 | LETTER IX. The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage |  |
9. LETTER IX.
My preceding letters, dearest mother, have enabled
you to form some idea of the Hebrew vassalage,
which is one of the peculiarities of Egypt. This subject
has deeply interested me. In that oppressed people
I behold Syrians and men of my own race, as it were,
reduced to such a pitiable and miserable condition. My
sympathies are therefore naturally with them. Was not
Prince Abram, of Palestine, who conquered the enemy
of our ancestor's throne in those days, Chedorlaomer,
King of Elam and Tidal, and sovereign of the nations
east of the inland sea, the founder of their family; and
was not the same Abram the friend of Neathor, the
founder or restorer of Tyre upon the Isle? When I
recall these facts of past history, and how ably the wise
Prince Joseph ruled here, I am deeply moved at their
present degradation and suffering.
Since writing to you, I have conversed with the queen
upon the subject. I find her ready and willing, with
mind and heart and hand, to take any safe steps for
putting an end to this bondage. But, as she feelingly
says:—
“It is an evil which descended to me with the crown
and sceptre of my father; and I know not how to remove
it, and yet protect that crown which I am bound to
transmit to Remeses!”
Such then, dear mother, is the present condition of
Hebrew servitude. When it will terminate, whether by
some bold act of Remeses, when he comes to the throne,
or by their own act, or by the intervention of the gods,
are questions the solution of which lies hidden in the
womb of the future.
Not all the Hebrews are employed in the field. It
has of late years been a fashion with the nobles, governors,
and chief captains of Egypt to have the young
captives of both sexes as servants near their persons;
their beauty, activity, and trustfulness rendering these
Syrian youths particularly fitted for this domestic employment.
Thus, I have seen Hebrew pages attending
on lords and ladies in their palaces, and Hebrew maidens
acting as personal attendants upon the mistress of the
family. These young foreigners soon become favorites,
and are rewarded for their devotion and usefulness by
rich dresses and jewels, which last they all especially
delight in, and wear in great quantities. The Egyptians,
also, lavishly display them on their fingers, in their
ears, and upon their necks. Every lord wears a large
signet, on which is carved his cartouch, or shield of
arms. To present this to any friend is a mark of the
highest confidence and honor. Such an expression of
regard, you will remember, the Prince Remeses bestowed
upon me. With it I shall seal this letter, that
you may see its designs in the hieroglyph representation.
The queen has three Hebrew pages, noble and princely-looking
intelligent faces; but there is a fixed air of pensiveness
about them all, which is perhaps the result of hereditary
oppression. This pensive look I have remarked
in Prince Remeses, whose style of face is very strongly
Syriac or Hebraic. Indeed, I have seen an old Hebrew
bondman, a gardener in the palace garden, by the name
of Amram, who is so strikingly like the prince that I
can easily see by him, how Remeses himself will look
at eighty years of age. But this Syriac countenance of
Remeses comes from his grandmother, Ephtha, the
daughter of the last Phœnician Pharaoh; yet it is marvellous
he has about him nothing of the Egyptian type.
The Egyptian or Nilotic race, have a sharp and prominent
face, in which a long and straight, or gently aquiline
nose forms a principal part. The eye is sometimes
oblique; the chin short and retracted; the lips rather
full and tumid, so to speak; and the hair, when it is suffered
to escape the razor in times of mourning, long and
flowing. The head is elongated upward, with a receding
forehead. The profile is delicate, rather than strong.
This style of features and head is strictly Egyptian, and
pertains to every class, from Amense on the throne to
the priests and people. I see it sculptured on all the
tombs and monuments, and carved on the most ancient
sarcophagi. The head of Horus is but a sublimer modification
of this type.
On the contrary, the head of the Hebrew is large and
round, with full brows, a forehead low in front, and
high temples. The nose is strongly eagle-like; the eyes
set even, but of an almond-shape—yet large, full, and
exceedingly black, and soft in expression. The chin is
in the neck and over the brow. The profile is strong
and bold—not unlike the Arabian. The Egyptian is
slender and light; the Hebrew usually below the medium
height, with broad shoulders and full chest. The
Egyptian has a pale reddish-copper complexion—save
the women, who are bright olive-colored—while the
Hebrew face is a ruddy and finely toned brown. The
Egyptian females, when not exposed to the sun and
outer door labor, are exceedingly fair. The children of
the race are all beautiful. Prince Remeses does not
share a single characteristic of this Egyptian national
head and face; on the contrary, he resembles the highest
type of the Hebrew. Is not this remarkable? That
is, is it not wonderful that the Syriac blood, derived
from the Queen Ephtha, should descend pure to the
third generation, unmingled with the Thebaïd characteristics
of Amunophis, his grandfather?
