of the accused
were beaten on the hands and feet, and confessed to breaking into the
tombs of Sebek-em-sa-f and queen Nub-khā-s. In the reign of Rameses IX,
the =high-priest of Ȧmen=, called =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, held great power, and
induced the king to authorize him to levy taxes on the people for the
maintenance of his temple and priesthood. Under =Rameses X= further
prosecutions of the tomb robbers took place, but the government was
powerless to stop the depredations. =Rameses XI= and =Rameses XII= were
weaker than their predecessors, and allowed the high-priest of Ȧmen
to rule the country. On the death of Rameses XII, the high-priest,
=Ḥer-Ḥeru=, seized the supreme power, and assumed all the titles and
functions of the king of Egypt. But the priests of Ȧmen were as little
able to maintain the power of Egypt as the kings Rameses, and they could
not make their authority effective even in the Delta, or Northern Egypt.
Thus it fell out that Egypt became once more divided into two kingdoms,
viz., the Kingdom of the North, ruled from Tanis by =Nessu-ba-neb-Ṭeṭ=,
whose name was Graecized by Manetho under the form of =Smendes=, and the
Kingdom of the South, ruled from Thebes by =Ḥer-Ḥeru=, the first of the
=priest-kings= of Egypt. For some years, however, Smendes must have been
king of all Egypt, for when repairs of an urgent character were needed
for the temples of Thebes, it was he who had the quarries opened, and
collected the workmen, and directed the building operations which saved
one of the temples from falling down.
The monuments of the XXth dynasty are characterized by coarseness of work
and lack of finish, but the inscriptions on them are of considerable
value linguistically. Among large objects may be mentioned the =granite
coffin of Setau=, a governor of the Sûdân (Bay 19, No. =720=); the
=libation basin= (Bay 19, No. =722=); the seated figures of =Ȧmen-Rā and
Mut= (Bay 18, No. =728=); the stele of =Pai=, comptroller of a chief
queen (Bay 22, No. =752=); and the shrine of =Ȧmen-em-ḥeb=, a scribe of
the king’s bowmen (Bay 17, No. =754=).
Twenty-First Dynasty.
B.C. 1050 (?)
KINGS OF TANIS.
=Nessu-ba-neb-Ṭeṭ (Smendes).=
=Pasebkhānut I.=
=Ȧmen-em-Ȧpt.=
=Sa-Ȧmen.=
=Pasebkhānut II.=
PRIEST-KINGS OF THEBES.
=Ḥer-Ḥeru.=
=Paiānkh.=
=Painetchem I.=
=Painetchem II.=
=Masaherth.=
=Men-kheper-Rā.=
=Painetchem III.=
The reigns of all these kings are historically of little importance. As
soon as =Ḥer-Ḥeru= had proclaimed himself king at Thebes, he assumed a
series of titles indicating that he was the temporal as well as spiritual
head of Egypt. One of the chief works carried out by the priest-kings
was in connexion with the repair and =removal of the royal mummies=
from their tombs to places of safety. The mummies of Seti I and Rameses
II were removed from tomb to tomb, but the pillaging continued, and we
read that many of the royal mummies required to be repaired, re-swathed,
and provided with new coffins. The rule of the priest-kings was not
successful, and several serious riots seem to have occurred at Thebes
through their neglect of the temporal affairs of the country. One of
the most important objects of the reign of Ḥer-Ḥeru is the copy of the
=Book of the Dead= which was written for his wife =Queen Netchemet=;
an important portion of it was presented to the British Museum by
HIS MAJESTY THE KING in 1903, and this is exhibited in the Southern
Egyptian Gallery, No. =758= (see =Plates I= and =XLI=). The vignettes
are very fine examples of the work of the period, and the texts contain
interesting hymns to Rā and Osiris, and a valuable version of one of the
most important sections of the Book of the Dead, viz., Chapter XVII. This
papyrus was found at Thebes. A number of =ushabtiu= figures, inscribed
with the names of =Nesi-Khensu=, =Ḥent-taui=, the =Painetchems=,
=Maāt-ka-Rā=, and other members of the families of the priest-kings,
will be found in Wall-cases 153, 154, in the Fourth Egyptian Room. The
largest monument of this dynasty in the British Museum is a =lintel= from
a temple of =Sa-Ȧmen= at Memphis (No. =1170=). In the First Egyptian Room
are exhibited several very fine mummies and coffins belonging to the
period of this dynasty, and in the Second Room several typical examples
of =ushabtiu figures= and =boxes=, which illustrate the funerary art of
the period. The monuments of the Tanite kings are few and unimportant.
The history of the next two hundred and fifty years (B.C. 1050-800) is
full of difficulty. When the rule of the priest-kings of Thebes came to
an end the Kingdom of the South appears to have passed into the hands of
a series of weak and incapable men, not one of whom succeeded in making
himself “King of the South and North.” On the death of the last Tanite
king of the XXIst dynasty (about B.C. 950), the Kingdom of the North
was seized by Shashanq, a descendant of a Libyan chief, who established
his seat of power at Bubastis. He and his descendants formed the XXIInd
dynasty, which lasted till about B.C. 760. About this time the priests
of Ȧmen departed from Thebes to Nubia, and soon afterwards the supreme
power in the North was seized by local chiefs dwelling at Tanis (XXIIIrd
dynasty), who made a league with all the feudal lords in the Delta, with
the view of taking possession of the whole country. When news of this
reached Piānkhi, king of Nubia, he forthwith invaded Egypt and conquered
it. After his return to Nubia, a Nubian dynasty was established at
Thebes, and a local chief of Saïs became King of the North, about B.C.
733. He represents the XXIVth dynasty. The kings of the XXVth dynasty
(about B.C. 700) were Nubians, and the kings of the XXVIth dynasty were
descendants of the chiefs of Saïs who were conquered by the Nubian king
Piānkhi, about B.C. 740.
[Illustration: PLATE XLI.
Vignettes from the Papyrus of Queen Netchemet.
Ḥer-Ḥeru and Netchemet praying.
The rising sun on the horizon.
The Ape-gods and Isis and Nephthys adoring the rising sun.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 758.]
Presented by His Majesty the King, 1903.]
Twenty-Second Dynasty. From Bubastis.
_About_ B.C. 950.
The first king of this dynasty was =Shashanq I=, the =Shishak= of I Kings
xiv, 25; 2 Chronicles xii, 5, 7, 9. He was of Libyan extraction, being
descended from =Buiu-uaua= 𓃀𓅱𓇌𓅱𓍯𓄿𓊕𓏮𓀭 a Libyan prince, who flourished
about B.C. 1150, and one of whose descendants married Meḥt-en-usekht,
high-priestess of Ȧmen, and became the father of Nemareth, who in his
turn became the father of Shashanq. A daughter of Nemareth owned the
=inlaid gold bracelets= exhibited in Table-case J in the Fourth Egyptian
Room (Nos. 134, 135). The principal event in the reign of Shashanq was
the invasion of Palestine and capture of Jerusalem. He spoiled the
Temple, and carried off much gold and silver, and took away the bucklers
and shields of Solomon, and also the golden quivers which David had
taken from the king of Zobah. He gave Jeroboam, king of Judah, one of
his daughters to wife. On his return to Egypt he caused a record of
this campaign to be cut upon the second pylon of the Temple of Karnak,
and added a list of all the towns and villages which he had conquered
in Palestine. Among them are the names of many places familiar from the
Bible narrative, but the statement that “the king of Judah” is mentioned
is incorrect. Shashanq repaired the Temple of Mut at Thebes, and set
up in it a number of seated granite statues of the goddess =Sekhet=,
two fine examples of which, inscribed with the king’s names and titles,
are exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. =763=, =764=. A
son of Shashanq named =Ȧuputh= was viceroy of the South, to whom is
due the removal of the royal mummies from their tombs to the tomb of
Ȧst-em-khebit at =Dêr al-Baḥarî=, where, together with the coffins and
funerary furniture, they were secreted, the pit being filled up with
sand, stones, etc., and the entrance carefully walled up. This hiding
place remained intact until 1872, when it was discovered accidentally by
the Arabs. (For the inscribed base of a statue of =Ȧuputh=, see Bay 19,
No. =765=.)
[Illustration: Seated figure of Ānkh-renp-nefer, the “Good Recorder” of
the town of Pithom, who flourished in the reign of Osorkon II, about B.C.
900.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 776.]]
Another son of Shashanq I, named =Uasarken=, or =Osorkon I=, became
king of Egypt, and married Tasheṭ-Khensu, and Maāt-ka-Rā, the daughter
of Pasebkhānut II, the last of the Tanite kings of the XXIst dynasty.
The son of Osorkon I and Maāt-ka-Rā was called Shashanq, and was made
high priest of Ȧmen; he dedicated to the god the fine quartzite =statue
of Ḥāpi=, the Nile-god, exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery,
Bay 22, No. =766=. Osorkon I was succeeded by =Thekeleth I=, who was
succeeded by =Osorkon II=, famous for the works which he carried out in
the Temple of Bast, the great goddess of Bubastis, the =Pibeseth= of the
Bible. From this site came many important monuments, among which may
be mentioned: The massive granite =Hathor-headed capital= of a pillar
(see =Plate XLII=; Bay 16, No. =768=); and the slabs sculptured with
figures of Osorkon II and Bast, and figures of Osorkon II and his =Queen
Karāmā= (Bay 23, No. =769=). Osorkon II perpetuated the names of the
great kings his predecessors, and accordingly we find on granite slabs
from his temple the names of =Khufu=, =Khāfrā=, etc., and figures of
=Ȧmen-ḥetep II=, =Seti I=, etc. (Bay 23, Nos. =771-773=). Like Rameses
II, Mer-en-Ptaḥ, and other kings, Osorkon II caused his name to be
cut upon monuments of other kings, _e.g._, the statue of Usertsen III
(Vestibule, No. =163=) and the grey granite statue of Ȧmenemḥāt III (Bay
20, No. =775=). In his reign flourished the =good recorder of Pithom=,
whose statue (Bay 21, No. =776=) was found at Pithom. The reigns of the
other kings of this dynasty, Shashanq II, Thekeleth II, Shashanq III,
Pamȧi, and Shashanq IV were unimportant.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII.
Hathor-headed capital from the temple of Osorkon II at Bubastis.
XXIInd dynasty, B.C. 866.
[Central Saloon, No. 768.]]
Twenty-Third Dynasty. From Tanis.
B.C. 766.
The principal kings of this dynasty were =Peṭā-Bast= and =Osorkon III=,
who reigned in the Delta.
It seems that a short time before the reign of Peṭā-Bast, the priests
of Ȧmen had found it impossible to maintain their position at Thebes,
and therefore, having hidden the mummies and coffins of the members of
their order in a secret place, which was not discovered until 1892,
they retreated to the South and settled at Napata, a city at the foot
of the Fourth Cataract. (For examples of the coffins of the priests of
Ȧmen of this period, see First Egyptian Room, Wall-cases 11-15.) A few
years after their arrival, they appear to have persuaded =Piānkhi=, the
king of the Northern Sûdân, to invade Egypt and to seize the kingdom of
the South at least, to which, in view of the close relationship of the
governing powers at Napata with those at Thebes, he might be assumed to
have a just claim. For some time Piānkhi did nothing, but at length, in
the twenty-first year of his reign, hearing that all the princes of the
Northern Kingdom had united their forces, and were attempting to seize
the country, he ordered his army to advance into Egypt. In a very short
time great successes were reported. Thereupon he joined his troops, and
his progress was victorious and rapid. City after city fell before his
attack, and on the capture of Memphis, Egypt lay vanquished at his feet.
The governors came in one after another, and at length Tafnekht, their
leader, sent in his submission accompanied by gifts. Piānkhi filled his
boats with spoil and returned to Napata, where he built a great temple
to Ȧmen, and set up a stele recording his victories. (For a cast of the
stele see Central Saloon, No. =793=.) After Piānkhi’s return to Nubia,
=Osorkon III=, perhaps with =Thekeleth III= as co-regent, reigned at
Thebes. To the latter half of this dynasty probably belongs the stele
of =Prince Ȧuuaruath=, son of Osorkon and high-priest of Ȧmen (Bay 22,
No. =777=), and the monument mentioning a king with the Horus name of
Ka-nekht-khā-em-Uast (Bay 21, No. =778=).
Twenty-Fourth Dynasty. From Saïs.
The principal king of this dynasty was =Bakenrenef=, the =Bocchoris=
of the Greeks, the son of Tafnekht of Saïs. His reign was short, but
tradition assert that he was one of the six great law-givers of Egypt.
About this time a Nubian called =Kashta= ruled at Thebes, and married
=Shep-en-Ȧpt=, the high-priestess of Ȧmen; their son Shabaka became the
first king of the XXVth dynasty. Among the monuments of this period
may be mentioned: The =altar, stand, and libation bowl=, dedicated by
Nes-Ȧmsu to Kashta, Shep-en-Ȧpt, and Ȧmenȧrṭās (Bay 20, No. =794=);
the base of a statue inscribed with the names of =Shep-en-Ȧpt I=,
=Shep-en-Ȧpt II=, etc. (Bay 20, No. =795=); and the alabaster vessel of
=Kashta= and =Ȧmenȧrṭās= (Wall-case 139, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 84).
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. From Nubia.
B.C. 700.
=Shabaka=, or Sabaco, whom some identify with =So= of 2 Kings xvii, 4,
was a contemporary of Sargon and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria. With
one or other of these kings he must have had correspondence, for two
seals bearing the name of Shabaka were found among the tablets of the
Royal Library at Nineveh. (See Nineveh Gallery, Table-case I, No. 32,
etc.) Among the objects bearing his name are several =scarabs=, and an
alabaster =vase= in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Table-case D and Wall-case
139), and a basalt slab (Bay 25, No. =797=) inscribed with a copy of
a mythological text, copied by the king’s order from an old, half
obliterated document. The portion of the text surviving contains legends
of Rā, Osiris, Set, Horus, Ptaḥ and other gods; and it seems to imply
that all their powers were absorbed by Ptaḥ, in whose temple the slab
was set up. Of Shabaka’s sister, the great Princess =Ȧmenȧrṭās=, may be
mentioned the following objects: A fine inscribed =statue= (Wall-case
107, Third Egyptian Room), her =lapis-lazuli scarab= (Table-case D,
Fourth Egyptian Room), and a =steatite cylinder= inscribed with her names
and titles (Wall-case 193, same room). This princess possessed great
power in Thebes, and she repaired portions of some of the great temples
of that city, and built a small chapel near the temple of Ȧmen. She
re-established the worship of the gods, and devoted a large proportion of
her property to the restoration of their statues and the observance of
their festivals.
Shabaka was succeeded by =Shabataka= (see a bronze shrine dedicated by
him to Ȧmen-Rā in Wall-case 123 in the Fourth Egyptian Room), of whom
little is known. He was followed by =Taharqa=, the =Tirhâḳâh= of the
Bible, (2 Kings xix, 9), the son of a farmer and the lady =Āqleq=, who
began to reign between B.C. 693 and 691. He was an ally of =Hezekiah=,
king of Judah. About 676, =Esarhaddon=, king of Assyria, crushed the
revolt in Palestine, and six years later he invaded Egypt, defeated
Taharqa, captured Memphis, and appointed twenty governors over the
various provinces of the country. After the death of Esarhaddon, in
668, Taharqa returned and proclaimed himself king of Egypt at Memphis;
but =Ashur-bani-pal=, the new king of Assyria, marched against him and
defeated his forces, which were assembled at Karbaniti, a city probably
situated near the north-east frontier of Egypt. Taharqa fled, and
Ashur-bani-pal marched into Egypt, crushed the enemy, and re-appointed
the governors who had been appointed by his father.
Taharqa repaired several temples at Thebes, and built a large temple to
Ȧmen at Napata, and a small one in honour of Usertsen III at Semnah. For
a bronze =figure of the king=, and two =plaques= and =scarabs= bearing
his name, see Table-case K, Wall-case 193, and Table-case D in the Third
and Fourth Egyptian Rooms.
The successor of Taharqa was =Tanuath Ȧmen=, the Tandamanie of the
cuneiform inscriptions, who had been co-regent with him. After the death
of Taharqa, as the result of a dream Tanuath Ȧmen invaded Egypt, and
captured Heliopolis; he tried to turn the Assyrians out of Memphis, but
failed. Hearing that the king of Assyria was coming with a large army, he
fled to Thebes, whither he was followed by the Assyrians, who sacked the
city. Tanuath-Ȧmen fled once more, and his subsequent history is unknown.
A cast of the =Stele of the Dream= is exhibited in Bay 22, No. =799=, and
an account of the burning and pillage of Thebes is given on the great
=cylinder of Ashur-bani-pal= (Table-case H, Babylonian Room), and the
calamities which came upon the city are described by the prophet Nahum
(iii, 10).
Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. From Saïs.
_About_ B.C. 666.
=Psemthek I=, or =Psammetichus=, was the son of Nekau, governor of
Saïs, and married Shep-en-Ȧpt, the daughter of Piānkhi and Ȧmenȧrṭās
I. Thus, by marriage, he obtained a claim to the throne of Egypt. He
appears to have fought against the Assyrians on every opportunity for
many years, and at length by the help of Carian and Ionian mercenaries
he succeeded in expelling them, and in making himself master of all
Egypt. He established garrisons at Elephantine, Pelusium, Daphnae, and
Marea. He protected the Greeks, a colony of whom he settled in the city
of Naukratis. He encouraged trade of every kind, and embarked in many
commercial enterprises. He rebuilt, or enlarged, the temple of the
goddess =Neith of Saïs= (see bronze figures of her in Wall-case 125,
Fourth Egyptian Room), and built a gallery in the =Serapeum= at Ṣaḳḳârah.
Among the monuments of his reign are: An =intercolumnar slab= sculptured
with a scene representing the king making an offering to the gods; from
the temple of Temu at Rosetta (Bay 24, No. =800=). A shaft of a column,
and a portion of a statue, inscribed with his names and titles (Bay 24,
Nos. =801=, =802=). For smaller objects inscribed with his name see the
=Foundation Deposits= and the =figure of Isis= (Table-cases K and H,
Third Egyptian Room), his =ushabti figure= (Wall-case 78, Second Egyptian
Room), and his =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room).
[Sidenote: B.C. 612.]
=Nekau=, or =Necho=, maintained an army of Greeks, and two fleets, one
in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea. He recut and enlarged the
old canal which in the time of Seti I joined the Nile and the Red Sea,
and is said to have employed 120,000 men in the work. He led an army into
Syria, and fought with =Josiah=, king of Judah, who attempted to bar
his progress in the valley of Megiddo; Josiah was struck by an Egyptian
arrow which penetrated his disguise, and he died (2 Kings xxiii, 29 ff.;
2 Chron. xxxv, 22). Necho advanced towards the Euphrates, but was met
at Karkemish by Nebuchadnezzar II and his army, and in the battle which
followed he was defeated. Among the small objects inscribed with his name
are: A bronze =shrine= (Table-case H, Third Egyptian Room), a porcelain
=vase= (Wall-case 157, Fourth Egyptian Room), an =alabastron= (Wall-case
139, Fourth Egyptian Room), and a limestone =draughtsman= (Standard-case
C, Fourth Egyptian Room).
[Sidenote: B.C. 596.]
[Sidenote: B.C. 592.]
[Illustration: Head of a colossal statue of Psammetichus II, about B.C.
596.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 23, No. 803.]]
The reign of =Psammetichus II=, the son of Necho, was short and
unimportant; but he appears to have made a raid into Nubia. He repaired
several of the large temples at Heliopolis, Memphis, Karnak, and
Elephantine. Among the monuments of his reign is a head from a colossal
=statue= of =the king=, found near the south end of the Suez Canal
(Bay 23, No. =803=). For small objects inscribed with his name see the
=scarabs= in Table-case D, and a portion of a =sistrum= in Wall-case
157, Fourth Egyptian Room. Under =Ḥāā-ȧb-Rā Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, the =Pharaoh
Ḥophra= of Jeremiah xliv, 30 and the =Apries= of the Greeks, Egypt
enjoyed a period of great prosperity, directly due to the encouragement
he gave to commerce, and to the business qualities of the Greeks who
had settled in Naukratis and elsewhere in Egypt. He made an expedition
into Syria. =Zedekiah=, king of Judah, counted upon his help to
repulse =Nebuchadnezzar II=; but failing to do so, Ḥophra incurred the
denunciations of the prophet Jeremiah: “And this shall be a sign to you,
saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know
that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: Thus saith the
LORD: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand
of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave
Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
his enemy, and that sought his life” (Jeremiah xliv, 29-30). Pharaoh
Ḥophra was dethroned by his own soldiers, who made their general =Ȧāḥmes=
(Amāsis II) king in his stead. Among monuments bearing his name are a
limestone =stele=, on which is sculptured the figure of the king (Bay 22,
No. =804=), and a portion of a statue of =Pefā-Net=, the king’s chief
physician (Central Saloon, No. =805=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 572.]
=Amāsis II= treated his former master with kindness, but, as Ḥophra
persisted in raiding the country, further fighting ensued. In the end,
Ḥophra was slain by his own soldiers on board his boat. During the reign
of Amāsis II Nebuchadnezzar II attempted to invade Egypt, with what
success is unknown. During this long reign of about 44 years the country
in general enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the quarries were re-opened
and many temples restored; remains of his building activity are visible
on the sites of all the great sanctuaries of Egypt. He was a generous
patron of the Greeks, and granted them lands and many privileges. Among
the monuments of his reign are: Two granite tablets for offerings, or
=altars= (Bay 16, No. =806=; Bay 17, No. =807=); a stele, dated in his
eighth year, recording the dedication of a building to Neith, goddess
of Saïs (Bay 24, No. =808=); a =weight= inscribed with his prenomen
(Wall-case 180, Fourth Egyptian Room), and handles of two =sistra=
(Wall-case 187, same room).
Amāsis II married Thent-kheta, by whom he became the father of
Psammetichus III. He was also the official husband of the famous
high-priestess of Ȧmen, =Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā=, the daughter of
Psammetichus II and the Lady =Takhauath=, and the adopted daughter
of Nit-Ȧqert (Nitokris), high priestess of Ȧmen.[39] The magnificent
=sarcophagus= in the Southern Egyptian Gallery was made for her (Bay
24, No. =811=). It is undoubtedly one of the finest monuments of the
XXVIth dynasty in the British Museum. (See =Plates XLIII=, =XLIV=).
The reliefs and figures are carefully executed, and the hieroglyphics
are well cut. In the Ptolemaïc Period this sarcophagus was used for a
royal scribe named Ȧmen-ḥetep, or Pi-Menth, his name being inserted in
the cartouches and the feminine suffixes being changed to masculine.
Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā built a chapel at Thebes, from which came slabs
Nos. =812=, =813= (Bay 24). Worthy of note also are two fine bronze
figures of =Harpokrates-Ȧmen= and =Menu=, which were dedicated to Queen
Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā by priests in her temple (see Table-case H, Third
Egyptian Room). Amāsis II had a daughter, =Ta-Khart-Ȧst= (for a portion
of a statue of her see Bay 24, No. =814=).
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.
Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā, daughter of Psammetichus II and Queen
Takhauath, wearing the head-dress of Isis-Hathor. From the cover of the
sarcophagus of the queen.
About B.C. 600.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.
The Sky-goddess Nut. From the inside of the sarcophagus of Queen
Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLV.
Kneeling statue of Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā, a prince, governor, and commander-in-chief,
about B.C. 600.
XXVIth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 818.]]
The last king of this dynasty was =Psammetichus III=. During his short
reign, which lasted six months only, the Persians under their king
Cambyses invaded Egypt, and, having defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium,
marched on to Memphis and captured it. After a short time Cambyses put
Psammetichus to death, and =Egypt became a province=, or satrapy, of
=Persia=.
During the rule of the XXVIth dynasty over Egypt, it appears that several
native Nubian kings ruled the Northern Sûdân from Napata, the modern
Gebel Barkal. Among these were =Ȧspelta= and =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, the former
of whom probably reigned about B.C. 625 and the latter about B.C. 580.
For casts of stelae recording the =Coronation of Ȧspelta= and the Annals
of =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, see Bay 18, No. =815=, and Bay 20, No. =816=. A cast
of a stele inscribed with an edict against the =eaters of raw meat= is in
Bay 20, No. =817=.
Under the XXVIth dynasty a great =revival of art and learning= took
place, due partly to the settled condition of the country under a firm
government, and partly to the material prosperity which obtained at that
period. The painter and sculptor took for their models the reliefs and
statues of the Early Empire, and the funerary masons and scribes cut or
wrote on the stelae and tombs texts which were composed under the VIth
dynasty, or earlier. The monuments of the period are more often made
of dark limestone, dark green or grey schist, and basalt than granite,
which was so commonly used for coffins, statues, stelae, etc., under the
Middle Empire. These substances give to the large monuments of the =Saïte
Period= a sad and sometimes heavy effect. Among the many fine examples
of the sculpture of the period may be mentioned: The black basalt
kneeling statue of =Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, a prince and general of the army (see
=Plate XLV=; Bay 21, No. =818=); the portion of the kneeling figure of
=Khnem-ȧb-Rā-Men=, prefect of Saïs, holding a =shrine of Neith= (Bay 23,
No. =819=); the portion of a figure of =Ānkh-p-kharṭ=, a priest who had
ministered in the temple for eighty years (Bay 24, No. =820=); and the
=libation bowl= dedicated to the goddesses Mut and Hathor (Bay 22, Nos.
=821=, =822=). The casts of the =Cow= of Hathor and the =Hippopotamus=
of Smeṭsmeṭ are also very instructive (Bay 25, No. =823=; Bay 26, No.
=824=). Of the massive stone =sarcophagi= and coffins, Nos. =825-829=
are very fine important examples. On the two granite sarcophagi of
=Nes-Qeṭiu= (No. =825=) and =Ḥāp-men= (No. =826=) are cut the figures
of all the gods who were believed to protect the dead; but the others
(Nos. =827-29=) are plainer. The sepulchral stelae are very numerous;
interesting examples will be found in Bays 21, 22, etc.
Twenty-Seventh Dynasty. From Persia.
B.C. 527.
The rule of the Persians over Egypt lasted about one hundred and ten
years. =Cambyses=, having established himself as king, set out on an
expedition to the Sûdân. On his way thither he despatched an army of
50,000 men to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, now known as Sîwah, to secure
the submission of the tribes; but, after reaching Khârgah, these troops
were never more heard of. Cambyses continued his march into Nubia, where,
it seems, he came in touch with a native army somewhere near the Third
Cataract. According to the annals of =Nȧstasen=, king of Nubia, his boats
were captured on the river, and all his soldiers slain after a fierce
fight. Greek tradition states that Cambyses committed many sacrilegious
acts in Egypt; but the inscription of Utcha-ḥer-resenet, the chancellor
of Saïs, records that Cambyses cleared out the temple of Neith in that
city, restored its revenues, and reinstated its priests. This done he
went to the temple in person, and performed acts of worship, like the
Pharaohs of old. The money which he gave the chancellor enabled him “to
provide with a coffin the man who was too poor to buy one, and he took
care of the children.”
[Sidenote: B.C. 521.]
=Darius I, Hystaspes=, was a wise and enlightened king, and he tried to
understand the religion and customs of the Egyptians. He established a
=coinage=, encouraged trade, subscribed money for expenses incurred in
the discovery of a new =Apis Bull=, supported religious institutions, and
commissioned the chancellor Utcha-ḥer-resenet to found a school for the
training of scribes. He was tolerant; and built a temple to Ȧmen-Rā in
the Oasis of Al-Khârgah, on the walls of which is cut a remarkable hymn
to Ȧmen. He also completed the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea,
which Necho began, and so added greatly to the prosperity of the country.
In the latter part of his reign the Egyptians, led by =Khabbesha=,
revolted against the Persian rule with some success. Darius determined to
set out from Persia to put down the rebellion, but died before he could
do so. The triumph of Khabbesha was short-lived, for =Xerxes the Great=
marched against him, defeated his forces, and reduced the country to
servitude worse than before. Xerxes did nothing for the gods or people
of Egypt, and left few traces of his reign in the country. An =alabaster
vase= inscribed with his name in four languages, Egyptian, Persian,
Median and Babylonian, which was found at Halicarnassus, is exhibited in
the =Gold Room= in the British Museum. For fragments of other vases, on
which his name appears in Egyptian letters, within a cartouche, and with
the additions “Pharaoh, the Great,” as here given, see Wall-cases Nos. 28
and 29, in the Babylonian Room. A cast of a stele, dated in his fourth
year, with a bilingual inscription in Egyptian and Aramean, is exhibited
in the Semitic Room (Second Northern Gallery, Wall-case 29).
𓍹𓆼𓆷𓇌𓄿𓃭𓆷𓄿𓍺𓉐𓉻𓅮𓉻𓂝
[Sidenote: B.C. 486.]
[Sidenote: B.C. 466.]
In the reign of =Artaxerxes I= another revolt, headed by =Inarôs=, a
Libyan, who was assisted by the Athenians, broke out, and at the battle
of Papremis, the satrap of Egypt, =Akhaemenes=, was killed and his forces
defeated. Subsequently the Persians defeated the Egyptians, and =Inarôs=
was captured and taken to Persia, where a few years later he was impaled
and flayed alive.
[Sidenote: B.C. 424.]
=Darius II, Nothus=, repaired the temple of Ȧmen-Rā at Al-Khârgah,
and added his name to its walls. In his reign the Egyptians at length
succeeded in throwing off the Persian yoke. Their leader, =Amyrtaios=,
has been thought to be Ȧmen-ruṭ-meri-Ȧmen.
Twenty-Eighth Dynasty. From Saïs.
B.C. 420 (?).
According to the King List of Manetho the XXVIIIth dynasty consisted of
one king, who was named =Amyrtaios=; Julius Africanus and the Syncellus
state that he reigned six years, and make Saïs the seat of his rule.
At one time authorities identified Amyrtaios with the king =Ȧmen-ruṭ=,
whose name 𓊹𓄤𓍹𓇳𓄊𓌷𓏏𓇋𓏠𓈖𓍉𓈖𓍺𓎟𓇾𓇾𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌗𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌻𓍺 is found on a plank
from a coffin preserved at Berlin. The form of the prenomen, however,
proves that Ȧmen-ruṭ lived at a period anterior to Amyrtaios, and the
identification must, therefore, be abandoned.
Twenty-Ninth Dynasty. From Mendes.
B.C. 399.
Of the five kings of this dynasty only three appear to have left remains,
viz. =Naifaauruṭ= (Nepherites), =Haḳer= (Achoris), and =Psamut=; their
reigns were unimportant, their total length being only about twenty-one
years.
Thirtieth Dynasty. From Sebennytus.
B.C. 378.
[Sidenote: B.C. 378.]
=Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt=, the Nektanebês and Nektanebus I of classical writers,
succeeded in overthrowing the dynasty of Mendes, and made himself king of
all Egypt, which he ruled with success for a period of eighteen years. He
repaired several of the temples of Memphis and Thebes, and the temple of
Darius I at Al-Khârgah, and revived the custom of setting up obelisks. He
also founded the temple of Horus at Ḥebt, the modern Behbît-al-Ḥagârah.
During his prosperous reign more attention was given to the performance
of ceremonies connected with the dead, and, as a result, a considerable
number of statues, stelae, etc., which may be attributed to his reign
have come down to us.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.
Obelisk dedicated to Thoth by King Ḥeru-nekht-ḥebt, B.C. 378.
XXXth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 31, No. 919.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII.
Scenes and texts from the Second Section of the Book of What is in the
Other World. From the sarcophagus of King Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt, B.C. 378.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 923.]]
Among his monuments worthy of special note are: =1.= A =pair= of
=obelisks=, inscribed with his names and titles, and dedicated to
“Thoth, the Twice Great,” before whose temple they were set up. They
were taken from a town in the Delta during the eighteenth century, and
stood for many years before one of the mosques of Cairo (see =Plate
XLVI=). (Bays 31, 32, Nos. =919=, =920=.) =2.= Portion of a statue of
Ȧmen-Rā(?), dedicated to the god by this king. (Bay 30, No. =921=.)
=3.= =Sarcophagus of Nectanebus I.= (See =Plate XLVII=.) This most
valuable and interesting object is one of the most remarkable monuments
of this king. The inside is decorated with figures of the gods, and on
the outside are cut the texts and illustrations of a series of sections
of the great funerary work entitled the =Book of what is in the Ṭuat=
(_i.e._, the Other World). The =Ṭuat= was a long narrow valley which ran
parallel with Egypt, and was neither above nor below this earth; a river
flowed through its whole length. It was entered on the left bank of the
Nile near Thebes, ran due north as far as Saïs, then curved to the east,
and finally terminated where the sun rose. This valley was divided into
ten sections, and at each end was a sort of ante-chamber or vestibule.
Each section was filled with its own peculiar beings, many of whom were
hostile to the dead who wished to pass through it in the Boat of the
Sun-god, which traversed it nightly. The god himself could only do this
by uttering words of power. The Book of what is in the Ṭuat was supposed
to contain these words of power; and copies of it were written on papyri,
or cut on sarcophagi, so that their possessors or occupants might be able
to recite them in case of need. The representations of the gods which
accompanied the texts enabled the dead to recognize the several beings of
the Other World when they met them, and to recite the appropriate words
of power. On the rounded =head= of the sarcophagus the First Section
of the Ṭuat is sculptured, and on the =foot= the Ninth Section; on the
=right= hand side are the Second and Sixth Sections, and on the =left=
are the Third and Eighth Sections (Bay 25, No. =923=). These Sections
refer to the kingdoms of the dead of Thebes, Abydos, and Saïs; the other
six Sections were probably sculptured on the cover, which was destroyed
in the eighteenth century; those relating to Memphis and Heliopolis are
omitted.
Nectanebus I was succeeded by his son =Tcheḥrȧ= (Teôs, or Tachos), in
whose reign the Persians led by =Artaxerxes II= made an attack upon
Egypt, but failed to conquer it.
[Sidenote: B.C. 358.]
Teôs was succeeded by his son =Nekht-neb-f=, or =Nectanebus II=, in
whose reign the Persians, under =Artaxerxes III=, once again obtained
possession of the country. The reign of Nectanebus II, who was the =last
native king= of Egypt, was on the whole peaceful and prosperous; he
repaired many temples, and his name is found on buildings in all the
great sanctuaries from Philae to Sebennytus in the Delta. The statues and
stelae of the period are well-cut, and the work is tasteful and delicate.
Among them may be mentioned: A granite =statue= of Nectanebus II (Bay 29,
No. =924=); the two =intercolumnar slabs= on which are representations of
the king kneeling and making an offering (Bay 27, No. =926=; Bay 28, No.
=927=); and a small =gilded door= from the model of a shrine, on which
the king is represented kneeling and making an offering (Table-case C,
Fourth Egyptian Room).
The Persians, having succeeded in obtaining the supreme power once again,
held it for a period of about eight years; but their rule was hateful to
the Egyptians, and when =Alexander the Great= (born B.C. 356, died 324),
who had defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus, =B.C. 332=, arrived
at Memphis, he was welcomed as the saviour of the country. He marched to
the Oasis of Sîwah (Jupiter Ammon) and entered the temple of Ȧmen-Rā, and
worshipped the god, who acknowledged him to be his son and therefore the
rightful king of Egypt. Soon after, in B.C. 331, Alexander founded the
city of Alexandria.
In the scramble for the provinces of Alexander’s great Empire which took
place at his death, Egypt fell to the share of one of his generals,
Ptolemy Lagus, who administered the country in the name of Alexander’s
sons, =Philip Arrhidaeus= and =Alexander II= of Egypt, the former of
whom never set foot in the country; the latter was brought thither as
a child of six years, and was murdered when he was thirteen years old
(B.C. 311); but in spite of these facts Ptolemy Lagus caused buildings
to be erected in their names, and ruled the country as their loyal
servant. To the period B.C. 332-306 belong the portion of a =clepsydra=
inscribed with the name of =Alexander the Great= (Bay 29, No. =948=); the
portion of a =clepsydra= inscribed with the name of =Philip Arrhidaeus=
(Bay 29, No. =949=); and the =papyrus of Nes-Ȧmsu=, containing the Book
of Overthrowing Āpep, which is dated in the twelfth year of “Pharaoh
Alexander, the son of Alexander,” _i.e._, Alexander II (No. =10,188=).
In the seventh year of his reign Alexander II restored to the temples of
the city of Pe-Ṭep (Buto) the property which had been wrested from it by
Xerxes the Great: a cast of the stele which commemorates this fact will
be found in Bay 28, No. =950=.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PTOLEMAÏC PERIOD.
Under the capable rule of the earlier Ptolemies, Egypt became prosperous
and powerful, and in the reign of Philadelphus she was the wealthiest
country in the world. Though they and their court were Greeks and spoke
Greek, the language of the priesthood and people was Egyptian, and the
native religion of the country remained practically unchanged. As time
went on, however, Greek became more and more the official language, and
Egyptian was only used officially for religious purposes. The Ptolemies
worshipped the Egyptian gods, offered up sacrifices to them, and rebuilt
and endowed many of their temples, _e.g._, at Denderah, Edfû, Esna,
Philae, Dakkah, etc. They adopted Egyptian names and titles, married
their sisters and nieces, and in every way they adopted the habits of
Egyptian Pharaohs; many were crowned with all the ancient rites and
ceremonies at Memphis. They did not, however, permit the priests to
interfere in the government of the country, which was administered on
Greek lines, and though at times their power was skilfully disguised,
it was nevertheless ubiquitous and effective. The revenues which they
drew from Egypt were very large, and no other monarchs in the world at
that time possessed such vast wealth as the Ptolemies. This was due to
the encouragement which they gave to commercial enterprises of every
kind, and to the freedom to trade which was enjoyed by the Jews, who had
settled in large numbers not only in Alexandria, but also in the rich
provinces of the Fayyûm, and in the Thebaïd, and in Syene.
=Ptolemy I, Soter I, B.C. 304=, founded the =Alexandrian Library= and
=Museum=, settled a number of Jews in Alexandria, and introduced the
worship of the god Hades, who was henceforth known in Egypt as =Serapis=,
_i.e._, Ȧsȧr-Ḥāpi, or Osiris-Apis. (See Wall-cases 176-181, Fourth
Egyptian Room.) For a relief and an inscription from his buildings at
Terenouthis, see Bay 25, Nos. =951=, =952=.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVIII.
Relief with figures of Ptolemy II, Philadelphus, and Queen Arsinoë, about
B.C. 260.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 953.]]
=Ptolemy II, Philadelphus, B.C. 287 or 286=, founded the cities of
Berenice Troglodytica, on the Red Sea, and Arsinoë in the Fayyûm, and
built the famous =Pharos=, or lighthouse, at Alexandria, one of the seven
wonders of the world. In his reign the priest =Manetho= wrote a History
of Egypt, of which only the King List is extant, and the famous Greek
version of the Old Testament, known as the =Septuagint=, was compiled.
He added largely to the Alexandrian Library, which is said at that time
to have contained 400,000 works. For stelae, sculptured with reliefs in
which Ptolemy II and Queen =Arsinoë= are represented making offerings to
the gods, see Bay 25, Nos. =953-955= (see =Plate XLVIII=); a portion of a
royal edict is in Bay 28, No. =956=.
[Illustration: Stele sculptured with a scene representing Ptolemy II,
Philadelphus, making offerings to Ȧmsu, or Menu, Uatchet, etc., about
B.C. 260.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 954.]]
=Ptolemy III, Euergetes I, B.C. 246=, conquered the greater portion of
Western Asia. He was a patron of the arts and learning, and he repaired
and rebuilt many of the ancient temples. To commemorate his victories and
the benefits which he conferred on Egypt, the priesthood assembled at
Canopus in the ninth year of his reign, and passed a Decree conferring
special honours on the king and his queen =Berenice=. It was ordered
that the Decree be cut in the Greek and Egyptian languages on stelae
to be set up in the most prominent places in temples of the first,
second, and third class throughout Egypt, in order that all men might
read of the king’s bounty. The Egyptian version was inscribed in two
kinds of writing, viz., in hieroglyphics and in demotic. The Decree also
ordered that one day be added to the calendar every fourth year, thus
anticipating the =leap-year= of modern times. For a cast of the =Decree
of Canopus= see Bay 28, No. =957=. Ptolemy III began to build the temple
of =Edfû= (see =Plate XLIX=), B.C. 237, which was finished by Ptolemy XI,
B.C. 57. Objects inscribed with his name are not common. (For a =gold
ring= which was made in his reign see Table-case J, Fourth Egyptian Room.)
=Ptolemy IV, Philopator I, B.C. 222 or 221=, added a hall to the temple
which the Nubian king, =Ergamenes=, built at Dakkah, and dedicated a
temple to Homer. He defeated Antiochus the Great at the Battle of Raphia,
but did nothing further to break his power. He organized =elephant hunts=
in the Sûdân, and transported the animals by sea to Egypt for military
purposes; a Greek inscription set up by Alexandros, general of the
elephant hunts of Ptolemy IV, is in Bay 26, No. =958=.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIX.
View of the Temple of Edfû, taken from the top of the pylon. The temple
was begun B.C. 237 and finished B.C. 57, and its construction occupied
180 years, 3 months, and 14 days.]
[Illustration: PLATE L.
Granite monolithic shrine dedicated to the goddess Isis of Philae by
Ptolemy IX (?), Euergetes II, B.C. 147-117.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 962.]]
=Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, B.C. 205=, was a great benefactor of the temples
of Egypt; and to mark their gratitude to him the priests of all Egypt
met in solemn assembly at Memphis in the ninth year of his reign, and
passed a Decree ordering that increased honours be paid to the king and
his ancestors, that a statue of him be set up in each of the temples, and
that a copy of the Decree, inscribed upon a stone stele, in hieroglyphic,
demotic and Greek writing, be likewise set up in each temple of the
first, second, and third class throughout Egypt. This Decree was duly
carried out, for portions of three or four stelae, inscribed with the
text of it, have been discovered. Most important of all is the stele
which was found by M. Boussard in 1798, which, because it was dug up
near Rosetta, is commonly known as the =Rosetta Stone= (see No. =960=,
Southern Egyptian Gallery). A special interest attaches to this monument,
for from it =Thomas Young=, in 1816-1818, deduced the values of several
letters of the Egyptian alphabet, and succeeded in reading the name of
=Ptolemy=. Next with the help of this text and of an obelisk from Philae,
the Frenchman =Champollion= read the name Cleopatra, and formulated a
correct system of Egyptian decipherment. (For details see page 41 ff.)
During the reign of Ptolemy V, the Egyptians invoked the protection of
Rome.
[Illustration: Head of a statue of one of the Ptolemies, about B.C. 300.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 27, No. 947.]]
=Ptolemy VI, Eupator=, died the year he became king. During the reign of
=Ptolemy VII, Philometor= (B.C. 173), the Jews were permitted to build
a temple at Onion, Onias being high-priest. (For a stele on which are
sculptured figures of Ptolemy VII and the two Queens Cleopatra, see Bay
27, No. =961=.) =Ptolemy VIII= was murdered. =Ptolemy IX, Euergetes II,
B.C. 147-117=, finished the temple of Edfû, and repaired many temples
both in Egypt and Nubia. From one of these came the fine monolithic
=granite shrine= (see =Plate L=) in which a sacred bird or animal was
kept (Bay 30, No. =962=). It was found lying on its side among the ruins
of a Coptic church on the Island of Philae; it had been utilized by the
builders of the church as the base of a Christian altar. =Ptolemy X,
B.C. 117=, conferred great benefits on the temples of the First Cataract
(see Bay 29, No. =963=); =Ptolemy XI= and =Ptolemy XII= were killed in
B.C. 87 and 81 respectively; =Ptolemy XIII, B.C. 80-51=, began to build
the =temples of Denderah and Esna=; =Ptolemy XIV, B.C. 51=, and his
sister =Cleopatra= were left by their father, Ptolemy XIII, under the
guardianship of the Roman Senate, and =Pompey= was made their guardian.
After the battle of Pharsalia, Pompey fled to Egypt, and was murdered at
the instance of Ptolemy XIV, who had banished his wife Cleopatra. In B.C.
48, Julius Caesar landed in Egypt, defeated Ptolemy, who was drowned, and
reinstated Cleopatra. =Ptolemy XV= was appointed co-regent; but he was
murdered by Cleopatra’s orders in B.C. 45, and =Ptolemy XVI, Caesarion=,
son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, was named co-regent in his stead.
After the defeat of =Antony= by Octavianus and the death of Antony and
Cleopatra, =Egypt became a Roman Province, B.C. 30=.
