frowned at this discourteous intrusion; for the nobles of Lower Egypt
are remarkable by the grace and refinement of their manners, and the
court of the Pharaohs has for ages been distinguished for the high
tone of its polite observances. From portico to saloon, from saloon to
ante-room, from ante-room to reception-room, and so onward to the
deepest recesses of the palace or house, the guest is ushered by
successive pages, until the chief steward or grand-chamberlain admits
him into the presence of the lord of the mansion, who already, by a
swift page, has been informed of the advance of the visitor. In no
case are these formalities dispensed with by persons of high breeding.
Breaking through all such ancient and social ceremonies, the rude
Theban viceroy came before her as I have described. The brow of
Remeses darkened, but he preserved silence.
"I am glad, prince, that you have been so diligent," said Amense,
coldly. "When will you depart?"
"Within the hour, my royal aunt. If Remeses, my warlike cousin, wishes
to co-operate with me at Thebes, he will not long delay marching his
army forward. I hear, by a swift galley just arrived, that the fierce
Ethiopian king, Occhoris, with half his mighty host, has already dared
to enter the Thinite province, and menaces Thebes!"
"There is no time for delay, then," cried Remeses, rising from the
table, leaving the grapes, figs, and wheaten rolls untouched.
"Farewell, my mother!" he said, embracing her. "In a few weeks I shall
return to you with tidings that the scourge of your kingdom has
perished with his armies!"
I will not describe the tenderness of the parting between the queen
and Remeses, whom she would have held, refusing to release him, if he
had not gently disengaged himself, taken up his sword and helmet, and
hastened from the apartment. Prince Mœris, with a haughty bow to
the queen, for whom he seems to entertain bitter dislike, had already
taken his departure with his captains at his heels. I followed
Remeses, and together we crossed to the shore on the side of On, and
there meeting chariots, we were in a short time in the midst of the
war-camp of his chariot legions. They were encamped several stadia
south of On, on the plain beyond Raamses. Here, in the little Temple
of Horus, on the terrace of which we held our conversation about the
Hebrews as we paced its long pavement (and which I have already
repeated to you), the prince with his chief captains offered libations
and burned incense, invoking the favor and aid of Heaven on the
expedition. He then gave his orders to his generals of division,
chiefs of legions, and captains; and the whole host, forming in column
of march, moved forward towards the south, with trumpets sounding and
the rumbling thunder of thousands of wheels of iron. Seeing that they
were all in motion--each battalion under its own head-captain--the
prince took boat to cross the Nile to the plain of Memphis, in order
to put in motion the army of horse and foot there encamped. On our way
over, we saw the van of the fleet of the Prince of Thebes coming up
the broad river in stately style, fifty abreast, propelled by
innumerable oars. It was a brave and battle-like front, and what with
pennons flying, spears and shields gleaming from their poop-decks and
mast-towers, and the brazen or gilt insignia of hawks', eagles',
lions', or ibis' heads rising upon a thousand topmasts, and all
catching the sunbeams, the spectacle was singularly impressive.
"There comes a prince, my Sesostris," said Remeses to me, as he
surveyed the advancing front of war, "who, if I should fall in this
Ethiopian expedition, will be Pharaoh of Egypt when my mother dies."
"The gods forbid!" I exclaimed with warmth.
"He is the next of blood. It is true, my mother could, by will,
alienate her crown and confer her sceptre upon any one she chose to
adopt. Indeed, I now remember that, by our laws, it would be necessary
for her publicly and ceremoniously adopt him as her son before he
could reign--since a nephew, by the ancient Memphitic law regulating
succession, cannot inherit. Mœris would, therefore, have to be
adopted."
"Then he would never reign," I said.
Remeses remained silent a moment. Resuming, he said, with a tone of
indignant emotion--
"Sesostris, my mother fears that evil young prince. He possesses over
her an inexplicable power. To this influence he owes his elevation,
from being a mere governor of Saïs, to the viceroyalty of Upper Egypt.
He would not fail, should I fall, to exert his mysterious power over
her mind, and his ambition would prompt him to aim at even the throne
of all Egypt. But let us mount!" he added, as we touched the shore.