I am not aware whether the prince is conscious of his
great likeness to this oppressed people, nor would I be
so rude as to speak to him of it; for though he has sympathy
for them, and tries to improve their condition,
yet he possesses that haughty sense of superiority which
is natural, in a prince and an Egyptian educated to despise
them both as foreigners and slaves of the crown.
The father of Remeses, as I have before said, was the
Vicegerent or Prince of Upper Egypt, and one of the
royal line of the powerful Theban kings. He had been
married but a few months to Pharaoh's daughter, when,
being called to repulse an invasion of the warlike Ethiopians,
he was slain in battle. Remeses was born not
long afterwards, and is, therefore, in a twofold degree the
willing to leave his mother, she would, when he became
thirty years old (which is the age of maturity by the
laws of Egypt), have sent him with a splendid retinue
to Upper Egypt, and made him Prince of Thebes, as his
father had been before him. But he chose to remain
with the queen, to whom he appears as much attached
as I am to you, my dear mother; and Amense substituted
a nephew of her deceased husband, Prince Mœris,
and placed him, four years since, on the vicegerent
throne of the kingdom of the Upper Nile.
It was this Prince Mœris, with whom Remeses was to
dine in the palace on the day we drove to the treasure-city
of Raamses. I was also present, dear mother, at
the dinner. The Lord Mœris is about the age of Remeses,
but altogether a very different person. He is thoroughly
Egyptian, both in looks and lineage as well as by prejudice
and feeling.
He has a slender, elegant person; delicate straight
features; a high, retreating forehead; and a nose slightly
aquiline. His mouth is full-lipped and sensual. His
retreating chin betrays deficiency of firmness, and an
undue proportion of obstinacy. The expression of his
oblique, Nubian-looking eye, I did not like. It was
sinister and restlessly observant. He was reserved, and
while he asked questions from time to time, he never
replied to any. His complexion is a bright olive, and
he is a handsome man; his rich dress increasing the fine
effect of his personal appearance. The uniform he wore
was that of Admiral of the Nile; the queen having appointed
him commander of the great fleet of war-galleys
she has collected near Memphis for the subjugation of
days to take charge of his ships. The character of this
man for courage is undoubted, but he has the reputation
of great cruelty. He tarries long at the wine-cup, and
in his private life is a gross sensualist. He professes
great piety to the gods, and sacrifices often, with pomp
and display. In Memphis yesterday he burned incense
with his own hands to Apis, and to-day he worshipped
Mnevis, the sacred ox of On.
He was more communicative with me at the dinner
than with Remeses. He expressed the greatest admiration
of Phœnicia, praised the brilliancy of your reign,
and the rich commerce of the Isle of Tyre. He said he
had a great reverence for our deities, Astarte, Hercules,
Io, and Isis; for, he asserted that Isis was quite as much
a Phœnician as an Egyptian goddess. “Had he not in
Thebes,” said he, “instituted a procession and a rite in
honor of the return of Isis from Phœnicia! We are
one in religion, one in commerce, one in glory,” he continued,
with fulsome enthusiasm. “Are not our kingdoms
both ruled by queens? Let us draw closer the
bonds of alliance, and together rule the world! You
are a free city, your Tyre! never been conquered!
Amunophis would have exacted tribute, but your king
replied: `Since the foundation of the earth, and the
great Deluge retired from Libanus, Tyre has been free,
and will remain free to the end of days.”'
I answered, that I trusted the words of my noble
grandsire would remain prophetic forever. He then
gave as a toast:—
“Phœnicia and Egypt, twin sisters of Isis, and health
to their fair queens!”
This was well received. Mœris was, however, evidently
deep in his cups, and soon became quarrelsome
towards Remeses, to whom he said, with a sneer—
“You and I, prince, when the queen, my aunt, has
departed to the shades of the realm of Osiris, will divide
Egypt between us. I will be content with the Thebaïd
country, and will defend your borders on that side. Two
crowns are too much for one man's head, albeit you have
a large one upon your shoulders!”
“Prince Mœris,” said Remeses, with a look of indignation,
“forget not yourself in my mother's palace!”
