CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDO\VMENT FUND GIVEN IN 189I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Date Due i\pp t 1 irtir u'^ 1948 t)CT==* inc.o ft 7i irt^i rarv lo MSY ^lUL an Cornell University Library DT 83.N53 Short history of ancien Egypt, 3 1924 028 676 199 olin iV'A '« Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028676199 A SHORT HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. Frontispiece Map I M. "" — ^ > c 4^%AS^ ^_Ju^a--x^ "ompHj^ ^ 1 0. H — t^'M 1 UJ Asw f ~~r 1 -—J^ irtufr 1 ^ 4^/ lACl^TsEA A M fif AN SEa\ :^ »1 V. ^. \ i'rfrft ihirr i ^0"''^'^7 i '*' EGYPT AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. A SHORT HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT BV PERCY E. NEWBERRY, Autlwr of '' Bcni Hasan," ''El BetThek," '' Rekhmara," ''The Amlursi Papyri" <&*<:., AND JOHN GARSTANG, Reader in Egyptian ArcJuEology^ University of Liverpool, Auiho of " The Third Egyptian Dynasty,^'' &^c. Itonb-on: ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO., Ld. 1904. HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY, ST. martin's LANE. CONTENTS. PAGE I.— DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY i II.— THE ARCHAIC PERIOD ... 6 (i) Primitive Conditions of the Country ... ... 6 (ii) Early A/aji ... ... ... ... ... ... ^^.^ (iii) Early Burial Cti^tovis ... ... ... ... \^\ (iv) Foreign Influences ... ... ... ... ... ii (v) Tribal Chieftains ... ... ... ... ... 14 { vi ) Founding of the Monarchy ... ... ... ... 16 (vii) Mena and his Desce7ida7its... ... ... ... xo (viii) Religion and Civilisation ... ... ... ... i 2.2 ) - (ix) Sanctity and Power of the Sovereign ... ... 24 (x) Closing of the Archaic Period ... ... ... 26 HI.— EGYPT UNDER THE MEMPHITE RULE ... 30 (i) Foreig7i Relations and Influe7ices ... ... ... 30 (ii) Religion ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 (iii) Social Co7iditio7is ... ... ... ... ... 3^ (iv) Political Conditio7is... ... ... ... ... 38 (v) The Artny a7ia State Officials ... ... ... 41 (vi) The Ji/o7iarchy ... ... ... ... ... 43 (vii) The Ki7igs ... ... ... ... ... ... 4^ IV.— EGYPT DURING THE FEUDAL PERIOD ... 48 (i) The Feudal Chieftai7is ... ... ... ... 48 (ii) The Chief tai7is'' Courts ... 49 (iii) Rebellio7t ifi the Sotith ... ... ... ... 52 (iv) Rise of the Theha7i Power ... ... ... ... 53 (v) Constitutio7i tmder the First Theha7i Ki7igs ... 55 {y'l) A7nene7nhat I. re-establishes the Monarchy ... 57 (vii) Dec li7ie of Feudal Power ... ... ... ... 5^ VI EARLY THEBAN v.— EGYPT UNDER THE RULERS ... (i) Architecture and Art (ii) Sculpture (iii) Liter attire VL— THE HYKSOS PERIOD (i) The Rise of the Hyksos Pcnver (ii) The Hyksos Kings ... VH,— PERIOD OF THE THEBAN EMPIRE (i) The Royal Family ... (ii) Power of the Sovereign (iii) The Army and Foreign Conquests (iv) Fo7'eign Trade (v) Foreign Intercourse and Influences ( vi ) A rts and Industries ... (vii) Domestic Architecture (viii) Public Bttildings (ix) Social Gondii io7ts -- (x) The Religious Movement ... (xi) Last of the Conquerors VriL— THE PERIOD OF DECLINE (i) The Changing Conditions ... (ii) The P^Hes Is and Priest- Kings (iii) The Libyan Mercenaries and Kings IX.— THE DISINTEGRATION OF EGYPT (i) The Rise and Dominance of Ethiopia (ii) The Insurrection of Tefnekht (iii) The Assyrian Invasions X.— THE EGYPTIAN RENAISSANCE .. (i) Rise of the Saite House (ii) Foreign Relations ... PAGE 60 60 61 62 64 64 66 69 69 70 73 78 82 84 85 87 ^1 88 89 92 92 93 93 95 95 96 97 99 99 100 XL— THE PERSIAN INVASION AND THE FINAL CONQUEST 102 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 104 INDEX 105 VI I LIST OF MAPS, I. — Egypt and Neighbouring Countries ... Frontispiece. 11. — Egypt under the Earliest Dynasties .. Page 17 III. — Egypt under the Feudal Period ... „ 50 IV. — Egypt under the Empire ... ... • .. ,, 79 IX INTRODUCTORY NOTE. The purpose of these pages is to present a short history of Ancient Egypt from the founding of the monarchy until the disintegration of the empire 3,000 years afterwards. The material for such a work has for many years been accumu- lating, and we therefore venture to lay before those interested in Egypt and the students of allied subjects this attempt at an interpretation of the existing material upon historical principles. The progress which research has made, both in Egypt upon the ancient sites and in the study of the original language and literature, has seemed to us sufficient authority for setting aside the traditions of later historians, and accepting instead the evidence of the monuments as the ground for the opinions we have expressed. It has been our aim to make no statement which does not rest upon the substantial basis of a fact. Many of our opinions are new, and they express our mutual explanation of the real meaning of the monuments, arrived at often only after prolonged consideration. Opinions of others may naturally differ from these interpretations, and in this respect criti- cism which aims in scientific spirit at unravelling the real history will be welcomed. Believing the general course of Egyptian history to be continuous, we have avoided in the following pages, so far as possible, any use of those terms and arbitrary divisions of periods which tend to suggest repeated breaks in the sequence ot events. Chronology is certain only as far back as 1600 B.C. ; for dates before that time the latest possible year has been appended. P. E. N. J. G. University of Liverpool, September^ 1903- A SHORT HISTORY OF ANC lENT EGYPT. L— DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. Egypt lies in the valley of a single river. The Nile, to which the country owes its life, receives its waters from the great lakes in the heart of Africa and from the Abyssinian mountains ; it empties itself into rhe Mediter- ranean at the north-eastern corner of the continent. Though flowing for 2,000 miles through desolate regions its banks are mostly fertile, owing to accretions of vegetable mould brought down annually by the river when in flood. Below Khartiim, where the main streams unite, it receives only one tributary, the Atbara, and thence it pursues a solitary course, until at Cairo, about a hundred miles from the sea, it divides into numerous branches which find their several ways into the iMediterranean. For the greater part of this distance it winds through the Sudan and Nubia over beds of sandstone ; but from near Aswan, where it enters Egypt oyer an arm of granite stretched out from the east, it keeps a more northerly direction, winding only within the limits of a continuous valley worn down in former ages from the limestone deserts on either hand. The course of the river is broken in several places by shallows and B 2 Description of the Country. rapid fallings, which render navigation difficult in its upper reaches ; but from Aswan, where the last of these obstacles is passed, the river flows on placidly between its level banks. These banks are indeed the land of Egypt. Having themselves been deposited in past time by the Nile, which now works a sinuous and changing course between them, they extend a flat surface of varying width on either hand. These strips of cultivable soil give way in turn to sands gently rising above the influence of the water, which are themselves bounded by the steep uniform edges of the great deserts lying to the east and west. These unvarying ridges of limestone form the natural boundaries of Egypt and the valley of the Nile. They are generally not more than 20 miles apart, and the long fertile plain between them averages only half that width, the remainder being barren and un watered sands. Sometimes, however, the appearance becomes varied. The river for a considerable length through Upper Egypt hugs the eastern cliffs, and the strip of land is there- fore narrow on that side ; sometimes it gives way entirely where the rocks creep westward to the water's edge. In these places the river flows strangely between the bare desert on the right and the fertile country on the left. At one place in the south of Egypt the hills on both sides approach so closely that the river here flows between pillars of rock rising up on either hand. Doubt- less in former ages the water has forced this passage through a continuous ridge of yielding sandstone, wearing down a great fall in long sequence of years to a rapid, until eventually the river reached its present level. This mountain chain, called Gebel Silsileh, through which the river flows as it were through a doorway of stone, divides The Egyptian Deserts. 3 the strip of cultivable soil completely, and formed in earliest days the natural boundary to Egypt on the south. Above, the banks are narrow, and the granite spur which crosses above Aswan has still, to some extent, resisted the erosive action of the water. Below, the banks are wider, and the white limestone soon appears in a uniform ridge on either side, in one place drawing near and then again receding, but forming an unending boundary to the horizons of the east and west. Though seemingly continuous, these cliffs are broken here and there by deep gorges and ravines leading down from the higher desert beyond. These are for the most part dry, but during occasional rainstorms, which usually recur at intervals of several years, they collect and fill rapidly with water, which pours down precipitously towards the plain. After these deluges a sc9.nty herbage sometimes makes its appearance, struggling on for existence against the heat and dryness for some length of time. On the eastern side, where the ground lying towards the Red Sea becomes bold and mountainous, a few of these gorges assume a greater importance, leading away continuously like natural causeways to the coast. In them water sometimes collect^, and here and there is some cultivable soil which supports a few nomadic or desert- living people. On the western side, however, the great Libyan plateau stretches out vast and monotonous, inter- rupted only at a distance of 100 miles by a continuous series of depressions, naturally watered, in whrch the oases nestle in seclusion, threatened on every side with oblitera- tion by sands blown from the surrounding desert. Save for these unseen additions, Upper Egypt is thus a narrow strip of land, about 10 miles across, quite level, which the Nile fertilises, and through which it winds continuously for nearly 600 miles from Aswan to Cairo. Though uniform in B 2 4 Description of the Country. general aspect it is not altogether monotonous or dis- pleasing in appearance. The enduring impression is that of a continuous strip of green, varied here and there by tall palm trees and occasionally a village, lying between rose-pink and yellow walls, while over all the blue sky is dazzling with intensity of light. The northern portion, however, is quite different. Between the river^s spread- out arms the rich alluvial plain is well watered by many channels. Rain is not infrequent, and towards the coast the climate is not unlike that of Southern Europe. Here small copses of trees and undergrowth are more abundant ; while the sycamore fig-tree and the date palm add variety to the fields of rice and cotton. The south country is equally fertile, but is watered with some difficulty by means of long canals and irrigation works, in which the flood-water of high Nile is retained for use during the drier season. Here the crops are different in general character, cereals being chiefly cultivated, and towards the harvest the land wears the aspect of an unending plain golden with ripening corn, interspersed here and there by fields of sugar-cane or vegetables. The upper and lower parts of Egypt are thus far distinct in character and climate, and in relation to their surroundings ; both, however, are fed by the same river, and not being separated by any definite landmark, they form naturally a united Egypt. But this fertile valley will not yield its abundant harvests without unremitting care and labour on the part of those who cultivate its soil. Through all time past the Nile, fed by tropical rains, has yearly spread its waters over the level plains through which it flows, depositing over the soil a layer of fertilising mould brought down from the Abyssinian hills. The height of this inundation is inconstant and an ever-present anxiety. If the water rise tob high it flows The Inundation. ' 5 swiftly on, and would not, left to itself, deposit this necessary sediment ; if too low, then the land remains unwatered, baked, and sterile. The regulation of this overflow is thus vital to the country. The water is now drawn into canals and channels, ^nd by help of embankments, nicely engineered, it is divided in due measure throughout the country. To utilise this phenomenon to the full, the farmer must be ever watchful and always toiling. II.— THE ARCHAIC PERIOD. / (i) Primitive Conditions of the Country. Before the water was thus controlled, the land in its primitive condition was full of swamps, and the drier ground thick with undergrowth and trees. The Nile itself, choked in its sluggish course by thickly growing weeds, water lilies, and tall papyrus rushes, shifted con- stantly, leaving behind stagnant pools. In these marshes lived the crocodile and hippopotamus. In the low jungle and in the tamarisk and mimosa scrub were found the elephant, the giraffe, the wild ox, and the hog. In the deserts and on the outskirts of the unclaimed land were the lion and leopard, and presumably the tiger also. Their prey were the bubale, the oryx, the ibex, and the addax, as well as smaller kinds of the antelope family. The ostrich also was present, but, like most of the ancient fauna, has since retreated before the advance of civilisation. It is on the upper reaches only of the Nile that any resemblance to this primitive condition may still be found, and there is reason to believe that the fauna and flora of the whole valley were much more uniform in ancient times than now. The fox and the jackal, the hyena, and occasionally a wolf, still make their lairs in the desolate cliffs that fringe the country. The wild cat, too, is common. The Egyptian cobra and the deadly asp also are found ; while among the birds are the eagle, the vulture, and the hawk. While bright-plumed birds are not uncommon, songsters are rare. Prehistoric Conditions. 7 The ox, the goat, the ass, and the dog were already domesticated by the earliest historic settlers. V (ii) Early Man. From this wild state the land has been reclaimed for settlement and cultivation by human agency. The marshes have been drained, the jungle cleared, the wild animals slain or driven southward, and all the forces adverse to civilisation restrained by the hand of man working unre- mittingly from the beginning. It is not possible to say whence or when the people came who began this work. The earliest civilisations of the world have been found sequesterec^ on the banks of great rivers, like the Yangtse, the Ganges, fhe Euphrates, or the Nile. Of the two latter, modern research has shown that the Euphrates had long nurtured a civilisation which had already advanced far, before that of Egypt awoke. But in a country naturally so productive, situated, too, at the junction of two great continents, it is reasonable to expect traces of human inhabitants at a very early date. Stone weapons of palaeolithic character, indeed, ~i are found, mostly in desert places. Some of these doubtless are the rougher implements of a later age ; but others, particularly those found in caves or on the high plateau, seem to indicate the presence of man in the earliest recognised stage of culture. This age was followed by one more advanced, if indeed ' it be right to read back from the evidences of later times, and to draw inference from the sequence of events in other lands. First Man had learned, either spontaneously or profiting by the experience of others, to fashion better implements, and to improve in general the necessaries of existence. For his increasing needs he slowly elaborated 8 Early Man. his finely-worked flint knife, using still his rougher weapon, as in former times, for rougher purposes. He persevered, still learning and still making, and so progressing. Upon him next dawned the possibility of using metal, brought, maybe, from the hills of Sinai. His copper needles were much more serviceable, though not so pleasing, as the older ones of bone. The copper knife which he then made proved much more durable than that of flint. So he adopted this newer art, and was stimulated thereby to further progress. Relieved to some extent of the incessant struggle for exist- ence, he turned to improve the conditions of his life. His dwelling was better built, his pottery less rude, with some show of decoration, and he adorned his person and those of his household with small ornaments fashioned in his leisure moments. His mind, too, began to dwell upon those impressions of his surroundings which generations of his forefathers had observed and handed down. Each day the sun went down, only to rise again with renewed brilliance when the time of darkness was over. From sleep, in which for a time he seemed to leave his mortal body, he awoke to life refreshed. The year withered and died, but each spring came back unfailingly, buoyant and green. Changes he observed in order, but cessation was nohow suggested. Therefore death — so like to sleep — seemed nothing but a phase ; and obedient to ihis instinct, he placed the best of all his trinkets and vases in the graves of his dead for use and adornment in the coming state. It is at this stage that the light of research reveals him. (iii) Early Burial Customs, The permanence of the burial customs shows how real this religious instinct was, and how deeply it had already Early Burial Custofns. 9 permeated the heart of the people. It is, indeed, chiefly from the furniture of the tombs that archaeology has been able to trace the history of the national life and art through more than five thousand years. However many the varying phases in religion and ritual, politics and state, through this long cycle of years the main belief of the people in a future life never altered. The vast solitudes and dangers that encircled the Egyptian, the industry that nature demanded of him, the dry cold of the winter winds and the relentless heat of the long summer months, gave a tinge of solemnity and sadness to his character. No singing bird gladdened his ear, no changes of scenery rejoiced his eye, no prospect of sudden plenty cheered his heart. He grew to regard present life as a time allowed for preparations necessary to the future that would bring relief. Other peoples under different skies have framed a different aspect to their thoughts. The Greek, whose isles were among dancing seas, whose green uplands were made bright by the sparkle_ of streams, saw first the happiness of youth and living. But the Egyptian clung to his sombre deities for protection from a world full of evils. The heroes of his fancy were possessed/ of superhuman or unnatural powers, and the battles they fought were a doubtful struggle between darkness ana light. ^ Remote though the period is in point of time, yet the civilisation which these earliest graves reveal was already advanced and possessed some degree of luxury. In them have been found, doubtless, the best products of their art, articles of personal adornment, beads of gold, coloured stones and shells, glazed objects, and ornaments carved in ivory. The fine working of stone, characteristic of the age, is seen alike in numerous vases of diorite and Egyptian alabaster, with some of the rarer varieties, as in the flint lo ' Fre-dynastic Civilisation. knives and bracelets, more skilfully finished than anything which the neolithic age of Europe produced. The pottery of this time, mostly made by hand, is more highly poHshed and more elaborately decorated than any of the later historic period. At first the art of working copper is found to be incipient, but it progressed and persevered simultaneously with other features of this culture into historic times. It is impossible, therefore, to separate this period from that which followed by any term such as prehistoric. The elements of the culture remained the same long after the use of writing became common. The life of the people, too, was possessed already of some social system. The houses were grouped together as settlements, being made of wicker, plastered with mud, and strengthened sometimes by wooden posts. Food was cooked in large pots of coarse texture placed over the fire of twigs. A few store vessels, large and . not well made, held the grain and products of the soil. Vast numbers of flint chippings and cores strewn about, mingled with the bones of fish and cattle, and even of the crocodile, reveal the daily occupations of the people. Great hoes of flint, smoothly polished on the working side, show that the ground was cultivated with toil and care. The conditions thus disclosed are primitive, but this rainless climate demands no special attention to the dwelling-house or to the conditions of living. Though simple in construc- tion, the grouping of these dwellings sho\ys also the elements of a village system. The numerous standards, the emblems of different families, clans, or districts, which they painted upon the vases of pottery, suggest a distinction and separation of communities, each tribe owing allegiance to its chief. The Archaic Period, ii (iv) Foreign Influences. These divisions are the natural outcome of the mingled elements of the people, fostered as they were by the peculiar length and narrowness of the valley. United only as the papulation of a common country, they were none the less derived indigenously from various stocks, fed from as many sources. The boundaries of the country lay open to influences from every side : from the west by the coast, from Central Africa across the deserts, from the south down the upper reaches of the Nile, and from the south-east by the natural roadways leading from the Red Sea to Upper Egypt. On the east again the continuous strip of land that joins the continents, and on the north the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, made easier dirtct contact between Lower ^ , Egypt and the early civihsations of Western Asia. Thfl ^^ subsequent history of the country shows that through all time these influences were active, varying only in intensity from their several sources, and the evidence of thel^ja^^e finally adopted by the composite naypn^Kc^-^i^^^'^D&iment elements of the Semitic c\\2iX2iJ^j§a^i^^s^g\\\.tr but still definite traces from Africa on^^thq/^mh and west. The writing also in its earliest feffn betrays the direct influence of the Asiatic pictoriaj^stem. Yet these same cfiannels, while they tempted the sporadic incomings of individuals or parties, almost forbade by their intrinsic difficulties the incursions of numerously constituted hordes. The desert journeys were long and full of peril , the Nile was baned by dangerous cataracts, and the sea- coast was bound by treacherous winds and currents, making the approaches dangerous. While, therefore, the valley was exposed to influence, it was equally free from chance of violent interruption. Thus the people were radically ^^ 1 2 ' Pre- dynastic Period, indigenous, though derived from mingled elements. The culture also, and later the written language, grew like the nation that fostered them upon the soil of Egypt, remaining through all time permanent in characteristics, changing only in response to the impulse of the different streams of influence that continued to pour in from every side by the natural arteries of the country. How general these influences were, and how widely separated, may be seen at a glance. The marks upon the early pottery vessels of Egypt illustrate the existence of a system of pictorial expression, the traces of which have been found in nearly all countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It prevails among the Berber tribes of North-West Africa, is found in Spain, Italy, Greece, and the Eastern Islands ; it is traced in Asia Minor, and later formed a basis for the Phoenician alphabet. In Egypt it remained as it had commenced, a mere system of signs persevering through the historic period and preserving its character unaltered, concurrently with the written language of the country. From the Libyan Desert, also, and from the coast of the Red Sea, some relations may be traced in archaeological details. But from what may be gleaned of the simpler culture prevailing in these directions, it would seem natural to look for a more marked effect upon the civilisation of Egypt coming from Western Asia and the opposite coasts and islands of the Mediterranean. The distant valley of the Euphrates was already possessed of a civilisation more advanced, and the way was open for mutual intercourse across the plains of Southern Syria. In the earliest examples of formal expression by signs, impressed by means of cylindrical stone seals upon which the pictures were clit, there is seen a definite influence in general motive and in detail of form, at the very beginning Foreign Influences. 13 * of the historic period. On one of the earliest engraved monuments of the country, also, which depicts a conflict between the south and north of Egypt in which the formef were victorious, there is found incorporated a strange mythological animal which finds its closest analogies on Mesopotamian carvings. It is here distinctly associated with the conquered, and included in the victor's spoils. Archaeology has detected also in Crete and in Egypt, not only the evidences of direct contact and reciprocal influences, but also the existence of another civilisation which lends character to both. In all these instances relation between Egypt and the early centres of culture was nearest through the northern provinces of the Delta. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that the civilisation of the north was in earhest times advanced far beyond that of the south. Several facts are significant in this connectiortr When the early historic movements led to the uniting of the ^ kingdoms, the victory of the south was followed by a notable manifestation of the art of writing and carving in hieroglyphic characters. An early monument shows that a number of kings reigned in Lower Egypt before this union took place ; and in later times many towns in Upper Egypt were called by names derived from older places in the Delta. Beyond ■ this little can be said. The civilisation of Egypt before the time of the kings is known only from objects rescued from the desert sands of the upper country. Archaeology has not yet done anything to illuminate the early ages of the northern portion, and it remains for further investigation to show- how far intercourse had influenced the civilisation of the Delta, and how far this had permeated inio the Upper Valley of the Nile. How far the proximity of different influences tended to accentuate any radical differences of race can only be 14 Pre-dynastic Period, inferred from the distinctions subsequently maintained between the North and the South. From earliest historic times walled fortresses marked the frontiers of the districts ; fierce wars preceded the ultimate union of the two peoples, and when eventually united under a common ruler, each country jealously demanded its national emblem in the diadem belonging to the double throne. Though the southern country was exposed from all sides to constant and differing influences, traceable even in the monuments of the early period, yet no event occurred in the course of subsequent history sufficiently violent or disturbing to change radically the established culture of its people. The care bestowed on the burial of the dead, the forms of graves and the character of the offerings, and the com- plicated mythology of later times, all illustrate a natural and unchecked development from these earliest ages. Change is apparent, but is gradual, being the natural consequence of existing conditions. It must follow, therefore, that the characteristics of the people remained radically constant, changing only in response to the same influences that render visible the changes in their culture. (v) Tribal Chieftains. The differences of surrounding influences, indeed, were not more potent than the already inherent differences of race among the population. From earliest times there are Judications of petty tribes and territorial divisions, defined by the standards of the chiefs and the emblems of the presiding guardian deities. From what may be seen of the growth of the constitution, illuminated but dimly by the first light of historical record, it would appear that the early ages of the nation's growth were marked by the same Tribal Divisions, 1 5 inter-tribal struggles that are found