“She moves a goddess and she looks a queen.”
POPE’S HOMER’S _Iliad_.
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety.”—SHAKESPEARE.
THE river shone like burnished silver, resplendent in the rays of the
midday sun, as Osiris drove his shining chariot of day across high
heaven’s arch. The city lay along its banks in calm repose and beauty.
Its palaces and villas were shaded with palms and groves of olives and
clusters of stately pomegranate-trees, while flowers and fountains
adorned its many stately avenues.
In his costly palace the great Roman Triumvir gave public audience to
some important tribunal of state.
But now, above the noise of city sounds, arose the strains of distant
music. So faint and yet so sweet it was wafted on the air, that all
who heard must needs, perforce, be led to seek its source, as though
directed by some secret spell which could not be resisted. The notes
seemed floating o’er the river’s shining waves; and all the people
crowded on its banks, with wistful curiosity, striving to catch the
first glimpse of the mysterious cause of such unwonted melody.
Then flashes, with sudden glory, before their eyes a wondrous sight,
which holds them spellbound in o’erwhelming admiration. From round a
curve in the undulating bank, glides swiftly before their vision a
gorgeous barge, the poop of which was beaten gold. The silken sails
were royal purple, embroidered with silver lotus-blossoms; and as they
swelled in the light breeze, a fragrance floated from their perfumed
folds so exquisitely delicious, that the winds seemed love-sick with
their odorous sweetness. The silver oars, gleaming in the sunshine,
kept stroke with tune of flutes and lyres and cymbals; and the limpid
water, parted by their glistening blades, followed each stroke with
amorous touch and sweet caressing, as though loath to break away in
rainbow-tinted showers of shining drops.
But how describe the matchless vision of womanly and goddess-like
perfection which entranced the eyes of all beholders, as the gorgeous
barge drew nearer to the city, moving with stately gliding motion,
harmonious with the ear-enchanting melodies played by seeming sirens,
nymphs, and mermaids, on silver lutes and jewelled flutes and shining
cymbals.
Under a pavilion of cloth of gold and priceless tissues, upon a couch,
gorgeous with costliest draperies, in picturesque repose, yet studied
attitude of queenliest grace and goddess-like abandon, appeared a
form and face most radiantly fair and bountifully beautiful; though
orientally voluptuous yet exquisitely attractive; seemingly divine,
like some heavenly goddess; and yet, in truth, so like a human woman,
with warm, soft flesh and tender eyes, and deep, rich heart’s blood
thrilling through every vein, e’en to the end of her fair, tapering
finger-tips. This radiant being was attired as Venus, Goddess of
Beauty; and around her stood young pretty boys, decked out as Cupids,
rosy-tinted, and with soft white wings expanded; and they gently fanned
her glowing cheeks with feathers, odorous with most intoxicating
perfumes; while lovely maidens, costumed as mermaids, plied the silver
oars in unison with the notes struck from the lyres of gayly decorated
nymphs; while charming muses and bewitching graces with rosy lips
caressed the silver flutes, or clasped with jewelled fingers the golden
cymbals.
It was indeed a vision of enchantment. Whence came these radiant
beings? Had the great goddess, in truth, descended from high Olympus,
attended by her heavenly train? or did fair Isis, the queen of
Egypt,—worshipped both as deity and nature,—thus clothe herself with
mortal likeness, and deign to become visible to mortal eyes?
Thus questioned the people, and pondered of the meaning of this
o’erwhelming scene of gorgeous majesty and irresistible loveliness,
according as their beliefs partook of Grecian mythology or Egyptian
lore.
Such was the scene of Cleopatra’s sail in her magnificent barge, up the
river Cydnus to the city of Tarsus. That we may understand more clearly
the life of this famous queen, we must turn back the pages of Egyptian
history. Nor can we stop there. To clearly define her origin, the fair
land of Greece must also be visited; and the gorgeous pageants of Rome,
at the time of her greatest glory, have a place in the story of this
illustrious Queen of Egypt, Daughter of Greece, Magic Sorceress of the
Nile.
Would that we could think of the fascinating Cleopatra only as this
vision of perfect loveliness which she presents in this enchanting
scene upon the river Cydnus; but there are dark and bloody deeds and
savage barbarities and revolting vices, which loom up in the background
of this fair picture, with huge and horrid forms, and make the telling
of Cleopatra’s story, fascinating as it is in some respects, often an
unpleasant recital of vice and crime, even though we endeavor to touch
these dark shadows ever so lightly. For as we write of history, not of
fiction, we cannot always avoid these hideous facts.
Why is Cleopatra so fair of skin, though an Egyptian by birth? Her
attendant maidens on this fairy-like barge stand round her like dusky
figures cut from bronze; but her fair face and limbs gleam with pale
ivory-tints, and the sunshine even glimmers in her dark tresses, now
coiled in the Grecian knot behind her shell-like ears.
Though Egypt was her birthplace, Grecian blood flows through her veins,
and whitens her skin, and lightens the dusky shadows in her hair, and
gives the brown shadings to her lustrous eyes; and Grecian culture
gives her voice its oft-narrated magic charm of melting sweetness; and
a spark of Grecian genius quickens her powers of mind, and gives her
the enchanting fascination of brilliant wit, and a native aptitude
of acquiring knowledge, and all the polite arts and sciences; and
her Grecian free-born grace lends to her form its perfect pose of
queenly stateliness, together with an irresistible charm in every
easy motion of rounded limb, and unstudied naturalness of action. The
agile litheness of the Greek is combined with the oriental voluptuous
indolence of the Egyptian; which combination explains the otherwise
unaccountable, weird, and subtle allurements of face and form which
history, romance, and poetry have acceded to her. Shakespeare calls
her “the serpent of old Nile,” “this great fairy,” “great Egypt”; and
Horace gives to her the name of “fatal prodigy.” Leigh Hunt describes
her as
“... That southern beam,
The laughing queen that caught the world’s great hands.”
Another writer says of her: “She was born a princess, reigned a queen,
won an emperor, swayed a hero, and defeated a conqueror. We think of
her as the queen of enslavers more than as queen of Egypt. Cleopatra is
enthroned enchantress of the world. She, of all her sex, in her person,
gave to the unworthy art of coquetry a something magnificent and
lustrous in its so potent exercise. Hers was the poetry of coquetry.”
Even the scene of Cleopatra in her gorgeous barge upon the river
Cydnus does not give a complete picture of this wonderful story. In
the background we must paint the Mediterranean Sea, which she has
crossed in her journey thither; and then beyond looms up the city of
Alexandria, on the further side; and by it flows the marvellous river
Nile, through the fertile valley irrigated yearly by its overflowing
waters; and high in the background, towering over all else in the
picture, stand the majestic pyramids, like huge sentinels, guarding the
unknown secrets of Egypt’s wondrous history.
Yes, to rightly comprehend the significance of the life of the famous
Cleopatra, a panorama of changing scenes, covering centuries of time,
would be needed. But we can only take a bird’s-eye view of those old
lands of weird and endless enchantment.
“Cleopatra was by birth an Egyptian; by ancestry and descent she was
a Greek. Thus, while Alexandria and the delta of the Nile formed the
scene of the most important events and incidents of her history, it
was the blood of Macedon which flowed in her veins. Her character and
action are marked by the genius, the courage, the originality, and
the impulsiveness pertaining to the stock from which she sprang. The
events of her history, on the other hand, and the peculiar character of
her adventures, her sufferings, and her sins, were determined by the
circumstances by which she was surrounded, and the influences which
were brought to bear upon her, in the soft and voluptuous clime where
the scenes of her early life were laid.”
Let us look for one moment at Egypt as a country, and then take a
passing glance at the peculiar characteristics and customs of that
ancient people.
