Ancient Egypt (Rawlinson)

by George Rawlinson

ANCIENT EGYPT

BY

GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.

CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF TURIN; AUTHOR OF "THE FIVE GREAT MONARCHIES OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD." ETC., ETC.

WITH THE COLLABORATION OF

ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A. AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF ROME," ETC.

TENTH EDITION

LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN

PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C.

COPYRIGHT BY T. FISHER UNWIN, 1886 (For Great Britain)

TO REGINALD STUART POOLE, KEEPER OF COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AND CORRESPONDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MUCH HELP AND MUCH PLEASURE DERIVED FROM HIS EGYPTIAN LABOURS.

CONTENTS.

I. THE LAND OF EGYPT 1-22

General shape of Egypt, 1--Chief divisions: twofold division, 2; threefold division, 3--The Egypt of the maps unreal, 4--Egypt, "the gift of the river," in what sense, 5, 6--The Fayoum, 7--- Egyptian speculations concerning the Nile, 7, 8--The Nile not beautiful, 8--Size of Egypt, 9--Fertility, 10--Geographical situation, 11, 12--The Nile, as a means of communication, 12, 13, Phenomena of the inundation, 13, 14--Climate of Egypt. 14--Geology, 15--Flora and Fauna, 16, 17--General monotony, 19--Exceptions, 20-22.

II. THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT 23-45

Origin of the Egyptians, 23--Phenomena of their language and type, 24--Two marked varieties of physique. 25--Two types of character: the melancholic, 25, 27: the gay, 27-29--Character of the Egyptian religion: polytheism, 30, 31--Animal worship, 31-33--Worship of the monarch, 33--Osirid saga, 34, 35--Evil gods, 36--Local cults, 37--Esoteric religion, 38; how reconciled with the popular belief, 39--Conviction of a life after death, 40, 41--Moral code, 41-43--Actual state of morals, 43--Ranks of society, 44, 45.

III. THE DAWN OF HISTORY 45-64

Early Egyptian myths: the Seb and Thoth legends, 46, 47--The destruction of mankind by Ra, 48--Traditions concerning M'na, or Menes, 48--Site of Memphis, 49--Great Temple of Phthah at Memphis, 50, 51--Names of Memphis, 51--Question of the existence of M'na, 52, 53--Supposed successors of M'na, 54--First historical Egyptian, Sneferu, 55--The Egypt of his time, 56--Hieroglyphics, 57--Tombs, 58--Incipient pyramids, 59, 60--Social condition of the people, 60--Manners, 61--Position of women, 62-64.

IV. THE PYRAMID BUILDERS 65-94

Difficult to realize the conception of a great pyramid, 65--Egyptian idea of one, 66--Number of pyramids in Egypt: the Principal Three, 67--Description of the "Third Pyramid," 67-71; of the "Second Pyramid," 72; of the "First" or "Great Pyramid," 75-81--The traditional builders, Khufu, Shafra, and Menkaura, 82; the pyramids their tombs, 82--Grandeur of Khufu's conception, 83--Cruelty involved in it, 84, 85--The builders' hopes not realized, 85, 86--Skill displayed in the construction, 86--Magnificence of the architectural effect, 89--Inferiority of the "Third Pyramid," 90--Continuance of the pyramid period, 91-94.

V. THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER, AND THE EARLY THEBAN KINGS 95-119

Shift of the seat of power--site of Thebes, 95--Origin of the name of Thebes, 96--Earliest known Theban king, Antef I., 97--His successors, Mentu-hotep I. and "Antef the Great," 98--Other Antefs and Mentu-hoteps, 98, 99--Sankh-ka-ra and his fleet, 99, 100--Dynasty of Usurtasens and Amenemhats: spirit of their civilization, 100, 101--Reign of Amenemhat I., 102--His wars and hunting expeditions, 103, 104--Usurtasen I.: his wars, 105--His sculptures and architectural works, 106--His obelisk, 107, 109--Reign of Amenemhat II.: tablet belonging to his time, 109, 110--Usurtasen II. and his conquests, 111, 112.

