CHAPTER XII.
THE NEW EMPIRE.
The Eighteenth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1600.
Under this dynasty Egypt formed her empire in Western Asia, and conquered and occupied the Egyptian Sûdân, probably so far south as the Baḥr al-Ghazâl. The Hyksos were expelled from Egypt by the first kings of the dynasty, and the peoples in the Eastern and Western Deserts were held in check with a firm hand. King after king made frequent raids on a large scale into Syria and the Sûdân, and on each occasion brought back untold spoils, a considerable proportion of which was expended on the building of great temples like those of Karnak, Luxor, and Dêr al-Baḥarî. Trade developed to an unprecedented extent, and riches increased; and the king and his priests and nobles were able to gratify their love of splendid temples, colossal statues, lofty obelisks, large palaces, fine houses and gardens, decorated furniture, elaborate jewellery, costly tombs, etc. Under the patronage of the priesthood and the temple-schools education prospered, literature, art, painting and sculpture flourished, and the vast works which were undertaken by the Government encouraged handicraftsmen of every kind in the production of the best work. Among the kings of this dynasty were the greatest and most powerful sovereigns that ever ruled Egypt, viz., Thothmes III and Ȧmen-ḥetep III.
[Sidenote: B.C. 1600.]
The first king of the dynasty was =Ȧāḥmes=, or =Amāsis I=, who carried on the war against the Hyksos which Seqenen-Rā had begun. He captured the city of Avaris, the stronghold of the Hyksos, and turned the enemy out of the country, and in the fifth year of his reign he captured the city of Sharuhen (mentioned in Joshua xix, 6), in Syria. He subsequently invaded Nubia and compelled the tribes to pay tribute. Among the monuments of his reign are the massive granite =altar= inscribed with his name (Bay 16, No. =343=); the head of a seated figure of =Nefert-ȧri=, his wife (Bay 12, No. =344=); the =ushabti= figure of the king (Wall-case 84, Second Egyptian Room, No. 129); and the =portrait= of the Queen (Case 1, Third Egyptian Room, No. 3).
[Illustration: Statue of Ȧmen-ḥetep I, B.C. 1600, in the form of Osiris, wearing the Crown of the South.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 3, No. 346.]]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep I=, the son of Amāsis I, continued the war in Nubia, and the rebuilding of the temple of Ȧmen and other sanctuaries; he was the founder of the great brotherhood of the =Priests of Ȧmen=. From a building made by him at Dêr al-Baḥarî came the magnificent painted limestone =statue of the king=, in the mummied form and with the White Crown of Osiris, exhibited in the Northern Egyptian Gallery (No. =346=), and the stele on which are sculptured figures of =Neb-Ḥapt-Rā Menthu-ḥetep= and =Ȧmen-ḥetep I= (Bay 9, No. =347=). Other interesting monuments of this reign are: the stele of =Pa-sheṭ=, a judge, who is seen adoring the king and queen (Bay 7, No. =348=); and a stele with figures of the king and queen (Bay 9, No. =349=). The inscriptions and scenes on several stelae show that Ȧmen-ḥetep I and his queens were included among the gods; see the stelae of =Ḥui= (Bay 8, No. =352=), =Pa-ren-nefer= (Bay 8, No. =353=), =Ȧmen-em-Ȧpt= (Bay 10, No. =354=), =Ȧmen-men= (Bay 10, No. =355=), and =Ḥui=, son of Nefert-ithȧ (Bay 11, No. =357=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1550.]
=Teḥuti-mes I=, or =Thothmes I=, the son of Ȧmen-ḥetep I, made Napata, at the foot of the Fourth Cataract, the border of his kingdom to the south; and he waged war in Northern Syria. He added to the temple of Ȧmen, and set up obelisks at Karnak. Among objects bearing his name are two =bricks= and a =steatite vase= inscribed with his prenomen and name (Wall-cases 150 and 175 in the Fourth Egyptian Room).
=Thothmes II=, the son of Thothmes I and Mut-Nefert, married his half-sister Ḥātshepset; during his short reign, war was carried on in Syria and Nubia, and many temples in Egypt and forts in Nubia were repaired or rebuilt. Among the monuments of this reign may be mentioned the =scarabs= in Table-case D (Fourth Egyptian Room) and a portion of a slab inscribed with his Horus name (Third Egyptian Room, Wall-case 103, No. 937).
After the death of Thothmes II, his widow =Ḥātshepset= reigned alone for some years, and she built the famous =temple of Dêr al-Baḥarî=, the walls of which she decorated with reliefs illustrating her =Expedition to Punt=. The temple was called “Tcheser-Tcheseru,” _i.e._, “Holy of Holies,” and the architect was Senmut; it was built close to the temple of Menthu-ḥetep Neb-ḥap-Rā, and was ranged in three terraces. It was enclosed by a wall, and was approached by an avenue of sphinxes, which led to the pylon at the entrance, where stood two obelisks. She also set up two great granite obelisks in honour of her father Thothmes I. About twenty years before her death she associated her nephew Thothmes III with her in the rule of the kingdom. Many =scarabs=, a gold =ring=, a wooden =cartouche=, and an alabaster =vase=, inscribed with her names and titles, are exhibited in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Table-cases P and J and Wall-case 139).
=Thothmes III=, the son of Thothmes II and the lady Ȧset, was the greatest of all the kings of Egypt; he reigned for about 53 years, 21 years as co-regent with Ḥātshepset, and 32 years alone. Soon after he became sole ruler of Egypt he began a series of campaigns in Palestine, Syria and other countries of Western Asia, and his arms were everywhere victorious. In the first campaign he captured the city of Megiddo, in Syria, and brought back an immense quantity of spoil. Subsequently he undertook some fifteen campaigns into different parts of Western Asia; and towards the close of his reign he appears to have raided the Sûdân. The vast wealth which he drew from Asia enabled him to be a generous friend of the priesthood, and to repair, rebuild and enlarge and found sanctuaries for the great gods of Egypt. He carried on extensive building operations at Heliopolis, Memphis, Abydos, Denderah, Coptos, Dêr al-Baḥarî, Madînat Habû, Hermonthis, Esna, Edfû, etc.; but his greatest work was the colonnade which he built in the temple of Ȧmen at Karnak, 150 feet long, 50 feet wide, with 50 columns and 32 rectangular pillars (see =Plate XXX=). He founded the temple of Ṣulb (Soleb) near the Third Cataract, and dedicated a temple at Semnah to Usertsen III. At Karnak and elsewhere he set up magnificent granite obelisks, one of which, commonly called =Cleopatra’s Needle=, now stands on the Thames Embankment. He was buried in the valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes; and his mummy was wrapped in a linen sheet inscribed with the text of the CLIVth Chapter of the Book of the Dead, and extracts from the Litany of Rā.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX.
The Hall of Columns in the great temple of Ȧmen-Rā, at Karnak.]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI.
Head from a colossal granite statue of Thothmes III, B.C. 1550.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 2, No. 360.]]
Among the many monuments of Thothmes III and his reign may be mentioned: =1.= The magnificent =head=, in red granite, from a colossal statue of the king, found by Belzoni at Karnak (No. =360=, Northern Gallery; see =Plate XXXI=); the total height of the head and crown is 9 ft. 5 in., and the width of the face is 2 ft. 7½ in. =2.= Massive granite monument with figures of the god Menthu-Rā and Thothmes III in relief (Bay 2, No. =363=). =3.= Fragment of the obelisk set up by the king at Heliopolis (Bay 12, No. =364=); and a door jamb from a temple of Thothmes III at Wâdî Ḥalfah (Bay 10, No. =365=). Of interest, too, are the cast of a granite =sphinx= bearing the name of Thothmes III on its breast (Northern Gallery, No. =366=); the cast of the famous granite stele inscribed with an =address to the king by Ȧmen-Rā=, in which the god describes the exploits of Thothmes III (Central Saloon, No. =367=); portion of a stele dated in the 35th year of Thothmes III (Bay 11, No. =368=); slab with scenes of =Ȧmen-ḥetep I= and =Thothmes III= adoring the gods (Bay 12, No. =369=). Among smaller objects inscribed with his name may be mentioned the =glass jug=, gold =rings=, =razor= (?), tools and =weapons in bronze=, and =bricks= made of Nile mud, exhibited in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms. There are also the stele of =Messnȧu=, a priest in his temple (Bay 8, No. =372=), and the statue of =Netchem=, who prayed to the royal _Ka_ of Thothmes III 𓇓𓏏𓈖𓂔𓍹𓇳𓏠𓆣𓍺 (Bay 9, No. =373=). To the joint reign of Thothmes III and Ḥātshepset belongs the =statue of Ȧnebni=, the master of the armoury, which was set up to his memory by his august master and mistress (Bay 9, No. =374=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1500.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep II= fought in Syria, and penetrated the Sûdân as far as Wâd Bâ-Nagaa, about 80 miles north of Kharṭûm; he caused the body of one of the chiefs whom he had slain in Syria to be sent to Napata (Gebel Barkal), and hung upon the city walls to strike terror into the Nubians. Of monuments of his reign may be noted: The royal =ushabti figure= in diorite (Wall-case 84, Second Egyptian Room, No. 7); the =glass= and =alabaster= vessels (Table-case H in the Third Egyptian Room), and the =axe-head= in Table-case B in the Fourth Egyptian Room; the stele of =Ȧthu=, second priest of the king (Bay 4, No. =375=); and the portion of the bowl dedicated by the scribe Teḥutimes (Bay 12, No. =376=).
The reign of =Thothmes IV= was short and unimportant. He made one or more raids into Nubia, an expedition into Syria; and in the first year of his reign he set up a tablet between the paws of the =Sphinx= stating that the =god of the Sphinx=, Ḥerukhuti-Kheperȧ-Rā-Temu, appeared to him one day before he was king, and bade him remove the sand which had closed him in on all sides, and promised him that he should become king if he obeyed. Thothmes undertook the work, and in due course became king. His inscription mentions king =Khāf-Rā= (Chephren) in connexion with some work (probably a clearing of the sand) performed for the Sphinx. Among the monuments of his reign may be noted the =stele of Ȧmen-ḥetep=, an officer who accompanied the king into Western Asia and the Sûdân (Bay 11, No. =377=); and the stele of =Nefer-ḥāt=, overseer of the works in the Temple of Abydos (Bay 8, No. =378=). Thothmes IV married a lady named =Mut-em-uȧa=, who became the mother of Ȧmen-ḥetep III. The =granite boat= which was dedicated to the queen as the counterpart of the goddess Mut, is exhibited in the Northern Gallery (Bay 7, No. =379=). For a portion of the head of her seated figure from the boat see Bay 7, No. =380=. Some think that Mut-em-uȧa is to be identified with the daughter of Artatama, king of Mitani.[36]
[Sidenote: B.C. 1450.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep III=, the =Memnon= of the Greeks, declared himself to be an incarnation of the god Ȧmen-Rā; he reigned about 36 years. In the fifth year of his reign he marched into the Sûdân and crushed a rebellion at Abhat, taking 750 prisoners. He subsequently travelled in many parts of that country, and built a magnificent temple there, near the modern village of Ṣulb (Soleb), which he dedicated to himself as the god of the Sûdân. He made many expeditions into Western Asia, and whilst there he enjoyed lion-hunting on a large scale; on the large =scarabs= exhibited in Table-case D (Fourth Egyptian Room) he states that he shot with his own hand one hundred and two fierce lions during the first ten years of his reign. His frequent visits to Western Asia enabled him to continue the friendly personal relations with the kings and rulers which his father inaugurated; and he married several of their daughters, _e.g._, a daughter of Kadashman-Bêl, king of Karaduniyash; a daughter of Shutarna, king of Mitani; and a daughter of Tushratta, king of Mitani. He also married a sister of Tushratta called Gilukhipa, who arrived in Egypt with three hundred and seventeen of her principal women. The greatest and best beloved of his wives, however, was =Thi=, who must also have been of foreign extraction. Judging by the appearance of the mummies of her father, Iuȧa and her mother Thuȧa, which have recently been found, it seems that the former was not an Egyptian, but a native of some part of the Eastern Desert or Southern Syria, while the latter was a native Egyptian woman. Their daughter Thi was a very remarkable woman in every way, and it seems beyond question that her son Ȧmen-ḥetep IV derived from her the monotheistic views which he held.
[Illustration: The Temple of Luxor, built by Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450.]
The building operations of Ȧmen-ḥetep III were on a very large scale, and extended from one end of Egypt and Nubia to the other. He built the =Apis chapels= at Ṣaḳḳârah; at Thebes he built a pylon; at Karnak the temple dedicated to the Theban triad, Ȧmen-Rā, Mut and Khensu; in the Southern Ȧpt (_i.e._, Luxor), a temple to =Menthu=, and a temple to the goddess Mut, from which come the series of =statues of Sekhet=, a fire-goddess, exhibited in the Northern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. =381-410=. All these buildings were on the east bank of the Nile. On the west bank he erected a great temple, the =Memnonium=, and in front of it set up two huge statues of himself which are generally known as the =Colossi of Memnon= (see =Plate XXXIII=). The northern statue was said to emit a sweet, sad note daily at sunrise, and for this reason was known as the “vocal statue of Memnon”; the sound was never heard after the statue was repaired by the Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211). Ȧmen-ḥetep III also built a temple at Al-Kâb, and another to the god Khnemu at Elephantine, and at Saddênga in the Sûdân he built a temple in honour of his wife Thi, who was also probably worshipped there, as the king himself was worshipped in his temple at Ṣulb, which has already been mentioned.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII.
Colossal seated statue of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 8, No. 412.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII.
The statues of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C. 1450, commonly known as “The Colossi.” The statue on the right is the famous “Colossus of Memnon,” from which a sound was said to issue at dawn.]
The reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III was long and prosperous, and his kingdom extended from the city of Nî, on the Euphrates, to Karei, in the Sûdân. He developed the gold mines of the Sûdân to an unprecedented extent, and exported gold to the countries of Western Asia. The monuments of this reign are numerous; among them may be specially mentioned: =1.= A tablet inscribed with an account of the crushing of the =revolt in Nubia= in the fifth year of his reign, set up by =Meri-mes=, governor of the Sûdân (Bay 6, No. =411=). =2.= Two colossal =seated statues of Ȧmen-ḥetep III= (see =Plate XXXII=), from the Memnonium (Bay 8, No. =412=; Bay 9, No. =413=). =3.= Upper portion of a colossal statue (Bay 6, No. =415=), and two heads from colossal sandstone statues of the king (Bay 4, No. =416=; Bay 5, No. =417=). =4.= Head from the granite =sarcophagus= of the king (Central Saloon, No. =418=). 5. Grey =granite column= from a temple built by him at Memphis (?). It was repaired by =Menephthah I= under the XIXth dynasty, and about 100 years later =Set-nekht= inscribed his cartouches upon it (Bay 7, No. =419=). The monuments of his officials are also numerous. The most interesting are: =Granite coffin of Meri-mes=, governor of the Sûdân (Bay 12, No. =420=); stele of =Sururu=, a high official (Bay 7, No. =422=), seated figure of =Kames=, a =king’s messenger= (Bay 5, No. =423=); a slab, with cornice, from the tomb of =Pa-ȧri=, an overseer of the granaries of Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes (Bay 10, No. =424=); stele of =Ȧpni=, a master of transport (Bay 11, No. =425=); painted statue of =Pa-ser=, an Erpā, from Dêr al-Baḥarî (Bay 13, No. =427=); granite statue of =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, an Erpā, from Bubastis (Bay 12, No. =428=), etc. Of special interest are the two fine =red granite lions=, which were found in the ruins of a temple at Gebel Barkal, at the foot of the Fourth Cataract. No. =430= dates from the reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, and appears to have been made by him for the temple of Ṣulb; No. =431= was, according to the inscription, made by =Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen=, a later king of the XVIIIth dynasty, who “repaired the monuments of his father Ȧmen-ḥetep” (see =Plate XXXVI=). The name of a late Nubian king, =Ȧmen-Ȧsru=, is found on each lion, and it is possible that he may have brought both lions to Napata from Ṣulb, and placed them in his own temple. Stelae Nos. =432= (Bay 10) and =433= (Bay 9) are of a most unusual character. No. 432 is a late (Ptolemaïc) copy, written in hieratic, of the =deed of endowment= of the funerary chapel of =Ȧmen-ḥetep, the son of Ḥāp=, the famous architect who built the =Colossi=, dated in the thirty-first year of the reign of Ȧmen-ḥetep III. No. 433 is inscribed with a series of addresses which can be read both perpendicularly and horizontally. Among smaller objects inscribed with the names of Ȧmen-ḥetep III and Queen Thi may be noted the bronze =menȧt amulet=, stamp, vase, =brick=, =stibium pot=, plaque, =scarabs=, etc., which are exhibited in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms.
[Illustration: Scarab of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, recording the names of the parents of Queen Thi.
[No. 29,437.]
Scarab of Ȧmen-ḥetep III, recording the slaughter of 102 lions by the king in the first ten years of his reign.
[No. 12,520.]]
Of the greatest importance for the history of this reign are the =Tell al-Amarna Tablets=, a fine collection of which is exhibited in Table-case =F= in the Babylonian Room. They consist of a series of letters and despatches, etc., written chiefly to Ȧmen-ḥetep III and his son Ȧmen-ḥetep IV, by kings and governors of countries, provinces, and towns in Western Asia. Nearly all are written in a Semitic dialect, and in the cuneiform character. They were found in a chamber to the east of the palace of Ȧmen-ḥetep IV, in the city of Khut-Ȧten, near the modern Tell al-Amarna. Among the =royal letters= in the British Museum are: =Draft= of a letter from =Ȧmen-ḥetep III to Kadashman-Bêl=, king of Karaduniyash (No. 29,784); a letter from =Kadashman-Bêl to Ȧmen-ḥetep III= (No. 29,787); letters from =Tushratta=, king of Mitani, to Ȧmen-ḥetep III (Nos. 29,792, 29,791); letter from =Burraburiyash= to Ȧmen-ḥetep IV (No. 29,785); letter from =Tushratta to Thi=, queen of Egypt (No. 29,794); etc.[37] (see =Plates XXXIV=, =XXXV=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 1400.]
=Ȧmen-ḥetep IV= was the son of Ȧmen-ḥetep III and Queen Thi, and reigned about 20 years. In his youth he became a warm devotee of the god =Ȧten=, whose visible symbol was the solar disc, and rejected the cult of Ȧmen, or Ȧmen-Rā, the king of the gods. During the first few years of his reign he lived at Thebes, and built there a Benben 𓃀𓈖𓃀𓈖𓉐, or shrine, dedicated to Harmachis; and it seems that this was regarded by the priests with disfavour. The pretensions of the priests of Ȧmen were unbearable to him, and he therefore decided to leave Thebes and build a royal capital elsewhere. The site chosen by him was on the east bank of the Nile, near the modern villages of Ḥaggi Ḳandîl and Tell al-Amarna. There he built a temple to Ȧten, a palace for himself, and houses for his officials. As the new capital grew, so the enmity between the king and the priests of Ȧmen increased. This can hardly be wondered at, for he caused the name and representations of the god to be obliterated from the monuments. Having moved to his new city, which he called =Khut-Ȧten=, he abandoned his name of Ȧmen-ḥetep, because it contained the name of the god he despised, and adopted the new name of =Khu-en-Ȧten=, _i.e._, the “Spirit of Ȧten.” In his new capital he established a new form of the ancient =cult of Ȧten=, as he understood it, in the temple Ḥet-Benben; and the new worship was carried on with the forms and ceremonies which had been in use in Heliopolis for some two thousand years. Incense was burnt on the altars, offerings of all kinds were made, but no bloody sacrifices were offered up; on certain occasions the king himself officiated. The =followers of Ȧten= declared that their god was almighty; and that he was the =sole creator= of the universe; they ascribed to him a =monotheistic character=, or oneness, =which denied the existence of any other god=. Their god was “One Alone,” and different in nature from any of the other gods of Egypt. It was the =intolerance= of the followers of the cult of Ȧten as formulated by Ȧmen-ḥetep IV which made them hated by the priests of Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIV.
Letter from Ȧmen-ḥetep III, king of Egypt, to Kadashman-Bêl, king of Karaduniyash.
[No. 1, Table-case F, Babylonian and Assyrian Room.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXV.
Letter from Tushratta, king of Mitani, to Ȧmen-ḥetep III, king of Egypt.
[No. 8, Table-case F, Babylonian and Assyrian Room.]]
The palace and houses of the new city were beautiful, and were richly decorated. Art developed in a new direction, and was characterized by a freedom and a naturalism which are never met with, before or after, in Egyptian history. It sanctioned the use of new colours and new designs. The reliefs and pictures of the king prove that his features were unusual in character. He had a high, narrow, receding forehead, a large aquiline nose, a thin mouth, projecting chin, a slender neck, rounded chest, and his figure in many respects resembled that of a woman (see Wall-case 105, Third Egyptian Room, Nos. =213= and =214=). Whilst the king was playing the priest in his new city, and making arrangements for building shrines to Ȧten in the Sûdân, his Asiatic Empire was breaking up. The Tell al-Amarna letters show how rapidly the desert tribes began to harass the Egyptian garrisons in Syria and Palestine, and to hem them in. Ȧmen-ḥetep IV made no attempt to maintain his authority in Asia, or to keep what his fathers had won in battle, and there is no record of any military expedition during his reign. Shortly after his death Egypt had lost her Asiatic Empire, his new city was destroyed, the cult of Ȧten died out, and the shrine of Harmachis which he built at Thebes was pulled down, and the stones rebuilt into the temple of Ȧmen. Ȧmen and his priests had prevailed.
Among the monuments of this reign may be mentioned: =1.= Base of a =statue= of =Ȧmen-ḥetep IV=, inscribed with the names and titles of Khu-en-Ȧten; his cartouche as Ȧmen-ḥetep IV has been mutilated (Bay 13, No. =435=). =2.= Base of a statue inscribed with the names of Khu-en-Ȧten and his wife =Nefertith= (Bay 13, No. =436=). =3.= Stele of =Ptaḥ-māi=, inscribed with prayers to Ȧten and Rā (Bay 10, No. =438=). The Tell al-Amarna letters to Ȧmen-ḥetep IV will be found in Table-case F in the Babylonian Room; the =scarabs=, =rings=, etc., in Table-cases D and J; and a fine porcelain =boomerang= in Wall-case 150, in the Fourth Egyptian Room. (For a rough outline drawing of Queen Nefertith (?) see Table-case C in the Third Egyptian Room, No. 4.)
The last kings of this dynasty were =Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen=, =Ȧi=, and =Ḥeru-em-ḥeb=; the first two of these married members of the family of Ȧmen-ḥetep IV. Ḥeru-em-ḥeb was a wise and just king, and his reign was long and prosperous. Of the monuments of these reigns may be mentioned: the red =granite lion= inscribed with the name of Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen (Bay 10, No. =431=; see =Plate XXXVI=); the stele of =Thuthu=, a steward of Ȧi (Bay 12, No. =439=); the granite =statue of Ḥeru-em-ḥeb= (Bay 13, No. =441=), and the statues of Ḥeru-em-ḥeb and the =god Menu=, or Ȧmsu (Bay 12, No. =442=); the =stibium tube= of Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen and his wife Queen Ānkh-sen-Ȧmen (Wall-case 183, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 23).
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI.
Granite lion dedicated to Ȧmen-ḥetep III by Tut-ānkh-Ȧmen, about B.C. 1400.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 10, No. 431.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVII.
Seated statues of a priest, or high official, and his wife.
XVIIIth or XIXth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 18, No. 565.]]
The statues, stelae, etc., of the XVIIIth dynasty are numerous, and many of them are of great interest as illustrating the perfection to which art attained under the patronage of wealthy kings and the priests of Ȧmen. Among them may be noted the following: Figure and stele of =Nekht-Menu= or Nekht-Ȧmsu, holding a stele (Bay 2, No. =443=); figures of =Ȧri-neferu= and his wife =Ȧpu= (Bay 3, No. =444=); stele of =Ȧmen-em-ḥāt=, inscribed with adorations to Osiris (Bay 5, No =447=); granite figure of =Kamesu=, a scribe (Bay 7, No. =452=); stele of =Pasheṭ=, guardian of the northern lake and northern pillars of Ȧmen (Bay 8, No. =455=); stele of =Nefer-renpit=, sculptured with a scene representing the ceremony of Opening the Mouth (Bay 8, No. =456=); stele of =Teḥutimes=, captain of the guard of the city gate of Memphis (Bay 8, No. =460=); stele of =Ḥeru-em-ḥeb= a high official, and two door-jambs inscribed with a hymn to the Sun-god (Bay 8, Nos. =461-463=); stele of =Neb-Rā=, on which are sculptured four eyes and two ears 𓁻𓁻𓁻𓁻𓄔𓄔 (Bay 9, No. =467=); stele of =Ban-āa=, a royal scribe (Bay 9, No. =474=); stele of =Ḥeru= and =Sutui=, twin brothers, architects and clerks of the works at Thebes early in the XVIIIth dynasty (Bay 9, No. =475=); stele of =Pasheṭ= inscribed with praises of the Syrian god =Reshpu= (Bay 10, No. =478=); stele of =Qaḥa= (Bay 10, No. =483=); stele of =Māḥu=, captain of the king’s bow (Bay 10, No. =487=); stele of =Anna= (Bay 11, No. =503=); stele of =Sebek-ḥetep=, scribe of the wine-cellar (Bay 12, No. =513=); sepulchral monument of =Thuthu=, with pyramidal top and libation basin attached (Bay 13, No. =549=); granite figure of =Qen-nefer=, a high court official (Central Saloon, No. =556=); three small inscribed =pyramids= (Bay 18, Nos. =558-560=); painted =shrine of Ani=, a gardener (Bay 18, No. =561=), etc. To the period of the XVIIIth dynasty may probably be attributed the seated statues of a priest, or high administrative official, and his wife in Bay 18, No. =565= (see =Plate XXXVII=). This monument is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful examples of Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum. Here, too, must be noted a very rare object, viz., a =complete wooden door=, from the tomb of =Khensu-ḥetep= at Thebes, on which is cut a scene representing the deceased making offerings to Osiris-Khenti-Ȧmenti, in the presence of Hathor, lady of Ȧmentet (Vestibule, North Wall, No. =566=).
Nineteenth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1370.
=Rameses I=, the first king of this dynasty, appears to have ascended the throne when he was an elderly man. He made an attempt to enter into friendly relations with Sapalul, the chief of the Kheta, or Hittites; and he seems to have raided the Sûdân. Monuments of his reign are few (see the =scarabs= inscribed with his name in Table-case D in the Fourth Egyptian Room).
The early years of the reign of =Seti I=, the son and successor of Rameses I, were spent in fighting. He attacked the Shasu, or nomad tribes of the Eastern Desert and of Palestine and Syria, and defeated them with great slaughter, and advanced to the city of Kadesh, on the Orontes, and conquered it. He returned to Egypt laden with spoil, including cedar wood from Lebanon for making a new barge for Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes. He made raids in the Sûdân, and forced the natives to assist him in reworking the old gold mines and opening up new ones. He reopened the copper mines in Sinai, and all the large quarries, for he needed much stone for his buildings. He began to build a great temple at Abydos, but did not live to finish it: the walls and pillars are ornamented with religious scenes and figures of the gods, and the sculptures and reliefs are among the most beautiful of Egypt. In one of the corridors is the famous King List, or =Tablet of Abydos=, which contains the names of 76 kings, the first name being that of Menȧ or Menes. At Karnak he added 79 columns to the =Hall of Columns= (see =Plate XXX=); at Ḳurnah (Thebes) he finished the temple begun by his father Rameses I; and he built a splendid tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings (see page 174). From this tomb came his magnificent alabaster =sarcophagus= which is now preserved in Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Seti I built a temple at Dulgo, near the Third Cataract, probably in connexion with the gold trade carried on by the government; he opened up roads to the gold deposits in the Wâdî Ulâḳî, in the Eastern Desert; and he built a temple at Radassîyah on the old caravan road which ran from Edfû to the emerald mines of Gebel Zâbarâ, near Berenice, on the Red Sea; and dug wells at many places in the desert. His reign was comparatively short, 10 or 15 years at most, and he was succeeded by his second son Rameses II, whom he had made co-regent. Among the monuments of his reign are: Large =wooden Ka-figure of Seti I=, found in a chamber in his tomb (Central Saloon, No. =567=); three painted slabs from the tomb of Seti I (Central Saloon, Nos. =568-570=); and a grey =granite clamp= from a wall in Seti’s temple at Abydos, inscribed with his prenomen 𓍹𓇳𓏠𓁦𓍺, (Bay 18, No. =572=). Among smaller objects may be noted the =scarabs=, glazed =vase=, and =ushabtiu figures= of the king exhibited in the Second and Fourth Egyptian Rooms (Wall-cases 78, 79, 150 and 152). A stele set up by him at Wâdî Ḥalfah in the first year of his reign is in Bay 13 (No. =574=), and the stele of =Rumā=, a scribe and priest in his temple at Abydos, is in Bay 11 (No. =573=). The beautifully illustrated =Papyrus of Hunefer= was written in this reign (No. 9901).
[Illustration: Kneeling statue of Rameses II holding a tablet for offering.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 17, No. 584.]]
=Ramessu=, or =Rameses II=, the =Sesostris= of the Greek writers, the son of Seti I, was associated with his father in the rule of the kingdom at an early age; he was probably between 20 and 30 years old when he became sole king of Egypt. He reigned 67 years, and died aged about 100 years. He married many wives, among them being some of his own near relatives, and was the father of about 111 sons and 51 daughters. During the first two or three years of his reign he made war on the tribes of the Sûdân, and his victories over them were commemorated by the rock-hewn temple at Bêt al-Walî, near Kalâbshah. Reproductions in plaster of the scenes of the paying of tribute to him are exhibited on the North and South walls of the Fourth Egyptian Room. In the fourth year of his reign Rameses was fighting in Syria, and so began the series of battles with the Kheta and their allies which lasted for fifteen or sixteen years. In the end neither side was victorious, and finally Rameses was obliged to make a treaty with the prince of the Kheta, in which it was agreed that Egypt was not to invade Kheta territory, and that the Kheta were not to invade Egypt. The Kheta admitted the sovereignty of Rameses over all territory south of the Nahr al-Kalb, or Dog River, near Bêrût, in Syria, and the region north of it was to be Kheta territory for ever. The most important among the long series of battles was the Egyptian attack on Kadesh, on the Orontes; it was temporarily successful, but it cost Rameses dear. During the struggle, Rameses had charged among the enemy far ahead of his troops, who had either been killed or had run away. When the king realized his position, he found that he was surrounded by the foe, and was in the greatest danger of being slain. Undaunted, however, he girded on his armour, and in the strength of the gods Menthu and Bāl (Baal, 𓃀𓂝𓂋𓏤) he turned on his foes, and cut his way through them, slaying large numbers as he escaped from their midst. “I was,” said the king, “by myself, for my soldiers and my horsemen had forsaken me, and not one of them was bold enough to come to my aid.” This episode was treated in a highly poetical manner in a composition generally known as the =Poem of Pentaurt=. As a matter of fact Pentaurt was not the author, but merely the scribe who made the fullest copy of the work known, namely, that in the British Museum Papyrus, Sallier III. Thirteen years after the conclusion of the treaty with the Kheta, _i.e._, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, Rameses II married the daughter of the prince of the Kheta, whose Egyptian name was Maā-Rā ur-neferu.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII.
Front of the rock-hewn temple built at Abû Simbel by Rameses II, B.C. 1330, to commemorate his victory over the Kheta.]
Rameses was a great builder; his name is found everywhere on monuments and buildings in Egypt, and he frequently usurped the works of his predecessors and inscribed his own name on statues, etc., which he did not make. The smallest repair of a sanctuary was sufficient excuse for him to have his name inscribed on pillars, architraves, door-jambs, and every prominent part of the building. His greatest works were: =1.= The rock-hewn =temple of Abû-Simbel=, dedicated to Ȧmen, Rā-Harmachis and Ptaḥ (see =Plate XXXVIII=); its length is 185 feet, its height 90 feet, and the four colossal statues of the king in front of it are each 60 feet high. In the large hall are eight square pillars, each 30 feet high, each with a colossal figure of Osiris, 17 feet high, standing against it. =2.= The rock-hewn =temple of Bêt al-Walî= at Kalâbshah. =3.= The =Ramesseum= at Thebes, called by Diodorus the “Tomb of Osymandyas,” and by Strabo the “Memnonium.” The granite statue of the king which stood before the second pylon was 60 feet high, and weighed about 900 tons. He completed the =Hall of Columns= at Karnak; added to the temple of Ȧmen-ḥetep III at Luxor; and set up several statues of himself and two granite obelisks, each about 80 feet high. In the Delta he rebuilt =Tanis=, which became a city of the first importance, and he built the city of Pa-Temu, the =Pithom= of Exodus i, II, which is now called =Tall al-Maskhûṭah=; from the latter place came the statue of the “Recorder of Pithom” (Bay 21, No. =776=). At Memphis, Abydos, and every important city of Egypt and Nubia, he carried on building operations; and he dug wells in Wâdî Ulâḳî, in the desert to the east of Dakkah, and worked the gold mines there. His reign was one of great material prosperity, and he lived long enough to carry out every work of importance which he planned. He was not a great soldier like Thothmes III, or a great administrator and diplomatist like Ȧmen-ḥetep III; and the glory and power, and the territory of Egypt were not so great as in the days of those kings. Few of the works carried out by Rameses can be compared with those of the great kings of the XVIIIth dynasty in beauty of design, finish, and solidity.
[Illustration: Façade of the Ramesseum in Western Thebes.
About B.C. 1330.]
[Illustration: Statue of Rameses II, with the name of Mer-en-Ptaḥ I cut on the shoulders and breast.
[Central Saloon, No. 577.]
Upper part of a statue of Rameses II. Found on the Island of Elephantine.
[Central Saloon, Bay 14, No. 582.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.
Upper portions of a colossal statue of Rameses II, B.C. 1330.
[Central Saloon, No. 576.]]
The monuments of this reign are very numerous, and among them may be noted the following: Wooden =Ka-figure= of Rameses II, from his tomb at Thebes (Central Saloon, No. =575=). Upper portion of a colossal granite =statue of Rameses II=, which was originally painted red, and was one of a pair that stood in the Ramesseum in Western Thebes (see =Plate XXXIX=); weight about 7 tons 5 cwt. (Central Saloon, No. =576=). Colossal =statue of Rameses II=, on the shoulders and breast of which are cut the prenomen and name of =Seti Mer-en-Ptaḥ= (Central Saloon, No. =577=). Statue of Rameses II from Elephantine (Bay 14, No. =582=). Kneeling statue of Rameses II, holding before him a tablet of offerings (Bay 17, No. =584=). Portion of a statue of Rameses II; on one side of the plinth is sculptured a figure of a favourite wife called =Batau-ānth=: from Ṣarâbît al-Khâdim in the Peninsula of Sinai (Central Saloon, No. =587=). With these should be compared the =cast= of the head of a colossal statue of the king which was set up before the temple of Ptaḥ at Memphis (Central Saloon, No. =588=), and the =cast= of another colossal statue of the king at Abû-Simbel (Vestibule, No. =589=). The width of the face of the latter is 8 feet 9 inches, and the length from brow to chin is 9 feet 8 inches. From the temple built by Rameses at Abydos comes the famous King List, or =Second Tablet of Abydos=, which, when complete, contained the prenomens of 52 of his predecessors on the throne of Egypt (Bay 6, No. =592=); from Athribis (Benha) comes the =granite lion= (Bay 14, No. =593=); from Abû-Simbel the interesting pair of =hawk-headed sphinxes= (Bay 15, Nos. =594=, =595=); from Pithom the =granite hawk= (Central Saloon, No. =596=); and from Memphis the =fist= of a colossal statue (Bay 16, No. =597=).
Of considerable interest, too, are the =granite columns= (Nos. =598=, =599=). The first is from the temple of Bubastis, and on it, in places, are seen the names of =Osorkon II=; its total height is 20 feet 8 inches and its weight about 11 tons 5 cwt. The second is monolithic and is from the temple of Ḥeru-shefit, the Arsaphes of the Greeks at Herakleopolis; in places the names of =Menephthah I= have been added. Its height is 17 feet 2 inches, and its weight about 6 tons 12 cwt. The =altar= of Rameses II is in Bay 16 (No. =600=). In connexion with the colossal statues of this period may be noted the upper portions of two =statues of Queens= or goddesses, in the Central Saloon, Nos. =601=, =602=. They were found by Belzoni at Abû-Simbel, and most probably represent wives of Rameses II.
The art of the reign of Rameses II is illustrated by several small objects bearing his name, _e.g._, the =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room); =gilded vase= for eye-paint (Wall-case 143, Fourth Egyptian Room); a scribe’s =palette= (Table-case C, Third Egyptian Room); a beautiful =glazed bowl= inscribed with the king’s names and titles (Wall-case 151, Fourth Egyptian Room); =model= for a relief, with a figure of the =goddess Qeṭesh= (Table-case C, Third Egyptian Room); glazed =boomerang= (Wall-case 151, Fourth Egyptian Room); bronze figure of the king (Wall-case 191, same room), etc.
[Illustration: Statue of Khā-em-Uast, son of Rameses II.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 18, No. 615.]]
The statues and stelae of officials of Rameses II are numerous, and the inscriptions on them supply much information about the works and administration of the country. Thus we have: the statue of =Paneḥsi=, the scribe and director of the storehouse of gold from the Sûdân (Central Saloon, No. =603=); the kneeling figure of =Paser=, a Governor of the Sûdân (Central Saloon, No. =604=); the stele of =Ȧmen-em-ȧnt=, a scribe of the soldiers, who held several high offices (Bay 11, No. =607=); the stele of =Setau=, another Governor of the Sûdân (Bay 17, No. =608=); the stele of =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, a king’s messenger (Bay 19, No. =610=); the stele of =Ptaḥ-em-uȧa=, keeper of the king’s stables (Bay 20, No. =611=); and the stelae of =Bakāa= and =Nefer-ḥrȧ=, who died in the thirty-eighth and sixty-second years of the king’s reign respectively (Bay 19, No. =612=; Bay 20, No. =613=). The inscribed statue of =Khā-em-Uast= (Bay 18, No. =615=), a son of Rameses II, is of great interest, both historically and linguistically. Khā-em-Uast was a _Sem_ priest in the temple of Ptaḥ of Memphis, and a man of great learning, and he was held in high repute as a magician. He managed the affairs of the country for about twenty-five years before his death, which took place in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of his father.
[Illustration: Statue of Seti II Mer-en-Ptaḥ II, king of Egypt, B.C. 1266, holding a shrine surmounted by a head of the ram of Ȧmen.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 616.]]
Mer-en-Ptaḥ, or =Menephthah=, was associated with his father in the rule of the kingdom for about twelve years before he became sole king. In the fifth year of his reign Egypt was attacked by a confederation of tribes from Libya, and by certain peoples from the northern shores and islands of the Mediterranean. Menephthah fortified his towns and collected an army, and in the fierce battle which followed he was victorious. The Libyan king barely escaped with his life; but six of his brothers and sons and over 6,000 of his soldiers were slain, and 9,000 were taken prisoners. It is probable that the =Exodus= took place during the early years of this reign. In the year of his victory he caused a Hymn of Triumph to be cut upon the back of a stele of Ȧmen-ḥetep III at Thebes, and among the peoples of Palestine whom he conquered are mentioned the =Israelites=, 𓇌𓊃𓏭𓂋𓇋𓄿𓂋𓏤𓌙𓀀𓁐𓏪. His mummy was found in the tomb of Ȧmen-ḥetep II at Thebes, and is now in Cairo. Like his father he caused his names to be cut on monuments which he had not made, _e.g._, the lion of Ȧmenemḥāt III (No. 173), the pillar of Ȧmen-ḥetep III (No. 419), and a statue (No. 577) and pillar of his father (No. 599). Among the monuments of his reign may be mentioned the =door-jamb= from his temple at Memphis (No. =1169=). The remaining kings of the XIXth dynasty were:—
=1.= =Seti II Mer-en-Ptaḥ.= See his =statue= holding a shrine with a head of Ȧmen (Bay 21, No. =616=), a slab from his tomb at Thebes (Central Saloon, No. =617=), and a =plaque= and a =scarab= in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms (Wall-case 124 and Table-case D). The D’Orbiney Papyrus in the British Museum containing the =Tale of the Two Brothers= was written during the reign of this king. =2.= =Ȧmen-mes=, of whose reign nothing is known. =3.= =Sa-Ptaḥ=, of whom many reliefs are found at various places in Egypt. On his death a period of anarchy followed, and nothing like order prevailed in the country until =Set-nekht=, a relative of Rameses II, obtained supreme power.
The smaller monuments of the XIXth dynasty in the British Museum are very interesting, and, though the work of the sculptor and engraver is not so good as that of the XVIIIth dynasty, it is important for illustrating the methods employed at a time when quantity was more valued than quality. The inscriptions too are valuable, for they afford much information on minor points of the Egyptian religion. Among the statues and stelae of this period may be noted: a finely sculptured relief from the tomb of =Mes=, a priest of the =KA= (Bay 17, No. =635=); the stele of =Ȧmen-Rā-mes=, a priest of the statue of King =Mer-en-Ptaḥ= (Bay 20, No. =636=); the painted limestone statues of =Māḥu= and his wife =Sebta=, fine work (Central Saloon, No. =637=); the granite figure of =Rui=, high-priest of Ȧmen (Central Saloon, No. =638=); the stele of Ptaḥ-mes, the comptroller of the grain supply of Egypt (Central Saloon, No. =642=); the stele of =Pa-ser=, the scribe and master mason of all Egypt (Central Saloon, No. =643=); the seated figure of =Pa-mer-ȧḥau=, a commander-in-chief (Central Saloon, No. =644=); the stele of the superintendent of all the priests and all the gold workers of the Sûdân, from Wâdî Ḥalfah (Central Saloon, No. =645=); the stele of =Qaḥa=, a master craftsman, on which are sculptured figures of the Syrian deities =Kent= and =Reshpu= and =Ānthȧt= (Ȧnaitis), and the Egyptian god Menu, an important monument (Bay 10, No. =646=; see =Plate XL=); the stele of the god =Reshpu= (Bay 17, No. =647=); stele of =Ḥeru=, painted with a scene of the worship of =Kent=, or =Qeṭesh=, =Reshpu= and Menu (Bay 17, No. =650=); the stele of =Ṭāṭā-āa=, an overseer of scribes (Bay 12, No. =652=); the granite coffin of a =high-priest of Memphis= (Bay 17, No. =654=).
[Illustration: PLATE XL.
Sepulchral stele of Qaḥa, sculptured with figures of the foreign deities Kent, Reshpu, and Ānthȧt, and the Egyptian god Menu.
XIXth dynasty.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 10, No. 646.]]
Twentieth Dynasty. From Thebes.
_About_ B.C. 1200.
We learn from the great papyrus of Rameses III that after the downfall of the XIXth dynasty the land of Egypt fell into a state of anarchy, every man acting according to his own judgment, and no one holding supreme authority for many years. The country was in the hands of the nobles and the governors of the cities who fought against each other. This continued for some years, and then “years of want” succeeded, and a certain Syrian called =Ȧrsu= 𓇋𓀀𓁹𓂋𓇓𓏲𓌙𓀀, rose to power. Gathering his followers about him, he levied tribute and seized the goods of the people. As he paid no honour to the gods of Egypt and did nothing for their temples, they in due course set him aside and placed on the throne =Set-nekht=, who brought the country into order, and re-established the worship of the gods, and provided the temples with offerings. His reign was short, and he was succeeded by =Rameses III=, the chief event of whose reign of 31 years was the victory of the Egyptians over a confederation of peoples from Philistia, Cyprus, Crete, and the northern shores of the Mediterranean, who attacked Egypt by land and sea. Rameses III collected an army and a fleet, and in the battle which followed on the coast of Southern Palestine, his forces were victorious. Multitudes of the enemy were slain on land, and those who succeeded in reaching their ships could not escape, for the fleet of the Egyptians hemmed them in, and a great slaughter ensued. Rameses then marched through Syria, and having collected much spoil, returned to Egypt. Soon afterwards the Libyans attacked Egypt on the west, but they were quickly defeated and spoiled.
Rameses appears to have kept one fleet in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea, for trading purposes, and this “sea-power” was probably the source of the great material prosperity of Egypt under his reign. The peace and security of the country were such that he could boast: “I made it possible for an Egyptian woman to walk with a bold and free step whithersoever she pleased, and no man or woman among the people of the land would molest her.” Rameses built the so-called “Pavilion” and the great Temple of Madînat Habû at Thebes, and a small palace at Tell al-Yahûdîyyah (see the glazed tiles, etc., from it in the Fourth Egyptian Room), and he richly endowed the temples of Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes, and gave them gifts of an almost incredible amount.[38] Lists of all his benefactions and a valuable summary of his reign are preserved in the great =Papyrus of Rameses III=, the longest Egyptian papyrus in the world (see page 74). Among the monuments and small objects bearing his name may be mentioned: The base of a pillar from a =shrine of Rameses III= (Bay 18, No. =716=); a slab from one of his buildings at Ṣaḳḳârah (Central Saloon, No. =717=); and the royal =ushabtiu= figures (Wall-case 85, Second Egyptian Room, Nos. 12, 13).
On the death of Rameses III the power of Egypt began rapidly to decline, and the succeeding kings of the dynasty, each of whom bore the name of Rameses, found their authority more and more usurped by the high-priests of Ȧmen, the great god of Thebes. Among the objects inscribed with the name of =Rameses IV= are =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room), a fragment of an =alabaster vase= (Wall-case 137, same room), and the stele of =Ḥeru-ȧ=, a royal scribe (Bay 24, No. =719=).
Under the rule of =Rameses V-VIII= the people of Thebes became poor, and the living were driven to plunder the tombs of kings and queens for the sake of the gold ornaments on the mummies and in the coffins. Under =Rameses IX= the government undertook a prosecution of the principal thieves, and appointed a commission to report upon the extent of the =robberies of the royal tombs=. Part of the statement of the examination of the tombs is preserved in the Abbott Papyrus in the British Museum (No. 10,221). During the course of the enquiry a number of the accused were beaten on the hands and feet, and confessed to breaking into the tombs of Sebek-em-sa-f and queen Nub-khā-s. In the reign of Rameses IX, the =high-priest of Ȧmen=, called =Ȧmen-ḥetep=, held great power, and induced the king to authorize him to levy taxes on the people for the maintenance of his temple and priesthood. Under =Rameses X= further prosecutions of the tomb robbers took place, but the government was powerless to stop the depredations. =Rameses XI= and =Rameses XII= were weaker than their predecessors, and allowed the high-priest of Ȧmen to rule the country. On the death of Rameses XII, the high-priest, =Ḥer-Ḥeru=, seized the supreme power, and assumed all the titles and functions of the king of Egypt. But the priests of Ȧmen were as little able to maintain the power of Egypt as the kings Rameses, and they could not make their authority effective even in the Delta, or Northern Egypt. Thus it fell out that Egypt became once more divided into two kingdoms, viz., the Kingdom of the North, ruled from Tanis by =Nessu-ba-neb-Ṭeṭ=, whose name was Graecized by Manetho under the form of =Smendes=, and the Kingdom of the South, ruled from Thebes by =Ḥer-Ḥeru=, the first of the =priest-kings= of Egypt. For some years, however, Smendes must have been king of all Egypt, for when repairs of an urgent character were needed for the temples of Thebes, it was he who had the quarries opened, and collected the workmen, and directed the building operations which saved one of the temples from falling down.
The monuments of the XXth dynasty are characterized by coarseness of work and lack of finish, but the inscriptions on them are of considerable value linguistically. Among large objects may be mentioned the =granite coffin of Setau=, a governor of the Sûdân (Bay 19, No. =720=); the =libation basin= (Bay 19, No. =722=); the seated figures of =Ȧmen-Rā and Mut= (Bay 18, No. =728=); the stele of =Pai=, comptroller of a chief queen (Bay 22, No. =752=); and the shrine of =Ȧmen-em-ḥeb=, a scribe of the king’s bowmen (Bay 17, No. =754=).
Twenty-First Dynasty.
B.C. 1050 (?)
KINGS OF TANIS.
=Nessu-ba-neb-Ṭeṭ (Smendes).= =Pasebkhānut I.= =Ȧmen-em-Ȧpt.= =Sa-Ȧmen.= =Pasebkhānut II.=
PRIEST-KINGS OF THEBES.
=Ḥer-Ḥeru.= =Paiānkh.= =Painetchem I.= =Painetchem II.= =Masaherth.= =Men-kheper-Rā.= =Painetchem III.=
The reigns of all these kings are historically of little importance. As soon as =Ḥer-Ḥeru= had proclaimed himself king at Thebes, he assumed a series of titles indicating that he was the temporal as well as spiritual head of Egypt. One of the chief works carried out by the priest-kings was in connexion with the repair and =removal of the royal mummies= from their tombs to places of safety. The mummies of Seti I and Rameses II were removed from tomb to tomb, but the pillaging continued, and we read that many of the royal mummies required to be repaired, re-swathed, and provided with new coffins. The rule of the priest-kings was not successful, and several serious riots seem to have occurred at Thebes through their neglect of the temporal affairs of the country. One of the most important objects of the reign of Ḥer-Ḥeru is the copy of the =Book of the Dead= which was written for his wife =Queen Netchemet=; an important portion of it was presented to the British Museum by HIS MAJESTY THE KING in 1903, and this is exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. =758= (see =Plates I= and =XLI=). The vignettes are very fine examples of the work of the period, and the texts contain interesting hymns to Rā and Osiris, and a valuable version of one of the most important sections of the Book of the Dead, viz., Chapter XVII. This papyrus was found at Thebes. A number of =ushabtiu= figures, inscribed with the names of =Nesi-Khensu=, =Ḥent-taui=, the =Painetchems=, =Maāt-ka-Rā=, and other members of the families of the priest-kings, will be found in Wall-cases 153, 154, in the Fourth Egyptian Room. The largest monument of this dynasty in the British Museum is a =lintel= from a temple of =Sa-Ȧmen= at Memphis (No. =1170=). In the First Egyptian Room are exhibited several very fine mummies and coffins belonging to the period of this dynasty, and in the Second Room several typical examples of =ushabtiu figures= and =boxes=, which illustrate the funerary art of the period. The monuments of the Tanite kings are few and unimportant.
The history of the next two hundred and fifty years (B.C. 1050-800) is full of difficulty. When the rule of the priest-kings of Thebes came to an end the Kingdom of the South appears to have passed into the hands of a series of weak and incapable men, not one of whom succeeded in making himself “King of the South and North.” On the death of the last Tanite king of the XXIst dynasty (about B.C. 950), the Kingdom of the North was seized by Shashanq, a descendant of a Libyan chief, who established his seat of power at Bubastis. He and his descendants formed the XXIInd dynasty, which lasted till about B.C. 760. About this time the priests of Ȧmen departed from Thebes to Nubia, and soon afterwards the supreme power in the North was seized by local chiefs dwelling at Tanis (XXIIIrd dynasty), who made a league with all the feudal lords in the Delta, with the view of taking possession of the whole country. When news of this reached Piānkhi, king of Nubia, he forthwith invaded Egypt and conquered it. After his return to Nubia, a Nubian dynasty was established at Thebes, and a local chief of Saïs became King of the North, about B.C. 733. He represents the XXIVth dynasty. The kings of the XXVth dynasty (about B.C. 700) were Nubians, and the kings of the XXVIth dynasty were descendants of the chiefs of Saïs who were conquered by the Nubian king Piānkhi, about B.C. 740.
[Illustration: PLATE XLI.
Vignettes from the Papyrus of Queen Netchemet.
Ḥer-Ḥeru and Netchemet praying. The rising sun on the horizon. The Ape-gods and Isis and Nephthys adoring the rising sun.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 758.]
Presented by His Majesty the King, 1903.]
Twenty-Second Dynasty. From Bubastis.
_About_ B.C. 950.
The first king of this dynasty was =Shashanq I=, the =Shishak= of I Kings xiv, 25; 2 Chronicles xii, 5, 7, 9. He was of Libyan extraction, being descended from =Buiu-uaua= 𓃀𓅱𓇌𓅱𓍯𓄿𓊕𓏮𓀭 a Libyan prince, who flourished about B.C. 1150, and one of whose descendants married Meḥt-en-usekht, high-priestess of Ȧmen, and became the father of Nemareth, who in his turn became the father of Shashanq. A daughter of Nemareth owned the =inlaid gold bracelets= exhibited in Table-case J in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Nos. 134, 135). The principal event in the reign of Shashanq was the invasion of Palestine and capture of Jerusalem. He spoiled the Temple, and carried off much gold and silver, and took away the bucklers and shields of Solomon, and also the golden quivers which David had taken from the king of Zobah. He gave Jeroboam, king of Judah, one of his daughters to wife. On his return to Egypt he caused a record of this campaign to be cut upon the second pylon of the Temple of Karnak, and added a list of all the towns and villages which he had conquered in Palestine. Among them are the names of many places familiar from the Bible narrative, but the statement that “the king of Judah” is mentioned is incorrect. Shashanq repaired the Temple of Mut at Thebes, and set up in it a number of seated granite statues of the goddess =Sekhet=, two fine examples of which, inscribed with the king’s names and titles, are exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. =763=, =764=. A son of Shashanq named =Ȧuputh= was viceroy of the South, to whom is due the removal of the royal mummies from their tombs to the tomb of Ȧst-em-khebit at =Dêr al-Baḥarî=, where, together with the coffins and funerary furniture, they were secreted, the pit being filled up with sand, stones, etc., and the entrance carefully walled up. This hiding place remained intact until 1872, when it was discovered accidentally by the Arabs. (For the inscribed base of a statue of =Ȧuputh=, see Bay 19, No. =765=.)
[Illustration: Seated figure of Ānkh-renp-nefer, the “Good Recorder” of the town of Pithom, who flourished in the reign of Osorkon II, about B.C. 900.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 776.]]
Another son of Shashanq I, named =Uasarken=, or =Osorkon I=, became king of Egypt, and married Tasheṭ-Khensu, and Maāt-ka-Rā, the daughter of Pasebkhānut II, the last of the Tanite kings of the XXIst dynasty. The son of Osorkon I and Maāt-ka-Rā was called Shashanq, and was made high priest of Ȧmen; he dedicated to the god the fine quartzite =statue of Ḥāpi=, the Nile-god, exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 22, No. =766=. Osorkon I was succeeded by =Thekeleth I=, who was succeeded by =Osorkon II=, famous for the works which he carried out in the Temple of Bast, the great goddess of Bubastis, the =Pibeseth= of the Bible. From this site came many important monuments, among which may be mentioned: The massive granite =Hathor-headed capital= of a pillar (see =Plate XLII=; Bay 16, No. =768=); and the slabs sculptured with figures of Osorkon II and Bast, and figures of Osorkon II and his =Queen Karāmā= (Bay 23, No. =769=). Osorkon II perpetuated the names of the great kings his predecessors, and accordingly we find on granite slabs from his temple the names of =Khufu=, =Khāfrā=, etc., and figures of =Ȧmen-ḥetep II=, =Seti I=, etc. (Bay 23, Nos. =771-773=). Like Rameses II, Mer-en-Ptaḥ, and other kings, Osorkon II caused his name to be cut upon monuments of other kings, _e.g._, the statue of Usertsen III (Vestibule, No. =163=) and the grey granite statue of Ȧmenemḥāt III (Bay 20, No. =775=). In his reign flourished the =good recorder of Pithom=, whose statue (Bay 21, No. =776=) was found at Pithom. The reigns of the other kings of this dynasty, Shashanq II, Thekeleth II, Shashanq III, Pamȧi, and Shashanq IV were unimportant.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII.
Hathor-headed capital from the temple of Osorkon II at Bubastis.
XXIInd dynasty, B.C. 866.
[Central Saloon, No. 768.]]
Twenty-Third Dynasty. From Tanis.
B.C. 766.
The principal kings of this dynasty were =Peṭā-Bast= and =Osorkon III=, who reigned in the Delta.
It seems that a short time before the reign of Peṭā-Bast, the priests of Ȧmen had found it impossible to maintain their position at Thebes, and therefore, having hidden the mummies and coffins of the members of their order in a secret place, which was not discovered until 1892, they retreated to the South and settled at Napata, a city at the foot of the Fourth Cataract. (For examples of the coffins of the priests of Ȧmen of this period, see First Egyptian Room, Wall-cases 11-15.) A few years after their arrival, they appear to have persuaded =Piānkhi=, the king of the Northern Sûdân, to invade Egypt and to seize the kingdom of the South at least, to which, in view of the close relationship of the governing powers at Napata with those at Thebes, he might be assumed to have a just claim. For some time Piānkhi did nothing, but at length, in the twenty-first year of his reign, hearing that all the princes of the Northern Kingdom had united their forces, and were attempting to seize the country, he ordered his army to advance into Egypt. In a very short time great successes were reported. Thereupon he joined his troops, and his progress was victorious and rapid. City after city fell before his attack, and on the capture of Memphis, Egypt lay vanquished at his feet. The governors came in one after another, and at length Tafnekht, their leader, sent in his submission accompanied by gifts. Piānkhi filled his boats with spoil and returned to Napata, where he built a great temple to Ȧmen, and set up a stele recording his victories. (For a cast of the stele see Central Saloon, No. =793=.) After Piānkhi’s return to Nubia, =Osorkon III=, perhaps with =Thekeleth III= as co-regent, reigned at Thebes. To the latter half of this dynasty probably belongs the stele of =Prince Ȧuuaruath=, son of Osorkon and high-priest of Ȧmen (Bay 22, No. =777=), and the monument mentioning a king with the Horus name of Ka-nekht-khā-em-Uast (Bay 21, No. =778=).
Twenty-Fourth Dynasty. From Saïs.
The principal king of this dynasty was =Bakenrenef=, the =Bocchoris= of the Greeks, the son of Tafnekht of Saïs. His reign was short, but tradition assert that he was one of the six great law-givers of Egypt. About this time a Nubian called =Kashta= ruled at Thebes, and married =Shep-en-Ȧpt=, the high-priestess of Ȧmen; their son Shabaka became the first king of the XXVth dynasty. Among the monuments of this period may be mentioned: The =altar, stand, and libation bowl=, dedicated by Nes-Ȧmsu to Kashta, Shep-en-Ȧpt, and Ȧmenȧrṭās (Bay 20, No. =794=); the base of a statue inscribed with the names of =Shep-en-Ȧpt I=, =Shep-en-Ȧpt II=, etc. (Bay 20, No. =795=); and the alabaster vessel of =Kashta= and =Ȧmenȧrṭās= (Wall-case 139, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 84).
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. From Nubia.
B.C. 700.
=Shabaka=, or Sabaco, whom some identify with =So= of 2 Kings xvii, 4, was a contemporary of Sargon and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria. With one or other of these kings he must have had correspondence, for two seals bearing the name of Shabaka were found among the tablets of the Royal Library at Nineveh. (See Nineveh Gallery, Table-case I, No. 32, etc.) Among the objects bearing his name are several =scarabs=, and an alabaster =vase= in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Table-case D and Wall-case 139), and a basalt slab (Bay 25, No. =797=) inscribed with a copy of a mythological text, copied by the king’s order from an old, half obliterated document. The portion of the text surviving contains legends of Rā, Osiris, Set, Horus, Ptaḥ and other gods; and it seems to imply that all their powers were absorbed by Ptaḥ, in whose temple the slab was set up. Of Shabaka’s sister, the great Princess =Ȧmenȧrṭās=, may be mentioned the following objects: A fine inscribed =statue= (Wall-case 107, Third Egyptian Room), her =lapis-lazuli scarab= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room), and a =steatite cylinder= inscribed with her names and titles (Wall-case 193, same room). This princess possessed great power in Thebes, and she repaired portions of some of the great temples of that city, and built a small chapel near the temple of Ȧmen. She re-established the worship of the gods, and devoted a large proportion of her property to the restoration of their statues and the observance of their festivals.
Shabaka was succeeded by =Shabataka= (see a bronze shrine dedicated by him to Ȧmen-Rā in Wall-case 123 in the Fourth Egyptian Room), of whom little is known. He was followed by =Taharqa=, the =Tirhâḳâh= of the Bible, (2 Kings xix, 9), the son of a farmer and the lady =Āqleq=, who began to reign between B.C. 693 and 691. He was an ally of =Hezekiah=, king of Judah. About 676, =Esarhaddon=, king of Assyria, crushed the revolt in Palestine, and six years later he invaded Egypt, defeated Taharqa, captured Memphis, and appointed twenty governors over the various provinces of the country. After the death of Esarhaddon, in 668, Taharqa returned and proclaimed himself king of Egypt at Memphis; but =Ashur-bani-pal=, the new king of Assyria, marched against him and defeated his forces, which were assembled at Karbaniti, a city probably situated near the north-east frontier of Egypt. Taharqa fled, and Ashur-bani-pal marched into Egypt, crushed the enemy, and re-appointed the governors who had been appointed by his father.
Taharqa repaired several temples at Thebes, and built a large temple to Ȧmen at Napata, and a small one in honour of Usertsen III at Semnah. For a bronze =figure of the king=, and two =plaques= and =scarabs= bearing his name, see Table-case K, Wall-case 193, and Table-case D in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms.
The successor of Taharqa was =Tanuath Ȧmen=, the Tandamanie of the cuneiform inscriptions, who had been co-regent with him. After the death of Taharqa, as the result of a dream Tanuath Ȧmen invaded Egypt, and captured Heliopolis; he tried to turn the Assyrians out of Memphis, but failed. Hearing that the king of Assyria was coming with a large army, he fled to Thebes, whither he was followed by the Assyrians, who sacked the city. Tanuath-Ȧmen fled once more, and his subsequent history is unknown. A cast of the =Stele of the Dream= is exhibited in Bay 22, No. =799=, and an account of the burning and pillage of Thebes is given on the great =cylinder of Ashur-bani-pal= (Table-case H, Babylonian Room), and the calamities which came upon the city are described by the prophet Nahum (iii, 10).
Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. From Saïs.
_About_ B.C. 666.
=Psemthek I=, or =Psammetichus=, was the son of Nekau, governor of Saïs, and married Shep-en-Ȧpt, the daughter of Piānkhi and Ȧmenȧrṭās I. Thus, by marriage, he obtained a claim to the throne of Egypt. He appears to have fought against the Assyrians on every opportunity for many years, and at length by the help of Carian and Ionian mercenaries he succeeded in expelling them, and in making himself master of all Egypt. He established garrisons at Elephantine, Pelusium, Daphnae, and Marea. He protected the Greeks, a colony of whom he settled in the city of Naukratis. He encouraged trade of every kind, and embarked in many commercial enterprises. He rebuilt, or enlarged, the temple of the goddess =Neith of Saïs= (see bronze figures of her in Wall-case 125, Fourth Egyptian Room), and built a gallery in the =Serapeum= at Ṣaḳḳârah. Among the monuments of his reign are: An =intercolumnar slab= sculptured with a scene representing the king making an offering to the gods; from the temple of Temu at Rosetta (Bay 24, No. =800=). A shaft of a column, and a portion of a statue, inscribed with his names and titles (Bay 24, Nos. =801=, =802=). For smaller objects inscribed with his name see the =Foundation Deposits= and the =figure of Isis= (Table-cases K and H, Third Egyptian Room), his =ushabti figure= (Wall-case 78, Second Egyptian Room), and his =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room).
[Sidenote: B.C. 612.]
=Nekau=, or =Necho=, maintained an army of Greeks, and two fleets, one in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea. He recut and enlarged the old canal which in the time of Seti I joined the Nile and the Red Sea, and is said to have employed 120,000 men in the work. He led an army into Syria, and fought with =Josiah=, king of Judah, who attempted to bar his progress in the valley of Megiddo; Josiah was struck by an Egyptian arrow which penetrated his disguise, and he died (2 Kings xxiii, 29 ff.; 2 Chron. xxxv, 22). Necho advanced towards the Euphrates, but was met at Karkemish by Nebuchadnezzar II and his army, and in the battle which followed he was defeated. Among the small objects inscribed with his name are: A bronze =shrine= (Table-case H, Third Egyptian Room), a porcelain =vase= (Wall-case 157, Fourth Egyptian Room), an =alabastron= (Wall-case 139, Fourth Egyptian Room), and a limestone =draughtsman= (Standard-case C, Fourth Egyptian Room).
[Sidenote: B.C. 596.]
[Sidenote: B.C. 592.]
[Illustration: Head of a colossal statue of Psammetichus II, about B.C. 596.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 23, No. 803.]]
The reign of =Psammetichus II=, the son of Necho, was short and unimportant; but he appears to have made a raid into Nubia. He repaired several of the large temples at Heliopolis, Memphis, Karnak, and Elephantine. Among the monuments of his reign is a head from a colossal =statue= of =the king=, found near the south end of the Suez Canal (Bay 23, No. =803=). For small objects inscribed with his name see the =scarabs= in Table-case D, and a portion of a =sistrum= in Wall-case 157, Fourth Egyptian Room. Under =Ḥāā-ȧb-Rā Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, the =Pharaoh Ḥophra= of Jeremiah xliv, 30 and the =Apries= of the Greeks, Egypt enjoyed a period of great prosperity, directly due to the encouragement he gave to commerce, and to the business qualities of the Greeks who had settled in Naukratis and elsewhere in Egypt. He made an expedition into Syria. =Zedekiah=, king of Judah, counted upon his help to repulse =Nebuchadnezzar II=; but failing to do so, Ḥophra incurred the denunciations of the prophet Jeremiah: “And this shall be a sign to you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon his enemy, and that sought his life” (Jeremiah xliv, 29-30). Pharaoh Ḥophra was dethroned by his own soldiers, who made their general =Ȧāḥmes= (Amāsis II) king in his stead. Among monuments bearing his name are a limestone =stele=, on which is sculptured the figure of the king (Bay 22, No. =804=), and a portion of a statue of =Pefā-Net=, the king’s chief physician (Central Saloon, No. =805=).
[Sidenote: B.C. 572.]
=Amāsis II= treated his former master with kindness, but, as Ḥophra persisted in raiding the country, further fighting ensued. In the end, Ḥophra was slain by his own soldiers on board his boat. During the reign of Amāsis II Nebuchadnezzar II attempted to invade Egypt, with what success is unknown. During this long reign of about 44 years the country in general enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the quarries were re-opened and many temples restored; remains of his building activity are visible on the sites of all the great sanctuaries of Egypt. He was a generous patron of the Greeks, and granted them lands and many privileges. Among the monuments of his reign are: Two granite tablets for offerings, or =altars= (Bay 16, No. =806=; Bay 17, No. =807=); a stele, dated in his eighth year, recording the dedication of a building to Neith, goddess of Saïs (Bay 24, No. =808=); a =weight= inscribed with his prenomen (Wall-case 180, Fourth Egyptian Room), and handles of two =sistra= (Wall-case 187, same room).
Amāsis II married Thent-kheta, by whom he became the father of Psammetichus III. He was also the official husband of the famous high-priestess of Ȧmen, =Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā=, the daughter of Psammetichus II and the Lady =Takhauath=, and the adopted daughter of Nit-Ȧqert (Nitokris), high priestess of Ȧmen.[39] The magnificent =sarcophagus= in the Southern Egyptian Gallery was made for her (Bay 24, No. =811=). It is undoubtedly one of the finest monuments of the XXVIth dynasty in the British Museum. (See =Plates XLIII=, =XLIV=). The reliefs and figures are carefully executed, and the hieroglyphics are well cut. In the Ptolemaïc Period this sarcophagus was used for a royal scribe named Ȧmen-ḥetep, or Pi-Menth, his name being inserted in the cartouches and the feminine suffixes being changed to masculine. Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā built a chapel at Thebes, from which came slabs Nos. =812=, =813= (Bay 24). Worthy of note also are two fine bronze figures of =Harpokrates-Ȧmen= and =Menu=, which were dedicated to Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā by priests in her temple (see Table-case H, Third Egyptian Room). Amāsis II had a daughter, =Ta-Khart-Ȧst= (for a portion of a statue of her see Bay 24, No. =814=).
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.
Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā, daughter of Psammetichus II and Queen Takhauath, wearing the head-dress of Isis-Hathor. From the cover of the sarcophagus of the queen.
About B.C. 600.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.
The Sky-goddess Nut. From the inside of the sarcophagus of Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLV.
Kneeling statue of Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā, a prince, governor, and commander-in-chief, about B.C. 600.
XXVIth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 818.]]
The last king of this dynasty was =Psammetichus III=. During his short reign, which lasted six months only, the Persians under their king Cambyses invaded Egypt, and, having defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium, marched on to Memphis and captured it. After a short time Cambyses put Psammetichus to death, and =Egypt became a province=, or satrapy, of =Persia=.
During the rule of the XXVIth dynasty over Egypt, it appears that several native Nubian kings ruled the Northern Sûdân from Napata, the modern Gebel Barkal. Among these were =Ȧspelta= and =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, the former of whom probably reigned about B.C. 625 and the latter about B.C. 580. For casts of stelae recording the =Coronation of Ȧspelta= and the Annals of =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, see Bay 18, No. =815=, and Bay 20, No. =816=. A cast of a stele inscribed with an edict against the =eaters of raw meat= is in Bay 20, No. =817=.
Under the XXVIth dynasty a great =revival of art and learning= took place, due partly to the settled condition of the country under a firm government, and partly to the material prosperity which obtained at that period. The painter and sculptor took for their models the reliefs and statues of the Early Empire, and the funerary masons and scribes cut or wrote on the stelae and tombs texts which were composed under the VIth dynasty, or earlier. The monuments of the period are more often made of dark limestone, dark green or grey schist, and basalt than granite, which was so commonly used for coffins, statues, stelae, etc., under the Middle Empire. These substances give to the large monuments of the =Saïte Period= a sad and sometimes heavy effect. Among the many fine examples of the sculpture of the period may be mentioned: The black basalt kneeling statue of =Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, a prince and general of the army (see =Plate XLV=; Bay 21, No. =818=); the portion of the kneeling figure of =Khnem-ȧb-Rā-Men=, prefect of Saïs, holding a =shrine of Neith= (Bay 23, No. =819=); the portion of a figure of =Ānkh-p-kharṭ=, a priest who had ministered in the temple for eighty years (Bay 24, No. =820=); and the =libation bowl= dedicated to the goddesses Mut and Hathor (Bay 22, Nos. =821=, =822=). The casts of the =Cow= of Hathor and the =Hippopotamus= of Smeṭsmeṭ are also very instructive (Bay 25, No. =823=; Bay 26, No. =824=). Of the massive stone =sarcophagi= and coffins, Nos. =825-829= are very fine important examples. On the two granite sarcophagi of =Nes-Qeṭiu= (No. =825=) and =Ḥāp-men= (No. =826=) are cut the figures of all the gods who were believed to protect the dead; but the others (Nos. =827-29=) are plainer. The sepulchral stelae are very numerous; interesting examples will be found in Bays 21, 22, etc.
Twenty-Seventh Dynasty. From Persia.
B.C. 527.
The rule of the Persians over Egypt lasted about one hundred and ten years. =Cambyses=, having established himself as king, set out on an expedition to the Sûdân. On his way thither he despatched an army of 50,000 men to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, now known as Sîwah, to secure the submission of the tribes; but, after reaching Khârgah, these troops were never more heard of. Cambyses continued his march into Nubia, where, it seems, he came in touch with a native army somewhere near the Third Cataract. According to the annals of =Nȧstasen=, king of Nubia, his boats were captured on the river, and all his soldiers slain after a fierce fight. Greek tradition states that Cambyses committed many sacrilegious acts in Egypt; but the inscription of Utcha-ḥer-resenet, the chancellor of Saïs, records that Cambyses cleared out the temple of Neith in that city, restored its revenues, and reinstated its priests. This done he went to the temple in person, and performed acts of worship, like the Pharaohs of old. The money which he gave the chancellor enabled him “to provide with a coffin the man who was too poor to buy one, and he took care of the children.”
[Sidenote: B.C. 521.]
=Darius I, Hystaspes=, was a wise and enlightened king, and he tried to understand the religion and customs of the Egyptians. He established a =coinage=, encouraged trade, subscribed money for expenses incurred in the discovery of a new =Apis Bull=, supported religious institutions, and commissioned the chancellor Utcha-ḥer-resenet to found a school for the training of scribes. He was tolerant; and built a temple to Ȧmen-Rā in the Oasis of Al-Khârgah, on the walls of which is cut a remarkable hymn to Ȧmen. He also completed the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, which Necho began, and so added greatly to the prosperity of the country. In the latter part of his reign the Egyptians, led by =Khabbesha=, revolted against the Persian rule with some success. Darius determined to set out from Persia to put down the rebellion, but died before he could do so. The triumph of Khabbesha was short-lived, for =Xerxes the Great= marched against him, defeated his forces, and reduced the country to servitude worse than before. Xerxes did nothing for the gods or people of Egypt, and left few traces of his reign in the country. An =alabaster vase= inscribed with his name in four languages, Egyptian, Persian, Median and Babylonian, which was found at Halicarnassus, is exhibited in the =Gold Room= in the British Museum. For fragments of other vases, on which his name appears in Egyptian letters, within a cartouche, and with the additions “Pharaoh, the Great,” as here given, see Wall-cases Nos. 28 and 29, in the Babylonian Room. A cast of a stele, dated in his fourth year, with a bilingual inscription in Egyptian and Aramean, is exhibited in the Semitic Room (Second Northern Gallery, Wall-case 29).
𓍹𓆼𓆷𓇌𓄿𓃭𓆷𓄿𓍺𓉐𓉻𓅮𓉻𓂝
[Sidenote: B.C. 486.]
[Sidenote: B.C. 466.]
In the reign of =Artaxerxes I= another revolt, headed by =Inarôs=, a Libyan, who was assisted by the Athenians, broke out, and at the battle of Papremis, the satrap of Egypt, =Akhaemenes=, was killed and his forces defeated. Subsequently the Persians defeated the Egyptians, and =Inarôs= was captured and taken to Persia, where a few years later he was impaled and flayed alive.
[Sidenote: B.C. 424.]
=Darius II, Nothus=, repaired the temple of Ȧmen-Rā at Al-Khârgah, and added his name to its walls. In his reign the Egyptians at length succeeded in throwing off the Persian yoke. Their leader, =Amyrtaios=, has been thought to be Ȧmen-ruṭ-meri-Ȧmen.
Twenty-Eighth Dynasty. From Saïs.
B.C. 420 (?).
According to the King List of Manetho the XXVIIIth dynasty consisted of one king, who was named =Amyrtaios=; Julius Africanus and the Syncellus state that he reigned six years, and make Saïs the seat of his rule. At one time authorities identified Amyrtaios with the king =Ȧmen-ruṭ=, whose name 𓊹𓄤𓍹𓇳𓄊𓌷𓏏𓇋𓏠𓈖𓍉𓈖𓍺𓎟𓇾𓇾𓍹𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌗𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌻𓍺 is found on a plank from a coffin preserved at Berlin. The form of the prenomen, however, proves that Ȧmen-ruṭ lived at a period anterior to Amyrtaios, and the identification must, therefore, be abandoned.
Twenty-Ninth Dynasty. From Mendes.
B.C. 399.
Of the five kings of this dynasty only three appear to have left remains, viz. =Naifaauruṭ= (Nepherites), =Haḳer= (Achoris), and =Psamut=; their reigns were unimportant, their total length being only about twenty-one years.
Thirtieth Dynasty. From Sebennytus.
B.C. 378.
[Sidenote: B.C. 378.]
=Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt=, the Nektanebês and Nektanebus I of classical writers, succeeded in overthrowing the dynasty of Mendes, and made himself king of all Egypt, which he ruled with success for a period of eighteen years. He repaired several of the temples of Memphis and Thebes, and the temple of Darius I at Al-Khârgah, and revived the custom of setting up obelisks. He also founded the temple of Horus at Ḥebt, the modern Behbît-al-Ḥagârah. During his prosperous reign more attention was given to the performance of ceremonies connected with the dead, and, as a result, a considerable number of statues, stelae, etc., which may be attributed to his reign have come down to us.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.
Obelisk dedicated to Thoth by King Ḥeru-nekht-ḥebt, B.C. 378.
XXXth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 31, No. 919.]]
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII.
Scenes and texts from the Second Section of the Book of What is in the Other World. From the sarcophagus of King Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt, B.C. 378.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 923.]]
Among his monuments worthy of special note are: =1.= A =pair= of =obelisks=, inscribed with his names and titles, and dedicated to “Thoth, the Twice Great,” before whose temple they were set up. They were taken from a town in the Delta during the eighteenth century, and stood for many years before one of the mosques of Cairo (see =Plate XLVI=). (Bays 31, 32, Nos. =919=, =920=.) =2.= Portion of a statue of Ȧmen-Rā(?), dedicated to the god by this king. (Bay 30, No. =921=.) =3.= =Sarcophagus of Nectanebus I.= (See =Plate XLVII=.) This most valuable and interesting object is one of the most remarkable monuments of this king. The inside is decorated with figures of the gods, and on the outside are cut the texts and illustrations of a series of sections of the great funerary work entitled the =Book of what is in the Ṭuat= (_i.e._, the Other World). The =Ṭuat= was a long narrow valley which ran parallel with Egypt, and was neither above nor below this earth; a river flowed through its whole length. It was entered on the left bank of the Nile near Thebes, ran due north as far as Saïs, then curved to the east, and finally terminated where the sun rose. This valley was divided into ten sections, and at each end was a sort of ante-chamber or vestibule. Each section was filled with its own peculiar beings, many of whom were hostile to the dead who wished to pass through it in the Boat of the Sun-god, which traversed it nightly. The god himself could only do this by uttering words of power. The Book of what is in the Ṭuat was supposed to contain these words of power; and copies of it were written on papyri, or cut on sarcophagi, so that their possessors or occupants might be able to recite them in case of need. The representations of the gods which accompanied the texts enabled the dead to recognize the several beings of the Other World when they met them, and to recite the appropriate words of power. On the rounded =head= of the sarcophagus the First Section of the Ṭuat is sculptured, and on the =foot= the Ninth Section; on the =right= hand side are the Second and Sixth Sections, and on the =left= are the Third and Eighth Sections (Bay 25, No. =923=). These Sections refer to the kingdoms of the dead of Thebes, Abydos, and Saïs; the other six Sections were probably sculptured on the cover, which was destroyed in the eighteenth century; those relating to Memphis and Heliopolis are omitted.
Nectanebus I was succeeded by his son =Tcheḥrȧ= (Teôs, or Tachos), in whose reign the Persians led by =Artaxerxes II= made an attack upon Egypt, but failed to conquer it.
[Sidenote: B.C. 358.]
Teôs was succeeded by his son =Nekht-neb-f=, or =Nectanebus II=, in whose reign the Persians, under =Artaxerxes III=, once again obtained possession of the country. The reign of Nectanebus II, who was the =last native king= of Egypt, was on the whole peaceful and prosperous; he repaired many temples, and his name is found on buildings in all the great sanctuaries from Philae to Sebennytus in the Delta. The statues and stelae of the period are well-cut, and the work is tasteful and delicate. Among them may be mentioned: A granite =statue= of Nectanebus II (Bay 29, No. =924=); the two =intercolumnar slabs= on which are representations of the king kneeling and making an offering (Bay 27, No. =926=; Bay 28, No. =927=); and a small =gilded door= from the model of a shrine, on which the king is represented kneeling and making an offering (Table-case C, Fourth Egyptian Room).
The Persians, having succeeded in obtaining the supreme power once again, held it for a period of about eight years; but their rule was hateful to the Egyptians, and when =Alexander the Great= (born B.C. 356, died 324), who had defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus, =B.C. 332=, arrived at Memphis, he was welcomed as the saviour of the country. He marched to the Oasis of Sîwah (Jupiter Ammon) and entered the temple of Ȧmen-Rā, and worshipped the god, who acknowledged him to be his son and therefore the rightful king of Egypt. Soon after, in B.C. 331, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria.
In the scramble for the provinces of Alexander’s great Empire which took place at his death, Egypt fell to the share of one of his generals, Ptolemy Lagus, who administered the country in the name of Alexander’s sons, =Philip Arrhidaeus= and =Alexander II= of Egypt, the former of whom never set foot in the country; the latter was brought thither as a child of six years, and was murdered when he was thirteen years old (B.C. 311); but in spite of these facts Ptolemy Lagus caused buildings to be erected in their names, and ruled the country as their loyal servant. To the period B.C. 332-306 belong the portion of a =clepsydra= inscribed with the name of =Alexander the Great= (Bay 29, No. =948=); the portion of a =clepsydra= inscribed with the name of =Philip Arrhidaeus= (Bay 29, No. =949=); and the =papyrus of Nes-Ȧmsu=, containing the Book of Overthrowing Āpep, which is dated in the twelfth year of “Pharaoh Alexander, the son of Alexander,” _i.e._, Alexander II (No. =10,188=). In the seventh year of his reign Alexander II restored to the temples of the city of Pe-Ṭep (Buto) the property which had been wrested from it by Xerxes the Great: a cast of the stele which commemorates this fact will be found in Bay 28, No. =950=.