Egypt is situated in the midst of the most extensive and remarkable
rainless district in the world. The Red Sea divides this tract, and the
eastern portion forms the Arabian desert, while the western African
tract has received the name of Sahara. Through the African desert
flows the Nile; rising in the region of the Mountains of the Moon,
and flowing northward, it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. These
mountains, being near the equator, are subject to vast and continued
torrents of rain in certain seasons of the year. The river created
by these streams is the Nile, which at times expands over the entire
valley, forming an immense lake, five to ten miles wide and a thousand
miles long. The rains in the mountains gradually cease, but it requires
months for the water to subside and leave the valley dry. As soon as
the water disappears, a rank and luxurious vegetation springs up from
the entire surface of the earth which has been submerged. This most
extraordinary valley seems specially preserved by nature for man. The
yearly inundation prevents impassable forests, and also the presence
of wild beasts. Egypt being thus wholly shut in by deserts on every
side, by land, and shoals, and sandbars, making the approach difficult
by sea, remained for many ages under the rule of its ancient kings.
The people were peaceful and industrious, and its scholars were famed
throughout the world for their learning, science, and philosophy.
It was during this period of isolation that the famous pyramids were
built, and the huge monoliths were carved, and the silent Sphinx was
reared, and those vast temples constructed whose ruined columns are now
the wonder of mankind.
As Egypt was always fertile, when famine existed elsewhere, corn would
be plentiful there. Thus neighboring tribes from Arabia, Palestine,
and Syria, when driven by want and starvation, crossed the barren
deserts on the eastern side, and found this fertile and marvellous
country, already old in learning and the arts, and a certain kind of
civilization far superior to their neighbors.
At length the Persian monarchs conquered the country. About two hundred
and seventy years before the time of Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, in
his wars with Darius, had taken possession of Egypt; and at his death,
in the division of his empire amongst his generals, Egypt fell to the
share of one of them named Ptolemy. This was the commencement of the
dynasty of the Ptolemies, who were Greek princes, reigning over this
Egyptian empire, formerly governed by a long line of native kings,
reaching back in history to the year 3000 B.C., and including the
famous lines of Cheops, Thotmosis, Rameses, and others, known under the
general name of the Pharaohs.
We cannot give any particulars of these reigns in this sketch, and will
only mention some of the customs of the ancient Egyptians previous to
the time of Cleopatra.
Egypt contained about five millions of people, who were divided into
various castes. Plato tells us that in Egypt not only were the priests,
the soldiers, and artisans habitually separated, but that every
particular trade and manufacture was carried on by its own craftsmen,
who handed down the trade from father to son.
The entire cultivated land of Egypt was about twelve millions of acres.
The clothing of the Egyptians consisted mostly of linen, made from
the flax which grew abundantly in the delta of the Nile. Wool was but
little employed, as the soil was not fitted for grazing sheep. Cotton
was first mentioned in the reign of Amasis, about 566 B.C. It was also
this Amasis who allowed his wife, the Egyptian queen, to receive the
large income from the royal fishery at the flood-gates to the lake of
Moeris, to meet the expenses of her toilet; and a century later the
reigning monarch added the taxes of the city of Anthylla to the former
income to keep his queen in sandal-strings; the sum obtained from the
fisheries being a talent a day, or upwards of 70,700 pounds a year:
and when this formed only a portion of the pin-money of the Egyptian
queens, to whom the revenues of the city of Anthylla, famous for its
wines, were also given, it will be seen that the Egyptian kings were at
least very generous to their wives in this respect, even though they
were not very particular about cutting off their heads or giving them a
cup of poison if they failed to please their royal lords.
Although wool and cotton were sometimes employed as articles of
clothing, the preference was given to linen. Herodotus mentions some
Egyptian dresses of linen, bordered with a fringe, over which was worn
a cloak of white wool, similar to the _bornouse_ worn at the present
day in Egypt and Barbary.
The dresses of the priests and persons of rank consisted of an
under-garment in the form of an apron, and a loose upper-robe with full
sleeves, secured by a girdle around the waist; or of an apron, and a
shirt with short, tight sleeves, over which was thrown a loose robe,
leaving the right arm exposed. Princes wore a dress very like that of
the priests; but their distinguishing mark was a peculiar badge, at the
side of the head, descending to the shoulder, and frequently adorned
with golden fringe.
This ornament contained the lock of hair indicative of youth; for
though the Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs, certain locks of
hair were left upon the heads of children.
Therefore this badge was always attached to the head-dress worn by
princes as an emblem of their rank, as they were not supposed to have
arrived at _kinghood_ during the life of their father, on the same
principle that a Spanish prince is styled an _infant_.
The robes of a sovereign varied according to his present occupation. As
all the kings were also priests, when they were engaged in the office
of high-priest their garments resembled those worn by the sacerdotal
order, with the exception of the apron and head-dress, which were of
peculiar form, and belonged exclusively to the rank of king. This apron
was richly ornamented in front with lions’ heads and other devices, and
bordered with rows of asps, which were the emblems of royalty. After
the union of Lower and Upper Egypt the sovereign wore a double crown.
Egyptian men always shaved the entire head, and wore wigs, both within
the house and out of doors. The women, however, wore their own hair,
and were not shaved even in times of mourning or after death. Ladies
wore their hair long and plaited in a great number of braids. The hair
was plaited in the triple plait, the ends being left loose. Around the
head was bound an ornamental fillet, with a lotus-bud falling over the
forehead. The ear-rings worn by Egyptian ladies were large, round,
single hoops of gold, sometimes over two inches in diameter, or made
of six rings soldered together. Often an asp, whose body was of gold
set with precious stones, was worn by persons of rank. Some few were of
silver. Women wore many rings, sometimes three and four upon the same
finger, and even the thumb was decorated with a single ring. Rings were
ornamented with the scarabæus, or sacred beetle, or an engraved stone.
They were occasionally in the form of a knot, or snail, or snake.
Two cats, with an emblem of the goddess Athor between them, seems to
have been a favorite device for rings. Egyptians also wore large gold
anklets, or bangles, armlets, and bracelets, frequently inlaid with
precious stones. Richly ornamented necklaces were a principal part of
the dress of both men and women.
Great attention was paid by ladies and men of rank to the beauty of
their sandals, which were sometimes richly ornamented. Shoes were also
common in Egypt, many of them having been found at Thebes. But they
are supposed to have been of late date, and belonged to the Greeks.
The dresses of the women consisted of a loose robe or shirt, reaching
to the ankles, fastened round the neck with a string, over which they
wore a petticoat, secured at the waist by a girdle. This petticoat or
gown, among ladies of rank, was made of richly colored stuff in a great
variety of patterns. The most elegant of these figured materials were
reserved for the robes of the deities and queens. Slaves and servants
were not allowed to wear the same costumes as ladies, and their mode of
dressing the hair was also different.
Egyptian ladies seem to have been given to the little tricks and
arts of the toilet as well as more modern beauties. Of the various
articles of the toilet found among the ancient remains, the principal
are bottles, or vases, for holding ointment, and the _kohl_, or paint
for the eyes; also mirrors, combs, and small boxes, spoons, and
saucers. The custom of anointing the body is usual in hot climates, and
contributes greatly to comfort. Their chief care was bestowed upon the
anointing of the hair. The Egyptian combs were usually of wood, and
double, and frequently carved and ornamented. The custom of staining
the eyelids and brows with a moistened powder of a black color was of
the most ancient date. It was thought to increase the beauty of the
appearance of the eye, by making it seem larger by this external black
ring around it. Many of these _kohl_-bottles have been found in the
tombs, together with the bodkin employed in applying the black cosmetic.
Some of these bottles are ornamented with the figure of an ape, or
monster, supposed to assist in holding the bottle between his arms
while the fair beauty dipped her dainty bodkin into the much-prized
beautifier. Pins and needles have also been found among the articles
of the toilet. Some of these pins are of gold, and similar in size to
those now employed by ladies as hat-pins and fancy hair-pins. Metal
mirrors are also found richly ornamented and highly polished. It will
be remembered that the brazen laver made by Moses for the tabernacle
was formed of the “looking-glasses of the women,” who doubtless brought
them from Egypt at the time of the exodus of the Israelites. The
Egyptian dandies were also not without the highly prized canes. Many of
these have been found at Thebes; some having a carved lotus-blossom for
the head. It was customary, on entering a house, to leave their canes
or sticks in the hall or at the door; and poor men were often employed
to hold the canes of guests during a party, by the master of the house,
who rewarded them with money or food. We have little knowledge of the
nature of their baths; but as they were forbidden in deep mourning to
indulge in them, they were probably considered a luxury as well as a
necessity. The priests were remarkable for their love of cleanliness,
shaving the whole body every three days, and bathing twice every day
and twice during the night. So great an abhorrence did an Egyptian feel
for an unshaven person, that Herodotus says, “No Egyptian of either sex
would on any account kiss the lips of a Greek, make use of his knife,
his spit and cauldron, or taste the meat of an animal which had been
slaughtered by his hand.”
This shaving of the head among the Egyptians is given as a reason
by Herodotus for the remarkable hardness of the Egyptian sculls, as
compared with those of other people. The most singular custom of the
Egyptians was that of tying a false beard upon the chin, which was
plaited and shaped according to the rank of the person. The beards
on the figures of the gods were distinguished by the turning up of
the ends. No man ventured to assume the beard of a deity. But after
death, kings were accorded the honor of having their statues thus
distinguished.
The art of painting common boards to imitate costly varieties, now so
often employed, was practised by the ancient Egyptians. Boxes, chairs,
tables, sofas, and other pieces of furniture were frequently made of
ebony inlaid with ivory, and articles of sycamore and acacia were
ornamented with rare woods.
The Egyptians displayed much taste in their gold, silver, porcelain,
and glass vases. Glass was known from the earliest times, and
glass-blowing was employed by them twenty-five hundred years ago. It is
also stated that their dead were sometimes enclosed in glass coffins,
or a crystal sarcophagus was made by covering the granite with a
coating of vitrified matter, usually of a deep green color, which by
its transparency allowed the hieroglyphics engraved upon the stone
beneath to be plainly visible.
Emeralds, rubies, amethysts, and other expensive gems were most
successfully imitated by the jewellers of Thebes. Pliny states that
glass-cutting was known to the ancients, and that the diamond was
employed for that purpose, as at present, even if they were ignorant of
the art of cutting the diamond itself with its own dust. “Diamonds,”
says Pliny, “are eagerly sought by lapidaries who set them in iron
handles, for they have the power of penetrating anything, however hard
it may be.”
The art of embroidery was commonly practised in Egypt, and gold and
silver threads were used for this purpose. The loom was also employed
by them, both in weaving linen, cotton, and wool, and also for the
production of very rich stuffs, in which various colors were worked in
innumerable patterns by the loom.
The Egyptians were also famed for their manufacture of paper, which
was in the form of parchments made from the plant papyrus, which grew
in the marshy regions of the Nile in great profusion. Leather was also
prepared by them with great skill for various purposes, and the knife
employed by them in the process, between three and four thousand years
ago, is precisely similar to that used by modern curriers. Fullers,
potters, carpenters, and cabinet-makers formed a large class of
Egyptian workmen. The Egyptians were skilled in the working of metals;
and gold, silver, brass, tin, iron, and lead were known in those days.
The art of embalming the dead was practised by the Egyptians with a
perfection never since equalled.
Egyptian paintings were very primitive, and their sculptures were more
remarkable for huge grotesqueness than any perfection of art, as their
artists were limited to such a conventional mode of drawing. After
the accession of the Ptolemies, Greek art became well known in Egypt,
but their artists still continued to adhere to the Egyptian models
prescribed.
The Egyptians appear to have possessed some secret for hardening
or tempering bronze, with which we are totally ignorant; for the
wonderful skill with which they engraved their granite obelisks with
hieroglyphics, for which purpose they used implements of bronze, cannot
be equalled by any process in modern times.
The walls and ceilings of the houses of the Egyptians of high rank were
richly painted, as well as their tombs. The ceilings were laid out in
compartments, each having peculiar pattern and border. The favorite
forms were the lotus, the square, the diamond, and the succession of
scrolls.
The mode of laying out the house and grounds varied according to the
means of the owner. Some villas were of considerable extent, with large
gardens surrounding them. Some of the large mansions were ornamented
with obelisks, like the temples. About the centre of the outer wall
was the main entrance leading to an open walk shaded by rows of trees.
Here were large tanks of water, and between them a wide avenue led to
the centre of the mansion. Their gardens were well tended, particularly
their vineyards.
Monkeys were trained to assist in gathering the fruit of the sycamore
and other trees.
Many animals were tamed in Egypt for various purposes, as the lion,
leopard, gazelle, baboon, crocodile, and others.
Among the fruit-trees cultivated by the Egyptians were the palm,
date, dôm-nut tree, sycamore, fig, pomegranate, olive, peach, almond,
persea, locust tree, and others. The Egyptians were exceedingly fond
of flowers, and they were profusely employed on all festive occasions.
The lotus was the favorite flower, and was more often preferred for
house decoration and personal adornment. Among other flowers cultivated
by them were the chrysanthemum, acinon, acacia, anemone, convolvulus,
olive, amaricus, and others.
The deity whom they believed presided over the garden, was Khem,
corresponding to the Grecian Pan. Ranno, a goddess sometimes
represented in the form of an asp, or with a human body and the head of
a serpent, was considered the protecting genius of a vineyard, and also
of a young prince.
This goddess Ranno, or the sacred asp, appears in many remarkable
connections with royalty, and the name Uræus, which was applied to that
snake, has been derived by Champollion, from _ouro_, the Coptic word
signifying “king,” as its appellation of basilisk originated in the
_basiliscos_ of the Greeks.
Ancient Egypt was a religious community in which the palace was a
temple, the people worshippers at the gate, and the monarch the chief
priest. “The equal treatment which the women received in Egypt was
shown in other circumstances beside their being allowed to sit on
the throne. In their mythology, the goddess Isis held rank above her
husband. We see also on the mummy-cases that the priestly and noble
families traced their pedigree as often through the female line as
through the male, and records were sometimes dated by the names of
priestesses.”
The Egyptians worshipped many gods. Among them were _Ra_, the
“sun-god,” sailing in a golden boat across the heavens; _Shu_, meaning
“air”; _Tafnut_, the “dew”; _Seb_, the “earth”; and _Nut_, the
“heaven.” _Osiris_ was the “sun,” and _Isis_, his wife and sister, the
“dawn”; _Horus_, the “rising sun”; _Set_, the destroyer of Osiris,
was the “darkness”; and the resurrection of Osiris was the rising
of the sun after the darkness of the night had been overcome and
dispelled. _Nepthys_ was the “sunset”; _Anubis_, the “twilight” or
“dusk.” _Neith_ corresponded to the Greek Athêné, and was supposed to
be a personification of the wisdom or intellect of God,—which is a
significant thought, Neith being a _goddess_, not a god. She was the
Egyptian goddess of Saïs. Originally the worship of Ammon was distinct
from that of Ra, god of the sun; but after the eighteenth dynasty a
union took place, and he was worshipped as Ammon-Ra. Thoth, the god
of letters, had various characters, according to the functions he was
supposed to fulfil. In one of his characters he corresponded to the
moon; in the other, to Mercury. “In the former, he was the beneficent
property of that luminary, the regulator and dispenser of time, who
presided over the fate of man and the events of his life; in the
latter, the god of letters and the patron of learning and the means of
communication between the gods and mankind.”
The Egyptians related many allegories concerning their various deities,
but we have space only to narrate the story regarding Osiris and Isis,
god of the sun and the goddess of dawn. As their gods were supposed to
assume many different characters and attributes, this story represents
Osiris as the river Nile, Isis as the land of Egypt, and Typho as the
sea.