 | LETTER XII. The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage |  |
12. LETTER XII.
In my last letter I was particular in describing
to you the armies of Egypt, as I have not forgotten the
interest you take in the discipline of your own, nor that
once you led in your chariot a battle-charge when your
kingdom was invaded by the king of the Elamites. In
Egypt, which is truly a warlike country, one cannot
but be inspired by the military spirit. Not only is she
the school to all the world of astronomy, sculpture,
physic, astrology, and magic, but also of arms.
In the army, recently departed for Ethiopia, I saw
many young lords and princes and heroes, strangers, who
accompany the expedition to learn the art of war. The
Egyptians are eminent in planning and executing sieges,
and few fortified towns can resist their war-engines.
From my description in the last letter, you would
suppose that Egypt is now emptied of its soldiers. On
the contrary, there is a garrison in every city, and a
fortress filled with troops in every one of the thirty or
more nomes. Besides, there are all over the country,
where the Hebrews are congregated, lesser detachments,
who keep vigilant guard over this toiling nation in
bondage. The queen is also at war with a prince of
four hundred chariots, and a thousand horsemen, have
recently marched against him. Egypt is powerful
enough to combat the combined world. Her forces are
not less than four hundred thousand trained warriors of
all arms, besides sixteen thousand chariots of iron.
Power, thrift, activity, and energy characterize Egypt.
The wise, courageous, firm rule of the queen has contributed
to this. What she has brought to such glory
and perfection, Remeses, when he comes to the throne,
will preserve and perpetuate.
The mention of my noble friend reminds me that he is
no longer near me. The army has been in motion southward
eight days, and he has written to the queen, and
also to me, speaking of the prosperity attending their
advance. The fleet had not kept up with the army of
foot, while the chariot legion on the east bank has gone
far in advance and encamped. Every day, incense is
burned, and intervention made in all the temples, for the
success of the expedition.
In the mean while, my dear mother, I will devote my
letters to daily scenes around me.
The queen's health is now firmly established, and she
extends to me the kindness and, I may say, affection,
which she would to a son; but I am conscious that I am
so honored as the friend of her absent son, who, at parting
from me a stadium above Memphis, said:
“My Sesostris, be near my mother, and in the pleasure
of your society, let her regrets at my absence find
compensation. When you have seen all of Lower
Egypt, come to the Thebaïd, and go with me and my
army into Ethiopia.”
I promised that I would follow him by and by; but
now I am engaged in seeing the wonders of Memphis,
and those marvels of ages—those “temples of the gods”
—the mighty pyramids. I will soon devote a letter to
an account of my first visit to Memphis and the pyramids.
It was made a day or two after we came to reside
in the palace at Rhoda. Remeses, though hourly
occupied, had kindly promised he would accompany me
to the city of Apis, and there place me in charge of a
son of the priest of the temple. I arose the following
morning a few minutes before sunrise, in order to be
prepared to go early. My window looked forth upon
On, a league and a half distant, with its grand avenue
of columns, sphinxes, obelisks, and towering propyla
clasping it to the shining river. The splendor of that
morning, my dear mother, I shall never cease to remember.
The atmosphere of Egypt is so crystalline, that
light lends to it a peculiar glow. As I looked eastward,
the skies had the appearance of sapphire blended with
dust of gold; and from the as yet invisible sun, a gorgeous
fan of radiant beams, of a pale orange-color, spread
itself over the sky to the zenith. Not a cloud was visible;
nor, indeed, have I seen one since I have been in
Egypt. This magnificent glory of the Orient steadily
grew more and more wonderful for beauty and richness
of colored light, when, all at once, the disk of the bright
god of day himself majestically rolled up into sight,
filling heaven and earth with his dazzling and overpowering
light, while the golden shield on the temple of the
sun caught and reflected his rays with almost undiminished
brilliancy.
As I regarded with delight this sublime sunrise, there
of Osiris, in Memphis, the sound of music. Walking
round the terrace to that side, I heard the voices of a
thousand priests chanting the morning hymn to the god
of light, the dazzling “Eye of Osiris.” Then I recollected
that this was the day of the celebration of the
revival or resurrection of Osiris, one of the most important
days in the sacred calendar. The whole city seemed
to be in motion, and boats garlanded with flowers, and
filled with gayly attired people, were crossing to the city
and temple at every point. Music from a hundred instruments
filled the air, which seemed to vibrate with
joy and delight. The city of Apis had on its gala apparel,
and all the world was abroad to welcome the sunrising
and join in the processions.
Remeses joined me while I was watching the scene,
and listening to the grand waves of harmony as they
rolled away from the temple and sounded along the air
in majestic volumes of sound.
“I see you are interested, my Sesostris, in this enlivening
scene. It is a day of rejoicing to the worshippers
of Osiris.”
“It seems, my dear prince,” I replied, “as if every
day I have passed in Egypt has been a festival to some
of its deities.”
“Our year is more than two thirds of it consecrated
to the gods; that is, supposing a day given to each, the
most of the year is religious. We are a people given to
piety, so far as we understand. All our works are consecrated
by prayer or sacrifice; and whether we go to
war, or engage in merchandise, build a palace or a
tomb, prayer and oblation precede all. Are you ready
fast? My mother has invited us to breakfast with her.”
I expressed my readiness, and we left to seek the presence
of the queen. As we entered, she was superintending
a piece of embroidery of the richest colors, which
three maidens were at work upon at one end of the
apartment. They remained a few minutes after our entrance,
glancing at us timidly, yet curiously and archly.
When their royal mistress had received us, she made a
slight gesture with her hand, and the dark-eyed girls,
disappearing behind a screen, left the apartment. I had
time to see that they were very young, of an olive, brunette
complexion, with braided and tastefully arranged
dark-brown hair, their slender persons habited in neat
vestures of mingled colors, fitting the form, but open in
front, displaying a soft, fine linen robe, with loose,
fringed sleeves. They had ear-rings, and numerous finger-rings,
and gilt, red, gazelle-leather sandals, laced
with gay ribbons across the small, naked foot. These,
as the queen informed me, belonged to families of officers
of the palace. One of them, the tallest, and who
was most striking in her appearance, had eyes of wonderful
beauty, the effect of the expression of which was
deepened by painting the lids with a delicate shade of
cohol. She was the daughter of the royal scribe, Venephis,
and her own name is Venephe; and here, my dear
mother, since you asked me in your last letter why I am
so silent upon the subject of Egyptian ladies, I will devote
a little space to them. But you know that my heart so
wholly belongs to the lovely Princess Thamonda, the
daughter of the Prince of Chalden, that it is entirely insensible
to any impressions which the high-born Egyptian
learn more of them by seeking their society, my dear
mother, and henceforward will give them all the attention
they merit in my letters.
I have seen many ladies of great elegance and ease of
manner. The court of Egypt is composed of an immense
number of nobles and high officers, whose palaces
crowd the cities of On and Memphis, and whose
tasteful, garden-environed villas extend far beyond their
limits. Some of these nobles have the title of princes,
when they govern one of the thirty-six nomes, or command
armies. They are opulent, fond of display in apparel
and architecture, great lovers of flowers and paintings,
and their dwellings are profusely decorated with the
one and adorned with the other. These men of rank
are educated, polished in bearing, courteous and affable.
Their wives are their superiors in refinement, being
daughters of men of the same rank and social distinction.
Nobles and noble ladies by hereditary title there are
none in Egypt; for it is the boast of the Egyptians, and
it is often inscribed on their monuments, that Egyptians,
being all equally “sons of Misr,” are all born equal.
It is official elevation and position at court, as the reward
of talent or services, which create noble rank. Yet
there are families here who speak with pride of the
glory and fame of ancestors; and I know young Egyptian
nobles whose forefathers were lords in the court of
the old Pharaohs, of the XVth and XVIth dynasties. I
have already alluded to the brave young officer of the
chariot battalion, Potipharis, whose ancestor, a lord of
the court of Apophis, purchased of the Idumeans the
youthful Hebrew who subsequently ruled Egypt as
great nation, are held here in hopeless bondage.
The women of Egypt owe their high social rank to
the respect shown them the men, who give them
precedence everywhere. The fact that Egypt is ruled
by a queen, is testimony that woman is honored here
by the laws of the realm, as well as by the customs of
the people, or she would not have succeeded to the
throne. It is not a mere influence derived from their
personal attractions that women possess here; but their
claims to honor and respect are acknowledged by law,
in private as well as in public. Said Remeses to me, a
day or two since, when I was remarking upon the universal
deference paid to the sex, “We know, unless
women are treated with respect and made to exercise an
influence over the social state, that the standard of private
virtue and of public opinion would soon be lowered,
and the manners and morals of men would suffer.” How
differently situated is woman with us! Respected she
undoubtedly is, but instead of the liberty she enjoys
here, behold her confined to certain apartments, not permitted
to go abroad unveiled, and leading a life of indolent
repose.
In acknowledging this, dear mother, the laws point
out to the favored women of Egypt the very responsible
duties they have to perform. The elevation of woman
to be the friend and companion of man, is due to the
wisdom of the priesthood. These men have wives whom
they love and respect, and I have seen the priest of On
seated in his summer parlor, which overlooks the street,
by the side of his noble-looking wife (who, it is said, is
a descendant of a priest of On, whose daughter was
their children, and manifesting their mutual affection by
numberless domestic graces; and I was charmed with
the expressions of endearment I heard them use to each
other and to their children. What a contrast all this to
the priests of Tyre, who regard celibacy as the highest
act of piety!
The hand of your sex, my dear mother, is apparent in
all the household arrangements, and in the furniture
and style of the dwellings. In her contract of marriage
it is written, that the lady shall have the whole regulation
of domestic affairs and the management of the
house, and that the husband shall, in all such matters,
defer to the judgment and wishes of the wife. Neither
king, priest, nor subject can have more than one wife,
a custom differing from our own, and far superior to it.
It is owing to this universal honor paid to the sex, that
queens have repeatedly, since the ancient reign of Binothris,
held the royal authority and had the supreme
direction of affairs intrusted to them. It is proper to
say, that although the Egyptians have but one wife, they
are not forbidden by the laws to have favorites, who are
usually slaves, and owe their elevation to talents or
beauty. They do not, however, hold any social relation;
and the wife, to whom alone is given the title “lady of
the house,” enjoys an acknowledged superiority over
them. But concubinage, though tolerated, is not regarded
with favor, and is practised by few.
The Egyptian ladies employ much of their time with
the needle; and either with their own hands, or by the
agency of their maidens, they embroider, weave, spin,
and do needle-work—the last in the most skilful and
of gold or silver, adorn sofas with embroidery, and ornament
coverings for their couches with needle-work of
divers colors, so artfully executed as to appear, on both
sides, of equal beauty and finish. At the banquets or
social festivals, which are very frequent, for the Egyptians
are fond of society, the ladies sit at the same table
with the men, and no rigid mistrust closes their doors
on such occasions to strangers, towards whom they are
ever courteous and hospitable; save only in religious
ceremonies, from which, and “the mysteries of their
theology,” they are jealously excluded.
I have already spoken of the services of women in the
temples. These do not marry. Although females may
make offerings to Isis, they cannot be invested with any
sacerdotal office; and a priest must preside at the oblation.
They are rarely seen reading, their leisure being
occupied chiefly in talking together in social companies.
They vie with each other in the display of silver jewels,
and jewels set in gold; in the texture of their raiment,
the neatness and elegance of the form of their sandals,
and the arrangement or beauty of their plaited hair.
