the Tachos or Teos of the Greeks, who followed him on the throne in B.C.
366, went out of his way to provoke the Persians by fomenting the war of
the satraps against Artaxerxes Mnemon, and, having obtained the services
of Agesilaüs and Chabrias, even ventured to invade Phœnicia and attempt
its reduction. His own hold upon Egypt was, however, far too weak to
justify so bold a proceeding. Scarcely had he reached Syria, when revolt
broke out behind him. The Regent, to whom he had entrusted the direction
of affairs during his absence, proved unfaithful, and incited his son,
Nekht-nebf, to become a candidate for the crown, and to take up arms
against his father. The young prince was seduced by the offers made him,
and Egypt became plunged in a civil war. But for the courage and conduct
of Agesilaüs, which were conspicuously displayed, Tacho would have
yielded to despair and have given up the contest. In two decisive
battles the Spartan general completely defeated the army of the rebels,
which far outnumbered that of Tacho, and replaced the king on his
tottering throne.
However, it was not long before the party of the rebels recovered from
their defeats. Agesilaüs either joined them, or withdrew from the
struggle, and removing to Cyrene died there at an advanced age. Tacho,
deserted by his followers, quitted Egypt and fled to Sidon, whence he
made his way across the desert to the court of the Great King. Ochus,
who had by this time succeeded Mnemon, received him favourably, and
professed an intention of embracing his cause; but nothing came of this
expression of good-will. Tacho lived a considerable time at the court of
Ochus, without any steps being taken to restore him to his former
position. At last a dysentery carried him off, and legitimated the
position of the usurper who had driven him into exile.
The end now drew nigh. Nekht-nebf, whom the Greeks called Nectanebo II.,
having after a time established himself firmly upon the throne, and got
rid of pretenders, resumed the ambitious policy of his predecessor, and
entered into an alliance with the people of Sidon and their neighbours,
who were in revolt against Persia. He had the excuse that Ochus, some
time previously, had sent an expedition against Egypt, which he had
repulsed by the assistance of two Greek generals, Diophantus of Athens
and Lamius of Sparta. But this expedition was a thing of the past; it
had inflicted no injury on Egypt, and it demanded no revenge. Nekht-nebf
was in no way called upon to join the rebel confederacy, which (in B.C.
346) raised the flag of revolt from Persia, and sought to enrol in its
ranks as many allies as possible. But he rashly gave in his name, and
sent to Sidon as his contingent towards the army that was being raised,
four thousand of his Greek mercenaries, under the command of Mentor of
Rhodes. With their aid, Tennes, the Sidonian king, completely defeated
the troops which Ochus had sent against him, and drove the Persians out
of Phœnicia.
The success, however, which was thus gained by the rebels only
exasperated the Persian king, and made him resolve all the more on a
desperate effort. The time had gone by, he felt, for committing wars to
satraps, or sending out generals, with a few thousand troops, to put
down this or that troublesome chieftain. The conjuncture called for
measures of no ordinary character. The Great King must conduct an
expedition in person. Every sort of preparation must be made; arms and
provisions and stores of all kinds must be accumulated; the best troops
must be collected from all parts of the empire; a sufficient fleet must
be manned; and such an armament must go forth under the royal banner as
would crush all opposition. Ochus succeeded in gathering together from
the nations under his direct rule 300,000 foot, 30,000 horse, 300
triremes, and 500 transports or provision-ships. He then directed his
efforts towards obtaining efficient assistance from the Greeks. Though
refused aid by Athens and Sparta, he succeeded in obtaining a thousand
Theban heavy-armed under Lacrates, three thousand Argives under
Nicostratus, and six thousand Æolians, Ionians, and Dorians from the
Greek cities of Asia Minor. The assistance thus secured was numerically
small, amounting to no more than ten thousand men--not a thirtieth part
of his native force; but it formed, together with the Greek mercenaries
from Egypt--who went over to him afterwards--the force on which he
placed his chief reliance, and to which the ultimate success of his
expedition was mainly due.
The overwhelming strength of the armament which Ochus had brought with
him into Syria alarmed the chiefs of the rebel confederacy. Tennes,
especially, the Sidonian monarch, despaired of a successful resistance,
and made up his mind that his only chance of safety lay in his appeasing
the anger of Ochus by the betrayal of his confederates and followers. He
opened his designs to Mentor of Rhodes, the commander of the Greek
mercenaries furnished by Egypt, and found him quite ready to come into
his plans. The two in conjunction betrayed Sidon into the hands of
Persia, by the admission of a detachment within the walls; after which
the defence became impracticable. The Sidonians, having experienced the
unrelenting temper and sanguinary spirit of the Persian king, who had
transfixed with javelins six hundred of their principal citizens, came
to the desperate resolution of setting fire to their houses, and so
destroying themselves with their town. One is glad to learn that the
cowardly traitor, Tennes, who had brought about these terrible
calamities, did not derive any profit from them, but was executed by the
command of Ochus, as soon as Sidon had fallen.
The reduction of Sidon was followed closely by the invasion of Egypt.
Ochus, besides his 330,000 Asiatics, had now a force of 14,000 Greeks,
the mercenaries under Mentor having joined him. Marshalling his army in
four divisions, he proceeded to the attack. The first, second, and
third divisions contained, each of them, a contingent of Greeks and a
contingent of Asiatics, commanded respectively by a Greek and a Persian
leader. The Greeks of the first division, consisting mainly of Bœotians,
were under the orders of Lacrates, a Theban of enormous strength, who
regarded himself as a second Hercules, and adopted the traditional
costume of that hero, a lion's skin and a club. His Persian colleague
was Rhosaces, satrap of Ionia and Lydia, who claimed descent from one of
"the Seven" that put down the conspiracy of the Magi. In the second
division, where the Argive mercenaries served, the Greek leader was
Nicostratus, the Persian Aristazanes, a court usher, and one of the most
trusted friends of the king. Mentor and the eunuch Bagoas, Ochus's chief
minister in his later years, were at the head of the third division,
Mentor commanding his own mercenaries, and Bagoas the Greeks whom Ochus
had levied in his own dominions, together with a large body of Asiatics.
The king himself was sole commander of the fourth division, as well as
commander-in-chief of the entire host. Nekht-nebf, on his side, was only
able to oppose to this vast array an army less than one-third of the
size. He had enrolled as many as sixty thousand of the Egyptian warrior
class, and had the services of twenty thousand Greek mercenaries, and of
about the same number of Libyan troops.
Pelusium, as usual, was the first point of attack. Nekht-nebf had taken
advantage of the long delay of Ochus in Syria to see that the defences
of Egypt were in good order; he had made preparations for resistance at
all the seven mouths of the Nile, and had guarded Pelusium with especial
care. Ochus, as he had expected, advanced along the coast route which
led to this place. Part of his army traversed the narrow spit of land
which separated the Lake Serbonis from the Mediterranean, and in doing
so met with a disaster. A strong wind setting in from the north, as the
troops were passing, brought the waters of the Mediterranean over the
low strip of sand which is ordinarily dry, and confounding sea and shore
and lake together, caused the destruction of a large detachment; but the
main army, which had probably kept Lake Serbonis on the right, reached
its destination intact. A skirmish followed between the Theban troops of
the first division under Lacrates and the garrison of Pelusium under
Philophron; but this first engagement was without definite result.
The two armies lay now for a while on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile,
which was well protected by forts, fortified towns, and a network of
canals on either side of it. There was every reason to expect that
Nekht-nebf, by warily guarding his frontier, and making full use of his
resources, might baffle for a considerable time, if not wholly
frustrate, the Persian attack. But his combined self-conceit and
timidity ruined his cause. Taking the direction of affairs wholly upon
himself and asking no advice from his Greek captains, he failed to show
any of the qualities of a great commander, and was speedily involved in
difficulties with which he was quite incapable of dealing. Having had
his first line of defence partially forced by a bold movement on the
part of the Argives under Nicostratus, instead of trying to redeem the
misfortune by a counter-movement, or a concentration of troops, he
hastily abandoned to his generals the task of continuing the resistance
on this outer line, and retiring to Memphis, concentrated all his
efforts on making preparations to resist a siege.
Meantime, the Persians were advancing. Lacrates the Theban set himself
to reduce Pelusium, and, having drained dry one of the ditches, brought
his military engines up to the walls of the place. In vain, however, did
he batter down a portion of the wall--the garrison had erected another
wall behind it; in vain did he advance his towers--they had movable
towers ready prepared to resist him. No progress had been made by the
besiegers, when on a sudden the resistance of the besieged slackened.
Intelligence had reached them of Nekht-nebf's hasty retreat. If the king
gave up hope, why should they pour out their blood to no purpose?
Accordingly they made overtures to Lacrates for a surrender upon terms,
and it was agreed that they should be allowed to evacuate the place and
return to Greece, with all the goods and chattels that they could carry
with them. Bagoas demurred to the terms; but Ochus confirmed them, and
Pelusium passed into the possession of the Persians without further
fighting.
About the same time Mentor had proceeded southwards and laid siege to
Bubastis. Having invested the town, he caused intelligence to reach the
besieged that Ochus had determined to spare all who should surrender
their cities to him without resistance, and to treat with the utmost
severity all who should fight strenuously in their defence. By these
means he introduced dissension within the walls of the towns, since the
native Egyptians and their Greek allies naturally distrusted and
suspected each other. At Bubastis the Egyptians were the first to move.
The siege had only just begun when they sent an envoy to Mentor's
colleague, Bagoas, to offer to surrender the town to him. But this
proceeding did not suit the Greeks, who caught the messenger, extracted
from him his message, and then attacked the Egyptian portion of the
garrison and slew great numbers of them. The Egyptians, however, though
beaten, persisted, established communication with Bagoas, and fixed a
day on which they would receive his forces into the town. Mentor, who
wished to secure to himself the credit of the surrender, hereupon
exhorted his Greek friends to be on the watch, and, when the time came,
to resist the movement. This they did with such success that they not
only frustrated the attempt, but captured Bagoas himself, who had
ventured within the walls. Bagoas had to implore the interference of his
colleague on his behalf, and was obliged to promise that henceforth he
would attempt nothing without Mentor's knowledge and consent. Mentor
gained his ends, had the credit of being the person to whom the town
surrendered itself, and at the same time established his ascendancy over
Bagoas. It is clear that had the Egyptians possessed an active and able
commander, advantage might have been taken of the jealousies which
divided the Persian generals from their Greek colleagues, to bring the
expedition into difficulties.
Unfortunately, the Egyptian monarch, alike pusillanimous and incapable,
was so far from making any offensive effort, that he was not prepared
even to defend his capital against the invaders. When he found that
Pelusium and Bubastis had both fallen, and that the way lay open for the
Persians to march upon Memphis and invest it, he left the city with all
the wealth on which he could lay his hands, and fled away into Ethiopia.
Ochus did not pursue him. He was content to have regained a valuable
province, which for above fifty years had been lost to the Persian
crown, without even having had to fight a single pitched battle, or to
engage in one difficult siege. According to the Greek writers, he showed
his contempt of the Egyptian religion after his conquest by stabbing an
Apis-Bull, and violating the sanctity of a number of the most holy
shrines; but the story of the Apis-Bull is probably a fiction, and it
was to obtain the plunder of the temples, not to insult the Egyptian
gods, that he violated the shrines. There is no trace of his having
treated the conquered people with cruelty, or even with severity.
Prudence induced him to destroy the walls and other fortifications of
the chief Egyptian towns; and cupidity led him to carry off into Persia
all the treasures that Nekht-nebf had left behind. Even the sacred
books, of which he is said to have robbed the temples, may have been
taken on account of their value. We do not hear of his having dragged
off any prisoners, or inflicted any punishment on the country for its
rebellion. Even the tribute is not said to have been increased.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that, when once Persia took
resolutely in hand the subjugation of the revolted province, a few
months sufficed for its accomplishment. The resources of Persia were out
of all comparison with those of Egypt; alike in respect of men and of
money, there was an extreme disparity. What had protected Egypt so long
was the multiplicity of Persia's enemies, the large number of wars that
were continually being waged and the want of a bold, energetic, and
warlike monarch. As soon as the full power of the vast empire of the
Achæmenidæ was directed against the little country which had detached
itself, and pretended to a separate existence, the result was certain.
Egypt could no more maintain a struggle against Persia in full force
than a lynx could contend with a lion. But while all this is indubitably
true, the end of Egypt might have been more dignified and more
honourable than it was. Nekht-nebf, the last king, was a poor specimen
of the Pharaonic type of monarch. He had none of the qualities of a
great king. He did not even know how to fall with dignity. Had he
gathered together all the troops that he could anyhow muster, and met
Ochus in the open field, and fallen fighting for his crown, or had he
even defended Memphis to the last, and only yielded himself when he
could resist no longer, a certain halo of glory would have surrounded
him. As it was, Egypt sank ingloriously at the last--her art, her
literature, her national spirit decayed and almost extinct--paying, by
her early disappearance from among the nations of the earth, the penalty
of her extraordinarily precocious greatness.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE FAYOUM SHOWING THE BIRKET-EL-KEROUN AND THE
ARTIFICIAL LAKE 'MŒRIS'.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN. PATERNOSTER SQUARE. E.C.]
INDEX.
A
Aahmes I., 152
"Aa-khepr-ka-ra, Abode of," 168
"Abode of Aa-khepr-ka-ra," 168
Abraham, deceit of, 127, 129
Abraham in Egypt, 125
Abyssinia, rainfall in, 113
Alliance with Babylon and Lydia, 371
Amasis, prosperity under, 367
Amenemhat I., 101
Amenemhat I., hunting prowess of, 103
Amenemhat III., 109
"Amenemhat the Good," 116
Amenemhat's Labyrinth, 121
Amenemhat's Reservoir, 118
Amenhotep II., conquests of, 206
Amenhotep II., cruelty of, 207
Amenhotep III., colossi of, 208
Amenhotep III., lion-hunting of, 220
Amenhotep III., personal appearance of, 222
Amenhotep III., wars of, 219
Amenhotep IV., accession of, 223
Ammon, High Priest of, 289
Ammon, restoration of temple of, 290
Ammon, temple of, 105, 167, 173, 186
Amon-mes, or Amomneses, pretender to crown, 265
Animal worship, 31
Animals, sacred, 31
Antef I., 97
Antef II.'s dogs, 98
Antiquities of Egypt, 45
Apé, or Apiu, city of, 56
Apepi and Joseph, 145
Apepi, rule of, 144
Apis, sacred bull, 32
Apries offends Nebuchadnezzar, 363
Architecture, 21, 245, 267
Art and literature, decline of, 285, 311
Art and literature, revival of, 350
Asa, Judæa revolts under, 307
Asa, victory of, 309
Asia, invasion of, 167, 195
Asshur-bani-pal, accession of, 336
Asshur-bani-pal, death of, 338
Asshur-bani-pal, defeat of Tehrak by, 336
Assyria, II
Assyrian gifts to Thothmes III., 194
Athor cow, 33
Auaris, siege of, 152
B
Babylon, revolt of, 345
Bacis, sacred bull, 32
Bahr Yousouf, 1
Bastinado, 45
Bek-en-ranf, burning of, 323
Builders, the Pyramid, 82
Buildings of Thothmes III., 199, 201
Bulls, sacred, 32
C
Cairo., Modern, 52, 95
Cambyses, indignities by, 378
Campaigns of Thothmes III., 191
Chaldean Monarchy, end of, 371
Character, Egyptian, 24
Character, types of, 27
Colossi of Amenhotep III., 208
Condition, social, 60
Corrupting influences, 353
Costume, early, 60
Costume of Women, 62
Crocodile, mode of hunting, 104
Crœsus, 370
Cushites, the, 154
Cyprus, 197
Cyrene, death of, 394
Cyrus, death of, 372
D
Darius, death of, 382
Darius, revolt against, 381
David and Solomon, empire of, 295
Decline, 244, 269, 283
Decline of art and literature, 285, 311
Decline of morals, 286
Defeat, double, of invaders, 277
Defeat of Neco by Nebuchadnezzar, 358
Deities, Egyptian, 30
Deities, evil, 36, 37
Delta, the, 1, 95, 102
Disaster of the Red Sea, 264
Disintegration, 311, 317
Disk worship, 223, 225, 230, 231
Drollery, Egyptian, 29
Dynasties, rival, established, 311
E
Egypt, monotony of, 19
Egypt, seasons of, 14
Egypt, shape of, 1
Egypt, situation of, 11
Egypt, size of, 9
Egypt, soil of, 10
Egyptian history, happiest age of, 100
Egyptian independence re-established, 389
Egyptian myths, 47
Egyptian physique, 25
Egyptians, nature of, 28
Elephant hunting, 194
El-Uksur, temple of, 217
Empire of David and Solomon, 295
Esarhaddon, accession of, 331
Esarhaddon's defeat of Tehrak, 333
Ethiopia and Syria, struggles between, 337
Ethiopia, Egyptian influence in, 315
Ethiopia, last efforts of, 339
Ethiopian rule firmly established, 323
Ethiopians, cruelty of, 338
Evil deities, 36, 37
Expeditions into Asia, 167, 195
F
Famines through deficient inundation, 115
Fayoum, obelisk at, 106
Fayoum, the, 4, 7
Fellahin, explanation of, 45
First sea-fight, 277
Fleet of Hatasu, 178
Flora of Egypt, 15
Foreigners, encouragement of, 351
Forests, incense, 183
Free Trade in Punt, 183
G
Geology of Egypt, 15
Great Pyramid, 72
Greece, trade with, 352
Ghizeh, three Pyramids at, 67
Ghizeh, tombs at, 56, 137
Gyges and Psamatik, 345
H
Hall at Karnak, 266
Hall of Seti, 245
Handicrafts, Egyptian, 44
Hapi, 32
Hapi, merchant fleet of, 178
Hapi regarded as a male, 178
Hapi regent for Thothmes II., 173
Hapi, Thothmes III.'s animosity against, 187
Hatasu actual queen, 177
Hatasu's fleet, return of 184
Hebrew art, Egyptian influence in, 297
Heliopolis, temple at, 106
Her-hor, first high-priest king, 290
Herodotus, 384
Hittites, peace with, 242
Hittites, treaty with, 243
Hittites, war with, 233
Hosea, Shabak's dealings with, 325
Hostage, Thothmes III.'s system of, 195
Hyksôs conquered, 151
Hyksôs, religion of, 143
Hyksôs rule, 139
I
Immigrants, Semitic, 109, 130
Immortality of the soul, belief in, 39
Inarus, death of, 384
Inarus, revolt of, 383
Incense forests, 183
Industries, revival of, 350
Influences, corrupting, 353
Inundation, 13
Inundation, deficient, famines through, 115
Invasion, 396
Invasion by land and sea, 275
Invasion, Libyan, 235
Invasion, the great, 134
Israel's oppressor, 249
J
Jeroboam at Shishak's court, 301
Jerusalem, destruction of, 362
Joseph and Apepi, 145
Josiah, defeat of, by Nico, 357
Judæa insecure, 361
Judæa's conquest, record of, 305
K
Kadesh, battle of, 239
Karnak, hall at, 266
Karnak, temple at, 173, 198, 200, 304, 349, 386
Khabash, accession of, 381
Khartoum, 8
Khu-en-Aten, 227
Khu-en-Aten, personal appearance of, 229
Khufu, King, 82, 90
King, supposed first, 49
Kings in awe of priests, 288
L
Labouring class, condition of, 45
Labyrinth, Amenemhat's, 121
Legend of Osiris, 34
Libyan desert, battle in, 346
Libyan invasion, 255
Libyans, defeat of, 274
Libyans, slaughter of,
Literature and art, decline of, 311
Lower Egypt, 96
Lower orders, condition of, 45
Luxor, temple of, 217
M
Medes, the, 369
Medinet-Abou, temple at, 272
Megiddo, capture of, 191
Memphis, 51
Memphis, blockade and fall of, 377, 383
Memphis taken by Esarhaddon, 333
Menephthah I., accession of, 253
Menes, King, 50, 52
Men-kau-ra, King, 68, 82, 90
Men-khepr-ra, King, accession, of, 294
Mentu-hotep I., 97
Mertitefs, wife of Sneferu, 64
Meydoum, pyramid of, 58
Mi-Ammon-Nut, accession of, 338
Mi-Ammon-Nut, death of, 340
Mi-Ammon-Nut, Submission to, 340
Mnevis, sacred bull, 32
Mœris, lake, 120
Monuments, objects on, 196
Moral standard, 42
Morality, Egyptian, 41
Morals, decline of, 286
Myth, chief Egyptian, 34
Myths, Egyptian, 47
N
Naïri, war on the, 167
Napatra, Necropolis at, 316
Natural History of Egypt, 16
Naval power of Thothmes, 111
Navy of Nero, 354
Nebuchadnezzar and Neco, 358
Nebuchadnezzar overruns Egypt, 365
Neco, accession of, 354
Neco defeats Josiah, 357
Neco, navy of, 354
Neco, victories of, 358
Nectanebo I., accession of, 387
Nectanebo I., sarcophagus of, 391
Nefer-mat, son of Sneferu, 64
Nekht-nebf, accession of, 394
Nile, navigation on, 13
Nile, rising of the, 113
Nile valley, 1, 95, 102, 117
Nineveh, 192
O
Obelisk of Usurtasen I., 137
Objects on monuments, 196
Ochus, expedition of, 394
Osiris, legend of, 34
Osorkon I., accession of, 306
P
Pacis, sacred bull, 32
Parihu, king of Punt, 182
Payment of tribute, 149
Pelusium, surrender of, 399
Persia, third rebellion against, 385
Persian conquest, 368
Persian power, rise of, 369
Persians, revolt against, 382
Pharnabazus, attack by, 388
Pharnabazus, repulse of, 390
Phœnicia, 11
Phthah, temple of, 51, 349
Piankhi, king of Napatra, 317
Piankhi, rebellion against, 318
Piankhi, submission of petty princes to, 320
Pinetum I., accession of, 293
Plagues of Egypt, the, 262
Polytheism, 31
Priest, High, of Ammon, 289
Priest-kings, last of the, 297
Priests, kings in awe of, 288
Prosopis, battle of, 260
Prosperity under Amasis, 367
Psamatik I. and Gyges, 345
Psamatik I., origin of, 343
Psamatik I., sole king, 347
Psamatik I., marriage of, 348
Psamatik I., victory of, 346
Psamatik II., architectural activity of, 361
Psamatik III., accession of, 374
Psamatik III., death of, 377
Psamatik III., defeat of, 375
Public schools, 45
Punt, free trade in, 183
Punt's, Queen of, visit to Hatasu, 182
Pyramid builders, Egypt under the, 91
Pyramid builders, the, 82
Pyramid, great, 72
Pyramid of Meydoum, 58
Pyramid of Saccarah, 59
Pyramids, Egyptian idea of, 66
Pyramids, three, at Ghizeh, 67
R
Ra-Sekenen III., Apepi's jealousy of, 150
Ra-Sekenen III., war forced upon, 151
Ramesses I., 232
Ramesses II., Hittite war of, 239
Ramesses II., Israel's oppressor, 249
Ramesses III., accession of, 271
Ramesses III., closing years of, 283
Ramesses III., plot to kill, 284
Ramesses III., temple of, 272
Red Sea, disaster of, 264
Rehoboam, submission of, 303
Religion, 35-41
Reservoir, Amenemhat's, 118
Revival of Arts and Industries, 350
Revolt against Darius, 381
Revolt against the Persians, 382
Rival dynasties, 311
Rut-Ammon, accession and death of, 338
S