his priestly functions. He bore the title of High-Priest of Ammon
regularly on one of his royal escutcheons, while on the other he called
himself "Her-Hor Si-Ammon," or "Her-Hor, son of Ammon," following the
example of former kings, who gave themselves out for sons of Ra, or
Phthah, or Mentu, or Horus. But ultimately he surrendered the priestly
title to his eldest son, Piankh, and no doubt at the same time devolved
upon him the duties which attached to the high-priestly office. There
was something unseemly in a priest being a soldier, and Herhor was
smitten with the ambition of putting himself at the head of an army, and
reasserting the claim of Egypt to a supremacy over Syria. He calls
himself "the conqueror of the Ruten," and there is no reason to doubt
that he was successful in a Syrian campaign, though to what distance he
penetrated must remain uncertain. The Egyptian monarchs are not very
exact in their geographical nomenclature, and Herhor may have spoken of
Ruten, when his adversaries were really the Bedouins of the desert
between Egypt and Palestine. The fact that his expedition is unnoticed
in the Hebrew Scriptures renders it tolerably certain that he did not
effect any permanent conquest, even of Palestine.
Herhor's son, Piankh, who became High-Priest of Ammon on his father's
abdication of the office, does not appear to have succeeded him in the
kingdom. Perhaps he did not outlive his father. At any rate, the kingly
office seems to have passed from Herhor to his grandson, Pinetem, who
was a monarch of some distinction, and had a reign of at least
twenty-five years. Pinetem's right to the crown was disputed by
descendants of the Ramesside line of kings; and he thought it worth
while to strengthen his title by contracting a marriage with a princess
of that royal stock, a certain Ramaka, or Rakama, whose name appears on
his monuments. But compromise with treason has rarely a tranquillizing
effect; and Pinetem's concession to the prejudices which formed the
stock-in-trade of his opponents only exasperated them and urged them to
greater efforts. The focus of the conspiracy passed from the Oasis to
Thebes, which had grown disaffected because Pinetem had removed the seat
of government to Tanis in the Delta, which was the birthplace of his
grandfather, Herhor. So threatening had become the general aspect of
affairs, that the king thought it prudent to send his son, Ra-men-khepr
or Men-khepr-ra, the existing high-priest of the Temple of Ammon at
Thebes, from Tanis to the southern capital, in order that he should make
himself acquainted with the secret strength, and with the designs of the
disaffected, and see whether he could not either persuade or coerce
them. It was a curious part for the Priest of Ammon to play. Ordinarily
an absentee from Thebes and from the duties of his office, he visits the
place as Royal Commissioner, entrusted with plenary powers to punish or
forgive offenders at his pleasure. His fellow-townsmen are in the main
hostile to him; but the terror of the king's name is such that they do
not dare to offer him any resistance, and he singles out those who
appear to him most guilty for punishment, and has them executed, while
he grants the royal pardon to others without any let or hindrance on the
part of the civic authorities. Finally, having removed all those whom he
regarded as really dangerous, he ventured to conclude his commission by
granting a general amnesty to all persons implicated in the conspiracy,
and allowing the political refugees to return from the Oasis to Thebes
and to live there unmolested.
Men-khepr-ra soon afterwards became king. He married a wife named
Hesi-em-Kheb, who is thought to have been a descendant of Seti L, and
thus gave an additional legitimacy to the dynasty of Priest-Kings. He
also adorned the city of Kheb, the native place of his wife, with public
buildings; but otherwise nothing is known of the events of his reign. As
a general rule, the priest-kings were no more active or enterprizing
than their predecessors, the Ramessides of the twentieth dynasty. They
were content to rule Egypt in peace, and enjoy the delights of
sovereignty, without fatiguing themselves either with the construction
of great works or the conduct of military expeditions. If the people
that has no history is rightly pronounced happy, Egypt may have
prospered under their rule; but the historian can scarcely be expected
to appreciate a period which supplies him with no materials to work
upon.