If two ladies meet at a banquet or festival, it is considered
an amiable courtesy to exchange flowers from
the bouquet that Egyptian ladies always carry in the
hand when in full costume. They are passionately devoted
to dancing, and frequently both ladies and gentlemen
dance together; but I think when the former dance
in separate parties, their movements are marked by superior
grace and elegance. Their dances consist usually
of a succession of figures more or less involved; yet I
have seen two daughters of the captain of the guard, at
dance to a slow air played upon the flute and lyre, with
a grace of attitude and harmony of motion delightful to
follow with the eye. Grace in posture, elegance of attitude,
and ease of movement are their chief objects in the
dance.
It is not, however, customary for the nobles and their
families to indulge in this amusement in public, where
usually the dancing is performed by those who gain a
livelihood by attending festive meetings. They look
upon it, however, as a recreation in which all classes
may partake; and all castes engage in it, either in private
festivities or in public. The lower orders delight
in exhibiting great spirit in their dances, which often
partake of the nature of pantomime; and they aim
rather at ludicrous and extravagant dexterity, than displays
of elegance and grace. At evening, under the
trees of an avenue; at noon, in the shade of a temple;
by public fountains, and before the doors of their dwellings,
I often see the men and women amusing themselves,
dancing to the sound of music, which is indispensable.
At the houses of the higher classes, they
dance to the harp, pipe, guitar, lyre, and tambourine; but
in the streets and other places, the people perform their
part to the music of the shrill double-pipe, the crotala
or wooden clappers, held in the fingers, and even to the
sound of the drum; indeed, I have seen a man dancing
a solo on the deck of a galley at anchor in the river,
to the sound of the clapping of hands by his companions.
Certain wanton dances, consisting of voluptuous and
passionate movements, by Arabian and Theban girls,
whose profession it was, from the impure tendency of
by the queen in her dominions. There are certain
religious processions in which women take part;
they attend the funerals of their deceased relatives, and
hired women appear as mourners.
I have devoted, my dear mother, so much of this letter
to a description of the ladies of Egypt, in compliance
with your expressed wish, and I will appropriate the
residue of my papyrus, if the ink fail not, to an account
of their homes, that you may see how they live; since,
from their private life, great insight is obtained into their
manners and customs. The household arrangements,
the style of the dwellings, as well as the amusements and
occupations of a people, explain their habits.
The style of domestic architecture, in this warm climate,
is modified to suit the heat of the weather. The
poorer classes (for though all Egyptians are born equal,
yet there are poor classes), as well as castes, live a great
part of their time out of doors, seeking rather the shade
of trees than the warmth of habitations. And now that
I have alluded to “castes,” I will briefly explain the degrees
of society in Egypt.
Though a marked line of distinction is maintained
between the different ranks of society, they appear to
be divided rather into “classes” than “castes,” as no
man is bound by law to follow the occupation of his
father. Sons, indeed, do usually follow the trade of their
father, and the rank of each man depends on his occupation.
But there are occasional exceptions, as, for instance,
the sons of a distinguished priest are in the army
with Remeses, and a son of the admiral of the fleet of
the Delta is high-priest in Memphis.
Below the crown and royal family, the first class consists
of the priests; the second, of soldiers; the third,
of husbandmen, gardeners, huntsmen, and boatmen;
the fourth, of tradesmen, shop-keepers, artificers in stone
and metals, carpenters, boat-builders, stone-masons, and
public weighers; the fifth, of shepherds, poulterers,
fowlers, fishermen, laborers, and the common people at
large. Many of these, says the record from which I
have obtained my information, are again subdivided, as
chief shepherds into ox-herds, goat-herds, and swine-herds;
which last is the lowest grade of the whole community,
since no one of the others will marry their
daughters, or establish any family connection with them;
for so degrading is the occupation of tending swine held
by the Egyptians, that they are looked upon as impure,
and are even forbidden to enter a temple without previously
undergoing purification.
Thus you perceive, my mother, that Egypt practically
acknowledges many degrees of rank, although
she boasts that “every son of Misr is born equal.”
These classes keep singularly distinct, and yet live
harmoniously and sociably with each other. Out of
them the queen's workmen are taken, and the lowest
supplies the common laborers on the public works,—
thousands of whom, clad only in an apron and short
trowsers of coarsely woven grass-cloth, are to be found
at work all over Egypt, and even mingled with the
Hebrews in some parts of their tasks. “And the Hebrews?”
you may ask; for I perceive by your letter
that you are interested in the fate and history of this
captive nation; “what rank do they hold among all
these castes?”
They remain a distinct and separate people, neither
regarded as a class or caste. They pursue but one occupation,
brick-making, with its kindred work of digging
the loam, gathering the straw, kneading the clay, and
carrying the bricks to the place where the masons need
them. They neither associate nor intermarry with any
of the Egyptian classes. They are the crown slaves, born
in bondage, below the lowest free-born Egyptian in the
land of Misraim. Even the swine-herd belongs to a class,
and is equal by birth, at least, with the Pharaoh who
rules; but the Hebrew is a bond-servant, a stranger,
despised and oppressed. Yet among them have I seen
men worthy to be kings, if dignity of aspect and nobleness
of bearing entitle men to that position.
I will now return, and describe to you the habitations
of the Egyptians, my dear mother. Houses slightly removed
beyond the degree of mere barbarous huts, built
of crude brick, and very small, are the habitations of
the lower orders. Others, of more pretension, are stuccoed,
and have a court; others, still superior, have the
stuccoed surface painted, either vermilion and orange,
in stripes, or of a pale-brown color, with green or blue
ornaments, fanciful rather than tasteful. Those of merchants,
and persons of that grade, are more imposing;—
corridors, supported on columns, give access to the different
apartments, through a succession of shady avenues
and courts, having one side open to the breezes; while
currents of fresh air are made to circulate freely through
the rooms and halls, by a peculiar arrangement of the
passages and courts; for, to have a cool house in this
ardent latitude is the aim of all who erect habitations.
Even small detached dwellings of artificers and tradesmen,
laid on split date-trees as a beam, covered with
mats, and plastered with mud of the Nile, having but
one door, and wooden shutters,—even such humble habitations
have in the centre an open court, however limited,
with rooms opening to the air on one side; while
around the small court are planted one or more palms,
for shade, besides adorning it with plants of their favorite
flowers. I have seen some such neat little abodes,
not much larger than cages, with a cheerful family in it,
who lived out of doors all day, dining under the shade
of their tree, and dancing in their open court by moonlight,
to the music of clapping hands or the castanets,
until bedtime, using their houses only to sleep in; and
such is the happy life of half the Egyptians of their grade.
The grander mansions, less than palaces, are not only
stuccoed within and without, but painted with artistic
and tasteful combinations of brilliant tints. They have
numerous paved courts, with fountains and decorated
walls, and are adorned with beautiful architectural
devices, copied from the sacred emblems and symbols
in the temples, and arranged and combined in forms or
groups in the most attractive style. Over the doors of
many houses are handsome shields or tablets, charged
with the hieroglyph of the master, inscribed with some
sentence. Over that of the house of the chief weigher
of metals, opposite my palace window in On, was written
“The House of the Just Balance.” Over another
“The good house;” and over a third, “The friend of
Rathoth, the royal scribe, liveth here.” Any distinction,
or long journey, or merit, or attribute, gives occasion
for an inscription over the entrances.
The beauty of a house depends on the taste, caprice,
or wealth of its builders. The priests and lords of
Egypt live in luxurious abodes, and a display of wealth
is found to be useful in maintaining their power, and
securing the respect and obedience of the under classes.
“The worldly possessions of the priest,” said an
Egyptian scribe of the temple of Apis, “are very great;
and as a compensation for imposing upon themselves at
times abstemiousness, and occasionally limiting their
food to certain things, they are repaid by improved
health, and by the influence they acquire thereby.
Their superior intelligence enables them,” he continued,
ironically, “to put their own construction on regulations
and injunctions emanating from their sacred body, with
the convenient argument, that what suits them does not
suit others.” The windows of the houses are not large,
and freely admit the cool breezes, but are closed at
night by shutters. The apartments are usually on the
ground-floor, and few houses, except perhaps in Thebes,
exceed two stories in height. They are accessible by an
entrance court, often having a columnar portico decked
with banners or ribbons, while larger porticos have
double rows of columns, with statues between them.
When there is an additional story, a terrace surmounts
it, covered by an awning, or by a light roof supported
upon graceful columns. Here the ladies often sit by
day: and here all the family gather at the close of the
afternoon to enjoy the breeze, and the sight of the
thronged streets and surrounding scene,—for it is open
on all sides to the air. In the trades' streets the shops
are on the ground-floor, and the apartments for families
are above. As it scarcely ever rains, the tops of the
awning, are occupied at all hours, and even at night as
sleeping-places by the “lord of the house,” if the apartments
below are sultry and close. Some noble edifices
have flights of steps of porphyry or marble leading
to a raised platform of Elephantine or Arabic stone,
with a doorway between two columns as massive as
towers—ambitious imitations of the propyla of the temples.
These gateways have three entrances, a smaller
one on each side of the principal entrance for servants,
who are very numerous in an Egyptian house of the
first class. Such is the house of my friend, the Admiral
Pathromenes, whom I visited the day I saw him in his
galley, and just before he sailed with the fleet for Ethiopia.
On entering the portal, I passed into an open court, on
the right side of which was the mandara or receiving-room
for visitors, where servants took my sandals, and
offered water for my hands in silver ewers, at the same
time giving me bouquets of flowers. This room, surrounded
by gilt columns, and decorated with banners,
was covered by an awning supported by the columns,
and was on all sides open to within four feet of the floor,
which lower space was closed by intercolumnar panels,
exquisitely painted with marine subjects. Above the
paneling a stream of cool air was admitted, while the
awning afforded protection from the rays of the sun.
This elegant reception-hall had two doors—that by which
I had entered from the street, and another opposite to it
which communicated with the inner apartments. Upon
my announcement by the chief usher, the admiral came
through the latter door to receive me; hence the title
paneled hall. He embraced me, and entered with me
by his side into a corridor which led into a court of
large dimensions, ornamented in the centre with an
avenue of trees—palm, olive, orange, and fig trees, the
latter being an emblem of the land of Egypt. Here
numerous birds filled their leafy coverts with melody.
Six apartments faced as many more on two sides of this
court—the corridor, or piazza, of pictured columns
extending along their entire front; and before the
corridor was a double row of acacia-trees. We did
not turn to these rooms, but, advancing along the
charming avenue between them, passed around a brazen
fountain-statue of Eothos or Neptune, who was pouring
water out of a shell upon a marble lotus-leaf, from
which it fell into a vase of granite. Passing this figure,
we kept the avenue till we came to a beautiful door
facing the great court. It was of palm-wood, carved
with devices of branches and flowers, and inlaid with
ivory and colored woods, all finely polished. At this
door a servant, in neat apparel, met us, and opening it
ushered us into the sitting-room of “the lady of the
house,” who had already received notice of our approach,
and who, presenting me with flowers, welcomed
me graciously, and with a cordiality that gave me a
favorable estimation of the goodness of her heart, and
the amiability of her disposition.
Thus, dear mother, have I given you some insight
into Egyptian home-life, and introduced you into the
inmost private room of one of their houses. I will close
my description by saying, that the ceiling of the reception-room
was richly and tastefully adorned with the
needle-work; sofas, inlaid tables, couches with crimson
and gold embroidery, and elegant vases of flowers, were
charmingly disposed about it; and that a lute and two
sistra were placed near a window, and a harp stood
between two of the columns that inclosed a pictured
panel representing the finding of Osiris.
Farewell, dearest mother. You will see that I have
now acquitted myself of the charge of indifference to so
interesting a subject as the mode of life of the ladies of
Egypt, and by hastening to describe it to you in this
letter, have evinced my profound filial reverence for
your slightest wish.
| LETTER XII. The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage | |