Part 20 (1/2)
Cham was the second son of Noah. When the family of the latter, after the extravagant attempt of building the tower of Babel, dispersed themselves into different countries, Cham retired to Africa; and it doubtless was he who afterwards was wors.h.i.+pped as a G.o.d, under the name of Jupiter Ammon.
He had four children, Chus,(404) Misram, Phut, and Canaan. Chus settled in Ethiopia, Misram in Egypt, which generally is called in Scripture after his name, and by that of Cham,(405) his father; Phut took possession of that part of Africa which lies westward of Egypt; and Canaan, of the country which afterwards bore his name. The Canaanites are certainly the same people who are called almost always Phnicians by the Greeks, of which foreign name no reason can be given, any more than of the oblivion of the true one.
I return to Misram.(406) He is allowed to be the same with Menes, whom all historians declare to be the first king of Egypt, the inst.i.tutor of the wors.h.i.+p of the G.o.ds, and of the ceremonies of the sacrifices.
BUSIRIS, some ages after him, built the famous city of Thebes, and made it the seat of his empire. We have elsewhere taken notice of the wealth and magnificence of this city. This prince is not to be confounded with Busiris, so infamous for his cruelties.
OSYMANDYAS. Diodorus gives a very particular description of many magnificent edifices raised by this king;(407) one of which was adorned with sculptures and paintings of exquisite beauty, representing his expedition against the Bactrians, a people of Asia, whom he had invaded with four hundred thousand foot and twenty thousand horse. In another part of the edifice was exhibited an a.s.sembly of the judges, whose president wore, on his breast, a picture of Truth, with her eyes shut, and himself was surrounded with books-an emphatic emblem, denoting that judges ought to be perfectly versed in the laws, and impartial in the administration of them.
The king likewise was painted here, offering to the G.o.ds gold and silver, which he drew every year from the mines of Egypt, amounting to the sum of sixteen millions.(408)
Not far from hence was seen a magnificent library, the oldest mentioned in history. Its t.i.tle or inscription on the front was, _The office, or treasury, of remedies for the diseases of the soul_. Near it were placed statues, representing all the Egyptian G.o.ds, to each of whom the king made suitable offerings; by which he seemed to be desirous of informing posterity that his life and reign had been crowned with piety to the G.o.ds, and justice to men.
His mausoleum displayed uncommon magnificence; it was encompa.s.sed with a circle of gold, a cubit in breadth, and 365 cubits in circ.u.mference; each of which showed the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and the rest of the planets. For so early as this king's reign, the Egyptians divided the year into twelve months, each consisting of thirty days; to which they added every year five days and six hours.(409) The spectator did not know which to admire most in this stately monument, whether the richness of its materials, or the genius and industry of the artists.
UCh.o.r.eUS, one of the successors of Osymandyas, built the city of Memphis.(410) This city was 150 furlongs, or more than seven leagues in circ.u.mference, and stood at the point of the Delta, in that part where the Nile divides itself into several branches or streams. Southward from the city, he raised a lofty mole. On the right and left he dug very deep moats to receive the river. These were faced with stone, and raised, near the city, by strong causeys; the whole designed to secure the city from the inundations of the Nile, and the incursions of the enemy. A city so advantageously situated, and so strongly fortified, that it was almost the key of the Nile, and by this means commanded the whole country, became soon the usual residence of the Egyptian kings. It kept possession of this honour till Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great.
MRIS. This king made the famous lake, which went by his name, and whereof mention has been already made,
(M65) Egypt had long been governed by its native princes, when strangers, called Shepherd-kings, (Hycsos in the Egyptian language,) from Arabia or Phnicia, invaded and seized a great part of Lower Egypt, and Memphis itself; but Upper Egypt remained unconquered, and the kingdom of Thebes existed till the reign of Sesostris. These foreign princes governed about 260 years.
(M66) Under one of these princes, called Pharaoh in Scripture,(411) (a name common to all the kings of Egypt,) Abraham arrived there with his wife Sarah, who was exposed to great hazard, on account of her exquisite beauty, which reaching the prince's ear, she was by him taken from Abraham, upon the supposition that she was not his wife, but only his sister.
(M67) THETHMOSIS, or Amosis, having expelled the Shepherd-kings, reigned in Lower Egypt.
(M68) Long after his reign, Joseph was brought a slave into Egypt, by some Ishmaelitish merchants; sold to Potiphar; and, by a series of wonderful events, enjoyed the supreme authority, by his being raised to the chief employment of the kingdom. I shall pa.s.s over his history, as it is so universally known. But I must take notice of a remark of Justin, (the epitomizer of Trogus Pompeius,(412) an excellent historian of the Augustan age,) _viz._ that Joseph, the youngest of Jacob's children, whom his brethren, through envy, had sold to foreign merchants, being endowed from heaven(413) with the interpretation of dreams, and a knowledge of futurity, preserved, by his uncommon prudence, Egypt from the famine with which it was menaced, and was extremely caressed by the king.
(M69) Jacob also went into Egypt with his whole family, which met with the kindest treatment from the Egyptians, whilst Joseph's important services were fresh in their memories. But after his death, say the Scriptures,(414) ”there arose up a new king, which knew not Joseph.”
(M70) RAMESES-MIAMUN, according to archbishop Usher, was the name of this king, who is called Pharaoh in Scripture. He reigned sixty-six years, and oppressed the Israelites in a most grievous manner. ”He set over them task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities,(415) Pithom and Raamses-and the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; all their service wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.”(416) This king had two sons, Amenophis and Busiris.
(M71) AMENOPHIS, the eldest, succeeded him. He was the Pharaoh, under whose reign the Israelites departed out of Egypt, and was drowned in pa.s.sing the Red-Sea.
(M72) Father Tournemine makes Sesostris, of whom we shall speak immediately, the Pharaoh who raised the persecution against the Israelites, and oppressed them with the most painful toils. This is exactly agreeable to the account given by Diodorus of this prince, who employed in his Egyptian works only foreigners; so that we may place the memorable event of the pa.s.sage of the Red-Sea, under his son Pheron;(417) and the characteristic of impiety ascribed to him by Herodotus, greatly strengthens the probability of this conjecture. The plan I have proposed to follow in this history, excuses me from entering into chronological discussions.
Diodorus, speaking of the Red-Sea,(418) has made one remark very worthy our observation; a tradition (says that historian) has been transmitted through the whole nation, from father to son, for many ages, that once an extraordinary ebb dried up the sea, so that its bottom was seen; and that a violent flow immediately after brought back the waters to their former channel. It is evident, that the miraculous pa.s.sage of Moses over the Red-Sea is here hinted at; and I make this remark, purposely to admonish young students, not to slip over, in their perusal of authors, these precious remains of antiquity; especially when they bear, like this pa.s.sage, any relation to religion.
Archbishop Usher says, that Amenophis left two sons, one called Sesothis or Sesostris, and the other Armais. The Greeks call him Belus, and his two sons Egyptus and Danaus.
SESOSTRIS(419) was not only one of the most powerful kings of Egypt, but one of the greatest conquerors that antiquity boasts of. His father, whether by inspiration, caprice, or, as the Egyptians say, by the authority of an oracle, formed a design of making his son a conqueror.
This he set about after the Egyptian manner, that is, in a great and n.o.ble way. All the male children, born the same day with Sesostris, were, by the king's order, brought to court. Here they were educated as if they had been his own children, with the same care bestowed on Sesostris, with whom they were brought up. He could not possibly have given him more faithful ministers, nor officers who more zealously desired the success of his arms. The chief part of their education was, the enuring them, from their infancy, to a hard and laborious life, in order that they might one day be capable of sustaining with ease the toils of war. They were never suffered to eat, till they had run, on foot or horseback, a considerable race.
Hunting was their most common exercise.
aelian remarks(420) that Sesostris was taught by Mercury, who instructed him in politics, and the art of government. This Mercury is he whom the Greeks called Trismegistus, _i.e._ thrice great. Egypt, his native country, owes to him the invention of almost every art. The two books, which go under his name, bear such evident characters of novelty, that the forgery is no longer doubted. There was another Mercury who also was very famous amongst the Egyptians for his rare knowledge; and of much greater antiquity than he of whom we have been speaking. Jamblicus, a priest of Egypt, affirms, that it was customary with the Egyptians, to affix the name of Hermes or Mercury to all the new books or inventions that were offered to the public.
When Sesostris was more advanced in years, his father sent him against the Arabians, in order to acquire military knowledge. Here the young prince learned to bear hunger and thirst; and subdued a nation which till then had never been conquered. The youths educated with him attended him in all his campaigns.
Accustomed by this conquest to martial toils, he was next sent by his father to try his fortune westward. He invaded Libya, and subdued the greatest part of that vast country.
(M73) SESOSTRIS. During this expedition his father died, and left him capable of attempting the greatest enterprises. He formed no less a design than that of the conquest of the world. But before he left his kingdom, he provided for his domestic security, in winning the hearts of his subjects by his generosity, justice, and a popular and obliging behaviour. He was no less studious to gain the affection of his officers and soldiers, whom he wished to be ever ready to shed the last drop of their blood in his service; persuaded that his enterprises would all be unsuccessful, unless his army should be attached to his person, by all the ties of esteem, affection, and interest. He divided the country into thirty-six governments (called Nomi,) and bestowed them on persons of merit, and the most approved fidelity.
In the mean time he made the requisite preparations, levied forces, and headed them with officers of the greatest bravery and reputation, and these were taken chiefly from among the youths who had been educated with him. He had seventeen hundred of these officers, who were all capable of inspiring his troops with resolution, a love of discipline, and a zeal for the service of their prince. His army consisted of six hundred thousand foot, and twenty-four thousand horse, besides twenty-seven thousand armed chariots.