The inaction of Egypt was favourable to the growth and spread of other
kingdoms and empires. Towards the close of the Ramesside period Assyria
had greatly increased in power, and extended her authority beyond the
Euphrates as far as the Mediterranean. After this, causes that are still
obscure had caused her to decline, and, Syria being left to itself, a
new power grew up in it. In the later half of the eleventh century,
probably during the reign of Men-khepr-ra in Egypt, David began that
series of conquests by which he gradually built up an empire, uniting in
one all the countries and tribes between the river of Egypt
(Wady-el-Arish) and the Euphrates. Egypt made no attempt to interfere
with his proceedings; and Assyria, after one defeat (1 Chron. xix.
16-19), withdrew from the contest. David's empire was inherited by
Solomon (1 Kings iv. 21-24); and Solomon's position was such as
naturally brought him into communication with the great powers beyond
his borders, among others with Egypt. A brisk trade was carried on
between his subjects and the Egyptians, especially in horses and
chariots (ib. x. 28, 29): and diplomatic intercourse was no doubt
established between the courts of Tanis and Jerusalem. It Is a little
uncertain which Egyptian prince was now upon the throne; but
Egyptologers incline to Pinetem II., the second in succession after
Men-khepr-ra, and the last king but one of the dynasty. The Hebrew
monarch having made overtures through his ambassador, this prince, it
would seem, received them favourably; and, soon after his accession (1
Kings iii. 1), Solomon took to wife his daughter, an Egyptian princess,
receiving with her as a dowry the city and territory of Gezer, which
Pinetem had recently taken from its independent Canaanite inhabitants
(ib. ix. 16). The new connection had advantages and disadvantages. The
excessive polygamy, which had been affected by the Egyptian monarchs
ever since the time of Ramesses II., naturally spread into Judea, and
"King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of
Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and
Hittites ... and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three
hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart" (ib. xi. 1, 3).
On the other hand, commerce was no doubt promoted by the step taken, and
much was learnt in the way of art from the Egyptian sculptors and
architects. The burst of architectural vigour which distinguishes
Solomon's reign among those of other Hebrew kings, is manifestly the
direct result of ideas brought to Jerusalem from the capital of the
Pharaohs. The plan of the Temple, with its open court in front, its
porch, its Holy Place, its Holy of Holies, and its chambers, was
modelled after the Egyptian pattern. The two pillars, Jachin and Boaz,
which stood in front of the porch, took the place of the twin obelisks,
which in every finished example of an Egyptian temple stood just in
front of the principal entrance. The lions on the steps of the royal
throne (ib. x. 20) were imitations of those which in Egypt often
supported the seat of the monarch on either side; and "the house of the
forest of Lebanon" was an attempt to reproduce the effect of one of
Egypt's "pillared halls." Something in the architecture of Solomon was
clearly learnt from Phœnicia, and a little--a very little--may perhaps
have been derived from Assyria; but Egypt gave at once the impulse and
the main bulk of the ideas and forms.
The line of priest-kings terminated with Hor-pa-seb-en-sha, the
successor of Pinetem II. They held the throne for about a century and a
quarter; and if they cannot be said to have played a very important part
in the "story of Egypt," or in any way to have increased Egyptian
greatness, yet at least they escape the reproach, which rests upon most
of the more distinguished dynasties, of seeking their own glory in modes
which caused their subjects untold suffering. [Illustration:
Decorative]
XIX.
SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
The rise of the twenty-second resembles in many respects that of the
twenty-first dynasty. In both cases the cause of the revolution Is to be
found in the weakness of the royal house, which rapidly loses its
pristine vigour, and is impotent to resist the first assault made upon
it by a bold aggressor. Perhaps the wonder is rather that Egyptian
dynasties continued so long as they did, than that they were not
longer-lived, since there was in almost every instance a rapid decline,
alike in the _physique_ and in the mental calibre of the holders of
sovereignty; so that nothing but a little combined strength and audacity
was requisite in order to push them from their pedestals. Shishak was an
official of a Semitic family long settled in Egypt, which had made the
town of Bubastis its residence. We may suspect, if we like, that the
family had noble--shall we say royal?--blood in its veins, and could
trace its descent to dynasties which had ruled at Nineveh or Babylon.
The connexion is possible, though scarcely probable, since no _éclat_
attended the first arrival of the Shishak family In Egypt, and the
family names, though Semitic, are decidedly neither Babylonian nor
Assyrian. It is tempting to adopt the sensational views of writers,
who, out of half a dozen names, manufacture an Assyrian conquest of
Egypt, and the establishment on the throne of the Pharaohs of a branch
derived from one or other of the royal Mesopotamian houses; but "facts
are stubborn things," and the imagination is scarcely entitled to mould
them at its will. It is necessary to face the two certain facts--(1)
that no one of the dynastic names is the natural representative of any
name known to have been borne by any Assyrian or Babylonian; and (2)
that neither Assyria nor Babylonia was at the time in such a position as
to effect, or even to contemplate, distant enterprizes. Babylonia did
not attain such a position till the time of Nabopolassar; Assyria had
enjoyed it about B.C. 1150-1100, but had lost it, and did not recover it
till B.C. 890. Moreover, Solomon's empire blocked the way to Egypt
against both countries, and required to be shattered in pieces before
either of the great Mesopotamian powers could have sent a _corps
d'armée_ into the land of the Pharaohs.
Sober students of history will therefore regard Shishak (Sheshonk)
simply as a member of a family which, though of foreign extraction, had
been long settled in Egypt, and had worked its way into a high position
under the priest-kings of Herhor's line, retaining a special connection
with Bubastis, the place which it had from the first made its home.
Sheshonk's grandfather, who bore the same name; had had the honour of
intermarrying into the royal house, having taken to wife Meht-en-hont, a
princess of the blood whose exact parentage is unknown to us. His
father Namrut, had held a high military office, being commander of the
Libyan mercenaries, who at this time formed the most important part of
the standing army. Sheshonk himself, thus descended, was naturally in
the front rank of Egyptian court-officials. When we first hear of him he
is called "His Highness," and given the title of "Prince of the
princes," which is thought to imply that he enjoyed the first rank among
all the chiefs of mercenaries, of whom there were many. Thus he held a
position only second to that occupied by the king, and when his son
became a suitor for the hand of a daughter of the reigning sovereign, no
one could say that etiquette was infringed, or an ambition displayed
that was excessive and unsuitable. The match was consequently allowed to
come off, and Sheshonk became doubly connected with the royal house,
through his daughter-in-law and through his grandmother. When,
therefore, on the death of Hor-pa-seb-en-sha, he assumed the title and
functions of king, no opposition was offered: the crown seemed to have
passed simply from one member of the royal family to another.
In monarchies like the Egyptian, it is not very difficult for an
ambitious subject, occupying a certain position, to seize the throne;
but it is far from easy for him to retain it Unless there is a general
impression of the usurper's activity, energy, and vigour, his authority
is liable to be soon disputed, or even set at nought It behoves him to
give indications of strength and breadth of character, or of a wise,
far-seeing policy, in order to deter rivals from attempting to undermine
his power. Sheshonk early let it be seen that he possessed both caution
and far-reaching views by his treatment of a refugee who, shortly after
his accession, sought his court. This was Jeroboam, one of the highest
officials in the neighbouring kingdom of Israel, whom Solomon, the great
Israelite monarch, regarded with suspicion and hostility, on account of
a declaration made by a prophet that he was at some future time to be
king of Ten Tribes out of the Twelve. To receive Jeroboam with favour
was necessarily to offend Solomon, and thus to reverse the policy of the
preceding dynasty, and pave the way for a rupture with the State which
was at this time Egypt's most important neighbour. Sheshonk,
nevertheless, accorded a gracious reception to Jeroboam; and the favour
in which he remained at the Egyptian court was an encouragement to the
disaffected among the Israelites, and distinctly foreshadowed a time
when an even bolder policy would be adopted, and a strike made for
imperial power. The time came at Solomon's demise. Jeroboam was at once
allowed to return to Palestine, and to foment the discontent which it
was foreseen would terminate in separation. The two kings had, no doubt,
laid their plans. Jeroboam was first to see what he could effect
unaided, and then, if difficulty supervened, his powerful ally was to
come to his assistance. For the Egyptian monarch to have appeared in the
first instance would have roused Hebrew patriotism against him. Sheshonk
waited till Jeroboam had, to a certain extent, established his kingdom,
had set up a new worship blending Hebrew with Egyptian notions, and had
sufficiently tested the affection or disaffection towards his rule of
the various classes of his subjects. He then marched out to his
assistance. Levying a force of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand
horse (? six thousand), and footmen "without number" (2 Chron, xii. 3),
chiefly from the Libyan and Ethiopian mercenaries which now formed the
strength of the Egyptian armies, he proceeded into the Holy Land,
entering it "in three columns," and so spreading his troops far and wide
over the southern country. Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor, had
made such preparation as was possible against the attack. He had
anticipated it from the moment of Jeroboam's return, and he had
carefully guarded the main routes whereby his country could be
approached from the south, fortifying, among other cities, Shoco,
Adullam, Azekah, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Tekoa, and Hebron (2 Chron. xi.
6-10). But the host of Sheshonk was irresistible. Never before had the
Hebrews met in battle the forces of their powerful southern
neighbour--never before had they been confronted with huge masses of
disciplined troops, armed and trained alike, and soldiers by profession.
The Jewish levies were a rude and untaught militia, little accustomed to
warfare, or even to the use of arms, after forty years of peace, during
which "every man had dwelt safely under the shade of his own vine and
his own fig-tree" (1 Kings iv. 25). They must have trembled before the
chariots, and cavalry, and trained footmen of Egypt. Accordingly, there
seems to have been no battle, and no regularly organized resistance. As
the host of Sheshonk advanced along the chief roads that led to the
Jewish capital, the cities, fortified with so much care by Rehoboam,
either opened their gates to him, or fell after brief sieges (2 Chron.
xii. 4). Sheshonk's march was a triumphal progress, and in an incredibly
short space of time he appeared before Jerusalem, where Rehoboam and
"the princes of Judah" were tremblingly awaiting his arrival. The son of
Solomon surrendered at discretion; and the Egyptian conqueror entered
the Holy City, stripped the Temple of its most valuable treasures,
including the shields of gold which Solomon had made for his body-guard,
and plundered the royal palace (2 Chron, xii. 9). The city generally
does not appear to have been sacked: nor was there any massacre.
Rehoboam's submission was accepted; he was maintained in his kingdom;
but he had to become Sheshonk's "servant" (2 Chron. xii. 8), _i.e.,_ he
had to accept the position of a tributary prince, owing fealty and
obedience to the Egyptian monarch.
The objects of Sheshonk's expedition were-not yet half accomplished. By
the long inscription which he set up on his return to Egypt, we find
that, after having made Judea subject to him, he proceeded with his army
into the kingdom of Israel, and there also took a number of towns which
were peculiarly circumstanced. The Levites of the northern kingdom had
from the first disapproved of the religious changes effected by
Jeroboam; and the Levitical cities within his dominions were regarded
with an unfriendly eye by the Israelite monarch, who saw in them hotbeds
of rebellion. He had not ventured to make a direct attack upon them
himself, since he would thereby have lighted the torch of civil war
within his own borders; but, having now an Egyptian army at his beck
and call, he used the foreigners as an instrument at once to free him
from a danger and to execute his vengeance upon those whom he looked
upon as traitors. Sheshonk was directed or encouraged to attack and take
the Levitical cities of Rehob, Gibeon, Mahanaim, Beth-horon, Kedemoth,
Bileam or Ibleam, Alemoth, Taanach, Golan, and Anem, to plunder them and
carry off their inhabitants as slaves; while he was also persuaded to
reduce a certain number of Canaanite towns, which did not yield Jeroboam
a very willing obedience. We may trace the march of Sheshonk by Megiddo,
Taanach, and Shunem, to Beth-shan, and thence across the Jordan to
Mahanaim and Aroer; after which, having satisfied his vassal, Jeroboam,
he proceeded to make war on his own account with the Arab tribes
adjoining on Trans-Jordanic Israel, and subdued the Temanites, the
Edomites, and various tribes of the Hagarenes. His dominion was thus
established from the borders of Egypt to Galilee, and from the
Mediterranean to the Great Syrian Desert.
On his return to Egypt from Asia, with his prisoners and his treasures,
it seemed to the victorious monarch that he might fitly follow the
example of the old Pharaohs who had made expeditions into Palestine and
Syria, and commemorate his achievements by a sculptured record. So would
he best impress the mass of the people with his merits, and induce them
to put him on a par with the Thothmeses and the Amenhoteps of former
ages. On the southern external wall of the great temple of Karnak, he
caused himself to be represented twice--once as holding by the hair of
their heads thirty-eight captive Asiatics, and threatening them with
uplifted mace; and a second time as leading captive one hundred and
thirty-three cities or tribes, each specified by name and personified in
an individual form, the form, however, being incomplete. Among these
representations is one which bears the inscription "Yuteh Malek," and
which must be regarded as figuring the captive Judæan kingdom.
[Illustration: FIGURE RECORDING THE CONQUEST OF JUDÆA BY SHISHAK.]
Thus, after nearly a century and a half of repose, Egypt appeared once
more in Western Asia as a conquering power, desirious of establishing an
empire. The political edifice raised with so much trouble by David, and
watched over with such care by Solomon, had been shaken to its base by
the rebellion of Jeroboam; it was shattered beyond all hope of recovery
by Shishak. Never more would the fair fabric of an Israelite empire rear
itself up before the eyes of men; never more would Jerusalem be the
capital of a State as extensive as Assyria or Babylonia, and as populous
as Egypt. After seventy years, or so, of union, Syria was broken up--the
cohesion effected by the warlike might of David and the wisdom of
Solomon ceased--the ill-assimilated parts fell asunder; and once more
the broad and fertile tract intervening between Assyria and Egypt became
divided among a score of petty States, whose weakness invited a
conqueror.
[Illustration: HEAD OF SHISHAK]
Sheshonk did not live many years to enjoy the glory and honour brought
him by his Asiatic successes. He died after a reign of twenty-one years,
leaving his crown to his second son, Osorkon, who was married to the
Princess Keramat, a daughter of Sheshonk's predecessor. The dynasty thus
founded continued to occupy the Egyptian throne for the space of about
two centuries, but produced no other monarch of any remarkable
distinction. The Asiatic dominion, which Sheshonk had established, seems
to have been maintained for about thirty years, during the reigns of
Osorkon L, Sheshonk's son, and Takelut I., his grandson; but in the
reign of Osorkon II., the son of Takelut, the Jewish monarch of the
time, Asa, the grandson of Rehoboam, shook off the Egyptian yoke,
re-established Judæan independence, and fortified himself against attack
by restoring the defences of all those cities which Sheshonk had
dismantled, and "making about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars"
(2 Chron. xiv. 7). At the same time he placed under arms the whole male
population of his kingdom, which is reckoned by the Jewish historian at
580,000 men. The "men of Judah" bore spears and targets, or small round
shields; the "men of Benjamin" had shields of a larger size, and were
armed with the bow (ib. ver. 8). "All these," says the historian, "were
mighty men of valour." It was not to be supposed that Egypt would bear
tamely this defiance, or submit to the entire loss of her Asiatic
dominion, which was necessarily involved in the revolt of Judæa, without
an effort to retain it. Osorkon II., or whoever was king at the time,
rose to the occasion. If it was to be a contest of numbers, Egypt should
show that she was certainly not to be outdone numerically; so more
mercenaries than ever before were taken into pay, and an army was
levied, which is reckoned at "a thousand thousand" (ib. ver. 9),
consisting of Cushites or Ethiopians, and of Lubim (ib. xvi. 8), or
natives of the North African coast-tract, With these was sent a picked
force of three hundred war-chariots, probably Egyptian; and the entire
host was placed under the command of an Ethiopian general, who is called
Zerah. The host set forth from Egypt, confident of victory, and
proceeded as far as Mareshah in Southern Judæa, where they were met by
the undaunted Jewish king. What force he had brought with him is
uncertain, but the number cannot have been very great. Asa had recourse
to prayer, and, in words echoed in later days by the great Maccabee (1
Mac. iii. 18, 19), besought Jehovah to help him against the Egyptian
"multitude." Then the two armies joined battle; and, notwithstanding the
disparity of numbers, Zerah was defeated. "The Ethiopians and the Lubim,
a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen" (2 Chron. xvi. 8)
fled before Judah--they were "overthrown that they could not recover
themselves, and were destroyed before Jehovah and before His host" (ib.
xiv. 13). The Jewish troops pursued them as far as Gerar, smiting them
with a great slaughter, taking their camp? and loading themselves with
spoil. What became of Zerah we are not told. Perhaps he fell in the
battle; perhaps he carried the news of his defeat to his Egyptian
master, and warned him against any further efforts to subdue a people
which could defend itself so effectually.