University of Virginia Library

19. LETTER XIX.

It is many weeks since my last letter was written.
The interval has been occupied by me, in visiting all
places of interest in Lower Egpyt, previous to my voyage
up the Nile, to the kingdom of the Thebaïd. But the intelligence
that your last letter contains, of the misunderstanding
arising between you and the King of Cyprus, and
your fear that war may ensue, will compel me to abandon
my tour to the Cataracts, and return to Tyre, unless
the next courier brings more pacific news. But I trust
that the wisdom and personal influence of your ambassador,
Isaphris, will result in an amicable termination
of the difficulty. I have no doubt, that the haughty
King of the Isle will make due concessions, for his treatment
of your shipwrecked merchantmen, when your
ambassador disclaims all intention, on the part of your
majesty, of planting an invading colony in any part of
his shores, and assures him that the vessels, which he
supposed brought a company of Phœnicians to occupy
his soil, were driven thither when bound for Carthage
and distant Gades. But should he refuse to release your
subjects and to restore their vessels and goods, war would
inevitably ensue, and I will hasten home to conduct it

in person. Do not delay sending me the earliest intelligence
by a special galley. Until I hear from you, I
shall linger in Lower Egypt.

Since writing the foregoing, dear mother, I have heard
the most important intelligence from the seat of war in
Ethiopia; and what is more, that the Prince Remeses is
even now on his return to Memphis, a conqueror! The
dispatches brought by the courier state, that four weeks
ago the army of Egypt engaged Occhoris, beyond the
gates of Thebes, and after a severe battle, in which the
chariots and horse were engaged, he was forced to retreat;
that he gained a new position, and fortified himself,
but was dislodged from it, and finally routed in the
open plain, he himself being taken prisoner, with most
of his chief captains; while a great spoil in treasures,
camp-equipage, elephants, camels, and horses, besides
captives innumerable, enriched the victors. This news
has gladdened the heart of Queen Amense, and relieved
her mind from the great anxiety that has oppressed it
ever since the departure of Remeses, lest he should lose
his life in the campaign, as his father had done before
him. But, without a wound, he returns triumphant,
leading his enemy captive at the wheels of his war-chariot.
The city is excited with joy, and in all the temples,
ascending incense and bleeding sacrifices, together
with libations and oblations, bear testimony to the universal
gratitude of the nation, at the defeat of the hereditary
foe of the kingdom.

I will for a time delay this letter, that I may witness
the scenes in the city and behold the rites for victory,
which, I am told, will be most imposing, especially in
the temples of Apis and of Vulcan.

Island and Palace of Rhoda.

Two weeks have elapsed since I laid down my pen,
dearest mother. In the interval I have been too much
occupied to resume it, but do so now with matter of the
deepest interest to communicate. Remeses has returned.
Two days ago he entered Memphis in warlike triumph.
On hearing of his approach, I hastened to meet him
three days' journey up the Nile. When we met, he
embraced me as a brother, with expressions of joy; but
the first question he put to me was:

“The queen—my mother, Sesostris, is she well?”

“Well, and happy at your victories,” I answered.

“And your royal mother also, the Queen Epiphia,
now fared she when last you heard from her?”

“In good health, save her wish to see me,” I answered.

Thus, dear mother, did this noble prince, amid all the
splendor of his victories, first think of his mother and
mine! It is this filial piety, which is one of the most
eminent traits of his lofty and pure character; and
where love for a mother reigns supremely in the heart,
all other virtues will cluster around it.

I found Remeses descending the river in a hundred-oared
galley, to which I was conveyed by a barge which
he sent for me, on recognizing me. It was decorated
with the insignia of all the divisions of his army. Behind
it came two galleys containing the prisoners of
rank, who were bound in chains upon the deck. The
Ethiopian king was in the galley with Remeses, who
courteously let him go free in the cabin, where he was
served by his conqueror's own cup-bearer. Further in
the rear came the fleet, their parti-colored green, orange,

blue, and scarlet sails, and the bronzed and gilded heads
of hawks, eagles, wolves, lions, and ibises upon the topmasts,
presenting a grand and brilliant spectacle. Ever
and anon, a loud, wild shout would swell along the water,
from the victorious troops. One half of the fleet had
been left in the Thebaïd country with Prince Mœris,
who intended to invade the interior of Ethiopia and
menace its capital.

You may imagine, dear mother, that Remeses had
many questions to ask and answer, as well as I. I drew
from him a modest narrative of his battles; but he spoke
more freely of the brilliant courage of Prince Mœris than
of his own acts. After we had sat in the moonlight,
upon the poop of his galley, conversing for several
hours, I asked permission to see his royal captive, who
I fancied was some wild savage chief, with the hairy
head and neck of a lion, and the glaring eyes of a wolf.
When I expressed my opinion to Remeses, he smiled
and said:

“I will send to him and ask if he will receive me and
the Prince of Tyre; for he has heard me make mention
of you.”

“You Egyptians treat your captives with delicate
courtesy,” I said, “to send to know if they will receive
you.”

“I fear such is not our custom. Captives taken in
war by our soldiers, are, I fear, but little better off than
those of other conquering armies; yet I have done all
that is possible to alleviate their condition, and have
forbidden unnecessary cruelty, such as tying their arms
in unnatural positions and dragging them in long lines
at the rear of running chariots! If you see the army

on shore, you will find that it is hard to teach the Egyptian
soldier mercy towards a captive foe.”

I regarded the prince with silent admiration. “How
is it,” I asked of myself, “that this man is in advance
of all his predecessors and before his age in virtue?”

“His majesty will see the Prince of Tyre and also his
conqueror,” were the words which the messenger brought
to Remeses.

Descending a flight of steps, we advanced along a
second deck, and then passing the door leading to
the state-cabins, we descended again, and came to the
range of apartments occupied by the governor of the
rowers and the chief pilot. The latter had vacated his
room to the royal captive. Upon entering, reclining
on a couch of leopard's skins spread in the moonlight,
which shone broadly in upon the floor through the
columns that supported the deck, I beheld a young
man, not more than my own age. His features were
remarkable. His nose was slightly aquiline, his forehead
high and commanding, his brows arched and delicate
as a woman's, beneath which were the blackest
and largest eyes I ever beheld, and which seemed to
emit a burning splendor. His finely formed mouth was
almost voluptuous in its fulness and expression; yet I
could perceive a slight nervous contraction of the underlip,
as if he were struggling between shame and haughty
indifference, when he beheld us. His chin was without
beard. His black locks were braided and bound up
by a fillet of gold, studded with jewels. His helmet,
which was of beaten gold, lay by his side dented with
many a stroke of sword and battle-axe; and I saw that
a wound upon his left temple corresponded to one of

these indentations. His hands were very small, and of
a nut-brown color (as was his complexion), and covered
with massive rings. A collar, rich with emeralds, encircled
his neck, from which was suspended an amulet of
agate, and a little silver box containing a royal charm.
He was dressed in a gaudy but rich robe of needle-work,
which was open in front, and displayed a corselet and
breastplate of the finest steel, inlaid with gold. His
small feet were bare, save a light sandal of gilded gazelle-leather.
Altogether he was as elegant and fine-looking
a barbaric prince as one would care to behold,
dear mother, and not at all the monster in aspect I
had pictured him: yet I am well convinced, that in that
splendid form lie powers of endurance which make him
respected, by the barbarians he commands; and that
within those fierce eyes blazes a soul, as fiery as any
barbaric prince requires; while the firm expression of
his mouth, at times, betrayed a resolved and iron will,
with which no one of his subjects would willingly come
into antagonism.

He half-rose gracefully from his recumbent attitude,
and said, with an indolent yet not undignified air, and
in good Koptic, as it is spoken in the Thebaïd:

“Welcome, Prince of Tyre! I am sorry I cannot extend
to you the hospitality you merit. You see my
kingdom is somewhat limited! As for you, O Prince
of Egypt, who have a right to command, I need not ask
you to be seated or recline.” Then turning to me again,
“I have heard of Tyre. You are a nation of merchants
who cover the great sea with caravans of galleys, and
plant your sandals in all lands. But you have not yet
had Ethiopia beneath them.”

“Our commerce embraces even your own country's
productions, O king!” I answered. “I have seen in the
mart of Tyre chœnixes of gold-dust, ostrich-feathers,
dried fruits and skins, vermilion, ebony, ivory, and even
baboons, apes, and leopards. In return we send you
our purples.”

“That is the name of Tyre, is it not,—the city of purple-cloth?”
he said interrogatively, and with a pointed
sneer. “Ethiopia signifies the land of warriors—children
of the sun.”

I could not help smiling at his vanity. Remeses did
not say any thing. The king then added, pleasantly:

“I have no quarrel with thee, O Tyre! Receive this
ring—that is, if the great Remeses do not regard all I
possess, as well as myself, his spoil—receive it in token
that we are at peace.”

As he spoke, he drew from his thumb a jewel of
great price, and, taking my hand, placed it upon my
thumb, without looking to see whether Remeses approved
or no.

After a brief interview I left his presence, and soon
retired to my state-room. Remeses insists upon my
retaining the ring, which, in truth, the Ethiopian king,
being a captive, had no right to dispose of. Remeses
says that he displayed the most daring courage
and marvellous generalship in battle; and that, though
young, and apparently effeminate, he inherits all the
fierce, barbaric spirit of his ancestor, Sabaco I., and of
his uncle, Bocchiris the Great, and third of the name.

At length arrived at the island of Rhoda, Remeses
hastened to embrace his mother, and to render to her
an account of his expedition. The next day, preparations

were made to receive the vast and victorious army,
which had been slowly marching towards the capital,
along the western bank of the river. They entered the
plain of the pyramids on the same night, column succeeding
column in a long line, attended by an interminable
train of captives, and by wagons, cars, and chariots
laden with spoils of arms, treasures, goods, and military
stores. Having encamped on their former ground, they
awaited the signal to move towards the city in triumphal
procession.

The following morning the queen made her appearance
at the head of the great square, in front of the
temple of Apis. She was arrayed in her royal robes,
and seated in a state-chariot of ivory, inlaid with gold,
drawn by four white horses driven abreast, richly caparisoned,
and with ostrich-plumes nodding on their heads.
Attended by a splendid retinue of the lords of her palace,
she took a position near the pylon, surrounded by
her body-guard, in their glittering cuirasses of silver,
and bearing slender lances in their right hands. The
lords of the realm were ranged, in extended wings, on
either side of her chariot; the whole presenting a strikingly
beautiful spectacle.

When all was arranged, from the portals of the vast
temple, headed by the hierarch in full dress, issued a
procession of four hundred priests, a shining host, with
golden tiaras, and censers of gold, and crimson vestments.
Other sacred processions came advancing along
all the streets, headed by their chiefs, each escorting the
god of their temple in a gorgeous shrine, blazing with
the radiance of precious stones.

Prince Remeses, attended by the governor of the

city, the twenty-one rulers of the departments thereof,
and by all dignitaries, of whatever office, in their sumptuous
robes and badges of rank, had already departed
from the city to meet the army, which, headed by its
generals, was in full motion. They came on in columns
of battalions, as if marching through an enemy's country,
and with all the pomp of war—their battle-banners
waving, and their bands of music sounding. Instead of
accompanying Remeses, I remained, by her request,
near the queen. The towers of the pylones, the roofs of
temples, the colonnades of palaces, terraces, house-tops
—every vantage-point—were crowded thickly with spectators.

At length the voice of trumpets, faint and far off,
broke the silence of expectation. Nearer and louder it
was heard, now rising on the breeze, now gradually dying
away; but soon other instruments were heard: the
cymbals, the drum, the pipe and the cornet from a hundred
bands poured upon the air a martial uproar of instruments,
which made the blood bound quicker in every
pulse. All eyes were now turned in the direction of
the entrance to the grand causeway of the pyramids,
and in a few moments, amid the answering clangor of
the brazen trumpets of the queen's guards, a party of
cavalry, shining like the sun, dashed into sight.

Their appearance was hailed by the vast assemblage
of spectators with acclamations. Then came one hundred
and seventy priests abreast, representing the male
deities of Memphis, each attired like the image of his
god—an imposing and wonderful spectacle; as in it
Horus was not without his hawk-head, nor Thoth his
horns and globe. Anubis displayed the head of a

jackal, and Osiris held the emblems of his rank. These
were followed by the high-priest of On, before whom
was borne the shield of the sun, resting upon a car carried
by twenty-four men, representing the hours. Following
these were one thousand priests—a hundred in
line—chanting, with mighty voice, the song of victory
to the gods. They were succeeded by a battalion of
cavalry, the front of which filled the whole breadth of
the avenue. It advanced in solid column, till four thousand
horsemen, in varied armor and arms, had entered
the immense quadrangle. Now burst out afresh the
clang of martial bands, and alone in his state-chariot,
drawn by three black steeds, appeared the Prince of
Egypt, standing erect upon the floor of his car. He was
in full armor, and so splendid was his appearance, so majestic
his aspect, that he was hailed with a thunder of
voices, as conqueror! Leaving the golden-hued reins
loosely attached to the hilt of his sword, he suffered his
proudly stepping horses freely to prance and curvet,
yet held them obedient to the slightest gesture of his
hand. On each side of their heads walked three footmen.
Behind him came his war-chariot of iron, from
which he had fought in battle on the Theban plains.
The horses were led by two lords of Egypt, and it was
empty, save that it held his battered shield, emptied
quiver, broken lances, the hilt of his sword, and his
dented helmet—mute witnesses of his presence in the
heat of battle. Behind the chariot was a guard of
honor, consisting of a brave soldier out of every company
in the army. But close to it, his wrists locked
together with a massive chain of gold, which was attached
to the axle of the war-chariot, walked the captive
King of Ethiopia. His step was proud and defiant, and
a constant smile of contempt curled his lip, as he saw the
eyes of the spectators bent upon him, and heard their
shouts of hostile joy on beholding him. He moved, the
king in heart, though bound in hand. Over his shoulders
hung a lion's skin as a royal mantle, but his feet
were bare. Behind him came a solid front of chariots,
which, line behind line, rolled into the square, until
nearly three thousand war-cars had entered, and moved,
with all the van of the vast warlike procession, towards
the great pylon, before which, in her chariot, stood the
Queen of Egypt; for, as soon as the head of the column
came in sight, she had risen to her feet to receive her returning
army.

When Remeses came before her, he turned his horses
towards her and remained at her side. Past them
marched first the foot-soldiers. To the sound of drums
and the tramp of ten thousand sandals, they wheeled
into the arena of temples, elevating their war-hacked
symbols, each man laden with his spoil. Then it was,
that a company of sacred virgins, issuing from the temple
of Athor, each with a silver star upon her brow, all
clad in white, and bearing branches of flowers, green
palm-branches, ivy and lotus leaves, cast them before
the army, and sang with beautiful voices the hymn
of the Conqueror. As they passed, the priests, with
censers, waved incense towards them, and others sprinkled
sacred water in the path of the battle-worn warriors.
The soldiers responded to the hymn of the
maidens with a loud chorus, that rent the skies as they
marched and sang.

When half the army had defiled, there came a procession

of Ethiopian cars and wagons, drawn by captured
oxen, and laden with trophies. Upon one was piled
scores of shields, another was filled with helmets, a third
bristled with spears, and a fourth was weighed down by
cuirasses and swords. After many hundreds of these
had passed—for the whole Ethiopian army was destroyed
and their possessions captured—came chariots,
heavy with chests containing gold, and silver, and
bronze vessels; others glaring with ivory tusks; others
full of blocks of ebony. Five royal elephants, with
their castles and keepers, and a troop of camels, laden
with treasures and mounted by their wild-looking
guides, preceded a body of horse escorting the purple
pavilion of the captive king—a gorgeous yet barbaric
edifice of ivory frames, covered with silk and fringed
with gold. Next came a painted car containing his
wives, all of whom were closely veiled, and followed by
a train of royal servants and slaves.

Bringing up the rear of the immense procession was
another large body of horse, at the head of a long
column of captives, twelve thousand in number—the
disarmed and chained soldiers of the defeated monarch.
Such a spectacle of human misery, such an embodiment
of human woe!—how can I depict the scene, my
mother! Perhaps when I am older, and have seen
more of war than I have, I may feel less sympathy at a
sight so painful, and be more indifferent to the necessary
horrors of this dread evil.

Their features denoted them to be of a race very different
from the Egyptian. They were slender and tall,
with swarthy, but not black, faces like the Nubians—
showing more of the Oriental than the African in their

physiognomy. Their long hair hung half-way down the
back, and they were dressed in costumes as various as
the tribes which composed the army of Occhoris.

These captives marched in parties of from one to two
hundred each—some linked by the wrists to a long
connecting chain passing along the line; others, chained
two and two by the hands, and with shackled feet, were
led by their captors. Many of them were confined to
a long iron bar, by neck-collars, eight and ten abreast,
each compelled to step together, and sit or rise at the
same moment, or be subjected to dislocation of the
neck. Several, of the most unmanageable, were tied
with their hands high above their heads, in the most
painful positions; while other wretches were so cruelly
bound, that their arms met behind in the most unnatural
manner. There was a long chain of Nubian and Southern
Arabian soldiers so bound, who writhed in agony
as they were forced onward in the march. After these
came hundreds of women and children, the latter naked,
and led by the hand, or carried by their mothers in
baskets, slung behind by a belt carried across the forehead.
Finally, when these had passed the queen, who
humanely ordered those so unnaturally bound to be
relieved, the rear division of the army came tramping
on, with symbols aloft, and drums beating, and trumpets
blowing.

At length, this vast army of nearly one hundred
thousand men, including chariots, horsemen, and foot-soldiers,
had marched past before the queen, receiving
her thanks and smiles, and the flowers that were showered
upon them from thousands of fair hands. As they
moved on, they wheeled in column, and gradually filled

up the whole area of the vast quadrangle, save the
space in front of the pyramidal gateway, where the
queen and Remeses stood in their chariots.

At this juncture, the high-priest of On—a man of
venerable aspect—amid the profoundest silence, advanced
before them, and thus addressed Prince Remeses:

“Mighty and excellent prince, and lord of worlds,
son of the queen, and upholder of the kingdoms of the
earth, may the gods bless thee and grant thee honor and
prosperity! Thou hast led the armies of Misr to battle,
and conquered. Thou hast brought down the pride of
Ethiopia, and placed the crown of the South underneath
thy foot. Thou hast fought, and overthrown, and taken
captive the enemy of Egypt, and the scourge of the
world. Lo, chained he walks at thy chariot-wheels! his
soldiers are captives to thy sword, and his spoil is in
thy hand! By thy courage in battle, thou hast saved
Egypt from desolation, filled her borders with peace,
and covered her name with glory. Let thy power,
henceforth, be exalted in the world like the sun in the
heavens, and thy glory and virtues only be equalled by
those of the sacred deities themselves!”

Remeses, with the gentle dignity and modesty which
characterize him, replied to this eulogistic address of the
Egyptian pontiff. The queen then embraced him before
the whole army, which cried, “Long live our queen!
Long live Remeses our general!” All the while Occhoris
stood by the wheel of the chariot to which he
was chained, his arms folded, and his bearing as proud
as that of a caged lion. He did not even deign to look
upon the queen, whom he had never before beheld;

and seemed to be above, or below, all manifestation of
curiosity. Self-reliance, fearlessness, immobility, characterized
him.

Preparations having already been made for a national
thanksgiving, the queen and Remeses descended from
their chariots, and led a procession consisting of the
priest of On, the high-priest of Apis, the priest of
Memphis, hierophants and chief priests from each of the
thirty-eight or forty nomes, and several hundreds of
ecclesiastics in magnificent dresses. This august procession
entered the great temple of Pthah. Here, after
an imposing invocation, offerings from the queen to the
presiding deity, and also to Mars—whose statue was
present,—were made in recognition of their presence
with the victorious army, and as an acknowledgment
that it was by their special favor and intercession that
the victory had been obtained.

This done, Remeses, in a formal manner, addressed
the priest of the temple, presenting to the deity all the
prisoners, and the spoil taken with them. As the vast
army could not enter the temple, each captain of fifty
and of a hundred was present for his own men. The
high-priest then went forth upon the portico of the temple,
and on an altar there, in the presence of the
whole army, offered incense, meat-offerings, and libations.

All these customs and rites being ended, the army
once more commenced its march, and passed through
the city, and beyond the pyramid of Cheops' daughter
to the plain of Libya, where Osirtasen used to review his
armies. There they pitched their camp, prior to being
posted and garrisoned in different parts of Egypt,—

ready again to be summoned, at three days' notice, to go
forth to war.

The captives, being delivered up to the authorities,
were at once put to labor in the service of the queen,
and are already engaged in building temples, cutting
canals, raising dykes and embankments, and other public
and state works. Some were purchased by the
nobles; and the women, both Nubian and white, were
distributed among the wealthy and noble families in the
city. The Hebrew is the only captive or servant in
Egypt who cannot be bought and sold. Those who
have them in their houses do not own them, for, as a
nation, they belong to the crown; but the queen's treasurer
is paid a certain tribute or tax for their service,
and must restore them whenever the queen commands
them to do so.

The King of Ethiopia, himself, after having been
led through the city at the chariot-wheel of his
conqueror, was sent to the royal prison, there to
await his fate, which hangs upon the word of the
queen.

It is possible he may be redeemed by his own nation
with a vast ransom-price; but if not, he will probably
pass his days a captive, unless he consents to a proposition,
which will be made to him by the prince, for
recovering his liberty—namely, the surrender of the
northern half of his kingdom to Egypt, in order that he
may be permitted to reign over the remainder. As half
a kingdom is far better than none, any other monarch
would probably acquiesce; but the spirit of this king
(whose looks and movements irresistibly make me think
of a Nubian leopard) is so indomitable and proud, that

I believe he would rather die a prisoner in a dungeon
than live a king with half a sceptre.

This letter, dear mother, has been written at three or
four different sittings, with a greater or less interval of
time between them. It was my intention to have given
you, before closing it, some account of a meeting which
I had with a remarkable Hebrew, whose resemblance to
Remeses, is, if possible, more striking than that of
Miriam the papyrus writer, or of Amram the royal
gardener. But having quite filled it with a description
of the triumphal entry of Remeses into the capital, I
must defer doing so till another occasion.

With my most affectionate wishes for your happiness,
I am, my beloved mother,