generally among people^ in primitive conditions. A second stage sees a union ot- neighbouring tribes, induced by conquest or by the ascendance of a ruler mutually acceptable. How numerous these tribal divisions really were may be seen from the many emblems painted upon the pottery and vases of the earliest character ; and the primitive conditions are reflected by the naturalistic symbols, the forms of different birds and animals, spears and arrows, and the like, selected by these people as their standards. A carved slate of somewhat later date illustrates the dismantling of fortified towns by a number of allied provinces represented by the different creatures that gave them names. The districts of the hawk, the lion, the two hawks, the scorpion, and others, are here found associated ; and some of these names are found again on the permanent territorial divisions of historic times. The chronicles of the country, too, record repeated efforts of the district princes to assert themselves, reflecting closely these earlier struggles of the tribal chiefs. The union of the tribes in battle implies the dominance of a common leader, who becomes their ruler also in the-^ time of peace. The first page of Egyptian history opens with the deeds of one named The Scorpion, under whom a number of tribes are found already united. He was the chieftain of the Hawk district of Upper Egypt, which bordered on the then southern boundary of the country. Thence he led his allied forces northward against the neighbouring peoples that resisted his authority, and, after conquering them, celebrated his victory in a festival of song and dancing. He then wears for the first time the white crown that thenceforth becomes the emblem of sovereignty over Upper Egypt. No longer the tribal 1 6 Union of the Tribes. [before chieftain of earlier days, he assumed to himself the style^ and title of a king. In the process of this development it is obvious that geographical conditions are ultimately dominant. The tribes of Upper Egypt and the tribes of Lower Egypt severally united into two great nations, and the penultimate ^ stage resolved itself into a struggle between these two for the ascendancy. The distinction between the two was so marked by nature that it seems to have embittered and accentuated a warfare which left an indelible impress upon the style of the monarchy when ultimately the King of the South established his supremacy over all. The frontier of Lower Egypt seems to have marked the boundary of The Scorpion's victory ; his kingdom extended from Gebel Silsileh in the south to near the entrance to the Fayum on the north. It remained, however, for another chieftain of the Hawk district to lead on the allied tribes to further conquest. (vi) Founding of the Monarchy. The name of this prince has been read Narmer,"^ and, to judge from certain archaeological features of the monu- ments, he followed probably upon The Scorpion in direct succession. It is clear that he commanded the same forces, that he was attended by a similar retinue, and that he succeeded to the established throne of Upper Egypt At first the western district on his northern frontier claimed attention. The people dwelling in the swampy marshes of the low-lying district to the west, reclaimed in later tknes, * The better-known reading is retained, although Bezau is probably a more correct transcription of the name. B.C. 3000] Earliest Dynasties. 17 MapB MED/7ERRAN 30 E of Greenwich 31 Durbishirr t Stanfbrd. I " dt foi EGYPT UNDER THE EARLIEST DYNASTIES. V 1 8 Founding of the Monarchy. [before and now the fertile country of the Faylam, held aloof from the united kingdom of the south. Against them Narmer first directed his army, and, aided by his patron god, the Hawk, defeated them. He next turned himself to decide the sovereignty of Egypt. At the head of his forces Narmer marched northward, and the frontiers which had opposed his predecessor gave way before him. Entering through the portal of the Northern Kingdom, he vanquished as he went ; thousands of the enemy were slain, and " one hundred and twenty thousand " were taken prisoners. Among the spoils were " four hundred thousand oxen " and " one million four hundred and twenty thousand goats." The king celebrated his victory with all the ostenta- tion of a conqueror. Laying aside his white crown, he assumed the red crown of Lower Egypt in the presence of his assembled army and of his captives bound before him ; the goddess of his far-off capital in the south hovered above, protecting him. Long afterwards it is found that a ceremony attended the coronation of the Pharaohs similar to that which he had in this way initiated. Returning to Hierakonpolis, his native city, in triumph, he dedicated magnificent monuments of his victories at the shrine of his gods. It is by these — a mace head and a palette, both richly carved with scenes in low relief — that the story of his conquests has been handed down. Possibly it was he who caused The Scorpion's deeds to be recorded also in this way ; for in the style of workmanship, which is alike in all these objects, there is distinctly traceable the handiwork of a special school of craftsmen. The prevailing style of work, as well as the mythological emblems employed, suggest a close relationship with the earliest culture of the distant Euphrates valley. It may be that among his captives Narmer brought back to^ Upper Egypt the people who had / / .V' B.C. 3000] The First Dynasty. 19 performed this work — artists who had been schooled in the Northern Kingdom under the nearer influences of Western Asia. The history of analogous movements elsewhere makes it probable that the conquered imposed the best products of their higher culture upon their conquerors. It was thus in the final and inevitable conflict that a king of Upper Egypt wrested .the sovereignty of Lower Egypt from the royal family of the north, and united the two countries by the force of arms. (vii) Mena and his Descendants. •^" The prince who first succeeded to the double crown was Mena, famous in tradition and in literature as the founder of the monarchy. Probably he was the son of Narmer, who bequeathed it to him. The name of Mena appears upon a cylinder-seal associated with that of Narmer, possibly as his heir-apparent."^ Objects found at Abydos, where the names are associated, suggest that both these princes were really buried in the necropolis, which in later times was revered as the abiding place of the earliest demi-gods and kings. The royal mother was presumably Neith-hetep, whose name is found, together with that of Mena, upon small objects from the royal tombs of this time at Abydos and Nagadeh. This association of the king's name with that of his royal mother has many parallels' in the later history of the country, and is significant in regard to the hereditary character of the succession to the established monarchy. The composition of Neith-hetep's name suggests that she * The alternative interpretation would identify this Mena with Narmer himself, but the question cannot be answered from the evidence available. — September, 1903. C 2 20 Mena and his Descendants, [before was a princess of Sais the capital of Lower Egypt, where Neilh was the presiding goddess; so by her alHance she united the royal families of the rival countries, and pro- duced, in the person of her son, a royal heir to the throne of United Egypt. The title which accompanies her name shows clearly that it was her marriage which cemented the alliance of the two kingdoms. She bears the title of The Consort : the only other royal name associated with hers at Nagadeh is that of Narmer ; and certain archaeological details in the inscribed documents of the age link up these reigns very closely. Mena was called The Fighter, and among his deeds it is recorded that he warred against the people of Ta-khent on his southern frontier. It was he who first brought this important province, lying between Silsileh and Aswan, under the yoke of the Egyptian kingdom. He also strengthened the fortifications of his western province in the Fayum. Tradition ascribes to him the founding of Memphis, which shortly afterwards became the capital of the United Kingdom. If is not to be inferred necessarily that the seat of his government was transferred, but it may be believed that he established or used the position of Memphis as a convenient centre for the administration of his acquired kingdom in the Delta. It is even possible to read back from the later fame and description of this walled city, that in earlier days it had already played a prominent part as a frontier fortress, dividing the two kingdoms of the north and south during their struggles. The now pacified condition of the country is revealed by the hunting scenes that show him catching wild cattle in a net; and an act of peculiar interest and significance was his visit to Sais, the capital of his northern people, to make offerings at the shrine of Neith, the pro- tecting goddess of his royal mother. B.C. 3ooo] The First Dynasty. 21 Shortly after his death he was deified as the founder of the monarchy, and in ceremonials through all the ages that followed he received a reverence equal to that accorded to the gods. In the processions of priests that accompanied religious rites in the time of Rameses the Great, 2,000 years later, his statue was carried first before all other kings. It cannot be that in this tradition erred. In his person he unified the monarchy of Egypt, and he founded the system of government that, with occasional breaks, remained para- mount in the Nile valley through the 3,000 ytars of dynastic history that followed. The culture and civilisation of his time are those of the period in which he lived, nor can any special industry or art be traced separately in its origin to his reign. Objects from the tombs show a familiarity with carving and inscribing, modelling and incising, which are characteristic of the age. There is no sudden change for better or for worse observable in those few memorials of him which have survived. From this time the succession to the monarchy continued to be hereditary, and, as in later times, the crown might be handed down by the female side ; but the traditional king- list of the First Dynasty agrees with the evidence of the monuments to show that the male line remained unbroken until eight kings had severally succeeded to the throne. Their seats of government were several. The walled city of Memphis near Sakkareh, and traditionally Thys, the site of which is lost, but is limited by archaeological discoveries to the vicinity of Abydos, continued to remain important centres of administration in the middle country. In the Delta was Sais, the capital of the north, where, under the name Het-bity, had stood the original palace of the northern kings. From here the princesses of the royal -J 2 2 Religion and Civilisation. [before line seem to have intermarried with the southern kings on more than one occasion, moving southward with their train of courtiers and attendant women. Near it was the religious centre and necropolis of Busiris. Far away to the south, at the opposite boundary of the kingdom, was Hierakonpolis, the original stronghold of the upper country and birthplace of the early kings, presided over by the vulture goddess of El Kab. % (viii) Religion and Civilisation, With each important town there was associated a separate deity with special attributes, surviving from the local worship incidental to the tribal ages. The gradual fusion of the people and their ideas, that followed naturally on their union as a nation, led to the identification of their gods and goddesses under varying conditions, from which the complicated mytholog'y of later times evolved. But no special illustration reveals the manners and customs of the earliest dynastic period. The essential features of the culture remained the same. Changes of state could not eradicate nor severely change the character of the people in a land where Nature is herself unvarying. The country was now freed from persistent warfare ; the absence of battle scenes and conflicts familiar on the earlier monuments makes it easier to see the picture of a people turning from their primitive instincts to husbandry, and to the development of those arts of which they had already given promise. The drainage and cultivation of the land, the reclamation of the swamps and marshes, went forward throughout the country. Already with the unification of the southern provinces under The Scorpion, a contem- porary monument shows the irrigation and tillage of the r..c. 3000] The First Dynasty, 23 soil initiated. The men are seen at work with hoes, and a reed-built enclosure, with roof, gives shelter to them in the squared-off fields, which are enclosed on all sides by small channels filled with water. The methods employed by the first farmers of the country were those which have remained in use even to the present time. Human instinct centred then, as now, upon the economical utilisation and improvement of those advantages which Nature herself afforded. The annual overflow of the Nile, unchanging in its season and erratic only in the measure of its surplus waters, was early recognised as the supreme phenomenon by which the fate of the harvest was decided. On the earhest historical monument of the country a register of the high Nile level is recorded beneath the annals of the kings, beginning with the earliest. The fluctuations indicated by this record must have called attention to the possibility of regulating the flood by a system of channels and embankments. The irrigation works were organised under an official appointed by the sovereign for that purpose. The fourth king. Den, seems to have first turned serious attention to fTie^ Land of the Lake, the swampy province of the Fayum, and to have conceived the idea of a great canal along the western side of the Nile to supplement the river, which here hugs the opposite cliffs. The magnitude of the scheme was recognised. The incep- tion of the work, the surveying of the lands, and the opening of the great doors, are the sole events recorded in the annals of successive years. This marked attention to the works of public enterprise reveals the settled condition of the population. Though the industries*o f th e ., p oople-ean have been little more than those which their needs dictated, yet the civilising influence of skilled artisanship is disclosed by those precious relics which have been recovered by 24 Sanctity of the Sovereign. [before excavation. In the graves of the people implements of flint, vases of stone, vessels of coarse pottery, and some use of copper are mainly characteristic. But the best work which the art of the day^ could produce was naturally devoted to the furniture of the royal tombs. From these there have been taken examples of artistic inscribing in the hieroglyphic character, and of writing in a cursive hand of the same style ; of exquisite carvings in crystal, diorite, marble, alabaster, and other varieties of stone ; of marvellous elaboration in flint working for ceremonial purposes; and of a more definite acquaintance with the use of copper for making implements and vessels. The jewels of a queen, the high quality of art under Den, the sard and gold sceptre, and gold-topped vases from the tombs of later kings, are all evidences of the progress of this early civilisation. (ix) Sanctity and Power of the Sovereign, The veneration paid to the king after death reflects the sacredness of his person during life. His tomb was called *'the place of protection," and became revered as a shrine. His household was buried around him, and the great officials sought places and tombs in the same vicinity. With the traditions that enshrouded these abodes of the royal dead, there became mingled in later times the legends of Osiris, Lord of the West, the accepted deity of the site, which recall the early struggles between the peoples of the north and south. The power of the sovereign, derived so nearly from the authority vested in the tribal chieftain, seems to have been from the first supreme. All officers of state received their warrant from him, and in him all authority at first seems to have been concentrated. The B.C. 3ooo] ' The First Dynasty. 25 administration of the north required the presence of a paramount officia.1, whose responsibiHty as civil deputy to his royal master was indicated by the title of his office. He was called the Bearer of the King's Seal in Lower Egypt ; and it seems probable that at first this responsible position was filled only from the royal household. The king does not seem to have deputed similar powers in' the southern portion of the country where he himself resided. The appointment of the necessary deputies presages the enrolling of a host of minor officials also, until in the reign of Den the government of a bureaucracy under the supreme authority of the monarch stands revealed as the essential principle of state. ' Under this king culminated the ai^t and progress of the Archaic Period. The annals of his reign, recorded on that priceless fragment of stone preserved in the museum at Palermo, are identified by certain corresponding events inscribed on tablets from his tomb. After directing a punitive expedition against the eastern people dwelling in the Sinaitic peninsula, he opened wide the frontier of his country to commerce. He fortified towns, built palaces and temples. He organised the public works, and appointed necessary officials, including a Governor of Hierakonpolis or Nekhen, where probably he had inherited private estates. He developed the resources of his country, which enjoyed a long tranquillity from war ; and after improving the irrigation works on the east, north, and west, he elaborated his scheme for improving the Faytim, near which he placed a royal residence. Various festivals were celebrated, and the temples had their lands and revenues allotted to them. He spent days in hunting the hippopotamus and fishing. He was buried, after a prosperous reign of more than 30 years, in a great tomb at 26 The Reign of Den, [before Abydos. His name was handed down in papyrus records, and chapters of the Book of the Dead are attributed to him. His wife seems to have been Merneit, who again, to judge from the composition of her name, was a Saite princess ; she with her servants received a tomb and monu- ment near that of her husband. The style which King Den adopted as the royal emblem, seten bity^ was used by all the subsequent kings of United Egypt. In it the reed, common in the south, is associated pictorially with a bee or hornet, characteristic of the north. (x) Closing of the Archaic Pei'iod. But under the monarchs who immediately succeeded him a general decline, recorded by tradition, is indicated also by. the monuments of the period. It appears from accounts that have been handed down that the dynasty was weakening, and the state apparently falling into decay. With the failure of the dynasty a struggle for the sovereignty seems to have ensued. To judge by the scanty and difficult records of the times which followed, it seems that under several successive kings the centre of government was at Memphis, the original frontier of the lower country \ while a prince of Hierakonpolis — Khasekhem — sprung presumably Irom the family of earlier kings, laid claim to the sovereignty of Upper Egypt. The southern king claims great victories and the slaughter of thousands of the enemy, but he never wears the royal diadem of the united throne. On failure of the Memphite line of princes a chieftain of the Eastern Delta named Perabsen seems to have disputed the succession and gained the crown. Meanwhile Ne-maat-Hap, whose name imphes her Memphite origin, is described as the mother of the royal children. / B.C. 2800] The Ilnd and Tllrd Dynasties, 27 The fact is stated so prominently in the inscriptions of the time, and the reverence paid to her later in the dynasty so great, that it is reasonable to suppose she was the mother of royal children who succeeded to the throne through inheritance from her, and thus inaugurated a new dynasty of kings. Her unvarying attribute is most significant : " She whose orders are always obeyed.*' The maintenance of her tomb was provided for by endowment, and her fame was still fresh at the close of the Third Dynasty. Khasekhemui was three years of age only when his father's death bequeathed him the succession. His birth had been hailed as an event of first national importance. His predecessor had reigned for 17 or 18 years; he him- self, to judge from a broken fragment of his annals, was sovereign 1 5 years at least. Neterkhet, his younger brother, appears to have succeeded him. It does not seem possible, until further research .has thrown more light upon this period, to reconstruct, other- wise than tentatively, the chronology of these kings. Here and there an odd name has been found attended by the royal emblems, and probably other information lies hidden in the ruins of Memphis and Hierakonpolis, where stood the palaces of the early lines. But for the closing stages of this period, the explanation which best satisfies the present evidence makes Ne-maat-Hap queen-regent during the minority of her son Khasekhemui, who succeeded at the age of three. That she was at one time supreme in command is evidenced by the formal legends found on the ofTficial sealings of her two sons' reigns. The decree of Neter-en, from whom presumably she was descended, had legalised the succession of her sons. Who was her consort is not known. Perabsen is not far removed from \ 2 8 Close of the Archaic Period. [before her in point of time, but nothing associates the two names except the finding of them without other royal names in the tomb of Neterkhet. It may well have been the alliance with a northern prince which once again united the two rival houses, and once again ushered in a new dynasty of mutually accepted kings. No striking change marked this period of confusion. The titles of the sovereigns and the various officials, the permanence of different offices, and the general progress of affairs show the character of the government maintained. Art of the Archaic Period was decadent ; the fine pottery working of earlier days has ceased ; carving in hiero- glyphics is rare; and the characteristic objects of stone, flint, and copper are bold and plain. But now the firm establishment of the succession marks the beginning of an era of national development. It is in architecture that the beginnings of the r-evival are most noticeable. In the great mastaba tgmb of Neterkhet, which rises like a platform of brick in the desert northward from Abydos, with a defended stairway descending deep into the earth to numerous subterranean chambers, there is seen a final stage in the evolution of that motive which leads directly to the Pyramid Age. The same king, indeed, is famous as the builder of the first pyramid, that which rises at Sakkara in a series of steps, each platform placed above the other like a series of mastabas of decreasing size. The burial place and chambers of this king were filled with vases made of various stones, and even in the stairway the jars of wine and offerings were very numerous. Monuments of the period which followed have not been identified in any numbers, but some in the same vicinity exhibit a similar but improving quality of art. The essential character of the culture remains the satne, but B c. 2800] End of Ilird Dynasty. 29 slight changes, imperceptible at first, move forward link by link until the name of King Seneferu appears, which dates the closing of the dynasty. Only then it may be realised by broad comparisons that a deep movement has been in progress, that a new phase of civilisation is arising to displace the archaic culture from which it was derived. 30 III.— EGYPT UNDER THE MEMPHITE RULE. I (i) Foreign Relations and Influences. Gradual though the change had been, a general view of the characteristic features of the long period of progress and prosperity which followed on Seneferu's reign presents in many new aspects the vigorous boyhood of the nation. Marked off as an age of visible development, this new era was none the less the outcome of a national growth. The same stimulating influences from abroad are traceable as those which have been noticed in the earlier stages. A widening of the sphere of action on every side brought Egypt into more direct relations with surrounding countries. The troublesome Semitic peoples on the north-eastern frontier necessitated repeated military expeditions to repress them ; and the copper and turquoise mines of Sinai proved a special temptation to successive rulers, who several times sent forces to secure and work them. By occasions such as these the Egyptians were brought into contact not only with the desert people of Sinai, but with the more advanced civilisations to the north and east. In the plains of Southern Syria the records of the wars of Pepy unveil the picture of a settled and a pastoral people, whose great towns were enclosed by walls for refuge, but the villages lay amidst vines and fig trees. Further east the river valleys of Babylonia had nurtured a civilisation that led the way among the enlightened culture of the ancient world. Though no record, until a much later date, shows direct The IVth-VIth Dynasties. 31 contact with this country, yet the influences traceable in architectural details and in the development of sun-worship in the Delta make it apparent that Egypt was deriving stimulus, however indirectly, from that source. From the deserts that bound Egypt more immediately on the east and west, relations with the Berber peoples on the one hand, and the Red Sea on the other, -were then as now constant but not far-reaching, resulting for the most part from the sporadic incomings of nomads or the mutual interchange of trade by long and toilful desert journeys. It was only on several well-defined occasions of a later date that these desert peoples were tempted to enter Egypt from all sides in the hope of settlement. Further to the south, however, communication with the lakes and hills of Central Africa was easier by the river valley. Many institutions of Egypt during this period suggest a com- parison with those found at the present day in native states accessible from the upper reaches of the Nile. But under the earlier kings official relation in this direction was limited at first to punitive expeditions against the Nubians for the protection of the. frontiers. The first of this series, under Seneferu, entailed the building of a great fleet of boats, including one of unusual dimensions. Subse- quent events make it clear that these neighbouring peoples ' soon recognised the suzerainty of the Egyptian monarchs. Exploring parties and expeditions penetrated further and further up the Nile, until in the reign of Mer-en-ra it appears that not only the Sudan, but the outlying oases on the west, might be safely entered by small parties bent on official negotiations or in search of those commodities which their own country could not supply. Meanwhile these relations had brought the knowledge of a country rich in gold and metals, ebony, ivory, myrrh, and other 32 JForeign Relations, [before products which the Egyptian valued highly. This land lay in the hills of Erythrea, fronting the Red Sea south- ward from Suakin. Thence, as'^he annals of S^'^nrfla show, he obtained electrum, myrrh, and various kinds of wood. Shortly afterwards Assa obtained a dwarf from among the Dengi people dwelHng on the southern borders of this land, and from that time the sovereigns of Egypt endeavoured to keep one at least always attached to the court to amuse them by his antics and appearance. Later, again, King Pepy the Second, though quite a child, is said to have sent command to his agent, Her khu-ef, to bring down to the court a dwarf in his possession. In the previous reign this official had brought back 300 donkeys laden with incense, ebony, ivory, panther skins, throw- sticks, and other objects, which the Egyptians regarded with astonishment and delight. This fair and productive region remained through subsequent history one of the great attractions to the Egyptians. In later times the opposite coasts of Arabi a and the whole maritime tract leading to Somaliland were visited by successive expeditions. No hostile attitude seems ever to have thwarted those com- mercial visits, which, to judge by the contemporary accounts, were looked upon with much enthusiasm. In later times this Eand of Punt, by which general term the whole region was included,"'waTdescribed in writing by the Egyptians as the original home of their forefathers, and by some regarded as the abiding-place'""Uf the *gods. As yet, however, the expeditions seem to have followed only the desert routes without venturing to the Arabian coasts or further south- ward. Though a riverside and secluded people, not taking kindly to the sea, the Egyptians, nevertheless, frequently made excursions of this kind, prompted by commercial or adventurous motives rather than the demands of politics. B.C. 2500] The I Vth-VIth Dynasties, 33 They were already familiar with the building of ships for river traffic, and the wood required for these alone, as well as for other industrial purposes, must have already estab- lished a coasting trade around the Eastern Mediterranean. For these journeys they had the same forms of vessels as those which carried them upon the Nile. The meagre coast line of the country could not compare in importance with the great length of their life-giving river. None the less they ventured northwards to the coasts of Asia Minor, and were familiar with the islands of the Mediterranean. Relations with the early civilisation of Crete had long been real and mutually important, and archgeology agrees with the suggestion of the early records to show that, though probably not emanating from the coast of Egypt, trad6 relations with the Eastern Mediterranean were already established and reciprocated at the dawn of history. These inter-relations on all sides cannot but have influenced the culture of the Egyptians. They are faintly traceable in points of detail, but they are rather to be regarded as affording an invisible stimulus to the natural development of the native culture, which in this' period attained so great a height. Internally each feature of architecture and art marks an era of development. The tombs, upon which the best work was lavished, show an enlargement from the simpler structures of earlier times. Columns ranged in deliberate order, with capitals of the lotus or clustering papyrus, supported the roofs of buildings, in which the chambers led one to the other in elaborate manner. The walls are painted with vivacious scenes, some representing the incidents of daily life — the market place, sheep, oxen, and goats returning from the fields, children and animals at play, the farmer ploughing and sowing, the harvest and the storing of the grain, women D 34 Cultural Influences. [before with their burdens ; others, the mysteries connected with the dead and the future state. The freer use of wood and limestone in place of the diorite and hard stories fashionable in the earHer times shows its marked effect in the rehef carvings and the sculpture of the period. No work of later times surpasses the ideal excellence of some statues carved even during Seneferu's reign, while the tide of general progress was still advancing. In one of these a general and his wife, a princess of royal blood, are seated side by side, modelled, doubtless, to the form and size of the originals in life. These and other works manifest a definite interest in life and hu manity, a s well as a national mindTset seriouslyTrpon the contemplation of the highest problems. The philosophy which Ptah-hetep laid before Assa, and the king's reply, in which he asks to be instructed in the knowledge of old times, reveal the educated mind seeking after truth, desirous of being guided in the judgment of right and wrong by the experience of others who have lived before. The titles of the age show that the king's library was among his treasured possessions, requiring the special care of an ofificial. In it, doubtless, might be governmental papers^ the filed annals of the kings, legal documents, books of law and books of ritual ; but there is little reason to doubt that it contained the folk tales and stories of the nation, songs and poetry, prayers handed down from older times, hymns and books of mysteries, works on the sciences of astronomy and mathematics, geometry and medicine, treatises on ethics and morality, books of romance and the like, in which the educated sought for knowledge or for mental recreation. In the presence of evidences such as these, it is impossible to deny that the civilisation of Egypt* at this period must rank high in the history of the world. B.C. 2500] The I Vth-VIth Dynasties, 35 (ii) Religion. The thoughts of this people centred strangely on death and future life. The monuments which they have left to remind the present world of their past glories are tombs and sepulchres, and temples. Doubtless, the palaces of the kings were equally magnificent, but the fame of those kings endures through the everlasting pyramids which they built for their more permanent abiding places. The primitive instincts of the race, inherited through centuries of unvarying conditions, were permanent and unchanging. Each local deity of former ages still survived in the con- fused lists of gods and goddesses, which had become mingled in a complex mythology, when the mingling people were no longer able to distinguish the attributes of indi- vidual deities. But the great towns of former times still claimed their original presiding deities, whose power was manifested by the continued or increasing importance of the place itself. To these the kings delighted to set up new temples, each rivalling its predecessor in magnificence. Around these there had grown up in course of years a priesthood of many orders, separated slowly by their office from association with the people and the outer world, until within their mysterious circle the lore and learning of many centuries was concentrated. It was no wonder, that these learned bodies grew in power, magnified by a glamour and reverence which the popular and unlettered mind accorded them, and that for the maintenance of his position as supreme authority the king deemed it fitting to assume the highest office of the priesthood, and claim for himself the position of divine intermediary before the presence of the godsT D 2 36 The Memphite Period. [before (iii) Social Conditions. The ceremonies and mysterious rituals, while they excited the interests and fanned the ardent natures of the people, cannot have been in any way intelligible to them. They remained by force of circumstances the sons of toil, with no time to devote to thoughts beyond provision for their wives and families. For some the pubHc works, under direct control of the government, provided, then as now, a means of subsistence and a freedom that was only nominal. The quarries were always working to supply the stone required for public buildings. Limestone was readily accessible from Turah, opposite to the site of the earlier pyramids, and granite could be brought down directly from Aswan by river. But the alabaster from Hetnub, dark granite from the Wady Hammamat, and other stones from those mining districts on the eastern deserts, as well as copper and other commodities from Sinai, could only be obtained with some difficulty and privation. The making of embankments and canals for regulating irrigation provided also employment for a certain number of the population, and, then as now, no district could have been free from liability to be impressed for service in a sudden emergency. But the life of the greater number of people was naturally agricultural In this work, though not masters of the fields they ploughed, they possessed, none the less, the elements of freedom. It is unlikely that there was any class of small proprietors farming their own land ; but the peasant and his family group might find themselves year by year cultivating the same fields for their master, or even holding them upon conditions, paying away each year the greater portion of their produce for the privilege of a nominal independence. Under these conditions the B.C. 2500] The I Vth-VIth Dynasties. 37 social life of the peasantry early assumed a stereotyped form, and was for the most part void of any opening for development. The peasant's house was low and poorly built, being deserted during the day, and required only for shelter during the winter nights. The furniture con- sisted only of the cooking-pot and store vessels. His wife, probably his sole wife, shared equally his labours. The incidents of his life were those of the Egyptian peasant of to-day — continuous employment in the fields, in irrigation, sowing, reaping, ploughing, or attending to the produce ; the market, the struggle with overladen or stupid asses, the gossip with a neighbour, or at night the village circle and the story teller. The regularity, not real monotony, of his life is reflected in his sombre face, which lights up like a child's with smiles when amused at any incident. His exact relations to the state are not quite obvious. The government proceeded on its course unheeded by him ; kings came and went ; great changes of politics took place without his knowledge. In these affairs he had no voice, and only regarded them as bearing on hynself when some unusual incident brought him into contact with them. Just as the peasant was dependent upon his master, so the farmer of the soil was answerable to the owner of the land. The system was the practical outcome of the manner in which the land was held. A few persons owned their private estates, rewards given them by the king or secured in some manner from their former owners. The king, too, possessed his royal estates, and various lands had from time to time been attached to the maintenance of the temples or some public service. But in the main the country-side was still divided up as heritages of those few great chief people who claimed it as a patrimony, descended through all time from their ancestors, delimited probably very nearly 38 Social Co7iditions. [before as it had been in the tribal ages. These chieftains, whose forefathers by alliances had established the monarchy with their swords, even as they then displayed their many standards in battle, still preserved their independent spirit as masters of the soil, submitting only to the supreme authority of the king. Now as they drew more and more from the presence of their sovereign, where their own persons were eclipsed, holding aloof from all the offices of state, they gradually encircled themselves with their own following and retainers, and in the event are found possessed of the authority and power of feudal lords. As they paid tribute to the monarch for maintenance of the state and to preserve their inheritance, so the portions which they did not farm themselves were held by others under terms of tribute to themselves, and by those again might be sublet to others. It is the exact relation of these holders to the state that is not clearly defined. The system of taxation was already fully organised in Seneferu's reign, and regularly the officers of the king went through the country assessing the flocks and crops and all the ratable effects. Yet as the power of the nobles increased, and they themselves came to seize every opportunity of enforcing their authority within their own domains, it seems most probable that, whatever may have been the case at first, they gradually eliminated all responsibiHty of the smaller tenants, holding themselves directly responsible to the tax-gatherers and the agents of the king. (iv) Political Conditions, These officials were many and their functions compli- cated. In all departments innumerable servants each claimed equally numerous titles. From the names of these, however, though little to be understood, it is possible to B.C. 2500] The IVth-VIth Dynasties, 39 glean a general idea of the manner in which this bureau- cratic government was administered. The king as head of the state appointed all responsible officials. Though invested with a crown and style from which all semblance of a meaning had long since disappeared, yet the titles of many officers continued to reflect the duality of his kingdom. These were superintendents of the two granaries, of the two treasuries, and other departments, indicating that the offices had long since been combined, and that the titles survived in this form only as a name. The style of some offices may be traced even to earlier events of national history, those which preserve in some form the mention of El-Kab and Hierakonpolis, whence at first all royal authority had been derived, and where through all time the royal domain seems to have been situated. Even the hawk-sign, symbolic of the territorial holder of that district, had not disappeared from the insignia. Every form which tended to decentralise the government, or remove the semblance of power from the nominally direct control of the monarch, was rigorously avoided. A Grand Vezir was his chief agent and responsible deputy. This office was naturally the highest of the state. It implied the position of chief administrator of the law, the superintendence of all public works, all officers, and all departments. The holder was the representative of Truth, educated in the priestly order of Maat, and he was also entrusted with the regulation of the palace. From the time of Seneferu onwards he was superintendent of both lands. In such a position the Vezir stood necessarily second only to the king, from whom'Ee was distinguished by his title. The Man, in contradistinction to The God. Naturally, at first, the office was filled only from the royal sons, the successor to the throne ; but later he became chosen from among the royal friends, and then was selected 40 Political Conditions. [before from among the wise men of the king's acquaintances. The Vezir was ex-officio chief judge, and the title of this office is full of interest and significance ; he was called the Gate Man, he who sits at the gate administering justice. In his functions he was assisted by the law-givers of the crown, the Great Men of the Tens. What the precise functions of these officers were is not apparent. Sometimes they are obviously at the seat of government, at others they seem to be administering in the provinces. The judge himself is called The Weigher of Words. Other subor- dinate officers were the scribes of petitions, and numerous scribes or clerks. Other departments were organised in similar manner. The treasury was managed by the Royal Sealers. The treasury buildings seemed to have been dis- tinguished by being painted white. There were also a Keeper of the Forests, and a Superintendent of the Granaries. The common title. Superintendent of the South, seems to imply a decentralisation for ready overlooking of the lands. The irrigation works were similarly managed from various convenient centres. The villages themselves were controlled by headmen and elders, non-official positions probably corresponding to those of to-day. The career of a successful official is well illustrated by the- story of Amten, who, under Seneferu and Khufu, rose from humble beginnings to the highest offices of state. His father had been a scribe of some estate, but his mother was a woman of no fortune. At first his father provided for him before he attained position or property. Soon he became chief scribe, under the Superintendent of the Storehouse, in one of the government centres belonging to the administration of provisions. On behalf of the king he received, registered, and distributed meat, cakes,v fruit, and vegetables, in which the taxes were paid. Next he became chief crier to the civil B.C. 2500] The IVt]}^VIth Dynasties. 41 governor of the Xoite district, being promoted to be chief of the ushers, master crier, and finally director of all the king's flax. Then he was placed over a village, and next to govern the large town of Buto, and became concerned ia the administration of several important provinces. Then he became chief huntsman, and finally governor of the Fayum district. The promotions of this official thus moved with oriental fashion : the talent that fitted him for one position was deemed equally suitable for another, however differing in its duties. In all departments there was apparently an equal unconcern of any special qualification. The governors of the frontiers seem to have been civil rather than military officials. The continually renewed disturbances with Semitic peoples on the north-eastern borderland, and with Southern Syria, led Seneferu to strengthen the defences of that frontier. On the southern Hmits of the country also, near Aswan, it had been found necessary to maintain a frontier garrison. Other districts specially exposed to desert roads, or -otherwise deemed suitable, were similarly protected. The management of^ each separate frontier was in the hands of a special officer. (v) The Army and State Officials, In the army itself one man was in supreme command under a title implying no duality of the kingdom. The king himself was no longer^ con cer ned„Qfi6kCially. ^ with the leading of his troops. Under the generals were commanders of contingents, and special divisions had their separate commands. The army which Pepy the First sent against the nomad people of the east was composed essentially of many thousands of Egyptian troops out of the south country from Elephantine to Memphis. They were enrolled under the growing feudal system from the servants and retainers of 42 The Army and State Officials. [before the nobles, each great chieftain moving at the head of his own people. UriHeFTTmrfhe~lTeMs"oT towrfs and villages held their separate commands of subdivisions. In addition to this main body of the troops, a special corps of negro soldiers under a leader of their own had been enlisted, and the army included the usual Libyan mercenaries under an Egyptian officer. The pFovisioh department and com- missariat were in charge of the royal sealers, and the royal friends of the king attended in some uncertain, but probably non-military, capacity. The supreme command of all these forces was vested in a single general, the commander-in-chief, named Una, who rigorously enforced the principles of discipline and order, restraining pilfering and pillaging on the line of march. He himself had risen from the humblest of non-mihtary positions, being entrusted with the honourable command on account of the skill and discretion with which he had conducted affairs of an altogether alien character. In his capacity of overseer in the king's gardens, to which he had been promoted from the position of a superintendent of the stores, he seems to have first attracted the favour of his royal master by reason of his virtues and sagacity. In an affair requiring the greatest skill and delicacy connected with the affairs of the royal household itself, he was entrusted by his sovereign with the investigation of the matters, and received as a token of the royal pleasure a present of the whole furniture for his tomb. The discretion and power which he had manifested in these matters placed him then in the com- mand of the army, which he again conducted with signal ability. At the death of Pepy, his successor Mer-en-Ra appointed him chief of the bodyguard about the royal person, and rewarded him with the jurisdiction over a town, and finally the governorship of the whole of the south. The B.C. 2500] The IVth-VIth Dynasties, 43 remainder of his career was equally filled with evidences of the confidence reposed in him. The career of such a man was no doubt the outcome of his unusual capabilities. But the sequence of his appointments indicates the numberless positions for which suitable officials were required. In the household of the king himself was every feature of a similar organisation. The whole direction was vested in the Keeper of the palace; under him were the Superin- tendents of innumerable departments, supervised by officers with different stages of responsibihty. There was the Keeper of the Royal Robes, Superintendent of the linen and wigs, and a Superintendent of the House of the royal children. Those having access to the palace claimed the privilege of royal friendship, which was jealously disputed by those nearer to the king's person, the *' nearest friends," or " well- beloved friends " of the king. In the same way numerous *' royal relatives" arose, doubtless many with the remotest possible claims, and this led those who could attest to their relationship to style themselves the " real royal relatives." In this department, as in all the others, every official sought to claim the special favour or recognition of the sovereign. The numerous reappointments of a satisfactory official were looked upon and recorded as special acts of grace emanating directly from his majesty. (vi) The Monarchy. In the midst of this circle of ceremonial and ostentation the king moved supreme, the motive and charmed centre of it all. Separated from the great mass of his people by the impenetrable vei l of o fficialdom, and by the increasing authority of their chieftains, whose own households already seemed to them the embodiment of worldly splendour, no wonder the king seemed to them at this distance, as he 44 , The Monarchy, [before K 1 claimed to be, divme,. When he moved outside his splendid retimie^swept by in swift magnificence ; and within his household even those who had frequent access to the royal person might only kiss the ground before his feet. The great privilege of a royal son-in-law was to be allowed to kiss his august master's sandal. In his home lif^, indeed, though deference was duly paid him, and he himself can have had little remission from public appearances, he seems to have had an inner circle of human friendship. His wife he always reverenced as the royal mother of those who were to succeed by right of heritage to his throne, and placed her as his equal at his.siije. The son of one near or dear to him -might be educated with his own children in the royal nursery, and be honoured with a princess as a bride. Probably he had already a harim of secluded dancing-girls and pretty women, who whiled away his leisure hours. The children of his harim received offices and revenues from the state. Out of doors, too, he might join in the chase, or in his light papyrus boat on the marshes would pursue a favourite sport of bird-catching or fishing. Though surrounded by so much^ luxury and ceremonial, the sovereign was by no means a nonentity subject to the customs of the court or the will of his officials. Nothing was ever neglected that might enforce upon his people and his surroundings the greatness of his calling and the supremeness of his power. The corona- tion was accompanied by great festivities, and the day of accession kept as a yearly festival. From earliest times a first duty of his reign had been the official tour of the boundaries of his country; and a royal progress through different portions of his kingdom made ostentation of his monarchy. The maintenance of this exalted position called for every possible means that might enforce his influence. B.C. 2500] The I Vth-VIth Dynasties. 45 On all public occasions his power must be manifested supreme. In the great festivals, such as occurred regularly every 30 years or on special occasions, he always took the leading part, separating himself as far as possible from the aspect of ordinary vocations. It was he who for his people sacrificed to Min, god of the fields, after ceremony and processions of far-reaching import. Early to recognise and to enter into the strong religious tendency of his nation, resulting as this did in the growing influence and power of the priestly caste, he assumed to himself the high priest- hood of all temples and all worships, standing forth as divine intermediary between the people and their gods. A pyramid towering to heaven alone was a fit abiding place for the future of this human emblem of divinity. Proportionate to the growing popularity of the cult the priesthood of Ra had steadily increased its power. This worship of the Sun, the god of life, originally doubtless the local worship of Heliopolis, had slowly come into prominence amid its polytheistic surroundings, under the nearer influences emanating probably from the Euphrates valley. Already the successors of Khufu, who succeeded to the sovereignty after Seneferu's death, had included pictorially in their names for several generations the emblem of the god, and another line of the royal family, descended, as it seems, from the same common ancestor, had entered and 'intermarried with the priestly caste of Ra. Upon the failure of the main line this powerful family succeeded to the throne, combining with the royal function the high priesthood of the cult. Probably under Men-kau-Ra, who had preceded, this innovation had already taken place, . ) since he first adopted in his royal title the clairn of direct descent from Ra himself. An attribute so powerful to promote the continuity of hereditary succession was readily 46 The Kings. [before adopted under the priest-kings who followed, and thus became included in the royal style of all future monarchs to the end : The Horus, Lord of United Egypt, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Ra. (vii) The Kings. This powerful assertion of the monarchy was coeval in its origins with the dawning of this bold and striking period. Probably no line of old-world kings throughout all time has left upon the pages of history and tradition so indelible a trace. Seneferu, their father, the traditional son of Huni^ was himself the builder of the pyramids at Meydiim, in which he was probably buried. His public works, including the fortification^ of the frontiers, were numerous, and his monuments are general throughout the country. Khufu, whose pyramid at Gizeh is one of the seven wonders of the world, built temples in rnany of the^ great places of his kingdom, at Bubastis, Dendereh, and Koptos. He was buried in his pyramid, and around him were the tombs of all his nobles and retainers. He had been born, as it seems, near Minyeh, in an old town which remained famous in later years as the nursing place of Khufu. Men-kau-Ra, the Pious, built also a pyramid at Gizeh, and like his forefathers was deified and worshipped in later times. The next line of kings, descended from the priests of Ra, maintained fully the splendour of the monarchy. The burial place moved southward to Abusir, where the pyramids, the boat, and temple to the Sun^god, are their monuments. Sahu-ra, the second of this line, seems to have first sent abroad tra3iiig~~expeditions to Punt, though the produce and even the dwarf people of that district were already known. The succession of monarchs seems to B.C. 25c o] The I Vth-VIth Dynasties, 47 have been swift, both now and in the earlier line. King A^a, Ded-ka-Ra, also sent to Punt, followed at a later time by Mer-en-Ra, whose successor, Pepy the First, extended his conquests in Southern Syria. But from this time, though still maintainedjn itself, the power of the monarchy became gradually threatened by a serious rivalry. The splendour of the court, its opulence and seclusion, had been steadily emulated by the noble families, descended from the chieftains of former times, the hereditary owners of the soil. In the army of Pepy, under Una, these Great Chieftains, as they are styled, led each his own contingent of troops, drawn as it seems from his own patrimony, captained and officered by the retainers and chief people of his court. A feudal system had thus already uprisen, and a first duty of these feudal lords was to provide their armies for the service of the king. The system was con- venient and suitable for times of war or disturbances abroad, but the history of many countries has shown how dangerous these units of power might become when in the seclusion of their little kingdoms their obligations to the sovereign became irksome or forgotten. 48 IV.— EGYPT DURING THE FEUDAL PERIOD. (i) The Feudal Chieftains. ♦ The growing assertion of power on the part of the pro- vincial chieftains had been fed rather than prevented by the kings themselves, who, not foreseeing the issue, had heaped upon them numerous honours and increasing powers in token of their allegiance. So long as a balance was preserved in the sovereign's favour, the system was con- venient and economical to the central government. The whole administration of the provinces, the raising of the army, the gathering of the taxes and supervision of the temple worships, had slowly left the direct control of the monarch, who, grateful for the relief, reduced the numbers of his officers of state proportionately, until there remained only the Grand Vezir, his personal agent, and the royal scribes with their staffs of clerks, while a number of officials bearing the royal signet looked to the king's interests in the various provincial districts. All other functions had gradually been vested in the great chieftains themselves, who, pleased with the plenitude of their powers, had dutifully paid their tributes or supplied their little armies upon the royal demand, while the satisfied sovereign gave them further indulgences to the full extent of the royal bounty. With this decentralisation the surroundings of the great chieftains grew to be the courts of feudal lords. Every ostentation of authority that had been assumed by the Memphite kings was now emulated by these powerful So-called Vllth-Xth Dynasties. 49 vassals. How far the new system permeated the provinces of the Delta is not evidenced, but in Upper Egypt the districts of Beni Hasan, El-Bersheh, Siut, Gau, Girgeh, and Aswan were all centres of feudal power, some of these claiming the standard and emblem handed down from earliest times. In each province the great chieftain claimed by hereditary right the ministry of the temple, and all other offices fell to his appointment as owner of the land. Events were dated by the year of his own succession, oaths were sworn by his name, mstead of the king's, as formerly, and after his name appeared the formula, " Living for ever to eternity," hitherto the sacred attribute of the crown. Each district had its own courts of justice, storehouses, treasury, offices, and militia, directly under the authority of the chieftain. (ii) The Chieftains' Courts, The court and surroundings of these feudal lords now became a reproduction on a smaller scale of the entourage of the earlier monarchs. The great officials of each pro- vince were the Bearer of the seal or Chancellor, the Herald, and the Captain of the forces. The treasury, the hall of judgment, and other dffices were each under the care of a superintendent. Law was administered by vice- magistrates and the headmen of the villages. The royal scribes, and possibly the Superintendent of auditors, watched the interests of the crown, while numerous scribes and clerks attended to the routine of official work. In the public works each department had its manager, as, for example, the superintendent of the irrigation works and canals. The labour itself was organised into gangs, each Overlooker of five being distinguished as a Super- intendent. , so The Feudal Period. MapJU. MEDITZRRANLZA N It C or6r««n»«li )| O^'tn'.h.re i SLOiifhni.t* 0>tbrd EGYPT UNDER THE FEUDAL PERIOD. The Feudal Period. 5 1 In the lord's house there was an equivalent retinue and service. A Steward of the domains was the first official, under whom were Superintendents of the lands, the tomb lands, the weaving, and the warehouse. There was also a doctor with his scribes, and attached to all, numerous servants and attendants. A special herdsman and a fowler supplied the kitchen, while in the household itself were the food providers, the washermen, housemaids, and other servants. The taxation, being in kind, was arranged by a system of large courtyards and storehouses, specially marked as belonging to the treasury. As the tendency with this gathering power on the part of the lords was to eliminate the presence of the sovereign from before the people, all these relations between province and state came to pass directly through the hands of the lord and his officials. Under these circumstances the king found his powers gradually slipping away. The requests of the lords, however placed before him, were difficult to refuse, and presently came to carry the weight of demands. Every resource was tried to pacify these ambitious vassals. Their sons were educated at the royal nursery and received royal brides, while their daughters were honoured by invitation to the royal harlm. But such devices could only ward off the imminent crisis. Disaffection, imperceptible at first, then manifesting itself, was sternly repressed by neighbouring provinces. Many of the powerful lords doubtless coveted the throne, regarding jealously one another and their belittled sovereign, eager to fight for themselves, but not to combine. The hot breath of discontent fanned their ambitions, until the strain on all sides became too severe for the crumbled fabric of the constitution to withstand it, and the flame of civil and internecine war, once kindled, could not be stamped out before its devastation was £ 2 52 Outbreak of Rebellion. [before complete. City warring against city, province against province, defied and finally overturned the throne. This catastrophe, indeed, may have happened shortly after the Memphite dynasty, of which Pepy the Second was the last representative, came to an end. Thereafter the centre of government was transferred to Herakleopolis, and King Khety Mer-ab-Ra is believed to have reigned over the whole of Egypt. But no record has been found which throws light upon the succession of the kings, and the continuity of the kingship is to be inferred alone from a reference to the capital after a lapse of several generations. There it is seen that King Mery-ka-Ra was expelled from Herak- leopolis by adverse influences. Though nothing is stated as to the cause of this overthrow, yet the account which has survived of the king's return and reinstatement seems to imply that the disturbance which had unseated him originated in the Faytjm, or further to the north. During all this period no monument has given any indication by which to glean the sequence of events in the Delta. There is some later suggestion, indeed, of a formidable power already gathering there under direct influence from abroad. (iii) Rebellion in the South. This king, Mery-ka-Ra, last of his line, had been rein- stated at Herakleopolis by the help of the governor and hereditary chieftain of the province of Siut, named Khety. This family had already come into prominence and power at an earlier date. The grandfather of this magnate, the fourth of his line, had been brought up in the palace of Herakleopolis with the royal children (with whom it is recorded he had learned to swim). On returning home he had remained a personal friend of the king, wisely fe', J-^iV B.C. 2200] The Feudal Period, 53 governing his dominions, improving the irrigation and encouraging agriculture. He relieved in large measure the burden of the taxes, and at the same time devoted special attention to his army, which, counted by thousands, was required to resist the pretensions of a southern chief. His son Tefaba fought also against the provinces of the south, which seem to have allied from Gau, in Middle Egypt, to Elephantine in the south. Defeating them, he drove them southward and overran their territory on the western side, extinguishing the rebellion and restoring peace. So that when Khety succeeded, the Herakleopolite family were still masters of the north ; but the disturbance from the north-west coming upon them temporarily caused Mery-ka-Ra to seek the protection of Khety, whom he addresses as his father. Khety massed his great army and his imposing fleet upon the^ river, and defeated the allied enemies of the monarch, who, for a time at least, was reinstated in his capital amid the acclamations of the populace. (iv) Rise of the Thehan Power. The southern provinces, which seem on this occasion to have united with the rebels who had driven out Mery-ka-Ra, were massed under the leadership of a Great Chieftain of Thebes, named Mentuhetep. Through five or more generations the powerful family which he represented is traced back to the Great Chieftain Antef, Keeper of the Frontier, one who claimed to have satisfied the royal desire. Then becoming more powerful, and rebels, .his lineal descendants assumed the style of Horus, symbolised by the Hawk, which from earliest times had been the territorial title of the kings of Upper Egypt. They were followed by the first Mentuhetep, who seems to have already had the 54 ^i^^ of the Thehan Power, [before support of numerous provinces, for his son led a continually increasing army against the monarch and his faithful vassal of Siut, and though defeated more than once, returned again to the attack and ultimately triumphed. In this warfare the Herakleopolitan power was broken and the dynasty ended, while Mentuhetep the Second secured the crown for the rival house of Thebes, ascending the throne himself under the name of King Neb-kheru-ra. The passing of the crown from the line of Herakleopolis to that of Thebes, though not effected without bloodshed and civil wars, marks none the less the beginning of an era of new life in the monarchy and constitution. Probably not more than five or six generations had passed away since the death of Pepy the Second had heralded the discord that has completely blotted out the records of his time. Here and there archaeology has detected some evidences of the intervening period, certain small seals of curious designs, showing in certain places of the western desert the presence of foreign peoples, possibly Libyan mercenaries tempted by the hope of settlement. In the Delta, too, there seem to be indications of some power alien to that of the established monarch of the south ; tradition, indeed, makes mention of a dynasty of separate kings having their capital at Sais. It cannot be believed that, in the anarchy which had prevailed, any rulers in the Delta were sufficiently powerful to extend even a nominal hold over the rebellious chieftains of Upper Egypt ; but it may be supposed that the Western Delta was the centre of an independent house, whose power had resulted possibly from the feudal system, or may have been derived from relations with the outer world. ;. However that may be, this province seems to have defied the weakening kings of Herakleopolis, and to have threatened their capital itself; nor can it be found to B.C. 2 2oo] The Feudal Period. 55 have bowed before the newly estabUshed monarchy of Thebes. (v) Constitution under the First Theban Kings. )) 99 B.C. Before 3000 ?? J5 2800 ^ 2650 2500 2400 2200 >j 1900 1800 About 1575 ••• 1545 1515-1461 1427-1392 1325-1258 About 1300 1075 930 775 728 672 645-610 567;; 525 332 .^ I05 GENEEAL INDEX. AaJnunes (Prince of Thebes), 69, 70, 76. Aahmes-Nefretari, 69. Abydos, discoveries at, 21 ; royal tombs at, 19, 26 ; near, 28 ; temples at, 89, 91. Abusir, pyramids and temple at, 46. Abu Simbel, rock temple at, 91. Akhenaten, name of Amenhetep IV, 86. Alabaster, Egyptian, 9 ; carvings in, 24. Alliance, royal, 20, 28 ; foreign, 84, 90. Aleppo, Thotmes I, conquers to, *]^, Alexander the Great conquers Egypt, 102. \ Amen, oracle of, 81 ; woi ship of, 89, 93 ; high-priesthood of, 94. Amen-Ra, cult of, 88. ' Amenrut, last effort of King, I02. Amenemhat I establishes the monarchy, 57 ; moves the capi- tal, 58, 64. Amenemhat II, portrait of, 61. Amenemhat III, his features, 62, 66. Amenemhat IV, his reign, 66. , Amenemhat, a vezir, 57.' ' " v Amenhetep III, conqu^ts of, 78 ; relations of, 83 ; palace of, 86. Amenhetep IV, alliance of, 70 ; monotheistic movement of, 89. Amten, career of, 40. Ancient customs, observance of, 72. Antef, great chieftain, 53, 69. Arabia, coasts of, 32. Art during the Middle Empire, 60. Arts, development of, 22 ; revivals ofj SSj 99 ; Greek, 100. Army, constitution of the, 41, 42, 73-76. Armies, private, 56. Armour, 75. Architecture, 60, 86. Armenia, Hittite Empire in, 65. Artatama, King of the Mitanni, 83. Asia Minor, script in, 12 ; trade with the coast of, 33 ; Hittite empire in, 65 ; confines of, 83. Asia, Western, influences of, 12. Assarhaddon conquers Eg}'pt, 98. Assa, Ded-ka-Ra, King, 32, 34, 47. Assessment of the flocks and crops, Assurbanipal expels the Ethiopian, 98. Assyria, region of, 7S. Assyrians, the, 92 ; invade Egypt, 97 ; driven back, 99, 102. Aswan, 36, 41, 49. Aibara, the river, I. Auditing, house of, 56. Audience Hall, the, ^"J. Babylonia, relations with, 18, 30, 78, 100 ; cuneiform of, 65 ; coali- tion of, 102. Baghdad, inscription in, 67. Bas-reliefs, the, 89. Bedouins, Prince of the, 98. Beni-Hasan (place-name), 49, 60. Berber (place-name), 95. Berber peoples, 31. Bezau, alternative reading of Narmer, 16. Boats, making of, 61. Books, 34. Boundary to Egypt, the natural, 3, Bows and arrows, representations of, 61. Bread, making of, 61. io6 General Index. Bricklayers, 85. Bronze, from Cyprus, 80. Bubastis, temples at, 46, 57 ; Libyan family at, 94. Busiris (town), 22. Buto (town), 41. Butterflies, representations of, 86. Bureaucracy re-established, 58. Cairo (place-name), 3. Cambyses conquers Egypt, 102. Camps, arrangement of the, 76. Canals for irrigation, 4. Carpenters, 85. Carvings, Mesopotamian, 13. Cattle, early traces of, 10. Cereals, cultivation of, 4. Chariot, the, 65, 80 ; description of, 76 ; making of, 85. Cheetahs from Punt, 82. Chiefs, standards of the, 14 ; tribal, Chieftains, the great, 47 ; the Libyan, 96. Children, representations of, 33. Civilisation of Babylonia, 30. Civil War, outbreak of the, 51. Cinnamon from Punt, 82. Coasting trane, 33. Cobra, the Egyptian, 6. Colonists, the Greek, 100. Commissariat, 42. Conditions, geographical, 16. Consort, The, title of Neith-hetep, 20. Constantinople (place-name), 65. Copper, incipient, 10 ; use of, 24, 8c. Coronation, the, 44, 72. Courts, the chieftains', 49. Courts of Justice, 49. Crete, 67, 68, 78 ; early relations with, 13 ; civilisation of, 33. Crown, the white, 15 ; the red, 18 ; the double, 19. Crocodile, the, 6, 10. Crystal, carvings in, 24. Customs, survival of, 18, 72. Cylinder seal, 19. Cyprus, trade with, 80. Cyrus in the East, 102. Dahshur, fortified royal residence, 57 ; jewellery of, 63, 65. Delta, influences in the, 13, 21 ; the, 31, 96; rulers in the, 54; Libyans in, 92. Deities of great towns, 35- Dead, burial of the, 9, 14; Book of the, 26. Den, King, 23-26. Dendereh, temples at, 46. Diorite, carvings in, 24, 34. Divisions, territorial, 14, 15. Doctor, with scribes, 51. Domestic architecture, 85. Dongola (place-name), 95. Doric Order, rudiments of the, 60. Duality of the kingdom, 39. Dushratta, ruler of the Mitanni, 84. Dwarf, a, 32. Dwarf people, the, 46. Dwellings, grouping of, 10. Dynasty, changing of a, 66. Eastern Mediterranean, 33. Ebony, 31, 32, 81, 82. El-Bersheh, a centre of Feudal power, 49. Elders, the, 40. Elective right, 81. Elephant, the, 6, 80. Elephantine, 41, 53. El-Kab, goddess of, 22 ; royal domain at, 39. Emblem, national, 14. Enamels, import of, 80. Environment, effect of, 9. Erythrea, hills of, 32. Estates, private, 37. Ethiopia, 95, 99, 100. Ethiopian Piankhy, the, 96. Ethiopians, the, 96 ; expelling ot, Euphrates, the river, 7? Tl-t 7^5 99 J culture in valley of the, 12 ; valley, relations with, 18, 45, 80, 84, 90 ; countries oi the, 82j Upper, 65, 84, 90. General Lidex. 107 Favours, the daily, 88. Farmer, representations of the, 33. Fayum, the, 18, 23, 25, 57, 96. Fayum district, governor of the, 41. Feudal chieftains, the, 48. Feudal lords, disaffection of the, 51. Feudal power, growth of, 38 ; decline of, 58. Feudal system, development of, 47. Fig trees, 30. Fishing, 61. Fish, bones of, 10. Flax, the King's, 41 ; growing of the, 61. Flint, knife of, 8, 10, 61 ; imple- ments of, 24. Forts, in the Fayum, 20 ; the garrison, 74 ; in Palestine, 91. Fortresses, walled, 14. Forests, Keeper of the, 40. Frontier garrison, 41 ; Governors of the, 41. Furnicure, making of, 61 ; of ships, 80. Ganges, the river, 7. Garden, the King's, 42, 86 ; the, 85. Garrison, frontier, 41 ; the Assyrian, driving out of, 99. Gau, a feudal centre, 49, 53. Gebel Silsileh, 2, 16. Gebel Barkal, 95. Girgeh, a feudal centre, 49. Giraffe, the, 6, 82. Gizeh, pyramid at, 46, 62. Glass, making of, 85. Glazing, 61. Goat, the, 7, 33. Gold, 31, ^T, ^%, 80. Goshen, land of, 91. Government, the bureaucratic, 39. Granary, storing in the, 61. Granaries, superintendent of the, 40. Grand Vezir, ihe, 39, 48. Granite, 36. Graves, earliest, 9 ; forms of, 14. Great Chieftain, the title of, 47. Groves of palm, 81. Guardian deities, emblems of, 14. Gyges, King of Lydia, 99. Hammamat, quarries of, 57. Harvest, pictures of the, 33, 61. Hatshepsut (Queen), 72, 77, 81, 82, 84. fiawk, the, 6 ; districts of the, 15 ; the patron god, 18 ; sign, the, 39. Hawks, districts of the two, 15. Headman or elder in village life, 40, 55. Hebrews, the, 91. Hebron, 65. Hek-Khaskhetu, term applied to the Hyksos, 66. Heliopolis, 45. Herakleopolis, 52, 64. Herak'eopolitan power broken, 54. Hereditary rights, 81. Heri-hor, Priest, 93. Herusha, the, 64. Her-khu-ef (agent to King Pepy H), 32. Het-bity, palace of northern kmgs at, 2r. Hetnub, alabaster from, 36. HierakonpoJis, 18, 22, 26,27, 39; Governor of, 25. Hieroglyphic characters of the Hittites, 65. Hieroglyphs, carving in, 13. Hippopotamus, the, 6, 25. Hittite confederation, the, 90. Hittites, the term, 65 ; the, 65, Hoes, of flint, 10, 23. Horemheb (general of the army), 89. Horses, 65, 80. Horus, symbolised by the Hawk, 53- Hosea, King of Israel, 97. House, the peasant's, 37. Household of the king, 43. Houses, wicker, 10. Huni, tradition of, 46. Huntsman, chief, 41. Huts, wicker, 81. Hyksos power, rise of the, 64 ; kings, the, 66, 71 ; period, length of, 68. io8 General Index, Incense from Punt, 32. Inheritance, female, 21. Inlay work, 65, 85. Inundation, the annual, 4. Irrigation, 22, 23. Islands, eastern, 12. Ivory, import of, 31, 32, 80, 82. Jewelleiy, inlaid, 62. Jewels of a queen, 24. Judge, chief, 40. Kadesh, stronghold of the Khetaf, 90. Kallimmasin, King of Babylonia, 84. Karkhemish, capture of, 77* Karnak, temples at, ']"]^ 89. Keeper of the frontier, 53. Khartum (place-name), 91. Khasekhem, King, 26. Kha-nefer-Ra, name of King Sebek- hetep, 67. Khasekhemui, King, 27. Kheta, first mention of, 64 ; chief people of the Hittites, 65 ; wars and relations with, 77, 78, 84, 90 ; king of the, 84. Khety Mer-ar-Ra, 52, 53. Khufu, King, 40, 45, 46. Khyan, Hyksos ruler, 67. King claims high priesthood, 35 ; of Cyprus, 84. Kings, annals of the, 34 ; the Libyan, 93 ; the Israelitish, 94. Knife, flint, 8, 9, 61. Koptos, temple at, 46, 61. Korosko (place-name), 57. Koser (place-name), 81. Kush, royal son of, 95. Lake, land of the, 23. Land, cultivation of the, 22. Lands, joining of the two, 72. Language, Semitic element in, 11, 91. Lapis lazuli, 80. Law, Doctors of, 59. Law, international, 80. Law, Books of the, 87. Lead, ingots of, 59. Leather workers, 61, 85. Lebanon, the, 84, 90. Leopard, the, 6. Library, the king's, 34. Libyan mercenaries, 42, 54, 75, 92. Libyan plateau, the great, 3. Life, the peasant's, 37. Limestone, 2, 3, 34, 36, 60 ; yellow, 61. Linen, process of making, 61. Linen and wigs, superintendent of the, 43. Lion, districts of the, 15. Lisht (place-name), 64. Literature, 62. Lower Egypt, kings of, 13. Luxor, temples at, 91. Lydia, Coalition of, 102. Maat, priestly order of, 39. Malachite, 80. Man, the Gate-, title, 40. Marble, carvings in, 24. Master crier, the, 41. Materials — Alabaster, 9, 24. Bone, 8. Bronze, 80. Cedar Wood, 80. Copper, 8, 10, 24, 80, 84. Crystal, 24. Diorite, 9, 24, 34. Ebony, 31, 32, 8t, 82, 85. FHnt, 8, 9, 10, 24, 61. Gold, 9, 31, 77, 7B, 80, 82. Granite, 3, 36. Ivory, 31, 82, 85. Lapis lazuli, 80. Lead, 59. Leather, 61, 85. Limestone, 2, 3, 34, 36. Linen, 61. Marble, 24. Pine wood, 80. Sandstone, 2. Silver, ^T, 80. Stibium, 82. Tin, 80. General Index. IC9 Medes, the, 100. Mediterranean islands, ']^. Memphis, near Sakkareh, 21, 26, 27, 41, 57, 97- Memphite line, failure of the, 26. Mena, the first King, 19 ; visits Sais, 20 ; deification of, 21. Men-kau-Ra, 45, 46. Mentu, the, 64. Mentuhetep, great chieftain, 53. Mentuhetep II, 54. Mentuhetep III, 57. Mer-en-Ra, 31, 42, 47. Mercenaries, the Libyan, 93. Merneit, wife of Den, 26. Mery-ka-Ra, King, 52, 53, 64. Mesopotamia, 70, ']']^ 78, 99. Metal workers, representations ol, 85. Militia, 49. Min (god of the fields), 45. Mitanni, the 70, 83. Monarchy, founding of the, 16 ; the Memphite, 43 ; style of the, 46 ; re-establishment of the, 57. Monkeys, from Punt, 82. Monotheism, 89. Mykensean art, 82. Myrrh, 31 ; trees, 81. Nagadeh, royal tomb of, 19. Narmer, King of Upper Egypt, 16, 18, 19, 72. Nebuchadnezzar, King in Babylonia, lOI. Nefert, Queen, 65. Neith-hetep, a Saite princess, 20. Nekau (Prince of Sais), 98. Nekau II, 100. Nekhen, Governor of, 25. Ne-maat-Hap, 26, 27. Nepata (place-name), 95. Neter-en, the decree of, 27. Neterkhet, King, 27, 28. Nile, the river, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 23, 31, 78, 91. Nobles, power of the, 38. Nomads, incomings of, 31. Northern wall, inspection of the, 72. Nubia, 91, 95. Nubians, expeditions against the, 31, 74. Oases on the west, 31. Offerings, funereal, 14. Officials of feudal period, 49 ; decentralisation of, 73. Oracle of Amen, 81. Orontes, the River, 90. Osiris, the legends of, 24. Ostrich, the, 6. Oxen, representations of, 33. Palace, regulation of the 39 ; keeper of the, 43. Palaeolithic weapons, 7. Palermo, inscription in the museum at, 25. Palestine, 90, 91, 94, 100. Palette, a carved, 18. Palm trees, 4, 85. Panthers from Punt, 82. Pastimes of the Monarch, 44. Pa-seb-Khanu II, 94. Peasant, the, 36. Pelusium, 67 ; battle of, 102. Pepy, 42 ; wars of, 30 ; army of, 41, 47. Pepy II, 52, 54. Perabsen (chieftain of the Eastern Delta), 28. Persea trees from Punt, 85. Petitioners of the people, %*]^ 88. Pharaohs, the, 71. Phoenicia, Southern, 90. Piankhy, Ethopian conqueror of Egypt, 97. Pigeons, flights of, represented, 86. Pinewood from the Euphrates, 80. Piracy, 80. Pirates, Mediterranean, 90. Poppy, the, represented, 85. Pottery, highly polished, 10 ; making of, 61. Prehistoric, the term, 10. Priesthood, 35 ; power of the, 92, 95- Priest-kings, the, 93. I [O General Index, Princes of districts, 15. Prince of Siut, 64, Princesses of the Delta, 21, 47. Princess of Punt, 81. Proprietors of land, 36. Prosperity, height of, 88. Provinces, allied, 15. Psamtek (son of Nekau), 99. Psamtek III, 102. Ptah-hetep, philosophy of, 34. Public works during feudal period, 49. Punt, land of, 32, 57 ; trading expeditions to, 46, 84. Quarries, the, 36. Queen, the, 44. Ra, priesthood of, 45, 46. Rameses I, 89. Rameses II, 90; the Great, 21, 92. Rameses VI, 93. /^ Raphia, battle of, 97. Recruiting staff, 74* Red Sea, the, 3, 11, 31, 32, 8r. Reed, emblem of South, 26. Relatives, royal, 43. Residents, Egyptian, 81. Robes, keeper of the royal, 43 ; embroidered, 65. Roofs, vaulted, 60. Sa-hu-Ra, King, 32, 46. Sais, the capital of Lower Egypt, 20, 21, 54, 96, 97. Saite kings, lOO, 102. Sakkara, 28, Sandal makers, representations of, 85. Sandstone, 2. Sangar cattle from Punt, 82. Sanehat, travels of Prince, 62. Sargon, 97. Scarab-seals, 63, 66. Scenes of daily life, 33, 61. Sceptre, the gold, 24. Scorpion, The, 15, 16, 72. Scribe, the royal, 55. Sculpture, 34, 61, 87. Seal, Bearer of the King's, 24 ; Keepers of the Great, 73. Seals, cylindrical stone, 12. Se-Ankh-ka-Ra, King, 57. Seals of curious designs, 54. Sealers, royal, 40. Sebek-em-sa-ef, Princess, 69. Sebek-hetep (King Kha-nefer-Ra), Semitic peoples, 30, 41, 65. Semite-Hittites, 66. Seneferu (King), 29, 31, 39, 40, 4i> 45> 46. Sebek-neferu (Queen), 66. Sety I (King), 89, 94. Settlements, early, 10. Shabaka, Ethiopian king, 97. Shed festival, the, 72. Shishank (King), 94. Silver, "j^. Sinai, expedition to, 25 ; mines of, Siut, feudal centre, 49 ; chieftain of, 52, 54, 64. Skins, panther, imported, 32, 82. Slaves, 80. Smelting, representations of, 85. Social life of the peasantry, 37. Soldiers, negro, 42. Somaliland, region of, 32. South, Superintendent of the, 40. Southern Syria, 30, 41, 47, 90. Sovereign, sanctity and power of the, 24. Sparta, coalition of, 102. Sphinx, the, 62. Standards, tribal, 10. Statues of Seneferu's reign, 34. Steward of the domains, 51. Stock, the taking, 56. Stones, coloured, 9 ; precious, 80. Stone vases, makers of, 85. Storehouse, the, 49. Stores, Superintendent of the, 42. Suakin (place-name), 32. Succession, the, 21, 69. Sudan, the, 31. 95. Sun disc, worship of the, 89. Sun (Ra, the god of life), 45, 46. General Lidex. Ill Superintendenls of feudal period, 39-. Superintendent with royal seal, 58. Sutarna, King of the Mitanni, 84. Symbols, naturalistic, 15. Syria, Southern, 12, ^j"]^ 83 ; life in, 62 ; campaigns in, 74 ; Con- federacy of, 77 ; Northern, 90 ; provinces of, 92. Syrians, the, 65, 75, 78. Tablets from Den's tomb, 25. Taharqa, Ethiopian king, 97, 98. Tanis (place-name), 57, 65, 67. Tapestr}', woven, 84. Taxation, system of, 38, 40, 51, 56. Tax-gatherers, the, 38. Tcfaba, Prince of Siut, 53. Tefnekht, Prince of Sais, 96, 97, 99. Tell el-Amarna, Z^, 86, 89. . Temehu, the, 64. Temples, 35, 60, 84 ; ministry of the, 49. Tens, Great Men of the, 40; Judges of the, 59 ; elders of the Southern, 87. Theban priesthood, the, 89. Thebes, 54, 58, 66, (^T, 78, 82, 84, 85, 93, 96 ; Great Chieftains of, 53 ; temples at, 91. Thothmes I, 71, 72. Ttiothmes III, 73, IT. Thothmes IV, 70, 84. Throne, the double, 14. Throw-sticks, 32. Thys (city), 21. Tigris, the river, *]%. Tin, import of, 80. Tombs, importance of, 9 ; of the Memphite period, 33 ; rock- hewn, 60 ; decorations of the, 84 ; of high dignitary, 85. Towns, dismantling of fortified, 15. Trade, with islands of the Mediter- ranean, 33 ; revival of, 55 ; foreign, *]%, Treasury, 49, 58. Treaty with the Kheta, 90. Tribes, union of the. 15. Truth, the representative of, 39. Turah, quarries at, 36. Una (commander-in-chief), 42, 47. Union of north and south, 19. Usertesen I, 61. Usertesen II, 61, 62. Usertesen II and III (Kings), 58, 65. Ushers, chief of the, 41. Vases of diorite, 9 ; stone, 24 ; gold- topped, 24. Vassal and sovereign, relations between, 55. Vessels, marks upon the early pottery, 12. Vezir, the Grand, $8, 73, 87, 88. Vice-Chancellors, 73. Village system, elements of, 10. Vines, 30, 85. Visitation of the Frontiers, 72. War-chariot, the, 75* Weaving of cloth, 61. Wheat, cultivation of, 61. Wife, the peasant's, 37. Wine, making of, 61. Words, Semitic, 82, 91. Words, the weigher of, 40. Works, public, 36. Writing, 13, 24, 82 ; Asiatic pic- torial, 1 1 ; of the Hittites, 65. Xoite nome, Governor of the, 41. Yangtse, the river, 7. Zedekiah, King of Jerusalem, loo. From Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd!s List, RECENT WORKS ON ANCIENT EGYPT. Just picblished. THE THIRD EGYPTIAN DYNASTY. BY JOHN GARSTANG, F.S.A. With 33 full-page plates. Price 21/-. Report of Excavations at Reqaqnah, in Upper Egypt. By John Garstang, B.A., B.Litt., Reader in Egyptian Arch£eology at the University of Liverpool. "The result testifies that exploration in Eg^'^pt is now carried on systematically, and that we have left behind the haphazard methods of the earlier explorers. . . . Mr, Garstang's book is well written." — The AthencEum . "Egyptologists everywhere will give a. hearty welcome to this erudite volume. Those best able to recognise its diligence and exact learning will appreciate it most, and it deserves the attention of everyone interested in the subject." — TJi£ Scotsman. " One of the most remarkable features in connection with these tombs \% the disclosure of the early discovery of the principle of the Arch. The carefully drawn plans and photo, litho. illustrations leave nothing to be desired."— The Glasgoiv Herald. " The affinities with the Tigro-Euphrates Valley seem to be strengthened by the<;e important and careful re'^earches. The work is lavishly illustrated and should be a great aid to Egyptian Archaeology, as it is full of facts with but little theory." — The Manchester Guardian. " The book . . . will constitute a valuable addition to the library alike of the Egyptologist and of the general Archaeologist. Excavations which were conducted with the most conscientious care and minuteness are chronicled in a form which shows that the author has devoted much time and thought to the co-ordination and arrangement of his material. The reader will appreciate the author's eflforts to present his conclusions in a readable style." — Man. THE LIFE OF REKHMARA ; Vezir of Upper Egypt under Thothmes III. and Amenhetep II. \circa B.C. 1471-1448.) BY PERCY E. NEWBERRY. With Twenty-two Plates. Price 21/- nett. Times. — *' Mr. Newberry is to be congratulated on a work which will be of value to all lovers of Egyptian archaeology." Athenceuin. — "Mr. Newberry . . . has reproduced the pictures in the tomb with skill, and those in the present part are the most complete we have seen ; he has traced the texts with equal care, and it is now possible to read with ease passages which formerly drove Egyptologists to despair." Morning Post. — " Mr. Newberry's investigations in the tomb of Rekhmara have done much towards bringing the life of that ancient dignitary before us and commending him to our esteem. ... It is not alone in respect of Rekhmara's personal history, however, that Mr. Newberry's investigations are valuable, for in deciphering the hieroglyphics on the tomb and in reproducing the pictures he throws light on the system of government and taxation and on the handicrafts which existed in the Egypt of the period. . . . The drawings are exceedingly detailed and accurate." Daily Chronicle. — ^^yir. Newberrv is in every sense an artist, and his volumes are always pleasing. The love which he bears his subject infects his pages ; and few who read his life of Rekhmaia can fail to be interested or to look expectantly for the next volume which he has promised." ■^.