Thus speaking, the son of Amense rose from the table,
and I followed him to the portico which overlooked the
gardens.
“That man, Sesostris,” said he to me, after a moment's
silence, “would not hesitate to conspire to the
whole throne and both crowns of Egypt, if he were
hopeful of success.”
“He is a man of an evil eye,” I said.
“And heart! But he must not be incensed. He is
powerful, and as wicked as powerful. In a few days
he will be on his way to Upper Egypt; and in this
war with Ethiopia, will find an outlet for his restless
ambition.”
“Suppose (the gods guarding your gracious mother,
the queen) you should come to the throne; what,
Remeses, would you do with or for your cousin, your
father's nephew? Would you suffer so dangerous a man
to hold the viceroyalty of Upper Nile?”
“I should wear both crowns, Sesostris,” answered Remeses,
quietly and steadily.
While we were thus conversing, a Hebrew page came,
and said:
“My lord prince, her majesty is taken ill, and desires
to have you come to her.”
“My mother ill!” he exclaimed, with deadly pallor
covering his face. “Pardon me, prince, I must leave
you and go to her.” And in a moment he hastened to
the wing of the palace occupied by his mother and the
ladies of her retinue.
The queen had left the table some time before Prince
Mœris began to converse with me, excusing herself on
the plea of slight fatigue and indisposition; for she had
passed an hour that day in giving directions to the chief
architect, to whom was intrusted the erection of her
obelisk, outside of the gate of the Temple of the Sun.
Remeses had been gone but a few moments, when I beheld
Prince Mœris borne across the terrace by his
servants to his chariot, in a state of helpless intoxication.
The illness of the queen was not of an alarming
nature, and the next day she appeared in the saloon,
but was very pale. The result is, the court physicians
have advised her to go to her palace on the isle of
Rhoda, in the Nile, as a more salubrious spot than the
interior of a vast city. Remeses accompanied her
thither, and the date of my letter, my dear mother,
shows you that I am also still one of the queen's favored
household. Her health continues doubtful, but she is
much improved in appearance by the change. Remeses,
with beautiful filial devotion, passes with her every hour
he can spare from the various pressing duties which demand
his personal attention; and preparations for the
armies.
Opposite the palace in which I write to you, the plain
between the river and the pyramids is covered with a vast
army assembled there within three days, preparatory to
their southern march; while the bosom of the Nile, for half
a league above this palace-covered island, is almost concealed
by war-galleys, which, to the number of one thousand
and upward, are at anchor ready to ascend the river
From the lofty west wing of the propylon of the gate
of this island-palace of the Pharaohs, I command not only
a prospect of the fleet, but of the plain of the pyramids
outside of Memphis. I have but to turn slowly round
from that elevation, to see On with its three hundred
and sixty temples—its gardens and towers; and Raamses,
the treasure-city, to the east: to the south, the Nile,
studded with barges and gay vessels having silken and
colored sails, filled with citizens, come to look at the
fleet of war-ships; the immense squadron itself, gay with
the variegated flags of its different divisions and captains;
with towers, temples, obelisks, and propyla on the two
shores terminating the perspective: and on the west,
Jizeh, with its sphinxes and colossi, its terraced gardens
and amphitheatre of the gods; and still farther off, Memphis
united to the Nile by a magnificent aqueduct; and
the pyramids of Cheops and of his daughter. Between
the city and these mysterious mausolea, stands alone,
amid gardens, the red granite temple of Pthah and
Athor, the two chief divinities of Memphis: for Apis,
the sacred bull of Memphis, is not a divinity, properly,
but only a visible incarnation of Osiris, the emblem and
type of the power and strength of the Supreme Creator.
naval glory, interspersed with verdure of the brightest
green, with palm, orange, and fig trees, garden linked
to garden, grove to grove, and villas half seen through
the foliage; and lastly, the mighty river flowing with
shining waves amid the inimitable landscape, and you
have before you a scene of grandeur and beauty such
as Egypt alone can produce. Add the myriads of human
beings, the crowded galleys, the thronged shores, the
eighty thousand soldiers encamped on the west plain,
the army of chariots drawn up on the east bank, and
farther up, opposite the aqueduct of Pharaoh Apophis,
a battalion of twelve thousand cavalry manœuvering,
and the scene which I, an hour since, beheld from
the top of the gateway, is before you.
Since I wrote the last sentence, I have witnessed a
naval review, with a sham battle. The Prince Mœris, in
a gorgeous galley decorated with all the emblems of the
cities and nomes of Egypt, after displaying the skill of
his one hundred oarsmen, and the swiftness of his vessel
in front of the palace, before the eyes of the queen,
moved among his ships, and gave orders for their division
into lines of battle. The greater number of these galleys
had only a single mast with a long swallow-winged
sail; and were propelled by forty rowers. But the
ships of the captains were larger and more imposing.
All the galleys were handsomely painted, and the whole
fleet together made a splendid moving spectacle, which
was heightened by the thousand bannerets fluttering in
the wind, and the ten thousand shields and spears gleaming
in the sun, as they were held in the hands of the
soldiers upon their decks.
When the signal was given for the two parties to
combat, the air was filled by a loud shout, and a hundred
galleys charged each other, just as did the battalions
of chariots in the review I have already described.
The vessels, set in motion by the rowers, were driven
towards each other with terrific velocity. The Abyssinian
soldiers upon the bows, and the bowmen in the
tops, shot off flights of arrows, which sounded like a
storm of wind, as they hurtled through the air. The
Libyan spearmen, on the lofty poops, brandished their
spears with wild cries; while the Nubians, amidships,
struck their triangular shields with battle-axes of iron,
producing a sound like crashing thunders. The war
bugles and hollow drums beaten on board each vessel
increased the loud confusion, and added to the terror of
the scene. The fall of thousands of oars, the rush of
waters from the cleaving bows, the shouts of the captains,
the warlike spirit and battle-fierceness of the whole,
presented a spectacle of sublimity unequalled. Nor was
it without an element of terror. Such was the excited
manner of the simulating combatants, I believed that
no earthly power could prevent a real collision and
hand-to-hand conflict in hot blood, when, at a signal
from the Prince Mœris, the rowers of the leading galleys
turned suddenly, as they came within touch of each
other's sweeps, and so, one after another wheeling in
line, both divisions passed down the river, until they
moved in parallel columns. The whole manœuvre was
one of the most wonderful exhibitions of naval discipline
and generalship. Ere the shouts of the people on the
shores and in the numerous pleasure barges had died
away, the two columns, at a signal from the mast of the
between the soldiers on opposite decks commenced—one
party attempting to board, the other repelling them.
Not less than six thousand combatants were engaged at
once, above the heads of the banks of rowers. The
clash of swords and spears and battle-axes, and other
offensive and defensive weapons, produced a noise so
terrible and grand that I believe there is no other sound
on earth, as well calculated to quicken the pulse and
bring out all the enthusiasm of the soul of a man. I can
compare these metallic and iron tones, only to what might
be the sound of the brazen voice of Mars himself rolling
his war-cry along the battle-ranks of his foes. Suddenly
the iron din of war ceased, and separating, one of the
divisions commenced a flight, and the other a pursuit.
This scene was the most exciting of all. The chase was
in a direction down the east side of the island, opposite
the queen's window; for all these exhibitions were
given in her honor, and, though by no means well, she
remained upon the terrace during the whole; and it
was, perhaps, the consciousness of their monarch's eye
being upon them, that caused these demi-barbaric soldiers,
gathered from all the provinces and tributary
countries of Egypt, to surpass themselves, being ready
even, at her nod, to convert the mock battle into a real
one.
The two fleets, flying and pursuing, moved past the
island like a sirocco. Their lion or eagle-headed prows
tossed high in the air clouds of white spray. The roar
of the waters as the vessels ploughed through them, the
dash of the banks of oars, the cries of pursuit, the whizzing
and shrieks of arrows cleaving the air, the shouts of
they moved, brought color to the queen's cheek, and the
light of interest to her eyes. It was now an actual and
real trial for mastery in speed; and the contest partook
of all the realities of a war-chase. The two divisions,
rounding the lower end of the island, were hidden by
the Temple of Isis, which crowns it, but soon reappeared
on the west arm of the river, ascending. When they
came opposite to the queen, having passed entirely
round the island, they resumed their former line, two or
three with broken banks of oars, and shattered poops or
prows from collision.
Prince Mœris came on shore to receive the compliments
of the queen, and dined with us. Remeses was
not present, being with the cohorts of cavalry; for he is
visiting and inspecting every arm of the service, as it is
intended this shall be the most formidable host that has
ever been sent into Ethiopia.
Adieu, dearest mother, and believe me
| LETTER IX. The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage | |