CHAPTER XXI.
REQUISITES FOR A STATE ENJOYING EXTENSIVE COMMERCE. — ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF MEROE. — PROBABLE EXTENT OF HER COMMERCE. — THE FACILITY AFFORDED TO ITS EXTENSION BY MEANS OF THE CAMEL. — COMMERCE OF ARABIA AND INDIA. — ABUNDANCE OF GOLD. — IRON AND GUM. — ETHIOPIAN TRIBUTE TO EGYPT. — DESCRIPTION OF A SPLENDID ETHIOPIAN PROCESSION AT THEBES. — COMMERCE OF THE INTERIOR. — CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF MEROE. — DIMINUTION OF HER AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. — EXHAUSTION OF MINES. — RIVALRY OF EGYPT. — WARS WITH EGYPT. — ARAB CONQUEST. — PRESENT COMMERCE.
_Commerce of Meroe._—The history of nations, and particularly of cities, clearly evinces the extraordinary effects of commerce. Those countries which have attained to any high degree of power and prosperity have been, in a great measure, indebted for them to that source of wealth. A wise government, anxious for the welfare of its subjects, always affords the utmost encouragement and protection to commerce, guarding it against those accidents which endanger its security, and when, from unavoidable circumstances, one branch is closed, seeks to open other channels to its successful activity. In order that a state may carry on extensive commerce, it ought to possess an advantageous position, contiguous to other rich countries, with the opportunity of becoming an emporium for their commodities, and of supplying them with those in which they are deficient. She ought also to enjoy abundant internal resources, derived from agriculture, manufactures, and mines.
A slight examination of the map of this part of Africa will satisfy us that there could not have been a situation, on that immense continent, more admirably adapted for commercial intercourse than Meroe. Placed at a short distance only from the conflux of the Astaboras and the Nile, she was connected, by the former, with that part of Ethiopia now called Abyssinia; and, by the latter, now denominated the Bahr el Azruk, or Blue River, with the provinces of Sennaar, Fazoukl, and, perhaps, with regions still further to the south. It is also highly probable that, by the Bahr el Abiad, or White River, the true Nile, she communicated extensively with vast districts in the interior of Africa. The distance from these rivers, particularly from the Astaboras, to the present ports of Massoua (the ancient Adule) and Souakim, on the Red Sea, whence she received, perhaps, the productions of Arabia and the Indies, was by no means great. Nature seems to have facilitated the intercourse by providing her with the ship of the desert—the camel. By its means, probably, the commerce of Meroe may have been widely diffused into the centre of Africa; to the countries now called Kordofan and Darfour, which are only at a short distance from the Nile; nor is it improbable that a powerful and enterprising nation, such as the Ethiopians then appear to have been, may have extended their caravan trade to the kingdoms of Soudan, Bornou, &c., and possibly even to the now impervious Timbuctoo.
It may be asked, if the profit which the merchants of Meroe could derive from such distant expeditions would repay the cost and hazard; but an examination of the expense of transporting merchandise on camels will remove that objection. In the estimate which I am about to make, of the expenses of sea and land carriage, the rates must, of course, be those of the present day; this, however, will be to the disadvantage of my argument, as navigation, at that remote period, was in a much more imperfect state, and consequently more tedious and expensive, than it now is. I shall select wool, as a bulky article, and, therefore, more difficult to transport by land. I shall suppose a vessel, laden with 1000 bags of wool, of 450 lbs. each, and that its average passage was thirty days, for which the owners received a freight of 1_d._ per lb., which, I believe, is about the usual rate for a voyage of that length. Supposing, also, that the average sailing of the vessel, allowing for detentions from contrary winds, and for the time occupied in loading and reloading, be fifty miles per day, making thus 1500 miles. Now, the usual load for a camel is 500 lbs., sometimes 600 lbs., so that 450 lbs. is a very moderate calculation; and at the rate the merchandise of the Pasha is now carried down to Cairo, not more than sixty days would be necessary to accomplish the above distance. They charged me eighteen shillings for twenty days, averaging about twenty-five miles per day; therefore the expense of the sixty days, at present, would not exceed two pounds fourteen shillings; about sixteen shillings more than by water.
In ancient times the expense of labour and camels was not likely to differ materially from what it now is; but that of maritime conveyance must have been much larger. We know the number of men that were necessary to impel the boats, and their system of following all the sinuosities of the coasts. Hence the time taken to accomplish a voyage of any extent must have been very long. The period required by Solomon’s vessels to reach the country of Ophir is a proof of the dilatory, and consequently expensive, navigation in that age. As I have stated in my account of Dongolah, 2500 loads of gum, of 450 rotols each, are carried down to Cairo, that is, a distance of about 1800 miles, for 2_l._, including all expenses; being thirteen per cent. on the value.
This calculation proves, that the cost of land carriage, particularly for the short journeys to the Red Sea, Kordofan, and Darfour, would be only a slight inconvenience; and even the expense of a regular trade to Fezzan and Bornou, by the route which the Mamelukes took, would have been no very heavy burden on the articles. That on which I have chosen to make this calculation, was, as already observed, one of the most disadvantageous that could have been selected. The expense of 18_s._ (and I, as a traveller, of course paid the highest price), on conveying, for a journey of twenty days, 500 pounds weight of rich Indian stuffs, or of Arabian spices, must have been quite trifling.
Meroe, therefore, enjoyed the advantage, not only of a direct water communication by the Nile, Bahr el Abiad, Bahr el Azruk, and the Astoboras, to an extent of several thousand miles of the vast continent of Africa, but also, by means of the ship of the desert, had an intercourse with her ports on the Red Sea, and could thence open a communication with Arabia, and through it, perhaps, with India. Thus, also, she could exchange her merchandise or the rich natural productions of the centre of Africa. The circumstance mentioned in my topographical description (page 200.), that in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet, this country was overrun by a powerful tribe from Yemen, and not from the Hedjas, as was generally supposed, renders it very probable, that that part of Arabia in particular had been deeply engaged in the commerce of Meroe. The knowledge thus obtained of its former wealth and power, its then entirely decayed condition, and the facilities afforded by its ports to invaders, were likely to induce a nation, then in full power, and inflamed by religious zeal, to invade and lay waste that country to which it was formerly, perhaps, tributary, or even subject.
A glance at the map is sufficient to show, that the commerce of the Indies must have been much more easily carried on with Meroe than with Egypt; for, whether the Ethiopians navigated directly to India, or received the produce of that rich country, by the caravans and vessels of the Arabians; in either case, she possessed superior local advantages over Egypt. Her ports on the Red Sea were better, the distance far shorter, and the dangerous navigation of that sea in a great measure avoided.
Adule, supposed, by some, to be near the present Arkeko, latitude 15° 30′ N., is called, by Pliny (vi. 29.) the very great emporium of the Troglodytes and the Ethiopians, and the commerce chiefly consisted in ivory, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, shells of the tortoise, sphinxes, and slaves.[82] According to Bruce, there are, at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, the ruins of a place, from which, to Arabia Felix, the passage only requires a few hours. The direct commerce with Arabia, and sale of her manufactures in that populous peninsula, must also have been very great; but the commerce of Africa was, doubtless, the principal source of the power of Meroe.
The superfluity of gold, which Herodotus (in his account of the Ichthyophagi sent as ambassadors, or rather spies, by Cambyses to the king of Ethiopia), describes as being applied to such common purposes, that even the prisoners were bound in chains of that metal, may, perhaps, have been a Greek mode of hyperbolically expressing its great abundance. I believe the supply of this metal to have been drawn chiefly from the interior. Diodorus says (lib. i. 29.), and Strabo repeats the passage, without acknowledging his author, “that island contains mines of gold, silver, iron, copper, and great abundance of ebony, and various kinds of precious stone, και μέταλλα χρυσου τε και αργύρου, &c., but the search of the Pasha after them has been fruitless. She may have derived a certain portion from mines in her own territories, and even in the island, which are now exhausted; but, from the limited traces of such mines hitherto discovered, I conceive it more probable that she obtained that abundance of the precious metals, not only from the now exhausted mines in the Great Nubian desert[83] (see pages 23. and 28.), but principally from the centre or the south of Africa. The Turkish governors now, when they make their expeditions into the Habeesh and the negro countries, frequently amass an immense quantity of gold; it is said, as much as 2000 or 3000 ounces; and before the conquest of the Pasha, I am informed that every peasant girl wore gold ornaments to a large amount. The inhabitants of the countries south of Sennaar are described to me as still possessing great abundance of gold, which must, in fact, be the case, for many merchants have told me that there is always plenty in the markets.
The exclusive commerce which Meroe must have long enjoyed with so considerable a portion of that vast continent, was quite sufficient to raise her to a great height of opulence. The countries of the interior, if not really conquered by her, would, at all events, gladly exchange their gold, and other natural productions, for her manufactures and merchandise, which, doubtless, far exceeded in quality what they made themselves, or could procure elsewhere, being the production of a people more advanced in civilisation and the arts; while they, isolated by immense deserts from the rest of the world, would be little visited, except by the caravans from the metropolis. Gold was, probably, not the only return these countries afforded to Meroe. Brown has given an account of the productions of Darfour, and, as I have said before, 2500 camel loads of gum are sent yearly from Kordofan to Cairo. Iron mines have been found both in Kordofan and Darfour. I have specimens of this metal from the latter country, which is current in the bazaars, like money.[84] I may here remark, that, not improbably, the Ethiopian stone, mentioned by Herodotus as employed to make incisions in the bodies, for the purpose of embalming and forming them into mummies, was iron procured from that country by the Egyptians, who had no mines of their own. Ivory is still found abundantly in Abyssinia, and also in the province of Fazoukl; and elephants are always found in the territory of the Bugara tribe, behind Kordofan. Probably Meroe received many other commodities, with which an imperfect knowledge of those remote regions prevents us from being acquainted; besides others, perhaps, which are no longer produced.
Herodotus (Thalia, 97.) says,—“The Ethiopians on the confines of Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued in his expedition, and those who inhabit the sacred island of Nysa, celebrate festivals to Bacchus. These Ethiopians and their neighbours bring, according to my memory, two half measures of pure gold, two hundred (φάλαγγας) long round pieces of ebony, five Ethiopian children, and twenty-large elephants’ teeth.” This passage reminds me of that magnificent procession in a tomb at Thebes, of the time of Thothmes III. Fifty figures are represented, exclusive of the Egyptians, painted red; six are black, and four of a dark brown, but apparently of the same country. These people, not having the Egyptian dress, are doubtless Ethiopian, and most of them are so called by the hieroglyphics. The splendid presents which they are presenting to the royal owner of the tomb, almost exactly correspond with the account just quoted from Herodotus.
They consist of ivory, ebony, a most beautiful collection of vases, and a variety of animals,—horses, cows, the giraffe, capricorn, leopards, cynocephali, greyhounds, &c. Among a gorgeous pile of offerings appear heaps of gold and silver, skins, precious wood, and indigo. In the same procession are also thirty-seven white people, with very nearly the features of Jews, although many, from the hieroglyphics, consider them to be Scythians. Some of the latter are leading a chariot and horses, an elephant, young children, and one of them a bear; they are also carrying a variety of elegant vases. I conceive these presents, with the exception, perhaps, of the bear, to be chiefly from Ethiopia, and from the richness and elegance of the form of the vases, the abundance of gold and silver, and the curious manner in which the latter is wrought into the form of the heads of animals, we have the very strongest proofs of the exquisite taste, knowledge, and wealth of the Ethiopians: but as this procession is so extremely interesting, so intimately connected with Ethiopia, and is, at the same time, one of the most gorgeous and magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of Thebes, I have selected it from my Egyptian portfolio, conceiving that it will give great additional value to this work to publish it with all the colours, which still exist, almost quite fresh. The hieroglyphics are unfortunately very much defaced, but sufficient remain to distinguish in several instances the names of the people and that of the King, Thothmes III., who reigned about 1500 B.C.
Parts I. II. III. and IV. form the whole of this procession; they are drawn to a scale of two inches to a foot, so that the reader may join them together, if he thinks proper. I will give a detailed description of them according to the plates. The first figure in Part I. has in one hand an ornamented vase, containing perhaps dates or some other dried fruit, in the other, apparently, an ivory club, and a string of precious stones hanging from his arm. The second figure has a couple of feathers in one hand, which are evidently those of the ostrich, from the circumstance of the vase he carries in the other containing the eggs. The third and fourth in this row bear a tree. The fifth carries a bowl, apparently of dates, in one hand, and in the other a couple of ostrich feathers, and a cord to which a leopard is attached. The sixth man has a gold or gilded vase in his hand, and has also charge of a monkey. The seventh bears a log of ebony on his shoulder, and is also leading a capricorn, an animal which abounds near Mount Sinai, and also, I believe, in the Bahiouda desert. The eighth has a log of ebony on his shoulder. The ninth, tenth, and last, are negroes, which may be distinguished from their colour and features. They have blue skull caps[85] and cinctures, with blue and red borders around their waists. The two last are carrying elephants’ teeth, and one of them has a string of precious stones, and the other the skin of a leopard turned inside out. The other negro is carrying a log of ebony, and, as will be observed, the light-coloured veins in that wood are distinctly marked.
[Illustration: From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.
GRAND PROCESSION._PART 1._
From a Tomb at Thebes.
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._
_Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._]
The second row of figures in this plate are still more curious. They are called Ethiopians. The cinctures and boots of each individual are of a different pattern, rivalling in variety and elegance the chintz morning dresses of our modern belles. These Ethiopians have their hair dressed in curls above their foreheads, and ringlets hanging down on their shoulders. The first is carrying a piece of an elephant’s tooth and a vase in his hand; the others, eleven in number, are bearing elegant descriptions of vases, apparently of gold and silver; these, although unadorned with figures and mythological subjects, are most exquisite in form, and I am sure the reader will admit their decorations to be most beautiful. Those carried by the third, fifth, and tenth figures of the second row of this plate, apparently contain flowers; whether these are artificial decorations of the vases, or really represent plants,—varieties, perhaps, of the lotus peculiar to Ethiopia—is a question I cannot decide. The necklaces which the third figure is bearing are very elegant, apparently of lapis lazuli and gold. The elegant vase the seventh figure is carrying, is either of ivory or silver.
The third row in this plate contains a most interesting group of Ethiopians. The first figure, bearing a log of ebony and a monkey on his shoulder, is conducting a drove of seven oxen. I might have taken the liberty to restore the forms of the latter; but, as will be seen by the plate, the heads and fore-legs only are still remaining, showing the curious and beautiful manner in which the Egyptians grouped their cattle. Above the oxen is a curious group of dogs, not very unlike the greyhounds that at present exist in Ethiopia. The next group is very interesting; two Ethiopians are conducting a giraffe, admirably drawn. A mischievous monkey is climbing up its neck. The way in which he is conducted, with cords attached to his feet, is curious, and the cincture of the Ethiopians leading him is formed apparently of the skin of a giraffe, they being, perhaps, inhabitants of the deserts where the animal is found. The next, or fourth figure, is leading a monkey, and bearing a vase full of ostrich eggs and feathers. The fifth figure is a negro, carrying a tooth of an elephant and skins; he has a blue cap. I do not believe that such caps were then worn, but that their hair is represented blue, to distinguish it from the colour of their faces, which was black; otherwise, from the same colours joining, it would have appeared as if they wore no hair at all. The Egyptian border is a great finish to the painting. The broad blue streak above the top-line represents the heavens. The ground colour, which is exactly the tint of the original, adds to the richness of the painting, and throws out the white.
Part II. is a continuation of the three rows last described. The four figures in the top row are dark-coloured, but not quite black. This is one of the very few instances in which the Egyptians preserved any degree of difference between the usual red colour and the black of the negroes. The pile of gorgeous offerings in the centre of this plate is magnificent; the first row contains two obelisks, perhaps of granite, beautifully decorated vases containing rings, which, from the hieroglyphics, we find are of gold, sealed bags of the same, and precious stones, and heaps of grain, and apparently fruit. The second row contains still richer offerings: in the first line are two very prettily decorated vases, laden with ingots of silver, and an elegant tray, on which are rings, which, from their hieroglyphics, must be also of silver; and another vase, containing, I think, indigo. The second line comprises some very elegant vases, apparently of gold and silver, and one blue glass bottle: the streaks of yellow in the latter are curious. The third line includes beautifully-shaped vases, which, from the hieroglyphics, are either full of silver and gold, or actually made of those precious metals; and, what is very remarkable in this line, there are several heads of animals, which, from the hieroglyphics, and also from the colouring, are evidently of silver and gold. There is the head of a capricorn, in gold; one of an antelope, and another of a jackall, in silver; and one of a leopard, and of a curious description of bird, apparently a cock, in gold.
[Illustration: From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.
GRAND PROCESSION._PART 2._
From a Tomb at Thebes.
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._
_Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._]
The third row is equally rich. In the first line there are rings of gold, and bags, which the reader will remark in the plate, are also sealed; ostrich feathers, logs of ebony, and a cynocephalus, perched comically in the centre. The lower line contains elephants’ teeth, a beautiful skin of a leopard, ingots and rings of gold, and sealed bags of precious stones. At the end of each row is a scribe, writing in his book with his pen an inventory of the different offerings; behind the latter are gentlemen, perhaps of the household of the king, with their white wands of office. All the hieroglyphics above the figure are in the original of a blue colour, as represented, with the exception of the two lines of large hieroglyphics in this plate, forming part of the tablet before a figure of the king, seated; but, as his majesty, in this instance, is very plainly attired, I have not considered it necessary to give a drawing of him.
Part III. contains two rows of figures immediately underneath the three rows of Part I. The people represented in the first row of this plate are all white, with blue eyes, red hair, and pointed beards: they are dressed in long robes, open in front, like the caftans of the Turks. The first group is curious, exhibiting one of these men leading a bear, and having on his shoulders a tooth of an elephant, while behind him is a representation of that animal. The features of these figures resemble those of the Jews: their complexion, and one of them having a long glove in his hand, certainly indicate their coming from a cold country. The elephant must be from Ethiopia: if, therefore, they are the Scythians, as some suppose, they must be employed as slaves bearing the produce of Ethiopia. It is possible that they are natives of the mountains of Abyssinia, who are now so much whiter than the natives of the valley of the Nile of the same latitude; but I think it far more probable that they are white slaves of the king of Ethiopia, sent to the Egyptian king as the most acceptable present. The same people are leading an elegant car and a pair of horses. The plate will show their beautiful manner of drawing that animal, almost equal to the Grecian. The lowest row represents the Egyptians leading two rows of another race of white men. They are without beards, have blue hair and eyes, and are dressed in long gowns: from their position, they must be either strings of prisoners, or recruits drilling for the army: behind them are their wives, curiously dressed, carrying and leading their children. The latter are painted red, as if born in Ethiopia, whither their parents had been brought prisoners. The Egyptian border at the bottom of this plate heightens considerably the effect of the painting.
[Illustration: From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.
GRAND PROCESSION._PART 3._
From a Tomb at Thebes.
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._
_Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._]
Part IV., the last compartment of this grand procession, represents, in the upper row, five of the Jewish-looking figures, with their aquiline noses, bearing large vases. The second bears an elegant bow and quiver full of arrows; the third has a long glove in his hand; and the fourth, perhaps, an ivory bottle. The offerings in the centre are almost similar to those I have described before. There are some bundles of reeds, and two vases of a blue article, perhaps indigo. The lowest row contains a group of seven male Ethiopian slaves, recruits I conceive for the army; behind them are their wives and children; one of the latter in a pannier suspended from the head of its mother. The figures in this row are not, like those above, bearing presents; the Egyptian scribe at the end is, however, represented, as in the other instances, writing on his scroll, which confirms the idea that they are slaves forming part of the tribute to the great Egyptian king.
Athenæus (see lib. v.), in his description of the festival given by Ptolemy Philadelphus to the Alexandrians, mentions, that in the procession there was a number of Ethiopians, carrying the teeth of 600 elephants. Others bore two thousand blocks of ebony, and some were loaded with vessels of gold and silver, containing the finest gold. Besides these, there were 2,400 dogs, men bearing trees, and a number of animals, both beasts and birds, parroquets, and other birds of Ethiopia, carried in cages; 130 Ethiopian sheep, 300 Arabian, and 20 from the island of Nubia; 26 Indian buffaloes, white as snow, and 8 from Ethiopia; three brown bears, and a white one, 14 leopards, 16 panthers, 4 lynxes, 1 giraffe, and a rhinoceros of Ethiopia. The reader has only to refer to my drawings to perceive how admirably the procession, represented on the walls of this tomb, erected at the time of Thothmes III., considering it also as a pictorial representation, agrees with the one described by Athenæus, and the tribute mentioned by Herodotus as paid to the Persians 1000 years after the reign of Thothmes.
In the voyage of Scylax round the world mention is made of the Ethiopians. Although the account is rather confused, particularly as to their situation, the description agrees so remarkably, in many instances, with the people represented in these plates, that I cannot refrain from giving part of it. “The nation whom they traffic with are the Ethiopians, who sell them skins of stags and lions, precious stones, skins and teeth of elephants, and droves of domestic animals. The richest furniture of these Ethiopians consists in _carved vases_, and of bottles of ivory. They wear beards and _long hair_; they are the most beautiful men on the earth: he who has the finest figure is chosen their chief. They are excellent horsemen, and very skilful archers. They drink milk, but also wine, which they make in great quantities from the vines that they cultivate. They have a large town, where the Phœnicians carry their merchandise. Some pretend that the Ethiopians inhabit a vast territory, extending from Egypt to the sea.” The skins, precious stones, ivory, herds of cattle, carved vases, ivory bottles, long hair, use of the bow and arrows, agree in an extraordinary manner with the representations in these plates. The large town, to which the Phœnicians traded, was, perhaps, Meroe.
This grand procession may perhaps be merely a representation of an amicable present made on the part of the Ethiopians to the king Thothmes; but as that Egyptian monarch waged war against Ethiopia, built the temple of Semneh, and left his name in an inscription on the rocks at Toumbos, this painting (particularly as it is depicted in the most conspicuous part of his tomb) may reasonably be supposed to represent either a tribute from the conquered regions, or the price at which Ethiopia obtained a peace.
[Illustration: From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.
GRAND PROCESSION._PART 4._
From a Tomb at Thebes.
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._
_Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._]
When Egypt grew into importance, before the commencement of those wars which were so fatal to the prosperity of the kingdom of Meroe, her colonies in that country would be a great source of wealth; receiving the manufactures of the mother country, and sending back in return the rich productions of the more northern valley of the Nile. The Bahr el Abiad and the Bahr el Azruk would enable her merchants to carry their manufactures among the wild natives of the interior. It is now impossible to say how far that commerce extended in that direction. The difference of religion, supposing it to have existed, was probably not very great, nor does history lead us to suppose, that there existed the same bigotry which now separates the Mahometan from the Pagan. The former religion, particularly at its commencement, was most intolerant; its believers being almost bound to propagate it with the sword. This will account for the little communication which, according to the tradition of the country, has existed for several centuries between the present inhabitants of Shendy, that is, Meroe, and the still wilder tribes of the interior. The Arab princes of this country made excursions into the interior, not as merchants, to exchange the produce of the land, and diffuse the seeds of knowledge and civilisation, but with arms in their hands, to force their weaker neighbours to embrace their faith, and, in later times, to drag their children into captivity; but we cannot suppose that a wise and civilised people could have adopted so impolitic a course. The account given by the historians of the different sects which existed, even in the kingdom of Meroe, prove that toleration was then allowed.
Meroe, therefore, possessed local advantages far greater than have been enjoyed by many great commercial states; and I now hope to show, that her internal resources, until exhausted or decayed, were sufficient to insure a continuation of that prosperity. Her great superiority over other states would consist, not only in the productions of the soil, but principally in her standing singly pre-eminent in civilisation. That science and knowledge of the arts, when applied to commerce, enriched her citizens, and enabled them to indulge their taste for luxury, for architectural ornament, and to encourage her artists. What was of greater importance, it would afford to many the means of devoting their lives to the pursuit of literature; the same activity would, of course, to a certain degree, be applied to the improvement of her manufactures, and the production of useful and ornamental articles, for which the natives of the interior would gladly give in exchange that precious metal, which is only valuable for what it procures.
My article on the state of the arts at Meroe will show the skill and science possessed by her inhabitants; which, with their wealth and commercial habits, would be employed in useful and elegant inventions, with their monopoly of which their uncivilised neighbours would be unable to interfere. I have stated in my topographical description of the pyramids of Meroe, how the evidence of all travellers—that a great part of the soil of Egypt, and the whole of the Delta, has been brought down from Ethiopia by the Nile,—agrees with the testimony of the historians, particularly of Diodorus, and the information they received in a country, the natives of which were more likely to conceal than invent such an account.
The first great source of the power of Meroe was probably the extreme fertility of her soil, and the abundance of her harvests. Those banks, which are now in a great many instances entirely covered by the sands of the desert, were doubtless then overspread with that rich soil which astonishes the traveller in Egypt, and her country was resorted to perhaps by the natives of less favoured climes, as the richest under the sun.[86] With regard to her mines, notwithstanding what Diodorus says, I suspect, as formerly stated, that this great source of her wealth was derived more from the centre of Africa; but it is true that the interior of the island has never yet been fully explored. If any remains of those riches now exist, access to them is almost impossible, at all events for an individual, in consequence of the number of ferocious and terrible animals with which that tract is infested.
I have described Meroe, such as she must have been in the zenith of her greatness,—the emporium of the commerce of interior Africa, the cradle and early seat of arts, science, and civilisation. Such was she in the height of her prosperity; but, as the sun which rises must set, and nation must succeed nation in the career of improvement, I must now endeavour to account for her gradual decline, and the chain of circumstances which finally caused her name to be erased from the list of kingdoms. The first cause perhaps was the failure of her internal resources, in consequence of the Nile carrying down yearly to Egypt a portion of her richest soil, and the deserts encroaching on her plains. She thus became dependent on foreign countries for an adequate supply of those necessaries, of which her territory perhaps formerly produced a superfluity. Those mines also, whether on her own territory or farther in the interior, which furnished such an abundance of the precious metal, would in course of time become exhausted; or accidental circumstances might interrupt her commercial intercourse with the countries which supplied them. Her inhabitants, finding the soil swept away by the Nile, would follow the course of the river, and establish themselves in Egypt. The latter country, besides the extraordinary advantages afforded by it to the cultivators, would, by instructions received from these Ethiopian colonies, almost immediately rise to an equal rank of civilisation and knowledge. We have seen that the same religion, the same mysteries, the same writing, and the same style of architecture, existed in the two countries. The land of Egypt would increase every year in fertility, and the tree of knowledge, planted in that genial soil, would spread wide its branches. The activity too of a more northern region, and the energies of a less corrupted nation, would raise the people of Egypt above those of Ethiopia, then perhaps become more luxurious, and consequently more indolent.
In the earliest ages, Meroe might have profited by a commerce with her Egyptian colonies; the markets of the latter country might, for a short time, have been supplied with produce and manufactures of Arabia and the Indies, from the mother country; but it is not to be supposed that the Egyptians would have been so deficient in intelligence, and the Arabians in common sense, as not to perceive the advantage of a direct communication.[87] The Egyptian ports of Myos Hormos and Berenice, and others, possessed also the advantage of being less distant from the river, and afforded to the Arabians the means of supplying rich and populous Egypt with the productions of the Indies and the peninsula. Philostratus (2 de Vitâ Apollonii, l. iii. c. 35.) says, that a certain prince named Eythus (who is supposed by some, but, I conceive, erroneously, to be Esau) dispossessed the Egyptians of their trade in the Red Sea, making a law, that they should not navigate that sea with more than one merchant ship at a time; but the Egyptians built one of immense size, to supply the place of several. Their trade at that time could not have been very extensive, if it could be carried on by any one vessel; but perhaps, as in the time of Joseph, who (see Genesis xxxvii. 25.) was sold by his brethren to a company of Ishmaelites, the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, 1730 B.C., travelling from Gilead, with their camels, bearing spices and myrrh for the Egyptian market, they had a considerable land commerce with the Arabians: the caravan I have just alluded to must, by the nature of the produce, have come from Arabia.
The Jews, in the time of Solomon, carried on a great trade in the Red Sea, and imported gold from Ophir. “And Huram sent him, by the hands of his servants, ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence 450 talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon.” (2 Chron. viii. 18.)—“And the Queen of Sheba (chap. ix. 9.) gave King Solomon 120 talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones.” And in the same chapter, 13th and 14th verses, we find that Solomon received, “in one year, 666 talents of gold, beside that which chapmen and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia brought gold and silver to Solomon.” These passages are important, as showing one particular district of Ethiopia, where gold was found in abundance. The gold brought by the chiefs of Arabia, I conceive not to have been the natural production of that country, but the fruit of their industry and commerce with the Ethiopians. As Solomon was son-in-law to the Pharaoh of Egypt, the latter was, probably, not excluded from the commerce. Ezekiel mentions Ethiopia as one of the upholders of Egypt; and (chapter xxx. verse 9.) he says, “In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt.” The expression “careless,” I conceive, alludes to the security which they, no doubt, felt in their power, and the natural protection their rocky cataracts afforded them for resisting an invader. Their being afraid of ships almost leads me to suppose that they could have had little or no navy, or wherefore that apprehension? for there is no doubt that their land army, even in the most distant times, was very great. I have shown, in my historical chapter, that Zerah, the Ethiopian, marched with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots.
But these remarks regard chiefly the navigation, for whether the produce was brought in the vessels of Eythus (whom I conceive to have been an Arabian king), of the Jews, or of the Tyrians (Strabo, c. 16.), or Syrians (_Id._ 17.), and eventually by the ships of the Ptolemies and Cæsars, little affects the question, as Egypt was, in every case, the emporium of the merchandise. That enterprising spirit and activity which always characterise a rising nation, would lead the Egyptians into the markets of the centre of Africa, and thus inflict another blow on the prosperity of Meroe. We know what Alexandria became, from the immense commerce with the East which it continued to enjoy, notwithstanding the impediments occasioned by the ignorance and barbarism of its governments, until the Portuguese discovery of the passage by the Cape. After that event, which led the commerce of the Indies into another channel, Alexandria and Kosseer dwindled into obscurity, having lost, as Meroe had previously done, that great source of wealth.
Strabo says, quoting from Cicero, that Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, drew from Egypt 12,500 talents, more than two millions and a half sterling. Diodorus only calculated the revenue at half that sum. The observations which Strabo afterwards makes are important. “If,” says he, “the revenue was so considerable, under the negligent and bad rule of that prince, what will it be now that it is governed with so much care, and that the commerce of the Indies and of the country of the Troglodites is increased so much; for formerly,” said he, “they counted only twenty vessels, who dared to advance beyond the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, whilst now considerable fleets sail to the Indies and to the extremities of Ethiopia, whence the most precious merchandise is brought into Egypt, and thence sent into other countries. In this manner they have a double tax on the imports and exports, in proportion to the value of the merchandise;” and he adds, that “Alexandria is the principal depôt for their merchandise, and the place of commerce which furnishes other countries with it in great abundance.” This account is curious, as it shows that, until the time of Strabo, the Egyptian trade with the Indians was not very extensive: its increase would naturally diminish the commercial relations of Meroe.[88]
It is also remarkable, that about the time when Meroe began to decline, Egypt was most famous for her commerce. Psammetichus, who reigned six centuries and a half before our era, almost immediately after the expulsion or retirement of the Ethiopian dynasty, gained great wealth by trade before he was King of Egypt. The richest and most magnificent tombs of private individuals, now remaining at Thebes, belong chiefly to that era, proving a degree of opulence unequalled at any other period.
I have shown, in my historical chapter, that, notwithstanding the diminution of the trade of Meroe with India and Arabia, she was still able to resist the armies of the Egyptians. The pyramids of Geezah and the tombs of Beni Hassan are proofs of the great wealth and power of the latter, even so early as the 16th dynasty; and during the 18th dynasty the Kings Thothmes, Amunoph, &c. invaded Ethiopia. Yet, notwithstanding the power of those princes, it seems, according to the evidence of Herodotus[89], and of the monuments themselves, that Rameses II. was the only Egyptian king who subdued Ethiopia; but a hero sprang up in the 8th century, who, in return, conquered Egypt. Shabak, and his successors Shabatok and Tahraka, reigned over that country forty-four years. The power of Meroe must have been very great, even at that period, to have enabled her armies to make such an important conquest, and extend her sway from Meroe to the Mediterranean. It is also wonderful that it should have been so little impaired by the diminution of her commerce, and the decline of her internal resources. I have described the power of the priests, whose influence was so great at the time of Ergamenes, who was contemporary to Ptolemy, that that prince, who had received a liberal education, had recourse to the violent measure of attacking and slaying them at their altars. The chief cause of the decline of Meroe was probably the injury this theocratic government had inflicted on the country; for we cannot suppose that the people would have submitted to the destruction of the ministers of their religion, had there not been some deep causes of complaint, and a general consciousness that their mismanagement and bigotry had plunged the country into distress. The lamentable decline of the arts at this period proves that the resources of the country were entirely occupied in maintaining a force sufficient to defend it from invasion, and its diminished commerce and wealth offered less means of encouragement to artists. War, not the fine arts and intellectual cultivation, was become the necessary occupation of the nation. The resources of Meroe, even for some time afterwards, must have been considerable, that their Queen Candace could check the Roman arms; but the expedition of Petronius, already described, ruining all the country between Syene and Napata, and destroying the cities which had escaped from the previous desolating war between the Ethiopians and the Egyptians, must have inflicted a deep blow on the prosperity of Meroe. That queen, indeed, followed the Roman army in its retreat, and finally, drove them from Premnis; but the long series of wars would, of course, hasten the decline of a country whose internal resources had long been gradually diminishing. Pliny says[90], that at the time of Candace, which name for many years the Ethiopian queens had assumed, there were few edifices in the city of Meroe; but, after mentioning the holy shrine of Hammon, and the small temple and chapels on the road, bearing testimony to the power of the Ethiopians, he describes the island as once of great renown, having an army of 250,000 men, and 400,000 artificers. The number of artificers, supposing even that in that class are comprised artists, craftsmen, manufacturers, and all labourers not agriculturists, is enormous, and proves a vast degree of industry and civilisation.
Even in the eighth century, after the country had become Christian, her monarchs were so powerful, that it was asserted, about the year 737, that the kings of Nubia and Ethiopia could bring into the field 100,000 horse, and as many camels. When Christianity was spread over Ethiopia, the painter’s and sculptor’s skill would be no longer necessary to make representations of their gods but the ministers of the gospel at that time were more occupied in schismatical disputes, and in making converts to their peculiar and often fanciful tenets, than in propagating the pure principles of their religion, dispelling the darkness of superstition, and advancing the civilisation and prosperity of the kingdom.
According to the tradition which I learned at Dongolah, in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet this country was conquered by the Arabs, and the inhabitants blended with the conquerors, who forced them to become Mussulmen, or drove them out of the country, probably into Abyssinia.
After all that has been said, those who view the present rude and degraded state of this territory may feel a difficulty in believing that it ever could be so enlightened and flourishing as I have now described it. They ought, however, to consider, that it is not more surprising that Meroe, under the uncivilised and ignorant dominion of the Arabs, would lose all knowledge of the arts, than that the little island of Rhodes, once eminent for power, civilisation, and commerce, should now, although not, like Meroe, deprived of her rich soil, be equally ignorant and barbarous. Syracuse, from the same cause, had risen to such a height of civilisation and power, as to be able to resist the vast efforts of the Athenians; and finally, with little assistance, inflict a deadly blow on the prosperity of the city of Minerva. What is Tunis, compared to Carthage? Where are Tyre and Sidon, the cities of Phœnicia? If it was necessary, numerous similar examples might be adduced, of the vicissitudes to which kingdoms and cities are liable. Sufficient reasons have been assigned for the downfall of Meroe. The failure of her commerce; her rich soil carried away, or swallowed up by the deserts, and the consequent diminution of her population; her mines exhausted, and the active rivalry of a nation finally more powerful; the long and ruinous wars with Egypt; and at last the Arabian conquest, swept away every trace of her affluence and civilisation: the invaders, with a brand in one hand, burning her libraries[91] and edifices, and in the other the sword, forcing her subjects to embrace a different faith, and renounce the arts and knowledge of their ancestors.
In a country where the arts are now totally unknown, and which is become little better than a desert, it is not surprising to find commerce reduced to the mere exchange of the most absolute necessaries of life, and a few trifling superfluities. Small caravans occasionally go from Shendy to Abyssinia. Sometimes the rulers of the latter country do not permit them to enter their dominions, and civil wars not unfrequently put an entire stop to the trade; but when, as is generally the case, the merchants succeed in procuring an entrance, they inform me that the profits on their Cairo goods are enormous. They receive in exchange a little ivory; gold, the value of which is several dollars per ounce lower there than in Egypt; a very fine species of cotton scarf, much esteemed and worn by the Abyssinian women in the Turkish harems, and the Abyssinian coffee; which, although not equal to the Mocha, is almost the only kind drunk in Nubia: but their chief return is in slaves. The wars which generally distract that unfortunate country furnish to each state abundance of these victims, which, like cattle, are exchanged with the merchant for the luxuries of Egypt: few are the Turks who have not Abyssinian girls in their harems, and I have seen numerous eunuchs brought from that country. It is horrid to think that beings called Christians should be guilty of such enormities; but there is no doubt of the fact. The slaves, whether girls or boys, by compulsion or inclination, invariably become Mahometans.
A caravan also occasionally goes to Souakim, where they get India stuffs, Mocha coffee, and a great part of the spices, the use of which is so general. Small caravans also go to Kordofan and Darfour. In the former of these countries the Pasha of Egypt monopolises the richest produce, as gum, ivory, and ostrich feathers; but Kordofan is the chief mart of the negro slaves. The jealousy of the King of Darfour against any persons going or coming from the dominions of the Pasha of Egypt, at whose power he trembles, prevents that commerce being now very extensive. The merchants are very illiterate, and in general extremely debauched. Even their interest does not check their dissoluteness, or protect the honour of their poor Abyssinian female slaves. The supply of gold is very much diminished: some, however, is still found, and of the finest quality; but in every direction the caravans regard slaves as the most advantageous exchange for their goods. They drive them like cattle over the burning sands, and, what I have been an eye-witness to, over the bones of their brethren which lie bleaching in the desert. The ingenuity of their masters seems to be exercised, not in alleviating their pains, but in devising how to economise their own purses, by discovering on how little and how coarse food their victims can exist, and what extent of fatigue and suffering they can endure, and still remain saleable. In the district which we have seen to have been once the emporium of the East, there remains only this miserable traffic. Instead of palaces and splendid edifices, there are now only rude and miserable huts. Of the power, civilisation, and wealth of Meroe, not a vestige remains to corroborate the testimony of the historians but a few small temples, and the splendid sepulchres of her departed kings.