VI. THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS 113-123

Dangers connected with the inundation of the Nile, twofold, 113--An excessive inundation, 114; a defective one, 115--Sufferings from these causes under Amenemhat III., 115, 116--Possible storage of water, 117--Amenemhat's reservoir, the "Lake Mœris," 118--Doubts as to its dimensions, 119, 120--Amenemhat's "Labyrinth," 121--His pyramid, and name of Ra-n-mat, 122, 123.

VII. ABRAHAM IN EGYPT 124-131

Wanderings of the Patriarch, 124--Necessity which drove him into Egypt, 125--Passage of the Desert, 126--A dread anxiety unfaithfully met, 127--Reception on the frontier, and removal of Sarah to the court, 128--Abraham's material well-being, 129--The Pharaoh restores Sarah, 130--Probable date of the visit, 130--Other immigrants, 131.

VIII. THE GREAT INVASION--THE HYKSOS OR SHEPHERD KINGS--JOSEPH AND APEPI 132-146

Exemption of Egypt hitherto from foreign attack, 132--Threatening movements among the populations of Asia, 133--Manetho's tale of the "Shepherd" invasion, 134--The probable reality, 135, 136--Upper Egypt not overrun, 137--The first Hyksos king, Set, or Saites, 138--Duration of the rule, doubtful, 139--Character of the rule improves with time, 140--Apepi's great works at Tanis, 144--Apepi and Ra-sekenen, 145--Apepi and Joseph, 146.

IX. HOW THE HYKSOS WERE EXPELLED FROM EGYPT 147-169

Rapid deterioration of conquering races generally, 147, 148--Recovery of the Egyptians from the ill effects of the invasion, 149--Second rise of Thebes to greatness, 150--War of Apepi with Ra-sekenen III., 151--Succession of Aahmes; war continues, 152--The Hyksos quit Egypt, 153--Aahmes perhaps assisted by the Ethiopians, 153-157.

X. THE FIRST GREAT WARRIOR KING, THOTHMES I. 158-169

Early wars of Thothmes in Ethiopia and Nubia, 158-160--His desire to avenge the Hyksos invasion, 161--Condition of Western Asia at this period, 162, 163--Geographical sketch of the countries to be attacked, 164, 165--Probable information of Thothmes on these matters, 167--His great expedition into Syria and Mesopotamia, 167--His buildings, 168--His greatness insufficiently appreciated, 169.

XI. QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET 170-188

High estimation of women in Egypt, 170--Early position of Hatasu as joint ruler with Thothmes II., 173--Her buildings at this period, 173--Her assumption of male attire and titles, 174-177--Her nominal regency for Thothmes III., and real sovereignty, 177, 178--Construction and voyage of her fleet, 178, 183--Return of the expedition to Thebes, 184--Construction of a temple to commemorate it, 185--Joint reign of Hatasu with Thothmes III.--Her obelisks, 186--Her name obliterated by Thothmes, 187.

XII. THOTHMES THE THIRD AND AMENHOTEP THE SECOND 189-207

First expedition of Thothmes III. into Asia, 189-191--His second and subsequent campaigns, 191, 192--Great expedition of his thirty-third year, 192, 193--Adventure with an elephant, 194--Further expeditions: amount of plunder and tribute, 195--Interest in natural history, 196--Employment of a navy, 197--Song of victory on the walls of the Temple of Karnak, 198-199--Architectural works, 199-201--Their present wide diffusion, 202--Thothmes compared with Alexander, 203--Description of his person, 204--Position of the Israelites under Thothmes III., 205--Short reign of Amenhotep II., 206.

XIII. AMEN-HOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS--THE VOCAL MEMNON 208-222

The "Twin Colossi" of Thebes: their impressiveness, 208-211--The account given of them by their sculptor, 212--The Eastern Colossus, why called "The Vocal Memnon," 213, 214--Earliest testimony to its being "vocal," 214--Rational account of the phenomenon, 215-217--Amenhotep's temple at Luxor, 217, 218--His other buildings, 219--His wars and expeditions, 219, 220--His lion hunts; his physiognomy and character, 221, 222.

XIV. KHUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIPPERS 223-230

Obscure nature of the heresy of the Disk-worshippers, 223-225--Possible connection of Disk-worship with the Israelites, 226--Hostility of the Disk-worshippers to the old Egyptian religion, 227--The introduction of the "heresy" traced to Queen Taia, 228--Great development of the "heresy" under her son, Amenhotep IV., or Khuenaten, 229--Other changes introduced by him, 230.

XV. BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT 231-252

Advance of the Hittite power in Syria, 231--War of Saplal with Ramesses I., 231--War of Seti I. with Maut-enar, 232--Great Syrian campaign of Seti, followed by a treaty, 233, 235--Seti's other wars, 236--His great wall, 237--Hittite war of Ramesses II., 238, 240--Poem of Pentaour, 241--Results of the battle of Kadesh, a new treaty and an inter-marriage, 242, 243--Military decline of Egypt, 244--Egyptian art reaches its highest point: Great Hall of Columns at Karnak, 245--Tomb of Seti, 246, 247--Colossi of Ramesses II., 248--Ramesses II. the great oppressor of the Israelites, 249--- Physiognomies of Seti I. and Ramesses II, 250-252.

XVI. MENEPHTHAH I., THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS 253-268

Good prospect of peace on Menephthah's accession, 253--General sketch of his reign, 254--Invasion of the Maxyes, 255--Their Mediterranean allies, 256, 257--Repulse of the invasion, 258-261--Israelite troubles, 262-264--Loss of the Egyptian chariot force in the Red Sea, 265--Internal revolts and difficulties, 265--General review of the civilization of the period, 266-268.

XVII. THE DECLINE OF EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES 269-287

Temporary disintegration of Egypt, 269--Reign of Setnekht, 270--Reign of Ramesses III., 271--General restlessness of the nations in his time 272,--Libyan invasion of Egypt, 273, 274--Great invasion of the Tekaru, Tanauna, and others, 275, 276--First naval battle on record, 277, 278--Part taken by Ramesses in the fight, 278-281--Campaign of revenge, 282--Later years of Ramesses peaceful, 283--General decline of Egypt, 284--Insignificance of the later Ramessides, 284, 285--Deterioration in art, literature, and morals, 285, 287.

XVIII. THE PRIEST-KINGS--PINETEM AND SOLOMON 288-297

Influence of the priests in Egypt, 288--Ordinary relations between them and the kings, 289--High-priesthood of Ammon becomes hereditary; Herhor, 290--Reign of Pinetem I., 293--Reign of Men-khepr-ra, 294--Rise of the kingdom of the Israelites, 295--Friendly relations established between Pinetem II. and Solomon, 296--Effect on Hebrew art and architecture, 297.

XIX. SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY 298-313

Shishak's family Semitic, but not Assyrian or Babylonian, 298--Connected by marriage with the priest-kings, 299, 300--Reception of Jeroboam by Shishak, 301--Shishak's expedition against Rehoboam, 302--Aid lent to Jeroboam in his own kingdom, 303--Arab conquests, 304--Karnak inscription, 305--Shishak's successors, 306--War of Zerah (Osorkon II.?) with Asa, 307--Effect of Zerah's defeat, 309--Decline of the dynasty, 310--Disintegration of Egypt, 310, 311--Further deterioration in literature and art, 311-313.

XX. THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS--EGYPT UNDER THE ETHIOPIANS 314-330

Vague use of the term Ethiopia, 314--Ethiopian kingdom of Napata, 315--Wealth of Napata, 316--Piankhi's rise to power, 317--His protectorate of Egypt, 318--Revolt of Tafnekht and others, 318--Suppression of the revolt, 319-323--Death of Piankhi, and revolt of Bek-en-ranf, 323--Power of Shabak established over Egypt, 324--General character of the Ethiopian rule, 325--Advance of Assyria towards the Egyptian border, 325--Collision between Sargon and Shabak, 326--Reign of Shabatok--Sennacherib threatens Egypt, 327--Reign of Tehrak, 328-330.

XXI. THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE--ETHIOPIA v. ASSYRIA 331-341

Egypt attacked by Esarhaddon, 331, 332--Great battle near Memphis, 333--Memphis taken, and flight of Tehrak to Napata, 334--Egypt split up into small states by Esarhaddon, 334, 335--Tehrak renews the struggle, 336--Tehrak driven out by Asshur-bani-pal, 337--His last effort, 337--Attempt made by Rut-Ammon fails, 338--Temporary success of Mi-Ammon-nut, 339--Egypt becomes once more an Assyrian dependency, 340--Her wretched condition, 341.

XXII. THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN--PSAMATIK I. AND HIS SON, NECO 342-359

Foreign help needed to save a sinking state, 342--Libyan origin of Psamatik I., 344--His revolt connected with the decline of Assyria, 345--Assistance rendered him by Gyges, 345--His struggle with the petty princes, 346--Reign of Psamatik: place assigned by him to the mercenaries, 347--His measures for restoring Egypt to her former prosperity, 348, 349--He encourages intercourse between Egypt and Greece, 350-352--Egypt restored to life: character of the new life, 353--Later years of Psamatik: conquest of Ashdod, 354--Reign of Neco: his two fleets, 355--His circumnavigation of Africa, 356--His conquest of Syria, 357--Jeremiah on the battle of Carchemish, 358--Neco's dream of empire terminates, 359.

XXIII THE LATER SAÏTE KINGS--PSAMATIK II., APRIES, AND AMASIS 360-367

The Saïtic revival in art and architecture,360--Some recovery of military strength, 361--Expedition of Psamatik II. into Ethiopia, 362--Part taken by Apries in the war between Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah, 363--His Phœnician conquests, 364--His expedition against Cyrene, 364--Invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, 365--Quiet reign of Amasis, 366--The Saïtic revival not the recovery of true national life, 367.

XXIV. THE PERSIAN CONQUEST 368-380

Patient acquiescence of Amasis in his position of tributary to Babylon, 368--Rise of the Persian power under Cyrus, and appeal made by Crœsus to Amasis, League of Egypt, Lydia, and Babylon, 369, 370--Precipitancy of Crœsus, 371--Fall of Babylon, 371--Later wars of Cyrus, 372--Preparations made against Egypt by Cambyses, 373, 374--Great battle of Pelusium, 375--Psamatik III, besieged in Memphis, 376--Fall of Memphis, and cruel treatment of the Egyptians by Cambyses, 377, 378--His iconoclasm checked by some considerations of policy, 379--Conciliatory measures of Darius Hystaspis, 379, 380.

XXV. THREE DESPERATE REVOLTS 380-386

First revolt, under Khabash, easily suppressed by Xerxes, 381, 382--Second revolt under Inarus and Amyrtæus, assisted by Athens, 382, 383--Suppressed by Megabyzus, 384--Herodotus in Egypt, 385--Third revolt, under Nefaa-rut, attains a certain success; a native monarchy re-established, 386.

XXVI. NECTANEBO I.--A LAST GLEAM OF SUNSHINE 387-392

Unquiet time under the earlier successors of Nefaa-rut, 387--Preparations of Nectanebo (Nekht Hor-heb) for the better protection of Egypt against the Persians, 388--Invasion of Egypt by Pharnabazus and Iphicrates, 389--Failure of the expedition, 390--A faint revival of art and architecture, 391.

XXVII. THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS 393-402

Reign of Te-her (Tacho), 393--Reign of Nectanebo II. (Nekht-nebf), 394--Revolt of Sidon, and great expedition of Ochus, 394, 395--Sidon betrayed by Tennes and Memnon of Rhodes, 396--March upon Egypt: disposition of the Persian forces, 397--Skirmish at Pelusium, and retreat of Nekht-nebf to Memphis, 398, 399--Capture of Pelusium, 399--Surrender of Bubastis, 400--Nehkt-nebf flies to Ethiopia, 401--General reflections, 402.

INDEX 403 [not included]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. [illustrations not included]

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THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT.