Page:Buried cities and Bible countries (1891).djvu/37

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EGYPT AND THE BIBLE
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plished thirteen campaigns in twenty years, and made Egypt the centre of history, invaded Palestine and gained a victory at Megiddo over the king of Kadesh and his allies. "They fled, head over heels, to Megiddo, with terror in their countenances, and left behind their horses and their gold and silver chariots, and were drawn up, with ropes to their clothes, into this town, since the people had closed the gates of the said town on account of the deeds of the king." "The miserable king of Kadesh" and the miserable king of Megiddo would not have escaped in this way, only that the Egyptian warriors relaxed the pursuit and engaged in plunder. The Pharaoh was beside himself. However, the warriors captured the tent of the miserable king, in which his son was found. Then they raised a shout of joy and gave honour to Amon, the lord of Thebes, who had given to his son Thothmes the victory. After this the neighbouring kings came together to worship before Pharaoh, "and to implore breath for their nostrils." And then came the children of the kings and presented gifts of silver, gold, blue-stone, and green-stone; they brought also wheat, and wine in skins, and fruits for the warriors of the king, since each of the Kitti [Hittites] had taken care to have such provisions for his return home. Then the king pardoned the foreign princes.

A catalogue of the booty includes 3401 living prisoners, 83 hands, 2041 mares, 191 foals, 6 bulls, one chariot, covered with plates of gold, of the king of . . ., 892 chariots of his miserable warriors, one beautiful iron armour of the hostile king, one beautiful iron armour of the king of Megiddo, 200 accoutrements of his miserable warriors, 602 bows, 7 tent-poles covered with plates of gold from the tent of the hostile king. Pharaoh's warriors had also taken as booty . . . bulls, . . . cows, 2000 kids, and 20,500 white goats.

A catalogue is also given of persons and things which Pharaoh afterwards carried off as his property, including 39