A score of horsemen, armed with long spears, were in waiting. Remeses
and I mounted horses already provided; and, at a wave of his hand, the
whole party dashed off along the avenue of the aqueduct, a magnificent
thoroughfare, two miles in length, bordered by palm-trees, with, at
intervals, a monolith statue of red Syenite granite, or an obelisk,
casting its needle-like shadow across the wide, paved road. At the end
of this avenue, which leads straight from the river to the pyramids,
we turned south, and before us beheld, spread out as far as the eye
could reach, the tented field of the vast Egyptian host, cavalry and
footmen of all arms, languages, and costumes, belonging to the nations
tributary to Egypt. I had visited this vast camp the preceding day. It
covered a league of ground, presenting a sea of tents, banners,
plumes, spears, and shining helms. As we came in sight, a trumpeter
sounded a few loud notes to proclaim the presence of the
prince-general. We dashed up to the central pavilion, on the summit of
which the winged sun of burnished gold showed that the army was to
march under the particular guardianship of the god. From the summit of
the staff of other handsome tents, the emblems of generals and chiefs
of battalions were displayed in the form of silver hawks' heads, the
brazen head of a lion or wolf, or the heads of the ibis, crocodile,
and vulture. Each phalanx thus marched under and knew its peculiar
emblem, following its lead in the column of advance on the march, and
rallying around it in the midst of battle.
Prince Remeses was in a few moments surrounded by his generals and
chief warriors, to whom he made known the advance of the Ethiopian
king, Occhoris, upon Thebes,--intelligence of which he and the queen
had received by a mounted messenger, while Prince Mœris, who had
come to announce it also, was in her apartment. In a few words he made
known his orders to each general in succession, who, making a low
military obeisance, by bowing the head and turning the sword-point to
the earth, instantly departed to their divisions. The general-in-chief
in immediate command he retained by his side, with his gorgeous staff
of officers. In a few minutes all was life and movement throughout the
tented field. In four hours the whole army--their tents struck and
conveyed to barges, together with all other military impediments not
necessary for the soldiers on their march--was formed into a hollow
square on the plain, twenty thousand men on each side facing inward to
a temple of their war-god, Ranpo-re, which stood on the plain. This
was a small but beautiful temple, or marble pavilion, in the form of a
peristyle, with brazen columns, dedicated to the Egyptian Mars. It was
erected in this martial plain by Amunophis I., for the purpose of
sacrifices and oblations, and of offering libations and incense for
armies assembled about it before marching on warlike expeditions. The
circle of columns was cast from the shields and weapons which he had
taken in his Arabian and Asiatic wars.
The chief priest of Mars, who is a prince in rank, and allied to the
throne, attended by more than one hundred inferior priests, advanced
from the inner shrine upon a marble terrace, in the centre of which
stood the iron-columned pavilion that inclosed the shrine of the god.
He was attired in a grand and imposing costume, having a tiara,
adorned by a winged sun sparkling with jewels, and the sacred uræus,
encircling his brows. He wore a flowing robe of the whitest linen,
descending to his feet. A loose upper cape of crimson, embroidered
with gold, and having flowing sleeves, was put on over the robe. Still
above this was a breastplate of precious stones, in the form of a
corselet, while the tiara partook also of the martial form, being
shaped like a helmet, with the sacred asp of gold projecting in front
as a visor. Above all this, hanging from his left shoulder, was a
splendid leopard's skin, heavy with a border of closely woven rings of
gold. As he advanced, he extended in his right hand a short sword, the
hilt of which was a crux, or the sacred cross-shaped Tau, surmounted
by a ball, the whole being an emblem of life; while in his helmet
towered, as symbols of truth and order, two ostrich feathers--the
evenness and symmetry with which the feathery filaments grow on each
side of their stem having suggested to the Egyptians the adoption of
this emblem; for order and truth, according to Egyptian philosophy,
are the foundation and preservation of the universe.
Having reached the front of the lofty terrace, upon which was an altar
of brass, he raised his left arm by throwing back the superb
leopard-skin mantle; and, elevating his commanding form to its full
grandeur, he turned slowly round, pointing heavenward with his left
hand, and holding his sword, as it were, over the army as he turned,
until with it he had swept the circle of the horizon. This was an
invocation to all the gods for a blessing upon the assembled hosts.
During the act, every general bowed his head as if to receive it,
every soldier lowered his weapon, and at its conclusion, all the music
bands in the army before him simultaneously burst into an overwhelming
sound--drums, trumpets, cornets, cymbals, filling the air with their
mingled roll! Silence deep as night then succeeded; and the
high-priest, facing the shrine, stood while a company of priests
rolled out from the door of the temple the statue of the god, clad in
full armor of steel, inlaid with gold, a jewelled helmet upon his
head, and a spear in his right hand. It was of gigantic size, and
standing in an attitude of battle, upon a lofty chariot of burnished
brass, with wheels of iron. It was an imposing and splendid figure,
and a just image of war. The priests, who wheeled the car out of the
temple, having drawn it once all around the terrace, so that the whole
army could behold the mailed and helmeted god (whose presence they
hailed by striking their swords upon their shields, or swords against
swords), stopped in front of the prince-priest. He then prostrated
himself before it, the profoundest silence and awe prevailing during
the few moments he remained upon his face at the feet of the deity.
When he rose and turned to the west, the Prince Remeses and all his
captains advanced to the steps of the pyramidal base on which the
temple was elevated. Each captain was followed by a Nubian slave,
bearing in a sacred vase the offering of his own phalanx of soldiers.
Remeses bore in his hand a costly necklace, dazzling with precious
stones, the offering of his mother. The generals and captains came
with flowers, chains of gold the lotus-leaf made of ivory, and
sparkling with jewels scattered upon it in imitation of dewdrops. Some
bore swords, and spears, and plumes.
Remeses, at the head of his officers, ascended the steps and presented
to the priest his mother's offering, which he placed over the head of
the god. He then laid a sword, brought for the purpose, at the feet of
the statue; but, as he afterwards explained to me, and as I
understood, not as an offering to a mythical Mars, but to the Infinite
God of armies, whom the statue symbolized; yet I could see that the
greater part of his officers paid their homage and made their
offerings to the mere material statue. Such is the twofold idea
attached, either by one or another class of devotees, dear mother, to
all worship in Egypt. They do one thing and mean another; of course I
speak of the priests, princes, and philosophers. As for the people,
they mean what they do when they offer a libation or an invocation to
a statue.
When the chief captains had presented their offerings, and the
high-priest had either decorated the god with them, or laid them upon
the altar of brass, then came the Nubian slaves, laden with the gifts
of the soldiers. There were sixty of these offering-bearers, and in
procession they ascended the terrace, each with a painted earthen vase
upon his shoulder. One after another they deposited them around the
over-burdened altar and descended to the plain, not daring to lift
their eyes to the god, so near to whose presence they came. It was my
privilege to stand always by the side of Remeses, who desired me to
witness the scene.
The vases contained every imaginable article that, at the moment, a
common soldier might have about his person. There were rings of
silver, of copper, of wood, of glass; dried figs, tamarinds, dates,
and raisins; garlics, leeks, onions, bits of inscribed papyrus,
palm-leaves, flowers innumerable, scarabæi of burnt clay, pebbles, and
metal; seeds of the melon and radish, and incense-gum; little clay
images of Mars, of various weapons, and of Osiris. There were also
myrrh, resin, and small pots of ointment; pieces of iron, fragments of
weapons, locks of hair, shreds of linen, and bits of ostrich feathers;
beans, sandal-clasps, charms, amulets, and even tiny bottles of wine.
Indeed, to enumerate what met my eyes in the vases, which the common
soldiers in their piety voted to the god, praying for a successful
campaign, would fill the page on which I write, and give you the name
of nearly every thing to be found in Egypt.
When all these offerings had been received by the high-priest, and
while the prince and his officers stood some paces to one side, he
stood before the altar: and one article from each vase being brought
to him, he laid it upon the altar, and then, in a solemn manner,
invoked the god, asking him to accept the offerings of this great
army, and of its prince and captains, and to grant them victories over
their foes, and a return to their queen crowned with conquest and
glory.
In his prayer I could see that he elevated his noble countenance to
the heavens, as if, in his mind, mentally overlooking the inanimate
statue before him, and directing his thoughts to the Invisible and
Supreme Dweller in the secret places of His universe beyond the sun!
