September 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Dive into the captivating history of Egypt, exploring its journey from ancient times to the moment of Alexander the Greats conquest. This engaging overview delves into the remarkable development of Egyptian civilization, touching on science, religion, art, language, and literature. Written for curious minds without any prior knowledge of Egypt, this book uses clear and relatable language to make the rich tapestry of Egypts past accessible to everyone. (Summary by Beth Thomas)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six of History of Egypt. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Sarah Lerenowitch. History of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendel,
(00:23):
Chapter six. The Nineteenth Dynasty about thirteen thirty to eleven
eighty b C. Section one horem HEB thirteen forty to
thirteen twenty b C. About thirteen forty b C. Horem
HEB succeeded in restoring order in the kingdom. His accession
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to the throne marks a new era in Egyptian history,
that of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in which Egypt, though its
armies no longer marched to the Euphrates and became a
terror of the Mesopotamian rulers, yet succeeded in making a
part of Asia an integral part of its empire. The
preceding dynasty had produced great conquerors who stand unrivaled in
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the annals of the land of Khmet, this dynasty produced
rulers who were great warriors, and but for events which
had occurred in Asia during the latter part of the dynasty,
eighteen would have equalled the two great Tutmoses in extent
of conquests, and who were, besides great organizers, how they
succeeded in incorporating Palestine, Phoenicia, and southern Syria in the kingdom.
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We shall presently see. The great mistake of these rulers
was that they, little by little, substituted Libyan mercenaries for
the national armies that had hitherto been the sole reliance
of Egypt. And we shall have occasion to trace the
grave results of this mistake. A long inscription on a
statue of Haremheb preserved in Turin, gives us an account
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of his early life and relates how he came to
the throne. He was brought up in the city of Hatsuten,
and already in his early youth, was highly honored. He
was a member of the family of Tutmosis the Third,
whom he calls the father of his father, i e.
His ancestor. When he was still a very young man,
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the ruling pharaoh, whose name is not mentioned, appointed him
to a high position in the eighteenth Upper Egyptian nome Saped,
which was his home. As he made a good record
in this position, he was made Aden i e General,
and in this position he received the tributes of the
foreign princes, and all the princes had to bow down
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before him. After he had held this position for a
number of years and had shown great ability, he was
appointed no Marcos of Saped. This position he held when,
as the text puts it, Horace and Amon decided to
place him on the throne horemheb certainly had a good
right to the succession, being a lineal descendant of Tutmosis
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the third, but his chief claim lay in the fact
that he had succeeded in trying mphing over all the
usurpers that had arisen after the death of the last
pharaoh of Chuanatan's line. On the close of the civil war,
he proceeded to Thebes, where he married the royal princess
Mudnetchim and was crowned king. His campaigns were chiefly in
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the south, where he put down a number of rebellious
Nubian tribes. We also know that he conducted several campaigns
in the north with the usual success. It would seem, too,
that the connections with southern Arabia and the Somali coast
were kept up for the inscriptions mentioned the tribute of
the Prince of Puent. Horem Heb tells us that he
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restored the temples of the land from the Delta to
Nubia and increased the numbers of their slaves and the
amounts of sacrificial offerings of the temples. Those of thebes On,
Heliopolis and Memphis were specially favored. Horem Heb died after
a reign of about twenty years. Section two. Rameses the
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First thirteen nineteen to thirteen seventeen b C. Very little
is known of Horemheb's son and successor, Ramses. He made
several raids into Nubia, and shortly before his death appointed
his son Seti co regent. He died after a reign
of only two years. His mummy was among those found
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at dare Al Bahari. Section three. Seti the First thirteen
sixteen to twelve eighty nine b C. The son and
successor of Ramses the First, was one of the greatest
and most warlike of all the Egyptian kings. Already in
the first year of his reign, he was compelled to
invade Asia, starting from the chetem I e Fort of Tar,
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which lay on the freshwater canal that formed the eastern
boundary line of Egypt. He first attacked and easily defeated
the Shassu II, the nomadic tribes dwelling in the Arabian desert,
and then entered Canan, defeated the inhabitants, took their capital,
and erected and garrisoned forts and dug wells in the
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conquered country. It is evident that the pharaoh desire to
hold the land permanently, and thus to secure Egypt against
all further inroads from Asia. This rapid success of the
Egyptian army spread terror over all Syria, and the Syrian
princes submitted peaceably and paid tribute. Several strongly fortified towns, however,
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held out and had to be taken by force of arms.
Among these were Kadesh, a city of the Amorites in
the district allotted to the tribe of Neftali that must
not be confounded with the Kadesh on the Orrantes, the
capital of the Cheta, and the fortress of Jenuam. Seeing
these Egyptian successes, Mauteneur, the king of the Cheta, naturally,
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thinking he would be attacked next, determined to take a
hand in the game. He was defeated, but set He
gained no permanent advantage over him. If we possessed the
monuments of this Cheta king, we certainly would read of
victories gained over the Egyptians. Seti now returned home at Tiar,
he was met by a procession of priests and nobles,
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who conducted him to Thebes in triumphal procession. The successes
of this pharaoh must not be overestimated. All he succeeded
in doing was to conquer the land lying between the
Egyptian and the Cheta frontier. The petty sovereigns of southern
Syria fell an easy prey to him, but the mighty
Cheta king succeeded in checking his advance. The lists of
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conquered lands and cities are very unreliable, many of the
names having been copied from the lists of Tutmosus the third.
In the later years of his reign, SETI was compelled
to march against the Taehenu i e. The Libyans, who
had again begun to make inroads on the western frontier.
The Libyan tribes, who were savage and warlike, had for
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centuries almost constantly been at war with Egypt, and though
at first easily defeated, had in the course of time
become very dangerous foes. In this reign, they began a
series of invasions, which were repelled only with great difficulty.
SETI was compelled to defeat them again and again before
he succeeded in subduing them for the time being. These
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tribes soon assumed the same position as regards Egypt that
the German tribes in later times held as regards the
Roman Empire. They began as enemies and invaders, and with time,
finding it profitable to serve the pharaoh, entered the Egyptian
service as mercenaries. These mercenaries soon supplanted the native troops,
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and in several centuries gained such controlling influence that some
four hundred years after Seti's time, their commander in chief, Sheshank,
could grasp the scepter and ascend the throne of the
pharaohs that to Henu. Tribes that entered the Egyptian service
in this and the following regins were the Mashawasha and
the Cahawk. In connection with these tribes there appears now
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for the first time the tribe of the Shardana. Large
bodies of these Shardana entered the service of Egypt under
Rameses the second, and a poem celebrating this monarch's victory
over the Cheta states that they were originally prisoners of war.
