PHARAOH AT HOME
The time is coming on now for the King to go in state to the great
temple at Karnak to offer sacrifice, and as we go up to the palace to
see him come forth in all his glory, let me tell you a little about him
and the kind of life he leads. Pharaoh, of course, is not his real name;
it is not even his official title; it is just a word which is used to
describe a person who is so great that people scarcely venture to call
him by his proper name. Just as the Turks nowadays speak of the "Sublime
Porte," when they mean the Sultan and his Government, so the Egyptians
speak of "Per-o," or Pharaoh, as we call it, which really signifies
"Great House," when they mean the King.
For the King of Egypt is a very great man indeed; in fact, his people
look upon him, and he looks upon himself, as something more than a man.
There are many gods in Egypt; but the god whom the people know best,
and to whom they pay the most reverence, is their King. Ever since there
have been Kings in the country, and that is a very long time now, the
reigning monarch has been looked upon as a kind of god manifest in the
flesh. He calls himself "Son of the Sun"; in the temples you will see
pictures of his childhood, where great goddesses dandle the young god
upon their knees (Plate 2). Divine honours are paid, and sacrifices
offered to him; and when he dies, and goes to join his brother-gods in
heaven, a great temple rises to his memory, and hosts of priests are
employed in his worship. There is just one distinction made between him
and the other gods. Amen at Thebes, Ptah at Memphis, and all the rest of
the crowd of divinities, are called "the great gods." Pharaoh takes a
different title. He is called "the good god."
At present "the good god" is Ramses II. Of course, that is only one part
of his name; for, like all the other Pharaohs, he has a list of titles
that would fill a page. His subjects in Thebes have not seen very much
of him for a long time, for there has been so much to do away in Syria,
that he has built another capital at Tanis, which the Hebrews call Zoan,
down between the Delta and the eastern frontier, and spends most of his
time there. People who have been down the river tell us great wonders
about the beauty of the new town, its great temple, and the huge statue
of the King, 90 feet high, which stands before the temple gate. But
Thebes is still the centre of the nation's life, and now, when it is
growing almost certain that there will be another war with those vile
Hittites in the North of Syria, he has come up to the great city to
take counsel with his brother-god, Amen, and to make arrangements for
gathering his army. The royal palace is in a constant bustle, with
envoys coming and going, and counsellors and generals continually
passing in and out with reports and orders.
Outside, the palace is not so very imposing. The Egyptians built their
temples to last for ever; but the palaces of their Kings were meant to
serve only for a short time. The new King might not care for the old
King's home, and so each Pharaoh builds his house according to his own
taste, of light materials. It will serve his turn, and his successor may
build another for himself. A high wall, with battlements, towers, and
heavy gates, surrounds it; for, though Pharaoh is a god, his subjects
are sometimes rather difficult to keep in order. Plots against the King
have not been unknown in the past; and on at least one occasion, a great
Pharaoh of bygone days had to spring from his couch and fight
single-handed for his life against a crowd of conspirators who had
forced an entrance into the palace while he was enjoying his siesta. So
since then Pharaoh has found it better to trust in his strong walls, and
in the big broadswords of his faithful Sardinian guardsmen, than in any
divinity that may belong to himself.
Within the great boundary wall lie pleasant gardens, gay with all sorts
of flowers, and an artificial lake shows its gleaming water here and
there through the trees and shrubs. The palace itself is all glittering
white stucco on the outside. A high central door leads into a great
audience hall, glowing with colour, its roof supported by painted
pillars in the form of lotus-stalks; and on either side of this lie two
smaller halls. Behind the audience chamber are two immense
dining-rooms, and behind these come the sleeping apartments of the
numerous household. Ramses has a multitude of wives, and a whole army of
sons and daughters, and it takes no small space to house them all. The
bedroom of the great King himself stands apart from the other rooms, and
is surrounded by banks of flowers in full bloom.
The Son of the Sun has had a busy day already. He has had many letters
and despatches to read and consider. Some of the Syrian vassal-princes
have sent clay tablets, covered with their curious arrow-headed writing,
giving news of the advance of the Hittites, and imploring the help of
the Egyptian army; and now the King is about to give audience, and to
consider these with his great nobles and Generals. At one end of the
reception hall stands a low balcony, supported on gaily-painted wooden
pillars which end in capitals of lotus-flowers. The front of this
balcony is overlaid with gold, and richly decorated with turquoise and
lapis lazuli. Here the King will show himself to his subjects,
accompanied by his favourite wife, Queen Nefertari, and some of the
young Princes and Princesses. The folding doors of the audience chamber
are thrown open, and the barons, the provincial governors, and the high
officers of the army and the State throng in to do homage to their
master.
[Illustration]
In a few moments the glittering crowd is duly arranged, a door opens at
the back of the balcony, and the King of the Two Lands, Lord of the
Vulture and the Snake, steps forth with his Queen and family. In earlier
times, whenever the King appeared, the assembled nobles were expected to
fall on their faces and kiss the ground before him. Fashion has
changed, however, and now the great folks, at all events, are no longer
required to "smell the earth." As Pharaoh enters the balcony, the nobles
bow profoundly, and raise their arms as if in prayer to "the good god."
Then, in silent reverence, they wait until it shall please their lord to
speak.
Ramses sweeps his glance over the crowd, singles out the General in
command of the Theban troops, and puts a question to him as to the
readiness of his division--the picked division of the army. The soldier
steps forward with a deep bow; but it is not Court manners for him to
answer his lord's question directly. Instead, he begins by reciting a
little psalm of praise, which tells of the King's greatness, his valour
and skill in war, and asserts that wherever his horses tread his enemies
flee before him and perish. This little piece of flattery over, the
General begins, "O King, my master," and in a few sensible words gives
the information required. So the audience goes on, counsellor after
counsellor coming forward at the royal command, reciting his little
hymn, and then giving his opinion on such matters as his master suggests
to him. At last the council is over, the King gives orders to his
equerry to prepare his chariot for the procession to the temple, and, as
he turns to leave the audience chamber, the assembled nobles once more
bow profoundly, and raise their arms in adoration.
After a short delay, the great gates of the boundary wall of the palace
are opened; a company of spearmen, in quilted leather kilts and leather
skull-caps, marches out, and takes position a short distance from the
gateway. Behind them comes a company of the Sardinians of the guard,
heavily armed, with bright helmets, broad round shields, quilted
corselets, and long, heavy, two-edged swords. They range themselves on
either side of the roadway, and stand like statues, waiting for the
appearance of Pharaoh. There is a whir of chariot-wheels, and the royal
chariot sweeps through the gateway, and sets off at a good round pace
towards the temple. The spearmen in front start at the double, and the
guardsmen, in spite of their heavy equipment, keep pace with their royal
master on either side.
The waiting crowd bows to the dust as the sovereign passes; but Pharaoh
looks neither to the right hand nor to the left. He stands erect and
impassive in the swaying chariot, holding the crook and whip which are
the Egyptian royal emblems. On his head he wears the royal war helmet,
in the front of which a golden cobra rears its crest from its coils, as
if to threaten the enemies of Egypt. His finely-shaped, swarthy features
are adorned, or disfigured, by an artificial beard, which is fastened on
by a strap passing up in front of the ears. His tall slender body is
covered, above his corselet, with a robe of fine white linen, a perfect
wonder of pleating; and round his waist passes a girdle of gold and
green enamel, whose ends cross and hang down almost to his knees,
terminating in two threatening cobra heads (Plate 4 and Cover Picture).
On either side of him run the fan-bearers, who manage, by a miracle of
skill and activity, to keep their great gaily-coloured fans of perfumed
ostrich feathers waving round the royal head even as they run.
Behind the King comes a long train of other chariots, only less splendid
than that of Ramses. In the first stands Queen Nefertari, languidly
sniffing at a lotus-flower as she passes on. The others are filled by
some of the Princes of the blood, who are going to take part in the
ceremony at the temple, chief among them the wizard Prince Khaemuas, the
greatest magician in Egypt, who has spells that can bring the dead from
their graves. Some in the crowd shrink from his keen eye, and mutter
that the papyrus roll which he holds so close to his breast was taken
from the grave of another magician Prince of ancient days, and that
Khaemuas will know no peace till it is restored. In a few minutes the
whole brilliant train has passed, dazzling the eyes with a blaze of gold
and white and scarlet; and crowds of courtiers stream after their
master, as fast as their feet can carry them, towards Karnak. You have
seen, if only for a moment, the greatest man on earth--the Great
Oppressor of Hebrew story. Very mighty and very proud he is; and he does
not dream that the little Hebrew boy whom his daughter has adopted, and
who is being trained in the priestly college at Heliopolis, will one day
humble all the pride of Egypt, and that the very name of Ramses shall be
best remembered because it is linked with that of Moses.