Remeses stood in a devotional attitude, but with his thoughtful brow
bent to the ground. I could perceive, now that we had conversed so
much together upon these divine things, that he was worshipping, in
the depths of his heart, the God of gods, wherever that Dread and
Mighty Power is enthroned on the height of His universe, or the wings
of the imagination can go out to Him and find Him.
The great invocatory prayer ended, the high-priest received from
Remeses a votive crystal box of the fragrant Ameracine ointment--a
gift so costly and precious that only the princes and the priests are
permitted to possess it--and broke it upon the breast of the god,
anointing him in the name of the people of Egypt. The odor filled all
the air. A priest then handed to him a golden cup richly chased with
sacred symbols, and another, filling it from a vase of wine, the
offering of the chief Archencherses, who is next in military rank to
Remeses, he elevated it a moment, and poured it out at the feet of the
god as a libation for the hosts. Some other interesting ceremonies
followed, such as consecrating and presenting a sword to the prince,
and the touching of the altar by all the chiefs with the points of
their weapons as they passed it in descending to the field, the
high-priest sprinkling each one of them with sacred water from the
Nile. The last act of sacrifice--for, though bloodless, the Egyptians
term the whole rite a sacrifice to the god--was by Remeses. The
high-priest placed in his hands a censer--for the prince, by virtue of
his rank, is a royal priest; and Remeses, accepting it with reverence,
cast upon the live coals of palm-wood a quantity of incense. Then
approaching the altar, he waved it before it until clouds of smoke
rose into the air and enveloped his head.
At this moment, the most sacred one of the whole scene, there appeared
advancing from the pavilion-temple a beautiful maiden, the daughter of
the high-priest. She was arrayed in a pure white robe, which floated
about her in the wind like a cloud. Over her shoulders was thrown a
crimson scarf, on which was embroidered the cartouch of the god. Her
rich, flowing hair was bound about her stately brow by a crown of
flowers, above which rose a silver helm with a crest of emeralds
and sapphires, in imitation of the feathery coronet of the
bird-of-paradise. Her face was wonderfully beautiful, her dark eyes
beamed with love and joy, and her form was the impersonation of grace.
As she advanced, the priests on either side drew back with their hands
crossed upon their foreheads, and their heads bent lowly before her
presence. Coming forward between the two rows of officials, she shook
in the air above her head a small temple bell called the _sistrum_,
which emitted the sweetest and clearest melody. This little musical
instrument is sacred to the services of the temples, and the sound of
it is the signal for the beginning or ending of every rite. That which
was now borne by the high-priest's daughter consisted of a cylindrical
handle of pearl, surmounted by a double-faced head of ivory, one side
being that of Isis, the other of Nephthys. From this twofold head rose
a silver almond-shaped bow about five inches high, inlaid with gold
and precious stones. In this bended loop of metal were inserted four
metallic bars in the shape of asps, upon the body of which were
loosely strung several silver rings, As the maiden held this beautiful
instrument in the air, and shook it, the rings, moving to and fro upon
the bars, produced the clear bell-like sounds I have mentioned. In
ancient times so great was the privilege of holding the sacred sistrum
in the temple, it was given to the queens; and on great occasions
Amense has performed this high office. On an obelisk, now old, the
daughter of Cheops is represented holding the sistrum while the king
is sacrificing to Thoth. Though I have said little about the Egyptian
females, as in truth I have seen but little of them, yet I ought not
to omit to tell you that some of the most sacred offices are intrusted
to distinguished women, in the services of temples. I have seen not
only priests' daughters, but ladies of rank and eminent beauty,
holding these places; and in On there is a band of noble young ladies
having the distinguished title of "Virgins of the Sun," who devote
their lives until they are thirty years of age, to certain principal
services of the temples of Osiris and Isis. Indeed, my dear mother, in
Egypt woman is singularly free, and regarded as man's companion and
equal. She is respected and honored, both as wife and mother, and her
social relations are of the most unrestrained and agreeable kind. In
all houses, she is prepared gracefully to do honor to her lord's
guests; and while she is devoted to domestic duties, prides herself
upon her skill and taste at home; abroad, at banquets and evening
festivals, which are frequent, and where there is music and dancing,
she shines with all the charms she can borrow from splendor of attire,
or derive from inherent loveliness of person; while a profusion of
jewels upon her hands and neck reveal her wealth and rank.
When the prince saw her advancing, he approached the statue with his
censer, and waving it once in the sight of the army, hung it upon the
spear of the god. The sistrum sounded as the incense rose, and every
man of that vast host bent his knee for a moment! Then the high-priest
commenced a verse of a loud chant in a sonorous voice. The one hundred
priests marching, in procession around the god, answered antiphonally
with one voice in a part; and, the whole army catching up the hymn,
the very pyramids seemed to tremble at the thunder of eighty thousand
deep voices of men rolling along the air. Then Remeses chanted a few
stirring words of this national and sacred war-hymn, the high-priest
answered, the maiden's clear voice rose in a melodious solo, the
hundred priests caught up the ravishing strain as it melted from her
lips in the skies, and again the great army uttered its voice! My
heart was oppressed by the sublimity. Tears of emotion filled my eyes.
I never was more deeply impressed with the majesty of the human voice,
united in a vast multitude, uttered as the voice of one man. The
combined voice of the human race--if such a thing could be--must be
like the voice of God when He speaks!
The invocation and sacrifice were over. Remeses embraced the priest,
and receiving his blessing, in a few minutes every chief captain had
joined his battalion, and at the cry of trumpets and cornets, sounded
all over the plain, and echoed back from Cheops, the whole host formed
in columns of march. Remeses, I being in his company, galloped forward
and took a position on an elevation, from which he reviewed the whole
army as it tramped by. The fleet was in parallel motion at the same
time, and I saw the splendid galley of the Prince Mœris, with its
colored silken sails, and golden beak, gallantly ascending the river.
He stood upon the poop; a tame lion crouched by his side, on the tawny
shoulders of which he rested one foot as he gazed at us. The division
of cavalry was the last in moving, and trotted past us in splendid
array. This arm of the service is not large, nor much relied on in
Egypt. The chariots of iron, to the hubs of which terrible scythes are
sometimes fastened on the eve of battle, and the bowmen and spearmen,
have always been the main dependence of the kings in their wars.
Ethiopia, against which this great army is moving by water and land,
is in a state of civilization and political power not greatly inferior
to Egypt. It has vast cities, noble temples, extensive cultivated
regions, adorned with palaces and villas; it has a gorgeous but
semi-barbaric court, a well-disciplined army, and skilful generals. It
is a race allied by blood and lineage to that of Egypt, and is not to
be confounded with Nubia and the pure Africanic kingdoms. In religion
it is idolatrous, and hostile to the worship of Egypt. A supposed
title, by a former conquest, to the crown of Thebes, has made Ethiopia
for three centuries the hereditary foe of Egypt.
The Egyptian army is divided into sections, formed and distinguished
according to the arms they bear. They consist, like ours, of bowmen,
spearmen, swordsmen, macemen, slingers, and other corps. There are
captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, fifties, and tens. When
in battle-array, the heavy foot-soldiers, or infantry armed with
spears, and a falchion, or other similar weapon, are drawn up in the
form of an impenetrable phalanx; and once this massive wall of ten
thousand men formed, it is fixed and unchangeable; and such is its
strength, one hundred men on each front, and one hundred deep, no
efforts of any of the enemies of Egypt have been able to break it.
Presenting a wall of huge shields lapping and interlocked, resting on
the ground, and reaching to their heads, the missiles of the foe
rattle against it as against the steel-sheathed side of one of their
battle-ships. The bowmen, slingers, javelin-men, and lighter troops
act in line, or dispose themselves according to the nature of the
ground, or the exigency of the moment. There is a corps armed with
battle-axes and pole-axes, having bronze blades ornamented with heads
of animals. These wear quilted helmets, without crests, which
effectually protect the head. The chariot battalions are drawn up to
charge and rout the enemy's line, and the cavalry follow to slay the
resisting, and pursue the flying. Each battalion has its particular
standard, which represents a sacred subject--either a king's name on
his cartouch or painted shield, a sacred baris, a hawk, or a feather.
The chief standard-bearer is a man of approved valor, and an officer
of the greatest dignity, and stands next to the chief in rank. He is
distinguished by a gold necklace collar, on which are represented two
lions and an eagle--emblems of courage. The troops are summoned to all
movements by the sound of the trumpet and the long drum, with other
instruments.