The Egyptian antiquities of the Ptolemaïc Period in the British Museum
consist chiefly of =Stelae= inscribed with funerary texts; they are
comparatively small in size, and are painted in bright colours. The
reliefs, in which the figures of the gods are represented, are delicately
cut, and the hieroglyphics have the slender form which is one of the
chief characteristics of the inscriptions of the period. The texts often
contain the ages of the deceased persons, and details concerning the
length of time occupied in the process of mummification, which are wholly
wanting in the funerary monuments of an earlier period. Among the gods
mentioned on the stelae is =Serapis=, who represents a fusion of the old
Egyptian gods, Osiris and Apis. (For figures of this god in terra-cotta
see Table-case M in the Fourth Egyptian Room.) The =stone coffins= of
the period are in the form of a mummy, and are usually carefully cut and
finished. We have already seen that two important edicts of the priests
of Memphis and Canopus were cut on stelae in two forms of Egyptian
writing, viz., hieroglyphic and demotic, and in Greek; there are also
several examples of funerary monuments in the British Museum in which the
hieroglyphic text is followed by a rendering in demotic and Greek. In
the case of small objects, _e.g._, mummy labels, the inscriptions are in
demotic and Greek only.
[Illustration: Limestone window with mullions in the form of pillars with
Hathor-headed capitals. From the temple at Denderah.
Ptolemaïc Period.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 972.]]
Among the noteworthy monuments of this period are: A statue of the
goddess Isis, holding before her a figure of Osiris, whom she
protects with her wings, dedicated to the goddess by one =Shashanq=
(Bay 28, No. =964=); massive green =granite beetle=, symbol of
Kheperȧ, the self-produced god, the creator of the universe, and the
type of resurrection (Central Saloon, No. =965=); stone =serpent=,
with the bust of a woman (Bay 32, No. =966=); green =basalt coffin=
of the lady =Ānkhet= (Bay 29, No. =967=) and the =limestone coffin=
of =Ḥes-Peṭān-Ȧst= (Bay 26, No. =968=); limestone =window= from the
clerestory of the temple of Denderah (Bay 25, No. =972=); and a marble
=sun-dial= from Alexandria (Bay 29, No. =976=). An interesting group
of stelae, with demotic inscriptions, is exhibited in Bay 27 (Nos.
=983-990=); and in Bay 29 (No. =994=) is the stele of =Euonymos=, with an
inscription in Greek and demotic. Among the stelae which give the ages
of deceased persons may be noted those of =Ḥer-ȧbu=, a priest of king
Saḥu-Rā (?), who lived fifty years, seven months, and five days (Bay 30,
No. =995=); =Tashermut=, a priestess who died aged ninety-seven years
(Bay 27, No. =996=); and =Berenice= (?) who died aged sixty-four years,
eight months, and twenty-six days (Bay 29, No. =998=).
Of all the stelae of this period the most interesting is that of the
lady =That-I-em-ḥetep=, who belonged to a family that reckoned among
its members several princes of Memphis and high priests of Ptaḥ (Bay
29, No. =1027=). She was born in the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy
XIII, about B.C. 71, and when fourteen years old she was married to her
half-brother, the priest =P-shere-en-Ptaḥ= (see his stele in Bay 27, No.
=1026=). During the first twelve years of her married life she gave birth
to three daughters, but no son, which caused her husband great grief.
She and her husband prayed to the god I-em-ḥetep, the son of Ptaḥ, for a
son, and the god, appearing to P-shere-en-Ptaḥ in a dream, promised to
grant his prayer if he carried out certain works in connexion with the
temple. When the priest awoke he caused the works to be taken in hand,
and soon after they were completed his wife gave birth to a son who was
named I-em-ḥetep, and surnamed Peṭā-Bast (see his stele in Bay 27, No.
=1030=). Four years afterwards That-I-em-ḥetep died, and was buried with
due ceremony by her husband, whom she addresses thus: “O my brother, my
husband, my friend, the Ur-kherp-ḥem (_i.e._, high priest of Memphis),
cease not to drink, to eat, to be drunken, and to marry wives, and to
enjoy thyself, and to follow the desire of thy heart by day and by night;
and let not sorrow or sadness find a place in thy heart during all the
years which thou shalt live upon earth. Ȧmenti (_i.e._, the land of the
dead) is the land of stupor and darkness, and a place of oppression for
those who are therein. The august ones sleep in their mummied forms; they
cannot awake to see their brethren, they cannot look upon their fathers
and mothers, and they are unmindful of wives and children. The living
water which the earth hath for its dwellers is stagnant water for me....
I no longer know where I am, now that I have arrived in this valley [of
the dead]. Would that I had water to drink from a running stream, and one
to say to me, ‘Remove not thy pitcher from the stream’! O that my face
were turned towards the north wind on the river bank that the coolness
thereof might quiet the anguish which is in my heart!
“He whose name is Universal Death calleth everyone to him; and they come
unto him with quaking hearts, and they are terrified through their fear
of him. With him is no distinction made between gods and men, and the
great are even as the little in his sight. He showeth no favour to those
who long for him; for he carrieth away the babe from his mother, as well
as the aged man. As he goeth about on his way, all men fear him, and,
though all make supplication before him, he turneth not his face towards
them. Entreaty reacheth not unto him, for he will not hearken unto him
that maketh supplication, and him who presenteth unto him offerings and
funerary, he will not regard.”
The ideas expressed in the above extract have their origin in the
materialism which found its way into Egypt under the rule of the
Ptolemies.
THE ROMAN PERIOD.
[Illustration: The building at Philae commonly known as “Pharaoh’s Bed.”
Roman Period.]
Egypt, having become a province of the Roman Empire on the death of
Cleopatra, B.C. 30, was forthwith placed under the rule of a Prefect, and
administered like any other Roman Province. Under the strict but just
rule of her new masters Egypt prospered, for trade flourished, and life
and property were, on the whole, well protected by the laws of Rome.
Reference has already been made (see page 255) to the Nubian kingdom
founded by Piānkhi, who made Napata his capital; it must also be noted
that at the same period, between B.C. 500 and the end of the Ptolemaïc
rule, a second Nubian kingdom was founded by some unknown Sûdânî chief
on the Island of Meroë, with a capital at Meroë, on the Nile, about
50 miles south of its junction with the Atbara. When the Romans began
to rule over Egypt the =Meroïtic Kingdom= was in a flourishing state,
and the authority of its sovereign, who appears to have been =Queen
Ȧmenṭārit=[40] (having also the title =Candace=, which was common to all
the Queens of Meroë), probably extended northwards as far as the First
Cataract. In B.C. 29 Candace made a treaty with =Cornelius Gallus=, the
first prefect of Egypt; but, five years later, when =Ælius Gallus= was
prefect, she invaded Egyptian territory and slew the Roman garrisons of
Philae and Syene. In revenge the Romans invaded Nubia and marched to
Napata, which they sacked and burned; and Candace was forced to submit.
From that time onward little is heard of the Kingdom of Meroë; but the
pyramids which still stand near Meroë prove that the Nubians observed
the old Egyptian customs in connexion with the burial of their dead in
chambers under the ground. They offered sacrifices to Osiris, Isis,
Nephthys, Anubis, and other gods of the cycle of Osiris, and recited the
ancient formulas, which are also written in hieroglyphics on the walls
of the funerary chapels; and in some instances they reproduced on the
walls whole scenes, _e.g._, the Weighing of the Heart, and the Pylons
of the Other World, from Ptolemaïc copies of the Book of the Dead, as
for example, on the sandstone =relief from a pyramid chapel at Meroë=
which is exhibited in Bay 31, No. =1049=. On the right =Queen Candace=
is seated, her consort by her side, holding symbols of sovereignty, her
feet resting on representatives of conquered tribes. Immediately in
front of the large figure of the queen we see her pouring out libations
to Osiris, and round about her are vases of wine, beer, unguents, bulls
for sacrifice, etc., for the funerary feast. In her company are priests,
officials, relatives, and others, who bear offerings, palm branches, etc.
This relief was originally coloured red. Also may be mentioned the two
=altars= with =Meroïtic Inscriptions= exhibited in Bay 30, Nos. =1050=,
=1051=. The Meroïtic character has not yet been deciphered.
[Illustration: PLATE LI.
Tablet recording the restoration of the temple of Mut by the Emperor
Tiberius Caesar, about A.D. 20.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 27, No. 1052.]]
[Illustration: PLATE LII.
Tablet recording the setting up of a statue to the goddess Mut, and the
restoration of certain buildings by the Emperor Tiberius Caesar, about
A.D. 20.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 29, No. 1053.]]
Nearly all the Roman emperors from Tiberius (A.D. 14) to Decius (A.D.
249) adopted Egyptian names and titles, and caused their names to be
written within cartouches like those of the Pharaohs. The stele in Bay
27 (No. =1052=) states that =Tiberius= rebuilt portions of the temple of
Mut at Thebes (see =Plate LI=); and another stele (Bay 29, No. =1053=)
refers to the setting up by him of a statue of the goddess Mut, and the
re-endowment of the portion of the temple wherein it stood (see =Plate
LII=). In the reign of =Nero= (A.D. 54-69) two centurions sent into the
Sûdân to report on the general condition of the country reached the
marshes near Shâmbî, about 700 miles south of Kharṭûm. Tradition asserts
that =Christianity= was preached in Alexandria towards the close of
his reign, and that =St. Mark= arrived in that city, A.D. 69. To this
period belongs stele No. =1057= (Bay 32), which was set up to mark the
gratitude of the Egyptians to Nero for appointing F. Claudius Balbillus,
prefect of Egypt. =Hadrian= visited Egypt twice, and founded the city
of Antinoopolis in memory of his friend Antinous who was drowned in
the Nile; when at Thebes he went with the Empress Sabina to view the
=Colossi= (see =Plate XXXIII=). =Marcus Aurelius= (A.D. 161-180) was a
just ruler and favoured Christianity in Egypt; in his reign the walls
which surrounded the Sphinx at Gîzah were repaired (see stele, No.
=1058=, Bay 32). =Septimius Severus= (A.D. 196) issued an edict against
the Christians in Egypt, and his successor, =Caracalla= (A.D. 211),
encouraged the pagan Egyptians and favoured their religion. =Decius=
(A.D. 249) made a systematic attempt to destroy the Christians, and every
person was called upon to offer sacrifice to the gods, or suffer death.
In the reign of =Diocletian= (A.D. 284), the =Blemmyes=, a confederation
of tribes who lived in the Eastern Sûdân, became so powerful that they
compelled the Roman garrisons to withdraw from the =Dodekaschoinos=,[41]
and the emperor was obliged to hire the =Nobadae=, or tribes of the
Western Desert, to keep them in check. He also agreed to pay the Blemmyes
a fixed annual sum to refrain from raiding Roman territory in Egypt,
and built a temple at Elephantine wherein representatives of all the
peoples concerned might swear to observe the covenant in the presence
of their respective gods. Diocletian in fact abandoned the Sûdân. In
304 he issued a savage =edict against the Christians= in Egypt, and
the persecution which followed it was marked with ferocious cruelty.
Many thousands of Egyptians fled to the desert monasteries to avoid
conscription, and embraced Christianity. From one of his buildings on
the Island of Philae comes the stone bearing the names of Diocletian and
=Constantine= (A.D. 324) (No. =1059=, Bay 26).
In 378 =Theodosius the Great= proclaimed Christianity the religion of
his Empire, and many temples in Lower Egypt were turned at once into
churches; but the ancient Egyptian gods were worshipped as usual in
Upper Egypt. =Marcianus= (A.D. 450-457) invaded Nubia and punished the
Blemmyes and Nobadae for raiding Roman territory; they paid a huge fine,
gave hostages for their future good behaviour, and made an agreement to
keep the peace for one hundred years. In return they stipulated that
they should be allowed to make pilgrimages annually to Philae, and to
borrow the statue of Isis from time to time, so that they might take it
about the country, and give the people the opportunity of invoking the
protection and blessing of the goddess. In the first half of the sixth
century the Nubians =embraced Christianity=, and =Silko=, king of the
Nobadae, founded a kingdom having its capital at Dongola. During the
reign of =Justinian= (A.D. 527-565) the hundred years’ truce came to an
end, and the Blemmyes and Nobadae again began to give trouble. Justinian,
believing that the cause of the revolt was the annual pilgrimage to
Philae, sent his officer Narses thither, with strict orders to close
the temples of Isis. Narses threw the priests of Isis into prison,
confiscated the revenues of the goddess, and carried off the statues of
the gods of Philae to Constantinople.
In the reign of =Heraclius= the Persians, under Chosroës, invaded Egypt
(A.D. 619), which they held for ten years. Owing to the desertion from
the Persians of the Arab tribes, who had now attached themselves to the
victorious troops of =Muḥammad the Prophet= (born at Mekkah, Aug. 20,
A.D. 570, died in June, 632), Heraclius was able to attack the Persians,
in Syria, and defeating them became master of Egypt once more. In =640=
=ʿAmr Ibn al-Âṣî=, the general of the Khalîfa Omar, conquered Egypt, and
thus the country became a province of the newly-founded Arab Empire.
During the rule of the Romans, which lasted from B.C. 30 to A.D. 640, the
Greek language entirely superseded Egyptian for official purposes, and
it was also usually employed in the funerary inscriptions. Interesting
examples are the stele of =Politta=, inscribed with a metrical text (Bay
26, No. =1083=), and the stele of =Artemidorus= (Bay 26, No. =1084=).
On the =pillar altar= (Bay 31, No. =1086=) is a dedication in Greek to
the god Serapis of the city of Canopus; and on the square sandstone slab
(Bay 26, No. =1087=) is a very interesting but difficult text recording
the cleansing and restoration of some public building near the town of
Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt, whilst Gabriel was Duke of the Thebaïd. Other
interesting inscriptions in Greek are found in =ostraka=, or potsherds,
many of which are dated in the reigns of Claudius, Nero, Vespasian,
Trajan, Antoninus, Sabinus, Pertinax, etc., will be found exhibited in
Table-case C in the Third Egyptian Room. During the early centuries of
Roman rule the Egyptians continued to mummify their dead, and to bury
them with the ancient rites and ceremonies. The use of the funerary
stele or tablet continued down to the fourth century A.D.; but the gods
represented on them appeared in different forms, and Greek or demotic
took the place of hieroglyphics. In the region about Thebes and to the
south of that city the cult of Osiris and Isis continued until about A.D.
560, and a simple system of mummification was practised in connexion with
the worship of the dead.
[Illustration: Sepulchral tablet sculptured with figures of doves,
pillars, leaf patterns, etc.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 1156.]]
The most important event during the rule of the Romans was the
=introduction of Christianity by St. Mark= the Apostle, who, according
to tradition, preached the Gospel in Alexandria about A.D. 69. The
knowledge of the new religion spread rapidly, and converts multiplied
and, though no direct proof is forthcoming at present, there is reason
to think that before the middle of the second century an account of the
life of Christ and His words and works existed in the Egyptian tongue.
Men who had embraced Christianity retired into the desert to lead a life
of austerity and contemplation, among whom may be mentioned =Frontonius=,
who collected seventy disciples, and withdrew to the Nitrian Desert
between A.D. 138 and 161, and =Paul the Anchorite=, who died about A.D.
250, aged 113 years. The life and teaching of =Anthony=, born 250, died
355, induced thousands to become monks. =Pachomius=, in 320, systematized
monasticism, but he required the recluses to work for their living whilst
they cultivated spiritual excellences. Women as well as men flocked to
the desert, and =nunneries= existed in many places in Egypt. The number
of such recluses was great; at Nitria alone there were 5,000 monks,
and, in addition, 600 lived solitary lives in the neighbouring desert.
At Oxyrhynchus there were 10,000 monks, and the bishop had charge of
20,000 nuns. In the monasteries of Nitria and Panopolis, and elsewhere,
the Holy Scriptures were translated from Greek into Egyptian (_i.e._,
=Coptic=, see pages 35-39) and Syriac, and other Oriental languages;
and copies of them were carried by monks and fugitive Christians into
Nubia, and even into remote Abyssinia, by way of the Blue Nile. In the
Oases of the Western Desert were numbers of Christians in the fourth and
fifth centuries; wherever the monk went he took Christianity with him.
Still, in spite of the spread of the new religion, the beliefs which
the Egyptians had received from their pagan ancestors also flourished
in Egypt for centuries after the preaching of St. Mark, and people of
all classes clung to their amulets, and words of power, and magical
ceremonies, even after they had embraced Christianity. For a very long
time the =Cross= was regarded as an amulet possessing the greatest
magical power possible, and the =Name= of Christ was held to be the
greatest of all words of power.
[Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of Plêïnôs, a “reader.”
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 32, No. 1145.]]
[Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of David, an Egyptian Christian.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 1160.]]
The principal doctrine of the Egyptian Christians, or =Copts=, is that
God the Father and Christ are of =one and the Same nature=; Arius held
that God and Christ are only =similar in nature=, and was declared a
heretic. The Copts are called =Monophysites=, because they believed,
and still believe, that Christ is of one nature only, and =Jacobites=
because their views as to the nature of Christ are identical with those
of one Jacob, a famous preacher of the Monophysite doctrine. The head
of the Coptic Church is the =Patriarch=, who is chosen from among the
monks of the Monastery of St. Anthony in the Red Sea Desert. The Copts
attach great importance to =Baptism=, they face the East when praying,
and they pray seven times a day. They make use of Confession, and keep
five Fasts and seven Festivals. The Copts were persecuted severely in
the reigns of Hadrian, Decius, Diocletian, and Julian the Apostate (A.D.
361), but the cruellest of the persecutions of the Roman emperors was
that of Diocletian in 304. The Copts commemorated the sufferings of their
community on this occasion by making the =Era of the Martyrs=, by which
they date their documents, begin with the day of Diocletian’s accession
to the throne, _i.e._, =August 29th, A.D. 284=. In the reign of Justinian
the Copts split up into two great parties, _i.e._, the =Melkites=, or
Royalists, which included all those who were in the service of the
Government, and the =Jacobites=, or ordinary inhabitants of the country;
henceforward each party chose its own Patriarch. The dissensions between
them materially aided the Conquest of Egypt by the Arabs.
Side by side with Christianity there also sprang up in Egypt, under Roman
rule, a number of sects to which the title “Gnostic” has been given.
They derived many of their views and beliefs from the religion of the
ancient Egyptians, and they admitted into their system many of the old
gods, _e.g._, Khnemu, Ptaḥ, Rā, Ȧmen, Thoth, Osiris, etc. The founders
of =Gnosticism=, a word derived from the Greek _gnosis_, “knowledge,”
claimed to possess a =superiority of knowledge= in respect of things
divine and celestial, and they regarded the knowledge of God as the
truest perfection of knowledge. The characteristic god of the Gnostics
was =Abrasax=, or =Abraxas=, and he represented the ONE who embraced ALL
within himself. They attributed magical properties to stones, which, when
cut into certain forms, and inscribed with legends, or mystic names,
words, and letters, afforded, they thought, protection against moral
and physical evil. An unusually fine collection of =Gnostic Gems= and
=Amulets= is exhibited in Table-case N, in the Fourth Egyptian Room: No.
=1= speaks of the “Father of the World, the God in Three Forms”; No. =18=
shows us the lion-headed serpent =Knoumis= and the mystic symbol [symbol];
No. =25= makes the Osiris-Christ to be Jah of the Hebrews, and also Alpha
and Omega; Nos. =36=, =37=, and =44= have figures of =Abraxas= cut upon
them; No. =87= mentions Solomon’s Seal, No. =110=, the six Archangels;
and of peculiar interest are No. =231=, engraved with a representation of
the =Crucifixion=, and No =469=, engraved with a representation of the
=Birth of Christ=.
THE ARAB PERIOD.
A.D. 640-1517.
As the Arabs were materially assisted in their conquest of Egypt by the
Copts, the new masters of the country treated the latter with great
consideration for about 100 years; but, from A.D. 750 onwards, they
persecuted their Christian subjects at intervals with great severity.
The non-Christian inhabitants of the country embraced =Islâm=, or
the doctrine of Muḥammad the Prophet, and, with the religion of the
Muslims, the knowledge of the Arabic language spread throughout Egypt.
It gradually superseded Egyptian, or Coptic, and about the end of the
twelfth century it became the common language of the country, Coptic
ceasing to be spoken except in monasteries and remote villages. In 642
the Arabs, under ʿAbd-Allah bin Sa’ad, occupied the Egyptian Sûdân, and
ten years later they marched to Dongola, destroyed the church and the
town, and levied an annual tribute, or =Baḳṭ=, consisting of 360 or 365
men upon the Nubians, which was paid with more or less regularity for
nearly 500 years. On several occasions the Arabs invited the Christians
of Nubia to embrace Islâm, but the latter steadily rejected the offer,
paid their tribute, and continued to worship God according to the
teachings of their Jacobite priests, who were appointed to their office
by the Patriarch of Alexandria. Many hundreds of churches were built in
the Sûdân between A.D. 540, when the Christian religion was established
by Silko, king of the Nobadae, and 1450, when the Christian kingdom
of Alwa, on the Blue Nile, was destroyed. During the greater part of
these 900 years the Liturgy was recited in Greek, and the services
were conducted after the manner laid down by the spiritual authorities
in Alexandria. Certain Books of the Bible and various Offices were
translated into =Nûbî=, the language of the country; but of these few
remains are extant.
[Illustration: PLATE LIII.
Sepulchral tablet set up in memory of Apa Paḥomo, the head of a monastic
settlement. On the right is a figure of Saint Victor, and on the left a
figure of Saint Apakene.
VIIth to Xth century, A.D.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 1103.]]
In Egypt the Copts founded and maintained many monasteries, and built
many churches; and from these come two remarkable series of monuments,
inscribed in Greek and Coptic, which are exhibited in Bays =28=, =30=,
and =32= of the Southern Egyptian Gallery. The greater number of them
belong to the period between 600 and 1000 A.D., and among them may be
noted:—The stele of =Isos=(?), inscribed in Greek with a prayer to
the “God of Spirits” (Bay 26, No. =1094=); the stele of =Paḥomo= (see
=Plate LIII=), the father of a monastic settlement, with figures of the
military saints =Apakene= and =Victor= (Bay 30, No. =1103=); the =apse=
from the shrine of a saint, on which are sculptured vine branches, with
doves seated on them, and figures of flowers, shells, fish, etc.: a
very interesting object (Bay 32, No. =1104=); the stele of =John the
Deacon=, inscribed with a =lament= on the bitterness of death (Bay
30, No. =1105=); an =altar slab= from a church (Bay 32, No. =1106=);
three stelae, inscribed with =invocations= to saints (Bays 30, 32, Nos.
=1107-1109=); =apse= from a shrine of a saint from a church at Philae
(Bay 30, No. =1113=); and a group of stelae commemorating the holy women
=Hêlenê=, daughter of Peter, deacon and steward of the Church of St.
John, in Esna, in Upper Egypt (Bay 30, No. 1115), =Sara=, =Rachel=,
=Teucharis=, =Troïs=, and =Rebecca= (Bay 32, Nos. =1116-1120=). Many of
the sepulchral stelae are richly sculptured with pediments of shrines,
pillars with elaborate carvings, figures of doves, and everywhere are
prominent the cross, which is assumed to be identical with the _ānkh_
𓋹, the old Egyptian symbol of “life,” and the =crown=. On several of
them also are seen Alpha and Omega, Α Ω. The most elaborately decorated
stele is that which was set up for the child =Mary= in the old church
at Ṣûhâḳ. The design is good, the cutting excellent, and it is one
of the finest examples extant of this class of monument (Bay 32, No.
=1123=).[42] A very interesting group of =Coptic documents=, consisting
of affidavits, letters, invoices, contracts, extracts from the Scriptures
and from liturgies, hymns, etc., is exhibited in Table-case M in the
Fourth Egyptian Room. In division 4 of the same case is a good collection
of =Coptic crosses=, pendants with figures of St. George, etc., from
Panopolis. Several very fine examples of =linenwork= from Coptic graves
and churches will be found in Table-cases E and J in the Third Egyptian
Room, and a handsome =bier cloth= in Wall-cases 70 and 71, in the Second
Egyptian Room.
[Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of Abraam, the “perfect monk.”
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 1136.]]
[Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of Rachel, a Christian lady.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 32, No. 1117.]]
Soon after the Arabs had conquered Egypt, they found it necessary to
keep a strong garrison at Syene, the modern Aswân. In order to relieve
the soldiers of the garrison from the duty of a pilgrimage to Mekkah,
an order was issued from Fosṭâṭ, the first Arab capital in Egypt, near
Old Cairo, that a pilgrimage to Aswân counted as a pilgrimage to Mekkah;
hence for some two or three hundred years Aswân was regarded as a holy
place, and pious Muslims were brought there from all parts to be buried.
A collection of =gravestones inscribed in Kûfî=, or Kufic, a form of
Arabic writing, from the old Muḥammadan cemetery at Aswân, is exhibited
in the Second Northern Gallery (Wall-cases 52-54). The oldest example is
that of Azhar, son of ʿAbd as-Salâm, who died in the year of the Hejira
252 = A.D. 866.
The Arab dynasties which ruled Egypt and the Sûdân between 656 and 1517
are as follows:—
=ʿOmayyad= Khalîfas[43] A.D. 661 - 750.
=ʿAbbâsid= Khalîfas ” 750 - 868.
=Tûlûnid= Khalîfas ” 868 - 913.
=Fâṭimid= Khalîfas ” 913 - 1193.
=Ayyûbid= Khalîfas ” 1193 - 1249.
=Baḥrite= Mamlûks ” 1249 - 1382.
=Circassian Mamlûks=[44] ” 1382 - 1517.
The Arab domination came to an end in 1517, when Selim, sultân of
Turkey, conquered the country, and =Egypt became a Turkish Province=, or
Pashalik.
A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS OF EGYPT.
PREDYNASTIC PERIOD.
Kings of Lower Egypt.
1. .. .. u.
2 Seka.
3 Khaȧu.
4 Tȧu.
5 Thesh.
6 Neheb.
7 Uatch-nār, or Uatch-ȧnt.
8 Mekha.
9. .. .. a [10 ff. wanting].
DYNASTIC PERIOD.
First Dynasty.
B.C. 4400.
Menȧ (Menes).
Tetȧ.
Ȧteth.
Ȧta.
Semti (Ṭen).
Merpeba (Āt-ȧb).
Ḥu (Smerkha).
Sen (or, Qebḥ).
Second Dynasty.
B.C. 4133.
Neterbaiu, or Betchau, or Besh.
Ḥetep-Sekhemui.
Kakauu.
Baenneter.
Uatchnes.
Perȧbsen.
Senṭ.
Neferka-Rā.
Neferka-Seker.
Ḥetchefa.
Third Dynasty.
B.C. 3966.
Sanekht.
Bebi (Tchatchai).
Nebka-Rā.
Tcheser.
Tetȧ (Ḥen-nekht).
Setches.
Neferka-Rā Ḥuni.
Fourth Dynasty.
B.C. 3733.
Seneferu.
Shaȧru.
Khufu (Cheops).
Ṭeṭf-Rā.
Khāf-Rā (Chephren).
Menkau-Rā (Mykerinos).
Shepseskaf.
Sebekka-Rā.
I-em-ḥetep.
Fifth Dynasty.
B.C. 3566.
Userkaf.
Saḥu-Rā.
Neferȧrika-Rā.
Shepseska-Rā.
Khānefer-Rā.
Useren-Rā Ȧn.
Menkau-Ḥeru.
Ṭeṭka-Rā Ȧssȧ.
Unȧs.
Sixth Dynasty.
B.C. 3330.
Tetȧ.
Userka-Rā Ȧti.
Pepi I.
Meren-Rā I.
Pepi II.
Meren-Rā II.
Eleventh Dynasty.
B.C. 2600.
Ȧntef, the Erpā.
Ȧntef Uaḥ ānkh.
Ȧntef Nekht-neb-ṭep-nefer.
Menthu-ḥetep I.
Menthu-ḥetep II.
Menthu-ḥetep III.
Menthu-ḥetep IV.
Menthu-ḥetep V.
Menthu-ḥetep VI.
Menthu-ḥetep VII.
Twelfth Dynasty.
B.C. 2466.
Ȧmenemḥāt I.
Usertsen I.
Ȧmenemḥāt II.
Usertsen II.
Usertsen III.
Ȧmenemḥāt III.
Ḥer.
Ȧmenemḥāt IV.
Usertsen IV.
Sebek-neferu-Rā.
Eighteenth Dynasty.
Ȧāḥmes I ⎫ B.C. 1600.
Ȧmen-ḥetep I ⎭
Thothmes I ⎫
Thothmes II ⎪ B.C. 1550.
Ḥātshepset ⎪
Thothmes III ⎭
Ȧmen-ḥetep II, B.C. 1500.
Thothmes IV ⎫ B.C. 1450.
Ȧmen-ḥetep III ⎭
Ȧmen-ḥetep IV (or Khu-en-Ȧten) ⎫
Tutānkh-Ȧmen ⎪ B.C. 1400.
Ȧi ⎪
Ḥeruemḥeb ⎭
Nineteenth Dynasty.
Rameses I ⎫ B.C. 1350.
Seti I ⎭
Rameses II, B.C. 1330.
Meren-Ptaḥ.
Ȧmenmeses, B.C. 1250.
Sa-Ptaḥ.
Seti II.
Ȧrsu, the Syrian.
Twentieth Dynasty.
Set-nekht.
Rameses III, B.C. 1200.
Rameses IV.
Rameses V.
Rameses VI.
Rameses VII.
Rameses VIII.
Rameses IX.
Rameses X, B.C. 1133.
Rameses XI.
Rameses XII.
Twenty-first Dynasty.
B.C. 1100.
_At Tanis._
Nes-Ba-neb-Ṭeṭṭeṭ.
Pasebkhānut I.
Ȧmen-em-Ȧpt.
Sa-Ȧmen.
Pasebkhānut II.
_At Thebes._
Ḥer-Ḥeru.
Paiānkh.
Pai-Netchem I.
Men-kheper-Rā.
Pai-Netchem II.
Twenty-second Dynasty.
B.C. 966.
[Buiu-uaua, the founder.]
Shashanq I (Shishak).
Uasarken I.
Thekeleth I.
Uasarken II.
Shashanq II.
Thekeleth II.
Uasarken III.
Thekeleth III.
Shashanq III.
Pamȧi.
Shashanq IV.
Twenty-third Dynasty.
B.C. 750.
Peṭā-Bast.
Uasarken IV.
Tafnekht I.
Twenty-fourth Dynasty.
B.C. 733.
Bocchoris.
Tafnekht II.
Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
B.C. 700.
Kashta.
Piānkhi.
Shabaka (Sabaco).
Shabataka.
Taharqa (Tirhâḳâh).
Tanuath-Ȧmen.
Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
B.C. 666.
Psemthek I (Psammetichus).
Nekau (Necho).
Psemthek II.
Uaḥȧb-Rā (Ḥophra).
Ȧāḥmes II (Amāsis).
Psemthek III.
Twenty-seventh Dynasty.
B.C. 527.
Cambyses.
Darius I (Hystaspes.)
Xerxes I.
Artaxerxes.
Darius II.
Twenty-eighth Dynasty.
Amyrtaios.
Twenty-ninth Dynasty.
B.C. 399.
Naifaauruṭ.
Haḳer.
Psamut.
Thirtieth Dynasty.
B.C. 378.
Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt (Nektanebês).
Tcheḥrȧ (Teôs).
Nekht-nebf (Nektanebos).
Thirty-first Dynasty.
Darius III, B.C. 336.
Macedonians.
B.C. 340.
Alexander the Great.
Philip Arrhidaeus.
Alexander II.
Ptolemies.
B.C. 305-30.
Ptolemy I.
Ptolemy II.
Ptolemy III.
Ptolemy IV.
Ptolemy V.
Ptolemy VI.
Ptolemy VII.
Ptolemy VIII.
Ptolemy IX.
Ptolemy X.
Ptolemy XI.
Ptolemy XII.
Ptolemy XIII. ⎫
Cleopatra. ⎭
Ptolemy XIV.
Ptolemy XV.
Ptolemy XVI.
CARTOUCHES OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGS OF EGYPT.
𓆥𓍹𓏠𓈖𓇋𓍺 MENȦ.
𓆥𓍹𓈉𓈉𓏏𓏭𓍺 SEM-TI.
𓆥𓍹𓌻𓂋𓊸𓏤𓊪𓈖𓍺 MER-BA-PEN. (MER-P-BA.)
𓆥𓍹𓀘𓍺 SEMSU, or 𓆥𓍹𓀜𓍺 ḤU (or NEKHT)?
𓆥𓍹𓈎𓃀𓎛𓍺 or 𓍹𓈎𓃀𓎛𓅱𓏁𓍺 QEBḤ.
𓆥𓍹𓊹𓅢𓍺 NETER-BAIU, _i.e._, 𓍹𓃀𓈚𓍺 BESH, or 𓍹𓃀𓍑𓅱𓍺 BETCHAU.
𓆥𓍹𓂓𓂺𓂺𓂺𓍺 KA-KAU.
𓆥𓍹𓊸𓃝𓊹𓈖𓍺 BA-EN-NETER.
𓆥𓍹𓉐𓂋𓄣𓋴𓈖𓍺 PER-ȦB-SEN.
𓆥𓍹𓋴𓈖𓂧𓇋𓍺 SENṬȦ.
𓆥𓍹𓂋𓍺 TCHESER.
𓆥𓍹𓏏𓏏𓇋𓍺 TETȦ (ḤEN-NEKHT.) or 𓆥𓍹𓂋𓏏𓏏𓇋𓍺 TCHESERTETȦ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓄤𓂓𓍺 NEFER-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓎛𓀜𓈖𓏭𓂡𓍺 ḤUNI.
𓆥𓍹𓋴𓄤𓆑𓂋𓅱𓍺 SENEFERU.
𓆥𓍹𓐍𓅱𓆑𓅱𓍺 KHUFU. (CHEOPS.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓊽𓆑𓍺 ṬEṬ-F-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓈍𓆑𓍺 KHĀ-F-RĀ. (CHEPHREN.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏠𓂓𓂓𓂓𓍺 MEN-KAU-RĀ. (MYCERINUS.)
𓆥𓍹𓀼𓊃𓊃𓂓𓆑𓍺 SHEPSES-KA-F.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆋𓂓𓍺 SEBEK-KA-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺 I-EM-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓄊𓋴𓂓𓆑𓍺 USR-KA-F.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓃅𓅱𓍺 SAḤ-U-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓀼𓋴𓋴𓂓𓍺 SHEPSES-KA-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓈖𓄊𓋴𓂋𓍺 USR-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓆛𓈖𓍺 ȦN.
𓆥𓍹𓅃𓏠𓂓𓂓𓂓𓍺 MEN-KAU-ḤERU.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓊽𓂓𓍺 ṬEṬ-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓊃𓊃𓇋𓍺 ȦSSȦ.
𓆥𓍹𓃹𓈖𓇋𓋴𓍺 UNȦS.
𓆥𓍹𓏏𓏏𓇋𓍺 TETȦ, or 𓍹𓏏𓏏𓇋𓌻𓈖𓊪𓏏𓎛𓍺 TETȦ-MER-EN-PTAḤ. (Tetȧ
beloved of Ptaḥ.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓌻𓇌𓍺 MERI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓊪𓊪𓇌𓍺 PEPI (I.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓌻𓂋𓈖𓍺 MER-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓅇𓅓𓎂𓆑𓍺
TCHEFAU-EM-SA-F.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓄤𓂓𓍺 NEFER-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓊪𓊪𓇌𓍺 PEPI (II.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓌻𓈖𓅇𓅓𓎂𓆑𓍺 RĀ-MER-EN-TCHEFAU-EM-SA-F.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓄣𓌻𓇌𓍺 RĀ-MERI-ȦB, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓄡𓏏𓇌𓍺 KHATI.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓂓𓌻𓇌𓍺 RĀ-KA-MERI.
𓂋𓊪𓂝 ERPĀ 𓄂𓂝 ḤĀ 𓏎𓈖𓏏𓆑𓇋 ȦNTEF-Ȧ. The ERPĀ and ḤĀ, ȦNTEF-Ȧ.
𓆥𓍹[𓇳]𓎟𓐑𓏏𓍺 NEB-ḤAPT-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏠𓈖𓍿𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
MENTH-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓎟𓇾𓇾𓍺 NEB-TAUI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏠𓈖𓍿𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
MENTH-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓎟𓊤𓍺 NEB-ḤAP-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏠𓈖𓍿𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
MENTH-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓌻𓋹𓍺 MER-ĀNKH-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏠𓈖𓍿𓅱𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
MENTHU-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋴𓋹𓂓𓍺 SE-ĀNKH-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏠𓈖𓍿𓅱𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
MENTHU-ḤETEP.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏣𓉔𓂋𓁷𓏤𓐙𓏛𓍺 RĀ-SESHESH-HER-ḤER-MAĀT, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓏎𓉼𓈖𓏏𓆑𓍺 ȦNTEF-ĀA (I.).
𓅭𓇳 𓍹𓏎𓈖𓏏𓆑𓉻𓍺 son of the Sun, ȦNTEF-ĀA (II.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏣𓄋𓊪𓏲𓀁𓌷𓏛𓆄𓍺 RĀ-SESHESH-ȦPU-MAĀT, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓏎𓈖𓏏𓆑𓉻𓏛𓍺 ȦNTEF-ĀA (III.).
𓆥𓍹𓅭𓇳𓏎𓈖𓏏𓆑𓉼𓍺 son of the Sun, ȦNTEF-ĀA (IV.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋞𓆣𓍺 NUB-KHEPER-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏎𓈖𓏏𓆑𓍺 ȦNTEF.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋴𓊵𓏏𓊪𓄣𓍺 SEḤETEP-ȦB-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏𓍺
ȦMEN-EM-ḤĀT (I.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆣𓂓𓍺 KHEPER-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓄊𓋴𓂋𓏏𓊃𓈖𓍺
USERTSEN (I.). (SESONCHOSIS.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋞𓂓𓂓𓂓𓍺 NUB-KAU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏𓍺
ȦMEN-EM-ḤĀT (II.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓈍𓆣𓍺 KHEPER-KHĀ-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓄊𓋴𓂋𓏏𓊃𓈖𓍺
USERTSEN (II.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓈍𓂓𓂓𓂓𓍺 KHĀ-KAU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓄊𓋴𓂋𓏏𓊃𓈖𓍺
USERTSEN (III.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓈖𓌷𓂝𓏏𓍺 MAĀT-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏𓍺
ȦMEN-EM-ḤĀT (III.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓌷𓂝𓊤𓅱𓍺 MAĀ-KHERU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏𓍺
ȦMEN-EM-ḤĀT (IV.).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓄫𓄣𓍺 RĀ-ȦU-ȦB, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓁷𓂋𓈐𓍺 ḤER.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆋𓄤𓄤𓄤𓍺 SEBEK-NEFERU-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓐍𓂤𓇾𓇾𓍺 KHU-TAUI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓅃𓎼𓄑𓄑𓍺
ḤERU-NEST(?)-TAUI(?).
𓎟𓇾𓇾𓍹𓄣𓏤𓇋𓂝𓈗𓍺 ȦĀ-ȦB.
𓊹𓄤 Neter nefer Beautiful God, 𓍹𓇳𓉻𓂝𓄣𓇾𓇾𓍺 ĀA-ȦB-TAUI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳
son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓀁𓊪𓊪𓇋𓍺 ȦPEPȦ.
𓊹𓄤 Neter nefer 𓍹𓇳𓉻𓂝𓈎𓈖𓈖𓍺 ĀA-QENEN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓇋𓀁𓊪𓊪𓇋𓍺 ȦPEPȦ.
𓆥𓍹𓃩𓉻𓄇𓄇𓍺 ĀA-PEḤ-TI-SET, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓋟𓏏𓏭𓃩𓍺
NUBTI(?).
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋴𓈖𓍺 SE-USER-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓐍𓇌𓄿𓈖𓍺 KHIAN.
𓆥𓍹𓋴𓇳𓈎𓈖𓈖𓂡𓍺 SEQENEN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏏𓆇𓏥𓉻𓏛𓍺
TAU-ĀA.
𓆥𓍹𓋴𓇳𓈎𓈖𓈖𓂡𓍺 SEQENEN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏏𓆇𓏥𓉻𓏛𓉼𓏜𓍺
TAU-ĀA-ĀA.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓊃𓈎𓈖𓈖𓍺 SEQENEN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓏏𓆇𓏥𓉻𓈎𓈖𓂡𓍺
TAU-ĀA-QEN.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓇅𓆣𓍺 UATCH-KHEPER-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓂓𓏤𓀭𓄠𓋴𓍺 KAMES.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓊃𓏄𓎟𓍺 RĀ-SEKHENT-NEB, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓇳𓊃𓈖𓆱𓐍𓏏𓂡𓈖𓍺 RĀ-SEKHENT-EN.
𓆥𓎟𓇾𓇾𓍹𓇳𓎟𓄇𓄇𓍺 NEB-PEḤTI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇺𓄠𓋴𓍺
ȦĀḤMES. (AMĀSIS I.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓂓𓍺 TCHESER-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓊵𓏏𓊪𓍺
ȦMEN-ḤETEP. (AMENOPHIS I.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓉻𓆣𓂓𓍺 ĀA-KHEPER-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓅝𓏏𓏭𓄠𓋴𓍺
TEḤUTI-MES. (THOTHMES I.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓉻𓆣𓈖𓍺 ĀA-KHEPER-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓅝𓏏𓏭𓄠𓊃𓄤𓈍𓏥𓍺 NEFER-KHĀU-TEḤUTI-MES. (THOTHMES II.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓁦𓂓𓍺 MAĀT-KA-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎸𓄂𓏏𓏏𓀼𓏪𓍺
ḤĀT-SHEPSET-KHNEM-ȦMEN. (QUEEN HATSHEPSU.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏠𓆣𓍺 MEN-KHEPER-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓅝𓏏𓏭𓄠𓋴𓍺
TEḤUTI-MES. (THOTHMES III.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓉻𓆣𓏪𓍺 ĀA-KHEPERU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓊵𓊹𓋾𓉺𓍺
ȦMEN-ḤETEP NETER ḤEQ ȦNNU. (AMENOPHIS II.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏠𓆣𓏪𓍺 MEN-KHEPERU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓅝𓏏𓏭𓄠𓋴𓈍𓈍𓏦𓍺
TEḤUTI-MES-KHĀ-KHĀU. (THOTHMES IV.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓁧𓎟𓍺 NEB-MAĀT-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓊵𓋾𓋆𓍺
ȦMEN-ḤETEP ḤEQ UAST. (AMENOPHIS III.)
𓇓𓈞𓏏 SUTEN ḤEMT 𓍹𓍘𓇌𓏭𓁗𓍺 THI. (A MESOPOTAMIAN WIFE OF AMENOPHIS
III.)
𓆥𓍹𓄤𓆣𓏪𓇳𓌡𓈖𓍺 NEFER-KHEPERU-RĀ UĀ-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓊵𓊹𓋾𓋆𓍺 ȦMEN-ḤETEP NETER ḤEQ UAST. (AMENOPHIS IV.)
or 𓍹𓇋𓏏𓈖𓇳𓅜𓐍𓈖𓍺 KHU-EN-ȦTEN.
𓇓𓈞𓏏 SUTEN ḤEMT Royal wife, 𓅨𓏏𓂋 URT great lady. 𓍹𓇋𓏏𓈖𓇳𓄤 𓄤𓄤𓄤
𓄤𓏏𓏭𓇍𓍘𓁗𓍺 NEFER NEFERU-ȦTEN NEFERTI-ITH.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓋹𓆣𓏪𓍺 ĀNKH-KHEPERU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇳𓊃𓉻𓂓𓃒𓂡𓆣𓏪𓍺
SĀA-KA-NEKHT-KHEPERU-RĀ.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆣𓏪𓎟𓍺 NEB-KHEPERU-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏏𓏏𓅱𓋹𓋾𓉺𓇓𓍺
TUT-ĀNKH-ȦMEN ḤEQ ȦNNU RESU.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆣𓆣𓏪𓁧𓁹𓍺 KHEPER-KHEPERU-MAĀT-ȦRI-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓏐𓊹𓇋𓀁𓇌𓊹𓋾𓋆𓍺 ȦTF-NETER ȦI NETER ḤEQ UAST.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓆣𓏪𓇳𓍉𓈖𓍺 TCHESER-KHEPERU-RĀ-SETEP-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the
Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌹𓅃𓋔𓐝𓎱𓍺 ȦMEN-MERI-EN ḤERU-EM-ḤEB.
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓏠𓄇𓏏𓏏𓍺 MEN-PEḤTET-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓇳𓄠𓋴𓇓𓅱𓍺
RĀ-MESSU. (RAMESES I.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓁧𓏠𓍺 MEN-MAĀT-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun, 𓍹𓊪𓏏𓎛𓌹𓇌𓈖𓍺
PTAḤ-MERI-EN-SETI. (SETI I.)
𓆥𓍹𓇳𓄊𓁧𓇳𓍉𓈖𓍺 USR-MAĀT-RĀ SETEP-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓁩𓈘𓄠𓋴𓇓𓍺 RĀ-MESSU-MERI-ȦMEN. (RAMESES II.)
or 𓆥𓍹𓄊𓆄𓇳𓏤𓍉𓏌𓇳𓏤𓍺 USR-MAĀT-RĀ SETEP-EN-RĀ, 𓅭𓇳 son of the
Sun, 𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓈘𓇳𓏤𓄠𓋴𓋴𓍺 ȦMEN MER-RĀ-MESES.
𓆥𓍹𓁩𓈘𓈖𓃝𓍺 BA-RĀ-MERI-EN-ȦMEN, 𓅭𓇳 son of the Sun,
𓍹𓁧𓈘𓈖𓊵𓁷𓏤𓍺 PTAḤ-MERI-EN-ḤETEP-ḤER-MAĀT. (MENEPHTHAH.)