The armament of these men's was peculiar. They carried small
round shields or bucklers and a long, sharp pointed lance,
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and wore helmets with a round ball on top. They
also had full beards, while the Egyptian soldiers wore no
beards at all. In later times they are called people
of the sea. Their home must consequently have been some coast,
district or island of the Mediterranean. We have no reason
whatsoever to identify them with the Sardinians. In all probability,
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they were a tribe that dwelt on the northern coast
of Africa. The architectural activity of this ruler was confined
chiefly to Thebes, where he built at the temple of
Amon raw At Karnak. Here he began the magnificent Hypostyle,
which was completed by his son and successor. In the
necropolis of Thebes, on the west bank of the Nile,
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he restored two funeral temples that of Makharah at Daryl Bahari,
and that of Tutmoses the third at Medinet Habu. He
also began a funeral temple dedicated to his father, Rameses
the First at Abd el Kurnagh, which was completed by
Rameses the second, who dedicated it to Seti in conjunction
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with Rameses the first. The king also restored temples in
all parts of Egypt. The mines of the setmuf kat
i e Malachite region, as the Egyptians called the Senai
he held and operated. The quarries in Egypt proper were
of course in full operation, and the gold mines of
Aethiopia were worked. Of these gold mines, there has been
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preserved in a Turin papyrus a map, which, though crudely drawn,
is easily intelligible, the oldest map extant. Before his death,
SETI appointed his young son, Ramsey's co regent, but this
appointment was merely nominal. Rameses certainly never exercised the functions
of this office. He himself conceived it in this spirit,
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never dating his reign from his appointment, as the kings
of the Twelfth dynasty had done, but from his actual
accession to the throne as sole ruler. SETI died after
a reign of about twenty seven years. The mummy of
this ruler was found in a shaft at Darrow Bahari,
where it had been hid to protect it against the
tomb robbers that invested the necropolis in the times of
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the priest kings of dynasty twenty one. The features are
strongly marked and give evidence of great mental vigor and
strength of will. Section four Rameses the Second twelve eighty
eight to twelve twenty one b c. This king has
long been overestimated by those who followed Greek tradition in
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Egyptian history. That this tradition is utterly untrustworthy has been
pointed out in the introduction, and its utter worthlessness is
here glaringly illustrated. The Greeks called this king Sisastras and
made him the representative of Egyptian greatness. The name of
Sisastras is undoubtedly authentic, being a corruption of Sesetsu, a
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name applied to this king in a critical letter written
either in his reign or shortly afterward. He has been
declared the greatest of all the pharaohs, while in reality
he is to be placed after several others. Of all
the greatest was undoubtedly Tetmosis the third. Next after him
we can place his father Tetmoses the first. Then come
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Eusir Tessen the third, the conqueror of Athiopia, and Seti
the first, who conquered Libya and prepared the way for
Rameses the second in Asia. We give now a brief
summary of the Greek accounts of this king, and the
reader can then himself compare them with the authentic history
gleaned from the monuments of this reign, which, with the
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exception of the very suspicious lists of conquered nations, are
entirely trustworthy. Herodotus and Diodorus Sicilis are the principal sources
for the Sosastres legend. According to them, Cissastres was educated
together with all boys born on the same day with himself.
While yet crown prince, he was sent against the Aethiopians
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and subdued their entire country. Then he marched against Libya
and conquered the greater part of that country, his father
dying soon after. He determined to conquer the world, raising
an army of six hundred thousand infantry twenty four thousand
cavalry and twenty seven thousand chariots. He put them under
command of the seventeen hundred boys educated. Together with him,
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this vast army first marched against Aethiopia, and, conquering the
entire country, levied a tribute of gold, ebony and ivory.
Why conquer Ethiopia, which, according to the same authority he
had already conquered. He then fitted out a fleet of
four hundred sail the first Egyptian fleet, and penetrating to
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the land where the cinnamon grows and the straits of Babel,
Mandeb conquered the land of the ichthiop Phagoi and erected
Stella there. Then he crossed to Arabia and overran that
country and the Asiatic coasts as far as India. In
proof of this, they stayed that up to their time
there were to be seen in that country many ramparts
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of cisastris, as well as numerous imitations of Egyptian temples.
His land forces crossed the Ganges and conquered India. He
next overran the country of the Scythians up to the
Tenaeus River the modern Don River. Here a part of
his troops remained, and from them are descend in the Colchoi.
According to Pliny's version, however, Cisastras did not succeed in
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invading the country, but was defeated by Sallakis, king of Colchis.
The king next entered Europe and overran Thrace. Here, his
army was almost entirely broken up by hardships and starvation.
At length, after nine years of continued warfare, he returned home,
laden with booty and all of the conquered lands. Cisastres
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set up Stella. Some of these monuments, alleged to have
been erected by him, were shown to Herodotus in Ionia
and Syria. Manetho relates that when Cissastras set out on
his campaigns, he had appointed his brother Harmaeus regent during
his absence. After the king's return, Harmaeus revolted but was
defeated at Pelusium. The Egyptian account differs materially from this.
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In Libya, Rameses fought only as crown prince under his
father's leadership. The monument do indeed mention campaigns in Ethiopia,
but these were most probably directed only against the mountain
tribes that made constant inroads on the civilized portion of Ethiopia.
The country proper was an integral part of Egypt, and
had been so for centuries, and it was entirely unnecessary
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to reconquer it. The great seat of the war in
this reign was Asia. In the second year of his reign,
the Pharaohs started on his first campaign in this region.
It would seem that disturbances had occurred in Palestine and
the land of the Amorites, and that this campaign was
necessary to restore order. Several cities had to be taken,
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but on the whole, the restoration of Egyptian supremacy in
the countries recently so severely visited by Seti the first
cannot have been an over difficult task. As usual, it
seems that the fortresses alone offered any resistance, and after
they had fallen, the rest of the country submitted peaceably.
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At the close of this camp, Rameses erected Astili on
the banks of the Nahar el Khaled, north of Beirut.
His second campaign, on which he set out in the
fifth year of his reign, after careful preparation, was directed
against the Cheta, the old enemies of Tutmosis. The third
and Seti the First. It may be well here to
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give a brief sketch of the rise of this people.
There were two peoples named Cheta, one in Canan and
one dwelling between the Orrants and the Euphrates. The latter
is the people we refer to here. Already in the
time of Tutmoses the third, they seem to have been
an important and influential nation. The Cheta were the soul
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of the last great coalition formed against this pharaoh. But
in these early times Egypt still proved the master. After
the death of Amenhotep the Third, the Egyptians were too
much occupied with internal affairs to interfere in Syria, and
in the time between the death of this ruler and
the assse ession of Seti the First falls the rise
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of the Cheta. Of the combats in which they gained
this ascendancy we know nothing, but it would seem that
their kings, Sapilel and Marusar, who preceded Mauteneur, the contemporary
of Seti, had succeeded in gaining the ascendancy over all
the states of northern Syria. The Rutenu Haru upper Rutenu
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of the Egyptians northern Mesopotamia and of that portion of
Asia lying north of their domain. We do not, however,
know whether they merely stood at the head of a
confederacy composed of these states, or had really conquered them.
When SETI the first invaded Asia, Mountaineur felt sufficiently strong
to oppose him, and, though at first defeated, succeeded in
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checking his advance. This success naturally increased the prestige of
the Cheta, and when Rameses the second attacked them, they
seemed to have been able to call to their aid
all the peoples of northern Syria and northern Mesoptae, Kamia,
and some of the peoples of Asia Minor. The forces
of this mighty coalition were massed in front of Kadesh,
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the Cheta capital, where they awaited the Egyptian advance. Led
by treacherous guides, the advance guard of the Egyptian army,
which was under the personal command of the king, fell
into an ambuscade near Kadesh, and were all but annihilated.
They were, however, rallied by Rameses, whose personal prowess, as
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he tells us, alone, turned the tide of the battle,
and when the rest of the army which had been
hastily summoned, arrived on the battlefield. They were just in
time to join in the pursuit of the fleeing foe.
The enemy were driven into the Orrantes River iji Arunta,
and suffered terrible losses. One of their generals, the Prince
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of Chaleb Aleppo, was almost drowned. Again and again. Ramsey's
reverts to this victory, the poem and the representations commemorative
of it he had inscribed on the walls of several temples.
Undoubtedly it was an act of great personal bravery, and
the pharaoh had a right to be proud of it.
But the victory was fruitless. Kadesh was not taken, and
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if Rameses says that Mounteneur had turned about and adored him,
this can refer only to negotiation concerning an armistice. At
all events, the war went on as before, and evidently
with wavering success, though we hear but little of its
further course. Once we find the pharaoh fighting far north
in the region of Tunep in Naharan, Mesopotamia. But how
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he came there we do not know. He did not
retain this advanced position long, however, but was driven back
for in the eighth year of his reign, he fought
in Palestine, taking the towns of Mehram Kharpu in the
region of bete Anat and Dapur in the country of
the Amorites. He also took the town of Shapur and
finally reconquered as Kharun as colon which had thrown off
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the yoke of Egypt. During this war, Mountaineur died and
Chetasar succeeded him. The Cheta War was finally closed in
the twenty first year of Rameses' reign by a Treaty
of Peace and Alliance. This treaty proves that perfect equality
existed between the two nations. Both kings bound themselves to
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keep the peace and be good and faithful allies. The
treaty refers to one in force in the time of
Sapilel and Matinur, concluded possibly with SETI the first or
one of his two predecessors. It expressly states the obligation
of either king to come to the assistance of the
other if so required. It further defines the obligation of
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either king to return refugees. Thus was concluded the first
Treaty of Peace and Alliance. The full text of which
has come down to us that treaties had been concluded
between the kings of Egypt and the Mesopotamian rulers we
have seen in the preceding chapter. To strengthen this treaty,
Rameses married the old oldest daughter of Chetasar, acknowledging her
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as his legitimate wife and queen, the princess adopting the
Egyptian name of matt nephru Ra. Thirteen years later, Chetasar,
accompanied by the Prince of Kedi, paid his royal son
in law a visit. The terms of the treaty seemed
to have been strictly kept by both countries, as they
were weary of a war that drained their resources and
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brought no result to either of the boundary between the
two nations. Nothing is said in the treaty, but it
would seem probable that Egypt retained Phoenicia, Palestine, and southern Syria,
while the Cheta were free to extend their domain northward.
The Cheta made good use of their opportunities all through
Asia Minor and as far north as Smyrna. We meet
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with monuments that were erected by this people. Rameses could
not extend his sway any further than the boundaries of
the Cheta. He now set to work to secure the
conquered country. In all parts of Palestine and southern Syria,
forts were erected in garrisoned, and it would even seem
that special officers rode through the land on tours of inspection.
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The power of Egypt had greatly weakened, and she was
no longer what she had been three centuries earlier. The
lists of conquered lands which this pharaoh had inscribed on
the temple walls are utterly unreliable, being copied in great
part from those of Tutmosis the third. Thus he mentions
as conquered, among others, Asur Assyria and Sangar Chaldea, countries
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with which this pharaoh had no relations whatsoever. That a
very active commercial intercourse between Egypt and Asia was brought
about by the new relations between Egypt and the Asiatic
nations is self evident. Egypt powerfully influenced Asia, and was
powerfully influenced in return Syrian divinities. But all and astart
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were taken into the Egyptian pantheon. Setsu Tech, who to
the Egyptians represented the tutular divinity of the foreigners gained
greatly in prestige owing to the successes of these same foreigners,
But the chief influence was on the language. The influx
of Semitic words into the Egyptian at this time is
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something wonderful to behold. It must have been considered elegant
and a proof of great learning to larder one's writing
with these foreign words and phrases, for some of the
texts of this period teem with them. The peace which
closed the Asiatic War in the twenty first year of
Rameses reign left the pharaoh forty six years to devote
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to internal improvements. The king directed his attention chiefly to building,
and there is scarce a town in all Egypt in
which he did not build, complete or restore temples. But
despite this great activity, he does not seem to have
been thoroughly satisfied with his work, for he usurped many
temples erected by his predecessors. The usurpation of monuments was
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a common practice in ancient Egypt. The usurper proceeded in
a vas very simple manner. He erased the name of
the real builder and substituted his own for it, thus
making it appear as if the monument in question owed
its existence to him. This had been done before Rameses time,
but none of his predecessors possessed the same finesse in
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this class of work. He thus succeeded in arrogating to
himself many temples that had been built years and sometimes
centuries before his time. And it is often owing only
to the fact that the men charged with the work
did it very slovenly and left the name of the
real builder standing in some obscure corner, that we are
enabled to discover the imposition. Tannis, a city lying near
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the northeastern boundary of Egypt, shared with Theebes the honor
of being the residence of the Pharaoh. The various departments
of the government were located at the latter city, but
Tannis offered Ramsay's unrivaled facilities as a basis of operations
for his Asiatic campaigns. A king who spent so many
years warring in Asia would not surely find it of
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great advantage to fix his residence at a place so
near the frontier. Tannis thus owes the larger part of
its glory and prosperity to this Pharaoh. He it was
that built the vast granite temple. As many as fourteen
obelisks and several statues of the king have been found here.
Memphis also came in for a share of the king's favor.
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It was made one of his residences, and its temple
of Petah was greatly enlarged. But the great city of
this reign was Thebes, of which we may well here
give a brief sketch. This city, the Egyptian name of
which was Uesset, was situated on the east bank of
the Nile, its site being still marked by the ruins
of the great temples of Karnac and Luksor, both of
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which were dedicated to ammon Rah. Between these two temples
lay the city proper. The temple of Karnak had its
own names. One of these was Apet, the other NESTAUI,
throne of both Langs II Egypt. On the west bank
of the river lay the necropolis or cemetery of Thebes,
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in which its kings, courtiers, and citizens lie buried. The
rulers of the Middle Empire were interred in low pyramids
built on the plain. Those of the New Empire were
interred in tombs hewn into the living rock of the
hills that skirt the valley of the Nile. On the west.
The temples dedicated to the cult of the pharaohs of
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this latter period were built in the valley. Thus a
long row of funeral temples extends through this plain. The
temple of dare Al Bahari built by Makharah, that of
Rameses the first, and Seti the first at Kernah, the
Rameseum built by Ramses the second, the temples of Tutmoses
the third and Ramses the third at Medinet Habu, and
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many others. This district was devoted to the use of
the dead and of those who cared for them. Masons, carpenters,
and bombers, and laborers of every description connected with what
the French called les ponte funebes had their homes here
in this necropolis. Rameses was very busy. He first completed
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the funeral temple at Kernagh, begun by his father, and
then erected a wonderful Ramesseum, a temple dedicated to Amunrah
and commemorative of the pharaoh's victories, on the east bank
of the river. He completed the wonderful Hyposteele of Karnak,
which his father had begun and otherwise improved and decorated
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the main building, besides erecting a building south of the
pond belonging to the temple enclosure, and a pretty extensive
temple east of a great temple. This pharaoh was especially
partial to grotto temples, of which he built quite a
number e g. At Bettwali Goafhussain, Wadi Sebua, and Atbusimbel.
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The last mentioned temple was the best of this class.
It is the largest and most beautiful grotto ever cut
from the living rock by the hand of man. The
classical authors Strabo, Pliny, and others ascribed to the Soostress
the beginning of a canal connecting the Nile with the
Red Sea, which Netcho was said to have continued and
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Darius to have completed. The canal from Cairo to Suez
was afterward again opened by m rou the Mohammedan conqueror
of Egypt, but one hundred and forty years later it
was again closed by order of the caliph Abou diar
l Mansur. In fact, there existed already in the times
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of Seti, the first a canal, which starting from the
Nile near Memphis, ran through the Wadi Tumulat to Lake Timsey,
and thence to the Red Sea. This canal is represented
for the first time in an inscription of Seti the First,
where the return of that conqueror from his Asiatic campaign
is depicted. It is pictured as full of fishes and crocodiles.
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The canal bears the unassumed name of Demat Canal. A
bridge led over it near the Chetem fort of Tiar
that covered this part of the frontier when this canal
was dug. We cannot say to a certainty it existed
in the time of King SETI the First, and may
have been dug by him, but it may just as
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well be considerably older. It was dug originally, either for
purposes of irrigation or as a defense against the Asiatic Bedouins.
We scarcely think that it served any commercial purposes in
these early times. The canal is frequently mentioned by foreigners.
Thus the Bible mentions it as the brook of Egypt
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Nahal Misraim numbers thirty four five, Joshua fifteen four, Isaiah
thirty seven, et cetera, and in the Assyrian inscriptions it
is called the brook Nahal, where there is no river Naru,
because it was not a natural but an artificial waterway.
It is considered by these tech as the boundary line
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of Egypt. The pharaoh died in the sixty eighth year
of his reign, having previously appointed his fourteenth son mare
en Petah, co regent. A word about the monarch's family
may here be in place. He had several legitimate wives
and many concubines. Consequently, he could also boast of a
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large number of children. One list mentions one hundred sixty
two of these by name, one hundred and eleven sons
and fifty one daughters. The mummy of the king was
found at Darre al Bahari. It shows a striking resemblance
to the beautiful statue of the king preserved in the
Museum of Turin. Rameses must have been in his younger
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days quite a handsome man, and even in old age
his features preserved a determined caste. Section five mare en
Petah twelve twenty to twelve twelve b C. About twelve
twenty b C. The last great ruler of this line
ascended the throne. His history is not over eventful. The
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empire was at peace with the world. In the south,
the Egyptians held as much of Ethiopia and Nubia as practicable,
their only object being to control the Nubian gold mines
and to secure the southern frontier against invasion in Asia.
The advance of the Egyptian arms had received a decided
check at the hands of the Cheta, and the Treaty
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of Peace and Alliance, concluded in the twenty first year
of the preceding reign, had put an end to all
chants of war in that quarter. Canan, Palestine, Phoenicia, Southern
Syria and the Sinai were secure. The last named country
had been under Egyptian control for several thousand years, and
the others were secured by numerous forts established by Seti
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the first, Rameses the second, and Marin Patah with Puent.
There never had been war, and there was no chance
of war now, as the commercial relations between the two
countries continued profitable to both and would only have been
disturbed by a war. There was only one quarter from
which a war could threaten, and that was Libya. We
(32:09):
have seen that the Libyans had frequently given trouble before,
but that the campaign of Seti the First had effectually
checked them and had put a stop to their inroads
for a long while. After this campaign, we find that
many Libyans entered the service of Seti the First and
Rameses the Second. It is hardly credible that they remained
in the service after Rameses's wars were over. In all probability,
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they returned home and told their countrymen of the wealth
of Egypt and of the immense booty to be won there.
Returning from the successful campaigns, they no doubt brought home
what seemed to them great riches, and this aroused the
greed of their countrymen. Rameses himself they dared not attack,
but after his death they prepared to invade the land.
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Numerous Libyan tribes from the sea coast and the interior,
the Leboo, kahak Mashawasha, Akawasha, Turasha, Reku, Shardana, and Shireshka,
combined their forces with those of the frontier tribes, and
under the command of King Maroi, the son of Didi,
(33:16):
entered the western Delta in the fifth year of the
new reign and advanced plundering the country as far as
per Bairo Biblos south of Bubastis. It was their evident
intention to settle here, and if need be, to purchase
the right to settle here with their blood. King mar
and Patah was notified of this invasion, but he hesitated
(33:39):
to take active measures. At last he got an army together,
but was deterred from accompanying it by a dream. Meanwhile,
the enemy had advanced to pere Aru Sheepsas, a town
near Heliopolis, which city their forces now threatened. At this place,
the Egyptian army met them, and in the battle that ensued,
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completely routed and almost annihilated their forces. The Egyptians then
plundered and burned down the fortified camp of the enemy.
This victory left in the hands of the Egyptian army
vast amounts of booty and a great number of prisoners.
Maren Patah was a great builder on the Egypto Syriac frontier.
He erected two forts and continued the work begun by
(34:23):
his predecessor at Thebes, Tannis and other places. He died
after a short reign of only eight years. Section six
close of the nineteenth dynasty twelve eleven to eleven eighty
b c. Seti, the second twelve eleven to twelve o
nine b C. A son of Mar and Patah, succeeded
(34:45):
his father on the throne. Inscriptions and papyri of his
reign are constantly bragging about his great victories, but not
one of these is ever specially mentioned, nor do we
know of any campaigns of this king. Evidently, these laws
auditory hymns are mere pieces of meaningless flattery. He died
after a reign of only two years. A period of
(35:08):
anarchy followed on his death, during which several usurpers succeeded
in gaining the ascendancy for a short period. Of these
monarchs we know only a few, Amman Messes and Sa Patah.
Mar and Patah the second were in latter times regarded
as illegitimate. Undoubtedly they were usurpers. A Syrian Arsu by
(35:30):
name succeeded in making himself king for a short while,
but whether he came to the front as leader of
one of the hostile factions or was an invader, we
do not know. At last, set Necht, the founder of
Dynasty twenty and father of Rameses the third, succeeded in
restoring order about eighteen eighty b C. Or perhaps a
(35:52):
few years earlier. End of Chapter six
Chapter six of History of Egypt. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Sarah Lerenowitch. History of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendel,
(00:23):
Chapter six. The Nineteenth Dynasty about thirteen thirty to eleven
eighty b C. Section one horem HEB thirteen forty to
thirteen twenty b C. About thirteen forty b C. Horem
HEB succeeded in restoring order in the kingdom. His accession
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to the throne marks a new era in Egyptian history,
that of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in which Egypt, though its
armies no longer marched to the Euphrates and became a
terror of the Mesopotamian rulers, yet succeeded in making a
part of Asia an integral part of its empire. The
preceding dynasty had produced great conquerors who stand unrivaled in
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the annals of the land of Khmet, this dynasty produced
rulers who were great warriors, and but for events which
had occurred in Asia during the latter part of the dynasty,
eighteen would have equalled the two great Tutmoses in extent
of conquests, and who were, besides great organizers, how they
succeeded in incorporating Palestine, Phoenicia, and southern Syria in the kingdom.
(01:30):
We shall presently see. The great mistake of these rulers
was that they, little by little, substituted Libyan mercenaries for
the national armies that had hitherto been the sole reliance
of Egypt. And we shall have occasion to trace the
grave results of this mistake. A long inscription on a
statue of Haremheb preserved in Turin, gives us an account
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of his early life and relates how he came to
the throne. He was brought up in the city of Hatsuten,
and already in his early youth, was highly honored. He
was a member of the family of Tutmosis the Third,
whom he calls the father of his father, i e.
His ancestor. When he was still a very young man,
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the ruling pharaoh, whose name is not mentioned, appointed him
to a high position in the eighteenth Upper Egyptian nome Saped,
which was his home. As he made a good record
in this position, he was made Aden i e General,
and in this position he received the tributes of the
foreign princes, and all the princes had to bow down
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before him. After he had held this position for a
number of years and had shown great ability, he was
appointed no Marcos of Saped. This position he held when,
as the text puts it, Horace and Amon decided to
place him on the throne horemheb certainly had a good
right to the succession, being a lineal descendant of Tutmosis
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the third, but his chief claim lay in the fact
that he had succeeded in trying mphing over all the
usurpers that had arisen after the death of the last
pharaoh of Chuanatan's line. On the close of the civil war,
he proceeded to Thebes, where he married the royal princess
Mudnetchim and was crowned king. His campaigns were chiefly in
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the south, where he put down a number of rebellious
Nubian tribes. We also know that he conducted several campaigns
in the north with the usual success. It would seem, too,
that the connections with southern Arabia and the Somali coast
were kept up for the inscriptions mentioned the tribute of
the Prince of Puent. Horem Heb tells us that he
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restored the temples of the land from the Delta to
Nubia and increased the numbers of their slaves and the
amounts of sacrificial offerings of the temples. Those of thebes On,
Heliopolis and Memphis were specially favored. Horem Heb died after
a reign of about twenty years. Section two. Rameses the
(03:58):
First thirteen nineteen to thirteen seventeen b C. Very little
is known of Horemheb's son and successor, Ramses. He made
several raids into Nubia, and shortly before his death appointed
his son Seti co regent. He died after a reign
of only two years. His mummy was among those found
(04:21):
at dare Al Bahari. Section three. Seti the First thirteen
sixteen to twelve eighty nine b C. The son and
successor of Ramses the First, was one of the greatest
and most warlike of all the Egyptian kings. Already in
the first year of his reign, he was compelled to
invade Asia, starting from the chetem I e Fort of Tar,
(04:45):
which lay on the freshwater canal that formed the eastern
boundary line of Egypt. He first attacked and easily defeated
the Shassu II, the nomadic tribes dwelling in the Arabian desert,
and then entered Canan, defeated the inhabitants, took their capital,
and erected and garrisoned forts and dug wells in the
(05:06):
conquered country. It is evident that the pharaoh desire to
hold the land permanently, and thus to secure Egypt against
all further inroads from Asia. This rapid success of the
Egyptian army spread terror over all Syria, and the Syrian
princes submitted peaceably and paid tribute. Several strongly fortified towns, however,
(05:28):
held out and had to be taken by force of arms.
Among these were Kadesh, a city of the Amorites in
the district allotted to the tribe of Neftali that must
not be confounded with the Kadesh on the Orrantes, the
capital of the Cheta, and the fortress of Jenuam. Seeing
these Egyptian successes, Mauteneur, the king of the Cheta, naturally,
(05:50):
thinking he would be attacked next, determined to take a
hand in the game. He was defeated, but set He
gained no permanent advantage over him. If we possessed the
monuments of this Cheta king, we certainly would read of
victories gained over the Egyptians. Seti now returned home at Tiar,
he was met by a procession of priests and nobles,
(06:12):
who conducted him to Thebes in triumphal procession. The successes
of this pharaoh must not be overestimated. All he succeeded
in doing was to conquer the land lying between the
Egyptian and the Cheta frontier. The petty sovereigns of southern
Syria fell an easy prey to him, but the mighty
Cheta king succeeded in checking his advance. The lists of
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conquered lands and cities are very unreliable, many of the
names having been copied from the lists of Tutmosus the third.
In the later years of his reign, SETI was compelled
to march against the Taehenu i e. The Libyans, who
had again begun to make inroads on the western frontier.
The Libyan tribes, who were savage and warlike, had for
(06:58):
centuries almost constantly been at war with Egypt, and though
at first easily defeated, had in the course of time
become very dangerous foes. In this reign, they began a
series of invasions, which were repelled only with great difficulty.
SETI was compelled to defeat them again and again before
he succeeded in subduing them for the time being. These
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tribes soon assumed the same position as regards Egypt that
the German tribes in later times held as regards the
Roman Empire. They began as enemies and invaders, and with time,
finding it profitable to serve the pharaoh, entered the Egyptian
service as mercenaries. These mercenaries soon supplanted the native troops,
(07:44):
and in several centuries gained such controlling influence that some
four hundred years after Seti's time, their commander in chief, Sheshank,
could grasp the scepter and ascend the throne of the
pharaohs that to Henu. Tribes that entered the Egyptian service
in this and the following regins were the Mashawasha and
the Cahawk. In connection with these tribes there appears now
(08:08):
for the first time the tribe of the Shardana. Large
bodies of these Shardana entered the service of Egypt under
Rameses the second, and a poem celebrating this monarch's victory
over the Cheta states that they were originally prisoners of war.
The armament of these men's was peculiar. They carried small
round shields or bucklers and a long, sharp pointed lance,
(08:32):
and wore helmets with a round ball on top. They
also had full beards, while the Egyptian soldiers wore no
beards at all. In later times they are called people
of the sea. Their home must consequently have been some coast,
district or island of the Mediterranean. We have no reason
whatsoever to identify them with the Sardinians. In all probability,
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they were a tribe that dwelt on the northern coast
of Africa. The architectural activity of this ruler was confined
chiefly to Thebes, where he built at the temple of
Amon raw At Karnak. Here he began the magnificent Hypostyle,
which was completed by his son and successor. In the
necropolis of Thebes, on the west bank of the Nile,
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he restored two funeral temples that of Makharah at Daryl Bahari,
and that of Tutmoses the third at Medinet Habu. He
also began a funeral temple dedicated to his father, Rameses
the First at Abd el Kurnagh, which was completed by
Rameses the second, who dedicated it to Seti in conjunction
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with Rameses the first. The king also restored temples in
all parts of Egypt. The mines of the setmuf kat
i e Malachite region, as the Egyptians called the Senai
he held and operated. The quarries in Egypt proper were
of course in full operation, and the gold mines of
Aethiopia were worked. Of these gold mines, there has been
(10:01):
preserved in a Turin papyrus a map, which, though crudely drawn,
is easily intelligible, the oldest map extant. Before his death,
SETI appointed his young son, Ramsey's co regent, but this
appointment was merely nominal. Rameses certainly never exercised the functions
of this office. He himself conceived it in this spirit,
(10:24):
never dating his reign from his appointment, as the kings
of the Twelfth dynasty had done, but from his actual
accession to the throne as sole ruler. SETI died after
a reign of about twenty seven years. The mummy of
this ruler was found in a shaft at Darrow Bahari,
where it had been hid to protect it against the
tomb robbers that invested the necropolis in the times of
(10:46):
the priest kings of dynasty twenty one. The features are
strongly marked and give evidence of great mental vigor and
strength of will. Section four Rameses the Second twelve eighty
eight to twelve twenty one b c. This king has
long been overestimated by those who followed Greek tradition in
(11:07):
Egyptian history. That this tradition is utterly untrustworthy has been
pointed out in the introduction, and its utter worthlessness is
here glaringly illustrated. The Greeks called this king Sisastras and
made him the representative of Egyptian greatness. The name of
Sisastras is undoubtedly authentic, being a corruption of Sesetsu, a
(11:30):
name applied to this king in a critical letter written
either in his reign or shortly afterward. He has been
declared the greatest of all the pharaohs, while in reality
he is to be placed after several others. Of all
the greatest was undoubtedly Tetmosis the third. Next after him
we can place his father Tetmoses the first. Then come
(11:51):
Eusir Tessen the third, the conqueror of Athiopia, and Seti
the first, who conquered Libya and prepared the way for
Rameses the second in Asia. We give now a brief
summary of the Greek accounts of this king, and the
reader can then himself compare them with the authentic history
gleaned from the monuments of this reign, which, with the
(12:13):
exception of the very suspicious lists of conquered nations, are
entirely trustworthy. Herodotus and Diodorus Sicilis are the principal sources
for the Sosastres legend. According to them, Cissastres was educated
together with all boys born on the same day with himself.
While yet crown prince, he was sent against the Aethiopians
(12:36):
and subdued their entire country. Then he marched against Libya
and conquered the greater part of that country, his father
dying soon after. He determined to conquer the world, raising
an army of six hundred thousand infantry twenty four thousand
cavalry and twenty seven thousand chariots. He put them under
command of the seventeen hundred boys educated. Together with him,
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this vast army first marched against Aethiopia, and, conquering the
entire country, levied a tribute of gold, ebony and ivory.
Why conquer Ethiopia, which, according to the same authority he
had already conquered. He then fitted out a fleet of
four hundred sail the first Egyptian fleet, and penetrating to
(13:20):
the land where the cinnamon grows and the straits of Babel,
Mandeb conquered the land of the ichthiop Phagoi and erected
Stella there. Then he crossed to Arabia and overran that
country and the Asiatic coasts as far as India. In
proof of this, they stayed that up to their time
there were to be seen in that country many ramparts
(13:42):
of cisastris, as well as numerous imitations of Egyptian temples.
His land forces crossed the Ganges and conquered India. He
next overran the country of the Scythians up to the
Tenaeus River the modern Don River. Here a part of
his troops remained, and from them are descend in the Colchoi.
According to Pliny's version, however, Cisastras did not succeed in
(14:05):
invading the country, but was defeated by Sallakis, king of Colchis.
The king next entered Europe and overran Thrace. Here, his
army was almost entirely broken up by hardships and starvation.
At length, after nine years of continued warfare, he returned home,
laden with booty and all of the conquered lands. Cisastres
(14:28):
set up Stella. Some of these monuments, alleged to have
been erected by him, were shown to Herodotus in Ionia
and Syria. Manetho relates that when Cissastras set out on
his campaigns, he had appointed his brother Harmaeus regent during
his absence. After the king's return, Harmaeus revolted but was
defeated at Pelusium. The Egyptian account differs materially from this.
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In Libya, Rameses fought only as crown prince under his
father's leadership. The monument do indeed mention campaigns in Ethiopia,
but these were most probably directed only against the mountain
tribes that made constant inroads on the civilized portion of Ethiopia.
The country proper was an integral part of Egypt, and
had been so for centuries, and it was entirely unnecessary
(15:17):
to reconquer it. The great seat of the war in
this reign was Asia. In the second year of his reign,
the Pharaohs started on his first campaign in this region.
It would seem that disturbances had occurred in Palestine and
the land of the Amorites, and that this campaign was
necessary to restore order. Several cities had to be taken,
(15:38):
but on the whole, the restoration of Egyptian supremacy in
the countries recently so severely visited by Seti the first
cannot have been an over difficult task. As usual, it
seems that the fortresses alone offered any resistance, and after
they had fallen, the rest of the country submitted peaceably.
(15:58):
At the close of this camp, Rameses erected Astili on
the banks of the Nahar el Khaled, north of Beirut.
His second campaign, on which he set out in the
fifth year of his reign, after careful preparation, was directed
against the Cheta, the old enemies of Tutmosis. The third
and Seti the First. It may be well here to
(16:20):
give a brief sketch of the rise of this people.
There were two peoples named Cheta, one in Canan and
one dwelling between the Orrants and the Euphrates. The latter
is the people we refer to here. Already in the
time of Tutmoses the third, they seem to have been
an important and influential nation. The Cheta were the soul
(16:41):
of the last great coalition formed against this pharaoh. But
in these early times Egypt still proved the master. After
the death of Amenhotep the Third, the Egyptians were too
much occupied with internal affairs to interfere in Syria, and
in the time between the death of this ruler and
the assse ession of Seti the First falls the rise
(17:02):
of the Cheta. Of the combats in which they gained
this ascendancy we know nothing, but it would seem that
their kings, Sapilel and Marusar, who preceded Mauteneur, the contemporary
of Seti, had succeeded in gaining the ascendancy over all
the states of northern Syria. The Rutenu Haru upper Rutenu
(17:23):
of the Egyptians northern Mesopotamia and of that portion of
Asia lying north of their domain. We do not, however,
know whether they merely stood at the head of a
confederacy composed of these states, or had really conquered them.
When SETI the first invaded Asia, Mountaineur felt sufficiently strong
to oppose him, and, though at first defeated, succeeded in
(17:46):
checking his advance. This success naturally increased the prestige of
the Cheta, and when Rameses the second attacked them, they
seemed to have been able to call to their aid
all the peoples of northern Syria and northern Mesoptae, Kamia,
and some of the peoples of Asia Minor. The forces
of this mighty coalition were massed in front of Kadesh,
(18:07):
the Cheta capital, where they awaited the Egyptian advance. Led
by treacherous guides, the advance guard of the Egyptian army,
which was under the personal command of the king, fell
into an ambuscade near Kadesh, and were all but annihilated.
They were, however, rallied by Rameses, whose personal prowess, as
(18:27):
he tells us, alone, turned the tide of the battle,
and when the rest of the army which had been
hastily summoned, arrived on the battlefield. They were just in
time to join in the pursuit of the fleeing foe.
The enemy were driven into the Orrantes River iji Arunta,
and suffered terrible losses. One of their generals, the Prince
(18:48):
of Chaleb Aleppo, was almost drowned. Again and again. Ramsey's
reverts to this victory, the poem and the representations commemorative
of it he had inscribed on the walls of several temples.
Undoubtedly it was an act of great personal bravery, and
the pharaoh had a right to be proud of it.
But the victory was fruitless. Kadesh was not taken, and
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if Rameses says that Mounteneur had turned about and adored him,
this can refer only to negotiation concerning an armistice. At
all events, the war went on as before, and evidently
with wavering success, though we hear but little of its
further course. Once we find the pharaoh fighting far north
in the region of Tunep in Naharan, Mesopotamia. But how
(19:34):
he came there we do not know. He did not
retain this advanced position long, however, but was driven back
for in the eighth year of his reign, he fought
in Palestine, taking the towns of Mehram Kharpu in the
region of bete Anat and Dapur in the country of
the Amorites. He also took the town of Shapur and
finally reconquered as Kharun as colon which had thrown off
(19:59):
the yoke of Egypt. During this war, Mountaineur died and
Chetasar succeeded him. The Cheta War was finally closed in
the twenty first year of Rameses' reign by a Treaty
of Peace and Alliance. This treaty proves that perfect equality
existed between the two nations. Both kings bound themselves to
(20:20):
keep the peace and be good and faithful allies. The
treaty refers to one in force in the time of
Sapilel and Matinur, concluded possibly with SETI the first or
one of his two predecessors. It expressly states the obligation
of either king to come to the assistance of the
other if so required. It further defines the obligation of
(20:41):
either king to return refugees. Thus was concluded the first
Treaty of Peace and Alliance. The full text of which
has come down to us that treaties had been concluded
between the kings of Egypt and the Mesopotamian rulers we
have seen in the preceding chapter. To strengthen this treaty,
Rameses married the old oldest daughter of Chetasar, acknowledging her
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as his legitimate wife and queen, the princess adopting the
Egyptian name of matt nephru Ra. Thirteen years later, Chetasar,
accompanied by the Prince of Kedi, paid his royal son
in law a visit. The terms of the treaty seemed
to have been strictly kept by both countries, as they
were weary of a war that drained their resources and
(21:23):
brought no result to either of the boundary between the
two nations. Nothing is said in the treaty, but it
would seem probable that Egypt retained Phoenicia, Palestine, and southern Syria,
while the Cheta were free to extend their domain northward.
The Cheta made good use of their opportunities all through
Asia Minor and as far north as Smyrna. We meet
(21:44):
with monuments that were erected by this people. Rameses could
not extend his sway any further than the boundaries of
the Cheta. He now set to work to secure the
conquered country. In all parts of Palestine and southern Syria,
forts were erected in garrisoned, and it would even seem
that special officers rode through the land on tours of inspection.
(22:06):
The power of Egypt had greatly weakened, and she was
no longer what she had been three centuries earlier. The
lists of conquered lands which this pharaoh had inscribed on
the temple walls are utterly unreliable, being copied in great
part from those of Tutmosis the third. Thus he mentions
as conquered, among others, Asur Assyria and Sangar Chaldea, countries
(22:30):
with which this pharaoh had no relations whatsoever. That a
very active commercial intercourse between Egypt and Asia was brought
about by the new relations between Egypt and the Asiatic
nations is self evident. Egypt powerfully influenced Asia, and was
powerfully influenced in return Syrian divinities. But all and astart
(22:52):
were taken into the Egyptian pantheon. Setsu Tech, who to
the Egyptians represented the tutular divinity of the foreigners gained
greatly in prestige owing to the successes of these same foreigners,
But the chief influence was on the language. The influx
of Semitic words into the Egyptian at this time is
(23:13):
something wonderful to behold. It must have been considered elegant
and a proof of great learning to larder one's writing
with these foreign words and phrases, for some of the
texts of this period teem with them. The peace which
closed the Asiatic War in the twenty first year of
Rameses reign left the pharaoh forty six years to devote
(23:33):
to internal improvements. The king directed his attention chiefly to building,
and there is scarce a town in all Egypt in
which he did not build, complete or restore temples. But
despite this great activity, he does not seem to have
been thoroughly satisfied with his work, for he usurped many
temples erected by his predecessors. The usurpation of monuments was
(23:56):
a common practice in ancient Egypt. The usurper proceeded in
a vas very simple manner. He erased the name of
the real builder and substituted his own for it, thus
making it appear as if the monument in question owed
its existence to him. This had been done before Rameses time,
but none of his predecessors possessed the same finesse in
(24:16):
this class of work. He thus succeeded in arrogating to
himself many temples that had been built years and sometimes
centuries before his time. And it is often owing only
to the fact that the men charged with the work
did it very slovenly and left the name of the
real builder standing in some obscure corner, that we are
enabled to discover the imposition. Tannis, a city lying near
(24:39):
the northeastern boundary of Egypt, shared with Theebes the honor
of being the residence of the Pharaoh. The various departments
of the government were located at the latter city, but
Tannis offered Ramsay's unrivaled facilities as a basis of operations
for his Asiatic campaigns. A king who spent so many
years warring in Asia would not surely find it of
(25:01):
great advantage to fix his residence at a place so
near the frontier. Tannis thus owes the larger part of
its glory and prosperity to this Pharaoh. He it was
that built the vast granite temple. As many as fourteen
obelisks and several statues of the king have been found here.
Memphis also came in for a share of the king's favor.
(25:23):
It was made one of his residences, and its temple
of Petah was greatly enlarged. But the great city of
this reign was Thebes, of which we may well here
give a brief sketch. This city, the Egyptian name of
which was Uesset, was situated on the east bank of
the Nile, its site being still marked by the ruins
of the great temples of Karnac and Luksor, both of
(25:46):
which were dedicated to ammon Rah. Between these two temples
lay the city proper. The temple of Karnak had its
own names. One of these was Apet, the other NESTAUI,
throne of both Langs II Egypt. On the west bank
of the river lay the necropolis or cemetery of Thebes,
(26:06):
in which its kings, courtiers, and citizens lie buried. The
rulers of the Middle Empire were interred in low pyramids
built on the plain. Those of the New Empire were
interred in tombs hewn into the living rock of the
hills that skirt the valley of the Nile. On the west.
The temples dedicated to the cult of the pharaohs of
(26:27):
this latter period were built in the valley. Thus a
long row of funeral temples extends through this plain. The
temple of dare Al Bahari built by Makharah, that of
Rameses the first, and Seti the first at Kernah, the
Rameseum built by Ramses the second, the temples of Tutmoses
the third and Ramses the third at Medinet Habu, and
(26:49):
many others. This district was devoted to the use of
the dead and of those who cared for them. Masons, carpenters,
and bombers, and laborers of every description connected with what
the French called les ponte funebes had their homes here
in this necropolis. Rameses was very busy. He first completed
(27:11):
the funeral temple at Kernagh, begun by his father, and
then erected a wonderful Ramesseum, a temple dedicated to Amunrah
and commemorative of the pharaoh's victories, on the east bank
of the river. He completed the wonderful Hyposteele of Karnak,
which his father had begun and otherwise improved and decorated
(27:31):
the main building, besides erecting a building south of the
pond belonging to the temple enclosure, and a pretty extensive
temple east of a great temple. This pharaoh was especially
partial to grotto temples, of which he built quite a
number e g. At Bettwali Goafhussain, Wadi Sebua, and Atbusimbel.
(27:52):
The last mentioned temple was the best of this class.
It is the largest and most beautiful grotto ever cut
from the living rock by the hand of man. The
classical authors Strabo, Pliny, and others ascribed to the Soostress
the beginning of a canal connecting the Nile with the
Red Sea, which Netcho was said to have continued and
(28:14):
Darius to have completed. The canal from Cairo to Suez
was afterward again opened by m rou the Mohammedan conqueror
of Egypt, but one hundred and forty years later it
was again closed by order of the caliph Abou diar
l Mansur. In fact, there existed already in the times
(28:34):
of Seti, the first a canal, which starting from the
Nile near Memphis, ran through the Wadi Tumulat to Lake Timsey,
and thence to the Red Sea. This canal is represented
for the first time in an inscription of Seti the First,
where the return of that conqueror from his Asiatic campaign
is depicted. It is pictured as full of fishes and crocodiles.
(28:58):
The canal bears the unassumed name of Demat Canal. A
bridge led over it near the Chetem fort of Tiar
that covered this part of the frontier when this canal
was dug. We cannot say to a certainty it existed
in the time of King SETI the First, and may
have been dug by him, but it may just as
(29:18):
well be considerably older. It was dug originally, either for
purposes of irrigation or as a defense against the Asiatic Bedouins.
We scarcely think that it served any commercial purposes in
these early times. The canal is frequently mentioned by foreigners.
Thus the Bible mentions it as the brook of Egypt
(29:39):
Nahal Misraim numbers thirty four five, Joshua fifteen four, Isaiah
thirty seven, et cetera, and in the Assyrian inscriptions it
is called the brook Nahal, where there is no river Naru,
because it was not a natural but an artificial waterway.
It is considered by these tech as the boundary line
(30:01):
of Egypt. The pharaoh died in the sixty eighth year
of his reign, having previously appointed his fourteenth son mare
en Petah, co regent. A word about the monarch's family
may here be in place. He had several legitimate wives
and many concubines. Consequently, he could also boast of a
(30:22):
large number of children. One list mentions one hundred sixty
two of these by name, one hundred and eleven sons
and fifty one daughters. The mummy of the king was
found at Darre al Bahari. It shows a striking resemblance
to the beautiful statue of the king preserved in the
Museum of Turin. Rameses must have been in his younger
(30:43):
days quite a handsome man, and even in old age
his features preserved a determined caste. Section five mare en
Petah twelve twenty to twelve twelve b C. About twelve
twenty b C. The last great ruler of this line
ascended the throne. His history is not over eventful. The
(31:05):
empire was at peace with the world. In the south,
the Egyptians held as much of Ethiopia and Nubia as practicable,
their only object being to control the Nubian gold mines
and to secure the southern frontier against invasion in Asia.
The advance of the Egyptian arms had received a decided
check at the hands of the Cheta, and the Treaty
(31:26):
of Peace and Alliance, concluded in the twenty first year
of the preceding reign, had put an end to all
chants of war in that quarter. Canan, Palestine, Phoenicia, Southern
Syria and the Sinai were secure. The last named country
had been under Egyptian control for several thousand years, and
the others were secured by numerous forts established by Seti
(31:48):
the first, Rameses the second, and Marin Patah with Puent.
There never had been war, and there was no chance
of war now, as the commercial relations between the two
countries continued profitable to both and would only have been
disturbed by a war. There was only one quarter from
which a war could threaten, and that was Libya. We
(32:09):
have seen that the Libyans had frequently given trouble before,
but that the campaign of Seti the First had effectually
checked them and had put a stop to their inroads
for a long while. After this campaign, we find that
many Libyans entered the service of Seti the First and
Rameses the Second. It is hardly credible that they remained
in the service after Rameses's wars were over. In all probability,
(32:34):
they returned home and told their countrymen of the wealth
of Egypt and of the immense booty to be won there.
Returning from the successful campaigns, they no doubt brought home
what seemed to them great riches, and this aroused the
greed of their countrymen. Rameses himself they dared not attack,
but after his death they prepared to invade the land.
(32:55):
Numerous Libyan tribes from the sea coast and the interior,
the Leboo, kahak Mashawasha, Akawasha, Turasha, Reku, Shardana, and Shireshka,
combined their forces with those of the frontier tribes, and
under the command of King Maroi, the son of Didi,
(33:16):
entered the western Delta in the fifth year of the
new reign and advanced plundering the country as far as
per Bairo Biblos south of Bubastis. It was their evident
intention to settle here, and if need be, to purchase
the right to settle here with their blood. King mar
and Patah was notified of this invasion, but he hesitated
(33:39):
to take active measures. At last he got an army together,
but was deterred from accompanying it by a dream. Meanwhile,
the enemy had advanced to pere Aru Sheepsas, a town
near Heliopolis, which city their forces now threatened. At this place,
the Egyptian army met them, and in the battle that ensued,
(34:00):
completely routed and almost annihilated their forces. The Egyptians then
plundered and burned down the fortified camp of the enemy.
This victory left in the hands of the Egyptian army
vast amounts of booty and a great number of prisoners.
Maren Patah was a great builder on the Egypto Syriac frontier.
He erected two forts and continued the work begun by
(34:23):
his predecessor at Thebes, Tannis and other places. He died
after a short reign of only eight years. Section six
close of the nineteenth dynasty twelve eleven to eleven eighty
b c. Seti, the second twelve eleven to twelve o
nine b C. A son of Mar and Patah, succeeded
(34:45):
his father on the throne. Inscriptions and papyri of his
reign are constantly bragging about his great victories, but not
one of these is ever specially mentioned, nor do we
know of any campaigns of this king. Evidently, these laws
auditory hymns are mere pieces of meaningless flattery. He died
after a reign of only two years. A period of
(35:08):
anarchy followed on his death, during which several usurpers succeeded
in gaining the ascendancy for a short period. Of these
monarchs we know only a few, Amman Messes and Sa Patah.
Mar and Patah the second were in latter times regarded
as illegitimate. Undoubtedly they were usurpers. A Syrian Arsu by
(35:30):
name succeeded in making himself king for a short while,
but whether he came to the front as leader of
one of the hostile factions or was an invader, we
do not know. At last, set Necht, the founder of
Dynasty twenty and father of Rameses the third, succeeded in
restoring order about eighteen eighty b C. Or perhaps a
(35:52):
few years earlier. End of Chapter six
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